by Gareth Otton
They knew what they were signing up for when they came here and were ready to sacrifice themselves to end this threat, Rodney assured him. Don’t hesitate, kill him.
He’s right, Tad, Tony said. If you don’t kill him now, he’ll keep coming for you and either you will die, or Stella will, or any number of innocent people that stand in their way. Take them out now, it’s the only way and you know it. Use the ghosts so they can’t defend themselves and kill them all.
This was it, the moment Tad had been dreading. Tad knew that what they were saying was true, but he couldn’t shake the weight of what he had to do. He knew now that it wasn’t the real Charles who had once accused him of being a killer, but it didn’t change the feelings that went along with that accusation. He had accused Tad of enjoying killing, of becoming a monster, and Tad had only overcome the horror of that accusation when he found his own personal limits. He would kill if he had to protect himself or his family, but killing people in cold blood… He just couldn’t bring himself to do that. Killing allies as well… that was a step too far.
Do it, Tad. This isn’t cold blood, its self defence, Rodney screamed. What do you think will happen if you let him live? Those men will die anyway as they are caught up with that lot, and any other deaths that Kuruk takes after that will be on you. End this now.
As much as he wanted to argue, Tad knew Rodney was right.
He cast his fishing lines out, hooking into nearby ghosts who were willing to help and powering up a new image in his mind. After what happened with the laser a moment earlier, he knew only overwhelming force would suffice, so he pulled on as many ghosts as he could find. Then he raised a shaking hand in Kuruk’s direction.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, blinking away tears. Then he cast aside the last of his doubts and—
The pain that exploded through him was sudden and shocking. He spun, losing his grip on Dream in the process.
You’ve been shot in the shoulder, Rodney explained as Tad struggled to understand what happened. But you need to ignore that, Tad. Finish the enemy.
No, he needs to protect himself, Thomas argued. Otherwise he might get shot again.
Tad, you’ve got the power. Do both, Tony shouted. Quickly, before it’s too—
Again Tad was spun around and again there was an explosion of pain. This time he felt something snap inside as a rib broke, making it painful to breathe. He flew through the air, colliding with someone else and then the floor a second later.
What the hell was that? He thought even as he struggled to get his breath back and look back in the direction he had just come from. He was just in time to see Kuruk running for him again.
You missed your chance, Rodney hissed. Quickly, kill him!
Tad wanted to listen, he really did, but he couldn’t think straight. His shoulder was throbbing from the bullet wound that had only been made worse by his collision with the floor. His ribs were in agony and he was finding it hard to breathe. On top of all that, he was panicking as Kuruk was moving so fast that Tad could barely follow him.
Once again it was Growler to the rescue.
The enormous dog had been fighting nearby and seeing that Tad was in trouble, he launched himself at Kuruk just as Kuruk was launching himself at Tad. The two collided with a thud that created a shockwave that rippled the air. They both tumbled to the ground, Growler snarling and gnashing his teeth even as Kuruk grunted with the effort of keeping the dog away. At one point, Growler must have sunk his teeth into the giant man because Kuruk yelped in agony, but a second later there was a flash of light as Kuruk activated more dreamcatchers. Tad heard a sickening thud as Kuruk’s fist connected with Growler’s jaw and it was Growler’s turn to yelp.
That sound cut through Tad’s pain and reservations better than anything had so far, and a sudden mist of fury rushed over him at the thought of anyone hurting his dog. Smashing his fist into the ground, Tad called on the power of all the ghosts he could connect to and augmented that strike until the ground under his fist exploded, sending chips of stone flying into anyone nearby even as the shock waves of the impact travelled deeper, making the very floor vibrate like a localised earthquake.
Soldiers tumbled to the ground, gunfire ceased as people tried to catch themselves, and for a moment the site was quiet enough to hear the tinkling sound of rubble falling as the earthquake disturbed the remains of King Tower. It wasn’t enough.
Kuruk was a man possessed, and with Growler knocked aside, he turned his attention back to Tad. Another dreamcatcher ignited and this time Tad didn’t even see the man move, he was simply there a second later and Tad grunted in pain and surprise as the knife slipped between his ribs and entered his lung.
If he thought it was hard to breathe before, this was something else. Pain tore through him as pink blood bubbled between his lips, and Kuruk grinned in triumph as he grabbed Tad by the throat and pulled him up to his feet.
Tad, no. Fight back, Rodney screamed, but Tad couldn’t concentrate. All he wanted was to take a breath, but nothing he tried was working.
Call on the ghosts, Tony urged. Use their strength to heal yourself. We three aren’t going to be enough this time. You need more.
Tad knew Tony was right, but the knife was still in his chest, being twisted sadistically as Kuruk revelled in delight at his moment of glory. He brought Tad’s face in close to ensure his words were heard.
“You have no idea how I have dreamt about this moment,” he said. “You deserve this and so much more. This is only the start. Before you go, you need to understand that this won’t end until Dream and anything Dream related is gone. And not just them, but the super powered freaks like your girlfriend as well. These are powers man was never meant to mess with and I won’t rest until things are back as they should be, with humanity restored to its rightful place where nature intended.”
Tad wanted to tell the man he was crazy, wanted to gather the last of his strength and carry this man with him into death. Surely he could do that much. But as the blood poured from his wounds, his inability to breathe sapped the oxygen from his brain and he was losing the strength to fight. Coupled with the enormous pain that wouldn’t let up as Kuruk continued to squeeze his neck and twist the knife, Tad realised this was the end.
He had failed.
Because of that failure, either Kuruk or Elias or some other monster that had been created by all this was going to destroy everything he held dear. Tad wanted to say that at least he had fought as hard as he could, but the truth was it was his failure to act that allowed this to happen.
As the light started to fade from his eyes and he lost his grasp on what was happening around him, Tad thought of the people he would be leaving behind.
I’m sorry, please forgive me, he wanted to say, hoping that those he held most dear in the world might somehow hear him, but the words wouldn’t form.
Suddenly there was a flash of light, then the sensation of falling, and then there was only blackness.
41
Saturday, 31st December 2016
23:05
The attacks came hard and fast, and even with her eidolon senses feeding her information, Stella was struggling. Her truth senses predicted every move Elias made a fraction of a second early, but the man was so unnaturally fast that she couldn’t react in time to take advantage of that.
This is what you get for poking a sleeping giant, she thought to herself, appalled for ever thinking this was a good idea. This man had survived for centuries because he was just that good, but she had thumbed her nose at him and barely gave it a thought. She should have known better… she did know better. Leon had been telling her this was coming for months.
Now she would die for ignoring that truth.
Somehow she had kept up so far, pushing herself faster than she thought possible. Lizzie’s aid in cultivating belief had paid off in ways she couldn’t imagine. But even with that extra belief, this man was beyond her. He’d had centuries to build his belief, to practice with his po
wers, and while she was sweating and breathing hard, he looked like he could do this all day.
Duck, her truth sense screamed at her, and she was just in time to miss a punch to the face that would have taken her head clean from her shoulders. For the first time, she couldn’t maintain her balance as she had to duck mid step. There was nothing for it but to drop to the ground and roll away, hoping she could escape a killing blow in time to get back to her feet.
Heart pounding and trying her hardest not to panic, she watched the world spin and then, as soon as she felt solid ground under her hands, she pushed herself up, trusting her new strength to get her to her feet as fast as possible. Again she underestimated that new strength. She left the floor like she had jumped and it was a miracle she managed to land on her feet, skidding to a stop ten feet away and frantically looking for the next attack.
However, there wasn’t one.
Elias stood alone amongst an ocean of chaos, not caring for what happened around him, but looking at her with a mocking smile. The bastard knew that he had won this fight and now he was just enjoying himself as it led to its inevitable conclusion.
“You’ve come a long way for someone who didn’t know what she was six months ago,” Elias said in perfect English. “No wonder you’ve been so hard to kill.”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” she asked, buying herself time as she looked for an opportunity to exploit. However, everything was mayhem around her and there was no help to be found. Bullets were flying, people were fighting, others were screaming, and far too many were dying. New ghosts were springing into existence all the time, most of whom moved on immediately, but others stuck around, joining the ranks of Tony’s ghosts who were moving amongst the chaos and helping where they could. Even out of the corner of her eye she could see one dragging an injured man away from the fighting while another was trying to clear them a path.
She didn’t have time to dwell on that because letting her attention slip from this man was like turning her back on a tiger; it was just begging to be attacked.
“Of course it’s a compliment,” Elias said. “You’ve got more potential than any Eidolon I have seen in over a century. It’s a shame you’re so stubborn and won’t listen to reason.”
“Reason? You mean play by your rules or you’ll kill me. That’s hardly a reason.”
“It’s the law we have lived by since the fall of the old gods.”
“Clearly not or you wouldn’t be here right now, you’d have died long ago. And wasn’t that lightning I saw shoot from your hands? Hardly subtle.”
Elias laughed and shrugged.
“There are exceptions to every rule. However, you have not earned the right to those exceptions. Had you seen reason and joined us, in a century you very well might have.”
It was Stella’s turn to laugh, though there was no trace of humour in it.
“Joined you? You killed my mother and left me to a life of abuse. That’s not something endears me to your cause.”
Elias sighed and shook his head.
“What is it with the people in your family? You can’t let go of the little things and leave the past behind you. Yes, I killed your mother, she broke our laws. If she had been executed for murdering someone, would you hold a grudge against her executioner?”
“If the law was unjust and designed only to benefit existing power structures, then yes, I would.”
“Then I guess there’s no use for you,” he said, and his face turned hard. “You have no idea the lines you crossed or the damage your actions have caused. Centuries of planning, countless lives spent, billions invested into plans that are now in danger.”
“Good,” Stella said. “It’s the least you deserve.”
“Deserve? You deserve far more than what time will allow for what you’ve put me through. But I have other fires to put out today, so I suppose we’ll have to get on with this.”
“About time,” Stella said. “I was worried you were going to talk me to death.”
Elias grinned.
“Yes, I was right. You had potential. It will be a shame to end you. I guess I will just have to take what enjoyment I—”
He never got to finish his sentence because the backup Stella had been hoping for finally arrived. Ideally that might have been a laser beam to the head from Tad, but she would take what she could get and Leon was not so bad in terms of a runner up prize.
He had fought his way through the chaos behind Elias, having dealt with some of the eidolon who had come with the man. Then, while Elias was still talking, Leon punched the man in the back of the head with the kind of force that would have turned stone to dust. Elias merely staggered forward with a surprised expression as he backhanded Leon across the face. It made the sound of a baseball bat hitting a home run and Leon was sent flying into the crowd behind him, bowling people over as he collided with them. A furious Elias took a step toward the man as though to finish him off, but Stella took advantage of his momentary distraction to attack again.
She saw how ineffectual bullets were against this man and hoped her knife would prove different as she pulled it from a sheath on her thigh. Rushing forward with as much new speed as her powers would allow, she blurred across the distance separating them and, with a scream of rage, plunged the knife at the back of his neck.
She shouldn’t have screamed. All it did was alert Elias that she was coming. A normal man couldn’t react in time, but Elias was not normal. He spun so fast it was a blur even to her and he lifted his arm to defend himself. The knife bit into his forearm but barely penetrated the skin. It was like driving the blade into a block of wood, and the impact was jarring enough to hurt.
Stella saw the punch coming long before it landed, but she had over committed and couldn’t pull away. His fist crunched into her gut with the kind of strength she had never felt. It sent a shock wave through her entire body and felt like his fist might have come out of her back. The air rushed out of her lungs so she couldn’t even grunt in pain as her feet left the floor and she was once again sent flying.
Elias followed her to finish her off, pulling Stella’s knife from his arm and reversing it to use as a weapon, but then Leon was attacking him again. Stella hit the floor hard and rolled, losing sight of the fight between Elias and Leon and trying her hardest to suck in a breath. When she could breathe again, she let out a shuddering gasp that made her want to curl up and cry. She could count on one hand the number of times she had been hurt like this before, and the last time had been because of an explosion.
He’s a god, Stella. What did you expect?
Ignoring the thought, Stella rolled back to see how Leon was getting on, scared to death for her cousin. She had good reason to be. Leon was faster than ever and when he landed a blow, it hit with a force she could never match. But he didn’t have her ability to read Elias, and Elias was an easy match for Leon’s strength and speed. She was pleased to see that Elias had lost the knife, but it was still a losing battle.
He’s too strong, she thought, and again wondered why she ever thought differently. She knew he wasn’t a god, just a man who had spent centuries building belief in himself so he could appear god like, but when his power was so great, was there a difference?
How the hell do you stop a god? she thought to herself, at the peak of her despair, but then her eyes widened as an idea surfaced. She had asked a similar question before when she first learnt of the eidolon, and she had received a clear answer. She didn’t know how she might have been able to use it then, but now…
She risked taking her eyes off the fight and frantically looked around. Her battle with Elias had taken them away from the main entrance to the compound, but they were still close enough to a nearby fence that she could see the little black box that Lizzie had placed there earlier, a little black box that was one of many that were recording everything happening right now and live streaming it to the world. It was a little black box that Stella hoped might just turn things in her favour.
&nb
sp; Ignoring her pain, she pushed herself to her feet and called out as loud as she could, “Elias, is that the best you can do? For some reason, I expected more?”
Even fighting with Leon, her words registered and Elias looked back to see what she was talking about. It gave Leon the opening he needed to land a thundering blow on Elias’ face, and he put all his weight behind it, this time making Elias stagger back a few steps.
Stella didn’t feel like it, but she forced herself to laugh.
“Look at you, you’re getting beat down by two baby eidolon. I didn’t even know what I was until six months ago, and Leon is only in his twenties. Hardly the big bad god I keep hearing about.”
Leon looked at Stella like she was crazy, but Stella stared at Elias, pleased to see her words having an effect. Anger was taking hold, and once he had recovered from Leon’s punch, he forgot all about her cousin and rushed straight at her like she expected. However, he was too far away and he was telegraphing his movements far too much to face someone with her abilities. She side stepped him, doing her utmost to make it look casual. The truth was he was moving so quickly she almost didn’t escape, but she missed his first attack by the narrowest of margins and forced herself to keep her smile while she kept her eye on Elias.
He’s coming in low, her mind screamed at her, and sure enough the man swept out his leg, aiming for her ankles and trying to catch her off guard. Stella jumped back, again trying to look casual and keeping her smile like she was enjoying this, though inside she was panicking. Again that kick was quicker than she wanted and his foot clipped the bottom of her boot.
