“This is you and I taking a walk and visiting an old friend of mine,” he said as he raised his hand to hail a cab, which stopped a few feet in front of them.
“Downtown, 23rd and Madison, I’ll show you the house when we get there,” Gan said to the driver. As they drove down, Sepia took in the sights of her city. Sepia loved and hated her city. She couldn’t see herself living anywhere else. The city was alive and vibrant during the day, and cold and hard during the night. It understood her and she understood it. They were made for each other. They made good time as the driver turned on to 23rd Street.
“You can leave us here,” said Gan.
Gan paid the driver and the taxi drove off as they stood before the address he had given the driver.
“I hope she hasn’t moved. She always said she wanted to live in the country,” said Gan.
“Who, Gan? Wait a minute-- you don’t even know if she still lives in the city?”
Gan waved his hand, dismissing her comment. He proceeded to walk ahead of her as she shook her head in disbelief. They crossed the street and headed up Madison Avenue. On 26th Street they made a left and Gan slowed his pace.
“I thought the place is on 23rd?”
Gan gave her a withering stare. “Tell me I trained you better than that.”
He turned his back on her and kept walking down the street.
“There, the gray townhouse,” he said as he pointed at an ornate townhouse that was several stories taller than its neighbors.
“Who lives here, Gan?” Sepia said with unease. She didn’t like the feeling she was getting from the house. It felt as if the sidewalk was electrified, and each step sent small jolts into her feet as she drew closer.
“Calisto lives here, or at least she used to,” said Gan as they stopped in front of the house.
“Calisto? You mean Calisto the witch? The one who has a standing kill order on her from the Order? That Calisto?”
Gan smiled at Sepia and spread his arms.
“This is as far as I go, so you’d better hurry. Her place moves around every thirty minutes or so, last I remember,” he said and gave her a quick hug before she crossed the threshold.
“Oh, and don’t call her a witch-- she hates that, and usually reacts badly to it. Good luck, blueberry. Remember to trust the training,” said Gan
He must really be worried--he only calls me that when it’s serious. As she turned to face the townhouse, the street faded behind her and was replaced by grass and dirt. Trees now surrounded the property. The townhouse was no longer on 26th Street. She looked around and saw that she was in a thick forest. She knew this place from her childhood. She came here as a little girl, with her mother, a lifetime ago. A cold fist gripped her gut. She was in the park.
“Hello, Hunter.”
Sepia turned to face the woman behind her. The woman she could only guess was Calisto stood next to the largest polar bear she had ever seen. Calisto was dressed in casual hiking clothes. Wearing dark jeans, hiking boots and a light sweater with her long brown hair pulled into a loose ponytail. She looked like a woman that enjoyed the outdoors-- it all fit, except the bear. The bear sitting on its haunches towered past Calisto’s head. I don’t think I have enough ammo for that. She reached for her guns and realized her holsters were empty. The hug-- that sneaky bastard. Only her sword remained, in its sheath.
“I don’t usually get visitors,” said Calisto as she turned to walk away from Sepia. The bear remained motionless, the light rippling over its silver coat. She could see the intelligence in its eyes. Calisto stood behind the bear now, stroking its hind quarters as she faced Sepia.
“Kill her,” said Calisto.
The bear growled as it charged forward. Sepia rolled to the side, dodging the charge. What I wouldn’t do for some pepper spray right now. The bear turned and stood on its hind quarters and reared toward her. Sepia backed away, trying to put a tree between them. The bear circled around and swiped. Sepia ducked the swipe and moved to the other side.
“Call off your pet. I only need to ask you some questions.” She didn’t want to kill this bear.
“You come to my home and demand answers? I see you are armed. Here is a question for you: Do you want to live?” said Calisto.
Sepia backpedaled as the bear jumped around the tree, forcing her to break away. That is too damn smart for a bear.
“Yes, I do.”
Sepia was scared now. This fear was a familiar friend. It was that feeling in her gut that felt like the bottom had dropped out. The bear circled around her, its eyes starting to glow a dull green. This is no bear.
“Then I suggest you use your weapon,” said Calisto.
The bear charged, its eyes a bright yellow now. Sepia knew she couldn’t outrun it.
She drew her sword, its energy coursing through her. The blade turned black as she held it. The characters inscribed on the blade flashed red for a few seconds and then faded under the inky black covering.
The bear lunged and she managed to stop the claws from removing her arm by a fraction of a second. Breaking the parry she knelt on one knee and swiped in an arc across the floor. She cut deep into the bear’s leg. It roared in pain, slamming a paw into her and sending her sprawling across the grass. She was certain her arm was broken where the bear connected. Her ink flushed with heat as it dealt with the injury, the pain threatening to rob her of consciousness. She looked around and realized her sword was lodged in the bear’s leg. The bear reached down and pulled the sword from its leg, throwing it to one side. The bear then fixed its eyes on her, a growl in its throat as it drew closer.
“Enough. I have seen enough,” said Calisto.
The bear stopped advancing and limped to Calisto’s side. She placed a hand on its injury, healing it. She whispered something in its ear and it retreated to a deeper part of forest, leaving Calisto and Sepia alone.
“You are ill-equipped for this role, hunter.”
Calisto walked over to where Sepia’s sword, Perdition, rested, with a patch of dead grass surrounding it. It was still humming faintly. Calisto bent down and grabbed the hilt.
“No, don’t!” Sepia yelled as she extended her arm.
The inky covering receded and the sword looked like an ordinary blade. Calisto held it up and examined it, reading the characters. She swiped the air a few times and lunged.
“This is a hard blade to forget. It has perfect balance. This is a blade of the twenty-one. This is Emiko’s, your mother’s blade.”
Sepia nodded. Calisto swung it a few more times performing an intricate cross swipe with a double lunge. Sepia could see she was exceptionally skilled. She handed it back to Sepia, hilt-first.
“How are you…how are you even holding it?” Sepia asked, taken aback.
“Like I said, it is a fine ancient blade, but I am older than it. Its defenses can’t harm me, though I can’t use it like a hunter can. I can see it feels you are worthy to wield it, and yet you hesitate. Why?”
“The sword is evil, that’s why,” said Sepia.
Calisto laughed a throaty laugh that filled the park.
“The weapon is neither evil nor good. Its expression all depends on the wielder,” said Calisto.
“Didn’t you see it? Every time I draw it, it goes dark.”
“That is not the blade. You are the cause of that, hunter. It is only a reflection of you.”
“What?” Can that be true? Can the darkness be coming from me?
Calisto turned her head, distracted, as if she were listening to a far off voice.
“We don’t have much time, so ask your questions,” said Calisto.
“Last night a Nightmare was in my sector. A T6, if that means anything to you.”
Calisto gave her a blank stare.
“I want to know how it got there. Aren’t there wards around the park? How did it get past them?”
“Ah, the wards. Most of the wards in this city are quite old. Usually they grow weaker with age, but not those.”
&n
bsp; “What’s different about them?”
Sepia can see that the grass is reverting to concrete. As she looked around, the forest was slowly fading away.
“The wards around the park draw their energy from each new day. Each morning those wards are infused with new power, so they never lose their charge,” Calisto explains.
“Who could do such a thing, then? Who could get past them?”
“The knowledge to do so is beyond me,” said Calisto.
“Can a Nightmare get through a ward on its own?”
“These creatures you call Nightmares cannot destroy wards like these. It would require a power several orders of magnitude beyond them. Even I would have difficulty.”
“What kind of power?”
Calisto pointed at Sepia’s sword.
“It would need an ancient power and a conduit, a person who could wield the power. A power, like the one contained in your sword.”
Sepia noticed that the townhouse was once again on 26th Street. When she looked around she saw Gan across the street. As she crossed over the threshold Calisto held her arm.
“A word of caution, hunter. You must surrender to the power contained within your weapon. Harness it, embrace it, before it destroys you or worse.”
What can be worse than destruction? As she turned to Calisto she realized the townhouse was fading again. She heard her voice on the wind.
“Tell Gan to come and visit me when he is free.” Calisto’s laughter echoed in her mind.
Gan handed her the guns when she crossed the street.
“That was sneaky, even for you,” said Sepia as she holstered her guns.
“Better I take them than Calisto. At least now you can get them back, with her you would have lost them and earned a few scars in the process.”
They walked for a few minutes in silence, stopping at the corner of 23rd and Lexington.
“At least you survived. Not every hunter makes it out of her house intact.”
“It felt familiar somehow. That place, I think I’ve been there before.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me. You spent a lot of time there as a child. Calisto, she helped train your mother,” says Gan.
“She did what?”
Gan turned to walk away, stopping after a few steps.
“I have another meeting to get to. You have a few hours before your tour, so go get some shuteye. I suggest you go on patrol and find out how a T6 wound up in your neighborhood. That’s my advice, for all it’s worth.”
She knew better than to press him, but she was worried about this meeting of his. How does he even know Calisto? It certainly looks like she knew him.
“Oh, Calisto had a message for you. She said to go visit her when you were free. You two have a thing?”
Gan laughed as he walked away.
“Visit her? Not in this lifetime. You be careful tonight, blueberry,” said Gan.
SEVEN
Sepia caught the 6 train downtown to Canal and walked along Canal Street to her apartment on West Street. Every hunter lived in their sector. It made it easier for them to patrol. She had a few hours before nightfall and sleep sounded like a great idea. Entry into her building was secure. It required a keypad combination and a handprint. Many of the newer developments were using this heightened level of security. When the elevator arrived on her floor she knew something was off. Seeing the door to her apartment ajar, she drew her guns and nudged the door wider with them. Her apartment was trashed.
“What the hell?”
She walked in and realized the break in was systematic. Someone was looking for something. There went her few hours of sleep. Sun is setting anyway. May as well get a head start on tonight’s patrol, she thought as she pulled out her phone and speed dialed Cade.
“Blue. Feeling better?” He sounded strange, his voice thick.
“Not much, my apartment got trashed and I haven’t gotten any sleep. Where are you? Let’s head in early tonight. I think I want to walk the lower perimeter of the park and see if there’s a breach.”
“I was kind of hoping you could tell me, um where I am. I don’t have a clue,” said Cade.
Another voice came on the phone.
“Hello, hunter. You want him alive? Bring the sword to his location. Oh, and I would hurry if I were you.”
Cade began to scream as her stomach tightened into a knot. The phone went dead.
She pressed another speed dial as she headed out the apartment, taking the stairs two at a time.
“Gan, they got Cade.”
“It’s a trap. Do not go to his location.”
“What are you saying? I should leave him to die?”
“I’m saying you shouldn’t go, at least not alone. Where are you?”
“I’m at the apartment. If you’re coming, you have five minutes or I’m getting Cade without you,” she said as she hung up.
Gan looked at his phone. God she is stubborn, just like her mother. He turned his motorcycle around and headed to Sepia’s apartment. From his location he could make it there in three minutes.
Sepia stood perfectly still calming her breathing. Geolocation depended on the hunter being able to function in spite of distraction. She quieted her mind and tried to pick up Cade’s vibration with no success. A few minutes passed and then a motorcycle raced up the street, distracting her.
“Did you find him?” Gan said as he took off his helmet.
“I was in the middle of that.”
She closed her eyes again and extended herself. This time she felt Cade’s presence. It was a faint sensation and getting fainter.
She jumped on the back of the motorcycle.
“He’s north, towards the park,” she said.
“Did you call Home yet?”
“Shit, it totally slipped my mind.”
“You know the Order, Blue. No matter what, you follow protocol, especially in the field.”
She sighed. “I know. Hunters follow procedure, no matter what. The training saves lives.”
“I’ll take care of it. Let’s go get your partner,” Gan said as they pulled off with a roar.
They sped up Sixth Avenue. The queasy feeling in his stomach reminded him why he hated being this close to the park.
They were approaching the lower end of the park when Sepia tapped his helmet.
“Whose sector is this?” Sepia asked as she looked around. She could see the wards glowing faintly at the edge of the park.
A block away Gan turned off the motorcycle. He wanted to make sure they had a way to get out of there fast.
“We walk from here; I’m not risking the bike. We’re in Lisa’s and Xavier’s sector. Turn off your phone. You know what the park can do.”
“I know, I know, no electronics. Are they any good? Lisa and Xavier?” Sepia said as she tried to pinpoint Cade’s location.
“Two of the best, or else they wouldn’t be so close to the park.”
“How did a Nightmare get past them if they are so good?”
“Why don’t you ask them yourself?” Gan pointed with his chin.
“What? What do you mean?”
A figure stepped out of the shadows directly in front of them, seeming to materialize from air. He was a wiry man of dark complexion with fire in his eyes.
“Gan, it has been too long. How are you, you old dog?”
It was Xavier.
Does Gan know everyone? Who is he?
“It has been too long, X. Where’s Lisa?”
“She’s headed to the park. Some commotion up there. I was just about to follow her. Had some low level trouble to take care of a few blocks down.”
“She’s going in there alone?” said Gan as he started heading into the park.
Xavier read Gan’s face and took off at a dead run toward the park, stopping at the edge.
“What is that? It’s like we’re above a train station, a low rumbling,” said Sepia.
“It’s the park. It gives off a constant low frequency EMP wave,” said Gan.
“It’s never felt that strong.”
“Do you think she went in?” Xavier peered into the darkness.
“Only one way to find out,” said Gan
He turned to face Sepia, as she checked her guns and holstered them.
“I would tell you to wait here, but I know better. Be careful, once you cross this threshold, all bets are off. No cavalry is coming to save our asses. We are on our own.”
“He is in there. I can feel him. He’s still alive, Gan.”
“Who’s in there? Is someone else in there?” asked Xavier
“Her gunman was taken, but I think it’s a trap for her, and Lisa walked right into it.”
“Shit. Why do they want you?”
Anger shone in Xavier’s eyes as drew his handguns and strapped his rifle to his back.
“Xavier, does Lisa have a named blade?” asked Sepia.
Xavier’s eyes narrowed.
“I can’t tell you. Don’t you know that? Who is this rookie?”
“That’s enough of an answer. She must be a class one.”
“Easy, X, Lisa is a class one with a named blade, she can handle most things in there,” said Gan.
“She is the class one. Yeah, her blade is named. It’s one bastard of a blade. How do you think we can be so close to the park and still be alive?”
They stepped over the threshold and into the park. Sepia felt it thrum her entire body like a tuning fork.
“We need to find her fast. Whatever they were going to do with me…”
Sepia let the words hang in the air after seeing Xavier’s expression. These two are more than just hunter and gunman. He really cares for her. I wonder how long they have been out here.
“You locate Cade, we will find Lisa,” said Gan.
Sepia extended herself again and found Cade. He was close now.
“That way,” she said and pointed.
She took off at a jog with Gan and Xavier right behind her. They heard the clashing of blades first before they saw anyone.
“That’s her. I’d recognize that sound anywhere,” said Xavier.
“Took you long enough, X” said Lisa. “What? You stop for dinner?”
Her left side was covered in blood. She had numerous cuts and scratches on her arms, some of them deep and bleeding freely. The Nightmare Lisa was fighting was unlike any Sepia had encountered.
Rise of the Night (Sepia Blue Book 1) Page 3
