Tome of Bill (Companion): Shining Fury by Rick Gualtieri

considered our options. The Templar were unlikely to want to get into a standoff with the police. They were here to help people, so the last thing they’d want to do is start off the mission potentially hurting them. I couldn’t blame them. I’d long since resolved myself to the fact that I couldn’t save everyone. There would be casualties before this was all over, some of them possibly even my fault. However, that didn’t mean I was going to take a cavalier attitude toward human life as a means to an end.
    Nevertheless, we couldn’t allow them to stop us.
    I slowly raised my hands and placed them behind my head, turning toward Kelly and Meg as I did so. The look on both of their faces indicated disbelief at what I was doing.
    “Be ready,” I mouthed.
    A small smile graced Meg’s lips, and she began to follow my lead. Kelly, on the other hand, hesitated.
    “I need to get over to…”
    I shushed her with a quick hiss. This wasn’t the time to voice objections. I just had to hope Meg was sincere when she said her spell was meant to stun only.
    My attention was quickly diverted back to the police as the sound of numerous doors slamming shut caught my ear. I expected to be told to freeze, followed by orders to get down on the ground. Several of the Templar up ahead, bathed in the glow of the flashing lights before them, had already done so.
    Thus I was caught completely off guard when, in a moment of horror, the police – without uttering so much as a word – opened fire on us.
     

CHAPTER 11
    Kelly screamed out something, almost certainly laced with profanities, but it was lost in the sound of gunfire.
    The few at the forefront of our group, already on their knees, never stood a chance. Those who’d still been standing reacted quickly, trying to dive for cover that wasn’t there. However, it was a wasted effort for several. They were soon covered with their own blood, a cruel mockery of the red robes of their order.
    All of this took place in the space of a second or two, but that was all I needed to mentally re-categorize these men as monsters – for surely that’s what they were, every bit as much as the zombies we’d faced. My eyes narrowed and my aura flared to life around me.
    Sureness of purpose flooded my senses. Though I’d thrown down my sword and didn’t dare take the time to retrieve it, I didn’t need it. I debated between helping the wounded and stopping the assault. Some of the downed men were probably still alive. They could be saved. However, it would be for naught if the gunfire couldn’t be stopped.
    No. This needed to end. I called upon the primal energies stored within me. The white fire surrounding me flared ever brighter and wider, an almost living shield against harm.
    I’d been told by the Templar, in those early days when I was still learning what I was, that the white light was meant to be a shining beacon of hope for the powerless.
    What they didn’t mention was that it also acted as a convenient target for our enemies to home in on. Our assailants – I couldn’t bring myself to think of them as police anymore, for their actions surely had nothing to do with preserving law and order – ceased their fire for a moment, allowing many of the Templar to scramble for cover. Then, almost as one, they all turned in my direction and aimed their weapons.
    And that’s when I faltered.
    * * *
    Though there was at least fifty feet between me and the armed blockade, the distance seemed to melt away. All at once, I was staring down the barrel of Remington’s gun again, in that awful split second before he pulled the trigger. This time, though, instead of one, there were dozens of him.
    Memories raced through my head – thinking the battle was over, dropping my guard, taking Bill’s hand in mine, the smile upon his face. Then, he was there raising the massive weapon at us.
    Time seemed to slow. A small splash of blood flew from Bill’s ear as the bullet nicked it – impossible to