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Red Winter

Chapter 3: Hell March

Your plan will never work, Bereft growled in the folds of their mind. It’s too complicated.

“If you believed that you wouldn’t have gone through with it,” Kaleth grumbled, his identity concealed by a hoodie, his wings folded up painfully into a backpack as he sat in a café just across the street stirring his coffee, a half-eaten muffin sitting on the plate in front of him.

I’m doing it because the little bound hellmage put his fucking big boy pants on and thinks he’s some master planner now. Just hope you ain’t getting too big for your britches, Bereft seethed from the corners of Kaleth’s mind, though the drake could still feel the demon’s begrudging acceptance of the plan’s cleverness. If I had any say in the matter I’d drag you away from here and hop the border.

“We both know that’s not an option,” Kaleth muttered, his breath fogging up the window.

How will we know if Landon can pull this off?

“You may understand how these things work to some degree across the many planes of existence, but I’ve lived in this world. Nothing causes more panic and confusion than the threat of a Hell March.” Kaleth took a deep breath and let it out slowly, fogging up the window more before he sat back. “Trust me, we’ll know when things go down.”

There was silence.

“What? No witty comeback?” Kaleth cocked a brow.

I can feel how nervous you are, Bereft piped up. You don’t need any more voices of doubt in your head right now.

“Thanks,” Kaleth smiled.

Even if you are a chicken shit little coward, this plan takes some guts. So, I’ll assume you’re not a complete invertebrate.

“Thanks,” Kaleth rolled his eyes and sighed.

Maybe you’re not as smooth brained as I thought, Bereft rumbled.

Kaleth felt Alice’s influence and Mathais’s will sooth his rising anger. Bereft was baiting him into an argument and he just let it go. One of them needed to keep an eye out and they couldn’t miss their chance.

You know this plan is going to be very loud, Bereft rumbled his discontent. The EC is keeping it quiet for now, but once you do this, there will be no coming back. It’ll be global news.

“It buys us time, something we desperately need,” Kaleth picked at his muffin with his claw. “Besides, they know who I am and what I’ve done, or will soon. If I’m going to go down, I’m not going quiet.”

Finally something we can agree on. Bereft rumbled, his essence thrummed with impatience. You really don’t know how much you use your phone until you don’t have it, huh.

“It’s fine,” Kaleth breathed in and let it out slowly. “It’s fine. I trust Landon will get it done.”

An awful lot of faith in a complete dipshit.

Suddenly an emergency alarm bell rang out from the precinct, it was soft, muffled by the distance and the glass, but it was there.

“I think we can say that Landon did his job right,” Kaleth nodded and threw some cash on the table. “Your turn Killer.” Kaleth breathed walking out the door and letting Bereft take over their form.

*** Moments earlier ***

“En route to the station now?” Sister Yule confirmed, her pristine claws flipping over documents. “Of course, sweep the office for any other hidden safes or caches. Turn the place inside out if you have to. Get those records down to the lab to see if anything had been tampered with as soon as possible.”

The arctic fox had the phone practically glued to her head as he glanced over documents. She hung up the phone and continued to read over the convent and its history to see if there was any indication that this demon occurred naturally. Her instinct was telling her that something didn’t quite smell right. She was looking over an old flyer about the convent’s Fall Festival that had been scanned over to her, the image of Father Ore plastered on the front with the other sisters and staff.

“I wish I had the original,” Yule chewed on her thumbnail. Properly forgotten or not, she wanted to know if this was premeditated, or a crime of opportunity. When a demon consumes a soul, they consume that person’s life. Many things are connected to our souls, pictures being one of them, and so much of our reality exists because we are here to perceive it. Consuming a soul, especially by force, alters reality; our perception of anything connected to the victim’s soul changes. If a soul is consumed against its will, then reality will buckles and warps around the demon, cloaking them in the victim's life. Though, being demonic in nature, one can still catch glimpses of the victim if exposed to holy energy. A simple sprits of holy water and the image would blur and show glimpses of the victim. Though, photocopies and displayed images didn’t work that way. Copies and images on a screen are newly created images, a new document with the corrupted demon’s face. She couldn’t just splash water on it and expect it to change because it was never connected to the victim’s soul to begin with.

The phone on her desk rang and Yule glanced away from the copy to answer.

“Mathias’s office, Sister Yule speaking,” she spoke clear. Though, the fact she knew who Mathias was and that his name was still attached to the office proved he gave his soul willingly. If consumed in a deal, everything they are can be kept the way it was. The laws and terms of the soul’s consumption can be guided by stipulations of the demon deal. In other words, Mathias was left in the world as an entity either because it was part of their deal, or because the demon had more use for Mathias’s existence than his erasure.

Yule finished her call and put the phone back down, the status update coming back normal. She had taken over the coms for high priority calls for the duration of Mathias’s absence. She adjusted her glasses and went back to looking at the evidence on her desk.

“Who are you Father Ore,” Yule narrowed her eyes. “Or, better yet, who were you before? I can tell you weren’t properly forgotten, so you may be innocent in all this, but Mathias…we know you’re the root that started things. I doubt this was your intention all along, but you were a power hungry sort.”

The phone rang again.

“Mathias’s office, Sister Yule speaking,” the arctic fox’s ears twitched.

“Sister, we’ve got reports that could indicate a potential demon nest,” the officer spoke. “Strong sulfurous smells were detected. We’ve told the residents that it’s a gas leak, but it could be demon essence. A strong one. Or worse.”

“First, name and badge number,” Yule answered and opened her ledger, confirming the officer was on the roster, her ledger already pre-blessed so if an officer was taken against his will, his name would overlap with another. “Okay, report.”

“There was a reported gas leak. A standard evacuation was completed and residents are now outside. What should we do?”

“What’s the address?” Yule jotted it down and punched it into the system. The building was registered as a residential property, the owner a certain Kaleth Orebiter…

“Now why does that sound familiar,” Yule smiled.

“What was that mam?”

“Give me a second,” Yule pulled up Father Ore’s file. Full name Kaleth Orebiter. She pulled his name and put it into her system and got a hit on a confidential file. She smiled and typed in her password, unlocking the system and getting herself into the Kinling Registry. Sure enough, his known addresses were there and she pulled them all and looked at each one, finding the most recent to be owned by…

“Kaleth Orebiter, not so innocent huh,” Yule smiled and started drafting a report to search Orebiter’s properties and freeze his assets. “Do a standard sweep, assume demon activity in this situation. Round up all residents for questioning and demon dowsing.”

“Yes mam!”

“God’s will be done,” Yule gave her old affirmative before ending the call. No more than a few seconds later the phone rang again.

“Mathias’s office, Sister Yule speaking.”

“Yes mam, we have a reported gas leak.”

“Yes, we’ve already received the report from Delta team,” Yule smiled. “No need to send in another report.”

“Mam, this is Charlie team,” the voice continued.

“Huh…name and badge number please?” Yule confirmed the person’s identity in the registry before continuing. “Okay, what’s the address?”

Sure enough it was a different address, and once she looked it up, she confirmed it was another property owned by the infamous Father Ore.

“Understood,” Yule nodded. “Do a full sweep—”

A light started to blink on her phone, another call coming in.

“Mam?” the officer on the other end pressed.

“Standard demon protocol. Evacuate, contain, and dowsing. God’s will be done,” she hung up and answering the next call.

“Father Mathias’s office, Sister Yule speaking, name and badge number please.” She confirmed the caller and asked for their report.

“Yes Sister, it’s a gas leak.”

“What team?”

“Bravo mam,” the officer had a tired voice. “Like things could get any worse.”

“What do you mean?” Yule got her answer as several other lights of held calls started blinking on her phone.

“Romeo team is reporting a gas leak too,” the officer said. “Don’t know why the hell they’re telling me. I told them to call you—”

“Follow standard protocol, treat this as a serious demon threat. Evacuate, contain, and dowsing. That is a direct order, keep com’s open for further instruction. God’s will be with you.”

Yule hung up and answered the next call.

“Sister Yule speaking, is this about a gas leak?”

“Yeah, did Echo team already submit a report?” The officer asked. Yule didn’t bother taking the time to confirm the caller before giving her order to evacuate, contain, and dowsing.

Gas leaks were happening all over the city, all on properties owned by Kaleth Orebiter. They could just be gas leaks, but it was far too convenient. They needed to be sure the demon didn’t have any other brood nests or, God forfend, active summoning gates. If even one of the gas leaks were actually demonic activity, this could get out of hand fast. At best, it was a distraction, at worst; it was a damned Hell March! They failed to neutralize the demon, and they could have scared him into acting before he was truly ready to do so, but they didn’t know how long this demon had been out. He could have been here for a week or even years, they just didn’t have enough intel yet.

The properties were lighting up on the map one at a time in a crescent shape. Someone was going to each and either causing a gas leak, or activating something demonic in nature. At that speed, it was someone who could fly.

Yule froze mid-order and looked at Father Ore’s picture, his wings proudly on display.

“God bless it,” Yule was surprisingly calm despite the amount of adrenaline pumping through her veins. She hung up and pulled a wireless communicator from the desk, turning it on and sending out a silent alarm to all EC officers indicating a large scale demon attack could be imminent. They didn’t know if this was real, but until they had searched every building, they needed to treat it as though it were. She held down one of the talky buttons.

“All team units I am sending locations to each of you. Evacuate, contain, and sweep each building. We have a potential triple six alert on all these properties. Alpha team, I have a special assignment for you.”

Several confirmations came out through the coms before she opened the office doors and slammed the emergency alert button. A bell rang loud and true over the complex. “All hands on deck! All trained officers are to report to their designated location. Call in all men off duty and see if retirees can assist.”

“Um, mam,” one of the officers sitting at his desk got his order and looked up at her. “Alpha team is…uh…out of commission.”

“God bless it!” Yule looked over the rosters; a quarter of their man power had been clensed from the force by Sister Lorain when she came in the other day and more brave souls were lost on Mathias residence’s raid. They no longer had the numbers for this kind of attack. “Send any men we can spare to the address on this list. If I’m right, Father Ore will be hitting this location next and we need to be there to stop him. Until further notice, we are to initiate the protocol for a Hell March. Reach out to any other surrounding districts and get boots on the ground yesterday. God’s will be done!”

That sent a shiver through the skeleton crew and Yule took a breath. She was used to dealing with officers hardened by the Demon Slayer Core, these were just Exorcists Officers. They weren’t trained for mass scale invasions. She calmed herself.

“This could just be several gas leaks. The most important thing is that we prevent panic. Get Foxtrot team on crowd control and order emergency closures to all schools in the designated areas. Get everyone home and start putting wards up at prime locations like hospitals and shelters. We don’t know what’s coming, but we are prepared and trained.” Yule lied, but her men needed comfort more than they needed a reality check. “I’ll handle coms from here. You all get suited up!”

“Yes mam!” The rest of them saluted and went off. Lorain had put the fear of God in them and whipped them into shape, but they didn’t need fear right now, they needed guidance.

And that’s why she was always paired with Lorain.

“Well, one of the reasons,” Yule stepped back into the office, closing the door behind her. She strode back to the desk and pulled the phone up to start directing orders. She was quick, she was concise, and she was gentle yet firm. Most of these men were used to Mathias’s iron fist, but Yule had a velvet glove that gently brought people into line. After the harsh, biting sting of Lorain’s tongue, Yule was usually a welcome contrast.

There was a knock on the door that gave Yule pause on her call, but broke away from her conversation just long enough to give the all clear to enter while she continued to handle the situation.

“Um…shouldn’t I give my name and badge number?” The officer said cracking the door open. “I mean, if we’re treating this as a potential Hell March?”

“Of course,” Yule glanced up at the officer, it was the lamb that Lorain couldn’t harm back when they took over the lead of the Exorcist Core, a soul free of mortal sin. “Okay Gregory, what’s your badge number?”

He rattled it off and entered the office, walking to Yule’s desk as she did a quick glance over her registry.

“Kilo team, are you approaching the property—” the call ended with a click. “Kilo? Hello?”

Just then she found Gregory’s name and the hair on her neck stood on end. The name was shimmering between two as though they were floating atop the paper. She had never seen something like this. Both the names were clearly on display, Gregory’s and…”

Lorain glanced over at the phone, the lamb’s hand having clicked the receiver. She followed the hand up to his face where empty sockets met her. His soul had been ripped from him. Only yellow pinpricks of light existed inside those inky voids.

“Kaleth?” Yule’s voice was even as she cocked a brow.

“Wow,” the hellmage spoke from the hall as he came in, his imposing form swaggering into Mathias’s office like he owned it. “I was expecting a scream or at least a scuffle.”

“Coward, Gregory wasn’t trained for combat,” Yule answered standing up, pulling a bible from her habit. “He was mainly tech and support.”

“Hold on,” the hellmage smirked, pulling back his hood and exposing himself. The dragon was tall and powerful, already gorged himself on several souls with how imposing he was. His blond hair was messy, no doubt from running about, his eyes glowed a demonic red. “You don’t want to lose poor Greg here, do you?”

“He’s already a thrall,” Yule cracked her bible. “He’s gone, and soon you will be too.” Golden light rippled through the letters on her bible’s pages, but the hellmage did something that she never expected him to do.

“You sure about that? His soul is right here,” the hellmage opened his maw and a golden light shone deep inside it.

Yule’s eyes went wide. He hadn’t completely consumed the soul yet. There was still a chance to save him. That explained why the names were both present without completely overlapping. Yule had only ever met demons that were ravenous from hunger, or senseless beasts that consumed all in their path without a second thought. She never once considered one of them would use a soul as ransom.

“What do you want?” Yule narrowed her eyes, not putting her bible down.

“Well, well, well” the hellmage closed his mouth, that soul glowing in his throat as a reminder of the very real threat of oblivion for that innocent soul. “Not everyone from the DSC has ice flowing through their veins.”

“How did you even get in here? The wards alone should have kept you out.” Yule’s gears were turning, but the hellmage only needed a little provocation to spill his guts.

“You think Mathias, as a hellmage, wouldn’t have left a backdoor for himself?” The demon clicked his tongue. “Should have checked your wardings better.”

“I did, from the foundation up. They were all in place,” Yule was surprisingly calm, something that set most demons on edge, but this one was too confident.

“Sure,” the demon’s eyes flashed. “But not from the backdoor in the office kitchen. It’s double warded in a way to induces interference, nullifying each other. And I thought the DSC had an eye for detail.”

“God bless it,” Yule huffed. “You still haven’t told me what you want.”

“I don’t need to tell you. I just need you to leave your access on that computer open. Let me at it, and then you can have your Greg back.”

“You think I’m going to do something like that without any reassurance that Greg will be safe, let alone my own safety?”

“We could always make a deal,” the demon rumbled.

“I can agree to a deal,” Yule nodded. “But I’ll lay out the terms.”

“Oh, we have a taker. Of course,” the demon smirked. “What are your terms?”

“In exchange for unfettered access to this computer with my code, I exchange my safety and the return of Gregory’s soul.”

“I can agree to that, but your safety only lasts while in this room for this one interaction.”

“No,” Yule glared at the demon. “My safety and Gregory’s safety is ensured until you are several blocks away from the precinct, and Gregory’s soul will be more than returned. It’ll be placed back into his body safely, and without any further harm from you.”

“Clever little nun, alright, but you cannot harm me until I’m several blocks away from the precinct as well.”

Yule kept a straight face and even voice as she held out her hand. She wasn’t afraid of the demon harming her while negotiating. She knew the code all too well, and hopefully he didn’t see the loophole she left for herself. The tension in the air was heavy, and she felt a point of panic creep in her heart as the demonic dragon’s brow furrowed in doubt.

“I see, you are thinking of getting to me indirectly through my vessel, but even that is forbidden by our deal.” The demon let an uneasy silence settle in the room, trying to read the nun’s expression while letting her mule over the terms of the pact. To her credit, she was concealing her emotion like a professional poker player. “Do we have a deal?”

“Deal,” the arctic fox held out her hand and shook the demon’s. The demon took a deep breath, feeling the tingle of a deal ripple through his essence and grate against Yule’s soul. “Oh…that’s interesting.”

“Yeah, I know,” Yule narrowed her eyes. “Not my first demon deal.”

“And somehow you left with your soul in that one and this one. Must have had some pretty good leverage last time.”

“Fulfill your end of the bargain. Gregory’s soul.”

“So official,” the demon chuckled and opened his maw, the golden light slipping between his teeth.

“Don’t you dare harm his soul, or you’re going to face the full consequences of the code.”

“I know the terms of our deal, you wretch,” the demon hissed before opening his maw and letting the soul pour out of it, spiraling back into Gregory’s face, his thrall going tense as his soul slipped back into his body. He gasped, his body hitting the floor as he screamed in fear and pushed himself away from the demon.

“Gregory, it’s okay, I’m here,” Yule came over to him and held him close.

“I can’t see, I can’t see!” Gregory shouted.

“Shhh, it’s going to be okay, he can’t harm you,” Yule tried to calm the hysteric lamb down. “You’re safe. I have you.”

“Yeah, sure,” the demon rumbled as he went to the computer and gave a little hiss, the lamb screaming and burying his face in Yule’s chest, literally whimpering for his mother, his eye sockets dripping tears of blood. “Body and mind broken beyond repair. My voice will haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life. You should have let me consume him and at least he wouldn’t have felt anything.”

The demon’s eyes flashed purple as they typed away on the keyboard.

“Kaleth?” Yule started. “Are you in there?”

“Kaleth isn’t here right now,” the demon tried to speak, but a wisp of another voice crept in.

“No, he’s in there. Are you being held captive? We can help you.”

“You nearly killed me,” Kaleth spoke, dropping the charade, his eyes glowing purple. “I’m not going to let you people take advantage of me again.”

“We can get you back to normal, undo anything that can be.”

“For what!” Kaleth snapped. “To go back to my old life as a naïve kinling? You of all people should know how this happened! You stripped me of any chance I had at a life, forced me to live in poverty, to crawl on my belly like a fucking worm! Meanwhile your fellow clergymen and you hide behind a veil of purity, of divine blamelessness, while you secretly condemn hundreds of innocents to a life of misery! Your system insidiously stripped me of everything I had in this life, and when I came for help in my hour of need, your blighted Church stripped me of the next! You know full well there isn’t anything left for me in the afterlife but hell. You are as cruel as any demon, and you should be ashamed."

“Do you got it?” The demon rumbled.

“I got it,” Kaleth pulled a thumb drive out and downloaded some files before closing out and whipping the history.

“What were you looking for?” Yule could think of a dozen different things that an unregistered hellmage could want off that database, but none that he’d be able to get to while bound to a demon.

“That wasn’t part of our deal,” the demon spoke, their eyes going red again. “Now, stand up and stay where I can see you.”

“I can’t harm you,” Yule shot back.

“Yeah, and the consequence for that would be that you can’t make a deal with another demon until I exact proper retribution. Real bad punishment if I’m already dead! Keep turning.”

“God bless it,” Yule cursed and helped the quivering form of Gregory get up. “Come on, we just got to move a little further.”

They stood up, tentatively circling the room until Yule was back behind her desk with Gregory in her arms, the lamb clutching to her like a newborn babe.

“Now, how about a crash course in proper deal making,” the demon rumbled and put his foot on the desk and pushed it forward, pinning the two against the windows on the far side of the wall.

“You vile code breaker!” Yule shouted, ignoring Gregory’s screams as he passed out from the fear.

“AH! That's RICH coming from the one at fault” The demon roared. “You were so relieved I ignored your lil loophole you didn’t stop to consider the implications of my last-minute stipulation.” Kareft’s voice dropped to a low rumble, his words dripping with honey-coated venom. “You see, I forbade you to think about maiming my vessel, did I not? And just as I expected, the deal broke the moment I was done with that computer. I’m well within my right to push you out that window.”

“Then do it,” Yule glared at him, her blue eyes piercing him beyond her glasses.

“Not yet,” the demon rumbled.

“Bereft, what are you doing?” Kaleth spoke.

“Let me work here kid,” Bereft murred.

“Bereft?” Yule was confused; who was the kinling talking too?

“Yes,” Bereft smirked. “Don’t think I didn’t go knocking around in there when our deal was struck. It makes sense why all those reports refer to Berg now. You might be a Sister in soul, but not in flesh.”

“I have never hidden that fact,” Yule continued to keep her gaze locked on the demon’s eyes.

“No, but the Clergy has,” Bereft continued. “All your reports still call you by your last name, Berg, despite you being a Sister. I thought you took the vow of celibacy and they just mixed it up, but no. They’re intentionally telling you that you’ll never be recognized as a woman.”

“That has nothing to do with my work nor the DSC,” Yule shot back.

“You’re right,” Bereft cooed. “But it does have everything to do with you.”

“I’m not going to give you anything else.”

“Are you sure? I can give you what you most desire,” Bereft gave a demonic grin. “What a curse, to be trapped in a body that you know isn’t true to your soul. Sure, you can nip, you can tuck, and you can sluff off any parts you don’t like, but at the end of the day, your true desire will always be out of grasp.”

“Still your tongue, you can’t tempt me,” Yule’s brow started to crease in anger, and Bereft noticed it right away. A little crack in the arctic fox’s armor.

“I can give you what you desire. I have the ability to manipulate flesh,” Bereft smirked and lifted his hand, red energy curling between his claws. Gregory’s sockets squelched and filled with blood before new eyes and eyelids sewed back into place. “I just need one thing.”

“I’m not going to let you touch my soul,” Yule growled.

“Why not? I can promise you motherhood, your deepest desire. I can make you a woman down to the very DNA you were cursed with. And, don’t forget, I have the material you need for the other half of that deal as well.” Bereft gyrated his hips.

“I’m not going to be your broodwhore,” Yule’s voice was firm, but Bereft gave a nice long whiff and snorted flames out of his nostrils.

“You hide it well, but you lust for it, I can smell it under all that angst-y armor you put up. Do I get a hint of envy on there too? Ohhhhh…” Bereft’s grin grew sly. “You envied my broodwhores?”

“Still your tongue,” Yule hissed.

“I bet that’s why you went after those demon catching rings to begin with. You were envious, so jealous it burned into murderous rage.”

“Shut up demon!” Yule growled.

“You didn’t seek them out, you targeted them specifically. To rip and tear them apart with the rage you have about your own body. A perfect excuse to sully your hands and keep your soul clean, but that blemish still rots from your core. You want it, and you want it bad.”

“Stop trying to tempt me, Tarnish!” Yule barked, her fangs glowing with magic as the command rippled through the air.

Kaleth could feel something unnerving stir in Bereft’s essence. It was a dreadful, noxious mix of deep-seated rancor and raw hatred tinged with fear and shame that burned him to his core. Kaleth knew what Bereft was going to do next before even the demon did.

“And you had such potential,” Bereft growled and kicked the desk forward with enough force to propel Yule and Gregory out the second story window in a shower of shattered glass, splintered wood, and broken computer bits.

“What the hell!” Kaleth put his hands over their face as Bereft steadied their footing. “That was kind of a cheap trick, don’t you think?”

“Not my fault she’s stupid enough to make a deal with a demon. Twice! She should have known she wouldn’t be so lucky the second time around.”

“I didn’t think we were going to kill her though.”

“Of course a little chicken-shit, dickless prick like you would think that wasn’t an option.” Bereft snapped. “Just send out the alarm.”

Kaleth felt the sting of that comment. Despite his plan working, or maybe because it did work, Bereft still hadn’t forgiven him. He simply channeled every ounce of willpower he had from Alice and Mathias to steal himself against his little demon-boy’s tantrum. He would have to bring up the subject of what Yule called him later, but for now, they had work to do.

The demonic duo went into the office, picked up the nearest phone, and dialed an automated number only accessible through the lines in the precinct.

“You are about to initiate the broadcast alert for a Hell March,” an automated voice spoke. “Please input your badge number and clearance code.”

“Mathias’s clearance codes should still work,” Kaleth started typing them in. “I’m sure they only did a surface level cleanse and haven’t fully weeded his influence out of the system, especially the emergency broadcast lines. Those are low priority.”

Yeah, because no hellmage would be dumb enough to alert the entire force to their presence. Bereft huffed.

“They already know we’re here,” Kaleth paused as he heard a rumbling in the distance. “Sounds like the first one went off.”

You still okay with that? Bereft’s essence folded into a mischievous grin. You know they’re innocent men, right?

Kaleth paused, one press away from completing the sequence. He knew these men hadn’t directly harmed him, but they were part of the system that kept him and all other kinlings chained down. Everyone was.

“Nobody is truly innocent in this,” Kaleth pressed the button. Moments later sirens started to blare.

***

Yule came to, the sound of sirens filling the air. She blinked trying to focus her vision. She knew what those sirens were. That was the warning of a Hell March!

Adrenaline spiked through her as the world came rushing into view. She had fallen on garbage bags behind the precinct, the desk having shattered on the ground before her. Yule put a hand to her head. She winced, and when she took her hand back her fingertips were stained crimson.

“The database,” Yule looked at the desk, the computer having fallen and caved in the windshield of a car. “God bless it,” she huffed, standing up. Her body was fine, just a gash on her forehead, though Gregory looked to be in worse shape. He had fallen where the desk had, one of the pieces goring his leg through. Yule got up slowly, testing her limbs. Nothing was broken, but she was pretty sure she was concussed or something close. She shuffled over to Gregory and pulled the lamb’s phone from his pocket and checked the time. She hadn’t been out for long, maybe a few minutes at worst. She dialed the emergency line and an automated voice answered.

“This is a pre-recorded message, please head to your designated shelter. Medical treatment will be provided to you upon arrival. If this is a medical emergency, please press nine and stay on the line. Medical attention will be dispatched to your location as soon as able. If this is a spiritual presence, please hang up and dial six-six-six.”

She hung up and pulled out her bible. He was still unconscious so it made it easy for her to pull the wood out and cast some healing magic, the wound closing up as the muscles and blood vessels pulled themselves together. She didn’t want to heal her head injury, those were more complicated.

Yul then dialed the only other number she knew would answer.

“Hello?” Sister Lorain answered. “Who is this?”

“Lorain,” Yule gave a sharp intake of breath. “He was at the precinct.”

“Did he get away?”

“Yes,” Yule took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “How bad is it out there?”

“You tell me, you’re the one on coms.”

“Not anymore, the system is down and they used Mathias’s codes to launch the Hell March alert.”

“What? Why would a demon send out a Hell March alert? Every precinct for the next fifty miles would start a lockdown.”

“I don’t know…” Yule smelled something on the air. Smoke. She looked up. Black clouds billowed out in the distance, a large flash in the distance, followed by a large boom and more billowing smoke. Screams echoed down the streets as cars were running lights, people were scooping up children and fleeing from storefronts and screaming as they ducked into buildings and ran recklessly. “But I have a pretty good idea. I’ll try to get coms back up and curb the panic.”

“Get those damned sirens off too!”

“Sister, his full name is Kaleth Orebiter—”

“Yes, I know, but—”

“And the demon’s name is Tarnish,” Yule forced out. “His real name is Tarnish.”

“How did you get the demon’s name and not die?”

“Same trick that saved you, revealed to me by a deal” Yule took a deep breath. “I don’t know what they wanted, but they took something from the database. I’ll try to pull it from the system if I can but…” She glanced down at Gregory. “But our tech expert is down for now. His soul is safe, but his mind is shot.”

“Do what you can while reigning in this panic, and pull the men back. I think the gas leaks are more than just a diversion.”

“Do you think they’re real demon influence?”

“I think they’re traps. I’ll check in when I can. Stay safe Yule.”

“Gods will be done,” Yule affirmed, ending the call and shuffling back into the precinct. Another plume of smoke coming up in the distance.

***

“I think our time here is done,” Lorain popped back into Margret’s room. “Stay in your room, it’s warded.”

“Is it a Hell March?” Margret’s eyes were wide. “I can help with the wounded.”

“No, stay here,” Lorain demanded. “I have someone else in the ward I need to see to. This is a designated shelter.”

“But I can help,” Margret stood up, her gown flowing around her form loosely.

“And you will, with whoever comes into the ward. I’ll let the staff know that you are willing to help those with minor injuries and to take them to your room, but stay here. Do you understand, Sister?”

Margret pulled her beads close to her heart. This wasn’t Lorain telling her to stay safe, but a DSC officer giving an order.

“Yes…Yes mam.”

“God’s will be done,” Lorain nodded and left, her boots clicking against the floor. She came to a set of double doors with a guard standing outside. Lorain simply flashed her DSC badge and he stepped out of the way. She entered the ward, cameras glaring at her as she stepped through into a hall of smaller rooms. She went to the one in use and flung the door open.

“Sister, only healers can be back here. The holy magic is still festering in the wound and must be taken care of carefully.” The rat nurse squeaked.

“You are relieved, go,” Lorain ordered. “Now, and close the door behind you. You’re needed elsewhere.”

The nurse blinked before bowing her head and heading out into the ward

“Wake up, you traitorous piece of demon filth,” Lorain stomped right up to the man strapped to the table, his arms lashed to the table as though crucified, his body clad in simple, bloodstained cloth, his one hand a bloody stub that had been wrapped up and bandaged.

The rat opened his eyes, the sclera black as ink, his irises golden.

“What…do you want…Lorain. I told you…I won’t tell you…anything…”

“Tell me, before I send what’s left of your conscious to oblivion, where is your master, Tarnish, going?”

Mathias furrowed his brow. The way she spoke that word…that name…it send shivers down the rat’s spine.

“Tell me what Tarnish is up to,” Lorain demanded again, her voice even, her lips tingling with the magic of the demon’s name, her holy magic warping the word into something of wonder.

“I…” Mathias blinked.

“Tell me Mathias, if there is anything left of your pride in that husk,” Lorain glared at him, her steely eyes burrowing into what was left of his conscious. “What is Tarnish planning?”

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