The humor on the demon's face melted into disbelief as he saw Acheron there. He reached for the medallion on his wrist and held it up, then chanted in Sumerian.
Ash laughed as he felt his skin turning blue. "What makes you think that ancient mojo's going to work on me?"
Ash reached for the medallion, then cursed as it burned him. He'd forgotten that the emblems of other pantheons didn't play well with him. Not that it mattered. Pain was one thing he could deal with. Closing his hand over the Tablet, he ground his teeth against the searing agony of it burning against his palm and fingers.
It was sucking his powers out of him. But he still had enough left to do damage.
Snatching the Tablet, he tossed it to Zakar, then head-butted Kessar who staggered back.
Kessar let out an evil laugh as he caught himself and straightened.
A bad feeling went through Ash. "What are you laughing at?"
The demon straightened before he leaned against Ash to whisper in his ear. "By bringing Zakar back and handing him the Tablet with your blood on it, you just opened the tomb to the Dimme. Congratulations, Apostolos. You are the harbinger of Telikos... the end of the world."
The rumble of the tomb went through Kat like an electrical current. She and Artemis staggered back into Kish whose eyes were as wide as possible as even the walls around them vibrated. Pieces of the ceiling shook loose and fell while the sound grew louder. She met Sin's gaze to see the confirmation of her fears on his face.
Kat laughed nervously. "Please tell me the cave just has a little indigestion."
But as it rumbled again and she heard a piercing shriek from inside the tomb, she knew the truth.
The Dimme were coming out.
Kat tensed, ready to battle as she saw the wiggling feminine fingers that appeared in a crack in the stone. They had long, black fingernails that pushed against the opening, trying to enlarge it.
"Get back," Sin snapped at all of them.
"I'm powerless," Artemis said. "I can't fight against a demon since I gave someone-" she glared at Kat-"temporary loan of my powers. At least it better be temporary..."
Kat shook her head. Yes, she'd given Sin his powers back, and taken some for her own, but she would never take away her mother's. They might disagree from time to time, but at the end of the day, she loved her mother more than anything.
Sin smiled as he gave Artemis a meaningful stare. "I think we found our sacrifice to them."
"Oh poo," Simi said petulantly, "we can't let the heifer-goddess die. Akri will die too if he can't eat from her." Her eyes flaming, she put herself between Artemis and the tomb. "C'mon, Xirena, you gots to help the Simi protect the bitch-goddess."
Xirena let out a disgusted snarl before she took up a position beside her sister.
Kish moved to stand next to Artemis. "Looks like the safest spot here for a human who doesn't want to get eaten."
Artemis raked him with a sneer as Xypher came to stand between Sin and Kat.
"Any game plan?" Xypher asked Sin.
"Don't die."
"I like it. Simple, bold. Impossible. Works for me."
Kat scoffed at his sarcasm. "What are you bitching about, Xypher? You're already dead."
He laughed. "You know, for once, it's good to be me."
Kat only wished she shared his status. She looked at Sin. "Any words of advice on how to kill these?"
"Not a one. It took three of us to trap them last time... trap, not kill because we never could figure out how to do that. They're nasty buggers."
Great. She couldn't wait to meet one.
All of a sudden, something crashed behind them. Kat turned to see Acheron entering the chamber with Zakar and the rest of their group.