“Take it easy!” he shouted over the roar of the engine.
“If you want to drive, be my guest,” yelled Josh.
“I don’t know how,” Sam admitted.
Josh took his eyes off the track for a second to give Sam an astounded glance. When he looked back, a massive shape had materialized in front of the jeep, blocking the path. It was a horned demon, easily recognisable in the glare of the jeep’s headlights. If they hit that, the vehicle was definitely going to come off second best.
“Look out!” screamed Sam.
Josh swerved violently, veering off the path, missing two trees by a hair’s breadth. As Josh fought the wheel with the jeep hurtling amongst the trees, Sam noticed other things in the forest with them. Lemure. Tens, if not hundreds of them, scurrying out of the path of the hateful light. A group of them were too slow and Josh rammed into them, sending demon bodies flying over the bonnet. Some disappeared immediately, raining ash down on the two boys. The others landed behind the jeep. Sam risked a glance behind him and was horrified to see them lurching back onto their feet and chasing the jeep again.
Yet more Lemure reached for him as they raced past. He struck out with his wakizashi, feeling the satisfying sensation of his blade cutting deep. He severed several clutching hands, leaving them twitching on the forest floor behind the racing jeep.
Josh swerved again and suddenly they were back on the path.
“Nicely done,” he yelled.
Josh nodded, but didn’t risk glancing in Sam’s direction. He’d learnt his lesson.
They charged along the path. Sam could sense the Lemure struggling to keep pace beside the vehicle. When he stared back down the path, he could see the horned demon lumbering after them. With its thick, powerful legs, it wasn’t built for speed. Soon, they had left it far behind.
Sam was impressed. So far the plan had gone off almost without a hitch. He started to relax, thinking they were in the clear when, without warning, the jeep shuddered under an immense blow. The whole front of the vehicle lunged upwards and began to slow as only the rear wheels got any traction with the ground.
Gulping, Sam grabbed his katana and turned, knowing all too well what he would find perched on the back on the jeep. He wasn’t disappointed. It was an Astaroth. Somehow, the massive demon had avoided the branches overhead and managed to land itself directly on the back of their jeep. Its huge weight was what was forcing the front up like the prow of a ship on a stormy sea.
The jeep was only crawling along now, struggling to move with such a load on the back. That was fortunate for Sam. It meant that he was able to keep his balance while he stood and confronted the creature with both blades.
The Astaroth was forced to duck continuously as low branches threatened to sweep it off the back of the jeep. Slightly off balance, it could only swing with two of its four blades at once. Somehow, he managed to block both thrusting swords. The impact left his arms numb and he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long. He’d defeated an Astaroth before, but using the same trick in these circumstances was completely out of the question.
“If you’re going to do something, now would be good,” he yelled at Joshua. The other boy didn’t have to be told twice. He knew something was on the back of the jeep and from the sound of Sam’s voice, knew that it wasn’t good.
Joshua swerved again. The manoeuvre done at speed would have effectively thrown the Astaroth (and probably Sam) off the jeep. Unfortunately, the crawling pace of the jeep caused only a minor inconvenience for the great demon. It shuffled its weight but stayed firmly rooted.
“Do something else,” yelled Sam again, desperately blocking another attack.
“I’m trying,” Joshua yelled back.
Joshua picked a spot between the trees. Sam knew it would be close but right now, they had no other options. The jeep scraped the sides of both trees as they squeezed through. The Astaroth wasn’t so lucky. For some reason, it had not furled its wings. As a result, they were jutting out like sails on a ship. Both wings clipped the trees and yanked it back. It fell off the jeep with a mighty thud.
With its huge weight no longer an issue, the front wheels of the jeep finally touched the ground again. The jeep surged forward, throwing Sam off balance. His katana flew out of his hand, over the side and into the undergrowth.
“Stop!” yelled Sam.
“No chance,” Joshua replied grimly.
“You have to,” Sam yelled again. “Without both swords, we’re history.”
Joshua sighed deeply and turned the wheel. The jeep roared through the trees and back onto the path. Again. The Astaroth was standing in the middle of the path facing in their direction, its gleaming red eyes fixed on them. Josh swerved to the left, taking them off the path. Once he was past the Astaroth, Joshua jerked the wheel to the right. The Astaroth was just turning as they hurtled past it and back towards the trees where they’d just been. Sam felt the swish of the demon’s blades narrowly miss his head as they swept past.
Joshua gunned the jeep through the narrow opening in the trees again. As he did, Sam reached down over the low side of the vehicle, praying that he remembered the exact spot correctly. A second later, he sat upright, grinning triumphantly, his katana once again in his hand.
“Happy now?” said Josh sarcastically.
“Sure am,” said Sam. He was too — more elated and happier than he’d been in years. They’d just pulled off the impossible and it felt great.
Josh got them back on the path and picked up speed. The frustrated screams of the demons followed them down the path as the Astaroth and other demons fell behind, unable to keep up with the rapidly accelerating jeep. Without warning, the sound of the tyres changed. They’d reached the main road.
With a squeal of tyres, Josh brought the car around, grinning wildly. He gunned the engine. The jeep gathered speed, rapidly taking them westwards, towards Bryce Valley and whatever awaited them there.
8
ONE YEAR BEFORE THE RAPTURE
“…that proves how marvellous God’s love is, even for the most miserable human beings, being that demons can never take a human figure in a perfect form, and so the most stupid people are able to discover them”.
“Try to lie down.”
Sam squirmed about on the floor, trying to get comfortable. Inside the pentagram, there wasn’t much room. Aimi had done her best, providing a small bed roll and a pillow, but it certainly wasn’t long enough for him to stretch out.
He ended up in a foetal position which was only a moderately pleasing posture for someone of his height and build. He didn’t want to think what would happen if he wanted to change positions during his sleep.
Hikari eyed the circle critically and consulted the
heavy tome in his arms. He traced something in the book with his finger and then nodded.
“Well,” he said, closing the book and placing it on the floor. “It looks right. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Sam prayed vehemently that it would work. Over the last several months, his dreams had become much, much worse, making sleep almost impossible. Meditation helped, but sometimes he was so tired that his eyes
