Three the Hard Way

ew York... Over 30 Years Ago...

The rusty metal door closed behind the two robed, hooded figures, shutting out sounds and smells... and light... of the tunnel behind them. Darkness swallowed the ancient steps as the door sealed itself... there was no way to tell if the stairs before them went on for one more floor... or forever.

"Light?" said one of the men. He was taller and thinner than his companion. His voice was young.

"No," the other said solemnly. His voice was deeper... older... but not by much. He gestured into the darkness, and they began to descend.

Somewhere above them, a subway roared down its tracks. The vibrations rattled the metal door and sent a shudder through the stone.

"That was the 11:45," said the man shorter man. "... it's almost midnight."

The pair hurried down the stairs, quickly vanishing into the darkness that reeked of smoke and mildew.... and something else. For several minutes there was nothing to guide them but the feel of the wall against their fingertips and the worn, chipped stone beneath their feet. The eerie blackness seemed to deepen... and then retreat as a flickering yellow light reached them from below. The stairs ended abruptly at a small, rectangular area occupied by another man in robes. The hooded figure held a single, large candle. Directly behind him was a metal door.

"He guards the way," the candle-bearer challenged in a bored tone. "Only the faithless may pass."

"We who are free demand passage," responded the smaller of the two men. The other followed with:

"We have cast off the chains of faith, and tonight will rise above men as true gods."

The candle-bearer nodded solely. In his other hand he held a large, rusty key... as ancient as the door into which it fit. He twisted the key in the lock, and the door gave a deep, solid 'clunk' that echoed back up the blackened stairs.

The door swung slowly upon, rotating loudly on its neglected hinges. The two men moved forward, but the candle-bearer stepped before them again.

"The faithless must bare their faces before ascending," he said.

The first newcomer turned to look at the second. The second shrugged. His left hand reached for the edge of his hood-

-while his right thrust a seven-inch dagger through the guardian's throat and up into his skull

"-AK!" The candle-bearer jerked, then collapsed in front of the door. His killer retrieved the blade... which made more of a mess coming out than it had going in... and wiped the metal clean on the dead man's robes. He hid the dagger in his sleeve, then took the key from the guardian's hand.

"You killed him!?" said the first man.

"Yes," said the second. He held the door open for his companion. Beyond it was a narrow corridor lit with torches. "Get in."

The first man took a few steps, then turned and pulled back his hood... revealing handsome young face beneath a perfectly-arranged head of black hair.

"Was that really necessary?"

"It was if we didn't want him waking up and sounding an alarm before we're in place. And trust me, we DON'T want that."

"But I could have-"

"Now isn't the time to get squeamish, Reyes... how do you think I got these robes and that pass phrase? You think a couple of these lads just walked up and handed me their clothes? But don't worry, I didn't get any blood on yours."

Jacob Solomon Reyes gritted his teeth and... almost... sneered.

"There are other ways, Donovan-"

"Save it and get moving. And put that hood back on!"

The black-haired man's hood flipped back into place. He turned... turned back to shoot a final, angry glance at his companion... and then started walking.

The corridor had a distinct downward slope that took them deeper beneath the city. The ancient hallway and its destination predated most of the buildings above... and it was not the only such place. Very few people knew of the massive chambers built during New York's early construction. And those that did know... those that USED them for their own means... tended to be very good at keeping secrets.

Not good enough, apparently.

"Hear that?" said Donovan Wilde. His footsteps were already silent, but he stopped walking so that his companion could hear faint traces of whispers echoing down the hallway. "They've started without us. Hurry..."

They did not run, but they walked as fast as they could toward the sound ahead. As they got closer, what had began as mumbling whispers took on a rhythmic, musical quality. The hushed chanting grew louder and more insistent. Finally, the corridor flattened out and they could see a rectangle of light at the far end.

They hurried for a few more yards, and then changed to a slow rhythmic march that kept time with the chanting. With their heads held down, they marched the remaining distance in reverent silence.

The corridor terminated at a tall archway at the end of a brightly-lit chamber. The domed ceiling was at least a hundred feet high. The room was mostly circular, with a wide flat space along the wall opposite the corridor. In front of that wall was a raised semicircular platform, six feet high, upon which sat a stone altar flanked by two massive stone thrones. Tall iron poles jutted from the stone on either side of the thrones, at the top of each burned an eerily bright lantern that filled the room with yellowish-red light. Torches on the walls illuminated the perimeter of the room, where Donovan and Jacob stood silently studying the scene.

Reyes would have said that there were about a hundred people in the room... all dressed in identical blood-red robes, all with hoods pulled over their faces and chanting in unison.

Donovan would have said that there were exactly 96, counting themselves. Ten men stood in a semi-circle around the raised platform at the opposite end of the room, facing outward toward the crowd of 86 worshippers. Those ten... the Elders... were leading the increasingly rhythmic chant, although it was clear that everyone in the room (except for Donovan and Jacob) already knew the words. Considering the dead man in the hallway above/behind them, there were four people unaccounted for. Two Elders... the High Priest...

...And the sacrifice.

Donovan quickly scanned the other exits. There was a closed metal door on either side of the platform. Both doors lead to the same preparation chamber behind the altar. The High Priest and the sacrifice would be there.... possibly the missing Elders as well. Perhaps there was a secret entrance/exit from that room, but Donovan wasn't sure. And the voice whispering in his ear wasn't sure either.

There was one more opening at 90-degrees from their position, covered with an imposing iron grate was an 'auxiliary' exit. It wasn't guarded, but there were five locked metal doors and six miles of twisting, rat-infested sewers between that metal grate and anything approaching civilization.

Jacob saw Donovan staring at the exit.

"Do you think he made it in?"

"Of course he's in," Donovan whispered curtly. "You forget who you're talking about." He turned to Jacob and spoke and an even lower whisper. "This is going to get bloody, Reyes. Very bloody. The pair I got these robes from were armed... and they probably aren't the only ones. If you're not up for it-"

"You know why I'm here, Donovan. You know I'll do what it takes."

"No," said Donovan. "You won't. But you'll try, and that's good enough... as long as you try HARD."

"You think that little of me?" said Jacob.

"Your heart leads you well," said Donovan. "But it's also your biggest stumbling block. Now isn't the time to stumble over your compassion... everyone in this room except for us is here to do something terrible. There are no innocents."

"One," Reyes corrected. "One innocent."

Donovan glanced at the iron grated door... then at the altar.

"We've got to get back there," he said. "Let's go."

Donovan stepped into the crowd. Reyes followed.

They had watched long enough to learn the words that crowd was now chanting with increasing fervor. Donovan and Jacob chanted along with them as they made their way toward the altar... choosing a path that took them past the least number of people. Fortunately, the chamber was large enough to accommodate a crowd three times this size, and the cultists had spread out to fill it completely.... giving less opportunity for someone to brush up against them, hear their poor pronunciation of the chant, or accidentally get a peak under their hoods.

"AG THERIX IN FACINO-OS!" One of the hooded figures chanted as they went past. Everyone was facing the elders in front of the altar, but this man turned to look at Donovan. He watched them go by... then went back to his chanting. "AG FELRIX IN THAS-ZIROS!"

Suddenly, the Elders began to chant something else. Not only were the words different, but the syllables that comprised them were from another language altogether.

A tangible shudder went through the room, radiating outward from the flat wall behind the altar. Then it passed through the crowd AGAIN in the opposite direction, flowing inward toward the altar. The air thickened. The torches... and especially the lanterns flanking the thrones... began to flicker in time to the new, more ominous words. Their fire continued to burn... but the light began to dim.

"It's coming," said Jacob.

"Time's up," Donovan's right hand disappeared into his robe. His forearm tightened as he grabbed something.

"Not yet!" Reyes said. He too, reached into his robe and fixed his grip on something heavy, but with his other hand he grabbed Donovan's arm. "...not yet. Keep moving... get closer... We might be able to just grab him and go..." Both men kept moving toward the altar-

With a metallic clang, the metal door on right side of the raised dias came open.

Four figures entered the darkening room. The first was a man who's red robe was trimmed in gold, with a golden cord tied around his waist. Behind the High Priest were two more Elders... they were carrying the naked body of a child. A boy who's age was exactly seven years. The boy was awake... eyes filled with terror... but the hooded elders held him so tightly that he was completely motionless despite his efforts to break free. Bruises were already forming on his arms where their fingers clutched him.

He saw the crowd and shouted for help... but the gag in his mouth absorbed the scream as the Elders carried him up the stone stairs toward the altar.

"...my God..." Jacob muttered.

"Not yours," Donovan replied. "...theirs..."

The High Priest had already taken his position behind the rectangular stone altar. He raised his arms above him and the crowd cheered...

...but it was not a cheer. Their arcane chant was rapidly approaching its crescendo, and now the cultists were shouting the black words at the top of the lungs while the Elders tied the boy to the stone. They ran lengths of silken rope across the boy's torso and looped them through metal loops on opposite sides of the slab. Then they tied his arms and legs to a second set of loops. With the boy strapped tight, they joined the other Elders in front of the raised dias. The chanting Elders now numbered thirteen... with the thirteenth being the High Priest himself.

The priest slowly lowered his arms until they were extended horizontally above the trembling, naked boy...

...then he threw them up into the air again. The crowd's chanting rose to a deafening volume. They weren't just shouting now... they were SCREAMING the words...

A shadow fell across the wall behind the High Priest. Deep, black, and formless, the shadow hovered for a moment and then retreated.

The priest repeated his motions... holding his arms above the boy and then raising them toward the chamber's high roof as the crowd screamed words of power back at him.

The shadow returned. It lingered longer this time... almost seeming to reach OUT from the wall before it faded...

Donovan and his companion had gotten little more than halfway across the room when the High Priest thrust his arms over the boy a third time. They were running now. They had seen the shadow. The voice in Donovan's ear was screaming fanatically at him-

The third time... the third time...

"That's it," Donovan shouted. "We're moving... NOW!"

The crowd ROARED as the priest threw his hands high.

Donovan jerked his head backward, throwing the hood back away from his face. He drew his right hand out of his robe-

-with it came the gleaming titanium sword that had been hidden beneath the cloth.

"YAAA-" He shouted, throwing himself forward through the crowd.

"KILL HIM!" The High Priest shouted immediately. By the third step, Donovan's left hand had drawn a second sword, and by the forth both blades were slashing out to either side as the cultists closed ranks in front of him.

"NOOOO!" Jacob shrugged off his robe, revealing a tall, lanky frame armed with...not a sword, but an enormous leather-bound book. His left arm hugged the huge book close to his torso while his right flew out toward the crowd.

"GET BACK!" He shouted. Then he added: "EXCZILLIUM!"

Power exploded from his fingertips. A crackling brilliance that was neither light nor electricity shot toward the crowd, forming a glowing wedge that went harmlessly past Donovan, yet plowed into the crowd of cultists like a battering ram. Blood-red robes went flying in all directions as Donovan sprinted for the altar.

"KILL THEM BOTH!" The High Priest roared.

The Elders surrounding the dias tossed back their hoods. The faces of the genteel old men twisted into wicked sneers as they moved to defend the altar with their lives-

-and with the Uzi sub-machine guns that three of them had hidden under their robes. The semicircle of elders gathered behind the gunmen as the chant's fading rhythm drowned beneath the rattle of fully automatic gunfire. Throughout the crowd, other worshippers drew the weapons they had secreted under their robes... knives, pistols and even a sawed-off shotgun crawled into the open and fixed their sights on the intruders.

Donovan ignored them, focusing only on the elders in front of him. No matter how many other guns were in the room, THEY were the only ones that mattered-

The instant before the first bullet left the first gun, Donovan's eyes narrowed in a brief but intense glare... as if he were studying an event that had not yet happened. His stride never changed, but his balance shifted as he began to swing his swords before him in tight, rapid arcs. The blades became a whirring blur as the first bullet hit-

Ten rounds per second... 600 bullets per minute... from three different angles...

Donovan waded boldly into the onslaught. Sparks exploded around him as his swords swatted the speeding bullets out of the air. The blades did not strike head-on, but instead struck the deadly projectiles from the sides... deflecting the first bullet just enough to send it into the path of the second... and third...

One of the elders gave a surprised yelp as a bullet ricocheted through his skull. Blood splattered the altar floor, but by the time the stricken elder collapsed, four more had been thrown back against the stone of the raised dias. The three gunmen continued to fire. Donovan picked the targets from his peripheral vision, and every bullet the elders sent at him ended up down the throat of another gun-wielding cultist. Oblivious to the men falling around them, the elders concentrated their fire on Donovan, bracing themselves against the monstrous recoil and actually trying to AIM the unruly machines at the approaching swordsman.

The air peeled away from Donovan's accelerating blades as they crisscrossed his path... each length of razor-sharp metal was moving so quickly that it became like a solid shield covering his head and body. Deflected bullets radiated outward from it as if HE had the guns...

...and HIS aim was much better than the Elders.

Fearless cultists charged in from both sides, but Donovan mowed them down with bullets from the maniacal Elders, whom he ALLOWED to keep firing as long as their bullets remained useful. The cultists with firearms were the major threat, and so they were the first to get torn apart by their own elder's bullets. Donovan himself became like a scythe slicing a bloody path through a field of human wheat... though his swords had yet to touch a single man.

Behind him, Reyes stood stunned. A sphere of golden light buzzed around his hand... but the magic lay inert as the mind that summoned it recoiled in horror from the scene around him. Donovan was...

Donovan was...

...was SLAUGHTERING them! But these weren't DEMONS, dammit, they were MEN!

HUMAN BEINGS!

This had to STOP!

Meanwhile, the High Priest had produced a dagger, and was pressing the sharp edge of it against the screaming child's bare chest.

The wall behind the priest was solid black. The shadow had returned... this time with enough strength to remain even after the summoning chant had been disrupted. The wall was now a roiling sea of utter blackness. Waves of midnight undulated across the stone, reaching out toward the altar with an increasing intensity that could only be described as... hunger. A black and evil hunger.

The High Priest glanced back at it, then began chanting loudly while sliding the blade downward across the boy's skin.

"NOOO!"

Golden light crackled from Reyes' fingertips-

As three cultists slammed into him from behind, pitching him forward and sending his energy bolt arcing over the High Priest's shoulder and into the black wall.

The wall swallowed the blast greedily.

A velvet-robed arm hooked itself around Reyes' neck, while another grabbed his free arm. The third man reached for Reyes' book-

A golden explosion tossed all three men back. Two men hit the floor with enough force to convince them to stay there, while the third immediately got to his feet and charged-

-along with about forty other screaming cultists. Reyes swept his arm horizontally in front of him... light peeled away from his hand in a whip-like tendril that sent half the charging cultists flying violently back into the other half. Reyes immediately turned to the altar-

"STOP FIRING AT HIM, FOOLS!" The High Priest screamed at his gun-toting Elders. The words had barely left his lips when a bullet bounced off the stone altar and struck him in the center of his forehead-

The High Priest blinked... and continued shouting. The bullet ricocheted off of his skin, doing less damage to the priest than it had done to the stone altar.

"SHOOT THE WIZARD! STRIKE HIM DOWN NOW!!!"

The three armed Elders swung their weapons toward Jacob as the others literally threw themselves into Donovan's path. There were no more bullets to deflect, but Donovan's blades didn't slow down. Swords moving fast enough to deflect bullets did not pause for mere flesh and bone. The first three elders flew back from him not in distinct human shapes, but in a spray of neatly sectioned fragments... as if someone had tossed the pieces of a fleshy jigsaw puzzle onto the altar.

Reyes would have been appalled... but he never saw it. Scowling in frustration, Reyes extended his right hand directly in front of him. A brief pulse of energy shimmered around him as the Elders opened fire. Instead of flesh, the bullets met splashes of golden-white light that drained their momentum and sent the metal fragments tumbling harmlessly to the floor. But the magic was not without cost. Sweating, Reyes backed away from the rain of gunfire... first grunting, and then moaning as the spell drained him. His muscles... especially those clutching the massive book... clenched tight and began to tremble under the strain.

"Donovan!" He shouted. "...ungh... Stop the sacrifice!"

Donovan was in a dead run for the altar... but he slowed and glanced back at Reyes. Twisting hard at his waist, the hurled one of his swords at the gun-wielding elders. The blade flew like a spear, impaling the elder through the chest-

-sideways.

Both arms pinned to his sides.... heart and both lungs skewered by a shaft of titanium, the elder's face transformed into a perfect circle of shock as he fell.

The gunfire was reduced by a third, but Reyes was still faltering before the other two guns.

"DEFEND YOURSELF, DAMN YOU! STRIKE BACK! USE YOUR MAGIC!"

"No!" Reyes shouted. Then he pointed... not at Donovan, or at the elders who had stopped to reload.

But at the altar.

The still-chanting priest raised his sacrificial dagger. The sharpened edge bore a thin line of red... He had pierced the boy's skin just deep enough to draw blood, and now drops of deep scarlet dripped into the Priest's outstretched hand. He was collecting the precious fluid.... his low, guttural chant bestowing an infernal blessing on each droplet as it fell.

The wall behind him bulged forward with greedy impatience.

"DAMN!" Donovan swore as cultists surrounded Jacob. The weakened man and his magic book vanished in a crowd of robed fanatics. Donovan reached into his robe and retrieved a two-way radio. He clicked on the power, pushed the 'talk' button and shouted into the microphone as he ran for the altar.

"REYES IS DOWN! IT'S GOING TO HELL IN HERE! I need reinforcements NOW!"

A blast of golden energy exploded out of the crowd behind him. Donovan didn't turn to see what was happening this time. Perhaps Reyes wasn't down after all... but it was clear that the man was useless in a fight. He just hoped his back-up was in place. Donovan lunged to his left, sidestepping an Elder armed with a knife. He sliced the man's hand off at the wrist, bounced the falling blade back into the air with a gentle nudge of his boot, and then... while spinning to attack another foe... swatted the knife with the flat of his sword-

KLANG!

-sending it flying into the throat of its original wielder while the sword continued around in a double-slash, downing to more robed fanatics.

On the other side of the room, dirt and bits of rock began to fall away from the wall, loosened by a low, rhythmic pounding that sent vibrations through the stone. The massive iron grate set over the sewer-entrance rattled. Behind it, something large growled.

And growled again... louder...

Most of the cultists had surrounded Reyes, who was keeping them back with concentric spheres of golden energy. But each expanding sphere was weaker that the last. Cultists could now pound on the magical field with their fists without being thrown back across the room.... and the splashes of light that erupted every time a bullet hit magical barrier were getting smaller. No one noticed the sound rising from the sewer entrance-

-until the massive grate tore free of the stone and flew into chamber, landing with a monstrous KLANG on the stone floor.

Thinking that there had been some kind of explosion, the cultists paused in their attack and turned to see-

-NOT and explosion.

The creature was enormous. The thing walked upright as it stormed into the chamber, but it was taller and broader than anything that had walked on two feet since the dawn of man. Lengths of shaggy, brownish-black hair trailed from its impossibly thick torso. The fur could have belonged to a thousand different animals... or to none at all. Its long snout was definitely lupine, but the fangs jutting from it... and the claws tipping its thick fingers... were clearly not. Neither were the red eyes set deep within the hairy thing's skull.... eyes that gleamed with the savage hunger of every predator that had ever hunted prey.

As the eyes of the cultists fell across it, the beast threw back its head, flexed its arms and unleashed a horrific, howling ROAR that echoed off of the stone.

Donovan's reinforcements had arrived.

The High Priest's chants caught in his throat. Frowning, he turned around and looked at the black wall behind the altar. Then looked to the beast... then at the wall again...

Was this...?

ALREADY?!?

NO, He hadn't completed the ceremony! Then what was...?

It didn't matter.

"DESTROY IT!" He ordered. "DESTROY THAT THING!"

"GOODE! TEAR THEM APART! NO ONE GET'S OUT OF HERE!!" Donovan shouted to the beast. He needn't have bothered. When half of the cultists surrounding Reyes broke away and charged the beast, the monster snatched up the twisted iron grate and SWUNG IT-

KRUNK!

The unyielding metal struck with the force of a stampeding elephant. The first wave of the cultists literally came apart as it swept into... and THROUGH them. The monster swung the grate again in the opposite direction, decorating the wall with several more worshippers, then raised the weapon above its head and brought it down like a fly swatter onto the cluster of robed fools rushing toward it.

The mess it made was indescribable.

The echoing crack of gunfire returned to the chamber. Cultists fired at the creature as it tore across the room toward Reyes. The lower calibre shots bounced off of the creature's hairy hide, while the large weapons actually drew blood... blood from wounds that puckered and closed almost immediately.

Most of the cultists scattered before the monster's charge.... only to circle around and attack it from behind. But there were SOME who stood their ground, trying to create a living wall before it. One slash of the creature's claws cut across three of the men... shredding them instantly. The creature shrugged the others aside and tore into the crowd surrounding Jacob. The circle of cultists quickly broke away, revealing the single man that had been kneeling weakly at its center. Reyes' golden barrier was just a few rapidly-fading sparks. He held his book against his chest and looked up at the snarling thing that had rescued him, and was now leaning protectively over him as the cultists pumped bullets into its back.

"What... You on vacation or somethin'?" said the beast. The words were mangled almost beyond understanding by the creature's fangs and elongated snout. "You're supposed to be helping Donovan!"

"Sustained efforts... are... always difficult..." Jacob wheezed.

"You wouldn't have to SUSTAIN anything if you'd just KILL a few of 'em! Once they're DEAD, they STAY DEAD! See... watch this-"

"I will not KILL!" Reyes said as he got to his feet. "The book's magic is for PROTECTION, not destruction-"

"Well stand back, then! I'm under orders..." The monster turned to the worshippers, who were trying to surround them again. "NONE OF THESE GOONS GET OUT OF HERE ALIVE!"

"GOODE, DON'T!-" Reyes began.

The monster gave another bestial roar and charged into the crowd.

"STOP!" Reyes screamed after him. He pointed two fingers at the monster's broad back- "ARG!" And screamed as a bullet tore through his left shoulder. Instinctively, Reyes turned and unleashed a single, spindly arc of energy that struck the weapon that has fired the bullet.

The weapon exploded. Fragments of hot shrapnel obliterated the hand and forearm of the cultist that had been holding it.

"NO!" Reyes gasped. "I didn't MEAN-"

Screaming, the maimed cultist-

-drew a knife with his remaining hand and charged Reyes.

"DIIEEEEEEE!"

Reyes started to retreat... back to the corridor that had brought them here. Back away from this madness. He couldn't be a part of this any longer-

But then he remembered.

The altar. The priest. The BOY!

"OUT OF MY WAY!" Reyes shouted at the knife-wielding cultist. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the robed sycophant skidding across the floor. Reyes started running... not for the corridor, but for the altar. He scanned the crowd around him for whatever guns remained. The magic book throbbed in his embrace as he sent tendrils of energy out to destroy them.

Directly ahead of him, Donovan was-

"...my God..."

-shredding his way through the elders and cultists that had assembled for the sole purpose of keeping him away from ceremony. On the raised dias, the High Priest has collected a tiny pool of the boy's blood in his hand. He blessed the final red drop as it fell into his palm.

"DONOVAN, HE'S DOING IT!" Jacob shouted.

Two men directly in front of Donovan fell away in four pieces, finally giving Donovan a clear path to the altar.

One elder with a freshly reloaded Uzi stepped into that path.

The man fired exactly two shots-

The first struck titanium... then stone... and then flesh as Donovan sent the bullet back into the skull of the man that had fired it. The second bullet had already left the gun's barrel. Donovan's blade sent it buzzing across the room and into another gunman's heart. Just as gravity claimed the second man's not-yet-dead corpse, Donovan crouched and SPRANG-

He flipped in the air... his left palm caught the edge of the stone platform in a one-handed handstand. His arm bent, and then propelled him into another high forward flip that dropped him straight down onto the Altar... one foot landing between the young boy's spread legs, and the other just beside his naked shoulder.

Donovan's sword slashed deep across the surprised Priest's chest-

The blade sliced through the man's robe, but drew sparks as it skidded off of the underlying skin. Before the sparks could even fade, the sword struck again-

-and again.

Donovan brought the blade around a forth time, slicing across the Priest's throat. He succeeded in ripping the man's hood away...

...but the throat beneath barked the last of the arcane syllables. The High Priest smiled up at Donovan.

"TOO LATE!" the man laughed, holding up the boy's blood for Donovan to see. "The Calling is complete! Now Balthaygaur comes to claim his sacrifice... the human form that will be host to his magnificence!"

Donovan's sword came down on the extended arm... and bounced off of the skin.

"You stand on SACRED GROUND!" said the Priest. "The ceremony has SANCTIFIED me... PROTECTS me! Now NOTHING can stop his might, and our ASCENSION!"

Donovan looked down at the boy. The Sacrifice. In a few moments, that seven-year-old body will be host to one of the most feared demons in the Outer Hells. Balthaygaur the Devourer would scoop out his soul, consume it, and crawl inside like some kind of horror-movie parasite. But it wouldn't be a movie... it would be real. And it would only be the beginning.

A voice spoke in Donovan's ear... telling him what he already knew.

"No," Donovan said.

"YES!" Said the high priest, thinking that Donovan was speaking to him. The priest turned to the black wall and began to shout another round of incantations.

"...no..." Donovan said, denying the voice and its horrible words. "NO!"

Behind him, golden thunder began to crisscross the room as Reyes finally started using his magic. Waves of scorched cultists... scorched but not dead... flew away from the magician-

"UNTIE THE BOY!" Reyes shouted to Donovan. "GET HIM AND WE'LL MAKE A RUN FOR IT!"

Donovan wanted to turn and look... but his eyes remained fixed on the face of the sacrifice. "MMMMM!" the boy's eyes widened... not in fear, but in wild, desperate hope. Someone had come! Someone had come to SAVE HIM! A SAVIOR...with a sword and powers like a real-life SUPERHERO!

"MMM-MMMM! MMM-MMMM-MMMMMMM!" the boy screamed into his gag. Donovan knew what the boy was saying... that was plain enough.

Help me.

Help me Please.

"I CAN'T KEEP THE WAY CLEAR FOR LONG!"

Reyes had no idea what he was talking about, of course. Keep the way clear? Half of the cultists were already dead... and it didn't matter if they were ALL dead, because the priest was right.

It was already too late.

"MMM-MMMM!"

Help Me.

Donovan raised his sword. The boy was tied with silk ropes... easy enough to cut...

"HURRY!" Reyes shouted. "HURRY BEFORE HE-"

Donovan wasn't listening. Not to Reyes. Not to the voice in his own head, screaming at him to... to...

All he heard was his OWN words, babbling from his lips in a constant stream...

"No...no...no...no..."

"Balthaygaur!" the High Priest shouted. "YOUR SERVANT OPENS THE WAY! COME FORTH AND TAKE YOUR PLACE AMONG THOSE WHO WOULD BE YOUR SLAVES! I SUMMON YOU WITH BLOOD-"

The priest flung the boy's blood into the darkness that had replaced the wall behind the altar.

The darkness SCREAMED-

-and the center of it sank INTO The wall as if it were being pulled in by something on the other side.

Donovan closed his eyes... then opened them again. He didn't have the RIGHT to close his eyes. How DARE he shut them!? How dare he NOT WATCH what-

"COME FORTH, AND ACCEPT YOUR SACRIFICE!!" The priest yelled into the deepening hole.

-what he was about to do.

"No! NO! NO! NOOOOOO!"

Donovan's words became a cry of horror as he brought his sword down... straight down...

...and plunged it into the little boy's heart.

The entire world screamed.

Jacob Reyes howled at the altar... his voice a high-pitched wail of shock and disbelief.

Goode... the monster... paused in his righteous slaughter. Blood dripped in a red rain from his claws and fangs as he turned around and saw-

"...oh no... GOD....DONOVAN, NO!"

The black wall trembled with a force and power that induced a warbling shriek in the air. Something INSIDE the darkness roared in inhuman rage-

-a roar that was echoed in the throat of the High Priest as he turned back toward Donovan.

"YOU-" he began, pointing accusingly at Donovan. But that was all he could get out. "YOU... YOU... YOU..."

Donovan... the savior... the hero... heard none of this. His mouth remained closed... his lips pressed tightly together, holding back not a scream, but the incredible cold EMPTINESS that had replaced his soul.

He had to do it.

It was the only way.

The demon was already summoned... the boy was as good as dead... worse...

He was going to be sick. Right here, standing on the altar with the corpse of a murdered child at his feet, he was going to double over and vomit up his dinner like a soldier on his first day of battle.

But before he did THAT-

"NNRRRAAAAAAAGH!"

Donovan yanked the sword out of the boy's chest. He swung the weapon-

The High Priest's arm vanished just below the shoulder.

"AIIIIIIGHHH!"

The ceremony was over. Donovan had stopped it.

The High Priest backed away from the murderous haze that had settled over Donovan's face. The swordsman's lips pulled back in a growl of pure hatred that almost-

-ALMOST-

-matched the sound that was now echoing out of the black wall.

"AAAAAAAA!" With blood spraying from the stump of his right arm, the Priest threw himself off of the altar just as the darkness behind the altar split open-

-and horror spilled out into the world.

The sacred ceremony had been shattered. The host had been killed. But the demon...

The demon was still coming.

The thing that stepped out of the darkness was monstrous in size... its sloped, triangular head reached almost to the 100-foot ceiling. Its shoulders were like small black mountains... pierced by sharp, jagged spikes. It's torso was covered in what looked like leathery rags... but was actually the dried skins of the demons that the creature had killed and EATEN in hell. It wore them in layers on its body... trophies of atrocities past. It's lower body ended in a pair of cloven hooves that sent fragments of stone flying off of the platform with each thundering step. The demon's arms ended in six-fingered fists, upon which a layer of sharpened bones had been fastened to create clawed armor. Balthaygaur's face was a skull. The skin... if there had ever been any... had been peeled away long ago, revealing the huge, demonic skull beneath. The eyes were not eyes at all, but were twin pools of burning hell that never shut, never blinked...

Their light spilled out into the chamber as the demon stood between the two stone thrones. Its massive, jutting jawbone creaked open, revealing a thin black tongue that resembled an oiled whip coiled behind its monstrous stained teeth.

"WHO DARES VIOLATE THE CEREMONY!" The demon's voice shook the room. Cracks appeared in the stone walls from just these few syllables.

"Who Dares?" Donovan shouted back. He drew back his sword... "I DARE!"

The demon's jaws parted further, and the tongue slithered out from between the knife-like teeth. The black whip shot toward Donovan, who leapt aside just before it struck-

The stone altar exploded. Fragments shot across the room in all directions... some moving so fast that they shattered against the walls.

"FOOLS!" Balthaygaur's eyes glowed brighter. Two bright beams of orangish-red light shot out of the demon's skull. The sound they made...

...like the entire world had been dipped in gasoline and set ablaze.

Donovan sought cover... but the attack was not aimed at him.

At the demon's appearance, the remaining cultists had dropped to their knees, prostrating themselves before their lord and master. As reward for their dutiful worship, the demon unleashed his fury upon them. The beams cut across a group of cultists clustered in front of the altar. The men screamed as their flesh blackened and peeled away from their bodies. Though their deaths took only seconds, their torment seemed to last forever as each successive layer of skin, muscle, fat, and bone was burnt away, leaving nothing but smoke and ash on the stone floor. Smoke, ash, and the screams that seemed to echo in the room a bit TOO long to be merely echoes.

Somewhere... somewhere on the other side of the black wall... the demon's failed worshippers were still screaming.

Balthaygaur swept his gaze across the chamber, incinerating the cultists as they begged for forgiveness. Their pleas died in their melting throats as the demon methodically slaughtered them... sending their souls to hell where they would be marinated in hot agony, then slow-roasted and consumed at his leisure.

The werebeast that had been busily tearing apart the cultists quickly backed away once the demon took over. The huge, hairy form began to shrink... the snout and fangs retracted... muscles rippled and deflated...

Dr. Michael Goode stared up at the thing as it beamed death from behind the ruined altar.

"....uhhhh.... Donovan? Was THIS part of the plan?"

"It is now!"

"YOU BASTARD!" Jacob ran up to Donovan. One of the magician's hands was clenched, while the other clung to the heavy book. An ugly knot of golden energy crackled around the shaking fist. "YOU KILLED THAT CHILD! A CHILD! YOU KILLED HIM!"

"It was the only way!" Donovan said. "If I hadn't, THAT thing would be in his body right NOW! We were too late to stop it... it was the only way-"

"NO!" Reyes shrieked. "There's ALWAYS another way! You PROMISED me that you'd SAVE THAT CHILD!"

"I promised you I'd save this WORLD!" Donovan pointed at the demon. "It can only use a fraction of its power without a host! In its own physical form, that thing isn't NEARLY as powerful as it would have been inside the boy! We were too late to stop the summoning, but at least NOW we have a chance!"

"A chance to WHAT!?"

"DESTROY IT!"

"Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!" Dr. Goode's body rippled and began to grow, his voice became deep and guttural as he transformed- "For a second there, I thought we were gonna turn tail and run!"

"But we can't do it without your MAGIC, Reyes! Are you willing to use it... to REALLY USE IT... or are we just going to let that thing dig its way to the surface and start slaughtering innocents!"

"The slaughter of innocents has already STARTED!" Reyes spat. "And it didn't start with that demon... it started with YOU, DONOVAN! WITH YOU!"

"There's nothing we can DO about that now! But HIM..." Donovan clutched his sword and pointed it at Balthaygaur. "-HIM we can still do something about! GOODE! FRONTAL ASSAULT! Distract it while I find a weak spot!"

"NO! IT'LL KILL YOU BOTH!"

"Not if you get off your ass and DO something!" Goode growled as he charged toward the platform.

"The magic isn't for destruction... its-"

"If you don't want to fight," said Donovan. "Then protect US so WE can fight!"

The werebeast was huge compared to a man, but its hairy bulk was pitifully small before the fuming demon. Goode sprang onto the platform-

-and Balthaygaur swatted him out of the air with one sweep of his massive bone-covered fist. Goode flew across the room and landed on his feet with cat-like grace near the wall. Snarling, he charged again.

"MORE FOOLS!" The demon's eyes blazed.

"NOW, REYES!" Goode barked.

Demonic energy poured forth from Balthaygaur's bare skull...

The twin beams struck a golden light-sphere that appeared momentarily around Goode, tracking him as he ran. The energy played along the surface of the sphere for an instant, and then swung toward Reyes.

Reyes shouted a nearly-unpronouncible word and thrust out his hand.

Lightning erupted from Reyes' palm. The incinerating beams halted in mid-air as the two energies collided. Sparks exploded outward from the impact. Reyes was thrown back against the wall, and the demon Balthaygaur actually had to step back with one cloven hoof to keep his balance.

Balthaygaur's stone face was incapable of showing any emotion other than a murderous grin... but if it COULD have displayed shock, it would have done so.

But not for long.

The human with the magic was obviously weak. And now, vulnerable. The demon's eyes glowed in preparation for the killing blow-

"RRRAAAAAAAAAGHHHH!!!"

The werebeast struck.

It SHOULD have been over.

Had the thing behind the altar been a bear...

Had it been an elephant...

Or a rhinoceros... a wooly mammoth... or a Tyrannosaurs Rex... then it would have fallen instantly. The werebeast's body pulsed with power... it was every predator that had ever existed, and the beast had not been born that could withstand its full fury.

But Balthaygaur was none of these things. It was no mere beast. It was not of this world... and, if truth be known, he had never truly been born. It simply WAS.

The werebeast sprang claws-first into the demon's chest. Goode's fingers shredded the leathery skin-armor, searching for living flesh to tear-

The demon grabbed him in one hand and squeezed.

Blood sprayed out from between the demon's fingers, joined by the brief sound of cracking bones.

"RRRRRrrr!"

Balthaygaur gave the crushed corpse another squeeze just for good measure, and then dropped the bloody mess onto the floor.

And stepped on it.

When he turned his attention once again to the magician-

-Donovan landed on the demon's shoulder, having leapt from the top of the stone throne. The demon reached for the tiny annoyance-

-and impaled its hand on the bone spikes protruding from its shoulder.

It was smoke, and not blood that seeped from the wound. Donovan slashed his sword across the demon's wrist, intending to remove the entire hand-

-his blade drew sparks and a brief spurt of smoke, but did no real damage...

...but even THAT brief stab was enough for Balthaygaur to notice. The wound sizzled and burned. Donovan's blades carried the blessing of a priest, and that blessing was eating at its flesh like acid!

Again, the demon reached for him. Donovan gripped his sword with two hands and STABBED into the side of the demon's skull. Had there been the slightest angle of the weapon, the titanium would have snapped against the demonic skull like a toothpick against a stone. But the sword was perfectly straight, and behind it was an impulse force that was JUST beyond the maximum that a human body could generate.

"NNNGH!" Donovan grunted, his young muscles burning from the effort. The blessed blade sank into Balthaygaur's skull with a sizzling wet CRACK-

-that brought a howl of pain from the demon's fanged mouth.

The demon lurched backward. Abandoning his sword, Donovan leapt from the demon's shoulder-

-and performed two flips in the air on the way down. During the first, he ripped the stolen robes away... revealing his street clothes and the second pair of swords he wore underneath. During the second, he drew both weapons and landed in a crouched fighting stance with both swords held ready.


Above him, Balthaygaur pulled the tiny metal splinter out of the side of his skull and tossed the weapon away. A puff of smoke billowed from the wound. Again, the demon roared. Hellish energy poured from its glowing eye-sockets-

Donovan leapt to one side, narrowly avoiding the beams as they swept near him... and then swept back to miss barely miss him again. When they swept toward him a third time, Donovan ducked, and a single bolt of golden lightning arced over his head. The demon's burning gaze exploded in a blaze of sparks. Balthaygaur's head jerked away from the sudden blast of light-

Reyes's second blast caught the demon's squarely in its grinning face.

"GRRRRNNNNN!!"

Now enraged, Balthaygaur swung its massive arms outward, demolishing the giant thrones on either side of him. Then the beast stepped down off of the raised dias... each cloven hoof striking the stone with a sound like thunder.

"I WILL TAKE YOUR MAGIC BOOK!" the beast howled at Reyes. Balthaygaur stormed across the room toward the magician. "AND THEN YOUR SOUL! AND THEN-"

Balthaygaur stopped. The bare skull swiveled and looked down-

"-EH?"

The werebeast... whole and unharmed... clutched the demon's left hoof. Goode was nowhere near the size or strength needed hold the demon back, but he had more than enough power... and intelligence... to twist the demon's leg in exactly the direction that it was NOT mean to go.

There as no satisfying SNAP from any of Balthaygaur's joints, but the monster did stumble... Goode twisted the hoof and lifted up on it sharply-

Balthaygaur teetered backward and then lost its footing, falling back onto the raised dias... crushing what remained of the stone altar. The impact sent more cracks running up the walls, and now pieces of stone began to fall from the ceiling.

"NOW DONOVAN!" Goode shouted.

Donovan sprang onto the demon's body, tossing one sword up into the air and grasping the remaining blade with both hands. He brought the single sword down... perfectly straight.... plunging it into the exact center of the demon's chest. There was another wet, satisfying CRACK as the mortal's arms forced the titanium shaft through the monster's rib cage and into whatever lay beneath it.

A geyser of thick black smoke erupted from the wound. Balthaygaur's entire body stiffened. There was an instant of pause, and then the demon roared like a descending tornado. His massive fists pounding the chamber floor as he thrashed in presumed agony. By this time, Donovan had already jumped clear, letting his remaining sword fall into his hand as he flipped to the floor and ran.

Balthaygaur sat up. His burning eyes brightened... dimmed... and brightened again.

"I think we found a weak spot!" said Donovan. "Reyes.... CRACK IT OPEN! GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!"

Reyes looked down at his magic book. Everything he had? He had no idea what that meant... but he tried it anyway.

There was no need to open the book and actually READ the ancient pages. Ever since the tome was given to him, whatever words or gestures he needed flowed out of the book and into his mind. All he needed to do was ASK for it with his thoughts, and it appeared. He'd already asked for something to hurt the demon, but that hadn't been enough. Balthaygaur was too big... too strong. He asked for something stronger... something to take advantage of the damage already done-

-and it came to him. This time, the spell required words. The syllables poured into his mind, and Reyes repeated them as quickly as they came while pointing at Balthaygaur's smoking chest.

Thunder shook the room as an arc of power zigzagged from Reyes' fingers to the end of the sword protruding from Balthaygaur's chest. The lightning touched the sword and spread down it's length, energizing the blessed metal buried in the demon's flesh.

Donovan said to crack it open...

Jacob's outstretched fingers curled into a fist, and the single stream of lightning thickened. Daggers of golden energy spread outward from the blade, burning their deeper way into Balthaygaur's flesh. Jacob's magic pulled the demon's rib cage apart... cracking it open like the shell of a crab. The demon's roar shook the chamber once again-

"MORE, REYES!" Donovan ordered "HARDER!"

Reyes could not hear him. No one could hear anything. The demon's scream was like a blanket of solid sound packed into the chamber, filling it from floor to crumbling ceiling. Donovan pointed emphatically at the demon, who stood transfixed by the magician's blast. Balthaygaur tried to turn away, but the magic followed him... attached to the now-glowing sword, it followed the protruding pommel no matter which way the demon turned.

"MORE!" Donovan shouted.

Sweat poured down Reyes' face as he repeated the words. Two more arcs of lightning joined the first... all terminating on the same point, but each adding more than twice the power. Balthaygaur's chest billowed smoke like the engine of a coal freight train. Everything above the level of Donovan's sword was lost in a cloud of black. Reyes couldn't see the demon's face, but he could still HEAR it screaming.

"MORE!" Donovan was standing beside him now, but Reyes still couldn't hear him.

More? The murderer wanted MORE?

Reyes gave him more... this time, tainted with the anger and outrage he felt for Donovan himself.

"MURDERER!" Reyes added the word into the stream of arcane phrases that powered his attack. "YOU MURDERER!"

Donovan turned away from the golden light crackling from Reyes's hands. It was too bright to behold...

-and then it was gone.

Reyes staggered back and collapsed. Donovan caught him by the arm as, before the ruined altar, the demon Balthaygaur leaned first to one side... then the other...

...then fell forward like a cut tree.

The impact shattered the floor. Deep chasms spread outward from the demon's body. Some continued up the walls, joining the cracks already deepening and spreading across the room's stone surface.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Reyes snatched his arm away from Donovan. "DON'T TOUCH ME! I don't take orders from you, and I DON'T need your help!"

"Reyes, it HAD to be done-"

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT!"

"Not wanting to hear it doesn't make it go away! I didn't want to DO it, but THAT didn't make it go away either!"

"Let's check this baby out, eh?" said Dr. Goode. The werebeast approached the demon.... literally sniffing around the motionless body. "This one looked pretty powerful.... think there's any leftover magic that could help cure me-"

"Demon magic won't cure you, Goode," said Donovan. "And if it could, you certainly wouldn't want to involve yourself with THIS dem- GOODE, LOOK OUT!"

Balthaygaur's right arm moved. Goode tried to dodge it, but even with Donovan's warning, the werebeast wasn't fast enough to avoid the speeding fist. The demon's hand did not merely swat him aside... it PUNCHED him into the nearest wall. What was not crushed flat was driven into the stone in a spray of blood and gore. Goode didn't even have time to scream.

At the same time, the demon's head raised upward. The black tongue whipped out from amid the grinning fangs-

Donovan tried to shove Reyes aside, but the tongue caught Reyes across the torso-

"UNGH!"

Whether acting on purpose or obeying some desperate instinct, Reyes raised his book in front of him at the last instant. One strike of the demon's tongue had completely demolished the stone altar... but when it struck the book there was a brief blast of golden brilliance-

The magician and his book flew in two different directions as the demon's tongue retracted back into its jaws. On the other side of the chamber, the magic book hit the floor with an ominous thud and nearly slid into one of the jagged gaps in the floor.

"THE BOOK!" On his hands and knees, Reyes' eyes were fixed not on the demon that was about to kill him, but on his tome...

Balthaygaur's tongue lashed out again-

Donovan was already running. He leapt, swords becoming a whirring blur around him as he sprang-

He passed the black tongue's path. Balthaygaur roared as the twenty-nine severed pieces of his tongue splattered to the floor, sizzling from the brief contact with Donovan's blessed metal.

The demon's eyes blazed as he stood. The infernal fire burst from his eyes. Donovan sprang out of the path of the burning rays, but the demon's deadly gaze followed him. He kept running, zigzagging across the floor-

He had to get to the book. Reyes was not only vulnerable, but POWERLESS without it. And without Reyes, Donovan had no way to counter the demon's considerable magic. Worse still, Goode was out. It took more than mere physical damage to kill the werebeast, but without Reyes, by the time Goode pulled himself together the fight would be over.

Unless he got Reyes back into action, this was going to end badly. Very badly. And not just for the people in this room. Balthaygaur's physical form couldn't remain intact very long outside of Hell, but then it didn't HAVE to. There was an entire CITY full of people directly above them. The BEST thing that the demon could do was break free of this chamber and slaughter them all. But if, somewhere up there, Balthaygaur managed to find another sacrifice... another host...

Donovan couldn't let that happen. But there was nothing he could do to stop it by himself.

He needed the book.

He was running along the wall when another bolt of concentrated hellfire connected Balthaygaur's eyes to the floor just behind him... and then swept forward.

Donovan sprang into a forward flip. The beams passed under him, then turned back, trying to catch him as he landed-

He didn't land.

The tip of Donovan's blade touched the floor. For an instant, the shaft... the arm that held it... and the body attached to the arm formed a perfectly straight line as Donovan balanced upside down on his sword... feet pointing toward the ceiling, one hand clutching the inverted sword's grip as the demon's fire roared past the spot where he was SUPPOSED to land. Donovan's arm bent slightly, then straightened as he leaned to one side. With the thrust of one arm, Donovan threw himself back. His feet came flat against the wall as the demon's fire AGAIN passed through the place he had been less than a second ago. Then, before gravity realized what he was doing, he SPRANG-

-passing UNDER the demon's flame as it cut across the stone wall. He straightened himself and tensed the muscles of his abdomen and torso. Donovan landed flat on the floor-

-letting the demon-flame roar overhead as he rolled to one side and snatched up Reyes' magic book. The book flopped open for as he grabbed the cover, and Donovan's eyes fell across the pages-

He wasn't supposed to see it. Reyes had warned him about the book's magic... magic that was meant only for Reyes and no one else. The book not only HELD power, but it WAS a power in itself. It would protect itself from the unworthy-

But... this...?

Donovan shook the confusion from his head and looked for Reyes. Where was he-

THERE!

With the demon's attention fixed on Donovan, Jacob had snuck around the other side of the beast, trying to get behind it. He hadn't quite made it... but he was about as far way from Donovan as he could get...

At the WORST possible time.

Donovan had to get that book to him-

-it was as good as done.

Running again, Donovan tossed the book into the air as far ahead of him as he could. The demon's fire was closing on him-

-but he stopped, letting his momentum carry him around in a powerful spinning slash.

"CATCH!" he shouted as the flat side of his blade caught the falling book across the cover-

-sending it flying past Balthaygaur-

...and right into Reyes' waiting hands.

INSTANTLY, Reyes began casting a spell. He didn't open the book... he didn't even look at it. The magician was only two syllables into his incantation when shafts of golden light rose from the floor around Balthaygaur, creating a glowing cage around the demon.

Balthaygaur grabbed the bars of his 'cage' and began twisting them apart. He had to strain to break free... but he didn't have to strain very long. He turned to Reyes-

-who sent another bolt of lightning into the sword still protruding from the demon's chest.

Balthaygaur snarled-

-and kept coming. Beams of hellfire struck the magical field around Reyes as the magician began casting another spell.

Whatever it was, it wasn't going to work. Reyes was back in the fight, but they had both run out of ideas on how to stop the rampaging Balthaygaur.

Fortunately, the voice in Donovan's ear had one more. The voice had seen what was in Reyes' book, but unlike Donovan, IT had understood...

"REYES!" Donovan called. He held up his weapon. "SWORD! EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!"

Reyes looked confused.

"CHARGE IT LIKE A BATTERY!"

Reyes re-directed his spell at Donovan's sword Lightning sprayed across the room. Confused, Balthaygaur turned and watched as Reyes magic played up and down the shaft of sharpened titanium.

"KEEP GOING!" Donovan ran straight for Balthaygaur.

The demon looked from swordsman to magician... trying to decide which insect it would smash first. Reyes was closer.

The demon brought its fist down onto Reyes... but a dome of golden magic around the magician threw the demon's fist back. Reyes continued pouring energy into Donovan's blade. Balthaygaur turned to Donovan and unleashed the infernal beams-

A second golden dome appeared around Donovan... THIS one reflected the beams back at the demon himself. Balthaygaur roared as his own hellfire played across his face, blinding him for an instant-

Donovan reached the demon's leg and slashed.

The blade, energized with Reyes' magic, cut cleanly into the flesh above the demon's hoof.

Balthaygaur snatched the wounded and smoking leg away before Donovan could grab hold to it. Donovan darted to one side as the demon brought its massive fist down-

Donovan stopped running, turned, and SLASHED.

The monster's fist should have crushed him AND the blade, but instead Donovan's enchanted sword SHATTERED Balthaygaur's hand. Smoke and chunks of bone... and Donovan... flew away from the impact.

"ARRRRRRRGGGH!!" Balthaygaur raised his ruined hand and howled his fury at the ceiling.

Donovan performed a perfect flip in the air and landed on his feet. His sword was still glowing....

...and Balthaygaur was still coming. The demon charged. Donovan rushed to meet it.

"REYES, I NEED MORE!" Donovan shouted.

"THAT'S ALL THERE IS!"

"MORE, DAMN YOU! There's ALWAYS MORE!!!"

Reyes sent another bolt of power into Donovan's sword. Lightning arced up and down the blade as Donovan LEAPT-

-flipped in the air, and, as he came down, slashed the blade across Balthaygaur's thigh. Smoke exploded from the wound like steam from a pressurized tank.

"DAMN!" Donovan swore as he landed. "NOT HIGH ENOUGH!" He ran for the raised platform... the front portion of which had been shattered by the demon's fall. He darted up the pile of rubble...

"YOU!" Balthaygaur turned to Reyes. The demon's eyes blazed in furious anger. "YOUR MAGIC-"

"WILL BE MORE THAN ENOUGH-"

Reyes unleashed a torrent of lightning... all of which shot PAST the demon and struck Donovan's sword as he leapt from the remains of stone throne. Balthaygaur turned-

"YAAAAAAA!" Donovan roared as he brought the blade down across the demon's chest... cutting across the crack that still remained from his earlier attack. There was an explosion of smoke and power, but this time Donovan didn't jump clear. He grabbed hold of the leathery skin hanging from the demon's torso and pulled himself up. Balthaygaur reached for him-

Donovan slashed off the tip of one clawed finger, but he didn't have the leverage for a stronger blow. Balthaygaur still managed to brush him off even as Donovan tried to pull himself higher. Donovan landed in a crouching position, then quickly backed away. The demon clutched its chest as if it were having a heart attack...

...but it didn't have a heart. If if DID, then it would already be dead. This wasn't working...

"REYES, I NEED MORE POWER!" he shouted as the demon charged.

"I can only give what the book provides-"

"THERE IS NO BLOODY BOOK!" Donovan screamed. Then added. "I KILLED THE BOY, REYES! THE BOY YOU CAME HERE TO SAVE... I TOOK THIS SWORD AND I KILLED HIM! YOU TRUSTED ME! THE BOY BEGGED ME TO SAVE HIM AND INSTEAD I PUT MY SWORD THROUGH HIS HEART! WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT, REYES!"

"You... you..."

"HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL!! WHAT DOES IT MAKE YOU WANT DO TO... TO ME! TO THAT DEMON!"

"I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO-"

"I'M A MURDERER, REYES. YOU SAID SO YOURSELF! I'M A MURDERER AND THAT THING IS A MONSTER! ONLY YOU CAN STOP US... BUT IF YOU DON'T, WHAT DOES THAT MAKE YOU!?! A COWARD!"

"YOU-"

"YOU'RE A STUPID, FOOLISH COWARD, REYES! YOU CAN'T STOP THIS DEMON... YOU COULDN'T EVEN STOP ME FROM KILLING A LITTLE BOY!-

"YOU BASTARD!"

"-RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES!"

Donovan smiled as Reyes unleashed his fury. The blast nearly knocked Donovan back into the wall, but he stiffened his legs and held the blade high. It had been glowing before, but as Reyes emptied his rage into it, the blade became a miniature sun, trembling with rage and...

Power. The power of Reyes' book. The power... the TRUE power... of Reyes's magic.

"YES!" Donovan said as he charged the demon Balthaygaur. The monster-

-suddenly lurched sideways as a massive chunk of stone crashed into the side of its skull.

"ALL RIGHT!" The werebeast roared. "NOW YOU'VE PISSED ME OFF!" Goode reached down and tore up another chunk of floor, then he hurled it at Balthaygaur.

Perfect.

Donovan changed course.

The second stone exploded in the air... blasted apart by Balthaygaur's eye beams. Goode had already ripped up a third, even larger piece. He raised it over his head and prepared to launch it at the demon.

Donovan would never reach Goode before he threw it... but he didn't have to. All he needed was the wall. Legs burning with energy that was not entirely his own, Donovan launched himself at the chamber wall...

...he curled, flipped and extended his legs, 'landing' on the vertical stone just long enough to SPRING into the air-

"NYYRAAAAAAGH!" Goode threw the chunk of floor at Balthaygaur's grinning face. The fire in Balthaygaur's eyes expanded as-

-Donovan's boots hit the flying stone. He crouched-

The chunk of stone vanished in a spray of flame and burning rocks. Donovan had already gone... He'd used the speeding hunk of rock not only to change direction, but too add the power of the werebeast's supernaturally strong muscles to his own. He sprang for the side of Balthaygaur's head as the stone missile exploded, and a SECOND blast of hellfire tore into the werebeast.

Goode's screams reached Donovan's ears as he flew... lifting his sword as high and as far back over his head as he could.

Realizing that something was happened, Balthaygaur turned toward him... eyes already glowing with hellfire-

Too Late.

With every bit of strength he had, Donovan brought the glowing sword down... right into the center of the demon's skinless, grinning face.

He felt the beginnings of an explosion... a sudden jolt-

-and then everything went perfectly white for a long, long time.

Three seconds later, Donovan woke up screaming.

He was on the floor, but instead of gray, the stone around him was red. Blood. His blood. His legs were broken. He could feel the bones grinding, but he couldn't lift his head to see how bad. When he tried, his head just flopped to one side... and that's when he saw his arm. His right arm was not broken... it was shattered. Bones jutted from the torn flesh like spikes. He couldn't move...

He could also see one of his ribs protruding from the side of his chest.

No... two. Two ribs.

He was screaming, but he couldn't HEAR himself scream. There was something else...

Dear God, what was that SOUND-

Oh.

Balthaygaur was staggering backward, clutching his ruined skull with his one remaining hand. This time it wasn't smoke, but FIRE that bled out from between the fingers.

Donovan's blade had split the demon's face down the middle. Balthaygaur was holding one half of it in place, and the other half was riddled with deep, fiery cracks that widened with every sound the demon made. Balthaygaur's howl of abject agony made Donovan's muscles clench despite his best efforts NOT to move.

"YOUUU!" Balthaygaur pointed the stump of his ruined hand at Donovan. "I WILL REMEMBER YOUUU!!! YOU WILL PAY! YOU WILL PAYYYY!"

With that, the demon turned and stumbled back through the black portal that had brought him. The demon's screams got LOUDER as it vanished, ending only when the sea of liquid darkness closed in on itself, sealing the breech and ending the connection between Donovan's world and the hell to which Balthaygaur had returned... beaten.

Donovan sighed... not realizing that his mouth was full of blood until after is began bubbling out of his mouth.

"DONOVAN!" Jacob's face appeared above him. "Donovan, don't move!"

"...Don't... worry..."

"I'll get help. GOODE! GOODE!" Reyes looked around for the werebeast. Had Goode survived? Donovan saw a burnt beast-shaped outline on the wall... and in front of it was something that looked like five or six large dogs run through a blender and then set on fire.

But it was moving. Goode lifted a head-like stump... then lowered it again. Something that resembled an arm... or leg... or something else... twitched. Dr. Goode would live, but he would be in no condition to help for quite a while.

"...oh, no," Reyes turned back to Donovan. "I... I... I need to stop the bleeding, but I... I... I don't know how! Donovan-"

"Shhhh..." said Donovan. "It's okay. I... never wanted... to be an old Knight... anyway..."

"Don't talk like that-"

"Listen," Donovan mumbled. "...magic..."

"RIGHT! Healing magic! Uhh... Uhhh..." Reyes frowned. Then his eyes began to water as the hope on his face faded. "The book doesn't HAVE any! Donovan... Donovan, I'm sorry..."

"Listen, fool... I saw... I saw your book... the pages..."

"Save your strength. You have to hold on until Goode..." He looked at the doctor. "...uhh... maybe I can move you. YES! I'm levitate you to a hospital-"

"Reyes... this... this is important..."

Reyes stopped babbling. Donovan looked into the man's eyes.

"Do...you... accept-"

"NO!" Reyes shouted. "NO! NO! NO! You're NOT going to die! And if you do, you're NOT going to pass this madness on to me!"

"You're... the only one.... Goode's soul is... tainted... yours... yours is pure... you have to accept... it must go on..."

"NEVER! I saw what you DID, Donovan! The boy... I've seen the things that you think you HAVE to do... and, I'm sorry, I CAN'T do them! I just CAN'T! I'm THROUGH with this, Donovan! Whether you live or die... this is IT for me! This is the last time! I can't... I can't do this any more!"

"Please, Reyes... please don't let it die..."

"I can't!"

"If you won't accept... then... then save me..."

"I CAN'T!"

"...try..." said Donovan. His strength was fading. So much blood... "...just long enough... to find... another..."

"I can only cast what spells the book gives me-"

"Try... you... bloody coward..."

"DAMN you!"

Reyes placed one hand on Donovan's chest, and the other on the book beside him.

Nothing happened.

"See! See... nothing! Donovan, I... Donovan?...."

Donovan sighed again, and closed his eyes. He heard Reyes calling his name... but the voice was getting further and further away.

"...Donovan? Donovan come back! DONOVANN!"

"bviously, I didn't die," said Donovan. "Not then, anyway."

The ghost of Donovan Wilde hovered over the balcony as Ashley looked down at the hotel swimming pool. It was 3:00am. The pool was empty... as was the room behind her. Jason and Sebastian had gone out to kill something, and neither of them wanted her along. Not that she blamed them. Donovan had stayed behind to have a little 'talk' with her.

As entertaining as the story had been, she didn't really see the point. But then, ghosts rarely made sense.

She had been leaning over the railing while Donovan told his story. Now she sat down in one of the cheap plastic chairs.

Donovan floated over beside her.

"I woke up in a hospital," He continued. "Days later. Turns out that my injures weren't quite as bad as I thought. I did almost die... but Reyes used his magic to get me to a hospital in time. He stayed there with me... while I slept. When he wasn't in the room, he was down the hall... entertaining the children with magic tricks. Reyes always loved children... and now he hated me."

"But you... you said you had to do it, right?" said Ashley. "He didn't understand-"

"Oh, he understood. He understood that maybe if someone ELSE had been there... someone other than ME... then they would have found another way. He understood my reasoning, but he still blamed me for it."

"Did you talk about it?"

"No. I was too weak to talk. When I woke up, he just stared at me. He'd had days to dwell on it... to re-live it in his mind. In all that time, he came up with one question that he wanted to ask. So he asked it. It was ironic, considering what was going to happen years later."

"What was it?"

"He said- Donovan, that boy was someone's child. Someone's son. You killed him because you thought you had to... but if it had been YOUR child... YOUR son... would you have found another way?"

"What'd you say?"

"I didn't say anything. I had tubes and wires going down my throat; all I could do was look at him. My eyes told gave him the answer... but it wasn't the one he was looking for."

"But you lied," said Ashley. "When it happened to Sebastian, you DID find another way."

"Yes, I did."

"So, you killed that boy for nothing."

"In hindsight... yes. But at the time..." Donovan shrugged. "Reyes told me that we were through... HE was through. He'd had enough. He'd tolerated the way Goode and I did things for years... but that was it. No more. It was over for him. He walked out of the room... and was gone."

"Did you ever see him again?"

"Once. Years later, I tracked him down for one final adventure. I needed his help, and I must say he was NOT happy to see me. He was working in California, close to Hollywood. Hmph. A fantasy land. It fit him quite well, and he was happy. Mostly. Of course, by then, he had learned what I tried to tell him in that chamber. What I had seen in his book when I accidentally opened it."

"What?"

"Nothing," said Donovan. "The pages were blank. The power? The spells? They were in his mind all along. The book was just a prop. A crutch."

"You mean, he could... he could actually DO all that stuff? On his own?"

"Yes. And more. Much more. I told him that there was no book... and there wasn't. The book didn't really exist, you see. It was something that he had CREATED. His mind NEEDED a magic book to make sense out of the power that he had... so he created one. His subconscious mind created a PHYSICAL object as a vessel for the power that really came from inside HIM."

Ashley gasped.

"But the pages were completely empty. I'm sure that when HE looked at it, the pages were filled with secrets and wonderment. But in reality, they weren't just blank, they weren't even there. Eventually he realized the truth, but he didn't learn it on his own. Someone else told him. When we met again, Reyes spun some tale about a mysterious stranger and some pre-Biblical prophecy. Whoever it was, they were wasting their time. Reyes wanted nothing to do with it.... just like he wanted nothing to do with me. Still, he DID help me that one last time. One... final time."

"Did he... die?"

"No. No, what happened to Reyes was worse. When I found him, Reyes was living in a fantasy world. When he left me at the hospital, he turned his back on everything that I had ever shown him. Demons. The crusade. Evil. He made a new life for himself, and in his life those things didn't exist. There was no REAL evil in his world any more. Not like there was in mine. Like there is in yours, or Jason's. When I came back, I destroyed all that. I brought that evil back into his life... held it up in front of his face so that he couldn't ignore it any longer. The sight of it destroyed him. He was happy... content... he was even going to be married. But all of that happiness DEPENDED on that fantasy being true. If there were REAL demons and monsters in the world, then what sane man could EVER be happy? What sane man would EVER get married and intentionally bring children into this madness? When it was over, he left her. He didn't even go home to explain it. He just... never saw her again. They were going to be married that year..."

"Oh, that poor woman!"

"I never met her," said Donovan. "I imagine he wanted to keep me well away from her... with good reason. Disaster does tend to follow me around. He did say her name once. Emily. I think it was short for 'Emelia'."

"Emily? Donovan, that's... that's my mothers name."

"Yes," said Donovan. "I know."

[END]

copyright 2005 by Dark Icon Entertainment