Infernal Father of Mine (45 page)

I blew as hard as I could and sent it right
back down his ugly throat. Then I reared my head back and slammed
him in the face with my horns.

Maloreck grunted, the first sound of pain I'd
heard. He bellowed and snapped his jaws at my face. I held him at
bay by his throat and squeezed, roaring so loudly it overcame the
cacophony of battle. For a brief moment, everything went
silent.

Maloreck laughed. It sounded like a man with
third-degree pneumonia at the bottom of a pool of slime. "You are
more impressive than I knew."

"Surrender or die," I said in a deep guttural
voice. If I could beat this thing, maybe he would acknowledge me as
his master. "Join me!"

"You have not defeated the bright one," he
wheezed. "I cannot submit."

I squeezed his throat. "Then die." Something
slammed against my back. I heard the phlegmy breath of a Nazdal at
my throat. More bodies impacted me, throwing me forward. Maloreck
snapped at my face. His teeth caught on the armor and tore it
loose. I felt stabs of pain as more Nazdal on my back tore at the
armor.

I threw Maloreck against the wall. He slammed
into it, sending a crack up its face. I gripped the Nazdal on my
neck and crushed its throat with a brutal squeeze. My tail gripped
another by the arm and flung it at Maloreck as he gained his feet.
He swatted his minion out of the way. More claws and bites stung my
legs. I gripped two more of the disfigured attackers and smashed
them together. Blood and gore spattered into my eyes.

Maloreck slammed into me while I was blinded.
We rolled across the floor, tearing at each other with abandon.
Chunks of his flesh tore loose as my clawed hands dug in. He didn't
seem to feel the pain, his own claws tearing at my armor and
stabbing into my toughened skin. Somehow, I stopped the roll while
I was on top. I gripped his neck and slammed his head into the
floor. He spat a stream of red liquid into my eyes. A bellow of
pain erupted from my throat. I'd never been sprayed with pepper
spray, but imagined it couldn't feel as bad as this. My eyes burned
like a thousand suns.

Teeth like razor-sharp spikes clamped into my
bicep. I swung my other fist blindly and missed. His jaw clamped
down on my other arm. I tried to grab him but he slipped away
before I made contact. His next attack stabbed savagely into my
leg. This time, I tried to retreat, backing away. I felt the wall
and knew I was trapped. I couldn't see, and the agony was
overpowering.

Maloreck seemed to know he had me. "You fought
well, but you are not strong enough."

"You couldn't take me one-on-one," I shot back.
"Your little pals are the only thing that saved you, you
lily-livered pansy." As insults went, it certainly wasn't my best
work, but I was in absolute searing pain. My eyes felt like
miniature volcanoes. The places where Maloreck had bitten me stung
like a swarm of mutant bees had made me their own personal pin
cushion.

"Your insults will not win this fight," he
said, sounding closer than a moment before. "Nothing will,
now."

I braced for his next attack and fervently
wished I'd trained with a blindfold like Elyssa had often
suggested. I had no way to see this creature, and from the sounds
of battle, it didn't seem anyone was coming to my aid anytime soon.
If only I had Minder Justin with me to show the way.

An answer slapped me in the noggin. I didn't
need eyes to see this jackass. I had incubus abilities. Despite the
searing agony in my eyeballs, I managed to extend my senses. I
still couldn't open my eyes, but I felt the presence of Maloreck
nearby. He was a few feet in front of me, pacing back and forth. I
felt a burst of glee from him and his clawed hand slammed me in the
side of the head.

I staggered left. Another surge of manic joy
pulsed from him and I braced as another blow punched into my
gut.

"Your life will add to mine," he gurgled. "I
will be mightier than the bright one."

"You sure enjoy playing with your food," I
said. "Admit it. You're afraid to fight me even while I'm
blind."

That remark triggered what I could only
describe as hurt pride. I sensed a surge of emotion and knew he was
coming in. This time I was ready. I ducked and charged forward. My
shoulder met what felt like his stomach. Maloreck grunted. A shock
of surprise emanated from him. Using my momentum, I leapt forward
and slammed him earthward. Air burst from his throat. I
guesstimated where his throat was, and managed to find it on the
first try, gripping it with both hands and squeezing.

He flailed, hissing and gurgling. His claws dug
at my face. I held my head back, and squeezed my eyes tighter. I
felt more Nazdal leap onto my back. This time, I ignored them. The
pain they caused was nothing like the infernos in my
eyes.

How long does this stuff take to
wear off?

I squeezed with all my might, desperate to end
the fight fast. Maloreck's claws raked against my stomach. I knew
the armor had failed when I felt my flesh ripping. At this point, I
didn't care. I had to kill him or die.

"I'll save you, Justin!" I heard Ivy shout. The
Nazdal on my back screeched. I smelled burning flesh. The load on
my back lightened and the attacks stopped. Something wrapped around
my midriff and tore me loose from Maloreck, depositing me on the
floor.

A tremendous roar sundered the air. "
Xhi
kakini xhe
," bellowed a demonic voice.
I will kill
you.

I felt tender hands press against my face.
"Hold still, Justin," Mom said. "I'll make you better."

Cool, cold liquid splashed down my face and the
agony subsided. I blinked my eyes open and saw Mom's face through a
haze. She trickled more of her miracle fluid into my eyes, and the
haze faded until my sight was once again clear. I stood, looking
desperately for Maloreck. When I found him, I saw I had hurt him.
Blood poured from multiple wounds. Even so, he still looked as
dangerous as ever, though not as dangerous as the towering
red-skinned demon facing him.

"Leave my son alone," my father said, his voice
deep and booming. "I think it's time you died."

Mom grunted. "I concur, David."

Ivy stood next to Mom. "You hurt my brother,"
she growled. "Let's finish this!"

"You are not as strong," Maloreck hissed at my
father. "If he had not injured me, you would have no hope of
winning."

"Now look who's crying foul," I
bellowed.

Maloreck seemed to know the gig was up. Faced
with the four of us, even he didn't have a chance. He turned to
run. Ivy threw out a hand. A net of blinding white shackled him to
the floor. Dad made a fist and punched upward. His hand opened
wide. A fiery hand ripped from the ground and clenched the Nazdal's
midriff. He screamed as his flesh steamed and burned. Dad squeezed
his hand tighter. Bones crunched. Gouts of blood spewed from the
creature's mouth.

Dad looked at me. "Finish him off,
son."

I roared and charged the trapped Nazdal. Using
all my strength, I karate-chopped him in the throat. Maloreck
gurgled. I chopped again. Breath rattled from his mouth. Gripping
his head in my large hands, I twisted and yanked. With a sick, wet
pop, his head dislocated and hung loose by the flesh. Maloreck
wheezed his last breath.

I saw several of the larger Nazdal racing for
the body. I knew if they took his life essence, we'd have another
huge problem on our hands. Mom came to my side and pressed her
hands together. She drew them apart, displaying a roiling ball of
white light. She thrust her hands forward and a beam of Brilliance
sliced through the first Nazdal. Mom swept it left and right,
shearing off limbs and heads.

"Ivy, get rid of the body," I said.

Still maintaining the net of Brilliance around
Maloreck's corpse, she swung her arm and hurled the body far back
behind our defensive lines.

Looking across the room, I caught sight of
Elyssa and a group of Templars finishing off the remaining
Nazdal.

"We did it," I said, hardly able to believe
it.

"We sure did, bro," Ivy said, wiping her hands
and scowling at the remaining force. She looked me up and down.
"You actually look kinda cool as a demon. Maybe I could learn how
to—"

Mom grimaced. "Ivy, find Nightliss and help
her."

Ivy pouted. "But she doesn't need—"

"
Ivy
," Mom said in a stern voice. "She
needs you."

My sister sighed. "Fine. But I want to learn
how to be a demon too." She looked across the chamber and sprinted
where Nightliss was helping Templars fend off flanking
attackers.

I shoved the demon back in its cage, resuming
my normal form.

Dad also shrank back to normal size. "We still
haven't finished off the brain," he reminded me. "I can't believe
Serena hasn't shown up—"

The words had hardly left his mouth when dozens
of sentinels burst through the door. I caught sight of Serena
through the open passage, eyes glittering with what could only be
anger. The sentinels weren't the only thing coming through the
door. I saw ghouls shambling close behind. After them came more
Nazdal. I remembered Serena saying there were hundreds of ghouls
and god only knew how many more of the crawling sub-human
Nazdal.

The light of victory vanished from Dad's eyes
as he looked at the oncoming horde. "Okay, now I'm
pissed."

"We're outnumbered," Mom said.

I heard Elyssa shout a command and saw the
Templars reforming their ranks. Bodies littered the floor. How many
Templars lay dead, I couldn't tell, but at least the dead Nazdal
seemed to outnumber our people. Elyssa spoke with two other Templar
squad leaders, and then ran over to us. "We're going to hold the
line."

Mom's eyes flashed wide. "Impossible. We need
an orderly retreat." She glanced at the arch. "I can remove the
rune, but it will take several minutes. Once the last Templar is
through, I'll remove it and shut down the arch."

Elyssa shook her head. "There's no escaping
this room once the portal is closed. You'll be trapped and Serena
will still have it."

"We can blast a hole in the back wall." Mom
seemed to measure the distance. "If you take care of that and
provide me with a flying carpet, I can hide until we find another
way out of the Gloom."

"These walls are incredibly thick, not to
mention magic resistant." My girlfriend clenched her jaw and looked
at the encroaching force. "They have a numbers advantage, but not
all of them can fit in this room."

"That door is a bottleneck we can take
advantage of," Dad said, pointing to the narrow opening.

A Nazdal and ghoul squeezed through the door at
the same time. The ghoul roared and grabbed the Nazdal. With a
savage swing, it slammed the creature against the floor like a sack
of flour until it hung limp. Another ghoul shambled through while
the first subhuman snacked on the body of its victim, seemingly
oblivious to anything else around it. Other Nazdal crowded around
the body, probably taking what little life essence they
could.

"They're not a coherent fighting force," Elyssa
said. "Just a bunch of monsters. Maybe we can use that to our
advantage."

Even as the ghouls and Nazdal bumped and
crowded through the door, more infighting erupted. By now, the
Templars formed a solid wall. Those in the front held their shields
in an overlapping pattern while Arcanes and swordsmen stood
behind.

Dad took Mom by the arm. "Before you go
trapping yourself in the Gloom, let me try something
else."

She looked up at him. "But, David—"

"You remember the Battle of the Sand
Canyon?"

She nodded.

"We beat impossible odds then. We can do it
again."

Mom smiled. "Just like old times, isn't
it?"

He chuckled. "Never a dull moment when you're
around, Alysea. Besides, you know me; I always have another card up
my sleeve." He gripped my shoulder. "Come on, Justin."

He and I jogged through the Shadow Nexus portal
and into the Three Sisters arch control room back in the real
world. Racing from beneath the Alabaster Arch, we took the aisle to
the front of the chamber. A Templar manned the modulus. Dad pulled
out an arcphone and dialed a number. I heard a female voice answer.
"Looks like I'll need you after all." He handed the phone to the
Templar. "Please do as she says."

Before I could ask who he'd called, Dad turned
and raced back toward the portal to the Gloom. Through the portal,
I saw Mom and Elyssa looking toward the wall of Templars—a thin
black line standing between Serena's forces and the rune. My
stomach sank as I thought of how close we were to losing this
battle and how close Daelissa was to realizing her dream of world
domination.

We stepped back through. I opened my mouth to
ask Dad who he'd contacted when Elyssa raced up to me. "We're
trying to push enemy forces back toward the door. The Arcanes are
at a disadvantage because they're at floor level."