CHAPTER 26 - DO NO HARM

A lot of things happened very quickly after that spell landed on me.

My full attention was on Bradley. I knew he was going to be trouble, and here he was, angry face and five feet of iron, coming straight for me. I swung my axe at the grass pinning my legs, thinking nothing more than to break free of this trap.

My critters, on the other hand? Well, I’d left them in ‘guard’ mode. It turns out that firing off an Entangle spell definitely read as an attack to them. Both zombies and Hope locked their gaze onto Tom in a hot instant. The zombie twins made lurching movements in his general direction, but Hope was faster. She was on him in two bounds, teeth tearing out the back of his ankle.

Neal screamed and fell, which just made more of him available for her teeth. I noticed that out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t have the focus to worry about it, because Brad was almost on top of me.

“What are you doing?” I shouted at him as he dashed toward me.

“You think you’re so good, so smart? We’re killing your monsters, and the monster that controls them too,” Brad hissed. Then he swung the rebar at my head.

Brad had dual Strength crystals, so if that bar connected with my head I was done for. In desperation I raised my axe, trying to block the blow. The rebar collided with the wooden shaft, but I lacked the arm strength to hold back the full force of that blow. My block kept the strike from killing me and redirected the attack, which slammed into my shoulder. I felt something snap. That was a dislocation or a broken bone, my medical brain babbled at me, just before the pain hit like a freight train.

The impact knocked me off my feet, which bought me two seconds while he got the weapon back under control and prepared to swing again. I gasped, sucking in breath as best I could, the pain clouding my mind. It hurt!

But I wasn’t helpless. I reached out with my other hand and cast Drain Life on Brad. The magic flowed from my fingers and sank into him, then returned to me in a flash moments later. Bradley staggered backwards, barely holding the rebar he’d had over his head for a crushing blow. Meanwhile, the Drain restored me. The shoulder still hurt, but I could move it again.

And between my axe blow, the fall, and Tom having puppy problems, the Entangle was barely holding me at all anymore. I kicked my legs free from the rest of the grass and got back to my feet.

“Brad, we can talk about this,” I said. Deep down, I had a feeling we were way past that.

“No, we can’t,” he shot back as he caught his breath. “I saw you counting all those crystals the other night! You’re hoarding, and we’re not having it!”

Shit, I was so careful when I’d been testing the unknown crystals, I was sure no one had seen them all. I knew letting people know I had so many of the things would be a bad plan. This was why.

I didn’t know how he thought he was going to get away with this—probably blame it on a monster or something. He’d clearly plotted this attack out in advance. He’d planted Tom and Neal with me so he’d have allies when he made his move. Speaking of which, where was—?

A club slammed into the small of my back, waking up the nerves there with a flame of fresh pain. I swung the axe blindly and connected with whatever had hit me, then turned to see the blade embedded below Neal’s breastbone. He was white, with a stunned look on his face. As I pulled the axe clear, he dropped his club and grabbed his stomach with both hands instead.

He’d live. Henry was here. If we got him to the healer in time, he’d be—

Rosencrantz came up behind Neal and bit into his neck while stabbing the dagger into his chest once, twice, three times. I grimaced. That was an awful way to go, but he’d done this to himself, and I still had Brad to worry about.

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Brad had himself back in a guard again, eyeing me warily. “You killed him! You’re going to pay for that. No matter what happens now, they’re nevergonna take you back in. You’re done. When I kill you, they’ll see me as the hero, now.”

“Talk, talk,” I spat back. The timer on Drain expired, and I cast it at him again, feeling the rush of healing repair my injuries as Brad staggered under the magical attack. Guildenstern was coming up behind dear old Bradley, so all I needed to do was keep him focused on me just a little bit longer. “You want me? Come get me. I’m betting one more Drain Life will finish you off. Think you can get me before the timer runs out?”

He snarled and came at me, but he was weak and slow compared to how he’d been when he first attacked, and this time my legs were free to move. I used my superior Agility to zip back two steps, making it easier to block his first wild swing. That was all he got before Guildenstern’s knife hit him in the kidney. Then it was Brad’s turn to gasp in pain. He turned, and was about to whack my zombie with his rebar—that wasn’t happening. I rushed forward and hooked the makeshift spear with my axe blade, knocking it away.

Which left Brad entirely open to Guildenstern’s loving embrace.

The zombie grabbed on with both hands, teeth working on Brad’s neck while Guildie plunged his dagger into Brad over and over. The man started letting out a gurgling cry, but it didn’t last very long before he went down.

I checked the rest of the area. Hope had killed Tom. Rosie was chewing on what was left of Neal. That almost made me lose my lunch, so I ordered him to knock it off. Dead was dead, and Rosie didn’t actually need to eat. My attackers were all dead, so what now?

I was panting, half panicked. With the shouting and a couple of screams, I figured that more people would be on their way. How was this going to look when they got here?

Lords liked Brad. I’d seen him stick up for the shithead more than once. He knew Brad was a problem, but he also put up with the man acting out far more than had ever been safe. I understood. Both of them were cops, and police took that whole brotherhood thing seriously. Maybe if there’d been more time, Lords might trust me enough to listen to my side of the story here, but he’d known me for a day.

They were going to come over here and see me surrounded by three dead people, all of them killed by my undead creatures. There’d already been more than a little discomfort about the undead. That was totally natural; they were weird and more than a little icky, although they were starting to grow on me. But I wasn’t going to let other people kill them. Those creatures were mine, and they were my best chance of staying alive in all of this.

I was a cop-killer. That was how Lords, George, and Samson would all see me. They’d known Bradley for years, and me for twenty-four hours. If I was lucky, all they’d do is kill my creatures and lock me up, but how could they even do that? I had my Drain Life spell, so I could hurt people even from inside a cage. They’d have to force me to hand over all my crystals, and that was a death sentence in this new world.

It was time to run. I didn’t have any other options.

Thankfully the Drain spells had healed my injuries. I glanced at Brad, wondering if I ought to—and then decided that he’d come for me, so why not. I reached out and tapped his head, and a tier two Strength stone came out into my hand. Then I quickly went to Tom and repeated the process, collecting his tier one Entangle. I couldn’t slot the things right now, but they were still valuable. Sooner or later I imagined people would set up ways to trade the things, right? It wouldn’t always be this chaotic, surely.

Or maybe not. I looked at the two stones I’d just picked up off dead humansand shivered. Every person with these crystals was now a walking, talking piggy bank. Sure, killing monsters won you a single stone per creature. But people dropped their stones too. If I was killed, would I drop every crystal I had embedded? Probably. Plus they could loot my pockets for the spares.

Magical Stones

Point 1: Black Stone (Tier 3) - Control Undead

Point 2: Clear Stone (Tier 2) - Agility

Point 3: Black Stone (Tier 1) - Drain Life

Point 4: X

Point 5: X

Spare Stones

Black: Heal Undead, Animate Dead, Nightvision

Green: Entangle (Tier 2), Entangle

Clear: Will x2, Unknown (Tier 2), Strength (Tier 2)

That was a lot of crystals for one kill. If they’d killed me, Bradley would have been the one with all that power in his hands. The thought made me shiver.

Voices were coming my way. It was time to go. I couldn’t stick around, not and face the others, not after what I’d done. I stared down at the three dead bodies, trying to feel something about it. I wanted to be a doctor, which meant healing people, and doing no harm. Now I’d killed three men.

I had zero time for these thoughts. Later, I could break down and get upset if I still felt like it. Just then, I needed to move, if I wanted to survive. I sent my creatures east ahead of me and set off into the forest behind the house. That would be Centennial Woods, a forest preserve big enough that I felt sure I could get lost in it.