Sinister Seraphim of Mine (Overworld Chronicles Book 8) (44 page)

I heard metal sing as it came free from a scabbard. "Come get me, you bastards." Crump intercepted the first Nazdal and sliced off its arm.

I saw the lever we had to pull. Four other Nazdal blocked our way to it. I channeled a wave of raw Murk and blasted the creatures with it. The force sent them tumbling and flying off the roof. Crump roared and sliced the head off his attacker. Blood spattered his face. He stood there panting for a moment and then calmly sheathed his sword.

Something in the front of the mansion caught my eye. The trees shook with movement as more Nazdal threaded through them. From my vantage point on the roof, I looked out over the trees and felt my butt pucker. Hundreds of Templars and battle mages were formed up on Greek Row. The army wasn't massive, but it was more than enough to crush our tiny force.

"Bastards," Crump said. He'd climbed up the roof and was looking down on the other side. "At least Brogna and Atkinson took eight of the bastards with them." He gripped the lever next to one of the many gargoyles lining the peak of the house and gave it a yank.

The glowing eyes of the stone creatures brightened. As one, they jerked upright, wings unfurling. Their stone jaws grated open and high-pitched shrieks pierced the air. A Nazdal gurgled in agony. I looked down and saw what looked like huge ants crawling through the woods. A writhing, screaming Nazdal was covered in them. Half-eaten corpses of other Nazdal lay in the wake of the dark insectoid wave.

I heard a battle cry and saw hordes of well-dressed men and women swarming toward the mansion through the woods. Many had rifles and pistols. I magnified my vision and saw fangs and red eyes.
Vampires.
The guns killed some of the giant ants, but did little to stop their march.

The gargoyles spread their giant stone wings and leapt from the roof. Through some miracle of magic, the creatures glided to the ground and landed with booming thuds. Bullets pinged off their stone hides as they waded into the fray. I saw fear in the eyes of the vampires, but they seemed unable to retreat or turn back. It only took me a moment to figure out why. A line of other vampires stood behind the fighters. Judging from the looks of concentration on their faces, they were using compulsion to keep their fighters in the battle.

The gargoyles swung their massive arms, sending opponents flying through the air. Bodies smacked into trees with such tremendous force, splinters flew, and the crackle of wood rose above the pops of gunfire. Jeremiah came out onto the balcony with Hsu. Crump and I jumped from the roof to join them.

"Giant ants?" I asked Jeremiah.

His gaze never left the battle. "One of my old friend's experiments. We had to put them in a preservation spell to keep them from tearing down the forest to build a giant mound. I decided they might serve as a useful defense someday."

I pointed out the vampire leaders. "If we could do something about the brood sires, we might take some of their soldiers out of the fight."

Crump narrowed his eyes and surveyed the battlefield. "Hsu and I might be able to cut east where the ants killed all those Nazdal creatures." He pointed a swath of dead bodies. "We could swing around and possibly disable some with Lancers."

"Maybe we could sneak out that way," I said. "I don't see—" Figures in dark Templar armor appeared behind the army of ants. Swords drawn, they began hacking at the creatures. "Never mind."

Crump hissed between his teeth. "There's no getting out of here." He ran back up the roof and looked around, slid back down to us and shook his head. "More Synod soldiers lurking that way. The ants are keeping them busy for now, but that won't last long."

Jeremiah raised his staff and waved it toward the gargoyles. The stone beings turned their sights on the vampire controllers and charged them. The brood sires were so intent on manipulating their minions, they didn't see the charge until the last second. By then, it was too late. The gargoyles tore into them, killing several before they scattered. With the compulsion off them, the vampire ranks broke into full retreat. A group of them took aim and fired—not at the gargoyles, but at the vampires who'd been controlling them.

"Hah," Crump laughed. "Those scrubs are done with the mind control."

A brilliant beam of white light consumed several rebellious vampires. I spotted Qualan and Qualas laughing with joy as they slaughtered their fleeing deserters.

Their job complete, the gargoyles turned and faced the Synod soldiers who were still busy with the ants. I felt useless, but joining the attack against so many enemies would be suicidal. Swords clanged on stone as the Synod soldiers fought the gargoyles. The defenders broke steel and bones, sweeping their huge wings at their attackers to knock them off balance before crushing them with hands like sledgehammers.

"We could use the gargoyles to form a wedge," Hsu said. "Perhaps escape that way."

"And go where?" Jeremiah said. "We can't simply go to the way station in Queens Gate with an army on our tail."

"Do you have a phone?" I asked Hsu. I wanted to slap myself for not thinking of it sooner. "If we can get out of range of the portal blockers, Commander Salazar could open one for us."

"I have my communicator." Hsu pointed to a black pendant on the collar of his armor. "It's only short range, though."

"We don't usually carry phones into battle," Crump said.

"There must be one in the mansion somewhere," I said.

"I did a quick search of the rooms when I went for Mr. Conroy's water," Hsu replied. "Apparently the evacuees were very fond of their tablets and phones."

Think, Justin, think!

I was out of ideas. Despite our small army of defenders, we were only postponing the inevitable.

Chapter 39

We needed more soldiers, and there was only one place I could think to get them. I dropped into meditation and reached through the window in my soul to Haedaemos. Within seconds, a familiar presence found me.

I am here, Master.
It was the same demon who'd helped with the scorps.

I need hellhounds.
I sent him an image of what we were up against. His reply was the image of something big, dark, and scary.

Just what the doctor ordered.

Having never summoned anything except for hellhounds, I hoped this worked. Concentrating on a bare patch of earth in front of the mansion, I imagined the birth of a demon warrior rising from the depths. An oily patch of goo formed on the ground. It frothed and bubbled, growing wider as something strained to break free.

A faceless head with only a single glowing red eye burst from the morass. A body that seemed comprised of swirling dark matter soon followed. The demon was nearly the height of the house and looked like a black vortex with a head and two arms.

The weight of the world seemed to fill my brain. I felt my shoulders sag and my neck ache from the heavy presence.

"The Abyss awaits," the demon said in a voice of many voices speaking all at once in different pitches and tones.

"Are you kidding me?" I heard someone in the enemy ranks shout.

The demon aimed a fist at a group of Synod soldiers. A pulsating black ray raked across the squad and absolutely annihilated them, sending their flesh scattering to the wind.

"Heavens, boy," Jeremiah said in a harsh voice. "You've summoned an Abyssal."

"A what?" I asked, straining to keep my concentration intact.

"One of the primordial demons from the deepest depths of Haedaemos." He stared at the creature. "Do not, for one moment, let your concentration lapse."

I pressed my fingers to my aching temples. "I'm trying."

Crump stared with awe at the being. "I've never seen anything like it."

A swarm of Nazdal launched themselves at the demon. Those that were not obliterated before they reached the creature, clawed and bit at its neck. The Abyssal gripped one in its giant hand and crushed it like a tomato.

Battle mages pushed forward a flying carpet with a red pyramid atop it. They set the object on the ground. One of the men waved his staff at it, and the pyramid unfolded over and over again until a complex pattern covered a space of several yards. My demon was too preoccupied fighting off the Nazdal to notice it.

"What's that?" I asked Jeremiah.

"The answer to your Abyssal," he said with a grim look.

The pattern flashed. Thunder boomed. The Abyssal killed the last Nazdal and turned as a new demon exploded from the ground in the center of the pattern. The creature had three legs, two arms, and a long sinuous neck with a snake head. Its skin bore thick green scales that oozed a poisonous-looking goop.

The snake demon struck at the Abyssal. Long fangs buried deep in vortex demon's shoulder. His many-voices voice cried out. He raked a dark obliteration ray across the attacker. Scales ripped from the snake demon's belly. It hissed and flailed. Green liquid spurted from the wounds, spattering the Abyssal's midnight skin, causing it to bubble where it hit.

The two demons slammed each other back and forth with blows from giant hands, trampling swaths of trees. I spotted the group of battle mages who'd summoned the demon and tried to blast them, but they were too far away and had an aether shield covering them.

The Abyssal, however seemed to pick up on my thoughts. It shoved the snake demon back toward the aether generators. One of the three giant feet crushed the generator and two of the battle mages. The other three who were maintaining the summoning screamed as the weight of concentration transferred to only their minds. The freed snake demon turned on its summoners and snapped two of them in its giant maw. Humanoid-shaped lumps slid down the inside of the sinuous throat.

My demon aimed both fists at the snake creature and fired black beams of ring-shaped energy. The demon hissed and lunged for the Abyssal. Darkness exploded from the reptile demon's back as the energy tore through it. Its mortally wounded body slammed into the vortex demon. The two creatures crashed into a few remaining trees and slammed to earth with the Abyssal beneath the reptile. The snake demon hissed one last time, and the yellow glow in its eyes flickered out. My demon attempted to rise, but the poisonous blood of its attacker covered him. His skin bubbled like tar and smoked. The odor of Brimstone suffused the air.

The Abyssal demon's head turned toward me as its body melted. "The Abyss also stares into you," it said. Its body collapsed into a black mote floating in the air, as if sucked into a singularity of unimaginable gravity. With a boom and a shockwave that sent soldiers, gargoyles and ants flying, it vanished.

The weight in my mind lifted and I felt as though I could fly. Unfortunately, our biggest, baddest soldier was dead.

"Should we survive this, you would do well to avoid such summonings," Jeremiah said, his eyes locked on the empty place where two giant demons had fought. "Remember, brute force is not always the answer."

I didn't have a smartass reply for him.

Even though the demons had been the center of attention, the gargoyles and remaining ants had not stopped fighting. Scores of enemies lay dead, but our defending forces were much smaller than before.

"Enough!" a female roared. Her voice carried over the fray. Daelissa, flanked by Qualan and Qualas, levitated over the trees, flaming white wings spreading behind their backs. The three Brightlings fired scorching beams at the stone gargoyles.

One by one, our strongest defenders were reduced to red-hot puddles of lava. Battle mages came behind the Seraphim, sending waves of fire at the giant ants. I could hear the sizzling of insect flesh and the alien shrieks as they died.

Daelissa turned her sights on us.

Qualan laughed. "Where is your army, boy?"

"I believe this is all he has, brother." Cruel laughter danced in Qualas's throat. "My Queen, we have them."

Daelissa hardly seemed to look at me, instead focusing a look of pure hatred on Jeremiah. "
Moses
." She spat the word like a curse. "Ezzek Moore." Sizzling orbs of Brilliance formed in either palm. "Jeremiah Conroy." She aimed her palms at the man. "Die, traitor."

Twin beams of malevolence lanced at Jeremiah. Light glowed at the end of his staff, but from the look in his eyes, he knew he couldn't prevent his death.

Maybe I can.

I threw up a shield of Murk and willed it to reflect the damage. The channeled energy splashed across the barrier for an instant and rebounded. I angled the surface downward and swept it across the Synod ranks. Enemies screamed as their own leader burned them to ash with her wrath. Trees fell and burst into flames. I swept the beams to the opposite side of the mansion and the woods caught fire.

Battle mages and other combatants fled back out toward the road to escape the blaze. Daelissa shrieked with anger and stopped the attack. It was none too soon, because the strain of holding the shield was almost too much.

"You've given me an idea," Jeremiah said under his breath. "Once the woods to the rear catch fire, you may be able to escape that way."

"Don't you mean
we
?" I asked.

"No." He set his jaw. "You'll need a rather large diversion to aid you." He turned to me. "I am that diversion."

"I can't let you do that," I said between clenched teeth. "You still have a lot to teach me."

Jeremiah smiled. "You have done a fine job on your own, Justin."

"Kill him!" Qualan shouted. He gripped his sister's hand. The two stretched out their opposite arms and thrust them forward. Two spears of light twisted around each other, boiling and growing into a small white star. My shield didn't have a chance of reflecting it.

I aimed a wedge of Murk at the growing orb just as they cast it toward us. Creation met destruction in a blast wave that sent the three Brightlings tumbling backward through the air and plastered the four of us against the side of the balcony.

"Remember, you are as I once was," Jeremiah shouted above the explosion. "You are the one to bring the defenders together and save Eden." He gripped my shoulders, eyes fierce. He smiled. "You and your Elyssa have the rarest gift this universe has to offer. True love." He spun to face the enemy as Daelissa and the other two Brightlings recovered from the shockwave. A smile of joy lit his face. "You will save Eden. I will see my Thesha again." A tear trickled down his face as it morphed into that of Moses.