The Radiant War

Chapter 22b

Malone nodded again. "You're right," he said. "It's all for the best..."

Without warning, he jabbed hard at Benjamin with his hand, his fingers stretched out straight like the blade of a knife, straight into his windpipe. It was a move the Brigadier didn't approve of but which he'd taught him nonetheless, just in case he ever needed it. Benjamin staggered back, staring in stunned surprise, his hands flying to his crushed throat, and Malone pulled back out of reach, aware that the man was a wizard, that he could curse him back to his animal form with a single touch. Benjamin's face turned red as he struggled for breath. He stared at the former batman, an expression of hurt and betrayal on his face.

"You forgot just one thing," said Malone, watching with fascination as the man clutched at a shelf to steady himself, knocking a porcelain horse onto the floor, where it shattered. "My mind was already fully formed before you parent bonded me. I didn't think that would matter. After all, you're the wizard, you're the expert, and you thought my mind would evolve further, become moulded to be like yours. If you thought it, then I thought it had to be true, but apparently it isn't. Maybe this is the first time anyone's ever tried to bond someone who already had a fully formed mind. I don't know, it doesn't matter. You made a mistake, that's what matters, and now you're paying for it."

Benjamin was lurching along the wall away from him, desperately trying to croak out a summons to his bodyguards. He was trying to reach a storage cabinet made of oak and glass containing various small items of porcelain. If he pulled it over, it would make a crash loud enough to be heard outside the room, bringing help. With swift medical attention, it was possible that he could still live. Malone searched around the room, looking for something he could use as a weapon while massaging his aching fingers. He would have preferred to have stabbed him, or bludgeoned him with something heavy enough to be instantly fatal, but he'd had no way of knowing whether another chance would come. He'd had to take the opportunity while he had it, while they were standing so close together.

Benjamin reached the cabinet and put his weight on it, but Malone dashed across to its other side where he leaned on it, keeping it upright. Benjamin stared at him in desperation. He reached out a hand, still trying to croak out a last message to him, but Malone pulled back out of reach. He wasn't going to lose his humanity so soon after getting it! Benjamin let go of the cabinet and fell to the ground, still clutching at his throat as if trying to open his airway manually. Malone saw a knife on his belt. He wondered whether be dared try to get it, so he could put the man out of his misery quickly and mercifully, but then the nobleman gave one last gasp and appeared to collapse into unconsciousness.

Malone approached warily, suspicious of a trap. One of Benjamin's hands was trapped under his body. He stepped on his other hand, then reached down and carefully drew the dagger from its sheath. The nobleman didn't move. Still keeping one foot on the man's left hand, he then reached carefully down, alert for any sudden movement, and plunged the knife into the side of his neck, aiming for the spinal column while avoiding the major blood vessels. There was a small spurt of blood, which then stopped! the tell-tale sign that the man's heart had stopped beating.

Malone stepped back, his heart hammering in his chest, almost delirious with delight that he'd succeeded in his self appointed mission. Benjamin was dead! And he himself had achieved full humanity as a bonus. All he had to do now was get out of there alive and warn the Kelvon authorities about the planned bombing of the summit meeting. No, he realised as he tucked the knife into his belt. There was something else he had to do first. Benjamin had left instructions for his servants and employees, instructions that could still mean civil war in Kelvon if they were followed. Chances were that those instructions were kept here, among the personal papers in his office. Those papers had to be destroyed.