by Chris Fox
Allow me, my host. The Risen crooned.
Trevor’s free hand came up of its own volition, gesturing at the Russian. A wave of sickly green energy burst forth and sent the man limply to the bridge’s cracked asphalt. He twitched and flopped like a fish.
Now my host, use the blade. Drink the Ka-Ken’s essence.
He realized the sword was still embedded in Liz’s back, as she struggled weakly to gain her footing. A pulse of clear golden light surged up the blade, filling Trevor with strength. It was more than just energy. It was memory. Essence. He saw her thoughts, a sunny day in Costa Rica. A family trip to Yosemite.
Each pulse brought a fresh memory, and a surge of strength. Liz withered, falling to the ground as he drained the life from her. Trevor exalted in the power, and he hated himself. He was killing his sister, killing what was probably the last living family he had in the world. All so he could serve a monster.
NO. He wouldn’t allow it. Whatever he’d become didn’t matter. This wasn’t going to happen.
You cannot fight it, my host. It is what we are.
“It’s what you are,” Trevor growled, ripping the sword from Liz’s back. He tossed it to the asphalt in a clatter, taking a stumbling step back from Liz’s body. “I want no part of it."
They will kill you, my host. You must take her essence, or she will take yours. Kill them.
“No,” Trevor said aloud. The simple word had enormous power. It freed him from the need to obey the voice, from the need to obey Irakesh. He closed his eyes and forced the Risen into the shadowed depths of his mind. Then he opened his eyes to find the barrel of a .357 just inches away. It was held by a very pissed off looking Commander Jordan.
“No,” Liz hissed, resting an arm on Jordan’s shoulder as she struggled to her feet. She stepped up to Trevor, peering down at him from that wolfish face with the eyes he’d known all his life. They might be set in a face covered with auburn fur, but this was Liz. His sister. “He could have killed me, but he didn’t. He dropped the sword, and he’s not resisting anymore. Let’s at least hear him out. What do you want, Trevor? Make no mistake, if it’s some trick I will kill you. I love you, but I can’t let you help Irakesh come to power. No matter what.”
“You should kill me,” Trevor replied, every bit of him united in thought. “It’s the only way. I’m myself for now, but I don’t know if Irakesh can exert control again. Keeping me around is a risk you can’t afford.”
“You don’t get off that easy,” Liz snarled, glaring down at him. “We can’t fight Irakesh alone and you’ve got a lot to atone for. You don’t have the luxury of death yet. Help us, Trevor.”
Trevor smiled. “Same fire I remember.”
“We can catch up later. Trevor, where is the bomb?” Jordan asked, raising an eyebrow. Trevor doubted the man would ever trust him. The feeling was mutual.
“I can sense Irakesh shaping on the San Francisco side of the bridge. I’ll roam ahead and try to locate the bomb. Is this all we have left? What about the black-furred male with Blair earlier?” Trevor asked, looking around for their missing companion. There was no sign of him, at least on the bridge.
“Steve?” Liz asked with a snort. She rolled her eyes. “We might be able to count on him, but I doubt it. It’s probably just us three. Blair isn’t in any shape to keep fighting.”
“Shouldn’t we deal with these zombies?” Jordan asked, gesturing at the ring around them. The zombies hadn’t approached, though they shuffled around the edge of an invisible ring. A ring with Trevor at its center.
“I can keep them at bay for now. Save your strength for Irakesh,” Trevor suggested. He faced the far side of the bridge, which descended towards San Francisco in the distance. “Let me go in first. When Irakesh attacks, and he will, make that opportunity count.”
“Yuri will follow behind and look pretty,” the Russian said, retrieving his pistol from where it had fallen when Trevor had attacked him.
Trevor smiled at that, the first honest one he could remember in a very, very long time.
Chapter 72- Boom
Irakesh smiled as events unfolded before him. He perched on the roof of a small round building that sold gifts, just across the bridge on the side closest the strange city with its garden of towering glass spires. The sounds of combat competed with the low moans of the nascent deathless clogging the causeway onto the bridge.
Cyntia’s death was timely, though its nature was troubling. Her growing insanity made her a threat, one he was glad to see eliminated. Particularly as it meant disabling the Ka-Dun Blair. That one no longer possessed the key, but he’d been a dangerous and canny opponent. One Irakesh was pleased to see removed from the battle. It would take several nights under a gibbous moon to recover from the wounds he’d been dealt.
The arrival of the Ka-Ken and her Sunsteel weapon had been a shock. If he was not mistaken that was the blade of Osiris himself, the father of the world he’d left behind in the last age. How had she come to possess it? That seemed an unlikely coincidence. He did not trust such coincidences.
The weapon’s origin could be investigated later. First he must complete his task. After that he could take the weapon from the Ka-Ken’s lifeless hands, claiming it for himself. If the rumors were true, it was even more powerful than his own na-kopesh. An Emperor’s weapon. He would have it and have this continent as well. He’d reached the apex of his plan, after which the rest was only a matter of patient, deliberate plotting.
The sun touched the water to the west, the clouds obscuring its glory as it began its mythical journey through the underworld. Its fading light painted the bridge’s copper into burnished gold, and Irakesh finally understood the structure’s name. Perhaps that name was more apt than he’d have thought. It was a pity he was about to destroy it.
Some of the mirth faded as he rose from his crouch. Trevor materialized next to the Ka-Ken, attacking viciously. His thrall tore into her pack, driving them back with incredible ferocity. It was an amazing display of power, and truth be told, Irakesh found it more than a little terrifying.
Then, at the very moment of his triumph, Trevor discarded the Sunsteel sword and sank to his knees. Had Irakesh breathed he’d have held his breath, waiting for the blonde Ka-Dun to kill Trevor. Then the Ka-Ken gave Trevor…a hug? Trevor had broken the compulsion, and been embraced.
It didn’t matter. Irakesh would prevail. No one could stand up to the full fury of an Ark, not even Isis herself. Nothing could touch him when he was close enough to touch the Ark’s heart.
A high-pitched whine began beneath him. Irakesh had never heard the like, and neither had any of the unfortunate souls he’d consumed. It was wholly alien, though not unexpected. It must be the bomb, finally ready to unleash its near-limitless energy. Irakesh concentrated, shifting into mist as he readied his will. This would be incredibly delicate work.
The entire structure vibrated for a split second and in that moment Irakesh blurred, accelerating not just his body but his consciousness. He drew deep from the reservoir he rarely touched, gripping the hilt of the na-kopesh as he began to shape. Then the blast came, every molecule of the structure blowing apart like leaves drifting on a lazy wind.
Irakesh harnessed that energy, funneling it towards the tip of the ark. It lanced into the dark stone, washing down the sides of the enormous structure and into the bay. Tendrils spilled out all around him, tearing into boats and houses with equal fury. The area around the building’s scattered atoms ceased to exist, torn apart by the unthinkable energy he’d unleashed.
It washed towards the bridge, melting steel and concrete and flesh. The first quarter of the bridge was obliterated before Irakesh gained some semblance of control. He yanked that power away from the bridge, away from the city. It poured into the Ark in a river of liquid fire, the energy disappearing into the white hot slopes of the ancient structure.
How long the process went on, Irakesh couldn’t say. There was an eternity of fire and pain, an unending struggle to cont
ain the uncontainable fury he’d unleashed. Then it was over. The fire was gone, leaving nothing in its wake save smoking ruins. A deep crater filled the area where he’d stood, and the now disconnected cables of the beautiful bridge sagged inward, slamming into the still smoking metal at the first junction with a thunderous crash. Miraculously it still stood, the last three quarters straddling the bay. Marvelous.
Irakesh reached out, touching the power of the brilliant Ark behind him. It was immense on a scale he’d scarcely dreamed of, so far beyond what he’d expected that he understood now why Ra had considered him little more than a child. She’d wielded such power for nearly her entire reign.
Irakesh drifted towards the bridge, an immense green cloud of barely contained fury. His opponents gaped in horror, suitably impressed and appropriately terrified. A late arrival sat near the back of the bridge, the midnight Ka-Dun who’d barely taken part in their previous struggle. The familiar pulsing of a rival access key emanated from the man. This was the one who’d wrested the key from the Ka-Dun Blair.
More than that the key was active now. The Ark it linked to fed it a small trickle of power, thin but steady. The Mother had repaired the immense damage wrought to her control room. Interesting. Irakesh briefly considered his options. He could eradicate the Ka-Dun with little trouble, but doing so would free the key. If he could instead capture the fool, he could imprison him within the Ark of the Redwood. Doing so would deny the Mother a Ka-Dun to watch over her Ark. That would leave her little choice but to remain close to it, shackled to the structure lest some interloper invade in her absence.
One final obstacle remained, his former vassal and the annoying pups who’d yapped at him since he’d fled Peru. It was time to put them down.
Chapter 73- Triumph
Blair used the Suzuki’s bumper to pull himself to his feet. Breathing was agony. Moving beyond a broken hobble an impossibility. He’d never been this badly hurt, not even when he’d fallen from the plane back in Panama. That memory summoned an image of Bridget smiling, tending to him at his bedside. Of the brief time they’d shared together. He pushed it back, craning his neck to see over the milling zombies just beyond whatever safe zone Trevor was providing.
There was no sign of Irakesh on the bridge, only more zombies. So Blair looked beyond it. A tiny figure crouched atop the odd round building just on the other side, the gift shop that sold tiny replicas of the bridge and post cards with catchy phrases. His familiar bald head shone in the setting sun, flowing white tunic and pants somehow miraculously free of dirt or blood.
Blair had but a moment to watch before Irakesh dissolved into a cloud of sickly green mist with little arcs of lightning shooting through it. Then an enormous flash burst from the building, coming towards him faster than comprehension. He blurred, but even at such accelerated speed the explosion still raced towards him.
Jordan’s neighboring blur vibrated the air around Blair, thrumming through him like the piano cord of the universe. The beefy blonde werewolf leaped into their center, holding his arms aloft as if bracing an enormous wall. What was he doing? Blair had never seen anything like it, not even from Ahiga or the Mother. It looked as though he’d erected some sort of bubble around them, oily rainbows undulating along its surface where the fire burned hottest.
The inferno raged around them until Jordan collapsed to his knees, arms trembling as he sought to sustain the shelter he’d created. Could he hold on? Blair wished he had strength to lend. Then Liz was there, crouching next to Jordan. She pressed the flat of her golden blade against Jordan’s knees. It began to glow, white pulses flowing from the tip to the hilt, each one making Jordan sit a little straighter.
Blair watched as the bubble shrank, just barely covering them now. Sweat matted Jordan’s fur to his face, eyes fixed on nothing as he struggled with the powers he’d harnessed. He tilted to the right, only Liz’s arm keeping him erect. Then the fire was gone. Blair leaned on the hood, gaping as a river of light flowed into the tip of the Ark. The structure drank it in greedily, absorbing it and leaving the bridge’s smoking remains still standing.
The awful scope of Irakesh’s plan was finally clear. He’d never intended to destroy anything. The bomb was a power source, and Irakesh had just leapt ahead of every Ark Lord in the world. It was brilliant. If a weakly powered Ark had allowed Irakesh to push Blair out of his mind like a misbehaving toddler, then what could he do with a fully powered one?
“Prepare yourselves,” came a growl from behind Blair. He shifted atop the SUV to see Steve crouched on a commuter bus whose paint had been boiled away in the blast. He could still read Route 4 in the windshield. “Irakesh will attack and we have to stand together. If we don’t we have no chance.”
“Steve?” Liz called, rising from her place next to Jordan and stalking towards the midnight werewolf. “You actually want to stay and fight? I was positive you’d tell us to run, if you hadn’t already left us all to die.”
“I know you hate me, though I’ve never done anything to wrong you. I’m not a coward. I’m pragmatic and don’t throw my life away in futile gestures. If I didn’t think we had a chance, I would have run. But we do have a chance. A damned good one. Irakesh is strong, but there are four of us. Five, if you count Blair. We all want Irakesh dead and unless I’m a bigger fool than Blair that bastard is about to show us his end game,” Steve taunted, tone just as acid as Liz’s. Blair’s eyes narrowed at the insult, but he was in no shape to do anything about it, even if he’d not been a mangled wreck. “You want to stand here bickering, or get ready for a last stand?”
“He’s right,” Jordan said. Yuri helped him regain his feet, but his chest was heaving as though he’d run a marathon. He used a paw to wipe the sweat from his forehead. “I don’t know how much that explosion took out of Irakesh, but as soon as he recovers, he’ll attack. We can’t afford to give him that chance. We need to go on the offensive.”
“It’s too late for that,” a mocking voice came from above. The mist had boiled away in the blast, leaving half-melted spires jutting into empty air. Between them stood a familiar figure, the white-clad form of Irakesh. He drifted towards the ground, left hand resting on the hilt of his oddly curved sword. The dark-skinned deathless made no other aggressive gesture as he set down just a few dozen yards from the group. He waved a hand and the zombies behind him stepped back as one, leaving him more room.
Irakesh delivered a triumphant smile, thick with a smugness Blair wished he could beat out of him. “I’ve won. The Ark is mine. The bomb has been detonated, giving me power beyond your limited comprehension. There is nothing you can do. No ability you can summon that will save you. Not even the Ka-Ken’s storied weapon poses a threat. I believe I’ll take that after I’ve incinerated the lot of you.”
“You think it will be that easy?” Liz growled, slipping into the shadow of the bus.
In that instant Jordan leapt forward, blurring as quickly as Blair had ever seen. He bounded upwards, wrapping his arms around Irakesh. Or attempting to. Jordan passed through the illusion and sailed beyond, catching himself on a blackened cable just above the wall of zombies. It snapped, dropping him into their midst. Whatever force that had held them at bay dissipated, and they fell upon Jordan as one. He came up swinging, dismembering the first and smashing the next pair’s skulls together. He danced away from them, which left him vulnerable. Blair could only watch as a bolt of eldritch fire, the same hideous green of the cloud he’d seen earlier, lanced from the air above Jordan. It caught him in the back, arching the Commander’s spine like a cat stepping on a live wire.
Then Steve raised an arm, gesturing at the place where the bolt had originated. His voice thrummed with power, “Peace, Irakesh. There is no need for us to be enemies. I control the Ark to the south. Together we can …”
“Your paltry shaping is nothing, Ka-Dun,” Irakesh cut him off. Blair couldn’t find the source of the voice. Until Irakesh appeared directly behind Steve. He jammed his hand through the back of Steve�
��s spine, jerking his fist with a hideous crack of bone. Steve’s legs went limp, spilling him to the ground like a puppet whose strings had suddenly been cut. “You cannot affect my mind. Even before I had the strength of the Ark, you were no match for me. But now? Now you are nothing. It is well for you that your life has some small worth to me. Lie there or there will be much, much greater pain.”
An arc of green lightning shot from the air above Irakesh, crackling through his body in rolling waves. It knocked the deathless to his knees, much as he’d done to Jordan just moments before. Blair had completely forgotten about Trevor. He looked up to see a second green cloud, smaller and less distinct than Irakesh had been.
Irakesh shot to his feet with a roar, snarling at the sky. “So you’ve thrown in your lot with Isis and her get. You could have been second only to me, a god in the new pantheon that will dominate this world. Yet instead you choose oblivion. Contemplate that as I unravel you.”
A bar of solid green light erupted from Irakesh’s upturned palm. It shot into the sky, wider than the trunk of any tree. It obscured Trevor’s cloud for an instant, then continued its passage into the sky. Trevor’s now solid form dropped onto a Ford Focus with a tremendous boom. His body smoked and smoldered, the scent of cooked flesh overwhelming.
Irakesh’s chest erupted as a golden blade burst through his heart in a shower of desiccated gore. He stumbled forward with a cough, blinking rapidly. Then his eyes glowed and he blurred. The movement was far faster than Blair could track. Irakesh slid off the sword, whipping behind Liz with his own blade in hand. It pierced her chest in cruel mockery of Liz’s own attack. She gasped, trying to slide loose from the blade jutting from her chest.
Irakesh refused to let her. He blurred again, twisting his arm around her neck and pushing the blade deeper until nothing but the hilt showed. Blair’s teeth clenched as the rage built.
