Spearbound Ch. 65

Eliza was partially undressed, and even though she was paler than usual because of her weakness and recent blood loss, her attractiveness hadn’t disappeared.

Her looks were unimportant while they were fighting for their lives in the rift zone, and even after they escaped, Kade had become used to discarding any considerations out of habit. The view now gave him a reset.

Kade cleared his throat and looked away. “Sorry, I should have waited for you to let me in.”

“Really, Kade?” Eliza laughed. “It’s not like I’m naked. I’m sure you can control yourself after seeing a bruised stomach.”

“Glad to see you back to normal.” Kade rolled his eyes and looked at Eliza.

She exaggerated the severity of the bruises, with the healers erasing nearly all of them. She also downplayed her exposure, but it wasn’t any worse than a bikini.

“All thanks to the hardworking healers.” Eliza patted Celine’s shoulder, who was working over her heart. “And you Kade. I’m not sure what you did, but you got us out of that deathtrap.”

Kade simply nodded. He didn’t know that pillar’s purpose, but since the disembodied voice put so much importance on replenishing it with their blood, he figured it was a good bet to destroy it.

The only lesson he pulled from the rift zone was to do everything possible to keep Earth from falling into the same state.

“And what happened to Hellion?” Eliza asked. She sounded ready to hear bad news.

“Hellion’s on Earth.” Kade prodded the bond. The darn bird had initially agreed to return, but found something that interested it over the now-swampy Lake Michigan and refused to budge since then. “He’s somewhere over the lake, having the time of his life.”

“I can’t wait to see the little cutie again!” Eliza said, delighted they hadn’t abandoned Hellion.

“Who’s Hellion?” Celine asked, speaking for the first time.

Eliza immediately dived into great detail, describing nearly every feather on the ember falcon’s body.

Kade chose this time to send Finn a message. “I need you to come to the hotel and invite Eliza to the chat function.”

He soon found himself dragged into a conversation about food sustainability and things he had no interest in. Finn couldn’t arrive fast enough.

***

“They’re all so adorable!” Eliza exclaimed as she read the chat. Kade still found it odd to see someone look into the air intently, even though he knew there was an unseen interface there.

“Some of those adorable people are hairy men,” Kade said.

“So? Hairy men can be adorable too!” Eliza retorted, going through the chat history.

Kade chuckled and addressed a wary Finn. “Eliza plans on taking a break from exploring rift zones, and I remembered I promised to find you help. There’s nobody more perfect for this.”

Finn visibly struggled to control his expression. His voice strained. “I wouldn’t want Ms. Brooks to waste her time. I’m willing to carry the burden of managing the organization.”

Eliza rejected that. “I wouldn’t call it a waste of time. I used to be president of the student council in the school, and I loved it!”

Kade blinked, unsure if she was being serious about that comparison. He restrained himself from asking when he felt Hellion drawing his attention and interrupted their wordplay. “Hellion’s calling me. Excuse me.”

He left without waiting for a response and heard Finn ask who Hellion was, sending Eliza into another spiel in great detail.

He ignored the people greeting him as he rushed out of the hotel as fast as he could without alarming anyone. He couldn’t send people into a panic by accident.

Kade pushed Hellion to send him images of what he was seeing.

Wet ground. Plentiful trees. Monsters gathering, pointing to the sky at him, preparing to attack.

His eyes narrowed in anger, and he immediately gave up any restraint. Concrete cracked beneath his steps and winds with the force of a storm toppled anyone close to his path.

Several lucky, or unlucky, people in Chicago were the first to witness the speed of the top ranker on the North American continent.

Kade reviewed the images he received and wondered how it was possible for Hellion to be attacked. The ember falcon wasn’t the strongest in a Class D rift zone, but on Earth, he might as well be. The monsters roaming the plant should instinctively avoid Hellion because of it.

He crossed over the imaginary boundary when signified the end of Chicago and entered Lake Michigan, though Swamp Michigan was now more appropriate.

Kade covered countless miles in too short of a time, water doing nothing to slow him down as he approached Hellion’s location. His [Soulrend] was already in his hands, prepared to annihilate the monsters stupid enough to attack the only reason he could escape a Class D rift zone.

He noticed a gathering mass ahead. Goblins climbing on each other, forming a flesh tower and hurling what looked like crude spears at the sky.

There were over five hundred already grouped together, and more tumbling into the crowd every second.

Kade’s mind set off alarm bells at what he saw, but fury took over him when he saw Hellion’s form weakly flapping his wings with a spear sticking out of his body.

Kade roared in anger and jumped. The water below him imploded, revealing the mossy floor for a moment. He rocketed over a hundred feet into the air, easily exceeding the height of the flesh tower, and held his [Soulrend] with both hands as he descended right on top of it.

The goblins froze when he came into their view, and that only made it easier for him to get rid of them. He showed no mercy.

Kade activated [Inferno Burst].

He drowned in the fires that roared around him, and the wind somehow tried to suck him up into the sky. Something felt different.

He continued his descent to the ground. The swamp and all signs of its existence had disappeared.

His ears picked up the sound of rushing water. He could barely believe what he saw through the smoke and quickly leaped back to avoid the water rushing to replace water that was evaporated.

Kade didn’t land. Hellion screeched and wrapped his claws around the [Soulrend], keeping Kade in the air.

“Aw, thank you Hel—ow!” Kade flinched when Hellion pecked at his face. “What’s wrong with you?”

Kade got a rush of images through the bond, things that never happened in reality.

A tower of goblins higher than they were in reality. Hellion waiting, luring them in one place on purpose. A large fireball killed all of them at once. Kade praising Hellion for being smart.

“You weren’t in danger,” Kade said slowly. “You only called me here to show off.”

Hellion squawked in reply, depressed at the lost chance.

“I’m sorry, buddy.” Kade reached out to pat Hellion’s fluffy head. “The next time you see goblins—”

He stiffened, realizing that he had just killed monsters that should have never been on Earth. Goblins were only supposed to be found in rift zones.

Finn: Mr. Beckett, we’re under attack!

“Fuck!” Kade cursed, and he replied, “I’m on the way.” He looked at Hellion and the bird didn’t put up a fight this time. They flew back to Chicago with haste.