Free 3 Dark Energy by John O'Riley Page A

the glass shattered.
    The attacker jerked hard on the steering wheel and the car swerved to the side and into the parking lot of a hardware store. The police vehicle plowed into a blue truck which forced it to an abrupt halt and tossed the attacker like a rag doll. The assailant hurtled into a nearby parked car with such force that it shattered the windshield and landed across the front seats. Cars came to a screeching halt as drivers gaped at the scene. Groups of passersby walking down the sidewalk gathered to watch the grisly sight of the injured attacker climbing out of the car with black liquid dripping from his cuts. The man strode towards the crashed police vehicle. His body flickered with black smoke for several seconds. When he solidified again, his cuts had vanished. Josephine was the only one conscious in the car. She weakly shoved at the door and stumbled to her feet.
    Mark activated his teleportation enchantment with the intention of transporting beside Josephine so he could use his last spell to take them to safety. A wave of dizziness and disorientation assailed his senses as he materialized about a dozen feet behind the curse instead. Mark gathered his bearings and wondered what had gone wrong. This had never happened before. He realized his connection to the source energy was weak and tried to strengthen it. Josephine activated her shield but Mark knew this would offer little if any protection.
    “I’m your primary target, remember?” he shouted at the creature’s back.
    The man completely ignored Mark as he approached Josephine. Mark took out one of his quartz clusters containing a niveus imperium enchantment and activated it. A flow of white and gold light energy streamed from the crystal and cascaded into the man who came to a sudden halt. Mark hoped the spell would work. He took out his second crystal when he sensed the first one petering out. He activated the new enchantment so there would be no pause in between the spells. When the second crystal fizzled out, the man continued to glow as the light energy suffused his body. Josephine stared at the man with terror even as she leveled a wand at him which would most likely prove useless. The onlookers gawked at the display with expressions of horror on their faces. Mark approached Josephine who snapped out of her dazed state when she saw him.
    “It isn’t safe here!” she exclaimed.
    “That’s why I couldn’t leave you by yourself,” Mark said.
    “I’ve got Jake and Alex here.” Josephine gestured at the ruined police car where the two detectives in question were still unconscious.
    Mark stepped around the assailant who remained completely still and took up a position beside his girlfriend.
    “Let’s get out of here.” Mark reached for her hand so he could transport them to her garden.
    “No, I can’t leave them here. The curse might kill them.” Josephine took a step away and made sure he couldn’t touch her.
    The attacker stopped glowing and blinked with surprise. He exploded in a sparkling, white mist then solidified again but his appearance had changed. He was now clad in white pants, white shoes, and a white shirt. Instead of a shaved head, he had short wavy brown hair and there was a friendship bracelet secured to each of his wrists.
    “What on Earth?” Josephine peered at the curse with surprise.
    The man leveled an apologetic look at her. “I’m terribly sorry for trying to kill you. You’re safe now.”
    “Excuse me?!” Josephine regarded him with incredulous disbelief.
    “There’s no trace of dark energy in him anymore,” Mark advised.
    “What are you saying?” Josephine asked.
    “The white magic from the niveus imperium transformed him into a construction of light energy. He won’t do us any more harm.”
    “How do you know he won’t change back?” Josephine kept a wary eye on the burly man.
    “I promise I won’t lay a hand on you,” the creature said. “My purpose has changed. I’m here to protect you.