Whispers of Nowhere

Chapter Twenty: Part Two

Gwen couldn't help it. She stared at Reeves, completely transfixed. His eyes were brighter under the brim of his fedora, more menacing than they had seemed up on the rooftops. Chestnut curls stirred against one temple, his trench-coat billowing behind him from a sudden gust of wind. Beneath the coat, she could make out a dark, form-fitting dress shirt similar to what Forneus wore, only lacking any clear definition of the body underneath.

Everything about him is an illusion, she thought numbly. But no, that couldn't be right. Illusions couldn't hurt you, and from what she'd already witnessed, Reeves was more than capable of causing harm to anyone and anything that dared cross him.

When she heard the sound of something scraping over the flagstones, her gaze darted from Reeves to the horde of monsters behind him. The chimera, harpies, and manticore she recognized—as well as the basilisks and hellhounds—but there were several others she couldn't quite place. The tall, humanoid figures with pale, ghostly skin and red, almond-shaped eyes. Some swathed in a variety of clothing, while others seemed to be made purely of smoke; bearing no discernible form beyond their glowing eyes and wicked, fanged smiles.

"What's the matter, firebird?" Reeves clucked his tongue chidingly at Phenex, startling Gwen from her inspection of his forces. "Nothing to say now that I've won?"

"You haven't won anything, Reeves," Phenex said, slowly getting to his feet. "And as long as I'm around, you never will." Fire ignited on his fingertips, like wicks on a candle. The creatures behind Reeves stirred restlessly, growling in response.

"Is that right?" Reeves pressed the tip of his thumb and middle finger together, eyes glittering maliciously. "We'll just have to take you out of the equation then, won't we?"

Gwen had only a second to wonder how his fingers produced such a clear snapping sound through the gloves when his forces surged forward. Reeves vanished into thin air, allowing the monsters to pass him without getting trampled in the process.

There wasn't time to see where he had gone. Gwen threw herself across Forneus as Phenex engaged the monsters, watching in mingled awe and fear when he launched himself at a manticore. To her right, she could see the fiery tornado still spinning, tendrils of flame spanning as wide as the interior gate. As she watched, the flames grew weaker, shrinking in on themselves until the castle walls towered above them.

No! Gwen's gaze darted toward Phenex. Bright, orange flame poured off of him, trailing across the flagstones to encircle the horde, trapping them within a ring of fire. The flames climbed higher, blocking the monsters from view.

It was with a sort of sick horror that Gwen finally understood. However powerful Phenex might be, even he couldn't sustain the power of two independent firestorms at the same time.

She could see the Akuma now. All three stood on the other side of the rapidly diminishing flames, patiently waiting for the moment when the fire tornado would go out, allowing them to attack again.

"Phenex, the Akuma!"

Phenex glanced at her, then at the fire tornado, his mouth set in a grim line. Several of the monsters trapped within the ring of fire chose that moment to break through, their eyes glittering as they set their sights on Gwen.

Phenex swore. "Try to get your armour back in place. I'll hold them off for as long as I can!" The last word was emphasized by the fiery uppercut he threw at one of the gargoyles, a large, squared-off chunk of granite breaking off its jaw and tumbling across the courtyard.

It took Gwen a moment to do as she was told, fear seizing her limbs. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to concentrate on the feeling she'd had the first time she'd summoned the ethereal armour. It had been purely by accident when it had happened, but even then she had known exactly what had called it into being.