Chaos Lives in Everything - 35. Chapter 35

Skold watched the two guards standing in front of the Atheyx building. They wore dark uniforms, their faces shadowed by the bill of the black caps they wore. They looked human but Skold had a strong suspicion that it was just a glamor spell; he suspected that they were really furies. He would find out soon enough.

“See you inside,” Skold said to Dom and Candestine. He pulled the side door of the van and climbed out.

“Make sure you leave us something to kill,” Dom said.

“We don’t want to miss out on any of the fun,” Candestine agreed.

“I will try,” Skold said. “No guarantees granted.”

Skold waited until the van pulled away and moved towards the building. The guards were laughing at something. Skold moved so silently and quickly that they didn’t notice him until he was standing directly in front of them.

“Hey, you can’t be here,” one of the guards said. “This is private property.”

“I know,” Skold said.

“Oh shit!” one of the guards cursed.

Before the guards could reach for their sidearms Skold had pulled out both of his Colts and fired two elven rounds in their head. He watched their glamor-skin melt away showing the gargoyle-like creatures underneath.

Dom and Candestine came walkng around the corner.

“That was quick,” Skold said.

“We ran,” Dom said. His shot gun was leaning against his shoulder.

Again Skold grinned and led them in through the glass doors. Just as they stepped into the lobby an alarm started to blare.

Pyrius stormed into the security room. Haedes, the head of security, was shouting over the intercom. “I need enforciments down on the lobby floor! We have three intruders that have breached the building! Repeat: Three intruders have breached the building!”

Pyrius’s double chin jiggled as his frown deepened. “Haedes, what the fuck is going on!”

The humungous fury gestured to the screen with a meaty hand. “See for yourself sir.”

Pyrius squinted. On screen three elves had just strolled into the building. “Fuck, it’s Skold!” He wiped his forehead with the palm of his hand; it came back covered in sweat. He hated how much these human bodies sweated. “He made a big mistake coming here; he’s about to find out that I am not the one to fuck with! Haedes, take control of the situation!”

“Don’t worry, boss, I will!”

“You better, because if not I’ll be wearing your fucking balls for earrings!”

“You better get in your office, boss. I’ll send some guards with you. Don’t worry, I got things under control here.”

Cursing under his breath, Pyrius hurried back into his office with several security guards on his tail. They wore armor and carried bulky automatic rifles that would surely tear the intruders to shreds.

Just to make himself feel better, Pyrius reached behind his desk and pulled out the 12 gauge that he kept for just in case purposes. He slid several shells into the chamber and aimed it at the elevator doors.

Come get me, Skold, he thought. Come get me if you dare.

An army of security guards seemed to come out from all sides of the lobby. Smoke filled the room as smoke bombs rolled across the floor. Skold took cover behind a pillar as fire erupted all around them. Dom and Candestine had taken cover behind the receptionist desk.

Plaster was torn from the wall; the smell of gun powder stung his nose. He pulled a grenade from his belt, pulled out the pin with his teeth, and threw it in the direction of the gun fire. Seconds later there was a large explosion and a blinding flash of light. In the wake of the explosion several bodies went flying.

“Fuck!” he heard someone scream.

A guard rounded the corner of the pillar that Skold was hiding behind and aimed his shotgun at Skold’s head. Before he could fire Skold lashed out, slashing the guard’s throat with his knife. He decided it was time to move on. The pillar had pretty much disintergrated underneath the heavy assault of bullets. He leapt into the the smokescreen and chaos and dropped into a roll. As he got to his feet he remained in a crouch and unloaded both of his uzis. Bullets whizzed over his head. Bullets dropped to the once pristine floor in his wake.

The custodians were going to have a hell of a time cleaning up the place in the morning.

The gun fight only lasted for a few more minutes. The three elves dealt with the guards quickly and efficiently. Compared to the abominations that they had dealt with underground and Bane, the furies were rather easy to deal with.

Skold’s ears were still ringing when the lobby went silent. Bodies were littered all around them but they no longer looked human.

Skold pressed the upper arrow; they waited patiently for the elevator to make its dessent.

“That was fun,” Candestine said brightly. “I hope there’s more.”

“Don’t act dim,” Skold replied. “You know there are.”

The elevator doors opened. They stepped inside. The elevator went up seven stories before security shut the elevator down, shutting the lights out.

“They must be desperate,” Candestine said casually. “Do they not know that they are only delaying the inevitable?”

Skold did not answer for he was already climbing into the elevator shaft. Dom went next and then Candestine. A latter rose all of the way to the top, disappearing into shadow. It looks like we have to climb all of the way to the top, he thought.

They started the climb, moving steadily. They had climbed another seven or eight stories when the gears of the elevator car squealed again and the elevator rose rapidly as if to crush them. At the last second they leapt on top of the car. Skold wondered if Pyrius’s hired security had brains in their head at all.

They ducked back into the elevator. The doors slid open.

The fighting resumed.

Pyrius watched as the Aethyx building shrunk in his rearview mirror. He drove at full speed. All of his documents, all of the experiments that he’d conducted under Samhein’s orders were inside of the black suitcase sitting in the passenger’s seat of his Taurus.

Tonight had turned into a real clusterfuck. He hadn’t expected Skold to come charging into the building, guns blazing; and he certainly hadn’t expected Skold to bring others. The profile he had been given on Skold always informed him that the elf always worked alone.

Pyrius pulled out his cell phone and made a phone call. In just hours he would be in Tokyo. Aethyx was a worldwide corporation but the headquarters were in Tokyo. I’ll be damned if I’m going to die at the hands of a disgusting eunuch, he thought.

“I don’t think Pyrius is here!” Candestine shouted.

Despite his impeccable hearing, Skold could barely hear her under the roar of endless bullets that were punching into the steel walls of the elevator car.

“The coward must of run off,” Dom growled. “He’s probably planning an escape route out of the country as we speak.”

“We cannot afford to let him get away,” said Skold. “He has all of the information we need. I have four grenades left.” He passed them out to Dom and Candestine, two each. “I need to cover me for a few seconds. I’m going over them.”

“You got it!”

Dominyc and Candestine unleashed the remaining grenades as Skold ducked out of the elevator and through the fire escape. The explosion that followed shook the floor underneath Skold’s feet. He ran as fast as he could. Without breaking a sweat or losing his breath he burst out of the Atheyx building.

A block over he spotted a Honda CJ250 that rather caught his eye. Hopefully the owner won’t mind if I use it for a few minutes, he thought. Inserting the blade of his dagger into the ignition, he sped through the night at full speed. Brutal wind and snow blew at his face. His eyes were half slits. The wind chilled his cheeks. Tonight the weather was just a few degrees above zero. He gripped both of the throttles so tight that the flesh across his knuckles was tight. He weaved through traffic and past red lights, traffic laws be damned.

He coasted past a sign that said LEAVING ROC CITY. The sign depicted a black outline of skyscrapers and buildings under a starry night sky. He swerved skillfully to avoid a long patch of black ice. Not a minute later he spotted Pyrius’ Taurus seventy yards ahead; his headlight glowed like the beacon of a lighthouse.

It didn’t take long for Skold to close the distance in between them. He pulled up beside the Taurus. Just as he pulled out his Colt the window exploded outwards; a shard of glass sliced his cheek open. Warm blood trailed down his cheek.

“Fuck you, Skold!” Pyrius screamed.

Skold threw a glance at him just in time to see Pyrius raise his Desert Eagle right at his head. Before he could fire Skold leapt off the motorcycle right through the window. Outside of the car the motorcycle spun end over end before coming to a halt in a heap of crumpled metal.

“Fuck you, Skold!” Pyrius shrieked again. It seemed to be the only thing that the fury knew how to say.

Skold responded by knocking the weapon out of his pudgy hand. The gun clattered to the floor, He grabbed the fury by his fat head and slammed it as hard as he could into the steering wheel. The steering wheel was jerked hard to the right, taking the car with it. The Taurus crached through a thicket of trees and branches. A million branches snapped in the Taurus’ wake. They tore relentlessly at the sides of the car and the windshield and the windows.

Pyrius seemed to grab a hold of the situation and slammed on the brakes. Skold ducked underneath the dashboard as the car came to a halt. Unfortunantly Pyrius was not so lucky. Three hundred pounds of fat flew through the windshield and rolled downhill out of sight. Skold sat up. He picked up the Desert Eagle. Lying next to the gun was a large black suitcase. He picked it up. It was fairly heavy. He could only imagine what all information was inside.

He kicked the door open; the hinges squealed as if in agony. The cut on his face had already healed; the same however could not be said for the fury’s car. The engine churned a few times and then died. He leapt down the hill and found himself standing in a large. Snow rose up around his ankles.

Pyrius rose to his feet and turned. He cursed and was brushing snow off the legs of his pants with his hands. Half of his “face” had been torn off but was already starting to heal. Skold cocked his gun.

Pyrius raised his hands. “Wait! Wait! Don’t shoot! I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement. I have connections with people, political power that you wouldn’t believe. And besides none of this is truly my fault. I was just following Samhein’s orders.”

Samhein, Skold thought. Ah, I knew he was lying about his involvement. And now I have the proof that I need. Skold didn’t wait to hear the rest. He emptied the Desert Eagle into Pyrius’ head. Seven rounds of silver straight into the brain.

“Sorry,” Skold murmered. “I have what I need from you.”

“Samhein, Paladin’s former advisor. Fuck!” Candestine turned to Skold. “If you suspected him then why didn’t you just kill him? It would have saved us a lot of trouble, don’t you think?”

They were back at Skold’s apartment now. The contents of Pyrius’ suitcase was spread out over the coffee table. There were transcripts of transactions, emails, exchanges, meeting agendas, everything that pointed to the main culprit. They now knew the second person that was pulling the strings. Finally. Not for the first time he could not help but take notice of Rebecca’s presence and the fact that he rather missed it. He missed her corny sense of humor, the over-the-top way she dressed.

“I wanted evidence,” he said calmly.

His sister snorted more out of shock then derision. “Since when did you need evidence to form a decision? You never waited for evidence before. If you suspected someone you just took them out. It saved a lot of time and inconvience.” She nodded, catching on. “Ah, trying to turn a new leaf are we? On some newfound path for redemption are we?” She glanced scathingly at Dom. “I’m impressed. You’ve done what not even my father could do: You’ve domesticated him.”

“I have not been domesticated,” Skold said sharply. He glared at her resentfully, “I have simply realized the error of my ways. Whether this was meant to happen as the seer said, what is happening is consequence for the decisions I have made and the actions I have taken. And I suggest that you learn to hold your tongue before I lose my patience and rip it out.”

Candestine immediately became silent. She seemed to become more interested in nibbling at her fingernails.

“This time tomorrow whatever Samhein’s plan with be over,” Skold said. “I will cut his head off his shoulders as I did with Paladin.”

A sudden knock at the door made the three elves alert. They all stood up, weapons in hand. After the events of last night it was better to be safe than sorry. Skold peeked through the door knob and felt his heart stop. He didn’t know if he was seeing a ghost or a figment of his imagination. There was only one way to be sure.

He opened the door.

“Hello, Maeglin,” he said.

“Skold.” Kane’s most loyal friend and ally nodded back at Skold. “It has been too long.”