by T. J. Hunter
Chapter 20
Sarila sent a text message saying Thyzil was ready to transport pending our return to Alura’s apartment. I easily imagined the big smile on Thyzil’s face when Sarila told him about our battle plan.
“We kill every last doggy,” I said in broken English, impersonating Thyzil’s accent and causing Alura to laugh.
“Hopefully, Moon is holed up somewhere in his office building,” she said.
“Yea, let’s hope. If he is, this will be the last night on Earth he’ll ever see.”
Everything was moving fast and little daylight remained, so Alura drove to her apartment like she was racing in the Indianapolis 500. I must be getting use to her driving because my knuckles didn’t turn white. In fact, I actually kept my eyes open the entire way and wondered if her car had some sort of magical charm, or maybe the police just gave up chasing her down.
“Hey, how is it that you never get a ticket for the way you drive?” I asked.
Alura smiled, then pushed a button on her dash that opened a glove compartment. Dozens of tickets fell out.
“Just part of the job,” she said. “It’s not like we have much time to respond to emergency situations, so a heavy foot on the pedal is justified, and it helps save the day more times than not.”
“There must be thousands of dollars of unpaid tickets here,” I said and added, “and they still let you drive?”
“Sarila makes sure the tickets are deleted from the police database. I guess I’m a little behind in cleaning out my car.”
“Huh … isn’t deleting tickets illegal little sister.”
“And monsters killing people isn’t? Really Azul, we are no different than fire trucks or the police, and as I have always said, you can always walk if you don’t like the way I drive.”
Fair enough. We are the first responders of the supernatural world, so I shouldn’t complain.
Alura parked the Porsche in her usual spot and we hurried to her apartment. Once at her front door, she paused before placing her key into the lock.
“You do it Azul. Both our keys open each others doors and our amulets protect us from our wards.”
I used my key to unlock the door and her wards disarmed.
“Does this only work with keys?” I asked.
“No, you can also touch the lock with any of your amulets, or place your hand on the door and say ‘entra Azul’. We actually use keys only to appear normal in case someone is watching.”
“We can use a magic word? That would have been nice to know before I fumbled with my keys when that green mist tried to kill Melony and me.”
“Who would have thought something might chase you down that you couldn’t obliterate? But yea, sorry for not telling you sooner.”
Alura sent a text to Sarila letting her know we were ready, and a minute later, her pentagram lit up shooting blue-white light from the floor to the ceiling. Thyzil appeared dressed in his medieval battle gear with two large cases, and of course, wearing a huge smile.
“Someone call for strong good looking warrior?” he asked.
“Good looking, perhaps,” Alura said and jumped into his arms. “We’ll see about the warrior part later tonight hot shot.”
Thyzil roared in laughter. “Yes, tonight I battle again my princess. I look forward to splitting hairs with big doggies … their hairs, not mine. Wizard, I see you are ready to fight our enemies, yes?”
Obviously, Thyzil was speaking in terms of my state of mind when saying I appeared ready. There was nothing new about my wardrobe. I was dressed in jeans, a navy blue t-shirt, and the brown leather jacket and hat Alura bought me. The whole military fatigue thing was not my style. My wizard bag was ready enough though and filled with a variety of magic coins.
“Good to see you Thyzil.”
“Of course wizard,” he said, still laughing with his baritone voice echoing throughout the apartment as he lifted Alura into the air.
Alura laughed and jabbed Thyzil in the ribs. He pretended to feel it, rubbing his side and making a fake frown.
“Working out Alura?” he asked.
Alura rolled her eyes while Thyzil winked at me, singling his pleasure in getting a reaction. Rolling eyes was Alura’s way of protesting egotistical self-complements. Needless to say, she often rolled her eyes at Thyzil who was anything but humble.
“Okay you two,” I said. “Grab what you need so we can get this show on the road.”
Alura went into her bedroom to put on her own battle gear and emerged a few minutes later wearing black fatigues, two swords strapped to her back under grenade belts, and Desert Eagle pistols holstered to each of her legs.
I still had difficulty understanding how someone so petite could carry so many weapons or even fire a .44 caliber magnum pistol. The gunfire noise alone sounded like a stick of dynamite exploding. It didn’t seem to bother Alura in the least because she fired those canons like they were toys.
“So, we remain inconspicuous by using keys to unlock your door, but walking in plain sight armed to the teeth doesn’t cause you any concern?” I asked Alura.
She grinned and said, “Nope, not at all. If anyone should ask, we just say that we’re on our way to a costume party. Don’t forget, we’re in Manhattan.”
I looked at Thyzil, and yeah, he certainly did look like he was heading off to a costume party – as Atilla the Hun.
The three of us walked to the garage where Alura kept a white van to use when traveling with Thyzil, due to his physical size. I guess in a way the van was actually Thyzil’s ride, which makes me the only one in this trio carless.
“Just go buy one Azul and stop complaining,” Alura said.
“How about you stop listening in on my thoughts?”
“I wish,” she said. “Honestly, how do you live with yourself with all that trivial nonsense going on in that head of yours?”
“It’s not trivial to me. You know what? I’m going to wrap my head in aluminum foil the next time I go someplace with you sister.”
Alura laughed. “Go right ahead. If you want to look like a baked potato, be my guess.”
Thyzil smiled. “I would like to see this wizard. How much foil will wrap your head?”
Alura laughed again. “It would take a lot given his ego.”
“Sticks and stones Alura, sticks and stones,” I said.
My curiosity about what Thyzil was carrying in the two cases was getting the better of me. After he put the cases into the van, I took a look inside one and saw Thyzil’s mammoth claymore and an assortment of silver weapons, such as darts and daggers. There was also something I have not seen before – two crystals about the size of cucumbers. One crystal was a deep ruby color and the other yellow.
The second case had the usual arsenal of silver laced grenades and silver filled hollow point bullets. There were also large blocks of C4 the size of melons, enough to level Moon’s building to the ground, and perhaps half the city.
“What are the crystals for?” I asked Thyzil.
“Big surprise for doggies. First we kill doggies we see, then put crystals together and boom,” he said, moving his hands in a large circle. “No more doggies not seen.”
Cool weapon. Maybe we should throw it inside Moon’s lobby and sit back to watch all the fun.
Of course, Alura knew what I was thinking.
“We have to place the crystals as close to the middle of the building as possible to have maximum effect,” she said. “The blast is not an explosion and won’t harm the building or humans, but it will shake the ground. It produces a wave of high molecular energy that destroys living cells of anything not human or Zeshtune with an effective range of an entire city block, so all the lycanthropes should become crispy critters. The downside is that we must be at least 300 feet away from ground zero or the molecular wave could put us in a comma.”
“No problem. I can run 300 feet pretty darn quick when I have to,” I said.
“Don’t forget that Moon has heavily armed mercenaries,” Alura
said. “We’ll may have to fight our way into the building and place the crystals at the center of the 10th floor. It won’t be easy,”
“It never is, easy that is,” I said.
Even so, it was a simple plan. Lot’s of shooting, sword slicing, and magic. The crystals are a nice touch, like icing on a war cake.
When we leave Moon’s building this time, I wanted to be sure I’d never have to think about the irritating little fur ball ever again. So far, he has been like a bad rash that won’t go away.
“What if he isn’t there?” I asked. “Has anyone thought about the possibility Moon may not even be in the building?”
“Sarila is 99% positive he has been in the building since Lupzarro was destroyed,” Alura said. “It’s the safest place for him because he knows that anyplace else might make him an easy target. He also knows we’re coming for him and believes he’ll win this fight, especially on his own turf.”
The reality of having to fight our way through mercenaries and lycanthropes was setting in, but we have Thyzil this time. All magic aside, nothing beats having a great warrior, two counting Alura, who will watch your back in the thick of things. Alura and Thyzil were incredibly fearless and fought monsters like they were taking a walk through Central Park. They counted on each other to survive and will never know how much I counted on them for my own survival.
It was dark outside by the time we arrived where Alura and I first conducted our reconnaissance. We parked the van and went to the same rooftop to meet someone sent by Sarila. Like the good Dr. Herick, these allies pledged to help fight against the dark despite being exposed to great risk. Our ally waiting for us today was a tall man in military uniform.
“Good evening. My name is Lieutenant Mack. I have a team standing by as backup should you need help. We are not authorized to kill any humans as you already know, but we can stick them with tranquilizers, effectively taking any mercenaries out of play.”
The Lieutenant handed each of us a two-way radio ear piece set on a military frequency and pointed to where snipers were stationed on Moon’s roof. He told us to signal when we were ready to breach the building perimeter and his own snipers would take out the enemy outside the building, including Moon’s rooftop snipers.
“If you get into a jam, say so and I’ll send in the troops,” Mack said.
Things were looking better. Two Zeshtune warriors, a master wizard, and a team of Special Forces make the odds of surviving the night much more favorable. I wondered how deep Sarila’s organization reached. Maybe tomorrow I’ll ask her, assuming there is a tomorrow, but now it’s time to kick fur ball butt.
After a few minutes reviewing our battle plan with Lieutenant Mack, we headed to position ourselves at the perimeter of Moon’s building. We had the cover of night as an advantage, but could not pass the corner of the adjacent building without being seen. Alura took the lead.
“Are you two ready?” Alura asked.
I took my staff coin out of my pocket and turned it into a staff, then said, “Yup, sure am.”
Thyzil nodded in agreement and Alura pushed the com-link on her ear piece telling Lieutenant Mack to take out Moon’s security.
Phew, phew, phew. A series of tranquilizer darts flew over our heads and we saw the mercenaries outside the building drop like flies. Now was our chance to breach the building.
I gathered the magical energy inside me and could feel it surging through my body. My necklace and ring amulets began to glow as did the amulet on top of my staff. Thyzil had his claymore stretched out to one side and Alura’s Desert Eagles were in her hands ready to fire. We ran across the parking lot to the front of the building and looked through the glass doors – there was no one in the lobby.
“Where are the security guards?” I asked.
Alura shrugged. “Hiding and waiting most likely.”
I touched the door lock with my staff and it liquefied into molten steel, hissing as it hit the cool ground. Alura moved inside first, slowly keeping her eyes open for a trap, but nothing happened. Thyzil and I followed her watching with equal attention.
Once inside, we noticed the elevator doors were open. Alura and Thyzil shook their heads side to side recognizing the convenient death trap. Alura pointed her finger at Thyzil and then to the rear stairway door. Thyzil nodded and he darted off to it. She then looked at me and pointed toward the front stairway for us to go up.
The stairway was very dark, except for the small amount of light generated by my staff amulet. I concentrated and my amulet provided more light for us to see 10 feet ahead. We continued up the stairway until Alura raised her hand up in a fist to signal stop moving and looked down the stairwell. She then put her finger to her lips telling me to remain quiet.
There was something coming up the stairs and not far behind us. A few moments later I smelt wet dog hair and knew lycanthropes were near. Alura motioned to start up the stairs again, but this time, we were running as fast as we could while growls got closer from behind us.
When we reached the 8th floor and looked back, there were four yellow eyes glaring at us from about twenty feet down the stairway. Alura tried to open the 8th floor door, but it was locked. We then saw the outlines of two lycanthropes as they moved towards us. Alura pushed me aside and shot both Desert Eagles at the same time hitting each lycanthrope dead center in their heads. The fur balls yelped and fell down the stairway as they burned into ashes. A few moments later, only dim ambers could be seen flickering in the dark, so we continued up to the 9th floor.
“We’re close Alura. I can sense it. Let’s check out this floor first so nothing follows us up to the 10th floor.”
Alura checked to see if the door was locked – it was. I touched the handle with my staff and melted the lock causing both the inside and outside handles which dropped on the floor. Alura looked through the hole and didn’t see anything, then slowly pushed the door open with the tip of her pistol.
We walked into an office setting filled with cubicle workstations and five foot tall sectional walls. Each cubicle had the standard office furniture: desk computer, phone, and usual assortment of nine-to-five underpaid workplace charm. The ceiling lights were off, but low watt lights were working inside emergency exit signs above both stairway doors. There was not much light, but enough so someone would not break a leg tripping over something.
The smell of lycanthropes filled the room and my neck hairs stood up, warning me of eminent danger. There was an eerie stillness, like the calm before a hurricane blows up your house while you’re making a sandwich.
Alura paused, and then looked at me to check if I was aware of what was coming. I pointed my staff forward and she had both her pistols extended straight out ready to fire. As we passed each cubicle, Alura pointed one pistol to her side while keeping the other aimed straight down the corridor.
I kept my staff fixed on the other side, ready to release a flurry of magic, and its amulet began making swirls of blue-white light that moved in and out like solar flares. Magical energy was surging through my body, increasing my sense of awareness as the smell of lycanthropes intensified.
We reached the center of the room, and even though we didn’t see any fur balls, we knew they were there. Alura and I stood in place back-to-back and continued scanning the room.
“They’re here … very close,” I whispered, tightening my grip around my staff and ready to smoke anything that moved.
The stairway doors at each end of the room opened slowly and something entered. I couldn’t see what it was because the cubicle walls obstructed most of my view, but I didn’t need to see. A low growl sounded in front of me and another from behind where Alura was facing. More growling then sounded out from all directions in the room – we were surrounded.
My heartbeat raced and adrenalin raged through my bloodstream. I was ready, focused, and barely able to hold back the magic swelling inside me – bring it on.
In a single coordinated attack, cubicle walls began being tossed into the air as lyca
nthropes leapt towards us. Three were coming at me and I assumed as many were heading towards Alura. Boom, boom, boom. Alura’s pistols fired off hollow point silver bullets in rapid succession.
I moved my staff side to side and said, “Aknor stellara,” sending bolts of lightning that struck the three approaching lycanthropes. They howled in pain and turned into balls of fire. I heard Alura reloading new clips into her pistols as the spent ones dropped to the floor.
“Got three here,” she said.
“Me too.”
“Keep your eyes peeled Azul. There are a lot more nearby, and don’t forget, they’re shapeshifters. The older ones know how to take inanimate forms, or make you think they have, so don’t pass a water cooler or vending machine thinking what you see is real.”
A water cooler? She’s got to be kidding.
The stairway door we came up from had debris blocking the door from the office wreckage, so that wasn’t an option for escaping. In slow deliberate steps, we moved toward the unblocked stairway door, still scanning the office for any movement. Alura reached for the door handle, but it moved open several inches before she touched it. Clawed fingers began curling around the door edge and we heard a deep angry growl. Alura jumped back from the door and nearly broke my nose when her head hit me.
“Oooouch,” I said in a soft voice, rubbing my nose with one hand and keeping my staff steady with the other.
Alura continued pushing her back against me, moving us both back several feet as we both prepared to let Armageddon loose on whatever came through the door. We didn’t have to wait long when a large metal object glowing with blue-white light pierced through the center of the door. The angry growl turned to a loud whimper and as the door slowly opened.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Thyzil was holding a lycanthrope on his blade through the door with one hand. He smiled like he won the Oscar, and then kicked the door forward, pushing the fur ball off his blade. A few seconds later the dead lycanthrope turned into a fiery dust ball.
Alura lowered her pistols and grinned. “Took you long enough,” she said.
Thyzil looked around the room seeing the havoc and six piles of smoldering wolf meat. His victorious smile turned into a frown as he lowered his claymore as though defeated.
“You started party without me?”
“Snooze and you lose mighty warrior,” Alura said.
Thyzil looked at me for support as Alura and I headed up the stairway to the 10th floor. There was nothing I could say to contradict my sister, not this time anyway, so I raised my eyebrows and shrugged while looking back at him.
“Okay selfish people, but next doggie is mine,” he said and pushed his way ahead of us.
“That’s fine with me,” I said. “You can take them all on if you want.”
“Don’t encourage him Azul. You know how he keeps score.”
True enough. Thyzil was always in a compete mode and counted each kill like a Roman solider put notches in his belt. I shouldn’t encourage the big guy because I’ll only have to pay for it later, most likely with another beer can head-crushing contest.
The 10th floor stairway door was already opened revealing an office floor in pitch darkness. Thyzil reached into his pocket and took out three glow sticks, snapped them, and tossed each into different areas to provide light.
This floor had a modern style decor with offices lined up along the outer walls. The glow sticks didn’t provide much light, but we could see well enough to make out potted plants, a sitting area with couches and chairs, and what looked like a conference room at the far end of a corridor. Everything looked like what one might expect to find on Wall Street.
I smiled. “The lap of luxury.”
“Not my style,” Alura said. “It seems a bit sterile for lycanthropes, don’t you think?”
“It’s all about image, money, and power sister. Too bad for them it’s all coming to an end.”
Alura grinned. “Maybe you’ll see something you like and take it home as a souvenir.”
“I don’t think any of this stuff would fit in with my apartment decor. Perhaps a wolf tooth or a paw like a rabbit’s foot, you know for good luck. Now that would be cool.”
Alura smirked. “Not if you want me to ever visit you. A bit creepy, don’t you think?”
I shrugged and said, “Perhaps.”
The smell of lycanthropes was not as heavy in the air as the floor below, but it was there, and we knew that fur balls were watching us. None of this bothered Thyzil who smiled knowing his scorecard would soon have a new total. As Thyzil pondered the upcoming battle, he sat down on a rich leather chair and stretched his feet over a table.
“What are you planning to do Thyzil, take a nap?” I asked.
“Not bad wizard. Sad we must blow up cushy seats,” he said.
“Don’t waste time Thyzil,” Alura said. “The sooner we use the crystals, the less lycanthropes we will have to deal with to get out of here.”
