Chapter 34

Chapter 34

 

Roll of the die…

 

 

Cameron cried out in pain as the knife stabbed through his forearm. His blood fell from the exposed point onto his face as Fanten leaned in with all his weight. Cameron held onto his wrist with his other hand keeping his arm away from him. He was tiring quickly and Fanten seemed to have nicked something important judging by the amount of blood dripping from the blade.

The dagger was lodged between the two bones of his forearm. The hilt was keeping it from continuing its hell bent journey to Cameron’s face and the serrated edge kept Fanten from ripping it out to try again. Neither kept Cameron from almost passing out from the pain.

"Just die!" Fanten grunted leaning in so much he was perched on his toes.

Cameron swept his left leg out as hard as he could, catching Fanten off guard and collapsing his precarious stance. His full weight landed on Cameron, knocking the air from him. Fanten let go of the knife to catch himself and roll off Cameron.

Despite the lack of air in his lungs, Cameron caught the collar of Fanten's shirt and used it to pull himself on top of the man. Their positions reversed, Cameron landed his knee on Fanten's right arm, caught a wild swing from his left, and forearmed the tip of the knife into his exposed neck.

Fanten's eyes bulged as he gurgled and clawed at Cameron's forearm with his left hand. The knife had slipped back through Cameron's arm. Cameron grabbed the hilt and shoved it back, sending the tip further into Fanten's neck. He didn't think it was possible but Fanten's eyes bulged further and he scrabbled more furiously at Cameron's arm. Cameron grit his teeth and waited until Fanten gave one last shudder and his arm fell limp to the floor. Cameron took a shuddering breath of his own and sat back. Fanten's dead body lifted slightly from the serrated knife in his neck but the weight of him tore him from it. As he slumped back onto the floor, his blood began to pool around them. Cameron took a second to ready himself, gripped the hilt, twisted the knife ninety degrees, and pulled it from his arm. Tears fell unheeded down Cameron's  cheeks from the pain as he quickly cut Fanten's shirt from him and tied it tightly around his own wound. He synched it tightly with his teeth, stuck the knife in his belt and stood up from his kill.

Not waiting to second guess his decision, he picked up his sword and charged through the portal. It had shrunk slightly so Cameron had to hop and duck through, which he did and kept his stride of a dead run after the figure in the distance.

Merol, the fake air caster from karpel, turned and shot a bolt of lightning at Cameron, Kailah still unconscious over his shoulder. Cameron dropped and slid under the bolt, jumping back to his feet without losing ground. Merol cursed and summoned air to lift him and his cargo so he was floating a few inches off the ground. Cameron realized he was losing ground and picked up his pace. He soon came to realize it was of no effect, he was still falling further behind.

He stopped, breathing deep gulps of air, his forearm and lungs on fire.

He groaned, "Sorry, Kai."

Pulling as much from Kailah as he dared, he too summoned air under him and shot off after the two of them. It was harder than it looked, as Cameron came to realize after about the third tumble across the ground. Still he picked himself up, various cuts and scrapes bleeding freely over his arms and cheeks, and set off again. He finally got the hang of it and started catching up. Merol glanced over his unoccupied shoulder, glared and picked up his pace.

Cameron pulled a little more power from Kailah to boost his speed. Merol skid around a boulder followed closely by Cameron. Instinct caused Cameron to shoot a bolt of lighting to make Merol veer off course. Cameron dodged the opposite direction both of them missing the gravity well by centimeters. Cameron felt it tug at him. He kept an eye on the shimmer as he sailed along the edge. The expanse of the gravity well was pushing him further away from Merol but he could not risk crossing it. He passed an outcropping and from the corner of his eye caught a pack of Beasts napping. Unfortunately one of them hadn't quite fallen asleep and saw him pass. It howled and trampled its brethren in its mad dash to chase him.

Cameron cursed as he watched the six Beasts tumble out of the cave, howl and give chase. He pulled more power from Kailah. The gravity well was still on his left and a ridge was on his right, slowly climbing higher. One of the Beast climbed and ran along the ridge looking to sideswipe him. As the Beast lunged, Cameron pulled up short, causing the Beast to miss and tumble down into the well. Another one lunged from behind. Cameron spun on his air pocket and jumped over the Beast, slicing with his sword. He managed to hamstring the Beast's front left leg. It pulled its leg back allowing Cameron to land and gain some distance.

He was still keeping pace with Merol and he could see the end of the well coming up. The Beast pack was a problem, though. Cameron spun once again on his air pocket, flying backwards, and shot a few bolts of lightning at the five Beasts chasing him. Two struck home on one of the Beast with enough power to char its face. It fell forward, tripping the two immediately behind it. The last two managed to jump their brethren, their teeth mere inches from Cameron's foot. Cameron gave himself a burst of speed, dropped the air pocket, arched into a backflip, landed skidding backwards to the edge of the well. He switched elements to earth and pulled up a wall. The ridge had risen to end in a fifty foot drop,  it continued out of view to his left.

Part of the wall was in the well, causing Cameron to strain to raise it. The two Beast lunged, teeth and claws first. Cameron cried out with effort as he gave all he got. The wall shot up and Cameron heard the impact of the Beast on the other side.

He collapsed onto the ground his head spinning. The cliff wall kept them from pursuit on the left and the gravity well on the right. He rolled over onto his hands and knees, coughing and shaking from exhaustion. Looking up he saw Merol getting away.

Taking a deep breath, he stood up and pulled one last time from Kailah. He feared if this chase went on any longer, Kailah would die from being drained. The air pocket arose once again under his feet and he set off after his quarry. The angry howls of the Beasts dwindled behind him replaced by the rush of wind in his ears.

He got closer, not knowing if his idea would work, reached out with his hand and imagined himself yanking on Merol's air pocket. It worked! Merol stumbled and fell, Kailah rolling off his shoulder. He tried to correct his flight and catch her at the same time, accomplishing neither. Cameron landed running as Merol rolled in the dirt. His dark hair covered in dust, Merol stood with murder on his eyes. He shot a bolt of lightning at Cameron.

Cameron pulled power, but not from Kailah. Being driven by exhaustion, adrenalin, nerves, and pure anger, Cameron caught the bolt, amplified it, and shot it back. It wasn't until much later that Cameron realized he had drawn power from Merol.

Merol caught the bolt full in the chest, getting knocked off his feet and landing spread-eagle, smoking on the ground next to Kailah. Cameron slowly lowered his arms, his breathing ragged and heavy. He drew the dagger and approached cautiously. He kicked Merol in the foot. When he didn't get a reaction Cameron quickly knelt and slit his throat. He dug the knife in deep, not taking any chances, and pulled it across and back, gauging out Merol's throat. Merol's eyes flew open and his hands went to his throat. Cameron stared back into the doomed man's eyes without remorse or pity, only anger. Merol sputtered his last and his hands fell still to the blood covered ground.

Cameron replaced the dagger in his belt and moved to Kailah's side. Her breathing was shallow and her complexion was pale. Panic began to claw at Cameron's heart. They were in the middle of who-knew-where Chaos territory, Kailah was possibly dying and he was up a specific creek without a paddle.

"Keep it together, Cameron," he ordered himself.

He jumped to his feet, working off a hint of a hunch, and dug through Merol's clothes. His search proved fruitful as he dug out some kind of flat white stone covered in red runes around the edge. It was teardrop shaped, no more than the size of his palm.

He knew some rune-speak, from his time in the academy, but only enough to fuddle out this was the device for opening portals. He stood up and held the stone out in front of him at arms length, runed side to himself.

"Open sesame!" he cried and let the stone go.

It fell onto the ground with a definitive "thunk". Cameron pursed his lips and scooped up the stone. He held it in the palm of his hand and studied it some more. A thought hit him and he glanced at Kailah.

"Sorry Kai," he whispered.

He took a smidge more of power from her and poured it into the stone. The stone responded by first glowing then floating off his hand to hang in the air before him.

He pumped his fist in the air, "Yes!"

The stone started spinning and emitting a tearing sound. As Cameron watched, the air around it shimmered and purple smoke started curling outward. Their apartment shimmered into view when the stone fell back to the earth, again with the definitive "thunk".

Cameron scooped the stone back up and into his pocket then heard something behind him. He spun around but only saw a heat wave off in the distance. Something made him keep watching despite the innocence of the scene. He gasped when he saw a figure shimmer in and out of existence in the wave and back a little closer than before. He quickly picked up Kailah, not sure if he should meet this new acquaintance with a passed out caster. As it came closer, Cameron could tell it was a curvaceous woman wearing a robe of some shimmering material, the collar of which was low and hugging her top curves very flatteringly. Cameron quickly backpedaled through the portal as he realized the woman had wings. She flexed them, snow and ebony, stirring the dust around her. The portal started to close, but Cameron stood holding Kailah, transfixed by the sight before him. Fear began to overwhelm him as the winged woman beat her wings, approaching faster. Unconsciously he backed away from the closing portal clutching Kailah closer to his chest. His back hit the far wall and still his feet tried to push him further.

The woman pulled up short as the portal had closed to the size of a bucket pail, her hand shooting through the opening, as if to snatch them. Cameron felt the wall give a little from the pressure of his back. She waited until the opening was half its size then retrieved her hand. She tilted her head slightly to see through the opening, blond hair falling over her shoulder. The woman was blindfolded but Cameron could feel her studying them.

The Seeker growled, "Paradigm."

The portal closed on her scowling face with a puff of purple smoke. After a few tense seconds Cameron slowly slid down the wall of their apartment to the floor, Kailah held tight to his chest.

Once his breathing had calmed down he released his deathlike grip on her. He giggled out of hysteria and glanced down at Kailah. The blood drained from his face, taking his stomach along its downward spiral as he realized she wasn't breathing.