The Infernal Aether (First Draft)

Chapter 18 - An Old Foe

As N'yotsu had suspected, we had little difficulty tracking our prey. There was no need for us to question the people we encountered; the looks on their faces was sufficient to evidence the Golems' passing. The trail ended at an abandoned courtyard just off Leman Street, into which N'yotsu stormed before I could advocate caution.

Silas spun round with a hiss. "You again. Come to let my boys finish the job?"

"Give up the Golems right now," said N'yotsu. "And I might just let you live."

There came a laugh from somewhere behind Silas, a hideous cackle which set my very being on edge. Silas stood aside to reveal a creature which had haunted my deepest nightmares since I first saw it, all those weeks before when it had tried to kidnap poor Milly Patterson.

One could be forgiven for thinking it was a man, for that was the creature's general form. However, if one were brave enough -- or foolhardy enough -- to look closer, that impression was swiftly dispelled. Its face sneered at us with a simmering hatred, with searing red eyes and features which were slightly too large and angular. I could not help but consider that the creature had been created rather than born, by someone who had only a passing knowledge of human anatomy.

"You," said N'yotsu to the Demon. "So you are the reason that this cretin came to possess the Golems."

"A pleasure to see you again too," said the Demon. "The cretin here was just telling me about how our friends here nearly beat you into the ground. Very amusing."

Silas looked between the two, confused, while N'yotsu left my side to stand in front of the creature. I suddenly felt extremely exposed in front of the Golems, Silas and the Demon.

"I have not seen you since we fought at that house which was possessed by spirits," said N'yotsu. "I defeated you that time; I would be more than happy to repeat the treatment."

The creature laughed. "Did it not occur to you that I may have wanted you to win? I got what I wanted. I cared nothing for that little girl."

"The spirits?" said N'yotsu. "But why...?"

"What are you?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.

Those red eyes turned toward me, burning into my head, into my soul. I fought the urge to run away, screaming. "I am in every shadow behind every door," said the Demon. "I am every nightmare you never quite remember. I am that itching feeling at the back of your neck but when you look round there's no-one there. You are but mayflies to me, flickering and dying in the blink of an eye. I am Andras. I am forever, and this is my world!"

N'yotsu grinned, a reaction at complete odds with how I felt in the face of that onslaught. "Very nice speech," he said. "Do you recite it to everyone you meet, or did you learn it just for us?"

Andras reached out with an arm which seemed to stretch a little bit longer than it should and grabbed N'yotsu by the throat. It held him in the air and then threw him across the courtyard. He landed with a terrible crunch against a wall and slid to the floor.

"Do not taunt me," Andras said, wiping its hand on a kerchief as though it had just crushed a rather messy fly. "You cannot comprehend what is coming to pass. These are all simply opening salvos in my plan. Soon you will all kneel to me and my kind." It gestured to the Golems. "I will not waste my energy on these insects. Kill them."

The Golems rumbled into action and, for want of anything better to do, I ran over to N'yotsu. He groaned as I helped him to his feet. "So what now?" I asked.

"Run?" said N'yotsu. We took a step forward but it was too late; the advancing Golems had cut off the entrance to the courtyard and any thoughts of escape through any other means were killed off by the leering form of Andras.