“What is it?” I asked.

  “I only know what it is alleged to be, for I wasn’t there; but the legend says that this is the Roman lance that was used to spear the son of the Creator himself.”

  I had no words. I’d sat in the Catholic church plenty of times, so of course I knew the story. A Roman soldier was purported to have pierced Jesus with his lance while he was on the cross. That weapon became known as the Spear of Destiny.

  Ovidius closed the chest and lifted it once more. “I will take this to the portal room. The prophecies state that it will be needed to activate the portal.”

  “How? Is it some kind of key?”

  The ancient monk shrugged. “I wish I could tell you. But the prophecies tell us only that this artifact must be present, not how it is to be used. We are counting on you to unravel that mystery.”

  They’re counting on me.

  I sighed, looked over the reading material, and pulled yet another scroll from the pile.

  It had been hours since the monks had last visited me in the study hall, and I’d read through hundreds of scrolls and thousands of pages of text—yet I had failed to discover any more references to the demon gateway.

  Most of the material related to the history of the Pacitum, and their efforts to develop peaceful coexistence with others. When pushed, Lilith’s followers always avoided confrontation; they would simply give way. True pacifists. But the more I read about it, the more I was convinced that that path couldn’t work. At some point people must stop running and face their tormentors. It was like dealing with bullies in a schoolyard. You could avoid them, but if you ever wanted to be rid of them, the bully needed to be confronted.

  I recalled Lilith’s words: “I’d witnessed the violence of man, and believed that men needed to be tightly controlled in order to achieve a peaceful unity. I believed that in the right environment, their warlike tendencies could be curbed. But I’m no longer convinced that the total subjugation of men was a wise choice.”

  Lilith had realized it was time for things to change. And somehow, that change involved me.

  But what could I do?

  I set aside the book I was poring through and searched instead for that one magic scroll that had so frightened poor Gasparo. It at least mentioned the portal, which was more than I was getting from the rest of this material. Maybe I’d missed something. A note in the margin, a secret code in the writing.

  This time it didn’t elude my sight. I spotted it immediately, recognizing it by its discoloration, and unrolled it.

  It was blank.

  Somehow, all the words, everything, had disappeared. I could still smell the blood that had been there, and yet the lettering had faded away.

  What the…?

  “Everything okay in here?” said a voice.

  I turned to see Captain Richter standing in the doorway.

  “Captain,” I said. “Thanks for visiting me in my little prison library.” I grinned. It was good to have some company other than monks. “What can I do for you?”

  The captain took a seat. “Actually, the question is what I can do for you. According to your mom, who’s been translating a bit of what the monks have been saying, something’s about to go down—and you’re at its center.”

  “I’m afraid so, sir. To tell you the truth, I’m a little stressed right now about figuring out what I need to do. But honestly, I’m not sure that you and the rest of the team need to be here. This has gone… beyond a military operation.”

  The captain shook his head. “We’re not going anywhere, Samuelson. Whatever needs to happen, we’re here to help.”

  Suddenly, the ground started shaking beneath us. Scrolls rattled off the table and onto the floor, and I was afraid I was going to be shaken right off my chair. From somewhere in the distance came the sound of cracking stone. Smoke billowed into the chamber from the entrance. A fire in addition to the earthquake? I worried about the valuable scrolls before me, and at the same time wondered if we even had an escape route.

  And then I realized—this smoke was not from a natural source. It came closer to me, then stopped, as if it had reached its limit, and formed a greasy, undulating pillar of sulfurous mist. Flashes of red sparked within the cloud, and then two fiery orbs appeared.

  Eyes.

  The smoke coalesced further, becoming skin and scales. A nightmare coming to life. I was staring at a living thing, six or seven hundred pounds of muscle stretched on a ten-foot-tall humanoid frame, covered with black scales, and trailed by a long barbed tail that flicked back and forth.

  And I knew at that moment: this was no nightmare.

  It was a demon.

  Captain Richter reacted first. He brought his MP-5 to bear and sent a stream of bullets directly at the demon’s chest. But in an instant the creature unfurled two mighty wings, and used one to send the captain flying. He struck the stone wall with a sickening crunch, and fell to the ground, his body broken and lifeless, blood already pooling around his head.

  There was no question about it. Captain John Richter of the US Army Special Forces—and a friend—was dead. His thoughts had been snuffed out like the flame of a candle.

  As I reflexively assumed a defensive stance, I felt a warm calm descend over me, as time seemed to slow. The demon’s tail, which had been whipping back and forth at blinding speed, now moved like a faulty windshield wiper. I’d experienced this sensation once before, when Ramai saved me from the sniper’s bullet.

  Lilith’s voice sounded in my head. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”

  The creature leaped at me, and despite the slowing of time, it was viciously quick. I grabbed its outstretched arm, shocked by the heat coming off its scales, and yanked with all my might, contributing to its momentum. An ordinary person would likely have stumbled and fallen, but the demon sent its wings outward, and was able to stay on its feet.

  I pulled my combat knife from its sheath and leaped at the demon. But before I could strike, it slapped me with an outstretched wing and sent me flying. I tucked and rolled, then spun to face the creature just as it slammed into me, this time sending me into the wall. I heard a crack, and prayed that that crack didn’t come from me.

  My hands shot out and caught the creature’s wrists; they felt like solid rock. The demon pressed against me, its long fingers trying to grasp my throat, and my joints creaked and popped. It was stronger than me, by far, and for one moment, I believed I had only seconds to live.

  But as the blood rushed to my muscles, I felt that unnatural strength building within me, just as it had during my arm-wrestling match with Clean. My lavender aura flared bright, and suddenly I found myself moving the creature’s hands away from my neck. It wasn’t easy like it was with Clean—I felt every fiber of my muscles growing taut—but I was pushing the tremendous creature away.

  I knew that all I was doing was buying myself a momentary reprieve. This thing could disembowel me with one swipe of its razor-sharp claws, or cut me in half with a flick of its tail. If I was going to stop this demon, I was going to have to kill it.

  But could demons be killed? Or were they immortal? I hunched my shoulders and slowly pushed the demon back—first one step, then another. As I advanced, I spotted my knife, which had fallen to the floor. I gathered more power into my arms and shoulders, and with a burst of power, I shoved the demon across the room, snatched up my knife, and lunged. Putting all my strength behind the knife, I plunged it into the demon’s chest.

  The blade shattered, sending fragments in every direction. Although the demon staggered from the impact, it was unharmed. The hardened steel of the weapon had been useless against the blackened scales of the demon.

  There was no way to stop this creature. No way to even harm it.

  The demon bent over and extended its arms, almost as if it were struggling to lift some tremendous invisible burden. Vibrations filled the room as the demon’s clawed hands pressed toward each other, and between them a glowing red orb began to form. I didn’t know exactly what the creature was doing, but I recognized danger. It was the same motion that Ramai had made before launching some fireball at the sniper. This thing was building up for a devastating attack…

  I grasped the demon’s wrists—only to cry out in pain as the searing heat of the orb made my clothes smoke. I tried to pry the demon’s hands farther apart, leveraging whatever energy I could muster. Without even understanding how, I drew in the energy from the torches that lit the hall, siphoning their power and plunging the room into darkness.

  And yet, despite the blackness, I could still see everything in an eerie gray, as if I were using night-vision goggles. And to my relief, the orb of fire had disappeared, though the demon continued to struggle, trying to rekindle the power it had been summoning.

  Still, I had to do something. And then I had an idea.

  I began dragging the monster toward the exit, pulling it along step by step. The whole time I had to not only strain to keep the demon’s hands apart, I had to evade its snapping jaws and pummeling wings. At least once we entered the corridor, there wasn’t enough room for its wings to do any harm.

  With a surge of effort I slammed the creature against the side of the corridor and began pushing.

  Its scales slid against the stone and I found myself pushing harder and the demon stumbled backward.

  As I pressed against the demon, I found myself racing to keep the flailing creature off balance. The side corridors blurred by and monks stood frozen in time as I kept pushing.

  And before I knew what had happened, I’d missed a turn. I’d meant to take it to the lava room, and see if its blackened scales could withstand the heat, but instead I found myself at a dead end.

  In the portal room.

  As I pressed the demon against the far wall, it flailed and shrieked with anger.

  Ovidius entered the portal room, carrying the chest. I was surprised to see him moving at all; somehow he wasn’t affected by the slowing of time.

  “It is time!” he shouted. “Just as the prophecies foretold, so it is!”

  He popped open the chest, and I knew what he wanted me to do.

  I twisted around and shoved the demon against the giant metal portal. As it shrieked in protest, its wings stretching outward, I grabbed the broken spear from the chest. A surge of electricity flowed from it, and for a brief moment I felt a connection with something otherworldly. A power and intelligence beyond comprehension. Crowds screaming in Latin and Hebrew echoed loudly in my mind.

  I plunged the glowing weapon into the demon’s chest.

  The creature’s fiery eyes widened with surprise, and it voiced the first intelligible sound I’d heard from it: “No!”

  Ovidius shouted, “Kryzmatheus, daemonium habens dissolvi!”

  Kryzmatheus, demon be gone!

  A blinding rainbow of lights exploded from the demon’s chest, but with a shrill keening, the convulsing beast launched me backward. As I tumbled through the air, I saw a dark ribbon of energy shoot from the demon into the base of the gateway. I landed on the hard stone with a thud, and time resumed its normal pace.

  The demon was gone.

  “Where…?”

  The noxious smell of sulfur mixed with blood was nearly overwhelming.

  I looked to Ovidius, who was gently placing the holy relic back in its chest. Flakes of ash floated to the ground all around him.

  “Are you okay, sir?” a voice asked.

  I looked up to see a Russian soldier standing over me. And then footsteps sounded, and others poured into the room.

  “Jeremiah!”

  It was Mom, racing to my side as the soldier helped me to my feet. “What happened? Oh baby, you’re hurt!” She wiped the side of my face, and her hand came away covered with streaks of blood and ash.

  I took inventory of the damage. Other than a minor gash on my scalp, I felt surprisingly whole.

  “I’m fine, Mom.”

  And then I saw the gateway. I could no longer see through it to the other side. Its center was now filled with a swirling milky-white vortex, and the gem embedded at its base was pulsing brightly, almost as if it had a heartbeat.

  “The portal has been given the breath of life…” said Ovidius. He turned to Mom. “Can you hurry and summon the other monks? The portal will remain active for only a short period of time, and the Pacitum must be here to see the prophet on his journey. We’ve been waiting for this moment for millennia.”

  Mom relayed the instructions to the soldiers who had accompanied her. “Tell the monks, ‘Veni ad portam.’ That should get them here. And bring everyone else, too.”

  The men nodded and ran off, leaving only Mom, Ovidius, and me.

  And then Bubba arrived, and my chest tightened as I thought of Captain Richter.

  “Bubba,” I said. “The captain, he… he fought at my side, but…” I shook my head.

  Bubba understood my meaning. I could see it in the pain on his face. But he simply said, “If he died fighting at your side, then I guarantee you he’s a happy man.”

  “I should have been quicker,” I said. “I could have saved him.”

  Bubba shook his head. “Don’t do that to yourself. It was his life to give. I’ve known John for ten years. He’d want us all to celebrate his life, not wring our hands over would-haves or should-haves. Don’t think for a moment that the captain didn’t go out the way he wanted.”

  I sighed, let out a deep breath, and nodded.

  I turned to the portal, which was now vibrating with energy. Then I crinkled my nose at the awful smell.

  Ovidius nodded in agreement. “It smells of demon because it takes the lifeblood of a demon to activate it.”

  “If you knew that, why didn’t you tell me?”

  He thought about this, then looked confused. “I… couldn’t remember for some reason. At least not until faced with the creature you called forth from its prison.”

  “What do you mean, I called forth…?”

  I paused, thinking about that strange scroll written in blood. And then I recalled that Ovidius had addressed the demon by its name: Kryzmatheus.

  “How did you know the demon’s name?” I asked.

  The monk seemed surprised at the question. “When you called it forth, the name rang in my ears, clear as a bell. How could I not know?”

  At that moment the monks came rushing in, followed by the soldiers, both Russian and American.

  Ovidius smiled at the soldiers. “I am glad you are here to witness this as well. And as we promised, once the prophet has departed, you will be allowed safe exit, and we will once again seal the entrance to this sanctuary.”

  Mom translated every word, into both English and Russian.

  Ovidius then said something to one of the brothers, who raced from the room and returned with a large kettle of steaming liquid. Again when Ovidius spoke, Mom translated. “You must drink the tea of the tishkach herb. It will induce forgetfulness, and these recent events will be lost to you.”

  “That’s just as well,” Clean grumbled. “This business of miniature monks and demons is more than I’d like to have to explain in my debrief. They’d kick me out of the Army and land me straight into the insane asylum.”

  I turned to Mom. “What will you do? Are you going back to your life with the KGB?”

  She smiled. “I’m staying here with the monks. I can’t bear the idea of not knowing more about this world and these people. And since I’m being given a choice, I’d be a fool to not take a chance. It might be everything I’ve never known I wanted.”

  Suddenly, my view of the portal room shimmered and disappeared, only to be replaced by a vision of Anya holding hands with Jason. They were leading an army of the Luminatum—hundreds of people with unimaginable powers. And they were arrayed against the nightmare of Sammael’s forces.

  This world was truly on the brink of a great battle.

  I closed my eyes and sent my thoughts toward Anya. “Find Jason. You’ll need each other before this is all done.”

  The air in the chamber stirred, and I heard her voice in my mind. “I know.”

  I felt the pull of the portal It was calling to me, coaxing me into its vortex.

  But how could I leave? I wanted to help with the fight.

  “Jeremiah, this isn’t your battle. You’re past due for a battle that is already nearly lost. Your place is in the future. The gateway can serve only one person, and Lilith has invested that sacred duty in you. The people need their reluctant warrior. Jeremiah, that’s you…”

  She was right. It was time.

  I spent the next few minutes saying my farewells to friends new and old. When Mom gave me a hug and I wiped the tears that wet her cheeks, she smiled.

  “I’m supposed to wipe your tears.”

  “Mom, I’m okay. If I’ve learned anything in the last several months, it’s to not believe I know everything. If you had asked me yesterday if there were demons in this world, I’d have laughed. Now, not so much. I know my life isn’t meant for here and now.” I hitched my thumb back toward the portal. “It lies wherever that thing leads me.”

  “Please be safe, and know that I’ll miss you. Come back if you can.”

  I gulped down the knot that was forming in my throat, and tapped my finger to my chest. “I’ll always have you in here. Just know that I firmly believe that everything happens for a good reason, and even when something doesn’t look good at the moment, we’re usually better for it in the end.”

  I gave one last wave to everyone, then turned toward the churning vortex of the gateway. And with one last deep breath, I took my first step into the future.

  Epilogue

  The old world disappeared, and I tumbled into a white abyss. Every direction I looked was white. I couldn’t even see my own body, though I could sense it. It was like being caught in a blinding blizzard—without the cold. And I had the distinct sensation of movement—like I was speeding toward a faraway place. I suspected that I was traveling faster than any rocket could ever have taken me.

  Moments passed, and I heard a woman’s voice in the distance. She was speaking a prayer in a language that resembled nothing I’d ever heard before, yet as the words echoed in the emptiness of my surroundings, I understood their meaning, and felt the pain behind them.

 

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