by Randi Darren
“Alright, one of you needs to come add your own and reinforce mine,” Sam said.
Stacia stepped up and dropped a glowing blood-red shield over Sam’s. And then Irene did the same for hers.
“My turn,” Jes said, dropping her own Essence shield atop the previous three. “And now we should all go… probably pretty far away.”
“That’d be… yes,” Wren said. “This is going to be a very ugly explosion, I think. Like holding a firecracker in a closed hand.”
“Had a cousin who lost fingers doin’ that. Took forever to grow back,” Tiffany said, walking back into the room. She picked up her stuff and trotted back out the broken wall.
Everyone piled up in a group and took cover behind the corner of a nearby shed.
Wren peeked around the corner with what looked like a trigger in her hand.
Her thumb pressed the plunger, and there was a massive, deep, rumbling boom.
“Let’s go see the damage,” Tiffany said before the shaking and rattling noises had even finished. “Explosions are awesome.”
Thirty-Four - Charging Ahead -
Peering down into the smoking crater—because that was what it was—Sam didn’t know what to say.
“Fuck yeah,” Tiffany said. “That was damn awesome. We should get into demolitions.”
“The shields redirected the full force of the blast,” Wren said with awe in her voice. “We could… break into banks like this.”
“No,” Jes said immediately. “Robbing, killing, and destroying criminals is one thing. Going after innocents is not what Inc-Suc is for.”
Decima grunted and then dropped down into the smoking hole. Apparently that was the extent of the conversation she was willing to have.
“That works,” Stacia said. “She’s the most likely to be able to deal with—”
The sound of multiple gunshots broke through the silence after the explosion.
Wren, Tiffany, and Irene leapt into the hole after the witch hunter. Stacia, Jes, and Sam all looked into it with some trepidation.
Gunfire continued down in the hole, as well as screaming and shouting. Though much of that seemed inhuman.
Eventually, the sound died away.
“Clear,” Tiffany called up. “Need a bit of medical help down here. Not a bite.”
“Good,” Sam said. “Vampire bites are terrible to clean and disinfect.”
Stacia jumped in first, vanishing into the dark smoky hole.
“I’m having a good time,” Jes said, smiling at Sam. “Thank you for agreeing to this. I know this isn’t really for you, and you don’t want to be here. Even if it does give you the chance for some revenge on Jena.”
Before Sam could respond, Jes jumped into the crater and vanished as well.
Sighing, he could only nod his head. Nothing she’d said was wrong; all of it had been right. Except for one thing.
Sam wasn’t out for revenge. If he could live his life and never interact with Jena again, he’d be just as happy.
He felt guilty for what she’d done to her own race, but he wasn’t about to feel responsible for solving it.
His life wasn’t going to be some petty quest for revenge. But he wasn’t going to pass it up, either.
Revenge was doable, just not his life goal.
That’s more the purview of some curmudgeonly wizard. With a non-existent sex life.
When he stepped into the hole, Sam felt the rush of air going past him. Several seconds passed before he hit the bottom and fell to one knee.
All around him were the corpses of Black-kin vampires and humans.
Jes was sitting next to Wren, one hand pressed to the bigger woman’s shoulder.
They were standing in what seemed to be a lobby. Or what remained of it, from what Sam could see of the broken furniture and decorations. Almost like an office lobby.
“Not what I was expecting,” Sam said.
“No,” Decima said. “The viewing devices are watching areas with heightened security. I think this ‘vault’ is… much more than we suspected. Much more.”
Sam couldn’t help but agree. This seemed to be a prison, cache, vault, and tour destination all at the same time.
It was starting to make him more nervous. The fact that they might be on a timer, and how extensive this place seemed to be, was making his very skin itch.
“How far away was the closest airport? The one we thought they’d deploy from if they did?” Sam asked.
“Military base with an airport,” Stacia said. “If they were on site, we were thinking it’d be about an hour if they got mobile and came by helicopter. And before you ask, we think the alarm went off about five minutes ago.
“If we portal hop out, we can play it all the way up to the wire.”
“Then it’s a one-way trip,” Wren said, rolling her shoulder as Jes pulled her hand away. “We rig the entry here with explosives and sensors. When it goes off, we know to get out regardless of where we are. Jump back to the truck, then jump to base camp with Irma from there, then hit the cool-off point.”
“You alright?” Sam asked, eying the Cambion.
“Yeah, hit me outside the vest and went through my shoulder. Could work through it. I’ve done it before, but if I don’t have to, why would I?” Wren said, getting to her feet.
“They’re not coming,” Decima said, peering down the hallway that led out of the destroyed and bloody lobby. “Which means they have defenses or believe they’re better off hunkering down. In either case, I don’t like it.”
Irene came over and glanced down the hall. Her soul floated along above her. Then it shot down the hall and vanished out of sight.
“I’ll start rigging everything,” Wren said.
Tiffany moved over to join Decima and peered at the witch hunter. “You and me then, huh?”
“As it would seem,” Decima said. Then her mouth snapped shut before she could continue. Baring her teeth for a second, she sighed. Then she licked her lips. “Though I welcome the idea of fighting beside you. You handled yourself well with the Black-kin.”
Clearly not knowing what to say to that, Tiffany just stared back at the witch hunter.
“It’s a hallway,” Irene said, her soul coming back and settling inside her own body. She was apparently getting more and more handy with her soul. “Long one. Doors on either side. They’re empty of people. Everyone’s moved to the back rooms. I didn’t look further because someone noticed I was peeking.”
“Likely that means a wizard that specializes in soul magic,” Decima said. “Hopefully a necromancer, but far more likely a priest of the dead.”
“Okay,” Stacia said. “You four move up with Sam. Jes and I will start looting all the empty rooms as quickly as we can. Irene, could you form the portal before you go? And Sam, could you stabilize it so I can use it? Just like walls, please.”
Sam didn’t argue, just walked over to where Stacia stood with Irene.
The witch held her hands apart in front of herself. A black circle appeared and then filled in with purple mist. A dull glow formed, and the magic solidified. It was a portal looking into the back of the truck they’d arrived in. It had worked as their transport in, but it was also their way to carry everything out.
Sam stuck a finger into the magic of the portal and fed it a touch of his Essence. The strange boiling of magic occurred once again, and then it all blended together.
Stacia did the same, sticking a finger in and then curling her fingers into the magic. “All set. Thanks. That’s rather handy.”
It’ll be even more handy once I get a hold of Decima’s Shamanistic magic and then convince Jes to join her own Essence in.
Should be interesting to form a purity seal with all that.
“Less flirting, more fighting,” Decima groused.
Sam rolled his eyes and returned to Decima, Tiffany, and Wren with Irene at his side.
Tiffany and Wren moved out ahead of everyone else, and the group slowly began walking down the hall.
“These two are clear,” Irene said, pointing to the doors on either side of them.
“Mark them accordingly so our loot crew knows. We’ll be moving ahead,” Decima said.
Irene nodded and closed her hand in front of her and focused her magic for a second. Even as they walked away from the doors, a small green sphere popped up next to the handles of the doors. Floating there in the air.
Irene continued to mark the rooms as they marched down that long corridor. Door after door was clear.
“After we turn, there’s an empty gun emplacement, and the doors directly in front of that are occupied,” Irene said.
“Empty? No machine gun?” Tiffany asked.
“Empty,” Irene confirmed. “Not sure what happened, but it was like above. Just no gun.”
“Don’t care for that,” Decima said. “Giving up a fortified position seems… wrong.”
Irene held out a hand, and a purple wall appeared in front of Tiffany and Wren. While Irene said it was empty, she clearly felt there was no reason to tempt fate.
“These are occupied,” Irene said, gesturing to the doors on either side. “This one has two women in it, that one a single man. No weapons that I can see on any of them, but… that doesn’t mean anything.”
“True enough. I’ll take the singular man,” Decima said, moving to one side and opening the door. She raised her pistol and walked through.
“I’ll take the two,” Tiffany said, lifting her weapon and entering the door.
“Guess I’ll play bodyguard,” Wren said, looking to the emplacement.
“You’re welcome to be my bodyguard. I plan on going to a bedroom soon—will you guard my body there?” Sam asked. “I’m getting hungrier with every bit of Essence used. You already looked amazing, but now I want to tie you to a bed and call out sick for a day.
“Care to let me have a quick meal once we fall back and jump? I’ll make sure it’s a good one for you.”
Wren peered down the sight of her weapon toward the emplacement.
“Sure. Why not? I could blow off some steam,” she said. “Getting shot is never fun, and sex would be a great wind-down.”
Irene gave Sam a pointed look. One that Wren wouldn’t be able to see. Her soul was much more direct, though, pointing wildly at her core.
Since their mad sexual rampage in the truck, Irene had played coy about the whole thing. He hadn’t been able to grant her wish and kill her mid-sex.
Though he figured that was part of the reason she was playing coy. That was a rather strange fantasy of hers.
In fact, now that Sam thought about it, he hadn’t fed from her in a while.
Smiling, Sam held his hands up in silent supplication. Then nodded his head once to her.
Irene nodded her head in return and turned back to the gun emplacement.
Her soul, however, moved in closer, her face angry. She continued to point at her core.
Realizing that her soul wouldn’t be as easily appeased, Sam reached out and wrapped a hand around her bright shining center.
He brought it down to his side and just held on to her.
It would be more than enough to please her soul but not bother Irene directly.
Even then, the witch gave him a sidelong stare for several seconds after he grabbed her core. Ultimately, she went back to her watch.
Quivering on his arm, Irene’s soul looked like it was enjoying whatever his grip on her was doing.
There was a single shot from the left-hand room. It was rapidly followed by several more. Before anyone could react further, Tiffany came out with a snarl on her face.
“Stupid idiots,” she said. “They were… I don’t know what they were, actually. But they wouldn’t let me tie them up. Then they rushed me.
“Whatever. I tried.”
“That’s all you can do,” Irene said. “Check on Decima?”
“Yeah, got it,” Tiffany said, moving across to the other door. Before she could take the handle, the door opened and Decima stepped out.
“Good over here. Trussed him up and then bled him out after I knocked him out,” Decima said. “Can’t leave anyone behind, after all. They’ve seen our faces.”
Tiffany stared at Decima, then did a slight shake of her head as if coming to her senses.
“Oh. Right. This is… right. Yeah,” Tiffany said.
Apparently, there’d been some confusion on what was happening. This was a sweep-and-clear mission. Everyone here was hostile, even if they surrendered.
There’d be no marks against them for this mission.
“Let’s go,” Wren said, moving forward again. She, of course, was unaffected by this news. She’d been a professional hitman who killed whoever she’d been paid to kill.
Moving up to the emplacement, Sam got down a bit and peered through the square even as everyone filtered past him.
No sooner had everything come into view than Sam was struck by a large spike of Essence sorcery.
It went straight through his eye and came out the back of his head.
“Oh!” Sam said, standing straight up. The Essence attack had passed through him as if it were made of little more than thought.
Whoever had flung it at him hadn’t solidified it against extra-planar beings.
Plucking the Essence spike out of the air as it zoomed down the hall, Sam pulled it into his palm.
Inspecting it, he walked into the room the rest of his team were in. They were all hunkered down behind Irene’s shield.
Rounds were being exchanged with what looked like a group of male Imps.
Except beyond them, Sam had the distinct impression there was a horde of Black-kin.
Holding up the Essence spike, Sam bit off the tip of it and began to take it into himself. He looked from person to person, trying to pick out the Essence user.
Then he spotted her.
She was holed up in the shadows, pressed up against the side of a doorway. It was a young woman who looked like she was glowing with Essence. It was all around her like an aura.
She was immaculate and beautiful. With long blond hair and green eyes. Sam could feel her strength from here. It was something on the order of a planar lord.
Getting a taste of her Essence, Sam was able to deduce she was some type of Elemental Spirit. And that her choice of said element was Air.
Taking another big bite out of the Essence spike, he tried to snare her with his eyes. He doubted it’d work, but it was at least worth the attempt.
Except it had the opposite effect. Rather than subdue her, it seemed to enrage her.
Charging out from the rear, the woman shot forward into the center of the room.
“Damnit,” Sam muttered. Rather than take his time savoring the Essence and learning more of the woman, Sam just inhaled it in a blink.
Darting forward through Irene’s shield, Sam went to engage the woman. She was something his people wouldn’t be able to handle.
Immediately, multiple rounds ripped through his body, spraying blood out behind him. It splattered all over Irene’s wall, the area around them, and the ground and ceiling.
Ignoring the rounds, the gun battle as a whole, and that he’d been shot by what felt by several clips’ worth, Sam concentrated on the Elemental. This was his job in all of this. Protect his people from something they couldn’t deal with.
Death from a planar lord had the distinct possibility of sending one’s soul straight through to the after. Essence attacks were problematic.
Not really a planar lord though.
Close enough that I can’t risk it.
Holding her hands up in front of herself, the woman struck out at Sam with a bolt of lightning. It was entirely an Essence construct, but she’d properly tuned it this time.
Building a channel to receive the Essence, a conduit to guide it, and an exit point, Sam redirected the whole thing right back at the woman.
Then, using the same construct, he pushed the remaining Essence from his spell back into his body
. Immediately, his wounds clotted and began to work at holding everything together.
He’d need time to heal his vessel later, but he’d be able to operate at near peak performance for a while.
The problem on top of all that was he couldn’t use any Essence magic that would leave a trace of himself behind. Which meant combat Essence was a no-no. Anything terribly violent or energetic tended to leave residue behind.
Which was why he’d simply diverted her attack back at her.
Eyes widening, the woman lifted her hands and attempted to block her own attack. It deflected partially around her and ended up detonating amongst her own soldiers.
As if realizing she was outclassed, the woman crouched low and then started zipping away deeper into the complex. She kept vanishing from one point and appearing in another, utilizing a spell Sam called “Blink”. It was one of the few spells Jena had mastered that he taught her.
Cursing under his breath, Sam chased after her. If he let her get away, there was a distinct possibility of her actually portaling out. Letting her get to Jena would be the worst possible scenario.
Pushing Essence out faster and faster, Sam kept using the Blink spell to close the distance. With each usage, he gained on her, but he kept pulling on his Essence bank.
He wasn’t as strong as he’d once been, and he hadn’t had enough time to build up his reserves. On top of that, the vast majority of his Essence was all emotional.
Gritting his teeth, Sam appeared almost on top of a group of Black-kin. They all shrieked in surprise but weren’t fast enough to react before Sam zipped off again.
Up ahead, he could see the woman blast through a closed door as if it weren’t even there. Vanishing into the room beyond, Sam lost sight of her.
When he finally entered the room behind her, he got the impression he’d made a mistake.
That was mostly due to the fact that the woman was standing amongst a very large group of Black-kin vampires. The magnificently ugly and disgusting creatures converged on Sam in a flash.
Whipping up the sword he had in his hand, Sam felt a momentary sense of nostalgia.
