The Flames: Book 2 of the Feud Trilogy

by Kyle Prue

  She raised her fists. “You’re going to feel this.”

  He didn’t spend any time acknowledging her quip. He tackled her and, although she staggered, she held her footing. In her moment of surprise, he pulled one of her knives from her belt. His error was thinking he could defeat Bianca Blackmore in a knife fight. She dodged his first swing and pulled out her own knife. He tried to stab her again and this time she anticipated his attack. She sidestepped his advance and with one blow sliced his hand clean off of his wrist. The Marksman screamed inhumanly and stared at his new stump. “My hand…” he screamed.

  “Good luck aiming with that,” Bianca said.

  “I’ll cut you apart with your own knives,” he hissed, collapsing to his knees. “Then Anastasia… And I’ll slaughter everyone that you…”

  She front kicked him and focused all of her power in the center of his forehead. Maybe it was from her strike or from blood loss, but the Marksman passed out. She dropped the bloody knife. “Fools don’t deserve mercy,” she said to his body.

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  THE DOCTOR’S WORKSHOP

  THE PACK

  The Doctor watched as Anastasia set his prisoner free. Despite what these fools thought, this was part of his plan. If Rhys were to assume his identity as the new Doctor, he’d have to confront the current titleholder. Anastasia picked the lock and undid the knots that tied Rhys to the inside of the bars. The Doctor watched her from afar and laughed to himself as she reeled in horror at the appearance of the young boy. She probably noticed the missing foot first. The Doctor had amputated it perfectly, then sterilized and cauterized the wound. It didn’t make the act less horrific.

  He approached Anastasia from behind and caught her in a sleeper hold. The poor girl was already on the verge of passing out so he needed little force. Rhys escaped on his one leg past the Doctor. The boy ran to the workbenches and hobbled around it to put it between the two of them. The Doctor laughed. “You can’t escape this workshop without dealing with me first, boy,” he said. He pointed to the sharp instruments on the table. “Use those. End me. End your own suffering.”

  “I will never kill anyone,” Rhys said. “I made that choice a long time ago.”

  The Doctor glared at him and selected a knife from the table. “You will. And when I die I will be courteous enough to rate my pain on a scale for you.” He spat. “Don’t deny your destiny. Don’t deny me.”

  Rhys seemed to see something off in the distance. He chased the boy until they reached the workbench next to the forge. The Doctor’s fury was growing. Why couldn’t the boy understand what he did? Why couldn’t the boy just answer his call to a higher purpose and to science?

  Rhys was clearly running out of energy. The last few weeks had taken its toll on his health and motor skills. Rhys grabbed a bottle of chemicals and sniffed it. He looked conflicted about holding it. The Doctor raised his knife. “Maybe you weren’t the heir I was hoping for.”

  The boy splashed the chemical in the Doctor’s face and he recoiled expecting it to be acid or something corrosive. He waited until he realized that the liquid was nothing but acetone. “Foolish,” the Doctor accused him. “You thought acetone would hurt me? It’s not corrosive.”

  “No,” Rhys said almost sadly. “But it is flammable.”

  The Doctor’s eyes widened as he realized how close he was to the forge. As if on cue, a small spark flew from it and settled on the top of his head. For an instance silence, then flames engulfed his body. The fire consumed him and he ran in a newfound terror that he hadn’t felt since childhood. He fell to the ground and smothered the flames in his coat. Before he abandoned consciousness one thought sprung into his fading mind. The boy had done it. He’d tried to kill him. That would be enough. It had to be.

  Chapter Seventy-Three

  THE PIT

  DARIUS TAURLUM

  Darius leapt out of the way as Nikolai slammed the sandy floor where he’d once been. Darius couldn’t grapple with the horror of what his uncle had become. “Listen to me…” Darius said on the verge of desperation.

  Nikolai roared and charged him. Darius swung at him hard and dented his scales. Nikolai raked his claws down Darius’s arm and the sound of sharp metal on metal caused him to recoil. He kicked Nikolai off him. “Listen. Uncle Nikolai… It’s me, Darius. Remember me?”

  Nikolai stood upright and cocked his head to the left, considering him. He shook his massive head and body slammed Darius, all the while swinging his giant claws. Darius was backed into the wall and managed to escape being crushed by pushing off with his legs. Nikolai was strong, perhaps even stronger than Michael had been. His new sinister diet, no matter how evil and repulsive, had only enhanced his legendary strength. Nikolai’s next vicious swing missed Darius’s head and carved a block of stone out of the wall behind him. Darius crumpled to escape being backed into the corner again. He scrambled out of Nikolai’s reach and retreated to the other side of the coliseum.

  Despite his panic and fear Darius knew one thing, and he knew it without compromise. He didn’t have it in him to kill another family member, no matter what Nikolai had become. His uncle turned and faced him again. With a mighty roar he leapt across the room with an incredible leg strength that had remained hidden until that moment. Darius didn’t have time to react and was brought to the ground as his uncle pounced on him. He tried to buck him off. Nikolai clobbered him across the jaw and Darius’s vision went funny. Nikolai struck him twice more and then tossed his body to the other side of the ring, clearly confused as to why his meal wouldn’t shred into pieces like they usually did. Darius rolled over and Nikolai nudged his body experimentally. Darius tried to sit up, but a two-handed slam from Nikolai discouraged that behavior. He waited patiently for Nikolai to circle him and get closer. When he did, Darius kicked his legs upwards and nailed Nikolai beneath his chin. He roared in pain and held his head in his hands. He dropped to all fours and roared again in a register Darius had formerly considered to be out of a human’s range. He wasn’t sure if Nikolai counted as a human anymore biologically. He’d clearly been the subject of several experiments by the Imperial Doctor. “I’m your nephew,” Darius said back. “You used to take me to see fights in an arena a lot like this one. My father, Gabriel, is your brother.”

  At the mention of his brother’s name Nikolai stood taller and blinked his crazed eyes. “Yeah?” Darius asked as he tried to control his panic. “You remember Gabriel Taurlum?”

  Nikolai actually looked like he did, for a moment at least. Nikolai approached him more slowly this time, and Darius’s heart pumped hope through his blood. Nikolai leaned one hand out and held it experimentally in front of Darius. Darius reached to touch it and when he did Nikolai grabbed him by the arm and hurled him into the nearest wall.

  The wall crumbled on impact and Darius groaned in pain. Nikolai made a loud screeching noise that could have been laughter. Darius stood and realized with horror that his elbow joint was bleeding from Nikolai’s claws. Once a Taurlum’s weak point was exploited the skin became soft enough to pierce. He was mortal now…

  Darius stood and truth enveloped him. There was no hope against a monster of this size and strength without his impervious skin. Nikolai dug his foot into the ground repeatedly to prepare for a charge. Darius backed up until he was against the wall and waited for death.

  Nikolai bashed Darius against the wall and he exhaled in pain. Nikolai seemed to realize his attacks were more fruitful now and began striking with more force. Darius struggled to avoid being completely annihilated under Nikolai’s crushing blows.

  He raised his arms in one last desperate attempt to save himself and felt a peculiar energy flowing through his fingertips. He pushed it out of his arms and it traveled through him like a current. Nikolai tried to tear Darius to pieces, but the beast found himself restrained by the armor melded to his skin. Darius realized with relief and elation that he could move the armor holding Nikolai. Darius had never put too much thought into an adva
nced ability since he already stood confidently against most enemies, but this was a welcome surprise that brought tears to his eyes. He didn’t have to kill his uncle. There would be another way. Darius could now control metal with the mere wave of his arm.

  With his newfound power, Darius pushed Nikolai back with his mind, much to the creature’s fury. At times he found Nikolai fighting him, but he focused his energy on the wrists and elbows, where his uncle would have less force to fight him.

  Even though his new ability was strong, Nikolai flailed too hard for Darius to control him. He needed to be sedated, or at least worn out. Something tugged at Darius’s memory as he fought against Nikolai’s struggling. Nikolai only had one weak point. Where was it?

  Nikolai was breaking free of his control. Darius was sure it wouldn’t take many more hits for his uncle to finish him off. Darius examined his uncle’s armor. Taurlum armor usually had gaps so that the skin could breathe. Where had Nikolai tried to protect himself? Certain parts of Nikolai’s armor were gone, so it was hard to tell. He was missing one shoulder plate and his helmet had a metal chinstrap.

  Wait. That was it. That’s why he had the metal chinstrap. He was protecting the underside of his chin. All Taurlum shared that weak point, apparently even the biggest, strongest ones. Nikolai tore free of Darius’s hold and charged at full speed. He had to be right. There was no other option. If Darius was wrong he would die. Nikolai leapt through the air and Darius delivered a super-human uppercut to the under side of his jaw.

  Nikolai Taurlum flopped onto his back, dazed and defeated. He babbled a few times, but it was clear he’d lost what little wits he had.

  After struggling for a time, Darius used his ability to push Nikolai back into the cage. Before his uncle could escape, Darius pulled the gate down, effectively imprisoning him once more. Darius buried his head in his hands in relief. He’d been spared another great emotional pain. He’d also gained the ability to move metal with his mind. He flexed his arm and silently measured his new strength. He felt a power, once dormant, running through his blood.

  After clearing his head of his self-involvement, Darius heard the Doctor screaming in the ring above him. He climbed out of the coliseum using one of the indents Nikolai had made. Once he reached the upper ring, an unpredictable scene greeted him: Bianca was helping up her weary sister, the Marksman was unconscious and without his right hand, the Doctor was on the floor, smoke billowing from his body, and Rhys Vapros was hunched against the wall with a bandaged stump where his left foot had once been. Darius ran to him. Rhys had his face buried and shook every couple seconds as his sobs rattled him. Darius scooped him up and hugged him tightly. “No worries, little buddy,” he said. “We’ve got you. You’re safe.”

  “Is he okay?” Anastasia asked.

  “Are you okay?” Darius asked Rhys.

  Rhys shook violently and tears streamed down his face. “Far away from here,” he pleaded.

  Darius turned to carry Rhys back through the ring, up the stairs, and through the library. But when he turned the Doctor was standing once more. His body was charred beyond recognition, including bits that were already half missing. “I’ve had just about enough of this!” he roared through his red-hot jaw.

  Darius could hear the links on Anastasia’s chain spike rattling as she prepared to throw it. “You may think you are in control, but you forget who I am and you forget where you are.” His jaw creaked as he talked. “Without my formula Anastasia will die. It will be painful and I can assure you, it is fast approaching. There is none in this workshop and only I have the knowledge to create it.”

  Darius wanted to run over and snap his neck, but one look over at Anastasia proved the Doctor was right. She teetered back and forth even now. He could feel Rhys quivering in his arms and he knew that something had to be done about the spider. Anastasia took a few shaky steps toward him. “You’ll never stop,” she whispered. “What you did to Rhys, to Darius’s uncle…” She paused. “To me… You’ll do it again.” She looked over at Rhys. “This was all my fault.”

  The Doctor straightened his spine. “I fail to see how any of this is your business. Now if you want to live through the evening I suggest you—“

  Anastasia hurled her chain spike straight through his forehead. He stood for a few seconds, then he fell forward and his metal jaw rang like a church bell as it struck the ground. “Rate that on your pain scale,” Anastasia whispered through pained lips.

  She followed him to the ground and her friends ran to her side. Her face was completely devoid of color and her eyes were fluttering. “Stay awake,” Bianca said. “You’ve got to stay awake.”

  “I haven’t been a good sister,” Anastasia murmured. “Betrayed you… Ignored you… Lied…”

  “It’s okay,” Bianca said. “You’re not allowed to talk like this at the end. It’s not the end… We just...”

  Anastasia mustered a sarcastic look. She looked like she was on the verge of screaming with pain.

  “We just found each other again.” Bianca was sobbing. “I just got you back.”

  Darius laid Rhys down gently and grabbed her hand. “Maybe he has something lying around that we could…” he started but he remembered the Doctor’s warning. She’d known the consequences of her actions. “Look you have to stay.” He was getting desperate. “I’ve still got a letter to read you.”

  She and her hand went limp in his. “You can read it to me,” she said, voice fading. “I really hope I’ll be able to hear it.”

  With that she left them and Darius felt his iron heart tear. They sat over her, rigid with disbelief, until Rhys’s shivering called them back to reality. Darius couldn’t imagine standing now. He couldn’t imagine taking a single step. But, despite her sacrifice and their loss, someone still needed them. Darius hauled her over his shoulder. He held her gently and grabbed Rhys with his other arm. To their dismay, the Marksman was no longer lying where he had been. A blood trail led out of the room through a back door designed to look like a work shelf. “Do you want to go after him?” Darius asked.

  Bianca looked five years older when she peered up from her hands. “Today has been enough,” she said. “He’s not as much of a threat without the right hand.”

  “He might come after you,” Darius said. “In revenge.”

  “If he does, I’ll take the other one,” Bianca vowed.

  Darius had no doubt she meant it. He held the two broken things in his arms and carried them out of the workshop. He took one last look back at the dead Doctor. His limbs fell behind him and twitched with the absence of life. The spider had been crushed. “What about your uncle?” Bianca asked Darius as they left.

  “Tomorrow night I’ll come back,” he said. “I’ll take him deep into the woods and release him. Perhaps he’ll find something for himself.”

  Bianca didn’t respond. He knew that it was dangerous to let a monster like this free, but he didn’t care. He’d take Nikolai far away where he couldn’t hurt anyone and the world would cease to hurt him. “We can also find a nice place to bury her,” he added quietly, as if asking for permission.

  She nodded and that was enough. Darius didn’t remember the walk back to the inn. All he could think about was Anastasia and what she’d been through. She’d been extorted and forced into her life as an assassin, forced to betray her friends. Despite her situation, in the end, she managed to make things right. She would forever be complicated for Darius. She would forever be someone who he’d only known bits and pieces of until their final moments together. The world had lost her, but it had also lost the Doctor. There was no sanity in keeping score, but he knew that Volteria was better off because Anastasia gave her life to eliminate the Doctor.

  Before he knew it, they were setting Rhys into a bed and Bianca was checking his vitals. She told him that he had a fever and would need several days of rest. Darius doubted that Rhys was even listening. The boy was sleeping the moment his skin touched the sheets. Darius pulled the Lightborn cuffs off of
Rhys’s arms and he groaned in relief. Darius waited until Bianca was preoccupied and pulled a single page from Anastasia’s notebook. It was his letter for her. For a terrible instant fury filled him and he considered tearing it in half. At the last moment, he folded it and placed it in his pocket. He’d written it for her and no one else would read it. Except for Darius. Darius would read it every night.

  He walked out of his room and down the stairs once the other two were asleep. He approached the woman who owned the inn and tried not to think of Josephine. “Do you have gin?” he asked.

  She placed her hands on the bar and looked at him. “It’s not even time for breakfast.”

  He didn’t waver. “I won’t be a problem.”

  She pulled a bottle out from one of the cupboards. “I’ll kick you out if you make yourself a disturbance,” she warned. “You want a glass?”

  Darius remembered the Wolf’s warnings about his overweight friend and his lack of self-control. Darius rubbed his forehead. “I’ll take the bottle.”

  “That’s too much,” she said.

  He put all of the money he had on the bar. “I know. That’s the point.”

  Chapter Seventy-Four

  ANIMA ISLAND

  NEIL VAPROS

  By the time Neil reached the island half way between Ocean’s Jaw and the mainland, Neil felt like his arms were going to fall off or his heart would drop into his stomach. As he rowed toward land, he saw the Man with the Golden Light on the beach.

  Neil pulled his boat far enough ashore so that it wouldn’t float away during his exploration. The Man was already fading by the time Neil reached him. “Wait!” Neil said. He needed guidance now more than ever. “Was that it? The right thing?”

  “Onward, Neil,” the Man said as he dissolved. “You’ll never know what was right until you see the repercussions of your actions. Look inside that house,” he said as he pointed up the beach with what remained of his form. “Learn about repercussions.”