“If there’s a cure to be found out here, I want to find it!" Midnight replied hotly.
I reached out a hand to my cat, holding on for dear life with the other. "Midnight, come here. You too, Onyx." They trudged through the water toward me, and I herded them into the inside of my 'handle-anything' jacket. It was a tight squeeze, but at least they were element proof. They looked a little like Orthrus, the mythological two-headed dog, the way their little cranium's sat side by side, peering out from the front zipper of the jacket.
"That wasn't fun, or funny. And I'm outraged!" Midnight bellowed, from not more than six inches below my chin.
"I have to agree, dear brother, " Onyx joined in. "I don't believe I've ever been so humiliated. Quite frankly, I'm not so certain it's in the contract that we, the Lemniscate, should be subjected to such acts of degradation."
"Yeah. What he said." Midnight announced, turning his head so I could endure the full force of rage in his eyes.
"Guys, I'm really sorry, okay?" I looked down at them, nuzzling both of their heads as best as I could with my only available hand.
"Look, I'll make it up to you when we get home, okay?" I pulled them closer to me. "I'll get Carbon to set up a cozy fire for you both, and I'll give you the last of the salmon steaks, cool? I took them out of the freezer just this morning." Just in case something like this happened.
"Well, if there are any other acts of animal cruelty heading our way you'd better tell us now. 'Cos salmon ain't gonna cut it if there's more in store for us." I felt his shoulders relax a little, and Midnight leaned into me. He was done. His anger completely spent. That's what I loved about these kitties. They never carried a grudge. Well, except Gloom. Who always carries one, but you know what I mean.
"There it is!" David was pointing from the rudder, as me and the cats peered through the moisture laden air toward where he was looking. I could just make out the outline of a sea vessel.
"The trawler," I said.
David slowed down the boat, carefully steering it toward the trawler.
"We probably don't have much time. If 'they' know there's anyone even close to their portal, they're going to move it. It's a miracle it's been in the same position for twenty-four hours or more as it is."
I nodded. We pulled up alongside the craft, David securing our smaller raft to its railings along the side.
"Okay, guys. You heard the chief. Let's all get searching right away. Time is of the essence. I unzipped my kitties, and they made the small leap to the deck of the abandoned ghost-boat.
My hand unconsciously went to the apple wand in my pocket. Yeah, most of the wards were still locked, and I couldn't really access the power in it, but on a hunch, I brought the magical stick with me just in case. I felt a little anger rise in me. Even though I didn't want to practice witchcraft, it didn't mean that I didn't want to be the best at it when I did. My own incompetence did a little number on me, but I shook my head and boarded the derelict vessel.
“The Fae magic is thick right here,” Onyx noted as he sniffed the air, tail at attention.
Midnight narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, bro, it's so thick I could use it as a scratching post." I sniggered despite the severity of the situation.
Taking a quick look around the debris strewn deck, I turned the Sight on.
"Aghh!" Completely blinding. I blinked the charm's power off immediately.
"Hat! You okay?" David leaped to the deck, landing heavily beside me and took my hands away from my face. His face was screwed up in concern.
"'S'okay. I'm fine. I turned the fairy eyes on." I smiled sheepishly.
"Not good?"
"Very good. We're in the right spot, CPI Trew," I clapped my hands in an excited, happy dance.
"Okay, let's get cracking," I exclaimed. "Midnight, Onyx, you take below deck, David and I will look up here."
"Uh, what're we looking for, boss?"
"I'm not sure. A device. A lever, maybe. Or a button. Something that might look like the opening device to Mag Mell. It will look like a regular material object, but there will be Faery magic attached to it."
They nodded in agreement. "Just press, pull, push on anything you see, okay?" My two intrepid cats trotted down the small ladder to the cabin below.
I pulled the necklace out of my pocket then and secured it around my neck. An iron Celtic knot. It was so weighty that it almost felt calming. David noticed the jewelry. "Fairy shield?" He asked.
"It's not foolproof, but iron does stop a lot of their trickery getting through," I offered.
“I'll take the stern," David said.
"Great, I'll take the wheelhouse." We strode off to our chosen locations, pressing, flipping, switching, pulling, pushing everything in sight.
Thirty minutes later we were all up on deck looking at each other.
"Nothing, huh?" Midnight asked. I shook my head.
"Where could it be, though?" I twirled, looking at the lively sea surrounding us in every direction. "I can feel their magic on my skin!" I turned toward my comrades looked how I felt: Beaten. All the trouble we'd gone through to get here.
My cats felt the wet spatters before we did, and they hightailed it to the wheelhouse for cover. David and I followed as the rain really began to lash down. At least we had a roof this time.
We huddled inside, waiting out the downpour. I looked at the wheel again; a sailor’s classic of spoked golden oak, buffed to a resplendent sheen.
"Guess, we're outta luck," Midnight said from a small shelf next to the wheel. Nobody said anything.
"I guess they wouldn't have taken too kindly to us knocking on their door anyway, right? I mean, would they even be bound to let us in?
This location ...." I looked through the broken glass of the wheelhouse at the rocking ocean. "Is this area under the Maritime Law?"
David thought for a few seconds. “From what I remember in my academy studies, the only territory the Fae can claim as their own is their side of the gate. So, yeah, we're in our rights to search this vessel under the aegis of Maritime Law. This far North in the Harbinger is International Waters," my friend concluded.
“Just the same,” Onyx said with a note of caution. “We should take care to watch out for any legal loopholes that can be exploited by our would-be hosts. The Fae are somewhat notorious for using those to press an advantage.”
Midnight was on the floor now, sniffing around under the wheel. There was probably tuna fragments or some old withered crabs legs down there.
Wow, someone’s hungry.
"Well, rain's stopped. C'mon guys, let's get out of here," David turned toward the door.
"Wait!" Midnight's sniffing had stopped. He was on his back leg's holding one paw on the steering wheel.
"Apart from the stench of Faery mischief on this bad-boy, haven't you noticed that the wood is in rather better condition than the rest of this dump?"
I felt a thrill race through my body. Followed by a heavy weight dropping.
"Middie, I already checked this. I spun it a couple of times."
"Yeah, but this is it, boss, I'm telling ya. Spin it again.
I did as my kittie directed. The wheel just kept spinning. We watched in absorbed anticipation. Nothing.
Midnight scratched his head.
"I don't accept. If you'll stand back please?" My night roaming cat pushed in between me and the wheel, and with a delicate paw, brought the wheel into motion again. It spun. And, it spun. And, it spun.
"Buddy, I don't think that -- " Before David could finish, the wheel disappeared before our eyes, and was replaced by a spinning vortex. A vacuum into which we'd all fallen into. I felt sick. But the frightful reeling soon stopped, and before our eyes lay the most dazzling landscape I'd ever seen. The verdant hills put Cathedral to shame, even. And, no sky on this earth could ever possibly be this blue, nor mountains this magically majestic.
We had knocked. Mag Mell had answered.
Before I could even begin to appreciate the wonders of this place a
nd how Midnight's handling of the portal device worked while mine didn't, a large, blocky figure obstructed our heavenly view. His towering height was enough, but his deep brown leathery skin, protruding underbite, and his impossibly bulgy eyes made the creature even more intimidating. He held a club as big as tree in his calloused over-sized hand. The troll narrowed its eyes and then pulled back its lips in a deathly sneer. I felt my knees go weak, as we watched the brute pull back his club to swing at us, the bedraggled intruders.
Midnight arched his back and hissed. “Troll! And, not a nice one like Rak!”
“Huh?” The troll stopped his movement in mid-flow, staring down at my two cats, looking at one and then another, utterly baffled by what he was seeing.
“Fae-kin,” he said, lowering his club.
Then getting on one knee, he bowed to both Midnight and Onyx and said, “Forgive. Forgive. Cait Sidhe.”
For once, Midnight didn’t quite know what to say. “Umm, sure, dude," and then turning to me, he mouthed "What's his problem?"
The ogre plopped down on his rear, and smiled at my two cats. He poked Onyx in the chest playfully.
"Oh, no, sir, this won't do, I'm afraid. I appreciate you may have gotten us confused with someone else, but I don't think that confusion needs to be accompanied by any description of man-handling,"
The monster chuckled, "Furry," he poked Onyx again.
“Would someone mind telling me exactly what is going on here? Why did he stop .... uh, killing us? And, what's a ket shee ?” David asked in confusion.
“Let us just say that the big oaf there, for whatever reason, has my kitties confused with fairy cats," I said, a little puzzled myself. Not that I was complaining. I loved it when the fur-babies were good for something. The ogre stood up then and beckoned that we follow him.
Onyx was grateful to be left alone finally.
“Delightful, we have guests!” a cultured, gravelly voice said as we passed through a large stone gate to the entrance of a small wood.
The speaker it was attached to looked like a stereotypical depiction of the Christian devil. He had a goat’s head, a man’s torso, and goat legs; the latter managing to hold the whole frame upright. Though his chest was bare, he wore a pair of earth colored pants, probably for the sake of propriety when dealing with guests, I imagined. Wouldn't want to see what tackle is going on under .... well, I digress.
“I must apologize for Oaf’s rudeness,” our new host said. “He’s ideal for defense, but not so prolific when it comes to civilized conversation.”
Oof grunted, offended by the goatman’s words.
“Oh, don’t be indignant. You did the right thing here, Oof. These aren't the human's we're contracted to kill."
What?
I looked behind us quickly to check the portal was still open. The wheelhouse was still in view. Great, if we needed to run, there's a chance we could make it.
“Ah, but where are my manners?” the hybrid animal said.
He gave us a courtly bow. “Baphomet, Urisk Baron of the Emerald Hills at your service, milady, and milord.”
“We’re not nobility,” I pointed out.
“Again, courtesy,” our host said. “It is hardly every day that we have Cait Sidhe come through our gate. Our kind is always welcome.”
What the? I looked down at my cats, trying to spot an air of subtle pixie magic about them. Nope, they looked as daft as ever.
“You mentioned you were contracted to kill someone,” I said, trying to be as casual about the implied murder-for-hire as I could be.
Baphomet turned his eyes back to me. “So I did. But as I also said, none of you are that person.”
"Next question," he looked down at us, his eyebrows raised expectantly.
“Would I be overstepping my bounds, if I asked who it was that hired you to kill these certain someone's?” Onyx asked, looking at the goatman with polite interest. As if he had just asked which symphony he preferred, the seventh, or the fifth.
“And who was the target?” Midnight asked, straight to the point.
“Hagatha Jinx is my employer, and Aurel Nugget WAS our target. But, we won't get paid now that someone has already taken care of Mr. Nugget."
My jaw dropped. While I wasn’t surprised to find out that Hagatha was willing to hire someone to get rid of her husband, I was astounded that she managed to talk someone from Mag Mell into it.
The map. Ah, yes. That's why Carpathia caught Hagatha's scent. The bitter woman had used it to navigate here herself so she could make a pact with the devil. But, how did she get access?
“You allowed Hagatha Jinx into Mag Mell?” I wanted to know, nudging my kitties with my foot to move back and away from this ruthless killer.
“Ah, you can thank her sister, Lavinia, for that,” Baphomet explained as he paced leisurely around us. Circling us? “Their family has a small trace of Fae blood somewhere in their tree. That was how Lavinia was able to use the portal once she had found the map you yourselves undoubtedly used to locate us."
“What court do you and Oof belong to?” I asked suddenly, already guessing the answer.
“Why, Unseelie, of course,” the Urisk said casually with a shrug. “You'll appreciate that contract killing is a little too harsh for the likes of the Seelie Court.” He chuckled then, and muttered "The silly soft seelies,"
"Why are you .. um ... even ... entertaining us here? Don't you Unseelies have some kind of beef with us? What's with all the mayhem going on in our Isles?" David demanded.
I squeezed my friend's arm gently and rephrased the question for him. “I don’t want to push the bounds of propriety any more than my kitty's do. But I was wondering if there are any insights you can give us into how Mag Mell has been interacting with our world.” I plucked my words carefully to try and dodge this guy's cunning.
Baphomet grunted, and then issued a bellowing laugh. "Your manners, dear lady; they're quite impeccable," he remarked wiping at his eyes.
“Well, it wouldn't be much fun if we revealed ALL our secrets now, would it?" The hoofed creature asked, still sniggering.
“Well, let’s start simple, then,” David said, crossing his arms. “There’s been a spike in dragon worship on Phlange and Nanker. There were also two portals -- that we know of, at least -- opened in our world in the last few months. One of those portals was on Glessie, the other inside the Glimmer Mountains of Cathedral. All of these things are connected, correct?"
Baphomet jeered, “Yes, all of these are linked.”
“How?”
The wolfish smile crept back to his lips. “A story: In Libya, a dragon lived in a deep dark pond, just outside of a bustling village. The dragon had been terrorizing the country, barbecuing and eating just about every living thing within reach. To stop the widespread slaughter, the people fed the dragon two sheep daily. And, for a while, this worked. But, pretty soon the sheep were gone. All eaten by this rapacious beast. The dragon, being both mighty and hungry, demanded that he be fed a fair maiden daily instead. It seemed a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things, so they agreed to the beast's terms. Every day, by way of a human lottery, the townspeople fed the ravenous monster a maiden so fair, that it seemed unfair to kill them. But, kill them they did. By throwing these poor beauties to the scaled behemoth. Now, as you'd imagine, pretty soon the maidens were nearly all gone. It came to the point that only the king's daughter, a princess so beautiful her loveliness was legendary, was left. And, as per the Wyrmrig pact, she too needed to be sacrificed." Baphomet extended his front hooves in the air. "So, there you have it," he declared jubilantly, evidently happy on having cleared everything up for us.
Not.
He was talking riddles around us. And enjoying our confusion.
"I don't get it," Midnight said, scratching his head.
"My point is, dear cousin, is that nothing, and I mean nothing, is more powerful than a dragon. This beast will not stop until every last morsel of meat that walks the planet is in his fiery belly. S
o, who wouldn't want to control a beast like that?"
"Sounds like pure spite to me," I said, my body flooding with disgust at the chilling casualness of this goat creature.
"Power." Baphomet clarified.
"Wait a minute; he couldn't have been that powerful ... the dragon, I mean," David interjected. "He was slain by --"
"Sinner George, yes," our host agreed. His eyes were dancing with hideous glee. "But, just imagine if old St. Georgie hadn't stopped by to save the fair maiden?" Baphomet chuckled, "Why, there would be no such thing as human being today!"
A chill ran through my body. He was enjoying this ... this ... reign of terror over us.
"There were some scorched bodies found on Crow Isle two months ago," David persisted.
"Ah, yes, a mere experiment on our part. Sadly, not the real-deal. No, instead we released a nest of Dragon Moths, just to see what they could do. Of course, Dragon Moths don't have anywhere close to the appetite of their larger cousins, but they do give off a fair bit of heat, wouldn't you agree?" The goatman reared up on his hind legs braying with uncontrolled laughter.
"The Dragon Moths have been extinct for over two decades," I declared indignantly.
"We have our methods for, ah…shall we say, resurrecting things?"
Bran, the blessed, this guy was a creep.
“I feel our question time is up, little ones,” he cast a fond glance over us all. Fond as in; I like how tasty they look.
“One last thing, cuz,” Midnight stood up to the cloven-footed curiosity. “You gots to answer it truthfully, though, and no tales of ancient myths, or whatever. Straight answer, okay?”
“You are my kind, dear one. I will answer you straight.”
“Where’s the balefire beacon?”
Baphomet turned and walked away.
His last word trailing behind him: “Phlange.”
Okay, time to get outta here.
My iron pendant agreed.
Chapter Nineteen
After dumping the zodiac rental off in Talisman harbor, we were on our brooms flying southbound back to Glessie. Both David and I were on our Bluetooth headsets, seeking outside help so we could plan our course of action.
A Spell in Mag Mell (Hattie Jenkins & The Infiniti Chronicles Book 5) Page 17