Cambion (Complete)

25 - What's Under the Altar?

We waited until dark to head out. All three of us sat quietly in the cellar, listening to the screams of the people above. Mother had already made her way out of the bookstore and out onto the streets. I prayed to the Almighty that she made it to the Refuge safely. Watching her leave made me feel guilty. Here we were, Gauss, Deborah, and I, just sitting in a cold cellar while people were being slaughtered above us.

I could have asked Gauss why we weren't above helping those in need but I knew what he would have said. He would have told me that I wasn't ready. He would have told me I needed more training. However, this isn't what I wanted to hear and so I kept quiet. Sure, I couldn't take on an army of demons but I could hold my own! There was a lot of space in this cellar, couldn't we go up and bring down a few families?

About two hours into the silence, after I had had my fair share of screams from above, I was just about to charge up the stairs when Gauss stood up suddenly, announcing it was time to go.

I walked over to Deborah and offered her my shoulder but she refused. She rolled her own shoulders and bent her torso left and right. She was completely healed. This got me thinking... being that I used demonic power to heal her would this have any future repercussions on her health? I prayed not.

The two large windows at the storefront of the bookstore were completely demolished. Books were thrown everywhere, their pages coated in three or four coats of blood. I didn't notice Pom-Pos' body at first, my eyes set on the red floor when Deborah nodded her head to the wall.

There was the headless Pom-Pos. He was attached to the wall by three sharpened nails running through each of his limbs. His arms and legs were stretched outward in the shape of a star, but, being that there was no head, a bloody star point was drawn. At his feet were thirteen black candles lit. I couldn't help but gag and had to turn my face. I was pretty sure I could smell his gore.

Gauss turned and shushed me, his finger to his lips as he used his other hand to quietly open the door. The outside wasn't much better than the inside. The cobblestone ground was drenched in dark blood which had dried from the sun. With every step I took, I heard the stickiness of the carnage below me which had my stomach trying to force me to gag again.

No demons were in sight but neither were there any people, alive people that is. There was plenty of innards and body parts but I kept my head facing forward, refusing to look down. My ears perked at the sound of screams far away. A morbid thought popped into my head letting me know that the coast was clear... for now.

It took me longer than I expected to get my bearings straight. I had Deborah lead me to Auracle's main river, the river I had made my second kill, and it was there that I was able to lead us back to my old home. All three of us had our weapons in hand, our eyes looking for anything and everything that moved. I must have looked pretty funny to them from behind as I was flinching every few seconds. However, after looking back at them, I could see they were acting the exact same way.

We were about a block away from the chapel when the inevitable happened. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness and still, it was not enough to catch sight of the black demon which had attached itself to one of the buildings. It had waited until I was perfectly in front of it before it attacked.

It felt as though I had been struck by a large horse. In the corner of my eye, I caught sight of its flapping black wings before it slammed its feet into my rib cage. The next thing I knew I was flying sideways where I crashed through the glass of the opposite building.

My eyes and mouth were both closed tight to keep the glass out. After the commotion died down, I opened one eye at a time. Then, the pain came. I wasn't able to breathe and the whole left side of my body was on fire. I whirled my head around looking for my spear but it was nowhere to be seen. I must have dropped it outside.