The Fiddler's Dagger

by W H Lock

  Quinn ground his teeth and said nothing.

  "You have anything you want to add?" Nelson said with an upraised eyebrow.

  "Yeah!" Quinn said after a moment. "What did you expect when you brought me on? No, I want to know. Because I'm a criminal. I do criminal things. And I told you at the start I was going to do this my way. It’s not namby-pamby by the book. I. Get. Shit. Done. I’m the best there is at this. No one is better than me. No one! Not Oscar. Not Gwen. Me! I’m the best. Now, why don't you sit back and watch me work?"

  "Work? What it looks like to me is that you're working really hard at fucking this up, Quinn! You've already gotten one of your team killed. And the half-kitsune? I know you two go back, but what has she been up to lately? Any clue? Because I do. And it’s not pretty."

  Quinn stood up with the satchel. "I told you before; this end of the world nonsense is nothing more than a con. It's all a shell game to fleece someone out of a lot of money. And when I get the dagger, you're going to know I was right all along."

  "I hope so, Quinn. Because if you screw this up, I'll arrest everyone you know, including Gary and his wife. I'll throw you in holes so deep you won't know the world ended until you dig your way out. Got that?"

  "Are we done here, Dad? Because I'm done."

  "Yeah, we're done." Nelson waved Quinn off. "I need to speak to Barnes."

  Quinn shook his head and walked outside. He leaned against the side of their car, visible from the diner where Nelson was sitting.

  After waiting a moment, Nelson turned to Elly and asked, "Do you think he can do this?"

  "Is he capable? Yeah. He summoned a god with a slapped together ritual. That should have killed him. But he's distracted. He keeps running around like a maniac."

  "Well get his head straight. If we screw this up, it's all over. Get his ass back to Savannah."

  "What do you want me to do about the Templars?"

  "Are they in this?"

  Elly nodded. "There’s at least one following us. He’s been on our tail since Savannah. I don't think they're going to keep their hands off. Quinn hasn’t noticed him. Yet."

  "Yeah, well, he’s not so great at noticing that sort of thing. Now I have to micro-manage a magical toddler while crusading knights are running around playing hero. If they show up, do what you have to do but don't get anyone killed. Hopefully, they'll remember their charter and not do anything stupid."

  Elly nodded. When Nelson had nothing else to say, she slipped out of the booth and joined Quinn outside. Without a word to each other, Elly and Quinn got in the car and headed for the airport.

  A waitress wandered by the booth and looked at Nelson in surprise. "Oh, honey, I didn't see you come in. What can I get you?"

  Nelson looked at her for a long hard moment and said, "You know what? I’ve never had chicken and waffles. Can you help me out with that?"

  "Honey, I got just the thing for you. You just sit there, and I'll be right back with some coffee, okay?"

  She reappeared shortly with a mug full of hot black coffee and a plate of chicken and waffles. She dropped them off in front of Nelson with a wink. He smiled back at her. When she was gone, he went back to staring out the window and worrying about whether or not Quinn could save the world.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  As she drove, Elly Barnes held the wheel of the rental car loosely in her hand. She stared straight ahead, carefully not saying anything or looking at Quinn. Quinn did the same; staring straight ahead at the highway that stretched out in front of them.

  As the first sign for the airport outside of Austin passed them by, Elly said, "What you did wasn't right."

  "You have no idea what I did," Quinn said immediately. He didn’t look at Elly.

  "I don't? I think I do," she said just as quickly.

  "No."

  "You convinced a desperate man to steal something. A book that is worth enough to send him to prison for life. You did it by convincing him you could cure his wife of her cancer. That's fucked up." Elly looked over at Quinn, her lips in a sneer and eyes full of anger. "If I could arrest you now, I'd drag you straight back to Blackrock and make sure you never saw the light of day again!"

  "You make it sound like a crime against humanity. No one got hurt. He got something. I got the book. What does it matter?"

  "What does it matter?"

  Quinn shrugged and nodded.

  "You really have to ask why it matters you used his wife's cancer to convince him to steal that book?"

  "No one got hurt, Elly. No one. We both got what we wanted."

  "What's he going to get, Quinn? Really? A dead wife? A bank full of regret?"

  Quinn stared at Elly for a long hard minute and then said, "They get one perfect year."

  "What?"

  "One perfect year. That's what they get. Starting from yesterday to one year from now, she’ll be in perfect health and everything will go their way. They'll travel the world. Every time they fly, they'll be bumped up to first class. Where ever they go out to eat, a reservation will have just been canceled, and they can be seated. If he buys a lottery ticket, he’ll win. Everything- everything- will go his way for one year.”

  "And then, Quinn? What devil's bargain did you sell him? And to what? You don't have the power to pull this off. No human does. What did you sell him out to?"

  Quinn looked out the window at the passing lights of the outskirts of Austin. "At the end of the year, she dies. Quietly. Peacefully. But alone."

  "That's awful."

  "Is it? Is it? I've given them more than anyone has! I made that happen. Me! They'll have one perfect last year together. They know exactly when she will die. They’ll be able to spend one year together not having to worry about it. They can pack a lifetime into that one year. And then when the time comes, he'll get pulled away. And..."

  "And what, Quinn? What rises from the underworld and drags her away to where? Because that kind of deal doesn't end in a happy place with sunshine and roses, Quinn."

  "Maab. Queen of the Fae Court of Dreams will be there to collect her last breath. So, she won't die alone… alone. Gary won't be there, but Maab will be."

  "You sold her to the Fae?!?"

  "No! I— oh shit!"

  Several of the cars in front of Quinn and Elly slammed on their breaks and careened off the road. Elly slammed on the breaks and pulled the car to the right to swerve around the man standing in the middle of the road.

  He walked down the road. He held a golden sword in one hand. It shown like a beacon in the night. On his other arm was a white shield bisected by a red cross. The shield shone with an inner radiance.

  Elly pulled the emergency brake and spun the wheel. The tires smoked as the car spun one hundred eighty degrees around the man in the middle of the road. Quinn sloshed back and forth as the car came to a sudden stop. The hood of the car was now pointed at the glowing man with the sword and shield. The light of the now oncoming traffic lit him from behind, casting him in shadow. He was a little more than a dozen feet in front.

  Elly gunned the engine twice and looked over at Quinn. "I fucking hate the Templars." She dropped the clutch, stomped on the brake and the gas at the same time. Huge clouds of smoke billowed out from behind the car. The rear of the car swerved back and forth. Just as the rear moved back towards the middle Elly let go of the breaks and the car jumped forward with a roar. She drove straight at the Templar standing in the middle of the road.

  He shouted in Italian and brought his glowing shield in front of him. A golden aura unfolded from the shield as he set it to meet the charging car.

  "Oh fuck," was all that Quinn had time to say before the car ran straight into the Italian Knight Templar.

  The front end of the car crumpled around the shield wall as if it had run headlong into a tree. The airbags deployed. Elly and Quinn smashed into the airbags as the car came to a sudden stop. The impact caused the golden shield wall to flare into nova-like brightness, overpowering the street lamps and the headlights
of the traffic moving around him. The impact drove the Templar back, his feet skidding along as he leaned into the crash.

  Quinn tried to shake the fuzziness from his head. He pushed the airbag out of his face. He looked over to see if Elly was hurt only to find she was already out of the car. She was struggling with another man dressed in white. He held her hand, the one with the wand, outstretched as he raised a knife to strike.

  "Puttana, ti manderemo all'inferno!" The man with the shield shouted as he walked forward. His shoes smoked from the friction of being pushed back by Elly driving a car into him.

  With a shout and a quick gesture, Quinn summoned a Circle of Hunleff with the Rune of Arswyd added. The circle of personal horror formed between Elly and the man trying to stab her. The man screamed. His voice rose to the high register of soul-shattering terror. He let go of Elly's wand hand and swatted at the air as he staggered back. In his panic, he dropped his knife.

  Elly jumped to her feet and delivered a kick to her attacker's chest. He fell on his back, still screaming and slashing at the air with his hands. With a flourish of her wand, Elly pointed at the grass on the side of the road. She shouted something. Her wand burned with the fire of magic. The grass grew several feet in a matter of seconds. It wrapped around the flailing man and dragged him off the road. More grass grew and wrapped around him, immobilizing him.

  The screaming didn't stop.

  Quinn crawled out of the car through the driver’s side to be next to Elly. Together they turned to face the knight standing in the road. Two others joined the knight. Each of them holding a shield and a sword. Only the sword and shield of the man Elly had struck with the car glowed. Quinn recognized the leader of the trio as the man he’d faced in the Vatican Gardens outside of the Mater Ecclesia.

  "Give us the slut-witch and surrender yourself to the Justice of the Lord, Stregone," said the knight in the middle, his Italian accent thick with anger.

  "Yeah, I don't think it will work out that way, pal," Quinn said as he summoned his Wind Blade.

  The sword was the weapon of a fae knight. It was not visible to the eye except that it was outlined by where it wasn't. The air rushed around the sword, wiping Quinn's loose clothing and hair around. He held the void blade in both hands and raised the hilt up to be level with his head.

  The Italian knight nodded at Elly. The other knight, the one closest to Elly, raised his shield and twirled his sword. He advanced on her in a crouch.

  The cars kept coming, but now they drove around the combatants with horns blaring. One or two of the cars were ensnared in the wildly growing grass that Elly had summoned.

  The remaining knight followed his leader and advanced towards Quinn. Quinn had been trained to fight in the Pits of Hell. He had survived his time in Hell not by being stronger or better with a sword. He survived it by being smarter. Quinn knew enough of his own limits to know he couldn't match two trained and equipped combatants. One would be a challenge, but two would be impossible. Quinn backed up, using his feet to test the ground as he kept his eyes on the two men.

  The leader grinned and said, "If your slut-witch confesses her sins to me, I shall allow her to live and serve me as I see fit, Stregone."

  "Good luck with that, Pal. I have a feeling she'll castrate you with her teeth," Quinn said with a laugh.

  Elly raised her wand as she gave ground to the knight advancing towards her. A fully armed and armored Templar was a walking magical tank. Fortunately for Elly, this one only carried a normal shield and his sword. While he was still lethal and formidable, he wasn't an unstoppable juggernaut. Because he did not have the signature magical weapons of a full Templar knight; Elly knew he must only be a Squire.

  "Lay down your wand, witch. I shall be merciful and offer you a swift death," he said over his shield. His posh British accent made the offer of a swift death seem reasonable.

  Elly slashed at the ground with her wand. The earth underneath the asphalt road erupted up to form a massive wall of dirt. The knight sprinted forward, using the rising earth to vault into the air and land behind Elly. The British Templar struck at Elly, slashing his sword over his shield at neck height. Elly spun and ducked under the blow. She spun her wand around at the knight’s leather boots and then pointed at the sky.

  The knight was lifted off his feet as his shoes obeyed Elly’s command and threw him into the air. With no sense of panic, the English Squire let go of his sword and shield then pulled a knife from his belt. He sliced the laces of his boots. As he fell, the squire flipped in the air, taking control of his fall to land on his bootless feet.

  Quinn dodged the first strike of the lead knight. The Sword of the Spirit cut into the rental car. Quinn struck with his Wind Blade. Sparks flew as his fairy sword struck the Shield of Faith. Quinn leaned back to dodge the overhand strike of the second Templar. As the normal blade passed in front of him, Quinn sliced the normal sword of the second man in half with ease. Wind Blades cut through just about anything in the mortal world.

  The sliced section of the blade flipped away and clanged against the ground. The Templar staggered forward, unable to adjust to suddenly having only half a sword and no resistance to it. Quinn grabbed the Templar by the back of his coat and threw the Templar over his hip. The Templar slammed to the ground only to roll with the throw and come to his feet. The Templar brought his half-sword up in a guard position.

  Quinn kicked the first knight who struggled to free his sword from the car. Quinn felt the air rush out of the man. Quinn drove in with his Wind Blade, striking at the Templar’s head. The Templar brought up his shield to block the blow again. Sparks flew as the fae sword came in contact with the Christian relic.

  Something triggered in the shield and a burst of golden light threw Quinn away. Quinn used the push to roll over the hood of the ruined rental car. He landed on his feet in time to block another strike from the second man. The second Templar was unfazed by having a halved sword and held it readily in his hand. Quinn flipped the Wind Blade to catch the strike on the flat of his blade to avoid cutting the normal sword again.

  The second man leaned in, using his weight to drive down the crossed swords. When his face was inches from Quinn's, he said, "Arrendersi, Stregone. Non puoi stare davanti al potere di Dio."

  "I don't speak Italian, but that sounded like serious bullshit," Quinn said. He backhanded the second Italian and skipped away from the two men. "But if you want to do this, we'll do this. I will show you what the true power of a sorcerer is!"

  Quinn released his Wind Blade; it returned to the non-space from which he had summoned it. Quinn lowered his hands and spread out his fingers. With a shout, he summoned a Circle of Rhith. The spinning aquamarine circle traced along as if a laser light show had spun the circle into existence, playing over every surface as it spread out. The scent of ivy blew on the wind, leaving just as quickly as it came.

  Then Quinn spoke in the language of Hell. The profane Infernal words fouled the air. Massive cracks formed in the road around Quinn. A red light, the very light of Hell clawed its way up through the cracks in the world. A pentagram of Hell light carved itself around Quinn. Unholy runes drew themselves in the ground, cutting at the world with the dark magic of the underworld.

  Elly and the British squire stopped. They both turned to look at Quinn. With a curse, the British knight abandoned Elly and recovered his sword and shield. He ran to stand with his compatriots. The fourth knight had freed himself from whatever Quinn had put in front of himself and from Elly's grass entanglements. He had cut himself free and rejoined his brothers. While Elly hated the Templars, she had to admit they were very brave.

  Quinn stood in the pentagram's center, bathed in the red light of Hell. He threw his head back and bloody foam erupted from his mouth. His body shook as something took control. Quinn screamed in pain as his body bent in half at the waist. His neck audibly snapped as his head was bent at an odd angle. Quinn vomited a torrent of black blood. As if strings controlled him, Quinn’s body straig
htened. His head hung to the side listlessly.

  "What have you done, Quinn," Elly whispered in horror.

  From the waist up, Quinn exploded. A demonic form emerged, its black skin covered in red scales. Blood, far too much to be just Quinn's, dripped from the demon. The beast had massive arms, twice the width of Quinn's waist. But, somehow, the legs were still Quinn’s. With a roar, it lurched forward and snatched a Templar from the ground. The man flailed and struck at the demon with his sword. Golden sparks flew from where the sword hit the beast but had no effect. With relish, the demon opened its needle-fanged mouth and bit the head off of the man. It held up the body, blood fountaining into the air.

  "Only the blood of a Catholic can satiate my hunger! Bring me more!" The beast shouted into the night air. Impossibly, the beast’s upper body elongated. The arms were still massive but the too-long torso now supported a burgeoning bot belly. However, the legs were still Quinn's legs. The legs staggered about, trying to support the weight of the massive demonic upper body. The swaying back and forth gave the demon the appearance of being drunk.

  "What have you done?!?" Elly said again. She raised her wand to face the thing that Quinn had given his life to bring into this world.

  "Hey, let’s not go crazy,” Quinn said as he grabbed her arm to pull her back. He stood next to her. Aside from a bloody nose from the airbag, he was fine. On his shoulder was the satchel that held the book. "It won't take them long to figure out that thing, and the guy he ate aren't real. We need to be gone when that happens."

  The four Knights shouted in unison. The lead knight, the one with the shield, raised his sword in the air. The shield glowed in the night. The other’s fell in behind him, taking refuge in the magic the shield offered. The illusionary beast waved the body of a supposed fifth knight to spray the advancing men with blood.

  "What?" Elly said with obvious confusion. She looked back at the demon with Quinn’s legs and then back to Quinn a few times. "How?"

  “Theatricality, Elly. That's what a good illusion takes. We need to go. It won't last long," Quinn said as he pulled her after him. “I mean, can you see me sacrificing my life for anything? Come on, we need to hurry.”