Evil Spark

by Al K. Line

  I breathed deep as they smacked into the grass then clambered agilely to their feet, angry and blackened. They are mean, green, and great fighting machines. Hard as hell.

  Their magic is about defense though, meaning they are pretty much unbeatable at close-quarter fighting, and survive by their skills, not their dark arts. They are hands-on fighters, up close and mean. Nasty cheaters, no match for the magic of an angry enforcer. Especially when the angry enforcer is me, and I have some distance.

  "Just back off, Drugi Doles. I told you, I haven't said a word about you."

  "Don't believe you. Gonna pay for this, Spark." Drugi Doles brushed down his leotard, which was odd, as normally he wouldn't care. Was he trying to impress us or something?

  They came at us again, and before Dancer could weave his way into their minds and try to scare them—which wouldn't work—I fixed my focus on two lines that ran in parallel down my arms, let the ink swell until the patterns became as fat as a finger, then pushed hard to picture my goal in my mind.

  I let loose with a grunt and then a spasm, leaving me feeling emptier than a box of cakes two minutes after Rikka enters a room. The spell of weight slammed into their bodies with all the force of a tide of trolls in a hurry to get under a bridge before small children skipped across.

  Again they were down, again they got up. The pressure I punished them with was immense but not enough to stop them. They ran at us. I'd had enough.

  No more mister nice guy.

  "Stop!" I shouted. "Last warning, Drugi Doles. Another step and I will suck your magic right out of you and leave you as husks of goblins. Old as your King but without the looks."

  It gave them all pause, and the others looked to Drugi Doles in concern. But he was lost to anger and the joy of the fight. I could see the gleam in his eye, the knowledge he was getting closer to us and soon could fight as he intended. By cheating, and ripping, and biting, and clawing, and using his immense strength to beat us. So he wished.

  He charged. I made good on my promise. Focusing on my diaphragm, I sucked in with all the magic I could draw from the Empty. With my infusion of dark and deadly magic I watched as he slowed, leaving his friends behind to stare in terror. He moved slower and slower, body visibly shrinking as I sucked away what made him what he was—a magical creature. A pure Hidden made of true magic and I took it and let it flow through me back to the Empty.

  He kept coming, faltering but fighting, weaker and weaker, muscles atrophying, bald and shrinking as skin stretched tight around eyes that threatened to pop from his head like a shaken bottle of celebratory champagne.

  Finally, much as he fought it, he could move no more. His legs were like sticks, all muscle mass gone from his wiry frame, leaving nothing but a green skin-covered skeleton, wizened and impossibly old. Goblins live incredibly long lives, and it now showed.

  I blacked out for a moment and slumped to the grass, head between my legs, feeling like a troll had stomped all over my body then used me as a cricket bat to defend against balls of spiked terror that fought in my throat and screamed through my mind for release.

  Knowing there was no way to stop it, I accepted my fate and spewed black smoke from screaming lungs then spat onto the now dead grass.

  "You should eat more vegetables," said Intus helpfully, appearing on the back of my hand. "And drink water, that looks nasty."

  "Um, yeah, thanks, Intus." She smiled in pleasure at being so helpful.

  Kate was by my side, crouching and staring at me with concern. "You okay? You should take it easy, Faz, we could have handled them."

  "Kate, I know you mean well, but you couldn't. They would pull you limb from limb just for fun. Dancer may be able to protect himself but not both of you. Not me too. No offense." I said, turning to Dancer.

  "None taken." Dancer knew his limits, and knew that a fight with three goblins would never be something he could win and still think about protecting others.

  "Come on, I need a drink of water." They helped me to my feet, and we walked past the sucked-dry body of Drugi Doles as he wobbled on arthritic and bowed legs. He scowled at me. "You'll be all right, in about a hundred years," I said, knowing it was a lie. He wouldn't die, but it would take a while to recover. Just not long enough. You can't take a true Hidden's magic away, not entirely. He'd be his usual obnoxious yet powerful self soon enough. His "friends" were nowhere to be seen.

  *

  We sat in the canteen and I gulped water gratefully, coughing and spluttering until I got myself under control. I got a few looks from others, but they forgot about me even while they were staring at us.

  "What's with the goblins? Why are they so mean?" asked Kate.

  Dancer filled her in while I tried to recover and get my mind working again.

  "Kate, you are new to our world and there is a lot to learn," lectured Dancer, keen to have a platform to be the center of attention. "Goblins may be entirely untrustworthy, pretty much evil and rude at nearly all times, but they are amazing chefs, and fantastic with machinery. So, Rikka employs a number of them."

  "Surely lots of people, even Regulars, would be a better choice?" she asked, not understanding the true skill of the green annoyances.

  "You don't get it, Kate. They repair anything and everything, and they are seen as cranky older gentleman to Regulars. Always playing with things and muttering about someone else having broken whatever it is they are fixing. Half the time it's them, as they have a short attention span and often leave jobs half finished. They are very clever though, just stupid at the same time. Love fighting, as we just saw."

  "Mostly just annoying," I added helpfully.

  Dancer scowled at my interruption. "But I think Rikka has always kept them in his employ because of the culinary arts. They can cook like nobody's business. Their food is divine. It makes me dislike them even more though. Too much moaning along with your supper for my liking. They would also sell their own offspring if it meant gold in their pocket, or leotard in some cases."

  "Um, wow, okay, that's pretty intense." It was clear Kate was realizing how much she had to learn. She'd met many Hidden since her infection, but there was a lot she didn't know, and a lot of species she was yet to meet, let alone understand. Her world is one of vampires, and it's only through knowing me and Grandma that she meets so many other creatures.

  Grandma. I had to find Grandma. And what the hell was going on with Rikka?

  "You have to be careful, Kate. You are a vampire, not a magician. You can move fast, sure, and glamor people, but it won't work on creatures like goblins. They aren't wired that way. Some species, yes, you can glamor, but for a lot they will just think you have squinty eyes, not do your bidding." At that moment I feared for Kate. Was she going to survive in this world? A lot of vampires don't. They lose their minds because of what they become, but a lot lose their life because they are involved in the Hidden and think they are invincible. They find out the hard way that nothing could be further from the truth.

  It's like some new to our world assume all Hidden can blast the magic like I do, but just because you are magic doesn't mean you can use magic. Goblins are what they are, tough in a fist fight, but they can't stand up to a wizard. It made Drugi Doles' actions even more peculiar.

  Why did he bother? Normally he would wait and jump you so you had to use fists, but the way he acted it was almost like he wanted a taste of Black Spark's finest.

  Ugh, goblins!

  Time to be Alone

  Goddamn gnomes, goddamn trolls, goddamn Dancer, goddamn vampires, and goddamn Hidden. I'm right, aren't I? My head was spinning. I felt like I'd been dragged out of bed by my short, dyed blond hair and shoved through one stupid, ridiculous, irritating and upsetting encounter after another.

  It was too much and I'd had enough. I'm an Alone, I work solo out of choice, and precisely because I can't handle being pulled one way and then the other by other people's whims and crazy ideas. Things gets too complicated, convoluted and disorganized, and I end up not bein
g able to work things through at my own pace. Clues and vital conversations get overlooked.

  That means mistakes. And I don't do mistakes. Okay, I do, but I make them myself, not because of a "Team." Ugh.

  Some wizards spend their time holed up in suitably magic-infused rooms, whiling away the years or the centuries with others just like them, perfecting their arts for no other reason than because they enjoy the immersion in all things Hidden. Honing techniques for harnessing the Empty, learning spells, giving talismans powers and all that stuff, but it's like learning how to ride a bike from a book—it's not the real thing. You'll fall off and hurt yourself when confronted with a metal frame and two wheels whatever knowledge you may have gained concerning physics and the balancing of such a device.

  It's the same with magic. Take them out of their familiar and safe comfort zone and put them in a battle against an ancient warlock, or a seriously nasty demon, then see how they fare. Exactly. They may have conjured up demons in their faery-dust-lined room, but its a different matter when it's true life and death.

  My kind of magic, and my kind of life, is hands on and visceral, and I can't work with other people for too long. I lose my edge. Yes, I like company, especially Kate's, and over the years people have come and, mostly, gone that I have worked with, but I know myself well enough to know that I am a true Alone—leave me be and I'll get the job done.

  I'm okay with the knowledge I'm an introvert. Yes, I am an enforcer, and that entails meeting a lot of people and Hidden, but it's temporary. I flit between the different worlds like a heavy-handed wizard, doing what needs to be done, but I work solo for a reason—if I'm in other people's company for too long it drives me nuts.

  My head was a mess. Thoughts whirled so fast I couldn't even hear myself think properly as the noise in the car after the gym became unbearable. It was like being in a room of ancient witches all intent on proving who was the best at talking loudly about the most inane things they'd seen and recounting it all in exaggerated detail. I was going to explode if I didn't get some quiet.

  "See, I told you the gnomes would be a help," said Intus, lecturing from the dashboard as we drove.

  "Yeah, great idea, Intus. I had to degrade myself and visit gnome limbo, and now I won't be good for anything for days. It's hard bringing Hidden back. They're so stubborn. And that male had a chin like a mangled sweet potato. And those stupid hats. What idiot thought it was a good idea to—"

  "Oi, that's sexist. And speciesist," interrupted Intus.

  "I think I need a pee," said Kate. "Faz, Faz, can we stop for a pee somewhere?"

  "Hey, where we going anyway?" asked Dancer, leaning forward and shouting right in my ear.

  "Enough! What is wrong with you all? That's it, I'm dropping you all off. Intus, it's time for you to go. Great seeing you. Please say hello to Illus and the kids, but I'll catch you later, buddy."

  "No need to be like that, Spark. You know you like it when I come visit."

  "I do, but I need time to think. Understand?" Intus nodded. She is a true friend, something I forget at times, but she understands me and knows how I work. For an imp she's rather insightful. For an imp.

  "We need to find Grandma," said Kate.

  "We have to find Rikka. Everyone is going to go crazy without him to keep things in line. I bet the vampires are already out there running amok, sneaky buggers that they are," whined Dancer, curling up a lip as I glanced at him.

  "In case you've forgotten, Dancer, I am a vampire."

  "I didn't mean it like that, Kate. But if the cap fits."

  "That's enough!" It was like having a bus load of children with me. I felt myself ready to erupt at any moment. Can't people ever be quiet?

  Intus said goodbye and was gone in a puff of smoke. I wafted it away. It always smells like rotten eggs—Intus said imps think it smells divine, which says a lot about imps. We drove the rest of the way in silence, everyone fuming at one insult or another.

  I dropped Dancer off at his home, a very nice detached three-story Georgian house just a few streets from the Finnish Embassy—it certainly pays to be one of Rikka's main people. I wondered if I should move when I parked up and admired the house like I had on so many occasions.

  My bank balance is healthy enough, but I never earn crazy money. Maybe I should increase my enforcer rates?

  "Let me know if you find anything. Okay?" said Dancer as he got out.

  "I will. And you too, anything at all." Dancer nodded, smiled at Kate—the weird half smile, half constipated look he seems to think is endearing—and he was gone.

  My mind felt clearer already. I leaned back and rested my head on squeaky leather and sighed.

  "Better?" asked Kate, smiling sympathetically.

  "Better." I let my shoulders relax a little, and tried to pull myself together. All the inane chatter was too much. I was overloaded when I needed to focus and be able to think properly.

  I looked out the window at the street. People were walking back from the pub or going out to the clubs, but it was relatively quiet. It was almost dark now.

  Some would call it the time of the Hidden, but the truth is we are always around. Walking past you in the street, seen but not seen, sat next to you on the bus, maybe even in the cubicle next to you at work, although most of us have discovered a Regular life isn't for us. It's hard to punch in and out of work when you can access the Empty, and I guess that's why it's seen as the underworld to many of us, and why a lot of us are what Regulars would class as criminal types.

  Dark magic is incredible, amazing and wonderful, but it does also attract some rather unsavory types of humans—not that I'm one of them, of course.

  "Sorry about all that. We were a bit noisy, right?" She looked at me with concern as I sighed again and rubbed at my face.

  "A little," I agreed. "I'm just better on my own, Kate. It's not your fault, or theirs. It's me. I can't think with too much going on. I need to do my own thing for a while."

  "You need to sleep, Faz. That's what you need to do."

  "Haha, I wish. But how can I? Grandma is missing, Rikka is missing, I have to find them."

  "Come on, out you get. I'll drive. You're exhausted. You should see yourself."

  "I'd rather not."

  "Faz, you have to take care of yourself properly. You need to eat more after you, you know, use the magic. I thought you would be recovered by now."

  "I know. It took a lot out of me last week, Kate, more than I realized. I just need to find Grandma and Rikka and I'll rest for a month, eat and get fat and then you won't fancy..." I trailed off. I'm such a lightweight, I know. Was I presuming, or was it now okay to talk about this stuff? Yeah, Faz Pound, Dark Magic Enforcer, Slayer of Demigods, Cringer at Sexy Friends, Almighty Coward in the Face of Relationships.

  "Fancy you? You can say it, you know. And yes, I do. I thought we made that clear earlier? Finally. I must say, Faz Pound, for a seriously kick-ass magic enforcer you are a right idiot when it comes to reading the signs."

  "Oh, right. Um, good."

  "Idiot. Come on, out you get. I'll drive."

  We swapped seats.

  I think I fell asleep even before Kate had driven off.

  A Night of Bliss

  "Oh, ooh. Aah."

  "Again, do it again. Aah, yeah, right there. Give it to me, Faz. Ooh." Kate groaned as a hand slid down her belly. She opened her mouth wide and I watched as it stretched wider still. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at me, her tongue pink and wet and she licked her lips, moving it slowly across the swollen red mouth.

  "Again, really?"

  "Yeah. Haha, go on, do it."

  I picked up the spring roll and she bit down hard, pieces falling into her lap. She groaned and put her hand on her belly again. We were both stuffed.

  We'd been eating for what must have been an hour. A huge takeaway delivery that pretty much had one of everything on the Chinese menu.

  What, you didn't think I was talking about anything else, did you? Okay, sorry,
just playing with you.

  When I'd awoken, I was surprised to find us outside Kate's home. A nicely redeveloped red brick docklands building where she had a well-appointed pad, clean and airy, with a view over the bay. Mostly, that meant gray water, gray sky, and gray seagulls, but for once the sky was clear and it was still warm, so we sat out on the tiny balcony with trays of takeaway and stuffed our faces until we couldn't eat another thing.

  "Boy, this is good," I said, rooting around in a carton for the last of the chow mein.

  "Oh, yeah, the best. Feeling better?"

  "Much. Thanks, Kate, this is just what I needed. Honestly, you're a great friend."

  "Faz, let's drop the friend bit, all right? We are more than that, I think we can both agree." She looked at me, searching for answers, for signs, but all I did was gulp and nearly choke on my chow main. "Faz?"

  "Sorry. It's just I've dreamed of this and never thought it would actually happen. Kate, I want you more than anything. I just thought, well, that maybe I was just imagining it. And because..." I didn't know how to put it, not without it coming out wrong. I was so tired too, so yeah, that's my excuse for being lame.

  "Should I have hit you over the head and dragged you to the bedroom?" Kate said, smiling.

  "Well, it wouldn't have hurt. That way I would have known."

  "Silly. It's because of the vampire thing, isn't it?"

  "No, of course not!" I protested. She searched my face, gave me a "look." Best to be honest. "Okay, yeah. I've seen you after you've fed, Kate, and always wanted to rip your clothes off, I might add. But I've seen the energy, the power, the blood magic course through your veins. Energy like that makes your body practically sing. But I've also seen you change, how it's slowly taking you over, little by little. Sorry, that's not what I wanted to say at all." I was blowing it. As usual.