Fire and Fantasy: a Limited Edition Collection of Epic and Urban Fantasy

by CK Dawn

  She grabbed Aktis by the back of the head and pulled, flinging him back into the side of a stand of fruits. The woman behind the stand screamed as produce flew all around and the grown man nearly toppled the structure. She kicked short Phil in the back and he stumbled forward and fell face first into a puddle of mud. Tall Phil held his hands up, backing up from Carter whose face was bloodied.

  “Shit, are you okay?” She pulled him to his feet.

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  “What the hell did you do, Carter, go out and recruit more freaks like you?” Aktis spit blood from his mouth at the pair.

  “I’d watch my mouth if I were you.” She turned on him.

  “Or what?” He flexed, but Asa noticed he didn’t move forward. He was afraid of her.

  “Or being knocked on your ass is going to be the least of your problems.”

  “Why don’t you all just go?” A tall woman touched the arm of Carter who was cleaning the blood from his face. He recognized her; her name didn’t come to mind, but he recognized the small scar just above her lip. A burn, something she was picked on for in school. Before it became obvious that Carter wasn’t like the rest of them, she was the one who took the brunt of Aktis’ bullying. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “It’s okay.” He turned to the older woman who held tears in her eyes. “Fema, thank you,” he murmured to his former friend as she handed him the bowls filled with the chowder they ordered. “Asa, let’s go.”

  “I’m sorry,” Asa said as they walked away from the crowd and the cowards who called after them. Empty threats, as they knew they would never see the two again.

  “What are you apologizing for?” Carter felt embarrassed. He’d let his emotions get the best of him, and instead of kicking ass, he got his ass handed to him.

  “For making you come here. Had I known that is what you would deal with—”

  “It’s not your fault they are assholes.”

  “Well, if I hadn’t been so hungry …”

  “Yeah, on second thought, it’s totally your fault, and I get to have an extra roll now.”

  “Right.” She laughed. “It’s all yours.”

  Nine

  “So, the plan is for us to just sit here and wait? This is bullshit, Carter. We should be doing more than this!” Asa was restless. They’d been back in his apartment for two days. She didn’t know what to expect when they returned but it wasn’t to be sitting and staring at the walls.

  “Asa, there is nothing for us to do. You heard Lehela. Ares is going to come to us.” Carter watched as the woman paced the floor in front of him and tried his best not to stare at her ass with each pass. Being cooped up made it impossible to ignore how attracted he was to her.

  “What the hell are we going to do until then? I gotta tell you, I am not okay with playing the sitting goose.”

  “We’re going to prepare ourselves. I put a call out to others, friends who can help. They will be here in a few days. Right now, they’re just wrapping up some things on their side of the world. Perhaps you could do the same.” Carter leaned forward in his seat. “Is there anyone you can call? Someone who would be of use to us.”

  “I don’t have much in the way of friends, and those that I do have … well, are no help to us here.” She thought of the old bartender back in New York, the only person she could even claim to be close to.

  “That is unfortunate. Ares is a lot stronger than any of the other gods either one of us have come in contact with so far, and if he has been here long enough to try to play us against each other, it means we are going to need as much help as we can get.”

  “More people complicate things.” Asa was having a hard enough time keeping herself together with just Carter prying into her past. She hadn’t been put around a large group with the expectation of courteous interactions in a very long time. Hers was a lonely life and she wanted to keep it that way.

  “All right, that’s enough sulking. Let’s go.” Carter groaned as he lifted from the couch. He hadn’t planned on doing anything for the rest of the night, but with Asa pacing and complaining it wasn’t as if he was headed for a peaceful night anyway.

  “Go? Go where? Off on another one of you your little excursions? I think I am done playing tourist for now.” She brushed him off.

  “No. Stop being so stubborn. You said you don’t want to sit here waiting, and as I said, it will be a few days before my guys show up. So, we can stay here and you can walk a hole in my floor, or we can get out and do something productive.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “Training.”

  “Train? You want us to train? Train in what exactly?”

  “Yes, hand-to-hand combat. Unless you are too afraid to do so.”

  “Afraid, of you? Oh yeah, shaking in terror!”

  “Oh ha, ha, ha. Less talk, more doing.” He headed to his room. “I just need to grab a few things, then we can get out of here and you can stop walking a groove into my floor!”

  A back door sitting to the right off a dark alley gave them access to the training center. Once a thriving boxing facility, it now was used mostly for moms in yoga pants attempting their best at CrossFit. The gym was owned by the man who ran the orphanage Carter frequented. The allotment of free time, after hours, was his way of thanking Carter for his work at the orphanage.

  “You want to box?” Asa asked as she watched Carter head for the relic of the past that sat in the back corner. The ring obviously wasn’t used often.

  “I want to fight. Trust me, our enemies will not be in boxers’ stances.”

  “That’s true enough, but then again, they won’t exactly be trying to have hand-to-hand sparring matches either. These are powerful beings. What makes you think they would limit themselves in such a way?”

  “I have no doubt that they will use every advantage available to them. That doesn’t negate the fact that we will need to protect ourselves in every possible way that we can.” He jumped in the ring. “Our hands, our bodies, are one of those ways.”

  “Great, so show me your master plan to fend off a god when he comes at you.” She stood outside watching him warm up. Shadow boxing imaginary demons. His form was exact, his body strong, but then again, she already knew that.

  “How about you try me and see?” He stopped and held the ropes open, inviting her to join him.

  “Try you? You think you can take me?” Carter was strong, but he had no idea what he was really up against. She climbed in the ring, refusing his assistance, and stood to face him. “Where was all that back in Oikos?” she teased him.

  “I was caught off guard. But please, tell me something.” He leaned in close, taunting her. “Do I look worried?”

  “Let’s see what you got!” She pushed him and jumped back, landing in a crouched position.

  “Bring it.”

  Asa held back on her first attack. She pulled her punches and moved just fast enough to test his reflexes. The man was good, matching her move for move. She punched, he blocked. She kicked, he dodged. When she retreated from him, he kept on her. To give her space would be to give her momentum for a stronger attack.

  “Good, you’re a quick study,” she complimented him, but before he could thank her, she quickened her speed, dropped to one knee and swept her leg out, knocking his legs from under him. His back slammed against the floor of the ring. Quickly she was on top of him, but he’d recovered, blocked her, and knocked her away. Their fight grew with intensity as both tested the other and then challenged with more power, more force.

  The energy changed when Asa ran for Carter who surprised her. On his wrist, what looked like a normal accessory, a poor choice for fashion, was a band. He tapped the side and it lit up and emitted a white light that wrapped around her legs lasso style and tripped her.

  “What the hell was that? You have magic?” Asa pulled herself up. The fight was long from over, but the rules had definitely changed.

  “All of the hunters have these little accessor
ies, talisman that transfer power to us. They were given to us to protect us. We want to keep the gods out, but we are no fools. Not every run is going to be a smooth one. Sometimes we have to fight to survive. And as you said, gods, even the weak ones, have no consideration for what is a fair game.”

  “You’re right. They don’t. And neither do I!” She attacked again, this time dodging the whip and landing a blow to his jaw. He bounced back, barely fazed, and came at her. This time it was her to issue the surprise as she used the magic of a forest nymph she’d taken out and forced a blow of air into his chest. He fell into the corner of the ring gasping for air.

  “I knew there was more to you than you let on,” he grunted as the pressure against his chest ceased.

  “A girl has to have her secrets.”

  The sparring continued, each switching between physical fighting and magical. The gym rang out with echoes of their fight. Unfortunately, Asa got swept away with energy from the fight. It had been a long time since she’d fought a suitable opponent and Carter continued to prove himself as just that. She ducked back to dodge another blow from the whip and released a blow of her own that knocked him to the ground.

  “Ha!” She jumped around the ring, celebrating. “Come on, get up. I know you got more than that.” She danced around more, mimicking his earlier shadow boxing, but Carter didn’t respond.

  “Carter?” she called, sweat pouring from her brow. When he still didn’t move, she ran to him and fell to her knees at his side. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I just … I just …”

  His breaths were there, barely, shallow and struggling. She lifted his head and listened. “Please, don’t die. You can’t.” There was no one around, no one to help and he was slipping. How could she have been so reckless? There was no choice. She couldn’t let Carter die. Knowing full well the risk that she would take in preventing his death, she laid him flat on the ground. On her knees, next to his body she began the chant, one learned a long time ago, one that would drain her, but she would survive and she couldn’t let him die. Milíste sti zoí, ypochoríste apó to thánato. Epistrépste sto fos, antikroúste ti nýchta. She repeated the words again and again until she could feel the life returning to his body.

  Carter opened his eyes. The center of his chest stung as his lungs filled with air but the sensation was not long lasting. What the hell happened? he thought to himself. The familiar odor of sweat infused wood and the worn leather of boxing bags registered with him; the gym, they’d gone to the gym. He remembered what happened. The sparring, the excitement, the look in her eyes as she finally let herself go. He had gotten through to her, and she let her guard down. Yeah, it took trying to kill each other, but it had worked. The action of combat was exactly what she needed, complete abandonment of logic and fear. She’d almost killed him. He lifted his hand to his chest. Hell, he thought she’d succeeded, but the pain continued to subside with each breath.

  Movement to lift his head from the ground caused a wave of dizziness, and he paused, waiting for it to pass for fear of fainting. He felt better, but apparently, he wasn’t at 100% quite yet. To steady himself he leaned on his elbow and turned his head just enough to get a view of Asa. She was laying just a few feet away from him. Did he manage to get a shot off?

  “Okay, I didn’t mean for us to literally try to kill one another, or to come so close to succeeding.” He chuckled as he started to shift from the floor. “How bad did I get ya? I don’t even remember getting a shot off.” Sitting upright, he rested his elbows on his knees. A wave of motion sickness passed slowly as he waited for her response, but it didn’t come. “Asa?”

  Asa’s body remained motionless, unresponsive to the sound of her name echoing through the gym. He shook off the remaining effects of his vertigo and made it over to her. “Asa?” Lifting her into his arms, he examined her. She was okay, breathing steady, but for whatever reason, she was completely out of it. “What the hell happened? What did you do?”

  Getting Asa back to his apartment without suspicion was anything but an easy task. Luckily, the Uber driver who pulled up in a black mini-van with automatic sliding doors didn’t think to question the man carrying the unconscious woman back to his home. Larry, the chubby driver, made one joke about the unconscious woman not being able to hold her liquor and said nothing else of it. Carter shook his head in disbelief as he exited the vehicle. It was a good thing for him, but he wondered how many times Larry had seen that, and how he could be so unconcerned about the wellbeing of the woman. The driver asked no questions, held no suspicions of what occurred.

  As he made it up to his apartment, lugging the deceptive weight of an unconscious Asa, Carter prayed that no one saw him and decided to put a call into the authorities about the large, sweaty, black man who was seen carrying a limp, unconscious woman up to his apartment. That would not go over well at all.

  Inside the apartment, he handled her as gently as he could as he laid her sweaty body on the bed. She was warm and getting hotter. With a fever setting in, he could think of only one thing to do and retrieved a cool rag for her forehead. When she started to shiver, he stared down at her, worried. “What the hell is going on with you?” The heavy jacket was removed from her and placed on the small chair next to the bed, then was replaced by a blanket that would allow more comfort for her. He didn’t think to question why the thin piece of leather felt so heavy. His dizziness returned shortly after he’d done all he could for her, and he climbed into the bed, lying close enough to feel her move, but not close enough to freak her out should she wake up. They both needed to rest, but he wanted to stay as close to her as possible.

  Negligence to close the blinds meant being awoken by hot rays of sun stinging his eyes and waking him up. Besides the nuisance of having to close them each night, opening them made the place a little less depressing, but he hated the wakeup call. Though he wanted to end his annoyance, there was a weight on his arm that made it impossible for him to move. He looked down to find Asa clinging to him. Her body still shivered even though it was nearly eighty degrees in his apartment.

  As gently as he could, he shifted her weight, just enough so that he could pull his arm free. The cool towel that was on her forehead had slipped and somehow made its way under his ass, making an uncomfortable and inappropriate looking wet spot between his legs. As he headed to get another blanket to cover her with, despite the heat of the room, he kicked off his pants. He’d have to grab some dry ones when he came back. Returning to her, he found her staring at him.

  “You’re awake. How are you feeling?” He put the blanket on the foot of the bed.

  “Shitty. Where are your pants?” She eyed him suspiciously and shifted her position.

  “Oh, um …” He looked down, spotted the wet sweatpants on the floor, and opted to go to the drawer for replacement.

  “Planning to take advantage of me?” she asked sarcastically.

  “I would never.” Quickly he covered himself with a new pair of sweats before picking up the wet ones and dumping them into the hamper. “What happened? How did you get like this? Do you remember what happened last night? Are you sick?”

  “Sick, no, not sick. I am just weak. It took a lot out of me. I’m sorry I hurt you.” She attempted to sit up, but gave up when her arms shook beneath her weight. Carter move to help her, propping the pillows beneath her back.

  “Hurt me? No, I’m fine. What took a lot out of you?”

  “You don’t remember?”

  “Remind me. What are you talking about?” He had no recollection of what she had done to save him. As far as he knew, they sparred, he took a heavy hit, and woke up winded.

  “Carter, you were dying.” She paused to gather her thoughts. “I hit you, hard. I got swept away in the excitement of it all. It’s been so long since I really had a sparring partner that could give me a run for my money.” She shook her head. “I should have never let myself be so reckless. You were barely breathing. I did what I had to in order to save you. It just
really took a lot out of me. I’ve done that spell before, but you’re no normal human. I guess the demigod in you takes more healing than others.”

  “I was dying and you saved me? You risked yourself to save me?” He sat on the bed and stared at her. Why would she take such a risk? How did she possess the power to heal him, to bring him back from the brink of death?

  “It’s not that big of a deal, really. I just used my stores.” Foolishly Asa tried to get up from the bed and reached for her jacket but fell to the floor. In a huff, she continued her explanation. “I’m a collector of sorts. Magic, I take it from others, bad people mostly. I’ve spent so much time collecting and storing, learning about the history behind the magic.”

  “You can explain all of that to me later. I’m sure it will be interesting to learn how you accomplished it. Right now, however, I think you should just be worrying about resting. You need to stay in bed.” He picked her up effortlessly and returned her to the bed. As much as he wanted to hear her explanation, he knew it would do no good for her. Besides, he wasn’t sure if he was ready to hear whatever it was she had to say.

  “No, I need to get out of here and find a way to help myself recharge. Ares is coming, I can’t be like this.”

  “You can barely stand. Tell me what you need and I will go get it.” He wasn’t confident that he could deliver on that promise, especially after what she’d just confessed.

  “Yeah, I highly doubt that,” she huffed.

  “Try me. What is it?”

  “Look, I don’t have time to explain all of this to you. I need to go.” She shifted in the bed and once again failed to get to her feet.

  “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I don’t think you will be going anywhere for a while.” After pushing her back in the bed, he replaced the blanket over her body. How could she even consider going anywhere when she’s still shivering and feverish? “So, it looks like you have nothing but time to explain it to me.”