‘Hey, Lucy, everything alright, over? Bruce asked the police operator.
‘Possible aggressive animal sighting down near the old abandoned lumber mill off Sun Valley Rd, down NF-137. Some hikers were on a trail when they heard some pretty loud coughing growls in the forest. They didn't wait around, but called it in … anyway, it shook ’em up quite a bit, though. I think they were surprised and didn't realize there actually might be wild creatures out in these here parts. Over,’ she drawled.
‘Okay, well, I'm just finishing up here at the Alexis residence, where I got a call for a definite bear going nuts. Can you report to Carter for me that there is a high possibility of another case of rabies? I will get out to the mill and see what is still around the area. Send me some backup as well, Lucy, while you're at it. Something's going on and if it’s rabies we might need to take the animal down before it infects anything else.’
‘Sure can, Bruce over,’ she simpered. Then she realized what Bruce had just reported. ‘Rabies! Oh crap on a stick.’
‘Please keep that to yourself for the moment. I don't want it going any further till confirmed, Lucy. Can you do that for me?’
‘Sure, sure anything for you, Bruce. What’s your ETA, over?’ she asked.
‘Approximately 15 mins, Lucy, over’ he said, looking up and wincing at me on hearing Lucy's tone.
I couldn't help it and got the giggles; yeah I know having the freaking giggles is not something I am prone to, but Bruce’s facial expression was just too priceless.
Bruce glared at me in mock anger.
‘Am leaving now, Lucy, thanks for the help. Hey, can you send me over Slim. I need a real level head with this, and he is good with wild animals, over’
‘Done deal, Bruce. Say hi to Deirdre for me by the way. Out.’
I stopped in mid giggle, shocked. How the hell? Oh my god.
Bruce laughed hard, at my face this time. ‘They all know you live out here, Deirdre. You're the new townie still, yah know.’
He sidled up to me, delicately grabbing my hand.
‘Can we continue this another time, say maybe over lunch or a dinner date?’
I got my third startle for the day. Geez, I hadn't thought that far ahead with Bruce, though obviously he had. I nodded, ‘Umm sure, Bruce, I'm a bit busy for the next few days so give me a call, and we'll organize something, okay?’
Bruce grinned like an idiot, which, amazingly, made him look even sexier than usual.
I half pushed him towards his car, as he hadn't let go of my hand.
‘You’d better run. That bear was pretty angry. You don't want to risk it getting close to tourists or anything. I think I was just darn lucky to have scared it off, but someone else might not be so lucky.’
His grinned disappeared, and his face went into business mode.
‘Sure, I better bolt then.’ He turned and smiled at me before getting in his car and fast tailing it down my driveway, gravel shooting out from beneath his back tires.
I frowned — what the hell had been spotted by the hikers? My bear was fertilizer for my lawn now … I shook my head, not my problem. Unless it was a direct threat to the balance of the area, then the police could handle it.
I turned back to the house, lightly touching my lips.
CHAPTER 16
I got back to the front porch, and took a deep breath. Well, this day certainly had been interesting. I took some comfort in the fact that my Earth Circle seemed to be up and functioning and startlingly effective.
I've always been a practical gal, and usually quite skeptical as well, so seeing the circle repel the undead animals was a relief, loosening something tight in my chest I wasn't even aware of.
I sat down on the front porch swing chair, nursing a glass of fresh lemonade I had whipped up earlier this morning, crunchy with ice and pungent fresh basil. I liked having a batch of this on hand, and yes it was liberally spiked with dashes of Vodka, to take the edge off the day.
As I looked out upon the lush greenery of my yard, I saw Ghob smoothly rise up from the lawn. He was attired in an entirely different manner today, a kilt of dark black coarse fabric framed his torso and hung on his midsection, looking like a mixture of fresh organic earth peppered at the edges with small dark-colored jewels that seemed to absorb the light around them, creating a black haze near the lower half of his legs.
He was framed by the lush greenery around him and looked particularly lush himself. I got a good look in up and down while he stood there, getting his bearings. He looked up at me and, wasting no time, strode up to me; his movements were purposeful and implacable.
‘Warder, we have another problem, not far from here near an abandoned human fixture, a human is in danger from more undead animals that have been subverted; you need to get there as quickly as possible.’
I stood up, ‘Subverted? What do you mean, Ghob?’
‘An animal, killed and then brought back, like the bear you dealt with earlier. Necromancy of the blackest kind.’
‘Another one! It's not a bear again, is it?’
‘I haven't seen it, but thought I would let you know. You were successful with the bear, and need to start dealing with these problems. I am thinking that investigating the source of this malady should be your priority as well.’
‘No worries, Ghob — I’ve reached the same conclusion myself. It’s become very personal now, as well as beginning to get out of hand. It wouldn't happen to be near an abandoned mill, would it?’
‘Yes, I believe that that may be what you humans call such constructions, though I feel that the area is overgrown, indicating that people have not been near the dwelling for a good while.’
‘No problem, I think I know it, and I think I know what and who you are talking about — a police officer went to investigate that disturbance. Crap! I hope it's not too obvious. I got away with the visual evidence of the undead bear here, and the damn flock of ravens, but if he has seen it already, the jig, as they say, may be up.’
‘Jig? What nonsense are you talking? I will leave this with you, Warder,’ he said, slightly emphasizing my title, ‘I have other matters to attend to. Good luck.’
He turned, kilt flaring a little too dramatically, though giving me an unexpected glimpse of some lightly haired muscular thighs as he took one step and slid into the ground.
I closed my eyes, taking advantage of the brief quiet for a moment. Opening them I sighed, almost not surprised that at the bottom of the steps was, well, I wasn't sure what it was, but standing rock still there was a large humanoid topping shy of 7ft tall, formed of what looked like pure basalt; it glinted in a glass-like manner.
Looking more closely, I could see beautiful delicate concentric circles radiating out in various areas of his body, bringing to mind a scattering of reversed Rorschach inkblots. I looked up at where his eyes should have been but could barely make them out. They were set back deep inside his head, under heavy rock eyebrow ridges, but it was obvious the creature was very aware of me.
Clutched in his left hand was a large blade hanging down by his side; its handle was crude but the blade itself shimmered with red and black highlights, the edge refracting off the afternoon light with a pearl-like sheen. Noticing where my gaze went, he looked down at the blade; looking back up, he dropped to one knee with a dramatic crunching of rock, bending his head and offering the blade.
I heard him rumble, ‘I offer my allegiance, my loyalty and my sword to you, oh Venerable Warder. I humbly ask you to accept me as your servant and warrior.’
Looking down at him, his head stayed bowed, the blade glinting up at me, mesmerizing me with the iridescent play of color across its surface.
I stood up, placing my drink on the porch table, and walked down the steps. I watched the top of his head, wary of any movement. I strangely wasn't scared, just cautious in case this was a ruse, though the mere fact that he entered through my Earth Circle indicated some form of benevolence or at least proved that he wasn't a danger to me.
> Stopping about a meter away, I got a closer view of him. He was very impressive. Thinking of his words to me, I formed a question.
‘What are you, creature?’
Not moving or raising his head, he murmured in a deep resonating voice, ‘I am a terra gnome. My name is Erdgeist. I am formed from the core of the earth.’
‘And how do you know of me, Terra Gnome? What brings you to the surface?’
‘Earth called me to champion the new warder who has finally come back to us. She needs an ally, so I have come.’
Thinking hard, I saw the sense in this. Ghob obviously couldn't be around all the time. I have held my own so far, but only just; having someone to protect my back would be sensible. But damn, look at the size of him — how would he go unnoticed?
‘Are you always,’ I waved my hand at his bulk, ‘this big?’
Looking up sharply, his forehead frowned slightly. A humming ensued from his mouth, and he literally started shrinking; basalt shrieked against minerals and within a moment, he was human size.
‘I can be any size you wish, Warder,’ putting his head back down to a bowing position.
Impressed, and going by some unfelt instinct, I walked all the way up to him. Placing my hand on his shoulder, I intoned, ‘Rise, Erdgeist, I accept your charge, and will have you by my side until our pact is broken. May we be allies and friends.’ I thought the formality would be more acceptable to him, given the solemnity of his offer; and judging by his reaction, I assumed correctly.
He rose, putting out his blade, and intoned, ‘By my blade, Mahogany Death, I forever place myself at your call, friend Warder, until broken or in death.’ Bringing the tip of the blade to his forehead, reverently resting it there, he slashed the blade out, reversed it and sheathed it into the side of his hard body; it slid in without a sound, disappearing from sight.
This guy was full of impressive moves by the looks of it. And now I had a bodyguard — fantastic.
‘Thank you, you have come at a good time, I think, though we will need to lessen the formality if we’re going to be friends. I'm Deirdre. You’re welcome to call me that if you want.’
Stepping back startled, he shucked his head down like he was an embarrassed kid. He whispered ‘Warder will do. I am not comfortable with calling you anything less. You’re Earth’s new ally against all that is evil and wicked and you should have a dignified title.’
Almost groaning aloud, I thought to myself, crap, an ally and a killjoy — what had I just signed myself up for?
‘No problem, Terra Gnome,’ I countered.
He ducked his head low but made no comment to my not calling him by name.
‘Enough. Ghob has mentioned an issue not too far away. We need to attend to it immediately. Are you able to accompany me now?’
He nodded in acquiescence.
‘Good, now I am new to Earth travel but we need to get there quickly, so I am going to use that mode of travel. We have to get to an abandoned mill off the 408 on Highway NF-137. Can you get us there?’
Erdgeist paused in thought.
‘Yes, I am aware of the lay of the land, and many of its buildings. I believe I know the place you are talking about.’
‘Good.’ Taking a breath, I moved closer to him, ‘then lead me to the mill, but only on the outskirts. We need to assess the situation there first before we act. There’s also a possibility that two humans will be there. We are not to give away our presence under any circumstances. One of the humans knows me, and I don't wish him to know I am involved.’
‘As you will, Warder.’
‘Standing next to me, he placed his heavy hand gently on my shoulder and intoned, ‘Ready?’
‘Yes, let's go.’ I concentrated, and as we sunk smoothly under the earth I watched the sky darken into early evening, the stars teasing into view, promising a magical night of mayhem; then all went dark.
CHAPTER 17
Highway NF-137
We slid up out of the soil, and found ourselves surrounded by a mixture of bramble and towering pine. This Earth travel caper was a combination of excitement and cloying claustrophobia for me, though having the terra gnome’s presence at my side went a long way to alleviating my natural human reaction to the enfolding solid earth around me.
We had moved through the solid earth not far under the surface of the ground, a few meters down at most, not using an Earth trail because the terra gnome assured me it would not be worth traveling deeper. I was mindful of the fact, though, that we actually went through a few massive mountains to reach the mill, located off Route 408 in another valley opposite to where I lived. It gave me shivers just thinking about it.
I could see the abandoned sawmill just ahead of me. It was sunken in and dilapidated with delicate swathes of old man's beard growing from its exposed beams. Peeking through the foliage it was evident it had seen better days. A small mill used and then left to rot, the area it was in was cleared of forest. It was forgotten now, sitting exposed to the elements off the beaten track, though obviously not far enough away for curious hikers to come across. I could see dim old remnants of scrawled graffiti that had faded and cracked from the elements.
My scar itched a little, warning me of something wrong.
In the distance I heard a few hideous coughing roars, which sounded outraged. I looked grimly at the terra gnome and gestured to him to follow me, indicating silence with a finger to my lips. I still hadn't a clue at what animal made that sort of sound, though I was confident that this time it was not a bear; it reminded me of an angry cat.
Damn, I hope I wasn't too late, I thought, as I hurried as quietly as possible in the direction of the noise.
Edging around the sawmill, I got to my knees and slowly crawled to the end of the long grass, parting slowly the overgrown grass. We came upon a grisly scene. Pressed up to his patrol car, Bruce was cornered not by one but by two large undead mountain lions — fucking hell, he was in trouble. Bruce had parked his car near the road, which was surrounded by a heavily wooded area, and it seemed that when he’d arrived, he’d got ambushed by them but had managed to get his back to his car for protection.
One arm was bleeding from what looked like a long series of scratches; under and supported by his other arm was a standard Colt M4 rifle. He would need to get a headshot if he was going to in any way put them down before they got to him again. Shit, highly doubtful.
The cougars rattled out another roar each; their state of decay was, thankfully, minimal. I noticed a few little patches of decay that kind of blended in with their thick coats, but I didn't think Bruce would see them, unless he actually knew what to look for. And from his expression I didn't think he was concerned about the condition of their fur coats but more about not being made into a big kitty meal.
It didn't appear that he had fired any shots yet, as the cats didn't seem in the least frightened. I watched as the largest one, dark reddish in color and sporting some lighter patches on the throat and underbelly which could be decay, started slowly circling to the far left from where we were concealed, its ears pinned back as it snarled. I could see that if it got too close, it would be able to get around behind Bruce and then he was going to be majorly screwed.
Looking up at the terra gnome, I whispered, ‘Don't let your presence be known, Gnome.’
He flicked me a stony look, as I caught a glimpse of the light refracting off his black eyes, and nodded his head in agreement.
‘I want you to take out the cat circling to the left,’ I instructed. ‘You cannot let the person over there know anything about your presence — just be nice and quiet, alright?’
The terra gnome looked at me before nodding slowly. ‘It will be done, Warder.’
Frowning in thought, he added, ‘The other cat?’ and gestured with his head to the cat off to the right.
‘I will deal with it … somehow.’
I looked out at the closest mountain lion, wracking my brain about what to do. Bruce was going to be in strife in a moment, and
he didn't realize that these guys couldn't be killed in the conventional manner. The red mountain lion gave an off gurgling low-pitched hiss; it sunk to the ground, trying to conceal itself more. In the off brush and large tufts of grass, it blended in rather too well.
Hearing a slight rustle, I looked back to the terra gnome, and he was gone … shit, shit, shit.
Time was running out, and I couldn't alert Bruce to any involvement from me, rule one of Warder etiquette: ‘Don't let humans know of your power.’ The smaller mountain lion focused on Bruce. It shook its head, and I noticed some tufts of matted hair fall out. It was in obvious discomfort, undead or not. Bruce could see that this wasn't usual mountain lion behavior. Out here they rarely attacked humans, and not this openly either. They were ambush predators and preferred stalking undetected.
Bruce cocked his shotgun, provoking a burst of angry snarls from both the cats. The one on the right was bunching his haunches; I could see the ripple of muscles float across his back — he was getting ready to attack. I looked desperately around, and spied a few rocks lying around me, a jumble of broken jagged wood from the sawmill and not much else. I looked at the rocks again. I could control the earth and what is part of the earth — rocks, right?
Laughing silently to myself I grabbed a chunk of rock. Looking at it, I concentrated and looked up over at the second cat. Getting on my knees, I lobbed the rock as hard as I could, low and fast. Feeling the energy of the stone, I willed it to go much more quickly than I could usually throw and the rock skimmed through the air practically invisible. With my energy guiding it, the rock flew straight and true and hit the cougar hard. He let out a very un-cougar like screech and jumped straight up in the air. Spitting in surprised fury, it did a complete three sixty and landed on its fucking feet in my direction — oh crap, all I’d done was piss it off.
Dirt skidded up from it, as it propelled itself forward. It leapt an astonishing distance, landing not 10 meters from me, its ears pulled back as it snarled at me, deep and throaty. I got a bird’s-eye view of its rotten gums and massive incisors and as I looked a tooth at the back fell out — Jesus, it was rotting. The cougar looked at me and coiled to spring. I put both hands on the ground, still in my crouched position and watched in terror as it burst at speed right for me. I sunk straight down, and felt the thud of it landing in my exact position above me. It scrabbled at the soil and leaf litter, spraying up a dirty cloud around it; its razor sharp claws doing tremendous damage.
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