I tried not to think about how relentless these minions were, or the fact they seemed not to notice that they were actually getting hurt.
Or the fact that there was no sign of Mwara, or Remo Drammen, though I was thankful for the latter.
The guy in front of me reached for my arm, and I twisted away, batting him on the shoulder with the bone. He caught the edge of my coat and pulled, and I lost my balance and went down hard. I rolled away just as a booted foot was coming down on my stomach, missing me by a fraction. I jumped up, faked right and went left, behind the guy, banging the bone hard on his head and slashing his neck with my talons, then kicking him behind the knee. He went down, tried to swipe my leg from under me. I rolled, stood, and kicked the still down guy on the head. He was fast, grabbing the leg of my pants and yanking hard. I fell butt down beside him and rolled away, and was grabbed by the hair this time. Heart in my throat, I wrenched myself away, leaving a big chunk of hair behind. When I turned to face the minion again, the clump of hair was white and brittle. A chill went down my spine, making my blood run cold.
The guy threw the clump away and rushed me, his dark eyes emotionless. I kicked and batted his advances away, barely staying out of reach. Then suddenly Zantry was there, and he grabbed the guy from behind, twisted his head and drew him near.
This close, I could feel the rush of energy from the minion to him. When the guy fell, Zantry's eyes looked lighter, a dim glow radiating from them.
“Does it hurt?” I asked.
“No. It's energy from my homeland. It makes me stronger.”
But you hate yourself for doing this, I thought, sensing his Remorse. I wanted to reach out to him, to tell him it would all be fine, but I knew he wouldn't welcome the support.
“Thank you.” I said, “For everything.” I knew he could feel the sincerity in my words. I didn't wait for a reply, knowing he needed the moment to come to terms with himself. I turned to the shadows, sad to see that only five were still standing, the rest either dead or two weak to get up. I headed to Diggy instead. He sat on the ground, one leg extended, his pants ripped. He was injured, his hands still massive paws.
I wanted to urge him to shift, but I didn't say anything. He knew better than I if shifting would help him heal.
“You ok?”
Instead of answering, he nodded to the other side of the hole.
I followed his gaze and sucked in a sharp breath. There were a whole bunch of dark minions standing there, nothing but the deep gap separating us. As we watched, one of the minions turned and headed toward an entrance on the rock wall, and a few followed suit. I didn't want to be here to see if that entrance connected with any of the ones on this side.
“Do you still know where Mwara is, Taz?” I asked the shadow, feeling this new level of urgency.
Taz, crouched nearby, stretched its thin legs, his wings buzzing gently. “Yes.”
I looked down at Diggy, and with effort, he stood. “Can you walk?” I asked, and in response, he shifted, and now he was a big black panther, his hazel eyes glowing with that predatorily light. He shook his fur, and I had this urge to stroke his pelt and see if it was as soft as it looked, but I liked my hand attached to my body, so instead I told Taz to lead the way.
* * *
There were six exits – or entrances – on this side of the hole, but Taz couldn't seem to decide which one Mwara had taken. He paused in front of one, shifted to another, then paused before a third one.
Three caves. Three of us. Five shadows.
I glanced down at Taz and it flicked its ears, sensing my attention. “Which one it is?” I asked, but he didn't answer.
“We'll separate?” I suggested tentatively.
“No,” Zantry said at the same time Diggy began growling. At first I thought he was just agreeing with Zantry, but he was facing the direction we had come from.
I whirled, and there, some of the minions we had just killed were getting up.
“Oh, shit.”
Zantry narrowed his eyes. “The head,” He said, and after a moment, I realized that only the ones that had been left with their heads attached were getting up.
Diggy surged forward, his powerful legs eating the distance in no time at all. He jumped high and caught a minion by the neck, bringing him to the ground. He shook his head, his jaw working, until the head separated.
Three more rose and yet more stirred. The teenaged boy who'd killed one of the shadows ambled out of a tunnel, coming to join the others. A piercing shriek rang from high up in the cavern wall, but no creatures leaped into the light.
I sent the pack ahead and rushed after Zantry. I wasn't at full speed – my adrenaline rush was spent, and my leg throbbed where one of the creatures had bitten me.
He was way ahead when there was a thunderous boom, a furious shriek, and something huge fell from above. It covered Zantry top to bottom, a monstrosity with long sharp-tipped wings that closed around him. The beast lowered its head and roared, an ugly sound filled with anger.
Choking fear paralyzed me for a second before urging me to move faster than I'd ever had before.
It was right there in front of me, yet I sensed nothing of it. No presence, no emotion, no heat waves.
With a roar of his own, Zantry expelled the beast from his back. He dropped to one knee, his head low. The creature crouched a few feet away, then shot into the darkness like a torpedo, wings bracketing its body. From a few feet away, Diggy transformed from panther to a red-tailed hawk and shot after the creature. Only to be yanked back by one of the human minions by his tail. He screeched and fell , a panther before he hit the ground and pounced, swiping the minion with a huge paw.
I hastened toward Zantry, scanning the darkness above.
“Get back,” he warned, his breathing harsh.
I obeyed, my heart squeezing with fear at the rivulets of blood running down his back.
Diggy released a ferocious snarl and I turned in time to see the last minion standing grab hold of him and lower his head toward the panther. Heart thumping, I rushed toward them, knowing I'd be too late.
I screamed, a savage sound of battle, but the thing didn't look up, didn't stop sucking Diggy's life away. I jerked my hand into talons and, with an open jab, sliced the thing's neck so deeply, I almost detached the head. With a scream of grief and outrage, I kicked the semi-detached head again and again, until it was finally free of the torso. Then I kicked it again, sending it far into the gap. I turned, my breathing hard, my heart pounding, and crouched beside Diggy. With a shaking, bloodied hand, I reached for his neck. There was only one thought in my head: this can't be it, this can't be it. Please don't let it be it.
A deafening boom broke the silence, followed by another furious shriek. The beast came arrowing down on Zantry, and he braced, ready to take it on. I caught my breath, and at the last possible second, Zantry sidestepped, and the beast veered off, its massive wings a darker shadow against the darker ceiling. It came again and again, and I realized too late that it was driving him directly toward the hole.
I uttered a warning, and that was Zantry's undoing. In the days to come, I'd wonder if my actions had been the turning point in the events that followed. He glanced at me, just a brief flicker of the eyes, and the beast struck him square on, pushing him into the hole.
He fell, his shout of outrage cutting off abruptly. And the lights went out.
Chapter Forty-Five
I stood slowly, conscious of the fact that I was alone, that my friends were no longer fighting beside me. I wasn't even sure how many of my shadows had been lost, but I could sense Frizz, his familiar presence like a shadowy cocoon surrounding me.
The sound of footsteps approaching had my heart shaking with fear, and without thinking, I moved back, aware there was a hole the size of Idaho somewhere behind me.
“Frizz,” I whispered, feeling him pressing against my leg, an assuring presence. “Lights. I need to see.” My eyes scanned the darkness left and right, and bit by bit, as
if the lights took effort, I began making out some shadows, dim at first, brightening bit by bit.
The moment I was able to see what approached, I almost went down to my knees and begged. As it was, I almost told Frizz to let the lights go. But the clawed creatures threw up their hairy arms and began backing away, shrieking as they went, shying away from the light, hurrying back to the dark holes they came from. They bumped and slashed at the minions closing in, and although blood flowed freely, they didn't seem to care. Even if they had once been human, they moved like a pack of feral animals with the scent of prey in the air, and that prey was me. I knew then that whatever the outcome tonight, I was going to suffer horribly before it was over.
I kept backing up, trying to widen the distance the minions kept closing. Frizz and whatever remained of the pack – only three more – followed me, until we reached the lip of the hole, and one glance was all I needed to know Zantry hadn't made it. He'd appear again, someday, but not tonight, not to help me fight my way out. The hole was deep and dark, a bottomless pit that I could sense was vast and… corrupt.
Was he still falling?
“Get us home, frizz!” I hissed.
Frizz buzzed his wings, said nothing. Through whatever this bond between us, I sensed his defeat, his sense of impotence at the inability to shift us out.
Outside of this planet, he could only go where I went. “Can you flash us out of the cave,” I asked in desperation.
“No, master,” He hissed, and I recalled the way he had to carry me out of here the last time. He could shift by himself, but he couldn't drag me with him.
The minions were so close now, I could see the swirl of darkness in their eyes, the vacancy of any humanity whatsoever.
Frizz stretched his legs; gained a foot of height before crouching again, a reaction I knew – felt – stemmed from his agitation, the certainty of our impending doom. His wings kept the furious buzz, though his hands stayed loose at his sides. He would fight with me, for me, and the moment I fell, he would fall with me. I should let the other three go, but I was too selfish, too afraid to lose this layer of protection, no matter how feeble.
I swallowed and took another tiny step back, a quarter of my left foot hovering into the abyss. I sucked in a breath of encouragement. All I needed was to take one small step back and it'd be over. Loose rocks tumbled down into the hole, the sound growing fainter and fainter, until I could no longer hear it. Ahead, one of the minions got into range, its aura completely black, polished the way Fin's aura had been. They were different , and I knew, like Fin, before becoming Remo's minions they hadn't been human either.
Five feet, I told myself. Five feet and I'll jump.
Another black aura flickered into existence, then another and another. The first one paused, less than ten feet away, the second one beside it. Then the third and fourth. There were at least twenty more still coming, though I could only make out their silhouettes. Behind them, I knew the clawed creatures waited for the light to drop.
Ahead, the four minions stood, waiting. The fact that they were waiting for something caused my anxiety and fear to spike ten folds, and I knew that whatever was going to happen, this was it.
Fight to the death, my inner voice told me. Never give up.
Never give up. I never had before. I should try to fight, even if the odds are against me… my talons appeared, and, sensing my resolution, Frizz and the remaining three shadows stretched and stood, ready to fight with me, despite their injuries and fatigue. I braced to lunge and a thundering boom had me jerking, and I grabbed on to Frizz to keep my balance. Without warning the winged beast dropped to the ground, a void blank where it stood, as if there was nothing occupying that spot. It was right behind the two minions directly ahead of me, its wings stretching far to each side, massive, black velvet things of hideous fur.
I was afraid to look away and miss an attack. But I shouldn't have worried. One moment there was nothing there, the next I felt it, a punch of potent power that licked and burned my skin, then dulled to a throbbing presence. A cold, nervous sweat broke around my temples, my upper lip.
The two dark minions stepped aside, and the beast stepped forward, pausing just a few feet away from me.
It was a tall beast, about eight feet of height. Yellowish eyes glared at me from a head similar to that of a bear, though rounder, the muzzle smaller.
I lowered my eyes, dreading – and knowing – what I was going to find.
Instead of claws, five talons protruded from each of its six paws, huge, massive things that could kill with a careless swat.
Talons.
Like mine.
My heart stopped beating, and I tried to swallow the spit that had magically turned to dust.
Dhiultadh.
A rejected.
One of my kind, no less.
I was going to die at the hands of a Dhiultadh after all. How ironic life was. Or death.
And then my worst nightmare came true.
Chapter Forty-Six
I sensed him long before I saw him. Before he even entered the huge cavern through a side tunnel.
The power of his energy, or his signature vibe, attacked my senses and brought forth the most primitive of fears, blocking reason and any common sense I still possessed.
His approach was silent, and it would have gone unnoticed had I not been able to sense him. It was the opposite effect I'd gotten from the rejected; I couldn't hear him, but I could definitely sense him. It was ridiculous, to be able to move like a phantom, yet have all that power to announce his presence like beating drums.
The second Remo Drammen cleared the minions in the back, the rejected shot into the air with a powerful flap of wings, the echoing sound of thunder and a small cloud of dust all that remained in its wake. It dove down into the whole, wings folding for maximum speed. No doubt going after Zantry. I felt a small frisson of hope he was still alive – drowned into horror at what Remo would do to him.
Remo Drammen cleared through the four human minions and Zantry dropped from my mind like a pebble into the sea.
He looked exactly the same way he had the last time I saw him. He had an albino complexion, a white, thick Maine of hair, big ears for his smallish round face. His eyes were small, black orbs I couldn't meet and hold for more than two seconds without involuntarily glancing away. Plastic, white round glasses framed them.
For a guy that barely reached five foot of height, he packed a strong presence.
Today he was dressed in a pale beige suit, a white collared shirt, sans a vest.
My eyes met his and skidded aside.
His energy slapped at me, a prickling sensation on my skin that got more insistent the closer he got. Remo Drammen, unlike Zantry, had no aura. I don't know if that was because he had not a single ounce of humanity, or if it was simply the byproduct of too much corruption.
When he was about six or seven feet away, He paused, his head cocking aside, studying me, as if I were some animal he couldn't fathom. Silently, I waited for the blow to come, and tried to guess how, and in what form it'd come. If I fell, would the rejected catch me before I died?
If I couldn't fight Remo and ordered Frizz to kill me, would he agree?
Beside me, Frizz's ears flattened atop his head and he crouched down, his wings quiet. I guess that meant a no.
“You have so much to give, so much to help.” Remo mused, startling me with that nasal tone I had mocked once.
Give? Help? My eyes moved to his army of dark minions, now a cluster of women and men waiting behind the four closest. I laced my fingers together in front of me, trying to stop some of the shaking. I needed to sit somewhere and take off the weight from my rubbery legs.
“So much capacity.” He murmured, his eyes roaming over me.
Bile rose to my throat, but I managed to swallow it. “To become one of that?” I asked in a shaky voice, motioning to the army behind him with a hand that shook just as much.
I hated myself at that moment for all my
weakness. He was powerful, yes, but he could still die. Not for long and not easily, but it was still possible.
He waved a tiny hand. “No. To waste something like you for the mindless is not what I have in mind for you.” One of the creatures cried far in the back of the cavern, accompanied by a symphony of chorused cries, reminding me that even if I got rid of Remo, the rejected and his minions, I still had to get through the creatures. But maybe I didn't need to get rid , or through, anyone. Maybe all I needed was to outsmart Remo.
“If you think I'm so valuable, why did you let your creatures almost eat me the first time?” Because if Frizz hadn't come when he had, I would have never made it out of here alive.
“Ah, poppet, an error in judgment,” Remo said without an ounce of remorse. “Please accept my sincere apologies. Had I known you'd come calling, I'd have never left that day. At the very least, I'd have left my slaves suitable instructions for a proper welcome.”
The rejected reappeared to my left, and my mind blanked at the sight of the limp body clutched in its set of extra arms. It dropped Zantry with a dull thump a few yards away and came to land beside Remo, wings closing around itself. The moment it stood still, it shifted, the wings, extra paws, fur, everything was sucked into the body, seeming like a painless, natural transition. It was a woman who appeared after the shift, and she looked not a bit concerned to reveal her traitorous identity.
Heir Of Doom Page 34