by Logan Jacobs
Ariette and I finally made it to the landing before the staircase. We stopped as the troll’s footsteps grew louder again, and my heart pounded.
“So much for hoping it would stay upstairs,” the elf breathed.
Ariette and I raced down the steps and into the empty lobby and planted ourselves as tightly against the far wall as we could. That way, we would have the most space to maneuver as possible. Only a few moments later, the creature appeared at the top of the staircase with a manic gleam in its eyes.
As it headed down the stairs with heavy steps, I heard Ariette take in a shuddery breath next to me. The creature reached the tile at the bottom of the stairs and stopped about thirty feet from us. We both waited with bated breath, tensed to move, but it simply stared at us.
“There is no winning,” that robotic voice said. “I’ve made a few improvements since the Blood Wielder destroyed my creation yesterday. You can’t beat me this time.”
“Let’s flank it and try another attack,” Ariette muttered to me, “I want to see if there’s a point where this thing can’t regenerate.”
“You got it,” I said with a tilt of my head, but before we could move, the monster smiled again. Drool dripped from its huge teeth and down its chin as it stood there watching us.
Then its chest rumbled with deep laughter.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked as its eyes met mine. “Why kill all these people?”
The troll cocked its head like a predator considering its prey, but its mouth remained closed. Ever so slowly, one hand came up to its mouth and drew two fingers across its lips before it turned those fingers with a flick of its wrist. It was the classic sign that said, “my lips are sealed.”
Then with a roar, it charged us.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Ariette leapt to the side and used her momentum to run up and along the wall beside us. I watched as her face twisted into a snarl, and then she pushed off the wall and swung her sword in a giant arc. The blade connected with the troll’s shoulder again, but this time, it rebounded off its skin with a clang. Shock registered on the elf’s face as her momentum carried her forward, and she executed a barrel roll as she landed on the lobby’s tile floor.
“Kalista,” she shouted as she sprang to her feet and whirled around to face the beast again, “my sword isn’t doing anything! This thing is learning and growing too quickly.”
“What the fuck?” came the response in our ears. “That’s not good. That sword is as sharp as a Fae weapon can possibly be.”
“Sharp as hell or not, we’re screwed if we don’t come up with something,” I replied and readied myself to fire the gun as Ariette ran back to my side.
The troll still had that disconcerting smile on its face as it circled us, and a shiver of fear raced up my spine.
I lifted the gun and tried to aim for its eyeball. I figured that was the softest part and, hopefully, the least bulletproof, but the giant creature’s sudden charge made it a very small and quickly moving target. My finger squeezed the trigger, but the bullet ricocheted right off the troll’s forehead.
“Dammit,” I cursed as Ariette swung around to slash at the troll from its side.
Before she could take three steps, the monster surged with a speed it hadn’t shown before. It smashed his fist into her stomach, and her sword flew from her hands to clatter across the tile. I heard the air leave her lungs violently as she flew back five feet and crashed into the sharp end of a splintered desk. It looked like her armor had saved her from getting impaled, but I guessed it would take her a few moments to recover.
That was time she didn't have because the creature was already racing toward her to finish the job. It seemed like the troll was done playing games because it made it to Ariette’s side seconds before I could.
Ariette lifted her head up a few inches, and a pained expression crossed her face as she tried to disentangle herself from the wreckage. The monster lifted one giant foot and let it hover in the air above Ariette’s body. She stared up at the foot that was about to crush her, but it was that arrogant hesitation on the troll’s part that gave me a chance to raise my gun.
“Don’t even think about it!” I shouted as I aimed for its eye. I couldn’t get a clear shot at this angle, and I didn’t have enough time to change positions, so I squeezed the trigger three times in rapid succession and hoped for the best.
All three bullets collided with the side of the troll’s skull. Each one ricocheted off the thick skin, but the raw force of the impacts was enough to make the monster turn toward me with a snarl. As it looked away from Ariette, the elven warrior managed to push herself out of the way as the troll’s foot crashed down on the floor.
I took a quick step back and snapped my aim to the troll’s eyeballs again as it rushed toward me. My shot hit it right between the eyes, and its head snapped back violently from the impact. There was no splash of green blood, however, and when it shook off the force of the bullet, I saw utter fury in its eyes.
It opened its maw and released a roar so loud it made the glass on the lobby floor chime. Then it lowered its head, bared its teeth, and barrelled straight for me.
I realized then and there that with Ariette out of commission, there was no one left but me to stop this thing.
I had to try. I had to give it my everything. No matter the cost.
So I lowered the gun and raised my Hand. I dug deep inside myself and summoned up the power that had been thrust upon me. Heat tore through my veins, and I gritted my teeth as the veins in my arm and hands began to glow a bright red.
“Fuck you,” I spat at the troll that was now less than fifteen feet away from me. Then I gathered every ounce of power and magic in me and sliced my hand to the side.
Blood exploded out of the troll in a green tidal wave. It seemed to gush out of every pore. The beast stumbled but remained on its feet, and I could feel as the blood wanted to race back into its body.
“Fine,” I snarled, “take it back.”
Then I clenched my Hand, and I watched as every droplet of blood reshaped into a sword just like it had done back in the guild’s testing room. My arm shook under the strain of reforming the blood and keeping it out of the troll’s body, and sweat slid down my brow and into my eyes. When I couldn’t hold the connection any longer, I let it go with a gasp and stumbled backward.
The dozens of blood swords hung suspended in the air for a moment, and then, all at once, they rushed back toward the troll’s body and skewered him from every angle.
The troll’s eyes snapped wide, and its jaw fell open as the blood swords slammed into its body. Its flesh ripped and tore under the onslaught, and it teetered on its feet for a moment.
“You think you’ve won, don’t you?” The troll asked as its knees gave out and it crashed to the floor. “But all you’ve done is given me more data. Next time we meet, I’ll be ready for your little trick, Blood Wielder.” It coughed as green blood began to pour back out of its dozens of stab wounds.
It seemed even regeneration had its limits.
Still, I didn’t want to take any chances, even if it meant giving this bastard more ‘data.’ As the troll tried to pull itself along the floor toward me, I raised my gun. My body felt like it had been through a woodchipper, and my vision swam with spots, but I wasn’t about to leave this job unfinished.
I drew up beside the troll and aimed down at its eyeball once again. It snarled at me, but the sound was now wet and pitiful instead of deep and terrifying. The troll’s gaze darted back to the vault one last time before I placed my finger on the trigger and squeezed.
The resounding bang echoed through the lobby, and the troll’s head slammed against the floor as my bullet buried itself deep in its gray matter. Then everything was silent except for my racing heart and my ragged breath.
“HC,” a voice rasped, and I snapped my head to the side as I remembered Ariette.
She was lying on the floor about a dozen feet away, and she groaned as she propped hers
elf up on one elbow. I lowered my gun and ran across the tile floor so fast I almost slipped. As I drew closer, I finally got a good look at her, and my heart plummeted into my shoes. The elven warrior had a long and thin spike of wood jutting from her abdomen.
“Shit, Ariette,” I gasped as I knelt beside her.
“Hey, HC,” she said with a strained smile, “what took you so long?”
“Oh, you know, just saving the world,” I tried to joke as I stared at the splintered wood in her stomach.
“I hate to say this, but I think I’m going to need your help,” she joked as she motioned to the bloody wound.
Blood sluggishly pumped out around the wooden stake, and I lifted my Hand even though I already felt drained and on the verge of collapse. I closed my eyes and concentrated, and I felt her blood as it rushed to the hole in her abdomen. I tried to connect with it and stop its movement, but nothing happened. The wood stopped the wound from healing, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to pull it out and heal her fast enough.
“We have to get you outside,” I said to her. “I need Kalista to pull this thing out of you so I can heal you. I’d do it myself, but you’re going to start hemorrhaging once the wood comes out, and I need to be able to focus on knitting you back together.”
Ariette nodded, and then she let out a huge sigh.
“Okay,” I bent to help her before I remembered the people the woman had told us were still trapped inside. They were the whole reason we came back in here, I couldn’t abandon them. “Shit, give me one second,” I said to the elf.
I swung around as I recalled the tiny ugly monsters that had herded themselves back into the vault. I could hear their high-pitched chatter as I approached the back of the teller stand and unhooked a grenade from my tool belt. To hell with the mess. Ariette was hurt, and I needed to take care of those little sons of bitches quick.
Deftly, I removed the pin before I tossed it right into the open mouth of the vault with a smirk. Instantaneously, there was a collective screech, and then a loud boom shook the lobby as the bomb went off. Smoke trailed out of the open vault door, and I squinted through the haze as I searched for any survivors.
Small bodies lay strewn across the vault floor, most of them in pieces, but not a single one moved.
As quickly as I could, I spun around and dashed up the stairs. Then I knocked on every door I could find, and I repeated the same thing on the third floor.
“This is a member of the Jefferson Guild,” I hollered as I ran down the hallways. “The beast has been killed, and you are safe. Please exit the building and report to the nearest officer for aid and assistance.”
A few people came out of the rooms, terror on their faces, and followed me to the lobby as I ran back to Ariette.
“Let’s get you up,” I said when I reached her side. I carefully slid one arm under her back to help her sit upright. She grunted with the effort but pushed on until she could stand.
“Hold on to me,” she whispered as she leaned heavily against me. I paused as I watched the color drain from her face. She inhaled deeply, and then she took one small step across the floor.
“Oh, no, you’re not walking.” I shook my head and swept an arm under the back of her knees. Then I picked her up gingerly and walked as fast as I could to the outside of the bank.
Chapter 11
As soon as my feet hit the concrete in front of the shattered glass doors, I knelt down and put Ariette on the ground.
“Oh, shit, Ari,” Kalista gasped as she barreled over to us in a panic. Without another word, she knelt to join us on the sidewalk to examine the elf’s wound.
“Eh, come on, Kal,” Ariette replied weakly. “This isn’t even the worst one.”
“I think the only thing that beats this,” Kalista retorted as she motioned to the wound in Ariette’s abdomen, “is that time on the Mountain of Kaul where you spent a day in a coma.”
I ignored them as they continued to debate whether or not this injury even made it into Ariette’s top ten and instead concentrated on Ariette’s blood. As the red liquid spread slowly, I put a hand above her stomach, thankful we were far enough from the iron now that I would be unimpeded. The blood stopped moving under the power of my Hand. I directed as much of it as possible back into her body, and the three of us watched in fascination as the dark spot on her stomach grew smaller.
Finally, the wound stopped bleeding completely, but the desk leg was still inside of her.
“Neat trick, Milton,” Kalista muttered as she watched. “Thank God you’re here.” She nudged my shoulder playfully, and I smiled back at her.
“Uh, hey, guys, that’s cute and all, but I still have a giant piece of wood in my stomach,” Ariette joked as she raised an eyebrow at us. “As much as I like being impaled, I like not being impaled way more.”
“But if we pull it out, you could risk bleeding to death.” Kalista bit her lip before she turned and looked at me. “Can you stop the bleeding if I pull this out?”
“Yes,” I said as I focused on the wound once more.
“I believe in you, Milton,” Ariette said with a nod.
“Don’t let her bleed out,” the dwarf added before nodding once. “Actually, why don’t we wait for the medics to get here? They’ll be here any moment, and they're trained to deal with this.”
“Yeah, but none of them have the Hand of Blood,” I said and then locked eyes with Ariette, my Hand above her stomach. “Besides, I'm pretty sure her natural regeneration will kick in as soon as we get the spike out of her.”
“Okay fine,” Kalista relented as she wrapped her hands around the stake. “On three! One... two... three!”
On cue, the dwarf slid the wood out slowly and evenly from the wound. Ariette’s blood tried to surge forward, but I kept it steadily inside of her. With another push of magic, I commanded the blood to clot. From there, Ariette’s Fae magic took over as the wound slowly closed up and began to heal.
“Alright, your blood’s clotting now,” I sighed as I leaned back on my heels. “You should be good to go soon. I wish humans could heal that fast.”
“You and me both, HC,” Ariette stated as the color returned to her cheeks, and she sat up gingerly. “Well, that was fun, but let’s not do that again, okay?”
“Agreed,” Kalista said with a forceful nod.
“Wait, but what happened to the creature, HC?” Ariette asked as she looked at me with a frown. “I-I heard you fight it, but it was kind of hard to concentrate with a giant stake through my gut.”
“Killed it,” I responded with a tired but victorious grin.
Suddenly, three white vans screeched to a halt on the street in front of us, and twenty Fae jumped out of the vans as Alfrisco started to wave his arms and shout at them.
“Slow down, you idiots!” he yelled. “The thing’s dead!”
Kalista scowled, jumped to her feet, and ran over to stand in front of the police commander with her hands on her hips. “Yo, Alfrisco. Would you shut the fuck up already? I didn’t see you trying to help my team while they were in there. Now let our clean-up crew do their work.”
The cop pursed his lips and looked like he wanted to argue, but he eventually, if reluctantly, nodded. “Fine.”
“Good boy.” Kalista turned on her heel and walked away from the human with a shake of her head. Ariette hid a laugh behind her hand.
“Go on, Kal, tell him what you really think,” the elf teased as she stood up carefully. She winced as she started to step forward towards the organizing Fae, and I moved to match her stride.
“Is it feeling better?” I asked as I reached out an arm to help her walk.
“Oh yeah, I’ll be healed in a few minutes,” she responded.
“Good,” I told the elf as I turned back to Alfrisco. The cop was still glaring after Kalista, who was busy corralling the clean-up crew. “Hey! Why don’t you get your people in there! There are still living victims inside.”
Alfrisco huffed at me, but then he turned on his heel
and motioned for a group of police to go into the bank. As for our team, we moved to meet up with the rest of our guildmates, just as a familiar voice shouted through the crowd.
“Ariette, are you okay?”
A second later, Arendor pushed through the warriors and ran up to us. He almost reached out a hand to touch Ariette’s face, but she frowned and pulled back.
“I heard you were injured,” Arendor said softly. He stared at Ariette’s stomach as if he could still see the wound for a long moment before he turned and shot me a dark glare like it was my fault.
“Uh, yeah, tends to happen in the line of duty. Not that you would know, since you’re typically a part of the clean-up crew,” Ariette responded snidely. She took the rest of her body weight off me as she healed further.
“Let me know if you need anything,” Arendor implored as he widened his eyes in a sad attempt to look sincere. “Anything at all.”
“What I need is for you to stop talking and get everyone to listen to me,” Ariette demanded, back to her old self again.
“Will do.” Arendor nodded vigorously as he turned to the crowd of Fae behind him. “Listen up everyone, the commander would like to speak.”
Every pair of eyes turned on Ariette. She cleared her throat and straightened her spine as she looked at the clean-up crew.
“Okay, everyone,” she started. “We have neutralized the threat, but we still don’t know what the creature was doing here or why. Right now, I want us to go in there and search for any clues we can find. Understood?”
There was a murmur of agreement in the crowd, and a few men nodded in confirmation.
“Great,” Ariette replied. “Then let’s get to work.”
As the other Fae dispersed to collect their gear and head into the bank, I reached out and caught Ariette’s elbow.
“Shouldn’t you take a break?” I suggested with a frown. “You were a shishkabob like five minutes ago.”
The elven warrior arched a slim eyebrow at me. “Thanks for the concern, HC, but we don’t have time for breaks. Like you said, my natural regeneration abilities have already begun to take effect. I’m fine.”
