Morgan squinted as if narrowing
his vision could pierce the mist shrouded darkness. Dark Astoria stretched out before him. The long night had entered the second day and the reports had all been the same. The dead
rising. Zombies. While zombies were not unique to Paragon, this was
different. The exploding corpses of Doctor Vahzilok were products of science; some were even volunteers to a process
that could potentially grant immortality. Morgan snorted. At no point should
anyone interested in immortality wire a few ounces of high explosive to their nervous systems; it significantly reduced the odds. The corpses of the Banished Pantheon were, well for lack of a better word, immigrants.
They had followed their masters.
These were
different.
They were citizens of Paragon,
laid to rest, and now pulling themselves free to reign havoc and terror.
The endless night
broke. A red glow that danced at the edge of his vision. No. It couldn't be the night breaking. Night did not break to the North. No matter how broken it was. Morgan concentrated briefly, unlocking the barriers of his
chi; energy flooded from the chakras. He let it expand outward, propelling him through the air towards the
glow. The graveyard.
The ground fairly bubbled as
corpses pushed their way through soil that had become liquid. The sick, wet, sucking noise as each pulled
free. They were converging on a single point. The glow.
Just outside the cemetery, Bella
stood, wrapped in a cocoon of flame. Zombies staggered towards her, only to be blown back as fragments of sizzling meat
as she unleashed torrents of plasma at them. Morgan caught a motion. Her red
eyes met his and she shook her head. He wasn't to interfere.
Desecration. Morgan had learned early in their relationship that desecration fired Bella's temper to incandescent flame. Since the zombie apocalypse had descended on Paragon, Bella had been redoubling her efforts, sweeping through the
city. It was her hope to find those responsible and put a stop to it. Her
efforts so far had been futile, but the anger had grown and grown.
Zombies spilled out of the
cemetery, sliding over the walls to land with wet thumps against the pavement, and then staggering towards the blazing heroine.
Her flames doubled, lashing out in a solid wall. Still the dead pressed on, the sheer volume of flesh damping
the flames even while being consumed by them. Morgan bit his lip, tasting blood.
The lip healed. All his muscles tensed. He needed to act, but Bella had
waved him off. She was going to be overwhelmed.
With a primal scream, Bella
unleashed another wall of flame, clearing the space around her momentarily. Her faltered and then guttered out as she
dropped to one knee, panting. There. Pushing through the crowd. A creature of pure evil. Quite the accomplishment for Paragon where one sometimes saw pure
evil as being on tap. Hot. Cold. Pure
Evil. Don't reach for the wrong one in the shower. The zombie towered over its kin. The rotting flesh bulged and shifted as if it were assembled from a
myriad of parts, that were working together, albeit under protest. It glared down at the smoldering heroine, a flash of
intelligence in the glowing yellow eyes.
"Time to join
us." The voice boomed out clearly, despite the rotting tongue that lolled from the split, decaying
lips.
"Bastardo!" Bella swore loudly.
A glint of fire rose in her eyes. She raised a fist. Flames flickered on her
fingers and then blazed into white hot incandescence. "Des a los muertos muertos de la estancia. Le pongo para relinarme." The last was a whisper.
She drove her hand into the asphalt of the road.
Morgan dove prone. Hitting the roof as fast as gravity would let him. The gas main. Bella never did anything by half measures. Instead of a massive explosion, there was a
blazing pillar of fire, erupting from the ground, but bound and controlled by Bella's will. It wrapped around her
like a snake, rekindling her aura as it poured its power into her.
"Deje el fuego limpia esta
profanacion!" The fire leapt from her, burning outwards in a circle that enveloped all of the advancing
dead. Bodies sublimated in the raging inferno. The master zombie toppled, his
lower legs burned away. He tried to pull himself forward on his arms, but was brought up short as Bella let loose a
bolt of plasma that burnt through the top of his skull and exited through his hips. He fell apart in chunks of seared
meat and cracked bone.
The flames died out. Morgan knew without looking that the punctured main had been welded closed. Bella stood on
a circle of black, rippling, glass, her chest heaving. She paced towards the smoking remains of the master zombie and
knelt before them, digging her gloved hands into the remains. Morgan could see the flash of silver. He jumped down and raced over to her.
"Someone built
this." Bella said, her voice low and dangerous. She displayed the silver
chased circuit board to Morgan. "Not magic; deliberate technology."
"You should let Mag look it
over." Morgan noted. "Maybe he can find out who built
it."
"Whoever did should pray he
cannot." Bella said. "Because if I find out who did this, no prayer
will save them."
his vision could pierce the mist shrouded darkness. Dark Astoria stretched out before him. The long night had entered the second day and the reports had all been the same. The dead
rising. Zombies. While zombies were not unique to Paragon, this was
different. The exploding corpses of Doctor Vahzilok were products of science; some were even volunteers to a process
that could potentially grant immortality. Morgan snorted. At no point should
anyone interested in immortality wire a few ounces of high explosive to their nervous systems; it significantly reduced the odds. The corpses of the Banished Pantheon were, well for lack of a better word, immigrants.
They had followed their masters.
These were
different.
They were citizens of Paragon,
laid to rest, and now pulling themselves free to reign havoc and terror.
The endless night
broke. A red glow that danced at the edge of his vision. No. It couldn't be the night breaking. Night did not break to the North. No matter how broken it was. Morgan concentrated briefly, unlocking the barriers of his
chi; energy flooded from the chakras. He let it expand outward, propelling him through the air towards the
glow. The graveyard.
The ground fairly bubbled as
corpses pushed their way through soil that had become liquid. The sick, wet, sucking noise as each pulled
free. They were converging on a single point. The glow.
Just outside the cemetery, Bella
stood, wrapped in a cocoon of flame. Zombies staggered towards her, only to be blown back as fragments of sizzling meat
as she unleashed torrents of plasma at them. Morgan caught a motion. Her red
eyes met his and she shook her head. He wasn't to interfere.
Desecration. Morgan had learned early in their relationship that desecration fired Bella's temper to incandescent flame. Since the zombie apocalypse had descended on Paragon, Bella had been redoubling her efforts, sweeping through the
city. It was her hope to find those responsible and put a stop to it. Her
efforts so far had been futile, but the anger had grown and grown.
Zombies spilled out of the
cemetery, sliding over the walls to land with wet thumps against the pavement, and then staggering towards the blazing heroine.
Her flames doubled, lashing out in a solid wall. Still the dead pressed on, the sheer volume of flesh damping
the flames even while being consumed by them. Morgan bit his lip, tasting blood.
The lip healed. All his muscles tensed. He needed to act, but Bella had
waved him off. She was going to be overwhelmed.
With a primal scream, Bella
unleashed another wall of flame, clearing the space around her momentarily. Her faltered and then guttered out as she
dropped to one knee, panting. There. Pushing through the crowd. A creature of pure evil. Quite the accomplishment for Paragon where one sometimes saw pure
evil as being on tap. Hot. Cold. Pure
Evil. Don't reach for the wrong one in the shower. The zombie towered over its kin. The rotting flesh bulged and shifted as if it were assembled from a
myriad of parts, that were working together, albeit under protest. It glared down at the smoldering heroine, a flash of
intelligence in the glowing yellow eyes.
"Time to join
us." The voice boomed out clearly, despite the rotting tongue that lolled from the split, decaying
lips.
"Bastardo!" Bella swore loudly.
A glint of fire rose in her eyes. She raised a fist. Flames flickered on her
fingers and then blazed into white hot incandescence. "Des a los muertos muertos de la estancia. Le pongo para relinarme." The last was a whisper.
She drove her hand into the asphalt of the road.
Morgan dove prone. Hitting the roof as fast as gravity would let him. The gas main. Bella never did anything by half measures. Instead of a massive explosion, there was a
blazing pillar of fire, erupting from the ground, but bound and controlled by Bella's will. It wrapped around her
like a snake, rekindling her aura as it poured its power into her.
"Deje el fuego limpia esta
profanacion!" The fire leapt from her, burning outwards in a circle that enveloped all of the advancing
dead. Bodies sublimated in the raging inferno. The master zombie toppled, his
lower legs burned away. He tried to pull himself forward on his arms, but was brought up short as Bella let loose a
bolt of plasma that burnt through the top of his skull and exited through his hips. He fell apart in chunks of seared
meat and cracked bone.
The flames died out. Morgan knew without looking that the punctured main had been welded closed. Bella stood on
a circle of black, rippling, glass, her chest heaving. She paced towards the smoking remains of the master zombie and
knelt before them, digging her gloved hands into the remains. Morgan could see the flash of silver. He jumped down and raced over to her.
"Someone built
this." Bella said, her voice low and dangerous. She displayed the silver
chased circuit board to Morgan. "Not magic; deliberate technology."
"You should let Mag look it
over." Morgan noted. "Maybe he can find out who built
it."
"Whoever did should pray he
cannot." Bella said. "Because if I find out who did this, no prayer
will save them."