A/N- Thanks for all the great reviews on that last chapter! We're winding down now, only this update and one more left. I'm so excited to show you all what's in store for Ria in the next story (yeah, spoiler, Ria survives. I mean, I've only mentioned the sequel a few times now, haven't I? And how can I have one without her?). But I'll talk more about the sequel in the end notes of the last update. For now, let's continue on!
Chapter 25- Hell Unleashed
Once, back when Ria was about six or seven years old, she had watched a puppy get hit by a car. Not just any puppy, but her new, beloved pet. She remembered rushing out into the street, not caring for the cars that had yet to stop, and coming to a skidding stop on her knees at her pet's head. She had not had a lot of experience with life and death then, but somehow, some basic human instant told her that her puppy was taking its last breaths.
She remembered the rabble around her. The driver apologizing over and over, saying she had not seen the dog. Ria's father running up to his daughter, moments away for chastising her for running into the road… and stopping short when he had seen the dog's condition. The driver offering to pay for the puppy's loss, which only made Ria sob even harder. And then, finally, the dog taking its last breath in Ria's arms.
That had been her first experience with death. She had, unquestionably, had many run-ins with it since then. Hell, a couple of times, she had even been directly responsible. But none of that felt like this.
Now, in the middle of the cold, abandoned cathedral of Dionysus the Aeropagite (patron saint against the devil, fat lot of help that was), Ria realized that she was sure she felt that knife pierce her heart as well. She was helpless. Something that she had not been in quite some time. But there she was, standing flaccidly by as she watched her friend twitch and shudder, blood spilling out from her heart. The young huntress's mind flew back to that terrible image in the dream of this ritual. In a moment that seemed to last forever, Ria came crashing back to reality. There was no Uncle Jason this time, hidden among the followers to trip the cult leader. In fact, the only person that was standing over Keisha as she took her last breath—and Ria was sure her breath went with hers—was that stupid cult member and Galamoth.
Keisha's head lolled to her right side, her lifeless eyes falling to Ria's. In the back of Ria's mind, she was aware of the noise around her. The voices of her companions calling her to action. The sound of a portal ripping open somewhere to the right of the building. The roar of a new player on the field. But the only things she heard were the dull thud of her own heart and Galamoth's roaring laughter.
A new fire fueled Ria, and she dove forward, lashing out at the cult leader. The end of the Vampire Killer caught the man in the throat, sending him crashing to the floor. Ria was not sure if the blow had killed him or not… but at this moment, as she finally stood over her friend's body—ignoring how close in proximity Galamoth was to her now; how easily he could just stomp her out of existence once and for all—she found that she did not care about the cult member's fate. Ria's eyes filled with tears that spilled down her cheeks, leaning over Keisha.
This was her fault. She had promised Sgt. Stone that she would save Keisha. And now she had failed. All that bravado… for nothing.
A roar filled the room, along with a bright light that was almost blinding. And Ria became suddenly aware of how strange it was that Galamoth seemed to be paying her no mind. Her eyes drifted upward—way upward—to see that Galamoth had his attention somewhere off to Ria's right. The young huntress turned as Sara appeared at Keisha's head.
"Ria. Oh, Ria, you have to focus!" her mentor pleaded.
There was a hole in the wall, but unlike the more usual holes, this one exuded light.
"Ria! Hell is unleashing its demons!" Alucard shouted over the whipping winds that circled the cathedral. "If you defeat the first demon instead of Galamoth—the one who summoned it—the portal will close!"
Demon. Ria's head was foggy, and it seemed to replay this word over and over while she hunched, protectively, over her friend's body.
"Focus! It'll do Keisha no good now if you just give up!" Sara all but shrieked at her.
Sara's words seemed to do nothing to stir Ria. However, a large cloven foot landing on this side of the portal shocked her into focus. The creature that emerged was large—not anywhere near as large as Galamoth, but at least Ria's height and a half—and bright red. In fact, it reminded Ria, vaguely, of a monster she had seen in an old movie before, with ebony horns that curled upward, a pointed face in every sense of the phrase, and claws for hands. Its voice was deep and resonated about the cathedral.
"Who dares summon me?" it growled.
Galamoth was grinning, apparently convinced that this was going to be an easy fight. That anything smaller than he was going to be easy to squish. That he could just kill the thing and move on to the next challenge.
"Ria! Kill the demon!" Isaac shouted.
Kill the demon. Kill the demon. Weaken Galamoth. Ria's grip tightened on the Vampire Killer. She cast one look down at her friend, using her free hand to close Keisha's eyes.
If Hell was what Galamoth wanted, then Ria was going to make damned sure that that was the last thing that monster got.
…
Darren chanted the words that were scrawled on the small scroll the Librarian had handed him. His instructions had been to simply chant until he reached the end of the page, then repeat it two times. He was midway through his second repeat.
Meanwhile, the Librarian was busy adding foul smelling things to the bowl that stood atop the stone pillar. He would chant a word or two with each new addition, but it was not as continuous as Darren's part. Finally, Darren completed his chanting, letting his hands fall limply to his sides.
"Is that it? Are we done? Is the monster gone?" he asked.
A wolf howled in the distance, and Darren jumped, stumbling back a couple of paces. The Librarian added another ingredient—with another chanted word—and sighed. He shook his head, taking a moment out of his spellcasting to stroke his long, salt and pepper beard.
"No. Galamoth is still too strong. And our spell is winding down. Miss Smith will have to hurry if there is to be any hope of this working."
Another howl in the distance. Darren did not fall back this time, but he still shivered.
"What if she can't do it? What if Ria can't weaken Galamoth?"
The old man gave a single chuckle, which sounded more like the last sound of a hopeless man rather than any note of mirth.
"Then we're done for."
…
It was a race, two against one. Sometimes, that rotated which two were against which one. Sometimes it was Ria and Galamoth holding the demon that had been birthed by the portal at bay. Other times, it was the demon and Galamoth trying their best to put Ria down. In the end, Ria was dealing blows both ways. She had gotten a couple of hits in on Galamoth, which seemed to do nothing but sting like a bee for all the reaction that he had. The demon had a bigger response to the Vampire Killer, with smoke rising up from any place the weapon collided. And it appeared that the demon's spear—an ebony and black weapon that made Isaac's spear look like a toy from Wal-Mart—had a greater effect on Galamoth's body. It left wide, gaping wounds wherever it struck, and Galamoth howled in agony each time the demon landed a blow. There was even a brief moment where Ria considered trying to relieve the demon of its weapon, just to use it against the larger monster. But she had no idea what kind of side effects that a demon's weapon could have on a human, so she quickly disregarded that.
Behind her, her friends were still dealing with the zombies that had been created from the fallen cult members, and it seemed like Galamoth had taken the time to summon more enemies for them to contend with. Ria had no idea when this had happened, but she kept her mind on the task at hand.
Galamoth shot out lightning from his staff, and Ria dove for cover. It struck the demon head on, but it did nothing but stun it for a moment before it let out another hellish roar. It dove forward. Right before it seemed as if it was going to crash into Galamoth's shin, it leapt, flying way up to Galamoth's head like something out of a martial arts movie. It buried its spear deep inside Galamoth's head, and he roared, yanking the demon off and hurling him back to the floor.
Ria took her chance. She charged out from her hiding place, striking out at the demon and dodging Galamoth when necessary. The spear in the cathedral-sized monster's head seemed to be slowing him more than what he thought possible. He attempted to shoot lightning at Ria as she continued to wail on both him and the demon—striking and dodging in turn—but it fizzled out before it could even leave the staff.
Galamoth fell back in the fight, deciding that it would be better to remove the spear that seemed to be the source of all of his trouble. Which was just fine for Ria. She would deal with him in a moment. The demon struck out with a clawed hand, and Ria rolled under the strike with only a hair's width to spare. When she was back on her feet, she saw that she had, in fact, had less than that to spare. A tear the width of her forearm had appeared in the front of her shirt, managing to just miss the tender flesh of her stomach.
"You're gonna pay for that, Big Red," she said.
The demon chuckled and beckoned her forward. The young vampire huntress took a deep breath, and in that moment, she tried her best to remember all of Sara's training. She could defeat this demon. She just had to think.
The monster was standing next to a thick stone pillar, which was only a few feet away from a pew that had somehow avoided destruction. Save for natural defenses, it was weaponless. It was large, and although fast for its height and width, it was still slower than Ria.
She grinned, remembering a morning not too long ago when Sara had taken her to train in Eternal Night. She held tightly to the Vampire Killer, and, starting low, she charged at the demon. It swung at her, but she dodged, leaping onto the back of the pew. She could see the confusion in the creature's eyes as she jumped from there to the pillar, pitching herself behind the monster. However, as she flew behind, she let her whip swing out, and she grasped the other end, pulling it taunt around the demon's neck.
It roared and flailed, but the whip burned through its crimson skin until, finally, its overlarge head came tumbling down at Ria's feet. The body fell forward. Another roar filled the cathedral, and Ria turned her gaze upward to see that Galamoth had managed to remove the spear, dropping it to the floor.
"You stupid child!" Galamoth raged.
He swung down, and Ria was not fast enough to move out of the way. The back of his massive hand caught her, carrying her a few feet—airborne—until she finally flew of her own momentum against one of the hard, hard stone walls of the cathedral. She slid down, dazed, into a slump on the floor.
She was aware of a chorus of people calling her name, but the wind had been knocked out of her. She inhaled as deeply as she could as soon as she could, trying to find her voice again. She lifted up, trying to turn onto her back when she became aware of a large shadow falling over her.
"Ria!" Isaac shouted, skidding over beside her.
It took a moment for her to register it all. Galamoth's foot was suspended over her, seconds away from squishing her like a fly on a windshield. But Isaac was with her now, with the Chauve-Souris held vertical. He shoved it upward, embedding it into Galamoth's foot. The monster roared as Isaac yanked his weapon back, and Galamoth all but fell against the opposite wall. Ria half expected the wall to give way under such a massive thing's weight, but it held. Kudos to the cathedral's architects.
Ria's gaze fell to her right, finding the crimson demon's discarded spear. She stood, grabbing both it and the Vampire Killer.
"It's over, Galamoth. I'm the one who killed that demon. Hell won't be set free tonight," Ria said, leaning just a tad onto Isaac. After all, crashing into a wall hurt.
"Foolish girl," Galamoth growled. "It has not even begun!"
Ria shot a look over at Isaac, indicating the spear in her hand. He nodded once, taking it from her. Galamoth dove forward, no doubt trying to crush them, but Isaac moved faster. He launched the spear overhead, embedding it into the monster's heart. Smoke curled up around the point of impact, and Galamoth howled as she stumbled back, again, against the wall.
A large roar filled the room, but it was not Galamoth's roar this time. Nor the roar of any other monster. A large portal, dark this time, was opening beneath Galamoth, and it was the roar of the winds it caused that filled the room.
"No!" he cried.
"How does it feel now, you son of a bitch! You've lost!" Ria cried over the winds.
They were picking up dangerously, to the point where Ria felt her feet slipping out from under her. But her eyes were on the altar that still held Keisha's body. And the body was sliding toward the portal.
Isaac's arms were around Ria now, holding her pressed against the pillar behind them. The pews were beginning to slide slowly, skidding, toward the hole.
"Keisha's body!" Ria screamed over the increasing winds.
Galamoth was roaring now, clawing at anything he could find. But it was no use. The winds were more powerful at their source, and he was right above that.
"Ria, hold tight!" Isaac ordered.
"I'm fine! Get her body! Please, Isaac!"
The former forgemaster locked eyes with her. After a long moment, he nodded, and let go. He flew almost instantly to the altar, wrapping an arm about Keisha's waist. He dragged her body down to the floor with him, holding on to the altar with only one free hand. Now Ria's heart thudded against her chest for another reason, afraid that she had sent Isaac to his death.
"Hold on, please!" she shouted, feeling the wind blow away the tears in her eyes before they could fall.
"No! No!" Galamoth roared as he sunk down into the hole. "Not again! No! I broke free once! I could do it again!"
Before he could cry any other threats out, he fell out of sight, and the gaping black hole closed over his head. The winds vanished instantly, and the sound of several bodies hitting the floor echoed about the cathedral. Ria was on her feet almost instantly, relieved to see that Isaac had not only held on, but he had Keisha's body as well.
Alucard and Jason were safe as well, both stumbling out into view. Most of the bodies of the cult members that had yet to rise were blown into the portal, along with the body of the demon Galamoth had raised. And whether he had been dead or merely unconscious, the body of the Cult Leader was gone as well.
Isaac stood, cradling Keisha's body—which was still modestly wrapped in the crimson sheet of fabric. Ria leaned back against the pillar as her friends approached her.
"We did it," Jason said quietly.
Sara appeared somewhere to Ria's left, and Ria found herself grateful that she had held on to the sacred weapon whether she had realized it or not.
"You defeated Galamoth, Ria," Alucard said. "I'm sure Keisha would have been happy that you saved the world. At any cost."
He was trying to make her feel better. Ria knew that. But in the end, all she could do was grimace.
"Yeah. Go me."
End Notes: A happy ending? Well, we're not quite at the ending yet. One more update so you all can read the epilogue. I'll fill in more information about the sequel, Tribulations, in that chapter's end notes—including that summary you asked for, Fan of Games. Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, by the way. Action scenes tend to do that. I've just never been very comfortable with them, although I find them to be a necessary evil. Anyhow, please review and I'll work on getting that epilogue up ASAP!