Borne Rising

by Matthew Callahan

  “No way in hell are we turning back,” Noctis snapped.

  “Madigan, turn the van back. Now.”

  Noctis watched the flurry of emotions that crossed his brother’s face. The van started to slow. “What the hell, Mad? That thing murdered Grandda! It’s right there!”

  “Stop the car, Madigan. Turn it back.”

  “Will you two just let up for one goddam minute?” Madigan snapped. He kept the van moving but the urgency of the pursuit was gone. “Ileta, what’s wrong?”

  “What’s wrong is that she doesn’t want us to kill that bastard,” Noctis urged. “Now catch that damn thing.”

  “Don’t do it, Madigan. Your brother isn’t thinking clearly.” Noctis whirled and glared at her. She met his eye with a wry smile. “Perhaps it’s the taint of Radiance clouding his mind.”

  Noctis snapped. Flaring, he reached out and seized his brother’s thigh with charged fingers. Madigan shrieked as Noctis sent electric impulses coursing through his brother’s leg. The limb went rigid, shooting his foot down onto the accelerator. The van screamed forward, the force shoving them back against their seats. Ileta was thrown back and rolled over the middle seat into the back.

  “What the hell, Will?” Madigan shrieked again. “What in the goddam hell?”

  That thing isn’t getting away this time. Noctis kept the leg pinned as they closed on the figure of Senraks. We must have got it good; the bastard is moving slow.

  His brother was shouting at him, cursing at him while the van sped forward. Noctis ignored him. Din’Dael had been right after all: Madigan didn’t have the strength to follow through. Will hadn’t had the strength. Noctis did.

  The blood beast stopped in its tracks and whirled on them. Neither Noctis nor Madigan had a moment to react. Somehow, through the haze of fury and bloodlust, a small part of Noctis’s brain recoiled at the sight of the creature. At the last second, just before impact, it seemed to be smiling.

  The van crashed into Senraks. The force of the impact sent Ileta flying forward from the rear of the van. She smashed into the windshield and collapsed limp on the dash. Madigan was thrown forward and slammed against the steering wheel before slumping over it. Ileta’s still form slid from the dash and crumpled against him.

  Noctis stared at her unconscious body. Good riddance. He threw open the passenger door, fighting back waves of dizziness and disorientation. He stumbled out of the van. Senraks was still. There was no sign of the beast’s Shade, no activity from any of his limbs. Noctis approached the center of the body. He drew his blood fangs and kicked the still creature. “I may not know how to kill you, bastard, but I can drain you dry.” He prepared to strike. For Grandda.

  “I see that Jero finally let you out of his sight.”

  Noctis froze. No. He turned.

  Beyond the wreckage stood Dorian Valmont. His hair waved in the light breeze as he took a step forward, cocking his head to the side. “Tell me, William Davis, why are you here?”

  Fear coursed through Noctis’s body, absolute terror as the dark man said his name. My name . . . A million thoughts raced through his brain. He wanted to obliterate the sorcerer. He wanted to scream for his brother. The sudden futility of everything crashed down on him. Oh gods, Mad. What have I done?

  He stared at the wreckage of the van, to the still form of his brother—his only family. What had he done in his mad pursuit of the blood beast? What the hell did din’Dael do to me? Noctis Thorne, what a ridiculous notion. Mad needs me. Gods, he needs his brother, not some goddam tool of din’Dael’s.

  Will gripped the fangs tight and raised them as Valmont closed the distance between them. The sorcerer’s Shade trailed along the ground behind him, oily and thick, a toxic sludge upon the ground. Valmont was holding something in his spindly hands, an orb of swirling, pale amber. Will’s throat was dry but he forced the words out. “Dorian Valmont.” They sounded weak.

  Valmont inclined his head. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, young one. For too long, our introduction has been postponed.” The man’s fingers danced upon the orb’s surface.

  “The pleasure is all mine, I’m sure.” Jesus, Will, what the hell are you doing? His eyes flitted back to the van. Madigan still hadn’t stirred.

  “I’d heard you were the reasonable one.” Valmont smiled casually. His gaze followed Will’s to the van. “Pity, that. I do hope they survive.”

  Will’s mind jumped to Ileta and he scowled. “I’m sure you do.”

  “There is no need for such hostility between us.” Valmont’s voice was musical, hypnotic. He toyed with the orb while staring directly into Will’s eyes. “I have come only for words to be shared between us. Again, I ask, why are you here, William?”

  Will’s eyes darted back to the van, then to Valmont, then to the orb. There was something sinister about it, something terrifyingly simple. “I’m . . .” Gods, he’s going to kill us all. Something snapped in his mind and he grinned wide. “I’m just here to meet up with my brother.”

  Will slammed the blood fangs down into the still form of Senraks. The blood beast shrieked and roared, lashing out. Not dead, then. Not yet.

  Valmont stepped back awkwardly to avoid the flailing blood beast. The look of pure surprise on his face was enough to make up for Will’s sudden pain from being dashed to the ground by a flailing tentacle. The strange orb rolled precariously in Valmont’s hand before tipping and plummeting. Will scrambled to his feet, fear tying his stomach in knots. Faster than he thought possible, he saw Valmont’s hand dart out and barely catch the orb with his fingertips. He looked up and met Will’s eye. Cocking his head to the side, Valmont smiled.

  He dropped the orb.

  Without waiting, Will turned and raced for the van. He glanced back just as the orb shattered on the ground. The pale, amber void within sent a pulse through the air like a shockwave. It knocked him off his stride and he fell to his knees. Will whirled to look back. The ground at Valmont’s feet withered and died into a brown shadow of decay. The point of origin bubbled and then the decay began to fizzle and stretch. Will scrambled backward. The corruption spread outward from the point of impact with a terrifying rapidity.

  Senraks was caught by the escaping force and screeched with fear and pain as the amber liquid scorched ground and creature alike. Will looked on in horror as the creature’s flesh began to fall away in sheets, the rapidly decaying tentacles sizzling and steaming. Will yelled for his brother.

  There was movement in the driver’s seat. Thank the gods. Madigan stuck his bleeding head from the window, confusion and anger plain upon his face. But when he looked past Will, the pure terror that came over him was enough to send Will running even harder. The engine began to sputter and turn over as Madigan flooded it with gas, the old, beat-up van blazing to life.

  “Go!” Will threw himself into the still-open passenger door. Ileta was gone. He had no idea when or how, but right now it didn’t matter. He slammed the door shut while the van sent dirt and rubble spitting out behind them.

  “God dammit, Will,” Madigan shouted and punched him in the arm. “God dammit! What did you do?”

  “Just get us the hell out of here, scream at me later.” Will pushed energy from the blood fangs toward his brother, healing whatever damage had been done. Madigan looked simultaneously relieved and furious as he slammed a fist against Will’s arm.

  “What in the goddam hell, Will? What. The. Goddam. Hell?”

  “It was a trap, alright?” Will was gripping the seat while the van roared precariously down the gravel road. “I didn’t know, Mad. How the hell could I have known?”

  “Ileta tried to warn us, you ass.” Madigan punched him again. “You could have listened instead of going on a goddam suicide mission and burning the hell out of my goddam leg.”

  “I thought that”—he glanced in the rearview mirror—“oh shit. Oh shit, Mad. Faster!”

  The corruption was spreading. Trees were consumed in decay as the deadly radius of the orb expanded ou
tward farther and farther. Madigan swerved the van and raced ahead. They weren’t far from their home. If they could make it there, they could, what? They could what? Turn and fight? Will spun his head around. We may not need to. Maybe Valmont got caught up in all that death. He doubted it.

  Something large was crashing amongst the decaying trees. Something was chasing them. When it came into sight, Will’s stomach dropped.

  Senraks. Or, rather, what was left of Senraks. The tentacles were gone, only putrid remnants of decayed flesh left clinging to the strange amalgamation of bone that made up its body. It looked strangely human, but giant, the size of a house. It dragged itself after them, propelled by the two massive forelimbs. Only the forelimbs were nothing but bones, splitting and cracking, dark with decay. How they were not crumbling to dust under the strain of movement was beyond Will.

  “Holy shit,” Madigan swore, having seen the figure in his mirrors. “What the hell—is that the blood beast?”

  Will nodded. “Get us out of here, Mad. I’ve got this.” His brother met his eye for a moment before setting his jaw and focusing on the road. Will moved between the seats and into the back of the van. He heard Madigan curse when Will used a blood fang to knock out the rear window. The shattered glass flew into the road. Senraks was almost upon them.

  Will Flared and unleashed a bolt of lightning. He missed. Madigan swerved the van as Senraks took a horrible swipe at the car, sending Will crashing around the back. The remnants of the broken window dug into the flesh of his arm. Will gasped in pain and blood began to stream down his skin. He forced himself back into position and launched another wave of attacks at Senraks, forcing the creature back.

  The corruption had slowed its spread, Will saw. Whatever that damn thing is, it has limited range, thank the gods. He couldn’t believe the scope of the damage when he looked to the distance behind Senraks. It was a wasteland. The trees themselves had withered, their bark pruning and softening with rot. Against that backdrop, the gargantuan decay of the creature that pursued looked all the more horrific.

  “You really screwed up, Will.” Madigan shook his head, yelling over the groan of the van’s tired engine. “Jesus, you’ve been home five goddam minutes. What the hell did you do back there?”

  “Valmont was there,” Will fired back. “He had something, some kind of device. It . . . it destroyed everything.” They were nearly home. If we can just hold out till we get there, then . . . then what? There was nothing there.

  “Valmont? How the hell did—”

  A roaring bolt of black lightning crashed into the side of the van, caving the metal. Suddenly blinded by the light and flung into the air, Will was whipped and thrown. He slammed into the seats and roof while the van rolled and tumbled. Finally, it skidded to a halt.

  What was that? Will coughed, tasting blood. I should be dead. How am I not dead? Then he saw the darkness that cloaked him within the cabin. Madigan.

  Madigan groaned. “What the hell did that?”

  Will didn’t know. Before he could react, the car was spinning again, knocked with such force that Will was thrown from the shattered back window. He tucked his arms and rolled, squinting his eyes closed while dirt and gravel tore at his clothes and skin. When he came to a stop, he saw the bones of Senraks slamming against the van again and again. How is that bastard still functioning?

  Sanguinar. Of course. Just like that damn reaper Morella and I— Will froze. Morella. Will’s heart raced. They had made it back to their property, but where was she?

  He didn’t have time to worry. The living corpse of Senraks was shredding the van, peeling back sheets of metal. Madigan forced himself from the crumbling driver’s side window, his Shade forming a barrier between him and the whaling limbs. Senraks smashed the van completely before abandoning it and turning its focus to Madigan’s retreating form.

  Will struggled to his feet, dripping blood from a hundred different cuts. Gods, this thing is unstoppable. He broke into a limping run, sapping additional resources from the bloodstones to keep him on his feet. How much power had he absorbed from Senraks before the eruption? He didn’t know.

  He struck out, blasting lightning against the abomination. Senraks roared and hurled the smashed van at him, sending it spinning through the air like a discus. Will ducked and it collided with the distant trailer, reducing them both to wreckage. He summoned his strength and closed the distance between himself and the creature. It focused just enough attention upon him to allow Madigan to regain his feet.

  Will watched, awestruck, while his brother attacked. The noctori blazed to life, but it wasn’t the bastard sword Will had always known. Instead, it was a massive warhammer. His Shade encircled and immobilized one of the bony limbs and, while it squeezed, Madigan brought the warhammer down with such force that the cracked bone shattered beneath the impact.

  Senraks lashed out, swatting at his brother. Will darted forward. Closing the distance, he saw that the dead flesh clinging to Senraks’s bones was brightening, the color returning. A golem, of sorts, the Crow had said. Realization dawned on Will. Senraks was rejuvenating.

  He cursed and launched another assault. He had to think of something fast. It’s weak. It has to have a limit.

  Yet the creature seemed unstoppable. Even with the combined strength of Will and his brother, they barely seemed to be making any impact upon it. How do you destroy something that can’t be destroyed? Darkness flooded the area; the creature’s Shade had returned. Senraks struck out against Madigan and sent him flying.

  It’s regaining some sense of itself, not just reacting instinctively anymore. Soon, its cruel, taunting cunning would return, Will was certain. And then we’re done for.

  An impossible idea broke through the fear. It was insanity. It was the work of a madman. But maybe . . .

  He turned and raced for the stone foundation that had once been his home. A binding of Blood and Shadow, forged into a creature. He remembered the Crow’s words. And what had his grandfather said in those final, horrible moments? The blood of my line shall be your undoing. Senraks was bound by blood—and by blood he could be undone.

  The creature ignored his flight and continued to battle Madigan. His brother was holding his own amazingly well, but they couldn’t have much time. Flesh was already returning to the golem’s form.

  Will reached the foundation stone and planted himself on its edge. He was farthest from the trees on all sides here. He gauged the distance. Senraks was closer than the Shale had been, but he couldn’t afford to wait. Assuming this even works.

  Blood and Shadow had created Senraks. Will withdrew his blood fangs and stared at their stones. A binding of Blood and Shadow and something more ancient. They were tapped, he could feel it now. They needed energy. The stupidity of his idea threatened to make its way into his conscious mind, but he shut the thoughts out. This has to work.

  He dropped to his knees in the earth next to the stone and plunged a fang into his leg. He shrieked. Blood gushed. Struggling to remain conscious, he forced the replenishing bloodstones to restore the wound. One to draw life, the other to restore it. His key roared and sent shockwaves through his body. He held the restorative fang in his left hand, guiding the flows over him in waves. Still clutching it, he thrust the knife into the hard ground.

  Images of the Shale raced through his mind. Will was crying, blood pouring from his leg as he was simultaneously ravaged and renewed, over and over. He raised his right hand to the sky and the air surrounding him began to hum. His head swam from the coursing energy. He closed his eyes and drew the power in.

  A torrent of lightning erupted in a deafening clash. The bolts rained down and collided into Will. The pain was unbearable. The power rent his flesh, the fresh burns cracking his skin and peeling it away only to be instantly restored by the constantly renewing flow from the blood fangs. He opened his eyes, seeing only white. He roared for his brother with a voice like thunder.

  He couldn’t see Madigan, couldn’t know if he was clea
r. There was no time. Will drew upon the force of the lightning, the strength of the key, and the powers of Blood and Shadow that surrounded him from the blood fangs. The wave of power surged in black lightning at Senraks. In his fevered madness, Will could see something within the lightning: a Shade, deep red and black, winding and twisting within the unnatural fire. He channeled the force directly into Senraks.

  The creature screamed.

  A whirlwind storm of the red Shade thundered to life around the golem. Black and blue lightning split the cloud and collided into the creature again and again. Like countless razor blades slicing away at its flesh, Senraks’s body was stripped. The flesh swept into the winds and was incinerated by the blaze. Will felt something inside himself tearing as the beast that had taken his grandfather from him was sliced and burned.

  Senraks loosed a cry that sounded almost human. It was lifted off the ground. The surviving tentacles and limbs were wrenched and twisted, a grotesque marionette upon tangled strings. Limbs burst. Flesh bubbled. Again and again, the horrors played across Will’s vision. Between his own pain and that of the creature, his was a world of screams. This was not justice, this was vengeance. Punishment. He channeled his pain and anger, his fury and devastation, into the swirling forces of chaos and pressed them upon Senraks.

  The thing at the heart of the storm burst out in a smattering of gore. Will did not stop until every bit of bone and skin and muscle was reduced to ash. Nothing would remain of the blood beast that had murdered his grandfather.

  Finally, he released the torrent of lightning from the sky. Sobbing, he withdrew the fang from his leg. He tried to heal the wound, but the power of the stones was diminished. Something is always lost in transference. Where did it go? he wondered.

  Will collapsed. The fury of the dragon fire in his veins subsided. His skin felt too tight. Thirst was clawing at his throat, but he was too weak, too exhausted. It’s dead.

  Something was grabbing at him. There were muted sounds. He couldn’t respond; speaking was impossible. He opened his eyes but they wouldn’t focus. The world seemed much too bright, much too warm. Darkness was better.