“Okay.”
22
They had yetto start repairs on the bridge. The towers stood at an angle and many of the wires were snapped. They had deemed it safe enough to fix, but that didn’t mean it’d be up and running any time in the next year.
In the middle of the carnage—the gaping hole. That day, I thought I might fall to the river below. Now, with a flex of muscle, I’d summon the fire and skid along the water’s surface in a puff of steam. The world had changed.Ihad changed.
I sped along the road, dodging abandoned cars. They had removed the deceased, both human and magical creatures, but otherwise, it remained untouched. I slowed, expecting Smoke to ambush me before I reached the worst of the damage.
“What the hell?” I mumbled as I halted my approach. Smoke stood in the center of a circle with a dozen people surrounding him. I had watched enough B-rate horrors to know magical crap was about to go down. Whatever was unfolding couldn’t be good, and now with a coven surrounding him, I had more innocents to worry about.
He knew I was heading to the bridge. Yet he arrogantly stood with his back to me. The man’s arrogance was astounding, but he had reason. Without me even knowing it, he had bested me. Unlike before, he wasn’t working in the shadows.
“Smoke!”
Nobody moved. Apparently, a man covered in fire shouting wasn’t enough to grab their attention. The men and women in the circle spread their hands out, nearly touching fingers as they leaned their heads back. This was the part in the movie where something unsuspecting jumped out of the shadows.
Their bodies dropped to the ground, crumpling like rag dolls. In their place, dark specters maintained the same position. Did he simply kill a dozen people without so much as a snap of his fingers?
“Smoke!”
I landed, dropping the flames. I stormed toward the circle until I could hear the eerie voices of the shadows chanting. Finally, Smoke turned around. Past the billowing wisps of black, I could see Aiden bound and gagged on hisknees. Him sitting in the middle of the circle didn’t bode well, and if this was a movie plot, he’d be the sacrifice.
“Have you come to watch the finale? It’s going to be a good one.”
“I know you’re behind the depowering.”
Smoke laughed, that irksome sound that said he had a secret that nobody else could know. The fire erupted from my arms, the anger pushing it from my body. With a shake of the head, I regained my bearings. Pulverizing him wouldn’t be the answer. I had to keep my head on straight or I had already lost.
“Aiden, are you okay?”
Smoke stepped to the side, making sure I could see his captive. Aiden looked down, giving a shimmy in the ropes holding his arms at his side.
“You know, I’ve been better.” I’d take the humor as a good sign. He shifted back and forth, but the ropes held him in place. “I might need a hand,” he added.
While he seemed unscathed, the shadowy figures continued their chanting. Were they casting a spell? For all the heroes I had interacted with, I couldn’t recall any of them talking about magic. Metal super suits, sure, but if memory served me right, most of the magic users were tightlipped about their practices.
When in doubt of a villain’s plan, ask.
“What’s the game plan, Smoke?”
He grew several feet, hulking over Aiden. Did he justrub his hands together and cackle? Wow, Griffin would have a heyday with how many stereotypes this villain fell into.
“You haven’t figured it out… Blaze?” He treated my name like an insult. It was a dumb name, but the joke was on him—I already knew it was stupid. “Like you, my powers were given to me. Yours were granted to you by Prometheus, mine—” The smoke pulled away from his chest, revealing the necklace. “Mine by a demon desperate to be free.”
“Great, I appreciate the history lesson. What did you do to the heroes?”
“Heroes? Oh no, it’s not just heroes. I stole the powers of every person who refused to serve me.” Oh great, that meant every person left with powers was part of Smoke’s gang of heathens.
“Loyalty or depowered? Nice trick.” I couldn’t deny it. He had done more damage to Vanguard than the time sentient jellyfish from another dimension attacked.
“I hold all the cards.”
“And this little group therapy session?” I gestured to the shadows, who continued to ignore me.
“I’m making good on a promise. Power for his release. And once Beleth is free, he will rule the mortal realm.”
“So you’re giving up your position? You don’t strike me as somebody to take a knee.”
