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be soeasy. I know you're tired; it must seem impossible to make the tiniest
effort. God knows I've felt the same. Paralyzed. You can barely breathe,
Sebastian, and I'm just some pompous adult preaching platitudes.
"You wish I'd shut up... but I have to say something you might not have
considered. About Rosalind. I've been thinking of her ever since last night,
and the image that keeps coming to mind was the way she'd gaze out the windows
during math class. Just staring, as if she was light-years away. I would have
said she was disconnected from life: stuck in a trap of her mother's making;
wrapped up in numbness and three-quarters dead. But then she made a
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decision to elope with you. Not a decision I'd agree with, and if I caught you
two sneaking out, you'd both get homework detentions for the next thirty
years... but it was a sign of life, Sebastian. Rosalind recognized something
had to change, and shedid something about it.
"So did you, Sebastian. You and Rosalind together. It must have taken
courage; and now, after horrible things have happened, maybe you're thinking
you never should have done it. But there's no such thing as playing safe. Life
might hurt, but it's better than numbness. Rosalind knew that. So did you when
you agreed to elope with her. Be brave again, Sebastian. Wake up and do
something. It'll get easier once you start. Just talk to your nanite friends
and ask them to help."
The light in the room flickered. For a moment, I didn't realize what that
meant; I thought Sebastian had come to his senses and done something... told
the nanites to start repairing everything that needed to be fixed. Then the
flicker came again and the truth struck me: the only illumination in the
entire chamber was the soft violet glow from the lasers. The lasers flickered
once more, then went out.
Deep blackness the thick absence of light that happens only underground. One
tiny glitter remained: the red and green nuggets on the -rod I held in
my hand.
The room was utterly silent: nothing but the thud of my pulse. Then all
around me, black gunpowder grains whispered against one another.
Uh-oh.
The cage had run out of power. No more mental shield protecting the angel
from the demon. I could imagine Satan screaming in triumph as it crushed its
good enemy with galaxy-sized willpower.
A million black cellules rustled again.
Quickly turning off the -rod and tucking it up one sleeve, I gripped my
Element gun in both hands. I pulled the trigger and swung in a fast circle,
spraying a bright stream of fire spiraling outward. Dark grains sizzled as the
flames swept across them, but the blaze only scorched a thin layer on the
outside of the mound. Underneath the blistered surface, the Lucifer rolled
itself forward like a dune in a windstorm.
"Sebastian!" I yelled. "Wake up!"
The boy didn't move.
I moved to his comatose body and stood astride him, gun ready to fire again.
I'd released the trigger after the first burst, but there was enough light to
see by small patches of the Lucifer were burning, weak orange embers all
around me. Those tiny fires must have caused the creature pain, but it showed
no sign of being intimidated; the great black mound continued to close in,
rasping as sand crept across the floor.
"Sebastian!" I loosed another gout of flame from the gun. Roaring orange
streamed forth, painful to the eyes; it cast the Lucifer's shadow onto the
room's stone walls. I made another complete circle with the fire, then quickly
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switched to acid. It spattered like deadly rain, hissing when it hit hot-spots
left by the flamethrower. There were more ember patches on the mound now,
dozens of them... but they just made it easier to see that the bulk of the
Lucifer wasn't damaged at all. My gun could only dole out flesh wounds; and it
would soon exhaust its ammunition.
Flame. Acid. Flame. Acid. Nothing stopped the Lucifer's steady approach. I
was sure the alien mass could move faster Jode had lashed out like lightning
at Pelinor but this was a creature who toyed with its prey. Before it killed
me, Satan wanted to smell my fear.
Flame. Acid. Then I pulled the trigger and nothing happened.
I switched to bullets and emptied the clip. Despite the noise and muzzle
flash, my barrage was as useless as firing rounds into a sandbank. When I ran
out of lead, I tried hypersonics. No discernible effect; if anything, the
rustling around me grew louder with gleeful anticipation.
The battery powering the hypersonics went dead. I dropped the gun and pulled
the -rod from my sleeve, pressing the activation button immediately.
With luck, I'd banish a few more cellules from this plane of existence before
a flood of them rushed down my throat.
Embers in all directions. The mound towered above me, twice my height.
"It's okay," I said to Sebastian not from calm acceptance, but because I
didn't want Satan to see me panic. "Your nanites will keep you safe; and I'll
join my friends in whatever comes next, Gretchen. Oberon. Myoko. Pelinor.
Impervia. The Caryatid. Annah." I took a deep breath. "Rosalind. I'm going to
die like Rosalind, Sebastian. Unless you do something."
Glowing embers showed the Lucifer was almost within reach. "In the name of
Most Merciful Compassionate God," I said. "Praise be to God, the Lord of all
Being; All-Merciful, All-Compassionate, the Master of the day of judgment.
Thee only do we worship and of thee do we beg assistance."
I lifted the -rod to swing it at the mound... then suddenly, an idea
blossomed inside my beleaguered brain. Inspiration. I dropped to my knees and
whacked the rod hard on Sebastian.
To be honest, I doubted it would work the nanites protecting the boy might
resist the -rod's effects, might even knock the rod from my hands before
it made contact. But either the nanites couldn't resist or they were smart
enough to recognize I had Sebastian's interests at heart. The -rod came
down... made contact... and the boy disappeared.
The gunpowder heap loosed a furious hiss, like a poisonous snake cheated of
its prey. It hurtled toward me, no longer teasing out the moment of fear but
trying to avalanche across the gap before I too escaped. The leading edge
slammed against my legs, knocking me off my feet; but as I fell, I had time to
swing the rod, slap my own chest with the tip...
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