Goetic Justice 2

When they were high enough that Ryan could have covered them with his hand, Azazel struck the deciding blow. The fallen Watcher finally overcame the Angel, parrying a thrust from his spear and taking advantage of the opening to plunge the molten blade of its halberd into the Seraphim's chest. There was a bright flash that forced Ryan to avert his eyes, like staring directly at a welder's torch. When he was able to look back, he saw that the blade had penetrated the gilded armor and was buried deep.

Samael wailed, an oddly musical sound, like an orchestra was doing their best to approximate a human voice. What looked like liquid silver poured from the wound, glittering in the moonlight as it fell towards the ground. The Angel took the haft of the weapon in his hand and tore it free, the blade coated in his Angelic blood, and then turned to flee. He seemed to morph from an armored humanoid into an almost formless ball of golden feathers, the mass of flapping wings that now made up his body dotted with glowing eyes, staring wildly as the amorphous shape shot into the sky. It looked like a shooting star, but traveling in the wrong direction, leaving a streak of silver blood in its wake.

The Seirim brayed like goats, the sound alarming Ryan, cheering for their father as he lazily spiraled down towards the forest on his leathery wings.

"Will it die?" Ryan asked.

"I am not certain that a Seraphim can die," she replied, "but Samael has turned tail. Ever the coward when faced with a fair fight..."

"We should keep moving," Ryan said. "Even if we've turned the bastards back here, they'll send more. If any of your sisters are still lost, they should be safe now, I'm pretty certain that we killed all but one of the soldiers. We need to find like a cave or a hunting cabin maybe, regroup and figure out what we're going to do."

She nodded, and the group began to move off into the forest. He knew that there were log cabins used by seasonal hunters in this park, but he had no idea where to find one. All he knew was that they had to put some distance from themselves and what had once been their home.

They marched through the woodland in silence for a while, the terrain becoming easier to traverse the further they got from the grove. The forest had flourished to an unnatural extent in proximity to the Seirim, but outside the range of their influence, it returned to what one would expect to find in any national park. There was less dense undergrowth and fewer gnarled roots protruding from the soil.

"Vapula's gift was worth the price, I take it?" Nahash asked.

"What?"

She pointed to his shoulder, where his clothes were drenched with dark blood from the soldier that he had shot in the head. His chest and face were both covered in small flecks of it, and the knuckles on his right hand were now red and swollen. Killing people in real life was nothing like doing it in a movie or a videogame, it was...messy. He tried to wipe some of the blood splatter from his face with his sleeve, but found that it was dried and crusted.

"Yeah," he replied, "it helped me get out of there in one piece."

She no doubt sensed his emotions, his guilt and his disgust, but she didn't press the issue further. Ryan wasn't sure what he was feeling, he had no frame of reference, but it was a distinctly negative state of mind. He drove the thoughts from his brain, he didn't have time for self-reflection right now. Maybe when they got to a safe spot, he'd try to tangle with his proverbial demons and straighten this all out.

***

After hiking for what must have been four or five miles, they came to a stop, Ryan sitting beneath a tree as he took a break to rest. The Seirim hovered nearby, comforting one another and talking in hushed voices. He wracked his brain trying to think of a solution to their most immediate problem; finding shelter.

"Do you guys have enough energy left to like...make the trees form a hut for us or something?" he asked.

"We have no reserves of magick left," Nahash replied, "scarcely enough to retain our physical manifestations."

"Can't Azazel share some with you? I thought that was how it worked?"

"If he has not replenished our stores by now, then he has none left to share. He no doubt pushed himself to the limit during his bout with Samael."

"Should we wait for him to find us, or..?"

"If Azazel wishes to find us then he shall do so," Nahash said as she took a seat on a nearby root. "Pay him no mind, Ryan. Azazel is a Watcher, he can take care of himself."

"I just figured he'd want to be here to protect you," Ryan added.

"He did," she shot back, "Samael would have killed all of us permanently if he had not intervened. We are Nephilim, the product of an unholy union between a Watcher and a mortal. There is nothing that repulses their master more than us."

"I didn't mean anything by it," he quickly added. "I guess he's just...off doing his own thing again. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's important."

Everyone was tired and rattled, the sooner they found a place to wind down, the better. He placed his pack between his legs and rummaged through it, trying to find something of use. He had books and vials of oil, wards and a little velvet bag full of colored chalk. He had removed the radio too and had placed it in one of the pockets. He came across a small, oblong shape and wondered what it was for a moment.

Of course! It was his phone. With all this magickal business he had almost forgotten about the wonders of the modern world. He turned it on and unlocked the home screen, swiping through his apps. There wasn't anyone that he could call for help, the police and emergency services were compromised, they couldn't be trusted. But if he could get a signal, perhaps he could pull up a map of the area or find some information on the park that might help them.

No bars, fuck. He stood and held the phone above his head, wandering around the immediate area as the Seirim watched him curiously, his face lit by the glow of his phone.

"Come on, come on," he grumbled to himself. They weren't that far from the city, there must be cellphone towers near enough that he could get at least a weak signal.

"What are you doing?" Nahash asked skeptically.

"If I can get a signal then I might be able to figure out where we are," he replied, stumbling over a root. "You know, internet, global positioning. All that good stuff. There are other tools in the world besides magick."

"Don't stray too far," she called after him as he wandered away. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, he lowered his phone, frustrated. It was no use, he couldn't find a signal. But what if he climbed one of the trees? Maybe the canopy was blocking the transmissions?

He located one that he felt confident climbing, it had a lot of low-hanging branches, and then stowed his phone in his pocket as he hoisted himself off the ground. He had climbed trees as a child but, he hadn't done it for several years, and his IT job hadn't exactly kept him at the peak of physical fitness.

After struggling for a few moments he made it onto the first branch, hearing it creak ominously under his weight. It seemed to be holding, and so he continued upwards, climbing from branch to branch. Finally, he emerged from the canopy, taking in a breath of the cool night air as he reached into the pocket of his pants. He held up the phone, his heart leaping as he saw it pick up a solitary bar.

He opened his map app, and the GPS signal got through, putting him right in the heart of the national park. There was nothing but miles of woodland in every direction, with the city limits to his immediate East. The app did show a couple of roads that went through the park and a few hiking trails.

Perhaps he could find a more accurate map. He waited for what felt like an eternity as his phone made use of the very limited connection to load up the state's website, then he managed to find a tourist page that had a more detailed map of the area, complete with nature shots of deer and a cartoon squirrel. Now he could see information that would be relevant to visitors, rather than just a satellite view.

There, a hunting cabin, suitably far away from the more traveled areas of the park. It was a few miles North-West, and according to the website it wasn't currently hunting season, so it should be empty. There was a chance that squatters or junkies from the city might have found their way there, but mortals were the least of his worries right now. He wasn't sure how he was going to navigate through the forest, a boy scout he was not, but climbing another tree every time that he needed to check his heading would get the job done.

He descended beneath the canopy and began his climb to the ground, lowering himself down from branch to branch. The tree was pretty high. The ground was perhaps twenty feet below him, but his footing was sure, and the branches seemed sturdy enough. He kept his eyes on the rough bark of the trunk, looking down made his stomach lurch. The creaking of the branches and the occasional sounds of nocturnal woodland critters were suddenly joined by a new sound. He could only hear it if he concentrated on it, but it sounded like...heavy breathing?

Ryan chanced a look below him, and his heart stopped in his chest. Lurking at the base of the tree, waiting patiently for him to come into reach, was a dark shape with eyes that blazed with jets of fire. Haures growled, a low, guttural sound that shook Ryan's bones. He opened his jaws to expose canine teeth as long as a human finger, molten slaver dripping from his lips to fall to the soil below. In a flash the demon leapt like a coiled spring, digging his hooked claws deep into the bark and scrambling towards his quarry.

Ryan shot back up into the branches like a startled monkey, Haures swiping at him with a massive paw and missing his shoe by a hair's breadth. He clung to the bark for a few more moments then dropped back down to the ground, pacing back and forth as he glared up at Ryan. Thankfully he seemed to be too large and heavy to climb the tree in pursuit of his prey. Had he tracked Ryan all the way here from the grove?

"I have thee now, boy," Haures spat. "Come down and face thy fate."

The demon lunged again, his claws scratching at the bark as he attempted to climb the tree. He got a couple of feet, but then lost his grip, sliding back down to the ground. He growled, spitting flames, circling around the tree as he tried to find another way up. Ryan drew his handgun, knowing that it wouldn't do much good, but at least he had something that he could use to fight back.

"Nahash!" he shouted. "Nahash, help!"

"Thy familiars cannot hear thee," Haures growled, "thy wandering has carried thee too far from them. Thou art mine now, mortal, it is only a matter of time." He snarled and lunged, scrambling towards Ryan, but again fell short. "I shall crisp thy flesh and gnaw on thy bones!"

Haures had stalked Ryan until he had separated himself from the safety of the group, biding his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. The Seirim might not hear him shouting, but they'd probably hear a gunshot. Ryan waited for Haures to make another attempt at climbing the tree, then quickly aimed down and pulled the trigger. A loud crack rang out through the forest as he put a bullet between the demon's eyes. It didn't seem to do much more than piss him off, Haures spitting and snarling as he fell back to the ground.

"I shall take my sweet time with thee," he hissed, dark smoke pouring from his mouth with every breath. "I will see thee beg for death before the night is done. Mark my words, cur."

Ryan shot him again, the bullet hitting him in the flank, what looked like a droplet of molten metal leaking from the puncture. Haures became enraged, running at the tree and leaping, one of his curved claws hooking through the leg of Ryan's jeans. It tore through the fabric, the demon unable to find purchase, falling back to the dirt. Ryan climbed higher, putting as much distance between him and the furious creature as he could.

"Rats can be smoked out of their burrows," Haures growled, "let us see if the same is true for mortals."

He retched like a cat trying to cough up a hairball, and then belched a plume of fire towards the base of the tree. It was liquid, sticky like some kind of napalm or magma, the roots immediately bursting into licking flames where it came into contact with them. Ryan could already feel the heat that it was giving off, choking smoke beginning to rise up into the canopy in a thick plume. He coughed, trying to get higher, but found that there was nowhere left to go. He covered his mouth with the collar of his shirt, his eyes watering and stinging as the blaze began to climb. No natural fire could have engulfed a living tree so quickly.

Haures laughed, dark fumes rising from his nostrils.

"Burn up there, or down here, 'tis all the same to me."

Just then Ryan heard the pounding of hooves approaching fast, Haures turning his head and snarling as the Seirim came rushing to his aid. One of them lunged and delivered a nasty kick that sent Haures reeling, the demon panther spitting flame and swiping at her with his paw in retaliation. Soon the rest had closed in, leaping in on their long legs to attack him with their hooves then scooting back out of range as he batted at them furiously. They quickly overwhelmed the demon, and he must have known that he couldn't prevail against so many Nephilim, having already tangled with Nahash once before. He shot one last, hateful glance up at Ryan, then sped off into the darkness of the forest at full tilt.

"I'm up here!" Ryan shouted, choking on the smoke and hoping that they would be able to hear his voice over the crackling blaze. The Seirim looked up, but they could not approach the tree, which was now a roaring bonfire. Whenever they drew close, they had to back up again, unable to brave the searing heat.

Nahash acted quickly, running at an adjacent tree and leaping up into its branches with all the grace of a gazelle. She scaled it easily, hanging from a high branch with one hand as she braced her cloven hooves against the trunk. The Seirim propelled herself forward, snatching Ryan as she passed and falling to the ground with him clasped in her arms. The fall must have been twenty feet or more, and she rolled when she landed to absorb some of the impact, but they both came down hard.

Nahash released her hold on him, stumbling to her feet and grimacing, limping over to a nearby trunk and resting her weight on it. Ryan stood, cradling what he assumed must be a bruised rib, but besides that he seemed to be in one piece.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and Nahash nodded.

"You?"

"Only thanks to you," he replied solemnly as he turned to look back at the burning tree. The flames now encompassed it entirely, burning like a torch, the heat singing his eyebrows even from a few feet away. He was worried that the supernatural inferno might spread and start a forest fire, but it seemed to be confined entirely to that one tree. Even the burning leaves and glowing embers that it shed seemed to peter out before they could spread the flames further.

"I found a place where we should be safe for a while," he said, "there's a log cabin North-West of us that should be vacant. We can stay there for a while, figure out what to do next."

"Then there's no time to waste," Nahash said. "Haures is relentless, he will not abandon his hunt so easily."

CHAPTER 9: CABIN IN THE WOODS

The sun was just beginning to rise by the time the party finally came across the hunting cabin. Calling it rustic would have been an understatement, it was obviously quite old and fairly dilapidated, the forest slowly encroaching on the land that had been cleared around it. It was a squat building made from wooden paneling rather than the logs that he had expected. It had a roof and a porch, a door, and a few windows with glass too dirty to see through. Clearly, the park services didn't pay much mind to maintaining these buildings during the off-seasons.

The Seirim waited at the edge of the clearing as he approached, not wanting to cause alarm on the off-chance that someone was squatting here. He rapped on the door, wincing as he realized that he was knocking with his swollen knuckles. He switched hands and tried again, but there was no reply.

He walked around to the side of the cabin and pressed his face up against the glass, blocking the light of the rising sun with his hands as he tried to see inside, but it was to no avail. Shrugging in the direction of the Seirim, he made his way back to the front door and tried to force it. It was locked of course.

Ryan scratched his chin for a moment, then took a step back, raising his foot and bringing it down hard on the door. He had seen this before in movies, you were supposed to kick the door beside the lock to break the mechanism. After a few kicks and no results he began to tire, but Nahash was already making her way over to him. She seemed to have shaken off her limp during their hike.

She copied him, slamming her powerful leg into the door, and it buckled. With a second kick of her hoof, it swung open, and Ryan drew his gun as he stepped over the threshold.

"Anybody here?" he asked. "Park Rangers!" he added, realizing that he'd probably need a good excuse for having a handgun if there was indeed anyone living here. There were no replies, and so he stowed his gun in his waistband, waving in Nahash. She had to duck to fit inside, the ceiling was barely seven feet, and her sisters followed behind her.

Ryan examined the cabin as the Seirim sat nearby. It wasn't very large. There was a living room with a small wood fire that doubled as a stove, the metal pipe that served as a chimney vanishing into the ceiling. There were a few musty chairs and rugs scattered about, and the room was decorated with stuffed deer heads mounted on plaques, their antlers blanketed in cobwebs. Towards the back of the building were a bathroom and a bedroom, with perhaps enough overall living space to serve a party of three or four hunters during their downtime. It was no vacation home, it was strictly functional.

He suddenly realized how tired he was, the bed calling to him like a siren. Nahash appeared at the doorway behind him, leaning down to see inside.

"You should get some sleep," she said, no doubt sensing how exhausted he was. "We will stand guard and keep watch for Haures."

"We can't spare the time," Ryan replied reluctantly. "As soon as they learn about what went down at the grove, they'll probably send reinforcements, and a hunting cabin is an obvious hiding spot. We need to think about what we're going to do next. I have chalk, and if we clear the floor in the living room, I'll probably be able to draw a summoning circle. I have some ammunition left in this handgun, and I still have that G-22 that I recovered from the apartment in my bag. If we can figure out a way to-"

Nahash strode across the room and turned him around, cupping his face in her hands and leaning down to kiss him. His rambling was silenced as her sinuous tongue pushed into his mouth, so long and thick that he could scarcely accommodate it. His cheeks bulged outwards as she tasted their inner surface, teasing him with her gentle strokes, drawing slow shapes with her impossibly dexterous organ. Her embrace was so slippery and wet, her metallic flavor pricking his tongue, her puffy lips pressing against his as he leaned into her. Their tongues entwined, her warm flesh slick with her saliva is it roved and coiled, her familiar scent filling his nose.

She smelled of damp earth, of dew-soaked grass and wildflowers, as if all the scents of a lush and fertile forest had seeped into her curly wool. He felt the tension melt out of his body, the rapid beating of his heart slowing, and he couldn't help but sink his fingers into the soft meat of her hips.