Mortal (23 page)

Gideon’s face fell. "That is what will
come to pass if ya don’t stop him." He paused for a moment. "When
the time is right, ya must do as I say. Ya must strike him down
when I tell ya."

Kara stared at her open hands. "But my
power isn’t like a gun. I can’t just pull the trigger, and it goes
off. It’s not like yours. I don’t have it bottled up in a vial that
I can throw. It doesn’t work like that. Gideon, what if I can’t do
this? What if it doesn’t work?"

The old man’s brown eyes gleamed. "But
it will. It must. Think of your power as a light. When the darkness
approaches from the outside, you must resist it. You must destroy
it with your light—the light within you. Your power is your light.
Let it light up the darkness. The warlock pulls his magic strength
from the depths of darkness. And darkness can only be defeated by
light."

Kara nodded, but she only understood
part of what the old man said. Whatever light she had—she prayed it
would be enough.

"Ya must draw strength from the
pendant. It is the light when you are in darkness. Ya know it’s in
there. The pendant will help ya."

As the old man walked away to join the
others, Kara held the pendant in her hand. It was a lot warmer now,
hot to the touch like it had been sitting on a hot stove. Was that
a warning sign? It had been acting up since they got closer to the
park. She ran to catch up to the others, and together they entered
the park.

It was like stepping into a holiday
card. Normally, Kara would have found the snow in the park
beautiful, but she felt numb. Her nerves were shot. Her mind was
loud with worry. She didn’t think she could pull this
off.

"Keep your eyes open for
anything
magical
,"
said David, waving his soul blade through the falling
snowflakes.

As they ventured further in the park,
the obelisk stood out like a giant amongst the trees. Its grey
stone frame contrasted against the winter white background. She
could see it clearly now. There was no sign of the warlock
anywhere, or anything magical. The shadow mist hadn’t touched the
park yet. She felt like she was walking into an ambush. It was less
than twenty minutes to sundown—where was the warlock?

Tall lampposts flickered, and the
lights came on as the grey skies darkened. The park was unusually
deserted for a winter day like this. It should have been crawling
with families with their kids making snowmen and snow angels. Kara
scouted the grounds. They only footprints in the snow were their
own. Something wasn’t right.

"Something feels wrong," said Jenny,
as though reading Kara’s thoughts. "Where are all the
people—?"

"Duck!" David dropped on his belly
behind a rise of snow. Kara and the others followed his example.
She peered over the edge of the snow bank.

Two hundred yards beyond the clearing,
six dark robed figures walked towards the obelisk. Slowly they
formed a circle around the ancient monument. Their faces were
covered by their hoods, and Kara couldn’t tell which one was the
dark warlock—they were identical in every way. Then they all lifted
their arms and chanted in a language Kara didn’t recognize. The
chanting grew louder and reverberated around them as though it had
been amplified.

Then a shimmering green mist coiled
around their hands like glowing ribbons. The mist shot from their
hands and hit the obelisk. The ground shook. The obelisk groaned as
the mist spiraled around it, then the mist disappeared as though
the obelisk had consumed it. The great stone began to gleam green,
like a giant toxic cucumber.

Kara’s pulse raced. The ritual had
already begun.

David lowered his voice.
"Did Ariel forget to tell us a crucial piece of information—like
that there are
six
freaking warlocks and not just one? What are we supposed to do
now?"

"We need a diversion," Kara decided.
"If we can draw half the group out into the park, we will have a
better chance fighting them if they’re separated. I think the real
Dark warlock, whoever he is, will stay near the obelisk. He won’t
leave it."

Kara didn’t want to face six warlocks
as a mortal. It terrified her, but she didn’t see any other
way.

"She’s right," said Gideon, scowling
at the warlocks in the clearing. "The Dark warlock will stay and
perform the ritual. He will not stray from the obelisk when the
hour is near. He will not take that chance—he needs the power of
the obelisk."

"Okay then," agreed David, "sounds
like we have a plan. I know of a few ways to get the warlocks to
chase me, and it’s not with my pretty face."

Jenny crawled closer to the edge. "No,
it’s because you’re a moron. But you’ll still need my help, pretty
boy."

David smiled impishly. "Jenny and I
will be your distraction. We’ll draw them out over to that little
bridge over there and keep them busy. That should give you and
Gideon enough time to take care of the dark warlock."

He twirled a soul blade skillfully
between his fingers like a baton. "I’m feeling out of practice—I
need to kill something."

Kara turned to the others to speak,
but her mouth wouldn’t open. Could she really defeat a
warlock?

"Fight magic with magic," whispered
Kara to no one in particular. She felt a gentle squeeze on her arm
and turned to see Gideon’s smiling eyes.

David watched her. "The sun’s almost
gone, we have to hurry."

Kara’s fingers dug into the snow. "Be
careful, something feels off. I still have a feeling it’s a
trap."

Jenny crawled out of the warlocks’
sight and stood up. "At the rate we’re going, traps are our lot in
life—we’re used to them by now. You be careful, too."

"I’ll be fine, it’s you two I’m
worried about." Kara did her best to sound determined. What choice
did she have? She couldn’t let her friends down.

David stood next to Jenny. "The show’s
starting. Come on, let’s go."

"Uh...guys...where’s Gideon?" Kara
wiped the snow from her face and searched the grounds. "He’s gone!"
She turned on the spot and whispered. "Gideon? Gideon!"

"I’m telling you, gramps is off to
Broadway or something," said David. "That was his one act—the
disappearing grandpa act."

Kara studied the snow around her. She
could see Gideon’s tracks. They led away from them. But how could
that be? She followed the tracks.

"What the...?" She knelt down and
brushed the snow with her hand. Gideon’s tracks stopped suddenly.
Could witch doctors fly? Had he gone into another supernatural
plane? It made no sense.

David looked amused. "It’s not
funny."

"The old fart abandoned
us."

"No, he wouldn’t do that. But
something’s off. How could he have just disappeared like
that—?"

Kara tensed. "Did you guys hear
that?"

Strange howls pierced the cold
air.

"What...what was that?" Kara looked
over her shoulder. "That sounded really close."

David stood by her side. His blade
trembled in his hand. "I don’t know, but I do know that there
aren’t any wolves in New York."

Jenny nocked
her
arrow
and drew back the taut
string of
her
bow
. "Whatever
they are, they don’t sound very friendly."

Kara had the horrible feeling that
something terrible had happened to Gideon. The winds suddenly
wailed like the howling of beasts. Snowflakes melted on her hot
face, and she saw red eyes glowing faintly through the falling
snow.

A dozen creatures emerged from the
snowstorm, as though the snow itself had molded them. They were
massive. At first Kara thought they were polar bears, but she
quickly realized her mistake. They had muscular upper bodies like
apes, but with a row of icy spikes sticking out from their hunched
backs. They flexed the shiny black claws that protruded from their
large furry paws, and their razor-sharp fangs gleamed. They looked
like a cross between abominable snowmen and albino wolves on
steroids.

They moved effortlessly and
soundlessly through the snow, as though they were gliding over it.
Their thick white fur was a perfect camouflage in the winter-white
background. Their long purple tongues flicked out of their enormous
maws, like packman mouths that opened all the way back to their
necks. They circled around the group, boxing them in like a pride
of lions around their prey. Kara and her friends were
lunch.

David stood protectively in front of
Kara. "Looks like the Bronx zoo had a sale on big white ugly
beasts."

The creatures snarled as though they
understood David. Ice and snow fell from their thick hides. The
white beasts stood and waited. Unnatural intelligence glistened in
their eyes. Kara’s heart pulsed in her throat.

Green runes rippled through their
white fur, and Kara knew instantly what they were. "This is the
dark warlock’s doing. They have the same markings as the other
creatures. They’re his."

"I don’t care who they belong to,"
said David. "If they come any closer—I’m going to skin
them."

Hatred flashed in the beasts’ red
eyes. Then they lunged.

"Stick together!" David ran and met
their onslaught head on.

He swung his blade skillfully at a
giant white beast. Before it had time to react, he sliced the
creature’s stomach with an upward stroke. It crumbled into a white
powder at his feet, shimmered, and then disintegrated into snow and
blew away.

David stood shocked for a moment. But
as he turned, another creature jumped him—and he disappeared under
the heavy hide of the beast.

"
David!"
Kara
pulled her soul blade from her jacket
and
charged
forward. She didn’t have time to think about how small her blade
was compared to those giant snow beasts—she just ran. She had to
save David.

Two
howling
snow beasts blocked her way. They bared their gleaming
fangs.

Kara
skidded
to a stop and readied herself.

She heard a cackling sound over the
wind, as though the creatures were laughing at her. The first
creature lowered its head and crept closer. It jumped out for her,
and Kara crowned it with the base of the dagger. Its head fell
sideways with a loud crack, and it fell. She kicked it to make sure
it wasn’t moving.

A massive blow hit her from behind,
and she staggered forward. She turned into the thrashing arms of
another creature. It hit her in the chest and knocked the breath
out of her. She cried out and nearly dropped her blade. As its
fangs grazed her throat, she stabbed the creature in the neck with
a downward stroke. It disintegrated with a pop.

Kara screamed frantically for David.
She could see him trying to fight his way out of the crowd of
beasts that surrounded him. He used his elbows like a seasoned
soldier. He knocked one in the face and then stabbed it in the
head. It withered and disintegrated. With an upward swing, he
sliced through another creature’s neck, decapitating it. It
disappeared with a frosty flash.

More snow beasts emerged from the
blizzard. Kara was trapped.

T
hey
leaped.

She
faked to
her left, then swiveled and jumped out of the way, kicking out with
her legs. She heard a satisfying crunch, but she wasn’t fast
enough. As she jumped up from the ground, a burning pain exploded
on her left arm, and white feathers from her jacket flew into the
air. She felt the wetness of her blood. But she couldn’t stop and
look at her injury.

A
powerful hit
caught
her in the side, and Kara went down. Instinctively, she rolled and
pushed herself up just in time to avoid a big white paw that
smashed the snow where her head had been seconds before. She
grasped her blade and thrust it with all her strength into the
creature’s head. The beast toppled over and pinned Kara to the
ground for a moment. Its weight crushed her and its putrid smell
choked her. The creature’s body shimmered and vanished into snow.
She breathed again.

S
he saw two
white beasts charge at Jenny. She released her arrow, ducked
sideways, and nocked a second arrow even as the first one pierced
the snow beast’s chest. She released it and hit a second beast. But
the arrows didn’t seem to have much of an effect on them, except to
make them angrier. The creatures came thrashing at Jenny. They
knocked her bow out of her hands, and she staggered
back.

She was surrounded. They were going to
tear her apart.

Kara struggled to her feet and jumped
to Jenny’s aid. Something hard crashed into her, and she fell on
her back. Pressure crushed her chest, and her cry died in her
throat. She looked up. The massive jaws of a beast were poised to
bite off her head. She winced at its putrid breath. Its purple
tongue flicked out of its chops, and warm drool dribbled onto her
face. But it didn’t attack.