Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 4

Revive and Repeat

Krill was poised to run forward over to Adam, but Conn held a hand in front of him, "Not just yet."

Krill looked up at the starborn his antenna vibrating with incredulity, "You.... you did this/"

Conn grinned.

"Not really, I just told Impetus to wake up from his nap."

Krill bristled, "You stupid bastard, Impetus is going to get Adam killed. He's using the body like a hacky sack." WIth every word his voice grew up an octave, "That cauterization hack job might as well have killed him already, and now he probably has brain damage, and if that kicked didn't kill him..."

Kazna had clambered to her feet, but to their surprise Adam rolled to his feet as well, spear still held in one hand.

He looked up, still grinning madly.

And for the first time Kazna seemed to falter, pulling back slightly in what he might have called fear.

Half of her face had fallen out of symmetry with the other half, one of her cheeks completely caved in and her chest weeping blood.

Adam spit a glob of blood onto the ground and wiped his mouth, "Can't beat me Kazna. You couldn't then and you can't now."

The room was silent.

Kazna hissed, "That hit to the head must have addled your already addled brain, human."

"Jogged my memory perhaps." He spun the spear in one hand and shook his head, 'To think, once upon a time we were friends."

She snarled, and he lowered his head motining to her with one hand.

She roared and raced towards him again, but this time, Adam wasn't alone.

Gunfire ripped through the room as Etium took his opportunity.

Kazna didn't seem to have expected the sudden onslaught and staggered to the side as chain bullets ripped through her torso, one, two three all in quick succession, but then she was too close and Etium had to pull his fire, but before she could regain herself, Celex was there. He grabbed her by the face, hand glowing ith golden energy which he had been charging for almost ten full seconds.

The blast rocked the room, and again filled the air with the smell of searing flesh.

Kazna hollywood, but they didn't give her time to regain her composure.

Sunny was there, She had no weapon, but that didn't matter to her as she drew her first back and punched Kazna hard in the chin sending her jaw straight up into her broken cheek and eye socket, but only before ramming her knee into Kazna's gaping chest wound. The shadows that once surrounded her had all fled in confusion across the floor, and were not so easily returning.

Kazna howled in pain as sunny kept at it, battering her over and over again, with any open part of her body that seemed available.

And then.

A burst of void light.

Maverick and Ramirez went tumbling across the floor and the group of them turned just in time to See Everette surrounded in crackling golden energy as he raced forward and grabbed Kazna by the shoulder.

There was a sharp roar, and a rip as if a tarp was being unfurled as the air next to them was pulled apart, and they were sucked straight into a waiting rift, and vanished. The roaring that had once consumed the room was suddenly cut short, and silence fell over them like a blanket.

Their enemies were gone.

Sunny staggered forward, her momentum thrown off.

Ramirez staggered back, falling into his back.

Then they all turned to Adam.

He still stood at the back of the room where he had gotten to his feet, spear held in one hand, smiling, but his eyes had gone glassy, and the smile had gone from manic to almost sinister, like the smiling of a soulless doll, before he staggered.

And slumped to the floor,

Krill was the first one at his side.

Followed by Sunny.

She grabbed him by the shoulders pulling him into her arms, "Adam, ADAM!"

His body had gone slack against her skin smeared with blood face gone pale.

"Adam PLEASE!" She struggled with the urge not to shake him.

Krill examined the cauterized wounds on his chest and, with great zeal began to curse as he worked, "Stupid, moronic idiot basterd motherfucking bullshit sonofabitch. I swear to the architect that when you wake up I am going to kick your ass so hard my foot is going to be scraping the bottom lobe of your brain from how far my foot is going to be up your rectum you POS bastard idiot." Yet during all that time his hands never stopped moving.

Adam's head lolled against Sunny's chest.

The others gathered round and a safe distance exchanging warning looks.

The maker was nowhere to be seen.

Celex stood next to Conn, both of them with their eyes closed as they monitored the inside of Adam's head. The looks on their faces were not encouraging.

"Stupid, stupid man, stay with me."Sunny muttered, "I I know I told yo udying is okay, but having your soul captured by my mother is not okay, alright, we can't lose you. If we do do that... if she gets you we are all..."

She trailed away as Adam's eyes opened slowly.

It was still glassy and distant, but it was open.

"Adam." She ventured.

He didn't answer staring up into the light which was slowly beginning to fade back to red.

"His heart is failing." Krill said the panic gone from his voice as the physician in him took over.

He reached up a hand, which Sunny caught with one of hers ,"Stay still" She demanded.

His lips moved as if intending to speak.

"Dammit." krill muttered.

And then the cathedral shook again.

All of them were rattled where they stood once, and then twice.

"Is that Kazna!?" Ramirez asked staring up at the ceiling.

"I don't think so, " Maverick said, "that sounds like it's from outside."

And then the distant ceiling erupted, splitting apart and filling the interior of the cathedral with a rush of arctic wind and a blast of burning white golden light. The group of them raised their hands to the air, Etium grabbed krill to protect him from the sudden wash of cold.

And then the familiar shadow resolved into a shape.

The shape of the Empyrean.

For a moment it would have seemed they were saved.

And then Adam's body went slack.