by M. R. Forbes
“I think that’s obvious,” I said. “He said only a mortal can kill Samedi now that he’s mortal. There have to be some places on Earth immortals just can’t go, and this is one of them. Why do you think he kept Macha behind?”
“I can think of a reason he kept Macha behind,” Amos said. “And it ain’t got a thing to do with magic. They probably haven’t boned in what, forty-thousand years? That’s a hell of a long time to be celibate. You would know about that, right Baldie?”
I didn’t respond to his dig. “He needs me to kill Samedi for him. But what about after I do? What’s his play then? Do you think he’s going to just go back to the afterlife? Or are we here to fulfill some other side quest to get him something he needs?”
“What could he need?” Frank said. “He seems to be at the top of the food chain already.”
That was the real question, wasn’t it? Death didn’t seem like the type to care about world domination. So what was he after?
“Whatever it is, can we discuss it on the move?” Amos asked. “I’m getting eaten alive.”
“That’s because there’s so much of you to eat,” I said.
“Another fat joke. We get it, Skellington.” Amos glanced at Frank. “How come they don’t bite you?”
“Look at me.” He rubbed his hands over his thick, greenish flesh. The pustules were starting to reform as small beads on the surface of his skin. “Would you want to bite this?”
“Not a fucking chance.”
Frank laughed.
“Death said he dropped us within a few kilometers,” Dannie said. “Can either of you sense the enchantment?”
Ashiira and I both froze in place, listening for the magic. I couldn’t so much hear the other fields as get a sense of the way the death magic moved around them, but I could tell it was altered from the west.
“West,” Ash said.
“Seconded,” I said.
The jungle was dense, and it was humid enough that I considered removing my coat. We were surrounded by vegetation, most of it larger than us, and I knew how dangerous all of it was. The plants that weren’t poisonous probably had teeth or were cover for creatures that had teeth of their own. We weren’t safe standing here. We weren’t safe moving, either. The jungles of the world were mysterious before the reversal and had only become more mysterious after. It wasn’t worth the effort to try to catalog all of the new flora and fauna that had turned up once the magical fields returned.
More than enough scientists and soldiers had died trying.
I didn’t feel that confident to be here, either. Especially without Macha. It hadn’t taken long for me to fall for her. Not in a sexual way. Not even because she was attractive. It was because of what she could do for me and my magic. The power I gained with the help of her voice. I hated that she remained back with Death, whatever the reason. I hated thinking she was having sex with him while we were plodding through a monster-infested landscape on our way to a lost city, doing Death’s dirty work in a likely futile effort to save humankind. I wanted to go back to stealing shit for a few thousand credits. Those were simpler times, and I missed them.
Instead, I was tired, sweaty, and inching ever closer to death in an environment that wanted more than anything to finish the job. Amos was right, it completely sucked. But what was I going to do about it? This was the path I was on for now, and there was no going home again.
We made it about fifty feet before we heard the first rustling in the vegetation nearby. Amos immediately lifted his shotgun, having made a quick trip to a nearby gun shop to buy ammo during our short intermission. I drew the pistol he had picked up for me, one of the many he had returned with after having convinced the store owner to forget about stupid things like laws in exchange for ten times the asking price. It probably wasn’t going to do a damned thing against a lobizon, and I was likely better off keeping my hand free to cast. But I needed to tone it down on the magic for a while, because I felt like shit and it was too soon for me to die, and my muse was back at my place fucking Death on my couch.
I shook the thought away, watching Frank watch something in the foliage with his enhanced eye. He had a pair of new pistols of his own, and he tracked the unseen predator with one of them, turning slowly as it circled us.
“You going to shoot it or what?” Amos said.
“Not unless it attacks us,” Frank said.
“Any idea what it is?”
“A rat or something, I think.”
“That’s a big rat.”
Frank raised his gun as the creature moved off, not interested in starting with us. I breathed a short sigh of relief, and we started walking again. Amos took point, using his machete to cut through the foliage. Frank brought up the rear.
We made it another hundred yards or so before something high up in the trees made the loudest, shrillest call I’ve ever heard before launching out of it. I couldn’t see it all that well from the ground, but it had to be ten feet long with a twenty or thirty-foot wing span - the size of a small plane. It was brightly colored, and as it swooped to another tree, it was joined by a second, slightly smaller version of itself.
“Can you feel the love tonight?” Amos said.
“At least it didn’t try to eat us,” Frank said.
We walked another twenty yards before the greenery around us started rustling again. Not in one place this time.
Everywhere.
Whatever was there, it was closing in from all sides, dropping the hammer on us. Frank turned slowly, trying to get a bead on them. Amos hefted his shotgun, beady eyes narrow. Dannie produced her own iron.
I heard the growls before I saw anything. They were low and rich, starting at one side of the circle and spreading around it. Maybe meant to intimidate us? Get us running and split up? We tightened up instead, moving closer together.
“Lobizon?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Frank said. “A dozen of them.”
“I was hoping we would make it a little further before they caught our scent.”
“Seriously?” Amos said. “You do realize you stink like a corpse, right? It just oozes off you.”
“They’re still sizing us up,” Frank said. “Maybe they won’t attack.”
I almost laughed at the idea. Since when?
We came to a stop. The growling was growing in pitch, the noose tightening around us. We were outnumbered, but I wasn’t that afraid. I had seen Amos handle werewolves before, and while Ash was an immature user, he was still a user. We could handle it. I believed that.
The first of them came through the brush, standing on its hinds as it did. It was eight feet tall, a little shorter than Frank but bigger than the rest of us. Covered in fur, heavily muscled, a long snout full of sharp teeth and big yellow eyes. It took a few steps toward us before stopping. The next of them broke cover, and then a third. They repeated the gesture, standing on their hinds and then coming to a stop.
“Good doggies,” Amos said. “You want a treat?”
He turned his head back and winked at me.
“You don’t want to do this,” Frank said, aiming with each of his hand cannons.
The rest of the creatures emerged nearby, taking position around us. Did they all intend to attack at once? We would be hard-pressed to stop them if they did.
We remained that way for half a minute, standing in the center of a circle of lobizon, weapons ready, waiting for them to make a move. The tension hung thick in the air, thicker than the humidity. I had an urge to cough, and I fought to contain it so that they wouldn’t think I was being aggressive.
“This is weird,” Frank decided once we neared the one minute mark.
It was weird. Why were they just standing there?
“Maybe we should just cap them and get moving,” Amos said. “We’re on the clock.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I said.
“We can’t just stand here all day.”
We couldn’t. We needed to do something. “Frank, why don
’t you try to talk to them?”
“Why me?”
“You’re bigger than they are. They might listen to you.”
“Okay.” He took a step forward. The growls changed in pitch, the lobizon in front of him bearing its teeth. He took a step back. “Got another idea?”
Before I could answer, something emerged from the trees. It was small and winged, and it zipped forward from over the lead lobizon’s shoulder before hovering on front of us.
A sprite, six inches tall at best, with skin like the bark of a tree and gossamer wings that buzzed behind it. She was human shaped, hairless, and completely naked. She zipped in closer to me, getting right in my face. I could see her tiny nose wrinkle as she breathed in.
“Ugh, I knew I smelled death,” she said.
She zipped past me, circling Ashiira’s head, a blur of brown and green like a large insect. She landed on his shoulder.
“My lord,” she said, curtseying to him. “What brings you to our domain?”
34
Dark things in dark places.
Ashiira stared at her for a moment, with an expression that left me wondering if he would have preferred to eat her.
“And what is this form you’ve taken?” she continued. “It doesn’t suit you, my Lord.”
Obviously, she knew he was a dragon.
“And you are?” Amos said.
The sprite spun around in a tight pirouette. “And the company you keep, my Lord. It is beneath you.”
“I choose my own company,” Ash said, a look of annoyance still painted on his face. “As I choose my own form. Do not trouble me, wisp.”
“Trouble?” she spun around again. “No trouble, my Lord. We come to serve. Only to serve.”
The lobizon around us dropped to all fours, bowing their heads to Ashiira.
“Whoa,” Frank said. “Awesome.”
“I’m confused,” Amos said.
“Me too,” I agreed.
Ash didn’t look happy. “She’s a wisp, brother. A creature of the jungle. A playful, petty, stupid thing.”
“I’m not stupid.”
“She sure seems to think you’re the bee's knees,” Amos said.
“Bee's knees?” I said, looking at him.
“Heh. I can be clean every once in awhile.”
“I wish to serve you, my Lord,” she said, still only speaking to Ash. “To welcome you to our domain. We’ve not seen any of your kind since the reversal. We’ve had none to serve.”
“You serve dragons?” Frank asked.
The wisp didn’t respond.
“The wisps once served the dragons,” Ash said. “They scrubbed the soil from between our scales in exchange for trinkets and baubles. They love shiny things.”
“Who doesn’t?” Amos said.
“Your father didn’t have any wisps,” I said.
“He couldn’t stand them, and besides, he had users to help keep him clean. Wisps are annoyingly subservient and persistent in their desire. They can also be incredibly dangerous.”
“She’s dangerous?” Amos said, pointing at the wisp.
She responded by opening her mouth toward his finger. It spread to cover nearly her entire face, revealing row after row of sharp teeth. He pulled his digit back just in time to avoid losing it.
“Geez.”
“They’re also adept at mind control,” Ash said.
“You mean the dogs?” Amos asked.
Ashiira nodded. “Wisps look harmless. They’re anything but.”
“We are harmless, my Lord. We wish only to serve you.”
“Maybe you can tell her and her pets to beat it, and we can get this show on the road?” Amos suggested. “It’s bad enough we’ve already been here longer than we were in Vegas. I didn’t even get to pull one slot.”
“It isn’t that simple,” Ash said. “We don’t want to anger them.”
“Seriously?”
“Silver said the lobizon are the least of the trouble,” Ashiira said. “I wish she had been more specific. Or that we had thought to ask. We should never have come here.”
“What do you mean, bro?” Frank said. “She thinks you’re a god or something.”
“Just tell her to shoo,” Amos said. “Or I can get a big fly swatter.”
“Would you like me to devour the insolent one for you, my Lord?” the wisp asked.
“Amos, I know this is difficult for you, but tread lightly,” Ash said.
“Heh. What are you so afraid of, Ash? There’s only one of them.”
I winced as soon as he said it. I didn’t need a degree in fairies to know this one was their leader, and that she certainly wasn’t alone. A few seconds later, dozens of wisps began pouring in around us, buzzing over our heads. They were all female and looked similar to the first.
“How may we serve you, my Lord?” they all asked in unison, their tiny voices nearly echoing due to their number.
“Where are your scales, my Lord?” one of them asked.
“We can bring pleasure to you in other ways,” another said.
“Did she just-” Amos started to say, but Ash glared at him.
“Better to make the best of it,” I said, looking back at Ash. “We have a job to do. We’ll figure the rest out later.”
Ash didn’t look happy, but he gave me a slight nod in reply. “Very well,” he said, his grumble reminding me of Tarakona. “I accept your offer of servitude.”
“Excellent,” the original wisp said. “How may we bring you pleasure, my Lord? We ask only for the shiny in return.”
“There’s an ancient city nearby. We need a guide to bring us to it.”
The wisp’s sudden elation vanished. “Kuhikoxl? Why do you want to go there?”
“We’re tourists,” Amos said. “And we’re American, so we want to take lots of selfies and find some way to defile it.”
She still didn’t pay him any direct attention, which I could tell was making him crazy.
“I want to see it,” Ash said.
“Kuhikoxl is a dark place, my Lord. A very dark place. None who go in come out again. You should not go there.”
“Don’t tell me where to travel,” Ashiira said. “Have you forgotten who you serve already?”
The wisp bowed in midair. “Apologies, my Lord. Kuhikoxl frightens us.”
“Baldie, are you sure about this?” Amos said. “If the Tinkerbells here are afraid of it-”
“Would you rather walk home?” I asked.
“I’m starting to think maybe.”
“It doesn’t frighten me,” Ashiira said. “Take us there, and I’ll give you this.”
He turned his hand over, a large diamond appearing in his palm. It was an illusion, but they didn’t seem to know it.
“Ooh,” they all said, drawing in toward it.
Their leader turned toward them, hissing and baring her many teeth.
“It is mine,” she howled.
They flitted back in fear of her.
“We will take you,” she said. “For the sparkly.”
The lobizon raised themselves on four legs, moving off into the jungle to the west, in the direction of the lost city. The other wisps also departed, disappearing back into the foliage, while their Queen landed on Ash’s shoulder. She stared at the fake diamond until he pretended to tuck it back into his pocket.
He was right that they were stupid.
“That way, my Lord,” she said. “The city is that way.”
“Do you have a name?” Ash asked.
“Kipiezl, my Lord. Queen of the Kipi tribe.”
“I am Ashiira,” he said. “Brood of Tarakona.”
“The Great Wyrm,” Kipiezl said. “I am honored.”
We started walking again. Dannie moved up next to me, staying close.
“It looks like you have competition,” I said.
She smiled, but it was forced. “Conor, I want to talk to you about something.”
My heart all but stopped. I could feel the sudden heat in my
face. This was it, wasn’t it? The part where she called me out on the worst thing I’d ever done. Or maybe it was the second worst? Either way, it was nothing I wanted to talk about.
“What is it?” I asked, my mouth suddenly chalky, my tongue thick.
“I’ve been thinking about this a lot since Death brought me back. Since you decided to take this job. I haven’t been able to think of a good time to say it, or a good way to work through it. I’m angry, Conor. I can’t even tell you how angry I am.”
I clenched my teeth. I should have interrupted her. I should have apologized. I should have done something. I just stood there staring at her like an idiot.
Tears formed in her eyes, a couple of them running down her cheeks. She should have hit me, or maybe stabbed me again. Instead, she decided to show me a weakness I never saw, letting go of that bad-ass, super-strong exterior and giving me a glimpse of the tender, loving woman underneath, successfully leading me to hate myself even more for what I had done.
“I don’t want you to die, Conor,” she said softly. “I love you.”
35
Nothing more than feelings.
To say she caught me off-guard would be an understatement. I was expecting fury, and instead had gotten a declaration of devotion?
“What?” I said, not sure what else to say.
I was relieved that she hadn’t called me out for what I had done.
I was an asshole for that, too.
“I love you,” she repeated.
“I love you, too, Dannie,” I said. “You know that. I don’t understand why we’re having this conversation.”
She shook her head. “You don’t get it, do you? I don’t mean this friend zone best buddies bullshit we’ve had going. I mean love like I wish you weren’t dying because I want to have a life with you. A real life. A fucking normal life.”
“Didn’t we try that once?” I said. “It didn’t work out that well.”
“Give me a break. We were both drunk. That hardly counts. Besides, that was before. This is after.”
“You mean before you died?”
“Yes.”
I stopped walking to look at her. “What happened that changed your opinion so drastically?”
