Page 94 of Torn Ivy
“Keep going!” I shout, ducking and weaving around trees and bushes. “Don’t let them focus on any one of us!”
Torin uses his vampire speed to dart back and forth, creating blurred afterimages. Bram teleports in rapid succession, popping in and out of existence faster than the eye can follow. Tate conjures illusory doubles of himself, all running in different directions.
The creatures start to twitch and jerk, their programming struggling to keep up with the overwhelming sensory input. One of them lets out a high-pitched whine, smoke curling from its ears.
“It’s working!” Cathy calls out gleefully. She’s using some kind of magickal artefact to bounce between spots instantaneously, confusing the creatures even further.
I push myself harder, shifting rapidly between forms - Poison, Aspen, Ivy, and some randoms that vary in size, shape and colour. The creatures’ eyes roll wildly in their sockets, unable to track the constant changes.
With a series of ear-splitting shrieks, the creatures start to malfunction. Their bodies contort and spasm as their programming overloads. One by one, they collapse to the ground, twitching and sparking.
Cathy lets out a whoop, and I laugh.
“Holy shit,” Bram pants, materialising next to me, covered in black veins and looking like death warmed over. “It actually worked.”
I grin, feeling a rush of exhilaration. “Never underestimate the power of chaos.”
Tate jogs over, dispersing his illusions. “That was brilliant thinking, Ivy. How did you know it would work?”
“I didn’t,” I admit. “But I figured beings created by Life to be perfect and orderly wouldn’t be able to handle true chaos. Looks like I was right.”
Torin appears beside us in a blur of movement. “Remind me never to piss you off,” he says with a smirk. “Your mind is a terrifying place.”
I laugh, but it’s cut short as a slow clap echoes through the garden. We all spin around to see Life standing there, her ethereal form shimmering with barely contained rage.
“Well played,” she says, her voice dripping with venom. “I underestimated you, Ivy Hammond. It won’t happen again.”
Life approaches, and I stand my ground, flanked by my three men. “You underestimated all of us,” I say firmly. “We’re stronger together.”
Life’s eyes narrow. “Such sentiment. It will be your downfall.”
“I think you’re just pissed that your perfect little assassins got fried,” Bram sneers.
Life’s form flickers dangerously. “You have no idea what you’ve done. The balance?—”
“Oh, spare us the lecture,” Torin interrupts. “We’ve heard it all before. Balance this, order that. Newsflash—the universe thrives on chaos, on birth, death, rebirth. It’s what the world is. No matter where or when. “
I feel a surge of pride and love for these men standing beside me. We’ve been through hell and back, literally torn apart and put back together, and here we are, united against a cosmic force.
“You can’t stop what’s coming,” Life hisses. “The reset will happen!”
“Not on our watch,” I inform her. Although, I sound more confident than I feel all of a sudden. What did we really accomplish here? We killed her robots. Not exactly world altering.
Life’s form starts to grow, looming over us menacingly. “You think you can stand against me? I am Life itself!”
I feel my own power rising to meet her challenge. Chaos swirls around me, ready to be unleashed. “And I am Chaos. The force that drives evolution, that sparks creation. Without me, you’re just stagnation.”
“Ivy,” Tate warns. “Don’t do this. It’s what she wants.”
Fuck.
“He’s right,” Bram shouts out. “Ivy! Life never wanted you to come back here because you’re useful. She wanted you stuck in an endless loop of being scattered, us doing the ritual, the reverse of such, just for it to all happen again, over and over. But what she didn’t bank on was how far we’d fucking go to get you back.”
“And how far is that?” I ask, my voice trembling slightly.
“You don’t want to know,” he mutters. “But let’s just say that time was on our side.”
I stare at Bram and stand down before I glare at Life. She hisses and vanishes in a fountain of flowers, which causes me to step back. “Uhm…”
