Page 2 of Nazab

The comet fell somewhere ahead of her and she distantly heard a gigantic splashing noise, but she didn’t feel the impact. Her hand went to the back of her head, which felt strangely fuzzy, as if something had just changed. She glanced at her watch to see it was just after midnight. All of the gold and red comets had appeared at around the same time. This one had landed far closer to her than the others.

Instinct guided Monica towards the area where the meteor had landed. She sent her senses out behind her and picked up on Wallace and the others. Their souls had already been a darker shade of gray than she’d liked when she’d joined their group. That had been three months after the Rapture. During the seven months she’d spent with them, their souls had become even darker. Thanks to the plan they’d just cooked up, they were all verging on having black souls now.

Monica had lived in Hell’s Kitchen with three other housemates before the world had changed so drastically. Two of the women had been raptured. The third one had gone out to search for food one day and never returned. Monica had fled from Manhattan when she’d sensed the evil aliens the Mad Prophet talked about. They’d been systematically searching the buildings. She’d ended up in the Bronx, but even that was too close to the city. She’d convinced Wallace and the others to move just before the aliens and mercs had expanded their search a couple of months ago.

“But we were running low on supplies and they insisted on searching the Bronx again,” she muttered as she ran. “I told them the militants had stripped all the stores bare. Now my former friends are hunting me down like a Thanksgiving turkey.”

Snickering at her own joke despite how dire her situation was, Monica tripped over a bag of trash when she turned the corner. She crashed into a parked car so hard that she knocked the wind out of herself.

“We’ve almost got her!” Wallace shouted in triumph, hearing the noise she’d made.

Cursing her clumsiness, Monica took off again. She had no idea where she was going, but her mind seemed to be carrying her to a specific location.

Picking up her pace, she sensed people coming out of their homes, presumably to investigate the gold comet. It was depressing just how few survivors were left now. Monica was just as starving and desperate as everyone else. She knew what they were going through and how low some people had fallen. Wallace and the others had talked about the possibility of cooking and eating freshly dead people. Monica would never be hungry enough to dine on human flesh. Sadly, she was pretty sure the rest of the group would turn into cannibals soon.

“I guess I should be glad they’ll turn me in instead of killing me and eating me,” Monica said, then snickered again. Her sense of humor had gotten her into trouble too many times for her to count. This time, it could end up with her being captured if she didn’t snap out of it and focus on escaping.

Chapter Two

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NAZAB SPEARED FEETFIRST into water and sucked in a breath, inhaling some water. He grinned when he realized he’d been released from the Void again. His feet touched down on a smooth, flat surface. Propelling himself into the air, he spat out a mouthful of water and looked around. The liquid only came up to his neck, so he didn’t need to tread water.

“This looks something like an Egyptian bath, but a lot blander,” the knight murmured. He turned in a slow circle to see he was on a rooftop made of gray and white substances. His mind told him it was concrete and tiles. He was surrounded by tall buildings. The bath was huge and about fifty feet long, but much narrower. “It’s a pool, not a bath,” he corrected himself.

Climbing out, Nazab saw a hose at the far end of the pool. It had filled the pool to overflowing and the excess water poured into a drain. He couldn’t sense anyone in the building beneath him, or in the ones on either side. Few of the towering structures had lights on. He could see buildings in the distance that appeared to be occupied. One was taller than the others and blazed with colorful lights. “Is most of this city empty?” the warrior asked in a disturbed tone.

His hand went to the back of his head and he frowned. He could sense a presence, yet he couldn’t detect his commander or brothers.

The presence grew closer, then he grimaced when he recognized what it was. “Why is a cambion running around without supervision?” Nazab asked in dismay. “Where is the creature’s sire and how long have the Soldiers of Chaos been here?”

A small mob of humans raced past the building, chasing the cambion and he let out a loud sigh. He knew what his duty was, so he loped over to a metal door. It was locked, but he kicked it hard enough to slam it open. His first task would normally be to find clothes. He didn’t have time to search the rooms his mind told him were called apartments.

Descending to the first floor as rapidly as he could, Nazab saw a discarded towel on the floor in the lobby. He snatched it up and tied it around his waist, then emerged from the building.

He’d only had a fleeting sense of the mob, but their souls had been dark gray. It was obvious the cambion was leading them into a trap. Even three or four-year-old cambions could sprint faster than humans could run. They were also freakishly strong for their size.

“I hate this part of my job,” Nazab complained as he took off in the direction the people had been running towards.

It only took a couple of minutes to catch up to them. He could sense the cambion somewhere ahead, but he couldn’t see the creature yet. Some of the soldiers’ spawn could use magic even at a young age. He needed to be careful and strike before the little monster could kill anyone.

“It’s no use, Monica!” a male called out in a taunting tone. “We’ve got you cornered! Come out and we won’t hurt you! We’ll just tie you up and take you to Governor Giamano!”

“You saw what I did to that merc, Wallace!” the cambion called back. Her tone sounded frightened, rather than angry. The mere sound of it stirred something inside him. Obviously, she wasn’t a child at all, which deepened her mystery.

Nazab moved closer to see the road ended in a cul-de-sac. He used a parked van for cover as he assessed the situation. The cambion was hiding in the backyard of a house that backed up against a high-rise building. The fences on either side of the property were high, but she should have been able to scale them easily.

“Don’t make me shoot you, Monica!” Wallace shouted angrily. “You two, circle around and cut through that yard,” he whispered, unaware his prey could hear him. “Fire a few shots and force her out into the open.”

It was a good plan, but they had no idea they’d been lured into an ambush. Monica would no doubt kill the two males who were hurrying into position. While the mob’s clothes were filthy and ragged, their hair was immaculately cut and styled. It was a strange anomaly, but an unimportant detail.

Up this close, Nazab could sense their souls weren’t just dark gray now. They’d edged into black. Now that this had happened, there was no hope of redemption. Evil would take over and he would be forced to kill them all.

Sending his senses towards his foe, the knight almost let out a gasp of shock. The cambion’s soul was gray rather than black. It wasn’t even dark gray, but pale. The men and women who’d cornered her were far more of a threat to humanity than she was.

“What the hell is going on?” Nazab murmured in confusion. Normally, it would be his duty to cut down any cambions he encountered. This time, the being who should have been his enemy was the one who was in trouble. His instincts were telling him to rescue her from the humans.

“Why can’t they just let me go?” he heard Monica whisper in despair. She obviously had no idea a Knight of Order was so close, or she would have tried to flee by now.