by Hunter Blain
“What would you have us do?” Ludvig asked, defeat at losing the chance for glory in battle evident in his voice.
“Find Depweg. You hunted him once; do it again. We need him with us for when the gates of Hell open,” I said somberly.
“What makes you think they will open?” Doc asked nervously.
“Lachesis…” Locke whispered while shutting his eyes tight as if he was fighting a massive headache.
“Curious,” Taylor said while crossing his arms and placing his index finger on his chin in thought. “If the seer saw the gates open, could that mean that you die in Faerie tonight?”
“If we don’t go face Oberon and Lolth, then the black hole will destroy the Earth. We aren’t sure how exact the prophecy is or what would happen if Ulric and I die at the exact same time and if there is no Earth left. For all we know, Hell and Heaven can battle in the space Earth used to inhabit like a freaking straight-to-VHS movie.” I shook my head to erase the derailing train of thought like it was an Etch-A-Sketch. “Look, it doesn’t matter. What we do know is that we have no choice but to go to Faerie, and now. With the time dilation, I might be there for a few hours and come back to find Earth swallowed up. So we go right this moment. Taylor, ready?” I asked sternly. He nodded once and we began to make our way outside.
As I pushed on the OR doors, I turned to Ludvig and repeated, “Find Depweg,” before disappearing into the lobby and out the front door.
“If I may,” Taylor began when we were alone, “why did you tell the big one that his abilities won’t work? I assume he has access to elemental magic if he showed you how to channel it, yes?”
I chewed on my answer for a moment before I said, “Two reasons: he and the boy would be a liability against an army.”
“And the other?”
“Depweg…Depweg has gone rogue, and I want the hunters to find him before he does something stupid.”
“May I ask what caused his distress?”
“Lolth took both of his packmates away from him. He’s not handling it well.”
“I think I understand,” Taylor said respectfully. “Losing the ones you are responsible for can be a heavy burden to bear.” As he spoke, his eyes went unfocused for a moment as he took in a deep breath. Then, as quickly as he had wandered off into Sorrowville, he returned, ready to complete the mission. “Very well. What would you have me do now?”
“Meet me at Val’s. Explain to him what we are doing and take any weapons he can offer. I’ll be there momentarily.” As I finished issuing my orders, my leather wings sprouted. There were several puffs of a cottonlike substance on them now, and I chose to ignore them.
“See you in a moment,” Taylor said as he winked out of sight. I really needed to learn how he and Lily shifted locations on the plane they were on. It was a super neat trick.
I exploded into the air, sending dirt that had collected on the parking lot out in a circular wave.
As I made it to just below the cloud cover, I noticed a few small snowflakes that had squeezed out the bottom of the dark gray clouds, like a teenager sneaking out of their bedroom window after curfew. The lack of balance in the Fae Courts coupled with a few weeks of not having sun was beginning to bear worrisome fruit. Snow in Houston was exceedingly rare.
After a few minutes of flying, I landed in front of Valenta’s Saloon and made my way inside. Taylor and Val were nowhere to be seen, and a dawn of doubt birthed in my mind.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I whispered as I hurried into the kitchen. Relief crashed over me as I saw the doors to the basement were open. My nerves were placed precariously on the edge.
I rushed downstairs, taking two steps at a time, eager to lay eyes on my friends and confirm my worries were fabricated. There, standing in front of a bay of storage boxes, were Valenta and Taylor.
They stopped talking as I came into view, watching as I approached at a faster than what was socially acceptable pace.
“Everything alright?” Taylor asked with a cocked eyebrow.
“Hmm? Oh yes. Fine and dandy,” I said while crossing and uncrossing my arms, unsure of what to do with my hands. “What did we decide for weapons?”
“See’n as how failure means tha end of existence, I’m will’n ta lend ya tha big guns,” Valenta said. I took note that he kept his thick Southern accent up in front of Taylor.
Val grabbed a sealed box off the shelf and gently set it down on the ground. He removed the lid to reveal a few Nordic-looking artifacts, including a hammer-looking item. It was covered in sigils and runes, but didn’t look like a normal hammer or mallet. The top was curved, almost like a banana, with flat ends on either side. What was truly impressive was that the whole thing looked like a single forged piece of metal.
“Neat. What’s that? An anchor or somethen?” I asked, pointing.
“Mjolnir,” Valenta and Taylor both said in unison. Val glanced up at Taylor, who remained fixated on the hammer.
“Who are you?” Valenta asked Taylor through narrowed eyes.
“The same question could be addressed to you,” Taylor responded nonconfrontationally.
“I trust both of you, and that’s what matters. Now cut the crap and let’s focus back on the part where you said this was freaking Thor’s hammer! What?!” I let out some excited giggles as I clapped my hands while gazing upon the weapon of the Norse god. “Hey, it doesn’t look like Thor’s hammer.”
“Please, do not tell me you are referring to the movie version…” Taylor let out with the hint of a smile.
“Boy, this is the real weapon,” Val said, reaching down to pick up the hammer. His fingers wrapped around Mjolnir before lifting it easily from the box.
“Holy shit! You are worthy!” I proclaimed with a hand over my mouth.
“Damn it, John. Get those movies out yer head,” Val said, extending the hammer out to me.
My breath caught in my throat as the implications of what he was offering ricocheted throughout my mind.
“Me?” I mouthed, unable to press air out to form the words.
“I do apologize for shortening this, no doubt, epic moment for you,” Taylor started, using a colloquialism I would have used. “But time is a priceless commodity, and we are simply running out of it.”
That snapped me back.
“You’re right,” I said without my usual snarky humor. I reached out and grabbed Mjolnir from Valenta. I hefted it in front of me, feeling its weight and balance. “What do the runes mean?” I asked.
“A multitude of things,” Taylor answered before Val could finish drawing a breath for his reply. “Since you have become adept at using elemental magic, it is best you use this to focus, and even enhance, your attacks.”
“What he said,” Val concurred while hooking a thumb at Taylor, though I could tell he was irritated. “Try not ta crack Faerie in two with a lightning bolt, would ya?”
“Ah, I see you and Taylor had some time to chitchat before I arrived.”
“That we did,” Taylor agreed.
“Alright, chatty Cathys—what’s the plan?” I asked while awkwardly crossing my arms with the hammer sticking out and pressing against my cheek. With a sigh, I uncrossed my arms and let them fall to my side.
“To save Yggdrasil, we must destroy Lolth. She, and only she, is the reason for all of this,” Taylor said.
“What about Oberon? I thought he was the mastermind?” I asked, perplexed. “Lolth has been Oberon’s servant this whole time. I watched him issue her orders.”
“I’ve known Lolth for countless centuries,” Taylor said. “She wanted you to think Oberon was in control so any attack would be focused on him.”
“Classic misdirection,” I said, bringing my free hand up to rub my forehead in frustration.
“Hindsight is twenty-twenty, John,” Taylor said. “She has fooled more than her fair share of creatures in her existence. Even me. I should have known she was the cat from legend that you described.”
“So she’s like Faerie’s versio
n of the Devil?”
“That is one way of putting it,” Taylor responded, nodding his head slightly. As I looked at the Fae, I saw Val shift uncomfortably at the comparison, but he didn’t argue on whose nefarious bad guy was worse.
“Man, I’m glad Doc called you. Otherwise, I would have gone in guns blazing for Oberon.”
“Things happen for a reason,” Valenta stated confidently and without his drawl. Now it was Taylor’s turn to shift where he stood.
“I hope you are right, Val,” I said, going over the events of the past several hours in an instant.
“Shall we, then?” Taylor prompted, bending at the waist and motioning down the hall with a hand.
“Lilith, how long did it take me to get here? You told him about the portals already, too?”
“No,” Val said with narrowing eyes.
“It behooves me to know any and all portals being used to smuggle enchanted items to and from my queen’s lands,” Taylor said as if it were pure business. Then his shoulders slumped ever so slightly, and he corrected himself, “My lands.”
“Hmph,” Val responded as he led the way deeper down the hall.
We stopped at the doorway to Faerie and I turned to address Taylor.
“Ready?”
“I am.”
I looked him up and down before asking, “Don’t you need any weapons?”
“Not in Faerie.”
“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”
“Mayhap,” he replied with a grin.
“Good luck,” Valenta said as he placed a hand on the aperture and willed it to open. The space between shimmered before opening on a now familiar dark room. Taylor and I walked through the portal into the darkness that was Faerie.
22
I walked through first, anticipating the loss of power and unwelcomed return to mortality, but it never came.
“I love this armor!” I said, moving my free hand over the plates that shimmered to life at my thought. I lifted Mjolnir with the other hand, unsure of where to place it when not needed. Taylor must have seen me inspecting the weapon.
“Touch it to your hip,” he said.
I did as he suggested and felt it adhere as if fastened by an invisible harness. I tentatively let go of the hammer, keeping my hand close just in case, and was impressed to see it remain floating about half an inch off my waist.
“Neat!” I exclaimed as I looked at Taylor, who was adorned in epic (damn it, he had been right to use that word earlier) elven armor. It was made of thin, moss green metal etched in brown markings. In the center of his chest piece was a line design of a large tree with flowers blooming in the leaves. Though it wasn’t thick, I would be willing to bet it would stop a shot from one of Depweg’s high-caliber rifles. He was a noble of the Seelie Court after all. Only the finest of armor and weaponry would be permitted.
The armor covered him completely from neck to toes with no apparent breaks in the plates, leaving me to wonder how he could move. After taking a few steps toward me, I was amazed to see the armor act like it was made of cloth instead of metal. His helmet looked like it had been modeled after a fierce bird, wrapping all the way around his head, minus an adequate opening for his eyes. The wings of the bird interlaced just below his chin and all the way up to his nose. Above the eye opening sat the face of a predatory bird whose beak came down to the bridge of Taylor’s nose.
“Dude, you look like you belong in Lord of the Rings,” I said excitedly while pointing at him.
“Mr. Tolkien was a friend to the Fae,” Taylor said, leaving so many questions to be asked later. “Now, be vigilant.” As he spoke, a bow that perfectly matched his armor grew from his hand while a quiver full of wooden arrows materialized on his back. A golden sword sheathed in wood shimmered to life on his hip.
I began to comment on how awesome that had been when Taylor looked at me and shook his head once. Point taken. Enemy territory and all that. Roger 10-4 copy.
After a while of walking, we came to the toll bridge, and I snickered to myself. That is, until Taylor stopped dead in his tracks and stood upright.
“What is it?” I whispered while Taylor’s head pivoted around, searching.
“Well, well, well,” a two-toned voice pierced the silence as a familiar troll pulled himself onto the bridge. His bullet hole remained prominent in the center of his forehead, but now his eyes were purple and his skin had darkened.
“Oh, good! I get to kill you again,” I said as I willed my gladius to life.
“John,” Taylor urgently whispered as his eyes landed on the tree line. I stopped where I was on the bridge and turned to look at him before my eyes followed the direction he indicated with a quick nod.
From the tree line came hundreds of purple eyes of varying heights.
“Oh…good…” I said, a tad less confidently now.
“You have come to face your death, abomination,” said the troll zombie. Fear clutched at my guts and made my feet as heavy as stone, rendering me unable to move.
Move aside, coward, Baleius demanded inside my head. Keeping my consciousness on the scene outside, I let go of the wheel without looking. Baleius took full control, and I could feel the shift in my eyes and fangs. With my Predatory Self in control, I blurred forward, grabbing the troll by the throat before pulling him up to my face.
“Wrong, bitch. I’ve come to rip your fucking heart out and swallow your soul.”
The troll’s face went from surprised to horrified as I shoved the flaming gladius down its throat, willing the flames to rage while deep inside the zombie creature. It bucked and thrashed while in my grip with eyes that searched desperately around for a way out. Then the eyes dimmed from purple to black before the creature began to turn to dust.
Turning to the tree line, I let out a battle cry that sent waves along the water under the bridge, and rushed forward.
“Wait!” Taylor cried out, but it was no use. Baleius was single-minded when it came to battle.
Leather wings sprouted, and I noticed they were clear of the fuzz from when I had flown earlier. I continued to rush forward before letting the momentum give my wings lift as I approached the tree line.
Countless zombie faeries burst from the trees, eager to do their master’s bidding and kill me.
A few yards away, I tilted my wings and lifted higher off the ground while bringing my flaming gladius up in an arc. Hellfire erupted from the gladius and soared through the air like napalm, landing on the awaiting flesh of my enemy. Shrieks rang into the night like wolves howling at the moon as the insatiable flames ate everything around them. The hungry fire spread with a fierce speed and intensity, as if the ground had been soaked in accelerant and the flames were being carried by a strong wind.
Wooden arrows tipped in gold pierced chests dead center, cutting off the cries of the burning masses.
Cackling with maniac eyes, I unleashed another torrent of flames at the creatures that attempted to run. The forest began burning with green and red flames.
“John, stop!” I could hear Taylor call out.
A cloud of arrows rocketed from somewhere in the forest, smashing into me. My wings were shredded to pieces while I shielded my exposed face from the darkness-infused weapons.
As I fell toward the ground, I willed my wings to disconnect before the disease spread into my body. I didn’t have another fission bomb to suck up and burn out the darkness. The loss of energy stole my breath, stunning me, as the ground rushed up to embrace me.
I crashed into the soft forest floor and attempted to regain my senses as several footsteps closed in from all around.
“Get the weapon,” a hoarse voice croaked, followed by several hands grabbing my gladius arm and pinning it down.
Everything snapped back into place, and I released my gladius, letting it fade from existence and willing it back to life in my other hand.
I lifted my sword, letting it rest on my palm, and willed the weapon to rotate like a helicopter blade. Cries of surpr
ise mixed with gasps of pain as I focused on making the whirling sword leave my hand and hover over my body. I sent the blade from head to toe, severing limbs and heads from torsos before having it rocket back to my right hand as I stood up.
The forest was empty around me except for the writhing bodies of the dying.
“John!” Taylor cried out as he made his way to where I stood, searching for the rest of the enemies.
He latched onto my shoulder, and I reflexively smacked him away, hard. He flew through the air, dropping his bow, and crashed into a tree, where he rebounded with amazing ease. His sword was at the ready as he crouched down where he had landed.
While keeping my eyes on Taylor, who I assumed quite confidently could be a deadly foe, I grabbed the steering wheel with one hand. Baleius didn’t protest now that all our enemies had been brutally slaughtered.
“Taylor! Sorry about that! When I let go of the wheel, I can go a little crazy sometimes,” I explained.
Taylor lowered his sword slightly as he straightened up, but his expression did not change as he glared at me.
“Look, I’ll explain later. Let’s finish this.”
“Be more careful, John,” Taylor said through dagger-filled eyes. “You coated the forest in hellfire. Kill the creatures of darkness, but leave Faerie unscathed.”
I looked past him to see the green and red flames consuming the wilderness where we had been. My eyebrows raced to my hairline as I understood that I had created the hellfire by releasing my inner demon. A feeling of guilt and shame flushed my cheeks, and my heart felt heavy.
“I-I’m sorry,” I said slowly, having trouble with the words. I knew better than to let Baleius take full control.
I looked down at my gladius, which had heavenfire dancing up its length, and noticed here and there a bit of green reaching up through the flames.
“Let’s go. We are running out of time,” Taylor instructed as he bent to retrieve his bow and continued toward the castle.
“Where did they all go?” I asked, searching the trees around where I stood.