Book 3, Chapter 13 - Killing A Way Ou (2/2)

As Cloudhawk poured his psychic energy into their connection, Oddball was rife with power. The tiny bird darted faster than the eye could follow, whipping around the buggy as it charge forward. However, Cloudhawk and Oddball couldn’t be everywhere at once. The axes and arrows kept coming, cutting apart the buggy piece by piece.

The ground began to rumble.

Oddball’s keen eyes spotted another group, coming from the distance. This second horde was even larger than the first and were bearing down at them with break-neck speed. If this band of thugs had been irksome, now they were in deep shit.

“Here!”

Cloudhawk called Oddball back then shot out his hand. A torrent of golden sand erupted from his palm like a geyser. It spread out over the sand below and seemed to infuse it with life. As the bandits charged after them the sand churned like an angry sea. The beasts they rode were caught off guard and threw their riders as they panicked.

“Rise!”

Cloudhawk lifted his arm. His voice was not loud, but still fell like a thunderbolt.

Countless granules of sand shot into the air dozens of meters. They blotted out the sun and hindered vision, spreading out from the buggy in all directions, following it forward. Cloudhawk’s sandstorm swelled from ten meters to twenty, from twenty to forty. Eventually fifty meters were covered in choking dust, too thick for the Highwaymen’s reinforcements to know where they were going.

Their world was plunged into suffocating darkness. Sand blinded them. It was impossible to see where their targets were hiding.

It was enough for Cloudhawk to shake them. He slipped passed the confused hordes, hurdling for dozens of kilometers into the distance as pieces of their beleaguered buggy rattled free and fell away. Since one well-placed axe had punctured a tire, the ride was anything but smooth. With their tank punctured they also couldn’t get very far.

“They can’t keep up for the moment.” They had no choice, they had to abandon the car. Cloudhawk wiped the sweat from his brow. “The Highwaymen are all over the borderlands. Now that they know which direction we’re headed you can bet your ass they’ll keep hounding us. We need to find somewhere to lay low for a little while.”

Autumn was still suffering from the shock of what she’d witnessed. She pointed at the man lying in the sand. “What about him?”

The captured bandit leader was a mess. Blood trickled from his nose, mouth, eyes and ears in a light but constant stream. His nose was broken, and he whined in pain. The madness that had consumed him a moment ago was gone now. It was as though the blast of psychic force Cloudhawk leveled at him wiped it all away.

“He won’t be much help to us.” Cloudhawk hefted his sword. “Might as well kill him now.”

The one-eyed bandit shuddered. “I-f you kill me, you’ll just seal your fate! Blackfiend will never let you go!”

“Ah, so you are afraid of death.” Cloudhawk returned quiet carnage to its sheath. He reached down and grabbed a handful of the bandit’s clothes, using it to lift him up. He gave him a couple sharp slaps across his face, bringing the half-dead thug back to the present. When he saw Cloudhawk there was a palpable fear in his eyes. Whatever happened in his skull a moment ago had left a deep impression. His face, though, was menacing as ever.

Autumn stared at the man in fear. Cloudhawk had him under control, but there was an air about him that made her very uncomfortable. For half his life this maniac had lived in the borderlands, murdering and performing all manner of vile deeds. Countless innocents likely died by his hand, so it was no wonder death hung over him like a shawl.

Cloudhawk’s lips curled into a savage grin. “I bet you’re thinking about what’s gonna happen now that I got you.”

The bandit looked back at him with his one good eye, his shock of red hair wild and matted. “You… kill me if you can, runt. Because if you leave me alive, I’ll show you what it feels like to wish for death once my men get here.”

Cloudhawk lazily waved a hand. A coil of golden sand encircled his forearm like a snake. “I am a demonhunter. You should know the consequences of trying to kill a demonhunter.”

“Demonhunter?” The bandit was a rough sort. Cloudhawk’s threats didn’t unsettle him. “Under Blackfiend’s leadership we’ll tear Skycloud apart one day. When he is the ruler of all the wasteland, bastard demonhunters like you will be his slaves!”

The Highwayman’s reaction surprised Cloudhawk. Who was this ‘Blackfiend’? He gave the thug another ear-ringing slap. “Stop the bullshit. If you want to keep breathing then you’ll start talking sense. Keep it up and I’ll keep chopping parts off.”

The bandit leader looked back at him for a long time Fear was welling up inside again. He didn’t know why, but there was something very dangerous about this young man.