“A bank building? Really Fuzz?” Within seconds, everyone on the inside rushed down the steps and jumped into their cars. He reappeared a moment later with a smile plastered across his face.
“Glad to see I still have that scare factor.” He rolled around the side and went through the drive-thru.
“Don’t think you’re going to be able to make a deposit. You ran all the workers off.” He rolled his eyes and pressed his thumb against a silver pad directly to the side of the drop box. The ground opened up. We descended, followed by all the trucks behind us.
“This building gives us a vantage point from all angles. Once I initiate each of the protective measures I’ve placed, you’ll see why I was referring to it as a fort.” He parked, jumped out, and started barking orders to those coming in behind us. “The service elevator is directly to the left side. Get the trucks unloaded now. Payne, come with me. I’ll show you the lab area so you can keep working. Harley, I need you with me too, so we can get this place on lockdown. Move, people!”
I joined the crowds of people and started moving everything from the trucks up the elevator. It only took a few trips considering how many people we had helping us. A hum resonated around the building as metal rolled over the windows, blocking even the tiniest bit of light from entering. The ground shook as I heard something move outside the walls.
“Just raised the walls outside,” Harley said as he rushed by. “This place is insane. Check out the weapons room. Think you’ll like it.”
I wandered through the corridors, only taking a second at each room to see what was on the inside of each. I finally found the weapons room at the end of one hallway.
In two strides, I reached the case holding blades of every size. I picked up a small dagger and flipped it. The silver caught the light in a beautiful way. I replaced it and then ran my fingers over the row of equally dangerous pieces. So much death these objects could cause. So much pain. So much blood.
A shadow crossed to my left. I stilled as a tremor inched up my leg. My eyes remained locked on the silhouette. The minutes ticked by. I strained to hear something…anything. Silence. Maybe it was nothing. I was paranoid. Despite my uncertainty fighting to keep me stalled, I relaxed and took a step forward. A long slender object whizzed through the air, humming with speed. My pulse thumped in my ears as it caught the side of my face. Grunting, I twisted to the side. I tried to ignore the blinding white-hot pain throbbing at my cheekbone.
“Someone’s getting soft since you’ve left to come back home,” a familiar voice commented with amusement.
I craned my neck. Lavarus. I wasn’t sure how I felt about seeing him here. Part of me wanted to give him a hug. Another part wanted to pin him against the wall.
The wooden staff planted near his leg. His hand stretched out toward me. “You don’t look happy to see me.” He frowned, seeming to survey my apprehension.
“You?” I snorted. My hand closed around his invitation. “Never. It’s just a shock to see you here, that’s all.” Gently, I touched the now swollen wound. “Maybe next time, do it without hitting me in the face though.” I winced and pointed toward the door. “How’d you get in here anyway? Thought we had better security than that.”
He tipped his chin back and erupted into laughter. “I have my ways. You should know that.” He turned and leaned heavily on the cane as he shuffled across the room. “You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here, huh?” He dropped down into a chair and rested his arms along the back.
My mouth opened, but I couldn’t find the right words. There were so many questions that I needed answered. But what if Nabea was right? Lavarus could be working for the enemy. Then again, what other choice did I have? Nabea wasn’t here for me to confront the both of them together. I slid my hands over my eyes and dropped my head back.
Ignoring his question, I finally answered. “There’s something we need to talk about.” I dropped my gaze back to his.
He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Sounds serious.”
I prowled agitatedly in the direction of where he sat. “It is.” I stopped near another case of weapons as I struggled with how to start the conversation. “When I went into the cave that night, all of my memories came back, as you know.”
His lips twitched but he remained silent, waiting on me to continue.
“With those memories were ones that I had when I was in the hospital. I had a conversation with Nabea.” I gauged his reaction. His face remained innocent, which surprised me. “She told me how her parents were killed. She said you did it.”
“I figured something like this would eventually surface.” The cold intensity of his words shocked me. “When I left that place, I assumed all that happened was Dermetheus’s doing, but after I got here and had all that time to think things through, it just didn’t add up.”
“What do you mean?”
“Both of those kids were blinded by the Darkness. Their minds were poisoned when Dermetheus found this cursed blade. The parents became desperate, so I told them I would take it and make it disappear. Only I couldn’t destroy it. I did the only other thing I could and hid it. Dermetheus was open with his search, Nabea on the other hand not so much. She played people. I don’t think it was because she wanted to. There was good still left in her, she just had to fight the Darkness away. Every day seemed to be a struggle for her. One she didn’t even let the closest people see.”
“Fuzz?”
He nodded. “I believe she’s the one Messa was trying to warn me about in the vision he sent me. It’s why I escaped with this and locked the portals the best as I could.” He pulled out a long object from a bag sitting nearby. Carefully he uncovered it to display the most beautiful sword I had ever laid eyes on. “It was made by Messa himself. The only thing that will truly kill whoever the Darkness has rightfully claimed.”
“We just don’t know if that’s Dermetheus or Nabea.”
“Right. I believe she had every intention of righting her wrongs when she sent Fuzz over here. But when she sent that fragment into you, well, that was the last good piece holding the Darkness back from fully taking over.” His lips pulled thin. “If she told you those lies, it was because she didn’t want you to trust me. And if you don’t trust me, you won’t take ownership of this weapon. I know this sounds off because trusting her is all you’ve known until this point. I hope with everything in me I’m wrong, but if I’m not, I want you to be prepared.”
What was I supposed to believe?
34
Reese
I walked outside and trailed my fingers over the rail of the curved balcony. The once quaint, small town that I grew up in looked different under the darkened sky. A fury of thick clouds loomed overhead. They appeared angry, waiting to unleash wrath on everything beneath. I closed my eyes, breathing slowly. Picturing how it used to look was hard. Now my memories seemed to be polluted by violence. Too much blood had been spilled. Too many lives had been lost. The resonating sound of silence disturbed me. There was an eerie feeling all around.
I sighed and opened my eyes, hoping for something different to greet me. The desolate grounds appeared once more. Fuzz had contacted the local police force, which Freeman had already implanted the thought of bomb threats in the middle of town. This served our purpose of keeping innocent bystanders free from harm. I had inspected every inch of this place and together as a team, we had forged the best plan we could.
“We have one more fight left in us, don’t we?” Shayla asked, coming out to stand by me. Her hands dropped to the banister as she stared in front of her.
I wanted to say yes, but that word didn’t seem like the answer she was looking for. We both knew going into this fight that there was a strong possibility neither of us would come out alive. That was a hard truth to swallow. But after all we had been through, I don’t think either of us cared anymore. We wanted it to end. One way or another. We had been to hell and back with scars to show. If we died, at least we went down fighti
ng with everything in us against something evil. It wouldn’t be in vain.
“Only one way to go in,” I finally said.
She turned to me, her expression hopeful. “Oh yeah? Which way is that?”
“Beast mode. Bleed mode. It’s time to end this.”
A slow smile spread across her face. She turned back forward and slapped the banister. “Fuck yeah. Swear if I had a dick, it’d be hard right now off that.”
“Well, it’s always a good thing when you can get an imaginary boner, I guess,” I said, laughing. The roar of engines erupted in the quiet streets. “What the hell? Thought the police had this place on lock down.”
Jacked up trucks came into view, too many to count. Each one parked out front of our fort and people started climbing out from the cabs. Others leaned over the tailgates, weapons in hand.
“Sim?”
He looked up and waved. “Told you there were others. We’re here to help.”
“Go tell Fuzz to let them in to the lower levels.”
Shayla nodded.
Moments later, our drive hummed, and the people poured inside with their trucks. Thunder rolled overhead and sprinkles pelted my skin. I squinted and lifted my head toward the sky. This was totally cliché, like some awful writer was trying to make things way more dramatic than need be. But then again, that was my life. I lowered my gaze and caught sight of a dark mass heading in our direction. Valks, thousands of them, along with other creatures, and two dragons I would recognize anywhere soaring the sky.
This was it. The time had come. I tore through the halls screaming for everyone to gather in the main room. I raced through the premises, making sure no one was outside. They had an aerial attack now. Finally, I came in to be greeted by eager, scared, and nervous faces. This was my job as their leader to speak to them, to instill some type of wisdom like I had seen done in the movies. I scratched my neck, wishing Mel Gibson would walk in and do a speech like in Braveheart.
“There is a moment when a fight grows closer. You can feel it deep in your bones. Your blood pumps harder, faster, hotter. It pushes your adrenaline to skyrocketing levels. That time is now. There’s no glory in this. It will be hard. Matter of fact, it will be the hardest thing you’ll ever do in your life. We might not survive. Look next to you. That person might not be here when all this is over. But know that because you’ve decided to stand side by side, you’re both heroes.”
I paced across the room. Static electricity could practically be felt all around us. The crowd was deathly silent. My words were harsh, but they needed the truth. Not everyone would walk out of this fight. They needed to know that up front. I looked out expecting some to leave. But no one moved an inch. If anything, they appeared hungrier. Ready for anything. “Remember this day. Our race will remember this day. For we stood our ground. We raised our fists, our voices, and we screamed no. We will not let our world get taken over without a fight. Put your war face on. It’s time to take our town back.”
The crowd erupted. The werewolves perched on the roof let out a hair-raising howl.
I glanced at the guys I had gotten to know during my time away. “Hollywood is with them. Those dragons have to come down, otherwise they’ll wipe through us fast.”
“Got it,” Harley said. He turned to the gathered warriors. “Everyone suit up and arm yourselves!” The crowd dispersed.
I darted up the hall with my crew behind me and found our uniforms in the weapons room. I pulled on the fire resistant material and strapped blades across my limbs. Lastly, I pulled out the sword Lavarus gave me and secured it snuggly on my back.
“Reese Salt. You have something that belongs to me,” Dermetheus called out.
I looked at my friends. This was it. Without a word, we fist bumped. We had started out with eight, and now there only stood five. Together we walked out to the balcony. Dermetheus’s army was now positioned a couple hundred yards back from the walls of our fort.
“Nothing I have belongs to you.”
Payne had orders to keep the relic inside with him and attempt to destroy it.
He waved a hand. “Bored of this already. Take down their little building.” Talgon raised an arm; the blade within it fully extended and slashed the air. The ground shook beneath our feet as the first wave pounded forward. Their growls were deafening.
I held the breath in my lungs. Any minute now. A few feet from the gate, they had set the trip wire. Automatic machine guns extended from the walls and tore through their amour and bodies. Most fell in bloody heaps, but others continued to plow forward.
“As long as these walls hold, we stay put. We don’t want to endanger anyone before we need to. First team, fire!”
Lead by Sim, he instructed his guys to aim for the exposed portions of the Valks. Bullets hummed by from the top of the building taking out the ones that managed to avoid the machine guns. A dragon swooped low, crashing through one of the guns on the end.
“We have an opening on the end.”
Lance and group of guys rushed to the now vulnerable area. The Valks had parted and tossed ladders against the walls. Several were already climbing upward.
“Swords and weapons out!” I screamed. Valks poured over the edge and into our fort. The clang of metal on metal filled the air. “Make sure those other machine guns don’t go down.” The sound of each one jamming in unison greeted me as soon as the words fell from my lips. Panic took over as I glanced between the weapons and the Valks now rushing forward. “What’s happening?”
A guy standing near one shrugged and looked up to me. “It’s like they’re all having some type of malfunction.
I looked out in the sea of enemies. In the mist of the bodies, I found Dermetheus with his teeth gleaming. The Magal stood at his side with some type of device in hand. I gritted my teeth. “Dax. It’s the Magal. He’s doing something to the guns.”
Dax’s Adam’s apple bounced as he swallowed hard. “Then I need that machine.”
“So be it.” I leaped over the edge, grabbing a chain dangling down from the roof and scaled the wall down. Gamick met me on the ground. I climbed on top of the werewolf and gently kicked. Its hind legs ripped through the ground and jumped out, catching the wall with claws. I held tight as we climbed higher and higher. At the top, we sprang off and landed on several Valks. Gamick ripped through them, using claws and mouth. I hunched low and pulled out two blades from my thigh sheaths. I sank the blades into their necks, burying them to the hilt and tugging them free as we continued to move through the throng.
An explosion behind me knocked us forward along with every enemy surrounding us. My ears rang as I opened my eyes. I was belly down on the ground. Gamick lay in a heap several feet away. Curling my fingers, I fought to regain composure. A shadow fell over me. Fingers wrapped around the back of my neck and yanked upward. I blinked, and looked forward to find myself face to face with Hollywood.
“Out here all alone, huh?”
An arrow whizzed past, catching the tip of my ear before implanting in Hollywood’s shoulder.
“No, she isn’t,” Harley said. He approached, catching a Valk in the chin with his elbow. Blood erupted from its mouth. With a quick spin, he lodged a blade into its skull and continued toward us without breaking stride. Behind him, I could make out Freeman and Zeke. Bursts of gray smoke would appear as Zeke teleported from one Valk to another.
Hollywood tossed me to the side and squared his shoulders. “Never thought this day would come.”
“Never thought you’d join the wrong side.”
He sneered. “I joined the winning side.” Hollywood rushed toward him.
Harley dipped and weaved right as they were about to collide. His blade slashed downward, but Hollywood managed to block it with the amour on his forearm.
One of the dragons spiraled downward, talons slashing the sky in Harley’s direction. Vixler, appearing from out of nowhere, retracted and leaped forward, meeting it head on. His sharp teeth tore at the hide near the underbelly. The two o
f them hit the earth, tearing through the ground and crashing into a nearby building. Bits of cement and glass exploded out, temporarily blinding my vision.
Harley, Zeke, Freeman, and I stood back to back in the middle of chaos.
“I really think it was the three of you holding me back from my full potential,” Hollywood voiced from the thick blanket of dust.
Two small crafts flew overhead; one targeted the other dragon while the second unleashed hell on the army of Valks and Snake Demons.
Hollywood soared through the air with a sword poised above his head. Freeman shifted back, catching him in the jaw with the heel of his boot. Hollywood’s grip loosened, and the blade slid across the ground. He collapsed to his knees.
“You never had any potential,” Freeman spat out. He placed his hands on Hollywood’s skull and murmured words. Blood seeped from his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. With one last sharp intake of breath, his eyes rolled in the back of his head.
“My turn!” Zeke shrieked as he sliced through the gut of a Valk and kicked it in the chest. He walked over to Hollywood’s dead body and outstretched his hand, palm down.
Hollywood’s eyes sprang open. “What the fuck?”
Zeke smiled and jammed a blade in each eye socket; with a flick of each wrist he twisted the blades hard. Hollywood’s legs twitched as his body jerked. Soon he died for the second time.
Zeke turned and howled. “I’m back! Time to make this fight even more interesting.” He kneeled, touching the ground.
“What’s he doing?” I asked as I jumped out of the way from a charging Valk.
“Raising the dead to help. He can only bring back those that have died within this area,” Harley answered.
“So we can use their dead Valks against them?”
He nodded.
“Nice.” I left them to it as I continued forward. I sliced through body after body, fighting my way in the direction I had seen Dermetheus and the Magal. One of the aircrafts spun around with a dragon latched onto it. It crashed with an explosion that rocked the ground. My stomach dropped. That either had to be Tommy or Savannah. I swallowed, trying not to think about it right now. I had to find Dermetheus. This had to end. As if my wish were heard, the crowd parted. He greeted me with a slight motion to come forward. The Magal was nowhere to be seen.
War Page 22
