The Order of Brigid's Cross - The Wild Hunt (Book 1): The Wild Hunt

by Terri Reid

  “Right,” Sean said, taking a deep breath. “So, how much time do I have?”

  Ian pulled his phone out of his pocket. “You’ve only five minutes,” he said. “Shall we get back to the others?”

  Sean looked across the large, empty stadium, the butterflies in his stomach feeling like raptors, and then nodded slowly. “Yeah, let’s go back.”

  The wind started to pick up, and Em and Gillian both turned to look up at the swirling cloud that suddenly appeared above the stadium. “It’s them,” Em whispered, her heart in her throat.

  Gillian put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “It’ll be fine, Em,” she said. “Father Jack, Mrs. Gage and Jamal are all back at the church praying for him. And with the new device Pete got for him, he’ll be fine.”

  Em turned to her. “You haven’t seen them,” she whispered harshly. “You haven’t seen what he’s up against. This is no faery creature from a storybook; this is a demon from your worst nightmare.”

  Sean, Ian and Pete arrived at the north end of the stadium. “Looks like it’s show time,” Sean said, turning to Em. “Wish me luck.”

  She took a deep breath and met his eyes. “You don’t need luck,” she said. “You have skill. You just have to trust it.”

  He nodded. “Thank you,” he said. “That’s what I needed to hear.”

  She pulled his sword from the padded gun and handed it to him. He grabbed the hilt and felt the surge of power. “I don’t get it,” Sean said. “I don’t get the tinglies when I use my sword during practice.”

  “Chrysaor understands when you are in a real battle,” she explained, “and when its power will be useful.”

  “Well, tonight I can use all the help I can get,” he replied.

  Maria came up behind him and swapped the battery pack on the back of the skeleton. “Okay, you’re fully charged,” she said. “You’ve got about thirty minutes of super power, so get out there and kick some Elk King ass.”

  He smiled at her and nodded. “I’m going to do my best,” he said.

  “My friend, the pyrotechnic guy, is watching from the control both,” Pete said. “He laid some charges out on the field and said he’d watch you to see how he can help.”

  He handed Sean a small receiver. “Clip it over your ear, and you’ll be able to hear when he’s going to set things off.”

  “Tell him thanks for me,” Sean said, adjusting it over his ear.

  “Hey, you can tell him yourself,” Pete said. “Once you take this guy down.”

  Sean smiled thinly and nodded at his friend, his heart sinking. “Yeah, that’s right,” he said with a nod. “I forgot.”

  The cloud lowered to the stadium floor, and a cloud of debris swirled around the field. Trash containers toppled, pieces of trash flew through the sky, and the banners attached to the upper decks nearly came loose from their moorings. The thick dust blinded all of the occupants for a moment. Finally, when it cleared, Sean looked to the center of the field and saw the Elk King mounted on his cadaverous horse, its ribs clearly visible under its thinly stretched, grey hide. Its metallic hooves tore up the grass in the middle of the field as it reared on hind legs and pawed the air. The Elk King raised his new sword and screamed a high, piercing, battle cry that echoed throughout the stadium.

  The rest of the Hunt stood at the south end of the field holding back the snarling, wolf-like creatures that foamed at the mouth and yanked against the thick chains that bound them to their masters. Their glowing yellow eyes hungrily assessed the group standing across the field.

  Gillian grasped Em’s hand tightly. “Oh, Em,” she cried. “I had no idea. How can he…”

  Em turned quickly to her with a look that cut her off mid-sentence. “He will be fine,” she whispered, her eyes glistening with determination. “He will win. He has to win.”

  Chapter Sixty-seven

  “Damn,” Pete whispered to Sean. “If you want to back out of this right now, I wouldn’t blame you.”

  Sean shook his head. “Thanks, but I’m good,” he replied, taking a deep breath. “It’s time to play RoboCop.”

  He was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to move, wouldn’t be able to take those few steps towards the creature before him, but his body obeyed, moving with strong, sure steps that were enhanced by the machine.

  He studied the creature in front of him. It was tall, well over eight feet tall, Sean guessed as he moved closer. Its body was a jumble of tree limb and vines, intertwined to give the impression and shape of the muscles and sinews of a human body. Tattered burlap covered its loins and formed a cross over its chest. Its arms were as long as the length of its body, with long, thin, razor-sharp claws that took the place of fingers. Sean knew he would need to stay away from those if he wanted to survive.

  Then he looked up to the place Hettie said was the only weak spot on the beast. The giant, parched, white elk skull that lay above the shoulders was shrouded with a burlap hood that circled around its shoulders. Inside the skull, there was depth of darkness that was more than just lack of light. It was a vast, bleak oblivion that seemed like a portal, occupying more space than just the boundary of the skull. The only signs of life were the glowing red eyes that followed Sean’s every movement.

  Sean stopped a few yards away from his opponent. The Elk King stared down at him as its horse pawed impatiently at the ground before it.

  “Okay, I’m going to give you one chance before we get this thing started,” Sean shouted at the creature. “You and your group can leave now and no one gets hurt.”

  The Elk King responded by screaming once again and kicking sides of his horse so it lunged forward towards Sean. With its sword raised above its head, the Elk King bore down on Sean and slashed powerfully in his direction. Sean pivoted in the metal skeleton and instinctively raised his arm in defense. The blade from the Elk King’s sword ricocheted off the metal of the skeleton, and a spark exploded into the air.

  Sean felt the force reverberate through his body. He stumbled back, the suit keeping him on his feet. Heart-pounding, he turned just in time to see the Elk King charging him from the other direction. He pivoted just in time to miss the thrust of the sword, swinging his sword afterwards and missing entirely.

  The Elk King galloped his horse around the circumference of the field, spewing turf and dirt in its wake. He circled twice, screaming into the air.

  “Oh, we got a little psyching out going on,” Sean said. “Yeah, well two can play at that game.”

  He started with a jog and then increased his speed, easing the suit up to its full potential. He ran after the Elk King and then passed him by, zipping past the rest of the Hunt and finally heading back to the middle of the field and slowly jogging in place. “Yeah, I got this too,” he said.

  The Elk King turned his horse and galloped back to the forty yard line and faced Sean. Sean bent forward, like the linebacker he had been in college and stared back at his opponent. “You want me,” he growled. “You come and get me.”

  As if they’d heard the threat, both horse and rider responding immediately and charged Sean with astonishing speed. Moving backwards, Sean tried to get out of the way, but the suit was slow in reacting. The horse barreled into him, sending him flying across the fields and smashing into the sideline walls. Sean groaned softly. Most of the final impact had been absorbed by the suit, but the initial impact had been his alone.

  He pulled himself up and jogged slowly back to the field. “Fourth down,” he gasped, sweat pouring down his forehead. “We’re going for it.”

  Instead of his football stance, Sean planted his feet like he was standing in the batter’s box, bringing his arms up as if he were holding a bat instead of a sword. “You just need to know when to change the rules,” he said, looking up to see horse hurtling across the field towards him.

  He could feel the ground beneath him shake as the Elk King came charging closer. When he could smell the sulfur scent and could feel the hot breath of the gaunt steed, Sean ducked, the sword
barely missing him, and then swung in an upward motion, pushing all of his weight and power against the side of the horse.

  The impact was strong, and the horse stumbled sideways screaming into the night, nearly unseating the Elk King. With a scream of anger, the Elk King yanked the reins around and whipped the horse forward, charging Sean once again.

  “First and ten,” Sean yelled, turning around to face them.

  This time the attack was full on. He wouldn’t have time to pivot to the side; the movement would make him too vulnerable. He stood on the balls of his feet, balancing his weight, and played a game of chicken with the beast. Closer and closer it came, grass and dirt churning up from all around it, its sword held forward like a spear in a jousting tournament. “Come on ugly, just a little closer,” he whispered, his heart pumping with adrenalin. “Let’s see if you guys can fly.”

  Sean waited another few endless seconds, his heart thundering in his chest as the wild-eyed horse and creature thundered toward him, and when it was nearly too late, he fell onto his back and lifted his legs, kicking them out against the horse’s chest. He felt the contact and the power from the exoskeleton and saw the animal lift off the ground and fly over him.

  The momentum of the kick rolled Sean over into a somersault. Once he was back on his feet, he turned in time to see his opponents land and roll, the horse finally coming to rest several feet away from the faery creature, the Elk King’s sword embedded in its flesh.

  “Okay, now you’re on my level,” Sean cried, pressing the release button and stepping out of the skeleton. He picked up his sword and ran across the field, ready to impart the finishing blow to his opponent. He could feel Chrysaor humming in his hand and felt renewed power.

  The creature moved, shifting its arms to raise its skull. It looked at its horse lying lifeless on the stadium ground, and then it turned and looked at Sean. Red eyes glowed with hate, and the creature let out another blood curdling scream. Whipping out its arm, it grabbed hold of the sword and pulled it out of the horse’s side, a green ooze dripping from the blade.

  Sean tightened his grip on his sword and moved forward. The Elk King stood slowly, its limbs long and gangly, and countered Sean’s move.

  “Okay, mano a mano,” Sean said, his jaw tight with fury. “It’s just you and me.”

  Moving to a foot beyond the creature’s arm length, Sean slowly circled around. The creature countered, turning slowly and watching Sean, its red glowing eyes floating in an endless pit of black. The Elk King lunged forward, but Sean twisted and countered, meeting sword with sword.

  Twisting around, the Elk King swung his sword in the other direction, aiming for Sean’s chest, but Sean parried and fought back the attack. Then Sean turned, whipped his sword around, and felt purchase as a portion of the creature’s arm fell away. But the wound did nothing to stop the Elk King from turning and bringing his sword down from above Sean, towards his head. Sean dove to the side, and the sword hit the dirt only inches from his head, embedding the blade several inches into the turf.

  “Okay, that was close,” Sean said, wiping the dripping sweat from his brow.

  He lifted Chrysaor up and engaged again, meeting the creature’s pounding attack over and over again, each time blocking and countering as they moved over the field.

  “Get him to the fifty yard line,” said a voice in Sean’s ear.

  “Sure, piece of cake,” Sean replied. He looked over and saw that he was halfway between the thirty and forty yard line. “Sure, only fifteen yards,” he breathed heavily. “I can do that.”

  The Elk King strode towards Sean, it’s long, sinewy arms extended fully, each fingernail a razor-sharp machete. Sean slowly back up to the thirty yard line and the creature followed.

  “Okay, time for a quarterback sneak,” he said to himself.

  He stepped forward, with his sword in both hands, as if he were going to attack. The creature responded, bringing its arms together to parry his assault. Then, instead of attacking, Sean ran to the left and past the creature. It screamed, turned and ran after Sean.

  “Forty-two, forty-four, forty-six,” Sean wheezed as he ran. “Forty-eight. Fifty!”

  He turned and brought his sword up, deflecting the creature’s attack.

  “Charge igniting in five, four, three, two, one,” said the voice in Sean’s ear.

  Suddenly, to the right of the creature a flare exploded from the ground, and a volley of lights filled the night sky. The Elk King turned towards the explosion. Sean ran forward, his sword raised for battle.

  The Elk King turned back, but it was too late. Sean twisted and dug his sword once again into his enemy’s arm. He heard the sound of wood splintering, but this time he felt his sword catch. He yanked it back, but it was stuck fast. The Elk King looked down at him. His eyes seemed to be smiling as Sean struggled to regain his weapon.

  Breathing heavily, Sean pulled again and it came loose, but the Elk King had taken that time to recover. The Elk King’s sword whipped around. Sean ducked, but the edge of the sword caught his left arm. Sean screamed as the burning blade pierced his arm, and he heard the crack of his bone.

  The smell of blood seemed to excite the Elk King. Its eyes glowed stronger, and its high pitched scream sounded more like a victory cry. Sean stumbled back out of its reach, but he knew the blow to his arm could be his death knell.

  “Disney in five, four, three, two, one,” the voice in his ear said.

  “Disney?” Sean wondered, in a pain-filled mist.

  Suddenly, the ground around the Elk King came to life with flares and fireworks exploding all around him. The stadium was filled with the sounds of a Fourth of July exhibition coming from all directions. The Elk King screamed and turned to face each threat, jumping one way and then the other, whipping his sword at the invisible enemy.

  Sean realized that this was his only chance. He lifted his sword with his good arm and held it over his head. Then, with a scream of determination, he charged across the field. The Elk King turned towards him, his sword raised in defense when another charge exploded, just to his left. The Elk King glanced towards it for the smallest second, but it was enough; Sean leapt forward and plunged his sword into the blackness of the Elk King’s Skull.

  For a moment, there was complete, shocked silence, and then the Elk King screamed as he collapsed into a heap of broken limbs and shattered bones. Stumbling backwards, Sean dropped his sword and grabbed his upper arm, trying to stem the flow of blood from his wound. He glanced across the field and watched as the rest of the Hunt came to life and moved down the field towards him.

  “I won,” he whispered to himself as he struggled for consciousness. He looked to the north side of the stadium, rewarding himself with one final glance of his friends as he fell to his knees. “I won.”

  Suddenly, the earth below him shattered as another explosion ripped through the stadium. Sean felt his body being lifted and thrown. And then there was darkness.

  Chapter Sixty-eight

  “He won!” Gillian screamed, throwing herself into Ian’s arms. “He won.”

  “Aye, he did,” Ian said, his eyes shining with unshed tears as he watched his friend on the field.

  “What?” Gillian asked, looking from Ian back to Sean. “What?”

  “He has to go with them,” Ian said. “Even if he wins, he has to go back with them.”

  “What?” Pete roared, rolling his chair out towards the middle of the field. “There is no way they’re taking him while I’ve got a breath left in my body.”

  “I’ll join you,” Em called, her sword in her hands.

  The explosion nearly knocked Em off her feet, and Pete’s chair rolled back several feet. Once the smoke cleared, Sean was no longer where he had been standing.

  “Where is he?” Em called out, placing her hand over her eyes to stare out into the dusty field. “Where is he?”

  They all moved forward, scanning the field, searching for Sean.

  The Hunt, on the other end of th
e field, had also moved forward, their snarling dogs leading the way.

  “We have to find him before they do,” Pete said, accelerating to a speed that made Em jog to keep up.

  “There he is,” Gillian shouted and pointed across the field at about the thirty yard mark on the other side.

  “Sean,” Pete called. “Sean, just stay put, we’re coming for you.”

  Sean turned and looked at his friends for a moment, but then, with a shake of his head, jogged in the other direction towards the Hunt.

  “No,” Em screamed, breaking into a run. “No!”

  But before she could even reach the fifty-yard line, the Hunt had swirled around him, and the cloud they created lifted from the ground.

  “No!” Em cried, tears running down her cheeks as she still continued sprinting across the field towards the cloud. “No, give him back.”

  Like a funnel cloud, the Hunt spun around the stadium picking up the remains of the Elk King and his horse, and lifted off into the sky, finally disappearing from view.

  Em dropped to her knees and buried her face in her hands, her body wracked with sobs. A moment later, she heard Pete’s chair roll up next to her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and laid his head on top of hers. Eventually Ian, Gillian and Maria joined them, wordlessly looking up into the night sky.

  “He knew he had to do it,” Ian finally said. “That was the only way.”

  “The hell it was,” Pete said, his voice hoarse with unshed tears. “There’s always another way.”

  Em took a deep, shuddering breath and was about to speak when she froze and looked at Pete. “Something’s wrong.”

  Chapter Sixty-nine

  All Sean knew was that his arm hurt like hell. He sat up, looked around and could only see darkness. What the hell happened to vibrant colors and air that smelled like champagne? This place smells like a…

  He paused, a thrill of hope coursing through his body. A locker room. This place smells like an amazing locker room.