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Chapter 4 is done. It comes in at 2596 words, a little shorter than the others. I'll get going on the next section later today. Total official count is 11,664 words!



VIncenz gasped and Ranah screamed at the appearance of the thing, and it took its time as it looked them over; if it stood upright it wouldn’t be much larger than a man. But no human, not even Marked, ever looked like this. Wet, slick hide covered its hunchbacked form, taloned three-toed feet on animal-jointed legs marred the concrete floor, while misshapen arms built for rending supported it an an apelike posture. Its head was like a baboon’s, but there were no eyes- just two black, dripping pits where they ought to have been.

It looked back and forth, then made its decision. It spun and leapt towards Ranah, who shrieked and ran. Ames and Bierce fired simultaneously, the riot guns making an unbelievably loud roar in the formerly silent room. The shot sprayed against the thing’s hide but did no damage that could be seen; it did get the beast’s attention though.

The hideous, dripping sockets turned towards Bierce, who’s own eyes went wide. Not being stupid he did exactly what was required- he ran. The thing squatted and started a leap towards him, when another gun barked rapid, staccato fire- Vincenz’ machine pistol. Unlike the shotguns, there was an effect- golden fire burst from wherever a round landed, and the thing howled an ululating cry of hate and pain!

It shook its head, Johnson following Vincenz’ lead with the machine pistol; the beast turned towards Vincenz, and with a wet snort it spat a horrid glob of wet slime- the goo slammed into the Confessor, driving him back into a shelf and gluing him in place. Vincenz struggled, but he was stuck fast.

It shook its head again, and once again looked for a target. Johnson was closest but moving back; Ames was out of sight, as was Bierce. Unfortunately, Ranah wasn’t under cover at all. It coughed out a horrid, wet snarl and scrambled after her; she squeaked in fear, dodging down another of the aisles and drawing the pistol.

Looking quickly, she saw a ladder built into the end of one of the shelving units. she scrambled up, going not to the top but to the middle shelf, hiding in the space between the stacked boxes placed there. She heard the thing prowling below; it didn’t seem to know where she’d gone. Controlling her panic, she looked around but couldn’t see any of the others- she knew Ames, Bierce and Johnson were using cover, and she didn’t have an angle to spot Vincenz... But she could reach him, and he was helpless where he was.

Taking a deep breath, she concentrated. She’d always had trouble teleporting when afraid, so she took time to get control over herself. A moment later, she vanished in a puff of pale blue light, and reappeared next to Vincenz. He jumped, or at least tried to; she held a finger to her mouth to shush him, then leaned close to his ear to whisper.

“This might hurt; I’m gonna teleport us both.” He nodded and braced himself.

She put her hands on him, avoiding the horrid slime and concentrated; with a quiet ‘pop’ , they were back at the elevators. VIncenz gasled and dropped to his knees, no longer wrapped in the foul goo, and Ranah leaned against the wall. “Wasn’t... Too bad that time. Short distance.”

VIncenz shook his head, trying to clear it. “They need help, Ranah.”

“What can I do?”

“I don’t know... But that thing, its infernal.”

“Infernal?”

“Its a demon, Ranah. Not like you; a REAL one. My bullets are blessed. They can hurt it, but not kill it. Ames and the others will realize that too.”

“What can kill it?”

“Sunlight. Holy invocation from a truly good person of Orders. Blessed silver. Cold Iron. Traditional methods, none of which we have down here.”

Chattering gunfire sounded from within the storage room, followed by shouts from the men and gurgling roars from the thing. “I have an idea, Ranah, if you’re brave enough.”

Ranah swallowed and paled. “Okay...”

“Can you move something without moving yourself?”

“I’ve... I never tried.”

Vincenz started and winced as more gunfire and the sound of crates being shattered was heard. He held his chest for a bit, then slowly started to breathe again.

“You’re hurt!”

“Ribs. I’ll live. But if you can move that thing into sunlight, it’ll kill it. Its daylight outside, and a desert. We’re about to hundred and forty feet down. Could you do it?”

“I’ll try.”

“Vincenz nodded. “Be careful. If you can’t, don’t risk yourself in heroics. Switch to getting whomever you can clear like you did me.”

Ranah nodded, still pale, but no longer seeming as scared. A pop and flash, and VIncenz was alone.

Ranah reappeared in the warehouse area, atop one of the shelf stacks. She listened, then moved closer to the sounds of fighting. From her vantage, she quickly spotted the thing; it seemed to have little ability at concealment after its initial ambush. Nearby she saw Bierce snap off a shot then whip around the corner. Ames and Johnson were nowhere to be seen. The creature snapped at the impact-point of the bullet on its hide, then started towards where Bierce had run.

She concentrated, reaching out with her ability in a way she’d never tried before, trying to get a ‘hold’ on the thing, visualizing moving it upward into the sunlit desert far above... But she felt nothing. She knew her ability was there, but she couldn’t seem to figure out how to shift it. She looked around her for other options... And realized something. She’d moved objects when she teleported- maybe she could move a crate!

Looking for a sufficiently large target, she soon found a largish box labelled as cement bags. Placing her hands on it, she looked to see where the creature was. At first, she couldn’t see it, but a moment later Bierce ran full-tilt out of cover, the thing just behind him! Ranah concentrated, then... A much brighter blue flash than usual burst before her, and the crate appeared above the thing! Just for a moment it almost seemed to float, then suddenly crashed down upon it, driving it to the floor. Ranah felt a moment of elation, then collapsed.

She woke, feeling weak and disoriented. She could hear the wet, slobbering growls of the beast still coming from below- she’d not killed it, and she couldn’t have been out for more than a few minutes. She didn’t hear any of the four Confessors, but if the thing were still alive they likely were in no hurry to reveal themselves. Ranah pushed herself up onto hands and knees, and fought the urge to vomit as her head spun painfully.

Breathing through her mouth, she fought down the nausea, then wiped at her face with on hand. It came away from her nose with blood on it. Her heart rate rose with panic at the thought, but she moved to the edge of the shelves to see what she’d done. The crate had smashed itself apart from its sheer weight, burying the thing in the powdery cement powder. The thing was still there, scraping at itself to clean the muck off its hide, as the powder had mixed with the hideous mucous that coated it. Its empty eye-sockets swept back and forth, still looking for the annoying mortals that had shot at it.

She’d hit it square, but she’d not hurt it. Mostly it seemed annoyed.

Then Johnson appeared behind it. He was dragging one leg, and he seemed disoriented. Certainly it didn’t make sense for him to be where he was. The thing was preoccupied, and didn’t look behind it, fortunate for Johnson. The Confessor shook his head as if trying to clear it, then saw the beast no more than thirty feet from him! He froze, then with agonizing slowness started to back away... until his injured leg gave out and he fell, his gun clattering away as he hit.

The thing turned with a speed that Ranah barely believed, and let out a hissing, wet bellow; it bunched to leap at the downed Confessor, until with a ‘pop’ Ranah appeared on its back! It howled its rage, bucking like a maddened bull at the presence of the girl on its back. She clung for dear life, digging fingers into horrid crevices and hooking her hooves about the misshapen barrel of the beast. It bucked again, the started to crane its head around. It hit the point that a natural creature’s neck would stop, then with a grinding, moist sound kept going, upside down the horrid maw gaped open before her!

She closed her eyes, and with a scream ripped from deep within her, she and the beast vanished!

Silence filled the area. Ames came staggering out, going over to Johnson to see to his injuries. Bierce soon followed, three of the four Confessors together again.

“Ames to Vincenz. Are you alright?” The earpiece hissed a bit, but Vincenz’ answer to the affirmative was intelligible. “Johnson, how bad?”

“I think my leg’s broken.” He winced, sitting up. “Just a fracture. I can’t put weight on it, but its still in once piece. It knocked me into some crates.”

“You intact, Bierce?”

“Yeah... What just happened?”

Ames shook his head. “Not sure. She teleported the crate onto it, but it didn’t stop it. Then... She moved it.”

“It’ll kill her!”

“If she can’t get away from it, probably.” Ames looked grim at the thought. “Lets get Vincenz. Maybe he has an idea what happened. The comm’s aren’t working too well.”

Bierce looked at Ames as they helped Johnson towards the elevator lobby. “I thought Vincenz was a telepath?”

“He is. But not a strong one. Communication is hard for him, but he can interfere with people’s thoughts and actions if he’s close enough.”

“So he could have talked to us?”

“Not if he’s in pain. He’d end up just transmitting that to the person he was contacting. He’s mainly useful for locking down someone with a Gift.”

They pushed through the door, then helped Johnson sit next to VIncenz. “Okay. Nick, Ranah vanished. We’re going to search, but... She teleported the demon.”

Vincenz shot up straight, then made a silent gasp and fell back. “Uhnhhh. Dammit. Why?”

“She did it to save Johnson, we think.”

Vincenz nodded. “I’m not mobile, but... I think I know where she went.”

The desert air was hot and dry, the sand burning against what of her skin was exposed. Ranah tried to sit up, then gave up and simply rolled over. The sun was setting, and she stared up into the sky, and tried to sort out what had happened. She remembered jumping onto the demon... And then things twisted. Her head was still pounding, and she dully realized that she hurt all over, especially her left arm.

She lay still for a time, the air rapidly cooling as the desert night started to close in. It was a familiar feeling, and she knew that she was likely close to her home... But she didn’t know what direction to go. And she didn’t want to sit up anyway.

But... Something had happened, and she knew that she needed to know what. If that... thing was still alive, she soon wouldn’t be. Moving slowly, she levered herself up with her right arm, her left held protectively against her. She stood, her hooves sinking deep into the loose sand and looked around.

In all directions she saw sand. Vast dunes rolling into the distance as far as the eye could see. A light breeze blew, whipping trickles of sand off the tops. Turning, she staggered a bit, reeling back from what she found- it was the thing!

But... It looked like it had been burned in a blast furnace. Much of its form was burnt into a gutted-out hollow shell, the hide now dry and crinkled from whatever had incinerated it. White bone was visible in spots, but most of what she could see was horribly crisped. Strangely, there was no smell of it at all.

Putting her hood up, she tried to think, walking slowly around the hideous, unholy remnant before her. Vincenz... He’d told her to try and teleport it into sunlight! “I must have done it,” she mused. “I don’t think I’ve ever moved something that big. But why is my arm hurt?”

It didn’t take long to realize that it was broken. it was swollen and tender at the midpoint of her forearm, but she could feel her fingers; it just hurt to move them. She couldn’t see the accessway for the facility... And she couldn’t think quite right. Maybe she should sit down...

“Easy.”

Ranah blinked at the sound of Ames’ voice. “What...” Her voice was a rasp.

“Don’t push it, girl. You’ve a concussion and a broken arm. Here.” He held her head and carefully let her sip water.

“I... Don’t feel so good.”

Ames grinned. “I’ll bet. You did it, did you know that?”

“Did what?”

“Killed it. Got it into full sunlight. It likely burned like a magnesium flare.”

“...Wow.”

“We’re still at the facility. It took us a bit to find you in the dunes. We’ll be heading to New Jerusalem shortly; we’ve been ordered to take you to Bishob Gerhardt.”

“Am I in trouble?”

Bierce chimed in. “I’d bet just the opposite, Ranah.”

“I think... I just want to not hurt.”

Ames nodded. “I can get some codeine from the medical stores if you want. We’ll get moving as soon as the investigation team gets here. You’ve been out for a good six hours since we found you.”

“That long?”

“Well... We think you appeared in midair and fell. Do you remember anything?”

“Just... Jumping onto its back and teleporting. Then waking up and walking around, then waking here.”

“Is everyone else alright?”

“I’m unhurt, Bierce has some bruises. Johnson has a fractured leg, Vincenz has three broken ribs. Of us all, you’re probably hurt the worst.”

She leaned back, resting. “And I sort of did it to myself, didn’t I.”

“If you hadn’t, it would have killed us all.”

“What was it?”

“Technically, that’s classified.” Ames grinned. “But, seeing as you killed it and got a real good look, I think you can be told. That, was a demon.”

“I think I got that far, Confessor.”

“Oh. Right. Well.”

Ranah grinned. “You were going to tell me that demons are real, like devils and angels... Weren’t you? I think I knew that, given I look like a devil.”

Ames looked abashed. “Well... Yes.”

“There’s something you can tell me though.”

“Oh?”

“Where did it come from? And I don’t mean hell.”

Frowning, he answered. “That’s what we don’t know. There are rituals for summoning creatures from the netherworld, but they’re all banned by the Church and hard to obtain at best. It means whomever raided Limbo had at least a Summoner working for them.”

“Is that a kind of Gift?”

“No. Magic can be performed by anyone who takes the time to learn... But summoning and controlling a creature like that is not the act of an amateur. The forensics team will hopefully be able to tell us if it was summoned in the facility or brought in, and how the personnel were removed.”

He glanced up, listening to his earpiece. “The helicopters are here. We’ll be heading out shortly. Do you need anything?”

Ranah sighed. “I really don’t know anymore.”

Date: 2010-11-05 08:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] joshuwain.livejournal.com
Nice battle and detailed planning scenes. The demon is quite a nasty threat!

Keep up the good work!

Date: 2010-11-05 10:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sorien.livejournal.com
He was just a little monster... ;)

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