The devil's Pact - S01 E400

Story 21 hours ago

The devil's Pact - S01 E400

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 400

Mary sent another monster tumbling with a blast of wind at the creature's feet; three Rangers fell on the beast with flashing knives. I glanced around, looking for the next monster to fight. The ghosts were streaming into the warehouse, pursuing Lilith's children as they retreated. Only half of the Rangers were still standing; the other half lay dead or dying on the street.

"Go!" Mary shouted, bending down beside a fallen Ranger. "I'll take care of the wounded!"

"You were magnificent!" I shouted, before leading my remaining men into the gaping hole the giantess made in the warehouse.

Makeshift walls of plywood covered in red felt formed a hallway that led off in both directions. Inhuman roars and growls echoed from all directions, and muffled gunfire came from the other three groups of Rangers. The building trembled and creaked, like it protested the violence happening around it. A clapping boom rattled the floor, bringing more groaning protests from the building's metal frame.

"Chasity!" I shouted as I surveyed the warehouse

"Master," she answered, stepping through a wall. "This place is a warren."

"Where Is Lilith?"

"Basement," Chasity reported. "63 and 01 were unsummoned down there. 30 and I were forced to retreat. There's a strong group of her daughters guarding three portals that her followers are fleeing through."

"Fuck! Into the Shadow?"

She nodded.

"Which way?" I asked.

Chasity pointed to her right when the shadows behind her suddenly moved. A shaft of darkness formed into a spear, and pierced Chasity's chest. She gave a startled blink, then dissolved into silvery mist, her soul sent back to the Abyss.

For a moment, everything was still as the Rangers and I gaped at the moving shadow. Then the hallway filled with lancing shadows. They came from every direction, stabbing and slicing. One knifed at me; I turned, and it scraped across my breastplate, leaving at me; I turned, and it scraped across my breastplate, leaving gouges in the metal. The shadow kept striking forward, and struck a Ranger behind me, slicing through his body armor like it was wax paper, he fell in a lifeless heap to the ground.

I jumped back as the shadows in the hallway came alive. Soldiers fired blindly as the darkness slashed at them. Every shadow could suddenly become lethal, slicing at you, even the one you cast. I dodged another shadow as a blade of umber went through the rifle and arm of a Ranger, severing both as easily as a scissor cutting paper. My men were being cut down by these fucking shadows! I fought through the panic, whirling to dodge attacks, and looked in vain for the source of the attack.

A knife of shadows arced at my face. I pivoted, and slashed a black tendril with my golden blade. White light flashed, briefly revealing a small woman crouching in a corner, skin black as midnight, flinching in pain.

"There!" I barked, pointing at the corner. "Everything you got!"

The shadows convulsed and then snapped back to normal as automatic fire raked the corner. The midnight-skinned monster fell forward in a pool of inky blood. No-one spoke, except the man clutching his severed arm. Everyone just stared in horror at the monster. I could see the fear in their eyes. How could regular men fight a being that used the very shadows they cast as weapons?

I bent down next to the wounded Ranger, a scarlet light enveloping him as I healed him. When the scarlet faded the solder clutched at his newly grown arm, staring in amazement. "Thank you, my Lord!" he gasped, flexing his fingers and staring at his bare arm, his sleeve ending where the shadow had sliced through it. I healed another Ranger who still lived, but the others had bled out.

"My Lord!" a man yelled, and three more Rangers ran up, battered and singed.

"Southeast corner?" I asked.

"Yes, we're the only survivors," he gasped. Only three out of thirty- three survived? Fuck! "There's this thing breathing fire and..."

Gunshots cracked nearby, echoing down from where the new soldiers came from. Two of the ghosts were firing down the hallway, fiery-red light bathing their silver armor. Black smoke rolled around the top of the hallway, and billowed out of the massive hole the giantess had left. Yellow-orange fire engulfed the two ghosts, the summoning failed, and the two ghosts were sent back to the Abyss.

"Fuck!" someone cursed.

"Mark, the building's on fire! Get out of there!" Mary's panicked thought screamed in my mind.

Flames licked at the temporary walls, greedily devouring the felt and plywood like a pig at the trough, voracious and indiscriminate about what it ate. I coughed, the smoke stinging my eyes. "The basement!" I yelled. "That way!"

"Shit! Yes, sir!" a Ranger agreed, and the ten or so soldiers raced behind him.

A woman strode around the corner, the flames harmlessly caressing her legs, like cats rubbing affectionately against their mistress's legs. Her dark skin glowed orange in the firelight. There was no hair on her body, her head smooth and round, exotically beautiful, and her eyes glowed gold, slitted like a cat's.

"Mark Glassner," she hissed, mouth full of pointed teeth; smoke issued from her mouth and nostrils, and flames burned down her gullet. A smile creased her blackened lips. "You shall burn in fires so hot your flesh shall melt and your bones crack, and I shall suck the marrow from them."

She inhaled deeply.

Behind me, the soldiers were racing down the hall. I had to stop her. I had to protect my men; I had led them into this mess. I owed them. This was my responsibility; I had made a choice that night in June, I made a Pact with the Devil, and all of this was the fallout. I gripped my sword, swallowed my fear, and stared down this fire- breathing she-beast.

She exhaled pure fire, the air dancing wildly ahead of the blistering heat.

I summoned Molech's flames, armoring myself in my own fire, and rushed into the Inferno. Orange, red, and yellow engulfed me; a crackling roar filled my ears. Her inferno pressed against my fire, slowly overwhelming my protection. Every second it grew hotter and hotter; my skin felt raw, peeling like old paint exposed to the sun for years. I kept running. I couldn't stop. I had to reach the monster before her flames overcame mine.