SNAFU: Heroes: An Anthology of Military Horror

Duncan had joined the Echo Team only a few weeks earlier and in that time he’d already seen enough of the horrors roaming the dark corners of the world to make him long for the quiet days he’d spent on the Preceptor’s security detail. It didn’t matter if they were at home or abroad; somehow Commander Williams, Cade, always managed to get them into the thick of things, and more often than not the creatures they encountered seemed to come straight out of someone’s nightmare. Tonight’s foes were no exception. Duncan knew the world was full of such things – he was a Templar after all – but he had discovered that knowledge and first-hand experience were two different things. Since facing off against the necromantic Council of Nine in the swamps of Louisiana, Duncan had come to learn just how little that knowledge prepared you for the reality of the twisted, perverted creatures that called the darkness their home.

Duncan alerted the others and then stepped back to give Commander Williams a chance to look out at the street and the creatures it now contained. The thought that just a pair of flimsy shutters and a few panes of glass separated him from those things out there made him more than a little uneasy, but he did his best to conceal it from the veterans around him.

If they can deal with this, so can I.

Still, it took all his nerve to stay silent and still as the creatures flooded down the street in search of them. A few paused in front of the building as if sensing the men were hiding inside, one going so far as to come right up to the door. Duncan kept expecting Commander Williams to give the order to evacuate through the rear door – an order he would have willingly followed if it took them away from the freakish things outside – but it was not to be. Cade merely put a finger to his lips, signaling for them to be silent, and waited for the intruder to give up and leave before he went back to watching the creatures pass by outside.

Eventually – it felt like hours later to Duncan – the street was empty and Cade signaled the all-clear.

The butcher shop and its contents did the job; the shutters hid them from view and the creatures hadn’t been able to smell them over the hefty scents of the meat and cheese that filled the shelves. The creatures might be back and there was no telling what they would do when they discovered the Templars had escaped their wrath, but for now, they were safe.

Duncan broke the silence first.

“What the hell are those things?” he asked, gesturing toward the window and the street beyond.

The gesture wasn’t necessary; everyone in the room knew what he was referring to. After a moment, when it didn’t look like Cade was going to answer the sergeant’s question, Riley chimed in.

“Protean demons.”

Duncan frowned. “Come again?” he said.

He’d spent most of his time in the Order on the Preceptor’s protection detail. He was pretty well-versed on the typical threats a knight had to face but he’d never heard of such a thing. For all he knew the big master sergeant was making it up just to mess with the new guy.

But this time it was Cade who answered instead of Riley. The usually reticent commander spoke softly from his place by the window. “Chimeras. Changelings. Flesh-twisters – they have a lot of names. What they’re called isn’t as important as what they are - hellspawn.”

Cade turned to face him and Duncan could see anger, rather than fear, burning in his eyes.

“Somewhere out there,” – he waved a hand toward the village outside the window – “is a summoning circle. Squatting in that circle is a class three, maybe even a class four demon that broke free from those who summoned it and it has apparently decided to stay here. To do that, it needs more power, so it is sending out its drones to corrupt anyone they encounter.”

“Corrupt them how?”

“The drone burrows inside the victim and attaches itself to the individual’s brain stem before spreading along his or her spinal column and nervous system. Once in place, the victim becomes an extension of the demon, just like the drone. The two have effectively become one, transferring the power inherent in the victim’s spirit to the demon. As it gains more victims, it gains more power and therefore becomes stronger. Wait long enough, let the demon gather enough power, and it can grow to the extent that it is virtually impossible to kill.”

The explanation did nothing to bolster Duncan’s confidence; in fact, it had the exact opposite effect.

How were they going to stop something like that?