Still, the grin on her face remained, widening as the teeth inside her mouth elongated into granite daggers. The last thing to change were her eyes, sinking into her head until all that remained were empty sockets glowing with an unearthly orange light.
The only part of her that remained human was her left hand, still clutching that accursed blade. The creature looked down upon me and raised the weapon over its misshapen head.
“We have grown tired of this game.”
CHAPTER 32
The Jahabich! I’d had the displeasure of facing off against them once before. I knew they were shapeshifters, but I’d been told their powers had limits. Even when in human guise they couldn’t change their teeth. It was their one tell, the one failsafe against knowing one’s friends hadn’t been replaced.
Had I heard wrong? Or had something changed? Had these creatures somehow evolved?
Unfortunately, this was a particularly poor time to be seeking answers.
My aura was useless against the weapon in the Cynthia-thing’s hand. In addition, their granite-hard bodies possessed far greater resiliency against my powers than the undead. I was quite literally caught between a rock and a hard place.
Dodging the incoming attack simply wasn’t an option, not with the two people lying helpless behind me. Vincent and Kelly had risked their lives for me. Could I do any less? For all the talk about me being the last defender of humanity, it was high time I acted like it.
The Jahabich brought down the weapon, no doubt hoping to make me choose between saving myself and my friends. I decided on the answer that had saved my butt on many a test in high school: C – all of the above. My aura flared up around me and I stepped inside the creature’s swing, grabbing hold of the weapon’s handle in an attempt to stave off the attack.
I might as well have been trying to stop a speeding car with my bare hands. Even had the wound on my back not made the slightest of movements agonizing, it would have been no contest.
Fortunately, I didn’t have only my muscles to rely on. Though the blade itself ignored my powers, the rest of the weapon appeared to be just a plain wooden shaft. Positioned as I was, my aura acted as a barrier to keep the monster from completing its swing.
The creature’s skin sparked where it touched the white glow. Its rocklike teeth gritted, although whether in pain, anger, or simply frustration I wasn’t sure.
It was a temporary solution at best, one I wasn’t going to win, especially since the creature had another arm it so far seemed disinclined to use. The chuckle that issued from its mouth a moment later confirmed it. The damn thing was humoring me.
Oh yeah? Well, we’d see who would have the last laugh.
I glanced around. Where the hell had I dropped my sword?
The thing was, I wasn’t entirely certain I had dropped it. Sure, it had clattered out of my hand while that skeletonized zombie was attacking me, but it had almost felt as if it had purposely torn itself from my grasp. No. That had to have been in my mind, another side effect of the fear I couldn’t seem to shake.
I felt a tingle in the back of my head and suddenly the Jahabich’s arm pushed an inch further down. The blaze of my aura faltered ever so slightly in response. I saw, but more importantly felt, it sputtering. What was happening?
Perhaps I’d been wrong after all. Maybe an Icon could lose their powers along with their faith in themselves. Perhaps it was just a slower process, like a tire leaking air. Perhaps it was fate finally rejecting me.
“Get out of the way!”
Perhaps I was an idiot who should have realized that tingle was vaguely familiar. My power wasn’t fading, it was being redirected. I’d opened myself up to Kelly barely a minute earlier and hadn’t consciously shut the door since.
Thank goodness!
I let go of the weapon’s shaft and dove to the side, hoping I was right.
Rolling with the move, I came up just in time to see the Jahabich step forward to complete its swing, only for its arm to be blown apart by a surge of sickly yellow energy.
Kelly was still on the ground, cradling Vincent. Her free hand, however, was outstretched and glowing with power.
The creature’s weapon landed right in front of me, missing my toes by a couple of inches at most.
Kelly was shaking from the effort, no doubt the base incompatibility of our powers taking its toll. I didn’t know if she had another blast like that in her, but I didn’t doubt she’d try.
My job was to make sure she was given the chance.
I grabbed hold of the cursed weapon and swung it at the Jahabich. My aim was true and I hit the mark dead on, right in the side of its misshapen head. Alas, the end result was little more than the blade shattering into pieces. However, it did draw the monster’s attention away from my friends and back toward me.
Unfortunately, Cynthia wasn’t the only one whose attention I’d caught. The two others, until now preoccupied by the Templar, turned in my direction and dropped their disguises. Once back in their rocklike forms, it became obvious they’d been toying with us. The Templars’ weapons clanged harmlessly off their skin, having no effect at all.
“Worry about the undead. We’ve got these,” I shouted to the knights, putting more bravado into my voice than was probably warranted.
“Oh yeah, piece of cake,” Kelly gasped. She had managed to scramble shakily back to her feet, standing protectively before the still-unconscious Vincent. Though I hadn’t been given enough time to finish healing him, I was pleased to see I’d at least managed to staunch the bleeding. Now to worry about the rest of us.
These creatures were dangerous, but they weren’t invincible. We could take them if only we could get a little momentum on our side. For the last several legs of this battle, we’d been on the defensive. That needed to change.
But how?
Almost as if in answer to an unsaid prayer, a flash of light coalesced near the rear of our formation, next to where Veronica still lay. It shone brightly for a moment, nearly at the level of my aura, and then faded away to reveal Meg.
“It’s about fucking time,” Kelly muttered, just loud enough for me to hear.
♦ ♦ ♦
Meg’s reappearance provided just the distraction we needed. One of the other two Jahabich stopped to decide between us and this new threat. Kelly took advantage of its indecision to fire off another yellowish beam. It was a glancing blow, but enough to knock the creature off its feet.
There came another slight tingle in my head, and I knew the connection between us had just been severed. It’s hard to explain except to say that once again, I felt alone in my skin.
The yellowish glow around Kelly dissipated and a familiar purple dome of energy appeared over her and Vincent.
She grinned weakly at me. “Hope you don’t mind, but Meg’s vintage is a bit more to my tastes.”
I spared her a smile then, seeing she was safe for the moment, turned and sprinted for where I remembered dropping my sword. My power entirely my own again, I focused it on sealing the gash in my back as its healing glow washed over me.
There! Thankfully, it hadn’t gotten buried under the rubble. The blade began to glow as I reached for it, but then I hesitated. What if I’d been right about it rejecting me earlier? The white glow around the weapon began to diminish, seeming to confirm my fear.
Or perhaps I was overthinking things – projecting human emotion upon an inanimate object. It was a silly and stupid thing to do, especially in the middle of a battle. I bent to one knee, the thought of rejection still echoing in my mind, and grabbed hold of the sword.
For a moment, at least.
My hand had just started to close around the grip when the weapon began to vibrate in my grasp, quickly reaching an intensity that was impossible to ignore – like trying to hold an angry rattlesnake. I watched in horror as the weapon seemed to physically leap from my palm and clatter back to the ground where it once again became still.
Impossible! Yet not, and at the worst of ti
mes, too. How could I hope to win against an enemy like the Jahabich without it?
Despair filled me as I stared at where it lay, the faint glow around the blade fading to nothing.
It was almost as if the weapon had renounced me, having sensed my doubt.
And that’s when it hit me. Maybe it did. An Icon’s power was based on belief. This weapon had been wielded by at least one other, absorbing their latent power along with mine. When I wielded the sword properly, my power felt amplified. Perhaps, though, when doubt clouded my actions, it affected the weapon the same way … diminishing it until it was almost negatively polarized against me.
Crazy of a theory as it might be, it was worth a try.
I closed my eyes and cleared my head. The sounds of battle faded around me as I concentrated on the good, the positive. In my mind’s eye I pictured my mother, my family, my friends. I saw the company I’d started, the coworkers I shared laughs with, the man who’d believed in me when I needed it most, who’d set me on this path. All of them could be lost if I didn’t prevail.
I wouldn’t allow that.
Remington terrified me, but the thought of losing those I loved frightened me more. The many were stronger than the one, and it was my duty to protect them all.
I opened my eyes and gazed upon the sword, lying just beyond the reach of my outstretched hand. It was glowing brighter than ever.
It was time to end this farce and go save my friends.
I reached out and grasped the hilt. The weapon blazed furiously in my grasp, and I felt something akin to the very Earth rumbling beneath me, my power fusing with its into one – our purpose certain.
Unfortunately, that’s when I realized it hadn’t been my imagination or some weird metaphor of my state of mind. The ground really was shaking.
Any lasting impression I might have wanted to make as I turned to do battle vanished as I lost my footing and fell unceremoniously onto my butt.
The rumbling increased. A sound like a million trees being split rent the air and I turned toward its source. A crack had opened in the Earth a dozen yards away, back in the direction of the group that our Templar allies were still pinning down.
I watched horrified as a section of the street collapsed in on itself. The police cruiser nearest it teetered on the edge before falling in. Surely this didn’t bode well for us. Had our battle weakened the very foundation of the street itself, or was this some new ploy by our enemy?
Sadly, there wasn’t time to discern which as the sound of groaning metal and shattering masonry directed my attention above me. The side of the building, already damaged by the bus we’d diverted into it, gave way.
Rubble, seemingly tons of it, rained down from above, and there was no time to move out of its path.
CHAPTER 33
The rain of debris momentarily blotted out the light of day, but then my aura sprang to life, compensating for the darkness.
Rubble deflected off the power surrounding me, landing all around. Sadly, though it kept me from physical harm, it didn’t do anything to keep out the dust plume that instantly rose up.
I lowered my head into the crook of my arm and coughed, clearing my lungs.
When I looked back up again, I caught glimpses of light cutting through the dust – a red beam of power, Kelly’s purple shield, and then multiple orange orbs, dim at first, but getting brighter.
No, make that closer.
It was the Jahabich, a lot of them. As the dust settled, I could see their bulky forms marching out of the Boston underground via the fissure they’d opened.
“Here!”
I heeded the call and started back toward Kelly’s direction.
More dust got into my nose and I closed my eyes to sneeze, only to feel the slightest current of air tickling the back of my neck.
My instincts kicked in and I ducked, opening my eyes just in time to see the Jahabich’s arm swing over me. It spun, attempting to use its other arm to finish what the first had missed. Not Cynthia, then.
Not that it mattered at this point.
Its backswing met the edge of my blade. Had it been a normal weapon, it would have surely shattered and I’d have been left with broken ribs or worse. Powered by my aura, though, it was a thing of terrible power and beauty. The creature’s arm was cleaved off, and I followed through with a spinning swing of my own that bisected its head at the jawline.
I didn’t stick around to gloat. Those things had apparently invited lots of friends to the party. Fortunately, I didn’t have far to go.
Meg, Kelly, and a half dozen Templar stood in a semi-circle. Behind them lay Vincent and a few of his wounded knights. Veronica was there, too, still on the ground but sitting up and conscious.
I locked eyes with Kelly and she smiled weakly, obviously glad to be back in the fight properly, although for how long was debatable. She looked to be on the verge of exhaustion.
Meg noticed our meaningful glance and said, “Just for the record, I didn’t see anything of interest from my bird’s-eye view.”
I nodded my thanks. Many secrets had been shared this day and it wouldn’t do for any of them to get out.
Zombies to the left of us, Jahabich to the right. Fortunately, I was stuck in the middle with some very good company.
♦ ♦ ♦
Christy had taught her sisters well. Their first barrage, beams of pure heat – hot enough that the intensity even penetrated my aura – fused several of the Jahabich vanguard in place, instantly creating obstacles for the rest to maneuver around and cover for us against any stray gunfire coming from beyond.
Though that last one worried me the most, it seemed to be the least of our concerns at the moment. The firefight continuing behind the Jahabich assault had lessened considerably in intensity. That human reinforcements hadn’t bolstered the rocky abominations spoke of the hope that Bernadette’s people and the ones still on the rooftop had possibly regained the advantage.
We couldn’t do much more than hope, though. All available hands already had more than their fair share to contend with. At my signal, four of the Templar broke off to engage any remaining zombie stragglers. Neither their weapons nor implements of faith would do much against the Jahabich.
The rest, pretty banged up but still functional, stayed behind to protect the wounded.
That left the Jahabich to me and the trio of witches. More like two and a half, really. Veronica was awake enough to sync up with Kelly, but a bit too shaky to mount much of an offense herself.
We were outnumbered at least four to one. It seemed as if our foes had finally decided that playtime was over.
I glanced back toward the witches. “If this doesn’t count as a distraction, I don’t know what does.”
“Then we’ll keep distracting them as long as we can,” Meg said, concentrating another blast of energy and melting the asphalt at one of the creature’s feet, causing it to stumble and fall.
I considered her words. No. That was a losing strategy at best. We had no avenue of retreat, and even if we did, we’d never make it with our wounded.
It was time we turned this around. “Keep them from surrounding me.”
“What are you doing?” Kelly called.
I meant to tell her that I was only doing what I was meant to, but I was already on the move.
♦ ♦ ♦
Against the Jahabich, my power was less an impenetrable shield and more a thick casing of metaphysical bubble wrap. It muted the awesome strength behind their blows, but couldn’t stop them entirely.
If enough of them encircled me, it would be all over.
Thus it was time for me to have faith in someone else for a change. I needed to trust that the witches behind me truly had my back while making sure I was a tempting enough target to hold these monsters’ attention.
“Take her,” one of the creatures said, pointing at me with its lone club-like arm – Cynthia.
The entire force of the Jahabich turned in my direction. That was one concern out of the
way. Now to sweeten the pot before they got any bright ideas about splitting their forces.
I fed power into my blade and met the nearest of the creatures. Ducking low, I took out one of its tree trunk legs at the knee.
It fell over toward me, and I was forced to roll out of the way. I came up quickly, though, just in time to parry another. Thankfully, Cynthia’s reinforcements lacked the corrupted blades she and her two other friends had engaged us with.
That still didn’t put the odds in my favor, but it was one less thing to worry about. Considering how the day had been going, I’d take whatever small victory I could.
A lance of power flashed off somewhere in my periphery – one of the witches. Two more of the Jahabich converged on me, one swinging high and the other low. Thankfully they left just enough of a gap in between for me to dive through. I landed, spun, and drove my empowered blade straight through the back of the leftmost one.
It was a mistake. I had no idea if these things had vital organs or not. Worse, though my power imbued the weapon with preternatural durability, it wasn’t like cutting into butter. The sword sank a good foot into the Jahabich’s armored back and then got stuck. I silently cursed my stupidity.
“What?” I heard a voice, Meg’s, cry out. “Then tell them to get their asses back here.”
I didn’t have time to wonder what that was about. As I struggled to free my sword, another of the beasts stepped in. Fortunately, while these things might’ve been tough, they didn’t seem to possess a great deal of individual cunning.
It swung wildly at me, and I ducked just in time for the blow to connect solidly with the back of its friend’s head, sending shards of rock flying and loosening my blade enough for me to free it and take both of the creatures out of the fight.
I glanced up and saw the Cynthia-thing still standing where it had been, away from the rest. Its soulless orange eyes continued to stare at me, but whatever emotions or thoughts it had were shielded behind the unreadable countenance of its perpetually grinning face.
Shining Fury: from the Tome of Bill Series Page 14
