Chapter 24: Authority Unleashed

  “Good to see you again, Mr Fried,” Amir said as Erik put on the headset in the helicopter.

  “Amir! Is this a coincidence or are you joining the party?”

  “I’m all in now, baby! I’m your new personal aerial chauffeur,” Amir responded, lifting off the helicopter. It spun 180 degrees as they had enough clearance, and it leaned forward toward Cambridge.

  “Good to have you with us. I’ve been saying we need more guys.” Erik was ecstatic that another man would finally be involved with their group.

  “Well, I’m not joining you on the ground, but I’m glad to be of assistance either way.”

  “You keep doing your thing and we’re golden,” Erik promised.

  It didn’t take long before the helicopter reached Cambridge. The Hellbeasts were already tearing up the outskirts while another chopper circled the vicinity to keep track of the Hellbeasts.

  “You should wear this,” Amir said as the chopper hovered above the ground, handing the Remnant a black balaclava. “Wherever there’s a monster attack there’s bound to be a media circus. You know, people, cell phones, might even be press. Better safe than sorry.”

  “Thanks!” Erik said, removing his headset and donning the facemask with a grin.

  As he went to jump out of the helicopter, he remembered his bag, and looked around the chopper. He couldn’t find it anywhere! Hadn’t he brought it with him? No, was it… was it still in the girls’ room? How could he have been so stupid? Was the situation with Sophie already messing with his mind? Had he forgotten the bag either way, even if it was in his own room when he got the call?

  He had one job, and that was to fight the invasion. He wasn’t happy with his own effort until now, that’s for sure.

  With no time to turn around and retrieve it, he sighed and jumped out of the chopper. Seven or eight metres further down, Erik landed and rolled, then got back up on his feet in one motion by sheer luck. He had to train to accomplish manoeuvres like that. Just being stronger and faster didn’t seem quite enough to make it effortless.

  He would have to fight the beasts without his bag of stuff, somehow. There was always a chance he could find some things his Core power could manifest its magic with, but he couldn’t bet it all on that. He’d only gained the one additional power besides that. He would have to find a way to use it to his advantage.

  His senses stretched out along with his improved aura. He already knew where the Hellbeasts were, but even if he hadn’t, he could sense where they were now. He had learned that the tingle he felt with Jessie was him sensing her aura. His aura had increased in strength due to his new power, and that’s why Jessie felt it more strongly now.

  His own aura-sensing ability had improved as well, though Jessie’s aura was so faint he struggled to sense it anymore. He could sense the dogs almost fifty metres away when focusing his senses in their direction, though. That would come in handy later. Their auras felt different, though. Wild, maybe? Stronger than Jessie’s, but the quality was a bit off, even compared to Jessie’s.

  Erik ran towards the Hellbeasts. They were crashing into houses and flipping cars, but all the people in the immediate area had already gone. It seems they had got a head start on the evacuation, at least.

  Erik looked around for anything he could use his Core power with, finding nothing but pebbles. Still, the concussive effect of them would be helpful, so he picked up a handful of them, confirmed his power reacted to them as he expected, then put the bunch in his pockets.

  He picked up a few other things he found lying around, but nothing indicated that he could use it in any other way than its intended usage. Erik cursed himself again for forgetting his bag and could only sigh at the fact that he hadn’t absorbed another power, despite the link not being as powerful as Sovereign Faith was.

  His aura power couldn’t be trusted to be able to kill the beasts, and he was worried it wouldn’t even scare them off if he released it at them. Still, he could do this. He’d fought off a beast hand-to-hand before, right? He didn’t kill it, but… Since then, though, he’d learned to channel his magic through mundane, non-responsive objects as well. Maybe he could do this?

  One important thing regarding the major powers that could help was that when filled, that power would connect to one or more of his more innate abilities. It could be strength, speed, willpower, or something along those lines. Unfortunately, his Authority linked to his willpower, which made sense for both the power and the tribulation he had gone through to link the waterfall to the rest of his magic.

  He didn’t know if that had impacted anything at all, but it felt like it did. Still, willpower wouldn’t help in a straight up fistfight, either. If it was connected to strength, it would certainly have helped more right now. Maybe the best thing he could do was to scare them off for now. That had worked for the military, both at the shore of the UB and at Bridgefort, after all.

  The beasts often gave up, retreating for a while before coming back. That might be his best bet, but whether they went back to the sea was not a given. They were far inland already. If they retreated to another town or a forest or something, they’d still be a menace to everything around them, and could still hurt people.

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  He didn’t have time to consider it more. He neared the beasts, and the two were charging right back at him. Being close enough, Erik figured, he pulled out two of his pebbles from his pocket and chucked them at his targets, one by one. The first rock flew and exploded into a blast flashbang-like blast of concussive force. This stunned the frontmost beast, and it lost the control of its body. It tripped over its own forelegs as it rolled along the road.

  The next rock then found its own target, though at that point the hound had got much closer than the first. As it careened down the road, knocked out of its senses, it almost slid into Erik where he stood. He whirled around the massive monster, letting its dumbstruck body slide past him.

  Hoping to maximise the time it was down, he leapt on top of the dog and punched it in its neck without hesitation, over and over, and over. The meat beneath the struck area started to turn mushy, and the skin had split multiple times across that same area, but the dog-beast soon returned to its senses. It was still healthy enough to roll over, tossing Erik off its body.

  Erik rolled on the ground as he landed and scrambled to get back up on his feet. While the dog he attacked hadn’t got up yet, the other one had. The dog was still dazed, but it was regaining its senses.

  Rather than reinforcing his efforts at crushing one of the beasts’ throats, Erik turned around and ran away. He jumped into a nearby house through a window and he scrambled to the kitchen, where he flurried about in search of anything he could use.

  He found a quality kitchen knife that didn’t activate his ability sense, but he could still force his magic through just like last time, so he picked it up. In a pinch, it would have to do.

  He did find something reacting to him that he hadn’t used before, too. Getting a quick idea of how it would work, Erik pocketed that as well.

  That was all he had time for as one Hellbeast had already got inside from the same window he entered through. Its long, hard claws tore apart the wooden flooring beneath its heavy weight. It roared loudly as it searched the house, and Erik hid behind a corner. He forced his magic through the knife, hoping it would hold long enough to cut before melting away under the alien force coursing through its metal.

  The hound’s head stuck out from the doorway and it noticed Erik’s poorly hidden form almost instantly. Erik stabbed at it with the knife, managing a deep wound on the dog-monster’s shoulder. The massive beast had the leverage in this tight space and it head-butted Erik hard into the wall as it roiled in surprise and Erik felt a rib crack under the force.

  With no time to catch his lost breath, he ducked under a swipe of the beast’s paw. The beast then lunged ahead with the same paw, hitting Erik in his shoulder even as he tried to evade. It tore open his skin and revealed his blood.

  Erik kicked its face as hard as he could, and the giant hound only moved back an inch. He landed right in a comfortable chair which was momentarily shredded into hundreds of fluffy pieces when the beast charged back into the fray. Erik rolled back, tossing himself over the tall backrest. As the monster turned the chair to snowy cotton and flappy fabric, he lunged the knife straight into the beast’s side.

  It screeched in pain and swiped once more, but Erik had already retracted the blade and dodged backwards. He took advantage of the small opening the hound left in its defence, stabbing its chest with the bloodied knife. The beast jumped back a metre or two, pulling Erik along with it as he clenched the knife stuck in its chest. Blood that smelled almost like vinegar sprayed from its wound, and the Titan’s face was hit by a wild spurt of it.

  The dog rose to its hind legs, then whirled. Erik had no choice but to release the knife as his body flew back out of the house through a new hole caused from the crash. He coughed up blood as he got up on his knees on the ground, facing the house.

  The second beast was out there waiting for him, this one with the pre-softened neck. Its walk was hunched as it limped toward him, the muscles in its neck damaged enough to reduce their intended function. Still, that one wasn’t the primary concern.

  Erik noticed the beast inside the house readying a pounce, and Erik figured he only had one chance to get this right. As the dog leapt through the wall, enlarging the hole Erik had made, Erik mimicked the action, also leaping towards it. As he got closer to his attacker, the dog’s leap went too far and Erik ended up beneath it while it soared over him.

  Just like he’d planned, he reached towards the knife stuck in its chest, forcing as much magic as he could muster through both of his hands even before touching the knife.

  As both hands grabbed the handle of the sharp knife and his magic shot through its blade, Erik’s weight and the dog’s momentum in the opposite direction was all that was needed to end it. The magically sharpened knife slit open the dog’s chest and stomach, opening it wide. Its guts fell to the ground behind Erik as the dog landed, already dead.

  Erik lay face down in the dirt outside the house and couldn’t move. His body hurt all over and he just didn’t manage to get back up on his feet. Still, one of the dogs remained. Before Erik managed to move, the dog had pounced on him, ripping up the Remnant’s back with its enormous claws.

  The Titan howled in pain as three fierce claws dug deep into him. He felt a surge within himself as his skin and blood was violently torn from his body and he unleashed his aura with all his magical strength without an ounce of direction or control. The beast audibly whimpered and got off his back in response to Erik flexing his Authority. It limped away with a sudden submissiveness, seemingly regretting its previous actions of harming Erik.

  When it had retreated a few metres, it stopped and growled harshly yet noticeably didn’t attack again.

  Erik managed to use the last of his willpower to drag himself forward toward the house wall and started using it as leverage to pull himself up to his knees. He reached into his pocket and grabbed the first thing his reddened fingers touched. He tossed it at the beast. The rock hit the beast with no additional effect.

  While the rock had certainly responded to his magic, Erik already knew that would be the case. Each target he concussed would be resistant to the same effect for a while, though he didn’t know how long. The small rock wasn’t what he had been looking for, though. He reached back into his pocket, wearily picking another item and throwing it at the dog.

  It was simply another stone, and it bounced off its thick, dark skin. Erik could feel his aura weakening along with his strength and energy and the dog dared to close in on him, though it still kept its guard up. It didn’t scare easily, and it didn’t recognise Erik as its master despite his Authority. It actively fought against the aura with its own simple mind, breaking the effect all the sooner.

  Erik took the last item from his pocket, knowing this would be the right one. He fell forward, unable to keep himself upright any longer. He used the momentum of his own fall to lob it towards the last foe. His face once more hit the dirt and his aura retracted as if it imploded in on itself with him in the centre. He couldn’t keep it going at such strength any longer, not when he needed his last bit of energy for this last item.

  The glinting metal he tossed activated and Erik could hear something like a buzz-saw cutting through a thick piece of wet wood, followed by a thump in front of him. The two divided parts of the Hellbeast’s face stared at him with empty eyes when he lifted his head from the filth.