blood or whatever it was that ran in its veins, darting out in cuts and parries seemingly with a will of their own.
The Astaroth was forced to retreat from Sam’s furious assault, no match for his incredible speed and whirling blades. It made the mistake of glancing behind to see how far the precipice was from its giant armoured feet. That was all Sam needed. Both his blades bit deep into the heart of the mighty demon and it disappeared in a plume of ash.
Sam looked up. More Astaroth were circling but he felt something else approaching. Something even more dangerous. “Hurry up,” he yelled.
“I’m doing my best,” grunted Joshua.
Working furiously with the chalk Sam had provided, Joshua had almost completed the outline of the pentagram. Sam had no idea whether they needed it or not — the Watcher had been rather vague about the details — but he knew that the Lemure used one so why not? Perhaps it would help to focus his thoughts.
Joshua finished and stood up, looking pleased with himself.
“Now focus on the church,” said Sam.
As his mind sought out the connection with Joshua’s, his body was instinctively moving to the narrow opening in the passage. Whatever was heading towards them was coming from that direction and moving fast.
The fiery glow on the walls of the passage announced the proximity of the creature before it emerged. This time, Sam knew exactly what he faced. He’d read about these demons countless times before, and every account spoke of them with terror and awe. Even Astaroth feared them. They were often bonded to even greater, more powerful demons of Hell who used them to track down wayward prey, and were so prized and rare that even the rulers of Hell only possessed a handful each.
It was a Hellhound.
With a wave of heat and glare, the Hellhound appeared from around a corner, shaking the walls as it scraped along the narrow passage. It was a giant dog, eight feet high at the shoulder, with a raging coat of flames and eyes that spat molten sparks. Each of its teeth was as long as one of Sam’s fingers. Behind it, Sam could see a horde of Lemure, struggling to get past the giant dog but unwilling to get too close to its burning flanks.
As soon as the Hellhound saw Sam, it roared and belched out a ball of fire that completely immolated him in flame. Sam stood completely still; amazingly he was untouched by the fire that would have made a normal human a pile of scorched bones in seconds. He felt the heat but only as something mildly discomforting — certainly not life threatening.
His clothes still burning, Sam attacked, bringing both swords down onto the head of the huge beast with all the force he could gather. His swords clanged off it like they had just struck the side of a tank. He retreated a step, desperately warding off the massive jaws that snapped out at him like giant traps.
A part of his mind was still with Joshua, trying to cling to an image of a church he had never seen. Another part was trying to ignite the pentagram the way he’d felt the Lemure do, while yet another was trying to focus on the flaming giant creature that was doing its best to sever him into several small pieces. He didn’t know if he could accomplish all three things even under the best of conditions, and now was certainly not the best of conditions.
He retreated another few steps. This was a major blunder on his behalf. The Hellhound was able to fully emerge from the passage, giving room for the Lemure to skirt around it and into the small clearing. Circumstances had suddenly gone from bad to worse.
Behind him, Joshua had picked up his baseball bat and was holding it like he was expecting to hit a home run. Grace had selected several small rocks that were lying near to her hiding place. She set them in a small pile at her feet and hefted the first one experimentally.
The Hellhound attacked again and this time Sam was not quite quick enough to avoid its huge jaws. They found his shoulder and he was savagely wrenched off his feet. The pain was intense this time, not only from the bite but also from the creature’s burning jaws. He stifled a scream and thrust with his one free hand. It was the right, the one that held his katana. The blow was straight and true, slicing cleanly through the Hellhound’s flaming right eye and into its skull. Immediately, its jaws went slack and he found himself sprawled at its feet.
The Hellhound wasn’t out of it yet. Howling, it waved its head around frantically, desperately trying to dislodge the sword still buried in its head, spreading molten fire in its wake. Some of the fire spilled onto the surrounding Lemure, forcing them back with yelps and shrieks. Others sprang forward, reaching for Sam with clawed hands. The closest suddenly flew back, howling in agony as a rock slammed into its face. Sam turned his head and saw Grace standing nearby, another rock already in her hand.
Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Sam surged to his feet and fought off the attacking Lemure with the wakizashi in his left. Two circled around behind him and entered the pentagram, ruining the outline with their clawed feet and Joshua swatted at them with his baseball bat, keeping them at bay.
The Hellhound was still baying in fury. It lowered its head, using one massive paw to try and dislodge the sword embedded in its skull. Sam saw his chance. He hurled himself forward, leaping onto its head and thrusting his sword up to its hilt into its other eye. It emitted one mighty roar and then slumped down at his feet, dead. Curiously, unlike other demons Sam had encountered, it remained stubbornly solid. Greater demons like the Hellhound were obviously not subject to the same rules as their lesser brethren.
He pulled his blades out of its flaming skull. Both seemed to be undamaged by their contact with the beast but were glowing dully with the intense heat they had been subjected to. Sam used this to his advantage, scattering Lemure and creating ash piles whenever one of his blades bit true. He vaulted over the outline of the pentagram and directly into the symbol, destroying the two Lemure that had beset Joshua.
“Fix the outline,” he yelled. Joshua nodded and bent down, frantically scraping with his piece of chalk.
Above them, at least ten more Astaroth were looking for a place to land on the ledge. For some reason, the presence of the Hellhound had served to keep them away but now, they began angling down.
Several Lemure also remained. They split up; some charged towards Sam and Joshua, while the others went for Grace. Grace threw rock after rock at them but the blows only stunned them, incapable of destroying their bodies. Sam threw himself in a somersault over the heads of the five Lemure who were about to scurry over the pentagram. As he did, his swords lashed out. Five hillocks of ash joined the others as he landed on his feet, sprinting towards Grace.
He was almost too late. Grace was on the ground, desperately warding off the demon’s claws with her arms. One was poised above her, its jaws startlingly wide as it brought its head down to tear out her throat with its savage teeth. Sam had only one chance. He threw his sword by its hilt. It twirled, end over end and sank itself in the head of the Lemure, throwing it six feet into a nearby rock wall.
With his last remaining blade, Sam polished off the last of the Lemure and helped Grace to her feet as an Astaroth attacked from above. Without hesitating, Sam leapt up, spearing the creature in mid-air, both of their bodies crashing down to the ground in a writhing heap. He forced the blade deeper into the creature and suddenly, it was gone, nothing but dust floating on the hellish breeze.
Grace retrieved the blade he had thrown and handed it to him wordlessly. Nearby, Josh had finished the repairs to the pentagram but was busy fending off an Astaroth with his baseball bat. It was hovering just above him, the wind from its wings buffeting him about mercilessly. Sam took a run-up and leapt higher than he thought possible, landing on the creature’s back. He stabbed both swords into its neck and it disappeared, leaving him clutching air. He fell to the ground, landing with the assurance of a puma next to Joshua.
“Joshua, focus!” he cried as Grace hurried into the symbol, careful not to tread on the outline.
Suddenly, the image of a large church with stained glass windows and weathered floor boards surged into his mind. He concentrated on the image floating in Josh’s head. The chalk outline of the symbol suddenly burst into flame as he applied his brainpower, willing them to be gone from this place.
Another Hellhound entered the clearing. Behind it were more Lemure. Many more. As the remaining Astaroth descended, the surrounding rock shimmered and then finally flickered out of existence to be replaced by white walls.
He’d done it. He’d got them out of Hell.
Although where he’d taken them was anyone’s guess.
