And it scared him that the one place the newest creature decided to go was to a campsite full of people, which meant it could probably think. And that it wanted to kill and destroy. At least, he assumed so. A few seconds later, his suspicions were confirmed.
One of the many legs on the creature suddenly ripped off the main body, spinning away like a boomerang, headed for the center of Sato’s army, which was gathering for battle. The shaft of gray fog flew through the air about forty feet then suddenly erupted into flames, brilliant and yellow. It struck one of Sato’s soldiers, a man standing bravely at the head of the front line, who’d just been pulling up his Shurric into a firing position. There was a violent explosion of sparks and fire that started but stopped almost instantly, leaping out then collapsing in on itself. It was so bright that Sato stumbled and fell, smacking his upper arm on a sharp stone.
With a grimace, he quickly looked back at the front line—amoebas of light dancing in his vision—but saw nothing. The poor man had been incinerated.
Sato heard the shouts of battle as his soldiers surged forward to fight, charging the creature as it continued to come at them. He scrambled to his feet, wincing from the pain in his shoulder—there would be one terrible bruise there before long. Tollaseat was there, helping him get up. The man said nothing, but there was a mix of sadness and fear in his eyes.
Noise filled the air: the rushing roar of the Void’s spinning cloud, the cracks of thunder, the battle screams of his soldiers.
The Void monster crashed through the last part of the castle debris, landing on the ground dozens of feet from the charging Fifth Army. It righted itself and shot off another one of its legs, a three-foot-long stub of gray fog that spun through the air until it erupted into flames like its predecessor. The twirling missile of fire slammed into the body of a man, causing an explosion just like before. When the sparks and pyrotechnics collapsed again into a tiny spot and disappeared, there was no sign of the soldier.
Another leg flew off of the creature, doing the same trick. Spinning, erupting into flames, flying toward a soldier. This time it a was a woman. She was ready, though, and held her ground. She lifted her Shurric and, with patience that Sato couldn’t believe, took the time to aim and fire her weapon at the heart of the incoming attack. The thump of pure sound wave was too deep to be heard, but Sato felt a rattle in his bones. The force of power slammed into the spinning projectile and ruptured it, sending small spits of flame and sparks in a million directions. But no one was harmed.
Sato grinned. They could do this. They could beat this thing.
He picked up his pace across the ruins, watching as his army attacked the creature with everything they had. The creature was dead by the time he got there.
Chapter 44
Good and Evil
Master George had taken Paul and Sofia to a small, private room located in the deepest part of the headquarters, far below the surface of the Upper Rim of the Grand Canyon. Unmarked, it could’ve passed for a utility closet. It held only a table and four chairs, nothing else.
“I come here sometimes when I need a bit of time to myself,” the old man said wearily after they’d taken their seats. He held Gretel’s box in his hands under the table. “And to be quite frank, I’m at a loss right now. I can barely face my dear old friends, Mothball and the rest. I’ve always felt as if I have known the direction to take, even in the most dire of circumstances we’ve faced. But not now. I’m at a loss, indeed. It’s no wonder I wanted to hide in this room. I very much appreciate you taking refuge along with me.”
Paul looked over at Sofia. Had the geezer really given up?
Sofia reached out and patted George’s shoulder. “Everything kind of took a crazy turn,” she said soothingly. “But we’ll figure things out.”
“Yeah,” Paul agreed. What he really wanted was to find out more about the box. And the button. “So can that box do something to help? Are we really going to push the button?”
Sofia shot him a glare. “Seriously? I guess there’s only room enough in that brain of yours for one thing at a time.” She winked, then, taking away the sting of her words.
He felt a nice flutter inside. “I’m just saying. Things are messed up beyond belief, and we went on a special mission to get that box, so it must be important. We need all the help we can get, don’t we?”