10. CHAPTER #3
There had to be something else—wait!
The matches!
Aodnait!
Indy scrambled to get the matches out of his pocket, his fingers trembling.
He pulled a match, trying not to breathe as he held it against the striking strip.
The tiny piece of phosphorus, chemical glue, and powdered glass was all that stood between him and what was sure to be painful and total oblivion.
He struck it.
The flame flickered and went out.
Fuck!
He trembled.
No, no, no.
He could do this.
For Gammy.
For himself.
It was for every horrible fuck he’d ever suffered and all the drugs and vile things he’d put into his body just for the strength to keep going one more day.
It was for the family who couldn’t understand his pain, the friends who abandoned him after begging him to stop, and every single other person who turned their backs on him because they couldn’t stand to watch him destroy himself.
Oh…
Fuck it.
He pulled another match, held his breath, and struck it.
The flame flickered again, but…
It didn’t go out this time.
Fwoom.
Fire erupted from the match, a giant inferno so large and hot that Indy immediately smelled burning hair and screamed as he dropped it, backpedaling into one of the doors.
Aodnait took shape from the flames, a towering being of fire rivaling even Dill’s gigantic size.
She howled and surged forward, swinging at the attacking monsters and reducing many to ash with a single touch.
Those who could resist the fiery assault tried to fight her, though many were already screaming in terror and fleeing.
Indy didn’t blame them.
He’d also run from a giant fire woman.
Dill let out a howl of his own, a joyful sound that seemed like a reply to Aodnait’s.
He kept his distance from her, focusing his attacks on the opposite side of the battlefield and keeping the walls up to shield Indy and Debbie.
Those walls were currently partially on fire, having caught as Aodnait charged through to drive the army back.
Shit.
So, that was probably not good.
“We’re not going to make it!” Debbie wailed, shaking his head sadly. “More are coming. They just keep coming. At least… at least we’ll be taking some of them with us.”
“No, fuck that!” Indy barked. “Don’t you dare give up! Keep working on that goddamn door!”
“I can’t!” Debbie cried. “I can’t break it! I’ve been trying and—”
“Watch out!” Indy saw a hulking bear monster zooming through the flaming hole in the wall and going right for Debbie.
He quickly slammed his staff into the ground like a pole vaulter to launch himself at it feetfirst. He slammed his boot right into the monster’s face with all of his strength, snarling furiously.
The bear caught his ankle and grinned, swinging him up into the air like a rag doll.
Indy hit the ground hard, the staff clattering from his hands. He was dazed, and it took him a few seconds to realize he’d landed outside of Dill’s wall. He was surrounded by fire, burning leaves, and a lot of angry monsters.
“Grow?” Dill called out, worried.
Indy waved weakly and spat out a mouthful of blood. “Grow.”
Debbie suddenly screamed, a chilling cry of pain.
Indy cringed.
He had tried to save him, but now it was looking like he might not even be able to save himself.
He saw the staff a few yards away and tried to crawl over to it, but something grabbed him by the back of the head.
He gasped as he was lifted right off the ground, kicking and clawing at whatever or whoever held him.
“Excitable little thing, aren’t you?” It was Mitternacht, and he was laughing. “I see what Mr. Kalt saw in you now. Pity.”
“I’ll show you a fucking pity, you fucking demonic cunt!” Indy shouted and snapped his left ring nail, creating an absolute flood of salt that he hurled over his shoulder and hopefully right at Mr. Mitternacht’s face.
Mr. Mitternacht screamed and let go. “You bitch!”
Indy grunted as he hit the ground again, immediately scrambling forward to reach the staff.
There was a flutter and footsteps behind him, and he knew his time was up.
This was it. He couldn’t possibly defeat a demon like Mr. Mitternacht, but he wasn’t going out without one hell of a fight.
He grabbed the staff, flipping over on his back to swing it upward at Mr. Mitternacht as hard as he could.
“Ow! What the fuck?”
Wait…
Indy stared, having to blink several times to recognize the very angry bloodied face glaring down at him. Warmth bubbled through his chest and curled his face into a downright giddy grin, and he immediately dropped the staff. “Mr. Heiss?”
“Yes!” Mr. Heiss snatched Indy up and into his arms. His left eye was closed from the blood streaming through it but he smiled, flashing his sharp teeth as he teased, “Expecting someone else?”
“Holy shit! Pretty much anyone but you! You beautiful asshole!” Indy wanted to kiss him. Instead, he punched his chest. “Where the hell have you been?”
“Excuse me?”
“You fucking prick! I was thrown in a dirty fucking hole, I had to break out of fucking prison, summon Reginald, and whatever is left of him is around here somewhere running amok! Pretty sure Debbie is dead—”
“Who the hell is Debbie?”
“Focus! I’m not done!”
As Indy raged, he was vaguely aware that Azazel and Luke were here, along with a new werewolf with thick, wavy brown fur.
They were battling Mr. Mitternacht and keeping him away from Indy and Mr. Heiss, and Dill suddenly roared in pain.
Some of the monsters had managed to climb him to attack, and Aodnait howled as she ran toward him.
“I had some kind of fucking panic attack again, like an idiot, and all I could think about was you!” Indy seethed. “You telling me to breathe! Calming me down and actually kinda sorta giving a shit! And, and all the dancing! How fucking confusing you are—”
Indy had been too busy fussing at Mr. Heiss to realize a giant flaming woman and a leshy made out of very flammable material colliding was probably very bad.
When Aodnait leapt into Dill’s arms, the resulting explosion was a giant wave of sparkling flames and an impossibly huge fireball growing outward to consume everything.
Including Indy and Mr. Heiss.
Mr. Heiss dropped to his knees, hugging Indy tight as he curled his wings around them.
Indy squealed as the overwhelming heat permeated through Mr. Heiss’s massive wings and turned the small space into a sauna. The fire rolling by was visible where his wings were damaged, but Indy didn’t burn.
He was safe.
Right here in Mr. Heiss’s arms.
He stared up at Mr. Heiss, entranced by the shadows flickering over his handsome face from the fire peeking through the holes of Mr. Heiss’s wings and the vivid glow of the embers embedded within them.
Mr. Heiss’s eyes were equally fiery, so blue and bright that the flames almost seemed purple from the red of the fire blazing around them outside the harbor of his embrace.
“Mr. Heiss—”
“That is not my name,” Mr. Heiss said shortly. “Now shut the fuck up.”
“What—”
Mr. Heiss kissed him.