Magestorm: The Reckoning (13 page)

33

When Dhane arrived at the Grand with Terrance and Tyler, his friends were eagerly waiting to hear how things were going.  There wasn’t time for a long, drawn out explanation.  They needed to make their move on Elisabeth and the others before they realized what was going on, so he had to be brief.

“Heather is taken care of.  I also heard from Demian; Charles and the vampires are finished.  We’re all clear for the final assault.  Is everyone clear on their job?”

Each person nodded that they understood their responsibility and Dhane turned to face the Grand.  With a deep breath, he started walking; the sound of his steps seemed loud
on the quiet street.  Other steps began, as Cassandra headed towards the front of the hotel to cast the enclosure spell.  Amber was close behind to provide physical protection as needed.

Heading towards the back was Samantha, with
Tyler providing her cover.  She would cast the same enclosure spell and hopefully, between the two of them, it would be enough to keep everyone trapped inside.

Xander
had changed to werewolf form, and he and Nichole were close behind Dhane.  They were to clear out the first floor of any threats, then head to the basement and wait.  Finally, Terrance would head into the lobby and keep it clear until the mage was ready.

They entered the back door of the Grand and immediately Xander, Nichole, and
Terrance headed down the hallway.  Terrance made his way straight towards the lobby while the other two went room by room checking for enemies, and subduing them when they were found.  Between Nichole’s magic to blind their foes, and Xander’s pure strength, the pair outmatched most enemies before a fight could even get started.

The sound of heavy footsteps from above suddenly caught the couple’s attention.  They glanced around in the hallway and a realization quickly came to them.
  Looking towards the back door, Dhane was watching out the window to make sure the spell was cast by Samantha without issue.

“Dhane, the monster is coming,” Xander growled.  “Any thoughts on how to stop it
?”

“Don’t worry about him,” the mage said without looking.  “He won’t impede your progress.”

Xander and Nichole exchanged looks, before shrugging and continuing their sweep.  Soon they were out of the hallway, out of sight, and Dhane was alone.  Samantha completed the spell and stared at her watch.  Every ten minutes she was supposed to redo the spell to ensure it held up.

As the mage looked at her, her beautiful face trying to hold in the sadness of recent losses, her
long blond hair flowing in the wind, he wondered what might have been between them in a different life.

After a deep breath, he turned and started down the hall.  Everything was in place; it was all about execution now.  He reached the council room and glanced inside.  As expected, the table which blocked all magic was now gone.  The monster had finished his first task.

With a smile, he turned to walk out into the lobby, when he suddenly became aware that he was not alone.  Xander and Nichole had missed one of the residents. 

34

“It’s the end of the line for you, mage.”

Sebastian stood at the end of the hallway behind Dhane, voice filled with anger.
 It was the most serious the werewolf had ever been about anything.  His enemy had to die, and he planned to be the one to take care of it.

Dhane stopped and looked over his shoulder.
 After what happened with Rachel, he knew this moment was coming.  At least he didn’t have to wait too long.  With Elisabeth somewhere in the hotel, he really didn’t have the time to waste.  The power to the hotel was mostly out, and he knew the werewolf thought it was just the two of them.  He was wrong.

“I don’t have time to play around with you right now, mutt.
 Perhaps you’d care to fight with someone else.”

From the shadows near Dhane came a glint of light off the dead eyes of the monster.
 It stepped forward into the faint light cast out from one of the room.  There was no expression on its face and nobody knew for sure if it was a living thing or not.  Nobody but his master.

“That’s fine.
 I’ll tear him limb from limb if it gets me to you.”

The wizard glanced up at the monster, whose dead eyes shifted over towards him.
 A smile crept across Dhane’s face and he turned just enough to look at Sebastian.

“He’s looking forward to it.”

Dhane turned back around and walked down the hallway without another word.
 The two were left to fight in private, and the werewolf wasn’t about to let the mage walk away.  He stepped forward as his change happened, and turned his steps into a run as he charged.  The monster started running directly at its target.

The sound of the freight trains colliding echoed through the hall and
caused Dhane to pause.  He started to look back, stopped, and proceeded, leaving the monsters to do battle.  There was no time to spectate.

Left alone to battle, the monster and the werewolf returned to their feet.
 Sebastian was feeling the effects of their impact, his shoulder throbbing.  It was dislocated, he figured, which meant it was still good enough to use.

Using his claws, he tore through the meat of the monster, but got no reaction in return.
 Instead a straight uppercut took the wolf off his feet, soaring up and away.  With a thud he landed on his back inside one of the of hotel rooms.  Pain all through his body told him he was hurt pretty badly, but at least he could still feel it.  

As he struggled to get back to his feet, the monster walked in and stood over him.
 Having seen the monster in action before, Sebastian knew he had lost already.  He also knew where his mistake had come.  Fighting the monster head-on was a no-win idea.  It was too strong, and didn’t get tired.

“Go ahead then, finish it,” he spouted, spitting blood as he spoke.

The monster leaned down and put its left hand on the werewolf’s chest.
 With the right, it punched down, making Sebastian close his eyes and flinched, but the fist didn’t hit him.  Instead it hit the floor with such force that it crumbled all around the impact.  Another, and another, then with the left on the other side, and suddenly it all gave way.

Collapsing into the basement below, the werewolf was able to take advantage and scramble to his feet before the monster could do the same.
 He hurried out of the storage room they had landed in and down the hallway as quickly as possible.

After looking over his shoulder and not yet seeing the monster, he slipped into a room and tried to close the door. The maintenance room was occupied by mops, brooms, and everything else the cleaning staff needed.
 

Waiting silently in the darkness, the footsteps finally came down the hall towards the room.
 If the monster found him, there was nothing left that he could do about it.  He was beaten to the point of hiding like a coward.  The anger made him want to fight the monster to the death, but his brain understood how illogical and impossible it would be.

The footsteps reached the room, but continued past and eventually faded away.
 The werewolf hunched over and wondered how he could get out of the hotel without being caught by his enemies.  So engrossed in his own panic, he didn’t notice that he was not alone in the room.

“Hello, old friend,” the familiar voice said from the darkness.

With a slash of his claws, Xander cut through the chest of his surprised fellow wolf.
 Sebastian fell backwards and scrambled to get out the door.  He reached the hallway, touching his chest and watching as blood ran through his fingers.  Of all times to run into Xander, this couldn’t be worse.  Only it was.

“You’ve earned this, you son of a bitch!”

A sharp pain shot into his back, and suddenly he turned to human form unintentionally.
 With a click, the make-shift dagger broke off inside his wound and he fell to the ground.  Looking up at his unseen attacker, Nichole stood over him with a broken piece of black wood in her hand.

“What the hell have you done to me?”

“I’ve taken away your gift.
 Now I’m sentencing you to damnation.”

“Stay the fuck away from me.”

Scrambling away from the witch, he staggered and stumbled down the hallway, blood running down his front and back, bruised muscles and broken bones slowing him enormously.
 At the end of the hallway was a room with a large metal door.  It had been a panic room or bomb shelter at some point, a secure room, perhaps the one place he might be safe.

Desperately he lunged for the door and hurried inside.
 Without a clue of how he made it without being killed by the monster, or Xander, or even the witch, he pulled the door shut and fumbled around for the lock.  Once it clicked into place, he stopped to catch his breath.  After fumbling around for a light switch, he gave up and dropped to the floor.

“You finally made it.
 We will stay here together, forever.  Just you and me.”

The lights came on and Rachel was sitting in a chair across the room.
 The pain and anguish on Sebastian’s face was just what she wanted.  He was trapped here with her, locked behind a door with no key, and far away from Elisabeth.

“I hate you,” he spouted at the witch, almost hoping she would end his misery.

Rachel walked over and kneeled down in front of him.
 With a smile, she stroked his face with her hand.

“I know you do.
 And I love you too.”

3
5

In the lobby, Terrance had his hands full with several fellow werewolves.  Three had him cornered, though he clearly wasn’t going down without a fight.  A fourth was in a heap at Terrance’s feet, while another was hunched over in a chair, clutching his arm as it bled profusely.

“
Come get some,” Terrance spat as blood dripped from his chin.

“You should have joined our side when you had the chance,” one of them replied as he charged forward.  Slashing and biting wildly was clearly the wrong approach
to use.  With violent precision Terrance struck back against the attacker, dodging the wild shots and countering efficiently and effectively.

The creature yelped and gasped at the blows and stumbled away.  The remaining two didn’t look m
uch like they wanted to fight him, but then two more werewolves came down the stairs and joined them.

“That’s fine, more for me tear apart.”

From the stairs came a female voice as Elisabeth barked out her orders while staying a safe distance away.

“Kill him, then find the mage and bring him to me.”

She disappeared from sight as Dhane plotted how best to assist his ally.  A distraction would likely b
e his best bet, and then Terrance could finish them off as he best saw fit.  So Dhane stepped out into view and began speaking words that meant nothing, but loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“It’s the mage.  Stop him before he can cast his spell!”

Two stepped towards him while the other two watched, and that was all
Terrance needed.  Each of the pair suffered a mortal blow from behind.  The others turned around and realized the numbers game had just changed, and not in their favor.

“Guess you guys should pay more attention,” Dhane grinned.

The sound of a thud hit behind the mage, and a slash of claws knocked him to the ground.  His right leg was bleeding from four horizontal wounds.

“You should follow your own advice, mage.”

A snarling werewolf loomed over him, clearly
ready to finish him off, if not for Elisabeth’s orders to bring him to her alive.  Dhane looked to Terrance and winked.  The final phase was now in effect, as pre-arranged by the mage and the werewolf.

Terrance
nodded and backed away as the other werewolves moved in on him.  Once Dhane was dragged away and out of sight, he flashed a toothy smile.

“Final dance, make it good.”

Both of his opponents pounced
at once, and he caught them by the necks and caused an awkward landing.  It knocked the wind out of them which gave him the leg up he needed.

A precise blow to the throat sent one scrambling away
in a choking fit.  Fists flew between the remaining two combatants, followed by claws and snapping jaws.  Fur and skin and blood began to fly and soon one of the combatants dropped to one knee.

“Go ahead then,
put an end to this farce.”

Terrance
obliged, snapping the werewolves’ neck.  When he looked to the one remaining, his enemy cowered in the corner and begged for his life.  A swift punch knocked the werewolf out.

Xander and Nichole entered from the basement door looking somber.  He met the couple with a nod and they glanced around at the
carnage left in the lobby.

“You guys finish your business with Sebastian?”

“Yeah, we won’t be seeing him again,” Nichole replied.  “Where’s Dhane?”

“Finishing things with Elisabeth.  It’s time for us to leave.”

He turned to leave, but Xander grabbed his arm.  Shaking his head as he respon
ded, his words were sharp and simple.

“We don’t leave without the mage.”

“His orders.  He’s going to bring the place crashing down on Elisabeth.  We need to be clear so
he has nothing to worry about.”

“What is his escape plan?”

“He didn’t specify, but I’m sure the crafty wizard has something up his sleeve.”