The grey-furred Alpha lunged for his back. Hayden sensed it coming and spun left, stepping back and bringing his right hand across in a low angled slash. The slash caught Alpha across the face and forearm. He flinched and pulled back with a growl.
Hayden rolled right, barely avoiding a slash the red-brown furred Beta aimed at his thigh. He came up to one knee with swords in an X-block to catch her follow up strike. Beta howled as he pulled the scissored blades apart and nearly severed her clawed hand at the wrist. Blood spurted, and the hand flopped uselessly.
Hayden followed that up with two quick slashes, right, then left, to force her back. He continued the momentum of the left slash into a spinning hop toward the living room, avoiding a lunging bite from Alpha, who stepped up near his partner.
Hayden backed up to the edge of the living room and watched, panting, as Beta’s hand reattached itself. Sinews writhed and lengthened, flesh melted together like pale pink wax, and fur began growing to cover the now-closed wound.
Crap. This was going badly. Still, someone had to have called the police. He just had to buy time.
“Neat trick, Lassie. Now play dead.” Beta’s flat yellow eyes narrowed, and she snarled. Alpha flicked an ear and barked something. “What’s that, boy? Timmy’s in the well?”
Beta stepped to the edge of the hallway and crouched, a continuous growl buzzing from her chest. Alpha turned toward the apartment door. Hayden thought he was running for a second, then realized he’d moved himself out of position. Alpha headed for Vivian.
Hayden dropped the swords and summoned a spear. He advanced at Beta, thrusting at her abdomen. She leaned away from the strike and tried to snatch the spear haft. Hayden circled the weapon around her grab, feinted the spear tip at her face, then stabbed for her left thigh. The blade of energy sank home, and Beta howled again, staggering and sinking claws into the drywall to stay up.
Behind her, Alpha kicked the bedroom door open. Vivian shrieked, “No!”
Beta grabbed the spear haft, intending to yank the weapon free. Hayden responded by extending two spikes of energy from the head. The pointed bars ripped free on both sides of the shapeshifter’s leg. She howled in pain. Hayden set his feet and pulled. He jerked Beta onto her back and drug her a foot toward the living room.
Hayden let the construct drop as he ran forward and summoned a new spear - short, hafted like a legionnaire’s weapon. Beta scrambled to her feet, left leg rippling slightly as it healed itself, when the leaf blade pierced her shoulder with all of Hayden’s weight behind it. The point tore free just below her collarbone and buried itself in the floor.
Beta whined shrilly and tried to roll away. Hayden bent the haft of the construct in a quick U and shot a second hook into the floor just beside Beta’s armpit. She whimpered, clutching at the oversized staple pinning her down.
Hayden rushed past her and into the bedroom to see Vivian sprawled on the floor, unmoving. He raced in to get to her, and Alpha threw a desk at him.
He spun out of the way, but the corner of the desk clipped him in the side and sent him to the ground. The weight of the desk fell on his leg. Alpha’s kick smashed his head into the wall before he could recover.
Hayden’s vision filled with colored dots. Pain throbbed dully in his leg and behind his eyes. He attempted to summon a shield, but he couldn’t focus. A second kick caught him in the abdomen, driving the air from his lungs and making him curl reflexively.
When his vision finally cleared, Alpha sat astride him, pinning Hayden’s arms down with his knees. His snarling wolf muzzle gnashed two inches from Hayden’s face, revealing glistening yellow-white teeth. Hayden could feel the rumble of a growl through his back.
Light changed in the room. A flickering golden glow glided in through the windows and chased back the shadows. The rumbling noise grew louder. Alpha looked up in canine confusion. Realization came to Hayden, and he let out a hoarse laugh.
“Ruh Row, Raggy.”
A portal opened with a crackle of lightning, and Archon rocketed into the room like a comet. He cannoned into Alpha, lifting the wolf-man from the floor and launching him into the far wall. Studs shattered with the force and Alpha kept going, ripping a man-sized hole in the bedroom wall and splintering the bookshelf on the far side of the living room.
Archon stumbled to one knee beside Hayden, letting the light of the Axiom fade, and the portal behind him sealed itself. He looked down at Hayden, who struggled to sit up.
“Can you stand?”
“I think so. Vivian is hurt, though.” Hayden shoved himself free of the desk and stood, testing his injured leg. It hurt, but would hold his weight. “We need to get her out.”
“Take her and go.”
“What about you? These guys heal instantl…”
“I said go!” Deckard roared. Axiom wreathed him again for an instant, rippling off him in waves of power, before flickering out. He dropped his hand to the floor to steady himself and sagged under an invisible weight.
A howl of animal pain robbed Hayden of his shock. A rust red blur of fur and fangs rushed the doorway and Alpha’s hunched form pulled itself from the rubble through the tear in the wall.
Hayden rushed in front of Deckard and planted his feet, lifting his hands. Beta leapt for his throat, slaver dripping from her fangs, blood seeping from the wound in her shoulder. He screamed defiance and a half dome of translucent gold thrummed into being between him and the wolf. Beta rebounded, snarling and snapping.
Hayden kept pushing, outlining fully half of the room in a pane of Axiom energy, sealing the door and the hole. Beta growled her fury and Alpha joined her in pounding the wall of light and will.
Shockwaves from the sledgehammer blows travelled into Hayden’s upraised arms. He couldn’t hold them off for long. Fear pressed in. He was trapped again. And Archon was trapped with him.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Stupid, willful, stubborn children! Deckard let the anger burn, giving him strength to keep pulling in more energy from the Axiom. It continually boiled out of him now and he wasn’t sure how long he could keep going. He struggled just to stand up, let alone open a new portal.
Hayden shuddered as the dog-people hit, kicked, and clawed at the construct. Their forms were blurry and shadowed through the pane of light.
“I hope you brought some silver for this sort of thing!” his apprentice yelled.
“They aren’t werewolves.” Deckard pulled himself to his feet, wobbling as the room spun. His blood pounded in his ears and he gulped for breath. “But they do have canine traits.”
“Well, can you get us out of here?” Hayden glanced over his shoulder. Deckard gave a shake of his head and shuffled over toward the boy.
“No. You’ll have to.”
“Me?!” More juddering blows. “I’m a little busy keeping us breathing!”
“Pay attention!” Deckard’s voice cracked. “Sound. I’ll give you the...pattern, but you’ll have to... hold it together...give it power.” He reached out a trembling hand and placed it on Hayden’s shoulder, fighting to pull in enough Axiom. Red-hued shadows began crowding the edges of his vision. Just two more minutes. Please!
Deckard closed his eyes and rallied all his concentration. He blocked out the sounds and the pain and the fear. He built a circle of power, carved it in the granite of his will, and let the Axiom rushing out of him carry it into Hayden’s mind.
“Wha...how did you do that?” Astonishment rang in Hayden’s voice. Deckard opened his eyes, blinking spots away.
“Focus!” Deckard wheezed. “Add that...to your wall.” Hayden took a deep breath and held it. New sigils blazed to life within the walls of force. Deckard nodded, though Hayden couldn’t see it.
“Now...power.”
Hayden bowed his head. The light from the shield constructs intensified. A whine filled the air, similar to the buzz around industrial power lines, but higher pitched. It filled the apartment, barely audible. Deckard could see the wolf-like features of both enemies
grimace as they flinched away.
The grey one moved to the side, out of view, and new thumping sounds beat from further along the wall, beyond the edge of the construct. The drywall broke open and a claw tipped hand tore chunks off. The red creature redoubled its efforts to break through Hayden’s shield.
“More!” Deckard urged. The air hung thick in his lungs, strangling his voice. “Louder! Higher!” Hayden trembled constantly. Groans strained out from his helmet, but the whine intensified, shifting higher before vanishing from his hearing.
The female wolf clapped her hands over her ears, howling in pain. She staggered back from the shield to thump against the far wall and shrank, fur fading into skin and lanky, stretched limbs shortening. Her muzzle flattened, resuming human features. She shrieked and slid down the wall, curling on herself against the invisible agony.
The grey furred Alpha stepped into view through the blasted wall, already returning to normal. He dropped to all fours, muscles straining, clawed hands digging grooves into the faux wood floor as though clinging to his canine form. He melted back into the shape of a sweat sheened young man in a ripped red hoodie.
Hayden collapsed to one knee and the shield construct winked out. The boy clutched at his head. Deckard checked the hall for the enemies.
The wolf-girl had no strength to fight. Bright red blood trickled from her nose. Her eyes rolled up and she collapsed bonelessly to the floor. Deckard turned his attention to the young man in the hooded UGA sweatshirt. He lolled on the floor, a dark line of fluid leaking from one ear. But he still held onto consciousness.
“Arclite!” Deckard hissed. Hayden shook his head, but didn’t rise. Deckard wasn’t sure he’d even heard him. Heart pounding, bones brittle, Deckard limped into the hallway and into the living room. He had to lean on the unbroken portions of the wall to stay upright.
The shape shifter looked up as Deckard’s boots thumped closer. His eyes burned with defiant hatred. Deckard gulped air and Axiom and planted his heel between those eyes in a stomping kick. The shifter’s head left a dent as it bounced off the floor.
Deckard stumbled back and fell, catching one arm on the overturned recliner. He lay down, let go of the Axiom, and surrendered to the dark.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kess struggled to hold the viewing together. A cloud of rippling golden energy spun in his hands, edges wisping off into nothing. In the center of the cloud, images stuttered and jumped.
He focused on glimpses of a lilac sky full of crystal spires, pulling the viewing into clarity. Light glittered in hues of green and blue from the spire facets, while arcs of crimson lightning leaped playfully from the needle-like diamonds. Mists of green-grey hung below them.
Creatures looking for all the world like manta rays he’d seen among the shoals of Atlantis’ rocky coast floated among the towers. They soared, dark outlines blurry against the flickering light. Kess shifted his attention to the creatures and the viewing jumped once more.
The flying rays flew in graceful swoops of their fins, each easily an acre across. Their dark hides sparkled with spines of crystalline deposits that jutted from their backs. A long, thin tail trailed in the winds of their passage. It ended in a fan-shaped lattice of crystal that hung between grey-black bone spurs. Kess could see no eyes or even mouths.
As they sailed close to the spires, Kess could finally get a sense of the size of the diamond monoliths. Arcs of crimson lightning surged to the ray’s dorsal spines. With each strike a note sounded, creating a haunting, graceful melody. It gripped Kess’s soul with beauty and sadness, a longing for something undefined.
One of the crystal needles filled with deep red light, bleeding into purple at the edges. Cracks appeared in the facets. More rays swept into a ring around it and both song and storm swelled to a crescendo. Chunks of crystal broke free, scattering to dance in the winds.
The image jumped again as Kess’s concentration slipped. The viewing dissolved into motes of fading Axiom. He blinked as his senses adjusted to the present.
The training hall of the Academy had been built high along the cliffs of Atlantis’ northern coastline. The ocean breeze wafted in through the wide colonnade that faced inland, overlooking the city below, and rustled the leaves of the small trees that grew in the eastern courtyard. Students sat or walked in groups through the morning sunshine, talking quietly and laughing together. A shadow strode into view and Kess looked up at his tutor.
“Unacceptable, Kessek.” Master Bel-Tycion stared down, displeasure creasing his leonine face. “You can’t drag the viewing around like a hawser. Tug gently, as though leading a skittish horse. You can’t force a connection, but you can direct Axiom to the point you wish to study.”
“Yes, Master,” Kess responded dutifully. Divinatory viewing was a “core discipline” of the Knights, but he failed to see why he had to have additional training beyond the basic telescopic viewings. His skills didn’t lie here and everyone knew it.
More than that, the idea of blocky old Tycion, with his ham fists and swollen knuckles, trying to teach anyone about being gentle with sorcery was a recipe for failure. Rumor had it he’d transformed himself into a lion and eaten a particularly stubborn trainee when he was Master-at-Arms. He had liked it so much he kept some traces of the lion in his face when he’d turned back.
“You think this is a laughing matter, do you? A jape for your amusement?” Tycion’s golden eyes flashed dangerously.
Kess realized he’d been smiling and wiped the grin from his face. “No, Master.”
“Do you want to be a Knight, boy?”
“Of course, sir.” Who didn’t? Every student there hoped to be picked to ride the skies and keep Atlantis safe as a member of her Knights.
“Then where is your focus, your commitment?”
“I’m trying, sir, I just...I’m much more comfortable in the combat arms classes.” A sly smile lifted one corner of Tycion’s mouth and Kess breathed a little easier.
“Well, it’s good to know one’s strengths. But, Knights are more than mere soldiers, Kessek, and they face more than mere armies. Viewings can show you threats before they happen, predict enemy strategy, or alert you to danger that lies beyond this one reality. All the Knights must have this ability, and every Knight must be able to depend on the abilities of every other, in the event of emergency, separation, or injury. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
Tycion stared through him for a moment, then nodded, satisfied. “Then begin now. Go watch Sennek. Pick one thing he does that you aren’t doing. We’ll work on that when you return.”
Tycion walked off toward another cluster of students who sat in a circle on the grass, passing a cloud of azure blue energy between them and molding it into successive shapes. Beyond them, the sea shimmered in a silver ribbon through the gaps in the colonnade. Sunlight gleamed from the white roofs of the capital.
Kess fought down a sigh. He’d much rather be on that ocean than watching his brother. He tore himself away from the gorgeous living portrait and turned toward the interior of the Academy.
His brother sat under a tree in the northeastern corner of the courtyard. No tutor pestered him with questions about commitment. Instead, orbiting around him in a semicircle were not one, not two, but five separate viewings. As Kess watched, Sen flicked a hand and the hue of one viewing shifted, pulling up a different scene.
Past, present, future, distant lands beyond the sea, even the surface of a wandering star could be swimming in those cloudy circles. No other student in the whole Academy, with the possible exception of Tarran who was a class ahead of them, could perform such a feat. Everyone knew Sen was a certain pick for success, either as a Knight or a political appointment to the palace…maybe as an instructor in the Academy itself.
Kess smothered jealousy with duty. Sen was his brother and Kess would be glad to see him succeed, no matter that it rankled him to be referred to his younger twin for tutelage. They might be Knights together one day and wh
o else would Kess trust to have his back? He walked over to the shade tree.
Sen let the viewings fall as Kess approached and stood, smiling. “Tycion sent you to me, did he?”
“Well, you don’t have to look so pleased about it.”
“Of course I do. I’m the insufferable know-it-all. You’re the dutiful soldier and my brother. If I ever let you live this down, just know that I’m possessed by a daimon.”
Kess snorted. “If that happens I’ll gladly put you down.”
Sen’s grin widened and he clapped Kess on the shoulder. “I know I can count on you.”
“Would you shut up and give me something I can take back to Tycion?”
Sen’s grin faded and he leaned in and spoke in a hushed voice. “You know why they’re doing this, right?”
Kess shrugged. “So Master Tycion can eat another student out of frustration?”
“They’ve already got you pegged for the Knights.”
Kess narrowed his eyes at the jest, but his brother’s face didn’t change. “You’re serious? Why would you think that?”
“Look around this courtyard. Do you see any other student getting one-on-one instruction with the former Master-at-Arms for the Knights?” Kess glanced around and realized Sen was right. A couple of teachers lectured groups of students, but no one else received a one-on-one meeting with an instructor.
“Okay, but remediation doesn’t mean they think highly of me. Besides, Sen, if they wanted to put me through my paces in scrying, they’d have assigned someone with a better gift than Tycion.” Kess purposely overlooked the fact that he’d been sent to Sen, who had just such a gift.
“Think about it! They know you’re the top recruit from the combat classes. No one is as fast as you with defensive constructs. Who’d you spar with this week?”
The Last Archon Page 11