The wolf man leapt at us and, with my legs still spread, I slid across the ground, moving to my right, and narrowly missing him as he landed on all fours only a foot or so away from me. Facing him, I stood up straight, with my chest and torso aimed slightly forward to maintain my balance. While the creature snorted and pawed the ground, I quickly took stock of my surroundings. The other five wolf men were standing behind this one, but none were in crouching attack positions, although a few of them were coming closer.
“If the other three attack, you’ve gotta do something to attract their attention,” I whispered to Bill who stood to my left.
“Got it,” he responded.
The wolf man directly in front of me continued to stare as it resumed its crouched position before launching itself high into the air with its claws poised to rip apart whatever it happened to land on. Bill jumped out of the way at the same time that I circled around and sliced my sword through the air, with the creature at the bottom of the sword’s trajectory. I felt the blade catching in the demon’s arm. The thing yelped and jumped backward as black goo began bubbling up from its wound, a wound which was far from fatal.
Gripping my sword with all my might, I stood stock-still, my feet again shoulder-width apart as I faced the demon. After seeing its attack-style, I concluded that it wasn’t highly skilled, but probably accustomed to intimidating its adversaries just by its mere enormity. It was boastful in its attacks, which was the demon’s fatal weakness: something Tallis taught me to look for.
I maintained my fighting stance, but rather than going on the offensive, I took Tallis’s advice and waited for the creature to come at me. It, meanwhile, paced back and forth, never taking its eyes off me. It appeared to be debating whether to attack me again or return to its post and harass the souls of the damned. When it got down onto its haunches for the third time, however, I knew its intentions.
“Come on, you ugly asshole,” I whispered. I was so focused on the demon, I had no idea where Bill was or what he was doing. But he couldn’t be killed so I wasn’t going to worry about him. I kept my elbows bent and close to my sides as the creature leapt high into the air again, at an almost vertical arc. Realizing I was dead center in its path, I decided to do something very risky. In a split second, I knelt down onto my knees and rotated my sword so that the hilt was directly in line with my belly button and the blade was facing directly up and away from me.
I felt the swoosh in the air as the demon landed on top of me, my blade piercing it through the stomach and coming out through its back. It screamed a high-pitched wail that lasted for a second or two before its body went slack. I tried to roll out of the way but was too late and the dead creature pinned me to the ground. The weight of its impact drove my breath right out of my lungs. After a few seconds, I cleared the stars from my vision, but strained against the thing’s oppressive, mammoth body, and had to use every ounce of adrenalin I could muster to push it off me.
“Are you okay?” Bill asked as he helped to pull the enormous creature away from me. His eyes were wide with concern.
“Where are the other ones?” I demanded, very well aware that now would be the best opportunity for the other demons to attack us.
“They all backed away,” Bill answered as he gave me a hand up. Taking it, I sucked in a few deep breaths before assessing the situation around me again. The remaining five wolf men had retreated and were now busying themselves by growling and snarling at the souls of the damned who continued to push their stone wheels around incessantly.
Assessing my injuries a few seconds later, I happily discovered I was unscathed. Walking over to the now dead demon, I stepped on its chest with one foot while I reached down and gripped the hilt of my sword. I had to pull up on it as hard as I could. The demon’s ribs snapped as my sword emerged. It was a horrible sound I knew I wouldn’t forget any time soon.
I took another few breaths, allowing the adrenaline that was piquing inside me to dissipate so my heartbeat could return to normal. I needed to constantly maintain my own sense of cool so I wouldn’t lose it and become a hysterical mess.
I glanced back at the wolf-man pack again just to make sure they were, in fact, attending to their own business. Affirming that they were, I turned to face Bill. “Let’s go get our soul.”
He nodded as we both jogged the remaining distance of the prison yard. Reaching the double doors that led up to the third floor, Bill pulled one open, ducking his head inside to make sure the coast was clear. He nodded to me and I walked through the doors into the hallway, Bill right behind me.
“That was like Matrix worthy shit, Lils,” Bill suddenly burst out. “You were like a freakin’ ninja.” Then he karate chopped the air a few times as I checked his phone to make sure we were still going in the right direction. “Fuck that was crazy cool!” he finished with a large grin.
“Okay, Bill, we need to concentrate now,” I said, knowing that anything could still be lying in wait for us. “This mission is far from over,” I finished as we located the staircase leading to the second floor. Bill took the lead, apparently wanting to scout out the situation for me before I got there, which was fine by me.
“All clear,” he said once he reached the second floor. I pulled his phone out of my fanny pack and glanced down at the screen. Our soul was located directly above us, but the staircase to the third floor was on the opposite end of the hallway. Bill started down the hall, ahead of me, poking his head into each prison cell. When he reached the end of the hall, he paused at the bottom of the staircase leading to the third floor. With a nod at me, he let me know I was good to follow him. I ran the length of the hallway and stopped at the base of the stairs, watching as Bill started up the staircase. When he reached the top, he craned his neck down the hallway and turned around to face me, waving me up the stairs.
I took the stairs two at a time and when I reached the top, I followed Bill back down the hall, allowing him to keep a ten-foot lead on me so he could look inside each room and make sure nothing was going to attack us.
We were nearly at the end of the hallway when the sound of a woman’s scream pierced the otherwise still air. Bill and I immediately stopped walking and then just stood there. I held my sword high above my head and took a few steps toward Bill, as we both continued to listen for another sound. Moments later, it sounded like something large and possibly wooden shattered against the wall in the room at the end of the hall, which was maybe twenty feet from us. I stood stock-still, continuing to hold my sword above me in a defensive stance.
“Our soul is in that room,” I whispered to Bill. “We have to go in there.”
“Maybe we’ll be lucky and it’ll just be ghosts screaming and throwing furniture around,” Bill said nervously.
I raised both of my eyebrows in an expression that said who knew what we would find and followed Bill as he started taking baby steps toward the room. He was careful about not making any sounds, which was a good idea, since we didn’t want to alert whoever or whatever was in the room that we were out here.
I sidled along the wall a few steps behind Bill, moving swiftly and almost silently. When we reached the end of the hallway, I heard another loud bang and the sound of a woman whimpering that came from the room directly in front of us. I stood behind Bill, now only two feet from the closed door. I motioned to Bill to open the door on the count of three.
He frowned, but shaking his head, took a few steps forward and gripped the doorknob. Then he looked back at me as I mouthed: One, two, three! On three, he forced the door open at the same time that I rushed it, only to find myself up close and personal with a wide-eyed, terror-stricken girl. She darted out the door and I didn’t have time to find out where she went. Before I knew it, I was straining to look up at the most enormous creature I’d ever seen. It had to stoop down to walk through the doorway, and once it did, it looked down the hallway, presumably for the girl, before it then returned its attention to me. I held my sword in a defensive position and, amazingly, found
the gumption to speak.
“I am on Afterlife Enterprises business,” I said in a steely voice which wavered with the fear I was doing my best to suppress. “I’m here to retrieve a soul and I don’t want any trouble.”
The immense creature laughed a horrible sound that reminded me of nails on a chalkboard. It made shivers rush down my spine. “Another one?” the creature asked, presumably implying that the woman who’d just escaped was also a Retriever on Afterlife Enterprises business.
While I would have categorized this creature as a wolf-man also, it appeared different to the others. Its face much more closely resembled a wolf’s with its incredibly long and shaggy dark hair, its pointed ears that stuck straight out of its head, and its canine snout. Chains dangled from each of its wrists and looked like they had, at one time, been appointed to restrain this creature. Something which clearly hadn’t worked. The creature’s body was much more like that of a man’s than the other demons had been, but this creature was even taller and broader than they were. If I’d had to guess, I would’ve said it was ten feet tall.
“I don’t want any trouble,” I repeated.
“Are you the one who killed one of my wolves, Retriever?” the creature demanded, its voice loud as it echoed through the hall.
I didn’t know whether or not to answer the question honestly, but decided in the end that honesty was the best policy. “Yes,” I said as I tightened my grip on my sword. The creature glanced down at it and seemed to examine it closely.
“The mark of the bladesmith,” it announced before its red eyes centered on me again. “How is it that you have possession of this sword?”
I was surprised that the creature was able to detect that Tallis had made my sword and even more so, that he was questioning me about it, but I saw no reason not to answer. “The bladesmith made it for me.”
The creature didn’t seem very pleased with this information and its posture became more rigid. It studied me for a few moments, its chest rising and falling with its increased breathing. I wasn’t sure whether it was deciding to kill me or let me go. Either way, the fact that I carried Tallis’s blade had certainly made some sort of impact on it.
“I am here to retrieve the soul I was sent for,” I said, clenching my teeth just to keep them from chattering. I couldn’t remember a moment when I was more terrified.
The creature didn’t say anything, but took another few steps towards me until barely six inches of air separated us. I could feel its hot breath consuming my entire body with a foul smell that reminded me of rotting flesh. “Alaire will be informed of your transgression,” the creature stated.
“That’s fine,” I answered resolutely. “I wouldn’t have attacked your wolf if he hadn’t attacked me first. I was only defending myself.”
The demon narrowed its eyes at me and continued to study me. “You tell the bladesmith that Plutus released you,” he continued. “You tell him I no longer owe him any favors.”
“I will tell him,” I responded. “Now where is my soul?”
Plutus opened one of his clawed hands which was the size of my head. When he extended his fingers, I could see the little glowing ball of light hopping around on his palm as if it were a Mexican jumping bean.
“Bill!” I called out, not taking my eyes from Plutus and maintaining my hold on my sword.
“Aw, come on,” Bill responded as he realized what his job was going to be. He didn’t say anything else, though, and simply walked up to me, unzipped the fanny pack, and produced a clear vial. Then he turned around and faced Plutus. “Even though I ain’t carrying his sword, the bladesmith’s mah boy, and he’s real fond o’ me. Got it, Pluto?”
The demon glared at Bill silently. Bill sighed as he approached the demon before standing as far away from the creature as he could. He leaned forward and extended his arm out, holding the vial to Plutus’s hand. The soul beelined for the vial as Bill capped it and returned to my side before placing the captured soul back into my fanny pack.
“Thank you,” I said to Plutus as I took a step backward.
“Wait!” a woman’s voice sounded from beside me. I didn’t dare take my attention from Plutus but continued to stare at him as the woman approached us. “I … I’m supposed to retrieve my soul too,” she said, her voice wavering.
“Plutus, where is the other soul?” I asked the demon.
“That is not part of our bargain,” he responded.
“Release the soul to this Retriever,” I announced. “Then we will all be on our way and your debt to the bladesmith will be erased.”
Plutus didn’t respond right away, but moments later, he opened his other palm. Another ball of light appeared between his fingers.
“Bill!” I called to the angel who was right beside me.
“Ah, shit balls,” he grumbled as he unzipped my fanny pack again and pulled the vial out. Then he walked up to Plutus, pulled the cap off the vial and allowed the soul to join the other one. He pulled back from Plutus and returned the vial to my fanny pack before directly starting for the stairs, calling over his shoulder, “Bill Angel’s had enough o’ this crap! I’m out!”
“Go,” I whispered to the woman beside me who immediately followed Bill down the stairs. I backed up slowly, my eyes fastened on Plutus and my sword still held high. I took the stairs slowly since I was walking backwards. Plutus, meanwhile, just stood there, making no motion to follow me. But that wasn’t any insurance he wouldn’t change his mind and attack me as soon as I reached the steps. Once I got to the bottom of the stairs, I figured it was now or never, and turned around, running like hell for the front doors to the prison. Bill pushed the right door open and we all hurried outside, slamming the door behind us.
Then I faced the prison yard, and taking a deep breath, was about to start running for it when a hand on my arm stopped me. “Wait!” the woman cried, and pulling what looked like a piece of white chalk from her pocket, she kneeled down in front of the stone wall surrounding the prison yard. She immediately began drawing an arc, starting where the stone wall met the ground and then coming up about five feet before finishing the arc by coming back down again. “This will cut a portal to the other side,” she announced.
Sure enough, the inside of the half oval she drew suddenly looked transparent almost. She didn’t waste any time but threw herself through the opening. I could see her come out on the other side.
“After you, nips,” Bill said.
I nodded and tucking my sword into my body, I pushed through the portal. It took me a split second to find myself on the other side. Then moments later, Bill arrived right behind me. The woman immediately approached the stone wall, then, and drew a giant “X” through the half oval, thereby immediately canceling the portal.
“You know, nips,” Bill started with a frown as he threw his hands on his hips. “It would’ve been nice if you’d asked Saxon for a piece of get-me-the-fuck-outta-Dodge chalk!”
“Unto the foot of a tower we came at last.”
– Dante’s Inferno
THIRTEEN
“I’m Delilah Crespo, but you can call me Dee,” the woman Retriever announced, offering me her hand with a wide smile. “Thanks for saving me back there.”
Physically, Delilah was a very pretty girl who stood about five foot four inches, and looked like she was probably in her late twenties. She had a slight figure, coupled with a very curvaceous butt that I couldn’t help noticing Bill couldn’t help noticing. Her hair was a wavy, chocolate brown that barely dusted the tops of her shoulders. Her large, dark brown eyes hinted of Hispanic heritage. She wore black, horn-rimmed glasses that framed her perfectly arched eyebrows, giving her a retro, yet very hip sort of look. When she smiled, her whole face lit up, courtesy of her dimples and her dark reddish-pink lipstick.
I shook her hand and returned the smile. “I’m Lily Harper and this is my guardian angel, Bill,” I said as I eyed the angel and gave him a nudge.
“Nice ta meetcha,” he said as he looked her up
and down. I was sure he appreciated her booty-hugging jeans and tight, purple sweater. “An’ no probs on savin’ you back there. Not a big deal, ya know?” he finished as he pointed at her and winked obnoxiously. Never mind the fact that if anyone saved her, it was me …
After the three of us made it through the Underground City, we were, once again, ensconced in the Dark Wood, and on our way back home, which raised a good question. “Delilah, er, Dee, where are you headed to?” I asked.
“Oh,” she began, although a little discombobulated. Of course, the threat of getting eaten by a giant wolf-man is probably known for having exactly that effect. “I live in Barcelona,” she said at last before she started inhaling and exhaling much more deeply. When she bent down unexpectedly and put her hands on her knees, I wasn’t sure if she would pass out or throw up. Her skin was pale and rather clammy.
I walked up to her and placed my hand on her back. “You’re fine, Dee, everything’s fine,” I said as I rubbed her back. I knew exactly how she felt after experiencing it … What? Three times now! “You’re out of the Underground City now and everything will be okay.”
She took another deep breath as she stood up and smiled, shaking her head. “I’m sorry … I’m just still in shock.” There were unshed tears glimmering in her eyes and I could tell she was struggling to keep herself together. Even though she was obviously in deep, over her head, she was strong. “I thought for sure I was a goner back there.”
“It’s totally normal for you to still be in shock, after what you just went through,” I reassured her. “Just take your time. If you want to sit down, that’s fine too.”
She paused for a second and took another few deep breaths. She was obviously trying to deal with nearly losing her life, and most likely, the second time around, or so I assumed. “Do you mind if we just sit here for a minute or two?” she asked.