Kevin Ryan - Nightscape

Nicholas went flying into the closed glass chamber, which shattered on impact. Liz fell to the floor as Nicholas fell into the glass. She was on her feet nearly instantly and grabbed Nicholas as he started to get up himself. Just as she had grabbed Maria on the stairs, she grabbed Nicholas by the back of his jeans and swung him around with all of her might.

Already off balance, Nicholas went flying toward the chamber on the other side of the narrow room. He went into it face first, and that one shattered as well. Besides the glass, Liz saw blood splattering. For a moment, she hoped he had cut something vital, but he got up too quick for that to be true.

When he turned to look up at her, Liz could see a deep cut across his face that went from the right side of his forehead, down through the bridge of his nose, and deeply into his left cheek. She had hurt him, but not fatally.

When he spoke, it was to her. "You're just like Zan here… you don't know when you're beaten." He shook his head, and the remote control caught his eye. His arm flung out as he dove for it.

Liz realized there was no time to reach it before he did, so she did the only thing she could. Lifting her foot, she raised it quickly and brought it down hard on the remote… just as Nicholas's hand was reaching the device. She felt the remote crack under her heel as his fingers reached under the front of her shoe.

He gave a yelp and pulled his hand back. Liz brought her foot down again on the remote, then lifted it to see that it was in a number of very small pieces. So much for high-tech alien weapons, she thought.

Nicholas got up slowly and raised his hand in her direction. Turning her eyes from Nicholas, Liz looked at Max lying on the floor. She felt a swell of feeling for him and took a snapshot of him in her mind, ready to take it with her into her end.

Looking at Max, Liz could only see what happened next with her peripheral vision. Suddenly, Nicholas was flying backward through the air. Turning her head, she saw him land heavily on the floor and continue sliding back toward the doorway. Then he was outside, and the door shut behind him.

When Liz turned again, she saw Michael standing with his hand out. Isabel and Maria were climbing out of their chambers, and Liz realized that Michael must have freed them. Isabel rubbed her head as Maria ran to Michael and wrapped her arms around him.

He kept his hand up and said, evenly, "Everyone get behind me, and grab Max."

Then there was pounding on the heavy metal door. Liz didn't turn to look; she grabbed Max by one shoulder and pulled. Maria and Isabel reached down to help her. Together, they pulled him several feet behind Michael, who was straining with the effort of holding Nicholas back. The door was bowing inward. Isabel stood next to him and raised her own hand. "Sorry, Michael. Nothing," she said.

"Just give it a minute," he said, the strain clear in his voice.

Then there was the wrenching sound of tearing metal, and the door broke from its hinges and flew toward them. With a final push, Michael forced it to the ground. The door still came toward them, but it slowed gradually until it stopped nearly at Michael's feet.

"So it comes down to you and me, Kevar's second in command and Zan's. The problem is that I'm guessing you're still a little underpowered from my electrodes," Nicholas said, blood running freely down his face.

Liz could see muscle underneath the deep cut in his cheek. Once again, he looked like the monster he was.

"I've got more than enough juice to put you down, you pathetic little twerp," Michael said. His voice was firm, but Liz knew he was pushing his limits. She tried to summon her own meager powers, but couldn't.

Nicholas lifted his hand, and his energy flew across the room. Michael seemed to recoil for a moment, then he held firm. Both of them were hurling their energy at each other… a bright flash in the center of the room indicated where their energy met. It was dead center between the two of them. For now, the forces seemed to be canceling each other out.

The effort was taking a toll on both of them, Liz could see from Nicholas's face and the tense strain in Michael's body. Liz leaned down to hold Max, not looking away. She could see that Michael was fighting for them all now, and fighting with everything he had. But he was losing.

The air in the room changed and the collision between Michael and Nicholas's force was moved closer to Michael.

Then it was over. Something snapped, and Michael went flying back. "No!" Maria screamed, running to him.

Nicholas kept coming. "That's it, I've had it with all of you." He threw out his hand, but nothing happened. Confused, he tried again, but Isabel had recovered enough to put up a fight against him. Nicholas was openly surprised. "Vilandra, this isn't like you. You were never much of a fighter. Parties were more your style," he said.

"Things change," she said, hitting him with enough force to send him reeling several steps back.

"Don't think I'm going to take it easy on you," he said, hurling energy back at her. She repelled it easily, then hit him again. He staggered back.

Then again.

And again.

He was forced almost to the ruined doorway. He stood his ground there, as Isabel hit him hard. Nicholas flew backward and then onto the floor on the landing outside. Surprise turned to dismay on his face as he looked up at Isabel and got to his feet, then he turned quickly and disappeared up the stairs.

"Stay with the guys," Isabel said to Liz and Maria. "He's mine."

Isabel ran up the stairs to the basement. She heard noise from the stairs leading up to the ground level of the house and took the stairs two at a time, then three. She was taller than Nicholas and had no doubt she was faster. If he tried to run on open ground, she knew she would have him. She quickly made her way through the basement and up another set of stairs.

She burst through the door into the kitchen and heard footsteps heading toward the front of the house. Isabel followed, heading through hallways and rooms until she stepped into the great room. Looking ahead at the front door, she saw that it was closed. She hadn't heard it open or close, so she figured Nicholas was still in the house, somewhere.

Her anger fueled her as she focused on the fact that Nicholas had tried to kill Max, her friends, and then kill her. He had wanted to bring death to this house.

More death, she thought.

The Bentons had all died here. But they had been the

victims of a mindless sickness. She and her friends would have been the victims of Nicholas's purpose, a purpose as dark as anything she could imagine.

Then she heard another noise coming from the back of the house. She was in the kitchen seconds later, following the noise. She crossed the room quickly and threw open the door to the infirmary. Nicholas spun around to face her, and she could see that he had knocked several trays to the ground. His face was covered in blood, and he looked unsteady on his feet.

Isabel didn't hesitate, she raised her hand and hit him with everything she had. He responded quickly and met her force with his own. There was a bright flash between them, and for a long moment it was a stalemate. Nicholas broke the silence. "Vilandra, it doesn't have to end like this. If we both go to Kevar with the Granilith… "

"Stop!" she said. "It's going to end right now. I'm going to see that you never hurt anyone again." Isabel pushed harder, reaching out with her mind and her will.

Nicholas met the attack. "Face it, Vilandra, you're just not a fighter. You really should leave that sort of thing to your brother, Zan, and his pathetic second."

She thought of Max, fighting for her. Gentle Max, who as a small boy had once healed a bird with a broken wing before he'd even known he had the ability to heal. And it was not an accident that Max could heal, that that was his special ability. He was good, better than she was. When they were younger, she had resented that, afraid that her parents and everyone else could see it.