Dagon Rising(59)

“No,” Amethyst panted, “magic bullets.”

Tony and Clark laughed, but Amethyst’s expression remained serious. The younger man looked tired—drained. His complexion was pale and strained, and a sheen of sweat covered his forehead.

“You okay?” Clark asked him.

“I’m fine. Just a headache is all. It will pass.”

Clark nodded. “I’ve got one, too.”

“Same here,” Tony said. “What the fuck is causing it?”

“Our proximity to the portal,” Ruby said. “The closer we get to it, and the closer Dagon comes to breaching the gap between our worlds, the worse it will be. It’s psychic backlash. And this is just the beginning. Should he enter our reality…”

She shuddered, unable to complete the sentence.

Tony frowned. “What?”

“Imagine tossing a stone into a pond,” Diamond said. “Imagine the concentric ripples spreading out in wider and wider patterns. If Dagon were to cross into our world, there would be a manifestation of psychic energy very similar to those concentric rings. They would spread across the planet, driving many insane.”

“Shit,” Tony said, “humanity’s pretty fucking insane already. Doesn’t sound so bad.”

Diamond paused as a small Dark One lunged out of the foliage. The young creature slashed at him with its claws, but the agent sidestepped the attack and clubbed the creature in the face with the butt of his rifle. As it collapsed, he raised his hand and made a few quick finger movements over its body, as if drawing a symbol in the air. The Dark One began to jitter. Its eyes rolled up into its head. Foam formed on its mouth.

“What did you just do?” Clark asked.

Diamond ignored the question. “It would be worse than you can imagine, Mr. Genova. The psychic damage to humanity pales in comparison to the devastation Dagon’s arrival would cause to our ecosystem. Imagine what would happen if it suddenly started raining all over the world at the same time—and if the rain didn’t stop.”

Tony nodded, clearly cowed. “That would be pretty fucked up.”

“How much farther to Mount Rigiri?” Clark asked.

“Another mile,” Onyx said.

“Do we get to take a break once we get to Mount Ri-whatever-the-fuck?” Tony asked.

“No breaks, Tony,” Onyx growled. “We’re on a tight schedule.”

“Please pay attention,” Amethyst snapped. “We have no time for foolishness.”

Tony clicked his tongue. “That’s no way to speak to one of the seven most important people in the world.”

Amethyst glared at him but didn’t respond. Clark couldn’t be sure, but he thought he glimpsed Ruby grinning.

They ran on, pausing only to slay any Dark Ones or Clickers that crossed their path. After a few more minutes, they came to a clearing and stopped briefly. Diamond and Onyx checked the perimeter and determined they were clear. Catching his breath, Clark ruminated on their dash across the island. Since departing from the landing strip, they’d run through the jungle in straight formation, taking down several dozen Clickers and Dark Ones in the process. Clark was proud to have Tony on his side in this mission; the man was a hell of a shot and his reflexes were quick. He’d wondered what it would take to convince the ex-wise guy to join sides and fight the good fight on the right side of the law for once, but then he quickly dismissed the thought. Tony would never hear of it. He was who he was and that’s all there was to it.

Clark turned to Tony. He quickly ejected the magazine from his M16 and slapped in a fresh one from the belt of ammunition Onyx had given him back at the landing strip. “Not to be blunt, but maybe we should follow Onyx’s and Amethyst’s advice.”

“What’s that?” Tony’s face hardened.

“These fucking lizard-things and their gigantic crab mutant friends are our main concern now. We need to stay focused. Our mission is to avoid being lunch and get to Mount Rigiri to extract Dr. Wasco and her team.”

“You telling me what to do now?” Tony’s expression turned menacing, like he was ready to throw down with Clark in the middle of the jungle.

Jesus, Clark thought. After joking around with this guy on the plane, I’d almost forgotten his history. He’s a mass-murderer. That charm and sense of humor masks a fucking psychopath. I need to remember that.

“Just giving you a word of advice. When we get out of this shit hole, I’ll be happy to join you in pounding the shit out of these Black Lodge sons-of-bitches for kidnapping us and getting us into this mess. But for right now, I need your strength, your cunning, and your expertise, and you need mine. So let’s not fuck around, okay?”