Head Down

by Jan Stryvant

Kicking off his shoes so he could use his foot claws, Sean shifted into his hybrid form and started walking towards Sal.

  "I suggest you run!" Sean roared.

  Sal swore and took three more shots as fast as he could pull the trigger, emptying the revolver. Then turning on his heel, he ran as the lion's roar echoed off the buildings. This wasn't just a kid out for vengeance. This was a fucking monster!

  His first thought was to run for the van. There were a few things in there that might help him, but that would mean stopping to get inside of it. Having seen the size of the kid after he'd shifted, Sal wasn't sure that was a good idea. He'd seen a lion-were or two over the years, but he sure as hell didn't recall any of them being as big as this one.

  Something hit him in the back then, and Sal went down, feeling his bones break as he got hit with what felt like a wall. Survival kicked in, and Sal shifted into his own hybrid form. He only lost his shoes and split his shirt, Sal always picked his clothing carefully in case of emergencies, but shifting while healing caused him to cry out in pain as he rolled over and noticed what he'd been hit with.

  Thankfully it wasn't the lion ready to finish him off. No, it was a dumpster. The fucking lion had picked up and thrown a dumpster at him hard enough to knock him down and break his spine!

  Getting back to his feet, Sal dug his claws in and he ran. He didn't know how fast lions could run, but he didn't think one could run as fast as he was.

  "Run you coward! Run!" Sal heard growled behind him, and then stumbled as he got hit in the back with a rock the size of a small boulder! Sal started weaving back and forth after that to try and make it a little harder for him to be hit by the things the lion was grabbing off the side of the road as he ran along after him.

  Turning onto one of the building properties, Sal vaulted over the fence and landed in among a bunch of old trucks and construction gear. Some of it was still good; some of it was obviously being saved for parts. And there were piles of scrap metal and even racks with girders on them scattered about.

  Dodging around a couple of old enclosed trailers used for storage, Sal stopped and leaned back against a wall, mouth open wide so as not to give away his location by breathing too hard as he patted down his pockets. He'd lost the gun the first time he went down, but it wasn't the only weapon he had on him. He had half a dozen more wands, though one of those was another 'cramper' so he discounted using it.

  The sleep spell wand, he figured that was worth a try, then it was on to the fireballs, ice shards, flamethrower, and if all of that didn't work, the big one, the one that cost him half a million dollars and would only ever work once: greater disintegration.

  Just then an I-beam erupted through the wall only inches from where Sal's head was, and swearing under his breath, Sal was immediately off and running around the trucks looking for a good spot to ambush the lion as it came looking for him. His father had warned him years ago about hunting lions; he'd warned his son that they always ended up hunting you instead. Sal was starting to think he should have listened.

  Ducking down behind an earthmover, Sal looked around, carefully. Where the hell was that damn lion?

  Just then he felt some dirt falling down on to him, and looking up, there on top of the machine was that damn lion! Whipping out the first wand he fired it off and then grabbing the second one he fired that off as well.

  Sean snorted and just ignored the sleep spell, the fireball however was a different matter, but Sean had spent more than a few hours learning methods for deflecting physical spells, most wizards did, and for Sean it was beyond easy. He just sent the fireball straight up into the air and gave it a little extra boost so when it blew up, it was high enough in the air not to hurt anybody.

  "Oh look, they're celebrating your death already," Sean growled looking down at Sal, and then stepping off the top of the vehicle Sean landed next to him. Sal reached for another wand to shoot at Sean, but Sean grabbed his arm before he could pull it out, and then with an angry snarl Sean turned his body as he pulled on Sal's arm, apparently trying to rip it from his body.

  Sal cried out in shock as he felt his shoulder dislocate, the bone yanked from the socket, as his entire body was suddenly yanked from off his feet and thrown across the stockyard with such force that when he hit the cinderblock wall on the other side, he went right through it.

  "You're not getting away that easily!" Sean roared angrily and started off after Sal again.

  Sal shook his head to try and clear it; he'd gone through the wall headfirst and cracked his skull, which was still healing, leaving him dazed. His shoulder also burned with pain as it healed, his fingers numb as the nerves regenerated. Scrambling to his hands and knees he started to crawl off into the darker shadows in the building. He was in some sort of stockroom; there were large spools of what looked like cables and chains set around the place, with heavy rods and other tools he didn't recognize.

  "Screw this!" Sal muttered and pulled out the disintegration wand. Yeah, he'd lose the commission because there probably wouldn't be enough of the lion to prove that he'd killed him, but Sal was a lot more invested in his own personal survival at this point. This Sean wasn't a kid, he was a lion with magical protections that also knew magic and knew it pretty damn well.

  Sal suddenly recalled all the old stories, the old myths and the legends. Lions were the lawgivers, the kings, the first among the lycans, and the first of the lycans. The ones that all bowed down to, the ones that on the good days you hoped smiled upon you, and the ones that on the bad days you hoped ignored you.

  The old gods of the lycans.

  "You're not the god of me!" Sal growled.

  "Oh, but I am!" Sean whispered in his ear and then grabbing him by the back of his coat, Sean hoisted him up and threw him across the room and into a stack of cable spools heavy enough that they didn't even move when Sal crashed into them hard enough to break bones.

  Sal blinked and shook his head again. He hadn't lost his hold on the wand and raising his arm up, he winced at the pain. It was broken and healing a lot slower than normal, because a lot of his bones had been broken that time.

  "Wands don't work on me; I thought you realized that by now?"

  Sal waved the wand over to where the voice had come from. But there was nothing that he could see there, in the darkness.

  "But I guess you could try," came the voice again, softer, closer, and to his left.

  Crying out in pain as he spun to the side, Sal again was faced with nothing as his bones continued to knit, and the cuts on his body slowly sealed up.

  "Oh look! Up here!" the voice came again, and looking up Sal saw a dark shape come flying towards him. Diving down onto the ground, Sal felt the breeze of something large flying over his head, and then heard the loud 'crash' as whatever it was slammed into the stack of spools where he'd just been standing.

  Looking down the aisle he saw it, the shape of a man, a large man, standing there! Pointing the wand at it, he triggered it and watched as the man, the wall behind him, and everything round him suddenly turned to dust and just flew off into the air.

  "I got you, you bastard!" Sal laughed.

  "Oh no, I had a father, until you took him away. That's why I'm going to kill you, Mr. Woiseman, I presume?"

  Sal's eyes got wide as a strong hand grabbed him by the back of the neck and picked him up, another hand slashing down and breaking his right arm, causing his fingers to go limp and drop the wand. Not that it would ever work again.

  "Such a waste of a good jacket, too, Sean growled and picking the hyena up, he slammed him into the wall face first. Putting his hand inside the hyena's coat, Sean searched him quickly, ripping off and throwing aside every magical item that he found. Damn he had a lot!

  Then he found the necklace, the moment Sean's fingers closed on it, he knew what it was! A silver tag, but without a lycan necklace attached. It was on a heavy chain, the 'tag' being made of gold and in the shape of an animal's head. When Sean checked it, it even had his father's encry
ption program running on it!

  Sean recalled then that the tag he had was his father's second attempt, this damn hyena had not only killed his father, but he'd stolen the first example of his father's genius!

  Letting got of Sal; Sean ripped the necklace off, over his head as Sal dropped to his knees.

  "You bastard!" Sean growled. "You not only killed him, but you stole this! His greatest achievement! The thing that is going to free all of the lycans from the tyranny of the mages! The greatest thing he ever did and you soiled it with your filthy murdering paws!"

  Sal turned then and punched the kid in stomach, just as hard as he could, almost breaking the bones in his hands from the attempt. Then he hit him again with his other hand, and yet again.

  The lion just ignored it, barely grunting. Twenty years ago, Sal was sure he could have beaten this lion, but that was twenty years ago, he was in his sixties now, he was old, too old and obviously too weak.

  How did you know my name?" Sal asked, panting. Damn this kid was tough; he'd tried everything he knew.

  Sean's voice was a rough growl, "Roger told me, before I killed him. But he didn't know who hired you, so I'm asking you now: who hired you?"

  "Hired me for what, you?" Sal asked motioning weakly to Sean.

  "To kill my FATHER!" Sean roared and lunging forward he grabbed Sal by the neck again and drove him back into the wall. Sal felt the claws come out, and sink about an inch into his neck. Sal suddenly realized that Sean was going to kill him and he really didn't want to die, old man or not. Well, he had one last card to play and if he didn't play it now, he never would.

  "I didn't steal that amulet from your father," Sal replied.

  "What! What do you mean you didn't steal it?" Sean snarled, moving his head closer to Sal, noses almost touching now. Sal couldn't help but look into those eyes, in the dimness of the room, with the surrounding black of the lion's mane; those eyes seemed to glow, floating in a sea of darkness. They were all he could see. Sal wondered if they'd be the last thing he ever saw?"

  "He gave it to me."

  "LIAR!" Sean roared right into his face.

  For the first time tonight, Sal actually found himself getting angry.

  "I don't lie!" He growled back, "Your father gave it to me. Freely! I didn't steal it! I'm not a thief!"

  "You stole his life!" Sean growled softly.

  "Yes, I killed him. But we had a deal!"

  Sal watched as Sean blinked a moment, the hatred in those glowing eyes seemed to lessen, though the grip on his neck was still like iron.

  "Talk!" Sean commanded him.

  "I cornered him in his lab. He'd seen me coming and had sent everyone out, evacuated the building. When I got to him, he told me he had a deal for me...."

  Sal remembered it well as he recounted the events of that meeting to Sean. Bernard Valens had not been at all what he'd been expecting.

  * *

  "So, you're the one they've sent to kill me," Bernard said looking him over calmly. "Before you do, I have a deal I'd like to make with you."

  Sal snorted, they always tried to make a deal, if he gave them a chance that is.

  "I'm not going to let you live, old man," Sal growled.

  Bernard laughed at him, "What would be the point of a deal for my life? They'd simply send another. No, I'm not here to deal for my life. I wish to deal for the life of my wife and my son."

  Sal stopped, "They want me to kill them, after I kill you."

  "I thought the mobs had a rule about women and children?"

  "We used to, but that was years ago. Now," Sal sighed, "now it's become harder to stick to the old ways"

  "What if I were to make it worth your while?" Bernard asked him, "What if I were to offer you something that no one else in the world could offer you? What then? Would you swear to honor that old rule? Tell those that hired you that you will not kill my wife and child? And that if they should try, you will kill them instead?"

  Sal laughed, "What could you possibly offer me, old man? There is nothing you have that I can't buy with the money they promised me!"

  "Immunity to silver," Bernard said.

  "What! Such a thing isn't possible!"

  Bernard smiled at him, "Why do you think they want me dead? If I can prove to you, that I can do this for you, will you swear to me what I have asked?"

  Sal didn't even think twice, immunity to silver! He'd be untouchable from this day forward! No one would ever have control over him again! Never would he have to fear the one thing that all lycans did!

  "Yes! I swear that if you can give me immunity to silver, I will tell them that I will kill any who attempt to kill your wife or child, that I will honor the old rules on women and children."

  Bernard held out an amulet, it was a golden wolf's head on a necklace, "Here, put this on."

  Sal took the amulet and looked at it, "This isn't any kind of trick, is it?"

  Bernard shook his head, "No, I'm dealing honestly and truthfully with you. You've agreed to what I want, breaking that deal would be foolish now. As I said, I know that even if I were to escape you, they'd simply hire another. The secret of that amulet is one that they can not bear to have known, so I would advise you not to let anyone know you have it, or they'll be after you next."

  Sal nodded and put on the necklace.

  Bernard picked up a small coin from off the top of his desk; Sal recognized it immediately as an old mercury head silver dime.

  "Here, take this."

  Sal took it and notice that as soon as his fingers touched it, the coin got warm and the color of it changed slightly.

  "Sonnovabitch," Sal swore and looked up at Bernard, who was smiling.

  "No one believed I could do it, no one. But I did it. Now, I've honored my end of the bargain."

  Sal nodded, he always kept his word, always. "I'll honor mine."

  * *

  Sal had made sure to kill him quickly and painlessly. He'd then gone before the entire conclave to tell them what Bernard had asked him to.

  "Then why the geas? Why the oath by my mother?" Sean growled, giving Sal a shake.

  "They were worried about you, about your mother, seeking revenge," Sal told him, and then added, "I was worried as well. Your father was very concerned about you and her living on. I make my way in this world by living off the revenge of others; I have seen what it does to a man."

  Sean growled, but stopped as he thought about that.

  'Your father made a deal.'

  'I'm aware of that,' Sean replied angrily.

  'You should honor it.'

  'You're asking a lot of me,' Sean warned.

  'That's only because you're capable of giving it.'

  "When did you break the geas?" Sal asked him, interrupting Sean's internal conversation.

  "Why do you want to know?" Sean asked.

  "They told me that they moved against you, when they realized that you had learned magic. But they have no idea of when you broke free of their geas."

  Sean growled, "The geas was removed by my second wife, after I'd been attacked several times, before I even fully understood what was going on."

  "You didn't break faith first then?" Sal asked considering the implications of that, and of what he'd promised Sean's father twelve long years ago. Sal had given his word, if someone else had broken theirs, first....

  Sean snorted, "Harkins and the Ascendants broke faith first, ask any of the other councils, they all know the truth now. I didn't know about any of this! Magic, lycans, the real reason my father was killed," Sean growled as he mentioned his father, "I was blissfully ignorant, another stupid kid without a fucking clue." Sean could feel his eyes burning as he held back tears, "They took it all, and then they came back and took it again! They just couldn't leave us alone!"

  Sal growled deep in his chest, he didn't like being lied to by a client, but he liked it less when the client who had lied to him had also broken his sworn oath.

  "They lied to me."

  "They
lie to everybody," Sean said hotly. "I take it Harkins hired you then?"

  "Yes, both times," Sal admitted. "And with his attacks on you, breaking the sworn oath he made to me, the one I duly swore to uphold, I have no choice now but to kill him."

  "Assuming that I don't kill you myself!" Sean said, growling again, "There is the small matter of my father's death!"

  "Your father's death was a foregone conclusion before I ever met him, Sean. You know that. I however took his deal and have kept it. If you want a piece of me, fine. So be it. However, I have an obligation to your father to fulfill. You will let me go, so I can honor it!"

  'He's right,' Sean's lion said.

  "Dammit!" Sean swore angrily. "What about your contract on me?"

  "I do not take contracts from those who break their sworn oaths to me," Sal told him, and then fell to the floor as Sean released his grip.

  "Stay!" Sean said and cast paralysis on Sal.

  "What are you doing?" Sal said, looking at him surprised.

  "Getting a head start. I guess this is yours," Sean said and placed the amulet back around Sal's neck.

  Turning away, Sean trotted off, heading back to where the others were gathering for the attack. He had no idea how long that spell would hold Hyena there, and they still had a lot to do, if they were going to attack tonight.

  Before the Storm

  "Ah, Sean, good of you to join us," Chad said as Sean came into the room. Sean was still in his hybrid form, there was no way he was going to run across Sparks in freezing weather without a shirt or a jacket. No doubt the police had gotten more than a few strange phone calls tonight as Sean hadn't given a damn as to whether nor not anybody had seen him.

  "What happened to you?"

  "I ran into the man who killed my father," Sean growled and sat down at the open chair at the foot of the table.

  Chad winced, "Ouch, that doesn't sound good, is he dead?"

  Sean shook his head and growled, "I had to let him go."

  "Why?"

  "Personal reasons," Sean said and gave Chad a look that made it clear he didn't want to talk about it.