Fire Sacrifice

by David J Normoyle

  “It’s a fact that Walker senselessly killed the sentinel who first showed me how to use my magic,” I said. “It’s a fact that Walker was willing to kill every fire sentinel based on suspicion they would turn against him. It’s a fact that Walker is presently trying to kill tens of thousands of people with his Dawnsday Device. How’s that for logic?”

  “No one is saying there’s only one villain,” Jeroah said. “You haven’t tried to defend Uro yet.”

  “Defend him from what? There haven’t been any accusations.”

  “No?” Jeroah said. “Why tell you things you already know? Seek your feelings, young Padawan.”

  “He’s told me he wants the best for humankind, and I believe him.”

  “Nearly all tyrants believe they are doing what’s best for their people. How does some fire elemental know what’s best for humankind?”

  “He knows us. He’s studied us for decades.”

  “And that’s a good thing?” Persia stood abruptly and turned to face me. “It’s good that he’s been spying on us.”

  “Not spying; observing. Uro tried to bring about change in his own world, but the elementals in Brimstone remain wedded to perpetual conflict. Through the connection between Earth and Brimstone, he came to know our world and its people, and he shifted attention to helping Earth.”

  Jeroah snorted. “Some help he’s given.”

  “He’s made mistakes, but he’s the only one who can ultimately stop Walker.” I strained my hands toward Persia; my fingers touched her wrists just as the chains went taut.

  “Persia, I implore you. Please believe that I mean well.”

  “Hey!” Jeroah glared across at me. “Are you hitting on my wife?”

  “No.” I flushed. “Of course not.”

  “Ha!” Jeroah grinned. “Look at him squirm. It’s true.”

  I snatched my hands back so my fingers no longer touched Persia. “I’m not… I never… I’m just looking for an ally.” I clinked my chains. “Someone to get me out of these.”

  Jeroah moved to stand beside Persia and put his hand on her shoulder. “You better not have designs on wifey.”

  Persia shrugged off Jeroah’s hand. “Don’t call me that.”

  “Wifey and I have redefined the ‘it’s complicated’ relationship status.”

  “It’s not complicated. We have no relationship.”

  “I dunno about that. Legally, wifey and I are husband and wifey.”

  I couldn’t help chuckling at that until Persia shot me a dagger look. “Don’t look at me; I didn’t say anything,” I protested. “Though you’re getting an idea of what I had to put up with for the years that he was in my head.”

  “You probably shouldn’t consider this fellow’s advances to be a compliment,” Jeroah said to Persia. “Whenever he sees anyone with a nicely shaped ass and a well curved bosom, his mind wanders, and you don’t want to know where it ends up.”

  “No, I don’t,” Persia said. “So shut up about it.”

  “You wouldn’t believe all the disgusting thoughts in his head,” Jeroah continued. “I could tell you a story or twenty.”

  My face heated. Thankfully, before I had a chance to defend myself—and likely make things worse—Jeroah’s cellphone rang.

  He answered. “Good news, I hope.”

  From the way his mouth twisted as he listened to the reply, it clearly wasn’t.

  I looked to Persia. “I wasn’t… I didn’t…”

  She waved her hand. “Forget it.”

  Jeroah lowered the phone. “Well, Rune’s on TV again. And so is the van.”

  “The van?” I asked, confused.

  Jeroah stomped his foot on the floor. “The vehicle we are traveling in. One of the news station showed a clip of you jumping from the overpass onto this van and climbing into the passenger seat. They were able to zoom onto the number plate.” He shook his head. “So much for staying hidden. The entire bloody city will be on the lookout for us now.”

  Chapter 9

  Monday 13:40

  “Konstance and his bloody video camera,” I said. “I tried to persuade him to stop filming.”

  “How come all your attempts to do practically anything end up going arseways?” Jeroah asked.

  Persia slid open the panel to the front of the van. “Danny. Any sign of pursuit?”

  “All is clear so far,” Danny said.

  “Good.” Persia turned back toward us. “We don’t have much time, but we have some.”

  “Wait!” Danny called out. “There’s a police car behind me. No sirens though.”

  “It has to be the Sentinel Order; most of the police work for them.” I shook my arms so the chains rattled. “You need to release me right now.”

  Persia gave a reluctant nod. “He’s right.”

  Jeroah lifted his cellphone to his ear. “We have to release Rune.” After listening a moment, he nodded. “Okay, let’s do it.”

  Persia slipped a key into the locks on the manacle, and she freed me. My shoulders screamed out in pain as I lowered them. I rolled them until the pain died down, then briefly massaged my bruised wrists. “Give me that phone. I want to talk to whoever is in charge.”

  “She’s not in charge, just helping.”

  “She? So it is Harriet Ashley. Give me the phone.”

  Jeroah gave a shrug, then handed over his cell.

  “Harriet—” I began.

  “Rune, you have to protect Alex,” a voice said, interrupting me. It wasn’t Harriet.

  “Jo?”

  “Get Alex into another vehicle quickly,” Jo said.

  “Good to hear your voice again, Jo.” I hesitated before continuing. “Holliday told me you were working with the Order on the Dawnsday Device.”

  “I…” It was Jo’s turn to hesitate. “I kind of am.”

  “What do you mean ‘kind of’.”

  “Just keep Alex out of Walker’s hands. I’ll do my best on this end. Someone’s coming; I have to go.” The line went dead, and I handed the cellphone back to Jeroah. I felt numb. Jo was working with Walker; she was helping to build the Dawnsday Device. How could she do such a thing?

  “Guys!” Danny shouted out. “I can see two police cars now. They’re accelerating to catch up.”

  “Danny, just slow down; don’t try to escape!” I shouted.

  “Don’t listen to him!” Jeroah yelled. “Get us away from them.” He looked at me. “We never should have released you.”

  “I’m not trying to get us caught,” I said. “A high speed chase is hardly the way to escape. We’re in a van which is probably as maneuverable as an oil tanker compared to those police cars behind us.”

  “You have a better plan?” Jeroah asked.

  “If there aren’t too many of them, I’ll be able to fight them off,” I said. “Then, we’ll find a new vehicle. One that hasn’t been on the news.”

  “Assuming you can resist filming us this time,” Jeroah said.

  I ignored him and addressed Alex instead. “Will you be able to travel without the hospital trolley?”

  Persia answered for him. “No, he can’t.”

  I nodded, even as I was thinking that he might have to. If I needed to carry him, I’d just have to hope that the jolting didn’t take too much out of him.

  “Danny, have you been hearing this?” I shouted out.

  “I have,” Danny said. “And I’ll have you know that this van corners beautifully. Nothing like an oil tanker.”

  “Do you see anywhere good to stop? Somewhere we’ll have some cover and a chance to escape.”

  “There’s a multi-level parking garage just ahead!” Danny called out.

  “Perfect! If possible, park the van so it blocks the entrance,” I said. “Ideally, with the back facing into the parking garage.”

  “Aren’t we trapping ourselves?” Persia asked.

  “It’ll give us time which we need most right now,” I said. “A bit of breathing room. Inside the parking garage, we’ll hav
e a choice of vehicles to steal, and we’ll be able to firm up our escape plan.”

  “Firm up?” Jeroah said. “We don’t have an escape plan. How come you get to take charge?” Jeroah asked.

  “Because I’ve been fighting the Order and their shadiers for months now,” I said. “Fighting and winning.”

  “So we fight,” Persia said, reaching under the bench and pulled out a backpack.

  “Crossbows?” I asked her.

  She nodded. “A pair of them.” She began to strap on a belt with holsters.

  I faced Jeroah. “Can I hope that you’ll turn into a great big wolf or lion? All fighting, all destroying?”

  “You can take your hope and stuff it,” Jeroah said.

  “I’ll take that as a no. If you aren’t a shifter, then you must be a sorcerer.”

  “In theory. Smoke magic from Brimstone has been constricted to practically nothing. It sucks.”

  “Things could be worse,” Alex said from his bed.

  Jeroah tapped Alex’s bed. “You’re right of course. Not long ago, I was jewelry. Just be handy to have a superpower right about now.”

  “Ever since I learned superpowers existed, I craved them,” Alex said. “Now I have the power to kill thousands inside me in the shape of the fire summoning crystal. The kicker is that not only do I not have the ability to wield it, the power is slowly killing me.”

  “Guys. Now’s not the time for—”

  “Brace yourselves!” came a shout.

  I pushed my palm against the ceiling just as the van braked suddenly. I was swung around but managed to hold my position as the rapidly slowing van lurched to the side. Jeroah stumbled past me, and I grabbed him before he had a chance to careen into Alex.

  We came to a shuddering halt, but only for a brief moment of stillness, then the van began to tilt sideways. I released Jeroah and threw myself on Alex before he had a chance to slide off. The van slammed onto its side. I landed on my back with the trolley on top of me, but I managed to hold Alex in place. His pale face stared down at me.

  Persia and Jeroah had been thrown together in one corner of the van, Jeroah lying on top of Persia. Persia gave him a shove. “Get off me!”

  I managed to turn the trolley so it was upright, then I moved to the back of the van. I pulled on the handle and pushed on the doors. They refused to open. With the van on its side, I was faced with upper and lower doors rather than and left and right ones. I shoved on first one, then the other—the lower door wouldn’t budge at all, and the upper only opened a crack. The titanium was still restricting my strength to normal human levels. Despite all the times I’d wished I’d never been a fire sentinel, whenever my powers were restricted I became desperately in need of them.

  “Give me a hand here!” I shouted out to Persia and Jeroah, who were standing after having disentangled themselves from each other. They came and stood on either side of me, and all three of us pushed on the upper door.

  With a creaking sound, it swung upward a foot or so, then caught. We all shoved again to no effect. “That’s open enough, I think. Give me a leg up.” I looked to Jeroah, but Persia was first to cup her hands. She lowered her back and held them out. I put my foot in her hands, grabbed hold of the edge of the lower door, and swung myself at the gap between the doors. A strong push from Persia helped. Metal caught on my clothes and scratched my skin, but I managed to slither though. I landed on the tarmac on the other side heavily. Getting to my feet, I savored a long breath of fresh air.

  On the street, two police cars had come to a stop, one on either side, both angling away from the crash. The police officers had taken cover behind their cars, crossbows drawn.

  “Freeze!” one of them shouted.

  I ignored them—with no fireballs yet spinning through the air, it seemed none of those yet present were shadiers.

  I grabbed hold of the lower door and wrenched it downward. With my strength returned, it opened relatively easily, and the upper door—though it screeched in protest—also swung open. It didn’t fall back closed once I released it.

  “Get Alex out and into the parking garage,” I told Persia and Jeroah. “I’ll catch up with you.” With that, I jumped on top of the side of the overturned van and ran across to the driver seat door which now faced upward. “Danny, are you okay?” I asked, peering down at where Danny still gripped the steering wheel

  “The door won’t open,” he said.

  Danny’s seatbelt was still slung around him, holding his body dangling between the driver and passenger seat.

  “How did the crash happen?”

  Danny patted the dash. “Sorry, I let you down, girl.” He looked to me. “You may have been correct about her cornering ability. Also, I’ve never been chased by police before. I got flustered.”

  I tried the door but couldn’t get it to budge in the slightest. It was buckled much worse than the doors at the back, and I wasn’t sure that even my strength would be enough to open it.

  “I won’t fit through the window,” Danny said, looking down to his midriff and back to me. “My wife always said my eating would get me in trouble one day.”

  “Not today.” I slid down the bonnet of the van. “Shield your eyes.”

  Danny raised an arm in front of his face as I struck the windshield with my forearm. It didn’t shatter; instead thousands of mini-cracks appeared turning the glass opaque and white. I struck several more times until the windshield twisted enough that I was able to grab hold of it and tear it free, still in one piece.

  Danny released his seatbelt and tumbled against the passenger side door. I helped him out through the empty space where the windshield had been, and seeing an empty office just inside the parking garage, I directed Danny into that. “Hide in that office, and keep your head down. If anyone asks, tell them you work here.”

  He nodded. “Is Alex okay? I’m sorry I let you guys down.”

  I slapped him on the shoulder. “You didn’t let anyone down. The truth is that you shouldn’t even have been involved in the first place. Go hide.”

  Persia and Jeroah were racing deeper into the parking garage, pushing Alex’s trolley ahead of them, and I returned for one last look at the police officers outside. A third car, a dark sedan, was parked between the two police cars. The back door opened, and I waited to see who would emerge.

  It was Walker.

  I fled.

  Chapter 10

  Monday 14:05

  Walker in the flesh was here! If I hadn’t just seen him, I wouldn’t have believed it. He should still have been in Washington. He’d announced he was coming to Lusteer, of course, in the news conference I had watched in Grayson’s Diner, but that should have happened over a period of days or weeks rather than hours, and after arriving, he’d need to locate himself in the upper floor of a high office building so he could stroke his chin and spend some quality time scheming.

  But no! It turned out that chasing me was such an irresistible prospect that Walker was at it already. I sped up, overtaking Persia and Jeroah. “Go up the ramp!” I shouted.

  Reaching the top of the ramp, I summoned my fireswords and raised them above my head, using them to provide additional light. I jumped on top of one of the cars to allow the light to spread still further. The fiery red light gave the car park an unearthly look. In one of the furthest corners, I spotted a large SUV, and I quickly dashed to that, letting my fireswords dissipate. I grabbed at the handle of the sliding door at the back and pulled. The door didn’t open; instead, the plastic handle popped off. I stuck my hand into the gap left by the removed plastic and fumbled with the mechanism until I heard a click. The door slid open.

  “This way!” I shouted out to Jeroah and Persia, who had just crested the top of the ramp. “Either of you two able to hot-wire this?” I asked once they reached me.

  Jeroah and Persia shook their heads.

  “I think I can,” Alex said from the trolley.

  His voice sounded so weak I was loathe to give him anything to d
o, but we didn’t have much choice. “Good.” I lifted Alex, and placed him lying down inside the back of the SUV. “Persia, you and Jeroah help Alex get this started. I’ll draw Walker and the others higher.”

  “Walker?” Persia asked.

  I nodded. “Just saw him.” I bundled up the blankets on the trolley so it looked at a glance like someone was still there. “You three hide until Walker and the others have gone past then start the SUV and drive out. Crash into the van at the entrance to force your way onto the street. Switch to another vehicle the first chance you get. If I don’t get a chance to join you on the way out, I’ll catch up with you later.” I had no idea how I’d manage that, but time was running short. Walker could be upon us at any moment. I grabbed hold of the back of the trolley and raced toward the next upward ramp.

  I didn’t have long to wait. I had just set a foot on the ramp when a look backward showed Walker sprinting my way. “Go back!” I shouted. “You can’t have him. Alex is a person, not a mystical power source.”

  Walker didn’t reply; he merely sped up. I longed to look toward the others to see how well hidden they were, but I didn’t dare in case a glance gave them away. I turned and raced upward.

  After ascending several levels, I arrived at the rooftop. From the sound of his pounding footsteps, I knew Walker wasn’t far behind. I pushed the trolley against one of the outer walls where it was partly hidden by two parked cars, then I summoned both fireswords.

  Walker slowed to a walking pace when he saw me waiting. “I’ve been looking forward to this moment for a long time now.” His smile was a terrifying thing. “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

  “No,” I said. “Your flaw has always been in not showing enough mercy, not in showing too little.”

  A shield appeared in Walker’s hands. Formed of dark grey smoke, it was over five foot long. The top section was curved and two foot wide; the bottom section tapered to a shape point. I had seen Walker wield the weapon and knew he used it more as an attacking bludgeon than as a defensive shield.