Chapter 11
At first he was unsure and angry about his new state, but George adapted quickly. His initial reaction had been to vow revenge on the Black Knight for sending someone to kill him. The thought still dwelled in the deepest recesses of his mind, festering like an infected wound. What caused him to allow his hatred to reside in the background like an old, worn out shoe? The newly discovered freedom he now felt, that's what!
No longer having the constraints and limitations of a physical body, George realized he could move about effortlessly with no one to hinder him. The only drawback he could perceive right now was that the same thing allowing such freedom was also his Achilles heel. He could no longer interact with the world in the manner he was accustomed to.
There was a bright spot to his new dilemma, however. He had read about such things, what seemed like years ago, back on Earth. A soul with unfinished business refusing to cross over from the realm of the living into that of the dead. These beings were most often considered poltergeists, but on some occasions they were also thought to be demonic spirits. That was his way out! He could roam the countryside in search of a suitable body to inhabit and then slip inside to possess the individual and take control, bending the person to his will.
Feeling an odd sensation, which he'd never felt before, George turned to see a glowing figure traveling rapidly through the night headed directly for him. Not knowing if it would work or not, he concentrated as hard as he could to dim his own shimmering, hazy glow. Elated that it worked perfectly, he slipped behind another large oak a short distance from his corpse, hoping the figure wouldn't be able to see him now that he was virtually invisible.
When the form drew close, George felt there was something hauntingly familiar about the ghost. The spirit had distinctly feminine features and was flitting around the tree his corpse was lashed to very erratically, almost as if it feared him. Was it possible? Had one of his victims somehow tracked him down, trying to get revenge on him from beyond the grave? Before George had a chance to get a really good look at the spirit to see if his theory was correct, she sped away from the tree, back in the direction she'd initially come from.
Just as he was beginning to relax once more, the door of the outpost hissed open and the woman he remembered seeing before he died came strolling out with something in her hand. Hiding in the branches of his execution tree fifteen feet above the ground, George watched as the woman who had been the cause of his death gathered his bones from the base of the tree. Tossing them into a blanket she had brought with her, the woman disappeared back into the outpost a couple of minutes later.
Cursing himself for not thinking of taking control of her body while he had a chance, George floated down to the ground like a feather blown in a soft breeze. He considered waiting for her to come back outside, but somehow knew she wasn't going to.
As he mulled over his options, George soon felt an irresistible urge to head south. What made him feel this way he had no idea. Was the Black Knight somehow beckoning him from beyond the grave, or was it another force, greater than his former master, summoning him like a slave? Determined to find out the source, he allowed himself to drift, gliding swiftly through the air as if being drawn by a powerful magnet. As invincible as he felt right now, George would have given anything at that moment to feel the wind rushing through his hair.
Chapter 12
By midday Brian was starting to worry, having not seen Jack for several hours. Ever since uniting with the group back on Earth he had been happy, mostly due to the sense of being surrounded by family, even if they really weren't. He had barely managed to survive when he'd been alone before, and he was beginning to lapse back into the same lonesome depression. At least he didn't have to constantly watch his back or be on the alert for a surprise zombie attack, but at the moment it was the only thing going right for him.
While he waited in hopes of seeing the rest of the group again, Brian scouted the surrounding area, even attempting to gain entry to the small cabin nearby. Having no luck finding a way inside, he walked the perimeter of the building and discovered a mechanical beast on one side of the structure which looked identical to the one he had been riding. Climbing into its saddle, Brian tested the machine to make sure it worked, and once satisfied that it did, he moved it next to the other.
Sighing as he climbed down, he walked over to a nearby tree and sat down beside it, leaning back against its trunk and closing his eyes out of sheer boredom.
***
Following closely behind Jack for the last couple of hours, Edward shivered slightly as he had a case of déjà vu. In the distance before him, across the open field of grass, was an eerily familiar sight, which forced him to think of the group's recent adventures. He hoped it was a hallucination because it gave him the awful feeling they had traveled in circles all night and ended up right back where they'd started from. That couldn't be the case though, could it? He had watched the building, and the portal inside it, consumed by Brian's holy flames. Could the evil in this world resurrect a building? It sounded highly improbable.
As they drew closer, Jack stopped before them. Riding up beside him, Edward gazed down and noticed the muscles quivering beneath his fur. "What's wrong, Jack?" Turning his attention from the trembling wolf, Edward squinted his eyes and looked toward the structure. Shaking his head and thinking it to be a mirage of sorts, he rubbed his eyes and glanced up again. Sure enough, the sight before him didn't change a bit. There looked to be not one, but two of the mechanical beasts that he loathed standing side by side a short distance from the cabin. "Shit! That's just great," he muttered, feeling Katie suddenly shift behind him.
"What?" she nearly shouted, panicked by his use of language, having never heard him use such terminology before now. Waiting impatiently for his response, Katie leaned forward and tried to get a peek at his face. His jaw hung open in disbelief; clearly he was having trouble comprehending what he saw. Trying to track the path of his eyes, she looked forward and nearly fell from the horse's back herself. "There's more than one of those creepy looking things?"
"It would seem so," he finally managed, gathering his wits and nudging the horse to get it moving again. Hesitantly, Jack followed behind them.
When they pulled up next to the metallic beasts Katie hopped down excitedly, spotting Brian lounging against a nearby tree with his hands laced behind his head. "Yahoo!" she shouted with glee, causing the sleeping man to almost jump out of his skin. "I was beginning to wonder if we would ever find you." Katie ran over to him, helped him to his feet, and hugged him tightly.
"I could have said the same thing." He smiled sleepily through a stifled yawn. "Just when I got used to having people around me again, bam! It was horrible to feel so alone, especially in such an unfamiliar place."
"We will try to stick together from here on out," Edward reassured him. "So, what did we miss? What had Amber so fired up?"
As Brian related the story to them, Katie walked over and inspected the mechanical creatures to see if there were any differences between them, listening carefully to his tale as she circled the machines. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on a second," she said, stopping where she was as if the news was too surreal to believe. "First you tell us that the Headhunter is dead, then you say he's still out there?"
"Technically, both are true." He nodded, emphatically agreeing with her. "According to Amber, since we weren't able to recover his bones and give him a proper burial, his spirit is free to roam."
"That shouldn't be a big deal," she remarked, glancing toward Edward to see if he agreed. Seeing his eyebrows draw down and the crinkled lines on his forehead, Katie was stunned by his silence. "Right?" she inquired again, her tone pleading with him to agree.
"Yes and no," Edward sighed, frowning. "It's true, he no longer has a physical body to wreak havoc with," he continued after a short pause, "but I can't guarantee the situation will always remain that way. As a spirit he can inhabit another person, and if his presence is powerful enough, h
e could even take control of their body."
"That's just fucking great!" Katie slammed her fist into the mechanical monster before her in anger, then cringed and shook her hand with a grimace of pain, tears instantly welling up in her eyes.
"Are you all right?" Brian asked, running over to check her hand.
"I don't know. It hurts like hell!"
"Let me see." Taking her hand in his, Brian inspected her bloody knuckles. They had already begun to swell and bruise and as he lightly touched them to see if she'd broken anything, Katie winced and drew a sharp, hissing breath through her teeth. "I'm afraid you've managed to break your hand," he told her, delivering the bad news as gently as he could.
Edward looked on passively as she put her head on Brian's shoulder. "How are we going to eat now?" she sniffled. "If my hand is broken I won't be able to hunt."
"We will figure out other means," Brian stated softly in an attempt to console her.
"All the more reason to get moving," Edward announced. "I'm sure there will be towns along the ride to Elysia where we can restock our supplies. We still have the stuff Jasper gave us back in Loknar to get by on until then," he added, hoping to cheer Katie at least a little.
"You're right," she admitted, looking up at Edward with a half-hearted smile.
"Do you need me to help you into the saddle?" Brian inquired gently.
"I think I can manage," she told him, turning to offer a grateful smile. Reaching up with her good hand she grasped the saddle, slid her foot into the stirrup, and pulled herself up with only mild difficulty.
"At least your ride should be smoother and more comfortable having your own mount." Brian smiled up at her.
Even though she enjoyed riding behind Edward, Brian had a point. From her previous observations she had noted the gliding way the mechanical horses moved over the ground, swiftly but delicately, almost like a spider. "What about Amber?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at Edward.
"I'm sure if she's around she will make herself known, even though it would be nice to know if she's listening to our conversations. If she's not nearby I'm sure it's not a big deal. She always seems to have a knack for finding us."
Chapter 13
Night was beginning to fall as Edward led the group to the southeast. They had passed Loknar about an hour ago, despite Katie's protests. Even though it would have been an opportunity to gather more supplies, and possibly something to bandage her broken hand with, he didn't want to overuse Jasper's generosity and wear out their welcome by taking more than they could offer in return.
Whining about Edward's idea of pushing on without Amber, Katie managed to convince him to stop for a short time near a small cluster of trees in the otherwise open, grassy plains they were currently crossing. Remembering a time not so long ago, she wondered what the big rush was for him to get home. Wasn't he the one who had wanted to stop and rest the horse yesterday so it wouldn't collapse before reaching Elysia?
In theory, the journey would take far less time if both Edward and Jack would suck up their misgivings about the robotic steeds. I was hesitant about them at first, too, considering at one time Julie's abductor had likely been riding at least one of the two we have acquired. Just thinking about the possibility gave Katie the chills. The early evening air cooling the metal skin of the creature she sat upon, adding to the effect.
"We will wait here until the moons begin to rise so we have something to guide us in the right direction," Edward announced softly.
"Unless Amber shows up before then," Katie added.
Dismounting his horse, Edward began to rummage through the saddlebags for food, passing out bits of dried meat, cheese, and bread to each of them. Jack sat on the ground by himself about fifty feet from the rest of the group, still leery of being too close to the machines.
Bringing a portion to Jack, Edward sat down beside him. "If it would make things easier for you, change out of your wolf's clothing and ride with me for a while," he said in a confidential whisper to the animal. "You have to be hot, running all day with that thick fur all over your body." Smiling, he held out a chunk of the dried meat, which Jack eagerly devoured.
The animal looked at Edward with greedy, glittering eyes, saliva beginning to drip from its jowls. With a grin and a soft chuckle, he laid the remaining meat on the ground between Jack's paws, patted him affectionately on the back, then stood up and returned to the others.
"Is he okay?" Brian asked around a mouthful of bread.
"I think so. He's just wary of these mechanical abominations, as am I," Edward replied. "Any sign of Amber yet?"
"No, I don't think it's quite dark enough to see her anyway. Even if she were here," Katie lied, knowing full well that it was, but trying to stall Edward into unwittingly waiting for her return. Where the hell is she?
***
Amber didn't like leaving the others in the manner that she did, but she had to find out what was causing the mixed signals she was getting, almost as if her killer had been torn in half and was somehow traveling in two directions at once.
Knowing what was most likely the cause of her problem, she had to make up her mind which trail to chase after. The only explanation she could figure out was that one of these signals was coming from her killer's remains and the other from the roaming spirit itself. Both were traveling in a southerly direction, but one of the two was moving more erratically.
Making the assumption that the latter was the actual spirit, she hastily trailed after it. Maybe she could figure out what he was up to, which was almost certainly something terrible. Men like him didn't change, even after death.
***
The moons of Desolace had risen over an hour ago and Edward was growing impatient. "I don't think Amber is going to show," he grumbled. "We should get moving. I can use the moons as a guide to make sure we stay on course."
"Without Amber all we can do is travel in a general direction. We're obviously not going to be able to see any landmarks in the dark, let alone where we are going," Katie argued. Hearing the change in his breathing, she could tell he was getting either frustrated or agitated.
"Why are you so adamant about not traveling without her?" Edward snapped.
"I could ask you the same thing," she retorted. "What's back home that is so urgent we have to travel night and day to get there? Weren't you the one who was worried about your horse yesterday, claiming we had to stop before the horse collapsed from exhaustion? What about the rest of us? Ever get the notion that we might be tired?"
Why are these two constantly at each other's throats? They've been like this almost ever since arriving in this world? In an attempt to see if there were other forces at work here, causing them to react in such a hostile manner, Brian tried to calm his thoughts and get in touch with his inner power to sense evil.
Nothing. Only the tiniest, vague tingle upon his senses was apparent and it seemed to be emanating from the creature beneath him, but the feeling was so insignificant it was obviously not a threat to any of them. If it were, he would be off its back faster than someone could shout his name!
Katie could hear the growl forming in Edward's throat as he wheeled around, refusing to answer her questions. "Jack! Let's go!" he barked, kicking the horse into motion. For a split second she considered letting him ride off without her, but Katie's gut told her she might never see him again if she did. Pushing the pommel forward, she chased after him with Brian bringing up the rear on his own metallic steed.
***
After riding for about half the night, Edward slowed his horse and brought it to a stop. The wind going through his long black hair had calmed him as he rode and he dreaded having to pause for a bit, but clouds had begun to build and were now skirting across the moons, making it impossible for him to maintain his course with any measure of accuracy.
"Is the horse tired?" Katie asked as she drew her steed up beside him.
Reaching down, Edward patted the thick lather of sweat on the horse's neck. "Yes," he admitted, "b
ut that wasn't why I decided to stop." Poking a thumb at the sky, he answered, "Our guide has gone into hiding."
Glancing upward she saw his reasoning. "Well, I'm sure your horse will appreciate the rest," she said, doing her best to not sound spiteful or condescending. Katie was in no mood to resume their argument from earlier.
A cracking sound became audible over the horse's heavy breathing, seeming to come from somewhere close by. "What the hell is that noise?" Katie asked, alarmed by what sounded like branches snapping when someone stepped on them, even though they were in the middle of an open field with no trees nearby.
Not hearing what Katie referred to until moments before it stopped, Edward shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea. I just barely heard it before the noise stopped." A couple of tense minutes followed, everyone listening intently but hearing nothing, then something brushed against his leg causing Edward to jump. "What was that?"
"What was what?" Katie inquired.
"Something—" Before he could finish a voice floated up to him.
"Can you throw me some clothes from the saddlebag?" Jack whispered.
"Oh. It's you." Edward chuckled, his tense muscles relaxing.
"Huh?" Katie was confused. Had he lost his mind? Was he talking to himself now?
"It's just Jack," he said calmly. "The noise was apparently his bones snapping back into place. He's in human form again."
"What made you decide to change back?" Katie asked.
"I just needed to take a break from all this running," he wheezed, still catching his breath. "I thought maybe I could ride with Edward for a while."
"I'm sorry, my friend," he said, looking sadly down into Jack's upturned face. "I don't think riding with me is the best option. I already have issues with having to stop because the horse is tired and adding an extra rider on its back will only serve to magnify the problem," Edward explained politely. "Perhaps you could ride with Brian or Katie instead?"
Desolace Omnibus Edition Page 52
