Stormfront

by Skye Knizley

  “There is no good, no evil, there is only what you can and cannot do,” Morgana said. “You cannot win, the question is, should I kill you.”

  Raven stood. “Tougher things than you have tried.”

  Morgana paused. “I’m going to kill you, Lady Tempeste. You aren’t frightened?”

  How does she know that? Aspen asked.

  “I’ve seen scarier things than you in a cereal box. If you’re going to fight, fight, if you want to talk, give me the sword and we’ll talk,” Raven said.

  “Fascinating,” Morgana said. “Have you no sense of self-preservation?”

  More of the SS Death Troopers descended from the zeppelin. They formed an arc behind Morgana, weapons ready. Raven glared at them and took a cleansing breath. She didn’t have enough energy left to kill them all, but she’d be damned if she was just going to lay down and die.

  “Afraid, Morgana?” Raven asked.

  Morgana arched an eyebrow. “Hardly. Bring her, she will be an interesting captive. If she resists, kill her.”

  The troopers stepped forward, weapons pointed at Raven’s face.

  “Go ahead,” one said in an accented voice. “Resist.”

  Don’t be stupid, Ray.

  Raven raised Hrunting and slammed it point first into the stone at her feet. The blade sank into the bedrock and stopped, held fast. She sagged to her knees beside it and looked up at the soldiers.

  “Swell. Take me to your leader.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The Bowels of Black Eon, 1943

  The Death Troopers escorted Raven up the boarding ramp and into the bowels of the zeppelin. The interior was as dark as the outside, lit only by red service lights and a strange red-orange glow that rose from slats in the deck plates. Her hair stood on end with every step and Raven was certain though the zeppelin was a construction of human hands, the darkest magik lay at its heart.

  From the belly of the beast stairways ascended fore and aft to a central corridor that ran the length of the ship and opened to further chambers and levels. Raven was half pushed half dragged up the steps and toward the rear of the craft, where a small brig of four cells awaited her. The cells were not much more that steel boxes with a single window that opened into the corridor. One of the guards pushed Raven inside the last one and she was left alone with nothing but the roar of the engines to keep her company.

  The cell was made of black-painted steel and aluminum plates riveted together. A single pallet made of the same material extended the length of one wall with a bucket beneath. Otherwise, the cell was empty. Raven sat on the pallet and gathered her strength.

  What now, babes? Aspen asked.

  Can you do anything about that lock? Raven asked.

  There was a pause, then she said, I don’t have much magik in here, but get me closer.

  Raven stood and held her engagement ring near the edge of the door. She felt a mild sensation of pressure, then the door clicked.

  Cell wasn’t designed against Fae. Interesting, Aspen said.

  What was that feeling?

  I tapped your magik, you never use it, anyway.

  Raven paused, one hand on the edge of the door. I have magik?

  She could almost see Aspen’s imp-like smile. Everybody has magik. Not much, but enough for little things.

  You have to teach me that.

  She pushed the door open and glanced down the corridor. It was oddly shaped, with five sides instead of four, and the floor was made of grid work lit by the strange orange light Raven had noted when she was brought on board. A guard stood at the end of the hallway, his back to the steps that led into the cells. Raven crept forward on the balls of her feet until she was right behind him. She could smell his blood, almost taste it filling her mouth. She hated to do it, but Morgana was insane, if she didn’t stop her, no one was going to be able to. Raven grabbed the guard’s neck and pulled him backward until she could wrap her legs around him and hold him fast with one hand over his mouth and her arm in a hold that knocked him unconscious. When he stopped moving, she dragged him back to her cell and laid him on the pallet.

  You have to, honey, Aspen said.

  I don’t have to like it.

  Raven straddled him and lowered her mouth to the artery pulsing in his neck. Her fangs sank deep into his flesh and she drank. His blood was cloying and thick, with an aftertaste like bad liquor that burned her throat. Raven let the blood fill her, let her body take what it needed to heal and strengthen. She felt her eyes shift, her power rise to the surface and drank deeper, letting it fill her.

  Enough, Ray, you’re going to kill him!

  Raven pulled free of the guard and wiped her mouth on a scrap of his shirt. The power coursing through her was strong, like a drug. She felt as if she could tear the zeppelin down with her bare hands.

  What’s happening, Asp? she asked.

  I don’t know, it may be your closeness to your father or that you fed so much on a soul that isn’t mine. You should see your eyes, it’s freaking scary, Aspen said.

  Raven closed her eyes and focused as Marie had taught her so many years ago. She calmed her monster and sent it back to the dark corners to wait until it was needed. She then took the guard’s weapons and stepped back into the corridor. The ship shuddered beneath her and she felt as if she was rising. Not as fast as a traditional aircraft, but fast enough for her to feel the gut-wrenching sensation of weightlessness for a moment. When the ascent leveled out, she started down the hallway at trot.

  Where are we going? Aspen asked.

  Find the sorceress, kill everyone, get the sword back, Raven said.

  Everyone?

  Raven stepped down the stairs and moved toward the next bulkhead. They’re Nazis, Asp, trying to kill us and take over the world. If it makes you happy, I’ll ask them to surrender before I kill them.

  Bloodthirsty much? This isn’t like you.

  What do you want me to do, make them cookies?

  She listened at the door at the end of the corridor. Sound was muffled and had a tin-quality like old speakers, but it sounded as if someone was talking just a few feet away. The door looked like the water tight kind you would find on submarines and below decks on ships save that there was no wheel, there was a lever. Raven pulled it as quietly as she could and stepped into the next chamber. It was the central area where she’d boarded not long before. Two guards stood in the center, weapons slung across their chests. Raven gave them a smile and gestured with her submachine gun.

  “I don’t suppose you boys would be willing to just let me arrest you, would you?”

  The troopers looked at each other, then at Raven, who nodded encouragingly. They raised their weapons and Raven shot them both. The noise from the MP38 was deafening in the small space and it left her ears ringing. She shook her head to clear them and moved to the boarding door, which was still open. The zeppelin had gained altitude and now hung over five hundred feet above the lake, which looked like smooth black concrete in the storm.

  “Not getting off that way, I hope this thing has an escape pod.”

  Shots rang out and ricocheted off the wall beside her, making her duck behind a storage rack for what cover the shelves would provide. More shots pinged off the shelves and she slid out from cover, ducking low using one leg as a pontoon against the recoil of the MP38, which unleashed leaden death when she stroked the trigger. The two guards coming down the steps at a run took the full fury of the attack and exploded into ash that rained down the steps and into the bowels of the ship below.

  When the racket died down, Raven started for the stairs. The guards were coming from that direction, which likely meant that Morgana was somewhere above, as well. Psychopaths liked to have an audience when they hatched their plan to take over the world.

  The ship shook as she ascended and Raven was thrown against the stair railing, almos
t losing her footing into the depths below. As she gathered her wits and her balance she saw a strange swirling in the mists below, a small red image like a two-dimensional tornado. It was disturbingly familiar and something she thought to never see again in her lifetime.

  Is that what I think it is? Raven asked.

  It’s a portal, a huge one. Hurry, Ray, Morgana is doing something insane!

  Raven righted herself and continued up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I really hate the cases we get. Maybe we should move back to narc, what do you say?

  You and Rupe would be bored in a month.

  Yeah but it would be a month without this crap.

  Do you honestly think the weird stuff will just stop happening? You would end up doing both, it’s your de−

  Raven reached the landing and spun, looking for some indication of which way she should go. If you say destiny I’m going to throw you into the lake.

  The ship shuddered again, throwing Raven into the bulkhead again. The swirl of magik below had grown again and was spinning like a whirlpool. She could see licks of flame forming within the circle and there was a growing sound, like the roar of a bonfire. Raven pulled herself up and started toward the front of the ship, reasoning that whatever made the vessel move would be in the rear, as was traditional with nearly every other vessel she’d ever been on.

  In the next corridor she encountered a group of Death Troopers running toward her. The leader opened fire when he saw her, followed a heartbeat later by the men behind him. Raven ducked into a side corridor and pressed her back into the wall. The metal was so thin she could feel the bullets hitting it. It wouldn’t be long before they started to punch through. She took a breath, and rolled into the hallway. She came up firing from one knee, the submachine gun chattering away in her hands. Bullets pinged off the soldiers’ armor and sent them sprawling, only to get back up a moment later. Raven fired until the MP38 was empty, then tossed it aside and drew the guard’s backup, a Browning Hi-Power. She put two rounds through the leader’s face, sending him sprawling, then ducked back into cover.

  “I never knew how much better Thad’s rounds were than basic silver and garlic,” she groused. “I miss my pistol.”

  The map says there’s an armory on this level, maybe you can get something else? Aspen asked.

  Raven peeked around the corner and shot another guard, then pulled her legs back as more bullets ricocheted off the deck plating. “What map?”

  An image flashed in Raven’s head of a map pinned to the wall somewhere in the stairwell. Raven noted the name on the map was Black Eon.

  You kind of ran past it a few minutes ago.

  Asp, do you have any idea how weird this is? Raven asked. You acting like you’re really here?

  How do you think I feel? I’m a soul fragment stuck in a ring.

  Good point. Which way?

  Erm…past those guys? Aspen said.

  Raven scrunched into a ball to avoid another hail of gunfire. I knew you were going to say that.

  She took two more quick breaths then ran into the hallway, letting her powers free. Time seemed to slow and she ran along the bulkhead firing the Browning. She made every shot count, aiming for eyes, mouths and forehead, anything that was unarmored and easy to see. When the slide clicked back she slid to a halt on one knee and let her powers fade. Ash rained down around her and onto the two remaining corpses.

  Two of these guys were human. Familiars? Raven asked.

  There was that pressure sensation again and Raven saw the two bodies glow with Aspen’s magik. Pekki, the Fae equivalent.

  Raven picked up another MP38 and replaced the magazine with a spare from the Pekki at her feet. Fae have familiars?

  Sort of. They were called thralls, but that was thousands of years ago.

  The corridor continued forward and Raven followed it, weapon ready and eyes peeled for any sign of further guards. She guessed most of them were dead on the ground, there had been close to fifty in the battle against the vampires. As big and heavy as the zeppelin was, it couldn’t have carried many more, even with the help of Morgana’s magik.

  Why didn’t you say anything sooner? Raven asked.

  I was asleep. Turn left, that door there.

  Raven turned down the next companionway. A short hallway led to another of the lever operated hatches, beyond which was a small armory. Shelves of shiny MP38s, Mauser pistols, stick grenades and explosive charges sat ready for the taking. Raven considered one of the satchel charges, but decided against it. It was heavy and would slow her down.

  At the back was a locked cabinet that opened when she applied pressure. Inside was a collection of American weapons, including a Colt 1911 and two magazines of ammunition that looked familiar. Raven held one up and cast an appraising eye over the craftsmanship.

  If this isn’t Thad’s, it belongs to someone he taught, she said.

  Hurry, you’re running out of time. I can feel her magik, she’s powerful, Ray.

  Raven loaded the Colt, grabbed two more magazines for her MP38 and hurried back into the corridor. She was close to the bow of the ship and could feel the magik being used, the hair on her arms was standing up and her toes tingled like she was receiving a mild electric shock.

  The corridor emptied into a wide chamber with windows overlooking the city outside. It looked as if they were nearing the heart of Chicago, there were lights outside that could only come from the city’s nighttime glow.

  Six men in robes stood near the middle of the room, arms raised. Their robes were black with red embroidery in the shape of the Swastika and their faces were covered in masks of obsidian that hid everything but their eyes. In the heart of the room was Morgana wearing what could only be called a chainmail bikini. The silver mesh covered her breasts and sex, along with a cloth of red that hung front and back like a sideless skirt. She held Excalibur aloft where it glowed white-hot with the magik swirling around the room like green mist, sometimes going through the sages while other times going over them.

  Raven stepped into the room, weapon held at the waist. “Did I catch you bastards at a bad time? I’d say get your hands up, but that would be a little redundant. How bout ‘stop casting and surrender, you’re all under arrest’.”

  As one, almost like marionettes on strings, the men turned and said, “Mistress, another has come.”

  Raven made a face. “Okay, that’s not creepy at all. Was that a no?”

  Morgana rose into the air and laughed, hovering near the ceiling. “Surrender? To who, little dhampyr? You haven’t the power or the will to stop me. The gates will open and I will have an army great enough to conquer the Empire and make it mine.”

  Raven shot one of the sages, who was trying to sneak behind the others and attack. The sage fell without a sound, blood spilling from the wound onto the floor. Raven looked back at Morgana and cocked an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, what was that? All I heard was blah, blah, blah, maniacal laugh, take over the world. You’re just Hitler with boobs.”

  Morgana pointed one long finger at Raven. “Kill her, bring me her skull!”

  Here we go again, Aspen muttered.

  The sages attacked with bolts of magik that left their palms and shattered against the walls, leaving chrysanthemums of burns behind. Raven dodged into the room and fired back, using her superior speed and agility to keep ahead of their magik. Wherever their magik was, she wasn’t. She fired the MP38 empty, leaving only two of the men standing, then drew the Colt. It felt good in her hand. It had a similar weight and balance to the Automag she cherished, and this was the ‘longslide’ custom model, making the barrel almost the same length. If it had been stainless steel, she’d have been in love. The big pistol bucked in her hands and the final two sages went down, dead and done. Morgana hovered in the magik circle and glared at Raven, magik flowing from Excalibur into the portal below.

  “Car
e to come down from there and let me arrest you? My father would be so proud if I arrested a psycho my first week on the job,” Raven said.

  We have to stop the magik, Ray. That’s not just a portal, it’s a Hellgate. That is a legion of undead she’s summoning, the city will be overwhelmed and her army will be huge.

  Great, more good news. How? Raven asked.

  I don’t know yet, buy some time.

  Buy some time…great idea, Asp.

  Raven rose and sighted down the Colt’s barrel. “Last chance, Morgana. Stop what you’re doing and surrender or I swear I will put a bullet in that pretty little head.”

  Morgana laughed and a thread of near-invisible magik rose from the floor. It whipped across Raven’s torso and she was thrown through the air hard enough to leave an impression in the bulkhead. She slid to the floor stunned, and another thread wrapped around her throat, cutting off her air. She clawed at the magik, but there was nothing there, nothing she could touch or pull free.

  “You were interesting, Lady Tempeste, but I grow bored with your antics,” Morgana said.

  She floated to the ground and stepped out of the magik circle and approached Raven, her red lips spread in a cocky smile. She touched Raven’s lips with a finger and giggled. “No quips? No brave words? I thought better of you, Tempeste.”

  Raven tried to mutter something while drawing the knife from her boot. Morgana leaned closer, still certain she’d won. “What was that, precious?”

  “You’ve got really bad breath!”

  Raven lashed out with the blade, ramming it through Morgana’s calf with all her strength. Morgana screamed and fell to the floor with a thud. The snake of magik around Raven’s neck loosened and she sucked in air while scrabbling away from Morgana. As she crawled, she spotted Hrunting and her other belongings lying in a heap near the nose of the ship. She grabbed the sword and rose, turning to face Morgana.

  “We tried it your way, bitch, when I was injured and you had your lackeys to watch your back. Want to try it again when the odds are even?”