“They are. Where’s the train?”
“We’re almost out of it. The other train took longer to move than we’d thought.”
Simon had known that from what he’d seen before he’d had to leave. “Hurry.”
“I will.”
“We’ll hold them here as long as we can.”
“Take care of yourself, Simon.”
The first of the demons burst through the roiling dust cloud, clawing over the debris-covered bodies of those that had fallen. Without hesitation, they launched themselves at the Templar.
“Fire!” Ethan said, pointing the Spike Bolter and squeezing the trigger. He held the pistol on target despite the yammering recoil.
The other Templar opened fire as well. Palladium spikes, flames, and toxic liquid covered the distance separating the two groups. At first the Templar fire ground the demons to a halt, dropping bodies to the ground whole and in pieces. Then more of the demons kept coming.
Two Blood Angels flew overhead, streaking forward and attacking before anyone realized they weren’t just shadows streaking the high ceiling. They swooped down at once, firing powerful bolts of spectral energy that blazed yellow-white. The bolts struck four of the Templar and blasted them from their feet.
Simon lifted his Spike Bolter and tracked one of the Blood Angels as it passed in front of him. Before the first of the Templar had landed on the ground, he was firing palladium spikes that knifed through the Blood Angel’s body and perforated the wings, turning them into leathery rags.
Screaming in pain and defiance, the Blood Angel collided with a wall only a few feet away. One of the Templar rushed forward with his sword as the demon tried to get to its feet. The Templar swiped twice, cutting through the Blood Angel’s neck and again across the midsection, spilling the demon’s insides.
The demons established a line and opened fire. Their flames, rounds, and toxic spew struck the Templar. Some of the human warriors dropped in their tracks, and a few of them—Simon knew—wouldn’t be getting up.
Forty-Eight
T aking more deliberate aim, Simon chose his targets, watching as the palladium spikes slammed into the demons. But there were too many of them. They kept coming.
“Look out for the ceiling!” Wertham yelled.
Glancing up, Simon saw that the Stalkers had scuttled up the side of the tube walls and had clambered to the ceiling, hanging upside down as they prepared to drop onto the Templar.
“Break!” Simon yelled. “Form Fists!”
Immediately, the Templar broke into small combat teams. Most Houses trained for that style, allowing the Templar to form four- to six-man units to cover each other’s backs during hand-to-hand fighting.
Simon joined the three Templar he’d assigned himself as a Fist member. He sheathed his sword for the moment and scooped up a Scorcher from a fallen Templar. Using both pistols, he peppered the nearest wall with palladium spikes and fiery balls that spread on impact, striking several Stalkers in quick succession, dropping them like flies.
“McCorkleson!” Simon yelled, slipping and sliding through demon gore at his feet.
“Almost!” the man replied. “Almost, Simon. Just hang in there.”
The Templar on Simon’s right got hit by an astral blast that tore him in half. Simon aimed the Scorcher at the Gremlin that had fired the weapon, then squeezed the trigger.
The Greek Fire round that belched from the Scorcher struck the Gremlin in its ugly face. The round detonated, engulfing the demon’s head in flames. It screamed and clawed at its head, but the efforts didn’t last long and it collapsed.
The wall shattered, then spilled inward, followed by a huge, bulky shape. When it shook the debris off like a dog emerging from a lake, Simon recognized it as a Carnagor. Two others tore through the wall on the other side of the tube. One of them tore into the demon ranks and left dead scattered behind it.
Tossing its massive head around, the Carnagor nearest Simon roared and charged, maw open. Simon stood his ground, firing steadily, piercing the creature’s face with palladium spikes and filling its gullet with explosive rounds that detonated on contact and gave it fiery breath.
“Break!” Simon ordered.
Several of the Stalkers had taken advantage of the Carnagor’s presence to scuttle forward again. They hung from the ceiling, shifting back and forth as they tracked their prey and pounced.
Simon darted to the side, drawing the Carnagor’s attention. The huge creature tried to turn its body to pursue him, but its forward momentum was too much. Its taloned feet tore through the pavement on either side of the rails.
Running as fast as he could, Simon ran up the wall to avoid the Carnagor’s gnashing fangs. His boots automatically extended the spikes that grabbed traction on the wall. He ran up until he felt gravity overcoming his momentum nearly ten feet up. Then he kicked hard and propelled himself into the air away from the wall.
Holding the pistols pointed in either direction, using the 360-degree view afforded by the HUD, Simon fired at the demons. The palladium spikes chopped into the Stalkers on the ceiling while the fiery explosions ate into the Gremlins on the floor. Dead Stalkers fell from the ceiling and Gremlins dropped where they were hit.
Arching his back, Simon leathered his Spike Bolter and reached for a grenade. He landed on the Carnagor’s back and called for the spikes to lock him down. His armored boots jerked with impacts at the force required to tear through the demon’s thick hide. Several demons’ weapons struck Simon with projectiles, fire, and toxic liquid. His armor took a beating but held. He ignored the onslaught, feeling the huge demon beneath him twist and turn.
Rearing on its hindquarters, the Carnagor reached for Simon with its hands. Kneeling quickly beneath the grasping fingers, Simon pulled the pin and shoved the grenade into the Carnagor’s left ear hole. Then he vaulted from the brute’s back as it started scratching at its ear.
Simon didn’t think the thing was intelligent enough to know what he’d done, but somehow it sensed that he’d gotten the upper hand. It roared with
