Netherworld, Soul Guardians Book 4 (16 page)

Kara searched the ground. “Those
things took all my weapons,” she yelled above the wailing
wind.

David offered her the blade in his
hand. It glimmered in the ghostly light. “Take this one, I’ve got
lots more.”

With a nod of her head, Kara took the
blade. Her fingers curled around the handle. “Thanks. Let’s get out
of here,” she yelled. “And watch where you step.”

With their hands clasped together,
they made their way across the grey desert. The storm wailed and
thunder cracked above them. Kara bent her body forward and fought
against the strong winds. Each step was a tremendous effort. She
scanned the grey sands before them and pressed on. The winds
diminished slightly. Whirlwinds lifted and dissipated. Finally,
Kara could see a few yards in front of her. A wall of dust
scattered, and she gasped.

A giant burning city
loomed over them. It stretched out for miles in
every direction. Yellow and red flames snaked up buildings. Embers
and soot rained down from a black starless sky and covered the
ground in a soft grey carpet. The city was blanketed in darkness.
The only light source came from the flames that licked out of
windows and coiled around the decrepit buildings.
Black puddles spotted the ground. Kara dropped
David’s hand and stepped forward to look at them more closely. She
realized they were puddles of blood. A gust of wind slapped Kara’s
face, intensifying the stench of rotten flesh and blood. A
cacophony of moans and wails echoed around them. An eerie laugh
sounded from one of the buildings.

Kara, help me…it
hurts…please hurry…

The skin on Kara’s arms
prickled. She gripped her blade so hard that she couldn’t feel her
fingers anymore. The ghostly voice had come from somewhere beyond
the city. Somewhere past the dead city was her friend Jenny. The
voice echoed in her ears like a chant. A flash of movement caught
her attention. She stood her ground.
Shapes moved in the shadows. A clawed hand
vanished behind a door. Glowing red eyes flickered and disappeared.
Whispers of her name floated to her ears.

“
We can’t stay here. We
have to move,” said Kara in a low voice. A long scaly tail
slithered behind an open window.

“
Is this how you remembered
it?” David inspected the buildings. “I thought you said there was a
casino?”

“
There was a casino before.
This is different. We must be in another part of the netherworld. I
don’t recognize this place.” Part of her wished to find the dreaded
casino. At least she would have known what to expect. But this city
was something entirely different. Something inside told her that
this charred and burning city had been conjured out of nowhere just
for them. She ignored the sense of foreboding that welled inside.
There was no turning back. They had to push forward.

Peter groped for his backpack’s
straps. “This place is huge. How are we ever going to find Jenny?
It’s going to take forever to search this city.”

Kara watched shadows moving in the
streets. “We’ll follow her voice.”

“
Her voice?” Peter cocked
his head to the side and looked at the other two. “What voice? I
don’t hear her? You can hear Jenny?”

Kara knitted her brows and motioned to
her head. “I can. I’ve heard it since we arrived. But it’s not
Jenny’s laughter I hear, it’s Lilith’s—she’s playing with me—but if
we find Lilith, we’ll find Jenny.”

“
She’s right.” David
brandished his weapons in front of him. He studied the city for a
moment. “This place gives me the creeps. Let me guess—the voice is
coming from in there.”

Kara met David’s eyes. “Yes…somewhere
past the city, I think. We’ll have to cross it to make
sure.”

“
Great.” Peter shrugged.
“Well, I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.”

David patted him on the back. “I got
your back. Well, there’s no time like the present. Kara, lead the
way.”

With Kara in the lead, the group
ventured deeper into the city. They walked along a deserted street
lined with bent light posts with burned out lights. Kara was
grateful the winds had died down, so that she could concentrate on
her hearing. Flames crackled as they passed and gave them their
only source of light. A sudden hollowness spread through her chest.
She passed a window but she could not see her reflection in it. The
glass was greenish black. Every single window was black, she
realized, like black bottomless eyes. Kara had the nasty feeling
they were being watched, and from the fidgeting in their steps, she
knew David and Peter had the same feeling. Shops and buildings that
had perhaps once been lively with color were scorched black by the
fires. Kara found it curious that no signs rested above any of the
shops. Could this have been a real city at one time? She strained
her ears, but she couldn’t hear Jenny’s voice anymore. Had they
gone the wrong way?

Kara thought she heard chanting,
though it could have been the wind. It grew louder. The screeching
of metal being torn thundered around them. The ground shook.
Earsplitting screeches and cracks boomed. There was a loud crack,
and a whole city block dislodged and moved towards them—the wall of
buildings shifted and stopped—it blocked their way.

David lowered his weapons. His jaw
dropped. “What in the—?”

Suddenly, the ground split open. Metal
sprouted from the ground and rose above them as if the steel were
growing. Pieces of stone and metal intertwined and created levels
and structures. A building soared above them. Dust and pebbles
rolled to the ground near their feet. With a groan, the front of
the building split open. Steel fangs spiked out from the opening. A
row of black windows rested above the mouth. Kara shuddered as she
looked into the steel creature’s eyes. A terrifying sound escaped
the gaping maw.

“
Uh oh,” whimpered Peter.
“That can’t be good.”

Kara backed away. Choking panic clawed
her throat. “What in god’s name is that thing?”

David took a step back, terrified.
“The city’s alive. And I think we’re next on the menu.”

Chapter 12

Skyscrapers with a
Vengeance

“
R
un!” David bolted in the opposite direction.

Kara sprang into a run, but then
skidded to a stop and turned. “Peter! Come on! What are you
doing?”

He stood frozen and shaking in front
of the iron creature. His mouth quivered.

“
Peter! Peter,
run!”

He backed away slowly, his eyes wide.
He came to life suddenly, turned, stumbled backwards, and fell. The
creature wailed overhead and loomed lower over them. It moved
towards Peter. In a second it would devour him. Rage swelled in
her, banishing the momentary sensation of panic. In a flash, Kara
bolted towards Peter. She grabbed him by the arm, and with a sharp
tug she yanked him to his feet and pulled him with her into a
run.

The three of them tore down the
street. David suddenly halted, turned, and hurled a glowing red orb
across the black sky. It shattered with a blast against the metal
creature. A ball of red-hot light exploded in the darkness for a
moment and illuminated more buildings shifting around them. A red
mist covered the spot where the creature had stood. The mist lifted
and revealed a gaping metal mouth. The thing wailed and rose into
the air unscathed. It grew in length and twitched like a metal
worm. It bent at an angle, and with great speed it came cascading
down toward them.

Kara leapt out of the way just as a
metal structure crashed to the ground. The metal monster roared in
anger as it realized its prey had escaped. It rolled back and
hovered for a moment. Kara sheathed her soul blade. It would be no
use on the metal creature.

She called for her elemental power in
desperation. She could feel it loosen inside her. A surge of warm
energy started to rise. The warm tingling sensation flickered. But
something was wrong. It didn’t surface. The flame fizzled and went
out.

“
Kara! Move! What are you
doing? Get out of there!”

She heard David’s cry, but she ignored
him. Kara shut out the world around her and concentrated as hard as
she could. She tried to feed her power with her angriest emotions
and fears. She reached out to her wild energy and it responded with
a soothing warmth. She reached deep inside herself and called her
power again. It rushed through her from her fingertips to her toes.
But as soon as she felt the warmth, a cool followed, then a sudden
release, and then nothing.

She tried again. Nothing.

It was like trying to start a car with
a dead battery. She tried repeatedly to light the ignition—but her
own battery was dead.

What have I done?
Had she used up too much of her essence in
sharing it with Peter and David? Had their Frankenstein experiment
gone way wrong? The dark clouds and lightening had been a warning.
In trying to help her friends, she had lost her ability to protect
them. She was just an ordinary angel now. Her legs felt as if they
would give out at any second. She could hardly focus her eyes. This
was all wrong.

David grabbed her arm and pulled her
out of her reverie. “Kara, wake up! What’s the matter with you? We
have to get out of this city before it eats us!”

Kara eyed the building. It shifted and
swayed. Its mouth jerked as though preparing itself for its next
meal. She stood mute for a moment, and then finally said. “I—I
can’t use my elemental powers. I think we used too much of my
essence to get you two across. David, I don’t have any more
power.”

David frowned. He raked his hair with
his fingers.

“
It’s too late now to do
anything about it. We’ll just have to use what we’ve got. Come on!”
David pulled Kara with him and ran down the street. Peter followed
close behind.

Kara’s legs were like cement blocks.
It took all of her focus just to run. She couldn’t shake off the
dread of being powerless. She had been a fool.

After passing under a low bridge
building, they entered a clearing. They turned left and ran down
the next block. A building sprouted out from the concrete in front
of them.

David skidded to a stop, and Peter
crashed into him. Kara stared open mouthed as the thing broke off
pieces of itself and flailed them around like arms. It waved its
limbs dangerously. An arm lashed out, and David jumped as the limb
crashed on the spot where he had been a second ago.

“
This way!” cried
David.

They turned and ran down a narrow
alley. Flames like blow torches licked at them as they ran. A wall
of flames sprang up before them and burned painfully into Kara’s
angel flesh. Her arms were scorched black and part of her jacket
melted way and exposed her crisp and smoking tissue.

The alley shifted suddenly. The ground
shook. They were thrown to the ground. Buildings disappeared into
the ground and made way for other structures that sprouted in the
air. More metallic creatures loomed over them.

“
The city keeps changing!
We’ll never get out of here! It’s got us trapped!” cried Peter, his
face streaked with nasty burn marks.

“
Yes we will!” Kara looked
over the buildings. “There’s gotta be a way out. The city can’t go
on forever. We’ll have to keep going.”

“
There!” David pointed
towards a clearing between the buildings. “I think I see an
opening.”

Kara followed his gaze. Light seeped
through between the tops of two tall buildings. It had to be a
clearing. Hope recharged her strength. “I see it too! Let’s
go.”

The three of them charged down the
shady street. The asphalt split and rolled like thick piece of
dough. The sky thundered. Blocks of concrete fell from above and
crashed around them like bombs. Metal poles sprouted from below the
ground like spears. Buildings popped up and slid into place, like a
never ending 3d puzzle. The scenery was surreal. The city moaned as
it crumbled and gave birth to new structures.

Peter fell to his knees. He slid his
backpack off his shoulders. He staggered, and he tried to
stand.

“
Peter! Are you okay?” Kara
grabbed his elbow and helped him to his feet.

“
Yeah, I’m fine.” He put a
hand over his forehead. “I just got a little dizzy. That’s all. We
better hurry,” he yelled over the thundering roar of bending and
twisting metal.

He secured his backpack, and Kara let
him go reluctantly. She shared a concerned look with David, and
they took off running towards the only clearing they could
see.

They jumped over debris and ducked as
buildings shifted and tried to knock them down. Violent gusts of
wind pushed them back. Ashes flew into their eyes. Grime stuck to
Kara’s eyelashes. With a piercing groan the ground rumbled and a
fissure appeared on the road up ahead. With another loud groan, the
crack spread until the entire block was split in half.

They halted. Dark shapes crawled out
of the crack. Twisted limbs scurried into the street like an army
of ants. Scabrous humanoid bodies with white bones jutting
hideously through their scorched black flesh and yellow liquid
dripping from their sinuous arms and legs moaned as they
approached. Their charred faces leered at them, and they
charged.