That afternoon, Levi was inside with Alice going over their guides one more time, in the hopes that they might have missed something. Mostly though, there really was nothing to do. That and he was avoiding Paul and Liz. He felt guilty each time he looked at the book, thinking of the urging by Baldr, but he knew he wasn’t ready to commit. Not now, maybe not ever. But he still wanted to do his part to help, so he continued to study the guide anyway.

Levi was lazily flipping through page after page of monsters: monsters mauling, goring, decapitating, ripping off limbs, and any number of horrific acts. He had paused on a depiction of a thing with a scorpion tail tearing out a man's insides. Manticore it read. ‘These deadly creatures of the desert are man eaters, often posing as hitchhikers. While they will eat their prey entirely, not even leaving the bones, they are known to keep trophies which are hoarded in their lair. On encountering one such creature I tracked it to its lair, killing it in its sleep, I discovered more than forty such trophies on display. DO NOT engage this creature in close combat, especially do not corner it, as it is fast, strong, and deadly. Even its death throes may kill the unwary, as its tail will whip around violently.’

"BOOM"

An explosion shook the house, rattling the windows and knocking pictures off the walls. He and Alice leapt up, alarm mirrored in his friend's face.

"What was that?" Alice cried. "Are they here?"

A moment later they heard yelling and the sound of feet in the hall, followed by the slamming door.

"I’m not waiting to see,” she said. “Help me with the guides. No way I’m sticking around to meet a demon." She was loading up her backpack as she talked. Since coming to Taambervol, she’d carried her backpack with her everywhere she went, now he knew why. He reached to get Paul’s guide and stopped. Of course, Paul.

"Wait, Alice, where are Liz and Paul, weren’t they outside?" Without thinking he turned and ran. He could just hear Alice calling to him.

"Wait. You'll get killed. Come back."

And then he was out the door.

He ran out to the road, looking around wildly. Where are they? How he'd help he didn't know, but he wasn't thinking, not, that was, till the second explosion stopped him in his tracks.

The sound of the blast reverberated through the underground community, shocking him to his senses. The place was chaos. Smoke was billowing from the direction of the front door, behind the far row of homes. In that direction he heard wild cries and bestial roars, punctuated by gunfire. He still couldn't see what was happening with the houses in the way, he also couldn't see Paul or Liz. Soon the air was so filled with soot he couldn't see much of anything. His momentary recklessness gone, he stood there like a blinded deer, not sure what to do or where to go. Gunr ran by him, toward the sounds of battle.

"Get outta here kid, get to the back door." Then he was gone into the smoke.

That's right, he thought. Melanie had beat it into them since the first day. ‘If there's a fight, get to the back door.’ Maybe the others were already there, waiting for him. He was turning to run when his arm began to burn, the same red hot fury radiating up his arm. Baldr's hate for the demon almost overwhelmed him. His vision blurred as he heard in his head the same voice as before 'Surtr.' For a moment Baldr's hatred became his, and he took a step toward the battle, fury and strength surging through him; he felt powerful.

Another explosion ahead was followed by screaming. The fury was gone in a moment, leaving him sick, realizing what he’d been about to do. His legs felt weak.

“What was that? I thought you were supposed to keep me safe,” Levi said, staring at his arm accusingly.

Ahead he heard Ravea roaring. "How'd they get in without us knowing? Who was watching the gate? Melanie, what in all that's holy are you doing here, get out of here."

"You go yourself!" She yelled back.

"What, you want to leave the kids orphaned?"

"Who said I was planning on dying?"

The rest was lost in screams and gunfire. Next thing, Ravea came flying head over heels down the road, skidding to a stop at Levi’s feet. In a moment the guthri was back up, dusting himself off. He bent down to retrieve the oversized hammer that had followed him out of the smoke. Levi had seen the thing hanging over the mantle. It was ridiculously large and he'd figured it was just for show. Now, seeing it held lightly in Ravea's callused hand, he reconsidered.

The guthri looked up, suddenly aware of Levi's presence.

"Eh, what're you doing boy? Get out of here, this demon's out of your league."

Levi stood, open mouthed, not sure what to say. Then Ravea was gone, launching himself back into the smoke.

'Demon,' Levi mouthed, hadn't Melanie said the demons couldn't get through? Just now Baldr had almost sent him to fight a demon? What kind of guardian did he have? Still unsteady, he made for the back door.

Passing the house, he met Alice just coming out the door; her bulging backpack cinched tight on her shoulders.

"Hey, let's get out of here," She yelled over the cacophony. He nodded and they ran for it. At the back door they came upon Paul and Liz, standing there as if not sure whether to stay or go.

"What are you waiting for," called Alice.

"You of course," said Liz, "where's mom and dad?"

"They're fighting a demon," Levi said, his voice cracking as he said it. "Will they be okay?"

"You don't know my parents," she said with a smile, "Come on, let's get out of here." Just as she said this, a wild looking imp, all teeth and fangs, came rushing out of the smoke, beady black eyes shining with blood lust. It was going for Alice.

Without thinking, Levi grabbed Alice, throwing her back, as he stepped between her and the monster. It leapt for him, dirty yellowed claws going for his throat. Throwing his arms out, he braced for it. A shot rang out, blasting the thing out of the air mid-leap. Levi didn't wait to see who had shot it; he turned and ran, following the retreating backs of his friends into the darkness.

Safely inside he shook his head as he realized what he’d done again. That’s three times in like three minutes, running out to find Liz, going off to fight the demon, now stepping in front of, whatever that was. What am I doing? I’m trying to get myself killed, that’s what. Well that’s the last time I run toward danger.

“You’re really hard up for attention aren’t you?” Alice said, speaking softly. She’d dropped back to walk beside him. Without noticing, he’d begun to lag behind.

“What?”

“You totally threw yourself in front of that thing for me. It probably worked though, I’m sure Liz saw.”

“But that wasn’t, I mean, that’s not.”

“Relax, I’m kidding. Really though, thanks. That’s the first time someone’s jumped in front of a monster for me.”

“Not like there’ve been a lot of opportunities there right?”

“Some monsters don’t have fangs. But anyway, I did mean it, I think you probably impressed Liz. She won’t be able to call you a coward now.”

“Thanks.”

Once in the tunnels they followed Liz and her flickering flame, single file, as she lead them through the labyrinth. It was as miserable a path as Levi remembered. This time though, he wasn't the only one stumbling and sliding along the slick path.

Finally they saw light ahead, they could just see the shafts of sunlight streaming down to light the tunnel ahead. Pressing forward, he was ready to be done with these tunnels for good. The three of them gasped at the same instant, reaching for their tattoos. Liz stopped, staring at them.

"What's wrong?" she asked, alarmed.

"Danger I think," said Levi, still grasping his arm. "There's something ahead, something bad, and it burns."

With a crash, the grate fell in, followed by a grotesque, hunchbacked... thing. It was large and well muscled, with skin like a rotten apple, short bristles sticking out from its thick skull and down its spined back. It landed heavily, trying to rise, but tripping on the grate it had just knocked down. Roaring in frustration it grabbed the offending metal and proceeded to smash it against the cement wall repeatedly.

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"Not good," Liz said, shrinking back against the wall. "Come on, let's get out of here."

The thing hadn't seemed to notice them, so intent was it in its destruction. Sneaking back into the safety of the dark, twisting passageways, they followed Liz for many long minutes before any of them dared breathe a sigh of relief.

"What was that?" asked Paul. "It was like a gorilla and a dumpster had a baby."

"Something ugly and mean. I can't believe it found our back door," said Liz. "I hope it didn't catch anyone."

"You think it's with that surfer guy?" asked Paul.

"Really?" said Alice, “Of course it’s with Surtr. Even in New York, when are you gonna see something like that just wandering around? And it's Surtr not surfer."

They followed Liz along more passages, trusting in her light and sense of direction to get them through. Levi had thought the other passages were bad, but here, where Ravea hadn't kept them maintained, the sewers were choked with fallen rock and trash. A fetid muck lay thickly on the rough floor, at turns grabbing their shoes in its depth or making them slip on the slick patches.

They were a sad looking lot when they finally emerged through an open grate, wet and smeared with slime.

"I'm done" Levi announced, "I'm going back home and hiding in my mom's basement till I'm fifty. Maybe I'll take up video games," he said thoughtfully.

"You're kidding right?" Said Alice, sitting down heavily on a nearby crate.

"Well yeah, but still, I'm not sure it's a bad idea right now." He sighed. "So since we're stuck in this nightmare, what should we really do then. Liz?"

She didn't answer at first. Really, Levi thought, she looked pretty awful. Redheads don't cry well, and, now that he saw her in the daylight, she looked like she'd been crying. With some guilt he remembered where they'd left her parents. He wished he hadn't said what he had about going home. Hers was probably in ruins.

He started to say something, what he didn't know, but she looked up just then and smiled. "I know someplace we'll be safe, it's out a ways but I don't think that area's been hit. Come on."

As she turned to go, Alice put her hand on his arm and said quietly, "I don't think she wants to talk about it right now." Levi nodded, not really understanding; wishing he could help.

A long walk, a bus ride, and another walk found them outside of an outdated looking brick apartment building. A constant whining drone came from the dingy plastic box, hanging out of the window just above them. It must be broken, Levi thought. There were AC units wedged into most of the windows in the building. All except the bottom ones, those had bars. The building was dingy, like most everything in this part of town, covered with grime and graffiti.

Liz buzzed the intercom. They waited.

For some reason Levi found himself examining a blue post box, at least it might have been that color once, it was covered in years of graffiti and rust. The thing leaned drunkenly to one side, a leg bent inward, ready to give, it seemed, at a passing breeze.

"Seems like that's how a lot of things are these days, beat up beyond recognition but still hanging on." Levi looked up startled. An old, grey lady in tattered clothes was watching him curiously. Had she read his mind? He wondered, but that couldn't be, he must have spoken his thoughts without realizing.

"Uh, yeah, I've been feeling that way too recently."

"Of course you have dear. Just remember that things get better if you want them bad enough." She patted him on the arm and wandered on, humming to herself.

When she touched him he felt something familiar though it was so faint he didn’t recognize it. Shrugging he muttered to himself."That was weird,"

"What was?" asked Paul, looking up from where he was glaring at the grime drying on his shoes.

"That old lady just now. Didn't you think she was odd?"

"What lady?" Alice asked, looking around.

"Over there," he pointed down the road, but stopped. She was gone and the street was empty again.

"Huh, I don't see anyone,” said Paul, craning his neck as if that might help him see better.

"I swear she was just there," he began, but trailed off, a shiver running along his spine. Was he imagining things? It wasn’t just her disappearance that made him shiver though; he finally placed that feeling. It was the same as when he’d performed the sanctus, just quieter, more down to earth; more homey.

Liz sighed and buzzed the number again.

After a long pause, "Who's there?" came a timid voice, over the intercom, sounding like rustling newspaper.

"It's Liz, Melaine and Ravea's daughter. Can we come in?"

"Oh, Liz, it's been ages. I'm so happy to. Wait, what do you mean by we?"

"Some friends from school. There's trouble at home and we need a place to stay for a bit, is that alright?"

In response the door buzzed, and Liz led them into a narrow hallway, lined with stained, faded wallpaper. Flies droned lazily around the fluorescent lights flickering above. She led them up two flights of stairs to a plain blue door with a peephole, remarkably low set. She rapped sharply on the wood, which gave off a solid, heavy sound, then stepped back. There was a stirring from the other side and the sound of several locks being undone with a series of clicks and the scraping of metal against metal.

The door opened a crack to reveal a small hooded figure, face obscured behind a scarf.

"Well?" it rustled, "Come in before someone sees you."

The figure let them in before poking its head out the door to look back and forth down the hall before shutting the door firmly, locking a total of seven bolts and latches.

"There," it said with a sigh,

Levi couldn't tell if their host was a man or woman with the layers it was wearing.

"It’s a dangerous time for you to be out, very dangerous." It then walked the short distance to a low armchair muttering to itself and shaking its head "Very dangerous, can't be too careful."

"Bali," said Liz. "These are my friends, Paul, Levi, and Alice. We're in sort of a bind."

"Yes, yes." Bali interrupted, settling itself into the worn recliner. "I heard about Taambervol. Heard about a lot of other things too. My birds tell me. So you need to stay here for a while? That's good, very good, at least if you weren't followed. You weren't followed were you? Bad business this, bad, bad business."

Levi couldn't quite follow their host's rambling talk, especially as it was all said in that soft, rustling voice. Liz didn't seem to have any trouble though.

"Thank you so much, I knew we could count on you. I'll make sure to find you some nice juicy cats next time I'm by I promise."

"Cats?" Paul mouthed to Levi, Levi shrugged, he'd seen stranger.

"Oh that'll be lovely dear, now anything you need just ask, but not yet, my show's on and I must see if Gloria gets back together with Stephan. You can settle down in the back bedroom, linens and towels are in the closet in the bathroom."

Bali picked up its big gulp drink in one hand and the remote in the other, turning the TV volume up.

"Come on," Liz said, smiling at the others’ perplexed looks, "He's always like that. He'll be glued to that thing for the next hour at least."

They followed her down the hall, which was lined with bookshelves stuffed with books, magazines, stacks of newspaper, and assorted oddments, all under a thick layer of dust. The ‘bedroom’ turned out to be lined with even more shelves, with stacks of magazines up to the ceiling against one wall, and a single flickering bulb hanging naked from the ceiling.

"That things a guy?" Paul asked, jerking his head back to where Bali was watching his soap opera.

"Yeah," said Liz. "Or well, I think so. I guess I never asked, I just kinda assumed. But now that you ask, I guess I really don't know." She bit her lower lip in a thoughtful way. "But he never stopped me from calling him a he, so either that's what he is or he really doesn't care right?" She tossed herself on the floor, seemingly content to have settled the question in her mind.

"Sure, I guess." said Paul, not sounding convinced.

"So, what now?" Alice asked, settling down on piles of magazines. There wasn't any furniture beyond the shelves.

"Now?" said Liz, looking up from where she lay. "Now we wait till we hear from Mom and Dad. They're sure to reach out once they take care of that serger thing."

"Surtr." Alice corrected.

"So, uh Liz," Levi began.

"Yeah?"

"So what if they can't beat it? What if they have to go into hiding or something. I mean things were looking bad when we left. What happens then?"

Levi regretted the question as soon as he said it.

Liz didn't answer at first, her smile slipping a little.

"If they can't do it on their own then it's up to us to help them out,” said Alice, dropping her backpack. It hit with a thud.

"Here, I saved these."

She opened the pack and pulled out their guides, handing them to Levi and Paul. "While you were all running around I made sure to get these."

"Wow Alice, thanks." Paul said, bouncing the volume in his hands. "Still, we've been over these like a hundred times. I don't think there's anything else in here that will help. I mean can anything hurt a demon anyway? I got the impression it was like immortal or something."

"It can still die, it just needs someone to kill it,” said Alice. "The problem is, we need to know how to kill it. It's got to have a weakness or something. I just wish this guide wasn't still partly sealed. I can't help but think that whatever we need is behind those locked pages."

"So, then we need to know its weakness right?" Levi asked, remembering the conversation he'd overheard back at Liz's house, and desperately wanting to redeem himself for his stupid question earlier.

"Yeah, pretty much. You don't happen to know how to kill demons do you?"

"Well… I was trying to nap when." He proceeded to relate what he'd overheard back at Taambervol.

"You're just telling us this now?" Alice said, flipping through her guide's yellowed pages.

"Yeah, well I didn't know what to make of it. Besides, when we were in Taambervol I figured the adults were taking care of things right?"

"We are adults,” said Alice. "At least I am. But you're sure that's what they said?"

"Yeah, as well as I'm sure of anything."

"And you said Beltine?"

"Yeah, that's what they said, why? Does it mean anything to you?"

"It’s the celebration of life,” said Liz, still looking subdued. “It’s when darkness is vanquished and light returns to the world."

"So, I know it was important, but how does that help us?" asked Levi, feeling like he was missing something important.

"It helps us,” said Alice, “because that's what Surtr represents, darkness. If there is any one time during the year that Surtr would be weakest, I bet it would be then. There's something else too, something I can't quite remember. Let's see, there's a calendar here. Beltine is on May 1st but I think I read about something else happening then as well, what was it?"

"I dunno," said Paul, "but you think some day on a calendar is going to matter in a fight against that thing?"

"I bet it will, or else why would they have been talking about it?"

"Makes sense to me," said Liz, looking more animated again. "Time and seasons make a big difference. Dad used to say that the best time to be a guthri was in July when the sun was the hottest. He did his best work then, cause the fires respond best at that time of year. It's the same with all the other races and their gifts. It's funny how well it works out, you know, twelve races, twelve months of the year. But I think you’re off on one thing Alice."

“What?”

“Beltine isn’t about dark and light, even though that’s what people think. Nashi created light and dark and they’re both good. It’s symbolic of good triumphing over evil. It goes back to when Marath was defeated, and order was restored.”

“Well, either way, it's coming up in just a couple days. If we want to beat him, that's the day to do it?" Said Alice.

"So then what can we do?" asked Levi, "Call him up and challenge him to a duel? He’s still a demon with a whole army. We’d need some serious backup."

"Maybe," said Liz, on her feet now and jumping up and down in excitement. "I bet, if we can arrange it, we could get Mom, Dad, and everyone to meet up all at once, if we can pull it off we might just do it."

Reenergized by the new bit of hope,

the four of them spent the rest of the afternoon huddled together, as they pieced together their plan for taking on a demon.