Feral Empires: Fanning Flames

by Stephen L. Hadley

  ***

  It was, in hindsight, a demonstrably terrible plan. Even though Liam’s injuries had long since healed, he was still no match for a fully transformed Hunter, much less one with enhancements of his own. He made it most of the way to the street, just far enough to keep Jenn from interfering with her vines, when Wuyong struck him from behind, his claws tearing great gouges in the flesh of Liam’s back.

  To Liam’s surprise, he actually felt the pain of Wuyong’s claws, albeit numbly and for only an instant. Regardless, the sensation was enough to make him suck in a lungful of air, which was promptly driven out of him as he struck the ground. They rolled, and unsurprisingly, it was the Hunter who ended up on top. He stared down at Liam, seemingly perplexed.

  “What are you doing, Fuyuan?” he asked. “You’re not the sort to run.”

  Liam shrugged as best he could, given the oversized claws wrapped around his neck, and tried not to think about the damage they would do to his body. There seemed to be no point in lying.

  “Wanted to give the others a chance to escape,” he said.

  Wuyong chuckled and glanced over his shoulder.

  “They haven’t moved,” he said. “I think they’re planning how to save you.”

  Frowning, Liam craned his head in search of a glimpse, but the Hunter’s thighs blocked his vision. Then, all at once, the claws around his throat tightened. He thrashed, struggling with a sudden, desperate energy he hadn’t known he possessed.

  “Loyalty,” Wuyong growled. “Is a great and terrible thing.”

  Liam’s lungs began to burn. He tried to scream, but the claws strangling him were too tight for even the slightest whisper to escape. The pain caught him by surprise, driving rational thoughts from his mind. How long had it been since he’d felt real pain? Long enough, apparently, for him to forget just how oppressive the agony could be. His legs flailed helplessly, scratching uselessly at the ground while his hands pried at Wuyong’s to no avail.

  And with every passing second, the pain grew worse. His body, uninjured, had nothing to heal. Liam’s limbs began to burn, as if they sought to repair the source of his pain and yet could not.

  Wuyong spotted the blur of motion well before Liam himself did. He drew back, twisting atop Liam’s chest as he prepared to receive the attacker who materialized out of the fog of dust that hung thick in the air.

  Liam sucked in a great, heaving breath, too relieved to even think of looking for the reason.

  Snarling, Damien struck Wuyong at full-force, his shoulder lowered and his claws extended. Wuyong snarled back as he was knocked clean off Liam and the two of them rolled through the dirt. Their limbs were tangled, their fangs and distended jaws swiftly bloodied as the vicious brawl escalated.

  Dazed, Liam sat up slowly. He was just about to rise further when a wave of searing heat washed over his back through the gaps in his torn and tattered shirt. Still gasping for every breath he could manage, he scrambled away on all fours before turning.

  “Damien!” Olivia bellowed. She barely seemed to notice Liam as she marched past him, arms outstretched and blazing. “Get away from him! I’ll handle this!”

  She had not been addressing him, but Liam was not about to pass up the opportunity Olivia’s words presented. He spared a glance at Wuyong and was gratified to find him thrashing beneath Damien’s greater bulk. Climbing to his feet, Liam turned his back on both Hunters and sprinted through the rubble, back the way he’d came.

  He found all three women standing, though Kathryn and Jenn both limped and favored one leg when still. They sagged with relief at the sight of him, Jenn in particular, and ceased to rearm themselves.

  “Wuyong?” Jenn asked.

  “Damien and Olivia have him,” he explained quickly.

  Jenn’s brows rose sharply. “They survived?”

  Liam shrugged. “Apparently. How’re your vines?”

  Jenn sighed and raised her arms. As always, her vines rose in tandem, if a bit less impressively than before. More than half of the wooden tendrils were cracked or outright splintered. Even among those that remained intact, many appeared blackened or charred.

  “Not great,” she said.

  The world shook suddenly as the guns boomed overhead. A plume of smoke and fire erupted no more than a hundred yards away, sending the four of them hastily into cover as bits of rock and splinters of wood pattered down around them like hail.

  “Can you hit it?” Liam asked. He glanced up at the airship, which continued to eclipse more and more of the sky above. It seemed to him to be turning somewhat, though its size made it difficult to tell with any accuracy.

  “I… I’m not sure,” Jenn said. At his sharp glance, she swallowed and stared intensely upward. “No. Not from here, at least. I need another rooftop.”

  “We’ve got one,” Liam pointed out, gesturing at the scarred but standing building next to them.

  “This one’s no good. It’s too close. If we manage to bring it down, it’ll crash right on top of us.”

  “Fine.” Liam glanced around, grimacing. A short distance away, Wuyong had managed to turn the tides of his brawl with Damien. He seemed oblivious to the flames scorching his back and did not even glance in Olivia’s direction as they fought. To make matters worse, Liam could not seem to look past the cratered remains of the building decimated by the Occ artillery without his gaze catching on it.

  “Take Nora and find a better spot,” he said. “I’ll stay here and help keep Wuyong distracted.”

  At this announcement, all three women spoke up in protest, simultaneously.

  “Liam, no! Kat will—”

  “You don’t need to—”

  “Liam, don’t be stupid! We can—”

  Liam did not interrupt them so much as he continued speaking.

  “Just listen,” he said. Turning, he met Jenn’s eyes and squeezed her hand softly. “I’ll take Kathryn with me. Wuyong can’t kill me that quickly. Together, we can buy you enough time.”

  Jenn brought their joined hands to her cheek and kissed the back of his palm fiercely. Her eyes were hard and narrow but, unless he was quite mistaken, he also thought he spotted the beginnings of tears as well. She hid them well, of course, as she did the faint trembling of her fingers by pressing them to her face.

  “Don’t you dare die,” she growled.

  He chuckled, more for her benefit than his own. “I wouldn’t know how,” he said.

  He gave her over to Nora’s care then, watching tensely as the two women hurried away. They headed for the city’s center, weaving between the larger residences until they vanished from sight. Liam stared after them a moment, then turned to Kathryn as she drew near. He held out an arm.

  “Here,” he said.

  To his surprise, Kathryn embraced his arm but did not bite down. When he glanced at her, she smiled up at him.

  “Not hurt,” she assured him. Hiking up her dress in a manner that, for once, was not designed to entice him, she revealed the mostly healed gash on her hip. Though the wound had not disappeared, it no longer bled freely. That it remained at all seemed more of a surprise to her than to him.

  “Not hurt much,” she amended.

  Under different circumstances, Liam would not have indulged her. And yet, at the moment, he couldn’t bring himself to insist.

  “Fine,” he said. “Just drink it then.”

  “Now?” Kathryn asked, her voice suddenly hesitant. Peering past him, she watched the two Hunters continuing their fight.

  “Now,” he said. “I have an idea. But I need you to be faster and stronger than ever before.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The memory of suffocating and the pain it had caused were still fresh in Liam’s mind as he strode dutifully toward the street where Wuyong continued his two-on-one battle. The Hunter had managed to rise to his feet, shrugging off injuries that healed nearly as soon as they had been inflicted.

  Damien, on the other h
and, appeared barely able to stand. His back and shoulders had been sliced open in a dozen places, leaking blood until his sides and lower back appeared to have been dyed red. Olivia stood beside him, both arms held out in front of her to create a makeshift barrier of flames. Her gaze, on the other hand, lingered on her brother as if prepared to catch him at a moment’s notice.

  All three combatants glanced at Liam as he approached, Kathryn following closely in his wake.

  “We’ve got to do it quickly or he’ll heal,” he said. “Follow my lead.”

  He expected arguments, especially from Olivia, but neither sibling so much as spoke. Instead, they nodded, even grinning a bit wearily as he took up a spot in between them. As before, the flames encircling Olivia’s arms singed him even from a distance, but he held his tongue.

  “Now,” he declared. And with that, he sprinted headlong toward his foe.

  Liam had gone barely two steps when Kathryn made her move. She sprang like lightning, sweeping past him with a loping, four-limbed gait that was more animal than human. Her bare feet slid against the ground, kicking up dust as she darted around behind Wuyong’s back. Only then did she abandon her swift, quadruped stance, rising and drawing the blade from her pocket.

  Liam could read the irritation in Wuyong’s expression as the Hunter found himself under attack from both sides. His eyes flashed as he read the battlefield, eventually turning by degrees to face Kathryn—evidently judging her the worthier adversary.

  In light of Wuyong’s attention, Kathryn halted momentarily and began to orbit, practically daring the Hunter to follow her with his eyes. There was no attempt at deception in her movements. But there was an opening.

  Liam struck Wuyong from behind, wrapping his arms around the Hunter’s sides to immobilize his arms.

  “Grab him!” Liam bellowed, hoping beyond hope that Damien had followed his cue.

  He had. Damien struck Wuyong a split-second after the words leapt from Liam’s tongue and sent the three of them tumbling into the dirt.

  Liam grunted as he landed hard, brushing the pain aside as he poured all his strength into restraining the thrashing Hunter. Wuyong’s might far outstripped his and he would have stood no chance on his own. But, thanks to the unequal assistance of Damien, he could almost just manage it. He curled himself around the Hunter’s outstretched arm, using his feet to brace himself and hold the limb aside.

  Daring to tear his gaze away from the claws that twisted inches from his face, Liam caught a glimpse of Damien. Opposite him, the Hunter was carrying more than his fair share of the grappling. He held Wuyong prone, using his legs to keep their enemy from rolling out of their grasp.

  “Kat!” Liam cried, surprised by how strangled his own voice sounded.

  Kathryn did not hesitate, either. She landed nearly astride the Hunter’s head in a single leap, knife held aloft and gleaming. And then, like something out of a nightmare, she brought the blade down—over and over.

  Wuyong bellowed, possibly in pain but certainly in frustration, as Kathryn’s weapon cut him. Liam caught only a brief, sickening glimpse of empty eye sockets pooling with blood before he was forced to look away.

  And yet, despite his injuries, Wuyong continued to heal. He stilled occasionally, arm going slack in Liam’s grip, when Kathryn’s knife dug deep enough into his skull. And yet, a heartbeat later, he would resume thrashing with every bit as much ferocity as before.

  Liam snarled as he felt the first strains of weakness begin to creep into his back and shoulders. Then, as Wuyong slackened suddenly, he sat up frantically and looked about for Olivia. He found her, standing uselessly a dozen paces away, and desperately met her eyes.

  “Olivia!” he shouted, waving her over with his chin. It was fortunate that was the only way he’d signaled her, for Wuyong resumed thrashing the next instant and he was forced flat against the ground with the effort of keeping the Hunter pinned.

  “Won’t die!” Kathryn complained, continuing to pierce the Hunter’s face and neck with her knife. She’d switched to a two-handed grip, presumably to counter the effects of the blood-slickened hilt.

  Liam couldn’t see Olivia approach, but he felt the heat of her flames. He waited until the temperature grew almost unbearable, assuming that meant she was close enough to hear him, and growled out his next instructions through bared teeth.

  “Burn his lungs! Kat! Get his mouth open!”

  Liam had no idea if Wuyong was sensate enough to comprehend his words, but the Hunter certainly reacted as though he had. He howled through gritted fangs and lunged upward, claws straining for Kathryn’s face. Liam roared back in exertion, every muscle in his body aching with the effort of holding the Hunter down.

  He felt, rather than saw, Kathryn’s knife plunge into Wuyong’s face, digging at the sides of his jaw in an attempt to loosen them. The violence sent shudders through Wuyong’s body and the feel of them echoed in Liam’s as spine-tingling chills and splashes of hot, blinding blood against his cheek and brow.

  “Won’t open!” Kathryn snapped.

  Liam looked over, but scarcely had he done so than Wuyong’s mouth flopped open. Kathryn responded quickly, wedging her blade into the Hunter’s mouth and driving it deep. It was a good decision, no sooner had she managed it than the savage wounds began to close and Wuyong’s distended jaw with them.

  He had no time to think. Half-blinded by the blood in his eyes, Liam rolled and thrust a hand into Wuyong’s half-open mouth. The Hunter’s fangs sliced his palm open with ease, but without the pain of the injury to distract him, there was nothing stopping Liam from yanking the fanged orifice wide.

  Olivia did not make him wait long. She landed hard on the Hunter’s chest with both knees, clapped a blazing hand across his mouth as if to silence him, and then bellowed. Again came the rushing of wind and the searing heat that Liam could almost just feel.

  And then, nothing. Blessed silence at last fell as the fight left Wuyong’s body. He collapsed beneath the weight of their collective bodies, his eyes wide and rolling as smoke poured from his wrenched open mouth. The insides of it were scorched black.

  Liam rolled onto his back, sweating and panting for breath. The exhaustion that caught up to him then was so overpowering, it was all he could do not to close his eyes and simply drift off. But of course, he could not afford to do such a thing. Instead, he lifted his hand and stared up at it, watching as the burned flesh sloughed off and was replaced by an expanse of fresh, pink skin.

  “Thank you,” came a growled voice.

  Liam flinched as the Hunter stepped into view. From his upside-down vantage point, it took him a moment to recognize that it was Damien, not Wuyong, who loomed over him. Damien offered his hand and Liam took it gladly with his newly healed one and allowed the Hunter to haul him to his feet.

  “You’re welcome,” he said. Glancing at Wuyong’s motionless body, he grimaced and added, “We should burn it.”

  “Why? He’s dead.”

  “Maybe, but I’ve been wrong about that before,” Liam said.

  Fortunately, Damien did not argue or press him for further explanation. He looked toward his sister and nodded.

  “We’ll handle it,” he said, then peered up at the airship. “You should go find your friends.”

  Liam nodded, then hesitated as he noticed the deep lacerations crisscrossing the Hunter’s back and arms. He’d been so distracted by the desperate struggle with Wuyong that he’d failed to spot them before, but now that he had, he was astonished that Damien was even standing.

  “Let me heal you,” he said. He moved to better access Damien’s flayed skin, but the Hunter surprised him again by turning to place his wounds out of reach.

  “I’ll be fine,” he said. “Go find your friends.”

  “But—”

  “Liam,” Damien said firmly. “You’ve done enough. Go.”

  Despite a part of him that wanted to argue the point, Liam merely nodded. Helping Kathryn to
her feet, he turned to face the center of the city. And then, without even releasing her hand, he plunged back into the fight.

  ***

  Making his way through the maze of buildings as the ground rumbled and shook beneath him, Liam had horrible visions of unsuccessfully wandering the streets for hours. But, unlike virtually every other situation the whole day long, his search for Jenn and Nora proved easier than expected. He’d been searching for barely two minutes when a voice called out to him from above.

  “Liam! Up here!”

  He looked up instantly, grinning from relief at the sight of Nora’s face peering over the edge of a three-story roof to his left. Veering in her direction, he stumbled as Kathryn pulled free of his hand. She did not even bother waiting for him to ascend the stairs; sprinting ahead with all the speed her blood-fueled enhancement could manage, she vaulted up the side of the building and scrambled up to the roof as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

  Muttering a good-natured curse, Liam headed for the stairs. He found the three women waiting for him when he reached the roof. Jenn already stood near the back of the building, her sole remaining vine prepared to slingshot the last of her javelins when the time came. She flashed a grim smile his way at the sight of him, but promptly returned her attention to Nora and the approaching airship.

  “Nora,” she called. “Hurry up. It’s almost over us.”

  Strangely, Nora looked to Liam, not Jenn, and waited as if for permission. Liam frowned, waving her toward Jenn. He crouched as she complied, ready to fling himself from the rooftop at a moment’s notice. The thought of falling three stories was nerve-wracking, even without the promise of pain, but after the previous failure, he was not about to take any chances. The last thing he wanted was to draw the Occs’ attention or distract Jenn’s aim by standing in the open.

  He stared up at the airship, intending merely to wait for Jenn’s strike. Instead, he found himself unable to tear his gaze away as his rage swelled into a physical force that set his heart to pounding. The airborne vessel was like a manifestation of everything the Occs represented, even more than Wuyong had. It was a vast, impersonal instrument of death, killing in a manner that was both indiscriminate and deeply personal. Just like the Occs themselves.