Chapter 502
With a roar, Jorick charged. His black hair streamed behind him like a war flag and his anger burned around him like armor. He knocked Malick against the wall in a spray of splintered wood. They snarled in one another's faces, fangs snapping. Their arms strained as they tried to push each other away.
Katelina moved to go to him. Micah grabbed her back. "Don't try to help him, princess. This is his fight. It's about honor. Malick fucked with his woman, fucked with both his women if that shit Loren said is true. He fucked up his life and now Jorick's got to man up, fucking take control and get revenge for that shit. For the shit he did to you."
Micah's words made sense, but it didn't matter. If it came down to life or death, she was going to interfere, whether it was honorable or not.
Malick finally shoved Jorick back. They circled, hands claws and iron will clashing. Katelina could feel the battle of their power, twisting, struggling. In her mind she imagined Malick's black and Jorick's white; monochrome tendrils choking one another for dominance.
Jorick punched Malick in the face. The master fell back a step. He swept up a sword from one of the fallen vampires. "I can feel your anger, my son!"
He brandished the sword in quick, sharp movements that left Jorick bleeding. Jorick went for a weapon. Malick cut him off with a flurry of attacks until he fell back, his chest heaving.
Malick smiled. "So like the old days. How your fury burns!"
Jorick charged Malick. The ancient vampire stabbed him through his left shoulder. Katelina stifled a cry and gripped her dagger until her knuckles turned white.
Still impaled, Jorick punched Malick in the face. The master kicked him off his blade with enough force to knock him to the ground. Jorick was up again, bleeding freely from his wound, his face twisted in inhuman wrath.
Malick seemed to breathe it in. "How your moral indignation sears your soul."
Jamie finished off his enemy and tossed his sword to Jorick. Armed, he circled his master. "What do you know of morals? You play others like pawns. The world is not your chess board!"
Their swords clashed. They fought back and forth, clang after clang, until Malick knocked the sword from Jorick's hands.
"You are wrong, my son. The world is a game played by those with power. Your friend Samael understands this even better than I." Jorick went for his fallen weapon. Malick knocked him out of the way and stomped on the blade with enough force to shatter it.
"You think Samael is good?" Malick asked. "You think that he is righteous because he hides here and does not touch the world?"
Hikaru rammed his staff through their bullet riddled enemy, then tossed his bloody weapon to Jorick. He caught it one handed and set on the master. Malick dodged most of the blows. The last caught him in the face with a crunch that sprayed blood from his nose.
Malick fell back a step. "He will, my son. When the mood strikes him, Samael will roll over this world like fire and scorch it clean of those he does not deem worthy."
Jorick sprang at him. Malick used his sword to block the blows. The stick broke. Jorick was better with the shorter piece, but it was only wood, and Malick soon cut it from Jorick's bleeding hands.
He stood back, his arms open in invitation. "Join me, my son. Together we can rid the world of such a threat as it has never known. Together we can destroy Samael, as we destroyed the monster Memnon!"
"Destroyed?" Jorick wiped blood from his eyes. "You did not destroy the monster, only burned his body and embraced his spirit. You are the monster now."
Jorick roared as he tackled Malick to the ground. The sword fell away with a clatter. Jorick slammed his fist into his master's chest. It impacted with a crunch but didn't go through. Malick laughed and threw him off. Jorick slid several feet to crash into the wall near Katelina. She ran to him and knelt down.
Malick advanced, his hand before him like a sorcerer. Katelina could feel his power coalescing, the way Samael's had. "You say you are not a monster, my son," he bit the word off bitterly, "and yet you try to murder your master?"
Jorick motioned Katelina away. She met his eyes. The hatred and anger in their dark depths scorched her. She felt a burst of fear at what he could do; at what he could be.
She looked to Malick. The humor had faded from his face. His eyes were a dark, fathomless void that sent shivers through her. It was as if she could finally see past the mask to what was inside of him: nothing but empty dark malice.
To defeat a monster one must become a monster.
"Go." Jorick shoved her back and struggled to his feet. She pressed her dagger into his hand and retreated. Micah pulled her back against the wall. "What the fuck you doin', leaving yourself open? You givin' Malick something to use against Jorick?"
She didn't get a chance to reply before Jorick stood to his full height. "You are no longer my master."
Malick's power knocked him back into the wall. Katelina stifled a scream, but unlike Samael's attack, Jorick's head stayed intact.
Samael's silky voice whispered through her mind. "He's not as strong as I, and Jorick can block him."
"I will always be your master!" Malick threw bursts of psychic energy at Jorick with each word. "You have forgotten your place, boy! You will kneel before me!"
With the last, he sent the blast at Jorick's knees. They buckled, but Jorick caught himself on the wall and pulled upright.
"I will never kneel to you again."
"You think you will kill me?" Malick threw another blast. Katelina realized it wasn't as strong as the last. The next was even weaker. He was running out of energy.
"You think me evil?" Malick shot off another that had little effect. "Destroy me now and ask yourself where you will be in five hundred years. You are no different than me! You will be no different than me!"
With a roar, Jorick tackled the ancient master to the paving stones. His muscles bulged with the effort it took to hold him down. "I will be different than you because I have something you don't."
"And what is that?" Malick asked with a sneer.
"Something to protect."
