LLOYD, PAUL R. (27 page)

***

“Lord, God, help us!” Micah
shouted. The voice inside his head said, “Duck under Ahlman’s lance at the last
moment and thrust upward into the dragon’s soft underbelly. Do so quickly so
you strike its heart. Now!”

Micah dropped in time to avoid
Ahlman’s lance. He stood tall and thrust his sword straight up into the dragon,
unleashing a rain of red acid that turned to a sulfur stream upon his armor. The
dragon rolled and tumbled along the ground and then exploded into a cloud of
dust. Off to one side, a lance stuck into the ground.

Glory took Micah’s arm. “He aimed
down from the back of the flying dragon. He missed and his lance struck the
ground, poll vaulting him into the air. Nice job, Micah.”

Ahlman stood
up and drew his sword from its scabbard. He flapped his gossamer wings heading
for Micah.

***

“Get him!” Barbara called as she
pulled herself back into the room.

“Where’s my armor?” Micah screamed.

“I don’t know.” Barbara said.

Micah stepped back from Ahlman.

Ahlman tackled
Micah and sat on his chest. He pounded Micah’s face with punches. “Die now, human.”

***

“Die now, human.” Ahlman’s blade
clashed against Micah’s shield.

“Lord, save me,” Micah cried.

“I’ll save you for hell.” Ahlman struck
demonic blows upon Micah’s shield.

Micah’s stomach rattled as it rose
in his chest. Goosebumps burst out on his skin, and a huge, powerful dynamism filled
his heart. His mind absorbed it. He growled.

Ahlman stopped swinging his sword.
His eyes turned from pinpoints of hatred to something else Micah did not
recognize. Then in a moment, Micah knew he was gaping at fear in a demon’s
eyes.

Micah crouched
for the attack. He recognized the spirit within as God’s own righteous anger. “This
is for the girls who were murdered in Naperville to bring you out of hell and
for the girls sacrificed to bring youth to Denise Appleby. And I attack you to
avenge the death of Bob.” Micah struck with fury.

***

Ahlman backed in the direction of
the opening where the hotel room window had been. Micah looked up to the
ceiling at a hole that opened to a thick layer of clouds. Through the hole, the
face of Glory smiled at him. She backed away from the hole and passed a sword
through to him. Micah smiled. He reached both arms toward the ceiling and
pulled. When he brought his arms down, he was holding the sword in his hands.

Barbara gasped and then giggled.
“How’d you do that?”

Micah sliced Ahlman’s chest open
from stem to sternum with the first blow. Ahlman flew back through the window
opening. He hung in mid-air a moment.

“I don’t wish
to play anymore. You are not fair. You and your Holy One.” In the midst of the scream
that followed, Ahlman exploded into a cloud of dust. A morning breeze picked up
the filth and hauled it off towards the sewers and lower depths of Chicago.

***

“You did it!” Glory hugged Micah
and kissed his cheek.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
shouted Ginny.

The other girls gathered and
shouted with joy. Bob approached and stretched out his hand. Micah returned his
sword to its scabbard and shook Bob’s hand.

“Congratulations, Micah.” Bob’s
eyes breamed.

“Thanks, Bob. I guess I can wake up
now.”

“You are awake. You’ve been
battling on the spiritual plain and in the world at the same time. It’ll come
to you in a few moments. Goodbye, Micah. Remember, you still have enemies to
battle.”

“Yes, I know.”

***

“Yes, I know.” Micah grabbed for
his sword at his side, but it was gone. He looked around and realized he was
standing in Barbara’s room in his underwear. He remembered everything. “I was
here and there at the same time.”

“You did a great job here. Where’s
there?” Barbara wiped the tears streaming down her cheeks.

Micah noticed her tears and her short
nightie. “What’s wrong?”

“I put up with Ahlman Brown beating
the crap out of you. I didn’t mind being thrown out the open window… well, I
did mind… but gawping at you while you took on that… that … look of… I don’t
know… was it God’s own hate or what? And then I saw Ahlman’s pretty gossamer
wings like you said. He buzzed around like a giant dragonfly, but the thing
that got me was when Ahlman blew up into a cloud of dust. You pulled that sword
out of thin air which was magical. But when the room put itself back together
as if nothing had happened… that freaked me. Was this just a nightmare, Micah?”

“Good guys won. That’s what
matters.”

“But was it real?”

“Of course.”

“You said you were here and there
at the same time. What did you mean?”

Micah sat on the bed by Barbara’s
side. “While Ahlman beat the crap out of me here, I destroyed him in that
pasture I visit in my dreams.”

“So you were sleepwalking here? No
wonder Ahlman kicked your butt at first.” Barbara shoved Micah’s shoulder.

“I wasn’t asleep. I was in two
places at once. At least I think I was. One was here in the physical world and
the other was in a spiritual place.”

“Is that where your sword went?”

Micah raised his eyes in thought.
After a minute, he said, “The sword is a faith thing. They don’t stay visible.
If they did, you wouldn’t need faith, would you?”

“You certainly have found your
faith.”

“Yeah, I have.” Micah stood.

“Micah, we hardly have any faith at
all. How could we… or you, I should say… defeat a demon faerie like Ahlman
Brown?”

Micah peered out the window. “He is
gone, isn’t he?”

Barbara pushed her red hair back
from her face. “Then it’s over?”

“There’s another battle brewing.”

“Denise Appleby?”

“Are you ready to return to
Naperville?” Micah glanced over his shoulder as he moved towards the bedroom
door.

“As long as you’re by my side.”

“She’ll be here.” Micah arched his
back as he stretched. He sipped cold coffee in the parking lot used by tourists
and shoppers in downtown Naperville. In the darkness beyond Micah checked out
Denise Appleby’s burned down house next door to his own cleared lot.

Detective Lawson scratched his chin
as he searched the sky. “I didn’t plan on an all-nighter with you guys.”

Barbara poured another cup of
coffee from the carafe. “She better come soon. Not much coffee left.”

Lawson took his cup and blew across
it even though it long ago had given up its heat to the cool night hours. He
sipped and swallowed. “The sun will rise soon. I say we call it a night.”

Micah shook his head. “Stay,
Lawson, please. She has to sacrifice another virgin so she can remain young. She
has to make the sacrifices more often now.”

“That’s gross.” Barbara shivered.

“Explains the murders.” Lawson
shook his head and took another sip of coffee.

Micah waved his coffee cup to
emphasize the point. “Explains murders going back a hundred years, Lawson. Bob
did the research before somebody killed him.”

“I’ll believe she’s been around a
hundred years when I see her turn into an old hag.” Lawson dumped the last of
the coffee from his cup.

Micah gulped his coffee and made an
ugly face in response to its frigid temperature. “Denise will have to sacrifice
another virgin to restore her youth. She’ll have to act fast with Ahlman Brown
gone.”

“Are you sure he left?” Lawson
shook his head. “I checked with the hotel. There was no broken window, no dead
body floating in the air above Michigan Avenue, and no swords. Ahlman Brown is
asleep at home in his bed like I should be. He’s just smart enough not to
answer his door in the middle of the night.”

“We told you the room went back
together like nothing happened.” Barbara shivered before sipping her coffee.

Lawson scratched the back of his
head while giving Barbara a stern look. “Yeah, Micah said it was this spiritual
thing. I can’t arrest nobody for a spiritual murder. I need a body I can touch.
And a killer I can put a pair of cuffs on.”

“You’ll see a real killer any
minute, Lawson.” Micah took another gulp of his cold coffee and grimaced.

“Is that her?” Barbara brushed her
hair from her face with her right hand as she pointed up with her left.

“I don’t see anything.” Micah
followed the line of sight from Barbara’s pointing finger.

“Good eyes, Barbara. You should be
a cop.” Lawson stared at the sky.

“Where?” Micah moved his head back
and forth.

“I can’t believe it!” Barbara slapped
her hands on her hips.

“What?” Micah pressed a hand to his
forehead in a failed attempt to rub away the pressure building up.

“It’s like a cartoon.” Lawson’s jaw
dropped as his mouth opened.

“What are you guys gawping at?”
Micah’s voice screeched higher than normal as his head bobbed back and forth in
an attempt to see anything in the sky. “Oh, my God!”

“You see her, don’t you?” Barbara
hit Micah in the ribs with the back of her hand.

“Is she riding a broom?” Micah
stared with his mouth open and a mosquito flying in.

“Looks that way, doesn’t it?”
Lawson pulled a camera from his pocket and snapped without a flash. “Doubt if
anything will show up, but you never know with computers these days.”

“She’s headed this way.” Barbara
ducked down. The men followed her lead.

Through the space between two
dumpsters, Micah cast a questioning glance at a hag riding a broomstick. She descended
for a landing on Denise Appleby’s burned out lot.

Barbara snuggled close to Micah.
“Do you realize how unbelievable this scene is in the twenty-first century?”

“No one will believe us,” Lawson
said.

“Do I see a sack tied to the broomstick?”
Micah tried to point, but he cracked his finger against the side of the
dumpster by accident. “Ouch!”

“Yes, it is,” Barbara said.

Denise Appleby dropped out of the
sky landing hard enough to tumble off her broom and do a forward role. She came
to a stop on her back. A large sack tied to the broom dropped to the ground and
wiggled.

“Looks like Denise has her next
victim, Detective Lawson.” Micah said.

He didn’t hear a response, but he
could make out Lawson approaching Denise with his gun drawn.

Denise stood up. “Kind of late for
a midnight stroll, young man.”

“I’m a police officer. Keep your
hands where I can see them. What do you have in the sack?”

Denise Appleby appeared hunched
over in the darkness like an old hag. She wore a black dress. “You want to look
in my sack, do you?”

“Yes, I do.”

Denise raised a withered, arthritic
hand in Detective Lawson’s direction. A lightning bolt shot out knocking him to
the ground.

“He’s not moving,” Barbara
whispered.

“What should we do?” Micah asked.

“You bring your armor?”

“Listen, she’s talking.”

Denise Appleby patted the sack
wiggling on the ground. “Now, don’t you fret, dearie. I’ll have you out of there
in no time.”

Denise stacked a small pile of rubble
from the burned ruin of her house. “Ain’t much, but she’ll do”

The sack made a muffled female
sound and wiggled.

Denise cackled. “Not you, dearie,
you’ll do fine. I’m talking about the altar. Now, where did I put my carving
knife? Yes, here ‘tis. Groovy. Come, dearie, I’m ready for you, now.”

Denise cut the rope around the old
sack, and a young girl toppled out.

Barbara gasped. “She’s a child.”

“Bet Denise stole her out of bed.
She’s still in pajamas. She’s not moving.” Micah rubbed a hand across his
mouth.

Barbara grabbed Micah’s arm. “Do
something, quick.”

“Call the police on your cell.”

“You have to… Where are you?”

Micah kept his eye on the girl as
he approached her. “Lord, save this little girl,” he shouted. “Save her from
this awful evil.” Micah stretched out both arms and a shield appeared in his
left hand and a sword in his right. The armor of God formed itself around him
as a lightning bolt streamed out of Denise Appleby’s upraised hand.

“So you want to play with me,
friend Probert?”

“Not your friend, Denise. Leave the
girl alone.”

“So you recognize me before I offer
the sacrifice of transition. Heh-heh-heh, know then who kills you. Your armor
has no power here.” Denise flicked her fingers to release a powerful bolt of
lightning. Micah raised his shield too slowly, and the bolt struck him on the
chest. He collapsed on the ground.

“God help me.” Micah rose to his
feet and charged.

Denise shot another bolt of
lightning Micah’s way. He dropped and rolled on the ground before rising next
to Denise. He thrust his sword towards her side as a huge dark creature knocked
him to the ground. Micah inhaled a putrid smell as the beast roared, showing
fangs longer than Micah’s fingers.

Denise cackled and spit. She folded
her arms and glared at Micah. “I believe you’ve met Fritz.”

The large black cat clamped down on
Micah’s arm. The pressure squeezed the armor against Micah’s skin.

“He was a bit smaller the last time
I saw him.” Micah backed away from the cat by scooting along on his bottom. A
trail of sparks followed as steel rubbed against the concrete sidewalk in front
of Denise’s destroyed house.

“We change at will, don’t we,
Fritz.” Denise cackled again.

Out of the corner of his eye, Micah
spotted Barbara sprinting towards the young girl.

“Does he have to sacrifice a virgin
mouse to change shapes?” Micah asked.

“He has his ways, and I have mine.
Now, it’s time to change you.” Denise hurled a blue thunderbolt at Micah. He swung
his arm which was still clutched in Fritz’s mouth and forced Fritz’s head in
position to catch the thunderbolt.