Larry Correia - Warbound

Francis climbed down the water tank’s ladder, made it three-quarters of the way, slipped on a rung, and fell the rest of the way. He landed on his ass in a mud puddle. Francis got up, cursing, and quickly inspected his rifle to make sure he hadn’t plugged the muzzle. “I didn’t see anything else, but keep your eyes peeled.”

“There are so many wounded. I can feel them all around us,” Jane said. “I’ve got to help them.”

“I’ll go with you,” Dan said. “The police are here now, but I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“Oh, Dan, you are so chivalrous.”

There were lights and sirens coming up the road toward the “planned community.” Francis walked over and leaned on the hood of a car. “Hell of a night, Hammer. Just promise me you’re going to go back and tell your boss he’s an idiot.”

“Not a problem.” Hammer joined him. “Did you see that weird light in the sky? What do you think that was?”

He studied the night. It looked like an aurora borealis. “Faye… doing Faye stuff.”

“How do you know?”

“Just a hunch.” And when she’d read his mind so hard it felt like he’d woken up from a three-day bender, a little bit of her thoughts had jumped lanes, and as the thoughts had settled down, he’d come to understand what was really at stake. Lots of men liked to say their girl was the most important girl in the world… his really was.

“Do you think she’s okay?”

“I know she is.”

Hammer nodded. She could tell Francis was telling the truth. “I’ve got to go fill in the law. There might be more of those things out there.” She held out her hand, not in any sissy ladylike fashion either, but like she meant business. Francis shook it. “Thanks for being such a paranoid jerk.”

“And thank you for being such an obstinate nag.”

“Anytime.” She grinned at him and then went down to meet the arriving cars.

Francis looked back up at the weirdly lit sky. “Come on, Faye…”

There was a sudden CRACK. The noise was deafening. It was like lightning had just struck next to him. Something hit the ground hard and he flinched away.

He spun, raising the rifle, but stopped when he saw who it was. “Faye!” She was standing there, surrounded by a brilliant halo of pure, crackling Power. It burned his eyes like looking at a welder. He had to raise his hands to shield his face. “Faye!”

The magic flickered and then disappeared. The light was gone. His ears were ringing.

She gave him a weak little smile. “It offered me a choice…” And then she fell to her knees.

Francis rushed to her side. She looked like she was about to topple over. He caught her just in time. “What’s wrong? What choice?”

Her eyes were closed, her head was rolling weakly on her neck. “The Power. It offered me everything. I could have the whole world. I could control it, run it, all to keep the Power safe for forever.”

He held her tight. She was shaking so hard. “Okay, Faye. I’ve got you. It’ll be okay.”

“All mine. Whatever I wanted. So no more bad guys, no more wars, or hate, because I said so. No more Chairmen or Madis or Crows. Never again.” She was nearly incoherent with exhaustion. “All of them. Stopped. But to do that, I’d always need to be so strong… I’d always need more. So I’d take what I wanted, because I’d need to. That’s how I’d tell myself it was okay. But that’s how the evil always starts. Nobody would be safe, not even you.”

She wasn’t making any sense. Francis realized they were kneeling in the puddle. He pulled her to dry ground and carefully laid her down with her back against the car tire. He brushed the matted, bloody hair from her face. The blood didn’t seem to be hers, but he couldn’t really tell, there was so much of it. “Jane! Jane, I need a Healer!”

“I could have done that. I would have done it before. But Zachary showed me what would have happened eventually if I had. It would always be too tempting. It said I could be a god here, Francis. That ain’t right. Not like that. No one person should have that much Power. If only it was just the curse, but I had to choose between what I love and who I love.” Faye opened her eyes. “So I gave it up. All that extra magic, I just gave it up. I chose to be me.”

He was staring into Faye’s blue eyes.

He had woken up long before sunrise, kissed his still sleeping wife on the cheek, peeked in on their newborn son in his crib, and then left quietly. He’d heard the call. The time had come for them to go back to the world, which meant that it was going to be a busy day, but right now he just needed time to think.

The ocean wasn’t very far from the house, so he just walked. He had a bit of a limp now, probably would for the rest of his life. The Healing spells carved on his body had kept him alive and repaired most of the damage. The rest would be left to time.

The pre-dawn mist brought a bit of a chill with it. The ocean was close enough to sometimes hear the waves at night. Other than the water and the wind, this was a quiet place, a good place to heal, study, and prepare, a safe home, an isolated place. He liked it that way.

But apparently it hadn’t been isolated enough.

Toru Tokugawa was waiting for him on the beach with a sword in his hands. It looked like he’d been there for quite some time.

“Can’t say I’m surprised to see you.” Jake Sullivan stopped twenty feet away, hands in his pockets. “I figured this day would come.”

Toru had aged since they’d last met, but if the rumors were true, he’d been a very busy man. He was wearing traditional Japanese clothing, a dark kimono and hakama, with a daisho through the obi at his waist and another, longer no-dachi resting in his hands. Sullivan actually knew the terms now, but that was because he’d gotten a lot of practice speaking Japanese over the last year. They’d wanted their boy to grow up knowing both languages.

Toru bowed in greeting. It was a rather respectful gesture, all things considered. “You are a difficult man to find when you choose to be, Sullivan.”