by J. P. Rice
I drifted into the phantasmagoria, entering the lucid, dream state of mind. Walking on air, I strolled into our usual mental destination. Alayna was already seated at a stone table in the world of the Celtic Gods. Stagnant red tinted smoke hovered in the room and the scent of lavender mixed with fennel seed danced in my nostrils.
I explained hurriedly, “Here’s the plan. I’m going to open the bottle, spill some on myself and throw the bottle to you. Break your bonds when you see me spring into action. Catch it, spill some on yourself and throw it to Burn. Since she doesn’t know about it, try to hit her with the liquid.”
Alayna nodded her head in agreeance. “Let’s do it.”
A huge open hand slapped my jaw and a sonorous echo followed. My eyes shot open. The Warden stood over me, holding the vial of magic mist in his hand. His underling finished removing the leather restraint and I flexed my hands to bring back the blood flow.
“Draw your weapons, gentlemen.” The Warden pointed at me. “If you see him make a move, kill first and ask questions nevermore. Do you hear that, wizard? Don’t be foolhardy.”
He held the bottle in front of me and I went to snatch it, but he yanked it back. I looked into his dull gray eye and he said, “You don’t want to die this young.”
The Warden slowly moved the vial within my reach. Making no sudden moves, I extended my hand and plucked the vial from his thumb and index finger. The two guards had bastard swords raised above their heads, ready to strike me dead at any moment.
I was very deliberate in my movement as I used a spell to break the ward. I nonchalantly made eye contact with Alayna as I started unscrewing the top of the vial. Twisting the plastic top, I surveyed the room. The Warden stood with his toes only mere inches from mine. His guards were set on both sides of my chair.
As I slowly twisted the top, I examined the plan. I knew it would work for me, but I worried about my partners. Dumping a touch of the liquid on me was a slam-dunk.
Getting it to Alayna was probable and making it all the way to Burn suddenly seemed questionable. Alayna’s lips were moving and I knew she was breaking her restraints. Nothing was guaranteed, though.
What would happen if Alayna or Burn were left here? Would they kill them? Second thoughts crept into my head, but I couldn’t stall much longer.
The Warden said, “Come with it. What are you doing?”
Time to bullshit to buy some more time. “If I go too fast, it won’t open. We made sure to seal these things up extra tight for this long trip. If I break the top, the liquid dissolves as part of the spell.” I planned to keep rambling on to buy time, but quickly realized this could be our only hope.
I had to give it a shot. I gave the cap a final spin and flicked the piece of black plastic into the air, capturing everyone’s attention. I tilted the vial and a few drops spilled out. Acting quickly, I flung the liquid over to Alayna and watched it rotate on the correct path, spilling a few drops here and there.
It appeared that my aim was true, until the silver blade of a sword came down with a whooshing sound. The flat of the blade smacked the vial out of mid-air, sending it straight down. The glass object hit the stone floor and smashed as the strange feelings of the transfer started.
Dizziness rushed in and I closed my eyes to counteract it. The pulling and tugging of the transfer made me ill and I kept swallowing metallic saliva to avoid throwing up. The constrictive pressure intensified and I wondered if this process was going to squeeze me to death. As I fought off the urge to puke, the intense pressure relented.
I opened my heavy eyelids and couldn’t see anything. Total darkness. Had the transfer caused me to go blind?
Stumbling around, I felt a light switch on the wall. I flicked it upward and a flash of electricity came from above me. My eyesight was still intact as I stood in my upstairs lab at my apartment. The return potion had worked.
But my plan had failed. Big time. All my worst fears had come to fruition from the stupid plan. Doubtless, they were going to torture and kill Alayna. Burn would probably soon follow her to the grave. All because of stupid me.
As if to mock me, an illusion of Alayna appeared in my lab. Suddenly, the holographic image started to take on substance. Within a few seconds, the fake-looking image morphed into the woman I knew and loved.
Her nose was smashed and bleeding, and I asked, “What happened? Did he hit you? How did you get here?”
“I’ll answer while we move.” She rushed me out the door or the lab. “One of them could be following us if they touch the liquid.”
We raced down my steps as she continued talking, “I rocked that chair forward and fell face first into the stone floor, but also onto the liquid.”
I ripped open the front door and hesitated because I heard light footsteps at the top of the stairs. A warm rush surrounded my heart and I hoped to see Burn’s gorgeous face. I was ready to be the father that I’d never had. Ready to give it a real shot with Burn.
Instead, I saw the ugly mug of the Warden. He rumbled down my steps, closing in on me in a flash. As he neared the bottom of the staircase, he crouched, then leaned forward and sprang into my chest, knocking me back through my screen door and onto my front porch.
Chapter 34
We wrestled momentarily and I could feel the raw power of the Warden. As we rolled off the front porch, I broke his grip and jumped to my feet. With graceful elegance, the Warden rose to his feet and we squared up on the sidewalk.
After the travails of Sleepy Willow, my engine was on empty. Below empty. My body ached from head to toe and getting into a brawl with this supernatural baddie didn’t bode well for me.
We both moved in a circle trying to measure up each other. My left hand was covered in blood from the knife slash and the cut on my pinky that had reopened during the tussle.
Using my mind and also being cautious that the Warden could strike at any time, I reassembled the elements in the air to make a heavy pocket. With hair covering half of his face, the Warden glared at me with one eye. Why was he hesitating? Perhaps he had a rough ride through a portal too. Those transfer portals could be discombobulating and jarring to the senses.
The taller sidhe warrior seemed to regain his wits and I saw magical vines starting to sprout from him. As we kept circling, I heaved the heavy pocket of clear air at my enemy. The force blasted him in the chest, knocking him backward between two parked cars and out onto the street.
I stalked after him, not wanting to let him up. Calling on some fire, I kept my eyes on the Warden. In one swift motion, he sprang to his feet, performed a seamless one-eighty and hurled a blue object at me. I watched the small rectangular object fall end over end, heading directly toward my heart.
Everything already seemed in slow motion so I tried the good ole Matrix move. Bending my body backward quickly became awkward and I started to spasm in several areas close to my spine. Due to my body’s resistance, I couldn’t bend back as far as I would have liked.
The rotating blue rectangle caught my clavicle, causing intense pain. I fell backward and a spray of blood leaped from the cut. How had he sliced through my protection suit?
I tried to prop myself back up immediately. However, my shoulder injury didn’t want to cooperate. Using my less-injured left arm, I hurriedly got to my knees, then started rising to my feet.
Before I could assess my injury or become fully erect, a blurry piece of brown leather rushed into my vision. The Warden’s boot smashed into my jaw. A crunching sound rang in my ears and I tasted salty blood in my mouth. The Warden moved in and kicked me in the side, forcing all the oxygen out of my lungs. As I rolled around, gasping for air and desperately trying to make it to my feet, the Warden hit me with a blast of electricity.
The surge launched my body several feet in the air, and my lifeless body crashed to the street. The impact with the ground reawakened my senses. As I dealt with the pain, I realized that the lightning he’d just hit me with was combining with my fire, inside the palm of my hand.
A small globe of electric fire appeared in my palm as the Warden hovered over me. Lying on my back, I waited for the Warden to make a move. I had my counterpunch planned, but the Warden appeared filled with smug satisfaction over felling me.
I exhaled through my nose, and a plume of smoke came out. The sudden smoke screen distracted my attention and I didn’t see the Warden raise his foot and stomp on my stomach.
The impact caused a rush of air from my lungs, and the powerful breath sounded like a beautiful whistle. Orange dust emerged from my mouth as I continued blowing through my lips. The enchanted whistling combined with the orange particles and rose into the air, swirling around and shooting up toward the heavens.
To my left, another magical whistling was coming from a window in my house. Alayna. Her emerald dust rushed up into the air and mixed into my orange enchantment. The mixture spiraled upward and began to dissolve.
I’d never heard that sound come out of my mouth when I’d whistled in the past. The magical melody faded along with the orange and green sparkles. The Warden, still hovering above me, closed his eye and started reciting a spell under his breath.
Acting quickly with the electric fireball, I tossed it underhand, and up at the Warden. Opening his eye at the last moment, he caught sight of the incoming fire that pulsed with electricity and threw his hands out in defense.
He couldn’t avoid the slow-moving fireball that charged straight into his fingers. The dense ball buzzed by the fingers on his right hand, sawing off the tips of all four fingers. The flames cauterized the cuts, so four charred and mangled tips of sidhe fingers fell to the ground without the expected shower of blood.
He cried out in pain and his words chafed against my eardrums. As he inspected his wound, I tucked my body to get out from under him, rolled to the side and jumped to my feet. The Warden turned toward me and swept his hair out of his face with the injured hand as if to say that didn’t hurt one bit.
We squared up in the middle of the street with traffic backed up on both sides. Many people had gotten out of their cars and were sitting or standing on their roofs for a better view. I needed to start making these supernatural fights Pay-Per-View. Maybe Felix could set up something like that.
I started to manipulate another pocket of air, but a hideous squawking from the sky captured my attention. With amazing speed and precision, a black dragon flew toward us, just above the houses on Freeport Road. The wind hit me first, and barely keeping my eyes open, I noticed a smile on the Warden’s face.
The Warden didn’t turn to face the incoming dragon, he simply raised his head and screamed something I didn’t understand into the air. The dragon hesitated and hovered about a hundred feet away before continuing on its path toward us.
Scared, I backed up a few steps. I remembered one of the stories Alayna had told me about the wizard in St. Louis. I called on ice to fight the fiery dragon. Pulling in all the permafrost I possibly could, my mind frolicked on a frozen tundra. I didn’t know if this would work considering the vast amount of magic needed.
With haste, and still unsure whether it would work, I projected the freeze internally into the dragon.
As the dragon closed in on me, it didn’t slow down one bit and I worried that my magic was too weak for a dragon right now. Pulling the frost from my core again, I projected again as the dragon closed in. A creaking sound of grinding gears erupted from the dragon. As I went to duck for cover behind a car, the dragon slowed down, its wing beats coming to a grinding halt.
The dragon had completely stopped five feet away, hovering fifteen feet above the street, like it was frozen in place.
It had worked. Not resting on my laurels, I dipped into my reserves to see what kind of magic was available. I quickly formed a super heavy pocket of air while the stunned Warden stared at the still dragon. He screamed at the motionless dragon, probably wondering what the hell had happened.
With the Warden still distracted, I stretched and heaved my pocket of air at the dragon. The super heavy pocket tore into the body of the dragon, rocketing a million obsidian shards of frozen flesh in every direction.
The exploding frozen dragon acted like a piñata full of frosty entrails. Although most of the collateral shrapnel was still frozen, it had already started thawing and black blood oozed from the busted pieces. Gasps, shrieks and wild wailing came from the crowd. There were even a few dragon slayer comments. Most people jumped back into their cars to avoid being hit by more dragon bits.
I pounded my chest with my fist, then pointed at the sky as a silent thank you to the Master.
A burst of wind hit me in the face, and another black dragon came flying down the Freeport Road runway toward us. I panicked, knowing I couldn’t replicate the act I had performed on the first dragon.
Certain magic acts were a one-shot deal for me. This was one of those times because I couldn’t gather the same level of frost I had the first time. Especially for internal projection.
Also, this dragon looked bigger than the first one. I backpedaled, my neck jerking left and right as I searched for a car or something to hide behind. The Warden moved with me, careful not to make a hasty move since it seemed that his backup had arrived.
The dragon swooped in and I instinctually crouched down and covered my face. It was a horrible defense, and I looked like a giant wuss, but I was spent. The trip and this brawl had drained my magic reserves along with my physical and mental capacity.
The dragon came to a sudden halt, right above the Warden. I peeked through my fingers at the most formidable opponent I’d ever faced. Even if I could somehow defeat this dragon, they had more in the city.
To my great surprise, and to the surprise of the Warden, the dragon sank its claws into the shoulders of my enemy. I couldn’t tell if it was gripping his shirt or his flesh, but the Warden objected immediately, shouting, “Let go of me, right now.” Then he yelled at the beast in an unknown language.
The dragon ignored the Warden’s commands and beat its wings rapidly. The raging wind kicked up some tiny debris that hit my eyes. I blinked rapidly, trying to wash away the sting. Through watery eyes, I saw the dragon lift the Warden up into the air, turn around, and fly away toward the city. The Warden flailed around, yelling to be released.
The dragon ignored his angry pleas and within a few moments, I couldn’t see its long tail anymore. I refocused on the pain coming from my shoulder. I hadn’t realized how bad it was from the adrenaline boost, but as it wore off and blood ran down my arm and chest, I struggled through a crowd to get back inside my house.
People screamed for doctors, some even shouted advice they’d probably received from WebMD. I got up the steps of my porch and stumbled through the front door. Dizzy, I grabbed onto the railing of the steps.
Alayna rushed over to me. “What are you doing? Stay down here so I can address your injuries.”
“I need to see if she’s here.”
My mentor didn’t need to ask whom I was talking about.
I made it to the top of the steps and turned the corner in great anticipation. My heart fluttered as I peered into my lab.
Nothing. Burn wasn’t here.
My idiotic plan had failed. Looking around the room in anger, I noticed some of my stuff was missing. Huh.
Feeling like a complete failure, I went back downstairs. I’d left the woman carrying my baby to die. That was the simple fact. The sidhe had no use for Burn. She was probably already dead by now. She’d paid for my sins. For my stupid plan. She had nothing to do with it. Her blood now stained my hands.
Alayna asked, “What happened to your shoulder?”
I tried to look down at the wound, but it was out of my sight. “The Warden hit me with a blue rectangle. I’m not sure exactly what it was.”
“Oh shit. That’s called blue steel. Let me see something.” She motioned for me to bend down so she could get a better look at the wound.
Gripping the railing for balance, I leaned over. Alayna’s eyes overflowed
with concern as she inspected the damage. She poked the cut with her finger.
I gnashed my teeth as sharp pain rocketed around my upper body. “How bad is it?”
A short silence seemed like hours as Alayna bobbed her head around, assessing everything. She finally said, “He hit the bone. Your clavicle has some damage. I can fuse the bone back together using the lessons I’ve learned from Dian Cècht. I’ll take care of your bloody hand too. It will take about two hours, though.”
“I can’t do it. I can’t wait that long. I need to go back for Burn. Help me get to my car. I’ve got to get to Jonathan’s. Where are my fucking keys?” I started searching on my bookshelves.
Alayna held her hands up like a crossing guard. “Slow down mister. You aren’t going anywhere. I hate to say what I think may have happened to her, but sufficeth to say, you would probably be on a wild goose chase.”
“You think they’re going to kill her?” I asked, knowing it was a possibility, but not wanting to believe it.
Alayna pursed her lips, unwilling to confirm my worst suspicions. I collapsed to the ground in physical agony, but more important, my broken heart and shame rushed to the fore. I went over my stupid plan with the return potion. Again and again and again.
Alayna curled up next to me and stroked my hair, but it didn’t help. What could I have done differently? Why was I still alive while she was trapped there?
She wasn’t just a demon anymore. Even if I put aside the pregnancy matter, she was a tremendous person and friend. Her willingness to die for the mission tugged at my heartstrings as I reflected on our brief history.
She was perfect, inside and out, and I had killed her. What a stupid plan that was.
As I rolled onto my healthy side to deal with the pain, I noticed my grounder for the security system protecting my Pablo Picasso painting had been messed with. It could only be compromised if someone had tried to steal my painting. Looking up, I could see plainly from the defense ward that someone had tried to steal the painting.
