Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

seriously bored. They were running out of things to do to each other. They were finally ready to listen. Finn knew better than to talk to them in person, but he could still be very convincing. He reminded the possessing ELFs that it was still in their best interests to go along with him, for now, and offered them a chance to get out and play. A chance to kill a whole bunch of important people. They always liked that… He explained that he had set up extremely convincing proof that Parliament was riddled with traitors, seeking to undermine his best efforts to stop the Terror, for their own political advantage. (He'd already tested the waters of public opinion by killing the previously popular Meerah Puri, and now he thought the public were ready for the next logical step.) Go to the House of Parliament, said Finn. My security people already have it surrounded and infiltrated. They'll be waiting for you, and the way will be made clear. Go into the House, my Paragons, and kill everyone there.
    The Sangreal bar filled with the laughter of possessed men and women.
    The Paragons raced to the House of Parliament on their gravity sleds, keeping well above the streets.
    There was some name-calling, but the Paragons ignored it. They were after bigger game. Finn had promised them a free hand against their old persecutors, and they meant to enjoy themselves. Their minds full of blood and slaughter, the possessed Paragons came to Parliament and the ring of security guards—
    all Finn's people, and prewarned—got out of their way in a hurry. The Paragons swooped down like birds of prey, arrogant and strutting in their debased purple cloaks as they left their gravity sleds and strode into the House, heading straight for the main chamber with guns and swords in their hands. They were already laughing softly. Nobody tried to stop them. Most just turned and ran. All the automatic defenses had been shut down. The Paragons came at last to the main chamber, kicked open the great doors and swaggered in. The MPs looked round, startled.
    And the killing began.
    Energy beams flared, criss-crossing the House, blowing men and women apart in their Seats. There was shouting and screaming, and the happy laughter of the ELFs. Some MPs tried to run, but the Paragons were between them and the doors. Some tried to hide, but energy guns blew apart what cover there was.
    And a few MPs tried to fight, even though they were forbidden by long tradition from carrying weapons in the House. So they rushed the Paragons, armed with nothing but courage and bare hands, and the ELFs drew their swords and went to meet them. Blood splashed the ancient furnishings, and flowed across the floor of the House. The Paragons took their time, hacking and cutting at their victims instead of just running them through. The ELFs had decades of grudges to pay off, and they meant to savor every moment of their vengeance.
    Some MPs died bravely, some died begging and pleading, but in the end, they all died. The Paragons piled up the corpses on the floor of the House, and then spent a happy time domg nasty, distressing things to the bodies. Just to mark their territory. And then they marched out of the House, singing and
    laughing, smearing MPs' blood on each other's faces as victory symbols. There was no media outside to record their triumph. Finn had declared the whole area off-limits to the media, and when a few rogue cameras turned up anyway, Finn's people shot them out of the air.
    Finn was there, waiting to receive his Paragons. He'd watched the killings on the monitors in Anne's office, but quickly grew bored. He smiled and nodded pleasantly to the Paragons, and told them to return to the Sangreal. They weren't too keen on that, but Finn promised there would soon be more bloody work for them. The thralls looked at him with other people's eyes, and told him not to take too long.
    When the Paragons had all departed on their gravity sleds, Finn turned to his security guards and gestured at the House of Parliament.
    "Burn it down," he said. "Burn it all down. After all, we won't be needing it anymore, will we?"
    Anne Barclay watched the MPs die on the monitors screens in her office at the back of the House. She sat numbly, unable to take it in. Finn had given her no warning. Probably because he knew she would never have agreed. She might even have tried to warn the MPs. She wasn't sure about that, but she liked to think she had that much honor left. Her security people had