Balmythra

by Linda Palmer

Chapter Thirty-Five

  The Evil

  I screamed and desperately tried to crawl uphill. The gorgol caught up in two swift steps, pebbles crunching underfoot. Claw-like fingers grabbed my shoulders as it lifted and tossed me into a brier bush, several yards to our right. Thorns caught my clothing and ripped at my skin when I tried to untangle myself. I cried out without meaning to.

  By now my ring flashed so brightly that I could see my enemy quite clearly, if in a flickering silent movie sort of way. The whole scene felt surreal, and as the gorgol's cruel features began to change, I watched in horrified fascination. A new persona presented itself to me. Now with a skulled face and straggly long hair, a man with a gorgol's body steadily approached.

  He stood very tall; his red eyes glowed eerily. Silly girl. Did you really think you could escape us? I was the oily voice.

  "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

  Even as I stared, the skull filled in and then plumped out to resemble a man's portly face. Its ruddy flesh was now weathered; its nose, almost pig like. What does it matter?

  So that was the sniveler. How odd that the body under these faces still had the claws of a monster. Did that mean the beast's wretched shell was the home for the others?

  "Are you Dagonel?" Edging around the sticker bush, I began to scoot away. I tried to sort through the facts I now knew, but my mind was just too fuzzy.

  We are Lord of the Dagonel. The creature advanced on me.

  Now it seemed even more human, I realized, though terribly gaunt and sallow. I watched, fascinated, as its nose changed from pug to sharply hooked. I heard authority in its tone and guessed it might be the boss of the other three.

  "Then you must know that your army has been defeated. You've lost this war."

  A malevolent chortle sent goose bumps skittering down my arms. That was just a distraction. We have what we want—you.

  Now its hair was shoulder length and red; its skin, pale as cream. It had an ancient look about it that was almost familiar. Even as my blood ran cold, I wanted to put a name to this last face.

  But it was the gorgol again before I could. Leaping toward me it clamped scaly claws around my neck and lifted me right off my feet. Again rank breath took my own breath. Gagging, I gasped for air.

  Just when I thought I might lose it, the sniveler appeared again. Seizing on its weakness, I kneed it in the groin with all my might. It dropped me and stumbled back a step.

  Could I nexus now? I sent out a frantic call for help, but again got no answer. Had the monster created a barrier or was I simply too scared to think straight? Negative feelings had crippled me before.

  The beast shifted into authority figure mode. Clearly enraged by the frailty of its alter ego, it charged me. I cringed against the rocks, but my ring burst to life. My enemy shouted in pain and shielded its eyes as though blinded.

  Another morph. Seize her!

  You morons.

  I'll get her!

  No, I will.

  Let me.

  By bright copper light, I watched each identity swiftly distort into another. The creature surged forward, only to split into four separate entities inches from my face. The ring flashed. The four vanished right before my eyes. That left the shell of gorgol, which simply dissolved into nothing.

  The unexpected victory stunned me. I stood in disbelief, glued to the spot, while the coppery glint of my ring dimmed and night closed in once more. For a split second I felt no fear. "Oh my God. I did it!"

  "Think again." From the darkness another creature glided into view. It loomed ominously over me, its face hidden by shadow. I instantly thought of every monster that had ever scared me, from Darth Vader to Lord Voldemort. This was worse—the very personification of malevolence. I could not look it in the face. I wanted to run. My legs simply wouldn't move.

  "I guess you think you can defeat me, too." The voice sounded astonishingly human though it had a weirdly whispery quality to it that set my teeth on edge.

  "What do you want?" I sounded scared and weak, but how could I not?

  "Cooperation. And if I don't get it, your mother will pay the price."

  My heart lurched and then went crazy. "She's a long way from here."

  "Her body is, yes."

  Realizing it was easier for me to talk now, I immediately tested the rest of me. I found I could shift position to take the weight off my throbbing ankle, but knew I didn't dare run for it. His reference to my mother had scared me. I needed to know more.

  Instantly the monster thrust a vision of her into my brain. I sensed his amusement even as I saw my mom still lying on a bed of pillows. Her pasty skin and blue lips were scary enough, but it was her eyes, now wide open and blank, that shook me most. Was that real or an image he'd stuck into my head?

  "Both, actually."

  I swallowed hard. "Who are you?"

  "An old friend. Older than time, in fact. I've been watching you since you were very small."

  Of course. The shadow in the mirror. No wonder I never looked into them. "Are you an alien?"

  He chortled at that. "What a small mind you have, Alleana M'Orrean. But that's to be expected from someone so insignificant. I am Belial."

  The demon? But this thing seemed so rational, not at all what I would expect a demon to be. "And that fiery thing? What the heck was that?"

  His careless wave told me they were nothing. "My assistants. Worthless for the most part, but actually useful tonight."

  Belial began to pace, pausing every now and then to turn toward me. Staring into the shadow where a face should be was more unnerving than being choked by a gorgol, but I stood my ground—maybe because I couldn't quite believe he was real.

  "So what's it going to be, Guardian?"

  "I don't even know what you want."

  "Why, you, of course."

  My jaw dropped. "Whatever for?"

  Belial roared. "Open your mind or your mother dies!"

  Though startled by this sudden shift from eerily polite to cruel, I tried to hold my own. Even he couldn't get into my head if I didn't want him to. "I'm nobody. You said it yourself."

  "I'm waiting."

  "But—"

  "Now!"

  The ground quaked beneath me; I lost my footing and fell back with a scream, trying a last desperate nexus. My cry never left my head.

  Belial growled and came closer. "They can't help you. No one can." He cruelly thrust the vision of my mom into my head again, leaving me no choice. "Open yourself to me. Completely."

  I closed my eyes and opened my mind. In seconds, my psyche reeked of the beast. I instinctively clung to the image of my mother—a life jacket to keep me from drowning in his wickedness.

  He snarled in response, but I held on tightly. A single mother-daughter memory surfaced, so real that I could smell her perfume. Other happy thoughts tumbled into my head. I felt Matt's kiss, so sweet on my lips; I heard the cheers of my people; I remembered the friendship of the poPs.

  Belial did not like this one bit. "Clear your head or I'll kill them all."

  Harsh words, but I sensed withdrawal. Were my loving memories the weapon I needed to save myself? That had worked before. In desperation, I opened my mind to more than the beast and allowed friends and family to enter, mentally hugging each and every one of them.

  "Stop this now!"

  "No. You want to see what's in my head? Well take a look at this." Pictures streamed through my mind, a rapid slide show of the best times of my life. I felt a sudden rush and then the feeling that something had been ripped from my very soul. As I cried out, a single ray of pure white light shot from my ring and hit Belial full force, briefly illuminating his face. I screamed. He vanished. The darkness swallowed me.