Shadow Walkers (21 page)

The Gatekeeper lets out a roar so loud that it had to of distracted everybody on the battlefield for at least a couple seconds. A trail of silver twists around the giant’s head, and Nick quickly identifies the source. One of Hector’s wolves dives in and explodes right on the Gatekeepers face. The behemoth seemed to have finally received enough damage, as it promptly explodes into a cloud of purple dust.

“Hector finished him off!” Nick shouts happily.

“You damn Walkers!” Valus shouts. “You really think that a setback like this is enough to stop us? You fools still haven’t even killed the Gatekeeper in your own home. And Nick- oh Nicholas. Did you forget the deal I made with you?”

Nick looks at Valus with as much spite as he could offer. “Deals off. I’m keeping both of our lives.”

Valus snickers. “Oh, you mean yours and…” He snaps his fingers and a purple rift appears midair. Valus reaches into the portal and pulls Nick’s mother out by her hair. This time she’s ungagged, but she doesn’t say a single word as she’s manhandled. “This woman? You want to save her, right?”

Nick prepares to launch a sneak attack, just like he did against Ella. Ice begins forming under his foot and digs into the ground below, on a path towards his mother.

Valus laughs. “Don’t think someone like you could even touch me, Nicholas.” He lets go of Nick’s mother and forms a fist. The ice that Nick had built up underground suddenly vanishes. He tries to summon more, but it’s to no avail. His entire body begins to ache and his heartbeat picks up it’s pace. He catches Valus’ gaze, and his body is racked with chills.

The confidence and spite he felt only moments ago, the bravery of standing up to Valus, and the determination to save his mother- In that instant, Nick lost it all. All he could think of was that his life was in danger. He knew that if he didn’t get away from Valus his life was going to whither away.

As if it were a sign from Valus himself, random Walkers who weren’t even being attacked suddenly collapse to the ground. Nick was suddenly incapable of moving. He feels a drop of sweat run down his back, and for some reason, all he could think of was every last drop of blood draining from his body. A faint scream appears in the back of his head, only for it to grow louder with every passing second. It was warning him, repeatedly telling him the one thing that he needed to do if he had any hope of surviving his encounter with Valus of the Void- to run for his life.

But Nick knew that he couldn’t do such a thing. Isaac looks at Nick as a drop of sweat falls from his forehead. “Don’t let the fear get to you Nick. This is Valus’ Stitch. It’s what makes him the most powerful Void besides the Queen. He can induce fear into anything around him, and the sheer pressure can make someone want to kill themselves- that is if they don’t have a heart attack first. Calm down, or else-”

“Nicholas, you seemed so keen to defeat me.” Valus says, taunting Nick. Each syllable was like a needle piercing through any fiber of hope Nick had of winning. “You haven’t said a word to this woman that you’ve been chasing after. Look- I’m not even holding her captive, and yet she hasn’t tried to run. Do you know why that is?” Nick remains silent. He was barely able to keep up with what Valus was saying, let alone form any type of rebuttal.

Valus smiles as he speaks. “It’s because she no longer cares about you. She doesn’t even have any desire to leave the Void. In fact, I had to drag her out here against her will. Go on, ask her yourself.”

“What are you playing at Valus?” Isaac shouts. Even Nick’s captain seems to have trouble keeping his sword steady.

But Valus’ words triggered something inside of Nick that let him regain some sort of grounding. His survival wasn’t the only thing that mattered anymore- not when his mother was standing right there in front of him. He looks at his mother’s blank expression and almost sheds a tear. “Are you okay mom?”

His mother shakes her head. “I’m not your mother. I don’t even remember who you are, you little brat.”

“Mom?” Nick cries out. He could already feel the tears forming in his eyes. “What are you talking about? I’m here to save you!”

“Go away.” She says sternly. “My loyalty is to the Queen of the Void, not an annoying little boy like you. How could a pathetic coward like you save anybody? You couldn’t even protect your own father.”

Nick drops to his knees as tears roll down his cheeks. Why would his mother say such hurtful things to him? She would never have blamed Nick for anything that happened to his father. This woman standing before him looked like his mother- even talked like her- but she lacked any trace of her personality. Nick didn’t understand what the Void could have possibly done to his mother to make her act in such a way.

The screams in his head were only getting louder, and his body felt as if ants were crawling through every vein. He suddenly felt as if slugs were stuck in his throat, choking him and leaving him once again unable to speak. And for some strange reason, he was picturing spider eggs hatching inside his head, the babies ready to inject Nick with more of the pure terror that Valus was inducing.

“Is that all you want to say to your mother?” Valus asks with sarcastic empathy.

Nick gulps. He somehow manages to focus once again on his mother. He summons all of the bravery he can muster as he looks into his mother’s blank eyes. “Mom… I love you!”

But his mother seems unaffected by his proclamation. Her face remains completely void of any emotion. “Go to hell, kid.”

Nick balls his fists and begins punching the ground. Why- why did it have to turn out like
this
? Was everything he worked for all for nothing? His mother was there- she needed his help- and he couldn’t even help her. What kind of man was he if he couldn’t keep a promise?

Valus laughs as he puts his hand on top of Maria’s head. “Isaac, you said that my Stitch lets me induce fear, but that’s incorrect. The real truth is that my mere intent to kill is enough to make even the strongest of men fall to the ground. When you stare into these eyes of mine, you’re choosing to forfeit any sense of hope or direction you have gathered up until that point. Common sense, plans, even courage- they mean nothing before me. I am a hunter. Watching you pests crawl around as you think you have some way of escaping- it simply entertains me. But now that you’ve soiled our plans, I’m ready to go in for the kill. A lack of hope, a sense of despair, your dreams being crushed before your very eyes- that is what the name ‘Valus of the Void’ entails. Remember that, Nicholas Winters.”

Valus turns to Isaac. “And you remember this- my Stitch allows me to simply extract one’s soul.” Valus then turns to Nick and smiles as he lifts his hand off of his mother’s head. A grey, gas-like substance clings to his hand as it seemingly comes out of Maria’s body. And as the last of it escapes from her, Maria’s eyes roll into the back of her head. She falls to the ground.

Valus laughs. “And those affected by my Stitch don’t just die, they also fall over like ragdolls. Kind of pathetic- don’t you think, Nick?”

His mother's body lying still on the ground triggers something inside of Nick that he never would have expected. Without even meaning to- without a single confirmation of what just happened before his eyes- Nick screams louder than the voices in his head.

Chapter Twenty-One

Nick

Nick couldn’t keep track of how long he was screaming for. It felt like an eternity had passed before Isaac grabbed him and shadow jumped away from Valus and his mother’s corpse. Even as they jumped through the shadows- where Nick was supposed to be strongest- he couldn’t stop to catch his breath. All he could do was scream and replay what had just happened over and over again in his head.

The duo resurfaces next to Allison, Damon, and Hector, who were still in a heated battle with Cleo. Allison talks over her shoulder as she keeps an eye on Cleo.

“What happened?” She asks with a worried expression on her face. Nick accidentally makes eye contact with her and quickly looks away. He felt pathetic, scared, and above all else he felt useless. He didn’t want his friends to see him like this.

“We’re returning to the Pit immediately. You three come to Crescent Moon Bridge.”

Without giving them time to ask any more questions, Isaac and Nick shadow jump once again. They emerge at the very same bridge that they pledged their cooperation to each other at. A few seconds later and Allison, Damon, and Hector show up on the bridge as well. Nick holds his face in his hands and cries out. The feelings of despair that he felt on earth slowly start to fade away, and he was gaining more self-aware thoughts. It was as if a spell was finally being lifted, allowing him to think clearly.

“Nick, what’s wrong?” Allison asks softly.

Nick shakes his head and wipes the tears from his face. He drops to the ground, leaning his back against the bridges railing. “He killed her!” He doesn’t mean to shout it out, but he still couldn’t wrap his head around what had happened. In just one day he went from being determined to save his mother to cowering in defeat. Just the thought of Valus made his chest tighten from fear. Was this the true power of an elite Void?

“I’m so sorry, Nick.” Hector says.

Isaac looks around. “Things aren’t right here. We need to go to the Council immediately to report what has happened, and see what the status here is.” He turns to Nick and holds out a hand. He grabs it, and his captain helps him get on his feet. “Nick… I know I’m asking for a lot, but can you pull through for just a little longer?”

Nick wanted to tell Isaac to go away. Part of him wanted to yell at Isaac for recruiting him in the first place. If he never embraced his life as a Shadow Walker then none of this would have happened to him. But a bigger part of him- the part that his mother raised him to be- knew that it would be unfair to try and place any blame on Isaac. Especially learning about what Isaac went through in the past.

Nick dries his face off on his sleeve and somehow manages to steady his breaths. He didn’t want to do anything else besides lie down and die, but he had a responsibility to follow through with this mission. As long as he was standing, nobody else would fall to the Void- at least not without a fight. “Let’s go.”

Isaac smiles. “That’s the Nick I know. Now everybody grab on, we’ve still got one big problem left.”

Nick and the others grab on, and Isaac shadow jumps once again. This time they emerge in front of a door. Isaac knocks a few times but never receives an answer. He eventually takes it upon himself to open the door, only to reveal yet another horrific scene.

“Dad!” Allison shouts as she makes her way into the Council meeting room. The rest of the group shuffles in behind her as she kneels down next to her father’s limp body. Blood is splattered on the floor, surrounding the bodies of the three Council members. Nick’s body threatens to shut down once again. How in the world could the three most powerful Walkers alive be defeated in the same room?

“Dad please, wake up!” Allison says as she shakes her father’s body.

“They’re all alive still, no need to worry.” Isaac says. Nick doesn’t ask his captain how he could know such a thing, and instead chooses to just trust his words. He knew all too well not to doubt the types of abilities Shadow Walkers possessed.

As if to confirm that he was indeed not dead, Marcus Marxon’s eyes flutter open and he groans. “It seems you made it back okay, Allison.”

“Yeah. And the three gates outside of the Pit were protected.” She takes a look at the stab wound in her father’s shoulder. “What happened here?”

Marcus groans again, but sits up with his back against a desk. “It was Captain Gerald. We were getting prepared to execute him after he began to transform, but he appeared in the Council room and struck us down before we even realized what was happening. We were careless thinking that he was strong enough to live through the bite.”

“Where is he?” Isaac asks. “We need to stop him before he causes any unneeded chaos.”

Marcus points at a window in the back of the room. “The Walkers altar. That’s where the gate is here in the Pit. We destroyed the Gatekeeper that came to attack, but Gerald seems like he’s going to go finish it’s job.”

Isaac nods. “Then let’s head out there to stop him. Grab on again everyone.”

“Wait!” Marcus shouts. “Take this, Isaac. You’re one of the few I trust to use this without being corrupted by it’s power.” The Council member reaches into his pocket and hands something over to Isaac, who looks at it with wide eyes.

“Lydia’s ring?” He asks.

“It can repair the gates.” Marcus says. “You’re a memer of the Midnight Order, you should be able to use it properly.”

Isaac nods. “I understand. Now let’s head out immediately.”

Nick’s group all grab onto Isaac’s arm. They shadow jump away once again, this time to some place that Nick has never been to. When they emerge from the shadows they are sure enough greeted with someone assaulting the invisible gate that was protecting the Pit. The captain Nick once met was now barely recognizable. Gerald’s body was at least twice it’s original size, and his skin was a light shade of purple. Needless to say, it was obvious that he had undergone some type of Void transformation.

Isaac summons his sword and shoots a wave of ice at Gerald. The ice connects, but for some reason it doesn’t freeze him over. Instead, it shatters against his skin and he lets out an angered roar. He bangs on the door once more and a loud crack echoes throughout the Pit like thunder. Nick is almost blinded by the sudden light shining in the air. Slowly but surely, two doors begin forming around the bright vertical light, which stood as the crack between them. The doors swing open, and the bright light fades away. Behind the doors of the Pit was only darkness.

Isaac runs towards Gerald and swings his sword. But a Void suddenly appears in it’s path and blocks the blade with his bare arm. A man with purple dreadlocks now stood in the way of Isaac and Gerald. The Void looks over his shoulder at the Walker turned Void.

“Go break the other gate from the inside.” The man orders. Gerald grunts, but follows his orders and disappears into the darkness beyond the gate.

Isaac grunts and steps away from the Void man. “Brutus, you just had to show up at a time like this. Why’d they have to send number two.”

Nick instinctively begins cowering at the presence of his new enemy. If he really was ranked number two in the Queen’s Hand, then he was almost as strong as Valus. Nick didn’t want to go up against something like that again.

Thankfully his teammates weren’t stuck in a state of fear. Isaac swings his blade again, but Brutus yet again blocks with his arm. Nick didn’t understand why the Void’s arm wasn’t getting chopped off, but his captain didn’t seemed the least bit phased. Isaac releases a strike of lightning from the tip of his sword and shocks Brutus. An arrow flies straight into the Void’s face. But unfortunately, it only shatters upon impact. Brutus seemed to even be unaffected by Isaac’s shock.

Allison curses. Hector summons a wolf using his silver stone. “Go track down Gerald!” The wolf immediately bolts off and runs into the darkness, a silver trail of smoke left in it’s way.

“Good thinking, Hector!” Allison says.

Brutus pushes Isaac away with one swing of his arm. “You think I’m just going to let you go in there and stop him?” He snaps his fingers and purple goo forms on the ground around him. A wall of Void monsters crawl forth to guard the lining of the gate. Among them is Cleo and Arion, the third and fourth strongest Void respectively.

Arion shoots a devilish smile Nick’s way. “Thought you killed me, huh? Unfortunately for you I just had to go into stasis for a while.”

Isaac curses. “Damn it, we don’t have the time to deal with all of you!”

Nick quickly studies the situation. He didn’t have a lot of energy left, but there was only one thing that he could think of that would let Isaac and the others push through and follow after Gerald. Stopping him was the only way they could save the Pit. And no matter what it took, they had to take him down before the second gate to the Pit was broken. Nick knew that, in his current state, he wouldn’t be of any help in an all out battle. So he does the only thing left for him to do.

Nick begins to focus all of his energy into what will be his last combo attack. As his teammates begin taking down the fodder Void, Nick summons a wave of energy on the ground in front of him. While paying close attention to his teammates positions, and making sure that he leaves a way for them to get through the gate, he sends the giant wave of energy flying against the wall of Void.

Even the elites are taken off guard as all of the Void are suddenly frozen from the waist down. Nick musters up enough energy to send out one last burst of energy. The ice around the Void becomes thicker and thicker, until all of them are fully encased inside one giant block of ice. The only space or opening was one wide enough for his teammates to step through the gate.

Nick’s legs instantly become so weak that he begins to fall over. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he fell. He saw his teammates trying to speak to him, but he couldn’t hear a single word. His vision was blurred, and he felt as if someone was stepping down on his chest. He didn’t know what would happen to him after using so much energy, but it was the only thing that he could do to help his teammates out. At least this way- even if he died- his teammates would be able to go and stop Gerald. They would be able to save the Pit. And with that hope in mind, Nick hits the ground with a smile on his face.

And then everything goes dark.