Major Demons (10 page)

CHAPTER 21

“Were you followed here?”

Muan shook his head.

“I wasn’t. We’re good.”

“We’re good until Gabriel comes after us. Why didn’t you take out Remiel? He nearly shot me!”

“Couple of things, Shadow. First, I was dropping off your army with Gangrene and then I came back as soon as I could. Second, he didn’t almost shoot you. That clumsy oaf couldn’t hit the Great Wall of China with an automatic machine gun.”

“Right… well… you’re the Medic’s son. What’s wrong with Sarah?”

Muan took a moment to look at Sarah and check a few things. He produced a vial, opened Sarah’s mouth, and poured the contents down her throat.

“She’s burned pretty badly but I would think she should be waking up any…”

Sarah opened her eyes.

“What… what happened?”

Sarah tried to get up but Shadow held out his hand, letting her know that it wasn’t a good idea. She laid her head back on the ground.

“What do you remember?”

“I fought with that nephilim. I think I won. Then I blacked out. Then Grandpa was casting some sort of spell on me.”

Muan nodded.

“Right. That makes sense. She looks burned but not enough to be knocked out cold for too long. I figured Gabriel did something.”

“What did you give me?”

Muan looked at Shadow, not wanting to answer.

“Muan?”

“A shot of adrenaline mixed with a small amount of cocaine.”

Muan held up both his hands in self-defense.

“I want you both to keep in mind that it worked. She’s awake.”

Shadow waved Muan’s statements away. He didn’t care. There were more pressing things that needed to be dealt with.

“Why would Gabriel cast a spell to knock you out? Why did he need to get you back to Heaven so badly? I really don’t think it was out of concern because you did great in your duel with Scapegoat.”

Sarah sat up.

“Wow. Yeah. I can feel that shit you made me drink. It packs a nice kick, Muan.”

Muan grinned sheepishly.

“I think I know what it was, Shadow. Grandpa is still trying to keep something from me. I think he might have been worried that I would try to find Bumalin and figure out the memory he stole. It’s been bothering me. I think you’re right. It was a memory about me.”

Shadow nodded.

“Muan? Do you know where Bumalin is right now?”

“Yup. Want me to lead you there?”

Shadow helped Sarah to her feet. She jumped up and down several times and then stretched her legs.

“Yeah… lead the way Muan. We need to figure out what Bumalin knows.”

Muan turned into a crow and started flying. Sarah and Shadow followed.

When the demons arrived at the mountain where Bumalin was trying to hide, he looked seriously annoyed.

“Aw… fuck me. I thought I was done with you guys. I didn’t tell anyone anything. Why can’t you just leave a guy alone?”

“We need you to tell us about the Archangel’s memory.”

Bumalin rolled his eyes.

“Right. So he can pop out of the bushes and kill me? I don’t think so. I’d really rather keep my mouth shut.”

Sarah grabbed Bumalin by his cloak and lifted him into the air.

“I nearly died killing a nephilim. Then my grandfather tried to drag me back to Heaven so I wouldn’t find out what was in that memory he gave you. After all that… you see that crow up there?”

Sarah paused so that Bumalin could look up. He did and then nodded.

“He made me swallow a shot of adrenaline, drugs, and probably other things he isn’t telling me about. I’m not in the mood right now. Tell us what was in the fucking memory.”

“But…”

“You have five seconds before my boyfriend cuts your head off. Five…”

“But…”

“Four…”

“You’re insane. Crows don’t poison angels.”

“Three…”

“Come on. Be reasonable. I can give you some other angel’s memory. I get angel memories from time to time and…”

“Two…”

“I can’t have that Archangel coming back here and…”

“One…”

“Fine. Put me down.”

Sarah dropped Bumalin and let him brush himself off.

“You’re sure another angel’s memory won’t…”

“Shadow… kill him.”

“No. Ok. Fine. Have a seat and I’ll tell you.”

Bumalin sat cross-legged in the dirt. Shadow and Sarah sat on a pile of cut bamboo.

“Naturally, I tried to grab the memory of when he became an Archangel first.”

“But you said…”

“I lied. I knew it would be a juicy memory and I couldn’t help myself. It was blocked off. I couldn’t get at it. So I started looking for something interesting… something gossip worthy… something I could use as leverage against the angels.”

“And you found?”

“Your birth. Gabriel showed up unexpectedly. Your mother had gone into labor and a demon kept trying to get in and…”

“A demon?”

“Yup. Gabriel threw him out. After your mom had you, she told him not to be angry. Then she revealed that the demon was your father.”

Sarah stood and drew her sword. Bumalin held up both hands in defeat.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not. I can give you the memory briefly so you can see for yourself… as long as you give it back when we’re done.”

“Fine. Do it.”

Bumalin pulled the memory from a vial and placed it in Sarah’s ear. Moments later, she was able to see everything from Gabriel’s perspective exactly the way Bumalin had described it. Bumalin removed the memory from Sarah’s ear and put it back in the vial.

“I thought you had a demon run off with that.”

“Slide of hand. Something this good was worth keeping on me at all times. Now I’ve held up more than my end of this bargain. How about you guys give me a head start? I need to get the fuck out of here and hide before Gabriel finds out.”

Bumalin turned to leave and then turned back to look at Shadow.

“If I see that crow ever again, I will have him killed. Don’t follow me. Don’t keep tabs on my location. I may not be as powerful as you but I have memories hidden that would destroy both the Heavens and the Underworld. Don’t make me use them.”

Bumalin turned and ran away. Shadow looked at Sarah with a mischievous look.

“Since when am I your boyfriend?”

“It was the cocaine talking.”

Shadow gave her a look that let her know that he wasn’t convinced.

“Shut up, Shadow.”

CHAPTER 22

Jess knew she was in over her head. The monkey king was toying with her. Any spell she cast was countered by the monkey king. He laughed and ran in circles around the room. Eventually he would get bored and kill her. Her only hope was to last long enough that Lilith, Gangrene, or Murmur had enough time to kill their giant and go looking for her in the cave. She knew even then they wouldn’t be able to kill the monkey king. Still, she fought on, wanting to delay her inevitable death.

Jess conjured a banana. The monkey king laughed and ate it. She shot fire from her staff. The monkey king conjured a stick with a marshmallow at the end and cooked it. She was running out of ideas.

“Well… this has been fun but I think your time is up. Would you like to pick the way I kill you? We can go for something really creative.”

Jess didn’t respond. She backed up against the wall and closed her eyes. It was over. The monkey king laughed.

“No suggestions? Fine. I’ll make it quick.”

Jess waited. Nothing happened. She thought about opening her eyes but didn’t want to risk viewing her own death. Finally, she heard a gunshot.

Jess didn’t feel any pain. Maybe she was too shocked and numb to feel it. The monkey king had been true to his word. He made her death quick. Several seconds passed and Jess felt something being shoved into her hands.

“Open your eyes. We have to get out of here.”

Jess opened her eyes and saw Aim. Aim was shoving the monkey staff into her hands. The monkey king was lying on the floor of the cave in a daze.

“I shot him with White Death. It isn’t going to keep him down for long. Take the damn staff and run.”

Jess gripped the staff and Aim started running. Jess lingered. She waved the staff at the monkey king and smiled before casting a spell.

When the monkey king regained consciousness, he wasn’t sure what to expect. He sat up and realized that the room had returned to darkness. He started to walk towards the cave’s entrance and ran into something solid. He turned around and went backwards, only to run into another barrier. Suddenly, two flames appeared and the monkey king saw Jess standing in front of him, grinning and holding the flames in her hands. His staff was secured on her back.

“I wasn’t sure what to do with you after my brother shot you.”

“What the fuck did he shoot me with? A cannon? I’m not used to going down like that.”

“White Death, the legendary sniper rifle. We picked it up for him before we came here. I hear it packs a punch, even when it hits an immortal. He got you between the eyes?”

Jess looked closer and saw a red mark in between the monkey king’s eyes and laughed.

“He used to be a really sucky shot. I have to admit he’s really good now. Maybe the best in all of Hell.”

“Give me my staff back.”

“I don’t think so. I like it. In fact, I used it to cast a spell on you. After Murmur killed off Belial, I started reading through the sorcerer’s texts and scrolls. There were some great spells in there but most of them were too powerful for my skill level and for my staff. I learned them all anyways on the off chance I would need them someday. There was one I found particularly interesting… one that creates an invisible cage. You can be immortal all you want… you just can’t leave the cage I’ve put you in. I wonder how hungry you’ll be in a few hundred years.”

The monkey king punched at his invisible barrier and pulled back his hand, shaking it.

“Tell you what… I’ll be kinder than you were to me.”

Jess took her old staff, broke it in half, and hit the pieces inside the invisible cage with her new staff.

“If you’re really the great sorcerer you claim to be, you’ll be able to get out of there with a broken staff with limited powers. That… or you can eat it when hunger starts to drive you insane. Whatever you want.”

“I’m going to get out of here when the Dragon returns. He’ll free me and I will torture you for months before I kill you.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure that the Dragon cares about you that much. You were an interesting toy in his collection. He found your staff powerful and your immortality intriguing. Both of those things remain the same with you in a cage and a more powerful sorceress wielding your staff. I’m going to try to merge it with my scythe when I become a major demon. Good luck taking it away from me after that.”

Jess turned and started to leave. The monkey king screeched.

“Leave me with something. Water. Food. A better staff than this broken stick.”

Jess didn’t turn back.

“You tried to kill me. I’ve been more than generous.”

As Jess exited the cave, she saw Aim waiting for her.

“What’d you do to the monkey?”

“I gave him what he deserved. A cage.”

“Pretty harsh, sis. We even now? I had your back.”

“Yes. I’ll let the fact that you’re a dumbass go for now.”

“That’s all I ask.”

Jess laughed. Murmur, Gangrene, and Lilith approached. All three of them were bloody and covered in dirt. Murmur cracked his knuckles.

“The next time you need a favor, remind me to say no.”

Lilith held out her scythe and Jess took it.

“I’ve held up my end of the bargain. It’s your turn.”

Jess took her scythe in one hand and her new staff in the other. She muttered words and her eyes glowed red. Both weapons started to heat up and glow. She brought them together and the two weapons fused.

“It’s so nice to have a staff powerful enough to tap my full potential. A lot of the spells I used to cast were well beyond the power of my staff and they drained me.”

Aim decided he couldn’t help himself.

“So Shadow has two scythes and he calls it Damnation. Nightmare has a scythe fused with the berserker staff and he calls it Rage. You have a scythe fused with the immortal monkey king’s staff. What do we call it? Poop flinger? Banana slicer?”

Jess waved her scythe and Aim hit himself in the head with the butt of his gun.

“The name isn’t important right now. If you start calling my scythe ‘Poop flinger’ I guarantee bad things will happen to you. Now, Lilith, I have a spell that can enhance Leech’s energy stealing power so that he’s able to regrow his limbs and body. He’ll come back to life. The problem is that we’ll need someone powerful enough to fuel his return. I was thinking that Murmur could give it a shot.”

Murmur nodded.

“I’m willing to help out. I’m clearly the most powerful demon here so there’s no point in anyone else trying.”

Gangrene looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it. He decided he didn’t want to make a new enemy over his ego. When Murmur failed, he would show everyone that he was more powerful.

Lilith removed Leech’s head from the bag on her belt. The eyes were still glowing a faint green. Jess cast the spell with her scythe and the green light emanating from Leech’s eyes grew stronger. Murmur lifted the head. Nothing happened.

“So um… why isn’t it…”

Murmur cut his sentence short and dropped to one knee. He grunted as Leech’s head stole his energy and strength. After a few seconds, Murmur dropped Leech’s head. Gangrene picked it up.

“So clearly Murmur wasn’t strong enough. Let me give it a shot.”

Once Leech’s head started to drain Gangrene’s strength, he dropped it even quicker than Murmur. Murmur was breathing heavily, but he grinned up at Gangrene. Lilith hung her head, what little hope she had mostly extinguished. She retrieved Leech’s head, put it back in the bag, and reattached it to her belt.

“I guess I know what I need to do. I’m going back to Earth. I’m going to find Shadow. He can help me bring Leech back.”

Gangrene fell over but responded in between heavy breaths.

“I’ll go… with you…”

Lilith shook her head.

“Murmur, Jess, and Aim need you down here. Aim doesn’t have a scythe. Nightmare is dumb, but he’s eventually going to figure out that Murmur tricked him. Stay down here and keep the two sides balanced. Thanks for your help, Jess. Good luck running the department of lust.”

Lilith turned and headed back towards her house to talk to Raven.