Legacy of the Necromancer [Legacy, BK1 - Completed]

Chapter 10.4

Doubling over, pain - that had nothing to do with the physical kind - ripped at my heart. I set Poe down carefully, ignoring the dampness on my cheeks.

"I should have realized it sooner," Nathan said. "You never did look like a Stanwood." He gave a halfhearted laugh and wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

I struggled to breathe. Poe was gone. My great-grandfather.

Rage flooded through me. Standing, I turned towards Natham as the smirk wilted from his face. He took a step back, and another, trying to keep the distance between us as I walked towards him. Throwing my hand out before me, Kastem appeared with a mere thought. I didn't have to say the incantation, or struggle for control. He just materialized.

"You think a demon is going to stop me?" Nathan forced a laugh, but I could see the fear in his eyes. He knelt, slapping his blood covered hand covered hand on the painted circle. His expression hardened. "Two can play at that game. "

The circle flashed a bright, eye blinding white, forcing me to shield my eyes. The paint on the floor began to move, twisting and growing until the body took up most of the free room in the basement and the head of the snake-like demon rose to tower above us.

"Uh, Ez," John said in a hushed voice beside me. "We should find the others. We can't do this on our own."

Kastem growled. The snake's black eyes narrowed as its three forked tongue tasted the air. Nathan stood behind the creature, the fear in his eyes gone. He'd already figured a way out of this, the bastard! I couldn't let him get away with taking the others, with killing Poe.

"Keep it busy," I told John.

Giving Kastem one clear order of helping John take down the snake, I moved to the side, my attention on Nathan.

The snake dove forward and Kastem slashed at it with his claws as John rolled away. I took the chance and jumped around it, heading for Nathan.

He grimaced, side-stepping back in an attempt to maintain the distance between us.

"Why?" I screamed at him. "Why would you kill your own kind?"

He sneered. "A child like you could never understand. The world has changed. We've been hunted since the first Necromancer discovered his power. First by the normals, then the Witches. We've always had someone out to get us. The Witches were just better at killing us than the rest."

I pulled at more of my talent, gathering it into my hand like I had back in the warehouse. "Then why the hell are you helping them?"

Nathan studied the blade in his hand. "Don't you understand? The whole system is broken. Necromancers, witches, even the normals, there isn't any difference between us. It's just a matter of perspective."

I stared at him, the power forgotten in my hand. He was mad, but hadn't I thought something similar not too long ago?

"But to fix it," Nathan continued, "I've got to tear the system down and rebuild from scratch. Since the other Heads didn't agree with my vision, well, they had to be the first to go. Allan was particularly stubborn," he grinned at me. "I quite enjoyed killing him again. I suppose I have you to thank for that."

Blood pounded in my ears. How dare he! Rushing forward, I clutched at my talent, shaping it like Kastem's claws, I slashed at him. Nathan defended himself easily, the smirk growing wider on his face. It only angered me more.

I screamed, trying harder to reach him. Nathan laughed and backhanded me, sending me spinning to the floor. Kasten appeared, defending me from the snake as it tried to strike. Kastem pushed it back, managing to open a gash along it's body. Black blood oozed from it.

John pulled me up to my feet, but I was already looking for Nathan. He was on the other side of the basement, drawing on the wall in blood.

I moved to attack him again, but the snake cut me off, forcing me to back up. Kastem flanked it, trying to drive it clear of my path.

"Well, it's been fun," Nathan said. "Be sure to give Allan my regards." He saluted us with his knife and slapped his free hand on the drawing.

The wall melted away and revealed a dark forest path on the other side. Nathan stepped through, leaving us alone with the demon he'd called. At least that explained how he'd gotten here so quickly.

"How are we supposed to kill this thing now?" John yelled at me. "We've only put a single scratch on it!"

It dawned on me then that maybe didn't have to kill it. Maybe there was another way we could deal with it.

"I need to get close to it" I said.

His eyes widened. "Do you really think that would work?"

"I've no clue, but it's my best idea."

At this point, I only wanted to reach the newly reformed wall Nathan had stepped through. Maybe I could figure out how to follow him or trace the power to figure out where he went. Anything.

Kastem pushed me out of the way as the snake's tail whipped around and almost clotheslined me.

"Focus, Ezra!" John yelled.

I ripped the chain from my neck, freeing my pendant to swing from my hand. The snake's black eyes were focused on Kastem as he swiped his claws at it's injured side.

The white serpent dove forward, striking at Kastem, and missing by a tail's width. I eased to the side, not wanting to face the creature head-on. The snake's head turn towards me, but John threw a piece of concrete at it.

"Hey, over here!" John pulled its attention away from me, letting me get closer.

I dove forward, slamming the pendent into the snake's scales. It shrieked, dissolving into a black mist that swarmed to the pendant's stone center. A breath of the creature's power whispered through my mind leaving the snake's name. Louca.

Pain shot back from the pendant into my hand, burning as the metal grew white hot. I dropped it to the floor, swearing.

The skin that was left on my hand where the pendant had been was white and leathery looking. Not a good sign. Taking a deep breath, I surveyed the ruined basement. The wall Nathan had step through looked untouched, not a smear of blood on it. No trace of power.

Collapsing to the floor, I screamed in frustration. Nathan was gone.

John limped over, I turned away. This was all my fault. I should never have gone to the warehouse, should never have put others at risk. Poe was dead.

Punching the floor with my 'good' hand, I screamed again, the pain coming nowhere near to that I felt inside.

John sat next to me his arm around my shoulders. He didn't say anything but he was there.

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And so ends Chapter 10.  

I'll upload Chapter 11  June 9th, 2017. 

Thank you for reading and putting up with all my typos, grammar issues, and plot holes. This book is certainly still a work in progress, but my hope is to have it published by Spring 2018. I will update here when it's live in the Kindle store, but if you want to stay in touch check out my profile for links to my social media and newsletter.