by Robert York
“Shit,” Was the only word I managed once my fright abated.
Looking about I found I was no longer standing in the same place I’d been. I hadn’t realized that I’d moved, but apparently I did. I found myself standing to the side of the magical cell, away from where those tentacle things emerged. Orm and his people had moved a respectable distance away from Avery’s demise, the Bogeymen however hadn’t retreated at all and in fact they moved closer.
Merlin, who was now inside Avery’s body hadn’t budged. He remained right where I’d seen him a moment ago only this time he was laughing, then locked eyes on Orm.
“You’ve lost,” Merlin said coldly in Avery’s silky smooth baritone voice.
Merlin’s eyes flared yellow consumed by a spectral light. Orm and his people moved forward unsure of what was happening, but their need to stop Merlin from whatever he was attempting outweighed their fear.
They reacted far too late, hesitating too long. Merlin raised his outstretched hands bringing them together in a clap creating a sound so loud it was deafening, like the first spine stiffening thunderclap of a storm heralding the approaching untamed force of nature.
Light brighter than the sun flashed out from his hands. I shielded my eyes. Though I couldn’t see, I could hear the agonized wails of the Bogeymen and Vampires. Light, it would seem was not their friend. Adrianna even let out a pained whimper. I felt bad for her. The last time I saw her, she was still wearing most of her winter gear, which should afford some measure of protection. She’d also been applying liberal amounts of sunscreen to her exposed skin religiously.
When the spots pulsing in my closed eyes had dissipated I opened them. Merlin was nowhere to be found and the wooden boxes that contained three of the relics were gone. I searched around the ruins of the church, not seeing him or the boxes. I hoped to God that he’d taken them. Vampires’ lay on the ground unmoving, their skin charred black from the light. One of the twins, I wasn’t sure which, Zoe or Isabel were among them as was Olivia. The Bogeymen retreated this time and I could see blobs of goo resembling the remains that we found at Bialek’s place.
I spied Glum off to my left. He had his hand cupped over his forehead swaying in place. He looked dazed as well as confused. I glanced down at that thing on Glum’s chest and to my surprise the glowing disk was gone. Only a torn bloody patch remained where it had been attached. The shattered remains lay on the ground at his feet. Glum was free. Hope leapt up inside me for the first time since we found ourselves in this mess. I was so excited that I moved cautiously over to him. I realized at that moment - like the fool that I am - I was still outside the containment circle.
I wiped sticky blood from my face with the end of my shirttail then drew my pistol from its holster, summoning my battle staff with a flick of my wrist. It flew into my outstretched hand, grateful fingers closed around the worn scarred wood.
Hold on a second.
I shouldn’t have been able to summon my staff if the other containment field was still up. Which meant if the barrier that held our weapons and personal effects was down, then maybe the field for the cell was down as well. Merlin must’ve cast a counter spell when he let loose his blinding light assault right before he got the hell out of here. I had to tell the others. I had to give them a fighting chance to get to safety. Before I could call to the others I heard a scrabbling scratching sound behind me. Turning, I spied three Bogeymen heading in my direction. All three creatures had pushed their way through holes no bigger than tennis balls in the crumbling walls to attack. Their movements were quick yet at the same time reckless, no order to them at all, only blind instinctual rage. I leveled my pistol at the closest Bogeyman firing off two quick rounds taking the thing first in the left shoulder then through its right eye. It went down twitching.
I then took hurried aim on the second Bogeyman quickly closing the distance on me firing four badly aimed shots. I missed with three of the rounds; the fourth however hit the thing in the leg just above the knee. It went down hard face first. Tattered bloody flesh hung from its face when it raised its head, eyes zeroing in on me once again. It did its best to come at me on its three uninsured limbs. The third picked up a loose stone hurling it at me as it bounded off a pile of rubble hurdling itself in my direction. I dodged the stone holstering my pistol whirling to my left. As I came round I lifted my staff defensively preparing to come to grips with the living nightmare.
In my peripheral vision I saw a black blur rocketing past me from behind. It took my mind a second to register that it was Race. He leapt at the Bogeyman, his massive jaws closing around the thing’s right shoulder. Race’s bulky frame collided with the horrible little creature slamming it into the stone floor where he proceeded to tear it apart.
Six more of the creatures zeroed in on Race making a beeline for him. The way his body was turned, there was no way he could see them. Thinking quickly, I leveled the head of my battle staff directly at the center of the rapidly approaching group. I had a spell poised on the tip of my tongue ready to let loose, when Tilly ran between my legs knocking me off balance nearly sending me sprawling to the ground. Regaining my balance I watched him casting spell after spell at the Bogeymen. The first spell he cast incinerated the Bogeyman I’d wounded in the leg. Tilly hurled a ball of green pulsing energy at two of the oncoming six creatures. When the ball of energy made contact with them they simply fell apart into four neatly sliced pieces. One of the other creatures smacked into a large stone that erupted from the ground blocking his path. While the remaining three were impaled on a mass of ice shards about three feet long protruding at acute angles from beneath them. Race barked approvingly as the two of them tore off in the direction of another group of approaching Bogeymen.
I turned checking on the others. Glum’s gigantic body huddled over the unmoving form of Oswald while he frantically fought off a group of Bogeymen trying unsuccessfully to drag off his unconscious body. One would distract Glum then another rushed forward grabbing an ankle or a hand before Glum smashed the thing with his dangerous fists. The scene looked eerily like a mother Wildebeest fighting off a pack of ravenous hyenas bent on killing her calf. Glum appeared to have them under control for the moment.
My eyes tracked right spying Yeti’s piling onto Wilmar. It looked almost like the big man was fighting against the tide as a massive white-capped wave of Yeti’s overwhelmed him. I stepped forward to help. Then like a drowning man he surfaced from beneath the white wave of fur holding one of the huge beasts in a headlock. Four of them went hurdling ass over teakettle in different directions away from him. Another of the beasts lay prone unmoving on the ground. One of them however was perched on Wilmar’s back viciously tearing at his back and neck. The Yeti’s claws and teeth weren’t making it through the fur coat. He was handling the situation and probably didn’t need my help.
Movement to my left compelled me to look that way. Adrianna rushed boldly into a clutch of six or seven Vampires. Merlin’s intense light show had decimated their fighting capability, but there were still enough of them ambulatory to be trouble. Her attack was so sudden and so fierce that they were taken completely off guard. Three Vampires lay dead on the stone floor in a matter of seconds, one of them being an Ashari assassin. Sadly, Bart was not of their number. Adrianna was a blur of motion, almost like a tiny white whirlwind. Two of the Vampires took advantage of her concentrated attack rushing at her from the left, which was her blind spot. I planted the end of my staff on the ground then moved it in a wide stirring motion as I uttered the following spell.
“Trinus tentatio,”
The attacking Vampires’ legs were scythed out from under them. Their faces smacked hard into the rough stone floor with a bone-breaking thud. Blood pooled in ever expanding irregular circles around their heads. Adrianna paused long enough to flash me a smile of thanks before going after two fleeing Ashari.
I didn’t see Orm or Barnabas in the immediate area. I did however see a rather impressive light show going on some dis
tance away outside the walls of the church. I could only assume it was being caused by the two of them dueling. I pondered the titanic battle between two powerful Wizards taking place, then realized Bart - our resident traitor - was nowhere to be seen. That thought made my hackles rise. Instinctively I drew my Colt from its holster once again, ejecting the spent magazine, replacing it with a full one.
I turned to my left sensing motion. I was immediately struck hard with a well-executed NFL tackle. The force of the tackle was so powerful it drove me hard to the ground. My head struck the stone on the initial impact. The left side of my head erupted with a sharp stabbing pain. When I got a look at my attacker I expected to see Bart on top of me. To my surprise however, it was one of the twins Zoe or Isabel. Not entirely sure which one, all I knew for certain was that the other twin lay dead beside Olivia. Nevertheless, this twin was unscathed and pissed.
The Vampire screeched in a high shrill tone reserved only for lunatics.
“You killed my sister!”
Straddling my torso, she rained painful blows down on my head and chest. I bobbed and weaved as though my very life depended on it, which it did. Her full weight pressing down upon me however restricted my movements. The arm, which held my staff was pinned under her knee. I struck the Vampire across the cheek with the butt of my pistol, which was ineffective. Parts of my face and chest burned from her heavy fist falls. Not liking the thought of being beaten to a bloody pulp my survival instinct fired up in earnest. I pressed the muzzle of my pistol against her rib cage under her left armpit. I pulled the trigger once.
No effect.
The bitter tang of gunpowder mixed with the tinge of charred leather wafted to my nose. The report of my pistol was barely audible given the tumult around us. I fired again.
No effect.
Having nothing to lose, I pulled the trigger four more times in quick succession. The pistol made a muffled - Pop... Pop... Pop… Pop… - sound. This time the Vampire twin clutched her side in excruciating pain scrambling off my chest and away from me. Normally in situations such as this where I find that I’m getting my ass handed to me on a serving platter, I’d spring to my feet and do a completely manly thing. Run like hell.
Unfortunately, I’d taken quite a beating over the last ten minutes. My body, which has never failed me in my twenty plus years, did. I wanted desperately to get to a sitting position and then from there a standing position, my mind even registered these commands. The foreman however as well as his crew that oversaw the workings of my bones, muscles and tendons was either out to lunch or on strike. I just lay there on my back barely moving, limbs flailing impotently like an overturned turtle struggling to right itself. I knew that if I didn’t get up in the next few seconds the Vampire twin would’ve healed enough to come at me again and frankly I didn’t have the strength to fend her off.
With what can only be described as an uncoordinated effort, I managed to turn onto my right side, discharging my pistol in the process. The bolt locked open on an empty magazine. The round, unaimed ricocheted harmlessly off a stone wall on the far side of Wilmar grappling with his remaining assailant. The rest of his attackers appeared to be dead at his feet. If only that bullet could’ve acted the way bullets act in movies. Bullets almost always tended to ricochet off something. Be it a car, a mailbox, an upraised shovel or even a large bronze statue. The bullets, appearing to have minds of their own seem to hit the bad guy, even when said bad guy is at an impossible angle for the bullet to even come anywhere near him or her. I guess physics is only loosely represented in that particular medium.
I could hear purposeful movement behind me. An icy chill flowed down my spine. The Vampire it would seem was recovering quickly and possibly coming for me. Only a few feet separated us. I remembered what Merlin had told me about my body healing more quickly now. He’d done something to my mind as well as the healing mechanism that evolution had given us humans. He removed the limits placed on me by nature. I think that was what he’d said. As I thought about it, I was in pretty bad shape when Wilmar found me. A day or two later when I was able to get up and step onto that cold cabin floor, all I had was a headache along with a few aches and pains. The key to my immediate survival lay in Merlin’s handy work. I began to clear my mind. A difficult task for me to accomplish, I know.
I let all thought drain from my mind like pulling a stopper on a full sink basin. I concentrated on an image of swirling water as it disappeared down the drain. The water represented my physical and mental pain of which I had plenty. The last forty-eight or perhaps closer to seventy-two hours has quite possibly been the worst hours that I’ve spent in this world so far. That isn’t to say that I haven’t had other hours that were just as bad. There were to be sure.
As my thoughts cleared I could feel a prickling sensation thrumming softly through my body. I remember when I was eight or nine years old, all the kids in the orphanage got to go on a trip to a monastery in upstate Michigan. Now at this particular monastery, the monks made cheese. I don’t remember where the place was located, but I do remember that it smelled. By that I mean both the cheese and the monastery. The smell as I recall was a mixture of old books, candle wax, aged hardwood and Parmesan cheese. Anyway, we had to stay overnight at a cheesy - no pun intended - roadside motel called the “No-Tell Motel”. A name anyone that’s ever stayed there wouldn’t soon forget. The place even advertised vibrating beds. A few of us kids decided to take one for a test-drive, which cost fifty cents a vibe.
The sensation I was feeling was not unlike that. I felt my body hard at work repairing itself with each passing second. It was an unsettling feeling, but at the same time quite exhilarating. I moved my left arm finding that it no longer hurt and to my surprise I still held my staff. I got to a sitting position then to my knees. So far, little or no pain plagued me. Then with one final push of strength I stood on two shaky legs staggering about in an irregular circle.
Chapter 27
What came next can either be listed under the heading of chance or kick a man when he’s down. As I’ve said, I staggered about a few feet finally orientating myself in the direction of my attacker, steadying my stance for an imminent attack. Behind me I heard a deep throated grumbling that sounded almost like a riding lawnmower that needed a tune-up. I turned, Glum stormed toward me in a rage. There was no recognition of me in his expression. My eyes widened as he drew back one of his meaty blood soaked fists. I’d apparently gotten too close to Oswald and Glum saw me as a threat. When a Troll goes into fighting mode they are not unlike the fabled Berserkers of lore, they kill anything in front of them and move on. I took a stuttering step out of the way of Glum’s fast approaching fist. His reach however was considerable. The blow caught me on the lower left side of my chest. I heard as well as felt a loud crack as I was thrown back into the remains of a stone riser. My pistol flew out of my hand in a direction I wasn’t able to follow. When my eyes stopped rolling around in my head from the excruciating pain I took stock of my situation. My ribs hurt, making breathing difficult. I also had no idea how bad my injuries were. To make matters worse, I sustained another blow to the head to go with the one I received moments earlier. For most of my life I’ve been lucky enough to avoid serious injuries, I don’t even think I’ve had so much as a broken bone.
Stitches were another matter. I’ve had plenty of them, especially when you look after the kinds of animals I do. Now in the last few days I’ve sustained more injuries than in the entire cumulative years I’ve been in existence. My pistol was lost, but I managed to hold onto my trusty staff. The thing must be super glued to the palm of my hand.
I struggled to a sitting position leaning against weathered stone stairs that led to what I thought was the former altar. Pain erupted in my left side. It felt like I’d been beaten repeatedly. I rode out the wave of pain huffing out curse words through clenched teeth. The pain subsided to a manageable level, but I feared to move lest the pain flare up again. Without any warning or sound, a Bogeyman attacked
me from behind clamping its powerful jaws around my left shoulder. I tensed which caused the pain to return more intensely than before. The fingers of my right hand sought out eyes to gouge as razor sharp claws raked my back while it’s head made erratic jerking motions attempting to tear flesh from my shoulder. Having absolutely no luck fending off the beast with a well placed thumb I brought the head of my staff up awkwardly leveling it a few inches from the Bogeyman’s head. I closed my eyes as I yelled the Latin phrase,
“Lux lucis ex nusquam,”
A narrow conical beam of intense light issued forth from the head of my staff. The heat given off by the beam was intense. I knew that the left side of my face was going to be burnt, possibly resembling Richard Dryfass’s face in the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I opened my eyes. The Bogeyman’s head had disintegrated. One moment it was there with gnashing teeth sunk deeply into my flesh, then nothing but a charred neck stump, limp hands and arms loosely attached to me. I struggled to free myself, my ribs protesting strongly with every movement. I remained where I was, my shirt torn and tattered, shoulder bleeding liberally. I looked like a tenderized rump roast waiting to be seasoned and frankly I was too tired to care. I managed to remove the Bogeyman’s claws from around me, which felt considerably better. I began to get grossed out by the slimy feel of its skin against mine.
My staff was wrenched from my hand. My eyes being orientated at the ground, I spied a pair of blood spattered black leather high-heeled boots. I didn’t have to raise my head to know who stood over me. It was the other twin. I raised my head high enough to catch the sight of a half dozen deformed bullets drop from an outstretched hand. They fell harmlessly to the ground making metallic sounds of finality. I smiled; my eyes met her murderous expression.
I said, “Nice boots. What comes next? Are you going to grind the heel of one of those boots into my crotch? Cause if you are, I want you to know I’m not into that sort of thing.”
