Kindling Flames-Flying Sparks

by Julie Wetzel

  Vicky patted him on the neck again. “Don’t worry, Zak. I still love you.”

  Zak let out a whinny before bolting ahead of the group in joy. She clutched his mane as Darien grabbed on to her to keep from falling off the excited horse.

  “You know he’s going to be impossible to live with now,” Darien said, feeling more than a little jealous.

  “True.” Vicky thought about it. “But, maybe he’ll stop eating your pants now.” She could feel Darien’s soft rumble of laughter against her back.

  He gave her a light squeeze. “Not likely.”

  Vicky fell silent as she shook her head at the truth in his words.

  Darien leaned forwards slightly so he could feel her a little firmer against him as he reminded himself that Zak was just an animal, a highly intelligent animal that would give him a run for his money if it ever came down to a real fight, but he was still just an animal.

  “Look there.” Vicky pointed down to something just in front of the hounds before tucking a loose strand of hair back behind her ear.

  Darien followed her line of sight to see the lights of the Touraine Building drawing near.

  “Isn’t that where you live?” she asked, pointing to the building. It looked a lot different from above.

  “Yes,” Darien said softly next to her ear.

  Her heart skipped a little at the closeness. Vicky could feel him pressed into her back, but she didn’t expect him to be so closely molded to her body. They watched as the first of the hounds reached the area over the building and started baying and circling as if they were sniffing for something.

  Zak slowed as they closed on the site.

  Darien shifted his hold on Vicky as Zak’s gait fell to something less smooth.

  “Why are we here?” Vicky asked as she reached up to take a hold on Darien’s arm.

  “The hounds are following the ifrit’s trail.” He watched the churning pack swirl in the air over his building. “I suspect this was the last place it was.”

  The hounds spread out slightly, smelling the air, until a few of the dogs on one side turned, let out a cry, and took off again. The sound was picked up by the rest of the pack, and everyone was soon riding off in the new direction. It was only a few minutes before the hounds arrived at Darien’s office and repeated the scene.

  “It looks like you’re right.” Vicky said as the dogs took off in another direction. She grabbed onto Darien’s arm as Zak turned sharply to gallop off again. “Does this mean we’ll visit every sight the ifrit has been till we find where it came from?”

  “Perhaps,” Darien patted her softly on the leg to reassure her.

  The Hunt thundered on as they tracked the ifrit’s path through the city. Vicky grew quiet as they rode over the mall before turning to head towards the warehouse where the ifrit had confronted Darien in the circle. Darien grew serious when they paused at the hospital where Vicky had been treated for burns. Apparently, the ifrit had visited during her stay there. Wrapping his second arm around her protectively, he realized how close he had come to losing her. He had left her alone in the hospital without any protection, not knowing she was in danger. The creature could have very easily taken her there. Why he hadn’t was beyond Darien’s comprehension.

  “I will never leave you unprotected again,” he vowed softly to Vicky as they turned and headed off to the next site in search of their prey. Darien would make sure she had something to protect her at all times, even if he had to hold her down and tattoo runes on her hide himself.

  Vicky shivered under the weight of the vampire’s words. She had never heard a more serious promise from anyone in her life.

  The Wild Hunt stopped one more time over Vicky’s burned out apartment. She hadn’t been back to see what had happened, but the damage didn’t look bad from the air.

  The dogs circled around for a few minutes unsure of where to go next. The hellhounds first went one way and then the other, like they couldn’t decide where they wanted to go. The horses pranced as they waited for the pack to find the scent.

  Zak let out a loud whinny and stomped his hooves, urging the dogs to choose.

  A large mastiff let out a growling bark before changing it to a loud howl and heading south. The rest of the hellhounds answered the call, and it was picked up by the wolves as the mass of canines bolted out after the first dog.

  The horses took up the course and pounded after them through the storm that had caught up to them. It hadn’t started raining yet, but the heavy clouds flashed and rumbled with the energy of the passing Hunt.

  ***

  The hellhounds circled a huge, abandoned building deep in the industrial part of the south side. Darien looked around at the host of creatures waiting to get into the building. They had ridden all over town visiting the sites the ifrit’s flames had burned.

  Darien expected to visit all the places where people had disappeared, but the hounds had led them here instead. Did that mean something else was responsible for the rest of the unexplained disappearances? He shook his wet hair back from his face and pulled on the material wrapped around him, attempting to keep him and Vicky dry. She shivered against him inside his cloak as the cold rain poured down from the angry clouds above.

  “The hounds say it is definitely in there,” Lord Dakine said from the back of his horse. “But there seems to be some kind of ward around the building keeping them out.”

  Darien nodded. “How hard will it be to take it down?” he asked, shifting his grip to the hilt of his sword.

  Lord Dakine contemplated the darkened building for a few moments, bouncing his head back and forth as he judged the best way to break the magic around it. “We can do it,” he finally said. “But it’s not going to be pretty, and I can’t tell what’s behind the barrier.”

  Rupert’s horse danced closer to Darien. “The wolves are ready when you are,” the alpha said, and a howl answered in agreement.

  Darien looked over to see Clara had already drawn out her bow and nocked an arrow.

  “Then let’s gather the dogs back and crack this thing open.” Darien pulled his cloak back. It took him a moment to draw out his sword around Vicky.

  She tensed at the sight of the black blade; knowing they were heading into a fight and actually doing it were two very different things.

  Darien pressed his cheek to the side of her head and kissed the air softly beside it. “Whatever happens in there, stay with Zak. He’ll keep you safe.”

  Nodding, terror started to fill her. She didn’t want anyone to ride into battle, she had seen how Braveheart had ended and didn’t like the odds.

  Lord Dakine and four other fay dismounted and walked through the hellhounds to stand at some unseen line. The hounds drew back, snapping at each other in excitement as the five fay spaced themselves out across the center of the building.

  Vicky watched as the figures stood silently in the rain, tall and dark in their wet cloaks. She could feel the tingle of building electricity raise the fine hairs on the back of her neck as Zak danced around in anticipation. Soft words filled with power reached her ears right before a bolt of lightning crashed into the front of the building, causing her to squeak.

  Darien quickly pulled up his cloak to protect her from flying debris as the wall exploded under the raw power.

  The hounds and wolves let out a bloodcurdling cry and surged forwards into the hole.

  The horses and riders joined the hounds’ cry as they followed in their wake.

  Vicky held on to Zak’s mane for dear life as he carried her and Darien straight into the worst thing she had ever experienced.

  The inside of the dimly lit building was just as huge as the outside, or it would have been if it hadn’t been filled with a host of demons. The hellhounds and werewolves slammed into the waiting horde with teeth bared.

  Vicky could hear the crack of the demons’ thick, black hides as the canines tore into them. Her mind tried to make sense of the dark creatures, but their bodies seemed to shift right
before her eyes as they faced off with their attackers. They were vaguely humanoid in an animalistic way that reminded her of the creatures from Aliens but without the eggplant head and ten times worse.

  Vicky could feel her sanity pack its bags and leave as the riders, armed with bows, let loose arrows that found their marks in sprays of black blood. Panic set in as her flight instincts screamed at her, and Darien pushed her down against Zak’s back. She grabbed onto the horse’s neck, burying her face into his mane. Vicky closed her eyes and tried to ignore the sounds of metal rending flesh as she cried her terror into Zak’s hair.

  Darien swung his sword with a skill of something long practiced but hardly used. He was really out of shape for this kind of activity, but it came back to him as his muscles remembered the familiarity of the movements. It also helped that he wielded the blade after which the fay had named him. The black sword may have been old, but it was also very powerful. The edge had no trouble slipping through the tough skin of the demons.

  Urging Zak deeper into the fray, he searched for the one creature he really wanted. Zak snapped and kicked at the demons as Darien sliced anything that came near them. The two cut their way through the front lines searching for the ifrit they had come to stop. Darien spotted his target dressed in the same red tunic and pants it had worn outside his office. He kicked Zak towards the ifrit, and the fay turned, eager to reach the thing after Vicky.

  “Stay with Zak,” Darien ordered Vicky as his blade sliced up a demon trying to get a hold on his leg. “He will keep you safe.” Slipping from the fay’s back as they closed on the ifrit waiting for him, Darien smacked Zak’s hindquarters to get him moving away from the battle. The last thing he wanted was Vicky anywhere near the ifrit without her medallion on.

  His bag would offer her some protection. He had taken the time to put a spell on it to decrease her presence. It wouldn’t protect her completely, but it would make her less of a target compared to the rest of the creatures tearing into the demons.

  Zak bolted into an area that seemed to be clear.

  Darien shook the black blood from his sword as he turned to face the reason he had come.

  “Welcome, vampire.” The ifrit bowed to Darien. “I see you have brought my prize.” The creature’s eyes followed the black horse carrying Vicky off.

  “She’s mine.” Darien pulled the ties on his cloak loose and tugged the wet material free. He slung it off to one side before pointing his sword at the creature’s chest in a challenge.

  “I will have her,” the ifrit promised. He cocked his head to the side, mocking Darien.

  Darien stretched his left hand out and took up a dueling stance. “You’ll have to get past me first.”

  The ifrit laughed, a rich noise that cut across the din of the battle. “Your challenge is accepted.” He drew forth a sword from his side. The curved blade of the kilij glowed slightly red with the power of the ifrit, and he held it out towards Darien in a stance that almost matched the vampire’s. Darien looked at the curved edge of the sword made for slashing and evaluated the way he would have to move to avoid the heavy tip. He rolled his sword over in his hand with a flick of the wrist. Grabbing the spinning blade, he brought it down to meet solidly with the defending swing of the ifrit. The swords of the two men rang several times as Darien advanced.

  “Very nice,” the ifrit said as they reached the end of Darien’s first attack. “It’s been a while since I’ve faced off against someone with flare.”

  Darien twirled his blade around into a more defensive stance as the ifrit started his swinging slash with the Turkish sword. The vampire blocked the swings and gave space to keep the ifrit from curving the heavy tip of the sword around his defenses. Darien caught the last downward slash on the flat of his blade and used his left hand to overpower the cut. He pushed the ifrit backwards out of the attack.

  “We should’ve done this three hundred years ago when I was still in practice,” Darien said as he recovered the offensive side. “It would have already been over.” He came at the ifrit with a series of swinging attacks.

  The creature blocked them with sweeping curves of his blade.

  “Don’t be so sure about that, vampire,” the ifrit taunted. “It has been a while since I took on a worthy opponent.” He pressed back with the long, slashing swings of his saber. Their swords met, and the creature twisted the downward slash around to tag Darien in the left shoulder, drawing blood.

  Darien leaped back out of sword’s range as he registered the hit.

  “First blood is mine,” the ifrit cried and pulled his sword back to lick Darien’s blood off the tip.

  “You can have my blood,” Darien said as he regained his offensive stance. “But you cannot have hers.” He threw himself into the fight, determined to not give the ifrit another chance to score on him. If he lost this fight, Vicky was as good as dead.

  The ifrit laughed with joy and welcomed the eagerness with which Darien came at him.

  ***

  Vicky held on to Zak’s neck as he rode off towards a hall, leading deeper into the abandoned space. She had tried to protest when Darien slipped from behind her, but her voice had cracked under the pressure of her fear. How could he leave her like that? The demons Darien had kept away with his sword were now chasing them as Zak ran for the more confined and easier defended space.

  The fay kicked and bit at them, but there was no way for him to keep them off his legs without stopping to fight them. If he stopped, the nightmarish creatures would swarm them. One zealous demon launched itself up and landed on Zak’s back, digging its sharp claws into the horse’s flank. He reared in pain and dumped the creature from his back. Unfortunately, Vicky had turned to try to kick the creature and slid off with it.

  They fell into a pile on the ground, and Vicky’s flight instincts turned to fight. She shoved the thing away from her as hard as she could.

  Zak wheeled around and brought his hooves down on the demon as it recovered from the unexpected attack. He let out a cry for help that drew the attention of a few hellhounds nearby.

  They turned from their attacks to assist as Vicky scrambled to her feet. She wasn’t tall enough to get back on Zak’s back without him dropping down for her, and if they stopped for that, the demons would overrun them.

  Zak nudged her with his head to force her through the doorway into the wide tunnel.

  Vicky found her feet and ran as Zak tried to keep the demons from following her.

  Three hellhounds and two wolves surrounded Vicky as her feet carried her away from Zak. She looked back to try to see her friend, but one of the hellhounds nipped at her, speeding her away from the danger.

  More demons came from the sides, and the hounds each peeled off to defend the woman as she ran.

  The two wolves guided her deeper into the complex, but there didn’t seem to be any place free of the black creatures. It was like they were coming from the shadows themselves.

  Vicky saw a brightly lit area and changed her course towards it, hoping the light would keep the creatures away.

  One of the wolves turned and took on the demons gathering behind them.

  The last wolf, a tawny wolf, whined and nudged her with its head, pushing Vicky on before turning to help the other wolf before the demons tore it to shreds.

  Vicky ran as fast as her aching sides would let her go.

  One lucky demon slipped past the two wolves and closed in on Vicky as she ran. Its long fingers grasped onto her cloak, and it squealed in delight at catching the little thing running away from it.

  Vicky let out a scream as she fell to the ground backwards.

  The demon gurgled its joy as she rolled over to try to get away. The thing had a grip on the woven cloak and pulled Vicky closer, savoring the chance to kill something that was not trying to kill it.

  She struggled trying to get away, but the creature held her fast. Scrabbling at her chest, her fingers found the silver cloak pin, and she twisted the ring until the bar slipped free, relea
sing the material from around her. Scrambling to her feet, she turned to face the creature as it launched itself at her. Lacking a real weapon, Vicky was sure she was about to die as she swung her right hand up and sunk the pointed bar of the cloak pin into the demon’s temple.

  The look that crossed the demon’s twisted face was pure shock as the pin ripped through the thing’s brain, and it dropped to the floor.

  Vicky cried as she turned away from the dying creature to run towards the ring of light. She wiped the dark blood on her pants, trying to keep from throwing up. Vicky slowed her pace as she saw shapes moving inside the circle of light, but they weren’t the same twisted shapes of the dark demons.

  These were the tall forms of what looked to be two humans dressed in elaborate robes. One stood at the center of the fifteen-foot ring of light over a table filled with strange objects, and one leaned against a pole, clutching its wrist.

  Vicky could hear a low chanting voice coming from the figure at the table as she stepped up to the edge of the light. She tried to step into the light but grunted when she ran into something hard.

  Both figures looked up to see what had caused the sound.

  Vicky immediately recognized the man leaning against the pole. She had looked into those hazel eyes many times.

  “Tim?” Surprised, she stared at the handsome man she had once been so in love with.

  Standing up from the pole, Tim snapped at the figure at the table. “I thought you said she was dead.”

  “She belongs to Ma’awiya now,” the man at the table said back. Vicky gasped as she recognized the voice of the man hidden by the dark robes. “She is as good as dead.”

  “Alex!” Vicky cried angrily. She slammed her right fist into the hard air keeping her from the light.

  The sound of the demons in the hallway drew Tim’s attention, and he looked past Vicky into the darkness.

  Focusing on the men, she didn’t turn around. She did not want to see what was going on behind her.

  “Let her in, Alex, or they’ll get her,” Tim pleaded as he stepped towards the table, clutching his wrist. Vicky could see a wet stain down the side of his robes as blood leaked from a cut in his wrist.