The Druid's Spear (Ascent of the Gem Bearers Book 1) (7 page)

I will peel your skin layer by layer until you tell me where the blood gem is.

“Is that why you killed John?” he yelled. “Because of this…this…blood gem?”

No. I killed him because I thought he was you.

His muscles went slack. Shock drove away the pain as one thought came to the forefront. John had died…because of him.

It laughed, and the roar of it hurt his head as it released him.

The creature stared down at him and pulled the gloves off. It raised its arm, the hand-like appendage tipped with talons.

This was happening. This was really happening.

John died because of me.

Tears swelled in his eyes and scalded his burned face but he didn’t care. All he could think was that somehow, he’d lost his brother. Sorrow forced a moan from him.

You have one last opportunity to tell me where the blood gem is. If you do, I’ll take your life quickly
.

Ken watched as the talons of one hand glowed a dull red. Then the creature punctured his shoulder and he hissed as it burned. The scent of charred flesh and blood wafted around him. His flesh, his blood. It hurt even more when the talons withdrew to stab him repeatedly across his chest and sides.

The metallic taste of fear sickened him. John’s death and its cause were pushed aside as Ken realized he was going to be tortured for something he didn’t even know about. For few seconds his breath wheezed through his bruised body. Was it going to end like this?

Keep moving
.

Okasan’s voice.

Don’t just sit there. Keep moving, man.

John’s voice.

Why was he just sitting there, waiting to die? That wasn’t his way.

Keep moving!
Both their voices cried out.

Ken felt something awaken inside. A tingling sensation cascaded over him. His muscles hardened to steel-like tenacity. He reached out with his good arm and touched the lamp. Something sparked against his fingertips. The tingling sensation strengthened as he held on to the lamp. The light flared and cast shadows along the wall. Now the feeling changed to that of being stung by millions of hair thin needles. It inched along his skin, warming him. With his last ounce of strength, he threw the lamp at the thing.

“Burn in hell, whatever you are!”

Something went wrong.

A force exploded from him. Spasms of electricity blasted forth from the lamp as it connected with the creature. In a wave-like movement, the electric force collided with the being. A wail of pain rumbled from its mouth as the electricity dug into its body. Ken gasped as the glowing talons reached down, gripped him by his hair and threw him out the window. The stars flew by. Cool air traveled along his weightless, torn, and heated flesh.

Then he landed in something that made him dance and spark. His body shuddered, jerked, and sizzled. The scent of charred flesh once more lifted to his nose.

As he fell to the ground, he saw John and
Okasan
waving from a field of flowers.

Rin’s eyes were glued to the spectacle as the man’s body crashed into the electric gird several feet in front of her. She along with the rest of the group gasped in shock as the body jerked in a wild dance as the electricity flowed through him. The eerie absence of a human scream made the sight all that more strange.

Soon his body fell to the ground.

“Is that the Descendant?” Skepticism laced Donvar’s voice, his stocky frame rigid in disbelief.

A frown creased her brow at the question. Surely Rhychard—
sama’s
seed would be more powerful? Wouldn’t he be able to defeat Ludovicus?

Her heightened sense of awareness was sensitive to every sound and sight around her. Although the lights flickered momentarily, they remained on. That was good. She hadn’t stepped foot into a city for quite some time, but she knew if the lights stayed on the less chance someone would browse for answers and discover them.

She drew her attention back to the prone figure on the ground. It was unlikely that any man among the millions in this city would fly out of a window in the near dark of night because of a random burglar. It could then only mean one thing.

“Ludovicus is here,” she muttered.

“
Yokatta
!” the nasally voice of Luke, her rear guard, exclaimed. “We can take him out now before the Spear takes form.”

“
Hai
,” Alderic growled in agreement. He flexed his arms, the bulge of them illuminated under the meager light. “Let’s see if he can stand up to me.”

“
Iie!
Stand down,” she ordered. “If that is the Descendant, then he’s out there on the ground because Ludovicus threw him there. We are not ready for a confrontation of that sort.”

“We could all be dead like him,” Odin, practical and pessimistic to a fault, chimed in.

“We should go to him and see if he’s still alive.” Donvar bounced up and down on his feet. The man was always ready to sally forth for anything. Life, death– it didn’t matter. His rule of thumb: act now, think later.

Rin agreed. Time was of the essence. If indeed the burned figure on the ground was the Descendant, they had to retrieve him, and fast. Especially if Ludovicus still lingered about.

She stood from her crouched position. “I’ll go and determine his condition.”

“I’ll go,” Alderic interjected, puffing up his chest. “I am the strongest.”

“And the stupidest,” Donvar quipped in a low tone.

Alderic scowled. “Look, pebble. I could crush you with one hand.”

The short man bristled like a cat on edge. “Say it again, Alderic—
kun.
”

“I’m glad you have time for these little squabbles. Really I am. It’s just the Descendant over there that may be dead. Ludovicus could come and rip our heads off. No problem, right?” Her voice dripped with acidic sarcasm. In the dim light, she saw their faces drop in chagrin. Except for Alderic’s, who looked affronted.

Silence reigned among the group. Rin waited a few more moments. The city, wired, lit, and noisy still had moments of darkness and isolation. When no one came into the vicinity, she trotted to where the man lay.

Rin bent and studied the still body. By some miracle, he was still breathing. Charred clothing covered a body stained with blood, blisters, and seared flesh. His face was an artwork of singed hair, cuts, and scrapes.

He was in a bad way, but still alive. She knew then only the seed of Rhychard—
sama
could survive such an attack. She raised her hand and gave the signal. The group shuffled around her, whispering urgently the best way to carry him so as to not cause further injury. Her ears were attuned to their surroundings, so she didn’t miss the steps of pedestrians coming close to their position.

“Someone’s coming.”

Luke moved to the edge of the building and peeked around the side. Then he cursed. “A couple with a dog.”

“A dog?” Rin said slowly, tasting the words. “Alderic, you and Odin figure out the best way to handle the Descendant. Luke and Donvar, cover me. If this doesn’t work, then you’ll have to knock them out.”

“
Ha,i
Uchida-san
,” they both said.

She ran to the edge of the building. The couple, a man and woman, strolled languidly with the dog in front of them. Crouching down, she placed her hand on her wrist guards studded with gems, and concentrated on the animal.

She couldn’t talk to it, but if she tried, she could possibly influence it. Focusing, she sent an idea to the canine.
Over there, run over there.

The dog stopped moving, and shook its head. Its ears stood alert, twitching this way and that.

Rin tried again.
Over there, run over there.

Instead, the dog growled and started to run her direction, much to the astonishment of the couple. This wasn’t going to work.

“Luke, Donvar, now—”

An extremely tall man suddenly materialized in front of the couple. The dog barked twice in warning and then stopped. It whined and shivered, tail tucked between its legs. An icy fist of fear grabbed Rin’s throat and she held her hands up in a silent command for all activity to cease. The couple rubbed at the dog and then nodded in distant formality to the tall figure as they went by. The animal whined more, its cry piercing and loud. Then it took off running, the leash slipping from the woman’s hand. They called to it, hurrying after it completely bypassing the group huddled around the corner without ever seeing them.

The tall, cloaked man then staggered forward, lurching as if in pain.

Rin knew who it was without having to see his face. Ludovicus. They were a mere ten feet from him with the Descendant mere inches from his grasp.

Would they die tonight?

However, the figure never stopped moving away from them and soon he disappeared into the whirl of the night light of the city.

Rin let out a breath and then turned back to her crew. They were all shaken up, even Alderic, who’d professed to be the most ready for an altercation with Ludovicus. Despite what the Elder said, she knew had Ludovicus found them, they’d already be dead.

“Do you suppose the Descendant has it?” Alderic asked, coming to stand next to her.

Rin knew what he was referring to without having to be told. “It’s possible. But we do not have time to search. Ludovicus can engage us at any moment. We need to get the Descendant out of here.”

“Uchida-san
, we can’t leave without making certain.”

That much was true. Rin sighed. “I don’t know how long we have, but you have five minutes to do a search and then we will leave.”

He gave a curt nod and then rushed down the side of the building and out of sight into the darkness. Her heart thundered in her chest. Would they be making a mistake in trying to determine if the Descendant, if that poor soul on the ground could be called that, had the blood gem?

It seemed an age but was mere minutes before Alderic loped back to their group. He shook his head at the question in her eyes but he patted his chest, an apparent bulge there. “I didn’t find it. However, I found something as equally important.”

“What is it?”

“
Iie
, Uchida-san
. I get credit for this.”

Rin blew out a breath at Alderic’s childish game. Things were too serious for this but she didn’t have time to linger.

The sound of footsteps approaching reached her ears. “We need to get out of here. “Whatever it is, we can discuss it later. Go and help with the Descendant and let’s get out of here.”

Bringing up the rear, she stared pensively at the unconscious form. Was this man really worth all the trouble?

The brilliant blue sky hurt his eyes as Ken woke up with his body on fire. Squinting, he hissed as massive waves of pain coursed along his jostled frame. It felt as if his brain rattled back and forth inside his skull. The screaming pain forced his eyes shut.

“Is he up?”

At the soft feminine voice, his eyes flew open again, but all he saw was the blare of the intense blue sky. The clouds resembled giant cotton candy puffs. If only he could reach out and grab piece of sky to cool the warmth boiling in his veins.

The next moment, a surge of panic made him cognizant that he was traveling somewhere against his will. He tried to rise up when knife-like agony pierced his head.

Then he saw the angel. Satin, wine-red tresses blew in the wind, and an elegant hand pushed the hair back from a pair of amber gold eyes lined with thick, dark red lashes. Smooth, creamy skin, the color of desert sand, beckoned to be caressed. He watched, transfixed, as her face came closer to his, even white teeth biting into full lips tinged like the inner flesh of grapefruit.

A hard jostle jolted him out of the vision. It was then he noticed he was being carried on the back of some animal, but he couldn’t ascertain what it was. He once again tried to lift his head to see, but the overwhelming pain flooded his mind and he found himself drifting back into the blessed darkness.

A beautiful dream followed him in the darkness.
Okasan
held out her hand to him, leading him into a field of sunflowers. Sunlight washed over them as they raced through the field. He was so happy to see her again. She led him to a lake with crystal clear water and they sat on the edge.
Okasan
reached to her left and handed him a bouquet of flowers, but they dripped with blood. Ken scrambled back away from her, until someone grabbed his shoulders. He turned to see John’s face, masked in death, but the eyes glowed.

Ken bolted upright from the dream, clutching at his heaving chest.

Would he spend the rest of his life seeing John’s face in that awful way? Would his brother haunt his dreams forever?

Once the vestiges of the nightmare left him, he took the opportunity to study his surroundings. Soft animal furs made his bed. He stood to gather more information. A large cave with various-sized stalagmites lined the ceiling. Fresh air flowed through, caressing bruised, heated skin.

Ken kicked the furs away. He was bare-chested, with bandages wrapping his wounds from the altercation with whatever that thing was. Pants made from some sort of hide clapped against his legs. Even his feet were patched with bandages. He moved about, wincing when he bent, but otherwise he was healed as much as he could be.

He saw toward the back of room a dark area. Frowning, he walked over to it and saw it was a pathway that led to a larger chamber.

Firelight met his eyes, a small circle in the cavernous space. More stalagmites hung from the ceiling. In a corner, a pile of furs lay haphazardly. Several shelves full of ancient books and scrolls were nailed to the wall. Perpendicular to that, shadows shaped like men danced along the surface. Then one of them moved.

Ken gasped and took a step back, startled. “Who’s that?”

“
Youkoso
, Kenzo—
sama
,” a guttural voice spoke.

“Who are you?” He hoped whoever it was couldn’t detect the fear in his voice.

“Be calm,” the voice admonished. The shadow moved a step forward.

A hard laugh escaped his lips. How could he be calm when he didn’t know what was happening? John was dead. He himself was almost killed by some sort of creature with telepathic abilities, and now he was in a cave, presumably somewhere on planet Earth. Where was the calm in all of that?

“Show me the way out of here and I will be gone.”

“Where would you go?”

“I’d go—”

He had nowhere to go. The likelihood of ever going back to his apartment had dropped dramatically. The thing that attacked him could still be out there, lurking about. His mother and brother were dead. There was no one left in the world to care about him.

“Nowhere,” he sighed. “I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere.”

The shadow took a step closer. “Then please stay as our guest.”

It sounded like a request, but he knew better.

“As if I have a choice.”

“I’m glad you see it that way, Kenzo—
sama
.”