Red Blooded
Page 21
“We call them wyverns and you are correct when you say dead air. They are truly dead beings and they only exist on this plane.”
“You’re not talking about demon ghosts, are you? Please tell me that’s not what you’re saying.” If the demons had an equivalent of a vampire Screamer, this entire foray into the Sholls was hopeless. There was no way we could defeat a dozen demon Screamers.
“Not exactly,” she answered as we neared the main square and slowed to a jog. “When a demon dies a true death it enters into what we call the Unknown. The Sholls is known. If a demon comes here instead, they have become other after their death… changed. Many believe it’s not a true death, but a half death. Their serpentine side takes over, much as if you became a rabid wolf for all eternity.”
“No.” I shook my head emphatically. “That wouldn’t be the right equivalent. An equal comparison to what I just saw would be if I died and became Bigfoot and could turn invisible whenever I wanted. That thing was as big as a dragon. Ten times the size of a regular demon. How can something that big become invisible and have no substance or magic signature?” Whatever had latched on to me was like a ghost.
“That’s the way it hunts. It has to become corporeal to spot its prey,” Lily answered. “When it is solid for those few moments, it is vulnerable to attack. Then as a ghost it can kill you without worry or harm.”
“But you took care of it when it was invisible.” We’d stopped by the corner of the last building before the square with all the weathered gazebos. The slabs on the buildings were jagged and decidedly unsmooth. The polar opposite of what it looked like on the demon side. The sky was still dark and nasty and everything was hazy and hard to focus on. The air made everything distorted.
“That’s because I knew where it was.” She eyed me intently. “It was choking the life out of you. That”—she paused—“and I have a special gift.” She shook her head to steel herself in order to divulge information she didn’t want to, which I knew demons were loathed to do. They liked to keep their secrets close.
I took in a shallow, labored breath, waiting for her to answer.
“I alone can banish the wyverns.”
8
I glanced at the demoness, my eyebrows arched. She was no normal demon. That wasn’t even up for debate. She clearly had vast abilities. Whatever supernatural she was mixed with made her extremely potent. And by her own admission, she’d managed to charm the Prince of Hell into submission and become his lover.
“So that’s why the demons looked horrified when they saw us heading here?” I asked. “They can follow us if they wanted to, but no demon wants to die a horrible death being ripped apart by the ghost wyverns?”
“That is one of the reasons,” she answered, appearing nonchalant. “The other is that if they die here, they stay here in a half death, and none are willing to risk it. But it makes it a perfect place to escape, because other than the wyverns, we can walk here unmolested.”
I chortled. “I don’t think unmolested is the word you’re looking for. Nor would I deem this a ‘perfect place’ for anything.” I rubbed my aching neck. The thing that grabbed me had a powerful grip.
“Duck!” Lily shouted.
I hit the ground with preternatural speed.
A spell shot through the air above me. “We must go now before more descend.” I stood slowly. Lily kept her hands up, aimed right above me. “The openness of the feeding grounds will make us more vulnerable, but we have to cross them. There’s a portal on the roof of the courthouse that will take us inside to where your brother is being held.”
“Won’t the demons know where we’re headed and be ready and waiting?” It seemed logical.
“No,” the demoness answered stonily. “There are several safer routes to traverse. They will be guarding those, assuming we would choose the easiest path. This one is… treacherous, and because of that, few know of its existence.”
“And why wouldn’t they know about it?”
“Because anyone who has tried to pass through here has perished.” Before I could respond to that she took off. “Follow or die,” she called over her shoulder.
My wolf snarled as I ran after her, pumping my legs and arms as fast as I could. You heard her, Tyler is just across these… feeding grounds. I shivered as we dodged our way among the gazebos. We can’t forget why we came here.
We were halfway through the square when I felt movement all around us.
The air shifted quickly, back and forth, creating a strong breeze. Running in a straight line was very difficult to manage, even with super strength. It felt like I was inebriated, lunging one way and then another.
“Stay low and start changing your position constantly,” Lily called.
“Changing my position is not a problem,” I yelled back. “The air is already doing that for me.”
In front of me, Lily dodged around gazebos, changing her posture from low to high. I followed, making sure I did the same, varying my pace as much as I could. A few times I felt a huge burst of movement beside me and I wondered how many of these guys we had evaded. I hadn’t seen any of them flash solid again, so they were only guessing where we were.
“They are coming!” the demoness shouted.
“What do you mean coming? Aren’t they already here?”
The air suddenly blinked with more wyverns than I could count. They dotted in and out of existence like bursts of lightning and they were closing in like sharks circling a school of exactly two sardines.
They were about to pick us off easily.
Lily skidded to a stop and leaped into one of the gazebos. “Hurry,” she called, beckoning to me. “Get inside.”
One jump and I cleared the railing, but before I could get fully inside, something raked my back. I landed, evading it, and slid in what looked to be the remains of something too big to be a piglet. The wyverns must eat in these gazebos too. Old habits must die hard.
Jesus, this place sucked so bad.
“Get behind me,” the demoness shouted.
“There is no behind,” I snarled. “We’re in a goddamn circle!”
“Just stay down. We’re going to have to wait until they’ve all gathered. Once they do, I’ll unleash a big blast. We’ll only have moments to get to the rooftop of that building.” She gestured to the side. “Wait for my lead.”
“You’re not talking about demon ghosts, are you? Please tell me that’s not what you’re saying.” If the demons had an equivalent of a vampire Screamer, this entire foray into the Sholls was hopeless. There was no way we could defeat a dozen demon Screamers.
“Not exactly,” she answered as we neared the main square and slowed to a jog. “When a demon dies a true death it enters into what we call the Unknown. The Sholls is known. If a demon comes here instead, they have become other after their death… changed. Many believe it’s not a true death, but a half death. Their serpentine side takes over, much as if you became a rabid wolf for all eternity.”
“No.” I shook my head emphatically. “That wouldn’t be the right equivalent. An equal comparison to what I just saw would be if I died and became Bigfoot and could turn invisible whenever I wanted. That thing was as big as a dragon. Ten times the size of a regular demon. How can something that big become invisible and have no substance or magic signature?” Whatever had latched on to me was like a ghost.
“That’s the way it hunts. It has to become corporeal to spot its prey,” Lily answered. “When it is solid for those few moments, it is vulnerable to attack. Then as a ghost it can kill you without worry or harm.”
“But you took care of it when it was invisible.” We’d stopped by the corner of the last building before the square with all the weathered gazebos. The slabs on the buildings were jagged and decidedly unsmooth. The polar opposite of what it looked like on the demon side. The sky was still dark and nasty and everything was hazy and hard to focus on. The air made everything distorted.
“That’s because I knew where it was.” She eyed me intently. “It was choking the life out of you. That”—she paused—“and I have a special gift.” She shook her head to steel herself in order to divulge information she didn’t want to, which I knew demons were loathed to do. They liked to keep their secrets close.
I took in a shallow, labored breath, waiting for her to answer.
“I alone can banish the wyverns.”
8
I glanced at the demoness, my eyebrows arched. She was no normal demon. That wasn’t even up for debate. She clearly had vast abilities. Whatever supernatural she was mixed with made her extremely potent. And by her own admission, she’d managed to charm the Prince of Hell into submission and become his lover.
“So that’s why the demons looked horrified when they saw us heading here?” I asked. “They can follow us if they wanted to, but no demon wants to die a horrible death being ripped apart by the ghost wyverns?”
“That is one of the reasons,” she answered, appearing nonchalant. “The other is that if they die here, they stay here in a half death, and none are willing to risk it. But it makes it a perfect place to escape, because other than the wyverns, we can walk here unmolested.”
I chortled. “I don’t think unmolested is the word you’re looking for. Nor would I deem this a ‘perfect place’ for anything.” I rubbed my aching neck. The thing that grabbed me had a powerful grip.
“Duck!” Lily shouted.
I hit the ground with preternatural speed.
A spell shot through the air above me. “We must go now before more descend.” I stood slowly. Lily kept her hands up, aimed right above me. “The openness of the feeding grounds will make us more vulnerable, but we have to cross them. There’s a portal on the roof of the courthouse that will take us inside to where your brother is being held.”
“Won’t the demons know where we’re headed and be ready and waiting?” It seemed logical.
“No,” the demoness answered stonily. “There are several safer routes to traverse. They will be guarding those, assuming we would choose the easiest path. This one is… treacherous, and because of that, few know of its existence.”
“And why wouldn’t they know about it?”
“Because anyone who has tried to pass through here has perished.” Before I could respond to that she took off. “Follow or die,” she called over her shoulder.
My wolf snarled as I ran after her, pumping my legs and arms as fast as I could. You heard her, Tyler is just across these… feeding grounds. I shivered as we dodged our way among the gazebos. We can’t forget why we came here.
We were halfway through the square when I felt movement all around us.
The air shifted quickly, back and forth, creating a strong breeze. Running in a straight line was very difficult to manage, even with super strength. It felt like I was inebriated, lunging one way and then another.
“Stay low and start changing your position constantly,” Lily called.
“Changing my position is not a problem,” I yelled back. “The air is already doing that for me.”
In front of me, Lily dodged around gazebos, changing her posture from low to high. I followed, making sure I did the same, varying my pace as much as I could. A few times I felt a huge burst of movement beside me and I wondered how many of these guys we had evaded. I hadn’t seen any of them flash solid again, so they were only guessing where we were.
“They are coming!” the demoness shouted.
“What do you mean coming? Aren’t they already here?”
The air suddenly blinked with more wyverns than I could count. They dotted in and out of existence like bursts of lightning and they were closing in like sharks circling a school of exactly two sardines.
They were about to pick us off easily.
Lily skidded to a stop and leaped into one of the gazebos. “Hurry,” she called, beckoning to me. “Get inside.”
One jump and I cleared the railing, but before I could get fully inside, something raked my back. I landed, evading it, and slid in what looked to be the remains of something too big to be a piglet. The wyverns must eat in these gazebos too. Old habits must die hard.
Jesus, this place sucked so bad.
“Get behind me,” the demoness shouted.
“There is no behind,” I snarled. “We’re in a goddamn circle!”
“Just stay down. We’re going to have to wait until they’ve all gathered. Once they do, I’ll unleash a big blast. We’ll only have moments to get to the rooftop of that building.” She gestured to the side. “Wait for my lead.”
