Chapter 9
NINE
JACK
Jack wished he could take the time to appreciate the moment. There they were four people between an army of vampires and the backs of the fleeing New Order, and Abigail was screaming obscenities at Saber that would make even sailors blush in embarrassment.
A group of vampires broke off from the main pack.
They approached from Jack’s right. Jack twirled his staff, sending bolts of green magic at them as fast as he could.
It seemed the vampires were learning how to deal with a wizard.
They ducked and weaved around the green balls of fire like gymnasts performing the routine of a lifetime.
“What’s a pot-licking scum kicker?” Sasha screamed from her spot at the reins. “I’ll probably agree with you, but that’s a new one on me.”
Abigail ignored Sasha, pulling herself up onto the carriage. She picked up one of Saber’s empty pistols, barrel first, to use as a small club.
“Guys, look out!” Jack shouted as he missed his targets again. The group of vampires to his right he had failed to take down with his magic were now close enough to jump onto the carriage.
As one unit, the five vampire soldiers vaulted into the air and clung onto the sides and the edge of the carriage roof.
“Get them off!” Sasha screamed as the horses added their own disapproval to the moment. “They’re weighing us down!”
“Kid!” Saber pointed to the army of vampires behind them who had closed the distance. They were feet away. “Take the main body. Abigail and I will send these unwanted hitchhikers packing.”
“Here!” Sasha kept her eyes on the horses in front of her, but reached toward Abigail with one of the stolen mage swords. “If you want to cut Saber, you have my permission.”
“Don’t tempt me!” Abigail screamed as she grabbed the hilt. A second later, she was wielding a mage-heated blade, fighting off the groping vampires.
With vampires climbing on top of the carriage, and Abigail and Saber fighting them back, the roof was getting cramped. For Jack to successfully fight back the wave of vampire soldiers, he needed room.
An idea sprung into his mind, though untested, he had no idea how it would work. But time was short, and their lives would be as well if he didn’t find a way to stop the oncoming horde of vampire soldiers.
What’s the worst that could happen? Jack asked himself as he drew on his magic and lifted himself into the night sky.
Jack concentrated on tethering himself to the moving carriage so he would always be right over it. This wasn’t easy as his brain struggled to keep him hovering overhead as well as meet the first line of vampires who were preparing to launch themselves aboard the carriage.
“I’m pretending each of these pale freaks is you!” Abigail screamed to Saber from somewhere below. “When this is all over, I’m going back!”
Jack closed his eyes for a brief moment in order to tune everything else out except for his hold on the spell he was performing.
When he opened his eyes, the front line of the main vampire horde had reached the back of the carriage.
One by one, they vaulted into the air to join their brethren on board.
Jack shot his right hand out, palm facing the vampires.
A shockwave of green energy caught the vampires as they catapulted into the air.
It hit them full force, redirecting their momentum and sending them flying backwards into their own ranks.
Likewise, the first few lines of approaching vampires were sent sliding backwards as they tripped vampires behind them.
Jack felt a smile spread across his lips, and then fade. He had bought them time, but hadn’t solved their problem. A gap had grown between the front ranks of the vampires and the carriage, but vampires were already regrouping and continuing to give chase.
“Get off my carriage!” Abigail screamed.
Jack lowered himself onto the carriage just in time to see Abigail sever the head from the last vampire’s body. The head plopped onto the carriage roof. Abigail planted a boot in the sternum of the now-headless body and pushed it over the side.
“You think you can conjure a barrier to hold them for a few minutes?” Saber appeared at Jack’s side. Blood poured freely from his nose. “The horses can’t keep this pace all the way to Azra.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Jack took a deep breath and cleared his mind from anything that could cause him distraction. A spell came, one he had used when trapping creatures in the Outland with his father. It could work here, as well. He would just need to use it on a much, much larger level.
Jack tuned out Abigail’s yelling at Saber for the time being.
Words like “kidnapper” and “traitor” drifted into the background.
Jack’s mind was on energy. He pressed the button on his staff to once again shrink it to wand size.
The effort for something like this to work would leave him exhausted, and he only had one chance.
Jack gritted his teeth as he extended his right hand, holding his wand. A green light shone from the tip as he ordered every bit of magical force he had into the tip of the instrument.
Trying to recreate the explosion that had occurred when he and Elizabeth ended their fight at the armory would be impossible on his own, but maybe he didn’t need something that large. Maybe he only needed a wall of flame to burn for a few minutes.
Jack held the energy in the tip of his wand until he couldn’t hold it any longer. His mind was fatigued with the exertion of keeping such a power contained, and his body was quickly feeling the same weight.
Jack’s arm shook as he finally released the power in his wand. Heat erupted from it, so intense, Jack thought the wand and his fingers would burn. A brilliant green light lit up the night sky as Jack did his best at creating a line between themselves and the oncoming vampire army.
Like a beam of green lightning, magic erupted from the point of his wand as Jack cut a path across the open space hundreds of yards wide. From the green line etched into the ground, a wall of emerald flame jumped up, creating a barrier between the carriage and the oncoming enemy forces.
Jack slumped onto the carriage roof, exhausted.
Panting, he examined his handiwork. The wall of flames was crooked and rather short, but it was already doing its job.
The wave of approaching vampires were forced to stop.
Not even the bravest among them dared to vault over the green tongues of magical fire.
“Yeah!” Sasha screamed into the night. She let off the horses, cooing at them in praise.
“You did it, kid.” Saber knelt down to rest. He placed a heavy hand onto Jack’s shoulder. “I knew you had it in you.”
“Stop, let me off.” Abigail stood over Saber with her mage sword still lit. “I mean it.”
“You can’t be serious.” Saber stood, his own sword still glowing in his hand. “You’ll get your chance to see your sister again. This isn’t over.”
Jack was shelving his fatigue another time. He didn’t think Abigail would resort to violence, but the crazy gleam in her eye was new to him. There was no telling what she would be willing to do if it meant saving her sister.
Something in the dark caught Jack’s eye. Something large neither of the two beside him had noticed, and Sasha was too busy navigating the road in front of her to see it.
Fighting back his exhaustion, Jack struggled back to his feet. Whatever it was, it was large and long, like a snake. Jack looked over Abigail’s shoulder, trying to get a better look at it through the night.
“Don’t try to talk me out of it, Jack.” Abigail mistook his intentions of standing across from her as taking Saber’s side. “I can’t ask you to come, but you would do the same thing if you?—”
Then Jack realized what he was seeing. At the same time, he took Abigail’s shoulders in his hands and gently tuned her around. Everyone was quiet as they took in the railroad being built to Azra.
The track was long, and it had to be new. It ran parallel with the road they were on, a hundred yards to their left.
“You’ll be able to see your sister soon.” Saber’s voice was devoid of any victory. “I was wrong. Leah’s not waiting to see her sister in the ground at all. Her invasion has already begun.”