Before I could reply, Ursula flung up a hand, pointing her index finger at me. Instantly, a spout of flame shot out in my direction, and a second later, I was engulfed by a conflagration. Still phased, I wasn’t harmed but noticed that I could feel some of the heat. It was a stark reminder that, given time, the killer could negate my phasing ability. I needed to find a way to end this without harming Ursula.
Teleporting behind her, I turned substantial and then swept her legs out from under her. However, showing incredible dexterity, she contorted herself while going to the ground and threw a punch that struck me in the side. It felt like a stick of dynamite had gone off next to my rib cage.
Pain exploded in my side, and I went flying across the room, flipping over a couch and then skidding along the floor — knocking around various pieces of furniture in the process — before snapping a couple of legs off an ornate table and coming to a halt. I groaned in pain for a moment, then shut off my pain receptors as I heard the patter of feet approaching, at the same time turning invisible.
A moment later, Ursula appeared, wild-eyed and screaming, holding the baby grand piano over her head. It was incredibly surreal and would probably have been hilarious were the situation not so serious.
She stared at the spot where I lay on the floor, but obviously didn’t see me. I took advantage of the opportunity to teleport to the far side of the room and climb to my feet.
Vexed and frustrated, Ursula flung the piano into a nearby wall, where it let out a bevy of discordant notes upon impact before dropping to the floor as little more than kindling.
Snarling like an animal, she turned around and scanned the room, obviously looking for me. On my part, I floated up into the air, staying still and quiet while pondering how to end this without Ursula (or me) getting hurt. Fortunately, the decision was taken out of my hands moments later when the cavalry arrived.
Rune and Endow reappeared just as suddenly as they had vanished. However, they looked like they were frozen in place, and I instantly understood that they were not moving at super speed.
Ursula apparently realized it, too, because she charged at them, the glowing blade once again in her hand. I reached out telekinetically and tripped her. Moving at super speed, she went down hard and went tumbling along the floor, a jumble of arms and legs. However, she was still headed straight at Rune, so I phased him, letting her pass through him before she banged to a stop against a wet bar. Letting out an animalistic growl, she quickly scrambled to her feet.
By this time, Rune and Endow were starting to move, indicating that they were catching up to me and Ursula in terms of speed. Unexpectedly, Ursula let out a howl like a demon, and something on par with a whirlwind made of lightning appeared out of the blue and engulfed the two Incarnates. Spinning with frightening velocity, it flung furniture around like matchsticks while randomly shooting electrical bolts into the room.
Without warning, the whirlwind flew apart — shattered as if it were made of glass. At the same time, Rune came dashing out of what had been its center, heading toward Ursula like a torpedo.
“Don’t hurt her!” Endow screamed in a voice that seemed loud enough to shake the walls.
It wasn’t clear that Rune had heard her, but rather than ram Ursula (who, from appearances, was bracing herself for impact), he unexpectedly swerved, coming up behind her. Before she had a chance to react, he placed his hands on either side of her head.
Ursula’s response was to let out a thunderous, earsplitting scream that seemed to go on forever but was probably no more than thirty seconds at the most. When she was done, her eyes rolled back in her head and she would have slumped to the floor, but Rune caught her. A moment later, Endow was next to him, checking on her laamuffal with maternal regard.
Turning to me, Rune asked, “You always have this effect on women?”
Chapter 52
As had happened following Reverb’s death, Endow took Ursula and vanished almost immediately. I then spent a moment telepathically showing Rune what had happened.
“Ursula was under the killer’s control,” I stated after bringing him up to speed.
“It was worse than that,” Rune said. “That whirlwind she formed was a Chomarsus creation. The killer was sending his sivrrut through Ursula.”
I frowned. “I thought only Incarnates could handle that level of power.”
“That’s right,” Rune confirmed. “Without mincing words, she should be dead.”
I reflected for a moment. “Maybe she had a relic she was using.”
“Yeah, the proper relic could store an Incarnate’s power and let someone use it,” he agreed. “We’ll have to check it out, but for now we’ll assume that’s the case.”
“Hmmm,” I muttered. “Assuming nothing like a relic is involved, how much power do you think our killer could direct through someone he was controlling?”
Rune shrugged. “I don’t know. We don’t really have a gauge for measuring sivrrut.”
“But could he direct enough power to kill a Chomarsus through another person?”
“I doubt it,” Rune replied. “It would be like getting electrocuted — it would fry a normal person.” Then his eyes narrowed as he looked at me, and he said, “Why do you ask?”
“Because if he could use another person to kill an Incarnate, Static’s analysis is going to be useless. It could have been anybody being sent by the murderer to do his dirty work.”
“No,” Rune countered. “It’s still the Incarnate’s power that’s being used — even if it’s through another person — and that’s the essence that will be identified by Static.”
“So it is still a useful analysis,” I concluded.
“Absolutely,” Rune said. “And now it’s time to see how
