G.H.O.S.T. Teams: Book 1 - Magic

by Bobby Brimmer

  Technology I had been told was also very hit or miss here. Apparently this realm was very heavy in manna or magical energy or whatever you want to call it. Manna in heavy concentrations works a lot like solar flare activity, it causes electronics to act up. Since I knew that Visine’s body was full of nano-machines I wondered if this place was affecting him in anyway. He turned towards me and I noted the uncomfortable look upon his face. I wasn’t sure if it was from his nanites being affected by this place or just general pain due to his injuries.

  “You all right?” I asked.

  He didn’t bother to respond, instead giving me the world famous “what a stupid question” look. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Obviously you’ve been better. I was just wondering if your nanites were all right? I heard that this place and electronics don’t mix?”

  He nodded slowly, “They are agitated and working at a reduced capacity,” he huffed.

  At least now I knew why he looked so unhappy. This probably did not bode well for his healing time. I hoped that moving at our quick pace wasn’t going to be detrimental to his wounds, especially if his nanites weren’t at the top of their game.

  “Are you going to be alright with that leg wound?”

  “The muscle is stitching itself back together. There is pain but it will not hinder my movement,” he finished.

  I had to trust that he was right. We were in an unknown area, chasing an unknown villain, and surrounded by plenty of mythical creatures that were probably not going to appreciate us nosing around. One more thing that I remembered from my training was the fact that the inhabitants of the Veil do not take kindly to outsiders. Retaliation for years of being hunted in our world I guess.

  “Okay, so which way?” I asked.

  Visine shrugged.

  “What do you mean you don’t know? You said you knew the Blue Weasel bar?”

  “I do,” he replied.

  “Then which way do we go?”

  “No idea. Never been this way before,” he stated.

  “Awesome,” I mocked, “We’ll just ask the first person that we come across I guess.”

  I took the path to our left for no real reason in particular. As we walked, the foliage became sparser and visibility increased. The canopy overhead started to thin out and sunlight streamed into the woods. I wondered if proximity to the gate had an affect on the density of the plant life? After a short while our little path met up with a larger, well-traveled dirt road. There were wagon wheel tracks and hoof prints all over. We paused by the road and spent a few moments looking in each direction with the hope that one of us might spot something useful.

  “I think it’s your turn to pick,” I smiled.

  “Sure,” Visine replied.

  The road was heavily traveled and it was difficult to tell which direction the most recent tracks went. We scanned the nearby trees, looking for signs or markers carved into their bark. Having nothing really to go on I think Visine just defaulted to the same strategy that I had used at the ugly tree, he guessed.

  Being in another world meant that it was fairly difficult to get my bearings. The mother nature of the Veil was not the same woman that we all knew growing up. I figured that we were heading south, but even that was a haphazard guess at best. We had been traveling down the dirt road for just about half an hour when we made our first acquaintances.

  Chapter 20

  While you might prefer to call them robbers, muggers, or even bandits, I have always had an affinity for the term highwaymen. There were six of them and only two of us. Not horrible odds. Visine, as I have mentioned before, is an enormous man. Normally his size alone would be enough to scare off any would be criminals. But although his gait had improved considerably, he was still obviously injured and walking with a limp. With his right arm in a sling and the look of discomfort on his face, even I had to admit that his appearance was but a shimmer of his normally imposing self.

  But even taking that into account, I would have still assumed that his size and my posture would have been enough to deter any criminals. I am not trying to say that I come across as some imposing figure, but to the trained eye it should be fairly obvious that I can handle myself. Criminals are predators and predators are normally very good at spotting the weak and injured when they hunt. Perhaps in this world a pair of humans, regardless of their apparent skill level, was what the creatures of myth called weak. After all, the highwaymen were mostly other things.

  “Your money and weapons outworlders,” he sneered, his voice nasally.

  Most of the time the one who speaks first is the leader. If I were to make an educated guess, based partly on fantasy movies, he was an orc. He had the trademark greenish skin, a prominent lower jaw, and small tusk like teeth sticking out. He was over six feet tall and wore simple leather clothes. In his right hand he held a large ax, its blade chipped and tarnished from much use. To his right was another orc that could have passed for his older brother. He was a little taller, a bit more muscled, had a longer pronounced slope to his forehead, and held a large sword.

  To Leader’s left was a smaller creature that I think was a goblin. He was less than five foot tall with an oversized baldhead and pointy leathery ears. His skin was a gray color, pulled tight over his lean muscular limbs. He wore leather pants and a rusted piece of plate armor over his chest. He carried two short hooked swords, and tried to scare me with the stare of his golf ball sized yellow eyes. To the Goblin’s left was a burly looking man, over six-feet tall, his head and face were mostly covered in long brown shaggy hair. He wore overlapping animal pelts and looked like he had just stepped down out of the mountains. The club that he carried was decorated with various nails and spikes. There was a hideous scar running from the right side of his forehead, across his nose, and down his left check. I was amazed that he had survived whatever had given him that scar, but at least it made the nickname easy.

  Thus I named the four in front of us Leader, Brother, Gobly, and Scar. There were two more of their ilk behind us, so I gave a quick glance back to inspect the muscle of the group. Both creatures were over seven feet tall. They had greener skin than the orcs, larger jaws, and long sloping foreheads. I was guessing ogre. It made me think that Neanderthal is to human as ogre is to orc. Both ogres had long black hair, parted to reveal little hairy pointed ears. They had flat noses and huge lower canines jutting out of their mouths. They each wore a pair of old and worn leather pants as their only clothes. There wasn’t really anyway to tell them apart except for the fact that one held an absurdly large hammer and the other a mace. I therefore called them Hammer and Mace, which finished up my nicknaming duties.

  “I got a counter proposal for you,” I started, “You tell us where the Blue Weasel is and we don’t beat the crap out of you,” I smiled confidently.

  Since I was still sore from my fight with Fangsy, I figured that I would happily give them a chance to avoid the conflict. The Leader was clearly taken aback by my offer. I assumed that most travelers surrendered quickly to a big group like this. If they relied on intimidation more than their fighting skills, then there was a chance that they would back down when confronted by un-frightened victims. But the Leader gave me a look that made it clear that they had no qualms about testing us in battle. I had a feeling that things were about to get interesting.

  “We won’t ask again human. Your money and your weapons or I am going to wear your skull as a hat,” he sneered.

  “Well that’s not very friendly,” I mocked, “But to be fair, I wasn’t completely honest with you. You remember when I said that I wouldn’t beat the crap out of you and your friends if you told us where the Blue Weasel was? That wasn’t true. You see, I hate crooks and I hate bullies. So either way I’m afraid that you’re going to have to be taught a lesson,” I taunted.

  Honestly I was shocked that they didn’t attack us before I was finished with my speech. They obviously were not used to people standing up to them. And I knew that if I kept them slightly off bala
nce, it would benefit us in the fight. Leader stood there a moment, pondering our lack of fear, before a wicked smile crossed his face. His hands squeezed the handle of his ax, eagerly anticipating the fight.

  “Let’s show these humans what we think of outlanders,” he said to his friends.

  “Wait, wait, wait,” I said as I put up my hands, open palm, non confrontational.

  They actually stopped in place as I said it. After a moment they all started to smile as if they had called our bluff and won. It was clear that even if we surrendered, they were angry enough to fight. They were obviously holding back in the hope that we were dumb enough to relinquish our weapons. Actually I just wanted a moment to say something to Visine before we started. I glanced at him over my shoulder before I spoke.

  “You look rough, you wanna relax and let me to handle this?” I smirked.

  He gave me a loud “HA” as he spun around, drawing his gun and hurling it at the face of the closest ogre. Since he was injured I figured that it was only fair to let him divide up our opponents. As he clearly chose the two ogres, I turned my attention to the four in front of us. The beauty of fighting a group of people, especially when they need to swing weapons, is that they often get in each other’s way. Because of this the two orcs held back while Gobly and Scar charged first.

  I had hooked swords coming from my left and a spiked club coming from my right. Stepping to my right, I kicked the backside of Scar’s club, driving it into Gobly’s swords. The weapons got tangled just long enough for me to shift behind Scar and punch him in the kidney. I followed with a kick to the back of his knees, sweeping his legs out from under him. As he fell towards the ground I sent a chop to his throat, stunning him and causing his body to strike the ground with a loud thump. With Scar temporarily down, Gobly lunged back at me, and Brother orc decided to charge into the fray.

  Because I had stepped off line, I caught some of Visine’s battle out of the corner of my eye. He caught the mace by the handle and drove it into Hammer’s head. Then, prying the weapon from Mace’s hands, he proceeded to beat him with his own weapon. There was a savage comfort to the way that Visine swung that mace. He embraced it like a long lost friend. But I didn’t have time to watch his display of melee skill, I had to return my attention to my own entanglement.

  I shifted my position in order to keep Gobly in-between Brother Orc and myself. Gobly swung his swords fast, and I barely managed to lunge back and avoid being skewered. Swinging both swords at once, his arms crossing over each other, and then he swung them back out in a way which opened up his chest. I stepped in and kicked him as hard as I could in the torso, driving him back. There was a crunching sound as my kick cracked his rusted metal breastplate and drove him into Brother Orc. Their entanglement gave me a moment to deal with Scar, who had managed to make it up on one knee. I kicked him hard in the face, his unconscious body slumping to the ground.

  It was obvious that my fighting tactics were frustrating Brother. He reacted by picking Gobly up and using him as a thrown weapon. The little goblin screamed in terror as he was hurling through the air, his arms and blades flailing in every direction. As you know I normally try to avoid higher kicks when I am in a fight, but sometimes, like when your opponent is flying high through the air, they are necessary. I kicked straight up, in-between the flailing, and caught Gobly right in the chin with the heel of my foot. His little body somersaulted two hundred and seventy degrees backwards, causing him to strike the ground flat on his face, his swords clanking down next to him. He was trying to lift his head off of the ground when I brought my foot down hard. I caught him in the back of the head and knocked him cold. Brother Orc had timed his attack and used the opportunity to stab at me with his huge sword.

  My kick had been a little showy and now I was going to pay for it. Brother Orc’s blade nicked my left side as I tried to spin out of the way. I made a note to scold myself for it later as I kept my attention on the fight. Leader looked ready to join the fray so I figured that it was time to stop screwing around. Especially if Leader had been studying my fighting style and trying to find a weakness. It’s what I would have been doing. I avoided Brother’s second swing and drew my katana as I moved.

  When Brother swung a third time, our blades met. I stepped forward, locking our hilts together, and twisted my blade on top of his. Then, as I was in close proximity, I threw my elbow up and caught him in the jaw. His head snapped back and I drove the bottom of my fist into his throat. As he gasped for breath I sliced my sword across his forearm, forcing him to drop his blade. I then smacked him in the head with the side of my sword in order to keep him stunned. A quick kick into his knee forced him to fall towards me. As he fell I introduced his face to my knee. It was in that exact moment that Leader lunged forward.

  Leader was obviously pissed about the way that the battle was going and he swung with wild abandon. Unfortunately for Brother, his head got in the way of Leader’s ax. There was a splash of blood and the nasty sound of a skull splitting. The ax was driven in so deep that it was actually stuck. Brother’s head was making some disgusting squishy and sucking sounds as Leader attempted to pull the ax free. Seizing the opportunity to stop the sound and end the fight, I chopped down at Leader’s wrists with my sword. If he didn’t let go of his weapon he would have lost his hands, so he made the smart choice and released the ax before stepping back. He quickly looked from the ax to his empty hands to my eyes. Terror filled his face as he turned and attempted to run off into the woods. I wasn’t willing to let him get away that easily.

  Hurling one of my throwing knives, I caught him in the back of his left knee. I could tell instantly that it was going to be a very painful wound. He tumbled to the ground, both of his hands clutching his knee as he screamed in pain. I turned around to confirm that Visine was all right before I started walking after Leader.

  Both of the Ogres were unconscious and Visine stood over them with a shinny new mace in his hand and a smile upon his face. The image made me think that even though guns were his weapons of choice, Visine still enjoyed a good close quarters melee. The expression on his face made him look young, almost as if he was remembering another time, long ago. I knew that he was at least ninety years old, but something about his posture made him look like a man from another age. In the present however it was clear that he didn’t need my help so I returned my attention to Leader. The orc was watching me as I slowly started stalking in his direction, my sword in hand and a devious smile upon my face.

  “Well, that certainly didn’t go according to your plan, now did it?” I asked.

  He was cursing and glaring at me. I figured I should do something nice for him, to put him at ease, so I reached down and quickly pulled the blade from the back of his knee. You don’t have to speak orc to know that he was screaming some pretty nasty things at me. I let him get it out of his system before tapping him lightly on the side of his head with the flat of my blade.

  “I believe you were about to give me directions,” I smiled.

  He cursed some more, glared at me, and spit upon the ground. Then, looking back at his fallen comrades, he realized how much trouble he was in and his survival instincts kicked in.

  “The Weasel is down the road,” he said, gesturing with his head.

  Although his hands were busy gripping his injured knee, the head point showed me the proper direction. As luck would have it, we were already heading the right way. Visine was a good guesser. Assuming of course that Leader was telling me the truth.

  “Now if you’re lying to me. I might have to track you and your friends down and then…” I started before his cursing and spitting cut me off.

  He was rambling in his own tongue, clearly frustrated and almost pleaded for me to believe him, “I swear, it’s less than half a day down the road,” he said.

  I hollered back towards Visine, “What do you think?”

  Visine shrugged. I understood his meaning, but Leader obviously misunderstood. Terror built on his face as he thought
that Visine had just signed his death warrant.

  “I swear on the blood of my ancestors…” Leader pleaded before I stopped him.

  “Fine. I believe you. Now tell me about anyone else that you saw traveling on this road.”

  The conversation got pretty boring after that. Apparently the highwaymen had arrived on scene shortly before us. We were the first travelers that they had spotted. Judging from how empty the road had been, I was inclined to believe them. They had a small cache of supplies hidden behind a large oak tree. There was a rope and rations and various other junk. Using the rope, Visine and I secured them all to a couple of trees right next to the road. I found some old parchment and in the absence of any ink I used the blood of the fallen to write a message on the paper. There was a cheap dagger among their possessions and I used it to stick the note to the tree above Leader’s head. It read… These incompetent highwaymen apologize for their life of crime and request to be turned in to the nearest authority.

  Visine read the note and rewarded my effort with a small smile. I found a relatively clean piece of cloth and tied it around my ribs in order to stop the slight bleeding from the sword wound in my side. It was sore, but probably a fair price to pay for my showboating. I took all of the money and valuables that the criminals had on them. I figured it was the best way to teach them that crime doesn’t pay.

  Visine and I continued our trip down the road. A little while later we passed a horseman who confirmed the direction of the bar, and let us know that it was a few hours farther down the road. We moved at a brisk pace, Visine’s limp improving along the way. By the time that we could see the bar in the distance, I could barely tell that his leg was injured. After a few more minutes of walking we finally arrived at the Blue Weasel.