Resonance 4th Edits - Bleeding Worlds Bk 3

by Justus R. Stone

  She launched from the bed, her speed activating in natural response to her panic. The alarms had triggered the overhead lights to blaze at daylight proportions.

  “What the hell is going on?” she asked, exiting her room and grabbing the first person she saw.

  “There’s reports of an attack in the central block.”

  “Is it the Aesir?”

  “I don’t know.”

  He ran on further down the hall, heading in the direction of the armory.

  The central block housed their meeting rooms and the places where most of their intelligence was gathered. They called it the central block, though the location varied every few months to keep it secret—central was more a description of its integral nature to the cause as opposed to its geographic position. If the Aesir had found it…

  She tore the Veil and charged ahead, drawing her twin blades as she ran. She reached the central block’s location within ten seconds. In her brief trip, she saw throngs of unarmed citizens fleeing and armed troops making their way.

  Too few armed troops, she thought. If Jason doesn’t figure out a way to help stop the night terrors, we’re finished.

  Fatigue hung on the men and women of Fenrir like weights. Adrenaline managed to get them moving, but already she saw glazed eyes and frantic, strung out, confusion setting in. At this rate, they were going to lose a lot of people to friendly fire. She considered ordering them to withdraw.

  She shook her head.

  No, this is their home. I have no right to tell them not to defend it. The best chance is to make sure they never have to pull the trigger.

  “Caelum!” she called.

  He was flattened against a wall with several Fenrir troops, taking cautious looks down the hall they flanked.

  “What’s the situation?”

  “Anunnaki,” he said, “but too disorganized to be Valkyries or Einherjar.”

  “So what? Rogues? Or…”

  Caelum grimaced.

  “Fallen?” Marie asked. “Here? But why?”

  “If we could get down this hall without being cut to shreds, we might find out.”

  Marie stuck her head around the corner. Further down the hall stood a person with squared shoulders and posture that struck her as male—though she couldn’t be sure because its body was a smooth metallic silver. It turned its head toward her and reached out its hand.

  Even with Marie’s speed, she felt the hair on the side of her head sizzle as she pulled away from a laser-like beam of light.

  “Geezus, Marie,” Caelum said. “Do you think we were just standing here for no reason? And then you just go and shove your whole head around the corner like some idiot.”

  She shrugged.

  “I just wanted a better look at what we’re up against.”

  “Yeah? While you were grabbing a better look, did you see the four ash piles in the hall—because those used to be our people.”

  Marie lowered her voice.

  “Maybe if I go in there full speed, keep low and move from side to side…”

  “From what we’ve seen, he can emit those rays from anywhere. You’re fast, but I don’t think you can go faster than light.”

  “Where’s Brandt?” Maria asked. “He could probably just smother him in concrete or something, right?”

  “About forty minutes out.” Caelum sighed. “He went back to the bridge fragment to wait for Jason. He can fold nearby, but our wards mean he’ll have a ways to hoof it.”

  “So what’s our play? I mean, he’s just standing there protecting the hall. So obviously the main event is in the chambers. Were there any members of the council down there?”

  “I think Richards and Davies were down there.”

  “Dammit,” Marie said. “Those two wouldn’t take cover—they’d just start shooting. They would never think of their own safety.”

  “Yeah.” Caelum smiled. “I admire them too.”

  Marie stuck her head around the corner. A moment later, she pulled it back around, chased back by another beam of light.

  “You have a death wish.”

  “No, I think I have a plan.”

  Marie took off at top speed, returning less than a minute later with a half-length mirror.

  “Hold this,” she said, handing the mirror to Caelum.

  She grabbed a rifle and leaned around the corner, squeezing off two rounds before the beams forced her back. As soon as the beams dissipated, she rounded the corner, this time firing five rounds before retreating.

  “Bullets just bounce off,” Caelum said. “Sorry, I guess I should’ve said that earlier.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Hand me the mirror.”

  In her left hand, she braced the rifle stock against her side and held the mirror in her right. She pushed her left side around the corner and fired three shots. As the beam came at her, she tore the Veil and pushed all her speed into pulling back and twisting so she could have the mirror into the hall before the beam passed. The light struck the upper edge of the mirror and melted straight through. Again, she poured the speed into rounding the corner and firing. Six shots. Mirror. This time, the beam didn’t burn straight through. Eight shots. Mirror, which reflected the beam.

  Marie sped down the hall, following the reflected beam. She went low, drawing her dual daggers from the Veil. She drove one of her daggers in the spot where the beam struck the Anunnaki in the chest. She put all her weight and momentum behind the blade, driving it through where the metallic coating had weakened.

  Shocked by the severity of the injury, his power slipped, allowing the metal to melt away, starting from the head down. As soon as his eyes were visible, she drove her second blade through, ending the man’s life.

  “Let’s go,” she said.

  Caelum jogged up to her and looked down at the mess that had previously been a person.

  “Sometimes, you scare the shit out of me,” he said.

  She smiled.

  At the next junction, Marie held up a hand to halt their advance.

  “I told you, I don’t know anything about that,” a male voice said further down the hall.

  “Richards?” Caelum whispered.

  Marie nodded.

  “He doesn’t sound too good,” Caelum said.

  “Then we shouldn’t wait any longer.”

  Caelum fell forward from the force of wind as Marie exploded toward the voices. He reached out with his hand, ready to yell for her to come back, but realized there was no use. She would already be wherever Richards and his tormenters were.

  18

  Deception

  Fuyuko escorted Jason the rest of the way to his quarters where two guards were posted. One fished a key from his pocket and unlocked the door.

  “They’re not bad rooms,” Fuyuko said. “You have your own washroom and a television with access to the approved national channels. Most of the shows are boring, propaganda, or repeats, but you might catch the odd movie. If you need anything, there’s a phone in the room. Pressing zero will get you an operator. It can’t call any other numbers, so don’t bother trying.”

  “Sounds cozy,” he said.

  “Quetzalcoatl isn’t lying, it’s much nicer than the cells.”

  “It’s still a cell.”

  She smiled weakly.

  “If everything goes as you say, hopefully, this won’t be for long.”

  Fuyuko shut the door behind her. A moment later he heard a metallic scraping and the solid click as the deadbolt slid into place.

  The function over fashion sensibility of the room reminded him of Suture. Compared to the hastily constructed bunkers of metal and concrete he’d slept in the past seven years, it seemed opulent.

  Jason sat on the edge of the bed, enjoying the soft give of the mattress. Staying alert was a priority, but he hadn’t laid down in more than twenty hours, and it seemed a shame to waste the opportunity to lay down on an actual mattress.

  He flopped back and let his eyes shut.

  The sound of
a key sliding into the lock woke him. He rubbed crusted sleep from his eyes and moved his jaw and tongue trying to get some moisture back.

  The guard who had spoken out against him, Hildy as he recalled, stood in the doorway.

  “Does Lord Quetzalcoatl need me?” Jason asked.

  She didn’t answer, just pulled the door shut behind her.

  “There are still other guards outside,” Jason said, reminding her any actions she took would be heard.

  She smiled—more predatory than friendly.

  “Do you really think most of the people here have any loyalty to these false gods?”

  She shook her head ruefully.

  “They only follow out of fear or a desire to share a little of the power. Enough money or the promise of a better position in the regime to come, buys their silence effectively.”

  “The regime to follow…” Jason said. “You mean Woten, naturally.”

  “You shouldn’t use his name so casually. He is a truer god than any of these impostors. When he arrives, the people will rejoice.”

  “I don’t think people will welcome one tyrant over another.”

  She looked ready to strike him, but stayed her hand.

  “If this didn’t need to look like a suicide, I would dismember you slowly for your disrespect.”

  “I guess my intelligence about Valkyries infiltrating was pretty accurate.”

  She shook her head.

  “You know very little, I’m sure. Did you think it was only Anubis’ pride making him so intent on destroying you in Egypt? We did that—not only to eliminate a thorn from Asgard’s side, but to further destabilize this world’s,” she hmphed with disgust, “political structure. Soon we will control everything beneath these fools’ noses, and then we’ll topple them to make way for Woten. Your death while under Quetzalcoatl’s watch will help discredit him with the others. You’re arrival here has helped us in many ways. I almost feel like I should be thanking you.”

  Jason laughed.

  “Actually, I should be thanking you,” he said.

  His whip lashed out, snaking around Hildy’s body.

  “Don’t struggle,” Jason said. “The barbs have a bad habit of shredding things.”

  Her eyes widened.

  “How…? You have a nullifying collar on.”

  “Oh, this?” Jason said, pulling the collar from his neck. “Fuyuko deactivated it before she left me here. You get everything?” he called out in a louder voice.

  The door opened and Fuyuko stepped inside. In the hall, the two guards watching his door were shackled and escorted away.

  “Fully recorded,” Fuyuko said. “Both audio and video. She’d tried to set up a loop to cover what happened in the room, but it was easy to disable. I did tell you there were eyes everywhere in this facility.”

  Jason shrugged apologetically at Hildy.

  “So, thank you,” he said. “I actually didn’t know about the Valkyries on this world until I saw you in Quetzalcoatl’s throne room. I faced you six years ago in battle—I never forget a face. I would’ve outed you there, but I thought waiting for solid proof would be better. And now you’ve given me that. Fenrir is one step closer to its goals thanks to you. I’ll let Woten know before we chop his head off.”

  Hildy charged, the barbs constricted, cutting into her arms, back, and chest.

  The shaft of Fuyuko’s spear cracked across Hildy’s head, sending her unconscious body crumpling to the ground.

  Jason let his whip melt away to the Veil.

  “Get her secured and taken to the cells,” Fuyuko ordered several guards. “You got lucky,” she said to Jason. “If she hadn’t talked, only attacked you, we wouldn’t have all the proof we needed.”

  “Perhaps. But even her attacking me would’ve put her motives into question. But I’ve dealt with Valkyries before—they love to boast how incredible Woten is at every turn. I knew she couldn’t resist telling me how stunning his plan was.”

  “I’ll request an audience with Quetzalcoatl immediately. I can’t promise he’ll be as pleased as he should be—we did defy his orders to make this happen.”

  “Nothing is without risk,” Jason said. “I took this path to leave you out of it, but you deactivating this collar did the opposite, didn’t it?”

  Fuyuko shrugged.

  “Maybe. But it’s not quite open treason. I can probably justify this one.”

  Jason took a deep breath and sighed.

  “If we get past this hurdle, we might just make it.”

  “I’ll post new guards at the door. They’re good men, I’m pretty sure they can be trusted, but you might want to stay awake, just in case. Oh, and one more thing.”

  She came close, reached her hands around his neck, and clipped on a new collar.

  19

  Bogeyman

  A cloaked figure held Richards against the wall, his feet flailing a foot from the floor.

  Marie left Caelum only seconds before. She’d been delayed, checking a few rooms on the way.

  Davies lay several feet away from Richards and his assailant. Marie couldn’t know if he’d been questioned first, or just killed immediately. Either way, the man was lost.

  She dove toward the cloak, daggers forward. At this speed, she’d punch her fists right through the bastard’s chest.

  The daggers struck flesh and drove deep inside, striking not air on the other side, but hard, unforgiving concrete. Marie looked up to Richards’ eyes, wide, but quickly slackening. Warm blood gushed over her hands. She released the daggers, which faded back to the Veil, and stepped back, having to pull her hands free from Richards’ abdomen. The lifeless body slid down the wall, smearing it red.

  Marie’s hands trembled. It was so hard to breathe.

  A sledgehammer of a fist came from behind, smashing against her temple. She flew through the room, smashing against, and through, a table and came to a stop thanks to the concrete wall.

  She gasped and coughed, tasting blood.

  “At last,” the cloaked figure said, “someone interesting.”

  Marie tried to get to her feet, but they bent at odd angles beneath her and she collapsed back to the ground.

  “Marie!”

  She heard her name coming from the hall. It registered it must be Caelum. She needed to tell him to stay away—this thing wasn’t any normal Anunnaki. But words wouldn’t come. Instead, she vomited blood and bile.

  “You weren’t invited,” the cloaked man said.

  He motioned toward the hall. Slabs of concrete broke free from the walls and floor and smashed into the hall, sealing the entrance.

  “There,” he said. “Now we can have a chat without interruption. And if you can’t help me…” He looked over his shoulder. “There’s some new candidates just outside.”

  She could only make out blue eyes, the rest of his face covered by a demonic mask.

  “You’re…you’re Cain,” she stammered.

  Others who’d encountered him before told her stories—the bogeyman, devourer of Anunnaki, Gwynn from some alternate world. She’d only been in the same room with him for the briefest moment after escaping the Veil—and she’d only known after the fact. She trembled under his frozen stare. Even having the testimony of others who swore this man was Gwynn, she couldn’t see any of the person she knew.

  “Yes, I would be,” he answered. “It helps, you knowing who I am. You should be far more inclined to answer my questions.”

  Marie tried to draw a thin line of energy from the Veil to heal herself.

  Cain’s hand smacked down on her head, crushing her cheek painfully to the floor.

  “Did I say you could heal yourself? Stop, or I’ll just end our conversation now and ask someone else.”

  How could he know? I took so little. I was so careful.

  She let the energies slide away and closed her connection.

  Cain nodded slowly.

  “Good. Impulsive, but not stupid. That can be worked with.”

 
He released her head, righted a fallen chair, and sat.

  “Now, I’ll ask you a simple question,” he said. “The Anunnaki known as Adrastia came here not long ago. I want to know why.”

  How could he know? Did they have a traitor amongst them?

  “I don’t—”

  Marie howled as Cain’s foot crushed down on her hand, breaking several bones.

  “Let’s be clear,” Cain said, “you already have several internal injuries. If you don’t get them tended to soon, you will most likely die. But until then, you still have numerous bones and organs I can crush. We are both Anunnaki. We’re practically…family.” A sly, mirthless laugh escaped his lips. “I take little pleasure in causing you pain. I just want a simple answer, and I’ll be on my way. Then you can use as much of that wonderful Veil energy as you wish to heal yourself.”

  He lifted his foot from her crushed hand and returned to his chair.

  “There’s no need for you to die. I know Adrastia isn’t here any longer, or I’d be having this conversation with her. I just want to know why, after years of being trapped with me in the Veil, she would come here first? What was so important she had to wallow in this filthy place?”

  Marie coughed, an audible rattle came from her chest. She spat out blood and a tooth.

  “She wanted us to help her steal some information,” she said.

  Cain clapped his hands together three times.

  “Very good,” he said. “You’re already far more useful than either of those two. And what kind of information was it?”

  Marie chanced another look at the masked face. She could hear his voice changing, alternating between patronization and a near parental coaxing. But his eyes remained changeless—cold and dead. With everything else hidden by his mask, it gave the disconcerting feeling his words came from somewhere else. She could move so fast, yet he moved faster—like he was everywhere at once—his body in front of her, his voice somewhere, everywhere, else.

  “Myths,” she answered.

  She could probably summon enough strength for a final burst of speed. Even if she missed, even if he killed her, it would be preferable than just lying here helplessly answering his questions. But what would her death gain? No one in Fenrir was on this level. She doubted anyone anywhere was. He would just indiscriminately kill until he had his answers, or was knee deep in bodies. Better her pride receive a mortal blow than let any more of her people die.