Hell's Heroes

The first clusters of walking dead clawed their way out of crypts and graves, but many of the people killed by the demons have also been brought back to life. A lot of victims are ripped to shreds by overeager demons, but those who are left largely intact are revived by the magic of Death.

“We haven’t been able to get close to the mouth of the tu

“It’s just the first of many,” I tell her. “More will open and in time stronger demons will cross.”

Prae nods slowly. “I guessed as much, but I still… you know… hoped.”

“Forget about hope. We don’t have time for such fantasies.” I cast an eye over the dead around us, then peer at the city in the distance. Planes circle overhead, dropping bombs. Teams of soldiers and mages are dotted around.

“Call off the planes,” I growl at Prae, starting towards the city.

“You’re going in?” she asks.

“Yes. I’ll find the lodestone, destroy it, and that’ll be that.”

“But there are a lot of them. More crossing all the time. They’re not especially strong, but there are so many…”

“All the more for me to kill,” I chuckle, then break into a jog, howling for my werewolves, leaving the humans to retreat or follow as they please.

Carnage. Bloodshed. Mayhem. We cut our way through the ranks of demons and zombies, dismembering, disemboweling. Kernel guides us, tracing patches of light to the location of the tu

Our opponents fall like bowling pins, overwhelmed by the raw force we strike them with. They kill a few soldiers and werewolves, even one or two mages. But their successes pale in comparison to ours, and it’s clear within minutes that we outpower them.

They make their final stand on the outskirts of the city, where the lodestone rests in an excavated ditch. Some of the smarter demons retreat through the tu

I gut a boar-shaped demon, spit out entrails, and shoulder my way forward. Then I’m on the stone. It’s an unremarkable piece of rock, set in the mouth of a small tu

The woman snarls at me and says something in a foreign language. I could use a spell to translate it, but why bother? I’m sure it’s more of the same old crap.

I ball my right fingers into a fist and crush the woman’s head. Apart from her agonized squeal, this has no effect. Several demons throw themselves on me, but I flex my muscles and swat them aside. Then I lash at the rock with my fists, one punch after another. It cracks on the fourth blow, splits on the fifth, then crumbles after a few more.

As the lodestone breaks, a wind rips out of the tu

As the wind drops, the tu

“That wasn’t so hard,” I grin at Kernel. His eyes are wild, darting this way and that, looking for something else to kill. “Easy, big guy,” I calm him, laying a firm hand on his shoulder. “It’s over for now. We can rest awhile.”

“Rest?” he sneers. “Don’t be a child. There’s another tu

“Where?” I growl.

“The other side of the world. We can be there in minutes. You game?”

“What’s it like compared to the one we just shut?”

“Bigger. It’s only been open a few hours, but already more demons have come through there than here. Stronger ones too. A lot nastier than these familiars.”

“Are there Disciples on the scene? Mages? Soldiers?”

“Who cares?” Kernel hoots. “I’ll take them on by myself if you’re chicken.”

“You want to be careful who you taunt,” I snarl.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kernel smirks. “You won’t harm me. You need me. I’m your quick way in and out of the madness.”

I eye Kernel warily as he works on opening a new window. I don’t like this new, wilder version of Cornelius Fleck. Something switched off inside him when the Old Creature was killed. He thought he had a greater purpose, that he was going to save the universe. Now he’s been reduced to the same level as the rest of us, scrapping to salvage an unremarkable planet on its last legs. The demotion hit him hard. I’m not sure how many brain cells he’s operating on. In this state he could do anything.

But there’s no time to try and help the borderline-crazy Kernel. Because even as I’m worrying about him, the window opens and he darts through. I have no option but to call my pack of werewolves to my side and push on after him, before I lose him to an army of demons and the walking dead.

BIGGER, BETTER, BADDER

I know straightaway that we’re in trouble. When you fight as often as I do, you develop a knack of swiftly judging the course of a battle. To any normal person, this would look no different from the war zone we came from, a group of humans and werewolves up against demons and reanimated corpses.

But looks are deceptive. The magical energy in the air is much thicker than it was outside the city. That’s good for us, but even better for the demons. It means stronger monsters can cross, beasts who can cha

There are already some mages and soldiers on the scene. We wade in beside them, werewolves ru

A group of the undead are clustered around hundreds of screaming people. I scatter them with a wave of magic that rips most to pieces. “Fight or get the hell out of here!” I bellow at the humans, then grapple with a massive demon that has several heads and more arms than I can count. It tugs and snaps at me, piercing my flesh in dozens of places, focusing its largest mouth on my face.

I roll across the ground with the demon, punching savagely, biting at anything that comes within range of my fangs. I drive a fist into its stomach and feel around for guts to yank out. Before I can finish off the beast, a foul stench fills the air. Looking up, I spot Kernel vomiting over the demon. As the last drops drip from his lower lip, he touches the vomit and it flashes, becoming acidic. The lethal puke sizzles through the demon’s shell and it falls away, squealing with agony.