The Blade of Shattered Hope

Chapter 52

Screams up ahead. Some human, but most unnatural, almost demonic. Explosions. Thumps of sound more felt than heard. Ragers and Shurrics, most likely.

Encouraged, Sato moved toward it all, keeping his right shoulder close to the rock wall, doing his best not to fall down at every lurch of the earthquake. The air had brightened slightly, but he still could barely see. Here he was supposed to be leading a great army in their very first battle, and he’d somehow ended up all by himself, nowhere near the action. He would’ve felt guilty if he had the time or energy to worry about such things.

Rapid footsteps approached, accompanied by grunts and gurgly breathing. It sounded like a whole pack of Jane’s creations coming straight for him. Sato reached into his pockets and pulled out a Squeezer grenade in one hand, a Rager in the other. He crouched down and backed into a natural alcove in the stone, hoping not to have to use the weapons until the monsters were past him, hoping they wouldn’t notice him.

His wish came true-mostly. At least thirty creatures ran by in a storm of heavy footfalls and flying sweat. Sato could see only their outlines: hunchbacked wolves walking on their hind legs. He shuddered and had to fight not to close his eyes and act like a little kid wishing they were just nightmares that would go away.

The last one of the group stopped as its companions kept moving. Sato held his breath and tried to shrink into the stone at his back. The odd creature sniffed several times and pivoted its muzzled head back and forth. Sniffed again. And again.

Sato didn’t move, only tightened his fingers around the grenade, ready to throw it directly at the monster’s chest and run if it came to that. The creature took a step toward him, then another. Sniffed again. Made a low, wet, rattling sound somewhere deep in its throat. Another sniff. Sato could see its outline plainly; it was just a few feet away. He could only hope the thing had poor eyesight or wasn’t expecting something huddled near the ground.

It took another step toward him, sniffed, and let out its growl again.

A sharp barking sound rang out from where its companions had gone. The creature in front of Sato barked back-a horrible, horrible sound-before it turned in a slow circle, giving the area one last look, sniffing again and again. It took two slow steps away from Sato then turned and ran after the others.

When the monstrous thing had finally been swallowed by the inky gloom of the tunnel, Sato got back to his feet and threw the two projectiles as hard as he could after it. He didn’t wait to see the result, but sprinted in the near-darkness in the opposite direction, toward the still-clanging sounds of battle. A few seconds passed before he heard the Squeezer’s boom and the clatter of flying wires behind him, followed by the electric-tinged explosion of the Rager. Inhuman screams pierced the air, flying through the tunnel like a wind full of death.

Sato kept running.

The Haunce obviously didn’t think there was any time for manners.

“We need to get rid of the boy and girl. We do not need them.” Its eyes-set in the face of a middle-aged man with a huge nose-darted at Paul and Sofia. “And if they stand too close to us when we begin, they will explode.”

Nervous pangs, almost painful, bit and poked at Tick’s insides. Luckily, his friends didn’t seem to think they should argue the point.

“So what do we do?” Paul asked, kneeling on the ground on all fours struggling to keep his balance.

Tick had an idea. “Master George!” he yelled as loud as his sore throat would allow. “If you somehow made it back to headquarters, wink Paul and Sofia back!”

“Wait!” Sofia snapped. “We should stay here, go find Sato. Help him rescue all those-”

Too late. She and Paul disappeared.

“-kids!” Sofia barely got the word out before she collapsed to the hard metal floor of Master George’s headquarters in the Bermuda Triangle. Going from an earthquake to the steady surface totally threw her off-balance.

“Whoa! Hey!” This from Paul. “How’d you do that so fast?”

She looked at him kneeling next to her, mud caked all over his pants, then up at a grinning Rutger. “Yeah, how did you know what Tick was saying?”

Rutger looked like a proud parent. “You kids still have a lot to learn. I was monitoring your nanolocators more closely than anyone else’s, and we can pick up the vibrations in your larynx when you speak. How do you think we kept such good tabs on you when you were being recruited?”

“You guys seriously creep me out sometimes,” Paul said. He got to his feet and wiped at the mud on his clothes. He held out his hands, a disgusted look on his face. “Don’t you think we deserve some privacy?”

Rutger scoffed at him. “We only monitor in emergencies. Now quit your boo-hooing and come with me to see Master George in the Control Room. We have some serious problems.”

Why didn’t Sofia feel in the least bit surprised?

As soon as his friends vanished, Tick made his way closer to the Haunce, stumbling left and right through the mud. The cracks of the nearby wooden fence splitting and tumbling filled the air.

Jane lifted off the ground and floated the few feet over to their visitor, landing with a squish in the soft earth just as Tick reached a spot right next to her. They both turned their attention to the Haunce.

The ghostly creature showed the face of a young Asian boy. “We know the two of you are bitter enemies. We have observed you both from afar with the utmost interest. Your base and childish actions have disappointed us many, many times. We know that in your hearts, you both want to kill the other.” Its face morphed into a pretty lady as it paused.

Tick, shocked by this odd opening statement, looked at Jane, but she didn’t return his gaze, her mask blank, her eyes focused on the Haunce. Tick glanced back at the silvery glowing face, now an old man. “Yeah, you pretty much nailed that one.”

The Haunce’s voice rose in volume, sounding almost excited. “It is time to put that aside. We cannot let trivial matters interfere with what we are about to do. Your hatred, your anger, your ill-fated desires-they must disappear. Now. Do you both understand?”

Tick nodded, though he couldn’t imagine actually accomplishing such a thing. He hated the woman next to him more than he’d ever known it was possible to hate. But he did try to slide those thoughts and feelings behind the angst of what was now more important. He would do whatever the Haunce told him to do.

The Haunce’s eyes focused on Jane, waiting. Tick noticed in his peripheral vision that she gave a very slow but obvious nod. Just once.

“We can only hope,” the Haunce said through the lips of a hideously ugly man, “that after this experience-if we succeed-you and the rest of the living will remember how close you came to never living again. That you will learn how to live appropriately. That you will learn to see life as the gift that it is.”

Tick couldn’t help but feel a deluge of impatience. Now didn’t seem like the best time for a lecture from a big, fat ghost. They needed to get on with it!

The Haunce’s current face trembled, its eyes narrowing as if it had realized the same thing and was refocusing on the task at hand. “The minutes are ticking away. It is time to begin. What you are about to experience will feel very… odd.”

Tick swallowed the giant lump in his throat. He felt such a powerful swell of nervousness in his chest, he thought for sure his heart had been crushed. But then the Haunce turned into a face that looked so much like his mom he almost fell backward. The lady smiled, and the smallest trickle of peace washed through Tick’s insides.

It didn’t last long. A blinding white light came from everywhere at once, the mud and forest and fence and blue sky swallowed by its brilliance. A loud buzzing sound filled his ears.

And then he felt himself explode.