A Flicker of Steel

by Steve McHugh

  “Resting. She got injured when Little Miss Prissy over there stabbed her with a silver blade. It’s going to take her a while to heal, especially after using so much power to bring the aircraft down. She’s unlikely to join in, my dear; it’s just you two against me. I think I’ll manage.”

  Layla used the metal of the sword blade to cover her fist and forearm, creating a black gauntlet with spikes on the knuckles.

  “You have some power,” Elizabeth said, waving a hand at Chloe and blasting a green fog at her. Chloe tried to dodge out of the way, but the fog washed over her with incredible speed and a second later she dropped to her knees, crying out in pain.

  “Pestilence is my gift,” Elizabeth said.

  “Stop it,” Layla demanded.

  “Make me,” Elizabeth said.

  Layla darted forward, throwing a punch that would have caught Elizabeth in the jaw if she hadn’t moved so quickly. Instead, Elizabeth grabbed Layla by the arm, dragged it back over her head, and kicked her legs out from under her, sending her to the ground with a hard impact.

  Layla rolled to her feet as Elizabeth moved away.

  “I wonder how long it will be before your friend dies?” Elizabeth asked. “I’ve forced her organs to shut down; it’s a painful process and takes a long time. I used a lot less on Kristin—your friend got a far more powerful dose. You’ll have to get better if you want to stop me.”

  Layla crouched beside Chloe, who was sweating and shivering with her eyes closed, muttering something that Layla couldn’t quite make out.

  “She got quite the blast of that stuff,” Elizabeth continued taunting Layla.

  Layla got to her feet and ran toward her mother, throwing another punch that Elizabeth easily avoided: exactly as Layla had planned. The metal on her gauntlet sprung out in one long spike, stabbing Elizabeth in the shoulder. Layla pulled the spike free, re-formed the gauntlet, and punched her mother in the face with everything she had. Elizabeth fell to the ground, blood pouring from her broken nose as Chloe gasped.

  “Your mother is a real bitch,” Chloe said through pained breath.

  “I can’t kill her, Chloe. I can’t do that. I can fight her, I can hold her off, but I can’t go further. You need to get someone who can.”

  Chloe looked up at Layla. “I can’t leave you here.”

  “She’ll use you against me. Please go get help. Bring them here.”

  “I’ll help,” Fenix shouted, getting unsteadily back to his feet.

  “See, Fenix will help me,” Layla said.

  “Fenix can barely stand,” Chloe pointed out.

  “I’m fine,” Fenix said, swaying slightly when he was upright.

  Chloe tapped her earpiece. “Is anyone there? We need help here. Anyone there?” She removed the earpiece and tossed it on the ground. “It’s not working. I’ll find someone and come back. Can you keep her busy until then?”

  Layla looked over at her mother, who was back on her feet, smiling through her bloodied mouth. “Yes. That I can do.”

  “If Abaddon makes an appearance, run,” Chloe said. “You promise me?”

  Layla nodded. “I promise.”

  Chloe sprinted away a second later.

  “She’s not staying to play?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Go get the plane ready,” Abaddon said as she exited the hangar behind Layla.

  Layla turned to see the approaching necromancer and then looked back at her mother. She had nowhere to go.

  “You’re not healed,” Elizabeth said.

  “Do as you’re told,” Abaddon commanded. Elizabeth bowed her head and started to run. But Layla transformed the metal on her wrist into a whip, tripping her before wrapping it around her feet like shackles. More metal flew from the SUV nearby, covering Elizabeth’s hands and pinning them against her back.

  “This won’t hold me,” Elizabeth shouted.

  “Long enough, it will,” Layla said. “And it means you can’t use that toxic shit cloud.”

  Abaddon picked up the blade and continued on toward Layla. “You can’t win,” she said.

  “I know,” Layla told her. “Doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.”

  Fenix raised his rifle toward Abaddon and fired three bullets, each one striking the necromancer in the chest. Abaddon roared in anger and blasted Fenix with an incredible amount of power, killing him instantly.

  “No!” Layla shouted.

  “I am not here to play,” Abaddon said, wincing with every step. “Silver is not a fun thing to have inside of me.” Her eyes flickered for a moment. “Damn it, I’m having to use more power to heal myself.”

  “You don’t have a lot of power at the moment, do you?”

  Abaddon’s face clouded with rage. “I don’t need power to kill you, girl.”

  Layla ran toward Abaddon, creating a new blade from the remains of the SUV and bringing it up toward Abaddon with incredible speed. Abaddon parried the attack, dodging back, but Layla created a second blade as she spun. It bit into Abaddon’s bicep, drawing a thin trail of blood.

  “These aren’t silver,” Layla said, moving back.

  Abaddon looked at the wound for a few seconds as it refused to close.

  “Looks like you lost a lot more than you would like to admit,” Layla said.

  A second later, the cut closed, and looked as if it had never been there. “My power will return before you kill me,” Abaddon said. “And then I’m going to bounce you all over this runway.”

  She moved in for the attack, forcing Layla to parry and dodge blow after blow, each one delivered with more strength and speed than the last as Abaddon’s power seeped back into her.

  Layla managed to avoid a swipe that would have cut across her face, but Abaddon was too fast and instead kicked Layla in the chest hard enough to smash her back against the SUV, knocking the wind out of her.

  Abaddon struck toward Layla’s heart, but Layla used her power to rip the door of the SUV free and use it as a shield, deflecting the blow. She dumped as much power into the door as she could and flung it at Abaddon, who dove aside, getting back to her feet as Layla wrapped more metal around her fists and forearms.

  Layla raised her fists in a fighting stance and moved toward Abaddon, who swung her blade at Layla with nothing but power. Layla easily avoided it and struck Abaddon in the stomach with her spiked knuckle gauntlets before following up with an uppercut to her jaw, snapping Abaddon’s head back and staggering her.

  Layla wrapped metal around Abaddon’s left foot, which was the closest to the SUV, holding her in place, then drove a fist into the side of her head, releasing the metal cuff so Abaddon could hit the tarmac.

  Layla stepped closer, but Abaddon kicked her in the knee, forcing her back and giving herself a chance to charge. She tackled Layla to the ground and started punching her with as much force as possible.

  Layla deflected most of the blows that rained down on her, managing to use the metal around her arms as shields. One punch got through and connected with Layla’s jaw, opening her up to a second and third, until she slammed the metal in her arms into Abaddon’s chest like a battering ram, knocking the necromancer to the ground.

  “You should join us,” Abaddon said with a smile.

  Layla got to her feet and felt the anger burn inside of her. She extended her power, wrapping it around the silver blade in Kristin’s head and pulling it into her right hand.

  She looked down at Abaddon and wanted nothing more than to end her existence right there and then. She took a step forward as Abaddon remained lying on the ground with a smile on her face. Layla lunged, but the necromancer grabbed her by the wrist, squeezing it tightly before throwing her back across the tarmac.

  Layla hit the ground hard. Abaddon ran to Layla’s side and kicked her in the chest, causing all of the air to leave her body at once. Elizabeth used Layla’s momentary lapse of concentration to tear herself free from the softening metal.

  “Kill her,” Abaddon said, placing a sword in Elizabeth’s hand.<
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  Elizabeth nodded and darted toward Layla, who was still dazed. She rolled away from the swipe of the blade at the last second, and instead of cutting through her torso, the sword bit into her forearm, just below the elbow, severing the limb.

  Layla fell to the ground as blood poured from the wound, and she screamed in shock and agony.

  Abaddon got back to her feet and kicked the severed forearm away. “You should have joined us.” She turned to Elizabeth. “Let her live. Let her remember what happened here today.”

  Elizabeth nodded and passed the sword to Abaddon. She turned to her daughter. “Your power should make sure you survive. This is your only warning.”

  Layla didn’t see what happened next as her entire world centered on trying to stop the bleeding.

  Rosa appeared beside Layla. “Stay calm,” she said. “Keep your arm up. You’ll be okay.”

  Layla could tell that Rosa wasn’t convinced by this statement and vaguely noticed that there was a plane taking off close by.

  She had no idea how long she had been lying there when an SUV screeched to a halt beside her and Harry jumped out. He took one look at Layla and grabbed a medical kit from the car before crouching beside her. “You’re going to be okay,” he said, his voice full of confidence.

  Layla looked up at Rosa.

  “He’s a good man,” Rosa said to her.

  Layla stared at Harry. “Yes, he is,” she said, and then she passed out.

  30

  Layla woke up feeling groggy and disorientated for several seconds, until she realized she was in a bed and not on the tarmac of a runway. Machines beeped beside her and she went to sit up, but immediately thought better of it. She’d been in enough hospitals in her life to know that she was in one at the moment. She looked up at the familiar gray-and-white walls and suspected she’d been taken back to Greenland.

  “Hi,” Chloe said from beside her. “You feel okay?”

  Layla sighed and looked over at her friend. She had no obvious injuries, but she did appear exceptionally tired. “How long was I out? You look like you need a rest.”

  “I’m fine,” Chloe told her. “You were out for a few days. The blade was coated with Gorgon venom, but we had enough anti-venom here to treat you. Your own body did most of the work, and it kept you alive on the exceptionally long flight from Texas back to Greenland.”

  Layla raised her right arm. It was covered in thick bandages, and she almost cried when she focused on the fact that everything from her forearm down was missing.

  “I’m sorry, we couldn’t re-attach it,” Chloe said. “Your body had healed the blood loss and wound too much; it would have been impossible to do it. Not even magic could make it happen, and trust me we tried.”

  “It’s okay,” Layla said, feeling like it was anything other than okay. “My fingers itch. I don’t have fingers, but they itch.”

  “I’ve been told that’s normal.”

  Layla looked over at Chloe. “Not a whole lot about this feels normal. So that simple mission turned out to be a bit crap.”

  “I distinctly remember telling you not to go after Abaddon alone.”

  “Are you blaming me for what happened?”

  Chloe laughed. “Now you’re just being an arsehole.”

  Layla smiled. “Abaddon didn’t give me a lot of choice. I couldn’t let her escape when I realized she’d lost most of her power. Unfortunately, it came back.”

  “She took your hand?”

  “No, my mother did that.”

  “Your parents are screwed up. It’s a miracle you’re not more of a mess than you are.”

  Layla laughed. “Yep, that’s me, the poster child for dysfunctional families everywhere: one serial killer parent, the other working with a despot who wants to control the world. I bet they’re so proud of me.”

  “Yes, that’s why your mum almost killed you. Pride.”

  “I never said it wasn’t weird. How is everyone else?”

  “We lost people at Nergal’s, and not just on the Hercules. Two hundred people died on our side in the assault. Another hundred in Canada.”

  “How many did they lose?”

  “Thousands of Nergal’s people are dead thanks to the blood elves. Maybe five or six thousand in total: it was not a good day for team Avalon. Although considering they’re the ones who started all of this, maybe it was. I’m not sure how they deal with such things.”

  “Damn it,” Layla said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

  “Harry saved your life, you know,” Chloe said.

  Layla opened her eyes. “I remember him coming to my rescue. He told me to put my arm up and made a tourniquet.”

  “Used his own belt. Kept you stable until Irkalla arrived and used her necromancy to heal you enough that you could survive the journey back here to get the anti-venom.”

  Layla went to rub her face with her hands and stopped. “Shit.”

  “People tell me you’ll get used to it,” Kase said as she entered the room with Harry, Remy, and Diana.

  “I hope so,” Layla said. “I also hope I can learn to write with my left hand.”

  “Do we need to get you a blue disabled badge now?” Remy asked. “What, too soon?”

  Layla chuckled. “You’re an asshole, Remy.”

  “But a loveable one,” he said, patting her on the shoulder. “I’m glad you’re okay. The mission sure didn’t go well, did it?”

  “It was not a textbook mission,” Layla said.

  “Depends on the screwed-up textbook,” Harry said.

  “Right, people,” Grayson said as he entered the room. “Everyone who isn’t currently in a hospital bed, out. I think she has some more visitors.”

  Diana took Layla’s hand in hers. “We’ll make this right. Your father escaped the compound. We haven’t found him yet, but we will. I promise you, Avalon won’t get away with what happened.”

  Layla nodded. She wasn’t sure what else to do. “One thing. My mother worked for a law firm in New York. I’m not sure of the name off the top of my head, but her boss was helping her get information on targets for my father. Can you find out who it was and keep an eye on him? I’m thinking my father might want to have a chat about a few things.”

  “You think your dad will kill him?” Remy asked.

  “Depends on how deeply he was involved in Elias and Nergal finding out where we were all those years ago. Caleb isn’t someone who lets things go. And he’s going to need to be caught before his murder toll starts up again in earnest.”

  “We’ll take a look,” Diana said, and everyone left the room.

  “It’s been a while, doc,” Layla said. “How’s things?”

  “Busy,” Grayson told her. “I’ve been moving between realms to make sure that we don’t lose the people who are keeping us from defeat against Avalon. I was only back in this realm to see Hades, but he said you’d been hurt, and I thought I’d come take a look.”

  “So you’re really Lucifer?” Layla asked Grayson. “The Lucifer?”

  “Ta da,” Lucifer said. “You want the short version or the long one?”

  Layla smiled. “Persephone told me all about it when we were in Canada. Why the name Grayson?”

  Lucifer shrugged. “Sounded like as good a name as any other.” He checked several charts on the end of the bed. “I’m sorry for what happened to you. If it helps, once we’re sure the venom has gone, and we’ve checked for infections and the like, you’ll be free to go. On the plus side, you heal many times quicker than a human, so I’m optimistic that you’ll be out of here in a few hours.”

  Layla looked at the stump at the end of her arm and unfastened the bandage, removing it with a mixture of fear and anger about what she was going to see. When she was finished, she stared at the scarred limb where her forearm used to be.

  “We’re already working on a prosthetic,” Lucifer said. “State of the art, I promise.”

  Layla nodded without paying much attention to what he said. She
just continued to stare at her limb. Lucifer left soon after, leaving Layla to think about what he’d told her. She lay there, looking at her arm, wondering how the hell she was ever going to do the things she’d taken for granted before.

  “You know you’re not dead,” Terhal said from the chair beside her. “Self-pity doesn’t suit you.”

  “I had my arm cut off.”

  “Part of your arm,” Terhal corrected.

  Layla looked over at the drenik, who was wearing a smart black suit. “Why the black suit?”

  “I assumed we’re having a funeral for your arm,” she said. “I’m welling up just thinking about it.”

  “You know, sometimes you do remind me that you’re just a massive twat.”

  Terhal laughed.

  “Where are Rosa and the others?”

  “You don’t know? They’re your spirits.”

  Layla began to feel irritated. “Just tell me.”

  “They’re gone. Not gone, gone, but gone from being around during the day. You merged with them quite a lot during your near-death experience. It boosted your power and made me feel all tingly.”

  “Gone?” she asked, sad at the news.

  “Were you not listening? Not gone, gone. You can speak to them when you sleep, just like what happened with Gyda. I assume you’re dealing with your arm’s loss a lot better than someone without three spirits’ life experience, and you’re less worried about killing the people responsible than you were when we first met?”

  “I decide what I do,” Layla snapped. “I’m not accepting that my actions aren’t my own responsibility. That’s not how it works.”

  “I know. I just like screwing with you. You’re right. Your mind, your rules. Too many umbra don’t accept responsibility for their own actions, like Gyda for example. She hated me for what I did to the people in her village, but she hated those people, too.”

  “I know,” Layla said. “She couldn’t accept it, but I knew. I just didn’t want to argue with her about it.”

  “And she knew that you knew. That’s why she kept away. I’m guessing your next chat will be interesting.”

  “So you’re still here.”

  “I’m the source of your power. I can still be let out to hurt people, but the days where I can take complete control of your mind are gone. Considering that I’ve been living in your mind quite happily for a few years now, it’s not exactly a big change. Just one thing, we both know you can’t kill your mom. And you can’t kill Abaddon. So what’s the plan?”