Crossroads

by Stephen Kenson

  The link held and I began the spell itself, building its energies slowly and directing them through our connection. There was a definite chance Gallow would sense what I was doing and try to protect himself. I was banking on the fact that Gallow seemed bound to its host body, that it couldn’t travel through the astral plane to follow the link back and attack me. At least, that was what I hoped. It might try to hide from the spell, but it wouldn’t be able to stop me before I was finished. If it tried, the others were waiting for it. If I could get Gallow to come to us, so much the better. But I knew the spirit wasn’t that dumb.

  The minutes ticked by as I patiently built up the energies of the spell. I wove a subtle web of power stretching across the distance between Gallow and me. Then I began focusing energy down through it to extend my senses and allow me to pinpoint the spirit’s location, almost like a spider sensing movement by the vibrations in her web.

  I held Talonclaw, point up, in front of me, the steel of the blade like a compass. The spell was nearly complete. I spoke the final phrases, the Latin words rolling off my tongue. I concentrated on the sound and flow of the spell, centering my attention and directing the final surge of energy needed to bring it into being. Images filled my mind and, for a moment, I was aware of the complete layout of the tunnels and catacombs of the underground. Gallow’s presence shone like a beacon in the shadows, a flame burning in the dark maze of tunnels.

  “I have it.” I said quietly. “Let’s go.” Everyone quickly fell into step behind me as I made my way down the darkened tunnel, lit only by the small flashlights we carried.

  “Where is he?” Trouble asked me.

  “Not far. I think he’s trying to make his way deeper into the Catacombs. The trains don’t run this late and there’s nobody around the T stations, so Gallow must be trying to reach the old tunnels where there might be some people he can use to strengthen his powers, maybe a place to hide out.”

  “Does he know we’re on to him?” Hammer asked softly, his gun already out and in his hand, ready for anything.

  “I don’t know.” I said. “We have to assume he does. I couldn’t really conceal the spell from him, and Gallow is astrally aware, so he probably noticed it. Either way, I suspect he’ll be ready for us.”

  I guided the group through the tunnels, sticking to the older maintenance passages and sidings, going back toward the main tunnels only when necessary. It was quite late, and not a soul was around, save for the occasional devil rats that squealed when our light fell on them, scurrying back into the shadows or hissing at us from their nests. The size of our group seemed to dissuade them from attacking.

  The tunnels we passed through were old and decrepit. Many showed signs of damage from the earthquake that had closed them down decades ago: rusting tracks, broken pipes and wires, deep puddles of black and brackish water, layers of faintly glowing mosses, slime molds, and piles of debris from places where the tunnel walls collapsed, exposing conduits, pipes, and bare earth.

  We made our way through one access tunnel where the floor was flooded in calf-deep water.

  “Careful, terms.” Boom said. “Who the frag knows what’s living in that drek.”

  “Is there any way around it?” Isogi asked me.

  I shook my head. “The most direct way is through there.”

  Isogi looked at the black, stagnant water with an expression of disgust, but slowly made his way through it along with the rest of us. The water stained and soaked his expensive pants and shoes, and I was glad I was wearing my boots and a pair of battered jeans.

  As he picked his way through the water, Isogi brushed against Sloane, who reacted by shoving the slighter Japanese man roughly away.

  “Stay away from me, fragger.” Sloane said.

  Isogi pushed himself away from the wall, his eyes smoldering in anger. “Do not lay your filthy hands on me again, gaijin."

  “I'll do whatever I damn well please, you piece of drek!” Sloane said, his rising voice echoing in the confines of the tunnel.

  “Hey!” I said as quietly but as forcefully as I could. “Hold—”

  “Shut the frag up. Talon!” Sloane shouted at me. “You don’t know what they did . . .” He started to turn toward Isogi, and reached for the gun in his shoulder holster.

  “Sloane, no!” Hammer shouted and moved to grab Sloane’s arm. He wasn’t fast enough for that, but he did manage to knock Sloane’s aim off. A shot rang out, but missed Isogi, the bullet ricocheting off the tunnel wall. The sound of it echoed in the confines of the tunnel. Isogi brought his own gun up, his eyes burning with anger. Boom stepped in and grabbed his wrist and forearm in one giant hand.

  “The man said hold it, term.” Boom said, and Isogi spun on him and struck Boom in the throat. The blow wasn’t enough to really hurt someone as tough as a troll, but it caught Boom by surprise and made him loosen his grip on the yakuza’s arm.

  Opening my senses to the astral, I confirmed my suspicions. Hammer tried to keep his hold on Sloane’s arm as surgical steel blades slid out from under the street samurai’s fingernails. I allowed my aura to flare visibly and called out in a loud and firm voice.

  “Stop it! It’s Gallow! He’s doing this! Stop it right now and listen!” The bright glow of my aura in the dimness of the tunnel, combined with the sound of my voice, had the desired effect. Isogi and Sloane stopped struggling for a moment and looked at me. They seemed somewhat dazed.

  “What?” Sloane said, like someone startled out of a daydream.

  “It’s Gallow.” I repeated. “He’s doing this. He’s using his power on us, to heighten dislike into hate, to fan hate into violence. He wants to turn us against each other so we can supply him with the power he needs and he can be rid of us at the same time. We must be very close for him to be able to do this. It’s what he wants. We have to focus. Put aside our differences and concentrate on getting to Gallow.”

  “But he . . .” Sloane began.

  “If you can’t handle it.” I said, “I will personally knock you out and leave you here for the fragging devil rats to chew on for a while!”

  Anger flared in Sloane’s eyes and I forced myself to stop and take a deep breath. “We’re all in this together.” I said more calmly and, hopefully, more persuasively.

  “We have to stick together if we’re going to do this. We’re a team, like it or not. Don’t let Gallow do this. Fight it. Don’t let your anger get the better of you.”

  Sloane slowly relaxed in Hammer’s grip and the hand-razors retracted. He glanced over at Isogi, who straightened up and adjusted his tie as Boom stood warily over him. “Okay.” Sloane said. “We deal with Gallow first.”

  “Good enough.” I said. “We must be pretty close. Let’s go.”

  Drawing Talonclaw and feeling the magical blade come alive under my touch, its magic flowing into me, I led the way down the tunnel.

  24

  We came out near a station on the outskirts of the Rox. It was still operating, but closed down for the night. The platform was lit by pale fluorescent lighting above, washing out what little color there was. The blood staining the floor and parts of the walls was nearly black, gleaming wetly in the pale light.

  “What the . . .?” Trouble said as we rounded the corner. The bodies of two night guards lay on the platform in pools of blood, barely recognizable. It looked as if they’d shot each other, several times, with the guns that lay close at hand.

  A flicker of light caught my attention from the ticket booth near the entrance to the platform.

  “Get down!” I yelled and dove for the floor.

  The booth exploded in a blast of orange flames that shot out across the platform. Fragments of molten plastic and burning wood and metal rained down as I threw up my arms to shield my face and head. The others managed to hit the ground or find cover, but we were all scorched by the blast. Sloane took a fragment of shrapnel in his shoulder, blood soaking his shirt, and parts of Boom and Hammer’s exposed skin were burned.

  Gallo
w stepped out of the burning booth, shrouded in an aura of flames that cast Garnoff’s features in an unholy light.

  Everyone opened fire on him at once, guns roaring. I saw the bullets impact, leaving red tears in Gallow’s borrowed flesh and staining his clothes with blood. He showed no signs of pain or injury and the wounds began to close instantly, fading even as we watched. They fired until their weapons were empty and they had to change clips, but Gallow kept coming, with death in its eyes.

  “Your weapons cannot hurt me.” the spirit sneered. “I am not this body. I can shape it to my will and protect it against you. You’re fools to attack me here.” Gallow raised one hand and a sheet of flames shot out from it.

  “Get down!” Hammer yelled and hit the floor as the flaming blast engulfed him. Sloane screamed as the fire burned and blistered his skin. Boom and Isogi pulled back around the corner of the tunnel while Trouble and I stayed low to the ground. The flames cleared, and Sloane fell to his knees on the concrete, skin charred and smoking. He struggled to rise, barely clinging to life, then fell face-forward onto the platform, dead.

  I picked myself up off the ground, stretched my hands out toward Gallow and began the ritual of banishment.

  “Avant, ye elemental! Avant, ye nature unbound! Begone from this place and trouble it no more! By the power of the elements, I command you! By the power of your Name, I compel you! You are Talon’s Hate and I, your maker, bid you begone!”

  In response to my words, Gallow’s aura flared brighter, a white-hot flame, causing the floor under his feet to smoke and smolder, hissing where it stood. It threw its head back and laughed.

  “By my Name, by the freedom I have won, and by the power that is mine, I will never bow to any man’s will again! Creature of flesh, father of spirit, I deny you! I will not be bound!” A malevolent grin twisted Garnoff’s borrowed features. “You only get one chance, father, and you failed. You cannot banish me now. You have no power over me. The power is mine!”

  It gestured again and a line of flame stretched out from its aura along the floor to either side, spreading out to become a ring of flames surrounding the two of us and leaping nearly a meter high, penning us in.

  “Your weapons cannot hurt me. Your magic cannot stop me. I will kill you all, one by one, while Talon watches, then I will destroy him as well. What do you say to that, father? Your feeble powers cannot stop me!”

  I leveled Talonclaw at Gallow and spoke a single word, channeling a powerful bolt of magical force at the mocking spirit. Gallow merely raised a hand and swatted the manabolt aside like a bothersome insect.

  “Ha! Your spells are still weak.” he gloated. “It seems you haven’t fully recovered from failing to banish me before, have you? But I am as strong as ever. I grow stronger with every life I claim. Whose will be next, I wonder?” His fiery gaze swept over the group. Hammer and Boom looked at each other and raised their weapons toward Gallow, firing off another volley of rounds. The spirit just stood there in the hail of gunfire that shredded clothing and flesh, but the wounds immediately began to close again, healing before our eyes. The spirit shook its head almost sadly.

  Gallow pointed toward Hammer and Boom, and I tried to cast a counterspell, but too late. Another blast of flames shot out at them, engulfing Hammer as Boom dodged out of the way. Hammer hit the floor on fire and rolled to put the flames out as Boom threw off his burning jacket. Hammer groaned and moved a bit before lying still.

  I spun toward the laughing devil and shouted. “Stop it! Leave them alone. Your fight is with me!”

  “Make me.” the spirit smirked. “If you can.”

  With a shout of rage I clutched Talonclaw and charged Gallow, heedless of the aura of flames surrounding him. The spirit didn’t make a move to stop me as I slammed into it, tumbling us both to the ground. The heat was terrible and I could smell scorched cloth and hair everywhere, but I didn’t care. I stabbed at Gallow, and Talonclaw bit into its shoulder with a hiss, like water thrown on a fire. Gallow cried out, either in pain or ecstasy, I couldn’t say then. The flames around its body flared, and I pulled back to avoid getting burned. Gallow began rising into a crouch, the shoulder wound starting to close, although I noticed that it did so slower than before.

  “You think you can stop me?” it taunted. “Is that feeble effort the best you can offer? Perhaps I should kill another one.” It turned toward the others with a terrible smile and raised a hand toward Trouble.

  “NO!” I shouted. No one else was going to die because of me. I threw myself in front of the blast, all my magical defenses ready, although I had no idea if they could ward off the blast. I saw Gallow hesitate for a moment before the blast of flames engulfed me. They flowed around me like water from a firehose, then just as suddenly vanished.

  I stood in amazement for a moment. I was completely unhurt. My clothes were a bit singed, but otherwise not even a hair on my head was touched by the flames. It was then I noticed that my hands, face, and arms weren’t burned from my tussle with Gallow, either. It was my magical defenses that stopped it. I hadn’t even felt any pressure against them. I looked up at the spirit and saw something akin to fear in its eyes.

  “Why?” I said. “Why didn’t you kill me?”

  Gallow hesitated for an instant. “Not yet.” it sneered. “First your friends, then you, father.”

  “No.” I said. “No. That’s not it. You can’t kill me, can you? You need me.”

  “Need? I need nothing from you, human!” it spat out the word with contempt.

  “Oh, I think you do. I think you need me more than anything, more than you’re willing to admit. You need my anger, my rage, you feed on that, don’t you? Talon’s Hate.” I said slowly. “Your true name. That’s what you are, an embodiment of my hate, my anger, my rage. Will you even exist without me?”

  “Shut up!” Gallow screamed, “shut up or I will kill them all!”

  “You don’t know, do you? You don’t know what will happen to you if I die! Will you even exist then?” I taunted. “My death might free you from your connection to me. Or it might kill us both. That’s what you’re afraid of.” When Garnoff’s features twisted in hate, I knew I’d struck a nerve. I had a weapon I could use against Gallow. I only hoped I could survive it.

  “Why?” the spirit shouted at me. “Why do you plague me? Why?” His borrowed face was distorted in rage and pain.

  “I created you.” I said, “but you’re out of control. This is going to stop. No one else is going to get hurt because of you!” I stepped forward again and Gallow fell back a step, the ferrocrete scorched and blackened beneath it.

  “Why?” the spirit cried again. “Why did you create me, then? Do you destroy all that you make, father?”

  In that moment, I looked into the depths of Garnoff’s eyes and saw the spirit I summoned reflected there, and almost pitied it. In that moment I felt the hate and anger over what Gallow had done drain out of me. Garnoff may have been motivated by greed or madness, but Gallow was what it was; a spirit born of rage and hatred. It knew nothing else. It wasn’t like a real person. It had no depth, no other feelings to call upon.

  “You were a mistake.” I said sadly. “A terrible mistake. You should have been summoned in the joy of learning and achievement. Instead I called you out of anger and a hunger for revenge. I used you to kill because I wasn’t strong enough to do it myself, I made you a weapon, a tool of my hate and you’ve become something twisted and corrupt because of it. Now you must be stopped, and it’s my responsibility to do it. I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry?” Gallow screamed, his flames roaring brightly. A blistering wave of heat drove me back a step. “I don’t want your pity! I don’t need your weakness! I don’t need vow! I am the fire of hate! The burning heat of anger! I will consume you and all the other weaklings in this city in a conflagration the likes of which you have never seen! You will fight, father, or you and your friends will die!” Gallow’s flames flared as it pointed one hand toward me. A roaring jet of fire shot out
. I was too late to jump out of the way and, this time, I sensed that Gallow didn’t care any more. It really wanted me dead. Fortunately, I was prepared this time. The flames roared around me, flowing over my clothes, hair, and skin as Gallow laughed madly. I clutched Talonclaw tightly as the flames cleared.

  My clothes were singed and smoked a bit, but I was otherwise uninjured by the blast.

  “What?” Gallow cried. “But, but how?”

  I gestured with my free hand. “I’ve learned a great deal since I summoned you.” I said. “I have other spirit allies to protect me from getting burned.” The air near my shoulder shimmered faintly, like heat rising off a hot roadway, as my fire elemental hovered close at hand, its power protecting me from the heat and fire.

  “Your feeble servants can’t protect you.” Gallow said. “I’ll tear your heart out with my bare hands!” With an animalistic growl, it leapt at me.

  “Not that way, you won’t.” I said as I stepped quickly to the side.

  The presence of the spirit made Garnoff’s body inhumanly fast and strong. If it got me in its grip, it would probably crush the life out of me. On the other hand, Gallow’s rage made it careless, randomly violent. It was heedless of everything else in its desire to destroy me. I knew the feeling. It was the same feeling Gallow tried to inspire in me.

  Rage was the source of his power, but it was also its weakness, I hoped. I knew considerably more about hand-to-hand combat than Gallow. Although I relied mainly on magic and marksmanship, Ryan and a few other people had taught me some martial arts moves. I also had Talonclaw, and its magic made me a far more skilled blade-fighter than I had any right to be by skill alone. Gallow had no such skill, allowing me to keep him off balance while I stoked the flames a bit more.

  “Did you hope I would kill you?” I said. “Maybe that I would fall for the same trick you pulled with Garnoff? Make you even stronger? Maybe strong enough to take over my body?” Gallow was seething, but it made no effort to deny what I was saying. “It’s not going to happen.” I said. “You’ve failed.”