Give the Devil His Due (The Sanheim Chronicles, Book Three) (38 page)

*****

The attack was so sudden that Kate’s army never had time to prepare.

As soldiers were still arriving, deadly green fire like mortars launched from an artillery round rained down on them. Kieran looked up and saw a flash of gold in the air and then heard the screams as Carman’s assaults found targets.

The phantom horses pulled loose from the wreckage of the carriage and bolted in a panic, only to be taken down by another attack that obliterated them as they ran.

Kieran watched as Kate stepped calmly through the chaos and began shouting orders. Rows of soldiers began appearing, no longer divided by former affiliation or the color of their uniforms. Kate gave orders to the kid with the red hair, Clinton Hatcher.

Despite the attacks of green flames, Kieran watched as battalions and regiments gathered into formation. He supposed that a lifetime of military training was the only thing stopping them from running away in a blind panic.

But just as the soldiers formed battle-ready lines, Kieran looked up to see a line of different soldiers running at them. This army wasn’t dressed in the uniforms of the American Civil War, but looked much older. Many of them wore blue war paint and kilts and were wielding small hatchets.

Kieran watched as the first wave of attackers crashed into Kate’s defending line. The attack was too quick for Kate’s soldiers to even load their guns. The hatchets went right into their throats.

“Fix bayonets,” Kate shouted.

The second line of American soldiers engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Celts. Kieran looked up to see reinforcements coming from the enemy side. But they were not dressed in blue paint or kilts. Instead, they appeared to be wearing World War I uniforms and carrying more advanced weaponry. One of them set up a gun and aimed. Kieran had never seen one in person but recognized it as a “howitzer,” a machine gun that could mow down a whole line of troops.

“Kate, artillery at 2 o’clock!” Kieran shouted.

The banshee nodded in response. She said something to Clinton as the howitzer began spitting fire, devastating the front lines of Kate’s army.

He heard a distant thunder and suddenly the enemy’s howitzer was hit by a cannon blast. But the enemy troops kept coming and Kieran saw more howitzers being set up. He was suddenly aware of how vulnerable he was if any of them aimed their shots at him.

Instead, a barrage of green fire slammed in front of him, blowing him backward through the air. Dazed, Kieran looked up to see Carman strolling toward him. While the banshee was in the thick of the battle, ordering her troops to different positions, Carman appeared entirely unphased, walking toward him in an almost languid manner. Kieran’s head hurt. Actually, everything hurt. He felt like he’d been hit by a truck. He tried to stand up, but all he managed to do was sit.

Carman smiled as she approached him.

“My, my, we have to stop meeting like this,” she said.

Kieran didn’t try to flee.

“Go to hell,” he said.

“I plan to, once I kill you,” she said. “Who knows? Maybe you’ll appear there and I’ll get to kill you again.”

She didn’t wait for a response, but instead lobbed the spear directly at Kieran’s face. It sailed in a perfect arc and Kieran watched helplessly as it sped toward him — until it was cut in half by a sword. The back half went wild, while the front half buried itself in the ground in front of Kieran’s crotch.

“Ack!” he shouted, and scrambled backward in the dirt.

The banshee stepped in front of Kieran. She held a sword in her right hand and a shield in her left.

“Disappointing,” Carman sighed. A new spear appeared in her hand along with a matching shield. “Why do you keep saving him? He killed your lover.”

The banshee responded in a raspy voice that sounded like nails on chalkboard.

“I find it interesting that you want him dead so badly,” she said. “Clearly, I’m not the only one who hates him.”

“Oh, I don’t hate him, my dear,” Carman replied. “I don’t care about him at all.”

“Just like the soldiers on your side?” Kate asked. “How did you get them to fight for you? I am the guardian of the dead.”

“And I am a witch,” Carman replied. “I admit I couldn’t have done anything without your help, but after you departed, so many spirits were left confused about how to reach you. I simply took advantage of their disarray.”

“You told them you were me,” the banshee said, her voice even more grating than before.

“It seemed the best way to delay you,” Carman said.

“Delay?” the banshee asked.

“We have to finish this by dawn, Kate,” Kieran said. “The portal will only open at night. We just have an hour or so left.”

“If I fail tonight, I’ll come back tomorrow,” the banshee said. “It doesn’t matter.”

“By tomorrow, Quinn will be dead… again,” Carman said, and smiled.

The banshee looked in Kieran’s direction for confirmation, but he looked just as puzzled as her.

“I don’t know what’s going on there,” he said.

As Kate was looking at him, Carman leapt into the air in a small, smooth bound that brought her down spear-first toward the banshee. Kate pivoted at the last moment, but held her ground.

The two grappled with each other, with Kate’s sword bouncing off Carman’s shield and the witch's counterattack dodged by the banshee. Carman jabbed with her spear and it looked to Kieran like she would connect, but Kate turned incorporeal and the blow went right through her. Carman retracted her spear and looked at the banshee in annoyance.

“That’s just not playing fair,” she said.

Carman swung with her spear in a long arc, but Kate grabbed it, leaving it pointing at Kate but not in danger of touching her. Kieran saw the flare of green light too late.

“Kate, the spear can still...”

The blast hit Kate directly in the chest, knocking her off her feet and landing her several feet away. Carman turned her attention back toward Kieran.

He searched his jacket for the knife — hoping for a weapon of any kind — but realized it was still in his bag, which lay somewhere near the destroyed carriage. He watched as Carman jumped lightly into the air in a graceful arc and then seemed to fall toward him in slow motion, aiming her spear for his chest.

Kieran started to roll out of the way, not sure he’d make it in time. From a distance, he heard a high pitched siren. The sound was so painful, he tried to cup his hands to his ears to block it out as he struggled to get away from Carman. But if Kieran was affected, it was nothing compared to what happened to Carman, who dropped out of the sky with an unceremonious thud.

Kieran realized he wasn’t hearing a siren, but just a slight taste of the banshee’s scream, most of which was aimed squarely at Carman. The sound cut off abruptly and Carman tried to stand, but Kieran saw blood running down her neck. As she stood to face Kate, the banshee screamed again — a targeted blast that brought Carman to her knees.

He watched as Carman started muttering to herself, words he couldn’t hear. Then he saw a soft ripple in the air around her and Carman stood up. Kate was still screaming, but the sound no longer seemed to have any impact.

“She made herself deaf!” Kieran shouted, but he wasn’t sure if Kate heard him.

Carman initially appeared to have completely solved her problem. But the banshee kept screaming as Carman walked forward, and the sonic impact slowed her down. Whatever spell she was using to keep herself from hearing the scream, it was obviously taking a toll. The closer she stepped toward Kate, the harder it became to resist. The result was an impasse. Kate couldn’t do anything while she was screaming, while Carman slowly tried to reach her opponent. He didn’t know how much longer either could keep it up, though he supposed Kate at least had more
moidin
to help her.

Moidin.

The thought rolled through Kieran’s head and he suddenly knew what to do. As Carman closed in on Kate, Kieran picked himself up and ran with a limp toward where the two armies were clashing. Bright flashes lit up the sky as cannon fire fell around him. He heard the whizzing of bullets fly past his head and watched ghostly figures from a hundred different eras grappling with each other. Kieran looked down at his watch and realized time was rapidly running out. If Carman was right, Quinn wouldn’t hold out much longer and the entire trip would be pointless.

“Hatcher!” Kieran started shouting.

Behind him, he heard the clash of sword, spear and shield. Kate must have broken off the scream to fight hand to hand, likely allowing Carman to drop her deafness spell. He would have to make sure she raised it again — and hope his hunch paid off.

“Hatcher!” Kieran shouted again.

The red-haired soldier ran up to him, looking distracted and haggard.

“Sir?” he asked. Maybe Kieran imagined it, but he thought he detected a faint trace of disdain in Clinton’s tone, as if he knew full well what Kieran had done in the past.

“I need a small group of fighters immediately,” Kieran said.

“We’re all engaged, sir,” Clinton replied.

“That wasn’t a request, it was an order,” Kieran said. “Do it now and we can save your general.”

Clinton seemed like he might argue with Kieran, but he looked over his shoulder and saw Kate and Carman fighting in the distance.

“Yes, sir,” Clinton said.

“Double-time, soldier,” Kieran said.

He saw a quick gesture from Clinton and a small band of two dozen soldiers appeared beside him.

“Let’s move,” Kieran said, and the group fell in line behind him.

He remembered what it had been like to lead people. His
moidin
had come because they were drawn to Grace, but Kieran commanded them. It had been a long time, but the feeling came back easily enough. For the millionth time, he wondered what things would have been like if he hadn’t lost his powers. He drew close to the battle between Carman and Kate and motioned for the soldiers to stop.

“Hold here,” he said. “Take positions, but nobody fires until my mark. Is that clear?”

The men nodded and the front line knelt in the dirt and aimed their rifles, while the second line brought their guns to their shoulders. Kieran watched as the two opponents continued trading blows. Kate was careful now to keep the spear pointing away from her.

Kieran knew that Carman likely still had some kind of invisible protection around her, the spell that kept bullets out when Tim had used his shotgun. The question was, how many spells could she do at once? That kind of power must be hard to maintain. And Carman wasn’t focused on Kieran or the
moidin
yet, her attention rested solely on Kate.

Kieran whistled and he saw the banshee look in his direction — and smile. It was the same hideous smile she gave him in the carriage, but this time he was overjoyed to see it.

She knew exactly what I was doing
, Kieran thought.
She’s been playing with Carman.

The banshee stepped back and let out a scream. The change of tactics caught Carman off guard and she leapt backwards to avoid being caught in such close proximity to the sonic attack. Carman fell to her knees again and Kieran could see blood streaming from her ears.

“Come on, come on,” Kieran said, waiting impatiently for the right moment.

He watched Carman’s mouth move and the air ripple in front of her. She shook her head as if coming out of a dream, but Kieran could see the enormous effort the spell was costing her. He stopped waiting.

“Fire!” he shouted.

Carman must have seen the soldiers’ movement. She jerked her head in their direction. She muttered something, but there wasn’t enough time. The air rippled around her as the first of the bullets contacted her spell — but it was too weak to keep them all out. The first shots evaporated, but then the air around her seemed to burn up as the spell collapsed. Carman screamed as several shots connected and she fell backwards into the dirt.

Kate stopped screaming and stepped forward to bring down the killing blow. But just as her sword hit where Carman’s head should have been, the witch rolled out of the way. She gave Kate a panicked look and immediately took flight.

“Fire!” Kieran screamed again, but there wasn’t enough time to re-load. A few managed to fire again, but only after Carman was little more than a gold speck in the distance.

Kieran looked at the horizon, which was getting lighter. Dawn was approaching.

“We don’t have much time,” Kieran said.

He watched as Kate closed her eyes. Around them, the battle still raged. Carman’s troops were unaware that their leader had fled.

However, all at once, Kieran felt a hum through him. Kate’s troops immediately stopped fighting, and within a few moments, the rest quit as well. Kieran could sense the thoughts and images coming from Kate.

“You have been misled,” she told her enemy. “I am the last. I don’t want to fight you. Join us and I will lead you on. I will set you free.”

More images flooded Kieran’s mind, but it almost seemed unnecessary. The rival ghosts, without a leader and facing Kate’s far larger army, were being offered clemency — and they took it. Almost immediately, they swelled Kate’s ranks.