by Galen Wolf
The Belphegor roared and leapt at Torina. The girl stood quickly and scrabbled to turn on her healing fields, but the demon slammed into her and bowled her over. She went sprawling to the floor, the demon lurching above her. It went to finish her off, but instead it stopped and pulled back. It's face was twisted in pain. The positive energy from the suit was anathema to the demon. It clawed at its muzzle and jerked back as if scalded.
Torina stood again, her face fixed with determination. "No, Morah," she said, "I've lost my main supplies, but the suit still works."
"Kill her you oaf!" Morah snarled at the Belphegor. Still bound to do her will by the pact of black magic, the Belphegor moved into the attack again. It closed with Torina and then shrieked in pain. The healing fields seemed to be degenerating it, forcing it back into its own dimension. When she saw that the Belphegor could not hurt Torina, the witch yelled, "You useless bastard, I'll have to finish her myself. Go!" And with that the Belphegor vanished.
Torina faced the witch. Her young face was streaked with grime and red from crying over the wounded Severan. She tensed herself and spat, "Come on then!"
"Oh, very bold."
"I'm not scared of you."
"Foolish too."
Torina balled her fists. She set her jaw and got ready to fight.
"I have this of course," Morah said, brandishing the knife.
Torina suddenly saw Gaijann's vorpal blade lying under his prone body, the other in his hand. She ran forward and past Morah, surprising the witch. The healer darted down and took the knife but dropped it just as suddenly.
Morah laughed. "His knife is personalized to him. Just as mine is. It shocks anyone but me if they touch it."
Torina backed away.
The witch yawned. "I'm getting bored now. Time to finish this." She stepped forward.
Torina braced herself. She snarled, "Bring it, bitch."
Morah jabbed with the knife. Torina stepped back out of its reach, then forward and swung at the witch's face. Morah sidestepped and the blow didn't connect. She brought her own left hand up and punched Torina in the gut. The healer saw it coming and reeled back instinctively, cheating the blow of its full impact. Then Morah jabbed upwards with her knife. It rammed into the k-mesh but didn't penetrate. Even so, the blow winded Torina and she staggered back. Morah stepped in, switching the knife into an overhand grip and made to bring it down on the back of Torina's neck just above the armor. But Torina saw it coming and rolled forward, leaving the knife to whistle through empty air.
"You're slippery," Morah said.
Torina's breath was coming in gasps.
Morah kicked her with the flat of her foot, pushing the healer back, almost to the edge of the walkway. Torina turned to look how close she was to the drop. Morah, saw her advantage, rushed her and thrust the knife into Torina's belly. This time the k-mesh gave and the blade went into Torina's abdomen. She gasped with pain and pulled herself away. The knife came out and a gout of blood spouted down her midriff. The healer's armor was stained with crimson as the blood began to pour out. The healing fields were doing some good and they tried to heal the ripped flesh, but the wound was severe and they struggled to staunch the blood.
Torina stumbled.
Morah stabbed again and caught Torina in the face. The knife sliced across Torina's mouth and Morah jumped forward pushing Torina with her left hand. She was trying to send her off the walkway, but Torina held the supporting strut. She sagged over the void, but her grip was tight. Even so, her balance was off and she flailed backwards, almost falling.
The witch sucked her sharp teeth. "You know, I wish I'd poisoned the knife now."
The flood of blood from Torina's wounds was lessening as the healing from her suit repaired the damaged cells. The fields wouldn't create such a good bond as the stem cell lattice would have done, but it would stop her bleeding to death.
Morah stepped up to where Torina hung precariously one handed. The healer pushed forward, balled her free hand and struck Morah full in the mouth, bursting her black lips and sending her reeling. The witch roared in anger and darted forward knife in hand.
"There."
She sliced through four of Torina's fingers that held the healer safe on the strut. Grip now broken as her fingers fell away, Torina screamed as she tumbled through air. Morah leant forward, grabbed the same blood stained strut that Torina had slipped from and peered down to see the tumbling figure impact on the podium steps far below. Torina's frame was fractured by the fall.
Morah put her hand up to her damaged mouth. "Bitch hurt me," she said. Then she looked back towards Gaijann. "Guess the torture show's going to be just for me." She her way along the walkway to kill him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: The Count gets paid
Mehefin watched, open-mouthed as Torina's body fell through space and hit the ground on the other side of the podium. The body landed with a thump and a heavy cracking noise like someone had dropped a sack full of tiles. The healer was clearly dead.
With something like relief, Mehefin turned to her father."Won't that count instead?" She was wary of the Count, still keeping her distance from him.
He looked at Torina's corpse disdainfully. "The healer?"
"Can't her death count as the sacrifice?"
He looked at her as if she was stupid. "No. Don't you see - the point is that the Library wants me to suffer - to pay a price emotionally. I thought you were cleverer than that. I don't care about her." He gestured vaguely to where Torina had fallen.
Mehefin fell suddenly to her knees. Her blonde hair was dirty now and twisted across her face. "Please father, I beg you. Can't we find another way?"
He shook his head. "You know how long and difficult my journey has been. I can't let the goal slip through my fingers now. I'm sorry, Mehefin. There is no other way."
Mehefin watched his hand as he reached into his holster and pulled out his pistol. He slowly aimed the pistol at his daughter's head. Then the jellyfish thing shivered and its yellow color burned more intensely. The light in the room turned from pink to an angry red.
He looked at the Library's heart and his face broke into a smile. "It was getting angry because it sensed my reluctance."
Mehefin's face was like a skull.
The Count smiled apologetically at his daughter."You have to die. I'm very sorry."
Mehefin turned and fled down the steps. He fired but because she was quick, he missed. Mehefin saw the worms near her. She was going to run into them, so she darted right. The Count squeezed the trigger again and a bolt of yellow energy erupted from the gun. It struck Mehefin in the side with a hiss of vaporized blood and a stink of burned meat. She fell backwards, tumbling almost into the blood-worms that writhed below. She groaned and twitched. The Count went over to his daughter's body. She stopped moving.
Mehefin's rainbow eyes looked lifelessly towards the roof of the cave. Without emotion, her father dragged her feet, her blonde hair trailed out behind like a dirty fan. The hole in her side was still smoking. He pulled her clear of the worms, that fretted and bit at her as he yanked her up towards the jelly creature.
He pointed at his daughter's corpse, holstered his pistol and bowed towards the thing in its tank. "There, I've made the sacrifice."
Almost at once, he felt the change. He felt his mind expand and then break into a myriad crystals - then a billion trillion myriad. He knew suddenly what it was to be multiple and almost infinite. It was either nano-seconds or centuries, but his old form dissolved and he became a multitude of invisible viruses borne on the air. Each one contained his intelligence and each one communicated with all the others.
The Count fell like a shower of living dust upon his daughter's corpse. His viruses infiltrated her and took over her body systems. He knew he could do this even for the long dead. He could do this with anything that had been organic and still retained some cellular structure, no matter how decayed. And then, in the red light of the cavern, seen by no one, Mehefin's body stood up. Its eye
s were dead, but its limbs moved and each of them was animated by the mind of her father, flooding every cell, inhabiting every sinew. And then the Count turned his attention to Torina's body - entering into her too. The broken healer stood also.
His million minds wondered whether the reanimated bodies would be able to resist the dissolving mouths of the black maggots. But then he thought, there were only twenty hours of darkness to go, or less, and then the infected bodies would be able to leave the Library and get back onto the mercenary ship, turning it into a plague ship that would carry his disease to all corners of the Universe.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: Morah falls
Morah was humming to herself like a flower arranger about to make a pleasant bouquet. She went over to Gaijann and kicked him. He groaned but did not wake.
"Still not dead." She shook her head. "But we can fix that." Once again she examined the body, this time more like a butcher preparing to dress a carcass. She had her knife in her hand and then her eye caught movement. She turned her head, not believing what she saw.
Severan was standing.
She stood and turned. "Well, I never. How's that possible?" And then she realized. "That priestess bitch's suit was playing its healing fields over you when she gave you her little cuddle of love."
Severan tried to speak, but there was blood in his throat. He coughed and stopped. The hole where his eye had been was ragged red and vacant. He limped with his right leg and his right hand was a bloody stump.
"Your little friend Torina is dead by the way." She put her finger to her lip in mock coyness. "I think she was sweet on you, you know. But it seems you let her down. That's a bad habit you have."
Severan cleared his throat. His face was twisted with sorrow. "You evil witch."
She cocked her head. "At least I don't betray everyone who trusts me."
"You betray everyone," he muttered.
"But nobody trusts me," She grinned. "But how they trust you Severan. You inspire such a following; Gaijann, Atorkh, Torina." She gestured to Gaijann's wounded figure on the walkway behind her. "All dead. Or in his case, about to die."
The giant stumbled towards her. Morah shifted her dagger in her hand. Despite the broken state of him, her hands were sweating.
"I'm going to kill you," Severan's words trailed off in a coughing fit.
Morah laughed, but stepped backwards even so. "I don't think you're in a fit state to do that. You don't have all your strength."
He fixed her with the indomitable gaze of his pure blue eye. "I don't need all my strength to kill you."
Morah stepped back, quicker this time. She was standing just in front of Gaijann's body now. She started muttering her words of black magic. She cut her palm and the blood flowed. Speaking to the air, she summoned infernal aid - but nothing came. A look of panic twisted her face.
"I'm guessing you've exhausted the demons you have pacts with."
The witch's smile was fixed. "They will come back."
He shook his head. "But not yet — not until the requisite time is passed."
She shrugged. She wasn't smiling now. "Never mind. I can finish a wounded hulk like you myself. You don't even have a weapon."
He raised his good hand and made a fist. "I have this."
She laughed. "Oh yeah, but you can't aim it with only one eye."
Then as if remembering something important, he said, "Where's Mehefin?"
"She went back to her father. Like she was always going to."
The giant grimaced. "He didn't care about her. He let her go to be killed by the lizards."
"I understand that it isn't as simple as that. But anyway, I think he's killed her now."
Severan stopped dead. His face twisted in grief."What? He killed his own daughter?"
"Why so surprised? I hear you did too, just not with your own hands. But you brought about your family's deaths. Amounts to the same thing."
Severan ran at her.
Morah shrugged. "The Count wanted me to help kill his little princess. But you know me, I've got morals."
He swung at her and she neatly sidestepped. He punched again with a grunt but missed and she stabbed at his chest. Though his λ-armor was badly gashed in places, the basic metal still held and her knife did not penetrate. She had to get within arm's length of Severan to be sure of hurting him and he took advantage of that.
He punched her hard this time, hitting her heavily on the temple.
She reeled back, gasping. "Fucker!" She put her hand up where the blood was streaking into her black hair. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth set grimly. No more jokes. She watched for her chance and like a rattlesnake she darted and stabbed at the exposed nape of Severan's neck. It was a superficial wound but it bled. He ducked out of the way and countered with his knee. He made contact with her stomach. The breath was knocked out of her and she stumbled backwards. Before she could recover, he ran at her, his bad leg dragging. He instinctively went to punch her with his missing hand and that gave her time to roll out of his way.
She feinted again with the knife and he swayed back. Then she stabbed again this time nicking his cheek. A red line showed where she had cut. She smiled as if certain now she would win; she was quicker than him. She rolled and jumped out of his way each time he lumbered towards her. Like a bear, he would be dangerous if he got hold of her, but she danced around him, tiring him out. Each time she passed him she slashed. The knife either slid off his armor, or merely grazed him. She was having to move about too much to land a killing blow. But Severan was sweating, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He was slowing. His wounds were tiring him.
She ducked right and he missed her, his heavy fist sailing past her ear. She slashed again and rolled forward. He spun round trying to catch her, but she was like a cat.
He stepped back and she waited. He was in a bad way now but he showed no signs of yielding.
He finally rushed her, clumsy with his weariness. She inched back, laughing at him as if certain now of her kill, but then a look of terror ripped across her face.
She was held.
She looked down and saw Gaijann's hand grasping her ankle. She kicked back at the assassin with the heel of her other foot, but he did not let go. That was what Severan needed. He punched her with all his strength and knocked her from the walkway. She reached for the supporting strut but it was too far away.
She stumbled and fell.
She dropped spinning down towards the cave floor like black thistledown - just as she had sent Torina spinning to her death before.
Morah did not land on the steps of the podium. Instead, she fell amongst the writhing maggots of the inchoatus. They buried her, squirming over her and dug their black eyeless heads into her flesh and slobbered as they digested her.
Severan stood, his hand on his thigh, bent double, gasping for breath. Gaijann looked up at him. His mouth was full of blood but he managed to mutter, "See, you do need me."
Severan laughed, gasped, then waved at Gaijann to stop joking until he recovered his breath.
"Help me up," Gaijann said.
The giant reached down to the assassin who grasped his forearm and with a heave up, was on his feet.
"You look like shit," Severan said.
Gaijann gazed at his friend, his empty eye socket and the ragged stump where his cyborg hand had been. He merely shook his head. Then he went to the edge of the walkway, hanging on by the strut. "I guess she's dead - Morah."
"Good riddance. I never did like her."
Gaijann cocked his head. "Evil mind, beautiful body. Now eaten by those things down there."
Severan coughed. "Do you have any first aid?"
"What about yours?"
"Gone. Destroyed."
"Okay," Gaijann said, "For you anything. There are some dressings and some repair gel in my suit."
"Let me have it?"
"Yep." Gaijann reached into his sealed pockets and drew out some pads of dressing which contained a stem cell solution in honey. Most soldiers a
nd mercenaries carried basic means of healing themselves.
He applied the medicine to the rawest of Severan's wounds. They both watched as the healing began. It wouldn't make him good as new but it would prevent infection and seal the wounds. What was left, he applied to himself.
"My God," Severan said. He was peering down at the podium below.
"Torina and Mehefin are down there."
"Alive?"
"Just standing there."
"That's odd. Where's the Count?"
"I can't see him."
Gaijann shook his head. "Nah, this doesn't compute. There's something wrong."
"Do you have rope?"
Gaijann nodded. He looked down as if measuring the distance. "Probably enough too. My rope is strong and thin. I carry lots."
"I need to see Mehefin. Let's go down."
Gaijann fastened the c-s rope strand to the strut of the walkway. The iridium clip help a noose of the unbreakable fiber but the clip would open by a simple tap on its control facing once they got to the bottom. Then it would fall down, allowing Gaijann to recover the rope. He checked the hold was good.
"I'll go first," Severan said.
"Sure."
The rope was immensely strong and could bear both of their weight. Severan lowered himself down the rope, using his one hand and his feet to brake his descent. Gaijann came after him. They went down in a controlled slide. Gaijann glanced down and saw Severan's head just below him, and then the podium where the two women stood next to the pulsing jelly thing. "Where's the Count?" he shouted down.
The women did not respond. They should have noticed them descending, but neither looked up.
"Hey," called Gaijann down to his leader. "What's up with them?"
Severan kept sliding, but said, "They look dazed."
The extra rope fell down to the floor below them, coiling into a tangle on the podium close to where Mehefin and Torina stood immobile.