Laz swallowed.
“They can keep me safe?”
“Nothing’s safe when it comes to this secret war. But they are the only people who can keep you alive now. Or you can run. Choice is yours.”
Laz sat in his chair, his heart thumping.
I’m no soldier, and I’m certainly no hero. To hell with them, let the Unseelie take over the world. What has the world ever done for me?
He glanced across at Buller, who was grinning from ear to ear.
“Dude, they’re not expecting me to be with you either. I can be like your secret weapon.”
Laz sighed. It would be like disappointing a puppy.
Time to face your fears, Laz.
“Ok Debruler. I’ll do it.”
19
When she heard the cries of the other villagers, Edna looked up from the water pump. Her eyes were not what they used to be and took a few moments to focus on the man silhouetted at the tunnel entrance. Then she smiled.
Edna waved and shouted across to him.
“I knew you would come back, Mr Isaacs.”
Isaac stood at the entrance to the tunnel that led back out to the ever encroaching Unseelie jungle. In his arms he held a woman. If it was possible, he looked even more haggard and desperate than when Edna first saw him. Not at all the dashingly heroic figure from her strange dreams. She pondered that heroes really do come in all shapes and sizes.
He stood there with the woman in his arms, but no one else was with him. For a moment Edna began to doubt the prophetic dreams that had permeated her sleep for weeks prior to meeting this man.
Then Edna began to hear a sound getting louder in the tunnel behind Isaac.
The children poured either side of Isaac like water around a rock. They squealed with recognition as they saw their parents drop tools and run towards them.
Most of them were skin and bone, badly in need of a good meal, but their weeping parents swept them up in their arms and held them tight, saying their names over and over and kissing their heads. The words of thanks began to pour from them and Isaac nodded sheepishly as they reached out to touch his head.
Isaac walked forward and stood in front of Edna, who was now beaming at him. She pulled the hip flask from her dress and took a glug.
“You look like you could do with a stiff drink, Mr Isaacs. I would offer you a glass of champagne, but all I have to give is boom-boom.”
Isaac smiled wearily at the old woman.
“I’m afraid it isn’t time for celebration yet, Edna. There’s trouble following.”
“You have made old Anansi angry, haven’t you Mr Isaacs?”
“I would say he’s fairly livid, Miss Edna.”
“Good. He needs put in his place on occasion.”
“They’re hot on my heels, Edna. They can track me through Arianna’s eyes. The village, it’s no longer safe. I’m afraid I’ve brought this upon us.”
Edna smiled softly at him.
“Not at all, sweetheart. You brought all these little ones back to their families. This village was put here to keep watch over the temple and the darkness it infects the jungle around it with. This confrontation was always going to happen. Now bring that poor girl over to my house. We need to bring her out of that black dream.”
Inside the hut, Isaac watched as Arianna was laid out on the straw filled mattress. He watched as Edna ground some of the red Loa-stone in a pestle and mortar. She crushed some berries into the mix. Then to Isaac’s surprise she took a mouthful of her home made moonshine and spat it into the mixture. She winked at him.
“I told you it was medicinal.”
Isaac attempted a smile but all he felt was heartache at seeing Arianna so feverish and weak. Her black eyes flickered and blinked as she tossed and turned on the mattress.
Isaac knew that he needed water and food, and treatment for the myriad cuts and bruises all over his body, but he could not leave until he knew she was awake. He settled for a smoke instead. As he struck the match on the rough wooden table, Edna frowned at him.
“Well that is an unclean habit Mr Isaacs, even more than boom-boom. It will shorten your days, sweetheart.”
Isaac took a long drag.
“I know, Edna. But if I wanted to live to be a hundred a change of career would be the first priority. Life expectancy in my job is rather low.”
“And what about quality of life expectancy? Don’t you want a family, children, to settle in a real home?”
Isaac sat in a chair next to the bed and looked at his stricken woman.
“I’ll tell you what, if you can bring her back to me, I’ll quit the smokes and go visit a mortgage broker. I love her Edna. She makes me want to live to be a hundred.”
Edna smiled and stroked his hair.
“You just fought a host of demons to find her Isaac. I think that much is clear.”
Edna finished grinding her mixture and then started to heat it over the fire. As it warmed, she gently dabbed Arianna’s face with a damp cloth to bring down her fever.
Isaac nervously smoked his way through a packet as Edna gently spooned the mixture into Arianna’s cold lips. He paced and prayed to whatever benevolent beings may exist out there in the ether, and he took intermittent slugs of Edna’s moonshine. He lost track of time in his worry.
Then he heard a weak voice behind him.
“…Isaac…”
Isaac turned and saw eyes of clearest blue looking back at him. He fell to his knees at the bedside and took Arianna’s clammy hand.
“Hey trouble, you slept in.”
Arianna managed a smile.
“You look terrible, Isaac. What have you been doing?”
Isaac smoothed down his greasy black hair and tried to keep his voice from cracking.
“Nothing much. Went for a walk in the jungle. Got a bit lost if I’m honest.”
She smiled up at him and stroked his hand.
“Well don’t worry. I’ve found you now.”
Isaac couldn’t stop looking at her eyes, how blue they were.
“Yes. I’m glad.”
Arianna smiled up at the old woman next to the bed.
“Hello.”
“Hello sweetheart. I’m Edna.”
“I think I dreamt about you.”
“Well you’re awake now sweetheart.”
Arianna tensed and looked up at Isaac as if memories of struggle were suddenly flooding back.
“Yes. What’s been happening Isaac. Are we safe?”
Isaac wiped the sweat from her brow and kissed her forehead.
“Let’s get a brew on. Get a cup of tea down you first. Then we can fill you in.”
Edna rubbed Arianna’s bare arm to comfort her.
Arianna suddenly tensed and her eyes rolled white. Isaac bent down to cradle her head.
“Arianna! What is it?”
Arianna drew her hand away from Edna’s arm and opened her eyes. She sat staring at the old woman, confused.
“Edna, you knew.”
Isaac looked up at the old woman.
“What’s she talking about Edna?”
Arianna slowly controlled her breathing and sat up straight. She looked at Edna with sad eyes.
“I saw what Edna has been dreaming. She hasn’t prophesised you coming here to save the village Isaac. She’s dreamt of you coming here to destroy it.”
Isaac shook his head.
“No Arianna, we’re the good guys. She’s dreamt that I save this place, all of it. Right Edna?”
Edna stood up and walked to the window.
“I dreamt that you would do what I could not.”
Arianna took Isaac’s hand.
“The stone Isaac. She dreamt of you casting the village stone into the Temple. To poison it.”
Isaac looked confused.
“But it protects the village Edna. It’s kept you all safe for hundreds of years. It’s all that keeps you safe.”
Edna smiled sadly at him.
“Nowhere is safe fore
ver Isaac. And if this threat is all that you say, then our little village may become the last safe place on earth. And I’m afraid I have not made enough of that stew you like for everyone.”
Isaac looked over at the stone and then to Arianna.
He realized what he was here to do.
“It can destroy the shield. They can take down Lilith.”
Arianna struggled to sit up. She looked very weak but gave Isaac her most determined expression.
“Fancy a romantic walk in the woods?”
Within half an hour Arianna had drifted back to sleep. A real sleep, free from black eyes and bad dreams. Isaac made sure that she was comfortable and then went out to join Edna on the porch. The old woman stood there in her floral dress, as full of patience and compassion as when Isaac first met her. He squeezed her chubby arm in gratitude and she nodded.
Above the jungle canopy beyond the rocky hills that surrounded the village, the sun was still rising.
“They’re going to attack this place with everything they have Edna. They’ll be here by nightfall.”
Edna’s dark eyes peered up at the sky.
“I fear it is so.”
“We’re becoming a very small island in a very big sea of nasties. I don’t think we can lead anyone here out to safety.”
Edna stroked his sleeve.
“Isaac you are a good man and a brave soldier, but I don’t think even a gambler like you would put odds on our survival without help. But my dreams have stopped telling me what to do.”
“If I was betting, I wouldn’t bet on us.”
Isaac turned to look at the tiny village. There were few warriors here, and almost no conventional weapons. To Isaac this backwater place had become a microcosm for all that he had ever struggled and fought for. He had not the slightest intention of letting it fall without a fight. He knew it would likely be his final fight, but he’d made his peace with that.
It’s a race against time. I need to destroy the temple before the Unseelie destroy the village.
As he scanned the families working in the village, he noticed a small boy walking towards him, with something trailing from his hand. It was Samuel, the boy who had offered Isaac his teddy bear. Now his bear was tucked into his t-shirt, but in his hand he dragged an Unseelie rucksack.
“Hello Samuel. Glad to have your bear back? What else have you got there?”
The little boy stood looking up at Isaac and then ruffled through the bag and took out something blocky and green.
“I found this at the bottom of the bag Mr Isaacs. I don’t need it. Can you use it?”
Isaac stared down at the object for a long moment as all the hairs on his neck prickled.
A satellite phone.
“Samuel, I think you just became my hero.”
Samuel’s face lit up as he handed the phone up to Isaac.
“Can I tell my friends that I am your hero?”
Isaac knelt down and hugged the skinny boy tight.
“By God, son, you can sing it from the rafters.”
As the boy skipped off with his new found rank, Isaac walked slowly back over to Edna. She was nervously rubbing her string of beads between her fingers and whispering, as if reciting a quiet prayer. She turned to Isaac with worry in her eyes. For the first time she looked quite old.
“We would need an army to stop a force like that, Isaac.”
Isaac put a hand on her shoulder and lightly kissed her cheek.
“No, not an army. Just a few badasses.”
Edna asked him a question with absolute sincerity.
“You know any bad…asses?”
Isaac held up the sat-phone. It was charged. He started to punch in a familiar number.
He glanced up, his gambler’s grin returning for the first time in days.
“One or two, Miss Edna. One or two.”
20
Usher rang the doorbell.
The latch clicked and the door slowly opened. Warm light of the house spilled out onto the doorstep. Debruler stood before Usher in a burgundy housecoat. His hair exploded from his head at wild angles.
The young man’s expression was one of deep concern through politeness.
“Ah, Usher. I was wondering when you’d pop round. Things have been feeling pretty heated in the ether tonight.”
“Hi Debruler. Is it true? Is she here?”
Debruler nodded and gave Usher a comforting smile.
“She was right on the brink Usher, the worst Unseelie venom I’ve yet seen. I didn’t think I could bring her back.”
Usher sighed and braced for the worst.
“Were you too late?”
Debruler put a hand on his shoulder.
“No my friend. Both she and Max are alive. They are unconscious and I do not know when they will awake, but I have diluted the venom in their blood. I think they will survive. But we must be patient.”
Usher let etiquette slide for a moment and hugged Debruler’s slender frame.
“Thank you Edward. I’ve lost too many friends. It’s always nice to make a new one.”
Debruler was tense in the hug for a moment and then he smiled and blushed a little.
“You’re very welcome. Come inside Thom, your men are already here and eating me out of house and home. I’ll take you to her.”
A minute later Usher sat next to an ornate four poster bed. On it, bandaged and looking haggard but stable, was his old friend Ursula. In a deeply sedated sleep at the end of the bed by her taloned feet was an almost unrecognizable Max, Usher’s old German Shepherd.
Usher rubbed the dog’s ears.
“It took me a minute, boy, until I saw that daft twitching ear of yours.”
The dog whimpered in its sleep.
“Ursula said that the thaumaturgy of the other side might change you. I don’t know what the hell she’s been feeding you, but when you’re better we’re going for walkies and we’re going to scare the shit out of that Rottweiler next door.”
Usher looked down at the Valkyrie. She looked like she had been through a lot of fights since they last spoke. She had volunteered to search for a trace of his family, but now he regretted letting her go. He did not want anyone else he cared about risking their lives for him. Especially when he already knew the answer she would find. He reached out a hand and touched her scarred arm.
“Reports are you finally gave that asshole Mr Styx the good news. Good for you.”
A polite cough and then Debruler’s voice came from the doorway.
“I attempted to commune with her Usher. It was muddled, her brain is feverish, but I think she has been in contact with Ariel.”
Usher gazed down at Ursula.
I should have known she’s end up being his guardian angel. She was always mine. So he’s still kicking over there. I hope he’s causing those bastards some trouble.
Debruler walked in and stood by Usher’s side, looking at the unconscious Valkyrie.
“I’m currently reading everything I can on finding a way to bring him back. Although the Ariel I know is the sort that will somehow find his own way.”
Usher frowned.
“She must have known what was happening, came back here to try and help.”
Debruler shook his head.
“It was more than that. The small snippets I got from her mind. It was like she came here to warn you of something.”
Usher stroked her wild black hair.
Always looking out for me, soldier. You’re part of Empire One too, you know. And I don’t give you permission to die. Besides you need to wake up and turn my dog back to normal size.
Debruler put a hand on Usher’s shoulder.
“I’ll keep attending to her and Max. Your boys are waiting for you downstairs.”
Usher smiled in gratitude.
“Do your best Edward. That food I can smell?”
Debruler grinned and nodded.
“I’ve cooked a lamb for you and the boys. And I’ve located a few bottles of the Domaine Ram
onet Montrachet. “
“Drink sounds good. They behaving themselves?”
Debruler looked mildly embarrassed. He cast a bashful smile and Usher knew the answer.
“They’re settling in nicely.”
Usher took off his jacket and stretched out his shoulders as he was led into the drawing room of the plush London townhouse. Debruler was a rich man from an old aristocratic family, and Usher had no doubt this was one of several residences he owned across the world. He was also a high ranking member of one of the world’s oldest secret occult societies, The Black Star. His house dripped opulence.
Usher’s team had wasted no time in taking advantage of the facilities.
Charlie raised a half empty crystal glass.
“Hey Major!”
Brock looked up from his leather armchair, the crackling fire beside him turning his blonde beard a sunset orange. He blew out smoke from a chunky cigar.
“Damn but if this hasn’t cured my cold.”
Santiago stood by the sumptuous dining table with a white cloth draped over his arm. He held up two bottles of very expensive looking wine.
“You look like hell sir. Red or white?”
Stromberg grinned over the top of a massive balloon glass.
“Or we’ve got the strong stuff if you fancy a brandy?”
Charlie strolled over and popped a cigar into the corner of Usher’s mouth.
“Here, I know how you like to puff one of these bad boys post mission, and guess what? Debruler has like hundreds of these things in his cigar greenhouse.”
Debruler coughed politely.
“It’s a humidor, a walk in humidor. Gentlemen it needs to be kept in a constant state.”
Brock was up now and had drawn his Soulblade. He stood gesturing to the remnants of the roast.
“Cut you a piece of lamb?”
Usher surveyed the table. Although laid with the finest crockery and covered in delicious foodstuffs, it looked like it had recently been attacked by some starving vultures.
“How do you boys manage to make this classy environment look like the muppet show?”
Stromberg flipped up a fork and caught it again.
“All part of our special forces training boss. We take in resources like food and drink whenever it becomes available. We never know when we might eat again.”
The Last Line Series One Page 76