Shades of Death

by Ramy Vance

  It was almost impossible to see. But Grok moved forward, as elegantly as if she were an unburdened river. And Anabelle couldn’t help but think, How beautiful.

  Grok’s fist connected with Anabelle’s stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

  Before either Abby or Terra could move, Grok flipped Anabelle over, and kicked the other girls in the backs of the heads, sending them flying.

  Abby went careening off the side of the building, as did Terra, who grabbed hold of the ledge to keep from falling over.

  Grok slammed Anabelle’s head into the concrete floor. A second later, she pulled Anabelle up by her hair. “I am going to kill you, Wanderer. Wipe the last of you from the face of the Earth. You hear me, elf? I will grind your bones into dust. The Road will be no more, the Way will be shut.”

  Anabelle leaned forward, preparing to attack. Before she could move, Grok delivered a chop to her throat. The elf’s vision blurred for a second and, by the time it cleared, Grok was gone.

  Chapter Two

  Abby had been caught off guard by Grok’s attack; she’d never seen anyone move that fast before. As though she hadn’t taken the time to even plan the move. Fortunately, Abby hadn’t received the bulk of the attack.

  That had been saved for Anabelle.

  As Abby flew back to help Anabelle, Grok was already walking through the portal.

  Anabelle was still on her knees, staring blankly ahead as though unable to believe what had happened.

  Before landing, Abby scanned the area for Terra, who had pulled herself up over the corner of the rooftop ledge and was sprinting toward the elf. “You okay?” Abby asked when she landed beside Anabelle.

  Anabelle looked like she’d seen a ghost. Her face was paler than normal and her bottom lip trembled. When she spoke, her question came out as a squeak. “Did you see that?”

  Terra was rubbing her jaw as she opened and closed her mouth. “I sure as hell felt it.”

  “I didn’t even have a chance to defend myself. She slipped in and took me down without breaking a sweat.” Anabelle surged to her feet, muttering to herself as she stalked toward the edge of the building.

  Abby had once seen the same look in her mother’s eye after losing a season’s worth of grain to a freak cold snap. Nothing any of the Crookins could have done would have made a difference. The cold had come in during the night and frozen the ground solid.

  Without warning or mercy.

  Anabelle’s eyes carried that same look of confusion and anger.

  Martin, the AI in Abby’s brain, appeared in her peripheral vision as a GIF of a mustachioed latte lazily smoking a cigarette. “Blackwell and the rest of his squad finally decided to show up. ‘Bout ten minutes or so.”

  Abby nodded and strode over to Anabelle.

  Terra was meandering back and forth, occasionally staring at the Dark Gate left behind on their building. Unlike those they’d encountered previously, this one hung open, though it lacked the pulsating glow of an active gate.

  Either this portal didn’t open and close like the ones they’d seen...or someone was keeping it open in... “Sleep mode. The gate is kind of dormant but awake at the same time, like when you put your computer on sleep mode to save energy, but also ready for a quick boot-up. So, what now?”

  Anabelle didn’t answer, and Abby noticed the elf was still staring off in the distance. “Hey, Belle?” Abby called.

  Anabelle snapped back to attention. The confusion had left her face and been replaced by an expression that said she was all business now. “Guess we’re going to have to dismantle each and every one of these—” Her words were cut off by the sound of the Dark Gate gearing back to life.

  Terra came up from behind the gate, waiting for the portal to open so she could bash in whatever creature walked through. But only a small blue flame appeared in the middle of the Dark Gate’s frame. “Hm. This looks different from the last one, right?”

  Anabelle groaned. “Of course, it’s different. Which means the Dark One is throwing us another annoying-ass curveball.”

  A bright blue light shot from the flame in the Dark Gate. It flew past the three women, heading toward one of the glints Anabelle assumed were more gates.

  Another light fired.

  And another.

  Abby watched as little blue lights began to glow in a number of buildings across the city block. A second later, a blue line of energy connected all the shining dots in an intricate web. “What’s going on? There’s nothing in the files ‘bout this.”

  The clouds shifted from white to a deep crimson as black lightning cracked.

  The three women looked up as the air around them thickened with energy.

  Anabelle shook her head. “No fucking clue.”

  A giant beam of black energy shot into the streets, cracking the surface of the ground. Cars were thrown through the air as people scurried about, screaming in a panic. “Figures they would go straight for the civvies,” Anabelle muttered as she watched the chaos. “How long do we have until Blackwood’s squad gets here?”

  Abby, who was also focused on the pandemonium below, answered, “About ten minutes.”

  Anabelle hit her comm. “Blackwell, you need to double time. I want you to take care of the civilians. There’s already too much collateral damage.”

  Blackwell’s voice came through to Anabelle. “We’re on it.”

  Anabelle turned to Abby. “You’re with Blackwell. I want those humans safe.”

  Abby was ready to fly off. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

  Terra grabbed Abby’s shoulder. “Hold on. Check that out.”

  The spot where the energy had landed had caved in. A massive hole was opening in the middle of the street as the asphalt fell in on itself. From beneath came a glowing red light. “That’s not going to be good,” Anabelle groaned.

  A lightning bolt of energy shot up from the earth, connecting with the clouds above.

  It pained Abby to know there were people suffering in the streets, but Terra was right. She couldn’t go rushing into a situation without having an understanding of what was happening. That would get her killed, and no one would be saved.

  The women watched as the ground continued to crumble into the gaping hole, during which, the blue flames in the Dark Gates vanished and the normal portals opened.

  A hand the size of a school bus, covered in thick brown fur filled with moss, reached from the hole in the ground, followed by an unholy roar that echoed around the chasm.

  The hand was just the beginning.

  A creature heaved itself from the flaming maw. Two stories tall with long spindly arms, its lower body was that of a cloven-hooved animal, its torso that of a giant. Resting upon its muscular neck was what appeared to be the head of a deer.

  Abby’s eyes zoomed in on the monster below her. The creature’s head was splitting down the middle. A small man’s rotting body, veins bright and clear, forced its way out of the deer’s head, screeching as he paused half-birthed, gelatinous fluid flung about as he writhed in pain.

  Anabelle shook her head. “They brought a fucking Jotun? Are they insane?”

  Abby and Terra both looked at Anabelle with confusion. “Uh, what’s that?” Terra asked.

  “The ancestors of giants. They thrive in pure chaos and only live to destroy. Shit! Shit, okay, Abby, you’re still working with Blackwell when they get here. Not to overtask you, but can you send drones to destroy the gates?”

  “I can, but I will need some visual help.”

  Anabelle nodded. “Terra, I need you to handle the gates. Abby can give your suit control of the drones.”

  Abby chimed in. “On it. They’ll follow you and help, kind of like blockers for a quarterback.”

  Anabelle smiled. They were one hell of a team. “Good. And Terra? Anything that comes through, you tear the shit out of. I’ll handle the Jotun.”

  Terra shrugged as she peered over the side of the building at the Jotun. “Sure you don’t want me to take t
hat thing out? Looks like it’s having a hard enough time living. We could just put it out of its misery.”

  “Which is why I’ll handle it. You can probably clear the buildings faster than I can.”

  “Well, come on. You don’t want to live forever, do you?”

  Abby chuckled despite the enormity of their mission. “Starship Troopers, huh? Good reference.”

  Anabelle gave a puzzled look. “What’s Starship Troopers? Does Myrddin have space squads too?”

  Abby and Terra chuckled before Terra stretched and her sternum cracked loudly. The gladiator leapt off the side of the building, rocketing toward the skyscraper across from the Angels. Man, this suit is cool. If she had had one during the games, she could have taken down a whole squadron of balrogs without breaking a sweat.

  Terra crashed through a window, sliding across the ground as a pair of orcs rushed through the Dark Gate. She grabbed them both and slammed their heads together before picking up one of their axes and tearing into the gate.

  Two more orcs came after her, but Abby’s drones shot them down, as she had promised.

  Anabelle smiled. “Yeah, I think she’ll be able to handle this. Get to the ground floor, Abby.” Anabelle turned as an orc stepped through the portal behind her. She kicked the creature in the throat, grabbed one of the grenades hanging from its belt, pulled the pin, and threw it into the portal before pushing the orc after it. That was when the elf’s hands caught fire and she smashed them into the Dark Gate, splitting it down the middle.

  Abby drew a deep breath and sped off toward the ground, scanning for what lay behind the smoke flowing from the chasm in the streets. “Martin, can you do something about that? I can’t see anything.”

  “Adjusting your peepers. So, they got you on boring detail today?”

  Abby tried to ignore Martin’s tone. “There are people down there who need help, and I’m still killing orcs.”

  “True. Guess someone has to make sure all the humans don’t die.”

  Abby flew to ground level as Blackwell and his troops were arriving. Turned out there were more than Anabelle had implied, at least fifty. The only person Abby recognized other than Blackwell was Naota.

  The two were an interesting pair to be working together. Naota always looked like he had strolled out of an anime convention, not quite cosplaying but pretty damn close.

  Blackwell, on the other hand, appeared to have been in the service for some time. He and Naota were about the same age, though Blackwell had an air of sobriety that was constantly aggravated by Naota’s inability to take anything seriously.

  Abby landed close to Blackwell, who was commanding his squad to assess the situation and move civilians out of the way.

  Both Blackwell and Naota wore the exo-suit redesigns Abby had made. They weren’t as intense as Terra’s, mostly because Abby wasn’t certain anyone else could handle it. It was a risk she preferred not to take.

  Blackwell jogged over to Abby. “What’s the situation?”

  She pointed in the direction of the chasm. “Anabelle said there’s a Jotun in there. Kinda like a giant or something.”

  Blackwell nodded as he squinted in the direction Abby indicated. “Okay. We got ground forces of orcs coming in too. There must be gates down here as well. We’ll take care of the civilians if you want to handle the gates and orcs we don’t pin down.”

  “On it!”

  Blackwell and Naota headed toward the streets, their squad following them, splitting up and searching for any humans who might have been hurt, while still managing to take shots at the orcs who were beginning to come out of the woodwork.

  Abby noticed a heavy stream of orcs coming from one of the buildings on her left. She zoomed over to them, weaving between them to fire three quick plasma shots from her hands before soaring away.

  The orcs might have the advantage of numbers, but Abby had speed, artillery, and range. She backed up, taking aim at the orcs who were attempting to regroup after the attack.

  The nanobots quickly constructed another plasma cannon on Abby’s shoulder and she fired.

  When the smoke settled, all the orcs were dead. “Hey, Martin,” Abby said. “Have Gertrude and the rest start a sweep of the buildings. I want a clear idea of how many of these portals there are.”

  Martin’s sleepy answer of, “You got it, Chief,” was slightly annoying. The AI had an amazing ability to appear uncaring no matter what happened during a mission.

  High above Abby, Terra flew into the same building, crashing her way inside—not a practical means of entry, but she was having fun.

  Martin interrupted Abby’s train of thought. “All gates locked on. Thinking about finally doing something?”

  “You heard Anabelle. That’s Terra’s job.”

  “A job we would be more efficient at.”

  “I don’t know,” Abby said with a smile. “Terra seems pretty efficient to me. Still, we’re a team, so I suppose I could help a bit.”

  Activating the thrusters on her back, she soared into the air and headed to the other gate in the building where Terra was battling a band of five orcs. “Figures you would try to save all the fun for yourself,” Abby commed Terra before bursting through the windows. She fired off two small plasma detonators which attached themselves to one of the orcs. “That one is live!”

  Terra surged through the group and grabbed the orc with the detonator. As she flung it through the open portal, Abby landed beside her and focused a thin beam of concentrated energy at the remaining orcs, slicing them in two at the waist.

  An explosion shot forth from the portal a second before Terra threw the gate on its side and stomped it to pieces. “There’s another one a few doors down,” Abby said, pointing to the right. “You want me to take care of it?”

  Terra shook her head and raced off.

  Abby uploaded the locations of all of the gates to the team’s HUDs and sped to the next gate.

  Below Abby, Anabelle had finally reached the streets and was preparing to take on the Jotun. Hopefully the elf would be okay. She had seemed pretty shaken up after Grok had made her appearance.

  Abby flew to the top of a building, in search of the other Dark Gate. As she scanned the area, a rocket slammed into her back, the explosion sending her careening into the side of the building.

  A handful of orcs shimmered into existence. “They must have cloaking devices,” Abby muttered.

  The orcs circled Abby. Each held an electric rod that they shoved into the ground at intervals. Seconds later, a containment field opened over Abby.

  This wasn’t good.

  The orcs were gloating with each other at having trapped Abby, who was already running through different escape options. Despite the possibility, blasting out was obviously not the way to go. The orcs would be expecting it.

  No, she had a better idea.

  Abby dumped all of her nanobots from her skin, leaving her vulnerable as her armor disappeared. She was not defenseless, though. Since injecting herself with nanobots, Abby could control them with the slightest thought as though all her white blood cells had been mobilized. Commanding the nanobots was as subconscious an act as walking.

  The nanobots zoomed to the electric rods, easily squeezing out from the containment field. They reprogramed the rods, short circuiting them briefly before reversing the energy dispersal.

  One of the orcs pressed his face to the containment field and sneered at Abby. “To think, all this is just for a little girl.”

  Abby smiled as sweetly as she could before the nanobots rejoined her, coating her in her sleek armor. When she was ready, she clenched her fist, disrupting the containment field, and sent it outward to melt the skin off the orcs surrounding her.

  “Martin? How’s Blackwell and Naota doing?”

  There was a buzz and a whir before a GIF of a toddler in a hockey jersey screaming in victorious glory appeared in her vision.

  “That good, huh?”

  “Their team is—how do you humans put it?
—kicking ass and taking names.”

  “Good.” Abby went to the Dark Gate, and with a blast from her suit, shut it down. “Great, actually. Time for me to shut some gates down.”

  Chapter Three

  Anabelle approached the Jotun. The confused creature was struggling and in pain, and likely attempting to make sense of the fact that it was alive. A part of Anabelle felt sorry for the thing. But it had been called by the Dark One’s forces, so it could be no friend to hers.

  But maybe… Just maybe…

  She tried to maintain a neutral stance without leaving herself vulnerable, though she couldn’t see or sense any orcs nearby.

  Only herself and the Jotun.

  Anabelle tried to remember if there was a required manner in which to speak to the Jotun. Though the being appeared monstrous, it was still a demi-god and might possess the superior attitude of what mortal creatures foolishly assume are deities.

  There were no real gods. None Anabelle knew of, at least. The gods were either legends or extremely powerful historical figures worshipped by mortals. In Anabelle’s experience, anything can be killed. You just had to figure out how.

  The Jotun didn’t need to die, though, not until it proved otherwise.

  Ugh…how the hell do dwarves talk to these things? I know it’s formal…ugh, fuck it. Anabelle cleared her throat and performed an elaborate gesture with her hand, feeling extremely stupid for the motion. “Greetings, wise Jotun. What is your business on Earth?”

  The Jotun turned to look at Anabelle, its eyes moist and empty. Its hands flailed as though trying to reach for her. Instead, it fell on its face, baying loudly like a dying calf, its hands curving as though gently cradling something.

  Anabelle was both disgusted and in awe as she watched the Jotun’s body swelling and growing larger—as if it weren’t giant enough. Even in its dying pains, it was still showing so much power. But Anabelle didn’t know what to do about this. She had expected to walk into a straight-up fight. But whatever was going on with the demigod wasn’t so simple.

  The Jotun was sprawled in the street like a massive piece of roadkill. It had stopped growing and was now the size of three school buses. And it wasn’t breathing anymore.