Death Angel

Chapter 37: Daniel's Turn

The beauty of our plan lay in its simplicity: repeat a move that was executed just minutes ago, and pray that the nano-knight wouldn't counter it.

Of course, the complexity in the plan lay in the execution. Perform the trick exactly the same as before, and the knight would see it coming, react to it in time and perform a counter-move, or perhaps even worse, get confused and decide to head for the water.

"D, I'm really rather hoping you've got a good plan for making this happen."

"Trust me Vanessa, I haven't got the slightest clue, but I'm Death!"

"I know, I know... infinite resources."

"You betcha. I'm going to take the suicide shift, cherie."

I nodded at him, understanding the significance of what he meant. Death was volunteering to be bait for the massive shield.

I ran a few possible scenarios in my head. Was the sword-arm truly incapacitated? Would a new hand grow in the place of the severed one? Would the massive sword that lay dormant, quietly resting upon the side of a building suddenly rise up and magically extricate itself and then attack us in the knight's defense?

There was hardly any point to running scenarios in which the guesses fluctuated wildly. There was too much variation in the possibilities. Experience taught me that when logic and strategy went out the window, you went with your gut and made a judgment call. Granted, it wasn't as bad as taking a crap shoot, but it certainly felt that way when you made it.

"You're forgetting about me," said Daniel from below me. I looked down at him, almost absentmindedly, and found myself rather surprised. He was right; in the hustle and bustle, I'd almost forgotten I was still carrying him.

"Here's where we make it interesting Van," he said. "I'm your trump card. The moment the knight reveals whatever it's got in its defense, you counter it with everything you've got. But..." he paused for effect, "not until after you've hurled me with all your might toward the knight's head. The nano-knight will not be expecting a second attack to its head region. You hurl me in that general direction, and I'll find a way to get in and activate the kill switch."

"It sounds like it would work, but we'd be crazy to take this kind of risk, Daniel. Just the slightest miscalculation would cost you your life."

"That may be so, but hard times call for tough decisions, and sacrifices. You've made enough sacrifices, Vanessa. It's time for me to make a few of my own."

"Promise me you won't be reckless," I said.

"I'll promise that I'll be careful not to lose the only life I have," said Daniel with a smile.

"We'll have to test this a few times," I said.

"Bad idea, cherie," said Death, pointing toward the nano-knight. "For one, it'll figure out what we're up to if we try too many times, and far worse than that," he said, his voice dropping in the wind. "This thing is so close to the water, all it's gotta do is take one tiny step in the wrong direction and it's game over for all of us."

"Okay, this is it then," I said. "Let's go."

Death didn't need any further encouragement. He moved swiftly, his dark robes trailing him as he flew straight up, headed right for the nano-knight's head. There were no wasted movements, just a single, determined motion that left no doubt whatsoever at what his intentions were.

Death aimed right for the head. The mini scythes materialized all around him once more, whirling blades that would have dealt massive amounts of damage under normal circumstances. In this instance, however, all they did was serve as a convenient decoy we all knew the nano-knight would see through.

I wondered at that move for moment, until I noticed Death add something very interesting - he mounted Katsujinken onto his Scythe in much the same way as I had done with my Light Sword. Mounted onto the enormous scythe's blade, the dark blade of Katsujinken almost felt too perfectly matched to Death's blade, an irony that wasn't lost on me - the life-giving blade melded perfectly with the blade that reaped the souls of mortal men, Life and Death fighting together to save mankind.

In the same instant, the mini scythes moved toward the nano-knight, moving rapidly toward it, slicing away at the bonded nano-machines, the submicroscopic organisms rapidly regenerating in response, almost as quickly as the blade cut through them.

None of this was a surprise to any of us. The objective of course, was to draw the nano-knight and get it to hold its full attention toward the newly perceived threat that loomed before it: the mounted Katsujinken that was now headed directly for the nano-knight's unprotected head.

The response was predictable: the nano-knight raised it's left hand protectively around its head, bringing the enormous shield to bear upon Death.

Death impressed me. He fulfilled his decoy role to the very end. The dark specter that was the Grim Reaper didn't even so much as flinch in the game of chicken. Even mere seconds away from impact, Death didn't even bother to turn his back toward the shield to absorb the impact. He just headed right into the shield and collided with it, the force of the impact so powerful that it pushed the nano-knight back a few steps.

Katsujinken was pretty impressive: the blade tore through the massive reinforced shield and dented it pretty well, the large scythe tearing into it, leaving a large gash where Death connected with it.

Death fell to the ground.

I jumped right into action, knowing that Death's act of courage had bought us at best a couple of minutes.

I didn't have time in that instant to worry about whether Death was alright. I had to keep believing his mantra of infinite resources was going to carry him through this. I moved as quickly as I could through the opening that Death had created.

I had a flash of inspiration and decided to follow the course of action. I hurled my scythe right in the direction of the nano-knight's left elbow, hoping my light sword would be able to connect. At the same instant, I threw Daniel as far as I could, aiming right for the nano-knight's head.

I saw Daniel rapidly become smaller in the air as he headed right for the nano-knight's head.

The scythe sliced through the knight's elbow, severing the arm. The giant shield and the arm that was holding it aloft began to slide downward, until the entire thing began to plummet into the ground below.

There was a massive, high pitched wail as the nano-knight screamed in anger, the first physical sound we'd heard from it since we encountered in.

I looked above me, hoping that Daniel had made it through all that. I saw him a few moments later, perched atop the nano-knight's helmet. He was hanging on for dear life, but looked to be doing very well.

"Godspeed Daniel," I said. "The fate humanity rests in your hands now."

Sorry for the short chapter! This was actually meant to be part of the previous chapter.

Death Angel is now coming to a close! Let's all hear it for the final chapter! What's going to happen? :D

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Just a short note for those of you who are fans of my other book, Kuro: I have decided to publish Kuro under Amazon's KDP Select Program. Unfortunately, part of Amazon's requirement is exclusivity, so I will be taking Kuro down a month from now. I have already requested that Kuro be taken of the Featured Story list.

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