Ryker smiled and kissed her. “I have no doubt we’ll take him down with your help. I’m a little surprised, though. I knew you could shoot, but that’s a pretty powerful rifle.”
“I assure you I can handle it,” Celia answered confidently. She sat down at the table. “So what’s the plan?”
“Essentially, we’re planning a nighttime assault on the manor.”
“Assault?” Celia questioned. “We’re definitely going to attract the attention of the Bobbies if we do that.”
“I believe I can help with that,” Adelina interjected. She walked toward a map of London hanging on the wall. “On my days off from the League Headquarters I would come down here to work on a little project.” She took the map down, revealing a combination safe. With a few smooth turns, Adelina twisted the lever and swung the heavy safe open. She removed a small silver ball, about the size of a doorknob, and set it on the table in front of everyone.
“What is it?” Wendell asked. He looked intently at the foreign object. When he reached out to touch it, Adelina smacked his hand away. “I wouldn’t do that,” she suggested. “It’s still in the testing phase. But I’m quite close to finishing it.”
“I ask again, what is it?” Wendell repeated.
“This is my Luminous Invention,” she answered. “It’s an interesting concept, really. The idea behind it is to generate a large flash of light that only affects the memory part of the brain. It has seemed to work pretty well on those I’ve tested it on so far.”
“Those you’ve tested it on?” Ryker questioned.
“Oh, don’t worry. I made sure to receive consent from every test subject. Anyway, it has worked quite well so far, but the only problem is that it has only been able to erase up to half an hour of memory.”
“So that gives us a half an hour timeframe,” Ryker said.
“Right,” Adelina confirmed. “But if we can get the job done in less than half an hour then we can activate it and get out of there. I just need to put a few more finishing touches on it and it’ll be ready for action.”
“Alright, you work on that while we figure out our strategy for tonight,” Ryker said.
Adelina nodded and scurried off to finish her invention.
Ryker watched her for a moment. He was surprised at his lack of nervousness. Normally his stomach would be twisting and his thoughts racing. Instead, he felt calm and organized. He felt like he could take on Caiden with no problem. Even though his dream had shaken him up a bit, he felt like that would be the worst case scenario. He was positive that with Celia providing support, and the skill of himself and the others, they would have no trouble defeating Caiden.
Chapter 27
As dusk approached, Ryker, Wendell, Adelina, and Celia had devised a plan that they had hoped would put them all in the least amount of danger. But each of them knew that there was always that chance that something might go wrong; though none of them dared speak about it.
Adelina had finished her invention and was helping the others load the four Spear Bots into the cart from the League Headquarters. She kept the Luminous Inventions secured in a leather pouch on her belt she had built especially for the device.
Because the device was designed to be activated by a large amount of force, she ensured that the inside was as soft as possible, and would cushion it to prevent any accidental discharges.
They wheeled the cart onto the lift and rode it up to the first floor of the apartment building. Just like when they had entered, Ryker and Wendell were forced to stand behind the cart and help push it through the doorways.
They exited the building and the cart rolled down the street, being pulled by Shamus’s wheel device.
“Is everyone ready?” Ryker asked.
Everyone nodded, and no one spoke.
The sun was drifting below the horizon, indicating that the time was drawing closer to their hopeful final encounter with Caiden. In order to avoid attracting attention, they wheeled the cart through a maze of alley’s and side streets that were rarely used by anyone in the city. The trek took twice as long, but it would pay off by having fewer witnesses to claim they saw something suspicious.
The sun had fully set and the city was enveloped in darkness. The only light was from a few gas lanterns on the streets, and whatever light was given off by the inside of people’s homes.
They reached the final building on the street before the circle of manors in the center of the city. “Alright, this is it, Celia” Ryker said.
Celia stared at Ryker for a moment, and then threw her arms around him. “We can do this,” she said quietly. She let him go and ascended a ladder at the back of the building. When she reached the top, she laid down as flat as she could and crawled to the front of the building. She readied her rifle and looked through the scope. The usual two guards sat lazily on the roof, and there didn’t appear to be too much happening on the inside.
Ryker, Wendell, and Adelina wheeled the cart to the end of the alley and unloaded the Spear Bots. They twisted the gears on the back of them and the Bots unfolded from themselves and sat, unmoving, on the ground. “Ready?” Ryker whispered.
The others nodded. They pressed and held the black buttons on all four of the remotes, and then threw them as far as they could toward the four story manor.
Because that particular manor was the tallest, Adelina had reprogrammed them to only target the tallest building.
The propellers slowly began to gyrate and the Bots lifted into the air.
The two guards on the manor’s roof aimed at the Bots and opened fire. The bullets ricocheted off and shot into the air.
Celia peered through her scope and aimed at the left guard’s head. She squeezed the trigger and blood sprayed onto the roof as he fell off. Celia smiled with excitement.
The other guard watched as his comrade fell and, just as he was about to take cover, a bullet pierced through his neck. He grabbed this throat and gurgled as he fell forward off the roof.
The Gatling guns on the Bots slowly spun, and then sprayed bullets into the side of the manor. The screams of the prostitutes and their clients were barely audible over the noise of the Gatling guns as they fled from the scene. Two men fell to the ground as the bullets pierced their bodies and sprayed blood on the side of the building.
Two guards popped out into the doorway and fired at the Bots. They were quickly cut down by the powerful machine guns.
A bomb, similar to one made by Adelina and the others, flew from a fourth floor window.
The Bots beeped as they recognized the heat of the bomb and ascended higher into the air. The bomb detonated and blasted two of the Bots onto the roof. They crashed and chunks of metal scattered over the roof. Sparks shot between the metal chunks, dancing across the roof.
The sound of another Gatling gun rang into the air, matching the pitch of the two remaining Bots. The two Bots hovered forward over the roof, but one was cut down by a spray of bullets from the Spear Bot left behind during the rescue attempt.
The two remaining Bots targeted each other, and both crashed onto the roof from the other’s barrage of bullets.
Ryker opened his mouth to give an order but he was interrupted by a loud crack of thunder. Rain drops fell from the sky, slowly at first, and then unleashed into a full downpour. “Move up!” Ryker shouted over the storm.
They charged the building, but two more of Caiden’s men ran out from the doorway. Ryker drew his revolver and fired three rounds.
The attackers stumbled backward and fell to the ground. He was worried about not having the support of the Spear Bots anymore. They hadn’t lasted as long as he had wanted. He could only hope that the Bots had done enough damage on the inside to kill most of Caiden’s men on the first floor.
Ryker and the others ran into the welcoming room of the manor. Bloody bodies lay everywhere, killed by the powerful guns of the Spear Bots. Ryker opened the door at the back of the lobby and they slowly walked up the stairs. Ryker placed his ear to the door and heard the
sound of footsteps inside. Ryker took an explosive from his belt and twisted the gear three clicks. He opened the door a crack and tossed the bomb inside. He listened as it thumped loudly and rolled across the wooden floor.
“What the hell?” a voice cried.
The bomb exploded and Ryker swung the door open. They charged inside, weapons ready. As the smoke cleared, they gazed upon a group of dead bodies and blood soaked walls. He glanced back at Adelina. “Looks like we did a bloody-fine job.”
The sound of Celia’s gun outside rang out between the rumbles of thunder. Ryker ran to a window, broken from the bomb, and looked out at her.
“He’s on the roof!” she shouted. She ducked her head as Caiden fired at her, and then cried out as a bullet struck her shoulder. She crawled backward until she was out of Caiden’s sight and looked at her bloody shoulder.
“We need to get to the roof,” Ryker ordered.
They ran up another set of stairs to the third floor. A spray of bullets hit the wall near Ryker’s head.
“Step back, Ryker,” Wendell yelled over the gunfire. He rolled into the room and fired his rifle. Ryker followed Wendell inside and shot his remaining three rounds, killing the last two of Caiden’s men in the room. He reloaded his revolver and opened a door on the left side of the room.
A tall man tackled Ryker and they rolled across the floor. Ryker punched the man in the stomach, and then in the jaw. He then pushed the man off and Wendell shot him in the side of the head. Blood and brains splattered onto the floor.
Ryker returned to his feet and looked at Wendell. “Thanks,” he said graciously. They ran up the stairs and came to another door. Ryker took out another bomb and opened the door. He drew back but stopped. “Everyone get out of here!” he shouted.
The room was filled with prostitutes and clients—probably the ones who didn’t try to run out the front door during the initial attack. They looked at Ryker for a moment with terrified looks on their faces. “Go!” Ryker screamed.
The people shoved passed Ryker and ran down the stairs with the others.
“Over there.” Ryker pointed to a steel ladder on the right side of the room that lead up to a trap door. He climbed the ladder and shoved open the wooden trap door. Two powerful hands grabbed onto Ryker’s collar and pulled him onto the roof. “What the hell?” Ryker was flung across the roof and rolled toward the edge. He planted his feet and slid to a stop.
He looked up and saw Wendell flying through the air toward him. He jumped to his feet and caught the gnome, almost knocking him backward over the edge. He set Wendell down, and looked at the trap door. “Let her go, Caiden!” Ryker shouted. He reached for his revolver but it was gone—lost when he was thrown.
Caiden gripped Adelina closely and held a revolver to her head. “That’s not going to happen,” he said maniacally. Suddenly, Celia climbed through the trap door and tackled Caiden. He lost his grip on Adelina and she stumbled forward. “Bloody-hell!” he shouted. He grabbed Celia by the arm and shoved her toward Ryker. He then aimed his revolver at her and squeezed the trigger, sending a silver bullet spiraling through the air until it landed in the middle of her chest.
“No!” Ryker shouted. He tried to catch Celia as she fell but he slipped on the wet roof and tumbled over. He crawled to Celia and stared at her. Blood poured from her wound and mixed with the puddle of rain underneath her. “You bastard!” Ryker shouted. He stood up just as Caiden fired his revolver again.
Adelina clutched her stomach and fell to her knees. She looked at Ryker with eyes welled up with tears. She extended a bloody hand, and then fell forward.
Ryker glared at Caiden. He grabbed a revolver from Celia’s holster and fired all six rounds at Caiden.
Caiden looked down, and then laughed.
Ryker’s hand trembled as he stared at Caiden. Every shot missed. That had never happened before. He looked down at Celia and Adelina. They weren’t moving, and blood was freely flowing from their bodies.
“Ryker, what do we do?” Wendell shouted, confused. His voice trembled slightly.
Ryker looked down and saw Wendell’s rifle laying at his feet. He kicked the rifle toward Wendell.
Wendell bent forward to grab it, but slipped on the soaked rooftop and fell onto his hands. He slowly stood up to see Caiden with his revolver aimed at him. He looked at Ryker, his face consumed with fear.
Ryker stared at Wendell, the shell casings from his revolver lie scattered around Wendell’s feet. He looked at Caiden. Caiden squeezed the trigger as the thunder roared. All he saw was the flash. The bullet sank into Wendell’s stomach. Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth as he stumbled backward. Another gunshot. The bullet pierced Wendell’s forehead and he fell backward off the roof.
Ryker couldn’t do anything but stare as he watched his best friend fall to the ground, four stories below.
Caiden aimed his revolver at Ryker and walked toward him. “What are you going to do now?” he asked.
Ryker stared. He flashed back to his dream. He remembered how it ended; and how it was going to end now. Caiden would win. London would fall. A dark period was all that lay in store for the future. Darkness and grief.
“Everyone is dead,” Caiden said. “The League has fallen, and you’re responsible. You can’t stop me now. No one can.” He grabbed Ryker’s shoulder and pushed him to the ground, onto his knees. He stood behind Ryker and held the revolver barrel against the back of his head.
“Was it worth it?” Ryker asked. He was surprised at how clear and powerful his voice was, despite the raging storm. “Was it worth all the death and destruction? All the chaos?”
“Not yet,” Caiden answered. “The worth of it is far less important than the justification. And the justification is just a trigger squeeze away. Goodbye, Ryker. I will admit you fought well.”
Ryker looked down. His eyes widened at what lay in front of him. Adelina’s Luminous Invention. He shifted his eyes to Adelina. She stared at him, the pouch at her side was open. She must have rolled it over in front of him.
Ryker looked back at the invention. Now was the moment. It didn’t have to end like his dream. He could still win. He could still save Adelina and Celia. He fell forward, grabbed the invention and slammed it onto the rooftop. Ryker closed his eyes just as the invention released a giant flash of light. The light lasted for nearly five seconds before fading away. He rolled over. There was a sharp pain in his back and chest. He looked down and saw a bloody wound on the right side of his chest. He looked up at Caiden who stared blankly at nothing, and the barrel of his revolver was smoking.
Ryker blinked several times. He looked at Adelina. Her eyes were closed again, but she was half-smiling. A smile of victory. He began to sway side to side. The world was growing dark in his eyes and he was losing blood quickly. He looked at Celia, but she wasn’t moving. The gentle rising and falling of her chest that he loved wasn’t there. She lay there, limp and unmoving.
Ryker fell over backward. He stared up at the night sky. A bolt of lightning streaked across, and then everything went black. The sound of storm had faded in his ears, but it still raged on. He felt strong hands grab his shoulders and drag him across the roof. Then, he blacked out completely.
Chapter 28
The first thing Ryker noticed was the overwhelming smell of gunpowder. His eyes shot open and he sat up, expecting to see a massive gunpowder bomb in front of him. He panted heavily, and his chest ached and throbbed, along with his head. He was lying on the floor of a room with the only light shining in from a small window behind him. Where am I? He thought.
The door in front of him swung open and he was blinded by a bright light. A shadowy figured stepped inside and knelt in front of Ryker. “’Ello ’ello,” a man said. His accent was thick. “You’re lucky I found you when I did.”
Ryker rubbed his eyes and blinked at the man. “The gunsmith?” Ryker said quietly. “How did you? Where? How?”
“The name’s Dax. I was actually on my way to the brothe
l, looking for a little action from one of the girls. But, when I got there I saw a flash of light. I don’t really remember much of what happened on my walk to the brothel, but I ran up to the roof as quickly as I could.”
Ryker’s body tensed. “Adelina, Celia, where are they? Are they alright?”
“Well, you all looked to be in a spot of trouble, so I dared not take you to a ’ospital. But a friend of mine is a bloody-fine doctor. He patched up you and your friends nicely. Couldn’t do much for the gnome, though. There was no saving to that fellow.”
“Wendell,” Ryker said quietly. He clenched his fists as he flashed back to the gunshots that ended his friend’s life.
“What about Caiden?” Ryker asked.
Dax looked at him, confused. “Caiden?”
“The man with the golden mask on the roof,” Ryker answered urgently.
“Did you ’it your ’ead, mate? There was no masked man on that rooftop.”
“So he escaped then,” Ryker whispered. “Where are Celia and Adelina? The two girls?”
“They’re resting in the other room.”
Ryker scrambled to his feet and shoved passed Dax. Pain radiated through his chest and he stopped. He put a hand out and rested on the door frame.
“Might want to take it easy for a bit, mate,” Dax suggested.
Ryker exited the room, ignoring Dax, and entered a dimly lit hallway. He swung open the next door where Celia and Adelina lay on stacks of empty burlap sacks. Their wounds were bandaged, but the blood was beginning to soak through. Ryker knelt between them. He put a hand on Celia’s face, and then leaned down and kissed her forehead. Her skin was hot to his lips.
He turned and faced Adelina. She appeared to be in a little better shape than Celia. He touched her forehead. She didn’t have a fever, and she breathed easily.
Dax stood in the doorway and leaned on the frame. “What exactly was going on up there? On the roof?” he asked.
Ryker hesitated. “It’s a very long story,” he answered. He stood and faced Dax. “Where is Wendell? The gnome?”
London Darkness- Infernal Inventions Page 18
