Pffif pops off the chair in his usual way and trains his eyes on me with a serious squint.
Turning to Shey he says, “I be a listenin for yer call." Then his eyes turn to Znuul. “Or yer’s too if the fairy be deciding to shoot ye with her arrows.”
They exchange a smile and Znuul asks Pffiferil to close the door on his way out.
There’s a moment of silence, which I presume is calculated by Znuul and of course Sheyliene breaks it.
“What!” she demands.
“I need you to patch things up with Kitten, little pixie.” Znuul’s tone is different, almost melodious and hard to believe, maybe even an octave deeper. Shey reacts to that change in tone by tensing up and her eyes going very wide.
“Arthur, we’re in danger,” she says to me obviously shaken.
I look over to my brother in revenge wondering what in the hell he’s doing that has her so freaked out.
He must have guessed what I was thinking as he continues. “Arthur, this is the tone of voice I used addressing her and her sister after their capture.” He looks back over to her, then back to me in a measured way. “Your Pixie and her sister killed seventeen of my most elite before they were brought down and before me. Did you know that? That is no small thing,”
Shey in the mean time is on the verge of losing it. She is trembling and I am guessing getting ready to grab a weapon. I’m going to say something to diffuse the situation, but am beat to the punch.
“Hear me, daughter of Gowaille, sister of Neiliene.” Then his voice shifts into that one that we are more accustomed to. “I’m messing with you Pixie, calm down. You call me General Znuul, and that I am no more.”
“Fuck you flying pig monkey!”
Leave it to Shey to sum up her feelings with such eloquence. At least that didn’t appear to rankle Znuul; he smiles at her. Then he stands from behind his desk and holds out his hands as if to say, “truce?”
“You call me by my old title - one I don’t hold to anymore or care to. So, I wringed my memory and made it a point to remember every single detail of our very short encounter. I may even remember more than you as I am no summonling.” He looks over to me, then back to Shey. “I’ll spare the details. Truth is, it's quite strange we are brought together again. Don’t you think? Of all the souls in the multiverse – you and I reunited? Why would that be?”
“You don’t have a soul you demon bastard!”
I am surprised by Znuul’s response to her retort. No snappy response. No righteous indignation He just closes his eyes, makes a face like he just took a bite out of lemon and says “That is just low.”
Znuul’s response emboldens Shey. “Yea no matter what you do, you’re always less than us you soulless monster.” Shey even punctuates her statement with fists on her hips and a squaring of her shoulders.
Znuul’s response is to sit down, run his hand through his hair and look to me. “I have a soul, it is different – yes. But I live.” Then he looks to the newly empowered Shey with downtrodden eyes, “I need a favor of you for the sake of me and your wielder.”
“No favors for you!”
“Hear me out please. I need you to patch things up with Kitten. If you don’t I fear she’s going to sneak into your room and empty her 9mm into your head while you sleep.”
That got both of our attentions.
Znuul looks at Shey with tired eyes, “Listen, I’ve tried to tell her you are due and allowed your feelings towards me, but she is after all, one of the enthralled. Think if someone was saying really bad things about Arthur here. For goodness sake remember when you were under Maldgorath’s sway. What would you have done…”
“Shut up!” Shey shrills at him. “That wasn’t me! That was never me!”
Znuul holds up his hands with eyes closed and head turned away as if to avert some wave of terrible force. His eyes open and he trains them back on Shey. “I know. But you understand - if anyone can - the depth of attachment by one of the enthralled.”
“Then break the bond, demon.”
It was my time to break in. Znuul had shared the whole Kitten predicament with me. Now I have to stand up for my brother. “He did Shey, it ended badly. Suicide attempt. If he didn’t give a crap for her, he’d just have let her go and she might be…”
“Really,” she asks interrupting me.
Znuul and I both nod “yes” to her.
It takes a lot to back my pixie warrior off, especially when she “knows” she’s right – which is always. But maybe it was because I said it. She takes a deep breath and sits back down, cross legged, putting her chin in her hands. Eyes blink.
There is silence for a while, but Znuul breaks that. “Sheyliene all you owe me is revenge, and hatred - I know this. But if Kitten hurts you, then I am compromised with Arthur, and if you hurt her, Arthur is compromised with me. I do not impose my will upon her, like Arthur does not upon you. Surely if anyone understands the mind of the enthralled it would be you. Can you at least make things so that she doesn’t see you as an enemy? And maybe help her consider releasing our bond? After all, she doesn’t have to be my thrall to be my pet.”
Shey looks to me for direction and I nod a “yes” at her.
She digests the information for a bit, “So if I convince her that being your slave is not good?”
Znuul smiles at that. “You have my word, that if she wishes the bond to my will broken, I will allow it without hesitation and with a smile on my face. You know me, Sheyliene – I am not a liar - deceiver yes, but liar - never.”
“Okay.”
“Then we are done here," says Znuul. "Please, you be the one to wake Kitten – give her about two hours more. Silithes was with us last night and she’s... in need of extra rest.”
Shey gives me a look of shock and reminds me that Sil is indeed a total slut. Znuul asks her if we could have a moment alone to discuss strategy. After a kiss on my cheek and a flit out of the room, Znuul I are alone.
He reaches over to the wall and mutters something, after which the walls light up in blue runes and my ears pop.
“For your ears only Arthur. You can’t have an office without some security measures to ensure prying ears don’t hear. First and most importantly, you need to know I have not lied to your pixie, but I have deceived her. I don’t expect her in any way to change Kitten’s mind. By the tearing of the black pool itself, I have tried.”
“Okay so what then?”
“So she might not think so badly of me. Arthur, Sheyliene is important to us. What I said of seventeen of my finest is true. She is our sharp-shooter. When we meet Maldgorath, we need her focused on Maldgorath's little dragon. If she hesitates out of feelings of revenge against me, then we will fail. It can whisk him away, or spew that vile silver fire. Either way, we lose.”
With it just being us, I hadn’t even considered Shey as faltering. But with Znuul, it could be a possibility.
“Arthur, my plan is simple,” Znuul says breaking my introspection. “I will hold him in place and you take his head with your hungry glowing sword. Of course, I can’t hold him if the dragon whisks him away. Or, it bakes me in Silver fire.”
“Oh,” is all I can think to say. Shey can shoot the wings off a fly. I even used her for the same purpose in my solo attack. Znuul is right, she is the sharp shooter and her target is a silver dragon.
Znuul’s hand reaches to the walls and the blue runes fire again, only this time it feels that pressure releases from the room. “Brother, that’s all I have.”
That’s enough.
Chapter 33
Shey woke Kitten after a few hours and thankfully there was no gunfire, shouts or bodies being flung through walls or doors. The girls, sans Vets all went shopping and Pffif went along too, more out of just needing a change in scenery than anything else.
I passed on the shopping. After all, my wardrobe is pretty simple – some khakis and button down shirts. Both Shey and Sil have my measurements memorized, so it’s easy. Besides, I knew Hjuul would want
to tromp around the woods surrounding the bunker and I haven’t taken a great deal of time with my furry friend.
He takes off on a tear when the sliding door to the back porch is opened for him. Just as happy as can be – so many trees to mark. This gets notice of Znuul who joins me outside, now back in his human appearance. “I should go mark my territory and teach that hound a lesson.”
We both get a laugh out of that.
Eventually Znuul goes back to finding our quarry and Hjuul takes off deep into the woods. The porch area is nicely set up with furniture and a massive grill. I’m thinking to just sit for a spell, enjoy the quiet and contemplate our present situation. I hear the sliding door open and lean my head back to see who’s joining me - it’s Vets.
“May I join you my wielder?”
She takes a seat and pulls it around so she can face me.
“I must know something.” There is a moment of hesitation and collection of thought, which is not like my burly warrior.
Great, she’s been listening to Sil’s crap about how she should be sharing my bed. I take a deep breath and prepare myself.
“Have I done something to displease you? You no longer join in the training. We spend little time other than feeding anymore.”
And that is true. My time with Vets was spent mostly during our training sessions. These used to be mostly one on one. Now Sil has joined in. And Sil has picked up this stuff scary fast. Arix explained to me that it’s because Cubati are natural mimics. All the same, she learned in weeks what took me almost a year.
“I fear I have displeased you by training the succubus. Do you shun me because of your dislike for her? I do not wish to displease you. I would die for you, my wielder.”
Her face is earnest, her concerns sincere and I feel like a major schmuck. So I suck it up.
“Vets, you have not displeased me in any way - you’re just great. As for Sil, she and I are actually getting along pretty well – better than ever. I think she’s starting to think of me as less of something to be conquered and I’m thinking of her as less of a pain in my ass and more of a person. Truth is, I haven’t been training because I think maybe I’m a little intimidated. It took me a year to get where Sil is after just weeks.”
This acknowledgement gets a smile out of my warrior, which is no small thing. “Yes, the Cubati are of the higher Dzemond. They are superior to us. It took me time to master the first four sword forms also.”
The superior comment rankles me. I realize that her race, the Vetisghar have this concept beaten into them from a young age, but still – it’s bullshit. All the same, I bite my tongue for her sake.
“Well Vets, I probably need to keep up with my training. I’ll make sure to join you two soon.”
“The weather is good and we can move these seats. Can you teach me? There was the dance from the art you called Shotokan that you taught me. Show me the next one.”
Great. It’s been years since I’ve formally been to a Dojo. Probably even longer since I’ve graced a Shotokan one. Luckily, these are basic forms. So I make my apologies in advance for not being ready, get up and begin moving the furniture. This is after all, her way of bonding and taking time.
Lucky for me, all I ever showed her was the beginning form. We reviewed the first one I showed her, went through some minor corrections of her stance and moved on the second.
I can tell I have a happy Vets. There’s no purring or smiling – but I can tell just in the way she is engaged in the moment. That makes me happy too. The system of fighting Vets is trained in revolves around weapons, armor and aggression. In all honesty, it’s probably quite effective on a battlefield, especially when fully armored. What I was showing her was a bit different, though still a very direct martial form – quite linear. I wonder how she’d feel about some of the more circular systems that rely more on redirection of energy or joint locking such as Aikido or Hapkido.
I figure I could introduce her to those later. It’d probably blow her mind.
We’ve worked up a good honest sweat when the porch door opens and my brother in revenge joins us. He claps his hands, then points them at me.
“Guess who we found?”
I nod my acknowledgement at him.
“Follow, learn more.”
With that he turns and heads back in. Vets bows her head in acquiescence of my needing to leave and I follow my large brother in revenge to his office.
I sit down in one of the plush chairs in front of his desk. “Show me where we’re going.”
He obliges by telling me that our quarry appears to be currently in Yemen in a town called Tarim. I find out Znuul has another bunker being constructed in Dubai, but he hopes to rent a building nearby to Tarim for immediate interrogation.
Znuul looks at me seriously."We're going to have to change your appearance. Mine too. The Techno-Mage guild is scanning for a seven-foot plus large man."
Crap. He’s right. Edgar and his group would be tied into everything - using facial recognition and widgets I can’t fathom.
Znuul assures me he’ll get us past the prying eyes of security cameras but it’s going to take some work. The wink he adds makes me feel so much better.
Then we hear the doors fling open. The girls must have returned. After a short while kitten bounds into the room and makes her way to Znuul with eager eyes. “We shopped and everyone has new stuff. But I slept through morning pleasures… I’m sorry master.” She shuffles behind his desk with her hands behind her back.
Znuul gives her a light hug. “I think our evening turned into morning. Nothing was missed. Now, Arthur and I are talking serious business.” With that he turns her around and gives her a little push away and at pat on the butt.
She turns around to him and says, “Okay,” with a pouty face and leaves us.
There is a moment of silence which is broken by Znuul’s eyes rolling and a proclamation “I am so self absorbed. Please excuse me I have to tend to Kitten.”
I nod “OK” and he reassures me he’ll only be a moment.
So, we’re off to the middle east. This jet setting lifestyle is such a stark difference from how things were in the 1940’s. I look at the map on the TV screen and try to contemplate where our destination will be. After a few moments Znuul returns, smile on his face and a “sorry about that” coming forth from his lips.
“You know, these human women are crazy. They just don’t talk straight-forwardly. She wasn’t asking of morning pleasures for me… she wanted hers. I must be too focused on our task to have missed that. Anyway… she’s better now.” With that he makes his way back around to his chair behind the desk.
I guess my general look of confusion gives away the question on my mind – what the heck? After all, he was only gone about a minute.
Znuul sees my confusion and flashes the car dealer smile.
“Hey, it’s not all about my happiness – it’s about her feelings and needs too. Just had to let her know I understood and to… apologize for being otherwise detained.”
I could tell the word was sticking in his throat. He who does not apologize… bah. He just did, twice.
We get back on track after the distraction and Z ticks off his to-do list: weapons, identities, credentials and transportation. There’s little for me to do except brief my team and get ready to move.
Znuul says he hopes we can head out in 24 hours for Seiyun Airport. We’ll have a vehicle ready for us.
I’m ready now.
Chapter 34
Our travel disguises are me as a balding African caretaker, Znuul as an African wheelchair bound cripple and Kitten as herself because she wasn’t on the radar. I hated having my appearance altered magically; it just does not feel right. Znuul had us custom chartered to our location and we slipped through security with no issues whatsoever.
The van he has for us is even equipped with a wheel chair lift. We get him in it and thanks to GPS, head to the property he rented in the city near where our quarry was. I’d be freaking lost otherw
ise.
Upon arriving at a small warehouse we both doff our magical guises and I begin summoning my crew one by one – except for Arix. Figure I’d spare him another skull splat.
Znuul has crates of weapons and body armor pre-delivered along with some lumber. Good stuff too. All weapons silenced – custom like. Znuul’s weapons are a pair of .50 caliber desert eagles. There are 9mm’s for the rest of us along with ample clips. The motif is basic black, including matching ski-masks. All except for Kitten, who gets the Burka.
We all strip down, armor up and get our holsters on. There is no innuendo. There are no comments about how cute someone is in their underwear. I am proud of my team. We are focused. I feel ready.
Pffif is somewhat to the outside of all this activity as there isn’t anything his size and his role would be mostly reconnaissance. “So, what be the plan,” he asks.
“Attack suddenly, kill everyone except our target and drag his limp body out,” is Znuul’s response.
Pffif looks at me, obviously questioning this direction.
That’s not lost on my brother in revenge, “What, speak up?”
“Just be a seemin’ like a maybe a bit unnecessary if’n we can get him alone. We gots us a Succubus, sure’n she could be getting’ him to a proper place for the grabbin? Just sayin’ that a house o’ dead folk gets more attention thana one missin guy.”
Znuul exhales deeply and closes his eyes. For a moment I’m not sure if we are going to see fabled demon rage or what. “My Grey used to tell me I thought too often like a blunt instrument. Now you do too.” There is a low grumble that comes from deep inside him, then he looks over at me.
“Find a burka for Silithes. She’s going to bring that bastard to us.”
With that Znuul looks over and nods at Pffif, who just beams a smile back at him.
Sil on the other hand, isn’t as happy – “How am I supposed to seduce anyone from underneath a freaking burka?”
I laugh. Znuul tells her she’ll figure it out. Kitten offers to go find a burka. Instead we send Sil out to find her own. After all, if Sil gets killed I can re-summon her. If Kitten bites it or worse, we just mourn.
The Wielder: Sworn Vengeance (The Wielder Series) Page 12