by N. P. Martin
The magic in the chaos bullet was taking full effect now, as bolts of blue magical energy began to shoot from the body of the pusher. The blue bolts shot out in all directions, hitting several of the surrounding thugs. I couldn’t help but smile. Chaos bullets never get old.
At that point, maybe in a panic at all the magic flying around, the rest of the thugs attacked en masse. Moira didn’t wait for them to get any closer. With a loud shout, she sprang forth with her swords, swinging them at the thugs with impressive speed and skill, cutting down at least two of LeBron’s men in her initial attack.
I still had my pistol in my hand, so I thought, Might as well…
The thug closest to me got a bullet in the chest as he tried to attack me. Then the next closest one got a bullet in the throat. The chaos magic in the first bullet exploded the body of the guy I shot in the chest, spraying blood and gore everywhere. The guy who got shot in the throat was lying on the ground clutching his neck as blood erupted from his mouth. Within seconds, he appeared to be completely consumed by blue magic that swirled around him, before lifting him to his feet and spinning him around at great speed, until all you could see was a whirling blue dervish. This mass of magic began to dart around the place in all directions, spinning like a tornado, sending bodies flying as it crashed into them, knocking them down like skittles.
Awesome, I thought.
"Creed!" Moira shouted. "Let’s get out of here!"
For a second, I thought about trying to teleport us out, but then thought better of it when I remembered my magic levels were low, so I opted to make my escape the old fashioned way. I sprinted off into the mist, following behind Moira as she took us through a series of back alleys, until we reached an abandoned looking street with only a few trippers lying around. Then we stopped to catch our breath.
I couldn’t help smiling as endorphins rushed around my body. "Well, that was fun," I said.
Moira shook her head. "I’m glad you think so. That could have gone so much differently…"
"Yeah, but it didn’t, did it?" I still had my pistol in my hand, I noticed, so I put it back in its holster.
"That’s an interesting gun you have."
"Not the gun, so much as the bullets. Infused with chaos magic, as you no doubt saw."
"Now why didn’t I have one of those when I was a cop?"
"Because you didn’t know about magic then."
"I do now, that’s for sure."
I reached into my pocket and took the Soul Finder out. "It’s telling us to go west."
"West?" Moira said.
"Yeah. Is that a problem?"
"Only if you consider LeBron a problem. Crystal Mountain is the only thing that lies west."
I nodded, unsurprised. "Well, then," I said. "Let’s go pay LeBron a visit, shall we?"
22
Crystal Mountain
I don’t know why, but for some reason I thought it wouldn’t take us that long to get to Crystal Mountain, especially when we left the city and headed across the wastelands. After a while though, I soon realized that LeBron’s lair was quite a distance away.
"I’ve never been to the mountain," Moira said, a little defensively, I thought, as we made our way across the mist shrouded wasteland. "Why would I go there?"
"I just assumed…"
"I just know it lies west. That’s it."
"Well," I said. "It’s lucky I have the Soul Finder, otherwise how the hell could you navigate through all this fucking mist?"
"I guess you wouldn’t. It’s not unheard of for people to get lost out in these wastelands. Don’t be surprised if we cross paths with some of them."
The depressing grimness of the Gray Lands, like many of the other off-world places I’d travelled to, made me appreciate just how good I had things on Earth. I couldn’t wait to get back there and see Leona, at which point I would take her to the little cabin I owned in the woods, and we would hide away in there for a few days while fucking our brains out and taking long walks through the forest in between. That was the dream anyway.
"Hmm, sounds good," Max said. "Except the walking part. Did I mention I hate walking?"
"You hate everything," I said.
"Not everything…"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about the torturing of humans."
"My favorite pastime."
"So if you hate walking so much, can’t you teleport us to where we need to go?"
"Sorry," Max said. "Not enough power here to take both of you."
"Or maybe you’re just conserving yours for things to come."
"What things?"
"You think LeBron is just going to allow us entry into his mountain lair? You think he won’t try to jack my soul, or lock Moira and I up so he can drain us of our soul energy, or whatever the fuck he does? You’d be trapped along with me."
"Perhaps, but it would just be a temporary state. I’d find a way out. This land is no place for a demon, after all."
Moira gave me a look. "You having one of your silent conversations with your demon again?" she asked.
"Just trying to formulate a plan, for when we get to the mountain. Any ideas?"
Puffing her cheeks out, Moira shook her head. "As I said, I’ve never actually been to the mountain, so I’ll be going in as blind as you are."
"Okay, so as a cop, how would you approach this?"
"I’d have a SWAT team on site ready to storm the place."
I nodded. "Of course you would. But since we don’t have a SWAT team on hand, and no back up at all…"
"Don’t forget me," Max said.
"I refuse to rely on you for anything. Stay out of this."
"Cranky…"
"Then I guess we play it by ear," Moira said.
I couldn’t help laughing. "Funny you should say that."
"Why?"
"Playing it by ear is my usual plan of attack."
"Oh yeah? And how does that usually work out for you?"
It was my turn to puff my cheeks out. "It varies."
Moira nodded as she smiled. "Comforting…"
"If my girlfriend were here, she would probably come up with a decent plan of attack."
"Your girlfriend?" Moira seemed slightly put out by my mentioning this, perhaps because she was trapped in a grim existence with no one to comfort her.
"Yeah," I said. "She’s a super soldier…and sexy as fuck."
Moira shook her head. "I’m sure being sexy really helps when you’re shooting people."
"Of course it does. It helps me."
Laughing, Moira said, "Seriously…"
"Did you have someone back when…you know…"
"When I was still alive?"
"Yeah."
"No, not really. I was married to my job."
"Is that something you regret?"
She threw me a look. "What do you think?"
I nodded. "I know what’s it’s like. I’m lucky I have someone who understands."
"Yes, you are."
I put a friendly hand on her shoulder. "Hey, if we make it out of this place, you can start again. Rectify all those past mistakes."
"Or make them all over again."
I couldn’t help but smile at the truth of her words. "Hopefully not."
The mountain was a lot further away than either of us initially thought. It felt like we had been walking across the gray featureless landscape for days, and more than once I wondered if the Soul Finder was faulty in some way. Moira, however, assured me that we were going in the right direction. "How do you know?" I asked her. "You said you’d never been out here before."
Moira sighed. "I may have lied about that."
I frowned. "What do you mean? Why would you lie?"
"Because," she said shaking her head. "I may have worked for LeBron at one time."
"Ha!" cried Max suddenly. "I told you, Creed, didn’t I? She’s a lying, untrustworthy bitch!"
I stopped to stare at her. "Doing what? Pushing trips?"
She nodded. "Yes, I’m ash
amed to say. It was just something I fell into, because…I guess I didn’t know what else to do, or…" She trailed off as she looked away.
I said nothing for a moment, and then continued to walk. "No need to explain. I get it. But why lie about it?"
"Because it isn’t something I’m proud of, and I thought if you knew, that you would think I was playing you somehow."
"Are you?"
"Of course not."
I nodded. "Then we don’t have a problem. Although, there is one thing I’d like to know."
"What’s that?"
"Given the distance Crystal Mountain obviously is from the city, how the hell do LeBron’s people get back and forth? Are you seriously saying you walked every time?"
"No. LeBron installed a teleportation pod in the city. That’s how his people get back and forth."
"You might have mentioned this before," I said. "We could’ve used it instead of traveling by foot."
Moira shook her head. "It’s guarded all the time, and anyone who arrives at Crystal Mountain is greeted by guards. We would’ve been caught straight away."
"LeBron has guards? How many?"
"Enough."
"Have you ever seen him? LeBron, that is."
"A few times. He locks himself away, so he’s rarely seen by anyone, except for those who do his bidding."
"Okay. So you know how to get into his lair?"
"There’s only one main entrance. It’s not going to be easy."
"It never is," I said. "We’ll figure something out."
"Are you pissed at me for lying?"
I shrugged. "No. Your knowledge of the place will work in our favor."
We carried on walking through the thickening mist in silence for another while, before Moira started asking me questions about my family. "Who are they to you?" she asked.
"My mother, brother, and sister," I told her.
"What happened to them?"
"They died." We both laughed despite ourselves. "I mean, of course they did."
"So what do you plan on doing once we get to Crystal Mountain? Are you going to try and break them out, assuming they’re in there?"
"That would be a start, yes."
"Then what?"
I didn’t answer at first, because I wasn’t sure myself. In the back of my mind, I had the notion that I would take all three of them back to Earth with me somehow, so they could start again the way Moira planned to. "I’m not sure. I guess that’s up to them."
"You miss your family." It was more of a statement than a question.
I nodded. "Of course I do. Don’t you have family who died?"
"I had a son. He was twelve years old when…" She trailed off, the emotion too much for her.
"I’m sorry," I said. "What happened?"
Moira let out a long breath, as if answering was going to be hard. "I was working on a case, trying to catch a serial killer who was terrorizing Manchester at the time. The killer used to contact me a lot. It was like a sick game to him. He thought we had some sort of connection. You know how these sick fucks think."
I did. All too well. "So what happened?"
"Well, in an effort to catch the bastard, I went on live TV and tried to draw him out by undermining him, saying he was just a sad loser who would soon be caught, and that he would rot in prison for the rest of his natural life. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and we were desperate for a break in the case, so we figured we had nothing to lose. Except…I did." She paused for a moment as if to contain her emotions. "It’s entirely my fault. I should’ve had round the clock protection on my house. The nanny was killed, my son was taken. We never recovered his body until we caught his killer. I had to watch as they dug my son up from a boggy field. His little body…" She squeezed her eyes shut, like the memory was still fresh in her mind.
I put a hand on her shoulder. "It’s all right," I said. "You don’t have to go on."
She nodded and wiped her palm across her face. "Before you ask, I’ve looked for him here. I can only hope my son has moved on somewhere better."
"I’m sure he has."
After that exchange, neither of us felt like speaking again, until we noticed the mist beginning to clear somewhat. Which I thought was unusual, until I realized that the infamous Crystal Mountain was looming up ahead like a giant fortress. It was odd seeing a single mountain in the otherwise featureless landscape, as if the massive clump of rock had been dropped there from another realm. The huge crystal formations that jutted out from the rock, as if they had at one time rained down it, ensured the mountain earned its name. "Inside Crystal Mountain," I said. "Where evil takes its form…"
"What?" Moira asked, still slightly broody after talking about her dead son.
I shook my head. "Nothing. Just a song I heard once."
"There’s a song about Crystal Mountain?"
"Yes, but not this one."
"It’s an impressive structure," Max said. "It reminds me of the citadels in the Underworld."
"I’m sure you feel right at home," I said.
"Never mind that," Max said. "How are we getting inside?"
From what I could see, the only entrance was a huge double door set into the front of the mountain. "I guess we go in the front door," I said, more to Moira. "Unless you know another way in?"
Moira shook her head. "That’s the only way in or out as far as I know. But we would never get in without being seen."
"Lots of people must come and go here," I said. "Couldn’t we pretend to be pushers and just walk in?"
"You’ll be seized the minute they clock your face. So will I."
"I have an idea," Max piped up within me.
At that point, I was open to all options. "Go on," I said cautiously.
"We simply knock on the door."
I immediately shook my head. "That’s your big plan? Knock on the fucking door? That would never…"
"What would never?" Moira asked. "You have a plan?"
I didn’t realize I was speaking aloud. "Max has a plan. Apparently we just knock on the front door like cub scouts selling cookies."
"Jesus," Moira said shaking her head. "This was pointless. I should never have brought you here. It was a bad idea…"
"Hey, don’t worry about it," I said. "We’ll figure something out."
"My plan is a good one," Max said. "And the only one you have, I might add."
I said nothing as I stared at the door in the distance.
"Eh, Creed?" Moira said.
"I’m thinking…"
"No, Creed, you better look…"
"At what?" I said, annoyed at her for breaking my concentration. But as I took my focus off the door and placed it on my immediate surroundings, I soon saw what she was talking about.
Dark figures in the mist surrounding us. At least a dozen.
Shit.
"Maybe you won’t have to knock after all," Max said. "Maybe they’ll march you straight in."
One of the figures stepped out of the mist behind us to reveal themselves. It was a woman, and she held what looked to be a machete in her hand. "Are you two lost?" she asked in an Australian accent.
"Shit," Moira said as if she recognized the woman.
"No," I replied immediately, seeing an opportunity. "We want to work for LeBron."
The woman laughed as she came closer. She would have been pretty if she wasn’t so gray…and didn’t have a gaping wound running down her face, as if she had been sliced with a knife only minutes ago. "Oh, really? And why would a living soul want to work for LeBron?"
Crap.
"And you, Moira…" The woman laughed. "Yeah, I know it’s you. We’ve been tracking you two since you left the city."
I sighed and shook my head. How the hell did I not realize we were being followed this whole time?
"It’s the mist," Max said. "It seems to have a way of cancelling everything out, magic especially."
"We didn’t come here looking for trouble, Charlotte," Moira said as she took her ho
od down.
"Is that right, Moira?" Charlotte said. "I seem to remember you causing a lot of trouble last time you were here, what with killing all those people because you thought you were too good for this place."
"They shouldn’t have tried to stop me leaving," Moira said.
"Well, no one will try to stop you this time," Charlotte said. "Because this time you won’t get the chance to leave. LeBron will make sure of that." She shifted her gaze to me. "And as for you, Mr. Technicolor, LeBron has plans for you…"
The way she said it, it was like LeBron knew all about me. Given the Gray Lands were his domain, it wouldn’t have surprised me if he had clocked my presence the second I came through the portal. Something I should’ve considered at the time, but didn’t.
"All right," I said taking off my cloak and letting it drop to the ground, hearing the gasps of the gray souls surrounding me as they looked on with envy. Even Charlotte’s eyes widened as she gazed upon me as a potential ticket back to the living. "We’ll come quietly. Just take us in."
"Bad idea, Creed," Moira whispered.
"Let’s hope not," I said.
23
Back To Square One
The huge double doors set into the front of the mountain were opened, and the massive weight of them creaked as two men pushed from the inside. As I walked through the doors with Charlotte prodding me with the tip of her machete, I couldn’t help thinking I was going into somewhere that was straight out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It felt hot inside, as if lava were boiling just below the surface of the rock. We moved into a cavernous opening, from which pathways and tunnels veered off in every direction, giving the impression of walking into a giant termite nest. The rock itself was veined with collected soul energy, and it was this energy that gave the whole place a ghostly pale blue glow. The ghostly light made the people lying around everywhere look even more ghoulish, as they lay slumped on the floor or against walls, their eyes closed as they tripped in a different reality. Those who walked around the place simply stepped over the trippers as if stepping over a pile of rubbish.