Fallen, p.24
Fallen, page 24
part #10 of Alex Verus Series
I struck down, using the chain as a whip. Onyx threw up his arms, and the steel links glanced off his shield. I hit once, twice, then Onyx lashed out, force blades exploding upwards.
I was already stepping away, curving the futures to a point. The blades hit the ceiling above, tearing through a support beam, and with a groan a section of ceiling collapsed, burying Onyx in debris. I ran to the corner, snatched up the sword.
Onyx was pulling himself out of the rubble, covered in dust. Force shards sprayed from his hands, but he was too angry to keep tight control anymore and I easily opened up a channel, walking through unharmed. I struck at Onyx’s head, and the force blade sprang back to his hand as he parried.
“I’m going to rip off your face and send it to Morden in a fucking envelope!” Onyx slashed high and low; I ducked the first and parried the second. Onyx clambered over another body and kept coming. He was breathing heavily, and it wasn’t just anger anymore. Onyx might be a battle-mage, but he’d spent the last few years living in a mansion with lackeys to do his fighting and slaves to do his chores, and he was slowing down.
Onyx tried to ram his blade through my chest and I stepped in, hitting him with the sword’s pommel, then followed up as he stumbled. He aimed a spell that would have torn me in half, but it hit only air and I stabbed down through a gap in his shield, gashing his leg. Onyx tried to blast me again but I was already jumping away.
“Going to kill you,” Onyx said. He was short of breath, having trouble talking. “Morden shouldn’t have . . . Going to show him.”
I studied Onyx’s movements in the present and futures. They were getting sluggish, but his shield was still strong. I widened my focus, searching for options.
Onyx came in again, slashing, and this time I stepped aside, striking his leg. It glanced off but made Onyx stumble, and before he could recover I was on top of him, switching hands. Onyx slashed wildly; I parried left-handed, feeling the sword crack under Onyx’s blade, and rammed my fist into his shield.
Magic flashed white, the energy of the fateweaver attacking Onyx’s shield, planes of forces splintering and breaking. Onyx couldn’t reach me with his blade; he let it vanish and thrust his hand at me, trying to tear me apart point-blank. I ducked under his arm, used a shoulder throw. Onyx hit the floor on his back; his concentration wavered and in the instant before it recovered, I drove the sword down two-handed through the weakened section of shield.
The blade went through Onyx’s stomach with a shthunk, pinning him to the floor. His eyes went wide and he lost his breath in a huff. I met Onyx’s gaze, staring down at him as I leant on the sword. “Morden left you,” I told him clearly, “because you were stupid.”
Onyx’s face twisted in rage and I jumped back. Shards and beams of force lashed out, smashing holes in the ceiling and exploding crates into splinters. I ran back, picking out the futures in which I was safe, looking for the item I needed. It was lying near the door, clipped to one of the bodies, and I caught it up.
“You’re dead!” Onyx screamed. He couldn’t get up with the sword pinning him to the floor, but he still lashed out, spells tearing apart the walls. He twisted his head to try to see me, feet scrabbling and murder in his face.
I rose, standing calmly side-on as force blades hissed past. Behind me, the door blew out in a spray of splinters. I pulled the pin from the grenade, waited a second, tossed it.
Onyx saw it coming and threw up a barrier, but my throw had been high. The grenade arced over Onyx, hit the shattered legs of the statue, bounced back. The sword was still piercing Onyx, blocking his shield from fully regenerating. The grenade hit the gap between the edge of his shield and the blade, rattled back and forth, dropped through. Onyx had just enough time to look down before it went off.
I was already ducking for cover. The explosion was muffled, with an odd echo to it, wet and splattering.
And then everything was quiet.
I stood up, studied my handiwork. Onyx’s shield had contained the explosion, focusing it inwards. What was left of his body was barely recognisable. The snapped-off blade of the sword still pinned the red mess to the floor. All around were the bodies of his men. Smoke and dust hung in the air. The air smelt metallic, gun smoke and blood.
Well, I thought, looking down at my hand. Not bad for a first try.
I walked to the ruins of the statue, brushed rubble and dust off my folded armour, picked it up along with my dreamstone and the cube. Then I looked over at Selene.
Selene flinched at my gaze. She was pressed into the corner of the room, dust coating her hair and clothes. “Are there any more?” I asked.
Selene swallowed, speaking carefully. “No.”
I nodded. “Come with me.”
Slowly, Selene rose. She was clearly terrified, but more terrified of what I might do if she disobeyed. She stopped as far away as she dared, avoiding looking down at the bodies.
I walked out the door and down the corridor, Selene following at a distance. Luna, I said through the dreamstone. You’re clear to gate.
You’re back? Are you okay? Where are Onyx and Pyre?
I’m fine. As for Onyx and Pyre, you can come see for yourself.
I turned the corner to see the two girls we’d met in the kitchens. They were hovering in the main hall. The fat-faced one who’d tried to raise the alarm saw me, and her eyes went wide. “Hey!” she shouted. “It’s him!”
I looked back at her.
The girl opened a side door and ran off in the direction of the storeroom, shouting. “Hey! It’s that Verus guy! He’s here! Hey!”
As her voice trailed away, I looked at the other girl. “Your masters are dead. You can stay, or go.”
She looked back at me uncertainly.
The shouts for help in the distance cut off abruptly, followed by shrieks. Apparently the first girl had reached the storeroom. The shrieks continued, and the other girl looked in that direction, eyes wide, and bolted.
I carried on walking. Selene trailed me at a careful distance. “Kyle and my friends are coming,” I told her. “You can stay with him, or I can take you somewhere else. What do you want?”
Selene hesitated.
“It’s not a trick question.”
“Could I . . . think about it?”
I nodded. “We’ll be leaving in an hour or so. You’ve got until then.”
We’d reached the front door. I opened it, walked out onto the patio, sat down on the steps. Light pooled around me from the windows and outside lamps of the mansion; all around was darkness. Selene hung back in the doorway. Off to the left, in the black shadow of the hill, I felt a gate spell and knew it was Vari. I laid my armour and items down and sat on the steps, the summer air warm against my bare skin, and waited for my friends.
* * *
Luna, Variam, and Kyle were relieved to see me, though in Kyle’s case he seemed more happy about Selene. The three of them went in to check the building. When they came out again they were more subdued.
“You did all that?” Luna asked.
“Yes,” I told her.
Variam shook his head. “When I said you might be too nice, I didn’t expect you to take it this far.”
“Someone told me that being nice didn’t work,” I said. I glanced over at Kyle; he was standing next to Selene, talking quietly. “I decided to listen.”
“Can I see it?” Luna asked.
I held up my right hand, and Luna and Variam bent in to look. “It’s like it’s part of you,” Luna said.
“More of a symbiote,” I said. The fateweaver was a steady presence in the back of my mind, ready to be called upon when needed. “Abithriax told me that these items were always unstable. He managed to link with it mentally. I needed something more direct.”
“What’s with the streaks?” Variam asked.
“Connection points,” I said. The thin lines of white running into my forearm seemed a little deeper than they had been an hour ago, but it was a bit late to be worrying about things like that.
“Oh, right,” Luna said. “Shouldn’t we be getting out of here?”
“No hurry.”
“You’re back out of the bubble realm. The Council can track you again.”
“They’re trying,” I said. I’d attended to that while waiting on the steps. “Their tracking spell isn’t working very well.”
“You can do that?” Variam asked.
“I can do pretty much anything, as long as it’s a future I can see.” The futures of the Council’s tracking attempts failing took a little effort to maintain, but not much. “Think Luna’s curse, but the emphasis is on selection. Which reminds me.” I picked up the red cube and tossed it to Luna. “Here.”
Luna caught it. “It’s okay?”
“Seems to be.” The cube had been quiet since my return. “I’m not sure what an imbued item does once the purpose for its existence has gone. Maybe you can help it find something new.”
Kyle exchanged a last few words with Selene, then walked over. “Hey,” he told me. His weapons were hidden away in his dimensional storage again. “You sticking around?”
“No.”
“You left a pretty big mess back there.”
I knew Kyle didn’t just mean literally. Killing someone like Onyx has consequences. “Sorry, but I’m not going to be here to clean it up,” I said. “I don’t have the time, and even if I did, you aren’t going to want the consequences of having me around.”
“I figured,” Kyle said. He hesitated, gave me a challenging look. “I’m staying.”
“Okay.”
“You going to give me any trouble?”
“I hired you for a job,” I said. “You’ve done it. How’s she doing?”
Kyle glanced back at Selene. “Pretty traumatised.”
It wasn’t really surprising. Selene might have been a slave, but the people in that mansion would have been most of her human contact for the past few years. “Keep an eye on the other girls. Some might decide it’s the time to go settling old grudges.”
“Yeah, I think I’ve learnt my lesson as far as that goes.” Kyle started to turn.
“Kyle.”
Kyle stopped, looked back at me.
“I’m going to say we’re even,” I said. “You agree?”
Kyle studied me for a moment, then shrugged. “Fine.”
I held out my hand.
Kyle looked askance, then shook it before turning away and heading back to Selene. I stretched, wincing slightly at the stiffness in my muscles. “Okay, guys,” I told Luna and Variam. “Time to go.”
* * *
Up on the hillside, Variam left to call Landis and check that no one was after him, leaving me and Luna alone. “Are you okay?” Luna asked once he was gone.
“I’m not injured, if that’s what you mean.”
“It’s not.”
“Didn’t think so.” I leant against a tree, the bark rough against my skin, and looked across the valley at Onyx’s mansion. Or what had been Onyx’s mansion—I’d have to come up with a new name for it now. Its windows glowed against the night sky, a network of light in the darkness. “I lost more than a hand back there.”
“Was it the fight with Abithriax?” Luna asked. “I kind of forgot about that in everything else. I mean, I can tell you’re not possessed this time. But it’s like you’re . . .”
Luna trailed off and I waited for her to finish. She didn’t. “Like I’m what?”
“Different.”
“Arachne told me I’d have to make sacrifices,” I said. “Back then, I didn’t understand what she meant. You know what I did with Abithriax?”
Luna shook her head.
“I killed him. Just like Onyx and the others.”
“I suppose they didn’t give us much of a choice,” Luna said with a grimace. “Don’t tell Vari, but I’m starting to feel like I’ve seen too much of this.”
“If you’re feeling that way, you’re probably right,” I said. “But as for the first part, you’re wrong. I did have a choice.”
“Not the best one.”
“I just broke into someone’s house to steal something and killed them when they tried to take it back. That was my choice.”
“I think they deserved it.”
“They didn’t die because they deserved it.”
Luna looked troubled but didn’t reply. Variam reappeared out of the darkness, a slim shadow against the trees. I left the mansion behind me and walked away.
chapter 13
The Hollow was quiet in the darkness. Both Luna and Vari had gone home to sleep and I was alone. I should have been tired but instead I felt wide awake and full of energy. I walked through the Hollow’s woods, listening to the wind in the trees.
The fateweaver seemed to pulse in my hand, singing a song that only I could hear. I traced the futures, flicking from one possibility to another. There was a bird roosting in the branches just above, and I climbed the tree, going hand over foot in pitch dark. I crawled out along the branch, pushing away the futures in which the bird woke, until I was close enough to reach out and brush its feathers. The bird stirred drowsily, carried on sleeping. I dropped lightly to the grass below and kept walking. I’d just wanted to see if I could do it.
A presence appeared in the futures ahead and I turned towards it. I walked into a clearing, moonlight shining down from above, picking out the blades of grass and fallen leaves. At the other side of the clearing, barely visible in the darkness, the light glinted off a pair of eyes.
I stopped a little distance away and crouched down. “Hey, Hermes. How’s it going?”
Hermes moved cautiously forward and stopped just beyond arm’s reach. I held out my right hand. The blink fox leant forward, sniffed. His tail flicked from side to side.
“What do you think?” I asked.
Hermes looked up at me, down at my hand, then backed away and disappeared into the shadows. He gave me a final glance over his shoulder, then was gone.
“I guess I’ll put you down as a maybe,” I said to the darkness.
It was a couple of hours before dawn. There were two people I needed to talk to, and looking through the futures, I saw that they were finally asleep. I turned back towards my bed.
* * *
I slipped through Elsewhere like a fish through water, feeling the currents and eddies pulling me this way and that. Funnily enough, this was one place where the fateweaver didn’t make things any easier—in Elsewhere, your mind is a better tool than any magic. I found the door I was looking for and opened it.
I stepped through into a darkened gym. Scattered patches of white light illuminated heavy bags, floor mats, and a boxing ring. At the far end, a door stood half open, light spilling out around the edges: whether it led deeper into the building or out into the night, I couldn’t say. The sounds of city traffic drifted in from outside, and under that, just audible at the edge of hearing, a woman’s laughter.
There was someone else in the gym with me. I couldn’t see him, but I could hear impacts, blows thudding into a punchbag. They were rhythmic, steady; one, one-two, one-two, one-two-three. With the end of each combination, there would be a faint metallic clinking as the support chain swung back.
“Got a minute?” I said into the darkness.
The sounds of impact cut off. The punchbag swung for a second or two longer, creaking, then was still. Seconds ticked by. I could feel myself being watched, but didn’t move.
Cinder stepped out of the blackness. He was wearing shorts and a white sleeveless T-shirt, and looked younger than I remembered. Sweat glistened on his bare arms. He looked at me for a moment, then walked past me to the side of the room, disappearing back into the darkness. There was the squeak of a faucet, followed by the splash of running water.
“I’m guessing Kyle gave you an update,” I said to the shadows.
Cinder reappeared. Water dripped from his hair, and he had a towel slung around his neck. He studied me without comment.
“A while ago, we made me a deal,” I said. “You’d help me out, and in exchange, you wanted me to split Deleo away from Richard. You changed your mind about that?”
Cinder looked at me, then folded his arms. “No.”
I nodded. “I think I know how to do it.”
“When?”
“As soon as I get the opportunity,” I said. “Most likely, Richard’s next operation. If you can give me any notice, it’d be helpful.”
Cinder nodded.
“One other thing,” I said. “If what I’m planning works, Richard is not going to be happy with her. Personally, this doesn’t bother me very much. But if you still want to help her, she’ll probably need it.”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
Cinder turned to go.
“Wait,” I said.
Cinder paused, looked back at me.
“I’m not going to ask what happened between the two of you,” I said. “I figure it’s your business. But when you fought your way out of Richard’s shadow realm, Deleo stayed behind.”
“So?”
“So why do you still care about helping her?”
Cinder studied me for a moment. “You lost a hand,” he said.
“Yeah.”
“Kyle said it was your girlfriend,” Cinder said.
“Yeah.”
“You giving up on her?”
I looked back at Cinder, then gave a short laugh.
Cinder walked away, the darkness swallowing him up. I turned and walked back to the door. Guess we’ve got more in common than I thought.
