Shining Fury: from the Tome of Bill Series by Rick Gualtieri

Author:Rick Gualtieri [Gualtieri, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Westmarch Publishing
Published: 2016-04-26T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

“How are you feeling?”

I continued swinging my sword, parrying an imaginary foe, the weapon almost humming in my hand as it cut through the air. Thank goodness Bernadette had managed to retrieve it after we’d been ambushed. “Right as rain.”

It wasn’t a lie for a change. For the time being, the doubt inside of me had retreated, letting the power of faith and the confidence that came with it fill any and all voids it left behind.

Our group was back together again. We were closing in on our goal and had received word that our friends to the north were all fine. It was as good as things were going to get. We needed to press our advantage. We weren’t going to get a better chance.

I sheathed the weapon, my fingers dancing across its grip, and turned toward Kelly. “How about you?”

“You tell me.” She held up a hand, and a ball of green flame coalesced above her outstretched fingers, danced there for a few seconds, and then winked out of existence again. “Feels good to have my mojo back.”

“I’m sure Veronica feels the same way.”

“Definitely. She was on the verge of going all basket case. Not sure if you’ve noticed or not, but she can be a bit jumpy.”

“I’ve noticed. But she was with Meg. Can’t they just,” I lowered my voice, “sync up?”

“Yeah, but it takes away from Meg’s reserves to do so. Also, she can get seriously bitchy about someone else ‘suckling off her magical teat,’ as she would put it.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the metaphor. “So what did you tell her about that power surge she felt?”

“I said that there must’ve been another catalyst nearby somewhere because all of a sudden, poof, I was all charged up again.”

“Think she bought it?”

“Not really, but it’s plausible enough and she’s not one to question gift horses.”

“Good enough.”

“It’ll have to be,” she replied before turning serious. “I won’t lie, though, I was a bit disappointed.”

“In me?” I got a sinking feeling where this was going. I glanced around to make sure nobody was close enough to eavesdrop. Fortunately, they were all busy with final prep. “Listen, it’s...”

“No, in how your power affected me ... or didn’t.”

“Not following.”

“I was hoping, y’know, that I’d maybe get a little of your confidence boost along with the fireworks. But nope. I mean, Veronica wears her emotions on her sleeve, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified right now. All of this...” She spread her hands wide. “This is a lot more than anything I’ve ever run into. People are saying this is the end of the world, for Christ’s sake.”

“So they are,” I replied, a sad smile creeping onto my face.

“Anyway, I just wish I was a bit more like you.”

It was all I could do to not laugh. “You don’t think I’m afraid?”

“You’re the Icon.” She held up her fingers in air quotes. “The last blah-blah-blah of humanity.”

“Don’t believe the hype.”

“I thought you were supposed to be fueled by self-confidence, belief.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.