Jar of Souls (15 page)

The distance of a street in between wasn’t enough to make me feel very comfortable. The man strode boldly to the edge of the roof, taking in the view of the nest below. His face remained shrouded by his hood. From here he didn’t look physically imposing. In fact, I would say he was short and pretty lean, but it was hard to tell with the robe draped over him. It did a wonderful job of masking any discernable features.

I pointed toward the mage and then at Marcus. He understood what I was asking him to do right away. For the first time since the Lycans appeared, he smiled. Handling magic was something he was comfortable with; killing Lycans was an unknown. Granted, these weren’t normal Lycans. They were more of the undead variety that I had a small amount of experience with, mostly consisting of me tossing magic at it and then running around in terror, but now I knew how to kill them. I thought I could make this work.

My hopes diminished somewhat when four more of the creatures dropped onto the roof by the hooded figure. He held a hand up into the air; the four Lycans on our rooftop fell to all fours, getting ready to charge. I gave Marcus one more nudge and pointed at the man on the rooftop, letting him know the plan still stood. The hooded figure lowered his hand, and all eight of the

Lycans charged forward.

As soon as they had cleared our rooftop, Marcus was leaping across the space between buildings, casting a ball of fire down at the back of the hooded figure. I tore my gaze away from him and jumped off the roof in the other direction. I couldn’t tell you how crazy I felt leaping off a perfectly good three-story building with nothing but asphalt below me, but hey, this was my life now. Not only did I jump, but I sent out a lance of pure power at one of the Lycans, cutting it neatly in half. A small burst of fire should make sure the remains disappeared. Then it was time to focus on lightening myself so I wouldn’t come crashing down to my death.

I hit the ground hard but not hard enough to do any damage. It was like I had jumped off a six-foot wall and not a forty-foot-tall building. The first thing I had to do was try and slow those damn things down. They were fast, and it was seven on one. I couldn’t stand toe to toe with them, but right now it looked as if they hadn’t even noticed the loss of their partner. All seven of them were wholly focused on reaching the nest.

Another lance of power split one more of them before they reached the nest’s outer fence. Power like that came with a cost. It depleted my magical stores quickly, and I wouldn’t be able to summon it to kill all six of the remaining Lycans. I maybe had one or two more blasts before I ran out of juice, and then it was toe-to-toe time with limited magic. If I was really lucky, my staff might help me get off one more shot. I ashed the body of the fallen Lycan as I ran by. Only six left. I had this.

A quick glance toward the rooftop showed me flashes of light and the explosions of magic filling the dark skyline. The sound it created was almost deafening; it drowned out the sounds of the Lycans tearing through the fence in front of me. The thought of the Lycans behind me had me spinning back around, and I brought down two more of the beasts on my left. That left four more of the undead for me to bring down, and not too long to do it.

Two of the creatures turned from the fence once it had been ripped apart, and headed back toward me. The other two sprinted forward toward the nest. I only had enough power in my staff to bring down one of them. I called on that power now. The first Lycan burst in half. The second one jumped through its remains, coming straight at me. I dropped my staff to the ground and rolled under its leap, pulling my swords out as I came out of the roll. I had enough magic left to boost my strength and speed. If I was lucky, it would be enough to keep me alive.

The Lycan turned to face me, standing on its hind legs and drawing the massive sword from behind it. Its milky eyes seemed to lock onto me, and it roared. I’m sure everyone has seen a movie where a huge grizzly bear roars at someone, and it seems loud enough to shake the earth. This was louder, much louder. From ten feet away, I could feel the fetid breath of the creature wash across my face. It was worse than I had expected. The smell of decomposing flesh almost made me drop my blades and gag. The creature’s eyes tracked the movement of my hand as I moved my wrist up to suppress that very same reflex.

I wondered just how those undead eyes could still see me. A crash from behind stole my attention from the Lycan in front of me and almost cost me my life. I turned to see a group of Fallen streaming out of the nest to protect it. Two huge albino monsters led the charge. They hit the wolves and went down in a heap as they tore at each other. I turned back just in time to bring my sword up.

The cut that would have split me clean in two was moved just enough to the side that it missed me. That didn’t stop the Lycan’s massive shoulder from slamming into me. As I went flying backward, I wondered just what it would take to bring this creature down. I rolled over on my back, and as I came back up on my feet, I crossed and lifted my blades above my head. They stopped the next blow that was aimed in my direction. Spinning to the side, I lashed out, bringing my blade across the creature’s thigh.

Absolutely nothing happened. The wolves’ skin parted like tough leather. There was no blood coming from the wound. The next strike knocked me back another three feet. Thank God for my enchanted blades. I had no doubt that a strike from that sword would shatter a normal blade in one hit. If my blades couldn’t cut through the monster, then I was going to have to find another way to kill it.

I spent the next minute dodging and striking at the beast, neither of us making any headway. My magical reserves were starting to run on fumes. I had to find a way to end this and end it quickly. We had changed positions, and I could see the Fallen had gathered inside of the fence to watch the fight. I spared a small amount of magic to ash the corpse inside of their perimeter. Part of the mission was to leave no evidence. Better to ask for forgiveness later then to worry about what the Fallen thought about me casting magic on their land.

The lights and blasts from Marcus’s battle were still lighting up the night sky. I was impressed that my friend had that kind of stamina. If it was me, I would have been out of juice. The Lycan came at me, swinging low; I jumped over his blade and lashed out at the creature’s face. It knocked one of my swords away with its arm, the blade leaving a huge cut, exposing the bone. My other blade slammed to the hilt in the beast’s eye. The sword it was holding clattered to the ground.

The blade through the monster’s brain seemed to have stopped it long enough for me to hack at its neck a few times. As the Lycan’s head fell from its shoulders, I felt a little better. The limbs started to quiver and move again. I used the last of my magic to ash what was left of the head. The body stopped twitching, and then I incinerated it as well. I was totally out of mojo now, and there were ten of the Fallen and two of their huge berserkers watching me to see what my next move was going to be.

I sheathed my blades and walked over to pick up my staff. It was kind of unnerving to have that many eyes on me at once. Marcus landed next to me with a thud; he stayed on his back. A vicious-looking cut across his chest was bleeding profusely. He let out a groan of pain, and I wanted to help him but I had to know if his opponent was still alive first. I turned away from him to look up toward the roof and watched as the robbed figure glided down to the ground. He strode forward, coming to finish Marcus off. His clothes had been ripped in several places, and he walked with a grim purpose to his stride.

I moved in front of Marcus. There was no way this asshole was going to kill my friend. He continued to walk toward me, and I took a few steps forward to put some distance between Marcus and the man coming toward us. The man reached up and pulled his hood back. His white skull shone in the moonlight. Something was off about his face. Was his mouth too big or was it just that he had too many teeth? I couldn’t put my finger on it, but when he opened his mouth to speak, I felt a small amount of terror creep up my spine and into my heart. How had Marcus stood against this man alone?

“Ah, so it’s Adam’s new prodigy. How sad will he be to lose you before you have a chance to come into your full power?”

I slammed my staff into the ground. A small wave of power flowed out of it, cracking the concrete around where it had hit. It was a small show of power, and with how I was feeling, it was more of a bluff than anything else. “Whatever you have come here for, you cannot have it. This place is under our protection.”

“If that man was the best you have to defend against me, then you are greatly outmatched.”

“It seems to me like he has weakened you more than you would care to let on. Regardless, I cannot let you pass.”

“From the look of you, you aren’t fairing much better.” He flashed me that grin again, with too many teeth showing. Something about those teeth just made me want to run away.

“The difference is if you get through me, then you have an entire nest willing to stop you. With your power so reduced, I doubt you could make it to whatever you are seeking. I can feel it from here; you don’t have much left.”

“The magic that flows through me is stronger than you think, boy. I think it’s time that I gave you a little taste.”

He blurred forward, and the only thing that saved me was my staff. I managed to get it up in time to deflect his attack. At the same time, I used it to throw out another small wave of power, knocking him back. The staff wasn’t going to do me much good now. I laid it by Marcus as the pale shadow of a man tried to circle around me. The swords pulled easily from their scabbards on my back as I stepped forward into his path again.

This time he blurred forward faster than I had ever seen a human move. I got my sword up to deflect a swipe from his hand. I countered with my other blade and almost laughed as he lifted an arm to block it. My enchanted blade would tear through whatever magical protection he thought that he had. This fight should be much easier when he only had one arm. My smile turned to pure confusion as my blade hacked into his arm and stopped.

How in the hell could he stop one of dad’s swords with his arm? I hadn’t seen anything that could deflect them; the strongest shield Marcus could summon couldn’t hold one of them back. The man’s rictus grin spread to epic proportions at my look of confusion. A closed palm slammed into my chest, sending me flying backward. My sword was almost ripped from my hand as it tore free from his arm.

The man laughed; at least, I think that was what he was doing as he licked his wound with a tongue that was just a little too long. Seriously, just what in the hell was this guy? I was pretty sure he wasn’t human anymore. Only a few drops of black blood had hit the ground. It was hissing gently. The laughter stopped, and I watched his eyes dart back and forth at something behind me.

When I turned to look behind me, I was surprised to see that the Fallen had come out from their perimeter. Three of them had taken up what I hoped was a protective position around Marcus. One of them was kneeling down to examine him. At least I hoped it was to check his wound, but if Marcus was right, they might be taking the chance to end him right now. I couldn’t fight both the Fallen and this man in front of me. There was only one choice now. I had to focus on the white-skulled bastard and hope that there was some way I could win.

I stepped forward, spinning my swords around a few times to reassure myself. That grating sound started again, and I knew he was laughing at my bravado. The pain flared once in my chest where he had hit me, but I couldn’t focus on that now. The laughter stopped abruptly, and I knew it had nothing to do with me. A quick glance to my left showed that Sarafina had made an appearance next to me. The creature in front of us took a step forward and then moved a few paces back. He slowly circled, and the rest of the Fallen moved forward to show their support of their leader.

He smiled once more; that hideous grin would only be seen again in my nightmares. At least, I hoped that I would never be forced to see it again in person. He stopped pacing and raised his hood back over his pure white skin.

The man’s head moved to focus on me, and two red orbs glowed for a second from inside the darkness of the hood. “Tell Adam Gaston is coming for him.” Then he turned and fled into the night. Again he moved with a speed I had yet to see any of the gifted match. I wondered just how powerful Sarafina was to send him scurrying away. His power must be something great indeed. A groan sounded from behind me.

“Jackson, what is going on?” Marcus said.

To my surprise, all of the Fallen had already disappeared. Sarafina gave me a nod, and then she was gone. Damn, she was fast; I would have to make sure to ask Adam how you would fight against something like that. Not that I was looking to pick a fight with an elder vamp anytime soon. Marcus gave me a confused look, and I just put a hand out to help him to his feet.

“Seriously, bro, what happened?”

“Let’s get you home first and then we can talk. Someone needs to take a look at your wounds.”

“I just feel a little stiff. What wounds are you talking about?”

I handed Marcus my staff so he could lean on it while I pulled up his shirt. His chest looked fine. How in the hell had that happened? There was a huge gash before; his clothes were still covered in blood. I wondered just what the Fallen had done to heal him. I wasn’t going to bring it up until Adam was with us. I knew how much Marcus hated them, and he would hate owing them or knowing they had anything to do with him being alive.

“Ahh, let’s get back and talk about it with Adam.”

“Damnit, Jackson, what happened? Did those Fallen touch me?”

“I think they saved your life.”

The look he gave me was one of pure horror. He gripped my staff and started to make his way to our exit. I pulled out my phone and dialed to let them know to open the portal. I wish there had been time to make a call for backup, but there just hadn’t been. I was going to have to ask Adam if he had a better way to communicate in the moment. I was sure the Ascendancy had something better than a cell phone for communicating. When we got to our exit, the portal was already open and waiting for us to enter. Marcus gave me a look to make sure I was still right behind him and stepped through the portal. I followed closely on his heels.