“Come on,” he said, turning to run again.
“But your arm,” Lily replied.
“We’ll deal with it on the plane,” Owen said.
The trio hurtled down the corridor. Owen ran as if he’d forgotten his injured leg, but Lily could feel the distress it was causing him.
Not far now, she thought, seeing the light from outside not far down the corridor. Amazingly, they made it without incident.
There can’t be that many skeletons which can still function, Lily thought as they turned the corner and left the factory.
And stopped dead. A pair of skeletons stood between them and the plane. One was missing half its skull, including its artificial eye, and the other its natural arm, but apart from that they were intact.
Before either could react, Damos lunged forwards and stabbed with the spike. It struck the blind skeleton’s ribcage, but it glanced off the metal rather than embedding itself, slipping between the ribs. The skeleton twisted back, pulling the spike from Damos’s grip. The other swung down with a bladed arm. Damos leapt back just in time. He thrust his arm out, a sword appearing in his gloved hand. His other arm hung limp, the red stain from his wound expanding with every second.
Damos leapt sideways, ducking past the blind skeleton. He swung up, his sword slicing through the skeleton’s spine. Its torso toppled forwards, hitting the ground with a crash. Its legs remained motionless, no longer connected to the receiver.
One down, Lily thought, feeling incredibly useless but unable to think of any way to help. Damos turned and held his sword out to the second skeleton.
“Bring it, Nicholas,” he taunted. The skeleton remained where it was however. Instead of attacking, it raised its blade arm above the spike which was caught in its ribs. It took Damos a moment to realise what it was doing. When he did, he lunged forward, thrusting the sword between the blade and the spike. He got there just in time, the blade glancing off the sword, but it left him over-extended. The skeleton swung its blade up, ready to stab his gut.
Lily didn’t know what came over her at that moment. Maybe it was just instinct, or maybe she’d seen too much death to be able to watch another man die. Whatever it was, it saved Damos’s life. At that moment she leapt forwards, reaching up and wrapping her fist around the skeleton’s artificial eye. She tugged with all her strength and tore it free before she tumbled back and crashed to the ground.
The sudden loss of sight seemed to catch Nicholas off guard. The skeleton froze for a moment, giving Damos a chance to regain his balance. He reached up and grasped the spike, tugging it free. The skeleton readied itself to fight, but with no sight it had no way to know where to aim. Damos jumped aside and rammed the spike into the skeleton’s sternum. It instantly froze, its bladed arm vanishing.
“Nice one,” Owen said, extending a hand to Lily. She released the eye before taking Owen’s hand and climbing to her feet. The pair followed Damos as he entered the plane.
“There’s a med-kit under the port side bench,” Owen said. Lily ducked and looked right.
“Left side,” Owen said as he climbed into the cockpit and raised the ramp. Lily turned and retrieved the kit, taking a seat next to Damos. His free arm was clamped around his wound, the spike resting next to him on the bench.
“May I?” Lily said, reaching up to the wound. Damos nodded, moving his hand back slightly while still applying pressure. Lily reached up and gently pulled the fabric away. The cut ran deep, almost to the bone, but she presumed from the fact Damos was still conscious that it had missed any major veins or arteries. Still, it needed treatment fast. She unzipped the med-kit and retrieved a bottle of spray disinfectant. Damos gritted his teeth as she sprayed it onto the cut, making Lily thankful physical pain was not an emotion. She followed by grabbing a roll of bandage and, holding one end to the other side of Damos’s arm, proceeded to unroll it around the cut. Damos slid his hand away as she rolled, until the majority of his bicep was covered in white fabric.
“That’ll do for now, but you’ll need to visit a hospital.”
“Hospital can wait. First we stop Nicholas,” Damos said, reaching around and hefting the spike in his gloved hand.
For once Lily didn’t disagree.
Chapter 24 - Empathy
12:09, Airspace outside Plexus City
Lily watched from the copilot seat as Plexus city grew closer.
“How did you find him?” Lily asked.
“He’s currently linked to almost every Gifted in the world. The sheer amount of mana passing between him and the servers is enough to let even the most amateur technomancer find him,” Owen replied.
“And the spike. We use it like Damos did on the skeletons.”
“Yes, we have to stab him with it. Specifically with the shorter pointed end.”
“But won’t that kill him?”
“Provided we don’t hit anything vital, he’ll survive. That’s not to say it won’t hurt though. A lot.”
Lily felt a guilty sense of satisfaction. While she didn’t agree with killing, neither did she think Nicholas shouldn’t suffer for what he’d done.
“Why is the spike shaped that way?” Lily asked. “It seems unnecessarily weapon-like.”
“It is a weapon. The supersoldiers have an automatic response to coming under fire, where their chests create a barrier which blocks bullets. The spike is meant to be shot from a device which resembles a rocket launcher. With enough velocity, it can pierce this barrier and shut them down. The launcher was with it in the control room, but if we used that there’s no way Nicholas would survive.”
“Wouldn’t it have been a good idea to take that as a last resort?”
“If it comes to that, we can forget the spike. We might as well just shoot him.”
As Plexus city approached, Lily noticed columns of smoke rising from various places.
There’re fires. Nicholas has already begun his attack.
The plane shot over the slums by East District and entered the airspace above the city. Despite the plane’s height, Lily could make out groups of Gifteds on the streets below. Nicholas seemed to have grown accustomed to his new-found power, the groups moving with far more speed and purpose than the Gifteds had back in the Colonies. Lily watched as people ran. Some kept going, others ducked into whatever shelter they could find. The groups followed them, dragging them back out onto the street and herding them into crowds of terrified commoners. Any who fought back were quickly shown their place.
Lily looked away, unable to watch anymore.
“How close are we?”
“Ten seconds,” Owen said, nodding forwards. Lily looked up to see the towering glass spire which housed ManaCorp headquarters. They were well above the city’s skyscrapers, yet the spire still rose above them. Owen pulled back on the control wheel and they rapidly began to climb.
“Ready?” Owen shouted back to Damos.
“Ready,” Damos replied.
“I’m going too,” Lily said, climbing out of her seat.
“Are you crazy? Let him deal with it.”
“He would have died back there were it not for me. I’m not letting him go alone.”
Owen took a deep breath, concentrating as they passed the top of the tower.
“Fine, but be careful. It’s not just Nicholas who’s there.”
Lily was tugged sideways as Owen slowed the plane and span it round. Using her arms to steady herself, she climbed into the hold. The jet’s door dropped, revealing the tower beyond. The top was flat, despite the fact that from the ground it looked like it formed a peak. On the other side stood Nicholas, his eyes shut and his face contorted in concentration. He was surrounded by Gifteds, the same ones who had been with him earlier, and beside them, Victoria.
“Come on,” Damos said as he ran down the ramp and jumped onto the building.
You could just let him go, Lily thought for a moment.
No, if he died and you weren’t there, you’d never forgive yourself.
With
a mixture of determination and resignation, Lily leapt onto the tower.
* * * *
Damos heard Lily land behind him.
“So you’ve made it,” Nicholas said. “And you have the spike I see. It’s a shame you won’t get to use it.”
The Gifteds slowly began to approach, seven of them in total. Damos hefted the spike in his hand.
I can’t use this and my glove, he realised, cursing his useless other arm.
“Lily, catch,” he shouted, tossing the spike across to her. She panicked and nearly fumbled the catch. Damos ignored her and threw himself into combat.
Shield, he thought, smashing the resulting shield into the closest Gifted before it had even fully formed. The man tumbled back, his head crashing into the tempered glass floor. Another lunged for Damos, flame erupting from his hands. Damos swept across Salamander’s legs with a low kick, sweeping him off his feet. He landed besides his comrade. The glass began to melt where his hand made contact. Damos got to his feet and smashed his shield into the molten glass. The pane around it shattered. The two Gifteds fell while Damos remained, positioned over a supporting beam.
Something blue flashed across Damos’s peripheral vision. He threw his shield up just in time to block the attack.
Victoria, he thought, stepping back and holding his shield up as she regained her stance. Victoria’s artificial eye locked onto him, fixing him with an empty stare, before she lunged at him with her blade arm. Damos ducked and dived out the way, using his shield to soften the impact. He looked up to see three Gifteds rounding on Lily. She held the spike out towards them, like a gladiator fending off three lions, but he knew she wouldn’t have the strength to use it. Before he could react, Victoria struck again, thrusting her blade towards him. Damos rolled, pulling his shield on top of his body to block the blow. The blade bounced off and Damos responded with a kick to Victoria’s shin. The attack caught her off guard and she stumbled back. Damos followed with a kick to the pelvis, toppling her over. She hit the glass with a crash, smashing it and falling into the building below.
Damos returned his attention to Lily. One of the Gifteds had her now, the other two approaching with a blade each.
She should have stayed in the plane, Damos thought as he leapt to his feet. He swung the shield around and crashed into the closest Gifted, hurling her into the second. The pair crashed to the ground. Damos dissipated his shield as he turned and punched the final Gifted between the eyes. The Gifted released Lily, his natural reactions overriding Nicholas’s control as he reached up to defend his face. Damos put a leg behind him and rammed his shoulder into the Gifted’s chest. The man stumbled back, catching on Damos’s leg and toppling over.
“Get back in the plane,” Damos said, but when he looked up he realised it was no longer there. He squinted and was just able to make it out in the distance, being chased by a pair of flying Gifteds.
Time to end this, Damos thought.
“Lily, give me the spike,” he said. She nodded and held it out to him. A look of horror suddenly overcame her face. Damos looked around to see Victoria stood behind them. She charged. Damos tore the spike from Lily’s grip and thrust it towards her. Victoria casually batted it aside with a force which was anything but. The spike flew from Damos’s grip, skating across the glass surface towards the edge of the building. Lily ran for it as Damos defended himself from Victoria’s onslaught. Her blows came one after another with relentless fury. Damos raised another shield in desperation. Victoria reformed her blade into an arm and grabbed it, pulling it away. Unable to detach from his glove, the glove went with it, leaving Damos’s hand bare.
Shit, Damos thought, throwing himself back out of Victoria’s reach. He watched, helpless, as the shield disappeared and Victoria sliced through the glove, throwing the remaining halves to the wind. Forcing himself to focus despite the loss of his weapon, Damos chanced a glance at Lily. She’d recovered the spike and was approaching Nicholas. Victoria followed his gaze. Seeing what was about to happen, she turned instantly and leapt for Lily. Damos dived after her, grabbing onto her foot. His arm cried out in protest but he managed to keep his hold. Victoria fell short, crashing into the floor and smashing through again. Damos looked back to see Lily almost upon Nicholas.
Damos suddenly saw Nicholas open his eyes and glance sideways. His stance shifted ever so slightly, his arm moving forwards and his hand opening.
“Lily, no,” Damos yelled, realising what was about to happen. But it was no use, so focused was she on achieving her goal. She raised the spike and prepared to strike. Damos didn’t think, he just acted, pulling himself into a crouch and leaping for them. Lily thrust the spike down, straight towards Nicholas’s shoulder. At the same moment, Nicholas stepped back and turned, grabbing the spike and forcing it around. A look of terror washed over Lily’s face as she saw the other end align with her torso. Damos reached out, but he was too slow. He watched as it pierced her abdomen, easily slipping through her skin. Realising he was too late to save her, Damos did the only other thing he could. He reached out and grabbed Nicholas, pulling him into the path of the other end. Lily fell forwards, and at the same time drove the other, blunter end of the spike into the side of Nicholas’s chest. The trio toppled to the glass floor.
For a moment they were still. Then Lily cried out in pain. She tugged back, but the spike was stuck, lodged between two ribs. Nicholas tried to shuffle away, but the combined weight of Lily and Damos prevented him from moving.
Damos simply lay there, his mind a whirl. He felt... something. He couldn’t describe what it was, or at least, he had no word to associate with it. He felt pain, but not the physical kind he was used to. This hurt on another level, somewhere deep down inside him. Somewhere he hadn’t known existed.
He looked to Lily, her face contorted in agony, desperately pulling against the spike. With her dwindling strength, Damos knew it wasn’t going to come free. He turned to Nicholas, his face also contorted with pain. But there was something else there. A kind of… again, he didn’t know the word. But he felt it. Not from the look on Nicholas’s face, but inside of himself. He felt as if he’d spent ages working on a sculpture, ensuring every part was perfect, only to chip off its nose when making his final touch-ups.
Damos watched as Nicholas continued to struggle. He jerked sideways, causing the spike to shift. He cried out before his head rolled limp, a combination of pain and shock forcing him into unconsciousness.
What’s happening? Damos thought, feeling a sense of confusion. That was something more familiar, a feeling which surfaced from time to time, like the anger or the sadness. All his life he’d been used to brief moments of emotion, intense strikes of feeling, but even if you summed all of them up and he felt them all at once, it would be nothing compared to what he felt now.
With a final cry, Lily stopped struggling and collapsed. The emotional pain went away, to be replaced with something else that Damos had no words to describe.
“Lily,” Damos croaked, finally realising what was going on. She sluggishly looked up at him. “Lily, I can feel.”
“What?” Lily wheezed.
“I can feel... everything. Everything that you’re feeling, it’s inside me. It’s in my head.”
“Wait, I can’t...” Lily said. She looked down at Nicholas, then back to Damos.
“My powers, they’re gone. I’m… I’m free.”
Damos felt a wave of happiness. He’d been trapped in a cell, every day forced to endure all kinds of torture. But now he’d been handed the keys.
Damos was suddenly distracted by the sound of engines. He looked around to see the plane land on the rooftop. The hatch opened with a hiss, and a few moments later Owen limped down the ramp.
“The fighting, it’s stopped. I don’t know why but-”
Owen suddenly noticed the tip of the spike protruding from Lily’s back.
“Shit, we have to get her free,” he said, falling to his knees beside them.
“No,” came a fem
ale voice. All three looked to see Victoria approaching. “You pull that free, she’ll bleed out in seconds.”
“We have to do something.”
“There’s nothing we can do. By the time we could get her to a hospital, it’d be too late.”
“There’s a medical kit in the plane. We could-”
“We could what? Bandage her up? Give her a shot of adrenaline? That thing’s pierced multiple organs. In a couple of minutes, she’ll be gone.”
“No,” Owen cried, tears streaming down his face. Damos felt it too, the agony of losing a friend. He wanted it to stop. He wanted it to go away and never come back.
“Owen,” Lily said, her face deathly pale.
“Yes,” Owen replied through the sobs.
“The fighting… it’s stopped?”
“Y-yes. It must be the spike. Somehow, your powers have been transferred to the rest of the world. I… I can feel your emotions. You’re not sad.”
Lily’s eyes screwed up in pain as she tried to shake her head.
“We stopped Nicholas. I fulfilled Ethan’s wish. Knowing that, I can… die happy,” Lily said.
“No,” Damos said. “No, you can’t die.” For the first time since he’d been a child, tears welled in his eyes. He dragged himself to his knees and knelt over Lily, taking her in his arms. “I can’t let you go.”
“I don’t think...” Lily began, before being interrupted by a cough, staining Damos’s top with crimson. “I don’t think you have a choice.”
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