Chapter 3 - There Are Two Paths You Can Go By

The crew filed out of the van one by one. Joshua turned back and poked his head into the door. "Anything funny and you call us back. Got it?"

Douglas nodded and held up the radio.

"Alright. We have a strong reason to believe the Lichen is in the old Westridge Family tomb. One of the patriarchs had ties to The Forge. We suspect it's him."

Martin shook his head. "Man. Why is it always The Forge?"

Emily raised her hand, "Hi. New here. What's The Forge?"

Joshua drew his gun and clicked on a green laser sight. "Heinrich? Wanna give her the Cliff Notes version?"

Leaning in close, Heinrich lowered his voice. "The Forge is a clandestine group of mages whose origins predate the historical records. They're unscrupulous, dangerous, and they practice all forms of dark magicks. They're responsible for every major war, catastrophe, and plague that has ever blighted humanity. It's highly probable they are responsible for the last great mass-extinction event."

"Holy shit! They killed the dinosaurs?" Emily exclaimed.

"Uh...No. Not that far back." Heinrich chuckled and continued, "The one that nearly wiped out humanity. Reduced us back to the threshold. They put us clear down to the minimum viable population."

"Why? What's their beef?" Emily asked.

Josuha raised an eyebrow and said, "It's not their beef."

Emily paused in thought. "So, who's is it?"

Movement in the cemetery cut the conversation short.

"Did you hear that? That sounded like something heavy moving," Martin whispered excitedly. "A stone door sliding, maybe? Didn't it? I thought it sounded like a stone door to a tomb for sure."

"Let's be calm and professional about this," said Joshua as he slowly started to move in the direction of the sound.

"Oh. We're gonna be professional. I'm gonna professionally smash this ghost's head in with my Louisville of Eternia", said Martin with a whisper.

"Hah! I knew you were doing a He-Man thing in the van!" Emily chuckled quietly. "God, you're a giant nerd."

"Well, you're a nerd for catching the reference." Martin sneered playfully.

"Good point."

"Ok. We're all nerds here. Stay focused." Joshua added.

"Sorry boss." Martin regripped the bat and smiled back at Emily.

"Yeah, sorry." Emily said, smiling at Martin as she spoke.

The four moved quietly towards the center of the cemetery.

"Joshua," Heinrich whispered with urgency. "The compass is behaving in a very peculiar fashion. I believe we are near our target, but..." The needle of the small strange-looking compass hanging from his belt spun wildly.

"What do you mean peculiar?" Joshua asked.

Heinrich started, "I'm not entirely sure, but it can't seem to focus on the source of the black energy. It's almost as though..."

A green plasmatic fireball blasted past Joshua's head, barely missing him.

Joshua rolled to his left and took cover behind a large headstone. The rest of the crew followed quickly, each finding their own cover.

Heinrich spun around and put his back against a large stone monument. He pulled a small silver sphere from his satchel and began to utter an incantation.

Emily winced as the words and energy from the spell penetrated into her head. A second fireball blasted the headstone she was hiding behind, reducing it to dust. She fired a few rounds in the direction of the attack and then quickly jumped behind a stone sarcophagus. Martin was already taking cover there.

"Hey." She said catching her breath.

"Hey," Martin replied, happy to see her sitting down next to him. "Are you alright?"

"Yup! Just fine!" She smirked. "Are you gonna use that thing or just make small talk with me all night?"

"Um...Small talk, of course," he said with a large and goofy grin.

"Where did that fireball come from? I thought we were supposed to be able to see this thing." She popped the clips out of her pistols, counted the remaining rounds, and quickly replaced them.

"So, you're gonna figure this out on your own, but these things never go as planned," Martin said with a playful tone. "One time, we thought we were going to be expelling a standard poltergeist, instead we ended up spending two nightmarish days trapped in an old bed and breakfast in Indiana. Turns out the house itself was possessed. A ghost house. It's a thing."

A plasma ball shot past where the two were hiding and exploded against the monument where Heinrich was taking cover. He flinched but continued chanting over the sphere in his hand.

"What's he doing?" Emily asked.

"Hell if I know." Martin shrugged. "He's always got some trick up his sleeve. If we're lucky, we won't even have to lift a finger to fight this thing."

Emily frowned. "How is that lucky?"

Heinrich opened his hand and the silver sphere launched straight up. It zipped overhead and abruptly stopped a few feet in front of where Joshua was taking cover.

"Thank you!" Josuha called out.

"You're very welcome," replied Heinrich.

From between two large tombs, a seven-foot-tall figure slowly levitated into the main garden. It had clearly once had a face. Now it looked more like a desiccated piece of leather with two glowing green embers that served as eyes. A tattered mage's cap lay atop the leathery husk of a head. Covering its thin body were folds of flowing crimson fabric that nearly reached the ground. Every slight movement revealed glowing arcane symbols in tight rows stretched across each inch of the fabric.

Raising one arm, it gestured and a ball of green plasma-like flame flashed into existence dancing above its palm.

In a failed attempt to remain stealthy, Martin's foot slipped on dust and rubble as he tried to get a better look. The creature turned towards the sarcophagus where Martin and Emily hid, hurling the fireball.

The impact engulfed the sarcophagus and chunks of stone and dust exploded in every direction. The creature moved toward the sarcophagus, but as it did, Heinrich's sphere began to hum and spark.

Arcs of electricity jumped from the sphere to the creature below it. Hundreds of electrical tendrils raked their way across the creature, burning its flesh and robes. The Lichen reeled in pain and let out a deafening and unearthly screech.

The laser sight from Joshua's pistol projected a dot directly between the creature's eyes. He began firing methodically and repeatedly as he approached. Each shot caused the creature to recoil as the shots found their mark.

Taking a cue from Josuha, Emily moved from her point of cover and took aim. She was awestruck as Joshua fearlessly engaged the creature.

"Wow. He's kind of a badass," she said.

Martin rolled his eyes, "Yeah. Badass. He does have a laser sight, you know."

Joshua holstered his gun and drew the dagger. The lichen hung in the air, immobilized from the energy bombarding it from the sphere overhead. With a swift jump, Joshua lunged at the Lichen.

The blade stopped short of its target. The Lichen had caught Josuha by the neck and was now holding him at arm's length. Joshua squirmed as his neck was being crushed.

Dropping the dagger, he grabbed onto the creature's hand, and try to pry its fingers loose. The creature tightened its grip and Joshua started to go limp.

"Oh my God!" Emily cried, and she opened fire on the creature. She precisely unloaded round after round into the creature's side and head. The creature recoiled from the attack and released its grip. Joshua fell to the ground.

He sat for a moment, gasping for air when his eyes caught sight of his dagger. He reached for it, grabbing the bone handle and curling his fingers tightly around it.

Emily continued to rain a barrage of gunfire onto her target. She moved to its side to get a better position and reduce her risk of hitting Joshua.

The energy from the sphere began to wane. The lichen began to move its attention towards Emily.

Joshua pulled himself to his feet and raised the dagger to attack. The lichen swiped at him and connected with a massive blow across his chest. The impact sent Joshua upwards and back, launching him into some nearby trees.

The lichen turned back towards Emily. She had burned through two clips and started to reload. In that instant, the lichen had closed the distance between them and was now directly in front of her, its arm raised to strike.

"Boom!" Martin's bat collided with the lichen. With a red flash of magical energy, the impact folded the lichen in two and rocketed into a nearby tomb wall. It fell to the ground sparking and smoldering.

Martin stood before Emily holding a batter's pose like he just hit a home run. She looked to the smoking pile of robes and back to Martin.

She smiled. "That was pretty badass."

"Nah," Martin said smiling. "You were pretty bad..."

A blue flame blasted into Martin, knocking him back ten feet and engulfing him instantly. He reached out for Emily, but seconds, his skin, muscles, and sinews melted away, leaving nothing but blacked bone.

Horror washed over Emily as she fell to her knees in front of Martin's charred remains. She turned, suddenly, to see another Lichen. It was awash in robes of gold, and it wore a golden miter upon its putrified head.

As Emily's eyes matched the creature's gaze, she froze. From the creature's mouth came the sounds of Hell; screams of pain and torment, the voices of millions of souls in eternal, unrelenting agony.

The color faded from her eyes and drops of blood started to trickle from their corners. She was helplessly trapped in the Lichen's power as it started to rip away at her very psyche.

It fed on her pain and torment of watching Martin die, and on the agony, it was inflicting upon her, now. Siphoning her lifeforce made it more powerful, while her anguish added to its delight.

The lichen suddenly jerked forward and heaved awkwardly breaking its gaze from Emily. It lurched again and the tip of a bronze spear erupted from its chest and the creature bellowed in pain.

"Don't like it so much, yourself, do you?" Joshua chided.

Emily collapsed.

Joshua rammed the dagger further into the creature's back until the bone handle prevented it from penetrating any more. In one fluid motion, he pulled the dagger upwards, slicing a deep wound, stretching the length of its torso, then he yanked the dagger from the creature's body and slashed across its neck. The lichen's head fell to the ground. Energy and light poured from its neck until its body shuttered and collapsed to the ground.

Joshua lifted Emily to her knees. White streaks began to form in her jet black hair. Gently, he lifted her face to his and looked into her white, lifeless eyes.

"Emily. Come back."

A cacophony of growling, unnatural voices slithered up from somewhere deep inside Emily's throat. "Who are you to take what is ours?"

Anger washed over Joshua's face. His voice boomed throughout the cemetery. "It is I! I command you to release her."

The voices screamed out. "Please! We are sorry! We did not know she belonged to you! Please! She is free. Do us no harm!"

Emily's eyes filled with life and color. She coughed and fell into Joshua's arms.

Heinrich rushed over and leaned over to catch his breath. "Where...where is Martin?" He asked, scanning the area.

Joshua solemnly pointed to the pile of charred bones.

"Oh no! No no no no no." Heinrich said as he backed away horrified. He looked back at Joshua.

Joshua's face was grim as he sat holding Emily.

"Joshua," Said Heinrich slowly. "I know some terrible things have just happened, but we have to finish this. These lichens will pull themselves back together very quickly unless we find their anchors and destroy them."

Joshua looked down at Emily. "Hey, Heinrich is right. I need to help him finish this. Can you make it back to the van?"

Sniffling, Emily wiped the tears and blood from her face. "I'm coming with you. I'm going to make sure these bastards burn in hell."

"Oh, believe me." Joshua said, "They will."

The three made their way toward the heart of the cemetery. In the center of the great yard stood a crypt that was adorned in statues of demonic figures.

"Whew, someone has a thing for messed up gargoyles," Emily said. Josuha was happy to hear her make a joke. After what she had just witnessed, he was surprised she was even able to speak.

"They're demons," Heinrich said. "Gargoyles were used to scare off evil spirits. These were placed here to honor them."

Emily loaded her last clips into her pistols. "Great."

Motioning with his hands in much the way a tour guide would gesture to points of interest, Heinrich began a surprisingly unrehearsed speech. "This is the Westridge Family Tomb. Dating back to the early days of the city, it's adorned in statues of thirteen minor demons. The family is known for its dark dealings. These extend well beyond bribing senators and mob ties. They have dealt for just as long in dark magicks." Heinrich frowned. "That's odd. The tomb is sealed."

"Maybe they closed the door behind them? You know, save on energy bills," asked Emily.

Joshua slowly turned and looked at the cemetery. "How did we find out about these Lichens?" He turned to Heinrich. "Who told you that there was a lichen here?"

"Well, it wasn't me who received the call. I'm not sure who the call came from. I was just going off the information that was given to me." Heinrich said.

Joshua tilted his head slightly. "If you didn't take the call, who did?"

Heinrich's face twisted in puzzlement. "I thought it was you."

"Who told you about the lichen, Heinrich?" Joshua asked urgently.

"It was Douglas. I thought you knew."

The van's horn started blasting.

"Douglas!" Joshua broke into a run and started back towards the sound of the horn. The other two looked at each other and quickly followed.

The horn stopped. In the darkness, the cemetery seemed more like a labyrinth and the trio found themselves turned around. They took turns shouting for him.

"What about the radio? Did you try the radio?" Heinrich asked.

Joshua shook his head and rubbed his lower back. "I landed on the radio and smashed it I was thrown."

Seconds later, the horn blasted again. They ran in the direction of the horn, leading them right back to the great fountain. The lichens still lay motionless.

Douglas stumbled out and approached the group.

"I'm so sorry Joshua. I..."

"Are you Ok? What happened? Are you hurt?"

Douglas touched a small cut above his eye. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I have to tell you something..."

"Douglas." Joshua's normally friendly face was now very serious, "Who called you about the lichen? Who reported it?"

Douglas lowered his head. "That's what I have to tell you. I'm sorry, Joshua. They're not lichen."

"What do you mean?" Joshua asked.

"They're drekalo." Douglas said mournfully.

"Drek..." Heinrich said loudly, then lowering his voice, "Drekalo? Why did you tell me they were lichen? We would never have come knowing it was Drekalo. Not without preparation."

Douglas looked at Joshua. "You have to understand that it's vitally important that we came here tonight."

"Douglas," Joshua said. He was upset but not angry. That was the thing about Joshua, it took a lot to anger him. "I'm not sure what your reasoning is behind all of this, but Martin died because we came here. Emily almost died because we came here. And if what you're saying is true, we can't even hurt these things. We can only slow them down for a few minutes."

"Wait." Emily grabbed Joshua's arm. "What do you mean we can't even hurt these things? Martin smashed one into oblivion and you decapitated one. Not to mention I put at least forty rounds in one of them. You said my bullets would work." She looked sharply at Heinrich.

"We thought they were lichen. Human souls twisted by black magic and evil. They're nasty, but they're still human souls. They can be captured and contained." Joshua glanced at Heinrich. "In some cases even destroyed. These are drekalo. These are demons brought into existence when a child is murdered. And judging by what they were wearing, these two have been around for a while. The older a demon is, the more powerful it becomes."

"Ok? So? Can't we just destroy their anchors or whatever?" Emily asked, looking at Heinrich for confirmation.

Heinrich shook his head. "No. A drekalo doesn't have an anchor. They are their own anchors. The pain of the murder that took place anchors them into our reality."

"So, how do we kill them?"

There was immense sadness in the look that passed between Heinrich and Joshua. Emily didn't like the look. It gave her a cold sinking feeling.

"The only way to exorcise a drekalo," Said Joshua sadly, "is through willing sacrifice."

Emily chuckled for a moment and looked at the faces of all three men. "Heh. Like, a goat?"

Heinrich looked at her with a greyness she had only seen at funerals. "A willing human sacrifice."

Emily pulled her guns and pointed them at the men. "Not a chance. Not a goddamned chance."

Joshua held his hand out, "Please. Put your guns down. We don't mean you. It wouldn't be a willing sacrifice if we forced someone."

Douglas started to walk to the van.

"Where are you going?" Joshua asked. "We need to figure this out."

"I need to get something from the van. Something that will help sort this out." Douglas opened the passenger side door and retrieved something from the glove box. A bagel rolled off the seat and into the fountain. He slammed the door shut and walked back towards the group.

"Here." Douglas handed a photograph to Joshua.

It was a picture of a young woman in her twenties standing expressionless in front of a plain and modest-looking house. Joshua flipped the photo over. On the back, someone had penned the words, "Sophia Ring. 865 Marbach Ln."

Joshua passed the photo to Heinrich and Emily. "Who's the girl? What does she have to do with this?"

"It will all make sense in due time. Please we must deal with these drekalo." Douglas started walking towards the headless demonic corpse.

Heinrich looked around, "These two will be recorporealizing themselves very soon. We need a plan. I think maybe it's best if we just leave now. Regroup. This isn't a fight we can win."

Joshua turned to Heinrich and started to speak but something interrupted him.

"What is it?" Heinrich asked.

"I think it's too late to run now," Joshua said as he watched the first drekalo start to reform. It slowly unfolded and began to float upwards.

Emily shouted, "Uh...guys. This one is up again, too. His head is back on."

Douglas called to Emily. "Here! Catch!" Emily turned just as Douglas tossed her an assault rifle he had pulled from the van. She fired, hitting it a few times, but it quickly vanished and reappeared a few feet away.

Joshua fired at the red-robed demon, hitting it in the chest multiple times. It recoiled back but quickly recovered.

"We need a plan here, guys!" Joshua yelled. "Something quick!"

A fireball hurled towards Douglas. Emily tackled him to the ground, causing the flame to miss by inches.

Douglas stood up, brushed himself off, and began waving his arms. "Over here you vile spawn. Come and get me."

The demons turned to face Douglas.

"What are you doing? They'll kill you!" Joshua yelled.

Douglas continued to wave his arms. "It has to be me. This is the sum of all my visions. This is what must happen."

Joshua moved to put himself between the drekalo and Douglas. "What are you talking about? What did you see?"

The Arch-drekalo heaved a fireball at Joshua.

"Look out!" Emily cried, surprised to see the fireball stop short of Joshua. It appeared to hit some invisible barrier. Emily turned to see Heinrich clutching an amulet around his neck muttering.

"What did you just do?" Emily shouted at Heinrich

"I'm buying us some time.", Heinrich said. "The barrier spell will keep them at bay, but not for long."

Another fireball erupted around them. The air smelled like sulfur. Douglas stopped waving. "I saw the End, Joshua. I saw the End and the Darkness won." tears started to stream down his face.

"No. Maybe it was a false vision."

"I wish it was," said Douglas sadly. "But...I've always known this day. I've lived it in my dreams a million times. I've had to watch Martin die a million times. And I've had to watch humanity perish...a million times."

"So it's inevitable?" Joshua asked.

The two demons crashed their bodies into the shield and shrieked in anger as the barrier knocked them backward. Heinrich squeezed his amulet, quietly chanted, and pushed more energy into the barrier. "Not a lot left, Joshua."

Douglas shook his head. "It's not inevitable. There are two paths. One leads you to the girl in the photo and one that leads to Darkness. If you don't find her," he paused, "we lose."

One of the demons began twisting its hands in a circular motion. A large dark circular void began to form in front of it.

"Uh...Guys! Can we focus on the important part, here? The two really pissed off demons? Remember them?" Emily shouted as she watched the prepare its attack.

She fired a few rounds. They passed through the barrier and struck the demon in the face, disrupting its spell.

"Hah! Yeah!" Emily yelled, "Take that, you bastard!"

The demon screeched back at her, its eyes blazed with rage.

Joshua turned to look back at Douglas "So, how do we find the girl. How do we choose the right path? You're my seer. You're supposed to guide me!"

Douglas smiled. "You start by letting me go."

A huge blue plasma flame erupted over the barrier, causing it to flicker.

"I don't think it will stop another one", Heinrich urged.

Douglas turned to Heinrich. "May I have your amulet?"

"What? Why?" Heinrich clutched the amulet and motioned it away from Douglas.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time to explain. This is how it must happen. Please. Your amulet." Douglas was completely calm. More calm than Heinrich ever recalled him being.

Another fireball glanced off the shield. Emily fired more rounds into the demons, filling the air with the sounds of demonic howls and gunfire.

"If I give it to you," said Heinrich, "the shield will instantly collapse. We'll be exposed."

"Yes. Precisely," Douglas nodded. "When the moment is right, please, charge it with the Incantation of Methstarial."

Heinrich stood in puzzled amazement, unsure of how his friend even knew of the incantation he was requesting. "I'm not even sure I can...it's incredibly powerful."

"I've seen you cast it a million times," Douglas said as he held out his hand. "You'll do fine."

Heinrich hesitated. "You don't have to do this. We can find another way."

Douglas smiled, "A willing sacrifice. You know it's the only way."

Heinrich paused for a moment. He looked at Joshua and back to Douglas. He nodded and said, "Get ready."

Emily fired two controlled bursts at each demon, distracting them briefly.

Heinrich pulled the amulet from around his neck and placed it in Douglas's outstretched hand. "Now!"

As he ran to the opposite side of the garden, Douglas placed the amulet around his neck. "Over here!" He shouted.

Both creatures quickly advanced and in seconds were upon him. The golden-robed drekalo grabbed Douglas by the head, lifted him off the ground, and began to squeeze. The other drekalo bit into his leg, ripping out a large chunk. Douglas screamed, "Do it! Do it now!"

Heinrich ducked behind the large stone monument and began to speak the incantation. The words rang in the air and pierced through their minds like daggers. Emily and Joshua fell to the ground behind a large stone crypt. The pain caused by the incantation was almost unbearable. Heinrich focused, pushing all of the energy he could draw from the ether into the amulet around Douglas's neck.

Peeling his flesh from his body, the demons writhed in ecstasy as Douglas screamed. Feeding upon the torment they inflicted, they carefully worked to postpone his death until the last possible moment.

"It is finished..." The words barely escaped from Douglas's mouth just as one of the demons bit into his throat, almost decapitating him.

Heinrich looked to the sky and uttered the final word of the incantation.

Everything fell silent.

A small bead of light began to rise from the amulet. The demons stopped their feast and gazed in a stupor at the speck of pure white light floating up between them.

With a crack like thunder, the small speck exploded. Pure white magical energy engulfed the demons and half of the cemetery. In an instant, they were obliterated from existence.

The light faded like dust.

Joshua and Emily rose from their cover. Douglas's corpse lay slumped against a tomb wall, his head hanging to one side. His left arm had been bitten off at the wrist.

Joshua kneeled and placed his hand on Douglas's head. "I'll see you again, my friend. Thank you for all you've given."

Police sirens began to blare in the distance and were quickly growing louder by the second. Running to the van, Heinrich called to the others, "I'm sorry, but we've got to go."

Emily and Joshua ran back to the van, and with one final look toward their fallen friends, drove out of the cemetery.