Chapter 110 - Turning of the Tide
"We’ve got control of it," Cholt told him, "But I don’t know for how long."
"Anything happening to the east?" Medoferro asked him, "Any reduction on that end?"
"It’s calming down on that end," Cholt told him, "Hardin thinks that the resistance from LaPorte’s people has stopped. He’s redirecting people up here to me and holding that side, but I don’t know if it’s going to be enough."
"We don’t need long," Medoferro told him, "Do you have the medico?"
"That would be me," a young man said, "I’m not a surgeon, but I’ve worked with my father doing basic medical since I was eight."
"What’s your name?" Medoferro asked him.
"Jerome Horwitz," the young man said, "How can I help, sir?"
"Follow us," Medoferro said, "We’ll explain it on the roof."
"Here we go again," Simon said sadly, "You’re going to get us killed, Medo."
"Not if I can help it," Medoferro said, "What is the situation nearby?"
"It isn’t good, the Mavelans are advancing rapidly. When you head up I’m going to start a counteroffensive," Cholt told them, "I’m hoping they’ll put two and two together and it’ll make a difference."
"You know that end better than I do," Medo agreed, "But it sounds like a good plan. I just hope we can make that difference."
"So do I," Cholt agreed, "Because if you don’t a lot of people are going to die down here."
Medoferro and Simon nodded at each other and looked up at the three story building. It wasn’t much, but it was going to have to do. Medoferro sighed and looked at the line of soldiers getting ready to go. He didn’t like having to give these orders, but it had to be done.
"All right," Medoferro said, "Let’s do it."
Cholt went back to his people that had set up a workspace on the first floor of the building while Medo, Simon and the others went up to the roof. They took a look over and saw the formations of Mavelan troops. It was a hard thing to watch, as the Mavelans easily had twice the people they did available.
"Ok," Medoferro said, looking out, "I see where to put it. The question is, what do we put there?"
"I can’t weave the power like you can," Simon said, "You’ll have to do that part."
"I’m thinking a large bright fireball thrown down in the middle," Medoferro said, "With a string of fire to let them know it came from us."
"I’ll push the power," Simon said, "But I don’t want to do what we did last time."
"What am I here for, Mullinix?" Horwitz asked, "I could be doing more on the lines."
"These," Medoferro told him, handing the young man a box, "Your job will be to keep us alive after this is over."
The kid opened the box and found four vials of very brightly colored liquid. The Medico looked at them and then back at the bottles again, trying to figure out what they were. Simon finally recognized Toria’s signet on the side of the box and smiled broadly once he figured out what was in them.
"Toria’s power user’s potion!" Simon exclaimed, "Hot damn, we might survive this after all."
"That’s your job," Medoferro told the Medico, "If either of us pass out you are to jam that stuff down our throat until it’s gone or we wake up. Got it?"
"I can do that," Horwitz nodded, "What is it?"
"Something that counteracts what we’re about to do to our bodies," Medoferro told him, "If you want more of an explanation, ask Toria Studebaker."
"I’ll take your word for it," Horwitz shrugged, "Let’s just get to it, eh?"
"What do you want me to do, Medo?" Simon asked him, "You’re leading this show."
"I’m thinking about doing a mushroom construct," Medoferro said, "You know, where the power rushes in and pushes everything to make that cloud?"
"I know what you are talking about," Simon agreed, "But haven’t a clue how to do it."
"That’s my job," Medoferro told him, "I’ll light up the entrance. I need you to push as much power as you can into it. I’m going to hold it tight and shape the power until I have to let go and direct it at the Mavelan camp."
"What do we do, Mullinix?" one of the guards asked, "Is there any way we can help?"
"Make sure that nothing interrupts us," Medoferro instructed, "Once we get started we’ll need to keep our concentration. Make damn sure that nothing hits us."
"Take positions, boys," one of them said, "We’ve got a Mullinix to guard."
"Do your thing," Simon told him, "I’m going to do a quick breathing routine to keep my controls."
"I’ll be ready by the time you are," Medoferro promised, "Guys, stay out from in between Simon and myself. You do not want to get hit with this or trigger it early. Got it?"
There was a general murmur of agreement as Medoferro did his own quick breathing exercise and looked up into the pouring rain. He breathed deeply and let the weather play into his hands instead of against them, using a power field created by a nearby weather system to contain the weavings of his power field.
The battle raged below as Medoferro started his work on the power field. It wasn’t visible from below at first, as the weather and the battle obscured the semi lucent power fields. The power fields locally were strong for him to pull from, unusually so, considering what he usually had to work with.
It took Medoferro a moment to realize that he was dealing with power released by the hatred and violence taking hold below him. Some of the emotions came through the power and threatened to overwhelm him until he figured out how to strip them before putting it into the field.
Simon stood up and got into a stable position. The Medico pulled the bottles and readied them for easy access as Simon looked towards what Medoferro was working on and waited for the sign, a sign that Medoferro had trouble producing in that damned weather.
"Come on," Simon said, "Give me the sign. I’m ready…"
Medoferro shuddered as the power pushed into him, being added to by the weather system he’d used for control. The ball of power was growing a little on its own and Medoferro was debating on whether he’d have to use Simon at all. Then it started collapsing in on itself a little and Medoferro realized how fragile the power structure was.
"Add!" Medoferro yelled, lighting up the fire zone, "Push all you have right into there!"
Simon nodded and saw the power point and sent a steady stream of power into that point. The points of control worked a lot better for him this time, as the heat source stayed far enough away from his hand to keep from burning it so badly. Medoferro took the power and used it to augment the insides of the structure, moving his own power back to the framework and letting it grow with Simon’s addition.
"Holy shit!" Jerome Horwitz exclaimed as he watched the fireball, "Look at that!"
The fireball was visible to just about everyone, yet only a few people had any inkling of what it was. Medoferro nursed the power into the fireball and shaped it the way he wanted it to be when he felt Simon’s stream weakening. Medoferro prepared to close the power point when Simon kept up the stream.
"Let go!" Medoferro shouted, "You’ll drain too far!"
Simon wasn’t able to hear him though, having been drawn into the stream much like someone being caught in an electrical circuit. The Medico watched and saw how the color on Simon’s face was draining and then listened to Medoferro’s shouts.
"He can’t!" Horwitz yelled, "He’s in a daze!"
"Get him out of there!" Medoferro yelled, "I can’t throw this until he is out without killing all of us!"
Horwitz went over and tried to touch Simon on the shoulder but received a nasty jolt for his trouble. One of the guards had a better idea, however, and pulled his large sword out of his sheath. He approached Simon but was stopped by Horwitz.
"Are you mad?" Horwitz asked, "You’ll kill him!"
"He’ll kill us all if we don’t," the guard said, "I’m going to try to flatside him!"
Horwitz thought ab
out it for a second and nodded, letting the guard go. Medoferro held his brittle controls on the system, but it was obvious from the pulsing that it was getting too full for him to handle. The guard went straight over to Simon and let off a blow with the flat side of his sword, knocking Simon out of the loop and taking his power away.
Medoferro breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the last of his power into the ball to give it directions on where to go. His last action before breaking off contact himself was to give it a push in the right direction before he let himself crumple to the ground, where the Medico handed him a bottle with the top off before going to tend to Simon.
"I am become death," Medoferro said, sipping the bottle, "Destroyer of worlds. May the gods have mercy on my soul."
He then passed out amid the noise of the rain and fighting below, having done his all for the cause.
The Mullinix Book 1: Ascension Page 114