“Mr. Garrett!” Faye hit the Virginia side running. Her ears were ringing from the cannon. “Where’s Dan?”
“Over here,” Dan Garrett shouted back. He came around the side of the abandoned house carrying a fat leather book. “Get me to Sullivan, quick.”
That she could certainly do, provided Mr. Sullivan was still alive. It took her two hops to get her head map close enough to find their Heavy. Not surprisingly, he was running along the Mall, between the craters created by monstrous footsteps, trying to catch up with the demon, which was now a few hundred yards ahead of them.
“Jake!” Mr. Garrett shouted, before he fell, dizzy, into the mud. Some folks just didn’t have the constitution to Travel well. “Over here!”
Sullivan slid to a halt, turned, and ran back to them. The Heavy looked like death warmed over. He was almost unrecognizable beneath the coating of dirt and blood. “What’ve you got?”
Dan had used a chunk of newspaper as a bookmark. He flipped the book open to show a complicated spell. “The Coordinator said this was the only antidemon spell he knew of in here. He’d learned it as insurance in case Crow ever got out of hand.”
The demon leapt high into the air to swing at a biplane. The landing shook the whole city and knocked most of them off their feet. “I’d say he’s out of hand now!” Faye exclaimed.
The demon had missed the biplane, and it was buzzing their way. Both mouths opened wide after it, revealing a swirling red light emanating from deep within the monster’s core. Sullivan bellowed, “Get down!”
The demon’s fiery breath streaked their way in a blazing wall of hot death. Faye’s mind was moving quickly, running complex calculations on instinct-the weight of her companions, the approach speed of the jet of flame, the distance her head map told her that she’d have to move all of them to be safe… In a tenth of a second she understood that she would only be able to move one of her friends in time and none of the other injured stragglers trapped beneath the fire.
But she was saved from having to choose at the last instant. The fire broke before them, rushing upward and away. It was a miracle they weren’t consumed. The air was unbearably hot, and Faye was forced to cover her face as the heat threatened to suck the moisture from her eyes.
Whisper stood some distance behind Sullivan, both palms open, as if she was shoving the fire away with her bare hands. Her hair was whipping wildly around her and her eyes were glowing with unnatural light. “Find your own tricks.” With a snarl of rage, Whisper pushed back, and the vast fire arced up and back, curled in on itself, forming into a huge cloud, which then raced back to strike the demon. It roared in confusion as it was engulfed. “Fire belongs to me!”
Whisper fell to her knees. The heat broke, leaving all of them dehydrated and red. Faye got up and ran to her. “You’re alive!”
“For the moment,” Whisper responded weakly. “What manner of beast is this?”
“It’s an old god from the Summoned’s world. It’s real bitter and wants to eat everybody on our planet…”
The demon had shrugged off the flames and was once again heading toward the Capitol. Explosions were rippling continuously across the creature as more military guns joined in. Some of those were coming from the mortar shells that Lance was tossing over the ruined museum. The searchlights could be seen beaming down from the aircraft carrier that had been patrolling over the city. It was maneuvering against the wind to use its main guns as well. A mass of panicked humanity was still in front of the monster, though, and it was doubtful anything would be able to save those people in time.
Sullivan took the spell book from Dan and started analyzing the page, dark eyes flying back and forth rapidly. The main writing looked like gibberish to Faye. Tightly packed notes had been scribbled in the margins, and luckily those were in English. “Yeah, I should be able to draw this… What’s it do?”
“It’s a shield of some kind. Summoned can’t get in, no matter how hard they try.”
Sullivan studied the demon for a moment. “Faye, get us in front of that thing.”
She took Sullivan first, dropping him off near where she’d left Mr. Browning, who was busy ordering young soldiers to hand up more heavy cans of ammunition. Since Mr. Sullivan was so unnaturally heavy, nearly twice what he looked like, she had to be extra careful when she picked a spot. Several soldiers and marchers leapt out of the way as Sullivan suddenly came barreling through them. Normally the sudden magical appearance of a mud-covered Heavy would have startled them more, but he was nothing compared to the spectacle of the oncoming god of demons. Sullivan had already opened up the book and was looking for a spot to work by the time she’d gone back for Whisper and Mr. Garrett.
Even with Mr. Garrett’s pudginess, the two of them together weighed less than Sullivan, so she took the both of them in one hop. She realized as she touched down that she probably wasn’t doing them any favors, since they had been on the west side of an eastbound demon, and now she’d dumped them right into the shadow of its next target.
“Dan! How big a shield does it make?” Sullivan asked as soon as they’d arrived.
“The more Power the creator puts into it, the bigger it should be.”
“Shit…” Sullivan muttered.
Faye knew right away what was wrong. Mr. Sullivan was by far the best of them at making spells. He just had an artist’s knack for it. However, he’d already burned his Power hard and there was no way he’d had time to recuperate. If you pushed too hard you risked killing yourself. The others hadn’t made that connection yet, but Sullivan caught her looking at him, and he just shook his head. He was going to do it anyway.
“I’ve got plenty of Power!” Faye exclaimed.
Sullivan held up the open book. “Could you bind this?” It was terribly complex. She was still struggling with the most basic communication spells, and there wasn’t normally a giant demon coming to kill her if she messed those up. Her hesitancy was obvious. “Didn’t think so. This one’s on me.”
Near them, a tank fired its main gun. The shock wave sent her reeling. Sullivan just hunched his shoulders and walked ahead of the line of military vehicles. Hundreds of soldiers had arrived, and they were going to hold this line or die trying. He picked an open spot of sidewalk and knelt down. People were still fleeing past, but the bodies parted around him like waves against a rock. Mr. Sullivan took a knife from his belt, used it to slice open the tip of one fingertip, and began to write on the sidewalk with his own blood.
The demon was charging toward them. There would be only one chance to get it right.
“Jake, what’re you doing?” Mr. Browning shouted.
“If this works, don’t leave the circle,” Sullivan responded.
“I see… Would it be all right if my bullets leave the circle?”
Sullivan drew another line. “I don’t see why not.” Browning went back to shooting.
A hand landed on Faye’s arm and pulled her around hard. It was Whisper. Her eyes were wide, terrified. “Listen to me. There is something I must tell you. It is about who you are.”
Faye didn’t understand. She turned back around. The demon was closing fast. “Can’t it wait?”
“No! Listen to me, Faye. Remember what we spoke about before?”
“Of course, but I-”
Whisper was desperate. “You must listen to me. You are the one.”
What?
Faye didn’t have time to think about Whisper’s words. The blood magic design Sullivan was drawing had caught someone’s attention. Several soldiers were running toward the Heavy. “Stop that, wizard!” shouted an officer.
“His kind brought the wrath of God upon us!” screamed one of the marchers. “Kill him!”
It was understandable. A man drawing obviously magical markings with his own blood, with a great big demon nearby, was pretty suspicious-looking. Rifles were raised in Sullivan’s direction. “Back off. I’m busy,” he growled.