‘They might kill me, but that won’t stop them seeking you. They’ll get in that house to your man,’ he called to her.
‘I will stop them,’ Megan assured him calmly.
‘You are worthy of the prophesy and worthy of him,’ the Mistry told her with honest admiration. He knew she’d nearly died fighting the Scritchers. The bravery she must possess to have entered a hive of Scritchers, pull out a paralysed man and then somehow get the larvae out of his flesh was astonishing. But he’d seen the tracks, read the evidence in the arrangement of burnt corpses in that cave. She’d gone back to kill them all and had succeeded in wiping out a whole hive. She was one hell of a warrior and worthy of respect. He noticed Zacharias remained close beside her and that she kept rubbing her cheek affectionately against the hand he’d put on her shoulder. The blonde man hadn’t touched her however and he realised he was simply their friend and acting as camouflage. He only wished he was going to live to watch her partnership grow with Zacharias and discover how the prophesy would be fulfilled. The prophet had been correct about everything else he’d ever foretold. ‘Now I understand why he waited alone for the one, for you.’
Megan watched with tears running down her face, as the still unnamed Mistry fought the Scritchers all around him. Even badly injured and completely surrounded, he killed many of the creatures before he eventually, and inevitably, succumbed. When he turned to look at her again he was down on his knees. She knew what he was silently asking for. Scritchers surrounded him in a feeding frenzy, taking bite after bite and eating him alive. It was an absolutely appalling sight and she could not comprehend the agony he must be experiencing. She raised her hand and he smiled. Aiming carefully she sent a lance of flame directly to his heart, killing him instantly. Megan turned away. She couldn’t watch the creatures boiling all over him. Knowing he was now dead and past feeling it helped, but her stomach heaved, emptying itself. She reached out an unsteady hand to Julius through the broken window and his warm hand grasped hers. He helped her clamber inside and handed her a glass of water. Only then did she turn to Zacharias. He was never far from her side if he could help it. His arms lifted slightly and she wrapped her arms about his ribs needing to hold him. Those poor torn arms tried to hug her back. She could feel his pain but he seemed calm.
‘Is someone keeping watch?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ Schubert bit out. The view was simply hideous. He was going to have nightmares for some time.
‘Julius, can you take over? We just need to know when they start moving away from the body,’ Megan said, aware he would not want to have to watch every detail. ‘Yolanda, can you wash Schubert’s injuries? Obviously it needs doing from an infection point of view, but I’d rather not have so much blood where they can smell it.’
‘Why aren’t you out there killing those things?’ Yolanda demanded.
‘Yolanda,’ Schubert chided.
‘I’m tired Yolanda. While they are busy and not attacking I can rest and be better able for the fight to come.’
‘Where the hell are you going?’ Yolanda demanded shrilly. ‘What about healing Schubert?’
‘Shut up Yolanda,’ Zacharias snapped. ‘Surely treating your man’s wounds is not beyond you? Use this sink. We’re going down to the bathroom. And no, Megan is not going to be using magic on me. I’m immortal and so is Schubert. You know very well we will heal unaided, assuming we don’t get an infection.’ With that he left the kitchen, Megan by his side. ‘I don’t know what the hell’s got into her talking to you like that.’
‘She’s terrified of those Scritchers and for very good reason. That’s all it is. Pay her no mind.’ She gently bathed his arms clean of blood; he’d lost a lot. The claws had impaled both of his upper arms several inches deep. She ignored Zacharias’s assertion that she wouldn’t use magic. If he needed it, she was not going to hesitate. Certainly she used her senses to assess both arms, careful to cleanse anything likely to cause infection. This barely took any magic but the weight off her mind in knowing how he truly fared was enormous. ‘I’ve got a tub of antiseptic ointment. That’ll help keep your wounds clean and disguise the smell of blood until they heal over.’
‘That stuff eased pain too didn’t it?’
‘Yes. It’ll help Schubert too. Now, where did it go?’
‘Ah, to the right of your hand,’ Zacharias advised as she rummaged in her bag. She unscrewed the lid and smoothed a thin coating over his wounds. To his relief the worst of his pain quickly eased and they headed back to the kitchen.
‘How are you doing Schubert?’ Megan asked realising he sat perched on a hard kitchen stool near the window.
‘I’ve been better,’ he admitted. ‘What’s in the jar?’
‘An antiseptic ointment. It’ll seal your wounds and help with the pain too,’ she added and heard his relief something might be forthcoming to help. She quickly got started, smearing every wound she could sense. ‘He really made a mess of you didn’t he?’ Megan was forced to comment, wincing in sympathy. The Mistry’s claw tipped fingers, which had dug ten holes in Zacharias’s arms, had been used rather differently on Schubert. Schubert had been slashed repeatedly. He’d fortunately been wearing a sturdy leather waistcoat which had lessened some of the body blows, but his arms and exposed upper part of his chest were badly ripped and torn.
‘It’s helping,’ Schubert exclaimed, astonished at the sudden cooling effect of the ointment and the way it eased the wounds she’d treated. Yolanda had tried to be careful but washing had reawakened the pain in most. Each had been stinging dreadfully. Now the pain was reducing to tolerable levels. He stared at the clear sheen coating each wound in amazement.
‘This will stop dirt and infection getting in. Try not to wash it off until your wounds have sealed.’
‘Thank you so much Megan. They were on fire,’ Schubert admitted. ‘So how can we kill these Scritchers?’
‘I found burning them the best or rather surest way of killing them, but they stink. Yolanda, can you close all the outer doors and windows. I’d prefer knowing they can’t sneak inside. And when I start burning, I’d rather not fill the house with toxic smoke.’
‘They seem to be spreading out a bit Megan,’ Julius warned.
They all went to have a look. ‘Into the lounge, all of you and keep the window shut,’ she told them aware the smashed kitchen window meant the house defences were breached there.
‘I’m not going to leave you,’ Zacharias objected.
‘Zach, you’re going to draw them and put us in danger. Go. You can watch from the window.’
‘I am not going to let you face those things alone again,’ he said and glanced around him. He grabbed a bottle of vinegar and splashed it lightly over his chest, away from his wounded arms. Then he more liberally sprinkled the window frame. ‘Tell me they’re going to smell me over that,’ he demanded. She heard Schubert chuckling from the doorway and then a whistle as Zacharias drew his sword and put it on the worktop.
‘Come here sweetheart,’ she said with a smile of admiration. His aura pulsed fast with swirling colours. She caught hold of him and gave him a quick kiss. His colours of unease and uncertainty steadied as he realised she was not going to force him away and that she approved his ingenious solution. She heard the door close; Schubert had waited to know her verdict on Zacharias’s inclusion before leaving.
‘Stay well back,’ she advised, reluctantly turning to business. ‘Is this frame safe to lean on?’
‘Just a moment,’ he said and plucked a few remaining short shards out. He pulled ones from the top edge too, disliking glass where it might fall on her head. ‘That’s safer now, just avoid the side frame. Oh, a bunch has just moved. They’re headed for the stables,’ he added. She came forward to the window and he quickly shifted back out of her way but where he could still see.
‘Where are the stables?’ she asked and a hand came over her shoulder into her view. Defective as her sight was, she could sense his life force pumping round inside h
is blood, carrying to the hand and his pointing finger. Following that direction she found the less strong auras of the Scritchers. ‘I see them,’ she said and let her own hand rise towards the creatures. She let out a blast of flame but only succeeded in wounding a few. However the Scritcher’s gruesome appetite made the others pause to attack and eat their injured brethren.
‘Help me aim,’ she urged. ‘They’re too far away and I haven’t the precision.’
‘Yes, you do,’ he said calmly but stood right behind her, crouched a little to sight along and adjust her outstretched arm. ‘Now,’ he said and watched the lance of flame shoot from her hand to its target. ‘There, that got three,’ he told her heartened and already helping her aim for the next target. With his aid, she picked them off rapidly and before any could vanish around the side of the house wall.
‘The ones back here are on the move too,’ Zacharias warned abruptly and swearing. ‘They’re spreading out,’ he added.
Megan noticed that whilst a few were indeed moving away, the majority were still feeding and thus nicely grouped. They were however, farther away than was comfortable for spell casting with assured accuracy. It was going to take a great deal of strength out of her too. She had little option but to try it though. She threw a lasso of flame around the group. As the creatures tried to rush away from the flame she tightened the noose. Soon, with a wall of burning corpses ignited, the ones in the middle, compressed together were trapped. Hopefully, they would catch fire too or die of the heat. Either way, they were contained for the time being, allowing her a chance to concentrate on the others.
‘Well done,’ Zacharias said but noticed how she’d wilted after that huge fire spell. He pulled one of the stools closer to the window and sat her down. ‘How are you doing?’ he asked gently.
‘You might need that sword after all,’ she told him wanly. ‘I’m sorry, but I haven’t much strength left.’
‘You’ve no need to apologise. You’ve done extraordinary things already. I only see five left. I’ve killed that many with my sword before.’
‘Yes you have. But you haven’t regained any strength in your arms yet. How’s Julius with a sword? Even five are enough to be a menace and a serious threat if they get away.’
‘Leave it to us,’ he said and planted a kiss on her brow. ‘Keep watch for us?’ she nodded and he left the room.
Megan slumped, leaning on the window sill. She was much weaker than she’d let Zacharias see. She’d used far too much magic without sufficient respite. She knew the weight was falling off her as her body sought fuel after such a massive use of magic. She let her senses scan the room and to her delight identified a bowl of apples. She rapidly ate one and then a second. Eating something helped to stave off her imminent collapse, at least for the moment. The fruit was not rich in the fat her body needed most, but her body could use the sugar. She heard something outside and realised she’d thrown both apple cores out the window. Had the Scritchers seen that movement? Tentatively she peered out and found three of the creatures right under the window and the other two were nearby. She gulped, knowing she had barely enough magic left to sense what was immediately around her. She had none left for defence. She slipped off the stool and left the kitchen as quietly as she could. The noisiest thing was opening and closing the kitchen door.
‘Megan!’ Julius exclaimed.
‘Hi Julius,’ she responded quietly glad he was there so she could aim for his glowing presence rather than fumble along the corridor wall by touch. Zacharias was suddenly striding over to her.
‘What’s happened?’ Zacharias asked.
‘Three are sniffing about under the kitchen window and the other two are close by too. We need your sword.’
‘Meg you’re swaying,’ Zacharias exclaimed, ‘and you’re white as a sheet.’
‘I can’t help with this lot,’ she whispered. ‘Sorry.’
Zacharias was concerned at how distant and weak her voice was. Her hands slipped off him and she nearly fell. He swept her up in his arms ignoring his screaming injured muscles and took her quickly to their bedroom, laying her down. ‘What’s happened? You’re bony and light all of a sudden,’ he added highly alarmed.
‘The price of using too much magic. I need to eat and sleep.’
‘Is this what happened at the cave?’ Zacharias demanded of Schubert and Julius who had followed. He knew he’d had to carry her out but he’d thought it was the wounds and lack of sleep that had left her unconscious most of the trip back.
‘She ate before she went back for Yolanda,’ Julius said. ‘She wanted cheese.’
‘Something full of fat,’ Zacharias mused eyeing her. ‘Look at her face, even that’s shrunk in,’ he couldn’t help exclaiming in dismay. ‘You have any cheese?’
‘Kitchen,’ Schubert said crisply. ‘I hope the Scritchers don’t beat us to it,’ he added, drawing his sword and rushing to the kitchen. Seeing nothing moving, Schubert went into the larder while Zacharias kept watch.
Zacharias heard scrabbling and warily went closer to the window just as a Scritcher came up onto the sill. Its attention was on Schubert’s unseen presence in the larder; it didn’t seem to have noticed him yet. Zacharias crept closer and noticed the antennae twitch towards him and then the creature recoiled. Schubert came back into sight at that moment and halted, transfixed by the Scritcher staring back at him from far too close a distance. Zacharias darted forward and lopped the creatures’ head off before it could spring at Schubert.
‘Thanks,’ Schubert said.
‘It couldn’t detect me,’ Zacharias told Schubert. It was concentrating on you. Must like the way you smell.’
‘That’s nice to know,’ Schubert said drily. ‘But then you do stink. That malt vinegar is very strong; overpowering in fact. It makes a nice counterpoint to this wheel of cheddar though. Can you get rid of that now?’ he added gesturing at the obscenely staring severed head. The body had fallen back outside but he really didn’t like those beady black eyes.
‘No problem,’ Zacharias said and flicked it outside with the tip of his sword. He noticed that only then did Schubert remotely appear to relax. Schubert unwrapped the cheese and cut a substantial wedge. He cut off the rind too while Julius wrapped the remaining cheese up again. Cheese returned to the larder and the door closed securely, all while Zacharias stood guard, they quickly returned to Megan.
‘Megan, here’s something to eat,’ Schubert coaxed while propping her a little more upright in the bed. ‘Julius thought you preferred cheese last time and this was handy.’
‘Thank you,’ she murmured as Zacharias put a large chunk in her hand. ‘Go. I’ll be fine,’ she said around a mouthful of rich creamy cheese. ‘This is good,’ she added. ‘Please be careful.’
‘Don’t worry, they don’t like the vinegar,’ Zacharias told her. ‘I got one seeking Schubert in the kitchen. It didn’t even notice me.’
‘The sooner you lop the heads off the other four the sooner we can all relax,’ she reminded, knowing none of them wanted to go out there and that they were putting it off hoping their two main defenders, Schubert and Zacharias, would recover enough to take care of it. ‘Go on, it’s only one each to go. Ah, just stay clear of the bonfire for the time being, unless you’d like to make sure of them and add some burning logs.’
‘Some might yet live in there?’ Schubert asked anxiously.
‘I don’t know for sure either way, but you’re better forewarned,’ Megan said seriously, then turned back to the cheese. Bite by bite she could feel her body absorbing the desperately needed fat and nutrients. Zacharias dropped a kiss on her brow and then ushered everyone out, closing her door behind him so she would be more secure. She felt all of them go out the front door. At least that way they could keep watch and help each other.
Megan didn’t see the fight they had with the remaining Scritchers, although she heard all about it later. As soon as she finished the last of the cheese she fell asleep.
9
Julius froze coming face to face with a Scritcher. The sun shone on the shiny black shell bringing out strangely attractive colours of sapphire blue and emerald green. But it was the beady black eyes and waving antennae that transfixed him. The spiderish hairy legs with their insect joints made him shiver. He’d seen how strong these creatures were; between them they’d carried Zacharias who was many times their size and weight. He’d also seen the queen climb onto Zacharias and stab him, causing him agony. He’d never been keen on insects, but these were genuinely the stuff of nightmares. Fresh in his memory was the Mistry’s horrific death too.
Reluctantly following a revived Zacharias into the burnt out hive to find Megan, he’d seen more than he ever wished to of horror. The stench, acrid smoke and charred insect bodies everywhere he looked, still plagued his dreams. Alerted by a cough, he’d found Megan surrounded by the densest concentration of Scritcher corpses. He’d called Zacharias, letting him venture where he didn’t dare. With creatures already black, it was difficult to tell what was alive and what wasn’t. They’d all been bitten trying to step over a pile of Scritchers only to find not all of them were dead. Schubert and Zacharias had been kept busy with their swords while Julius himself had stayed back keeping watch for anything trying to creep up behind them or preventing them getting back to the exit.
Suddenly he felt a sharp pain as the Scritcher sprang forward and bit his shin. The pain shocked him back to awareness and he remembered what he was meant to be doing with the sword in his hand. He’d seen both Zacharias and Schubert dispatching the nasty little beasts enough to know what worked. He acted immediately and felt a sick kind of relieved satisfaction to have killed it.
‘Well done Julius,’ Yolanda said. ‘Did you have to wait for it to bite you first?’
Surviving Prophesy: The Immortals Page 15