by N M Thorn
The wards emitted an ear-splitting howl and the wall trembled. Despite the resistance of the spells, Gunz increased the flow of his power. The collar on his neck squeezed tighter as its dark magic endeavored to prevent Gunz from gathering more elemental and magical energy. Struggling to breathe, he didn’t let go, sending more fire through the wards. A split-second later, with a loud bang the wards crashed, leaving the wall to the sacred garden unprotected.
Slowly, Gunz released his elemental power and turned around. Leaning his back against the wall, he slid down on the ground. He felt drained magically and beyond tired physically. Yaroslav walked to the wall and sat down on the ground next to him, resting his arms atop his bent knees.
“You were terrifying,” said the vampire quietly, without meeting his eyes.
“Look who’s talking,” muttered Gunz, his eyes half-closed. “You just dismembered at least twenty men if not more in less than a minute.”
“That’s not what I meant,” objected Yaroslav. “I meant, you reminded me of Kal, and it was terrifying.”
“Like father, like son…”
Yaroslav chuckled, shaking his head. “So, the guards are gone, the wards are down. Now, where is that goddamn door? How are we going to get in? Any bright ideas?”
“Let’s see what I can do.”
Gunz forced himself to his feet, ignoring the debilitating exhaustion, and turned around, placing both his hands on the wall. He connected with the nexus, gathering some magic in his hands.
“Rilekti Amnia,” he whispered the words in Dragon tongue and the shimmering golden glow spread around his hands.
He waited until a large area of the wall was consumed by the glow of his spell before removing his hands. But when he pushed on the wall, it remained as hard and solid as ever. The spell that was supposed to help him walk through any solid object didn’t work. He waved his hand, removing the glowing effect of the spell and braced himself against the wall as weakness assailed him.
“Wow! You seriously thought that a basic spell would work on a wall like this?”
Gunz heard Siv’s laughing voice and slowly turned around. The stallion was standing in front of him, his large teeth bared in the semblance of smile.
“Do you have any better idea?” challenged Gunz.
“Always,” replied Siv, nodding. “Hop on.”
“Whoa, hold it,” said Gunz, realizing what the stallion was about to do. “You said you can’t carry two riders and I can’t be separated from Yaroslav by more than a hundred yards. So, your bright idea is not going to work.”
“Well, I guess I’ll have to make an exception,” replied Siv snidely, derisive twinkles in his purple eyes and added with severity in his voice, “Just this one time. Both of you, get on.”
Gunz mounted the stallion, his every move coming with serious effort, and offered his hand to Yaroslav. The vampire got up, took his hand, and flew on top of the horse. Siv walked to the white mare and gently rubbed against her elegant neck.
“Wait for me back in the forest, sweetheart,” he said, stepping away. “I’ll be with you as soon as these two jokers are done.”
The mare neighed affectionately and galloped toward the forest. Siv waited until she was gone and turned toward the wall.
“Now, hold on, boys,” the stallion said and pushed off the ground.
Chapter 23
~ Zane Burns, a.k.a. Gunz ~
Siv pushed back from the ground and flew high up, leaving a deep dent in the dirt as a thick cloud of dust rose in the air in his wake. He soared effortlessly, moving higher and higher, like the two grown men on his back didn’t weigh anything. The wall ended up being a lot taller than Gunz had thought, but Siv had no problem clearing it.
Gunz clutched the horse’s golden mane with both hands to make sure he wasn’t going to fall, but he enjoyed every moment of this flight and the short-lived sensation of absolute freedom. The magical stallion landed softly on the other side of the wall.
Before dismounting, Gunz quickly surveyed the area. They were standing at the edge of a green paradise. A wide flowerbed with a rainbow of unusual flowers circled around the area that looked like an enormous park. Despite the night hour, the flowers weren’t closed. Their petals were wide open and fresh with glistening dew like it was early morning. Their tender aroma mixed with a light scent of freshly-cut grass drifted through the air.
A few paths paved with light pebbles ran into the park and melted into its velvety darkness, forking in different directions. Tall trees of unknown origin raised their branches into the midnight sky. Everything was empty and the silence of the park was disturbed only by an occasional cry of a night bird and the high-pitch shrills of cicadas.
Yaroslav dismounted first, soundlessly stepping on the pebbles and pulled out his katana, but since he couldn’t sense any danger, he lowered his sword. Gunz carefully slid off the horse and stopped next to the vampire, turning his knife into the sword.
“I can’t believe he was able to carry both of us over this wall,” said Yaroslav, his eyes sliding up and down the wall. “Wow, Siv, what a jump!”
“Oh, that's the way, uhh huh, uhh huh, I do it,” sung Siv rephrasing the popular song as he did a running man dance move with all four of his legs.
“So, Siv,” Gunz said, seizing his mane, “seems like you had no problem clearing this exceptionally tall wall with two riders on your back.”
Siv stopped dancing, his eyes two round purple plates, and tried to back away. “Yeah, why?” he neighed nervously.
“So, why did you tell us that you couldn’t carry two riders?” hissed Gunz, pulling the stallion’s head down, his flaming eyes staring directly into the horse’s. “What kind of con were you running, you magical jackass, huh? You forced us to go out of our path, fight Zlydzen and request Mariella as a price for our services. But worst of all, you made us lose time!”
“Let it go, Gunz,” said Yaroslav peacefully. “Let’s get what we came for and get out of here. Even though we got rid of the guards, we don’t know if there is anyone else protecting the garden.”
“We’ll get back to this conversation later, Siv,” promised Gunz but let go of the stallion’s mane.
He switched his attention to the park and closed his eyes, probing the area with his Salamander’s senses. He couldn’t detect the presence of anyone else, but straight ahead he could feel a large accumulation of magical energy. It didn’t feel like it belonged to anyone but was rather like a concentrated pool of pure magic.
“There is something there,” he said pointing toward the path leading straight ahead, into the depth of the park.
Even though it was past midnight, as soon as they walked into the park, against all odds, it got lighter. Small insects that looked like fireflies were zooming above their heads, their tiny bodies shining with bright blue light. The pebbles of the path were also gleaming dimly with a soft white light and every tree seemed to produce a slight green glow.
Gunz didn’t know how long they were walking as their surroundings remained the same. No one tried to stop them, and nothing got in their way. Maybe it was the serenity of this place or possibly he was just too tired, but a sense of safety and content enveloped him, and he turned his sword back into the Swiss army knife, hiding it in his pocket.
After a while, the path led them to a wide meadow located in the heart of the park. A large apple tree grew in the center of the meadow, its branches bending down under the weight of leaves and fruits. In front of the apple tree was a well.
Gunz approached the well and peeked inside. It was deep and dark, and he couldn’t see the bottom. A wave of powerful magical energy hit him and for a moment everything around him spun. He leaned forward, supporting himself on the edge of the well and closed his eyes to get over the dizziness. When he opened his eyes, he saw Yaroslav standing next to him, looking just as disoriented as he was.
“This is it,” said Gunz breathlessly.
He headed to the tree and reached for one of the app
les. He touched the fruit, feeling the raw energy of its magic gently surrounding him like a weightless warm cloud. He pulled down slightly and the apple separated from the branch. Gunz turned around, holding it in the palm of his hand, a light golden glow surrounding the magical fruit.
Nothing happened.
The apple tree stood motionless, and even the cicadas didn’t stop their endless chorus. He didn’t know what he expected. For a magical alarm to go off? To be struck by lightning? But nothing happened – nothing at all, and it was more shocking than any magical alarm or lightning strike.
Yaroslav opened a small travel bag that he wore attached to his hip and brought up a small box. Gunz placed the apple inside and Yaroslav put the box back into his bag. Then he pulled out a small vial that Novak had given them before they left Los Angeles and approached the well.
There was nothing around the well that would suggest how to get the Water of Life – no ropes, no buckets. Nothing. Gunz looked down, straining his senses but he couldn’t see the bottom.
“The Water of Life,” said Yaroslav, sounding hollow. “Its magical energy is a pure energy of life. I can feel its touch.” He slowly moved his hand over the opening of the well.
“I’m going to go down,” suggested Gunz.
“How?” asked Yaroslav, shaking his head. “We don’t have rope, so I can’t lower you down. And even if we had it, you’re not the right person for this job. Even though it’s the Water of Life, it’s still water. Fire and Water don’t get along well. You’ll get hurt. I’ll go.”
Yaroslav put the small glass vial back into his bag and before Gunz could object, he twirled in place shifting into a large white raven. The bird made a circle over the well and then dove inside. Gunz leaned over the side but could see nothing as the bird gradually melted into the darkness.
After a short while Gunz still didn’t hear anything and he started to worry. He didn’t want to call Yaroslav or make any noise and he wasn’t sure that their psychic connection was working after the vampire shifted. He remembered Svyatobor’s warning that besides wizards and dragons, there were other magical beings guarding this place and if they still didn’t realize they were here, he didn’t want to attract their attention by screaming.
Finally, he heard a hardly audible splash of water and then Yaroslav’s constrained gasp. Gunz strained his ears but that was it. He slammed his hand on the edge of the well, worry and frustration boiling over.
“Slavik!” he hissed into the echoing emptiness of the well but heard nothing back.
A moment later, a large white bird erupted from the well, twirled in the air and turned into Yaroslav. The vampire dropped to his knees, bending forward, clutching his chest with his hand. Gunz squatted in front of him and moved his hair to see his face, but still couldn’t find anything wrong with him.
“Slavik, are you okay?” he asked softly. The vampire lifted his face and Gunz saw thin streams of blood running from his eyes. “Are these… tears? I saw your tears before, they were never red…”
“I’m okay. It’s just tears. Sometimes, when I am—” He cut himself off and then repeated, “It’s just tears.” Yaroslav reached into his bag. He found the glass vial filled with the Water of Life and showed it to him.
“What happened?”
“Nothing,” replied Yaroslav unwillingly. “When I was filling the vial, I accidentally touched the Water of Life with my fingers… It restarted my heart, Gunz. And it hurt like hell when it happened. But then…” His voice faded and he dropped his head.
“Is your heart still beating?” asked Gunz.
Yaroslav just shook his head no without looking at him and then froze abruptly in that disturbing way only vampires could do.
“Do you hear that?” he whispered slowly rising to his feet, his eyes searching the surroundings.
“Hear what?” asked Gunz, but he caught what Yaroslav was talking about before he finished his question.
Someone was walking toward them. Not really walking – hop-skip-and-jumping along the pebbled path while murmuring a song in a high-pitched girlish voice.
“The itsy-bitsy spider
Climbed up the water spout.
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out…”
The steps and the hops were getting closer and the song sounded louder and clearer. Gunz stared at the dark woods in the direction of the sound, thousands of thoughts crowding his mind, but none of them were making any sense. He reached in his pocket and brought his Swiss army knife out, ready to turn it into a sword.
The song came closer, and finally a tiny figure materialized at the edge of the woods. Gunz’s jaw dropped as he watched a little girl hop, skip, and jump toward them, singing the same song. By the looks of her, she was no older than ten years old. Her blond hair was styled into two short ponytails on either side of her head. Her checkered skirt hardly reached her knees and was bouncing up and down with her every step.
The girl hopped along the path, singing, without giving them as much as a second look. Only at the time when she reached the place they were standing at, she halted and cocked her head, staring at them with curiosity. She approached them without any sign of fear and smiled, her bright pink lips remaining closed.
Gunz observed her face. It was a normal face of a ten-year old girl. Small orange freckles were splattered all over her nose and cheeks, and her tight-lipped smile brought up two dimples to her round cheeks. But it was her eyes that drew his attention. They were large and blue. The kind of shocking electric-blue color that he had seen only once in his life – that was the color of George Novak’s eyes.
“Fire and ice,” she said, pointing at Gunz and then at Yaroslav. “Life and death. What are you two doing in my garden?”
Yaroslav and Gunz exchanged a bewildered look. They had expected pretty much anything, but not a child. The girl pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips, tapping with her tiny shoe on the pebbles. Then without any warning she waved her hand, sending a wave of magic toward Yaroslav. At the touch of her magic, his bag vanished and immediately manifested in her hands. As fast as the vampire was, he wasn’t fast enough to catch it.
She opened the bag, absolutely unconcerned with the fact that two grown men were standing next to her and it was their bag she was going through. The girl pulled out the Apple and the vial with the Water of Life.
“So, you two are nothing but common thieves,” she said raising her blazing blue eyes at them. “How dare you steal from my garden.”
Somehow the night became darker and stormy clouds gathered over their heads. A moment later, the first drops of water hit the dry ground and the scent of ozone invaded Gunz’s senses, predicting a quickly approaching thunderstorm. In a heartbeat, the rain got heavier, and the lightning split the night sky.
Gunz grunted, wrapping his arms around himself as every drop of water that landed on his skin caused a surge of pain through his body. The girl observed him with interest in her blazing eyes.
“Are you afraid of the rain?” she asked him, twirling her ponytail around her finger. “That’s funny. Are you going to melt like the Wicked Witch of the West?” Notes of hungry childish curiosity sounded in her voice.
“No, my lady,” replied Gunz. “I’m not going to melt, but I don’t enjoy the touch of water on my skin.”
“Does it hurt you?” she continued the interrogation.
“Yes, my lady,” replied Gunz, trying to sound as respectful as he could in the face of a ten-year old child.
The girl stepped closer and unceremoniously grabbed his hand. A wave of her magic scanned him and for a moment, he felt like she was turning him inside out. He endeavored to pull his hand back, but for a little girl, she had an extremely firm grip.
“Aw, would yah look at that?” she sung, pinning him down with her bright eyes. “You’re a Child of Fire. And quite a skilled one to boot. I didn’t recognize the Fire Salamander in you until I touched you. Where did you learn to shadow your magical signature s
o well?”
“My lady, we mean no harm to you—,” started to say Gunz, but she shook her head, narrowing her eyes at him.
“So, you were the one who sent away all my wyverns,” she stated.
“Yes, my lady,” replied Gunz calmly.
The girl grabbed Yaroslav’s hand and her lips stretched into a frosty smirk. “In that case, I guess we need to get comfortable and have a nice long chat.”
Gunz didn’t notice her doing anything, but the garden spun around him like a crazy carousel and then everything went dark.
Chapter 24
~ Zane Burns, a.k.a. Gunz ~
Gunz woke up with a start and sat upright on a bed. Bright rays of sunshine reflected off white walls and the white tiles of a floor, blinding him for a moment. He looked around, not recognizing his surroundings. The place was mostly empty. Besides the bed he was sitting on, there was only an open coffin made out of redwood at the far end of the room, which seemed to be out of place in the surrounding whiteness.
He didn’t know what time it was, but judging by the position of the sun, it was somewhere around noon. The question that was burning in the back of his mind was, how long he had been unconscious. A few hours? A few days? He cringed, wondering how much of their precious time they had lost.
Where is Yaroslav? he thought as his eyes halted on the coffin. A vampire in a coffin? Nice! One can never get tired of this timeworn cliché. He got up and headed toward the other end of the room. He didn’t make it all the way as he ran into an invisible barrier. An electric shock threw him back, making his muscles spasm. He hit the floor hard, sliding back on the tiled floor all the way to the bed.
He rubbed his forehead, staring at the invisible barrier. It was still shining with a brilliant white light. The way the barrier reacted to his touch and the white light it was emitting, was all too familiar.