Author note: Same disclaimer as previous chapters.
"Centaur" in the last chapter was in reference to the Inn Liz & Kate first encountered the dead guys. Didn't see the similarity to the "Wolves of St. August" until it was brought up. Oopsie on my part, yet readers be certain this has a different outcome and story has different origins. It came in a dream about these hideously deformed nuns, a firestorm and a curse of damnation from greed. If it is too similar, however, I will delete it. Can't be sneaking material from the master (Mignola) even if it is by accident.
Dust and Ashes
Hellboy stood slowly, his back and lip bleeding and coat torn to shreds. His shadow hid several of the attackers. Hellboy balanced himself on the mound of bones. Shards of red light pierced the blackness and reflected off the dust particles stirred by the approaching corpses. They stood back momentarily, circling him. Hellboy thrashed his tail. He secured his hooves against a few shattered skulls and stone fragments.
"Whatcha waitin' for?"
Hellboy raised his right hand to strike. The corpses did not attack. Hellboy looked upwards into the blackness. They wanted him down here; they would keep him here in this prison until he was too weak to fight.
"You guys can wait here. I'm not sticking around for dinner."
Hellboy pulled a sharp pick from his belt and leapt at the wall. His stone hand and the pick held him to the wall as he pulled himself up into the first floor of the convent. His attackers quickly began ascending the wall, nimbly yet slow. Hellboy lit a mummified femur with his Zippo lighter, it's light guiding him into the bowels of the convent. He nonchalantly pulled the pins from two grenades and threw them into the crypt. The convent shook as a rain of shattered bones fell upon him. A pelvis balanced over the edge for a moment, before falling into the abyss below.
Liz opened her eyes to a violet haze, the undead around her in a circle. They keep their distance, those coming too close crumbled to black dust. She turns her eye to the Convent, a place none who entered ever left. She lowered her gaze to Kate, who held herself to the ground fighting for her life. Hungry, empty eyes surrounded her. For the first time, she felt in control of the fire.
Liz approached Kate, each footstep barely touching the ground. The undead rapidly moved away, charred with the extreme heat. Kate screamed as the fire seared her skin and the blood flowed. Liz stepped back.
"No! Kate! No!"
Liz looked at Kate, then down an alleyway. The iron glowed white, burning all but her own body. Kate watched, with bloodied eyes, as Liz disappeared into the maze of narrow streets.
Kate stood up and dusted herself off. The cobbles were littered with black ashes, the remaining creatures stood in the shadows. She tore a shred of cloth from her shirt and bandaged her hand. She gazed up once more at the convent where Hellboy was likely saving them all. It burned red and orange. She cocked her gun and ran after Liz. Empty eyes watched on.
Hellboy walked carefully on the broken and weakened bars of the convent, through narrow passageways. The few remaining bodies, the walking dead men. They were men. Hellboy stopped and grumbled. The sisters and their wards; the sick, twisted and deformed demons were innocents. With his fist, he bashed through the crumbling stone towards the towers and cels.
Several walls and one ceiling bore large holes before he arrived at a chained and locked door. His right hand quickly released the door from it's iron hinges. The inside surface was concave, thousands of wide gouges and dusty, grayed wood shavings beneath his hooves. Hellboy focused his gaze farther ahead into the black hallway, the light from the femur casting a dim glow over the worn and barren floor. No creatures followed him.
"God left Owsgmina. God was cast away." Hellboy felt the iron cross on his belt anyhow.
Every door to each cell was open, all were empty. He felt a cold chill blow over him. The torch flickered as it passed. He followed the breeze to a small cell where the last rays of sunlight entered through a narrow crack in the roof. A pile of ashes lay in the middle of the room surrounded by twisted, dusty and dried bones. They remained on the floor, unmoving.
Kate followed Liz into through the narrow passageways. Liz stood still in the street, gazing into space.
"Liz, wait!"
"Cepi vestri amicus. Operor non timeo. Is ero tergum nunc."
Kate stood motionless.
"Quisnam es vos?"
"Succurro rutilus unus. Reperio lumen."
Kate turned he back to Liz. Before looking once more into her flames.
"Qua est lumen?"
"In telum of formido vir. Proditor."
Liz followed the narrow streets and passed crumbling buildings. Herlight clashed with the reddening sky and lengthening shadows. Mangled zombie-men followed her at every turn, quickly gatheringinto a mass of about eighty. They watched every step she took. She turned for a brief second only to see Kate running through the darkness towards Hellboy. She was alone.
For those who don't know Latin, it's not as critical to the story as you may think. Kinda like the Latin in Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame. Intereseting, but ads little informationto the story that's not described by the actions of the characters.