The Four Realms (54 page)

D'Toeni got whacked so hard, he hit the ceiling before falling back to the ground.
 
By the time Darwin got to his feet, Brian had also been swatted out of the way.

Enough
, thought Darwin.
 
He'd had enough of the shit, the disrespect, the death and most of all his own self-loathing.
 
He was Darwin, both human and vampire, and he was probably about to die.

It was his turn to roar, as much at the creature as to his own personal demons.
 
The tentacles came at him, not trying to encircle him this time, but all from the same direction.
 
Darwin refused to back off, refused to just stand ground.
 
Instead, he stepped forward, no longer swinging wildly, but attacking as if he'd always been meant to wield this broken ornamental sword.
 
He swung, ducked and twisted, his mind no longer a panic, but instead one of quick analysis and reaction.
 
He cut through some limbs, caused others to divert and retract as he advanced.
 
Limbs seemed to engulf him like some overgrown forest, though he made sure that none came near to touching him.
 
He lifted his sword and plunged it into Magellan's inky black chest, just below the mouth slit.

The creature didn't scream as Darwin expected.
 
It only gurgled, before thick black blood, started trickling, at first from the mouth slit, and then from the sword wound.
 
Darwin pulled out the sword, the trickling turning into a gush, as Magellan's life poured out of him onto the floor below.
 
He staggered, a step back, then another before toppling backward into the split between the realities, sending half of him into West's basement, and the other half into the passageway.
 
Honest Tom and Monk both swore in surprise.
 
He'd never liked Stevens, but to Darwin, this somehow felt like a small piece of justice.

There was no time for complacency.
 
They still had another of those creatures to deal with, as well as a half-transformed West.

"Everyone get to the passageway," he shouted with an authority he'd not previously known, a confidence that surprised him.

It was time for them to leave.

CHAPTER FIFTY - Death Of A Gateway

Maureen found a flower pot with a number of mushrooms just as Mr North drew near.
 
She was aware that behind her Simon was also advancing on her.
 
Two against one little old lady might not seem like good odds but this was a little old lady who had been given back her magical powers.
 
In her mind, that tipped the odds very much in her favour.

The creature loomed over her, but Maureen stood her ground.
 
She'd not been intimidated by a bunch of elves, she wasn't about to be intimated by something that looked like it belonged in an aquarium.

"I would give him the notebook, Maureen," West called out from behind, his own attentions now focusing toward Cassidy, who was backing into a corner with a chair that had fallen from upstairs, outstretched like a Lion tamer.
 
"Mr North is not as forgiving as me."

Maureen turned back to face the creature.
 
"Take another step and I'll turn you into sushi."

She meant it as well.
 
The possession of the mushrooms, along with the draft coming in through the gateway had empowered her.
 
She was no longer the victim and those that had victimised her - West, his seafood friends, the vampires - were all about to find out.

North shot out a tentacle but Maureen reacted instantaneously, shooting up an ice shield that the limb crashed into.
 
The ice cracked but her shield held.
 
Maureen looked down and saw two of the mushrooms wither and die.
 
She cursed herself for not being careful with her spells.
 
She didn't have a whole lot of mushrooms, and needed to conserve her power.

She couldn't help notice Cassidy, scared and threatened by West.
 
She didn't deserve any of this, poor girl.
 
How she'd come to be mixed up with the vampires Maureen didn't know, but she was sure she couldn't have known what she was getting herself into.
 
And now, West was threatening her.
 
But to get to her, she needed to get past North.

She took a step forward.
 
"Out of my way."

The creature gave off something Maureen was assumed was a laugh.

"So be it," she said with a scowl before casting an ice spell.
 
Simple and cost effective.
 
The floor turned to ice, the tentacles North was using to walk losing grip.
 
North fought to stay upright, but he'd been caught unprepared and slipped onto his back.

"I warned you," Maureen said as the spell dissipated and she walked past.

Her attention now turned to West.
 
His tentacle limbs had wrestled the chair from Cassidy's hands and smashed it to bits.
 
That had been a decent strong chair, the one Maureen used whenever her back played up.
 
Seeing this disregard for her property made her almost want to start to cry.

Instead she just filled with anger as she saw a tentacle wrap round Cassidy's neck and hoist her up.
 
Cassidy clawed frantically at the coil around her, fighting for breath as West squeezed tighter and tighter.
 
Another tentacle wrapped round the girl's feet.

West addressed Maureen without even turning round. "Come any closer Maureen and I will pull her apart."

"Leave her alone.
 
What has she done to you?"

"More than you'll ever find out."

West turned to look at Maureen.
 
"I mean it.
 
I'll rip her in half."

Cassidy was now turning a shade of blue as she fought for breath.
 
As if to prove a point, West pulled the coils a little tighter.

"Stop," Maureen cried.
 
"You're killing her!"

"Give me the notebook then."

Maureen thought about it for a brief second.
 
Even if she gave him the notebook, he'd try and kill her.
 
Ernest had died trying to protect that information.
 
She wasn't just going to give it away, no matter whose life was in danger.

And Simon might look at her as some helpless little old lady.
 
Here, in this world, she was that.
 
Old and frail; a woman whose greatest achievement was opening a door on time.
 
Some life.
 
But in the other world, the world that now blew through the door, she was someone; someone who didn't just have to do what she was told, didn't have to be afraid, didn't have to be pushed around by those who thought they held power.
 
She held power.

There was a commotion behind her.
 
Both West and her glanced back to see Magellan split in two.

"Guns," shouted West.
 
"Why did no-one bring guns?"

"Everyone get to the passageway," came a shout.

Maureen looked back at Simon.
 
He was looking at her slightly bemused.
 
She looked down at her right fist and saw it was glowing with fire.
 
Maureen looked back up.

"No, Simon.
 
You'll not get the notebook.
 
And you will let go of the girl or you'll suffer a similar fate to your friend back there."

Maureen glanced at Cassidy who despite her eyes starting to roll up into her head, managed a small nod.

"Maureen, Maureen.
 
You're just full of surprises aren't you?
 
I didn't think..."

Maureen didn't wait for him to finish.
 
She shot the fist of fire from her hand.
 
It exploded on him, setting light to him.
 
It wouldn't last long enough to cause any serious damage, but all she needed was a few seconds.

West dropped Cassidy, who landed hard on her side but still had enough wits to scurry away from West toward Maureen as fast as her empty lungs would let her.

Maureen followed up the spell with an earthquake.
 
It was a costly spell, using up all her remaining mushrooms, but it had the desired effect.
 
Not only did it knock the smouldering West off his feet but it had its desired effect of starting to bring the rest of the ceiling down.

"Run," said Maureen, as she turned and started to make for the passageway, with all the energy the mana drifting in from Venefasia gave her.
 
It felt like the house was coming down around her.
 
Cassidy was still gasping for air and Maureen found herself half-dragging the girl across the room as she ran.

North was just starting to get back up after his Maureen-induced tumble.
 
She hurled the now empty flower pot at him.
 
It bounced off of his head.

Maureen and Cassidy fell into the passageway, as bricks and wood and furniture crashed down into the basement behind them.

"Holy crap," Monk called out from the door.
 
"What the hell did you do?"

Maureen didn't answer, instead standing up and brushing herself off.
 
She wished some of the vampires had been in the room when the ceiling came down.

Darwin pushed his way to the front of the crowded passage.

"Here, let me do that," he said, sticking his sword into the door and starting to leverage pieces of it off.

"Darwin," Cassidy called out from the back.
 
"We've got a problem."

Maureen followed Cassidy's gaze back out into the basement.
 
It was difficult to see through all the dust but there in the distance, underneath all the rubble, she saw something long and black start to move.

"We need to get that door open." Maureen added.
 
Her disagreements with the vampires could wait until they were on the other side.

"I'm trying, I'm trying," Darwin responded.

"Try faster," Cassidy quipped.

D'Toeni and Monk joined Darwin at the door, pulling at pieces of wood with their bare hands.
 
The work seemed painfully slow to Maureen.
 
Instead of tearing off great slabs of wood, they came away with handfuls.
 
If only they had Joseph, Maureen thought.
 
He would have been able to tear that door down in seconds.

She wondered if there was a spell she could do, but then had to remind herself that she was out of mushrooms.
 
It wasn't worth even attempting trying to find another pot with all the destruction out there now.

West was the first to rise, arms still ending in tentacles, his face cut and bleeding.
 
He looked ashen but that could have just been the dust.
 
Not far away, a half-covered mound of black began to stir.

The vampires were now frantically tearing at the door, but still very little was coming away with their hands.
 
If West and North got here, it would be Maureen and Cassidy they reached first.

"Out the way," Darwin shouted to the other vampires as he pulled the sword out, lifted it up and sliced into the door with considerable force.
 
A section of the door splintered.
 
Not enough to create more than a gap.

"It'll be tight," he conceded, "but we should be able to get everyone through".

D'Toeni looked back at Maureen.
 
"You taking Granny with you?
 
Got tired of your little angel?"

Darwin looked him straight in the eye.
 
"We're leaving no-one behind."

D'Toeni snorted and pulled Brian aside who we trying to squeeze through the gap.
 
"Goddamn
Neuen
.
 
Why couldn't they have all perished?"

It was tight and slow but D'Toeni managed to get to the other side.
 
Brian followed and his lankier build made it easier for him.
 
Still a squeeze though, Maureen noticed and wondered if she'd be able to get through what seemed little more than a crack in the door.

Monk was next and his build meant it took Brian pulling and Darwin pushing to get him through.
 
For a time it looked like he might not fit, a time that saw North regain his senses and join West in making their way through the debris toward the passageway.
 
Maureen's only consolation was that the floor was so thick with rubble that it was a real job to move across it.
 
She also suspected that the nearby split in realities stopped them shooting tentacles across the room and down the passageway.

"Cassidy," Darwin called out.
 
The girl skipped up, removed her backpack and managed to skip through with ease.

For a second Maureen thought she might be forgotten, but after seeing Cassidy was safely into Venefasia, he turned to look at her.
 
"Come on," he said holding out his hand.

The gap seemed even smaller up close.
 
Maureen didn't think there was any way she was going to be able to fit through it.
 
She wasn't fat by any means but neither was she slim.
 
There was no time to worry about it.
 
She took a deep breath and pushed herself into the crack.

She'd only got a shoulder through when she got stuck.
 
She pushed and pushed until she felt firmly wedged and yet still didn't feel more than a quarter of the way through.

"I'm stuck," she said, her head on the Venefasia side.
 
Cassidy ran over and grabbed her hand whilst behind her Darwin muttered “This ain't gonna be dignified" and started to push from his side.