by P. S. Power
A voice suddenly told them to ready themselves. A moment later it said something else.
BEGIN.
Zack stepped to the left and vanished as fast as he could, trying to bring the blade down across his body at the same time. Forest came at him, as expected, in a dead run. Seeing the blade, he dodged to his right at the last instant, clipping Zack's left shoulder and sending him spinning on the ground as if hit by a car at high speed. The blade spun out of Zack's hand, flying off to the side.
Something in his shoulder gave way a bit, though he rolled when he hit the ground, causing the impact to be a bit less that it would have been otherwise. Keeping his focus he managed to turn invisible to the Vampire.
Getting up slowly, he noticed a lot of the audience looking at him. Since all of the bad guys left were Vamps or Demons he called out to the others.
"Don't look at me! He might be able to figure out where I am that way." Zack smiled grimly, knowing that this one trick may well not be enough.
Almost everyone managed to focus on Forest instead, a few looked in other places though, as if trying to throw things off for the Vampire in case he noticed where they looked.
He looked around to see if there were anything he could use to help, keeping moving, if slowly, seemed the best option.
“Have I won? Did he flee from the battle?” Forest called out. “Maybe he's actually a tiny bit smarter than he looks!” The Vampires and Demons left laughed.
Apparently, what hid Zack from Demons and Vampires didn't work on Arch-Demons.
THE CONTEST CONTINUES. YOU ARE IN BATTLE.
Looking around, Zack finally noticed that Riley stood in the opening of the Fun Zone staring at his broom, which he'd left propped up next to the door, in the walkway. The wooden handled broom that had given him a splinter the last time he'd used it.
In the combat area.
He made his way over to it, trying to avoid Forest as he waved his arms around looking for him by touch. He didn't know if a Vampire would feel him or not in this state, given the amulet he had inside of him, but Zack didn't want to test it if he could help it. Plus, if one of those arms hit him, it would still do damage.
When he got there, Zack stood in front of the broom, considering what to do. The sword he'd been given by Merri lay in the food court, so he couldn't use that to sharpen the handle into a stake. Could he use the same kind of thin line that had decapitated Vampires at an angle to sharpen it and get out of the way fast enough to avoid another impact like the first? He didn't know, maybe if he could use that to his advantage though, he thought, the huge momentum of the Vampire running into the stake somehow.
Striking the handle with a slanted line of force, he grabbed it and placed the back end of it against the wall as Forest flew at him, almost faster than he could see. It worked, if poorly. The handle had pushed through the Vampire's stomach and out the back, with plenty of broom handle left over for him to grab in order to pull it out. As Zack understood it the wood had to stay in the body to keep him weakened and slowed.
Looking as the situation carefully and rationally, he flashed on the idea of making the stake shorter. Lashing out quickly, he trimmed it, using a line of energy just above the surface of Forest's body. Then he jockeyed for position, and did the same to the back.
Then he stood there, at a loss. He had absolutely nothing with which he could kill a Vampire. Even one weakened like this. He sure wished he had his little sword now.
Zack noticed something then. There was a small flare of power, running toward him, and his fingers twitched. The blade was held in his right hand, and not where it was before. He didn't know how that had happened. Perhaps some kind of magic the Alfric had. Regardless, he knew part of what to do next.
He ran up behind the now slow-moving Vampire. Slow for a Vampire that is, if still somewhat faster than Zack. Drawing the sword up he moved to slash at the base of the neck, hoping to decapitate him in one clean blow.
“Behind you! Move!” A man's voice called, causing the Vampire to dodge quickly and send a sweeping kick through the space Zack ran into. He grunted loudly and heard something pop for the fourth or fifth time that day in his rib cage on the left side.
HOLD!
The Arch-Demons moved toward the man that cried out, Rikesh the Djinn as it turned out. They did something and Rikesh simply wasn't there anymore.
NO INTERFERENCE FROM THE OUTSIDE. CONTINUE.
Gasping for air now, Zack tried to get behind the Vampire again, but Forest kept circling, having figured that one out. Finally catching the pattern, he moved toward the Vampire's hands, letting them just miss him, and hit at Forest's neck with all of his might as the turn continued. The blade entered and stuck briefly, staying in his hand while the other man turned toward him, yelling.
Dancing to the side, Zack hit him again, and again. After ten or so passes, some hitting the shoulder and at least one hitting the Vampire in the head, he fell down, the stake still slowing him.
Forest didn't pop right back up, so Zack ran up to him and started aiming blows to the back of the Vampire's neck without stopping now. He had to jump back a few times as the slowed and weakening Forest swiped a hand out trying to stop him, to kill him.
After what seemed like forever, hacking away at the increasingly still neck, he finally removed the head from the body. His arm burned from muscle fatigue.
As the body in front of him melted like wax on a griddle, making little puddles of flesh that reminded him of clear but melted butter, Zack realized that he hadn't eaten in hours. His stomach burned with pain, demanding to be fed, and soon. He tried to take stock of his injuries, but he couldn't do that without feeling the pain from them and he didn't want to do that yet, in case some kind of problem came up. Just because this fight was over didn't mean that the battle really would be. He'd wait before relaxing, not knowing what else to do.
The Arch-Demons didn't move for a moment. Instead the two more neutral ones moved to be on either side of the one that had helped the invaders earlier, and then they all left. They were just gone, not even a sense that they had been there remained except for the now statue-still bodies of the invaders they left behind. All were dead, which for the Demons just meant finding a new body. Vampires though were, in part, the person they originally were, so they simply died in place, melting like Forest did.
The one exception for the Demons seemed to be Cruxias, the one in his dad's body. That body couldn't be found at all. Zack knew because he did the searching himself, injured or not.
That being taken care of for now, he walked, noticing a limp, over to Beautiful Plus and made it to the couch in Patty's office before collapsing. Someone had followed him in, though he didn't see who. Everything faded to black.
It was, he felt, more relaxing that way. Remembering his lessons, he forced energy to circulate inside of him, for what felt like a long time, but probably wasn't.
Zack woke up in pain, with Hilda holding him upright in her lap, feeding him a sweet beverage. Too sweet. He had to force himself to keep drinking it, even though his body clearly demanded the calories. They kept that up for a long time, constantly getting a new one every time the old ran out.
After an hour of this, someone brought in a variety of Frozen YoGurts. Hilda fed him these with a spoon, slowly enough to prevent brain freeze, but only just. Then more of the sweet, almost like an orange flavored syrup, beverage that had, she told him, a large amount of calories.
Wu-Li came in and diagnosed him with exhaustion. Zack, not even being a healer, had already guessed at that one. Still, he managed a weak smile as the Master spoke.
“I'd say that bed rest and light work is in order for at least a week, and that only because you recover so quickly. Too much more and you simply would have stopped working and fallen dead, you know. Taking Ambassador Claire with you. I understand that you didn't have much choice, but do be more careful in the future if possible. At least remember to eat...”
He left after that, leaving Za
ck's wounds untreated, since Kyle had come to heal them for him, doing them piecemeal, one at a time, rather than a single energy-draining change that would fix everything at once.
“Who knows when I'll get to be fully fed again? I need to save my energy for now. I have enough for this, but don't go getting hurt again soon, expecting me to fix it.” The boy smiled at him and punched him in a now-healed shoulder.
Claire came in with Merri and they both just held him, not letting go for a long time. Hilda had returned with some real food, courtesy of Xan from the Burger Joint, and more of that too sweet drink.
Val also visited, and closed the door, only to have it open again moments later as Lisa came in.
They didn't fuss over him, really, though he did have to listen to Hilda tell Lisa what had happened. She covered the stuff with Libby, the Arch-Demons and the fight, which came out sounding much cooler than it actually had been.
“When we looked for it though, the body of the Demon that had been Zack's dad wasn't there. I think he took off during the fight, knowing that Zack would win. We do know part of what he's involved in and that they at least have the support of an Arch-Demon.” The big woman finished saying.
Val spoke, hesitant for some reason.
“So, what do we do about Libby?” She asked them all, sounding worried and sad at the same time.
Zack answered, his voice soft, feeling the pain of the betrayal for the first time since it happened.
“We need to find her, and find out what she knows about all of this. I'd also like to know why, but that's secondary. It has to be. I don't know what to do after that. We'll have to find out other things first, I guess.” A tear ran down his cheek, followed by another.
No one said anything about it though.
They all understood.
Chapter forty-five
Zack stepped into the courtroom that had been set up in an isolated conference center in Montana. Instead of a single spot for a judge, there was a table with ten chairs, and no jury box. Most of the seats in the gallery were taken already, so he sat in the back, away from anyone he knew.
Then they all listened to their stories. This didn't cover just Libby, either. Her whole family stood trial. The thing had been larger than just one confused or traitorous woman.
He listened to the charges, though most of them seemed pretty ridiculous to his mind. The only thing that mattered to him here was why. He thought he already knew, after searching his memories, he just needed confirmation.
It came.
It turned out that three generations before, Libby's great-grandfather, a king, had his son and heir stolen away. He so loved his son that he sold his entire family line into slavery to Demons for safe return of the boy. Seven generations of the family. By this bond, the entire line had to serve the whims of those that held the key to the bargain.
To not do so, for even one member of the family, would mean death by pain for all the rest.
Those they needed for the trap had been picked up, Libby first among them, though some twenty others too, and tortured using the bargain's key, to show that the Demons meant business. Then they were told that to fail meant each member of their family, young and old alike, would have this pain inflicted upon them until they finally died, if each one of them did not obey perfectly.
During the break he made his way over to where Devon sat. The older but dapper and distinguished looking tailor seemed more than a little skeptical about the approach, but not afraid.
Zack cleared his throat, softly.
"Could I speak to you outside for a few moments?"
Rising without a word, the being gave him a single nod.
Once outside, looking at the hills that surrounded them, Zack asked for something. A strange thing, he didn't doubt.
"Remember, I've killed sixteen of your kind already. My mind is on our enemies right now, but there's no reason that I couldn't sit in the void and kill all of your kind that moves for, say the next fifty thousand years?"
“Is that a threat Mr. Hartley?” the Demon asked, not all that amused.
Shaking his head he looked at Devon hard, finally, after nearly a full minute, he told the well-dressed man, “No, It's the leverage you need to get me what I want. I don't want to send you in empty handed.”
Devon laughed at this and walked away, shaking his head slowly as he went.
When the court adjourned they called various people up to the stand. Zack had only came to see the one, of course.
The Bat girl looked horrible, thin, pale, and shaky. She admitted to everything and made no excuses for what she had done.
“I knew it was wrong. I shouldn't have done it,” was all even her own advocate could get her to say. In the end, Zack found himself called, not to recount his story, but rather asked to recommend what he thought would be a fitting punishment. That was different than in the courts of the U.S. even if they were technically inside that place. Why would his opinion be asked about that? Didn't that lead to a lot of victims asking for their betrayers to be killed?
Zack sat in the chair provided, near the front, facing the panel of ten. Claire and Hilda had come to support him, knowing that this wouldn't be easy for him. They sat in the audience, about two rows back. Few would see the value in it, he knew, not even among his own friends. Val couldn't bear to come at all, being that it hurt too badly for her, and Merri didn't want to have to look at Libby, afraid she'd kill her outright for the pain she'd caused him. Not the beating, but the betrayal of his, and their, trust.
They asked him what should become of this line, what punishment, what tortures, did he think most fitting. For hundreds of people. Most of them not even being involved in what had happened. All of them forced.
His answer sent a brief wave of shock through the room.
“Nothing." Zack actually had to wait for the gasps to silence, as if what he was saying didn't make sense. "It would have been one thing had they all sought to simply save themselves, but a person will do a lot to save their family. Their loved ones. Should we blame them for doing what any of us might also do? Do we condemn them because of a contract signed by an ancestor most of them have never even met? If we let them go, does anyone really think they'll rise up and strike at us again?”
He shook his head.
“They didn't want any part of this. To blame them all now, when they're as much victims as any of us, is absurd. We can afford to let them go... so we should. They won't do it again.” Not if he could help it.
A minor uproar came over the room.
A voice, strong and male, asked him if the Demons wouldn't simply make use of them again?
“They might have, if it weren't for the fact that I have just received full rights to their contract and dissolved it. They're free now. At least from the Demons.”
Shaking his head, he went on again.
“Punishment is supposed to stop future crimes. This release, from that deal, stops those crimes for us. To punish them, to kill or imprison them, for doing nothing more than protecting their families in the only way they could... that's bordering on insane. We are people of justice, but also mercy and logic. The right course here isn't to extract vengeance against the tools used to do harm, but rather to see the sword sheathed. It is now. This is done.” He went back to his seat, and waited for their judgment.
Most of them were found not guilty by reason of coercion beyond reasonable endurance. A novel legal finding to him, though it made sense, being literally true. Brin Patterson, Maryl Patterson, and Libby Patterson were stripped of all worldly possessions and position in Were society. No more cushy job for Brin or even Libby, but they walked away with their lives, which hadn't been anticipated by anyone at the beginning of the day.
As the court broke up, Zack collected Claire and Hilda, two of the people dearest to his heart and started to leave.
“Zack... Zack...” He heard Libby calling him, he just couldn't turn and look her in the eye yet. Not with what he had to do to her.
“Zack, please. Whatever else happens... I love you. I just wanted you to know....” She stood there dumbly after that, not moving, not daring to speak, waiting for him to rage against her, to yell or call her names.
Instead he simply nodded at her, turned again, and walked away. On the Shadow level he sent to her a message.
I'm sorry...
As he left the courtroom, he had to lock down every emotion he had left to keep from running to her and forgiving her. He still loved her after everything. There were reasons he couldn't comfort her now. Especially in public. Things she didn't know, that he hoped she never had to find out, but that he feared he'd end up inflicting upon her all too soon.
The only way he could get himself to walk out of that room without turning was to make everything inside of himself empty. A vast expanse.
A void.
He didn't feel the tear that fell down his cheek.
Because it couldn't come.
