by John Corwin
I rose from my chair and accepted his hand. "The map and the key, please?"
"Of course." He reached to a shelf behind him, withdrew a book, and removed the map and key from behind it. "I will show you how to operate them."
He knew what I wanted all along. "Good, I'll need instructions."
"You'll need much more than that, Mr. Slade." Underborn took out an arcphone and projected an image showing Daelissa standing before an army of battle golems, each one every bit as massive as the five we'd fought in our first battle. She appeared to be inspecting them with Serena. "I'm afraid Daelissa showed you only a fraction of her capabilities in the last battle. Even if we prevent her reinforcements from arriving, she has more than enough might to crush you."
The surge of hope I'd felt drained like melting snow in a fire pit. My forces would be hard pressed to stop her next attack. Without some kind of reinforcements, we weren't going to last long.
Elyssa took me aside and spoke in a low voice. "Justin, I'll retrieve the Chalon. You stay here and find out how to operate the map and key."
I nodded. "Bring both Chalons."
She gave me a dubious look. "Are you sure that's wise?"
"What if two aren't enough to overpower the nexus?" I slashed a hand through the air. "We don't have time for games."
"We just have to hope Underborn feels the same way." I kissed and hugged her tight. "I'll be waiting here for you." I walked to Underborn and told him the plan.
"Phissilinth will escort you back to the Grotto and wait for you to return with the Chalons." Underborn pursed his lips and looked at me. "Two Chalons, Mr. Slade? It appears I've underestimated you yet again." He picked up the blink stone from the table and handed it to Elyssa. "Don't forget your gift."
She regarded it uncertainly for a moment before taking it and pressing it to her uniform. "I'll be back soon." She and Phissilinth left.
"Now, let's get to the map." Underborn smoothed the parchment open. A myriad of crisscrossing black lines covered the tan surface. I could hardly make heads or tails of it. Underborn stared at it for a few seconds. Most of the lines faded away until all that remained was a three-dimensional drawing of a door.
"Did you clear the map?" I asked.
He nodded. "I find it easier to scroll the map to a desired location first. Once there, I focus on a smaller area until I find the door I want to use. In this case, I've selected a closet door in a highrise condominium in downtown Atlanta."
"No wonder the lines were so dense." It had been like looking at a blueprint of the structure.
"Precisely. The map will draw every detail unless you direct it to simplify the illustration." He touched the drawing of the door and narrowed his eyes. The door glowed a dull yellow. "I've now selected the first door." He pinched his fingers on the map and zoomed out much like a person did with the map on an arctablet. "This is how you zoom out." Outlines of the Atlanta skyline appeared. Underborn tightened his fist and twisted it sideways. The map rotated to an overhead view. "That is how you shift the orientation."
I watched as he zoomed in on a house in the northern suburbs and selected a closet door. A glowing yellow line connected the two doors.
"To confirm the connection, you simply pluck it." Underborn pinched the line with two fingers and pulled at it like a guitar string. The line actually lifted from the map and vibrated when he released it. As it grew still, the yellow glow faded and left a light blue line behind. "The connection between the two doors is now established."
He continued with the lessons, showing me how to break a connection, how to form multiple connections between doors, and how to select a specific one with the key. The map didn't require a door to have a handle or even a lock to work. If a person wanted it to home in on their location, they simply had to think about it and tap the map twice. Underborn refused to let me do it, however, lest I discover the location of his secret hideout.
Thirty minutes into the lesson, Elyssa texted me to let me know she'd gone into Jeremiah's vault and was procuring the Chalons. I was texting her back when I heard a cry of pain from somewhere outside the library. Underborn and I exchanged concerned glances. He folded the map, placed it and the key in a small leather pouch, and handed it to me.
"Keep it safe." Underborn opened the door and crept into the hallway.
Another agonized shout reached our ears. Quick as a cat, Underborn raced down the hallway, his feet making no sound. I followed him. The Nightingale armor masked most of my footsteps. He stopped at the portrait of a devilish-looking man dressed in all black. Underborn slid the picture to the side and waved a hand across the stone wall. The wall turned transparent to reveal the waiting room.
"Illusion," Underborn whispered.
I was too busy staring at the bizarre scene on the other side of the wall. The source of the screams was a man dressed in butler livery. A doughy white blob encased his right leg. A humanoid figure with sickly pale skin watched with a smile.
"Where is the entrance?" the doughy man asked in a gurgling voice. "Tell us now and we'll make your death quick."
A grinning tooth-filled mouth formed in the blob around the butler's leg. It opened wide and then clamped down. The man clenched his teeth, but the pain was too much. He screamed.
An army of spiders seemed to crawl up my body as the identity of the attackers dawned on me. They were beings I'd hoped never to see again.
Flarks.
Chapter 27
Mr. Bigglesworth, Ivy's shape-shifting protector, had been the last and only Flark I'd ever encountered. The creatures were nearly immune to direct magical attack, and could shift like putty into virtually anything.
Even Underborn looked unsure how to proceed. "I wonder where Daelissa found more Flarks," he murmured in an offhand manner. "It would seem I underestimated Serena."
"It would seem underestimation is your strong suit." His last statement bothered me. "What does Serena have to do with this?"
He shrugged. "I had some dealings with her. It would appear she somehow located this place."
"So much for your hideout."
"This is one of many." He shrugged.
The butler shrieked in pain again.
I gave Underborn a troubled look. "What about your man in there? We need to save him."
"Yes, I suppose Pressley would appreciate it." Seemingly in no hurry to rush in, he put a hand on his chin and pondered the situation.
"The last time we killed one of those things, it was with a magical drain ward." I shuddered as Pressley cried out again. "Do you have wards like that around here?"
"No. I suppose we'll just have to grab Pressley and run for it."
I remembered Elyssa and sent a quick text to keep her and Phissilinth from returning here. Flarks are in Underborn's hideout. Wait at Queens Gate.
Her reply came seconds later. I'm coming to help.
No, we're okay. Just wait.
I tucked away my phone. "Is this illusion solid?"
Underborn nodded. "I'll remove it for you. After that, I'm not sure how to free Pressley."
"Let me take care of that."
"Very well." He traced a pattern on the wall. The illusion on the other side must have vanished quickly because the humanoid Flark turned toward us quick as a snake.
Channeling Murk with one hand, I shot strands around Pressley's torso. With the other hand, I dug a molten furrow in the stone floor just next to the blob around the butler's leg. Lava bubbled onto the mass. Flarks might be immune to direct magic, but they were vulnerable to indirect attacks. The blob writhed. The mouth around Pressley's leg howled in pain and the mass retreated as fire bit into it.
The second Pressley was free, I jerked him toward us. The skin on his leg was blistered where the Flark had touched it. The creatures liked to consume their prey live and the experience felt like swimming in acid.
"Underborn!" one Flark gurgled as his companion flowed into a bipedal form next to him.
"The Slade boy is here," Flark number
two hissed.
Underborn traced a pattern, presumably to close the wall again, but the Flarks reacted with lightning speed. Tendrils of their doughy bodies zipped through the opening and jerked their amorphous masses forward like rubber bands. The disgusting creatures blocked the opening and kept it from sealing.
"Let's go." Underborn ran down the hallway toward the door I'd used to arrive here. "I need the key."
I pulled it from the pouch and handed it to him. He twisted it in the lock and opened it.
"Good heavens," Pressley said.
I spun in time to see the Flarks springing down the hallway after us, sticky tendrils of pale flesh jerking them along.
We leapt through the door and into the stable at the Grotto. Before I could slam the door closed, the Flarks thrust into the opening and jammed it.
Oliver leapt up from a bale of hay, eyes wide as we ran past. "What is that?"
"Run!" Underborn shouted over his shoulder.
Pressley huffed and puffed. "I'm in no condition to be running around like this, sir."
We ran from the stable and into the parking lot. Aside from an electric green Maserati with purple racing stripes, the area was empty. I didn't want to lead the Flarks up the ramp to the shopping mall above. Unleashing them on the nom population was unacceptable. I stopped and turned to face our pursuers.
Underborn touched a pouch at his side. "I must admit I have no idea how to kill a Flark."
The two shape-shifters emerged from the stable. One flowed into humanoid form. The other took a hybrid shape with a human top and snakelike bottom. Neither looked nearly as skilled in shifting as Mr. Bigglesworth had been, which led me to believe they hadn't been in Eden for long, or were freshly revived from a husked state. One hissed; the other gurgled as they walked the few yards separating us.
"What do you want?" I said, hoping to stall for time.
"Two deaths: yours and his," Gurgles said. "One was planned, the other providential."
Not the answer I was hoping for. I shifted to another line of questioning. "Why do you work for Daelissa?"
"It matters not." Gurgles's empty black eyes regarded us as he drew inexorably closer.
"I will take Slade," the other one hissed. "She will be pleased."
I pshawed and put on a little bravado. "Don't make me laugh, Hissmeister Pro. I'll give you a choice. Retreat now, or die."
Gurgles made a sound like a man hawking up a loogey. "There is nothing you can do to harm us."
"No?" I traced the floor with destruction and sent flecks of molten stone flying at them. The Flarks zipped with lightning speed away from the magma. Gurgles flew at me, his body spreading open like a net. Hissmeister Pro slithered toward me from the other side.
I threw up barriers on both sides. Gurgles splatted against the shield. His buddy flowed around it.
"Get back!" I shouted at Underborn and the others.
"I wish I could help," the assassin said. "If I had access to my weapons—"
"If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all be fat as pigs," I muttered through clenched teeth while adjusting my barriers to delay the Flarks. "Now get back."
Gurgles flowed over my barrier, just yards away and sprang forward.
I tried to leap out of the way, but the Flark was just too fast. His doughy white flesh wrapped around Underborn and me. The Flark seemed to seep through the Nightingale armor, completely bypassing it like liquid. Agony erupted from every molecule of skin. There was pain, and then there was PAIN. This sensation was squarely in the latter category. I couldn't stop the scream tearing from my throat. My vision went blurry from tears. I heard a growling noise and realized it was Underborn trying to be a tough guy.
I had no such concerns about proving my manliness and let it go. I had only seconds to do something before the pain completely overwhelmed my senses and knocked me unconscious. My survival instinct suggested something I'd used to escape death before. Squeezing shut my eyes, I fought past the pain, channeled Murk from every inch of my body, and pushed the energy outward. The pain abruptly abated as the barrier pushed the doughy flesh away from me.
I knew I wasn't out of the woods just yet, though. The creature's magic resistance was already weakening the barrier. Frankly, I was surprised a shield worked at all. When I'd fought Bigglesworth, any direct attacks simply splashed off or flowed around him with no effect. Then again, a barrier was rigid and couldn't splash or flow around something unless I allowed it.
That gave me an idea.
Using the shield like a giant spatula, I scraped Gurgles off Underborn. Once the assassin was free, I delivered a swift kick to his backside and sent him skidding across the polished stone surface toward Oliver and Pressley.
Hissmeister slithered toward my feet. I leapt backward and released the barrier. Gurgles splatted on top of his buddy, but both quickly reformed. Before they could separate, I enclosed them in a sphere of Murk. The two Flarks squirmed inside the trap. The more they moved, the more they weakened their prison. I funneled more power into the bubble, but I knew it wouldn't last.
Think fast, Justin!
Whereas humans were made up mostly of water, Flarks were comprised almost purely of magical energy. That was what made them so resistant to it and allowed them to change shape so easily. It was also why Bigglesworth had died to a magical drain ward. I didn't know of any way to drain their magical energy, but I did have something that might neutralize it.
I wove Brilliance into the Murk bubble, infusing the two together. The Flarks shrieked like banshees. They thrashed and flailed as the ultraviolet bubble grew grayer and grayer. As they vanished from sight, I sensed them slowing until they became absolutely still. Breathing heavily from the effort, I released the weave. The gray bubble dissipated like fog leaving the contorted shapes of the Flarks standing like frozen statues. I couldn't tell if they were dead or simply petrified, but their usually pale white flesh looked blue-gray and completely still.
"You continue to impress me, Mr. Slade." Underborn stood by my side. "It behooves me to thank you for saving my life."
I wiped sweat from my forehead and gave him a long steady look. "Remember that the next time you want to deal with someone like Serena."
He paced around the Flarks. "Are they dead?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. If they're not, I don't know how to get rid of them."
"I believe I have just the thing should they reawaken." He motioned to Pressley. "Go back to the lair and retrieve one of the extra-large diamond fiber body bags."
"Get me tea, he says," the butler mumbled. "Bring my dinner, he says. Pressley, good man, fetch me an extra-large body bag." He turned a dour look on Underborn." I shall return shortly with them, sir." The butler seemed a bit frayed at the edges, but had somehow maintained a slippery grip on his professional dignity even if his butler livery was torn and bloody. He headed back to the stables at a brisk pace, his injured leg giving him a limp.
"I remember old Bigglesworth," Oliver said in a quiet voice. "Never thought I'd see another bloody Flark after him."
"I, too, thought he was the last of his kind." Underborn inspected a raw patch of skin where Gurgles had touched him. "Unfortunately, I don't know enough about these creatures to say if Daelissa retrieved them from another realm, or revived them here."
"Let's hope these are the only two she has." My body itched like crazy all over as if I'd rolled around naked in a patch of poison ivy. The charms in the Nightingale armor tried to soothe the irritated skin, but the magical injuries resisted treatment.
Pressley returned a few minutes later with a large black body bag. "Here you are, sir."
Underborn ran a finger down the front to unseal it. "Diamond fiber is nearly impervious to magic, and is non-porous. I believe it should hold them should they awaken."
The gray tumorous-looking mass of Flarks quivered.
"I think we'd better do this in a hurry." I gripped the other end of the bag and helped Underborn slide it over the creatures. Using
the diamond fiber like a glove, I pulled the Flarks completely inside it, tilted them to the ground, and sealed the bag.
Underborn produced a dagger and held it out to me. "Perhaps you should seal it with blood to be safe."
I took the knife, nicked a finger, and ran blood down the closed seam. Only I would be able to open it now. "I find it rather interesting that you have diamond fiber body bags."
"The supernatural world is full of surprises." The assassin seemed amused. "There have been times when a target decided it wasn't ready to die just yet."
His statement reminded me of his grim profession and I was already in too grim a mood. I texted Elyssa, All clear, and sent her a picture of the fabulous Maserati for a reference. A portal opened a moment later. She and Phissilinth stepped through.
The small man looked at the body bag on the floor and raised an eyebrow. "It seems I missed a spot of excitement."
Elyssa assaulted me with kisses. "What happened? Are you okay?"
I held her against me. "I'm fine, babe." I told her about our little adventure. When I was done, I gave Underborn a stern look. "Looks like playing both sides only put you right in the line of fire."
"It is a calculated risk," the assassin replied.
I gave him a suspicious look. "What I'd like to know is why the timing coincided with my visit."
"Coincidence." Underborn wiped the blade of his dagger with an oiled cloth. "Daelissa knows she has your back against the proverbial wall. She must have reasoned that you might turn to me for help and sent Flark assassins to dispose of me before you made contact. I suspect if they'd been successful, one of them would have assumed my identity and tried to kill you when you came to visit."
I turned to Pressley. "What did they interrogate you about?"
"They wished to know Master Underborn's location." He tilted his nose up. "I, of course, refused to comply with their questioning. I may not be an assassin, but I have sworn the oath and would die before betraying the guild."
"Did they ask about me?" I asked.
He shook his head. "No. They seemed rather surprised to learn you were already here."
