by Fletcher, MJ
“Tell me,” I encouraged desperately wanting the name.
Jordan walked to the massive window at the end of the hall. It stretched from floor to ceiling looking out on the endless dark and storming dimension. He brought up his axe and slammed it into the glass, shattering it. Wind and rain whipped into the corridor pelting Jordan as he looked out into the surrounding darkness.
A ringing sound penetrated the sound of the storm as the gears beside the cell doors began to churn and move. Declan had apparently found out how to open them.
“You can’t win. You must know that.” Jordan’s Doorknob fell from his hand to the floor and rolled forward, disappearing out the window.
“Maybe not, but I can sure as hell try.”
Jordan glanced at me and his eyes twinkled for a brief moment. “You know you’re going to die here.”
It was a statement, he had seen the resolve in my eyes and I didn’t see the point in denying it. “If I have to.”
“Maybe he did underestimate you after all.”
“Tell me who the hell he is!”
“He has manipulated everything for years and his hate for your cursed family knows no bounds.” Jordan laughed as if at some inside joke. “You have no chance now that he has the Artifacts. Nothing can stop his plan.”
“Artifacts? The First Kind only has one Artifact.” My mind raced I hadn’t even thought about the Artifacts since Edgar had been kidnapped. Had the First Kind been looking for them all this time and more importantly... had they found them? Damn it, how could I have been so stupid not to have considered that they wouldn’t stop looking for them.
“You see your mistake now, don’t you? I told you, it’s over, he’s won.” Jordan stepped to the edge of the broken window. The rain splattered against him and a bolt of lightning struck the darkness behind him.
“It’s not over until I’m dead. Who is he?”
“I no longer want to be his lap dog, I’m finished. If you think you can defeat him by all means try, but your ancestors tried and failed. He is too powerful and he has plans for you.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“You sound like your mother.”
“Don’t ever compare me to that bitch,” I snarled and Jordan choked back a laugh.
“How rich, I almost wish I could see how this ends. But I’m done, this is my last failure. If he knows you got passed me then I am already a dead man. Goodbye, though you’ll be joining me soon.” Jordan smiled and with a quick step out the window disappeared into the dark abyss below.
I wished that he had surrendered the name of the man responsible for this war, but Jordan’s fear of him was so great that he had preferred death. That told me a lot about the man. He didn’t fear death, but then neither did I.
The hiss of air escaping the cells greeted me as I turned and walked past the doors edging open along the rows. Some prisoners wandered out while others sat in their cells looking out in terror of what might be coming for them.
Declan ran past me into the room to help the disoriented DIs.
“Where’s Jordan?” Slade asked after entering.
“Dead,” I replied.
“You killed him?”
“No, the coward did that to himself. But I think we have a bigger problem, he told me that the First Kind has more than one Artifact.”
“Crap, that isn’t good,” Jess said, hearing it as she walked in.
Nightshade followed Jess in and leaned against the chest, pointing at me. “We’re going to need a new plan, boss lady.”
My smart-ass mouth got the better of me, though maybe it was Nightshade that got the better of me. I looked directly at him. “Really? You think so? Wow, thanks for the update.” I turned away from him and looked at the others. “That possibility changes everything. If they possess more than one Artifact, there’s no way we can lock them in this Dimension. The Artifacts will enable them to escape.”
Naturally, Nightshade had to shoot back. “So what you’re saying is that not only do we need to get Edgar and the Mapmakers Legend out. Now we need to find another Artifact and we don’t even know what it is or have the slightest idea where to look for it. Is that about right?”
Leave it to him to make it sound so bleak. “That about covers it,” I confirmed while trying desperately to think of a way to salvage our current situation. All I had cared about was getting Edgar out and dealing with my mother. But my own single-mindedness had catapulted us into a much more serious situation. Why the hell do I always have to make things worse?
Declan came back into the room flanked by a man on one side and a woman on the other. He joined our group with a sigh.
“These are the two most senior DIs that are left. According to them, the First Kind has been using the Forget Me Nots on groups of DIs every day. We’ve got about thirty of them left in this cell block, but they’ve heard the guards mention another group in a cell block on the other end of the tower.”
“Do you know exactly where that cell block is located?” I asked the woman beside him.
“Yes, I was the head guard for that section.”
“Can you get them out?” I asked.
“If we had our Stars.”
“I know where they are,” Mary chimed in, looking relieved that she was able to help.
“Okay then, new plan. Declan and Mary will take the DIs across to the other cell block and free the other HVO people. I figure it won’t be much longer before the First Kind know we’re here. You guys blast your way the hell out of here. The rest of us are going after Edgar and the Artifacts.”
“Chloe, are you sure about that?” Declan took my hand.
Nightshade stepped away from us and my eyes lingered on his back for a moment, relieved that he’d still be with me, before turning to Declan. “Yes, this is why we came here. Get back and wait for us, but if we don’t make,”—I hesitated not wanting to think that any of my friends might not make it back—“go to the Mapmakers, they’re the only ones you can trust. They’ll help you.”
I didn’t know if we would be successful in rescuing Edgar, but if we at least got the HVO out, it wouldn’t be a total loss. The fact that the First Kind had more than one Artifact had me rattled. My plans had been to take care of the First Kind and my mother in one fell swoop. I wasn’t sure that was going to be possible now. But I still had one ace up my sleeve, something that no one else knew about. I just hoped it would work as planned.
“Can I have a moment?” Declan asked and the others stepped away giving us as much privacy as they could.
“You have to get out of here; you still owe me a date.” Declan chuckled.
I found myself smiling. “I paid up on that deal.”
“You call what we had a date? “He scrunched his brow and shook his head. “We wound up in a fight and caused a major incident that lead to us being chased by the Council.”
“For me that’s a pretty good date.” Sadly, that was true. I didn’t have the best luck when it came to relationships. My glance instinctively wandered across the room to Nightshade. He was checking the collar on the Gremlin. Declan’s gaze followed mine and he smiled.
“I didn’t have a chance did I?”
I yanked my attention back to him and stumbled over my words. “Wh-what do you mean?”
“It’s okay, I get it.”
“It’s not like that, it’s just,” I sighed and felt my shoulders slump, then finally confessed. “Oh, hell I don’t know what it is.” I had been lying to myself all this time, trying to convince myself that my feelings for Nightshade had dissipated and there was no use in trying to get him back. He was gone, we were through, there was no hope for us. But it wasn’t true; he was all I could think about. The idea of him dating Darla had made my stomach roil. All I wanted was for him to remember us... and how much this hard-ass girl loved him. I had never pined over a single guy until I found myself falling in love with that damn insufferable man. A man who had sacrificed himself for me and endured tortured because of m
e. How the hell could any other man live up to that kind of love? I mean how could I honestly look at Slade or Declan and not think about Nightshade? It was time to stop lying to myself and everyone else.
“You okay?” Declan asked.
“Yes, Declan, and you’re right. I’m in love with Nightshade, always have been always will be. Even if he can’t remember me I remember him and what we felt for each other and that will never change. I’m sorry if I lead you on.” I apologized, feeling relieved for being truthful not only to him but to myself.
“If by leading me on you mean shooting me down constantly and always having walls up, then don’t worry about it. I knew it was an uphill battle but you were certainly worth it. Can I offer one bit of advice?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t give up on him. Maybe he doesn’t remember everything, but the way he pays attention to you, teases you, and always seems to be there for you, doesn’t strike me as someone who doesn’t care.”
I smiled and nodded. “Thanks.”
“Take care, Chloe, and make sure you all get out of here safely.” Delcan waved Mary forward. ”You’re with me, let’s get everyone together.” They hurried to the cell blocks to collect the DIs, and then took off to rescue the others.
Slade, Jess, and Nightshade walked up to me and we all stood in a circle. We looked around at each other... friends every one of us. And we all knew that there wasn’t anyone else we would want or trust by our sides for this fight. Well, maybe one more person.
I smiled. “Let’s go get Edgar.”
Chapter 32
Status: Things get crazy.
The Gremlin growled deeply and bared its teeth it at me.
I looked at Nightshade. “I don’t think your pet likes me very much,”
“It must be your winning personality, Masters.”
“For once you’re right.”
He quirked a smile and shook his head, and then asked, “You think this is going to work?”
“Only one way to find out.” I rubbed my hands together as we came to a stop at the door leading to the upper most levels of the Tower. This was it. I slowly reached out, letting my hand hover over the knob. I sensed the energy and let myself linger, wanting to make certain there were no traps. Once I was sure, I announced, “It’s clean.”
Nightshade smiled as I swung the door open. “Okay, go get them boy.” The Gremlin raced in howling as it dashed up the stairs, eager to hunt down its next meal. I almost felt bad for the first person it ran into.
“Well, that should keep them busy for a few minutes,” I said my moment of empathy gone.
“Let’s do it,” Jess said over my shoulder.
I nodded in agreement and rushed up the stairs, the Gremlin already having disappeared. According to Nightshade’s calculations on the power source and from what Mary had told us, there was a central room where Edgar and the Mapmakers Legend were being kept as the First Kind tried to get the Artifact to work. And that’s right where we were going.
The top part of the Tower was also something of a power conductor. The Impossible Engineers had constructed it to attract lightning strikes to convert into useable power for the HVO, in essence turning the Tower into a huge generator station. The top of the Tower was hollow with large windows that led onto a system of catwalks that lead to over a hundred lightning rods. This also was where the fail safe was contained. If I was going to lock down this dimension, this is where I would have to do it.
I rounded the top most stairs and found two guards with claw marks ripped across their chests. Jess hesitated for a moment as she passed them and I could only imagine what memories racedg through her mind at her own confrontation with more than one Gremlin. The hallway itself was a mass of destruction as the Gremlin had done exactly what we had hoped. He had swatted people and objects out of his way as he fed on whatever tempted his taste buds, and he wasn’t finished. Terrifying screams echoed from further down the corridor.
I activated my energy whip and followed the path of devastation that Nightshade’s pet had left behind. Jess’s crimson sword glowed beside me as she prepared for a fight. I could feel Nightshade and Slade both activate their abilities as we all moved further along.
I stopped abruptly as a familiar wave of energy rolled over me, one like I had felt when we had first arrived. They were accessing the Legend—damn it—we might already be too late.
“We need to hurry,” I warned the others. “They’re using the Legend.” I rushed forward, turning another corner and found myself in the midst of a battle between First Kind and the Gremlin. The beast had already knocked out two of them and was fighting two HVO members who were attempting to shackle it.
The room was rectangular, either side filled with portal doors. I accessed their energy and established that they were set portals, always going to the same place and kept constantly open. At the end of the long room was a single door that no doubt led to the top of the Tower, where we needed to go.
One of the HVO hastily shifted his attack, shining his light on me; I didn’t have time to react. Luckily, the Gremlin lashed out, his claws slicing into the guard’s arm forcing him to drop his Silver Star. He screamed and collapsed to the ground, cradling his bleeding arm.
On the other side of the room the door opened, the very door we needed to access Ms. True stepped out, the scar on the side of her face visible even from this distance.
“Raise the alarm it’s Masters!” She yelled and rushed toward us, or at least I thought she was, instead she went to one of the portals leading out of the room and rushed through it.
The sound of sirens blaring made the Gremlin throw his head back and howl. Slade swung his wrench and knocked out the remaining guard with one blow.
“Where too?” Slade asked.
“We need to get to the top.” I pointed to the door True had come out of.
Portals doors swung open along both sides of the room and First Kind began pouring in.
“Oh crap,” Jess said.
“Attack boy,” Nightshade ordered and the Gremlin leapt forward with a roar, smashing into the oncoming horde. Nightshade was right behind him, his Skeleton Key in hand as it formed a curved blade that he used with brutal efficiency.
“We need to clear a path,” I shouted over the fighting and Slade nodded. He reached over his shoulder to his back and pulled out a set of metallic spheres that he rolled out onto the floor.
“Nightshade, heads up,” he said as he activated the spheres. They split in two and then fours and began multiplying. Nightshade took heed and jumped backward from the ever increasing metallic projectiles. The small spheres shot about the room like balls in a pinball machine, smashing into feet with such force and sending First Kind falling like collapsing dominoes. Those further back saw the threat and began jumping back through portals or using their abilities to blast the spheres to bits. But in the end the projectiles cut the number of attackers in half and cleared part of the way toward our goal.
The doorway opened once again and this time my stomach turned. Caleb Darker stepped out, an evil grin spreading across his face. He slammed the door behind him and a crimson light surrounded it, locking it so that none of us could get through.
“Looks like you won’t be rescuing your friend.” Darker laughed a chilling and threatening sound all at the same time.
This man had hunted me since the day I had learned about my powers. He had nearly killed my grandmother and had murdered Nightshade’s girlfriend. He had some payback coming.
“Darker,” Nightshade called out stepping in front of me.
I could feel Nightshade’s powers swirling, building, waiting impatiently to be released.
“You want another shot at me, boy?” Darker laughed as if it was a rib-splitting joke. “The last few times you were lucky you got out alive.”
“Maybe so, but I owe you one.”
“You owe me more than that, boy. Is it true you still can’t tell which memories are real? That must be frustrating for
you,” —he glanced my way and smirked— “and others.”
God I hated this son-of-a-bitch.
Nightshade seethed. “Let’s finish this.”
Darker chuckled. “Make your move boy, but make it a good one, since no doubt it will be your last.”
“Oh it definitely will be, but not for me. Sic him boy.”
The Gremlin catapulted forward tackling Darker into the wall with such force that the whole room shook. Nightshade lashed out with his powers knocking down three of the remaining First Kind. Slade and Jess both rushed forward to join the fight. I moved ahead but tripped over one of the First Kind who’d been taken down, he was a Skeleton Key Guild member, his key lying next to him. The portals around us pulsed with energy and I knew that in minutes we would be overwhelmed.
I reached out and grabbed the key, the familiar surge of power drifting through me. I had done this before when I had fought a Gremlin in the Paladin Academy. Gavin had been teaching me how to focus my other abilities and now was the time. No more training, I had to do this. I concentrated and focused on the Key and suddenly something in me snapped like a branch weighted by too much snow. Power surged into me filling the void with Skeleton Key energy. I focused on the portals and crimson bolts of portal energy shot forward slamming into the doors one after another, the locks clicking soundly shut.
Two doors were left, but I wasn’t fast enough and one of them pushed open and Faith and her team rushed out. Someone had found them and released them, Nightshade had been right. I should have finished her off when I had the chance. The other door, the one Ms. True had disappeared through, remained empty, though I wondered for how long.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance, bitch!” Faith cried out rushing toward me.
I swung the Skeleton Key up and crimson energy soared out. Faith’s eyes widened in shock as the blast hit her and sent her flying across the room.
Nightshade slammed his blade into Darker, the Gremlin having been pushed away, though he circled around their fight. Slade and Jess had dispatched the last of the remaining First Kind but now turned to deal with Jasper and Jackson, who’d followed Faith through the portal.