Redemption (The Alliance Series Book 1) (12 page)

              I reached into the bandolier that was under my shirt and drew forth some of the energy that was stored there. I used that energy to raise the earth in front of the centaur, instead of a ramp; I brought up the ground in a five feet long three-inch wide wall.

              I brought up three of them each taller and further from the first. As I anticipated, the centaur saw the first one and jumped it, clearing it easily.

              He did not, however, expect the other two and ran into them at a full gallop.               He slammed them like a freight train.

              Losing his balance and falling straight towards me. I quickly ran through a falling ton of centaur on my left and a small band of maniacal elves on my right.               The centaur had started falling sideways when he slammed into the elves in a deadly fashion.

              I didn't watch my handiwork.

              I ran towards Nathan. I had no idea how he fared with the elves he had trapped. It is hard to sustain containment magic for long.

              I saw Nathan on his back with a nasty elf on top attempting to drive a small wavy looking blade into his eye.

              That did not sit too well with me.

              I ran up and kicked the elf in the side as if I was trying to make a long field goal. The impact was satisfying.

              I felt the elves ribs break and the little guy flew about six feet and landed in a bundle.

              He came to rest in contact with a large tree root and slowly began to be absorbed into the wood back into the Otherworld.

              The rest of the elves that had escaped Nathans containment field promptly jumped on my back. The sudden weight drove me to my knees and I felt pain along both arms and on my neck as their sharp teeth found my skin.

              I gritted through the pain, shelving it in my mind to deal with later and stood up.

              Nathan was there and began to help me get the elves free from my back and neck. He grabbed one by the head and squeezed until it let go, he then threw it as far away as he could.

              I reached back and found another one’s eyes, sinking my fingers as far in as they would go. I heard a high-pitched screech and felt it when the elf disengaged, throwing him with the others.

              Nathan dispatched the third with a tree branch he had picked up breaking it along with the elves hold on my arm.

              He kicked the last one over with the others.

              The three that we had just relocated and the rest that had managed to escape Nathan’s restraints gathered in a group and began stalking toward us. I rolled my shoulder, the one that was bleeding, looked at Nathan and said, "If you would be so kind."

              Nathan made a few quick gestures with both hands and spread them out in front of him with palms raised and hands open, he then closed his hands, uttering a word of power, and all the elves stopped as though having been caught in a net.

              I stepped up, raised my hand and noticed blood dripping off my fingers where it had already soaked my shirt and reached my hand.

              I released a powerful amber blast directly at the elves.

              The lightning raced towards them and when it hit it spread out in a geometrical pattern, following the invisible netting that Nathan had established.              

The elves twitched and flopped in place, unable to fall unconscious due to Nathan’s construct.

              Nathan grunted, opened his palm and the elves fell to the ground where they began to dissolve and return home.

              I heard another massive roar, like the one that blew out the windows of the Neon.

              Nathan and I had both forgotten about the centaur.

              We jumped almost ten feet straight in the air and turned around. The centaur finally managed to untangle himself from the elves. It appeared that most had died when the centaur slammed into them, but the few that had survived didn't like being hit and let out their frustrations on the centaur.

              He had a few small knives sticking from his flank and a lone arrow protruded from his right bicep. The centaur had done our work for us, eliminating the angry elves with the sword he carried.

              Light green blood dripped from the blade, making a small puddle on the ground. As I watched, the elves slowly disappeared and the centaur faced us squarely.

              "Now there will be no more distractions, no more tricks little apes. I will fulfill my contract and bring your heads back for proof of your demise." He snarled in a voice so deep it seemed to come through the ground and up to my ears through my feet.

              "Demise?" I said sarcastically.

              "Man you need a thesaurus." I added.

              The centaur didn't have a very good sense of humor. He roared again and rose up intent on using his strength and speed to get us both.

              With one sweep of his sword, he probably could have done it. We had no intention on finding out.

              The moment he began his charge we both ran in opposite directions. I yelled to Nathan, "Divide and conquer!" I didn't have to worry if Nathan heard me, we had been working and fighting so long together we understood what each other was going to do. When we got about fifty feet apart the centaur stopped in between us.

              Facing neither but keeping one eye on both, he paused to see what we were going to do.

              We didn't make him wait long.

              Nathan began making movements with his hands and after a few quick motions, he added a word I couldn't understand but could feel as having real power.

              He then reached out and began making small chopping motions with his hands.

              All around us were huge pines; they were about the same size, maybe three or four feet in diameter. The first one he pointed at started to slowly slide, having been cut at an angle about ten feet from its base, in a clean surgical slice.              

I reached out and grabbed the tree with invisible hands, using its momentum and some of my own energy to drive the tree into the ground directly behind the centaur.

              We repeated the process five times, creating a make shift trap out of felled trees.

              The centaur was not impressed.

              He raised his sword with the intention of chopping his way out when I tapped into some of the crystals on my belt and hit him with a massive bolt of lightning.

              Once again the lighting was grounded out, but not until after the centaur seemed to tense for a second proving my theory correct.

              I knew the centaur had some sort of trick that was allowing him to diffuse my bolts, but since he didn't show that ability at our first meeting, I figured he had acquired the talent from a charm. The only problem with that is charms have a finite amount of energy stored in them allowing the bearer to get out of a sticky situation or do whatever the charm was intended to do just a few times. Having my suspicions confirmed boosted my confidence.

              I blasted him again.

              This time the electricity get through a little more and his sword hand involuntarily opened, dropping his blade to the ground. Which is why we created the cage, it removed his ability to maneuver the sword to defend against my blasts.

              I hit him again.

              This one was more effective, his muscles tensed. Dropping the sword weakened his defenses, giving him no protection from the incoming lightning.

              I hit him again.

              This time I smelt the strong odor of burnt hair and charred meat. He went down on to three legs and looked up at me with hate in his eyes.

              I hit him again.

              He rose up and his back arched as the full effect of the electricity found its way into his body, forcing every muscle to contract.

              He dropped and fell onto his side, unmoving. Every once in a while, a leg would twitch, but other than the occasional spasm, the centaur was still.

              I looked for Peotr and found that Nathan was already at his side. He had sat Peotr up with his back braced against a tree.

              Peotr was already beginning to wake up. Groaning as he came around. That didn't surprise me; Peotr was one tough son of a bitch.

              As I stood up, I let the walls I had built around the pain and weariness down, allowing it to come rushing back.

              My knees went a little wobbly as the exhaustion settled in and the pain found its rightful place at the head of the class.

              I made my way up to Peotr and Nathan watching as he slowly recovered from the centaur’s kick. Peotr came about in a few moments showing just how resilient the big bear was.

              "Did I miss all the fun?" He asked, as he leaned over to get a look at the caged unconscious centaur.

              "Looks like it." Nathan said.

              "How bad are you hurt?" I asked. Peotr waved me off as I came to take a closer look.

              "It's nothing; I have had girlfriends hit me harder than that pony." He said.

              "I wouldn't want to date them." I said teasing.

              "I'm fine, really. Quit doting on me like a mother hen." Peotr said.

              I looked back to the centaur. Nathan and I walked back to him. I knelt down and grabbed the big nose ring they all like to wear. I jerked on it a few times and said, "Wake up Bullwinkle." The centaur groaned and slightly and opened one eye.

              "Tell me who sent you and I won’t make horse stew. My partner gets real hungry after a fight and he’s likely to eat anything." I said.

              "I will tell you nothing ape; do with me as you wish." He mumbled.

              I looked to Nathan who shrugged his shoulder, meaning it was my call. I thought about what a creature like this would do to people if I left him alive. All the lives he would destroy and innocents he may harm. Centaurs generally kept to their own area of the Otherworld. This one had taken on a contract that had my name on it. He obviously didn't have a problem coming to our world and causing havoc. I had no love for this beast. I looked down at him and said. "Fine by me."

              As I began to gather energy a small hand appeared from the ground, it was pale and had only four long delicate fingers each one ending in small pearlescent claws.

              The hand reached out, touched the centaur’s shoulder, and he began to dissolve into the earth.

              "We'll meet again John Adams." The centaur promised, as he disappeared into another plane.

              "Damn, he’s gone." I swore.

              Nathan came over and saw the empty ground where the centaur had been, looked up at me, he gently backhanded my shoulder, bringing a wince out of me, and said, "C'mon we need to get Peotr to his house and see to your wounds."

              I had almost forgotten about the bites I had taken and the blood loss I had sustained. I suddenly felt a little light headed and swayed slightly on my feet. Nathan grabbed my arm.

"Easy, let’s get you both inside." He said.

              We slowly made our way up to Peotr’s cabin.

Chapter 12

Nathan did most of the heavy lifting. I wasn't much help. I was bone tired and my arms and neck were really starting to hurt.

              I could feel the steady rhythm of my heart as fresh waves of pain kept in time with its beats.

              Peotr fared much better. He seemed to improve by the second.

              By the time we made it out of the woods and up to the garden Peotr was back to his former health.

              He actually took over for Nathan, helping me, the last twenty feet. The man had been kicked in the chest by a huge centaur and was already fully recovered. I could only imagine how tough he would be in his bear form.

              We made it to the outdoor kitchen and Peotr reached into his jacket and pulled out a cell phone, one of the new ones that have a screen almost as big as the phone itself. He hit a button, said something that I couldn't quite hear and then put the phone back in his jacket pocket.

              "What was that anyway? A centaur?" Peotr asked.

              I sat in one of Peotr’s comfortable outdoor chairs with my right arm bent and my left holding the rag Nathan had given me to my neck, trying to keep blood from getting on the floor. The makeshift bandages we used had already soaked through. I wasn't in any serious danger. The wounds were bleeding, but the elves teeth didn’t hit an artery. If they had, I would have already been dead. They still hurt like hell.