Hellfire (13 page)

She snorted in a most
unfeminine manner. “That’s probably the understatement of the year. Keep that
thought in mind.”

Alton was the one laughing now
as he tugged her toward the edge of the pool. “I’ll be lucky if there’s room to
think of anything else. C’mon. Taron’s probably already drinking my beer.”

“Lemurians have beer?”

“Of course.
We got it from the Atlanteans. Where do you think humans learned to make it?”

Taron wasn’t drinking Alton’s
beer when they slipped in through the back door. No, he was pacing a hole in
the floor.

He jerked to a stop when Alton
opened the door and Ginny stepped into the room ahead of him.

“Where in the nine hells have
you been?”

Alton kept his hand planted on
Ginny’s shoulder.
“Bathing.
What’s up?”

“Your
father.
What else?” Taron flopped down on the long, low couch that
stretched along the back wall. “He’s trying to convince the other members of
the council that you staged everything, that the talking sword’s a fake and
that thing where it cut your chains was all sleight of hand. He’s got them
doubting their own minds, searching for records of the Crone to prove she’s
only a myth, that she didn’t exist. And he’s still trying to get you arrested.”

Alton shook his head in
obvious frustration. “What is with that man? He’s had it in for me for as long
as I can recall.”

Ginny felt the tension in his
body, sensed it in his mind, though his actual thoughts were a jumble of
disconnected words.

She really needed to work on
this telepathy thing.

Alton’s fingers tightened on
her shoulder. “Taron, what about the soldiers you’ve talked to? What’s their
feeling? Is anyone willing to join the fight?”

Taron shook his head and
stared at his clasped hands hanging loosely between his knees. “Not yet. A
couple, maybe, but most of them are afraid of the chancellor’s power and they
all think he’s just a little bit insane. They saw how easily he wrote off his
only son.” Taron waved his hand around the room. “You realize you’re going to
lose your rooms here, don’t you? He’s having the eviction notice prepared. He’s
talking total exile from Lemuria if he can’t get the death edict reinstated.”

“I should have figured as
much. Damn.” Alton took a deep breath and his fingers tightened on Ginny’s
shoulder. “I was hoping we could get some rest here tonight, but we probably
need to get out while we can.” He let out an explosive breath and rubbed
Ginny’s shoulder. “Now that you have my grandmother’s scabbard, there’s not a
damned thing here I want to keep.” The look he gave her spoke volumes. “I’m
sorry, Ginny.”

She covered his hand with
hers. “It’s not your fault, Alton. You have nothing to be sorry for, but I
agree with both you and Taron. We should leave while we can.”

“Do you want me to take you
home?
To Evergreen?”
Alton ran his fingers over her
shoulder and down her arm. He left a trail of shivers behind.

She’d never had a man affect
her as he did. Never responded so quickly to any man’s touch, but as much as
her body loved it, that thinking part of her wasn’t so sure.

She sighed. Attraction was one
thing, demons another. They’d better keep their priorities straight. “Why would
you want to do that? The demons are in Sedona. Isn’t that where we should go?”

Alton cupped her shoulders in
his hands and stared into her eyes. Damn. His were so green they didn’t look
real. More like those fake, glittery glass eyes in stuffed animals, the kind
that seemed to look right through you.

The way Alton was looking
through her right now. Seeing inside Ginny where she kept her most private
thoughts, her deepest needs.

“It’s going to get really ugly
when we go back, Ginny. There’s no doubt in my mind there are demons in Sedona.
We’re going to be on our own unless we can reach Dax and Eddy and get them to
join us. I brought you here hoping we’d find people willing to help, but we’re
going back the way we came.
Just the two of us.”

Ginny shook her head. “No,
we’re not the same.
Not at all.
I’m going back with an
entirely new identity. I’m Lemurian, Alton. Just like you. I’ve got DarkFire.
You’ve got me. That makes us another team that didn’t exist before. I can be
more than just moral support for you now.”

She flexed her arm and made a
muscle. There wasn’t much of one, but it made him laugh. “See?” she said,
pumping her muscle. “No demon’s gettin’ by me.”

Alton shook his head, but at
least he was still grinning. “Taron, it looks like it’s up to you to convince
the council. They can’t deny what happened out there, just as they can’t
continue to deny the demon threat is real, that it’s going to affect the safety
of Lemuria sooner rather than later.”

Taron took Alton’s hand and
the two men grasped each other’s forearms. “Be safe, Alton. You’re the brother
I wish I’d had. I don’t want to lose you.”

“You are my brother, Taron.
You always have been.
Always will be.
I wish you luck
with our hardheaded council.”

Taron laughed. “Wish me luck
with the one who denies being your father. His is the hardest head I have to
deal with. Take care, my friend. I promise to do my best.” He turned to Ginny.
“You, too, Ginny.
Be safe. Take care of Alton for me. I’m
not at all worried about you, but that guy is something else altogether.”

Ginny rose up on her toes and
surprised Taron with a kiss to his cheek. He blushed to the roots of his
brilliant red hair.

“I promise, Taron. I just wish
there was a way we could keep in touch.” She glanced at Alton. “Can we plan to
meet in a few days? I think we need to know how things are going here. If
there’s any change in the council’s decision.”

“Bell Rock?”
Alton hugged Ginny close.

Taron nodded. “Bell Rock it
is. Three days from today, at sunset. I’ll meet you at the portal within the
vortex.” He held his vermillion braid in one hand. “I’d rather not risk
exposure in human society.”

“Agreed.”
Alton leaned over and kissed Ginny. “You’re already thinking like a warrior.
Planning ahead.
I like that.”

A soft chime rang—three
crystal-clear tones. Alton glanced quickly toward the doorway. Taron looked at
Alton. “Are you expecting anyone?”

He shook his head and grabbed
Ginny’s arm. They both gathered up their things and slipped into the hallway
that led to the pool, out of sight of the door. A moment later, Taron called to
them. “It’s okay.
Hurry.”

A large man in a blue robe
stood uncomfortably in the front room. Ginny recognized him immediately as one
of the soldiers who’d brought Alton to the great hall in chains. She squeezed
Alton’s hand but kept her eyes on the guard.

Alton asked, “What’s going
on?”

The guard nodded his head
toward Ginny and Alton. “I am Roland of Kronus, Sergeant of the Guard. I’ve
come to warn you. Chancellor Artigos has convinced the council to hold you
under house arrest until they’ve had time to discuss the current situation.” He
looked at Taron and shrugged. “We all know what that means. Months of
discussion, no action while the demons gain a stronger foothold. You need to
leave immediately, but the route to Sedona’s Bell Rock is guarded.”

“How about
the one through Mount Shasta?”
Alton was slipping his scabbard over his
shoulders as he questioned the sergeant.

Grinning, the man nodded his
head. “I’m covering that one.
Hurry.
Those charged
with your arrest are on their way, though they promised to take their time.
You’re going to have to get through the veil before my troops are in place. I’m
not sure where all their loyalties lie.” He turned toward the swirl of light
and color, poked his head through, and then popped back into the room. “It’s
all clear.”

Ginny buckled her scabbard in
place and grabbed her pack. Taron gave her a quick hug and propelled her toward
the portal. Alton looped his pack over his shoulder and grabbed Ginny’s hand.
Without another backward glance, they followed the sergeant of the guard into
the tunnel.

Sergeant Kronus moved quickly,
running in the opposite direction Ginny and Alton had taken earlier. This way
was
dark,
the walls close on either side. Their
pounding footsteps echoed eerily against the walls. After a short race down the
hall, they turned in to an even narrower passage. Alton seemed familiar with
the route. Ginny kept her mouth shut and her feet in motion, but she’d never
been so thankful for all the miles she was used to jogging or the hours she’d
spent at the gym.

Finally they slipped out through
a narrow tunnel that appeared to be nothing more than a crack in the walls
between two passages. The sergeant looked both ways and then stepped aside.
Alton tugged Ginny through the opening. “Thank you, my friend. Can you come
with me? We could use a warrior like you.”

Roland shook his head. “My
wife and child are here. I can’t leave them, but I want to know our world and
their future are safe from demonkind. If I can help from here, I will. I know
what I saw today was true. You did not fool me with sleight of hand—I heard
your sword speak and I believe the warning. Good luck to you.” He turned to
Ginny.
“And to you as well.
My grandmother fought in
the DemonWars before she disappeared. Her brave story is part of our family’s
lore and Lemuria’s shame. Daria the Crone was a great and powerful warrior. The
council can deny our history all they want, but the truth is known to the
common people. I wish you well.”

He turned and slipped back
through the opening. Alton’s eyes were shining when he grabbed Ginny’s hand
once more and tugged her across the passageway, down another and another until
she heard the roar of the golden veil and knew they were close to the vortex.

Alton drew his sword and used
HellFire’s glow to light the way along the dark tunnel they entered. This one
took them perpendicular to the main passage with the golden wall marking the
boundary between Lemuria and the energy vortex where the portals were located.

They popped out beside the
curtain of gold. Alton held his finger to his lips. Ginny looked back toward
Lemuria and saw the same man who had helped
them
just
moments ago, marching into place with his troops. He studiously ignored their
hiding place and set his men to look back along the tunnel, toward Lemuria.

Alton grabbed Ginny and the
two of them slipped into the shimmering gold. Within seconds they were through,
but something felt wrong. Ginny glanced over her shoulder at Alton. He was
slipping HellFire into his scabbard.

She pulled DarkFire out of
hers.

“What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “I don’t
know.” She wished she could explain the strange sense of danger that seemed to
wrap her body in cold chills. “Something’s wrong. Can you smell sulfur?”

“A little.”
Alton sniffed the air. “Okay.
A lot.”
He drew HellFire
once more. Ginny stood back, scanning the space around them as he used the glow
to check the nooks and crannies around the cavern. The various portals glowed
as they should. There were no dark wraiths, no sign of demon mist.

This cavern was different than
the one they’d entered from Bell Rock. Ginny followed Alton into the main part
where sections of rock pulsed and swirled around them. “Where are we?”

Alton pointed toward a
shimmering area along one wall. “These are all dimensional portals, powered by
the Mount Shasta vortex. If we go toward the back of the cavern, we’ll be able
to take the same one I traveled before to Bell Rock. We’re literally at a
crossroads, here. The choice is yours—back to Sedona or home to Evergreen?”

Ginny flashed him a grin.
“I’ve still got a week of vacation. I choose Sedona.”

“Fighting demons is not
necessarily my idea of a vacation, but I highly approve of your choice. Thank
you.” Alton adjusted the pack on his shoulder and held his sword high for
light. Ginny followed him down the tunnel. She almost ran into his back as
Alton skidded to a stop.

The portal was there, glowing
in reds and golds, but it was almost lost, buried beneath the swirling black
mist pouring through from Sedona. Not just one demon, but what looked like an
entire cloud bank of demon mist gathered in front of the portal.

Cursing softly under his
breath, Alton stepped directly into the mist.

Ginny held her sword in a
white-knuckled grasp and stared at the pulsing cloud of demons. DarkFire
shimmered, brilliant purple flashed. Beneath her dark light, demons suddenly
glowed in fluorescent brilliance. The shapeless black wraiths took on details
not visible before—incandescent eyes and phosphorescent teeth glimmered in
grossly malformed faces. Twisted arms and legs protruded from misshapen bodies
with scales and fangs and protruding spurs of bone.

Hideous creatures, ugly beyond
belief, yet they flowed almost gracefully in their mist form, without true
substance, light as air yet charged with corruption.

Ginny saw them truly for the
first time and recognized evil in its purest form. Then she sucked in one
terrified breath, clasped DarkFire tightly in her hand, and plunged into her
first-ever fight against demonkind.

He’d not seen the likes of
this before—such vast numbers of demonkind pouring through the gateway from
Sedona. Their thick, sulfuric stench was suffocating. The naturally cool air in
the cavern dropped several more degrees as demon after demon spilled out of the
portal, bringing the chill of evil with them.

Had they come directly from
Abyss, merely using a previously undiscovered portal around Sedona as their
gateway, or was Sedona entirely overrun with the bastards? Was something
driving them out? Or even worse, was something luring them here?

Had the demon king reappeared
near Evergreen?

He’d have to worry about the
details later. The sense of malevolence surrounding the massing demons made his
skin crawl. Alton stepped directly into the black cloud and slashed HellFire
through the thick collection of demonic souls.

Sparks flew. The
ear-shattering screams as several creatures exploded beneath the crystal blade
made his head spin. His eyes watered from the disgusting stench while his sword
twisted and danced through the roiling black mist, but he swung with care—he sensed
Ginny beside him, but he couldn’t see her through the thick wall of demon mist.

“Ginny? Are you okay?”

“I’m great,” she said.

Damn if she wasn’t laughing!

He glanced to his right. The
dark flash of her unusual crystal blade and the horrific screams told him
DarkFire had cut through more of the demon wraiths. The air began to clear,
enough that Alton could finally see Ginny as he destroyed the demons
surrounding him.

She moved with the grace of a
dancer, reaching high for demons trying to escape overhead, twisting and diving
for the ones that slipped out along the ground. But it wasn’t Ginny’s beauty
that caught Alton’s eye. Not this time.

Caught in the fluorescent glow
of Ginny’s sword, the demon wraiths had come to life. Where he saw only black
mist as formless clouds, DarkFire illuminated their true nature. They might be
wraiths without true substance, but beneath her dark glow, demonkind showed
their true form—and they were hideous, inherently evil, and ugly beyond belief.

Yet Ginny didn’t hesitate. She
danced and swung her amethyst blade and the demons fell, one by one, screeching
as their lost souls exploded in bursts of dark purple sparks.

Alton clenched his jaw. He had
to concentrate on his own battle as more of the filthy creatures flowed through
the portal, but it was different now that their image was so firmly planted in
his mind. They had to be stopped, but how? He couldn’t close this portal or he
and Ginny would lose their route back to Sedona, but he had to know—where in
the nine hells were the bastards coming from?

“Behind
you!”

He spun around. A tower of
black wraiths hovered at his back, pulsing with a sense of evil. Not one demon,
but many, connected within their swirling black consciousness, coming together
to attack.

Taking on form and substance
even to his eyes—a head, arms, legs.
Even a thick body
floating in and out of sight.

Ginny swept DarkFire over the
massed wraiths and their true nature glowed in all its incandescent fury, a
monstrous blend of many creatures into one.

Alton struck the middle with
HellFire and watched the roiling mass collapse as the ones in the center burst
into stinking sparks. Immediately, the demons reformed, billowing up and out
and taking shape once more. A thick, oily cloud rippled and flowed, coming
together again in what seemed to be an unprecedented, organized attack.

Demons in this dimension,
limited by their mist form, were generally nothing more than wraiths. He’d
never known them to function outside of Abyss without an avatar. Away from
their world, they existed as formless, mindless beings of energy that appeared
as black, stinking mist until they’d commandeered something to animate—or they
looked that way to anyone without a sword like DarkFire.

Was that something new, that
demon shape within the mist? Had DarkFire evolved because the demons were
changing? So many questions without answers, but one thing had always been
consistent—the demons’ need for an avatar. In the past it had been something of
the earth—stone or ceramic or various metals. In Sedona, they’d graduated to
living creatures, though he’d not heard of them taking on a human host.

In Evergreen, they’d taken on
plastic, but at least none of their avatars, so far, had given them the natural
weapons that kept them alive and able to fight on Abyss.

On their own world, they were
massive, multi-limbed creatures with scales and claws, huge fangs, and armored
hides. Poisonous and powerful on Abyss, it took them time to gain strength in
Earth’s dimension, to function as corporeal beings.

Before, they’d needed a
borrowed body of some kind—an avatar. Something to give them form and function,
to house their wraithlike souls before they could begin the slow evolution from
mindless demon mist to living, functioning creatures.

At least that was the way
things had been. These already appeared to show intelligence while still in
their mist form. Under DarkFire’s light their demon shapes appeared. Had they
always held that form in Earth’s dimension, or was it something new?
A more powerful aspect of evil?

They were obviously evolving,
beginning to work together. There was a pattern to their fight. Instead of
trying to get away, they were actually mounting an attack. They’d managed to
cooperate in a rudimentary fashion last week in Evergreen, but he and Dax had thought
maybe the demon king was directing them for his own purpose.

There was no sign of the demon
king here, yet the towering creature began to reform.
Demons working together.
Showing
intelligence.
Merely using the Sedona portal to reach the portal in Mount
Shasta should have been beyond them, at least in the beginning.

Dax had explained it, how
demons crossing from one dimension to another lost what little intelligence
they had. It took time and experience in Earth’s dimension before they could
begin to act with true cognitive thought. Only the demon king had shown actual
intelligence, the ability to plot and plan.

Demonkind was changing.
Evolving almost before their eyes.

Alton swung HellFire through
the demon wraiths that formed the legs. Sparks flew, demons screeched, and the
stench of sulfur burned his nostrils.

The entire creature collapsed.

Just as quickly, it reformed.
New demons flowed into position to build a new set of legs. This time, when
Alton swung his sword, the creature of mist opened its black jaws wide. It
screeched in defiance—the sound of many voices working as one—and twisted out
of the way.

Alton leapt forward and
slashed HellFire through the body of the beast. More wraiths exploded and
disappeared, but this made no sense. What in the nine hells was it trying to
do? As mist, it had no real weapons. A beast of cloud, no matter how foul, had
no way to cause damage.

There was so much they didn’t
know, and as soon as they thought they’d figured something out about demonkind,
the damned creatures appeared to evolve into something different, breaking
their own rules.

At least they still died
beneath HellFire’s fury. Alton swung his sword and watched with great
satisfaction as the demons he touched with the crystal blade exploded on
contact.

He heard Ginny’s grunts and
soft curses. The screech and howl of dying demons added its discordant song.
Yet still they came. Even more wraiths poured through the gateway from Sedona,
but why here? What drew them and where were they going? Were they headed for
Evergreen or Lemuria?

Either choice was bad. Somehow
he had to stop the demons’ access. He’d closed off their gateway from Bell Rock
to Abyss. Were all these demons already in Sedona? Were they using the power of
the vortex to move from one part of Earth’s dimension to another, or were they
somehow new demons, fresh from Abyss, coming in through an undiscovered portal?

Alton slashed through the last
of the demons and the beast disappeared in a puff of stinking black smoke.
Alton coughed and his eyes watered. He stepped back, took a deep breath, and
turned to check on Ginny.

The only thing left in the
cavern was the stench of sulfur. He raised HellFire. The brilliant glow of
crystal illuminated the entire cavern. There was no sign of Ginny. The only
sound he heard was the blood pounding in his ears, the harsh intake of one
breath after another. A chill raced along his spine. “Ginny?” he shouted.
“Ginny! Where are you?”