Demonfire (17 page)

Willow returned after making a
full circle around the building and nursery. She hadn’t seen a thing, but the
feeling persisted, so strong now that even Eddy felt it.

The distant cries and howls
ebbed and flowed with the wind, but the sound was so eerie it made Eddy
shudder. “Maybe you sense the demons at the cemetery,” she said. “It seems
quiet here.”

“I know,” Dax said, flashing
the light across the parking lot once more. “But the quiet feels wrong. Do you
hear crickets? That owl that was hooting earlier?”

Eddy stared at him, wide-eyed.
He was right. There was no sound other than the occasional roar of a truck
going by on the freeway and the distant cries from the direction of the
cemetery.

They stood together beneath
the light in the parking lot, listening for anything—even the normal sounds of
the night that should have created a backdrop for the silence. Eddy’s muscles
tensed, almost as if she waited for a blow.

An earsplitting shriek
shattered the silence. Eddy spun around to face the sound. Dax stepped in front
of her, protecting her body with his, as something large and dark flew by just
over their heads. The force of its passing threw Willow into a spin. Dax threw
his arms high and shot flames into the sky. Eddy looked up just in time to
catch the silhouette of the gargoyle circling overhead, getting set up to come
back at them once again.

The thing circled high and
then dove straight at them, jaws agape, mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth.
The eyes glowed red as it zeroed in on Dax. As he raised his hands to fire on
the demon, Bumper tore free of Eddy’s grasp and leapt into the air. Dax pulled
his hands back just in time as Bumper’s jaws closed around one wingtip. The
gargoyle spun in a tight circle and slashed at the dog’s tender nose with a
clawed foot.

Bumper yipped and turned loose
of the wing, rolling and tumbling across the parking lot. Eddy ducked as the
gargoyle dove straight for her. Dax couldn’t use his weapons, fighting so
close, but he grabbed for the creature’s wing and managed to knock it off
balance.

It missed Eddy and skidded
across the parking lot with Bumper once again hot on its tail. Dax took a quick
look at Eddy, then raced after the dog and the gargoyle. Eddy ran right behind
him and dove for Bumper’s leash. She managed to catch the strap at the end and
tugged as hard as she could. She had to get Bumper out of the way so that Dax
could hit the demon with fire and ice, but by the time she got control of the
frantic dog, the gargoyle had leapt into the air once again. It circled high
above and screamed as if it cursed them all.

The thing hovered a moment.
Its wings made a loud, grating noise as they slowly flapped, moving much too
slowly to actually keep a stone statue airborne. The visual was disconcerting,
to say the least.

Then it tucked its wings,
bared rows of glistening teeth, and with an earsplitting screech, dove straight
for them once again. Willow zipped behind Dax.

“Move, Eddy. Out of the way!”

Eddy rolled to one side.
Gravel cut into her elbow and forearm as Dax let loose a barrage of flame. The
gargoyle screamed a banshee cry of pure frustration that seemed to echo off the
rooftops, but the flames didn’t slow it down, nor did the icy wall that Dax
threw next.

Bursting through the sheet of
ice as if it were only so much mist, the gargoyle totally disregarded Dax’s
most powerful weapon. Willow shot off to the right. Dax dove to the ground and
rolled to the left. The creature slashed at his face as it passed.

Lying on his back on the
asphalt parking lot, Dax pointed his fingers at the gargoyle once again.
Nothing happened. He looked for Willow and spotted her nearby, sparkles dimmed
but still gleaming in the darkness. Again he tried. Nothing!

Thank goodness the demon
didn’t seem to notice Dax was suddenly powerless. With a vicious snarl, it kept
going and disappeared into the darkness, flying toward the cemetery.

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit.” Eddy
gently rubbed her scratched elbow to dislodge the embedded gravel and broken
bits of glass. She glared at the dark sky until she finally spotted Willow. Her
sparkles were almost gone. Slowly she dropped down out of the sky to land on
the asphalt, obviously exhausted.

Then Bumper whimpered. “Oh!
Baby…” Eddy knelt down and wrapped her arms around the dog. “Dax, shine the
light on her, please? I want to see how badly she got hurt.”

Shaking his head, Dax slowly
rolled to his feet. Cursing beneath his breath, he scooped Willow up in one
hand and held the flashlight close to the dog. There was a long scratch that
cut across Bumper’s nose and ran under her eye, but it didn’t appear too
serious. She stretched her tongue out and licked the tiny drops of blood away.
Eddy stared at the scratch a moment longer and then turned to Dax. “Could it be
poisonous?”

He shook his head. “I doubt
it. The demon is still mist, even though it’s in an avatar, and the gargoyle is
made of stone, not living flesh. If she’d been struck by demon claws, I’d say
it was definitely poisoned, but I don’t think they have that power with an
avatar.”

“I need a weapon.” Eddy
crouched there with her arms around Bumper and thought of what she could have
done to the gargoyle. It was the one who’d cursed Dax, and now it had come
after them.

“I agree. Eddy, I’m so damned
sorry. I never thought of arming you.” He sighed. “I didn’t think you’d need
anything. I thought I was strong enough to protect us both.”

Willow’s wings fluttered, and
she stared up at him, obviously upset. Dax shook his head. “No, Willow. It was
not your fault. You sent me plenty of energy, but the snake was stealing it.”
Sighing, Dax held his hand out. Eddy took it, and he pulled her to her feet.
“There was nothing there when I tried to hit the demon a second time. No flame,
no ice. If it had turned on either of us then, I couldn’t have done anything to
stop it.”

He glanced down at her torn
sleeve and bloodied arm. “Crap. You’re bleeding.”

“I’m okay.” She looked at the
scrapes and scratches. Then she gazed into Dax’s dark eyes. “I want a baseball
bat,” she said. “A big, heavy baseball bat. I know how to use one. I could have
hit that thing when it flew over me if I’d had something I could swing at it.”

“Where would I find such a
thing?”

“That’s easy,” she said, aware
once more of the sound of crickets. “My dad’s got a couple of them. Good,
sturdy northern white ash baseball bats. I played on the boys’ Little League
team when I was a kid, and I was pretty damned…” She glanced up at Dax. He
stood perfectly still. His jaw was clenched, his eyes closed.

This time Eddy didn’t even
ask. She merely stood up, unbuttoned his shirt, and pressed her palms against
the snake. It was definitely moving, pulsing like a thing alive beneath her
hands. Willow perched on Dax’s shoulder and watched.

Eddy realized the snake gained
more strength each time Dax battled demons, and tonight he’d lost his powers
after taking just a couple of shots at the gargoyle.

Whatever energy Willow sent to
him appeared to strengthen the curse as much as, if not more than, it empowered
Dax. After only three days, it was almost more than he could handle.

The sounds coming from the
cemetery grew louder. With her palms pressed to his chest, Eddy stood on her
toes and planted a quick kiss on Dax’s mouth. Before he could kiss her back,
she pulled away. “I’m calling Dad and Alton,” she said. “Personally, I want
backup. You can just stay clear of Alton’s sword.”

Dax didn’t say a word, but his
gaze was on Eddy’s bloodied arm when he nodded in agreement. As soon as his
burning flesh had cooled, Eddy dug out her cell phone and called her father.

Late Tuesday night

Ed leaned against a thick oak,
gasping for air. After a few deep breaths, he cocked a wary eye at Alton. “I’ve
discovered that building model-train layouts and birdhouses doesn’t get a guy
in shape for hunting demons.”

“Neither do esoteric arguments
and philosophical discussion, but we’re doing well, Ed.” Taking a few deep
breaths himself, Alton gazed proudly at the sword he clasped in his right hand.
It still hadn’t spoken to him, but it had definitely drawn blood, if that black
demon stink could be considered as such. It felt warmer when he held it now,
almost as if it pulsed with life. The grip fit his hand better; the weight
seemed more perfectly balanced. “How many is that? I’ve lost track.”

Ed frowned. “I don’t know.” He
began counting off on his fingers. “The first two—the garden gnome and the
stone goose we found just down the street from my house. Then there were three
more in the church parking lot. I never expected a demon attack by two angels
and the Virgin Mary!”

“I guess Dax was right when he
told Eddy they could use angels as avatars. I wondered that myself.”

“True, but wonder no longer.”
Ed frowned. “Let’s see, there were the three ceramic cats next to the gas
station, the ones you got in midair…what, maybe four or five of those metal
hummingbirds?”

Alton nodded. “At least five.”
The little metal birds had the potential to be deadly adversaries. Quick and
able to maneuver as well as their live counterparts, they’d been armed with
sharp beaks and had no hesitation using them. The puncture wound in his left
shoulder was proof of that.

“I’m running out of
fingers…that’s thirteen so far, and there were at least half a dozen more
between the gas station and the nursery—squirrels, a couple more stone cats,
the turtle, a frog…”

“Don’t forget the one that
jumped us near that fast-food restaurant.”

Ed shook his head, but he was
definitely grinning. At least he appeared to have finally caught his breath.
“I’ll never see Ronald the clown in the same way,” he said. “All those teeth!”
Ed gave an exaggerated shudder. “Okay, that’s at least twenty before we got
here, and I have no idea how many were waiting for us in the parking lot. Eddy
was right to send us here.”

Alton glanced at the parking
lot outside the small nursery. “They did seem to be waiting, if not for us, for
something. It was odd, the way they were all massed here.”

The asphalt was littered now
with piles of scorched ceramic and stone rubble. The stench of sulfur hung
thickly in the still night air. They’d been attacked by an entire army of
garden gnomes, stone squirrels, turtles, and rabbits—even a concrete bench
designed in the shape of a pig.

Alton’s sword had quickly
proved adept at dispatching demons. If only he knew for certain they were
actually dead. He feared they might merely have been returned to Abyss. At
least with the portal closed, sending them back to Abyss was as good as
dead—until another portal in the vortex was created.

“I’d guess we destroyed at
least another two, maybe three dozen more here.” Ed gazed about the littered
asphalt as if he couldn’t believe what they’d done. He cast a sideways glance
at Alton. “Retirement’s certainly more exciting than I expected.”

Then he shook his head and
took another deep breath. “All these years Eddy’s looked at me like I had a screw
loose whenever I mentioned Lemurians. Not that she doesn’t love me, but she’s
such a pragmatic kid, a ‘seeing is believing’ sort. More like her mother than
me, but I always hoped I’d get a chance to prove I wasn’t a complete whack job.
I certainly never expected anything like this.”

He gazed off in the distance.
Then something seemed to catch his attention. He stared at the entrance to the
store and scratched his head.

Alton sheathed his sword and
flexed his fingers. He liked Ed. The man had a good heart, an accepting nature,
and an open mind. While he enjoyed a good discussion, he didn’t seem to feel
the need to prove his opinion over anyone else’s. It was obvious he loved his
daughter enough to let her be her own woman.

A love like that was more
special than most realized. Alton thought of his father, a man who saw his son
as an extension of himself, not as his own man. He had no respect for Alton’s
beliefs, his needs. No respect for Alton as a man grown.

Ed saw Alton in a different
light entirely. As a warrior, a savior come to help protect those Ed loved from
the demon threat. Alton realized he felt like a warrior, as much from Ed’s
belief in him as from the circumstances.

They’d fought their first
battle, and they’d done well. Not only did he and Ed enjoy one another’s
company, they made a good team. The evidence of their skill was scattered all
about. Alton realized he’d gained more confidence in this one battle fighting
beside Ed Marks than in anything he’d done over his entire life—a life that already
stretched for thousands of years.

He’d discovered new strengths
in himself, new abilities. A sense of fulfillment for having accomplished
something entirely physical. There was an amazingly invigorating quality about
armed combat. It was even better with a brave companion standing beside him.

He thought of Taron. His
friend would love every moment of this fight against demonkind, but the battle
Taron waged on Alton’s behalf was an important one, if Alton ever hoped to
return to his home.

If I have
a home to return to.

What if the bad guys won this
one? He hadn’t let himself think of anything other than victory, but their odds
weren’t all that great.

He wondered how Dax and Eddy
fared, if they’d met much resistance. Dax suffered greatly from the demon’s
curse. Alton had the feeling it was a race to see if Dax’s short span on Earth
would outlast the power of the demonic curse that was slowly strangling him.
They were almost at the end of his third day. It had been obvious this evening
that Dax was in constant pain. Would Eddy’s touch be enough to keep the cursed
tattoo under control?

There was more strength in the
woman than Alton had thought possible. Women on Earth were nothing like the
women of Lemuria. No, here their power and intelligence was equal to that of
the men. But would it be enough?

So much weighed against them.
There’d been no word from Taron, no sign of Lemuria electing to help. Maybe his
people had lost their desire to fight, their need to protect their own. It was
difficult to believe they’d once been a race of warriors.

Alton flexed his fingers and
thought of how good it felt to grasp the hilt of his crystal sword, to swing
that shimmering blade through stone as if he cleaved butter. It was becoming
more an extension of his arm than he’d ever believed possible, though he’d
carried it all his adult life.

Yet it still had not shared
its name. What kind of warrior was he, that his sword refused to acknowledge
him? He tried to remember the last time he’d seen a sentient, speaking Lemurian
sword. His culture abounded with tales of ancient warriors and their partnered
swords, but if he’d ever heard one speak, it had been many long years ago.

Alton squared his shoulders.
He knew he fought bravely, but was bravery enough? Did they have the strength
they’d need to see this through? It was difficult to imagine their small band
overpowering all the demons who’d made it through the portal.

If only he knew how Taron was
doing. Was his friend having any luck convincing the Lemurians to take up arms
against their age-old enemies?

Would they even remember how?

He knew from his history
lessons that his people had once been powerful warriors who’d kept demonkind
under control, but once that control was achieved, they’d continued to fight
other peoples until their many battles had almost obliterated the more
civilized aspects of their society.

The art of negotiation had
saved them, and once they’d established secure treaties with their known
enemies, their skills had shifted entirely to the art of debate.

Now they’d merely argue a
person to death before they’d actually lift a weapon. Unfortunately, you
couldn’t argue with a demon. They knew only three things: eat, fuck, and kill.
Demons weren’t known for diplomacy, and a demon never surrendered.

Still, even though their days
as warriors were long past, each Lemurian male carried a sword, if only for
ceremonial purposes. All males were trained in the art of swordsmanship, though
what they learned was more ritual than reality, especially when their swords
remained mute.

Would his sword ever awaken?

How many demon deaths did it
take to impress a crystal sword of Lemuria? How many more demons would he kill
before the creatures were finally gone from this dimension? Would they be able
to kill them all? He felt as if his thoughts whirled in ever more convoluted
circles. Circles that merely took him back to the beginning of his original
argument.

Obviously the Lemurian talent
for debate and discussion was more deeply ingrained than he’d suspected, if he
could carry on such a discussion with himself, and manage it all in the course
of mere seconds. Shrugging off the sense of doom settling over his shoulders,
Alton turned his attention back to Ed. The older man had fought valiantly,
swinging a six-foot pry bar as if it were an iron mace.

From the beginning, they’d
worked well together. Alton’s superior strength and size had given him the
upper hand, and he’d destroyed almost half of the avatars waiting here at the
nursery on his own. He’d whipped his sword in wide arcs, slicing through the
creatures as they attacked. The crystal blade had cut through them as if they
were made of paper, not stone or ceramic.

Ed had gone for the rest,
crushing their brittle bodies with his heavy iron bar. Once Ed destroyed the
avatar, Alton had merely swept his sword through the stinking demon mist, and
they’d disappeared in a flash of fire and smoke, leaving behind the
unmistakable stench of sulfur.

He hoped that meant they were
dead. He needed to check on that with Dax. A demon, reformed or otherwise,
should know what it took to kill one of the bastards.

“Alton, I just realized what’s
bothering me.”

Alton looked in the direction
Ed pointed, toward the entrance to the store.

“Remember earlier, when Eddy
mentioned this place? She said it was the store with the big grizzly bear in
front. Notice anything missing?”

Alton shifted his gaze from
the noticeably barren store entrance and carefully studied the surrounding
area. “No sign of a bear. Any idea where it might have gone?”

“When we first got here, the
creatures were all in the parking lot, as if they were waiting. Remember? We
thought they were massing to attack us, but I’m wondering if they were merely
getting ready to join up with others somewhere else. We were walking east, and
they were all facing us. What if they were getting ready to go somewhere west
of town when we showed up? They might have been as surprised as we were. They
certainly didn’t put up an organized fight.”

Alton tried to picture the
creatures as they’d first seen them. He really did need to pay closer
attention, as Taron so often reminded him. “They were definitely facing west.
If you’re right, that would take them into town.”

“Or, it would take them out to
the cemetery, where Eddy and Dax were headed.” Ed slung his pry bar over his
shoulder. “I suggest we follow the same route. I bet we’ll find the bear along
the way. As big as it is, it’s probably got more than one demon running it.”

“I don’t like that a bit. If
you’re right…” Alton shook his head. “When demonkind begin to cooperate, they
get scary.”

Ed’s dry laugh sounded
anything but humorous. “You mean they’re not scary like this?” He waved a hand
in front of him, encompassing the shattered pieces of stone and ceramic
littering the parking lot. “I really wonder where that bear went….”

“Let’s find out. Which way
will lead us to Dax and Eddy?”

“This way.” Ed pointed to a
narrow country lane. “This road leads us back to the main street where we can
take a jog over the freeway, and from there go directly to the cemetery. Almost
due west, which is the direction all these guys were headed.”

Alton merely nodded.
Everything he saw showed evidence of cooperation among demonkind. Unheard of,
but so were a lot of the things he’d witnessed over the past few hours. He
followed Ed, worrying even more how this would all turn out.

The closer they got to town,
the more demons they found. Ed thought of calling Eddy, but he was too busy
ducking overhead attacks from small bronze hummingbirds with deadly beaks or
bashing in garden gnomes that raced out of yards and leapt off of porches as
they tried to block the way.

“I had no idea how many people
put little statues in their yards,” he said, swinging his iron bar at a pair of
ceramic gnomes. Both shattered. A sulfuric stench filled the air as the demon
mist floated free of the avatars.

Alton stepped up with his
sword and with one swing of the crystal blade, quickly sent them off in flames.
“It’s an odd human custom, that’s for sure. Why so many with pointy hats and
round bellies? Is it some sort of religious icon?” Alton knocked another metal
hummingbird out of the sky, sliced it with a flick of his wrist, and destroyed
the demon as it escaped.

“I’m beginning to wonder.” Ed
stepped over a pile of broken gnomes. His cell phone rang. He grabbed it out of
his pocket and flipped it open. When he saw the number, his heart gave a lurch.
“Thank goodness, it’s Eddy.” He took the call quickly, relieved to hear her
voice. She sounded confident, though concerned enough that she and Dax wanted
Ed and Alton’s help. He was smiling broadly when he put the phone back in his
pocket.