Valentine

Wally sighed and let the capsule fall from his fingers to fall among those already discarded.

Still seated beside Wally, but with my chair facing the other way, I leaned over to rest my head on his shoulder.

"No luck?"

"You were right," Wally grimaced, "Fey are unpredictable. This is just giving me a headache."

"Have you seen anything useful?"

"Shoot first?" Wally said with a shrug, "The capsule amulet'll work, that much I saw. But they're spellcasters, they've still got a ton of other tricks. I've seen a couple dozen versions of the fight, and just as many different spells," he shook his head and gestured at the pile of used capsules, "This has been a really expensive reminder of what I already knew. Try to split them up, take them as few at a time as possible, and shoot them before they shoot us. We were on the right track when we took out the two in the night club."

"Did you see how many there are, at least?"

"Mmm, yeah. Seven. Which makes sense, based on how many seats were in the wagon."

I raised my eyebrows, "And they're all spellcasters?"

Wally nodded grimly, "The rest of the city must be desperate to find a third option."

I turned my face into Wally's shoulder and closed my eyes, "So much for sis taking care of everything."

"Well these guys- and they are all guys -have got to be most of what Pelignos can throw at us."

"You say that as if it's a good thing."

"Hey, nine fey mages that come looking for me are nine fewer fey mages I need to hunt down and kill. The plan is the same as ever, only difference is we've also got some gods to deal with first."

I squeezed his arm, "I would find some oh gods, we might die today lovemaking perfectly acceptable. You could throw me right over this desk."

Wally rubbed my back and spoke in a soothing tone, "It's not anywhere near that bad. I didn't see the fey popping up while we went after the gods, and once they're dealt with, the city'll be a little easier to move around in. We can get through this, so I'm afraid I'm going to need to turn down your generous offer. But I can promise some very rough thank god we're still alive lovemaking."

I gave an exaggerated sigh and hopped to my feet, "I find that acceptable. But when you say rough, you'd damn well better mean it. My hips had better not be in the same shape when you're done."

"Whatever you say, dear."

We called Amity and Regina back from their rounds, and Wally filled them in on what he'd learned and how to approach both the gods and the fey spellcasters should either group come across them.

"You guys should take half the capsules, but be careful how you decide to use them. Sense Time seems pretty straightforward to cast, but you've got to be really specific about what you want. Otherwise, you'll get some nonsense that's only vaguely applicable. From what I gather, I'm seeing probable futures. So the more specific you are, the more likely it is that the probable futures you're shown are relevant."

"Futures, plural?" Amity asked.

"Yeah, and the longer you're there watching the highlight reel, the more time you end up spending blind and paralysed. Honestly, I don't think they're going to be much use once we get started. But I'd rather you guys have them and not need them."

"Sensible," Regina purred.

"Split up the fey if we can, strike from surprise, and when we meet the god, go for the head. We watch the mall and wait for the lighting to stop before attacking," Amity summarised, "Have I got it?"

"Don't forget, once a team finishes with their god, they follow the route we agreed on to reach the other team. Either to meet up and work together to shake off any pursuers, or help finish off the final god. Take it easy, keep your cool, and we'll all go home in one piece."

Wally and I knew we were in the right place when we spotted the undead standing guard.

While not in a mall, the floor we were on had much in common with what Wally had referred to as the 'food court', and we took cover behind a long bench table while we took stock of our surroundings. Wally knelt on the ground before me while I crouched, peeking over his shoulder.

At our back were the counters from which they would have sold food before the current chaos. Each had a colourful sign in incomprehensible human lettering hung above the alcove in which each store resided. The floor was marble, or something very like it, and the walls were tiled in white ceramic. The ceiling, three or four stories up, was too far for me to catch much detail, though it too was mostly done up in white.

The benches were made of stainless steel and some artificial grey material, formed in the shape and texture of wooden planks.

Here and there were bushes, even a few full-sized trees, though from the yellowing leaves, it had been some time since any had been watered.

The way the humans regarded the food court seemed to suggest an air of the lower classes. But once one set aside the communal nature of the dining space, it was more luxurious than any palace I'd ever seen.

Bridges stretched out from the food court, reaching north and south to the adjacent buildings. It was across that north bridge that we saw the zombies waiting motionlessly.

I could see more through the floor to ceiling windows that made up the two buildings' walls, though the torrent of fire falling from the sky and the smoke rising from below made the shapes beyond blurry and indistinct.

"Gods," I retched, "Why do your dead smell like chemicals? Rotting flesh would be bad enough, but this is just incomprehensible."

"The bodies have been embalmed. What you're smelling is formaldehyde. Sorry, Val, I forgot how intense your sense of smell is."

I buried my nose in the corner of his neck and inhaled deeply, "When we're done, I'm spending a whole day in your lap to wash the scent of this out of my nose."

"Are you going to be okay?"

I nodded, "How do you want to approach this?"

"If there are fey in there, and we'd be foolish to think otherwise, they'll be on us as soon as we hit the zombies."

"That complicates our plan to catch them unawares."

"Which is why I'm going in by myself. I hit them fast and loud, and when the fey reveal themselves, you hit back."

"Wallace-"

"I've got the amulet," he assured me, "And even without it, I'm the most likely to survive whatever they throw at me. Just make sure you're ready."

Wally turned, kissed my forehead, and rose. He shrugged the axe off his shoulder, taking it in his right hand, and ventured across the bridge at a jog.

I gave him a moment to get halfway across and then hurried after him. I stayed low, crouching below the level of the windows that lined the bridge and waiting in the shadows.

Though it wasn't yet true evening, there was enough smoke from burning cars and bits of street furniture below to render the interior dark enough for my purposes.

Wallace broke into a run, and I felt the impact of each footfall as he charged the nearest group of shamblers, numbering about a dozen.

A blast of scrap metal from his outstretched palm tore through them, and though not one was spared injury, only two of the creatures fell.

They responded with a wheezy groan and began moving towards Wallace. They'd hardly taken their first step before Wallace was upon them.

He roared with such force that I felt it in my chest and swept the axe across his body from right to left. The blade seemed to smash, rather than cut, its way through two of the creatures before lodging in a third.

With the axe extended to his left and stuck in a corpse, his right flank was exposed, and the undead on that side lunged.

Wallace roared again, and his foot snapped out, catching the nearest in the pelvis. I was not aware that the sound of breaking bone could carry such depth or volume, and I felt sick as I recalled similar injuries long past.

The once-human thing fell, buying Wallace the time to respond to the others clambering over the half-ruined corpse.

The body still encumbered his axe, but he didn't waste the time to kick it free. Instead, he swung his axe, battering those zombies who still stood with the broken remains.

I tore my eyes away from the display as Wallace bellowed and continued to rip and tear his way through the creatures. Now was not the time to be standing in awe of Wally's form. He was counting on me.

Above me was a balcony, wide enough that even Wallace, who'd charged some distance into the room, was still under it. Though barely.

It was perhaps a fourth the room's width and supported by pillars wider than the span of Wallace's arms. However, the balcony covered more than just the near wall and formed a U shape with a balcony opposite and one to my right. When the humans were forced to build in materials other than steel and glass, they seemed to prefer greys, as was the case here. The expansive atrium floor, the pillars, and the balconies, all varying shades of grey marble, with lighter horizontal surfaces and darker vertical ones.

It was the one on the right wall that held the staircase. A staircase covered in yet more of the shambling corpses as they streamed down from the balcony to intercept him. There were perhaps two dozen, though I feared little for Wallace. He'd already re-slain those at his feet and cut loose with another blast of scrap metal that tore through leathery flesh to ricochet off the marble stairs.

There, they must have been above us when we entered. Even now, Wallace was staying under the balcony, restricting the incoming lines of fire.

Which is why I could see a pair of fey running around to the balcony on the far side where they'd be able to flank Wallace.

I scurried out of the bridge and over to the nearest pillar before they could take position and spot me crouching by the entrance.

They ran so quickly that they skidded on the polished marble before catching themselves on the railing that topped the balcony's low wall.

Standing to Wallace's left and a touch behind, they were in an ideal position to strike while he was distracted.

Though the pair was less than fifty yards distant, I had little experience working magic upon anything beyond arm's length, and I doubted I'd be very accurate with a blast of scrap metal like what Wallace was using to soften up the zombies.

But I didn't need to work magic over there, when I could make something nasty right here to throw at the would-be ambushers.

One of them saw the light from the growing fireball, wrought using droplets of fire Lady Death's pet god had provided, and though he turned to target me instead of Wallace, he thought better of it and lunged to bring his ally under what cover the balcony offered

I threw the orb of fire in a high arc that carried it over the wall to burst- I hoped -right on top of them.

Wallace swept his axe over his head in an arcing strike, and drove the head of the nearest zombie right down between its knees. He dropped to a knee and put his hand on the floor, fingers spread. Wallace twisted, pointing with his axe at where my fireball had burst.

The marble tile he was touching dissolved, and the ceiling where he pointed shook with such force that the two-foot-wide marble ceiling tiles broke free. He didn't pause to watch them fall and brought the axe back around to cut the legs out from under the next shamblers in line.

But I did watch, and I heard them cry out when the tiles fell, throwing up great clouds of stone dust as they landed.

I threw two more exploding orbs as I ran to meet Wallace, who was fighting through the last of the corpses with renewed haste.

"We need to-" I began.

"Working on it!"

From my pocket, I tore a fistful of screws and other loose bits of metal we'd found, extending my arm straight out.

"Down!" I cried.

Wallace obliged. He fell forwards and caught himself with his left hand while the other remained fastened to his axe. The wind of its passage was enough to tug at Wallace's clothing, but he was unscathed. I could not say the same for the remaining zombies as the scrap metal found its mark, and those few that survived did not last much longer. Wally rose to his feet, and a single stroke cut down those that remained.

I ran after him, close on his heels as he threw himself up the stairs four at a time and rounded the pillar that stood at the corner of the balcony.

Even having seen the other fey make the same mistake, the floor was slipperier than I realised, and I slid into Wally, whose human footwear gave him no such difficulties.

I stepped back, ready to finish off the fey mages-

Oh. They were quite dead. Burnt, crushed, and burnt again. It was better than they deserved.

"Four down, five to go," Wally muttered, "Come on, deicide is on the menu."