by S. C. Stokes
“Get him,” Kasey shouted at the strike force. “We can't let him leave.”
She raced after Akihiro. One of the few remaining Helldrakes moved to block her path.
Without slowing down, Kasey shouted, “Dwrn Ygwynt!”
The spell struck the Helldrake with such force, it blew him clear through the window and onto the sidewalk beyond.
A burst of gunfire from across the room forced her to dart behind a pillar. The ADI agents traded shots with Helldrakes huddled together in a fortified position by the door. Three Helldrakes hiding behind a cluster of pallets was all that stood between her and the retreating Akihiro.
“Bishop, are you there?” she said into her comm. “Akihiro is leaving. We need to take him down now.”
“We're trying, Kasey but we are under siege as well,” Bishop said, breathless. “There are snipers on the sixth floor. We've lost two officers already and we’ve had to go to ground.”
High caliber shots punctured the background of the communication. Suddenly it sunk in: the motion that Bishop had spotted earlier had been Akihiro’s supporters getting into position. They knew the Master was making his way to the street and they were providing overwatch. The acolytes were trading their own lives and freedom in an attempt to allow Akihiro to escape.
Kasey couldn't let that happen.
“He’s on the street,” she said. “Do you have a shot, Bishop?”
“Negative. We’re pinned down in the retail tower. Don't worry, West is tightening the cordon as we speak. We'll get him.”
Kasey shook her head. She couldn’t leave this to the precincts. What chance did police officers stand against the Master of the Shinigami? She'd just watched him shrug off dozens of bullets with no effect. The amulet he wore was proving to be potent protection against the mundane weapons. She had hoped that the sheer weight of fire they had dedicated to it would have drained it of energy, but her hope was in vain.
She watched as Akihiro and his men raced toward their freedom.
No, no, no, it doesn't end like this.
She had watched Akihiro get away time and time again. Every time he slipped through their fingers, it cost countless lives. After everything he had done, Kasey couldn’t countenance him slipping away quietly into the setting sun.
“Cover me,” Kasey shouted.
The ADI agents rose as one, pouring firepower into the Helldrakes’ positions. The Helldrakes retreated behind the safety of the pallets.
Kasey emerged from behind the pillar. As she raced for the door, she kept her eyes locked on the entrenched position. If one of the Helldrakes raised his head, he would realize how open she was. If they got off even one shot, there would be no missing her.
She sprinted for the door, hoping to be past the Helldrakes before they realized what had happened.
A Helldrake peered over the top of the pallet.
No such luck.
He raised his weapon and drew a bead on her.
“Chwyth Dinistriol!” she chanted.
Her spell hit the pallet barrier like a cruise missile. As it detonated, it shattered the tiles, the pallets, and everything within ten feet. The shock wave from the spell rolled through the ground floor lobby, knocking Kasey to the ground. The building itself shook as the blast rocked the structure.
Oh, no, that’s done it.
As Kasey slid across the floor, her heart raced. She had forgotten about the broken pillar.
Her back slammed into a wall. She waited.
As the building settled, she let herself breathe again.
Pushing to her feet, she looked at the Helldrakes’ position. It had been annihilated. Where there had been pallets and enemies only moments earlier, there was now only a smoking crater. Shards of tile were scattered everywhere while a dust cloud lingered overhead. Of the Helldrakes there was no evidence that they had ever been there. Kasey's spell had obliterated them.
With no time to revel in her victory, she ran for the door.
Chapter Sixteen
Bursting through the front door, Kasey found herself back on the sidewalk. The street had darkened as sunset rapidly approached. Flanked by his acolytes, Akihiro made his way onto the street, weaving between the scattered debris of the ruined helicopters.
Gunshots split the air. Kasey whipped her head to the left, tracking their source. Bishop and a small platoon of officers from the Ninth Precinct were sheltered in the ground floor of the retail building.
The first Shinigami acolyte fell, dead. Chanting, the second acolyte began to raise a ward. Before the shield finished forming, a lucky bullet took him in his thigh. The acolyte groaned as he collapsed, his shield dissipating as his concentration broke.
The third acolyte leapt for cover behind Akihiro, the Shinigami Master’s amulet still proving effective against the hail of lead.
“Master!” the wounded acolyte groaned, reaching for Akihiro.
Akihiro looked at his fallen disciple, and then at the police officers pushing toward him. With a dismissive shrug, he turned his back on his fallen acolyte.
“Help me,” the acolyte howled, but the plea fell on deaf ears.
As the strike force followed Kasey forward, they continued firing. The next round caught the fallen acolyte in the chest, and he went still, lying on the asphalt.
Akihiro continued to make his way to the nearest Bearcat. To him, the presence of the NYPD seemed to matter little. Shielded from their weapons by arcane means, he dismissed them as one might a bothersome fly.
“He's making a run for it,” Kasey shouted. “Don't let him get that thing started.”
Akihiro disappeared inside the cab of the Bearcat, only to re-emerge a moment later red-faced. He slammed the door.
The Ninth Precinct continued to pour fire onto him.
He whirled around to face them. His chest rose and fell as he shook with fury, his nonchalant demeanor shattered.
“Shi No Honou!” he chanted as he swung his arm like a baseball pitcher throwing out his first pitch, heaving a sphere of emerald flames at the retail precinct.
Kasey’s heart stopped as the sphere of flames crossed the street and slammed into the retail center, shattering its remaining display windows.
Bishop was in there.
She started to run toward the building when Bishop threw herself clear. She hit the sidewalk and rolled as the police scattered.
Kasey skidded to a halt, relief flooding through her.
The flames erupted. One of the officers was struck, his body turning to ash at the flame’s lethal caress.
Turning his attention back to making his escape, Akihiro ran for the second armored transport.
Kasey raced after him.
Akihiro climbed up into the open cab of the vehicle, and his jubilant smile told Kasey all she needed to know: he’d found a set of keys.
He turned the key and the Bearcat’s engine rumbled to life. The Shinigami's last acolyte began climbing up to join his master, but Kasey had other plans for them both.
Raising her hands, she chanted, “Maes Heulwen!”
At her command, a sphere of blinding golden light hurtled at the armored car. It was a tamer version of the spell Sanders liked to employ. While she didn’t have enough confidence in her control to turn herself into the missile, she expected it would do its work regardless. The armored vehicles had not been built to withstand an arcane assault. She hoped it would prove more than a match for the Bearcat and its occupant.
As the sphere of light hurtled toward the vehicle, Akihiro grabbed his acolyte by his shirt and launched him out of the cab. The airborne acolyte collided with Kasey's spell and was utterly obliterated, vanishing in a flash of ash and smoke.
The attack was neutralized. Kasey blinked, trying to process what had just happened.
Akihiro swept his hand before him and chanted, “Shi No Kabe.”
The oily emerald flames streamed through the air in torrents like an arcane flamethrower. The flames fanned out from the Bearcat in a deadly w
ave. As the fire rolled toward her, Kasey dove forward, throwing herself behind a raised stone garden bed. Wincing as the concrete grazed her palms, she rolled until she lay flat against the granite. She waited as the emerald flames passed overhead. They were close, unsettlingly so. With every breath, she could smell the sulfurous fury of the blaze.
The energy Akihiro was expending was incredible. Kasey wondered how he managed to control and sustain his arcane reserves for such a prolonged period. The energy drain of his amulet alone should have depleted his strength but still he seemed to wield an almost limitless arcane might.
How can I compete with that?
Kasey was physically and mentally exhausted. She hurt all over and she could feel her spells weakening with each subsequent effort. Without rest, her magic would continue to wane. In the face of Akihiro’s limitless power, she was beginning to feel futile.
As the flames continued to billow overhead, she remembered Sanders’ comments about necromancy. And Kasey could see his meaning. There was something inherently wrong about the energy Akihiro was unleashing. It wasn't magic as she become accustomed to; it felt tainted. The very energy leaking from his every spell seemed offensive to her, as if it had become corrupted.
Then it dawned on her. Akihiro seem to be perverting the natural order of magic, tainting each spell with the spent life force he extracted from his victims. Everything about it was alien and offensive, but Kasey suddenly understood why he never seemed to tire. He wasn't simply using the life force to prolong his life and stave off death; he was using the energy to augment his magical reserves. Drawing on them instead of the arcane, he was able to unleash far more power than an ordinary wizard.
Somehow, he was storing and using the unspent life force he had harvested. His deception in the lobby had simply been to spark more conflict so that he might harvest the dying strength of those who expired. All of a sudden, Kasey realized why they had faced less resistance than she had expected. Sanders had reported dozens of wizards defecting to Akihiro’s cause and yet they had only faced a handful since arriving.
Akihiro had likely lured them to Park Avenue, simply to kill them and harvest their life force. After all, why would he wish to share his power with so many others? Those wizards that had defected hadn't remained in his employ. They'd simply been sacrificed to fuel the Shinigami's seemingly boundless lust for power. It was their energy that fueled his amulet’s barrier, and the same energy that he unleashed every time he dabbled with his foul magic.
In her mind’s eye, she saw the glowing amulet that had rested around his neck.
It’s the key. It has to be.
She'd seen that same eerie glow many times. It glowed every time Akihiro used his magic. It pulsed whenever his shield was struck. Every time energy was exerted, the amulet responded.
The amulet was not simply a shield—it was capable of storing the fading energy of a human soul.
As the flames subsided, Kasey rose to her feet, careful to avoid any lingering wisps that danced along the sidewalk before burning out. Akihiro slammed the door of the Bearcat shut and stomped on the gas. More gunshots slammed into the armored car, but the vehicle was more than a match for the small caliber rounds. As the vehicle launched forward, Kasey took the only option available to her.
She ran for the closest Bearcat, hoping against hope that the driver hadn’t taken the keys with him. She threw open the driver's door and climbed into the seat. Her gaze swept over the interior and landed on keys still dangling in the ignition. Letting out a sigh of relief, she closed the door and then twisted the keys. The Bearcat’s engine spluttered into life.
As the passenger door opened, Kasey whirled, raising her right hand. She began to chant an arcane deterrent.
“Easy, Kasey, it's me,” Bishop said, pausing.
Kasey clenched her fist and extinguished her spell before it manifest.
Bishop climbed inside. Her hair was mussed, she was covered in dust and bleeding from a shallow cut on her cheek.
“I can't let him get away,” Kasey said, gripping the wheel. “This has to end here.”
“No argument from me,” Bishop replied. “I sure as hell wasn't going to let you go it alone. I've got your back. It’s high time we got some payback for the Ninth Precinct.”
Kasey nodded, slid the vehicle into gear, and stomped on the gas. Akihiro and the Shinigami had been responsible for decimating the Ninth Precinct and killing John. Now Sanders was wounded, and dozens of others had perished trying to halt his deadly plot.
Up ahead, Akihiro was pulling away from them.
“Oh, no, you don't,” Kasey muttered, pushing the gas pedal to the floor.
The Bearcat launched forward, surprisingly responsive for such a heavy vehicle. She had never driven anything near this size, but she steered the lumbering vehicle through the debris and into the street, only to find her path blocked by the broken tail rotors of the helicopter.
There was no stopping, though. Kasey plowed straight into the debris. The steel buckled as the Bearcat ground straight over the top of it. Kasey bounced in her seat but clutched the wheel tightly.
As the impact jostled her about, Kasey thought better of her haste and shouted to Bishop, “Grab the wheel for a second.”
Bishop obliged and Kasey reached for her seatbelt. Pulling it across her body, she fastened it. “Can’t be too careful now.”
Bishop nodded, and as Kasey took the wheel back, she reached for her own. “On second thought, if you’re driving, I’d better buckle up too.”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Kasey threw Bishop a sideways glare.
Bishop pointed her thumb over her shoulder. “You’ve only been behind the wheel for thirty seconds and you’ve wiped out a helicopter. I’m beginning to think there is a reason I do all the driving.”
Kasey raised an eyebrow. “I guess we’re about to find out.”
The armored vehicle rolled past the shattered remains of the retail tower. It had definitely seen better days.
Up ahead, Akihiro’s Bearcat careened straight through the intersection of East 56th Street and Park Avenue without a care in the world. If it wasn't for the police cordon having cleared the streets, he would have annihilated several lanes of traffic.
Not that he would have cared.
Kasey followed him into the intersection. With her foot to the floor, she chased him down East 56th Street. Along both sides of the street, stone and marble and glass facades rose skyward, as ground floor shops gave way to towering residential complexes. Cars lined the street, narrowing the street to little more than a single lane of traffic. As they barreled past the Renaissance hotel, a taxi tried to pull out in front of Akihiro.
Akihiro’s vehicle slammed straight into the yellow cab. The taxi crumpled before being sent spinning across the sidewalk, coming to rest as it embedded itself in the front doorway of a restaurant.
The collision allowed Kasey to close the gap as they crossed Lexington Avenue. Construction along East 56th Street further narrowed the roadway, bringing Kasey perilously close to the vehicles parked along the right-hand side of the street.
If any of them are foolish enough to pull out without looking, they are going to get annihilated.
Bishop pointed ahead. “Kasey, watch out.”
Kasey squinted through the windshield and her heart skipped a beat—they were on a collision course with the police cordon. In an effort to contain the collateral damage, West had progressively tightened the cordon around Park Avenue. At the intersection of 56th and 3rd Avenue, the police had set up a roadblock. Squad cars lined the street, but in front of them was a solid wall of concrete bollards. Any attempt to ram the barrier was likely to result in flipping the vehicle.
Akihiro must have reached the same conclusion as he veered violently to the left, turning up 3rd Avenue. Kasey made to follow him but found the Bearcat’s turning circle far wider than she had anticipated.
Reaching over, Bishop yanked down on the steering wheel. “Yo
u have to put your back into it, Kasey.”
The police officers at the cordon watched in shock as the armored transport swung wide around the corner, missing them by mere feet. In spite of Bishop’s added help, Kasey still slammed into the flank of a convertible, shunting the sports car onto the sidewalk. Its alarm blared as Kasey pulled back onto the street.
Up ahead, Akihiro was turning left, this time onto East 57th Street.
Kasey punched the gas. This time, she was ready. Starting wide, she yanked down on the wheel. The Bearcat swung around the corner, and she reversed her rotation of the wheel to bring the vehicle back into the lane seconds before the Bearcat would have obliterated a Toyota Prius.
“So, you slaughter the convertible and spare the Prius?” Bishop said. “West is going to be just thrilled when the department gets the bill for that, you know.”
“If we live through today, they can be grateful they are replacing a car, not rebuilding the city from the ground up,” Kasey replied as she took off after Akihiro.
For three blocks, she chased him back toward Park Avenue, blitzing past retail stores and office buildings. Akihiro stopped for no one and nothing. As he reached Park Avenue, he veered left to head down the city’s uncharacteristically empty thoroughfare.
Kasey followed him around the corner, managing to keep her pedal flat to the floor. The heavy vehicle slid around, but the abandoned 5th Avenue was wide enough to accommodate the desperate maneuver. Kasey pushed the Bearcat to its limits, but Akihiro was clearly doing the same with his as it seemed impossible to close the distance between them. He powered down Park Avenue, the long straight allowing them to pick up speed.
Flashing lights indicated the police roadblock that had sealed the street ahead. Fifth Avenue was far wider than the smaller side streets, but the NYPD had nonetheless clogged both lanes with vehicles and concrete barriers.
Akihiro didn’t slow, his Bearcat powering toward the barrier with reckless abandon.
“He's not gonna stop,” Bishop shouted over the roaring engine.
Kasey gripped the wheel tighter until the knuckles on both her hands turned white. “Then neither are we. Hang on!”