The Seven (Fist of Light Series) (43 page)

As the wind whipped around my body and lightning crackled down my legs, the tentacles lost their hold and retreated, hissing. I fell back into free-fall and picked up while exiting the cloud embankment, which, unfortunately, couldn’t have been more than a thousand feet from ghastly collision. Correcting my collision course, I sent a bolt of purple-hued power to my side, which in turn forced my flailing body in the opposite direction. After I braced myself with arms splayed wide, I waited until the last possible moment before acting. Calling Air to me, I held it at the ready, and then sent a pulse of it out in front of me, directly at the discernible landscape below. My headlong plunge came to a shuddering halt and my descent slackened dramatically. So the following two stories I fell were merely like jumping off a roof to the embracing cement below.

With whatever minute rotation that could be mustered in the time where the ground rushed up to meet me, I started rolling, taking inspiration from my parkour session with Jas. Had it been
that
long ago? The impact wasn’t as expected, but it still jarred my arms and sent painful vibrations through my body. The roll enabled me to fall without breaking any important bits, but my momentum was so excessive that it put me through a series of tumbles before I was capable of righting myself. My body ached agonizingly, especially where the tendrils had gotten hold of me. After jumping to my feet, I reached for a weapon, though none presented itself. Surrounding me were the snarling muzzles of the gigantic bodies of shadowhounds, and they looked like they wanted to make me witness them gnaw on my entrails before regurgitating them for my viewing pleasure.

“Quite the display,” an amused voice chuckled. “
Easy
boys,
down
boys.” A placating hand entered my view, followed by a body in its entirety.

“Kasper, I presume. The Fist of Darkness.” I brought my eyes up to his.

His pupils were black as the deepest, darkest night, and held an all-consuming hatred within. Though I didn’t know what that hatred was directed at, I had the feeling it wouldn’t be pleasurable to be on the opposing side of it. The next prominent feature was his pasty white skin, as if he hadn’t seen the light of day for most his life. His black hair was long and scraggly, and lent plenty to his dark aura. Supple, unblemished hands patted a hound, placating its bloodthirsty drive, momentarily. Overall, his persona presented the image of a spoiled rich kid who never worked a day in his life, and that idea was accentuated by some of the most expensive clothes I had ever seen.

“And
you
must be Caleb Holden.” He smiled. “A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. It was a long wait indeed, when you know something is inevitable and yet it seems so distant. I have waited for this day for a
very
long time, and the simple satisfaction of its arrival is uplifting.” He paused a moment to take a deep breath, savoring the moment.

I kept my voice carefully neutral. “I’ve only been aware of this whole shebang for a short time. You apply for the expedited messenger service?”

The hounds around me took up defensive positions, blocking all entrances into the Square. My vision was therefore broadened, while the rest of my enemies became highly visible, coupled with my parents, who were restrained by some heavy-duty chains. Standing next to them were two people poked at dark memory. Em and two identical twins were within feet us of, merely watching the play unfold. Oddly, I had no desire to do them harm, although I felt as though I should have. My skin tingled with anticipation, or possibly from the sparks that I was emitting periodically.

“Caleb!” my mom shrieked tearfully. “My baby! Please,
help us
!”

“Son,” My dad’s head rolled to one side, blood caking his face. “Listen to your mother and help us.”

“Brains and Ugly.” I cursed the nicknames under my breath, as my discomfort flared at the sight of the two men who had attacked me years ago looming threateningly over my parents.

Kasper spun on his heel. “Ah, I see you’ve already been acquainted. I’d heard tell that might be the case. They really are eager to finish what they believed to be their job that day in the house.” He grinned, dangling the information.

“I want my parents released,” I demanded.

“Of course, of course. But first, I believe we have an arrangement to formulate, and matters of import to discuss. Come.” He gestured with one hand, and a table appeared forged from Darkness. “A simple matter, once you understand certain intricacies. Sit, it will not bite.”

“From my experience, it will,” I mumbled, but sat down despite all the instincts that counseled against it.

Kasper sat down, taking a bite from an apple that was likewise made of Darkness. “I am prepared to release your long-lost family unto you, under one specific stipulation: You will leave this world and never return.”

My head felt a little fuzzy from the fall, and it was a struggle to form a coherent response. “That’s it? All I have to do is leave? You won’t follow us?”

“I have no intentions of following you or sending any of my retainers through to the dimension you will be traveling.” He polished the apple on his shirt, and then took another bite. “Do you agree to these terms?”

“I suppose so,” I said groggily, rubbing my temples. My body felt as if it was composed of static on a television, fuzzy and crackling.

“Well then, although disappointed, I am happy to give you what you desire. Release them!”

Brains and Ugly didn’t move a muscle, and yet the chains unlocked and fell to the ground around my parents ankles. Intense relief flooded my system, and I stood up from the table. Kasper tracked my movements with his eyes but did nothing to impede my progress. I had the feeling something was missing, but couldn’t quite figure out what exactly that vital piece was. My mind broke through some of its grogginess and recalled that there had been more people here, originally. Once again, I was distracted as my mom and dad rushed up, arms held out to envelop me.

My dad’s features appeared rugged, but he embraced me nevertheless. “Son. Words cannot express my feelings.”

“My boy!” my mother’s arms wrapped around me, viselike.

“If only you had been our child, things might have been different for you, champ.” I felt my dad’s face move from left to right, behind my back.

A spot of cold, and another, entered my body from my stomach, drowning out some of the fuzz that had bound my body. My parents stepped back from me in unison, appraising me. My mother’s eyes were alight with hatred, and my father’s an unfathomable revulsion that had never before been witnessed.

“He was just a foundling, when we stole him away and took on the guise of his parents. A bloody mess indeed, right, Margaret? It was a shame that we had to kill your birth parents, Son. I hope you understand. We were only doing what was required of us.”

“A bloody mess indeed! I was forced to burn one of my most cherished blouses.” She pouted.

My eyes glazed over slightly, and I stumbled. “What are you talking about?”

“You hardly think any mortal could enter our home and leave it breathing? Without our cooperation, none of this would have been possible!” my dad gloated.

My mother sighed. “Although I think he would have accomplished much as a weapon devoted to our cause. It’s a shame that he was such an utter failure. We pushed and pushed, and he just wouldn’t break, as he
should
have. All those years subsisting upon the leftovers of society and he didn’t falter in the slightest.”

“No, unfortunately not.” My father shook his head forlornly, disappointed. “You could have been the ultimate asset for The Chosen’s base of operations. Think of the fame, the fortune! And you ruined
everything
!” His voice rose to a shout, a physical force that bowled me over.

Kasper entered my field of vision. “I don’t understand—” I spat out globules of blood, no doubt from the fall.

Em entered my field of vision, followed by two identical twins. “My love here was just exercising her very unique talent until such a time wherein it was no longer necessary.” Kasper kissed Em deeply and passionately.

I tried to sit up, but found I hadn’t the strength to do so. “No, don’t get up,” Em said sweetly, laying her compulsion on me forcefully.

Kasper put a hand on Em’s, holding it delicately. “Please darling, let him have a few minutes of clarity before the end. It’s only just.”

The shroud that was enveloping my mind withdrew and immediately the situation became sharp and defined. The conversation repeated itself in my head on fast-forward and my position was reevaluated. A dampness was spreading rapidly across my stomach, and I levered myself upward in order to yell at whoever had turned on the sprinkler system.

“You see, my eternal love has a unique gift, that of Chaos, which provides her the power of compulsion, as you have no doubt deduced. Frankly, it’s a bit late for such discoveries, but I think it’ll soothe you, to know the details. You have been masterfully manipulated from the very beginning.” A rapier of Darkness appeared in Kasper’s hands, and he maneuvered it elegantly. “You see, you have been an experiment from the time you were embraced into the family by those you believed to be your parents.” He laughed softly.

I looked at my parents, hoping for some kind of rebuttal, but there was none. Their faces concurred, smiling, as they held hands and watched, waited. My body wouldn’t obey my stringent commands. My fingers would only twitch slightly when I tried to maneuver them. The landscape around me seemed darker, but then, the cloud cover coupled with the disappearance of the sun would attest to that.

“Your parents were killed in a raid by The Chosen, and you were the byproduct. Martin there was delighted to add such a potentially powerful asset to his community, although at the time he was unaware of your true potential. You were tested the day those ‘burglars’ entered your home. And you did splendidly, as expected. I have been told you were a talented boy, even then. This is where you deviated from expected reactions, though. Despite the difficulties that lay before you, you persevered, clinging to some hope in your dismal life.” He shook his head sadly. “The two you know as ‘Brains’ and ‘Ugly’ are in fact mortal operatives of The Chosen, and they were to play a pivotal role in breaking you. And yet their plan failed, and you escaped their watchful eye. The rest, as they say, is history.”

Something had gone horribly wrong, besides the fact that Kasper had taken the evil-mastermind monologue route, cliché as
hell
. Using all the strength at my command, I levered my head up enough to look down my front. Everything was in the right place, with one exception. I was bleeding out from two knives protruding from my gut, two cold points where the pain should have been, if I wasn’t so far gone that it couldn’t even be felt. Kasper’s sword was sitting blade down in a growing pool of my own blood, which was greedily imbibing the viscous liquid. Even with death looming and my vision darkening, I still thought that was just plain
disgusting
.

I had to know. “Did you devour the essence of an extra-dimensional being of Darkness?”

Kasper indulged my enflamed curiosity. “Ah, I see you’re a perceptive fellow, or have insightful friends. Likely the former because I gather you’re quite lacking in the latter.”

It seemed that Kasper had been fifty moves ahead of me the entire time, and I had been stupid enough to confront him so blatantly. “
Em
.” I had lost enough blood to stoop to pleading, but only that little bit.

In response, she grabbed Kasper and brought him in for another kiss. “You never accepted me for who I was, Caleb. You should have come with me when you had the opportunity.”

“Fat chance,” I croaked, as she loomed threateningly over me.

Em’s persona transformed from mildly assholeish to psycho bitch in a split second. “I’ll make you regret those words!”

My vision began to fade to black around the edges. “Do your worst,” I spat.

As with most of my life decisions, I probably should have thought more thoroughly upon that plan of action. Egging on a psychopath isn’t really an approved method of negotiation. I suppose Kasper was the dominant sociopath of the relationship. He was running the show and all. Em pulled one of the blades out of my gut, and the floodgates opened, allowing all the pain that my body was experiencing to inundate my mind. I was a little suspicious, between drowning in agony, that Em had compelled me to feel pain. Em raised the knife high, preparing to plunge it into my jugular. My heart beat faster, which in retrospect, was probably not a good thing at all.

“Leave him.” Kasper smiled. “He’ll be dead in minutes. Allow him to experience every agonizing second of his impending death throes. We have a world to bring to its knees, my dear.” He held out his hand, and Em took it graciously.

The silent-type Twins followed. I tried to commit their features to memory for future recollection. Brown hair, brown eyes, they would both pass for middling height, appeared the epitome of average looking. The only thing that stood out about them was the power I sensed within them and the fact that they were twins. Besides that, no one would ever remember their faces in a crowd, because they were anonymous personified. My body convulsed as a swift kick was delivered to my side and a groan escaped me, as the agony was amped up a notch and nausea threatened to overwhelm.

“You would have been my greatest triumph.” The Viper spat on the ground next to me; it seemed we had been doing a lot of that lately.

Dragging energy from reserves I didn’t know I possessed, I flipped him the bird. He kicked me again as he passed, and I rolled over onto my side as a coughing fit overtook me. The pain would have driven an ox to its knees, so I might as well have been happy to be on the ground already. My face was lying in a pool of my own blood, which caused it to ripple whenever a breath was exhaled. My goal in life was not to die young, unless attempting to accomplish something insanely awesome at the time. This most definitely was not on the list. A straggling hound snapped at my heels before moving on with the rest of the pack. I tracked the direction it was traveling, distracting myself somewhat from the deep-seated ache.