Emily's Saga

by Travis Bughi

  The vampire suddenly remembered the tied up girl sitting in front of him. He looked down to Emily and placed his cold hand on her cheek. It was the coldest thing Emily had ever felt, and she tried to pull away but there was nowhere to go. He left the hand on her cheek, and Emily grimaced as heat was stolen from her face. However, no matter how much heat it stole, Drowin’s hand remained chilled to the bone.

  “Feed the girl to your ogres as payment, Mr. Borgan,” the Count said, finally taking his hand off her cheek. “I shall not pay for services that were not done to my satisfaction.”

  Mr. Borgan made a shocked grunt but said nothing. Emily gaped. Who was this vampire that made a leprechaun with five ogres at his command stand idly by while he was denied payment? Hadn’t Mr. Borgan said, ‘I don’t want blood on my marble floor,’ when the ogres stepped forward to attack Drowin?

  Wait, Emily realized, maybe it was the ogres’ blood he was talking about. Just how powerful is a vampire?

  Emily put a quick stop to the questions flooding into her mind. If she didn’t come up with something soon, she was going to be dead. The ogres didn’t wait for Mr. Borgan’s cue, either. Drowin’s offer was more than enough invitation for their empty stomachs. In the darkness, she heard heavy footsteps closing in around her. One made a slurping sound from drooling too much. Their hulking figures began to emerge into the light, and Emily balked and said the first thing that came to mind.

  “You’ve been lied to, Count Drowin!” she said. “Basilisks cannot be captured!”

  She tried to sound confident, but the fear of being eaten alive had worked its way into her voice. Emily also had no idea if what she was saying was true, but if a basilisk was anything like a banshee from the Great Plains, then she figured she couldn’t be far off. Fortunately, her lack of confidence didn’t seem to matter, and her words were instantly refuted by the madwoman.

  “She’s a liar!” the woman shrieked. “Kill her, Okamoto!”

  The woman’s companion clip-clopped forward into the light, and Emily saw the most peculiar sight.

  Okamoto was a man with straight black hair and dark eyes somewhere in age between her older brother and father. His face was stoic and devoid of emotion as if asleep. He wore a white dress, or some kind of robe, that covered his body and left his hairless chest slightly exposed. The shoes he was wearing, which made so much noise, were indeed made from wood. They were so strange because they looked like small tables with the foot sitting on a platform supported by two pieces of wood that came down to elevate the wearer off the floor. Also, Okamoto’s hair was extremely long. Where most men cut their hair short, Okamoto grew it out and just tied it in the back into a queue.

  Also, compared to a knight, pirate, gunslinger, or an amazon, he looked extremely vulnerable. The foreigner had only one weapon—a long, thin, slightly curved sword tied to his waist—and as the man approached Emily, he placed one hand on the sword’s sheath and the other on the sword’s hilt. Before he could draw it, Count Drowin held up a hand.

  “Stop, samurai,” he said, turning to Emily. “How do you know I’ve been lied to?”

  The woman in the dark shrieked again and then screamed, “You can’t be serious! This isn’t even the right girl! I’ve never seen her before in my life. Kill her!”

  “And your sudden interest in her death has aroused my own,” the vampire countered.

  Okamoto looked at Emily, and she could see in his eyes (and only his eyes) that he was considering defying Drowin’s order. He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and looked sideways at the vampire.

  “Kill her!” the woman repeated.

  “Do that and our deal is off,” Drowin replied. “Your lord will be most displeased, I think, Okamoto.”

  The samurai’s eyes were welded to the vampire. Emily could feel her heart thundering. Okamoto was close enough now that he could kill Emily before Drowin could intervene. She tried to think of how to topple her chair to avoid the samurai’s swinging sword. Maybe if she used her feet she could kick herself up fast enough to survive the first swing. She braced her feet on the floor and prepared to push backwards. It might not work, but it was well worth the try. She just hoped she was fast enough, despite the cold.

  Thankfully, there was no need. To Emily’s relief, Okamoto took his hands off his sword and faded back into the shadows.

  “My husband will hear of this insubordination, you pathetic scum!” the woman yelled at Okamoto.

  Emily was shocked to hear that the woman was married. Out there somewhere in the world, she thought, lived a miserable man.

  “You cannot punish a samurai for obeying his lord,” Drowin said. “His duty is to your husband first, and you second. As for you, little girl, please continue.”

  Emily barely had time to recover. Her heart was still racing, and she knew the vampire could sense it. With a deep breath, she tried to slow its pace. Now was not the time to appear unsure.

  “Has she told you how she intends to capture a basilisk?” Emily asked.

  “No, she has not.”

  “This is ridiculous!” the woman yelled. “How I capture the creature is my own business!”

  Emily briefly wondered if this woman ever said anything without shouting. Perhaps her husband was happy right now because his wife was not around.

  “And it would be still had you not given me incorrect information on whom to capture. So, think of this as your way of reentering my good graces.”

  For all her fire, the woman could not scream her way out of this. The vampire had an immeasurable amount of charm carefully sowed with intimidation. If he didn’t have such an aura of evil, Emily might admire his poise.

  “I’m an amazon, Drowin,” the woman sighed as if that should be explanation enough. “I’ve lived with basilisks and know where they are weak and where they are strong. I will capture one with special wood that is resistant to their poison.”

  Emily gaped in the woman’s direction. She’d clearly said she was an amazon. She must have been one of the ones in The Kraken’s Eye, and she wanted Adelpha dead. Emily also didn’t know for sure, but she had a strong feeling the poison-resistant wood the woman was talking about was the wood from a treant used to make bows.

  Emily’s mind flashed red for a moment as she raged at Adelpha. Emily was here because of her! How dare that big woman treat her wrong? She owed Emily greatly, even if Emily never made it out of here alive.

  “Nothing is resistant to their poison,” the vampire said. “Not even an immortal like myself. That’s why I need it.”

  “Yes, I know,” the woman replied, “but believe me, there is one material that can withstand their venom, and I will use it to bring you what you need.”

  “And its gaze?” he asked. “How will you avoid being instantly killed when it looks at you?”

  “It can only kill those who look directly into its eyes. That’s nothing a sharp needle can’t fix.”

  The vampire held his gaze towards the woman’s voice for a few heartbeats and then nodded slowly. Then he turned to Emily, and she could see her doom in his cold, blue eyes.

  “What was your name?” he asked.

  “Emily Stout.”

  “It was a pleasure meeting you, Emily Stout,” the vampire nodded and then signaled to Mr. Borgan. “Take her away.”

  The small leprechaun clapped his hands twice, and the heavy footsteps of ogres came from every corner of the room.

  “No! NO!” Emily yelled. “Wait! Stop!”

  Drowin faded back into the darkness as the ogres emerged fully into the light. All five surrounded her, and their smiling, carnivorous faces turned terrifying in the flickering candlelight. They reached out and grabbed her with greedy hands.

  Chapter 15

  “Not on my marble!” Mr. Borgan warned. “Take it outside.”

  The ogres grunted and one of them grabbed a hold of Emily’s chair. They turned towards the door and effortlessly dragged her away from the flickering candle.

  “No!
Stop!” she yelled. “Help! HELP!”

  She kicked against the rope and rocked the chair, but nothing gave. The ogres laughed at her—the one pulling her unperturbed by her struggles—and the wooden legs scraped across the stone floor. Her body faded into the darkness until the ogres reached and opened the building’s door and moonlight poured in. Emily desperately searched the room, but the screaming woman and quiet samurai were still hidden by the shadows. Only Count Drowin was there to watch her leave, his white fangs glistening in the pale light. He gave Emily one last look of longing and hunger before the ogres dragged her into the cool night air.

  This cannot be happening, Emily thought. This can’t be! This can’t be how it ends!

  “Help!” she screamed as the ogres closed the door. “Somebody help!”

  Emily would not have her dream of leaving home come true only to end at the mouths of these purple beasts! She kicked against her restraints again as the ogres walked on and dragged her chair behind them. Now that she was outside, she could see the building they’d been in as it was bathed in moonlight. Emily gasped when she recognized the bank from the other day. This had been the building Abe had pointed out to her, the leprechaun bank.

  The ogres started walking down the stairs, and Emily’s head was jerked back as her chair was yanked along, bouncing down the stone steps. Having no other choice, Emily looked into the night sky. It was there that she saw the gargoyles from before, but they were stone no longer. They were flying on leathery, paper thin wings over the building. Their skeleton like arms and legs hung like dead flesh from their tiny bodies. In the moonlight, Emily could still make out their long claws, but there was something new. Now that they were not stone, the gargoyles had red, glowing eyes, and they could make sound as well, for they screeched at the sight of the intruders.

  They arched their claws up and opened their mouths, preparing to feast on those below as they shrieked and dived down to attack.

  “Golden arches,” one of the ogres grumbled.

  The gargoyles flinched in midair, literally stopping in flight as if something physical had halted their descent. Then they recovered, their eyes turning from Emily and ogres, and flew back up into the sky. They appeared totally unaware of the movement below them now.

  “Help!” Emily screamed again. “Someone! Anyone!”

  The ogres laughed at Emily’s cries, and she swiveled her head around as much as she could to look for help. Lucifan’s streets were empty as far as she could tell, and her head bounced as the chair was hauled down the stony steps. One of the ogres made eye contact with her and licked his purple lips. His slobbering tongue whipped back and forth between his two short tusks.

  They’re really going to eat me, Emily thought as her body went cold. She had to find a way out. She wouldn’t accept this, not until the last moment. Fruitlessly, she pushed against the rope again, trying to time her efforts with the falling of the chair on the stone steps. There were only a few more steps left, though, and when the ogres reached the last of them, the one dragging her flung her into the street.

  The wooden chair, with Emily tightly strapped to it, soared through the air and crashed to the ground. The two legs of the chair that landed first snapped off under the weight, and Emily’s body and face slid on the ground until the rest of the weight tumbled down on top of her. Through the ringing in her ears, she heard the ogres laugh again.

  Emily tried to blink, but she could only open her left eye, because the other was pressed against the ground. Her whole body stung and ached now, but she barely noticed once she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. She struggled against the loosened rope and found that she could move her right hand. The rest of her was still tangled in the ropes, and she felt around as she tried to pull the rope off. Instead, her hand found one of the wooden legs that had snapped off the chair. As the ogres approached her, she gripped it tightly.

  Their heavy steps stopped just inches from her head. Their feet were so close, Emily could see the dirt encrusted between their four toes and smell the horrid stench it created. The five creatures surrounded her, taking their places for the evening meal. One of the ogres reached down and, with one of the sharpened nails on its fingers, cut the rope that bound her. Emily lay quite still as the pressure was released and didn’t flinch when the ogre grabbed her by the neck. It held her tightly, and she couldn’t breathe, but still she did not kick. It picked her up and looked into the eyes of this curious human who did not squirm with fear, a level of interest reflecting in its own yellow pools. Then that curiosity was taken by hunger, and the ogre opened its mouth to bite off her head.

  Emily swung the wooden chair leg as hard as she could and bashed the ogre in the side of the head. Caught completely off guard, the ogre growled and released his victim, stumbling back as blood sprayed from his crushed nose. Emily didn’t miss a beat, and as her feet hit the ground, she tried to dart under the wounded ogre’s legs. She wasn’t fast enough, though, and one of the others grabbed her leg, tripping and sending her crashing into the ground again.

  “Damn it, no!” she spit. “HELP!”

  She kicked the hand as hard as she could, but the ogre only smiled and hauled her up into the air, this time upside down. She swung at him with the makeshift club, but he grabbed it and tore it from her hands. Viciously, she kicked and punched, her hands striking hard muscle every time. She screamed, too, but the ogres did nothing but laugh. Even the one she’d injured was chuckling, blood dripping from its nose.

  They stared at her with their yellow eyes and grinned with their huge mouths. The jagged yellow teeth reflected the moon’s glow and consumed all of Emily’s world as the ogres leaned forward to feed on her flesh. Emily screamed once more and closed her eyes.

  Without warning, the ogre holding her leg released his grip, and Emily dropped to the ground, head first. Her body crashed over her, and it took a moment to see what was happening. She looked up and saw the ogre who’d held her lying dead on the ground with two arrows through its head.

  “Charge!” came a voice from above.

  Emily looked up to see ten knights in the sky, each flying on a pegasus. Their full plate armor was shining gloriously, and their mounts kicked in the air with every beat of their wings. As one, they swooped down, heavy swords drawn, and dived in a sharp spiral to surround the four remaining ogres. Their mounts snorted as they landed, their wings beating furiously to halt their swift charge. The ogres snarled back and drew their own heavy weapons. Two of them had wooden clubs with nails driven through the end, but the other two had heavy pieces of metal that had been crudely sharpened on one edge. However, they were not suicidal and pressed their backs against each other in a defensive circle.

  Emily darted away, her feet scrambling to get past the knights and reach safety, as the ogres turned to face the threat. The ogres let her run, unwilling to chase their prey with so many competing predators nearby. Emily looked for the knight with a bow who had saved her life, but she was confused when she saw none carried one.

  “Emily!” Chara yelled.

  Emily turned to see Chara and Adelpha come sprinting out of the shadows between two buildings. Emily instantly knew who had saved her life and ran towards them, throwing her arms around Chara in relief.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Chara said, her voice heavy in its honesty. “I thought we might be too late. Here! Here’s your bow. Next time, try using it and not yourself to launch the arrow, please.”

  Emily took her bow, glad to have a weapon again even if she did not understand how to use it correctly. She gave her grandmother another tight squeeze, which was returned in kind.

  “You arrived just in time,” Emily replied. “How’d you find me?”

  “Once I could stand again, we set off to track the ogres,” Adelpha explained. “I wanted to rouse the other amazons, but Chara worried you’d be dead if we didn’t hurry. These knights were patrolling and offered their help. One says he knows you. Your screams did the rest.”

&n
bsp; “One of them knows me?” Emily balked, her heart beating the answer before she could say it.

  She turned back to the knights, and one of them lifted his visor. Sir Gavin Shaw was smiling, charming as ever, and Emily’s jaw fell open. He favored her with a wink and closed the visor again.

  “I want them alive!” he shouted to the other knights.

  His squad dismounted from their pegasi and closed in around the four ogres. Their mounts flew back up into the sky as the knights stepped away, giving their riders more room to maneuver on the ground. The knights drew up shields, lending more armor to their already well-protected bodies, and the ogres with their yellowed eyes snarled and growled in response—one letting out a roar. It hefted a heavy blade nearly as tall as Emily and swept it in a wide arc at the knight closest to him. That knight leapt back as fast as his armor would allow, but still the ogre’s blade struck his shield hard. Emily heard the sound of metal hitting metal and watched the knight stumble and fall, reeling back from the force to clatter onto the ground. His helmet flew off with the impact, revealing Sir Duncan Macalister. The ogre who’d almost killed him stepped forward to finish the job.

  Gavin was at his friend’s side in a heartbeat, stepping in and ramming his entire, heavily weighted body into the purple beast. He looked like a child compared to the ogre’s size, but his action drove the ogre back. Duncan hastily stood up and took a better footing, sharing a nod with Gavin.

  “Watch yourselves!” Gavin shouted to his allies.

  “Put down your weapons!” Duncan commanded the ogres.

  The ogres snarled again and took a step back towards the bank.

  “Stop!” Gavin yelled.

  The ogres broke into a run, swinging their weapons to break open a gap in the knights’ circle. Even with knights’ armor and shields, the ogres’ weapons and brute strength were too much to contain. The knights were forced back as they defended themselves, one being struck so hard that his armor bore a dent where the sword had struck. When he fell, an opening was made, and the ogres dashed through it and up the stairs. The knights attempted to follow, but they stopped when the gargoyles noticed them.