Knight Casefiles Book 1: Revelations

Revelations [Chapter 35]

Chapter 35

Time seemed to slow down. I never thought I’d experience something like it. I’ve been in dire situations in the past and felt the incredible rush adrenaline can give. Unlike the various anecdotes citing otherwise, adrenaline doesn’t slow down time for you. The only thing it did was make things seem clearer, more crisp and vivid, enhancing mental faculties to enable you to take in and process more information in a shorter period of time.

Now though, time really did slow, and I wasn’t sure if it was the despair or adrenaline that did it.

Adam released his hold on Elaine in surprise and, spluttering, she fell to her knees, a hand still gripping the dagger. Our eyes met and in it, I could see the warmth, the love regardless of everything that transpired. And then that all disappeared. Her eyes went flat as her ruptured heart ceased to beat. She breathed shallowly as her brain attempted to salvage whatever it could. Then, she fell. A cold lifeless corpse.

Dead.

Gone.

Forever.

A scream hurt my ears and when my throat started aching, I realized that it was coming from me. I spun to face Margaret who had watched the entire scene unfold, her eyes wide, and charged her. She fixed her gaze on me and barely managed to fling a blast of energy at me.

I sidestepped, picking up the broadsword that I’d dropped and continued my charge. The sound of flapping wings pierced the silence and I barely managed to get out of the way as Adam, now in his avian form, flew past. He shifted back into human and managed to snag my jacket with an arm. I brought the sword to bear and hacked his hand off. Clean. Off.

Adam yelped and staggered backwards, gripping his stump. The sword blazed, bathed in blood.

I’m sure Margaret didn’t expect Adam to stop me. Which is why she only used it as a distraction. Her hostage gone, she had little left to bargain and had done what anyone would’ve done in the situation – revert to plan A. By the time I’d turned my attention back to her, she had slashed one of Sigrun’s wrists. She forced the Valkyrie’s wounded arm to rise to the sides, letting blood drip all over Gram.

“Second step,” Margaret muttered, her voice oddly modulated.

Gram exploded. That’s the only way I can describe it. As I tried to attack Margaret, to keep her from continuing the ritual, the sword erupted in a bright light that tossed me backward. The spirits that had assembled in the attic howled in agony before each one burst like a bubble, sending glittering smidgens of pure energy into the air. Each mote drifted lazily until each was swept by an intangible gust.

The grains of light spun in a circle, slowly at first, then gaining speed until they formed a miniature tornado. The tornado grew as more spirits came close, each bursting like the rest, the souls of the dead being torn apart into bits of raw power. The windows shattered, floorboards were swept up by the vortex that was growing more and more tangible.

As lightning flashed followed closely on its heels by thunder, a section of the damned roof was blown apart by the hurricane of energy. I wondered if Errol could see it from where he was. If David had woken up. If Suzanne was aware that she was missing the story of a lifetime.

Unbridled, primal power rolled through the heavens, intensifying the storm. Margaret chanted loudly over the cacophony and the vortex spun even more rapidly. The spirits were no longer arriving one at a time, instead being swept up by the cyclone. Apparitions, shades, ghosts, spirits with little in the way of corporeal form wailed, sucked in by the current of magic.

I scrambled to my feet with only one thought in my head – I had to stop Margaret.

Adam had recovered, a tourniquet around his stump. He tried to attack me but was driven to the ground by Robert.