The Hunt for the Three Roses

by Jason Hubbard

  A few fat drops stained the flagstones, followed by a steady cadence of light rain tapping on the long-abandoned infrastructure. It was as if the Lord God was overcome with grief over his son’s actions, and his tears were coming to wash away the blood Rainer had spilled through hatred and greed. Callie cautiously stepped around the fallen men, praying that their vengeful spirits wouldn’t arise on this most cursed eve. Their killer was nowhere to be found; he had run while she wasn’t looking. “Rainer! I’m here if you want me! Come and claim your revenge if it’s so important to you!”

  As her wet hair started clinging to her scalp, she began to wonder if he was too far away to hear her. But then he jumped down from atop the plaza’s wall and approached her with one drawn blade, his features alight with glee. Callie tilted her head to work out the kinks in her neck and ran forth to meet his shortsword with her own. The palace guards may have been talented swordsmen, but Callie was trained in the same style of combat as Rainer, relying on quick footwork and feinting to gain the upper hand. She should technically be more of a match for him than the guards were. However, her wounded left shoulder dampened her skills, and she had been counting on Rainer being sore and out of breath by his hard-won victory, only to find him not in the least winded. The longer the fight went, the more certain Callie was that she would join the fallen dead around her.

  Fortunately, she wasn’t alone. Sean ran into the plaza and directed his undine with fluid hand motions. A large mass of water formed from raindrops in the sky and puddles below, and with a simple gesture from Sean, it slammed into a startled Rainer while narrowly missing Callie. She stepped away and fully expected the killer to lie hapless on the ground, struggling for breath with water in his lungs. But once the water subsided, he was amazingly left as he was, still on his feet and decidedly not drenched. The only thing different about him was that the mad grin had been wiped off his face.

  Sean sneered at his old tormentor, then appeared to confer with his undine. “All right, let’s do as we discussed. Don’t fight it.” He raised a hand, and a ball of bright light appeared above his palm. The undine swallowed the ball and quivered as the light seemed to dissolve within her. Rainer rushed after them, raising his sword for a killing stroke, but the mad killer never reached them as a sizeable wave rose from the ground and slammed into him. This time Rainer fell and was helplessly swept away, his sword leaving his grasp. The wave had significantly weakened by the time it reached Callie, though she had to hold steady to keep from falling.

  What was that? she thought. It turned out the undine’s magic couldn’t touch Rainer just like previous spells, but that ball of light had apparently changed that. Whatever the undine absorbed, it had worked against the “blessing” that had protected Rainer for so long.

  She was ready to hold down the killer and take him into custody with Sean and the undine’s help, but Sean raced over to him—his boots splashing in the cold thin water—and knelt down to take Rainer’s head in his hands. His remaining fingers pressed firmly on Rainer’s temple and forehead, his face in deep concentration. Rainer came to and coughed up some water, then weakly grasped Sean’s arms with an ugly sneer.

  Callie approached them to detain Rainer before he could harm her friend, but she became startled when Sean suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs, his eyes tightly held shut. Rainer then followed suit, the two men sounding as if they were getting mauled by sharp claws. She quickened her pace, but before she reached them, there was a burst of light just as Sean released Rainer’s head, sending all three figures tumbling as if a bomb had gone off.

  Sean was thrown back about three meters, his body rolling to a stop. He had landed hard on his shoulder, but he hardly felt the pain. His thoughts were a whirlwind of dark, gruesome images, and they were all he could focus on. The rain, the cold flagstones, the killer’s footsteps—everything in the outside world did not register.

  A slim hand grasped his leather tunic and shook him, and he faintly heard Callie’s voice calling out his name. He came to and opened his eyes wide, his entire body trembling in terror. “Sean, what happened?”

  He sat up and grasped her forearms more tightly than he intended. She wriggled from his grip and clasped her fingers around his, giving him an anchor to steady him. “C-Callie,” he managed to utter, his teeth chattering from more than the cold. “Callie, where is he?”

  “He ran away. We shouldn’t stay here in case he comes back.”

  A frightened trill sounded from his right shoulder, the undine trembling like a shrub in a storm. “Callie, I … I saw into his mind. He’s … he’s not human, just an animal. No … even animals feel love. All he feels is hatred and bloodlust. Oh God, Callie, all he thinks about is killing and the enjoyment of seeing people die.”

  Callie nodded. “He needs to be stopped by any means. It’s why I came here.”

  His hold on her loosened. “But … I saw Micah in him, too. He still has memories of being him, stamped deep down where he couldn’t see them. I had to really dig to reach them, and there’s no question as to what I saw: Rainer is one-third of Micah.”

  He rose to his feet with Callie’s help, her right hand on his back while the other still clasped his remaining left digits. His trembling had alleviated while his familiar was still on edge, her ululating trill heard above the falling rain.

  “He’s probably long gone by now,” Callie said. “We’ll have to wait another day.”

  “No, the undine still has him. I sense him close by. This way …”

  He led her down a street and past a park where families once picnicked and played games. They came to a row of houses with missing roof tiles, smashed windows, and façades with flaking paint. Sean pointed to one with a missing front door and a boarded-up window on the second floor. “He’s in there.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “No, I think I should do this myself. Callie, no matter what happens, don’t come in after me. If you do, you might get hurt, so keep your distance.”

  He thought she’d argue, but she merely looked at him curiously. “Why, what are you going to do?”

  He put on a carefree smile. “A spell, of course. Maybe the only one that can work.” He ordered the undine to separate from him and wait for his return, then solemnly headed for the house. He stopped by the entrance and saw Callie where he had left her. He was glad she had listened to him, but the anxiety written on her face made his heart sink. He’d best get this over with quickly.

  He ambled through the foyer and climbed the stairs, trying his best to keep the awful images from Rainer’s mind out of his thoughts. The blood, gore, and soulless eyes he had seen were enough to unnerve even the hardiest man. Sean wondered how Rainer could live with himself, driven by such cruelty and ego.

  As he neared the room where Rainer was, he thought of the memories of Micah—precious moments Rainer never knew he had. Sean had seen children listening in awe, bare hands healing the deathly ill, and people crying from either joy or sorrow. They were the memories of a man who connected with people, not sought out to destroy them, and Sean felt his eyes sting from the loss of him.

  He found Rainer kneeling in a far corner of a study, appearing as if he was soul-searching. Sean thought about breaking the silence, but then the killer turned to him, his face a mixture of loathing and wariness. “You … what the hell did you do to me?”

  Sean held his muscles taut in case Rainer made a run for him, but for now the killer seemed too shaken to do much. “I made you see your deepest memories. You were someone else once, and—”

  “Shut up! Don’t you lie to me! You put those things in there, and now I can’t get them out!”

  “No, I swear, they were there all along. You were Micah.”

  A low growl uttered from Rainer’s throat, and his breathing grew labored. “This is your idea of getting back at me? Making me see things I’d neve
r do?”

  Remembering something he had sensed earlier, Sean said, “You can’t harm children, can you? Something keeps you from doing it.”

  Rainer slowly stood up, using a nearby desk for support. “Shut your mouth before I do it for you, you little bastard.”

  Quoting the Holy Book, Sean said, “‘If anyone causes a child to stumble, it would be—’”

  “Shut … up!”

  “‘It would be better for him to drown in the sea with a millstone around his neck.’”

  Rainer searched his cuirass with a trembling hand and took out a dagger, its silvery blade shimmering in the dull light. “You want to die this much, huh?”

  “‘All who take the sword will perish by the sword.’”

  Rainer chuckled. “Well, there’s my answer. I’m going to take my time with you, boy, just like before. I hope your girl won’t faint at the sight of you.”

  Sean took out his wand and pointed it. “I am so sorry you turned out like this.”

  The killer put on a wide grin and laughed. “You think you’re sorry? You are not sorry enough.”

  Sean winced, for it was something he himself had been prone to say. “May God forgive me, because I know you never will.”

  Rainer slowly approached him on wobbly legs. He may have been traumatized, but Sean had little doubt Rainer could kill him. The young mage clenched his teeth together and summoned his holy magic, the tip of his wand lighting up like an intense flame. Unfazed by the display, Rainer rushed after him with his dagger held high, and Sean unleashed his spell to its nearly full potential.

  Callie was looking warily at the undine, sensing a hint of malice in the creature’s trilling, when the entire house suddenly lit up like a raging bonfire. No, ten bonfires. Beams of light emitted from every window and crack, so bright that Callie had to look away and cover her eyes. It lasted for a good twenty seconds, leaving sunspots in her vision when she finally lifted her eyelids. The house cracked and fizzled as searing heat radiated from its core, reaching Callie from over twenty steps away.

  “Sean! Sean, can you hear me? Come on, answer me!” She waited for a response, then felt foolish. Of course Sean couldn’t answer; after what just happened, he had to be—

  No, don’t even think it! He can’t be!

  The undine gave a sad little trill, prompting Callie to look down at her. “Undine, what just happened? What kind of spell was that?” But the undine simply trilled again, making her feel even more foolish.

  She stepped towards the house but couldn’t get far. The heat coming from it was too much. One would think it would feel good on a cold and rainy autumn day, but it instead felt overwhelming and dangerous. It was why Sean warned her not to follow him, but she’d be damned if she was going to leave him behind.

  Eventually the heat died down, although a great cloud of steam formed from the rain hitting the hot roof. She pressed on to the house but had to stop inside when sweat began to pour down her face and limbs. It was so hot it was a wonder the house didn’t catch on fire. It was even heating up her sword, forcing her to tug her sleeve over her hand so the metal wouldn’t burn. She tried calling out Sean’s name again only to be met with silence. A sliver of anger rose from her concern since she didn’t understand why Sean would do a spell like this. Did he truly believe the only way to stop Rainer was through self-sacrifice?

  No, don’t think of it!

  But how could she not? How could he possibly survive magic that produced such frightful heat?

  Once the temperature lowered to something manageable, she went upstairs, each step groaning from the swift change in atmosphere. She cautiously stepped into the upper floor hallway, which stank of smoke and rot, and peered into an empty room before coming across the study. Two lifeless forms lied on the floor, tendrils of smoke rising from their crackling clothes.

  She cried out Sean’s name and entered the room, only to step out to escape the intense heat. She backed into a wall and clasped her hands together, feeling hot tears closing in. So it was true: Sean had done a spell that terminated both him and Rainer. All she could do was wait for the room to cool off so she could go in and retrieve the bodies.

  A sob escaped from her, and she put a hand over her face. “It should have been me, you fool. You didn’t have to do this for me!”

  Refusing to collapse into a crying mess, she suppressed her sobbing and settled her nerves … and that was when Sean took in a deep breath and lifted his head. Callie went to the doorway, barely able to contain her excitement. “Sean, you’re alive! Are you okay?”

  He rolled himself onto his back and sat up. It was encouraging to see him move, but he took one deep, wheezing breath after another, as if his lungs had trouble working. Rainer then took a deep breath himself, and he coughed and wheezed with his back on the floor.

  “Sean, get away from him! Your spell didn’t work! Get away before he—”

  He glanced up but otherwise barely acknowledged her; he was too focused on his breathing, which she couldn’t blame him for. Still, if Rainer could move as well, then their struggles weren’t over with yet.

  She tossed her sword to a spot near Sean and told him to defend himself. He shook his head and attempted to speak, but he broke into a violent coughing fit, sweat beads dropping from his chin. It squeezed her heart to see him like this, nearly incapacitated by his own magic.

  Once the coughing wore off and he took a few deep breaths, he tried again, his voice so raspy he couldn’t speak for long. “I think … it’s okay. He’s not going to …” As if to illustrate his point, he leaned back and shook Rainer’s shoulder, then patted his cheek as if insulting him. Rainer made no response to either gesture.

  Callie’s curiosity was so strong she risked entering the stifling hot room, her face and shirt slick with sweat. It was hard to keep her eyes open since they were getting dry, but she saw in the faint daylight Rainer’s features, which showed nothing but mild bewilderment. The anger, sadism and intelligence he was known for were gone, replaced with curious eyes that stared into empty space. It was as if he was a newborn looking at the world for the first time.

  She hurried out of the room before she could faint. “Has he turned … simple?”

  “He’s alive and empty inside,” Sean croaked, clutching his throat as if it pained him to speak.

  “And what about you? Will you be okay?”

  He nodded. “Just give me time.”

  She did, waiting nearly ten minutes for the heat to grow tolerable. Callie went to Sean and cautiously place her hands on his shoulders. “You’re still so warm. How do you feel?”

  “I feel like … I have the worst … fever ever.” She gave him a disapproving look, and he made a guilty smile. “I had to do it. There was no … other way.”

  She laid her head on his right shoulder and stroked his back. “You’re a fool … you could have gotten yourself killed.”

  “Remind you … of anyone you know?”

  She laughed and admitted that maybe it did. He caressed a lock of her shortened hair, and she closed her eyes and fell silent, letting the last of the heat dissipate into the autumn chill.

  They stayed that way for a good while, enjoying the quiet company after enduring such violence and grief. They were two young people who had suffered and sacrificed so much, nearly robbed of each other and the lives they had made for themselves. No matter what happened to them afterward, their hearts and minds were linked for as long as they lived.

  Thirty

  The palace throne room was magnificent, its golden rafters reflected in the marble floor, its elegant furnishing made of cherry and gold paint, and its tapestries depicting detailed scenes of great battles, a rich culture, and a proud people.

  But in spite of being surrounded by such luxury and refinement, Sean would rather be anywhere else. He knelt in a designated gold circle on the floor filled with red geom
etric shapes, his head lowered as the King’s scrutinizing gaze made his skin crawl.

  “My order was simple,” King Paulson said, angrily clutching the golden arms of his throne, his red cape hemmed with white fur shrouding his portly frame. “No one was to place my daughter in danger. As long as she was in the possession of that man, no one was to approach him. But did you listen, hmm?”

  “No, Your Majesty,” Sean said, keeping himself stoic. If he showed too much fear or repulsion, it might adversely affect the King’s judgement.

  “No, you didn’t. You’re not even a guard; you shouldn’t have gotten yourself involved. Yet you somehow managed to convince one of my captains to disobey my order and go after Rainer anyway. If you were seen, that man would have killed her. That is not opinion, that is fact. He would have killed her, and he would have no remorse about it! Isn’t that right?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” Sean replied, rolling his eyes to Count Guyver beside him, who had to take partial responsibility for Sean’s actions.

  “Of course I’m right. That man, Rainer, has no fear. Just look at what he did to Captain Sutton and his five men. Slaughtered, like cattle! I don’t know how the hell he did it without help. You say he did it alone, but why should I believe you? Even if you are telling the truth, their blood is on your hands! I’m of a mind to throw you in the dungeon where you can waste away to bone!”

  There was an uncomfortable silence where the King waited for either man to become unnerved and start making excuses. Neither rose to the bait.

  King Paulson sighed through his nostrils and rapped his fingers on his throne. “But my daughter has said Rainer never meant to honor his word. She was given to ruffians who wanted to sell her off as a slave. If they made it out of the city, we would never see her again. And you did bring Rainer here alive, as I wanted. For that, I shall be lenient. Sean McAlister, magic pupil under Count Erik Guyver, I hereby banish you from Asturia. You have two days to leave. If you ever come within city limits again, you shall be brought to the palace dungeon where you shall await a definite sentence. Understood?”