Infinity Son(38)

“Show no mercy,” Maribelle says as she hurls the battle-ax across the room, the blade digging into the leg of an acolyte who was sneaking up on Iris.

An acolyte aims his wand at Iris, and I catch him with a fire-dart from across the room.

“Nice, Emil!” Brighton shouts from the doorway with the biggest grin on his face.

Maribelle and Iris are so in sync as they knock out the remaining acolytes left and right.

The corner of the room glows with white fire as Orton casts an attack the size of a boulder. He hurls the blast and catches Iris by surprise. She’s thrown across the room and crashes through the desk.

She doesn’t get up. I rush over to her as Maribelle pursues Orton. I’m relieved to feel Iris’s pulse, no matter how faint. I call her name over and over and beg her to stay with us. Suddenly Prudencia is by my side.

“Help Maribelle,” Prudencia says. I nod, but I don’t get up. “Emil, go! I’ll watch Iris.”

I’m shaking as I rise. I’m nervous about everything—the stirring acolytes, my brother and best friend’s safety, Iris’s condition, how Maribelle and I will hold up against Orton.

We were idiots to come here without the full squad. Orton looks weak, but he’s stronger than when we battled on the train. Maribelle is swinging nonstop, but Orton is legit untouchable. He surprises her with punch-kick combos, phasing again whenever she counters. I study his pattern, like when Wesley was running circles around me during training, and the next time Orton lunges, I catch him with a fire-dart to the back and blast him straight into Maribelle. I would’ve been in shock and tensed up, but Maribelle is quick, and she chokes Orton from behind. I can’t tell by the look in her eyes if she’s trying to knock him out or take him down for good. Orton is struggling, but he’s not slipping away like air.

“Don’t let go!” I shout. “I don’t think he can use his power when you’re holding him.”

Orton’s face is turning blue the harder Maribelle squeezes, and then his eyes go dark. White fire ignites around his hands, and Maribelle screams as he burns her. Her grip is broken, and she’s shaking on the floor. Orton’s arms are glowing with flames, and he touches a desk, setting it ablaze. Black smoke begins to fill the room, and one acolyte picks himself up and runs away. The others probably won’t be so lucky if they don’t recover soon.

Brighton is continuing to film while checking on Iris with Prudencia.

“Get out of here!” I shout.

I have to try and take down Orton alone. Brighton and Prudencia don’t have to die with me.

Orton stares me down, and I feel like we’re about to have a shoot-out. We cast fire at the same time and our attacks explode against each other in dying screeches that chill my bones. I’m sweating as I unleash fire-dart after fire-dart, but the attacks phase through him. The sooner I handle him, the sooner we can focus on rescuing Iris and Maribelle. I’m catching my breath when Orton hits me with a fire-orb in the center of my chest. I’m thrown backward and slam face-first into the wall. The power-proof vest saved my life, no doubt, but my forehead is busted open and I can taste blood on my lips.

“You’re okay,” Brighton says as he appears beside me and studies my wound.

I cry out because the cut stings and stings, like whenever I would get sunburnt from the beach and Brighton would smack my back as a joke.

“Whoa,” Brighton says. “It’s closing. You’re healing!”

Another phoenix power.

He reaches for his camera, and that’s when we see Orton glowing in white flames against the growing smoke. The fire has traveled from Orton’s arms to his back and is trailing down his legs. Someone might say he looks powerful, but there’s nothing but anguish on his face.

“Move him!” Prudencia shouts at Brighton.

Brighton tries helping me up, but Orton is closing in on us. He grabs his dagger. My brother won’t stab some dude—I know him. I’m about to raise my hand and try to blast Orton, but he stops. He continues taking slow steps, but he’s not progressing, like he’s stuck on some invisible treadmill. The white fire spreads throughout the rest of Orton’s body, consuming him from head to toe. Brighton is quick to aim his camera as the flames work against Orton. His howling dies before his body can slam across the floor.

I don’t know if this is rebirth or death. But we need to save our own lives.

I assist Maribelle as Brighton and Prudencia carry Iris. We step around the tomb of fire that’s continuing to eat at whatever remains of Orton’s corpse. Maribelle is in no condition to drive, and not having a license doesn’t stop Prudencia from putting her weekend driving lessons to use. Hopefully we didn’t survive this battle just so we can die in a car crash.

We pull out of the factory’s alleyway as black smoke spills out of the shattered windows. I watch the glowing fire within until it’s out of sight, and even then, I can’t push the memory of the flames eating Orton out of my head.

“Is that going to happen to me?” I ask.

“What?” Brighton asks.

“Burnout,” I say. “The powers turned on him. I’m not supposed to have mine either.”

“Bro, you were reborn with these powers! It’s different. You owned everyone in there like a hero.”

I can’t feel as hyped as Brighton. We didn’t get the information we needed. Maribelle is biting down on her shirt to fight past the pain of her burnt hands. Iris has been hurt so badly that she’s in need of healing—again. There were six acolytes, and I only saw one escape the factory. Orton is dead. I didn’t kill Orton or the acolytes directly, but six people are goners now because of me.