I didn’t respond as I hunted for River’sscent amongst the stands we passed. It was nearly impossible todetect her through the aromas of cooking flesh and the sweet scentof prury fruit on the air. Still, I was drawn to a booth with smallcreatures hanging from the hooks in the ceiling.
My lips curled back when I spotted the babybarta demons swinging their claws at us. The bartas had been lockedbehind a seal thousands upon thousands of years ago. They weremindless animals with a need for violence and blood. That endlessneed had driven one of my ancestors to lock them away in order toprotect others from their voracious appetites.
“The fifty-fifth seal,” I sneered.
“You’ve still felt nothing from the hounds?”Bale inquired as she stared at the bartas in disgust.
Beneath my flesh, Crux and Phenex stirred asthey sought answers for what had happened to their kin. The sealscontinued to fall, but I felt no loss of a connection to any of thehounds I’d left within Hell to guard them. “No.”
“Why does Magnimus have bartas here?” Corsoninquired. “Why not slaughter them outright? He knows how dangerousthey are.”
“I don’t know,” I said as I turned away fromthe hanging creatures. My gaze ran over the booths, the banners,and lights as I searched for some sign of River, Hawk, or Magnimus.Nothing stirred and no one moved amongst the aisles running throughthe carnival. “But I’m sure he has his reasons.”
“Yeah, that he’s joined Lucifer’s side,”Bale replied.
“He would most likely be with Lucifer thenand not here,” I replied. “I don’t have any trust in Magnimusanymore, but if he joined Lucifer, Lucifer would be using him rightnow instead of allowing him to hide away here.”
Spinning on my heel, I hurried further downthe dirt road. All of what surrounded us was an elaborate sceneinterwoven by the demon of illusions, but it seemed so real that Icould feel the grains of the wooden booths surrounding us when Itrailed my fingers over them.
Within this area of Magnimus’s world, hisillusions had taken on a life I’d never seen in them before. He’dalways been able to create a scene out of thin air, one that wouldthrow off any attacker, but it could also be easily discredited ifthe attacker ran through it.
It must have taken hundreds of years ofelaborately interweaving the scene over and over again for it tocome this alive.
“Why did he build something like this?”Corson asked.
“Who knows why Magnimus does anything,” Ireplied.
I stopped and scented the air. Beneath thesulfur and fiery scent of Hell, the cooking flesh, and the moreanimalistic and musky aromas of the bartas, I caught a hint ofRiver on the air. Turning, I strode down a side alley, past foodcarts and a cluster of barns housing some of the more innocuousanimal species of Hell.
***
River
Glancing over my shoulder, I was relieved tofind the aisle behind us still empty, but that didn’t meansomething wasn’t coming. “Go faster,” I said when Hawk startedmoving again.
I followed behind as he broke into a briskjog toward the front of the tent. We had to get free of this place,now. A flash of movement in the corner of my eye caught myattention. I spun toward it and spotted one of those “bear” thingsmoving in another aisle. Its image was distorted by the glass jarsstacked on the shelves from floor to ceiling with their gruesomecontents, but I still recognized what it was.
Unlike its smaller brethren, this thingstood almost ten feet tall and had no hooks holding it back.
“Holy—”
Hawk’s words were drowned out when the thingreleased a roar that rattled the walls of the tent before itcharged at us. It had no qualms about plowing into the row ofshelving separating us from it. I leapt back as the shelf full ofjars tilted precariously beneath the impact of its bulky body.
Not on me! Not on me!The wordsscreamed through my head as I dashed to the side. The jars hit thedirt floor and exploded outward, along with all of their contents.I danced back to avoid the rush of liquid spilling toward my feet.Not on me!
A smell, unlike anything I’d everexperienced before in my life, instantly caused me to gag. Rotteneggs, month-old garbage, and decaying bodies all mixed togethersmelled better than the aroma those broken containers emitted. I’dassumed the contents were dead, but as they spilled across thefloor, some of them came back to life. The cute little chinchillalooking thing released an ear-splitting screech before leapingforward to devour a snake-like creature in one bite.
Fire burst to life from my fingers and racedall the way up to my elbows as the “bear” stalked forward on itstwo hind legs. I stopped caring that I’d had no intention ofrevealing what I could do to the bastard who had lured us in here;there was no way I was going to allow that thing to touch eitherone of us.
Its claws clicked against the dirt floorwith every step it took as it stalked us. Its eyes shone like bloodin the dim light as it bared its lethal-looking fangs. Bits offlesh still hung from its teeth, and the fleshy remains swung backand forth with every step the creature took. Winnie the Pooh thisthing was not, but for some reason my panicked mind grasped on thename and it became Pooh Bear in my head.
I’d blast this thing back to the HundredAcre Wood if it became necessary. Turning sideways, I edged pastthe shelves blocking me from being able to release a blast offire.
Hawk cried out as the cute thing ran overhis boot and launched itself onto his leg. He tried to shake itloose, but it clung like a burr, its claws tearing into his pantsand shredding the material as it edged its way upward. Hawk grabbedat it and yanked to try to free it from his leg. It squealed loudlyand reared back to sink its fangs into his thigh.
“Son of a bitch!” Hawk exploded andbackhanded the small creature so hard he snapped its body from itshead.
We both gawked at the spectacle of the tinycreature’s head still attached to his leg while the body flewacross the room. Hawk glared at the head before grasping it anddislodging the fangs from his thigh. Blood spilled from the bitemarks as he tossed the head aside.
