Chapter Twenty Two – V is for Vow

The dark clouds puffed angrily spewing bolts of lightning. The loud clamor of thunder muffled the screams of the Mogs as they disintegrated to ash under the electrified spark. I don't even know how many were dusted but the remaining Mogs were not happy.

BK exhaled a fiery breath blocking the Mogs pathway allowing us to escape into the night. I felt the earth quake as his giant form touched down, his spikey tail toppling Mogs as it swung sideways. From his back rose a leather clad figure wielding a pair of glowing swords.

With a light jump she flipped from his back, decapitating two Mogs simultaneously before landing. She side-stepped an oncoming attack, vanishing into thin air.

Three more Mogs exploded into dust before she was visible again.

Mog dust glimmered around her reflecting off the blades she carried in her hands.

It was truly a vision.

The enemy was subdued for the moment and so I strolled over casually asking, "What took you so long?"

She rolled her eyes at me muttering how, "some asshole stole her bike."

"What a dick," I replied. When I was close enough, I stopped and reached out for her hair. I thought it was just because it was dark outside but as I fingered the strands I realized that wasn't the case.

"You dyed your hair," I said in shock letting the midnight locks slip out of my grasp.

She shrugged and turned away from me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I can," she continued walking. I followed.

"I like it," I told her.

She snorted.

I knew she was pissed. But what could I say to make any of this better.

"Where's my chest?"

She glared and shook her head in disgust.

Apparently that was not the best choice of words. I was trying to think of something witty to say to redeem myself. In my distracted state I'd barely taken two steps when I felt something hit me in the back. I fell forward, with one hand on the ground to brace my fall and the other twisted around my back trying to remove the knife.

Six whirled around destroying the enemy and helping me to my feet.

"I can't get it out," I panted.

"Come on," she pulled at my arm in an attempt to lead me to safety.

"I can't," I protested. "I can't move."

"Fine," she pressed me face first into a nearby wall holding me still with hands while using her telekinesis to remove the weapon from my body. Damn that fucking hurt. When I straightened up I could feel the heat rush down my spine. There was no time to complain though more Mogs closed in, including the one with my amulet.

"We meet again," he said menacingly. At first I thought he was talking to me but then I realized he was looking at Six.

"Number Six," he laughed.

If she was caught off guard by his statement there was no way of knowing as she replied as coolly as always.

"My number won't matter when you're dead." A pair of swords reinforced her statement.

His finger wiggled back and forth. "Uh-uh-uh, Little Girl."

But she swung anyway. There was a resounding clink as metal caught metal. They locked together using brute strength to finish the struggle.

I caught the other Mogs, fighting as hard as I could but for every one I took down two more took its place.

It didn't seem like we were fighting long when the police cars appeared. It was as though every law enforcement agent in the state had come to Paradise. We were surrounded by lights and sirens. Guns began firing randomly. Then I heard helicopters overhead and blinding spot lights beamed down on our battle.

Commands were being given over some sort of intercom.

In my peripheral vision I caught a glimpse of blonde hair and thinking it was Six (yes, I'd forgotten that quickly she dyed her hair) I lunged forward putting my new knife through the Mog's back. When the Mog dust fell I realized that I hadn't saved Six – it was Sarah Hart.

"John," she gasped throwing her arms around my neck.

"Sarah! What the hell are you doing?" I yelled at her. "GET OUT OF HERE!"

With tear-filled eyes she asked, "How?"

Looking around I saw that we were surrounded. Reaching down to a nearby body I removed a firearm from some unfortunate cop who'd gotten in the way and was clearly not going to need it anymore. "Use this," I told her placing it in her trembling hands.

Going first I was able to take down a Mog then push two more backward with telekinesis thus giving us enough room to run. "Come on!" I grabbed Sarah's hand leading the way. She held the gun in her hand firing twice at a Mog that came up on my blind side. Both shots missed and he tore Sarah out of my grasp. The gun fell to the ground and went off again.

The bullet nearly hit me but I managed to deflect it.

Then the Mog burst into dust and Sarah was free. She hastily retrieved her weapon.

Behind the cloud of dust was Six. Her feet shuffled with an unsteady gait and she dropped to her knees, grabbing her stomach.

"Six?"

In an instant I was by her side. There was blood all over her hands and shirt. I could tell she was in pain as she forced herself back to her feet. When she tried to walk she nearly fell again. As I caught her in my arms she cried out in pain when I put pressure on her wound.

Lowering her to the ground, I pushed her onto her side so I could look at her injuries. Blood flowed from what was clearly a pair of bullet holes. One went through her leg and the other went into her stomach somewhere. I didn't see an exit would so I wasn't sure if it was still inside her or not. I ripped the sleeve off my shirt and tied it over the leg wound, hoping that it would slow the bleeding. Looking at the puddle Six was sitting in, she'd lost quite a bit of blood.

Sarah started crying.

Both Six and I looked over her. Hell, if anyone was going to cry right now it should be us.

"Can you walk?" I asked Six putting my arm around her and lifting her entire weight. She tried to stand but her left leg was considerably weaker than her right. With one arm around her belly and the other around my shoulder, we made it about ten yards before Six fainted.

"Hey. Come on," I shook her a little, watching for a reaction. Her head lifted and her eyes fluttered open briefly but then closed again.

"I'm cold," she said, letting her head rest heavily against my shoulder.

At that moment Sarah shrieked and fired the gun again. I spun around and saw that two Mogs were approaching. She missed both of them and so she fired again. This time she made contact and one of the Mogs spun around grabbing its arm. The other one charged at us.

"Six!" I tried to wake her up again as I shot my Lumen at the enemy.

They charged at us. Sarah fired the gun again but nothing happened. Frantically she pulled the trigger several more times. Click. Click. Click.

But she'd run out of ammunition.

With my mind I managed to pick up a large piece of rhebar. I aimed and threw it with everything I had. It pierced the torso of one of them, essentially cutting him in half. The other Mog was still approaching. I lowered Six to the grass beneath me preparing to fight. I moved Sarah behind me too. My Lumen formed the force field and I held our position.

There was a low growl and then a ferocious snarl. BK emerged from the darkness taking some sort of werewolf form and attacked the Mog. Behind BK was Sam wielding one of the Mogadorian swords. As BK held the Mog down, Sam plunged the sword through its chest.

We barely had a minute to breathe before a pair of large beasts came thundering into sight. They were the same hideous creatures that BK had fought with last time we were here.

Piken.

Don't ask me how I knew what they were because I honestly couldn't tell you.

Inside my head the noise returned. Only it wasn't words this time it was feelings. Anger. Pain. And Fear.

I looked at BK whose back was arched as he bravely morphed into a dragon once more, roaring at the two Piken.

"John! John!" Sam had been shouting my name but I was too focused on what was going on in my mind to hear him. "Hey," he hit me and brought me back to reality. "Something's really wrong. She's not moving."

He and Sarah were on the ground beside Six. Her head was in Sarah's lap as Sam was attempting to put pressure on her bleeding wounds.

I stared at the three of them.

The two humans with blood stained hands and clothes and then at Six. She was pale. Very pale. In fact her skin had a bluish hue to it.

"Move!" I ordered. Sam and Sarah looked at me with grave concern as I knelt down straddling Six's body. Placing my hands just above her, I fueled my Lumen as much as I could to, as she had called it, "Power her up".

Just like before I felt the connection between us followed by the dizzying rush of adrenalin flowing through me. Not that I'd ever been high but I imagine it must feel something like this.

Her eyes opened and she gasped for air, as though she'd been holding her breath this entire time.

"Hey," I smiled at her, my chest heaving with all the strain of the energy transfer.

She was a little dazed, I think, because it took her a minute to recognize me.

I sat back on my heels giving her some space. Six was now grinding her teeth together in concentration as she held a hand just above her stomach. With a cry of agony I watched as she used her Legacy to remove the bullet that had been lodged inside her.

"Holy Shit," Sam exclaimed as he stared in wonderment.

"Four," Six called my name in a low exhale. "Use your Lumen to cauterize it."

"What?"

"Burn it closed." She pulled up her shirt exposing the oozing wound.

"But…" I objected.

"Just do it!" she commanded.

"Okay." She was trying to be brave but I could see her fear. "Ready?" I used my right hand centering it over the opening and directing the heat to her skin.

The scent of burning flesh immediately overwhelmed me.

"Uhhh, I thought you were fireproof!" I forced air out through my nose, inhaling through my mouth so I wouldn't have to smell it. Sam had moved far to side of us and was vomiting. Sarah's hands were laced through Six's hair. I could see her visibly gagging but she was able to hold it in.

"Other side," she said when I had finished.

"I can't," Sarah choked out, letting go of Six and moving a few feet away to get sick.

"Looks like it's just you and me," I said to Six rubbing her shoulder in reassurance. I rolled her onto her side, cringing as she cried out in pain. "Sorry." I lifted her shirt. The fabric was sticking to her skin. I had to pull hard. Her body flinched. "Sorry." I couldn't apologize enough to her.

The second time the smell was worse.

Both Sam and Sarah couldn't come anywhere near us.

I turned Six on her back again. She was probably in shock. Her eyes were open and she seemed awake but there was a glazed look on her face. I moved her into a sitting position but when she cried out from the pain, I lowered her down again.

I sat beside her holding her hand and petting her new shiny black hair. She squeezed my hand and looked into my eyes.

"If I die," she began.

I interrupted her immediately, "You're not going to die. The charm …" But as I began to speak I realized that the charm that had been protecting me my entire life, the one that made it possible to kill us only in the order of our numbers was now broken. That when Six and I came together we broke the one spell that protected the remaining Garde. And worse than that – they didn't even know they were in danger.

"The charm. I almost forgot," she reached into her shirt and removed my amulet. "Promise me that you will keep fighting."

"Six, don't …."

"Promise me that you will find the others," she pressed the medallion against my chest. "Promise me that you will never give up."

"Six…!"

"PROMISE ME!" she said angrily, gripping a fistful of my shirt and pulling my face within inches of hers. Then her voice softened. "Please promise me you will bring the Garde together."

"I promise to find them and to never forget who I really am."

"You better not." With a relieved smile she closed her eyes back down to rest.

Sam and Sarah were watching us from a distance. I think they were both crying.

Bernie Kosar limped over to us. He licked Six's cheek with his long Beagle tongue and then curled up beside her. Lifting his head he nuzzled his nose against our entwined hands.

I could feel his sadness. Then I heard the words Goodbye my Friend. I will miss you.

I realized two things at that moment.

Yes, I had gotten a new Legacy. I could read minds – ANIMAL minds.

But more importantly, Six had stopped breathing.

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