Endangered Ch. 10

Radek simply smiled wider, watching her mouth open in a muted scream as the man's pistol exploded, scattering three fingers and a goodly chunk of thumb to the soft, hot breeze. Finally, he returned his attention to the soldier. It must be said, the man showed admirable bravery as he recovered from the loss of his hand and unsheathed a long blade from his hip.

An approaching howl warned him to make his disposal of the human quick, but he couldn't refuse the opportunity to create such... damning footage.

He took hold of the man's good arm almost gently, watching the hatred in his darting eyes drain to fear as a small surge of localised corruption let him merely pull the limb easily from its socket. Radek swung, again and again, bludgeoning the blubbering man down onto the pavement with the meaty end of his own appendage.

When he was done he must have looked frightful, blood splattered over his face and charcoal suit as he stood over the unconscious soldier. He made sure to look back at the girl's camera and wink.

Panic ensued. People ran screaming from their vehicles into the rocky brush at the side of the road, unmindful of the path of bullets as the few soldiers who kept their wits resumed their useless barrage with fresh magazines. An enterprising driver broke rank, gunning it up the wrong side of the road in a battered old truck, intent on ramming his way through the suited man. Radek sent it flipping end over end into the ditch from thirty yards away with a contemptuous backhand motion. The power required for such a dramatic feat was perhaps a waste, but he couldn't deny the satisfaction it bought him.

The Huntress' appearance from a dry hedgerow didn't startle him. Indeed, he was waiting for her. She cut an appealing figure in her black leather armour, aiming that monstrous contraption almost lazily at his head. He dodged to the side as a dull twang announced the release of another thick bolt. It buzzed past angrily, the squat projectile penetrating the front of the bus with ease.

"You'll have to be quicker than that," he sneered.

Too late, Radek realised his mistake. A flicker of a smile on red lips inside her dark cowl warned him, but he'd already stepped firmly into the jaws of her trap. Another shaft streaked down from the sky, shattering his clavicle, two ribs, and skewering his lung like a kebab. He grunted in pain and surprise, blood gurgling up into his mouth as his ruined lung collapsed. Already, a searing coldness was spreading from the shaft, sucking up his magic. It must be enchanted. When had the uncanny bitch shot that one?

"Quick enough, demon?" she lilted, her smile drawing taut a jagged pink scar across her otherwise perfect jaw. Already her arbalest was cocking itself, the thick bar of the metal lathe pulled to unbelievable tension by magical leverage.

The bus rocked behind Radek, groaning in protest as something large vaulted onto the roof, eliciting a few more startled cries from its cowering occupants. He staggered forward, his grip of the magic seeping away.

The two hunters watched warily for a moment. Cornered prey could be deadly, despite a fearsome wound.

Impatience won, and the huge, grey-muzzled wolf pounced, quarter of a ton of muscle and bone and flashing teeth lunging for the kill. His smokey fur was still sleek and luxurious despite his age. Riddled with jagged lines and patches of white scar-fur, it proclaimed him the survivor of many a savage fight. Great dagger-like teeth snapped shut in a rush of warm, doggy breath, chomping loudly on thin air as the man barely managed to dodge away.

Radek swung the briefcase like a club, ignoring the wailing agony in his chest. Backed by a large chunk of his diminishing power, the blow took the wolf before his hind legs even touched the ground. It sent the beast toppling into the dust with a muted yelp and a couple of broken ribs of his own. He lashed out blindly at the Huntress before she had a chance to retaliate, a corruscating sheet of unnatural red flame twisting toward her along the ground like a huge serpent. It was almost all he had left, that cursed arrow sucking greedily every time he used his powers.

She was quick though, leaping into a high summersault, the fluidity of which announced her elfin heritage like a blazing neon sign. A retaliatory bolt nearly took off his ear, fired in the split second her feet touched the ground. With the unnatural flame giving chase across the dusty soil, she took off into a bounding run, maintaining distance even as she skillfully reloaded her mighty crossbow from a quiver strapped to her hip.

He could hear the wolf scrabbling back onto its massive paws, a menacing growl promising vengeance for the blow he'd dealt. It was risky to turn his back on the Huntress, but he needed to put the hound out of action before he was overwhelmed and torn to pieces. Radek threw the vial at it with a final surge of power and will, sending the creature inside mad with bloodlust.

"Kill them both," he wheezed, reaching to grip the icy end of the bolt protruding from his chest now that he had a hand free. "Death is your freedom now."

The vial shattered in a billow of acrid brown smoke. The canny wolf leapt back with an alarmed chuff, his sensitive snout ruined by the cloying stench. Something grumbled inside the cloud, snuffling and rasping in disorientation. The respite didn't last long, though. Whatever it was let out a shrill trumpet of rage and charged out of the dissipating fog with the awkward, yet terrifying power of a bull elephant seal.

The Huntress almost stumbled on a loose rock, not believing her eyes as the shaggy green monstrosity bore down on Balgruuf. Such a mistake would have been fatal with that cursed fire hot on her heels, but she recovered, notching yet another bolt as she looped back across the road to assist her mate.

She'd never seen a bunyip before, but she recognised it from illustrations. The incredibly rare and usually placid aquatic sub-Being was a long, long way from home.

Its face was a flattened, blocky thing. Dominated by two huge downward pointing tusks, it possessed a vast, salivating maw full of half-rotten, shark-like teeth. Long, rank hair sprouted all along its back in a mane, dangling green and matted over the shorter, darker brown coat covering the rest of its enormous bulk. A crocodilian tail sprouted from its narrowing rear end, furred rather than scaled.

The thing was huge, easily larger than a hippopotamus and apparently just as bad-tempered. Its stumpy front legs were thick as the tires of the bus, bulging with muscle and tipped with wicked six-inch poisoned claws. Rather than running, it churned its entire body like a lizard, back legs almost dragging uselessly behind as it clawed forward, displaying an alarming burst of short-range speed. Its big, droopy ears flailed about comically, but its wide-set, baleful eyes were full to the brim with rage and madness.

The demon had tortured this poor creature, broken it to use as his own. It was despicable, and she knew without a doubt that it would be a kindness to put it down. But how? They were ill-equipped to handle both adversaries at the same time, and the bunyip couldn't be ignored. Holding the nullifying ice magic lodged in the demon's chest was no small feat, his magic was vast, and every morsel her spell dissipated struggled to break the enchantment.

Her first snapshot bolt didn't even penetrate its tough hide. By the looks of it, the wolf's teeth were nigh useless as well, serving only to enrage the thrashing monster further. At least Balgruuf's wolf form was proving too nimble for it so far, darting in to snap at exposed flesh only to retreat as the lumbering brute rounded on him. It might have worked, if he had a pack of fellow wolves to back him up.

The sheer power behind the bunyip's every motion was astonishing. All it would take was a moment's distraction or a little bad luck, and her mate would be crushed and gored to death in seconds.

She couldn't stop to concentrate for any magic-guided shot lest the malevolent trail of fire catch her or her tenuous grip on the arrow falter. What a mess. Why couldn't that first shot just have taken the demon through the neck like it was supposed to?

Radek screamed, and the three-quarter-inch-wide bolt clattered to the road, glistening with frozen blood. He leaned against the side of the bus, light headed and gasping for air. The barbed head had torn savagely on the way out, but now at least his power flooded back into the open wound.

The bus lurched up on two wheels against his back, threatening to topple sideways and crush him. The bunyip was trying to pin the baying wolf against the opposite side with yet another clumsy charge. The battle sounded ferocious, full of roars, growls, snapping teeth and the heavy, reverberating thumps of the bunyip's massive front paws. Yes, it was serving well as a distraction. Now he just had to make good his escape.

A soldier ran blindly past him, terror written plain on his face as the simple image of the world he'd known his whole life was shattered in the space of a few violent minutes. Radek reached out for the back of his neck, slurping down the delicacy of a tortured soul with a visible shiver of delight. The man crumpled, twitching nerves crying out for guidance from his empty head. Down the road, a fleeing car veered into a fence post with a loud crash, the driver so shaken and relieved to escape that they lost control.

"Little point in subtlety now," he nodded to himself, pushing into motion. One step, then the next, then another, the increasingly battered briefcase at his side. Running now, his power seemed to surge anew inside him, tempting him with the foolhardy notion to return and finish off his hunters. Instead, he fled the scene of his embarrassing ambush on inhumanly swift feet. Due west, he ran for the endless range of mountains rising skyward and ultimately, the coast on the other side.

"It's time they paid," he grumbled, knowing full well that the rest of his journey would be fraught with danger, pursuit and worst of all, lacking the blessed comfort of air conditioning in the approaching summer's heat. Rage twisted crimson and bitter in his gut as he ran. Set free now that he had barely escaped such an unworthy end, it burst from him in a harsh scream, high pitched and alien in tone. "Filthy livestock! We'll see who's laughing when your blood turns the seas pink. Me, Me! M... khaaack!"

Radek's lung spat up a foul, phlegmy ball of mucus and dark, congealed blood, cutting his diatribe short. Pausing to spit it out at the base of a termite mound, he wheezed up a little more. Glancing around suspiciously as he panted, the only witness to his humility were a pair of eared doves bobbing nervously in the upper branches of a nearby tree.

Perhaps the olive-brown birds were too dumb to recognise the danger, or maybe they sought to stay with their nest. Mostly out of spite, Radek overwhelmed their tiny minds with a harsh wave of his corrupting energy. The hapless pair stiffened and fell through the branches to flop and twitch in the rank grass, shrilling their pain and dismay.

He went to retrieve them, intent on eating them or at least making them suffer for being party to his failure. But as he stood over the wretched creatures, a particularly delicious idea tickled his mind out of nowhere. Stunned, he stood dumbly for several moments, wondering at the strange nature of inspiration. To kill two birds with one stone, so the saying went. Well, his stroke of genius involved two birds at least, and it had a certain poetic ring to it.

Kneeling to collect one dove in each hand, he pushed his power deeper into their bodies, stilling their struggles. Almost tenderly, he stroked their fragile minds, infusing his will and whispering his instructions. With a crooked smile of anticipation, he watched their dark eyes flash crimson as they flapped free of his grip and raced northward with demonic speed.

Mood much improved, Radek scuttled westward, intent on his vengeful plans.

***

"I didn't know that's how vampires get their power," Petra cocked her head at Immi over the breakfast table. "I thought it was to do with age."

"That's what she's saying," Hailey spoke up to explain. "It's strongly correlated to age, but it's actually the replication of the magical parasite which is responsible for a vampire's strength. Usually, this is linked to their age, but Chris has upset the balance."

"So basically, Chris' magic is making Lillian's vampiric essence go into overdrive, right?" Claire asked around a spoonful of crunchy homemade granola. With wet red hair wrapped artfully in a towel, her cheeks and neck were still flushed with the morning's passion.

Chris thought she looked like the epitome of beauty, vitality, and young motherhood.

"Yeah, and the parasite is multiplying fast on such a rich diet," Immi confirmed. "I had a good look at her while she was sleeping."

"I'm just glad she'll be more open to the magic now," Annabel smiled softly. "You all know what I mean, right? This is something special we have, isn't it? I'm so happy to have ever met you all in the first place. Now we're family and I feel so fortunate because of it. I don't care if that's magic."

A murmur of appreciation swept around his brood as he listened, halfway through devouring a toasted cheese sandwich at the kitchen bench. He wasn't stuffing himself with his usual gusto because he needed to save room for his morning's activities with Hailey.

"I agree. Our relationship is something to cherish," Petra said. "A dragon's brood is like a magical choir, we all benefit when everyone is in harmony and singing their hearts out."

"Does that make Chris the conductor?" Immi asked. "Waving his big stick around all over the place."

He almost choked, inhaling breadcrumbs as they all turned his way. It was too bad he'd seen Lillian off early to the Compound to meet with Reyla, she'd have loved to see his distress. Apparently, there was some vampire business to be discussed in the wake of Lakshmi's failed challenge.

"I believe that analogy is right on the money, Immi," Susan teased her young lover. "I thoroughly enjoyed my visit from the conductor this morning."

"We heard," Annabel said wryly, making the dark-haired witch blush fetchingly in turn.

"It's strange," Michelle nodded thoughtfully after taking a sip of coffee. "Chris and I haven't you know, done it that much, but I've noticed I'm happy just to see any of you at the end of the day. I'm not saying that I wasn't before, but it's different."

"I think I know exactly what you mean," Annabel agreed.

"That sounds nice," Hailey sighed. "I hope it's like that for me too."

"I'm sure it will be, dear," Petra touched her arm affectionately as the others nodded agreement. "You're a lovely young woman, and it's obvious Chris is quite smitten with you. You're already part of the family as far as I'm concerned."

"Thanks!" the werebison bubbled contentedly. "Chris, I'm almost finished. Are you ready to go?"

"I'm ready." He scarfed the last few mouthfuls as she excused herself from the table and came into the kitchen to tidy her bowl and utensils into the dishwasher. "Where would you like to go today, angel?"

"I sort of like that spot in the desert," she smiled at his endearment. "That burrowing owl family was so adorable!"

Chris followed her with his eyes as she scampered over to the entranceway to retrieve her backpack before rushing to his side. Hailey was truly as cute as they came, and bustier than was reasonable for a girl of her svelte stature.

"Owls, here we come." He took her hand as he prepared to phase.

"Be safe please, honey," Susan entreated.

"Where's the fun in that?" he teased. "But, I'll try. Okay, have a great day my lovelies, I'll see you all this evening."

Their farewells echoed back to him as he slipped his magic over Hailey and pictured the dry creek bed near where the little owls had made their subterranean home. It was a perfectly remote spot for them to experiment.

It didn't feel nice to lie. Well, it wasn't lying really, but his promise to Susan was about to be broken in spirit, if not practice. Something told him that he was ready, and he was about to put that feeling to the test with a serious leap of faith. A series of serious leaps really, and his magic quivered in eager anticipation.

The disorienting, bodiless sensation of his jump was replaced with a cold breeze against his neck. The dry, earthy, and altogether wholesome scent of the desert filled his nostrils, and he inhaled deeply before he opened his eyes.

Hailey shivered, pressing her busty form into his side. It was chilly this early in the morning, and the sun hadn't yet risen over the low canyon walls which made the spot perfect for hiding their more spectacular failures. The loose stones of the washed out water channel crunched satisfyingly under their hiking boots as they surveyed their cactus-dominated surroundings.

Chris noted that whilst clear of obstacles and thus an excellent place to jump in, if there'd been heavy rain they might have found themselves dumped in the midst of a raging flash flood. Perhaps not the best then.

"Aren't you cold?" Hailey looked up at him almost reproachfully.

"It's not so bad," he shrugged. "I'm used to working outside in much colder weather than this. Besides, I'm a lot bigger than you, thermally efficient and all that."

"No kidding," she put her backpack on the ground and extracted a padded down jacket. Her jeans would keep her warm enough for now, but she stamped her feet and rubbed her hands over her arms to stave off the chill. "You're not getting anywhere near my tits until it warms up!"

"I can light a fire," he offered sincerely, wrapping an arm around her.

"No, I know it'll warm up soon. Go check the coast is clear and I'll walk around a little to warm up. I can go see if the owls are feeling friendly."

"Actually," he said, hesitant to voice his plan, but knowing her involvement was crucial. "I was thinking it's time we take this to the next level. We've established a good number of parameters about these orbs of mine. Watch this."

He raised his arm, concentrating in the Ether as he summoned a tiny sphere of blackness and raked it back and forth through a nearby lump of brown sandstone. The rock crumbled with a series of protesting cracks and pops as it was magically diced. When the half-inch-wide orb was full, he began shoving in energy from his magical reserves. Soon, the molecules inside were starting to vibrate and disassociate in their excitement. He shot the orb high out over the expanse of cacti and woody shrub before releasing his iron grip on that section of the Ether.

The resulting detonation could have been mistaken for a professional pyrotechnic display or perhaps a very unusual lightning strike. A sharp crack echoed across the valley as violent white tendrils laced fleetingly through the air, errant charged particles making their escape to a more stable state. At the centre of the disturbance, a shower of yellow sparks lingered for a second as the molten brew of rock shattered in the fresh air and fell earthward.

"Partial ionisation," Hailey murmured, nodding thoughtfully. "Show off."

"Yes, Ma'am," he smiled broadly. "That wasn't even trying that hard in either compression or temperature. I can already filter elements and control all sorts of tricky reactions. I think it's time we try for the real thing. At some stage, we have to switch focus to working out how to effectively contain and harvest the fusion reaction. That could be the hard part for all we know. Therefore we should try to see if it's even viable as soon as possible. Today, actually."