Chapter 9

We followed the Commander's instructions and at each turn the sound of rushing water became louder, until the tunnel finally opened onto a ledge over a rushing underground river about fifty feet across.

The sound of tumbling boulders thumping each other as they moved reverberated through the ground at our feet. The light Van always carried with him made the white limestone stalactites over our heads glow in a way that was breathtaking. I looked down at the light as it shone off the churning water twenty feet below us.

The river stretched into the darkness in either direction and I enjoyed the sense of open space I did not realize I had been desperately missing. It was a momentary break from the oppressive claustrophobia of the tunnels. The smell here was cleaner. I took deep breaths to rid the smell of dust, smoke, and death from my nose.

The ledge continued in both directions, but we turned downstream and followed the path as it wound around the stalagmites and boulders that blocked the way. Shortly we came upon a natural bridge of rock. Once across the bridge we headed again into the tunnel system. Sadly, we turned our backs on the river and trod on into the darkness. The sound of water slowly faded and with it went our brief moment of tranquility.

The tunnel ended in a huge cavern. Wide path circled its boundary and steps sloped down, like an old Roman amphitheater, to a platform in the center. On the platform stood an altar that was brown with what? Old blood? Numerous tunnels opened around the rim of the cavern with no sign which we should follow.

A child's voice screamed in terror, and Van and I both turned quickly to find its source. I started towards a tunnel to my right. The child's cry was sharp against the silence. As the noise increased so did my speed. I ran towards the sound and found myself suddenly face to face with a demon. Over its shoulder I could make out a small cavern stuffed full of metal cages and in each cage, children—their faces streaked with dirt, cheeks hollowed and eyes round with fear.

I only saw the image for a second, but the impact of what the monsters had been doing. Keeping children like animals, waiting to use them in their sick ceremonies, fueled my anger. My blood burned and with it I could feel a power cursing through my body.

The Demon grabbed me, but I didn't feel the cursed fire I knew must be now running down arm. I spun and my free hand grabbed the dagger from my belt. As I came around, I sank the dagger deep into the demon's forehead.

I stepped back as it shrieked out in pain, its hands frantically reaching for the blade. Blessed metal wasn't going to be enough to kill it. If one blessed metal wouldn't work, maybe another one would.

I grabbed the medal from around my neck and scrambled to get it around the demon's. The medal settled against its body, and I sang out the words that turned the medal into a powerful weapon. "In the name of God, the Father and Almighty, who made heaven and earth, the seas and all that is in them, I exorcise these medals against the power and attacks of the evil one." Where it made contact, bluish white sparks flew out, and the creature's shrieks increased until it fell to its knees. And then it slowly collapsed onto the floor.

I tried to make my voice soft, "It's okay. You're safe now."

I wondered how true that was. We were currently hundreds of feet from the surface and every route from here to freedom was crawling with demons hunting us.

Van was suddenly beside me.

My hands gripped the door of a cage, and I pulled as hard as I could, but it didn't budge. Hanging from each cage door was a large lock.

Van lifted the lock. "Your holy skeleton key?" he asked.

"Only works on sacred ground and this cave is far from holy."

I turned and started looking around for anything to break open the locks. A picked up a first-sized rock and started smashing it against the lock. Nothing, I didn't even dent the thing.

"How are we going to get them out?"

"You could use my key," The voice came from behind us and sent chills down my back.

It was Krogen. Part of his skull was caved in, and his clothes were covered in blood, but somehow the bastard was still alive and moving.

"Krogen. Don't you have better things to do? Like corrupt the masses?" I asked, honestly, too tired, and shocked to see him to sound afraid.

"Traveler, you could come over to our side. We have no grudge with your people. Think about it. Kara, you could take your destiny and be by her side. The power you have now is nothing compared to what you could become."

Van moved away from the cages. His body seemed relaxed, as did his expression, but I now knew him well enough to read the tell-tale signs that he was anything but casual. The way the fingers on his left hand curled, the cold edge that came suddenly into his eyes. "Kara, by joining you, she tilted the balance."

Krogen laughed. "Traveler, you really are naive. It wouldn't have mattered if she was with us or not. But I have to admit it was a sweet victory to watch her hand over her own flesh. Can you imagine? Turning over her own sister? I honestly didn't know if she had it in her."

"Why start this war with us?" Van demanded.

Krogen turned his head and looked at the children. "Why not? We wanted something, so we went after it. Isn't that the way of the world?"

I was so intent on watching the two of them stand off against each other, I didn't realize what was happening.

My dagger was in my hands. The blade turned inwards. I stared down at it and watched in horror as it began advancing towards me. My hands were suddenly not my own again. Like alien beings they pulled the dagger towards the center of my body. And as hard as I struggled, I could not seem to stop their progress. Four inches, three inches, two inches.

Any second the steel would slide into my flesh. I tried to call out, by my voice was silenced, words frozen on my lips. The bastard was doing some kind of mind control on me again.

I had to fight against it. Sweat poured down my face as I struggled to call out for help or stop the blade that was now against my shirt.

Krogen turned towards me. "What's wrong, cat your tongue?"

Van took a step forward and Krogen raised his hand. "Careful. It would take but a thought for me to plunge the blade through her body. A blade in her own hands. And you know how the Catholics feel about suicide. Do you really want to be responsible for her damnation?"
Van moved with that scary speed of his, but not in the direction I expected him to. Instead of attacking Krogen, he kicked me firmly on the shoulder. My entire arm went numb, and the knife flew to clatter against the wall. I stumbled and collapsed next to it. Man, that bastard hit hard. My arm felt like it was on fire, and my hand was not currently responding to my commands.

Van looked at me with concern in his eyes. He should have been concerned, the boy knocked me on my ass.

Krogen charged at Van's unprotected back, a dark dagger in his hand. I grabbed my dagger with my left hand and flipped it awkwardly at Krogen. It stuck in his thigh, but I had not been able to put much force behind it, and it only went in an inch or so. Van Spun out of the way of Krogen's descending blade, but not quite fast enough. The dark blade struck Van with a glancing blow to the side of the head.

Van spun away from the knife and did a complete turn. When he completed the his hands were glowing with light. That light grabbed Krogen taking his right arm off at the elbow and left a long crease along his side.

Van's hand darted out and snatched the keys from Krogen's belt.

Krogen staggered a few feet and fell flat on his face. The fall drove my dagger the rest of the way in, but Krogen didn't react. He lay still for a long count of ten and I began to hope that he was dead.

Krogen moved. The bastard was moving. So far, I had been powerless against him. Blessed silver didn't work, and I wasn't a match for him mentally. I looked over at Van who was now on the ground, the key in one hand, blood pouring from a jagged cut across the side of his head.

If Krogen got to his feet, it would be all over. Then I realized what I had been missing. This was not a demon. This was a minion of evil. For all the dark power Krogen held and all the years he had been transformed by it, Krogen was still somewhere deep inside human. Which meant he breathed in and out just like I did. And blood pumped through his veins, just like mine.

The thought was barely formed in my mind when I sprang. In an explosion of movement, I twirled and lunged and grabbed a wooden torch from the wall. My left arm swung it to the ground, and the full weight of my foot came crashing down on it. The wood splintered. All I needed was a sharp edge and I now had it.

I heard him behind me. He was on his feet. The torch was in two pieces, one in each hand. My right arm was working, barely. The one in my left hand was still ablaze with flame. I pushed up and spun around. Using all strength I had left in me I brought both pieces of wood down towards his heart. The force of my lunge sent us both sprawling on the floor. I felt him squirm beneath me, but I just pushed the torch in farther.

"Nice move," Van called out as he pulled himself to his feet.

I rolled off Krogen's body. He wasn't moving anymore. His face was frozen into an expression of surprise. And by the glazed look of his eyes, he wouldn't be moving ever again.

I rubbed my blood-soaked hands against my jeans and raised them slowly, still shaking, to push the hair from my face. "Thanks, just a little something I learned from watching vampire shows."

* * *

Van stopped in front of me. "The children need a break."

"How far are we from the surface?" I asked.

Van pointed down a long tunnel. "About fifty feet. Just a short distance more and then we can take a drainage pipe that eventually winds up to the surface."

I put down the young child I had been carrying and collapsed against the wall of the tunnel.

I looked over my shoulder. I couldn't get the sensation out of my head that we were being followed. But the tunnel behind me was dark and vacant. "The sooner we are out of here the better."

Van took out a piece of scorched parchment.

"What is it?"

"Something I found by one of the cages."

He handed me the paper, and I began to read it. The sensation hit me like a freight train. My stomach knotted up and I felt physically ill. I dropped the paper.

Van reached down and picked it up. "What's wrong?"

"It's demon speak," my voice trembled. I realized I was unconsciously wiping my fingers against my jeans. I glanced towards the symbols and scratches made from charcoal and just as quickly looked away as nausea swept over me.

I started to reach for it but could not force my fingers to actually touch the paper.

"How can I help?" Van asked.

"Describe what you see on the paper."

He studied it for a few minutes before speaking. "Four straight lines in a row. A half circle with two lines through it. A circle now more like a snake. Wait, I think it is that sign for eternity. Does this make any sense to you?"

I nodded my head, and he kept reading. "This time three lines horizontal. A full circle with six lines through it. And some kind of bird."

A felt a chill running down my neck. "Show me the bird."

He held up the parchment, and I forced myself to ignore the nausea. It was there—a roughly drawn phoenix. Horrified, I realized my worst fears had now been confirmed. How they imagined they could try to open the portal here on the edge of the city was unfathomable. But then again, they had taken out the nearest cells of DKs, so who was around to stop them?

It also meant we weren't dealing with one nest but possibly dozens. No way they'd try such a thing without gathering a shit load of power and reinforcements.

The sons of bitches were going to try and open a portal. The last time the creatures had tried it, the whole thing had been thwarted, just. But not before many demons had escaped through a momentarily open portal, into our world.

I explained what I thought the paper meant to Van. His eyes narrowed a few times, but he didn't say anything.

I looked at the faces of the children now settled around us. That explained why they needed the children. For a human sacrifice. It was part of the spell. Which meant that the demons would be looking for more children.

I had a sudden strong urge to be in the light. To feel the sunshine on my face.

I stood up and reached down to pick up the toddler next to me. He stared at me round eyed, his thumb in his mouth. "Come on kids, let's get moving. We have to get you back to your parents before they start worrying." I swung the child onto my hip.

I looked over at Van. He held the hand of a child and another clung to his back. The older children huddle around him as if afraid to step out of the light that shone from his body. I didn't blame them. After what they had been through. Van's presence was one of strength and light and just having him with me made me feel stronger.

Van smiled at me. And I smiled back. I wasn't alone in this. Van and I had started out strangers, but now we were comrades in arms. And maybe something more.

"I have no idea how many cells were attacked," I said. "Brant and Lacey, my friends are alive, I have to believe that. And there have to be others who made it out. If the Dk's and the Travelers work together..."
"That will never happen," he answered, his expression grim.

"But we worked together..."

He reached out and took my hand. "We will keep working together and we will figure out a way to stop them."

We walked side by side with the children making our way back to the surface, back to the light. I was thankful we were together and alive, and for the moment, it was enough.

THE END

Author note: I hope you enjoyed my story! Thanks for reading!