14
S imone noticed with concern that Michael dipped occasionally in the air as they flew south through the cold, crisp night in silence. The stars blazed overhead in the clear sky, and she was again struck by its beauty. She missed the Heavenly Plane.
Michael lagged fifty metres behind her and kept rising and falling in the air, so she spoke to him telepathically.
Stop for a minute and land, please.
Okay.
They landed on a grassy knoll overlooking a stand of forest that appeared to be half-dying—probably from having so many demons present. Michael looked around. ‘Go behind a bush, I can look away.’
‘What?’ Simone asked, then realised what he was saying. ‘Oh, no. I don’t need to go—I can handle that with manipulation of water, like my dad. What about you?’
‘Yeah. Give me a minute,’ he said, and headed down the knoll to stand behind a tree.
She sat on the grass as he returned, looking significantly relieved. He fell to sit next to her with a grunt.
‘Please tell me when you can’t keep up,’ she said. ‘You’re not much use if you’re half-asleep.’
His expression filled with understanding, then went wry. ‘Pride before a fall? It must be bad if you’re noticing.’
‘You should have pushed me harder to rest in Semias’s city,’ she said, and rose, brushing the grass off her jeans. ‘We can’t stop here, but keep an eye open as we travel. If we see another inn we can stop and let you have a break.’
‘You’re really absolutely fine?’ he asked with wonder.
She nodded.
He gestured towards the east, where the sky was touched with a tinge of pink. ‘The nights are longer because it’s winter, but daylight is coming. How far do you think we have to go?’
Simone concentrated, released a ball of her remaining chi, moved her awareness into it and lifted it high into the air.
‘I can see the river,’ she said. ‘Not far, maybe twenty minutes? I think I can see the heavenly analogue for Paris as well, there’s something there that looks like a structure, but it’s a blob of red dropped onto the river. Red and white. It looks like a giant blood clot over bare bones.’
‘Ew,’ Michael said, and shook himself out. ‘Reconnoitre, find somewhere to rest, and then infiltrate tonight?’
‘Sounds like a plan,’ she said, pulled the chi down, and lifted herself into the air. ‘I can’t generate a cloud here, you’ll have to carry yourself. You okay?’
‘I can make it,’ he said.
‘I’ve heard that one before,’ she said, teasing. ‘We all ended up in the Andaman Sea.’
His expression softened. ‘You know me too well. Let’s find a place for me to rest.’
She nodded and he lifted into the air to join her.
The city did look like a clot of blood surrounding bare bones. The red blood-like substance covered the area around the distinctive boat-shaped island in the centre of the Paris analogue. Hundreds of rib-like white struts of various heights stuck out, up to four storeys high, some archways and others as single curved columns. They filled an area nearly as large as the original Parisian city, and strands of red were strung over the river, with dirty white sheets hanging off them. It looked like the meat hanging off the bones of a giant dismembered corpse.
‘Smells vile,’ Michael said. ‘Like mould.’
‘Yeah.’ Simone concentrated, sending her senses out. ‘No demons here. The city is dead and empty, except for a faint energy ... thing ... on the island.’
‘That’s probably Semias. I can’t sense anything at all.’
Simone approached one of the red structures and crouched at the edge of it. The dusty smell of dead mould was stronger closer to it. The structure consisted of thick bright crimson threads of goo strung between slender white wooden supports. Sheets of white, parchment-like skin had collapsed around the red goo.
‘I don’t want to touch it, it looks poisonous,’ she said. ‘Like red algae that blooms in the ocean and kills everything.’ She rose and shivered. ‘Gross.’
Michael peered up at it. ‘Is the red stuff taking over the rotting city? Like mould growing on it? It smells like mould, but slightly sweeter.’
‘That’s because it’s dead and rotting, but those struts look like wooden structural supports? Oh!’ She gasped and stepped back, still studying the red goo. ‘I think I know what it is.’ She lifted into the air again, then flitted backwards and forwards, clarifying what she was seeing. ‘Up here.’
Michael rose to join her.
‘Many of the buildings in Paris are Haussmann-style architecture, like the hotel we were in, right?’ she asked.
‘This does mirror the size and shape of that, if you imagine walls around those rib things,’ he said.
‘And then art nouveau. Flowing, plant-like decorations on everything.’
‘Particularly in Paris, yes,’ he said. ‘This city used to be plants?’
‘No,’ Simone said, and swept one arm around at the collapsed red goo. ‘This was a Fairy Mushroom City. The buildings were made of red fungus.’ She dropped again and touched the white parchment-like sheeting that hung, tattered, from the goo. ‘The red fungal threads were underneath, connected to the wooden structural supports, and then this white leathery stuff—like skin—was on top.’ She flew back. ‘The city was made of the fungus. They grew the fungus over the supports.’ She turned to Michael. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if this dead fungus is toxic, so the demons don’t want to occupy the city. They left Semias here to suffer.’
Michael concentrated, his noble features intense, and nodded. ‘I can sense him now. You’re right, he’s on the island in the middle. Let’s go.’
*
A haze of red dust hovered at head-height over the collapsed fungus, so they carefully flew over it towards the river. It was a bright, clear winter morning and the island in the centre of the river—the heart of the city of Paris on the Earthly—held square buildings on one side that mirrored the Earthly hospital, and on the other side was a building located where the Notre Dame cathedral stood. All of it was ruins, with the wooden ribs poking out of the red goo. Michael guided Simone towards the hospital side, and he must have realised at the same time she did.
‘The little chapel you used to love visiting when we were kids,’ he said as he flew next to her. ‘What’s it called?’
‘Saint Chappelle,’ she said, and lowered herself next to the tumbledown set of ribs sticking up in the shape of the chapel. There were a large number of them standing in the shape of the building, closer together and more slender than for the other buildings.
‘More pillars to hold the stained glass,’ he said. ‘Did the fungus make stained glass too? Imagine that.’
‘It would have been even more beautiful,’ Simone mused. ‘I wish I could have seen it.’
‘I wonder if Persephone can restore this when we give her back control? It is plants after all.’
‘I hope so.’
They landed on the fungus-covered square in front of the ruin. The goo had hard, blackened parts in geometric shapes within the red, suggesting that it really had grown in different transparent colours to make the glass.
Something shifted within the goo. Simone shot up into the air and back with horror, then floated towards it again as she understood.
‘Semias are you in there?’ Michael asked.
The goo shifted again. There was a human-sized pile of it in the centre of the chapel building.
Michael put one hand out and used his chi to burn a hole in the pile of goo.
‘Tell us if it gets too hot,’ he said.
‘You’re talking to him?’ Simone asked, opening her Inner Eye onto the pile of fungus. Semias’s glowing presence was present in the centre of it.
‘No,’ Michael said. ‘Help me?’
The smoke from the burning goo hit Simone and she said with disbelief, ‘It smells delicious? Like barbecued mushroom?’
‘Maybe it’s edible when cooked,’ he said.
Simone added her own careful chi blast to Michael’s. The fungus burnt to ash and blew away, leaving behind the rich aroma of roasted mushrooms.
‘I’m starving ,’ Michael said as the fungus burned away, then added, ‘Stop. There.’
The fungus remained in a lump over Semias’s energy signature.
A voice whispered from under it. ‘Do the rest. Please.’
‘Can you see him underneath?’ Michael asked.
‘I can see his shape, yes. His energy is something I’ve never seen before, but I recognise it now,’ Simone said.
‘Burn the fungus off above a hand, and he can stick it through to us.’
‘Okay.’ Simone moved closer. She tuned her chi to a smaller ray and carefully worked around the edges of Semias’s energy aura. It was hard to tell the difference between the spirit and the fungus surrounding him.
‘Stop,’ Semias said from within the fungus, and she did.
A bony, grey hand poked through the remaining goo. ‘Pull?’
Michael dashed down to the hand, grabbed it, and pulled up and out.
‘Burn around it at the same time,’ Michael said, gasping with effort. ‘It’s like glue!’
Simone carefully worked her way down the wrist and arm, burning the fungus away, and more flesh was revealed. Semias’s skin was lined with red—the fungus had worked its way into his body and was growing on him. Michael pulled Semias up and out of the goo as she released him, and eventually they freed the old man with a wet, sucking sound. Trails of goo clung to him, and she worked carefully to remove them, but it was still growing on him, and she didn’t have the skill to eliminate it all.
Semias was naked and severely emaciated, with grey skin around the fungal growth. His ribs and pelvic bone were clearly visible, and his eye sockets were filled with the red goo. He grinned at them, and the effect was macabre.
‘Michael. Took your time,’ he wheezed. ‘Is this Simone, the woman you told me about?’ He nodded to her. ‘Lovely to meet you. I suggest you clear out of here as quickly as you can, this stuff will kill even you.’
Michael shifted Semias to hold him in his arms like a child, and Semias kissed him on the cheek and beamed up at him.
‘I knew you’d come eventually,’ he said. ‘You promised you would.’
Michael’s face went grim. ‘I should drop you and leave you here. You knew Clarissa was sure I would come for her. And for the real Clarissa, I never did.’
Semias’s face fell. ‘Sorry.’ He glanced at Simone. ‘You burn like a dark sun, and control demon essence like ... oh, he was your father.’ He placed one hand on Michael’s cheek and his voiced lowered to a throaty rasp. ‘Take me to my city. I can clear this awful red shit from me and look after you there. I’m having difficulty ...’ His head wobbled and his eyes closed. ‘Staying conscious.’
‘Are you okay to carry him back?’ Simone asked. ‘I can do it.’
Michael nodded agreement and passed Semias to her.
‘We can stop on the way back for you if need,’ she said, hoisting the old man in her arms. He weighed nearly nothing, and his grey skin was slimy with the goo.
‘I’ll let you know if I need to rest,’ Michael said. ‘I almost said go ahead and leave me, but in these Heavens ...’ He looked around. ‘Probably not a good idea.’
‘Absolutely not a good idea,’ Semias wheezed. ‘Take me to my city, and we can work together to remove those demon assholes.’
‘Let’s go,’ Simone said.
Simone had to stop twice and land, holding Semias, so that Michael could flop to sit and put his head between his knees for twenty minutes each time. The fungus around the city spirit tried to enter her and she held it back without difficulty, but she was concerned that Michael could have it growing in him, and its toxicity would kill him, Immortal or not.
They arrived back at Semias’s city close to midday and the glass spires glittering between the silver metal framework were magnificent. Michael guided Simone to the shattered entrance gates and she carefully flew over the large shards of glass scattered over a wide avenue that appeared to be made of white marble and paved with blue-green glass tiles.
‘Semias said that destroying these gates caused him torture-level pain,’ Michael said.
As they passed through the gates, the avenue rose on slender supports to second-storey level and continued into the city between the stained-glass buildings. Dead trees lined the avenue, with empty planter boxes on generous footpaths to either side of it.
‘Stop,’ Semias said, and his form shifted to mirror the nature of his city.
He became immensely heavier in Simone’s arms and changed to an automaton made of glass himself. He appeared to be small pieces of deep blue glass held together within a silver framework, exactly like a leadlight window and the buildings of his city. A brass-like clockwork mechanism became visible inside the glass exterior, and she found herself holding a clockwork mannequin with a blue-grey glass casing.
She moved to put Semias down but stopped when he said, ‘No, please wait.’
She stood holding him like a child, watching with wonder as the stained-glass automaton changed back to an elegant, middle-aged White man with long, light brown hair and green eyes. His hair braided itself and his naked form was covered in a soft tan-coloured robe within her arms. He opened his eyes, no longer tainted by the fungus, and quickly kissed her on the mouth, making her jerk back and scowl.
‘Ask permission,’ she growled.
‘We talked about this last time I was here!’ Michael wheezed from where he sat.
Semias grinned apologetically. ‘Sorry. It was my way of thanking you. You are a remarkable young woman, and I can see why Michael is destined to be with you.’
She turned her scowl on Michael—how much had he told this old asshole?—but Michael was sitting on the ground next to her, his head on his knees.
‘Can I put you down now?’ she asked, and Semias nodded.
She lowered the spirit and he knelt next to Michael. ‘You have the fungus in you, and we need to clear it out.’
‘I’m sorry, I’m definitely not powerful enough to be doing this,’ Michael said into his knees. ‘Can you heal me?’
Semias looked up and his expression filled with bliss. ‘Finally, no longer sundered, and one with my structure. Unfortunately, there is an outpost of at least fifty big demons in the centre of me, who regularly patrol my districts. You’ll have to remove them before I can care for you.’
Michael grunted and clumsily pulled himself to his feet. ‘Can we take them?’
‘If you were rested, yes, but—’ Semias said.
Simone put her hand on Michael’s shoulder.
‘What are you—’ Michael began, then his expression filled with horror.
She shared her Shen energy with him, taking a part of her glowing silvery soul and feeding it into his exhausted body. It lit him up along his acupuncture points like a string of Christmas tree lights, and burned the fungus out of him, leaving his aura clean.
‘Simone, no—’ he began again, then the energy hit his lowest cauldron, the centre of his sexual Ching energy, and it flared bright red within him.
His knees buckled and he fell to all fours, then quivered with spasms, his face rigid with the pleasurable release. He bent his head and gasped for air.
Simone jerked her hand back and covered her mouth.
‘Oh Lord, I am so sorry,’ she said. ‘I’ve done that for my father and didn’t know that it would do that to you.’
Semias chuckled next to her, and she rounded on him.
‘Your father didn’t tell you?’ Semias asked.
‘When I gave Daddy energy, it was an innocent sharing of our love for each other, with no sexual component whatsoever,’ she said. ‘Just like a big warm hug between father and daughter.’
‘Mirroring the purity of your relationship,’ the spirit said. He gestured towards Michael. ‘That mirrors the nature of his love for you. It’s a much more common reaction.’
She bent next to Michael, whose eyes were glazed in the aftermath. ‘Are you okay? I am so sorry.’
Michael gasped a few times, then shook his head. ‘You really should have known better. Didn’t your father tell you not to do that to people unless absolutely necessary?’
‘Yes, but he never said why, and I assumed it was because I was so powerful I could kill them,’ she said. ‘That isn’t a problem with you.’
‘That’s right, but he should have mentioned the side effects for Immortals. When Emma finds out that he never told you, she’ll tear his shell off.’ He pulled himself back to his feet, raising his hand to stop her from assisting him. He put his hands on his knees and breathed deeply, then stood and winced down at himself. ‘Let’s clear these demons so I can find some clean clothes.’
‘I can conjure you new clothes ...’ she began.
He shook his head. ‘Once we clear the demons, Semias will change from an empty husk of a city to something similar to the Celestial Palace. He can provide us with food, shelter and clothing.’ His expression filled with determination. ‘Let’s kill some demons.’ He turned to Semias. ‘Can you arm us? We can’t conjure our weapons here.’
‘Not until the demons are gone,’ Semias said. ‘My abilities are severely restricted by their corrupting presence.’
‘Let’s ambush a patrol and take their weapons to use on the main force,’ Simone said, and turned to Semias. ‘Can you find us two or three demons who are out on their own and exposed?’
‘I have a pair that are patrolling near the wall,’ Semias said. ‘Simone, be aware that as you move closer to my centre, the gravity will reduce. It is about one-third Earth normal, to facilitate the height of my glorious spires.’
‘I see,’ Simone said, and grinned. ‘Sounds like fun. Where are the demons? Point us at them and we’ll take it from there.’
A map appeared in the air before them, showing the city’s precincts. The city wasn’t much larger than a modern suburb, with a wall around it. A mass of red dots clustered in the centre, with a few smaller groups patrolling around the edges.
‘Where are we?’ Michael asked, and three green dots appeared on the far-left side.
‘I see, that’s the gates,’ Simone said. ‘Closest demons?’
Two red dots grew larger as they worked their way around the edge of the city, beneath the wall.
‘Coming to us,’ Michael said, and smiled at Simone. ‘We’ve never fought demons together, have we? I mean, we’ve sparred—’
‘That’s all very cute but they’re fifty yards away and they’ll see us soon,’ Semias said.
‘We can’t make ourselves invisible,’ Simone said, and a pearly aura appeared over her vision. ‘Thank you.’
‘My pleasure,’ Semias said. ‘There they are.’
Two black winged demons holding spears were strolling along the bottom of the wall and talking to each other.
‘I get that it needs to be guarded, but no more of them have come since that big black one and the mud monster, and we scared him off,’ one of them said.
‘Eh, as long as the boss is happy, I’m content to wander around here and do nothing,’ the other said.
‘On the left,’ Simone said softly.
‘Got the right,’ Michael said. ‘Remember the gravity—’
Simone’s training kicked in and she didn’t think. She was unarmed, the demon was one of the spiky winged black things and much taller and heavier than her, so the immediate strategy was to rush it, hit it with her left shoulder into the wall and stun it, then crush its head with a brute force punch. None of this filtered through her brain, it was automatic from years of work to ensure that she wouldn’t hesitate to have the advantage of speed when at the disadvantage of arms or strength.
She threw herself at the demon on the left, closing the distance of twenty metres in the blink of an eye. She didn’t realise what had happened until she’d slammed the demon into the wall, turning it into something that resembled a crushed insect, and shattered her own shoulder blade, left arm and a couple of ribs as she hit the wall after it.
The demon was a mashed mess of flesh and shell beneath her, but all she knew was the pain of her destroyed left arm. Blood blossomed on the left sleeve of her sweater, and she ripped it off to see the bone poking through the skin. The pain dragged a scream out of her, and she collapsed.
A brilliant burning shot of light passed over her—Michael’s Inner Eye—and the other demon was gone, destroyed by the brilliance of his Eye.
‘Can you block the pain?’ Michael asked, his voice strained, as he shifted her off the remains of the demon. ‘Oh god, it’s all over her.’
Simone was in too much agony to reply.
‘No,’ Semias said. ‘Get rid of the demons and I have a full medical centre for you. Right now ... nothing.’
‘Simone, concentrate on my voice and block the pain,’ Michael said.
Simone was in a haze of torment, but his words made it through. She tried to concentrate on her energy to block the suffering. The overwhelming pain was interfering with her ability to reduce it.
Michael’s consciousness stepped in and worked its way through her energy centres, filling the acupuncture points so that the pain eased enough to clear her head. She joined her energy with his and pushed it into her points, blocking the pain. She threw her head back, closed her eyes and sighed with relief.
‘Hold her arm straight while I knit the bones back together,’ Michael said. ‘Simone, stay still and keep those points blocked. This will hurt a lot without pain relief.’
She kept her eyes closed and nodded, concentrating on the energy points. One of them took her left hand and pulled it, and she had to work even harder to keep the pain at bay. It turned to a dull ache that threatened to flare to full-on agony again, and she winced.
Michael’s healing energy—still replete with the energy she’d gifted him minutes before—spun around her arm and shoulder, and the bones shifted back into their correct positions. He held them in place then began the process of knitting them back together with skill and patience.
‘Remarkable,’ Semias said softly.
As Michael’s energy moved up her arm to her shoulder and onto her back, the pain reduced enough for her to add her own attention to the healing process. Their energies touched, and she felt his devotion for her—and he became aware of her yearning for him. Their souls wove around each other, resonating with a growing harmony that made the healing easier than any she’d ever experienced. It was a dance between their souls, uplifting and joyful, and the similarities of their experiences magnified the differences in their inherited Yang and Yin natures and thrummed with the love both of them had denied for so many years.
‘Done,’ Michael said softly with awe, and his energy withdrew, leaving her chilled.
She shifted the arm—the bones were back together but hadn’t knitted completely, and her arm would be out of action for at least a week—then pulled herself up to sitting with her back against the wall. She was covered in disgusting demon bits, so she conjured a flush of water over herself and then drained it until she was dry. She rested her head on her knees. Even with her extra strength and stamina, the travel, injury and lack of rest were starting to take a toll.
‘I am so sorry,’ she moaned. ‘What a stupid thing to do—right after you warned me. Please don’t tell anyone I did something so idiotic. I’d never be able to handle the shame.’
Michael fell to sit next to her, gasping, and put his head between his knees. Using his Eye and healing her had drained most of the energy she’d gifted to him, and he again was close to exhaustion.
‘I’m glad I’m not the only one who does stupid things like that,’ he said. ‘At least nobody died this time.’
She turned to see him. ‘People died?’
‘I didn’t tell you the whole story of my last visit here.’ He looked up at the sky, cloudy with grey miasma from the presence of the demons. ‘When I was still Dad’s Number One, his Number Two, Rohan, called me in to help out on a big Nest. Up in Central Mongolia or something, in the desert. Miles from anywhere. We went in—me and Rohan were the only Immortals. This was just before the war, all the Horsemen were out on reconnaissance, so the West was short on warriors. We took six of the best Horsemen we had, but none of them were Immortal, just Rohan and me.’ He looked down at his knees. ‘Twelve massively big Mothers were waiting for us. It was a trap. I could have destroyed them all with my Inner Eye, but I was too stupid to think of it at the time. They killed all of my brothers, grabbed me, knocked me unconscious, and brought me ...’ He looked up again, studying the walls around them. ‘Here.’
‘Dad taught me never to use the Eye unless it’s a major emergency, because it can kill everything around you,’ Simone said. ‘It’s the training, same as what just happened to me. You don’t think.’
‘So I found Clarissa and my mother here, being held captive,’ Michael said, not appearing to hear her reassurance. ‘I knew there was a good chance they were demon copies—they were a pair of the really good copies, almost undistinguishable. Even Semias wasn’t sure. Semias helped me to get them out, and we escaped, but we were followed by a group of big demons, too big to fight, so I’ve learned my lesson and this time I’ll be clever, right? I turned my Inner Eye on the demons and destroyed them. Go me, I did it. I smiled the biggest smile ever, turned around to share how clever I was with my wife and mother ...’
‘Oh no,’ Simone said.
‘Gone in a blast of my Eye,’ he moaned. ‘I mean, I knew there was a good chance that they were copies, but they were self-aware—Clarissa had a meltdown at the possibility of being a demon copy when I first met her. They knew . And they were still my wife, and my mother, and ...’ His voice hitched. ‘I killed them because I’m a fucking idiot.’
She put her hand on his. ‘We’re a pair of fucking idiots together.’
He grunted a short laugh and repeated what she’d said. ‘Don’t tell anyone, I couldn’t handle the shame. Nobody else knows how stupid I was, except for Semias, and he’s stuck here.’
‘You know I’ll keep your confidence, lad,’ Semias said gruffly.
She tapped his hand. ‘Deal.’ She sighed. ‘Well, we have these spears now, and my right arm is still good, so I guess it’s time to play Exterminators, because I’m hungry .’
‘I saw your energies resonate. I’ve never seen two people who are a better match—why are you not together?’ Semias asked.
‘Do not take that concept any further,’ Simone said. ‘You remember the Clarissa copy?’
‘Yes, she was brilliant and brave, but you—’
‘The real Clarissa was his wife, and she was smart and courageous and kind and wonderful—and died in childbirth three days ago,’ Simone said.
‘And you don’t even care, Michael?’ Semias asked with disbelief. ‘You seemed totally devoted to the copy ...’
‘Our Supreme God took my grief away so I can ... focus ,’ Michael said bitterly.
‘Oh.’ Semias nodded. ‘I understand. Don’t mind me, the city is blunt sometimes. I’m not a person, so I can occasionally be a little too honest.’
‘Autistic city,’ Michael said, standing and helping Simone to her feet.
‘I don’t know what that means,’ Semias said. ‘How many demons can you take down now that you’re armed? I can make some spectral images to draw them out in small groups for you.’
‘Three at a time with only one arm,’ Simone said. ‘For both of us, I mean. Michael’s exhausted.’ She looked down at the smashed demon corpse. It hadn’t dissipated into black goo, its corpse was like that of a living thing with a hard, black shell. ‘What’s going on with these? Why don’t they vaporise?’
‘Do Western demons not dissolve into goo?’ Michael asked Semias.
‘They used to, but they seem to have more human in them since they invaded, and now they die like living things,’ Semias said. ‘Most disturbing.’
Michael glanced at Simone. ‘You’re okay with that?’
‘With what?’ Simone asked.
Michael waved one hand at the smashed corpse. ‘You were covered in it. You didn’t seem bothered at all.’
Simone looked away. ‘When these Western hybrids first turned up, Emma called a family meeting about it. They knew I’d be fighting them. She and Dad offered me desensitisation training.’
‘Good lord, you didn’t—’
‘Pigs,’ Simone said. She raised one hand at his horrified expression. ‘Dead ones, don’t worry. We must have gone through at least fifty of them before I stopped throwing up.’ She glanced down at the corpse. ‘I still have nightmares, but you see enough of it, and it’s not the shock it used to be.’ She looked up at Michael. ‘It isn’t bothering you, either.’
‘If you want to be a Horseman you have to work for six months in the medical centre,’ Michael said, and quirked a smile. ‘I’m probably registrable as an OR nurse.’
‘That’s a good alternative, I should suggest it to them,’ Simone said. She turned to Semias. ‘Let’s go hunting. Can you bring some more for us?’
‘Yes,’ Semias said, shifted to his stained-glass structure, and then fell vertically into the ground. He spoke from somewhere beneath their feet. ‘Making spectral bait for a patrol now. On their way.’ He shot back up out of the ground and changed to human again. ‘About a hundred yards, on the right. If you listen, you can hear them.’
Simone cocked her head and heard the demons’ footsteps—three of them. She hefted the spear in her right hand and tapped its tip on the ground to feel its weight, balance and flex. It was terrible. She held her left arm against her side and bound it to her with energy like a sling, then spoke to Michael telepathically as the pearly aura of Semias’s invisibility appeared in her vision.
I’ll have a go at binding them, and you take them down.
If you can hold them, I can experiment and see where their weak points are for a single-hit kill , he replied.
She nodded, he nodded back, and the demons walked into view around the edge of one of the stained-glass buildings. She used the most basic demon binding manoeuvre—pulling half their demon energy out—and all three of them froze with expressions of confusion.
‘Got them,’ she said out loud. ‘Go play.’
He leapt forward and shot over the ground without touching it, landing in front of the demons in an impressive display of control. He shoved his spear through the head of the one on the left, and it didn’t seem damaged.
‘Still got them?’ he asked.
‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘Try slicing its head off, that didn’t do anything, it’s still active.’
He took the demon’s head off with a swing of the spear—its bluntness making it require more effort than a good spear would—and the demon fell into two pieces, obviously dead.
He shoved the spear into the next demon approximately where a human heart would be located, and it made some awful gasping noises, scrabbled at the shaft of the spear, and fell as well.
‘Weak point found,’ he said with grim amusement. ‘Let’s try energy.’
He turned to the last one and hit it with a ball of chi. The explosion was three times larger than it would have been with an Asian demon and he was knocked back. He did a graceful cat-like somersault in the air and skidded backwards to a halt close to Simone and Semias.
‘Harder to control, but the energy rush is sweet,’ he said, and spun the spear in his hands. ‘Damn, I feel good.’ He turned to grin at Simone and Semias. ‘Next!’