The Story of Amara Kuran | Mariah Bryant
Book One, Chapter Twenty-Four
Our Army & Shiki's Secret
The full moon was huge and yet still white in the sky. Stars around it sparkled like diamonds.
Again I was warned by the Higher Being of what was to come. For the first time, however, It/She/He did not nock me off of my feet. The warning came with a wave of energy that lifted me off of the ground for a second. I embraced it; it was warm and familiar, like a summer breeze.
Even though I had not passed out, I was even more scared from my warnings than usual. I was completely terrified.
It does not end here.
The Higher Being's whisper was as real to me and only me as my prophecies.
It lifted me as much as it scared me.
The army stopped a quarter mile away from us. There had to have been over five hundred assassins, which towered our fifty assassins (fifty-one counting Seiren, who was more like a bodyguard), fifty vampyre hunters (fifty-one counting Kaien, the retired), twelve adult vampyres, and eighty-six Night Class students. (Because I know you are wondering, of course plenty of people paired up for the sleeping arrangements!) The limo drove into the middle of the army and stopped. The nearest assassins helped Shiki out, and helped him onto the limo's roof.
"Amara Kuran. I knew you would be prepared. Though I understand it was necessary, it was a stupid thing of you to announce your power to the senate while telling your story. If you hadn't, I would not have been prepared for your preparedness." Shiki said, grinning.
An assassin took out of the limo sat on the top a blindfolded, gagged, and chained Yuki. Her cheeks were wet, but her lips were firm around her gag. Then he did the same to Mike, who was in a similar condition. Last was Zero, who was drugged and unconscious. I took faith in knowing that he had fought his best fight to protect his friends.
I felt Kaname's hate, fear, and anger spike.
"What do you want, Shiki?" I called.
"I want you to approach me slowly and kneel at my feet. If any soul moves in your army, everyone in mine will launch at you and the friends I have chained here. There are so many that you will not be able to handle them all in time. Your friends will be dead. You will be dead. There will no longer be a fight."
"I see." I said. I knew he was going to kill my friends anyway. I knew he had hurt them a lot already. Still I knew I had to buy time. One foot in front of the other, I walked toward the limo. The assassins parted for me, but closed the gap quickly behind me.
When I got to the circle in the middle of the army, I sat on my knees, everything else in standing position. I would not let him think I was surrendering. I was merely sacrificing myself. Surely something would happen to get me out of this pickle – was that not what the Higher Being was saying? Or was It/He/She saying that there was more to come after I died? At least, I knew from my prophesy that there would be plenty of more pain to come after this. So really I was simply buying time. Nothing else. I was still queen, and in comparison he was still a street rat. Even though he was a pureblood.
I was more than just a pureblood.
"You know to take out my heart. That is the only way to kill me." I told him roguishly, but with dignity, pride, and fury.
"You have learned such little respect." Shiki snarled.
"Power-hungry murderers who would kill a little girl are the lowest of low in my opinion, rivaled only by rapists."
"Such dishonor! You sit here on your knees, attempting to give your life for your human pet," he spat the word, "and you criticize me."
"Not criticize. Of course I have respect for your drive for power. I am simply ridiculing your methods." I may have been looking up at him, my kimono in the dirt, kneeling in front of the limo on which Shiki stood, but I could have been glaring down at him from the heavens.
Meanwhile I was releasing his men from his control, row by row gently loosening the strings that bound them to him. It was easier than calming all of their minds and only required a little amount of focus and strength, whereas if I had tried to control all of them it would have been almost impossible and my body would have been defenselessly limp on the ground. It was like cutting strings, fifty at a time, as compared to painting thick glue onto each of them one at a time. I heard no disturbance in the crowd and saw no look of realization on Shiki's face.
"Come up here." Shiki said, nodding upward.
I rose and then leapt onto the limo beside him. I was so close to Mike now. I sensed his heart beating wildly. Yuki's was doing the same. If only they had seen how steadily I met Shiki's gaze. I sensed everyone in my army was watching me carefully . . . and fearfully.
"Kneel on the other end of the limo so that your friends can see you."
I walked from the front to the back of the limo and kneeled the same way I had before: only my knees bent.
Though I was frantic inside me, I restrained myself. I could make no moves until, above all odds, I got Yuki, Mike, and Zero to safety.
"I think I should make your death as spectacular as you made mine. I want you to look better going down than a horror movie. I want it to be as eye-boggling as mine. But, to make my dream come true, you must tell me how to do that."
"Watch me kill your parents, then develop extra powers." I told him.
"How about I just drink your blood instead? Hmm? That sounds like much more fun on my part." Shiki chuckled at me. Then he knelt down on one knee and took my face between his hands. "Such a pretty little urchin." Then his teeth went for my throat.
Sheesh, are you really gonna let him do that? You are about as useless as Yuki is some days.
I could have cried. You just say that because you sense that she has more powers than you and she doesn't know to use them.
Yeah well she's small, too.
I silenced the assassins surrounding us. Over Shiki's shoulder (he was licking my neck at this point) I saw Zero sit up awkwardly so that he could get at an angle where Yuki could untie his hands. She did so feverishly. Zero yanked off his gag and blindfold and then untied his feet. The assassins could not warn Shiki. The closest ones could not even move, and the others could not get around the frozen ones quickly enough. Zero swiftly untied Mike and Yuki, and they all stood. Without hesitation Zero yanked up Yuki's skirt and grabbed the Artemis Rod from its halter. He snapped it open in a second. I suppose his Bloody Rose Gun had been confiscated.
Now I wanted to cry for a different reason.
What do I do now?! Zero screamed in his head.
At hearing the commotion from inside the limo or from feeling the slight shakes, Shiki's slightly cowardice uncle-in-law exited the limo.
I stood just before Shiki could pierce my skin. "Ungrateful pervert. You are lucky I have hesitated to do this." I knew it was unfair – and I had actually looked forward to showing off my fighting skills – but I severed the connection between his soul and his Chi. He no longer had control over his body. Then I found something surprising.
"I was going to attack you. I wasn't actually gonna bite you. He's not actually stupid enough to give all of your power to my body. He was going to nearly kill you and make Kaname-sama watch for the heck of it, then take you back to his body when all of the confusion of the war began and give it your power instead."
"That does seem like a smarter plan. Now, I need your assistance. He is still in you. We have to get you to his body. And we have to save Zero, Mike, and Yuki."
Senri nodded once. "I hear him. Let's go."
Bullets began to wiz by us.
"Attack!" I screamed. Kaname, now equipped with a magical sword, was right behind them and quickly speeding ahead; tearing up vampyres was not his priority.
I was the main target. Senri and I spun and leaped in an attempt to avoid the bullets. I really could not tell whether or not we were successful. We ran for the other side of the limp, where Zero was kicking and jabbing the Artemis Rod at assassins in an attempt to keep them at bay, but it was not working. The next thing I knew Senri had bitten his finger, and flung the blood at those who were climbing onto the limo. It was exploding and burning the people it touched. Then he went down into a crouch and kicked some assassins' heads so hard that I heard them crack. Meanwhile I was taking legs and arms and whole lower bodies from men who had climbed onto the limo from the back. One of the things I did in China (with persuasion) was learn how to fight ten different ways.
Yes, we were stuck. And the humans were scarcely being defended against flying bullets. Luckily, vampyre bullets were rendered useless against them.
Thank goodness Zero got his hands on a vampyre gun and was shooting like a mad man. I had known his teacher. Zero could shoot better than him, now. Zero tossed Yuki the Artemis Rod and as if she had been doing it her whole life she wielded it, strong and determined. She twirled it and fought with her entire body, graceful and balanced beyond her years. Some sort of flood gate had opened inside of her: she realized that she was a good fighter. She used the rod to keep bullets from Zero.
They were coming in far too fast now; so many men strived to have their bullets end me that they ended up shooting whichever of their comrades that got in their way. Our army was getting held back as the enemy progressed toward the house. It was a sea of bullets and screaming. The vampyre hunters hung back, relying on their guns. The vampyres savagely tore into one another, looking for the next kill. The Night Class students relied heavily on their plentiful gifts to take four or five assassins down at a time.
Zero got hit three times. Senri was grazed twice. I was somehow agile enough that none hit me. Zero was in enough pain that I used most of my strength to manipulate his Chi until he was impermeable. He must have realized his advantage and rose again, this time executing no caution as he blasted and fought.
I hated all of the fighting and killing around us. I wanted to ball up in a ball and scream. It was so now that Mike was the only one unable to fight in all that was going on.
Senri entangled men in webs of his blood and killed them. I used my appendages as knives and sliced men clean in half. Meanwhile, my kimono suffered none.
The cavalry arrived when a thick arrow-shaped formation of our vampyres and vampyre hunters, headed by Kaname, tore through the mass of enemy assassins who were all focusing on me and practically pushed them aside.
"God, this roof is not wide enough!" Zero growled.
I sensed a flair of anger in Senri's great uncle. Before I could even whip around from the assassin who had just climbed onto the limo and was engaging me in hand-to-hand combat, Mike screamed. When I looked, my heart went cold and the world was silent.
Zero, Yuki, and Senri were engrossed, fighting dozens of assassins at a time. Kaname and various others had the left side of the limo, but the right, back, and front were under heavy attack. Our army had pierced through only half of Shiki's, and although the arrow was slowly widening it was not doing so quickly enough. We could not take to the ground; we had to man the roof because if we were to join Kaname to our left then whoever leaped onto the roof would have the sky as an ally. We were stuck. And Mike was being dragged off of the roof by his foot.
His screaming quaked the Earth. I smelled his blood. Of course I knew it was a trap, but I fell into it gladly. I immediately leapt into the air and came down hard on Senri's great uncle's face, but he was older and taller than me. I fell back onto the roof of the limo and slid to the ground, to be instantly ambushed by assassins. I needed to get Mike back onto the roof fast!
The assassin on the roof whom I had just been fighting now slammed his heavy boot into my skull. Dazed, I slumped back against the limo only to have the nearest assassin rush into me, thrusting his hand into my stomach. My arms prevented him from impaling me any higher. I did not scream. Mike screamed.
"Die!" I shouted, thrusting my hand through the man's neck. It was like cutting cheese and his head fell backwards. I then yanked his hand from my flesh. This took an instant. Then I was focusing on Mike.
The only man there idiotic enough to wear a suit was Shiki's uncle-in-law. He was dragging the love of my life through the crowd, attempting to make me follow so that I could be captured. I bounded back onto the roof, where the man I had been fighting was now giving Yuki a hard time (she was handling him like it was effortless!), and planted my feet hard into the rounded edge. This threw me through the air. Like had been done to Cho, I grabbed the great uncle's head and twisted it off. I loved the irony as I used the momentum of my flight to hurl the head into the crowd of assassins. As a result some of them cried out. His body crumpled and Mike released himself from the corpse's clutches.
A normal roundhouse kick I used to slice three men in half. I kept twirling until I was not a hair away from Mike, looking up at him as my hand shot out and ripped the heart out of an assassin whose gun was aimed at me.
"Hold me," I told him.
He looked über-confused, but he did it. He picked me up. Not before he had me securely in his arms, my head rolled back.
My energy exploded out around us, giving us an impenetrable circle to move in. The assassins were flung backward around us. Mike could guess what he was supposed to do now. He ran like he was being chased by the devil himself, knocking assassins effortlessly aside until he got to the limo. He jumped onto the roof using only the running board and then held me in standing position while my Chi (or my soul; whichever) returned to me.
It was now so that assassins had to climb over their comrades' bodies to get to the limo. Zero's gun was doing wonders. The arrow was coming around, almost haven taken out half of the enemy. The abilities on our side were outstanding. Kain was burning assassins like wildfire. Aido was fighting on ice, giving him and our army around him the advantage. The assassins had a few of their own, but it seemed that the majority of Shiki's army were simply humans he had picked off of the street.
I kept my eye out for Level E's.
My brother, Seiren, and Zero were the most awe-worthy of them all. Kaname moved so fast I could scarcely see him. He did not have a line of men waiting to have enough room to attack; he plowed through un-expecting men who did not think it would be their turn anytime soon. Zero blasted and kicked and sliced five at a time. Seiren was a bloodthirsty killer from birth, and stronger than two men combined. Though not as fast as Kaname with his enhanced abilities, she was agile and precise and the third fastest of all of us.
I had wanted to spare some people, but that was not happening today.
Mike behind me, I worked around him like I was trying to be a circular wall surrounding him. Because of this I was getting hit left and right. Mike was too scared to do anything but watch, probably thinking he would get in my way. I was also bloodthirsty. I wanted no weaknesses.
"Down!" I cried. Mike sat on the roof with his knees pulled to his chest. The next thing he knew, my foot whistled over him, slicing six men at the thighs. They were wounded, but they weren't down. Their hands tried to finish Mike, but I finished them. One by one their hearts exploded inside their chests.
It occurred to me then that it was a good thing that the assassins were not purebloods, because most of them would be able to regenerate with time . . . assuming their lost parts were not completely demolished.
We needed to carry on the tip of the arrow. I saw Kaname making his way to the front of the car. When he got to the edge, we had to slice a point into the crowd. My heart roared like a mouse's hum in my chest. How was that to happen without me using my abilities?
A man came at me from the back, a gun in his hand. Another had launched him into the air. The man I was fighting held my neck so that I could not turn in time to save myself. I saw the flash of the gun.
"Raaaaaaah!" Mike sprang up, forcing his hands at the assassin as if to push him backward. His momentum proceeded the assassin's, which was incredible. But Mike was not faster. He was simply an unstoppable force in that move. Without touching him, there was a flash and Mike had sent the assassin rocketing backwards.
I gawked.
There was one blast, then another. I was able to dodge one (it disintegrated against Mike's human flesh) but the other lodged itself in my rib, right beside my spine. I angrily yanked the bullet from my bone and flung it at the face of the man whose hands squeezed my airways shut. It cracked his forehead at the same time my foot kicked his feet out from under him. I avoided a blow by ducking to rip his heart out. I quickly slid his body to the right, on top of yet more assassins. Then I jumped back upright and pushed a man's head off by slamming the palm of my hand forward and up into his jaw.
We (Zero, Yuki, Mike and I) were quickly being overpowered, despite Mike's newfound affinity over momentum and force.
I had told you he was smart, had I not? Well, he was also a little more evolved than most humans in the way of his mind.
A hand ripped through the roof right then and grabbed my ankle. I nearly squealed. Then I was swiftly going downward, the shards of roof cutting into my bare flesh the entire way. Now my leg was in the limo and the rest of me was not. I felt a tongue against my bleeding flesh.
"Oh shit." I froze with fear.
The man's heart exploded and he crumpled inside the limo at the same time that Mike came at the assassins attacking my head and pulling at my other foot from an angle, shoving all of them off of the roof.
Mike turned back to me. I dug my hands in beside my leg and ripped it open wider. Then Mike took my hands and lifted me back through the hole. Furious, I made the man in the limo explode. The ones trying to follow him quickly abandoned the mission.
In one second I let my body fall into Mike's arms and forced a triangle of assassins outward and then returned to standing position. Mike and I bounded into the triangle, not allowing it to reclose. I screamed at everyone surrounding the vehicle that it was going to explode, and sure enough the instant everyone had jumped off and away I had abandoned my body again to contain the exploding limo, set off by an ingenious assassin with the power to spit on things and make them blow up. I was back again shortly, but not in time to relieve Mike of my weight before he was attacked by an onslaught of assassins.
Now my human was heading the arrow. I would not have it.
Kaname, everyone, to the tip: NOW!
Mike acted like was a new man. He must have watched a lot of samurai movies before he came. His battle cry only rivaled mine. He moved to karate chop an assassin's neck: he blew through four necks. He twisted around to kick someone in the stomach: the assassin barreled back into three of his comrades, all of them with gaping holes in their stomachs.
Everyone started pouring into the triangle and we actually started enlarging it. Many assassins started running for the mountains. Mike was starting to literally blast holes in the crowd. Aido began freezing ten people at a time for Kain to torch. Kaname, Seiren, and I were at the very tip and we steadily led the arrow. The assassins fought us on all of the edges, but we were cutting them down fast. We were not defensive. We were offensive.
Yuki began shrieking when assassins began grabbing at her limbs, but it was swiftly taken care of by Mike, who had learned that he could control who his abilities affected. When I was again shot in the back – this time the bullet came out the other side, piercing through my lungs – Mike was the one who came to the rescue. The human made a fist and punched, and the force of it snapped the vampyre's head off. Then he was mirroring my own moves, kicking and punching his way through anyone who came near. Bullets kept flying, but none could touch me; Mike was showing more strength and skill than any basketball or soccer player ever could.
I gave him a smile, clutching the hole in my chest. "Thanks," I mouthed.
Mike grinned. "Welcome."
He took my other hand and helped me to my feet. Within a minute I was healed, and thirty seconds before that I was at it again, working back-to-back with Mike. When he was needed again, it practically only took a thought for him to be beside Zero, brimming with energy.
We all fit nicely on the outside, but there were many of us on the inside of the formation that caught those that snuck by the edges. No one had to fight more than one person now.
Slowly I felt something emerge behind me. An evil. I turned to Senri. "Are you alright?"
But it was no longer Senri. Shiki had won over his body once again. He let out a battle cry and came at me. No one had expected it and was position to help. Now I was surrounded by assassins and they were suddenly all holding onto me. This is what Shiki had wanted. He grinned at me.
Then suddenly Mike came under his control. He walked toward us, his eyes glazed over. I could not believe it. I screamed at him to run and struggled against the men who held me, but all of Shiki's strength was going into controlling Mike this time. It was almost impossible to free him. Mike stood next to Shiki, facing him.
"I will teach you respect." Shiki said.
And there he killed Mike, right in front of my eyes. I could not respond fast enough.
