by John Corwin
"This place is seething with minders," Mom said, looking all around with dismay.
"Must be social hour," Dad said. "Maybe this is how they spend their off time."
"Justin, your phone." Elyssa pointed at the screen. Static flickered across it every time lightning threaded through the fog. The GPS signal blinked in and out.
I cursed. "We need to drop lower. The aether storm is playing havoc with my phone."
Dad nodded. "Lead on."
We had to descend for nearly half a minute before my phone decided to work again. We went forward a few feet and nearly ran into the side of a red brick building. I slapped the hard surface. "Son of a—"
"Justin!" Mom said with a stern look.
"—bad person," I finished with a contrite smile. "We're never getting anywhere at this rate."
Something clattered off the wall a few inches from my head.
"Arrows!" Elyssa dropped low on the carpet and looked behind us. "The Exorcists must have carpets too."
"How are we supposed to outrun them in this pea soup?" I said with a growl. "I should've taken them out earlier." Something cold touched my head.
You rang? said a familiar voice in my head.
I didn't have time to properly greet my minder. "We need help!"
I just read your mind, he said. Come with me if you want to live.
I saw Minder Justin floating a few feet to my left. One of his tentacles rested on my head. "Lead on."
I have a better idea.
My vision blurred and sharpened back to normal. As I looked around, I realized my vision was much improved. I couldn't see clear as day, but shadowy shapes of buildings and other obstructions filled the fog.
That should help you run from those homicidal maniacs behind you.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw the shadowy outlines of the pursuing Exorcists maybe fifty yards away. "Dad, get behind us and overlap the carpets. We're about to go a lot faster."
He nodded and lined up his and Mom's carpet so the edges overlapped, and gripped the edges. "Go."
Mom wrapped her arms tight around his waist. "Never a dull moment," she said.
I willed the carpet forward. It went from zero to turbo in three seconds. Apparently the Templar flying carpets were a lot better than their civilian counterparts. I zoomed down to street level, flying just high enough to skim over empty cars. The Exorcists shouted and dove after us. I saw a volley of arrows shoot toward us, but our forward velocity was too much for them to overcome.
"Why don't they just use guns?" I said.
"The Exorcists shun technology," Elyssa said.
I threaded between a city bus and a semi-truck. "I guess that explains the weird crossbow that dude in the church used."
Elyssa gripped my waist tighter. "Just pay attention to where you're going and be glad they aren't shooting assault rifles."
Through there, Minder Justin said.
I felt a tug on my attention and saw the unfinished condo complex he referred to.
"It's terrifying not being able to see where we're going," Elyssa said.
The carpet wove between two concrete pillars. I took us into a nearly vertical climb up several stories of the skeletal superstructure before straightening out and flying through a maze of plywood and steel beams in the center. Only the magic bonding our bodies to the carpet prevented us from flying off.
"I should probably be grateful I can't see very far," Elyssa said, her grip growing even tighter as we whooshed past a row of support columns.
Dad laughed. "It's the only reason my underwear is still clean."
"Don't you ever get tired of poop jokes?" Mom said.
"Never."
They're falling behind, Minder Justin said.
I didn't risk a glance back. "Let me know when they can't see us." I wound through a narrow alley, and took a sharp right around a corner.
Now.
"Hang on!" I shouted above the wind even though it really wasn't necessary. I gripped a lamppost and took the carpets into a tight turn.
"Maybe I shouldn't have eaten before I left," Dad said in a strained voice.
The building ahead appeared to be a combination apartment and commercial complex. I took the carpets to the sidewalk and jerked open the door to a restaurant. Everyone jumped off the carpets and ran inside.
Are they still following us? I sent to Minder Justin.
See for yourself, he said.
The Exorcists appeared as blue outlines against the black shadow of the building. There were three carpets with two people on each one. The people on the rear of the carpets had bows. They streaked past the building and slowed. I saw one of them pointing in the direction we'd been heading while another shook his head.
"What's going on?" Elyssa asked.
I explained the situation. "We'll have to wait."
"They only sent six?" Dad said. "Maybe we can ambush them."
"They have bows and arrows," I reminded him. "With their magic glasses we wouldn't make it close enough before they skewered us."
The Exorcists spread out, apparently combing the nearby area for us. There weren't many other tall buildings in this section of town, or my ploy might have worked better.
Which way to the fortress? I asked my minder.
A tug on my brain told me without him saying a thing. You want to kill minders? he said in a disgusted tone.
It took a few seconds to process the question before remembering he could read some of my thoughts. Just the brain Serena uses to control the fortress and the sentinels.
He made a pshawing noise in my head. That's easy. Just jerk out their tentacles.
That's not what Cinder told me."
Yeah, I was just joking about the tentacles, Minder Justin informed me. Cinder might be right. I don't know.
Can you convince the minders to enter the psionic disruptor? I asked.
He paused. I don't think so. They'd read my intentions. You'll have to lure them in some other way.
I suddenly spotted a flying carpet hovering outside with shadowy shapes resembling Mom and Dad. I was about to yell in alarm when I saw my parents still inside.
"I'm dreamcasting that," she said. "I can lure them away."
Already, my minder vision helped me spot one of the Exorcist duos on a carpet swooping down to investigate. "How far away can you lure them before you lose control of your clones?"
She shrugged. "I don't know."
I narrowed my eyes. "I have a better idea."
I wondered if the magic glasses allowed them to see our heat signatures through the concrete. If they looked through the windows, they'd see us for sure. The restaurant was built like a loft with a high ceiling. Even though I couldn't see the details, my mind seemed to know what my eyes were seeing thanks to the link with my minder.
"Back on the carpets," I said.
Everyone stepped back on without question.
"Crouch low." I took us to the ceiling, set the carpets against the front corner where the concrete would hopefully block us from sight from their thermal goggles.
"Lure them inside," I told Mom.
She nodded. The dreamcasted versions of my parents got off the flying carpet and ran inside."
"Down there," I heard a man say.
My fake parents ran to the bar, ducked behind it, and peeked over the edge enough so their pursuers could clearly see them.
I looked down and saw the archer and his companion rush inside the restaurant. They were only ten feet below us. One look up, and it was game over. I felt Elyssa squeeze my hand as the two men spoke in low tones.
The archer nocked an arrow and aimed. "Come out now, and I'll spare you."
The other man drew a sword and held it at the ready.
Elyssa pointed down and made a motion of hitting a palm with her fist.
I nodded. Gripping the edge of the carpet, I slid off it and hung over the men's heads. Elyssa performed a graceful forward flip off the carpet so she was hanging next to me.
The cloned version of my parents stood from behind the bar, arms raised. The archer laughed. "Actually, I lied." He shot my father in the chest. The arrow bounced off harmlessly.
"What the hell?" the archer said.
Elyssa mouthed the word, "Now" and dropped. I let go at the same time.
I landed atop the bowman. He grunted. A knee to his stomach and blow to the head put him out of commission. Elyssa put the other man in a chokehold and squeezed until he passed out. She ripped the magic glasses off the man's head and tried them on.
"Perfect," she said.
Dad took the other set from the archer. "We're golden now."
"There are still four more Exorcists out there," Mom reminded him.
"I have an idea," Elyssa said. She grabbed the bow from the floor and slid the quiver over her shoulder.
"We going wabbit hunting?" I asked.
She blew me a kiss. "You know it."
Our girlfriend is hot, Minder Justin said. Especially with those nerdy magic glasses.
She's mine, not ours.
A guy can dream, can't he? Chagrin filled his voice.
I felt kind of bad for him.
Oh, don't feel sorry for me. I'll just live vicariously through you. Oh, wait, I already do.
I smiled. You can help us put down some bad guys.
Dude, I am so in.
"Their carpet is a little larger," Elyssa said. "We'll need to use it so they think it's their buddies."
I looked at my parents. "We'll be back."
"Son, be careful," Mom said.
I pecked her on the cheek. "I'm always careful."
Liar, my minder said in a smug voice.
We went outside and hopped on the Exorcist carpet. I told Elyssa how the archer had stood behind the carpet driver. She mimicked the position, and we shot upward. Thanks to my minder vision, I spotted the other two carpets quickly. They were circling over opposite sides of the area, one of them scouting through a parking deck, and the other combing nearby alleys.
I told Elyssa their positions and directed the carpet toward the pair in the alley first. Since I knew they couldn't see us through the building, I used my unfair advantage to its fullest, and swooped down from above as they passed below. Elyssa put an arrow through the archer. He shouted and fell off. Before the driver could react, an arrow sprouted from his back. He slumped forward, and the carpet coasted to a halt. We dropped next to the carpet. Elyssa hopped to it and landed it on the ground. We stripped the gear from the men. I noticed the arrows had hit the men in virtually the same exact spot even though one was taller than the other.
"I didn't know you could shoot a bow," I said.
She stuffed the extra magic glasses into a duffel bag one of the Exorcists had strapped to the carpet. "I've never shot a person with an arrow before." Her voice sounded sad. "I didn't want to take a chance by just winging them."
I squeezed her hand. "Hey, I understand. They're trying to kill us." I kissed her cheek just beneath the rim of the thermal goggles. "You did what you had to do."
"Let's take out the others," she said.
I heard a shout of alarm and turned to see they'd already found us. An arrow streaked right at me. Before I could react, I felt Elyssa slam into me and we hit the ground with a grunt.
I heard shouts of alarm and rolled to my back in time to see my parents slam their flying carpet into the Exorcists. The men plummeted to the ground bellowing in terror.
The impact of carpets didn't even faze my parents. When their doubles pulled up to us a moment later, I realized why. Mom had used their dreamcasted clones to take out our attackers.
"Very clever," I said to my Mom.
She looked at the bodies of the fallen with sad eyes. "Hopefully that's the last of them."
We went back inside the restaurant we'd used for cover to get our Templar-issued carpets since they had the camouflage spells. I saw the men we'd ambushed slumped against a wall, their necks bent at grotesque angles. "What happened?" I asked.
Mom looked at my father. He looked at the bodies. "We couldn't let them report back to Montjoy so I took care of the problem."
I felt a little nauseated even though I understood his reasoning.
Man, our dad is sick, Minder Justin said with awe.
I looked away from the corpses. Tell me about it.
No, I mean he's wicked sick, dude. This is a man who does what needs doing.
I looked at the floating brain and blew out a disgusted breath. If you say so.
"Let's get moving," Elyssa said. "We've lost a lot of time."
Dad had gathered magic glasses for everyone. I elected to stick with minder-enhanced vision since it was so much better. We took a couple more bows and quivers of arrows though I figured they wouldn't do much good against sentinels or Nazdal, and hopped onto the carpets. At full speed, we reached the outskirts of the quarry and the bubble of clear air within minutes.
Are there any flying sentinels guarding this place? I asked Minder Justin.
Hang on. He vanished into the fog, and I was suddenly blind again. My chest tightened at the claustrophobic sensation. Relief swept over me when he returned and latched onto my head again. All clear. I guess they didn't think anyone would come by air.
We dropped beneath the fog cover and into the clear bubble of air around the fortress. The others took off their magic glasses. I looked straight down into the quarry pit and saw rubble and water. Something was missing. A lot of something. "The Nazdal aren't in the pit."
"It's empty," Mom said in a quiet voice.
"They must have sent them through the Shadow Nexus," Elyssa said.
Dad looked at me. "Oh, crap."
The battle had already started.
Chapter 35
"We've got to get down there," I said.
Dad grimaced. "A better question is how we're supposed to get through the back door if nobody is left inside to open it."
"Before we jump to any conclusions, maybe we should observe the situation." Mom peered over the edge of the flying carpet and looked at the fortress and quarry for a long moment. "If the Shadow Nexus is inside the domed building and the arch is open, shouldn't we feel at full strength?"
Elyssa nodded. "I still feel puny."
"Me too." Dad lay down next to Mom and poked his head over the edge of the rug. "Then again, they could have sent through the army of Nazdal and closed the arch behind them."
Despite the dampening effect of the Gloom, coming into my new powers seemed to have helped quite a bit. For one thing, my vision remained sharp even from this distance. Movement caught my eye. I zoomed in on it and spotted one of the formerly human ghouls shamble a step or two before stopping. Its skin was so discolored, it blended in with the moss and algae on the rock near the quarry pond.
The granite near the creature's feet seemed to move. I looked long and hard for so long, I thought it might have been my imagination. The ghoul dropped to its haunches. The rock beneath it leapt and scurried away. I suddenly realized why the quarry looked empty. Thinking back to when I'd opened the Shadow Nexus to the Nazdal realm clarified my confusion.
"The pit isn't empty." I looked at the others. "The Nazdal are camouflaged."
"Just like in their realm," Dad said. "They blended perfectly with the terrain."
"Why now?" I asked.
"Either they know we're coming, or maybe they're sleeping." He shrugged. "Let's assume the worst."
Elyssa blew out a breath. "Good idea."
"I just hope there aren't any Nazdal surprises hidden near the door," Dad said. He slipped on his magic glasses and surveyed the area. "I don't see any heat signatures near the door. Looks like we're clear."
"Good idea," Elyssa said, putting her glasses back on. She stared at the pit. "I can't tell how many Nazdal are down there. It looks like they're clustered in groups."
I activated the camouflage on the carpet. The spell concealed us, the bows, and other stolen gear while allowing us to still see each other. Once
we stepped off it, we'd have to rely solely on the Nightingale armor to conceal us. "Let's set up near the door."
I'll wait here, my minder said. Good luck. Don't let anything happen to our hot girlfriend.
I sent him the mental image of me rolling my eyes. Did you ask any other minders to help us?
I tried, but like I told you, they're locked into minder duties unless… Minder Justin trailed off.
Unless what?
Maybe if their owners think really hard about summoning them, they'll come. Minders can sense the people they're connected to, but only if the intent is strong.
I raised an eyebrow. You mean Elyssa and the others can ask their minders to come?
It's worth a shot.
Hope bloomed in my chest. Great idea.
You'll have to figure out a way to get us inside, though. We can't phase through walls.
I nodded. I'll think of something. Is there anything else we need to worry about with the brain? Can they detect us by our thoughts?
Minders whose owners are dead can't sense thoughts unless they're touching you. They can hear sound when you're near them, though.
That much I knew from talking to Serena's minder.
"Ready?" Elyssa asked.
I told her and the others my minder's plan, including the limitations of the brain minders.
"I hadn't thought about the possibility they could sense our thoughts. Thank goodness they can't." She pursed her lips. "The help of our own minders could be crucial."
Elyssa gave a signal. We descended slowly until we were only twenty feet off the rubble-strewn ledge next to the rear door. Elyssa held up a fist, indicating a full stop. We inspected the area, looking for anything out of the ordinary. I figured that included just about everything in my life, but opted to keep the smart remarks to myself.
After convincing ourselves nothing hidden lurked below, we landed near the gray door and waited. Elyssa activated the camo on her armor. She didn't so much vanish as she blurred into a very hard to see smudge on my vision over several seconds. When I tried to look directly at her, it was as if the camouflage deflected my eyes somewhere else. She touched my head, and suddenly I could see her again.
"I activated the squad spell that'll allow us to see each other," she explained, activating the camouflage on my parents' armor.
