by N M Thorn
There were six wooden tables on the floor. On top of each table there was a jar with a shimmering orange light inside. At first, Gunz thought that the orange light was a magically conjured flame, but when he walked closer to the table, he realized that it wasn’t fire. The light was a tiny energy ball.
The tavern was filled with the kind of crowd that anyone in their right mind would do anything to avoid. Dressed in disheveled rags, the men were filthy, and the stench of unwashed bodies mixed in with the revolting odor of sulphur seemed to be permanently embedded into everything.
Despite the amount of people—most likely demons—that were stuffed into the tiny space, the room was relatively quiet. Everyone was speaking in hushed voices, practically whispering into each other’s ears. No one talked aloud, and soft waves of whispers were floating over the tables.
Karma walked all the way through the room and stopped in front of the last table. There was only one man sitting at this table. He was short and the absence of hair on his head was well compensated by the amount of hair on his thick arms and chest. His raggedy shirt was pulled apart on his fat belly that was pushing against the edge of the table.
Karma didn’t say anything. She silently stared down at the man. He raised his eyes and glanced at her briefly, quickly averting his gaze. As Karma didn’t move, he got up, his stomach giggling like jelly.
“The table is yours, witch,” he hissed, shifting away from her, his eyes gleaming with dark demonic energy. As he was walking away, he kept muttering and swearing quietly under his breath but didn’t try to fight her.
Karma took a flimsy chair and gestured at Gunz and Milana to join her. Milana sat down right away, shifting closer to her lover. Gunz quickly observed the tavern, registering every visitor in the room, then he sat down next to Milana, folding his hands on his lap.
A few minutes later, one of the tavern visitors got up and walked up to their table. The man was tall and everything about him was dark—his hair, his eyes, his ebony skin, his worn-out clothes. Gunz carefully scanned him with his Salamander’s senses just to confirm that the man was a demon. Just like Karma warned him, this man was a demon in his pure form and only a well-crafted illusion was making him look like a human.
The demon stared down at Karma calmly without saying a word. She nodded and opened her backpack. She pulled a small box out of her backpack and placed it on top of the table. The demon sat down and opened the box. It was empty inside. With a cold smirk, Karma put her hand over it and whispered one word. A soft light enveloped her hand and when she lifted it, the box was filled with the shimmering glow of her magical energy.
The demon’s lips stretched into a snarl that was supposed to be a smile as he gaped at the shimmering energy. He closed the box and pocketed it. Then he nodded at Karma and got up, gesturing to the door.
Karma gave Gunz an arched stare, raising her eyebrow at him. She obviously wanted him to get up and follow the demon. Gunz got up slowly and stopped. Coyote or not, he couldn’t trust a demon. It just didn’t feel right. His Salamander’s intuition was screaming in the back of his mind, begging him to reconsider.
In the meantime, the coyote-demon reached the door and stopped there as he noticed that they weren’t following him. He turned around and frowned, waving his hand at Karma urgently.
“Let’s go, Zane,” hissed Karma, “he’s not going to wait for us.”
“Karma, something is not right,” he whispered, seizing her arm above her elbow to stop her from going.
“No, Zane, that’s the way it is. This is the only way you can get into the castle.” She jerked her arm out of his hold and walked forward.
“I want to go back home, to my world. Please, Zane, just do what Karma said and everything is going to be all right,” whispered Milana as she passed him, following her girlfriend.
Gunz shook his head, biting his lip and looked at the coyote-demon who was still standing in the doorway. Their eyes met and Gunz froze in place, barely able to breathe. Undiluted evil was staring back at him with malice. The demon’s sunken eyes lit up with a carnivorous yellow light as he gnashed his teeth.
He seized Karma’s shoulder, without breaking his eye contact with Gunz. “Who did you bring here, little witch?” he hissed into her ear, but Gunz had no problem hearing his every word. “Do you know who he is? What a great favor you did for me, sweetheart.”
“Let me go!” growled Karma, jerking her arm, but the coyote-demon was a lot stronger.
“Let her go!” yelled Milana, forgetting about the quietness of this place. She jumped on the coyote-demon’s back showering him with a downpour of punches that he could barely feel.
The demon ripped Milana off his back, throwing her down on the floor at his feet. She hit the floor hard and lost her breath, tears flooding her wide-open eyes. Then he quickly pulled Karma closer, wrapping his brawny arms around her neck. She elbowed him in his ribs and struggled to twist out of his deadly grip. The coyote-demon groaned but managed to hold her down.
“Hold this man!” he shouted, jerking his chin toward Gunz.
Every single man in the tavern got up. Like a dark wall, they silently took a step, shifting toward Gunz, all at the same time. He knew that even if he had his power and magic, he would have a hard time getting out in one piece. And now he was just a human—even the smallest use of his magic would bring him down to his knees. He couldn’t fight all these demons.
The demon, still holding Karma in the chokehold, approached Gunz. “You are a Child of Fire,” he said, his yellow eyes drilling into Gunz. His venomous demonic aura enveloped Gunz, suffocating him. “Chernobog is not going to be pleased to know that a fire-freak is roaming his domain, but he will pay me handsomely for disclosing your location. Even more, if I deliver you into his dungeons myself.”
“Let the girls go,” said Gunz quietly.
“And why would I do that?” asked the demon. His appearance was slowly changing, getting less and less human. While he was still shaped like a man, his eyes were getting deeper into his skull, glowing with a yellow light. His nose almost disappeared, and his cheeks became hollow. His whole face looked like a skull with dark, scaly skin stretched over it.
For a split-second, Karma caught Gunz’s attention and gave him a pointed stare. Obviously, she wanted him to keep the demon’s attention.
“I will go with you without a fight. Let the girls go and I’m yours,” said Gunz to the coyote-demon, with a barely visible nod in Karma’s direction.
The coyote-demon guffawed, staring down at Gunz, amusement in his toxic eyes. “You can’t fight here, Child of Fire. There are no elemental powers in Chernobog’s domain. So, I will take you and your sweethearts to Chernobog and you are not going to fight me, because you’re not an idiot. You know that without your power, you’re nothing.”
Using the opportunity, Karma slammed her elbow into the demon’s ribs again. The demon groaned, bending forward and his hold weakened just a little. That was enough for Karma. She elbowed him again and thrusted her heel into the demon’s foot. Then she twisted in his arms, channeling her magic, and blasted him with a high-voltage energy ball. The energy ball burnt through the coyote-demon’s chest, obliterating him in place.
“Karma, what did you do?” yelped Milana who was back on her feet, her features contorted by fear. “Not only did you use your magic here, in the open, you killed our guide!”
Gunz didn’t wait to see what would happen next. He punched the demon closest to him and grabbed Milana’s hand, pulling her toward the door. The demons roared, their anger enhancing their demonic power like a catalyst. The silence was torn into shreds by the earsplitting shrieks of the demons as they rushed toward them.
“Take Milana out,” shouted Karma, “I’ll cover you!”
She turned around and channeled more of her magic, sending one energy ball after another flying at the attackers. A short demon in a long filthy coat was fumbling with the door lock, blocking their way out. Without stopping, Gunz swung his
arm and connected his fist with the demon’s ugly head. The demon yelped and swayed but didn’t move.
“My turn, little fire-worm,” he hissed, turning to face Gunz. In a heartbeat, the illusion that was giving him more or less a human appearance dissipated. A giant monster with six arms that looked like the slithering tentacles of an octopus was blocking his way. All six arms shot forward, wrapping around Gunz’s neck and Milana’s waist.
Instead of trying to fight the demonic noose, Gunz reached into his pocket and pulled the Swiss army knife out. He didn’t want to use his magic to transform it into the sword, but it was still a knife with multiple sharp blades. Quickly unfolding the bigger blade, he slashed the tentacle that was strangling him. Thick black goo seeped from the wound. The demon pulled his arms back and cursed, slapping Gunz in the face with one of his free tentacles. Gunz’s head jerked to the side, and he almost dropped his knife.
He staggered a step away from the octopus-demon and glanced over his shoulder, quickly assessing the situation. It didn’t look good. Karma was still fighting, but she was getting weaker with every energy ball she conjured. Milana was so scared, she could hardly move. The demons were getting closer and closer, pushing them toward the door that now was locked.
It was a now or never situation. Gunz put his knife back into his pocket and channeled his magic, tapping into his own energy. “Ignius Orbus,” he shouted. A large fireball materialized between his blazing hands. He propelled the fireball at the door, putting all his remaining strength into it. The fireball ripped the door off its hinges, setting it on fire.
“Karma, Milana,” shouted Gunz, “time to leave!”
He took a step, crossing the threshold of the tavern into the darkness of the Nav and swayed. Drained by the use of magic, he dropped to his knees on the verge of fainting. Everything around him was swimming. He sat back on his heels, forcing himself to stay conscious, and glanced back over his shoulder. Karma and Milana were out, but for some reason the demons weren’t following them. They stood quiet and motionless inside the building. Huddled close together, they were staring at something outside. There was no mistake. They looked terrified, practically frozen by fear.
Slowly, Gunz turned around. This motion made him sick and a crippling weakness took hold of him. He moaned and fell to his side awkwardly. Before he passed out, he saw a man on a horse emerging from the darkness. He was clad in black armor and was riding a large black stallion, soundless like a shadow. A black raven was sitting on his shoulder. If not for his eyes, blazing with the brilliant energy of magic, it would be impossible to see him in the surrounding darkness. And his blazing eyes were staring at Gunz with wrath.
The man extended his hand toward the tavern and the entire building disappeared, together with the demons, like it was never there. His eyes darted back down to Gunz, sprawled helplessly on the ground and then to Milana and Karma. Frowning, he pointed at them, shaking his head and snapped his fingers.
When Gunz was falling through the gateway into the Dark Nav, he thought the blackness couldn’t be blacker, and the darkness couldn’t be darker.
Now he knew how wrong he was.
It could…
Chapter 13
~ Aidan ~
Aidan turned from his side to his back, throwing his arm across his face to shield his eyes from the sunlight. It was mid-afternoon, and he was lying fully dressed on the uncomfortable bed of the Wardens sleeping chambers.
When Ms. Bonneville said the Wardens’ accommodations were plain, it was an understatement. The room was a tiny bare matchbox with two narrow hard beds and a small closet. The dark gray paint on the walls was partially pealed, revealing a darker shade of gray paint beneath. The windows—two narrow slits in the thick concrete wall—had no window treatment of any kind. The whole room reminded him of a medieval monastery, sans crucifixes on the walls.
Aidan didn’t feel like getting up or doing anything. Stressed to the limit, he didn’t know what to do next and had a hard time restraining his frustration. It had been a few days since Svyatobor and Angel left and none of them got in touch with him. He had no idea if Svyatobor was able to find Veles or if Veles agreed to take Angel to the Dark Nav.
More than forty-eight hours had passed since Missi went to Paris. Aidan asked Ms. Bonneville if she had heard from Missi a few times, but every time she just tapped him on his shoulder in an annoyingly patronizing manner and told him to sit tight and wait. He knew nothing, and it was driving him crazy. Raoul noticed his state and mentioned that news traveled fast through the Guardians channels and if something had happened to Missi, the Head Mage would know it by now.
He talked to Uri a few times every day. Everything was going fine at the school, but Uri also had no news about Gunz, or Angel and Svyatobor. The only time he was allowing himself to relax and forget about all the problems was when he was with Tessa. In the short time he spent at the Guardians Headquarters, they didn’t get a chance to spend a lot of time together, but he enjoyed every minute they had. Tessa changed. At least with everything to do with him. She seemed to sincerely regret the way she treated him back in Florida and now was doing everything to make it up to him.
“Aidan, wake up.”
He felt a light touch to his shoulder and lowered his arm. The bright light cut his eyes, and he squinted to see Raoul standing above him. Slowly he sat up and rubbed his face with his hands like a person who just woke up from a terrible nightmare.
“Aidan, you need to clean up, so we can—”
“We can do what? Go down to the Assembly Hall and meet with the Head Mage, so she can patronize me like I’m another apprentice in her school?” asked Aidan, his voice a dangerous growl.
“You did it to yourself, Aidan, when you swore your allegiance and it’s just the beginning,” replied Raoul. “But, yes, we need to go down to the Assembly Hall. The Head Mage sent me to fetch you. Missi is back.”
Aidan was on his feet in a heartbeat, his melancholic state gone. A few minutes later, he followed Raoul inside the Assembly Hall, his heart beating with hope to finally have some questions answered. But as soon as he crossed into the Hall and saw Missi, all his hopes were gone.
Missi looked like she just walked in, her clothes covered in dust and her face ashen with exhaustion. As soon as she saw Aidan, she rushed to him and hugged him. He was a little surprised. Missi didn’t know him that well and she didn’t seem like a hugging type. He decided to play along and returned her hug.
Gripping him tighter, she quickly whispered into his ear, “Aidan, it’s worse than I thought. Agree with everything. Read it with Raoul only when you’re back in Florida.”
Read what? Why is Missi speaking in riddles? Aidan kissed her softly on her cheek, unlocking his arms. As she stepped away, he felt Missi slipping her hand into his shirt pocket. “I’m glad to see you back safe, Missi,” he said with a sad smile. “Were you able to find the missing page in the Wardens’ Book of Words?”
“No—,” Missi started to say, but the Head Mage raised her hand up, interrupting her.
“Let’s sit down and talk,” she said, pointing at the table with a few chairs around. “I have a feeling this conversation may take a while.”
She threw a wry look at Missi and headed to the table where she sat down, crossing her legs at her knees and folding her arms.
Agree with everything? What the hell did she mean by that? Missi’s words flashed in his mind as he picked a chair across the table from the Head Mage and also sat down.
These words as well as Missi’s uncharacteristic behavior left him uneasy and he had to work hard not to show it. Through the thin fabric of his shirt, he could feel the small piece of paper. Missi put it in there, making sure that no one except him knew about it. And the fact that she was trying to hide something from everyone in this room was sending chills down his spine. Whatever she learned while she was in Paris made her wary about the organization she devoted her whole life to.
“Melissa,” said the Head Mage. She u
ncrossed her legs and leaned forward, drumming her fingers on the table impatiently. “You insisted that Mr. McGrath and Father Beaumont were here for your report. They’re here. Care to start?”
“Yes, ma’am, of course,” said Missi, clearing her throat. “I’m not going to take much of your time. Unfortunately, my report will be brief.” She threw a quick look at Aidan and continued, “I brought bad news. I met with the Grand Master Warden and their Book of Words is also missing a page. The exact same page our book is missing.”
“Did Grand Master Warden run an investigation?” asked the Head Mage, her irritation seemed to start boiling over.
“Yes, he did,” said Missi meeting Ms. Bonneville’s furious gaze with a deadpan expression. “He found nothing. Just like here, someone sneaked inside the Wardens HQ, bypassing all the wards and protective spells. The security cameras and motion detectors didn’t detect this person either. So, the page is gone from both books and there is no way to restore it. And no one knows what was on this page.”
Ms. Bonneville leaned back in her chair, covering her face with her hands. “It’s not happening,” she whispered, “not happening.”
“What’s not happening?” asked Aidan.
Ms. Bonneville lowered her hands and gaped at Aidan like he was some kind of nuisance. Then she gathered her thoughts and pursed her lips.
“Mr. McGrath,” she said in a no-nonsense voice, “since the page you were looking for was stolen from both books available to us, there is nothing else we can do to help you with your mission. None of us know or recognize the mage you described. There is a chance, she wasn’t one of ours. I want you to return to Florida and stay there until further notice. As of now, the case of mutilated Books of Words and the person who did it is an internal issue of the Guardians Order. We’re going to deal with it on our own.”
