The Supernaturals

by Gene Gant

  Yeah. And if pigs had wings….

  WE STOPPED the boat and dropped anchor about a half mile off the southwest edge of the island, as close as we could get without making contact with the ward. Subtlety was not an option in penetrating the mystic barrier. The only way to break through was by force, either magical or physical, and it would take a substantial amount of force to get through a ward this strong. Even with the combined strength of Inky and Draven, together with djinn magic and Mina’s spiritual energy, it was doubtful we’d be able to breach the barrier. And if we were somehow able to do it, Malwar would know someone had broken through his defenses, so we’d face a direct confrontation with him at a moment we could least afford it. In my flyovers, however, I’d noticed something that gave us a chance to sneak in.

  The shores of the island, covered in brown rocky sand, gave way to flatland covered in rolling swells of tall, reedy grasses. Beyond the flatland, the forests and the hills began. The trees were tall and thick and close together, so much so that the interior of the forest was dark and ominous even in the daytime. From the grass to the trees, the island’s growth was robust and deeply green, far lusher than it should have been this early in spring. I’d seen deer, foxes, rabbits, and eagles in my flyover, and now, with my MagicVision, I could see other woodland critters scampering about. This was my closest approach yet, and the proximity revealed something to me that my aerial recon hadn’t uncovered.

  Mina sensed it the moment I did; we both looked at each other. The fear on her face mirrored the fear I felt. We turned to Inky and Draven, who were walking across the deck to join us.

  “Listen, guys,” I said. “There’s something else besides Malwar in those woods.”

  “Something worse,” Mina added.

  Draven and Inky flashed identical frowns. “Wait a minute,” Inky replied. He looked from Mina to me. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “I didn’t detect it before, when I flew over,” I explained, “maybe because I was too high up. But there’s a presence here, a life force bigger even than Malwar. It’s pulsing deep in the island, like a huge heartbeat. This makes sense now.”

  “What makes sense?” Draven asked.

  “Your dad’s not a magical being. I wondered how the hell he managed to put such powerful wards around this island. And the answer is he didn’t.” I pointed at the far-off forests. “That presence in there is what put up the wards.”

  Inky threw up his hands. “So Malwar’s got some big-level wizard or something working with him. Great. As if Malwar wasn’t bad enough by himself.” He looked at Draven, and his face set with a determined scowl. “We’re still going in there.”

  “Yeah, we are,” I affirmed. “We stick to the original plan. But if that life force in there—whatever it is—attacks, Mina will take it on.” I looked at her. “Just distract it, keep it occupied until the rest of us do what we have to do.”

  Mina nodded.

  We waited. Just short of thirty minutes later, about forty or so air sprites came flying in a swarm a few feet over the surface of the lake from the direction of Chicago. They were chattering and laughing away as they flew. I’d seen the little creatures flying through the barrier to reach the island by way of openings that materialized and remained open just long enough for them to make their passage. No such openings appeared when they made departing flights from the island, which made sense because the barrier was only intended to keep things from approaching the island uninvited.

  “Get ready,” I said as I got to my feet. Mina, Inky, and Draven stood up and gathered closely behind me.

  The swarm of sprites flew past about forty feet north of Inky’s veiled boat. They didn’t even slow down as they approached the barrier. Just before the sprites in the lead would have smacked face-first into the dome of mystical force, a hole opened in the ward and they all streamed through. I made a hurried chop at the air in front of me, and in the instant before the hole closed, we warped through.

  And with that, our plan was in motion.

  Thirteen

  A BALD eagle is a fierce-looking, powerful creature, definitely an apex predator. Even the not-quite-right facsimile of the avian hunter I’d changed into had been enough to clear the sky of smaller birds during my earlier flyovers of the island. This time I was within the magical barrier and flying much closer to the ground, but I kept myself hidden behind a veil, the same kind of veils I’d placed around Mina, Inky, and Draven. The veils were top of the line, if I do say so myself. The one surrounding my body masked all sight and sound of me, even the minute swish of my wings on the wind, so the birds and woodland creatures that are an eagle’s natural prey went about their business, blissfully unaware of my presence.

  Still, I was nervous. No, actually I was scared as hell. That life force deep inside the island was aware of us. There was nothing specific I could point to proving that to be a fact. It was just pure instinct, a hunch. Breaking through the ward would have been like breaking into a building with an alarm system. The breach would have alerted the being who put up the ward, and by extension, Malwar. Having sneaked through gave us the advantage of surprise. Or it should have. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched. And that made me even more worried for Inky and my two new friends.

  Serving as the eyes-in-the-sky for our little team, I was circling the center of the island. A building stood there, squat but huge, with a dozen large chambers connected by long, narrow corridors on the first level. There were seventeen levels below the surface, laid out in a fashion exactly like the first. The building had been constructed out of earth and stone, by magical forces that somehow seemed to infuse the very ground. The thick roof was covered by grass, small bushes, and even trees, making the place virtually indistinguishable from the surrounding land.

  The lower levels were inhabited by thousands of earth sprites. They carried on with their usual daily activities, conducting transactions with each other, preparing meals, serving food, playing games, slipping away into small, private rooms built into the outer walls of the large chambers to sleep, carry on more intimate conversations, make love, play games, or just be alone with their little thoughts. It was like a small town. Roughly half of the sprites below ground were sitting on earthen floors in the dark, in private rooms, eyes closed as if in meditation. That was weird, for sprites. They weren’t exactly known for their contemplative nature.

  Malwar had taken over the main level. There were a few fire, water, air, and earth sprites there with him, but they mostly stayed out of his way until he called on one or more of them, servants at the ready. He occupied the chamber in the middle, where he kept Draven’s mother locked in a five-by-ten wooden cage. She was somewhere in her late thirties, medium height for a woman, about five foot six, her lean, wiry body giving the impression of a person who could handle herself in a fight. For a kidnap victim, she looked amazingly unruffled. Her short black hair was beautifully curled, and the blue jeans and yellow blouse she wore were barely wrinkled. She didn’t seem at all afraid of the massive, hideous Malwar, who lay sprawled on a huge mattress woven out of reeds, grass, and cotton. That made me admire her. Malwar was lying there, eyes closed but not asleep. He was idly scraping the claws on his right hand over a big stone in the wall, sharpening them. He sure didn’t appear to be on alert, so maybe my instincts were wrong and our presence hadn’t been detected yet.

  I had warped Inky, Mina, and Draven into their various positions. The first move was Mina’s. Standing on the southern edge of the hill-like building, several yards deep in the forest, Mina raised her arms. Her eyes burned white as she manifested her spiritual energy, which I realized now was drawn from all nine of her souls. The silvery force tunneled forward through the air, weaving around trees, and latched on to the southern wall of the building. The entire construct shook right down to its lowest level as her spiritual force tore out a massive portion of the wall and crumbled it into debris.

  Needless to say, all the building’s i
nhabitants reacted, including Malwar. The monster sprang up and ran from the chamber, raced along the narrow corridors—the ceilings of which had been raised to accommodate his height—and out through the new opening Mina had just made. A bevy of air, water, and fire sprites poured out after him. Malwar swept the area with his eyes and, of course, saw no one who could have caused the damage. He turned to the sprites gathered anxiously behind him.

  “Fan out,” he snarled, MagicAudio conveying his voice as clearly as if he were flying along right next to me. “Find who did this and bring him to me, alive and unharmed.” The “alive and unharmed” part was obviously key; Malwar wanted to save the maiming and murder for himself.

  The sprites radiated outward, slipping into the forest with barely a ripple of leaves to mark their passage. Invisible Inky was waiting for them. He snatched the first two air sprites—foot-high little males—out of midflight, banged their tiny heads together, and rendered them unconscious before they could even gasp. His mission was to draw Malwar away from the building, so he jumped right into the midst of the six fire sprites who were trailing their aviating cousins.

  The fire elementals were the size of toddlers. Their human-shaped bodies looked as if they’d been shaped out of red lava, but they glowed only slightly, apparently keeping their heat levels low enough that they wouldn’t start any forest fires. Inky attacked them with a series of inhumanly fast kicks and chops, strategically drawing shouts and curses from them before knocking them out as well.

  Malwar took the bait, charging into the woods, following the sounds. Inky was gone by the time the Grendel Kid reached the site of the ambush, having moved deeper into the woods. He paused long enough to slash the trunk of a tree with his bare hand and send it crashing to the ground. Once again, he took off before Malwar could reach the spot, and the monster was that much farther from the building.

  The veiled Draven climbed through a window on the opposite side of the building. He moved quickly and silently along the corridors, following the directions I’d given him, and made his way into the central chamber. He crept over to the cage, where his mother was straining to see down the opposite corridor Malwar had taken.

  “Mom,” he whispered shakily, obviously on the verge of hyperventilating from the adrenaline and anxiety racing through his body. I had lifted the veil just enough to let the sound of his voice through, but he remained invisible.

  His mother spun around, startled. “Draven?” She saw no one there, and her face tightened with confusion. The woman probably thought she was losing her mind, but there was a note of too-good-to-be-true hopefulness in her voice.

  “Yeah, it’s me. Back up a bit. I’m gonna get you out of there.”

  His mother retreated a few steps. Draven grabbed one of the rough wooden beams and twisted it, snapping it loose from the earthen ceiling and floor of the chamber. He moved the beam aside and carefully placed it on the floor beside him. That left an opening in the cage just wide enough for his mother to slip through.

  She reached out, groping until she found his shoulder. “What is this?” she whispered. “Why can’t I see you?”

  “No time to explain, Mom. We gotta go.”

  He took her hand and led her out of the chamber and back along the corridors he had taken earlier. I held my breath as I remembered the thousands of earth sprites below, certain some of them would surge up at any moment and try to block the escape. But when I looked down into the lower floors, I saw that all the earth sprites were now immobile, settled into that weird, meditative state. They remained that way even as Draven and his mother reached the window. It was a stroke of sheer luck. Mother and son climbed through the window unchallenged and ran into the shelter of the woods.

  Great. So far, the plan was working. I turned my attention to the rest of the team. Mina hovered among the trees in her lotus position, meditating at what was the most inconvenient of times, but she appeared to be safe. Her job was to engage that huge life force if it rose up, and I didn’t doubt for a second she’d take it on should that happen. Inky was leading Malwar and the little army of elementals on a lively chase through the forest, staying just ahead of them.

  Now it was time for me to make my move.

  I circled downward and then soared close over the treetops. I was going to hit Malwar from above with a pile driver of djinn magic, enough to knock him out, or at least daze him long enough for me to lay Wazim’s curse on him. Once that was done, the team would make a hasty retreat to Inky’s boat with Draven’s mom and cruise back to Chicago. Mission accomplished.

  Then things started to go horribly wrong.

  Despite the rest he’d gotten, Inky’s body was still suffering the effects of the trauma inflicted by Mina. He was weakening rapidly, so much that he could barely keep ahead of Malwar and his crew of sprites. He hoisted himself up into a tree to rest, which was fine because he’d done everything he was supposed to. His body seemed to have purged itself of the overdose of zeal Passion Mina had fed him, a fact obvious from the hungry look that suddenly appeared on his face.

  Just as the uh-oh went through my head, Inky reached out, snagged a passing air sprite, and pulled her within the veil so he became visible to her. She was a pretty little thing of gossamer skin, wings, and hair. She was startled by her sudden capture, but only for a moment. They looked into each other’s eyes, and Inky gave her a small, deliberate, seductive smile. The sprite was dead meat after that. One second under Inky’s power had her entirely in love with him. She screeched like some human girl coming face-to-face with her favorite pop idol. She wriggled in Inky’s grip as she reached out to him and tried to coax him into her arms. Inky obliged by bringing her close. She nuzzled desperately against his neck, kissing at his skin. With every touch and kiss, the passion she felt flowed into Inky. Because she was so small, Inky would drain her fully and kill her in less than an hour.

  In nearly the same moment Inky began feeding, Malwar walked beneath the tree where he was perched. Malwar was searching for him, but Inky knew he could neither be seen nor heard, so he kept feeding. Malwar stopped and stared into the woods. Then he bared his fangs in an awful grin and said, “Fear not, fair damsel. I shall save you.”

  He reached up in a blur of speed, grabbed Inky by the waist, and yanked him from his perch. Inky let go of the sprite, who fluttered weakly into the undergrowth and disappeared. Malwar slammed Inky’s back against the tree and pinned him there.

  “I still can’t see you through whatever magic you hide behind,” Malwar said, his smile broader now. “But I was in tune with the sprite. I knew where she was, and when you held on to her, I knew where you were. Show yourself, or I’ll tear you apart piece by invisible piece.”

  I believed Malwar wholeheartedly. The veil around Inky was useless now, and I dissolved it, letting Inky become both visible and audible again. The plan would still work, I told myself. I was closing in fast on Inky and Malwar’s position, gathering all the djinn magic I could as I flew. In a few seconds, I was going to knock Malwar into next Tuesday.

  “Pretty little incubus,” Malwar snarled. “You charmed the sprite the same way you did the Cat-o-Nine. Maybe they won’t find you so charming if I draw you a new face.” Still pinning Inky against the tree with one hand, Malwar raised the other and pressed the claw on his forefinger to the center of Inky’s forehead. A tiny bead of blood welled up. Malwar’s grin became a snarl. “How about I start by carving a third eye right here?”

  I was almost directly over them now. There was a rush above me, the pressure wave from an approaching mass, and suddenly something swept rapidly past me, so close it knocked me askew in my flight. I went spinning and fluttering wildly to one side, catching glimpses of Draven as he hurtled down onto Malwar’s back.

  I lost control of my magic. The forces I’d gathered exploded across the sky in a blast of light and sound that shook the treetops, the veils around Draven, Mina, and me vanished, and I reverted to my human form. A form that couldn’t fly.

  I f
ell like the proverbial rock.

  There’s no memory in my head of hitting the ground. That crash knocked me unconscious. It didn’t break any bones or major organs. It didn’t even break my skin. But I was out for a few minutes, long enough for all hell to break loose.

  Here’s what I was able to piece together later as to what happened shortly before and after I was knocked out: Draven hid his mother in the forest. But he didn’t wait with her as planned. Instead, he moved across the island in a series of leaps and bounds, determined to kill his father with his own hands and forever end any threat Malwar posed to his mother. When he saw Malwar was about to slice away Inky’s face, Draven went crazy with rage and panic. He dropped onto Malwar’s back, at the same time screaming, “Get away from him!”

  Taken by surprise, Malwar put up no resistance as Draven looped an arm around his neck. Malwar let go of Inky, who slid gasping to his knees. Draven heaved with all his might and flipped Malwar. He slammed the monster down in a blow that sent up a thick cloud of dust and shook the ground.

  Malwar wasn’t hurt at all. He sat up at once, grinning. “You’ve got spirit, boy,” he growled at Draven. “You’re probably my strongest son yet. You’ll do me proud once you turn. Are you ready now to make your first kill?”

  “Yeah,” Draven growled back at him. “And it’s gonna be you!”

  Draven sprang at his father. Malwar slapped him to the ground as if he were swatting a mosquito. But Draven was so stoked with rage, he barely seemed to feel the blow. He scrambled quickly away and got to his feet, ready for another go at Malwar.

  “Don’t get cocky, little man,” Malwar said through a toothy, crooked smile. “You’re nowhere near being a match for me. Not yet. You might be able to give me a run for my money after you turn. And you will turn. You’ll turn today, or I’ll tear your mother’s head off in front of you.”

  “You don’t have her anymore,” Draven shouted at him. “You’ll never touch her again.”