Legacy First Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3 of the Legacy Series

by Ryan Attard

  The yokai ghost clawed at his arm as he held her by the neck. He hissed and moaned, clearly enjoying the experience. The yokai stopped struggling as the blue flames disappeared, and the ghost soon faded away into nothing.

  “Why do they always insist on feeding on these sad, old men? Whatever happened to folks in their prime? So much better,” the man said in mock exasperation.

  He took one step towards us and took off his fedora. Jet-black hair, slicked back and oily, matched his gray-blue skin.

  “But where are my manners?” He placed his hat on his chest and bowed. “Alastair Crowley at your service.”

  A shiver ran down my spine, and I felt the weight of the world settling on my shoulders. I remained frozen on the spot, too scared to even twitch.

  “And if it ain’t the little Warlock boy I’ve been scouring the land for,” Crowley said with a disturbing grin. “How are you doin’, Erik?”

  Chapter 35

  Djinn quivered in my hand. That was all I could do—shake uncontrollably before Crowley.

  “And, look,” Crowley said as he put his hat back on. “You got yourself a hobo friend.”

  Tenzin positioned himself forwards, partly shielding me from Crowley.

  “My name is Tenzin,” he said calmly. “Am I to assume that this is some form of ruse?”

  “Right you’d be,” Crowley replied jovially. “But, where are my manners?” He clapped his hands once.

  At the sound of the sharp noise the small creature sprung as fast and sudden as lightning towards Tenzin. It snarled, exposing bloodstained fangs. Its fist connected squarely with Tenzin’s ear. I’d never seen the man take a hit before; the best I ever did was deflecting one of his strikes. Yet, this little three-foot leathery monster sent him reeling a few steps backwards. It didn’t stop there.

  The creature skittered past me, too fast for me to react, and swiped at Tenzin’s legs. Even stunned as I was, my eyes still worked. This funny-looking bizarre creature was clearly a hunter—no quarter was given, no movement wasted. Only predatory movements.

  But then again, it was up against Tenzin. The first punch might have gotten him, but he skipped over the creature’s second, lower swipe and lashed out with a kick of his own. Its head snapped backwards. Tenzin kept his assault with another kick and the creature retaliated, swinging blindly. Tenzin twisted, avoiding the strike, grabbed its hand and placed his other hand at the back of its head. An instant later, his body faced the other direction and the creature flipped over him, its head being driven into the hard stone. A sickening crack filled the air, followed by a sharp yelp. The creature crawled away slowly, like a wounded animal. Tenzin stomped on its chest, eliciting another yelp.

  “Ah, you must be one of those kung-fu monks,” Crowley said with enthusiasm. “Yeah, yeah, I remember you guys. Kick-ass exorcists. Y’all live in the Iga Mountains or something.”

  Tenzin’s expression darkened and, for a millisecond, a vein in his neck twitched.

  “But whatever, you ain’t faster than a bullet,” Crowley spat. He extracted a chunky revolver from his coat and pulled the trigger. A small bead of light rocketed toward Tenzin.

  “Watch out,” I heard myself yelling, but it was too late.

  Tenzin was already crouching, bending forwards from the shot. Horror washed over me.

  “Tenzin!”

  But he stood up and held his fist out. “It seems that I am faster than a bullet. Thank you for the opportunity to test my reaction speed to its limit.” He opened his palm, and there it was, a silver bullet with intricate grooves and ridges. The bullet was large, far bigger than those magnum calibers. “If you wish to kill me, you will have to do much better.”

  Crowley smirked. “I already have.”

  The bullet sprung to life and wrapped around Tenzin’s wrist and forearm. It became a weasel, its body constructed from the same material as the bullet. It sunk its scythe-like teeth into his wrist while the rest of its long body curled tightly around his arm, claws drawing blood.

  “A kamaitachi?” Tenzin sounded more amused than surprised. Blue lightning spiraled around the little weasel. The creature screamed and relinquished its grip. It disappeared in a puff of smoke before it hit the ground.

  Crowley made a face. “Those Kanko weasels were a pain to catch. Had them modified and everything.” He popped the chamber open and extracted an empty cartridge case the size of a double-A battery. “The critter shoots out and bites off a piece of your aura. And here’s the kicker—it gets stored in here,” he said, shaking the empty bullet case.

  He put it to his lips and sucked.

  “Ah, that’s divine. See what I did there?” He slipped the cartridge into his coat pocket. “I’ll save the rest for later.” He snapped the chamber back in place and pointed the gun at Tenzin.

  “Due to special modifications, this puppy can only hold three bullets,” Crowley said as he waved the gun at Tenzin. “That means I got two more to spare. Who’s feelin’ lucky?”

  Tenzin stepped forwards, light slowly encasing his body. “I shall protect us with the will of God,” he said, his voice deep and powerful.

  Crowley remained unfazed. “Will of God?” he said mockingly. “Well damn, I better step up my game.” He clapped his hands twice and hollered, “Oh, boys!”

  All hell broke loose.

  The wall behind me exploded.

  Which was pretty impressive, considering that behind me was Carson freaking Mansion.

  It barreled through one of the conical Disney Princess Towers. And by it, I mean a ten-foot tall gorilla with short brown spiky fur all over its body. Its head looked human enough, if you ignored the spiky hair, beady black eyes and jagged teeth. It moved on all fours past me and I caught a glimpse of something long trailing behind it. It stopped abruptly, almost unnatural for something with that much momentum, and I felt a sharp needle of pain in my right collarbone. A snake, brown as wet mud, was biting my shoulder, its fangs buried deep inside me.

  I couldn’t move my body. I mean, I wasn’t paralyzed from fear anymore—I just couldn’t move my limbs and was having trouble getting my lungs to breathe. Less than a second later the snake retreated, and the gorilla dug its hand right into my chest.

  I nearly blacked out. I lost all power, magical or physical. Djinn hung loosely by my side, my index finger still curled inside the ring in its cross guard. I focused all of my waning energy into not shutting down completely.

  At the same time, two other leathery midgets sprung from nowhere and rocketed towards Tenzin. The wounded one seemed to have recuperated and joined the fray. The pair slammed into him, pinning him face down on the ground by the arms. The third one dove on top of him and wrapped an arm around his neck, not fully choking him, but making breathing something of a chore.

  Crowley whooped in the air, like an overgrown frat boy, still waving the oversized revolver. “Haha. Now, that was cool.”

  Tenzin struggled against the creatures but they held fast. They may have been shorter but each of them looked like it weighed about a couple hundred pounds.

  “Swamp goblins,” Crowley said conversationally. “Only goblins capable of surviving in this humid dump. Regular ones just shrivel up and it is nearly impossible to get a hold of a mountain specimen. These guys usually hunt marine creatures, silent as can be. Damn good swimmers, too, what with the webbed hands and all.”

  As if to demonstrate, the goblin with its arm around Tenzin’s neck outstretched its palm. Its four stubby fingers had a thin filament between them. Aquatic evolution and full finger dexterity—nature sure can be a bitch sometimes. The goblin pressed its hand into a fist, a clear sign to stop resisting or get hurt. Tenzin stopped his struggling and that seemed to please the goblin.

  “And this guy,” Crowley continued looking at me and the monsters holding me down. “This guy is what you might call a nue. Rare creatures they are, and almost impossible to manage.” He patted the enormous gorilla beast lightly on the forearm, and the nue let out a series
of clicks and groans from its throat.

  “This one took a little coaxing, but he was worth it. That snake tail serves as a surprise counter attack, and once they get running, nothin’ can stop them. Poison claws, poison fangs, and poison snake—this guy’s perfect to stop someone with your powers, Erik. And they never make a sound. Ain’t predators awesome?”

  The nue made its noise again. I would have told Crowley to go blow himself but I was too busy trying not to die. As long as that overgrown gorilla kept pumping venom in me, I’d never be able to move. Crowley might be a creep, but he was a good hunter: a smart one and those were the worst kind.

  Trust me, I grew up with one.

  “Why?” I have no idea how I managed it. A smart person would have conserved his energy.

  But I’m not a smart person. I’m a curious one.

  Crowley appeared to be very happy with my question and did a little dance.

  “Why?” he repeated. “Tell me, Erik, have you figured out what it is, exactly, that I do? Or what I am? Or why I look like this?”

  I didn’t answer for reasons I already explained.

  Giant monkey. Stabbing. Poison. Erik dying.

  “I ain’t no vampire if that’s what you’re thinking. Nah, I’m human, just like you.” He paused for effect, and when I didn’t get it, he kept talking. “I’m a Specialist, and my magic is Abjuration. It’s that class of magic that amplifies energy, playing around with it like a musician. We take stuff that’s already there and make it better. Yeah, not that impressive, I know. We’re like some damn Japanese corporation.”

  He spun and spread his hands, like a stage magician preparing for his final trick.

  “But,” he hollered with glee, “the true essence of Abjuration is the pure, core energy. This is too abstract for most wizards to grasp, which is why we don’t get a lot of customers. But I have figured something out. What if I could reverse the process? Instead of hitting the amplify button, what if I were to press mute?”

  Reverse amplification? That would mean…

  “You seem to have figured it out, by the look on your face,” Crowley said. “I decay magic. If I see it, it’s dead meat. No energy, no juice. No juice, no spell, and all you’re left with is some dumbass who thinks he’s better than you ’cos he’s a Pyromancer or somethin’.” He licked his lips.

  “Why, you ask? Because I get off on it. I get this tingly feeling in my naughty parts when I feel all that powerful magic just… die.” He laughed manically and shivered.

  Tenzin let out a string of heartfelt laughter.

  “The hell you laughin’ at?” Crowley said. “Did you snap or something?”

  “No, no,” Tenzin said in between laughs. “It’s just, ever since Erik told me about you I’ve been very concerned. Now I understand you, Mr. Crowley, and that will be your downfall.”

  “My downfall? You’re being humped by my goblins and I’m losing?”

  “Yes,” Tenzin replied. “Like most men, you talk a lot, but you never pause to listen. I have listened. Here is what I have discovered.”

  Light erupted from Tenzin like a flash bang grenade, and a small monkey made out of an ethereal, translucent material flipped twice in midair before spinning and diving right through Tenzin. A goblin tried to grab it but his hand just passed through.

  The earth shook violently, and vines, each thicker than my entire body, emerged from all around us. Trees and vines grew from between the concrete of Carson Mansion, each wrapping around the weird towers. The ground beneath us leveled. A particularly vicious root smacked against the nue and whipped into me. I went airborne for a second before slamming against a tree stump. The vine wrapped around the nue. It tore the vine off, but others encased the monster, tightening around its neck and torso like a constrictor. The nue’s movements slowed down, and soon, sluggish became still. I found that I could move slightly again, with the poison-pumping claws now out of me. It was still painful, and I wasn’t in any shape to run or fight.

  Crowley seemed to be the only one to have it under control.

  “Hold him steady,” he roared at the goblins. They screamed but held Tenzin fast.

  “I grew up in Vegas,” Crowley said as he grabbed a vine. “I know a bluff when I see one.”

  The raging foliage ceased growing and Carson Mansion looked like something out of Jumanji. The vines began to recede and wither away as Crowley focused his magic, and soon the entire mass of vegetation disappeared.

  “It was no bluff, Mr. Crowley,” Tenzin said. “You may be able to make yourself invulnerable to magic, but the same cannot be said for your surroundings.”

  Crowley figured it out and let go of the vine as if it were plague-infested.

  Behind Tenzin, a flash of light became a bovine with a pair of horns. It snorted and charged, once again disappearing into the Asian man. Tenzin’s bones cracked and I saw his muscles bulging—no, growing. His body grew bigger and thicker, going from frail old man to Schwarzenegger.

  “Thank you for weakening the foundations for me,” Tenzin said with glee.

  Completely ignoring the goblins latched onto him, the steroid-infused version of Tenzin stood, one leg at a time, muscles bulging and veins popping. He yelled and fell forwards, slammed both fists into the ground. A loud blast rang out like a hundred cannons going off at once, and I felt the vibrations punch into my gut like that feeling you get when a jet breaks the sound barrier.

  Then, there was silence.

  Exactly one second later, Carson Mansion, as well as the surrounding buildings, came crashing down.

  Chapter 36

  Now

  “You’re responsible for Carson Mansion falling down like a house of cards?” Amaymon’s feline eyes held mischief in them. “Man, I got new respect for you.”

  “I would be more concerned about Erik and his mentor being buried under a house,” Sun Tzu said.

  Amaymon made a mewing noise. “Who gives a damn about him? Look at him, ain’t nothin’ gonna break that ugly mug. I’m just glad that ugly piece of shit went down like the London Bridge in the good old days.”

  Sun Tzu and I glared at him, giving him the usual “what-the-heck-is-wrong-with-you-you-twisted-cat?” look. Amaymon shrugged and flicked his tail.

  “What? It was tacky.”

  “They rebuilt it,” I said. “Almost instantly. Now, it’s even tackier.”

  “Just goes to show,” replied the cat. “People are idiots.”

  Sun Tzu cleared his throat loudly. “May we get back to the subject at hand?” He looked at me directly. “How did you survive this particular ordeal?”

  ***

  Approximately 8 years ago

  I did not black out. I expected to black out when a house like a Disney castle fell down on me.

  No, I did not black out. I felt debris cover every inch of my body. Pain didn’t register in individual bits. It was more like a wave, as if a ton of bricks had been dropped on me.

  Well, a ton of bricks did just drop on me, so I suppose I knew what I was talking about.

  The dust settled quickly. I could move, slowly and painfully. But I could move.

  I guess I was lucky—that, and the healing magic.

  My clothes had some rips in them, and a boulder with a jagged edge had blood splattered all over it. My leg was trapped under rubble. I wedged Djinn between flesh and rock, and levered. My broken, swollen leg was already healing.

  Around me was a massacre of debris and colorful plaster. Crowley and his goblins were completely buried. The nue’s ugly face was beneath a plank. The monster was unconscious, but still breathing raggedly. Occasionally a finger on its hand—the only thing not buried from sight—would twitch. I could have killed it right then and there, but something, a benevolent voice in my head, told me to forget about it.

  Tenzin was rubbing off on me.

  I went to where I saw him last and began hauling stones away. There was no way a person could have survived that, but Tenzin had a knack for surprises. The old
man was resilient. He was alive, I knew it.

  He had to be.

  I found him lying face up with one hand across his chest and the other on his stomach. His eyes were closed, and there was no sign of breathing.

  “Tenzin.” I went to shake him awake. As soon as my hand reached him, his body enveloped in light, which dimmed just enough for me to make out a long serpentine shape.

  The snake had Tenzin wrapped inside it, like a cocoon. It reared up, exposing a long, thick neck, twice my height and as wide as my shoulders. It had a segmented underbelly, each emitting a slightly different hue. Its head was hooded, like a cobra’s, with Ba Gua elemental markings on each side—three horizontal lines, either long or divided, placed on top of each other like a box. It had of two of these symbols on each side, blazing gold, the same color as its eyes.

  The snake deva, which is what I assumed it was, opened its mouth, revealing a pair of very long fangs and a forked tongue. It brought its head down suddenly.

  My instincts kicked in, and Djinn was already swiping at the snake’s throat. The blade passed through, although it did leave a thin blue line across the brilliant white scales. The serpent flicked its tongue over me once before rearing back again. It wrapped around Tenzin, creating a spiral light show.

  And just like that, it disappeared.

  Tenzin opened his eyes and sat up.

  “Erik,” he said with a glint of happiness in his eyes. “I knew you would survive, my friend.”

  “I wasn’t so sure,” I replied as I helped him up. Tenzin looked fine. More than fine, he looked better than usual.

  “What was that thing?” I asked.

  “I’m afraid you will have to be more specific.”

  “Snake thing. That a deva, too?”

  “As a matter of fact, it is,” Tenzin replied. “It serves the purpose of healing and protection.”