Legend of the Ir'Indicti 5 - Destroyer (33 page)

"I can't help you if you go rogue," her voice came. "Get yourself in hand and get rid of that trash quick, so I can do this."

Ashe turned and stared. The power he'd expended had been drawn back inside his body and his thoughts cleared, whereas only moments before, his anger had taken over and he'd been prepared to destroy everything. Now, he was blinking in shock as the realization came that he'd almost destroyed something that wasn't meant to be destroyed. The shining woman had given him respite and clarity, before he could take a step that could never be reversed. The woman—the one who'd stood at a gate in his past—was standing at his side and shining brighter than he remembered.

"Who are you?" he stammered, suddenly feeling sixteen again. He hadn't been sixteen for a very long while.

"Somebody from the future. Put a shield over this place and get with it. All seven of these need to die."

"Yeah. They need to die, all right." Ashe turned back to Curtis Roberts, who was quaking where he stood. Ashe lifted his hands and all seven turned to sparks, beginning with Curtis Roberts.

* * *

"The bombs aren't hitting the streets. Something is stopping them," a microphone-wielding journalist reported as the ground shook beneath his feet. "Unfortunately, the repercussions of this seem to be affecting everything else around the target."

"What the hell?" Winkler stood and stared. The television camera showed bombs bursting in mid-air—as if a huge, transparent dome had been placed over that section of Star Cove.

* * *

"What now?" Ashe stared at the woman, who continued to shine brightly, preventing him from seeing her features.

"Now, I
Change What Was
." Ashe held an arm over his eyes as a sun seemed to burst around him.

* * *

Sali sat on the concrete floor of the Evans' garage, staring at the Cadillac. "Ashe, you were supposed to drive me down the highway in this," Sali wiped tears away. "We were supposed to be together, dude."

"Sal, get up." Ashe deposited Aedan's sleeping body on the back seat of the Cadillac. "I have to get Nathan and Casimir, and then we'll get out of here."

"What the?" Sali stared at Ashe. Ashe was older, that was easy enough to see. The short sleeve of Ashe's shirt pulled back, revealing a gold crown resting over the gold medallions circling his left arm. "Dude, what the hell is happening?"

"It was the only way, Sal." Ashe placed his father in an upright position as he spoke. "I had to take the crowns and send the Elemaiya away. I closed the gate in Kansas City against them. They'll never be able to come back here. If they don't have these, they can't do this shit again." Ashe pulled back his right sleeve, showing Sali the second crown. "As long as my body is between the crowns, they can't destroy anything."

Sali lifted himself off the garage floor as Ashe disappeared and the first bombs hit.

* * *

Trajan, followed by Trace, Ace and Marco, rushed inside the school auditorium and stopped in front of the stage. The tall werewolf was about to inform the school Principal that the community was under attack when the first bombs could be heard hitting the gulf water on the community's eastern edge.

"Star Cove is under attack," Ashe appeared beside Trajan and patted Trajan's shoulder affectionately. "Mr. Wright, I'm offering a way to escape and a safe place to live, but it means that nobody who goes with me can come back to Earth."

"What?" Bear breathed as more bombs exploded overhead.

"I have Star Cove shielded, but the shield goes when I go. Anybody left behind will die." Ashe's eyes had darkened.

"Son, somebody has to carry the message to the other shifters across the globe—that the shapeshifters need to unite and form their own council." Kerry Slater's voice held wonder as he stared at Ashe's eyes. Somehow, he wanted to trust that. To believe in it.

"I will allow one to go through my shield," Ashe's voice had turned deeper, his eyes darker while stars filled their depths.

"I'll go. Tell me how to get out." Bear nodded to Kerry and squared his shoulders.

"No." Opal touched Bear's hand with her own. "I can get past the others. My last name means wind, remember." She offered a trembling smile to Bear.

"Opal," Bear breathed a troubled sigh.

"I will go," Opal turned to Ashe.

"Ashe?" Cori had come to stand beside Marco, who'd gripped her hand and squeezed it. The bombing increased overhead, and the strafing of bullets joined the muted noise, making the crowd of shapeshifters gasp and stand in alarm.

"Cori, I'm taking the vampires, since they're asleep and can't make a decision for themselves," Ashe nodded at Cori's unspoken question. "I have a safe place for all of you, if you'll trust me and go to the street."

"Son, what are you planning?" Bear asked.

"I'll open a gate," Ashe replied softly. "Opal Tadewi, are you ready?" he turned to Opal.

"Yes."

"I will set you down outside my shield. Once you are on firm ground, run."

"I will," Opal promised.

Ashe's body glowed with power and Opal disappeared.

Go to the street and pass through the gate when it opens
, Ashe spoke into every mind.

* * *

"Mom, Dad, we love you," Trace wiped tears away as he spoke to his parents on his cell. At least the call had gone through—the signal hadn't been lost.

"You think I'd forget your parents?" Ashe appeared and lifted the cell from Trace's hand. Trajan stood beside his brother—he'd heard his mother weeping when Trace made the call. "Mrs. Gibson, Mr. Gibson,
come
." An undeniable command lay in Ashe's voice, and Titus and Patricia Gibson appeared beside their sons.

"Mom," Trace embraced his weeping mother while Trajan hugged his father.

"Trajan, I'll need a Second where we're going," Ashe said softly. "And a Third. I want you and Trace to do that for me, if you're willing."

"Kid, for this, I'll do anything you want." Trajan let his father go and nodded to Ashe.

"It won't be a hardship, man," Ashe grinned.

* * *

"I guess you
can
fit three vampires in the back seat of a Cadillac," Sali muttered as Casimir's sleeping body was placed between Aedan and Nathan's. "Dang, how many bombs do they have?" More muted bomb blasts sounded overhead, making Sali duck instinctively. Ashe had appeared again, just as suddenly as he'd disappeared earlier, only this time he'd brought Casimir with him.

"Sal, get in the passenger seat. I told Mom to meet us out front."

"Where are we going, dude?"

"A long way from here." Ashe gripped the steering wheel, blew out the garage door with power and backed out quickly.

* * *

"Randy, this may be the last conversation we have," Sara said over her cell. "I get the idea we're going somewhere. Too bad you didn't pick up." Sara ended the call. She and every shapeshifter and werewolf in Star Cove stood in the streets as bombs hit an invisible shield over their heads and rocked the ground beneath their feet. Many gasped and cried out as the bombing increased. A few screamed in terror as the end of the world seemed imminent.

* * *

"Flossie, I'm trusting the boy," Amos pulled Florence Thompson against his side. "He's never done anything to make me believe he'll hurt us. Those folks who sent those bombers," he lifted his eyes, "well, they're the ones who want to hurt us."

"I know." Flossie stood on her toes and kissed her husband's cheek. Amos reached out and wiped tears from his wife's face.

* * *

"Mom, Ashe says he's taking Daddy, Mr. Evans and Mr. Casimir," Cori's smile trembled as she gazed at her mother. "He can shield them, so they'll be safe."

"I hope so," Lavonna hugged her oldest daughter. "Did he say where he's taking us?"

"He only said we'll be safe. If we stay behind, we'll die." Cori had to raise her voice; the noise of the bombs was getting louder.

"Then we'll go," Lavonna nodded determinedly, although her eyes were filled with tears.

* * *

"Well, Lewis, I hope you're not leaving anything important behind," Bear clapped Lewis Sharpe on the back.

"No. I'm glad I came," Lewis said. "The kid saved my life. I'm willing to trust him, now."

"Me, too," Bear agreed. "I wish they'd stop dropping those blasted bombs." Heavier bombing was taking place as Bear and Lewis walked out of the Star Cove auditorium together.

* * *

"Ace?" Wynn touched Ace's face. He grasped her fingers and kissed the palm of her hand.

"Baby, we have to trust Ashe."

"I know."

Turn and go through the gate quickly when it opens
, the voice commanded inside their heads.

Wynn gasped. She, Ace and her parents stood at the rear of a large crowd of werewolves and shapeshifters, who became their animals in a tremendous ripple.

"Baby, it'll be the first time we've run together," Ace offered Wynn a lopsided smile.

"Yeah. Let's go." In seconds, a white werewolf stood beside the only unicorn shapeshifter on Earth.

Run
, the voice commanded. They ran.

* * *

"Honey?" Adele said as she was squeezed between Ashe and Sali in the Cadillac's front seat.

"We'll be okay, Mom," Ashe said. "Ready, Sal?" Ashe leaned forward to give Sali a curious glance.

"Yeah. Ready."

"All right, then." Ashe let the Cadillac idle while he lifted his hands over his head and then let them down slowly. Light appeared before the crowd of shapeshifters and werewolves running in the street, before spreading out to reveal a gate.

Run! You'll find safety on the other side
, Ashe's voice filtered into every mind.

"Man, what is that? Through that opening?" Sali craned to see over the crowd of animals before them.

"You'll see." Ashe placed the car in gear and drove forward.

* * *

Opal ran. As a velociraptor, she could move almost as fast as her name implied. She needn't have worried—somehow, she was protected. She felt it. Knew it in some way. Racing past police cruisers and armored vehicles, she picked up their communications. Many had guns or more deadly weapons trained on Star Cove. Some were firing. Their bullets were bouncing off the invisible shield and exploding in bright flashes of light.

He was right—they really do want to kill all of us
, Opal thought as she ran.

When the time is right
, filtered into her thoughts,
someone will come for you
.

Thank you
. Opal did her best to reply mentally to the message.

You're welcome
, came the response.

* * *

"Well, look at you, you little rogue godling, you."

Calhoun quailed in her presence. She shone like the sun as she approached his desk. "Who—are you?" he quavered.

"Don't play dumb with me." Her voice had turned deadly. "You thought you'd get away with this. Pretended to be human, to escape notice. Attempted to destroy Earth by using that idiot Curtis Roberts and your evil little snipe, Wildrif. You have to answer for that, you know."

"But I am human," Calhoun claimed, taking a step backward.

"Huh. Too bad for you. You think I'd settle for killing your human body while your spirit flies free to cause trouble somewhere else? Think again."

"Wait, don't you want to know who helped me?"

"And take the chance that they'll show up to help you again while you do the usual blithering that every criminal does at the end? No, thanks."

Calhoun wailed as he was transported elsewhere.

* * *

The dome shield disappeared slowly behind the Cadillac as it drove forward. The Last of Star Cove's shifters and werewolves, permanent and temporary, ran or flew through the shining gate ahead of Ashe.

"Ready, Sal?" Ashe gunned the engine.

"Ready."

Ashe left tire marks as he sped forward.

* * *

"What do you mean, no bombs hit the community until everybody disappeared?" The President stared at the Air Force General who stood before his desk.

"Just what I said. Our bombers report that the bombs were hitting an invisible shield overhead and exploding. They also report sightings of several hundred people gathering on the streets below, before weird things happened. We didn't hit anything, Mr. President, until they were gone. I'm telling you the truth—some kind of light appeared and they were just—gone."

"Gone where? I had no idea so many were in that community. Where was the intel on this?"

"We were given bad information, sir. Curtis Roberts, the one who provided the intel, has also disappeared."

"Keep looking for him. Let Matt Michaels go. Maybe he can help us with this."

"Of course, sir."

* * *