“Take out the monsters, but remember you can’t use your magic,” I told the bounty hunters.
Gypsy drew two guns. “No magic. That’s just the way I like it.”
I knew that like Calli and Jinx, she didn’t have any magic. I knew that Nolan Ash did have magic. I wasn’t sure about the others, though.
“Take these.” I tossed each of the bounty hunters a small pack of potions. “You can use these, but use them sparingly because once they’re out, that’s it.” I looked grimly upon the besieged town. “Good luck.”
Gemini and Sagittarius were already running off down the main street, right into the heat of battle. Cocky, weren’t they? Nolan joined a pair of nearby paranormal soldiers locked in combat with a rather behemoth wild wolf. Jinx started climbing up a ladder along the side of a building; with one broken ankle, the going was slow.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t defect to the monsters’ side,” Gypsy told me with a wink, then followed Jinx up.
Faith clenched her fists, planted a determined expression on her face, then ran in the direction of trouble. I grabbed the hood of her sweatshirt, stopping her before she’d made it two steps. Her head snapped around, and she shot me a defiant look.
I glanced at Calli. “You’ll look after her?”
“I’ll keep her safe,” Calli agreed.
“Thanks.” I released Faith.
Calli set her hand on the girl’s back, leading her toward the ladder that led up the wall. “Let’s go, kiddo. We have to get to higher ground. You’re in charge of my ammunition. I’m going to keep shooting at the monsters and you keep reloading my guns.”
“But I want to fight,” Faith protested.
Calli gave her a gentle shove toward the ladder. “We will fight. But from up there.” She pointed at the walkway atop the wall. “We’re here to save the people of this town, and we can’t do that if monsters tear us to pieces. Now start climbing.”
Another of those wild wolves, not as behemoth as the one we’d already seen but twice as fast, came bounding around the corner. I charged forward to cut it off and give Calli and Faith time to climb to safety. Angel ran right beside me. And so, surprisingly, did Aerilyn.
“You came to warn us that the town was being attacked.” As I ran, I coated my blade with a fire potion. “And now you’re helping us fight these monsters.” I slashed my now-flaming sword at the wolf, setting it on fire. “Why?”
The monster shook itself, and the flames went out. Damn it. I grabbed a mundane grenade, but even that didn’t have much effect. This wolf was tough.
“Why am I helping you? For profit, of course.” Aerilyn swung her long spear at the wolf.
“I didn’t offer you anything yet.”
“But you will.” She slashed at the wolf. “An even share of one million dollars, split with the other hunters.” She thrust her spear forward, impaling the beast on it. “Deal?”
I looked at the dead wolf dangling from her spear, then at her. “Deal.”
“Good.” She freed her spear. “There are more monsters over there.”
“I’ve never seen a bounty hunter fight like you,” I told her as we attacked the pack of wolves.
Her blue eyes twinkled. “My mother’s a soldier. She taught me to fight.”
“So why did you become a bounty hunter instead of a soldier?”
“I prefer to work alone,” she said. “And I like to see the world.”
“Soldiers get to travel.”
“They get to travel, sure. But most of them don’t get to truly see the world. They don’t take the time to stand for a moment in majestic nature, or to stop at some great landmark and just breathe it all in. They’re always rushing from one battle to the next.”
“Sometimes it feels that way,” I admitted.
We’d made it through the pack of wolves, but they’d been the toughest wolves I’d ever fought. Immune to magic and explosions, nothing seemed to hurt them unless you thrust your weapon at just the right spot. Finding that weak spot was hard enough; hitting it was nearly impossible. They moved too fast. But Aerilyn’s aim was shockingly good.
“You should try to take a moment now and again, Leda Pandora,” Aerilyn told me, then continued walking. “The Magitech barrier’s controls are on the other side of town.”
“How did you know I wanted to check the Magitech barrier’s controls?”
Aerilyn snatched a throwing knife from her armband and landed it right between the eyes of the turkey-sized dinosaur that had tried to get the jump on us; it dropped to the ground. She was good. She always knew just where to hit a monster.
“There are monsters on the wrong side of the wall,” she said, her eyes tracking the herd of small dinosaurs running down the houses on either side of us. “If I wanted to figure out why, the first thing I’d do is see if there’s anything wrong with the control settings.”
The dinosaurs covered the houses like a thick, green carpet. I drew my gun and began firing at them. I ran out of bullets before the houses ran out of monsters, so I switched to arrows. I was hardly making a dent in their numbers. The little dinosaurs were tough. And damn fast.
Aerilyn pulled a small orb out of her jacket. It rose from her open palm, hovering in place for a moment before it shot toward one of the dinosaur-infested houses. There was a loud boom, then dead dinosaurs rained down on us.
The way was clear once more. Aerilyn extended her hand, palm up. The orb returned to her and landed softly on her hand.
“Some kind of psychic blast pulse?” I asked her as she tucked the orb away.
“Yes. The orb absorbs psychic magic, stores it, then expels some of the magic when you unleash it on an enemy.”
I looked down at the dead monsters strewn all over the street. “Some of the magic? Just how many blasts does that little ball hold?”
“Three or four, depending on how big you make them.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“You didn’t think the Legion of Angels had all the best toys, did you?” She smirked at me. “Come on. The barrier controls are just up ahead.”
We fought through a pair of bears, and then through a trio of large crocodiles that had laid claim to the local swimming pool. Each fight lasted over half an hour. These monsters were all so powerful.
Finally, we were at the Magitech barrier control tower. The cylindrical structure was built out of dark red bricks. The tower had neither doors nor windows. What it did have was a tiny terrace on the roof. Flying up there was out of the question. I wasn’t supposed to use any magic. That meant I’d have to do this the old-fashioned way.
I sheathed my sword, secured my gear, then started climbing up the tower wall. The going was slow, given that there weren’t any reasonable handholds, but eventually I made it to the top. And so did Aerilyn.
“Not bad,” I told her.
“Not bad yourself.” She considered me, nodding in approval.
“Would you consider joining the Legion?” I asked her.
I was horribly short on soldiers in Purgatory. Nerissa had told me it was due to my inherent pickiness. I wouldn’t take just anyone. They had to be special. Clearly, Aerilyn was special.