by S. W. Gunn
Tiberius continued to play with the computer on his chest. Now the battle around them became a tug of war over a massive table that was hovering over Elyse. She was physically straining from the battle over the table. Jarron was feeling the strain and his eyes were starting to blur a little. He felt a trickling of what he guessed was blood coming from his nose. He realized that Elyse was about to lose this battle. He had to do something. He was unable to move but he had to try. Struggling against his inability to move he strained to grab his blaster. He just could not move. The table hovering over Elyse began to slowly push closer to her head. Continuing to strain Jarron felt his hand slightly move towards the hilt of his blaster. The table was now virtually on top of Elyse. He could feel her panic, along with his own, roiling through him. Determination struck him as he focused with everything he had. Suddenly his hand shot down and grabbed his blaster. Jarron forced himself to aim it at Tiberius’ chest and pulled the trigger. A bolt shot off and struck true! Tiberius bellowed out as he was knocked down and the computer on his chest exploded. The table that was over Elyse’s head flung wildly away from her. Jarron fell to his knees and slumped forward in exhaustion.
“Jarron!” Elyse’s panicked voice came from where she was at when he collapsed.
He felt her hands touch his back. While he did not black out he had never been this tired before. He could still feel the trickle of blood coming from his nose. He pulled himself up off the floor and onto his knees.
“Are you okay?” She asked him.
Her voice was laced with extreme concern.
“I’ll be fine.”
“I can’t believe you were able to move.”
“Ya. I had no choice. You were losing.”
In a slightly humorous tone she scoffed, “What little faith you have in me.”
He chuckled at her before slowly pulling himself up off the ground. Elyse helped him stand. Using one of his sleeves he wiped the blood off of his face that came from his nose. He glanced around at the women and the saw that they were quite shocked. No doubt losing the power they had so recently acquired and was suddenly taken from them was disconcerting. The men who were working for Tiberius seemed equally stunned. Jarron hobbled over to where Tiberius fell. As he got closer he could see Tiberius laying on the ground. Jarron was surprised to see that Tiberius was still alive. He looked quite horrible with the burning computer still on his chest. Jarron could see that he was not likely to survive because there was blood everywhere and Tiberius had severe burn marks all over his body. Jarron leveled his blaster at him.
With a rough cough Tiberius said, “You shot me.”
“Yes.”
“But the Magial said a focal point could not move.”
“I had to so I did.”
“Yes you did.”
He coughed again, this time spitting up some blood. Elyse moved to kneel next to him. She pulled on the straps and lifted off the remains of the computer that was on his chest. Jarron realized that she was intending to heal him. He did not think that it was a good idea at all.
“Elyse what are you doing?” He asked.
“Healing him.”
Tiberius chuckled before coarsely saying, “Ever the good Samaritan.”
“Won’t he just do this all again?” Jarron asked.
“It doesn’t matter. We are better than just letting him die. He needs to face justice for his crimes.”
One of the members of the Union Congress said, “Him dying is justice.”
Jarron glanced at the man. He was a Brumkin with neatly trimmed blonde hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a fine suit.
Elyse shook her head at him before saying, “That isn’t what we do.”
She brought her hands back up to Tiberius’ chest. He felt her powers flow through him as she healed him. He was very tired but after the battle earlier this was easier to handle. Once she finished healing him she shuffled to get away from him. Jarron brought his blaster back to bear on him.
He raised his hands as he declared, “I surrender. Without my system we’re no match for you. Also it would be rude for me to continue forward since she just saved my life.”
Jarron gestured for Tiberius to stand up. The men he hired turned their weapons at Elyse. She took one moment to pull their weapons out of their hands and onto the ground. Several of the members of Congress picked up the rifles and turned them on their owners.
Tiberius then declared, “Well, let us go to your coronation as the newest heroes of the Union.”
Thank you!
I’d like to thank the many people who helped to make this book happen. First and foremost I’d like to thank God. Without the inspiration of our maker I could never write so frequently. As always my wife Parneeta keeps me going even without agents willing to give me a chance. My three little ones, Shawn II, Spencer, and Astir who are the center of my universe. I would like to thank Vlad Bolotov who did the cover art. Lastly, but most importantly, you the reader. I wrote this one for you guys and hope you enjoy it! Thank you.
About the Author
Born in Muskegon, MI and raised in Concord, CA, S.W. Gunn used his early experience as a roleplaying geek to expand upon his imagination. Unable to purchase the proper Dungeon and Dragons manuals at a young age, he developed his own roleplaying paper and pen game for himself and his friends to play. While living in Hawaii, he completed his Bachelor’s in Art degree in History at Chaminade University of Honolulu. He is married to his lovely wife Parneeta and they have three wonderful children, Shawn (2nd), Spencer, and Astir. They live in Tacoma, WA.
Other works by this Author:
The Heima Series:
Heima: The Ninth Kostir
Heima: Challenge to the Crown
The Legenda Series:
Smuggler’s Luck
Gift of Flight
Acciaccato
Skybound
The Almighty Paw
The Priestess Princess
Angels of Evernal
