TWENTY-FIVE
In small groups they stood silently, awaiting direction from their leaders. Sebastian had been paired up with five Lead Arrows, including Rogan, five Golden Arrows, eight Guardians, and Hans. The idea was to try to have almost one Guardian for each Arrow. There were over a hundred groups, nearly two-thousand people, and they would still be outnumbered by demons. Yet Ethan’s plan was a good one.
As they hoped, when they reached the dunes there was a thunderstorm in full swing. They left from the town of Alamosa by car, and then left those cars with a contact at Great Sand Dunes National Park and started on foot, heading east, further into the storm. The storm served as fabulous cover for their mission, even if it made travel inconvenient and uncomfortable. The thunder rumbled over their heads and covered the sounds of their approach. The only downside was Cupid didn’t dare fly out over the plateaus next to the dunes in such weather, so they continued forward on foot, looking for signs of demon activity.
Ethan directed them all toward the center of the storm, and when he estimated they were about a mile out, each of the groups broke off, navigating their way to the center of the storm. A Guardian within each group had a radio to communicate with the other groups. Everyone carried fire arms at the ready, keeping their eyes peeled for activity. The storm seemed to be in the middle of one particular mountain range, about ten miles east of the dunes. The groups trekked along until they were in a ten mile long circle around the storm. The wind was gone, which made the storm very eerie. Rain fell straight down as they walked toward the center of the mountain range. It was like someone had turned on a great shower head over them all and was hosing them down. Sebastian was soaked to the skin, like the other people in his unit. Spread around the mountain, the groups were spaced apart, getting closer as they all walked toward the center. All the time they were each looking for some indication of a hiding place, demon activity, a call for help, or anything that would signify the area was occupied. Sebastian and Rogan didn’t talk as they walked, but Sebastian was ever aware of his presence. Rogan seemed as anti-social as ever, though Sebastian did catch Rogan glancing at him once or twice. Sebastian suspected he was a little embarrassed about their altercation earlier and wisely said nothing.
A few minutes later, Hans’s hand shot into the air, bringing their unit to a stop. Sebastian went on full alert as he watched Hans lift the radio to his ear, rain bouncing off of the plastic case as he listened. Hans said something into the radio Sebastian didn’t catch over the storm. Hans turned a moment later, lowering the radio. “Alright, everyone, Ethan’s group encountered a couple of lower demons about a half a mile away. I expect the demons were put there as guard dogs, more or less. Be on the lookout. We’re in the right spot.”
Sebastian and Rogan glanced at each other as they carried on. It wasn’t fifty steps later before a handful of demons crawled out from behind rock surfaces, snarling. All the Arrows raised their weapons, but Hans raised his arm. “Hold fire!” Sebastian realized gunfire would give away their position, so the Arrows watched as the Guardians lifted their Swords of Light and attacked the demons with the kind of flawless grace only a Guardian possesses. Lower demons were not much of a match for a team of eight skilled Guardians. The demons were soon in pieces on the rocky terrain. Rogan caught Sebastian’s eye and motioned to the east where another group of Arrows and Guardians had come into sight. They, too, were battling down demons. Hans picked up his radio again. A few seconds later, he spoke to the group. “It looks like the groups on this side of the storm are the only ones getting any action. It started about a mile to the northwest and whips around about two miles east of us. That could mean if we find the source of this, there may be more than one entrance. That’s an awfully wide radius for there to be only one source.”
Rogan caught up to Sebastian and grumbled. “The villain in the cave. Did you ever hear of anything so typical?’
Sebastian nearly smiled as he replied. “I guess there aren’t too many options if you decide to hide up in a mountain range.”
“I feel like we’re gonna turn the corner and Lex Luther is going to be standing there with Lois Lane.”
“Lex was a wimp. All he had was kryptonite, and that’s not going to be any good against us.”
“Well, we’ve traded in kryptonite for demons, thunderstorms, and war. I get dibs on Lois.”
Sebastian chuckled and met Rogan’s eye as they climbed the next plateau. The olive branch had been offered and accepted.
The terrain was getting harder to maneuver now, especially in the weather. There was also danger of falling rocks now that they were further into the mountain range. The rock surfaces they stood on were getting slippery, and Sebastian didn’t fancy the image of what would happen if lightning struck the ground they were standing on. It wasn’t the most conductive of materials, but it wasn’t an insulator either.
The group came to a halt as Hans stopped, signaling two of the Guardians to go ahead and search the perimeter. It was more miserable waiting than it was climbing or walking. Sebastian’s stomach twisted when he thought about how much time passed since Aspen had been taken. He remembered the way he and Russell found her last time, and his breath shortened, wondering if he would be too late this time. Unbidden, an image of Jeremy as he’d been found in death flittered through Sebastian’s mind, only now he pictured Aspen in that alley, drained and lifeless.
About twenty minutes later, the two Guardians returned. They’d found several holes in the rocks and several more demons, whom they had skirted without being noticed. Hans considered his options silently before radioing Ethan. Nodding several times, he lowered the radio and turned to the group.
“It looks like we’ve found the source of our troubles. Heavy demon activity awaits us up ahead. It’s not likely to be something we can handle without back up; at least not without giving ourselves away with gunfire. We need to wait for a few of the groups to join up with us before we proceed and take care of the demons. So far, they are just standing guard, which is good. That means whoever’s in there doesn’t know we’re here or they’d be readying themselves for battle. We’re going to catch them off guard.”
No sooner than Hans finished speaking, a dozen demons came up over the hill, pouncing on them all. Hans turned, no surprise showing on his face as he attempted to throw himself out of the way. The demon was too close, however, and managed to rip into Hans’s side with a claw, throwing the Guardian back several yards. Instantly, all the Guardians in the group were battling the demons while Sebastian ran to Hans. He lay on the ground motionless while blood seeped from his wounds to the rock underneath his unconscious body. Sebastian’s heart skipped a beat when he saw how gray Hans looked. “Oh, man.” Sebastian rolled him over and grimaced. The claw marks ran from Hans’s hip to the center of his rib cage and huge pieces of flesh had been torn out by the demon’s claws. Guardians also had regenerative abilities though, and the cuts were attempting to heal themselves. It was the blood loss that worried Sebastian. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure the demons were still being kept at bay by the Guardians before he ripped off his black t-shirt, tying it tightly around Hans’s wound. It wouldn’t be near enough, but he’d be able to make it until help arrived. Hans was unconscious, but his breathing was steady. There was just a lot of blood loss and probably some damaged organs, but it wasn’t as bad as it could be. This demon didn’t seem to be poisonous and the wound looked clean. Garrett would be able to fix him up when the relief chopper came.
Sebastian heard running footsteps approaching and glanced up as Rogan arrived at his side. “Two more groups just showed up, but the demons are on to us now. There are more of them coming. Where’s the radio?”
Sebastian looked at Hans’s side where the belt for the radio was, but it had been destroyed by the slicing claws of the demon. “We’ll have to use the other unit’s.”
Rogan ran to talk to one of the other leading Guardians. Hans groaned, and Sebastian took a bottle of water from his small pack, lifting it to Hans’s lips. “Hey, there, buddy.”
Hans blinked as he tried to sip the water. “Damn, that hurts.”
“Yeah, he got deep, but it wasn’t poison. Some stitches and blood and you’ll heal up alright.”
Already the stream of blood was slowing as Hans’s body started to heal. “What’s going on over there?”
Sebastian glanced over his shoulder. “More demons. We’ve got more backup now too, and I can see even more coming.” It was actually getting a little busy behind them, and Sebastian knew he wouldn’t be able to stay in the dirt with Hans for long. “I’ve got to get over there.”
Hans grabbed Sebastian’s arm, making him bend down where he could be more easily heard over the sounds of fighting and the rain. “Listen, cover all the entrances in. It’s probably a cave with a lot of different paths through the rock. Divide up, but make sure there’s an even ratio of Guardians and Arrows. Go as long as you can before using gunfire. When you have to, you have to, but all hell is going to break loose when they figure out where we are. Auster and Mars’s power together in a cave would be immense.”
Sebastian nodded. He waved another Guardian over to stand guard over Hans until help arrived. Then he grasped Hans’s hand once and ran to where groups were gathering, fighting demons who were rising out of the holes in the rock. Rogan turned to him when he approached. “They know we’re here now.”
“The demons do, but I don’t think whoever’s in charge down there does. If they did, we’d have Auster’s wind, and Mars’s storms and war efforts to deal with. Hans wants us to go in groups, covering every entrance.” The crowd was mounting as he spoke.
Rogan nodded. “We better do it now. We can’t afford to waste time, waiting for them to figure out what’s going on.”
Sebastian approached another group with a radio, and spoke with Ethan on the radio, dictating Hans’s plan over the airwaves. “Is someone with Hans?” asked Ethan.
“Yes,” replied Sebastian. “I’ve got a Guardian standing with him.”
“Make it two and then the groups need to split off and go in. Try to stay hidden.”
Sebastian handed the radio back then ran to carry out Ethan’s instructions. The units began pushing back groups of demons, though it was hard and slow-moving in the weather. Also, half the group, the Arrow half, was completely useless until they were allowed to use their guns. It slowed everything down because The Guardians spent a lot of time protecting Arrows. Sebastian became inpatient to use his gun, get his hands dirty. As he advanced, his fears and anger for Aspen came that much closer to boiling over. The demons were slowly pushed back and eliminated until the groups reached the entrances. There were four Sebastian could see, spaced out among the rock surfaces. They were easy to spot because demons came out of them occasionally. Then Guardians would chop their heads off. After a while, another would come out. While watching, Sebastian had to agree with Hans. Whoever was in charge didn’t know they were here. The demons came out intermittently and were taken completely off guard by the Guardians. There wasn’t any time for a disturbance because the deed was done before the beast could manage to make a single sound.
In this manner, the groups made their way into the caves slowly, letting their eyes adjust to the darkness. Though the weather outside was dark, it was nothing compared to the inside of the tunnel. Sebastian wondered if maybe they were wrong. There was no way to navigate the inside of the caves. There was no light, no signs of anything other than demon life. It was only by following the light of the Guardians’ weapons that they could navigate the caves. The bluish-white glow of the Swords of Light filled the cave with an eerie, other-worldly glow. The sounds of the storm faded behind them as they trudged further into the tunnel. The problem now was the tunnels were so small and the lights from the Swords so bright, the demons came to them, roaring as they ran into them.
Rogan looked at Sebastian in the low light. “There goes our cover.”
Sebastian had to agree. A few seconds later the wind started, blowing in from the caves, bringing a metallic scent that reminded Sebastian of blood. The demons could be heard now, crying from deep within the caves, roaring to find the Guardians and Arrows that had invaded the tunnels.
Rogan shook his head and pulled a dagger from him ankle holster. “We can’t shoot in here.”
Sebastian agreed. There was too big of a risk in hitting one of their own in a space this small. If the demons could fit in here, though, that meant that this passage led to something larger. “We need to get in quick, before they flood us out!”
The group murmured their agreement, and they all began moving quickly into the cave. A few more demons met them before the tunnel started to widen. Sebastian noticed an offshoot and pointed to it, yelling at the group. “We need to cover these.”
A Guardian and a Lead Arrow immediately headed through the smaller tunnel as the rest of the group pressed on. They continued in this fashion, sending members of the group to investigate offshoots as they came to them. The demons were in a frenzy now, and their growls could be heard. “We got lucky,” said Rogan. “Ours must not be a main tunnel or we’d be covered in them by now.”
Sebastian nodded. “I’m surprised we haven’t seen more. They seem loud enough.”
The walls of the tunnel stretched farther and farther apart. They could now walk five in a row, shoulder to shoulder, and they still only encountered one other demon for the next hundred feet or so. Sebastian stopped, suddenly.
Rogan turned to look at him. “What’s up?”
Sebastian shook his head in the wind rushing through the caves. “This isn’t right. No demon activity to speak of, the wind in the tunnels, and we haven’t run into anything. We’re being herded.”
Rogan looked around. “Do we have a choice?”
Sebastian stood there frowning, considering as the group moved on without them and the tunnel started to get dark. “I guess not.”
Rogan and Sebastian turned to continue toward the fading lights of the Guardians’ swords into the cave. All of a sudden, the wind and the growls stopped. Sebastian grabbed Rogan’s arm. “Wait!” he hissed. They scuffled back against the wall as the light in front of them continued on, leaving them in darkness. Rogan didn’t ask what they were waiting for, but he wondered plenty what was going on ahead and why everything suddenly got so quiet. Several minutes passed before Sebastian pulled a small flashlight out of his pack and turned it on. The light was dim in the oppressive darkness of the tunnel. Sebastian’s crazy hair threw wild shadows on the wall behind him as his face crinkled in concentration. Rogan stayed motionless, listening. There was no sound at all. No breeze. No demons.
Sebastian glanced at Rogan, considering. “What do you suppose?”
“The reinforcements must have gone in another entrance.”
“Probably a bigger one.” He looked around. “Well?...”
“Nothing else to do, is there?”
Sebastian stood there, considering. Was there? Should they turn around and go back out, look for their reinforcements? Should they press on, see what was wrong? “Okay. Let’s go on in, see if there’s a problem. If it’s out of our depths, we’ll go back out, tell them what we’ve found.”
Rogan looked over at Sebastian, his face speaking as clearly as Sebastian’s mind, saying, If there’s anyone left out there.
Sebastian turned his flashlight so that the ray of light fell between his legs and to the rear. He only wanted enough light to see the next step. Light materializing up ahead would be the ultimate giveaway, and Sebastian wanted to go undetected in the event there was something waiting for them up ahead. The tunnel continued to widen, and he was sure the temperature was rising as they went deeper into the cave. It was so out of place Sebastian felt even more on edge. Even if there was a water source in this cave, it would be spring fed. Spring water stays in the low fifties year round, and it was summer outside. It should have felt like refrigeration to them. Instead, the air felt as warm as a spring day. After about five minutes of carefully navigating the tunnel, walking softly and not talking, Sebastian saw an off-shoot of the tunnel to the left. He stopped, pointing his light into it. Rogan looked into it. “Chances are the group kept going straight because this one isn’t big enough to fit through comfortably.”
Sebastian nodded. “I’m also thinking, though, whatever they walked into might be avoided by going this way.”
The two men exchanged glances. Then Sebastian turned into the offshoot, and Rogan followed him. The light threw shadows on the wall, which started playing with Sebastian’s imagination. He felt jumpy as his eyes darted to every shadow. Everything was so quiet the sound of his own breathing seemed monstrous. A few minutes later, the tunnel narrowed, forcing the two men to walk in a straight line behind each other. Rogan reached forward to grasp Sebastian’s arm. Sebastian glanced behind him, and, at the look on Rogan’s face, pulled his gun from his holster, looking ahead of them. Both of them were completely silent. Rogan was right. There was something up there making noise, and it wasn’t them. Sebastian swiveled his light in front of him, looking carefully. He flashed his light over a large boulder jutting out from the cave wall. He was certain something was moving back there. “You have five seconds to come out. After that, we shoot,” Sebastian said, evenly.
“Don’t shoot!” came a harsh whisper. Then Sebastian and Rogan watched in shock as Alex appeared from behind the boulder.
“Alex?” Sebastian gasped. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in Denver!”
Alex said nothing, and it suddenly dawned on Sebastian that Alex was in shock. He rushed forward as he handed the light to Rogan. Sebastian took Alex’s face in his hands and looked into her eyes. “Alex? It’s Sebastian. Hey, talk to me okay?”
Her eyes were completely dilated, even in the bright light of the flashlight. Her breath was whistling between her teeth, her face as white as death. “Sebastian?”
Sebastian cursed and sat her on the boulder she’d been hiding behind. Rogan approached them from the back. “She’s in a bad shape.”
Sebastian nodded. “Alex? Where are the others?”
Alex whimpered and shook her head. “Gone! Everyone’s gone. The demons carried them off…” Then she dissolved in tears. “I couldn’t stop them. I was too weak, and there were too many. The force field wouldn’t work in here….” Then she started muttering to herself.
Sebastian turned to look at Rogan. Rogan shrugged. “You think she’s right?” He swallowed. “Could they all be…?” He drifted off, not wanting to finish the sentence.
Sebastian turned back to Alex. “She needs medical attention. She’s in bad shock. I bet she doesn’t remember a single thing since whatever happened.”
Rogan thought for a moment. “We can’t possibly walk her all the way back to Alamosa on foot. That’s a good ten miles or more.”
Sebastian considered. “We can’t call for a chopper to come in here. That would completely give us away. If whatever’s going on here wiped out that many Arrows and Guardians, it would wipe us out in a second.”
“Well, we can’t leave her.”
Alex was now hysterically sobbing. Sebastian knelt in front of her face. “Alex. How did you get away?”
Alex stopped a moment and looked into Sebastian’s eyes. “I persuaded the demon to leave me.”
Rogan frowned. “Persuaded? Sebastian, she’s still out of it. You can’t reason with demons. They respond to the order of their sire only.”
Alex shook her head. “No, I mean, I can make them do things. That’s how I convinced the troupe to let me come. I …think what I want and look into someone’s eyes, and they do it.”
Sebastian exhaled. “So, Psyche was right about you being able to develop more powers of persuasion. You realize what an enormous risk you took coming here?”
Alex shrugged, her tears glistening on her cheeks. “I figured if I came, I’d be able to help. I’d be able to get Aspen back, since I let her go.”
Sebastian swore and shook his head, looking at the ground. “So you…persuaded the demon to let you go, then you ran in here and hid?”
Alex nodded. “They all went down there.” She pointed at the long twist of tunnel behind her.
“Have you seen any other demons or people since then?” Rogan asked. Alex shook her head. He looked at Sebastian. “Well, we can go out and radio now, start walking…” He didn’t look convinced.
Sebastian turned. “You can leave. Take Alex. I’m not leaving until I find out what’s going on. I’m not leaving Aspen.”
“I’m not leaving you on your own,” Rogan said.
Sebastian knew they were both stuck for as long as it took. He turned back to Alex, who was looking a little more lucid now that she was talking. “Alex, can you show us the way you ran out here?”
Alex swallowed and threw a glance over her shoulder. Her breath shuddered as she exhaled. She felt incredibly weak and guilty she was the only one that survived. She had to do something. She looked back at Sebastian and nodded. Sebastian held out a hand, and Alex grasped it, wiping off her hands on her tattered shorts, which had blood on one side. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Sebastian took her arm in his hand. “Alex, we don’t blame you. You tried. If there were enough demons to carry off every single Arrow and Guardian, even as the Guardians were cutting them down, it must have been massive.”
Alex lifted her hazel eyes, and nodded. “It was like a sea of demons pouring out of the tunnels. They even came from behind us. I tried throwing them off, but there were more to replace them before I could even get started. Then I tried the force field, but there was no room at all. I was thinking over and over, drop me, drop me, and suddenly he did! Then I ran back to get help until…I couldn’t run any more. I was lost. I felt like I was going in circles. I had no light, no one to tell me which way was out, and I was afraid I was running right back into them again.”
Sebastian nodded. “We’ll go on together, then.”
They all stood and started walking back into the depths of the cave. They walked very quietly for a long time. Sebastian felt maybe fifteen minutes passed before the air became very warm, almost hot. He stopped suddenly and glanced at Rogan. “Feel that?”
Rogan nodded. “That’s not normal heat. Something is generating heat in here.”
Sebastian turned off his light. He could see, very faintly, a light ahead. He felt Alex trembling beside him. “Alex, stay back here. Hide behind this rock. We’re going to get an idea of what we’re dealing with so we can go back to tell the others what’s going on here.”
Alex sat watching the pulsing faint blue light ahead. Rogan and Sebastian carefully inched their way ahead, toward the light, taking great care not to make noise as they stepped through the echoing tunnel. The closer they got, the easier the way became as the light grew brighter. The air was very hot now, and both men were sweating. The tunnel widened enough to where they could walk side by side comfortably with some space between them. Sebastian cautiously turned a corner and could see the entrance into a great room, which was the source of the light. Rogan and Sebastian clung to the walls of the tunnel as they crept up on the entrance. The light came from many sources throughout the room, which was a sight that stopped Sebastian’s breath in his throat. Rogan nearly gasped before he stopped himself, staring ahead in disbelief. The room was enormous. The cavern they peered into could have housed the entire Temple, it was so vast. The light came from hundreds of individual circles of light that had been created on the floor, identical to the one Hans had built to contain Mars and Rogan when they were under arrest. In each circle was an Arrow or a Guardian. Each one looked as though he or she were hanging from an invisible thread that suspended them from under their armpits. Their limbs and heads dangled motionless from the trunks of their bodies. It was impossible to tell if they were living or dead. Sebastian’s mouth fell open as he tried to count them and failed. There must have been hundreds, thousands? The bodies were all situated inside the circles, which ran in rings around the center of the room. In the center there was a large open area, maybe fifty feet in diameter. In it stood a large stone slab, much like the altar piece Sebastian had taken Aspen from in Seattle. His mind jumped back to that horrible day as he looked at the slab, though it was empty. To the sides of the slab were circles which housed the missing gods. Sebastian recognized Auster. Mars was to his right. And now, joining them, were Psyche and Cupid. Sebastian looked for Venus, but didn’t see her. There were some empty circles in the room, though. Two of them were there beside the gods, and Sebastian wondered who else had been taken besides Venus.
Sebastian glanced around but saw no demons. The room seemed to be devoid of all movement. The heat coming from all the magic circles was incredible, and Sebastian was surprised to see none of the captives seemed to be sweating, even in their unconscious state. He wondered if they were even alive. The walls of the cavern were riddled with holes. It seemed all the tunnels circled around back to this room. That would explain Alex’s fear that she was going in circles. She likely had been. Sebastian looked around at all of the faces of the bodies, which he recognized, even though their state made them seem alien to him. His heart stopped as he located Aspen, and, right next to her, Russell.
Sebastian turned, as if in a daze, and noticed Rogan’s face was a portrait of the same twisted shock he felt. Rogan turned to Sebastian, wide-eyed, and mouthed, They’re ALL here? Sebastian looked back at the room for a moment and nodded. It appeared so. All of their reinforcements, their gods. The entire contents of more than two Temples were in this room with room for more. This mountain was huge. For all Sebastian knew, there was even more space in here, in another room. His eyes darted back to the two empty circles. The demons and those two missing captives had to be somewhere.
Sebastian and Rogan heard footsteps. They slipped back out of sight as a few demons slithered into the room from a tunnel on the far side of the cavern. They carried Hans and Ethan in their scaly arms. Ethan appeared to be unconscious, but Sebastian thought he saw Hans move. The demons carried them to the two empty circles next to the captured gods. One demon knelt to the ground, doing something on the floor Sebastian couldn’t see. The light walls of the circle fell, and the demons placed their captives both in the air, as if on invisible hooks. As the demons stepped back, bright lights shimmered up to hold the captives within the circles’ confines. Hans’s head lolled to the side as he attempted to speak, but could make no noise. He looked like a cancer patient in the final stages of life, and it was a horrific sight for Sebastian; to see this warrior that had defended them all, helpless. The demons turned back to the tunnels, passing the first person Sebastian and Rogan had set eyes on in the room that wasn’t captive. When they saw her, both of them started as if from electric shock, their eyes bugging out of their heads. Sebastian grasped Rogan’s arm as his disbelieving eyes passed over the woman who entered the room. Both men jumped back and pressed themselves against the wall of the tunnel they had entered from. Their eyes met, shock passing over their faces. The goddess who had just passed into the room, looking for all the world like she owned the place, was Venus.