Page 124 of Only Cold Depths
Zane grinned and lowered the hammer to his side, twirling the weapon around in his hand with easy familiarity, almost as if it was his weapon instead of Pollux’s.
Zane advanced on Pollux, his stormsword in one hand and the merc’s hammer in the other, both weapons sending out flashes of fire. I also advanced on the merc, my stormsword glowing a dark blue and spitting out sharp shards of ice.
Pollux backed up so he could see us both, and for the first time, uncertainty crinkled his face. The merc growled and charged at me, swinging his remaining hammer at my head, but I spun to the side, avoiding the blow. Just as quickly, Zane moved in, swinging his own hammer in response.
Pollux saw the blow coming, but for once, he was too slow, and Zane slammed the hammer into the merc’s right forearm. Pollux’s bones broke with audiblecrack-cracks, and the remaining war hammer slipped through his fingers and clattered to the ground.
Zane stepped forward and kicked the hammer in my direction. I waggled my fingers, and the hammer flew up off the ground and settled into my left hand. The lunarium weapon started glowing a dark blue with my psion power, spitting out shards of ice just like my stormsword was still doing.
“Not so tough without your toys, are you?” I taunted.
Pollux’s gaze flicked between Zane and me, then past us. In the distance, I could hear Vesper and Esmina fighting. I didn’t dare turn to see what was happening, but Pollux glancing in that direction told me everything I needed to know.
“Esmina can’t save you now,” I snarled.
Grudging agreement flashed across his face, but Pollux snapped up his hands, wave after wave of telekinesis surging off him.
Pollux picked up rocks, blasters, cracked pieces of armor, broken tablets, and the other debris littering the cavern floor and threw it all at Zane and me. Zane lifted Pollux’s hammer, letting the lunarium weapon absorb part of the barrage and knock aside some of the flying debris. I did the same thing, crossing the hammer I was holding with my stormsword and reinforcing them both with my own telekinesis, creating an invisible psionic shield in front of my body.
Pollux growled and redoubled his efforts, sending out more waves of telekinesis and debris, but I growled right back at him and stalked forward, eating up the distance between us.
“Kyr? What are you doing?” Zane yelled. “This wasn’t part of the plan!”
I had a new plan now, and all that mattered was killing this enemy. I kept stalking forward, ignoring the sharp shrapnel that slipped past my psionic shield and sliced across my hands, arms, chest, and legs.
Pollux charged forward. I dug my boots into the ground, then sprang forward and launched myself at him. The instant my body crashed into the mercenary’s, I lashed out with my own telekinesis and shoved him away as hard as I could. My psion power lifted Pollux off his feet and tossed him back.
Smack!
Pollux punched into the wall hard enough to make chips fly out of the stone. More jagged cracks also zipped up and outward through the wall, and I followed the cracks with my gaze the same way I always followed the ribbon of Vesper in my mind.
There.That’s what I was looking for.
Pollux slumped to the ground, stunned from the vicious blow. He blinked a few times, but a second later, he was climbing back to his feet. The tough bastard wasn’t going to quit unless Imadehim quit.
“Kill him!” Zane yelled. “Kill him now, Kyr!”
I could feel Zane rushing up behind me, but I didn’t need his help. Not for this. I drew my hand back and threw Pollux’s hammer. The mercenary ducked, but once again, I wasn’t aiming for him.
The hammer smacked into the ceiling twenty feet above Pollux’s head, plowing into the middle of all the cracks he’d created and shearing through a stalactite. The stalactite broke off the ceiling and zoomed down. Pollux dug his boots into the ground, trying to lurch out of the way—
Splat.
Too late. The long, jagged chunk of stone punched into Pollux’s chest, slamming him to the ground and impaling him as cleanly and neatly as a stormsword would. The mercenary let out a strangled scream, although the sound quickly cut off.
I picked the hammer up off the ground, then walked over and stared down at Pollux. Blood had already covered his chest, creating a wide ring around the stalactite, like a dark gray arrow that had found its target in the center of a scarlet bull’s-eye.
Pollux thrashed around for a few seconds, although his arms and legs quickly stilled. He lifted his head off the ground and glared up at me. “Bloody fucking Arrows . . .”
The rest of his breath escaped as a raspy sigh, and his head dropped down. He twitched a few times, then was still. His eyes remained open and focused on me in a familiar, silent accusation, even though the mercenary was dead and was seeing something far beyond the stars now.
Zane came over and nudged Pollux’s body with the toe of his boot. When he was satisfied the merc was dead, Zane raised his arm and used the sleeve of his jacket to wipe the sweat and dust off his face. “That bastard did not go down easy.”
I had opened my mouth to agree when a bloodcurdling scream ripped through the cavern.
“Vesper,” I whispered.
I dropped Pollux’s hammer next to his body, then whirled around and started running.
