“Yes, yes, I am. There’s nothing to see here,” he said stupidly. There was clearly a whole lot to see here. “Move along now.”
“Is that a--a bomber?” A guy called out of the driver’s side.
There were at least three more people in the backseat who were urging the two in the front to get out so that they could see too. Caden grimaced.
Iolaire, sometimes I really wished we had Force powers so we could say: these aren’t the droids you’re looking for. And by droids, I mean us and Landry.
Iolaire cocked its head to the side. The reference was a little beyond it.
Don’t worry, buddy, Caden said. I promise once things calm down I’ll show you all of these things.
Iolaire twittered with enthusiasm, but then went back to being anxious about Landry. Or really, the Behemoth, and all of these people around. There were a few flashes. Caden blinked rapidly as his night vision was impacted by the bright light.
“Can we get selfies with you?” the girl from the passenger side asked.
“Ah, not right now. I have to--”
“Oh, my God, I want one with the ice princess!” the guy from the driver’s side crowed.
“Me too!” one of the people in the back called and tried to climb out of the car.
“Guys, really, I need you to--holy hell,” Caden gasped.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that there was a rusty set of double doors cut into the wall opened with a screech. Behind them were dozens of people. They all stared at Caden with identical looks of hate. Their eyes were full of night shine.
“Get in the car!” Caden commanded the kids.
They had all frozen at the sight of the silent, staring group of people in the doorway.
“What the hell is going on?” the girl whimpered.
“This is bad. Way bad,” the guy mumbled.
“Get. In. The. Car,” Caden repeated.
“You can’t stop us all,” Landry said simply.
And then all hell broke loose. The kids moved to jump back into the car. The people in the doorway surged forward as if a tidal wave of hate. Caden turned and used his ice breath to push the people back into the tunnel they were rushing out of like rats. The car revved up and then, with screaming tires, raced forward directly into Caden’s frost breath.
Thankfully, they had the windows up, but a layer of ice coated the windscreen and the passenger side windows. There was a scream as the driver lost control and the car veered to the right, towards the sidewalk and the bookstore. Caden couldn’t do anything. He watched in horror as the car headed towards a plate glass window with a book display beyond. And then there was something between the building and the car.
Anwar!
The Silver Dragon Shifter was naked and must have been flying overhead when he and Evren saw the ensuing catastrophe. Anwar put his hands out and stopped the car. Thankfully, the young man had taken his foot off of the gas, but there was still a furrow in the concrete sidewalk behind one of his heels.
Caden though did not have time to thank the Silver Dragon for appearing just when he needed him to. The momentary lapse in his ice breath had allowed the Behemoth possessed humans to surge past their partially frozen brethren. They surrounded Caden before he had a chance to blink.
A man dressed in a ripped business suit punched him in the stomach before a woman in a yellow babydoll dress slammed her fist into the left side of his cheek. A slip of a girl in ratty shorts and a t-shirt that had seen better days kicked him in the shins. There were more people who struck him that he did not have a chance to look at. Caden curled over, this time in pain. Unlike human blows, the Behemoth’s possessed ones could pack a punch. Caden put his arms over his head and tried to shield his body.
Got to shift, Iolaire! Caden got out, but the concentration he needed to turn into their Dragon form kept getting hit, kicked, kneed and throttled right out of him.
Pain bloomed in every limb. He tried pushing through the crowd of dozens of the possessed but they surged back like the tide against him and he was thrown back into the fray once more. He landed on his back and got stomped. All the air was driven out of his lungs and he gasped in pain and shock. Iolaire gave out frantic cries of confusion and agony.
There was a flash of light. The night turned to day. To his horror, he saw some of the possessed become like x rays before they disintegrated into black ash and were blown away. Caden wanted to scream for Anwar to stop! These people might be innocent! They might be able to be saved!
But someone kicked the side of his head and Caden’s consciousness flickered. Then a young boy’s face was inches from him. The boy opened his lips and Caden saw a gap-toothed grin as the boy exhaled some kind of gas that had Caden’s vision blurring and his limbs going lax even as he struggled to defend himself.
V-Valerius, i-in trouble! Caden got out.
