Levi had been able to see auras since birth, and his father and grandfather had taught him how to read them when he was just a child. Just like snowflakes, no two auras were alike.
Their colors varied, encompassing the entire spectrum. A trained eye could tell if a person was healthy or sick, happy or sad, just by noting the color of their aura. Different colors meant different things. Levi learned a lot about the man standing before them by reading his aura. It was black, just like the shadows concealing his face and the strange garb covering his body. Human auras were never black. That meant the man was something else.
Something inhuman.
That alone didn’t frighten Levi. He’d dealt with more than his fair share of supernatural entities over the years. Indeed, just two years before, he’d defeated Nodens, most powerful of the Thirteen, and stopped the beings’ attempt to breach the walls of this Earth and drown it in eternal darkness, snuffing out all life. Their battle had started with a confrontation much like this. Levi had encountered a seemingly human woman whose aura was black. While investigating, Levi had soon learned that the woman was nothing more than an empty shell. Her husk had been commandeered by Nodens. She was transport. Nothing more.
The entity standing before him now was different. Levi probed silently, reaching out with his mind. Although the thing—because Levi could no longer think of it as a man—radiated evil and contempt, it wasn’t the encompassing, overwhelming nihilism projected by a deity like Nodens. This was a lesser adversary. An avatar, perhaps. A psychic projection. Maybe even a minor demon. But none of those would account for the level of chaos and destruction that had been visited upon Brinkley Springs. Such lesser supernatural beings would be incapable of such transgressions—at least, without being discovered. But then again, perhaps their actions had been discovered. Perhaps they had been noticed, and that was why he’d been placed here tonight.
“You stink of magic.” The thing’s voice was a raspy, grating whisper, as if its throat were filled with gravel or dirt.
“And you stink of blood and offal.”
“Indeed. And now I’ll add yours to the stench, little thing, as well as the blood and innards of those behind you.”
“You can try, but I warn you, these two are under my protection. You will fail.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You are weak. You may know the art, but that will not save you.”
“That remains to be seen.” Levi struggled to keep his voice calm and his expression serene. “Tell me, whom do I have the honor of addressing?”
“So polite, you are. I’m impressed. Most of these creatures have simply run away from me, or screamed or tried in vain to fight back, but you seek dialogue. You, sir, are a gentleman. Since you asked politely, My name is Samuel.”
Levi paused. “Samuel?”
The creature laughed. “You pitiful bag of meat. Of course my name isn’t Samuel. Did you actually think I would give you my real name?”
“I suppose not, but it certainly never hurts to try.” Dispensing with the charade, Levi recited a passage from
“Is that a fact?”
Levi ignored the interruption. His voice rose to a shout as he continued. “Thus, no one of my enemies must be able to injure or attack me in my body or my life, in the name of God the Father—”
“Don’t you mean God the Destroyer?”
“—the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The challenge completed, Levi’s shoulders went slack. He stood, panting, covered with sweat, and waited for the adversary’s reaction. When the reply came, it wasn’t at all what Levi had expected.
“Are you quite finished, little magus?”
Levi’s stomach fluttered. He suddenly felt very cold. The creature wasn’t evil—at least, not in an earthly sense. He had faced evil countless times. He’d seen its effects, the damage it caused. He’d seen evil reflected in both human and inhuman beings. This creature, while certainly evil in both its intent and the acts it committed, wasn’t an agent of hell, nor had it been spawned in one of the nether regions. If it had originated in the Pit or been satanic in origin, it would have reacted strongly—perhaps violently— to his challenge. The fact that it had merely taunted him told Levi that this was something else, something beyond the Judeo-Christian pantheon or any other of the world’s major religions. This wasn’t just evil. This was something much worse. Levi knew of only one pantheon that fit that description: the Thirteen, a race of beings that were neither gods nor demons, but holdovers from a universe that had existed long before this one. They were the ultimate in antiquity, older than the stars. Concepts like good and evil were beneath them, inconsequential, as was human life.
Only one of the Thirteen would have reacted to Levi’s challenge as this being had. But that made no sense, either. Levi knew all of the Thirteen, and none of them matched this entity’s description. He quickly ticked them off in his mind. Ob, Ab and Api. Leviathan and Behemoth. Kandara. Meeble. Purturabo. Nodens. Shtar, Kat, Apu and—
Levi heard footsteps sweeping through the grass behind him as Donny and Marsha slowly backed away.
“Is there anything else you’d like to say?” The creature’s condescending tone dripped with impatience and boredom. “Anything at all that you’d like to add before I eviscerate you and decorate yon trees with your innards?”
“Actually, yes there is. Donny? Marsha?”
“Y-yeah?” Donny sounded as terrified as Levi felt.
“Run!”
The shadow surged forward, roaring. Marsha screamed. Levi took one step backward and then braced his feet, squaring off against the onrushing attacker. Meeting its furious stare, Levi kept his eyes wide. He did not blink. He did not dare. His heart pounded as he recited an enchantment to spellbind an enemy.
“Thou horseman and footman,” he cried, making a motion with both hands. “You are coming apart under your hat. You are scattered. With the blood of the five holy wounds, I bind thee. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, you are enchanted and bound.”
“No, little magus, I am not.”
Levi scampered backward, dismayed. In truth, he’d suspected the spell would be ineffectual against this enemy, but at the very least, it should have bought him some time. Even if only to flee. Like his challenge, the creature just ignored it.
Its terrible mouth curled into a garish smile. “Now it is my turn. Your soul will feed me well.”
“Levi!”
The shout came from behind him—Donny’s voice. What were they still doing here? He’d told them to run. Not wanting to risk taking his eyes off his opponent, Levi yelled, “Get out of here. Please, you don’t—”
The creature slashed at him with one hand, sprouting long, black talons from its fingertips as it struck. Levi grunted. The air rushed from his lungs as the sharp claws raked across his chest, shredding the fabric of his shirt. As they tore through his shirt pocket, one of the nails slid against Levi’s copy of
The shadow-man growled. “How?”
Still smiling, Levi patted his now-frayed pocket.
“Whoever carries this book with him is safe from all enemies, visible or invisible; and whoever has this book with him cannot die without the—”
The entity struck at him again, this time aiming its talons at Levi’s eyes. Levi side-stepped the charge and delivered an uppercut to the being’s abdomen. Pain raced up his arm, and his fist went numb. It was like punching a block of ice.
“C-cold . . .”
“Not nearly as cold as your corpse will be in death. And that is all that will exist of you—an empty husk of decaying flesh. And then, not even that. You will return to the dirt that spawned you. Your soul is mine to consume. You will not exist beyond this level.”
