“Agent Oberton, come out and talk to me. I’m tired of dealing with this idiot.”
Darren couldn’t stop himself from stepping to the side. Kavon’s bull trumpeted into the air, and Bennu flew up into the storm clouds. The sky darkened, and the first fat drops of rain fell on Darren’s head. “Your guide turned psychopaths into gods,” Darren said. He tried to step forward, but Kavon caught his arm. “I’m pretty sure Anzu turned them into psychopaths in the first place, but you don’t care. All you want is power. Isn’t that the myth of Anzu? He stole the book of destiny because he wanted to have the power to rewrite reality.”
Butler’s smile was lazy and dangerous and cold all at once. “At least one of you has done some research. But I promise you, your guide has far more blood on his hands.”
“Bennu and Pochi were trying to prevent more death.”
“Pochi? That makes him sound so cute,” Butler said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. “Huitzilopochtli is the monster who wants human sacrifice.”
“He never wanted that.” Darren knew that in the marrow of his bones. He had felt the guilt and pain both the guides projected when they remembered what they had done all those years ago. They had acted out of necessity and a sense of duty to put the Earth back the way they had found it.
“Is that what they told you? Breaking news, Agent Oberton, they lied. They wanted power, and Anzu disagreed. My guide is about expressing himself. He's a hippie. Your guide’s people are the Nazis trying to purify the world with their final solution. So, this time are they going to kill the millions of people affected by their power? Are they going to kill the tens of millions of their own children born on earth who have become these stunted guides?” Butler gestured toward Kavon’s bull who still guarded the field in his mastodon form. “No, I shouldn’t call them Nazis. Their desire for purity will make the Nazis appear cute and fluffy by comparison.”
“They haven’t killed anyone recently,” Kavon said, his voice tight, but his discomfort with the conversation flowed through the bond. “And I am uninterested in ancient history. You attacked FBI agents on a public street and endangered bystanders in the process.”
“I didn’t think there was a statute of limitations on mass murder.” Butler tilted his head like a bird. The extreme body posture resembled something from a movie on demonic possession. He turned his attention back to Darren, and the itching discomfort returned. Kavon stepped in front of Darren. “Mason Butler, you are under arrest for assault against a federal agent, endangering the public, destruction of public goods, destruction of private property, and assault.”
Butler angled his shoulders to face Kavon. “Is that how you're going to play it?” he asked in an amused tone.
“Yes.”
“You don't have the authority to arrest me.” The black storm clouds circled faster. When Cruz had tried to set up his own Talent kingdom, his power had created a storm, but it had been chaotic. This was far more controlled and powerful.
Kavon had to raise his voice over the roar of the wind. “I do have the authority. You are a citizen of the United States of America, and whether you have chosen to join with a guide or not, you are subject to the same laws that every other American citizen is subject to.”
“I don't recognize your authority. I choose to be a citizen of the spirit plane. I am a shaman.” He raised his hands into the air and threw his head back. “I answer only to my god!”
He sounded like one of those sovereign citizen idiots claiming independence right before a patrol officer broke out their window and dragged them out of the car. Lightning crackled and power pressed down against Darren.
An inhuman cry filled reality and Pochi appeared midair, his small body headed for the calm, blue eye of the storm. Bennu exploded into flight, leaving Kavon’s bull to trumpet angrily and rear up a few feet before slamming the ground .
Darren couldn’t see Pochi, but Bennu’s shadow plunged into the center of the storm. Darren blinked and Anzu appeared. He dove straight down, his beak open as he screamed. Rain fell, but the winds grabbed it and hurled it in a circle around them. Darren stepped back to take advantage of the small bit of shelter the vehicle and the protection spell attached to it offered. The winds were so great that the SUV rocked in the hurricane force winds.
Bennu’s cry was a raucous, guttural warble that pierced the roar of the storm, and Anzu reversed mid-flight, thrusting his claws out toward Bennu. Darren curled his hands into fists.
Seconds before the two birds crashed into each other, Pochi darted between Anzu’s outstretched legs, his beak slicing into Anzu’s stomach so a thin line of blood appeared. Anzu’s head flew back as Pochi crashed into it. Anzu screamed and snapped his armored jaw. However, Pochi evaded with a series of sharp turns that Anzu couldn’t follow.
Bennu pursued, his own claws reaching for Anzu and occasionally ripping out dark feathers. The three birds had a strange and deadly game of tag above the street, their wings disrupting the storm and spawning dozens of tiny funnel clouds.
“Focus on the human!” Butler pointed at Darren at the same time the radio clicked twice. A triple click answered, and Darren held his breath. Anzu froze mid-flight, his massive head swinging around to focus on Darren.
“Go!” Kavon yelled, and Darren jumped into the SUV. Out the front windshield, he watched Anzu dive toward him. One side of his face was rust-red with smeared blood, and he opened his skull-like mouth to give a shrill scream.
Bennu cried out and turned to chase Anzu, but he didn’t have the speed to catch up. Darren held his breath, but then thousands of wasps swarmed out from under the SUV. They created an impenetrable cloud that massed around Anzu’s head. Anzu exploded into a frenzy. Flailing and snapping, he twisted about in the air, but then Pochi slammed into his side, and Anzu slammed into the ground with an Earth-shaking thud.
“Leave him alone!” A blue halo enveloped Kavon’s head before fire burst from his hands and streamed toward Butler in slow motion. Butler threw up an arm to shield himself.
“You have no idea how much magic my god gives me,” he shouted.
Kavon’s bull charged, his massive form dwarfing Butler, but Butler flung his hand out, and the bull mastodon skidded away and crashed to the ground. Kavon stepped forward and his fire changed from blue to white. A bolt of lightning exploded, temporarily blinding Darren. However, he felt the fear flowing out of Kavon. By the time Darren blinked the image back into focus, Kavon was on his knees with his bull standing over him.
Darren couldn’t go out there without exposing his team to more danger, but he couldn’t sit helpless while Kavon died. He grabbed the radio and broke all protocol by yelling, “Do something! Now! Right now!” A cloud of wasps darted through the storm and then split, half toward Anzu and half toward Butler.
Smith made a fist-like gesture in the direction of the swarm and wasps started falling dead. Hundreds littered the ground before the rest started to vanish. Darren prayed that Les’s guide was one of the survivors, but when his attention was distracted, Anzu targeted Bennu.
Bennu tumbled out of the sky, one wing bent and useless, and pain seared Darren’s nerves. Kavon stood, one hand on the bull’s side and the other held out in front of him. Kavon’s concussive blast slammed the air so hard that even the rain flew in the opposite direction, but Butler put his head down and let it pass over him. And then he stood. He was halfway through a gesture when he stumbled forward with a confused expression. His hand went to his chest and he stumbled to his knees.
Rain poured down as the swirling maelstrom turned to chaos. Smith fell forward. Anzu flew toward his shaman, but then he hesitated. His huge head swung from side to side in a clear search pattern, but he didn’t notice as Pochi raced toward him from his right. Pochi slammed into Anzu, and this time the huge monster nearly hit the ground. He put out a giant lion’s paw with cruel talons to catch himself and then leaped back into the air.
