Nick jumped out of the car and walked quickly toward the thickets, his heart was filled with inexplicable anxiety. At every step, he felt a slight deja vu effect, as if he could have guessed ahead what should happen.
Women silently followed him, trying to keep up with the young man. But what they saw, reaching the site, shocked them.
Chaos was happening around, it could not be called otherwise. David and Armand were laying nearby on the ground and did not move. Daniel was with the children. Aside from all Elena was laying. But most of all, they were shocked by the bloodied appearance of Marcus and Rick, who was frozen above him with a knife, unlike himself.
"Armand!" Lina rushed to the man, immediately realizing that something was wrong with him. His body was cold, and his heartbeat was practically not felt. She ran her hands over his body, analyzing the location of injuries, and put her hands to the man's neck.
The warmth and green light from her palms enveloped the damaged area. Seconds later, the man twitched, and his face twisted in a grimace of pain. Even if Lina could enhance his regeneration, her possibilities were still limited, and Armand needed time and strength of his own body to fully recover.
"P-polina? How did you-" Armand tried to turn his head and then froze in sharp pain, it was still too early to get up, even move. "Wait a minute, it should get better," the girl put her trembling palms to his neck, she was exhausted, giving her energy to Nick along the way, but Lina was ready to give the last, just to not see the suffering of her beloved one.
Long forgotten sensations pricked the man's heart, if not for the current situation, he would have closed his eyes and enjoyed this moment... "Lie down!" Armand tried to raise his hand, but his reaction was belated. A large piece of stone flew past them, the girl flinched and fell on the man's chest.
"Lina!" Armand, completely forgetting about his injury, rolled over on his side, his hand gripping the girl's immobilized body. He scanned her condition with a quick glance and touched her head. Her smooth silk hair was saturated with something warm, Arman removed his hand from her head and saw that it was covered in blood.
Corey took a step toward the children, but her body froze when the woman's eyes met Rick's blood-red gaze.
Her heart pounded in her chest, time slowed down. She saw how Marcus waved his hand, and an unfamiliar metal object flew in her direction. Daniel shouted her name, but the man's voice sounded as if in the distance. All that Corey saw was red eyes that kept their gaze on her.
All she heard was the beat of her heart.
Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum.
His hands only slightly touched her shoulders, as if he was afraid to hurt her with his touch, his tall figure momentarily obscured the sun in front of her eyes, and then he slowly knelt at her feet.
A knife stuck in his back flashed blue fire and disappeared into the air.
The man closed his eyes and fell to the ground. Corey looked at his motionless body for a couple of seconds, while her mind tried to explain to the woman what had happened. Awareness, like a clap of thunder, pierced her body with a cold shiver.
"R-rick? RICK!" Corey felt as if life had left her at that moment, she rushed to the man and pressed him to her, "No, please, don't do that! Rick, hold on, please!" His body was becoming abnormally cold, Rick squeezed Corey's trembling hand and pressed it to his chest, "I'm sorry, I think I made you cry again...," the man whispered, his grip became almost weightless, Rick's hand slipped from Corey's palm and fell to the ground.
Marcus felt a surge of strength when a kukri appeared in his hands, wrapped in a blue flame of vital energy. The man got up from the ground and straightened to his full height.
He did not expect Rick to have such a powerful injection in his hands. A couple of millimeters to the right and a few minutes longer, and the likelihood that the man would not recover was very high.
BANG!
Marcus's heart had not yet recovered, as it received a new blow. He looked up and saw David's gaze full of hatred and rage. Anderson was standing still, holding a pistol in his hand.
"Hm, managed to wake up," Taubert grinned, despite the fact that his condition was not enviable.
But nobody expected what had happened the next second.
A huge wall of flame cut off Marcus from the others, and fell upon the man like a wave. He crossed his arms to disperse the fire, just as the young man appeared before him.
The guy masterfully grabbed the knife from the man's hands, twisted it in his palm and stuck it in Marcus's chest. Then he tore the pendant from his neck and took it to himself.
"This thing belongs to me. It's time to pay the bills," Nick waved the pendant in front of the man's eyes and put it behind his back, he looked at his opponent with disgust and hatred, "You will pay for everything that you took from me!" The young man's hand gripped Taubert's throat.
Marcus felt life energy leaving his body. But how was that possible? He grabbed Nick's hand, but felt nothing. This guy was like an empty shell, capable of taking away from others, but not able to give anything in return.
"Who are you?" the man wheezed, his body too weak to resist such power. At the moment, this opponent was too tough for him.
"I am your death," Nick brought the kukri over Marcus's head and prepared for the final blow.
A barely noticeable smile appeared on the man's face, he squinted his eyes, a slight laugh flew from his lips, "What naivety. I sacrificed too much to die so easily." Marcus's eyes instantly turned black, Nick felt something hot wrapped around his wrist. The young man turned around and saw a little boy.
Sean was standing in the center, powerful energy was flowing from his body in all directions. David tried to approach his son but was immediately thrown back.
The child waved his hands and two fire ropes, like a lasso, grabbed Nick's arms and neck and lowered the young man to his knees.
Confused and shocked, he looked at Sean, not believing his eyes, "Y-you! What are you doing?!" shouted Nick, in his voice despair and disbelief in what was happening clearly sounded.
"Hmm, this boy seems to be on a par with you. No, I would say he is even stronger than you," Marcus rose from the ground and walked up to Nick with a slightly uneven step, "You thought it was so easy to get rid of me? I'll have to disappoint you."
Nick stared down at the ground, more affected not by overestimating his abilities, but by the fact that it was Sean who stopped him, "No... This is impossible... How come...," the young man muttered to himself, it all seemed to him like a crazy crazy joke.
"Sean! Stop it now!" David's attempts to persuade his son were futile. The boy, as the best defender of his Master, blocked all opportunities to approach him or Marcus.
"Your child is under my control, so I advise you to behave wisely, David," Marcus said in a low voice, his eyes studying every detail of Nick. Something about this guy was weird, but he couldn't understand what.
"Ha! It's clear, so it's you! Wow! It's really you!" the lights of rage flashed in the man's eyes, "I couldn't understand what happened, what constantly interferes with my plans. So it is you." Marcus leaned behind Nick and took the pendant back from him.
"I give you my due, you made me a little nervous. In gratitude, I will show you your mistake." In one hand the man was holding a pendant, and in the second one the ceremonial knife of kukri, "It is impossible to kill me only with this knife. But if you do like this..."
Marcus put the pendant on the handle of the knife. The mechanism on the pendant clicked, and it became a part of the handle. Blue trickles ran from the center of the pendant, repeating the pattern adorning the weapon. Light gripped a metal blade, it lengthened and turned into a long sword. At its edges the lights, similar to a flame were visible.
The look of the weapon fascinated with its power and beauty. Even Marcus froze in amazement for a moment.
He looked at Nick, the young man bowed his head, he resigned himself to the inevitable.
"I am closer to achieving my goal than ever. And since you were not in my plans, I do not intend to risk it. Get ready, it's me who is your death."
"Ahahah," Nick laughed like a madman, he already had nothing to lose. His existence was already running out, to hell, that his attempt was unsuccessful. "Yes please! It's just your plan will fail anyway!"
Marcus's hand wavered, the words of this guy had no basis, but why did he sound so convincing?
The man gripped the hilt of his weapon tightly, "It's impossible," he answered and waved his sword.
A cacophony of sounds filled Elena's head, she barely opened her eyes, her vision was blurred, her body felt as if she had run two Olympic marathons. The woman turned her head and saw a young man kneeling. He could not move, but was looking defiantly at his opponent, even when he was defeated.
Marcus raised his hand with a sword, and Elena was sure that she heard him holding his breath before the blow.
"Nicholas..." An unknown force seized the woman's body, not understanding how, Elena rose from the ground and in the next second blocked the young man with herself.
WHOOF!
The blue flash momentarily blinded everyone. The shock was reflected on their faces when they saw Elena lying motionless on the ground.
Marcus's face was horrified, the man fell to his knees and with trembling hands pressed the fragile body of a woman to him.
At that moment, it seemed that even nature around was quiet. When Nick came to his senses, neither Marcus nor Elena were in front of him.