Glimmer 1.4

'Avoiding the capes above my weight class' was a really good plan. I was quite proud of it.

A shame, then, that plans seldom, if ever, survive contact with the enemy.

I watched from the dark of the rooftop as Lung addressed his ABB. "…the children, just shoot. Doesn't matter your aim, just shoot. You see one lying on the ground? Shoot the little bitch twice more to be sure. We give them no chances to be clever or lucky, understand?"

I knew this was a bad idea. I knew I wasn't strong enough to take on Lung, the Dragon of Kyushu, the man who'd held back the sea.

But I also knew that if I turned my back and let children die, I'd never forgive myself.

Vilya cooled my thoughts, aired out my brain, let me think. So I did. I could use a payphone, call the PRT hotline, but the payphones were all down on the street, and the closes one that I could get to without being heard was over a block away. By that time, it might already be too late to offer any assistance.

The guys would have cellphones. If I could separate one from the pack, I could get it off of him and call the PRT.

But I also couldn't afford to wait until they engaged. At that point, it would be too late to cut Lung off before he started ramping up. I needed a distraction, and I needed to hope it either got Lung to back off or got him to split his group. And in case the hope was vain, I needed to make sure the distraction didn't compromise my location.

I glanced at my left hand, where Vilya glittered. Well, I thought. Here goes nothing.

I raised my left hand high, drew on the power of the Ring, and cast my thoughts outward, toward a nearby alleyway.

Light flashed, bright and pure, with a crack like the strike of lightning. Nothing dangerous to anyone—just a sound and a sight to draw attention.

That much it did. The entire ABB group whirled towards the noise.

"You three," Lung ordered, pointing at three of his guys. "Go see what that was. If you see anyone, come back at once. If you don't see anyone, check the alley, and then come back. You have three minutes."

He hadn't even missed a beat. I wondered why he wasn't going himself to investigate the probably parahuman phenomenon, but I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I leapt nimbly from one rooftop to another until I reached the one-story roof above the alley. The guys were just going into it. I swallowed.

Their guns were out and they were staying in a careful formation, going down the alley in a triangle. The guy in front had a shotgun; the other two had pistols.

I missed Nenya.

I tensed, ready to leap, and then, just as the guy in front passed behind a barrel—momentarily out of sight of the other two—I leapt down on them.

I fell on the shoulders of one of the guys in the back. He went down, but I came up rolling, and struck the guy with the shotgun with my haft. He bellowed as I hit him, and I knew Lung must have heard, and that was very bad.

But I wasn't dead yet. I struck him again, across the temple, and he went down properly. The third guy fired his pistol, and the round glanced off of my chestplate as I turned.

"Mistake," I said flatly, and pointed at him with the index finger of my left hand, Vilya shining like a blue star.

A bolt of lightning—far too weak to kill someone, as I intended—arced forth and struck him. He flew backwards out of the alley with a strangled yell. Without sparing him another thought I turned my attention to the last guy, who was clambering to his feet.

I gently put my Ring-bearing hand on his brow and allowed the Dominant Ring to do its work. "You're mine," I whispered.

For a moment, our wills strove against one another, my mind reaching out through Vilya and meeting his halfway. But he was a man accustomed to obedience, a man whose will had systematically been broken down by Lung, whereas I was the Ring-Maker.

He nodded dumbly, ceasing his attempts to rise, his eyes staring up into mine blankly.

"Follow me," I murmured. I heard the approaching ABB, Lung barking orders at their head.

I led my thrall out the back way of the alley and we ran in a crouch down the next road for about thirty feet before ducking into another alley. We crouched together behind a dumpster, and then I turned to him. "Give me your phone," I ordered.

He obeyed, and I punched in the PRT hotline.

"Parahuman response, what is your emergency?" the responder said.

"Lung," I replied flatly. "I heard him ordering his ABB. They were going to kill kids. Intersection of Fifteenth and Chesterton."

There was a beat. "Very well, I've flagged this; Protectorate support is on its way," said the responder quickly. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Annatar. I'll try to stay alive. Gotta run." I hung up and handed the phone back.

For a moment, I studied my thrall's blank face. Then I made my decision. "Try to get into PRT custody," I said quietly. "They can protect you from Lung—he'll hurt you for disobeying, master or no master. If the ABB catches you, surrender to them; don't try to fight or escape. Once you're in either of their care, you'll be free from my power."

He nodded dully.

"Get moving."

He left, running down the alleyway opposite the way we'd come. I took a single deep breath and then left cover too, making for the nearest fire escape.

I clambered my way up it and onto the roof, then jumped across the alley and onto the next. I could hear voices in the street, Lung snarling at his ABB to keep searching.

I couldn't fight them; not like this, not without a lot more training, better gear, and a proper weapon. I needed to just keep quiet and hope the Protectorate got here before Lung either found me, or went back to what he was doing before.

Where would the Protectorate come from?

West. The knowledge came to me like a whisper, Vilya shimmering as its power flared.

And where would Lung go to look for the kids?

East.

Then my path was clear. I had to draw him west.

I moved across the roof as stealthily as I could manage, towards the road where Lung was ordering his men. Apparently, however, I was insufficiently careful. He hissed and shouted once—"Quiet!"

I didn't dare breath. Enhanced senses. I'd had them myself not twenty-four hours ago, for God's sake! I bit my lip and reached out with Vilya. Another flash burst forth from inside an alleyway to Lung's right and some distance ahead of him—west of his location.

He hissed. "A distraction," he said darkly. "They're too afraid to face us. Ignore it! Let's get on with things."

Shit.

I couldn't move for fear Lung would hear me, I couldn't attack because that was suicide, and I couldn't distract him because he'd caught on.

What did that leave? Stay here and pray the Protectorate would get here before Lung could kill his targets, doing nothing?

Fuck that.

I stood. I saw Lung's head whip around to face me, but I was already running—away, and to the west.

I heard him roar. I heard the whistling through the air as he leapt. I heard the crunch of his feet on the roof behind me. He was onto me now.

I dove off the roof and into the next street, landing in a roll, and kept running. He jumped down behind me and gave chase. I heard his guys yelling farther back.

Thing is, I had Vilya, and had been running three times every two days for months. Lung was a fucking dragon. They weren't fast enough to keep up, and they fell behind.

The problem? Lung was faster than me. He was gaining.

I couldn't afford to let him catch me mid-run. I had to face him at some point, because I couldn't defend myself when my back was turned. I waited too long, though, and when he was a little more than fifteen feet behind me (I think—without Nenya, my senses were only a little above human average) I felt a blast of intense heat on my back, blasting me forward and sending me sprawling ten, twenty feet down the road.

I rolled over and picked myself up, facing him. He was advancing more slowly now, his brown-on-red eyes glaring balefully at me from under that metal mask of his.

"You picked a bad fight, little girl," he said darkly. He was starting to change: his legs had shifted a little, tearing up his shoes as the ankle rose to form a digitigrade joint, and his spine had arches slightly so he was hunched a little as he approached, but he had grown, too, so he was still well over six feet tall.

I didn't answer except by shifting my grip on my haft.

"Any last words?" he asked, but that wasn't the only sound that came to my ears.

An engine.

I smiled. "Surrender," I said.

"You surrender?" he laughed. "You fuck with my boys, in my territory, and you think it's okay because you surrender?"

"No," I said. "I'm offering you a chance to surrender."

If anything he laughed harder. "What's your name, little girl?" he asked.

"Annatar," I said.

"Well, Annatar," he said, fire licking around his clenching fists. "I'll see your tombstone says 'she ha' 'alls.' 'ow's 'at 'ound?" He was still growing visibly, hunching further, metal scales growing across his body in a slow creep. His words were starting to become muddled as his face morphed into a snout, rabidly becoming incomprehensible.

"It sounds," I said, "like you're not surrendering." I gestured with Vilya and lightning burst forth again, blowing him backwards.

I'd pushed a hell of a lot more into the attack this time, and it left me a little out of breath, but I was proud to see that I'd at least had an effect, knocking him stumbling back a couple of steps.

He roared as skidded, fire beginning to engulf his form, but I could see a light shining on him from behind me somewhere. I didn't dare turn and look, instead bringing my left hand to bear again, Vilya glowing bright on my finger.

A blue motorcycle came to rest beside me and a man in power armor swung his legs off of it. "You must be Annatar," he murmured.

"That's my name," I said. "Armsmaster?"

"That's right." The famous halberd was drawn and put forth at the ready. "Lung," Armsmaster called with a voice like steel. "Surrender, and this doesn't have to be hard."

"'Uck 'oo." Lung's voice was little more than a brutal, animal snarl now. Fire lanced forth from him, launching at us in a blast.

Vilya could control the elements—fire, water, lightning, earth, the air itself… nothing totally drastic, like cracking open the planet or creating a vacuum, but I should be able to redirect a short burst of flame.

This was not a short burst, it was a steady stream. Besides which, it was dragon-fire, and dragon-fire is immune to most pyrokinesis. So I did what I could do, which was to throw myself out of the way. Armsmaster did the same, diving in the opposite direction, and then charging.

His halberd launched a dart of some kind, which struck Lung in the gut. Then another struck his neck. Lung bellowed, but there was something off, a note of weakness in the sound.

Tranquilizers, I guessed.

Armsmaster slowed as he approached Lung, firing off another dart into the man's leg. Lung fell to his knees, breathing heavily. I followed the Protectorate cape in, Vilya at the ready.

"Fuck you," gasped Lung, his transformation fading rapidly. "This isn't over."

"I think it is," said Armsmaster, and struck him hard across the temple. Lung went down.

I stared down at the Dragon of Kyushu's fallen form, and then looked up at the hero. "Tinkertech tranquilizers?" I asked.

He nodded, turning to me. "You said he was going after kids?" he asked.

I nodded. "I heard him ordering his guys to shoot them," he said. "Children, he said."

Armsmaster nodded. "You're telling the truth," he said, and wasn't there something odd about that phrasing? "Admirable of you, to try to prevent that. Bit stupid, trying to take him on, though."

"I wasn't taking him on," I protested. "I had him running almost three blocks in this direction, headed for you. I only turned around when I heard your bike."

"Oh," Armsmaster said, glancing at the aforementioned bike. "How'd you know which direction I was coming from?"

I thumbed Vilya compulsively. "Minor precognition," I said. "I don't know exactly how it works. I just knew."

"A precog?" Armsmaster sounded interested. "That's a rare power."

I nodded. There was a reason Vilya was the greatest of the Three, even if its powers did spook me a little bit. Possibly that was why its powers spooked me.

"Velocity approached you about joining the Wards yesterday, didn't he?" Armsmaster asked.

"Yeah," I sighed. "Independents don't last long by themselves."

"Do you see why, now?" Armsmaster nodded at Lung's unconscious form. "I can only fight him because I've spent a long time coming up with a specific counter to him. You wouldn't have stood a chance on your own."

"I know."

"Then you'll join the Wards?"

I bit my lip. "I still need to think about it more."

"Look." Armsmaster sounded exasperated. "you seem like a good kid, but you're out of your depth, here. We can help you."

"That's what the adults tend to say," I said flatly. "Doesn't stop us triggering. You understand, Armsmaster? I got my powers because of people in the same position of power as you, right now. Because of their negligence. Forgive me if I'm not eager to trust another one."

There was silence.

"I understand," said Armsmaster quietly. "You didn't have a phone yesterday—I assume you've gotten one now, since you called the hotline?"

I shook my head. "I mastered an ABB guy and used his," I said. "Hopefully he'll find his way to PRT custody. I ordered him to turn himself in, and set my control to drop after that."

"You're a master, too?" Armsmaster asked.

I nodded. At least with Vilya, I privately added.

A slight frown spread over his face. "You're keeping something from me," he declared.

"Yes," I said honestly. "Shouldn't I?"

"We're not enemies," Armsmaster said. "We're both heroes, aren't we?"

As if it's that simple.

"But not all heroes are created equal," I said flatly. "Wouldn't you agree? I'd rather not have my powers become public knowledge to everyone in the Protectorate and PRT, if I can avoid it."

Armsmaster grunted. "Fine," he said. "We're going to have to get you tested when you join the Wards, though."

"If," I corrected. "And I'll be honest, that's a big reason why it's an if. My powers come with weaknesses." A phantom pain skidded a line of fire across my index finger, just above the knuckle. "Publicizing them just sounds like a bad idea."

Armsmaster grunted and picked Lung up, slinging him over his shoulder. He started walking back to his motorcycle, talking to me as he did so. "There's nothing I can say to change your mind?"

"Like I said, I'm thinking about it."

"Well, think fast," said Armsmaster shortly. He strapped Lung to the back of the seat, zip-tied his legs and arms up so they wouldn't drag on the ground, and looked back at me. "You may not get this lucky again."

I smiled thinly. "I don't intend to need to get this lucky again," I said flatly.

Armsmaster sighed. "I hope to see you in the Wards, Annatar," he said, and drove off. I watched him go.

Then I sighed, stretched, and smiled. I'd rescued children from a murderer, and said murderer was now in Protectorate custody. Despite my sudden nascent dislike for Armsmaster as a person, I had to respect his efficacy.

Tonight had been a good night.