'Guess we have some dragons as well,' I said to Jack.
'Actually, dragons probably never really existed,' Jerky said. 'But we can't let them have any advantage now, can we? So, we improvise.'
'Improvise?' I asked, feeling suddenly as if I were a jazz player who didn't know the chord changes.
Jerky shrugged her shoulders and grinned from ear to ear.
'For the light and all that is good,' I yelled, and kicked Hope forward. As I sped across the field, I looked down at Jerky. She smiled at me and transformed into a large cat. Now, when I say large, I mean one that was almost the size of Hope. And as for cat, we're not talking about a fat lazy Garfield-type cat. No, we're talking something like a lion on steroids. The creature looked at me and roared. Its fangs were over a foot long.
'Wow, Jerky, you're…' The cat looked at me again and roared. I also swear she smiled and winked at me.
The demons came closer. I looked up and saw the dragons already engaged. It looked like old WWI fighter pilots. They would fly at each other, strike a blow and dash off. One of Madeline's dragons was already falling to the ground.
The two opposing front lines were almost upon each other. The demons appeared even bigger. My throat tightened and my tongue was like parchment paper. Jerky roared again as if to comfort me. I smiled at her and raised the sword I had.
Within seconds the two forces connected with an amplified whack like you would hear if two huge 18- wheelers collided.
Immediately, there were screams.
Most of the guardian angels had transformed into various ferocious animals with exaggerated proportions. Teeth, fangs, claws were in abundance. Some took to the air.
Soon I was surrounded by several demons. Jerky ripped into two of them immediately. Their throats were bitten into, spewing a shower of blood. The large cat killed with lightning speed. Something grabbed at my leg. I spun around with my sword and decapitated one of the demons. The next sight stunned me and I froze. Another demon was holding a large spiked club and was rearing back to strike Hope. I pulled the reins hard and Hope went on her back haunches. She kicked violently at the demon and one of her hoofs connected with his head. The demon went down and Jerky finished the job.
'Time for you to get out of all this mess, Hope,' I said dismounting. 'Go be safe. I need a ride home when this is all over.' I slapped the horse's behind and Hope raced across the field to higher ground.
Jerky stayed at my side the entire time. We worked together taking down demon after demon. As I figured, demons might have been big and scary, but my men were smarter and more agile. At times, I glanced across the field. It appeared we were winning. We were pushing them back.
Suddenly, a loud horn blasted and the demons retreated. Our men cheered.
Jack yelled for our side to pull back as well. Time to get a second wind. He came running over to me and with a big smile on his face reported that our losses were light. I looked at everyone standing around me. In spite of heavy breathing, wiping of brows, bloodstained clothing and many sitting on the ground to get a much-needed rest, each man and woman sported a huge grin.
Then a sound thundered across the field. The deafening howl was directed right at me.
'Heckel!' The people had to cover their ears it was so overwhelming.
My name reverberated again across the field with such hate and loathing.
Showdown time.
Now every old western movie I had ever seen flashed across the movie projector in my head. I snickered. 'Looks like it's gonna be the O.K. Corral all over again,' I muttered. Jerky was standing next to me as a young woman again.
'Not a good idea,' she said. 'We're winning and she knows it.'
'I'll be fine. I whooped her ass once before. I can do it again,' I said dropping my sword. 'Besides, take off the head and the body will die.'
'Send her back to hell,' Jack said.
Everyone else backed away.
'Heckel,' Madeline screamed again. This time she was hovering off the ground several feet and moving slowly forward. She was dressed in a long black leather duster.
'I heard you the first time,' I shouted back.
The middle of the field was clear. I noticed the ground littered with mostly dead demons. As Madeline inched closer, I could see she was noticeably pissed off. She yanked off her duster, revealing a black metal breastplate. Her long flowing hair spun wildly around her head as if it had turned to writhing snakes, reminiscent of Medusa.
'Looks like your demons are having an off day,' I said waving my hand over the dead carcasses. 'Perhaps a little more training would have been useful.'
Madeline sneered at me and remained silent.
'Wow, you look frightful. You must be having a really bad hair day,' I joked. 'I just abhor it when I have hat hair. You know the kind you get when you wear a ball cap?'
Well, I had laid out enough sarcasm I guess because she rose another few feet in the air to glower down at me and without warning, hurled a large blue ball of energy at me. Immediately, I jumped to the side several feet and rolled on the ground. Without thinking, I pitched two large bolts of lightning at her. One struck her on the side of the head. When she turned around, half of her face was black and chunks of skin hung loosely.
'Oh, now I've done it. I messed up your makeup.' More sarcasm. I was getting very good at it.
Additional balls of energy were tossed viciously and with each one she screamed a long list of obscenities. I held up my hand and a force field shielded me from their blows. I laughed, but inside it felt like I had been punched.
I returned a barrage of bolts. Another one hit her on the leg and she was propelled backward. My soldiers behind me cheered and yelled. They shouted encouragement like people at a boxing match. Madeline scowled at them. With that distraction and hesitation on her part, I threw another round of bolts. She fell to the ground.
'Finish her off now,' I heard someone holler. 'Take off her head.'
As I walked over to her, I spotted my sword. I bent down, picked it up and just as I was about to remove her head, a large red energy orb hit me in the back, throwing me to the ground. Jerky spun around and transformed into the large cat. Another red orb hit her before she could spring. 'No,' I yelled. I got up and standing a few yards from me was Barker.
I balled up my fists in anger. 'Looks like your lady friend there couldn't do it herself,' I said tauntingly. 'She's done for. Give it up. Crawl back in the hole where you came from, back to the depths of hell.'
'Well, you know the saying…if you want something done right, do it-'
Before he could finish, I threw my sword at him. As he lifted his hand to wave the sword away, I pitched two massive lightning bolts directly at his chest. Both of them hit hard, sending Barker several yards away almost landing on Madeline. Slowly, he reached over and touched Madeline. Her eyelids began to flutter. Gradually, she moved each limb. As she sat up, the look on her face was distorted and menacing. Her makeup had smeared, adding to the horrific look. I almost laughed because she looked like some elderly woman who had put her makeup on while an airplane was hitting turbulence.
I looked over at Jerky. The big cat wasn't moving.
'Great. Now this is a real fair fight. Two against one,' I said, wiping my hands on my pants.
Both of them catapulted energy ball after energy ball at me. I dodged them and for some odd reason I felt I was back in middle school and we were playing dodge ball.
'You know who ever invented dodge ball was a really mean-spirited person,' I yelled as I rolled on the ground. One of the energy balls hit my left arm. 'Crap, those things hurt.'
Neither Barker nor Madeline was enjoying my witty remarks. But I kept them coming, hoping to rile them up to the point where they were distracted and let their defenses down.
