Shadow Seed (15 page)

Richard grabbed another crate and sat next to
Sara, wrapping his arms around her as she sobbed. “We’ll make them
pay.”

At the speed he was going, Leon was well into
the woods when he began hearing odd noises again. It was the sound
of breaking twigs and rustling of leaves. Coming to a stop, he was
sure now that he was being followed not by one, but several
people.

Leon drew his sword and waited as the noise
came closer. Soon, directly ahead of and from both sides, a large
group of Vesuvians from different Houses emerged.

A Doran male with spiky, red hair spoke. “We
hear you have a ticket out of the apocalypse.”

“Leuk, you need to get back to the city now,”
Leon said.

Some of the Vesuvians laughed. The fact that
they were all able to follow Leon told him that they were sharing
blood between them.

Leuk pulled a knife out. “I don't think so.
Without you, the Pelasgians have no reason to be here.”

“You're making a mistake,” Leon growled.

With an evil grin, Leuk shook his head. “No,
you're the mistake.”

The cost of blood in a drawn out fight
against numerous Vesuvians from all the Houses would be extremely
high, especially if those Vesuvians were sharing blood.

Knowing this, Leon did the only thing he
could think of. Run. It was easy to blow past the Vesuvians, but in
less than a second he began to feel warm and uncomfortable.

The Doran used their powers to boil Leon's
blood as they chased him.

If it weren't for the fact that he was made
from the blood of the Council, Leon probably would have bled out.
Instead, the immediate effect was minimal, but caused him to expend
more blood as he still had to resist the power trying to make him
burst.

Leon made a hard turn. He was very familiar
with the woods, and knew that just ahead was his only chance of
survival. Grabbing two glaives, he squeezed hard, filling his hands
with blood.

In the middle of the woods, the trees
suddenly opened up to a very massive gorge in the earth.

Leon jumped into the blackness with the
Vesuvians diving in after him like rabid dogs.

The only way now was down.

As Leon fell, the blood from his hands lit
up. At first it was a soft glow, rapidly growing brighter and
brighter.

With nowhere to hide, the Vesuvians exploded
into cinder as they were engulfed by light that became so luminous,
some of the people as far away as New Haven could see it.

Everyone in the city gaped in wonder.

Richard was certainly amazed. “Something
tells me that wasn't a falling star.”

And as much as Sara wanted to believe it was,
a single thought came to mind. “Leon.”

###

~From the author~

Words can’t express how thankful I am of
everyone’s support thus far. I hope you have found the story to be
exciting and are looking forward to
Vesuvian Starlight
, due
Q4 2012 - Q1 2013.

Jose Rodriguez Jr.