by Ross Buzzell
“LOOK OUT!”
Emma screams. Konner turns to see Disa’ani’s third spear bearing down on them. Without a moment’s hesitation, the prince puts a shield up between them and the weapon, which strikes with so much force Konner and Natalie are lifted off the ground and hurled towards the window. The glass would not harm Konner—his skin is far too tough for that—but Natalie would be shredded. In the blink of an eye, he re-directs the shield while the pair smashes through the glass and tumbles through the air. Much to Konner’s surprise, Natalie does not scream. She clenches her eyes shut and buries her face in his chest using her good arm to hold on to him, but she does not scream. Konner briefly thinks about opening a portal, but their momentum would still carry over and kill her. He begins to focus solar radiation towards his feet. He read about a Boronian who flew with this method once. Maybe he can replicate it.
Gradually, Konner and Natalie begin to slow down before they come to a stop eight stories from the ground. Konner looks down and a wave of relief washes over him with a bright smile. He has managed it. Natalie looks up at him, shock and awe filling her face for a moment, followed by a painful wince and a wide smile.
“You can fly? Why am I not surprised?”
Konner glances at his reflection in the glass; a woman standing in her window screams and runs to the other side of her apartment. There is no light leaving his feet, nothing to propel him upward. How was he flying?
“I am!”
he exclaims. After a brief moment, his mind goes back to the Nelaka and how he absorbed their electricity and re-directed it back just by being near them. He just spent the last two days with a woman that could fly. Perhaps it was the same thing.
“Where is the nearest hospital?”
Konner asks. The sound of glass shattering fills the relatively silent streets. Konner looks up to see Disa’ani falling from the apartment building and slamming into the ground. Emma and Danielle have their heads poked out to see Konner floating. Natalie’s good arm points on the far side of the apartment building.
“It’s that way, not far at all.”
Konner looks up; the fastest and safest route is over the building. He looks up at his team mates staring down at him, Emma with a shocked look on her face, Danielle smiling and nodding in approval. Konner feels his body move upward, almost as if he were being pulled through the air by the air itself. He slows down as he approaches the top floor.
“Where’s Doug?”
Danielle points out the other side of the apartment.
“He went after Disa’ani, told us to stay here.”
Konner bites his lip and clenches his jaw. Doug is no match for Disa’ani, and he isn’t even used to his powers yet and has spent no time training in comparison to his former best friend. Danielle seems to be able to read Konner like a book.
“Don’t even think about it. Get her to the hospital. Believe me, Doug can handle this one!”
Emma, enamored by the flight, shakes her head.
“How is he flying? How ARE you flying?!”
Danielle laughs as she looks over at the stunned flier.
“He got it from you, Emma. Now, Konner, go!”
Without a second thought, Konner looks up and begins to fly once more. Moving over the building, the ground stretches out beneath them, the lights sparkling like stars in the sky. The air is cool, but Konner can tell it was once hot and the sounds of whirring sirens and cars radiate from the city below like light from a star.
“I’m Natalie, by the way.”
The soft, melodious voice of the first human he ever meets brings his attention back down to his precious cargo. They begin to move forward, relatively slowly as the prince enjoys being in the presence of this woman.
“I am Konner.”
“I know, your friend was asking about you.”
Konner shakes his head as he sees a familiar symbol; a cross on the side of a building. It is the symbol his people used for healing; perhaps this culture is not so different from his own.
“He is not my friend anymore,”
Konner says softly. He can feel Natalie get mildly uncomfortable at the way he spoke; she changes the subject as they grow closer to the hospital.
“Why can’t you just heal me like you did back at the bar?”
Konner lets off a slight laugh as he begins to descend toward the front of the tower of glass.
“I did not hurt you this time. My kind can heal wounds that we or our weapons directly inflict. Only Disa’ani can heal you, and his days of mercy are far behind him.”
“Long history?”
she says, more of a statement than a question. The prince nods as he concentrates very forcefully on the ground as they descend below the concrete awning of the hospital. People are being pushed in with chairs that have wheels on the sides, an antiquated technology his people have not seen in eons. Large blocky vehicles with lights on them take up the arched road that leads to the sliding glass doors, which is a technology he recognizes. Konner nods at her statement.
“I will share it with you some time,”
he says softly. Konner sees a wide smile form on her lips at the prospect of seeing him again. He walks up to the hospital entrance, and everyone stares at him; some in awe, others in fear, but none of them cause Konner to break stride, his primary concern getting Natalie help. He enters the sterile white building; the smell of cleanliness and something else, something strange that he cannot quite put his finger on fills his nostrils. He glances around and notices that there are people in white coats and others in matching green uniforms. On the TV, there is a news report showing footage of his exploits earlier that day with the subtitle. “Hero or Villain?” under it. Two people come up on the screen and begin to yell at each other, one speaking for his actions while the other calls for his head. Konner shakes his in disgust as they speculate on why he chose to act in the manner that he did. They even go so far as speculating that he was an alien from a planet he never heard before that starts with a “K.”
“They are wrong,”
Konner says softly, almost under his breath, unaware that the entire waiting room is now staring at him.
“Who are?”
Natalie asks. He nods to the TV.
“My actions were not meant to intimidate or threaten anyone… They were solely to protect the innocents that were being victimized by a terrorist group.”
“Don’t pay them any attention. They are a bunch of lying assholes anyway that just wants to stir up trouble.”
A nervous woman’s voice causes both Natalie and Konner to look away from the TV.
“C…Can I help you, sir?”
She stutters but not out of shock, but what sounds like fear. Konner meets the gaze of a young woman in the green uniform, a nurse in the hospital. A kind smile forms on his lips and he makes sure that he speaks with a soft, almost gentle tone.
“Yes, ma’am, this lovely young lady is injured and as I have little knowledge about your medicine, it would be better that you treat her than I do. I believe it is just a dislocated shoulder, but there could be more.”
The nurse looks directly at Natalie.
“How did this happen?”
She disguises her true meaning as a question. From how she is behaving to the stammer in her voice and the fact that she is keeping an unusually large distance between them indicates that she is really asking if he has done this to her. Natalie picks up on it as well and shakes her head. Slowly, Konner sets her down, letting the redhead stand on her own two feet.
“It was a mugging; luckily, this man came out of nowhere and probably saved my life.”
Natalie gently slides her fingers in between Konner’s own. This catches the prince off guard and his heart slams so hard into his chest it nearly moves his entire body before skipping a beat. His fingers coil against hers. The contact causes his senses to involuntarily go into overdrive. His vision peers into the infrared spectrum of light as he sees everyone’s body heat. Most are pulsating as
if their hearts are racing in fear, others are nearly at a standstill, but Natalie’s pounds, almost in perfect unison with his own heartbeat. He hears someone on their phone from all the way across the vast lobby.
“No, officer, he is here NOW! You have to get here before he kills us all.”
Konner’s vision snaps back. He notices the nurse grabbed a wheeled chair while he was distracted. Natalie gives Konner’s hand a gentle squeeze before sitting in the chair. The nurse begins to speak.
“You are going to have to stay out here, sir… Who are you?”
From the sound of the person on the phone, Konner decides it is best not to give them a name, and there is no way he is going to stay, not in his armor and nearly glowing azure eyes. He takes a step back before responding.
“I’m The Boronian.”
With that, Konner turns and begins to exit the way that he came, approaching the doors, which slide open. He glances back to see Natalie being pushed away from him but leaning over to get one final look at her rescuer as well. She mouths “I’m sorry” before disappearing into a hallway. The prince leaves the hospital and walks out under the awning once again.
Chapter: 11
Rock and a Hard Place
Everything is dark, like being in an abyss with only a screen before him to see. The pull is real; he feels his essence yanked forward as if being drawn to a magnet and he is a piece of metal. He looks to see he is not the only one. When the wormhole opens and pulls him and the team into it and absolutely everything goes dark, he can hear Danielle and Konner breathing while Emma’s voice echoes like a stereo in the darkness.
“What’s going on? What is happening?”
Doug tries to peer into the darkness to see Danielle and Konner but is unable to. He speaks back to her in a near shout:
“I don’t know, but if Danielle and Konner aren’t panicking, then neither should we.”
On the horizon a pinprick of light forms as Emma continues:
“Coming from you? You’ve just spent the past ten minutes throwing a tantrum!”
The light grows brighter and a strange warping sensation overtakes Doug’s essence like the reflection from one of those morph mirrors at the carnival. The light fades and he sees a girl on the ground as her attacker slides to a stop on the hardwood floor. This causes a fire to ignite within Doug. His hate for violence against women goes back to his childhood when a childhood school friend and her mother were both beaten to death by an abusive father. Emma’s voice echoes into the darkness.
“Easy, Doug, we don’t know what we are dealing with yet.”
Doug tries to lunge, but Emma holds him at bay as he watches this coward address Konner.
“Konner, it is good to see you again… the last time I saw you, wasn’t I killing your father?”
Doug tries to move again, but Emma holds him in place within her.
“Emma give me a chance. I can take him!”
“Not yet.”
She rebuts,
“Let’s see what we’re up against.”
Doug watches Konner lunge, through Emma’s eyes, only for him to be bypassed with two of the spears. Doug notices that the man’s grip around his remaining spear tightens.
“Emma, he’s about to attack, probably the girl. MOVE!”
Disa’ani begins to lunge at Natalie.
“I got this!”
Emma calls out. Doug watches in awe as time seems to slow down when Emma begins to fly over to intercept the attack. He feels a strange drain on his body, like a tub dumping its water, as his hand turns to stone. Through Emma’s vision, he sees her hand holding the weapon, her skin the same stone structure as his own.
“What do I do now?!”
Emma sounds panicked. Doug tilts his head to the side. Even out of an actual physical form, his neck lets off a crack before he responds.
“Give me control. I can fight.”
Time seems to still stand at a stop as their conversation moves back and forth, almost as if they are communicating far faster than it seems.
“Okay, but do not get me killed.”
Doug feels Emma’s fingers move with his own as his body instinctively turns completely to stone. He spins, pulling the spear to the far side of his body before thrusting the heel of his/Emma’s foot into Disa’ani’s chest, which sends him across the room. Doug’s vision encompasses his field of view as he feels Emma voluntarily shrink away leaving him to control her body. Throwing the spear on the ground, he watches as Disa slides to a stop.
“Where did you learn that?”
Her voice echoes inside her own mind. Doug smirks at the response.
“Renaissance fair.”
In a flash, he dashes at Disa’ani while the twisted Boronian attempts to get to his feet and before Doug can process what is going on, he feels a boot implant itself into his chest so hard, he literally feels Emma ejected from his body like the atmosphere being ripped off of a dying star. It is sheer agony as every cell of his body burns with an intense heat the likes of which he has never felt as every atom that makes up Emma splits away from each cell of his body in such a forceful way the friction feels like he has been tossed into a microwave.
He feels Emma’s mind leave his own as a flash of light from the forced division forces Disa’ani to squint, which opens a window just long enough for Doug to make his move. Channeling the rage built up within him, from Disa’ani’s attempts at murdering the woman against the wall to the fact that every cell in his body burns with what feels like nuclear fusion, the stone man does not hold back. Unleashing every ounce of strength he has into rotating his body, Doug slams the heel of his boot into the face of the helmetless Disa’ani, which causes him to stagger back. Doug tightens every rocky muscle in his stony body, his eyes scanning his opponent, looking for a weakness, only to see a few drops of crimson liquid to drip from his mouth. Disa’ani threateningly wipes the blood away from his mouth as a wicked grin forms on his lips, almost sadistic as if he likes the taste. His eyes flare as Doug notices a minor twitch under the right eye, which seems to overflow with seething hate and insanity.
“It’s been a long time since an enemy has made me bleed,”
he hisses like a particularly devious snake. Doug is unmoved at the attempt to intimidate him as he growls,
“I’ll make sure it happens again, and again.”
An impressed look dances across Disa’ani’s face as the corrupted one puts his hand out, calling his one spear to himself; he gives it a spin and continues his stance.
“And what do I call the man I am about to kill??
Doug thinks for a moment. A name strikes his mind like a bolt of lightning; he nods slightly at the idea.
“I am the Protolith, the foundation of your ruin.”
Disa’ani pauses for a moment. His brow furrows as his head tilts to the side some.
“Do you have any idea how cheesy that sounds?”
Doug sighs as he hears it; it did sound better in his head. He dashes at Disa’ani and throws a powerful punch at his opponent. Disa’ani throws his hand up, and before Doug can blink, the dis-regarded spear is in his hands and slamming down on Doug’s forearm, deflecting the blow away from him. With his left hand, Doug continues his attack as he feels a familiar pull on his forearm as a stalagmite forms. The rock slams into Disa’ani’s chest with powerful “THUD,” sending reverberations throughout Doug’s arm; as he staggers backward, Disa’ani throws his hand up. The spear shoots into the air and shatters the stone that protrudes from his arm. Doug feels the contact with the stone as if he had slammed his bone directly into a metal pole. He lets out a roar of pain and takes a few steps back, holding his arm. Disa’ani throws his hands to the side. Doug fully anticipates to be blindsided by the other two spears and instead is greeted by the sound of shattering glass. He glances over his shoulder to see Konner and the redhead falling through the window.
Doug re-centers himself. Ignoring the pain in his arm, he lunges forward, grabbing Disa’ani’s spear.
He feels his body grow heavy as his skin shifts into white granite as he throws the weapon as hard as he can at Disa’ani. The distracted enemy is blindsided as his spear slams into him with such force, it sends him out the window in a volley of shattered glass that rains down onto the streets below. Doug turns to Emma and Danielle.
“Is Konner good?”
His voice is rife with concern. Both glance out the shattered window on the far side of the apartment before nodding at him.
“They are good,”
Emma calls out. Doug nods.
“Alright, you two stay here. I’ll be right back!”