Night Terrors (Sarah Beauhall Book 4) (41 page)

“Come on, then,” I said, not looking back. “Don’t dawdle back here without me.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Skella said, edging past me to glance out into the main battle.

She stood mouth agape when I caught up with her.

There in the middle of the courtyard a battle was happening between a dozen or so monster men and a bear the size of a small house. She was wounded with a dozen spears and axe strokes, but the dead around her rose in heaps.

“Where’s Jim?” I asked Skella who pointed to the right hall toward the glowing light we only assumed was Katie. He was down, his sword broken, and his helmet smashed on the ground beside him.

Bub still lay in the middle, at the bear’s feet, unmoving. He wasn’t dead. He’d just reappear again later. He just needed to melt like he always did. I knew he would. I brought my hand to my throat and tried to grab the amulet with the same hand I held Gram in. Did it feel any different? Was it cold? That damned kobold better survive.

“Check on Jimmy,” I said, feeling more of my strength creeping into my veins.

Skella nodded and careened around the right side of the battle, well out of the way of the bear’s brutal attacks.

Okay the bear was on our side. That was good to know.

But she was not going to survive without help. I went to the left, away from the glowing light, toward shadow. I sensed more than saw the shades gathering along the periphery, waiting their opportunity to feed on the fallen.

“Not today,” I said, holding the book up and waving it toward them. The shadows fell back, but they didn’t leave.

The monster men were dwindling, but were in a good defensive position, keeping the bear back with spears. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t realize I was still in the fight.

I rushed forward, swinging the book in one hand, and Gram in the other. Green and purple light arced through the bad guys like chain lightning as Gram cut a swath through them, totally destroying their flank.

The bear took advantage of their sudden confusion and took down the biggest of the bull men, shredding his face and chest with her foot long claws. After that, the remaining enemy turned and fled, dropping their weapons and not looking back.

The bear dropped onto all fours and galumphed after them for a few paces.

“Wait,” I called after her. “Too risky.”

The bear paused, looked back at me and snorted once before turning back and ambling into the room. It walked to Jimmy, sniffed him from head to toe, and dragged its long tongue over his face.

“Eww,” Skella said, sliding back away from the bear. “That’s gross.”

Jimmy spluttered and sat up, holding his head.

“Not dead I see,” he groaned, reaching for his dented helm and placing it back on his head. It mostly fit.

“The bear was unexpected,” I said, kneeling beside him, looking into his face.

The teddy bear that he’d had strapped to his arm was gone. Right, of course. Too obvious.

“Probably kept me from getting my brains totally smashed in,” Jimmy said, struggling to stand up. Skella helped him and he got unsteadily to his feet.

“When the new squad arrived, I knew we were screwed. Just as that big bastard showed up,” he pointed at a huge man, eight feet tall with the head of a rhino, “I went down. The bear was getting big fast, and totally threw me off balance. Kept my brains inside the helmet and my head.”

The bear snuffled Skella then began to walk down the hallway to the glowing white light.

“Where’s the Bowler Hat Man?” I asked.

Skella shrugged and looked after the bear. “If he’s that way, the bear will get him.”

“I’d rather not risk it,” I said, following the bear. “Jimmy, can you bring Bub? I don’t want to leave him here for the feeders.”

I didn’t look back. If Katie was ahead, I needed to find her, needed to know.

The Sideways is a really strange place. There was no way that damn bear could’ve fit inside the school, but when I got to the next classroom she’d pressed herself into the room and curled up next to a glowing white rabbit.

There was no sign of the Bowler Hat Man.

Skella stopped in the doorway, allowing Jim to bring Bub into the room and lay his motionless form beside the bear.

“Close the door,” I said, motioning for Skella to come into the room.

“Is this her,” Jimmy asked, shock and pain painting his features.

“I think so,” I said, pointing to the bear. “She’s pretty bent on protecting that rabbit.” I knelt and reached toward the bunny. The book flared, a green aura spreading from me to the bear, then to Jimmy.

He squawked, desperately pulling his mother’s scarf off his neck and flinging it at me. His hands and neck were burned, but he’d live.

“Yeah, okay.” I knew what to do.

I sheathed Gram, set the book on the ground, reached over, and picked up the bunny.

The bear snorted, swinging her huge damned head toward me and sniffed once, then lay back down, licking the wounds on her paws and arms.

The rabbit slept, nestled in my lap.

I took the scarf and wrapped it around the bunny, stroking its long ears.

“Katie, love,” I said.

The rabbit stirred, but did not react in any other way. It slept on.

“You sure that’s her?” Jimmy asked again, confused.

“Let’s get her out of here,” I said, grabbing the book and shoving it in my saddlebags. Then I picked up the rabbit, cradling it like a baby against my chest. I stood up and paused as the room swam. Maybe I wasn’t doing so well myself.

“Sooner the better,” I muttered. I was flagging. Maybe the poison wasn’t as burned out as I thought.

The bear stood and snorted, so Skella pulled the door open and stepped back.

I don’t know why I didn’t react sooner. Hell, I don’t think I’d ever get the image out of my head.

The Bowler Hat Man stood on the other side of the door, leering, his hat cocked to the side as he swung both axes forward.

“Watch out,” Jimmy said, stepping forward, pushing Skella out of the way.

The two axes flashed. One caught Jimmy in the face, the second in his chest.

It was brutal and sudden, so sudden I reacted on instinct. I shoved the rabbit into Skella’s hands and pulled Gram free. Jimmy fell to his knees first, wrenching one axe from the bastard’s hand, and fell forward with a clatter of armor and axe handle.

“No!” I shouted as I stepped forward, stabbing forward, catching the Bowler Hat Man in the throat. The cartilage in his neck parted like cutting whipped cream, and the grin on his face faded to a look of shock and surprise.

I stepped around Jimmy, drew Gram back and hacked at the man, catching him in the arm as he dropped the axe and brought his hands to his throat. I hit him over and over, smashing his body and carving away great bloody globs of flesh. I was out of my mind, far beyond the berserker. I had no thought, no feelings, just hacked and hacked until my arm grew tired and I could no longer lift Gram.

“He’s gone,” Skella croaked.

I glanced at her, my eyes coming back into focus. She and the rabbit were covered in gore. The door, the walls and the hallway were covered in it.

I stepped out, making sure that there were no other monsters, ready to kill and kill and kill.

When I turned back, Skella was on her knees at Jimmy’s side. She was struggling to flip him onto his back with only one arm and not succeeding.

“Here, let me,” I said, laying Gram on the ground at my feet. “Just keep Katie safe.”

Sixty-one

Dead is dead,
Gletts had told me a lifetime ago in the dead lands. Hard to argue with logic like that. But I was sure as hell gonna try.

Jimmy’s helmet caught the brunt of the axe stroke, which surprised me once we got a look at him. It looked like the bones in his face were crushed.

Skella poured the last of her little bottle of white smoke over him while I was working on wrapping his face in bandages. I was surprised that the wounds didn’t close once the smoky liquid had washed over him.

“Thought that was a healing potion.”

She looked at me with disdain. “This isn’t a game, Sarah.”

Jimmy’s plate had turned the axe aside, but it had bitten deep into the chest muscle peeling it back in a thick slab. It bled like hell, but we packed it as tight as we could and wrapped his face in bandages.

“So, what does that stuff do, then? If it doesn’t heal. What did it do for me?”

She smiled a bit that spoke of pain. “Keep your spirit tied to your body,” she said. “So you don’t get lost and wander here forever, or until something eats you.”

“A last resort when one of us was close to dying?” I asked, both shocked and impressed.

She only nodded.

We constructed a travois from the assorted weaponry and clothing of the fallen. The bear didn’t argue one bit when we lashed it to her. We managed to get both Jimmy and Bub onto the structure and made good time going back. Twice we had to fight off shades, but they were no real trouble. Good thing, too. Most of them were driven back by Skella’s torch. When I asked her why she didn’t do that clapping thing with the flash of light, she assured me it was a sometimes treat.

By the time we found our way back to Katie’s classroom, Skella and I were wiped out, emotionally and physically.

She opened the mirror, giving us access to the real world. Skella scrambled through to keep the mirror open. The bunny vanished as she crossed into the real world, like a bit of smoke in too much wind.

“Katie?” Skella said, looking back at me it the mirror.

“It’s fine, I said, looking back at the bear. I think she’s found her way home. Call Melanie, get her in here.”

Skella nodded and ran to the supply cabinets where we’d stashed our gear. Soon she was standing in front of the mirror, talking on her cell phone.

The bear nudged me with her large nose, pushing me toward the exit.

“Yeah, I know,” I said. “Time to get this mess home.”

The bear stepped forward through the mirror, though it was too small for her bulk. The travois hung half-way, in both worlds, when she fell to the ground, a battered and bloodied stuffed animal once again.

Melanie and Dena were able to pull the travois through the rest of the way and begin working on Jimmy.

Bub hadn’t moved, hadn’t breathed.

“Did you use that spirit smoke on Bub?” I asked Skella.

“No,” she said, tears running down her face. “He isn’t like you and me. It wouldn’t have any effect.”

I sat down beside the small form, stroking the side of his scaly face. There was a second ambulance on the way. Not sure how we were going to explain all this, but I didn’t care.

We sat there in shock as Melanie and Dena worked on Jimmy. It was surreal. All the things we’d done, the battles, the library, the monsters. Yet here we sat in a colorful classroom where the children’s desks had been pushed aside and the floor was sticky with blood.

At first I thought it was just exhaustion. The sound started to fade to a low buzz then ended altogether. I glanced up, nearly numb but surprised at the creeping quiet. The world was pushed aside as a greater power imposed itself on the scene.

Then I heard them. Horses. My mind froze for a moment, realization striking me. The door to the classroom opened at the same time Melanie sat back, wiping hair out of her face with the back of her bloodied hands.

“Sarah?” Gunnr said from the doorway

“Gunnr?”

There she was, shield maiden, Valkyrie. Spear maiden for Odin and chooser of the fallen.

The rest of the world grew still, frozen. Melanie, Dena, and Skella stopped moving, caught between one breath and the next.

Skuld and Róta came into the room next, their winged helms under their arms. “Rest assured,” Skuld said, nodding at me. “We are not here for you.”

I looked down at Bub. Him, surely.

“Not him, either,” Gunnr said, squatting next to me and touching Bub on his forehead. At her touch he melted, a rapid transformation from kobold to vapor.

“He will return in time,” she said, looking into my eyes and touching the side of my face. “We are here for the other one.”

The breath caught in my throat. “No,” I whispered.

“I know this pains you, dear one,” her eyes bored into mine, the depths a swirl of galaxies. “He fought to save those he loved and has died valiantly,” she said, smiling. “Let us take him home.”

“No,” I said, pushing her hand away. “He’s not dead. You can’t take him.”

Skuld shook her head, and Róta stepped past her, stepping toward Jimmy. “We have no time for this,” she said, her voice firm but without anger.

“Leave us a moment,” Gunnr said, glancing at her sisters.

Skuld jerked her head toward the door, and Róta backed away, shaking her head.

“It is always this way,” she mumbled as they left. “He should be honored for his glory. Why must they weep and wail?”

The door shut off any reply that Skuld may have made.

“Please,” I said, trembling at Gunnr’s touch. “He’s a good man. He deserves to live.”

“He has lived,” she said, smiling at me. “And he has led his people with honor. But he has fallen, sweet Sarah. To hold him here would be a horror beyond reckoning. Let him ride with us. I promise you it is for the best.”

“What do I tell Katie?” I asked, the numbness spreading through my limbs.

“You have brought her home, have you not?” she asked, motioning toward the door. “She has rejoined spirit to body. Her brother died saving her, died saving her true love.” She paused at this, letting out a deep sigh. “As much as I crave you,” she said, touching my lips with her fingers. “I cannot deny the love you share. She will wake in due time. And you will be there to help her through the pain.”

I couldn’t help it. Tears ran down my cheeks, tickling the flesh and making my eyes sting.

Gunnr leaned forward and kissed me on the left cheek, kissing away the tear.

“Rejoice,” she said, sitting back. “He will be a true leader among the Einherjar. His glories will multiply until the time the old man returns to us and we have the final battle.”

I bowed my head as the tears fell in earnest.

After a moment, Gunnr leaned forward and kissed me on the top of my scorched head. “Your locks were comely,” she said. “Even when shorn in the odd fashion you favored.”