The goat devil had managed to get a spear with a long point. He took a step back, using the spear’s length to his best advantage. In the close quarters, he would have an easy time defending himself. Holding the spear in both hands, he faked a lunge, going high at first, but driving the spear point toward Mitch’s belly.

Stepping in, Mitch cut the spear handle in half with one smooth sweep of his arm and curved round to slice off the goat devil’s left horn. The goat devil jumped back in surprise. He looked at the severed horn lying in the mud; already dissolving into the black sludge that wicked creatures like him are made of. In moments it became nothing but black smoke.

“We can stop now,” Mitch said.

The goat devil had no intention of stopping. He tossed the useless end of the spear away. The other half of the spear in his hand, he charged forward. As he closed on Mitch, the goat devil brought his hand down, using the spear more like a club, aiming at his opponent’s head. Mitch dodged out of the way, but there was a knife in the goat devil’s other hand and he jabbed it toward Mitch’s guts. Bringing his sword up, Mitch knocked the spear away, swung back to block the knife but severed the goat devil’s right arm instead. The goat devil grabbed his arm and cursed.

“I believe that satisfies the Right of Combat,” Mitch said. “Now, you are under arrest. Return with us to the World Below and we’ll get you some medical attention.”

“Never!” shouted the goat devil, lunging toward him.

Mitch could not get out of the way fast enough. The goat devil rammed into Mitch at full speed and impaled himself on the sword. Mitch landed on his back with the goat devil on top of him. The creature began changing, his body turning to black jelly.

“Be at peace, then,” said Mitch. He stood up and tried to rid himself of as much of the sludge and mud as he could. “Yuck, and these were my only clean pants. Okay, how about the rest of you? You want a fight?”

The goat-men looked from one to the other. They seemed unable to decide.

Finally, one spoke up, saying, “We surrender.”

“Good choice,” said Mitch. “Gentlemen, hog tie them please. Sorry, but it’s going to be more work for you than I thought. We can’t exactly rely on their honor, can we? I’ll get some beer to go with that pizza.”

The promise was met with cheers. The toad creatures immediately set to work. The goat-men were pushed into the mud, their hands and feet held together by two or more toad creatures as another wrapped their limbs with thick rope.

“Gullysack, how’s the woman?” Mitch asked.

“Looking fine as ever,” said Gullysack, his eyes once again appraising the runner’s body like meat.

“Good, just keep her occupied while we finish things up, okay?”

“You got it, Mitch.”

The excitement over, Gullysack returned his attentions to the runner. He hopped off the rock he had been sitting on and swaggered over, making eyes at her the entire way.

“Though I can hang with the rest of the crew if I have to, I’m more of a lover than a fighter,” Gullysack explained. “But don’t you worry, baby. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

With hardly a downward glance, Gullysack deftly avoided stepping on the lines of the pentagram. He began looking at how she was tied to the chair, testing the strength of her bonds with a disapproving ‘tsk’.

“Bet this is all pretty crazy,” Gullysack confided, not removing the gag so the runner could respond. He made his voice low and smooth. “Bet you can’t make heads or tails of none of this. Poor baby, you’re probably scared out of your wits. You must think you’re in a loony bin somewhere, or ought to be.”

Bending down to look at her legs, he went on in the pimp voice, “And after a fright like this, a girl might think that there is some kind of debt to be paid.”

The toad thing looked up at her from between her thighs, winked, and said, “Well, you know, we goblin-hero-types live a tough life. A little lovin’ goes a long way. You may not think that you’re up to my usual standards, and you’re right about that, but I feel like you and I made a deeper sort of emotional connection today.”

He began stroking the naked flesh of her ankles, moving his way up her legs as he spoke. The runner flinched at the touch. She tried to move her legs to make him stop, but she was so tightly bound that she could do very little to discourage his explorations.

“Mitch, Mitch!” she screamed through her gag, thinking she had gone from a bad situation to one that was much worse. Her pleas brought no rescue. Mitch and the others were too busy taking care of the goat-men.

“So what do you say, baby? Huh? Ready for a little monkey sex?”

“No, uh uh,” the runner said, throwing her head back and forth. “No way.”

“What? No? Shy? Don’t worry, I’ll take things slow.”

“No!” she screamed, feeling his hands on her wrists.

The next moment she was free. The bonds had all been cut. Her gag and even the rag that had been stuck in her mouth were gone. Surprised, she looked around, expecting Gullysack to jump her bones at any minute but he was nowhere to be seen. Like the other toad creatures and the goat-men, he was gone. The only one left was Mitch.

“You have been through quite an experience,” said Mitch. “If it means anything, your attackers will receive justice. Otherwise, maybe you should just forget about everything you saw. We could do something about your memory, but you’d be missing time and still have flashbacks, and I understand that makes everything worse.”

“Okay,” the runner began weakly, still feeling confused about everything that had happened. “If you think it’s best.”

Moving around the pentagram, Mitch blew out each of the candles. When that was done, he kicked in the outer ring and broke a few of the points of the star. It was quiet and lonely and the runner was beginning to worry that Mitch had something else on his mind. Except for the light at the far end of the tunnel, it was dark. She had never gotten a good look at his face, what with the action and all the hair, and even now with him right next to her, she couldn’t see what he looked like.

“Take my hand now. Don’t fall. Your legs might be a little wobbly.”

She took his hand gratefully. He had more a paw than a hand. The skin was rough and the muscles were thick. He was someone used to menial labor. He led her across the ruin of the pentagram to the tunnel.

“Okay?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Think you can get back to your car?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“We’ll keep an eye on you all the same. Just walk to the end of the tunnel and this nightmare will all be over.”

“Okay, well, thank you.” She hugged him.

“You’re welcome. Go on now.”

“Will I ever see you again?”

“Never, and you’ll never again see any of my people either.”

“No? That’s good, actually.”

“That’s the way it should be.”

Taking a single step toward the end of the tunnel, she found herself outside. She was standing on the beach looking out over the bay. Behind her was the rock pile. There was no opening; just a pile of rocks. Everything was as it had been a hundred days before.

Slightly confused, she decided she had better finish her run and get to work. People were already setting up their spots on the beach. The sun was almost midway across the sky. Her muscles were cold and her body was sore so she decided to walk. As she turned from the rock pile, she looked back and decided to go another way.

End of Excerpt