by G. Bailey
There’s nothing natural about this, though.
For a moment we’re all silent. “You said it was bad,” Killian murmurs to Seth at last. “I wasn’t expecting this bad.”
“It was always going to be like this,” Seth replies glumly. “Ever since Neritous got the life powers. And he’s not going to stop.”
“Then we’re going to be the ones to make him,” Mads states. “And from the sounds of it, we’re not alone.”
We fall silent again, and my eyes go wide when I pick up on the noises of chaos coming from the city centre. It sounds like a battlefield, complete with explosions, toppling buildings, and the occasional scream of triumph or anguish. Above the skyline, bursts of magic of all kinds explode up into the air, lighting the world up in bright colours as the gods duke it out with one another. “Sounds like that’s where we need to go,” I remark.
“Let’s get to it, then,” says Seth.
The rest of us don’t need telling twice, and together we begin to make our way down the abandoned London street. It’s strange seeing it like this, choked with plants and animals, like the wilderness is reclaiming the city. Most of the humans seem to have disappeared from this area, and I can only hope they made it out safely, although I know better than to be too optimistic.
As if in confirmation, a horrible groaning noise starts up the moment we pass the first intersection. Brow furrowing, I glance in the direction it’s coming from, what seems to be an alleyway branching off one of the side streets. “What…?” I begin, stepping forward, but Storm holds out a protective arm to stop me.
“Hold on,” he murmurs. “Might not be on our side.”
There’s a pause, and then it comes again: a moaning, agonized, but distinctly human sound: the sound of a person in pain. “What if someone’s hurt?” I demand, sidestepping Storm to move forward. “We should at least…”
But the words die in my throat as the groaning comes again, and a figure steps out from the alleyway. It’s human, or at least, it was once human, from the look of its rumpled clothes and tangled hair, but that’s where the similarities end. The being coming towards us is almost unrecognisable, a horrible abomination of flesh and nature: branches protrude from its skin at wild angles, vines snake up and around its legs, lichen and moss cover its face. The worst thing, though, is its eyes: a bright, glowing green. The same colour as my life magic.
“Is that…” Mads begins, swallowing hard.
Seth nods in confirmation. “It must not have survived the initial enchantment of the city,” he says. “This is what happens to the humans who aren’t reborn, sooner or later. They turn into monsters.”
Mads holds up her hand, blue lightning already surging around her fingers, but I grab her wrist. “Wait, you can’t just…!”
“Karma,” she protests, her blue eyes filled with terror, “that’s not human! Not anymore!”
“But it might be,” I insist, taking a step towards the being. It continues its weird, unbalanced movements as it approaches us, the sight of it making my stomach turn. “What if the person is still in there?”
“Karma,” says Killian, “I don’t think that’s—”
But he stops dead when first, one and then two more figures come shambling out of the alleyway, their green eyes locked on us. Stretching out their arms in what might be an attack or an invitation, they suddenly pick up their pace, seemingly having set their sights on us, and Killian has to physically pull me out of the way seconds before one of the jagged branches comes slashing out at me. Mads lets out a cry of surprise as the four of us stumble backwards, the plant zombies now charging at us at top speed. They lunge around, uncoordinated, but the thorns and sticks growing out of their bodies are razor sharp, and I can see hatred on their twisted faces. “Don’t kill them,” I yell to the others. “Not if you can help it!”
“But—” begins Storm.
I cut him off. “There might be a way to reverse it! No more innocents are getting killed because of me.” I lock eyes with him for a moment, and the intensity in my gaze must be enough to convince him, because he doesn’t protest, instead giving me a small nod.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Killian squaring up against one of the monsters, a burst of golden lightning extending from his outstretched hands. I follow suit, drawing on the first powers I can reach and letting loose a shower of green sparks of my own. They connect squarely with the chest of the creature closest to me, sending it reeling back, but it doesn’t stop completely. Letting out another one of those hideous moans, it charges back towards me, arms outstretched. Storm covers me with a gust of wind that sends the being flying, allowing me to move on to the others. Seth and Killian seem to have a couple of them under control, but Mads is clearly struggling to keep the remaining one at a distance; not thinking, I run to her, unleashing a blast of green magic. It’s a struggle to keep it from killing the creature, but I’m determined not to cost anyone else their life, and I maintain my restraint, biting down hard on my lip. Carefully, I lift the being up into the air on a platform of green energy before lifting it up and over the river, depositing it on the bridge. It’s the best I can do.
“Where the hell are the other gods when we need them?” Mads demands.
“They’re all busy fighting Neritous,” I reply as we move to rejoin the others. The justice twins have dispatched the last of the creatures, and after a quick scan to make sure everyone is okay, we’re able to start moving again, albeit with more trepidation than before. “Come on,” I say, picking up my pace. “They’re going to need our help.”
We continue to pick our way through the ruined city, the sounds of the battle growing closer with every step. There are a few more of the monsters lurking on the side streets, but we’re able to evade most of them, and the ones we aren’t, we take care of with nonlethal force. I don’t know if there’s a way to undo it, but I’m certainly going to try to find one…assuming I make it out of this in one piece. What concerns me more than the presence of the creatures is their numbers; I would have been expecting more of them, considering the number of people living in London. I guess it’s possible some of them may have fled the city after hearing about what happened to San Francisco and New York, but that doesn’t quite add up, either. It’s almost like…
But my train of thought is interrupted when we round a corner into what used to be Trafalgar Square. It’s now a jungle of overgrown trees and wrecked buildings. That isn’t what surprises me. What surprises me is the chaos; the place might as well be a battlefield. All around us, gods of all dominions and power levels are battling other gods, and it’s not immediately possible to tell which ones are on our side and which ones are on Neritous’s. Explosions of magic split the air all around us, bolts of lightning fly every which way, and other, more exotic powers light up the overcast sky. The dominant power is green, no doubt signs of the magic I gave to them, and my heart sinks when I see that many of the enemy combatants were once human. Many of them are now plant monsters like the ones we encountered before, but there are many others—businessmen, mothers, children—who are untouched by the foliage, instead sporting the same vine tattoos that signal the successful transfer of the life powers. These must be the humans who survived the initial wave, I think, my hand flying to my mouth as I look around. This was what he meant by being reborn, turning into gods and goddesses.
“Why are they fighting us?” Killian wonders aloud. “Can’t they see this is Neritous’s fault?”
It’s true; their eyes aren’t the blank, staring green that shows their minds are no longer their own. There’s sanity on their faces, confusion, determination…but also fear. “We don’t know what he told them,” Storm replies. “Maybe they think he’s here to help them.”
“We’re wasting time,” Seth says flatly. “We need to find Neritous and the twins.”
“Won’t be easy, considering how many life gods there are here now,” Mads remarks.
I open my mouth to reply, but I’m interrupted by a
deafening burst of power. Before I even realise what’s happening, I’m being lifted off the ground, some sort of telekinetic energy keeping me immobilised and struggling futilely. I let out a yell, glancing down to see one of the other gods standing below me with her hands raised. “I got her!” she yells triumphantly. “I got the karma goddess!”
“Karma!” yells Killian, making a move towards her, but then a couple of the others look up from their own fights and charge over, engaging with the guys and Mads before they even have a chance to help. I’m on my own. I thrash against the magic holding me in place, but every movement is a struggle, like a million strong hands are restricting me.
Shite.
Another glance down shows the goddess moving her hands, and moments later I begin to move in midair, slowly carried by the enemy magic as she sends me in an unknown direction, no doubt to Neritous or the twins. So, he did want me dead, after all. The others too, probably. It’s not exactly surprising, and it makes a fresh wave of anger bubble up inside me. Closing my eyes, I concentrate on my breath, grasping for my powers. It’s a struggle, especially when I can’t use my hands; usually that’s the first step in channelling a god’s magic, and I never fully understood how some of the higher gods could do it without the gestures. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let this bitch hand deliver me to the higher gods, though, and I seize on my rage and determination, willing the magic to burst out of me the way it has so many other times before. Below the karma powers, the life goddess’s magic sits, tranquil and waiting, but it’s not either of those that I’m after. I need the pure, destructive force of the higher gods’ lightning, and when I sense it building up, I yell and will it to come surging out of me.
And it actually works.
Green lightning explodes from me, out of every pore, my wild red hair defying gravity as the static courses through it in an untamed burst of magical electricity. The sky lights up once more as I continue to force the energy out of me, desperate to break the other goddess’s hold…and finally, I feel the enemy magic loosen. Immediately, I come crashing to the ground, landing on my back so hard it knocks the wind out of me. I gasp for breath, my powers faltering, and in that instant, the goddess is on me, clawing at me viciously with her hands as she tries to restrain me. I push back hard against her chest, but that surge took it out of me, and I’m going to need a moment to regain my concentration. “You bitch,” she hisses. “Can’t you see what Neritous is doing?”
“Oh, I see exactly what he’s doing,” I grit out, my muscles trembling with the exertion of holding her at bay. “And I’m not going to let it continue.”
“We’ll see about that,” the woman snarls, her hands closing around my throat, her eyes filled with hatred. What did Neritous tell these gods to sway them so much? It doesn’t matter now, though. She’s hellbent on killing me, so I put all my energy into shoving back. My air is being cut off, and I can feel the strength going out of me once more, but just as my vision begins to swim, I remember my legs, and knee her hard in the stomach. She winces, her fingers loosening a little, but that’s all I need. Flinging her arms off me, I throw her away, sending her sprawling across the ground. Not even bothering to sit up, I hold out my hands, wincing at the pain in my neck, and a fresh bolt of lightning manifests, cracking through the air to strike her straight in the chest. She writhes in pain, and I bear down harder; I don’t want her to suffer, but I’m not going to let her get between me and stopping Neritous. The goddess pushes back with her own powers, but it’s too late, and seconds later her body goes still, either dead or unconscious.
I stare down at her grimly before picking myself up and looking around; the fight only seems to be intensifying, and it’s obvious that we don’t have numbers on our side. To my left, Killian and Seth are tag-teaming a group of plant monsters, while a little ways ahead, Storm is summoning a tornado to carry away a couple of rival gods. Kit is off to one side, summoning portals for the enemies to fall into, but where is Mads?
I don’t have time to consider before a cat god springs at me out of nowhere, fangs bared and claws out, ready for another fight. I’m not about to be caught off guard this time, though, and I unleash a blast of green energy that sends him flying away. Another one comes from behind, raking my back painfully with his claws, and I hit him with lightning before he can come any closer. They’re melee fighters, I remind myself. If I can just keep them away long enough… But it’s like every cat god in the world has suddenly descended on me, hunting me in a predatory group. It’s hard to keep up with them, blasting them one at a time, but I don’t have another power surge in me, at least not right now. Every time I strike one, another comes darting out of the shadows, moving with the speed and agility that only a cat god can manage. I’m getting overwhelmed, but I set my jaw and keep it up, trying not to think about the pain in my back, trying not to think about how tired I’ve already become…
But then, frosty blue lightning joins mine, and I look over to see Mads coming to stand at my side, arms outstretched and brow furrowed in concentration. Together we continue to light them up, and that turns the tide; within moments, they’ve either all gone down or retreated. I shoot my best friend a grateful look. “I owe you one,” I tell her.
Mads gives me a half-crazed grin before we go racing across the square in search of the others. We reach Seth, who has just taken down a duo of plant monsters, first. “Where are the others?” I ask breathlessly.
“And where’s Neritous?” Mads adds.
Seth opens his mouth to reply, but then a voice from behind him draws his attention. “It’s a shame we had to meet again like this, Seth.” It’s a newcomer, dressed impeccably, with ginger hair almost as unruly as my own.
The justice god’s eyes go wide. “Alaric?” he says. “What are you doing here?”
“What has to be done,” the other god says, sounding melancholy. “I really wish it didn’t have to be this way, Seth.”
“You know me, Alaric!” Seth protests, approaching the other god. “How many times have we worked together? You know I want what’s best for the world!”
“Neritous wants what’s best for the world,” the man, Alaric, replies grimly. “Times have changed, old friend. This is the way things have to be. It’s not too late,” he adds, holding up his hands. “You could still join us. This doesn’t have to be like this.”
I see a flicker of doubt on Seth’s face. “Don’t do it, Seth!” I yell, drawing his attention back to me. “Don’t let him get in your head!”
“You must be the one at the heart of all this,” Alaric says, turning to look at me. “Pretty thing. It’s too bad you picked the wrong side.” He extends a hand to Seth. “Let me kill the karma goddess, Seth, and this can all end here.”
Seth’s expression hardens. “I’m not going to let that happen,” he tells the other god.
Alaric looks disappointed, but not surprised. “That’s a shame,” he mutters, and then a bolt of black lightning surges out of his hand and strikes Seth squarely in the chest. The justice god collapses onto the ground, unmoving.
“Seth!” I cry, already moving towards him, but another bolt of lightning narrowly misses me, and I turn back to the other god. “You’re going to pay for that,” I hiss and raise my hands.
“We’ll see,” is all he says, and his black bolt of lightning collides with my green one, leaving us at an impasse as we each try to overcome the other’s magic.
“Mads!” I yell desperately.
“Here,” she replies, already getting into position beside me, and lets loose an unguided but still powerful bolt of her own blue electricity. It meets Alaric’s, merging with mine to create a single bolt of blue-green lightning that surges against the other god’s like a tidal wave. For a moment I wonder if it will be enough, but between the two of us, we’re stronger, and we manage to overpower him, our magic striking him in a death blow.
Mads looks at me triumphantly, but my breath is already catching in my throat. My eyes have returned to Seth. Wh
atever Alaric did to him, it wasn’t good.
Chapter 19
I feel unsteady on my feet as I race over to where Seth is lying, unmoving. The blast knocked him a decent distance away, and it’s a struggle not to trip over myself as I scramble to get to him, momentarily oblivious to everything that’s going on around me. “Seth,” I say, my tone bordering on frantic as I drop to my knees in front of his form. He’s lying on his side, facing away from me, and I feel my hands shaking as I reach out to gently roll him onto his back. There’s a scorch mark on his chest. The blast was clearly enough to burn through his clothes, and the burn looks bad—third degree, if I’m not mistaken. Blood seeps out from the edges of the wound, in spite of the lightning’s cauterising, and for a brief, terrifying moment I’m sure that he’s dead, taken out the exact same way Hugo was…but then he gives a ragged, hitching gasp, his body jerking under my hands, and relief floods through me.
“Seth,” I repeat, putting my hands on either side of his face as I stare down at him, frantic to see the extent of his injuries. “Seth, I’m here! Stay with me!” His skin feels feverish and clammy under my fingers, and if it weren’t for the shallow movements of his chest and neck, I would mistake him for dead already. His eyelids twitch as he sucks in another strained breath before lapsing into a fit of nasty-sounding coughs that don’t exactly fill me with confidence. “Hey, hey, hey,” I murmur, “it’s going to be all right. You’re going to be fine. Just stay with me, okay? Can you look at me? Can you do that?” I feel like I’m babbling on, but it’s all I can do to keep from having a complete meltdown in the middle of the battlefield.
Mercifully, Seth lets out a low groan, his voice sounding rough and dream-like, and his golden eyes slowly flutter open. “Karma,” he mutters hoarsely, “I’m—”
“Shh,” I tell him, smoothing a hand over the top of his head before hurriedly trying to pull his shirt out of the way. “Don’t try to talk. Just keep your eyes open.”