Page 44 of Liberty
Chapter 18
OAK
I wasunderwater but completely fucking dry. My body was working its way through sludge, but absolutely nothing was obstructing me. I couldn’t get to her – to them – fast enough. I was close, so fucking close when the creature’s tentacle formed and stretched, moments before he speared it straight through the center of Sterling’s chest, lifting him off the ground to hover in front of Liberty.
She was a statue in front of them both, a solid fixture of shock and horror as she stared, watching his body spouting blood at her feet. Sterling’s lips moved, but even with my advanced hearing, I heard nothing through the blood rushing in my ears. I felt nothing but the desire to get to them. But I was too fucking late.
His body rose, looking like a fucking marionette flopping around on unseen strings as he used what strength he had to try to free himself. It was useless. There was no escaping the barbs speared through his insides. He paused, his mouth moving one more time as he tried to convey something to Liberty.
Why hadn’t she moved? Why the fuck was she still there?
I was getting closer. Another block and I would be there.
Her feet began to move, pulling her away from the gruesome scene, and relief filled me. Relief that was short-lived the moment I saw her pick up a broken piece of debris and charge at the sea creature.
Ellis made it to her first, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her away as she struggled. But they weren’t making it far enough. The creature’s other tentacle trailed after them. A roar escaped my throat, a sound so loud even I was stunned, but it gave them time enough to gain distance as the creature's attention turned on me.
From a distance, it was massive. But up close, its size was immense. It towered over the closest skyscrapers, its width larger than two of the buildings combined. I stopped in front of it, putting myself between Liberty and the monster, focusing all my anger, my rage, my desire to keep her safe on the one focal point.
Chances were, it might be too late to save Sterling. We were immortal under the best of circumstances, but this was anything but the best. He didn’t have blood to be donated. He didn’t have strength left in his nearly lifeless body to help his wound mend, and he could not heal when the tentacle was still sheathed in his body, hanging almost two hundred feet in the air now.
His life was draining, and oddly, I felt it. I felt his life leaving like it was my own, and there was no way I had time to even think about that new development. The only thing I could focus on, the most important thing around us, was Liberty. It was my job to protect her, and I wouldn’t let her down.
The anger that was bubbling inside of me at the whole situation boiled upward, my body burned with rage until the only way I could control it at all was to let it out. Magic, both old and new, twisted and spiraled as one streaming out of me, hitting the creature directly in its chest, knocking him back a few feet.
A high pitch scream vibrated out of it, the sound so painful I couldn’t help but cover my ears. But, it had to be temporary, I couldn’t let it get me down; I couldn’t allow it to control me until it won, stealing Liberty from the safety of our presence and thrusting her into the chaotic madness that was James’ mess. She didn’t even know James. She didn’t deserve this. Hell, none of us deserved it, but at least we were better equipped to handle it.
A tentacle came toward me, his flesh molding until it formed a giant mallet. The mallet hovered over my head for a moment, not long enough to give me thought, but enough time to align itself with my body before it came thundering down. I dodged right, barely making my escape before it was upon me again.
It slammed to the ground, my body thrown off balance with the force of the shaking. My heart was hammering with the adrenaline pumping through me, forcing me to move when my mind hadn’t registered the place of the threat. It was above me again; this time, the wild, untamed magic soared out of me. It wrapped around the base of the tentacle in a stream of black and yellow, encompassing it so tightly as it twisted and weaved around the limb that creature wailed, the appendage snapping from its body and falling dead to the floor.
Liberty’s scream brought me out of the trance that had my eyes locked on the creature’s arm, now rapidly turning black before it flaked to ash and disappeared in the wind. “Sterling!” She screamed his name with such conviction and sorrow that I couldn’t help but look up, seeking my childhood friend.
His limp body had slipped down, precariously hanging him midair. The air in my lungs froze. His heart still beat. I could feel it, and I couldn’t just let him die. Not like this, not here. Not with Liberty’s eyes watching him with terror and sorrow while Ellis used all his weight to keep her in place, keep her safe.
The same magic that flowed from me moments ago reached up like a knife, severing the spear from the body of the beast before catching Sterling mid-fall and lowering him gently to the ground. His heart shuddered for a moment, but I couldn’t dwell. The sea monster was enraged, its own body turning to flame with the rage of losing two of its body parts.
The creature barreled forward, and I used what strength I had to push it back, forcing it back in the water. But I was growing weak. My skin was on fire, my insides smoldering under the weight of the power I wielded and the feral rage that kept me going. But even that wasn’t enough. I couldn’t hold the beast off forever, and I doubted I could remove the rest of its limbs and the threat they possessed.
I turned. “Take her out of here, Ellis!”
I hoped he heard me through the screaming and chaos all around us; I hoped he would get her to safety and protect her now that Sterling and I both couldn’t. I took a step forward, then another, my feet carrying me directly to the beast instead of forcing me away like my mind was screaming for me to do. The pull was magnetized. Once I started walking, I couldn’t stop. I was drawn closer, already accepting that this was it for me. I would die tonight, right here on this water bank.
I would die for Liberty.
The closer I got, the clearer the idea that formed. If I took its heart, surely the rest of the monster would become immobilized. But I didn’t have enough magic to drive into its body, and the gamble of finding the location of its heart would determine a victory or failure. I had a single knife. One knife. And if I didn’t plunge my blade through the center of its force, the center of what made it live, I would doom us all.
A tentacle rolled at me, and I dodged it, grabbing a long strand of dreaded hair and pulling myself upward moments before it would have crushed me. I clung to the hair like a rope, curling my nose up at the disgusting smell of rotting meat and sea algae. I scooted upward, searching for the location of its heart, trying to find the beating organ before the creature could get to me.
“Liberty, no!” Ellis’ voice roared, and my head snapped in their direction as she came running full force toward the creature, a large shard of broken wood her only weapon.
The creature’s attention turned from me to her. Its eyes were glued to her as she barreled forward toward us. I screamed, but she ignored me. Ellis begged as he grabbed and pulled, lifted, and hauled her. Still, she kept breaking free, determined to get her piece of the action. The stubborn fucking girl. She definitely was James’ blood.
The creature lurched forward, heading in her direction, willing to meet her halfway if it meant her death. I couldn’t have it. I wouldn’t have it. Sterling was barely surviving, barely hanging on to his life force by sheer will. I wouldn’t lose the girl too. I ignored her advances and kept climbing, a new determination urging me forward, calling me to make the kill before the creature did.
“Liberty, it will kill you,” Ellis’ voice floated upward, and I tried not to look, but my eyes couldn’t keep away from her, not knowing she was in danger.
The long-stretched tentacle was reaching for her. She was feet away when she raised her piece of wood above her head, poised for the attack. Ellis stepped in front of her, pushing her back, keeping his body between hers and the monster, protecting her even as we both knew it was a pointless last-ditch effort. He had nothing to stop it, nothing to help with it, nothing to use as a weapon against the creature that persistently kept coming.