“Your arrogance will be your undoing, little magus.”
“And your self-assuredness will be yours. It always is for your kind. Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.”
“He has forsaken you. He has forsaken all of you.”
“He has done no such thing.”
That’s it, Levi thought. Keep coming. Just a few more steps…
The creatures halted at the stairs. Two of them glanced up, sniffing the air. One licked his lips.
“My God is stronger than yours,” Levi taunted. “You know this to be true. I serve the one true God.”
“Your God has no power over us, and neither do you.”
“If that’s true, then face me, cowards.”
That did it. Levi grinned.
Snarling, the revenants forgot about the humans upstairs and stalked toward him. Their eyes and teeth flashed in the darkness. The air grew colder and the gloom seemed to deepen. Levi shivered. Beyond them, he saw a figure sneak down the stairs, moving silently, and dart toward the front door.
Thank you, Lord. Just a moment longer.
The dark men entered the kitchen. Levi remained still, projecting calm. His legs were still crossed. He held out his hands, palms up.
“Now,” he said, smiling up at them. “I guess you’re wondering why I’ve called you here.”
One of the figures raked its talons along the wall. “Enough of this. You’ve stalled long enough. Now you die.”
“Go ahead, Levi,” Donny shouted.
The revenants turned at the sound of his voice, just as Donny fled up the stairs. Two of them raced over to the stairwell, but halted when they reached the salt.
“What is this?”
“It’s salt.” Levi stood up again. He was still grinning.
“You’ll note that it now covers all entrances and exits from this place. I know it’s not really a sphere, but according to the Law, it still counts as a circle.”
The figure closest to Levi smiled. “Very good, little magus. This was unexpected.”
“Thank you. I like to think on my feet.”
“Of course, it is a futile gesture. There is one thing you didn’t consider, Levi, son of Amos. There is one crucial flaw in this pitiful attempt to defeat us.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
“You are trapped in the circle with us.”
“No.” Levi’s smile vanished. “It’s you who are trapped in here with me.”
Levi sprang to his feet as they charged toward him. Everything now came down to timing and placement. He had to be exact, had to make it look natural, or all of his efforts would be for naught. He would die here, in this broken circle, and Meeble’s minions would win.
He darted to the left and ran toward the slightly open door, seemingly attempting to evade his attackers and get behind them. The ruse worked. They slammed into him in front of the pantry. Their talons and teeth slashed at him, ripping and tearing. Levi howled in pain as his blood began to flow. The creatures howled with him, shouting angry curses in a language not their own. Levi let his knees go weak, allowing their combined weight and the force of their attack to drive him backward. He prayed they’d come with him, and his prayer was answered. They clung tightly, their claws sinking deeper into his flesh. Half-blind from pain, Levi crashed into the pantry door and tumbled through to the other side. The revenants fell with him. They toppled to the ground together, but his opponents were too enraged to notice that their surroundings had changed. Biting his lip to stifle his screams, Levi lashed out with his foot and kicked the door shut.
Esther’s pantry vanished, taking the rest of the world with it.
Slowly, their attack ceased. One by one, they withdrew from him and stood, staring speechless at their new surroundings. Levi did the same. The overcast sky was filled with grayish-yellow clouds of mist so impressive in size that they almost appeared to be floating landmasses. The soft ground was spongy and slick. White, fibrous strands of what looked like peach fuzz sprouted from the surface. Moisture seeped through Levi’s clothing and when he pulled his hands away, his palms were wet. His skin felt slimy, as if he’d been grasping earthworms or slugs. The landscape was featureless, save for a variety of sickly gray and white toadstools, mushrooms and other fungi. Some were miniscule. Others were as tall as redwood trees. The air was thick with the smell of mildew. Far off in the distance, a black river of what looked like tar wound its way through the fungus. It was spanned by a cyclopean bridge made entirely of mold. Beyond that, on the horizon, great gray mountains towered into the poison sky. They were dreary looking and somehow obscene, and the sight of their peaks filled Levi with dread. A city composed of windowless black towers stood in their shadow. Atop the tallest mountain sat a giant geometric sculpture, a shining trapezoid that spilled light onto the valley below. Despite his immediate danger, Levi was awestruck by its size. He’d read of the monolith before, but to see it like this, to actually view the shining trapezoid… No written account did it justice.
The shadows stirred.
“What trickery is this, little magus?”
Groaning, Levi stumbled to his feet. Blood ran from both of his arms as well as his back, chest and face. He’d broken the index finger of his right hand, and he was pretty sure that his right wrist was sprained, too. The flesh was already beginning to swell, and the pain made him nauseous.
“No trickery. I promised you that I wouldn’t harm you in Esther’s place, and I have honored my word. I have brought you elsewhere.”
“You speak in riddles.”
“No, I don’t. Welcome to your new home, gentlemen.”
They turned on him, growling. Their elongated talons had shrunk back into their fingers, and their clothes and faces weren’t so dark anymore.
“Don’t bother trying to shape-shift,” Levi continued. “You can’t anymore. In fact, if I’m correct—and I suspect that I am—you’ll find that you’re all quite powerless here.”
“Meeble’s strength follows us wherever we go. It is within us.”
“Back on Earth, perhaps, but not here. Not in this place. You see, this is not your master’s domain.”
Grunting, the tallest of the five made a dismissive gesture with his hand and pulled himself up to his full height. “After all your boasts, you have merely delayed the inevitable, Levi, son of Amos. You may be able to walk the paths of the Labyrinth, but bringing us here will not save you. What do my brothers and I care for worlds? We will lay waste to this one, just as we laid waste to your own. This world’s populace shall know of our master’s power, and we will feed here just as well.”
“Go ahead, then. Leave your mark. Carve Croatoan in the trunk of one of those great mushrooms. Carve your master’s name here, in the domain of Behemoth!”
They gaped at him. The fear on their faces was palpable, and Levi couldn’t help but laugh. After all of the terror they’d caused the people of Brinkley Springs, not to mention countless other human beings going all the way back to the original Roanoke settlement, it felt good to see them scared and to know that he was the source of their fear. He forced himself to ignore the twinge of pride.
“I see by your expressions that you understand now. That’s correct. We stand beneath the noxious skies of Yuggoth, home of Behemoth, the Great Worm and one of the Thirteen, who is the equal of your master.”
“You lie.”
Levi shook his head. “You know that I don’t. According to the Law, you are forbidden to do your working here, lest you risk a war between the Great Worm and your master—a conflict which would ultimately anger He Who Shall Not Be Named. I don’t think Meeble would appreciate such insolence.”