THUD. THUD.
The heavy impacts echoed across the tiled floor as Hunter and Beltrom collapsed in unison. Their chests heaved as they desperately sought oxygen that the heat vacuum had stolen. As consciousness fled them, their monstrous forms began to recede. Silver fur retracted into the skin and the chitinous mantis armor dissolved into sludge. Within seconds, only two naked, unconscious men lay amidst the debris.
Silence reclaimed the laboratory. The only sound remaining was the rhythmic bubbling of the suspension pods.
Vanderznak stood motionless in the center of the room. He observed his fallen henchmen with a clinical detachment. His gaze drifted to the three men Zareth had dispatched earlier, then to Jarrar who remained embedded in the concrete wall, and finally to Hunter and Beltrom.
"Tsk."
The purple titan turned his lone golden eye toward the barefoot Priest.
"You never cease to surprise me, Priest. Your resilience is astounding."
Vanderznak smoothed back his long grey hair with a clawed hand.
"Why don't we set aside our differences? Join me, Zareth. I could use a partner of your caliber. Together, we can create a future that would surprise even the gods."
He extended a massive hand in invitation.
Zareth didn't even blink. He flexed his mutated left arm and shook out the tension. "Not interested. It is your time to die, Madman. Or are you scared?"
"Kuhuhu..."
Vanderznak's laughter started low in his chest and built into a roar.
"Scared? I only extend this offer for your sake. I would hate for such magnificent potential to be turned into dust six feet under."
Zareth smirked. "I have plenty of experience sleeping in a coffin. Your threats don't scare me."
He took a step forward; his bare feet made no sound on the blood-slicked floor. "Since you have no cure for this arm, I will kill you now and dismantle this cursed estate brick by brick."
Vanderznak sighed. He lowered his hand and gestured expansively to the rows of pods lining the walls. Inside, hundreds of pregnant women floated in green stasis.
"You speak of curses and dismantling, but look around you. Are you upset because of these specimens?"
Vanderznak walked over to a pod and tapped the glass affectionately.
"They are necessary breeders for my experimentation. Surely a man like you understands that science requires sacrifice. Lab mice can only achieve so much. To reach the divine, we must spend human currency."
He turned back to Zareth and his expression hardened into one of fanatical conviction.
"In your line of profession, you have experienced situations where you had to make the 'right' call. You have sacrificed a fellow Apostle to save a village, haven't you? You have weighed the lives of the few against the survival of the many."
Zareth narrowed his eyes but remained silent.
"Well, my profession is no different!" Vanderznak shouted. "I will sacrifice hundreds in order to create one perfect future! The road to evolution is paved by the bodies of the deceased. Those who are subjected to become the pavement, and those who walk upon it... it was all determined by fate!"
Vanderznak spread his arms wide.
"Men like you and me, Zareth... we are the walkers. We stride upon the pavement of bone and blood while others stumble before us to lay the foundation. Why do you insist on halting the progress of evolution? Why fight gravity?"
Zareth stared at the madman. Then sighed.
"You talk too much. I don't care about your philosophy or your pavement. I just don't like you. I don't like the way you treat humans like livestock. Are you done talking now? Because I'm coming to kill you."
Vanderznak's smile vanished. His golden eye twitched.
"Kill... me? I dare you to try!"
FWOOSH!
Vanderznak's back arched. The two massive, bat-like wings unfurled with explosive force and generated a gust of wind that skidded Zareth backward.
SQUELCH. POP. POP.
Along the leathery expanse of the wings, flesh tore open. Dozens of golden eyes blinked into existence along the membrane. They swiveled madly and locked onto Zareth from every angle.
"Even now, I continue to evolve!" Vanderznak's aura flared, heavy and suffocating.
Zareth raised his mutated arm to shield his face from the wind. He winced as the pressure washed over him.
'This madman... he is troublesome. I don't have my Sarxicmeter on me, but if I were to compare his strength to a Tumor... I'd say he sits at a Possession Magnitude of about 5.3. Maybe higher. What a pain in the neck.'
"Come at me, Priest!" Vanderznak beckoned. "What are you waiting for? An invitation? Don't you want to kill me? Then come!"
Zareth didn't waste another second. He dug his bare toes into the concrete for traction.
BOOM!
He launched himself forward. He closed the distance in a heartbeat and cocked his mutated left arm back. The black scales gleamed under the flickering lights as he unleashed a punch meant to shatter bone.
Vanderznak didn't dodge. He met the attack head-on.
WHAM!
Fist met fist.
The impact sent a shockwave through the laboratory. The floor buckled beneath them and glass beakers shattered on the counters.
RUMBLE... CRACK!
The force of their collision shook the foundation. Several of the suspension pods developed spiderweb fractures.
Zareth's eyes darted to the pods. 'The women...'
He hesitated. If he went all out, the structural integrity of the room would fail, and the victims trapped in the glass would be crushed or suffocated.
Vanderznak sensed the hesitation instantly.
"Why are you holding back, Priest?"
Vanderznak roared and poured more strength into his arm.
"You'll die if you continue to care for the pavement!"
BANG!
Vanderznak overpowered Zareth's guard and blasted him backward. Zareth flew across the room and slammed into the reinforced concrete wall. He slid down, gasping, but quickly regained his footing.
Zareth wiped blood from his lip. "Fine. If you want to play rough..."
He prepared to rush ahead again, intending to drag the fight into the hallway away from the pods.
RUMBLE...
Suddenly, the ground shook violently beneath them. It wasn't from their punches. This was deeper, more guttural.
ZZZT. CLICK.
The overhead lights died. The lab plunged into darkness.
A second later, the red emergency lights bathed the room in a sinister, bloody glow.
"What is it this time?" Zareth glared at the silhouette of the winged monster. "What did you do, freak?"
Vanderznak looked around in confusion. The golden eyes on his wings blinked rapidly in the dim light.
"This was not my doing," Vanderznak replied with genuine perplexity. "What could have caused such a quake?"
He looked toward the rows of pods. The hum of the machinery had changed pitch. It was dying.
"The main respirators are failing," Vanderznak noted. "Did something happen to the main generator?"
…
Outside, chaos reigned.
ROAR! CRACKLE!
A pillar of fire ascended into the night sky. The building that housed the estate's massive power generator was an inferno. Flames licked the stars and illuminated the courtyard with jagged, dancing shadows.
"Water! Get more water!"
"The tank is empty! Use the buckets from the well!"
Dozens of men rushed back and forth in a frenzy. They tossed buckets of water into the blaze, but it was like spitting at a dragon. The heat was intense, and the smell of burning oil was thick in the air.
"You incompetence fools!"
Carl Blackthorn stood on the balcony of the main mansion. He wore a silk robe over his suit and his face was purple with rage.
"Don't let it spread to my quarters!" Carl screamed. "Do you hear me? If my collection burns, I will skin every one of you!"
He gripped the railing until his knuckles turned white.
"One disaster after another! First the alarm, now this? Where the hell is Vanderznak? He should be fixing this!"
Carl looked toward the main gate. He knew the Marquis of Greymoor was waiting. He had intended to go out and offer his deepest apologies, to smooth things over with expensive wine and lies. But how could he greet a noble when his own house was burning down?
"Who did this?" Carl shrieked at the smoke. "Just who the hell caused this?"
…
The fire was no accident.
In the shadows of the Preservation Wing, far from the frantic bucket brigade, a silent exodus was taking place.
"Move quickly, little ones. Stay low."
Wenamor crouched by the side of the building. He ushered a line of terrified children out of the door. They moved in single file, clutching each other's hands.
Behind him, Laviss emerged. She carried Zareth's bound boy on her back. The child chewed on his gag and watched the distant fire with glowing red eyes.
"That fire is beautiful," Laviss whispered to Wenamor as she passed. "It was a genius idea to distract the guards."
Wenamor wiped soot from his face and grimaced. "It won't be extinguished easily. I tampered with the water tanks before we set the charge. They will be fighting that blaze for hours."
He looked toward the main lab complex in the distance.
'Sorry, Sir Zareth. I disobeyed your orders to stay put. But we couldn't just wait in the dark anymore.'
"Keep moving," Jerrick whispered from the rear. He held his flamethrower ready, though he hadn't fired it. The generator explosion had been caused by simple sabotage, saving his fuel for defense.
"Hey! You there!"
A guard sprinted around the corner. He held an empty bucket and stopped dead when he saw the line of escaping children.
"What do you think you're—"
CLANG!
The guard's eyes rolled back in his head. He crumpled to the ground.
Jerrick stood over him, smoking knuckles raised.
"Not a word," Jerrick growled. He looked at the others. "Hurry! Before more goons discover us!"
Wenamor nodded and urged the children toward the hidden drain grate. "Into the tunnel! Quietly now!"
The children shuffled forward. But with a group this large, silence was a fragile thing. A few of the younger ones began to whimper, and the sound drifted dangerously into the night air.