Magnus said “Simple and effective. You’re the leader now. Blake is the appropriate choice as second. Wise decision.”
All eyes turned to him and he nodded. “Kira, as soon as Floa transfers us you’ll need to give us an exact position on the sword. I couldn’t link my set to even the general area and I’ve never been to Venice…”
“I know the area.” Storm-shadow said. “Ethan and I will stay aerial to keep an eye on everyone.”
“Agreed.” Ellen said. “You will see traps before we do. Kira, stay near Nell. It was decided as our best solution from training this morning.”
“Everyone set?” Floa asked from Ethan’s shoulder and when no objections came she brought her small hands forward and clapped.
The sun shifted immediately and no longer was there a beautiful castle or an amazing landscape, for Floa transferred them to a dark, dank alley in a maintained section of the city. The usual clean fragrance of an open environment Ethan was so used to was fouled in the next breath by city pollution, sounds of crowds and minimal nature. Ethan was used to city life, but in the last four months he preferred his new home. Storm-shadow’s hooves loudly clopped on concrete and brick.
Before any so much as spoke, Storm-shadow charged down the wide alley and spread his wings to run and fly above the buildings. Ethan was ready as it was the plan and held on, ready for an ambush that could have been waiting. Thankfully there wasn’t so much as a hairy Goblin within sight. The winged stallion soon charged over the city, going ever higher and higher. Floa held onto Ethan’s hair and stayed close. It being the only way the stallion could fly with another passenger. Floa’s idea worked, but if she touched any part of the mount they’d begin falling. The nearby crowded streets had some people looking up, but none paid Storm-shadow any mind since nearly all humans were unable to glimpse what was truly around.
Smelling Floa, some demonic bugs stupidly followed and she calmly spoke in Ethan’s right ear. He saw six large dragonfly-like bugs with six wings and a stinger at the end of a tail that is normally harmless and causes mild confusion except to their natural enemy, Pixies who were like nectar to bees. They were following relentlessly. A simple thought and a smile had the stupid insects ablaze and fell like smoking cinders. Two weren’t corporeal and completely vanished without a trace. Floa thanked him with a pat to a cheek.
Nell had drawn her bow and readied three arrows, notching one, while Kira’s right index finger was already alight and writing a complex spell that lingered as if she were writing on paper. Only the most complex and powerful spells could retain light and shape in the empty air. Her features were set in deep concentration while all heard Blake unsheathing his two long bladed katanas. Their off-golden sheen was also forged by the Forgemaster herself and long runes were written down the flat sides of the identically curved blades. Ellen could be heard activating the spells on her hooves to go silent for her namesake, Quiethoof, while drawling her own bow and arrows. Blake readied Zaxis and stood protectively around the Witch and his beloved. They held still and set a small perimeter around Kira as she created more than a paragraph of runes that glowed a soft azure. Then she snapped her fingers and the runes coalesced into a ball of pure light no larger than a marble and harmlessly glided to her forehead to pass the flesh without resistance. Her green eyes snapped open and she said “Ethan, can you hear me?”
“Loud and clear. What do you have for us?” His deep voice came from the earpieces they all wore.
“Both items are definitely within a hundred miles of us.” She stated directly. “But I can see why no one could give us clear points of reference. The sword and mirror are being magically obscured from normal means. My spell is picking up the mirror from over a hundred areas. Kitsune magic, more powerful than any I’ve ever felt before. It’s like it is split up yet whole… just like Cook. I cannot distinguish real from fake or any traps it laid.” She made the analogy which he acknowledged with an audible grunt that was picked up clearly. The wind created by flight wasn’t translated over the link. Kira continued as she turned her head around and stopped as she looked at a wall. “The sword is different… I can barely feel its demonic origins, Boyo. It’s being heavily dampened somehow. All I can tell you it is…” her eye looked at the screen’s compass for a bearing. “Northwest of us. How far is uncertain. A common Caster would surely be overwhelmed.”
“So the Siren very likely has the sword, why else would the Kitsune use its power otherwise?” Nell said. “Thankfully we’re not assuming wrongly and going after the bigger threat first.”
“Blake, your nose and tongue is keenest.” Ethan said after relaying to Storm-shadow who spun almost completely around and flew in the spoken direction. “The mirror won’t work in daylight. Can you tell how bad it is down there?”
“Bad.” The Naga said as he sniffed and licked the air like a snake. “The wind carries the scent of blood and fresh young demons. The ancient sword is already being used to create an army… Though the distance seems far from our position. What are your orders?”
Though the morning lessons were short, much was accomplished. Ethan said “We go with Nell’s plan.” He remembered the different scenarios. “Fill Kira in along the way. Storm, Floa and I will keep an eye out for sentries and anything out of the ordinary. So long as a dragon doesn’t join the party we can handle any flyers.”
Magnus nodded to the group and ran for the exit, keeping Zaxis at the ready. His heavy armor was loud, but didn’t slow him. He might have been large and weighted down, but he nimbly ran through the crowd in search of nearby transportation alone. He soon located a busy street, glad they weren’t near the waterways and would be heading away from Laguna Veneta’s influence. Behind his faceplate he smiled as he located a street sign saying Via Bissoula. Immediately his eyes landed on parked vehicles and that of an approaching Ghoul following around an old man in a wheelchair and a young woman pushing him around. The Ogre could see the man wasn’t long for the world and the Ghoul was waiting for his next meal, chatting with the young woman as if he were human, likely she thought him a man who would be there in the final moments and not a demon who would eat the old man’s soon to be dead body. The ghoul was hunched in the back, hairless with a gray parlor, thick yellow teeth and wore large pants that were bulged due to thick and powerful legs.
The Ghoul immediately noticed Magnus in full battle armor, made some excuse to the young woman and leapt like a frog. The woman merely continued on her way while the Ogre chuckled at the fleeing lesser demon. Both knew a lone Ghoul was no match for even an unarmed Ogre.
When the demon disappeared Magnus took a casual walk so as to not make the humans curious and found what he was in search of. He made sure the camera locked onto a large, parked semi-truck and asked “Ellen, will you be comfortable?”
The Centaur had been half watching from her post at the corner building Magnus had vacated. She checked the display his headset transmitted and said “It will make for a perfect disguise. I can use the open trailer well. Commandeer it and pick us up.”
“On it, Lass.” Magnus moved to the driver’s door, found it locked and pressed his club’s narrow end and spoke the activation sequence imbued, gave a twist as if it were a real key and it unlocked. He jumped inside, closed the door and hotwired it. The truck roared to life and he drove back to the alley where the rest of the team waited safely. Everyone piled in, but it was Kira and Nell who rode in the cab so if any demon also paying attention would just see two women inside and Nell’s youthful appearance would make her seem like another woman with dyed hair.
Soon they were on their way.
Up in the sky where it would be nearly impossible to spot flew Storm-shadow. He listened to Ethan’s continual reports from Kira and was an asset for as she drove she narrowed down the many places to watch. Ethan had his tiny camera on zoom so he could keep an eye on the trailer and any dangers following or laying ahead. Floa vigilantly scanned the skies, but the bugs no longer flew so high and other flying crea
tures kept their distance. Once she saw a dragon, but it flew in a different direction so she didn’t bring it to anyone’s attention. They worked together, as a unit. But they didn’t fly so high as to fear airplanes. Then came the Scottish Witch’s report “Lads, the sword is somewhere within three miles of us. I’ve been circling this part of the city for an hour, but I cannot get a closer read.”
“Kira, hold on. I just saw something.” Stated Nell. Everyone tensed as Kira applied the brakes slowly and came to a stop on the street’s mostly empty shoulder. The Nymph said “Rewind twenty seconds, transmit to team.” Everyone’s screens went white for a brief flash and replayed the last moments. “Pause!” She ordered and the image paused. The horror in Nell voice was clear. “How sickening. Blake, what are they?”
The image was of a misshapen body that seemed to be covered in molasses and snot. It had three fingers a foot long and bulging muscles able to tear things apart with minimal effort. It didn’t seem to have a face aside from ears and a mouth, and the image’s legs seemed short and stocky. Draped over an arm was a man which looked dead, but that wasn’t certain.
“A human turned by the Mallatiatherium Sword. It’s been long since I’ve seen it, but that slime will harden, turning the mucus black. By the color, it was recently cut. Ethan locate it now. It will lead us…”
“Found him!” Ethan said and everyone changed their view to what he saw. “Storm, turn left a bit… There! Your wing was in the way.” Storm-shadow then began to glide slowly. The image showed the former human had a loping gait that no human could ever sustain for more than a minute. The man draped over its arm bounced around, but didn’t rouse. It moved through alleyways and passed another snot monster that no longer resembled a human. Another down the street was hiding in shadows, that one was too late to save for it was charcoal black and no longer dripped. Then he turned the screen to infrared and heard several of the team curse at the same time. “Not good. Blake you were right.”
“Wish I wasn’t.” The Naga hissed.
“I count sixty nine heat signatures acting as look outs. The new demons are bringing in more people to turn like ants to a nest… Blake, I have an odd question.”
Everyone could hear the change in tone and sounded like hope. “What is it?”
“I’m not alright with slaughtering innocents under control of another, even the completely black ones, but if these things were once people, will they still respond to let’s say… Passing out from heatstroke?”
Silence is all that came. No one even had considered that idea. Then Blake said “You can try. I know not if it will work, but if their body has any human properties it may do the trick. If you can target the sentries… we can sneak in without an alarm being raised. Does anyone else deny it can’t be done?” None voiced concern.
“Ok, We’re going in. Storm take us down. Be careful, they have sentries watching the skies too. I’ll guide you to the area where they are sloppily placed.” Storm-shadow pitched forward and Ethan growled low and deep at what this demon was doing to helpless people. Turning them to monsters! Ethan felt no sympathy for the thing behind the plot.
Ethan used the reigns to guide Storm-shadow towards the furthest creature that stood still as a statue, as if commanded to not move at all unless it spotted a threat. It stood in the shadow of a tree and building where no others could keep an eye. In its long fingers was a flare gun, crude but highly effective as a warning signal. Storm-shadow was silent as he landed in a section of trees. He then slowly stepped forward till Ethan touched his thick neck. They were so close that any noise would draw it’s attention.
Very gently, Ethan held out his hand and warmed the blood beneath all the ooze. Not too hot. He warned himself. Everyone was watching what he was doing, but then the creature got too warm and dropped to its knee before falling face first into the sidewalk. “Let me check it out.” Ethan dismounted, summoning a fireball in his hand and crossed the road. None were around and he rushed over. “Yuck.” He grumbled as he touched the neck and all the sticky gel. There remained an erratic pulse. “It’s alive.”
“We’re on our way. Make sure it doesn’t wake.” Kira said as she hit the accelerator. In five minutes they arrived and quickly exited the truck and trailer.
Blake bound the once human securely while saying “Marvelous idea, Ethan. I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Well I figured it would work. I do it often at the forge. I have to sometimes heat a small area inside metal. I just applied it, but I have to be within a hundred feet or else my control would have been unstable and burned it from the inside out… But would this Siren know the condition of its thralls?”
“Unknown.” The Naga said as he finished and stood. “Doubtful though because it’s been minutes without an alarm.”
“Many of the buildings are too short and easy to spot Storm-shadow.” Kira stated as she pulled out several vials. “And too exposed to do this again. How do you plan on taking out all the sentries?”
“He cannot ride any longer.” Storm-shadow answered. “I am useless on this battlefield, but I will fly just out of range and crush any outside sentries if all fails. But I would suggest someone go to the roof and aid me should you be spotted.” He looked at Ethan. “And infiltrate using the least watched route.”
“Sounds good.” Ethan said as it held fewer risks at harming others. “Kira, I want you and Nell teamed up where the best height vantage lays. And only as a last resort will you kill anything. Clear?” they nodded in understanding. “The rest of us need a short and safe route…”
“Already chose one.” Ellen said confidently in a way only a Centaur could. “It won’t be short, but I’ve been studying your recordings. I’ve selected a route that will be observed by only eleven turned demons and can get as close as you need.”
“Take the lead then. I’ll be right behind with Blake and Magnus. Floa will extract us if we fail.” The Pixie held on as she nodded.
The group followed Ellen while Storm-shadow disappeared into the trees to take to the sky soon. Kira said “Where should we take cover? I cannot make us invisible with what I have.”
Nell looked around and then grinned. “That tree is taller than these structures and will hide us well.”
“Glad I didn’t choose a dress for this.” Kira said and followed the Nymph over to a tall tree, but wasn’t so adept in climbing as a Nymph. They left the bound prisoner where it lay, but in sight should it awaken and have them be forced to put it down.
They moved carefully and as Ellen had strategized in so short a time, incapacitated eleven watchers without being spotted. The blackened ones were harder to drop, but they too succumbed to Ethan’s power.
The most fortified building was little more of an abandoned two story office. Walking its roof was five turned beings, they moved with mindless direction. They had to hide once as another creature passed and carried an unconscious middle aged woman. When it passed they sighed. Using the timed pattern to an advantage they all ran for the back door and stuck close to the windowless walls without those on the roof taking notice. Without clear line of sight Ethan couldn’t use his power even though the infrared scan showed that a tall monster stood just feet from the door. Ellen exchanged her bow for her claymores, unsheathing silently.
Inside they heard the screaming of intense pain from people turning and it chilled them all, but they didn’t let it affect them. In a whisper Magnus said “I will go first.” None halted him as he grabbed the door. They all tensed as one and Magnus jerked the door open and leapt inside, swinging his club. There was a ‘Thwack’ and then a tumble of wood like falling potatoes. Ethan followed Blake to find a pale sheen of a newly turned person. It retained some human characteristics, but was well under way to a completed grotesque form. Ellen came in last, the roof ceiling just high enough for her not needing to duck.
They moved to an empty hall and building scans showed more than the dozen people writhing and screaming just beyond the next door.
&n
bsp; Suddenly a door opened and out came another recent victim. It had a blank stare up close, but as it opened its mouth to sound warning Blake made an inhuman leap forward and spun, decapitating the poor person. Ethan felt sick as black blood shot to the roof before the being collapsed. Magnus grabbed the falling body as a sword speared the head so no noise was generated. Ellen grabbed the soul that separated from the body. Blake then peeked inside before shutting the door. He made hand signals that said he saw the sword and the Siren together. They couldn’t talk for the true demon had keen hearing.
This is it. Ethan thought. Time to end it. As he moved forward he heard the voice of a woman who sobbed “Please no! Don’t hurt me…hee!”
In a singsong voice came a soft and obviously male influence. “No fear. You safe.” The woman quieted at the Siren’s spell and was submissive. There was a slurping sound beneath all the screaming and then the woman joined the morbid choir of torture. The Siren laughed. “Another for my ranks.”
A growl exploded from Ethan as he kicked the door in with a cold hate fueled rage that destroyed it.
The Siren, as it turned out, was average height and humanoid and startled at the roar and destruction of the door. It had a fishlike color like Abe from Hellboy, blues and dark grays. His hands were webbed by thin membranes, but it had barely visible gills on the neck. Slanted black eyes showed no white as it widened and pointed ears stuck out from the side of its smooth head while it seem to have a dorsal Mohawk like the spine of a fish, but on his head and crept back to its shoulders. It wore just a pair swim shorts. It’s large chest swelled in a gasp, but at so close a range it could be released to killing effect.
“Time for a fish FRY!” Ethan bellowed as he threw his fist forward and angry fire shot instantly, slamming into the Siren’s face. It screamed straight up, dropping the sword. The sound was unlike anything Ethan ever heard and was so powerful the ceiling above began to crack and explode upwards. The pain made the shriek last a lone second, but as it inhaled all it got was a lungful of two thousand degree fire. It collapsed and writhed. Fire consumed all the oxygen in the Siren, making it unable to yell again. “Blake!”
Forgemaster (Book 1 in the Spirit Guide Saga) Page 44