DarkLight Redemption: Post-Human Universe - Book One

Chapter Thirty-One

LightBlast and I both rush toward the Eldritch, and let loose with a barrage of energy bolts. Every one of them hits the thing right in the face and head, but it doesn't even flinch.

Each impact causes a burst of...whatever this thing is made out of...to splash out. Its flesh, if you could call it that, reforms around itself, like tar.

"Let's hit it harder," I say and begin charging up for my next attack.

"Gladly!" Olive says just before flying directly at the Eldritch's face.

I refocus my energy to allow her enough slack to keep her protected. She smashes right between the Eldritch's massive red eyes and swings back around to face it.

The energy beam that extends between me and Olive slices through the side of the creature's head like piano wire through butter. But the hole and the rip in the Eldritch's face seal themselves back up again.

"Goddammit!" I shout just before unleashing a blast of the same magnitude as the one that sent Gertie into a different time zone.

The beam plows through one of the Eldritch's eyes until I can see the daylight behind it. Even then, the wound closes up almost as quickly as it was opened. That one seemed to get its attention, though.

As LightBlast tries hitting the Eldritch in the chest with blasts, Olive and I find ourselves dodging tentacles. They're faster than I'd expected; in fact, it's like trying to move out of the way of trains being swung at me from every direction.

One of them hits me from behind, and I crash into a yacht docked below. Olive is dragged down with me, since I've amped up the shields to a level where it won't be broken with any sudden movements by her.

When I come to, I'm underwater. I think I was only out for a few seconds, but I can't say for sure. Olive grabs me by the collar and points me back toward the surface of the water.

We fly back up through the water again and see that LightBlast is still firing, and it's still not accomplishing anything.

So I rise up to the Eldritch's face again and use a thick, continuous energy beam to sever its head from its neck. Yet the neck seals itself up, like my decapitation attempt was a minor paper cut.

I see LightBlast has stopped moving and is floating in one spot. He's hitting the thing with all he's got, but he's lost any sense of self-preservation.

So much so that he doesn't see the colossal hand closing in on him.

I send a lasso down, and manage to yank the kid away just before the Eldritch reaches him.

I pull him next to me and Olive, and then let him go.

"I'm giving it everything I've got, but nothing is working!" he yells.

"Then maybe you need to give it something different," a familiar voice calls from behind me.

I turn around and see Charles hovering there. He's in rough shape, but his eyes are as sharp as I've ever seen them. Those eyes move between LightBlast, Olive and myself. There's a momentary sense of great pride behind them.

"MB, thank God!" the kid exclaims.

"Alright, kids," he says as a way of greeting. "What have we got here?"

"Its flesh, or whatever, seals itself up instantly," I explain. "We've blasted straight through it, and I've even tried taking off its head, but nothing works."

Charles takes in the view as coolly as if he was checking out a simple bank heist. After a few seconds, his eyes narrow and something like a smile comes upon his face.

"Look," he points at the Eldritch. "Around the creature. Do you see it?"

I don't at first, but then I finally see what he's referring to: The blue light is still glowing all around the Eldritch, like an aura.

"The gateway between dimensions is still open," Charles says.

"What does that mean?" Olive asks.

"It means that we can still force that big bastard back to where it came from," I answer.

"That's right," Charles nods. "DarkLight, take its left side. Dominatrix can run interference on any attacks directed at you. LightBlast and I will fire from its right.

"On my mark, I want you to give it everything you've got. Not to the creature, but to the light around it. Do not stop, no matter what. Even if it feels like you've got nothing left to give."

"We won't," LightBlast pledges like the good soldier he is. "But what do we do then?"

"You let me worry about that," Charles says. "However this ends, I'm proud of you both. And Dominatrix, I'm proud to fight by your side as well."

Olive smiles like a student who just got an A++ from her favorite teacher, and I feel a fire light inside myself. We shoot over to the Eldritch's left side. LightBlast and Charles hover at its right side. Charles fires first, so the kid and I follow suit.

I don't even bother charging up; instead I use myself like an open canal. I keep pulling energy from around me and feeding it into the field surrounding the Eldritch.

It feels like the fire within has engulfed me, and I'm burning alive. I can take it, though, because I have to. If reducing myself to ashes is the only way to save the world, then get my urn ready.

The energy field around the Eldritch glows brighter and brighter, and soon the Eldritch appears to be pulled backward.

It's very slow, and the Eldritch is so huge that it seems like it may just be a trick of the eye at first. But then I see narrow beams of sunlight streaming down in front of the creature, and I know it's not an illusion.

My body has gone numb, but I know I've still got more to give. And so I give it.

The Eldritch reaches out with its clawed hands and somehow finds purchase on the very sky. Like a nightmare that I can't wake up from, the gargantuan beast will not be moved any farther back.