“Okay, enough chit-chat. Guards, get this over wi—”
Alarms sounded, a mixture of sirens and air horns. The guard towers were equipped with whatever people could find to make a noise. Gunfire began seconds later.
Wanstead lowered his handgun and frowned. “What the blazes?”
“It’s happening,” said Mass. “The demons are here.”
“But General Thomas—”
“Is most likely dead, which means you’re in charge now. Forget your orders and listen to me. This is a fight to the death, and when the dust clears, it’ll either be us or them that’s left – most probably them. Now, you can kill me, or you can accept the fact that my people are the toughest bastards you have at your disposal. This is about survival, right? Let us fight.”
For the first time since their meeting, Wanstead appeared uncertain. An uneasy grimace replaced his polite smile. Slowly, he nodded. “Okay, let’s be done with this nonsense and focus on what matters. Guards, let them go.”
“Good move,” said Mass. “Our grudges can wait.”
He bent down, not to retrieve his weapon, but to hold his dead friend. The bullet Tox had taken had been meant for him. Colonel Wanstead would pay.
But it would have to wait.
Mass straightened back up. “Okay, Vampires, arm up. There’re demons to kill.”
The demons came in waves throughout the night until dawn eventually broke, and Ted looked up at what could be his final sunrise. The tangelo sky was beautiful, and he wondered if it was a gift from God to a dying man.
Where the hell is God? Was He ever even real?
“We’re out of ammunition,” said Frank, standing on the ramparts beside Ted. “Only arrows left. The troops are preparing for hand-to-hand.”
Ted shook his head, desperately sad. “If it comes to that, we’re already beaten.”
“I know. The kid, Damien, wants a word w’yow.”
“Did he mention what about?”
“No idea. He’s a bit of an odd ’un.”
Ted looked down at his short, hairy-faced companion and chuckled. “Not as odd as some, Frank. I’ll speak to him later. I need to be here.”
“Been forty minutes since the last lot came at us. Must be more soon, I reckon.”
Ted nodded, already spotting demons amassing in the distant trees. Between the forest and the ramparts there looked to be at least a thousand dead bodies – a carpet of demon flesh. Several times during the night, the demons had made it to the walls, but the ancient stone and deep trenches had foiled their every attempt. Sooner or later though, when the arrows finally ran out, the demons would amass at the walls and get inside. Even if they didn’t, the people inside would eventually starve, cut off from the lake and the forest. That everyone had even made it inside the castle’s walls was a miracle, but it was a lot of mouths to feed on a month’s worth of supplies.
“’Ere we go,” said Frank, shaking his head in despair.
Ted watched as the latest wave of demons spilled forth from the forest. Like before, there were a hundred at least, possibly two hundred. They sprinted, shrieking and wailing, towards the ramparts. The primates were the quickest, the shambling burnt men further back. Some shouted obscenities that might once have been funny.
Turdy turdies.
Bitches.
Wank socks.
Katy Perry.
Ted gave Frank a nudge. “Keep everyone’s head up. We’re all tired, but this has to end eventually.”
Frank rushed off, barking orders and offering stirring comments along the lines of letting “the bastard’s ’ave it” and “don’t give up”. Ted turned back to face the enemy. By now, the demons had made it into open ground. The wooden spikes were all broken or blunted by bodies. The pits and trenches were filled with corpses. This new wave had a clear run at the ramparts. Ted was useless with a bow, so he could do nothing but watch. When things inevitably grew more intimate, he would happily get to work with his demolition hammer. He’d lost count of how many demons it had claimed, but it remained sturdy and capable. In a strange way, it was his closest companion. There was sadness in that.
The first primate made it to the wall, but an arrow found its head. It stumbled backwards, the shaft sticking out of its eye, then fell down dead. Two more demons leapt over its corpse.
Arrows filled the air in swarms only half the size of earlier ones. Many archers were out of ammo and now stood on the ramparts aimlessly. Others, the most accurate among them, still had sheaves of arrows piled at their feet. They weren’t toothless yet, but they soon would be.
The demons kept on coming. The forest seemed to shake in fear of them as they tore through its innards. All the birds had long since taken flight. Accompanying the rustling of leaves and the creaking of the branches was a new noise – a heavy crashing sound like an elephant racing through the wilderness. All the previous waves of demons had been the same, but this one felt different. Several of the taller trees suddenly leaned, as if taking on a life of their own. A few of the smaller ones uprooted and fell over. Fighting men and women surrounded Ted, but when he spoke, he spoke only to himself. “It’s here.”
The fallen angel that had emerged from their lake months ago now exploded from the forest. It hurled an uprooted tree trunk like it was a toothpick. The length of gnarled wood flew like a javelin and came crashing down on top of the ramparts, shattering the wooden scaffolds erected there. Ted watched a dozen people he knew die in an instant.
Frank began shouting. “Eyes on the big’un, eyes on the big’un.”
A swarm of arrows pierced the air. Most came down in the earth or pierced the hides of unlucky demons, but a dozen more struck the beast known as Lord Amon and brought forth blood. The giant released a pained howl that sounded like the Earth itself was weeping.
