The Battered Lamp Ch. 22

"Well, I know Kyle would want Aaliyah protected before him."

Britney glanced at the Japanese woman as she strode to the gate. "Then save her. I am going to save Kyle." She ripped the SUV's door open, jumping in. Phillipa followed, fear covering her porcelain face.

"What's going on?" Shannon asked from the driver's seat. She was the oldest concubine, the mother of Chyna, and her hazel eyes bulged with terror. "Are we evacuating?"

"Aaliyah's in trouble," Mindy, Kyle's newest concubine, said. She clutched her first aid kit on her lap. She had been a nurse until Kyle had claimed her.

"Kyle has been arrested. The cops are driving north on 86th Avenue. We are going to rescue him. Drive! Now!"

Her last words came out as a spitting hiss. Shannon yelped in fear, then put the car into gear, whipping out onto 128th Street, and performed an illegal U turn. The engine roared as she floored it towards the four-way stop sign where 128th Street crossed 86th Avenue."

"Which way is north?" she asked as the car braked.

"Right! And speed!"

"I am!"

Shannon ran the stop sign at 86th avenue, the tires squealing on the wet asphalt as she took the turn right. Rain hammered on the roof, the windshield wipers squeaking as they wiped back and forth on the fastest setting, trying to keep the glass clear. Britney peered ahead. She could make out the cop cars turning right at 9th Avenue. They were heading to the freeway.

"Faster!" she hissed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fatima hated history. It was the most boring subject. She sat in the back, her concubine Ann sitting next to her. She leaned back in her chair, her skin itching. She just wanted the day to be over with so they could kick Dean Burke's ass and free her mom from whatever spell he placed on her.

Her eyes flicked to the clock. Only a minute had passed since third period started. Today was going to be so long.

"It'll be okay," Ann whispered, reaching over to take her hand. Her concubine had a sweet smile on her innocent face.

"Yeah," Fatima said, giving her hand a squeeze back.

"It's good to have you back, Fatima," Professor Sokoloff said. "We were all worried when we heard you were in the hospital."

Fatima groaned inside. Everyone had made a big deal about that. It was so annoying. "Yeah. But I'm fine now. Eager to learn." She was proud she kept a straight face through the lie.

"Good. Because you missed out on most of the Reconstruction era. Which is just one of the most fascinating periods of our..."

Fatima! Fumi! I'm under attack! Kyle's not responding! I'm on the first floor, down by the math rooms!

Adrenaline spiked through Fatima at Aaliyah's fearful thoughts. She leaped to her feet. "Follow, Ann!"

"What are you doing, Fatima?" gaped her professor.

"Going to save my wife!" she said, holding out her hand. She reached out for that wonderful, burning, ever changing fire as she rushed up the aisle.

"Sorry, sir," Ann squeaked behind Fatima.

She reached the door, letting Ann past. Her concubine produced her key and stuck into the lock as Fatima's yari flashed into existence in her hand.

"Shit!" her professor gasped as he stared at Fireheart. Three feet of steel rose from the point of Fatima's spear. She gripped the haft in her hand and followed Ann into the playroom.

"First floor, Mrs. Skinner's classroom. Hallway."

"Yes, Mistress," Ann gasped, her voice tight with fear.

"Then you go to the SUV. Do not follow me."

The door opened onto the hallway. Fatima leaped through it.

"Be safe! I love you!" Ann called.

Corey lay in a stunned stupor on the floor, his forehead bruised. Aleah, his concubine, cradled his head. Fatima didn't have time to mess around and barked, "Which way did they go?"

Aleah looked up, eyes full of tears, a choker tight about her neck proclaiming Corey owned her. "That way."

Fatima dashed down the hallway, rounding the corner. Aaliyah struggled in the grip of one of the football players while Mrs. Skinner strode before them. Fatima grit her teeth, set her spear, and charged at the football player.

Karrie's dark eyes opened in terror...

Fatima pushed that memory down. Karrie had tried to murder Aaliyah. And this football player was trying to kidnap the Genie. Fatima didn't hesitate with Karrie, and she wasn't going to hesitate now. The hulk turned as she raced down the hallway, her yari leveled at him.

He didn't even grunt as her spear thrust deep into his guts. No pain, no flinching.

"The fuck?" Fatima gasped.

She yanked her yari out, the wound oozing black blood. The hulk rippled, his skin fluid like the surface of a lake rippling after a rock had broken its surface. The skin darkened, growing hard and waxy. A carapace formed, thick and disgusting with spindly hairs.

"Kill her," Mrs. Skinner hissed.

The insectrosity's arm lashed out. Fatima caught it on the haft of her yari. The force threw her back anyways. She tucked her body, holding her yari out, as she spun. She landed hard, rolling and coming up in a crouch.

"Are you okay?" Aaliyah asked, clutched in the clawed fist of the insectrosity, dragged behind it as the thing advanced on Fatima.

"Fine," she muttered, slipping into her stance. Fire burned on the tip of her spear. She wanted to roast the insectrosity, but that would risk hurting Aaliyah.

The thing lashed out with its fist. She caught it on the blade of her yari, deflecting the blow. Her weapon's edge didn't do a thing to its hard carapace. She let its arm slid past, then thrust her yari's tip at its chest. Her weapon cut through his shirt, exposing more dark carapace.

"Fuck," she muttered, ducking his next blow, falling back. Poor Aliyah gasped and grunted as she was hauled behind the creature.

I need to be smart.

She eyed the creature, holding her yari up in a defensive posture, falling back carefully. No panic. She threw a look over her shoulder. She had couldn't back up forever, the hallway juncture was approaching. Twenty steps and she would be pressed against lockers.

"The joints!" Aaliyah gasped. "He's armored, but the joints are always vulnerable."

Fatima hadn't considered that. While she practiced sojudo in armor, she wasn't trained to actually fight an armored foe--it was only worn for safety. There were gaps in the insectrosity's carapace at the knees, the elbows, beneath the arms.

She feinted, stabbing for the chest. The monster's posture shifted, telegraphing his overhand blow for her head. She ducked, shifting her thrust down. Air rushed over her head; the insectrosity attack just missing. Her yari had a three-foot blade, practically a double-edged sword, at the end of a five-foot haft, and the edge of her blade bit into the things knee joint.

It didn't roar as sinew and ligaments were cut. But it's leg buckled. She had wounded it. "Not so tough, huh? I'm going to enjoy stepping on you and scraping you off my shoe, bug."

The shadows around her shifted, moving like oil slicking the surface of water. "Kill her, children," hissed Mrs. Skinner.

Fatima trusted her instincts. Shadows lanced at her, turning into stabbing spears. She was already moving, her body diving for the floor. She rolled, coming up in a stance. Her arm throbbed. Her sweater was cut, blood oozing into the dark fabric.

"I'm going to kick your ass for that!" Fatima yelled, her anger burning hot inside her.

The insectrosity lunged. The shadows stabbed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fumi raced towards the main building, Windfeather in hand. She had never been to Rogers College. She only had her instincts to guide her. The rain was cold, filling her vision with green streaks, making everything indistinct. She sent a gust of wind at the building, driving back the rain for a moment. The wind crashed into the building, rippling along its surface.

Painting a pair of doors green in her mind.

She raced towards it, everything growing fuzzy as the rain fell again. There were advantages to her new sight--it didn't matter that her long, black hair was plastered across her face and eyes by the driving rain--but there were disadvantages.

I'll never see the pink-white beauty of a cherry tree in bloom.

She pushed those thoughts down, ripping open the door and striding into the school. She stood in a hallway. Tiny currents eddied down a hallway, painting lockers in green across her vision and flowing around Fatima. Her wife was wielding a spear as she dodged the attacks of some horrible, vaguely humanoid monster, Aaliyah clutched in its grip. And between Fumi and the fight stood a woman, her arms moving, like she was directing a concert.

Something hazy, almost insubstantial, knifed out at Fatima. Her sister-wife danced, spinning her yari, the air distorting around her yari's tip from its fire, deflecting the insubstantial attacks. They were almost shadows of real objects.

Fumi fired at the woman directing the shadows. Her arrow planted in the woman's back. The woman fuzzed, growing as insubstantial as the shadowy attacks that threatened Fatima. Her arrow was solid, embedded in the midst of the shadows. The shadow woman grabbed her arrow, pulling it through her body before throwing it to the ground, her body fuzzing back into solids.

"I see Zaritha failed to kill you," hissed the woman, turning to face Fumi.

She was already firing a second arrow. The woman fuzzed and ripped the arrow from her body, a cackling laugh echoing down the hallway. The woman's hands moved. The shadows lanced out at Fumi.

Fumi summoned a wind to pull her back, landing with grace on her feet, firing another arrow.

"These are useless against me," cackled the shadowy woman, her body fuzzing. She reached into her chest to pull out the arrow.

Fumi unleashed gust of wind through the arrow. Winds howled down the hallway, rattling lockers, knocking over a trash can tossing garbage. The woman's fuzzy figure blew apart. "Guess they're not so useless," Fumi gasped, relief washing over her.

"That's great!" Fatima shouted, her flaming spear lancing at the big brute, attacking at its joints while Aaliyah struggled in its grip.

Fumi fired an arrow at the monster's elbow holding Aaliyah. His arm moved, her arrow striking carapace and clattering to the floor before it dissolved away into wind. Fumi drew a second arrow, watching the beast's movements, trying to time the perfect shot.

Shadows fuzzed in front of her. The woman reformed.

"You can't banish shadows, girl," she hissed. "We are everywhere! No wind can sweep us away."

Fumi fired her arrow at the figure. The woman fuzzed before her arrow landed, passing right through the woman. Then the shadows attacked. Fumi sent wind whirling about her, disrupting the shadowy essences. She was blind, she couldn't see past the fierce winds surrounding her.

Fumi needed a plan. She couldn't keep hiding behind her wind. That wasn't going to save Aaliyah. Fumi couldn't even be sure the shadowy woman was attacking her. She could have turned her attention back to Fatima.

How do you banish shadows?

Light?

Fatima had kept the woman's shadows at bay with her flaming yari.

"Fatima! We need to switch opponents!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The SUV's engine roared as Shannon floored it down 9th Avenue. The convoy of cop cars that had captured Kyle were approaching the light at the Costco ahead. Shannon jerked the wheel, passing a car, the tires squealing on the rain-slicked road.

"How are we stopping them?" Shannon asked, her voice tight. "They have guns."

"And I have Waterclaw," Britney answered. She reached out to the rain hammering down, guiding the droplets that fell, gathering a ball of water above the SUV. Water could never be controlled or tamed. It could only be channeled and guided.

She channeled the water. The heavy ball arced away from her car, an orb of undulating blue. Britney watched its trajectory. It was on target. The ball crashed onto the hood of the lead cop car. The hood crumpled beneath the water's weight, the rear wheels popping up, then slamming back down.

"Shit!" Shannon gasped.

"Stop behind them and duck behind the engine block in case they engage you," Britney said, the adrenaline flooding through her and the stripes burning black across her body. "Phillipa, follow me. I will need your spells to help defeat them."

"Okay," Phillipa gasped, her voice tight with fear.

Britney reached over and gave her trembling mate's hand a quick squeeze. "It will be okay, my love."

Phillipa nodded.

The SUV squealed to a halt. The cops were climbing out of their cars, staring in amazement at the wreckage of the lead car. Britney ripped open the door, leaping out. The rain hammered cold upon her, matting her bristling, honey-brown hair.

She didn't care. She had to save Kyle.

A growl escaped her lips as she charged at the cop hanging back at the rear cruiser. He was leaning into the drive door, talking on the radio. He heard her growl and turned. The cop gasped, the radio falling from his hand as he frantically tried to rip his gun out.

"Knife!" he shouted right before her katar punched through his bulletproof vest and sank into chest. She ripped the katar out, the cop slumping down, blood pouring out of the thick hole.

Detective Donnar and the four other cops turned. Guns were drawn as she whipped her knife before her, sending droplets of rain streaking away from her, splashing into the nearest cop's face. He stumbled back, blinking his eyes, trying to wipe the water away.

Guns barked.

Britney was already moving, diving behind the cop car. The air exploded with gunfire. Metal pinged as bullets raked the cop car she hid behind. She loved the thrill. She was testing herself against the best warriors Pierce County had to offer. This is what she was born for. She opened her mouth to let out a roar.

Phillipa screamed.

Britney's roar died. Her mate fell back and landed with a wet splash, blood pooling across her stomach. Everything faded. She no longer felt the cold rain, heard the barking guns, smelled gunsmoke and metal. Only a deep, dark rage filled her, surging out of the abyss of her soul.

They shot my mate!

Mindy crawled out of the SUV, her first aid kit in hand. Britney could do nothing for her Phillipa. Kyle needed to be rescued. The cops needed to pay for hurting her mate. The gunfire died. The cops were reloading.

Britney jumped onto the cop car's trunk, took two steps across the cruiser's roof, and leaped at the cops. She landed between two of them, Waterclaw flashing. One was Hispanic, and he cursed as her katar sliced through the air and cut through his thigh. He collapsed in a spurt of blood. She spun about, coming face to face with the second.

His gun was pointed right at her.

He fired.

She channeled the water, forming a sheet before her. The bullets struck the water, slowing the bullets down as she ducked and rolled. Fragments of the bullet's copper jackets peppered her back with searing heat, burning through her soaked sweatshirt.

Britney ignored the pain. The cop's clip emptied. She guided the wall of water into a compressed ball and launched it at his throat. He collapsed, clawing at his crushed trachea. Britney peered around, looking for the Detective and the other two cops.

"Flank her," Donnar shouted. "We need to keep her pinned."

Britney took a deep breath. Heavy, booted footsteps ran by the cop car she crouched against. She peered her head up over the hood. Detective Donnar's gun barked, sparks flashing on the trunk. She ducked and glanced at the trunk of the car. A cop's boot stuck past the fender.

She channeled water, a wall of rippling water springing up behind her as she charged at the trunk.

"How the fuck is she doing that?" Donnar cursed, his gun barking. She trusted the wall to protect her.

The cop crouching at the back of the trunk stepped out, his gun coming up at her chest. She reached out with her left hand, pushing the gun to the side. It fired, hot gas brushing her cheek, a searing-hot spent casing striking her left hand.

"Fuck!" the cop cursed before she slammed into him, punching with her dagger. She fell with his body, landing atop him, and jerked her katar out before ducking behind the cruiser.

"How is Phillipa?" Britney shouted, glancing at Mindy working over her mate's body.

"Bad. She needs an ER!"

Everything had gone wrong today. Britney knew this was all Burke's fault. I'll rip out his entrails and feast on them if Phillipa dies!

"Shit, Wilson's down!" a cop shouted.

"How long on back-up, Frank?" Donnar called back.

Britney peered around the trunk, her wall of water was still undulating and she could make out the Detective and the other cop crouching behind the damage lead car.

"One minute!"

"You hear that, Britney?" Donnar shouted. "You're a smart girl. You have to know that every cop in Puyallup and Pierce County is hauling ass for here. I don't care how you're controlling the water, you'll be cornered and die."

Britney didn't answer, a plan formed in her mind.

"Think about that poor girl bleeding out behind you. Your girlfriend is dying. Do you want that?"

"No," she hissed. Her blood boiled. She had to end this.

She guided the water wall to her, adding more and more, forming a thick shield of water in front of her as she charged over the cop car. The shocks squeaked and the metal crumpled as she ran across the trunk and roof. She leaped to the second car.

"Fuck!" Frank hollered, his gun barking.

Bullets struck her wall of water, cavitation bubbles rippling in the bullets' wake. But her wall was thick enough, the bullets slowing so much they hit Britney with the force of a thrown rock, bruising the Rakshasa.

She leaped and landed on the ruined cop car, looming over Donnar and Deputy Frank. She could smell the fear on both of them. She threw the wall of water at Franks, crushing him to the ground beneath the waters weight as she launched at Donnar.

His gun barked. Pain flared in shoulder. She crashed into the Detective, her katar taking him in the belly. Donnar grunted as he landed on his back, Britney falling on him. She twisted her katar in his gut. "You shot her!" she hissed. "You shot my Phillipa!"

He coughed and sputtered, his hand twitching, then he fell still.

Pain burned in her left shoulder. The bullet was lodged against her shoulder bone. She ignored the pain, ripping her katar out of Donnar's guts. In the distance, sirens approached. More cops. She forced down the pain, walked to the unmarked cop car, and ripped open the back door.

Kyle lay unconscious in the back, a sheet of blood covering his face from a wound on his temple. He still breathed, his face pale-olive. The cops hadn't even bothered to give him first aid. She unbuckled his seat belt and tried to pull him out with one arm.

"Shannon!" she shouted. "I need help!"

The cop cars were roaring towards them as Shannon ran over, her face pale. They screeched to a halt behind the SUV. Two cars, the cops spilling out, aiming shotguns at them. Despair filled Britney. She was shot, her left arm useless, blood pouring out of her.

"Sorry, Kyle." She slumped down as Shannon ran up.

"What are we going to do?" Shannon asked, her face pale.

"I will fight," Britney growled, forcing herself to stand. She was a warrior. She was going to die swinging her blade. "Surrender to the cops once I fall."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Fatima! We need to switch opponents!" Fumi shouted.

Fatima whirled her flaming yari keeping the stabbing shadows at bay. Mrs. Skinner, her body stained with shadows now, had turned her attention back to Fatima when Fumi had surrounded herself with whirling winds.

The insectrosity that had been the football player lunged, dragging Aaliyah behind him. Fumi's arrow struck his elbow joint. The monster roared in pain, releasing Aaliyah. The Genie ran into the corner.