Chase Grim

by V. B. Marlowe

  The Grim nodded. “Yes, my Lord. Of course. Right now, there are about fifty of them scattered throughout all three parts of the colony.”

  I closed my eyes and swallowed hard hoping that my people stood a chance against these monster-creatures.

  I regretted asking for updates because everyone I got sounded worse and worse. Watchers were fallen. Citizens were fallen and buildings had been destroyed. They were demolishing us and there was no ending in sight. When would they stop. When we were completely destroyed?

  “Lord Chase,” the Watcher said. “I had some grave news.”

  Hadn’t it all been grave? “What is it?”

  “There were four Grims out on assignment tonight. The Ravens sent them all back—dead.”

  The room was spinning. This was way too much. Grims were immortal and you could only kill them if they had less than one hundred years left. I wondered how they had managed that.

  “Take me out there. Take me out there now,” I demanded.

  The Watcher looked at the ground. “I cannot do that. I am sorry.”

  The attack went on for what seemed like forever when it was less than an hour. There was a knock on the door and the Watcher let Doyle in. He was red-faced and his hair was moist with sweat.

  I stood. “Is it over? What happened? How did you make it stop?”

  Doyle’s face was full of gloom. “It certainly wasn’t because we made them. They left on their own.”

  That made me feel even worse. Was that a warning? Would they be back with something worse?

  Doyle pulled his dispatching device from him pocket. I have the video footage from the different surveillance cameras installed around the city.

  I took the device from him and settled into a chair in the corner. The video was black, white, and a little grainy, but I could clearly see what was going on.

  Ravens were real. I probably wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes but they existed.

  They were awful looking creature, almost twice the size of a normal male Grim. They walked on two legs like us. Their arms were much longer, hanging awkwardly down their bodies and ending in what looked like bird claws. Their faces were what really terrified me. They hard large beaks which seemed to be doing most of the damage as they used them to pierce the bodies of the Watchers fighting them. Their faces were covered entirely with shiny black feathers. Their large beady eyes looked around wildly for what they should destroy next.

  They didn’t have ears or noses like we did. They were truly what Dunningham had described—a mixture of a raven and a Grim.

  As I watched it switched to different cameras views throughout the colony. I saw them making a bigger mess of Litropolis than it already was. They ran through the section knocking over shacks, tents, and impaling people with their beaks. My heart broke, watching the people run in terror and I felt so ashamed that I had spent the entire time hiding in the safety bunker.

  I saw homes in Farrington being broken into. Our colony had safety procedures in place and all families had an underground room in their home to go to for safety. Of course, the people of Litropolis didn’t have that option. I watched the Ravens destroy stores, shops and buildings that had just been prepared from the riots.

  The had even come into the Upper Estates but they had a harder time there seeing as it was the place most heavily guarded by Watchers. Last it switched to the Mill. That was the center of our colony. If they got into that they could shut down our electricity, running water, and lifestone collection. Strangely enough, the Mill seemed to be untouched except for . . .

  I used my thumbs to zoom in on something I saw on the top of the building. Standing at the very top with her hands on her hips was a Raven woman. She was taller than the others and her feathers were more plentiful. She wore a crown on her head and a thick black cape covered her. Her eyes looked ahead at all the carnage taking place before her. “Who the hell is that?” I muttered to myself.

  “Naomi. I need to know that Naomi’s okay.”

  Doyle was always two steps ahead of me. “I knew you would be concerned about that. She’s fine. She and her brother are being brought here as we speak. We are making a list of the lost. We should have the names and number of dead within a couple of hours.”

  I wasn’t looking forward to seeing that list at all but I would have to eventually. That was part of my job.

  “I need to see Dunningham.” I marched from the room taking the device with me.

  When I entered his room, he lay on the floor with a smile on his face. “I heard the sirens. I told you they were real. How was it?”

  “How do you think it was. Grims are dead so I really don’t know what you have to smile about.”

  His smile faded just a little. “That is really unfortunate but you and your friends have no one to blame for this but yourselves.”

  I threw the device at him. It landed on his lap. “Watch it.”

  He hesitated for a moment but with his free hand he took the device. After a few moments I took it from him and skipped to the part at the end with the strange Raven standing on top of the Mill. I zoomed in again so he could get a good look. “What the hell is that?” I asked. “She’s not some regular Raven. She doesn’t look and she’s not dressed the same as the rest of them.”

  Dunningham handed me the device as if he’d seen enough. “No, she’s not. She’s the Raven Queen. The most dangerous and powerful of them all.”

  “How do we kill them?” I asked for the millionth time.

  He smirked. “That’s for me to know and for me to know.”

  I grabbed him by the collar of the black sackcloth gown he wore. “Then you’re useless. What the hell am I keeping you alive for and to hell with scheduling an execution—I’m going to have you taken care of right now. I’m tired of you breathing our air, eating our food, and taking up our space.”

  He studied my face as if he were trying to tell whether I was bluffing or not. I wasn’t. I was so ready to take him out right then and there. “If you’re not going to give us the information that we really need, what’s the point in keeping you alive.”

  He sat up a little straighter. “You—you know if you kill me my brother dies too.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. You and Dunstan have lived full lives. Maybe it’s time.”

  I placed my hand in his throat and squeezed just a little. “I think I’ll have you beheaded. I’ll call the Watchers to have it done right now.”

  I rose and he grabbed the bottom on my pants leg. “Okay, okay, I’ll tell you. To defeat them, you can’t kill them. You must kill the queen. Kill her and they’ll all die the second she does.”

  I looked at him trying to tell if he were telling the truth and I couldn’t. It made sense though. She stood on top of the Mill away from the action so she couldn’t be killed.

  “Why even bring her then?” I asked.

  “They need her. They can’t go anywhere without her. They’re a flock of birds and all they can do is follow her.”

  I looked down on him. He had given me the information that I needed so what was I supposed to do with him? I could just kill him. We didn’t need him anymore unless he wasn’t telling me the truth.

  I knelt before him. “I swear to God that you better be telling the truth. If it doesn’t work I will kill you myself on the spot.”

  I left the room to find Naomi.

  10

  When I left Dunningham I was informed that Naomi had been out into the same guest room she had stayed in before. I hurried to the room and knocked on the door. She opened right away, wrapping her arms around my neck. She smelled so good like apples and peaches and all sorts of sweet fruit.

  When she finally pulled away, I surprised myself by pressing my lips against hers. Her lips were warm and soft. It wasn’t the first time we’d kissed but it was the first time I’d felt so much electricity speeding through my body.

  She broke the kiss first and looked dreamily into my eyes. I could look lost i
n the large dark pool of hers. She looked at me the way Keira looked at Bram and I had always her to do that. She bit her bottom lip. “What was that all about?”

  I touched her chin for a second and before I knew it, I was down on one knee. “Naomi Grim, will you marry me?”

  It was supposed to be anyway. Our parents had talked about us marrying since we were babies. It was probably one of the few times parents had gotten it right. I couldn’t imagine spending my life with anyone else and I prayed that Naomi felt the same.

  She breathed heavily looking down on me. If she said no I didn’t know how I would ever look at her again.

  “Chase, I want to marry you, I definitely do, but not right away. I’d like to have some time to explore life being an adult, but I promise I want to marry you soon.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. That was enough for me and I totally understood. As the Lord of Death, I was expected to take a wife and provide an heir, even though Dunningham had been single for most of his reign. What Naomi wanted was fine. I would wait as long as I had to.

  “What are we going to do to defeat the Ravens?” Naomi asked. “They’re going to keep coming here and attacking us until we have nothing left and we can’t let that happen.”

  She was right. “Dunningham told me how to defeat them and he might be telling the truth. Anyway, it’s worth a try and it’s all we’ve got.”

  Naomi’s eyes widened. “What? What do we have to do?”

  “First, we can’t go to them. We have no idea who they are or where they come from, so we have to lure them back here.”

  “Chase are you crazy?”

  “No. I need to talk to Keira. We know just how to get them to come here.”

  For five days straight Keira went to earth to intercept, but still the Ravens hadn’t shown up. I knew it was only a matter of time before they did. They were giving us enough time to let our guard down.

  It was a blessing in disguise because it gave us the chance to beef up our security and to train more people to fight. I had a special squad of Watchers trained to go specifically for the Raven Queen.

  One day, Naomi, Keira, Bram, and I sat in Brickman’s enjoying burgers just like in the old days. I’d given Naomi a ring to signify our engagement. The event committee of the Upper Estates had insisted on giving us a lavish engagement party, but Naomi wasn’t interested so I told them to forget. I’d almost forgotten that I wasn’t just asking Naomi to be my wife, I was asking her to become the Lady of Death and she would have to share in my lifestyle.

  I had just shoved the last bite of burger when my mouth when there was a loud thud. From our booth, we turned our heads slowly to the glass doors. A Raven had landed outside. Three more landed right beside him.

  Before anyone could say anything, we were out of the booth and Brickman had laid two swords and two bow and arrows on his counter. The restaurant was always being destroyed during attacks but this time he was ready.

  Watchers rushed in, ready to grab me and take me back to the estate, but I shoved past them. I grabbed a sword while Naomi grabbed a bow and arrow. As soon as I stepped into the daylight, I was met with a sharp beak coming right toward my face. I took a swing at it with my sword. The sword with right through its neck and came out on the other side, but there was no wound, no blood, and the Raven was still standing.

  This was a waste of time. We needed the queen. I looked at the top of the Mill but she wasn’t there.

  “Over there,” Bram shouted.

  I followed where he pointed—the roof of the library. Naomi was already on her way over with a bow in the quiver.

  “Naomi!” I shouted, but it was too late. She was on a mission and nothing was going to stop her.

  Bram and I followed her. The Raven Queen didn’t seem to notice she had been spotted in all the mayhem, at least not until it was too late. Naomi arrow was already piercing the air and flying straight toward her heart.

  Her large bird eyes went wide as the arrow entered her body. She stood still for a moment before attempting to pull the arrow out of her, but it was no use. It wasn’t coming out. Finally, her eyes went dead and her body fell forward, over the ledge of the library, landing with a sickening sound on the pavement.

  There was an awful cawing behind me as I turned to see what was happening. One by one the Ravens were disintegrating leaving nothing behind but a puff of black dust.

  Relieved, the Watcher dropped their weapons and the citizens came out of hiding. I turned to Naomi who looked to be in disbelief. I wrapped my arms around her. “You did it. You totally defeated them.” Keira hugged her as soon as I let go, but Bram looked around skeptically.

  “Didn’t that seem just a little bit too easy?”

  I had, but what did it matter. The Ravens were gone. We had seen it with our own eyes.

  Just then Naomi bent over, falling to the ground. Her body jerked and she made noises like she was in incredible pain.

  Keira knelt beside her. “Nay, what happened? What’s going on?”

  A crowd gathered around her watching in amazement. Her boots ripped open revealing orange birdlike feet. Her beautiful hair transformed into black feathers which covered her face.

  “Chase, what’s happening to me? What’s happening to me?”

  By then her mouth was transforming into a beak. I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew I had to get Naomi out of there, away from the prying eyes and all the people screaming in horror about her transformation.

  Bram picked his sister up and carried her to the town car that had just pulled up for me. The four of us piled inside and were whisked back to the estate.

  Inside I went straight to the cell where Dunningham was kept while Naomi was taken to the guest room. I could hear his awful laughing before the door was open. Inside his head was thrown back and he let out a haughty laugh as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

  “I’m going to kill you,” I told him. “What the hell happened to Naomi. We did just what you said.”

  Dunningham stopped laughing and looked serious for a moment. “I don’t know what you’re talking about son. What happened?”

  I told him.

  “Oh, did I forget to mention that the person who kills the Raven Queen becomes the new Raven Queen? Also, now she needs new Ravens and she’ll choose whatever Grims she feels fit to transform.” He shook his head. “They should have let me kill that girl when I first wanted to. What’s about to happen to her now is worse than Death.”

  I kicked him in the side as hard as I could and he grunted. “You’re dead. I swear, I’m putting you to death in the morning.”

  I backed away not wanting to believe his words. What were we supposed to do now? My fiancé was now my colony’s greatest enemy.

  The End