I also realize we’re in big pucking trouble.
It’s Keyser’s eyes.
They have that telltale magma in them—like those of the rest of the Overtaken.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Puck. He must’ve taken that nap Rowan briefly mentioned and never properly woken up from it. Exozar—or one of the Icelus—must’ve shared the viral nightmare with him, and here we are.
“Maybe he can’t use his powers in that state?” Felix says, his voice shaking.
No such luck. His warrior zombies—big, beefy individuals—mobilize and rush toward us.
Valerian steps forward, shielding me with his body. “My illusions aren’t working,” he says tensely. “He’s seeing through zombie eyes, like a regular necromancer.”
Rowan’s zombies lower our riding platform to the ground and rush at Keyser’s troops.
It soon becomes clear that we have a twofold problem with this form of defense: We have fewer zombies to start with, and each of Keyser’s beefier specimens is worth two, if not three, of ours.
Zombie arms are ripped from sockets, and zombie heads are bashed with them. The sounds of tearing flesh and breaking bone are nauseating, as is the sight of all the gore.
Dylan raises her voice to be heard above the clamor. “Knocking out Keyser is our only option.”
Rowan grimaces, muttering, “Mrs. State-the-Obvious nails it again.” But she makes her dead bird take flight and swoop at Keyser’s head.
I watch with bated breath. If this works, we win.
Unfortunately, Keyser shoots the bird with his necromantic mojo, and the thing flies back at us. Rowan shoots the bird again, taking it over. Keyser wrestles control back—and they keep going back and forth.
“We need to distract him,” Dylan says.
Fabian strips off his pants before turning into a huge wolf. His shirt rips to pieces in the process, but he’s already leaping into the zombie melee with graceful wolfu-powered moves.
The beefy zombies swarm around him—and pay dearly.
“He’ll take too long to get through,” I say. “Itzel, can you do your thing?”
A lightning ball forms inside Itzel’s palms and flies at Keyser.
A beefy zombie throws himself in front of his master, taking the projectile in the chest.
Itzel hurls another lightning ball.
Another zombie sacrifices himself.
In the distance, a crowd gathers. Judging by their clothing, they’re human, so I doubt they’d help us even if they wanted to. In fact, seeing how our enemy is on the Parliament, there’s a higher chance they’d help him if they could.
Itzel shoots futilely again.
Fabian’s claws tear through Keyser’s zombies like recycled tissue paper, but there’s only one of him and scores of them.
“Are you able to fight?” Valerian asks Stanislav.
With a string of Russian curses, the chort rushes forward. He doesn’t do nearly as much damage as the werewolf, but whenever a zombie takes a swipe at him, they find incorporeality where flesh should be.
“Can you take care of the Mordamned bird?” Rowan shouts at Ariel.
Ariel grimly nods.
Rowan stops the necromantic push-pull of the bird and aims her fingers at a particularly muscled zombie near Keyser.
Her plan is clear: She’s going to try to have Keyser’s own zombie knock him out.
The bird dives at Rowan.
Ariel leaps into the air with uber speed and strength, catching the bird by the tail.
Pucking puck. The feathers rip out of the bird’s tail and stay in Ariel’s hand while the bird’s beak smashes into Rowan’s forehead.
Ariel curses bitterly as Rowan’s eyes roll into the back of her head and she collapses.
Dylan sprints over and kneels next to the necromancer. Frank, Rowan’s zombie pet, hisses at Dylan but lets her get close to his mistress.
Keyser has the bird fly up again, but Ariel leaps up and grabs it again, this time by the sides. Unable to flap its wings, the bird stays put. The reprieve only lasts a second. Keyser shoots at our zombies one by one, and they start to switch sides.
“Give that thing to me,” Valerian barks at Ariel, and she does—but the bird is so big and strong I have to help Valerian keep it immobilized. Panting, I wrestle with its clawing feet while he constrains its wings, preventing it from taking flight.
In the meantime, Itzel launches another lightning ball that a zombie takes for his master. Itzel herself collapses, having overused her power.
Ariel leaps off the platform into the fight, but as more and more of our zombies switch sides, she, Fabian, and Stanislav have a harder time keeping them at bay.
Ten zombies jump onto our platform.
Felix rushes at them, fists raised, and is knocked out immediately.
Exchanging a grim look, Valerian and I let go of the stupid bird and take fighting stances.
The bird takes flight in the direction of Keyser. A zombie closes the distance between us and swipes at my head. I duck and deliver a flawless uppercut at my opponent’s jaw. My knuckles sting, but the zombie shows no sign of having felt the blow.
Another zombie joins the already-hopeless fight. I sidestep her punch and sweep the legs of the first zombie. He jumps over my sweep and grabs my right hand. His friend does the same with my left.