Tim Marquitz - Armageddon Bound

He threw a right hook that would make Mike Tyson proud. Reinforced with magical energy, his fist slammed into my face like a high speed train wreck. Brilliant lights flashed in front of my eyes as my head snapped almost horizontal to my neck. Through the cluttered haze of my head, I heard several pops as I stumbled back and fell to the ground. The pain yet to penetrate the fog of impact, I didn’t want to think about what kind of damage had been done. Not that thinking in general was all that easy at the moment anyway. I tried to open my eyes and see where Asmoday was only to realize he was standing right in front of me.

Though it was hard to see him, his image wavering back and forth like a bad acid trip, I could see the murder in his eyes. I moaned as I noticed his hand extended toward me, his palm glowing with flame. Not a big fan of being charbroiled, I curled into a ball just as he released it. Like a flame thrower, his magic tore into me. I screamed, but my breath was sucked from my lungs by the heat while the fire lapped at my flesh. All of my nerve endings picked up the pain signal at once and roared to life in a cacophony of searing agony. My face covered, I felt my scalp boiling up, blisters springing to life beneath the torrent of flame. The backs of my hands were the same.

Frantic, I fumbled with my gun belt with one hand, hurling it away before the shells could go off. Once it was clear, I threw myself at the ground, ignoring the violent collision as I rolled to put the fires out. My lungs tightened, the blast burning up all the oxygen in the surrounding air. Unable to see, I flopped against the hard stone, rolling back and forth. I could feel the heat melting my clothes, adding their scent to the bitter conflagration of burned flesh. After what seemed an eternity, the heat backed off, though I wasn’t sure if it was due to the fire going out or if my nerves had just been seared insensate.

I pulled my arms away from my face, daring to hope, and drew in a deep, pained breath. I could breathe again, however much it hurt. The fires were gone and I was still alive. For what that was worth. I opened my eyes, dried out from the blast, and blinked to focus. Once I could see again, the tear ducts reluctant to engage, I looked to see how bad off I was. Nearly naked, my clothes having been burnt away, the skin beneath was black as coal. Much of it was the same consistency. The only parts of me that didn’t look like a charcoal briquette were my face and my backside where the flame hadn’t managed to reach. Overall, it could have been much worse. Given the level of power Asmoday wielded, I’d gotten lucky. Under any other circumstances, he’d have killed me outright. I guess our theory as to his having spent most of his energy performing the rituals was a good one. Though it gave me little comfort, it did conjure up some small inkling of hope we might survive long enough to pull off our plan.

As a living representation of fire safety, I pulled my crispy ass to my feet while looking for Katon. The assassin, having overcome his own encounter with Asmoday’s flames, was in the midst of engaging the demon. Though slowed by the damage he’d taken, he was still quite nimble. He dodged and weaved in close to Asmoday, taking him on up close.

Across Asmoday’s flank were several long wounds, evidence Katon had been having some success in his assault. However, Katon looked far worse for wear. His face was blooded and marred with scorch marks. He ducked and stepped inside over and over, catching glancing blows as he did, yet landing no strikes of his own. He was tiring and his accuracy was suffering for it.

Hoping to help, I looked for my guns. They lay on the floor a short distance away, the outside of the holsters singed black. Agony accompanied every step as I raced to retrieve them. Though warm to the touch, they’d sustained no damage. I almost cried. I would have if my eyes hadn’t been seared dry. At least something had worked out in the cluster fuck of our assault.

I settled my pistols in my scorched hands and leveled them to fire, squeezing tight to keep them steady. In the time it took me to focus my eyes to aim, Asmoday had gained the advantage.

With a vicious backhanded sweep, the demon struck Katon across the side of his face. Oblivious to me, he stumbled into my line of fire holding his head and blocking my shot. I went to shout, but that’s when I realized what one of the snapping sounds I’d heard earlier was. It had been my jaw.

Sharp spikes of pain shot up my cheeks and down through my teeth as I tried to open my mouth. My eyes shrugged off the fire damage and sprung to life, moistening and blurring my vision. Before I could clear them and shake the pain off, Asmoday got in a lucky shot.

Katon slipped left when he should have slipped right. Asmoday launched a hook and the assassin moved directly into it. I saw his head snap back as blood sprayed into the air from his shattered nose. While Katon would normally take a blow like that in stride, backed by magic, there was no way to describe the punch as normal. His legs wobbled and buckled beneath him, sending him crashing to the floor, a look of shock on his face. Asmoday wasted no time. Like he had with me, he raised his hand, firelights springing to life. He was gonna cook Katon. I couldn’t let that happen.

The assassin out of my way, I raised my gun and pulled the trigger. Asmoday’s blast went off at the same time.

Before I could act, Katon was engulfed in licking flames. My shot, way off its mark, struck the demon in the meat of his shoulder, miles from being a fightending blow. He growled and ducked for cover as he felt the sting of the demon-slaying bullet, leaving Katon behind to burn.

I popped off a few more shots to keep Asmoday at bay as I tried to orient on the obscuring spell and was surprised when I actually saw Glorius instead. Through the rapidly shifting web of Gabriel’s spell, a handful of holes the size of fifty cent pieces had begun to appear. The colors had faded, many settling into a dull gray while the distorting effects had lessened. Page 275

Through the swirling holes, I saw Glorius straining once more against his restraints, his functional limbs tugging against the manacles. He was determined to break loose and seemed to be gaining ground. I cast a glance at Gabriel and saw his hands had also lost a measure of the glow that had been a constant since we’d arrived. Though in trade, he seemed less weary. He also seemed to be winning his fight with Scarlett.

My brain clicked into high gear.

The reason Scarlett had been doing so well was because Gabriel had been expending all his energy restraining the supercharged Glorius. Now that he’d let his hold slip somewhat, the angel was fighting free. His strength was more than the manacles alone could contain, and Gabriel was gaining the upper hand over Scarlett. I looked back toward Glorius, firing a few more shots to keep Asmoday away, and made up my mind. If ever there was time to try for the angel, this was it. Though it hurt me to once more to turn my back on a companion, a fellow soldier in the war against Armageddon, sacrifices must be made. I didn’t like the choice I was faced with, but considering the consequences if I failed, we were all dead anyway. It wasn’t hard to make up my mind. I’d worry about the morality of it later.

Unable to get a clear shot at Glorius, the remnants of the spell moving randomly and at a sufficient speed to Page 276 muddle my aim, I fired another shot at Asmoday, who’d begun to creep closer, and bolted toward the angel. At a full sprint, I felt like I was moving in slow motion. I could hear Asmoday bellowing behind me, anxiety and frustration thick in his voice. That only spurred me on. I took the last few steps in a single bound, readying myself for the disorientation that would strike me as I passed through the barrier.