Part 61

"We have to get out of here!" Oscar tried to push himself away from Vern, but Lowell held him down.

"Stay put!" Vern barked.

The thing wearing David's body glared at them both, then started toward them...

"He's gonna kill us!"

Lowell Vern smiled.

"C'mon boy... come ta papa..."

"You ain't his father any more!" Oscar howled. "He's gonna tear us to pieces!"

"He'll never get this far, fool," Vern hissed from the corner of his mouth. "Don't you know a distraction when you see one!"

Eric broke into a run-

-and made it three steps before a knot of townsfolk tried to tackle him. Elias Vigars leapt at him from behind while eight more closed on him from two sides.

The fight should have been over then. But instead, Oscar Bartleby watched in horror as the knife-wielding boy turned-

Vigars landed chest-first on the rough stone where Eric had been a heartbeat before. The boy darted to one side, then... sprang. Two sets of hands reached for him. Torchlight flickered off of one blade as it tore through Asteriaus Volger's throat. Blood sprayed from the doomed farmhand's throat-

-and flew directly into Falco Basaran's eyes. He recoiled... skidding to a clumsy halt and almost falling. He opened his mouth to scream, but before he could, a golden blade unzipped him from crotch to sternum. Eric rode the man's corpse as it fell, stabbing viciously at his face and neck, then leaping free just as Simon Argus and Theodon Silvara sprang at him. Eric darted past Simon and plunged both daggers into Theodon's chest. He ripped the enchanted daggers free as Simon screamed... holding up a hand that he only NOW realized was completely devoid of fingers.

Before Theodon hit the ground, Eric spun and slashed... each blade arcing upward. Lublin Toth and Leander Gell screamed as red stains blossomed at the neatly sliced crotches of their robes. Both men staggered backward-

Lublin stepped directly into the path of his brother Ardash. They collided, and, for a moment, merged in a tangled, bloody, screaming dance.

Petrus Ruland barely avoided Leander, sidestepping him-

-only to find that the spot where Eric had been standing was now empty. Quickly, he turned-

Golden blades stabbed into opposite sides of his abdomen. They slid toward each other, traversing the bulging equator of his belly, and then separating with a final flourish that unleashed a torrent of intestines onto Ruland's feet.

Ruland fell, screaming-

-but when the scream reached his throat, instead of continuing upward it bubbled out of the freshly-carved mouth that had appeared just below his jaw. Eric used the falling corpse as a springboard, leaping clear, flipping and landing beside Ardash Toth.

Toth blinked. A thin line of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth. He looked down at the single golden dagger protruding from the soft spot just below his ribcage. Ardash Toth's eyes took on a weak, almost pleading expression.

"...don't-"

Eric opened him. He ripped the blade free just as Ardash began to topple.

Then he turned and calmly resumed his march toward Lowell Vern.