Deadly Wands

by Brent Reilly

CHAPTER 18

  Then a storm almost killed them on the voyage to San Francisco. Only using all their wands did they out-run the tempest.

  But what to do with so much wealth? William funded more highway projects, along with thousands of hospitals, schools, and universities. Global Bank in the Americas loaned at ever lower interest rates. William sent two ships full of wealth to Global Bank in France and Spain to lend money interest-free to those governments.

  The following spring, William learned the Khan placed his last three marathon divisions at the Bering Strait. Genghis apparently expected the Americans to invade because he personally led his marathoners.

  After celebrating Billy’s birthday in an Alaskan cave over tasteless mutton, father and son crossed the Bering Strait to deal with this threat. They killed two scouts and put on their distinct uniforms to infiltrate the Khan’s camp. That night, they wounded a few hundred sleeping marathoners before being driven off in a fierce firefight that wounded William.

  While William left to lead his marathoners across the Strait, Billy lured one division on an exhausting flight led by the Khan himself. Seeing the Great Immortal somehow brought out the crazy in him, so when they landed to rest, Billy would drop boulders on them from high altitude.

  Genghis reacted like Billy predicted, and chased after him in a blind rage, rather than let his marathoners rest. At one point he let Genghis get close enough to hear Billy yell that he still smelled like shit. The naked hatred on the Khan’s face excited the eleven year old, who fearlessly played with the most feared man alive.

  William, meanwhile, used his ships as stepping stones for his marathoners to fly around the patrols and surprise an enemy division in their sleep. Genghis gave his last three marathon divisions a distinctive uniform, so the Americans changed clothes, then visited the remaining unit. In fairness, the Mongols had no reason to expect ten thousand fliers, coming from their sister unit’s location, wearing the correct outfits, to be anything but their fellow Mongols.

  Until the bombs dropped.

  Having wiped out two divisions, the Americans overtook the Mongols chasing Billy. Mongols who could not keep up had to stop. Naturally they were glad to see comrades coming to their aid, which let the Americans destroy several thousand more marathoners in small batches while enjoying total surprise and overwhelming numbers.

  Eventually, the chase left Genghis with only a few hundred of his best marathoners, suffering from severe dehydration because they didn’t carry several water sacks like Billy did. Armed with Millennial Wands, Genghis didn’t think anyone could fly faster. Only when the Khan himself was forced to rest did it occur to him that they’d never catch the bastard.

  “He’s playing with us!” Dayan complained angrily again as he started a fire against the bitter cold. “He’s like a kid who thinks this is a game.”

  Billy woke them with a primal scream that traumatized even the Great Khan. Their campfire exploded and Genghis found his deel on fire. He rolled over in the snow to put it out. The smell of his beard burning made him nauseous. Enormous fireballs struck his camp like meteorites as hundreds of smaller ones shot up into the dark sky. Dozens of his men launched and the Khan heard short firefights ever higher in the heavens.

  Genghis rallied those not helping the wounded and they took off as a unit towards the last fireballs. But they found nothing but empty skies and distant stars. Heading back, they heard thunder near the surface. Fearing the worst, the Khan dived at maximum speed. Sure enough, their prey had wounded those helping the wounded.

  All those priceless wands -- gone!

  On his blanket Genghis found a video wand showing the Baron beheading his family the year before. Genghis knew he should not see it, but he watched anyways until the tears dried up. He projected it so large that his men -- all relatives anyways -- watched with him. It seemed to take forever for the bastard to behead so many.

  “Ow!” Dayan suddenly yelled in pain, rolling away and blasting blindly behind him.

  Long swords appeared out of nowhere to cut down those farthest from the campfire. Anyone looking at the fire discovered his night vision gone. As everyone fired at where the blades must have come from, Billy popped up and fired back. At such close range, the huge, fast fireballs engulfed three more quads. The Mongols launched, determined to end this. While their killer mood made them breathe heavy, Billy relaxed himself by humming a Mongolian folk song his mother sang to him at bedtime. Ever since his mother’s rape, Billy found killing Mongols the best way to cope with his lethal grief.

  Although powerful, chronic stress prevented Genghis from slowing down his heart enough to fly really high, so when he reached his ceiling, his personal bodyguards stopped as well. Those who could fly higher, however, found their prey waiting for them. Genghis watched a series of firefights slowly descending in altitude as Billy picked them off a few at a time.

  “We’re next!” Genghis warned.

  They saw their prey -- the Khan now realized he needed a better word to describe the bastard beating them -- but, instead of engaging, he dived past incredibly fast.

  “He’s going after our wounded again!” Genghis shouted, diving at full speed.

  They arrived too late, however. Genghis saw his arch nemesis rob the last of the survivors because, without wands, they could not fly to safety. The Khan fired his largest fireball and watched it grow. His prey, however, blasted back an even larger fireball that engulfed his. Instead of the prey having to avoid his fireball, Genghis had to avoid his. His opponent popped up and shot four wands, his legs and arms pointing at the Khan’s guys like a clamp. The four fireballs spread out over a huge area that engulfed his bodyguards. Genghis still had a height advantage, so he went into a controlled freefall to fire all four wands, his ancient back hurting from doubling over. Dueling is really a young man’s game. Horrified, Genghis watched his nemesis evade as the fireballs burned his gravely wounded. Their screams would forever haunt him. Genghis heard the Baron laugh as he flew away.

  While several could survive their injuries, a few dozen suffered mortal wounds, leaving Genghis no choice but to slit their throats. Men who entrusted their lives to their Khan. It dawned on him that his enemy left them this way so that Genghis would see them suffer. He suddenly realized something: he was not being defeated. He was being punished.

  The only thing that kept Genghis from losing his mind that long lonely night was the prospect of his division catching this bastard. That morning, however, he backtracked to find them slaughtered in small groups, their precious wands gone.

  While all marathoners are super-quads, most super-quads are not marathoners. Their relative scarcity made them far more valuable. And the only thing better than a marathoner, was a high-altitude marathoner.

  The Khan spent a fortune recruiting the best marathoners from across the Empire. For a force this precious, he left governing the empire to lead it himself. That’s how important it was. And they died because he let his rage blind him.

  That’s when Genghis Khan realized he was out-matched. His enemy had thought all this out before ever pulling a wand, and he fell for it. Genghis Khan, the greatest general ever. The Conqueror. Beaten by literally a nobody.

  Who was this guy? They said he was a baron, but everyone called him Willy. He sent agents to find out from the Americans, but they didn’t know much either: middle aged, paranoid, he always covered his face, he had a million scars, they only met him a few years ago, and that he was completely awesome.

  Genghis had his few surviving bodyguards hunt because they were famished. They spent the night hiding, without even a fire to warm them. In the morning, the Khan flew alone to the Bering Strait to confirm his worst suspicions -- that this was all a ruse to keep him busy while the Americans destroyed his marathoners. After seeing his heavily fortified bases buried in corpses, Genghis Khan flew home spiritually comatose.