Deathstalker 05 - Deathstalker Destiny

might have stood against him still lay unconscious on the dais. Blood flew on the air as Random cut through the panicked crowd like a reaper with a scythe, leaving a trail of the dead and dying behind him. He came upon Toby Shreck and Flynn, and paused for a moment.
    Toby felt a cold hand clutch at his heart. And then Random nodded calmly to him.
    "Stay honest, newsman. And be sure Flynn gets my good side."
    And he moved on, to kill more people.
    Random bore down on Daniel Wolfe, and the young man yelled for his sister to get behind him. He had a sword in his hand. A Wolfe never went anywhere unarmed.
    Behind him, Stephanie yelled, "Kill him! Kill him, Danny!" in a voice only just short of hysteria. Daniel blocked Random's first blow, and even the second, but then the Maze man's superior strength smashed Daniel's sword right out of his hand. Daniel tried to jump Random, his hands reaching for Random's throat, and Random's sword came up out of nowhere and plunged through Daniel's gut and out his back. Daniel squeezed his eyes shut, but didn't cry out. Random jerked his sword free, and turned on Stephanie, but Daniel's arm swept out to pull her behind him again. Random plunged his sword into Daniel's body over and over again, but though Daniel bled and shuddered with every blow, he wouldn't cry out and he wouldn't fall and leave Stephanie unprotected. He backed slowly away,
    keeping her behind him, while Random hacked away at him like a woodsman with a stubborn tree. Finally Random thrust his sword all the way through Daniel's body. The crosspiece of the hilt buried itself in Daniel's stomach as the long blade burst out of his back and went on to transfix Stephanie too. Her scream was suddenly stopped by a mouthful of blood. Random pulled back his blade, and she fell backward. Daniel cried out at last, and turned to cradle his dead sister's body in his blood-soaked arms. Random shrugged, and moved on.
    Clones and espers and politicians and aristos fell before him, till he had to step over piled-up bodies to get at the living. The biggest piles were before the two locked doors. Someone was pounding and shouting on the other side now, but they couldn't help. Random was soaked in blood now, none of it his own. He was still breathing easily and his swordarm was as strong as ever. He felt as though he could do this forever, and never grow tired.
    He finally stopped and looked around him, searching for someone of note to kill next. The two esper leaders. Hog In Chains and the Lady Of The Lake, had blinked out of existence the moment the killing began, but he'd always suspected they were only illusions anyway. It didn't matter. He'd find and kill them later.
    That just left the clone leader, Evangeline Shreck, guarded by the Unknown Clone. The masked man stood before Evangeline, holding his sword steadily.
    Random walked unhurriedly over to him, and smiled at him. It took more than a mask to hide a man from a Maze-trained mind.
    "I'm glad you didn't die after all, son. I always wondered how I'd do against you."
    "You've gone mad," said Finlay steadily. "This is insane."
    "You're a fine one to talk," said Random. "How many aristos and politicians died at your hands during the rebellion? You were the undergrounds' pet assassin. All
    they had to do was point you in the right direction and turn you loose. Don't tell me you didn't enjoy your war."
    "That was different. I fought for a cause."
    "And that's just what I'm doing now." Random shook his head sadly. "I thought you of all people would understand my purpose."
    "I don't see any purpose. Just the last murderous spree of a failed revolutionary. I won't let you kill her."
    "Son; you can't stop me."
    Random raised his sword, and suddenly Evangeline stepped past Finlay and stood between the two men. "No! I'm damned if I'll let you two kill each other! We fought on the same side in the rebellion, fought for the same cause!"
    "You betrayed it," said Random. "And all the guilty have to die, if I'm to put things right."
    "We never made a deal with the Families!" said Evangeline fiercely. "You did.
    Where were you, when Finlay and I fought our way into Wormboy Hell, to rescue the imprisoned espers? We never stopped fighting for what we believed in!"
    Random looked at her for a long moment. Finlay's sword never wavered. "No,"
    Random said finally. "Maybe you didn't, at that. All right; you get to live.
    This time. But if you can't clean up the clone underground's act, we will meet