by Davis Ashura
“I’m open to suggestions,” Jason said.
“I didn’t mean to criticize,” Serena said.
“I’m just saying if anyone else can open the anchor line and protect the two of you,” Jason said, speaking more vehemently, “then by all means, let me know.”
“Calm down,” Serena said, trying to stifle her irritation. “I know you have a lot to do—”
“I’ve got everything to do,” Jason snapped back. “The two of you can’t do anything to help me. Not one bit.”
“I’m sorry we’re such anchors,” William said, “but maybe if you and Mr. Zeus had told me the truth earlier, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“You think this is my fault?” Jason asked, his voice rising.
“I’m not saying that,” William shot back. “But what’s happening now isn’t my fault, either! Nor is it Serena’s.”
“I never said it was!”
“No, but you sure are comfortable saying we’re dead weight,” William said.
“You’re not dead weight.” Jason sounded frustrated. “But the kitten is. Or did you plan on taking her with us to Arylyn? You know what’s going to be waiting for us at that saha’asra.”
“I know exactly what’s waiting for us,” William snarled. “He killed my family, remember? I can feel him. And yes, I plan on taking Aia to Arylyn.”
Jason threw his hands in the air. “Unbelievable. Today of all days you have to go crazy. I need you sharp and focused. Not worried about some cat you found.”
“Aia isn’t—”
“You’ve even named her?” Jason interrupted, sounding disgusted.
“No, I didn’t,” William said. “She told me.”
“What?” Jason said. “That’s the stupidest . . .”
Serena closed her eyes and imagined “Gloria”. Lately it was the only thing that kept her sane and hopeful. William and Jason continued shouting at each other, and Serena wanted to stuff her ears with cotton so she wouldn’t have to listen.
*They need a smack to their noses,* a small voice said.
Serena froze. “Who said that?”
*I said that.*
Serena opened her eyes and stared at the cat. It couldn’t be.
*Of course, it can be,* the voice said, sounding oddly mature and amused. *And I’m not a cat. I’m a kitten.*
Serena’s thoughts clamored in a mad dash. Chief among them was the simple hope that that both she and William were somehow sharing the same strange hallucinations. Anything but a talking cat.
“What did you say?” Serena asked, praying that the voice wouldn’t reply.
*I said that I’m a kitten,* the voice replied.
“She’s talking to me,” Serena whispered, staring at the kitten in fascinated horror.
William and Jason didn’t hear her, and they continued to argue.
*I told you I could talk.* The little animal blinked at her and yawned.
Serena gaped. All of Isha’s training was of no use when faced with such an impossibility. She had no idea what to do. “She’s talking to me,” Serena repeated.
“What?” William asked.
“I said, she’s talking to me,” Serena said for the third time.
“Not you, too,” Jason said, his disgust evident.
Serena shot him a glare. “Believe me. I’d much rather she not be able to talk to me, but she can.”
“If she can talk to you, then ask her to do something,” Jason said. “Prove she can talk.”
*Absolutely not. I’m not your pet, to do tricks on command.* The kitten, Aia, sounded offended and imperious.
Jason’s face stiffened, and he held himself unnaturally still. “Who said that?” he asked in a strangled voice.
*I said that. I’ve been shouting and shouting at you, but you wouldn’t listen.*
“God save us,” Jason whispered fervently. “The kitten’s talking. A talking kitten.” He sounded as stunned as Serena felt.
*I’m a kitten now, but once I was much more. At least, the Shining Man said I was. I don’t remember any of it, but he says I was grand.* The voice sounded wistful.
Serena had no idea what Aia meant by the Shining Man, and she didn’t care. Not yet, anyway. One impossibility at a time.
*The Shining Man says that one day I’ll become again what I once was, but first, I have to do something here. What’s a dead thing that isn’t dead?* Aia asked. *I’m supposed to help kill it.*
Serena closed her eyes and sighed. She was already tired of this near-constant state of surprise. Aia was obviously talking about Kohl Obsidian. How had the kitten known?
*How do we kill something already dead?* Aia asked, sounding perplexed. *And can someone else scratch my chin? William’s not very good at it.*
The rest of the drive to the saha’asra passed in relative silence, at least among William, Jason, and Serena. Other than John Cougar Mellencamp—who’d always be John Cougar as far as William was concerned—singing Scarecrow, the Scout held a brooding quiet. None of them wanted to talk. Serena and Jason stared out the window, both apparently lost in their thoughts, while William kept his eyes on the road. Like the other two, his mind was elsewhere, mostly filled with worry.
*The sky is so gray here,* Aia said. William glanced her way. The kitten perched on the dashboard, and she wouldn’t stop talking. She chattered non-stop. *The clouds are so ugly, and it’s so cold. What’s wrong with the sun? Is it too puny to make things warm?*
“There’s nothing wrong with the sun,” Serena said with a sigh of impatience. “It’s the middle of winter. Rain or snow are on the way. It’s supposed to be cold.”
The kitten flicked her tail. *I don’t like cold.*
“What were you doing out in the desert, anyway?” Jason asked.
Aia didn’t answer at first. Instead, she licked a paw, appearing uncertain.
William wanted to roll his eyes at the notion. An uncertain kitten based on how she licked her paw? This day might be his doom, but it was already more ridiculous than any he could ever recall, and that included Kohl Obsidian tracking him down in West Virginia.
“How did you end up in the desert?” Jason repeated.
*I don’t know,* Aia replied. She sounded meek and unhappy. *I opened my eyes and the Shining Man was there. That’s the first thing I remember. He told me to trust him and to wait for someone who needs me.*
“Who’s the Shining Man?” Serena asked, for the first time taking an interest in the kitten. William got the sense she didn’t like Aia.
*He’s the Shining Man. He’s my friend, and he loves me,* Aia said, stirring to life and smiling, a slow blink of her eyes. *We’ve had many grand adventures. I wish I could remember them better.* She finished with a sigh.
“Loves you how?” Serena asked. “Like a pet?”
Aia laughed, a tinkling sound, as her eyes squinted and her head lifted up. *I’m no one’s pet.*
“But you’re doing what the Shining Man told you to do,” Serena said.
Aia stared at Serena and her ears tilted back. *I’m doing what the Shining Man asked me to do. He didn’t order me to do anything,* she said. *I think you know the difference between the two.*
Serena reddened at Aia's words, but William wasn’t sure why.
*I’m sorry,* Aia said. She jumped down from the dashboard and scrambled onto Serena’s lap. *I didn’t mean to make you unhappy.* She nosed forward, pressing her face into Serena’s hand. *You can run your hand along my fur now.*
“I can, can I?” Serena asked. She wore a small, surprised smile as she petted Aia, and the little kitten began purring like an engine before deciding to curl up into a small, furry ball. Serena tickled her chin.
*That’s good, much better than William,* Aia said. She closed her eyes and appeared to fall asleep.
William glanced at Jason in the rear view mirror. “And you’ve never heard of a talking cat?”
*Kitten,* Aia corrected in a drowsy tone.
“No. Animals don’t talk. They nev
er have. No talking cats, kittens, dogs, or anything.”
“Then how’s she talking?” William asked.
“I have no idea,” Jason said with a shrug. “Maybe Mr. Zeus can tell us.”
“She’s cute,” Serena said, still wearing a smile of pleasure.
“Who? The kitten?” William asked. “I thought you didn’t like her.”
Serena glanced up at him. “It’s hard not to like someone so precious and cute. You just want to keep them safe.”
“Well all cuteness aside, we still have to come up with a way to get to the saha’asra and past Kohl Obsidian,” Jason said. “We won’t have lions and tigers and bears, oh my, to help us this time.”
“He’s fast and he’s strong,” William said, “but you also said he doesn’t like water.”
“He doesn’t like moving water,” Jason amended.
“Can you form a shield like Mr. Zeus made back in West Virginia?” Serena asked. “That golden thing?”
“I can, but you saw how little it slowed him down back there.”
“But that’s all we need,” Serena said. “We just need to slow him down.”
“What if you make a fake shield? Can you do that?” William asked.
“Sure, but how would that help?”
“If he runs into a fake shield, he’ll stumble through it. It might surprise him.”
“I can light him up with fire or fling him into the next county if that happens,” Jason said, leaning forward in his excitement. “That should give me enough time to form the anchor line to Arylyn, and we can escape.”
“If you put the real shield inside the fake one, he’ll have to punch through it. You’ll have even more time then.”
Jason broke out in laughter. “We’ve been thinking about this all wrong. We’ve been wondering how to beat the necrosed when all we have to do is distract him long enough to get away.”
William chewed his lower lip in frustration. “I still wish there was more Serena and I could do.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Jason said, sounding confident.
“You sure?” William asked.
“I’m sure,” Jason said. “And forget what I said earlier. I don’t think Serena’s dead weight. You on the other hand . . .” He grinned.
William smiled, accepting the apology.
“Is there any way to actually kill a necrosed?” Serena asked. “I know we sort of talked about this, but you’ve always said there wasn’t.”
“There is a way, but it’s almost impossible,” Jason said. “A few nights ago, Mr. Zeus sent me another dream. He said the only way to kill a necrosed is to take his head.”
William shared a glance with Serena. “You mean like what the immortals did in The Highlander?”
“Yes and no,” Jason said. “Even removed, the head can continue to command the body, tell it where to go and what to do. You have to take the head, burn it, and scatter the ashes where the necrosed can never find it.”
“What do you mean ‘where the necrosed can never find it’?” Serena asked.
“All the body needs is a small piece of the head, either flesh or ash, and it can regenerate the rest,” Jason replied.
“How long does this headless thing wander around?” William asked, fascinated and horrified at the same time.
“It’s only been done once, and it took over a year for the body to finally die.”
“Jesus,” William said. “Then it’s a good thing we don’t have to kill Kohl.”
*But if you did, you’ll have help,* Aia said, still sounding drowsy. *What a long day. Rukh better not be wrong about this.*
“Who’s Rukh?” William asked.
*The Shining Man.*
FINAL CONFRONTATION
Kohl Obsidian stood as immovable as a rusted out hulk, arms stretched out as he kept his focus on the boy. From far away he might have appeared an over-sized scarecrow in the winter-bare field, with the wind flapping his frayed garments. But from closer on, his thick frame revealed that this was no mere scarecrow. And in that darkening field, with the sun setting and shadows swaying and Kohl’s hooded eyes moving as restlessly as his thoughts, his malice would have been unmistakable.
That malice focused upon a boy following a winding, wavering path.
Kohl frowned, a narrowing of eyes beneath his beetled brow.
In general, the boy’s path took him west, obviously to a saha’asra. Of that, Kohl felt certain. From it, the boy and those other asrasins would seek to flee to Arylyn or Sinskrill. But which saha’asra would they choose? Three of them lay along the path the boy journeyed.
The sound of grinding gears breaking loose rumbled from Kohl’s throat as he growled in impatience. Like the farmer who left his fields fallow in hopes of a more bountiful harvest in the future, Kohl had allowed the boy to live. He had delayed his gratification, but the delay had lasted too long, and Kohl’s patience had reached its end. He needed that promised harvest.
Kohl’s ruminations were ruined a moment later when he sensed a necrosed enter the saha’asra far to the east, the one where Kohl had first confronted the boy, where he had almost feasted upon a plethora of asrasins. His plans had first gone awry there, when he’d touched what he now recognized must have been a nomasra, one that nulled asra. The pendant hanging from a chain around the boy’s neck had injured Kohl, and he’d bled upon the saha’asra, drawing his brethren like vermin to a rotting carcass.
They clustered there, and today’s arrival marked the fifth of his kind, all of them seeking his death. Kohl imagined they stood as still as he did, stiff as stone and with arms held out, searching the wind for the blood of their injured brother. At least that’s what Kohl would have done had their roles been reversed.
They wouldn’t find him, though. Kohl was a finer hunter than any necrosed in any world. In his past life Kohl had been a holder, a warrior bred by asrasins to confront evil, and one of the few beings capable of killing a necrosed. Other than Sapient Dormant, none of his brothers could claim such a lineage. Yes, Kohl could easily remain hidden from those five necrosed searching him out.
Strangely, the memories of his past life as a holder had vanished from his mind. When and how those recollections had fled, he didn’t know. But the skills remained.
Kohl’s frown deepened for a moment as he examined the mystery. No answer came, and he eventually disregarded those concerns. Ancient, useless history.
A moment later, Kohl broke into a pleased smile. The boy still traveled west, but had changed direction to a course that took him north as well.
Kohl knew where the boy was heading. He would get there first.
William flipped on the fog lights and drove slowly along the twisting, narrow road that would eventually deposit them at Black Canyon Lake. “October” by U2 played on his mix tape, a perfect accompaniment for the gloomy, cold, miserable day with its misty rain and fog. William shook his head in disbelief. Rain and fog in a desert. The one day they needed to be able to see, and visibility was down to a few hundred yards.
Unbelievable.
His disgust was interrupted when the Scout slipped, threatening to get stuck in the muddy track of the dirt road. William goosed the gas, and the Scout lurched forward. Thank goodness for four-wheel drive.
He frowned when the itching in the back of his mind, his sense of the necrosed, grew more intense. Kohl was on the move. He wasn’t in Kansas anymore. William shut off the radio.
From her perch on the dashboard, Aia hissed.
“What’s wrong?” Jason asked.
Serena’s face paled. She knew.
William didn’t answer. Instead, he brought the Scout to a halt. The gloom had grown threatening. “He’s here.”
Aia’s pupils widened, and she growled, a surprisingly deep-throated sound for such a small animal. She stared straight ahead, as if she could peer through the mist and see the necrosed.
“What do we do?” Serena asked, sounding a lot calmer than William felt. “Should we turn back?”
/> “I’d love to turn back,” William replied, “but we can’t. Not now. Not after we’ve come so far.”
*We attack,* Aia said with a furious lash of her tail. *This creature is an abomination, one that should have never been fashioned.*
William did a double-take. How did something so small manage to convey such ferocity?
“Can you tell where he is?” Jason asked.
William flicked on the high beams, hoping to see farther along the road. The desert had plenty of low-lying hills, hollows, and blinds where Kohl could hide, and with the fog blanketing the ground, they might not see him until they were right on top of him. William continued to stare ahead, not that he could truly see much beyond the beam of the headlights. Instead, he focused upon the itching in his mind, using it to pinpoint the location of the necrosed.
“He’s near the saha’asra,” William said. “He’s hiding behind a small rise.”
“You can feel the saha’asra?” Jason asked in surprise.
William nodded. “Can’t you?”
“Yeah, but—”
“Focus,” Serena chided. “You can figure out what William can or can’t do later. The necrosed is still waiting for us.”
*We’ll have help killing him,* Aia said. *We only have to hold on long enough for him to arrive.*
William’s brows furrowed as he stared at the kitten. He had no idea what she was talking about, and he shared a glance with the others. They also shrugged in confusion.
“Is the necrosed between us and the saha’asra?” Jason asked.
William shook his head.
“Then I say we drive like hell, surprise the necrosed before he can stop us, get into the shallows of the lake, and go through with our original plan. Maybe the water will hold Kohl back.”
It wasn’t the best of ideas—it was actually pretty dumb—but no one had anything better to offer.
“I guess that’s what we’re doing,” Serena said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
Her sentiment mirrored William’s own uneasiness, and he grimaced. He waited, but no one had anything more to say. Shit. They were really going to do this. “Strap in,” William advised. “The road’s about to get bumpy.”
