Inca Kings

CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

Stunning bravery elevated the next few minutes, and stunning, sickening evil marred them. Drake grabbed an embattled Dahl by the shoulders, tore him away from the sideshow freak, and pushed him toward the rear of the house. Alicia spun and ran, catching hold of Mai and dragging the shocked woman along with her as Dantanion ran screaming toward the windows. Kenzie leaped over fallen foes, screaming like she never had at all of the villagers, urging them to run as if flesh-eating demons were at their heels.

And all this before a single explosion.

Then it happened. Dantanion sank to his knees beside the windows and the valley view, smiling in contentment, the robe settling around him. A blast like thunder shattered the air apart, rocked the house. A second and then a third followed and then came the most terrible groaning sound. More timed explosions, two below and two above, and then the great three-story chateau began to pull free of its moorings. Pure terror laced the air like hellfire. Dantanion had lured them into this trap knowing full well that he could never lose. Drake found Alicia and Mai, still pushing Dahl, and raced as one unit, running nowhere but never giving up.

A part of the ceiling fell in, rubble collapsing to Drake’s side. Dantanion’s horrors came after them, still battling. A spear flashed past Dahl’s head and struck a villager, taking him down and making him tumble away, already dead. The Swede slowed, turned and met his aggressor’s assault. The man with exposed teeth struck him full on, but Dahl didn’t wilt. He head-butted and kicked out and still ran with Drake, wrestling as he moved. Drake slowed and traded punches with another as Mai found two fleeing guards and fought to best them. Alicia helped, snapping teeth from one’s mouth with her boot, sending him flying.

As they fought, as they fled, the chateau shuddered deep in its foundations. Moorings set deep in stone began to pull free. The floor tilted, and so did the view from the windows. Debris slid into Drake’s feet, pushing him back. He fought it. The house juddered again, slid a little more. Glass smashed in every window and the frames buckled. Huge shards and planks of wood tumbled down the mountain. A screaming gush of icy wind blasted inside.

Drake leapt over the debris and let it slide into the far wall. Another sickening, fundamental lurch and they felt the entire structure pulling away from the mountain, growing more unstable with each judder. Dahl sent elbow after elbow into his attacker’s face, targeting the exposed teeth and ignoring when his arm began to bleed and then his flesh began to tear off in tatters. Blood flowed, but teeth broke too, and one came away in the Swede’s arm. He ignored it as they came up against the far wall.

“It’s not the mountain wall!” Brynn cried. “C’mon!”

What she was thinking Drake didn’t know, but understood that a corridor ran behind this wall and probably alongside the face of the mountain. They ran for the door, lurching once more as the floor swayed and then grew rapidly skew-whiff. A villager fell over and began to slide. Mai caught him and dragged him up. Alicia caught her and pulled her along. Brynn reached the open door and hung on to the frame.

More structural shrieks. Drake saw the empty windows tilting, the view down now terrifying, the bottom of the valley almost visible as sunrise flashed over the mountains. He saw the madman, Dantanion, sliding straight toward the new drop and smiling, robe billowing. He grabbed the shoulder of the man who fought Dahl, a part of the human chain. Below him two more people held on — Curtis and Anica.

Brynn struggled through the door and then more villagers. Arms reached back inside to help pull the weaker folk through. Mai and Alicia helped the chain along. A chunk of masonry fell from above, followed by a bank of wiring, sparks flying from the exposed ends. A waft of flame traveled the length of the cabling. Drake punched Dahl’s opponent in the neck and felt the strength fall away from him.

Oh, shit. Why’d you have to do that?

He staggered to one knee. Drake used the right thigh to jump over, dragging Curtis and Anica along too. Dahl reached out and took hold of Drake’s arm. A scream sounded, hollow and terrifying, and another villager lost their grip of the door frame just as the house seemed to bounce. Bolts fought their anchorage, as the weight pulling against them began to prove too much.

“Drake.” Alicia reached out for Dahl and him, her expression hopeless. “There’s nowhere to go.”

And no way to stop it…