Shimmer (17 page)

Kora knew it wouldn't keep them out of action for long, but hopefully it would be long enough to get at Vennum. David's head was frantically turning every which way, scanning each genie that appeared in an effort to spot Vennum. Where was he?

‘It's him!' cried David, dropping the hissing gas bottle and leaping away from her. David's voice cut through the roaring in her ears and she turned her head to look in the direction he was running. Just metres in front of them Vennum had materialised. With his jet black hair and dark, crazed eyes, and his body covered in harnessing scars, she would recognise him anywhere.

She watched as he finished shimmering into view. He had barely materialised when his dark eyes met hers and, in the tiny moment before he fell to his knees, she saw the light of recognition dawn in them.

David had drawn his dagger and with a cry of rage flew towards Vennum as Vennum's body sagged to the ground, unconscious.

Kora tried to push herself up to see what was happening, but the extra effort made her dizzy. She watched as David raised the dagger over Vennum's prone body, but then he hesitated. Kora strained higher to see what was wrong. Black dots swam before her eyes. Was she seeing things? Vennum's unconscious body began to shimmer and blur around the edges. His body shrank, and the long strands of greasy hair shimmered into a wild mop of shiny black curls. Vennum had transformed into her brother, Atym!

She tried to call out to David to stop but her lips refused to move. The whole world was spinning as she gasped for air. Her vision contracted until all she could see was David's shocked gaze as he turned his head to look at her, the knife still suspended in the air above her brother's heart. Then her strength gave out and she slumped into the red dust.

She forced her lungs to expand and pulled in a couple of long breaths. If only she could get rid of the gasmask. Slowly her vision cleared enough to be able to make out some of what was happening around her.

She tilted her head to the side, trying to spot David. How close he had come to killing her brother! She shuddered at the thought. Vennum must have wished for Atym to transform into a likeness of himself.

Her eyes roamed over the mounds of unconscious genies, searching for the real Vennum. A couple of them were already beginning to stir. There wasn't much time before the chloroform would wear off. When that happened, and all the genies woke up, Kora knew they wouldn't have a chance. Then her eyes fell on Rihando's familiar red coat. There was something odd about the way he was slumped on the ground. His back and head were propped up against a rock, almost as if he were simply sitting there with his eyes closed. She hoped he was okay.

Struggling to summon some magic, Kora attempted to heal herself. She had to get herself together to help David. But there was nothing left, and the effort just left her gasping again.

Then a voice she knew echoed down the desert slope.

‘So we meet again, soldier's son.'

Her eyes flew to the sound. About half way up the hill, upwind of the chloroform gas, stood Vennum, a heavy machine gun pointed straight at David's chest.

David was still crouched next to Atym, his face a mask of horror at what he had almost done. Now he slowly pushed himself to his feet and turned to face Vennum, the dagger still clutched in one hand.

Vennum laughed, his crazy, wild voice echoing loudly around the barren hillside. ‘You haven't changed a bit in the five years since I last saw you, boy,' he screeched. ‘I should have guessed that you would be the human Kora would choose for harnessing.' He laughed again and Kora could see the madness in his whirling eyes.

‘That was a cowardly thing to do, Vennum,' called David, nodding at Atym's small, limp body. ‘Sacrificing a child to save yourself.'

Vennum laughed again, his demented eyes swivelling towards Kora. ‘Well, well, well,' he cackled. ‘Look at the most powerful genie in the universe now.' She felt his black eyes burning into hers. ‘Pathetic! Bah! Can't even raise enough magic to stop a few bullets. I hope you haven't damaged her permanently, soldier's son.'

David pointed the dagger towards Vennum. ‘You won't live to find out.'

‘Foolish boy,' spat Vennum. ‘But it matters not, because in less than a heartbeat, you will be dead.' He cackled. ‘And she will be mine, along with all of Genesia.'

She watched in stunned horror as Vennum raised the machine gun higher. Kora had no doubt that it was fully loaded.

David stood tall, and his hand lifted as if to throw the dagger, but Vennum was much too far up the hill for there to be any hope of it reaching him. She had to save David! There was no way he could survive a volley of machine gun fire and she couldn't just watch him die. Kora struggled desperately to gather some power. Even a tiny trickle would be enough to give David a bullet shield. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to pull together some energy, but there was absolutely nothing left. Her body was an empty shell. And she was out of time. The world erupted in an explosion of noise as Vennum let fire with the machine gun. As if in slow motion a spray of bullets burst from the barrel and hurtled toward David.

She concentrated, trying desperately with every last ounce of her life force to summon forth some magic. But the effort was too much. She collapsed back against the dry earth. They had been defeated. Despair and sorrow overwhelmed her. Almost everyone she cared about was either harnessed or dead. She lay there, wishing the bullets were aimed at her instead, and waited the interminable few seconds she knew it would take before she heard the sound of David's dead body slump to the ground.

Kora closed her eyes and gave herself up to the agony that consumed her. She had failed. A memory of David from when she had first seen him played in front of her eyes. He had seemed so tall and strong. She remembered his curious ocean-blue eyes and how strange and unsettling they had been to her. It was too late now for her to admit that she found them interesting, beautiful even. It was too late now for anything.

An unexpected hammering exploded in the air around her. Bewildered, her eyes flew open and she blinked rapidly, convinced that she must be seeing things. David was surrounded by a thick shield of armour and all of Vennum's bullets were dropping uselessly to the ground. David looked as surprised as she felt.

A flicker of red caught the corner of her eye and she turned her head to meet Rihando's steady gaze. He gave her a wink and a gasmask appeared on his face. He must have seen theirs when they time-travelled back to the cave and known to wear an invisible mask. With a pointed look at the gas bottle Rihando purposefully lifted his hand and removed the mask, then slumped unconscious.

Vennum let out an angry curse. He flung away his now useless weapon and advanced towards David.

The glint of the dagger in David's hand flashed dangerously in the sunlight. She watched in fascination as David lifted his arm and hurled the deadly weapon directly at Vennum.

Vennum dodged to the left, but not quickly enough, and the flying dagger whistled past his head, slicing off a thick chunk of his ear on its way past. Blood spurted violently onto the sand. Vennum's roars of pain echoed in the morning silence while he clutched his head and blood gushed down his neck.

For a moment David just stood there watching, as if in shock, then he bolted for the dagger. Vennum lurched for David before he could reach it and knocked him to the ground. Vennum's eyes were black with pain and rage. She watched, horrified, as Vennum centred all his fury on David like a hurricane singling out a lone palm tree for destruction.

They struggled together on the sand. David was strong but Vennum was completely insane. He had both hands around David's throat. David shoved and kicked, frantically trying to shake the madman off him.

She knew she had to help him. The gas had run out and some of the genies were beginning to stir. Searching her body, she found the tiniest trickle of magic weaving itself back through her. She knew if she used that drop of magic now to help David, she may never get another chance to heal herself.

David shook Vennum off, but Vennum only charged at him again. Kora made her decision. It took all her effort to gather and command that tiny trickle of magic. Breathing heavily and sweating fiercely she conjured a gas grenade in David's hand.

Barely able to hold her eyes open she saw the look of shock on David's face as he stared down at the grenade in his hand. She wanted to shout out to him that it was okay, that it wasn't a real grenade, but her exhausted body refused to cooperate.

David's eyes glinted with a steely determination. Without hesitation he pulled the pin on the grenade and tossed it to the ground. With a soft hiss, the chloroform snaked into the dry desert air.

Darkness reached for her. She saw Vennum's body slump heavily onto David's, but the more she tried to focus on them the more the black dots swirling in front of her eyes got in the way. Unable to fight any longer, Kora finally let the darkness take her.

Kora wanted to open her eyes but her eyelids refused to lift.

‘Kora?' The murmuring of voices talking near her finally penetrated her fuzzy head.

She struggled once more with her eyelids and this time managed to prise them apart. Her father's anxious face loomed over her against the backdrop of a clear blue desert sky. ‘Am I dead?' she asked.

‘No, Empress,' Amurru rasped. ‘You live!'

Her father's worried face was directly in front of hers.

‘You must rest,' said her father. ‘Your body is trying to recover.'

Panic fluttered in her chest as she realised she could not feel any magic within her. She tried to sit up and a golden cushion appeared behind her head.

‘Here,' said her father, holding a juice to her lips. ‘This will help.'

It was the most delectable nectar she had ever tasted and slowly the fuzziness cleared from her brain and memories came flooding back.

‘David?'

‘I'm over here.' She turned her head to his voice and met his gorgeous, ocean-blue eyes. ‘Trying not to harness any more genies.'

She slumped back against the cushion that was a lot more comfortable than the hard desert ground. Her body may be slow but her head was catching up fast. Of course, David would need to keep away from her father.

‘And Vennum?' she asked.

‘Unconscious,' said Amurru. ‘Thanks to you, Empress.'

‘Rihando has taken him to the Slaytians,' said her father. ‘They have agreed to unharness all his genies.'

‘And then will Rihando banish him from Genesia?'

Her father nodded. ‘Vennum will never again be able to return to Genesia and the High Council will begin the difficult task of identifying and sentencing the rogue genies.'

‘I am sorry, father.' She placed her hand in her father's and he squeezed it gently. ‘I know you did not want to have to bargain with the Slaytians.'

‘They are deciding on their price now, but whatever it is, it will be worth it. I wish for nothing more than to have my family safe and Genesia free once again.'

‘And Atym?' She glanced at David as she remembered what had almost happened to her brother. ‘He is okay?'

‘The little one has learned much,' said Amurru, blinking his yellow eyes. ‘And he is a survivor, like his sister.'

She felt the absence of her power. ‘I have survived,' she said. ‘But I am not the same.'

‘Give it time, Kora,' said her father. ‘No genie in history has ever wielded that amount of magic. How else do you think I knew to come here?' He smiled at her. ‘The ripples were felt even in the Genesian wilderness.'

‘And what were you really doing out there?'

She watched her father and Amurru exchange a guarded look. ‘It is a story for another time.' Her father reached into his pocket and withdrew her globe, placing it on the cushion next to her. ‘Right now all I care about is that you and Atym are safe.'

She took a long, deep drink of her juice and her eyes returned to David. He was covered in blood and dirt. ‘What happened?' she asked. ‘The last thing I remember is sending you the gas grenade.'

‘Crikey,' he said. ‘I thought you intended to blow us all up.'

She couldn't help but smile. ‘It did not stop you from pulling the pin.'

David shrugged. ‘As long as it got rid of Vennum I was all for it.'

‘Thank goodness the grenade worked.'

‘Like a charm.' David paced as close as he dared to Kora and her father. ‘Vennum was out cold in seconds. I put the gasmask back on Rihando and as soon as he woke up he made me a chloroform mask for Vennum.'

‘How long will the chloroform mask last?'

David smirked. ‘It won't run out like the gas. I had Rihando make it so that the chloroform has a constant supply and then I tied it over Vennum's face. He won't wake up until Rihando and the Slaytians want him to.'

Her father stood and faced David gravely. ‘As a father I am deeply grateful to you, David, for all you have done. You have proven yourself to be a human of extreme courage and bravery. As Emperor, on behalf of all of Genesia, I thank you. If there is ever any way we can repay this debt to you then you need only ask.'

‘Thank you, sir,' said David. ‘But my wish has already been granted.'

‘Not quite,' said Kora. ‘We still need to find your father's body and bring it home.'

‘I will investigate this myself.' The Emperor bowed his head. ‘You have my word.'

Kora managed to shove her foot into Amurru who was waiting silently beside her. ‘Do not think we do not know what part you played in all of this,' she accused. ‘You and your sneaky creation magic, making sure that of all the people and places on Earth, that I should end up harnessed to the son of a human that Vennum had killed!'

‘I beg your forgiveness, Empress,' said Amurru, not looking the least bit sorry and shuffling away out of kicking distance. ‘I only allowed it to be, the rest you created for yourselves.'