The Archdemon was having none of it. It batted Seelzar away with a swipe of its claws and sent a plume of flame right at Harry, then in a single bound was right on top of the Bulwark. The force of his landing shook them right off their feet -- knees, in Carter's case. His head smacked the rooftop and he knew no more.
There was a hum and a thrum and the dragon jerked its head around. Kelly had activated the pulse cannon. It didn't seem like it was working quite right; it was shaking in her hands -- but it had zapped him. She fired off another shot -- it only dealt him a grazing blow this time, but she had his attention -- long enough for Billy to step out of the shadows and fire a shotgun blast right into the dragon's eye. It howled, and before it could recover Fig had come up alongside it and was emptying as many rounds as he could fire into its hide.
Vera looked down at Carter and cursed. She felt his pulse, sighed with relief, and then scowled. She clenched her jaw in thought, grimaced, and reached a decision. She withdrew a chimaera wing from Carter's pocket and threw it skyward; he disappeared. She reached into her robe, turned to Janey, and thrust a folded-up piece of paper into her hand.
"I know you can close the gate," she whispered. "And if you try to double-cross us, I assure you I will drag you to Hell with the rest of the world."
Janey ignored the threat and unfolded the piece of paper. She recognized the spell; she had seen it in the book she had accidentally borrowed from the library all those months ago -- copied in Vera's handwriting. She handed her sword to the middle-aged (thirtysomething? it was hard to tell) woman and began muttering guttural sounds.
The dragon roared; a dozen darkspawn began running toward her.
"EAT SHIT AND DIE!" shouted Spawn, and beat the darkspawn with his chain, as Rick buried his axe in a Hurlock's skull and Seelzar disemboweled another.
Janey traced a series of very precise arcane symbols in the air. She could feel the heat of the dragon's breath coming toward her --
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" shouted Harry, and a silver stag appeared before Janey, absorbing the heat and the force of the flames.
She kicked the ground before her, scattering debris. There was a tremor, the strongest yet, a feeling of constricting, and a Lavos shriek -- and the blackness began, perceptibly, to shrink. Janey staggered forward as the gateway closed; Vera caught her.
There was silence -- just for a moment -- and then the dragon roared in rage.
That was when the final door opened on the rooftop. Larry Tinnik held it open for the mysterious man who was the head of the Bulwark; he pushed Old Man Rivers onto the roof in his wheelchair. And, bringing up the rear:
"Hi, dragon. I'm Gok. I hear you're the baddest fucking demon in two worlds." The fur on Gok's body stood on end as he rolled up his sleeves. "But the thing is, I cook demons for breakfast. Fucking literally. And you are going to make me even richer than I already am."
With that, he reached for the scabbard on his hip and withdrew a giant potato peeler. For the first time, Janey could see fear in the Archdemon's eyes.
The beast reared up, as if it would fly away -- but it seemed stuck fast. Janey could feel waves of power --
-- it was Old Man Rivers. He sat there in his wheelchair, silent, his gaze fixed directly on the dragon and a snarl twisting his mouth.
Gok strode forward, swinging the peeler in a broad, lazy arc. And he began to sing.
"His head was bent in sorrow --" slice "-- red scales fell like rain." And they did. "Puff no longer went to play along the Cherry Lane..." Swish, swish; he was cutting through the dragon's hide like it was hardly there.
"Without his lifelong friend, Puff could not be brave --" Gok thrust the sharp end of his peeler-sword into the beast's chest and cut a seam. "So Puff, that mighty dragon, sadly slipped into his cave!"
He reached his hand into the beast's chest and pulled its heart out. He dropped it in a Styrofoam to-go box, took several steps back, and watched the beast fall, dead.
A collective sigh went up from the gathered heroes, and then Rivers snapped up. Fig ran to him, pulled him from his chair.
"What's happening?" said Janey.
"This is how we kill Archfiends," said Vera, softly. "The beast's soul inhabits the nearest Warden, and then...we kill him."
"No," whispered Janey. "No!" she called to Fig, "You don't have to --!" She reached for her boot. "I have a spirit knife, I've done this before --"
Fig shook his head sorrowfully. "I'm afraid this isn't like that, Janey," he said. "You can't kill this demon outside of a Grey Warden host. If you use that knife, it'll just jump to the next one -- me."
"But --" Janey tried to say something, and then finally sobbed and collapsed to her knees. Vera put a hand on her shoulder -- comfortingly; the first time Janey had ever associated that word with her.
With difficulty, Rivers turned and faced Janey, with a look of gratitude. But he shook his head, gave a weak smile, and turned to Fig.
"Goodbye, old friend," whispered Fig. A knife flashed in his hand. Janey put her head in her hands; Vera held her tightly.
And then it was as if the whole world exhaled. Clouds gathered, and a gentle rain began to fall.
Author
Topic: KateStory Forever (Read 14010 times)