The Memphis Knights

by Phillip Drayer Duncan

  “The old bartender who used to serve us booze when we were eighteen?”

  “The same,” Allistair said, nodding. He motioned to a living factory on the opposite side of the dead one. “Her old man works at the plant there. Him and a few others stepped out for their smoke break a couple of hours ago and saw six fools in gray cloaks lurking outside this old warehouse. Said they slipped inside in the cover of night.”

  “Where are the rest of the Knights?” Uriah asked.

  “I wanted to let you know first,” Allistair said with a shrug. “Want me to call it in?”

  Uriah rubbed his chin, then turned to glance at Eilidh and me. “What do you guys think?”

  I gave Eilidh a chance to answer. When she didn’t, I said, “I think we should call in a Cabal strike team and let them handle it.”

  “My father would flip shit,” Allistair said, shaking his head. “We can get more Knights here in twenty to thirty minutes, but your wizard buddies are out of the question.”

  “Besides, we can’t afford to wait that long,” Uriah said.

  “The Kingsnakes are posted just across the river,” I said. “We could have them here just as quick.”

  “And my father would consider it an act of war,” Allistair said. “You think he’s joking about that? He hates mages.”

  “I think we should check it out,” Uriah said, interrupting our exchange.

  I met his gaze and said, “If those summoners are in there, there’s no telling what else is in there with them. Or how many of them there are.”

  “Our source only saw six,” Allistair said. “The night boss is a friend to the Knights. He’s had eyes on it ever since. They were to call if they saw anyone else come in or leave. They haven’t, but they can only watch from that one side, so that doesn’t mean they didn’t leave out this side.”

  “And more could’ve gone in earlier, or from this side,” Uriah said.

  “True,” Allistair agreed. “And it could be a false tip. Could be some dumbass kids playing dress up.”

  Undeterred, Uriah continued, “With this small of a group, we have a better chance of sneaking in than with a whole army of Knights.”

  “That’s also true,” I said, feeling the need to point out the obvious. “But if there’s a hundred demons in there, and we get caught, we’re screwed.”

  “If they are in there, then they’re probably resting,” Uriah said. “I imagine the kind of magic they pulled last night must be exhausting, right? We could get the jump on them.”

  I looked at Eilidh, hoping to find an ally against this lunacy. She only shrugged. Apparently, I was the only one who thought this was a bad idea.

  I sighed. “Look, if you guys are dead set on sneaking into the dark warehouse, which may or may not, be filled with evil wizards and demons, I’ll go, but I just want to make sure everyone knows I think it’s a terrible idea.”

  Uriah nodded. “I want to check it out. Just us. I don’t want any more Knights getting hurt, if I can help it. And we may be warriors, but most of the gang isn’t real sneaky. If we call it in to Victor, we’ll have a hundred Knights on roaring choppers. Everyone in the city will know we’re here. Our enemy is more dangerous with prep time, right?”

  “Yes,” I admitted. “We wizards are a bit like Batman that way. Advantage always goes to the wizard with prep time, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t dangerous without it.”

  “We’re going to go in real quiet like,” Uriah said. “If our mages aren’t there, it’s no loss. If they are, and there’s only six, we’ll see if there’s a way we can get the jump on them. Try to take one or two alive. If there’s more, then we get the fuck out of there and call in the troops, deal?”

  “And if we run into their magical defenses?” I asked.

  Uriah shrugged. “That’s what you two are for, right?”

  “It’s not that simple,” Eilidh said, chiming in for the first time. “Depending on the strength of the wards, we might not be able to get past without tripping them.”

  “And that’s only if we can sense them in the first place,” I added.

  “Man, I thought you were supposed to be some kind of badass, Blade Mage,” Allistair said, flashing me a little grin. “Almost sounds like you’re afraid.”

  “Of course I’m afraid,” I said, too tired to worry myself over his well-intended jab. “You didn’t see what these guys were capable of last night?”

  “Enough,” Uriah said. “I’m going in. It’s already been decided.”

  “Fine,” I said, feeling my temper twitch. “Then let’s get it over with.”

  Uriah shifted his focus to Allistair. “These are your Knights. You decide who to bring. Someone needs to stay out here to warn the others if we don’t return. Let’s say... Twenty minutes. If we’re not back by then Victor needs to know what kind of stupid we’re up to.”

  “Sure,” Allistair said and turned to a burly knight beside him and repeated the order.

  “One more thing,” Uriah said, pausing. He took a slow breath and continued, “I need to see your swords.”

  An uncomfortable silence fell upon the Knights in the graying light.

  Good on Uriah, I thought. I was relieved to see that he was still thinking, after all. However, I tensed as I saw the look on Allistair’s face. It was as though Uriah had slapped him.

  “You’re serious?” Allistair asked.

  “I am,” Uriah replied in a quiet voice.

  Allistair drew his Templar sword from the sheath on his hip, revealing the blade. The others followed suit.

  Uriah nodded. “Thank you.”

  I don’t know what he saw, or sensed, but apparently, they had the stamp of approval. Maybe they couldn’t even hold the swords if they weren’t truly Knights. Maybe they actually would crumble in their hands. I didn’t know. Either way, I was confident in Uriah’s confidence.

  “That hurts, Uriah,” Allistair said through gritted teeth.

  “I’m sorry,” he replied.

  His friend shrugged. “We can deal with that later. For now, let’s go hunt some dark wizards.”

  “Right,” Uriah replied, drawing his 1911 from the holster on his side. He checked that a round was chambered and flipped off the safety. Then he drew his own sword. “Ready to do God’s work?”

  Chapter 32

  There wasn’t shit for cover between us and the warehouse, so we walked together in a slow group. I like to think we looked like a bunch of badasses. Like in the movies when the heroes are headed for the last battle. In reality, we probably looked like a group of weary-eyed partyers after an all nighter.

  Eilidh and I walked in the front, so we’d be prepared to shield everyone if we were ambushed. Not that it would matter. The dark mages would rip right through my shield just like they’d done the night before. Still, it felt nice to have a plan of sorts.

  I tried to step lightly, cringing internally as the gravel crunched beneath my feet. That’s the thing about sneaking. A lot of times you really are being quiet, but every move feels like you’re a setting off fireworks. I expected at any moment a dark wizard would kick open the door, or demons would pour out the old windows.

  That didn’t happen, though and we approached the building without incident.

  In a whisper, Uriah asked, “Do you guys sense any wards?”

  Eilidh shook her head. I did the same. Either they weren’t there, or we couldn’t sense them. There was no way to know for sure until a demon ate our faces.

  We approached the nearest side door. It was rusted with age, but the knob was still intact.

  Allistair moved beside the door and put his back to the wall. Reaching out a hand, he took hold of the knob.

  One of the Knights, a short stocky fellow with a shaved head and a long graying beard, crouched down and held his sword out in front of him, point toward the door. I suspected this was to be ready to poke anything that charged out once Allistair opened it.

  Uriah took a position just behind the stocky fellow,
his 1911 pointed directly at the door so he could shoot anything that didn’t charge directly at us. He held his sword at the ready in his other hand.

  The remaining Knight took up a position just behind Allistair. Using both hands to hold his Glock, he rested his arms over Uriah’s shoulder and also pointed at the door.

  They were as prepared for anything on the other side of the door as they could be. I had to hand it to them. I’d seen them in action some, but that was all chaotic happenstance. This was a side to the Knights I hadn’t had the chance to observe. They weren’t just a bunch of bikers with pointy things. They were disciplined and strategic. In this case, they’d developer their own breaching method that suited their style. It was impressive.

  I still ruined it for them, though.

  I tapped Uriah on the shoulder and mouthed the word ‘wizard’ while holding up my staff for him to see.

  Uriah took the hint and both he and the Knight behind him shuffled back a step, offering me a spot in the Memphis Knight Conga line. Then Uriah rested his gun on one of my shoulders and the other Knight rested his gun on the other. If they started shooting, I was going to be deaf.

  I forced down my anxiety and focused on crafting and manipulating my magical shield to cover the Knights around me. I’d summoned it to protect myself so many times I could bring up with little effort. However, stretching it to attempt to protect others required some focus.

  When I was happy with my shield, I gave Allistair the nod.

  And nothing happened.

  The door was locked.

  All that build up for nothing. I sighed and tried to relax, despite my nerves firing off in every direction.

  The stocky Knight in front of me set his sword on the ground and produced a small kit from a pouch on his hip.

  Leaning closer to me, Uriah whispered, “Use to be a burglar before he joined the Knights. He’ll have it open straight away.”

  Uriah didn’t sell his buddy short. Standing out in the open like that it felt like an hour, but in reality, the stocky Knight had the lock picked in under a minute. When he was done, he packed his tools back away, picked up his sword, resumed his position, and gave us a thumbs up.

  I rebuilt my shield and gave Allistair the nod again.

  This time the knob turned and Allistair quietly swung it open.

  Inside was pure darkness, so thick I couldn’t see past my own nose. Only a hint of the gray morning light snuck through around the cracked and damaged windows, making a few dim spots deeper in.

  When we weren’t immediately attacked, the Knight in front of me moved to the side and drew a handgun.

  I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves and forced my feet forward.

  Eilidh moved up alongside me, and I could sense her magic shield at work as well. If we found ourselves under a hail of magical attacks, the combined efforts of our shields were our best chance for survival. So, we took the lead. Allistair moved in just behind us, and Uriah just behind him. The other two brought up the rear.

  The doorway led us onto a path between two forgotten machines. It was too dark to even hazard a guess what they may have once been used for.

  I focused my eyes ahead, searching for any signs of movement in the darkness. Once again, I tried to keep my footfalls quiet, but each pattering step sounded like a parade in my own head. Even the sounds of our breathing seemed obnoxious in the desolate silence of the warehouse.

  If the mages were hiding here, they were being really quiet. I felt my confidence grow. It was more likely that abandoned factory was indeed abandoned. It was shaping up to be a false tip. Which was fine by me. We could all have a laugh about it over breakfast.

  At the end of the row of machines, there were rows of tall metal shelves, and several different routes we could take. Even with my eyes adjusted to the darkness, no one way seemed better than another.

  I was just about to move when I felt something sharp touch the left side of my neck. Before I could react to this new sensation, something pressed against right side of my head, just behind the ear. It felt an awful lot like a gun barrel. And I suspected the sharp object against my neck was a sword. Damn.

  Cutting my eyes and trying to move my neck as little as possible, I saw there was a sword against Eilidh’s throat as well. Still between the two of us, Allistair had raised a gun with each hand. One was against the back of Eilidh’s head and I surmised the other was against the back of my own head. Behind Eilidh, one of the Knights held his sword to her neck and in his other hand was a giant revolver, which was pointed at Uriah. I imagined the setup behind me was much the same.

  “Allistair, what the hell are you doing?” Uriah asked.

  Several small lights flicked on from above u. Not enough to blind, but just enough to bath us in an orange glow.

  I heard their movements before I saw them. It wasn’t like in the movies, though. There was no shuffling of feet, nor the cocking of hammers, or the pumping of shotguns. They were already in position and their weapons were ready to go. No, it was the rustling of cloth as they adjusted their sights on us and the excited breathing of adrenaline spiked minds.

  We were surrounded.

  And then I saw them in the soft light.

  Knights, all of them. I still couldn’t risk moving my head, but I gathered that there were at least ten. Maybe more.

  “What the hell?” Uriah repeated.

  “Don’t move, Uriah,” Allistair said. “They will shoot. Right now, they’re just looking for a reason.”

  “What is this, Allistair?”

  “Oh, drop the act, already,” Allistair said, his voice trembling on the edge of rage. “You didn’t get away with, Uriah. We know.”

  “Know what?”

  “You think you’re so fucking clever, don’t you?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Ignoring the question, Allistair said, “Drop your weapons. All three of you.”

  “Allistair—”

  “Do it,” he commanded. “Don’t think I won’t give the order to have my men open fire on us. We can all die together in a hail of gunfire you backstabbing, fuck!”

  The Knight turned his attention to me. “Blade Mage, is your little magic shield enough to stop this .45 caliber bullet from crashing through your skull if I pull the trigger? Drop your hardware.”

  Point taken.

  I answered his question by letting my staff and sword drop from my hands. They both clanked against the floor at my feet.

  Eilidh did the same.

  “Last chance, Uriah,” Allistair said. “Drop your gun and that fake sword.”

  “Fake sword?” Uriah said.

  “I don’t know how you did it, but we’ll find out,” Allistair said. “The game ends now.”

  There was a pause. For a moment, I didn’t think Uriah would comply and this would be the end of us. Instead, he sighed, and I heard his sword and gun clank to the ground as well.

  “All right,” Allistair said, not hiding his relief. “We’re going to take a little walk. I’ll warn you now, my Knights are feeling a bit twitchy. Any of you so much as breathe wrong and they will cut you down. Got it?”

  “What’s this about?” Uriah asked. “What is that you think I’ve done?”

  “Shut the fuck up,” Allistair said, the anger returning to his voice. “Keep that Devil’s tongue in your mouth before I have it removed. You betrayed us.”

  He turned to address his Knights. “If any of them speaks again, kill them.”

  Back to us. “Start walking.”

  We did.

  Our party of six quickly became a party of ten as the Knights fell in around us. More stayed further back, some behind, others in front. All had guns aimed at us. Even if I’d had my sword and shield still, I didn’t like the odds. It wasn’t like they were carrying a few handguns. Most were armed with shotguns, but I saw at least three with AR-15’s, and one with an AK-47.

  Somewhere up ahead I heard some machines kick on. Not an expert on h
eavy machinery, but I had a dark guess at what they might be, and a feeling I’d soon find out.

  Allistair led us toward the center of the factory where a large section of the floor had been torn away. The earth beneath it had been dug away as well, leaving a giant hole.

  Around the hole, was exactly what I’d been afraid of. Four cement trucks with their big barrels churning. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what Allistair had planned for us. I wasn’t surprised when he pointed to the ladder on the lip of the hole and ordered us down.

  I went first, then Eilidh, and Uriah last. The dirt was soft under my feet and it was clear the hole had only been dug out recently. There was a series of pipes near the bottom and they appeared to have been worked on. My guess was that they’d dug it out for this purpose. Probably some nasty leak. How convenient for Allistair.

  The lip of the hole was several feet above the top of my head and as soon as Uriah was in, one of the Knights pulled up the ladder. With my staff, I could’ve found a way to launch myself out. Without it, I was stuck.

  A small table had been setup and on it was a TV. An extension cord ran up the lip of the hole, but I had no delusions around trying to climb out. Even if it wouldn’t result in being shot to pieces, I doubted I could climb up it.

  Of more interest, was the fact they’d gone to the trouble of setting up the TV for us.

  From the top, Allistair didn’t waste any time to explain. “Uriah Abner, you’ve betrayed the Memphis Knights.”

  “No, I haven’t,” Uriah said, starring up at his friend. “You’re mistaken, Allistair.”

  “Am I?” he asked and pointed at the TV. “I want you to watch. I want you to see.”

  Someone up above must have clicked a play button somewhere.

  Victor’s face appeared on the screen. He looked tired and worn, but more, he looked angry. He said, “This is a message to all Memphis Knights, friends, families, and associates. Tonight, we’ve been attacked twice. Once at Mr. Love’s estate during Abner’s wake. And again, After returning to the compound, in the dead of night, another attack was carried out. This one, perhaps, more egregious than the first. Not satisfied with the brutal murder of our leader, and the loss of lives at Mr. Love’s estate, our cowardly enemies struck the very heart of the Memphis Knights.”