Jar of Souls

by Bradford Bates

  The more I thought about it, the more I felt like this was a terrible idea. We weren’t some ninja warriors, at least I wasn’t. Just what in the hell was he thinking? It was too late now. He had already tossed his grappling hook up to the roof and was climbing. The bastard had the gall to smile down at me from the wall.

  “Don’t forget to lighten as you climb. It makes it much easier.” Then I watched as he cleared the remaining two stories in less than fifteen seconds.

  I guess that meant it was my turn now; I grabbed the rope and started to climb. Taking Marcus’s words to heart, I called on my magic to lighten my weight. My next tug on the rope almost sent me hurtling back down to the ground as I moved up about ten feet and almost forgot to grab the rope again in my surprise. Apparently lightening the load didn’t reduce my strength any. I tried to pull more softly as I continued up the wall. Finally reaching the roof, I pulled harder on the rope again, landing on the rooftop with a dramatic flourish. I stopped the flow of magic. It already felt good to be regular-weighted me again.

  Marcus finished pulling the rope up and storing it back into whatever pocket he had taken it from. It was time to move. We had to go about a mile and a half to get a good vantage point to look down from. There we could watch the building we had been sent to keep safe. It felt weird knowing that we had been dispatched to watch one of the Fallen’s nests, but stopping an all-out supernatural war was the top priority here. We had to know for sure if the Lycans were attacking or if it was something much, much worse.

  The good news was it had stopped raining. The bad news was the rooftops were still slick with moisture. Seriously, I couldn’t do this on dry ground, let alone wet rooftops with forty feet between me and almost certain death. How in the hell had I let Marcus talk me into this? I looked up to tell him I was going to head down and I would meet him there on foot when I noticed he was already gone. I saw his large form glide into the air three rooftops away and come down soft as a feather. He turned and waved before continuing on.

  Well, with no real choice left, I started to run toward the other rooftop, and when I reached the end, I leaped. Using the wind to push under myself and from behind, I cleared the twenty-foot gap with ease. I came down with a large crunch and only managed not to break anything by rolling when I landed. Right, needed to lighten on the way down next time. I got this. I checked to make sure that both my swords and my staff were ok, and then started sprinting toward the edge. This time I nailed it.

  I wasn’t sure what was different about being out in the field to being in the training arena, but something just clicked. I could see why Marcus loved this now. It was like in The Matrix when he had to jump off the building to follow Morpheus. No one made their first jump, but I had made two, three, and four look pretty darn easy. I continued to follow Marcus until we reached our desired location. The nest was about three blocks away; the single-story building was easy to see from our vantage point.

  Marcus set up a few steel rods around us. I watched as he placed them, not sure exactly what he was doing. In the center, he placed a taller one that reached nearly eight feet from the ground. I gave him a quizzical look.

  “It’s easier to create a shroud around us than having us maintain one ourselves. This way our magic stays ready to call on at full force.”

  It made a certain kind of sense. It was draining to keep a single spell going for hours on end, but if you cast a single spell, it could last for hours under the right circumstances. Maybe even longer depending on how much magic you poured into it. Marcus finished what he was doing, and I felt the tug as he called on his power. A pretty blue light moved between each of the steel stakes and then shot up the central pillar, creating a dome around us.

  “Won’t people be able to see the blue light?” I hissed.

  “Nope, it’s spelled for only us to see it. That way we don’t break the spell accidently.”

  “Man, that’s a nice touch. When we get back, you are going to have to show me how you did it.”

  “Trade secret.”

  “Screw that. You’re going to show me.”

  “Ok, I’ll show you, but you would be better off just bringing me to cast it.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, if it goes anything like the jumping, then you need a real magic-user around.”

  “Fuck off.”

  We both started to laugh, and then I stopped myself. Laughter would definitely give away our position.

  Marcus continued to chuckle. “Don’t worry, it actually keeps the sound in as well. So you could scream at the top of your lungs and no one outside of this circle would hear it.”

  “That is so awesome.”

  “What can I say, it comes in handy.”

  “I bet, like girls’ locker room handy.” I gave him a grin.

  “More like hunting vampires handy. Getting in the girls’ locker room is much easier. Wait, have you not showered at the gym yet?”

  “I don’t think so. Why?”

  “Oh, trust me, bro, you would remember if you had.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I guess you will just have to wait and find out,” he said with a wink.

  “Why do I get the feeling you are setting me up for an epic fail?”

  He shrugged, giving me a mischievous grin before turning his head to watch the nest. I quickly followed his example and started watching the building below. A few people came and went over the next few hours, but nothing much happened. Marcus had lost interest in the building and was busy texting with one of his ladies-in-waiting. I kept my eyes peeled, but I hated to admit it, stakeouts had to be about the most boring thing on the planet.

  Good news was we only had another sixteen hours to go. Marcus left to go and grab some food around two in the afternoon. When he came back, it was my turn to go. After eating, we both took turns watching and resting. It was long, boring work. We repeated the same pattern for dinner except for one difference—I came back bearing gifts.

  “Dude, is that coffee?” Marcus asked.

  “No, my friend, this is the elixir of life.”

  “So, it’s really good coffee?”

  “Indeed it is. Get some rest and I’ll have some coffee and take first watch. I got a steel mug, so you should be able to reheat it with a little magic.”

  “Sounds good, bro.” Marcus wedged himself against the edge of the roof and fell asleep. I was a little envious of him just then. My sleep as of late had been sporadic, not to mention filled with nightmares. Also, I had never been able to just lie down and sleep on command. I wondered if it was a habit he picked up hunting with his father. Sometimes you probably just had to sleep whenever you could take it.

  The clock continued to tick slowly. By three o’clock, I finally couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. Marcus had been asleep most of the night, except for waking up to send a few quick texts out. I woke him up with a nudge, and after a few undistinguishable grunts, he finally opened his eyes. “My turn. Get me up in an hour.”

  He yawned. “I guess it’s only fair.”

  “Damn right,” I said, matching the yawn he just let out. I put my back to the edge of the rooftop and fell asleep almost instantly.

  A continuous scrapping sound slowly brought me out of a deep sleep. That is, if you could call being propped up against the edge of a cold rooftop a comfortable enough place for a deep sleep. I started to move and felt a hand slide over my mouth. I looked around wildly at first before my eyes settled on Marcus huddled beside me. He put a finger to his lips and removed his hand. I mouthed “What the hell?” to him, and he pointed toward the rooftop in front of us.

  Four massive Lycans stood in front of us. All four of them were standing on their hind legs and had massive swords strapped to their backs. They towered above us; the smallest had to be at least eight feet tall. Looking at Marcus, I pointed to my eyes and then back at the Lycans. I saw him do a double take as he noticed what I had picked up on right away. All four of them had creamy white e
yes.

  Casting a quick look over my shoulder to check the nest, I noted that everything down below looked fine. From the grouping of werewolves in front of us, that wouldn’t last for much longer. Looking to Marcus again, I mouthed, “I thought no one could hear us in here.”

  He silently mimed back to me. “Better not take chances.”

  If the Lycans decided to attack the nest, we would have to try and stop them. I was sure we could take on four of them, but that also meant there was a magic-user somewhere nearby, and if he was as strong as the one the inspector fought, then we might be hard-pressed to win. I had seen Marcus fight in the arena, so I knew when it came to magic he was no slouch. Our best bet would be for me to battle the Lycans and to have him focus solely on the magic-user. I was about to whisper my ideas to him when a robed figure appeared on top of the roof next to us.

  The distance of a street in between wasn’t enough to make me feel very comfortable. The man strode boldly to the edge of the roof, taking in the view of the nest below. His face remained shrouded by his hood. From here he didn’t look physically imposing. In fact, I would say he was short and pretty lean, but it was hard to tell with the robe draped over him. It did a wonderful job of masking any discernable features.

  I pointed toward the mage and then at Marcus. He understood what I was asking him to do right away. For the first time since the Lycans appeared, he smiled. Handling magic was something he was comfortable with; killing Lycans was an unknown. Granted, these weren’t normal Lycans. They were more of the undead variety that I had a small amount of experience with, mostly consisting of me tossing magic at it and then running around in terror, but now I knew how to kill them. I thought I could make this work.

  My hopes diminished somewhat when four more of the creatures dropped onto the roof by the hooded figure. He held a hand up into the air; the four Lycans on our rooftop fell to all fours, getting ready to charge. I gave Marcus one more nudge and pointed at the man on the rooftop, letting him know the plan still stood. The hooded figure lowered his hand, and all eight of the

  Lycans charged forward.

  As soon as they had cleared our rooftop, Marcus was leaping across the space between buildings, casting a ball of fire down at the back of the hooded figure. I tore my gaze away from him and jumped off the roof in the other direction. I couldn’t tell you how crazy I felt leaping off a perfectly good three-story building with nothing but asphalt below me, but hey, this was my life now. Not only did I jump, but I sent out a lance of pure power at one of the Lycans, cutting it neatly in half. A small burst of fire should make sure the remains disappeared. Then it was time to focus on lightening myself so I wouldn’t come crashing down to my death.

  I hit the ground hard but not hard enough to do any damage. It was like I had jumped off a six-foot wall and not a forty-foot-tall building. The first thing I had to do was try and slow those damn things down. They were fast, and it was seven on one. I couldn’t stand toe to toe with them, but right now it looked as if they hadn’t even noticed the loss of their partner. All seven of them were wholly focused on reaching the nest.

  Another lance of power split one more of them before they reached the nest’s outer fence. Power like that came with a cost. It depleted my magical stores quickly, and I wouldn’t be able to summon it to kill all six of the remaining Lycans. I maybe had one or two more blasts before I ran out of juice, and then it was toe-to-toe time with limited magic. If I was really lucky, my staff might help me get off one more shot. I ashed the body of the fallen Lycan as I ran by. Only six left. I had this.

  A quick glance toward the rooftop showed me flashes of light and the explosions of magic filling the dark skyline. The sound it created was almost deafening; it drowned out the sounds of the Lycans tearing through the fence in front of me. The thought of the Lycans behind me had me spinning back around, and I brought down two more of the beasts on my left. That left four more of the undead for me to bring down, and not too long to do it.

  Two of the creatures turned from the fence once it had been ripped apart, and headed back toward me. The other two sprinted forward toward the nest. I only had enough power in my staff to bring down one of them. I called on that power now. The first Lycan burst in half. The second one jumped through its remains, coming straight at me. I dropped my staff to the ground and rolled under its leap, pulling my swords out as I came out of the roll. I had enough magic left to boost my strength and speed. If I was lucky, it would be enough to keep me alive.

  The Lycan turned to face me, standing on its hind legs and drawing the massive sword from behind it. Its milky eyes seemed to lock onto me, and it roared. I’m sure everyone has seen a movie where a huge grizzly bear roars at someone, and it seems loud enough to shake the earth. This was louder, much louder. From ten feet away, I could feel the fetid breath of the creature wash across my face. It was worse than I had expected. The smell of decomposing flesh almost made me drop my blades and gag. The creature’s eyes tracked the movement of my hand as I moved my wrist up to suppress that very same reflex.

  I wondered just how those undead eyes could still see me. A crash from behind stole my attention from the Lycan in front of me and almost cost me my life. I turned to see a group of Fallen streaming out of the nest to protect it. Two huge albino monsters led the charge. They hit the wolves and went down in a heap as they tore at each other. I turned back just in time to bring my sword up.

  The cut that would have split me clean in two was moved just enough to the side that it missed me. That didn’t stop the Lycan’s massive shoulder from slamming into me. As I went flying backward, I wondered just what it would take to bring this creature down. I rolled over on my back, and as I came back up on my feet, I crossed and lifted my blades above my head. They stopped the next blow that was aimed in my direction. Spinning to the side, I lashed out, bringing my blade across the creature’s thigh.

  Absolutely nothing happened. The wolves’ skin parted like tough leather. There was no blood coming from the wound. The next strike knocked me back another three feet. Thank God for my enchanted blades. I had no doubt that a strike from that sword would shatter a normal blade in one hit. If my blades couldn’t cut through the monster, then I was going to have to find another way to kill it.

  I spent the next minute dodging and striking at the beast, neither of us making any headway. My magical reserves were starting to run on fumes. I had to find a way to end this and end it quickly. We had changed positions, and I could see the Fallen had gathered inside of the fence to watch the fight. I spared a small amount of magic to ash the corpse inside of their perimeter. Part of the mission was to leave no evidence. Better to ask for forgiveness later then to worry about what the Fallen thought about me casting magic on their land.

  The lights and blasts from Marcus’s battle were still lighting up the night sky. I was impressed that my friend had that kind of stamina. If it was me, I would have been out of juice. The Lycan came at me, swinging low; I jumped over his blade and lashed out at the creature’s face. It knocked one of my swords away with its arm, the blade leaving a huge cut, exposing the bone. My other blade slammed to the hilt in the beast’s eye. The sword it was holding clattered to the ground.

  The blade through the monster’s brain seemed to have stopped it long enough for me to hack at its neck a few times. As the Lycan’s head fell from its shoulders, I felt a little better. The limbs started to quiver and move again. I used the last of my magic to ash what was left of the head. The body stopped twitching, and then I incinerated it as well. I was totally out of mojo now, and there were ten of the Fallen and two of their huge berserkers watching me to see what my next move was going to be.

  I sheathed my blades and walked over to pick up my staff. It was kind of unnerving to have that many eyes on me at once. Marcus landed next to me with a thud; he stayed on his back. A vicious-looking cut across his chest was bleeding profusely. He let out a groan of pain, and I wanted to help him but I had to know if his opponent w
as still alive first. I turned away from him to look up toward the roof and watched as the robbed figure glided down to the ground. He strode forward, coming to finish Marcus off. His clothes had been ripped in several places, and he walked with a grim purpose to his stride.

  I moved in front of Marcus. There was no way this asshole was going to kill my friend. He continued to walk toward me, and I took a few steps forward to put some distance between Marcus and the man coming toward us. The man reached up and pulled his hood back. His white skull shone in the moonlight. Something was off about his face. Was his mouth too big or was it just that he had too many teeth? I couldn’t put my finger on it, but when he opened his mouth to speak, I felt a small amount of terror creep up my spine and into my heart. How had Marcus stood against this man alone?

  “Ah, so it’s Adam’s new prodigy. How sad will he be to lose you before you have a chance to come into your full power?”

  I slammed my staff into the ground. A small wave of power flowed out of it, cracking the concrete around where it had hit. It was a small show of power, and with how I was feeling, it was more of a bluff than anything else. “Whatever you have come here for, you cannot have it. This place is under our protection.”

  “If that man was the best you have to defend against me, then you are greatly outmatched.”

  “It seems to me like he has weakened you more than you would care to let on. Regardless, I cannot let you pass.”

  “From the look of you, you aren’t fairing much better.” He flashed me that grin again, with too many teeth showing. Something about those teeth just made me want to run away.

  “The difference is if you get through me, then you have an entire nest willing to stop you. With your power so reduced, I doubt you could make it to whatever you are seeking. I can feel it from here; you don’t have much left.”

  “The magic that flows through me is stronger than you think, boy. I think it’s time that I gave you a little taste.”