The Seven (Fist of Light Series) (33 page)

“You want to go, Caleb?” Jas asked.

“I’ll spectate, keep you out of trouble,” I laughed. “I’m sure it promises to be a highly entertaining night.”

“It will be that, for sure.” He smiled. “It might be a tad overwhelming for you as a first-timer, but you’ll get used to it.”

“That sounds promising.”

Not surprisingly, much of the night became obscure and difficult to remember after the point I let myself get totally wasted. The brew was only acceptable because of its coolness; otherwise I would have likely gagged on the taste. If I had to be drinking piss, I supposed it needed to be ice-cold piss. My vision clouded over, my head and body became enveloped in a heat wave of semi-pleasurable sensations. My movements became uncoordinated, my speech slurred, and my reflexes non-existent. For a moment I found myself regretting the choice then found I was in no condition to alter it, except to wait it out.

And I believe that was accomplished with relative ease, since next to nothing of the ensuing hours was recalled until later that night, when I abruptly came back to myself. Whooshing and spinning, the gears came back alive in my head, and I was once more a functioning human being.

Although, reflecting, it would have been better to return as a mentally functioning being at a different time entirely. The problem with my mental processes booting back up was the fact that the hectic environment, created by thousands of smashed Were gathered in a concentrated area, had taken a turn for the worst. I was soon to discover that rampaging monsters weren’t beneficial to one’s health.

The charging monsters wouldn’t even be considered a big deal, after all we were in a room of Were who could change into monsters, if they weren’t made of Shadow and busy crafting a gory mess out of the drunken revelers. Looking around frantically, I found most of my table slumped over their cups while Zack was currently heaving his guts out. Jas had actually slid off the bench and fallen to the ground, one arm splayed outward, reaching for his drink. There was much more alcohol than water laying around, so it took me a good while before I finally found a five-gallon jug. All the while, I heard the tortured screams, the violent rending, and the melody of battle in the background. Whatever this was, if I couldn’t get help from my friends, I was going to be bleeding out on the ground soon.

So I carefully upended a good portion of the water over each motionless form one by one then dumped the remainder of it on myself, bringing my mental processes to full clarity. With startled movements and groaned protests, my allies woke from their drunken slumber and brought themselves back to life. Zack was still occupied with his heaving, so I doubted he would be able to provide much assistance in his condition. Though the shocking cold brought my vitals to maximum, I felt the urge to shiver, remain stationary. Protestations and provocations, curses and death threats continued to fall on my deaf ears. Once they heard the fighting and felt the discordance within their bones, however, they came back to themselves as I had.

“Caleb!” I turned and saw Noah approaching, vaulting over tables and obstacles when they presented distraction.

I raised my hand to get his attention. “Jeeves,” I called and he flashed in, ragged and red-eyed, as if just emerging from his own drunken stupor, and perhaps he had.

“It’s a goddam war zone,” Jas said groggily, and many of the others voiced their agreeable sentiments.

Noah crossed the remaining space without any apparent effort before anyone found the nerve to do much more than pull themselves from their recuperating slumbers. From the blood staining his clothes, he had already seen fighting. My body was still slow to react, and I angrily stripped additional power from my reserves to get myself back in order. I assumed a strange calm was assumed, brought on by an uncharacteristically fatalistic outlook.

“Are you harmed, Son?” Noah helped Jas to his feet, before doing the same for the rest of our party.

“I’m fine, Dad.” Jas shrugged off the help stubbornly.

“You are not anything close to resembling fine!” Noah snapped as he went about his task.

“Jeeves, what exactly are we up against?” I asked.

“It seems you’ve been ambushed,” he said.

“Could have figured that one out on my lonesome, thanks. I meant
what the hell are we up against
?” My apprehension leaked into my voice.

“I have little practical knowledge of something I have never encountered before, save a solitary meeting. It seems you are up against a new species of beast, which are being directed from an external location. It’s highly probable that there are many different strands of the same ilk, possessed of greater or lesser stature. These broods are being amassed in hordes, but these frontrunners are likely the least of your problems. The monstrosity that made these beasts is showing only a portion of its hand. If it has survived this long, a commendable level of intelligence and malignant intent are no doubt an integral portion of its thought process, and the two are a deadly combination in any adversary.”

“Enough of this chatter,” a swaying Henry commanded. “Let us join our brothers in battle!” The entire effect was rather ruined by the hiccup, but the point was still made.

Noah looked at me for a lifeline. “Is there anything you can do to turn the tide, Caleb?”

I raised my hands. “I don’t know. I
might
be able to do something, but might be useless, too. There’s only one way to find out for certain, right?” I sighed.

“That’s the spirit!” Jeeves attempted to slap me on the back, but ended up with a hand through my midsection.

“That tingles. Are you drunk, Jeeves?”

“Just a smidge.” He spread two fingers apart, recognizing only the slightest intoxication.

“Right. How many hounds are out there?” I directed my question to Noah.

“Twenty, fifty, the number is impossible to calculate. In the endless night, their number is difficult to pin down. Our eyes can penetrate the darkness more thoroughly than any other predator, but they are as the dark come to life.”

“Can you watch them?” I directed his attention at my plastered fellows.

I realized that the girls wouldn’t be going anywhere, and Zack was in no condition to be doing anything, anytime soon. Henry, despite his boasts and bravado, was too unsteady on his feet to be more than an obstacle and hindrance. Realistically, Simon and Xavier were the only candidates that were in good enough shape to come along with us, and even they seemed a bit rough around the edges.

“I think it’d best be the other way around.” Jas gave me a levelheaded stare, now the voice of reason.

“I want to come,” Simon said.

Xavier agreed. “It is our duty to join the fray with our brothers.”

“You don’t seem quite as wobbly as you were a moment ago,” I admitted. “But Jas is right. It is more important to protect your comrades than to amass glory and tales for the fireside. Simon, and Xavier, stay behind and hold the fort. Don’t let the beasts close with these fellas, because they are your brothers, and it’s your responsibility to protect them from injury.” I motioned at our prone companions.

Henry shot me a glare from his precarious position on the table. “Don’t you leave nobody to babysit—” He brought one beefy arm up to halt us, as he threw up noisily over the edge of the table.

Screams pierced the night and roars shook the foundation of the earth. A bell tolled. Perhaps proof that the hounds were related to the Calling. I took a step forward. Then two more were taken, and before long I was ten paces from where I stood just moments before. By instinct I called Air to me, and it sped me as I rushed into battle. My lightning came out to play before it was even consciously manifested. When I chanced a look behind me, Jas and his father were on my heels, despite my increased speed. The hundreds upon hundreds had been caught unaware, with their metaphorical and metaphysical pants down. Whoever had orchestrated this was either entirely too clever or had incredibly fortuitous timing. Or perhaps the Clan was just too cocky and never thought anyone would attack them some boldly with so many Were gathered in one place.

My hand came up, ringed with lightning that hissed and spat venomously, as if it wanted a piece of the action. There was plenty of that to go around, unfortunately. Although the Were are resistant to the overt forces of magic, it seemed that they were reduced to an even playing field when it came to their opponents. They had the skills of the pack on their side, to be able to fight as a team and coordinate to take down their foes. The problem, however, was that many of their pack had been taken out of commission, or been forcefully put out of action by the rampaging shadowhounds. There were as many types as sizes, and they strove to overcome the Were with every fiber of their darkly constructed matter.

They were expendable pieces of merchandise, and there was the feeling that the loss could be dealt with whether or not they were successful in their immediate battle. The point of this venture was obviously to wear down the Clan, to force them to stop and regroup, so they wouldn’t take a hand in the coming battle. Reason told me that there was a battle to be had, if such drastic measures were being taken. I don’t know what the hell the evil dude behind the scenes was thinking, though. Maybe he had lost his marbles. Such a blatant stroke at the Clan’s power base had to be countered in kind,
right
?

“We should get going,” Jas said.

“Damn it all,” Noah said. “Whoever did this will pay in blood.”

With that vow, Noah shifted into a sleek black and gray wolf, and Jas followed his lead. Noah was by far the larger, although Jas wasn’t too far behind. Then they kicked it up a notch and launched themselves at the nearest hound, which was busy taking mouthfuls out of a wearying panther. Blood oozed out of multiple wounds on the cat’s body, and its weaving movements lent credence to the hypothesis that it was on its last legs. The hound, on the other hand, seemed to only have superficial wounds.

Claws raked shadow, and a roar emerged from the cacophony of the night. Darkness seeped into the night air, and I smiled as Jas and Noah took huge chunks out of the dark hide of the Shadowhound. After a few seconds of this, I expected the hound to take a measure of care with its life, rather than squander it, but there seemed to be only one thing on the minds of all the beasts attacking the Clan: to maim and kill as many members before being brought low.

“Dammit!” I shouted, realizing the precious seconds that had been wasted into coming to the conclusion that my friends were in serious danger.

As Noah and Jas went through a dizzying array of shifting to stay one step ahead of their opponent, I locked onto my target. The lightning coursing through and around my body wanted to be used, and so some of it was propagated to take down the baddie in before me. Then I noticed the blast might hit Jas and Noah when it was released, and their panther friend would fare no better.

The urge to destroy coursed through me. “Back!” I commanded, my voice carried with it a physical blow upon the air.

“Interesting application,” Jeeves commented offhandedly as my allies were rocked backward.

Jas and Noah were behind me in seconds, but our friend was another problem. Obviously, he or she wasn’t very versed in the act of tactical retreat. My patience had worn thin ages ago, and so another blast of Air was my response to the cat’s intractability. As all my allies were out of range, I gave into the lightning’s persuasiveness. Light, sound, and power quivered upon the air as it traveled across the distance to the shadowhound. The blue and white charged energy hit it square in the chest, leaving a gaping hole in its wake. There was a fleeting second wherein I had the impression that another burst of lighting would be required to finish off my enemy.

Then the shadowhound could no longer hold itself together under the stress of having a vast chunk taken out of its midsection. Darkness exploded outwards and there was one less enemy on the battlefield to be dealt with. Noah and Jas appeared in their normal garb and form on the dismissal of our mutual opponent.

“That was quite something, Caleb,” Noah said.

“Bullocks,” Jeeves disagreed. “Such leakage of power, such a poor excuse for a lightning strike! Focus, boy, and show me you have a marginal amount of promise!”

“Harsh words.” Jas grinned. “If you can repeat that spectacle, then we can provide some real help.”

Noah was clearly perplexed by the internal conversation that was being held, but he seemed to grasp that we weren’t completely bonkers. With a flurry of thought, I called upon Jeeves and the familiar non-weight of the katana was gripped reassuringly in my hand. I had completely lost Noah at this point, but Jas had a general idea of what my thoughts entailed.

“What in the blazes?” Noah said.

“
A little forewarning, perhaps
?” Jeeves’ disembodied voice complained.

“No way,” Jas backed up, hands in the air. “I’m not using that thing. I remember well what happened last time I tried to touch it.”

“You will,” I informed him before tossing the sword his way.