Page 97 of The Syphon King

“My God, it’s shredding her,” a King muttered.

“I need Zen’s biosignature from a recent medical scan, do we have that?”

“Here,” Lore called.

“Pull up the bio sync fabricator program and encode her data into the nanobots then load a syringe with 5 ml and 60,000 nanobots. Harlow, I need stats.”

“I’m at 5 Hz. Thakx, prep the TMS unit. We’ll try magnetic stimulation directly on the corticalregions. It’s more invasive but we need to break through this neural silence.”

“His heart rate is dropping,” a King yelled. “He’s going into cardiac arrest!”

“Check the rhythm!” Harlow ordered. “I need a crash cart here, now! Prepare for defibrillation. Charge to 200 joules.”

Skul quickly wheeled in the defibrillator as Harlow applied gel pads to Zodak’s chest.

“Charging’s complete,” Skul informed.

Harlow placed the paddles on location. “Everybody clear.” He pressed the button, the shock jolting through his body.

“Assessing rhythm,” Skul said, his ragged breaths shaking. “Nochange.”

“Increase to 300 joules,” Harlow ordered. “Come on King!”

“Increased to 300 joules,” Skul said as another King added more gel to the paddles.

Harlow placed them precisely and called out, “Clear!” The jolt raised his massive chest off the bed then dropped it.

“Assessing rhythm,” Skul called out again as Quantum arrived with the extraction syringe. “Nothing,” Skul said.

“Wait!”

They turned, seeing one of the Marsh men pointing at the screen. “The darkness isn’t trying to tear her apart.She’sbreaking free.”

The same man hurried over to Zodak and Quantum stepped aside as he placed a hand on his head.

That’s their Seer, Quantum said, reminding him they were still neuro-linked.One of their highly gifted.

Harlow locked his gaze on the screen above as the room filled up, all eyes on the action. “Holy shit, he’s right,” Harlow said, watching the luminescent light vibrating above the darkness now.

“She knows,” the Seer whispered as he turned bright blue eyes to Zodak. “She knows her King needs her.” His eyes glowed with tears as he placed his forehead on the Syphon King’s. “Hold the line with me, brother. Your angel is coming with backup.”

ZODAK’S FURY WAS DYINGwith him. Over and over, the light flickered within his grasp. But he was engulfed in dark flames. Limbs chewed off by malevolent shadows.

Reason.

What was it?

Purpose.

Where was it?

He dug through his own blood and bones for answers to this pain of a thousand nightmares. Every attempt got swallowed up by a cold, dead maw. No more beckoning light. No more battling furiously against the chains that ensnared him. No more hateful sea dreams. No more monstrous leviathan suffocating hope. No more being crushed. No more anything.

The nightmare loop returned and woke Zodak with a blast of pain in his chest. Back to destroy him. Again and again. Forcing him to see her dancing light. Bright and beautiful. A thousand suns. And her laughter. Cutting his chest open and crushing all his bones.

Zodak’s head filled with a fire wind, spinning like a tempest down into his lungs. A growling in his ear wiped away the noisy death, leaving a sparkling silence.

“Hold the line with me brother. Your angel is coming.”

---