Surviving Prophesy: The Immortals

by Frances Howitt

  ‘You got that right,’ Julius commented irrepressibly. ‘Now before you two get into the heart to heart you need to have, I’d rather like to know how the hell you can suddenly see?’

  ‘It’s a spell, a very difficult and tiring one,’ she whispered. ‘But it’s nice to know what you all really look like. When I felt a strange man approaching I knew I needed to see to judge him better. Then learning he was searching for a blind woman I was very glad he didn’t think I was one. Julius can you find a pan? We’re in here to cook, remember.’

  ‘Let me do that,’ Zacharias said softly taking the knife out of her hand. He’d noticed her reach for a mushroom, miss it and blink hard a few times before trying again, her brow creased with concentration.

  ‘So the hand eye co-ordination is tricky?’ Julius asked and she simply nodded. ‘Good job you know this spell or he’d have found what he was sent to look for.’

  ‘Yes, but is it me or Zacharias they really want?’ she responded anxiously. ‘Julius, where’s Yolanda?’

  ‘In the bedroom. Why?’

  ‘Then who is outside?’ she whispered and looked out the kitchen window. ‘Zach, get down,’ she urged and he ducked behind the counter again just moments before a stranger came into view. ‘Who the hell is that?’

  ‘I need to make him pause so I can see him without him realising,’ Julius whispered. ‘Can I kiss you?’

  Megan glanced at Zacharias and found an immediate black frown but he unhappily nodded.

  ‘Go with me,’ Julius urged and swept her up in his arms twirling them around and eliciting a small squeal from her. Then he placed her on the worktop and kissed her with very convincing passion.

  Megan was shocked and had no choice but to cling to Julius. The assault on her lips was sudden and very intense. He was a skilled kisser yet something was missing. When Zacharias kissed her, her brain simply closed down any thinking ability. Julius’s manoeuvre had placed him standing between her legs and he pressed against her shamelessly. Watching him she knew he was half watching the stranger over her shoulder and half her. She managed to glance sideways; Zacharias was staring. She heard a noise and even Julius paused his assault on her lips to glance aside. Schubert stood in the doorway wide-eyed. She supposed her squeal had alerted him something was happening.

  ‘Someone’s outside the window,’ Megan told Schubert softly since she had her back to the window.

  ‘Hey, you’re kissing me not him,’ Julius complained. She’d just begun truly kissing him back and he’d discovered her eyes were open but gazing towards Zacharias.

  ‘What did you expect Julius? I needed some inspiration to play the part,’ Megan glanced round now the stranger had gone. She noted Julius was disappointed and Schubert amused, but she needed to know how Zacharias felt. Abruptly Zacharias rose to his feet glanced outside but then took the position Julius had hastily vacated. Megan felt the difference immediately. It was nothing to do with skill, Julius had wonderful techniques, but Zacharias was the man she wanted and that made all the difference in the world. His kisses and the feel of him pressed against her were wonderful.

  ‘Damn. Yeah, that’s real rejection,’ Julius muttered and tore his eyes off the pair to Schubert. ‘We’d better find out who that snooper was and whether he spotted Yolanda.’

  ‘Where did the guy you were talking to go?’ Zacharias asked, aware now was not the time to be distracted.

  ‘He left a few minutes ago. I was just watching him go back up the road. Where is Yolanda?’ he added surprised and concerned she hadn’t come out of hiding. ‘Yolanda?’ Schubert called having opened the bedroom door to a dark room. The curtains were drawn closed. Pulling them open he found her on the floor behind the bed huddled in the corner. ‘Yolanda? What’s the matter?’ he asked gently and gathered her into his arms. As soon as he did she seemed to wake and clutched at him. Since her ordeal trapped helplessly in the dark, she hated night time. She needed a candle burning all night and him close enough to touch.

  ‘When Zach left me I came in here to hide. I closed the curtains then heard something moving about outside. It was so dark Schubert and I could hear rustling. I just froze and couldn’t move,’ she admitted in a small voice.

  ‘You’re safe,’ he murmured keeping hold of her as he moved her properly into the light. He stayed there for her until she seemed to have recovered her equilibrium. He knew the others had peered in the door to check they were ok. ‘Zacharias, can you stay here with Yolanda, out of sight,’ Schubert said leading Yolanda to a chair in the bright airy kitchen. ‘We’ll go and have a look around. Megan’s probably already been seen so she should come with us. We could use her senses,’ Schubert added noting Zacharias wasn’t keen for her to go.

  ‘You can see us?’ Yolanda asked Megan. ‘Is that a spell of some sort?’

  ‘Yes. I can’t maintain it much longer, let’s hurry,’ Megan suggested and followed Schubert outside.

  ‘So, did you know that chap Paul?’ Megan asked Schubert whilst scanning the area around them. ‘He seemed to know where you live and was surprised to see me.’

  ‘He’s the local sheriff for the area. We’ve spoken in passing and he knows I live alone. He did seem to believe you were just visiting and that Julius was your man,’ he said and his gaze slid from her to pin Julius. ‘Tell me Julius, what I walked in on please?’

  ‘Megan noticed someone outside. Everyone has to stop to watch a passionate kiss; they can’t help it. I thought it’d give me a chance to turn and look without being noticed. I did ask her first, didn’t I?’ he asked turning to Megan.

  ‘Yes, although that was a little more than the kiss you asked for.’

  ‘You were damn lucky Zacharias didn’t hit you,’ Schubert commented. ‘So you still haven’t told me what you saw out the window. I only caught a momentary glimpse.’ He ignored Julius’s grin knowing that he too had not seen much past that distracting kiss.

  ‘Men! Will you shut up about this irrelevance and concentrate on what we can find out about our snooper!’ Megan told them. ‘It wasn’t that Mistry in disguise I trust?’ That thought had them focussing on the task in hand more seriously.

  ‘You’d have sensed it and told us surely if he wasn’t an ordinary mortal?’ Schubert exclaimed.

  ‘How can I sense properly when I’m surrounded by four overpowering immortal auras whilst holding a tricky spell? I then was distracted very personally by Julius and had to worry about Zach’s reaction,’ she told them. ‘Is this why you’ve all been so unconcerned and casual? You’re relying on me to warn of any serious threat?’

  ‘We didn’t realise all this was overloading you. You should have said,’ Schubert said seriously. ‘We weren’t meaning to push such responsibility on you. Stop the sight spell. Much as we like knowing you can see us, it’s too much of a strain.’

  Megan nodded, released the spell immediately and her world narrowed and went dark.

  ‘Zach!’ she gasped and ran back towards his presence in the house. Julius took her hand to guide her while Schubert sprinted ahead.

  The kitchen was now a battle zone. Zacharias stood brandishing a kitchen knife at the Mistry who had discarded his disguise. Yolanda lay unmoving on the floor and the sight halted Schubert, who stared at her in shocked dismay. Zacharias turned slightly as they ran to join him and in that moment of inattention the Mistry struck. He knocked the knife from Zach’s hand and spun him around. Zacharias screamed as the Mistry’s claws dug deeply into both arms, pinning his back to the Mistry’s chest so he was immobilised.

  ‘She lives Schubert,’ Megan said quickly, aware of his divided attention and anguish. Megan needed this big warrior focussed on helping Zacharias.

  ‘Let him go,’ Megan demanded her hands up defensively ready. She silently cursed her blasted eyes. She needed to aim very accurately to be able to attack that Mistry without hitting Zacharias. Her sight spell, as she’d discovered earlier, didn’t give her very reliable hand eye co-ordination. It also reduced her other m
ore trusted senses, so she faced the creature blind.

  ‘No,’ the Mistry retorted, then caught her scent despite the others in the room. The man he held was covered in her scent. ‘She is your woman? The one foretold?’ he asked in Zacharias’s ear and felt him flinch. ‘You were clever to try and hide her identity from me.’

  ‘She is not his, she is mine,’ Julius spoke up bravely.

  ‘She wears this one’s scent more than yours. I noticed it when I captured him the first time, but I assumed her to be one of the whores.’

  ‘It hasn’t crossed your mind that they are both my lovers?’ Megan asked. ‘They’re both beautiful men.’

  ‘So you like to share? What about him?’

  ‘A threesome can be fun but not more. Besides Schubert already has a lady,’ she said gesturing at Yolanda on the floor. ‘What do you want with him?’

  ‘I’m under orders to retrieve him. Imagine my surprise to find he wasn’t where I’d left him.’

  ‘That was careless of you,’ Megan commented. ‘So you didn’t plan on leaving him to die?’

  ‘Of course not. He has his uses yet.’

  ‘Uses?’ she queried but the Mistry merely shrugged refusing to answer. ‘So who ordered this abduction? Who do you work for?’

  ‘Lord Darcourt, of course. The queen would not have killed him, you know.

  ‘How could you be so cruel? You left him at the mercy of deadly insects knowing what they’d do to him.’

  ‘He’s an immortal and they value them. He was safe enough. You released him, didn’t you?’ he asked.

  ‘Of course I released him. We were just in time to see him taken into the hive.’

  ‘Impressive sight wasn’t it. Oh. Pity you’re blindness meant you missed it. He could not have escaped the hive unaided or walked. Someone must have carried him and somehow you don’t look strong enough.’

  ‘You have no idea what I’m capable of,’ she said simply, keeping her attention focussed on him and a lid on her fury.

  ‘You were careless. I tracked you here from the cave.’

  ‘You asked the sheriff to come to distract us?’

  ‘Yes. Pity he didn’t recognise you as I do, although I did describe you. Killing you would have simplified matters greatly.’ Zacharias flinched again and struggled at his words. ‘Your lover doesn’t like that idea,’ he told her. ‘Now be honest. You nearly succumbed to my pets yourself. Somehow your lover walked in and carried you out, when he should have been paralysed and incapable of walking. I must admit to being curious about all that, but then I do love a good mystery.’

  ‘Then you released the swarm so close to Zacharias’s home? Why?’

  ‘I’ve watched over him for nearly forty years. My orders were simple, that I wait for him to find his true love. Once he had identified her I was to bring him in.’

  ‘Why do you think that’s me?’

  ‘Because in all the time I’ve been watching him you are his only lover. After waiting that long, I can’t fathom his sharing you, but maybe you aren’t everything he hoped for.’

  ‘Maybe he’s more discreet than you give him credit for, and you haven’t spotted his casual lovers,’ Megan suggested, aware Zacharias was struggling to keep up the pretence. He was in a great deal of pain and the knowledge of the ordeal he’d undergone last time he’d been captured by this creature was too fresh in his mind. Somehow this Mistry had directed the swarm to catch them both, leaving some behind in both their homes. She had been equally the target, simply because she might be Zacharias’s lover. The Mistry was just being thorough and he was now asking questions so he could report later. Abruptly she wondered why he’d been so forthcoming in answering their questions. It was as though it didn’t matter if they knew. Remembering they’d fallen into this current predicament because she was concentrating on the immediate, she sent her senses out. There must be a reason the Mistry was keeping them talking and seemed in no hurry to leave. She was distracted by Yolanda crawling away to hide behind Schubert. Annoyed with herself she scanned again and found something. Now she understood.

  ‘Julius,’ she called into his mind and heard him suddenly shuffle his feet. ‘The Mistry has called Scritchers. That’s why he’s stalling. Take Yolanda and get our horses saddled and supplied fast.’ She didn’t turn to look but heard Julius, already in the doorway, help Yolanda up and they slipped out. She likewise filled in Schubert and picked up his need to stop dallying and finish this so he could get them to safety. It was a view she shared.

  ‘Zach, lower your head and keep still,’ she said into his mind. ‘I need to disable him before his Scritchers arrive. Please forgive me if I catch you too.’ Warning delivered she acted immediately. She sent a lance of wizard fire directly at the clearest shoulder target and in particular the folded wing rising above the Mistry’s head.

  The Mistry screamed and dived out the large kitchen window behind him, shattering the glass. But to Megan’s dismay, he kept hold of Zacharias and took him out with him.

  ‘Out of my way Schubert,’ she snapped not able to continue her attack with Schubert leaping out the shattered window after them. She could only stand at the window and watch the broad shape of Schubert’s back block her as he ran to tackle the Mistry.

  Schubert attacked, aware the Mistry couldn’t hold on to Zacharias as well as defend himself. He eyed the blood dripping from the creature’s mangled wing; Megan had done a good job of wounding him. He hoped the creature was too injured to fly now, especially carrying the weight of a man. The Mistry abruptly shoved Zacharias into his path, impeding his attack. Schubert lost hold of the creature, but Zach was now free and moving out of the way. He dodged, avoiding a savage swipe of its claws and damaged wing or not, the creature was trying to fly. Schubert dashed forward again, grabbed the legs and yanked him back to earth. He punched the Mistry in the face, kicking too, lacking anything offensive as a weapon.

  ‘Zach,’ she breathed as he staggered to her. Blood coated both sleeves and his arms hung limply. She touched his face for a moment, overwhelming relief coursing through her that he was still here and safe. She hastily sent him a shaft of pain relieving magic to help ease him, before recollecting their danger. ‘Am I going to skewer myself on glass?’

  ‘There’s plenty here. Put your hand on my shoulder. I’m sorry, I can’t lift you.’

  ‘Hush, we need to help Schubert and stop that Mistry escaping.’ She quickly climbed through the window balancing on him and assured he’d tell her before she impaled herself on shards of glass.

  Outside, Megan could tell just how wounded Schubert was becoming. The Mistry’s claws were savage weapons. Schubert was fast and powerful but the small kitchen knife Julius had tossed to him wasn’t large enough to do much damage.

  She waited for an opportunity to attack. When Schubert next fell back from a savage blow, Megan felt free to unleash her fury. The Mistry’s aura, so different from the immortals, yet also from normal humans too, was a clear beacon. She sent a fiery lance for his heart. She didn’t bother cursing when the creature noticed her and turned at the last moment. Her lance might have missed the kill shot of his heart but it had hit him in the torso nonetheless.

  ‘Schubert! Get back here. Right now,’ Megan called urgently in his mind.

  Out of the trees a slithering presence appeared. It wasn’t a large swarm, but twenty or so Scritchers were plenty of trouble. They halted in the shadows of the trees, antennae twitching at the scents of blood. They were silent and still; preparing to attack.

  Megan fired another shot, but this one aimed to clip the Mistry. As she’d planned, he saw the shot coming and jumped away sideways; towards the Scritchers he hadn’t yet noticed. He didn’t quite manage to evade the blast entirely and more blood bloomed on his arm. He was now dangerously close to his pets and they were watching him. He suddenly saw them and beat his wings to drive them back, but he was badly wounded, one wing shredded and lacked his usual vigour. He was also wafting the scent of his blood to them
. Perhaps realising they weren’t warned off, he began backing away. The Scritchers followed him eagerly out of the trees however.

  ‘This is going to be nasty,’ Megan whispered knowing all four immortals had gathered and stood with or rather behind her. ‘Back up, especially you two Schubert, Zach. We don’t need them smelling your blood and deciding it’s nicer than his.’

  ‘I thought they were his pets? Surely they won’t kill him if they know him?’ Julius asked.

  ‘They aren’t sentimental; they don’t think as we do. They only respect the strong. They eat their own wounded, remember. He knows they can smell his wounds and will sense he’s weak. He’s going to get desperate and will try and divert them to us. Zach, Schubert take off your shirts and anything else covered in blood and drop them away from the house. Yolanda, get back inside.’

  ‘What about our horses? I thought we were leaving?’ she said.

  ‘There isn’t time for a clean getaway now, they’ll see us and track us. We have shelter here and besides, I have no intention of letting these damn things drive Schubert from his home. I’ve already lost mine and so has Zach. All of you, get inside. Julius help Zach in then stay close. I’m going to need a hand getting back in too.’

  The Mistry spared a glance for the immortals and his heart sank. They’d gathered behind the little wizard; she was their defender. Now though, they were climbing through the window back into the safety of the house. Diverting Scritchers to prey they couldn’t now see or smell and which were far farther from him, was unlikely, certainly while he lived. He took a step towards them and the woman raised a hand in warning. It was cold comfort that he had his answers as to how Zacharias had escaped. She was a wizard of extraordinary strength and courage and she meant to defend her man. She would fire again if he tried to go to her. He yelped and kicked out at a Scritcher that had used his inattention to sneak in and bite his leg. They had surrounded him and were boldly edging nearer. He couldn’t fly with a broken wing. They were going to eat him alive and it wouldn’t be a quick death.