Part 2: I Can’t Do This Alone

“Right on time,” said Detective Mark Kronig to his partner. It was almost 11:00 PM in the winter darkness near the Albany Airport. The night was chilly in the inky darkness of a New Moon. The world seemed quiet, even with the occasional noise of a plane passing overhead. They watched as a Honda and a truck pulled up on the opposite side of the street half a block away from them.

“I was kind of hoping they wouldn’t show,” said Justin Duke, his partner.

“No such luck,” said Mark.

Momentarily, Shelia Foster knocked on the window. Her car was parked behind them. Mark lowered the window.

“We’re on,” she said a bit uncomfortably.

“Yeah,” responded Mark. “Get the firearms,” he said to Justin. Mark got out of the unmarked police car as Justin circled around to the trunk.

I saw the activity from the detective’s vehicles as I climbed out of the Honda into the darkness of the winter night. The far off drone of I-87 did little to pierce the silence of the night. Quietly, I slung Sunshard onto my back. My sisters and Duane piled out of the two vehicles. There was little talk and zero of the fun banter that seemed to follow my coven-sisters around. We were silent. Everyone realized the gravity of the situation tonight.

The girls were dressed similar to myself – simple dark robes and sensible shoes. Duane and Anna had on their street clothes. I noted that one of the detectives, Mark Kronig was moving toward our group. His partner was behind him with two long guns and Sheila was near him. I walked up to him with Rayven. She had a small bag and her weapon, Thunderstorm, Betrayer of the Serpent, was strapped to her belt. I offered a handshake to the detective. He took it.

“Michael,” he said. “Is your team ready?”

“As ready as we can be,” I responded.

Rayven opened her bag and handed two pouches to Mark. “Here is the ammo we promised: twenty rounds each of 5.56 x 45mm and .30-30 Winchester,” she said.

“Good,” said Mark. “Enough for one AR-15 magazine and a couple loadouts for the R95. We’ll return anything that’s left. Shelia advises that Justin and I should do the initial entry and then you guys can come in. We’ll get loaded while you guys set up. Shelia is going to standby out here.”

“Right,” I said. “Same with Duane and Anna.”

I saw Mark’s expression change when he saw Duane take a goat out of his truck. “A goat?” he asked. “You’re going to kill a goat in there?”

“Yeah, I don’t like it either and I’m the one that has to do it.” I patted the sheathed dagger that was hanging at my side. “Like we said, if we’re going to call Xoglirath here something has to die.”

Mark shook his head. I could tell he wasn’t happy but it was unavoidable.

“I guess,” Mark said.

“Just remember, once the demon shows up we have to do enough damage to him to break his hold on this plane since we don’t know his True Name. Don’t hold back when you decide to open up.”

“Got it,” said Mark. “Good luck Michael.”

“Same to you,” I said. Rayven and I returned to our group as Mark went back to Shelia and Justin.

Justin handed Motorola APX 8000 portable radios to Mark and Shelia. “Tune to channel seven, it’ll just be the three of us,” he said.

“They’re going to slaughter a goat?” asked Shelia incredulously.

“Yeah,” responded Mark. “It was in the plan.”

“The plan said an animal ... I thought it would be like a rat or a rabbit,” said Shelia.

“We should take them all in for animal cruelty,” said Justin quietly.

“Stop it!” said Mark. “Look guys we committed to this in good faith. We can’t back down now. Justin, you and I will go in first, then we’ll get loaded while they get set up. Shelia, who’s on duty at CIU tonight?”

“Donald Rexon. I’m off tonight but it doesn’t matter. When this hits they’ll call me in anyway.”

“Okay,” said Mark. “Lets do this ... follow the plan and we’ll deal with whatever happens.”

I watched as the detectives popped the weak padlock that sealed the unused warehouse in the darkness. I looked at my sisters. They were grim but Rayven managed a weak smile. I was certain that the detectives had their doubts but we didn’t have any. To us Xoglirath was as real as anything else and the monster had killed Thriza.

Words ... song lyrics from a long time ago drifted into my head ... I couldn’t remember the song but it was Jethro Tull... ‘bring me my broadsword, and clear understanding, bring me my cross of gold as a talisman.’ That center part, clear understanding stayed with me. If there was anything I needed right now that was it. Clear understanding, not courage, not strength, but clear understanding, not just for me but for my sisters ... my friends ... for Rayven.

“Okay guys, let’s go. Stay calm, stay focused. Duane, you bring the sacrifice, leave it and then come out here with Anna and stand by. Rayven, you and Brielle set up the circle. If we need them with the demon we can call on Sabrine and Franziska but hopefully not. We’ll certainly need Franziska at the end. Let’s do this.”

My coven-sisters followed me into the warehouse after the police detectives.

Duane positioned the goat in a large wide area and secured it to the floor. Rayven and Brielle began the process of tracing out a pentagram and sigils around the goat with a sticky mixture of pitch, cornmeal, and henbane which corresponded with necromancy, summoning, and movement. The two women were skilled spellcasters, they moved with speed and accuracy. We all knew that dealing with a demon was a dangerous proposition and in this case we were going to openly attack the beast which was even more dangerous.

I saw Mark and Justin conferring. Justin had the AR-15. He topped off a twenty round clip with the alchemical ammunition that we had provided and took a covered position behind some scarred boxes that remained from this place’s last owner. Mark had a bolt action rifle. He loaded it as well and climbed atop a quartet of crumbling baled paper, obviously taking what resembled a sniper position. I wondered what the two men were thinking.

Whatever remained from the ritual that had called Xoglirath to this world was long gone but I could sense the vestiges of summoning magic that still clung to this area. It was faint but still there, like a bitter aftertaste. Once a place had been touched by magic it remained active for a time, depending upon the magic used. Unfortunately many of the darker or more arcane decanic forces such as Kurtael (death) or Iudal (summoning) remained the longest. A place where magic was used constantly, like Nebelgutt, became magical itself. This place would be clear of mystic influences with time even after tonight.