Chosen (The Chosen Few Trilogy #1) (42 page)

All this earth-born power
shattered
into Gorgoroth
’
s core. The whispers in our heads died away and the gargantuan cloud
pulsed
. But then Gorgoroth must have fought back, maybe in desperation I will never know, but from out of his
boiling darkness
exploded a mass of pale, writhing arms. Thick grey tentacles struck out at the passing jets. One was struck a glancing blow and flew end over end
until it crashed into the sea with a tremendous burst of steam and fire and exploding metal. I saw two more destroyed in the skies, their wings shorn off, their cockpits crushed. Another veered away, only to be struck from behind, and went spinning down into Miami. There was a colossal explosion and a rolling ball of black smoke plumed
over
the city. The rumbling
crash of a collapsing building momentarily stilled the battle-cries around me.

I closed my eyes in despair.
What could we do against this? Did we have anything left?

I looked up at the menacing cloud that was Gorgoroth.

It was horrendous. A cloud of foamy horror, scintillating with flashes of
lightning and dripping with noxious gases from
outer space.
T
entacles swayed and struck with startling anticipation and intelligence. And now, even as we gaped in wordless awe, dozens of hairy, sp
indly legs like those of a gigantic
spider dropped down from the cloud.

Dread choked me as I imagined the creature those legs belonged too. A score of tentacles lashed out and played havoc among the mobile missile carriers arrayed just down the beach. I saw men and vehicles lifted high into the air, torn apart, and dropped into the heaving seas.

Tentacles strafed the hotels behind us, destroying the frontages.
Concrete and glass crashed into the street
. Palm trees were uprooted and flung like missiles over the hotels and into the city.

“
I don
’
t know
what to do
-
”
I turned to Johnny.

My confidence bottomed out about then.

“
A miracle,
”
Johnny was muttering, his eyes glistening.
“
We need a miracle.
”

Now I noticed that
worse things than
demons were starting to emerge through the Gates of Hell. A beast over ten
feet
tall with scimitar-like talons
and a face like a boar
stepped out. And somewhere behind it, faint for now, came a
hungry
bellow that could only belong to some
thing
bigger than a T-
R
ex
and probably twice as ravenous.

It was falling apart.

“
We need to get out of here,
”
I fixed on Lucy. I thought about failure. I wouldn
’
t let Lucy die here.

“
No!
”
Johnny cried.
“
Look,
”
he pointed ahead but I did not lift my eyes.

Johnny grabbed my arm and shouted,
“
Look!
”

I glanced up and there, in my sights, was Belinda, striking and leaping back and forth under Loki
’
s vicious onslaught. The Destroyer caught her in the ribs but Belinda barely flinched, just came back with a lightning fast combination that connected solidly with Loki
’
s shoulders and face. I saw him step back, shock registering on his face, and then I saw him wilt under Belinda
’
s devastating attack.

Yes!

She had always been our best. But I had never imagined she could beat Loki. And neither had she. I shouted encoura
gement, raising my fists. I flashed
a manic grin to my right and saw something similar lighting up Lucy
’
s face.

We could win this. All we had to do was win our individual battles, and the prize was ours.

Tanya Jordan danced across the sand- a lethal ballerina, rolling and ducking and evading Emily Crowe
’
s attacks with jaw-dropping skill and grace. In one
frenzied blitz
Crowe didn
’
t land a single blow on Tanya, but I saw the Destroyer struck a dozen times.

Spidery legs swept down from the sky, lowering towards the land. Lightning struck against them and deflected off in a score of directions, demolishing trees and the sides of buildings. To add to the feel of being in a war zone I saw the fifth F-16 dog-fighting up there, ducking and diving between tentacles and legs and seeping grey flesh. It was beyond heroic. It was one small jet against the most monstrous creature imaginable, and one air-force pilot
’
s immense courage against unspeakable evil.

My
jaw dropped.
The jet weaved in and out o
f certain death, chasing his
vapour
trail
, firing off missile after missile and then switching to guns, racing to cling on to life.

Before us Loki flicked a wrist and Belinda fell to one knee. I saw the dull glint of a blade in her ribcage.

“
Belinda!
”
the
cry tore from my heart like a living thing.

Loki leapt at her, a flying kick that caught her full in the face. I could tell by the way she went down that she wasn
’
t getting back up.

“
NO!
”
this time it was Ken
’
s scream and he leapt at Loki without hesitation. Marion Cleaver jumped in too and
both men were against
Loki, striking in unison to wear their enemy down.

Devon Summers
rushed past me, unmindful of her own peril, and dropped to Belinda
’
s side.

I couldn
’
t think straight. “No, Oh no.”

Devon bent over Belinda
’
s body. Their foreheads
touched
and I saw both girl
s heads enveloped in the
green glow that emanated from Devon
’
s
eyes.

Belinda turned her head towards Devon, and I saw life there.

Ken s
truck at Loki, his sword slicing
the Destroyers arm off at the shoulder, and then Cleaver touched him in the chest with a thin stick that made him jerk in a mad frenzy. Loki went down, spraying blood and convulsing in agony.

But he managed to perform one final duty.

Even as he fell to his death his good arm flicked out a blade. It flew fast and accurate and true, embedding itself in Devon Summers
’
brain. Our healer fell backwards. Dead. Not even she could heal instant death.

Johnny grabbed my shoulders. I read the pleading in his eyes that said
concentrate, oh, please concentrate.

I dug deeper than at any time in my life, deep into my very core where race memory and raw courage and primordial violence struggled to stay contained.

I looked up, my face covered in tears, my eyes blazing, screaming Belinda
’
s name.

Beside me I felt Lucy stiffen. Out on the ocean a water spout exploded into life. Its swirling waters caused mayhem as it swept around Gorgoroth
’
s hateful limbs, making the God bellow in confusion.

I linked with Johnny and, together, w
e sent out the strongest surge
of pure power we could ever muster. Lucy
’
s typhoon and our power blast struck simultaneously, hitting the God with more destructive might than the world had ever known.

R
adiant white light splashed across Gorgoroth
’
s loathsome cloud. Even the
lightning
exploded up there, painting the vast tear with sparkling incandescence, blinding and healing as it swept the skies with brilliance.

I screamed
“
BELINDA!
”
and rushed forward. I reached her in a second, Lucy at my side, falling to my knees in the blood soaked sand. I cradled her head. My tears landed on her upturned face and my heart almost stopped to see her smile.

“
Hey,
”
she said, and that was enough for now.

Above us the World-ender’s spinning maw began to contract. I saw spider
y
legs sh
eared off and fall to the beach. I saw them crawl
away towards the nearest darkness. The slithering sound of their passage would haunt my nightmares forever.

Johnny came to stand over me, his hand fell on my shoulder, and we launched another devastating power wave. Lucy sent forth a tornado of primal force.

Gorgoroth screeched in pure animal rage, a kid thwarted and venting his fury, and then his core disintegrated like a collapsed black hole. The edges of his cl
oud snapped together with a
crack that shook the earth. The sky healed itself in that moment.

We
were left stunned by the immediate
silence, our ears ringing, unable to believe that we had survived.

I clung to Belinda. Beside me Marian Cleaver fell to his knees and cradled Devon
’
s body. I wept for the girl from Maui. In the end Loki
had
gotten his kill.

The hateful Destroyers body lay prone in the sand before us. I watched Lucy crawl through the wet sand to Devon’s body and lean over to kiss the healers forehead. Ken collapsed near her and doubled over, his body wracked with sobs. When I glanced around, still numb, still choked, I saw Tanya scratching her head and staring in surprise at a distant running figure.

“
Emily Crowe,
”
Tanya replied to my unasked question.
“
This is unreal. Cheyne said she had a connection to the Hierarchy demons, and when Gorgoroth fell she just took off.
”

Weird.
I cast around again as Belinda struggled to sit up. Behind us the exhausted
Trevochet
’s
, along with Lysette and Giles, were in earnest conversation with Cheyne and Ceriden. Near me, a shattered and battle-worn Jade
sat
with glazed eyes. Even in her agony Jade wept aloud for her fallen King. Eldritch lay dead in the sand
.
His Queen had died days before. The Elven race was shattered. They had done everything possible to help us
a
nd now
…
what would they do? Were there any more elves
left
in the world?

Felicia stood near Ken, her head down. I watched as Felicia
’
s shoulders shook.

My God. Think of all we have lost. Of the
people
who gave their lives.

Then I heard Ken cry
out.
My heart performed somersaults. I followed the direction of his disbelieving gaze.

And
I
saw Dementia, the crazy bitch-demon, sitting nonchalantly on a fallen, still-smoking palm tree to the left of the wide-open, still-pulsing, Gates of Hell.
Nothing came out of there now, but
De
mentia twirled a dirty lock of
hair around one finger
and observed us with a mocking intensity.

“
I killed you!
”
Ken shouted.
“
For Ryan and Myleene! I killed you, you fucking bitch!
”

My eyes blurred with tears. How many good people had we lost today? How many more?

“
Ken Ha
mi
ltonnnn,
”
Dementia hissed as glee twisted her face.
“
I challenge youuuuu. If you dare, come and get meeeeeeee-
”

And with that the insane demon leapt through the Gates of Hell.

Ken screamed and made to follow, but Tanya blocked his way.
“
NO!
”
she shouted along with almost everyone else on the beach. Our chorus stopped him.

“
Not into Hell.”

The crazy demon was gone. Back to whatever vileness she called home.

Vampires and Lycans were walking
past us now, trudging wearily up the beach, nursing their battle wounds.
M
arines and cops
in their hundreds
were mixed in among them,
all
comrades joined through battle.