I gave him a short laugh.
“I’ll make sure he’s well fed and taken care of,” Roxanne said. “He’s safe here. Apparently, the facility is still empty”—she glanced at Monty—“so I only have him and Elias to watch until everyone is returned.”
“The Transporter should return them in a day or so,” Monty said, placing a hand on Roxanne’s shoulder. “Time functions differently for her. She placed them in stasis before the shift. No time will have passed for them.”
“That will make things easier,” Roxanne said, placing her hand over Monty’s. “I won’t have to explain how they managed to disappear.”
The large green teleportation circle pulsed with power as Monty stepped in.
“Ready?” Monty asked. “The sooner we move—”
“Let’s go,” I said, stepping into the circle. “We need to end this tonight.”
The circle flashed green and Haven disappeared.
We appeared inside the Auer’s compound, except it looked like a warzone. The neat rows of bookcases had been blasted apart. I saw the bodies of the Archive Guard. Most of them died hard. Several of them had gone fast; their horrific wounds were visible even in the dim light.
“What happened here, Monty?” I asked, looking around. “Who could do this?”
“This looks like the work of a—”
A cough from one of the destroyed bookcases caught our attention.
“Tristan,” a voice rasped, “is that you?”
We moved one of the precariously balanced bookcases to uncover the body of Roma. Even without being a doctor, I knew she had little time left. A huge gaping wound exposed part of her left ribcage. Her entire left side was a charred mess.
“Roma,” Monty said and began gesturing. Golden runes flowed from his hand and landed on Roma’s body. “Remain still.”
Roma reached up and grabbed his hand, stopping him.
“I’m afraid my dueling days are over,” she said with a tight smile that became a grimace of pain. “It’s too late for me. Too much damage.”
“Who did this?” Monty asked, his voice cold and menacing. “Tell me.”
“Balf—Balfour Enforcer, Rell,” Roma managed. “You need to get to the Auer before it’s too late. Lower archives, safe room. Go, now.”
Roma’s hand dropped to her side as her lifeless eyes looked up at us. Monty placed a hand over her face and closed them. He stood and I could sense the anger radiating from him.
“Monty?” I asked. “We’ll stop him. I just don’t want—”
“No,” Monty said his voice dark as black energy crackled around his body. “Not stop, finish. He is not an enclave leader. His death will not upset the balance.” Monty glanced down at Roma’s body. “He dies for this.”
I didn’t have an argument for him. Every dragon I had encountered had wanted to maim or kill me. One less dragon in the world was a good thing in my opinion, especially one who went around murdering mages.
I nodded after a few seconds, looking around the carnage for a way downstairs.
“Where is the entrance to the lower archives?” I asked, giving Monty extra space. “Can we get there from here?”
Monty pointed to a staircase partially blocked by a ruined bookcase.
“That will take us downstairs,” Monty said, moving fast. “Stand back.”
He slashed an arm forward and the bookcase slid to one side, clearing the staircase.
“Are you sure you can’t use the Force?” I said as we moved downstairs. “Because that looked—”
“Not now, Simon,” Monty said when we reached the lower archives. “The safe room is on the other end of the floor.”
The lower archives were mostly open space compared to the upper level. Bookcases lined the walls, but the center was dominated by desks and research stations. It looked like someone had taken a wrecking ball to the place. Desks and chairs lay in pieces all around the floor. Some of the bookcases were shattered, with books tossed everywhere, while others had been rendered to ash and completely destroyed.
“It’s a shame you’ll never reach the other end of this floor,” a voice said from behind a mound of destroyed bookcases. “The bitch ran and hid, but I managed to give her a parting gift. She won’t last long.”
Rell.
He was dressed the same way I remembered. Black combat armor, overpowering energy signature, and a seriously bad attitude.
Monty unleashed a beam of black and red energy. Rell dodged to the side and unleashed a swarm of black orbs. Monty made a circle with his hand and created a violet shield, which swallowed them.
They appeared behind Rell a moment later, causing him to dodge again.
“Why?” I asked, materializing Ebonsoul. “Why did you attack her? Why did you kill the Archive Guard?”
“Why?” Rell jeered. “Because I could. Who’s going to stop me? You? You’re both pathetic, rushing down here to your deaths. This is why humans are mindless cattle. Everything is emotions with you. She divulged the location of our enclave, and for that alone, she deserves to die.”
“That’s the reason? Because she revealed the location of your secret dragon club?” I asked as the rage increased. “You are a real piece of—”
“No, wait. There was another reason,” Rell said, holding up a finger. “I remember now—because it was fun.”
“No more talking,” Monty said calmly. “You die now, dragon.”
“Come kill me, mage,” Rell taunted, drawing a blade. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I closed the distance with a growl.
THIRTY-TWO
Rell’s blade was a runed weapon, covered in flames.
Every time he parried or swung it my way, I could feel the heat coming off of it. He was fast, managing to keep us both back, while unleashing black orbs at us, which Monty destroyed.
It looked even until I heard Monty whisper something under his breath. The Sorrows were instantly covered in black and violet energy. If they were creepy before with the crying, now they increased the cringe factor by ten. The space was suddenly filled by sobbing and wailing as Monty pressed the attack.
For the first time I saw real concern on Rell’s face as he parried Monty’s thrusts and slashes. Rell unleashed an orb designed to slam into Monty’s chest. Monty made no move to dodge and brought the Sorrows down in a cross block.
The blades absorbed the orb, then and I saw real worry on Rell’s face. He backed up as the Sorrows turned black, and the next second a black orb leapt forward from them and raced at Rell.
“You think I can’t deal with my own orb?” Rell asked with a smirk. “You may be stronger than most mages, but you’re nothing compared to me. Nothing.”
Rell held his hand out as the orb closed on him. It slammed into his palm and hovered in place.
“I will never compare myself to you,” Monty said, gesturing. “I am beyond dragon filth.”
“This won’t stop me,” Rell said, but his voice was strained as the orb started pushing him back. “What did you do?”
“Distracted you,” Monty said, pulling me back away from Rell. “Move, Simon, now!”
“What the hell, he’s still over there!”
“Not for long,” Monty said, hurriedly, creating a barrier of golden energy. “The dawnward. Can you create it?”
“I told you, I don’t really—”
“Bloody hell, in five seconds this place is going to be blasted by a beam of absolute death!” Monty yelled. �
��Use it!”
I closed my eyes and focused my energy through Ebonsoul. A few seconds later we were under a violet dome of energy as a beam of pure white light punched through a surprised Rell. The beam widened as the lower level was bathed in the light, forcing me to look away. The light washed over the dawnward, obliterating Monty’s shield and everything around us.
Ten seconds later the beam dissipated, fading to nothing. Even with my eyes closed I felt the aftereffects. Spots danced in my vision as we headed to the other end of the floor. I saw the Auer take two steps and collapse to the ground.
“No,” Monty said and rushed over to her. He began to gesture, but the Auer stopped him. My heart sank; it was Roma all over again. “Not like this.”
“Tristan,” the Auer said, “we all have a purpose. I have fulfilled mine. It’s time for me to go.”
The right side of her body was covered in liquid darkness. It was slowly traveling across her body.
“You can’t,” Monty said. “Not like this.”
He gestured and formed an immense orb of golden light, one nearly as bright as the beam the Auer had unleashed on Rell. With a word, he released it, and it cascaded gently onto her body, obliterating the darkness from sight. Several seconds passed until I could see clearly again.
When I could, the liquid darkness was still there, shifting and creeping across her body. Monty began to gesture again, but the Auer stopped him this time.
“Enough,” she said, her voice firm. “This cast is beyond you, Tristan Montague.”
“I’m certain I can…I’m sure if I…There must be something,” Monty struggled to find the words. “I can help. There must be something I can do.”
“Yes, there is,” the Auer said. “You can let me go with some dignity. You can’t undo this; it’s too late. Help me over to that chair.” She motioned for Monty to move her. “There. That’s better.”
Monty had lifted her to a large chair that had been blown back in the earlier conflict. She suddenly appeared so small.
“I’m so sorry,” Monty said. “If only we had—”
“I will not have you shedding tears for me,” the Auer groused as she rested her head back in the chair. “You’re a war mage, start acting like it. And you”—she pointed at me—“are the Marked of Kali, an aspis and Kali’s undying chosen. Death cannot touch you, not yet at least, but you will become intimate with it before your end. It will not do if you dissolve into tears every time someone dies. Compose yourself.”
I took a deep breath and wiped my eyes. It wasn’t that I was crying. The lower archive was extra dusty from the Auer’s mega beam of death, and it caused my eyes to water.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
“Can we do anything to—”
“You have little time,” she said. “Douglas is going to destroy Haven. He knows about the detention levels and the fact that the facility treats non-humans.”
“He wants to make a statement,” I said. “He’s not that powerful. Haven is immense.”
“He is now,” the Auer said. “The dragon blood coursing through his veins will give him the power. He knows his time is short.”
“He plans to take Haven with him?”
“Haven and most of the city, it seems,” the Auer said as more of the liquid darkness covered her body. “Get upstairs and teleport from there. I’d do it”—she gestured to the darkness—“but this seems to be stopping me from accessing my power. Go stop him. Now leave, before I transition and you’re trapped down here with me. Go on, it’s time to go.”
Monty stepped back and I followed him. He took a few steps before moving faster. By the time we were at the stairs we were at a dead run. We took the stairs two at time and Monty skidded to a stop at the top floor.
He began gesturing as I noticed a bright light emanating from downstairs.
“Monty, what’s that?” I asked, focusing my gaze on the light getting brighter. “That looks like—”
He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the teleportation circle. A flash of green energy later and we were standing at the end of the road that led to the Unisphere.
A massive beam of white light shot up into the sky from the center of the tripod that held up the Unisphere. That was followed by a shockwave that knocked us back several feet. Monty gestured and we were slowed by a cushion of air. I turned back to look at the Unisphere and saw it tilt slightly as it rolled off the tripod.
The three rings around the globe signifying famous orbits shattered, flying off into different parts of the park. The thin plates representing continents warped and twisted as the bolts holding them in place flew through the night, shooting in every direction. The stress from the rolling globe shrugged off each of the continents as it kept moving.
Heading straight for us.
“Can you stop that?” I asked as the globe kept coming. “It looks heavy. Real heavy.”
“It weighs approximately three hundred and eighteen thousand kilograms,” Monty said matter-of-factly. “I don’t believe I possess enough power to stop a mass that large.”
“Why would you even know that?” I asked, staring at him. “It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop.”
“It will,” Monty said, glancing behind us and pointing. “It will stop there.”
“Where?” I said looking in the direction he was pointing and seeing nothing—nothing except the Arthur Ashe tennis stadium. “No. The stadium?”
Monty nodded and began gesturing.
“Time to go,” he said under his breath. “We don’t want to be here when a world collides.”
He created another circle under us. I felt the surge of energy and Flushing Meadows Park disappeared in a green flash. We reappeared moments later in front of Haven. I barely had a moment to get my bearings when Monty hit me with a blast of air, launching me across the street.
I bounced for a few feet and rolled for several more before coming to a sudden stop against a wall.
“Ow,” I groaned, rubbing my side and feeling the heat flush my body as my curse repaired the damage. “What the hell, Monty?”
I slowly got to my feet and caught sight of Monty creating a golden lattice of energy in front of him.
“Get down!” Monty yelled, running from the lattice and diving over a car. “It’s him!”
“It’s who?” I asked and turned just in time to see Douglas drop onto the Duezy, exploding it into little Duezy components all over the street.
THIRTY-THREE
The only thing that saved me from being instantly impaled was Monty’s lattice shield.
I ducked behind a parked car as several pieces of Duezy shrapnel embedded themselves in the car I had ducked behind, as well as the wall behind me. I looked across to see Monty gesturing again.
“Shit,” I said, peeking over my makeshift carricade. “Cecil is going to be so pissed.”
“Not relevant,” Monty said, unleashing a swarm of six orbs. “We have to deal with Douglas. His energy signature is—”
“It’s growing…Oh no.”
“Yes,” Monty said, creating more orbs. “At this rate he will hit critical mass within ten minutes.”
“When you say critical mass…?”
“Haven and most of the East Side will be gone, to start with,” Monty said. “And that’s only an educated guess. I fear the damage will be even more extensive.”
“Strong, come out,” Douglas called. “I want you to see what real power looks like.”
“Pass, thanks,” I called out, feeling a surge of power coming from Douglas. I dove to the side as a blast of flame cut through the car I was hiding behind, slamming into the wall, and punching a hole into the building. “Can you not destroy the building? Then we get called. Everyone gets pissy and starts blaming us. Insurance premiums go through the roof and—”
Another blast punched into the building, narrowly missing me.
“You think this is a joke?” Douglas asked as I felt him spool more energy into his body. “
This facility treats non-human scum as if they were human, as if they deserve to live among us.”
Douglas turned and extended an arm.
A beam of flame poured from his hand into the side of Haven. The beam of fire was white, tinged with edges of blue. Even from across the street I could feel the intense heat as the beam melted a chunk of the exterior of the building into slag.
“That is bad,” I said, looking at the melting exterior. “He’s getting stronger.”
“I’m going to need you to distract him,” Monty said. “For just a moment.”
“Look, I know Kali’s curse is powerful,” I said, peeking over the car again; Douglas seemed distracted. “I don’t think it’s Death Star beam resistant.”
“Use the dawnward, it should protect you until you get to cover.”
“The dawnward?” I asked. “Oh, you mean the shield I barely know how to use? That dawnward?”
“It should protect you against a direct blow,” Monty said. “I only need a second or two.”
“We went from a moment to a second or two,” I hissed. “What are you going to be doing while I imitate a target? Is he taking a break? Why aren’t we being blasted right now?”
I sensed Douglas spooling up energy again.
“It seems he can’t sustain a continuous burst, at least for now,” Monty said. “The intervals between blasts is shorter, though.”
“So we’re running out of time,” I said, getting ready to dodge another blast.
“He’s a ticking time bomb we can’t defuse,” Monty said as he started gesturing. “The next best thing is removing the bomb itself.”
“One day, it would be great if you could just explain things plainly.”
“I thought I just did. Get your dawnward up. When I give you the signal, cross the street over to Haven.”
“Across the street, over to where the maniac with flame beams wants to melt me into nothingness?”
“Exactly,” Monty said. “It will be the last thing he expects.”
“Last thing I expected, too,” I grumbled under my breath. “This sounds like a one-way trip.”
“It will be,” Monty said, focused on his gestures, “for him. Get your shield ready.”
Requiem: A Montague & Strong Detective Novel (Montague & Strong Case Files Book 13) Page 21