by Kit Hallows
The look in his eye said it all. If I didn't do as Dryden asked, I'd be joining poor old Jerry. With a piercing jolt I reached into the box and took a crystal. It thrummed in my hand like a living thing, and in a sense it was. Dark energy coursed from the black shard through my palm and into my veins. I shuddered and seized.
And then I felt the terror and agony of the people who had fed the crystal, their fear and desperation almost unbearable.
Almost.
For that long-buried part of me was delighting in the suffering required to make the crystals. The old, dark part of me, the stranger in exile, now returning. I shook its grip off.
I dimly heard Dryden's laughter as my body convulsed and the darkness inside me stirred to meet the invading force flooding my system. The ground seemed to shake as tendrils of energy twisted through me. I needed to direct it somewhere, before it overwhelmed me.
Jerry's lifeless eyes stared up to the heavens while I knelt beside him and the room began to darken and fade. As I looked around, I saw another world overlaying mine. It began to grow around us on some spectral plane, slowly obscuring Dryden's cave.
A part of me fought, tried to claw its way back but I quelled it. I had to follow Jerry's dying self if either one of us was to have a hope of surviving.
His face was translucent now, his mouth red with blood, I seized his ghostly hand before he could slip away into this nether place. Swirls of black mist surrounded us, and stole away the last vestiges of the ballroom as it swept us into death's domain.
The mist began to solidify, forming walls and a tall ceiling of black stone brick. I was in a room, a large sealed room, no windows, no doors. At the far end, a row of candles glowed among a dissipating gaseous green fog that carried the underlying scent of carrion, and as it faded a jade statue of a cowled, weeping lady appeared.
Someone whispered, and I turned to find a woman standing behind me amid a circle of seven unsheathed swords.
Her black silk robes perfectly matched the raven hair that fell around her shoulders and the dark hatred burned in her eyes. I was an intruder in her domain. She glanced from me to Jerry. He'd seemed thin and washed out as we'd drifted from our world, but now his corpse seemed solid and very real.
"Go back," the woman said, her tone youthful but the force behind it ancient. She wasn't what she appeared to be, I knew that, but I was glad I couldn't see her true form through her current guise. "You don't belong here."
Eerie blue flames burst to life amid the charcoal braziers that lined the walls and the light illuminated her unforgiving face. "I said," she leaned down toward a sword, picked it up, and stepped out of the circle, "go back."
"No, I'm not leaving without him."
"He's ours." The blade in the woman's hand wavered before my chest. I faced her down, as the dark power from the black crystal burned within my heart and veins. "He needs to live," I said as I stepped forward and seized a sword from the ground.
Rage shone in her eyes and she took a silent step closer. "How dare you!"
I held the blade level with hers. "Send us back where we belong."
"We know you," the woman said. "and your kin. You've courted us, conspired with us. And cheated us."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
She laughed, the sound waspish and scornful. "Your father cheated our master. But we'll take his son."
"My father?" The power continued to surge through me. It was all I could do to stop myself from venting my terrible rage. "Who is he?"
"A dead man walking."
Jerry groaned and began to rise. He peered around and his eyes flitted from me to the woman. He smiled like a man who'd finally come home.
"Hold on," I told him. Not that I cared to debate the validity of his choices right then. But I had a job to do, and I wasn't going to let that loser stand in my way. Neither him nor the cloaked creature beside him.
"No. I'm done," Jerry said. He stood and made his way toward the woman. She held her sword level with his chest and beckoned him with her other hand to come closer.
He drew nearer, his eyes closed, his face peaceful. Accepting.
One more step and he'd impale himself. The blade shook in my hand, like my sword of intention, but this weapon had only one aim, one purpose. Death.
I swung it, forcing the woman's sword away from Jerry before he could take his final step. She hissed, her eyes flashing darkly as she brought her blade up to meet mine. "I'll take both of you then."
I countered her blow as the remnants of the black crystal's power surged through me.
Tear. Rend. Destroy. My other whispered the words and I gave into them as I forced her sword back. She was powerful but unprepared for resistance, and my other was far stronger then even I knew.
"Damn you." She backed away and seized up another sword, her face a mask of fury. She advanced, wielding both blades as she came.
I ducked back from her first swipe and parried the other. Then I let the black rage inside me take control. I bore down on her and swung the sword with all my might. I knocked one of the blades from her hand; it spun in circles through the air, struck the wall and vanished into darkness.
She brought her remaining sword up to defend against my onslaught.
Kill.
I held the sword in my hands and swung it with all the force I could muster.
"Get back!" she cried, baring two gleaming fangs. My sword glanced off hers and she lunged forward, her sword a silver spear of light shooting toward my heart. I pulled my coat taut across my chest, and sparks flew as her blade struck.
Her shock was all I needed to press my advantage. I swept my sword against hers and knocked it from her hand as I shoved her away. She fell back, winded, defeated, furious.
Kill her, the voice inside me demanded. Show no mercy.
She clapped her hands together three times, as if applauding me.
No, not applauding.
Calling.
Five dark figures materialized in the circle, five cloaked creatures standing in front of their swords. Even with the crystal's power coursing through my heart I knew certain defeat when I saw it.
Jerry clamored toward them, a deep longing in his eyes. "I'm ready," he said. "Take me." His whole life had been one of resignation, of running the A to Z of drugs and debauchery. Then he'd turned to magic and black crystals. And now to dissolution.
I seized his arm and spun him around to face me. "We're going back," I said.
He gazed into my eyes and whatever he saw seemed to terrify him more than the prospect of life itself. He stopped fighting and fell limp in my grasp. I used every ounce of my will to visualize Dryden's cave and step back into that world.
The dark stone walls began to blur, pulling us away from the creatures and the swords in their hands.
Jerry fell to the ground.
"Take us back," I commanded, using the last vestiges of my power. The black walls turned to mist and the five figures, along with their defeated sister, became nothing more than specters.
"We'll find you," she called, her face lined with disgust and loathing.
"No, you won't," I called, my lips twisting into a smile.
The walls turned to wood and the hard stone to floorboards. And now the figures standing before us were Dryden and his bikers.
The sword I'd wielded was gone, and the only thing in my hand was the empty quartz crystal. Jerry grimaced in pain as Dryden stood over him.
"I'm impressed," the ghoul said. He held his hand out to me and I dropped the crystal into his rotten palm.
"Shit." Jerry clamped his fingers to his chest. "What the fuck happened?"
"I shot you," Dryden said. "And if you don't shut up, I'll do it again." He nodded to the shifter. "Take him upstairs."
The two bikers helped him pull Jerry to his feet, then they dragged him from the room. "Where are they taking him?" I asked.
"To get patched up. We have a doctor on retainer." Dryden said. "We get our money's worth, as I'm su
re you can imagine. Now, how many crystals did you want?"
"I'll take a hundred." I wanted to get an idea of how many they had at their disposal, and how long it would take Dryden to get his hands on them. Which could then help me figure out where the crystals were kept. Hopefully the operation was local.
"A hundred, just to raise one dearly departed?" Dryden raised an eyebrow. "Why so many?"
"I may not get it right on the first try. And I have a few other plans." I didn't break his slow, cool gaze.
He stared back for a moment, and eventually blinked. "Fine. We can get you a hundred. It'll cost you though."
"How much?"
"Thirty grand. And don't haggle."
"Three hundred each?" It wasn't unheard of but I didn't want Dryden to suspect the extent of my knowledge.
"Do you have any idea what it takes to charge these things?" he asked as he held up the spent crystal.
I nodded. Yeah, I knew. Days, sometimes weeks of unimaginable pain and suffering for the people farmed out to make them. Each of their deepest, darkest terrors paraded before them.
And then there was the extraction process...
"Good," Dryden said. "Then you understand that I'll need time to source the product. Come back at six tomorrow. Bring the money."
Six. Just as it was getting dark. "I'll be here."
"Good. Now leave. You know the way out." He turned and walked back to the darkened wall. I heard a door creak and then he was gone.
I left unhindered, outside of a few baleful, twitchy glares from the coke-heads as they chopped out their next banquet. I masked my relief as I opened the front door and stepped out into sunlight.
The woman still sat on the porch, smoking with her rifle slung over her knees. She handed me my gun without a word.
I took it, walked to my car and did my best to ignore what felt like a hundred savage eyes burning into my back.
23
I thought about ditching the car off the highway and heading back on foot to scope out the Country Club, to see what Dryden's next move would be. Was he going to send someone out to collect my crystals, or were they already on the premises? Either way, I was sure things wouldn't go easy. This was confirmed moments later as two bikers and the shifter emerged from the building. I started my car as they strode to their bikes. All three stared my way as they revved their engines.
They followed me down the driveway and out onto the main road, their front wheels inches from my rental car's flimsy bumper. I tried to ignore them as they flanked me, barreling down the hill like some sort of Presidential detail, only one with menace rather than security in mind.
It was only once I'd entered Copperwood Falls that they made a u-turn and thundered back the way they'd come.
I watched them go in the rearview mirror and as I eased my grip on the steering wheel, I realized my hands were shaking. Not from the bikers, but from my trip into that shadowy other place; that shifting realm that might well have been death's domain. I thought of the woman with the sword and her strange words, and wondered what the hell she'd meant.
Your father cheated our master. But we'll take his son. I was pretty sure she hadn't meant Dale, which begged the question, yet again, of who my father was. How exactly had he cheated those entities? And what had he cheated them out of?
The town was bustling, but I found a parking space near The Copperwood Tavern, a normal bar on the normal side of town. I was surprised to find the place deserted but for a couple of grizzled barflies, and an angry-looking man sitting by the window clutching his beer bottle like it was someone's throat.
I ordered a drink and paid the bartender, who seemed to find my presence in his tavern a personal affront. Maybe he was related to the guy in The Thrice Drowned Rat. Either way the beer helped quash the last of my lingering adrenaline as I sat and gazed through the window.
The passing cars seemed to be driving straight through town. I wished I'd done the same, wished I'd kept driving until Copperwood Falls was nothing but a blur in my rearview mirror.
It felt as if the place was smothering me. Like I was slowly drowning beneath its weight. But I wasn't going to quit. Not until I found the crystal farm and gutted it, along with every single sick bastard involved in the place. Dryden, his thugs, every last one of them.
I'd seen what was left of people who'd been farmed for black crystals, the irreparable damage it caused. The few survivors I'd met were left hollow, their memories fried, their essence drained, and their life-force stolen. They were little more than husks, their existence wracked by nightmares and dreams of a former, stolen life.
I felt my grip tighten on the bottle and set it down before I started to mirror the bitter man sitting in the opposite corner of the room. But the anger remained, and the only way to dispel it would be to crack a few skulls. Which meant I needed to find that crystal farm and fast. But where?
Dryden was too clever to have the farm close to his lair, but it wouldn't be that far either. No, he'd want to have the crystals close enough for his thugs to guard them.
The forest was the logical place to hide that type of operation, and it could also explain the wild packs of wolves prowling the area. Perfect deterrents for wanderers, ramblers or stoned traveling salesmen like Donny. Well, they weren't going to scare me away. I finished my beer and left the bar, ignoring the hostile stares from the locals as I walked out.
As I reached my car I heard someone call, "Mr. Rook?"
Lily. She strode along the sidewalk, with an expensive-looking bag over her shoulder, and a mildly surprised smile on her face. "I thought it was you."
"Hi." Somehow the word came out choked. I felt the hot blush spreading across my face, like I was thirteen again. What the hell?
Lily's bright blue eyes twinkled like jewels and the tiny crow's feet at their corners deepened as her smile grew wider. "You're still here then," she said. "I was worried I wouldn't see you again."
"Yeah, I decided to stay a couple more days."
"I'm glad to hear it. I still owe you for staving off those slavering beasts." She reached out and placed a hand upon my wrist, her touch soft and cool. "You must come to dinner."
"I'd like that, but right now I-"
"I insist."
I felt a twinge of disappointment as she withdrew her hand from my arm and leafed through her handbag. She pulled out a hard suede business card with ornate gold lettering that curved along its surface. "Tonight would be perfect."
"I'm-"
"That's settled then. Fish or fowl?"
"Fowl." My mind was slow, almost addled. I was certain she was blinkered, yet it really was feeling as if she'd cast some sort of enchantment on me.
"Fowl it is then," she said, then she rose up on her toes and kissed the side of my face. Her perfume was subtle, yet intoxicating, reminiscent of sandalwood and musk, and other tantalizing scents.
"I'm looking forward to it, Mr. Rook." She met my gaze for a moment and then gave a sharp, decisive nod before walking on. "I'll see you at seven," she said, without looking back.
24
The sky turned grey and dark as I returned to the cabin to grab my sword and bag. I was about to stash my wallet, before heading into the forest, when I pulled out the elegant business card Lily had given me. I typed her address into my phone, to get some idea of what I'd gotten myself into. The satellite image revealed little more than a dense canopy of treetops huddled around a blurred clearing. I zoomed in further but all I got was larger pixels.
I slipped the card back into my wallet and locked the drawer with a simple spell. It was a little after three, I had plenty of time to explore before meeting Lily for dinner. A smile crept up on me when I recalled the scent of her perfume. I packed the sword in the back of the car and cast a do-not-disturb spell over the cabin door. Nothing major, just a few little tricks to act as a reinforcement incase the polite plastic sign hanging from the doorknob failed. I walked to the lodge and rang the bell on the desk.
The world's frie
ndliest desk clerk appeared from his murky room and glanced at me like I was that annoying picture frame that would never quite stay level on the wall. "You're still with us then, Mr. Rook," he said, managing to inject crushing disappointment into each word.
"Yes, I'm still here."
"Signing out?" He raised a single bushy eyebrow.
"Not today. I just need a map, do y..."
"We have maps." He began to walk back to his office and for a moment I actually thought he might be getting one. Until I remembered the little game he'd played when I'd first arrived.
"Can I buy one?" I asked.
"Yes." He turned back. "You may. What kind of map are you looking for?"
"Local trails, woodlands and parks."
"You going rambling?" He leaned over the counter as he eyed my clothes and shoes.
"Something like that."
He blew his breath out slowly in a long sigh as he dug into a drawer and produced a worn tattered old map. "Here. It's the last one. I never bothered to order more seeing as hardly anyone ever asks for them."
"How much?"
"Consider it my gift to you." He began to walk back to his office. "Try not to get lost or run into any bears," he called. His tone assured me he'd meant the exact opposite.
"Asshole," I mumbled as I picked up the map and headed out.
"I heard that," he called through the door. "And a good day to you too."
I drove up the highway, turned off on what looked like an old forest service road and stopped when I spotted the overgrown trail head. As I got out I placed a simple illusion spell over the car so if anyone nosed around they'd see nothing much more than a large patch of spiky brambles. At least anyone unversed in magic. With the sheath strapped at my side, I pulled my coat on and my hand brushed against the pommel. It rumbled slightly as if acknowledging me and I felt glad to have my sword by my side as I secured my bag over my shoulder and set off along the trail.