Monster Hunter Legion-eARC (48 page)

Tanya agreed. “Aw, cute.”

Julie went white as a sheet, and not just at the prospect of impending motherhood. She was the smart one in our relationship. “It might be hereditary…” She’d realized what I had been thinking. “The
Nachtmar
called you
chosen.
He talked about breaking into your mind and enslaving you.”

“Right. That whole bloodline thing. I don’t know, but the poor bastard that’s stuck as its current host is sort of like me. Will this kid be like me too?” I was some sort of cosmic intersection of weirdness, and Julie was all sorts of cursed. I wouldn’t take odds on this one. “Maybe. I hope not, but we’re not going to find out. This thing is not going to possess
my
kid. No way. Screw that.”

“I can’t leave you—” but even as she said it, she knew she was wrong. Julie bit her lip and nodded. It was a lot of information to process.

“I’ll hit the ground running.” That was wishful thinking. I’d hit the ground limping. “I’ll find Mosh and Holly. They were with the host last. I want the
Nachtmar
to intercept me. I want both halves of it, him, whatever, in the same place.”

“And then what?”

“I talk them into surrendering.”

“Talk?”

“Yeah. Pretty much.”

“You? Talk? Oh, we’re screwed.”

“Thanks, hon.” I checked out the door. The dragon had got turned around was heading back up the Strip. I wouldn’t have much time at all. My leg was throbbing, and since I hadn’t walked on it for a bit, it was probably going to be extra stiff. “I’ll go as fast as I can.”

Edward was more perceptive than he looked, and he’d seen how buggered up my leg had been earlier. He handed me a flask. “Drink.” It smelled like rancid pond water. “Gretchen make. Help feets.” She was their healer, after all, and I’d benefited from some of her crazy remedies before. She insisted that her magical remedies needed to be fresh and made for a specific person, but this was worth a shot. It tasted worse than it smelled, and burned going down. I passed Gretchen’s magic energy drink back to Edward and tried not to puke. My injured foot began to tingle, which was either a good sign or a bad sign.

I could only hope that the feds would have some weaponry down there that would buy me some time. Edward was rubbing his arm. The big case that had struck him was leaning on the seat next to him. “What’s that?”

The case had a pink invoice on the outside,
Anzio Ironworks. To: Milo Anderson/MHI. For Test and Evaluation Purposes.
It was one of Milo’s
free samples
that he had bragged about picking up at the tradeshow. I popped the latches.
Please be good. Please be good.
“What the
hell
is that?” Since I was the biggest gun nut in the company, me not recognizing a firearm was especially notable.

Julie adjusted her bungee cord so she could come over to see. She whistled. “I don’t know, but it’s
huge.
”

It was ridiculous. It was shaped like a rifle, but it made my Barrett look like a .22. It was also disassembled to fit in the foam cutouts of the case, but it looked like it went back together fairly rapidly. “Where’s the rest of it?” Ed pointed at another case that had been under this one. Julie began dragging it out. Put together, this gun had to be longer than I was tall. The case felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. “Is there ammo?”

Julie cracked open the other one. “Here’s the barrel, muzzle brake is the size of a phone book, owner’s manual…Okay, there’s a few rounds.” Julie hefted one. “But they’re the size of bowling pins.”

“What is that? Freaking twenty millimeter? Isn’t that what fighter jets shoot? Never mind. I need to move fast. I’ll never be able to lug this thing around with me.”
I guess there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
“I was hoping for a weapon, not a piece of farm equipment.”

“Almost there,” Skippy warned. “Much fog. Hard to see.”

I closed the case. The ground below us was soupy, but lights glowed through the thick mist. It seemed heavy enough that it had congealed close to the ground. The actual pillar of smoke was entirely gone, spilled loose into the city. And there, battered and looking like it had been the victim of an air raid, was the Last Dragon hotel and casino, the top floors blasted and scorched, dark without power, but most importantly, it was
here
. Hopefully our friends had returned with it.

“Put me on top of the Taj parking garage. You see it? Straight ahead. Next to the white one with the big dome in the middle.” The Hind turned and we were heading for the top. Most of the cars were gone, so there was plenty of room to land. I checked behind us, but couldn’t pick the dragon out of the dark. I couldn’t feel the buffeting effect of its mighty wings, so that was a good sign. Maybe I’d be able to get inside before I got stepped on. Unhooking my safety cord, I got ready to hop out.

Julie grabbed my arm. “You can’t—”

“I have to.” I took her hand. She was worried about me, but I was mostly worried that I was wrong, and it wasn’t after me at all. If the
Nachtmar
was after a different potential host…“Promise me you’ll keep moving.”

She pulled me in and gave me quick kiss on the lips. There wasn’t any time to enjoy it. “Be careful.”

And then our tires struck the top of the parking garage and it was time to go. “I will. I love you.” No time for hesitation, I took Abomination in hand and leapt out the door. Pain shot up my legs, but I managed to not spill over. Extending one hand, I waved at the Hind as it rolled away, blasting me with rotor wash. Julie waved back, hiding the fact that she was terrified, but for me. She was never scared for herself.

It wasn’t until they lifted off that I realized that she hadn’t promised to flee like I’d asked. “Oh, please don’t go stubborn on me this time. Run, Julie, run.” The chopper turned away and I lost sight of her. I jumped when Ed tapped me on the shoulder. He was so damn quick that I hadn’t even seen him go out the opposite door. “What are you doing here?”

Edward shrugged like
I’m a sword master, what was I supposed to do in the sky?

There was a breeze. Then it was calm. Then another breeze. The dragon was flapping its way here, pissed off, on fire, and filled with a thousand years of nightmares that it really wanted to share. “Let’s go.” We had to get out of the open. The fastest way to do that was down the nearby car ramp. Every step was agonizing, but I limped and cringed along. Gretchen’s energy drink wasn’t helping much, but I could stop and whine about it when I wasn’t in imminent danger of getting squished. “Mosh is inside, downstairs.”

Ed just grunted. He didn’t care about the particulars. He just wanted the opportunity to stab a dragon. Tanya had no idea what a catch she’d made.

I got on the radio. “Come in, MCB. This is Owen Pitt with MHI. There is a dragon inbound toward the Taj parking garage. Repeat. Dragon. Anybody listening?” The ramp led down to the next level. It was darker here. The escaped nightmare fog clung to the floor, so thick that we couldn’t see our feet. The fog had no smell; it was simply moist and dense. However, the air smelled like oil smoke. Grant and Archer’s distraction had been nearby. Even if somebody was listening to the radio right now, I was probably the boy that cried wolf. “I say again, there’s a dragon about to land on the Taj parking garage. I’d recommend shooting it down. Stricken, if you can hear me, you’ll know I’m telling the truth
real
quick.”

There was nothing. Back in the real world, they might still be jamming, or they might have all been killed by the spilling of the nightmare world.
Thinking of that…
I looked toward the unseen floor. It reminded me of the glycerin fog of the nightclub where Green had got his foot sawed off. Would the
Nachtmar
stay in dragon form, or would it turn into something else and come at us sideways? Would it pick a new vision, or would it be too proud to give up the epic nightmare skin it was wearing?

There was a sudden roar and a crash as the dragon slammed into the concrete above us. That answered that question. The
Nachtmar
screamed its fury and filled the sky with an arc of fire. It illuminated the entire garage through the open sides. He probably didn’t realize he’d done me a favor, because the reflection made it easy for me to spot the enclosure that led to the casino. “Over there!”

Limping along, I tried to ignore the rumbling as the dragon shifted above. The jackhammer strikes that were making concrete flecks fall from above were its claws as it moved toward the ramp. Car alarms began going off, only to be silenced as the
Nachtmar
flicked the cars over the edge in annoyance.

Ed was half my size, so it wasn’t like he could help me as I hopped along nearly as effectively as Lacoco had, but he was also really fast, and I was just holding him back. He ran over to the door and opened it for me. Ed began fiddling with the door mechanism with a knife. I had no idea what he was doing. “Mosh is down a few floors.”

“Great war chief,” Ed agreed. “Go save.”

“Save everybody,” I agreed. Edward pressed something into my hand. It was a small leather bag. “What’s this?”

“Give Tanya for Ed,” he answered cryptically.

The dragon was coming down the ramp. Even with its wings tucked in tight and scraping along the walls, it was a tight squeeze down the path that could hold two buses side by side. Its head came around the corner first, undulating on its long neck. The beast was craggy, armored in plates, and covered in spikes the size of rhino horns. It was lightless black, but at the edges where the plates met was just the hint of red light, as if a great internal furnace was leaking heat through the cracks.

It was so imposing that for a moment I was frozen with fear. I was no stranger to terrifying beasts. This was something different, something that gnawed at the very edges of your psyche. I shook my head and broke the spell. In those few seconds it had drawn itself fully into the garage. Cars were crushed beneath its feet, or struck by a horn or tooth, lifted effortlessly, and rolled out of the way.

There was no way we could escape that thing. It was just too big, too powerful, and there was nothing standing in its way it couldn’t just plow through. But I still had to try.

I entered the casino. Edward shut the door behind me…

With him still on the other side.

“Ed?” I turned back. There was a small glass window in the center. He was watching me through it with sad yellow eyes.
Time to go.
“What’re you doing?” I grabbed the door, but the handle wouldn’t engage. He’d disabled it with his knife. “Ed!” I pounded on the door. “Come on! Ed!”

The orc tilted his head to the side, studying me. The dragon was growing behind him, plowing its way through the fog and the parked cars. He took off his ski mask, revealing his real face. Ed gave me a little bow.

This was his fight. His greatest challenge. His sacrifice.

“Ed, you obstinate asshole!” I kicked the door. I kicked it again. It was too solid. I pulled Abomination around to blast the lock open.

Edward just shook his head disapprovingly. I was wasting time.

His time. He was buying me time.

I lowered Abomination. Edward nodded.
Thank you.

All orcs are born with one gift, one area where they could achieve absolute perfection. Ed was the most lethal mortal thing I’d ever seen at hand-to-hand combat. Each orc was the best at one particular thing, but how could they know for sure if they never tested it? Orcs needed challenges, and Edward had finally found one worthy.

Edward turned around, drew his swords, and faced the onrushing nightmare dragon.

Surprisingly enough, it came to a grinding halt, tilting its massive head quizzically. Having a single tiny creature stand up to it with nothing more than a few sharpened pieces of metal was unexpected.

The
Nachtmar
had no idea what it was getting into…

The brave orc gave me one last look through the window.
Go.

I wouldn’t fail him.

Chapter 24

I ran through the darkened hall. My brother’s memories had been clear. I had a good general idea of what part of the building he had last been in. My biggest hindrances to finding him were the typical, stupidly confusing layout of most casinos, the fact that the power was out so I had to navigate by flashlight, my leg was fragged, and the fact that I didn’t know if they’d still be in the same place. Mosh and Holly might already dead.

They’re alive. Edward’s alive too. He’s too fast to die. Not like that.

I had heard the dragon’s roar and felt the vibrations of their battle for quite some time. He’d slowed it. Maybe even stopped it, because nothing had come after me. Yet.

I’d found the right part of the building, the offices of the evacuated casino. I recognized the frosted glass of the cubicle area where Mosh and Holly had kidnapped Dr. Blish. Nightmare fog covered six inches of the floor. It was freezing cold. My leg hurt so bad that it had moved into a whole new territory of pain. So I had put the pain in a drawer in my brain and shut it. Something was torn in there, I knew it, but I could still move relatively quickly and I could still put weight on it, so screw it. Lee would be in a leg brace for the rest of his life because of me, and I’d never once heard him complain about it.

That was just one of the many people whose lives were screwed up because of me. The list was a long one. Lee’s leg had been ruined, but how many Hunters had died that day at DeSoya Caverns because I hadn’t been strong enough to take out Lord Machado faster? I was here searching for my brother, his talent had been extinguished, his soul had been cut up along with his fingers, and that had been my fault too. I was never good enough. I never had been, and never would be. Edward was probably dead now too, just bones stuck in the dragon’s teeth.

The fog was crawling up the walls.

The Hunters that had been holding out at the Last Dragon were surely dead. There was no way the
Nachtmar
let that hotel back into this world if they were still alive. They were either dead, or worse, locked up in the dream world to be endlessly tortured, while the
Nachtmar
wrung every last bit of terror he could out of their minds.