“Cute.” Sal said, and turned toward his camp and walked back.
When they were out of earshot, Eric turned to him, “Shit, Craven, I didn’t know you had that kind of venom in you.”
“I hate his kind. They are manipulators, takers, oppressors. After we kill his men, I will deal with him personally.” Ted’s anger burned.
Eric let out a laugh, and strode with even more confidence, if that was possible, back to his men. They all prepared themselves and waited for movement from the other side.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
This was what he had been waiting for, a true test of his skills. Eric could feel the drain of energy from his legs, from his arms, from his everywhere. It had been prevalent when they had stood before these four while talking to their leader. It was pervasive now, preparing for close combat. These four young men, standing still as stone, not knowing their doom was at hand.
Eric took the far left of their own foursome, with Craven and Casco in the middle and Ward’s daughter on the far side. He had never cared much for either Ward or Craven, but there was no denying Craven’s ability to lead a squad. In moments, he had analyzed tactics and given them rough working orders for this fight. Eric didn’t answer to him, but he would follow these guidelines for as long as they worked. He doubted it would take much time to crush these men.
The Lord’s Hammer stood about twenty yards from them, more spread out than his group was. They seemed like they were set up for a losing battle of red rover, with about five yards in between each of them. Which side would move first was really the only question left. Eric knew that after destroying these men, he would crush that Minister into pulp. He greatly disliked any of these religious types, having seen enough of them through many years in the sand. They were always black and white in public, and conniving bastards in private. They could always be bought, for a time. Eric felt the same about these as he did about all the others. It was just easier to kill them all.
“Oh, fuck this,” he said and strode forward to land the first blow. He vaguely heard the shout of Craven’s warning before he did, but he didn’t care. He could take out four men without training, and never break a sweat. The men startled, and Eric knew he had won. But, they drew close together to fight him as one. Then he realized his mistake.
They weren’t coming together to fight him; they were joining their powers. He felt not only his ability rush from him, but all the energy it took to move toward them. He stopped in his tracks, too late to stop the others from following him. Gathering all of the focus he could, and concentrating on the medallion around his throat, he did all he could to take a stance and begin the rote movements he had trained at his whole life. To his right, he could glimpse Craven doing the same. The other two were probably doomed.
Remaining close to one another, the Lord’s Hammer attacked. With the two younger members of his group nearly incapacitated with exhaustion from the drain, it was up to Eric and Craven to fight two apiece. The Lord’s Hammer were young men, full of vibrancy, and clearly not feeling the effect that their powers had on others. It took all of his power to just block and parry their attacks, he had no counter ability at the moment. The dread was settling on him, when he saw the movement to his right.
In a flash, Casco had hauled all of his energy together and thrown himself at one of the men fighting Craven. He was swinging wildly at the man with the missing hand. Eric had not seen until now what was in that hand’s place. He had a studded cuff with a spike sticking out of the end. Casco went down with that spike in his chest, and the man turned toward Natalee.
As he did, Eric found a little bit of energy return to him. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to counter a blow. And he did counter, punching one of his attackers square in the temple and knocking him back on his ass. He felt a sudden rush, but it wasn’t adrenaline, it was his own body’s energy returning with the foe’s loss of focus. He realized what needed to happen, but Craven shouted it first.
“Separate them!” His former subordinate shouted.
Eric spread out, and was left with only one, as the other joined to attack Craven. The spiked one was still chasing Natalee, who was drawing him away from the others. His power still drained. Fighting only one, Eric was forced to resort to simple martial arts. But his natural strength was back, so he began to attack with force.
Things were turning his way, his opponent reeling backward from a front kick to the sternum, when he heard the cry. Craven was on the ground being pummeled. Natalee did the worst thing she could and rushed to his side, bringing three of the Lord’s Hammer together, and instantly sapping her strength. His foe down for the moment, Eric turned to try to draw them away.
A cry of anguish went up from his force. Spinning, Eric saw the flames spring up from the two pyres, to which the Bluffs’ people were tied. It distracted Natalee and the spiked man hit the side of her head with his studded cuff. A cry went up again, but this time from the other side. Assuming that his men were riding in to wipe the ground clean of the enemy, Eric was overwhelmed by the shadow that fell across their battle. It was large, it came from above, and it was causing both forces to shout in terror.
Eric looked to the sky to see a great winged lizard flying above. The thing was about the size of a bus and blotted out the sun when directly overhead. The Lord’s Hammer backed away, keeping together. Craven lay in a pool of his own blood, his niece crawling toward him to check on him. Casco had not moved since he had been stabbed. The creature in the air circled and swooped down upon them.
Even though his foe was backing away in fear, Eric could not help but feel the doom as this monster landed heavily in the space directly between his downed comrades, and the Lord’s Hammer. It did not turn and thrash his team, as he expected. Rather, it crouched, gnashing its teeth toward the Faith in a show of protection. The beast was guarding his team!
Just as that realization hit him, Eric noticed a man atop the serpent’s back. The dirty vagrant couldn’t be anyone other than the Hermit he had heard so much about. As the man leapt from the back of the dragon, which is the only word Eric could think to identify the beast, he knew what he was looking at. Skinny as a refugee, hair matted with twigs and dirt, beard to mid chest, he still would know that face anywhere. He sat in stunned silence as the man walked toward the Lord’s Hammer. Eric didn’t even make a move to stop the fourth, who ran to join his friends.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Jack rushed to her side as she fell. He saw the horror on Kayla’s face, the pain of guilt in Maxine’s expression, and the shock as the rest of the courtyard took in what just happened. In a fit of frustration and anger, Kayla had exploded a stone wall nearby, sending shard of rock in all directions. It had taken only moments to realize that two of them had struck her own sister.
Jack had tried to help Max control the effect she was having on the Bluffs. He really felt this time was not her fault, but what could he say? He had not tried that hard to control it, instead using the little tween girl as a guinea pig to understand more about powers and DNA. Why was she special? Why was she so powerful? These had been the questions, because up until now, no one had really been hurt during her menses.
“Carry her to the healing house,” he shouted out to two nearby men. Reaching out with his mind, he could tell that Kate’s life was slipping away.
Seeing Beth approach, he called out, “Beth, no. Your presence will hinder the healing.”
Quickly, he and the two men brought her to the healing house and then he asked for privacy. The piece that had gone through her forearm was not a problem for a strong healer like Jack, but a smaller shard had hit Kate right under her skull and entered her brain. Bringing as much focus as he could muster, Jack delved into her brain and saw what he needed to see. He could save her.
He battled with the other possibility too long. She was now the perfect experiment. If he let her pass, he could find out if he was correct about his ability to raise her from the dead. He could find out if what he thought
was true. He could use what he had learned from Annie, from the Mare, and from Max. If he waited a few moments, he could see if he had the power to give immortality.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
“No!” Minister Sal walked past his men, who hurried to follow him, protecting him from others’ powers as they had since the end came. “This is a violation! We had a deal!”
He stood before the creature and the dirty man in front of him, and Cory ran to his side. “It is him, Minister. It is the Wanderer. Beware!”
The Faith responded with a gasp, none of them having heard his voice before. One lone voice of screaming rang out in the silence that followed. For some reason, Kim Pile was still heard sobbing in the midst of the fire that burned her. Cory had never experienced that before, but he didn’t have time to think about it for now. Gathering his friends in a tight line, directly behind Sal, they focused all of their might on the Wanderer and his beast.
“Ah, the Wanderer, the Hermit, or whatever else you are called,” Sal spat at the man. “You ride the serpent of old, who we know as our adversary, only proving our point.”
The great beast gnashed its teeth at him, but the Wanderer just stood there passive, wearing those same sunglasses that Cory had last seen on his face. Sal stepped forward and the Lord’s Hammer followed suit, ensuring a ring of protection around their leader. The Wanderer moved slightly and nodded at the dragon. It turned and lowered itself, nodding at the two downed combatants. Seeming to understand the creature, the young woman and the other warrior loaded the two on the creature’s back. Once they were secure in some kind of harness, the beast took two strides and leapt into the air, spreading wings that flapped its huge body higher and higher before flying off to the west with a loud screech.
Cory returned his gaze to Sal and the Wanderer. The other man had not moved, and kept his face to his adversaries, his back to his friends. The two who remained seemed to be trying to get a better look at the man. Sal took another step forward, now confident of his protection from the man’s powers. Cory only hoped that Sal remembered what he had told him about the man’s deadly speed when he had taken Cory’s hand off.
“Ah, your master has departed,” Sal said loud enough for the Faith to hear, “what power do you now have?”
The man calmly looked at Sal and shrugged. He reached up and removed his sunglasses, exposing those glowing, sparkly golden eyes for all to see. Their powers were doing nothing to reduce that. Cory could not see the blade which had been used on his wrist, but the man carried a staff, jeweled at the top, and wrapped with wire. He stepped up to Sal, who stood his ground before the man, and cocked his head to one side.
Cory had never felt anything like what happened next. In an instant, he was lifted bodily from the ground and spun through the air. He flew about twenty yards back and landed on his side, scraping flesh off as he dragged to a stop along the asphalt of the former highway. Looking up, he saw he wasn’t alone. All four of the Lord’s Hammer were tossed back in such a way, leaving Sal to stand alone with the most powerful of the possessed he had yet seen. The man reached out with his hand and Sal also flew through the air, but not away from the Wanderer. Sal Marino flew directly into the man’s grasp. Holding the Minister in the air, he cocked his head to the other side. Cory could not see the Minister’s face, but his body began to convulse and blood came out of somewhere, drenching the Wanderer’s clothes.
Jim got up to run away, but the Wanderer made one slash with his staff and Jim fell over in place, breathing his last gasp. The other three huddled together, trying with all of their might to shield themselves from the Wanderer’s power, to drain his ability and energy. It was not effective. The remaining male combatant, the one called Fine, stood and walked up next to the grimy man.
“Ward, let me have this,” he said and stepped toward the remaining three.
“Ward?” The young woman behind them said, “Dad?”
Cory was distracted by the Wanderer turning to look at the woman. He did not see, and barely felt the blows that took his life. Fine did not use any ability, he simply beat him to death. Cory faded from life seeing the young woman run toward the Wanderer and embrace him.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
There was something so familiar about the Hermit, but Nat couldn’t put her finger on it. Then Eric wandered to his side.
“Ward, let me have this,” he said and stepped toward the huddled group of the remaining Lord’s Hammer.
What did he mean by Ward? Was he speaking to her? “Ward?” she asked, and it struck her where she recognized the man from. He was thinner than she had ever known him, and the hair and dirt were never something he would have tolerated, but that looked like her father standing before her. “Dad?”
The man turned. Gone were the hazel green eyes that she missed every day for over two years. They had been replaced by dazzling orbs of sparkling, glowing golden light. His face was covered in anguish as he looked at her. She couldn’t say she ran into his arms; she didn’t even know how she got there. She just was suddenly embracing her father, who she thought had been dead for two years. She didn’t understand how he could be standing here, but she didn’t care. She hugged him and began to sob.
After a moment, she pulled slightly away. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Her dad began to make wild gestures with his hands, but say nothing, not even a moan or mumble.
“I don’t understand.” She said to him frantically.
Jordan Kane ran up with many others. He shouted out, “He can’t speak,” as he ran past them and toward the still burning pyres.
“You can’t speak?” she asked her dad.
He shook his head, no. Then he turned and walked over to the fires. Raising his hands like Moses parting the red sea in the movies, the fire calmed to a simmer and went out. Tied to the charred pole in the middle of the pyre was a corpse, burned so badly it was black and unrecognizable. Tied to the same pole was an untouched Kim Pile, her hair lightly singed, and not a stitch of clothes left on her. She had not burned next to the other person. Somehow the fire had not affected her.
“Kim,” Jordan asked quietly, “Who is that?”
Kim sobbed into her knees, balling up on the platform as others cut her down.
“Kim, please…” Jordan began, “Is it Emma?”
Kim shook her head no, and continued to cry. After a short bit, she whimpered, “It is Pastor Rich.”
Nat’s heart sank as quickly as it had risen upon seeing her father. Rich Carson had been a constant bit of kindness in their camp. He was someone who had always had a kind word, and encouraging story, or a song of restoration. Now, he smoldered in a hideous position on that pyre. Her anger grew to a relentless roar in her chest.
“Where is Emma, Kim?” Jordan asked.
“She got away. She and Anthony…I released them.” Kim whispered.
“Thank god,” Jordan answered, then looking at Rich’s corpse, “Oh, Rich. This is horrible. Someone cover him up.”
Fine began taking control. “Gather all of these people, the opposing force,” he began, “we need to make sure they don’t continue to cause us harm.”
No one moved. With exasperation, he turned to Nat, “They are waiting for your approval.”
Nat thought for a moment, then said, “Do as he says. No one is killed though. Are we clear?”
Eric looked at her with a dismissive smile and said, “sure.”
“Sarge?” came a voice from behind her, and she and her Dad turned to see Adam Cross standing there. “How is it possible?”
She looked up at her father’s face. It was impassive, and unclear. He made a few gestures with his hands.
From next to her, Jordan responded, “He feels like he should know you, but he doesn’t. He also wants you to know that he is sorry, Nat.”
“For what?”
Jordan waited for the nonsensical gestures, “He doesn’t know. He just knows he is so sorry.”
“And how do you know what he is
saying?” Nat asked.
Jordan just shook his head and shrugged, “I don’t know.” Then he asked a question of Cal, “How did your dragon know who Ted and Britt were?”
While the man who used to be the Hermit answered with strange hand gestures, Nat wondered what Jordan was talking about.
“You are kidding me,” Jordan let out a whoop that unsettled her, and clearly some others. “Cliff?”
“Wait. What about Cliff, and what did you mean about the dragon knowing Ted and Britt?” Nat queried.
“Didn’t you think it was weird when this huge dragon asked you to put Ted and Britt on his back?” Jordan looked at her like this was a normal question.
Nat was dumbfounded, “What are you talking about? The dragon didn’t say anything, it just gnashed its teeth and huffed a few times before that huge screech it made flying out.”
“Holy shit, I didn’t know. I guess I never had the chance to use it.” Jordan answered.
“Use what?” Nat was getting very frustrated.
“I guess I can understand things. I can understand your dad’s sign language, and I could understand Cliff’s speaking.” He said.
“Cliff’s? Wait, what?!?” Nat gasped.
“Yeah, that is what your dad just told me, the dragon is Cliff. How is that even possible?”
Nat thought back to finding Cliff’s “remains”. Was it possible that he had shed that skin they had found? Was that all they had seen? “Why didn’t he come home?”
“I don’t know; he is not here to ask.” Jordan replied, “Nat, can I go look for Emma and Anthony? I have to find them. I want to make sure she is safe.”
“Of course, Jordan. Go.”
Jordan ran off, grabbing two people to go with him.
“Well, that was silly,” Adam said next to her, “Who is going to translate for us, now?”
Nat smiled, “Let’s just stick to yes or no questions, shall we?”
Fear of Mystics (Saga of Mystics Book 2) Page 14
