The Devil's Deuce (The Barrier War) (69 page)

Garnet stood on the back wall of the Barrier, watching the
assault of the abominations with a critical eye. Other demons and waves of
damned souls were pouring over the top of the Barrier in any place where the
abominations didn’t threaten them as well, and the defenders were being quickly
overrun. Small catapults in each courtyard hurled weighty projectiles high over
the heads of the gigantic demons, but the towering monstrosities paid them no
mind, and if the missiles struck anything on the plain beyond the Barrier, they
were obviously not doing enough to slow the crushing onslaught.

Paladins on dakkan-back circled overhead, but they were wary
of assaulting the abominations head-on. Two paladins and their mounts had
already been pulled from the skies and killed in the attempt, and another holy
warrior had barely escaped with his life while the abomination crushed the life
from his beloved dakkan.

The Shadow Company commander observed the battle with
frustration. He could see no way of getting the denarae to the fore so they
could confront the swarm of damned souls, and even if he could get them to
attack the abominations, they would do little good, because they were not
paladins. Garnet and the other paladins in the group might help, but they
couldn’t get close enough to do any good.

With a grimace, Garnet turned away from the battle. As he
did so, his eyes passed over the torch-lit courtyard below him, then suddenly
he stopped.

“Shadow Company!”
he shouted in his thoughts.
“Assemble on
me.”

He leapt from the wall and glided to the streets below,
where the denarae and their human commanders were already assembling. Trebor
had returned with the buggy and word that Alicia was safe and Danner had gone
to help his uncle. Garnet had seen their miraculous return and Danner’s fall,
and had immediately sent Trebor to investigate. When he came back with word
Danner was injured but recovering, Garnet ordered Trebor to stay with the
company rather than return to their friend.

Garnet looked around and saw that everyone was assembled,
and he received mental confirmation from Trebor, Guilian
-
who had taken over Garnet’s platoon
-
and a designated denarae from each of the
other platoons. Caret was temporarily in command of Danner’s platoon, and
Jak
was standing in for Marc.

“Those things are demonic in nature, and it’s going to
take a paladin and the holy
Tricrus
to bring them down,”
Garnet
thought to them. His relays in Flasch’s and Michael’s platoons were repeating
his message to their human commanders.

“You’re suggesting
that we do something about that,”
Trebor kythed in reply.

“Exactly. We can’t get
close to them as is, the press is too thick. I want to load Flasch, Michael,
and myself into these smaller catapults to get us aloft,”
Garnet thought,
and could practically feel the objections building up,
“then we can glide down and hit them from behind. It’s dark and we’ll
be hard to spot, and they won’t be expecting this type of attack from someone
not flying in on a dakkan. Land on their necks, if possible, to avoid the press
of creatures on the ground, but carve the holy symbol anywhere you can.”

Despite the objections he’d expected, there was no immediate
response from any of them. Finally Trebor kythed,
“You really shouldn’t go, Garnet. What if something happens? We can’t
lose two commanders in a row like this.”

“Who else can do it?”
Garnet asked.
“Other paladins have tried
to get close, but they aren’t making any headway. This is a job for Shadow
Company, and I really hate to point it out, but there’s only three of us here
who are paladins. I’m sorry,
Treb
. Three demons,
three paladins. We really don’t have much choice, and I’m not about to rely on
someone who’s not a part of this company, paladin or not.”

Garnet felt approval seep into his thoughts from several of
the denarae, and Trebor’s objections fell silent. Denarae reported that Flasch
and Michael were ready, but Garnet looked at each in turn to be sure. Michael
seemed calm as he nodded, but Flasch actually looked excited at the prospect.

There were several of the smaller catapults inside each
courtyard, but since the monstrous demons were spaced out on the length of the
Barrier, they would have to use separate courtyards. Garnet divided them up,
two platoons per catapult, and took the center-most of the demons for himself.
Trebor left him with the parting thought,
“I think Danner’s a bad influence
on you.”

The denarae of Shadow Company appropriated one of the
catapults, shoving aside any of the crew who were unwilling to yield the siege
engine. When the throwing arm was properly set, Garnet climbed inside the
cradle, curled into a fetal position, and put one hand on his sheathed sword to
make sure it didn’t fall out in transit.

He received word that the others were also in place, and
with a silent prayer, Garnet gave the word.

Before he could stop to second-guess his decision, he was
pinned against the back of the cradle for a long heartbeat, then flung forward
with bone-jarring force. Air roared past his ears as he shot through the air
like… well, like a
rock
, arcing high over the top of the Barrier. In
only a few seconds, Garnet was past the huge demons, and he uncurled his body.
He used his cloak to slow his suicidal speed, then turned and glided back down
toward the battle. He saw Michael as a muted yellow speck on his left and
Flasch as a violet dot on his right, barely discernible in the muted light of
Sin overhead. They had been successfully launched and were turning in their
descents as well. A handful of airborne paladins had seen the Shadow Company
officers aloft and were angling closer to protect them from flying demons and
mutated souls.

“Brican,”
Garnet
thought forcefully, knowing Trebor’s cousin would have enough range to hear his
thoughts even at this distance.
“Relay to
Trebor that all’s well. Make sure the company is ready at the gates in case we
need an
evac
and have paladins on dakkans standing
by,”
he thought, reiterating his earlier orders.

“Yes, sir.”
Brican’s mental voice sounded as though
he was yelling from a long ways away.

Garnet looked down and saw the demon’s broad shoulders
looming ever larger in his vision. The melted faces of a dozen damned souls
looked up from their place of torment, and Garnet was repulsed to see that they
still had some semblance of life in them. They screamed and writhed whatever
parts of their bodies were not melded to the rest of the demonic mass.

His face grim, Garnet drew his sword and closed the distance
to the monstrosity below him.

- 2 -

Marc hurried through the hallways of the Prism’s
headquarters, the last scream of the Red paladin still echoing in his mind. If
a demon had reached this far into the city, did that mean the Barrier had
somehow fallen already? He pushed thoughts of concern for his friends from his
mind, concentrating on the task at hand.

Silvery moonlight trickled into the hallway, slipping
through the narrow windows like an assassin’s dagger into a victim’s bosom.
Marc shuddered at the thought and found himself avoiding the blades of light
whenever possible, and hurrying through them when there was no other option.

At last he reached the courtyard where the paladin had been
slain, and only silence greeted him as he stepped out into the open air. Marc
held up a hand to block the fading light of the torch as he half-ran over to
the dismembered body.

He kicked the torch down into the hole and peered down, his
sword at the ready, but there was nothing below but a smooth tunnel in the
rock. The rock was rough around the top of the hole, with several claw marks
that left little doubt in Marc’s mind what had erupted to kill the paladin. It
was one of the drolkuls, the tunneling demons they’d faced when Gerard had been
killed. Marc’s hand tightened on the hilt of his sword at the memory. Had it
only been yesterday?

On the ground, he noticed what he couldn’t see from the
window above. There was a thin trail of blood leading away from the Red
paladin’s mangled corpse. With nothing else to go on, Marc followed the crimson
path across the courtyard and into one of the other wings of the complex.
Inside, he found half of the missing leg with most of the flesh chewed off.
There was a spray of blood on the floor, but the trail of red fluid ended
there.

Marc stepped over the grisly scene and continued down the
corridor. He pictured a map of the complex in his head and realized he was
headed toward the main hall of the Prismatic Council. Despite the hour, it was
likely they were in session and discussing the progress of the war. At least,
Marc hoped they were all together. They would stand a better chance that way,
just in case there was more than one demon stalking the complex, which Marc had
to assume there were.

Then he heard a scream from down the hallway and his hopes
were cast aside as he broke into a run. Marc threw open the door to the meeting
hall and forced down a heave from his stomach.

The floor was awash in a sea of blood, flowing over chunks
of torn flesh strewn about the room. A crimson stream cascaded down from the
main table where half a dozen bodies lay torn open, their inner organs exposed
or ripped out. The stench nearly broke past Marc’s control of his stomach, and
he tasted bile in his throat. It was only after the horror of the scene had
embedded itself in his mind that he saw there were still paladins standing and
fighting.

Seven paladins stood in a semi-circle against the far wall
with a large group of demons around them, snarling and howling for mortal
blood. There was a Blue paladin in their midst, and Marc noticed with shock
that the Blue wasn’t attacking the demons, he was helping them!

Marc stood in the doorway, overcome with indecision and
shock. He didn’t know whether to run for more help or rush in and do what he
could himself. He didn’t have time to run back and call for
Jorgins
and the others, but maybe there was someone else nearby. Or maybe…

Another paladin fell screaming under the demons’ claws, then
another to the sword of the Blue paladin. Then, casting aside his thoughts,
Marc ran across the room as swiftly as he could without slipping or tripping.
Without bothering to cry out, Marc cut savagely with his sword and sent two
demons spinning to the ground. Marc had never been the best of swordsmen, but
his desperation gave him a skill he’d never before possessed.

He killed five demons before the rest became aware of the
threat behind them, and when some of them turned to deal with him, the paladins
within the deadly ring cut them down from behind. The traitor Blue paladin saw
Marc closing on him and his eyes widened, then he turned and ran away.

“Chase him, brother!” one of the beset paladins called. “We
can deal with these others now!”

Marc cut down one more demon, then nodded and took off in
pursuit of the Blue.

- 3 -

Alicia paced the room nervously, stopping every few minutes
to practice a few swings with the sword she had borrowed from Maki. She had
never been more grateful for the sword lessons Danner had given her, limited
though they’d been. The vague feeling of competence she felt gave her a cushion
of security to fall back on whenever her anxiety got the better of her.

This
time she was not helpless. This time, she could
defend herself… she
would
defend herself.

Her brother was out there somewhere, creeping about the
compound with who knew how many…
somethings
. Whatever
it was out there, and however many there were, they had killed a paladin with
apparent ease. Ripped him apart, in fact. Alicia shivered, then practiced a few
more lunges to steady herself.

Something scratched at the door, and she whirled about in
alarm.
Jorgins
and the others were already on their
feet and moving to stand protectively in front of her. They heard a muffled
sniffing noise, like some animal testing the air, and the scratching changed to
a knock, and then a steady pounding. Something snarled in a vicious language on
the far side of the door, and the sword shook in Alicia’s hand. Then the wood
blew apart and a nightmare entered the room.

Four arms and a demonic maw were all she saw at first, and
they were more than enough for her. As the demon glanced about the room, the
paladin trainees rushed forward, crying out in their boyish voices, “For God!”

- 4 -

Danner awoke with a dull ache in his shoulder and a feeling
of dread in his heart. He’d been dreaming that Alicia was in danger and crying
out to him in terror, but he was unable to reach her or help her in any way. As
he raised himself to a sitting position, Danner withheld a shudder.

“Careful, Danner,” a voice said, and Danner turned to see
Jon de’Serrika crouched at his side. “You’ve had a nasty shock there.”

“What happened, Jon?” he asked.

“You were shot with a crossbow bolt marked with the
Cthonis
,”
Jon said, pointing to a bolt laying half-wrapped in a cloth on the ground.
“That’s the unholy symbol, antithesis to the
Tricrus
, if you didn’t yet
learn that from your training. Don’t touch it,” he warned as Danner reached for
the weapon. “It burns everybody but your uncle, and who knows what it would
feel like to you.”

“Is my uncle safe?” Danner asked in concern.

Jon nodded, smiling lightly.

“It will take more than an army of demons to stop your
uncle,” he said with a smile. “Hasn’t stopped him before, and I don’t imagine
he’ll let it hamper him now. He and Selti are both in good shape – he actually
stopped by a few minutes ago to drop off that accursed bolt.” Jon stopped
smiling and put a hand on Danner’s shoulder. Then he said, more seriously,
“Even your uncle would have been overrun in time, if you hadn’t gotten to him.
As it was, he needed only minor healing to restore his normal, pigheaded
health. You saved his life, Danner. Selti’s, too,” he added with a wry smile.