The Blade Mage

by Phillip Drayer Duncan

  “Well, first of all,” I said, then paused to think of something clever to say. When I couldn’t think of anything, I said, “You ask too many questions for me to answer at once… Let’s see… Uh, no, no, no, and I kind of hoped so.”

  “I’m going to enjoy watching you die.”

  “Yeah, that seems to be a popular interest.”

  From beside me, Faith rose to her feet as well and whispered, “Run, Wyatt. I can hold her.”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not leaving you.”

  “You don’t owe me anything,” she said. “I’ve brought you nothing but trouble. Just go.”

  “I can’t,” I said, glancing over at her. “I won’t.”

  “Please,” she said as her eyes began to glow with green light. “Just run.”

  Before I could reply she raised her hands and shoved them forward through the air, pushing out the green energy she’d used before to save me from the Abasy. Only this time, she aimed at the old witch.

  The Obayifo raised her hands and fired her own blast of green energy. The two spells collided and wrapped around each other, green tendrils entwining like serpents, neither more potent than the other. Yet the difference was clear. Faith’s brow creased with strain. The Obayifo merely laughed.

  “In all these years, you’ve never been powerful enough to defeat me, child,” the witch said, still smirking like a real b-word. “What makes you think you can now?”

  Faith snarled and pushed harder, forcing more green energy toward her old master. The witch cackled with a mad delight.

  It really pissed me off.

  I charged.

  Halfway to the Obayifo, I caught a disturbance from my peripherals and glanced over as the Abasy charged toward me from the forest of bookshelves.

  Time seemed to slow and all I could think about was just how fast the bastard really was. There was virtually no chance I could move in time to avoid the attack.

  Then another dark figure appeared and crashed into the beast.

  Shain Stone hit the demon like an NFL linebacker, driving it off course and knocking it to the ground. Using his M4 like a baseball bat, he beat on the demon, roaring like a Viking god from hell.

  I turned my focus back on the witch.

  Still holding off Faith with one hand, she used the other to hit me with a simple force spell. Before my brain had time to comprehend what had happened, I was flung into one of the few bookshelves still on its feet. It toppled over with me on top of it.

  Pain radiated through my body, but I managed to rise once more.

  It occurred to me that I might need a better strategy, but since I didn’t have time to formulate one, I charged again. Maybe I could distract her long enough for Faith to hit her.

  I only made it a few feet this time when something dark hit me from above and I was yanked off my feet.

  I managed to jerk myself free just as the manananggal tried to sink its fangs into my throat. I hit the floor in an unceremonious heap. My sword clanked against the ground a few feet away.

  The manananggal screeched and swerved around to dive bomb me again. There was no way I could I get back to my sword in time, and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t get so lucky in a hand to hand fight.

  “Hey, you ugly ole munter!” Axel’s voice called from somewhere. “You want to go to prom with me? Your legs already said yes.”

  The manananggal cried in fury and changed direction. My eyes followed the path of its flight and I saw why.

  Axel stood on the other end of the library with the lower half of the manananggal’s body sitting on his shoulders, like a child sitting on its dad’s shoulders to watch a parade. Why, or how, he managed to get them up there, I do not know.

  “What’s that?” Axel said as the demon approached. “You want these back?”

  Just as the manananggal’s upper half dove in to attack, Axel grasped the legs by the ankles, spun, and swung the monster’s lower half at its upper half like a baseball bat. He smacked the top half away and the manananggal screamed in rage.

  Axel laughed and yelled, “I can’t believe I just did that! Wyatt! Did you see?!”

  Ignoring my overzealous friend, I forced myself back to my feet and collected my sword.

  Back to business, I started toward the witch again.

  She glanced in my direction and sighed. “Why won’t you just die?”

  “I’m too charming to die,” I replied, channeling my inner Axel. “Or maybe just a bit too stubborn.”

  “This time it won’t be a force spell,” she said, sneering at me.

  I continued toward her at a steady pace. I might’ve run full speed, but by that point I had a bit of a limp, and if she was going to kill me, it was just as well that she do it while I moved at a moderate pace. Besides, if I could annoy her enough to lose focus, maybe Faith would have a chance.

  Glancing back, I didn’t think the younger woman could take much more. Still she pressed on, her face red with exertion. Sweat beaded off the veins bulging in her forehead. Her eyes were bloodshot, but determined. There was no quit in her.

  I turned my attention back to the witch. “You’re going to die here, you know? You might disintegrate my bones, but there’s no escaping the fact you’re an absolute failure. This whole venture was for what? It’s already ruined. The Cabal is coming. They know all about you.”

  “You think that frightens me?” she asked. “You’re their champion. And what have you done?”

  “Only stopped you at like…every turn,” I said, forcing my own laugh. “I mean… Really? You’re supposed to be this big bad witch, and what have you accomplished? You couldn’t even keep your apprentice in check. Then you let your second choice get stolen right out from under your nose.”

  “That was me!” Axel yelled from where he was still engaged with the manananggal. “I did that! And it wasn’t even that hard!”

  “We ruined your alliance with the Marauders. We ruined your alliance with the Pattersons. Then we came along and ruined your fancy dress party. Sounds like we ruined that alliance, too. How many of your guests died up there?”

  “What’s your point, mortal?”

  “My point, is if we can wreak this much havoc on your plans, what’s the rest of the Cabal going to do to you? You haven’t been able to kill me yet, for Christ’s sake. Are you going to fall over if the Archmage sneezes? If one of the Shamuses farts, will you shit yourself? I don’t think you’re too great at this whole evil witch thing. Maybe you should give it up and try cross-stitch or basket weaving. Maybe leave the magic business to those who can actually get shit done.”

  That seemed to do the trick. If she wasn’t focused on me before, she certainly was now.

  Once again using only one hand to stave off Faith’s attack, the Obayifo pointed a long bony finger in my direction. Green energy began to swirl around the tip of her pointer, rotating like a windmill. She began chanting.

  I decided it was time to charge again. Whatever spell she was firing up, it seemed to take a moment to charge. My only hope was that I could close the distance between us before she was ready.

  It was futile and I knew it.

  She fired.

  A swirling bolt of green energy shot toward me.

  This was it. I knew I was done.

  Instinctively, I held Drynwyn up in front of me, as though the sword could block her magic attack. Then, much to my surprise, that’s exactly what happened. The green energy hit the white flames of my sword, crackled, and dissipated. Once more, the blade began to smoke and the hilt grew warm in my hand, but not searing hot like before.

  I paused and stared at my sword, then back up at the Obayifo. Her eyes were as wide as mine, equally surprised her spell didn’t kill me.

  Then she cried out as Faith’s spell gained ground on her.

  Something akin to panic showed on the old bitch’s face for the first time, and she cried out, yelling a word I didn’t understand. The meaning became clear a moment later when the Abasy cam
e running.

  Forgetting Stone, the demon charged at me. I didn’t know what the creature’s relationship with the Obayifo was, but clearly it meant to protect her.

  I noticed Stone’s combat knife jutted from the monster’s chest, but it either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

  As it closed in, I rolled to the side and came up swinging. My strike narrowly missed the creature’s face, then I had to duck to avoid a swipe of its claws. It jumped back to avoid me, then decided it was best to engage me from a distance and scooped up one of the giant bookshelves and hurled it at me.

  I dove to the side, avoiding being crushed only to realize the Abasy had sprinted toward me as soon as it had thrown it. From the ground, there was little I could do save to lash out with my sword.

  Just before the monster closed in to finish me, Stone appeared between us. Blood seeped down the side of his face, and it appeared he’d taken a gash across the forehead. His Kevlar body armor was all but shredded, pieces flapping about as he moved. Dark blood dripped from all around his torso, and I saw several deep lacerations across his chest. I didn’t know how he was still on his feet, but he raised his busted up M4 and charged back in, swinging it at the monster like an old war mace.

  The Abasy grabbed hold of the weapon, ripped it from his hands, and knocked Stone to the floor. The demon snapped the M4 in half, then tossed the jagged, broken pieces over to Stone.

  It turned back to me, but I was on my feet again and swung my sword when it tried to close the distance.

  “Time to die, wizard,” it said, grinning at me with its razor sharp teeth.

  Before I could respond, the demon cried out in a gurgling hiss. The broken barrel of Stone’s gun appeared through the front of its throat as he attacked it from behind. The Abasy swung around to face him, raising a clawed hand to strike him down.

  I darted in with my sword and the demon moved to the other side of Stone, seeking to put my ally between us.

  Unfortunately for it, Stone still had other half of his broken gun, and it was every bit as jagged as the first. Wielding his assault rifle like the broken end was a bayonet, he slammed the gun into the Abasy’s eye.

  The demon tried to pull away, but Stone stayed with it.

  Roaring, Stone grabbed hold of the knife he’d planted in the beast’s chest earlier and clung on while pushing his broken gun further into the demon’s skull.

  Black blood pumping from its neck and eye socket, the Abasy struck out with its clawed hand, skewering Stone through the shoulder. Stone cried out as the gray claws protruded out of his back, but still he kept his grip on the knife and gun, unwilling to relent.

  The Abasy was so enraged by Stone’s surprise attack it forgot about me for only a moment, which was a moment too long.

  I slashed at the demon’s elbow, cutting off the arm that held Stone. Then I cut back toward its knee, severing its leg. The Abasy’s head flew back in an anguished cry, but only for a moment because then I swung my sword through its neck.

  The demon’s head rolled to the floor.

  “Let’s see if you can regrow that,” I said, kicking the head away from the body. It wasn’t quite like kicking a soccer ball. It didn’t roll so much as slide across the floor in a bloody smear. Hurt my foot like hell, too.

  Beside me, Stone was on his knees. With an anguished groan, he pulled the severed hand from his chest and tossed it to the floor. By that point, I wasn’t even sure how the bastard was still conscious. He glanced up at me, blood pumping from the wound on his head. He swayed once, then slowly rose to his feet, legs shaking. “Let’s finish this.”

  I turned back to the Obayifo and noticed her eyes darting between myself and her apprentice. Some of her swagger was lost now, and a bit of unease showed on her features, which gave me a warm fuzzy. I smiled at her and started forward.

  Again she called out in a language I didn’t understand. From further in the library, the manananggal cried back a response. A moment later, it came shrieking toward us, forgetting its feud with Axel.

  Unfortunately, Axel hadn’t forgotten his feud with it. My old friend came running along, dragging the creature’s legs behind him. His clothes were torn and disheveled, but it didn’t appear that he’d taken any injury.

  “Hey, get back here!” he demanded, raising his drumstick and firing a blue bolt at her. “The power of Christ compels you!”

  His first magic bolt slammed into the creature, knocking it off course. His second shot caught it while it was trying to correct and the manananggal hit the floor skidding.

  The vampire rose to take flight again, but just as it took off Axel jumped on its back and hooked an arm around the creature’s throat. As they ascended into the air above us, Axel raised his drumstick over his head and slammed the blunt end into the vampire’s eye. It screamed and tried to shake him free, but Axel wouldn’t budge.

  As he tried to pull his wand free, he said, “Damn, that’s really in there.”

  The creature screamed in anger and again tried to dislodge him, but with his place on her back, she struggled to flap her wings.

  “Hold still and I’ll get it out,” Axel said over the creature’s screams. “Let’s be reasonable here. I want my drumstick back and you want it out of your eye. There’s really no reason we shouldn’t be working together on this.”

  Still trying to force his drumstick free, Axel leaned back to get some leverage. There was the very distinct crack of snapping wood, and Axel’s eyes widened as he pulled his hand back, holding half of a broken drumstick. Not deterred, my friend said, “Well, that will do I suppose.” Axel struggled to tighten his grip on the half-a-vampire, then said, “Listen, I don’t think things are going to work between us. I’m sorry. I promise, this is about you and not me. I need a whole woman. Not a half of one.”

  Then he rammed the broken half of his drumstick into the manananggal’s side, using it like a steak to drive into her heart. The creature made a finally desperate cry that died into a gurgle as the two of them crashed toward the ground.

  Axel hit the floor a few feet from me and lay motionless for a moment, then moaned and rolled into a sitting position. There was a pained look on his face and he reached toward his ankle.

  “You all right?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “No,” he replied, casting me an indignant look as he rubbed his ankle. “That hurt. It might even be sprained. I think I might have to sit the rest of this out.”

  “Really?” Stone asked.

  Axel glanced over at the bloody, lacerated, and barely standing Shain Stone, then doubled down. “Those are just cuts. I sprained my ankle. That’s different.”

  “Axel, no one will mind if we put this whole battle on hold long enough for me to kick your sorry ass.”

  Axel sighed, grumbled, and slowly forced himself up, all while mumbling something about how it wasn’t fair that he didn’t have superhuman healing abilities. Hobbling, he made his way over to us, his second drumstick at the ready.

  Together, we turned to face the witch.

  Her demons were dead.

  Director Allen and his goons were gone.

  It was just us.

  Faith, Stone, Axel, and me, versus the Obayifo.

  I liked our odds.

  Faith released her spell and doubled over.

  Stalling to buy her a little time, I smiled at the Obayifo and said, “And now your demons are dead.”

  “They were merely pets,” the old woman replied. “They didn’t matter. I’ll kill you myself. That’ll be more fun, anyway.”

  “You talk too much,” Stone said, limping forward. “Let’s get on with it.”

  The Obayifo raised her hands and prepared to cast, but Faith was ready and fired another blast of energy at her old mentor, forcing her on the defensive.

  I charged forward with my sword ready. If anything could put her down, I knew it was Drynwyn.

  The old woman hissed with anger and fired her green magic at Faith, who cried out from behind us. I as
sumed she was down. I could only hope she was unhurt.

  Axel fired a lightning bolt at the old woman. She blocked his shot and fired back with something that knocked him from his feet.

  I was almost to her then. I could sense Stone just behind me. This was the best chance we were going to get. I needed to strike her down before she could cast again.

  But she didn’t cast again.

  Instead, she moved in a blur. As fast as the Abasy had moved, the thing pretending to be an old woman was twice as fast. Before I knew what was happening, a bookshelf smashed into me, and I, in turn, smashed into Stone. We both hit the ground.

  Struggling to rise, I saw Faith fire another spell, but the Obayifo moved from the spot before the spell struck home.

  Axel rose and summoned another lightning bolt, but he couldn’t hit the mark, either. She was too quick.

  The old woman whirled, green energy flowing all around her. When she finally came to a stop, she had a shield of swirling energy around one arm and a spear in the other. Both were comprised entirely of the same green energy she’d used to cast her spells, only it seemed a shade darker. This suggested to me that either her weapons had taken on some solidity, or the witch felt a bit festive.

  I sprinted toward her with my sword raised. Faith and Axel guided my way with a hail of ranged attacks. With any luck, they might open up a shot for me to take her down. I noticed Stone wasn’t behind me any longer. Without a melee weapon of his own, perhaps he’d decided to hang back. Couldn’t say as I blamed him. With her new weapons, he’d just manage to get himself killed trying to take her with his bare hands.

  As I closed with the witch I attempted to cut her down with a sweep of my sword, but caught only air. She sidestepped in a blur and I had to jump to the side to avoid being skewered. I immediately found myself on the defensive, doing anything I could to avoid a quick death.

  Sparks flew each time her spear made contact with Drynwyn. The rank stench of sulfur was strong, and I suspected the druidic sword might cut through her magic as it had before. She had the same idea and made a point of darting her strikes in, then pulling them back before I could properly block. Had she fully committed, she might’ve done me in quick, but if Drynwyn shattered her weapon, then I’d have her. The Obayifo wasn’t a fool. Still, occasionally our weapons met and more sparks flew.