Slaying demons, p.25
Slaying Demons, page 25
part #2 of Damsel Series
Debbie simply took the things, swallowing them dry. Then, there was a nod, after a few seconds.
“This will take a while to hit me. We need to go into the Never, and then cross to the Mountains of Purpose. It will be fastest to fly there. Once we reach the purple range, there’s a specific cave. Inside of that is a dark temple. In front of that we can open a hole into the correct dimension. For a while. It might still be there, but we can’t count on that. I don’t think I can pull them through, from the outside. We’ll need to send someone in, to get them back. Someone capable of fighting demons.”
The Moore let his head dip, but seemed to be considering something, rather than just agreeing.
“I shall go. It would be best to take others, but it is a rare being who can handle demonic forces, in these times. We have others coming? I think that Zip can be of service, with his great speed. Guardia and... Have you invited Cry Diamond? People tend to forget that she is a most capable person, in many ways.” That was spoken directly to Alistair, who shook his head.
“I can do that. Is pick-up available for her?”
Wisp nodded, being in charge of that sort of thing, it was clear. It was a bit like being a chauffeur, but nothing would be happening at all without him. Hannah simply stood there, being useless, as everyone else actually helped their friends. Finally, she shrugged.
“I don’t know about the Nevernever. Do you need to take food? Or, money? That’s probably stupid.”
Debbie gave her a very strange look then, but nodded, after a bit.
“Gold and silver? Food as well, since we can use that for trade, if needed. Sweets, especially? Things that will keep for a while.”
She moved out of the room at a fast walk, and headed to her walk-in closet. Inside she had her jewelry chest, and her small in-floor safe. She opened that, using her fingerprint and a code number, then grabbed everything useful she had inside. A few of the pieces had been given to her as gifts, and had sentimental value, but nothing was an heirloom piece. Those were all kept in a safer location. A locked box, in the basement vault at her father’s house. Still, it was about seventy thousand dollars’ worth of items, she thought. Gold rings, silver bracelets and gems, inlaid into fine looking pieces.
She couldn’t hold it all in her hands, so put it in her polished wood jewelry box and carried the whole thing out. Along with her pack. The one that she’d used for the week before.
The food inside was packaged, but not that attractive as far as sweets went. She nearly offered to go and get something from the store, when Wisp and Cry Diamond came back. Both of them looked at the room, but Veronica focused on her, after a moment. There was a hug, which wasn’t held for a long time. Then, gingerly, one for Debbie, as well.
She was dressed in black slacks and a nice white blouse, but wasn’t in her uniform. Then, her outfit was an armor built of liquid diamond, that came out of her skin. She was never that far from either protection or disguise, even if she was in the shower. If that could protect her from demons, well, Hannah had no clue that way at all.
“We’re going to go and get Lash and John?” She spoke to Hannah directly, as if that made any sense at all.
Still, she nodded.
“Debbie can get us into the Nevernever, from there we need to get across the land, flying, to a mountain range. How is that being done? The flying?”
Nate could fly, but that was all, as far as she knew, for the room. Wisp could teleport them in, which might work, except that it was doubtful that the hero understood where they’d need to be taken. Not that she was really going. She didn’t have the needed power levels for the trip.
Except that, as she repacked what food she had, and put the jewelry into the pack, slipping the whole box in, The Moore nodded at her.
“You’ll be in charge of bartering, if it’s needed? I can aid in that, but some of the forces we may meet will be more disposed to you handling that, than myself. Being that the riches here are yours, in the first place. I don’t know the plan, as for flying. Debbie?”
The woman stood up, her dark red outfit dirty in places. With brown areas showing smeared, dried, blood and others having what seemed like grass stains.
“I know a guy who can help us out that way. We need to hurry though. We... Need Zip. Luther... Will take a few hours. He’s coming here?”
Alistair tilted his head, then nodded.
“About two hours? Zip is... Nearly here. Outside.”
Hannah got that. It was a secured building, with a doorman and all that.
“It would be easiest to go meet him and leave from there. I think?” She looked at Moore and Debbie, one by one.
The older man, the ancient, looked at her, calmly.
“Very good. We’ll do that now. Does that work for you, Deborah?”
“Yes. I... The drugs are kicking in. I can walk.”
That was done, but it was a slow thing. One that gave them time to speak, as they headed toward the apartment door. Nate was with her, and Alistair started to do the same, when Debbie shook her head at them.
“Cry Diamond, Zip, Moore, Tophat, Wisp, and Damsel. We can’t take a telepath into the Never. That doesn’t end well. Really, we’re taking a risk with Damsel. Don’t use your powers over there? You...” She looked at Nate and shrugged. “Your powers are tied to the Sun, in this realm?”
The man nodded.
“Right.”
Cynthia looked at them, seeming baffled.
“Damsel? You mean Hannah? I know that Nate has powers, but...”
Hannah just shrugged.
“I learned to do a tiny bit of psychic stuff. I can find people, if I have enough time and possibly a float tank, for isolation. Most people can do that kind of thing, if they bother to learn. You can learn to do that kind of thing, I bet. Which sounds like it isn’t going to work, where we’re going. Except... I’m going? That, I will, but...”
Debbie cleared her throat then.
“You have the trade goods. Plus, you aren’t scary. We can use that. We won’t take you to the far end of this, but early in the trip?”
She put the pack on. It was heavy, but not more than she could carry. Then she just walked. Speaking to the kids.
“You stay here and collect everyone? We might be coming back in here, so, not to be a bitch, but if the glass can be cleaned up? If I sprawl onto the floor when we get back, that sounds way more comfortable.”
The building personnel would make sure it was replaced, as soon as they reported the problem. Doing that before they fixed the current issue, if they could, would be foolish and asking for a new door to be broken. She wasn’t certain, but she had a feeling that kind of thing was kept in storage, on site, just in case there was ever a problem. She’d needed a new sink once and it had been taken care of inside an hour and a half, at the time.
Hannah didn’t worry over it. She, or rather her father, spent so much on her monthly rent that replacing the occasional window or door wasn’t too much to ask for. The people going with them headed to the ground floor, where they found not just Zip, in his yellow outfit and half face mask, but also Guardia, who was in her full outfit as well. That was red and black, with a sexy mask and a jealousy making figure under it. Only Veronica being there kept the woman from standing out, simply due to her looks. They still kind of seemed like they didn’t belong with the rest of them.
Debbie... just nodded.
“I’ll open a rift. Walk through as soon as you can. It will be safe enough. Strange though. Try not to let that get to you. This is a special place... Be polite? Most people there aren’t evil, but some of them can give even people like you a run for their money in a fight, power wise. Best not to start anything.”
Hannah had seen such a rift before, so moved forward and went in first, as soon as it opened, given that almost everyone else had hesitated. She got that, since there was a spaceship, a big one that looked like it might fit in a very high-end movie, floating in front of one of the three moons overhead. One of those was small and yellow, but the red one, in the distance, was so big, or so close, that she kind of thought that the physics of it wouldn’t work very well. Behind them, in the dark sky, was a pale blue, mishappen moon which was smaller seeming. There were thousands, possibly millions of stars in the sky, visible even with all the light from the moons. It was dark though, with only enough light to see about fifty feet ahead. Hannah had her pack, and while she’d taken out the clothing, since it needed to be washed on her days off, she still had several small flashlights with her. Not enough for everyone, but four of them, which she passed out. It helped enough that no one protested the move.
Debbie waved, toward a small path, on the right. That was made of dirt, with lush greenery, as well as some purple and pink plants, on either side. They were different looking and one of the bright trees seemed to have feathers on the top, instead of leaves. As they passed, those ruffled, and pulled away from them. It made the world rustle, just a bit. There was no breeze, at least at the moment.
They didn’t walk for long, when, in a small clearing, ringed by blue rocks that were slightly glowing, Deb called out.
“Visitors! In the blue rocks! Come to trade!” That wasn’t done too loudly, which seemed to frustrate Debbie. Hannah, after getting a wave, called out as well. She hadn’t been beaten half to death, so it worked better for her.
“We’re visitors! Here to trade! In the blue glowing circle of rocks!”
There was a whistling sound, and things, seeming to be shadows at first, dropped from the sky rapidly, landing softly, all around them. Veronica and Guardia shifted, being ready to fight, with fists coming up. Wisp hunched down, hands spread, and The Moore pulled a blade, seemingly from nowhere. It wasn’t magic, as far as Hannah could tell. Meaning it was a trick that she needed to get the fellow to teach her, if he would. Debbie tightened her face, but didn’t speak.
Hannah... Laughed. It was a fake thing, but seemed happy enough. Gentle and pleasant, as if she were at a cocktail party and needed for the loser that had just told a bad joke to feel comfortable with their faux pas.
“No need for that. Weapons away, everybody. These are the friends we were calling for.” She didn’t know that at all, but calling people your friends and not acting like you came to fight was generally a better plan than starting out being aggressive. They could always do that later, if it was needed.
Debbie smiled, instead of calling her an idiot, so it might not have been the wrong thing to say. After about thirty seconds, when everyone relaxed a bit, a small, thin, and decently elfish looking boy in green, with a funny hat that had jagged edges and buttons all over it, walked out into the glow made by their flashlights and the blue rocks.
She kept her mouth shut and didn’t ask if he was Peter Pan. The look sort of fit, though.
The boy looked at them all, then smiled up at Debbie, addressing her directly.
“Captain Reynolds. You seem a bit beaten down at the moment. Do you need our aid? Did the outliers do this to you?”
There was a head shake.
“No. Demons. My wife, a friend of ours and myself were taken by treachery. I managed to escape, and get to some friends of mine, who have come to get them back. We need to fly to the Mountains of Purpose. Before morning, if possible.”
They were, it seemed, bartering for the use of a plane or something similar, even if that wasn’t in sight. The elfish looking boy looked at each of them, lingering on Guardia and Zip, since they had the best costumes on, then on Hannah. He walked over to her, and waved, happily.
“I’m Daniel. Daniel Pan. You have goods to trade? I can grant each of you the power of flight, for four days’ time, if you have anything to trade that I can use. What do you have?” His words were almost soft. Gentle seeming, as if he didn’t think she’d have anything worth his time.
While also seeking to find a way to make sure the trade went through.
She didn’t speak, simply taking the pack off. Glad she hadn’t asked if he was Peter. That might be considered rude, after all. She started to empty the pack, onto the ground, the food first, with the box of jewelry being opened next to it. She figured that all of it would be going to the boy, if he could actually manage to give them the power of flight, like he’d claimed.
Instead, the boy whistled one time, very sharply, and nearly twenty children, boys and girls, including some who were clearly in their late teens, came out of the forest. Quietly, but not in total silence. One of them, a rather plump, round-faced girl, who looked about fourteen, pointed.
“You have Power Bars? Those things are amazing.”
She nodded.
“Chocolate, peanut butter and raisin oatmeal.”
Daniel looked at his friend.
“You’ve had this before, Canny? How much power do they give? What do they allow you to do?”
The girl picked one up, before Hannah could explain it was just food.
“Here, can I open one?” Canny asked her, and Hannah was willing to let them sample things, so she smiled and nodded.
When she did that, there was a glow from the bar itself, a sparkling of energy, in a lovely gold color. The girl pulled a chunk off of it, with a bit of effort and took a delicate, careful, bite. The glow transferred to her, running through her veins, leaving a tracery of her internal structure which didn’t seem to fade. Then, looking around, she found a tree, a sturdy looking thing, off to the side and hugged it. Pulling it from the ground and carefully, not falling over, which shouldn’t have been physically possible, set it on the ground to the side.
She, the girl, let her left hand play from side to side.
“One bite should give you strength like this, for about four hours? Each bar seems to have enough for six to eight people at one time. It’s a good trade.”
With that knowledge, Daniel moved back in, and looked at the other things.
“With these you could buy a kingdom.” He waved at the other foods, in their colorful packages. Then he glanced at the jewelry and pointed at a bracelet.
“This one has magic in it? May I?”
He didn’t grab for it, but when she nodded, picked it up, carefully. Then the boy, seeming a bit wicked, nodded.
It was her favorite silver bracelet. The lucky one she wore when she wanted to meet someone nice.
“This grants the wearer the ability to influence the minds of others? To make friend easily and... cause them to like you? You’d trade this? Then, clearly, the magic of this is yours, so perhaps it isn’t as valuable as all that to you? I would... Trade you for this, and call it three of your Power Bars? In exchange, each of you will have the power of flight, for four days?”
Hannah tilted her head. They were supposed to be bartering, but the kid seemed happy with what she’d brought for that. She looked at the things, and tried to keep in mind that the rules were different there. At least for the people she was talking to. For one thing, stuff in her own bag had clear magical properties. A thing that she ignored, for the moment.
Then she focused on bartering.
“I’ll let go of the bracelet of influence. The Power Bars...” Daniel looked a bit sad, until she spoke. As if she was going to cheat him, for some reason. That or at least play hard ball, keeping him from getting everything he wanted. “I’ll let you have five, if you show us how to fly, first? I don’t know if that will be needed, but just in case.”
The boy spit on his hand, then held it out to her. It was kind of gross, but she did the same thing in return. She’d seen it in a movie, once, when she was a kid. She thought it might be a boy thing, from a long time before, but didn’t know that for certain. The kid didn’t act like she’d gotten it wrong, at least. They shook then, which was again, a bit sickening. She blocked that out of her mind.
Danny grinned.
“Deal!”
“Deal.”
Then they traded for things. It turned out that each of them had to spit on their hands and shake to transfer the magic they were getting, but when Daniel described how to fly, which didn’t take happy thoughts at all, it wasn’t that hard to pull off. Fun though, except for the fact that they desperately needed to get to the right place to save their friends. That put a damper on the whole thing.
Chapter seventeen
Hannah felt a thrill of awe as she literally flew through the air. The sky above was still black, at least in places, with the giant red colored moon being to their left, to guide them. In the distance, an unknown expanse away from them, situated against the black of space were the mountains of their destination. They looked like shadows at the moment, shown only by the fact that the stars behind them were invisible.
The elf boy, Daniel, had shown them how to fly, even if it was clear that Debbie already knew how and could have done that for them herself. It didn’t take long and for some reason had nothing at all to do with thinking pleasant thoughts. Hannah didn’t know why that was funny, even if she got that it was from the Disney movie, but The Moore had smiled when that had been suggested by Guardia. Then, it could have simply been the man being charming.
Instead they had to feel a sense of lightness in their bodies, then direct a feeling of flow, in the direction they wanted to travel. Hannah did it easily, with Veronica pretty much matching her. Zip barely seemed to have any problem at all with the idea. It took the Moore a far longer time to get up in the air, but even that was only a few minutes. Once he had the idea, he flew easily enough. Wisp had simply gone up into the air on his own, not needing the boy’s magical talent to get the task done.
Hannah blinked at that part. It never having even occurred to her that Wisp could fly. It was always teleportation with the blue clad super hero. At least that she’d seen. For a moment, even as she flew, Hannah felt a slight pang of jealousy. A thing she was used to, in regards to Kate Sinclair. She was prettier than Hannah was, so it had come up a few times, in moments that she wasn’t that proud of. Only inside her head.
