335
Finally getting the opportunity to post this.
EAT had warned me that whatever Grendel was planning, it was going to happen on August 1st, 1944. The date the Warsaw Uprising began. With the Soviet army entering Warsaw’s eastern suburbs, the Polish Home Army launched a massive rebellion of nearly 50,000 people inside the city. For 63 days the Germans and Poles fought, as the Soviets stood to the side and watched.
All attempts to stop Grendel prior to that date had failed. It looked like we were going to be trying some last minute heroics.
Reconvened with the Archangel a few miles outside the city. I wanted to take a car, but it kept walking without a word. Never got to make a “Jesus take the wheel!” joke….
We walked down the road in silence. I could see Warsaw ahead, smoke beginning to rise from it as the uprising kicked off. For a moment, I saw the Black Dog in the corner of my eye, but it vanished as I turned my head.
As we got nearer to the city, the road was blocked by German soldiers. They had set up sandbags with machine gun nests and a halftrack right across our path. Several soldiers aimed guns at us, and one shouted in accented Polish, likely assuming by my civilian clothes we were rebels, “Drop your weapons and surrender or we will shoot!”
The Archangel flicked a hand, and the halftrack was flung into the air. Before the soldiers could recover, they began to choke, dying as they struggled to fight against the invisible pressure crushing their throats.
The checkpoint was empty of Germans when we walked through it.
Now into the battlefield. A lot of the streets were empty, completely abandoned as people hid inside to avoid the fighting. I could still hear gunfire erupting from dozens of tiny battles and skirmishes throughout the city. Sometimes I’d see armed Poles with white and red armbands run by. On other streets, German soldiers would see my weaponry and open fire. Those that did never lasted long.
As we got further, nearing where loose borders were gradually forming between Polish and German controlled areas, the fighting became even worse. We turned one corner and walked right into the crossfire between the two armies. The Poles were fighting from behind hastily thrown together barricades, as the Germans fought through the buildings to advance. And walking at the vanguard of those Germans was the Burning Bride.
It had changed since I last saw it. The SS uniform was gone, and instead its body was wreathed in flame. Its hair didn’t just look the color of fire; it was fire. It smiled, and its teeth were like bullets. Each step it took sounded like the thunder of artillery, and its laughter was the staccato of machine gun fire.
The soldiers under its command fought with a savage fire in their eyes. The Poles crumbled against the ferocity of their attack, retreating from their barricades. I saw one man running across the street, trying to lead a group of women and children to the safety of an intact storefront across them. Then I saw a German pull the pin on a grenade, toss it in the air, watched its arc as it went right toward the group….
Warped into the air, grabbed that grenade, and tossed it back. Warped to the group of civilians, and then opened fire on the Germans to cover their escape. As they ran into the building, I followed, keeping the fire off them. Got everyone inside, and sighed in relief. The soldier who had been leading the group took my hand.
“Thank you for saving us!” Then his voice changed into smooth English. “Shall I reward you with a kiss?”
Wait. Red tie. Red eyes. A feeling of constant heat when it touched me. How the hell had I let the Red Cap get so close without realizing it?
I pulled my hand away, just as all the civilians were suddenly ripped apart. Amongst the shower of blood stood the Smiling Man, showing none of the injuries that had been inflicted on it in our last encounter.
Backed up toward the door, but bumped into the Archangel backing up the other way. The Burning Bride was in front of him, slowly advancing. It seemed that with every gunshot or artillery salvo, the flames around the Bride grew even hotter, until you could barely see the shape of a woman in the towering inferno.
The three Fears quickly surrounded us. Tried to keep my eyes open for their first move, but I couldn’t watch all of them at once….
A huge black mass slammed into the Burning Bride, knocking it aside. Never thought I’d be happy to see such a monstrous dog before. The Black Dog growled at the Red Cap and Smiling Man, and then its forehead split open. Growing from the Dog’s head was the Eye.
“Oh, fuck me.” The Red Cap said, moments before the Dog tore the top of its body off with a clawed swing.
The Burning Bride recovered fast, and a wall of fire moved down the street toward us. The Archangel held out its hands, and the wall stalled. The Smiling Man started to move, but I filled its torso with bullets.
“Now what the hell do we do?” I shouted. The Eye look at me, and suddenly I could see the whole city. I could see the path I had to take. It led to a building in the German controlled area. Then I could see inside, where Ernst Damzog was standing in front of a mirror. On the other side of the mirror was the Mother of Snakes, offering its hand to him. And standing in the shadows of the room, watching both of them, was Grendel….
“Hurry.” The word echoed in my head as the visions left.
Too much distortion to warp such a long distance directly there. Started running down the street as fast as I could. Some of the Bride’s soldiers moved in my way. Warped to avoid most of their bullets, and returned fire as I ran by. Took a bullet to the thigh, but with adrenaline surging through me I ignored it and kept going. Not sure if I hit any of them, just kept running. Kicked off some debris and turned the corner. German panzer was blocking the street. The machine gun opened fire on me, but I warped around the street to throw its aim off. Jumped on top of it and kept going.
Fire raced along the buildings besides me, until it passed me and formed into the Burning Bride. It raised its arms, and I heard the shrill of dozens of artillery shells falling toward me.
The explosions carpeted the area, the shells detonating too fast for me to avoid them all. Shrapnel hit my left arm, cutting deep into it. Another piece cut across my cheek, just missing my eye. An apartment building near us started to shake, and then collapse from the damage. I warped on top of a falling piece of rubble, jumped off and warped to another, until I had reached the top and could see the street on the other side. Warped back to the ground and continued my sprint.
The Smiling Man appeared in a burst of flower petals. It raised its head to reveal its eyes, but the Black Dog pounced from behind and tore its head off. Then the Red Cap rose out of the ground, and held out a hand. “Why in such a rush, milady….” I dropped a live grenade into the outstretched hand and kept running.
I could see the building ahead, heavily defended by Germans. The Burning Bride appeared amongst them, and they opened fire. Warped past most of the wall of bullets, but got grazed along the collarbone. Tried to shoot my way through their lines, but the soldiers charged at me as though they were berserk, eyes filled with the Bride’s light. Barely avoided being shot more, and got clubbed in the head with the butt of a rifle. The Bride started to move toward me, but the Archangel appeared in its path. Used the chance to slam through the doors into the building.
Started running down its hallways. I could still see the Eye’s map in my mind, guiding me where I needed to go. Ran into the room, and saw the Mother of Snake’s hand reaching out from the mirror. Damzog’s hand was inches away from grasping it…
“You are mine, Ernst Damzog.” The Mother of Snakes said as its hand wrapped around his.
“No.” Grendel’s voice roared through the room. “You are mine!”
Grendel leapt from the darkness and tossed Damzog aside. He grabbed the Mother of Snake’s hand, and pulled it from the mirror. Shards of glass exploded from it as sand flowed out. Grendel was holding the Mother of Snakes off the ground, a hungry grin on his face. He cupped its chin in his hand, and leaned his face toward it. “Scream for me, little god.”
The Mother of Snakes struggled to break free without success. Grendel opened his mouth, with its razor sharp teeth, and bit down on Snake’s flesh. Black shadows erupted from Grendel’s back, and enveloped the Fear. Grendel’s form dissolved into a mass of pulsating shadows surrounding the Mother of Snakes. Time… it felt as if time was unraveling. Wind screamed through the room, nearly throwing me down. But even louder than the wind was Grendel’s laughter.
The wind died down, and the shadows reformed into Grendel’s human shape. But the Mother of Snakes was gone. Couldn’t sense it anywhere.
“What… the fuck just happened?” I said.
Grendel kept laughing. Eventually I got pissed off and decided to shoot him. Aimed my gun, started to pull the trigger….
“Stop.” He said. And when he did… my body stopped. Entirely. I couldn’t move at all. Not even to breath. Grendel paused as if to see if I would do anything, and then resumed laughing.
The roof of the building was torn off. Floating in the sky above us was the Archangel, two black wings coming from its back. The Archangel threw the Burning Bride onto the ground. Most of the Bride’s fire had gone out, with only a tiny flame on its body.
Then the Black Dog and the Eye tore through the door, with the mutilated body of the Smiling Man in the Dog’s teeth. The Red Cap’s blood seeped in through the floorboards, and tried to form into a human. It was having a hard time keeping that shape. It could only say, “We’ve run into… a few difficulties…” before collapsing back into a puddle.
The Black Dog roared and charged at Grendel. He didn’t try to move out of the way. He caught the Dog’s open jaws, stopping the charge. And with a swift motion, he tore off the Black Dogs lower jaw. Then he threw the Dog over his shoulder, into a wall.
The Archangel descended to the floor, and motioned at Grendel. Grendel was lifted into the air; but this time, he didn’t cry out in pain. Instead, he smirked, and broke free from the force holding him up. When he landed on the ground, he dashed over to the Archangel, then grabbed and crushed the gas mask.
The mask crumbled to dust between Grendel’s fingers. “Such a delicious meal. And yet….” He eyed the Archangel greedily. “I’m still so very hungry….”
The Archangel vanished. Grendel looked at the Black Dog and the Eye, and they vanished as well. Grendel chuckled at their flight.
Then he walked over to me. Wanted to run, or just scream, but I couldn’t. “Well, this certainly has been fun.” He forcefully kissed me, and then lightly pushed my immobile body so that it toppled onto the floor. And with a final round of laughter, he and his Fears vanished as well.
The instant Grendel was gone, I could move again. Took in several deep breaths. Tried to stand back up, but all the bullets and shrapnel I’d taken getting there were finally making themselves known, and the pain made it impossible to pull my weight up.
Soldiers started to run into the room. Wouldn’t be able to fight them. I closed my eyes, and reached for the first strand of time I could grab. Got hold of it, and fell into time just as I blacked out.
I-330
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