I whipped my arm out as I rushed past Uriah Everett. My katana struck out like a silver crescent. Mjollnir fell. Something about the simultaneous contact of two enchanted weapons must have been more than the Filigreed Masque could handle. Electricity crackled along the silver cocoon of Uriah’s armor. They could have heard him shrieking all the way in Silveropolis.
And then came the bolt of lightning. That part, I hadn’t expected at all.
The sizzling and sparking of raw divine electricity and the thunder of the massive bolt drowned out Uriah’s screams. I shielded my eyes with my fingers, hardly able to see anything but the twitching, smoking shape hovering in the center of the clearing, Uriah Everett being flash-fried to death in an iron maiden of his own making. The air smelled like ozone, burning hair, cooking flesh.
Within moments the lightning passed, the back of my eyeballs still aching and imprinted with the sight of it. The silver wires threaded all around Uriah’s body receded, slipping back into the mask. When the Filigreed Masque fell from Uriah’s head, it took a good part of his face with it. My heart thumped as the artifact tumbled in the air, down towards the sinkhole and Glasya-Labolas’s waiting jaws.
“No!” I sprinted towards the pit, never once thinking that the Masque could still be charged from contact with so much divine lightning. But I never reached the thing. It flew at an angle, as if struck by an invisible bat, swatted aside by an unseen hand. The Filigreed Masque fell onto a patch of grass, safe, but still with a piece of Uriah’s face attached, a disgusting parting gift.
I turned towards the back of the clearing. Bastion. He had one hand extended, a last expenditure of his power to save the Masque from being lost forever. His arm faltered, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he slumped forward. Asher, looking very annoyed, caught him just in time.
The pillar of darkness near the circle receded, rising like black smoke into the sky, taking a screaming Olivia Everett with it. Uriah’s mangled body stopped hovering, then abruptly dropped into the pit. He screamed to the music of his own bones cracking and crunching in the great dog’s mouth. Glasya-Labolas’s teeth closed and snapped like the jaws of a massive infernal machine. A gout of fire and a rush of hot air erupted from the sinkhole, followed by an earth-rattling burp.
“Fuck this,” boomed a deep, massive voice from within the pit.
Particles of dirt began to close around the sinkhole, like a wound healing in rapid motion, the entire chasm beginning to fill itself. The imps ceased their tooting and drumming, screaming in panicked little voices as they hurtled into the hole after their master. There was nothing to show that a demon’s mouth had ever opened there, save for the bare, circular patch of earth where there was no grass.
And above us, the moon shifted, the red of its light dripping from its surface, bathing the world in pale silver once more. Finally. The blood moon was over. Glasya-Labolas had fed, but not on the meat he’d expected. Hey, better Uriah than the rest of us.
Thor had his head to the clouds, like he was searching the sky for something. “She got away. Damn it.”
“Did she, though?” I said. “Or did the demon take her?”
“Either way, good riddance. And who’s a dum-dum now? See? I told you I knew one or two things about smart electrician shit.”
I slipped my sword back into its sheath. “Objection. You know one or two things about abusing your god powers.”
He frowned, then shrugged. “Okay, that too. But we saved the day, didn’t we?”
I looked up at the sky, wondering if any of the other gods were watching. “You, me, and Susanoo, apparently. I didn’t think that would work. Good trick to keep in mind for the future.”
Thor twirled his hammer rapidly. I watched, amused, as it blurred, wavered, and turned back into a regular carpenter’s hammer, which he slipped into his belt. “I wouldn’t get too used to it. No offense, but you had a little extra cachet since I was around. Not to say that Susanoo doesn’t like you. The guy wouldn’t have given you his sword for nothing.”
I looked down at the sword in its scabbard. “One of many, I’m sure, but it’s still special. He thinks I’m a good fighter, and he likes my pretty face.”
Thor laughed. “Every bolt of lightning is another weapon to us. A hurricane, to Susanoo, is just a storm of swords. But yeah, he keeps the master sword with him. It’s precious, the way Mjollnir is to me.”
I slipped my katana back into the folds of my jacket, smirking when Thor’s mouth fell open as the scabbard disappeared within its leathery depths. I winked, chuckling. “I’ve got tricks of my own.”
Gil loped up to us, reverted to his human form, which meant he was back to wearing just boxers – and a couple of scratches, and some bruises, and a surprising amount of loose, wet grass.
“Real nice of you two to finally fucking kill him instead of just standing around playing with your dicks.”
“Please,” I said. “That was just foreplay.”
Thor laughed heartily. If you listened closely enough, you could hear the distant rumbling of thunder. I couldn’t tell if it was something in his voice, or an actual storm brewing, far away.
I clapped Gil on the shoulders, skin slapping on skin. He winced, then frowned.
“Thanks for holding off Uriah. We couldn’t have done it without you, my fairest, hairiest friend.”
“Okay,” Gil grumbled, looking somewhat appeased.
“My furry fella. My hirsute hero.”
“Please. Stop.” He slunk off towards Bastion and Asher, no doubt concerned for Bastion’s well-being, but also interested in a goodly dose of Asher’s healing magic. Bastion had one cheek pressed to the grass, his thumb pushed up against his lip. He appeared to be napping. It was kind of cute, really.
Tabitha was sitting in the grass, her legs splayed out, her hands planted in the earth. I gave her the thumbs up, and she replied with a shake of her head. “I’ll be fine. Just need a breather, maybe a case of bourbon.”