A Glimmer of Hope

by Steve McHugh

  Elias rolled with the blow, kicking out and catching Chloe in the chest with his foot. He avoided a second strike from Layla, grabbed hold of her arm, and threw her over his head into a nearby boulder.

  Layla hit the floor and spat blood onto the ground, before quickly rolling to the side to avoid Elias’s stomp to the face. She rolled again and again, as Elias continued his barrage, trying to land a kick. He was only stopped when Chloe kicked him in the back, sending him sprawling.

  Elias was fast and strong, and was soon back on his feet, staring at the two women before him. “Come on then,” he said with a smile.

  Chloe and Layla traded kicks and punches with Elias, each trying to find a weakness in their opponent. Most of the blows were blocked or avoided, but occasionally one of Elias’s would get through, leaving the other woman to fight him alone for a few seconds, which was long enough for his strength and speed to give him an advantage.

  After a minute of fighting, the punches and kicks had taken their toll on all three combatants.

  “That strength and speed of yours is waning,” Chloe told Elias. “You can’t keep this up forever—you’re using too much of the power you’ve just given yourself by coming to this place.”

  “You can’t talk. You used a lot of your energy blowing a hole in the roof. If you hadn’t, this wouldn’t be a hand-to-hand fight. Besides, I have enough power to kill both of you.” Elias darted toward Chloe, before changing direction at the last second and snapping a vicious back-handed punch toward Layla.

  Layla deflected it, but the force of the blow pushed her back, allowing Elias to strike out with a foot to her knee. She landed on her back and avoided the stomp, as Chloe kicked him in the stomach, forcing him to put distance between them.

  “You know, Layla, I didn’t mean to kill your mum. Nergal wanted her alive, and it just went south. Total accident on my part. But your death isn’t going to be as quick as hers, I promise you that.”

  Layla got back to her feet. She knew that once the adrenaline wore off she’d ache and probably not be able to move much, but that was then, and right now she needed to stop Elias. She needed to beat him. Not for her, not for Chloe, but for everyone whose life he’d stolen, for the people at the train depot, for Blake and Bianca. She allowed the rage and pain of the last few weeks to fill her.

  Chloe ran toward Elias, who blocked her punch, but she ducked under his arm, twisting as she moved until her elbow connected with his nose. She spun back to face him, punching him in the kidney as she went. Elias grabbed her by the throat, picking her off the ground, and Chloe reared back, kicking him between the legs with everything she had.

  Elias tossed Chloe aside with fury, screaming in pain as he staggered back toward the edge of the chamber. Chloe struck a rock formation and tumbled over it, crashing into the wall with a fearsome impact.

  Layla felt that last drop of rage fall inside. It overflowed, spilling forth in a guttural roar. She charged toward Elias, leaping up and driving her knee into his chest, slamming him against the wall once more. All of her need to hold back, to never quite let go, was forgotten in an instant.

  She punched his chest over and over again, pushing him down to his knees. She continued as she moved up his body to his face, until he was on his back on the ground. Layla straddled his chest, using her knees to pin his arms as she unloaded a barrage of blows to his head. Elias’s face was torn part, his nose flattened, and his lips ripped open from the force of the blows. One eye was swollen shut and the other had turned a blood red, but Layla refused to stop, refused to allow Elias even a chance of getting back to his feet.

  After what felt like hours, Layla allowed herself to sit back. Her hands hurt, and she knew she’d broken at least one finger.

  Elias chuckled, a bubble of blood coming out of his mouth. “Didn’t think . . .” He coughed and spat blood, which trickled down his cheek. “. . . you had it in you.”

  Layla got to her feet and dragged Elias into a sitting position against the wall. She smashed her knee against his face. “You.” Smash. “Will.” Smash. “Never.” Smash. “Hurt.” Smash. “Anyone.” Smash. “Again.” Smash, smash, smash, she continued, until she could no longer tell what Elias had once looked like.

  Chloe wrapped her arms around Layla, dragging her away. “Don’t. You can’t turn back once you’ve killed. You might need to be that person one day, but you need to be sure.”

  Still full of rage and hate, Layla wanted nothing more than to take Elias’s life. “They say you never forget killing your first person.” She walked over to Elias and pulled his head back, exposing his throat. “You don’t deserve to always be a part of me. Fortunately, I know that your healing ability is going to let you live through pretty much anything I can do to you, so”—she slammed her forearm into his throat, crushing his windpipe—“heal that, you son of a bitch.”

  39

  In the heat of battle, Layla had taken a gamble that Elias would heal his crushed windpipe. It was a gamble that she was glad had paid off, as she helped Chloe drag a semi-conscious Elias out of the chamber. As they got closer to the cave’s exit, the sounds of fighting grew ever stronger. Both were exhausted. Layla knew that Chloe wanted Elias dead, but she was determined to drop him at Tommy’s feet. Determined to prove that she was good enough to be a part of his team. What happened to Elias after that, she didn’t much care. She didn’t want to know.

  As they reached the fresh air outside and saw Tommy and his people still fighting the mighty ogre, they dropped Elias and immediately ran toward the fray.

  Remy clambered up the back of the ogre’s leg, using a dagger to stab into the flesh over and over as he scrambled up. He had to avoid the ogre’s massive hands, but when he reached the top of her shoulder, he drove a sword into her, causing the ogre to cry out in pain. She tried to reach round to Remy, but he was already leaping free, landing in mud close by.

  Several of Tommy’s agents were badly injured and more than one lay on the ground, unmoving. Layla ran over to Jared, who was dragging another agent to safety—a woman who Layla had seen around the mansion several times.

  “She crushed her leg,” Jared said as he propped her against a tree.

  “We can’t win,” the agent said.

  “We have to,” Layla told her, and glanced at Jared. “Are you okay?”

  He nodded.

  “Good. Keep her company.”

  “What are you going to do?” Jared asked her.

  “What I need to do.” She ran back toward the ogre and saw Chloe blast it in the face, but the force was weak because of the tranquillizers still in her system, and she narrowly avoided the ogre kicking out at her.

  Diana, covered in matted, bloody fur, ran from the tree line and launched herself up at the ogre, clawing away at the monster’s stomach in an effort to disembowel her. Ice from Kasey’s mouth slammed into the ogre, freezing one of her arms in place, while Tommy ran at her legs, smashing into one of them like a freight train.

  As the ogre fell, she grabbed hold of Diana, wrenching her free and throwing her aside. Diana hit the ground and tumbled several dozen feet before slamming into a pile of rocks.

  The ogre fell onto her back with an almighty cacophony of noise. The ground beneath Layla’s feet trembled at the impact, but Tommy barely paused; he ran toward the ogre’s head, snarling and slashing at her throat. She swatted him away, broke the ice that had held one arm in place, and threw a huge chunk at Kasey, who dodged aside just in time.

  Layla looked over at Chloe, who was on her knees, and caught a glimpse of Elias as he started to move away toward the woods. In an instant, Layla reached out with her power, ripping free the sword that Remy had sunk into the ogre’s shoulder, causing her to scream in pain. The sword flew toward Elias quicker than he could anticipate, impaled him in the chest, and flung him back toward the cave, pinning him to the rock.

  Chloe turned around and walked over to him. “You dead yet?” she asked.

  Elias mumbled something unint
elligible, and Chloe placed a finger against his forehead and used her power to blast a hole in his head. Elias’s body slumped.

  Layla turned back to the ogre, who was trying to avoid the blasts of ice coming from Kasey’s mouth. Tommy was back on his feet, as were Remy and Diana, but she swiped at anyone who got too close.

  Layla walked toward her, ignoring Chloe’s calls to stay back. She pushed out her power, wrapping it around the metal armor that covered the creature’s torso, and with a twist of her hand replaced the dented armor with a hundred spikes that punctured her chest and stomach.

  The ogre screamed in pain, dropping to her knees, blood pouring from dozens of wounds. Layla moved her hand again, and the metal fell from the ogre, cascading like liquid over her body, mixing with her blood as it soaked the ground.

  Kasey sprayed ice across the monster’s hands, keeping her in place, while Diana and Tommy raced toward her, each simultaneously striking her on both sides of the head. The ogre jerked and tried to get back to her feet, but a dozen small marbles of flame landed just in front of her face, exploding upward.

  Layla turned to watch Jared stalk toward her. “She’s dead because of you,” he shouted, the rage coming off him in waves. He reached the ogre’s head and created a palm-sized sphere in his hand, tossing it into her open, bloody mouth, and immediately exploding it.

  The ogre’s face tore apart from the force, shattering most of the bones and ripping flesh like paper. She still tried to get back to her feet, but Jared ran under her, creating a second sphere and shoving it up into one of the gaping holes in her chest made by Layla’s spikes. The force of the subsequent explosion threw several of the attackers back, but it almost ripped the ogre in half. She was dead before Layla managed to get back to her feet. Covered in blood, Jared walked off without saying a word.

  The ogres and Elias were dead, but as Layla looked around at the dead and injured, she wondered what it had cost.

  “We lost good people here today,” Tommy said as he walked over to her. “Are you all okay?”

  Layla nodded, and Chloe gave the thumbs-up.

  “Jared . . .” Layla began.

  “The woman the ogre killed was his friend and one of my employees. A good person, one of many we lost today. Thank you both for your help.” He walked over to Elias’s body and kicked it. “Just making sure.”

  “Is it finally done?” Layla asked, slightly surprised at the tension in her own voice.

  “No,” Diana said. She’d changed back into a human, but was still covered in blood and dirt. “Not while Nergal lives. Not while his allies make plans against us, but for today it is over. You can rest.”

  Layla remained seated next to Chloe. Remy walked over and sat with them, and Kasey soon after. “I did not enjoy that,” Remy said.

  “Liar. You enjoyed it a little,” Kasey contradicted.

  “I got bounced across the ground like a pinball. Not a lot of enjoyment there. Glad to see no one else had to die, though. How many did we lose?”

  “Five,” Kasey said. “Four more will need serious attention.”

  “Speaking of which,” Remy said, pointing across the field as Grayson walked toward them, accompanied by half a dozen others with medical equipment.

  “You took your time,” Kasey shouted with a smile.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t help,” Grayson said. “My being here would have made things worse, and I needed to ensure we had a big enough medical team to tend to the wounded. I’d hoped you’d have been able to make it back to the mansion for treatment, but Tommy told me about the ogres and I got here as soon as possible. Do any of you need help?”

  Everyone shook their head. “Go help those who need it,” Remy said.

  Grayson hurried off, and Layla and the others were soon ushered back to the cars, where they found Diana.

  “Where’s my dad?” Kasey asked.

  “He’s helping the wounded,” Diana told her. “He won’t leave until it’s done, you know that. You all did good today.”

  “Thanks,” Remy said. “But I always do good.”

  “I wasn’t talking to you.”

  “Well, fine then. Shove that up your arse.”

  Diana smiled and shook her head in disbelief, while Remy opened the car door and vanished inside.

  Chloe and Layla were next in, but Diana stopped Layla. “Seriously, good job. That can’t have been easy.”

  Layla looked at Diana, who had put on some clean clothes, and hugged her. “Is it always like this?”

  Diana smoothed Layla’s hair in a soothing fashion. “Not always.”

  Layla nodded as exhaustion began to take hold. Diana helped her into the car, before leaving to continue cleaning up.

  It’s been a tough day, Rosa said in Layla’s head.

  Layla could do nothing but nod.

  Rest, Layla. Sleep, and when you wake up, maybe things will be clearer.

  “Do you really believe that? I could have killed Elias and the ogre today. I wanted to.”

  It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you and yours are safe. All that matters is that you continue to get stronger and stay safe. You have learned so much, so quickly, but there’s a long way to go. If you’re willing to take that road.

  Layla nodded again. “Yes. I want to help people. I don’t want Nergal or his people to ever hurt anyone again.”

  Rosa’s image vanished from Layla’s mind, replaced with Terhal.

  You did well. Better than I’d expected. You are a strange one to me, Layla Cassidy. You are not what I expected.

  “The feeling is mutual, Terhal.”

  The drenik laughed. It was a peculiar sound, almost songlike, but with a tinge of menace about it. Layla did not trust Terhal—she did not trust anything that had spent so long trying to break her—but she got the feeling that Terhal didn’t trust her, either. She hoped their truce would last, but she wasn’t convinced. All she knew was that her acceptance of Terhal and the other spirits had given her immense power. Power she would put to good use. Power she wouldn’t let corrupt her.

  She lay down on the car seat and closed her eyes, intending only to rest for a moment, but when she opened them again the car was moving, and the motion caused her to fall back to sleep.

  40

  When the group returned to the mansion, they found that Masako had fled the area, but not before she’d torn out Shane’s heart and eaten a part of it. She had written goodbye in his blood, and left. Tommy had been right; she hadn’t hurt a single person who worked for him.

  Two weeks later, and after no more craziness, Layla found herself in the mansion study going through her university work. She’d put it off as long as she could. She knew it needed to be finished, but she’d found the practical applications of her power a lot more interesting and fun than reading about things in books.

  Fifteen days after Elias had died, most of Tommy’s staff had moved out of the mansion, leaving only a skeleton crew behind. Tommy had explained that the building was to be used for another purpose and his people wouldn’t need to be a part of it. There was a lot of sadness among those who worked for him. They’d lost friends and comrades in their fight against Elias, but all of them appeared to be glad that they’d helped stop him.

  Layla needed to talk to Tommy about what would happen next. The thought worried her, but she knew he’d be leaving soon too. She couldn’t put it off.

  So, after staring at the same page in the book for the better part of a half hour, she went in search of Thomas Carpenter.

  She bumped into Jared and Grayson as they moved medical supplies out of the mansion.

  “Any idea where Tommy is?” she asked.

  “His office,” Jared said, putting the box of supplies on the floor. “You planning on sticking around?”

  “Maybe,” she said with a smile. “Depends if I’m wanted.”

  “Oh, you’re wanted,” he said, and then realized what he’d said as Remy walked past.

  “Smooth, my good man. Real s
mooth,” Remy said with a chuckle.

  “That’s not what I meant,” Jared said quickly. “Well, it is, but it’s . . .” He stopped. “I’m going to shut up now.”

  “Wisest thing you’ve ever done,” Remy called from outside.

  “I’d like you to stay, and I’m sure lots of others would too,” Jared managed to say eventually, blushing slightly.

  Layla smiled. “Thanks. I’d like to stay. I’d like to help.”

  Jared nodded several times before stopping again. “Look, I’m not good at this. I’m sort of bad at it.”

  “Are you trying to ask her out?” Remy asked from the door.

  “Well, you’re not making it easy,” Jared snapped.

  “Actually, this is the most fun I’ve had in a week. Please continue.” Remy crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame.

  “He’s an asshole,” Jared said.

  “I’m no expert, but is discussing assholes usually considered a first-date flirtation?” Remy said with a massive smile.

  Jared quickly turned toward Remy. “That’s . . . You’re a degenerate. You know that, right?”

  “Yep. Good at it too.”

  “Layla, would you like to go out with me on a date or something?”

  Remy clapped.

  “You’re quite cruel, Remy,” Diana said as she walked down the stairs.

  “Oh, I’m only mocking.”

  “I’d love to,” Layla said. “But without everyone around us.”

  Jared smiled. “Oh, yeah, that’s not going to be a problem because I’m going to kill Remy.”

  “Eight lives left, baby,” Remy said.

  “I’m going to kill him eight times, apparently.”

  Remy walked over to Layla and took her hand in his paw, planting a kiss on it. “It was a pleasure. I hope you stay around. It’s nice to have beautiful and pleasant women to talk to.”

  “You know I’m here, right?” Diana said.

  “A beautiful, pleasant woman who won’t tear my head clean off.”

  Diana chuckled. “Nice catch. If you’re looking for Tommy, he’s in his office. And if you decide to stay, it would be my pleasure to help train you.”