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  Fire Sacrifice

  The Sentinels, Book 5

  David J. Normoyle

  Copyright © 2019 by David J. Normoyle

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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  Part I

  Fire Servant

  Chapter 1

  Sunday 18:30

  As dusk fell, the gathered darkness drooped down upon the silent streets of Lusteer; they weren’t silent because it was peaceful. Rather, they were silent because of the lack of peace. War had ravaged Lusteer these past months, and all knew to stay off the streets when night fell. Most stayed off the streets during the day too, if they had any sense.

  Around me, Beacon Sulle and several of his shades were squabbling over little details of the plan of attack, though I had long stopped listening. Each of them had an opinion, and too many ideas ruined a plan far quicker than too few. Simple plans were best, I had learned.

  “It’s time,” I said, interrupting them.

  “We haven’t decided—” Beacon Sulle began.

  “When you see the fire from my attack, go in through the front. I’ll protect the lab until you get there.” With that, I left them.

  “Wait!” Beacon Sulle called after me.

  I ignored him and kept going until running footsteps caused me to turn around. A dark-clad soldier was chasing after me.

  “Don’t run,” I ordered, turning. The streets were empty enough that simply being outside drew attention. Our enemies knew we were out here, but no point putting a target on our backs or giving them at idea of when the attack was coming.

  The soldier slowed and came to a stop in front of me. It was Konstance, who had been Beacon Sulle’s bodyguard back when he’d been known as Richard Sulle.

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  Konstance’s right hand was holding something, and when he raised it, I tensed, retreating a step. Before I had time to summon my firesword, though, I realized it was a video camera, not a gun, that he held.

  “Richard wants me to film you in action,” Konstance said, putting an eye to his viewfinder. The camera was sleek and black, and obviously expensive, possibly one of the top of range camera that networks used.

  “Beacon, not Richard,” I said. “He wants to be called Beacon now.”

  “Old friends can still call him Richard.” Konstance lowered the camera.

  “Is that what you are?” I asked. “A friend? Not just a paid bodyguard? I haven’t seen you around lately.” Beacon Sulle had used shade bodyguards ever since he became Beacon.

  Konstance shrugged. “I’m here now.”

  “I work best alone.”

  “I don’t intend to interfere.” He gestured with the camera. “Just observe.”

  I looked up at the ever darkening sky; I didn’t want to waste time arguing. “If you die, it’s not on me.”

  “My ghost will be the judge of that.” Konstance chuckled to himself.

  I released a low sigh, feeling that, whether he survived the battle or not, I was going to regret letting him come along. Konstance fell in behind me. At the other end of the square was our target, a blocky gray building, rectangular and forbidding. Technically, it was still the police station, though no one in Lusteer did policing anymore. The cops had either left the force or joined Holliday and his shadiers in their war against us.

  The building’s windows were all shuttered closed, and despite the stillness, I knew that inside was crammed with shadiers. Our enemies, wary of us, only occasionally left their defensive positions to raid Beacon-controlled areas.

  I cut through an alleyway so I could keep my distance from the station until I reached one of the back entrances. The city had suffered strangely sporadic effects, with some sections looking unaffected, and others barely standing. In this particular alleyway, a building had fallen outward leaving chunks of rubble blocking half the street, and several burnt-out cars clogged up the other half.

  “War is ugly,” Konstance said from behind me.

  “At least we are winning,” I replied.

  “Are we?”

  “Of course we are.” In the four months since Duffy had been defeated, running battles had raged through the streets of Lusteer. Once Duffy died, the shades who had been coerced to his side swiftly switched their allegiance to Beacon Sulle. That same night, the Sentinel Order and their shadiers led by Holliday had seized the City Hall, the police station, the military barracks, and several other key locations throughout Lusteer.

  Thus, the war had begun. On my side stood Beacon Sulle along with the fire shades and all others who had chosen to follow Uro. On the other side was Walker and the Sentinel Order, led by Holliday and mainly consisting of smoke sentinels and shadiers. What had once seemed an impossible stalemate was turning in our favor. Building by building, we were driving Holliday and his shadiers back. Other than the City Hall, only the police station remained in the hands of the Sentinel Order, and we intended to take the police station that very night.

  The back entrance of the police station was a heavy wooden door crisscrossed with reinforcing black metal. It was locked, but that would barely slow me. “Can you film at night?” I asked Konstance.

  “We’ll be indoors soon,” he said. “Plus, when fire magic is in the air, it doesn’t stay dark for long.”

  “True.” I summoned my fire swords, and red light blazed. Though I held the swords close to my body, I felt no heat from them.

  Konstance scrambled away from me, then he put the camera on his shoulder and placed his eye against the viewfinder. “Do you have something to say?” he asked. “Before you begin the assault.”

  “Stay out of my way.” I lowered the tip of my left firesword and pointed it at the door. Heat swelled within me, and a wide beam of fire burst forth from my fireblade. Hot air exploded outward in a whooshing roar, washing over us. Konstance staggered backward a few steps but he didn’t stop recording. Stepping around burning debris, I walked through the jagged hole where the door had been and into the corridor beyond.

  The smoke was thick, and I let one firesword disappear and coughed into my left hand as I walked until I passed through to fresher air. Behind me, Konstance’s voice rang out. “While the forces of darkness have clawed at the heart of Lusteer, one hero has stood at the forefront of the forces of light; a beacon of hope, if you will.”

  I turned back to him. “Seriously.”

  Konstance shifted the viewfinder of the video camera aside so I could see his face. “If you aren’t going to say something heroic, then at least stay in character. I don’t want to be up all night editing this.”

  “I’m not a character, and this isn’t a movie.”

  “I’ve got the camera. I’m the one who decides whether this is a movie or not. Watch out!”

  That last was a shouted warning, and I turned to find two crossbow-wielding men sprinting my way. I shot a beam of fire, and they dived against walls to either side. One landed on the ground, rolled onto his stomach, then fired his crossbow.

  I threw myself sideways, finding cover in a doorway. The titanium bolt went wide. I felt a breath on my neck and turned around to see Konstance crouched down behind me, his camera still on his shoulder. “This is great framing,” he said. “Light smoke drifting to the ceiling, reflections of the fire caught in the panes of glass. You should charge them and take both of them out.

  “I’m not here to perform in front of the camera.” My job was to get to the basement that the Sentinel Order was us
ing as a lab and to prevent anything from being destroyed. Beacon Sulle suspected that the Order was building something that could change the tide of the war, and the basement lab would be the place to find evidence.

  I had studied a map of the layout of the police station enough that I knew it by heart. I mentally took stock of where I was and realized that I had to take a door midway between where I and my attackers were positioned.

  With the sound like the crack of a whip, a crossbow bolt hit the wall in front of me. I started at the sight of the arrowhead, and two inches of titanium stuck out of the plasterboard just in front of my forehead. My position wasn’t as secure as it looked. Best to rely on my magic rather than walls.

  I formed a shield of protection and stepped into the center of the corridor. Immediately, one crossbow bolt flew toward me. It smashed against the shield, then dropped to the floor. Just because titanium was capable of injuring sentinels or shades didn’t mean that it could penetrate Brimstone magic.

  I sensed Konstance staying close behind me, taking advantage of my shield. When I reached the doorway on the lefthand side of the corridor, I grabbed the handle of the metal door and twisted. It was unlocked. As soon as I pulled the door open, Konstance stepped into the corridor beyond. I hurried after him, letting the shield dissipate.

  “A note from your director. Less running away, more raining down hellfire on enemies,” Konstance said.

  I shut the door, then I pushed my palm against it. After a few moments, the metal glowed yellow. Then, with a crack, the door buckled. I pulled on the handle and found the door well and truly stuck. Satisfied, I continued onward.

  “Undeterred by enemy forces all around him, the fire sentinel strides onward. As Beacon’s forces attack one of last remaining bastions of the Sentinel Order’s power in Lusteer—the police station—Rune Russell has been entrusted with the important mission. The Order are developing a secret weapon, and Rune must prevent vital evidence about the nature of this weapon from being destroyed.”

  I half turned back toward Konstance. “What kind of secret weapon?” Apparently, he knew more than me.

  “Cut!” He lowered his camera. “What did I tell you about staying in character?”

  “I’m not playing anyone; I’m being myself.” I frowned. “How is that not being in character.”

  “No one’s interested in the real you,” Konstance said. “I’m not seeking truth. I’m filming a hero.”

  Just ahead, the corridor turned to the left. I picked up my pace, springing forward. As I’d expected from my memory of the floor plan, the door to the basement was five paces in front of me.

  It was guarded by four men in police uniforms. All four were pointing crossbows at me, and all four became aware of me at once. I leaped just as they fired, somersaulting over the crossbow bolts and landing in the middle of them. I spun, lashing out with both fists, and within moments three men were on the floor.

  It should have been four; one though had just staggered back rather than fallen. He wasn’t just an ordinary human, then, but something more, likely a shadier. As I had that realization, it seemed he, too, remembered his power. His hands came together, preparing a fireball. I swung an elbow, hitting him in the face, using all my strength this time.

  He crashed against a wall, almost going though the wall. Plaster crumbled down upon him. I stood over him, watching, ready to summon my fireswords and finish it. But he didn’t get up; he had been knocked unconscious.

  Konstance came up behind me. “Not bad. But we have poor lighting. And you know what looks better than punching in bad lighting? Fire and explosions.”

  The door was locked, but a quick search of the shadier’s pockets turned up a keyring, and, after a few tries, I managed to click open the lock.

  As I stepped through the doorway and into the stairwell beyond, I thought about locking Konstance outside, but that would be leaving him unprotected. He was just doing the job Beacon Sulle had given him. I had to let him stay with me, no matter how annoying he was becoming.

  Before I had a chance to second guess that decision, Konstance pushed past me. I shut the door behind us, inserted the key and locked it. I snapped the top of the key, leaving the base of it in the lock. According to the floorplans, that door was the only entrance to the basement.

  Konstance shook his head, watching me. “Did anyone ever tell you that you are good at avoiding confrontation?”

  “No.” Ever since I was seventeen and discovered my powers, confrontation had always found me. “And you should be glad I’m not jumping into dangerous situations. You are the one who’d be most at risk.”

  “I’m not afraid.”

  “It’s not about being afraid. It’s about not having a death wish.” Early in the war, I had gone through a phase of throwing myself into wherever the fighting was heaviest. It had resulted in plenty of death, just not mine.

  “Following one’s mission in life is what’s important,” Konstance said. “Choosing the path of lengthiest mortality rate is what’s not.”

  Goddamn loon, I thought.

  With the door shut, the stairwell was dark, so I summoned a firesword to light the way as I descended. Red light flickered against the walls.

  I hoped to find the basement lab empty, in which case, I could just wait out the battle down here. We had the shadiers outmatched, so I had no doubt we’d win. Konstance’s unhappiness about not having any more action to film would be a happy bonus.

  Even before I reached the bottom of the stairs, loud crashes warned that wasn’t the case. I hurried down the last few steps and rushed into the basement.

  The place looked like something from a weird science-fiction movie. Strange-looking equipment of various shapes and sizes filled the room. Beakers dripped green liquid into pots, narrow beams of colored light bounced off prisms, and metal tubes, vibrating noisily, were twisted into giant concentric circles. Computers were plugged into monitoring devices, and two printers spooled out paper at high speed. I could see little logic to the types of experiments—it was as if a child’s science set had learned how to replicate and grow.

  However, if the lab held any secrets, it wouldn’t for much longer because Holliday was standing on a desk smashing through everything within range of his warhammer—one section of the room had already been turned into a scrap heap.

  Chapter 2

  Sunday 19:15

  “Stop!” I shouted.

  Holliday stilled, his warhammer held high over his head. “Join in,” he said. “You wouldn’t believe how much fun this is.” Then he brought the hammer down in a long arc, smashing a computers and several beakers, sending electronics, broken glass, and a viscous green liquid spraying across the room. I leaped onto a desk opposite him, and when he brought his hammer down again, aiming at more equipment, I blocked with two crossed firesword.

  “And now, Rune finally faces off against Holliday,” Konstance said. “The Sentinel Order, once a force of harmony, was corrupted by their leaders, Holliday and Walker. But evil is never allowed to stand unopposed for long.”

  Even as Holliday and I strained against each other, fireswords against warhammer, we both half-turned to look at Konstance.

  “Brimstone—that unknowable place—provided sentinels with both the powers of smoke and fire,” Konstance continued. “When the smoke sentinels betrayed their brothers, all fire sentinels were killed except for one. Rune Russell, the last fire sentinel, and a force of retribution and justice that wreaks havoc on—”

  “Can you shut him up?” Holliday asked me.

  “Believe me, I’ve been trying.”

  “Just speak as if I’m not here,” Konstance said. “Just a fly on the wall.”

  “Flies are for swatting, not ignoring,” Holliday said. “Particularly noisy ones.” Holliday jumped backward, breaking the impasse between us, and he sprinted Konstance’s way.

  Konstance took several rapid steps backward, but Holliday wasn’t interested in him. Instead, Holliday smashed the closes
t computer with his warhammer, then raised his hammer for another strike. I jumped across at him, my left firesword blocked the warhammer from descending just as a flying kick caught him in the chest and sent him crashing against the wall. Holliday’s warhammer disappeared in a swirl of smoke.

  “Don’t get up,” I told him, moving across to stand in front of him. Holliday was clearly determined to destroy as much as was possible, but I was just as determined to stop him. If the Sentinel Order was designing a dangerous weapon, we had to discover more about it.

  Holliday slowly climbed to his feet. “Do you really think filming this attack on the police station is going to help your cause? Attempting blatant propaganda is going to backfire. The people hate your side.”

  Konstance backed up to the far wall. He didn’t stop filming, but he was staying silent, abandoning the running commentary.

  “Filming this certainly wasn’t my idea,” I said. “I’m just here to put a stop to your secret weapon.”

  “Your side understands that you might be winning the battles, but you are losing the war, or you wouldn’t have a cameraman with you. The hearts and minds of the people are being lost. People the length and breath of the city are preparing to rise up against Beacon Sulle and the fire elemental that pulls his strings.”

  “That’s not true. The war is nearly over.”

  “How does the phrase go?” Holliday spread his arms wide and took a step forward. “Strike me down and a hundred more will rise up in my place.”

  He hadn’t summoned his warhammer, and his step put him in range of my fireswords. I didn’t swing at him, though, taking a step back instead. “There aren’t a hundred more sentinels to take your place.”

  “The era of the sentinels is over,” Holliday said.

  “Who’s fault is that?” I asked. The Sentinel Order had banished all fire sentinels from their ranks, then later used a fire summoning crystal to bring about the Searing, which had killed all fire sentinels except me.