With a cry of pure fear Laz leapt forward and plunged the knife into the creature’s strange resinous body. Surprisingly it slid in like a hot knife through butter but the golem still registered no pain. Until the moment that the tip of the blade reached one of the networks of nerves set into the entity. Then it staggered back with a high pitched squeal. Laz didn’t know what to do.
The Valkyrie lay coughing on the ground and whispered up to him.
“Finish it.”
Laz screamed and pushed the knife deeper. The golem twisted its head left and right to get away but seemed to have lost control of its movements. Finally the knife reached the entity’s spine and severed it.
The golem shut down like a machine with the plug pulled. Its head slumped forward and arms sagged. Laz withdrew the knife and staggered back. He stood staring at the creature for a few terrified moments. Then it imploded and crumbled into a pile of translucent chunks, mixed together with stringy nerves and lumps of vertebrae.
Laz just stood there gasping for breath.
The Valkyrie looked up at the knife in his hands.
“Well if I wasn’t sure what that knife was up until now, now there is no doubt.”
Laz stared down at the weakened supernatural being in front of him.
It’s not Unseelie. It doesn’t seem to want to kill me. So what the hell is it?
“Are you…are you an interested buyer?”
Despite her pain the Valkyrie laughed.
“My name is Ursula. I’m one of the few people who won’t try to kill you for that knife. Now would you be so kind as to help me and my dog into your home? We are all vulnerable out here.”
Laz put the knife away in his bag and bent down to help the creature up.
Jesus she’s heavy!
As they limped towards the stairwell, Ursula whistled and the dog struggled to its feet and followed. Laz thought they both looked at death’s door.
“What’s wrong with you both?”
Ursula winced.
“Poison. Unseelie poison. We may not have long.”
Laz stopped in front of the out of order sign that hung on the lift doors.
“I hate to tell you this, but I’m on the fourth floor.”
17
The jungle was changing.
Where there had until recently been lush green ferns and vines dripping with moisture now black thorns were erupting. The green was being tainted with a sickly purple, a bruise spreading outwards from the Unseelie temple and infecting everything around.
Whatever thaumaturgy had been awoken in that old ruin, it was corrupting everything it came into contact with. What Ariel had called Dark Botanicals was choking the life out of everything pure and green.
Yet the force of life that made up the jungle was not quite ready to give up yet. Here and there patches of lush flora still flourished, holding back the tide of ugliness that reared all around it.
It was the same thing that seemed to be happening all over the world. The few little pockets of resistance that remained were being hemmed in on all sides by Unseelie hate.
Empire One had known that they were swimming against the tide for a long time now. They had secured enough small victories that the Unseelie knew them by name, even feared them. Yet for every thin spot they closed or World Tree they burned, some other aberration crawled through unnoticed.
The scale of what they fought often threatened to overwhelm their minds. Here were mortal men doomed to die, fighting entities some of whom were as old as mountains.
As he lay along the branch on the far side of the river, peering through his binoculars, Isaac was not concerned with the fate of the world. All his fighting throughout the years had been condensed into what was happening in the small Unseelie encampment in a clearing on the other side of the water.
He had not eaten properly in days and had barely had enough water. He had been poisoned by Unseelie magic and his mind invaded and violated. His body had been beaten and his heart broken. He had been running on pure adrenaline, hunted through this ancient jungle like a desperate animal. Now, when most people’s bodies would have been ready to give up and send them directly to hospital, Isaac was getting ready for a fight.
Isaac had been uncertain of the details of his plan from the moment he left the village. He only knew that the woman he loved was there and he could not leave her in that horrific dark sleep, and that he could not leave a group of children to whatever awful fate the Unseelie had in store for them.
He only knew that he was in the mood to kill some Unseelie.
He was alone, with only a suppressed automatic pistol, a magazine of twelve rounds, a single flash grenade and his trusty Soulblade. His reconnaissance had shown him a temporary settlement protected by Anansi’s Web soldiers of the same ink-eyed variant that had attacked them in the town. Almost human, but not quite. It was a shadowed glade and on occasion Isaac thought he spied other, larger creatures amongst the trees and huts but he could not get a close enough look to identify them.
He saw the children gathered in the central clearing, bound near the cooking fire. Isaac’s blood chilled at the prospect they may actually merely be a meal to the creatures of the Unseelie. He scanned the camp.
Where is she?
Then he saw her. Tall and lithe, her choppy blonde hair dirty and stuck with leaves. Her eyes black and soulless.
Arianna.
She stood there in the clearing, her eyes scanning out into the jungle. It twisted Isaac’s guts to see her still lost in the black sleep like that.
All fatigue left him, all fear converted into purpose.
Isaac took a deep breath and put his pain and exhaustion into a locked container in his mind. He slowed down his heartbeat and rechannelled his spiking adrenaline into a smooth, steady circuit in his veins. His world became a series of protocols and objectives, prioritizing targets and assessing threats.
The carefree playboy was gone, and in its place was the entity that surface persona strove to conceal. The killer Isaac had spent years honing.
Isaac took several deep breaths, saturating his body with oxygen rich blood. Then he slid from the branch and slipped into the brown water with barely a ripple.
The river water was fast and murky. Isaac swam at an angle, having calculated how far downstream the water would take him. If he had estimated correctly, he would surface only a few feet from the shore and the first Unseelie soldier.
He rose from the water without a sound, his eyes gleaming through the camo paint. Three feet in front of Isaac an Anansi’s Web soldier was standing alert.
Isaac kicked the soldier in the back of his knees, buckling him and as he fell, twisted his neck with such ferocity that one of the bones jutted from the skin. Isaac lowered his body into the water and pushed down until it sank without a trace.
Laughter and drunken revelry drifted over from around the campfire.
Isaac crept amongst the trees, staying in the shadows of the few ramshackle huts that had been set up. Isaac could hear laughing and the harsh voices of the rebels as he moved close to the trees. Beneath that the shrill terrified cries of the children. Through the slats in one of the huts Isaac watched as one thin soldier raised a stick and proceeded to beat a small girl of no more than seven. She squealed and covered her face but painful welts began to rise on her skin. Another small boy, possibly her brother, tried to shield her with his own body.
Isaac blinked once and then continued round the building.
As he passed a doorway, a squat muscular soldier stooped and walked out. He was holding a bottle of local moonshine and raised it high to glug down the dregs. His eyes widened through the dirty glass as he spotted Isaac and just stood there, bewildered for a moment by what he was seeing.
Isaac put a bullet through the bottom of the bottle and out into the soldier’s mouth, stifling his cry. As he fell, another soldier ran out of the hut to investigate the sound of breaking glass. He looked wildly around and then spotted his fallen brother crumple
d amongst the undergrowth. As the soldier opened his mouth to raise the alarm, Isaac emerged from the bushes and shoved the broken bottle deep into his throat. The soldier’s arms flapped and swatted at Isaac, but Isaac shoved harder until he felt the jagged glass penetrate brain.
He lowered the body to the ground and re-drew his suppressed pistol. He took a deep breath and then closed his eyes for a few moments to allow them to adjust to the dark and then he advanced into the hut.
Empty. Isaac scanned the room and saw a door leading to the largest hut in the compound. He peered through the doorway and saw three soldiers gathered around a table, eating. Their rifles were next to them on the table. One of them raised a morsel to his lips and Isaac suddenly saw that it was a child’s foot.
They are eating them.
Isaac had only limited view and knew there could be others in the gloomy room. He crouched low and sprinted in. His first two rounds were dead on target, straight into the brains of the Unseelie.
The third shot hit the soldier in the collar bone and Isaac was forced to expend another round finishing him off.
Seven left in the magazine. I counted twelve soldiers.
The pistol was suddenly knocked from Isaac’s hand as the soldier in the corner he didn’t see kicked his elbow. Isaac’s arm went numb and electricity shot up to his shoulder. The Unseelie delivered another vicious kick to his side and Isaac fell to the ground. The soldier looked towards the door and opened his mouth to sound the alarm just as Isaac kicked the legs out from under him. The Unseelie smashed down onto his back and all the air left him. As he rose, Isaac drew his Soulblade and opened the man’s throat and then plunged the point into his heart. The horrible mutated yellow blood of Anansi bubbled out. The soldier breathed a yellowish bubble and then was still.
Isaac rose, clutching his ribs. He moved carefully over to the doorway that looked out on the Unseelie gathered around the fire. He spotted Arianna standing by a tree at the edge of the clearing. The children were huddled together, tied in a tight group.
There was no way to engage that many armed Unseelie in a straight fight. One thing Isaac had learned over the years is that Unseelie, with a few exceptions, are not overly partial to bright light. Isaac memorized the positions of the soldiers. Then he primed his flash grenade and threw it into the centre of the campfire.
The flash of light and bang of the grenade was like a thunderclap in the enclosed clearing.
The screams of the children mingled with the shocked hisses of the mutated soldiers.
Isaac emerged from the doorway, allowing his muscle memory to work for him. He had spent thousands of hours in kill houses filled with smoke and noise, using live ammunition and live hostage subjects, honing his ability to memorize threats and avoid hitting friendlies. His body just took over. Still, the added pressure was immense when this time the friendlies were a group of young children and the woman he loved.
The first soldier had barely risen when the muted thump of the suppressed pistol took him out of the picture. The second had managed to unsling his rifle before the round entered his cheek and exited his ear.
The third had blindly levelled his weapon in Isaac’s direction and was squeezing the trigger. The staccato report of automatic fire lit up the clearing and Isaac sprinted for cover behind a rock. He fired two more rounds, both hitting the soldier centre mass. The Unseelie fell back into the fire and began to kick and spasm as his spider blood boiled.
Isaac jumped forward and kicked another soldier in the stomach, putting a round into the top of his head as he doubled over. He threw the body at the soldier next to him as he tried to draw his pistol. The Unseelie stumbled backwards as Isaac shot him in the face.
A flaming branch suddenly swung in Isaac’s direction. It struck him in the chest, sending him backwards and forcing him to pat out the burning embers on his shirt. He ducked as a wiry soldier swung the branch over his head in a shower of sparks.
Isaac fired his final round into the man’s chest just as the pistol was knocked from his hand by the fiery branch. The Unseelie took a step backwards, a look of confusion on his face. He was badly wounded but the fight was still in him and he ran at Isaac, his black eyes filled with rage and pain. It struck Isaac again and the shard of the village stone he wore around his neck was torn off and flew into the undergrowth.
Isaac moved in tight and tugged the soldier’s head down in a clinch. He thrust a vicious series of knees up into his ribs and then brought an elbow down on the soldier’s back. The Unseelie dropped the branch and fell to his knees, as Isaac drew his Soulblade and decapitated him.
Nearly there.
What Isaac did not see was the creature unfurling its bony limbs in the branches above his head. The leathery body dropped down with a soft whaap onto the jungle floor and a humanoid torso rose from its centre. Silently it raised its sharp forelegs and prepared to strike.
Isaac rolled as he felt the wind whistling past his face. He kicked out to create some distance as the Unseelie loomed over him. It was then he realized how big it was.
Oh you’re new!
The forelegs slashed down again and Isaac barely jumped out of their path. He looked up and the creature and brought his blade up for protection.
The Unseelie was at least seven feet tall, an athletic human torso in dark blue fused to a bulbous arachnid body mottled with purples and greens.
The creature lashed out again and Isaac lost his footing and his blade. He stumbled in the embers of the campfire and ended up on his back in a mound of hot ash.
The Spider Lord closed the gap at a horrifying speed. Isaac grabbed a handful of ash to throw into its eyes. It was the only weapon he had left.
Suddenly a shining blade shot out from between the monster’s ribs. It gargled and coughed, spewing lime green liquid from its maw. The legs flailed and spasmed wildly and then it sagged down onto its own leathery body.
Isaac rolled from the embers and tried to catch his breath.
A young woman stood behind the twitching body of the Spider Lord. Her face was pale and elfin and for a moment her eyes were deepest blue. In one hand she held Isaac’s Soulblade and in the other a tiny shard of amber stone. She dropped both as she peered up at Isaac confused.
“Isaac…? You dropped this…”
Then her eyes filmed over black again and she collapsed to the ground.
Out of the dark a handful of little figures took nervous steps forward into the firelight. Soon a collection of frightened children stood around Isaac, clutching their schoolbags and toys. One small boy stepped forward and offered Isaac a worn teddy bear.
“I’m Samuel. You look sad.”
Isaac crouched next to the prone form of Arianna. The black sleep had retaken her but her body was clearly in conflict. Her eyes were fading from black to blue.
“I guess I am a little sad. My friend is not well.”
Samuel held out his stuffed toy.
“Give her this to hold. It will help her. It helped me be brave.”
Isaac took the bear and smiled.
“Thank you Samuel. You’ve been very brave. Are you ready to go home?”
“Yes.”
Isaac picked up the thin form of Arianna in his arms.
“Then follow me.”
18
By the time Buller rang the doorbell, Lazlo had already set up the whole house in preparation for the evening’s revelations.
He opened the door, resplendent in a yellow and mauve 1970’s Adidas tracksuit and nervously sipping a bourbon. He almost dragged his friend inside.
“Did anyone see you come in the main door?”
“Woah, easy Laz. Did anyone..? No, I disguised myself as ‘fat guy walking into a building’. It’s the last thing they’d expect. Paranoia dude.”
“Buller, you’re a twenty stone man with a goatee wearing a moon landing t-shirt with the TARDIS in the background. You practically scream conspiracy theorist. You sure you weren’t followed?”
“Dude do
n’t make me unleash this tard strength on you.”
“You know you look like you have that. I’ve always thought that about you that you looked like you had that.”
Buller put a chunky hand on Lazlo’s slender arm.
“Han needs Chewie.”
Lazlo gave him a determined smile.
“Yes he does, old pal.”
Buller was craning his chins to try and see past Laz’s shoulder.
“Is it here?”
“She Buller. It’s a she.”
Buller could barely supress his grin. He squeezed his hands in front of his own man boobs.
“Does she have...like…comic book proportions?”
Laz squinted and shrugged.
“She has curves in all the right places yeah. But she also has claws and wings in all the right places.”
Buller walked in behind Laz as he crossed through the living room into the alcove where his bed was set up. Laz stopped and gave a small flourish.
“Buller, may I present Massive Warrior Angel Woman, and her dog, Chuckles.”
Buller just stood there staring. The Valkyrie was far too large for the bed and Laz had removed some of her armour. He body was frighteningly strong looking, pale as snow and covered in scars. At the foot of the bed the huge shaggy wolf creature was lost in a fitful whimpering sleep.
“Dude…she’s like Xena mixed with Ronda Rousey and like…and a bird.”
Laz knelt by the bed and rung out a damp facecloth. He placed it on her forehead and it began to steam.
“She saved my life Laz. I don’t know what she is but she’s not Unseelie.”
Buller took a tentative step closer.
“She doesn’t look well.”
Laz looked lost and a little afraid.
“She passed out when we got up the stairs. She’s been poisoned by some kind of Unseelie venom. I think she and her pet are dying. I don’t know what to do Buller.”
The big man peered at them with furrowed brow.
The Last Line Series One Page 74