Finding Maggie

Chapter Twenty-Six - The Beginning of the End

Chapter Twenty-Six - The Beginning of the End

Maggie's eyes watched, although her brain couldn't comprehend what she was seeing, as the massive comet slammed into Purgatory, sending the specked, gray souls scattering, roiling into a huge plume, only to calmly resume their eternal hover in the void of equally gray space. Upon impact, Corvino shielded Maggie under his wings, which she was unfortunate enough to not see make their appearance. The fiery mass instantly shattered into billions of pieces, exploding into countless numbers of smaller yet still equally bright flames. Maggie, through a crack between Corvino's black wings, watched as the billions of demons burst out from what once seemed to be a comet.

Tumbling to the grayness which made up the ground, most of the demons and creatures simply stood, as if none too concerned or even shocked by their tumultuous landing, brushed themselves free of any remaining embers, and quickly raced for form rank. More and more, the scorched demons fell, landing with sickening thuds and grunts, a few even unable to help but slam into Corvino's hunched back. Those that did quickly apologized to Corvino, bowing before dashing off to find their spot within the masses.

Finally, the raining demon horde subsided, only a few making their final descent as Corvino unfurled his wings and set Maggie free from his protection. As the last member joined his fellow demons among the countess rows of the solitary army, the entire group stood in perfectly silent attention. Maggie could feel Corvino's hand tighten on her shoulder, warning her in silence, but of what she couldn't know. As far as Maggie's eyes could take her vision, all she could see were the infinite number of charred, black bodies that were known as Legion.

Without any sign, other than Corvino's silent warning, Legion bowed as one, Maggie unable to see a single demon out of step or lagging behind his other members. As Legion rose, standing back to attention in Corvino and Maggie's direction, Corvino thought it best to cover Maggie's ears with his cold hands. "We are Legion. We are One. We Live to Serve. We Serve the Crown." Even with Corvino's hands covering her delicate and already ringing ears, the sound reverberated, shaking the very air with its clarity and strength. Each demon spoke exactly as the others, as if it were only one voice, although there were billions.

Once the silence returned, Corvino let go of Maggie, giving her another squeeze to try to relay her safety and comfort. Turning, Maggie's eyes glittered with fresh, terrifying tears as she tried desperately to hold on. "Calm down, Margret." Corvino said, brushing a stray tear from Maggie's cheek with a cool finger. "They won't harm you."

"But . . . But there are . . . so many!"

"Yes Dear. This is Legion; Mikhail's army. It's just over six trillion strong, if I've done my math correctly." Looking back carefully to the thousands that were close enough to actually see with clarity, Maggie only saw desire-filled eyes staring back. Feeling a chill run down her spine, she quickly realized that they were all staring straight at her.

"Why are they looking at me, Corvino? Make them stop." She whispered with fright.

Cocking his head to the side, much like a child unable to understand his parent's instructions, Corvino only raised a curious eyebrow to her before answering. "They are here to serve you, Princess. At least until the true crown arrives, which shouldn't be much longer. There are only several hours before Mikhail's battle."

"I don't want them serving me." Maggie answered, shaking her head with dread. "I don't want anyone serving me. I just want them to go away, leave me alone, and let Mikhail deal with them."

As the words escaped her lips, the enormous horde broke, sending up the loud clanging of swords and the deafening roar of footsteps as the billions of demons took their leave. After moving a respectable distance away, the horde descended into smaller groups, most only a hundred or so each. Tents were pitched, fires lit, swords sharpened upon whetstones, the war dogs kenneled, and the revelry began as the great arena began to be built. "A wise choice, Princess." Corvino mused quietly as he broke from Maggie's side.