The Lord of Always by David Brian

Author:David Brian [Brian, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-07-31T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

It took only moments for me to climb the steps, my eyes remaining at-all-times fixed on the dragon head door-knocker. In the poor light of this strange red-dusk, the patterning on the iron beast resembled scales on a reptile. Though the thing on the door no longer slithered about the frame in the manner it had previously, I still balked at the sight of those yellow-eyes fixed balefully on my approach. The dragon’s lips pulled back, revealing needlepoint teeth. I contemplated whether it was my frayed imagination, or indeed if the creature really was grinning violence at the prospect of my approach. It was a question quickly answered, the hellion opening its mouth and emitting a snarl of indignant displeasure at this uninvited intrusion. It was a sound which chilled me to the core, and either through fear or driven by desperation to pass the creature, incurred a response that was as rapid as it was decisive.

Straightening my arm to align the bottle I held, I faced the door and squeezed with all my might, compressing the plastic container between my fingers, jetting its contents toward this impossibility of a door-knocker.

The fiend squealed like a pig in an abattoir.

The dragon’s unholy cries were accompanied by threshing, wriggling turmoil as it blistered and bubbled, burning under the cleansing stream of salt, washing-up liquid, tap water, and whatever occult ritual George’s blood had performed over these objects.

I watched in stunned silence as the monster on the door withered and shrank back into itself, until it resembled nothing more than the thing it had become; a cast dragon’s head. It seemingly took an age – although, thinking back now, it was likely only a few moments – before I found courage to reach out and handle the knocker; though not before I touched my chest, fingering the sigil painted beneath my shirt.

It wasn’t until this moment when I realized I didn’t possess a key with which to access the property. There was no way I would be able to gain access simply by kicking my way through the wooden barrier. The door was of solid stock, and this left me short on options.

Tentatively, I took hold of the cast-iron and knocked, three times. I banged the knocker with as much venom as I could muster.

In for a penny in for a pound, so the saying goes. And I was, at that moment, intent on fighting my way past whatever monstrosities might be waiting to greet my arrival. Finding Roz remained my primary intention, and nothing – and I do mean nothing – would prevent me reaching the woman who was the morning sun after my darkest night. I banged my fist against the door, freely announcing my arrival with an accompanying shout. I knew that if I did fail here, then at least my actions might give George an opportunity to succeed elsewhere.

After a second run-in with the possessed dragon knocker, I was prepared for anything – or so I believed. The

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