Chapter 58

Given how late it was, he made good time. The drive-up Gold Camp Road, while dangerous at night given the lack of actual lights, was at least illuminated a little by the moon, and of course, his headlights. Once he got up to the ‘haunted tunnel’, he parked off to the side, mentally hoping no one messed with his car, and made his way into the tunnel. Just as Loki had shown him, he used his phone to activate the secret passageway, and made his way deep into the mountain.

As before he was the only one it seemed using this passage, and he didn’t pass any other exorcists within the tunnel. He hurriedly made his way on the moving conveyor, and once he got to the metallic door barring his path, he held his phone up to it, unlocking it. Last time, someone had been here to meet him. This time, there was no one.

Once inside, he paused though. He could count on one hand how many times he’d been in the massive facility, and he had no idea where he was supposed to meet the Director at. Did she have an office? She had to have an office. But he had no idea where it was located, and the hallways were completely sterile and nondescript, giving him zero clues.

A quick message to the director, informing her he’d arrived, solved that problem. She gave him a quick rundown on how to use the app to access a map of the facility, useable only by an exorcist, of course, and with that, he was able to navigate the labyrinth of a facility to the Directors office. While he walked, he noticed a couple of things.

First, everyone he passed was staring at him. In the past, exorcists would give him a quick glance as they saw his three D.E.D., but otherwise, paid him little heed. This time though, the exorcists he passed would actually stop what they were doing to look over the D.E.D. following him. He noticed, more than a few, had their eyes linger on his Harbinger Volture, their gazes filled with what he could guess was jealousy or longing. Which made him all the more aware of Loki’s previous warning to him. Maybe he should have put his stronger D.E.D. away for this. But, he was already committed to leaving them out, and doubted they would be pleased if he unsummoned them, causing them to miss out on their free essence gain.

The second thing he noticed was just how large the facility was. The app gave him the ability to zoom in and out on the map, and by zooming out he was quickly able to tell the facility itself sprawled on for miles. There were also labels on it, indicating things such as an underground rail system, a water way of some sorts, and large areas listed as ‘practice chambers’ and ‘dueling chambers.’ There were countless others as well, and he figured he would be looking over that map at a later time and date, to see just what all the Exorcists had within this facility. He knew it was the main Exorcist location for Colorado, considering the one at DIA was special, but still, he’d not realized how expansive it was.

After what felt like at least a half an hour of navigating the halls, Henry finally arrived at the Director’s Office. It was down a long hallway, and was the only door in the hallway. From the map, he could see the space beyond it was much larger than a normal room, though if there were any other doorways or such within it, he couldn’t tell. All it said on the map was ‘Director’s Office.’

He walked up to it, doing his best to calm his nerves and mind, telling himself everything was okay even as his worry for Jewel intensified, and paused. Was he supposed to walk right in? Was he supposed to knock?

“Come in.” Emelia’s voice echoed from above the door, where a speaker and a camera were placed. The door slid open, and Henry shuffled in obediently, his eyes scanning the massive room as he did.

The wall at the back of the room was filled with countless monitors, all displaying differing scenes, which he recognized as not only countless hallways and rooms in the facility, but also feeds coming from exorcists in the field as they battled against D.E.D. and such. A large, ornate desk made of a pitch black wood sat in the room, with carved dragons traced in gold running along it. Behind that desk, a simple chair, with its back turned towards Henry, allowing the occupant to watch the screens.

All throughout the rest of the room were various odds and ends, looking more like a variety of collections from a museum, rather than room decorations. The walls meanwhile, had paintings all depicting different types of scenes, most including what Henry guessed were images of D.E.D.

“I’m sorry to call you in while you’re off shift.” The Director said, without turning her chair towards him. “But a matter such as this, must be handled immediately.” The screens before her all stopped their feeds, and instead seemed to combine their images to create one massive screen of sorts. On it, he saw footage from the Away Team, and the fight against Varkoth.

“What’s going on?” He asked shortly. “Did something happen?”

The Director still didn’t turn to look at him. Instead, the images before him began playing. All of the Exorcists on the Away team, as normal, were clad in their dark cloaked uniforms, wearing their stark white masks. He stepped further into the room, taking in the details of the masks. There had to be over two dozen exorcists in the scene, yet none of the masks were those of Jokers or Scarred Ones. They were masks he’d never seen before.

While the previous masks he’d seen showcased human like features, the masks of the majority in this instance while still white, seemed more like the masks a medieval knight would wear. They were ornate, with golden trim around the eyes, creating a knight like appearance to the mask. And yet, as he skimmed around them, he noticed something. Two of the masks, were different. Of the twenty plus individuals there, two of them, had unique masks.

One of these individuals, the shorter of the two, had a mask that had no facial feature at all. Instead, an elegant design patterned across it, a beautiful, snowflake like pattern shining with a silvery blue color. The other one, in contrast to the inhuman nature of the other, was human. The mask was rather well defined, and actually elongated at the type, giving it the impression of a human wearing an ancient Greek styled helm.

“As I’m sure you can tell, this was our battle earlier today.” Emelia said as the individuals prepared themselves to fight Varkoth. The Ascended Ice Drake, the Tier Three Demon, looked exactly like the drawing JJ had shown him. What the drawing hadn’t captured, was the scale of the D.E.D. It had to stand over forty feet in height, and the length of it, was probably a least one-hundred feet from nose to tail. The D.E.D. sat, patiently, watching as the Exorcists formed up, its eyes scanning over them, filled with a cold, calculating intelligence. The face, oddly capable of expression, seemed bemused.

“The away team for this mission, as I’m sure you could guess, consisted of the strongest Exorcists we had on hand at the time.” Emelia continued. “The armored masks are Templars. Classification wise, they’re top tier, at least A rank, Exorcists.” She made motion, and the camera seemed to zoom in on the two individuals in the middle, with the unique masks.

“I’m sure you can guess who is behind the blue mask.” She said, “her codename for away missions is Snow. Her resonation, if you were curious, is S tier. Next to her, Ares, another with an S tier resonation.”

“So they’re like Loki?” Henry asked, watching the battlefield. The individuals had begun summoning their D.E.D. for the battle, and the monstrosities taking up position by their exorcists were D.E.D. he’d never actually seen in person before. Each and every one of them was a Rare or higher D.E.D., he knew that much, but their sizes, the power emanating from them, was intense.

“Not quite.” Emelia said, her voice tight. “If Loki were there, his power would still dwarf those. But sadly, Varkoth choose to arrive while Loki was away on a different mission.”

“Oh.”

“But that’s not important.” She said simply. “Observe.”

Henry watched as the battle began in earnest. Roughly half of the D.E.D. summoned by the Templars began launching long ranged attacks against Varkoth. A few of the larger, tankier ones, positioned themselves to act as defenders for the group, and the remaining ones began moving in, cautiously, on the monstrosity before them, to engage in close range combat.

All the while, Snow, aka Jewel, and Ares stood, watching the fight. Varkoth, meanwhile, kept his vision focused on the two unique Exorcists, his eyes sparkling with amusement. His body began releasing its icy aura, and Henry could see the rift behind it, sending its essence into Earth. On the other side of that Portal, Henry remembered the battle at the Greater Rift from earlier in the day.

“Come now, fleshlings.” A deep voice rumbled suddenly, as the icy aura began to flow rapidly towards the Exorcists and their D.E.D. “Keep me entertained for at least a little while this time.” It laughed, and even though it was a recording, Henry could feel that rumbling, powerful sound as it reverberated around the speakers. It was terrifying.

At this time, Snow’s form shifted, taking on the image he’d seen once before, as Jewel allowed Yuki-Onna the take over her form completely. Icy winds blasted from her, pushing back the winds Varkoth had summoned. The Ice Drake smiled towards Snow, his teeth like long icicles, glistening dangerously.

“It seems you’ve improved slightly.” Varkoth said appraisingly.

At Jewel’s side, Ares’ form glowed, and at his side a glowing spear appeared. Runes etched all along the shaft and the blade itself it blazed to life as he stepped forward, his body enlarging even more, till he transformed from black cloaked Exorcist, to muscled warrior. He looked, extremely human, save for the fierce glowing red eyes beneath the spartan like helmet he wore.

“I see,” Varkoth chuckled again. “At least you’re taking me somewhat seriously this time.” The dragon seemed to yawn, before it flexed its wings. The winds around it swirled, more ebbing through the portal, the rest in the area surging against the mystical winds Jewel had summoned. The attacks being launched against it smashed into its frame, though it seemed to pay those no mind, its focus solely on the two Exorcists who’d both taken on their D.E.D. forms.

Then, the Tier 3 Demon took action, and the fight exploded on the scene in the fiercest display of raw power and pure desperation as the Exorcists fought against the god like being before them. Henry’s heart, his emotions, couldn’t handle it as he watched, and yet, he couldn’t look away. No, he knew he shouldn’t. Because he knew, deep down, there was a reason Emelia was showing him this. And he already knew, this fight was one that wasn’t going to be won without heavy losses.