Hellfire, page 7
part #9 of The Ironspell Chronicles Series
“And the demons we fought the other day…”
“Were the Watchers, yes.”
“And you rescued Fenrir from Odin’s dungeon which led into Muspelheim?”
I nodded.
“And got your immortality with the oath to protect Fenrir from causing Ragnarok, from my cousins, the Fire Jotun?”
“Yes, I swore an oath to Surtr, their king.” I nodded again.
“Hmm, no wonder you feel and smell different.” He offered me more tea. I shook my head.
“How do I smell?” I wondered.
“Like Hellfire. Brimstone.” Vetr shrugged. “It’s faint, but Supes will pick it up. Whatever magic you got from Muspelheim will cause you to become a liability without training. You should talk to Anadelis from the Codex Library. She’s a good resource when it comes to training. I haven’t met anyone as competent as she since Galdor.”
“I don’t have time to talk to her now. We need to get going if we’re going to keep Sabine from becoming a permanent resident in Hell.”
“True, and I don’t think she’ll want us to drag her into one of the other realms just to get you up to speed.” Vetr nodded. “Look, we need to talk to Hirolan about this.”
“Captain Relarn? Are you kidding?” I squeaked. “He’ll tell us we’re crazy.”
“Yeah, but he’ll also be pissed that someone got kidnapped on his watch.”
“She lives in Idledale and commutes to Evergreen. How is that his watch?”
“Just because we go by DWTF doesn’t mean we stay in Denver. We handle all of Colorado. Which means it’s technically our watch. Since you’re now part of us, he’ll help us.”
“Are you sure?” I seriously had my doubts about that.
“It shouldn’t be a big deal. Let’s go talk to him.”
~ * ~
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Captain Hirolan Relarn glared at us. “Not only is that no, but Hel, no. I won’t have two of my agents go traipsing down to Hell on a fucking rescue mission. I don’t care if it were my own mother, the answer would still be ‘no.’”
I glanced at Vetr with a firm ‘I told you so,’ look. Vetr had shapeshifted to look like he was human again, to avoid causing consternation among the newbies and the public. Before we agreed to talk to Relarn, I made Vetr swear on his power to not divulge that I really had Fenrir. We instead made up the excuse that they wanted Ulf because they believed he was Fenrir, and used my mom as leverage because Vetr had no family. It was lame, but it was the best we could come up with. “But they kidnapped her and they’ll kill her if we don’t do something.”
“She’s good as dead already.” Relarn shook his head. “They’ll kill you, her, and get Vetr’s mutt. It is totally out of your league.” He sniffed the air. “I already can tell you’ve been conversing with them because your stink of brimstone. Get a shower and wash that off you. I don’t need my agents stinking up the building.”
I glanced at Vetr, who shrugged. “Yes, Captain.” I paused. “Would it help if I told you I pulled in a favor and got help from an angel?”
Relarn facepalmed. “No, no, it wouldn’t. Get out of my office and go clear up that fairy problem on Broadway, okay?”
“Yes, sir.” I muttered.
Relarn glared at Vetr. “I would’ve expected more from you.”
“I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t listen, sir.” Vetr sounded official. “We’ll go take care of that fairy problem immediately.”
“Right. And afterwards, I’m putting you both on paid leave for three days. I think dealing with those Watchers have given you both a knock on the head.” Relarn kept his face a mask. “I want you to both get rest, and if I hear anything about you going to rescue her, I’ll fire your asses for insubordination, you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Vetr said.
“I’m glad we had this little discussion.” Relarn stood up and pointed to the door. “And I don’t want to deal with Fimbulvetr again, Ironspell, so don’t do anything stupid.”
I stared at the Elf. How did he know about Fenrir? Did he have sources in Asgard? “Yes, sir, I’m not planning on that happening any time soon.”
His expression softened slightly. “Get the Hel out of here.”
We walked out and made our way to the WTF Gateway, neither of us speaking.
~ * ~
“What that what I thought it was?” I asked Vetr, as we emerged into the strip mall parking lot where the miscreant fairies were causing trouble.
“Later.” Vetr surveyed the scene and I facepalmed. The doughnut shop where I and my former partner, Jimmy “Dean” Douglas, visited the night when the troll tore up Washington Park. The fairies and other “little people” had been pestering customers for doughnuts and I had promised them free doughnuts on Mondays if they quit being a nuisance. That was a week and a half ago, which meant not only had I forgotten with all my Universe hopping, but I had broken a promise. Thank the gods I didn’t swear on my power or I’d be totally screwed.
To be fair, they had been extremely patient for their kind, waiting a couple of days before deciding to launch an all-out offensive against the “big people” for my lapse of memory. The doughnut shop was a war scene. The fairies had thrown rocks at the plate-glass window, breaking it, and were now using rocks to try to smash the display where the doughnuts and pastries sat. The two workers behind the counter armed themselves with fly swatters and lashed out at any fairy that ventured too close. From the look of things, they had taken some casualties with one guy behind the counter sporting a black eye and a younger woman whose hair was in total disarray. But it looked like they gave as good as they got. They had swatted several fairies which were now plastered to the walls, and a couple were groaning on the counter with broken wings and bloodied faces.
“There he is! The liar!” One of the fairies obviously recognized me and the swarm turned as one and flew towards us at high speed.
“Oh shit.” I tried to think of a spell—any spell—that would get us out of being torn to pieces by the angry fairy mob.
Vetr sighed and looked annoyed. He snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the entire fairy mob literally froze in the air and dropped like rocks onto the pavement. “Oooh! Ouch! Ouch!” Their voices pierced my ears. Vetr waved his hand and they disappeared.
“Uh, that was awesome.” I managed to blurt out when it was apparent the fairies were gone. “Where did you send them?”
“To Antarctica for the moment. They’ll cool off a bit and make their way into South America in a while. Meantime, we’re going to have to figure out how to redress this situation.” Vetr looked more bored than annoyed. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
He walked into the doughnut shop as the two store clerks straightened themselves out. “Thanks, officers.” Looking at both of them now that they weren’t cowering made me realize they were just teenagers. Probably with part-time jobs. The boy still had pimples and had a nasty gash above his left eyebrow. That’s why the shiner. The girl had blue and green hair that showed her brown roots. She had some scratches on her face and arms. Both wore polos with white aprons and some type of dark pants. Both also had numerous piercings that the fairies had tugged on; the girl had part of her earlobe torn and the boy had a split lip where the fairies had ripped out a stud. In other words, it was pretty ugly.
Vetr sighed. “Okay, what’s your boss’s number?”
“Uh, Art never wants us to call.” The boy, named Johnny according to his badge, looked paler than usual at the thought.
“He’ll want you to call now. I’ll speak with him.” Vetr stared at the kid.
“Uh, he’s at (720) 279-0802,” the girl, sporting ‘Jenny’ on her badge, said.
Vetr punched the number into his phone. “Hello? Art? Yeah. Are you the manager of the Broadway and Evans Mountain Doughnuts?...pause…uh huh, this is Agent Winter with the DWTF…pause…yeah, the fairies were at it again. Look, they broke your storefront window and…yeah, they’re okay, but they need medical attention. Call Supes Restoration while you’re at it…pause…no, the DWTF doesn’t get kickbacks from the recommendation…and I’m having the kids close up shop, so if you want to make sure your place isn’t vandalized further, you better get down here…pause…no, that’s not up for discussion. And you’re paying for their injuries…pause…it’s called ‘workman’s comp,’ remember? Yeah. You have a good day, too.”
Vetr shook his head and turned to the kids. “Go get yourselves taken care of at the nearest Urgent Care. There’s one about a block away. And it’ll be filed under workman’s compensation, so don’t worry about the cost. Just give the clinic the name of the business and your boss. They’ll take care of the rest.” He paused. “Does your business participate in the fairy TNR program?”
“No, Art doesn’t want to pay for the traps and service.” Jenny touched her earlobe gingerly and winced. “Says they’ll just come back.”
“What does he do then?” I asked.
“He used to use poison until that got outlawed. Now, he just uses rat traps.” Johnny shrugged.
“How is that working for you?” Winter glanced at me.
“Doesn’t. Just gets the young, stupid ones. It’s really nasty, too. He tried glue traps, but it caught beneficial sprites as well,” Jenny said. “I threw them all out when I had to kill a pixie that was stuck in it.”
Winter nodded and handed them some Fairy TNR informational brochures he conjured. “I’ll leave a few brochures on the counter, and you can read up on the TNR program. The cost is really minimal to shop owners and its tax deductible. Close up and get out of here.”
~ * ~
The shop owner appeared about the time we were getting ready to leave. A small, balding man with a bad toupee, Art looked to be in his forties or so and drove up in what looked like a ten-year-old M-class Mercedes SUV.
“Fucking fairies,” he shouted as he slammed the door and glared at us.
I shrugged at Vetr, who handed the man a copy of the police report and a brochure. “You really should consider the TNR program.”
“I pay your salary.” Art’s face turned red. “I shouldn’t have to pay to trap them.”
“Okay,” Vetr nodded. “Good luck.” With that, he opened a Gateway and we walked through.
Chapter Eight
We made a quick stop to pick up Ulf and grab Vetr’s gear on Mount Wetterhorn before creating a Gateway to take us back to the Tiny House. As we stepped from the portal, I saw Elryn and Tuzren talking with Michael, who was sitting on the hood of her truck. Smoking a cigarette. Elryn brought my pack and had my Vorpal blade, Drowslayer, both sitting on the ground next to her. I turned to Vetr before we approached them. “Tell me one thing: Relarn gave us three days to find Sabine, right?”
“Yeah,” Vetr said. “I don’t know what the time differential with Hell might be, so we may be totally missing our mark on that. But yeah, he couldn’t approve it outright, so he did the best thing he could, and that was give us time to rescue her.”
Michael looked up and cocked his head, seeing me, Vetr, and Ulf. “That wolf feels like Ragnarok.”
That’s because I’m Fenrir’s half-brother. Ulf flashed a smile at the archangel, which looked a lot like a snarl.
Vetr considered my team curiously. “This is the famed Elryn? And your daemon, Tuz?”
Tuzren and I used the nickname “Tuz” to avoid giving away his true name, which could be used for summoning. He flew up into Vetr’s face. “I am nobody’s daemon.”
Vetr raised a hand in deference. “I meant it more as a compliment. You’re the ones who keep Ironspell from getting himself killed.”
“You’re damn tootin’ right!” Tuzren puffed out. “And he’d get killed if it weren’t for us.”
I grinned at Vetr. “Nice save.”
The archangel took a draw from the cigarette he was smoking and brought it down as if he were going to extinguish it. He looked at it in disgust. “Someday, I’m going to quit.” He met my gaze. “I stop for a while and then when I’m called to war, I end up picking up the habit again.”
“You’re not in a war now.” I pointed out.
“Oh?” Michael flicked a wing. He brought up his trembling hand holding the cigarette to his mouth and took another drag. “Says you. You just don’t see the war, yet.”
Vetr considered Michael thoughtfully. “So, there is a war coming.”
“Yes. You’ve seen the start.”
“The Cult of the Messiah.” I took a deep breath and looked at the archangel. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Yes. A race war is coming, but it will be the matter of ideals and not color. Unfortunately, many will be lost on both sides.”
“We can stop it, can’t we?” Elryn asked.
“I don’t know.” Michael shook his head. “The battle between good and evil is as old as time, itself. In the case of this upcoming war, as it has been with so many wars fought among mortals, there are innocents and warmongers on both sides.” He took a puff of the cancer stick and looked at me. “We might be able to delay Armageddon if we can weaken Lucifer’s forces enough.”
“Is that why you’ve agreed to come with us?” Tuzren asked.
“I agreed to come to fulfill a promise, nothing more. But if we can severely weaken the Watchers, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to wage war anytime soon.”
I held up a finger. “Speaking of time. What about the time differential? Hell can’t be synchronized with Earth.”
Michael cocked his head. “I should be able to bring us back within your three day timeframe.”
“Good enough. So, how do we get to Hell?” I buckled the Vorpal blade’s belt around me.
Michael spread his wings and light shot from them, enveloping us all.
~ * ~
And we appeared on a footbridge overlooking a river. The sun was high in the sky and not far behind us, traffic moved at a brisk pace along what appeared to be an interstate highway. Mountains rose majestically around us, most covered with pines and conifers, though a few slopes looked like wildfires had scarred them. A town came up to the river on the south side with one to two story homes and businesses that looked like they were built fifty to a hundred years ago, but were still being used and at least maintained.
Below us, the river rushed by from a canyon on the northeast side and flowed to join another river that ran east to west. Another canyon ran to the west where the highway continued. To the east was what looked like a valley dotted with farms and homes.
“Uh, I thought we were going to Hell.” I looked over the bridge. I could see anglers flyfishing just on a sandy portion of the river. It messed seriously with my fear of heights, but I gripped the bridge railing hard and turned to look at the archangel. “This is anything but Hell.”
“It’s pretty.” Vetr smiled, showing his carnivore teeth, as he took in the view. “If I could hazard a guess, we’re in Montana.”
Ulf wagged his tail and sat down on the bridge, looking quite pleased.
“Montana? This is as far from the Christian Hell as I can imagine.” Elryn took in a deep breath of air. “I wouldn’t mind living here.”
Tuzren nodded. “I agree, but I think we’re at the Hellgate.”
Michael gave us a rare smile. “It is lovely, which is why it seems so odd that one of the paths to Hell would be here. We’re outside Missoula, Montana. This is indeed the Hellgate Canyon.”
“Wait! There’s a portal to Hell from here?” I asked.
“It’s the nearest one, and the one that is least often used.” Michael looked down at the river. “I’ll have to take you in because the portal doesn’t work for those who live on this plane.”
“How do we do that?” I looked around, using my magic sight to find a portal. I saw nothing. “Where is the Hellgate? I don’t see it.”
Michael pointed down. “It’s right below us.”
“Oh, Hel, no,” I gasped in horror. “There’s no way you’re going to get me to jump.”
“Oh, yes you are if you’re going to save your mother.” Vetr gripped my arm and pulled my death grip from the railing. “What do we have to do?”
“I have to hold onto you all to make the jump.” Michael looked at me. “He looks green.”
“He’s afraid of heights,” Elryn offered. “You better hang onto him.”
“Let go of me!” I snarled at Vetr.
Vetr dragged me to Michael. “Let’s do this.”
I released my power from Muspelheim, but the archangel and Jotun immediate quashed it. Vetr literally froze me with his power as he, Ulf, and Elryn pulled me into Michael’s grasp. The archangel wrapped his wings around us, as another set of wings burst from his shoulders. He leapt up, wings beating furiously as he hauled us all upward into the sky. Then, like a trained acrobat, he dove towards the river. I screamed in panic the entire time as we hit the water and plunged into the river.
I felt magic encase us, and suddenly, we appeared in a darkened place with a dim glow of red light. I looked down and saw that we were standing in flames. A large wall ran parallel to us as far as the eye could see. Small stone steps ran up to a doorway, where a shrouded figure stood guarding it with a flaming sword.
Michael unfurled his wings and shook off the water as I and my cohorts stared at the doorway. “This is Hell?” I spoke as soon as I got over the sickening feeling in my stomach from going through my worst nightmare. To give myself some credit, the others looked queasy as well; only Michael appeared unperturbed.
I looked down at the flames. They didn’t burn me, so I knelt down to run my hand through them. I felt nothing other than a flicker of something like a feather. I looked up at the archangel.
Elryn stared at the flames. “Why aren’t we being burned?”
Michael sighed. “This is the Hellgate. Living beings can’t be burned here. Only the souls of the damned can.”
Tuzren popped in and shook off the water. “Wow! That was fun! Let’s do it again!”
“No!” we all shouted in unison. Ulf stepped forward and shook his coat, spraying all of us with water.
