The Shadow Kingdom

Chapter 24ii

Tiberius immediately raises his telekinetic shield as Selena appears behind him. She jabs furiously with her twin ninjato daggers, but it is like stabbing a glass wall. Tiberius strikes at her with a burst of telekinetic energy, but she disappears to the second level, leaving a colossal dent where a renaissance painting used to exist. Nathaniel appears, and Tiberius deflects his attack the same way. The twins relentlessly continue their hit and run attack but to no avail. Isabella, Vanessa, and I hug the walls to prevent them from getting behind us, desperately trying to get a clear shot. If only Diana were here!

Tiberius grows annoyed and ignites the railings on the second floor. The fire is blindingly fierce, enough to force the twins to retreat for the moment. We all stand fast in preparation for their return. "Ok, it looks as though they've moved on. We need to reinforce Diana." Isabella says. Tiberius leads the way to the backyard, and the three of us follow in formation, never allowing our backs to be exposed.

The situation on the northern front is appalling. The Blackhawk is keeping our forces suppressed with impunity, and no one has any anti-air weapons. Even the aircasters can't cause enough damage to bring it down. I count less than ten men left standing alongside Diana.

Salvation finally arrives in the form of Tiberius. The helicopter's minigun focuses all of its fire on him, but the bullets ricochet like raindrops against concrete. He hurls one massive fireball at the helicopter, and it pulls back far enough for the rest of us to start fighting back against their ground forces.

Tiberius leads the charge, and I watch in sadistic delight as William's men float off the ground like ragdolls before exploding into pink mists. They begin retreating into the garden and the hedge maze where the cover makes it more difficult for Tiberius to focus on them.

Tiberius pauses momentarily. He holds out his hands and closes his eyes as Adrian did when he was showing me his powers for this first time. A blazing ring of fire appears around him, and from the ring emerges the head of a serpent, one made entirely of flame. The serpent grows and surrounds its master in a fiery spiral.

Prometheus concentrates all of their fire on him, but a magical wall of bulletproof glass shields Tiberius. Once the serpent is fully formed, it flies through the garden, setting the entire place ablaze. The Prometheus forces who haven't caught fire and died screaming retreat further north into the forest. "Kill them all!" Vanessa screams. "Don't let any of these sons of bitches go home!"

Tiberius follows them into the forest with the rest of us behind him. But then Nathaniel and Selena reappear with a vengeance from the south side. They quickly cut through the few men we have left. The Sirens and I turn to face them, and with Diana, we might actually stand a chance.

But then I realize it's a trap! Inside the forest, the twins' abilities become even more of an advantage. There, they have an abundance of places to hide and can easily strike from the shadows. "Tiberius, get out of the forest!" I scream.

But it's too late. With his back turned to them, the twins seize the opportunity and pounce on him without mercy. Before Tiberius can raise his shield, Nathaniel runs him through the back with his twin daggers. Nathaniel repeatedly stabs Tiberius in an unrelenting flurry to make certain he is dead. "Ty, no!" Diana screams. She has a perfect line of sight at Nathaniel, and with her reflexes, even he wouldn't be able to retreat fast enough. But when she pulled the trigger, the magazine was empty.

Nathaniel smirks in his bone-chilling fashion, and when the rest of us turn to fire at him, all we hit are trees and air. "Ty!" Diana runs to her fallen brother, the formerly indestructible juggernaut. Knowing that Nathaniel and Selena are still alive, she wastes no time to mourn and scrambles to get her hands on a new weapon. "Show yourselves, you bastards!" She screams into the void.