by Sam Cheever
No!
Why not?
You don’t know what you’re doing. This demon is big and nasty. You’ll get yourself killed. You need an experienced hunter with you.
I should have seen the warning throbbing in the silence. But my mind must have still been fuzzy from the healing.
You’re right. That’s why I’m taking Slayer with me.
Wait, what? Slayer? How are you gonna find him?
I don’t need to. He’s here with me. I’ll put a full report on your desk in the morning, Astra. Enjoy whatever the hell you’re doing. The adults will take care of your business while you play.
She faded from my mind, leaving behind only the bright haze of her disgust. I screamed and threw a pillow. It didn’t make me feel any better.
Climbing out of bed, I realized anew that I was sans clothing. Glancing around the room I saw nothing. I grabbed a sheet from the bed, wrapped it around my body, and pulled my power forward. The door to Dialle’s chambers was opening as I visualized my home and started to shimmer away. The last thing I saw before I shape-shifted from the room was a pair of surprised, black eyes, in a familiar red face.
Gerch. Babysitter from Hell.
I wanted to smile but my lips wouldn’t move. He’d lost me again. Dialle would kick his wide, red ass. It sucketh to be him.
~SC~
Sure enough, when I landed in my living space I sensed Slayer’s slightly smoky magic signature in the room. It was overlaid with my sister’s own, unique flavor of magic, which was citrusy and bright, annoying like she was.
They were already gone.
I hurried to my room and pulled on a sweater and soft pants, stuffing the narrow hems into soft, black leather boots that bunched around my ankles. I set my hand over my weapons safe and, when the front panel slid aside, gathered up an impressive array of weaponry. Sliding a knife into each boot, I strapped my belt of platinum crosses around my waist.
I was nearly out the door when it hit me.
The Red Knight!
It had been in the docking area underneath my office building. My knees buckled and I almost went to the ground. I grabbed the back of the long divan next to me to stop myself from hitting the floor. I stood there for a moment, frozen into place with fear. What if the Knight had been destroyed? I knew I was being illogical, but the thought of losing my beautiful air vehicle was almost too much. I was afraid to know. But I had to find out.
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and visualized the sidewalk outside my office building. A moment later I came back to the physical plane with the smell of burnt wood in my nostrils. I slowly opened my eyes and gasped. What had once been my office building was nothing more than a pile of rubble between the buildings hovering over it on either side.
One corner of the street-facing wall rose not too far above my head, its jagged edges still smoldering. It looked as if it would crumble to the ground if I touched it. At the back of the building, which was visible past the rubble, another partial wall rose a bit higher. Between the two ravaged walls was nothing but soggy, still-smoking rubble.
My gaze slid toward the iron gate down the hill. The entrance to the vehicle docking area beneath my decimated office building seemed mostly intact. I forced myself to walk toward that gate.
Touching my palm to the ID pad beside the massive, iron gate, I peered through the fire-scored metal and felt my heart climbing into my mouth. The docking area had mostly escaped the ravages of fire from the building above, but it hadn’t been so lucky avoiding the fall of debris. Huge chunks of metal and wood made entering the space nearly impossible. I pulled my power forward and pushed it into the debris, sending it to the side as gently as I could.
The spot I cleared gave way to more debris.
I couldn’t even see vehicles on either side of the aisle due to the thick covering of wreckage. With a growing feeling of dread, I forged onward, moving slowly toward the spot where I’d left the Knight. What I found there brought tears to my eyes. The Knight’s sleek, red form was crushed beneath a massive, metal beam, its shiny surface pocked and dented by rubble. At least one viewport was splintered, the unbreakable plastic infused with a thick spider web of destruction. Dust lay thick on the Knight’s once, shiny surface.
I placed a hand on the Knight’s flank and sighed, silently cursing whoever had tried to kill me. I wasn’t much for owning stuff and didn’t get emotional about too many things. But a handful of things were important to me. Dialle of course, my family and friends, soft, buttery leather boots, and my once-sleek Red Knight.
I stood there for a moment with my hand resting on the victim, then dragged a large breath into my lungs and determined to take action. Pulling my power forward, I sent it carefully into the debris lying on the Knight and sent it flying, repeating the process until nothing but dust still encumbered my beloved car.
“Open.” The driver’s side hatch groaned softly for a breath and then creaked open. Sliding inside, I was happy to see that the interior of the vehicle seemed mostly intact. “Close and climb.”
I held my breath until the Knight was hovering above the debris-strewn surface of the docking area, its powerful engines sounding slightly sick, but strengthening as it got its air legs under it. Programming Betty Davis’ home into the Knight’s flight computer, I said a small prayer as it swung around and started for the gate.
~SC~
The place was closed up and silent. No sign of anyone.
I cast my sensing power around the area and came up with no auras. Frowning, I reached for the door handle and found it unlocked.
I hesitated. Something didn’t smell right.
Reaching down, I pulled a long knife from one of my boots and drew my power forward. Fully armed, I slowly turned the handle and opened the door just enough to peer inside.
Nothing.
I allowed the power to seep from my fingertips and formed it into a ball in the palm of my hand, ready to fling toward anything that moved out of the silence. The power ball heated and sizzled quietly in my palm, providing some little comfort as the hair on the back of my neck rose and gooseflesh erupted all over my body. I was probably just being paranoid. The recent experience in my office was making me jumpy.
Nah. My nose twitched from the scent of sulfur. That was all the proof I needed that something was amiss.
I slid along the wall of the hallway, my back toward the solid surface, and cast my sensing power around the place again. No auras. But the smell of sulfur thickened in the air as I moved more deeply into the Davis home. As I reached the end of the hallway and rounded the corner, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and turned, launching my power ball into one corner of the room. It exploded against the wall and sent a flash fire skyward, extinguishing itself fairly quickly when it found nothing to destroy.
A strangled yowl preceded another flash of movement at ankle level. I took a deep breath as my gaze located the source of both the movement and sound. A fat, orange cat slid along the baseboards, its thick fur standing on end and its short tail snapping with temper.
“Oops. Sorry kitty.” I sucked air into my lungs and reigned in my paranoia a notch, feeling slightly ridiculous for having almost toasted a harmless cat.
I glanced around the space again, noting the softly swaying draperies and the cool wash of breeze across my skin. Walking over to the open window, I peered out, seeing a vast expanse of blue sky and wispy white clouds and not much else.
Betty Davis lived in the outer rim of one of the new skybound condominiums. Floating at thirty thousand feet above the Earth on solar-powered air platforms, her home was one of only a handful in the exclusive living community. The homes swayed gently on the air currents, making me wonder how they would fare in a storm. Though the builders touted the restful silence of living among the clouds as the community’s biggest advantage, the total lack of noise was creeping me out.
I turned away from the window and jerked in surprise, instinctively pulling my power forward. A
river of green liquid crept across the slick wood flooring, heading right for my foot.
I pulled my booted foot out of the way and gathered another power ball in my palm. Following the trail to a spot behind a long, white divan with bright red pillows, my nose twitched and bile rose into my throat. A thick, badly chipped hoof stuck out from behind the divan. It was cloven.
I’d found the source of the smell I’d noted from the hallway.
I took a deep breath, readied my weapons, and stepped around the divan. A dead demon was sprawled, full length along the back of the divan. Thick, green blood formed a puddle on the floor beneath the demon’s middle, which was torn and ravaged as if ripped apart with huge, razor-sharp claws. Blood was sprayed across the back of the formerly pretty divan, painting it in a horrendous pattern, along with clumps of worse stuff from the demon’s gut.
It looked as if Slayer and Darma had gotten their demon.
I shoved the knife back into my boot and stood, frowning. I’d have to speak to them about massacring subjects in the homes of my clients. The mess they’d made was definitely gonna create some customer satisfaction issues.
The only warning I had was a tiny hiss of air. Something hit my back and sent me sprawling. I skidded through cold, slimy demon blood and hit a wall, dropping the knife I’d been holding. I heard it skitter away, across the slick floor.
My head slammed hard into the wall and I went woozy, unable to fight back as multiple knife-like objects ripped across my back and pain exploded through my body. The pain pulled me back from the brink of unconsciousness. My mind cleared and I screamed as massive teeth closed over the back of my neck, plunging deep.
A feral musk enveloped me and something silky brushed against my exposed skin. The horrible stench of blood—and worse—wafted over me as the creature holding me between its teeth shook its massive head. The skin on my neck ripped under the teeth like soft fabric under sharp scissors.
I screamed.
The creature lifted me off the floor and flung me, slamming me into a wall on the other side of the room. My vision wavered. Blood ran in thick, warm ribbons down my back and into my eyes. I could hear the thing breathing, the husky sound of air sifting in and out through massive nostrils. It sounded huge.
I fought for breath, my chest heaving with panic. My legs were rubber and my arms heavy. I pushed feebly at the floor but didn’t have the strength to wrench myself upward. Not that it would have mattered anyway, since I would probably pass out if I stood up. The smell of something wild and untamed clogged the air I breathed. The house seemed to shudder with each step the creature took. I could hear the thing’s claws tapping against the wood floor as it moved toward me.
I struggled to identify the smell. It wasn’t gargoyle, despite the huge sounding claws. Goyles didn’t have fur. And the smell was muskier, more warm blooded.
The thing stopped and I waited, fighting the grayness trying to take me under. I held very still while it scented me. Moist breath coated my face and the feral scent thickened in my lungs. I retched and it roared, the sound explosive and terrifying in my helpless state.
Instinctively and blindly, I lifted a hand and shot power in the direction of the roar. A surprised yelp preceded the sound of something heavy hitting the divan across the room. Adrenaline gave me the impetus I needed to spring to my feet. Reaching up to swipe at the blood running into my eyes, I cranked my eyelids open and pulled my power forward.
What I saw climbing to its massive paws made me gasp.
It looked like an enormous dog, charcoal gray with darker stripes down its back and on the crown of its head. The dinner plate-sized paws were striped too, with claws that looked about four inches long and razor sharp.
The creature’s eyes were orange and filled with hostile intent. Its tail, thick and shorter than I would have expected, snapped angrily as I returned its glare.
I squinted. “Frunk me.”
The thing opened its maw and roared again. I lifted a hand with a power ball in it and the creature sprang, landing on me and taking another power arrow in its massive chest as I went down. I shoved both hands under its lower jaw to hold the snapping teeth away from my face and tried to pull the power forward again.
I couldn’t gather enough to do any real damage, I was too distracted trying to keep my fingers away from the snapping jaws. I placed my feet in the creature’s belly and shoved hard, injecting the kick with the little bit of power I’d been able to conjure. The creature lifted just enough to allow me to space shift away, landing on my back on the divan.
I leapt to my feet to the sound of claws and an immense weight pounding across the floor toward me. The house bobbled sickeningly in the clear blue sky. I clutched the gore-covered fabric of the divan with one hand as the house swayed and reached into my boot to pull my second knife free. Flinging it toward the monster, I threw myself onto my hands and flipped over its head.
The knife slid into the monster’s chest with a wet thwuck, stopping it dead in its tracks. The thing lowered its massive head to examine the thick, black handle protruding from its chest.
As I was scrambling around looking for the knife I’d dropped, the creature expelled the one in its chest with a thought and sent it across the room, headed back toward me. I barely managed to fling myself out of the way before it struck.
Finally spotting the missing knife sticking out from under the divan, I skidded through a river of green blood to grab it. When I turned back around, the enormous creature was standing over me, its fishy breath bathing my face.
Whatever the thing was, it had moved in complete silence and with a preternatural speed.
I looked up into the wide, orange eyes and saw intelligence there. The creature’s soft, charcoal face had three large, darker stripes between the ears. The ears themselves were smallish, and had longer tufts of white fur sticking up from the tips. The nose was pink, on a wide muzzle, which I saw was splattered with blood.
Green, demon’s blood.
I gulped. “Nice puppy. You don’t want to kill the nice demon hunter, do you?” I jerked my head toward the dead demon. “We’re on the same side here.”
It cocked its head. Every hair on my body stood on end and my bowels clenched with the sure knowledge that, despite the harmless and almost cute appearance of the creature’s face, I was looking at a stone, cold killer.
But not a mindless murderer. It was definitely a calculating one. I watched with horror as my fate blossomed in the monster’s mind, the picture finally bleeding into its expressive gaze.
Afraid to move for fear I’d inspire the thing to attack, I pulled my power forward, keeping my gaze firmly locked on its face.
The creature opened its massive jaws and my pulse picked up at the sight of all those sharp, white teeth. A drop of monster spit pinged off my cheek. I blinked but didn’t move, holding power just under my skin like an explosive charge awaiting fire to ignite it.
I allowed the power to enhance my vision so that I’d anticipate the creature’s movement almost before the thing knew it was moving. The creature seemed to swell, its muscles tightening so slightly the movement was almost not visible, even with my enhanced vision. It was preparing to leap. The power sparked in my fingertips and my skin tightened to the point of pain. I gritted my teeth, holding it in by sheer will alone.
The monster’s eyes widened. The floor groaned under its massive claws, the razor sharp tips digging into the hard wood like it was sand.
Sweat popped out on my upper lip.
The air shimmered and the monster’s gaze jerked sideways.
I reached up and touched its massive chest, feeling the strange silkiness of its fur under my power-drenched fingertips. And then I shot everything I had into it. It flew across the room with a pained yelp. Before I could leap back to my feet, the air thickened and two figures shimmered into the room with me.
Slayer’s pretty eyes narrowed on me before sliding toward what was left of the demon on the floor several feet away.
>
My sister covered her pert nose with one hand and made a noise of disgust. “Eww, what have you done now, Astra? It smells like a butcher shop in here. And what’s that all over you?”
I looked down. I was covered head to toe in green blood. It stank of sulfur.
“She killed the demon.” Slayer jerked his head toward the carnage beyond the divan.
Darma’s pretty face folded into a scowl. She planted her hands on her hips and glared at me. “You’re just determined to keep me out of the business aren’t you, Astra?”
I glanced around the room, my eyes searching for the monster. I knew I hadn’t killed it. It would be coming back any moment. “I didn’t kill that demon. I thought you had. Are you telling me you just got here?”
They shared a guilty glance, which made my stomach knot with worry. “We...um...got lost.” Slayer offered weakly.
“Lost?” I narrowed a disbelieving gaze on him. He just shrugged, studiously avoiding my gaze.
“He took a wrong turn on Main and we ended up in the country somewhere.”
Slayer glared at her. “You told me to turn there!”
Darma opened her mouth but I held up a hand, having heard way too much already. “Forget it. You’re here now. I need your help. There’s a massive furry thing in this house somewhere. We need to kill it before it gets out.”
Something squishy pressed against my calf and I jumped, power escaped from my fingertips and exploded a mirror on the wall just inches from Slayer’s left shoulder.
He leapt sideways, carrying my sister down to the floor with him. “Damn, Astra, you need to learn to hold your power.”
I looked down into the small face of the cat I’d seen earlier. Its eyes narrowed on me and its whiskers twitched. I was amazed my power leak and resulting explosion hadn’t driven the thing off.
The short tail snapped as the cat wound around my legs, whining plaintively. “Damn cat,” I murmured. Glancing at Slayer as he jumped back to his feet and pulled my sister up with him, I grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. This thing has me a little jumpy.”
“What is it?”
