Chapter 27

I tore my eyes away from Diana's bleeding body and looked to the Ayanami position. For a second, the elemental froze, standing erect like a dog listening to a far away noise. Then it made an abrupt turn and lumbered toward the advancing Razors, heeding the call of its new master. Caught by surprise, they could only scream before the hulking spirit closed on them. It grabbed up one of the gangers, a skinny mal-nourished looking ork, and hurled him into a nearby copse. The youth hit a tree with a thud and slumped to the ground. Then the elemental was moving again, swinging its arms in a wide arc as it attempted to thrash the life out of any opposition.

"You have to take out Harrison!" Diana gasped.

I looked at her over my shoulder, then back at the elemental as it thrashed its way through the thinning ranks of gangers. The choice seemed obvious.

"Rei, Blitz," I said into the comm., "can you see what's going on?"

"Yeah," Blitz's said through the static. "What the hell happened to send that thing off the deep end?"

"Michelson's mage has control of the elemental. Can you draw the spirit's attention? I'm going to try to take out Blondie."

"You got it, P."

I looked to Bullnose. "Once that bastard gets back into the open, you let him have it and draw him away from Blitz. Whatever you do, don't get into close combat with that thing."

The ganger nodded just as a new round of autofire split the night. Blitz and Rei opened fire from behind the hulk of the ruined SUV. A blast from Rei's Smartgun struck the spirit full in the shoulder. It didn't hurt the creature, but it sure enough got its attention. It stood tall, arching its back as it lifted its head to the sky. The spirit issued a scream—a horrific wail that no voice born of this earth could reproduce. It whirled back toward Blitz and Rei and charged.

I seized the opportunity and broke from cover, darting across the open ground toward the Ayanami position while Bullnose trailed several paces behind. Thanks to the confusion wrought by the elemental, no one noticed me until I got around the Toyota. Michelson crouched on the ground next to Blondie, who stood, directing the remaining security personnel in their fight against what was left of the Razors. One of the sec-men saw me—a big ork that had more stubble on his chin than on the crown of his head.

He began to point, trying to bring his bullpup AK-97 around to face me, but my boosted reflexes gave me an edge the company man simply couldn't compete with.

A burst from my Colt struck him in the chest. He staggered backward as the bullets flattened out against his Kevlar vest, but didn't fall. I switched tactics and squeezed off another blast as he tried to regain his footing—this time at his lower extremities. The Colt jerked in my hands, and a trio of rounds tore into the ork's crotch. That time he went down. His blubbering screams assured me he wasn't getting up any time soon.

I turned my attention back to Blondie, but the element of surprise was gone. Blondie had seen me. I dodged behind the Toyota, covering my head with my free hand as a ball of fire leapt from the mage's fingertips. A wave of heat swept over my upraised arm. I gritted my teeth as the skin on my left arm sizzled, but the brunt of it struck my cybernetic hand. As the flames finally died down, I rose up from my crouch and grabbed the Colt again. My cyber hand reacted a bit sluggishly, but it still did the job as I squeezed off a shot at Blondie before he could start another spell.

But then something else happened—something I hadn't foreseen.

Michelson stood up.

He started to yell, pointing toward some other threat off to the right. Before he could get a word out, the bullets slammed into his shoulder, stitching a ragged line into his neck and jaw in a splash of gore. His million dollar smile was obliterated in an instant. He hardly uttered a sound before he collapsed in a bloody heap. I kept the trigger depressed as he fell, riding the recoil upward to take care of Blondie too. But the executive's death had bought him valuable time. Blondie folded his arms over his chest, and an opaque bubble flashed in front of him. The impact of the rounds still sent him reeling, but as he toppled backward onto the ground, he was still operational.

I swore and tried to line up another shot.

A shout from Bullnose stopped me from finishing the job. His machine gun sputtered behind me, and I turned to see the earth elemental charge straight into the young ganger. The giant spirit hurtled through him like he was nothing more than a rag doll. It didn't even break stride as Bullnose tumbled to a stop several meters away, and the elemental kept up its inexorable advance straight toward me. I knew then that Harrison had called in backup, and suddenly the charging elemental became priority one.

Instead of standing and fighting, I turned and vaulted over the hood of the Elite. The remaining sec-goon on the other side tried to bring his weapon to bear, but a hulking shape rose up from behind the low stone wall of the bridge. Viridian tackled the man like a spider enveloping a fly and bore him down to the ground beneath his massive girth.

The opportunity didn't go to waste. I could hear and feel the elemental behind me as I lined up the shot. Blondie had scrambled backward, fear evident in his eyes as he desperately readied another spell—but I wasn't going to give him the chance. I switched the Colt's firing mode in the blink of an eye and pulled the trigger. Then he was gone in a haze of flame and flying dirt as the grenade hit the ground directly at his feet. His tattered body tumbled backward, lying still where it had fallen.

Then I heard that unnatural scream once more—this time, it was right behind me.

With its master slain, I had expected the spirit to recede back to where it had come from. It no longer had a purpose on this plane. But the spirit did just the opposite. It didn't like being coaxed from its earthly slumber, and it wasn't happy just to go back to where it came from. That sucker was pissed off.

I twisted around to see the elemental where it stood on the other side of the Elite. It gave another roar and slammed its fists into the trunk of the car. The metal buckled under the impact, and the spirit latched onto the car's side, heaving with all of its manifested might. I lunged to the side as the Toyota toppled backward. I hit the ground and rolled, tucking my legs to my chest. The car crashed to the ground just inches away from me, and I scrambled to my feet. The elemental turned back toward me as I dashed away from it back toward the others. I turned back to look as it lumbered after me, quickly closing the gap. There wasn't any time to waste aiming, so I fired from the hip, the Colt yammering wildly.

At that range, I couldn't miss. Bullets slammed into the spirit's chest, but the rounds just thudded into dirt. I turned to run again, but the elemental surged forward and grabbed me up by my jacket. I had a brief sensation of weightlessness as it hefted me over its head. Then it heaved. My hands turned to jelly as I soared, and the Colt slipped from my grip.

I don't know how far I flew, but it felt like a twenty foot drop as I hit the ground. Air left my lungs with a coughing whoosh as hot knives of pain spasmed through my back and shoulders. Agony flashed through my senses as I rolled over, trying to get up on my hands and knees. But my limbs were numb, and I collapsed to the ground once more before I had risen even half way. I gasped again, squeezing my eyelids shut as I tried to draw breath once more. I wanted just to lie there until I could feel again.

Fresh gunshots split the night, and my eyes flashed open, swimming with tears. People needed me. I couldn't lie around anymore. I looked about, trying to get my bearings. Bullnose lay a few meters away, writhing feebly on the ground. The elemental had gone berserk, thrashing wildly at anything and everything it could lay its hands on. The few Razors left were trying to hold it at bay, but nothing seemed to be working. I glanced around, trying to think of something to do.

My mind raced as Gunshots sounded. Screams split the night. In the depths of my mind I heard Diana whispering:

"Bullets aren't going to work. There's not enough force of will behind a gun."

My gaze sought Bullnose again, but this time my eyes fell upon the knife strapped to his thigh.

I staggered to my feet, scrambling over to the ganger as fast as my tingling legs could carry me. I collapsed onto all fours as my pain-numbed legs gave out. I shook my head, trying to push past the agony as I crawled the rest of the way to his side. Bullnose briefly acknowledged my presence, uttering a low groan as he twisted on the ground. My hand snaked out, sliding the blade from its sheath. He moaned feebly as the weapon left his side. His eyes flashed open, seeking my face with tear-brimming eyes. The look of sheer anguish in his face made my gun turn. I pushed his image out of my mind as I laboriously drew myself upright. For a moment I stood there, regarding the knife in my hands like a drunk who's found something intriguing at the bottom of his glass.

If bullets wouldn't work, perhaps this would.

I started off at a lurching gait, the elemental growing larger and larger in my vision as my tingling limbs carried me closer to the frenzied spirit. The elemental had charged down into the stream, stomping its trunk-like foot onto the back of the Ayanami woman who was trying to scramble out of the ditch. It still had its back to me when I reached the bank. Then I left my feet and took to the air.

My leap came to an abrupt halt as the earthen wall hit me like a ton of bricks. I clawed for purchase on the elemental's shoulders like a drowning man clinging to drift wood. I got one arm around its head and managed to dig my toes into its backside. The knife flashed, stabbing into the spirit's shoulder. My arm drew back and plunged it in again, digging into the soft earth with each stroke. No blood came forth, but dark mud began to ooze from the wounds as the spirit gave a savage cry. The sound was full of fury more than pain, but I still took comfort in that fact—it was still in pain. And if I could hurt it, then I could kill it too.

Its arms bent back at a weird angle, hammering, flailing, and grasping at my body. Despite the pounding blows, I clung to that earthen behemoth with all my might. It finally managed to grab hold of one of my legs and pulled. My toes scrambled for any kind of purchase as the spirit yanked on my lower body. I had to give up the attack to hold on for dear life.

Just when I thought my fingers were about to slip, there was a huge splash in front of the spirit as a creature nearly as big as the elemental itself waded into the melee. The earthen creature shuddered as the new combatant charged into it. I caught sight of the gleaming steel studs and the twisted Viridian grappled with the spirit, pumping his gnarled fists into its gut.

Thanks to the new distraction, the spirit had to let go of me and attend to the new threat. I was able to latch on with my legs again and began to slash at it with renewed vigor. Its frantic thrashing told me we were hurting it, but it didn't seem to be loosing any steam.

I had drawn back for another stab when one of the elemental's flailing limbs struck me just below my rig cage. My grip melted, and it gave a great heave, bucking me off of its back. I landed in the stream, slightly dazed, but the cold water jarred me back into full awareness. I scrambled to my feet, knife still in hand and ready to fling myself back into the melee.

Then I saw her. She stood on the bank, slumped over, holding one hand to her wounded shoulder. Diana's body language spoke of complete and utter defeat in every way, yet her eyes still held a defiant spark. Immediately I knew what she had planned. I wanted to protest, to tell her to back off—to lie down and wait for help to arrive. I knew her body would give out if she tried to manipulate any more magic.

But then a loud crack sounded, and Viridian roared in pain as the elemental snapped one of his horns off in one giant paw. Suddenly I knew. We were over matched. We couldn't win this fight without Diana's help.

I grunted and turned away, pushing down my feelings of doubt and worry as I slashed my way back into the fight. I jumped, latching onto the elmental's wide back. My arm worked back and forth in a frenzy, plunging the blade into the great spirit's backside over and over. Viridian roared, fueling his anger with his pain. We beat and stabbed and clawed with nothing backing up the blows but our own raw will.

Then something warm washed over my body. The magic made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but it did something far worse to the elemental. The spirit gave an inhuman howl, as its pain-wracked body convulsed under me. And then it simply disintegrated, leaving Viridian and me with nothing but dirt and rocks to cling to. We landed in a heap on the mound of earth that was quickly becoming mud.

I drew myself up from the muck. My back and limbs throbbed and my breath came in labored pants. I bent over to help Viridian to his feet, then turned back to the bank, searching for Diana. At first I couldn't see her, but then I caught sight of a figure collapsed on the edge of the bank—little more than a pile of ragged clothing. I knew immediately that my worst fears had come true.