by J. C. Diem
“I’m the spirit of Halloween,” he joked. He took his pointy hat off and bowed with a merry jingle of bells. Fine white blond hair stuck up in all directions before he put his hat back on.
“Really?” I asked, heavy on the skepticism. “What does the spirit of Halloween do, exactly?”
“Why, I ask people if they want a trick or a treat, then I give them what they deserve,” Crowmon replied.
I didn’t like his sly smile or his twinkling eyes. He was up to something and I already knew it wasn’t going to be good. “I’ve never heard of the spirit of Halloween before,” I said. “I think you just made that up.”
“Once upon a time, hundreds of people worshipped me,” the jester said, eyes going distant as he reminisced about his glory days of long ago. “I had true power back then, but I squandered it. I used it for petty things, never realizing that it wouldn’t last. Times changed and my followers became fewer in number. When my last follower died, I went into hibernation.”
I was curious despite myself and felt compelled to dig for more information. “What happened? How did you break out of your hibernation?”
“Through worship,” he said with another sly smirk. “Someone prayed at one of my old altars and it gave me enough strength to awaken from my long slumber. I heard her voice whispering to me that there was a city on the other side of the world where I could grow strong again. She told me she could bring me here and I accepted her offer.”
“Who is she?” I asked.
He shrugged, bells jingling madly with the abrupt movement. “I was too weak to take much notice,” Crowmon replied. “Once I entered Nox, power began to seep into me.” He held his hands out and wiggled his fingers. “It oozes from the very air itself and boosts the magic of everyone who can call on it.”
“It boosts your magic as well?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Oh, yes, lass,” he replied. “It boosts my power far more than anyone else in the city.”
“Why?”
“Because I am magic,” he divulged. “I’m not like the other beings who have flocked here from all over the world.” His tone turned slightly scornful and he flicked a derisive look at the vampires who resided in the stone houses that surrounded us. “I’m a god,” he added.
“Wow, you’re an actual god?” I said in fake awe rather than belittling him. The last time I’d made fun of him, he’d brought a tree to life. I didn’t want to know what he could do when he was apparently drunk on power. I could feel it swirling around inside him. He’d soaked up so much of it that it was spilling over.
“I am,” he confirmed with a nod. “You’ve given me much amusement since we met and it’s time I rewarded you for it,” the jester added.
“Uh, that isn’t necessary,” I responded. “As far as I know, we’ve never met before,” I added.
Crowmon was already beginning to weave magic. His hands moved gracefully and I slowly backed away from him. Pressure began to build and even the bloodsuckers felt it. Instead of coming to investigate, they discreetly fled from their homes. “You’re a huntress, aren’t you?” Crowmon asked, but he didn’t wait for me to answer him. “Since it’s Halloween, I’ll give you a trick and a treat.”
My breath caught in my throat when he pointed at the fence that the tree had partially knocked down. Fallen stones shifted, then began to pull together. Dread filled me when a stone hound about the size of a small pony shook itself. It opened gray eyes, then growled at me menacingly. “If this is the trick, where’s my treat?” I asked the jester.
“Wait for it,” Crowmon said in a chiding tone. He pointed at the fallen stones again and another creature formed out of the rubble. There weren’t enough loose stones to complete the job, so some of the still standing wall was sacrificed to form the beast. It was a horse, complete with a stone saddle and a bridle. It neighed, then shook its head as if waking up from a long sleep. “I’ve ordered the hound to only attack Night Cursed fae beings,” the jester said. “It won’t kill anyone, so I’m not breaking any rules,” he added mischievously.
The dog lumbered over to me and sniffed my face. It growled again, then turned and loudly bounded away when it realized I wasn’t fae. I was pretty sure the beast had sensed my link to Lord Dallinar, hence the growl. It sprinted away so quickly there was no chance I’d be able to catch it. “What’s the horse for?” I asked.
“Why to hunt the hound with, of course,” he replied. “You’d best hurry, Xiara Evora,” he advised me. “The hound might not kill its prey, but it will grow stronger on their fear and pain.” With that, he giggled, then snapped his fingers and vanished.
“Awesome,” I said with a heavy sigh as I eyed the horse. It snorted and looked down at me in equine contempt. I was pretty sure it could sense that I’d never ridden a horse before. It knew I would be completely inept during this chase.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“NICE HORSEY,” I SAID nervously as I approached the stone animal. It snorted, shook its head again, then seemed resigned to the fact that it would become my steed. The stirrup was too high for me to put my foot in it. Feeling like an idiot, I put Wrath down, then tried to haul myself up onto the saddle. The horse immediately began to sidle away. I clung to the stone pommel with my feet dragging on the ground.
Chesi arrived as if she sensed I needed her help and took pity on me. The dragon swooped down, picked me up and plonked me on the horse. She settled around my shoulders and I called Wrath to my hand. I wrapped the reins around my left hand, then kicked the horse in the sides. “Yah!” I shouted.
The horse turned its head to regard me with amused stone eyes. It seemed to be waiting for something.
“Don’t just stand there, you stupid lump of rock!” I said in frustration. “Chase after the stone hound!”
At that order, the beast obediently took off at a full gallop. Chesi clung to me tightly and tears came to my eyes from the wind that streamed into my face. I could see why the air elemental had chosen to ride along with me. The horse could move even faster than she could.
Shouts of alarm rang out as we galloped through the Vampire District. The horse’s stone hooves rang loudly on the cobbled streets. Carriages veered around us, but the steed paid no attention to them. It was following in the hound’s wake and it wasn’t going to be sidetracked.
We clattered over a bridge that took us to the Fae District, then headed west towards where a lot of the Night Cursed lived. The hound had left wounded fairies, elves and other cursed beings behind. Sirens wailed as a crew of firefighters turned up. There were no fires to be put out, but they would help the doctors and nurses who were bound to be on their way to the area. Bright red flares of light had been sent into the air by witches and wizards.
The horse unerringly galloped through the suburbs, then left them far behind as we headed towards the Fairytale Forest. I grimaced at the thought of entering the woods where all sorts of fae creatures lived. Halloween was the worst night to encroach on my kin in their domain. This was Crowmon’s first year in Nox, so he couldn’t have known how Halloween affected the Night Cursed. Or maybe he did know and he’d deliberately chosen to wreak havoc tonight of all nights.
Seven dwarves were huddled around a Snow White when we entered the Fairytale Forest. Their little faces were scrunched in anger as they tried to tend to her bite marks. Snow White had fainted. One of the princes who roamed the forest would have to wake her with a kiss. She would wake up as usual tomorrow night even if none of the princes happened by.
We passed a Hansel and a Gretel next. They sat next to each other, hand in hand and wearing green and brown lederhosen and a short green dress. They carried satchels full of breadcrumbs. Night birds followed them around, ready to eat the food they left as a trail to lead them back home from their doomed walk. Gretel was crying and was holding her bloodied arm. Hansel was trying to staunch a wound on his leg. All of the victims so far were shaken, but they would survive. The hound wasn’t a flesh and blood creature and it d
idn’t need to feed on its prey. Its purpose was to cause harm and to incite terror.
There were hundreds of trails in the Fairytale Forest. I didn’t know the woods well enough to know where the hound was headed. It seemed to be wandering in a random pattern in search of more victims.
Screams sounded ahead and the horse increased its speed. It changed direction and galloped along a narrow leafy path. A Goldilocks sat on the path next to a baby bear that was bleeding from a bite wound in its stomach. She was stroking its fur and was crying in great wracking sobs. She let out a scream when she saw the huge stone horse coming towards her and tried to cover the baby bear with her body. The horse leaped over them both and continued its mad dash. I held on for dear life, somehow managing not to fall off.
We passed more Night Cursed beings who had been bitten, chewed up and spat out. All fairytale people and creatures were considered fae. They had limited or no magic, but it was enough for the hound to target them.
Chesi didn’t like coming to the Fae District and usually avoided the area. When she cringed against me, I figured we were in for some trouble. Several roars thundered from a path to the right just as the stone horse veered onto it. I looked down to see deep pawprints embedded in the ground. Even a blind tracker would have been able to follow our quarry. Branches slapped at my face and I leaned down closer to the steed’s neck, which made it run even faster. My thighs and backside were chaffed and sore from the ride, but my ordeal wasn’t over yet.
We burst into a clearing to see the stone hound was surrounded. Ogres, goblins, a few minotaurs, centaurs and other fae beasts and monsters were attempting to fight the dog. The horse skidded to a stop and turned into an unmoving statue. It had done its job of hunting the hound, just as it had been ordered.
I slid to the ground, wincing at the pain in my legs and butt. “Remind me to wear chaps the next time I have to ride a stone horse,” I muttered to Chesi. She made a scolding noise to remind me that I had a job to do.
The hound was surrounded by fae creatures. It growled and snapped at them, lashing out with its claws and biting with its powerful jaws. An ogre lumbered forward and smashed its wooden club into the animal. The club splintered and I snorted out a laugh at the ogre’s dumbfounded expression when it gaped at the shattered stump. Far smaller than real ogres, the Night Cursed ones were green, wore brown pants and linen shirts. They looked more like cartoon characters than the real ogres who lived in a different area of the Fae District. They had their own woods near the mountains to the north. The creatures shared it with other monsters who had opted to move to Nox.
A small goblin darted in and tried to stab the hound. Its blade snapped, then it let out a shrill squeal of pain when the dog latched onto its arm. Shaken from side to side like a ragdoll, the little gray creature was sent flying. I caught a glimpse of its privates beneath its loincloth when it sailed over my head. “Eww, that was a sight I could have done without,” I complained.
Even the centaurs were far smaller than the uncursed ones. They weren’t much bigger than the hound. Their spears and arrows broke on impact and they turned to flee. A minotaur clomped forward on cloven hooves and swung its battleaxe at the beast. The hound caught the wooden handle in its mouth and snapped it in two. An ogre kicked the intruder as hard as it could and only shifted its enemy by a few inches. The ogre let out a howl of agony when a bone in its foot snapped.
From what I’d seen so far, Crowmon’s creation was going to be a lot harder to kill than the oak tree had been. Wrath sensed my mood and pulsed in my hand. It was a good thing he was unbreakable and that he could kill anything. Otherwise, this fight might have been impossible to win.
Chapter Thirty-Four
REALIZING THEY COULDN’T beat the hound that had been created with olde-worlde magic, the fae monsters fled. Even the dumb ogres knew it would be a bad idea to stick around. Now it was just the beast and me left. Chesi slid from my shoulders and flew over to the inert horse to perch on its saddle. She wasn’t a warrior, so there wasn’t much she could do to help me during this battle.
I circled around the animal who was staying put now that the horse had reached it. The pair seemed to be linked through the same magic that had created them. Crowmon knew better than to push the Immortal Triumvirate too far. His pet had caused a lot of mayhem, which would make the trickster god happy.
My sword would be useless during this fight, so I left it sheathed at my waist. Gray fog wreathed Wrath’s blades. There was nothing unholy nearby to make him glow white. The moon gave us plenty of light, not that I needed it. My night vision was just as good as any of the creatures that I hunted.
Panting from exertion, the hound shifted its stance to face me as I circled around it. No saliva dripped from its mouth. It was so heavy that its paws left deep indentations in the ground with each step. I feinted at it and it leaped forward, snapping at my stomach.
My brooch changed into a shield and blocked the beast before it could savage me to death. Wrath’s blade sank into its stone hide like it was made of flesh and blood. The dog howled, then raked at me with its claws. My shield saved me again and I scored another cut on the creature. It didn’t bleed, but it could feel pain. Unlike the oak tree, it didn’t have a soft core or a heart. I had no idea how I was going to kill this thing.
Heavy hoofbeats sounded far off in the distance. I couldn’t afford to take my attention away from the hound, but I was pretty sure the hoofbeats were heading in this direction. They grew louder and louder until I had to flick a look over my shoulder. A knight in shining armor was mounted on a huge werehorse. The animal was black, had fierce eyes and looked like it was ready to murder anyone who stood in its way.
“Step aside, fair lady!” the knight shouted.
He was holding a lance and he was galloping directly towards me. I threw myself to the side moments before the horse could trample me into the ground. The lance hit the hound directly in the head and stone shattered everywhere. My shield saved me from most of the shrapnel, but a few small spattered against my legs.
The horse circled around the now inert body of the hound, then slowed to a stop. It reared up and the knight leaned forward to keep his seat. “Are you injured?” he asked me. His voice sounded tinny from behind the helmet and his accent was American.
“No, I’m fine,” I said. I pushed myself to my feet and stared at the headless statue in disbelief. “You killed it,” I said.
“Sir Francis never loses his battles,” the knight said, speaking about himself in the third person and showing not even a shred of modesty. “My work here is done, so I’m off to Tournament Town.” He saluted me, then nudged the werehorse to set it back into motion.
I watched the black steed and its rider thunder back the way they’d come. Chesi flew over to me and settled in her favorite place on my shoulders. “He killed the hound,” I said, still in disbelief. The dragon patted my cheek consolingly that someone else had done my job for me. Somehow, the knight had managed to defeat a creature that had been created by the trickster deity. I’d heard of Sir Francis, but this was the first time I’d met him. I had a feeling we would meet again. He was Night Cursed, but he had a name, which meant he was far from an ordinary knight.
I was still standing next to the remains of the hound when Crowmon arrived a few moments later. Chesi had sensed him coming and flew away so he wouldn’t discover her. The jester shook his head glumly when he saw that his pet had been defeated. “I admit, I expected my creation to last longer than this,” he said. “It managed to cause quite a stir before you killed it, though,” he added in amusement. “The night is young and I’m still full of power,” he went on with a smirk. “Which Night Cursed beings should I target next?”
“How about none of them?” I retorted angrily, allowing him to believe I’d killed his hound instead of the knight. “We aren’t your playthings, little man. We’re people and we have thoughts and feelings.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “None of you even remembe
r the tricks I play on you. What does it matter if I have my fun?”
“How would you feel if you were us?” I asked. “How would you feel if someone used you for their sick entertainment?” I started towards him, glaring at him with seething rage. “The Night Cursed deserve better than this!” I pointed Wrath at the beheaded stone hound that had caused so much harm and terror.
“That’s where you’re wrong, lass,” the jester said in pity. “Your kind have no rights. You’re mindless fools who will always be used by anyone who possesses power.”
My rage overwhelmed me and my hand shot out. I grabbed the god by his two-toned jacket and yanked him off his feet. He tried to cast a spell, but I pressed Wrath’s blade against his throat threateningly. Unease appeared in his eyes. “No one has the right to mistreat us,” I said, pulling him in close so our faces were only inches apart. “I don’t give a crap who you are or how much power you have. If you pull any more pranks that cause harm to my kind just for kicks, I’ll make you pay.”
“You won’t even remember this, Guardian of Nox,” he said with a sneer, but he couldn’t quite hide his unease.
“Won’t I?” I asked, glaring at him angrily. While I wasn’t about to tell him the full truth, it was time to let him in on a little secret. “The link I have with the Immortal Triumvirate allows me to remember more than the rest of my kind do. I tend to remember the evil monsters and bad guys who repeatedly break the law.”
His already pale face went a few shades whiter. “Are you saying that you remember me?” he asked.
“Each time you do something that brings you to my attention, I remember a little more about you,” I lied. “You do not want me to remember your name. Once that happens, it means you’ve broken enough rules for the Immortal Triumvirate to order me to execute you.”
“Do you know my name?” he asked, voice going a few octaves higher than usual.
