Tor hissed like a cat at Andrew.
Venom narrowed his eyes at him. “I still control the life of that girl. Do not interfere.”
Bowing his head, Andrew muttered, “It’s not a fair fight.”
Venom considered him for several moments. Then he said, “I suppose that is true.” He reached into a pocket inside his white jacket and pulled out a small microphone attached to an earpiece by a short cable. Turning away from Andrew so he could not hear, he whispered into the microphone.
Venom turned back and tucked the microphone into his pocket. Two young men faded into view. They were identical, standing on either side of Godlin. The men were tall, well built, and dressed in light brown jumper suits.
“These are my soldiers. They have been, shall we say, modified. Their speed and strength should prove a match, even for you.” The two men approached Godlin.
Drawing his dagger with his left hand, Godlin twirled it three times close to his body. Each time he completed a circle, the blade grew longer and thicker. On the third pass, he stopped. The dagger had become a four-foot long, black sword.
The two men attacked Godlin as the blade finished its transformation. Godlin kicked the first soldier in the chest and threw him back a few feet. The second grabbed him from behind, trying to tackle Godlin to the ground. Godlin turned his sword around and hit the man with the pommel. Then, he shoved the blade behind him as hard as he could.
He pierced the soldier in the stomach. The man behind Godlin staggered, but he did not bleed. Wires stuck out like straw from the gaping hole.
The soldiers were machines. “Watch a lot of Terminator?” Andrew said, disgusted by the trick Venom had pulled.
“Silence,” Venom snapped.
Andrew closed his mouth, returning his attention to the fight.
Godlin sidestepped the first soldier’s punch and swung his fist as he danced around him. It connected in the soldier’s upper back, sending him fumbling forward, unable to stop his momentum. He plowed into the second soldier, who was still reeling from Godlin’s sword, and they both went to the ground.
Godlin charged forward and brought his sword down vertically, trying to stab it through both soldiers, but they rolled away in separate directions.
Feeling his stomach tighten in frustration as the fight continued, Andrew took a step toward Godlin, intending to help.
Venom stepped in his way. “You will not interfere.”
Andrew turned away, saying in a low tone, “I wasn’t going to do anything.”
“You should not lie,” Venom said. “What would our dearest Raptor think?”
He tried to let the comment roll off his back, but it clung to him. Not wanting to disappoint Raptor or Godlin, he stepped back.
Venom held his hands behind his back. “Have you picked a name yet?”
“What?” Andrew asked, turning to stare at Venom.
Rolling his eyes, Venom restated the question. “Have you chosen your Keeper name?”
Andrew snorted and tried to focus on the fight. The two soldiers had found their feet and were attacking Godlin at the same time. One came up behind him, leaping onto his back, while the other delivered a punch to his gut. Godlin nearly toppled over.
An audible growl came from Godlin as he nabbed the one on his back by the collar. He peeled the man from him and flipped him over, right into the first soldier. He brought his sword down on top of them, into the knee of the one. Godlin jerked the sword to the side. The motion ripped apart the mechanics that controlled the leg.
The second soldier kicked out, catching Godlin in the legs and sending him face first to the ground. The two soldiers leapt on top of Godlin before he could react and started to pound on him with heavy fists.
Venom was not watching the fight, his attention on Andrew. “Surely you have thought about it. Will you name yourself after a favorite plant or a favorite story about a plant? Either is acceptable.”
Andrew steeled his concentration on Godlin. He had thought about his name every chance he had gotten, but he could not focus on it now. He held his breath, waiting for Godlin to get up.
A loud bang, like a gunshot, rang out across the yard. The ground below Andrew’s feet shifted, much to his surprise. It was not an earthquake, but the structure of the ground had changed. It had sunken down several inches around Godlin. It was as if he now weighed more than the earth could support.
“There is the Keeper of earth I know,” Venom muttered. “Godlin over there took his name from the mineral cobalt, also known as goblin ore. What is your favorite plant?”
Godlin stood up, lifting both of the soldiers over his head. He threw his arms out, tossing them several feet away.
Andrew felt a flutter in his stomach as Godlin lifted his sword into the air. “A willow tree,” he blurted out.
“Interesting choice. It is a very large family, many species fall under it; one genus even contains some of the largest living organisms on Earth. A shame people never notice them, simply because most of their mass grows under their feet.”
Biting down on his tongue, Andrew could have hit himself for having talked. He tried to refocus on Godlin.
The blade glowed with a faint white light. Energy crackled in the air as several bolts of black lightning emanated from the tip of the sword. The bolts lasted a few seconds, striking the two soldiers in front of Godlin. Neither of them screamed. They collapsed in a pile of melted metal and wires. A sound like distant thunder rolled across the sky.
Godlin lowered his sword to his side.
Venom clapped his hands slowly. “I am impressed. I see you and your toy have gained some power since our last encounter. You have been a valuable experiment. You will find the girl on your way out, on the opposite end of the building.” He gestured to a door across the way.
As he approached, Andrew could tell Godlin had taken a beating. His jaw did not meet right and his right eye had a dark mark under it the size of a fist.
“The Stone, Venom,” Godlin said, scowling.
Venom pulled a small, clear box from a jacket pocket. Inside of it rested the Stone of Power. “I never go back on my word.” He offered it to Andrew. “Here.”
Andrew reached out, and Venom dropped the box into his hands. He retreated to where Godlin stood.
Venom watched Andrew’s reaction, a flicker of a grin touching his lips. Then he turned and walked away.
Tor strode behind him, snickering again. They exited the yard through the door leading back to the office. Tor turned around and gave them an enthusiastic wave as it closed.
Godlin narrowed his eyes at the door. He spun the sword close to his body again. It shrank down to the size of a dagger.
“Godlin?” Andrew asked.
“We should find the others and get out of here,” Godlin said, shoving his dagger into his belt.
“What about Venom?”
“We leave him for another day. He has given us what we need and that’s that. Venom’s not interested in destroying the world, just becoming a Keeper again.”
Unable to argue his point, Andrew followed Godlin through the door. It opened into an expansive warehouse on the other side. Stacks of crates and boxes filled the room. Sitting motionless off to the side was a heavy crane made of steel and cables. It looked like a small tank with a telescoping arm sticking out the top. Andrew did not see anyone else in the warehouse.
Tentatively they walked into the structure. Godlin peered around crates as they walked past them. They turned a corner and were able to see the base of the crane. Christine leaned against it, her hands bound in front of her, passed out.
“Christine!” Andrew scrambled over crates to get to her and dropped the box with the Quester Stone in it near her feet.
“Andrew!” Her image shifted, and Tran took her place, his hands unbound.
“Ah!” Andrew jumped back. “What are you doing?” Godlin came up behind him, frowning down at Tran.
Tran sat up and dusted himself off. “Tech and I didn’t
find much on the other floors, so we followed some guards here and found Christine. I switched places with her while the guards were distracted.” He glanced around at the empty warehouse. “Where’d everyone go? There were at least four guards here just a few minutes ago.”
“No one was here when we arrived. Godlin thinks maybe Venom is giving up and letting us have the Stone and Christine. Where is she?”
Tran pointed across the building to several stacks of crates.
Andrew took off at a run. As he came near, Tech stuck his head out from behind the boxes. “There you are. Do you have the Stone?”
“Yeah.” He pointed to where Godlin stood over Tran, talking. The box lay a short distance away from them.
Making his way around the boxes, Andrew found Christine lying motionless on the floor. He went to her and took her hand.
“It’s no use; she’s out cold.”
Her hand felt like ice to him. “Is she going to be all right?”
“She should be.” Tech reached down and picked up Christine by one arm. Hoisting her over his shoulder, he called out, “Godlin, call Mouse. I’ve got her.”
With the sound of rattling chains, the warehouse door across from them lifted. About a dozen men and women armed with handguns ducked under the rising door and shot at Godlin, who stood in the open. He tried to grab the Stone of Power, but a bullet ricocheted off the box, sending it sliding and out of reach. Snarling, Godlin leapt for safety behind the crane, where Tran already hid.
Tech set Christine on the ground as bullets whizzed by overhead. He peeked around a crate. “Great. Least they aren’t well armed, or we’d get torn up fast.”
Andrew had ducked behind a crate as soon as the door opened.
“Well,” Venom’s voice boomed across the warehouse. “I said you could have the Stone and the girl, but I did not say you could leave with them.” A dark smile slipped over his lips.
“Damn you!” Tech yelled. He lifted his guns over the crate and aimed at Venom.
The two guards beside Venom moved in front of him. They pointed their guns at Tech.
Tech took a few shots at the guards, but missed. They returned fire, forcing him to duck. “Stay down,” he whispered to Andrew. “Get your invisibility suit on.”
“Venom took it.”
“Ugh,” Tech groaned. He unclipped a pouch from his belt and shoved it into Andrew’s hands.
Putting a hand over his heart, Venom frowned as if wounded. “I get that a lot. I was wondering how many of you Raptor sent, but I think you are all here now. I saw Tech, and I know Tran is hiding back there as well. Do say hello.”
None of the Keepers replied.
Venom shrugged his shoulders. He lifted a gray, pen-shaped remote toward the ceiling. “In that case, how about you play with this?” He pushed a button on the remote.
A dimensional rift opened above the beams that spanned the warehouse. From it poured the crystalline mass, the same one Andrew had defeated in Paris. It crawled along the rafters, shimmering different colors.
“That’s not good,” Tech said.
The colored mass started to snake its way down, heading to where Godlin and Tran hid behind the crane.
“Put the suit on and stay here. Venom hasn’t seen where you’re hiding yet,” Tech said. He dashed out from behind the crates and dove for the crane. Bullets skipped on the concrete around him. One slammed into his upper arm.
Tech scrambled behind the crane. A growing spot of blood darkened the sleeve of his maroon blazer. He winced as he pressed his hand down on the wound.
“Nice of you to join us,” Godlin said with a huff.
The crystal mass wrapped itself around one of the beams, bending it with a terrible screeching sound. One end of the beam snapped free. It twisted the metal and separated the other side from the building. The ceiling groaned in protest.
Godlin watched the mass with a discerning eye. “Move!” The crystal tentacle threw the beam toward them. Andrew watched as it sailed end over end toward the crane.
The Keepers clustered together behind the machine. The beam smashed into it and twisted around it. The metal scraped across the concrete, sending sparks up in all directions, but it stopped just short of slamming into the Keepers.
Andrew fumbled with getting the invisibility suit on. He could just make out what the Keepers were saying.
Tran gave a weak chuckle and poked the scrap of metal with a finger. “Least that missed.”
“I think it’s got plenty of ammo,” Tech said. The tentacles were wrapping themselves around another beam like great coils of rope. “It’s going for another.”
Godlin growled, “We need to leave.”
“That creature must be destroyed first,” Tech said. “Venom can’t be allowed to collect more Questers.”
Rubbing his face, Godlin grumbled something in agreement.
Tech drew one of his pistols and stepped around the crane. Taking aim at the colored mass, he fired two quick shots. Wherever the bullets struck, a bright pulse of light rippled across the creature, but it did nothing else. Tech frowned and stopped trying to shoot it.
Andrew heard Venom say, “Kill them.” The guards spread out and shot at the crane. They took what cover they could or dropped low to the ground. Two guards protected Venom and Tor.
Godlin flinched, a bullet bouncing off the crane near him.
Tech glanced to Tran. “Didn’t you bring a gun?”
“Yeah,” Tran replied. He grabbed the gun from the holder at his side.
“Well, shoot!” Tech pulled out his second gun. He pointed both of them toward the soldiers and opened fire. “Wound them. It’ll occupy more of them.”
The Keepers were trapped and would be overwhelmed if the situation did not change soon. Andrew knew he had to help. He pulled the hood of the suit over his head and fitted the goggles over his eyes.
Tech leaned out from behind the crane and shot one of the bodyguards beside Venom.
The man crumpled to the ground with a bullet wound to the leg. The other bodyguard winced and then turned toward Venom.
Venom gave him a nod. The guard went to the fallen man, grabbing him by the shoulders, dragging him out of the warehouse. Tech peeked over the crane and shot another guard in the leg, causing him to fall to the ground.
Venom’s jaw twitched, and he barked out, “If they are not mortally wounded, leave them.”
Andrew crept out from behind the boxes, heading toward Venom.
Spinning the pen around in his hand, Venom pointed it up at the crystalline monster and clicked it. The mass withered as if in pain. It ripped another beam from the ceiling and threw it at the Keepers. The beam flew right past the crane like a javelin. It slammed into the cargo crates behind it, splitting them apart. Packets of ready-made meals spilled out everywhere, covering the floor.
The Keepers dove out of the way, revealing themselves. The soldiers opened fire. They had crept a lot closer and would reach the Keeper’s hiding place soon.
A guard nicked Tech in the leg, tearing his pants and causing him to grunt. He crawled behind the crane and the remains of a crate. He pushed the packets of rations out of the way, clearing himself a space.
“You know if you just carried a gun once in a while that would help. A lot,” Tech said to Godlin. He lifted both guns over the crane and fired blindly toward the guards.
Godlin held up a hand in defense. “That’s your job.”
Creeping past the line of guards, Andrew inched his way closer to Venom. He watched as some of the guards tipped over more boxes. Food, medical supplies, and various electronics Andrew was not familiar with spilled out across the floor. They searched close to where he had originally been hiding. He worried they would find Christine in a few more moments.
“Tran!” Tech yelled.
Andrew looked over toward the Keepers. Tran ran toward the doorway he and Godlin had used to enter the warehouse.
Waving his hand dismissively toward Tran, Godlin said something Andr
ew could not make out.
Tech snapped at Godlin, motioning to the doorway. “He had the other gun!” To the doorway, he yelled, “Tran, get back here!”
Godlin drew his dagger and made a motion as if throwing it, but did not let it go. A black dagger appeared in the upper leg of a nearby guard.
The woman fell to her knees. She wrapped a hand around the dagger, slowing the loss of blood. It dematerialized in a swirl of gray smoke, leaving a gaping, bleeding hole behind. The woman’s eyes rolled up into the back of her head, and she fell over from the sudden blood loss.
Another guard grabbed her and dragged her away from the area. He started to tend to the wound.
“This is too easy,” Venom muttered. He took a gun from one of the soldiers standing beside him and strode toward the crane.
Andrew charged forward. He ducked his head and slammed into Venom as hard as he could. Venom went sprawling to the ground. The gun slid out of his hand, but he kept hold of the tiny remote.
“What?” Venom asked in a halting voice.
Andrew leapt on top of him and then punched him in the face. A shock of pain ran up his arm, but Venom did not flinch.
Reaching up, Venom grabbed the mask of the invisibility suit, pulling it back. He snarled and threw a punch, knocking Andrew off of him. He started to get up, but Andrew jumped at him again. Snatching the remote control from Venom’s hands, Andrew turned and took off at a sprint.
Tor and a guard chased after him.
Andrew did not look back as he fled across the open warehouse. His heart beat in his chest, but he had a big grin plastered on his face. He pulled the mask over his head and vanished, knowing his victory would turn into a spectacular failure if he did not get away. The guard chasing him stopped as Tech shot at his feet. Tor gave a horrible, inhuman hissing sound.
Venom stalked to where Andrew had last been. Tech shot at him, but missed, the shots going over his head. Just in case, Andrew ducked anyway.
Above them, the crystalline mass descended toward the Keepers. Its long tentacles brushed the ground.
Stone of Power (Keepers of Earth Book 1) Page 30