Renegade Reprisal (The Renegade Series)

by J. C. Fiske

  “Oh, Nina, I can’t believe what you’ve been through, but you listen to me. You are one of the strongest women I have ever met. To go through what you went through and still be alive and kicking says a lot about you. I wish I could have the toughness you have,” Gisbo said. Nina looked up and actually smiled.

  “Gisbo . . . thank you,”

  “And I’m not just saying that. Don’t let the past haunt you. Only ghosts of memories can hurt you now. They are in the past, and as long as I’m here with you, guess what? Nobody is ever hurting you again, understand?” Gisbo said.

  “You are exactly as I dreamed. I’ve dreamed this moment already,” Nina said.

  “Well, what happens next?” Gisbo said.

  “This,” Nina said, and she pulled Gisbo’s head to hers and they kissed. Gisbo pulled away, shocked and feeling weak in the knees. Nina smiled again and, this time, Gisbo moved in, even without his vision, and kissed her tenderly with a passion he didn’t know he had.

  Foxblade was correct. Over the next few days, Gisbo felt his senses change dramatically. It was as if he could hear air currents around him, smell the stink of sweat upon skin as it approached. It got to the point where he felt as though his body moved on its own accored. Foxblade sensed it, as well.

  “Gisbo, you are progressing by leaps and bounds I never thought possible from you. Your tenacity outweighs your natural skill. How do you feel?” Foxblade asked.

  “It’s so hard to describe, but almost a sense of euphoria. My body seems to be moving on its own,” Gisbo said.

  “That is exactly what I have been waiting to hear from you. You are ready. When that feeling comes, when you no longer have to think while you fight, balancing everything. When you achieve peace and an inner balance, you are far beyond most fighters. While they are thinking of ways to enact combinations upon you, trying their best to defend, you don’t need to think of anything else besides victory and how to achieve it. Well done,” Foxblade said.

  “Thanks, I am so beat. Can I break?” Gisbo asked.

  “Your body can, yes, but not your mind. Your body and skills and Elekai’ are ready for this coming battle. I have overly prepared you for what is to come. The only thing left is training with your Boon and mastering your Boon form,” Foxblade said.

  “Yeah, about that . . .” Gisbo said.

  “I already know of your shortcomings in that area. What you achieved was too powerful for your own body. You must return and find something useful, and for that, I have an idea,” Foxblade said.

  “Oh yeah? Do share,” Gisbo said.

  “You are the Man-Phoenix, so you will have trouble at this level keeping those stored energies separate from your dwelling power. Lucky for you, I know of another Man-Phoenix who had the same problem,” Foxblade said with a grin.

  “Really? How do you . . .” Gisbo started.

  “I’m Foxblade, I know things,” Foxblade said.

  “Fair enough. So, what did he do?” Gisbo asked.

  “What you need is to harness an outsourced mode of energy so it doesn’t get mixed within you and feed off one another. Your body can take a lot, of that I’m sure, but not the full-on channeling of the Phoenix’s power just yet. What you need is something from nature itself, a close second. The Phoenix’s power is made up of a holy light of fierce proportions and is associated with a Sybil’s power. They come from the same family, you see. So, through much study, Vadid came to the conclusion that his body was made to harness light energy. Through his lion and Boon powers, Vadid learned to harness the power of the sun for his own while in Boon form,” Foxblade said.

  “Whoa . . . I don’t know what to say,” Gisbo said.

  “Don’t say anything; you won’t be harnessing the sun’s power. That was only possibly because of his lion. It was a daytime creature and lived in heat. They were linked, you see. There is another light source, however, much more associated to your wolf than anything else,” Foxblade said.

  “The moon?” Gisbo asked.

  “Correct. I believe, given two days with Fao, you will be able to master the moon’s energies for your own. Combine your Boon form with your already vastly improved skills and, I think, you are going to be force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. So, go take your rest, and be sure to summon Fao before you do. I’m sure she has some things to say to you,” Foxblade said. “Meanwhile, I have my own preparations to make . . .”

  Foxblade turned and put on his cloaked cape and flew out of the cave without a look back. Gisbo shook his head.

  “Well, bye to you too, jeesh,” Gisbo said. He walked to the back of the cave for some much wanted sleep. He summoned Fao by his side, closed his eyes and was off within moments, only to open them again to see two bright blue eyes staring him in the face.

  “You’ve come back,” Fao said, wagging her tail.

  “Only because you brought me here. How are you, girl?” Gisbo asked.

  “No time for friendliness; time is passing in your world while we are here. You need to learn this power Foxblade spoke of so you may bring it back with you,” Fao said. Gisbo rose to his feet.

  “Right,” Gisbo said.

  “I sense much change in you, Gisbo. You are stronger, faster. Not only that, but, I feel, brimming of love? No, not love yet, it is still premature for that. You have feelings for someone,” Fao said.

  “I . . . no, I don’t,” Gisbo said.

  “We’ve been here, done this; I know what you are thinking. This, Gisbo, this is huge for you. You just may be able to master the moonfire. Your heart has opened, it is warmer now. You are patient. Come, to the pond,” Fao said.

  After a brief walk through the darkened forest and well away from the door, they arrived at the pond. The tree Gisbo had destroyed earlier was still desecrated.

  “Fao, I want you to do something for me,” Gisbo said.

  “Anything,” Fao said.

  “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately and, for me, that’s not saying much. I mean, look at me. When it came to school, I was practically mentally retarded. I know there are others out there like me now and, for them, I want to prove what you just said. I have to make it, I have to become strong, for them. I want to be an example for all the rejects, the losers, the outcasts. I want to show them all that natural talent is a load of crap. With enough guts, with enough tenacity, anything is possible. I’m gonna do this, Fao, even if it kills me. I may not be Vadid, but I’m going to be something better. Me? I’m Gisbo Falcon, dumbass extraordinaire! I’m the Man-Phoenix now, and I’m gonna be the best there ever was! When you do the moonfire this time, I want it to be huge, none of this little stuff. Give me as much as you can; I can take whatever you throw at me,” Gisbo said.

  “I don’t think you understand. If I go bigger than before, then the power you are trying to absorb is greater than yourself and the matter that holds you together. It could absorb and eradicate you forever. It’s not worth it,” Fao said.

  “That’s just it, Fao. I’m not doing it for myself anymore. That’s why I failed. I’ve found my resolve, Fao. Let me have it, I’m ready.”

  “Gisbo . . .” Fao said.

  “I’ve never been more ready for anything in my entire life. Do it,” Gisbo said. “If there is a battle coming, I want all the power I can to protect my friends.”

  “As you wish, Gisbo.”

  Fao stepped toward the pond and howled. The tiny orb began to form once again. As it finished forming, Fao took a deep breath and let out a higher-pitched howl. As she did so, a single, thin beam shot from the tiny orb and toward the direction of the moon at unspeakable velocity. A few moments later, Gisbo could have sworn he heard a clicking noise as the link was formed and the tiny orb began to swirl and grow, making at first a whining noise, before growing to a loud roar.

  For something so small, Gisbo couldn’t believe the amount of power he felt from it. Fao gave it all she had and let out with the loudest howl thus far. The ball grew and grew and didn’t seem to be stopping; Gis
bo and Fao needed to take a step back. The orb was now easily the size of a small hut and continued onto the size of a large storage barn. Fao finally stopped howling and breathed hard. It seemed the energy had stabilized itself as the same clicking noise was heard and the beam connected to the moon disengaged. Gisbo walked around the gigantic, floating orb, marveling at it.

  “Holy hell . . .” Gisbo muttered.

  Fao ignored him and let out with another howl. This one, however, was much different. This howl sounded more like a cooing, soft whimper. The glowing orb of moonlight reacted to the noise immediately. Gisbo watched as the orb began to spin round and round, seeming to shrink into itself. Gisbo was instantly reminded of the Flarian’s compression technique, a way to stabilize their power into a smaller area without letting it disperse wildly around them. This was the same, and soon the orb was down to the size of a grapefruit. It whined a high-pitched frequency that was troublesome to the ears. Even though it was small, Gisbo felt no change in its power from the large form it once took. Fao finished her cooing, breathed again, and looked Gisbo square in the eyes.

  “This is it, brace yourself. Once it’s in, it’s staying there; you must merge with it or suffer the consequences. No ‘that’s what she said’ jokes this time,” Fao said. Gisbo obeyed.

  “I’m . . . I’m ready . . .” Gisbo said.

  Fao barked and, at first, nothing happened. Then, slowly, the orb lurched forward and made its way toward Gisbo. Gisbo watched as the thing edged closer to him. Even as it approached, Gisbo felt himself being pulled toward it as if the thing had its own gravitational pull. Before long, it was nearly a foot from his chest. Gisbo closed his eyes from the brightness of the moonlight. At such close range, it was almost as if he were staring into the sun.

  Then it hit.

  Gisbo didn’t feel anything painful, only a rush of wind and a flash of light, and then there was nothing. Gisbo opened his eyes and looked down at his chest, then at Fao.

  “That’s it? That’s all it took?” Gisbo said.

  “Wait,” Fao said.

  “Wait? I feel nothing, jeesh, and here I was . . .” Gisbo started when suddenly he upchucked everything in his stomach and dropped to his knees.

  “Oh shit . . . shit . . .” Gisbo said as tears welled up in his eyes. He puked again, only this time it was yellow bile. His body convulsed uncontrollably and his whole body felt as if it were caving in. The inside of his head felt as if a white fissure had opened and something poured acid all over the surface of his gray matter and, suddenly, everything went from freezing to hot and then rebounded back and forth in a mix of extremes. He was sweating and his skin felt like a giant flesh wound that was soaked in lemon juice. Both his insides and outsides had the same amount of pain.

  “GAHHHHHHHH!!!!” Gisbo screamed in agony. Tears flowed out of bloodshot eyes and he slammed his face into the dirt. The scars from Foxblade all opened up again, one by one, and burst forth wildly with crimson blood, scattering the surrounding beach with his life force. A spot hit Fao between the eyes and the red dripped down her snow white fur. Gisbo rolled and convulsed upon the ground like a demon possessed, a rabid animal. Foam dripped from his mouth, and he uttered obscene things beyond recognition as he fought to survive. Fao shook her head.

  “You aren’t ready for this, it must come out,” Fao said. She howled with everything she had, so much so that her own knees wobbled and she fell to the ground, tongue rolled out and panting. She gave it her all, and it happened to be just enough. Gisbo lay still and the glowing grapefruit left his body and hovered above his chest.

  “Oh, Gisbo, it’s okay, everything will be fine now. This was a mistake, I, you are, you are so fortunate I was able to remove it. I’m ready to pass out, I . . .” Fao said through heavy sighs, when suddenly Gisbo’s arms snapped upward and latched onto the glowing orb. Fao’s eyes went wide.

  “What are you doing!?” Fao yelled.

  “GIVE IT BACK, DAMN IT!” Gisbo screamed and shoved the glowing ball back into his chest. Immediately, blood burst from his wounds again like tiny fountains and he screamed with maddening fury.

  “Gisbo . . . I’m spent, I . . .” Fao said, watching her master tumble across the ground in the worst pain she’d ever seen. “I cannot help you anymore. This decision was your own. May IAM have mercy on us. Oh, Gisbo . . . GISBO, YOU MUST LIVE!”

  Fao watched on helplessly as Gisbo flung his body about, puking, bursting with blood, and slamming his face into things. It was horrible to see. Fao shook her head, shielded her eyes, and whimpered helplessly.

  Just what is this creature you would have me bond with, my creator? Such pain, such anguish, and yet he continues to fight, even though his body is broken and dashed across the rocks. Where does he find such strength? There is something within him that goes beyond anything I have seen. It is as if his tenacity is an elemental force, an unyet discovered element and all of its own. Oh, my creator, you have seen the potential in this body when nobody else noticed. You saw what was within him and I, I couldn’t be more thankful you chose me to bond with him. I was wrong to doubt him, I was wrong to think you would let something happen to him before his purpose, your purpose, was fulfilled. Help me, help me to see with the eyes of my heart again, my creator. Let me have faith . . .

  And with that, Fao crawled across the ground with a newfound strength, gathered water in her mouth, and crawled over to a writhing Gisbo, let it out atop his burning head, and went back for more. She did this only a few times before she succumbed to exhaustion. Helpless to even move, let alone do anything else, she felt her eyes close, knowing full well should Gisbo die, she would die as well.

  Chapter Twenty One: Face the Darkness

  Swarms of memories filled Gisbo’s mind. It wasn’t enough that his body was wracked with pain, but his mind raced to the point of unhingment, and that scared him far worse. He was passed out, this he knew. But where does one go when one’s dream body passes out? Gisbo didn’t quite know, but wherever he was now, he felt a presence around him he didn’t like . . . but worse than the prescence was the voice he heard that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. It dripped with a smooth, oily pleasantness. Gisbo may not have the greatest of intellects, but his emotional intelligence, the ability to feel people out, to sense who they are behind the curtain they showed to society, was bar none. Even through the velvet and honey, Gisbo sensed a shadow, shrouded in artificial light; a poisonous candy was the best way he would describe it later, the voice of Drakeron, the voice of the Dragon, of Appolyon, all in a twisted alliance, an unholy trinity, present to tear and shred all within his soul.

  You don’t need this pain. Why don’t you just give in? Is not death better than this? Weigh your options, my son, use reason. Only it is satisfactory, only it is pure, and only it can you fully rely on, the voice tempted. Gisbo didn’t respond as he lay, hovered within the darkness, breathing heavily.

  A heart beats. That’s all it is for. It does not tell you anything. It is a crutch, a crutch to bring you away from the pain of reality. Pain and pleasure, life’s great pendulum. Often, they cause one another. Why do you fight this pain? Just embrace it. Embrace the pain you feel, blind it with anger as you once did, and then only pleasure will remain. This is reason. This is right. All you need to do is let go. What could one man, let alone a boy, possibly do to tilt the scales of human nature in itself? Again, Gisbo said nothing.

  Good, you are listening. Don’t think of me as harsh; think of me as real. I am here to help you, to take this pain from you. Pleasure, that is all anyone deserves and I am here to give it freely. Just let go, come to me, and I will give you rest.

  “How about you lick my ass?” Gisbo said aloud.

  Excuse me? the voice asked, genuine surprise to its voice.

  “For someone so powerful, somebody who just wants to help me, you seem pretty afraid. Why bother with just little ol’ dumbass me, huh? Why? I’ll tell you why; because you’re afraid of me, afraid of what I’ll become.
So listen and listen good, assface, because I’m only gonna say this once. You can give up on me giving up! I’m going to succeed where Vadid didn’t. I’m going to shut you up once and for all! Nobody is going to feel conflicted ever again. I am going to bring the world clarity, I am going to help my friends, my family, and, eventually, this world. In the name of the Phoenix, of IAM, I fear no evil!”

  The voice was silent. Most would have thought it was unaffected, but not Gisbo. He sensed a rising fury at his disrespect. The cracks in the blackness began showing.

  You do have strength to you, boy, but it is naïve and misplaced. I am never going away. I am always there, will always be at both the front and back of the minds of men. I am the doubt, I am the fear, I am the pain of this world. I am the evil, the wickedness, the misery. I am there when a child is struck down. I am there when a husband strikes his wife. I am there when the innocent and pure are raped. I am there.

  What hope do you have of ending me, little boy phoenix? You do not know what I see down the line for you. Oh yes. Nina does, and she does not wish to tell you, but I see it clearly. You will be one of my greatest disciples. You will be a disciple of pain, of wickedness, and of evil. All you know, all you have ever loved, will not be destroyed by me, boy phoenix, oh no, that is too easy. It will be destroyed by you, and that will be the ultimate victory. Nina sees it, I see it, and now you see it. This coming battle, should you live, will change you forever. Everything is forseen, everything is set in motion. You have no idea what is waiting for you these next few days . . . and that is exactly how I want it . . .

  And with that, the voice was gone. Gisbo sat up, a huge knot in his gut. He did his best to fight the feeling within him, the fear creeping in. The door of his subconscious appeared within the front of his mind’s eye and rattled . . . and rattled again . . . BOOM . . . BOOM . .

  Finally, Gisbo opened his eyes, awakening from the dream within a dream. He was back, but not totally. He managed to rise to wobbly knees, only to fall back down. He was weak, his throat was on fire, but it was a vacation compared to what he was feeling hours before. He looked around him to see caked blood, puke, and broken fingernails, all his own. The ground looked as if someone took a blender to it, and the path of bodily fluids went all about him in a radius of nearly twelve feet. Just seeing it caused him to go woozy once again and he rolled his eyes as he realized he had soiled his pants. He managed to crawl his way to the pond and rolled right in, dunking his face into the ice cold water, and drank greedily. He then fell on his back with a splash and soaked himself in the water, coming up just high enough for his face to peek out from the surface. He stared at the moon and the light basking on him. He couldn’t place it, but he felt an even deeper connection with it than before. It almost felt as if a piece of himself was up there. He smiled, and silently rejoiced that he had lived. He heard paws enter the water beside him and he turned to see Fao standing over him.