by Sean Stone
‘Butio!’
My spell hit the rider right in the back and he was unable to block it this time. He exploded in a cloud of green smoke that flew out in all directions from where he’d been sitting. The spinal column and the head fell and both objects vanished beneath the mist that completely concealed the ground.
I had expected him to explode in a shower of bones and rotted flesh, but smoke was good enough as long as he was gone. I took a single step forward and stopped. The green smoke flew back together above the horse and reformed into the figure of the headless rider who now turned his steed to once again face me, albeit without his actual face in his hands this time.
‘Well, that’s not fair,’ I said to nobody in particular. I didn’t wait around to give it another chance to attack. From what I could gather this thing was dead. It had its head detached from its body and looked as rotten as maggot infested meat. When dealing with dead things fire was always the solution.
I threw out my palm and yelled, ‘Sinair!’ A stream of fire shot from my hand and engulfed the rider in warm orange flames. I watched with satisfaction as he and his horse vanished within the inferno I’d unleashed. But as the flames faded dismay took my heart. The rider was fine. He was still sitting atop his horse who was also fine. The only difference was now the rider was on fire and that only made him look more terrifying than he did before. The spinal column rose up out of the mist and like a snake it slithered up the horse’s leg until the rider’s hand closed around the bone weapon once more. He then moved the spine through the mist delicately until he found his head and raised it up, curled inside the spinal column.
‘Well, okay then,’ I said in defeat, and then I did the only thing I could think of doing. I ran.
Chapter Three
My plan was simple. I’d fought a nasty guy called Kagen once before and we’d both ended up taking a dive into the river. It turned out the river was magical thanks to the river nymphs. The river healed me and helped me back to land, but it had dragged Kagen under. I was pretty sure Leah had been responsible for that, and I really hoped she’d come through for me again. I was going to throw myself into the water and hope for the best. If that dead thing followed me then with any luck Leah, or the river, would blast it to smithereens.
Only there was a rather large flaw in my plan. I was running on foot and he was on a bloody horse. I could hear him galloping after me, gaining on me much faster than I’d anticipated. Still the river was in sight. If I could just…
I ducked just in time to avoid getting my head sliced off by the spinal whip. The column ruffled my hair as it swooped over my head, and the horse skidded along the tarmac as it stopped and turned once again. It was blocking my way to the bridge but I didn’t want to reach the bridge. I looked at the grass clearing that led to the river. I’d never make it.
‘Butio!’ I unleashed the explosive spell again. It wouldn’t blow him up permanently, but it would buy me enough time to get to the river.
The rider caught the spell with his bone-whip and his horse snorted as if it was laughing at me.
‘What do you want?’ I asked, knowing I wouldn’t get an answer. Still, it was worth trying to open up a dialogue with the creature. Give civility a go and all that.
As expected, I got no reply.
The rider charged forward again. This time he swung the spinal column along the ground so I couldn’t duck and roll. I did something far more daring, and far more stupid. As the horse reached me, I grabbed hold of its reigns and swung myself up on the opposite side to the spinal column. I threw my whole body into the headless rider. There was a cracking thud as he tumbled off the horse and I took his place on the bone-saddle. I had no idea how to ride a horse, but surely it wasn’t that difficult. I yanked the reigns to the side and forced the horse to turn around. I looked down and was reminded that the horse was covered in human remains and tried not to let the repulsion affect me.
The rider rose to his feet, the spinal column still in one hand, and his head in the other. The nasty glowing eyes found me again. I didn’t wait to see what the rider intended to do.
I squeezed my thighs into the body of the horse and shouted, ‘Ha!’ Just like I’d seen on the television. The horse galloped toward the river just like I’d intended. I was amazed that I’d done it right. I only got halfway there when the grinning head behind me let out a blood-curdling scream that pierced the night. The horse stopped abruptly and reared up onto its hind legs, letting out an excruciating whinny. I went flying off its back and landed on my own back, luckily on the soft grass.
Unluckily, the rider was now standing over me. He swung his arm behind him, the whip tearing through the air and producing a whistling sound that signified the pain coming my way. Then he was thrown right off his feet by a torrent of water that utterly engulfed him. I scurried across the grass as far away from him as possible, my eyes darting around looking for the source of my rescue. Then I saw the figure. It was too dark to make out any features but I recognised Leah by her silhouette alone. She lowered her hand which had been outstretched, and the torrent of water fell apart. The water hit the ground with a hard splash and then eased itself down into the dirt.
I looked back at the rider who annoyingly had survived her attack, but his dark outfit was now a sodden mess and his whip hung lamely in his hand. He leaped up onto his horse and his green eyes found me one last time before he galloped away into the night. The mist vanished with him.
‘Leah,’ I said as I hurried to my feet. But she was already gone. ‘Leah!’ I called after her. I strode in the direction of the river, determined to catch up with her even though it was quite clear that she was long gone.
The sound of an engine caught my attention and I looked over at the car now making its way across the bridge. It was an immaculate white Rolls Royce Phantom. It stopped at the edge of the grass and a sharply dressed chauffeur stepped out of the front. He walked around to my side of the vehicle and peered through the darkness at me.
‘Jacob Graves?’ he enquired.
I was a bit wary of answering. The last thing who’d said my name had ended up swinging a spinal column at my head. ‘What do you want?’ I called back, not moving any closer.
‘I’ve come to collect you.’
‘Collect me? For who?’ I asked. I wasn’t a parcel. I couldn’t just be picked up.
The back door of the car swung open and a blonde-haired head emerged. It was Jasmine, Leah’s big sister. ‘Get in the car, Jacob!’
‘What do you want?’ I said as I stalked across the now mist-free grass toward her car. My shoes had got soaked from Leah’s water attack and my socks were squelching inside the leather.
‘Is that any way to greet the person who’s offering to get you out of here before your horse-riding fellow comes back to resume the joust?’ she asked, giving me one of her cynical smiles.
‘What do you know about that?’
‘Nothing. Leah told me you could do with a hand getting out of here.’
I looked back in the direction of the river hoping that Leah would be there again. She wasn’t. The water was calm and nothing resembling anything remotely person-like stood along the river bank. Leah was nowhere in sight.
‘You’re wasting your time. You won’t see her now or ever again,’ there was a touch of frost. A hint of jealousy. I hadn’t known Jasmine long, but it had been long enough for me to know that her and Leah weren’t the closest of siblings. ‘Are you getting in or are you staying here?’
Jasmine didn’t move to give me space to get into the car. Instead, I had to go through a ridiculous song and dance of climbing over her. I was pretty sure she adjusted her position to force me to push my body against hers at one point. I saw the satisfied smirk on her face. If she was anybody else I might have been more willing to go along with it, but Jasmine and I had history. I’d slept with her some time ago as a way to create distance between Leah and me. I’d felt like she was getting too close. The plan worked better than I’d wan
ted it to. Leah had refused to talk to me and then she left forever. So, distance achieved. If that was how badly it had turned out last time, there was no telling what might happen if I slept with Jasmine again.
‘Thanks for that,’ I grumbled as I fell into the seat next to her.
‘You could have gone around to the other door.’ I hadn’t thought of that. ‘But you like making things hard, don’t you?’ She wiggled her eyebrows coquettishly.
I chose to ignore her blatant innuendo. Taking the bait would only lead down a garden path that ended up in Jasmine’s bed. Maybe nothing bad would happen since Leah was gone. Just because Jasmine said Leah was never going to come back, it didn’t make it true.
‘I’m surprised you came,’ I said, steering the conversation elsewhere.
‘Why? You know I’m fond of you.’ She ran her index finger down my thigh, staring at me flirtatiously. Despite my desire not to take another tumble with her, I was only human and there was only so much resistance I could muster. Jasmine was a seriously attractive woman. I mean, she made super models look drab. Plus, I hadn’t seen any action for over a week. That isn’t an overly long time, I know, but I have a high sex drive.
‘I meant,’ I took her wrist and carefully moved her finger away from my leg. ‘I’m surprised that you did something Leah asked you to.’
‘My sisters and I bicker but when push comes to shove, we’re there when we need one another. Your death would destroy Leah. And, loathe as I am to admit it, you seem rather important in current affairs.’
‘Do I?’ I asked, intrigued.
‘My mother thought you were important enough to save your life. That means more than you seem to realise. She would have let most people die.’
‘Cold woman.’
‘She does live underwater.’
‘I thought she saved me because Leah agreed to go home?’
Jasmine laughed and shook her head at me. Her vibrant hair bounced off her shoulders. ‘You don’t know how resourceful my mother is. The only reason Leah was still in the city after Mother asked her to come home was because Mother allowed it. Had Mother grown tired of Leah’s refusal to go home she would have had her dragged home kicking and screaming. My mother does not take no for an answer and she has no compunctions about embarrassing us in front of the humans.’
‘And I thought you were bad,’ I mumbled under my breath.
‘I heard that.’
‘I know.’ I glanced out of the window, relieved to see the familiar sights of the city proper. Towering buildings and busy restaurants. No headless horseman would attack me here, it was far too crowded. Or maybe he didn’t care. I mean, he hadn’t struck me as being shy. He hadn’t really stuck me as being anything other than extremely dead.
’So, why is your mother okay with you rocking around in the big city, but Leah had to go home?’
Jasmine’s face twisted with annoyance that she didn’t even bother to hide. That was one of the things I did like about her, she didn’t hide how she felt. I got the impression she wouldn’t be able to even if she did try. ‘I’m first born and heir to my mother’s throne,’ she said with pride. ‘But Leah has always been her favourite. She thinks Leah is better at all the politics.’
‘But if you’re the heir shouldn’t she be training you to get better at the politics? It’s gonna be your job one day, right?’
She looked out the window and huffed. ‘She thinks I’ll leave that kind of thing to Leah. And I suppose I could. One of the best things about being the boss is delegation, isn’t that right?’ A cruel smile crawled onto her face. I got the impression she was confusing delegation with dumping everything on Leah. ‘Oh look, it’s your stop.’
The car parked right outside the entrance to my apartment block. I hadn’t wanted to get in the car when Jasmine had turned up, but now I wasn’t ready to leave. I needed to know what Leah was doing. How she was doing. But I couldn’t just come out and ask because I’d piss Jasmine off and then she’d say whatever she thought would hurt me most.
‘How is the new treaty going? I imagine Leah’s pretty stressed with trying to hash that out?’
Jasmine rolled her eyes. ‘Leah isn’t happy unless she’s got a pile of work to do. She was happy to waste all those years crunching numbers for you after all. But as for the treaty, it’s far easier than you’d think. All parties are willing to sign a new treaty in blood except one.’
‘Dorian.’ He’d already admitted that he’d wanted the treaty destroyed, although he hadn’t told me why. Dorian never told anybody anything unless it served some purpose.
‘Exactly. He’s concocted a rather clever excuse, one that the other factions seem willing to accept,’ she teased, waiting for me to ask for more information.
‘Go on?’
‘The humans cannot agree to anything because the humans are currently divided. Whilst the humans are divided they cannot agree to any diplomatic contracts.’
‘So what, you just have to wait for him and Magraval to finish their war?’
Jasmine sighed. There was no playfulness in her sigh, just exhaustion. ‘We can’t wait. There’s too much pressure. The Fae do not want a war, but they see Dorian’s behaviour as a direct insult. If he doesn’t sit down and spill some blood on that parchment soon, they will attack. Especially since two Fae have been found dead.’
‘Dead? Where? Isn’t that enough to make them attack him?’
Jasmine shook her head. ‘They don’t know who is responsible. The Fae were found outside of the Fae Woods meaning they waved any diplomatic protections. The bodies were withered and dried. It was obviously a magical attack but they’ve never seen anything like it. It didn’t look like a human attack and there were no traces of human magic, so they have no way of pinning it on Dorian just yet.’
‘Surely there’s a way to go around Dorian?’ One man could not seriously cause an entire inter-species war.
‘The only other person in an official capacity to sign the treaty is the mayor.’
‘And the mayor is in Dorian’s pocket.’ I clenched my fist in frustration. I shouldn’t even have to worry about stuff like this. I wasn’t in charge of the city, but I did live in it. I did not want a war-torn city to call home. And even if I wanted no part of it I knew I’d get dragged into it all the same. I had enough on my plate.
‘Leah thinks we should step in and help bring the war between the immortal and the wizard to a close, but that would be a huge breach of Mother’s rules. We guide and we advise, but we do not get directly involved.’
‘Seems like a stupid rule.’ I wondered on whose side Leah would fall. Leah was not a fan of either Dorian or Magraval.
‘On the other hand, I suggested simply getting Magraval and Dorian to sign separately, but Dorian refused to acknowledge another human faction.’
‘Dorian’s being a little bitch,’ I said, and Jasmine giggled.
‘Careful, Jacob. The immortal has eyes and ears everywhere.’
‘I’m too valuable to him right now. It makes me kind of untouchable.’ I gave my shirt collar a little flick.
‘Oh, I think I could get away with touching you,’ Jasmine said, leaning in closer.
I laughed awkwardly. ‘Maybe. But like you said, this is my stop. Thanks for the ride, Jasmine.’ I pushed open the door on my side, being sure not to climb over her on my way out this time.
‘Anytime, Mr. Graves,’ she said with a wave before rolling away up the street.
Chapter Four
I was eating breakfast the following morning when Drew strolled into my flat as if he hadn’t kicked me out of his car in the middle of nowhere the night before.
‘Your post,’ he said, throwing down a pile of letters on my dining table. I barely glanced at them. If he thought we were just going to act like nothing had happened then he was very much mistaken.
‘I nearly got killed last night,’ I said, letting my anger seep out slowly in my words.
Drew’s eyes widened just a little as his grump
y demeanour was replaced with concern. ‘What? Magraval attacked you?’
‘No. Something else did. It wouldn’t have had the chance if you hadn’t turfed me out in the middle of nowhere.’
‘That’s not important right now. The pressing issue is who attacked you. I take it you’re not injured?’ His eyes roamed over my body looking for any signs of harm.
‘I’m fine. I fended him off.’
‘Him?’
‘Him. It. I don’t know. It was headless horseman with a spinal column for a whip.’ I made a little whipping motion with my arm as if Drew wouldn’t have understood what the word meant on its own. For a moment I thought Drew was going to accuse me of hallucinating. Some things were too weird even for the supernatural. However, Drew had seen his fair share of weird happenings. ‘I’ve never heard of anything doing that. I’ll have to hit the books and try and figure it out.’
‘My magic couldn’t stop it. It blocked all my spells with that bloody spine and when I did manage to hit him, he recovered in seconds. I blew him up and he just put himself back together again.’
‘I’ll find out what he — it is. We’ll figure out how to kill it.’
‘And why it’s after me.’
‘For now I think we can assume Magraval sent it.’
‘Maybe. I don’t know,’ I said thoughtfully.
‘You disagree?’ Drew pulled out one of the chairs and sat down, eager to hear my thoughts. It seemed that he was going to pretend I hadn’t presented a theory that suggested his son was Magraval. We were just going to pretend that never happened.
‘Think about it. Every time Magraval has done anything to me it’s had some kind of emotional resonance. All of the people he’s manipulated and used to hurt me have been people I was connected with in some way. This creature has nothing to do with me. He can hurt me physically, but there’s no emotional impact. It’s just not Magraval’s style.’
Drew nodded ponderously. ‘I see where you’re coming from. But maybe after the fight at the Hall he’s decided to just kill you and be done with it. Toying with you is too risky now. You came pretty close to defeating him.’
