Brightblade

by C. T. Phipps

  “And hers?” Sam asked.

  “You can trust her,” Alex said to me.

  “Yay, we can all trust each other,” I said. “Let’s go. Time’s running out.”

  Sam led me through the gates that shut behind us. “Do you really know what you’re getting into with the Nakoso? He’s not an ordinary vampire.”

  We reached the door to her home as it opened for them with an ominous creak. Apparently, Sam had a flair for the dramatic. Either that or she had her whole house rigged up like Disney’s Haunted Mansion.

  “No, we don’t know what we’re getting into, that’s why we’re here. I’m not comfortable being ignorant.”

  “Everyone is ignorant about most things.”

  “This thing tried to kill me earlier today. I take that badly.”

  “So many people do.”

  As we headed in, I took stock of Sam’s home. In my experience, most vampire homes tended to accent the dark. Dark walls, darkened windows (if they had windows at all), heavy, imposing architecture. Samvrutha’s home was…open, warm. The walls were a light wood tone. There were plants between all the bookcases, and wide, open windows to let the light in during the day. They had heavy shields that could be brought down if she needed to move around in the day. Still, it all felt strangely alive.

  “Interesting,” I said, aloud.

  “You expected more cobwebs?” Sam asked.

  “A little, yeah,” I said.

  “As much as I love drama, no,” Sam said. “Mind you, I have a sluagh housekeeper who keeps trying to put them up.”

  “Sluagh,” I said, as if the word was foreign to me. Which it was.

  Sam sat down on a large faux-leather sofa that was sitting across from another one. I briefly thought about it offending her religion to have the real thing before I remembered she was a witch. “You should probably ask what you came to know.”

  “So, what can you tell me about him?” I asked.

  Sam closed her eyes, letting them return to normal. “He was the most terrifying Rogue Ancient in the world and wholly against vampires coming out to the world. He supported the House, who let him kill with impunity, because he believed peace was a lie. They sent one of their most formidable monster-hunting teams to do so. My mother was among them. I see you have her sword.”

  “I know that part,” I said.

  She looked down at the sword sheath and blade in my hands. “I see. Has it begun playing games with your life?”

  I do not play games with people’s lives, Zadkiel replied.

  “Don’t you?” Sam asked. Clearly, she could hear it.

  No, Zadkiel replied.

  “One being’s games is another being’s necessary actions,” I said. “Or are you saying it was a coincidence that you found your way into my hands right where the Trio first attacked?”

  “Clara, Bella, and Jessica,” Sam replied. “Three ordinary women ripped out of their lives at seeming random. They were not stronger willed than others of their time but worked together. Jessica had a bit of magic to her and Clara was clever enough to follow the wording of his commands. They let my mother and her team know his location. A terrible battle ensued but Clara stole his wand and emasculated him.”

  I couldn’t help but smirk at that. “Nice double entendre.”

  “I mean that literally,” Sam said.

  “Oh,” I said, blinking.

  “The problem is the Nakoso cannot be destroyed by mortal means,” Sam said. “All Old Ones can only be killed by an angel or vampire of equal power, but he was also one of the Fairy Lords. They tried numerous methods to kill him but none of them took.”

  The disgust in her voice was heavy. It was clear whatever had happened was brutal.

  “Well I suppose if he was easy to kill, he wouldn’t be bothersome now,” I said. “What did they do?”

  “They chopped him into six pieces, well, seven counting his phallus,” Sam said, creeping me out. “The pieces were scattered across crossroads, holy ground, and buried in concrete on ley lines. It was hoped that his power would eventually fade, and he would die. The wand and his spell books were placed inside the future Midnight Bank’s vaults in trust of their vampire owners so the House couldn’t resurrect him as the wand was an essential key to his regeneration. All one would need was his head to do so.”

  I tried to imagine the idea of the man living in a state of living death since World War 2. My imagination failed me. “I see.”

  “Two reasons,” Sam said, frowning. “One of which is my fault.”

  I blinked. “Your fault?”

  Sam nodded. “The Baron family has been trying to resurrect the Nakoso for years. They found multiple pieces of him, not his head, during the construction of New Detroit. These they’ve gathered together and have attempted to regenerate on their own. They can communicate with his ghost, but it doesn’t know where its head is buried so their efforts were stymied. Sophia Baron managed to…trick me into revealing where the wand was. Also, that the wards placed on its safe were only breakable by the Nakoso’s slaves.”

  “Which means they’ll have to try to rob the bank again,” I said. “And what do you mean she tricked you?”

  “No, the three have the wand,” Sam replied. “Someone helped them retrieve it after their escapade. Someone much subtler.”

  “What?” I asked, bolting from my seat.

  “All will become clear in time,” Sam said, remarkably calm. “Sophia Baron comes from a monstrous family of necromancers, some of the worst of our kind both mage as well as undead. She can play the part of the innocent, though. Sophia put on a disguise of her sister Andrea, who has less of a gross reputation, and convinced me that she wanted the wand in order to restore her humanity. It is something I have longed for. I can barely stand to be in the presence of my children without magic binding me from hurting them. You have no idea the shame that induces. I put her in contact with the Three. Andrea, or Sophia I should say, promised she could kill the Nakoso for good and restore their humanity.”

  “I honestly don’t know whether to yell at you or sympathize,” I said. “Especially since I find myself wanting the wand for similar reasons.”

  “You’re not a vampire yet, Ashley. Though I find myself wanting your blood in a way that I’m just barely keeping a hold of.” Sam frowned then responded before I could react. “Being a vampire would not be so terrible if I had a companion who could help me manage it. Blood servants and creations allow the Need to be suppressed for a short time. They are as vital to Old Ones keeping their sanity as the blood itself. Even more so in my case. That was the offer I made to Alex.”

  “You want to make him a blood-slave?”

  Sam grimaced at that word. “Or a vampire. Alex is miserable serving the Men in Black and is a powerful wizard. If good can be done in our miserable state, then we could combine our powers to keep New Detroit safe from the Council of Ancients. They have as much power as the undead but only a handful of magicians exist among them. It’s why the Barons are tolerated in New Detroit despite being so repulsive. With Alex and a few other magicians of similar power, we could begin to work on a way of…well, being ethical consumers. Besides, he is very tired of being a hunter. You can tell.”

  “I think he always has been. He wants to be a knight, riding out as a force of justice, but all too often, it’s just killing monsters, which is what we call people who lose control to things all of us have trouble controlling. It’s hard not seeing yourself on the floor when you bring ‘justice’ down on them. And then it isn’t hard at all, and that’s when you start going bad.”

  Sam nodded. “The offer is made and he’s considering it. Which I think bothers him more than he says.”

  I didn’t know how to respond. “So, what now?”

  Sam stared at me. “I know how to kill the Nakoso and what method Sophia is going to use. A way to transfer his godhood from him to her. Her father is unaware of how dangerous his daughter is. That energy can be used to cure his victims and
cure the undead of their curse as well. However, that requires bringing the wand to his head’s resting place and resurrecting him for a short while. I think that’s worth the risk for Clara, Jessica, and Bella. However, I would only be willing to do so if I had backup capable of stopping him if he got loose. Which I believe you can provide.”

  Sam stared at her. “They’re desperate and trapped by their condition. The Nakoso will be weakened if he’s brought back at a fraction of his power and it’s slowly bled out of him. Also, they had help against you.”

  “Which was?” I asked.

  “Me.” Sam stared into my eyes. “I was the one who located the wand, planned the heist, and gave them the magic to break in.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Raising the dead to kill them

  I laughed.

  Samvurtha blinked. “I don’t know what’s so funny about that?”

  “I’m sorry, I just expected a big dum-dum-dum to play or a scary chord,” I said, sighing. “It’s just this big revelation that you were the mastermind all along didn’t really have the kind of shocking revelation twist I’m used to in this business.”

  “You normally expect twists?” Sam asked. “I thought you were a detective.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, trying to ignore the fact she just admitted to helping the Trio try to resurrect an ancient evil blood god.

  Even if it was to kill him.

  “I just figured the majority of the time, it was who you expected it to be in the first place,” Sam replied. “If a wife suspects her husband of cheating then he probably is.”

  “You’d think,” I replied. “However, it’s one twist or turn after another in this town. A husband suspects his wife of cheating, she may be going out with her dead boyfriend’s ghost riding in her therapist’s body. There’s also the couple that dressed up as Pokemon to conceive a child. I mean, whatever floats your boat but—”

  Sam raised her hand to put a stop to my statement. “I need your help, Ashley.”

  “I’m tempted to quote you rates,” I said, “But let’s admit I’m already involved in this mess too deeply to pretend to be an impersonal investigator at this point.”

  Sam pressed her fingers together. “I’m willing to put all my Tarot cards on the table if you are, Ashley, but we’re running out of time. Sophia has found all the pieces of the Nakoso’s corpse but his head. Resurrecting him without it wouldn’t be possible normally but they’re necromancers and can summon his spirit with a big enough quantity of blood sacrifices. He has to be destroyed permanently to prevent that.”

  This was a ridiculous plot. Sophia Baron wanted to resurrect a dismembered god to steal his godhood, Sam wanted to resurrect it to kill it, and the Trio wanted to do the same to get him to cure their condition. Alex and Arthur wanted to prevent the resurrection entirely, at least as far as I could tell. It was probably why Sam had left my ex out on the front porch.

  “I don’t have any cards to expose, Ms. Mitra.”

  “Sam, please.”

  “I’m here to keep an ancient vampire wizard god thing from torturing more women. You say you want to kill him, that’s a great idea, but I’m not able to decide if you have a reasonable plan or just a crazy dream. You decided to leave the one of us who might be able to tell on the front porch.”

  Sam nodded. “Because he’d say yes.”

  “Really,” I said, blinking. “Why wouldn’t you then?”

  Sam sighed. “Because he’s already taken the first two marks to becoming Bloodsworn. I don’t trust his opinion on this. I need someone unbiased.”

  “Someone unbiased, but also entirely incapable of judging how magic works?”

  “You can ask me anything you want or your sword. Assuming you trust him. My mother did and it led her to her ruin. She was never the same after she was forced to torture the Nakoso the way she did. A gentle soul forced into being a killer.”

  Death and pain should be handled by the good, lest they become too fond of dealing it, Zadkiel said.

  Some do, I said. Some become very fond of it.

  You won’t. You’ll break first.

  Let’s hope, I sighed. “What’s your plan?”

  Sam looked out the window. “The Nakoso’s head is buried in a convergence of ley lines under Elwood Cemetery. They constantly drain away his energy. If we reanimate him there with his wand and your friends there as backup, we can keep him imprisoned within a blood ward. I can channel the energy from his body into the Trio, cure them of their conditions, and then banish his spirit to the darkest edge of the Spirit World. Lugh will reincarnate and the evil that he has become will cease to exist.”

  “And what’s my role in this?” I asked.

  “You use the sword to destroy his body after I weaken it,” Sam said. “My mother couldn’t do it because they couldn’t take away his godhood first. However, once he’s lost that, he’ll be just an Ancient—and the Sword of Zadkiel can kill Ancients.”

  Sam didn’t sound entirely sure.

  “Well, Zadkiel, does that sound like something that can be done?”

  It is possible, Zadkiel replied. Alex’s magic and Arthur’s, even if he is only an illusionist, could provide her the strength to bind the Fairy Lord until his power is stripped from him. The dangers she speaks about him coming back other ways are also true. It is why I encouraged my previous owner to take me here.

  Why did he abandon you? I asked.

  Hate, Zadkiel replied. It was not part of a greater plan on my end, though it may have been part of the Creator’s, but he grew weary of my presence. In the end, he abandoned me because he believed he would have a normal life. I believe he also feared to face the Barons. I showed him too much of their danger and his courage broke after so many other battles together.

  “Maybe he wanted to live. Some people get all hung up about that. Fine, we’ll go with your plan for the moment, because I certainly don’t have any better, and I certainly favor opposing Sophia at every opportunity.”

  I am not quite done, Zadkiel said. Ancient vampires do not normally fight their wars directly. Only a few like the Visigoth or Enil struck directly. The Nakoso has been broken and trapped for almost a century but that does not mean it is powerless. If it has been able to reach out to its creations, it has surely been making plans for its return. I would be wary for tricks and promises that would make its resurrection to die less assured.

  Eh? I asked.

  I’m saying keep a look out.

  “What kind of noir-inspired PI would I be if I didn’t look out for betrayal at every turn?” I said aloud.

  “You’re rather brightly colored for noir,” Sam said.

  “Like I can dress in black in this town and not be mistaken for a vampire.”

  “I happen to like colors,” Sam replied. “Some that aren’t even red, black, or white. So, are you in?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I guess we are.”

  “Then I should take you downstairs to meet my compatriots.”

  “Should we invite Alex in from the cold? I mean, the freezing July nights could impede his magic.”

  “Men always claim a little cold impedes the magic,” Sam said.

  I smiled. “If I’m not warming them up enough, it was hardly likely to be magical anyway.”

  Sam was about to make another joke when there was the sound of a pistol firing outside the house. I immediately bolted to my feet, as did Sam, which left me with the impression she was every bit as surprised and this wasn’t her doing. That was when there was a massive thumping noise. I turned and saw through the living windows the shadow of the ten-foot-tall stone knight statue land on the front lawn.

  “Something triggered your security system,” I said. “How worried should I be?”

  The head of the knight exploded through the closest window and almost deafened me, shattering through the dining room one room over and rolling. There were also many flashing lights that included fireballs, lightning, and what looked like blast
s of cold. It was as if my life had suddenly gone from urban fantasy to a particularly nasty session of Dungeons and Dragons.

  “And me without a ring of protection,” I muttered. “I think Sophia objects to your plan. You might want to tell your partners they don’t need to hide anymore, and they can come help!”

  Sam rushed past me and headed to a nearby doorway that led down to the basement. It left me with a decision of what to do. Which, given I couldn’t throw fireballs, and perhaps more importantly, couldn’t block them, wasn’t exactly difficult. I followed her.

  You have more strength than you know, Zadkiel said.

  How many wielders have you lost?

  Thousands, Zadkiel said.

  Not helping, I replied.

  You are welcome to give me up, Zadkiel said. But every one of those who died wielding me, did so knowing they were saving the lives of others. Most of them died with regrets. But few of them could have lived with themselves if they’d done otherwise.

  I don’t know what’s out there.

  Something that needs to be stopped.

  I drew the sword and turned around. “If I die tonight, I’m going to haunt you.”

  I ran to the broken window and leapt outside. You can use this against me in my inevitable sanity trial.

  The sight that greeted me on the other side of the lawn was pretty much like a big budget movie set for a comic book, or the aftermath of a scene after all the pyrotechnics went off. The Knight was shattered into three distinct pieces on the ground and Alex was lying on the ground badly injured.

  There were piles of ash on the ground and a couple of dead ghouls next to more of Sophia Baron’s signature SUVs. There was also a trail of blood leading to the gates that had been blown open as if by explosives before disappearing. Apparently, for all my heroic decision to fight the good fight, I’d missed all the action.

  “Alex, are you okay?” I asked, not letting my guard down yet as I carefully approached the fallen FBI agent.

  Alex coughed, clutching his stomach that looked like it was barely holding together. “Yeah, ugh, I’ve been better.”

  Sam and Clara ran up moments later, causing me to do a double take. There was apparently an entrance to the mansion basement from the side of the building.