by Ron Francis
*****
Thomas finally caught up to Devlin. "I bet you're beginning to think this open challenge was a bad idea, Devlin. You're injured,. your best men are being taken out almost as fast as you can get them here, and I'm still standing. Now you're running like the coward you are, but I'm not going anywhere until you're dead."
"You think I'm running from you?" Devlin asked. "Perhaps it's just strategy to get you into position for the kill."
"I doubt it," Thomas replied while running hard after Devlin, he knew that if he let him get away, he would never be safe. He was almost upon him when four Zdrada crossed his path. He didn't have the time or desire to engage them so he swept them out of the way and into several other dark warriors with a wave of his hand while he ran. I really am powerful, he thought. He caught up to Devlin and this time was a little more cautious. Devlin stopped running and back-flipped behind Thomas. He was ready for the move, and he spun and swung just in time to meet Devlin's blade in a clash of steel. It was becoming clear that a kill shot was going to prove difficult while the battle raged because many of the warriors did not understand that this had to be one-on-one. They all wanted a shot at fame. Devlin had already killed several light warriors who did not heed John and Tor's instructions to steer clear, while Thomas had killed even more dark warriors. The battle had reached the point where if it didn't end soon, it would be discovered, even in so remote a location.
As Devlin and Thomas continued to fight, Tor called in another sniper attack on the latest round of reinforcements Devlin's people had called in. Thomas could see by the look on Devlin's face that Gunter's men had just neutralized the last wave of men he had available. One of the Zdrada managed to take out two of the snipers with a rocket propelled grenade. There were still a dozen of the original five dozen snipers in play, who along with the new group continued to steadily take out dark warriors from a distance. Thomas watched John take a bullet to the shoulder, but it didn't even slow him down. He watched the men he had thrown get mauled by a pack of wolves that then scattered at the gunfire pointed in their direction. There were fewer and fewer dark warriors around and it looked like the light still had a lot of theirs.
Thomas had chased Devlin all the way to the western edge of the clearing. He was now caught between his enemy and a near impossible climb. Boulders started to rise and Thomas tackled Devlin, slashing his sword arm. The loss of concentration caused the boulders to fall back to the ground. Between the wounds on his shoulder and arm, Devlin could no longer hope to fight Thomas with his right arm. Thomas moved to deliver the killing blow, but Devlin took out a knife and stabbed him in the side. Thomas stumbled backwards and grimaced in pain. He dropped to one knee and now Devlin was standing over him. He heard Abby scream out his name in fear.
Thomas had dropped his sword while he held his bleeding side. Devlin raised his knife for a killing blow when Thomas produced a knife of his own and slashed it through Devlin's midsection. Devlin went down in a heap, and the fighting ceased. Thomas now stood above a disarmed, injured Devlin, and moved in for the kill. Before he could strike, Devlin's sword flew at his side. He wasn't sure if that was the work of Devlin or one of his Shadow Mages, but he batted it down with his sword and stepped on it to keep it in place. He was about to strike the killing blow when Devlin yelled out, "Please!"
"Please what?" Thomas replied with no compassion.
"Please, I wish to live!" he continued with his hands in a protective gesture.
"I'm sure my parents had that same wish, Devlin, had you let them live, we wouldn't even be fighting now." He raised his sword again.
"I didn't kill your parents, Hunter. I was given credit for it, and I was happy to let everyone think it was me because it added to my power, but it wasn't me."
"He's messin with you, Tommy, don't fall for his tricks." Connor yelled.
"No! I swear I'm not, it wasn't me!"
"Who did it then?" Thomas asked while continuing to remain alert for any tricks.
"I don't know, please!"
"Not good enough." He raised his sword.
"Okay, I really don't know for sure, but I've always suspected it was Asa or his father."
"Now you're just grasping at straws because you know I don't like them." Devlin tried to kick at Thomas, but he was ready and brought his sword down right through Devlin's leg. Devlin cried out in pain again and was back to his pleading. By this point, the fighting had ceased. Dark warriors and light warriors kept wary eyes on one another, but they all wanted to see how this played out before they continued fighting.
"It makes sense, why do you think there are almost no warriors your father's age from Asa's family or the families of his closest allies? Why do you think he and Malachi have always enforced clan business through intimidation tactics? It's because they haven't actually had much power for the last seventeen years. I don't know for sure, but I'd bet my life on it."
"You just did," Thomas said to him. "Connor, Jan, Liam, watch him. If he moves, kill him. If any of his goons move, kill him." He slowly limped over to Abby's father, bloodied but still standing tall. "Do you think it's possible, John?" He winced at the pain in his side when he tried to turn his body.
"It's more than possible, I hate to agree with Devlin, but it doesn't seem too far off base. He wasn't powerful enough yet to sustain the loss of that many elite warriors, and I always got the feeling that Asa and Malachi were using smoke and mirrors more than strength to accomplish their goals. It was difficult to know, because they never all lived in New York anyway. The fact that they were never around never set off any alarms."
"Could the council have known, John?" Thomas hated to even ask, but after everything he'd been through he had to.
"It's possible, but I highly doubt it. Your grandfather and Gunter were very good friends, I can't see him being okay with this. It's more likely that Asa just didn't think your parents had what it took to keep you safe until you were ready to fight Devlin, so he took a shortcut to get what he wanted, like he always does."
"I'm gonna kill him, John. I won't show any mercy, and his father will see it. I know Devlin is not the destroyer, but I believe Asa is. Is there any sort of Ethereal prison we can keep Devlin in or a place to bring him to trial? I no longer want to kill him."
"Yes, there is. Tor and I will take him in when we're finished here."
Thomas turned back and addressed the crowd of light warriors on his right and dark warriors on his left. They had separated while he was talking to John. "I am going to be bringing Devlin before the Council of Light to answer for his crimes. I believe he did not kill my parents, but he has tried to kill me, and people I care about, several times. Any remaining dark warriors are free to go, but if you try to stop us, you will be killed. I think there's been enough bloodshed already, we should go back to our families and be thankful that Devlin did not get the opportunity to destroy the world we all love. Lucas, your father will face Justice, but he will not die by my hand. Still, I'm sorry it had to be this way." He waited for a moment, ready for more battle, but a nod from Antonio sent the remaining dark forces away to the south. When John received confirmation that they were in fact leaving, he began to dismiss some of the men to bring the injured off the mountain. He dismissed others to secure the way out and make sure Devlin and Antonio didn't have any nasty surprises waiting for them. Darcy was standing very close to Antonio, and Thomas knew that did not bode well for Lucas, but he said nothing. It looked as though the people of earth would live through this both unaware and unaffected.
Chapter thirty-four
Tor and John had Devlin secure for transport. Even with his many injuries, he was still dangerous. Before they took him from the field, Antonio and Darcy approached with Lucas on their heels. "We cannot let you take our master," Antonio began. By this time, almost all of the dark warriors had gone and only seventy-five light warriors remained in the clearing with Thomas, John, Tor and Thomas' team. All of the others had loaded the injured and deceased light warrio
rs into trucks and left. A few more trucks were inbound to pick up the last of them, and their prisoner.
"You're in no position to stop us, Antonio. You should get going, the three of you, run your clan now. Don't make the same mistakes Devlin did." John turned to go but Lucas called out.
"If you take my father, you will always be looking over your shoulder, Fitzpatrick."
John sighed, "Look, I'm just following orders, but if you want to come after me, I'm fine with that. You'll have to go through a lot of people to get to me, but that's beside the point. If I were you, Lucas, I'd be more worried about them." He nodded at Antonio and Darcy who were still standing a little closer together than Thomas cared for.
"Promise you will not kill my father, Thomas."
"I give you my word; he will not die by my hand." Without warning, a long knife sailed through the air and buried itself in Devlin's chest. Thomas turned to look at who had thrown it, and another one sailed towards him. Before he could get his defenses up, Abby had jumped in front of him, taking the knife right in her chest. She hit the ground in a heap, and Thomas screamed, "Abby, no!" His mind just didn't want to believe what his eyes were showing him. He looked up to see Bartholomew and Malachi following a very smug looking Asaph but before he could react, Lucas had jumped Asaph. Antonio and Darcy took off during the confusion and Thomas just looked at the two evil Paladins and yelled, "I'm gonna kill you!"
"No, you will die, like Devlin just did." Malachi laughed. Then, almost a hundred warriors emerged from the forest.
Tina had never been so scared in her life, but the sounds of battle and the shooting had finally died down, and the trucks seemed to have gone as well. She decided to chance a look outside. There were still several people milling about in a clearing. Many of them were injured, but one seemed to be tied up as well. She wished she could be recording this because she was sure no one would believe her. She only hoped she made it out of here alive. She would give anything to hear her mother's lecture. The fighting had ended, but tensions still looked high. All of a sudden, a knife sailed through the air and killed the man that was tied up. It took everyone by surprise including her. She gasped as another knife came out of nowhere and a girl jumped in front of it to save one of the men. It looked like she was dead, too. Then a whole new group of people came out of the woods. What does all of this mean? Are any of these people good? What is this battle all about? What she saw next shocked her.
*****
Thomas looked at the former light warriors that now followed Asa as they attacked. All he wanted to do was get to Abby's side and then kill Malachi and Bartholomew once he knew she would be all right. He didn't have time for this. He felt a surge of power so great in his arms that he could not contain it. He swung his arm as if to push the warriors aside and almost thirty of them went flying. It was just the distraction they needed. The remaining light warriors pounced on the confused attackers. Uncle Pete and Connor stepped up in front of Bartholomew and Malachi, and Thomas ran to his fallen love's side. Trevor was there, using his powers to keep her from losing too much blood. Thomas dropped to his knees and put Abby's head in his lap. "Stay with me, beautiful, stay with me," he pleaded. John, Tor, Jan and Liam had taken up positions around them, and the sky began to grow a little darker.
"Thomas, I'll hold her blood back, but you have to knit her wounds back together."
"I don't know how to do that, Trev, I'm not a doctor." His voice cracked and he could feel the tears running down his cheek while he watched the love of his life dying in his arms.
"Thomas, concentrate," Trevor yelled. "Abby's grandfather told me it can be done by a powerful enough Mage. I'm not strong enough, but you are. I'll talk you through it. You can do this."
"I'll do anything to save her. Why did she take the knife meant for me?" His panic was threatening to spiral out of control. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He didn't know what would need to be done, but he knew he would need to be calm to do it. "All right, what do I do?"
"Keep one hand on her neck and put one hand by the injury. I am going to remove the knife little by little, and you are going to telekinetically fix the damage as I do."
"Is that even possible?" Thomas looked around.
"Abby's grandfather told me it was, come on, we don't have much time. See if you can slow her heart rate so her blood won't pump as fast."
While Thomas was trying to save Abby, the light warriors were dispatching Asa's men. Connor was dominating his duel with Malachi and began to taunt him. "This time it's to the death, I don't know which one of you threw that knife at my sister, but you're all gonna die for it. And then, I'll track down Asa, and kill him, too." Malachi came at him hard and fast. He knew that Connor had been fighting for several hours so he thought he would have the advantage. He was mistaken. Connor ducked his first swing, parried his second and spun away from his third. He was then in a position to deliver a powerful right handed punch to Malachi's face. The blow staggered him and he wasn't ready for Connor's sword to pierce his heart. Before his corpse even hit the ground, Connor was off to help Pete who was not faring as well.
Bartholomew had Pete almost backed into a corner. His big powerful overhand swings with his over-sized sword were beginning to wear down Pete's already tired defenses. He braced himself for the next strike, but the big man had changed tactics and come in low. Pete was not ready for the move, and the sword almost cut his leg off below the knee. He cried out as he hit the ground and looked up to see the big man bring his sword down for the kill. Pete closed his eyes, but the strike never came. Instead, he heard the sound of metal on metal. Connor had arrived just in time. He began to fight Bartholomew while Pete tried to make a tourniquet for his leg. He knew he was going to lose the leg, he only hoped he wouldn't lose all of his blood with it. Thomas looked over to his left and saw Lucas grappling with Asaph. Gone was the smug look on his face, replaced by fear and a desire to live. Asaph had just killed a man in front of his son. It wasn't looking good for him.
Meanwhile, Thomas began concentrating harder than he had ever concentrated on anything. He tried to block out everything but the sound of Trevor's voice. Everything else had to fade away for him to do this, but he was still aware of what was going on around him. "Thomas!" Trevor yelled. "I need you to concentrate on Abby's wound. Picture her veins, her lung and her muscle tissue. Can you see it?"
"I... I think so."
"Good, I want you to begin to sew closed the damaged vein."
"With what? How will it stay closed?"
"With your mind, little by little, I want you to rebuild the vein wall. The vein has to be closed or Abby will die. Are you there yet?"
"Yes, I can see it." Thomas didn't want to get too excited, but he could see in his mind the damage and how to repair it. His eyes started to gloss over and he began to speak in Greek again. His hand began to glow as Trevor slowly withdrew the knife.
"Okay, now you need to fix the hole in her lung. She needs all the air you can give her." When Thomas didn't reply, Trevor looked up and saw the vacant eyes and the glowing hand. "Thomas?" he said, a note of concern evident in his voice. "Thomas, are you all right?"
Thomas kept repeating the words, "giatrépsei ti̱n pli̱gí̱ ti̱s" over and over while his eyes were vacant, and his hand was on her wound.
"He's fine," John assured him. "I think he's saying 'heal her wound.' Just keep telling him what to do to save my little girl."
Trevor regained his composure and continued. "Do you see the puncture wound in her right lung? You have to seal it, can you do that?"
Thomas didn't respond, instead he took his left hand off her neck and placed it on top of his right hand on her chest. Both hands began to glow brighter and brighter, hotter and hotter until Abby gasped and Thomas passed out.
*****
Connor let out a deep breath when he heard Trevor's triumphant yell. "You did it, Thomas!" Trevor's celebration was cut short when he noticed the blood still seeping from Thomas side where Devlin
had stabbed him. He checked for a pulse and it was very weak. "We need to get them both to a hospital, fast!"
The battle had for the most part died down, and the few remaining attackers were now in full speed retreat. The only fighting still going on was between himself and Bartholomew. By this time, Liam had made it over to Pete and helped him bandage his leg. "We've got another one that needs immediate medical attention here," he called out. "We need to get him to the hospital soon, if we want to save his leg." He could hear a few more trucks off in the distance.
Connor was starting to tire, but there was no way that this man that had twice tried to kill his sister was going to get away with it. He lunged forward, but Bartholomew blocked it and countered with a backhanded slash. Connor rolled out of the way and countered with three quick thrusts which the big warrior parried with ease. Bartholomew then went for a powerful overhand strike which Connor evaded with little effort. Then, he went back on the attack, unleashing a flurry of strikes so quick he had Bartholomew on his heels. Bartholomew tried to go low again as he had with Pete, but Connor was ready. He blocked the attack and brought his knee up into his enemy's face. The blow staggered his opponent, and Connor followed up with a roundhouse kick to his face. He followed up with a disarming slash of his sword arm. Bartholomew back-flipped to get some distance between him and Conner. Blood streamed from his nose and he cradled his injured arm. He knew he was beaten, but he was going to take Connor with him. He charged hoping to tackle him, but Connor was too quick, he dodged his foe and unleashed a swing that caught Bartholomew right in the throat. The big man dropped to his knees with a surprised look on his face, gurgled up some blood, and falling face first to the ground, breathed his last.
When Bartholomew's body hit the ground, Thomas began to regain consciousness. He tried to sit up, but everything hurt. Trevor was still fussing over him and Abby. Connor was still unsure if she was going to be all right and didn't think he could handle losing his sister. As if the drama wasn't enough, Trevor stood up and exclaimed, "We're being watched, from a cave, that way." He pointed in Tina's direction and Jan shifted into a falcon with another Shifter, and flew towards the person watching them.
