Chapter 55
FIFTY-FIVE
JACK
Abigail was the first one to rush inside the dark room. The voice talking to them belonged to her sister, Elizabeth.
“Abigail!” Jack ran in right after her. “Be careful.”
As soon as Jack ran into the shadow-bathed room after Abigail, brilliant, white light flooded the armory. Mage lights both overhead and on the walls exploded to life, stealing away Jack’s vision for a moment.
He blinked, bringing up an shielding arm. As he grew accustomed to the light, he could see the armory had changed since his last visit with Edison, a meeting that seemed like an eternity before. The long room was divided into aisles, with crates, tables, and shelves making up the rows.
Brown boxes labeled with different black stamps sat next to one another. Swords rested in shelves, and firearms on tables. Whoever was running the armory now was neat and orderly to an annoying extent.
As far as Jack could see, there was only one other person in the room with them. Elizabeth’s small frame stood on the opposite side of the room, her long, black cloak hiding most of her body. Her fiery red hair was a piled mess on top of her head. Dark bags hung under her eyes.
“I’m glad you finally decided to come back,” Elizabeth taunted. “It’s a pity you didn’t remember to take me with you when you fled the palace.”
“We tried,” Abigail sputtered. In one fluid movement, she sheathed her katanas back into the case on her back and tore the bandanna from her face.
“We were being chased when we escaped. But we were always going to come back to find you. That’s why we never left New Hope.
We’ve been training with the New Order to come back and save you. ”
“She’s telling the truth,” Jack said. He felt his hot breath against the black bandanna on his lips. He pulled it down to his neck. “We never forgot about you. We were always coming back.”
Elizabeth looked at them with an air of indifference. Her arms were folded into her cloak, but Jack sensed movement beneath the fabric.
“And what about you, Mr. One Eye?” Elizabeth looked over to Saber. Out of the three, he had made no move to lower his weapon or take down his bandanna. “Were you always planning on coming and rescuing me, as well?”
“They were.” Saber never took his eye off Elizabeth. “I couldn’t care less.”
Elizabeth erupted in a gale of laughter that held no mirth. “That’s the first honest thing that’s come out of any of your mouths!”
“Elizabeth, no, this isn’t you.” Abigail started forward. Her arms were opening as if she were going to hug her little sister. “Leah has warped your mind. We’re here now. We can help.”
“I don’t need your help,” Elizabeth roared. For the first time, she extended a hand from her robe. It held a back wand etched with ancient yellow runes. The runes glowed with a sick, pale light. “I don’t need any of you!”
“Abigail, watch out!” Jack sprung into action as he witnessed Elizabeth channel a ball of energy into the tip of her hand. He flung himself at Abigail just in time to knock her out of the way of the beam’s path.
The fireball sailed so close over Jack’s right shoulder, he felt the hair on his head singe from the heat. It struck a box behind them, turning the crate to a ball of flames.
Jack landed on top of Abigail before rolling off.
“No, no!” Abigail found her feet, still unwilling to draw her weapons against her sister. “Elizabeth, stop!”
But there was no stopping the younger Ahab sister now. Saber ran to block the next blow sent from Elizabeth’s wand. He was just in time to deflect the magical projectile with his sword.
Sparks filled the air as Saber’s katana succeeded in absorbing the magical strike, but paid for the act. The katana the one-eyed warrior held in his hand was melting. It seemed even the strongest steel had no place in a magical fight.
Elizabeth fired at Saber over and over again. The warrior ducked and weaved, spinning through the air to avoid the onslaught. All around, the warehouse shelves toppled over and boxes burst into flames.
BOOM! BOOM!
A series of explosions went off somewhere behind Jack. He was just regaining his feet when the first wave of vampire soldiers flooded the room.
Saber made use of the two pistols he carried, emptying them both toward Elizabeth.
Abigail screamed.
Elizabeth didn’t even move. With a flick of her wand, she stopped the bullets, mid-flight. The two steel balls fell to the stone floor.
“Anything else?” Elizabeth smirked at Saber. With another flick of her wand, she lifted him into the air and sent him crashing against the far wall.
Everything was happening so fast, Jack barely had time to track the movements. He was brought back to the moment with Abigail’s voice.
“There!” Abigail pointed to a table along the far wall, where lay Jack’s own wand that had extended into a staff. “Hold off the vampire soldiers. I’ll take care of my sister.”
Abigail didn’t wait for Jack to respond. She was already in motion. Disregarding the steel katanas that still peeked over each of her shoulders, she plucked two mage swords from the wreckage of a wooden table. They hummed to life in her hands, each glowing a faint white.
As much as Jack wanted to help the woman he loved, he understood she needed to do this on her own.
There were at least a dozen of the vampire soldiers already surrounding him.
They were all pale with red eyes and mouths full of teeth all pointed into deadly angles and glistening in the light of the flames.
“Surrender! Leah would prefer you alive, but that’s only a request, not a command.” One of the vampire soldiers, a woman wearing the black-and-grey uniform of New Hope, took a step forward. “No more warnings.”
Jack eyed the black wand he had used during the hunt for the Burrow Den beast. He could hear the fight between Abigail and Elizabeth raging behind him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Saber stirring from the position where he had fallen after Elizabeth had flung him against the wall.
Jack knew what he had to do. He would never have considered himself a hero before, but this was his chance. This was an opportunity to let go of the pain he still carried for the death of his father.
“Come.” Jack closed his eyes for a moment, letting the fire of his magic build and burn inside of him like never before. When Jack opened his eyes, they flamed with green magic. “Come and take me.”
The vampires grinned at one another before launching their attack.
Jack noticed their lack of weapons. All they were equipped with were their fangs and unnaturally long nails that sprouted from their hands like claws.
These were a new breed; creatures produced by yet more experimentation by Leah Noble.
As they fell on Jack, Jack reached with an outstretched hand to his wand on the table. The wooden table it rested on was more than ten yards away. Using the magic he was still studying in his books, he called to the wand.
As if it had suddenly sprung wings, his wand zipped through the air and fell into his outstretched hand; the wand that would extend with the push of a button to a staff, thanks to Edison Reeves, was his again.
As the first vampire reached Jack, with outstretched claws and a mouth full of teeth, Jack activated the wand.
Dark green magic raced across it as it transformed into a fighting staff. The rod, hot with the burning magic of his order, caught the vampire through the mouth. It entered the cave of sharp teeth, punctured the skull, and came out the back with a spray of blood and brain matter.
Saber was right—they were faster than he was, and probably stronger, but odds were they had never faced a wizard before, and he was not the same wizard he’d been.
With the aid of the staff, Jack was able to easily channel his magic without feeling the strain of trying to hold it in his body.
The vampires came quickly, shrieking with the promise of blood.
Jack struck out with his staff when he knew he had an opening.
He defended himself with a circle of blazing green magic.
Any time he was too slow to meet one of their attacks, the tight, circular wall around him would blaze to life and light whatever claw or mouth was about to strike.
The hardest part of maintaining his defenses was consciously keeping his barrier up while still twirling his staff and striking out with both ends. Vampire soldiers fell around him, screaming as they held burning arms or, in some cases, even heads.
There was no time to think for Jack; there was only instinct telling him to act as all the many hours he spent training with a staff with his father kicked in.
He fought like the staff was an extension of his body, and the numerous hours with Saber helped him maintain his defenses and attack at the same time.
Jack took another vampire through the heart with a quick thrust. Although his staff was not pointed on either end, the green fire surrounding the staff was more than capable of burning through flesh and bone.
Soreness and the burn of overexerted muscles began to creep up Jack’s back and arms. But there was no time for rest. More vampire soldiers flooded into the room.
Jack pressed the attack. The vampires were becoming smarter now.
They were less likely to rush Jack. Instead, they circled him and waited for openings.
Jack didn’t wait for them to all come at him at once.
From the ends of his staff, he shot out green balls of magical fire that slammed into his targets, engulfing them in blazes of angry green flames.
For his dead father, Jack fought. For the woman he loved, he raged on.
The last vampire soldier came at him. It was the female who had talked to him when the fight started.
Jack stood still. She screamed in fury as she launched at him with a bloodlust in her eyes.
She came within inches of reaching his face with her fangs before his magical barrier burned her.
When Jack was done, a pile of burning and moaning bodies surrounded him in every direction.
He almost felt sorry for them. He might have even felt proud of himself, if screams hadn’t started filling the room.