The Seven (Fist of Light Series) (45 page)

Before leaving, I touched a hand to Jeeves, filling the katana with a store of lightning that wasn’t likely to dissipate. “This way!” I beckoned and raced off toward the sensation.

“You need to do all the fancy maneuvering for me,” I told Jas.

Jas’ nervousness, hidden slightly by a faint amusement, was translated perfectly through our link. “Just worry about keeping us alive. I’ve got your back
and
your front.”

My footsteps were light upon the ground, for the Air around me cushioned and sped my progress. I searched out my available options and went to work on narrowing down the possibilities. There wasn’t much I could do with any of the Metal around me, although there was a surplus of it everywhere. The Magnetic Twins of Death and Destruction were likely to be able wreak a lot of damage with it, so I remained alert for anything of that nature. Water flowed in great abundance in storm drains, fire hydrants, and the underground pipes that transported it all across the city. As we hiked past a group of the Order, I determined that it would be beneficial to have Water on hand, to prepare for anything untoward thrown at me.

Kasper and Gang wouldn’t be long in coming, so I stopped not far in front of the backup behind us. They would be able to move up, or back, depending on what would be storming our position. I was in luck, because there was a fire hydrant off to my left. Finding it within my capabilities, I walked up to the outcropping and touched it, using the slight ability I possessed in Metal. Water exploded into the street in a fountain of spray, soaking me completely. It washed off much of the blood my clothes had accumulated, so I was in no position to complain. Hearing chuckles from behind, I directed a foreboding look that way. Walking back to the middle of the street, I commanded the Water to flow surreptitiously uphill, although the fifteen foot high fountain would be readily visible for any with half a brain. I focused upon the Earth below as it began to tremble tellingly.

No doubt Razor was at work, but his impenetrable stare had me faltering when I began to ask him about his motives. He didn’t seem like he desired company, or to share anything, so I left him to his own devices.

“What in the name of God is that?” Bill asked. It was hard to continue to think of the director as Bill, when he said things like that.

“A perversion of nature. He devoured the essence of a being from another dimension,” I said.

“I know of it,” he replied grimly, knuckles whitening on his hammer.

“Here they come,” Razor grunted.

I summoned mental images of my “parents” stabbing me for fortitude and Em for anger. I didn’t know how much the emotion would mess with my powers, but they were necessary components. I doubted I would be able to keep my cool, so might as well stoke the fire while the opportunity presented itself. I raised my hands and summoned lightning into existence and to insulate and protect me from bodily harm. Gyrating arcs formed in front of me, and flat discs circled lazily above my head. Jas stood unflinching in the midst of it all, and I had to give him credit for his bravery, or stupidity. They seemed closely linked to another, but he was given the benefit of the doubt since he was my friend, and the first option was chosen. Bill held his mighty hammer aloft, and its light penetrated the darkness around us, giving us a clear view of those who were approaching.

The good news was that there were only a few hounds with them, but the bad news slightly outweighed that. My surrogate mom and dad were there, and their attendance was a twist of the now-gone knives in my gut. I found myself speculating about the origins of my true parents, but the ruminations were dispelled and anger was allowed to take firm root. The slow burn of hatred wasn’t permitted to overwhelm my processes, though it lessened my divergence of thought and kept me focused on the task at hand. My musings diverted to The Viper, but he was nowhere to be seen. Kasper oozed Darkness, and it swirled around him, protecting him from harm as the lightning did for me. Em’s compulsion was subtle, but since I was looking for it, I felt the electric thrill on the air, and warned the others of it.

“The girl has a nasty compulsion, so be wary. The Twins there,” I pointed them out, “seem to have no need to come into contact with Metal to influence and control it.”

There was no response, just a piqued readiness of hearts and weapons against the fight to come. Jas brought the katana up in front of me and coiled into a fighting stance. The Earth trembled below my feet, and I looked questioningly at Razor. His face was distorted with rage, and I held my tongue for the second time. They were fifty feet, and then twenty feet in front of us before they stopped. Brains and Ugly were present, causing bile to form in my mouth.

Kasper spoke up. “I see you’re still alive, by some twist of fate. Razor, a delight to see you again! Have you come to join our cause? No? Well then, it seems there’s nothing for it. I have given you every chance to choose the proper path, the path of righteousness.”

“
He’s always loved the sound of his own voice
,” Jeeves chuckled darkly.

The ground shook and molten Earth burst through the street, splashing onto the forms of Brains and Ugly. Their screams filled the air as they were burned alive within seconds, and my only regret was that they didn’t suffer longer. The Twins faced the shop fronts on either side and made come-hither motions. Metal screeched and buildings timbered, falling in the pathway of the magma, delaying its progress. Dark tendrils snaked forwards, dozens of them, aimed at our party. Jas and Bill went to work on those, while I reacted to halt further action. Lightning streaked outward, but for every shot, a hound leapt in line to protect its master. Grimacing, I called Air, shaped it into a thin arcing line and propelled it down the street.

The pot shot was redirected, however, and sent spinning back our way by my pseudo-mother. I managed to bring up a shield of Air in time to hold the projectile back, but just barely. Taking advantage of the stockpiled Water, I commanded it to coalesce and batter at my enemies. Em and my father worked together, and the waves were turned into steam in quick order. Steam, however, is very hot, and I heard a few screams. We traded blows like that for some time, exchanging them without causing much bodily harm, but tiring ourselves in the process. It seemed it would come down to whoever had more power at their command, and Jeeves’ warnings about such actions echoed in my head.

“Advance,” I panted, then followed my own directive.

Collectively, we marched forward as Kasper prepared more of his ravens to throw at us. The magma had eaten through the supports of the buildings and giant hands formed out of the heated Earth, which began to pursue my father and Emily. The D&D Twins noticed our approach first and worked in concert to stop us. More screeching emitted from the buildings around us and metal objects were attracted to the brothers. Once they had gathered what they believed to be a sufficient quantity, they repulsed the objects toward us at high speeds. The sharp projectiles would do great injury if they touched any of us.

“Caleb,” Jas gritted his teeth, holding his sword before him.

I clapped my hands before me and called Air, forming a barrier of ferocious wind to return the deadly projectiles to their senders. Bill’s mighty hammer fizzled and sent a bolt of light at Kasper, as he was up to no good in the back of the group. He back-peddled, stunned, and sent pure Darkness at the shining hammer. Mr. Tanner took the power on his hammer without flinching, it seemed Kasper might as well thrown flowers at him, for all the good it did him. After reaching up to the rotating disks above my head, I sent them spinning rapidly, creating a blurred convex of lightning. As the Twins formed two spheres of destruction, I sent my energy blast at one of them. It spun dizzyingly, moved faster than anyone was prepared to react, slicing one Twin in half at the waist.

“My baby, join us! You will be a king among men, if you only submit!” my mom yelled.

“You aren’t my mother!” I yelled back. “I see where that got me last time, and I won’t be making the same mistake twice!”

Blood and guts went flying, blinding the second Twin and stunning Em. Score two for the good guys! A flock of ravens locked on to us, and it took Jas and Tanner at their best to keep them away from our crew. Meanwhile, my mom shot a concussion of wind at Razor, effectively taking his magma hands out of the equation. Razor tumbled backward end over end, but quickly righted himself and started purposefully forward. There was hardly a ten-foot spread between the two of us, and so we were forced to stop, rather than continue forward without Razor. At this distance, there was little or no time to react, and so Kasper’s furtive strike was that much more effective. Tendrils snaked up out of the ground, five feet around and not encumbered at all by their massive size, as they should have been.

“Concede defeat, or I will destroy you!” Kasper demanded.

“In your dreams!” Jas managed to stick out his tongue as he slashed a tentacle in two.

I allowed Mr. Tanner and Jas to take care of the problem. A tendril, black as the night it inhabited, smashed down on the ground next to me. I leaped to one side to avoid being demolished in the same fashion as the street had been. Kasper glided forward, rapier in hand, and began a series of lightning fast strikes directed at Bill. I planted my feet and latched onto more power to form a barrier of Air around Kasper’s dark sword, holding it in place. A battle of wills ensued, Kasper’s and mine arrayed against each other. Time slowed, stopped, and we set ourselves against each other. The rapier moved an inch, and then halted. My feet slid back upon the pavement with the movement, but I pushed back with all the strength at my command. In slow motion, Mr. Tanner swung his hammer at Kasper, but it moved through space as if caught in amber, hardly at all.

With a snarl, I maintained the fashioning of Air, but called another four blocks of power, forcing them at Kasper. He diverted all of them, but failed to see the column that had been sent in their wake. With an expression of horror, he was launched backwards through the air, into the molten lava with a scream of incoherent rage. All action stopped, as we determined whether there was no longer a fight to be had. Razor, however, saw no reason for such temporary truce shenanigans, and his magma engulfed my not-parents and Emily in turn. The tentacles around us thrashed, striking out randomly at everything within range. Jas was knocked sideways with a blow to his body, and I rushed over to his side.

“I’m fine.” He rubbed his bleeding temple, grabbed the katana from the ground, and stood unaided.

When I turned around, I was equally as stunned as Jas. Em walked out of the magma unscathed, and my pseudo-father did a fair impression of her, although her clothes were immaculate while his were singed and burning. Kasper made a much more dramatic entrance, or rather,
exit
from the magma, wrapped in Darkness with wings that carried him above the surface and into the night sky. Orbs of Fire began to rain down on us from above, and I strained to command a veil of Water to form above us. Without further warning, hundreds of snakes fell from the sky, disrupting the continuity of my barrier and collapsing it entirely. Those snakes in turn collected, combined together, slithering into a disgusting whole. Starting from the ground up, legs appeared, then a body, followed by arms, a head, and a gigantic sword forged of Darkness.

“I believe this one’s mine.” Bill stepped forward assuredly and began striking at the monstrosity.

Razor detached from the group and split the Earth at the other three’s feet, and I sent a few bolts of lightning their way on basic principle. The Earth engulfed them and I felt Razor’s struggle to close it upon them. Jas had gathered most of his wits by this time, and so I did what any insane person in my position would have.

“Jas, I need you to protect Razor. I have to go after Kasper.”

Jas nodded. “You gotta do what you gotta do. Take him to the rooftops.” He sprinted off in the direction of the hole.

Calling air to lift me into the heavens, I fervently hoped that this wouldn’t be the last time I saw my friend. After depositing as much power as possible into the design, I shot upward, the night blurring around me. Because Kasper couldn’t be located by sight, I was forced to rely on my other senses to get a feel of where he was lurking. Locking on to his position wasn’t difficult, and I popped off some shots with all due haste. That got his attention, and he turned his focus from Mr. Tanner to me in an instant. A blast of Fire rocketed toward me, and then split into miniscule fragments, snaking outwards and coming at me from all sides. Improvising, I brought the moisture out of the air, forming a sphere of Water around me mid-flight. The Fire became impotent steam as it collided with my makeshift shield, and I flash-froze the Water midair before forcing it outward.

“Just
die
already!” Kasper screamed.

“If you surrender, I’ll make it quick!” I promised. “You’ve worked long enough to annihilate this world, you can do whatever you wish in the next. I hope for your sake it isn’t as hot as they say it is!”

“I will rule Earth, and you will rue the day you stood against me! Every citizen in my dominion will know of your horrible demise!”

I found myself agreeing with Jeeves’ earlier statement. We were well above any buildings, two thousand or so feet. If one of us fell, there would be no getting back up again. The projectiles of ice moved stealthily toward Kasper, their points sharp and menacing. The night sky seemed to boil and the daggers were snatched up and flung back toward me. Cursing the fact that I was sitting stationary in the sky, I sent a blast of Air out to my right, hoping that I would remove myself from harm by doing so. My body didn’t believe I had done so well in that endeavor. A thump announced the collision of an object with my right thigh, and I cried out at the icicle protruding from my skin.

Lightning flickered into existence, and I set up another column of Air to take me down to the level of the buildings below. Kasper followed, scenting blood in the water and cackling all the way.