The Order of Brigid's Cross - The Wild Hunt (Book 1): The Wild Hunt (29 page)

“This is crazy,” Em said as she watched Sean walk across the
field with the exoskeleton on. Pete and Ian were next to him, shouting
encouragement and testing his moves. “He can’t use his sword, and that machine
will slow him down.”

“It’s to give him strength, Em,” Gillian said, standing next
to Em near the edge of the field. “Ian thinks it’s a great idea.”

“He’s a man, and it’s a toy,” Em muttered with contempt. “Of
course he thinks it’s great. But he hasn’t practiced with Sean, and I
have.
 
He’ll do better if he trusts his
instincts and works with his sword.”

Sean punched the four by four piece of wood that Ian and
Pete held between them. The wood shattered and broke into two pieces.
 
“This is awesome,” Sean said. “It’s like
breaking a piece of
styrofoam
, it’s so easy.”

“Aye, the only disadvantage is that you’re not as agile as
you would be without it,” Ian remarked.

“What? I can run in this thing, faster and longer than I
ever had,” Sean argued.

“Right, but it takes a while to get up to speed. It’s not a
device for sprinting or making quick, defensive moves,” Ian replied. “You’re
not going to sneak up on anyone using it or dash quickly out of reach.”

Sean nodded as he flexed his arms and the machine responded.
“You’re right,” he admitted. “And I don’t know which to be more concerned about,
the Elk King’s strength or his speed.”

“Both,” Pete said. “And when you feel the usefulness of the
skeleton is done, just press the release button to step out of it. It’s a tool,
nothing more.”

“Right,” Sean said, taking a deep breath. “So, how much time
do I have?”

Ian pulled his phone out of his pocket. “You’ve only five
minutes,” he said. “Shall we get back to the others?”

Sean looked across the large, empty stadium, the butterflies
in his stomach feeling like raptors, and then nodded slowly. “Yeah, let’s go
back.”

The wind started to pick up, and Em and Gillian both turned
to look up at the swirling cloud that suddenly appeared above the stadium.
“It’s them,” Em whispered, her heart in her throat.

Gillian put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “It’ll be
fine, Em,” she said. “Father Jack, Mrs. Gage and Jamal are all back at the
church praying for him. And with the new device Pete got for him, he’ll be
fine.”

Em turned to her. “You haven’t seen them,” she whispered
harshly. “You haven’t seen what he’s up against.
 
This is no faery creature from a storybook;
this is a demon from your worst nightmare.”

Sean, Ian and Pete arrived at the north end of the stadium.
“Looks like
it’s
show time,” Sean said, turning to Em.
“Wish me luck.”

She took a deep breath and met his eyes. “You don’t need
luck,” she said. “You have skill. You just have to trust it.”

He nodded. “Thank you,” he said. “That’s what I needed to
hear.”

She pulled his sword from the padded gun and handed it to
him. He grabbed the hilt and felt the surge of power. “I don’t get it,” Sean
said. “I don’t get the
tinglies
when I use my sword
during practice.”

“Chrysaor understands when you are in a real battle,” she
explained, “and when its power will be useful.”

“Well, tonight I can use all the help I can get,” he
replied.

Maria came up behind him and swapped the battery pack on the
back of the skeleton. “Okay, you’re fully charged,” she said. “You’ve got about
thirty minutes of super power, so get out there and kick some Elk King ass.”

He smiled at her and nodded. “I’m going to do my best,” he
said.

“My friend, the pyrotechnic guy, is watching from the
control both,” Pete said. “He laid some charges out on the field and said he’d
watch you to see how he can help.”

He handed Sean a small receiver. “Clip it over your ear, and
you’ll be able to hear when he’s going to set things off.”

“Tell him thanks for me,” Sean said, adjusting it over his
ear.

“Hey, you can tell him yourself,” Pete said. “Once you take
this guy down.”

Sean smiled thinly and nodded at his friend, his heart
sinking. “Yeah, that’s right,” he said with a nod. “I forgot.”

The cloud lowered to the stadium floor, and a cloud of debris
swirled around the field. Trash containers toppled, pieces of trash flew
through the sky, and the banners attached to the upper decks nearly came loose
from their moorings.
 
The thick dust blinded
all of the occupants for a moment.
 
Finally, when it cleared, Sean looked to the center of the field and saw
the Elk King mounted on his cadaverous horse, its ribs clearly visible under
its thinly stretched, grey hide.
 
Its metallic
hooves tore up the grass in the middle of the field as it reared on hind legs
and pawed the air.
 
The Elk King raised
his new sword and screamed a high, piercing, battle cry that echoed throughout
the stadium.

The rest of the Hunt stood at the south end of the field
holding back the snarling, wolf-like creatures that foamed at the mouth and
yanked against the thick chains that bound them to their masters.
 
Their glowing yellow eyes hungrily assessed
the group standing across the field.

Gillian grasped Em’s hand tightly. “Oh, Em,” she cried. “I
had no idea. How can
he
…”

Em turned quickly to her with a look that cut her off
mid-sentence. “He will be fine,” she whispered, her eyes glistening with
determination. “He will win. He has to win.”

 
“Damn,” Pete
whispered to Sean. “If you want to back out of this right now, I wouldn’t blame
you.”

Sean shook his head. “Thanks, but I’m good,” he replied,
taking a deep breath. “It’s time to play
RoboCop
.”

He was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to move, wouldn’t be
able to take those few steps towards the creature before him, but his body
obeyed, moving with strong, sure steps that were enhanced by the machine.
 

He studied the creature in front of him.
 
It was tall, well over eight feet tall, Sean
guessed as he moved closer.
 
Its body was
a jumble of tree limb and vines, intertwined to give the impression and shape
of the muscles and sinews of a human body.
 
Tattered burlap covered its loins and formed a cross over its
chest.
 
Its arms were as long as the
length of its body, with long, thin, razor-sharp claws that took the place of
fingers.
 
Sean knew he would need to stay
away from those if he wanted to survive.

Then he looked up to the place Hettie said was the only weak
spot on the beast. The giant, parched, white elk skull that lay above the
shoulders was shrouded with a burlap hood that circled around its
shoulders.
 
Inside the skull, there was
depth of darkness that was more than just lack of light. It was a vast, bleak
oblivion that seemed like a portal, occupying more space than just the boundary
of the skull.
 
The only signs of life
were the glowing red eyes that followed
Sean’s
every
movement.

Sean stopped a few yards away from his opponent.
 
The Elk King stared down at him as its horse
pawed impatiently at the ground before it.

“Okay, I’m going to give you one chance before we get this thing
started,” Sean shouted at the creature. “You and your group can leave now and
no one gets hurt.”

The Elk King responded by screaming once again and kicking
sides of his horse so it lunged forward towards Sean.
 
With its sword raised above its head, the Elk
King bore down on Sean and slashed powerfully in his direction.
 
Sean pivoted in the metal skeleton and instinctively
raised his arm in defense.
 
The blade
from the Elk King’s sword ricocheted off the metal of the skeleton, and a spark
exploded into the air.
 

Sean felt the force reverberate through his body.
 
He stumbled back, the suit keeping him on his
feet.
 
Heart-pounding, he turned just in
time to see the Elk King charging him from the other direction. He pivoted just
in time to miss the thrust of the sword, swinging his sword afterwards and
missing entirely.

The Elk King galloped his horse around the circumference of
the field, spewing turf and dirt in its wake.
 
He circled twice, screaming into the air.

“Oh, we got a little psyching out going on,” Sean said.
“Yeah, well two can play at that game.”

He started with a jog and then increased his speed, easing
the suit up to its full potential.
 
He
ran after the Elk King and then passed him by, zipping past the rest of the
Hunt and finally heading back to the middle of the field and slowly jogging in
place. “Yeah, I got this too,” he said.

The Elk King turned his horse and galloped back to the forty
yard line and faced Sean. Sean bent forward, like the linebacker he had been in
college and stared back at his opponent. “You want me,” he growled. “You come
and get me.”

As if they’d heard the threat, both horse and rider
responding immediately and charged Sean with astonishing speed.
 
Moving backwards, Sean tried to get out of
the way, but the suit was slow in reacting.
 
The horse barreled into him, sending him flying across the fields and
smashing into the sideline walls. Sean groaned softly.
 
Most of the final impact had been absorbed by
the suit, but the initial impact had been his alone.
 

He pulled himself up and jogged slowly back to the field.
“Fourth down,” he gasped, sweat pouring down his forehead. “We’re going for
it.”

Instead of his football stance, Sean planted his feet like
he was standing in the batter’s box, bringing his arms up as if he were holding
a bat instead of a sword. “You just need to know when to change the rules,” he
said, looking up to see horse hurtling across the field towards him.

He could feel the ground beneath him shake as the Elk King
came charging closer.
 
When he could
smell the sulfur scent and could feel the hot breath of the gaunt steed, Sean
ducked, the sword barely missing him, and then swung in an upward motion,
pushing all of his weight and power against the side of the horse.
 

The impact was strong, and the horse stumbled sideways
screaming into the night, nearly unseating the Elk King.
 
With a scream of anger, the Elk King yanked the
reins around and whipped the horse forward, charging Sean once again.

“First and ten,” Sean yelled, turning around to face them.

This time the attack was full on.
 
He wouldn’t have time to pivot to the side;
the movement would make him too vulnerable.
 
He stood on the balls of his feet, balancing his weight, and played a
game of chicken with the beast.
 
Closer
and closer it came, grass and dirt churning up from all around it, its sword
held forward like a spear in a jousting tournament. “Come on ugly, just a
little closer,” he whispered, his heart pumping with adrenalin. “Let’s see if
you guys can fly.”

Sean waited another few endless seconds, his heart
thundering in his chest as the wild-eyed horse and creature thundered toward
him, and when it was nearly too late, he fell onto his back and lifted his
legs, kicking them out against the horse’s chest.
 
He felt the contact and the power from the
exoskeleton and saw the animal lift off the ground and fly over him.

The momentum of the kick rolled Sean over into a somersault.
Once he was back on his feet, he turned in time to see his opponents land and
roll, the horse finally coming to rest several feet away from the faery
creature, the Elk King’s sword embedded in its flesh.

“Okay, now you’re on my level,” Sean cried, pressing the
release button and stepping out of the skeleton. He picked up his sword and ran
across the field, ready to impart the finishing blow to his opponent.
 
He could feel Chrysaor humming in his hand
and felt renewed power.

The creature moved, shifting its arms to raise its
skull.
 
It looked at its horse lying
lifeless on the stadium ground, and then it turned and looked at Sean.
 
Red eyes glowed with hate, and the creature
let out another blood curdling scream.
 
Whipping out its arm, it grabbed hold of the sword and pulled it out of
the horse’s side,
a green
ooze dripping from the
blade.

Sean tightened his grip on his sword and moved forward. The
Elk King stood slowly, its limbs long and gangly, and countered Sean’s
move.
 

“Okay,
mano
a
mano
,”
Sean
said,
his jaw tight with fury. “It’s just you and
me.”

Moving to a foot beyond the creature’s arm length, Sean
slowly circled around. The creature countered, turning slowly and watching
Sean, its red glowing eyes floating in an endless pit of black.
 
The Elk King lunged forward, but Sean twisted
and countered, meeting sword with sword.
 

Twisting around, the Elk King swung his sword in the other
direction, aiming for Sean’s chest, but Sean parried and fought back the
attack.
 
Then Sean turned, whipped his
sword around, and felt purchase as a portion of the creature’s arm fell
away.
 
But the wound did nothing to stop
the Elk King from turning and bringing his sword down from above Sean, towards
his head.
 
Sean dove to the side, and the
sword hit the dirt only inches from his head, embedding the blade several
inches into the turf.

“Okay, that was close,” Sean said, wiping the dripping sweat
from his brow.

He lifted Chrysaor up and engaged again, meeting the
creature’s pounding attack over and over again, each time blocking and
countering as they moved over the field.

“Get him to the fifty yard line,” said a voice in Sean’s ear.

“Sure, piece of cake,” Sean replied.
 
He looked over and saw that he was halfway
between the thirty and forty yard line. “Sure, only fifteen yards,” he breathed
heavily. “I can do that.”

The Elk King strode towards Sean, it’s long, sinewy arms
extended fully, each fingernail a razor-sharp machete.
 
Sean slowly back up to the thirty yard line
and the creature followed.

“Okay, time for a quarterback sneak,” he said to himself.

He stepped forward, with his sword in both hands, as if he
were going to attack.
 
The creature
responded, bringing its arms together to parry his assault. Then, instead of
attacking, Sean ran to the left and past the creature.
 
It screamed, turned and ran after Sean.

“Forty-two, forty-four, forty-six,” Sean wheezed as he ran.
“Forty-eight.
Fifty!”

He turned and brought his sword up, deflecting the
creature’s attack.

“Charge igniting in five, four, three, two, one,” said the
voice in Sean’s ear.

Suddenly, to the right of the creature a flare exploded from
the ground, and a volley of lights filled the night sky. The Elk King turned
towards the explosion. Sean ran forward, his sword raised for battle.
 

The Elk King turned back, but it was too late. Sean twisted
and dug his sword once again into his enemy’s arm.
 
He heard the sound of wood splintering, but
this time he felt his sword catch. He yanked it back, but it was stuck
fast.
 
The Elk King looked down at him. His
eyes seemed to be smiling as Sean struggled to regain his weapon.

Breathing heavily, Sean pulled again and it came loose, but
the Elk King had taken that time to recover. The Elk King’s sword whipped
around.
 
Sean ducked, but the edge of the
sword caught his left arm. Sean screamed as the burning blade pierced his arm,
and he heard the crack of his bone.

The smell of blood seemed to excite the Elk King. Its eyes
glowed stronger, and its high pitched scream sounded more like a victory
cry.
 
Sean stumbled back out of its
reach, but he knew the blow to his arm could be his death knell.

“Disney in five, four, three, two, one,” the voice in his
ear said.

“Disney?”
Sean
wondered, in a pain-filled mist.

Suddenly, the ground around the Elk King came to life with
flares and fireworks exploding all around him.
 
The stadium was filled with the sounds of a Fourth of July exhibition
coming from all directions.
 
The Elk King
screamed and turned to face each threat, jumping one way and then the other,
whipping his sword at the invisible enemy.
 

Sean realized that this was his only chance.
 
He lifted his sword with his good arm and
held it over his head. Then, with a scream of determination, he charged across
the field.
 
The Elk King turned towards
him, his sword raised in defense when another charge exploded, just to his
left.
 
The Elk King glanced towards it
for the smallest second, but it was enough; Sean leapt forward and plunged his
sword into the blackness of the Elk King’s Skull.

For a moment, there was complete, shocked silence, and then
the Elk King screamed as he collapsed into a heap of broken limbs and shattered
bones.
 
Stumbling backwards, Sean dropped
his sword and grabbed his upper arm, trying to stem the flow of blood from his
wound.
 
He glanced across the field and
watched as the rest of the Hunt came to life and moved down the field towards
him.

“I won,” he whispered to himself as he struggled for
consciousness. He looked to the north side of the stadium, rewarding himself
with one final glance of his friends as he fell to his knees. “I won.”

Suddenly, the earth below him shattered as another explosion
ripped through the stadium.
 
Sean felt
his body being lifted and thrown. And then there was darkness.