Fire Soldiers

by David J Normoyle

  “Turn it off,” I said.

  Taylor smirked, but he did as I asked, lowering the lid on the laptop.

  “How come Caroline Black didn’t point out the obvious question by noting the similarities between those men who ambushed and murdered my friends and the terrorists known as the firedrakes?” I asked.

  Sergeant Taylor narrowed his eyes. “Perhaps because it’s a respected news agency and not a channel for airing ridiculous accusations.”

  “Even when they are true?”

  The door opened, and Lowndes and Kressan returned, circling around the net.

  “Elizabeth.” Alex stepped forward. “I did everything you asked. I brought not one but three fire sentinels to you.”

  “And you want your reward?”

  Alex nodded.

  “Of course,” Lowndes said. “Everything is prepared. Step into the chamber.”

  My stomach twisted. From the moment we had been captured I had known, but to hear it confirmed was still horrible. Having Alex talk so calmly and matter-of-fact made it all the worse. “You absolute shagging bastard!” I shouted at him. “I hope the reward is worth it. How much was Pete’s life worth? How many pieces of silver?”

  Alex paused. “I never meant for… I couldn’t have known. What was he even doing there?”

  “You knew innocents would die!” I shouted. “Nathan’s dead too, along with a dozen others. All murdered in a cowardly ambush. You worked with Harriet; you likely knew many of the victims.”

  “I had no choice. It was the only way she would agree. I had to, you see. After what happened.”

  “Alex, hurry.” Lowndes gestured him forward. “Sergeant, bring Rune as well. Use a smaller net to secure him.”

  “Yes, bring me. Bring me to Alex. Give me one decent shot at him.” I threw myself upward, flailing against the net.

  Taylor grabbed some metal netting from one corner and approached like a matador eyeing a bull. He nodded toward two of his men, and they rolled back the net, releasing me. I surged upward but didn’t get far before Taylor threw the netting over me and wrapped his arms around me. I fought against him but—with my power contained by the titanium—to little effect. I recalled how strong Sergeant Taylor been when he’d held me in the elevator after we’d first met. He’d surely been one of Lowndes first shadiers. “Let go of me, you bastard!” My arms were pinned to my side, so I threw my head back to try and headbutt him. I hit only air. “What did you have to do to gain your power, Taylor? Who did you have to betray?”

  He lifted me and carried me toward Lowndes. I leaned my chin forward, preparing to throw another backward headbutt, then my head snapped to the side.

  “Get it together,” Lowndes said. “Be an adult, not a three-year-old with a tantrum.”

  She had hit me, I realized. My cheek smarted, and I could taste blood on the inside of my mouth. I was glad that she had done it, though. She was right. I had to be smart. I had to think.

  “This is where the magic happens,” Lowndes said to Alex, holding the door of the glass chamber open. “Brave soldiers enter, and powerful shadiers emerge.”

  Alex stepped inside, and Lowndes closed the glass door behind him.

  Closer, I was able to examine the machinery in more detail. Two glass chambers, both of a size to fit a single person, stood on either side of a counter with dials and levers. A square container was attached to the outside front of each chamber and a tube connected the two small containers. And inside the container of Alex’s chamber was a small yellow crystal that I recognized well—the fire summoning crystal.

  Director Wells had used the crystal to have Dennis, Ally, and Katie possessed in Gorlam’s Orphanage the previous year, and I had killed Sash to keep her from getting the crystal. Doctor Kressan had run off with it, and now I discovered that she had used it to give Lowndes an army of fire soldiers. Or if not an army, a battalion. Another mistake I’d made that was proving to have devastating consequences.

  Kressan pulled on a lever, and the little yellow crystal shot from the chamber which held Alex, appearing a moment later in the container attached to the second chamber.

  Alex’s expression darkened. “Wait, what are you doing? Why remove the summoning crystal. You need that to give me my power.”

  “I’m not in the habit of allowing just anyone to become one of my shadiers,” Lowndes said. “Those I choose very carefully.”

  “I proved myself by bringing a fire sentinel to you.”

  “Gaining the powers of Brimstone is a great responsibility,” Lowndes said. “We’ve already seen the chaos caused by too many shades. Only those who have demonstrated the necessary qualities will be allowed to become a shadier.”

  “I’m strong enough to handle it,” Alex protested. “I guarantee it.”

  “I was more referring to loyalty and obedience. You just betrayed your friends and family. You are the last person who I would trust.”

  Alex threw himself at the glass of the chamber that had now become his prison. “We had a deal.”

  “I appreciate that. And I assure you I don’t break my word lightly,” Lowndes said. “But I have to weigh the responsibility of not putting dangerous power in the wrong hands against the worth of my word. In the end, not a close decision, I have to say.

  Alex pushed his face against the glass and beat his fist against in. “You can’t do this to me!”

  “I didn’t think you’d agree. However, that doesn’t matter. It takes two to make a deal, but only one to break it,” Lowndes said. “Now, shut up, and be quiet. Sergeant, put Rune in the other chamber.”

  “Me? I already have power, why would you put me into this machine?”

  “The second chamber isn’t for creating shadiers,” Lowndes said. “You are going to help us with something else Doctor Kressan has been working on. Something even more important. Something we are calling the Searing.”

  Chapter 27

  Thursday 19:50

  “Whatever they want,” Noah roared, still on the floor under the net, “don’t give it to them!”

  “If you want to stay alive, you should be cheering for Rune to do as I tell him,” Lowndes said.

  “Ever since the Order turned against fire sentinels, we’ve known that we are on borrowed time,” Persia said. “We are prepared to die; we aren’t prepared to be a part, or a cause of, whatever evil Lowndes has in mind. Don’t let her manipulate you.”

  “How noble! And lying there hand in hand. How cute! How Romeo and Juliet!” Lowndes smiled. “You know what I like best about death wishes—seeing them fulfilled.”

  Sergeant Taylor pushed me into the chamber, yanking the metal netting away, then quickly shut the glass door. I slammed against the far wall, swiveled and tried to summon a firesword. Nothing. The metal part of the chambers were obviously titanium.

  Lowndes looked around the room. “Sergeant, where’s my laptop gone to?”

  “It’s on that desk.” Taylor pointed it out. “I used it to show your interview with Black.”

  “I need you to make a video call to Walker in London on it.”

  The sergeant saluted. “Yes, sir.” He sought out the man who’d found the news stream and set him to work.

  “While we are waiting, let me tell you what the Searing is,” Lowndes said.

  “The two chambers might look similar, but they are very different,” Kressan said with a smile of professional pride. She patted the one that held me. “This is a device that can truly save the world.”

  “It does what I know you want it to, Rune,” Lowndes said. “It takes away the cursed power inside you.”

  I shook my head. “That’s not possible.”

  “Ever since Uro tainted sentinel power, the Order has sought a solution. The last resort was the extermination of all fire sentinels. That is a horror that we all want to avoid. Now the combination of Kressan’s ingenious machine, the fire summoning crystal, and a fire sentinel willing to sacrifice his power for the greater good creates the opportunity for a
solution in which no else has to die. The Searing will strip fire sentinels throughout the world of all their power, thus ending their curse on the world.”

  Sergeant Taylor rolled the desk forward so we could see the screen of the laptop. It showed a tall man walking down a dim corridor. “The call went through, but I didn’t get Walker. Instead, I got this.”

  “Perfect,” Lowndes said, casting a glance my way. “Meet a fire sentinel by the name of Mo Allen.”

  “Why did you let me out of my cell?” Mo Allen asked. “I know this is a trick.”

  A pulse of smoke shot out of the darkness, heading straight for him. He summoned his multani—a firestaff with two flattened pieces in the shape of wings on its head—and blocked the attack.

  “I won’t use fire magic,” Allen said. “Whatever it takes. You know me, Walker. You know I’m honorable.”

  “Too honorable,” said a voice I recognized as Walker’s. “Honor can’t be trusted, for it’s never ruthless.”

  “How can I make you trust me?”

  “You can’t. Not so long as you wield that treacherous power.”

  Allen blocked another pulse of smoke, then banished his multani. “We were friends once, Walker. Good friends. Does that mean nothing to you?”

  “If you knew me at all, you wouldn’t have to ask that question. Enough talk. Elizabeth, this better work. If this has just been a waste of my time—”

  “It won’t be,” Lowndes said, then she strode toward the machine. “Rune, are you ready?”

  “Don’t listen to them!” Noah shouted. “Walker and Lowndes are about as cold-blooded as any two people who ever walked this Earth. They’ll kill us whatever happens. Resist to the last.”

  We couldn’t resist very effectively. Noah and Persia were still trapped, and I was locked in a chamber. Then I remembered Jo. She was still logged into the prison system, and she was listening on the other end of my smartwatch.

  “Elizabeth!” I called out loudly. “I will give you this one chance. Release me, Noah and Persia right now, or we will free every prisoner in the JC. This very moment.”

  Lowndes looked at me like I’d just gone crazy.

  “You require a demonstration that I’m not bluffing? Very well then.” I raised my forefinger into the air. Damnit Jo, I thought, don’t let me down. I tried again. “You’ll have it now.” I chopped my hand downward. And this time, something did happen. A bell went off.

  “What’s that?” Lowndes asked Taylor.

  “Sounds like a fire escape left open.”

  Lowndes frown quickly turned to realization. “His watch, you idiot.” She pointed at me. “He’s communicating. Didn’t you confiscate his phone?”

  “I’ll get it off him,” Taylor ran for the chamber and me.

  I hesitated. Releasing the prisoners would mean letting people like Dennis out. What other choice was there, though? We needed the distraction. “Do it, Jo. Release them!” I shouted into the watch. “Release them all.”

  Sirens blared, and red lights flashed throughout the room. Sergeant Taylor began to open the chamber.

  “Wait, Sergeant, stop. Leave that closed.”

  Taylor froze.

  “We’ll deal with the prisoners after. This is too important. Kressan, start the machine.”

  “That’s a lot of bedlam over there, Elizabeth.” Walker’s voice came through the laptop’s speakers. “I thought you were more capable.”

  “I have it under control,” Lowndes snapped back.

  Doctor Kressan stepped beside Lowndes and flicked a switch. Lights went on in the roof of the chamber. Kressan then gently turned a dial. The yellow crystal in front of me flared brighter.

  “Do you feel anything, Rune?” Lowndes asked.

  I shook my head. Over the clamor of the sirens, I could barely make out her words.

  “Come on, Kressan, let’s do this,” Lowndes said. “This is no time to dawdle. Prisoners are escaping.”

  “It’s a delicate operation,” Kressan said. “I have to run just the right amount of electromagnetism through the crystal.” She turned the dial up higher.

  My head snapped upward, for suddenly I did feel something. I saw something too. Floating above my head was a massive globe of black and red, fire and smoke. Brimstone.

  “It was never meant to be this way, Rune,” Lowndes said. “Sentinels were never meant to be able to create portals to Brimstone; they were meant to fight on our side, on the side of right, not summon elementals who cause untold chaos.”

  She was right about that, at least. Before I’d known anything about magic, I’d inadvertently summoned a fire elemental, causing the death of Jo and Alex’s parents. If only I’d been a sentinel in a different era. An era before Uro.

  “I know you aren’t power hungry. I know you want to do the right thing. This is your chance,” Lowndes said.

  Why did it have to be me? I just knew I was going to make the wrong decision. If it was a bad idea to cause the Searing, then I would do that. If bringing about the Searing was necessary to save the world, then I’d turn away from it. “Put Persia in the chamber,” I said. “Or Noah. Not me.”

  “It’s all down to you, Rune,” Lowndes said. “I have friends who are fire sentinels, as does Walker. We’ve both fought alongside men like Mo Allen. Neither of us wants to kill our ex-allies. But we have to do our duty, no matter the cost. We can’t allow the evil of Uro to spread further. This is the best way. Be the hero, Rune. Save the fire sentinels. Save us all.”

  The desire to rid myself of the power was strong; it had done so much harm. But was I being selfish? Ally had struggled with what was inside her, but she hadn’t given up, and she ended up learning to use her power well enough that she was able to protect us from the shadiers outside the prison. Her power wasn’t as dangerous as mine, though.

  Throughout the room, the lights flashed red. The blaring siren was almost too loud to bear. It was difficult to think. The image of the globe of smoke and fire continued to increase in size, and it now surrounded me. From a single point, a thousand trails of fire dangled—the connections that provided fire sentinels their power.

  “Remember, the alternative for the Order is to kill all fire sentinels. Is that what you want?” Lowndes shouted. “Not just you. Your friends, Persia and Noah Hastings. Mo Allen in London. Fire sentinels throughout the world.”

  It’s not for us to choose the power we are given. All that is up to us is to decide what to do with it. Pete had said that to me; I didn’t understand why at the time, but the moment to decide had arrived. I choose… I choose to give back the power. “I’ll do it!” I shouted out.

  “I knew you’d do the right thing,” Lowndes said, giving Kressan a nudge. “Do you know how?”

  “I think so.” I focused on the point in the globe from which the thousand threads of fire originated. Focused on trying to pinch through that point. It had no effect. “It’s not working though.”

  “No! Don’t!” A roar came from Noah. I turned my head and watched as he yanked on the net and sent the officers who’d been holding it toppling. He rose to his feet and charged across the room.

  “Turn up that dial!” Lowndes ordered. “No. Get out of the way, I’ll do it.” Lowndes pushed Kressan aside.

  Kressan stumbled back, then threw herself forward again, pulling Lowndes’s hand off the dial. “You’ll destroy it if you increase it too much. Leave it to—”

  Lowndes didn’t wait for Kressan to finish. She shoved her so hard that the other woman careened across the room and crashed into the far wall. Lowndes then twisted the dial to the maximum. “Rune, do it! Do it now.”

  Noah had made his way across to my chamber. “No!” he shouted as he grabbed the container which held the fire summoning crystal, trying to pull it off.

  Thick threads of fire surrounded me. I had to cut them off. I could see where they came from, and I concentrated all my will on it.

  The globe of smoke and fire exploded.

  Chapter 28
<
br />   Thursday 20:15

  Everything else exploded along with it.

  Glass shattered. Noah’s body spiraled across my vision as we were both thrown backward. I hit the ground hard, my forehead smashing against the floor. My brain felt as though a grenade had gone off inside it.

  Screams of agony gradually reduced in volume until they were whimpers. Persia’s screams, I realized. What had happened? I couldn’t think. I barely knew where I was.

  Lowndes was the first to raise herself from the floor.

  “What happened?” asked a voice. “Allen is on the ground. Did it work?” Walker’s voice. Was that laptop bombproof? Virtually everything in the room was flattened, and it still worked.

  The damn sirens hadn’t stopped blaring. Various pieces of the scene before me were coming into focus. The flashing red lights had stopped, probably because the bulbs were broken by the explosion. Dim white lighting lit the room.

  Lowndes held her hand to her head as she staggered across to the laptop. “I think it worked.” She swallowed. “Can you test it?”

  “Not while Allen is writhing on the ground,” Walker said.

  “Sergeant, sergeant, where are you?” Lowndes asked.

  Taylor, his face blotched with blood, began to stand, then fell back down again.

  The glass coverings of both chambers were shattered to pieces. Both… That meant. “Alex.” I crawled forward and found him lying on the ground, curled over, his feet still inside the chamber. I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him over onto his back. His eyes blinked open.

  “You’re injured,” I said. His left side was a bloody mess. When I reached for his shirt, Alex flinched away, covering the wound with his hand.

  I wanted to help, but staring down into his eyes, all I could think about was what he had done. “How could you, Alex?”

  “You don’t understand what it was like,” Alex said. “You have strength. You have power.”