Leviathan (Fist of Light Series) (26 page)

Razor looked haggard and spent. “I haven't touched my powers since I've been here. It hasn't been easy. If a single drop of energy was released, I'm sure it would have discovered me. This Leviathan has power beyond imagining. It’s smart, going to a place no one would think or care to look. The question is why it needs more. Just in the past couple days, it has devoured dozens of souls and taken down a bunch of power plants.”

I took that logic a step further. “If the Leviathan is draining the juice from power plants, why is it scooping the souls out of people? You'd think it wouldn't have enough room to stomach all that power. If it is able to store that much energy without spontaneously combusting and going nuclear, then we're dealing with a major player, more powerful than our already high expectations.”

Silence swallowed our group as each of us considered the disastrous possibilities. I envisioned a giant black being the size of Godzilla, walking through the streets of San Francisco and mass reaping the population. I admit the idea was kind of far-fetched, but that's what crowded into my thoughts.

“He's playing with his food,” Herk answered. “Inciting panic
and
amassing more power at the same time. Right now it’s just fun and games. Wait till the Leviathan steps up his game.”

“Who's side are you on again?” Simon peered at him.

“When did the Leviathan become a he?” Zack asked, confused.

“I'm on the side with all the glory.” Hector nodded in my direction.

“That's reassuring.” Kathryne made her first attempt at sarcasm, causing Jas and I to share a stunned look.

This wasn't the time to confront Herk about his questionable moral fiber. “Well, don't you think we should try to take this thing down? Longer we wait, the more people get hurt.”

“I don't know if that's the best idea.” Simon peered owlishly at me. “Considering everything we've learned, it’s possible we don't have enough firepower.”

“You wanna tell that to those kids’ parents when one of them doesn't wake up tomorrow?” Jas asked him, his expression serious.

“It wouldn't be hard to get its attention,” Kathryne said.

Razor nodded. “This thing's attracted to energy.”

“A little display will have the thing rushing towards us in no time.” I drummed my fingers on the boulder underneath me.

“If all of us aren't enough to match it…” Xavier crossed his arms and raked his eyes across the encampment behind us, leaving the statement unfinished.

“Yeah. As if we don't have enough to deal with,” Jas scoffed.

“You know that guy?” Simon had followed Xavier's line of sight and pointed out a man approaching.

“I know him,” Razor said. “These people don't like outsiders. They've a good thing going here and don't want it jeopardized. He'll have a few choice words for you. For me— well, we've already passed polite exchanges.”

“Bernard,” Razor’s flat tone clued me in, as if the words before hadn't.

I studied the man before me, searching for the hostility Razor was confronted with. The high forehead and scraggly mustache didn't give him any extra points. Mean eyes sat a little too close together on his face. Faded and torn jeans clashed with his colorful shirt, which was dirtied by constant use and irregular cleanings. Instead of getting into an argument with us, however, he stared at us in evident disgust. Standing before us a tense minute, I was wondering what the man wanted. Then I felt it: the roiling hunger, that insatiable need that cannot be met no matter how much you stuff your gullet. The pit of my own stomach roiled with anxiety and my heart began beating powerfully, sending waves of hormones and super-oxygenated blood at increased rates through the body.

“Leviathan!” I roared, jumping off the rock and rolling off the boulder.

T
he group spun into action, the Were flinging themselves into the air and shifting into their animal forms. For my part, I called up a stream of energy from my parched core and brought my fists up into a ready position. Lightning crackled threateningly, demanding the monster before me retreat before things got nasty. Unfortunately, that didn't get the message through. Instead, it merely made matters worse as the Leviathan thought to have its fill of my power. As I moved to give the monster a piece of my mind, I was interrupted.

Jas leaped forward in the guise of a giant timber wolf, black smoke and red flames flinging off his sleek form. There was no time to deliberate about this new fiery development. I put my hands up in rudimentary defense from the singeing heat as Jas closed in. He slammed with a bone-shattering
crash
into the Leviathan, fiery claws rending and tearing as the two bodies flipped end over end. Rushing forward, I hoped the sound of bones breaking was restricted to our enemy.

Jeeves flashed in, shaking his head to jog loose the cobwebs. “It appears another change has revealed itself.” He snorted.

“
Little busy here.”
I clenched my fists and watched as the lightning pulsed.

I could sense beastly support rushing in from behind, but they'd arrive too late to make a difference in the following seconds. The Leviathan had been injured by the collision, so that a few bones stuck out jarringly from parted skin. Black blood streaked down its body, but a feral grin took up uncompromising residence on the being's face. It conjured icy tendrils of shadow that burst from the holes in its body, dark appendages that bound Jas in place. Inhuman laughter tore out of the monstrosity’s throat as it consumed Jas' essence. For once, I allowed emotion to take the wheel, snatching about my person for weapons that could span the distance in time. Time slowed and my hands blurred as they brandished their respective weapons.

Lightning crackled down the length of my throwing dagger as it sailed end over end through the air, but I didn't waste time following its path. Instead, I brought my gun around and aimed carefully. I was breathing heavily, heart pounding erratically as fearful adrenaline pulsed through my blood. Sucking in a breath and holding it, I narrowed my eyes and fired off a couple rounds in quick succession. In that timeless expanse, it was possible to watch as the knife sluggishly inserted itself into the skin between the Leviathan's eyes. I saw the wounded body recoil as bullets slammed into its chest.

Then the infinite second ticked by and the world started operating at normal speeds. That soul-stealing blackness retreated back into their cavernous slots, the alien appendages retracted from Jas. Black smoke boiled off his wolf, giving me the impression that he hadn't escaped the exchange unscathed. My eyes panned back to the Leviathan and watched as it fell to the ground with a weighty
thump
. Black blood oozed outward in a spreading pool and I shook my head in pleasant surprise. Who would have thought it'd be so easy. You'd think an extraterrestrial being who hitched a ride on a meteor would be made of sterner stuff. After expelling a noisy breath, I fell back on my ass and took some deep breaths. The pack assembled around me, rumbling growls issued all around. Simon landed on my shoulder, sharp talons digging into flesh for purchase.

Jas shifted back, wobbling slightly, pressing the heel of his hand to his forehead. “What the hell was that? I feel like my insides were scooped out with a rusty spoon.”

Razor sat down on his haunches next to the spreading pool of inhuman blood, sticking a probing finger in the mixture. The dark liquid clung to it as he pulled his earthen hand in the opposite direction. “This isn't any kind of blood I've ever seen. The stuff is concentrated energy.”

Kathryne rushed over to Jas and shot an assessing look at the twitching remains. “Gross. Is it dead?”

“I'm right here.” Jas pointedly directed her attention back to him.

While Jas allowed Kathryne to fuss over him, Zack and the others prowled forward, their heightened senses doing a different kind of reconnaissance. Simon stayed perched on my shoulder, his wings flapping impatiently as the other's circled cautiously around the body.

“I thought this thing was a major baddy.” I crossed my arms.

“It is,” Razor rumbled.

“Obviously it wasn't as tough as you thought it was,” Herk said.

“You think maybe we should get out of here?” Jas blinked. “Everyone will have heard the shots. Don't need any more trouble. We've got enough as it is.”

Throaty growls warned me of a shift in the ending of this particular story. Xavier, his sleek black muscles bulging, burst forward and swiped at the rising form of the Leviathan. The slash didn't even garner a reaction from the being. Its face looked like something out of a horror movie, skin flayed like grotesque flaps that hung from the frame of the monster, although a disturbing grin was still displayed widely. Black blood oozed out of the corner of its mouth and abdominal muscles sloughed off, revealing black flesh underneath.

“That has to be the grossest thing I've ever seen,” Jas proclaimed.

“Stick with him, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.” I nodded in Kathryne's direction apologetically.

I knew she wouldn't take kindly to sitting on the sidelines, but now wasn't the time. Zack flapped his wings vigorously and took off from my shoulder, circling up above. The monstrosity brought a hand up to its face, latching onto the throwing dagger impaled between its eyes.

“Don't get too close!” I urged as the pack hounded the beast, making sure not to get caught in its cold embrace.

Meanwhile, I ran through a list of possibilities, but every idea came up short. Our nemesis couldn't be taken down by physical means, unless there was a weakness we had yet to discover. Plus, the thing sucked up magic like a vacuum cleaner. Anything and everything we threw at it wouldn't be enough. Still, I couldn't stand by and do nothing while my friends got hurt.

“
You got anything?”
I directed at Jeeves, whose incorporeal form was hovering around Jas and Kathryne.

“Nothing comes to mind.” He shook his head. “I've never encountered a being such as this. You could always run.”

“Yeah, like that's going to happen,” I scoffed aloud.

“You’re more likely to live to be old and gray if you start picking your battles more,” Jeeves chuckled.

“This thing can't live to hunt this place any longer. We made a promise and I intend to deliver.” My nails dug painfully into my palm, drawing blood.

The Leviathan cocked its head curiously as I approached, staring at the weapon that had lodged itself in what should have been its brain, a killing blow. When it saw me, an inhuman hiss followed. Obviously, he wasn't too happy with me interrupting his meal and didn't like the thoughtful parting gift, either.

“Absolute zero!” I exclaimed, slightly crazed with sudden realization.

The pack nipped at the heels of our adversary, but icy tentacles forced them to keep their distance. No matter the wounds they inflicted, the beast remained entirely unruffled. Kathryne looked at me like I was crazy while Herk stood stoic, unmoving. My brain had gone into overdrive. This thing could suck the juice out of anything with a drop of energy, but what would happen if it was confronted with a construct devoid of energy? A cruel smile cracked across my face and I prepared the design, closing my eyes and searching within. This wasn't going to be easy.

My raucous thoughts must have been overheard. “The theory is workable, I suppose. But you must take care. The consequences are severe, no matter the outcome,” Jeeves said.

“
Not as bad as they'll be if I stand by and watch them all die,”
I spat the thought-form at him.

“True enough. Proceed.” He motioned.

Water and Air swirled together, called forth by an influx of power. They fought each other for dominance, and I in turn strained to keep them in balance. A piercing shriek from an eagle threatened to break my concentration and my eyes opened to survey the scene. Zack dive-bombed the Leviathan in an attempt to throw off the trajectory of the incoming projectile, but it flew true despite the interference. My eyes widened in alarm when I realized where the throwing knife would end up. I tried to move out of the way, but it was too late. It might have been possible to present a defense of Air, but my concentration was already committed, power mounting within the confines of my consciousness.

“Caleb!” Kathryne's scream practically burst my eardrums.

Agony exploded in my stomach as the knife dug into my intestines,
thwacking
heavily into my midsection. I careened forward to fall on my elbows in the dirt, fighting to hold onto the collection of power. If it slipped through my metaphysical fingers, there would be horrible repercussions. Raspy cackling filled the air, followed closely by the sounds of animal whimpering and howls of pain. The metal scraped along the ground as I tried to move myself into an upright position, sending waves of pain throughout my body. Coughing, blood spewed on the ground, hardly noticed over the influx of pain receptors notifying me of the hunk of
metal
lodged inside me. As if I didn't know about it already.

“Focus,
boy.
Fight it. Focus!” Jeeves commanded.