Demonfire (10 page)

He glanced over his shoulder
to make certain no guards followed them. Then he turned, took a deep breath,
and faced the portal within the vortex. Taron hadn’t exaggerated. It reeked
with the filthy stench of demon, and displayed all the signs of an active route
from Abyss to Earth.

The demon in human form
stepped up beside him.
Dax.
Alton reminded himself
that despite the sense of demon clinging to him, Dax was one of the good guys.
Unfortunately, Alton’s sword didn’t seem to care. He tightened his grasp on the
hilt to keep it from attacking the man.

Dax appeared puzzled by the
gateway to his home world.

“Is this the one you came through?”
Alton nodded toward the wall. Power surged through his blade once again. He
pointed it off to his side, away from Dax. The thing jerked in his hand as it
tried to strike out, to kill the demon beside him. Alton held the sword still.

Dax shook his head. “I’m not
sure. The whole night is just a blur to me. I remember thinking the demon that
attacked me was expecting me. He was lying in wait, but not here. It was
somewhere else that he hit me with his cursed fire.” He glanced about the
cavern and shook his head. “Damn. I’m not even certain if it was inside the
cavern, or after I’d stepped out of the mountain. Nor am I sure if I came
through from Abyss or possibly straight from Eden.”

Willow buzzed close to Dax as
he stared at the ground a moment. Was he organizing confused thoughts, or
twisting the truth? Alton wished he could trust him more, but as much as he
wanted to believe, it was hard to ignore the sense of evil still clinging to
Dax’s human body.

Hard to ignore his sword’s
obvious desire to kill. A sword that had never drawn blood, that still hadn’t
given Alton its name. Obviously, it wanted demon blood.

The power of the demon pulsed
beneath fragile human skin or, as Dax maintained, in the tattoo hidden now
beneath his shirt. Alton’s intuition struggled with the powerful sense of
demonkind, the feeling that had all his instinctive responses on high alert
whenever Dax stood this close to him. Maybe it was worse here because of the
strong scent of the others that had passed through this particular portal.

Sulfuric stench filled the air
near this passage to Abyss, and the sense of evil surrounded them.
Surprisingly, though, the dog didn’t seem to mind, and the will-o’-the-wisp
certainly appeared loyal.

As for the woman? She was
loyal too, but that was to be expected. A woman always stuck by her man, though
the women Alton knew were not meant to fight. They lacked the killer instinct,
the physical strength, and mental prowess to do battle.

Women of Lemuria knew their
place in society. They brought comfort to the men, raised the rare child born
to a very few, made a home where a man could find peace.

Eddy Marks didn’t appear to
understand those rules a bit. When she caught him watching her, she didn’t
glance away as a maiden should. No, she practically dared him to disagree with
her. As lovely as she was, he knew a woman like her would be an exhausting mate
for any man. The demon was welcome to her.

Alton held tightly to his
sword and turned his attention to Dax once again. “Concentrate. Did it wait for
you here or outside of the mountain?”

Dax closed his eyes a moment.
Willow sparkled in the air and then settled on his shoulder. He jerked his head
up, and his eyes flashed. “Thank you, Willow. Outside,” he said, grinning
broadly at Alton. “I was outside the mountain when I emerged through the
portal. Willow reminded me that it happened as I stepped out into the half
light of early dawn. Neither Willow nor I recall how we got here—inside the cavern—or
what portal we came through, but I remember now how we got out.”

He took a few steps, as if
reliving the memory. “I stepped out of the dark cavern, passed through the
portal to the gray light of morning in Earth’s dimension. Willow was behind me.
The gargoyle waited, perched among rocks. It struck the moment I stood up. I
was unsteady, still not used to this body.”

He turned toward Eddy. “I
remember standing up, stretching one leg and then the other, facing down the
mountain away from the sun. Knowing that was the way I needed to go, because
Willow had told me. The gargoyle rose up into the air, shouted something in a
language I didn’t understand. Then it cast demonfire at my chest. Demonfire
powered by a curse.”

Dax shuddered and wrapped his
arms around his waist. “I remember pain. Horrible pain and the gargoyle
hovering over my body. Then it was gone. The sky was light and then dark. I
must have been unconscious throughout the day.” He shook his head and turned to
the woman. Frustration was in every word he spoke. “My next clear memory was
waking up in that little shed outside your house, Eddy. When the demon’s avatar
stabbed me with the pitchfork. I have no idea how I got there from here.”

Blue sparkles lit up the air.
Dax nodded. “I should have guessed. Thank you, Willow, for guiding me to Eddy.”

Eddy reached for Dax’s arm.
“You know what that means, don’t you? We have even less time than we thought.
I’ve been counting days since Sunday night. If you actually arrived early
Sunday morning, we have less time than we’d hoped.”

“Then we’ve no time to waste,”
Alton said. “Stand back. My sword dislikes demons. I don’t want it tempted by
your proximity.” Dax and Eddy backed away.

Alton held his sword out and
touched the roiling red surface of the portal. He concentrated his power
through the crystal blade, felt the link between himself and the energy in the
portal. The blade glowed in colors all across the spectrum until it finally
shimmered a brilliant green. The rock appeared to congeal, and all sense of movement
slowed. Within minutes, a solid wall of twisted, melted stone covered the area
where the doorway into Abyss had been.

“Good! That one’s sealed.” He
held his sword pointed toward the earth. The glow had dimmed now, but it still
shimmered brighter than mere crystal as Alton glanced about the cavern. “The
other gateways belong here. I recognize Atlantis, Eden, and Earth. The one we
just passed through goes to my world.”

Dax frowned. “That’s it?
You’ve just closed the portal so they can’t get in?”

Alton smiled and sheathed his
sword. There was enough light from the remaining portals to see without the
glow from the crystal blade. “That one is closed and sealed. I imagine there
are others. The mountain is a huge vortex, and this is but one small cavern. Most
likely some of the demons are capable of creating more gateways to Abyss,
though it will take them time. The trick now is to find and kill all of the
demons who have crossed over. Taron has evidence of a massive influx over the
past few days. I’m afraid we have our work cut out for us.”

“Great. Just what I wanted to
hear.” Eddy tightened her hold on Bumper’s leash. “We need to hurry. I want to
see what’s going on in town. I’m worried about Dad.” She reached into her pack
and pulled out a small contraption, flipped a lid, and gazed at a blank screen.
“No signal here. What was I thinking?”

Laughing, she grabbed Dax’s
hand and grinned at Alton. “Okay, Lemurian. We need to get out of this
mountain. Then I’ll call my father and have him come pick us up.”

Unused as he was to taking
orders from a woman, Alton realized he was already headed toward the portal
that would lead them outside. He must think about that. She definitely carried
the aura of command about her. He held his hands up and felt for the shift in dimensions,
the point where they could safely pass through.

He’d hate to end up somewhere
besides their destination, but it had been known to happen. “This way,” he
said. He took Eddy’s hand and stepped into the darkness. He sensed the others
following close behind and wondered if Eddy held as tightly to Dax as she did
to his hand. Seconds later they stepped out into the starlit sky just below the
snow line on the scree-strewn flank of Mount Shasta.

Alton turned Eddy’s small hand
loose and gazed up at the mountain’s peak, glistening with snow in the first
glimmer of early dawn. He felt a huge lump in his throat and realized he was
near tears. He’d not felt such a wealth of emotion even on the night he’d
slipped outside and walked across rain-washed ground. Stars still filled the
night sky to the west, chased by the imminent rise of the sun. The eastern
horizon shimmered with the advent of dawn.

Time in this dimension must be
linked to that of Lemuria. He’d have to ask Taron what he knew. His friend was
the one who always had the answers.

Taron. Already he missed him.
His humor, his wise countenance, his ability to find laughter wherever he went.
He wished Taron were here with him now, sharing this beautiful morning—a
morning like none he’d experienced since he was but a child. Other than a few
clandestine visits outside of Lemuria, neither of them had left their
underground world. The risk of discovery had kept them as prisoners within
their own dimension.

He’d forgotten how much he
missed the smells of clean earth and rocks still carrying the heat of
yesterday’s sun, of growing grass and melting snow. The cool sweep of fresh,
clean air blowing over his skin almost made him forget why he was here.

The decision he’d made, one
that would forever change his life. He’d chosen to throw his lot in with
absolute strangers. Their story was more outlandish than anything he’d heard
before, but it was one he couldn’t help but believe.

His choice had not been made
lightly, though he knew there would be times in the coming days when he might
regret it.

Probably would regret it.

But he knew, without any doubt
at all, he’d rather regret leaving the life of ease he’d lived for so long,
than know he’d done nothing to preserve the world that had given him so much.
He thought of his sword, still nameless, strapped across his back. Maybe now he
would prove his worth to the sentience within the crystal blade. Maybe it would
finally speak to him.

He glanced up at the sound of
Eddy’s soft voice.

“Thanks, Dad. We’re fine.
We’ll meet you there in about an hour or so. I’m okay, and I’m really sorry we
had to wake you so early. Okay. I love you, too…and Dad? I’ve got a great
surprise for you. G’bye.”

Alton stared at the woman as
she folded up the thing she’d called a phone and stuck it back in her pack. A
communication device. It struck him as odd that of this entire band, only the
will-o’-the-wisp actually used telepathy. He’d had no idea humans were so
primitive, though that thing Dax did with his hands was pretty impressive.

Of course, that was all tied
to Dax’s demon powers and the odd tattoo he claimed was now cursed—a curse Eddy
somehow seemed able to control. Such a beautiful woman, yet so fierce. She
didn’t look like a fighter with her big, brown eyes and wispy dark hair. She
had the look of a sprite about her, much like their companion, Willow.

A warrior woman of Earth, a
tiny will-o’-the-wisp from Eden, and a demon with a borrowed human body, united
against a demon invasion. How in all the hells did the pieces fit together?

Alton sensed that Eddy watched
him watch her. Unwilling to voice his real concerns, he asked, “Who were you
talking to?”

“My father.” She smiled and
nodded toward the valley. “It’s a long hike to town. He’s driving up the
mountain to get us. We’ll meet him at the end of the road in about an hour.”

She touched his forearm and
smiled up at him. “I can’t wait for my father to meet you, Alton. He’s going to
be absolutely beside himself.”

With that confusing statement,
she hoisted her pack and slung it over her shoulder. Dax grabbed the dog’s
leash, and the will-o’-the-wisp, much to Alton’s surprise, elected to perch on
his shoulder.

The sun was barely peeking
over the mountains when they started down the mountainside. Thoughtfully, with
his eyes wide open, Alton walked away from all he’d ever known.

Dax sat in the same chair he’d
been in just yesterday morning, only this time the Lemurian Alton sat across
the table from him while Eddy’s father cooked breakfast—and he was all too
aware that another day of the seven allotted to him had passed.

Gone, as if they’d never been.
Dax rubbed his hand over his chest in a vain attempt to ease the constant pain
pulsing through his tattoo. The demon’s curse grew stronger by the hour, the
pain more intense, while his ability to draw on his demon powers seemed to fade
with each passing moment.

Would the demons win, after
all? Two days down, and so far all they’d managed to do was close one portal,
while he knew at least one of the demons must have the ability to create more.
How else would that gateway between Earth and Abyss have opened?

At least they’d gained another
soldier in Alton, but would he be enough? According to Ed, the demons were
everywhere. He’d heard reports of odd happenings in town, and he’d destroyed
two ceramic garden figurines just last night when he caught them walking across
his back lawn.

He’d destroyed the figurines,
but without a weapon that would actually kill a demon, he’d allowed the
stinking mist to escape. That meant those demons had probably gone on to
animate yet another set of avatars.

“Dax?” Ed stopped midway
between the refrigerator and the stove. “As serious as the situation appears,
have you thought of contacting the authorities? Could the police or military
help? They’ve got some pretty big weapons.”

Dax shuddered at the mere
thought of the government getting involved. “That’s the worst thing that could
happen, Ed. Demons thrive on chaos. They gain strength from death and
destruction. The minute the military steps in, you’ve got all three of those
things.”

Alton agreed. “Military means
soldiers with guns, which have no effect on demons. Flamethrowers, maybe, but
can you imagine the panic? The loss of innocent lives? It would give the demons
who’ve already crossed over a huge reservoir of power.”