The Iron in Blood

"Belts," he groaned and pointed down the stairs. I nodded, and leapt down, undoing the dead men's belts with twitching fingers, and jerking them out of their belt loops. I bounded back up those stairs, and fashioned a rude splint with those three wooden handles and two belts. That done, I looked at Angus' face. He nodded, and smiled slightly.

"Better," he sighed.

I grasped his arms again and pulled him back up and over my shoulder. It was easier this time. I was learning to ride the power, to harness it. It was mind-blowing.

"Where to?" my voice sounded peculiar, like thousands of insects were all buzzing together in the background.

Angus pointed, and I started loping across the gardens and into the grounds around it. "Stop," he barked out. I stopped, thinking I was hurting him beyond even his endurance, but he pointed to what looked like a scrawny metallic beast in a clump of trees to my right. "Get the rifle."

"Right." I trotted over to it, and handed it to Angus, who disassembled it in seconds, folding the tripod into a manageable tube. He clutched the rifle, and pointed again. "Go."

I ran, dodging smoothly through the trees and bushes that were scattered haphazardly around the grounds, the grassy surface blurring beneath my feet. A six foot brick wall loomed ahead of us. I considered how to get over it with Angus still on my shoulder. It didn't seem possible. I gave it an experimental kick, and a jagged crack appeared in the brick work. I kicked it again, feeling the force of the bricks and mortar resisting my assault. Another kick, and a four foot long segment of the wall crumbled outwards. I grinned, skipped through the gap and set out again in the direction of Angus' finger again.

We reached the car in what felt like seconds. Angus unlocked it remotely with the keychain, and I opened the passenger door and slid him gently off my shoulder and onto the seat. I lifted his splinted leg and placed it carefully next to the other. It had already stopped bleeding. The rifle went in the boot, and I danced around to the driver's door and hopped in.

Angus grinned at me. "Can you drive, love?" That simple endearment sent another, very different shock through me, and I grinned back.

"Let's hope so."

Angus closed his eyes and groaned loudly. "I like this car!" he protested.

"Never mind, I've had two lessons." My voice wasn't buzzing quite so much now, and the electrical current that had seemed to be coursing through my body for the past few minutes was sputtering slightly.