TERRA

by Adrian M Ferguson

  8 pm

  I walked downstairs, the grogginess dissipating as the anticipation and nervousness of tonight’s endeavor crept into my mind. I went down to the kitchen and prepared a quick meal — diced basil and pesto marinated chicken — that I had left in the fridge the other night with some agnolotti pasta: filling, quick and good fuel food. Looking out over my backyard where the feature trees were sparkling, illuminated by numerous hidden spotlights, I took a deep breath. I was more nervous than I’d thought I would be. It was vitally important that tonight I find some sort of clue to the whereabouts of the necromancer.

  He had already tried to kill me several times, and I felt the need to take the offensive now and show him or her or it that I wasn't to be trifled with, and that they couldn't get away with the shit they were dishing out to me or the local land and animals — not to mention someone had died at the hands of the wight, throwing my charge of protecting humanity right into my face.

  Dressed, I cinched up my black windbreaker, and made my way to my gun cabinet. I wanted to have at least two guns on me tonight. I had my trusty Remington 51 to go underneath my windbreaker tucked tight into the small of my back, and my serrated Ka-bar blade in its sheath on my ankle, but I felt the need to have one more gun on me — something with a bit more bang for yah buck, I laughed. God, I’m funny. I unlocked the cabinet, and looked at my options. I had my 9 mm Ruger P94 pistol and a Ruger hunting rifle — which one would be more suitable? I looked at the rifle; yeah I think I’ll go with that one, powerful enough to make any bad guy, dead or alive, think twice, plus I had a back sheath for it so it'd be out of the way but easy to draw when needed.

  I’d had it custom-made a few years ago, more for my own amusement than work. I attached the back-draw sheath and then tested my reflexes with some quick draws. Frowning, I re-adjusted a few straps to make the position of the sheath line up with my right arm’s reach. I tried a few more draws — that was better, smooth and unobtrusive. Being relatively well hidden on my back, it would give me a slight advantage and one hell of a surprise to whomever I was drawing on.

  Checking my watch I was surprised how much time had passed. I quickly added some rations and water to my backpack just in case — you never know when you might need food — and locked the front door. Stepping out into the night, I quickly walked down the driveway to the outermost edge of my Earth Circle. Putting my hand out, I tested its strength and found to my surprise that it was still active and strong. I wasn't quite sure of its energy life, wondering if it ever needed to be re-charged — something to ask Ghob at a later stage, if I got a chance.

  As I stood there, waiting for Erdgeist to materialize, my mind swirled with images of Bruce and Ghob, and their recent interest. I was confused with who wanted want. Bruce seemed to be on the verge of taking our friendship further and that was confusing enough. His recent kiss still lingered in my mind, but then the heat and animalistic passion I had felt from Ghob was also on my mind. I recalled the way he dragged me from Bruce at Zoey’s coffee shop — he seemed to enjoy it. I was attracted to Bruce, one because he was a cop and I could relate to that and two because he was considerate and kind — and damn sexy to boot.

  Ghob, on the other hand, was not even human but his attraction was on a whole different scale altogether. He was a king, a primal being of this Earth, which seemed to resonate within me on an elemental level, like calling to like, as if my power over Earth was a magnet to his very essence. It was addictive in nature, and made me tremble with desire.

  My thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Erdgeist rising from the earth next to me, startling me somewhat.

  ‘Damn it, Gnome! Do I need to get you a bloody bell or something?’

  I heard a deep chuckle from the vicinity of his head — he thought I was being funny. One cat bell for Erdgeist for Christmas, tick. See how funny he finds that, I grinned evilly.

  ‘You ready, Erdgeist?’ I asked tentatively, all my nervous tension rushing back to me.

  ‘Yes, Warder. When you are ready, I shall take you to the outskirts of the cemetery. I think a quick reconnaissance from my gnomes would be a good idea, before we attack.’

  The outline of his features turned to me, ‘You, were planning on attacking, Warder, were you not?’

  Nodding, I said, ‘Yes, actually I was, though I’ll know for certain once we get there and by what we find; but I have some payback in mind, I'm thinking.’

  ‘Good, the gnomes and I sensed a wave of evil from the cemetery, and I believe we should attend to that as soon as possible.’

  ‘Well, let’s be on our way then, Gnome.’

  He put a heavy hand on my shoulder, ‘Let me guide you, Warder, and we shall Earth travel.’

  I nodded sharply, ‘As you wish.’

  Letting him guide me, we sunk smoothly under the earth. I closed my eyes out of habit, but not sensing movement I opened them to see in my mind’s eye the terra gnome creating with a wave of his arms an Earth Circle that enveloped us both in one large bubble.

  ‘What the fuck are you doing, Erdgeist?’

  ‘Be calm, Warder. I need to quickly tell you something and I need privacy from all eyes and ears that may be keeping a track of our movements and intentions; this should guarantee some privacy for a moment.

  ‘My gnomes sensed another presence near the vicinity of the cemetery on their last scouting mission for you, a presence that probably shouldn't have been there.’

  ‘Go ahead.’

  ‘Ghob’s second-in-command, Warder — Agrona, she is called was nearby. I am aware that you have met her before, she usually is not far from Ghob.’

  ‘Agrona! What the hell was she doing around the cemetery? She should have warned Ghob of suspicious activity if she had come across it.’

  ‘Yes, she should have, but I don't believe she did, so I find it interesting that they sensed her, don't you?’

  ‘Yes that is very interesting, well we can't make any assumptions, though. As much I think she's a vindictive, heartless bitch, that doesn’t mean she has anything to do with the evil.’

  I looked at the terra gnome, frowning. ‘Well thank you for warning me, but we won't know anything till we get there, and if she has anything to do with this, then that will be just one more thing to deal with, won't it?’

  Erdgeist blinked, then gestured with one hand. His Earth Circle disappeared, and he turned. ‘Let’s go see what we shall see now, shall we?’

  CHAPTER 20

  We arrived at the cemetery about twenty minutes later. Erdgeist explained that we could have been quicker but he wanted to escape any attention or the chance of anything following us. So he took us down deep and fast, how deep I shuddered to think, though he explained that a lot of Earth’s minor elementals couldn't go that far into the earth due to not having enough power. He was old, just as ancient as Ghob for that matter, and hoped that the depth and speed we descended was sufficient to shake off anyone that might have had an interest in us.

  We ascended and rose from the earth to the tranquil sound of crickets and a heavy mist rising up from the ground that swirled languidly around our feet. Startling a fox with our entrance, it pranced back and cautiously eyed us from the shadows. He wasn't sure what I was, but he seemed to decide I was not dangerous. Unafraid, he walked towards me, his eyes glowing in the ambient moonlight, his bright and glassy fur and huge tail streaked with gray and black shadows. The fox looked at Erdgeist, who grunted in acknowledgement, and then looked at me again yipping quietly. We both stood still for a minute engaged in some kind of mutual regard, as if he was trying to figure me out. Yipping quietly again, he bounded away and was engulfed by the night.

  ‘Damn, what was that about?’ I asked Erdgeist.

  ‘All animals know me. He was wondering where all the food had gone. There is nothing to eat here; it’s all gone, which is not a good sign, Warder. There is an imbalance in the area that needs to be corrected. Plus he was also scenting you. A warder works with the elements thus has a par
ticular smell, which a lot of animals instinctively recognize. You will find that they will be much more approachable and friendly towards you in the future.’

  I recalled my encounter with the large majestic stag that had bowed to me, like a subject to a ruler of sorts.

  Looking at this cemetery, it clearly was abandoned and in ruins. It was still partially fenced; though this was falling apart, rust taking gouges out of the dilapidated chain-link fence. Dimly I saw pieces of what may have been the cemetery entrance and a name that had long ago snapped. It now hung from a lone pole and the metal-wrought pieces of the name had long fallen apart, making it indecipherable. I hoped all was well within. Looking up to the sky above, the Milky Way cut a brilliant swathe across the heavens, reminding me for a moment how small and unimportant we really were.

  From the distance, coming more from the rear of the cemetery, we both heard a faint squeal, a definite squeal of pain. We looked at each other and, as if reaching an instant mutual agreement, sunk beneath the ground. I wanted to get to the back of the cemetery and then see what our options were, and that animal-like squeal didn’t sound good at all.

  Arriving a few heartbeats later, we found ourselves surrounded by tall pine trees, the ground deep in needles. I moved forward, pushing hard against the compacted foliage. Ahead the cemetery fence loomed up at us. Shrugging, I looked at Erdgeist. He walked forward and gripped the chain wire. It darkened and then turned to rust, which spilled through his fist creating a hole large enough to allow us to enter, with room to spare.

  Grinning, I said ‘Thanks’ and strode through, grateful for the cover of the night. Now what the hell were we looking for?

  My palm suddenly seared my brain with a painful itchiness that made me groan. It had never been like this before, maybe itchy as hell but never this sort of pain.

  That didn’t bode well at all.

  Another squeal of terror cut through the night — well, that'd be it then. I turned to the noise, gesturing to Erdgeist for silence and carefully started to weave through the decaying tombstones. They were great cover to, so using them to my advantage, I made sure to keep myself hidden as much as possible. Erdgeist, well, he just had to pause in his tracks and then he looked like a rocky tomb of sorts.

  Not that I’d think I’d mention that to him, though. Apart from finding my cat-bell threat humorous, I haven't sensed any kind of joviality from him yet — maybe solemnity was part of the earth elemental personality. Ghob was very similar I noticed: quiet, stoic and grim.

  Funs for me all round, huh.

  Focusing on what lay ahead, I shook my head. I had to keep my mind on the job at hand: a dank cemetery and fuck knows what was in it.

  Sidling up to Erdgeist, who was pointing ahead and through the scattered tombstones, I squinted in the oppressive gloom and saw the flickering of what looked like to be torchlight — yeah, it was definitely torchlight, though it wasn't as bright as I thought it should be. Moving faster, I ducked and wove between the blocky tombstones and came up to the back of a modest-sized mausoleum. Overgrown, dark, twisted ivy coated the walls in a lush mat.

  Edging my way around it, careful not to make any noise, I got my first glimpse of what we were up against. In a large clearing backing onto the fence line of the cemetery a macabre scene was being played out, a ritual I think, and not a nice, benign, let’s sit in a church, singing hymns and yelling ‘hallelujah’ type of ritual either. I was initially shocked, almost rubbing my eyes in disbelief.

  A large circle had been dug into the earth. The rough furrow seemed like it was filled with a liquid, and then I realized what it was as a massive wight rumbled into the flickering light with a bear held limp in one giant clawed hand. The wight leaned over the furrow, and with one practiced motion slit the bear’s throat with its index claw. The blood poured into the groove in a hot steaming torrent. The wight used his other huge clawed hand to grab the bear in a two-handed grip and give it a tight squeeze forcing the blood pouring from the poor creature’s throat to intensify, making sure it got every last drop.

  I stood there and my eyes blazed in fury. How many fucking animals did it take to fill that circle? Those poor fucking creatures. I looked up at Erdgeist and a low growl escaped my lips.

  ‘Imbalance,’ he intoned gravely.

  ‘Fucking imbalance alright.’ He looked at me with those deep-set eyes and I saw the sadness there. He was a part of this Earth, just like the animals, and he felt for them and their pain. I could see it as plain as I could see that fucking wight claw it’s way back into the darkness of the trees.

  ‘Time to fuck this party up.’

  I scanned the circle noticing — though it wasn't hard to miss — that there were carcasses of various animals piled up untidily on top of each other in the center. There were bears, elk and what appeared to be a horse, their broken mangled bodies already drained, leaving their necks albino white. Around the bodies were dozens of markings slashed into the earth, lit from within, black and red, pulsating and rotten. I could feel them slither across my eyeballs. They were not meant to be on the earth like that, seeping their dank vileness into the ground below.

  Off to the back of the circle I could make out movement. Scuttling in and out of the torchlight I saw revenants, rotting and broken, slinking around. An animal-like screech came from their direction — so that’s what that was: the damn undead.

  And then I spotted an unfamiliar figure, a tall dark-robed man, hovering silently above the ground in the darkness amongst the revenants, motionless and watching the proceedings. The revenants crouched around him, restless, some gnawing on their own limbs, or clawing at the ground in motionless frustration.

  His dark hair was pulled back into a tight, severe ponytail, making his already gaunt tight face even more sunken and accentuating the black symbols that arced over his eyes — the markings wrapped around his eyes and cheekbones, giving him a skeletal look like a death mask.

  He snarled, revealing blackened teeth, and raised a hand. The revenants stilled instantly, looming back off to the right. The wight also stilled, pausing while still clutching another dead animal in its razor-sharp claws.

  Slashing his hand out towards the piled animal bodies, black flames pulsed out of his hand and arced over to them. It hit with a crackling thump that I felt in the soles of my feet, imploding the bodies, lighting up the area with a macabre dark illumination. The necromancer started chanting quickly. Words of filth and horror poured from his lips, which snarled back in ecstasy. Immediately above the animals, a small oval of dark light appeared. It hung in the air, whirling slowing as it started to open up. It was about the size of a basketball, though with every spit and snarl that issued from the necromancer’s mouth the opening slightly expanded and increased.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  I glanced at Erdgeist, the whites of my eyes reflected in his dark orbs, startling me a little. Damn, I must look freaked out, and goddammit, I was. What the hell was that dark and evil looking son of a bitch over there doing? My best guess was that he was calling something up, from somewhere unnatural, something wrong by the looks of it.

  ‘We have to disrupt whatever the hell he is conjuring up, Erdgeist. Follow my lead, and stay back until I give the word, alright?’

  ‘As you command, Warder,’ he nodded.

  I looked at him for a moment. He stared ahead, motionless, waiting for me to make a move. I glanced at him one last time, braced myself and thought, fuck it, I didn't really have a plan so I would wing it, not my usual modus operandi, but, hell, this was something I had never dealt with before. Dickhead perps, sure not a problem, evil guys raising hell, most likely literally, yup, definitely winging it.

  I strode into the clearing, pulled my gun out in one swift motion from the center of my back and cocked it, with a loud retort. Pointing it at the necromancer, I aimed, walked forward, breathed in slowly, exhaled and, without hesitation, fired right at him, scoring a direct hit to the chest. He screamed, flung back by the force of the shot
, his eyes wide in surprise. He dropped to the ground clutching at the gaping hole in his chest, blood pouring through his clutched fingers.

  The vile syllables that he was shouting came to an abrupt end. The dark hole he was creating over the dead animals winked out, thank goodness as it had reached about the size of a small inflatable pool by that stage. I paused, thinking I had heard a strange snarling coming from the breach in the air. Shaking my head, I dismissed it — whatever he’d been calling up wasn't coming through now.

  ‘Erdgeist!’ I yelled back to him, not taking my eyes off the necromancer, ‘Destroy the circle, quickly before the undead rush us.’

  Hoping he had heard me, I aimed my gun again at the fast-approaching revenants. They were rushing blindly forward; frothing at the mouth to get to the fresh meat they could see. Whatever tenuous holds the necromancer had on them seemed to be lifted after his death, whipping them into an instant frenzy. I fired quickly, aiming for their limbs trying to slow their frantic stampede. I made my shots short and accurate, not wanting to waste my bullets, breathing slowly and holding onto my tenuous calm with an iron grip.

  I glanced ahead and behind the revenants, and watched Erdgeist rise up from the ground behind the wight, who was still busy holding onto its fresh animal kill. Erdgeist took one step forward and, with a sinuous flicker of his wrist, smoothly pulled out Mahogany Death from his waistline. I saw the blade as a ruby blur and the wight’s head toppled to the ground; black glutinous blood fountained from its body. It slumped forward, and started decaying on the spot. Erdgeist slid his weapon into his body and sunk back under the earth. I spotted him again rising up behind a large undead bear, repeating his grim job, and decapitating it cleanly.

  Sliding the gun away, I looked at the remaining revenants, crouched behind what cover they could find to avoid my bullets. Aiming my palm at them, I willed all the rock littering the ground throughout the area into the air. My power pulsed and, lifting my hand, the rock and debris rose silently. Damn, there was a bit more rock than I thought. I looked over at the revenants and slashed my hand in their direction, forcing all the rock at them. It flew through the air, fast and accurate. Some of the revenants that were not hidden well enough under their globes of darkness, or were too stupid to duck, didn’t stand a chance; dead flesh, limbs and heads exploded from the blunt trauma of the shrapnel. Blood and guts misted the air. It was the bloodiest crime scene I’d ever seen, and I’d seen a few.