by Steve McHugh
“You getting Olivia in to help?” I asked.
“No, this is a neutral realm, so Avalon’s influence is probably going to be even less than mine. Besides, if you think people on the Earth Realm don’t trust Avalon, those who live here all year ’round pretty much moved here to get away from Avalon in its entirety.”
“I’m not exactly shocked,” I said. “So, how do you want to play this?” The three bodies had all been removed now, but there were still members of Tommy’s security team going through the clearing, looking for anything that might help.
“We can’t track them through the wilderness,” Tommy said. “If Diana lost their scent, then no one else is going to pick it up again. We go back to the castle and try to figure out who wants who dead.”
“They’re a bunch of werewolves and werelions,” I said. “They all want each other dead.”
“I never said this was going to be easy,” Tommy admitted.
“Come help me for the weekend,” I quoted. “It’ll be easy, it’ll be fun. You’ll enjoy yourself.”
“I find it distasteful that you’d use my own words against me at this time,” Tommy said. “It’s not like I could have foreseen this.”
I stared at Tommy for a few seconds.
“Okay, yeah, something was going to happen,” Tommy admitted. “We just need to stop more somethings from happening next.”
“I want the families separated,” I said. “There are a few hundred guests, and there’s no way everything that happened here can be kept secret. Someone knows something, and once one person knows, it’s pretty likely more than one person will know soon after.”
“Only dead people keep secrets,” Tommy said.
I looked back at the blood-stained snow. “Get a necromancer here too. The dead need to give up what they know.”
Chapter Three
After returning Sorcery to the stables, Tommy and I headed to the village to find that Victoria had woken. She was still groggy and barely capable of putting together a coherent sentence.
“It’s going to be a while before you can talk to her,” Gordon told us as I spotted Diana and Remy strolling over with Sky.
I was glad to see Sky; the adopted daughter of Hades and Persephone was one of my closest friends. Centuries earlier, her Native American father and white mother had been murdered when she was only a child, and she’d been raised by two of the most powerful beings in any realm.
Sky’s dark grey suit matched the leather bag she passed to one of the people who worked in the realm, and they hurried off to take it to her room. “I hear you’ve got some dead people problems,” she said after hugging me, and fist bumping Tommy.
“Did you tell her?” Tommy asked Diana and Remy.
“We told her everything,” Diana said.
“It’s a good job you were coming anyway,” I said.
“I’m just sorry I couldn’t have been here earlier,” Sky said. “So, where are the dead?”
“Nate, you want to go with Sky?” Tommy said. “I need to go talk to the guests and workers, try to figure out a way to stop anyone deciding to use this as an excuse to pick a fight.”
As I walked through the village with Diana, Remy, and Sky, there was a noticeable change in tone from those who worked in the realm all year around; a fear not just about what had happened, but what might happen next. There was an air of trying to look like it was business as usual when it was anything but.
We stopped outside a small hut where two of Tommy’s security people stood guard. “This is a morgue?” I asked, looking around. It was some distance from anything residential, but it appeared to be just another thatched hut in a village of similar thatched huts.
“Most of anything not looking authentic is underground,” Diana said.
“Don’t want to spoil the illusion of the time,” Remy said, rolling his eyes. “It’s not like vast people died back in the Middle Ages or anything.”
“The sanitized version of the Middle Ages,” Sky said. “Murder isn’t meant to exist here. I think that’s why people are freaking out. They’ve gotten used to being in their safe bubble, and now it’s gone. They have to confront the fact there’s a murderer here, at least one.”
“To be fair, it’s never a good time to confront that fact,” Remy said, the guards nodding to us when we stepped inside the almost empty hut.
The only thing inside was a door, which had runes carved into the dark wood that burned yellow and would occasionally pulse with weak light.
Diana touched one of the runes, and the door slid back to reveal a dimly lit set of stairs that led underground.
As creepy as those stairs were, we had all been in considerably worse situations than some badly lit steps, and descended them without comment, reaching a large open reception area shortly after.
“This way,” Diana said, leading us along what could have been any hospital in any part of the Earth Realm. I spotted a map, which showed the structure to be a giant circle that ran beneath the village. It was divided into four parts; each one used for something different. The medical quarter had four floors, and from the looks of things, was barely used.
On our way to the morgue, we passed three members of staff, all wearing medical ID tags.
Unsurprisingly, the morgue looked pretty much like every morgue I’d ever visited.
Diana went to the cold chamber and opened one of the drawers, sliding free one of the victims—the guard—before repeating the process twice more.
Sky walked the line of bodies. “So, you want me to see if I can pick anything up from their spirits?”
“If you think that would work,” Diana said.
“It’ll work,” Sky said. “It just depends on how traumatic the death was. Memories in spirits start to dissipate pretty quickly, but I might be able to get something. It’s going to take a while though, depending on what I find and what I have to work with.”
“Take as long as you need,” I said.
I caught Remy staring at the wounds on the guard.
“You okay?” I asked him.
“This guy got shot with four basilisk-tooth-tipped arrows,” he said. “I’d have thought one was enough. They’re not cheap, and using four to kill someone is like trying to kill a wasp with an AK-47.”
“Anyone else concerned that Remy has a point?” Diana asked.
“Also, why slit the throats after?” Remy continued, flipping Diana off without looking her way, which earned him a chuckle from her.
“Overkill,” I said.
“We’ll soon find out,” Sky said, taking a metal stool and placing it beside the body of the young woman. “Sorry, kid,” she said softly, and a second later her head dipped forward.
“You two go back,” I said. “I’ll keep Sky company.”
“You sure?” Remy asked. “Victoria is surrounded by heavily-armed bastards. It’s just you in here.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Remy,” I said. “We must have just met. I’m Nate Garrett, I can create lightning and throw it at people.”
“Why don’t you want to go back?” Diana asked Remy, suddenly serious.
“Victoria is protected by a lot of people,” Remy said. “Tommy is busy and has a lot of protection, but if someone discovered that we had a necromancer who could talk to spirits and tell you what happened, who do you think they’d go after first?”
The lights shut off, flicking back on to dim emergency lighting a second later.
“Okay, Remy, you need to stop being right,” Diana said.
“It’s pretty off-putting,” I told him.
“It’s freaking me out too, guys,” Remy said, drawing a sword from the sheath at his hip. “Any chance this is just a power surge or something?”
“No,” Diana and I said in unison.
“Remy, stay here, keep Sky safe,” I told him. “Diana, we need to patrol the corridor outside. You go left, I’ll go right, and we’ll hit the end of this quarter and double-back to here. No need to check other floors. If you find s
omeone who doesn’t want to play nice, try not to kill them before we find out what’s going on.”
“No promises,” Diana told me.
Diana set off and I followed soon after, leaving Sky under Remy’s protection. I knew he would give his lives to do so, and anyone who underestimated Remy in a fight usually ended up with a dagger in their throat.
I set off along the corridor, and had only made it a few feet when the already dim lighting began to flicker again, this time turning red. I could still see, but now shadows cast an otherworldly appearance to them. Every time I walked past an open door, or there was a turn in the hallway, I had to stop and check to make sure I was alone.
Somewhere in the distance of the hallway there were noises of things being dropped, the scrape of items being dragged along the wall and floor. Someone was trying to scare me, which probably wasn’t the best use of their time, but I figured they thought I’d drop my guard and they could come running in and kill me without any problems.
I’d made it all the way back to the reception area when I found who I assumed to be the cause of the noises. A figure dressed all in dark colors rolled his considerably large shoulders, and drew a short sword; its slightly curved blade took my attention immediately.
“A basilisk-tooth blade,” I said. “I don't know who’s paying you, but they’re certainly paying a lot. Those things are rare.”
“You were not part of the payment,” the man said, his voice muffled by his hooded mask. “Let me do what I came to do, and I will let you go.”
“No,” I said. “You won’t.”
“No,” the man said with a chuckle. “But you’d be surprised how many people believe I would.”
“You’re a dick.”
The man positioned himself into a fighting stance, the blade down by his leg, ready to whip up at me in a moment’s notice. He clearly hadn’t considered me much of a threat.
“How about you tell me who paid for the murders, and I’ll let you go,” I said. “Or at least I’ll let you have a head start.”
“You will regret coming here today,” the man said, lowering his stance.
I sighed. “I already do.”
He sprang at me, flicking the sword up toward my chest in a move that was so obvious, I was a little insulted he’d used it.
I blasted him in the chest with a plume of air, sending him spiraling back across the reception area.
“Wanna try again?” I asked him.
“You’re a sorcerer,” he said, getting back to his feet, the irritation in his voice easy to hear.
“You’re quick,” I said. “I can see why you were hired.”
“Magical attacks won’t work on me,” he said, and I noticed the white runes on his dark armor had lit up.
“Rune-scribed armor,” I said. “Basilisk-tooth blades, and I assume an assortment of other talents. Someone wanted to make sure the job went to the best.”
He sprinted toward me again; threw something from his hip. I created a shield of air around me, and the half-dozen marble sized spheres impacted without causing me any issues.
“You’ll have to do better than—” The half a dozen spheres exploded, throwing a cloud of darkness all around me.
I darted back, putting distance between myself and the cloud that impeded my vision, throwing put up another shield of air. The second my magic touched the particles of smoke, they exploded, throwing me back down the hall. I was uninjured, although my pride had certainly taken a battering.
The assassin was on me in a second, swiping at my head as I rolled back to my feet. I grabbed his arm as I stood, and turned into him, throwing him over my shoulder and onto the hard floor. He landed and rolled right back to his feet as if nothing had happened.
We faced off, glaring at one another. I was beginning to regret the idea of needing any assailants alive. It was becoming more work than I’d wanted.
He dashed forward, the blade coming up from his hip again, before he turned it and thrust it forward, trying to catch me off balance as I moved back. I stepped to his side, and threw a ball of fire behind me, right into the cloud, which ignited. White glyphs lit up over the backs of my hands as I wrapped myself in air magic as the explosion tore through the reception area, throwing me aside. The would-be assassin hurtled past, smashing through the closed door of a nearby room.
“Bet that hurt,” I said to myself as I got to my feet. Most of the cloud had dissipated, although I wasn’t certain that using my magic again wouldn’t result in another explosion.
I stepped inside the hospital room to find the assassin wobbling on his feet, holding onto the bed as he tried to remain upright.
“You don’t look so good,” I told him and punched him in the side of the head. He dropped to his knees and I slammed his head against the metal rail of the bed.
His blade was on the ground close to the bed, so I picked it up, turning it over in my hand to examine the craftsmanship. It wasn’t particularly well made, it wasn’t elegant, but then it didn’t need to be. It just needed to be stabby.
The assassin made a gurgling sound, presumably because I’d shattered his nose earlier. I grabbed his hooded mask and pulled it free, revealing a mass of blood and scar tissue beneath.
“I know this might seem rude, but what happened to you?” I asked, tossing the mask aside.
He spat blood onto the tiled floor. “You have no idea what is going to happen to you,” he said. “No idea.”
I sensed movement behind me, spun to the side, just in time to avoid a second assassin lunging at me with their own basilisk-tooth blade. I parried the strike and stepped back as far as I could from the two assassins, even though the injured one remained on his knees.
“Bad news, guys,” I said. “There’s two of you.”
“And only one of you,” the man on the floor said.
“Yes,” I nodded slightly. “It’s just not your day.”
The still masked assassin darted forward. I parried, stepping to his side, and slammed the blade up under his ribs. “I only need one of you,” I said, pushing him aside.
The assassin on his knees sprung toward me, a normal dagger in his hand. I kept back as his comrade’s body fell to the floor, and the injured assassin used that opportunity to almost dive over the body. I blasted him in the chest with my air magic, which threw him back across the room. The dagger dropped from his fingers, and a whip of my air magic sent it under the bed, out of the assassin’s reach.
“I don’t think you understand the predicament you’re in,” I said. “You’re going to answer my questions, one way or another.”
There was a roar outside the room, and I left the injured assassin alone for a moment, stepping into the hallway to see Diana tackle a fleeing assassin to the ground, where she head butted him over and over as she turned into her werebear form. Diana in full werebear form was massive and terrifying, a nightmare version of a grizzly bear.
“We’ve got one in there,” I told her, pointing to the hospital room.
Diana looked up at me and tore the assassins head clean off his shoulders, throwing it aside with a shrug as the assassin I’d left inside the room sprinted past me. I tripped him with a tendril of air, sending him headfirst into the reception area desk.
“He looks hurt,” Diana said.
“You have no idea how much more work it was keeping him alive,” I told her as the assassin crawled across the floor, leaving a trail of blood along the reception desk as he used it for leverage.
Diana walked over to the assassin and placed a massive paw on his back, pinning him in place.
“I’d stop struggling,” I told him as I crouched beside his head. “Now, is there something you’d like to tell us?”
He laughed. “Goodbye, little sorcerer.”
I wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that, and was even less so when he melted, causing Diana to jump back.
Diana and I shared an expression of confusion.
“Any ideas?” I asked.
; Diana shook her head. “It’s not brilliant.”
Several taps sounded from the other side of the reception area, and I watched as half a dozen of the marble sized items rolled along the floor before detonating.
A massive plume of smoke was thrown up all around the reception area, and quickly expanded to cover both myself and Diana. Half a dozen dark-clad assassins ran out of the corridor after the explosion.
“So, they were just hiding there?” I asked, noticing that only one of them had a basilisk-tooth blade.
“Something feel off to you?” Diana asked as the assassins charged.
She plowed into them, throwing two aside with one swipe of her enormous paw. I avoided the thrust of a basilisk-tooth blade, stepped into his guard and drove my elbow into his throat. I grabbed the blade, broke his wrist, and stabbed him in the head, pushing him aside as a second assassin took his place.
I’d killed four, but they just kept coming. “Diana, you got this?”
Diana tore the head from another assassin and threw it at one of his companions. “I’m good,” she said.
I ran past the battle to find another assassin charging down the corridor toward me. He lunged at me with a dagger, which I removed from him then stabbed him in the ribs with it before unleashing a torrent of lighting into the blade, which cooked him from the inside out. The smoking husk of his body fell to the ground, and I continued on.
The last door on the corridor was open, and the sounds of heavy breathing were easy to hear. I stepped inside, saw an unmasked man—whose face was similarly scarred as the one I’d seen earlier—and punched him in the face with an air-magic-wrapped fist. He collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
I poked my head back out of the door. “You okay down there?” I shouted into the eerie silence of the corridor.
“What the hell just happened?” Diana shouted back. “Everyone turned to mush.”
I looked back at the man on the ground, he was breathing, but he was sweaty and appeared as though he’d run miles.
Diana appeared in the doorway behind me. “Sorcerer?”
I nodded. “Probably.” I moved him into a sitting position at the far end of the room and waited for him to wake.
