by Ren Ryder
The Monster at the End of Its Road
Gaslamp Faeries Series, Book 3
Ren Ryder
Derek Edgington Productions LLC
Copyright © 2021 by Ren Ryder
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
Contents
1. Chapter One
2. Chapter Two
3. Chapter Three
4. Chapter Four
5. Chapter Five
6. Chapter Six
7. Chapter Seven
8. Chapter Eight
9. Chapter Nine
10. Chapter Ten
11. Chapter Eleven
12. Chapter Twelve
13. Chapter Thirteen
14. Chapter Fourteen
15. Chapter Fifteen
16. Chapter Sixteen
17. Chapter Seventeen
18. Chapter Eighteen
19. Rune Scroll Key
20. Endnote
Chapter One
Bright light faded to black. Haloes of light in my vision obscured the landscape for a tense series of heartbeats while my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The dark streets of New London materialized before my eyes with nauseating clarity as my senses caught up to me.
The smells of the lush life and vegetation blew away with the wind, replaced by the sharp tang of civilization that burned my nostrils and made me gag. The rancid scent of crowded spaces flooded my nostrils along with a harsh metallic tang. I’d never been so physically revolted by New London.
Still, my body flooded with a wave of such unexpected relief that my legs turned to jelly and I fell to my knees, clutching Bell’s body to my chest. I stared around at the tall, manicured buildings, so at odds with the Otherworld’s lush forests. The Grand Library, the unwavering backbone of New London spanning a square block, loomed in front of me.
Bell’s arms hung limp and her body was covered in green-and-black welts that pulsed with spectral light. Her breathing was strained and her pale skin was covered in sweat. With a look of deep concern I cleared away the damp strands of green hair obscuring the sylph’s face with my fingers.
Bell’s life took priority over anything else.
Had my source not been wrung dry by fighting a series of protracted battles in the Otherworld, I would have risked trying to funnel my mana into the sylph’s listless body. Unable to help my partner when it mattered most, I felt like a worthless piece of trash. Running my hands through my long silvery-white hair, I cursed myself.
Setting Bell down, I bared a few inches of Ailill’s hand-and-a-half sword and dragged the inside of my left wrist across its gleaming blade. Purplish-black blood welled from the cut and trickled down my hand to my fingertips. Hands shaking, I forced Bell’s mouth open and watched thick droplets of my blood drip-drip down her convulsing throat.
Bell’s glazed-over eyes rolled back in her head and the corpse-like pallor began to recede from her skin. The sylph choked and coughed, then sat erect with the speed of a sprung trap.
“More. More!” Full of bloodthirst, Bell clawed at my wrist to open my wound wider as it began to heal with startling speed.
Bell’s sharp incisors tore into the soft skin on the underside of my arm. With a crazed look in her golden eyes, she ripped out stringy bits of bloody flesh and gulped them down like a baby bird. It made me nauseous to watch, but Bell’s cheeks flushed dark green and the horrible welts all over her body shrank then disappeared.
Something shook my shoulder, and I bolted upright then leapt backwards to make space between myself and the threat. I found myself face to face with Fin Macool, and I laughed awkwardly at my overreaction. How I’d forgotten the giant of a man accompanying me was beyond me, but I had.
“What, what is this?” Fin asked, looking lost amid the modern cityscape.
“I’m not sure how to tell you this…” I trailed off as a lump formed in my throat. With a heavy heart, I told him, “Welcome to the future, New London circa 1912… or thereabouts, depending on how long I’ve been gone this time.”
I watched Fin’s face flash through incomprehension, into disbelief, then grief.
"You’re taking this rather well. I don’t mind admitting I freaked out when I first came back from a short jaunt in the Otherworld to find the passage of time had made my home near unrecognizable,” I said.
Bell stood under her own power, flapped her wings experimentally, then took to the air and flew circles around me before settling on my good shoulder.
“I’ve heard the stories, but… I had hoped the distortion would be in my favor. If it had been… I could have returned to my family almost as if it had all been a dream.”
I winced and looked away from the sorrowful man.
“C’mon, cheer up, we should be celebrating!” Bell shone with joy while her face and most of her dress was splattered with blood. “We’re champions! Look at us, we made it! Ladies and gentleman, we have arrived. All of you, bow, bow down before the weakest faery king of them all!”
Relief flooded me at seeing Bell full of her usual vigor, but I schooled my expression so it wouldn’t show on my face. “Alright, that last bit was uncalled for. And what crowd are you addressing? There’s nobody here besides us.”
Nervous tension thrummed through me as I searched my surroundings. The streets were paved with smooth asphalt, similar in appearance to what I’d seen on my last visit. Gas-burning street lamps cast the abandoned streets in warm light and eery shadow.
Day or night, I’d never seen New London’s streets so empty of pedestrians, let alone such a well-known, bustling avenue in the Middle Quarter. Rather than with people, the double-wide main street was packed on either side with parked steam-powered carts.
“Are your eyes broke?” Bell pointed, and I followed the tip of her finger to look in that direction.
Shadows wriggled in the darkness, moving around the edges of a pool of warm light cast by a nearby street lamp. I strained my eyes to better see the humanoid figures. They were clad in hooded cloaks that left much to the imagination.
The Watch? Couldn’t be.
“Who goes there?” I called out in my most authoritative voice.
Weapons ban or no, I fumbled at the left side of my waist to grasp the bastard sword’s hilt. The twirling basket-hilt design had decorative pixies hanging off it that jangled when I wrapped my hand around the sword’s base. Exhausted and drained of mana, my ability to hold my own in a fight was vastly reduced. At least Ailill’s cast-offs gave me a means of fighting back if I needed to.
I cleared my throat and despite the way it made me feel weak and helpless, I asked, “Fin, a little help here?”
The big guy was staring at the pavement, a vacant look in his eyes. After my words had settled and when I started to question whether he had heard me, Fin pulled himself out of his stupor. Eyeing the newcomers while his skin boiled with crimson mana, Fin slammed his fists together.
I raised my hands in a placating gesture. “Look, me and my friend just got back from a long journey, and we don’t want any trouble. We can pass like ships in the night.”
Cloaks billowing, three figures stopped short of us. Half-blended into the shadows and with their hoods drawn low, I couldn’t get a clear picture of any of them. I did however note their smoky black auras and a scent on the wind that reeked of sickly-sweet death.
With a sharp tug I unsheathed my weapon and waved the pointy end at our enemies. The hand-and-a-half sword was just over a meter long with a sparkling silver blade inlaid with an intricate forest scene depicted in gold filigree. A soft silvery glow emanated from the blade.
“Leave this to me,” Fin growled, anger radiating off him.
Fin raced forward, shouting at the top of his lungs. The hooded trio rushed to create distance between themselves and surround Fin in a pincer formation. Without slowing Fin bulldozed straight down the middle, knocking aside the first enemy with the full force of his berserker’s rage. The person went flying through the air and slammed into a concrete post on the side of the road.
Despite how powerful the blow was, the hooded figure stood back up like it was nothing, appearing little affected by the blow.
That settles it. No way these guys are human.
I was about to move to help Fin when a concussive force struck me in the back of my head. I wobbled as my vision filled with stars then toppled over onto my hands and knees in the middle of the road. My instincts screamed at me, so I threw myself as hard as I could to one side. A leaping attacker fell into the space I’d just vacated, hissing.
“Hey, no fair! Lemme go!”
I crashed into a steam-powered cart, dazed and out of sorts. Adrenaline pulsed through me to wipe away the fog only to find Bell held hostage, kicking and screaming. Winds ripped at the hand holding her, but the figure held fast and refused to let go.
My exhaustion fell away and I leapt at the hooded attacker, sweeping my sword downwards in an arcing blow.
Snicker-snack.
My sword lopped off the offending hand midway up the forearm. The hand thunked to the ground and wriggled around, still keeping Bell hostage despite being separated from its owner. Bell struggled to free herself to no avail.
The hooded figure screamed in anguish while they stared at the stump of their arm in horror.
In a fluid followthrough motion I pivoted and latched onto the fabric of the cloak’s hood, then I stepped beyond my opponent while dragging them down to ground with a vicious jerk. My fallen enemy expelled all the air from their lungs in a loud gasp.
With the hood pulled back my opponent’s face was revealed, and I studied the man with sharp interest. He possessed thick, masculine features, with bushy eyebrows and a wide-eyed stare. His irises were the color of blood.
Hissing, the man revealed sharp fangs. Like a snake he wiggled out of his cloak and leapt into the air with preternatural agility. I cursed as the figure disappeared into the night.
“Kal!” Bell’s voice was full of alarm.
In the corner of my eye, too late, I saw another cloaked figure charge towards me right before they tackled me to the ground. It felt like a brick wall had fallen on me, and my ribs creaked under the pressure. I lost my grip on my sword and it clattered to the ground a few feet away, useless.
Ridden to the pavement by my attacker, they stayed on top despite my efforts to turn the situation to my advantage. Sharp claws dug into my skull as the shadowy figure smashed my head against the pavement again and again and again.
I struggled to pull the tiniest trickle of mana off my source, wringing myself out like an over-dry sponge, hoping for a drop of water. Pain ripped through me and my source screamed as I fought a futile battle to rally my failing strength.
My consciousness flickered like a dying candle flame.
My attacker dug into the soft skin of my exposed neck, ripping and tearing at my flesh like a rabid dog. Wet sucking noises and moans of pleasure filtered into my ears as I fought, failed to free myself. Red mist sprayed out of my jugular in a fount of blood.
A rush of violent red mana streaked across my vision, striking my attacker head-on and sending them flying. Strong and tall, Fin stood by above me, glowing with power. His muscles bulged and he threw himself at the downed enemy, landing a flurry of blows with his bare fists.
Startling silence returned to New London’s streets with Fin dispatching the last of our unexpected enemies.
Wheezing and holding closed the wound in my neck with the palm of my left hand, I stood up and stumbled bleary-eyed to where Bell was still struggling to free herself from our foe’s dismembered hand. With a dark chuckle, I stepped on the wriggling forearm to hold it in place, bent down, then forced its clawed fingers open to free my familiar.
Bell was blue in the face and her eyes looked like they might pop out of their sockets. Her eyes were tearing up. She took a deep breath and shot up into the air with the speed of a loosed arrow.
Grimacing, I stomped on the dismembered hand a few more times for good measure. When it stopped wriggling around, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Pain wove through my body and pulsed through my jugular. I kept pressure on my wounded neck while my flesh knitted back together. At least I’d proven that while my source was run dry I could still rely on the merrow’s monstrous healing factor.
Bell flew up in my face and started kicking me in the temple with her sandaled feet. “That was so uncool. Next time you rescue me, do it right!”
I scowled and turned to face my sylph familiar. “Sor-ree. I’m running on empty here, I did my best with what I had at my disposal.”
Bell flipped her hair and made a face. “Hmmph, just do better!”
Fin had left a trail of corpses behind him, ending at the final attacker that would have ended me if not for his actions. Chest heaving, the big guy looked dazed and lost, his eyes unfocused. Standing over a corpse and burning with crimson mana, he was quite the sight.
Scooping up my sword from the pavement, I carried it point-down since I didn’t think I was capable of sheathing it one-handed.
I trotted over to Fin’s side, saving an interested look for the corpse at his feet. The body was a misshapen mess of blood and gore, but its oversized incisors were clearly visible in its wide-open mouth. Crouching, I stared into the thing’s sightless eyes.
“Right,” I shook my head and rolled my eyes at Bell. “Tell me you know what these things are.”
Bell gave me a haughty look. “Wow, what a dumb question. You really don’t know a vampire when you see one?”
I bunched my eyebrows together.
Bell rubbed her forehead, annoyance wrote clear across her face. “You really don’t know anything. Vampires have been around almost as long as humans have plagued the earth. They’re supernatural entities born from blood curses and dark magics that subsist off the vital energy contained in blood. Although they are cursed to flee daylight lest it turn them to ash, these nighttime hunters are known to be wildly strong and near impossible to kill unless decapitated.”
“Bloodsuckers. So… they’re like you then?”
Bell spluttered. “What? We’re nothing alike!”
I scratched my chin. “I guess you don’t need blood to live, you’re just a junkie.”
Bell tugged at my hair. “Hey, take that back! That’s slander!”
I wished I had a free hand to bat her away. “So… you don’t want a taste of this fountain of blood?”
Bell licked her lips then clamped her mouth shut with a look of defeat.
My stomach fluttered as a realization dawned on me: Fin had killed two vampires with his bare hands. I turned my attention to my human companion. Fin’s berserker strength was scary sometimes.
Fin was standing over a vampire’s corpse, his chest heaving and his attention somewhere faraway. I elbowed the big guy, trying to knock him out of his trance. Fin raised his fists and turned on me, fuming with rage.
I resisted the sudden urge to flinch and step back, or worse, raise my sword in self-defense. Luckily for me, realization flashed through Fin’s eyes and he returned to reason before he attacked me.
“Hey there, welcome back. Where’d you go off to?” I asked.
Fin cleared his throat then shook his head. “You’re welcome.”
“Oh yeah, thanks for the save b
ack there, close call. The trials wrung me dry.”
A wound like this would have killed me before.
Smiling awkwardly, I let up on the pressure on my neck to check the damage. Thin streams of purplish-black blood continued to trickle down my neck and underneath my shirt. The soft gray material of my shirt was soggy with blood, and many of the bright silver specks in the fabric had lost their sheen as they absorbed the dark ichor.
I wobbled on my feet as my vision swam.
My many-colored cloak rippled and shook itself. One of the streamers quested up to my neck like a curious snake, then wrapped around my neck like a boa constrictor. I hacked and started choking before I realized the constricting force was just enough to stop the bleeding without restricting my air supply. I watched thin streams of blood run down the streamer and soak into the cloak.
Fin eyed me. “You good Kal?”
Setting aside my reservations, I let go of my neck and laughed. “Oh this? I’m alright, but thanks for asking. Just about ready to fall asleep where I stand though.”
Fin grunted his agreement.
With sloppy movements, I used my now-free left hand to guide my sword back into its sheathe. In my bid to impress, I sliced open my index and pointer fingers on the sharp steel. I yelled, breaking New London’s uncharacteristic silence as my sword slammed home in its sheathe.
Blood misted into the air, and Bell flew into the spray with a look of wild abandon. I chuckled over my pure foolishness, shaking out the blood dripping from my fingertips.
Fin pointed out the Grand Library. “We should take refuge in there. It’s a ghost town out here, but maybe we can find some people inside.”
I hesitated. It was unnerving arriving back in New London to find its streets devoid of people.