Quantum Heights: Book one of the Dead Path Chronicles

by Richard A. Valicek

  “See you next time,” said Volsar. He spread his wings and flew into the air. Calista aimed a large flame at him, but he swerved and it missed him. She drew a far larger force from the claymore that propelled her into the air so she came face to face with Volsar. Calista knew she only had one opportunity to kill him, so she swung her sword with all her might, but she was already falling and missed. She let her claymore guide her back to the ground as she cursed her poor aim. Volsar was watching her and laughed. But, he was so busy scorning her, he didn’t see the top of the cave and smashed into it, sending rocks and earth tumbling to the ground. Likely injured but still too inhuman to mind the pain, Volsar flew out of the opening, went up through each floor of the house, and crashed out through the roof and into the icy night sky.

  There was no time to think about how they’d lost Volsar Goncool, however, as the vampires on the cave floor continued their vicious attack. Calista, newly aggravated, swung her sword and cleanly decapitated one. The head tumbled to the ground, transforming back into human form, but fortunately, one of his fellow creatures pounced onto the head and crushed it. The skull cracked, and blood gushed onto the ground. Caprius, not trusting that it wouldn’t transform, drove his sword into the creature’s face, then backed up and sent a large flame from his claymore onto three vampires who were in fast approach. Calista met his fire with her own and the two flames collided, causing the vampires to burst into a bonfire. The two knights held steady until the vampires were nothing more than ash. When all was quiet, with only the sound of torch fire flickering, they knew they’d bested this cult for good. Except for Volsar. “He got away,” said Calista angrily.

  “We’ll get him next time,” said Caprius.

  From behind them, a woman called out. “Help! Get me out of here!” The pair turned around and saw a woman locked in an animal cage. They ran to her; it was Tilly Croft, a knight from Elysium.

  Caprius and Calista were thrilled to see her. “Tilly, we thought you were dead,” said Caprius.

  “I’m not dead or undead. I’m very much alive and glad to see you. I knew after I sent the pocket watch with the body and the note I wrote to Confidus asking him to send a knight master, he would,” said Tilly.

  “You sent the bodies?” Calista and Caprius spoke in unison.

  “Not exactly. They made me put the bodies into the caskets and fill them with dirt. Normally, these creatures get Droges to do their dirty work, but since none were around, they forced me to do it. The note and the pocket watch I slipped into the casket and covered with dirt. I knew the pocket watch would lead you to this place.”

  “I see. So, then they delivered the bodies. Well done, Tilly,” said Calista.

  “I still don’t understand why you were not killed or infected by the blood of Makoor,” said Caprius. He eyed her suspiciously.

  “Eventually, they would have. But, while they still had grunt work to be done, they kept me around.” She smiled and put her hand on Caprius’ arm through the bars. “Okay, guys, we’ve had our little reunion. Now, how about getting me out of here?”

  “Stand back, Tilly,” said Caprius. He concentrated and blasted the lock with the power of the claymore. Tilly threw open the cage door and hopped out.

  “We successfully destroyed the cult, but my fear is it was far too easy,” said Calista. “Was this their main fortress?”

  “No, I don’t think so. This was but a small cult. There are many more,” said Caprius.

  “Then, our work is finished in Jethro,” said Calista.

  Caprius cut her off, “But, Volsar Goncool remains at large, and the main fortress of these creatures is yet to be discovered. It isn’t just Plaphorius or Mount Drone. Somewhere out there lies the answer.”

  “I did manage to overhear something about their boarding a train. But, I don’t know where they’re going,” said Tilly.

  Caprius checked his watch. “If we run, we have just enough time for us to catch the last train.”

  “Actually, since we can’t do anything else here now, we could go to Quantum Heights. Tonight is their 10-year anniversary. We should be in attendance,” said Caprius.

  “Then, let’s go. We’ll see if we can get some horses to take us to Galdington,” said Calista.

  Tilly sighed. “I personally can’t wait to sit on a real chair and get a drink,” she smiled.

  “Agreed. But, we nonetheless need to remain vigilant; some of the Goncools are still at large, and they’re dangerous. We need to keep one eye over our shoulders at all times,” said Caprius.

  “Now, that’s an interesting visual,” said Calista, making the three of them laugh.

  Caprius, Calista and Tilly walked up the stairs. When they got to the back entrance of the house, the hunchback was lying on the ground, his head bitten clean off, likely the work of Volsar Goncool.

  “Oh, there are four horses harnessed to the wagon. I should have my hearing checked. I only noticed three when I was in the sack,” said Calista.

  “In the sack?” asked Tilly looking suspiciously first at Caprius then at Calista.

  “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you all about it on the way,” he said.

  They unfastened the horses, mounted, and rode off to Galdington.

  Chapter 19

  Masquerade/The Power of the Golden Fleece

  Alamptria’s finest in their most elaborate costumes were gathered at the castle. The masks and disguises made the guests indistinguishable from their true identities. People in painted faces, feathered headdresses, and vibrant dresses and cloaks sailed about the room enjoying the festive music, food, and drink. The four Goncools dressed as Elysian soldiers were trying to identify which of the masked guests was Confidus Seaton. They didn’t pause to enjoy themselves as they were focused on their mission. A scantily-clad woman passed by a Goncool offering up a tray of hor d'oeuvres, but he brushed her rudely aside.

  Godfrey tapped a man on the shoulder. “Excuse me, you wouldn’t happen to know what Confidus Seaton is wearing, would you?”

  “I’m afraid I have no idea,” said the man. “Good luck in finding him.” Godfrey and the Goncools continued their search. The party grew in attendees and in enthusiasm. Soon, the hall was packed with people, making it harder to search for Confidus. Yet, at one point, a hefty woman came away from the bar area. “Mr. Godfrey! Mr. Godfrey!” she called out before cornering him. “It is Fetrona Nightly.” Fetrona removed her mask.

  “Well, Fetrona. How good it is to see you, my dear,” said Godfrey.

  “Are you enjoying the party?” she asked.

  “Well, yes, it is splendid, splendid indeed,” he said. “And, how are you coping? Getting over Andromin?”

  “I’ll be all right. I’m a strong woman,” she said.

  “I’m glad to see you’re handling things well,” he said. “You wouldn’t happen to know what Confidus is dressed as, would you, Fetrona? I would like to have a word with him.”

  “Why, yes! He’s dressed as an Egyptian Pharaoh,” she said, “with a golden mask and staff.”

  “Do you know where I might find him?” asked Godfrey.

  “I can take you to him. Follow me,” she said. The four Goncools walked with her. One of them furtively held on to a flask he’d had in his pocket that was filled with Makoor’s blood.

  Just then, Fetrona sighted Confidus. “There he is, over there!”

  “Thank you, Fetrona. You’ve been most helpful. I shall never forget it,” said Godfrey. He made to walk away.

  “Well, don’t leave me here, silly. I’ll take you right to him,” she said.

  Before they could walk any further, an Elysian soldier along with six other guards approached the group. “Hold it right there,” he said sternly. “Why are you four dressed in scout uniforms at this ball? Didn’t you read the memo?”

  “Sorry, Sir, I don’t believe we received it,” said a Goncool.

  “And, there certainly is no drinking on the job. Give me that,” the Elysian knight reached for the bloo
d-filled flask from the Goncool’s hand. The Goncool held tight, but the soldier wrestled him for it, and the flask fell to the ground, spilling over the floor. The soldier looked at the blood pooling up on the floor aghast. “All right, I am taking the four of you in,” he exclaimed.

  Another soldier stepped to the front. “Wait a minute, Sir; I knew there was something suspicious about these four. There were four Elysian scout uniforms reported missing and four knights were found hanging from the trees in the woods. Sir, these are Goncools!”

  “You are under arrest,” said the head Elysian knight. The Goncools quickly drew their swords, but with the flashing lights and jaunty music, their aim was off and they missed. A fight quickly commenced. Once the guests standing near them realized this was real and not part of the party, they ran off screaming. Confidus turned to see the fight. Godfrey broke away from the pack and ran off toward Confidus with his sword raised high. Confidus stood, frozen, as if he didn’t quite comprehend what was happening. Just then, a brave guest intervened by knocking into Godfrey; the Goncool fell to the floor in front of Confidus. The soldiers quickly rushed to him and apprehended him, lifting him to his feet.

  Confidus peered at the man’s face. “He is a Goncool, Your Majesty,” said the Elysian knight.

  “Well done, gentlemen. Take him into custody,” said Confidus. Fetrona who had come to stand by Confidus’ side was trembling and confused.

  The three other Goncools who fought the Elysian knights had been killed in the fight. The Goncools’ plan to turn Confidus into a deadly vampire had been foiled. The guards searched Godfrey, finding his flask containing Makoor’s blood. They took him out of the ballroom.

  He was escorted through the people by three guards. Suddenly, Godfrey broke free. He ran down the castle hall, chased by the guards, out of the castle and into the garden of Meadow-lie. Godfrey ran until he found himself at the back entrance to the basilica. In the garden, Setra Helmsly was taking to Felicia - the Golden Fleece. Setra wasn’t the type to be attending the masquerade ball. She was more interested in speaking to Felicia, as she was concerned about Melina. The guards spotted Godfrey climbing an iron fence. He nimbly tumbled down into the garden. Setra was startled as Godfrey came by. The Golden Fleece knew exactly who this man was. Suddenly, the Golden Fleece’s eyes brightened and glowed white. Electric shocks shot out from her eyes and landed on Godfrey, sending pure electricity through his body. He shuddered, was jolted, and then collapsed on the ground dead.

  The guards made it over the gate and found his body. Felicia looked to them as she always did. The Elysian knights picked up Godfrey’s body and carried him away. Setra, who was distraught over what had happened, watched Felicia metamorphose back into the statue she was and left the garden.

  Chapter 20

  Inferno

  Behind some bushes just outside Quanta-paloose, Cynthia spied on some brutish looking men entering the Sun Myers warehouse. She watched the parade of misfits and thugs until the last one entered and the door closed behind him. Cynthia stole to the side of the warehouse, where she spotted a window ajar. She lifted the window and crawled in, dropping down to the wooden floor quietly like a cat. She took stock of the place in the dark, assessing shadows. Then, she crept to the door, slowly opened it, and went into the hall. A light was coming from a room at the hall’s end. She made her way down the hall; there was a wooden railing at the front of a small balcony of sorts that looked down over a large room. Peering around the corner, she saw the thugs gathered around in chairs. She couldn’t see who was speaking, but she knew it was Colburn giving his opening speech. “Now as you can see, gentlemen, I have here two small snakes in these tanks,” said Colburn. “As you can see, while they are both separated, they seem wild and eager to get at one another. Luckily, they are separated by glass. These snakes are not poisonous. So, now I inject one of these snakes with the serum, and now the other. Oh, this little critter bit me. But, as I said, they’re not poisonous. Now, as you watch closely, the reptiles will start to manifest momentarily.” And, as they watched, the two snakes began to grow in size. In minutes, they had grown from two foot snakes to twice their size. As they stopped growing, they noticed the snakes’ behavior. “As you can see, they not only grew twice their size, but you notice that they are now quite tame. And, they seem to be getting along.”

  Cynthia noted the circumstances in the room below: dozens of barrels were grouped in clusters on all sides of the men. She turned around and saw that behind her was a stairwell; she crept down the stairs, trying to walk lightly. When she was three steps from the bottom, the stair beneath her foot creaked. She froze and waited, but the men were guffawing among themselves and didn’t seem to notice. She let out her breath and made it to the bottom.

  Cynthia crouched down as she went into the room and hid behind some barrels. She assessed the barrels’ locations and came up with a plan. Slowly, she tipped over one of the barrels and let the wine spill out onto the floor. Then, she did the same to another. She went over to the other side, sliced into a slat of another barrel and carefully tipped it over. Colburn was speaking on a podium, gesturing wildly about his serum. Colburn picked up one snake from the tank, as if it was his pet. “There, you see, it is quite tame and in my control.”

  “Look at the size of that thing,” Cynthia muttered.

  Colburn raised his voice into something deep and menacing. He was a bald man with a stone face. His eyes were dark and grim. Among the men, Cynthia noticed, was a Goncool. Beside Colburn was a lantern on a barrel. Cynthia scuttled behind the various barrels until she was close enough to see the black gnarled hairs on the backs of Colburn’s hands. She slowly lifted a lid off the barrel before her, then scooted to the one beside and did the same.

  “Did you hear something?” one man asked another beside him. Cynthia knew her luck was running out. She put one hand on each barrel, muttered a few words of prayer, and shoved the barrels over. The wine spilled onto the floor and ran toward the men. The men turned at the sound and saw the flood of wine and Cynthia standing there holding two barrel lids.

  “What the hell!” someone yelped.

  Cynthia smiled. “Hello, boys” she said.

  “Cynthia Davenport,” said Colburn. He smiled cruelly.

  “What, you’re not going to welcome me to hell? That’s right, sadly, you’re in your own crematorium. You won’t live to see your super snakes do much more than burn to the ground.” Cynthia reared her arm back and jettisoned one of the lids through the room. It cut the air like a knife as it sailed over the men’s heads. Cynthia’s aim was excellent; the lid smashed into the lantern, shattering the glass and toppling the candle onto the floor. The wine had pooled up, and when the candle fell, the wine erupted into giant orange flames. The barrel lid hit a man in the head before crashing to the floor, and he fell silently into the fire unconscious. The fire raced along the wine and crawled up the podium, igniting Colburn. Cynthia leaped into the room and flipped over another barrel onto the floor. A man began to run toward her. Cynthia stuck out her foot and kicked the barrel at him. He tried to jump over the barrel, but he slipped on it and came crashing down onto the floor. The man, too, was slowly overtaken by the flames.

  The fire was spreading rapidly. The Goncool, who had been quietly sitting toward the rear of the group of men, darted to the podium and grabbed the vials of serum. Colburn, now fully engulfed, ran about in circles, screaming. In the mayhem, Cynthia was able to race out into the same stairwell and make it outside. She slammed the door behind her, grabbed the smaller of her swords and brought the blade down onto the handle, hard, breaking the lock from the outside. Cynthia ran toward the bushes, knowing she didn’t have much time. The fire had engulfed the entire warehouse. She got to the tree where her horse was whinnying and pacing about nervously, untied him, and mounted. She looked up a last time at the warehouse and saw a man climbing out of the second-story window. Her heart sank when she saw the pouch in his hand. “He has the serum,” she said. She dug h
er heels into her horse and galloped after the man, who landed on the ground and begun to run. In the last hour, a thin blanket of snow had fallen, and she was grateful she could see his tracks. The man got to his horse and sped off into the forest. But, Cynthia was after him.

  ***

  The train Caprius, Calista, and Tilly were waiting for entered the station. As it slowed, people were already standing up and preparing to board. All around them, their fellow passengers were chattering excitedly about the upcoming festivities at Quantum Heights. The train stopped, and those who had just arrived into the station disembarked. As the three prepared to enter their car, they noticed that the last two cars of this passenger train were freight; loud sounds of whinnying horses were coming from them.

  Finally, they boarded and relaxed in the dining car. It was after 9:00 p.m., and as the train sped through the territories, none of them talked about how their disappointment that the mission had come to an end. For despite having destroyed the cult, they knew there were bigger issues to deal with, primarily where the vampires’ lair was situated. They might have uncovered the plot at Jethro, but Volsar Goncool had escaped and gone into hiding. “Do you think Volsar flew to Mount Drone?” asked Calista.

  “He might have. Unfortunately, it’s over for now. In any case, at least we now understand that all the vampires in the cult carry these watches, though they don’t need them to tell time; their instincts inform them of when night falls, which is for them obviously imperative, as the sun disintegrates them.”