Helena watched carefully as Camila whirled through the air. The woman was naturally talented. Not in martial arts. That was something Camila had obviously worked very hard to train. But her understanding of aerial combat was instinctual. As was her ability to generate localized force effects. The green flashes as Camila built walls to get better balance in the air continued to mystify Helena. Someone who learned magic, even an innate talent, all of two months ago shouldn’t be that good.
The attacks were completely unique as well. Camila practiced capoeira, a style designed to be usable in shackles. Or so the Brazilian woman had proudly claimed. Helena still had a hard time guessing when one of her elaborate dodges would turn into an attack.
Acedia seemed to be similarly impressed. “You beat her?”
“I escaped her,” Helena admitted. Her pride forced her to add, “But she had help at the time.”
The demon just returned to watching silently.
After a moment curiosity got the better of Helena. “Not going to insult yourself because you can’t match up?”
“She’s better than Ira,” Acedia said simply.
Helena nodded slowly. That would explain it. Even Acedia’s permanent depression considered someone who could beat a demon of wrath to be understandably stronger. The little fight at the apartment hadn’t been long enough for the demon to see their full strength.
After a few more flips Camila dropped from the sky, landing in front of them. Acedia squawked and flapped her wings in protest as Camila tossed an arm around the demon’s shoulder. Camila always was happy to move around freely. “So, whaddya think?”
“It looks strange,” Acedia managed to mumble.
“It’s pretty unique,” Camila agreed with a wide grin. She turned towards Helena and shrugged apologetically. “I’d give you a hug too but…” She pointed at the lines of circles around Helena that were keeping her limber.
Helena nodded in return. “We’ll just have to kill that angel construct fast enough that you’ll have some time left on your personal reserves.”
“Or ya know you could act friendly on your own,” Camila replied with a smirk.
“It’s against my religion,” Helena replied, getting a pout from Camila. Truth be told she enjoyed the woman’s improvisations. But she wouldn’t say that out loud. Especially since Camila’s fun was about to end. “I’m going to have to cut the spell, I’m afraid.”
Camila sighed. “Alright.” The woman let her arms fall limp.
Helena stopped channeling energy into the circles around her and they faded. With the magic no longer flowing into Camila’s body the woman’s limbs snapped back into their rigid posture. She spent a moment clearing out a few stray lines of magic.
Then she staggered in surprise as Camila leaned on her back, the jiang-shi’s arms dangling over her shoulders. “What are you doing?”
“Giving you a hug as well,” Camila said. “Just with less bendy arms.”
“Of course,” Helena sighed. She patted her friend on the arm.
Camila hopped back. “Alright, let’s go get ice cream before you people who can actually feel the heat die of it.”
“It’s not too bad,” Helena said. There was a solid cloud cover today, though it wasn’t raining.
“It’s miserable and muggy,” Acedia muttered.
Helena looked at the demon. “You lived in hell.”
Acedia shrugged. “Just because it could be worse doesn’t mean this is acceptable.”
“Too much talking, not enough getting the zombie ice cream,” Camila said. “I can pick you up and drag you there ya know.”
“We’ll walk,” Helena said before quickening her pace. Camila might follow through on her threat. “I’m not sure why you’re so interested in throwing money at ice cream when you don’t need to eat though.”
Camila’s grin got a certain edge to it. “Because after that we’re gonna have to talk about what we’re gonna do to solve the case.”
Ah. That was going to be a long and unproductive conversation. “Alright. Strawberry.”
“Get me the giant ice cream sandwich. Neapolitan,” Acedia said.
“Hey hold on,” Camila waved her stiff arms. “How am I supposed to carry all of this?”
“That’s a good question,” Helena replied.
Camila turned to Acedia who shrugged. “Demon. Sorry.”
The jiang-shi woman glared between the two of them waiting for someone to break. Helena waited until the doubt had almost filled her eyes before walking forward. “I’ll buy. Which do you want?”
“Get me the mango bar,” Camila said.
A few moments and a bit of work bending Camila’s arm later, they all had their selections. Helena still found the American food to be excessively sweet, but the cold helped mitigate it.
“So,” Acedia looked at Helena. “What’s your plan?”
Helena grimaced. She didn’t have a good plan. “We’ll need to wait until midnight before I can summon any fairy that would be able to help us. So while we wait I’m going to look at the other murder sites.”
“Look for something the police missed?” Camila nodded. “Not bad.”
“And what the mafia missed.” Helena said. “I don’t trust either group. The police have even less cash to spend on magical help now that Kilduff pissed off the bean counters by jailing his ‘boss.’ And the Triads just finished a little civil war. They’re both full of holes, and that’s assuming no one’s trying to bribe people. I’m sure the Inspector checked the flashy murders personally, but he wouldn’t have the time to check the murders the satanists committed.”
“Wouldn’t that bastard Hsu have checked those?” Camila asked.
Helena shook her head. “He’ll have been distracted by the slaughters that happened in the underground. I bet he’s checking now, but when it comes to summoning and curses I’m better.” She’d bet everything on that, even if he was a cunning bastard.
“So we’re going to stare at locked doors and hope you see magic?” Acedia said.
Helena fished out her lockpicks. “The doors shouldn’t be-“
She froze as a torrent of miasma rose nearby. She could feel the power coming from it. Something as dark as the angel had been light. Next to her Acedia’s wings unfurled and the demon hissed in surprise. Camila bumped into her. “What happened?!”
Three humans and a flesh construct quickly decided to cross the street, but Helena forced herself to focus on the miasma. Eight hundred and seventy paces to the South West. “New plan. We’re going to be investigating a new murder.” She leaped into the air and flew towards the source. “Stay close!”
She checked briefly to make sure Acedia was keeping up, but the demon had only hesitated a moment before following her into the sky. Her wings weren’t big enough to keep her flying, but magic was obviously filling the gap. And if she did fall behind Camila would be there to catch her.
That settled she put all her effort into flying to the source of the miasma. The four story buildings blocked her progress for only a moment before she cleared them. After that it was a straight flight. The people on the streets below might be offended by people flying over private homes, but murder overrode politeness.
The ritual pulsed and Helena could feel what was happening. Humility. That was the virtue being sacrificed. She could sense the darkness being pulled into the Immigrant Realm from hell. The climax of the dark pact was like a physical blow.
She was a block away when the miasma just vanished. Helena swore. Their prey was getting away! She tried to fly faster. To make it there before the group was gone. But the last trace of miasma faded as soon as she cleared the last row of buildings. “Damn.”
“They get away?” Camila said as she caught up, Acedia panting at her side.
“Yes.” Helena nodded. “They must have sensed we were coming. The ritual was rushed. I could sense it. Whoever it was cut and ran.”
Acedia coughed before glaring at her. “Or were warned. We could have been sneaky.”
Helena rolled her eyes at the demon’s critique. “Do you know how to sneak? Because neither of us do.”
“Hey I can be subtle,” Camila protested. “There’s this one time.” She shook her arms for emphasis then paused. “Uh, well I used to be sneaky. Sometimes.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Helena looked around the street. There were a number of people giving them a wide berth and dark looks for flying in the city but no one seemed to be complaining about murder. This part of the city was all dull red brick, and the people around were making warding gestures and muttering in Slavic languages. Probably immigrants from more modern realms then. If they were from older realms the burgomeister would be leading a group of people with torches and pitchforks to complain about her witchcraft.
Good. Modern people wouldn’t disturb her investigation.
She walked down the alleyway where she’d felt the dark energy from. At the back there was a door. Helena didn’t notice any signs of entry, but she was certain the ritual had been near here.
“I smell blood,” Acedia muttered, looking around nervously. Camila moved closer to the demon and Helena nodded her approval. Acedia might be getting more lively, but she’d still need protecting in a fight.
Helena checked the door. Locked. Somehow she doubted the murderers locked the door behind them. “They must have gotten in a different way.” She peered at the lock. “Not that this would have stopped them for long. Make sure Inspector Kilduff doesn’t magically sneak up on me while I get this.”
“Sure,” Camila said. “But shouldn’t we, like, tell him about this?”
“After I finish my investigation,” Helena said. “People who want timely reports should give them.” She grimaced. “I’ll need to tell the mages and the church as well. I don’t know why you’re going on about being useless Acedia. You’ve been more help than any of those three in the last few days.”
The demon didn’t feel that was worth a response apparently, so Helena turned her full attention to the lock. With a bit of work the tumblers fell into place and the door clicked open. “There.” She carefully pushed the door in, keeping a shielding spell in mind.
The scent of blood washed out over her as the door opened. The crimson fluid was everywhere, splattering the walls and floor. A messy pentagram dripped on one of the walls surrounded by dark runes. In the middle of the small apartment lay the body. A woman. And in the far corner a shattered hole in the floor told Helena exactly how the murderers had made it into the building.
“Damn,” Camila muttered as she glided over the ground towards the body. “What a mess.”
Helena realized her friend was being smart. “Right. No extra footprints.” She took to hovering as well before moving to the victim.
The woman was in her fifties, probably. White hair and a full figure. She’d been flung onto her face, but Helena could see she’d been killed by a single heavy blow from a large clawed hand. “She must have been hit there,” Helena pointed at where the blood splatter started three feet away from the body. “And been flung here. Even if the claw marks I see on her side weren’t deep enough to reach the heart, it would have been shattered by the trauma of the blow.”
“About as strong as me then,” Camila said darkly. The woman must be remembering one of the murders she’d been forced to do when she was still under magical control.
“Yes,” Helena said. “But less skilled.” There was no good reason to fling the body about, so this couldn’t have been the best killing blow.
“Hey,” Helena looked up to see Acedia pointing at the pentagram. “They’re almost done.”
Helena looked over and grimaced. Sure enough there was only once visible virtue on the spell. “They’re down to Charity. Damn.”
“And they’re hiding in the underground somewhere,” Camila said, glancing at the hole.
The underground was where those residents of the Immigrant Realm who didn’t fit in well with humans lived. It was also a sprawling mass of tunnels that no one knew all the details about. Searching the slums would be hard. Searching the underground would be much worse.
In the end there was only one option. “We’re going to have to track them.”
“Should we go now?” Camila asked, heading to the hole.
“No. I need to inform, well, everyone. Also I want to get a sense for the spell.” Helena glared at the pentagram. “If I know the caster I might be able to trace their magic.”
Acedia sighed. “They probably teleported or something anyway.”
Helena shook her head. The demon was probably right. Still not the best thing to say. She pulled out a few square pieces of paper and one of those marvelous ball point pens and handed them to Acedia. “Write what happened down for me please. Four copies.” Acedia glared at her but took the papers. That would keep the demon busy for a bit.
That done she turned to the bloody pentagram. The spell was done, its magic already used up. But since the killers had been here minutes ago the echos should still be there. She reached out, trying to get a sense of the spell that had been done here.
It thrummed with blood and hatred. Magic Helena was very familiar with. But there were other undertones too. Fanaticism, and a desperate need for control. The spell itself was almost unnoticeable next to that. A rote memorized kabbalistic kludge spell. Clumsy magic, but it suggested an experienced lesser mage. The caster was certain it would work.
“I think I can recognize this,” Helena said after a bit. “At least I can recognize anyone who’s working out of the same book of spells. And demon summoning tomes tend to be one of a kind.”
She turned to Acedia. “Did you get the warnings finished?”
“Yes. But I can’t send them,” she muttered, holding out the papers.
“Most lesser magicians can’t,” Helena said. It gave her a certain amount of pride. She took the paper then began folding one sheet into a crane.
As she finished each one she tossed them into the air and breathed life into them, letting them flutter off to the people she wanted to get in contact with. First one to Aoi, just to keep her friend informed. One to the mosque, since the church would destroy the spell. One to Kilduff just so he couldn’t complain about getting the message last, and the last one to Hsu, who would complain but deserved every small insult Helena gave him.
“So, are we ready for the lamest chase ever?” Camila said, shifting back and forth next to the hole down.
“It’s not a chase. It’s a hunt,” Helena said. “And keep your eyes open. They knew we were coming. They might have set up some nasty surprises for us if we followed them.”
Camila’s eyes widened at that, then she nodded. “Right.”
Acedia looked at the hole gloomily. The demon was probably deciding if she hated the thought of going along or being left behind more. Helena wasn’t willing to waste more time dropping her off at Aoi’s though. Besides, the demon woman might have some information to offer later. She waved the demon over. “Camila first, me second, you third. After that we’ll see who’s best suited to follow the trail.”
As Acedia hopped over the bloodstained mess, Camila dropped down into the hole. After a moment the jiang-shi’s voice rang up. “Clear.” Helena looked down and saw Camila looking around, apparently safe. That settled Helena jumped in herself.
The hole wasn’t too deep. A mere ten feet down, not even below the sewer lines yet. A quick look around showed they were in the natural tunnels though. Part of the underground that came a little closer to the surface than the other tunnels. “What terrible luck,” Helena muttered.
Acedia landed next to them with a more solid thump seconds later. A few glowing spider-like creatures scurried away as the demon landed. “Wonderful,” she said, looking around the dark tunnels.
“At least we have room to stand,” Helena said as she fished out some belladonna extract. “You can see in the dark, right Acedia?”
“I’m a demon,” Acedia muttered. “Of course.”
Camila raised an arm. “Like, I can’t.”
“You can sense chi, which should work just fine,” Helena reminded the woman. She then tapped the belladonna drops to her eyelids and summoned a quick spell. Seconds later her own vision sharpened, giving her full sight in the dimly lit caverns.
“That’s still so weird,” Camila said as she shook her head. “Which way?”
Helena looked down, trying to see if there were any clues. Fortunately the answer was pretty obvious. It was faint, but there were spots of blood leading north.
“That way?” Acedia said pointing down the north tunnel.
Helena looked at the demon. “Why do you say that?”
“I…” Acedia shook her head and folded in on herself. “I dunno. It’s just a feeling. Ignore me.”
“Well you’re right, so if you have more feelings like that tell us. Maybe that’ll keep us on the right path when the trail of blood ends.” Helena carefully took the lead.
The trail was rather simple to follow. There was only one path that humans could travel down, so that was the path they took. Helena occasionally stopped to see if there were signs of a teleport, or illusion magic, but there was nothing.
The animals they were seeing here did not make Helena feel any better though. Everything looked unnatural, like it was cobbled together from spare parts. The glowing spiders with eyes the size of their head were the most pleasant. The moles with insect pincers and sharp claws only left them alone when Helena started summoning miasma to curse them. And the black worms that writhed in the blood marks were just sickening.
They’d traveled about a mile down the strange tunnel before they reached a branch. One headed down, towards where the demons of the Maya made their home. A place dangerous to magicians like her. The spirits of the Americas still held a grudge towards the magicians and clergy of Europe for the loss of their old homes.
The trail however went the other way. Into a cavern Helena had never seen before. One that she hadn’t even known existed, though in retrospect it had to exist somewhere.
“Well,” Helena said as she looked over the shantytown made out of red mud brick and twisted metal. “That explains how Acedia found the place.” This must be the hell part of the underground. Where the pariahs of the Christian realms set up shop.
Acedia looked over the mass of her fellow demons. Those who had twisted ape bodies, or massive goat heads. The demons who couldn’t easily mix with society above. “I guess I should have paid attention when Gula was telling me where other demons lived.”
Camila of course just smiled wearily. “Good news, we fit in easy. Bad news, we’re trying to find a tree in a forest. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?”
“We’re about to find out,” Helena said, as she led her friends into the neighborhood.