Page 9

9

BEAST OF A PLAN

“O h shit!” I shouted as both men got to their feet from the table they were sitting at.

I too scrambled from the bed as we all made our way to the window. I pushed it open and gasped before Tyr and Asher took hold of me and put me behind them. But despite this, I’d had long enough to see for myself the trouble we were now in. There was no mistaking the army of HellHounds that were making their way down the streets coming from the other side of town. Nor was there any mistaking the sight of Garmr that led them, from dead center, in between his robed lackies, whoever they were. I couldn’t see their faces, which I gathered was the point because Garmr was the same. Their cloaks all snaked around the ground like living shadows.

“What are we going to do?!” I asked in panic, making Tyr say casually,

“Well, this might be a problem.”

“You think!” I shouted.

“Well, whatever we do, it’s going to have to be fast, as look, they are making their way inside each home, and it won’t be long till they reach the inn,” Asher pointed out with a grit of his teeth. He was clearly the only one to take this situation seriously out of the two of them.

“In that case, time to go,” Tyr said, picking back up his weapons, his axe soon going to his back.

Well, it looked like we would certainly be needing it. As for Asher, he rushed me out the door, just as we heard the snarls of HellHounds from down below as they must have already made it inside. The sound of screaming and yells of shock echoed through the floor, along with the crashing of furniture.

“We will have to break through to the next building,” Tyr told us, after first looking one way and then to the next, only to find a dead-end because this hallway went to nowhere.

“Break through, how…? Oh…” I said as Tyr pulled his axe from his back with Asher leading the way down the corridor.

Demons opened their doors to look and see what the commotion was. But when I saw their horrified faces look behind us, I stupidly turned. This was just in time to see one of the HellHounds that had made it up the stairs and was now snarling our way from the other end.

“Shit, one found us!” I shouted, alerting the other two to the fact we were now being hunted. One had been bad enough, but now two were in pursuit of us because the second HellHound rounded the corner. It came through the arch too fast and slammed into the wall before shaking itself from the daze enough to add to the chase.

“Fuck! Now there is two of them chasing us!” I shouted, making Tyr say,

“Not for long!” Then he stopped to face them head on, and I was just about to shout what the hell, when he swung his axe over his head. And just as they got close enough to leap at him, he hammered his axe hard into the floor. The wooden boards cracked before crashing through to the floor below. Which meant all he had to do was take a step back out of reach, and the HellHounds had nowhere to go but down.

Both of them fell through the large hole in the hallway and down into what looked like the kitchens below. One howled in agony as it landed on the hot stove, setting ablaze instantly. The other one crashing into a massive clay bowl filled with soapy water that looked to have been used to clean dishes. It shattered instantly, making the HellHound slip and slide on the suds when trying to get back to its feet.

“Come on, we need to keep going before they catch up to us!” Asher said, and Tyr took his place in the lead.

When we got to the dead-end of the hallway, he used his axe again to smash straight through the wall. And from where I was standing, I could see the way the runes and symbols etched into the gleaming steal all started to glow blue on impact.

Asher turned quickly to cover me, so the debris didn’t fly back and hurt me. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me through the crude opening, making demons scream when we appeared in someone’s bedroom. Their white and black patched faces were a shock to see, but no more shocking than having us suddenly burst into their personal space. The poor woman even covered up her breasts, that like the rest of her skin, one was white and the other black. In fact, there was something profoundly beautiful about her two-toned skin. Their horns were like curled ridges, also striped black and white.

“Er, sorry, just passing through… you have a lovely home,” I said, feeling bad for them both and not knowing what else to say as we went running through their lives. Of course, we did this only to find ourselves in the same boat, as of course we had another wall in our way at the end of the house.

This time, however, when we smashed through, we ended up in a storage room for a shop or something. It was filled with crates and large pots full of flour. One of which Asher went tumbling into, and he was consumed in a white cloud before coming out of it with a cough, now covered from head to toe. He looked to Tyr and warned,

“Not a word.”

I couldn’t help but smirk, despite our current situation. But hey, at least we had managed to outrun the HellHounds for the time being.

Asher shook himself and patted himself free of as much flour as he could as we continued to run through walls, with Tyr clearing the path. The stream of flour falling from Asher looked like he was running in slow motion, leaving behind silhouettes of his shape.

Like I said, it would have been more comical and left me laughing my ass off had we not been running for our lives. The next building was another home, but one that was thankfully empty. However, the second Tyr hammered his axe through that wall, I naturally took steps to run, when his strong arm stopped me. This was just before I could run myself right out to my death, as he said,

“Looks like it’s the end of the road.” And he was right.

We had come to the end of the row of buildings until we were now facing the town square again. Only this time, from two stories up.

“What do we do?!” I asked in panic, making him actually wink at me.

“Time to jump,” he said, making me back up a step.

“I can’t jump,” I told him, hoping he hadn’t momentarily forgotten that I was human.

“Sure you can, and I will catch you,” he said with a cocky grin, and before I could protest further, he jumped straight out the hole like this was nothing. Although he certainly landed like a pro, it had to be said, he didn’t even lose his axe. One he now reached around and hooked at his back before holding out his arms for me to jump.

“Oh no, I can’t,” I protested, making Asher grab me by the waist and say,

“You can hate me later.” Then he tossed me out the window, making me scream all the way down until landing with a distinct,

“Umph!”

“Gotcha,” Tyr said, holding me against his chest, smirking down at me. I panted, trying to catch my breath and still my pounding heart that, for a second, was convinced it wouldn’t need to beat any longer.

“You can let me go,” I pointed out, now we were street level, and my brain had caught up with the fact I wasn’t an Ella-shaped pancake.

“Do I have to?” he teased before Asher followed, a cloud of white left in his wake as the remains of the flour finally left him.

“Shall we?” he said to Tyr, who let me find my feet, now taking my hand and pulling me with him as we started to run through the square. One that was now completely abandoned.

However, just before we could make it back to the gated entrance of the village, a black fog rose up in front of us. We all jerked to a stop just before the gates slammed shut. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to now turn around to find the cause. And there it was, one of the robed followers of Garmr was now controlling this shadowed entity. Doing so with his hands raised, and black smoke rising from his palms.

“Shit!” I shouted as I saw Garmr’s army of HellHounds now making their way down to cobbled paths from each side. Which meant that we had no place left to run to because every street that branched off the square was full of HellHounds. Then after they reached the marketplace, they started circling the village square we were trapped in. Each one snarled at us, some leaping to gain more distance and landing with a crunch on crates of produce. Fruits and vegetables burst under their black paws, and bloody red drool dripped down between rows of deadly yellow teeth. Their fangs were long and sharp enough to tear through flesh and bone.

Their sleek black bodies looked like they had been skinned before being dipped in crude oil, their joints cracking and showing glowing crimson flesh beneath. Eyes burning bloodshot and glowing with eager anticipation for the kill and fight ahead. And they weren’t the only ones, because Tyr and Asher readied themselves.

Tyr pulled his axe from his back before pulling his sword from its sheath so he could toss it to Asher.

“I hope you know how to use it,” Tyr commented, making Asher grin before spinning it around with speed.

“I think I can handle it,” he said as his hand turned demonic before he ran it down the length and ignited the steel in flames. At the same time, he lost his mortal shell, giving way to his true form. The form I remembered seeing that day at the arena. The one with four twisted horns on his head, decorated with hoops and gold bands. Dark hair flowing freely between them and his pointed ears. His face now showcased black lips, pointed teeth, a strong ridged nose, and a pair of eyes in reverse. The whites of his irises glowed in the darkness that surrounded them.

As for his body, this was an abundance of bare muscle, decorated with patterned lines of raised white dots that varied only slightly in size to create the elaborate designs. And it was clearly a form that Tyr had already seen because he uttered a word I hadn’t heard before.

“Asuras… by the Gods.”

I obviously had no idea what this meant, and it wasn’t like now was the time to explain. So, with a nod of acknowledgement, Asher took a fighting stance, prompting Tyr to do the same.

“Stay behind us,” Tyr commanded, pushing me back with a hand to my belly. And damn it, if only I had my powers, then I could have evened the odds with my own army of souls. But I had let fear get the better of me once, and it had cost me the opportunity to have ended this. Because if I had only fought Garmr when I had the chance at the Gates of the Underworld, I might have beaten him.

“Ah, I see you found yourself an upgrade for protection,” Garmr commented, sounding amused by my army of two.

“Yeah, she did,” Tyr said, now spinning his axe and looking up to the sky as his eyes started to glow blue. And like Thor, instead of lightening transforming him, a beam of light came down and enveloped him in a heavenly glow. His tattoos all glowed with a blue power, as if feeding his veins, traveling straight to his axe, making it spark. And oh yeah, now he looked Godly.

“And you, Princess, where is your power, for as you can see, you are severely outnumbered,” Garmr remarked making my mouth drop a little. Because this told me that he didn’t know, meaning he hadn’t sent that bird creature after all, just like Lerna predicted. But then again, he wanted me for my power, didn’t he? So, did that mean I was now useless to him?

However, I never got the chance to say a word in response, because Tyr hammered his axe down into the ground, cracking the stone as branches of power snaked out along the floor like lightening traveling the stormy sky. The ground shook enough for me to hold out my hands to my sides to steady myself. But I didn’t take my eyes from the sight of it hitting out at the HellHounds in its path. The branches lashed out the second they made contact, encasing them in a glowing net that made them howl before they each set alight into blue flames.

“You were saying?” Tyr said, making Garmr snarl before holding his arms wide and giving his HellHounds the signal to attack, making them now all race towards us as one.

“brING ME THE GIRL UNHARMED!” Garmr roared as they all continued to pass him, hundreds now heading our way. Each with their snarling teeth at the ready to tear into my protectors. Their paws pounded on the ground like some death drum signaling the end. Both men held their weapons firm, their stances ready for the onslaught of enemies headed our way.

“Take the ones on the left, I will take them on the right and ensure that none make it down the middle. We honor our vow…”

“…Or die trying,” Asher finished, making me gasp.

I didn’t want anyone’s death on my hands.

They nodded to each other just before the first wave was close, and I held back a scream as they attacked. Tyr swung his axe around, taking out those closest by cutting straight through the heads of five of them. Asher took a different approach, spinning his sword around one side and then the other, doing so fast enough that it looked like helicopter blades were on fire.

Both techniques were affective, but not enough to stop them from getting swarmed. Tyr hammered his axe down at the ground, this time creating a wall of power to turn those close enough to ash. However, one slipped through his defenses, and I screamed when it started to come closer.

Which was when a startling realization occurred, because just like the HellHounds I had encountered before, this one started to transform. The memory slammed into me, taking me straight back to that day in the forest. Back before Orson had saved me. Only this time, the HellHound’s transformation was in reverse.

Its skin started to split, starting at its joints, making me swallow down the urge to vomit. The form of a person broke through the oily skin as its snout opened, like it was getting ready to roar. Only instead of stopping, its jaw peeled back on itself until the horrific face emerged. As if the creature had swallowed a man and it was now regurgitating its still-living kill.

The popping and snapping of bone were sickening sounds as its joints tore and the limbs of a man took their place. Its skin ripped away completely as it started to stretch, until its hind legs became straight. This was so it could rear up until standing, and it was like watching a werewolf transform into a half-man half-beast.

I started to stumble back the closer it got, still trying not to scream as its clawed hands reached out to me, with its demonic mouth full of razor pin teeth snapping at me and its eyes glowing a fiery red.

However, just before it could touch me, the sharp end of a blade pierced through its chest, making it cry out in pain. Then it turned to face the one who threw it, and I watched as its head became detached from its body. This now left me with Tyr staring back at me after swinging his axe.

Then with a nod of his head to check I was alright, he went back to fighting off the next wave. Asher continued to do the same and with no stopping in sight, I looked to Garmr. The men by his side were all creating their own portals so their own creations could join up as one, making a swirling wall of darkness behind their master.

Then the true horror hit me as more HellHounds started to step through, ready to bring in hundreds more. It was like Lerna had said, they wouldn’t ever stop coming. But then, if they didn’t have my power to draw off, did that mean there would be an end? And what if it ended with my two protectors dead?

I couldn’t allow that to happen, no matter what vow they had taken. And as if Garmr knew this, he shouted out to me,

“COME TO ME AND I WILL LET THEM LIVE, OR FIGHT IT TO THE END AND WATCH THEM DIE!”

I closed my eyes and shook my head, wishing I knew what to do. But then, as one HellHound got close enough to bite into Asher’s leg and another to claw at Tyr’s arm, I knew I had no choice. Because if they died fighting, then Garmr would get me, regardless. At least this way, I had a chance at saving their lives.

“DO YOU GIVE ME YOUR WORD?” I shouted back over the sounds of fighting, causing Tyr to look back at me and snap,

“Don’t be foolish, girl!”

But I wasn’t listening to him, I was staring straight at Garmr. Someone who clearly wanted me to see him, because he lifted his hood back, showing me his face that I saw in my dream. Then I watched as he mouthed two simple words,

“I do.’ ”

I nodded because, like last time, I had no choice. Whether it was to jump into a portal or walk toward the man who commanded them, I needed to save these men who were risking their lives for me.

So, I waited for my opportunity and before I could chicken out, I ran straight for the center, dodging Tyr and Asher enough that I slipped through. Garmr held out his arms, commanding the HellHounds to part and allow me through.

I looked back the second the two men shouted,

“NO!”

“ELLA, COME BACK!” Asher’s roar was the last I heard before he was forced to go back to fighting. The HellHounds that had given me space now closed rank behind me, encircling me, and herding me towards their master.

“That’s it… come to me, come to me and take your fated place by my side,” Garmr said, luring me forward, the red scars on his face glowing brighter with each step I took. But just as I was halfway there, suddenly the ground started to shake and, this time, it came with an almighty roar.

One I recognized.

But it wasn’t from real life experience. No, it was from a vision in the past. My past… the one I lost.

But now it was back and it was one I welcomed, no longer scared of what I knew was coming. It was a sound of hope, making me look back at the gates to see them shaking, before suddenly…

They burst through, leaving me to glance back toward Garmr and tell him,

“He is here…”

“My HellBeast has come for me.”