Tom, in the meantime, walked to her side, his feet disappearing into the ooze of The Source puddle as if it weren’t there. “Just like old times.”
Sheila looked up at him and laughed. “Hopefully not.”
Christy and I both backed up a few steps, our hands subconsciously intertwining with each other.
Sheila noticed it and, for a moment, stared at me quizzically. But rather than say anything, she apparently decided it could wait. We could always discuss weird-ass love triangles – like the ones in those trashy harem books – another day.
As Tom looked on, Sheila bent at the knees, preparing to submerge Max into what would hopefully be his next big adventure.
The doll’s feet were about an inch away from the surface of the magical pool when a deafening roar filled the air, as if someone had driven a riding mower into a pride of lions.
“RAAAAWWWWRRRRRR!”
What the fuck?!
♦ ♦ ♦
The entire cavern shook from the force of it. Hell, I was lucky to not be knocked on my ass. Christy and I held onto each other as much for balance as support.
In the very center, Sheila fought to keep her footing as the strange interdimensional waters of The Source began to churn, forming mini breakers of orange goop around her feet.
“Is this supposed to happen?” I cried out.
“No!” Christy shouted, although I wasn’t sure if she was answering me or just screaming in general.
She turned her head skyward, eyes wide, and I followed her gaze.
You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!
The swirling disc of energy from the ley lines, which had been in the process of dissipating, suddenly flared up to at least five times the size it had been. It spread along the ceiling as what appeared to be a funnel cloud of raw power began to form in its center. It was like the beam of energy that had touched down on Sheila earlier, except increased by a magnitude of power.
That can’t be good.
Crackles of oddly-colored electricity lanced out from it and I had to blink a few times to make sure I wasn’t losing my mind. The energy appeared to take on physical form for a second or two – massive clawed hands grasping for purchase in the air – before dissipating and reappearing elsewhere.
Yeah, this was definitely not normal.
“My God, she was right!” Christy cried from next to me.”
“Who?”
“Gan!”
Oh boy. “About what?”
I was really hoping she was talking about something benign, maybe a harmless comment about someone’s hair, made when I wasn’t paying attention. Sadly, it wasn’t to be, as Christy turned to me, her face pale with fear.
“Something is trying to force its way through.”
♦ ♦ ♦
“Goddamn it,” I replied, the sound coming out as more a growl than anything.
In response, Christy’s eyes opened wide and she backed up a step, letting go of my hand.
I was about to ask what was wrong – outside of everything that actually was wrong – when my tongue ran over my teeth answering that for me.
My fangs were back.
Just for shits and giggles, I reached a hand up to my neck. I was no EMT, but I was pretty sure that was nada on a pulse.
“It can’t be,” she said.
I had no answer for her. She was right, but that didn’t change my reality.
Christy shook her head, the shock disappearing from her face. “We can talk later. Stopping this takes priority.”
I nodded, grateful. She was a true pro when the chips were down. and I had a feeling that’s what we needed more than anything.
That was confirmed in spades a moment later when the monstrous growl gave way to an equally terrifying voice. “GIVE WHAT WAS PROMISED!”
It was different than what I’d heard from Christy and her circle. More importantly, I was hearing it in my mind as well as with my ears. Whatever was communicating with us was beaming its commentary track straight into our heads, with the volume set to twelve.
I looked back at the shore. Unsurprisingly, panic seemed to be the soup of the day for most. However, most was not all.
I spied a witch, wearing the same black robes as Bob and his buddy, standing at the shoreline waving her arms about. Either she was practicing some sick new dance moves or casting a spell.
And she wasn’t alone. There was another a ways down. Then still more further along. It took me a moment, but I quickly realized they’d encircled The Source, each of them undulating in tune to the rest as if dancing to a beat only they could hear.
I didn’t have time to count, but wouldn’t have been remotely surprised to discover there were thirteen in total.
Too bad for them I’d never been a fan of raves.
“Come on!” I shouted to my friends, turning back toward where I’d last seen Komak.
It didn’t take more than a second to spot him. He stood where he’d been on the rocky shoreline, his eyes turned upward, probably creaming his pants in anticipation.
I took maybe two steps when another voice caught my ears.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
It was Kelly. She was standing with Liz at a different spot along the shore. However, where I expected the latter to be partaking of this fuckery, I was wrong. What the? Both she and Kelly were being restrained by a pair of black-robed mages as a third undulated upon the shore, performing the same unholy dance moves as the rest.
His hood flopped off his head, giving me enough of a glance to see Herschel’s face. Fuck!
The asshole had been one of Komak’s men after all, stringing us along so he could play double agent. Well, if that didn’t chap my ass, I didn’t know what did.
I pointed him out to Christy. “Go help them. I’ll take care of Komak.”
She didn’t look pleased at the prospect of splitting up, but she was far better suited for a wizard duel than me, and I was certain she knew it. Rather than argue, she gathered energy around her and turned to help Kelly.
“Keep your eyes open,” I called after her, certain Liz was only biding her time before turning on us. “Something isn’t right here.”
Talk about a talent for understatement.
I turned back to find Sheila standing where she’d been. Tom was alongside her, mostly because he couldn’t move very far from the doll in her hands. What worried me more, though, was the look of disbelief on her face, about as far from her Icon self-assurance as you could get.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” she said.
“I believe you. But we really can’t dwell on that right now.”
“I...”
“The world, these people, need the Icon. Do you think you can do that?”
That seemed to get through to her. She locked eyes with me for a moment and then nodded, drawing her sword with her free hand. Before either of us could make a move, however, she cried out, “Look!”
I spun, expecting to see Komak doing something ... diabolical, I guess. But he continued to stand there staring, a look of pure confusion on his face.
After a moment more, he met my gaze and cried out, “What is this?!”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. I’d expected arrogance and triumph from him, not this.
The cavern floor shuddered beneath us, shaking me from my indecision. I opened my mouth, knowing he’d hear me over the rumbling. “You can’t fool me...”
My accusation was interrupted by a hand erupting from his chest cavity, showering him in gore. Komak looked down at it, a mix of horror and surprise on his face, then he turned his head, trying to face the lithe figure behind him who’d done this.
Uh oh.
In the next instant, his body exploded in white-hot flame from the inside out, immolating him where he stood.
When the spots finally cleared from my eyes, he was gone and in his place stood Gan.
More chilling than her presence, however, was the smile plastered upon her face, as if she’d
known all along that this would happen.
THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY
Any delusion that she was simply taking Komak out of the equation, before he could do something nefarious, dissipated in an instant as Jasper stepped next to her, likewise grinning.
She gave her arm a shake, the charred and burnt flesh already beginning to mend, and cried out, “Is it not glorious, my love?”
“What have you done?” I asked, knowing full well she’d hear me just fine despite the distance between us.
“What those leading this endeavor were not bold enough to do.”
Whatever spell those mages had been preparing went off. Shimmering bolts of energy shot upward from their bodies to a point maybe halfway between them and the ceiling ... spaced so that they were directly beneath the ley lines still glowing above us.
There, the power from each collected, expanding until they formed a series of brilliantly shining disks, each roughly twenty feet high.
What the?
Remembering my video games, I half expected to hear that the cake was a lie as people started leaping out of them with portal guns.
I realized the truth wasn’t too far off from that as images began to form in each of the ... portals, I guess, taking on shape and substance until it was as if there were thirteen windows to elsewhere above us.
In each could be seen groups of people. No, not people, at least not all of them. I spied yellow eyes among the masses – vamps and mages, if I had to guess. Some appeared surprised at what they were seeing. Others were far less so, wearing knowing grins upon their faces. And maybe it was just me, but it seemed the vamps were all among the former.
What the fuck was going on?
A group of black-robed mages approached Gan from her flank as she stood there smiling. One let loose with a bolt of yellow-tinged magic, giving me hope that maybe one of them was a double-double agent. Gan made no attempt to dodge it, however, despite her senses likely being heightened enough to hear a spider take a shit from a block away.
The spell engulfed her, lighting her up with its power, but still she stood facing me as if everything was right as rain.
“HEAR ME,” she said, her voice echoing in my mind as well as my ears. All around, I could see the various beings in the cavern stop as if to listen.
It was some sort of communication spell, possibly meant to compensate for the fact that she was no longer capable of compulsion – handy for getting everyone’s attention in the middle of the apocalyptic chaos going on above us.
“THIRTEEN HAVE BEEN PROMISED,” she continued. “FULFILL THE PACT, SO THAT WHICH WAS STOLEN FROM YOU MAY BE RETURNED IN ALL ITS GLORY.”
Call me pessimistic, but I had a feeling she wasn’t talking about some wallet she’d found on the sidewalk.
I couldn’t hear what was being said on the other side of those portals, the spell apparently being a one-way thing, but there appeared to be some dissent going on. The vamps in particular, visible in all but two of the windows I could see, appeared confused by what had been said.
A moment later, however, that confusion turned to horror as the Magi turned on them. Flashes of lethal magic – green and red – flared up all around, engulfing neo-vamps wherever I could see them. It made me glad the sound was turned off, because there appeared to be a lot of screaming going on at the other ends ... for a few seconds anyway.
Then it was all over as the Last Coven lived up to their name, being disintegrated to the man, present company excluded.
I heard Christy cry out, “Have you gone mad?!”
Sparing a glance back that way, I saw her lash out with a spell of her own toward Herschel, still aglow from conjuring the portal hanging high over his head. Sadly, it fell short as the mages restraining Kelly and Liz let go long enough to erect a purple force dome around him.
“That’s eleven! We need two more.”
Jasper, still at Gan’s side, was pointing my way. “Finish the covenant!”
That was finally enough to break Sheila’s impasse. She stepped to my side, albeit fortunately not close enough for her shield of faith to vaporize me. “No more! Whatever you’re doing, it ends now.”
“Yeah,” Tom echoed, joining us. “Kick their asses, sexy lady, oppa Icon-style.”
Ugh! Five years in limbo definitely hadn’t made his puns any better.
“I think not, Shining One,” Gan replied in a voice probably too low for her to hear. “Thirteen were promised and thirteen shall be delivered.”
The red glow from the nascent Source began to turn a sickly green as the energy continued to collect above us. More of those spectral claws reached out, raking furrows across the ceiling, and another hungry growl rose up, causing the ground to shake.
Oh, this was definitely not good, and we’d walked right into it. All that shit about primal gods clawing their way into this world, that had been Gan’s idea all along – hidden in plain sight right in front of our noses. As for the rest, I had no idea how she was able to convert so many mages here to her whim, but I doubted any answers were forthcoming.
More importantly, I had a bad feeling about the final two sacrifices. Following their break-in at Christy’s, only twelve of the Last Coven had been left, Komak had confirmed as much himself. Ed was safe, and I sincerely doubted Gan planned to off herself. But the way her asshole partner in crime was staring our way told me all I needed to know.
However, before they could make their move, a group of Magi apparently not cool with any of this crap launched an attack, firing beams of magic at any black-robed assholes in sight. The cavalry had arrived.
Too bad Gan and her new lackey weren’t alone, as more of her black-robed minions raced to protect her. Nevertheless, it gave us an opening, however small.
I turned to Sheila. “Think we can take them?”
“The Freewill and Icon together again?” she replied. “I like those odds.” But then her confident tone wavered. “But what then? Will stopping them stop this?”
“I ... have no idea.”
“Fuck that noise,” Tom said. “If that’s the case, we can end this ourselves.”
“What do you mean?”
He pointed toward the doll still in Sheila’s hands.
“You can’t be serious,” I said.
“Yep. Repeat performance, bitches.” He smiled at Sheila. “What do you say? We closed this fucker once. Care to do it again?”
What?!
“No!” I cried. “We don’t know what that will do to...”
“To me?” he asked, his expression turning serious. “Don’t sweat it, man. I know that my little girl is in good hands and ... I guess so is Christy. Besides, she was probably right about me moving on.” He grinned again. “But if I gotta go, go with a bang.”
“Y-you can’t. We’ve come so far. The Magi...”
“Fuck ’em,” Tom said. “They can get jobs like everyone else. Beats the world being ass-raped by Gozer.”
Amazingly enough, as he’d done before, Tom – normally the one to shoot his mouth off when it was best to keep his trap shut – had somehow become the voice of reason.
That said, I didn’t give a shit about most of the Magi here. We, I, his daughter, had just gotten him back.
I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up a hand. “No offense, dude, but can we skip the next part? We don’t have time for you two to fight again. Let’s just assume you got your ass kicked so you can cover ours while we do this.”
“But...”
Tom stepped up to me and put a spectral hand on, or through, my shoulder. “It’s time to do what you do best, buddy – fuck up their plans.”
He’d been right five years ago. Now, with something unknown trying to force its way into our world, I couldn’t help but think history was repeating itself. This needed to be stopped, but we didn’t even have a backup plan in our pocket like last time. Gan had spoon-fed us what she wanted us to hear, leading us by the nose the entire time. The only option we had left was to do the unthinkable
.
Goddamn it all!
I could see the indecision on Sheila’s face, her faith aura faltering. This whole thing had been her attempt to make things right for the Magi. But now it was being perverted far beyond what even Komak had done.
She looked at Tom, then back at me, tears in her eyes. “I don’t know if I can do this. Not again.”
Tom was offering to make the ultimate sacrifice – once more. I realized the least I could do was be strong for both of them. “I do. I have faith in you.”
There came a cry from the shore and I glanced back to see Gan dispatching one of the witches who’d attacked her.
Time was nearly up, but we weren’t ready. Not yet. “Christy. She needs to...”
Tom shook his head. “I suck at long goodbyes anyway. Tell her for me. She’ll understand.”
“I...”
“Come on,” He turned and held out a hand to Sheila, as if she could take it. “Once more, for old time’s sake?” After a moment, she gave her head a single nod. “Awesome! I always wanted to slam the door in a god’s face.”
I turned away, sick to my stomach. We’d come so close only to have it snatched away at the last second. Nevertheless, if they were willing to do this, then I had to be prepared to do whatever was needed to buy them the time. There was no time to falter. I had to be strong, even if I didn’t want to be
“Bill?”
I looked back to find Sheila aglow with the power of faith, tears streaming freely down her face.
“I know you don’t have any reason to believe me, but I will make this right.”
“I know you will,” I whispered to myself as I once again faced the shore.
♦ ♦ ♦
There was so much to say, far more than I could have conveyed in an hour, much less a few moments. And mine wasn’t the only voice that deserved a chance to say goodbye.
But alas, time – and apparently fate – were not on our side. The cavern rumbled beneath me once more as if in agreement.
Gan and Jasper had just finished ganking a pair of mages, tossing their bodies to the side like they were nothing more than garbage. A group of black-robes formed a defensive perimeter around them, no doubt to free them from further distraction.
Strange Days (Bill of the Dead Book 1) Page 29
