13)

Donovan- In the game room above the Party-mart

Roxir threw up his chin and pointed his hand down at the battered old coffee table between the couch and the bookshelf below the big TV and demanded. “What is this?”

At first I wondering if he really didn’t know what a table was, but he must have read the look on my face because he leaned forward and began tapping on what looked to be the latest generation of x-box.

“It’s a x-box?”

He narrowed his eyes and growled out, “Explain...”

Ah, how would I even start?

“It easier just to show you.” I stepped forward to turn it on expecting him to step back to give me some room to hit the power button, but nope, he just stood there so I would have to squeeze up next to him to get anything done. For a moment I wanted to try to stare him down, but I’m thinking he isn’t that less dangerous even as a skinny kid.

I stepped back, “Ah, you might want to have a seat while I set it up.”

He gave me a single raised eyebrow and sat in the middle of the couch, elbows and legs spread out to claim the whole thing for himself. Yeah, not going to say a word.

I power up the game and the TV and I’m looking at a the opening screen of a older first person zombie shooter from a few console generations back, not something my family could have afforded even when it was new, but easy enough to figure out how to play. I had a seat on the armrest of the couch and handed hell boy one of the controllers before opening up the tutorial.

Between throwing in instruction and showing him what the buttons did using on my controller, I slipped in a few questions figuring he might be willing to answer while distracted by the game, from his side glare I’m pretty sure he knew what I was up too, but he still gave me some answers.

He also picked up on the game controller pretty quick as well, I don’t think he had ever played video games before and I doubt they had TVs in hell, but with him it was more like, “here’s another new thing to learn how to use”, rather then “what the hell is this?”

“So, what exactly does it mean to be a first prince down here?”

He jerked the controller up like it would help him jump in the game. “To be the first prince is to be the eldest surviving child of the demon who made a domain, when the demon abandons his domain or dies the first inherits the domain and takes on the responsibility to separate it from hell to become a Umbral realm between hell and the upper universe.”

“So your dad’s a demon?”

“Both of my parents are. My father sold his soul for the power to defeat the Canaanites, but without a soul he developed a hunger for human hearts. When Canaan was conquered he exiled himself to hell where his hunger was quelled. My mother choose to follow and with enough time in hell she became a demon as well.”

Oh shit. Does that mean I’m going to become a demon by being down here? Wait, that might cool, other then the eating hearts thing.

“You however will remain a weak human as long as you stay within a domain and it doesn't fall.”

Oh, I’m relieved I guess. “So what is up with Damia claiming a convenience store, is this a domain now?”

“Others have set aside their titles to take control of other domains, or create their own, if she makes this place larger and fills it with life then this place too may rise up. Why can I not find new things to kill.”

“That was just a level to teach you how to use the controller, you can play in story mode or just start wandering around killing things now.”

He seemed lost in thought for a moment. “I spend enough time wandering, start the story mode. And bring me another drink, the red this time.”

Yes sir, on it. As I got up he whispered. “Her father may not be pleased, Perdition is ready to rise, he is ready to create yet another domain, and she was his only worthy child born of that place.”

“Most likely he will be coming here, and the First is far more then just a demon.” he grinned.

“Something for you to look forward too.”

Martin- Facing down a entire army at the Party-Mart

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!

I quickly locked the door and even turned the sign to closed.

Of course that isn’t going to do it, but it keys the wards on the store to do a lot more then just discourage people with ill intent to get out, and right now I will take what I can get.

“Master what should we do!”

“Get everyone moving, we will head up the stairs, hopefully we can hold them off from up there long enough to get them talking.”

Like that will stop a few thousand, orcs? Trolls? Angry green men? What ever they are, the key to being a good leader is to always have a answer, even if it isn’t a good one. And if I have to, it might be a lot easier dealing with a horde trying to climb up stairs or get to a second floor window then just having them rush at you through a front door.

I get to the back door and pull it open…

About two thousand orange scaly guys with sharp objects and some interesting uses of feathers and beads, are charging right at me from the opposite side of the store from the green meanies.

…”Great.”

I slam the door shut and turn to walk back to the middle of the store, the green team only a few dozen yards away. Tosser stands by my side gently patting me on my leg. “We protect master.”

“Thanks little guy, you do that.”

The lights go out. I see Jermaine by the light switches. The room is only lit by the lights in the standing refrigerators and the dim orange sun outside, the shadows seem to grow thicker in the Party-mart, no, they are getting thicker and there are several other imps lurking in them, darker ones without hats or sunglasses.

Oh. Guess the little guys may be useful.

The first of the green bray hackers smack into the front of store after trying to split to one side or the other only to be pushed, shoved, and tossed aside by the ones behind them until a dozen or are pressed up against the front windows, the glass straining under the weight of those behind them.

A roar sound out from either side as the green team meets the oranges, and I can hear the sounds of fists and metal beating at the back door. Guess they spotted it while I had it open.

A rather gaunt older female with a eye patch who was pressed up against the front of the store narrowed her remaining startling blue eye at the sight of the back door lit up from the light of the exit sign and realized she has a way to get to the enemy, all she has to do is get pass the glass window in her way.

Lucky for her she has a big stick, with nails in it, clutched in her hand.

The first hit cracked the glass, and some of the others trapped at the front of the store seem to get the idea, in moments I have a dozen eager customer not willing to wait for the store to reopen trying to get in.

I could hide in the office, stuff the pack of imps into the bathroom and wait them out. I could form a spell and use it for the only thing I’m good at and kill a bunch of people. Or do the one other thing that sometimes works.

Use some of the useless mana in my reservoir to power up someone else’s spell.

I picture a spell circle on the floor, but instead of adding the one or two glyphs I manage on my own, I just make the circle larger, large enough to encompass the store. The imps startle back and then leap up to let what should be a invisible spell weave move underneath them.

Hmmm, something to think about that later.

Then, I take it slow, as I hear glass shatter, I gently push mana into Cyra’s wards, she had made them extra strong when she had placed them on her father’s store to make them hold up even if her work had been flawed, and from what she had said after it was graded was that doing so was the only thing that earned a negative comment from her teacher.

The barbarians at the door froze for a moment as the entire store, inside and out lighted up with warding patterns and symbols, lithoglyphs which had been etched into the bricks and cement, illumiglyphs that floated in the bands around the store that slowly began to spin around.

I really wish I had a better idea of what all of that meant, but I was impressed as hell, so was the my audience, both the greenies trying to back away and my new employees all around me.

“Master is powerful!” shouted Tosser, excited chirps and howls from the rest of them. Except for Otto who was running around and jumping up to try to eat the floating glyphs.

“No I...A friend made these, I’m just using them.”

Tosser nodded. “Yes, master is powerful.”

At lest the green guys were backing off, pushing back into the crowd to try to dodge the bits of pavement falling from the sky to drop into place creating a expanding circle of intact asphalt parking lot in front of the store. Wait…

I cut off the mana. No. no. no. Why is more of the true world appearing here?

Why is my aunt Natalie falling out of the sky with a highly annoyed look?

Why are green guys flying up in up in all directions with bursts of colored circles right were she landed?

Oh, right. Annoyed sorceress landing in middle of a horde of green barbarians. That one was obvious.

Here she comes, just above five feet of spite in human form. Solid black pageboy hair, dove gray slacks, crimson silk blouse, polished semi precious stone necklaces and bracelets each carved with dozens of micro lithoglyphs, three inch heeled fake snake skin boots polished to a high sheen, and bursts of many colored lights coming from both hands sending greenies flying away in all directions to clear her way to the store.

“Tosser, hide.”

Oh look, he’s already gone, at least he has good instincts. Along with the rest of them. Nice job protecting master, not that I blame them, and I knew they were smarter then they were letting on.

She tries the door, the one I locked, and looks even more pissed off. She gives Cyra’s wards a glace, then a second longer and rather approving one, before tapping at the lock in a burst of colors which obscure whatever glyphs she is using, which in turn pops the deadbolt wide open.

She strides up to me, looks up, not all that far I admit, and begins poking me in the chest.

“I. Said. Just. Wait.”

Cassy- At the Riggs consulting agency trying to be the good cop.

Tarnell Riggs looked up from the floor, in front of the desk Sally Kinkade had just punched him into hard enough to send him and his desk sliding across the room to up against the far wall.

He looked unhappy. Unhappy enough to try to start to pick a fight when it’s already over, he began to get up.

Spell circle, the Latin words Solis, Lux, and my intent make sunlight. Sunlight makes Tarnell Riggs only as strong as a aging out of shape ex cop rather then a Mortax empowered walking corpse.

A wide eyed Tarnell decides to stay on the ground as I hold the light shining out from about a foot in front of my left hand held above him and showed him my badge in my right.

“Lieutenant Cassandra Varrow, State police. I need to ask you a few questions Mr Riggs.”

Kinkade steps up beside with a bad of yellow light of her own, she glances at mine, and hers goes a little bigger and brighter. “You got that with two symbols, nice.”

She waves hers in Riggs face. “Sally Kinkade, and I get to end you if you don’t have any answers.’

“What the hell? How are you doing that? Why’d you hit me?”

He filched back, both hand held up protectively as Kinkade makes her light move out another foot from her hand and closer to his face. A variable glyph? Show off.

“No, no, no. Bad vampire, we, ask, the, questions.”

I tried to take back control of the conversation “Hold on a second, explain what you mean about how are we doing that.’

He peaked around his hands, “Making light like that, ain’t no movie I ever seen had vampire’s making burning lights.”

Me and Kinkade exchanged looks, then she gave him a kick in the thigh hard enough to spin him around leaving him flat on his back. “Why the fuck do you think we’re vampires.”

“God dammit, stop hitting me.”

I waved her back, “If you start talking I can hold her back.”

Riggs rolled his eyes, apparently familiar with this sort of double teaming but not willing to keep getting hit. “I was told to stay out of New Orleans while I waited for my new assignment, and what else could you be, hitting that hard and doing voodoo shit.”

“Wait, you think vampires are the only thing around.” Kinkade made a choked off snorting sound and had a seat on his desk. “I can’t even talk to this idiot.”

I shook my head. “Who is giving you orders Mr. Rigg”

I could see him doing the math in his head, apparently so could Kinkade as he looked up at the crunching sound of her slowly pushing the tip of her finger through the top of his desk pass her first knuckle.

“Guy I was working for, for years. Named...urk.”

He seem to choke for a moment before letting out a puff of smoke from his mouth as the shirt over his chest began to blacken with heat from below.

Kinkade jumped up and began weaving a spell. “Shit, someone put a spell trigger on him.”

Tarnell began weakly beating on his chest, I headed out the door leaving Kinkade and smoldering vampire alone in the room. “Wait up, I think I can cancel it!”

“Good” I pulled the pin and began hosing down the burning man with foam from the class A extinguisher from the hallway.

Kinkade finished waving her hands around until there was a flash of purple light from below Rigg’s chest. “Got it”

We looked down at the partially burned, foam covered corpse looking blankly up at the ceiling.

“Dead.” I asked

Kinkade nodded

“Well so much for getting any answers out of him.

She started to say something then stopped.

“What?”

She looked away.

“This was my only lead to helping your roommate.”

She glare at me before sighing. “I used to date a necromancer.” she jerked her head to the east, toward New Orleans.

“One of them?”

“Of the families yeah, but Ramone was still breathing the last I heard, they wanted him to knock out a few kids before they had him turn. I didn’t want any part of that.”

“Any chance you can get him here.”

She shook her head. “I was pretty pissed at him the last time I saw him, he would probably think I was luring him into a ambush.”

I nudged Riggs body with my foot. “Good news Tarnell, we’re going on a road trip.