by Charley Case
In all their time together, Finn had thought Mila was pushing herself with her aggressive driving. Turns out, he couldn't have been further from the truth. She had been holding back. If the last thirty seconds was any indication, she had been holding back a lot.
He glanced over and saw nothing but focused determination on her face as she slapped the shifter up and down to get that bit of extra out of the high-performance car. She was like a hawk eying her prey, nothing could break that concentration. Finn happened to look at the dash, and instantly regretted it when he saw that they were doing nearly a hundred and twenty, and hadn't even gotten entirely out of the city.
Glancing behind them, Finn was shocked to see three of the trucks were keeping up with them. After a second, Finn realized it was because Mila had to clear the traffic ahead of them, while all the trucks had to do was follow.
The last light before the road became a two-lane highway into the mountains flashed by while it was turning red, but Mila had crossed the intersection so fast that no one had had a chance to even begin to accelerate. The trucks coming in behind them, however, were not as lucky. Finn could see what was about to happen. Traffic would pull out and the vehicles would hit them, ending the chase, but also, more than likely, end the bystanders' lives as well.
“Fuck,” Finn growled, focusing his magic.
He gritted his teeth and expelled a large amount of magic while whispering, “Bòrd.”
The cabin of the Hellcat filled with the smell of pine, and Finn felt his power rush out in a sucking motion, draining him for a second.
The ground beneath the lead cars in the intersection was suddenly lifted in square table-like chunks. Cars were suspended by the undercarriage on asphalt and stone slabs that left the wheels spinning in the open air. The move left the people safe, if a little confused, but that meant the chase was far from over for Mila.
She downshifted as the grade of the road increased, climbing up into the mountains to the west of town. She passed a Subaru, drifting the car around a tight switchback, rocketing out of the turn, just to have to do the same maneuver going the opposite way a few seconds later.
Finn bit his tongue just to keep from shouting for her to look out. She obviously saw the cars ahead of her and had a plan to get around them, even if he had no clue what that plan was.
“I kinda wish that spell you put on the tires when we went up to the lake hadn't worn off. It would make this all a lot easier,” Mila said as she had to go onto the slim berm, spitting rocks down onto the road below.
Finn felt his asshole tighten so much he thought he wouldn't be able to shit for a week as he stared down the mountainside. Seeing the trucks racing to keep up a few turns below made Finn begrudgingly have to give the drivers credit for keeping up as well as they had.
“Shit,” Mila said calmly.
That one word made Finn go white. He glanced at the traffic stopped ahead due to some jam further up the mountain.
“I see a firebreak road. I think I can get to it before oncoming traffic cuts us off.” She pushed the accelerator to the floor, making the car’s back tires rumble as they broke free for a second, even though they were already doing sixty.
She swerved into the oncoming lane with a semi coming down the mountain right at them. The car sped up to over a hundred in a few seconds, the whole thing hunkering close to the road as the speed increased.
Finn wasn't breathing.
The semi laid on the horn, locking up its brakes. White smoke billowed out from the wheels, and the rig bounced as it fought to slow its forward momentum.
They rushed towards the truck, and all Finn could focus on was the chrome grill, thinking of how he was going to be nothing but ground meat in a second. Then Mila slammed on the breaks, making him and Penny fly forward, only the seatbelt and Finn's quick reactions allowing him to snatch her from the air before she slammed into the dash. The car squealed as it went from trying to go as fast as possible to stopping in the span of a millisecond.
The truck barreled down on them. At the last second, Mila spun the wheel, and they dropped off the highway and onto a snow-covered, gravel-packed road. The semi flew past where they had been moments before.
Rocks and pebbles slammed into the bottom of the Hellcat like a drummer on every drug ever made at the same time while trying to break the world speed record for the fastest drum roll. Even the thought of conversation seemed impossible in the sudden cacophony.
Finn peered out the back window and was shocked to see that the trucks were turning onto the fire road. They must have used their off-road capabilities to get past the semi entirely blocking the road now that it had stopped. They were a good half mile or more ahead of their pursuers, but the way the car slid back and forth at the slightest incline meant they had to slow down, while the trucks’ four-by-four drive trains were coping with the loose gravel just fine.
“Uh, I don't mean to be a bother, but do you know where this road goes?” Finn asked as calmly as he could. He stared past Mila and down the very close edge of the road. It was a long way down before they would stop if she happened to go over the edge.
“No idea. These firebreaks meet up with other main roads.” She slid them around a corner, the back tire shooting rocks and snow out into the open air behind them. “Usually.”
Finn nodded. She was doing the best she could. He watched the corner they had gone around, counting out the time it took before the first truck was visible. They rounded another corner, and he did the same thing. The time was shorter. Not much, but it was a few seconds. They were catching up. If they could get through this and find another main road, then he was sure Mila could lose them. They just had to stay ahead.
An idea came to Finn. He was a little drained from earlier, but they were surrounded by rock. Finn could work with that. He closed his eyes and focused on the loose rock in the upper hills. He envisioned it rumbling along with the sound of the engine, shaking free, and tumbling into more rock further down, and so on. Then, he envisioned a rock slide. Finn began to power the spell.
He was thrown against the seatbelt, the wind knocked out of him. His eyes snapped open, and he saw they were sliding towards a downed tree blocking the road. Finn guessed it was a good two feet thick, far to thick to drive through, and more than likely too heavy to move.
The car stopped two feet from the massive tree, the engine purring with anticipation, but with nowhere to go.
“Fuck,” Mila said, looking for a way around the tree. “Damn it! I was having a blast. Now we have to fight these fuckers.” She shut the car off with a pout.
Finn and Penny stared at her for a long second.
“What?” she asked. “I like to drive. I haven't had that much fun driving in years.”
Finn laughed. “You are amazing.”
She smirked, pulling the Ivar pistol from the small of her back. “I know.”
Finn stepped out of the car, reached around under his jacket, and pulled Fragar free. He whispered the power word and the ax unfolded in a flash. He looked over and saw Mila doing the same with her armor, only the high collar of the chainmail visible as it formed over her skin. Gram was in her off-hand a second later, the gleaming golden blade humming with power.
Finn set his feet as the roar of multiple engines signaled the trucks were cornering the last bend. He watched as they slid to a halt, the engines shutting off and two guys getting out of each of the five vehicles.
The sudden silence on the side of the mountain was only interrupted by the loud pinging of rapidly cooling metal as the taxed engines sat in the frigid air.
The black-clad soldiers approached cautiously, no visible weapons on their persons. That made Finn more nervous than if they were all carrying guns. No guns meant that the men themselves were weapons, and upon closer inspection, he could see they were all Kashgar, and therefore adept at magic.
One of the men stepped closer than the rest, staring at the two of them with contempt. “You know, I hate having to chase peopl
e. It’s so annoying. And look what it got you?” he waved a hand out over the open expanse looking down on Boulder. “At least you die with a pleasing view.”
“You work for the Dark Star,” Finn said, raising an eyebrow. “We have a deal with her. She said she was going to hunt us down herself. If I were you, I wouldn't do anything to piss her off, like kill us without her present.”
The tall man scratched at his bald head. “Yeah, the thing is, we all know about that. And if it were any other circumstance, you’d be right.” He licked his teeth, making a sucking sound. “But there is one thing she won’t stand for. You fucked with her daughter.” He shook a finger at them. “That’s a big no-no.”
Finn cocked his head and looked over at Mila. “This guy’s a little over the top.”
She gave a shrug.
“I mean, I’m not crazy here, right?” he pointed Fragar at the bald man. “He just sucked his teeth at us.” Finn turned back to the man and furrowed his brow. “Tell me the truth, you practiced that speech in the mirror, didn't you?”
The other nine guys chuckled, but a dark look from their leader silenced them. His face was red when he turned back to face Finn and Mila, but Finn couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or anger.
“Look, we didn't really know if Stephanie was her daughter or not. Now that we do, we can leave her alone. We don't have to fight, and you all don't have to die.” Finn shrugged, looking up to his shoulder to give Penny a smirk. She always liked it when he said clever things, but she wasn't there.
Finn frowned and looked over to Mila, expecting Penny to be with her, but her shoulders were empty.
“There are ten of us, and two of you. In what world do you two walk away from this?” the leader said, holding up his hand and forming a small bubble that filled with swirling fire.
“Well,” Finn’s attention was dragged back to the problem at hand, “I would say pretty much all of them. You think I could go around the galaxy talking the kind of shit I do without having been in a few five-on-one fights?”
The leader made a face like he had eaten a lemon. “It’s ten-to-two, you moron. Not five on one. I’ll give you some credit and maybe concede that you could take out five guys, but you don't stand a chance against twice that.”
Finn blinked in confusion. “Huh? That’s what I said. It's five-to-one odds here, bub.” He looked over at Mila, but she looked just as confused.
Now it was the bald guy giving them an incredulous stare. “You must be the dumbest dwarf in the galaxy. I just told you there are ten of us. Can't you count?”
“Uh, boss.” One of the younger guys stepped forward, missing the look on his partner’s face that said to keep his mouth shut. “I think he’s talking ratio. Like five to one is the same as—”
“Shut the fuck up, Jeffrey!” The bald guy screamed, a vein throbbing on his forehead. “Just shut. The fuck. Up.” He glared at the man until the soldier took a step back into line. The leader turned to Finn, his face a mask of rage. “The fact that you know the daughter even exists makes you a liability. Our lord doesn't abide by liabilities. Your sentence is death.”
Finn puffed out his cheeks in a long exhale. “Boy, oh, boy. If she doesn't abide by liabilities, you better pray no one reports your abysmal grasp of fractions. That’s a pretty big liability all on its own, but your inability to take criticism on the matter is just… fuck man; that’s just dangerous.”
Finn would have sworn he could see steam coming off of baldy’s head. When Mila started laughing softly, it about caused an aneurysm.
“Kill these motherfuckers!” the guy screamed, throwing his premade fireball.
Finn and Mila dove away from one another, letting the bubble fly between them, expecting a flaming explosion. However, when no explosion came, Finn glanced over to where a burning crater should be and saw a splash of orange color in the snow as if someone had thrown a bucket of paint.
The attackers all had bubbles up at this point, so Finn wrote it off as the bald guy getting too worked up to properly use his magic.
Finn pushed off the ground with his back foot, raking his free hand into the snow and scooping up a handful of rocks along with it, charged the guys on the right.
They raised their hands, looks of concentration, and only a little fear on their faces. They let the spells fly. Finn held up Fragar as a shield and smacked the first bubble away before it could fully form. The second bubble popped and a large bouquet of flowers snapped into reality as Finn ducked to the right, letting the flowers fly over his head.
Finn whipped his hand up, focusing a chunk of his magic into it and shouting, “Leaghadh!” before throwing the handful of rocks and snow at the two men.
The snow vaporized into steam as the rocks glowed with heat. They turned to magma and splashed across three men. Their jackets burst into flame as the liquid rock hit them, making two of the men run and the third to drop to the ground and roll around.
A bolt of white energy from Mila’s Ivar pistol shot the top half of one of the Kashgar off before it slammed into the second truck in the line, making it explode, and cartwheel over the cliff.
Finn realized just about the same time that the Kashgar did that their magic was not doing what they wanted it to. Everyone stopped. Finn felt terrible about killing what helpless men, so he backed away. They did the same. He held a hand up for Mila to let them go.
The Kashgar got back to the lead truck and, all at once, piled into the back. Finn cocked his head and looked at Mila, who shrugged.
“Why are they getting in the back… oh, fuck.” Finn’s question was answered when baldy stood up in the bed of the truck and leveled an RPG at him.
“Have some Peabrain magic, you fucking—”
The truck exploded as another bolt from the Ivar slammed into it. The rocket-propelled grenade shot up into the air as the truck and the remaining six Kashgar were tossed into the air.
Finn watched the grenade shuttle up and veer towards the snow-covered mountain peak. His face dropped when he saw what was about to happen.
The truck landed on the road, the front half blown off, and Kashgar fell all around it, along with the contents of the truck, which happened to be a small arsenal.
Finn ignored them, including the groans of pain from those that had survived the first blast and the fall back to earth. He turned and focused on the tree blocking their path. Finn took a knee as the sound of the grenade exploding high above them thumped through the valley.
Digging his hand down until he felt rock, he channeled magic into the ground. “Colbh cloiche!”
A stone column shot up into the air under the root end of the tree, launching the massive thing into the air. The tree spun into the valley below.
“We need to go now!” Finn shouted.
She was staring, not at the tumbling tree or the massive two-foot thick column of stone, but up the mountain’s slope where the grenade had broken loose several weeks’ of built-up snow.
“Mila!” he shouted, snapping her out of her daze.
She did a double-take as she saw the tree was gone, and their path was clear.
“Right! Where’s Penny?” Mila shouted over the intensifying rumble.
Finn opened the passenger side door and saw Penny lying unconscious on the seat. “She’s here. We need to get the fuck out of here. You wanted more driving, well, here’s your chance, darlin’.”
Mila snapped out of her daze at the mention of more driving. She hopped into the car and had it started and throwing snow and gravel out behind them before her door was even shut.
Chapter Sixteen
Mila raced along the firebreak road, not taking the time to check the rearview mirror. Either they would make it, or they wouldn't, and her checking was just a distraction. She turned the wheel, letting off the gas as they approached a tight turn, and the car rumbled. She had noticed the vibrations when she had the pedal down, but she thought it was the engine. Now that the car was taking a breather, she realized it wasn't the
vehicle shaking, but the mountain.
Sliding into the corner, Mila feathered the gas, keeping just enough power to take the turn at speed, but not so much they risked spinning out.
She could see where the road would turn back to the right, getting them out of the depression the avalanche was racing down, but it was still a few seconds away, and the car was now beginning to bounce as millions of tons of snow cannonballed along down the mountain, shaking the very stones of the earth.
Mila chanced a quick look in the mirror and saw the leading edge of the avalanche smash into the road, shoving the remaining black trucks over the side.
Mila swallowed and pushed the pedal down more. Snow and rock slammed into the road behind them, catching up to the speeding Hellcat.
“We’re not going to make it.”
“We’re going to make it. Just focus,” Finn said in a calm voice as he cradled the unconscious Penny.
Mila leaned forward, gripping the steering wheel so tight the leather squeaked under her sweaty palms. She couldn't help but catch a glimpse of the white torrent of death closing in. She gave the car more gas.
The turn came faster than anticipated, while at the same time taking forever. Mila slammed on the brakes and turned the wheel right, sending the car into a sideways slide. She stomped on the gas while the blurring cliffside filled the windscreen. Wheels spinning, they chewed into the snow and loose gravel, adding an insignificant amount to the river of snow and rock tumbling down the mountain behind them.
Traction control kicked in and launched them forward towards the cliff face, but their sideways momentum slid them around the corner just in time to rocket down the road.
Mila breathed a sigh of relief as she slowed down and glanced in the rearview mirror. From around the sharp turn, she could see the avalanche plowing through the dense tree cover, ripping them from the mountain and adding their weight to the wave of death.
A crack and a pop made Mila snap her head over to see Finn releasing the folding handhold above the door. Her jaw dropped when she saw that he had crushed the leather-covered plastic handle into a twisted wreck.
