Fear of Mystics (Saga of Mystics Book 2) (17 page)

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

              Jack rushed to her side as she fell. He saw the horror on Kayla’s face, the pain of guilt in Maxine’s expression, and the shock as the rest of the courtyard took in what just happened. In a fit of frustration and anger, Kayla had exploded a stone wall nearby, sending shard of rock in all directions. It had taken only moments to realize that two of them had struck her own sister.

              Jack had tried to help Max control the effect she was having on the Bluffs. He really felt this time was not her fault, but what could he say? He had not tried that hard to control it, instead using the little tween girl as a guinea pig to understand more about powers and DNA. Why was she special? Why was she so powerful? These had been the questions, because up until now, no one had really been hurt during her menses.

              “Carry her to the healing house,” he shouted out to two nearby men. Reaching out with his mind, he could tell that Kate’s life was slipping away.

              Seeing Beth approach, he called out, “Beth, no. Your presence will hinder the healing.”

              Quickly, he and the two men brought her to the healing house and then he asked for privacy. The piece that had gone through her forearm was not a problem for a strong healer like Jack, but a smaller shard had hit Kate right under her skull and entered her brain. Bringing as much focus as he could muster, Jack delved into her brain and saw what he needed to see. He could save her.

              He battled with the other possibility too long. She was now the perfect experiment. If he let her pass, he could find out if he was correct about his ability to raise her from the dead. He could find out if what he thought was true. He could use what he had learned from Annie, from the Mare, and from Max.  If he waited a few moments, he could see if he had the power to give immortality.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

              “No!” Minister Sal walked past his men, who hurried to follow him, protecting him from others’ powers as they had since the end came. “This is a violation! We had a deal!”

              He stood before the creature and the dirty man in front of him, and Cory ran to his side. “It is him, Minister. It is the Wanderer. Beware!”

              The Faith responded with a gasp, none of them having heard his voice before. One lone voice of screaming rang out in the silence that followed. For some reason, Kim Pile was still heard sobbing in the midst of the fire that burned her. Cory had never experienced that before, but he didn’t have time to think about it for now. Gathering his friends in a tight line, directly behind Sal, they focused all of their might on the Wanderer and his beast.

              “Ah, the Wanderer, the Hermit, or whatever else you are called,” Sal spat at the man. “You ride the serpent of old, who we know as our adversary, only proving our point.”

              The great beast gnashed its teeth at him, but the Wanderer just stood there passive, wearing those same sunglasses that Cory had last seen on his face. Sal stepped forward and the Lord’s Hammer followed suit, ensuring a ring of protection around their leader. The Wanderer moved slightly and nodded at the dragon. It turned and lowered itself, nodding at the two downed combatants. Seeming to understand the creature, the young woman and the other warrior loaded the two on the creature’s back. Once they were secure in some kind of harness, the beast took two strides and leapt into the air, spreading wings that flapped its huge body higher and higher before flying off to the west with a loud screech.

              Cory returned his gaze to Sal and the Wanderer. The other man had not moved, and kept his face to his adversaries, his back to his friends. The two who remained seemed to be trying to get a better look at the man. Sal took another step forward, now confident of his protection from the man’s powers. Cory only hoped that Sal remembered what he had told him about the man’s deadly speed when he had taken Cory’s hand off.

              “Ah, your master has departed,” Sal said loud enough for the Faith to hear, “what power do you now have?”

              The man calmly looked at Sal and shrugged. He reached up and removed his sunglasses, exposing those glowing, sparkly golden eyes for all to see. Their powers were doing nothing to reduce that. Cory could not see the blade which had been used on his wrist, but the man carried a staff, jeweled at the top, and wrapped with wire. He stepped up to Sal, who stood his ground before the man, and cocked his head to one side.

              Cory had never felt anything like what happened next. In an instant, he was lifted bodily from the ground and spun through the air. He flew about twenty yards back and landed on his side, scraping flesh off as he dragged to a stop along the asphalt of the former highway. Looking up, he saw he wasn’t alone. All four of the Lord’s Hammer were tossed back in such a way, leaving Sal to stand alone with the most powerful of the possessed he had yet seen. The man reached out with his hand and Sal also flew through the air, but not away from the Wanderer. Sal Marino flew directly into the man’s grasp. Holding the Minister in the air, he cocked his head to the other side. Cory could not see the Minister’s face, but his body began to convulse and blood came out of somewhere, drenching the Wanderer’s clothes.

              Jim got up to run away, but the Wanderer made one slash with his staff and Jim fell over in place, breathing his last gasp. The other three huddled together, trying with all of their might to shield themselves from the Wanderer’s power, to drain his ability and energy. It was not effective. The remaining male combatant, the one called Fine, stood and walked up next to the grimy man.

              “Ward, let me have this,” he said and stepped toward the remaining three.

              “Ward?” The young woman behind them said, “Dad?”

              Cory was distracted by the Wanderer turning to look at the woman. He did not see, and barely felt the blows that took his life. Fine did not use any ability, he simply beat him to death. Cory faded from life seeing the young woman run toward the Wanderer and embrace him.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

              There was something so familiar about the Hermit, but Nat couldn’t put her finger on it. Then Eric wandered to his side.

              “Ward, let me have this,” he said and stepped toward the huddled group of the remaining Lord’s Hammer.

              What did he mean by Ward?  Was he speaking to her? “Ward?” she asked, and it struck her where she recognized the man from. He was thinner than she had ever known him, and the hair and dirt were never something he would have tolerated, but that looked like her father standing before her. “Dad?”

              The man turned. Gone were the hazel green eyes that she missed every day for over two years. They had been replaced by dazzling orbs of sparkling, glowing golden light. His face was covered in anguish as he looked at her. She couldn’t say she ran into his arms; she didn’t even know how she got there. She just was suddenly embracing her father, who she thought had been dead for two years. She didn’t understand how he could be standing here, but she didn’t care. She hugged him and began to sob.

              After a moment, she pulled slightly away. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

              Her dad began to make wild gestures with his hands, but say nothing, not even a moan or mumble.

              “I don’t understand.” She said to him frantically.

              Jordan Kane ran up with many others. He shouted out, “He can’t speak,” as he ran past them and toward the still burning pyres.

              “You can’t speak?” she asked her dad.

              He shook his head, no. Then he turned and walked over to the fires. Raising his hands like Moses parting the red sea in the movies, the fire calmed to a simmer and went out. Tied to the charred pole in the middle of the pyre was a corpse, burned so badly it was black and unrecognizable. Tied to the same pole was an untouched Kim Pile, her hair lightly singed, and not a stitch of clothes left on her. She had not burned next to the other person. Somehow the fire had not affected her.

              “Kim,” Jordan asked quietly, “Who is that?”

              Kim sobbed into her knees, balling up on the platform as others cut her down.

              “Kim, please…” Jordan began, “Is it Emma?”

              Kim shook her head no, and continued to cry. After a short bit, she whimpered, “It is Pastor Rich.”

              Nat’s heart sank as quickly as it had risen upon seeing her father. Rich Carson had been a constant bit of kindness in their camp. He was someone who had always had a kind word, and encouraging story, or a song of restoration. Now, he smoldered in a hideous position on that pyre. Her anger grew to a relentless roar in her chest.

              “Where is Emma, Kim?” Jordan asked.

              “She got away. She and Anthony…I released them.” Kim whispered.

              “Thank god,” Jordan answered, then looking at Rich’s corpse, “Oh, Rich. This is horrible. Someone cover him up.”

              Fine began taking control. “Gather all of these people, the opposing force,” he began, “we need to make sure they don’t continue to cause us harm.”

              No one moved. With exasperation, he turned to Nat, “They are waiting for your approval.”

              Nat thought for a moment, then said, “Do as he says. No one is killed though. Are we clear?”

              Eric looked at her with a dismissive smile and said, “sure.”

              “Sarge?” came a voice from behind her, and she and her Dad turned to see Adam Cross standing there. “How is it possible?”

              She looked up at her father’s face. It was impassive, and unclear. He made a few gestures with his hands.

              From next to her, Jordan responded, “He feels like he should know you, but he doesn’t. He also wants you to know that he is sorry, Nat.”

              “For what?”

              Jordan waited for the nonsensical gestures, “He doesn’t know. He just knows he is so sorry.”

              “And how do you know what he is saying?” Nat asked.

              Jordan just shook his head and shrugged, “I don’t know.” Then he asked a question of Cal, “How did your dragon know who Ted and Britt were?”

              While the man who used to be the Hermit answered with strange hand gestures, Nat wondered what Jordan was talking about.

              “You are kidding me,” Jordan let out a whoop that unsettled her, and clearly some others. “Cliff?”

              “Wait. What about Cliff, and what did you mean about the dragon knowing Ted and Britt?” Nat queried.

              “Didn’t you think it was weird when this huge dragon asked you to put Ted and Britt on his back?” Jordan looked at her like this was a normal question.

              Nat was dumbfounded, “What are you talking about? The dragon didn’t say anything, it just gnashed its teeth and huffed a few times before that huge screech it made flying out.”

              “Holy shit, I didn’t know. I guess I never had the chance to use it.” Jordan answered.

              “Use what?” Nat was getting very frustrated.

              “I guess I can understand things. I can understand your dad’s sign language, and I could understand Cliff’s speaking.” He said.

              “Cliff’s? Wait, what?!?” Nat gasped.

              “Yeah, that is what your dad just told me, the dragon is Cliff. How is that even possible?”

              Nat thought back to finding Cliff’s “remains”. Was it possible that he had shed that skin they had found? Was that all they had seen? “Why didn’t he come home?”

              “I don’t know; he is not here to ask.” Jordan replied, “Nat, can I go look for Emma and Anthony? I have to find them. I want to make sure she is safe.”

              “Of course, Jordan. Go.”

              Jordan ran off, grabbing two people to go with him.

              “Well, that was silly,” Adam said next to her, “Who is going to translate for us, now?”

              Nat smiled, “Let’s just stick to yes or no questions, shall we?”

              “Okay,” Adam answered, “Sarge, can I give you a checkup?”

              Cal started to back away, concern in his face. Nat put her hand on his arm. “It is okay, Dad. He is your friend.”

              Cal stopped, and nodded at Adam. Adam closed his eyes and ran his hands across Cal’s body, keeping about a three-inch buffer from touching him. After a short bit, he did the same to her father’s head, letting out a gasp as he did so.

              “What?” Nat queried cautiously.

              “He has a piece of metal in his brain,” Adam said. “My guess is that is what is causing speech loss and also the apparent amnesia.”

              “Can you take it out?” she asked.

              “I would want Erica there to refill my power, just in case.” He answered, “And, Nat, I don’t know if it would restore anything. We know so little about the brain right now, and how our powers are affected. Maybe we can look when we get back to the Bluffs.”

              Cal began to gesture wildly and shake his head no. He was physically backing away from them.

              Nat once again put her hand on his arm, “Dad, it is okay. Please come home with me. We need you.” A tear dripped down her cheek at the thought of him not coming with them. He saw it and his resolve faded. She saw him resign himself to the fact of that return, and he nodded his assent. He may not know her, or understand anything. But, he could not see her pain, it was too much for him.

              The rest of that afternoon was taken up with making sure Eric and his men didn’t take any people hostage, and setting rules for their community. She eventually agreed to Eric’s demand that any person crossing west of Sand Creek, which was a little bit to the east of where they currently were, would be subject to detainment and questioning. Much to Eric’s dislike, she agreed they would support the limitation of using their powers if any of her people went east of Sand Creek. Leaving that meeting, they allowed the rest of the faith to disperse, leaderless.

              “That was a mistake,” Eric stated. “They will regroup.”

              “They may,” Natalee responded, “and we will return if they do. Mr. Fine, they want to live in peace, unafraid of the rest of us. I can’t blame them for that. The Lord’s Hammer is no longer around to shield them from what they fear most.”

              “Well, the two of them are left. I only beat the one who stabbed Commander Casco.”

              “Where are the other two?” Nat queried.

              “We took one over to my men, the other is…” He looked around, “Shit. The other one snuck away with the group. I guess we will just have to make an example of this one, and then chase down the other.”

Nat thought on his idea, “Mr. Fine,” she answered, “We need to keep peace. You could tell most of these people were not fighters.”

“Little lady,” he replied condescendingly, “I have seen a lot of non-fighters in war come back to be a problem. In the sand, it happened every day.”

“This is not the sand,” she responded, “This is America.”

He stared at her for a moment, then shot back, “There is no America.”

Nat had to grant that assertion, but she also had pledged safety to those who left. “Be that as it may, he is one man. He is no more dangerous than my grandmother.”

He just nodded his agreement and walked to his men. He moved quickly and she was not able to stop him. Pulling the blade which the grand Master had made for him, Eric Fine expertly threw it in the direction of his captive. The small dagger buried itself in the man’s eye. Holding his hand out, the blade returned as the man crumpled to the ground, dead.

She was so startled, she almost didn’t control herself and ran toward him. Eric turned, but her father caught her and shook his head.

Eric smirked, “Now only one of them is alive. They can’t combine their powers.”

He tried to approach her father, his hand out to shake. Cal bristled and snarled. It was so animalistic and unlike her father, Nat was a little thrown off.

Eric lowered his hand, “Okay, Sergeant, another time I guess.” He turned back to his men who all cheered for him. It made Nat sick.

Eric eventually mounted up and left with his fifty men. Nat created an outpost in a building nearby the battle. They called it the Sand Creek outpost, or sometimes the Eastern Outpost, and it kept a compliment of twenty warriors, a healer, and one Terra to help them fortify.

              Early the next morning, her force departed. Adam was riding Ted’s horse, a gift from Eric that remained after the conflict. Nat and her father rode the other two. She watched Cal stare at an old restaurant as they passed it.

              “What is it, Dad?” she asked.

              Adam cut in, “It is where we were when the event happened. Do you remember it, Cal?”

              Her father just shrugged and shook his head, no. They picked up speed, hoping to be home before the end of Christmas Day. Rich’s corpse was burned the rest of the way to ash by one of the Pyros, and they carried his ashes home. Kim walked alongside the force, deep in thought. No one would go that close to her. There was something she wasn’t telling them; of that they were certain. Nat hoped to find out from Emma and Anthony, when they arrived home.