THIRTYSIX

It took the three hunters much too long to organize themselves for what looked like a simple operation. The arguing had commenced when it became apparent that their rope was going to come up short, just barely Gordon guessed, by about ten feet. However their only other option of turning back was a dismal one. Eventually, their one and only rope was fastened to a protruding boulder ready for the descent. Gordon insisted that the ropeless section was going to be no problem. They would just drop the remaining distance; it wasn't that far. However, Sam had a feeling that it would seem a lot further once he was dangling at the end of the line.

Jack went first, with his numb wounded hand. He curled his legs and good arm around the dangling rope and swung out from the alcove. He hung a moment in front of them, suspended in the blackness, and then loosened his grip and slipped slowly down the line.

"Let us know how the drop is?" Gordon called after his disappearing form. Soon he was no more than a tiny speck of light. The hunters left at the top watched anxiously as the light descended away from them. It began to slow when he was about a hundred meters down. That made sense; it was a hundred meter lead. After a brief paused the light rapidly dropped away and then stopped abruptly. At the same time the cavern rang with a muffled thud and yelp.

"I think he found the bottom," Gordon said to Sam and then turned to yell down to Jack. "Hey! Are you ok?"

It took a heartbeat but Jack found his tongue and yelled a vague, echoing response back up to them. If nothing else, it sounded pained.

"How long before he starts getting really sick?" Gordon asked Sam as he pulled the rope in and twisted it once around his leg.

"About an hour, hopefully more with that tourniquet in place."

Gordon nodded grimly then gave Sam a curt salute and dropped quickly down the rope. He went much faster then Jack had and in a couple of seconds he was paused at the end of the line. Seconds after he let go the same thud that Jack had made resonated through the cave. A moment later Gordon yelled an 'all's clear,' back up to Sam.

Okay, Sam thought, here goes nothing. He followed Gordon's example and looped the rope once around his leg, then swung out from the bay. After testing his grip and slipping a couple feet for practice he controlled the remainder of his descent until he felt the rope's end. He took a deep breath and let go. The landing was jarring and, with his sore leg, not very pleasant. He toppled sideways as his bad leg gave way, and despite his efforts let out a grunt as he hit the ground.

Gordon came over and helped haul him up. "Ok?" he asked.

"Yeah…" he answered not bothering to hide his displeasure. "A little more than ten feet, don't ya think?" His leg shook under the stress of standing but Sam was able to maintain his balance regardless. He brushed a layer of dust from his thighs as he tried to hide his wavering stance.

Gordon shrugged, the same way Dean would have, and was already heading towards the next passage. "Yeah I guess so, but we're all here and okay, right?"

"Relatively," Jack murmured to Sam and shifted his pack to the other shoulder.

Sam walked along side Jack as they followed Camazotz's path. "How are you making out?" He avoided shinning his light directly at Jack but in the periphery of the beam could see the beads of sweat popping out from the dirt on his brow.

Jack didn't bother responding and just shrugged, then returned the question to his limping comrade. "How about you?"

Sam shrugged as well. Shrugging was starting to feel like the common response in the cave. Mainly because it indicated that the situation was not good but would have to be endured. "I just want to get out of this cave."

Jack nodded silently and then quickened their pace to catch up with Gordon.

They were about halfway down the passage when the first demonic scream filled their ears. "What the hell is that?" Jack asked above the reverberating walls.

"Someone sounds angry."

"Do you think he's mad that all his little bat buddies are dead?"

"One can only hope that's true," Sam muttered, trying to shake the feeling that there was something more behind the roars. It wasn't long before his worries were confirmed. They had only gone a little way further when the screams turned into a multi-toned howl of pain and rage.

Despite his sore leg he began jogging down the pass. Guided by instinct alone, he ignored Jack and Gordon's questions, and continued to move towards the supernatural sounds. When he rounded a bend the glow of the torch was once again visible and he picked up his pace, overwhelmed with a sense of dread. He was vaguely aware of the pounding of his companions' feet behind him and was more intent on the voice he could now hear mixed in with the screeching demon. It sounded like Latin?… Dean?

He rounded one final corner and skidded to a halt, trying to comprehend the chaos in the dark. The torch lay on the ground of a large cavern only a couple of feet from a large, flailing, monstrous form. It was undeniable that an exorcism was being shouted at the demon, but it wasn't Dean.

Gordon and Jack were shortly behind him and they too paused to take in the scene. It was Jack who spurred them into action. "crap, that's Darrin!" He spun Gordon around and tore into his bag. "We need to light the flares! Now!" He grabbed the sticks from the pack, shoved a couple at Sam and Gordon, and began lighting one as he tore across the cavern.

"Dammit Jack." Gordon took off after him.

As the flare began to glow brighter and brighter in Jack's good hand Sam was able to see the demon, as well as the rest of the cavern, more clearly. Something was hanging from the demon's back as it violently twisted back and forth. The thing finally reached over its head and plucked the form from its back. In the second that the body was suspended over the demon's head Sam knew it to be Dean.

His heart lurched into his throat as Dean was slammed, WWF style, to the ground. His feet were off and running before his mind could even conceive the action. "Dean!" he yelled as he raced across the irregular surface, tripping and stumbling all the way. The demon was picking up his brother's limp form now; he was not going to make it in time. "Dean. No!" The demon flung him, like a rag doll, into the wall. He helplessly watched his brother collapse in a heap.

The demon spun around, horrifically exposed by the amber flare, and maliciously glared at the three approaching hunters. They were only about half way across the vast cavern and posed little threat to Camazotz at this point. He would deal with them once free of the burning, cursed words.

"Ergo, draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica, adjuramus te per Deum vivum, per Deum verum, per Deum sanctum."

Instead, he turned towards the source of the exorcism.