Part 65

Rinius... or the demon wearing Rinius... didn't see him at first.

It raised its arm, aiming the blackened finger-stumps as the fleeing crowd. More screams erupted, but before more than a couple of Lowell's friends and neighbors dissolved into steaming gore, the arm jerked downward suddenly with a wet popping sound.

The limb slid from the sleeve of the smoldering robe and flopped to the ground.

The demon looked down at the lump of rotting/burning flesh as if it had betrayed him-

-and that's when he spotted Lowell Vern scurrying along the rear wall of the chamber.

Lowell saw... felt... the hovering shape pause and twist toward him. No! Not yet! Too far to run... Too late to hide.

"HERE!" Lowell screamed, pointing at the altar. "RIGHT HERE! HERE HE IS!"

The small, bloody form that Lowell had spotted earlier, ducked into the shadows. Lowell saw it crawl around to the far side of the altar.

"THE BOY!" Lowell shouted. "YOU WANT THE BOY! THERE! RIGHT THERE!!!"

Rinius's torso... which seemed to be rotating independently of his one remaining leg... halted. Burning eyes swept the rear of the chamber. The toothless, tongueless mouth dropped open. The jaw was connected to the upper skull only by thin strips of rapidly disintegrating skin; the hole that passed for his mouth was far too wide. The voice that emerged from it was an inferno tinged with screams.

"THE COVENANT IS BROKEN! THE TRIBUTE-"

"IS RIGHT THERE!" Lowell made a running leap for the altar. In his mind he saw himself being unmade in mid-air... saw the demon dissolve him with a twitch of his arm... saw what remained splattering across the altar like warm dishwater. But that didn't happen.

David popped out of the shadows the instant before Lowell hit the raised stone. He reached for the boy-

"C'MERE!"

Knives flashed. The bandage around Lowell's injured hand fell away, and three of his fingers went with it. Lowell scrambled away from the boy, rolling off the altar and falling to the ground. Instantly he was on his feet.

But where did-

The roar that came from Rinius's throat shook the entire room. Dust and rocks not only rained down from the ceiling, but they leapt UP from the floor as well. For an instant, Lowell thought he could keep his balance, but the dancing chamber shattered his balance. He fell. His shoulder struck rock, and he felt something give... yield.... then snap. Fingers of pain stabbed from right to left across his chest.

He rolled off of his injured shoulder.

Everyone was on the floor. The crowd was tiny compared to what it had been a few seconds ago. Despite the mad rush, many had managed to either escape the chamber or die in the attempt. Those that remained had been thrown down by the demon's shout...

And somewhere in the fading echo of that sound, Lowell heard someone call his name.

He scanned the room, but saw only the demon... hovering quickly in his direction, but not toward him

The boy... the only human still on his feet... stood at the far side of the altar. The demon moved toward him. Rinius' body was literally in pieces now. Head. Chest. Abdomen. Arm and Leg. Each rotting, burning fragment floated independently beneath the priest's robe... a hideous, desecrated mockery of the human form.

The boy took one step back. Not to flee, but to drop into a fighting stance: One blade extended, the other held tight at his side. He eyed the demon not with fear, but with a hatred that burned almost as bright as the demon's eyes.