Hunt of the Dwarf King

by Charley Case

  “How often do you get attacked that you forget about assassins attacking you?” Preston asked, his eyes wide.

  Finn shrugged again. “More often than you would think, probably. Although, I do have to say the number has gone down considerably since I arrived here on Earth.”

  They walked to the main foyer, and Preston stopped them at the door. “You two be careful.” He turned to Finn. “You’re good in a fight, and I think you’re a good man who I would like to keep working with. You did the job I asked and did it quickly and with minimal collateral damage.”

  “That was mostly by accident,” Finn admitted. “Just a fair warning, for future jobs, collateral damage is kind of my specialty.”

  Preston chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind.” His face became serious again. “I’m going to start putting more resources into looking into the Dark Star and what she has planned. She was in my periphery, but I had no idea her movement had gained so much traction so quickly. I also need to investigate my employees. It’s obvious to me now that I have a traitor in my house. I’ll start with Anita, but I really think that’s a false lead.”

  “Do what you have to. So, can we count on backup at the Gerivaldie estate if we find what we’re looking for?”

  Preston nodded. “Yes, but as I said, it will be a few hours before they can get here, so be careful until then.”

  “Finn!”

  They turned to see Anita jogging from the back of the house with a scoped rifle in her hands.

  Finn pulled Fragar out and pushed Mila behind him.

  Anita slid to a stop, a shocked look on her face as the axe unfolded. “What the fuck?” she yelled, holding the rifle across her chest as if trying to hide behind it.

  “You have a rifle! What do you mean ‘what the fuck’?” he shouted, confused.

  Preston stepped between them and held a hand up to Finn. “Sorry, I completely forgot in the midst of the attack. I asked Anita to bring you something you can use to take the hounds out safely.”

  Anita quickly handed Preston the gun and a shoulder bag that clanked when its contents shifted, then stepped back still eyeing Fragar.

  Finn, feeling slightly embarrassed but completely justified, put Fragar away. “Sorry, it’s been a stressful few hours.”

  “Apparently,” Anita said, shaking slightly with fright at almost being chopped down. “Anyway, this is the best I could come up with on short notice. It’s a tranq gun that uses a magical firing mechanism, so it’s pretty quiet. We have a few tranquilizer darts that might have enough punch to get through the stone skin, maybe thirty or forty in all. They’re in the bag.”

  “‘Might have enough punch’?” Finn raised an eyebrow.

  She shrugged. “Never tried them on stone skin specifically, but they’ll go through a basilisk’s skin, and those things are pretty tough.”

  “Okay.” Finn took the gun and bag from Preston. “Thanks.”

  “Whatever.” She turned and stomped out the back, her hands still shaking slightly as she pulled out a cigarette and her lighter before rounding a corner and moving out of sight.

  “I really don’t think it’s her. I’ve known her for far too long, and I have never seen her do anything that would put one of her animals in danger,” Preston said again, turning back to the door and pulling it open for them.

  “Yeah, maybe,” Finn relented. “Well, we’ll call in when we find anything.”

  “Good luck.” He shook Finn’s hand, then gave Penny a small bow before finally taking Mila’s hand. “Do be careful, Dr. Winters. These are not friendly people.”

  “I will. Thanks, Preston.” She smiled up at him, then stepped out the door.

  Preston held out a hand to stop Finn before he followed her and leaned in to whisper, “Take good care of her. I have a feeling she’s something special.”

  Finn stared into the Minotaur’s eyes for a second. “I thought the same thing.”

  “‘The intuition of a dwarf is not something easily questioned,’ at least that’s what my father always said.”

  “Sounds like he and I would have gotten along.”

  Preston chuckled. “I don’t know. He was an odd one, my father. Always wore cowboy boots and hats. Huge fan of Marion Robert Morrison, like a superfan. Ended up buying every piece of memorabilia he could find. Made me promise to keep it all after he died. Now I have a whole wing of the house full of the stuff, just collecting dust.”

  Finn frowned. He had no idea what Preston was talking about, but being a superfan of a guy named Marion did sound odd. How badass could he be?

  “Okay. Well, we’re off, then.” Finn gave him a smile and walked out the door. He looked at Penny on his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. “Who the fuck is Marion Robert Morrison?”

  She turned a little red and gave a stiff shrug, trying not to laugh.

  Finn narrowed his eyes at her. He had spent enough time with her to tell when she was lying.

  Before he could call her on it, though, Mila shouted for him to hurry up.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Mila drove them back toward Polo Club, her foot a little less heavy than normal, her fidgeting a sign that she was thinking about everything that could go wrong.

  Finn reached over and placed a hand on her leg. “You don’t have to do this, you know. You don’t owe the magical community anything.”

  She turned and gave him a hard stare. “I do need to do this. For a lot of reasons, but mostly because now that I know there is a magical community, I have an obligation to help, out of common decency. In school, Dr. Hoffensteffer always said that to know of a problem and do nothing about it was the most egregious affront to modern civilization. I took that to heart.”

  Finn squeezed her leg slightly in solidarity. “What are the other reasons?”

  She gave a nonchalant shrug. “I told you I was in all the way. I wasn’t lying.” She smiled at him. “I want to see this to the end. The fact that there is an entire world of magic I get to learn about is better than a thousand new Star Wars movies. I’m having fun with you and Penny. even if that fun sometimes puts holes in my shirts.” She chuckled, then sobered before continuing, “Plus, there is something deep inside of me that just feels right about all this. Like it’s fate or something.”

  Finn gave Penny a cocky grin. “Fate? I like the sound of that.”

  Penny rolled her eyes but didn’t comment.

  Mila changed the subject. “Okay, we need a better plan than ‘get in there and see what’s happening.’ Any suggestions?”

  If there was one thing Finn liked about Mila and needed help with himself, it was that she always wanted a plan. Not that he always gave her one, but the fact that she wanted one at least made him think twice most times.

  “How are you with a rifle?” he asked.

  “Decent. I grew up in Colorado and Idaho. You can’t spend much time in either place without going hunting at least a few times, but I wouldn’t say I’m a crack shot or anything.”

  “Well, it sounds like you’re better than me. I think I’ve shot a gun maybe once, and it wasn’t on purpose.” He gave her jazz hands. “These are all the projectiles I’ve ever needed.”

  She laughed. “That, and you know how to throw Fragar pretty well. Sometime, I’m also going to have to hear the story about you accidentally using a gun, but for now, I’ll take the rifle. Does that mean I’ll be sitting back a ways?” She took the exit from the freeway and slowed to a stop at the light.

  “Can’t have you too far back, because we don’t know exactly where the hounds will be. Once we find the hounds, you can start dropping them. Hopefully, it will cause enough confusion that I’ll be able to get whoever is in charge separated from the group and have a word with them.” Finn glanced at Penny. “I think you should stay with Mila. She’s going to need the cover more than me.”

  Penny nodded and gave Mila a thumbs-up.

  “Thanks.” Mila held out a fist. “It’ll be nice to have a friend watching my back.”


  Penny bumped the offered fist. “Chi.” A small smoke ring puffed from a nostril.

  “Now, what to do about parking?” Finn thought about the fact that it was a private neighborhood, and there was a security patrol on the lookout for strangers and concluded that street parking was not an option.

  “Actually, I have an idea for that.” Mila smiled. “Did you notice the huge place under construction down the street from the estate? I think it was backed up against the estate’s grounds. We could park there and come in from the rear. Two birds, one stone.”

  Finn frowned. “What do birds have to do with this?”

  Mila rolled her eyes. “You’re adorable.”

  They turned into the lot for the construction site and rolled over the gravel and dirt where the driveway would one day be. The house was little more than a frame, but still impressive due to its sheer size. Mila pulled the Hellcat around back so they would not be visible from the road, and shut the car engine off, killing the headlights.

  “I can see the wall from here,” Finn said, his dark vision compensating. “Good call, coming here. It’s perfect.”

  “I do what I can.” She smiled and climbed out of the driver’s seat.

  They took a minute while Mila familiarized herself with the rifle. It was magical in construction but had all the same external parts as the hunting rifles she was used to. The only difference was that this one had a small, auto-feed magazine instead of the bolt action she had used years ago. The tranquilizer darts looked mean, with a cylinder full of clear liquid between the black fletching on the back and the two-inch metal spike on the front. She had four magazines with ten rounds each.

  Resting the long gun on her shoulder, she gave Finn a nod. “Ready when you are.”

  He almost laughed at the sight of her four-ten frame holding a gun nearly as long as her body but resisted the urge. “Come on, I can get us inside the wall, but we’ll have to move quickly after that. Penny, can you do some scouting before we go in? Keep up high, like last time, and meet us over there when you’re done.”

  Penny gave him a sarcastic salute. “Shiri!” She hopped off his shoulder and flapped into the air, quickly disappearing into the dark, moonless sky.

  Finn led Mila through some bushes at the rear of the property, coming out of the underbrush up against a ten-foot, white, stone wall. He held out a hand and focused on the wall itself, trying to feel for any kind of magical alarms, but after a few seconds, determined it was just a stone wall.

  He sat down, resting his back against it, and patted the ground beside him. “Take a seat. Penny will be a few minutes, and there’s no sense in being nervous until she gets back.” He pulled out the box of chews and shook it at her. “Want one?”

  She leaned the rifle against the wall and dropped the satchel holding the spare ammo next to it before sitting cross-legged and holding out her hand. “Sure. Why not?”

  He shook a few candies into her open hand. “I thought you didn’t like these?”

  She shrugged, tossing one into her mouth. “They’re not my favorite. But why do you always ask if I want some if you thought I didn’t like them?”

  “Just being polite.” He smiled and ate a small handful.

  They sat in silence for a few minutes, munching on chocolatey nougat, and waiting for Penny to return.

  Mila scooted closer to Finn and leaned against him. “It’s a little chilly, just sitting here. I should have worn my hiking gear.” She reached up and hugged his arm for warmth.

  “Don’t worry. Your blood will be pumping soon enough.”

  “What are you planning on doing with the second condo?” she asked, pulling his arm in tight against her body and shivering slightly.

  Finn slipped the box of candies into his coat pocket and reached over to rub some warmth into her leg, his hand sliding over it easily, and building up a good amount of friction on her black fleece leggings. She smiled and nuzzled into his jacket’s arm, covering her nose with the leather sleeve.

  “Well, I haven’t seen the place just yet, but I imagine it’s similar to yours. I was going to turn the main room into a workout room so I can teach you how to fight better than to just react like you do now.”

  She playfully smacked his arm.

  “What? It’s true. I cringe at the thought of how many times you weren’t injured simply because of luck. I’m not knocking your willingness to fight, you have the guts of a dwarf, but you need to know what you’re doing. A good offense is the best defense most of the time.”

  She relented with a nod, not taking her nose off his sleeve, her voice muffled as it came through the leather. “I can see that. It would be nice to know what I’m doing. I feel like a liability half the time.”

  He patted her leg before continuing to rub it. “You’re definitely not a liability. I’ve lost track of how many times you’ve saved my ass. I just want you to be safe.”

  “What else are you thinking about doing, besides the gym?”

  “Well, obviously a room for me, and probably one for Penny as well. Now that we have the space, I think she would like a little privacy. But for sure, I’m going to put a hot tub out on the balcony. I love a good, hot soak after a fight.”

  Finn felt Mila smile against his arm. “A hot tub would be awesome. Maybe even a fire pit, one of the gas ones, so we can go outside even when it’s a little chilly.”

  “I think that’s the cold talking, but I like the idea. The balcony view is great, and I would like to enjoy it more,” he agreed.

  They sat in silence for a few more seconds before Mila spoke again, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m glad you’re not leaving the condo.” She pulled his arm in tight in more of a hug than to fight off the chill.

  Finn opened his mouth but couldn’t think of anything to say. He finally settled on, “Me too.”

  Further conversation was cut off when Penny dropped from the sky right in front of them, flapping her wings once before landing. She quickly found a small stick and cleared an area of dirt, then used the stick to sketch the estate—almost exactly to scale, from what Finn could tell.

  “I can’t see any of that,” Mila said, squinting and leaning forward as Penny worked.

  “You can’t?” Finn asked, cocking his head to the side.

  She gave him an ‘are you kidding me?’ face. “It’s a moonless night, and we’re in a bunch of bushes.”

  “Oh, right. You don’t have dark vision. How did you Peabrains ever survive?” he teased.

  Penny finished the drawing and chirped for Mila to wait. She scurried into the brush, twigs snapping quietly, followed by a ripping sound. Penny reemerged with a short stick, one end wrapped in moss and leaves. She breathed a small jet of flame to light the small torch. It sputtered and flickered before settling into a cheery flame that made their shadows dance against the white stone wall.

  “Thanks, Penny.” Mila was impressed and reached out to take the torch.

  “Shir.” Penny waved off the comment and turned to the map. She began pointing at buildings and drives, giving a long and complicated series of toots and bursts of flame.

  Finn nodded along, translating for Mila as Penny explained what she had seen.

  “Evidently, they don’t have many wards up yet, and the ones they did have, Penny disabled. She says they were hasty and weak, probably not the permanent ones that need to be etched into stone.”

  Penny pointed at the main house, and Finn continued.

  “The house seems to be more of a barracks and a headquarters than a proper house. She could see beds and computers set up through almost every window she could get an angle to see through. She counted two dozen Kashgar and says our orc buddies from earlier weren’t joking about having a job if they wanted it, because there are twenty orcs out there as well. The patrols are mostly around the house, but if we come through the wall right where we are, and you can tranquilize the guard over here,” he pointed to a place on the map that was furthest from the main gate, “then we
can get right up to this staging area. They’re are relying heavily on their wards to warn them if anyone comes in from the back of the property.”

  “Wait, there are over forty guys in there? How the hell are we supposed to fight that?” Mila paled a little in the flickering flame.

  “We don’t. Ideally, we’ll be in and out, then wait for Preston’s strike force to get here.”

  “Shirir! Chi she.” Penny pointed to a spot to the right of the back of the house.

  “Seriously? Why didn’t you say that from the beginning?” Finn grumbled.

  Penny shrugged, dipping her head a little with embarrassment. “Chi chi?”

  “You were getting to it?” Finn sighed, turning to Mila. “She said the hounds are out in an open pen, but that as she was leaving, a box truck was backing up to it. It looks like they’re moving the hounds right now. The good news is that she thinks she found the one who’s controlling them. Some big guy in a hooded coat.”

  Mila brightened up immediately. “That’s the guy whose car we followed.”

  “Shit. We don’t have time to wait for the strike team. We have to go in now, and we at least need to take out the leader so they can’t control the hounds. Might buy us some time.”

  “And how are we going to do that?” Mila asked.

  Penny pointed at the rifle behind her.

  Mila glanced over her shoulder at the gun. “Oh. Fuck.”

  “We need to move before they can load up the hounds. Take this just in case.” He handed her the stone skin ring.

  She reached out and took the golden ring, holding it close to the torch to get a better look at it. “I thought you gave this back to Preston?”

  He held up his hands in a mini shrug. “I kind of forgot to, after the attack. We can give it to him after this is all done. Now, when you slip it on, it’ll take a second or two to activate, but the change happens fairly quickly. This is the most important part, however...you can’t wear it for too long.”