by Mark Tufo
CHAPTER 6 - Mike Journal Entry Five
We slept for a bit after the fight, before starting out again. It was morning when we got back to the roadway. I was ravenous. I hadn’t even thought to grab what was left of the bread and cheese, although I had taken a sword with me. Not sure how the steel was going to taste.
“Oggie, you ready for a break?”
I sat down. The sun felt good on my skin, but it did little to warm me. I looked up, as a hawk lazily drifted overhead. It was hunting, something I needed to do soon. A nice stag would do Oggie and me some good. Instead, we got to walking again; we were back in catch-up mode. I had no idea how far ahead Azile and Tommy were now or even of their exact pathway. And still I walked. As dusk began to set in I grabbed a flagging, grateful Oggie and plopped him over my shoulder. The pooch was sleeping before I went ten feet. I felt sorry for the pace I was inflicting on him, even if he wasn’t complaining.
Time seemed to be running out. The flame of anger I had been carrying for Azile was beginning to peter out, and then there was the Lycan attack. That was merely a foreshadowing of events to come. The Lycan may be slow to reproduce, but they could produce an army relatively easy. Once a month the world could be a living hell, and once man was prostrate, the Lycan could stroll in and claim what they’d sent others to fight for.
And then came the kicker...did I care? I was fairly convinced I could strike a bargain with the Lycan, they leave me alone and I’d do the same. “Yeah, then I’d have to look at the self-righteous face of Tommy when he finally tracked my ass down.”
Son of a bitch if I was going to be guilt-tripped into a war. I’m sure there were people like Lana, good decent people, but for every one of her there would be ten assholes. I had come no closer to an answer and still I lumbered on. The sun had set and was once again peeking up when Oggie stirred, I knew the dog had to eat; his energy level was a quarter of its normal self.
I placed him a few feet off the roadway under a bush, concealing him from the sun and prying eyes. “You stay here, my friend. I’ll be back with a feast for the both of us.”
I was out looking for game a lot longer than I wanted. The woods were almost devoid of wildlife, either it had been cleared or they were driven out by fear. Both scenarios reeked of werewolves – which made sense if they had been patrolling about the previous night. I saw two squirrels way off, a garter snake up close, which I was not going to eat, and bugs, lots and lots of bugs but nothing that was going to feed the Ogster and me. I was defeated as I began to find my way back to his hiding spot.
“Oggie?” I asked as I came back and he was nowhere to be found. Panic ensued, I felt like a parent in a packed department store who takes their eye off their child for a moment only to discover when they turn back around the child is missing. I couldn’t even think straight as I tramped about looking for any signs of him.
“Oggie!” I yelled. Did he follow me into the woods? I thought. No, I would have heard him. “Purpose!” I yelled, walking towards the roadway. I saw hoof prints in the mud, the soft shoulder revealing Oggie’s disappearance. I saw his paw prints, the shoe tracks of someone, and lots of horse tracks.
Someone had grabbed Oggie! Red blinded my vision. “I’ll fucking tear them limb from limb!” I said as I started to run.
I had not gone more than three or four miles when I saw them. The murderous thieves would soon find themselves in a hell they could not fathom. The closer I got, the less sense the scene made. Oggie was on the ground jumping around, as was a person. Two horses were on the opposite side of the roadway pulling up clumps of grass.
Oggie started barking, his tail waving crazily as he took notice of me. Red began to peel back to reveal what was going on.
“Lana?” I asked as I approached.
“Surprise!” she said, trying to gauge my reaction.
“What the fuck is the meaning of this? You think taking my dog is a fucking joke? I should tear you apart for that. He is ALL I have, and I will destroy all that mean him harm!”
I had backed her up against a tree. “I meant him no harm, Michael. I followed your trail along the road. When the tracks stopped, Oggie came out, and he looked in desperate need of water and food – both of which I gave him in abundance. I thought perhaps you had gone to hunt, and I took Oggie a couple of miles up the roadway to see if we could find you. We were just about to turn around.”
Oggie jumped up and placed his paws on my thigh as if to say ‘Here I am, I’m fine.’
I would have wept with relief and joy if I could see past the cloud of anger. I grabbed Oggie, hugged him tight, and began to walk off.
“I brought you a horse,” she said to my retreating back. I kept walking; though I had slowed.
“I brought food,” she added. I slowed more but kept going.
“There’s a place for Oggie to ride on the horse.”
“Dammit, woman, I’m trying to leave you.”
“Venison.”
“Damn you,” I told her as I turned back.
“I can travel with you?” she asked.
“Any beer?”
“Beer?”
“I’ll think about it,” I told her.
Oggie and Lana played as I took my fill. I did not know how hungry I was until I had started eating.
“How, Lana?” I asked when I finally finished. “How did you convince your father to let you go and with horses and supplies?”
“Denarth sent more riders out. They heard commotion all night around the city and were concerned with my father still out there. When they found us, I told him that I could do more for our city out here then back home.”
“He agreed to that?”
“I wore him down.” She smiled.
“That I understand.” I frowned.
“Besides, he will need all his energy to convince the council, not watch me.”
“Will they be convinced?”
“Not at first, even with three men relating the tale, one of them being the chancellor. They won’t want to believe. But when they drop the body of one of the torn up hounds on the council table, they won’t be able to deny it any longer.”
“There’s a visual I would not like to witness.”
“I grabbed two horses and enough supplies for a week and came after you.”
“I thank you for feeding us. I wish you weren’t coming, but it doesn’t look like I’m going to be able to get rid of you just yet. Let’s get moving.” I placed Oggie up in a over-sized basket that was seated behind a leather saddle on a large black mare.
“Her name is Shadow,” Lana told me.
The horse looked scared as I approached, and who could blame her. I’m sure she knew me for the predator that I was. “Let’s have an understanding, Shadow,” I said as I stroked her neck. “You don’t toss me and my dog and I won’t eat you – fair enough?” The horse’s head bowed quickly, as if in understanding, I don’t know. More likely she was trying to get away from my touch. Either way, I think I got my point across.
Oggie seemed to love being king of the world in his specially designed dog transport. My innate fear of anything bigger than me was in high gear.
“Thank you,” I finally managed after some distance punctuated with silence.
“You’re welcome,” she answered. “Are you planning on turning off?”
“Why?”
“Your friends did.” She pointed towards an old off-ramp.
“How do you know?” I asked, looking for any signs that would lead me to believe that.
The wheel on your friends cart has a nick on the outside track and it leaves a telltale imprint.” She got off her horse and pointed it out. I got down with her as well and couldn’t see anything other than an old wagon wheel rut.
“If you say so,” I told her as I climbed astride my horse. “Alright, Tonto, how far ahead are they?”
“Ten…twelve hours at the most,” she replied without missing a beat. “Tonto?”
“Famous Indian guide. They’ve slowed
up; they’re trying to let me catch up. How do they know where I am or if I’m following? Must be witchcraft,” I added.
“Your friend is a witch?”
“One of them most definitely is, has it on her identification card and everything. Azile probably has her master’s degree is spell brewing. Who knows what power Tommy has?”
“She could have spies everywhere.”
That I didn’t like. This was almost as bad as the 21st century and a video camera on every corner. “The hawk,” I said. Thinking back, it was hunting alright, but a different quarry. I looked up, and although nothing was there, I flipped it the finger anyway, knowing full well Azile knew the intended meaning of the gesture.
“Is that a signal of some sort?” Lana asked, shielding her eyes from the sun.
“Of sorts,” I told her as we followed the tracks. “She’ll understand if she’s watching.”
One more night of traveling through and we’d be on their heels. I had the anger and stamina to do it. Not sure about Lana, although she had youth. How many times as a kid had I pulled an all-nighter? However, those were generally chemically induced.
“You okay?” I asked Lana. The further we got from her home, the more nervous she seemed to get.
“I’m fine.”
“I’ve been around enough women in my life, Lana, to know ‘I’m fine’ means anything but. Homesick?”
“There is one I miss above others. I sent a note back with my father, though.”
“Oh, that ought to fix everything,” I said sarcastically. “It’s not too late.”
Although, it really was. I wouldn’t feel right sending her back on her own, not this far out. And I was too close to want to turn back. That stupid invention called time that man marked was beginning to press heavily on me. Bigger things were already in motion, no matter whether I was involved or not. What overall part I had in it, I had no clue. More than likely I was a piece of flotsam hurtling down a raging river, no more likely to turn the flow than a submerged rock. At least the rock might cause a ripple or a momentary break of white water but no more. The piece of debris I felt like, was just being swept downstream, powerless against the flow.
“I won’t go back,” she said defiantly.
“I’m not your father, not that it would matter. You wouldn’t listen anyway. I’m not telling you to go back, I was wondering if you wanted to.”
“I’m fine,” she repeated.
This is going to be a blast, I thought. Silence ensued for miles as we rode on. It was strange seeing the world as it now was. A few years back, when the world of man still existed, I used to watch a show called After Man or something along those lines. It talked about how all of our greatest structures would fail and Mother Nature would reassert herself. I enjoyed the computer simulations they featured, it made for interesting thought. In a sick way, it was fascinating to watch how the planet would heal from our scourge. The vast majority of creatures were harmonious with the world around them; they lived and died in the world provided to them they did not try to alter it to fit their needs as humans did.
We traveled through an industrial park, the corroded, rusted-out shells of warehouses lining the roadway. It was mostly the skeletal remains that stayed. The roofs and the walls were mostly gone or covered in aggressive ivy. Steel studs stuck up like the bones of an ancient, long dead animal.
“That would be hilarious if one of those were a Twinkie factory. I’d have to see if the myths surrounding them were true,” I said, looking over to my right. Grass nearly chest high swayed in a small breeze.
“Twinkie?”
“Huh?” I asked, coming out of my trance. “Small sponge cake, entirely too sweet for my liking, but it was rumored they could last for a hundred years.”
“Sounds delicious,” Lana said.
“Yeah, not really.” I pushed my horse on.
“They need to rest soon,” she said, referring to the beasts.
“How long do they need?” I asked, having no clue.
“About three hours if they get a good place to lie down.”
“I thought horses didn’t lie down.”
“Not generally, but if they can find a comfortable enough place, they will, and they’ll be better for it.”
I guided my mount over towards the grass. Oggie jumped into my arms once I was down, his feet in motion before I set him on the ground.
I helped Lana down and then removed my saddle once I saw her begin to do it for her horse. The two steeds began to eat, not having to travel too far to do so. Lana stretched, I did the same.
“Rest,” I told her. “I’m just going to walk around. All these ghosts of the past have me curious.”
I pushed through the small field and towards one of the structures that still had its west wall. I had great hopes it might be a munitions or arms factory. Hey, it’s my journal I can suspend as much belief as I want. It was mattresses, rat-chewed mattresses. “What are the chances Colt set up shop next to Sealy?” I asked, moving on.
None to be specific. The warehouse floor had long ago been replaced by a carpet of dirt and grass. Whatever had been here must have been perishable, because it was empty. I smiled wanly and bent down to pick up what had caught my eye. It was a Dunkin Donuts plastic cup, someone had been enjoying an Iced Coffee when the world died. At least they went out awake, I thought as I turned it over a couple of times and then discarded it.
That thing would still be there even when I was ground to dust. Vampires weren’t immortal; plastic was. When future civilizations come to unearth ancient artifacts, what would they think of us when they found condoms and potato chip bags?
“Fat fuckers, I suppose. Oh, Talbot, they get worse with age,” I said, berating myself for my bad joke.
It was Oggie’s barking and the horses neighing that got me quickly moving, then I heard Lana.
“What do you want?” she asked. I could hear the tremor in her voice from here.
What I saw when I came out of the tall grass stopped me in my tracks. “It can’t be.”
Oggie was barking and jumping around the figure that haltingly lurched at him.
“Purpose, come here now!” I said with enough force that he knew disobedience would be frowned upon. The zombie wavered between following the dog and going for Lana.
“Does it have the plague!” she yelled as she came towards me.
“Yeah, he’s got the plague alright. What the hell is it doing out here. They’re all supposed to be gone.”
“What is that?” she wailed.
“Zombie.”
“That’s a zombie?”
“That’s a zombie,” I reiterated, studying the creature as it approached.
“How is that possible? The vaccine, the great eradication, we’ve always been told that none existed. That none could exist.”
“A holdover from another time. There will always be some creature that escapes the net.”
I wasn’t even sure what was holding this thing up; any clothes it had ever donned were long gone. It really wasn’t much more than skin-wrapped bones. It was difficult to even imagine what color she had been, all of its pigmentation had turned a uniform color of gray. Its hair and teeth were gone, a snail on a mission would make better time. I mean, not really, but it was going to be difficult for this thing to catch anything living. However, it was still not a good sign; the odds that this was THE very last zombie were not good.
In this one creature was the potential for another outbreak and with swords as the only weapon…I left the thought unanswered. Lana turned away as I took its head off. The torque of the blade barely slowed as I sliced through its pencil-thin neck.
“Are we safe here?” she asked, looking around.
“Mostly…I think. Stay on the road, I’ll stay here and keep a watch out. I want to travel through the night so the more rested you all are, the better,” I told her. I don’t know how ‘safe’ she felt, but the horses had already calmed down and were once again eating as if
nothing had happened. Oggie sniffed once around the body and he’d had enough. I knew how bad those things smelled, and his nose was worlds better than mine. “It’ll be alright, I promise.”
She grabbed her saddle and put it out square in the middle of the trail; she used it as a backrest as she leaned up against it. I had the unenviable task of hurling the zombie into the weeds. It was difficult gaining purchase on it as its skin sloughed off in my hands.
“This is fucking gross,” I muttered. The head I kicked and rolled to its final, final resting spot. I found a small puddle created by a deep wheel well and washed the grime off of me as best I could. I looked longingly at the warehouses; wishing one of them was a Lysol factory.
“That adds a new wrinkle. One more thing to keep an eye out for.”
True to my word, I stayed close to Lana, not too close, though; the pull of her was beginning to wear on me. I was hungry, and traditional food still held value in my diet, but the blood she thought so little of was sometimes all I could think about. I let her and the horses rest close to four hours if my reckoning was right. Oggie stayed somewhat close after our little encounter, but he still had a lot of energy to expend hunting.
My small fire and the roasting of two rabbits is what got Lana stirring.
“That smells delicious,” she said, rubbing her eyes.
“It’s just about done.” I told her. Oggie was foaming at the mouth waiting for his portion.
“How bad were they?” Lana asked, referring to our earlier guest. “I’ve read about them, but the people that were writing about them had never seen them. They were relating stories that had been handed down to them.”
“It was a nightmare from which we could not wake,” I told her as I stared into the flame. “They were everywhere, fast ones, slow ones, smart ones, and fat ones and they all had one thing in mind. It was a relentless pursuit of the hunted. They were never sated, no matter how much they ate.”
She shuddered in the dying sunlight.
“At the height of their reign, they must have outnumbered us a thousand to one or more. Never did the math; the only ones that mattered to me were around me. The only reason we won was because we became so scarce.”
“That’s not a great tactic,” she said as she got closer to the fire.
“Not so much, and it wasn’t by design, that’s for sure. But the less readily available their food source, the more likely they were to go into a stasis or hibernation. It wasn’t uncommon to find great hordes of them numbering in the hundreds maybe thousands just asleep or whatever it was they were doing. We burned them, we burned them all. Well…except for that one.” I pointed with a stick to the approximate place I had disposed of our holdout, finally taking my gaze from the flame.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“For what?”
“For all you’ve been through.”
I stood. “Eat before it burns.” I strode away, grabbed my saddle, and did my best to undo what I had done when I had taken the thing off.
Oggie was growling playfully as Lana stripped meat off the small animals. The smell was alluring, but my stomach had turned. After a few minutes Lana came over and adjusted some straps.
“Not bad,” she told me.
Another five and we were back on the road. Twilight faded to dusk, dusk faded to night and still we rode on. The industrial section gave way to a neighborhood, although, without knowing what to look for, you’d never know it. There were few remnants left. A few shingles, an occasional piece of a toy that may have been unearthed by playful raccoons; occasionally there was a hint of a car or some broken glass. Another hundred years and a traveler would never know anyone had inhabited this place. Maybe that was for the best. I’d always thought mankind was an aberration upon the world, a genetic abnormality that should have died in prehistoric times. We weren’t equipped to deal like other animals were. No long teeth, no claws, no heavy fur for the elements. The best that we could muster was huddling in deep dark caves that other bigger animals had vacated.
Fire was the tilting point. One hairless monkey was just bright enough to figure its importance. One lightning strike had spelled a near disaster for the entire world, at least up until the point we got so smart we figured out how to get rid of ourselves en masse. If nothing else, we were resilient. How many years would it take until we were, once again, in a position to make our extermination final? Again, it was time to question why I was bothering with what I was doing. Killing Lycan would not let me recover my soul, and I didn’t have enough love for man to care, at least what was on the outside of them, the delicious stuff flowing inside was another matter.
“Michael, I can’t see anything,” Lana said nervously. The moon was currently alternating between shining brightly and hiding completely. Thick, heavy clouds raced past, sometimes blotting out our illumination for many moments. The horses liked this less than Lana. “The horses could get hurt,” she added when I didn’t say anything in reply. For as little as I cared about man, I cared less for the horses, and if they fell I would drink them dry then cook their flesh.
No horses, however, meant slower traveling. “Dammit.” I got down. I grabbed Lana’s lead and began to walk the horses, I couldn’t see perfectly, but I was the best suited.
Lana didn’t say another word that night, I think a higher echelon of self-preservation had kicked in somewhere within her. I’d almost be able to justify what I did to her if I couldn’t see her face when I twisted her neck to the side. I kept my head down, looking for any unsure footing and just marched.
It was a hundred and seventy years earlier in my head – summer break, freshman year. Paul, my best friend who had suffered an end that should befall no one, had come down to my house; he lived about a half hour away. His girlfriend had to work, and I think mine was off on vacation with her parents or busy screaming at babies and taking their candy (she was a mean one, never figured out why I hadn’t seen that, oh yeah, now I know, it was difficult to see anything past her large mammaries – sue me, I’m a guy – I eventually got it right). However it happened, it was just my best friend and I. My dad had split for the weekend and my mother had actually moved out of the house for some reason or other, I think the word “infidelity” came up a few times, but I was too wrapped up in my own drama to pay them much heed. Either way, I had the house to myself; well…and Paul…and a lot of beer. I liked the company they both afforded. Again, I’m a guy, sue me. We were three beers in when he pulled out a small baggie.
“Wanna know what I’ve got in here?” he asked, shaking the bag my way.
“I don’t know…do I?” I asked him, enjoying my beer. “Well, it sure as shit isn’t weed.” I looked at the flat baggie.
“Cid.”
“What? You have acid?”
“Wanna take it?” he asked, no more concerned than if he asked if I wanted potato chips.
“Sure,” I answered, no more concerned than if he had offered me said potato chips.
It was about twenty minutes on the dot when we began to feel the effects, although I’d be lying if I knew exactly. One isn’t necessarily concerned with the mere frivolity of time during a trip. All I knew was that the next time I went to refresh my beer, it was something akin to a quest of near mythical proportions respite with orcs, trolls and one furry beast of a dog named Dusty. Before we knew it, it was dark out and our minds were in shards.
“The hill?” I asked.
We both knew what that meant; I was asking him if he wanted to take the two-mile trek to our old childhood playground. Rumored to be an ancient Indian burial ground, Indian Hill as it was called among the local teenagers was more of a party hot spot. At least until the cops had found a way to get their cruisers onto the expansive parcel of land. The parties had died and moved on. But nostalgia has a powerful siren call to it. Odds were there’d be nothing more up there than the ghosts of parties past and maybe a pissed off Shaman or two.
The night was charcoal black, illuminated only b
y a sliver of moon no larger than a cat iris. There were a couple of spots that required crossing man-made impediments, but in the middish 80s – 1980s that is – Walpole was still a sleepy town, only on the cusp of becoming a burgeoning yuppie-ville. Once the enemy roadways were traversed came the woods. Trees swayed without movement, a secret language was spoken among them as their leaves rustled in the breeze. The snap of twigs and the crunch of leaves as we moved was amplified and echoed within the cavernous chambers of our minds.
More than once we had to call out to each other due to the darkness; one could almost imagine that they had been lost in the vacuum of internal space. We were walking like zombies, now that I think about it, hands outstretched; not in search of meaty treats, but rather to keep our faces from making contact with oak. I’m not sure how we navigated so successfully without taking an eye out or at least getting a bloody nose. My guess is that the trees moved out of the way. But, like I said, that’s just a guess on my part.
I can’t be sure how long it took us to get up The Hill; it had become something of a Homer-esque epic by this time, interspersed with bouts of uncontrollable laughter, followed by beer toasting for our latest accomplishment. When we finally did come to the end of our quest – the Great Oak that dominated the open field – we sat and enjoyed each other’s company, talking about all manner of profound ideas. I would imagine we solved world hunger, found a way to incur World Peace, and may have turned the theory of relativity into a working model. Of course, if anyone had recorded it, I’m sure it was mostly a couple of guys cooked off their rockers talking about women, sports, and beer and intermingled with tears of laughter.
I tried to hold onto that bygone time as long as I could while I walked through the night. Oggie was snoring loudly in his basket and I hadn’t heard from Lana in quite some time. I kept expecting to hear a thud when she fell out of her saddle. I had been looking down at my feet and barely recognized that they were getting brighter. Well, I mean not just them (they weren’t on fire) but rather, this region of the world was receiving sunlight again. Birds were chirping and a fine layer of dew was soaking through my boots as I walked.
“Have we been traveling the entire night?” Lana asked.
I looked back at her. “Were you sleeping?”
She nodded.
“How the hell did you stay in your saddle?”
She shrugged. “Can we stop for a moment?”
“I’d like to keep going. They can’t be that far ahead of us.”
“Okay, let me restate. I need to stop and so do the horses.”
“Right,” I said, remembering that she was completely human.
Oggie jumped into my arms and headed off in search of grub. The stop turned into a half hour layover as Lana and I ate dried beef…or lamb I think she said. Oggie came back, dejected he hadn’t caught anything. I was all too happy to share my portion of the dried lamb, never did like the stuff, but he had no problem with chowing it down.
“Your friends’ tracks are fresh,” Lana said, scouting the ground out ahead of us. “What are your intentions?”
I had been absently sliding my finger along my sword. “I don’t know,” I told her honestly.
“We should be able to catch them by noon. Let the horses eat a little more and we can go.”
I nodded to her; I deferred when it came to the beasts.
“Do you find me attractive?” She leveled her gaze on me. “I want an honest opinion from a man that is not trying to woo me.”
“I find you to be extremely young.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“And yet, that was my answer,” I told her. “Are we about ready to go?” I stood, not at all comfortable in which direction the conversation was going.
She didn’t press it as we got the horses into a slow trot. The encompassing woods finally gave way to an opening that looked over an expansive greenway; we were roughly a hundred feet up on a bluff, a trail traversed down the side of the hill and across. In the middle of the field below us was our quarry. Tommy turned and waved the moment we broke into the opening. They were a mile from us and about a half mile from a settlement. My concern was they would get lost in that village. Unfounded perhaps, but I was sick of the chase. It was time for a payout. I spurred my horse on, well, at least as much as someone can without spurs on.
Lana got her horse going. “You should be careful!” she yelled as we made our way down the incline.
“Probably.” Oggie had placed a paw on each of my shoulders and was watching intently as we chased down Azile and Tommy. His tongue was lolling back like we were riding in my old Jeep and he was sticking his head out the window. “Having a good time?” I asked him.
He rewarded me with a slobbering kiss up the right side of my face, which was now rapidly cooling as wind rushed by. I had many moments of fear as I pushed my horse faster when we hit level ground; I was being bounced around like I was riding a trampoline.
“Graceful!” Lana yelled as she pulled up alongside.
I smiled weakly at her.
“Get lower and lean forward!” she shouted while demonstrating.
I did as she showed; it was marginally better – from trampoline to the equivalent of four-wheeling without any shocks. How Oggie was staying so steadfast was beyond me. The distance was closing and it was going to be close as to whether I killed them outside or within city limits. I vaguely wondered if the laws would be any different based on locale.
“Just fucking stop!” I shouted at them when I was within distance. “I know you know I’m behind you. The game is over!”
Azile turned her horse around and waited. She lowered her hood and smiled. “The game had just begun, Michael,” she said as I pulled up alongside her. “Ah, I see you picked up a plaything along the way. And you called me too young?” she asked haughtily.
“Groupie,” I told Azile.
She raised an eyebrow.
“Long story, and it’s not like that. She’s like every other woman I’ve ever known. Once they make up their mind about something, nothing I say is going to dissuade them. And that has nothing to do with this, Azile. You betrayed me, you left me to die.”
“By the hands of Alexandr? Hardly. That ancient Lycan was so old his clan had sent him on his Mojid, or his final pilgrimage. He was preparing to die when I ensnared him.”
“You’re telling me that that Lycan was on its final legs? He nearly killed me.”
“Yet, here you are.” She smiled.
“This a fucking joke to you, Azile? I’ve been attacked four times since this little adventure has started. Well, I guess three…you can’t really count the zombie.”
“You saw a zombie?” she asked, looking concerned for the first time.
“Azile!”
“I heard you, Michael. I sprung Alexandr on you so you could get a sense of what we’re dealing with…what people are dealing with!”
“And then you take off? What kind of bullshit is that?”
“Hey, Mr. T,” Tommy said, grabbing Oggie and playing with him.
“A little heads-up from you would have been nice as well!” I directed some vitriol at him.
“I didn’t know what she was going to do, and then she told me you’d be alright,” he said sheepishly, grabbing a stick so he and Oggie could play fetch and he could be away from the turmoil.
“Lover’s spat?” came another voice.
I was still astride my horse and damn near eye level with an Amazonian Goddess. Her chocolate-brown skin was nearly iridescent in the high sun. It took me a moment to notice she was flanked by a couple of other people nearly as impressive as she was, and they were all armed, with rifles.
“What the...” I started.
“You should let me handle this. My name is Azile Ashon.”
“Why has the Red Witch deemed us worthy of a visit?” the goddess asked.
“Red Witch? Is that because of your cloak?” I asked.
“It has to do with the blood she s
pills,” the stranger intoned, I didn’t notice any reverence or fear in her response.
“So apparently they know you as well,” I said.
Azile looked at me crossly. “We have come on official business,” she said, speaking to the woman. “I, along with Tomas, have come to—”
“You wish to bring a vampire among us!” the woman shouted. The two men behind her tightened the grips on their weapons.
Tommy turned to look as if to say ‘Who me’?
“What business does this man have with you? If the grip on the hilt of his sword means anything I would say he wished to kill you,” the goddess said, referring to me. “A word to the wise, stranger, when one encounters the Red Witch and wants her dead, he should swing first and talk later.”
“Your advice is warranted,” I said loosening the death-grip on my hilt.
“I will not allow you entry into our city, Red Witch,” the goddess told her.
“Bailey, of the house Tynes, you would deny my entry on my sojourn?”
I nearly swooned at the words.
“I would,” Bailey responded.
“I have brought Michael Talbot,” Azile said as she reached over and steadied me on my mount.
Bailey said nothing for many moments. “What sort of trick is this, Azile?” Bailey questioned menacingly.
“None at all, I can assure you.”
“Michael Talbot is myth, a story spun by my Great-great-grandfather. A champion created to be worshipped in dark times. Nothing more…nothing less.”
“Yet you name your town after this figment?” Azile asked.
My head snapped up to the wooden sign suspended in the air by two cross beams, it was massive. ‘Talboton’ - “Nice ring.” I said.
I got off my horse and approached the post on the left. One of the men watched but did not bar my way.
I shielded my eyes and looked up. I turned and came back to Bailey. “You are Lawrence Tynes’ relative?” I asked, a mote maybe making its way into my eye causing a tear.
She gasped. “No one knows that name! It is a familial secret, he wanted it that way and we have respected his wishes. How, demon?” Bailey asked with vehemence. She looked at Azile.
“I did not know,” Azile told her.
“BT was my best friend. I knew as much about the man as any man can know about another.” My eyes were full on glossy now.
Bailey turned to look, or more correctly look down. She towered over me. “It cannot be?”
“Oh, it can be,” I told her. “I miss him so much.”
“It is truly you.” She knelt; the two men with her did as well.
“Bailey Tynes,” I said as I touched the side of her face. “Can I call you BT for old-time sakes?”
“No!” she said as she arose.
“Fair enough.”
“I thought you would be bigger,” Bailey said.
Azile snorted.
“Legends often are,” I told her. “What are the chances you have beer?”
“What of them?” she asked, referring to Lana and the rest.
“The young lass is my charge, Oggie here,” I said, petting my dog’s head as he came over, “and the horses, would all love a place to get cleaned up and get some food.”
“The rest?”
“I’ll deal with them tomorrow.” Bailey and I headed into my town; the two armed men remained behind.
“We don’t have time for this, Michael!” Azile shouted.
“Probably should have thought of that before you left me with Alexandr the rabid Lycan.”
“Lycan?” Bailey stiffened.
“It’s okay, my lady, he killed him,” Lana informed Bailey.
“You? You killed a Lycan?” Bailey asked.
“You sound surprised,” I said to her.
“Your exploits – if they are even half-truths – talk about great victories, but I feel as if I could beat you in a wrestling match.”
“I think I would greatly enjoy wrestling with you. Wait…that sounded a little off.”
“To be fair, the Lycan was on his Mojid,” Azile added.
Bailey snorted, “You killed a dying Lycan? How very lion-hearted.”
“You’re ruining this for me, Azile. Bailey, I do believe he left a little too early on his final quest. I think this was just a practice run for him. That was the toughest old bastard I’d ever come across, except for maybe Jed…but that was eons ago.”
“There is not the time to exact your revenge, Michael. You needed to be brought up to speed as quickly as possible, and I could think of no other way,” Azile entreated.
“Then why run afterwards?” I asked.
“So I could be sure you would follow and that I could lead you to her.” Azile pointed to Bailey. “I knew you didn’t want in this fight, I could think of no better way than to bring you to a relation of BT’s.”
“This whole thing has been a manipulation, Azile. I fucking hate being manipulated.”
“See, I told you,” Tommy said.
“Did it work?” she asked.
I looked over to Bailey. “I will do all in my power, Bailey Tynes, to ensure your safety and the safety of this township.”
Bailey nodded.
“Let the witch in,” I said, turning back around.
Azile had got down off her horse and caught up to my side. Bailey had gone ahead to make preparations for our arrival.
“Is it weird I find BT’s great-great-granddaughter extremely attractive?” I asked her.
“Yes, yes it is.”
“I wanted to kill you, Azile.” I told her.
“I thought you might.”
“You set me up, and then you sent those men knowing that I’d blood them.”
“Another necessary evil,” she told me.
“How many more of those are there?” I asked.
“How do you think I got my name?”
