by Matthew Fish
“Except me,” Christopher said as he smiled. “Not that…I’m not afraid. This shit is way past what I’m used to.”
“There are a few Mortals on the police force that I could trust on this…without placing them in harm,” William said as he had an ‘ah ha’ moment. “I need to make some phone calls.”
“There is an old fort,” Justin said as he began to head for the door. The room was a bit too crowded for him. “It leads to the lower dells—we should meet near there. I will get Leaf and Sun to the bottom to meet you.”
“Are you leaving?” Maddie asked. “It would be safer to stay inside…”
“I do not trust the man that came tonight,” Justin said as he nodded once. “I will keep watch until morning. Then I will lead the White Stags to their position—they will not be able to reach the area in this time. I will see you tomorrow.”
“Alright,” Maddie said with a saddened sigh. “Take care of yourself.”
“Sleep well,” Justin said as he disappeared out the door and into the darkness.
“You do like him,” Emily whispered as she poked Maddie in the shoulder. “You shape shifting erotica lover.”
“I’m just concerned, that’s all,” Maddie said as she shook her head. “I’m allowed to be concerned.”
“Well, let us all prepare, and get plenty of rest,” Cain said as he let out as he looked to every member of the group and nodded confidently. “We have a great opportunity to strike before the Ankou gains more forces—this will be the weakest he will be, but it will not be an easy fight. His impatience to face Lily has cost him…hopefully; it has cost him the battle. If we fall, then…well…we won’t fall.”
“Nice speech, fancy,” Emily said as she helped Mark up and placed his arm around her back for support. “This one needs a stiff drink—and some rest.”
“I could use a drink as well,” Christopher said as he began to follow Mark and Emily.
“We need clear heads tomorrow,” Cain said as he shook his head.
“I managed through all of today with one hell of a hangover,” Christopher added as he shook his head.
“We can still have a fun night,” Jenna said as she grabbed a hold of Christopher’s arm as the pair headed off.
“Well that was a quick pairing,” Maddie said softly.
“They’re both rather reckless,” Cain said as he nodded. “But they’re exactly what we need right now.”
“I cannot believe the time is upon us,” Lily said as she let out a long sigh. Her grey eyes flashed as she looked down to a tiny burnt spot on Caesar’s couch. Her mind lingered at the sight as she allowed herself to feel responsible for the loss of one of their comrades.
“Keep your aim true,” Cain said as he placed a hand upon Lily’s shoulder and patted it gently.
“This shit tastes terrible,” Mark said as Emily dumped a generous amount of whiskey past his lips. He pulled his t-shirt off as Emily set the cup down on the nightstand and reached for the shirt and wrapped it tightly around Mark’s wound.
“Lay down,” Emily commanded as she climbed into bed beside Mark. “Don’t worry—you’ll be fine in the morning. Maybe a bit of a hangover, that’s one sickness that still affects all Perpetuals.”
“Thank you for taking care of me,” Mark said as he reached for Emily with his good arm.
“It’s my job,” Emily said as she drew herself close to Mark. “Promise me something….Mark.”
“Of course,” Mark said as he pressed his lips against Emily’s head.
“When this fight is over—we leave, not for good…but for a while,” Emily spoke quietly.
“I can promise that.”
“Good,” Emily said as she buried her head against Mark’s chest. “You know…I do love you.”
“I know…” Mark said as he smiled and nodded. “You just don’t like to say it…but of course, I love you too, Emily.”
“You think Maddie will sneak out and get some of that thick stag dick?” Emily said with an evil little laugh as she instantly changed the subject that made her feel strangely awkward.
Mark laughed. “You’re a little obsessed, aren’t you?”
Chapter 5
The air felt heavy that morning. Mark gazed out the window as the sun was barely visible behind thick dark clouds. An oppressive rain fell. He placed his hand against the cool glass and looked out to the woods. For a moment, in the grey glow of morning, he spotted one of the White Stags running.
“Well…this is it,” Mark said aloud to himself. He placed his Standard over his black jeans and placed the dagger on his right side. He buttoned up a short sleeved, white dress shirt and placed his velvet red Schmied Vest over it. He ran a hand through is short dark hair and pulled his ‘Death Tosser’ vest over his shoulders and let it fall beneath his Standard. He placed a semi automatic pistol into a holster at his left side. He was armed to the teeth for battle.
A soft knock came upon the door.
“Come in,” Mark spoke as he gave himself a once over in the mirror.
“Looking good, Grand Conductor,” Maddie said as she entered the room.
Maddie was wearing her white Conductor jacket with her silver rose flair on the cuffs. She had on her snow white jeans and a black tank top beneath her Heart Sash. She pulled her hair back as Mark spotted a twin pair of pistols hanging beneath her short jacket. One of the pistols bore the rose symbol—it was the one that Bradley had gifted her. The other, was a standard black, hand gun.
“Looking good yourself, Grand Conductor…” Mark said as he smiled.
“Where’s Emily?”
“Speak her name and she shall appear,” Emily said as she barged into the room. She was carrying a large green cylindrical object and had a camouflaged green military backpack upon her shoulders. She was wearing the black hoodie, the cat ears rested against her backpack. Her long pink hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She had her own automatic pistol in a holster she wore above a v-neck pink shirt with the words ‘bitch’ printed on it. Beneath a black skirt, was a pair of long pink and white striped socks…she was wearing her old dirty boots. The blood stains were hardly visible anymore.
“What have you got there?” Mark asked.
“It’s a fucking compact shoulder mounted RPG,” Emily said in a sing-song tone as she smiled an evil wide grin.
“Do you even know how to use that?” Maddie asked as she cowered behind Mark.
“I read the instructions…you just pull down this park here—look through this little sight here and press the trigger…it even says which end to point away. Don’t think I’ll fuck it up. Got a bunch of rockets in my backpack,” Emily ran over to her side of the bed and picked up her purse from the ground. “Can’t forget this…it’s got all my lighters…”
“So you…” Maddie whispered as she continued to cower away from the menacing looking green cylindrical object. “You’re carrying live rockets…and lighters that you cause to explode. You see nothing wrong with this?”
“Hell,” Emily said as she slung the rocket launcher over her shoulder and held onto the strap. “Stop cowering, we’re rocking in style today, deer sausage gobbler.”
“Everyone ready in here..?” Cain said as he walked into the room. He was wearing his familiar black and silver coat. He had two long swords that hung from a scabbard around his waist. “Where the hell did you get that?”
“In the crate of weapons Bradley left for us,” Emily said as she shrugged. “You’d be better off picking yourself up something from the box o’ fun.”
“I am more than capable to handling myself,” Cain said as he shook his head. “I do not like guns. Anyway, everyone is outside and ready.”
“Are we driving?” Mark asked.
“Of course not,” Cain said as he let out an offended snort. “We will be projecting there.”
“You can do that?” Maddie asked. “All of us?”
“I can create a vortex,” Cain added.
“What’s a vortex?” Emily asked, having never hear
d of such a thing.
“You’ll learn, maybe…when you are older,” Cain said as he shook his head and headed down the hallway.
“Fucking showoff,” Emily said as she let out a depressed little sigh. “Well…fuck his vortices; I’ve got a rocket launcher.”
“Mark,” William said as he nodded as the trio exited the Red Manor. “Like the gun? It’s a M4AI carbine assault rifle, military grade.”
“From Bradley’s box o’ fun…?” Mark asked as he nodded. William was wearing a fresh black suit and a silver tie. He had his huge sniper rifle slung around his back as he cradled the jet black assault rifle in both of his hands. He wore a green military belt with multiple square cartridges of ammo.
“Indeed,” William said as he held the gun up and looked to it proudly. “I can see where how he got a little obsessed with these little toys.”
“Your bow, Maddie,” Lily said as she handed Maddie her recurve bow. Lily was wearing her tan leather skirt and short white shirt that showed off her stomach and a fur lined leather jacket with short sleeves. She had dark brown boots on and a quiver full of black feathered arrows. In her other hand she carried the wooden recurve bow with the ivory antler ends that flared out at the ends, mimicking the antlers of a stag. The gold woven thread of the bow had a single silver ring that stood out as a place to nock an arrow.
“Thank you, Lily,” Maddie said as she placed the bow over her shoulder. She then clipped a quiver of arrows to a loop in the front of her white jeans.
“That’ll be the last two,” Cain said as Christopher and Jenna emerged from the house. Christopher was wearing his brown Conductor outfit with his White Stag patch. He had his arm around Jenna and was laughing. She was wearing a long, form fitting, silk-like black dress. A diamond shape was cut from the top showing off a fair amount of cleavage. She had a small sub-machine gun wrapped around her shoulder. Looked a bit like an Uzi.
“No gun for you Christopher?” William asked as he saw that Christopher was only armed with his silver Heart Sash.
“Got all I need—doing it the old way,” Christopher said as he released Jenna and smiled. “Don’t want to overcomplicate things….no offense, Mark...Maddie…”
“None taken,” Maddie said as she looked at her getup. She did seem to be rather ridiculously armed.
“It is time,” Cain said as he gestured widely with both hands as the group was sucked away and projected far off into the distance.
“Fuck…” Mark said as he fell to the damp floor. His stomach wretched as he slowly opened his eyes and looked at a small creek with a rock bed that flowed beside him…he looked up and saw tall, damp stone bluffs on both sides. “A little warning would have been nice.”
“I thought we were starting at the fort,” Lily said as he looked around the canyon around her. Large trees grew up from piles of sand and large boulders surrounded the bottoms.
“Too many stairs,” Cain said as he shrugged. “Didn’t want the Mortals to wear themselves out…”
“How far did you project us?” Emily said as she attempted to gain her bearings. She never felt dizzy from projecting before.
“Approximately fifteen miles or so…”
“That’s…unheard of,” Emily said with a heavy tone of jealously in her voice.
“The stags are with us,” Lily said as three White Stags emerged from behind a bend in the canyon.
“Their safety is top priority,” Cain said as he nodded. “Have the White Stags hang back; when the time comes I will project them to you.”
“That is a good idea,” Lily said as she placed her hand upon Justin’s snout. “Stay out of trouble, brother. Cain will come for you when you are needed.”
The White Stag nuzzled his face against Lily’s hand as she let out a sigh and pulled an arrow from her quiver and nocked it against the silver ring. “It’s time for us to hunt.”
Cain led the way as they crossed over a difficult trail that had them wading through shallow depths of water as rain came heavily down from the sky. Mark steadied himself against a moss covered rock as they crossed over the stream once more, following a curved natural path. Cain paused just around a large bend in the damp canyon. He brought his finger up to his mouth as he peeked around the corner. The sound of a roaring waterfall could be heard nearby.
“That’s about right…” Cain whispered to himself. Just around the corner and a short distance away was about a hundred or so armed Perpetuals, they filled the canyon thickly from wall to wall. Near the waterfall, all the way at the circular edge of the canyon, stood Tany Zampa and the Ankou…Tany Zampa smoked on a cigarette as he rested his jacket against the wet and water worn canyon wall…two stags were positioned nearby. A large group of Perpetuals surrounded them from harm. A few men stood around the Ankou—probably Conductors, Cain figured.
“They are just around this bend,” Cain whispered as he joined the others. “The numbers were spot on—there’s a small army crammed into the small canyon.”
“Calling it in,” William said as he pressed a few buttons on his cell phone and then pocketed it. “Give it like…two minutes.”
“For what…?” Emily asked.
“For backup,” William said as a roaring sound filled the air. Two police helicopters crested over the tops of the trees and descended near the lip of the canyon. They steadied their positions as they began to circle the large force. A barrage of heavy machine gun fire came roaring down upon the crowd from the twin helicopters.
“Now…!” Cain shouted as he pulled his swords form his sheathes and led the group. “Stay close to me—I will block the Conductors powers.”
“Got it,” Mark said as she followed quickly behind. William began to fire his gun into the crowd as the Perpetuals turned their attention away from the helicopters above and to the small group that advanced upon them. William began to shout out dates as fast as he could name them as Mark, Maddie and Christopher began to pull coins and throw them up into the air.
“Shit!” Jenna shouted as a barrage of gunfire ricocheted all around her, loosening large chips away from the canyon walls. She brought her hands together and pulled up all of the river stones nearby. She created a circular shield around the group as bullets began to spark against the rock wall.
“We can Conduct through that,” Mark said as he gestured widely with his fingers opened wide. A thunderclap boom resounded as his coins shot through the stone shield and found their targets.
Maddie nodded as she gestured with both of her hands, two graceful swings of her hands with her fingers outstretched as far as she could. Another loud bang echoed through the canyon as her coins shot through the field and found their marks, turning about fifteen of the Perpetuals to ash and dust.
“Jesus,” Christopher muttered as he flinched as the wall of rocks prevented another large spray of bullet fire from hitting his group. “We’d be fucked if it weren’t for this wall…” He added as he blindly sent his coins through the rocks, tearing away holes as the coins sped their way through and into the crowd of Perpetuals.
Jenna concentrated on keeping the ever moving wall of rock in position. She started to advance so the group could gain a few steps. Just as she made it around a large body of water, a bullet struck her in the pack. She let out a painful cry as she fell to the ground.
“She’s down!” Cain shouted as he pressed himself against the canyon wall. “Get to cover, everyone! There are snipers up top!”
“Fucking snipers,” Emily muttered as she pressed her back against the canyon and dodged a stray round of bullet fire.
Christopher attempted to run out to Jenna as Cain quickly pulled him back to cover. “Don’t be an idiot, she’s a Perpeutal—she’ll heal overnight. You surely won’t!”
The rock shield came tumbling down as stones and pebbles fell harmlessly to the floor. More bullets came from up above, Maddie cried out as a bullet struck her leg, leaving a bloody wound as she limped to cover.
“I’m fine,” Maddie said as she looked to
her leg. “Just a graze…”
“Mortals,” William said as he nodded. He got on his cell phone and called up to the helicopters above. “We have some snipers hiding in the brush up there, can you handle that?”
One of the helicopters broke off from its circle as heavy machine gun fire rained down upon both edges of the canyon above. A stream of bright red blood started to flow down the wall and into the stream.
“Well…takes care of that.” William said as he nodded. “Should be sniper free...”
“We’re still pinned down,” Cain said as he pushed Lily back against the wall as bullets filled the air around them and caused tiny stones to break free and cascade down upon the group.
“Fuck it,” Emily said as she vaulted herself off of the canyon wall and landed in the creek, sending water up high into the air. A bullet grazed her shoulder as blood shot out from the wound. She clenched her teeth tightly as she slung the RPG to face the group of Perpetuals that stood between her and the Ankou. William ran out beside her as he fired wildly into the crowd with his assault rifle. Mark tossed a large handful of random coins into the air as Cain peeked out from the corner and began naming off as many birth years as fast as his lips could move. Christopher and Emily quickly worked their Heart Sash as they attempted to keep up with the years being rattled off quickly. Mark ran out and ducked for cover beneath a boulder as bullet fire sprayed all around him. He sent the random coins streaking down into the crowd just as Emily squeezed the trigger on her rocket launcher. The canyon rumbled violently as the loud explosion boomed into the crowed of Perpetuals sending body parts and gore flying everywhere and painting the sandstone bluffs in brilliant crimson red. William began to fall down as a hail of bullets took him out and rendered him unconscious. Emily grabbed William as he feel and projected back to cover just as the canyon began to roar loudly. A huge pile of stone came down from above—large boulders bounced down upon the remaining Perpetuals. Cain emerged from his spot and acted as a shield for Maddie and Christopher as their coins popped loudly and shot down on the remaining Perpetuals turning them to ash.