by Jeff Gunhus
“How should I know whether he existed or not?” the old man said. “All I know is that there’s no shortage of young men and women who follow the wild goose chase in the books to end up here. The coin was a new twist though. I liked that.”
“Great,” I said. “Glad we could entertain you.”
“Come on, you’re not the first to fall for the old wives’ tale. And I doubt you’ll be the last.” The old man said eyed the coin in my hand. “Maybe I could buy that off you, though? At least give you something for your troubles.”
I closed my fingers around the coin and slid it into my pocket. “Sorry, it’s not for sale.”
The old man stared at my pocket for a second as if he might try to haggle, but then shrugged and went back to chopping his lemons. I stood there dumbly as he proceeded to ignore us.
“Come on,” I said to Will. “I think that’s our cue.”
We made our way back through the maze of tables and chairs. We were almost to the door when the man called, “And boys…if you find Gregor, have him stop in for a drink, will you? I’d love to meet him.”
Men all around us in the café broke into laughter as they repeated the word Gregor over and over again like it was the punch line to the funniest joke they’d ever heard.
“Oh man,” Will said. “This isn’t good. What are we going to do?”
“I have no idea,” I replied. “But we’re getting out of here. Let’s go.”
We made our way out of the café and back into the street. It took me a second to pick out the two other teams in the crowd. Eva and T-Rex straight across from us. Daniel and Xavier down the street to our left. I made eye contact with Daniel and signaled to him that we needed to speak right away. He nodded that he understood.
We both turned toward Eva to give her the same message. Just as we did, the monsters attacked.
Chapter Four
The attack was swift and violent. Eva and T-Rex were still pretending to be interested in one of the shops, with Eva going so far as to argue price with the shopkeeper. It was a good idea and made it seem less strange that they would camp out across the street from the café, but it must have distracted her just enough that she didn’t catch the Creach closing in on her position until it was too late.
From across the street, it was easy to pick out. There were five of them, all dressed in black robes, each face fully covered by a wrapped turban, and they’d approached Eva and T-Rex’s location from different points on the street. The shopkeeper must have been in on it because on some silent signal he ducked back into his shop, arms covering his head. The Creach in the black robes converged on Eva at once. I saw a flash of metal as she managed to get her sword out, followed by a stifled scream as it was knocked away. In a flash, the Creach pulled black bags over her and T-Rex’s heads, cinched the drawstrings tight, hefted my friends off the ground, and disappeared down a side alley, away from the street.
It all happened in less than five seconds.
Just like that, Eva and T-Rex were gone.
Most disconcerting was that no one in the souk took any notice. They continued on with their day as if nothing had happened. Either they didn’t want to be involved or it had happened so fast that no one had caught it. I guessed it was a bit of both. Most people couldn’t have seen it. And those who had probably survived by not nosing around in the business of men dressed in black robes moving with military efficiency.
Daniel crossed my field of vision, already half the distance toward the alley. I realized I was standing there with my mouth open in disbelief like an idiot. Even Will was already a few steps ahead of me, his hand under his robe fishing out his sword.
Eva and T-Rex were taken, but not gone. Not if we had any say in the matter.
I sprinted toward the alley, quickly overtaking Will. I felt the extra power in my legs that always surprised me since my Change right before my fourteenth birthday. Somehow my ancient Templar blood had known what I would need to survive as a monster hunter, and my body had grown freakishly strong right before that fateful night when I fought Ren Lucre. The Change had slowed down, but some of the things I could do still surprised me. I had a feeling that I’d need every advantage I could get in the fight ahead.
I passed Xavier and reached the alley just as Daniel ducked into it. There was only room for one person at a time because the space was so narrow, no more than a pass-through between the buildings. A perfect spot for an ambush. Creach archers waiting above could pick us off one by one in the confined space. But there was no other option. If they got away with Eva and T-Rex into the maze of streets in the souk, they would be gone forever. I pulled my sword and followed Daniel into the alley.
It was darker here with only the small gap between buildings three stories up for light. The ground was covered with trash coming up to our knees in some places. Old newspapers, soda cans, discarded wrappers. We had no choice but to abandon all caution. A few well-placed steel-claw traps under the rubbish would have ended the pursuit pretty quickly, but thankfully the Creach hadn’t thought that far ahead. As the alley curved around buildings, I followed Daniel, his tall frame blocking my view so I had no idea what lay ahead of us. I nearly ran into him when he came to a sudden stop.
“What is it?” I asked. “Why are you stopping?” He leaned to one side so I could see in front of him. The alley had curved and now ended with a blank wall. There was no sign of Eva, T-Rex or any of the Creach. I heard steps crunching through the trash behind us.
I turned, worrying that this was the ambush I’d feared.
But instead of a Creach hoard closing in on us, it was just Will and Xavier hurrying to catch up.
I spun back to Daniel. “Where did they go? Did we miss a turn?”
He shook his head, the blood drained from his face. “I didn’t see one, did you?”
Will and Xavier stopped behind us. “Where are they?” Will asked.
Xavier looked nervous. “Had anyone else considered this might be a trap?”
I thought I heard a sound, almost like a muffled cry. Eva.
“Quiet,” I said, holding up my hand. “Everyone.”
They all fell silent. Seconds passed, and the only sound was our heavy breathing from the run. With the adrenaline surging through our systems, it felt like an eternity. Daniel was the first to grow impatient. “We don’t have time to—”
The sound came again. Very faint, but it was definitely Eva. Daniel heard it too and looked sheepish for having made any noise.
“What direction did it come from?” I asked. Everyone shook their heads and craned their necks to listen for the sound again.
It paid off a few seconds later when a louder cry was followed quickly by a deep grunt. It wasn’t hard to guess that Eva had landed a good punch or kick on one of her captors. With the two sounds, it also wasn’t hard to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. I just had a hard time believing what I saw.
We all slowly raised our eyes higher and higher up the walls of the alleyway. Far above us, nearly three stories high, the five black-robed Creach climbed the walls like spiders. Eva and T-Rex were each being held by two of the Creach. They struggled and kicked against their captors, and I wondered if they had any idea they were so far up in the air. I doubted it because a fall from that height would kill them.
Our more immediate problem was that they were nearly to the top. The buildings were so close that it was like there was a second set of roads across the rooftops. Once they got up there, they would be able to escape in any direction. There was no time for discussion, just action.
“Go back to the street,” I said to Daniel. “Look to the rooftops. I’ll try to signal you.”
“Wait, what are you going to do?” Will asked.
I walked up to the wall and grabbed my first handholds. “I’m going to get our friends back.”
Without waiting for an answer, I heaved my body onto the wall and reached for the next handhold. At least it was an old building, and the irregular surface worked t
o my advantage. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, focusing all my energy on the task ahead of me. I thought about Eva and T-Rex above me, struggling for their lives.
Surprising me, the Templar Ring grew warm against the skin on my finger, and I felt strength flow into me. It wasn’t the electric jolts I’d felt when I faced the dragons— it was more controlled this time. Like drinking something hot on a cold day and feeling the warmth spread out inside of you. It was the feeling I had craved since the day in the caves, and I soaked it up like sunlight.
I opened my eyes and looked up at the wall. The handholds I needed to use to climb to the top popped out at me, and I reached for the next one above me. Now when I pulled up the rest of my body, I felt weightless. I didn’t stop to think, I just climbed.
Left hand. Right hand. My feet scrambled to get a foothold, but sometimes I pulled myself up with my hands and arms only. Left hand. Right hand. I grunted from the exertion. Faster and faster I went until I felt like I was scampering on all fours on the flat ground instead of climbing forty feet straight into the air.
I reached the top not long after the black robed men did and rolled onto the flat roof, sliding my sword out as I did. When I looked up, two of the Creach stood facing me. While T-Rex was being dragged away by a single Creach, they’d figured out it was going to take two of them to control Eva. I was thankful because while two-to-one odds didn’t excite me, they were better than three-to-one.
I slowly rose from my crouched position, sword held forward. Each of the Creach pulled long, curved swords from their sides and split up, circling on either side of me. Their faces were covered by the layers of cloth wrapped around as both turban and scarf, but I could still see their eyes. They were bright yellow with horizontal irises like the eyes I’d thought I’d seen staring at me in the window earlier in the day. I should have known then that we were in trouble.
“I don’t suppose we could just talk this out,” I said, trying to buy some time.
The Creach to my right lunged forward and struck at me. I blocked it easily, but I knew it was only a distraction. I spun as the real attack came from the Creach behind.
We traded a violent flurry of blows. The thin sword hammered away at mine, sparks scattering with each hit. I sensed movement behind me and dodged a skewering at the last second by rolling to the side. At least now I had both of my adversaries in front of me. They wasted no time and attacked together.
In the movies, the hero is always battling three or four bad guys at a time in swordfights, and it looks kind of easy. Trust me, there’s nothing easy about it. In the movies, the other bad guys politely wait for their turn to attack. In the real world, there’s no such thing as good manners. It’s kill or be killed, and the two Creach in front of me weren’t leaving anything to chance.
They each pulled a second sword from inside their robes. I found myself facing four blades to my one. Not good.
I worked hard fending off one blow after another. I had no choice but to give ground as they pressed their attack. I couldn’t afford to look behind me, but I knew I was going to run out of roof soon. Once I did, the Creach would only need to rush forward to shove me off the edge. I intended to throw something to the street below so Daniel, Xavier and Will would know where I was. I just didn’t want that thing to be my body.
Then I caught a break. I felt the surface beneath my feet change from smooth concrete to gravel. I timed the action, reached down, grabbed a handful of stone and grit, and threw it at the monsters’ eyes. One was quick enough to raise his forearm to block the spray of gravel, but the other one took it full in the face and reared back, temporarily blinded.
I took the opportunity and ran at the blinded one, hitting him with my shoulder and shoving him into his buddy. They both roared with rage as they tried to regain their footing. I had no chance for a finishing blow, so I simply ran past them. Once I did, I spotted the other Creach, the ones carrying Eva and T-Rex, two rooftops away. I sprinted toward them, jumping over the narrow gap between the buildings. Footsteps behind me told me the Creach I’d been fighting were hot on my trail.
The next gap ahead of me was wider than the first one.
A lot wider.
Not only that, but the roof I had to jump to was a little higher than the one I was jumping from. I had no idea how the Creach had made the jump carrying Eva and T-Rex. But with four swords behind me and my friends being kidnapped in front of me, I really didn’t have a choice. I had to jump.
I pushed harder, trying to get as much speed as possible. Pumping my arms. Grunting from the effort.
With a yell, I jumped off the edge, my arms and legs windmilling through the air.
About halfway through the jump, something terrible occurred to me.
I wasn’t going to make it. Not even close.
The opposing wall was already above me so, unless the law of gravity just stopped for some reason, I was about to become a pancake on the road three stories below.
I heard my voice turn from an aggressive yell to a freaked out cry.
Midair, I twisted my body and ducked my head, and I somehow directed my flying body toward a wood-shuttered window one story down.
I smacked into the shutter and it gave way with a loud crack. Pain seared across my back, but it was a lot better than what hitting the street would have felt like.
I tumbled through the window and landed inside a room, the shutter in splinters around me. An old woman in the room jumped to her feet, screaming at me. Out of nowhere, she produced a broom and proceeded to whack away at me like I was some stray dog.
I reached for my sword, not to fight her of course, but to at least ward her off a little. But it was gone. I’d dropped it after I realized I wasn’t going to make the jump. I held up my arms to shield myself from the old woman as she kept whacking me. And I thought the Creach with their swords were bad. At least I could fight back against them. I did my best to block her blows, apologizing for breaking her shutter while I made my way to the nearest door.
I finally got out of the room and found myself in a wide hallway lined with doors to other apartments. Most important, I spotted stairs that went back up to the roof. Ignoring the old woman’s curses behind me, I sprinted to the stairs and took them three at a time. There was a door at the top. I hit it at full-speed, breaking it off its hinges and spilling out onto the rooftop.
The Creach, all five of them, were another two or three rooftops away. I ran to the edge of the building and looked for Daniel, Will and Xavier. Luckily, they were on the street below me. Xavier held my sword that I’d dropped, which explained how they’d located me.
Shouting and waving my hands like a lunatic, I got their attention. “That way!” I pointed in the direction of the fleeing Creach. They wouldn’t be able to see them from street-level, but at least they would know what direction I’d be heading.
“Wait for us!” Daniel yelled.
I shook my head. “No time. Follow me the best you can!”
Will yelled something back but I didn’t hear it. I’d already turned and was running toward the retreating Creach. The gaps between the houses started to get wider, but at least the houses were about the same height as one another. I had to give each jump everything I had to barely make it across. Ahead of me, the Creach made the jumps look effortless. I was especially amazed by the Creach carrying Eva and T-Rex. Making the jump solo was one thing. Making it while carrying well over a hundred pounds of weight was ridiculous. It made me wonder how I was supposed to defeat five monsters with that kind of strength. Especially since I was chasing after them with nothing more than my bare hands. But I didn’t have time to worry about that. I needed to catch them first.
Or at least I thought I did.
The two Creach I’d fought earlier stopped in midstride, doubled-back and charged at me full speed. Suddenly, I’d caught up to them, and I had no idea what I was going to do about it.
They had both swords out again and they ran toward me shoulder-to-shoulder. W
ithout thinking, I ran even faster, closing the distance between us as quickly as possible. Right as they were about to jump over the last gap between roofs separating us, I was already mid-leap through the air to the roof they were on. They didn’t duck fast enough.
I curled myself in a ball and smacked into one of them, knocking him down. As I rolled clear, I realized that one of the Creach’s swords had come loose from the impact. I grabbed it. When I got back to my feet, I was armed and staring at my foes.
I guess my antics had earned me the grudging respect of the Creach. This time they hung back and studied me. I heard a soft clicking noise and realized they were speaking to each other in some odd language I’d never heard before. One of them pointed to my hand where I wore the Templar Ring, and the clicking sound increased in tempo. They appeared agitated.
They must have reached some kind of decision because the clicking stopped. They both reached up and unwrapped the scarves covering their heads and faces.
Something told me that whatever lay under those twists of cloth was better off staying hidden, but I couldn’t help but stare as the layers slowly came off.
The Creach faces were worse than anything I could have imagined. Their weird yellow goat eyes were just the start of it. Their skin looked like meat left to bake in the sun for weeks on end. It was a lifeless grey and covered with gouges, blisters and scabs. Their noses had been eaten away, but instead of leaving two gaping holes where their nostrils should be, it was like the flesh had melted over and then congealed into a flat flap of skin. This left them with only their mouths to breathe through. These were small relative to the size of their faces and were shaped like a tight circle, as if they were frozen in a perpetual look of shock. Sharp teeth protruded past their lips, if you could call them that. The edges around their mouths were open, festering sores, staining their teeth with black blood.