First Job (Chronicles of the Moonshine Wizard)

by Drayer Duncan, Phillip

  Cover Photography by: Phillip Drayer Duncan

  Inner Illustration by: Tammy Hawkins

  Book Design and layout by:Phillip Drayer Duncan

  Copyright©2013 Phillip Drayer Duncan

  All Rights Reserved.

  This publication may not be reproduced in any way or by any means without expressed permission from the copyright holder.

  This book is a work of fiction. All of the events and characters are made up.

  For information about the author and copyright holder…

  PhillipDrayerDuncan.com

  This story of the Moonshine Wizard takes place approximately four years before the events in the novel, A Fist of Thorns.

  A Chronicle of the Moonshine Wizard

  First Job

  by

  Phillip Drayer Duncan

  His hands shook with nervous excitement. This was the first time that the bounty hunters had agreed to allow him to come on a hunt. The Boss had given him specific instructions to stay in the back and not get in the way. Bert had every intention of doing just that. He had been through rigorous combat training, but he was smart enough to know that it wouldn't amount to much when faced with the real thing. Despite the fact that he was a wizard, his small amount of power couldn't match up to the actual combat experience of the human bounty hunters.

  The old abandoned farm house sat alone in the middle of the woods. It was miles from anything a person might consider civilized. As the breeze swayed the tall grass around the house, it groaned painfully. The old gray boards cried, as though they would give out and cause the whole house to come crashing to the ground. Every window was boarded up, allowing absolutely no daylight to creep inside. Only the doors remained uncovered. It was quite obvious that no human had lived there for a very long time.

  “Looks like a perfect place for the target to hide.” said the female voice of Rogue.

  Rogue was the second in command of the nameless band of bounty hunters. She was cold, calculating, and stunningly attractive. She was short and skinny, but packed some serious mean, as Bert had learned. She wore full combat fatigues that hid her figure, and her hair was cut in short pile of various reds, blacks, and blondes. Her eyes were covered with dark sunglasses, and on her hip was the giant .44 mag hand cannon she always carried.

  “Looks like a perfect place for several to hide.” said the Boss, while looking the house over carefully, “I want everyone on their toes.”

  If the Boss had a different name, Bert apparently hadn’t earned the right to know it yet. Bert guessed he was fifty something. His steel gray hair, cropped short in a military style made Bert think grizzled veteran, like you only hear about in the movies. He was tall, broad shouldered and his face hosted faded battle scars and a set of terrifying eyes. He demanded respect, and didn’t accept any mistakes. His team was fiercely loyal to him.

  The bounty hunters took jobs hunting supernatural creatures that didn't follow the laws of the Hand of Magic. The Hand of Magic is the ruling body of all things supernatural, and they enforce their laws with an iron fist. Bert's official training had been done through the Hand. It was the only way. Practicing magic outside of their approval was a quick way to get in a lot of trouble.

  The Boss turned to Bert, and said, “Waylon. I want you to bring up the rear. Stay right behind Rogue and myself. I don't want you trying to do anything stupid.”

  Bert nodded. He wondered idly if the Boss, Rogue, or anyone else on the team would ever call him Bert like his friends did. Probably not, he figured. None of them seemed to like him much. In fact, other than the Boss and Rogue, he didn't know the names of anyone else on the team. They wouldn't even speak to him. It probably had something to do with the fact they made a living hunting people like him that didn't follow the rules.

  The Boss gave some quick hand gestures to the other three guys, and they started moving around to the back of the house. They were all decked out in full combat gear, and bearing combat shotguns or assault rifles. Bert felt a little under dressed and way under gunned.

  Bert was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a black t-shirt. It was his everyday attire. Compared to the people around him, he didn't look like he belonged at all. He was only twenty two, average height, and a little overweight. The overweight part was mostly a direct result of spending too much of his free time drinking beer and his home crafted moonshine.

  As he started following Rogue and the Boss toward the house, he thought about his weapons. His staff was what he used to perform the small amount of magic that he was capable of. Having the ability to perform a few minor spells was probably the only reason that the Boss had agreed to hire him. Unfortunately he was young and not that powerful, and what he did have came with a handicap. Modern devices and electronics didn't work well with magic users. Anything with electric currents, or small parts and springs wouldn't last long in his hands. Magic energy had a static quality that tended to upset the natural state of things. This meant that instead of a high capacity assault rifle or semi-automatic hand guns, Bert was stuck with his old single shot .410 and his cowboy style .357 magnum six gun.

  He pulled the staff from his back.

  “Aw c'mon man.” said a sarcastic voice inside his mind, “You aren't going to include me?”

  And there’s the sword, whose name is Sharp. A straight, mid-length, double-edged blade. It’s ebony hilt is covered in battle scene carvings that flow into a dragon’s head on the pommel. It came into his possession (or he came into its possession, Bert wasn’t clear about that yet) just after completing his wizard training. Turns out the thing is alive, sort of. Either way, they share a telepathic link and can speak mind to mind. They made a deal. The sword offers advice and help when needed, and apparently sarcastic remarks whenever it feels like. In turn, Bert isn’t allowed to tell anyone that it happens to be more than a simple inanimate object. Bert didn’t trust Sharp, and was reluctant to use him.

  “Quiet.” he said to the sword silently, “I'll grab you if I need you.”

  “Pfft.” replied Sharp, “You always need me.”

  “Shut up.” he replied.

  “Oh, well, excuse me sir.” retorted the sword, “Somebody’s a little on edge about their first big hunt.”

  They were coming up to the door, and Bert chose to ignore him. He needed to focus on what was going on.

  They were there to take down a rogue vampire. Vampires weren't allowed to take human lives, and the Hand of Magic enforced this law with the same fervor they enforced every other law with. There were blood banks, and other options for vampires to survive. Attacking a human was strictly forbidden, but this vampire didn't get the memo or simply didn't care. Either way, the Hand of Magic was paying the bounty hunters to bring him in.

  Rogue placed her back against the wall beside the door and waited for the Boss's order. The Boss hefted his large pistol grip twelve gauge pump and pointed the barrel at the door. Bert stood behind them dumbly holding his staff in one hand and his .410 in the other.

  He didn't know how much good the .410 would even do against a vampire, but it at least had some knock back power. He just had cheap store bought buck shot, nothing special. He had heard about a dwarf in Eureka Springs that specialized in making rounds to fight supernatural creatures. He had been meaning to look into that, and was now wishing he had.

  The Boss touched his small ear piece. The whole team had them except for Bert. It was how they communicated. He wasn't sure if it was because he was new, or because they knew that his magical energy would probably zap it. Regardless of why he didn't have one, he was left in the dark unless they specifically wanted him to know somethi
ng.

  The Boss gave a light nod to Rogue and her hand wrapped around the door handle. She moved it slightly and nodded back. He whispered something into his communicator and gave Rogue another nod. She jerked the handle and swung the door wide open. The Boss stepped forward with his shotgun barrel leading the way. Rogue stepped in behind him with her giant revolver and held it over his shoulder. There was a crash from the back side of the house, and Bert knew that the others were in the house as well. Bert was the last in, standing awkwardly behind Rogue and the Boss making sure not to cross their lines of fire.

  The Boss pulled a small round light from his belt and stuck it against the wall. It flickered to life, allowing them to see into the room. The Boss waved at him to close the door. Bert complied and stared at the dimly lit living room.

  The inside of the house didn't look any better than the outside. The walls were gray and dust covered. There were holes all over the walls, and where there wasn’t, only yellow stained dry wall remained. They were in a living room with sparse ancient furniture, disregarded relics from the many years it had obviously been since the house was livable. Ancient wooden plank floors creaked with each step they took, making it impossible to move in stealth.

  The Boss held up his hand, and they stopped. The house was disturbingly quiet. There was the occasional creaking groan as the wind picked up, but that was it. Bert would have expected to see some kind of wildlife having made its home in the abandoned house. There wasn't even the sound of a cricket's chirp however. That, he understood, was a sign that it was likely not as abandoned as it appeared.

  Bert shifted his weight, the floor creaked beneath him. Both Rogue and the Boss shot him an angry glance. He mouthed sorry, and the Boss went back to looking around them. Rogue shook her head at him.

  Bert stared at the darkness of the entryways that lead deeper into the house. The house had looked pretty large from the outside, but the pitch black of the inside made it seem massive. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The darkness was so thick; Bert felt it would crawl out and embrace them all as it swallowed them whole.

  A light smacking sound, followed by more light, pulled him from his dark thoughts. The Boss was moving forward with his shotgun out in front of him. The light on the shotgun lead the way. Rogue was only a step behind him, still holding her weapon over his shoulder and using her free hand to pull lights from his belt to smack on the walls. She would switch between the ones on her own belt and his, ensuring that the numbers didn't dwindle on either. As more lights went up, the shadows were pushed back into a blue ambiance.

  Bert realized that he was falling behind so he began marching forward to catch up. The floor was loud and terrifying, and he feared that he would either fall through or be scolded for making too much noise. Neither happened, and he fell in behind Rogue.

  Bert felt useless, and that only inspired the fear creeping up his spine. He called a protection spell over himself. It was enough to hold back a few bullets or light magical spells. He would have liked to have been able to extend it over his teammates, but he still lacked the power to efficiently cover others. He also feared that it might cause their small lights to break, leaving them lost in the darkness.

  It wasn't that Bert was afraid of the dark, it had never really bothered him before. This time, however, that fear that children have about monsters in the dark was quite real. If the Boss's information was correct, then there was a human killing monster hiding in the darkness. For the first time ever, Bert was experiencing just how truly terrifying that could be.

  He was impressed with the professionalism and skill of the bounty hunters. Their nerves seemed iron cold. There wasn't the least hint of fear as they went through a practiced dance of slowly lighting and sweeping the house. As Bert's head came closer to one of the lights, he realized that there was the putrid stink of garlic filtering off of it. That must be how they keep the vampires from taking down the lights, he thought.

  He was also impressed with the fact that he couldn't hear the other half of the team. They must have entered in an area with better floors. Still though, he was surprised they couldn't hear them or see their lights.

  The Boss suddenly stopped and held up his hand. Bert held his position and started calling more energy to his shield. The feeling that something might be wrong slithered into his mind.

  The Boss suddenly spoke up, “Jack Anderson! We know you're in here! Surrender! This doesn't have to get ugly!”

  Bert's innards twisted in fright as the sickening laughter responded from the darkness.

  “You wish for me to surrender human? That's what you want?” the voice paused and then continued, “But what do I get in return? Hmm? Will you let me feast upon one of your underlings?”

  “No.” said the Boss firmly.

  “Oh?” said the vampire from the darkness, “But perhaps you don't have a say in the matter. Your boys in the back are now my hostages. There is nothing you can do to stop me from draining the life blood from their veins.”

  “Your fangs touch any of them, and I'll watch you burn.” said the Boss calmly, but Bert got the feeling he meant it.

  “Is that so?” asked the vampire, “Well, we seem to find ourselves in a bit of a standoff then, don't we? The first problem, you see, is that I'm quite simply not going to one of the Hand's infamous prisons. That just isn't going to happen.”

  “And the second problem?” asked the Boss.

  “Well, the second problem is that I have the hunger. I have it something mighty fierce.” the vampire said with a cackling southern drawl. “I have the hunger bounty hunter, and sometimes the hunger is just too much. You know, maybe I could control it. Just maybe. But...”

  “But what?” asked the Boss through gritted teeth. Bert knew that his patience was running out.

  The vampire laughed, “But I don't think they can.”

  The walls suddenly exploded, showering them in debris and drywall dust. From within the walls the vampires poured out and onto them. Bert never had time to respond, as the form of two vampires knocked him from his feet. His staff clanked to the floor next to him, but he managed to hold on to his shotgun. The vampires' momentum carried them right over top of him, and he struggled to regain his feet.

  He glanced over to see that Rogue was also down as a vampire attempted to pin her arms. She rolled to her back and tucked herself into a ball, pushing her feet into the monster's chest. Bert could see the light glinting from its fangs as it pushed toward her face. She suddenly kicked both feet up, and broke free from its grasp.

  The Boss seemed to have never lost his footing, but was facing off with a vampire hand to hand. From out of the darkness came the vampire they were there to catch screaming, “Die hunter!”

  It plowed into the Boss, and they both hit the ground in a squirming pile.

  Bert found that to his surprise, the vampires attacking him weren't all that strong. As one closed in, he realized that they appeared malnourished. Of course, he thought, they are living off the grid and only snacking on people. They would have had to be careful about who they took, and covering their tracks. They probably didn't get a lot of opportunities to feed.

  He proved his point by punching the closest one in the face and knocking it to the ground. Unfortunately, vampires didn't hurt as easily as humans and it was right back on the attack. He punched another one, and realized that fighting this way was pointless.

  Glancing up, he saw that the Boss was getting pinned down. Rogue wasn't doing much better, but she was managing to evade their grasps.

  Bert grabbed the nearest attacking vampire and swung it awkwardly into the next one. They stumbled clumsily, but didn't fall. Before they could recover, he turned and shoulder charged one of the vampires attacking Rogue. This helped clear some of the pressure off her, but the vampire clutched on to Bert and dragged him down as he fell.

  Bert glanced up and saw that the Boss was completely pinned. The target vampire was moving in for the kill, he was hefting a broken pie
ce of wall eager to smash into the Boss's face. Bert swung the short shot gun like a blunt weapon smashing it into the skull of the vampire pulling him down. The vampire fell away, but continued grabbing at him. It gave him the free moment he needed to lift the gun and fire it into the gut of the target. The gun made a deafening roar, and the impact knocked the vampire off of the Boss.

  Back to his own problems, Bert slammed the gun down in the face of the vampire that was clutching him once again. He leaned up and swung it around cracking it into the face of another of the vampires charging him.

  Rogue's gun suddenly went off with a thunderous boom. A moment later it went off again. The vampires were falling away from her screaming. The Boss was back to his knees and was reaching for his shotgun. The target decided to run. He vaulted over the Boss, sprinted past Rogue, and pushed Bert out of his way.

  “The target!” screamed the Boss.

  Bert glanced up to see the target running for the front door. Bert pushed a vampire away and charged after him, while calling his staff to his hand. It was a little wizard trick that he had practiced until he had it perfected. Despite the darkness, debris, and bodies, the staff lifted through the air and shot into his hand.

  The target screamed, “I'd rather die than go to jail!”

  Bert knew he could never catch him before he stepped out into the sunlight and killed himself.

  Still sprinting, the target reached for the door knob. Time slowed down, as the vampire began swinging open the door. The first crack of daylight was already searing his face. He was still pushing forward when Bert released a small burst of raw energy from his staff. It slammed the door closed, and the vampire's momentum carried him into it face first. There was a violent smack and he fell to the ground. Much to Bert's surprise, the rickety old door held.

  The vampire didn't move, but he approached it cautiously anyway. It took a lot more to render a vampire unconscious than it did a human. He called power to his staff and began preparing a lightning bolt. As far as attack magic went, Bert was best with lightning.