Hunter Hunted (The Eternals Book 2)

by Richard M. Ankers

  “Why didn't you just park in the grounds and come through the front?”

  “You could have made that brilliant suggestion before we went through all the throwing and jumping.”

  “And rob you of such dynamic decision making. I could never do that to you, my dark avenger.”

  “Hmm,” I mulled. “Anyway, I couldn't.”

  “Why?”

  “I don't know how to drive it.”

  “You mean it was a fluke you ended up here.”

  “Fate,” interjected Sunyin.

  “Whatever,” I replied.

  “Tut-tut, old boy. Didn't I teach you anything?”

  “Only to push that damn red button, which did nothing, I might add.”

  “Ah, but that's the trick, I'm good at pushing people's buttons,” he said to an accompanying raucous laugh.

  “Where did you get the outfit?” I asked, changing the subject. “I seem to remember your last one being a bit the worse for wear.”

  “Ooh, you noticed,” he beamed. “That's just made my day.”

  Merryweather stood there in a heroic pose, his pristine, red-velvet attire glinting in the sunlight. The fact he hadn't put a comb through his blond mop of hair and still had twigs sticking from it did nothing to compliment his ensemble or sanity.

  “Well?” I repeated.

  “Leave him be, Jean,” Sunyin said.

  “Yes, leave me be, you misery.”

  I allowed a flicker of anger to flit across my face, leapt back to the platform for my cloak and pack, then returned in less than a second. I then closed the palace's glass doors just in case Merryweather got any grand ideas on how to dispose of me. Merryweather, however, had a different expression playing over him to one of revenge.

  “I don't suppose you have any blood, have you, Jean, old boy? I'm really rather famished.”

  “I suspect you know I do.”

  He beamed at that and gave a salacious slurp of his thin lips. His tongue lolled like a slug rolling off a cabbage, his mouth unable to contain it, as a glob of drool dropped to the carpet.

  I shook my head, but, regardless, offered him the bottle.

  Merryweather's eyes lighted up like all his Christmases had come at once. He snatched the thing from my hand and did a merry jig, much to Sunyin's pleasure, before downing the lot in one.

  “He's a thirsty fellow, isn't he?”

  “Looks to be,” I agreed with the old monk.

  Only when Merryweather had finished licking every last drop from the bottle's rim did he take a deep breath and look to his supposed guests.

  “Oh, do forgive me, I haven't had a drink for days,” he whined.

  “Thanks for leaving me some,” I grumbled.

  Merryweather pretended not to notice and waved his hands about in front of Sunyin's face.

  “Do you have to?” I said with a shake of my head.

  “Is he really blind?” he asked, turning to me conspiratorially.

  “Yes, but not deaf.”

  “Ah, I see, it's the old one and not the other routine.”

  “It is not a routine,” Sunyin's polite reply.

  “If you say so,” Merryweather said with a dismissive wave. “I suppose you'd both like somewhere to rest for the day.”

  “Not really.” I took Sunyin by the arm.

  “Hey! Where do you think you're going?”

  I ignored Merryweather's protestations and made to lead Sunyin from the room. I had no particular place in mind other than to be away from my nemesis. But before I could reach the doorway, Merryweather had rushed past and stood barring the way with an outstretched arm.

  “He's a lively fellow, your friend,” Sunyin commented.

  “He is not my friend. And you!” I bellowed, pointing at Merryweather's grimacing face. “Get out of my way.”

  “I think it's best you don't, Jean. This room has a lovely view, infinitely preferable to any other. When sunset comes it's as though the whole place is filled with blood.” He licked his lips at that. “Why don't you two stay here and I'll fetch us something to sleep on.”

  I drew my fist back, sick of him already, but Merryweather had already skipped to one side in screaming hysterics.

  There before me, strewn throughout the main hallway, lay what I presumed to have once been the Marquise's staff. What little remained of the contorted cadavers, drained to husks as they were, no longer resembled human forms.

  “Oh, no! What a terrible, terrible waste,” Sunyin said. He daubed at his milky eyes with the back of my borrowed shirt sleeve.

  “Merryweather!” I snarled, but my foe had high-tailed it outside and already mounted the flying platform.

  “Oh, Jean, so easy to manipulate. I do so miss your company,” he crooned. “But unfortunately, I must be off. Destiny beckons, and all that. I couldn't have got there without you. You've just saved me a very, very long walk and I'll ever be indebted to you.”

  “Your true colours show at last,” I said, attempting to stall him.

  “I have so many, I've forgotten which colour is truly my own.”

  “Yellow,” I suggested.

  “Oh, no, a deep maroon, or perhaps a nice forest green.” He shuddered at that. “Maybe not the green, I've seen quite enough decaying forests of late.”

  I was about to make my move, as Merryweather's hand strayed toward the aforementioned red button, when the strangest thing happened. Merryweather stood statuesque, as his eyes glazed over, and a, “Bugger!” slipped from his throat. The next thing, he was flat on his back.

  I tried to process the event, but no matter how hard I concentrated just couldn't come up with any explanation. When Merryweather's limp form raised itself to a four feet high horizontal position, hands and feet dangling, and propelled itself from the craft into the palace, I was left dumfounded. There it descended back to the floor until resting on the carpet like a corpse.

  I scratched my head in bewilderment as Sunyin took the lead. The old monk shuffled his way to the comatose Merryweather and raised a hand in welcome to thin air.

  “Very pleased to meet you,” he said.

  “And I, you,” came the response as of a crisp winter's morning.

  I was only mildly surprised when the owner of the invisibility disguise drew it back to reveal a snow-white attire and a pair of glistening, sapphire eyes.

  “Hm, I wasn't that heavy, after all.”

  “No, you weren't, Jean. Not one bit,” Aurora replied.

  * * *

  We ambled into the living room like friends at a dinner party. I chose a deep, luxurious, red-leather seat, Aurora diagonally to my right in the same, Sunyin to my left on a sofa he looked quite lost on. Merryweather sat cross-legged and bound between us. His face was redder than a beetroot, until then, something I'd have thought impossible for a pale-faced Eternal to pull off.

  “Can I interest anyone in a drink?” I asked offering out one of the three blood bags I'd rescued from the fridge.

  “I thought he'd drunk all the blood?”

  “Ah, my dear Aurora, I think Master Merryweather here prefers his blood to be non-fabricated. Once sampled and all that, eh, Walter?” Merryweather remained in full pout mode, focused upon the state of his slightly be-smudged boots.

  Aurora took the proffered bag, turned away and partook of a drink. The face she pulled on returning her blue eyes to my own told she, too, had the same Achilles heel.

  “Not to your taste?”

  “It shall suffice.”

  “She is very polite, Jean. You could learn a lot from this girl.”

  “Is that your professional opinion, Sunyin?”

  “I believe it is, though I know not on what it's based.”

  “I can be polite just not necessarily when around the impolite,” I said casting a glance to our prisoner.

  “Ah, a victim of circumstance,” the old monk said rubbing at the wound to his head.

  “Are you well, Sunyin? I'm afraid there was nothing in that refrigeration unit for you.
”

  “I shall…suffice. Thank you for your concern, Jean.”

  “Oh, god, you're all talking like bloody Nordics,” huffed Merryweather.

  “Ignore him,” I said. “Perhaps, he'll go away.”

  “I tried, but you stopped me.”

  “And that leads nicely to my one and only question, dear Walter. Where were you going in such a rush?”

  His shrugged shoulders were not the answer I wanted. So, not finding anything better to hand, I threw the ivory-coloured cushion I reclined against, at his stupid head. Merryweather did not react. The cushion bounced off his scruffy hair and away down the room.

  “I am not enjoying these surroundings, Jean,” Aurora said with a grimace.

  “I will take that as an indicator of your own good taste, dear girl. The Marquise de Rhineland would have been better titled as the Queen de Gaudy.”

  “Been?”

  “She was in Rudolph's palace when it was destroyed.”

  “I know nothing of that,” Aurora frowned.

  “It's a long story, but needless to say, Crown Prince Vladivar blew almost all of Europa's nobility into kingdom come. Or is it King Vladivar now, I'm unsure?”

  “Pfft!”

  “What was that, Walter, do you not approve of your new monarch?”

  Merryweather tongued the inside of his mouth, but would not be drawn into an answer.

  “So that's why my family aided you,” said Aurora. She turned her big, blue eyes from Merryweather to me.

  “I can't speak for Linka, but I'm pretty sure I was an unwelcome guest,” I sniffed.

  “Perhaps?” she said, giving the room's ivory interior the once over. “It is a shame my family does not discuss such matters with me.”

  “Because of your father?”

  “And, our physical differences.”

  “Eyes and lips do not make for much of a difference, my dear.”

  “Yes, eyes and lips,” she mused.

  “It is the tiny differences that make us unique,” said Sunyin.

  “Pah! How the bloody hell would you know, you're all the sodding same!” screamed Merryweather, suddenly agitated. “Well, they are,” he added, softer again.

  “That is how I know,” Sunyin replied with a smile.

  “This is getting us nowhere,” I commented. “Are you going to tell us where you were going, or not?”

  Merryweather shrugged his shoulders once more, unfortunately for him.

  I only slapped him, not even hard, but Merryweather burst into snivelled tears. I looked to Aurora, perplexed; she shook her head. Merryweather cried until the tears streamed down his pale face and dripped to the floor at his feet. I ignored him and continued to drink from my blood bag, as did Aurora in polite sips, hoping him soon to cease. He had other ideas and balled his eyes out to such an extent, he fell on his side kicking his bound legs about in a tantrum.

  “Good grief!” I exclaimed after too long of his antics. “I wish it had been the Marquis I was interrogating, and not this pathetic fool.”

  “I could take you to him,” said Merryweather stopping that instant.

  “You what!”

  “I could take you to him. I could, you know.”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” expressed Sunyin, whom I'd thought fallen asleep.

  “Is that not what you want?” Aurora asked.

  “Well, yes,” I said, a little nonplussed.

  “Why didn't you just ask?” Merryweather bemoaned.

  A scowl silenced him.

  “How do I know I can trust you?” I enquired.

  “Well, I've been trying to tell you from the start, you can.”

  “Yet, you won't answer any question you do not wish to.”

  “I'm a man of mystery,” he laughed.

  “You'll be a dead man of mystery if you try anything untoward.”

  “I wouldn't dream of it,” he chirped and beamed a grin.

  “You realise, this man wants me dead?” I said to Aurora.

  “Everybody wants him dead,” Merryweather laughed. “Except for me, of course,” he added, with as best a mock bow as he could manage.

  “Of course,” I said and rolled my eyes.

  “If you are implying danger, Jean, I would not worry. I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself.” Aurora sat a touch stiffer in her seat.

  “I'm sure you are, dear girl.”

  She looked defiant then, as though I taunted her.

  “Did I not follow you without incident?” her iced response.

  “Indeed. And whilst we're on the subject, why did you follow me?”

  “I wondered when you'd ask.”

  “Well, now you have your answer.”

  “I believe it is my duty to look after you, as I already have, twice.”

  “But, why, Aurora?”

  “Jean, I may be young by Eternal standards, but like you, I have already lived a long life. A long, tedious and troubling life, to be more exact. The advent of Princess Linka and yourself into both mine and my family's lives is the first excitement I've ever known. I wish it to continue.”

  “Did I just hear a Nordic express joy?” Merryweather sat bolt upright and raised a dishevelled eyebrow.

  “Not joy, my dapper friend.”

  “Ooh! She called me dapper.”

  “Shut up, Merryweather!” I snapped.

  “As I was saying, not joy, but life, something I've not had until the last few days.”

  Aurora's voice trailed off there, and for a second, I thought I saw a crystal tear form at the edge of one of those deep blue pools.

  “And you, Sunyin?”

  “Our fates are intertwined, Jean. I believe if I am to recover any memory, it will be whilst being at your side.”

  “Then it's settled,” I said. “We shall set off after we have rested. You for one need to do so, Sunyin.”

  The old monk's response was instantaneous. Sunyin nodded and curled up in his chair. I watched as a calm settled over his amiable features, his eyelids closed over clouded orbs, and he fell asleep on the spot.

  “There are quarters upstairs, Aurora.”

  “I do not need to sleep,” she replied. “I shall keep an eye on our friend here.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Quite.”

  “Then, I shall adjourn, and leave Walter to your more than capable sentry.”

  Aurora inclined her head as I stood to leave.

  “And what about me?” Merryweather moaned. “Jean, what about me?” he repeated.

  “Night, Walter.”

  “Jean! Jean! What about me?” he yelled as I left the room.

  The last words I heard as I made my ascent to the second level shepherded a wicked grin to my face.

  “Do you think he's coming back?”

  Chapter Eight

  -

  Sand

  “Did you sleep well?” Aurora asked, as I jumped onto the flying platform, Sunyin gripped in my arms. The thing hadn't moved since last I saw it hovering like a stagnant cloud awaiting the wind.

  “I am well, thank you. Although, I found sleeping in a coffin most unpleasant after sleeping in a real bed.”

  “You should have tried sleeping on a bare floor,” Merryweather grumbled.

  Aurora untied the fop to which he made a great show of dissatisfaction until the task was finished. He then stood and clicked into position just about every bone in his body, much to my annoyance. After a thorough check of himself, including a variety of tongue clicks and patted limbs, he swept his hands before Sunyin's smiling face in a repetition of the previous day.

  “Do I need to threaten you, Walter, or will you behave?”

  “There's no need for violence, I'm looking forward to our little adventure.”

  “I'm not sure I like the sound of that.”

  “That's because you're a misery. This is all very exciting if you'd but acknowledge it. What could be better than two old friends, an albino, Nordic Princess with weird eyes, and a hum
an thought once extinct, flying over a dead landscape without a clue where they're headed?”

  “Human!” Aurora exclaimed.

  “Didn't you know, my pale strumpet?” Merryweather crooned.

  “Is this true, Jean? Is this man un-Eternal?” She made a point of ignoring Merryweather's beamed grin.

  “If un-Eternal means human, then, yes.”

  “But…aren't they extinct?”

  “I thought the self-same thing until the Marquis de Rhineland proved me wrong. The Sunyins are home-grown, so to speak, but as good men as you'll ever find.”

  “Oh, stop it, Jean, I think I might cry.” Merryweather mopped his eyes in mock grief.

  “I could give you something to cry about,” I hissed.

  “Ooh, we are touchy this evening.”

  I ignored the whining Britannian and straightened my cuffs glad to be adorned in new dark attire for the trip. I failed to see Portia minding my commandeering replacement clothes what with her being dead and all.

  “Right, everyone ready?” Merryweather's trumpeted herald.

  “No tricks, Walter,” I warned.

  Merryweather brandished his index finger for all but Sunyin to see, waved it about like a conductor's baton, then pressed the mysterious red button below the handlebar controls.

  “The Marquis de Rhineland!” he bellowed, followed by something quieter I didn't quite catch.

  I had no time to dwell on it as the flying platform lifted rapidly into the air. Higher and higher we rose until well above the Marquis' ivory palace. It was a phenomenal view but not one I'd ever have cared to see again.

  Unsure what to expect next, the craft made a full three-hundred and sixty-degree slow pirouette. It was almost as if the thing sniffed out the Marquis' presence. Merryweather seemed particularly unconcerned by it all. He lounged against the handlebar controls with a superior smirk and a general nonchalant air. The craft made a few final adjustments, then shot off in a south-west direction. If not for Aurora's quick thinking, we may have lost Sunyin in the process. She grabbed him by the scruff of the neck just at the point of tumbling to the valley floor. There she eyed him inquisitively before assisting him into a seated position.

  “We might as well all do that,” Merryweather suggested. “Who knows how long the ride will be.”

  “Hmm, who knows?” I replied, but sat down anyway.