Quantum Heights: Book one of the Dead Path Chronicles

by Richard A. Valicek

  Vernon Goncool slowly approached Calista. Caprius tried to stand, but his knee gave way, and he fell back. Vernon edged closer. Caprius dislodged his claymore of power, held it to his knee, and murmured some words. The claymore vibrated and, within seconds, his knee was healed. He stood and ran toward Calista. She was trying to scoot away from Vernon but was clearly in too much pain to move quickly. Just as the Goncool put his sword to her neck, Caprius channeled his powers and sent a bolt of energy through the man’s body, causing him to fly through the air and onto his back.

  Caprius rushed to help Calista. Her eyelids were fluttering as she struggled to maintain consciousness. Vernon sat up, grinning fiendishly, and transformed himself into a raging, bloodthirsty vampire. Now, hulking and powerful, he charged at Caprius like a lion at its prey. But, Caprius was empowered with his sword, and he charged as well. They hit each other with the extreme force of two blazing stars and fell back, dazed. Caprius immediately got to his feet, swinging his sword. Vernon brandished his, too, and their weapons clashed. Caprius swung wildly and severed the Goncool’s right arm. Both arm and sword fell to the ground. Vampire Vernon screamed. Caprius reared up for another swing, but before his sword could make contact, the vampire spread its wings and flew away.

  Caprius and Calista watched the creature fly off until it was nothing more than a dot on the horizon. Calista looked down at the creature’s severed arm, the hand still clutching the sword. Seconds later, the arm began to move. It struggled and grew until it had evolved into a complete human form. Caprius seized the brief respite granted by this gruesome transformation to deal with Calista’s injury.

  “I’m sure it’s broken,” whispered Calista.

  Caprius held his claymore against her ankle. The claymore shined with a bright yellow light and, within seconds, she was able to wiggle her foot. “It’s fine,” she said incredulously, scratching her head. Caprius helped her up, and they readied themselves for further battle with the newly formed creature.

  They turned around and paused in shock. In the sky, over fifty vampires were approaching. “Oh no!” she shouted.

  Caprius’ claymore began to vibrate and hum violently. “We’re in for quite a fight,” he said. The vampires landed, creating a circle around the two. There were over a hundred of them—so many that they ran out of space to land on the street and began landing on rooftops and in trees. They salivated and made excited, high-pitched noises.

  “I didn’t think it would end like this,” said Calista, looking at Caprius. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you and your family from the start.” She took Caprius’ hand and held it tightly against her heart. Then, she held it to her lips. “Let’s die with honor,” she said quietly.

  He realized that, despite everything, he’d been fooling himself. He ached to touch her lips with his fingers, to wind his hand in her hair and smell her clean, earthy scent one last time. All around them, the vampires cackled wetly.

  Suddenly, one of them changed himself into human form. It was Thornin Goncool. He walked casually over to them. “Oh, you two. Go ahead and take a final moment for some passion. It is the least I can do for you, given that your death is going to be extremely unpleasant.” He smiled graciously.

  Caprius and Calista looked into each other’s eyes. Just then, in the turbulent clouds swirling above, the face of Grongone, the great wizard of Petoshine, appeared. “Caprius, it is time. The time to endure a greater power has come,” he boomed.

  Thornin Goncool hunched down, frightened. “What is this?” he asked in a panic.

  Seconds later, a great light shined down from the sky onto Caprius and Calista like a perfect beam of sun. Caprius spoke to Grongone privately, inside his head. “No, this cannot be,” said Caprius. “She is not a Seaton. Why her?” he asked.

  “Yes. Yes. Yes, I know,” replied Grongone, nodding.

  “Then, I shall do as you ask of me.” Caprius looked into Calista’s eyes. “Calista, kiss me.”

  “But, what about—”

  “Don’t argue,” said Caprius, grabbing her around the waist. He brought his face to hers and, as their trembling lips touched, they realized a passion that had been stirring between them since they’d met. They held each other close, their tongues searching, their lips pulsing, and suddenly lightning struck with feverish intensity all around them: the sign of a great power being formed.

  “What the hell is going on?” asked Thornin. The other Goncools were petrified. Caprius’ and Calista’s bodies glowed bright white. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the storm was over. All light vanished, and the world was engulfed in pitch blackness. When daylight returned, Caprius and Calista stood in glistening new armor, poised and ready for combat. Grongone had disappeared. But, they knew what had happened. Caprius looked at Calista inquisitively, as if to say, ‘Are you ready for this?’

  She smiled with serenity and power. “I am ready.”

  The vampires stood hungry and ready to attack. “Put your back to mine,” Caprius said, turning around. The vampires edged closer.

  Thornin began to laugh. “Oh, your Grongone has deserted you,” he minced. He transformed back into a beast and flew up onto a rooftop. From there, he peered down at them. “This is a job for a master.” He pointed at them and shouted, “Destroy them! Attack!”

  The vampires swarmed Caprius and Calista. Within seconds, it was an all-out war between the knight masters and the vampires. Caprius and Calista swung their swords, slicing apart any vampire who approached them. Calista jumped into the air and bashed her legs into the faces of two vampires simultaneously. She swung her sword, decapitating one, and went on to kill several others.

  Caprius brought his sword down through a creature’s head, splitting it in two. He dislodged the sword in time to swing it before him, slicing three vampires through their middles. To his side, Calista decapitated another, then another. Then Caprius and Calista turned back to back again and, with their claymores aloft, created an expanding force so strong that the creatures coming at them were blown away as if caught in an explosion. Some of them crashed into the shop windows. One went head-first into a wooden tabletop with such force that his head splintered the wood and came out the other side. He stood with his head still caught in the table. Unable to force his head back through the hole, he went ballistic. Around him, Caprius set vampires aflame. The screaming was deafening.

  The creature caught in the table kept trying to break free as he ran scattershot in Calista’s direction. Seeing the large, round tabletop with a vampire head stuck through the center, Calista shot flame at it. It was engulfed within seconds. To be sure the vampire wouldn’t give them any more trouble, Caprius drove his sword through the creature’s face. He got two for the price of one as, yanking his sword free, he accidentally sliced through another’s legs. It lay on the ground, writhing. For good measure, Caprius set it on fire, too.

  Then came a team of fourteen vampires. Like football players, they ran en masse, their bodies thick and brutish. Just before they were able to reach out and grab him, Caprius leaped into the air, and while aloft, he channeled his powers from the sword to freeze the line of vampires into a wall of solid ice. He landed atop it and slid down, as easily as a skier down a mountain.

  Not even aware she was able to do this, Calista extended her arm and, out the end of her claymore, shot a surge of blue electricity so powerful, it penetrated twenty-five vampires, all in some way touching one another, sizzling their flesh into bacon.

  “Hmm, that’s new!” exclaimed Caprius, amazed at what Calista had done. He didn’t stop to celebrate for long as the battle continued to rage: hundreds of vampires amid the many fallen and two soldiers whose powers protected them as long as they were vigilant.

  After another half an hour of fierce fighting, Caprius and Calista were soaked in sweat, euphoric from endorphins, and energized for whatever other plans the vampires had for them. The ground was covered with bodies; blood pooled up all around and reflected the
coming evening light.

  From the relative safety of the rooftop where Thornin Goncool took refuge behind a pile of vampire corpses, he continued to watch, dismayed at the ineptitude of his cult. The last vampires, those who had sustained the fight and were the strongest and boldest, were tiring while Caprius and Calista interestingly seemed to be gaining energy.

  Calista cast a flame through the air so big, it engulfed over seventy vampires, sending them withering into dust piles atop one another. The sky was lit up red from yet more fire Caprius sent up that engulfed many more vampires who, too, came crashing down dead. Bruiser vampires trying brute strength came toward Calista, who nimbly sprang into the air. They bashed into one another, and she landed on top of their heads, then hopped to the ground landing on her feet and one hand, her other hand pointing with her sword of power at another faction of remaining vampires.

  Every time she and Caprius defeated another one, two, twenty, forty vampires, they let themselves hope the numbers would begin to diminish. They had strength to spare, but at the same time, Calista began to wonder when it would start to wane. They might have been imbued with magic power, but they were still human. She couldn’t feel this powerful forever, she knew. As soon as she vanquished another group, she would look up and see yet another standing before her, roaring hideously, their fangs dripping with blood.

  Suddenly, the church bells rang out. The vampires screamed and held their pinched little pointed ears. Many of them tried to fly up above the din, and so many of them fled into the sky, they flew erratically and crashed into one another. Caprius and Calista cringed at the noise, but they were more pleased to see how much it bothered the vampires. They took some deep breaths and wiped the sweat from their faces on their sleeves.

  Then the noise stopped. The vampires turned on the pair with reinvigorated purpose, as if the knights had been the cause of the noise.

  “Had enough?” Calista yelled to them. She beckoned with her left hand. “Come on, show me what you’ve got.”

  Caprius muttered, “Don’t encourage them, Calista.”

  “Caprius, seems to me they don’t need much encouragement,” she said. The creatures reared up and charged. They crashed into Caprius and Calista only to be brutally smacked by an invisible force emanating from their claymores. The creatures flew back, crashing into the walls and windows of the shops. Undeterred, they shook themselves off as would dogs after a bath, then came back for more. Calista and Caprius swung without pause, decapitating each vampire who came before them. At one point, Caprius’ aim was poor, and a head bounced off Calista’s shoulder, leaving a mark. “Eeww,” Calista cried out before instinctively hitting the ground in time for a creature to swoop right down to where she’d been standing. She simply thrust her sword into the creature’s face and channeled her powers, which caused the head to burst into flame. As the creature melted and disintegrated, Calista rolled out of the way. She looked up to see nine vampires hovering above her. She sent a lazy flame into the air that spread out like a cross, crucifying the creatures. She dodged the little vampire fireballs that came raining down and ran back toward Caprius just in time to see forty or more vampires flying in circular formation above them like a growing storm.

  That gave them an idea. They looked at each other and at the same time, gleefully said, “Fireball!”

  They raised their swords and launched a large flame that expanded into the sky and surrounded the formation of vampires like a blazing tornado. Every last remaining vampire disintegrated, and their burning embers fell like rain down onto Jethro, alighting the stores, the houses, and the streets below. People ran outside from the shops and the pub screaming.

  Caprius and Calista watched the panicked scene, feeling sorry for the people of this city. But, the crackling of fire and an untamed wind were the only sounds remaining. No more beating wings, no shrieking vampires. Nothing. Their faces lit up by the fires, Caprius and Calista stood looking at the hundreds of dead corpses that surrounded them. They wove through the maze of corpses admiring their handiwork. “Where… on earth… did you learn to fight like that,” he finally asked her, his voice incredulous and thrilled.

  “I may have learned a thing or two from you,” she shrugged, grinning.

  The two bantered flirtatiously unaware that remaining on a nearby rooftop was Thornin Goncool staring down at them. Thornin wiped his brow then snarled, his fist clenched, “You may have won this little battle, knights of Petoshine. But, the real war is yet to come.” Thornin lifted off into the sky. “Retreat!” yelled Thornin to his remaining few vampires who were in hiding. The ten or so vampires out of the original hundred flew off quietly into the mountains.

  Calista and Caprius heard the flapping and spun around with their claymores aloft. They were surprised to see the vampires emerge from behind the main street and fly away in retreat. It made them seem so small and innocuous then, like birds. Thornin and the rest of the Goncools might have left defeated now, but Caprius and Calista knew they still had the fight of their lives yet to come.

  Caprius looked at his partner in battle with a whole new admiration. As much as he did not like the fact that her father had ravaged and terrorized his mother, he was now aware that this woman beside him was the new master knight of Petoshine. His pride in his family was great, but it was clear Calista would be his first knight.

  As if she knew what he was thinking, Calista raised her sword in the air, victorious. But, she soon lowered it out of respect, and the two began to walk through the flames. Caprius and Calista nodded to the villagers who watched them as they departed to continue their investigation. It would be a long walk through the city of Jethro. But, they were ready for it.

  Chapter 14

  The Mists and the Avant-Guard

  As Caprius and Calista walked through Jethro, they used their claymores’ powers to extinguish the fires that raged all around them. The people were grateful, but as they shook the knights’ hands, there was blame in their eyes for their having brought on such evil to their peaceful village.

  Aware of the brewing anger, the two knights of Petoshine quickly made their way through the center of the village and continued their journey. They walked a ways until they came upon a teenage boy fiddling idly with some sticks, a bedraggled looking dog by his side. “Let me speak to him,” said Calista. She smiled sweetly and approached him. “Excuse me, my young lad, but I was wondering if you could guide us to an art gallery called Delvingers.” Calista swept her hair back and smiled again.

  The boy looked at Calista like he had found love. His eyes got dopy, and he blushed. “If you’re here to see the exhibit, I’m afraid that’s not possible. We’re closed today, for it is Sunday, a day of rest.” He squinted and examined Calista and Caprius. “I can tell you’re not from around here or you’d know that.”

  “Looks like we have come to the right person. You know an awful lot about the gallery,” said Calista admiringly. She reached out and brushed a lock of hair out of the boy’s eyes.

  He looked like he might swoon and started talking rapid fire. “I actually work there. I sometimes work Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, but mostly just Fridays. That is my long day. And, I get paid two shillings a day. Although, I think I should be paid more because I have been working there for nearly three years now. And, I’ve never missed a day of work. Oh, except for once. But, that is because I had the measles. But, that doesn’t count because it was on a Saturday. And, I normally don’t work on a Saturday, so when my employer asked me to come in and I couldn’t, it shouldn’t have counted as a sick day. I really did have the measles, you know,” the boy jabbered.

  “My, you’re feisty!” said Calista with overly sweet admiration in her voice. Caprius rolled his eyes.

  “I’m not a boy. I’m fifteen. I’m nearly a man. My birthday is in August, so I’ll be an adult real soon,” said the boy.

  “What is your name?” asked Calista.

  “Shyla. But, don’t say it’s a girl’s name, ‘cause it’s
not. But, you could call me Shy. My last name is Doody. Please, no Doody jokes; I’ve heard them all before.” Again, Caprius rolled his eyes, but he had to smile at the young man. His chatter was growing on him.

  “So, Shy, how is it that you started working at Delvingers at such a young age?” asked Caprius.

  Shy shrugged. “It’s only because my father owns it. He gave me the job,” said Shyla.

  “Is anyone at the art gallery right now? Anyone at all?” asked Caprius.

  “My father is there today. But, no one is permitted to get in. Except me, of course,” said Shyla proudly.

  “Shy, Calista and I are from Elysium. I am the son of King Confidus. We are here on a mission,” said Caprius.

  Shyla looked at them suspiciously. “I don’t believe you. What would the Prince of Elysium be doing all the way out here?”

  “Have you ever heard of the tale of Grongone and Petoshine?” asked Caprius.

  “Maybe a little bit,” said Shyla. Caprius pulled out his sword of power from his sheath. The boy backed up. “You’re not going to kill me are you?”

  “No, Shyla, we are not going to kill you,” laughed Calista.