Chapter 3

The nurse called the doctor for help in a futile attempt to force the patient to stop.

Hawk had no intention of remaining idle. He felt fit again, at least able to give orders. Walking was another matter entirely: with his legs still healing, he was forced to use a wheelchair to get around.

Still, that wouldn't stop him from working.

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Hawk grabbed the collar of the soldier's shirt and looked him straight in the eye, clearing his throat so the words could be clear.

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Grant Hawk was apparently a captain in the National Guard of the United States of America, a service established for the security of the American continent in the event of a serious disaster.

That in reality, although it was a very important role, was a screen.

His most important merits had been obtained working for TDE; "The Temple of the Eclipse", a secret society established to protect individuals belonging to the world of occult and paranormal forces; referred to by mere mortals as "magic". For centuries, history has told of legendary creatures, both benign and evil, that haunt the world with their supernatural presence, named by men with colorful names that have remained etched in the imagination of today: witches, goblins, orcs, fairies ... figures that then they were forgotten or considered fantasy.

In reality, this people simply hid, largely mingling with mankind to continue a quiet life and not become extinct.

The ancients realized that they would not have a future, their diversity was frowned upon by many, especially by the first Christian priests who considered their myth the works of the devil. Therefore they mixed their blood with the human being or concealed their identity in mortal guise, the TDE was charged with protecting this community from anything that could compromise their existence.

But today the TDE was facing a danger the nature of which it did not yet know. The communications agents constantly monitored the whole world through sophisticated computers, working together with the secret services of other continents to have real-time updates, accessing the databases of foreign governments thanks to special permissions.

Meanwhile, on television, the sudden death of a dozen people had become a media event; the journalists tried to explain the incident with theories that were more absurd than the other, they had not been able to prevent the news from spreading and the last thing they wanted was for panic to spread.

Fortunately, his face did not appear anywhere and his identity was not leaked.

Having the reporters with their breath on their necks would have been as painful as the constant calls from the Mayor who, at the moment; he might as well go fuck himself with his reproaches.

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The Temple was not the only secret society, over time other organizations were created in charge of the same tasks: The Ordo Templi Orientis, the Golden Dawn and the Rosicrucians. All of them had very ancient roots, once a receptacle for wizards, druids and the best that the square offered for such extraordinary, manipulative individuals of magic and arcane forces, now they were not too different from the members of a private club in which they played for the amount of power or money they possessed.

He hated those people, they weren't like him and his colleagues who got almost killed for the job. They preferred sitting comfortably behind a desk rather than acting in person, giving orders left and right. In fact, he could say without a doubt that it was his company that did the most work, sometimes even that of other groups. Now, the most prominent members of the four societies had gathered in a modestly sized congress hall capable of holding a maximum of twenty people: some dressed in office suits, others instead of simple dark colored tunics. The so-called "Chiefs" occupied the front rows, pawing like runaway horses, as soon as Hawes entered their field of vision they were unleashed.

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Yeah, the bird-headed "creature" ... was it a demon by any chance? He couldn't get it out of his head.

As it had presented itself, there would be no doubt about it. But he couldn't bet on it yet, except that it alone had caused a big mess.

In addition to having to protect the identities of their protégés, the societies had the main task of preventing certain idiots from endangering the lives of the "hidden people". Up until that moment they had dealt with kids who needed to vent their nature, or with individuals who took advantage of it to carry out low-level criminal acts such as robberies ... but demons? They haven't seen any for centuries. Those few very rare subjects encountered in the last 150 years, according to the investigative files; they were nothing but mischievous little bastards who liked to do harm or torment others. Nothing to do with those fearsome beings that were said to bring death and pestilence.

But why now?

What had called her back?

Hawes knew nothing, and everyone was demanding an answer from him.

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The Captain had to be careful what he said, a wrong word was enough to set the hearts on fire, instead he needed calm and attention.

The alarm went off rumbling, the operators of the TDE and other companies sprinted to the computer room, eager to know the danger signaled by the sound of the siren.

> Hawk asked one of the subordinates he met on the street.

> this eager replied.

When you speak of the devil ...

****

North Beach, also San Francisco.

It was an area that attracted many tourists, with small gardens, art galleries and museums scattered everywhere, and when the days got too hot you were lucky enough to enjoy a cool breeze thanks to its location overlooking the sea. In those parts the houses and commercial buildings were low and simple, without the weight of the steel frames of the skyscraper you could better enjoy the sky to the full, especially on beautiful sunny days.

Now, that pleasant area oozed with death and fear.

When the state of emergency was activated, it was said that there had been suspicious deaths near the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, a small TDE army had had an area of ​​150 square meters isolated, "justifying" action as a danger of terrorist attack.

The community had no doubts in believing it, so they raised their tents as soon as possible.

Knowing that they were dealing with demons, the soldiers advanced with orders to shoot on sight at the first danger: the enemy was not to be left with an opportunity to react.

Hawk didn't question his colleagues' efficiency, but he couldn't help but be worried about them right now. Keeping a cool head was next to impossible, the whole thing made no sense. Through the camera that his Lieutenant had on his helmet, he could see live what was happening; even though he wasn't there in person he loaded the gun anyway.

He mentally reviewed the information he had received a little over an hour earlier: demons of "yellow" level had been reported, a rank that indicated enemies of medium threat.

In short, subjects that could be faced but from which one had to watch one's back.

Knowing one's enemy was the first of the maxims they taught new followers, probably the wisest of all.

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The sunset had just begun to descend on the neighborhood, the silhouette of the Cathedral peeped out illuminated by the orange sun peeking out among those few violet clouds in the sky; there in front was a small green park with low leafy trees, on the ground, in the half-light; bodies lay. Witnesses said they saw those people suddenly fall to the ground writhing like worms and yellowish foam come out of their mouths. The alarm started like this.

Even without a visible culprit, it was evident that this was the work of a demon.

Not one of the 30 victims was saved.

They proceeded in silence among the bodies that presented an unnatural greenish color, some cicada had begun to chirp, replacing the ever-fading birdsong. A final communication alerted them that there were civilians inside the church; Barricaded inside during the afternoon mass, they never went out to hear the cries of alarm.

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As the squad prepared to carry out orders, a soldier broke away from the group intrigued by something at his feet.

He realized that the asphalt was full of cracks just two centimeters thick and a modest amount of earth partially scattered around. The impression it gave him was that someone had cracked the concrete and dug under it, which was odd since that piece of road had been rearranged less than a month ago.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a movement.

He jerked his head left as he raised his rifle, all he saw was a shoe shop and a fallen scooter. Then he noticed that a portion of the sidewalk was raised just enough to create a crack in it. Who knows what little voice in his head told him to come closer, staring at that crack that most likely gave only into the sewer. He looked intently into the shadows, ignoring the odd smell of putrefaction that came out of it… it was then that two bright eyes returned his gaze.

He was just in time to sound the alarm, before a long steel spear pierced his throat from side to side.

The attack was like a no-roar explosion, a shattering force that threw everyone into the air.

The thick layer of concrete disintegrated as easily as many puzzle pieces as the soft earth gushed around the perimeter, pushed away by those who were making their way to emerge from underneath. The demons appeared in a slow and compact parade, adorned only by their horned animal heads and by the jewels of bones conspicuously assembled in disturbingly elegant forms; some wore simple yellow or gray tunics while others were completely naked.

But it wasn't the clothing that was the worst: Lances, swords, ancient Roman shields… they were armed and ready to fight.

The soldiers fired almost instantly, the orders given by the Lieutenant were confused with the repetitive crackling of shots. The rifles they had been equipped with were the most efficient military engineering had assembled, yet the bullets failed to pierce those old shields, so thin but excellent as a defense. Compact in the "tortoise" formation, the demons advanced step by step very slowly while from the chasm from which they had come out, others were pulling something out: a silver ram's head emerged a little later, the long wooden neck was supported by four muscled individuals with bull masks.

What the hell did they do with a ram's head?

Didn't they really think they were doing something with that bulky and heavy tool?

The Lieutenant looked behind him at the church door. That was the only thing that gave reason to the presence of that heavy object.

> he ordered.

The continuous and rhythmic crackling of the guns was reminiscent of the fireworks of the 4th of July party. The troops did their best, but with all that hot lead the enemy did not retreat and showed no intention of doing so. They dropped the defense only to allow those in the rear to shoot spears and arrows, weapons of primitive make compared to rifles, yet incredibly more effective.

They killed with frightening ease, piercing through the armor-padded uniforms like butter. Those uniforms were designed to protect at least a good 85% chance from enemy fire and even shrapnel of explosives, if you attempted a melee attack with daggers the result was complete failure. Simply put, it was the safest uniform in the world or so it should have been. Chest, arms, legs ... not a part of the body was saved. If the aim was good, the target would collapse instantly; if, on the other hand, it caused only a wound, the victim had the misfortune to feel a heat comparable to that of a fire in the middle of the flames.

At one point they cleared the road, dividing into two silver lines that separated the few soldiers still standing, temporarily distracting them from firing. The Aries ran straight for the two-door entrance to the church. The door did not collapse, to his surprise. They took a few steps back, making another miss. For a moment the lieutenant thought it would be easier to shoot those large targets now, now that the line of defense was halved.

No, of course not.

They had also prepared themselves to resist in that formation.

Four demons raised long plastic sticks on top of which were mounted stones as black as obsidian, chipped and shapeless as broken nails. Light discharges (but not of electricity but of magic) arose from these with circular movements that changed color from blue to red and then to white. Everything that was metal nearby melted like candle wax: street lamps, cars, and most of all the squad's weapons of war, reduced to burning hot mush. After that, the survivors retreated, abandoning the camp and the wounded comrades, seized by a primitive fear.

How ridiculous man was, the demons thought in common.

Under the masks they enjoyed seeing those beasts so trained to be murderers; cowardly abandon their duty as soon as their weapons were taken away. If they had been true children of the homeland, they would have continued to fight until they had a single spark of life in their bodies. They did it, they always had. For this they were better than human beings.

> Hawes yelled from the headphones.

The Captain had lost eye contact for an hour, the order to send support was sent after the first 5 minutes.

The Lieutenant had been wounded in the side by an arrow, the whole point was stuck inside the flesh and since then he had not moved a step to avoid bleeding. The arrow had not been set on fire, yet everything could be felt burning; he had turned red in the face and was sweating as if he had a high fever. His situation was not good, but he refused to leave. Of course, he too was afraid, but he was first of all a soldier and as long as he lived he would continue to fight.

What made him stay there (in addition to the wound), were both the desire to save civilians in church, and the belief that he could stop the enemy.

He wanted an idea, any idea.

He looked at himself, a light bulb turned on as he saw four hand grenades on his belt that he had completely forgotten about.

The ignition rings had been deformed by that magical phenomenon but were still well connected to the small bombs. Only one of those could blow up a tank. But he wasn't going to use just one… he wanted to pop them all. Only one would have made them fly in the air, he would not have felt any satisfaction… instead with the complete quartet he would have made confetti.

Proud of his grades and work, he no longer felt pain when he stood up and threw the belt with the bombs triggered right in the middle of the formation; they were stupid enough to see it come at him without lifting a finger.

> yelled with a smile.

Seconds later, four explosions one after the other shook the earth with their deadly mixture of napalm and chemicals.

****

All around the cathedral a new and larger army of the TDE had taken possession of the neighborhood, besides them were present firefighters and medical workers. The beautiful park had partially caught fire due to the explosion, but incredibly the church had remained intact, only a little blackened, while several decorations and friezes had been destroyed.

The Lieutenant, like the cathedral, had come out bruised but alive.

Lying on a stretcher he observed the fruit of his work, more embittered than satisfied. Yes, he had eliminated the enemy and saved the trapped civilians ... but little and nothing was left of his troop; the white drapes and the black bags of the coroners were just for them.

He was too tired to think about what tomorrow would have in store for him after that absurd battle.

Slowly he fell asleep, dreaming of seeing his family again soon, neglecting what was happening around him.

If he had stayed alert, he would have noticed odd behavior.

About forty civilians, including men, women and children, were rescued from the church.

They hadn't seen the war out there, but the noises had terrified them.

The ladies were the most upset, they hugged their husbands or children thanking God for protecting them during that madness.

But some women, unlike many others gathered together like a flock of sheep to cry without restraint; they discussed angrily in a low voice and dismissed any doctor who offered to check their health conditions.

When no one looked, they left and took a road that led to a dead end. Only one of these came back, a young girl with brown hair and amber skin like that of Indian countries, eyes like black pearls who examined everything and everyone with an annoyed air. Before entering the alley she wore a beautiful long white robe, now instead she wore a uniform similar to that of the TDE soldiers

She blended perfectly among them, no one noticed her intrusion as he joined the "colleagues" who were returning to the base.

Her goal was not to create discord as the demons had done, only to gather information. If she succeeded, she might be able to find and rescue the most important person in the world.

Since "she" was kidnapped, all of them had fallen into despair.