by Matthew Roys
Kai glared at him but visibly loosened his muscles. “Why are you even here? There’s no way you could have found where we were so quickly.”
“I just am. It’s a good job I am too. Now let me ease that concussion then you need to get some rest and I’ll fill you both in on details when you wake.”
Kai grumbled something but still let Déaþscúa place a hand on his head. Once the man had finished, Kai laid down and closed his eyes. It wasn’t long until Déaþscúa was the only one in the house still awake. He looked at the twins, his rough face sombre. KT’s shirt was wet with blood and hung from her were Christy had cut it while Kai still shivered. Sighing to himself he quietly took off his coat and draped it across them both.
“What have I gotten you into? The cycle repeats, no matter how hard I try to break it. May the gods guard your souls.”
Chapter 8.
It was Déaþscúa who woke them. Darkness clung to the windows outside but the fire still burned with a steady flame that the man prodded with a chair leg. KT felt completely drained and Kai looked no better. Both were pale and moved with a lethargic stiffness. Déaþscúa wasn’t very sympathetic.
“Come on,” he urged them. “We have work to do. You’re involved now despite my wishes so you’d better pull your own weight.”
Kai pulled himself up then stood face to face with the older man. “We want answers before anything. All of this is just too convenient. We just happen to walk into one shop owned by a mythological cannibal and before we're killed you swoop in and save us. For all that I know this could all be a setup. You’ve already betrayed us once by leaving us with that witch.”
Déaþscúa threw the chair leg into the fire with a sigh. “I don’t understand people sometimes. You hunt me down against my will, and your better judgement, then complain and question everything I do. Either follow me and trust in my decisions or leave me be. You can’t have it both ways. If you're to be near me, your only chance of survival is to place all of your trust on my shoulders. Even that may not be enough but it’s too late now. Annis has eyes everywhere. You’ve made yourselves prime targets.”
KT looked to Kai. She trusted Déaþscúa in a strange way but Kai had always been cautious of the man. She couldn’t even explain why she had such faith in him. She supposed that he was like an anchor throughout these turbulent events, an unmoving pillar that prevented them from being washed away in the tide of chaos that they had witnessed. On the other hand, maybe the unquestioning trust came from some kind of magic. How could she know? All she knew for sure was that they were in a dangerous position and he was the only thing that stood between them and death. The butcher had taught her that much.
Kai clenched his fists. His eyes were closed. KT thought that he was going to lash out. He had always had a bad temper. That was why he had put so much effort into crafting his laidback persona. He lowered his head. “I want to be stronger. These past few days have shown me that I can’t even protect myself, let alone my family. I…I need your help to train me. You have my word.”
“Mine too,” added KT. “I’ve seen the things that you fight against now. I’ve seen the pain and fear they cause. I want to fight them too. If I can stop one monster from killing then that has to be worth something.”
The man nodded. “Good. The SUV is out front. I’ll fill you in on the road.”
KT held out his coat for him to take back but Déaþscúa motioned for her to keep it. “You need it more than me at the moment. Now go to the SUV. I just want to check something before I leave. Don’t worry, this isn’t another trick. Jearl isn’t waiting out there with a tranquilizer gun.”
Reluctantly, KT followed her brother. They left the hellish butchers and were greeted by Jearl. He gave both teens thermal flasks filled with hot chocolate then hopped into the imposing vehicle’s driver seat.
Déaþscúa watched them from the window. As soon as they were safely seated in the back of the car he turned back with a face of stone. He looked over the room then wandered through the house. All of the cupboard doors and desk drawers in each room opened as he entered. The room where KT had fallen had an old phone on a table. He pressed the button for voicemails and a smooth female voice started to speak.
“Christie, Déaþscúa is back in Scotland. I have to act fast. I am close to gaining the powers that I need. I require your contacts. Gather up any useful pawns and send them to the village. I am heading to the old MacFeelan fort to draw upon the curse. Join me once I return. The final pieces are soon to be in place. Oh, and Christie, delete this message. I know I have been gone for a long time but you will hear my voice in person soon enough. I don’t want to find any more shrines this time either.”
The message ended. Beside the phone was a dog-eared picture of Annis. Déaþscúa could almost have felt sympathy for the man had he not been a homicidal psychopath. His eyes lingered on the picture for a moment before he turned it over. It looked as though Christie had written a poem across the back but the writing was too bad to even try to read.
He continued through the house. In what looked to be a seedy living room he found a cabinet filled with spirits. They rose up and floated around him before drifting away in different directions. Several seconds later there was a series of crashing sounds throughout the house followed by the shattering of glass. He thumbed his lighter and a tiny flame sparked to life. He knelt down and held it to the carpet.
“You deserved a lot worse, Christy. I hope your soul burns longer than your body will.”
Déaþscúa emerged from the shop and climbed straight into the passenger seat. He nodded to Jearl who immediately started up the engine and pulled away. In the rearview mirror the sky was already darkening with smoke.
Déaþscúa cast aside his own dark clouds and tried to put on a friendly face as he answered Kai’s previous questions. “Despite what you think, my finding you was as close to a coincidence as fate would allow. I’d only just learned that Christie was back in Glasgow and thought that I’d pay him a visit to see if he had any information on his former lover. When I entered his shop I could feel your auras, which was a shock since I thought you were still under Elizabeth’s care. The strongest aura was Christie’s so I followed that. That was also how I found you in the freezer.”
“Did you find out anything about Annis? About where our dad is?” asked KT.
“I always find what I need,” Déaþscúa smiled. “It seems that some old friends of mine have either just been attacked by Annis or are going to be soon. We’ll be heading up there as soon as I’m confident that you two won’t die the second I blink. For that to be the case you’ll need protection and weapons.”
“Are you sure you want to visit Delonne, Guv?” piped in Jearl. “He ain’t exactly friendly and you know how he is with you and the Grand Moot.”
Déaþscúa shrugged. “I have money so he’ll accept. It just means that I’ll have to listen to his constant preaching.” He opened up the glove compartment and took out a leather-bound book which he threw into the back. “Here, read this. It’s a good drive so you may as well learn what you can in that time.”
KT opened the book to see that it was a series of handwritten notes outlining threats that they were likely to encounter and how best to overcome them. The way that it was written led her to believe that Déaþscúa had written them as a manual, a prima into the dangers of his world. The pages were slightly faded, giving it an aged look. Clearly he had written it a while ago for someone else’s use. She held it between herself and Kai, allowing them both to read as the car barrelled east out of the city.
* * *
They drove through the early morning, rushing to meet the rising sun as it arced through the cloud laden sky. The SUV thundered across a motorway, the different signs indicating that they were heading straight to the capital city of Edinburgh. It didn’t seem long since they had left behind the suburbs of Glasgow when they entered into those of Edinburgh.
Jearl slowed to a less erratic pace as they entered t
he city and the traffic increased. KT closed the book to instead admire the architecture of the buildings around them. Déaþscúa seemed impatient to be wherever it was that he wanted to be. He signalled for Jearl to pull over and let them out.
“We’ll walk from here. Pick us up from Delonne’s at five.”
“Aye aye, boss,” the scruffy man saluted.
They left the car and Déaþscúa led them through the clusters of stone structures for another ten minutes until he stopped outside of a tailor’s shop. He entered and strode straight to the counter. It was a small store with clothes and materials hanging from every wall. Spools of thread, measuring tapes and scissors littered the room yet everything felt orderly and carefully arranged.
The man behind the counter was a black haired man in his middle years. He was dressed in a well cut suit and didn’t have a hair out of place or a single wrinkle in his clothing. His face was pinched and dark skinned. As his eyes fell upon Déaþscúa, a look soured his features as though he had just tasted something foul.
“Déaþscúa. What do you want?” The man said bluntly. He spoke in a cold, well-educated voice that held almost no hint of an accent. His eyes flickered over KT and Kai, causing his sour expression to grow.
“Well Delonne, you own a tailors. I’m certainly not here for your company so take a guess.”
Delonne frowned. “You know my clothes don’t hold a candle te Zehra’s. I can offer you nothing near the quality of what you're wearing now.”
“It’s not for me. It’s for them.”
The tailor shook his head firmly. “No. I will not help you lead more innocent souls te a gruesome death. You’ve done that enough over the years.”
“They have already tangled themselves up in our world and have nearly died repeatedly because of it. They're going to be in danger whatever I do so I want them to stand the best chance they can. Are you going to help me keep them alive?” Déaþscúa slammed down a bag as he finished. Inside were several wads of twenty pound notes. “That should more than pay for your best.”
Delonne still looked hesitant but finally took the money. “Fine. What do you require?”
“Something that will stop claws and teeth. Lightweight and warm. I’m thinking La’carta spider silk or something similar. Whatever you can manage in the space of seven hours.”
“Seven hours!” spluttered Delonne. “I cannot create two well-crafted outfits in only seven hours.”
“Improvise,” Déaþscúa offered dryly. “Take a stock product and change it. Just say you’ll have it done or I’ll take my money back.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll just about manage. Anything te help preserve young lives,” the tailor relented. Déaþscúa turned and left the shop with nothing more than a nod of his head.
Kai followed Déaþscúa straight out. KT paused. “Don’t you need our measurements?”
Delonne gave her a soft smile. “I got your measurements the second that you walked inte my shop. Not every unusual skill has te have a use for battle. Now listen, girl. Déaþscúa might seem a decent man but he is dangerous. Please be careful. I’d hate te see more innocent blood on his hands.”
KT wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She nodded then quickly left the shop to catch up with Déaþscúa and Kai outside. They were taking a brisk walk down the street, moving away from the city centre. The wind had picked up now, driving cold through KT’s torn clothes and filling her bones with a fierce chill until she wrapped Déaþscúa’s coat tighter around her. The clouds above looked brooding, threatening either rain or a fresh torrent of snow.
“Ailia lives nearby,” Déaþscúa told them as they walked. “Hopefully we can get everything sorted and return to Delonne before news reaches him from Glasgow. He won’t be happy when he finds out.”
“Why?” Kai almost spat. “Jearl mentioned this ‘Grand Moot’ thing wouldn’t be happy either. Why the hell is everyone angry at you for taking care of a sadistic cannibal? He was a monster and it’s your job to kill monsters. Where’s the problem?”
“Prophecy,” Déaþscúa said simply. Seeing the twins’ frowning faces he sighed and continued. “The Grand Moot is our equivalent of your government. I won’t bore you with the details but suffice it to say that their word is law. One of the founding Moot members is a near comatose Aevumancer named Protellious Avus. He is known as the Prophet and only regains consciousness to reveal new insights into the future. He predicted that your butcher friend would play a role in the protection of Earth during some kind of apocalyptic event. As such, the Moot gave Christie their protection.”
“So you broke their law?”
“In a nutshell. They don’t like me very much and now that I’ve potentially destabilised the pattern of the universe they’ll probably be a bit pissed.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “That’s a problem for the future. Ailia is trouble enough for now.”
They walked on through a tangle of streets until they came to a long driveway with a sign above it that depicted a teddy bear wearing a princess dress and another in a camouflage uniform. At the end of the driveway was a small building with dozens of teddies filling every window. ‘Teddy Kingdom’ was printed in large, colourful letters above the door.
“Don’t ask,” Déaþscúa muttered in response to KT and Kai’s questioning looks.
They entered the building and were greeted by hundreds of beady eyes that stared at them from overly cute fluffy faces. Shelves upon shelves of teddy bears lined the walls and seemed to fill every space. Everything was bright and colourful beyond common decency. Asleep in the back corner was a kindly looking old man and at his side, playing with a teddy, was a young blonde haired girl of about twelve. She looked up as they stepped inside and a huge smile split her face.
“Bram!” she shouted as she leapt up and jumped at Déaþscúa, wrapping her tiny arms tightly around him. “You’re back. I thought you might never visit again after you left me waiting for so long but now you’ve visited me twice in one month. Did you miss me? Couldn’t bear to be without me? Eh? Get it. Bear?”
“Well I certainly didn’t come back for your sense of humour,” Déaþscúa said as he pried the girl from him then placed her firmly back on the ground. He took his phone from his pocket and held it up to her. “What’s this?” he said sternly.
The girl tilted her head to the side as she stared at it. “That’s your phone, silly,” she giggled. He hit a button and ‘Barbie Girl’ was once again blaring from the device. She offered him a mischievous smile. “Your music was boring so I changed it.”
Déaþscúa’s face became stony cold. “Tell me, what part of mind melting guitar solos and pulse racing drum beats are boring?”
“I couldn’t sing along to them.”
“I hate you sometimes,” Déaþscúa sighed.
The girl’s smile widened further. She turned away from him to look at KT and Kai. “You even brought me friends. You’re the greatest, Bram. You’re usually so broody and alone.”
Déaþscúa gave the two teens a long suffering look. “KT, Kai, this is Ailia Vihart. Ailia, this is KT and Kai Redthorn. We’re here to stock up.”
“On what?” Kai murmured under his breath. “Stuffed toys.”
Ailia clicked her fingers. Suddenly the room erupted into movement. Every shelf flipped or turned to be replaced by an identical arrangement but for the replacement of the teddy bears with an army’s worth of guns and weaponry. Kai stared around the room in awe, his mouth open. Even KT couldn’t help but be amazed by the vast array of shining death. There were all manner of guns, some long since outdated while others were modern in appearance and unlike anything they had ever seen before. Swords, axes and other blades were intermingled with the firearms along with shelf after shelf of ammunition.
“What takes your fancy?” Ailia grinned, giggling at their wonder.
“Nothing flashy today. A primary and secondary for each and I’ll collect my special order.”
“So no lasers or explosions?” Ailia asked, her smile d
ropping. Déaþscúa shook his head. “You’re no fun, Bram. Fine. I’ll see what I can do.” She started to crisscross the room checking weapons, all the while humming under her breath.
Déaþscúa stood fiddling with his phone. KT and Kai wandered the store, taking in the wealth of weapons until KT made her way back to the man. He had put his phone away and was now toying idly with his pistol.
“Who is that girl? She looks too young to run a gun store.”
Déaþscúa considered his answer carefully. “Ailia is special, I guess you could say. She is an expert on weaponry and is known across the world as a master weaponsmith.”
KT eyed the girl doubtfully. She was the picture of childhood innocence. “Okay. So why does she call you Bram? How many names do you have?”
Déaþscúa opened his mouth but Ailia appeared at their side. Her arms filled with weapons that were stacked up to just below her eye level. The weight would have been more than a fully grown man could have managed. She answered the question for him. “It’s short for Brambles. I had a cat once called Brambles and he was scruffy, bad tempered and got into a lot of fights too.”
“Enough about your pets,” Déaþscúa interrupted. “We need those weapons quickly. The MacFeelans are under attack and need a helping hand quick.”
“I know,” the girl answered. “I got the message a few days back to send them extra weapons. It sounds like there’s been daily skirmishes for almost a week now.”
She turned to KT, her smile returning at full force. “Here. This is the Wrath Mark II sub-rocket launcher. It has a twelve shot cylinder with each rocket capable of stopping anything in its tracks,” she explained as she handed KT a large gun with twelve small pods circling the central barrel. It was heavy but still managed to be lighter than it appeared. She was then handed two slim pistols and a double-ended sword.
“The pistols are simple lightweight Cobra Renegades with extended magazines while the doublesword is a fast melee weapon with a good range and area of attack. Your body looks like it can handle the flowing movements required to use it effectively. With a bit of practice anyway.”