Kathryn landed on the ground spinning her staff to deflect Vixen’s claws. She stumbled backwards sticking her staff into the ground and flipped backwards as the fox lunged underneath her. She looked down at them both and rotated the staff around into a shield. The fox stared at her, breathing a torrent of flame that she caught with her shield.
Controlling the path of the flames it raced around her staff and she threw it back toward Vixen’s chest. The flames exploded out of the staff blowing her backwards. The dark knight hissed wincing from the flames as it blew backwards from the force. She hit the ground landing on her knee and coughed going down onto her hand.
Kathryn felt the explosion of light and turned around. She watched the yellow light descend from the sky. Watched it crash into the ground and in one fell swoop she felt winded. Felt drained in a way that had nothing to do with how much fighting she’d done. It was an exhaustion that touched at what she could only call her soul.
Her shoulders slumped and she felt her stone pulse at her throat. Looking at her hands she watched her armor fed away until it was just the mesh that covered her body. Her helmet remained but when she touched it felt thinner than normal. She watched the spot where the light had faded and watched Marco and Jack drop down to run over. She knew it was Sarah.
She couldn’t hear what they were saying but she felt their pain reverberate like it was her own. Felt it on a frequency in her suit and her eyes stung with tears. For a moment she was a year in the past, kneeling over Seth’s broken body again except this time, he wasn’t breathing.
Looking up she watched Vixen limp her way forward. Her armor was cracked and burned away, almost as bad as her own but the big fox that had been plaguing their fight was gone. Not even the smaller ones were present. It was just her with her claws and short blue hair flowing behind her head.
She wasn’t looking at her though. She looked past them to Hawks who floated down from the sky. He’d seen better days but everything in his body language reeked of a snear. Painfully so. He raised his hand spreading his wings and arms, “That’s one down. For good this time. Time for you to join them.”
Jack jerked his head upward and screamed swinging his scythe like he were the grim reaper himself. But Hawk wasn’t phased. He raised his other arm, the one that still had armor on it and blocked the blade. His armor cracked under the scythe and it grinded against the armor, shattering and deflecting the weapon.
His unarmored hand darted forward grabbing him by the throat. Choking back his cry of frustration he kicked at Hawk trying to swing the scythe again but he didn’t have the strength. He knew it but his pain wouldn’t let him stop flailing. Hawk grabbed him quickly as gunshots rang out and blocked each of Marco’s shots with Jack’s body.
Crying out with each hit Jack went limp and Hawks leaned back throwing Jack straight into Marco. Marco tried to catch him but both went tumbling backwards across the ground. Hawk dove forward his wings outstretched ready to impale the two of them against the ground.
Kathryn started to get up but her legs didn’t obey and she stumbled falling flat on her side. Laying on her side she watched the blur of orange pass by her. Raising her head, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
Aegis jumped, his armor cracked and broken off to the point where his fists were exposed pale hands and punched Hawk in the jaw. Knocking him off course they both crashed into the ground, Hawks sliding to the side and Aegis rolling forward. He got back to his feet standing and raising both his fist.
Hawk got back to his feet, the helmet cracked enough to show a hazel eye. It was wide with fury and threw his arm backwards, “What the fuck are you doing kid?”
Aegis looked back at Jack and Marco, looked at Sarah’s body on the ground and the hate that he had once felt for them had muted to a cold point. He lowered his eyes for and then glared at Hawk. “No more Hawks. No More!”
“You were so gung ho before now,” Hawks said whipping his arm backwards. “And now you’ve got cold feet? Couldn’t handle the reality of what we agreed to do?”
“I won’t fall any further,” Aegis grit his teeth together. “And I won’t let you keep doing this. I’ve already helped you this far and I won’t forgive myself for it. She wouldn’t want me to do it this way. The least I can do is stop you from doing anymore.”
Hawk broke into a bark of a laugh and shook his head, “You can try. I’ll just kill you too and take your chunk of the power.”
Hawk blasted forward with a beat of his wings covering the distance between the two of them in a blink of an eye. Aegis’s eyes went wide but he moved on instinct. Slid to the side like an orange blur of light. The wing slashed through his afterglow and he threw a quick hook blowing him backwards.
Hawk dug a wing into the ground riding the momentum to circle around and kick Aegis back. He flipped backwards end over end landing flat on his back. Hawk chased after him, jumping forward bringing his legs forward and stomping down on his chest. Aegis crossed his arms in front of his chest grunting.
Crouching Hawk swung at his mask the fist, cracking the material over and over before finally breaking it under his onslaught and sending the pieces across the ground. Aegis crossed his arms and shoved Hawk back into the air. His wings may have caught him but before he could strike back a sword flipped through air slamming into his chest.
He watched as Cal limped his way forward leaning on his sword with a clone at his side. Behind him Seth helped Kathryn to her feet with a third Cal at their side. Hawk looked at Jack and Marco with their weapons brandished again and then looked for Vixen was she had vanished. His eye narrowed as he spread his wings, “I’ll kill all of you, just you wait. Just you wait.”
Turning he hovered backwards and flapped his wings flying away like a clap of thunder. They watched where Hawks disappeared and then gathered around Jack, Marco and Sarah. Their armor fell away from them in red and green flashes as Marco picked her up and Jack shut her eyes looking down. Her body pulsed once and then faded into black energy.
Kathryn looked at them, catching the barest glimpse of the pain on both of their faces and forced herself to look away. She caught Cal and Seth’s gaze with the same pained grimaces. She took a half step back from them and then looked at Aegis.
“You beat the crap out of me,” she glared at him. “But you helped us. Thanks I guess.” Aegis turned to look at her before running. She started at his back whispering to herself, “Owen?”
The Harlequin Library 