Kingdom Gone

THE FINAL LESSON

How did I not realise that there was a second nuke?

It makes so much sense, but of course I'm such a freakin' idiot, with my freaking supercomputer brain that couldn't figure out--

Ugh.

"What's the drill, Jason?" Nijah asks, leaning on the console.

All eyes are on me, but mine are on Detective Q. "They're coming here aren't they?"

Circe holds my arm. "Who?"

I point at the old man's uniform. "He isn't a regular foot soldier, he's one of the up tops. People will notice he's gone AWOL. So who were you with? You said the other groups spread out to other parts of the Tenth Kingdom, and that blip at the warehouse is obviously Jakkar. If you slipped away, they'll likely be on your trail."

He nods. "I was part of a small caravan of the General's men. Oh, along with a young fellow, tall, and an upcoming detective himself."

I sigh. "Slicked black hair? About my height, but not nearly as handsome?"

"I believe so. I think his name was Dante."

I rub my face. "Oh for Christ's sake, why must everything be so difficult."

Sam looks at me. "Dante? You mean the hunk you took under your wing and trained until he surpassed you in skill, then made it his life long goal to one up you?"

"Thank you for that. Seriously, that was totally needed right now."

"Damn, he's coming here? Heh, send me out to meet him. I'm sure I can persuade him." Nijah says, biting her lip.

I cock back my pistol. "As entertaining as that would be, I have to be the one to face him. I taught him everything he knows, so he's my responsibility." I look at Sam. "How long will it take for your virus to wipe the servers?"

She looks at the loading bar on her arm. "10 minutes."

"Alright. Nijah and Circe, you two take Detective Q back to his car, I'm sure it's somewhere on the castle grounds. Sam you're with me." I look at each person in turn. "We'll decide our next step after we deal with this. But right now, try not to die."

* * *

I squat down and touch the scorch marks on the roof.

"So you really used your arm to redirect the lightning?"

"Shocking, right?"

I groan at the pun. "Just let me know when-"

"The caravan shows up? It's here."

I walk up beside her and look over the edge of the castle.

The rain has let up, but lightning still flashes here and there in the black clouds overhead. About 500 yards away from the edge of the river I see a line of SUVs heading our way.

"Alright, take out the drawbridge, we don't want them getting into the castle."

Sam fires up her Plasma Cannon. "It's not like they're gonna get past you, Jason."

I shrug. "Just covering all our bases."

Sam blasts her beam of plasma down onto the wooden bridge, the initial contact looking like an explosion, then the entire thing breaks apart and crumbles into the Pishon River. "Huh. That worked out better than expected. Ready for part two?"

I nod, giving her my arm as we step into the edge. "As soon as you throw me, meet up with the others, this shouldn't take too long. And for fucks sake, throw me at a windshield, not a freakin' sunroof."