Relic: Spear

by Ben Zackheim

  “Oh, is that my new name now?” Rebel asked, frowning at me.

  “What?” I said. “I didn’t call you that! Frown at him, woman. What kind of danger, little guy?”

  “My people have decided you are no longer the hero we looked up to.” He took one look at my frown and threw his hands up again. “Not me! Not me! I do not agree with them. I think they’re abandoning you at the wrong time.”

  “That’s big of you,” Ronin growled.

  “Why do you think that?” I asked.

  “Because I see the dangers we face. I fear the consequences of siding against Kane Arkwright. To do so will be disastrous for all of us.”

  “There’s a little juice for your ego, Kane,” Rebel mumbled.

  “My ego has enough juice in it, thanks, Rebel. What’s your name, pixie?”

  “Pilly,” he said.

  “Okay, Pilly. Head back to your people and tell them that the last thing I need right now is another enemy. No more leaving the pixies out. Tell them I need their help.”

  Pilly clapped his hands together and fluttered his wings. “Oh! You do? That’s just the thing, Kane Arkwright. Just the thing! That’s all we want to do is help!”

  “Keep it down, Pilly. You know this is Merlin’s Cave, right?”

  The pixie’s smile dropped off his face. His eyes jerked around the cave. “I do know, yes. I risked much to be here with you.”

  “Yeah, we’re all risking a lot these days, Pilly.” He nodded in agreement. “Tell them to get here as soon as possible. Tell them that we need to fight Merlin. If we lose, the world loses everything.”

  “Oh dear,” Pilly said.

  “What’s that mean? Is there a problem?”

  Pilly stared at his feet. “Well…”

  “Talk, pixie,” Ronin said with a growl. I put a hand on her elbow to calm her down.

  “Pilly,” I said. “We don’t have time for this.”

  The pixie glanced up at me and quickly said, “The-pixies-are-working-for-Merlin-now-and-they’re-waiting-for-you-down-that-tunnel-there-to-ambush-you.”

  It sounded like one long word.

  But its meaning was clear.

  We were fucked.

  Chapter 57

  On second thought, I had a little something around my neck for just such an occasion.

  It wasn’t a relic. At least not a well-known one. But it would do. It would have to.

  “Why do you look so happy, all of a sudden?” Ronin asked me.

  Rebel put her hands on her hips. “You will share the plan knocking around in that head of yours, Arkwright. Now.”

  “Or what?” I teased. She wasn’t in the mood for teasing. “I have this.” I reached down my shirt and pulled out a razor-sharp silver disc on a necklace.

  Rebel sighed. “Because I know you love this game so much, I need to ask…”

  She and Ronin asked, “…What the fuck is that?”

  “This, my friends, is…”

  But Pilly finished my sentence. “A Vower! Who gave that to you?”

  “A pixie in Paris named Adam. He and his crew were disappointed in me, too. He said my days as a hero to pixies was numbered. I promised him I needed him for the big fight. He gave me this and told me to use it when I needed help.”

  “But the only pixie who can give out a Vower is the pixie king.”

  I tossed it in the air and snatched it with a cocky snap of the wrist. “I guess it was the king, then.”

  “King Adam said nothing of this,” Pilly said to himself. “It worries me. If the king’s forces are waiting in ambush, as I know they are, and yet you have a Vower, then we have a riddle on our hands.”

  “Question for the tiny man,” Ronin said, raising her hand for some reason. “How do you use a Vower?”

  “You need only show it to the king to follow the vow.”

  “How are we going to show it to the king when his troops are waiting to ambush us?” Ronin asked. “That sounds like suicide.”

  It was a good point. I turned to the pixie. “Pilly, do you know where the first attackers are stationed?”

  “Not exactly,” he said, quietly. “Down the tunnel there.” The moment he pointed to it, a large tunnel revealed itself to us.

  “Well, we need to know ‘exactly’ where they are. I need you to head back down the tunnel and find out where the troops are waiting for us.”

  “I can’t do that, Kane Arkwright. They will know I’m a traitor if I come through the tunnel from this direction.”

  I held up the Vower. “You’re not a traitor if you’re helping the guy who’s holding this, right?”

  “Mmmmaybe,” he said, his voice cracking with doubt.

  I felt bad, of course. I knew it was more likely he’d get his head handed to him by his king, but I couldn’t say that. It was one of those calls I hated to make. One pixie weighed against the fate of humanity.

  Yeah, being a leader sucks.

  I got to the part that made me squirm inside. “Listen, Pilly,” I said, taking a seat in front of him so we could be eye-to-eye. “I’m not asking you to go that far. Just far enough to find out where the ambush starts.”

  He pointed to the Vower. “Couldn’t you just hold it up and, you know, walk in front? If they see it, maybe they won’t attack.”

  “If you can guarantee that the ambushers wouldn’t attack before I could make it clear. Or be out for blood so bad that they try to swipe it from me. Can you do that?” I felt oily inside. I was slipping and sliding all over the moral compass.

  I could see him break. His staring eyes blinked once, and then closed.

  “Fine,” he mumbled. “But if we make it through this, you’ll put in a good word for me with the king.”

  “Of course.”

  “We’ll put in a word with the queen, too!” Ronin said, joining me in the smarmy soup I was making.

  “The king killed the queen,” Pilly muttered.

  “Oh,” Ronin said. The silence in the cave screamed, ‘If he killed the queen, imagine what he’d do to a pixie that messed up his royal plans to ally with Merlin!’

  Pilly waddled to the tunnel entrance. His head was down. He looked like he was preparing himself for his own end.

  I made eye contact with Rebel who gave me a comforting smile. I felt like a monster. The bad kind of monster. Not the nice ones who become friends and end up being better than most humans you know.

  I couldn’t do it.

  “Pilly,” I said. “Hold up.”

  He turned to me hopefully. “Yes, Kane Arkwright, hero?”

  I smirked. “Do you know of any other way into Merlin’s den?”

  His face lit up. But it quickly went back to bleak. “Yes, but no.”

  “Can you maybe clarify that a little bit?”

  “I know of a path to the core. But I put my people in danger if you take it. The tunnel is long and perilous. I hear that only Magicists can pass through.”

  “We’ve got one of those,” I said, pointing at Rebel. Rebel waved.

  “But the soldiers await you in one tunnel, while my people are at the end of the other one. I cannot put innocent citizens in harm’s way.”

  “You can, and you fucking will!” Ronin yelled.

  Pilly backed off, but he also frowned. If you’ve ever seen a pixie frown, you know it’s not something you want to make a habit of. Ronin took one look at that face, cleared her throat, and finished with, “Please.”

  Pilly’s face softened. “Please, Kane Arkwright. Do not make me betray my people. My fellow warriors sign up for battle. We are ready to pay the ultimate price. Everyone else…”

  “You don’t have to worry, Pilly. We’re not going to attack innocents.”

  “Unless they attack us first,” Ronin added.

  “Can you muzzle your sister, please?” I asked Rebel. Rebel grabbed her own earlobe and wiggled it. Ronin mouthed the word, “Hey!” but not a sound came out of her.

  “Please take us to the tunnel entrance, Pilly.”
/>
  The pixie hesitated. He looked from me, to Rebel, to Ronin. He smiled. Just a little. He gestured with a finger for me to come closer. I bent down and he whispered, “I have a sister just like the loud one.”

  I whispered back, “I’m very sorry, Pilly.”

  He smiled wide and scampered deeper into the cave. “Come! This way.”

  Chapter 58

  We followed him through the shallow water.

  The sunlight still cast a dim sheen over the cave, but it got weaker and weaker as we walked. Finally, the pixie stopped at a wall. He waited for us all to catch up. I looked for an opening but all I saw was stone and water and darkness.

  “Oh!” Pilly said and he pointed to the wall. “There it is.”

  Again, an opening suddenly appeared in front of us. This one was much smaller. It only came up to my waist.

  “Looks tight,” I said.

  “If I had a dime for every time I heard that…” Rebel countered. I couldn’t help it. I smiled. I hadn’t heard that awful joke for a long time. Rebel smirked back.

  “I’ll take point,” I said.

  Rebel put a hand on my shoulder. “What? Why? I’m the Magicist, Kane.”

  “I don’t need the distraction of your ass in my face, Rebel. Plus, I’m a gentleman. We always go first. I heard.”

  I didn’t give her time to protest. I willed the Vault Portal open and slipped Odin’s Spear in. I kept the sceptre close, though. I bent forward and crawled into the tight space and asked the sceptre politely to light our way. A blue glow emanated from the entire staff. It allowed me to see a hundred yards down the tunnel. It was craggy gray stone, glistening with dripping water as far as the eye could see.

  “Be careful,” Pilly said. “And remember your promise, Kane Arkwright! You will tell King Adam I am worthy of his pardon.”

  After ten minutes of walking with a crouch, the view became so bland it was almost hypnotic. The walls appeared to roll and spin around me. I had to stop and close my eyes.

  “You okay, Kane?” Rebel asked from directly behind me.

  “Fine. Just trying to get my bearings.” I took a steeling breath and pushed ahead. The tunnel got lower and lower until we were forced to crawl.

  The tunnel got so small that our jackets caught on the ceiling with each step. The sceptre barely lit the space ahead of us.

  I soon found out why.

  We’d reached a wall.

  “What’s the problem up there?” Ronin asked. Apparently, Rebel’s Mute Spell had worn off.

  “Dead end,” I answered.

  Rebel tapped the bottom of my boots. “We should head back.” I heard the two sisters start to crawl backwards. I couldn’t tell them to stop. I had to make them stop. There was only one way to do that.

  I gripped the sceptre tight and mentally shoved the ever-living hell out of that dead end.

  It responded in spectacular fashion.

  This is going to sound creepy, but it felt like we were on the inside of a stone pimple that just got popped. The narrow tunnel in front of the sceptre cracked into a trillion pieces and fell down like sand. The sound made me press my palms to my ears.

  When the dust settled, the three of us were still lying on our stomachs in a tight tunnel. But directly under my nose was a cliff that dropped a hundred feet down. And beyond that drop was a cavern worthy of a wizard like Merlin.

  The stalagmites and stalactites were the size of buildings. The windows inside each of them probably meant they actually were buildings. Indeed, pixies started to flow from the formations. They hovered in place, in a defensive position. I couldn’t make them out clearly, but I could tell they weren’t warriors. These were pixie civilians, just like Pilly had said.

  I glanced down and saw a narrow ledge below us. I kicked my legs around until Rebel gave me enough room to turn myself around. When I was face to face with her, I said, “Keep your sister quiet.”

  “What do you see?” she whispered.

  “More pixies than I’d ever hoped to see.” I slid away from her and dropped down on the ledge. I brushed off and waited for someone to say something. Every pixie eye in the massive cavern was on me.

  I waved.

  “Hello!” I yelled. Nothing. No sound. No movement. Creepy. “We’re not here to hurt you! We’re here to kick Merlin’s ass!”

  “Did you just say we’re here to kick Merlin’s ass, you idiot?” Rebel yelled down at me.

  Again, the pixies were silent. The entire cavern was still, except for the faint sounds of flapping pixie wings and dripping water.

  Then another sound took over. A skittering sound, like a million bugs taking to the sky. I didn’t need to be a battlefront genius to recognize the sound of a pixie army.

  They were onto us.

  The sound of the advancing pixie army was overwhelmed by another sound.

  A man’s laughter.

  Merlin appeared in the center of the cavern. He stood upright. His large form was outlined by a fiery aura.

  We’d come to beat down a weak Merlin, but Rebel said it best with, “I don’t know, he looks pretty damn strong to me.”

  Chapter 59

  Rebel soared from the tunnel like a missile.

  “Rebel!” I called after her. But it was too late. She’d made her choice. As usual, she’d made it without asking me first.

  She flew to the center of the cave and floated above the ancient wizard. Merlin, for his part, sat on a small boulder and crossed his legs. He appeared to be annoyingly undisturbed by our presence.

  “I kicked your ass once, Merlin,” Rebel yelled. “Would you like to try again?”

  “I underestimated you last time, Rebel. I won’t make the same mistake again.” Merlin transformed into fire. There’s no other way to put it. His form bundled up in a ball of flame and he shot into the air, straight at my partner. She dodged a direct hit but she screeched in pain as the fire scorched her.

  I lifted my sceptre into the sky and found that I was holding an old man’s cane. Merlin had somehow swapped the sceptre of Was with a damn walking stick.

  “Shit!” I screamed.

  I threw the cane over the cliff’s edge. But as I watched it drop, I was horrified to see I’d tossed away the sceptre. Merlin had cast a spell to make the sceptre appear to be a cane.

  And I’d just thrown it away.

  “SHIT!” I screamed again.

  Ronin started firing. She emptied both weapons within seven seconds. Just like the amateur field agent she was. She dropped down onto the ledge next to me.

  “Got any ammo?” she asked.

  I rolled my eyes and got down on my knees. Skyler’s serum was still in my veins, so I started to climb down the cliff. But Ronin had other plans. She snagged my hand and screamed something. She lifted me up with her serum-enhanced arms and tossed me into the cavern like a javelin.

  “What the fuuuuuuuuuck!”

  I slammed into something and grabbed on for dear life. It was Rebel. I dangled from her legs as she tried to dodge another Merlin attack. She dropped straight down, which made him barely miss. Still, the heat of Merlin’s spell scorched my nose hairs.

  “Really, Kane?” Rebel yelled down at me. “You couldn’t get your dangle later?”

  “It’s not my fault!”

  She swooped down, close to the cavern floor. I dropped from a safe height and did my best to roll with the flow. In case you’re wondering, rolling with the flow on a cave floor doesn’t feel good. I came to a stop with a boulder between the shoulders. The pain shot through my arms.

  I pushed my way up to my feet just in time to see the pixie soldiers flow into the cave from another tunnel. Their wings made a furious sound.

  I hid behind a rock.

  Hey, I’m not proud of it. But I had to get a lay of the land.

  Rebel was holding her own against Merlin. They were yelling threats and promises of eternal agony between uttering spells and tearing the place apart, rock by rock. The pixie citizens were scattering in ev
ery direction. They just wanted to avoid the fighting.

  That’s when I had an idea. What the hell did I have to lose?

  “Over here!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. I waved my arms until I got the eye of every nearby pixie.

  I also succeeded in getting the attention of the entire pixie army, of course.

  But that was part of the plan.

  The citizens were closer to me than the soldiers, so I gestured for them to follow me. “This way is clear!” The pixies didn’t even hesitate. They flew toward me. I waved my arms to make them stop. “Listen! Listen to me!” The citizens hovered in place, which made the approaching army slow down.

  They didn’t want to put their people in harm’s way.

  Neither did I.

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Vower.

  The army stopped. Their wings beat lightly. The fury in the room from moments before faded. The soldiers’ heads cocked back and forth as they tried to decide if the Vower was real.

  “I need your help! I got this from King Adam! He promised you would help me!”

  I might have yelled that last part a little loud, because Merlin gave up his battle with Rebel and turned his flaming fireball body on me.

  He was too fast for me to dodge. It wasn’t a direct hit, but I felt the brunt of the impact on my right arm. If my veins hadn’t still pumped the serum through them I would have been dead instantly. Instead, Merlin bounced off of me and slammed into a boulder. I forced myself to my feet and held the Vower up again.

  A single pixie flew down to me and hovered in front of my face. He held out his small hand and I put the Vower in his palm.

  I recognized him. It was Adam.

  He looked at me with an unreadable expression.

  “What would you have us do, Kane Arkwright?”

  “Help me defeat Merlin.”

  “Very well,” he said without hesitation. “We’ll not see another day, but Kane Arkwright will admire us for it.”

  “Wait, what?” I asked, stupidly.

  The pixie flicked a fist forward and his army descended on Merlin, who had shed his fireball look. Merlin made some gestures with his hand and mumbled a spell. The pixies swarmed around him, forming a massive globe of fluttering wings. The wizard’s shield was holding strong.