Four left.
Panting now, I stood and turned back to face my remaining enemies. Dead ahead of me, two of them were still on the ground and running my way. The other two each took to a wall, crawling along like spiders rushing for their prey. I readied myself, kicking the head off the shovel and snapping the handle in half. Now I had two weapons, each one short and sharp.
I was ready for them.
They leapt from the walls, pouncing at me in white, hissing blurs. Before they got a chance to land, I used my magic to drive a stake into one of their hearts. I turned quickly, letting the other fly from my hand and rocket toward its target. The wood pierced its skin and shot the vampire backward, turning it to a smoky pile of ash sprinkling onto the concrete floor. Good riddance.
With only two more enemies remaining, I turned my attention back to the ground. Only I moved too slowly. Before I got a chance to prepare my defense, one of the final vampires dashed into me, catching me in its grip as we blasted through the wall behind me. Squashed together, we blew through two different rooms before I hit the ground, the vampire groaning on top of me as we both recovered from our dizzy spell.
Now was my only chance.
Putting my hands together like a powerful defibrillator, I placed both palms against the vampire’s chest and fired it across the room. It wasn’t enough to kill it, but it gave me a chance to stagger to my feet. While I did so, the other vampire sprinted toward me, screaming and scowling with its long, dirty fingernails poised for an assault. I quickly broke into a stance to take it down, but before I could do so, something unexpected caught my eye.
Across the room, small, white wings flickered at blinding speed. The faery flew in like a bullet, shooting into the vampire and knocking it sideways. The tiny middle-aged man hovered in place, suspended on silvery wings with an expression of self-satisfaction on his face said, “What would you do without me, huh?”
I smirked widely but tried not to show it. “Hey, Link.”
As much as I missed my sarcastic little British friend, a flurry of pissed-off vampire cut our reunion short. The first vampire – the one I’d blown across the room – stumbled to his feet and then rushed at me. Even Link began to fly to my aid, but when the second vampire grabbed onto his feet, it looked like we were fighting two on two. They were better odds than I’d had before.
I felt a bolt surge through me as I drained more power from my magicard. Inside the card was the soul of a mage whose specialty had been telekinesis. All that power was at my disposal and I could use it as much as I wanted, as long as I bore in mind that the more I used, the more risk there was of that mage’s soul becoming my own. If I wasn’t careful, I would soon become that mage, and the real me would be lost forever. Thankfully, there was still plenty of magic to be used before that happened.
The magic exploded to life inside me, filtering through my veins and filling me with unimaginable strength. It coursed through me, flooding through my body until the pressure built up in my arms. As the vampire loomed five feet from my neck, I held out my palms and unleashed the magic, holding the vampire in place while telekinetically squeezing his throat and lungs. His eyes widened with both shock and fear, but instead of letting it suffocate, I had to finish the job properly. Focusing all of my energy into that one movement, I sent my enemy hurtling across the room before impaling it on a rusty shelf bracket.
Moments later, it was nothing but a swirling tornado of ash.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I craned my neck to find Link holding the final vampire in place. It squirmed and struggled, trying desperately to break free of the faery’s grasp. In spite of his diminutive size, he had all the strength of a regular-sized man, and then some. Clearly underestimating him, our rivals never discovered that until it was too late.
Now was one of those times.
“What do you want me to do with him, Keira?” he asked, holding the vampire in place.
Should I send him six feet under? I was Chicago’s Cardkeeper, after all, which meant that it was my job to rid the world of vampires. At least when I wasn’t out capturing more magicards and returning them to the mystical Vault. However, in this case, I felt like an exception could be made. Carefully, I approached the monster.
“Let me see your face,” I said, keeping my tone calm.
The vampire reached out to scratch me, hissing as the whites of his eyes rolled back and his deadly fangs were exposed. This was every bit the creature I had sworn to eliminate, and I was offering him this one and only chance.
“I won’t ask again.”
Finally the vampire stopped struggling. His fangs shrunk and the color of his skin returned to normal. As Link let go of his jacket, the creature shrugged it back on and checked behind him while slowly morphing into an average-looking man. When his eyes leveled on me, there was nothing but fear and confusion staring back.
“What do you want?” he asked in a crazed panic.
“I already told you. I want you to give me access to the back room.”
“And I already told you, there’s nothing there.”
I shook my head, totally unwilling to believe it. After all I’d done to find this place and then get inside, I’d expected the job to be simple. All I needed was to find my friend Jack Hannigan, who was rumored to be held hostage somewhere in south Chicago, and then convince him to take my place. It was my last mission as a Cardkeeper, and of course, it couldn’t just be a straight-forward one. Nothing in my life ever came that easy.
“Well, why don’t you show me the room and let me decide for myself?” I grabbed the vampire – the man, in his current form – by the shoulder and dragged him toward the back of the building. I half-expected him to change back into his hunter form and sink his teeth into my neck, but fortunately the only survivor just happened to be the coward of the bunch.
After storming through a series of corridors, we eventually arrived at an enormous safe-like door. It went from the ceiling to the floor and covered most of the wall with its looming metallic presence. The only thing keeping me from the man behind it was the keypad, and if only one thing went in my favor today, getting the code wouldn’t be a problem.
“Punch in the code,” I said.
“What? No.”
Link shot in from behind, pushing the man toward the safe door and then folding his arms. It was easy for him to be tough while he was in such a safe position, but I had always known him to avoid danger when possible. Then again, maybe I wasn’t giving him enough credit. He had saved my ass a lot lately. Maybe he was changing for the better.
“Last chance,” I said.
The man glared at me before reluctantly tapping the code into the panel. A green light flicked on and then the door sprung open with a whooshing sound. Inch by inch, the huge metal door opened up to reveal white walls under a bright bulb.
This is it, I thought. After all these years of not seeing Jack, I was finally going to lay my eyes on him again. I wondered what he would look like – if he would look any different than how I remembered him. Since he had made a deal with Death – a simple bounty hunt in exchange for eternal life – I didn’t expect him to have aged. But even if he had, it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise of the day. I doubted that anything could shock me these days.
Shaking lightly, I peered my head inside and called out his name. “Jack,” I said, stepping inside. But there was nothing in here, save for the empty wooden table in the middle of the room, and a couple of boxes stowed away in the corner. Disappointment took hold of me as I finally accepted that I’d been led on a wild-goose chase.
“He’s not here,” I called out to Link, too embarrassed to show my face just yet.
“I told you,” said the man from outside. “Can I go now?”
Grinding my teeth, I sighed. “Let him go,” I said to Link, finally returning to the room. I stared lifelessly at the ground, reassessing my dwindling options. I was running out of places to find Jack, and if I didn’t do it soon, the fate of the Vault could be
compromised. All that was left to do was retreat, talk to my superior and find out what the hell to do next.
CHAPTER TWO
I stood in my mages robe at the base of the mountain path that led to the Vault. The Vault, as it appeared from the outside, was little more than a tall tower made of brick. It resided in the middle of the valley between two snow-topped mountains on the far end of the world. Where, exactly, was unknown to people like me, and it was unlikely that I would ever find out. All I knew for certain was that it took a portal to get here, and that human eyes could not see it unless a Cardkeeper or elder wanted them to.
Link flew alongside me as I made my way up the dirt path. The violent wind hacked away at my hair and robe, billowing them both out behind me in a long trail. It was a hard push against the gale, but when I eventually reached the Vault, I opened up the heavy wooden door and took refuge inside.
It no longer surprised me that the interior of the building was far larger than the outside. The Elders of R’hen had cast a spell on the tower, and it was used as a pillar to hold up the Sacred Temple where the gods themselves are said to live. If this tower – or any others from alternative cities – toppled, the temple would fall and the world as we know it would come to an end. Which was precisely why it was my duty to keep the magicards safe, locked away from sadistic mages and any other beings that dared to threaten our kind.
Only it would all be over soon. For me, anyway. I’d served the Vault for thirty years, remaining young yet all the while being gifted with added strength and speed. As far as the eye could tell, I was still only thirty years old. What would happen when I resigned from my post was unknown to me, and I guess I didn’t want to know. My mind was too focused on the job at hand, which meant that I had to find Jack within a few days, or my time would be up and the Vault would be left without a Keeper.
It was barely enough time.
After traversing the great number of hallways and staircases that led to my Elder’s location, I finally shoved open the door to the Grand Hall and quickly noticed his absence. For the first time in thirty years, he hadn’t been there waiting for me as I came in. It struck me as odd, not to mention worrying, but when a door opened at the far end of the marble-floored hall, Dalton came into view and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Lady Keira,” he said, crossing the hall slowly with his head covered by the hood of his robe. Thousands of years old now, Dalton commanded respect. Not only had he made great sacrifices and survived a shocking number of magic wars, but after all that he was still a good person with a kind heart. That sort of man was a dying breed.
“Sir.” I took a humble bow as Link flew off my shoulder and fluttered around the room, stretching his wings. “It’s bad news, I’m afraid. I checked out the warehouse and found nothing but vampires.”
“No word of Jack?”
“Not a whisper.”
Dalton nodded slowly and his eyes drifted across the room. It was clear that he was deep in thought, and until his gaze returned to me, I dared not speak a word. Only his wisdom could lead me in the right direction. “There have been numerous attempts at locating him.”
“Strike seventeen,” I said.
“Have you considered seeking an alternative?”
“Considered, yes. But there’s nobody I know who has the balls to do it. Pardon my French.”
“French?”
“It’s a figure of speech.”
Dalton turned away from me, walking around the great fire that roared from a pit in the center of the room until he finally came to a stop. The tall flames licked up at the air, casting a long shadow behind him that reached out to the far end of the Grand Hall. Here there were two rows of gigantic marble pillars lined up on either side of a dark walkway. I didn’t know what was up there, only that the Elders of R’hen often came from that direction, which meant that it was forbidden for me to explore it.
“You’re running out of time,” said Dalton, without turning to face me.
“Tell me something I don’t know. Everywhere I look I end up in a fight with some kind of creature, and it always turns out to be for nothing. I don’t know where your intel is coming from, but perhaps there’s another way to find Jack.”
“There is not,” he said coldly.
“Then what should I do?”
Link swooped in from above me then, knocking the hood off my head and throwing it over the back of my robe. Hovering by my face with his wings flickering wildly, he put a hand on my cheek. “Hey, you killed five vampires today. So at least it wasn’t a complete waste of time.”
As much as I appreciated that he was trying to cheer me up, it didn’t solve my problem. I gave him a false smile and brushed past him, arriving at Dalton’s side and staring down into the huge, hypnotic flames. “Please, give me some guidance.”
“What exactly do you ask of me?”
I shrugged. “If you know of someone that might offer information, I would like to know about it. If not…” I paused to consider this. “Then what else could I do but give in? I’m trying so, so hard, but it’s useless.”
“Attempts are only stepping stones to success, Lady Keira.”
“Which is all good and wise, but not helpful.”
“It is as helpful as you want it to be.”
“What does that mean? Look, I wanted to resign six months ago but you kept me on to find my replacement. Against my better judgment, I’ve done everything I can to find my friend so I can let him in on this job. There is nobody better; I can tell you that much, so what can I do? Come on, I’m trying to be realistic.”
Dalton sighed before turning to me and meeting my eyes with his own. They were steely blue, full of both promise and threat. Something about those eyes always told me that I was safe, as long as I didn’t cross him. Luckily, I never intended to.
“Please,” I added.
After a long pause, Dalton finally reached out and touched my arm. “Follow me, and I will see what I can do.”
“You’re going to help?”
“I’m going to try. After that, it is up to you to do what must be done.”
“And if it turns out to be another dud?”
Dalton’s expression didn’t change. “Then we are all going to die.” With that, he turned on his heel and stalked toward the nearest door, leaving me to follow with nothing but bitter curiosity, and a dying sense of hope.
CHAPTER THREE
Even after four hours in the strategy room, I still wasn’t ready to leave. I’d come in here to look for answers, as many great warriors had done before me, and just like them, I wasn’t leaving until I had what I wanted.
As Dalton consulted his associates in the next room, I leaned back in my rickety wooden chair and swept my eyes over my surroundings. The room was long and narrow, with its bricks on display and a long strategy table running straight up the center. There were maps spread out across the surface – some of earth, some of other worlds – and as I crept forward to sneak a peek, the door behind me clunked open.
“Lady Keira.”
I rose immediately so as not to disrespect Dalton, the Elder of Chicago’s Vault, but paid no mind to the robed figures fleeing from the room with their heads bowed, carrying a number of scrolls under their arms. “Anything?”
“There may be hope for you yet.”
“Talk to me.”
Dalton slowly made his way around the table before taking a seat across from me. He shoved the maps to one side and unraveled a scroll, spreading it across the now empty space. When it was fully uncoiled, he produced a glass ball from within his robe and held down the papyrus using the ball as a paperweight. “This is Chicago, yes?”
I leaned in close, reading the map upside-down. As if that wasn’t hard enough, the districts were scribbled in the Old Language, and the map’s legend was something totally unrecognizable. In spite of that, the layout of the land was the same, and so I could confidently answer his question. “Yes, it is.”
“Good.” Dalton traced
his finger along the east side of the map, trailing all the way down Chicago’s border. He then stopped there, keeping his finger held in place on the papyrus. “You’ll have to forgive me, but my associates inform me that this location is called a ya… a yahd? Am I saying that correctly?”
I hid my grin and nodded, keeping my eyes on the map. “A shipping yard, yes.”
“Yahd. Yahhd,” he said, as if to practice. “As you know, Death leaves traces behind when he walks among the living. Bag’ard, a good friend of mine whose profession is to study such activity, informs me that this ya… yard has no such trace.”
“Meaning?”
Dalton looked up from the map, fixing his eyes on me. I could sense it happen but didn’t dare look. Instead, I kept my head down and stared at the map with exaggerated concentration. This way I could avoid his condescending glare.
“Meaning that your friend could very well have been here.”
“Hmm, it’s a bit of a stretch.”
“You asked me to perform a miracle, Lady Keira. This is all the information I have. Now, is this friend of yours not protected from Death’s grasp?”
“Well, yeah, but–”
“And this location is one of the few in Chicago where he has never visited. All of the other sites you searched were based on the same intelligence, to some extent, and I am quite keen to agree that Death’s absence could mean something. Could it not?”
It was a long shot, for sure. Although it was true that I had followed this idea for some time now, I still hadn’t found Jack. With that in mind, would it not have been foolish for me to keep on following the same rule? If Link was in here with me, rather than stealing food from the kitchens downstairs, he would probably try to tell me that I had no other choice. The worst thing was, after a little stubbornness on my part, I would probably end up agreeing with him. The moody little butthole was always so right. “I guess I can check it out.”
The Cardkeeper Chronicles: Books 1-5 (Complete Collection) Page 41
