(eng) Martin Kee - Latent Dark 01 by A Latent Dark

Author:A Latent Dark [Dark, A Latent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

In Marley’s mind they were no longer people, just targets: Guard One and Guard

Two. They stood quivering as the Reverend Summers stepped out the door.

He was furious, but not at the Reverend. Marley was furious with himself.

Poison. You really thought subtlety would work for a change. Idiot. It sure didn’t

work last time.

Guard Two on the right fired almost as soon as the Reverend Summers exited the

tavern, but the bullet only buzzed by Marley, already in motion. The bullet passed

his cheek as he swung, sinking his ringed fist into the front of Guard One’s helmet.

There was momentary resistance as the armor gave and snapped, followed by a

meatier snap from within. He compressed the man’s face hard enough to dislodge

an eye, shatter the nose, and crush the jaw. Guard One did something resembling a

backwards somersault and landed under a table.

As he retracted his arm, he noticed two things: first, Guard Two was raising the

rifle to fire again, and second, two more soldiers were entering in through the front

door. Marley grinned at Guard Three and Four wolfishly as they stormed in.

Leaping over the bar and grabbing the barrel of the gun, Marley swung Guard Two

into the entering soldiers. Guard Two screamed as Guard Three’s bayonet lodged in

his back. The rifle flying free, spun in the air and Marley heard the sound of

shattering glass.

Through the windows and past the guards, Marley saw the Reverend walking

away. Outside and above, a ladder fell from the sky beneath an enormous shadow.

While Guards Two and Three tried to untangle themselves, Marley leaned past

Guard Four’s barrel as it rose up, grabbing the man’s arm and twisting. At the same

time, he spun to face the others. The man’s arm snapped and bent—a splitting

branch. He finished Guard Four with an elbow to the chest, feeling a rib give.

Guard Two had pulled away from the bayonet and now staggered bent over,

bleeding a pool onto the floor. Marley swept his leg under Guard Three before he

could recover. The man fell backwards, but not before Marley grabbed his head in

a lock as he fell. A wet pop, and the soldier’s neck was broken.

He had honestly been surprised to see Guard Two still alive and drawing his

revolver, firing and nicking Marley in the shoulder. There was the smell of

gunpowder and smoke, lots of smoke.

Marley pulled Guard Two toward him, throwing out his elbow to break the neck. It

did. The armored man went limp to the floor and Marley coughed. Black smoke

had gathered in the tavern, so thick he couldn’t see the rafters.

He stumbled out the door, exiting The Hungry Skunk for the last time.

*

Even now he could smell the smoke as it rose through the trees as the tavern

burned.

For a man his size, Marley was surprisingly adept as he drifted unseen between the

burnt-out hollows and scorched trees. Lassimir was a charcoal crescent in the

middle of a lush green forest. The few remaining structures were the shanties that

survived the fires and a couple of tents. Everything else was ash.

In the fading light, Marley was a shadow painted in coal and dirt.

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