'I will be back,' he said.
'I know,' she said, then stood and watched him slowly make his way down the gently sloping hill until he was lost from view, the red darkness swallowing him.
The circle of dancers pushed forward as Falcon began his climax, withdrew, and stepped from the altar, wiping his bloody penis on the rag that was once the young girl's shirt. Janet did not move with the crowd, staying in place, half hidden just outside the limit of the torchlight.
A huge wooden cross was carried to the altar, driven upside down behind the dark and bloodied stone. The girl was jerked from the altar and dragged to the cross. Strong hands held her upside down as hammers and spikes began their gruesome work. Her screaming as she was crucified seemed to fill the small valley. She was left hanging upside down, spikes in her hands and feet, to wail out what life was left in her.
But it was not yet over for the girl. They would return to her one more time.
'Send us the demons!' Falcon said, his voice carrying full and strong. 'Send them, 0, Great One.'
The sky became entirely red, its bloody hues casting dark shadows over the grounds. The rats and bats ceased their scurrying and flapping, the imps were silent, and the only sound to be heard was the moaning of the girl behind the altar. Nailed to a cross.
Janet slipped deeper into the shadows. She looked toward the ridge where she had seen a flash of light reflecting off metal. She moved toward the high ground, moving slowly, attracting no attention.
Sam waited.
Linda moved up silently behind Nydia, her fists balled.
'Now!' Falcon screamed the one-word plea.
'Now!' the crowded circle, one massed ring of evil, echoed.
The sky seemed to split wide open. Great stinking clouds of evil-smelling gas settled over the estate of the Devil. Janet edged deeper into the dark red of false night, moving faster now, her youth giving added strength to her legs.
Great grotesque creatures filled the sky: two-headed amphisbaena were flung out of the gaseous mist; reptilian basilisks coiled and hissed and rolled to earth; winged, clawed griffins flapped and settled on the ground, fire and filth snorting from the demon head; the deformed and monstrous su, with its feathered tail and horned head suddenly appeared around the circle, its mighty claws digging into the ground; the gulon, a creature so hideous as to be indescribable howled as it came to earth from behind the hot curtain of Hell; the clawed, many-headed hydra came to rest on earth, its hideousness only slightly less than the Great Rukh that beat its way to earth, its feathers still smoking from the pits; the owls and ravens and centaurs and satyrs and hyenas joined the now crowded circle, all gathering around the cross where the girl hung in torment, spikes holding her upside down, the blood leaking from the wounds, dripping into her eyes.
'Black!' Falcon called. 'Come. It is time for the final act.'
The young man stepped forward, a sadistic gleam in his eyes, a sharp curved knife in his hands. The girl began wailing as the blade cut strips of flesh from her body, cutting tracings of vulgar images in her skin. Black chanted as he worked, with Falcon beside him, calling on all the dark forces of the netherworld. The rite, as old as this world, was finally concluded. Then, with no thought of mercy, Black cut out the girl's heart and he and Falcon ate the still trembling muscle.
The warrior was near, watching, trembling with dark rage and hate swelling within him. But the mighty warrior from the firmament was powerless to interfere. He had to turn away from the bloody scene of sacrilege, for his eyes and thoughts could kill … and as much as he wanted to do just that ... it was not his place to do so.
Yet.
Janet lay beside Sam on the ridge overlooking the scene of outrage. Sam had fought back the temptation to raise the Thompson and blow the Devil worshipers back to Hell. But the range was far too great, and besides, he knew it was not yet time for that. He would have to wait.
'Come on,' he whispered to the girl. 'Let's go.' 'Are we going to be all right?' Janet asked. 'I'm … kind of hurt from what they did to me, you know?'
'I think we're going to make it,' Sam took her small hand in his. 'Come on.'
On the far ridge, Nydia turned just as Linda's hands reached for her. Their eyes met. 'I know what you are,' she said. 'And I'll knock the shit out of you if you try it.'
Sam had led them several miles from the site of depravity, camping deep in the thick timber. They had slept in sleeping bags, on ground sheets, no canvas over them. Sam had sensed there had been trouble between Nydia and Linda, but when he asked Nydia about it, she would merely shrug.
When Janet had learned of Nydia's true identity, she shrank back from her, not wanting the daughter of Roma to touch her … and for some reason, unexplained, Linda did not want to go near Janet.
Sam lost his temper. 'What in the hell is wrong with you?' he asked Linda. 'Do you realize this kid has been through hell, literally? Damnit, she doesn't have some … social disease.'
Linda didn't back away from the angry young man. 'And have you considered this: she may be one of them.'
'You're crazy!' the young girl cried. 'Do you have any idea what they did to me? What it was like?'
Linda shuddered and for some unexplained reason moaned softly.
'… I'm still bleeding from what they did to me. What's wrong with you: are
'How dare you!' Linda drew back her hand to slap the child. Sam's quick hand stopped the blow. Janet darted behind him, peeking around his waist. She stuck out her tongue at the older woman and made a horrible face at her.
Nydia laughed at the girl's antics.
