Keys to the Demon Prison

Chapter 27 Knights of the Dawn

When the quaking subsided, the breach in the dome had become as wide as a basketball court. Seth stared at the gaping rift, waiting for a demon to appear. Around him, astrids and fairies milled anxiously. "Steady," Bracken called. "Await my commands."

"Are you my bodyguard?" Seth asked an astrid who had taken up position beside him.

"Yes," the brawny astrid replied. "I am Peredor. Denwin is assigned to you as well."

The second astrid stood a little taller than the first. He carried a pair of short spears. Peredor wielded a war hammer, and a brace of long knives crossed at his waist.

"How did you get your assignment?" Seth asked. "Bracken issues most of our orders mind to mind,"

Denwin said. "He is only using his voice for the benefit of you humans."

"He talks to me telepathically sometimes," Seth said. "He gave me a magic coin."

"Keep your fine sword ready," Peredor advised, glancing down at Vasilis. "We will try to shield you, but this will be a host of demons such as the world has never known."

"I’ll do my best," Seth said, fingering the hilt of his sword. The waiting was agony. How long before a demon would appear? Would Graulas be the first one out?

A murmur ran through the assembled astrids and fairies as the first demons emerged from the rift in the dome. Seth pulled binoculars from his emergency kit for a closer look.

In the lead slithered a muscular woman with four arms and the body of a serpent. Near her limped a pale man, considerably taller than a regular person, his body pocked with sores. His long, spindly arms and legs gave him spidery proportions, slaver dripped from his slack mouth, and buttery goo clotted around his red eyes. On the other side of the snake woman padded an enormous wolf, with crooked fangs that protruded like tusks and fur as dark as ink.

"You recognize these guys?" Seth asked.

"The tall skinny one is Zorat the Plagueman," Peredor said. "Without unicorns on our side, he could wipe us out himself with disease."

"Bracken will hold his influence in check," Denwin said. "The woman is a greater demon called Ixyria, a mentor to witches and hags. The wolf is called Din Bidor. Darkness and fear increase his size."

Behind these three demons came a figure who nearly filled the gap, a shirtless mountain of a man with an iron collar around his neck and a steel mask over his face. In one hand he clutched a gigantic flanged mace, in the other a tremendous morning star. Beneath gray, elephantine skin and thick layers of blubber, rotund muscles swelled with every movement.

"Brogo," Peredor murmured with intimidated respect. "One of the three sons of Gorgrog. He used to attack castles unaided. The oaf has single-handedly felled forests, smashed monuments, crushed armies, and destroyed cities."

"Arguably the strongest demon in history," Denwin said. "He was one of the first locked up in Zzyzx."

More demons poured out alongside and behind Brogo. Some walked on two legs, some on four, some on six. Others slithered. Others jumped. Others rolled. Others had wings. Some had horns, or tentacles, or shells, or scales, or quills, or fur. Many wore armor and bore weapons. Some had heads like dragons, others like jackals, panthers, humans, or insects. Several stood larger than Hugo. A few lounged on litters borne by underlings.

As the nightmarish procession continued to flow out of the rift, an idea struck Seth, and he hurriedly approached Bracken, his bodyguards half a step behind. Bracken was addressing Trask, Vanessa, Warren, and Kendra.

"This is good," Bracken said, eyes on the growing mass of demons. "Impatient after years in prison, many of the demonic leaders have emerged early. Among them I already see several notorious cowards. Although they love destruction and mayhem, many demons are hesitant to risk their own necks. They prefer bullying."

"How do we use this?" Trask asked.

"We need to spread the fight as wide as possible. We harass and scare the weakest leaders. And we fall back before them, hoping Gorgrog will emerge with his vanguard to celebrate his freedom and observe our demise."

"This is just the vanguard?" Warren asked.

"What you see is but a small delegation of the many demons entrapped in Zzyzx," Bracken confirmed.

Across the field, demons continued to emerge from the rift. Groups of human-sized fairies and astrids began to attack in small groups from multiple directions, darting in, striking a few blows, then soaring away. When flying demons gave chase, astrids converged, outmaneuvering the winged attackers and cutting them from the sky.

"Bracken," Seth said, "I have an idea."

"Let’s have it," Bracken replied, eyes on the battle.

Seth began unbuckling his sword belt. "Why don’t you take Vasilis? I’m sure you could make better use of it than I could."

"A noble gesture," Bracken said, temporarily taking his eyes off the scattered skirmishes. "But you’re wrong, Seth. A sword like Vasilis does not always connect to a new master as it has connected to you. You and the Sword of Light and Darkness complement each other. I can sense that in my hands it would be a fine weapon, but it would fail to draw power from my mind and heart as it does from yours. I will fare just as well using my horn. Keep your blade."

"What should we do?" Vanessa asked.

"We wait," Bracken said. "Without wings, we can’t harass the enemy like the astrids or the fairies. Our weapons will be needed as the battle unfolds."

On the field between the shrine and the prison, the harassing raids had enraged the demons, and the battle was growing fiercer. Seth saw a couple of fairies torn from the air, and an injured astrid had to be rescued by companions. The demons spread ever wider to confront the multidirectional sorties. For the moment, Bracken had succeeded in preventing the demons from concentrating their efforts on the shrine.

Without warning, the Sphinx appeared near Bracken. Dusty and winded, he held the Translocator in his hands and supported the Chronometer in the crook of his arm. The Font of Immortality protruded from his belt.

"The other two artifacts?" Bracken asked the Sphinx, evidently unsurprised by his appearance.

"Nagi Luna will not let the Oculus out of her grasp," the Sphinx said. "Graulas is the same with the Sands of Sanctity. This was the first moment when I had a chance to snatch any of the artifacts. Gorgrog has just emerged from confinement, and all attention was on him. As it was, I had to gar-rote Mr. Lich."

"You killed your friend?" Seth asked.