by J. P. Rice
I laughed. “I’ve been hearing that same exact phrase for years. In those years, a lot of people have died. A lot. Yet here I sit, living and breathing and not in handcuffs. And you know what, next year I’ll still be here. Will you? Just give me Cyclone Woman and I’ll get you out of here. You give me an address. We pick up Cyclone Woman. And you go home. Refuse and you will rot in here until you die. Your choice.”
“I love choices.” Kobayashi laughed and closed his eyes for a few moments. “But you forgot the most obvious one.” One at a time, he opened his eyes.
“And what would that be?” I asked, already sick of his shit.
“I leave here,” he stated simply. He leaned his head closer to the table. “I go back to Cyclone Woman and send a tornado straight through the city. Or perhaps another choice. I find out where you live and send a twister to take out you and anyone you care about. The first will be that little bastard goblin we’ve seen you with.”
I jumped up from the table and my hands formed naturally into fists. “Don’t you dare threaten my son. I’ll fucking kill you right here if you utter another word about him.”
His lips curled up even more and a gleam streaked through his dark eyes. “Ahhh. I seem to have struck a nerve. How about I give you some options? You let me go right now and you stop following us. You will give us the Blood Goblet too. Yes. Since you’ve stuck your nose into this matter, I’ve had people following you. You are severely overplaying your hand.”
Shit. He had some very good points, but the deck being stacked against me had never stopped me before. “Those don’t sound like options to me.” I paced along the table.
Kobayashi swung his arms up over his head and put his cuffed hands on the table. The double-jointed son of a bitch deepened his voice and said, “No. They are demands. If you wish to live, you will follow them.”
I stopped pacing and focused on Kobayashi. “Oh, so now you’re giving advice. How generous of you.”
He looked away and blew on his clawed fingernails. “My mind tires of this circular conversation. Round and round we go. Do you have any other questions that will make you feel like a big tough guy?”
He was making my blood boil again. I sat back down and tried to relax. Being on edge about Burn had made it a lot easier for me to get fired up. I thought about using physical force against the detained sorcerer, but it went against everything I’d been taught.
If I sank to the level of the dregs of the magical world, what would that make me? No better than them, right? Then why was my right fist clenched so hard that it was about to turn into a diamond? And why was my mind screaming to smash this motherfucker in the face?
“I’m tiring of this too. Have fun rotting away.” I stood up and shoved my seat back in one motion. Moving to the side, I lowered my head and pushed the seat snugly under the table.
When I looked up, a fog of smoke surrounded Kobayashi and metal clanging against metal filled my ears. I raced around the other side of the table and stabbed my hand at the area where Kobayashi was sitting. Nothing. With a wild hand motion, I waved the haze away. The thick plumes of smoke smelled minty and started to dissipate as I continued my fanning motion.
As the smoke cleared, I stared at an empty chair and a pair of handcuffs sitting on the interrogation table. Where was he? I searched the corners and ceiling of the room. How the fuck had he just disappeared?
Just to the right of the chair, I noticed something. A strange opaque wave of light colors. A fucking portal. How had he performed that act? That was a serious magic act that I’d never known about.
Should I jump into the portal and chase him? I vacillated on what to do. I didn’t want to let him get away, but the portal could lead anywhere. It could be a trap. Hell, I was dealing with a black magic sorcerer. It probably was a trap. Fuck.
I decided not to take the wild ride to the other side. I’d wondered why Kobayashi had been so reckless. It made perfect sense now. He’d never given his real name and he had a get out of jail free card. It was as if he’d never even been detained.
Frustrated, I grabbed the cuffs and duct tape and opened the door.
Gretchen was standing sentinel right outside the room and asked, “So what did you find out?”
“About that.” I handed her the handcuffs. Gretchen accepted them with a perplexed look on her face. I held my hands up in front of my chest. “Just let me explain what happened.”
Chapter 11
Hiking along a beaten dirt path at the public forest named Trillium Trail, I checked my pocket to make sure I still had the magic whistle to summon one of the Gods. Blodeuwedd had given it to me to use when I needed help. She had organized all the winged creatures in Pittsburgh into an intelligence source. Quite crafty.
I’d never summoned her and didn’t know what to expect, but I needed her to find out some information on the Seven Sorcerers. I kept walking deep into the woods and heard some grunting sounds to my left. Jerking my neck to the left, I noticed a small bush moving. It seemed like it could be an attack.
A pleasurable female moan solved the mystery and the sonorous skin slapping told me it was time to move on. The amorous couple’s symphony was interrupted by buzzing locusts and insects. When was winter going to actually hit the Northeast?
The trail ended, and I knew I was probably far enough away from everyone else, but I wanted to be sure. I walked for another half mile and I found an enormous boulder that came up to my midsection. It seemed like as good a place as any to summon a Goddess.
I plucked the whistle out of my pocket and parked my keister on top of the huge gray rock. Holding the musical instrument to my lips, I blew into the small recorder and a faint whistle came out the other end. Repeating the process, I couldn’t produce a pleasant sound. It was a sharp, screechy sound, which I hoped would still call the Goddess.
As I waited for Blodeuwedd, I thought about the case. It had sucked to let Kobayashi get away from the police. But we had the Blood Goblet, the great equalizer, in our possession. I needed to go see Fukutama with Felix so he could tell us how to use the Goblet against the sorcerers.
I was confident that we could wrap this up as soon as we talked to Fukutama. We just had to find out where the sorcerers were staying. That was where Blodeuwedd came into the picture. Hopefully she could use her resources to find out where the sorcerers were holding Cyclone Woman. Almost an hour went by and my confidence in the Goddess showing up started to dwindle.
Where could I get information if Blodeuwedd didn’t come through? Nowhere. Maybe Fukutama could find out where they were staying. I leaned back on my elbows and looked up at the leafless branches exposing small slivers of cerulean sky.
Something tapped my shoulder. I sat up quickly and jumped down from the rock. Peering over my left shoulder, I calmed down when I noticed an owl behind me. Finally. My heart rate started to slow back down, and I said, “Well hello, Blodeuwedd.”
The majestic bird had bright yellow forward-facing eyes, standing ears on top of her head and a facial disc of golden, white and black feathers arranged in vertical patterns.
Blodeuwedd shook her face around, and I couldn’t stop looking at the golden beak and extremely long silver filoplumes. She was wearing a necklace of assorted woven flowers that looked like a Hawaiian lei.
“Micheal Merlino, it’s a pleasure as always.” It was freaky to hear her voice in owl form. “What is it you would like help with?”
“I actually have a few things I need to talk to you about. First, what have the Gods said about my implant? Are they mad?”
“We,” Blodeuwedd reminded me. She stressed the word, seemingly pissed that I hadn’t included her in the pantheon. “We are not happy about it. Some more than others.”
I had to know. “Who’s really mad? You?”
The owl shook her head, and said, “Mabon, the Dagda and Cernunnos mainly. The women have been more understanding. We realize what a dangerous game this can be. The men do too, they just like to act tough around e
ach other. Most of the Gods have committed egregious errors when they roamed the earth. We all make mistakes, Micheal.”
I lowered my head. “I just feel so embarrassed and stupid about the whole thing.”
Blodeuwedd climbed closer to me on the boulder. “We’ve all felt that way a time or two. You need to set aside the frustration of the matter and face it head on. Dian Cécht would like to help, but he needs you to come to Clara Spiritus so he can scan the implant and figure out how to remove it without triggering the self-destruct mechanism.”
I turned and stared into her yellow eyes. “I really didn’t want to have to face them, but I guess I need to man up.”
Her head moved back and forth. “I’m not sure exactly what that means. The sooner you get back to Clara Spiritus, the sooner we will get that implant out of you. Don’t forget, the Gods have seen everything before and we are very forgiving. Some just like to prove a point before the forgiveness. You need to get back to Clara Spiritus before that implant makes you do something gruesome.”
I was being foolish and needed to end it now. “You’re right. I need to quit worrying about myself and worry about the people I might injure if I don’t take care of this. Thanks.”
She narrowed her eyes and asked, “Was that all you wanted to talk about?”
I still had the main reason for calling her here. “No. I also wanted to know if you were familiar with the Seven Sorcerers from Japanese Mythology.”
Blodeuwedd jumped down from the boulder and looked up at the sky. “Ahhh, the disciples of Shuten dōji, if I’m not mistaken.”
“Exactly,” I confirmed. “Did you know that they are in Pittsburgh?”
The Goddess in owl form’s eyes met mine. “We’d heard that they had kidnapped Cyclone Woman, but we weren’t sure where they were staying. We had a good feeling you would be taking the lead on this.”
“Well, yeah, but I could use a little help.”
She spread her wings and held them out by her sides. “I am here to help. I will send word around about the sorcerers and my little birdies will find out where they are staying. The Gods probably won’t get involved because we know you can handle this. Just like you handled all the other cases by yourself with minimal help from the Gods. Practice confidence.”
“How do you practice confidence?”
She tucked her wings and looked away. “Same as anything else. Start by telling yourself how great you are. Soon, you will have convinced yourself of it. Once your brain believes it, it will search for ways to make it true. You’re an incredible man, Micheal. You just need to believe. It’s quite simple, really.”
Huh.
She continued before I could say anything, “We believe in you. That belief is evidenced by the fact that we don’t jump in and save you. We are confident in you. It’s time to be confident in yourself. Simple.”
“Simple,” I repeated. “So...uhhh...have you heard anything else about Burn?”
Blodeuwedd answered, “Do you mean the person missing from your secret trip to Sleepy Willow?”
She was being coy. It was strange to be passive aggressively yelled at by an owl. “Yes. I apologized for that.”
“I know. I just like to see you squirm. We have heard several reports on her.” The owl paused for what seemed like an hour. Come on. What was the word? She said, “They conflict with each other. Three sources have reported her to be still alive and two others insist she is dead.”
“What do you think? Who do you believe?” I asked, peering down at the owl.
In a single bound, the owl jumped back up onto the boulder next to me. “They are all reliable sources, so I cannot say. You invaded their land without notice last time. If you are entertaining the idea of chasing after her, be forewarned. They will be expecting you this time. She will be well guarded.”
Didn’t she know that had never stopped me before? “I realize that. It’s almost like you are trying to talk me out of it.”
“The decision is ultimately up to you, Micheal Anthony,” she sounded like my mother when she said my name slowly. “You’re still a young man. Even if the very worst has occurred, it will only serve to make you stronger in the future.”
Not exactly the soothing words I was searching for. We said our goodbyes and the owl beat her wings and rose up from the giant boulder, quickly disappearing into a tangle of branches above. I couldn’t get Burn out of my head.
To rescue her, I needed Jonathan to stop stalling me out and get me back into Sleepy Willow. Perhaps I could assemble a small army of supernatural mercenaries. My bank account was stuffed, and I was prepared to spend every last penny I had to get Burn back. It still tore at my heartstrings to know she was being tortured...or worse.
But going on a wild goose chase when the citizens of Pittsburgh needed me to save them from the sorcerers seemed rather foolish. The sorcerers now controlled the weather.
There was no such thing as a natural disaster anymore. Not with a devious puppet master pulling the strings. And especially after antagonizing Kobayashi at the police station, I couldn’t leave now. It would be like swatting a hornet’s nest and running away for everyone else to get stung.
We had the Blood Goblet. I just had to focus on this case for a few more days. We would use the Goblet to defeat the Seven Sorcerers and rescue Cyclone Woman, thus keeping Pittsburgh and its surroundings safe from weather disasters.
Then I could put all my attention into rescuing Burn. That would give Jonathan enough time to come to his senses and get me back into Sleepy Willow. Pushing the ultimate plan aside in my head, I focused on the next part of my current mission.
It was time to pay a visit to Fukutama and find out more about the Blood Goblet and how we could use it against the sorcerers.
Chapter 12
I wedged my way into Fukutama’s humble tree house and Felix was already showing him the Goblet. I knew the showboat was going to try to take all the credit when he had offered to carry it up the ladder. I bowed to Fukutama and noticed a glowing look of joy was making his face light up with delight. It was like the look on a child’s face on Christmas morning. Mesmerized, he stared at the Goblet, taking in all the gleaming rubies and sapphires crusted to the golden drinking vessel.
Felix told him the entire story about how we’d captured the Goblet and the subsequent brawl. When he told the part about his fire fist move, I almost called bullshit until I remembered I had been there and seen it with my own two eyes.
It sounded so far-fetched and downright silly sitting up here now. Then I remembered that most of our stories sounded like superhero movies that would have been rejected by Hollywood for being too over the top.
I didn’t want to waste any time and suggested, “Do you want to get in the mood, so we can figure out how to use this thing to defeat the sorcerers and break the possible curse?”
“You got it,” Felix responded and grabbed the pipe off a shelf on the wall.
I was hoping they would refrain like last time so we could get straight to business, but no dice on that front. The two men shared a pipe while I lounged in the hammock. They finished up smoky time and sat cross-legged on the floor facing each other with lazy smiles pasted onto their faces.
Felix went into trance mode and his eyes rolled back into his head. I’d seen it several times and it was still freaky.
“How do we use the Blood Goblet?” I addressed neither man specifically, just threw the question out there.
Felix stared unblinkingly straight ahead at his sensei. The young mage’s lips started to move. “He says he will get to that. But first, he has to tell you about the Seven Sorcerers. As you’ve been told, there are only four remaining sorcerers. Kobayashi, Tamamo no Mae, Yabe and Sakai were all students of Shuten dōji’s dark magic. I told you that Kobayashi gained the trust of Shuten dōji and learned dark magic from the demon.”
“I remember.”
“Yes. Good.” Felix swallowed and his Adam’s apple rippled. “Kobayashi is an Ao bōzu, which mea
ns blue monk. Normally, Ao bōzu are giants with blue skin. Most of them only have one eye. Kobayashi was born small, yet he was more revered than all the other blue monks. He had a third eye. The Ao bōzu thought he was a God sent from the heavens to help them. They couldn’t have been more wrong. He turned out to carry an evil spirit, bent on causing trouble and destruction. He’d heard the stories of Shuten dōji and ran away from the monastery to find the famous demon.”
Felix cleared his throat and continued, “He trained under Shuten dōji and then passed that knowledge of black magic along to the woman he fell in love with. Tamamo no Mae. She is a hybrid fox and human. She has nine tails and can shapeshift with the best of them. She disguised herself as an innocent child and was adopted by a caring elderly couple. The couple named her Mikuzume and the child recited poetry so eloquently that the Emperor Toba took her in as a servant for the imperial court.”
Felix moved back and forth, seemingly uncomfortable. “During a poetry recital, a nasty breeze blew out all the candles in the room. A bright light hovered angelically around Mikuzume’s body. Emperor Toba thought she must be special and took her on as a consort. A short time later, the emperor became deathly ill and died. A group of sorcerers determined that someone close to the emperor was responsible for his death. The sorcerers made all of his consorts recite passages of holy words in an effort to raise the body from beyond.”
Felix paused for a moment, staring straight into Fukutama’s eyes. “They reasoned that if there were an evil spirit close to the emperor, she wouldn’t be able to finish. Knowing that she was responsible for the emperor’s death, she still continued with the charade. She actually recited all the words in the passage, but her body disappeared when she waved the ceremonial staff back and forth. The new emperor sent his best warriors after Mikuzume, who had reassumed the name, Tamamo no Mae. Some stories say that Tamamo no Mae was hunted down and killed. But that’s not true. She escaped to the hills and that was where she met Kobayashi. And the two have been causing mayhem ever since.”