by Art DeForest
“All the same, be careful. You still have some power over the undead yourself. He may see that as a threat.” She said in a slightly scolding tone.
“I’ll be careful,” I promised. “Let me know if you find out anything.”
“I’ll keep in touch,” she said in a sultry tone that gave a different twist to the word touch than the sentence implied. I clicked off before I was tempted to explore the various meanings of the word.
I sat there for awhile. Things had been going so fast that I hadn’t really considered the fact that in all actuality, I was a necromancer myself. Had I always been one? Some genetic mutation or something? Or was the power simply borrowed from the amulet? Would it remain with me or would it leech away now that the amulet was gone?
I closed my eyes and searched within myself. I’ve never been one for meditation or that kind of thing, so it was hard. All the sounds that I didn’t hear as I went about my day seemed to come suddenly to the fore. The buzzing of the fluorescent lights, the low sound of traffic on the surrounding streets, things that are just white noise today seemed to all be conspiring to break my concentration.
Slowly, I was able to focus my concentration inward. At first, there was nothing, but random thoughts. Things like “This is stupid. You aren’t some monk on a mountain top, dumbass.” You know things like that.
Eventually, I got past that and started to sense something different. There seemed to be a black globe of...something, power?, at the center of my being. As my focus narrowed to that spot, I started to sense ephemeral black tentacles of the substance undulating from the globe, connecting to things I couldn’t see with my eyes.
I chose a single tentacle at random and tried to reach out and get a sense of where it led. Abruptly, I just knew that there was a vampire on the roof of a building across the street. The...flavor, for lack of a better term, was familiar. It was one of Siobhan’s people. She was still watching over me like a mother hen. I didn’t know if I should be flattered or annoyed.
Thinking about Siobhan, I withdrew back to my orb of power. I like the sound of that. “Orb of Power!” Anyway, I went back and focused on the tentacles emanating from it. One, in particular, seemed to draw my attention. Concentrating on it, I got the sense of Siobhan once more. It was stronger and more direct. I knew without thinking where this tentacle would lead. On impulse, I followed it.
The tentacle ended in another globe. I sensed that it was larger than my own, but not by much. It seemed to call to me. I drew ever closer until my awareness...made contact.
She knew I was there immediately. There seemed to be an almost instinctive defensive reaction trying to push me away from her core, but just as quickly as it started, it stopped. A sense of recognition came through the link we shared, followed quickly by a sense of welcome and love.
My god! She really did love me. A large part of me always suspected her of indulging in some manipulative con game designed to increase her own power. After all, my experience with vampires told me that power was more seductive to them than blood.
A sense of acknowledgment came to me then, as if she could read my mind. It was more than that, however. It was true communion. I was so new to this; I had no walls in place to defend myself, and her...she dropped her walls and let me in.
Our power mixed. I instantly knew her better than anyone I had ever known before. Even Sam, before she died. Siobhan’s whole life was laid out before me. I knew all her dreams and fears. I watched her life through the centuries; I saw the good and evil she had wrought and the turning points in her life that had made her what she was today.
The sharing went both ways. She knew all that I was, my strengths and the weaknesses that I hid away from everyone. The petty and disgusting things that all humans have hidden in the dark corners of their souls were there for her perusal. She accepted them without qualification. As that realization struck, I knew that I had no problem accepting who she was either. Yes, there was a darkness in her, a potential to the evil that she fought every single day. Her motives were not altogether altruistic in that regard. She controlled the evil because she knew that was the path to longer life and more power.
I found I could get behind those notions. Not so much the power for power’s sake but power enough to protect me and those around me from any foe, no matter how strong. I sensed her agreement of that and the notion of how powerful we could become together.
All the while we were communing, I could sense the connection between us growing. As if exercising a long unused muscle was making it stronger and more capable.
“You astound me, my love.” I actually heard her words in my mind, over our connection. “I never expected you to immerse yourself so deeply in your power.”
“It’s there inside of me. I just set about trying to explore it.” I replied across the miles separating us.
“You should be proud. Most undead never reach this level of communication or power.” She said in quiet awe.
“I’m not undead, though. I...I’m a necromancer, I guess.” I said, still troubled by the apparent fact.
“You are what your life and circumstances made you.” She said, the feeling of acceptance and love, once more flooding through our link. “You need not put a name to it or feel bad about it. I, above all others, see who you are, and above all else, you are still a good man.
I did my best to return the feelings of acceptance and, god help me, the love that I felt towards her. As intimately as we had shared, there could be nothing less. I felt quiet joy come from her then, as I finally accepted what she’d known for a while now.
I was never one to believe in destiny. I always figured we were put on this earth to make our own way and maybe learn a thing or two before we passed on. But this, this had the feel of a long-missing puzzle piece falling into place, creating a picture of profound beauty and depth.
As I sat there at my desk in communion with my soul’s mate, a dark presence started to intrude. A feeling of power was coming closer to me in the physical world. “Siobhan, what is that?” I asked, hoping her greater experience would give me a clue.
“I...I don’t know,” her voice once more came over our bond. “I think….”
All of the sudden an immense wave of power overwhelmed my mind, blocking out all sensation. As I floated in a sea of blackness, a new voice came to me. “STUPID HUMAN! DID YOU THINK YOU COULD USE THE POWER YOU STOLE FROM ME WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE?
The pain of the words tore at my soul. Pain so great I could barely think. Instinctively, I tried to erect a barrier against the jagged power, pushing hot needles into my psyche. I was on the razor’s edge of insanity at that point, staring into an abyss from which there was no recovery. As I teetered on edge, I was bolstered suddenly by a new presence. Power coursed through my bond to Siobhan, creating a bubble of some kind that surrounded my fracturing mind. It was fragile and tenuous, but it was holding.
As the pressure of Ahriman’s will was pushed back, I realized she was using every ounce of power at her disposal to protect me. It gave me enough space to gather my wits into something approaching coherence and add my own power to the shield she had cast around me.
The synergy we had created with our bond translated into power over and above what we could achieve alone. The shield got thicker and harder. Once it was stable, we started pushing back.
The fight was brutal. Ahriman had the wisdom of ages and huge power at his beck and call. He used them ruthlessly. He was outnumbered, however. The combined power of Siobhan and I were sufficient, just barely, to push him completely from my mind.
A final thought penetrated like a spear before he was cast out completely. “Come to me, mortal or your wife and child will suffer for all eternity!” A vision came on the heels of his words then. He was standing in the parking garage of my own building, clutching the hand of a beautiful redheaded girl. Her eyes seemed to lock on my presence, and she wailed. “DADDY! HELP ME!”
My eyes snapped open. My feet carried me to my office d
oor even before my vision came back into focus. Almost blindly I sprinted down the hallway and through the reception area to the elevator. I thought I heard someone shout as the steel doors closed behind me. My brain didn’t acknowledge the words. All I could think about was my little girl in the hands of a monster, her cry for help ringing again and again in my brain, drowning out anything else
The .45 appeared in my hand, seemingly of its own volition as I stepped out into the parking garage. There was no one there. Pistol at the ready I scanned the visible areas of the parking garage, looking for Emily.
As my breathing stabilized, my brain once more engaged. The sense of Siobhan asserted itself. A feeling of calmness infused me, allowing me to think. “Go cautiously love. You know this is a trap. I’ll be by your side shortly.”
I took the words to heart and sent a feeling of acknowledgment back along our bond, tempered with a warning. She knew I worried that Ahriman could control her. I started down the driveway between the sparsely occupied parking spots. Not many people were here after dark. A movement to my left had me spinning that direction. The tritium spot on the front sight of my pistol settled in the center of Ahriman’s chest. He was alone.
“Where’s my daughter, you bastard.” I ground out between clenched teeth.
A dusty chuckle came from Ahriman. He looked like just another guy I realized as I studied him over my sights. Shorter than me by quite a bit, maybe 5’ 5” or 5’ 6”. He was thin in a way that suggested whipcord strength not malnutrition. Black hair framed Mediterranean features and skin tone. He was dressed in a white button-down shirt with slacks and a blazer. Perfect for blending into the heavy business area that surrounded us. The most remarkable features about him were his eyes. The were black, like the twin openings of a double-barreled shotgun, cold but ready to wreak instant havoc. “The girl is safe...for now,” he said in the classic movie bad guy response to that question.
“Okay, Ariman,” I said, keeping the gun at the ready, but relaxing my stance a little. “You already have the medallion. What more could you possibly want with me?”
“Simple enough.” He responded with a shrug of his narrow shoulders. “You have stolen some of the power from the amulet. I want it back.” He said, his voice going hard at the end.
“Oh, is that all?” I said as I began pretending to check my pockets with my free hand. “I know I have it around here somewhere,” I said in an absent-minded tone.
“DO NOT TRIFLE WITH ME HUMAN!” He shouted in a voice that seemed too loud for his small body to have made.
I took an involuntary step back. One of these days, my inner smart ass was going to get me killed. A sense of sardonic agreement came floating over my link to Siobhan.
Ahriman quickly calmed himself and continued. “You will come to me as a willing sacrifice. If you do, I will release your wife and daughter. You will all be together in peace, in the afterlife.”
I heard the ding of the elevator as I opened my mouth to tell the bastard where he could stick his offer. The doors opened, and my Dreadnoughts streamed out, shotguns pointed at Ahriman as they took up defensive positions around me.
Ahriman seemed unconcerned. “Well,” he said. “What’s it to be? Will you come with me now or suffer the knowledge that your wife and child will be forever tormented in my possession?”
“I think I’ll take door number three, Bob,” I said in my best game show contestant voice. I put my gun in its holster and raised my hands to my head. “Dreadnoughts, light this fucker up.” I ground out to my team as my fingers went into my unprotected ears.
Five fully automatic Saiga 12 gauge shotguns spat fury at Ahriman. Gunsmoke and concrete dust from the wall behind Ahriman’s position obscured my vision, and the necromancer disappeared in the haze.
A bare few seconds later the shotguns clicked on empty magazines, and I drew my .45 once more as my team placed fresh ones home. Spreading out, we approached Ahriman’s position. The ‘90’s Corolla he’d been standing behind seemed a little worse for wear. Sweeping in to get a view in front of the car, we found...nothing. No body, no blood, nothing.
“It was a projection; he was never really here.” Said a familiar female voice behind us.
We whipped around to see Siobhan standing by the street entrance to the parking garage. With a flash of brilliance, I proclaimed, “Uh, what?”
“It was a projection.” She reiterated. “He used magic to project an illusion of himself. He was never really here.” She concluded.
“He sure as hell looked real” Said Jake, with a growl.
“Tis ancient magic the creature possesses. A sorcerer from ages past on top of his necromancy.” She replied, her Irish accent stronger than usual.
“Crap,” I said. “How do we fight something like that?”
“Ye have power and weapons of your own, to be sure. I myself am no slouch in that regard.” She said with a smile as she approached.
Being this close together, the link between us was almost palpable in its strength. Siobhan flowed into my arms. It felt right, like a key sliding into a lock. It was so natural seeming that I didn’t think anything of it until the tittering started.
I could feel my face heating up as I turned to glare at my crew. They all stood there grinning with knowing expressions on their faces. Jerks.
“What are you guys, twelve?” I asked with temerity. “This isn’t middle school, for crying out loud.”
The Dreadnoughts tried, without much success, to regain their composure. For her part, Siobhan just snuggled in closer and laid the side of her head against my chest.
Lori was the first one to recover some semblance of composure. “What now boss?” she asked. “He still has Sam and Emily, even if they’re just a shade of what they once were.”
Reluctantly I released my hold on Siobhan and turned to face my guys. “We’ve got to find the bastard before we can do anything.” I said somberly “Alex and some of Siobhan’s people are out looking. We think he might be holed up somewhere on the south side of town.”
The crew groaned at the thought. “Well there’s good and bad neighborhoods both down there, maybe we’ll get lucky.” Said Ray.
“Alex is trying to map out the likely areas to concentrate on. Hopefully, we’ll have some idea of where to search tomorrow.” I replied. “For now, go home and get some rest. We’ll hit it fresh in the morning.”
Everyone except Lori and Jake grumbled their ascent and turned back towards the elevator. Those two stood ready to resume their guard duty from the previous evening. “You guys too,” I said with a nod towards the elevator. “I’ll stick with Siobhan. We have some things to go over anyway.”
“I’ll just bet you do.” Said Jake with a crooked grin and raised eyebrows. I started to growl at him, but Lori turned and punched him in the shoulder.
“Ow!” He said, grabbing his shoulder. “What was that for?”
Lori just gave him an arched look as she turned for the elevator. “Come on, you big adolescent. I’ll buy the first round at Smitty’s.” Having said that, they both turned with a wave and headed for the elevator.
I turned back to Siobhan, my arms going back around her of their own volition. I looked into her emerald gaze and summoned all of the eloquence at my disposal. “Hi,” I said.
She smiled up at me. “Hi, yourself.”
I could have stayed in her embrace forever, but the real world was intruding on my peace of mind.
“What now?” I said. “Is Ahriman going to be able to penetrate my mind and screw with me whenever he wants? I asked.
“Siobhan’s eyes became serious. “He’s powerful, there can be no doubt of that, but I can teach you to shield yourself well enough to protect your mind. Indeed, the power you contributed to our combined defenses should give you some idea of how to create such a warding on your own.”
I thought back and realized that she was probably right. “It took both of us to ward him off, though. And he still got through with his parting shot abou
t Emily.” I said with concern.
“Aye, that he did, but the shield we built was off the cuff and unplanned. With deliberation and concentration, it can be made much stronger.” She said in a comforting tone.
“Cool,” I said in reply. “Is there anyway we can use this power to find the rat bastard?” I asked, a steel edge of anger lacing my tone.
She looked at me quizzically before replying. “I have been unsuccessful in my own efforts in that regard.” She said, frustration evident on her beautiful features. “Perhaps you can do better. Your power does seem a bit different. Tell me, how were you able to find me last night when we bonded?” She cast her eyes down demurely on the last word.
I went over how I had discovered the orb of power at my core and how I could follow the tentacles emanating from it to find various undead. “Speaking of which,” I said with a mock scowl. “Is it really necessary to have your people spying on me from the next building over?”
