Fire Serpent

by David J Normoyle

  “Can you describe him?” I asked. It could have been a shade, a sentinel, or even a shadier.

  “He’s big,” Jo said. “Stocky more than tall.”

  “Barrel-chested,” I said. “Sounds like it could be Holliday. And we know he’s close; I saw him earlier.”

  “Holliday would make sense,” Jo said. “I’ve been thinking about how they could have detected me, and the only thing I can think of is that they were monitoring electronic transmissions. This van would have lit up their sensors if they were doing that. It’s the kind of thing Holliday would do, too. Like me, he tends to make use of electronics and machinery.” Jo sounded surprisingly calm.

  “Doesn’t matter how they found you,” I said. “Concentrate on getting away. Holliday can’t keep up with a road vehicle at top speed. Not even close.”

  “A car is coming up behind Holliday,” Jo said. “It’s not slowing down. Christ. Holliday just jumped up into the air and landed on the bonnet of that car. The other two men must have gone back for it. Holliday is standing on the bonnet, crouched down, one hand behind him on the roof. He looks like he’s surfing. The car is accelerating, catching up with me.”

  “This is what you do, Jo,” I said. “A series of fast turns. Standing on top of a moving vehicle is not as easy as they make it look in the movies, even for a sentinel. I’m telling you, the car will either have to slow, or Holliday will fall off. Either way works.”

  “It being Holliday might work out for me,” Jo said.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “The ballista is loaded and the helicopter is in the air,” Sulle said, cutting into the conversation.

  “Now isn’t the time, Sulle,” I said.

  “When then?” Sulle asked. “Sounds like the Sentinel Order will be listening into our radio broadcasts soon.”

  “Jo is going to escape,” I said.

  “No, I’m not,” Jo said. “I’ve put on my indicators, and I’m slowing down.”

  “Don’t,” I said. “You can get away.”

  “I know my limitations and my strengths,” Jo said. “And I have no intention of taking on a sentinel.”

  “You don’t have to fight,” I said. “You just have to lose him. Likely, he won’t want to get diverted too far from the attack on Verge Tower.”

  “I’m pulling over. Rune, don’t come for me. I’ve a feeling that our paths need to diverge for a time. So I have to tell you something now. I lied to you earlier.”

  “Lied? About what?”

  “I am in contact with Alex.”

  Something heavy settled in the bottom of my stomach. “I don’t want to hear it.”

  “Well, I have to say it,” Jo said. “Alex has admittedly made mistakes. Horrible mistakes. But right now, he is badly injured, and he needs my help.”

  “It was more than a mistake. It was cold-blooded betrayal. Because of what he did, Pete’s dead and Noah is comatose.” I looked across at Persia, then quickly away again. “I’m not blameless. But Alex made a deal with Colonel Lowndes and led us all into a trap. How can anyone forgive that?”

  “He has suffered for what he did,” Jo said. “You don’t know how much.”

  “The summoning crystal?” I asked. After the Searing, the crystal had exploded free and ended up inside his torso. That had been eight months ago though.

  “He’s still my brother,” Jo said. “I’ve parked. The car has pulled in behind me and Holliday has hopped off the bonnet. He has a smile on his face. I’m sure I can work with him.”

  “Work with him? What are you talking about? Holliday is part of the Sentinel Order, the guys who were undoubtedly behind the laws which consider shades to be worse than vermin. Shades such as Ally, who is your friend, and who also just saved Persia and me.”

  “I know all about the Order,” Jo said. “Rune, you know more than anyone that hard choices somehow have to be made. I’m climbing into the back of the van. I’m going to destroy the comms equipment in here,” Jo said. “Unfortunately, because the van is a hub for your radios, they will stop working.

  “We need to be able to communicate,” Sulle said. “There’s a narrow window for our plan to succeed. The helicopter is in the air. If Duffy learns about it, he won’t let himself be lured out next time.”

  “Rune, I know it’s a lot to ask but I want you to consider forgiving Alex. Not right now. But to be open to the possibility of it.”

  “Jo—” The radio emitted a short screech then a long stream of low buzzing. “Jo!” I repeated, more urgently. “Sulle, you there?” All I could hear was buzzing. I pulled the radio off me and threw it against the far partition where it hit an ancient-looking spear. I jumped to my feet.

  “Where are you going?” Persia asked.

  “I have to rescue her.”

  “Sit back down. You aren’t going anywhere.”

  “It’s Jo,” I said. Out of the only family I had ever known, Jo was the only one left—Tyler had abandoned us; Pete was dead; Alex was dead to me. Additionally, Jo had always been closest to my heart. If Holliday harmed her, and I did nothing to stop him…

  “This building is full of shades trying to capture or kill you,” Persia said. “And even if you get outside, you have no idea where she is. Also, she wanted to meet Holliday.”

  “That can’t be right. I know that’s what it sounded like, but that can’t be right.”

  “Sit down,” Persia said. “And remember to keep your voice down. We need to decide what to do.”

  I slumped down beside her. “Everything I touch turns to shit.”

  “This is not the time for handing out blame.”

  “What better time? We’ve failed,” I said. “Our comms are down. Jo has been captured. We are in here hiding. All we can do is wait for a chance to escape. I couldn’t even do anything to save the mayor.”

  “That was brave,” Persia said, addressing me without any of the usual abrasiveness.

  “It was stupid,” I said. “I should have stuck to the plan and waited. All I ended up doing was putting your life at risk. By the way, thank you. You didn’t have to swing across to save me.”

  “No need to thank me,” Persia said. “You saved me right back. We’re a team; that’s how it works. And jumping down there mightn’t have been the wisest thing to do, but it was the right thing. They were about to torture that man.”

  “Mayor Maxwell was a good man,” I said with a sigh.

  “That dragon is the most terrifying thing I have seen in my life,” Persia said. “Not one in a million would have jumped down to save that mayor.” She touched my arm. “It was brave.”

  “Maybe bravery and stupidity are more closely aligned than most would care to admit.”

  “We haven’t failed yet,” Persia said. “I don’t know what the Sentinel Order is doing here, but it might work to our advantage. They might distract the dragon or divert some of his men, giving us the opportunity we need.”

  “Our plan was badly flawed,” I said. “Duffy didn’t even consider chasing me up the ramp.”

  “The dragon had a very personal reaction to you,” Persia said. “You just need to get under his scales a little more next time.”

  I didn’t like the sound of “next time”. “We can’t coordinate with Sulle anymore. For all we know, he’s grounded his helicopter.”

  Radio isn’t the only way to communicate, the voice inside my head said.

  Chapter 18

  Thursday 22:15

  You can’t keep ignoring what’s happening, Jerome thought. Slowly and steadily, you are being corrupted.

  Corrupted? I thought back. I haven’t done anything!

  Don’t pretend you don’t know whose voice you are listening to, Jerome thought.

  I’m not an idiot. It’s Uro, I thought.

  You just acknowledged that to yourself right this instant and you know it, Jerome thought. Uro is a master manipulator, and he is turning you into his servant.

  I don’t choose which voices end up ins
ide my head, unfortunately, I thought. And I’m no one’s servant.

  If you need help against Duffy, are you going to accept it from Uro?

  Accepting help doesn’t mean becoming someone’s servant.

  Are you still that naive? Jerome thought. First, months of nightly dreams about Sash, a girl who he corrupted. Then Uro explains himself to you, telling you how reasonable he is, how noble, how he tried to improve Brimstone and failed, and is now determined to bring about a better Earth.

  Are you saying he is lying?

  Any help will come with strings attached, Jerome thought.

  “What’s it like?” Persia asked before I had a chance to reply to Jerome.

  “Sorry?”

  She nodded toward the necklace at my neck. I realized that I had been fiddling with it, and I snatched my hand away. “The elemental inside your necklace. What’s it like? Or is it a he or a she?”

  “I always think of Jerome as a he,” I said. “Though, I’m not sure he has a gender.”

  “You make this Jerome sound like a friend,” she said. An undercurrent of tension ran through her voice as if Jerome held some special significance for her.

  “We’ve learned to abide each other.”

  Abide, Jerome thought. That’s the thanks I get for trying to help you.

  “And what’s he like? Or is his personality too alien to describe?”

  “The elementals I’ve communicated with have seemed relatively human, though perhaps that’s only those who have linked telepathically with us. Flavini wore the necklace before me—though I’m not sure for how long—and Jerome watched and learned via Flavini’s thoughts, his interactions with others, even the movies he watched.” I snorted a laugh. “Especially through the movies he watched.”

  “You’ve communicated with more than one elemental.” Persia’s eyes narrowed.

  “To answer your question about Jerome, he’s selfish and immature. He likes watching movies and gets bored with sunsets. He thinks he’s funny, but he’s usually just being a sarcastic ass.”

  “That’s a lot of personality to fit in a twisted bit of barbed wire,” Persia said. “What does he want?”

  “To have a human body and live on Earth as a shade. Soon after I put the necklace on, he tried to take control of my body.”

  “And you haven’t tried to get rid of him?”

  The questions were coming quick and fast. “Is this an interrogation?”

  “If it was an interrogation, I’d be concentrating on the question that you didn’t answer.”

  I licked my lips. “Jerome has changed lately, I think. He’s been less sarcastic and more helpful. Perhaps he’s growing up, though I don’t know if that concept applies to elementals.”

  “Once again avoiding the question of which other elemental you communicate with,” Persia noted.

  “We have to decide what to do next,” I said. “Are we just going to sit here all night and hope to get a chance to escape tomorrow?”

  “We have to return to stop Beelzebub.”

  “I still struggle to believe he adopted that name.”

  “What’s with you and the word Beelzebub?” Persia asked. “I’ve heard you use it a few times now.”

  I was glad to keep the subject away from Uro. “When I was younger, I lived in an orphanage and was constantly in trouble. The orphanage director was particularly strict on cursing. After reading a snippet about the princes of hell, I found the name and the devilish nature of Beelzebub to be deliciously obscene—remember, I was only ten or thereabouts—and the director couldn’t punish me for saying it since it wasn’t a real curse word.”

  “I’m not sure what to make of that,” Persia said.

  “Me either.” I was glad that Sulle wasn’t listening to the conversation anymore. “I guess it is stupid, using a word that’s a curse to me and nonsense to everyone else. Just another small way in which I avoided living in the real world.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far. It’s just a word.”

  Living in the real world involved making compromises and sacrifices. “You said we have to stop Duffy. But is he the real enemy? You heard what Mayor Maxwell said about the new laws, that shades are to be treated like vermin, effectively. The Sentinel Order are in the city, and if they aren’t behind the laws, they at least intend to enforce them. Ally, Harriet Ashley, and many other good people will be hunted down without any protection under the law.”

  Persia nodded. “Richard Sulle, too.”

  “Many other good people. Duffy wants to be king of the mountain, but he isn’t trying to commit genocide.”

  “We can’t worry about everything at once,” Persia said. “We came to deal with the dragon. If we can stop him, it’ll be one less enemy to deal with. Though if the Order is attacking, perhaps we can let the two of them fight it out.”

  “The attack here is a ruse,” I said. “The Order’s real targets are elsewhere.”

  City Hall and the police station, Uro thought.

  “How could you know that?” Persia asked.

  “Didn’t Jo mention other attacks before the radio went dead?”

  Persia shook her head. “You asked her to check, but she didn’t get a chance to. You know, before she switched to supporting the Order.”

  “She didn’t—” I wanted to argue, but I stopped myself. Perhaps at some point in the future, Jo’s actions would make sense, but they didn’t right now. She had been protecting Alex, and she lied to me about it. She decided to join the Order just after hearing about the vile laws they planned to enforce. The list of people I could rely on had become really small. “Are we being naive to think we few can defeat both Duffy and the Order?”

  “Are you suggesting we ally with one of them?” The thunderous expression on Persia’s face suggested that I better not be suggesting that. “You are beginning to sound like Flavini.”

  “What does Flavini have to do with anything?”

  “I had a similar discussion with him about the various enemies we have to deal with. Only, you haven’t mentioned the enemy that Flavini considers most dangerous.” Persia’s gaze focused on my face “Uro.”

  “You’re saying that Uro is the most dangerous foe.”

  What have I been telling you? Jerome thought.

  “Flavini thinks so,” Persia said. “And I’m beginning to think he’s right.”

  “That’s fine then. We’ll first defeat the dragon, then defeat the Order, then defeat Uro. Easy peasy.”

  “I’m beginning to think we should just get out of here and live to fight another day,” Persia said. “Is it even possible to reform our attack against the dragon? For all we know, Sulle has grounded his helicopter and gone into hiding.”

  “It’s possible to coordinate with Sulle without radios.”

  Face palm, Jerome thought.

  Face palm is a gesture, not a way to express a thought.

  Double face palm.

  “You can communicate without a radio now,” Persia said. “Is this some sentinel power I never heard of or just another aspect of the big secret you are keeping from me?”

  “The bigger question is whether we can rely on Sulle,” I said.

  Sulle can be trusted, Uro thought. For now, though, look to the door.

  It took me a moment to register that Uro was referring to the portrait-entrance. I stood so I could see over the wooden partition, and sure enough, the door was opening. “Persia,” I said. “Be ready.”

  Dennis walked in. The corners of his lips quirked upward when he saw me. “Well, well, well, look who have we have here.”

  Chapter 19

  Thursday 22:45

  Ally entered just behind Dennis. “I didn’t tell him,” Ally said quickly. “He just knew.”

  Persia was rising to stand beside me, but I gestured for her to stay low.

  “I knew she was hiding something,” Dennis said. “But not exactly what. ‘Show me,’ I ordered, and she led me here.” He grabbed hold of Ally’s chin and lifted her
face, forcing her to look into his eyes. “Isn’t that so, my dark sister?”

  Ally nodded.

  “Beelzebub would not have liked you to hide them from him. How did you manage to resist?”

  She didn’t reply, just stared up at Dennis with scared eyes.

  “I’m impressed,” he continued. “Impressed and delighted. If you can do it, then it will be easy for me. Thank you for showing me he is weaker than I knew. Still, you tried to hide the fire sentinel from me too, didn’t you? You’ll have to be punished for that, won’t you?”

  “Leave her alone!” I shouted.

  Dennis ignored me, continuing to hold Ally's chin with a cruel grip. “Won’t you?” he repeated.

  Ally managed a stiff nod.

  Dennis released Ally, then walked toward the gap between the two partitions. “As for you, Rune, that was a rather disappointing performance. Nice dramatic entrance, but it all went downhill from there.”

  I gestured for Persia to back away. She did so, staying low and circling around behind the second partition just as Dennis arrived into the central corridor between the two partitions. Ally trailed a few paces behind Dennis.

  Dennis’s fingers trailed along the weapons attached to one partition. “In olden times, they didn’t have much, but they made up for that by coming up with creative ways to kill and maim. Human nature has always been an ugly thing. Or beautiful, for those of us who look forward to experiencing the thousands of different ways a human scream can sound.” Dennis picked up one of the weapons, a mace, a viciously spiked ball of metal attached to a thick wooden handle. He touched a finger to his tongue, then pressed the finger on one of the spikes. A bead of blood formed, then rolled down the spike. “Still sharp,” Dennis said, then he whipped around and threw the mace behind him. It caught Ally in her side, rebounding away to skid across the floor. Ally’s top tore open, revealing a flash of flesh. She let out a shriek, fell to one knee.

  “What do you think you are doing?” I charged forward, then stopped as a wires of fire appeared in front of me, a row of them from the floor to ceiling. Dennis wasn’t even looking when he formed them; his head was turned toward Ally. He had simply wrist-flicked his palm upward.