Mortal (19 page)

A middle-aged man started to curse
loudly about missing an important meeting.

BOOM!

The metal roof of the car collapsed,
as though a giant boulder had landed on it.

She pulled out her blade and
waited.

The train shook as a series of thumps
and crashes came from the roof, as though it was raining rocks.
Kara covered her ears as an eerie piercing screech wailed over the
frantic screams of the people inside the train. The train shook
like a boat in a storm. Terrified people left their belongings
behind and ran past Kara to the next car. As she rushed to join
them—her body jerked back. Her coat was caught in the gap in the
seats.

"This is
so
not happening right
now." She was struggling to free her jacket when the back of the
car was blasted open. She ducked as sharp metal planks flew past
her head.

A rat the size of an English Mastiff
crawled into the car. Its black fur glowed as green runes moved
around on its body. Its glowing red eyes were fixed on her. It
snarled, revealing four enormous incisors that belonged more on a
saber tooth tiger than a rat. A thick black tail twitched behind it
nervously.

It sat still for a moment and opened
its large maw.

"I see we meet
again,
elemental
."
Its voice screeched like feedback on an old radio station, and Kara
knew right away the rat was just a conduit for someone
else.

Green ooze dripped from the corners of
its jaw as it continued, "The witch thought she could hide you from
me, but I have eyes and ears everywhere—and I know everything. You
cannot escape."

The car swayed as five other enormous
rats crawled through the broken windows. People from the next car
screamed and shouted, but the new rats stayed behind the rat that
had been speaking to Kara, as if waiting for orders.

Kara’s pulse raced, and the
pendant felt like she was wearing a brick. She waved her soul blade
before her. "What do you want from me,
rat
?"

"Your little escape in the
woods was remarkable," said the same rat. "I’ve been wondering
about you—about what you are. You left me quite vexed, you see.
You’re not a
normal
teenager, are you? It takes great power to cut through my
bonds—and then it occurred to me that you must be an elemental. The
earth’s energy responded to your call for help. I was very
impressed. I could use someone like you in my circle—"

"Never," Kara spat. "You steal the
souls of mortals and leave them for dead. You’re a vile
creature—and I’m going to stop you for good."

The rat’s eyes widened as it laughed.
"Yes, I thought you might say that."

The rat’s nose twitched. "I’m afraid
you pose too much of a threat for me to let you live. I would kill
you myself, but I’m sure my little pets will finish the job for
me."

"I’m not that easy to
kill."

The rat sneered. "You’re just a
teenage girl with a little power, and I will kill you. I am far
more powerful than you, elemental. You are alone—your spirit walker
friends cannot help you now. I will tear you apart, and my pets
will feast on your blood."

The rat leaped.

Kara reached over and cut her jacket
free, just as a giant paw with razor sharp nails tore the seat in
half. Blocking another swing, she jumped onto the next seat. She
doubted her chances of survival against six giant magical rats, but
she would avenge Olga’s death, even if it meant dying in the
process.

Whack!

A tail hit her from behind, and Kara
fell hard on the metal floor. Hot pain exploded in her knee. She
pushed herself up.

Suddenly she was being dragged
backwards. She turned around. Blood seeped from her jeans where the
rat’s front claws had perforated her leg like five knives. It
pulled her toward it. She looked into the mouth of the giant rat
and putrid drool dripped onto her face. It lowered its
head.

Kara brought her blade up from under
the creature’s jaw in an arc and pushed the blade into its brain.
Green ooze splattered the floor. The rat dropped dead. The runes
vanished from its fur. It sizzled and popped and slowly returned to
its original size, the size of Kara’s boot.

She heard nails scratching metal, and
the five other rats charged.

Kara ran towards the exit door at the
back of the train. She wrapped her hand on the handle and pulled,
but it would not move. She pulled and pulled. Nothing. A man’s face
watched her from the other side of the glass. He shook his head.
And Kara understood—they had locked her in.

She banged on the door. "Please, let
me out. You can’t do this! Open the door!"

The man just shook his head. Another
man came, and Kara thought she was saved, but he just pressed his
weight against the door and looked at Kara with a sad face, as
though she was already dead.

Rage poured through her. Idiots. She
was giving her life to save these morons, and they wished her
dead.

With the soul blade held tightly she
turned to face the rats. Five pairs of eyes fixed on her, their
hatred reflected in their glowing red eyes. She could feel the dark
warlock watching her.

She planted her feet firmly. There was
nowhere to run or hide. She would have to stand and fight. The
pulsing of the pendant echoed the beating of her heart. She was
ready.

The first rat lunged at her throat.
With a sideways strike, Kara slashed at the creature’s own throat,
and it fell at her feet and shrunk back to its normal size. Before
she could leap out of the way, another rat jumped on
her.

It pinned her to the ground. Its sharp
teeth were inches from her face. Desperately, Kara kicked her legs
into the creature’s sensitive underbelly. Its lips pulled back in a
snarl, and it spoke.

"You’re finished," said the same voice
as before. "Good bye, elemental."

Her breath escaped her suddenly as the
weight of two more rats landed on her. White-hot pain surged
through her legs, as the rats pulled and bit them. Her heart hit
her throat in a loud crunch. Her blade rolled out of her hand. She
couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t even cry out.
Putrid drool fell into her face and she closed her eyes and
prepared herself to die...

The pendant pulsed a shockwave through
her. Her anger awakened. She wasn’t ready to throw in the towel.
She tapped into that place deep inside where the power
waited.

The subway car shook. She felt a cool
wind wash over her. She could smell the earth from the underground
tunnels. She could feel the earth’s energy like tiny vibrations.
Her fingertips tingled. Then her elemental energy rushed through
her body like a bolt of lightning. Her muscles tensed. She opened
her eyes. When she could contain it no longer, she released her
elemental power.

Silver energy exploded from her. The
rats flew through the air and smashed into the side of the car with
incredible force. Their bodies were wrapped in coils of silver
electricity. Their screams resonated and then silence. They fell to
the floor, twitched, and then all that was left of them were
charred normal-sized rats that looked like burnt toast.

Kara stared at her hands—as a guardian
her power had been golden, as a mortal it was silver.

The light in the car flashed on and
off and then it exploded. Shards of glass fell from the ceiling
like brilliant gems.

Kara wiggled her nose. The scent of
burnt flesh filled the compartment as vapors rose from the bodies.
She heard the yells from the neighboring wagon and ignored them.
She realized that she was shaking, not only because of the cold—but
also from fear that she was capable of such enormous destruction.
She bent down and picked up her blade.

She could feel the eyes of the people
in the next wagon, but she didn’t look at them. They had left her
for dead.

"Don’t leave us here," she heard a
man’s voice through the glass as he pounded on it. "We saw what you
did—you can save us!"

Kara’s anger was still fresh. Part of
her wanted to punch the man in the face because he was the one who
had locked the door. She watched them as they fiddled with the
lock.

"ELEMENTAL!"

A thunderous voice reverberated
throughout the underground tunnel. Concrete pieces and stone
showered the crippled train again. The people in the next wagon
screamed and cowered under the seats.

"I WILL KILL YOU!"

She could see streaks of red light
bouncing up and down outside. At first she thought they were
flashlights, but then she saw that ten giant rats were scurrying
towards her car. They were coming for her. If she stayed, the
passengers in the next cart would surely die. She couldn’t take
that chance. The pendant pulled her towards—there was only one
thing to do.

Without turning back, Kara sprinted
towards the front of the train, jumped down onto the tracks, and
bolted into the darkness.

K
ara ran with all the strength she could muster. She could hear
the rat’s claws tearing up the ground behind her. She could almost
feel their foul breath on her neck. As the adrenaline kicked in,
she felt a sudden burst of speed and wished she could have been in
her M-suit—she knew she couldn’t sprint like this for much longer.
Sooner rather than later, she would have to turn around and fight
for her life.

The pendant hovered in the air before
her. Kara felt like she was a dog on a leash going for a run, but
she didn’t argue with the pendant—it was clear it knew where it was
going.

White light appeared suddenly at the
end of the tunnel and grew brighter. The walls of the tunnel
vibrated. She knew it wasn’t the rats—a 400-ton subway train was
roaring towards her at thirty-five miles per hour.

In less than seven seconds, it would
hit.

But she couldn’t stop running. Her
momentum pushed her forward. If she tried to stop now, she would
fall, and the rats would tear her to pieces.

Six seconds.

She looked from side to side. There
were no adjoining tunnels that she could see. There was only
straight—or stop and die.

Five seconds.

Kara’s legs shook as the adrenaline
rush began to fade. She blinked away the sweat that ran into her
eyes. Only her fear kept her going now. David’s face flashed in her
mind’s eye. Would he be all right with her gone?

Four seconds.

Her lungs were on fire. She had never
run this hard for so long. The train’s headlamp turned the tunnel
into daylight. The heat from its blinding light felt like it was
melting her irises. She’d be blind if she survived.

Three seconds.

If she tripped, she would
die.

Two seconds.

She heard her own flesh rip as the
burning pain of a rat’s claws attacked and numbed her neck. She
felt wetness drip down her back. She felt the rat’s breath on the
back of her head.

One second—

Kara flattened herself against the
tunnel wall. The side of the train grazed her cheek as it sped past
her. She closed her eyes as a great gust of wind dragged debris and
sand down the tracks behind it. She held her breath.

Over the clamor of the metal wheels on
metal tracks, she heard the unmistakable crash of flesh against
metal.

With a last shake from the powerful
wind, the train disappeared into the shadow of the tunnel. Kara was
still breathing. She stole a look to her right. Severed rat bodies
lay on the tracks. She counted them—they were all there, and very
dead.

Shaken but still alive, she felt sorry
for the creatures—they had been used.

She glimpsed at her watch.
2:14pm.

She wiped the wind-blown dust from her
eyes with her sleeve. Small incandescent lights lined the walls and
gave Kara enough light to make out her surroundings. She had to get
out of here before the warlock sent more rats after her. The
numbness in her neck was making its way down her back. She felt
feverish and tried to suppress her shaking. Could you die from a
rat bite? As if on cue, she heard the distant tapping sound of
four-legged creatures running her way. The pendant pulled her down
the tunnel even more frantically. Obediently, Kara forced her legs
into a jog. Her throat burned with every breath. She was dizzy from
exertion, and her head felt like it was about to explode. She
needed to rest.

"You cannot hide, elemental," came a
voice from the shadows. "Come out, come out, wherever you
are..."

Kara didn’t stop. Her jog became a
run, but she was running on empty—the thought of seeing David and
the others was the only thing that kept her going.

The tunnel walls rippled suddenly as
thought they were made of water. They shifted, and Kara found
herself running towards a dead end. She was facing a stone wall
that hadn’t been there a second ago. The walls rippled again, and
two new tunnels opened on her left and right. What was happening?
Was the rat’s poison affecting her?