The Seven Princess and The Gates of Hell by Steve Wharton
*****
Ryan pulled the Hummer into the parking spot in front of the motel room and he and Maria got out and went into the room. It was still early so they cleaned up and went out for dinner and enjoying each other’s company without having to worry about fallen angels or demons. The night was drawing to a close and they were leaving the restaurant when Ryan spotted a demon across the street. Ryan told Maria about the demon and suggested that they just ignore the demon and deal with demons and fallen angels in the morning. As they walked back to their Hummer Ryan noticed that there were a lot of demons walking the street. Ryan stopped and leaned over to Maria’s ear and told her that there must be close to a hundred demons walking the street and they suspected that they were looking for them.
“Let’s get back to the motel room where we have a easy place to defend.” Maria said.
“I think that is a good idea, let’s go.”
They got into the Hummer and headed back to the motel. All up and down the streets were demons checking out everyone they came across. Several had paid close attention to the Hummer and the two people riding in it. As they were on the outskirts of Bagdad the number of demons dwindled to none by the time they pulled into the motel. The parked the Hummer and went into their room. Ryan grabbed the MAC-10’s and ensured that they had full magazines in them and he pulled out twenty spare magazines and made sure that they were fully loaded. He set one MAC-10 down by Maria’s side of the bed and the other by his side. He placed five magazines with each gun and placed a few on the floor on both sides of the bed. He took his pistol and placed it under his pillow. If any demons showed up here they would pay the price.
Ryan and Maria turned in for the night knowing they were leaving early for Al Jadihab to find the ancient city of Uruk where the temple of Naamah was supposed to be located. They had packed the Hummer with all of their gear as they would not be returning here when the finished in Al Jadihab. Both of them fell asleep rather quickly.
It was just past three in the morning when a knock on the door woke both of them, Ryan walked to the door and looked out the peep hole in the door. He stepped back and grabbed his MAC-10 and whispered to Maria ‘there are ten demons on the other side of the door,” Ryan pulled the slide back on the MAC-10 ensuring a round was in the chamber. He walked to the door and opened it and didn’t ask any questions, he fired short bursts from the MAC-10 killing all ten demons. He turned to Maria and said, “Get dressed we need to get out of here.”
Without another word both Maria and Ryan quickly changed their clothes and they got into the Hummer and headed out of town. Ryan looked at Maria and smiled.
“What do you think we will find in Al Jadihab?” Maria asked.
“My guess is a lot of demons and seven female fallen.”
“I was thinking the same thing myself.”
They made the trip to Al Jadihab in less than two hours and headed to the GPS coordinates that Maria had provided for the ancient city of Uruk which was another fifty miles east of Al Jadihab. They would be close to the border of Jordan when they arrived in Uruk. As they approached the ancient city they could see ruins all over as far as they could see. Uruk was a major Mesopotamian city and would have been very large. They searched the ruins for any clue to the location of the temple but could not find anything that might lead them to the temple.
There were no villages nearby where they could ask any of the elders for information. Ryan walked around the ruins again when he spotted some rather large sand dunes off to the north of the old city. Ryan started to walk towards the dunes when he got the confirmation he was looking for. The mass of demons surrounding the dunes gave the location of the temple away. It also told Ryan that the female fallen were here also.
Ryan made his way back to the Hummer and got out the missile launcher and five missiles, he also got out both MAC-10’s and all of the spare magazines, He handed one MAC-10 to Maria and all of the spare ammo. He told Maria to be on her toes and not to shoot unless the demons came at her. He then dug out his spotter scope and headed for the ruin wall farthest from the Hummer. He sighted the spotters scope on the top of the dune and came up with a distance of eighteen hundred yards. He did some quick calculations and figured out the angle he would need to fire the missiles at. He loaded the first bird and set the angle finder and when he reached the correct angle he fired the launcher he fired the second missile.
The first missile hit just as he was getting ready to load the third missile. When the explosion occurred the doors to the temple flew open and demons started piling out of the temple. Ryan felt obligated to fire the third missile into the door way, The third missile flew and headed for the temple doors. The third missile hit at almost the same instant that the second one hit. When the third missile exploded the demons quit coming out of the doors.
The demons that had surrounded the temple were looking in the direction of Ryan, Ryan loaded the forth missile and reloaded and fired again. He ran back to the Hummer and rejoined Maria. The bulk of the demons were headed to the spot Ryan had just left, they were intent on killing whoever had just been there. Ryan estimated that there were about three hundred demons headed to his old location, he instructed Maria to toss everything back into the Hummer and then get in. Ryan started the Hummer and started moving away from temple. He knew he was out numbered and didn’t have what they needed to complete this job.
“Why are we running?”
“We need to get clear from here, we don’t have what we need to take on a force this size. I would guess that they sent six hundred to the spot where I fired the missiles at and there were probably twice that many still at the dune around the temple.”
“What are we going to need?”
“We are going to need some heavy firepower like fifty cal’s and lots of ammo.”
“This is going to delay us waiting for Jim to get that to us.”
“I have another idea they may get it to us today. I’ll need to make a phone call.”
“I have service via the satellite link.”
“Ok let me get a little farther away from the temple.”
Ryan pulled over after another two miles. He had Maria dial a number and Ryan was connected to an old friend of his that was over here working as a civilian security firm. Ryan told him what he needed and his friend told him he would get the fifty cal and ten thousand rounds to him within the hour.
Ryan and Maria waited and right on time his buddy showed up and transferred the fifty cal to Ryan along with ten thousand rounds of ammo. Ryan signed the paperwork and the fifty was his.
They drove back to the place they had parked the Hummer the first time. All of the demons had returned to the temple, Ryan pulled the fifty out from the back of the Hummer and he set the tripod for the big gun on the ground where he had a clear view of the dune. He had Maria get out the Grenade launcher and a few grenades. Ryan knew he was about eighteen hundred yards from the temple and knew that the launcher would not reach the temple with the grenades but he could come close and that’s what he needed to get the demons coming towards him.
Ryan fired the grenade launcher three time and got the reaction he wanted the demons started coming at him. When the demons were in range of the fifty he opened fire. The fifty caliber rounds were tearing thru the demons and dropping them to the point that the demons that were towards the rear started tripping over the dead demons before they could burst into flames. By the time the demons quit coming at him he had fired almost twenty-five hundred rounds.
Ryan got the missile launcher from the Hummer and he fired two more missiles into the temple. He got no reaction from the temple. He put the fifty back into the Hummer and they got in and Ryan moved closer to the temple, he grabbed the backpack and filled it with C-4 and they took the MAC-10’s and headed up the stairs to the temple entrance. When they reached the entrance Ryan carefully entered the temple and found the room empty. He looked around for other doors or passageways, he counted one door and one hall. He checked the door an
Five were hiding behind the older of the fallen.
“I am Naamah, how dare you attack me?”
Well Naamah I am Ryan the Angel Slayer, I have been sent to dispatch you.”
“Don’t think that will be easy.”
Naamah was using her power of seduction on Ryan. It had been a long time since Ryan had been with a woman and he was starting to fall for the seduction of Naamah.
Maria came into the room and saw what was happening to Ryan and she opened up with MAC-10 on Naamah. Though the bullets would not kill the fallen it would incapacitate them for a little while. Maria took the angel sword and began cutting the head off of the fallen.
“What happened? Where are the Naamah?”
“You were in some kind of trance and you were giving in to the fallen. I came in and shot her then took your sword and cut her head off.”
“Thank you for being there.”
“Ryan I would do anything for you.”
“Let’s get ready to get out of here, I’ll set the charges.”
Ryan went thru every room in the temple and set C-4 charges and placed the detonators in each charge. He went back to the main room and set the time for one hour. They left the temple and got into the Hummer and drove out of the area and headed for the Bagdad airport with a stop at the church in Bagdad to send his boxes home to San Diego.
Once the boxes were all sealed and addressed the priest called the delivery company as Ryan and Maria left for the airport. They arrived in San Diego after a eighteen hour flight. They got their car and drove home.
They walked into their house and Ryan plopped down in his chair and just said “Thank God, we are home.”