Marker of Faith

CHAPTER 48

CHAPTER 48

Minerva made her way through the wreckage of rotting flesh, sliding through the gore towards the next Marker. She pulled herself up to a sitting position and looked at the body. It was her friend, Vinny; she recognized the tattered robe still clinging to the savaged torso. A sob caught in her throat as she reached out and took hold of one of the man's rigid hands.

"I'm so sorry."

She felt John's mind, shielded behind the presence of the Light but still enough of him there to sense his pain and guilt. She reached out, pushing her way through his defenses.

John.... Keep going.

Her strength was fading, her power draining with each Marker she closed, and she slumped against Vinny's body. It shifted under her and she recoiled with a cry. One of the hands snapped open and locked on her arm, the icy fingertips digging painfully into her flesh.

"Oh hell no! No you didn't!" she screamed, summoning the dregs of her power as she lunged at the torso.

She felt like she hit a brick wall as the body arched and then split open, transitioning to a portal. She jammed her hand into the shattered rib cage and snatched at the heart, squeezing and pulling until it broke free with bolt of dark energy. The explosion knocked Minerva backwards and she lay there with her ears ringing and sparks dancing in her vision. There was something warm and wet on her jaw, and Minerva reached up with trembling fingers. Her hand came away sticky and dark with blood from a ruptured eardrum.

Minerva flopped onto her back, the exhaustion and pain finally taking its toll. She was so tired.

Something grabbed her by the legs and hauled her roughly down the hill. She screamed as phantasmal hands pinned her to the ground, the Shadow Army crowding in, but she was just too tired to fight anymore.