Long Live The NightWalker

More live action and badassness coming up in this one. Stay tuned for the third chapter if you liked it.

"Hey," Sophia said through clenched teeth, as she descended the greasy ladder. "Has anyone ever told you, that you're seriously hard to like?"
"Countless times," Cameron replied happily, before pausing. "Okay, that's not strictly true. If it were truly countless, I wouldn't be able to count them out, can I? And I can count them. So it's not exactly countless, is it?"
She sighed. "No, it's not."
"Right, forty-two then." He said. "Forty-three, actually, including yours just now."
"Is it me or does this ladder last forever?" Sophia complained.
"It's you. We're nearly there."
True to his word, Cameron leaped down, and the unmistakable sound of boots on solid ground was audible. He held up the flame in his hand so she could see better. Sophia saw the end of the ladder, and dropped down. Because she wasn't as coordinated as Cameron, or as graceful, for that matter, she hit the ground with her shoulder.
"Nice job," Cameron said, helping her to her feet. "Are you okay?"
"Don't ever make me do this again," She said, and wiped her hands on her trousers. She tried not to look at the walls around the sewer, or let the foul smell get to her, or imagine the creepy things in there that was causing the smell.
"Duly noted," He said. "Fair warning though, if I may. We're going to get a little bit wet."
She looked at him with incredulous disbelief. "What?"
"Just a little. Follow me."
"I don't think so. You promised me this wouldn't get disgusting," She said. "Or weird."
"I promised neither of those things. Now stop making us late. We've got a world to save, and we have to be punctual."
He went first, stepping into what could only be sewer water, and she cursed as she walked after him. Cold water seeped into her jeans and in through her boots and soaked her jacket, sloshing over her waist. She heaved her bag over her head to avoid it being wet, and waded in the water, closing her eyes so she could pretend she was somewhere else. Somewhere peaceful with a beach and hot lifeguards with blonde hair and beautiful smiles.
She instantly felt better, and soon, they were out of the water and walking on solid ground again. The results were noticeably worser off than when they were in the water.
Sophia was soaking wet, her boots squelched uncomfortably with each step, her hair was in her face, and she carried the stench of death with her.
She was about to start a rant about the importance of showers to the human race when the ground gradually sloped upwards.
Solid ground became uneven rubble, and she had to hang onto Cameron so she didn't fall on her face.
"Are we any closer?"
"Actually, better than that. We're here."
He gestured to stone steps set into the end of the tunnel, and climbed them first. She was close on his heels. At the top, there was a door, of which Cameron broke down with ease.
They burst through into the Sanctuary's basement, with its musty basement fragrance, and its dank basement interior. Now that they were in, the screams and the shouts and the wails were decidedly louder than she expected.
Alarms and sirens went off, closely followed by a chorus of disturbing human agony. "They're in," Cameron said. "By the sounds of it, a large group of Necromancers. Right above us."
"And that makes me feel so much better." She countered. "What do we do?"
"First order of business would be to round up all our Necromancer operatives and see if they can be salvaged for this moment in time. If they're still on our side, then we seize the advantage. If they're not, we lock them up until everything blows over. We want to keep them alive as much as we can."
"Daniel," She said. "I have to find him."
Cameron nodded. "Of course. But later. We have to get up there."
"Gotcha. Lead the way."
They burst out the door of the boring, mundane basement, and out into the corridor of bullets and gunfire. Sophia had pretty much seen it coming, and seen the darkness reaching over to pop her head like a grape, and tuned into the atmosphere, feeling where the gravitons connected. She created a shield, hands out in front of her, and the bullets and the magic bounced off her barrier.
This bought Cameron time, and he snapped his palm.
A massive wall of air knocked three Necromancers back off their feet and further down the corridor, and the darkness retracted along with them.
She ran after him the other way, her shield still intact and active, pushing past sorcerers blasting energy streams and operatives firing their guns. More Necromancers poured in through the other end of the corridor, closing in on them.
"Move," Cameron barked. "Get to the other side of the Sanctuary. Round up all our Necromancer operatives, and keep them there. Stock up on weapons. Keep them back. We'll try to find some way to activate a shield inside the building to close them off."
"They're closing in fast, Detective Justice," Frederick Denholm said. "We won't be able to make it in time." There was panic in his face.
Sophia liked to call him Freddy on a daily basis.
"Where's the Grand Mage and the Elders? The High Council?"
"Being ushered to the underground facilities. We're supposed to keep them back until you get here."
"I'm here now, and I say you can stop keeping them back. Okay, well no, keep keeping them back, but retreat into the vestibule. I want a group to retrieve weapons, and another to stay here. We're going to go activate the shields in here, and then you have to run straight to the underground chambers, clear?"
There was a lot of nodding going on as they took in the full extent of the plan that wasn't really a plan, and then they opened fire. People running and people screaming. Cameron pushed through the sea of bodies, and Sophia tried to match his grace.
Someone shoved her from behind, and she stumbled against a wall, and then more people pushing her, and she fell over, and there were people above her, shouting at each other and aiming their weapons. And then Cameron was there, helping her, and they bolted to the next corridor, and the next, and the one after that, the alarms blaring and lights going off.
"Security room," He shouted to her.
She followed his lead, trying to keep up.
A boot appeared out of nowhere, kicking her in the face. She went down, blood in her nose, and the Necromancer jumped down from the ceiling, a mess of pulsing shadows.
She rolled away as his fist came down on the space where her face had been, and scrambled to her feet, swept his legs from under him so he crashed. In front of her, Cameron was being kicked to death by another.
She went to help, but her own Necromancer got her in between the legs perfectly. Tears in her eyes, she cried out, and doubled over. Shadows tore through her chest, grazing the magic material, and when it could've burst her heart, all it did was bruise her chest. Sophia fought the pain, her teeth clenched, and collected the gravity around her. She grabbed him by his shirt collar, and with natural ease, hurled him through the wall like he was a sack of trash. He smashed through, bricks and plaster raining down ontop of him, and she stepped through the hole in the wall to join him. Decreasing gravity again, she picked up a couch and threw it like a dart. He barely dodged, and Sophia leaped forward and then she was ontop of him. Her fist cracked into his face, and the jaw bone disconnected and his nose broke.
He snarled, blood spraying into the air, and she remembered the bow in her bag, reached for it, just as shadows burst out of him, catching her full force in the face. She fell back, clutching her bloody mouth, where her teeth had fallen out, but the bow was in her hand now, and she swung it like a baseball bat, ramming it into his front. Ribs broke, blood flowed, screams heard. She ignored her own pain, and he got up unsteadily, clutching his broken ribs, and the shadows knocked the bow from her hand, and it skid across the floor. Out of reach. She scrabbled to get to it, but he kicked her so hard she saw white. He grabbed her by her hair, hauling her up, and she gasped, blood flying down her mouth, and his curled fist was in her face, and she twisted her body, steadied her footing, and lashed a kick into his shin. He roared in rage, releasing her, and the shadows around him thrashed like angry cobras. She deflected them with a flick of her wrist, and did it again, increasing gravity around her. Her boot smashed into his kneecap and the bone broke and he gave way, wailing in pain, and she caught him in a chokehold that put him to sleep. Her muscles screaming at her, Sophia grabbed her bow and bolted for the corridor, just as Cameron stepped back from the unconscious Necromancer. And still the alarms flashed and the lights flickered. He had a bruise on his forehead, and blood smeared his face.
Just like it was smeared on hers.
"You okay?"
"Yeah." She had cuts and bruises on her body, and her nose felt broken, and she was seriously sore, but other than that, she was considerably okay.
"Come on."
Cameron broke the door down, and she raced to the control panels of the security room. No sorcerers at the controls.
They were alone.
No one around.
She swallowed, on the verge of hyperventilation. "Okay." She said. "Okay. So here we are. We're here. So what now? You know how to work it, right? Please tell me you know how to work it."
"Of course I know how to work it," Cameron said. "What do you think I am?"
"Someone who doesn't know how to work it?"
"Not especially. Let's see," He stepped up to the flashy buttons and the keyboard monitors, and pressed some experimentally.
"Okay, that should do it."
When nothing happened, he said, "Mmm."
"Oh my God," She said. "Oh my God. You don't know how to work it, do you?"
"Don't be ridiculous." He replied. "Of course I do. It's probably just broken or something. Yes, it's definitely, probably broken."
"I cannot stress how useless that is to me," She said. "Cameron, I thought you knew what you were doing."
"As I've said two times now, I do. Now step back, this might get a little amazing. You might want to hug me when this is over."
She rolled her eyes, but moved back. She kept an eye on the door, and the other on Cameron as he fiddled with some levers and tapped something on the monitor. He frowned, pushed some more seemingly random buttons, and then nodded happily.
"All done."
"Oh God."
"You can 'Oh God' me all you want, but the main point still stands. Or sits, whatever. The main point is, it worked,"
She went over to the panels. "It did?"
"It should," He corrected. "See that? That black line around the corridor that cuts the rest of the Sanctuary off, where the charged Necromancers are?"
Sophia peered closer, then frowned. "Isn't that barbecue sauce?"
Cameron blinked. "Pardon?"
"There," She said. "On the screen. With the corridor on it. Isn't that barbecue sauce from that burger shop down the street?"
He touched the glass surface, and took his hand away. And sure enough, sauce stained his gloved finger.
"Oh." He said. "Oh dear."
On the screen, the sorcerers and the Necromancers continued blasting each other and trading punches.
Sophia ran to the door. "I'll go get someone to help."
Cameron held up a hand to stop her, did some other stuff, and yanked a big lever. "Okay, now I'm certain that should do it."
As if in response, a BOOM erupted somewhere in the building, and Sophia pressed against the wall for balance.
"Look." Cameron said.
The security screen now depicted the image of a shield in the middle of a corridor, separating the Necromancers and the sorcerers into two groups.
Some of the sorcerers got stuck on the Necromancers' side, and some of the Necromancers' on the sorcerers'.
Those mismatched people were blasted apart by shadows and got bullets to the heads in no time, and Cameron strode back out into the hallway, cursing about the gun he'd left in his car.
"You never leave your gun in your car," She called after him.
"That's very true. I never do. Or I'm not supposed to, anyway. I guess I forgot."
"You? Forgot? Is that normal? You never go anywhere without it,"
"As far as normal goes, not really. But at least I have this gun to make up for it, and as far as guns go, it looks undeniably good on me, don't you think?" He held up a submachine gun from his inside jacket pocket, and she arched her eyebrows.
"Wow. Where'd you get that?"
"My jacket," He said, tilting his head like it was obvious.
"No, I meant, seriously? You had it this whole time?"
He hesitated. "Well, no. But technically speaking, sort of. I got it from the lovely people we passed by on our way here."
"The Necromancers?"
"The very one."
"Sneaky," She said.
"Come on. We don't have much time."
They raced down the corridor, entered another, and went down some stone steps leading to the vestibule. Sorcerers scrambled for the trapdoor in the center of the floor, one by one as they jumped down into the underground facility, dissapearing into the darkness.
"Move," Cameron ordered. "Move now."
Sophia went to the corridor with the shield, just to make sure no one else got left behind, her magic pulsing and thrashing in her. Just an eyeblink and she could disintegrate them to dust, increase the gravity to a level that could give them a painless death.
The Necromancers kept banging on the shield, relentless and determined to break through.
She backed away, her mouth dry, and ran straight into Desiree.
"What the heck are you doing, trying to sign your death warrant?" She said. "Thank God you're alive."
"Can't get rid of me that easily." Sophia said. "I'm so glad to see you here. Where've you been?"
"Helping the flash mob," Desiree answered. "And speaking of flash mobs, come on, we have to get you underground."
"Wait, that reminds me. Have you seen Daniel?"
"Yes, actually. Just a couple minutes ago. He was one of the first sorcerers to go underground."
Sophia released a shaking breath. "Thank God. Okay, alright, so what are we waiting for? Let's go."
She led her away, back to the vestibule, to join the others. Zequila was walking towards them with her mace, concern etched on her pretty face.
"There you are." She said as they neared. "We've almost cleared everyone. We have get out of here, before they break the shield."
"How long can the shield last?" Sophia asked.
"Not much longer," Zequila replied, "Maybe five minutes at the least, ten minutes, tops. Judging by the way they're kicking, shouldn't be too long now."
Sophia frowned. "Hey," She said. "Hey. Is it me or are they starting to go away?"
Desiree and Zequila turned to look. Some of the Necromancers had stopped kicking the shield, and then the shadows absorbed them and they were gone.
Desiree furrowed her brow. "That doesn't look good."
Sophia nodded. "Any chance they've just given up?"
"They're searching for other ways to get in," Zequila said, recognition on her face. "They're going to find other doorways or windows. Over here,"
But Sophia didn't move away. She squinted to take a better look. The color slowly drained from her face. "Oh my God." She said. "Is that what I think it is?"
The last sorcerer, a girl older than Sophia, Noira Something, made a hasty jump in through the trapdoor and was gone.
In front of the Protector shield, a gruesome creature taller than the rest of the Necromancers, clad in darkness itself, with Devil's horns and angel wings, floated forward.
Behind her, Desiree and Zequila called her name. Whatever the thing was, he came closer, grew bigger.
The other Necromancers let him pass, this fascinating creature of evil magic. A sword was in his shadow-gloved hand, with the bold inscription on the handle.
Hell's Scream.
Sophia couldn't breathe. She couldn't even walk, or run away, or scream while she ran away. She just couldn't. He towered above his fellow Necromancers, floating instead of walking, amused instead of annoyed. Like this was a game. He caught her eye, and black lips gave her a smile.
"What the hell," Desiree said. "Is that?"
"Long live the NightWalker," A Necromancer shouted.
That was it.
That was the response.
And like singing birds picking up a tune, the other Necromancers started chanting the mantra too.
Long live the NightWalker, who Sophia had an inkling was the thing that was flying toward her.
The NightWalker, for his part, ignored his comrades insistent chanting, reached down to the shield with a shadow-gloved hand, and yanked, even as Cameron shouted the warning.
The Protector shield burst on impact, and Sophia was hurled ten feet backwards across the vestibule. The Necromancers swarmed in eagerly, anxious to draw blood. Sophia couldn't feel anything on her back. Where was her bag?
She got up, saw the backpack further away, where the Necromancers were. Then she glanced at the trapdoor, on her opposite side. She tried to figure if it was worth risking. Not really, but she found herself lunging toward the heart of the madness nonetheless. Sophia turned two Necromancers to dust, punched another through the roof, and burst another Necromancer's heart.
The extreme power of course had a toll to take, and she got so tired she could curl up and fall asleep forever, but she forced herself on, Cameron shouting her name, and dropped to the ground, sliding between a Necromancer's legs. She swiped her bag off the floor, rolled to her feet, and swung the bag in someone else's face.
Cameron threw fire, and blasted air, trying to keep them away from her long enough so she could reach him. The Necromancers closed in every direction, and she lifted off the ground and flew past the tops of their heads. Shadows aimed skywards, and she blocked them off, just as the NightWalker flew in after her. She increased her speed, and Cameron shot the NightWalker in the face. He went down, and Sophia did a bad landing next to the trapdoor, Cameron used his submachine gun, taking aim, and taking lives along with it. Each bullet was a perfect shot, puncturing hearts and ripping bones. The NightWalker staggered to his feet, Sophia on his sights now, and waved a hand. Twenty Necromancers in front of him blew apart by the shadows enveloping him, and they dropped.
Dead.
Sophia swallowed, real fear clawing at her chest. If this NightWalker person could murder twenty people with a wave of his hand, then he could easily be able to murder her.
Cameron dropped his gun when he was out of bullets.
"Go!" He barked, summoning flames.
Sophia went first, sitting on the edge, then lowering herself down. She didn't know how deep the facility was going to be, so she prepared the gravity to boost her. And then she let go, and allowed herself to fall into the abyss, darkness swallowing her whole.

Author's Note

Friendly warning, this contains a little bit blood and a little bit more magic. But all in all, you're welcome to review