The human stink was almost unbearable. Especially when hiding between containers of their trash. He felt amazed that the stench of garbage almost drowned out the smell of the bodily wastes. Urine, vomit, fecal matter, and rotting foods did not mix well in this alley. Or any of those he had previously been through.
They were getting closer now. Their beating hearts were the sound Garmr concentrated on while moving through the city. It was almost ridiculously easy to hide from humans within their own domain. Just almost.
It had been two days since he had let them find him. Since then they had chased him across three cities. But now Garmr had grown bored with the game of cat and mouse. If the humans did not stop soon they would come to regret it. Garmr was adept at making the hunter the hunted.
Two heartbeats came from the right. He hid between a, thankfully, non-foul smelling Dumpster and a brick wall. Day old blood could be smelt on the wall. The humans approached slowly. A black powder smell came from their guns.
Once they passed by he took off. One of the humans saw him and fired. Tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak.
The bullets hit the road behind him. He went a block then quickly circled back behind a row of cars. One of the humans was speaking on the radio he carried on his body.
“Confirmed, I repeat, visual identification confirmed. Target appears to be a tall, dark red, shaggy Irish Settler. Numbers of eyes is unconfirmed. Moving northbound in pursuit.”
Garmr had a small laugh to himself as he watched the humans reverse direction. They naturally appeared to openly belittle their own intelligence.
He turned from the humans and moved along the opposite direction. Those two were the closest heartbeats. While he knew most of the sounds there was another that he couldn’t quite place. It sounded like something was chopping the air. To him it was a sound he felt that he should know.
From the sky a bright light shined down upon him. Before he could look up a voice shouted down at him.
“We know you can understand us, proceed up the street to the cross street. Make no attempts to evade us or we will open fire.”
Garmr sighed then looked up. So it was a helicopter. He made a mental note of remembering the sound of its blades moving through the air.
The helicopter was a shade of green with black. A middle section was opened with two humans sitting with their legs hanging out. Two more heartbeats met his ears from the front of the vehicle. On the back end of the flying machine were four big letters.
H.A.D.I.
At least he now knew the name of the pests following him. Perhaps he would be kind enough to tell them his name before they died. He held no hopes that they wouldn’t be stupid enough to attempt an attack.
Garmr lazily sauntered out into the middle of the cross street. The helicopter’s searchlight stayed on him. Both of the two humans approached from behind but kept their distance. He could hear their heartbeats quicken with their breathing. If they didn’t force his hand their hearts would keep beating beyond tonight.
When he reached the center of the two roads the voice from the helicopter spoke again. “Hold your position. Any sudden movement with be considered an attack.”
With a harrumphed Garmr sat on his haunches. A small conversation wouldn’t hurt. But not all humans were skilled with words.
Three large trucks roared into the intersection. They stopped in a half circle. The second truck sat directly in front of him. All three were the same blocky pattern of green and black as the helicopter. Identical white letters were on all three trucks. H.A.D.I.
Dozens of heartbeats filled his ears. To Garmr it sounded like drums.
Sixty or more men pilled out of the trucks. They were quick to surround him. All of them wore complete black with four big white letters on their chests. The sound of safety being turned of seemed like one long click to Garmr. Rather quickly the living drums quickened its pace.
Garmr quickly came to suspect that they planned on him resisting whatever they planned to do. Pity they did not know the powers they toyed with.
From the third truck one last person emerged. Once the human walked through the circle of armed men Garmr could see that this new human was female.
She wore white robes with a black band around both her throat and collar. A crucifix hung from the one around her neck. Around her waist was a thick leather belt with a book chained to it. From both of her wrists hung what Garmr guessed to be rosary beads. Black short hair covered the top of her head while blue eyes glared at him through glasses. For a human, she looked to be attractive.
Her heartbeat was the only calm one he could hear.
She spoke down to him. Like a king would do to a commoner. “I, Sister Clarise sabata, command you to tell me your name Demon. Obey in the name of the father and the son.”
“And if I don’t?” He replied in a carefree tone. It only seemed to annoy her. Garmr guessed she was what humans called uptight.
“Do not think to toy with me, monster. Through my hand the Holy Spirit will strike you down if need be.” Definitely uptight.
“Then show me some damned respect little human. You are not a being worthy or capable of commanding me.” He spoke flatly now. Better to leave no room for budging.
“So be it demon.” She hooked her thumbs on her belt.
“I am Garmr. The Hellhound of fire and lord of Judecca. Now. Why are you little humans pestering me so intently?”
“Because divine entities like yourself do not belong within the kingdom of man. I come to give you two alternatives. Submit to my will and serve H.A.D.I. Or you can die and return to the hells that spawned you.” She smiled with some kind of self-satisfied smile.
Garmr promptly answered her with a cackling laugh. It wiped the smirk right off her face. “Do you know the audacity of what you just said? A mere human threatening me? If your attempt to be tough wasn’t so amusing I would kill you were you stand.” He let a long low growl emit from his throat.
She grew angry in reply. “Then die as you so arrogantly choose.” This human raised her left arm straight out to her side.
Every human surrounding him raised their guns. So they forced his hand. Every human that pointed a weapon at him would soon be dead.
Garmr spoke aloud to those with the guns. He used his power to send his words from his mind to hers. To Clarise’s mind he sent the words in English. Others heard the Old Language.
Yrev lewl. Primera rowep slea noep. Nawaken Ashpodel!
“Very well. Primera power seal open. Awaken Asphodel! Become forever lost within the dark forest.”
Now even Clarise’s heart was beating fast.
Garmr laughed. He began to pant fire to toy with them. Their hearts began to beat even faster in response. Ever so slowly Garmr stood up on all fours. He gave a deep booming laugh that sent fire into the air. The column of flames from his mouth seared the bottom of the helicopter and destroyed that annoying searchlight on him.
“Fire now! Open fire! Slay this six eyed abomination!” Clarise seemed to be a very feisty human. Perhaps he would spare her for the piquing of his interests.
Tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak!
Before any of the now attacking humans could finish pulling the triggers, Garmr used the Place-Shift technique. In the time it would take their brains to tell their eyelids to blink Garmr moved from the road to the top of one of their armored trucks.
Place-Shift was a spiritual type of magic. It was a very well known, and used, short ranged teleportation ability that used an insignificant amount of energy to execute. Another perk of Place-Shift was the lack of evidence of its use it left. No cloud of smoke or flames or sparks appeared on use. Just instant from point A to point B.
Garmr watched and waited on top of the armor truck for a moment. What the humans might do after what little power he showed them.
“Did you see those six yellow eyes? That thing was definitely a dog demon! There is almost no way we could have killed it with just that barrage of armor piercing bullets. Did it go back to hell? We should still have its body or see some of its blood if we hurt it.”
Garmr imagined this group of humans gagging at the scent of his blood. Hellhounds’ blood smelled of sulfur. Blood from a Hellhound could often be compared to putting your nose directly into sulfur. Even Garmr thought the smell of his own blood to be somewhat putrid.
“Over here!” Garmr called to the armed humans below. Only one was stupid enough to fire his weapon at him. The bullet missed Garmr by a laughable margin.
“Hold your fire!” Clarise called out to the shooter all but a moment to late.
Garmr was already speaking an incantation loud enough for all of them to hear as they moved to surround the truck. “From the heavens comes a burning flame. Those meant to burn shall suffer the pain for an eternity. All within the second before their bodies are sacrificed to the flame. As the fire burns the body so to shall it sear the soul. Fall o flaming tears of eternity.”
From the dark clouds in the sky a ball of fire came down. It hit the single shooter dead on. Upon impact it made a column of fire around his body that would leave no ashes. Those around him moved out of the way lest they be burned as well. The burning flesh in his throat and lungs drowned his scream out. A moment later the flames dissipated. Not even a pile of ashes or his metal gear remained.
Clarise took a look at the spot at which the man stood not a minute ago. She grew visibly angry to the point that her body shook with rage. “You screwed yourself now pooch! Open…”
Garmr leapt at her with a flaming bellowing roar. His fangs would remove half her head in the blink of an eye. Time seemed to slow as his jaws came closed. But something was wrong. There was no taste of flesh and blood in his mouth. No crunch of skull between his jaws.
She had him by the throat. With her opposite hand she held the book in one hand. Clarise was chanting.

“In the name of the Kingdom of Man, submit
By the creed of man, remain
With the power granted by the Holy Spirit, obey
By law of H.A.D.I., serve
By thy own will, die”

She let the book go and took a silver cross off of her belt. Quick as lightning she slapped it against his chest. He felt something circle around his neck. Clarise removed her hand from his neck and let him drop
Garmr landed on all for. His body felt numb. The Cross she collared to his neck weighed a ton. He couldn’t hold it up forever. But he simply could not give up.

“Put you head down. If your neck gives out from the strain the weight of the spell it will snap your spinal column. I don’t want my first enslaved demon to die.” She waited a moment then gave the order. At a wave of her hand, the troops accompanying her lowered their guns.
Her legs wobbled for a moment as she leaned down in front of the demon. The enslavement spell had taken a lot of energy from her. With the spell cast all she needed to do was wait. This demon would die or submit. It was only a matter if time.
Clarise gently whispered into Garmr’s ear. “Please submit to me. I do not want to watch a living being die. Even though you are a demon. I can promise you that you will be treated well. If you show yourself to be truly submissive to me I can even take you home with me so you wouldn’t have to sit in a holding pen. You could live a good life as my pet.”
She hoped her gentle smile and tone of voice would be enough to convince the demon to submit. This was her first successful enslavement. Clarise did not want it to go south because the demon refused to submit.
“Just give in. Freedom isn’t worth dying is it? You may exist as a servant of man but you will still live. I promise I will make you comfortable as my loyal minion and pet. Just think of it, through us H.A.D.I. will be able to keep man’s kingdom within mans control. All you need to do is give in.”
“Submit to me. Obey me, forever.” She ran her hand along the sides of his head and snout. Every muscle she could feel seemed tense. The demon stood silent and unmoving. Clarise began to stroke his neck and back to convey a sense that she would be a kind master.
For a demon, it felt like a regular dog to the touch. His fur was soft and warm to the touch. Not at all hot or evil like she had come to expect. Of coarse she could feel the demonic aura it emanated. Yet it was different.
This Hellhound’s demonic aura was undoubtedly demonic. But it did not feel truly evil. Some of the other Hunter Tamers had told her that a demonic aura would make her skin crawl. They had told her that the evil of the demon was expressed through their aura. Yet this demon’s aura did not feel at all evil. It felt devoid of true good or evil, it simply existed.
“Please submit. Don’t throw your life away for foolish pride.” Clarisa placed a kiss between his topmost pair of eyes. For a moment the demons six eyes seemed to roll about in their sockets. Once they stopped, all six eyes stared directly into hers. It felt like those six red eyes looked directly into her soul.
“I should kill you for your arrogance but I like your spunk. So I’ll settle with a show of force instead.” His deep dark voice pleasantly whispered in her ear. At that moment she could feel the strength of its demonic aura grow tenfold.
She meant to stand and step back but instead fell flat on her rear. A dumbfounded stare was the best that she could manage.
Fire consumed the sacred silver cross she placed around his neck. His evil voice filled the air. “Fall forever into Caina. Let only pain and fear exist within you. Forever fall from sacrifice of flesh. Feel your bodies hang from your branches, oh children of Caina. Seventh power seal, Caina, release!”
Air slowly became thicker and darker. Like a smoke that slowly covered and hid everything. It became blacker than night around her and the troops. Absolute darkness surrounded them all.
Clarise looked to her men. They did not answer her. “One of you say something? Captain?”
None of them responded. All of her support troops stared back into the eyes staring at them from the darkness. Not a one blinked.
Slowly the men raised their semi auto compact rifles to their chins. For a minute gunfire rang out. Until every one of the support troops fell to the ground with blood pouring out of the holes in their skulls. Blood covered the ground and quickly began to soggy the backside of her dress. Before Clarisa could get up her eyes saw a different kind in the darkness.
There were six of them. Six evil red eyes looked into hers from the darkness. Eyes she was too proud to fear.
Garmr’s eyes did nothing to ease her apprehension. They looked at and through her at the same time. No anger, no malice. Just a demons’ eyes watching her from the darkness.
Slowly the darkness pushed towards her. It formed a black face behind the six eyes. As it drew close it gained a deep reddish color. From the darkness Garmr’s head came to her. The Hellhound sniffed her from her knees to her chest and up to her lips.
The monster dragged its long, warm, and wet tongue across her lips. Those six evil eyes kept her transfixed on the spot. Clarise was to scared to try to move or look away from the Demon she now found herself at the mercy of.
“I can taste the fear on you little human.” Garmr laughed his deep evil laugh. “Bend over like a bitch and I might just let you carry my spawn within your belly!”
Without realizing it, Clarise gave Garmr a sound smack across his six-eyed canine face.
Instead of biting off her hand, this demon dog laughed. She just knew that it was an honest to goodness laugh.
“Such fire inside you despite your fear.” Garmr gave her a wet and warm lick on the cheek.
The eyes from the darkness all slowly drew closed. Like a fog burned away by the sun, the darkness faded away. Clarise was shocked to find herself back in the real world. All three Troop Carrier Trucks in the same place. Her backups’ bodies lays lifeless were they had fallen.
Garmr looked up and down the intersection they were in. After walking a couple of steps to her right, he looked back to her. Its’ six eyes looked into her own. Though now, instead of looking at her with eyes full of contempt, he now looked at her with eyes of respect. She guessed the Demon was deciding whether to kill her or spare her.
“Clarise was your name wasn’t it?” The Hellhound’s voice sounded as like he was speaking with an equal.
She nodded in reply as her voice refused to leave her throat.
“Well Clarise. You should be proud of the courage that you displayed today. Never let that fire in your heart burn out. Now go with my respect and tell your commanders at H.A.D.I. to never hunt me again. Tell them that next time, I will leave no survivors.”
“O-okay.” She finally managed to force her voice out of her throat. It took a minute but she finally managed to stand. “Thank you for sparing me De… Garmr!” Clarise called out to the Hellhound. The Hellhound nodded to her then continued down the road.
Though Clarise knew the men to be dead she still checked for at least one survivor. Just as she thought, each and every one of the men that formed her backup, had a self-inflicted gunshot through their head. She said a prayer over the freshly dead then gathered all of their H.A.D.I. Cross-Tags. From inside her Troop Transport Truck Clarise could hear a voice speaking over the radio. Before stepping into the truck she recognized the voice as belonging to Father Traland Varugat.
“Clarise! Clarise can you hear me?! Clarise please respond now!”
She took a seat at the COM station near the truck’s cab. A clear fingerprint from the soldier that operated it could still be seen on the speak button. “This is Sister Clarise reporting in.”
“Thank the Lord you’re safe Clarise. How goes the mission child; did you enslave or kill the demon?” The relief in the Father’s voice was obvious, even over the COM.
“No Father. This Hellhound is beyond any kind of being we’ve encountered before. It killed my entire backup unit with one demonic spell. No, more accurately, it made them all kill themselves.” Clarise shuddered with the new memory of events from not even an hour ago.
“A Suicide Matrix Spell?! Clarise, this is of vital importance, describe the spell to me. Tell me everything you saw inside the spell Clarise.”
“Yes Father Varugat.” Clarise did her best to ignore the fear the memory left her as she recalled for the Father. “First Garmr spoke the incantation for the seventh power seal, Caina. After that, the world around the troops and myself got darker and darker until we were in darkness. Darkness so black it appeared to be a void of nothingness within existence. A-a-and then there were eyes in there darkness. Great evil eyes that stared back at them from the darkness without blinking.
I called out to the men but they didn’t respond. It seemed like they couldn’t even hear me. After a minute or two of staring into the eyes, all the men shot themselves. Once all the men were dead the eyes all closed and the demon left.”
“Is that all you have to report Clarise?” She knew the deaths of the men of her backup unit weighed heavily upon the Father.
“No Father. The demon gave me a message for my superiors in H.A.D.I.”
“That is truly odd. What message did this Demon charge you with delivering Clarise?”
“The Demon hound, Garmr said that next time, he will leave no survivors.” Clarise said a silent thank you to her Heavenly Lord for causing the Hellhound to spare her life.
“Hmmm…Did you attempt to enslave this Hellhound?”
“Yes Father Varugat. I placed the Cross of Dominance around his neck. While he broke the spell I do not believe he can remove the Cross himself.”
“Excellent. Now we know we can at least track the Demon.”
“When we move to claim or kill Garmr we must proceed with extreme caution. I believe is capable of release all nine seals of demonic power. Underestimating him would most assuredly be suicide Father.” Clarise looked down at the Cross-Tags in her hand and shed a silent tear for the recently departed.
She honestly questioned if H.A.D.I. would be capable of avenging their deaths.
“Clarise, gather their Cross-Tags and wait for a Scrubber unit to arrive. Once they get there you are to return.
“Yes Father Varugat. Clarise out.”
“Clarise!”
“Yes Father?”
“I thank the Holy Ghost for your safe return. Just as I am personally overjoyed that you were spared, my friend.”
“Thank you, Traland. Clarise out.”


Garmr took a turn onto the street to his left. The H.A.D.I. truck had left his sight minutes ago. Clarise’s heartbeat had slowed down once he left and was now slowly fading from his ears. Now the heartbeats that filled his ears were the regular rate for humans. Once or twice he passed a pair of fast heartbeats that were accompanied with a plethora of moans and squeaking beds.
On the roofs of buildings various birds cooed and cawed or twittered. Most of the birds Garmr knew to be Pigeons from their distinct sound. A few early bats flittered about as the sun began to set. The bats screech registered on Garmr’s sensitive demonic ears. With the birds on the roof there were other animals trapped upon the earth’s surface. Cats slinked about were ever they pleased while domesticated dogs tried their best to catch that quick feline meal.
As Garmr progressed down the street, he slowly became away of another presence following him. Whatever it was couldn’t be seen so Garmr was fairly sure that it was following him along the rooftops. Now he was going to find out if the follower was friend or foe, or if he was even being followed at all. After his dealing with H.A.D.I., Garmr just wanted to relax. The presence was all he could feel moving along the rooftops.
Still something worried Garmr. Perhaps it was the simple fact that he could sense only a presence on the rooftops. Many Celestial Beings, both angelic and demonic, were capable of hiding their power. It was entirely possible that it was another H.A.D.I. lackey. There was also a chance that this was a bystander that witnessed him disposing of the armed humans that hand grown curious.
Garmr continued down the road at a light trot. Who or what ever was following Garmr kept the same pace as him. They didn’t move ahead or fall behind. It always stayed parallel to him. He decided to send a greeting card to draw his follower out into the open.
Garmr opened his mouth wide. A roaring fire filled his open jaws. By simple thought Garmr sent the raging fire from his mouth to the rooftop in front of him. Like a napalm bomb the fire burst upon impacting the roof. His demon fire burned like a raging beast, consuming everything on the rooftop.
Garmr looked back to the road. At first look it appeared a simple human male stood in the middle of the road in front of him. He looked to be human because Garmr could feel no demonic aura and could see no physical Angelic wings. As Garmr studied this man, he could see them.
This angel’s wings were hidden. Magically hidden from mortal sight on the ethereal plane of existence. After a moment of studying him, the Angel stopped hiding his power. Now Garmr knew that this was no ordinary angel.
What stood before the Hellhound was now a great and mighty six-winged Seraphim. The highest and strongest of the Angelic Choirs. Even the strength of the wrath bearing Archangels paled in comparison to the holy Seraphim.
The Seraphim called two of his wings out and spread them. It was a declaration of war between Angels and Demons. A sphere of red light glowed in the palm of his right hand.
“Tell me Seraphim, why do you hide your glorious wings?” Garmr sat on his haunches. If battle were to be done, then he would at least know why.
“Only my Keeper knows of my six wings. The humans of H.A.D.I. believe me to be a four-winged Throne. I believe they’d try to put me their front lines.” Despite the Angel’s declaration he did not appear eager to fight.
“You are with H.A.D.I. so why not be as zealous as they are with the upholding and enforcing of their beliefs?”
“All I wish to do is stay with my Keeper and her only friend Clarise. I will not let anyone threaten my Keeper’s happiness. Not even one of the Seven Satans.”
“How do you know that I am one of the Seven Satans?” Garmr stood just as his hair stood on end. His rank in the Circles of Hell was a mostly unknown fact.
“I’d be a fool if I did not know who the Keeper of Judecca’s Fire is.” The Angel had a small laugh.
“So why do you wish to fight me, Seraphim?”
“Because you almost trapped Clarise in your Suicide Matrix Spell. I wish to know the being I will reap if you threaten my Keeper’s happiness.”
“Very well then, Angel.” Garmr polymorphed his body to a human form. “Then I will show you the power of one of the Seven Satans.”
“So be it Garmr.” The Angel spread his feet and called out the rest of his wings. A Seraphim ready battle was a truly terrifying and glorious thing to see.
“Sixth power seal, Antenora, open! Now know the greatest heresy of all. Heresy to life is all your actions have accumulated up to now! Antenora will now be your house and home of heresy, forever!” Garmr’s demonic aura glowed red with is freshly released power. “Tell me Angel, what is your name?”
The Angel smiled in response. “Let ye now know that ye pass through the valley of death. I am its great shadow!” A second red light appeared in his left hand. Both lights grew together into one long single red light. Moments later this red light he held took shape and hardened into a great red scythe. “My Keeper and all those of H.A.D.I. call me Gilvader. You may call me Uriel, The Angel of Death!”
“Hello and Farewell Uriel.” Garmr held his left hand out to his side with his open palm downward. “I call to the great hellfire in Judecca’s belly. As the fire shears the soul the steel will pierce the flesh. Now come to me, Velgrumd, the Lance of Hellfire!”
From the road below his palm fire burst forth from the earth. It rose up and past his hand until the column of fire was taller than him in human form. He gripped the burning spire in his let hand. The fire condensed itself into a slim lance of fiery glory. Garmr held the lance in both hands as he shifted into a battle stance.
For minutes neither moved. Both celestial warriors stared each other down. Then, in the blink of an eye, Uriel took the first strike.
He swung his scythe at shoulder height.
Garmr ducked below the swing and retaliated by thrusting at Uriel’s middle.
Uriel blocked the thrust with one wing. He held the wing in place. Velgrumd’s fire slowly began to spread over Uriel’s white wing. With a burst of energy Uriel threw his wing open and forced Garmr back. Again Uriel swung his scythe at shoulder height.
Garmr blocked the strike with Velgrumd. As Uriel pulled the scythe back, Garmr thrust at Uriel’s right shoulder.
Uriel dodged the attack. In the blink of an eye he brought his scythe down in an overhead strike.
Within the blink of an eye Garmr leapt to Uriel’s right. Garmr swung Velgrumd flat against Uriel’s back.
Scythe met lance and prevented Garmr’s debilitating strike.
Quick thrust with the butt of his scythe made Garmr take a defensive leap back. Uriel charged, swinging his scythe in a low arc to cut Garmr’s legs out from under him. The scythe’s blade gouged the earth as Garmr dodged to the right. With a middle wing Uriel blocked Garmr’s retaliatory thrust.
For a moment the battle came to a stand still. Both Angel and Demon slowly circled each other. The air crackled with the clashing of their powerful auras.
Uriel pulled a feather from one of his wings. He broke the stand still by throwing the feather at Garmr. As the feather quickly closed the distance a sphere of red energy grew at Velgrumd’s tip.
The feather stopped dead in front of Garmr.
“Repel!” Uriel called out. A cross-shaped cascade of blue energy erupted from the single feather.
Garmr slammed the red orb at Velgrumd’s tip against the energy from the feather.
Violently the two energies clashed against each other. Each trying to overtake and destroy the other. The raging blast of energy from the clashing grew between Garmr’s and Uriel’s attacks. Quickly it grew to more and more dangerous as both warriors poured more energy into their strikes.
With one final surge of energy from both combatants, the blast of clashing energies reached critical mass. The resulting explosion was blinding. Garmr had to magically shield himself, lest he be destroyed.
It took a good minute for the dust to settle. The crater from the explosion was deep and extended beyond both sidewalks on either side of the road. Garmr felt surprised by the depth and width of the crater.
More surprising was the fact the Uriel was nowhere to be seen. Garmr could not sense his energy nor hear the Angel’s heartbeat. He decided to wait a moment just to be sure. Before the fight the Angel hid his energy. It was possible Uriel was doing so again.
Once Garmr was sure the Angel was gone he dispelled Velgrumd and return to his true canine form.
Off in the distance police, fire truck, and ambulance sirens could be heard. Sooner or later humans would be there to investigate the crater.
Garmr had a small laugh to himself before continuing his aimless trek across the world of humanity. His long, never ending, aimless wander.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 11.04.2010

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