Wesley Snipes - Talon of God

“Robbie,” she said, her voice calm. “Just drive.”

He closed his mouth and nodded, hunching over the wheel as he wove them down Chicago’s grid of streets toward home. When she was sure her brother wasn’t going to panic again and crash them, Lauryn turned back around, readying her sword to guard the broken windows from the next attack. Will did the same, holding his bloody tire iron like a bat as he watched the figures moving through the night, but whether by good luck or blessing, that attack was the last. Once they’d cleared downtown, they didn’t encounter another large group all the way back to Englewood. Lauryn was starting to think they’d cleared the worst of it when her brother slammed on the breaks.

Lauryn, who had been turned around, found herself smashed against the back of the front seats. Will recovered first, scrambling back up with his tire iron ready. “What the hell was that?”

Rather than answer, Robbie raised a trembling hand and pointed out the front.

Clearly, Lauryn wasn’t the only one who’d had the idea to get to holy ground. The street running up to her dad’s church was a parking lot, but while normally Lauryn would have been delighted to see evidence that so many people were apparently still untransformed and able to get to safety, cars weren’t the only thing in their way.

“Crap,” Will whispered. “That’s going to be a problem.”

Understatement of the century , Lauryn thought grimly.

Down the road, on the other side of the wall of cars, her father’s church was surrounded by a sea of transformed demons. Just like the ones they’d seen on the way over, these came in all shapes and sizes. Lauryn didn’t see any as big as Korigan had gotten, but several came damn close. Others were small and twisted, climbing over the abandoned cars like goblins. Big or small, they were all focused on the brightly lit church and the terrified crowd Lauryn could now clearly see inside. But despite watching the people like wolves watched sheep, not a single demon appeared to have set foot past the church steps.

It wasn’t for lack of trying, though. A giant mass had actually piled up on the threshold, shoving and clawing at each other in a frenzy to get at their prey. But no matter how hard they pushed, they couldn’t seem to move forward. It was like the church itself was protected by an invisible barrier. Lauryn was still trying to figure out how that worked when she heard a familiar rumbling coming down the empty road behind them.

By the time she whirled around, Talon was already climbing off his motorcycle, sword in hand as he turned to nod at Lauryn, who could only grin in relief. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you,”

“Same to you,” Talon replied, looking pointedly at the sword in her hand. “It suits you, as I knew it would.”

Before Lauryn could ask what he meant by that, Will cut in. “Wait,” he said, looking from Lauryn to Talon and back again. “You both have swords now?”

Lauryn glanced down at her blade, which was lighter, golden, and obviously different from Talon’s. “You didn’t notice the difference before?”

“I was kind of busy,” Will said, exasperated. “You know what, I don’t even care. Swords for everyone! All I want to know is can you use them on that .”

He pointed at the wall of demons surrounding the church like a moat, and Lauryn bit her lip. “I don’t really want to,” she confessed. “Despite how they look right now, those are people. They’re just possessed.”

“Wait, possessed?” Robbie said frantically. “I thought they were zombies?”

“They are human,” Talon said firmly. “Or they were once.”

“And can be again,” Lauryn reminded him. “That’s what we’re here for. We just have to figure out how to get through to the people inside.”

“Well, they don’t seem to be able to go past the stairs,” Will observed. “Good thing, too. Those doors are basically cardboard.”

“It’s not the doors that matter,” Talon said, moving to the front. “It’s the place. Even when they’re commanding a possessed human, no demon may set foot in the Lord’s house.”

“Great,” Robbie said. “Any place where those things can’t go sounds like where I want to be. You guys with swords just need to cut us a path and we’re home free.”

“I’m not attacking them!” Lauryn cried, scowling at her brother. “Weren’t you listening? Those are innocent people.” He opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off. “ Mostly innocent—but they still don’t deserve to be cut down when they don’t know what they’re doing.”

“But they’re attacking us,” her brother argued.

“They’re victims,” Lauryn argued back. “You were like that, too, Robbie. Should we have cut you down?”

That shut him up right quick, and Will sighed. “We have to do something,” he said quietly. “This peace won’t last forever while we make up our minds.”

He was right. Already, a few of the demons from the rear of the pack were turning toward them. The sight of their bloody eyes was enough to make Lauryn cringe, but just as she was scrambling to think of what to do, Talon stepped in front of her, drawing his sword, which shone like fire in the night.

“What are you doing?” she hissed. “I thought we agreed no killing!”

“Death is not the only tool for a holy sword,” he said, giving her a wise look. “Have a little more faith in me, Lauryn. No harm shall befall the innocent.”

Lauryn wanted to believe that, but she still didn’t see how him swinging a giant sword wasn’t going to end in a bloodbath. Before she could ask for a better explanation, though, Talon charged forward, raising his sword like a torch above his head as he crashed into the back line of the demons.

The moment he connected, a blinding light filled the dark street. Will and Robbie turned away with pained shouts, but Lauryn felt nothing but awe. Despite the blinding light, she could see everything clearly: the motion of Talon’s body, the way his sword swept away the corruption, leaving each demon almost human looking before it hit, but not to cut. Instead, Talon’s razor-sharp blade struck each member of the crowd softly as a blade of grass and firmly as a mountain, pushing them aside to clear a path.

“Go!”

The command thundered, and everyone—even Robbie—obeyed. They ran as a group, following the guiding light of Talon as he moved in front of them, parting the demons like Moses parting the Red Sea all the way down the street until, at last, they reached the clear safety of the church steps.

“Oh, thank God,” Robbie said, scrambling to the doors. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Lauryn felt the same, but she didn’t have time to run up. She was busy dealing with Talon, who’d doubled over as soon as they made it, his light fading as he began to pant. “Are you okay?”

“Better,” he said, chest heaving, though his face was a joyous smile. “I haven’t been gifted with power like that in a long, long time.”

“It was amazing,” Lauryn agreed, looking back at the demons, who were now clawing at the barrier harder than ever. “I saw it. You came close to healing them! Could you—”

“No,” Talon said, shaking his head. “The corruption is still there. It was just pushed back when I came near because the devil runs from the light. But I would have to cut the contagion out of each one individually to cleanse them, and there are just too many.” He shook his head, still panting. “I hope whatever you’ve got in mind is enough for a city.”

“That’s what I’m aiming for,” Lauryn said, reaching down to help him up. “Come on.”

By this point, Robbie had already made it to the doors and was frantically beating on them, yelling for someone to let them in. A few seconds later, the door flew open, and Miss Yolanda stormed out with a fury, pointing a shotgun and a cross straight in Robbie’s face. “Get out of here you— oh! ”