Sallax was already gone.
THE CANYON
Steven executed a three-point turn that would have had his driving licence revoked, the rear end flshtailing across the road as the tyres shrieked. He pulled out of the skid and pointed the snout of the powder-blue Thunderbird back towards Idaho Springs. Once safely in the northbound lane, he hit the accelerator and grinned as the mighty V-8 engine roared in response. The car almost took flight, leaving the city dump in a cloud of exhaust as he raced recklessly towards town.
The big car careened over the icy road, but Steven held on, even when a great brown ram emerged from the woods on his right, cream-coloured nostrils flaring. The bighorn was heavy-bodied and rippling with muscle, three hundred pounds or more, Steven thought, and moving at nearly thirty miles an hour. It burst from the trees and thoughts of Nerak vanished for a moment as Steven took in the raw beauty of the animal – until it swerved at the last possible moment and pointed its huge curled horns straight at Howard’s car.
It took a second or two to filter through, but as soon as he realised the ram was coming for him Steven hit the brakes, nearly sliding into the gully. He managed to get the car’s rear wheels to grip, despite the slushy mud on the hard shoulder, but by swerving all he achieved was to provide the beast with a naked broadside.
‘Shit,’ Steven shouted an instant before impact, but there was no time to do anything – not even fasten his seatbelt; there were none. He braced himself for the impact: at least it wasn’t his side facing the furious beast. When it hit, it was terrifying; far worse than he’d expected. The passenger-side door crumpled in and the windows shattered. Steven’s head bounced off his side window, cracking the glass, and his head; blood started to mat his hair.
He brushed away shards of glass, hoping he would still be able to drive into Idaho Springs. ‘Or anywhere,’ he groaned, feeling for the edges of the gash on his head. ‘Oh God-’
The force of the ram’s attack had shifted the car on the slippery surface and now Steven was facing south towards the dump once again. The engine sputtered into silence. Outside he heard a braying cough, the bighorn sheep, dying. He winced and watched in horror as the once-graceful creature struggled to rise from the ground, one leg dragging uselessly, another twitching. It appeared to have broken one shoulder in the attack, and dark blood flowed from the lower curl of one horn which had been ripped away. It reminded Steven of the grettan that had attacked and nearly killed him in the Blackstone Mountains. Even before the ram turned towards him, Steven knew he would see amber eyes.
‘Hello, Steven,’ Nerak’s voice rang in his head. ‘I’m coming for you.’ The voice was matter-of-fact, and Steven felt his bowels contract with fear. No magical field emerged to protect him, no supernatural current beneath his skin warded him. The broken ram made a futile, final attempt to crash through Howard’s Thunderbird, but this time the possessed bighorn glanced off the side of the car and tumbled to the road in a heap.
Steven fumbled for the ignition, watching the backs of his wrists, waiting for the telltale sign of Nerak’s attack. Would the wound just open in a circle, or would it begin as an irritation? He panicked for a second: where was Lessek’s key? No, it was safe – at least for the moment… maybe he should throw it out the window and try to lose it in the snow? No, just drive away: north, south, wherever.
He tried the engine, cursing furiously when it sputtered and died, then bellowing his approval when, on the third attempt, the engine caught and sprang to life. He heard the ram die, braying miserably before it fell silent.
‘Thank Christ,’ Steven said, willing his heart to slow down now. He caught a whiff of foul rotten eggs and rancid beef emanating from his clothes and recoiled, nearly retching into his lap. He grabbed for the door, but it was stuck. Air, he thought, must get some air in here. Then head down the hill. Nerak is in the city, but I’ve got a few minutes.
Confident the dark prince wasn’t on hand to take his soul, he pushed again at the door before realising he had locked it earlier. ‘Can’t even get myself out of the damned car,’ he chided with a thin smile and flipped the locks up with a bruised thumb. ‘Just a couple minutes to get-’
The ram gave a cry and leaped onto the hood of Howard’s car. Rearing back on its haunches, the huge beast towered over the windshield, blocking the sun for a moment before crashing its hooves down through the glass and into the front seat.
Only blind, heaven-sent luck saved Steven’s life as one of the ram’s hooves split the cracked leather between his knees and the other missed the outside edge of his thigh by less than two inches. As the windshield shattered, the ram’s head slammed down; it would have crushed Steven’s chest, had the great curls not caught on the roof. Only the creature’s lifeless face, blood dripping from each nostril, stared down at him. Mucus and saliva dripped from the ram’s lips onto Steven’s thighs and, weirdly, he thought he detected a faint hint of tobacco.
Repulsed and terrified, Steven squirmed back into the seat, but the ram’s forelimbs held him trapped and all he could do was sit there and stare up into the haunted visage. Less than a foot away, its glowing yellow eyes peered back at him in hatred.
‘Give me back my key!’ the animal roared, its great chest pressing against the pillars of the windshield.
Steven said nothing but, thanking God he’d got the engine going, pulled the car into gear – any gear, he didn’t care – and stomped down on the accelerator. He could think of no other way to shake off the three-hundred-pound hood ornament before the dead creature managed to reach him.
The demon ram’s lifeless lips opened in a maniacal grin and it snapped at Steven’s face, missing his cheek by inches. ‘My key, Taylor. I want it now.’
The sound of Nerak’s voice booming out was horribly unnerving, especially as there was no breath, only flat teeth, snapping and clicking together like the jaws of a wolverine trap. Steven tried to ignore it as the car bucked, spun its wheels and finally gripped the road with a screech, tearing backwards down the valley towards Idaho Springs.
Nerak, though still some miles away, was using all the power at his disposal to end any opposition right here and reclaim the talismans for ever. Steven braked hard and turned the wheel towards Alps Mountain, barely managing to duck a vicious snap as the force of the turn shoved the ram’s snout even further inside the car. The old car spun, and Steven realised he had only the illusion of control on these snowy roads, but still he rammed his foot on the accelerator, turned back towards Devil’s Nose and shouted, ‘Get off my goddamned car, you prick!’
Steven was deafened by the V-8’s engine screaming; the oil light flashed a warning and the speedometer dial showed red. He was dangerously close to sliding headlong into the ponderosa pines that lined the road, but once again he slammed on the brakes. This time he pushed the gear shift into park, letting forward momentum drag the ram’s dead body from the hood. There was a loud crumpling thud as the beast hit the road, but without waiting to see if the animal would spring up again, he wrenched the gear shift back into drive and stood on the gas, praying out loud that the Thunderbird wouldn’t give up yet.
The powerful engine roared and the car bounced clumsily over the devil ram’s carcase.
Several hundred feet beyond the body, Steven checked the rearview mirror. The ram, broken and bloodied, hadn’t moved. He swallowed hard, fighting the revulsion he felt at the sight of the beast lying there, mutilated by a monster. He glanced into the back seat, saw the far portal and the stone and breathed a heavy sigh. ‘Round one,’ he croaked, ‘that was round-’