Reborn (The Cartographer Book 2) (38 page)

Shai smiled broadly. It was the smile of the Cheshire Cat; toothy and loaded with mischief. “She missed you while you were gone.” They stepped off the ramp and he poked her again with the sword, prodding her forward. “Go ahead dear tell him how much you missed him.”

She looked up and the sun shined off her tear-stained face. She used her shoulder to wipe them away. With a final sniff she composed herself. She looked around before locking her eyes on mine. “It's true,” she croaked. “I did miss you.” Suddenly, she smiled.

Shai appeared amused by the show. He looked over and addressed the crowd. “See Corvus, I told you she would be pleased to see him again.”

Corvus did not seem as amused as him. “Stop this stupidity, Shai. We have more important matters at hand.”

He approached me and I raised the chain to strike. Before I could bring it down I felt something close around my throat. I dropped to one knee, confused. The closest person to me was Corvus but he was at least ten feet away. I clawed at my throat, trying to pry away hands that weren't there. Gasping I struggled with my throat while Corvus approached slowly with a smile.

“You have worn out your welcome, Cartographer,” he sneered. “We will crush the Consortium. Your Insurgent friends will follow. The universe will belong to me!”

My legs gave way and I collapsed, struggling to draw breath. Fear took over until Vanth appeared before me like an illusion. A single word fell from his lips before he vanished:
Remember
. I closed my eyes and did as he commanded.
Fear is the strongest emotion of all. It feeds upon the concept of death, Nathan. If you refuse to fear death then you starve fear. Only then can you truly conquer it.
I was about to die. I needed to not fear it. I opened my eyes and willed myself to my feet.

Corvus' eyes widened with surprise. Once I overcame the fear, his psychokinetic ability was useless.
Is this what humans become in the future?
I remembered what Sam told me about the experiments using autistic children. Do I even want to be a part of an Earth like that? Horrified, I took a step toward him and raised the voltaic chain above my head.

“No, this is impossible,” he gasped.

I heard a scream and looked in Shai's direction. The blade of his sword protruded from Deena's midsection. The distraction was enough for Corvus to knock me to my knees again. I felt the crushing weight of invisible hands around my throat. All of a sudden, everything moved in slow motion as I struggled to regain control. Deena fell to the ground while her lifeblood fell from Shai's sword in scarlet raindrops. Fury unlike any I had ever experienced before bubbled to the surface. I regained control and sprang to my feet, lashing out with the chain. My intended target was Corvus but an unfortunate Scarlet Moon soldier got between us. The chain snaked around his legs and I pulled him down. A loud hum filled the air as the electric charge fed on its prey. The soldier's bloodcurdling scream penetrated the otherwise silent oasis. The odor of cooked flesh filled my nostrils as the charge coursed through his body.

Before the other soldiers could fire on me, Corvus lunged. I felt cold metal touch my throat as he fell on me. He had a dagger in his hand and a madness in his eyes. “It's time for you to die,” he growled through clenched teeth.

My hand fell to my waist and touched the 'last resort'. My finger found the tab. The Shreen moved in closer. They seemed entertained by the show. The remaining Scarlet Moon soldiers gathered around us as well. Apparently no one wanted to miss Corvus cut my throat. I fingered the tab with the realization that I could take them all out with one simple flick of the wrist.
Death is just a doorway to another journey
. “I guess it's time to see if you were right Vanth,” I whispered.

Before I could pull the tab I was showered in blood. Most of the coppery liquid fell into my mouth and I gagged. Corvus' eyes were wide saucers of surprise. A double-bladed knife was stuck through his throat. He gasped and tried to speak but the words formed bloody bubbles on his lips. The knife was pulled out in a spray of blood and he collapsed next to me. Calypso stood over us, clutching the murder weapon.

I wiped as much of the blood from my mouth as I could with the back of my hand. “What the hell?” I cried in surprise.

“You are probably wondering why I did that,” Calypso mused while using Corvus' shirt to wipe the blood from his dagger.

Shai approached, sliding his sword into his belt. “It's done.”

Calypso nodded and looked at the object I held in my hand. “What's that?”

I pressed the button on the cube and nothing happened. Calypso and Shai laughed. Shai waved his hands in the air, feigning surrender. “I give up,” he mocked.

“Dammit, Grillick,” I muttered. I turned it over in my hand. A word was written on the side;
THROW
! Shocked, I threw the cube to the ground where it split like an egg. Three metal legs folded outward from the center which caused the cube to flip over forming something similar to a camera tripod. Shai and Calypso took a step back when the cube collapsed on itself, revealing a fourteen inch barrel. Bullets flew. I ducked out of the way and so did Shai and Calypso. The Scarlet Moon soldiers weren't so lucky when the barrel pivoted in a 360 degree arc, cutting through them like wheat. The Hydrophants jumped into the pond, leaving one of the Shreen wide-open. He took several shots to the chest and stumbled backwards. The other Shreen managed to get his lobster claws in front of him, protecting his torso. His claws were so well armored that it was no more effective than it would have been had I been tossing M&M's at him. This did provide me with one important tactical advantage, however. Everyone had been so concerned with dodging bullets that they were no longer concerned about me.
STRIKE NOW.
Vanth's voice shouted at me from the back of my mind.

I closed my hand and the chain fell to the ground, crackling with blue fire. Shai was preoccupied, cowering on the ground with his face pressed into the sandy earth. The turret stopped firing and I struck. I ignored Calypso and wrapped the chain around his throat. His scream was ear-splitting. His eyes bulged to the point I thought they would simply pop from their sockets. Calypso jumped out of the way and ran for his ship. He threw one final horrified look our way before ducking into the ship. I pulled the chain with all my might. All of my hatred, all of my anger flowed through me. The muscle I packed on during training bulged from my biceps as I tugged harder. I didn't stop. Even when I heard the tearing sound I refused to stop. With a final pull, he gasped for his life. “DIE!” I growled before I fell backwards with a thud. The chain snapped back into place just as Shai's head rolled past.

Gunfire erupted behind me, but I didn't care. My rage had consumed me. I leapt on his head and pounded it repeatedly. I didn't stop when his eyes popped out of his sockets. I didn't stop when his nose was nothing more than shredded flesh. I didn't stop when Calypso flew past in Shai's ship. I didn't even stop when I heard my name.

“
Nathan
!”

I continued pounding as I thought of Satou, Deena, Wraith and my missing hand. More flesh tore from his skull, more bone splintered yet I continued pounding. Bone became embedded in the metal joints of my prosthetic hand yet I continued pounding. I pounded until someone grabbed my wrist. Chunks of flesh and bone fell from my knuckles.

“
Nathan
!” The voice shouted again.

I turned my fury on my newest attacker. Before I could land a single blow I looked into a familiar face filled with horror. I became convinced that the person must have been an apparition, because it was impossible to comprehend their existence at that time. I collapsed in their arms, overwhelmed from exhaustion. I looked up again and squinted against the sun's brightness, watching as the expression of horror softened into a warm smile. I never felt more relieved to see someone. It felt good to see her again.

Lianne
.

The Aftermath

The Shreen soon joined the Scarlet Moon in death. The shot-blocking Shreen ended up with a ragged, charred hole in his face for his trouble. His pal was on the ground not far from him, bloodied and lifeless. While surveying the carnage several winged beasts flew past me with their crude weapons clutched in their claws. They were escorted by Vayne and his merry band of “mini-Vayne” crewmembers, armed with hand cannons.

“It's the Quark!” I blurted.

Urlan approached with a bemused Vigil on his heels. Urlan bowed but with his oversized wings it made the gesture appear awkward. “We meet again,” his gravelly voice cracked. When he spoke it sounded like an angry landslide.

“Look what we have here,” Vigil crooned. A smile played at the corner of his lips. “When Vanth updated me on your progress I didn't believe it first.” He surveyed the scene. “Now that I see what happened here, it appears I was wrong.”

Lianne touched the side of my face. “Are you hurt?”

I wiped my face with the back of my hand and it came back sticky with blood. “It's his,” I said, motioning to the corpse of Corvus. I slid my index finger along the base of my throat and winced. It too came back sticky with blood. “I'm afraid this is mine.”

“Well at least you made it through the fight without someone trying to turn you into a cyborg,” a voice growled behind me. Kedge stood behind me with his arms folded across his chest. “Yeah the gang's all here. Don't go getting all mushy on me.”

I was pleased to see my old friends but my happiness was short-lived when I looked past them. Deena's body was being examined by One of Vayne's crewmembers.

“Get away from her,” I screamed and ran to her. The crewmember jumped back with a look of alarm.

I cradled her head in my arms. Despite the desert heat she was cold to the touch. Where her face was once warm and vibrant it was now pale and lifeless. Her eyes looked blankly to the sky as if searching the heavens for an answer to the injustice of her murder. Although I felt a familiar burning at the corner of my eyes I refused to weep. Vanth spoke up from the recesses of my mind.
Do not weep for your friends in death, Nathan. They no longer bear the burdens life thrusts upon all her victims. Their soul's voyage to the afterlife is a voyage we all must face.

“Except you, Vanth,” I whispered. “Except for you and your
Timeless
.” I pushed the thought aside as quickly as it came. I didn't need anger either. Anger was nothing more than a tool without a job, like a hammer without nails.

Lianne's hand fell on my shoulder. “I'm so sorry, Nathan.”

I lowered my head and closed my eyes. “Calypso got away.” I let the statement linger for a moment before continuing. “If you truly care, then help me destroy him.”

Her hand fell from my shoulder. “I will,” she responded firmly. She paused. “Don't forget about the Consortium too, Nathan. We must deal with them as well.”

“By my calculations it is indeed a conundrum,” a voice squeaked. I looked up from Deena's face to see Grillick approaching. “Oh I do so love conundrums. To solve the equation presented we will simply reflect our focus from one enemy to another.”

Lianne glanced at him uncertainly. “Um, okay, so what does that mean?”

Grillick eyes filled with sadness when he looked at Deena's corpse. “It simply means our enemies remain the same. I have spoken with Ibune and she called for an assembly.”

I laid Deena's head gently on the ground and I ran my fingers over her eyes, shutting them forever. When I slid my hand from behind her head, Lianne winced when she saw that my right hand was not what I had originally been born with. She remained silent on the subject, however.

“An assembly of what?” I asked. Exhaustion began to creep into my voice. I was emotionally as well as physically drained.

“For the first time in centuries we will have a formal gathering of the Timeless,” Grillick explained. “We have been summoned and will meet aboard her ship.”

“So what does this assembly mean?” asked Lianne.

“It means that this conflict veers dangerously close to something we are trying to avoid.” Vigil explained enigmatically as he approached. “The Twelve are meeting in order to come to a consensus.”

Vigil reached down and pick up the corpse of Deena. The care he put into it went against the assumptions I had made based on past interactions with him. He did it with the kindness of a father. When he looked at me his eyes were full of sympathy.

“We will take care of her.” He walked towards Grillick's ship.

“Wait a minute,” I exclaimed and started to follow them. “Where is he going with her?”

Grillick placed his hand on my arm. “We are born of the universe,” he explained. “That is where we must return. She will be given the proper rite of passage to her next destination.”

I watched as Vigil loaded her into the back of something Grillick referred to as an all-terrain skiff. The vehicle was nothing more than a Humvee with tank treads instead of tires. Sergeant Cantrell was behind the wheel. With a heavy heart I watched as they continued over the hill toward the ship.