Imagining the shape, I drew it. The head, the body, legs, and arms—then the circle around it, so the figure stood on the bottom inner curve.
It looked right.
“Richie, don’t do anything foolish.”
“The only foolish thing I’ve ever done was trust you.”
I pulled out my lighter, and touched a flame where the head met the body—where the pendant had a diamond. The brink ignited. The fire spread across the emblem.
I braced for something. Preferably for an infusion of power, perhaps for some kind of misfire.
The entire emblem burned.
Nothing happened.
No flash of light, no indication the spell had worked. Just the smell of burnt cinnamon. Hissing and steam, where raindrops hit the fire for a few moments before it died.
What had I done wrong? The shape had to be an emblem. What had Mom said? If I kept it close to my heart, I would be fine.
Close to my heart.
I needed to attach the emblem to my chest and light it—like the third eye.
Rain had soaked my t-shirt, so it took a little work to take it off. I dropped it on the metal floor, and shivered as the rain pattered my torso. I had a short scar on my upper right arm, where I’d had a PICC line for the chemo. It always reminded me of everything I’d survived.
“This hurts right now,” the doctor had said as he’d inserted the needle into my vein. “In the end, you’ll be stronger. When you’re done with this, you’ll realize you had strength you’d thought was impossible.”
He’d been right.
I poured brink into my hand, paused to breathe deep. I pictured how to draw the emblem, including a line to my chest, and a spiral right over my heart.
“What’re you doing over there?” Nick said.
“Plotting your demise. Why hasn’t the bomb gone off? Seems like it should have by now.”
“Give it time, son.”
“I bet it failed. I bet someone stopped it.”
“I reckon that’s impossible.”
“And I reckon you’re a raving lunatic.”
I drew the emblem, then a line from it to my chest, where I made a little spiral right over my heart. I hoped I’d done it right, but didn’t take even an instant to think about it. I didn’t have time. Nick had already given me way too much. Soon he would come for me.
I touched the lighter flame to the emblem. The brink lit in bright red fire, racing to my chest. It felt warm, as opposed to the cold rain. When the entire shape burned, it transformed into red light. The emblem moved through the air, following the line to my chest. It flared against my skin, then turned dark. Maybe with a third eye I’d have been able to see it.
It hadn’t turned to ash, which meant it had worked.
Not hesitating, I dropped the lighter and brink into my pocket, and moved around the tower. I crept, keeping my feet quiet. A quarter of the way around, I stood with my back against the cold metal wall. Further on, I could see a few parts of an emblem hanging in the air, unlit. Nick had a spell ready, waiting for me. No matter. If I’d cast the spell right, I should be protected.
“You’re sure thinking hard!” Nick said. “Come back here. We can still be friends. I understand you’re deceived by everyone. But if you’re patient, you’ll see that I’m actually going to save the world from the biggest threat it’s ever seen.”
Not long before, I might have considered his plea. I might have believed that maybe everyone misunderstood him. But no longer. Not with my parents and Marti fifty feet from a nuke that should have exploded, already.
Maybe they’d neutralized it, somehow. Maybe they already had the emotion and had started looking for me.
“Richie, come and see the explosion. It’ll be glori—”
I screamed and bolted forward, my feet clanging on the metal floor. He came into view just as he lit a yellow emblem of circles and triangles that hung in the air in front of him, but from the look in his eyes, I saw that somehow he’d seen my protective spell, and knew that his spell would do no good against me. He must have had a third eye on him, somewhere.
He turned to run, even as his emblem ignited.
“You little cheater!”
His emblem culminated. A jet of red light shot out from it, right at my face. But it turned, curving downward into the protective emblem on my chest. I braced myself for something—anything, but nothing happened. I didn’t fall stiff. I didn’t collapse or anything. My momentum slammed me into the railing. The metal dug into my stomach. By the time I pushed myself away to pursue, he already led me by twenty feet.
And he ran fast. Faster than I would have thought an old rock star could go.
I pursued him around the tower. The pounding of our feet drowned out the driving of the rain. We passed my shirt. It rested where I’d thrown it, a sopping pile of orange.
“You might be protected from magic,” he said. “But not from Mr. Strangler.”
Ahead, around where his spell had struck me in the chest, he stopped and turned, grinning. He’d produced a rope of about three feet that pulsed bright blue. I’d never seen it before, but knew instantly what it was—the Tangle Rope. Marti had tried to get it earlier that night.
I skidded to a halt. Now I would probably find out why Marti had wanted the Tangle Rope so badly.
Nick smiled. “Richie, I’d like you to meet Mr. Strangler. Mr. Strangler, I’d like you to hog-tie Mr. Van Bender.”
He threw the rope down. It splashed in the film of water on the floor. Its bright light reflected in the sheen.
It slithered toward me like a snake. I turned to run. Now what?
“Who’s the cheater now?” I said.
The rope pursued me, nearly matching my pace. Nick’s footfalls and laughter told me he followed the rope—but I couldn’t see him. I looked forward again—just an instant too late to see my foot land on my shirt. I stumbled as the shirt slipped out from beneath my feet, but I managed to keep going. The rope gained a few feet on me. I ran on.
How would I win, now? I still had my brink and the lighter—useless without knowing a spell that would stop the Tangle Rope. If only I could zip out. That would be enough.
I continued to run, but nearly stopped as I remembered the metal cube in my pocket. Nick had told me how to use it. I’d seen him activate one back at Intersoc. Perhaps I could use it to my advantage.
Still running, I pulled the cube out, and threw it down in the ground ahead of me. It bounced once, twice, clanking before stopping behind the shimmering barrier spell Nick had cast, and where his stun spell had hit me. Ashes sat on the wet metal floor, like black snow.
I kept running. The Tangle Rope slithered after me. Nick’s crazy laughter pursued. Hopefully, he wouldn’t see the metal cube on the ground.
I unscrewed the vial of brink and dumped all of the red substance into my left hand—which I immediately closed. I tossed the vial out into the darkness as I came back to my shirt. I bent and slowed just a smidge, to pick up the sopping mop of cotton. As I straightened, I tucked it under my arm and reached into my pocket to withdraw my lighter again.
The Tangle Rope had gained on me. It was only ten feet back. So close, a snake would have struck and bit me.
Nick ran after me, laughing like a maniac.
I rounded the tower again, reaching the metal cube on the floor. Nick hadn’t picked it up. Elated, I dove to my knees and lifted my arm, so the shirt dropped to the balcony a few feet in front of the cube. I slid on the slick metal floor like I’d done at the concert, aiming so I passed just to the side of the metal square. As I did, I opened my palm and dragged it from behind me to ahead of me, pulling it in an arc over my head, so a long line of brink extended over the metal square. It was much like the action of smashing a guitar on stage.
The Tangle Rope passed the shirt and the first of the brink arc. It coiled to strike.
I reached across my body, shoving the lighter toward the bottom of the arc. I flicked my thumb—fearing for an instant tha
t the lighter might not ignite.
But it did.
Never has a single yellow flame meant so much to me. Probably not to anyone in the history of the world. Maybe even the galaxy. Perhaps the universe.
Seriously.
The lighter flame touched the base of the brink arc, right near the wet metal floor.
As I finished my slide, the Tangle Rope leaped at me. Nick was a dozen feet behind, still coming at full speed.
I made a face at him, sticking my tongue out around crooked lips, and crossing my eyes.
The look distracted him for an instant, but it didn’t make a difference. He never had a chance to stop. Especially because he tripped on my shirt.
“Enjoy your zip!” I said.
The flame finished its race across the brink. The metal square turned incandescent. With a flicker of light, a white zip-door sprung from the square, four-feet wide and eight-feet high. It blocked Nick from my view. He screamed.
The Tangle Rope wrapped around one of my wrists, then yanked it downward to my ankles, behind me. It wrapped around both of my ankles.
Nick’s scream ended. The pounding of his feet silenced. The zip-door flashed out.
And it was like he was never there.
In fact, he was at Intersoc. Without any brink to zip out with.
Still kneeling, like I was praying, I tilted my head back and laughed. It was a crazy laugh. Insane with relief.
The Tangle Rope had bound one hand to both of my ankles behind me. The other hand was free, and clenched with the remnants of the brink.
This, I thought, is how people go bonkers. Crap like this.
My celebration laugh ended as a flash of light rolled over me.
The bomb. The nuclear bomb. Had gone off.
Chapter 59: I finally get some sleep
I tried to escape once I got to Intersoc, but EPIC—those bastions of obnoxiousness and plot-ruining—immediately caught me.
-Nick Savage
I only know a few things about atomic bombs.
The USA dropped two at the end of World War II.
They kill a lot of people and do a lot of damage, almost instantaneously.
Radiation is bad.
In StarCraft, once you hear “Nuclear launch detected” you’ve got about ten seconds to stop it before you’re toast.
They look really, really incredible.
I didn’t want my parents or Marti decimated by one.
I knelt there, behind Nick’s barrier, one hand tied behind me at my ankles. A churning black pillar of smoke rose up over the mountains, with roiling red fire in its midst. A dome capped it, expanding up and out, with a ring of smoke just below it. Underneath the ring, another puff of cloud spread on all sides.
Maybe another flash would burn out my retinas, or a blast of heat would turn my skin crispy. Having zipped so far away, I couldn’t even see the base of the explosion because of the mountain horizon—just the churning pillar with its cap. I was probably far enough away that I wasn’t in much immediate danger.
I couldn’t say the same thing about the people there.
The fire faded from the cloud. I waited for a blast of heat to melt my eyeballs, or a nuclear wind to blow me away. None came. Not that I noticed, and since I don’t have a built-in Geiger counter, I have no idea if any radiation even reached me. Although, a deep rumble rolled over me. The tower shook. I thought it might tumble.
I knelt there. Hog-tied. Thinking. When your parents are at the hypocenter of a nuclear explosion, it gives you a reason to pause. Things occur to you—like maybe they weren’t so bad. Maybe you should have been a better son. Maybe if you’d just listened to them. they wouldn’t have been vaporized.
At least I’d obeyed Dad at the end. How many other times should I have obeyed and trusted him and Mom?
I tried to look on the bright side. If they were gone, I could meet all the fans I wanted, and hang out with any other rock star I wanted.
Yay. Yipee.
Of course, they might have lived. Marti might have gotten the spell off before the explosion. And the spell might have worked. If so, I would let her yank on my arm all she wanted. I’d let her smack me around until I was incoherent.
I had no idea what to do. I maneuvered my bound hand and feet in front of me and tried to pull free, but the glowing blue rope secured them too tightly. I couldn’t see a knot to loosen with my other hand. The ends of the rope had fused together.
Unable to walk, I couldn’t go anywhere, so scooted back to the wall of the tower. It was cold against my naked back. The light from the explosion faded, and once again the land fell into darkness and silence—except for a breeze from the west. A few more drops of rain fell. They hit the steel balcony with distinct pings. Every now and then, Nick’s hazy barrier flickered.
Would the night ever end? The entire adventure—which began with my utter stupidity—had started at seven o’clock the night before. The concert had ended by ten. I looked at my watch. 5:02 a.m. Ten hours had passed. It felt like an eternity.
My body was weary, tired. Nick’s rejuvenation spell had worn off, but I couldn’t say when, exactly. The vomiting had also taken its toll, as had the night without sleep. I wanted to close my eyes and just rest.
I watched the dark horizon, ignoring the rain on my face. How long until I knew? Before the military swarmed the area or the media arrived? If only I could find a way to contact my parents.
Contact my parents.
The video calling spell!
I still had a little of the brink on my hand.
I wiped the water from my face with the back of my hand, then turned my hand over to look at it. A little brink pooled there in my palm. Enough to cast one small spell.
Quickly, I used the last of it and drew the oval with a squiggle down the center, then paused for a moment with the lighter poised at the base of the spell, considering who I should contact.
Mom and Dad had both fallen paralyzed, and if they’d survived the blast, might not be able to talk. Marti was the only conscious person around.
I lit the spell.
Would the spell work if she was dead? Would it show me her corpse? What would even be left to show me?
I shuddered, and watched the brink burn.
A second passed with no shimmer of white light in the oval.
Two seconds. Still nothing. My heart hammered. Tears rose.
Three. Four.
The brink turned to ash, and as it floated down, the wind pushed it into my chest.
I bit my lip. My breathing came short and shallow. I tried to find some conclusion besides the obvious one. I didn’t know all the details about how the spell worked. Maybe I’d cast it wrong. Maybe the radiation prevented it from working. Maybe it was the protective barrier she’d created. There were too many possibilities to accept the worst one.
I needed to search for them. Try to find them—only I couldn’t go anywhere. Not tied up.
I tried again to untie myself. I pulled and twisted my hand, trying to loosen my ankles, but the rope stayed tight. It didn’t hurt, but it also didn’t give at all. It stayed firm around my socks and wrist. I even tried taking off my shoes and pulling my socks off, to give myself a little extra slack, but the Tangle Rope just tightened against my skin.
Not knowing what else to do, weary to the bone, I laid down on the wet metal, rested my head on my free arm, and closed my eyes.
I fell asleep thinking that I’d failed. I’d set out to prove that I could make good decisions on my own.
And I’d done nothing of the sort.
Chapter 60: Bright as the sun
The radiation detector stayed at normal levels. None of us understood it. A nuke had gone off, but radiation had been contained. It was like magic.
-Private Gary Bartholomew
I awoke before dawn, when enough light had come to illuminate the hilly shape of the land and the grayness of the cloudy sky. Vehicles rumbled in the distance. I lay there, blinking, trying to figure out how far
away they were. Headlights moved in the distance, perhaps a mile away, over the vague shape of hills. Ashes crusted the water on the balcony around me. Nick’s barrier had disappeared.
Soon the sound and headlights faded. I sat up, not feeling rested at all. My back and neck hurt.
I sat looking to the west, and at that point I noticed it—and if I hadn’t noticed it then, I would have just a few seconds later.
A light. Miles away, beyond the outline of a range of tall hills. At first, it was just the color of the sky, a little lighter than the shape of hills below it, but it grew brighter, like a vehicle’s headlights as they approach a hill from the opposite side—only much brighter. A thousand times brighter, and a dozen miles away.
I watched, still numb, imagining it was military.
It grew brighter, spilling out over the hilltop. It even illuminated the smoke in the distance behind it—the cloud from the bomb that had started to spread over the land.
When the light crested the distant ridge, I shaded my eyes. Illumination spread over the ground. The hills and the low brush became visible, almost as if full day had come.
The light flew over the land in my direction. Its luminescence kept me from discerning its size or even really getting a good look at it. But it moved fast, with the rushing of a deafening wind. Within seconds it passed over me, a hundred feet above. Its full sound—like the noise of a tornado—hit me. I scooted around the balcony like an inchworm to watch it fly away.
By the time I rounded the balcony, the light had gone at least a mile or two east, but began to curve and slow. Over the course of ten seconds, it reversed its direction and headed toward the tower. Its speed decreased as it approached, and I thought I heard the sound of fireworks. Darkness fled from before it. Behind it, the lightening clouds seemed dim.
Its angle toward the ground increased the closer it came to me, and slowed more every moment. I sat there, unable to move, wondering what the nuclear explosion had given birth to. Some kind of mutant. Some strange, incandescent creature.
Van Bender and the Burning Emblems (The Van Bender Archives #1) Page 26
