by Ben Zackheim
“I’m fine. Where’s Skyler?”
“He fell near you somewhere!”
I scanned the cave and saw him about ten yards away. His body looked ancient. I knew he was as old as the redwoods but he’d never looked it. I didn’t like him but he was my teacher. It was hard to see him like that.
I scooped his head up in my hands. He glanced up at me and smiled. His teeth were covered in blood. The influx of oxygen from the cave must have revived him. But he was injured from the fall.
“You’ll be fine,” I told him.
“You’re a liar,” he said. He coughed up some more blood.
“Sorry old man. Looks like years of holding my breath in the swimming pools to get away from you will save you. Can’t die now.”
“Oh yeah? Watch me,” he said, smiling. “Is Fox here?”
“No.”
Belch stood over us. I didn’t realize demons could show emotion but if I had to take a guess, I’d say he was worried.
“Shit. Okay, well, Happy Birthday, kid.”
Skyler grabbed my hand. I felt a small buzz in my fingers. Then it burned. Like fire. Our hands felt melted together. I screamed in pain.
“Damn it! Asshole!”
I pulled my hand away and shook it. The pain died quickly and, as I looked down at my old teacher, he did too. His eyes were open, unseeing.
“Scarlett!” I called out. “I need you over here!”
Scarlett ran to us and took over my position. She gave me a look filled with pity.
“Try. Please,” I said.
She closed her eyes and I turned mine upward.
I didn’t like the silence in that cavern. Not one bit. Where was Rebel?
Then I heard a distant scream. It tore through me. My stomach sank. It was Rebel. The scream went on and on. I covered my ears. I couldn’t listen. I didn’t want to go through her dying again, right when I had her back.
The scream got louder. It slipped through my plugged ears. I took my hands away.
Wait. Was that joy?
Fox and Rebel flew back into the cavern from whatever dimension was hiding behind that black ceiling. She was riding him bull style. That would keep her hot and bothered for tall, dead and handsome for weeks to come. Fine. I’d tolerate it.
She leapt off her steed, who landed right behind her. Fox whisked past me and went to Skyler without breaking his stride.
I stood there like an idiot and stared at Rebel. She stared back. Then she smiled.
“Hey,” I said.
She walked up to me in that way she has, kick-ass with a touch of look-at-my-ass, and she slapped the crap out of my left cheek.
“What the hell, Rebel!” I hollered.
“You thought you’d keep your fucking portal closed the whole damn time?” she yelled back.
“I didn’t know you were in there! I didn’t want to open it and be tempted again!”
“Do you know how boring it is to sit in a womb of light with a sword for hour after hour? Do you know how awful it feels to start talking to that sword because you don’t really have anything else to do?”
She’d once told me that her nightmare was to have nothing to do for an hour. So 24 hours must have been tough.
“Boring,” I agreed.
“Lots of boring.”
It looked like she was about to sock me again so I hugged her. I held her tight. Her muscles tensed and I feared she would drive her knee right into Kane Jr. But her muscles relaxed and after a moment she draped one arm over my shoulders and put her face in my chest.
Then she pulled away and looked up at me.
“Good to see you, Kane,” she said, all business.
“Good to see you, too, Rebel.”
She spotted Skyler on the ground and walked around me to see how he was.
“What the fuck, Fox?” she yelled.
I turned to see Scarlett passed out beside Skyler’s body. The old spellcaster had fang marks in his neck. And Fox was retching all over the stone floor. He’d drunk from Skyler. He tried to turn him.
“What?” Fox managed to say through puking spasms. “You want him to die forever?”
“You asshole,” Rebel said. “You had no right! What did you do to Scarlett?”
“She tried to stop me,” he said. “I knocked her out. She’ll be fine.”
“Why you…” Rebel started, but I stepped in the way. I gave her the calm down look but I wasn’t sure it was going to work for long.
“You’d better hope Rose is okay. You knocked out our healer.”
As if on cue Rose sat up. Cassidy embraced her.
She looked around the cavern, confused, as if she’d just woken from a long, deep sleep.
“Coffee?” she asked.
Chapter 48
Skyler started to stir.
His head rolled back and forth on the stone until he opened his eyes and gasped for air. He didn’t realize he wouldn’t need air ever again. The confusion on his face would have been funny to me an hour ago, but watching someone realize they were a Vampire was not easy to watch. He flailed around trying to understand why he wasn’t seeing or feeling like he used to. He leapt to his feet, eyes wide and ran at Fox. He collided with the Vampire who stood his ground, his face devoid of emotion.
Skyler put his hands on Fox’s arms, looked up at his face and laughed.
Then he embraced him.
“Thank you!” Skyler cried. He started to dance around, suddenly very comfortable in his shiny, white, supple dead skin.
“I made a promise,” Fox said to me.
“What promise?” I asked. “Are you telling me you wanted this?” I asked Skyler.
“Hell yeah, you idiot. Who wouldn’t want eternal life? I was getting sick and tired of the old human sensations. Century after century of the same kind of hunger, the same kind of horny, the same kind of sleep. I wanted to mix things up until the end of the world!” Then he muttered, “Missed breathing for a second there, though.”
“Well, now you can spend all eternity knowing I saved your life,” I said. “Kind of,” I added, realizing I kind of hadn’t too.
Skyler walked up to me and shifted on his feet. He actually seemed uncomfortable all of a sudden. “Speaking of which, how about you give me my Solo back?”
“What?”
“Yeah, so, um when I thought I was going to die I…”
“No way. You gave me the portal. It’s mine now.”
“Gave is a strong word.”
I laughed.
He shrugged. “And there’s my answer,” he said. “Treat it well, kid. Don’t misuse it. Oh, and if I find a way to steal it back from you, I will.”
Skyler turned his eyes to Rebel and smiled.
“Rebel.” He embraced her.
“Watch it, Vampire,” she said. “Super strength remember?”
Scarlett woke up, so it was her turn to scream. It wasn’t fair, really. Awakening to the sight of two people she thought were dead must have sucked.
“Settle down, girl!” Skyler barked. “I’m a Vampire now.” He said that part with his chest puffed out like a kid with a new Playstation. “Though I have no idea how this one is up and walking.” He pointed to Rebel.
“I don’t know either,” Rebel said. She glanced at me. “What? I don’t! I remember being blown off my feet backwards by a powerful force. I remember thinking I was dead meat. And then I was surrounded by an orange light. I landed pretty hard but managed to roll with it. Then I saw the sword sitting there. I realized I was in Kane’s portal.”
“How’s that possible?” I asked.
“Can we talk about this later?” Skyler asked. “I say we go get this over with.”
“I don’t like it when we change the subject, Skyler. It means you’re hiding something.”
“I am.”
“How did she end up in my portal?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Yes, what?” I yelled.
“Yes, that’s what I’m hiding.”
&n
bsp; He was back in prime form. Then he noticed Excalibur. It hung from Rebel’s belt. Suddenly his eyes were hungry.
“May I see it?” he asked, taking a step toward Rebel.
Now the hungry look was in her eyes. Mixed with rage.
“Back,” she growled.
The silence between the two of them was thick.
“Oooookay,” I broke in. “Anyone know if Excalibur has a spell on it?”
“Like what?” Fox asked.
“Maybe Possession? These two don’t even know we’re here right now.” Skyler and Rebel, delighted to see each other a second ago, were about to kill each other if a wrong move was made.
“Rebel?” I asked. No response. “Rebel!” She blinked.
“What?” she whispered.
“The sword is getting into your head.”
“What if I want it there?”
“Then we have a problem. We need to give it to Merlin.”
“Merlin?”
“Do me a favor and don’t ask which Merlin,” Skyler said, blinking. He was coming out of the spell. He backed away and sat on a rock, tired. But Rebel was still on guard. It had a stronger hold on her. Maybe the time alone with the weapon had given it power over her.
I had to get the sword. I took a step. She stuck the tip of the blade a foot away from my face.
“I’ll give it to Merlin,” she said. She slipped it into her belt. “Come on, then. Let’s get this over with.”
We followed her through the crack of light. The glare made it hard to see. My eyes adjusted and I saw a huge forest all around us. We were on a peak, overlooking the tops of a sea of trees. But we were still underground. The white stone walls met above us in a dome shape, giving off a gentle light until the point right above our heads, which was as bright as the sun.
Cassidy was wide-eyed. “Holy shit.”
Rose held onto him, smiling. “It’s beautiful,” she said.
In the distance, about a half mile away was a city. An underground city. A collection of hundreds of pearl-white buildings, large and small, glittered in the light.
“Bhogavati,” I said.
“What is Bhogavati?” Rose asked, sounding like she still needed coffee.
“It’s a city from legends. The Naga’s city,” I said.
The city started in the middle of the massive cavern but snaked through the trees until it met the walls. Then it zig-zagged up an incline in the cavern. Three towers in the middle of Bhogavati loomed over everything.
A bird flew past me, bringing me out of my trance.
“Naga. The snake people,” Scarlett said, turning a paler shade of white.
“I guess the legend is true,” Rose said, getting some life in her voice. The prospect of meeting snake people apparently agreed with her.
We walked down a trail. It was overgrown but we could follow it. I kept an eye on Rebel to make sure she didn’t start acting odd. I was worried about her ability to give up the sword.
When we reached the forest’s edge I knew we would lose sight of the city behind the massive trees. I tried to find my bearings so we wouldn’t get lost.
After a few minutes a hush covered the party. Cassidy was the one to break the silence.
“It’s getting really thick in here,” he said. The trees weren’t letting in too much light anymore.
That’s when we heard the hisses.
The sound was distant but there was no doubt about it.
The Naga were coming.
Chapter 49
“Stay still. Keep your weapons down,” I said.
I put my gun in its holster. Rebel kept the sword in its sheath but she grabbed its hilt. Her fingers were spread in that special way. The way that told me she was a split second from using it.
We made a circle facing the shadowy forest. Figures moved in the darkness.
The hissing sound was steady now. Close.
“We’re here to see the wizard!” I said with a voice that I hoped was strong but not hostile.
“You will see him,” a high-pitched voice said from the darkness. Our hosts’ eyes glowed orange. I put my hand on Rebel’s sword arm to calm her. “But the dead are not welcome.”
A barrage of wet projectiles soared at us. They only hit Skyler and Fox who immediately went stiff and dropped to the ground. That looked like it hurt.
Rebel pulled the sword and Scarlett pulled her pistol.
“Stop!” I ordered. “Put it away you two.” I turned back to the forest’s darkness. “We’re not here to make trouble. We want to get rid of this sword. We were told we could come here to be rid of it.”
“You heard wrong,” the voice said. “Merlin will let you know that himself now. I am Hyr. I will guide you where you need to go. You have made a mistake coming here, I’m afraid.” And with that the most beautiful snake I’d ever seen emerged from the forest’s cover.
Her skin was a light green mixed with gray. It wasn’t scaly but it was shinier than ours. Her human body was barely covered with a simple white dress that loosely draped over her breasts. And those long legs would have made a model jealous.
But it was her face that surprised the hell out of me. And everyone else in my party who was upright. We all gawked. Her face was slightly more human than snake but the triangular shape of her head came to a point at the chin like a cobra. We were definitely dealing with Naga here. Her orange eyes faded to a deep blue as she glanced at me and smiled. Her mouth was set in a permanent smile which gave her a look of innocence that I was pretty sure was just skin-deep.
So yeah, I was crushing on her. But so was everyone else. Even Rebel. She put the sword back in her belt.
“I will do what I can to spare you his wrath,” she said. “You are our guests and only the second set of humans to ever see us. The Naga welcome you. Come.”
“We’re not leaving them here,” Rebel said, pointing to Fox and Skyler.
“We do not allow their kind into the city,” Hyr said with a slight tone of contempt.
“You didn’t say that last time, sweetie,” Skyler mumbled through paralyzed lips.
“Who is this?” Hyr asked as she looked down on the old man. “No, it cannot be.”
“How you doing, toots?”
“Skyler. When did you become one of them?”
“About fifteen minutes ago! Pretty cool, huh?”
“This is unexpected,” she said. Now I knew what a Naga smile looked like. But then a thoughtful expression took over. “I’ll allow it this time. Skyler has earned a spot as witness to this event. But Merlin will not be happy.”
“All the more reason to do it!” Skyler said.
Several Naga emerged from the shadows and lifted the Vampires. Hyr walked past Fox and recognized him too but he didn’t get a smile from her. In fact, he got a quiet hiss. Her tongue darted out as fast as lightning.
“I cannot guarantee his safety,” Hyr said, pointing her thumb at Fox.
“Why not?” I asked.
She didn’t answer. Fox stayed quiet. I couldn’t tell if it was from the venom or if he was hiding something from us. I assumed the latter.
We walked for a half hour before we came to a clearing. It was a valley below the three towers. A few deer scattered as we walked into the light and some birds decided now was a good time to find food elsewhere.
“It’s a beautiful city,” Scarlett said. Hyr smiled at that, as did the other Naga. The legends said they were always kind to humans. At that moment, I was glad the legends were true. I was out of fighting juice.
Skyler and Fox were walking on their own now, with some help from our guests.
We were about to take the path up to the city gates when two figures appeared on the road ahead. They were taking long, patient strides together as they walked hand in hand.
The man was human. His white beard was decorated with beads and gems. His silver hair draped over his black robe. The woman was a Naga, even more beautiful than Hyr.
“Bow,” Hyr whispered to the group. She b
owed low and everyone followed suit.
“I see Skyler is enjoying the fate he wished for,” the old human said.
“Hey Merlin! Turned anyone into a toad recently?”
So this was Merlin. He didn’t look a day over 80 but he’d have to be over 1000 years old if it was really him.
“Lancelot,” Merlin said.
We all looked at each other, wondering what he was talking about.
“Hello, Merlin,” Fox said.
“Lancelot?” Rebel said, walking up to Fox. She glared at him. “Lancelot?” she repeated a little angrier now.
“Yeah, that’s one of my names.”
“His first name,” Merlin said.
“Oh my God, that is hot!” Rebel yelled.
“That’s why we needed Fox with us,” Skyler explained. “His knights will only follow him. And in the presence of Excalibur, well, the Knights of the Round Table are unbeatable!”
“I thought the knights hated Lancelot in the legend,” Cassidy said.
“We… reconciled,” Fox said. That was a story I wanted to hear over some whiskey!
It would have been easy to get caught up in all of the reunions but I was there to do a job. The sooner I got that sword out of our hands the better off we’d all be.
“Rebel,” I said. “Give him the sword.”
She looked over her shoulder and frowned. She reached for it quickly, as if she wanted to use it on me.
“No,” Merlin said. “You disturbed its slumber, young man. This is your fault. I will not take it. It’s up to you to keep it safe.”
“It’ll fall into Vampire hands if you don’t help,” I said.
“He speaks the truth,” Fox added quickly.
“And how is that my problem?” Merlin asked.
“It may not be your problem, but it would become a Naga problem,” his companion said softly. “I am Bhz,” she said, bowing her head. “I am Merlin’s wife. Please pardon his temper.”
“I’m not showing my temper, woman. If they keep pushing me they’ll see what temper looks like!”
“Welcome to our city,” she continued, ignoring her husband. “Please know that we welcome all humans who can find us. The last party to do so included my husband and Mr. Skyler.” I could tell that she was hiding some other names from me, but I wasn’t going to dig. She had the floor and it appeared to me that she was on our side. “I see you’ve met our daughter, Hyr.” Hyr bowed slightly. But only to me. I bowed back. I wanted to get to know that snake better. A feeling I never thought I’d ever have. “Now,” Bhz said, “The sword brings great danger here. But if we loose it upon the world it will come back to us anyway. Even more powerful. And with its point aimed at us, instead of its hilt.”