The Dark Storm (33 page)

“Back to the shadows with you.” She infused power into her words before plunging the knife into the beast’s spine. The beast thrashed, knocking Asha off its back. She hit the ground in a roll, crashing into a pile of trash. She righted herself, expecting the dagger to have dissipated the black magic, only to find the creature still standing and tendrils of shadow rushing her. She raised her hands to counter, only to have them bound in shadow. The shadows pulled her roughly to the ground and dragged her towards the awaiting jaws of the winged beast.

A flash of black darted across her line of vision, and she was suddenly free from the shadow bands. The creature howled as gashes began to open up at different points on its body. When she was finally able to scramble to safety she got a glimpse of the creature’s tormentor. From the shape of it she knew it was the other shadow caster, but he no longer looked human. A patch of midnight sprinkled with brilliant stars that were roughly the shape of a man stood defiantly between Asha and the shadow demon.

Rogue lunged into the air and tore into the beast with shadow claws. Pools of blackness dotted buildings and cars as Rogue slashed the shadow beast. The beast countered with fang and fury, tearing a chunk out of Rogue’s shoulder. The mage expelled a wave of shadow, knocking the creature backward, and took a minute to examine the wound. At the rate the shadows were spilling from the wound he knew that he wouldn’t be able to hold the form long. He had to finish it quick.

Rogue launched his shadow form into the air, turning his fists into large shadow blades. Pieces of his form were knocked away as he closed on the beast, but he would not be denied. In a double-crossing motion, Rogue severed the beast’s head. The great beast reared up once, before
falling to the ground, dissipating as it went. When he finally connected, it was little more than dozens of shadow splotches on the ground.

Rogue’s shadow form staggered backward and came to rest on the bumper of a car. The darkness began to drip from him, exposing the haggard man beneath. His glasses and his ribs had been broken in the fight with Moses. With the protective shadow gone, blood now flowed freely from his shoulder and torso. When he tried to take a step he fell to his knees.

“Are you okay?” Gabriel rushed to his side.

“No, but I’m alive.” Rogue coughed. Blood and shadow spilled from his lips when he spoke.

“Rogue, we’ve got to get you to a hospital.” Gabriel helped him to his feet.

“I think we’ve got bigger problems.” Asha pointed at the pools of shadow that were inching back together.

“Let him come.” Gabriel powered up the Nimrod and pointed it at the pools.

“No, we might not be able to beat it again. We gotta get to the car,” Rogue insisted. Gabriel and Asha were able to help him to the car. Rogue didn’t look like he was in any condition to drive, but he didn’t trust anybody with his baby, so he made do. The headlights landed on the shadow that was starting to take the shape of a man again. Rogue managed to muster a weak smile, just before he gunned the Viper and smashed the shadows.

“So, what’s your stake in all this?” Gabriel asked Asha once they were away from the warehouse.

“What makes you think I have a stake in anything?” Asha asked as if she didn’t know what he meant.

“Don’t bullshit me, Asha. I didn’t realize it at first, but I know you were at the Triple Six. I felt your magic.” Gabriel recalled the confrontation in the alley outside the club.

“What you felt was Azuma. He’s my familiar,” she admitted.

“Your what?” Gabriel was confused.

“A conduit. The witches can channel power through the familiars, and vice versa,” Rogue explained.

“You’re awful versed in witch etiquette, mage.” Asha looked directly at Rogue, letting him know that he wasn’t the only one who knew things.

“Listen: let’s not stray off the subject. Why are you following me, Asha?” Gabriel demanded.

“I wasn’t following you, Gabriel. I was investigating the disturbance in the city and just happened to come across you in the process,” Asha told him.

“So, the king and queen sent the Hunt to sniff out the Nimrod?” Rogue asked.

“Not exactly. I’m kind of conducting my own investigation. Look, the important thing is that we may be able to help each other here. Maybe the coven can come up with some clues as to what’s going on. I can take the Nimrod to Dutch and—”

“Girl, I was born
at
night, not
last
night. There’s no way in hell that I’m gonna let Dutch get his hands on the Nimrod. For all that, I might as well deliver it to Titus myself,” Rogue said.

“And the mages would be better suited to handle it?” Asha shot back.

“Wait a second; why are you guys sitting here arguing over me like I’m a lawn tool?” Gabriel looked from Asha to Rogue. “Nobody is gonna handle anything. All I wanna do is find my grandfather and be rid of this thing. Now, if you wanna help me, I’ll gladly take the help, but if not, let me off on the next corner and stay out of my way.”

Rogue and Asha looked at each other knowingly. If Gabriel wanted to take the Nimrod and leave, there wasn’t
much either of them would be able to do about it. “Okay, Gabe. We can go back to—”

“Fuck!” Asha’s scream cut off Rogue’s statement. She was in the backseat clutching her head as if she was in great pain.

“Are you okay?” Gabriel reached to touch her, but she moved away.

“No, stay back. I don’t want to risk losing the vision.” She tried to focus on what Azuma was seeing. There was so much going on that she couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but there was blood and shouting coming from everywhere. She heard a loud explosion just before the connection was broken.

“What did you see?” Rogue asked anxiously.

“An army … blood … They’re all being slaughtered, the Great House is falling!” Asha’s words were clipped from the intensity of the vision.

“I don’t understand.” Gabriel looked to Rogue, who obviously knew something from the worried expression on his face. He threw the car into a U-turn so unexpectedly that Asha and Gabriel were thrown to one side.

“What the hell is with you, buddy?” Asha was shaking her head clear.

“The Great House. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before; I’m so freaking stupid.” Rogue punched the steering wheel. He redlined the car up Flushing, praying that he would get there in time.

“What is it, Rogue?” Gabriel asked.

“I think I know where your grandfather is.”

“Where did this fog come from?” Morgan wondered aloud when he stepped out of the burning house. Both the Knights and the Inquisitors were on his heels. The entire block was covered in a fog so thick that he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, but Jackson could see just fine and he didn’t like what he saw.

“I think we’ve got bigger problems than the weather.” Jackson’s blades slid out. There were shapes moving throughout the fog. He didn’t know what they were, but he knew they weren’t human. He was about to say something when he spotted a shape darting from the fog. He intercepted Illini’s spear right before it made contact with Morgan’s skull. “My, but you’re an ugly son of a bitch,” Jackson taunted the goblin.

“Die, human!” Illini pushed Jackson away and attacked. The goblin moved inhumanly fast, but Jackson matched him strike for strike. Illini tried to come at Jackson with an overhand strike, which Jackson dodged and countered by slicing him across the stomach. Before Jackson could follow up, a massive fist slammed into his jaw, knocking him to the ground. Before he could figure out which way was up he was snatched to his feet by what could only be described as a monster. The creature holding Jackson was a pale shade of green, with a head that
was almost twice the size of a pumpkin. Oversized teeth sat back in his massive jaws while a bone jutted through his lower lip.

“You don’t know who you’re fucking with.” Jackson rained blows on the creature’s massive head with his steel fists, which only seemed to amuse him.

“You have spirit for a mortal, and I’m sure you’ll make a fine snack.” The goblin sneered.

“You’ll find Jackson’s hide pretty tough to chew, especially with no teeth,” a voice called from behind the goblin. When he turned his head in the direction of the voice, Morgan smashed Illini’s face in with the hammer.

“I owe you one,” Jackson said, picking himself up off the ground.

“You owe me several, but we’ll settle up another time, old friend.” Morgan swung the hammer in an arc. “We’ve evil to banish.”

Goblins and wayward Stalkers dashed through the fog cutting down anything in their paths with teeth and steel. In the center of the carnage stood the large goblin that had dragged the cannon through the portal. His massive arms laid down friend and foe, and he devoured those he was quick enough to catch. When Jackson saw the broad smile spread across Morgan’s lips he had a bad feeling.

“Come on, Red,” Jackson pleaded, but Morgan was already moving towards the goblin.

“Foul creature, from that which is unclean,” Morgan addressed the goblin. “In the name of my Lord and my family, I cast thee back!” Morgan hurled himself and the hammer at the goblin. The creature let out a mighty roar when Morgan’s hammer connected with his jaw. He staggered backward, falling on the cannon and setting himself and everything around him on fire. Morgan thought that would be the end of the creature, but he came back at him as if he hadn’t even noticed the flames.

“Oh, damn,” Morgan blurted out as the creature swung for his head. Morgan dodged the blow and delivered a strike with his hammer to the creature’s ribs. He tried to land another blow, but the creature snatched Morgan off the ground, pinning his arm and the hammer at his side. The creature roared triumphantly as he clamped his teeth onto Morgan’s head. When the creature’s teeth shattered against Morgan’s skin he dropped him back to the ground.

Morgan’s skin was now covered in a stone layer and his eyes ghostly white. “The Dark Order will have no more of my blood in this lifetime.” Morgan hefted the hammer and lunged. This time he put everything he had into the swing. The hammer landed square in the middle of the creature’s forehead, shattering his skull. The goblin huffed and fell over dead at Morgan’s feet. He thought that the worse was over but realized that he had been wrong when Orden stepped from the fog.

“Usar was one of my most faithful,” Orden said, adjusting his grip on his blade.

“And now he’s your most dead,” Morgan shot back.

The two combatants circled each other.

“You will learn that to slay one of my subjects is an offense that I don’t take lightly,” Orden warned him.

“And you will learn that we don’t fight fair!” Jackson lunged through the mist with his blades drawn.

Three fierce-looking goblins leapt from the fog and landed on the front steps of Sanctuary, where De Mona and the others were huddled trying to make sense of what was going on. Brother David tried to scramble back inside, only to be cut down by the goblin’s blade.

“Brother David!” Julius drew his sword and attacked the goblins. Julius and the two goblins went flying off the steps and disappeared into the fog, leaving De Mona to deal with the other one.

With a roar the goblin attacked with a spiked club, but De Mona was ready for him. With a slash of her claws she reduced the club to splinters. Before the creature could recover, De Mona opened him from his chest to his neck. The goblin fell down the stairs choking on his blood.

“If it ain’t one thing it’s another.” De Mona took a defensive stance, alert for more attackers.

“What’s going on?” Lydia asked, recognizing De Mona’s voice. Fin was at her side, trembling. Unlike the rest of them, he could see perfectly clear in the fog.

“Goblins!” he belted out before bolting through the fog.

“Fin,” Lydia called after him.

“Leave him; we’ve gotta get outta this fog.” De Mona pulled Lydia along.

“Pity, I thought it was rather romantic,” a familiar voice called from behind De Mona.

She sighed, knowing who she would see when she turned around. “You can’t be serious.”

“It will take more than the petty efforts of your ragtag bunch to defeat me.” Riel banged his blade to his chest. He looked like shit from the beating he’d taken earlier, but there was still plenty of fight left in him.

“Friend of yours?” Lydia asked, backing up, holding her staff defensively.

“More like a rash that won’t go away,” De Mona told her. “I kicked his ass once; I can do it again.” De Mona rushed Riel, claws bared. A brutish goblin stepped out of the mist between De Mona and her prey and was rewarded by having half his face torn off. De Mona bounded over him in search of Riel, but the demon had disappeared back into the fog. Riel reappeared behind her and caught De Mona with a crushing right hook. De Mona spun and landed awkwardly, banging her head on the ground.

Lydia honed in on the sound of battle and caught Riel
in the jaw with her staff. The demon winced and looked at her as if she were a peon. “First a High Brother, and now a whore of the church, how many will the order have to lose before they realize they are undone?”

“We will never surrender to the likes of you,” Lydia told him. She recognized the scent of his cursed blade from Angelo’s body. “For what you’ve done to the High Brother, I’ll be sure to make your death a miserable one.”