Saturday, August 17, 2013

Page 181

Helen and Lynnette were busy observing the keys together.

“I have not driven a car in eighteen years.”

“Then perhaps I should drive, Your Highness.”

Hector waited for them to choose before looking at the board himself. There were two rows, each key hanging below the logo of the accompanying vehicle’s manufacturer.

Garovel pointed at the logo of a smoking, ghostly wheel. ‘Get that one. It’s Revenant.’

Revenant?’ said Hector, grabbing the key nonetheless.

Have you forgotten? Revenant makes motorcycles.

Oh!’ He bit his lip. ‘And... oh. I just realized... we left that bike behind, didn’t we...?

We sure did. Whoops.

The key belonged to a motorcycle tucked away at the back of the garage. It was a cruiser, just like the previous bike, though a bit smaller and bearing a steely blue gas tank. It seemed sleeker to Hector’s eyes, perhaps even custom-built, and he noticed that the speedometer went higher than the other one.

Abruptly, the lights flickered, and everyone looked up. The center of the ceiling went black, and a hissing sound filled the silence. Stone and plaster melted away, dripping acid onto the Corvette below.

A darkened arm fell through the hole in the ceiling.

Hector immediately slammed his fists together, trying to coat the severed limb in iron. It exploded halfway through.

The fire lit up the chamber. But it did not spread. Hector squinted through the opening in his helm and saw the explosion being held at bay by apparently nothing. It just floated there in the middle of the room, a boiling bubble of flames and smoke.

Roman’s arms gripped the space in front of him, trembling. The strain of it ate away at his flesh, bloodying his arms and face. “Need some help here, Hector!”

Hector breathed deep and refocused. He spread his arms out wide and brought them together again. Iron spots gathered around the bubble, expanding, clustering, and soon became a completely metal orb, as big as any car in the room. It dropped on the Corvette like a wrecking ball.

5 comments:

  1. "It's Revenant"

    I just want to make sure this is intentional. Rules of grammar might place an article before Revenant, but even if it is not proper, I am pretty sure I've heard people talk about brands like that before.

    And it seems like we're going back to double daily updates. I hope you don't wear yourself out.

    RD

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, that was intentional. Appreciate the check.

      And your concern is touching, BUT PLEASE. I'M JUST WARMING UP. IT'D TAKE A LOT MORE THAN THIS TO WEAR ME OUT.

      Honestly, it actually seems to be getting easier as I go. I struggled for years with trying to be more productive, agonizing over how long it took me to write something I actually liked. Creatively-speaking, it was excruciating. But TZK is really helping me become more efficient, I feel. And just knowing that there's real demand from readers is immensely motivating.

      Delete
  2. you definitely have me hooked on this story and i look forward to seeing how it progresses.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh...my...God...

    I just remembered one of my posts from when Hector first met Geoffrey. I said, "Kill it with IRON FIRE!" Iron, Hector. Fire, Roman. I fucking called that shit!

    Lol but really, that was a cool combo defense by Hector/Roman. My jaw dropped that the good guys were found so damn easily. And I still have the feeling Helen is gonna die

    ReplyDelete