Master waved a hand through the air. A group of gryphons and werewolves, some were in their human forms, came forward. Behind them, a parade of dozens of different kinds of animals followed. A couple tigers, a hippo, several birds, and a horse were just a few. Their coats and skins and feathers were finishing their colorization, letting the bat know that these weren’t simply pure animals.
They were part of the Serpent League.
“We have more among us than you realize.” The reptile smiled. “For hundreds and hundreds of years our kind was living among all animals, no species ever getting wise to the fact that we exist. Not even any humans have figured it out. We’ve lived like normal people among them for as long as any of us can remember.”
“And what is this to say?” Delta asked. “Is this to brag about your adaptability?” he smiled.
Master shook his head. “It means that dealing with uncooperative animals will be no problem. Even humans, for that matter. We’ve been studying everything about them while they’ve not so much as had an inkling that we exist. There won’t be an issue there.”
A thundering happened from above. The bat looked to see clouds of black birds swarm nearly above the clouds. Besides the sound of thousands of wings flapping, none of them made any screeching. There was an eerie quietness that made Delta wince.
“Hmmph.” Master gleamed, looking up at them. “It’s happening already.”
Delta had a flashback to the tornado of crows that had swarmed the police station as the Serpent League made their first attack. Clearly something was happening again.
Considering the size of the storm of birds, it was going to be massive.
A kind of flame kindled in him, in the same part of his mind that allowed him to reach out to animals’ minds. The uneasiness inside him washed away, and his mind took in the intentions of the birds. The feeling rushed through him as if he were a bottle in the ocean.
He didn’t need to ask any more questions. Delta was one more step closer to being the ruler he needed to be.
“They’re all heading to New York.” the bat said.
“Christmas Eve.” Master smiled. “Everyone in the same buildings and their family, friends, loved ones. Such a big population density would facilitate the spread of our blood.” He pointed up to the legion of black birds. “And our airborne servants will be our biggest assets, of course.”
Delta found himself dragging his tongue across his teeth. A part of him was surprised by how much he liked the sound of that.
“Let us go then, Delta.” He gathered all the Leaguers, gryphons, and werewolves around him. A large number of them settled next to the bat. It gave Delta a fuzzy, warm feeling. “We don’t want to be late the crowning of our new king.”
18
New Blood
Everyone made it.
Patrick knew that he would be deeply exhausted from the jump in just another short while.
The Raven Gang, the detectives, and the Elders all looked around. They were all together. That wasn’t the problem that they were worried about.
No one was sure about where they had landed.
It was New York all right. But the landscape was like nothing they’d ever seen. It was night out, but the darkness wasn’t the normal winter evening. The clouds were lower than the Empire State Building, and hordes of black birds orbited the skyline. As the clouds expanded their shadows, so did the birds.
It looked to them that they were looking at the nexus of the League’s plan.
“It can’t be stopped…” muttered Samuel.
He turned to everyone around him, as if expected a reply, but everyone’s eyes were too fixated on the sky.
The streets were even more restless than the sky. Car after car came rushing from around the blocks in the distance. Patrick and the gang would have been worried about getting taken out by the mad vehicles if they weren’t secure enough in the cusp of Central Park. Each frantic New Yorker cut across the curb at top speed before being met with the clutter of traffic of everyone trying to get off the island.
“There must be destruction we can’t see.” Patrick said. “Look at all those people…”
“Christ, dudes…”
Slate turned around. “What is it, Johnny?”
Johnny’s hands were on his head, and his eyes widened, trying to take in the full chaos. “My family lives on Manhattan.”
“Damnit that’s right!” Slate shouted.
“I mean, they’re on the other side of the island.” Johnny said. “But with this looking like it’s getting worse and worse…I’ve got to go find them!”
A hand grabbed Johnny from behind. He turned to see the stern face of Samuel Elder behind him.
“Running into the chaos isn’t going to get you anywhere, except maybe an early grave.”
“You’re one to talk!” Johnny threw the doctor’s hand away. “You’re the one that created the thing that’s making this all happen! What’s stopping us from throwing you into the mess?”
“Believe me.” Samuel adjusted his glasses irritably. “This would have happened anyway sometime whether or not I made Edgar. That doesn’t nullify the League’s existence.”
“Fine. Fine.” Johnny turned away. “But don’t expect me to just wait around until one of us comes up with the bright idea. I won’t simply stand here while this happens.”
Gary dug into his pocket. “Then don’t. Guys, there must be something we can do. I don’t know, maybe we use the watches to do something.”
“Like teleport the danger to somewhere else?” Jane said. “I don’t think the watches will be much help here, except getting us all away when the final blow comes.”
A flap of wings came from behind. Detective Hunter stepped out from beside the group, extending his wings.
“I can get up there.” he said. “I can survey the danger, and attack if necessary.”
“But you’ll be alone.” his daughter rushed to his side. “You’re new to your powers, and if you get attacked there will be no one there to back you up.”
“Don’t be so sure about that.” he replied. “Remember how I got these powers in the first place?”
Everybody went silent for a moment. Eagle Eye worked his beak into a smile as he saw his daughter realize what he was talking about.
“That’s right!” Lindsey beamed. “You’re just one of thousands of people like you!”
“But then all we have to do is wake them up.” Johnny said.
“And even then,” replied Patrick. “There’s no guarantee that they’ll be like Lindsey’s father. It was the League that put them in that state in the first place. The League found them ‘worthy’, so many of them might be our enemies.”
“I mean, it’s an idea.” Lindsey said, putting a hand to her chin. “But how would we even pull something like that off? My father didn’t wake up until I was at his side. There’s no guarantee that everyone will wake up on time.”
Samuel brushed himself through the crowd, turning to face everyone. “I think I have an idea for that.”
“What is it?” Gary asked.
“I keep thinking about what you said earlier, about how maybe we could use the watches for something. I think perhaps we can, but not in the way that you were thinking.”
The doctor brought Patrick and Gary together, putting his hand out. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to see both of the watches.”
The two shared a look, not knowing if they should trust their former adversary. Patrick guessed that there must have been some look of trust in his own eyes because Gary picked up his watch first and handed it to the waiting Samuel. Patrick followed his lead, feeling somewhat sour.
Turning to face everyone else, Samuel dangled the watches in the air, looking like he was about to hypnotize them. “These devices, much like most of my arsenal, is Serpent League made. And where there is the League, there is the League’s blood.” He turned back to the pair, pointing at them. “These two, Patrick and Gary, have had these devices in thei
r possession a very long time. With that, they’ve slowly become acclimated to the blood inside these things, desensitizing them in a way.”
“That makes sense.” replied Gary. “That would explain how Patrick and I are the only two who can operate the watches.”
Patrick lowered his head in thought. “Even then, I’m the one whose father experimented on, giving myself the abilities I have. If I already have a bit of the blood in me, then even more of it would make me stronger. That would mean that you have them too, Gary.”
“I see,” Detective Hunter nodded his feathered head. “Samuel, you believe that if Patrick injects the blood into himself, his mental abilities will get stronger?”
Samuel smiled. “Exactly. The way the League works is, they have parts of all creatures inside them, allowing them to improve their already mad abilities. If Patrick took the blood, he too would have that, and maybe he can tap into the life of other creatures as well.”
“Damnit,” Patrick said under his breath. “That makes sense, considering everything we know.”
“There must be something else we can do!” Slate retorted. “Elder, didn’t you have an army or something? I mean, you were about to take down part of the world before we stopped you.”
“And your monsters?” detective Guajardo asked. “What happened to the rest of them?”
The doctor sighed. “They called it quits, once it was apparent that I lost. I didn’t bother reaching out to them again, since I figured it was all pointless. Besides, I think the League got to them. As for my monsters:” Samuel looked back to the skies, staring at the legion of crows and ravens and all types of black birds. “The League definitely took them away. Either they joined the League or they left. Either way, I lost control of them.”
“So this is really it, isn’t it?” Patrick said. “Me taking the blood is one of our last hopes.”
Gary swung his hand at the doctors, grabbing his watch from his grip. “You won’t be doing it alone, my friend.”
Patrick blinked, looking to everyone else for help, but they gave away nothing. “What do you mean?”
“Do you seriously think that after everything we’ve been through that I’m going to let you condemn yourself to be a freak alone?” Gary smirked. “No. No way. You heard what Elder said about my watch. He said we’ve been acclimated to its power. It deems me ‘worthy’ as well. If you take it, then so do I.”
Eagle Eye walked passed the silent group and wrapped his wings around the two of them. Patrick could feel himself smiling, but he didn’t think he should have been.
“If it makes you feel any more confident,” said Eagle Eye. “Look at the way I turned out.”
A laugh swept the gang. Laura came up from the feathered detective’s side, putting her hands on her son’s shoulders so he could face her.
“Patrick,” she started. “this…this isn’t fair. It’s not fair at all for you.”
“I know. I know.” he breathed. “But it has to happen to someone. And that someone happened to be me, and Gary.”
From the silence that followed, and the way his mother’s lips moved, Patrick could tell that she was fighting back tears. He looked away from her face, thinking that that would help, and embraced her under her shoulders and lowered his head onto her shoulder.
“No matter what happens, I love you, Mom, and I will always love you.” Patrick sniffed, raising his head again. “And for better or for worse, I am George Gordon Buchanan’s son. And with what is about to happen, I think that it might have been a goddam good thing that he did what he did to me. And I hope to God I don’t spend the rest of my life having to rationalize it.”
He kissed her cheek softly, looking into her eyes one last time, seeing her mouth the words “I love you.”
“I abhor sweet little displays.” Gary smiled at him. “If one of my parents were here, I’d be brushing them aside. So embarrassing.”
Patrick gave out a chuckle, lowering his head. “You’re a good man, Gary. A very good man.”
“I’m loyal.” he replied. “And that seems like my biggest flaw. I was loyal to someone before, but now I’m going to go kick their furry ass.”
His friend nodded. “One thing at a time, Gary.”
Following Gary’s lead, Patrick took his watch out of his pocket and flipped it open. He stared at it, each dial and arm and click. It looked just like any other pocket watch, but everyone knew it was much much more.
It had a power they were still only starting to understand.
He let out an extra breath, hesitating. What he was about to do wouldn’t please him. The watch had been his most important possession for more than half his life.
The watch hit the grass softly, bumbling lightly in the dirt. In another second Patrick’s foot came slamming down on it. The cracking of the gears, arms, and glass sounded like the crunching of a bunch of tiny bones.
Patrick looked around him. No one else was making a sound. They simply stared at him as if they were watching a thrilling movie. Their eyes turned away once they heard the sound of Gary’s watch being forcibly crushed open too.
The pair picked up their devices together, brushing away small pieces of metal debris so they could get into the meat of it.
He spooned his finger around, throwing the bigger pieces away. Then, under the large gold back plate, he found the treasure.
It was a tiny vial, and its contents were a colorless fluid that they were oh so familiar with. Several metallic currents were connected to it, but that didn’t make it hard to pry out.
A click! came from the device when Patrick slid it out with two fingers. Feeling like he had just won some kind of prize, he turned to Gary, who already had his vial and was raising it above his head.
“A toast?” Gary asked.
“By all means,” Patrick replied.
“To the things in life we care about.”
“To friendship?”
“What we have left of it.”
And they both threw back their heads and drank the blood.
Delta saw everything that was happening. Delta was very pleased.
Through the black birds furiously extending their orbit, to the largest whale in the sea and to the tiniest insect under the dirt, he had eyes and ears.
And as the League spread their blood across every corner of life on the globe, his senses would only get stronger.
The masses were gone, and whoever felt brave enough to try to stay on the island of Manhattan would soon be met with the fury of thousands of life forms.
Delta and several werewolves and gryphons stood watching the expanding destruction from the top of the Rockefeller, also getting a great view of the massive Christmas Tree set in the plaza. None of them had any interest in it, of course.
Some of the werewolves got a special kick out of seeing the actions of the fluttering black birds. Utilizing his enhanced senses, Delta could sense where there were people still huddled in the basements or upper floors of buildings. From there he would guide them, leading the horde crashing through the windows and doors until the humans were in range of blood infection.
A shorter building across the street still had a group. Twelve people, Delta sensed. They were nestled on the first floor, tucked behind thick barreled doors with furniture piled on.
No problem for the Serpent League.
The bat closed his eyes, connected with a group of several dozen birds. On the ground, his mind breached fifteen or so Leaguers in land creature form, ranging from cat to hippo.
They were quick. Once Delta gave them instruction, they were on the scene faster than a peregrine falcon on tail wind. The birds broke through the upper windows, where an orchestra of destruction sounded. The Leaguers on the ground took out the doors like cardboard, and the screams of many doomed or worthy humans rang in the bat’s ears.
“What horror,” Inas’s eyes surveyed the destruction, then turned up to the birds in the sky. “what delicious horror.”
“Out of the group that was
just ambushed,” a male gryphon approached Delta. “how many do you think will be worthy of joining us?”
“Hard to say.” the bat replied. “Could be none. Could be all. It’s impossible to tell with humans.”
“Or with anyone, I think.”
The latest voice came from the female dark gryphon. She approached, glaring at Delta. She paid no mind to the others staring at her.
“I see no reason to take enjoyment out of this, Inas.” she raised her head, looking at him sharply. “People are going to die. Countless animals will die too. Just because we are doing it for a good reason doesn’t mean we should do it while happily drooling.”
Inas shrugged, having turned his attention away from the group of soon-to-be-infected humans. “I’m also here to have fun. I might not be a saint, even around here, but I’m in it for the right reasons too.”
She raised her head higher, as if trying to intimidate him. “Just because Master isn’t here doesn’t mean you can go about being your natural self. We have our real leader here.”
The bat turned to Inas, and the werewolf looked at him as if he just noticed he was there.
“Fine.” Inas sighed. “Thank you for the life too, Delta. I adore the view from up here.” he laughed.
They could hear no more human screams. The dark gryphon looked relieved.
Delta closed his eyes again. If his servants continued to talk, he wasn’t paying attention. His mind was with the birds again. Do it again, he told them. You’re expanding your radius quickly. Make sure you’re dispersing enough.
They agreed and obeyed. He could feel the tight formation of ravens and crows break as they crashed into each other, pecking one another with their beaks. With each stab to their chest, bellies and backs, blood dripped like rain. They kept at it until they came all the way around to a full rotation.
The bat could feel the thousands more that had been touched and infected.
Satisfied, he turned away from the sight to face the female gryphon. He could sense her apprehension as her claws gripped the ground. Delta remembered that he had yet to have an interaction with her since his transformation.
The Serpent League Page 20