Lister Crowe

by Matthew Kenny

  Chapter Eleven

  Merrill was happy to see them when they came through the door. Vita had warned Lister not to tell Merrill of their troubles during their trek. It would unnecessarily worry him and Vita wanted desperately to avoid causing him any undue stress.

  “Everything went fine.” Lister lied when he was asked. He had never been a good liar and his face told the truth. Vita looked at him aghast as his face contorted and reddened. She elbowed him in the upper hip quite hard.

  “Ow!” Lister yelped dropping his hand to rub the spot. He was sure Merrill had known what was going on but he did not question them.

  “I am excited to hear about your adventure.” Merrill lead them to the dining room where he had some food laid out expecting their return. Lister then had a vision of Merrill waiting forever and the two of them dead in the caves or killed by Karak and his men. The thought saddened him and he did not want to put the old inventor through such loss. Lister frowned as he took what had become his seat at the table.

  Lister let Vita tell the tale. He was sure there were details she did not want Merrill to know and though the idea of lying had always made him uncomfortable he did see she was doing it out of love, not malice. She left out all of the harrowing experiences they had gone through. If her telling were to be believed they had just walked in, picked some stones then left without any incident.

  After Vita had finished Lister took the stones from his backpack. Nine of them were glowing softly on the table. Three of them were larger, each the size of kiwi fruit but the other six were the size of marbles he had played with as a child. He was not sure exactly what he would use them for so he gave Merrill the pick of the litter.

  “You don’t have to do this Lister. I can get my own stones.” Merrill was trying to dispel the idea all together.

  “No, you take these.” the thought of Merrill going into those caves and running into the creatures lurking in the depths filled Lister with dread. “You take one of these big ones and two of the small ones.” Lister slid the stones to Merrill. At first Merrill looked like he was going to slide them back but he seemed to remember something. Lister was sure it one of his fathers sayings from long ago.

  “Thank you Lister.” Merrill said with humility. “Do you need me to go through the process of priming them again?”

  “No, I got it.” Lister said without looking at him. He did not trust his face to keep the secret he and Vita shared. As he began putting the crystals in his backpack, their glow illuminating the interior, his watch began to beep. Lister looked down and the word “Alarm” flashed at him as he dismissed the tone.

  “What could you use to make your village more safe Merrill?” Lister asked finally voicing the question which had been nagging at him since their escape from the caverns. Merrill looked at him perplexed for a moment.

  “Well, I could use a device to tell me when we have visitors coming toward the village.” the way he said visitors made it clear to Lister he meant something far more sinister.

  “I know just the thing.” Lister was nodding as he stood. “It is time for me to go.” he said with finality. “I will drop the stones off at home then I will get you some motion sensors and I will be right back.” He was tired but he had made himself a promise.

  “Let’s go!” Vita said hopping to her feet.

  “Oh lord.” Merrill said his hands on the table, his head shaking slowly.

  “What? I want to see more of his world. We had a deal.” Vita sounded adamant as her arms folded across her chest.

  “Girl you are going to be the death of me.” Merrill sounded like a beaten man.

  “Oh, come on Pappy. I need to see it.”

  “I know you do darling. I know.” Merrill sounded weary as if the conversation had been going on for years and Lister was sure it had.

  “Is it alright if she accompanies you Lister?” Merrill looked up and Lister could see the answer he wanted in the old inventors eyes but he was not one to break a promise.

  “Of course.” he said with more enthusiasm than he felt in his heart. He was actually afraid to say no to her.

  “Alright,” Vita clapped her hands together and smiled “we had better make for the woods.” immediately she was gone from the dining room to again gather things she wanted for their journey.

  “Are you sure you want to take her Lister? She is a handful.”

  “No.” Lister laughed. “But I did make a promise.” Lister slung his pack over his shoulder.

  “Oh, I am not worried about Vita.” the implication hung in the air and Lister felt there was something unsaid but he did not ask for fear of the answer.

  “Well before you go my new friend I have a gift for you.” the warm tone took Lister by surprise. Merrill went to the other room and Lister could hear the two speaking in hushed but hurried tones.

  Merrill had called Lister his friend and it stuck with him as he absently listened to the whispering coming from the other room. Lister had not had friends… ever. Not because there had not been people who had tried but because he would not allow it. Not in grade school and not in college. The thought brought him to Vita and he wondered what she was thinking of their teamwork. He was sure she probably felt the same as Merrill for the two were not so different. He would have to set her straight eventually but now was not the time.

  Merrill returned to the dining room in his hands a football sized object wrapped in cloth under his real arm.

  “I found this one day when I was young. I was out wandering as was my want in my younger days.”

  He unwrapped the object slowly and gently. Once the covering was removed Lister saw the true nature of the gift. It was made of the same metal that was used to build the houses but it held intertwining gold inlays and was spotted with gems. The shape was a dragon type creature wrapped around an egg.

  “I have had this for decades. It has been so long it feels like a previous life.”

  Lister took the statue and wondered at it’s surfaces. It was so finely crafted it made Lister wonder what kind of artist had been able to create it. The scales of the dragon seemed alive as he turned it left and right. The eyes twinkled as though an intelligence lurked behind them.

  “I can’t take this.” Lister said looking up at Merrill.

  “Sure you can Lister. I have no use for it and I have been wondering who to give it to for a long time. I had shown it to Vita but she showed absolutely no interest in it.” he chuckled a bit. “If it does not have a blade the girl has no use for it. But you are of the same mold as me. We want to know. We need to know and create. This was my impetus for becoming who I am today. We are kin you and I though not by blood but by spirit. You take it, call it a gift from my world to yours. We can call it payment for the stones yeah?”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say you will bring me back those motion sensors and my Vita in one piece.” Lister was taken aback. This was not a sweater given at the holidays by an absentee grandmother. This was worth a fortune and it was given to him… a stranger.

  “I will.” Lister said at last as he wrapped the statue back in the cloth and slid it gently into his backpack.

  “You ready?” the excitement was obvious on Vita’s face.

  “I am” Lister replied with a parting glance at Merrill.

  Chapter Twelve

  They left the big tired looking shack on the outskirts of town and began walking at as fast a pace as the wizard could manage. Like most small villages, it seemed the few people out at this late hour knew the two of them and waved as they passed. They did not stop to talk to them though. Their pace showed the passersby they had some business to attend to of utmost importance.

  They exited the village on the North end as the bandits followed doing their utmost to ensure they would not be detected by their unwitting prey. How many times had Karak been misjudged by people? He had taken advantage of the foolishness of those who could not bring themselves to put an end to him. Once they realized their mistake i
t would be too late as they lay dying at his feet.

  “You were right as usual. This is the place.” Bik, the smaller of the three men said. Bik had always been the smarter of the two Karak thought.

  Karak was a known quantity miles to the south of this area. He took what he wanted but he also knew whom to keep in place. He did not have the network of a boss but he was building it. Being a half demon in The Fold was not an enviable life because of the deep hatred of the horned ones. Demon hunters had come for him once by mistake but they had been looking for a girl. It was obvious to him now they had been looking for Vita. When he first saw her at the caves he knew where she was from.

  “What are we waiting for, let’s take them now.” Satter whispered urgently.

  “Not yet. Be patient my friend. We will soon enough.” Karak was not one to reveal his hand too early. “Besides, I think there might be more to this Lister Crowe than I first thought.”

  Their prey continued down the path speaking to one another as Karak and his crew looked on. Their naivete was not shocking but it was humorous as the two were obviously oblivious to their presence. He could be upon them before they knew it. The shock on their faces would be delicious. How could they know the tenacious nature of their most cunning enemy?

  He thought about how they had been cowed at the ATV and the memory made his face flush and flesh warm with shame. It was not a feeling he had felt often nor relished. He was going to kill them and it was a certainty, but he wanted them to know he had bested them in every way. Patience would reveal the best way to achieve his ends.

  They veered off the path and made their way into the thicket. Karak and his crew followed from a distance. Once they had actually lost them and the three had to split up. If he would have lost his quarry he knew very well one of his two companions would be murdered, maybe both, to sate his rage. It was a few minutes of panic but his worry was unfounded.

  They were standing in a clearing when the three of them met back up after their brief but frantic search. They were crouched down far enough away that even the demon girl would not be able to sense them.

  “Now?” Satter, Karak’s right hand man whispered again with more urgency than before. He was so excited and tense he looked ready to pop.

  “Hold.” Karak commanded. Satter let out a small exasperated sigh. He was chomping at the bit to get his revenge. He too was also not one to take any slight lightly, let alone the shame he had felt at having been driven off by these two.

  They were just standing in the clearing talking and laughing. They were waiting for something but what? Every once in awhile they would look up into the trees and apparently not seeing what they were looking for and would go back to conversing.

  Karak gave a signal and the three of them began to move through the area. His companions were not nearly as stealthy as he so Karak had them take a path further from their quarry. Just a few more paces and they would be in position, ready to pounce. Karak could feel the fire in his blood rise as he reveled in the soon to be released violence.

  Just then, a few feet from his prey a portal opened. It hung in the so unnaturally it caused Karak to do a double take. The sound it made was so artificial and so mechanical Karak nearly let out a gasp but remembered where he was before he was able. The bright white scintillating light of portal seemed so out of place in this dark place of green turned purple with the night.

  Lister jumped up his hands passing through the portal and grabbing onto something solid on the other side. His hands were no longer in this world and he hung there struggling to lift his weight up. Vita stood laughing for a moment before she got under him and shoved him up and pushed him through. Once Lister was gone Vita vaulted from the ground, into the portal. She did not have to grab hold for her vertical leap carried her more than high enough. They were gone.

  The portal hung in mid air casting it’s light upon the ground and the surrounding foliage. Karak was hunched down watching, a smile fixed to his face. The other two made their way to his position, mouths agape at the magic they were witnessing. Then as though a switch had been thrown, the portal closed returning the area to the grip of the dusky light of night. It was a moment before anyone spoke.

  “What was that?” Satter was confused and frightened.

  “Isn’t it obvious.” Karak stood and strode to where the portal had been. “It is a doorway to another world. The world of the wizard Lister Crowe.”

  Karak had known Lister was not from around their parts. His clothing, his way of speaking shouted the fact but he had not suspected this. He was intrigued and excited at the prospect of finding another world. He had grown tired of this one and had been longing for somewhere where wealth and abundance were not on the verge of extinction. A wicked smile found its way onto his his face and he knew exactly what he was going to do.

  “I thought we were going to get our revenge on them. You told me we would get payback!” Satter was upset but Karak did not care. Like all of his henchmen before, he was disposable.

  “Oh we are going to get more than revenge my friend.” Karak looked over to him, a strange excitement on his face made more frightening by the fire burning in his eyes. “Far more.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Lister ended the program and the portal winked out. The two of them stood in his dining room in his apartment once again. It seemed like a lifetime since he had first met Vita in this very room. He had learned so many things in such a short time and so many thoughts still befuddled him. He had always been one to live more in the past and the present but now the future seemed so real and tremendous he was excited for it’s appearance.

  Lister looked around taking in the dining room once again. He still could not shake the feeling something was different. Not out of place as he had thought before but something a bit less tangible though just as real. He could not put his finger on it and it did not matter as much as it had. It was good to be home.

  “Wait here, let me take care of the stones then we will go get the motion sensors?”

  Daylight was streaming in through the gaps in the curtains and at the sight he knew his circadian rhythms were causing no end of problems both mentally and physically. He was tired but now was not the time for rest.

  He had a spring in his step as he entered his room with his backpack in hand. Being the paranoid type he had already created a hiding spot in the wall under his bed.

  He kept a few items in his cubby hole he did not want to fall into the wrong hands. He had his blueprints for his ISDS’ and a bundle of cash he kept just in case. He held the Singing Stones admiring the light which came from them as he lay on the floor half under his bed. The thought such things existed still filled him with wonder. He put them inside then he looked over the dragon statue. He was not much for artwork but this was something he found to be much more than just the sum of it’s parts. It was an item which held worth not because of the gold and gems but for the feelings it brought up in him. He shook his head to dislodge the sentimentality which had taken up residence in his memory.

  He crawled out from under the bed and went to the closet. It’s doors stood open. He could have sworn he had closed them earlier. He suddenly felt on edge as he crept as quietly as he could to it. He put his hand out slowly not wanting to raise any alarm from within. He grabbed the clothes on the rod and slid them quickly out of the way. He was being paranoid again he assured himself. There was no one inside.

  “What’s going on?” Vita asked from the depths of the bathroom.

  “I think someone has been in here.” Lister said.

  Vita had wasted no time poking around Lister’s belongings in the living room and moved on to greener pastures. Apparently she had come to the conclusion Lister’s offer to show her around his world also meant she could invade his privacy. Lister took an extra bed sheet from the shelf in the closet. He wrapped the priceless statue and stuffed the bundle as far back on the top shelf as it would go.

  “Really?” her voice sounded muffled and st
range.

  “Something just doesn’t feel right.”

  He looked around the room again but realized he was wasting his time. He had already checked his apartment and all was as it should be but the feeling still persisted.

  “It must be my imagination.” Lister spoke loudly so Vita could hear. He gave up on the search but he did not believe his own words.

  “Well if someone was here they are gone now. There is nothing missing?” Vita sounded as though she had her mouth full.

  “No everything appears to be here.”

  Vita could not go out like she was with horns exposed for all to see. He only hoped no one looked into her eyes and if they did he hoped their fear would drive them off immediately with no questions asked. Lister took an old dark blue hoodie from a hanger. He had gotten it as a child when his mother had taken him to an amusement park. The garment brought back a flood of memories which Lister did not need.

  “Vita, come here.”

  She came out of the bathroom and Lister could not stifle his chuckle. She had obviously been looking through his cabinet because she had toothpaste hanging from the corner of her mouth.

  “You have something on your face.” he said after the laughter had fled though not entirely. He made a wiping motion with his hand across his mouth. She followed suit.

  “Sorry.” she approached. “This stuff is delicious. If all of your food is this good I am going to like it here.” Lister handed her the hoodie.

  “Put this on…” he looked around and found his wallet on his nightstand right where he had left it. If there had been a burglar then surely they would have taken it. The thought set his mind at ease. He was being paranoid. “and no, it’s not food. It is called toothpaste. It is for cleaning your teeth.” Lister returned to the dining room taking one final look around. It was only a moment before Vita followed with the hoodie in place.