Infernal Father of Mine (44 page)

Crap.
Killing these things would only
feed Maloreck. I wondered if there was an upper limit to what he
could hold, or if I'd have to deal with a titanic version of him in
the near future. I looked him in the eyes. "Do I need to kill
more?"

Maloreck wheezed out a laugh.
"Always."

Mom's singing continued behind me. I hoped she
didn't have much longer to go, because things were about to get
real. There was only one thing I could do, and I'd have to do it
fast to keep us from being overrun with Nazdal.

The arch sat at the center of the huge chamber.
As with most arches, a silver circle surrounded it. When the arch
was activated, it formed a closed magical circuit designed to keep
magic from escaping. But circles could be used for a lot of things,
especially when they were made from silver.

Most of the Nazdal still remained outside the
silver circle. Only Maloreck and a dozen or so of his underlings
were inside it. A plan formed in my mind. Before more Nazdal
entered the circle, I acted, shooting a wall of murk in front of
me, pushing away the Nazdal in my path. Before they could react, I
darted forward, bit my thumb hard enough to draw blood, and pressed
it down on the silver band. With an act of will, I created a
physical barrier with the circle to keep the rest of the enemies
out.

Maloreck leapt outside the circle before it
flashed closed, leaving his buddies trapped inside with me, Dad,
Elyssa, and Mom.

It was better than facing all of them at once.
I heard gurgling growls and looked into the eyes of the trapped
Nazdal. Metal flashed, and one of the creature's heads bounced onto
the floor. I leapt back, hit the floor, and rolled as another dove
at me. Elyssa skewered the next attacker, but its body slammed into
her and pinned her to the floor. Without the open arch, she didn't
have the extra strength to save her.

Dad raced over and pulled the dead weight off
her. Three more Nazdal raced for them. I channeled Murk in both
hands and threw up an invisible wall. The creatures slammed into it
with bone-breaking impact. That, however, didn't stop them. They
felt their way along the barrier, jaws hanging open, their clusters
of jacked-up teeth glistening with drool. The first one around the
edge of the barrier shot out the weakening red mist.

Dad got the body off Elyssa, but not before the
poison found them. I tried to conjure a breeze, but was too
flustered to manage anything more than a puff of air. The trio of
Nazdal leapt for them, claws extended. I ran and dove, crashing
into Dad and Elyssa, and carrying them out of harm's way. By the
time I rolled onto my back, a Nazdal leapt on my chest. I caught
its open jaws inches from my face. Its tongue ran along my face.
Another Nazdal chomped down on my foot. I screamed.

I heard hacking, and saw Elyssa throwing up. I
couldn't turn my head far enough to see Dad. I clenched my teeth
and growled. Anger burned through my veins. "Die," I hissed, and
channeled Brilliance into my hands. The Nazdal's flesh smoked,
steamed, and burned. It gurgled horribly. I roared and filled my
hands with destruction. The white light enveloped the creature's
head. Its body shuddered and collapsed on my chest.

The other two Nazdal were tearing at my legs.
Only the Nightingale armor had saved them from being shredded. I
sat up, aimed a palm at each of them, and sent twin beams spearing
into their heads. Brains and other gunk boiled from their noses and
mouths. The stench made my eyes water.

I turned and saw the rest of the trapped Nazdal
encircling Mom. They lunged at her, but their claws drew azure
sparks from the air around her.
She must have thrown up a
shield.

Dad and Elyssa
were still barfing, but all the nearby attackers were dead. Nazdal
outside the circle threw their bodies against it and bounced off.
The closed circle would hold off physical and magical attacks for
now, but even a magic circle bound by silver wouldn't hold against
so many bodies for long.

Somehow, Mom was still singing away, despite
the horrors intent on breaking through her shield. I could only
imagine the concentration it took to do both things at once. I drew
on the aether around me. Despite the sheer volume of magical energy
building in the enclosed container, it was like sucking the ocean
through a straw. I took aim, and sliced the arm off one attacker.
The other four turned toward me. One made a heaving motion as if it
was about to spew the crippling red mist. I speared it in the
chest, dropping it. The others fought over its body, each one
apparently trying to take the life essence for themselves. I took
advantage of the infighting and smoked another Nazdal. Elyssa ran
past, still coughing, and slashed at an attacker. It intercepted
her blade with a claw.

"Careful!" I shouted, but she was already in
the heat of battle, spinning, ducking, and lancing her sword
through the Nazdal's throat. It spurted blood and crashed to the
floor.

"I have it!" Mom shouted. She waved a hand, and
the arch hummed.

I felt the physical barrier I'd thrown up
around the arch blink off as the arch reset the magical containment
circle. An instant later, the silver circle flashed, closing itself
to magical energy. When it reset, it removed the barrier, replacing
it with one that would only stop magical energy, not physical
bodies. The Nazdal had already realized this and were crossing
inside the circle in droves. Neat rows of Templars appeared through
the portal in the middle of the arch.

Strength roared into me. Elyssa straightened,
and her coughing stopped.

The clacking of claws and gurgling of Nazdal
throats grew closer as the small army swarmed toward us. Elyssa
held an arm straight up and slashed it forward. With a roaring
battle cry, the Templar force rushed through the portal. We leapt
out of the way, joining Mom at the side of the arch.

Mom took in a long breath. "That was
exhausting."

Dad appeared at her side, and wrapped an arm
around her waist. "Alysea, are you okay?"

She smiled up at him. "I'm much better
now."

"Rest up," I said. "We'll take it from
here."

Elyssa's full lips spread into a wicked smile.
"Let's show these nasty effers not to mess with us."

We turned and watched as Templars crashed into
the much smaller force of Nazdal. It was time I put an end to
Maloreck before he grew any bigger.

Maloreck tore into the Templars.

His huge clawed hands tossed them to the side
like sacks of feathers. Elyssa engaged the first Nazdal leaping our
way. She dispatched it with two quick slashes from her swords.
Another dropped from the ceiling above, claws extended. I
incinerated it with a blast of Brilliance. Ashes rained
down.

Elyssa gave me a look of surprise before diving
into a fray to save another beleaguered Templar fending off two
Nazdal. Before I could charge in after her, another group of the
creatures pounced from the side. I ducked, rolled, and grabbed the
one closest to me. Its back faced me thanks to the missed lunge. I
twisted its head savagely and heard bones crack. The next one
slashed at my legs. Its claw connected and knocked me off my feet,
though the armor once again saved me from a nasty wound. Without
wasting a moment, it pounced on my back. I felt teeth stab into the
armor around my neck.

Even though the armor saved me from severe bite
wounds it couldn't stop the pressure. I gasped as my air supply cut
off. I pushed hard against the ground with my hands. We flipped
backward. I felt the Nazdal's body shudder with the impact as its
back hit the floor. The attacker's grip around my neck loosened. I
reached back with my hands, gripped its disgusting slimy mouth, and
yanked hard as I could. I heard a scream. Felt its jaw crack and
break. I rolled free and watched the injured Nazdal squirming, its
lower jaw hanging loose, blood pouring from tears in its
flesh.

With a savage stomp to the head, I ended its
suffering and turned to look for Elyssa. She was lost in the crowd
of black-clad Templars. Swords flashed, and claws slashed. One side
of the Templar formation still held. They held shiny black shields
with the Templar symbol emblazoned on it while those behind stabbed
encroaching Nazdal with swords.

I looked left. Maloreck swiped a Templar and
the man crashed into me, bowling me over. I shook my head, clearing
the fog, and dragged the dazed man out of the fray. A Templar with
a healer symbol on her uniform took the man from me and pulled him
to the back of the line. Another wave of Templars came through,
these bearing staffs. They took up positions behind the shield line
and blasted the Nazdal with beams of light every color of the
rainbow. Flesh charred and smoked. The enemy screamed and
died.

It looked like we had things well in hand,
except for Maloreck. I swore the creature had grown even larger,
thanks to the deaths of his comrades. One of the Templar Arcanes
blasted him with a spear of light. It had little effect on the huge
Nazdal. He sprayed a cloud of red mist, and the Templars in front
of him fell back, choking and gasping for air.

I saw more crimson poison falling around me and
looked up. Nazdal on the ceiling had joined their leader, huffing
clouds of the stuff down on the Templars below.

"Up there!" I shouted to the Arcanes. "Kill the
ones up there!"

Arcanes looked up and redirected their deadly
spells on the creatures above. Bodies rained down as they raked the
ceiling with searing light. I dodged away as a Nazdal crashed on
the floor where I'd been standing, the crunch of bones audible even
over the battle. I generated a ball of Murk in my hands and
imagined it gusting like wind across the room. The wave of
ultraviolet whooshed overhead, carrying red poison with it and
clearing the air.

My efforts weren't enough to clear the
battlefront where Maloreck waged war, a pile of Templar and Nazdal
bodies at his feet. He didn't seem to care who he killed as his
body stretched and grew.

How large can that bastard
grow?

I couldn't ignore him any longer.

I rushed through the sea of bodies, dodging
swords, claws, and flying bodies. Only the surefooted Nightingale
armor kept me from slipping in the puddles of blood all over the
floor. I noticed several Templars with wounds visible through tears
in their armor. The material hardened to prevent punctures, but
apparently had its limits. Maloreck's huge arm reared back for the
death blow on a fallen Templar. The man's mask was in tatters, and
blood streamed from his wounds. Even so, he stared defiantly at the
beast, holding his sword in an offensive posture that might allow
him one last strike.

I dove. Grabbed Maloreck's arm, and twisted. I
heard a loud crack. The beast roared. Spun to face me.

"You have come at last," he said, eyes glowing
with bloodlust. "I would test myself against the
strongest."

"What's one plus one?" I asked.

He looked puzzled. "I do not
understand."

"It's two, you moron. You just failed the
test."

Laughter boomed from his throat. He
absentmindedly batted aside a charging Templar and lunged for me. I
shot a blast of Brilliance at his chest. His flesh blackened, but
seemed to heal just as quickly. I ducked beneath him and performed
an evasive somersault, just like Elyssa had taught me. Maloreck
landed in a group of Nazdal, sending his smaller minions
scattering.

I noticed that several of them had grown larger
and sensed if we didn't stop this fight, there would be a lot more
like Maloreck beating the snot out of us. He lunged again. I
funneled a solid wall of Murk and slammed him backward. He landed
on all fours, claws digging gouges in the floor as I pushed with
all my might, trying to crush him against a wall several feet
behind him. He bellowed and pushed forward. The wave of magic began
to warp and flow around him.

"Why won't you just go away?" I shouted. I felt
sweat dribbling down my face and knew I couldn't press this attack
much longer.

The beast's huge jaws widened in a malevolent
sneer. "The lives I have reaped give me strength. They grant me
magical resistance, young one."

It was time to switch to Plan B. I didn't
actually have such a plan, but there was at least one more ace to
play in my deck. I manifested into demon form. The armor bulged to
accommodate muscles as they coiled around my frame. I felt my flesh
swell against the fabric as my inner demon roared forth.

As usual, it made a power grab for my very
mind, seeking to submit it to its pure bloodlust and ravenous
desire to destroy and take everything. I felt weak from using so
much raw magic and nearly lost control as my demon side surged for
every last ounce of me. I grew until I rivaled Maloreck himself. I
felt my tail lash behind me, felt it make contact with something
attacking my rear and sweep it away.

The world began to fade. I fought back,
straining to close the cage and keep my demon soul from consuming
me. If it took me, no one would be safe from what
followed.

Don't be so damned
greedy!

With a final effort of will, I slammed it back
into its cage and resumed control. I hardly had time to breathe a
sigh of relief before Maloreck was on me. One of my huge hands
caught his throat. My tail wrapped around a claw coming for my
face, and my opposite hand gripped his other wrist. Maloreck hissed
a cloud of red vapor.