He suddenly stood up, pushing his chair back without it making a sound. “Let's go to your lounge area. I think we need a break. I haven't heard any good music since I got here.”
Without waiting for a reply, he walked out of the kitchen and through the dining room to the lounge at the other end. Eleanor lifted an eyebrow and the girls merely shrugged. They followed him without complaint.
In the lounge, Jöanth had already moved a small coffee table out of the way, clearing the center of the room. He also rolled up the small rug, exposing the deeply polished wooden floors.
He looked to Eleanor and extended his hand. It was obvious that Jöanth wanted to dance. She took his hand willingly enough and immediately noticed the warmth that spread from his hand up her arm. She joined him in the center of the room, flushed and regretting her decision to wear the red jersey. This was so out of character and unexpected, that the teenagers merely stood to the side, gaping.
Jöanth turned to them. “Ladies, some music please. Something with a nice beat. Something you can play loud and you can sing to. It doesn't have to be Strauss,” he smiled and winked.
“Okay,” Charlene said, already scrolling through her phone.
Rosewater switched on the home entertainment's AV receiver, which in turn connected to their phones and streaming service.
It wasn't long before the latest summer hit started playing. Jöanth started a variant of a waltz, which Eleanor could easily follow.
“Louder!” he called to the girls as he and Eleanor swung past.
Eleanor still looked confused, but a smile had started to play on her lips. Jöanth was a lot taller than her, but the height difference didn't seem to be an issue as Jöanth expertly led her around the living room. Even the girls started smiling and feeling relaxed as the music got louder. When the chorus started, they even chimed in and started singing.
Jöanth stopped Eleanor in the center of the room, as if he wanted to make a correction to their stance. He took the opportunity and leaned in to her neck, whispering in her shoulder.
“Don't look surprised. In fact, smile when I tell you this, and keep looking at me,” he warned, barely audible above the music. “The beiier has been spying on us. I do not know for how long, but it has undoubtedly heard our plans for flushing out its master.”
He leaned back, met her smile and dipped his chin, as if waiting for an answer. Eleanor nodded, smile on her face, eyes on him. Jöanth adjusted his position and his hold, leaned back in again and spoke softly.
“It has incredible hearing, so when you tell the girls, whisper in their ears. And make sure no one panics. It can't harm us, but I don't want to spook it and have it return to its master with our plans.”
Eleanor nodded and they went for another circuit of the makeshift dance hall. Jöanth let go of her and beckoned Charlene to join him. She was reluctant, especially since she had never danced a waltz before.
“It's easy!” Jöanth said out loud and explained the basics to her in his booming voice.
Eleanor took the opportunity to tell Rosewater about their uninvited guest lurking outside the window. Thus far, she had resisted the temptation to look in its direction.
“Smile,” Eleanor reminded her as Rosewater leaned in for a reply.
Rosewater's face lit up and Eleanor was reminded of how pretty her friend was. If RW had any acting or singing talent, she could end up being the most famous person on the planet. No one would be able to resist that face.
“What do we do?” Rosewater asked.
“Just wait and stay frosty. Jöanth has a plan.”
At least she hoped he had a plan. She looked towards him and Charlene and nearly laughed out loud. Charl had resorted to standing on his feet, like a little girl would with a grown-up on her first dance. It looked comical, but knowing who the two serious-minded individuals were made it a so much more enjoyable and priceless.
“Your turn,” Jöanth called to Rosewater as he spun Charlene away from him and off his feet.
She giggled like a little girl and sprawled down on the sofa next to Eleanor. Eleanor took a second to look towards the window and saw nothing but darkness outside. She couldn't spot the rolling shadow that was supposed to be the beiier. She wondered whether she would be able to see it or not. She doubted it, since she hadn't been able to see the thing in the warehouse.
“I also want a spin like that,” Rosewater cried, stepping onto Jöanth's size fifteen boots.
Her feet seemed to be firmly planted on two leather platforms, adrift on a dark sea of hardwood maple. And then their feet and the world blurred as Jöanth twirled her in a circle. Despite the dire situation, Rosewater couldn't help but start laughing.
Charlene looked genuinely happy and relaxed for the first time in days. A mellow smile graced her mouth and eyes and Eleanor hated to break her good mood. She leaned in and whispered in Charl's ear.
“Don't react shocked, but we're being watched.” She could feel the tension return to Charlene as her hands turned into fists and she grabbed at the upholstery. “It's not the svartálvur,” she added quickly. “It's the beiier. I can't see it either, but Jöanth says it here. He has a plan, we just need to follow his lead.”
Charlene nodded, the initial fright now replaced with a fire in her eyes. She was ready to take the fight to it.
The song ended and so did the RW and Jöanth merry-go-round. Rosewater returned to her spot beside Charlene, and Eleanor joined Jöanth in the center of the room. He feigned being out of breath and wiped imaginary sweat from his brow.
“Something slower,” he asked of the girls. “Something romantic,” he winked to the teenagers, as if they were co-conspirators in a match-making session.
Charlene complied and softer, slower notes started playing.
“Louder please,” Jöanth said, still smiling and looking immensely pleased with himself as he got in close to Eleanor and placed his hands on her hips. The couple started to slowly sway to the music and Eleanor leaned into his shoulder.
“Is it still there?” she asked in a whisper.
“For now, but we have another problem. The music might convince it to move off and report to its master. It might think that we are done with our planning and then it would have no reason to stay here.”
“So, what do we do?”
“I'm going to provoke it. I need it to come in and attack me.”
“Isn't there another way?” The waves of emotion emanating off of Eleanor told him that she was worried.
“They are by nature cowardly creatures. I have not heard of any of their kind ever killing someone, except through their psychic connection. And with so many of us here, it won't be able to do that. I have a plan to keep it at arm’s length. But they do get angry easily. They've been known to throw things around and even injure people. Some beiier attacks have been confused with those of poltergeists in the past.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Now, this is what I need from you and the girls.”
He waited for her to nod before he continued.
“I need you to go and get every torch light and portable lantern you can get. Hopefully you have a couple that are charged.”
“They're always charged. My dad always said that you shouldn't just be prepared when you go camping. You need to always be prepared.”
“Wise man,” Jöanth answered. “I'm going to announce that it's sleeping time. You three head upstairs, get all the torches, but keep all the lights on. It won't go upstairs then. I'll provoke it to meet me in the study. I'll also keep your phone with me and the line open so you can hear what's going on. There's a light just outside the study window, so that should keep it from escaping. Once it's in, I close the door, switch on the light and we might be able to hurt it enough. One of you will need to go outside and shine your torch into the room, and the other two keep their torches on the door. I know that light hurts it, so let's see if some álvur silvurn can do some damage as well.”
Eleanor nodded. Jöanth co
uld feel her body tense and push up closer to him. This would have been nice under different circumstances.
“Good luck,” she whispered, breaking their slow dance routine.
“Okay, girls,” Jöanth announced loudly, “time for bed. Music off.” As he replaced the rug and coffee table, he explained why they had to go to bed. “We have a big day tomorrow. Tomorrow I cut the head off a svartálvur, and you need your rest so you can help me. I'll wake you nice and early and then we can discuss the final preparations.”
“So you've decided on a plan?” Rosewater asked.
“I have,” Jöanth answered. “I'm going to go sit in the study and lay it all out on paper. Get the details down. I always think better when I plan things out and I can physically see it before me. It's going to be foolproof, I assure you.”
He escorted them out of the lounge and said good night to them all at the bottom of the stairs. As they made their way up, he phoned Rosewater from Eleanor's phone. She gave a thumbs-up as she answered and they disappeared over the landing. Jöanth nodded as he heard Eleanor switch on all the lights upstairs.
He retired to the study, closed the door behind him and placed the phone on the desk. From the desk, he took Eleanor's desk lamp, unplugged it from the wall and moved it closer to the fireplace. He was sure that this would be the beiier's point of entry. These creatures were able to change their gas-like bodies into different shapes, and even compress themselves so that they could fit underneath doors and through keyholes, so technically, the thing could come from anywhere. Jöanth, however, felt that there was a greater possibility of it using the chimney. It seemed like the easiest point of entry.
Now it was just a question of tempting it inside.
Jöanth pretended to sit behind the desk and work on a plan of action. He had a pen in hand and paper spread out before him. Drÿmwÿn however, was within easy reach, leaning against his thigh.
“So,” he said out loud, “in order to get the svartálvur, we will need to get Charlene bleeding and in danger. We're going to have to,” and then he deliberately let his voice trail off, as if he was in deep thought. He scribbled on the paper for several seconds and then he stopped, as if a thought had struck him.
“I wonder if the svartálvur has any familiars? He showed me that he has a collaborator in the warehouse, but what could it be?”
He looked around suspiciously, pretending to give this new idea great thought. “If I were a svartálvur, who would I use? I wouldn't need muscle. I also wouldn't need brains. But I could do with someone to spy for me. Hmmm,” he said, starting to pace around the room as if deep in thought. “What would I use? A Crukatik? No. Too smelly. You can smell a Crukatik from miles away. No, something different. Something near invisible. Something sneaky that won’t be noticed. Something that could relay exactly what it saw and heard. A beiier perhaps? Sure,” he mused, “they tick all the boxes. But they're stupid. They can't think for themselves. They can only follow orders. You can just as well send a machine to do the job. And you won't need to worry about the slimy thing stealing your life force while you sleep. Disgusting, cowardly, stupid creatures. I wonder if they even...”
He didn't finish the sentence as a low keening sound issued from the fireplace, followed a second later by a black mass of swirling cloud. Like a dark, compact swarm of angry hornets, it bore straight down on Jöanth. He hardly had enough time to reach his sword before the thing was upon him.
CHAPTER 49
Eleanor was wondering when they should make their way downstairs. Jöanth didn't say and they hadn't agreed upon a signal.
“And you won't need to worry about the slimy thing stealing your life force while you slept.” She heard Jöanth over the phone's speaker.
She wondered if the thing could even hear Jöanth or whether it was still here. What would they do if the thing decided to sneak back to its svartálvur master?
“Disgusting, cowardly, stupid creatures. I wonder if they even...”
Jöanth's voice was cut short as a high pitched whining sound that screeched forth from the phone's speaker.
“Grab your lights!” she shouted and headed down the stairs. She turned on the hallway light as she sprinted for the back door. As an afterthought, she took half a second to switch the kitchen light and all the outside lights on as well, before she burst outside, heading towards the small study window.
The girls would cover the study door with their torches and lanterns, and Eleanor was to cover the exterior window with her powerful portable spotlight. Jöanth had left the window blinds up and she could see into the room. For some reason it was dark.
She shone her powerful light in and let out a small cry of alarm.
The thing was fast!
But Jöanth had centuries of experience behind him. When the beiier exploded from the fireplace it went for the ceiling light first. Jöanth saw a serrated tentacle slash out and smash the globe to pieces within a second of it appearing. Now that it was in the dark, it was more at home and took its time, gauging its attack. This gave Jöanth's eyes time to adjust to the duskiness inside the room. It wasn't completely dark, as light still filtered in from outside. Because the thing was so dark, Jöanth could easily spot it. The first attack was lightning fast but expected, and Jöanth managed to get Drÿmwÿn up and fend off the beiier’s jab with its tentacle. He only sustained a small nick on his forearm, which didn't even register.
“What?” he cried in disgust. “What's a beiier supposed to do to me, an álvur Tracker?”
He kept taunting it though, wanting it to remain angry and in the room.
“Sad weeping little cloud!” He cried. “You can't even generate lightning. How pitiful you are!”
The shadow creature kept to the corners of the room and only moved from shadow to shadow, making it more difficult for Jöanth to spot. There was no time to say an illumination spell that would bathe Drÿmwÿn in a fiery white light.
Instead of sight, he had to rely on his other senses and had to listen and trust his instincts to know from where an attack would come. Luckily, the thing was seething with anger and it hummed slowly, as if filled with a distilled rumble.
It wasn't enough though.
Jöanth was fast, his reactions honed razor sharp through years of tracking dangerous creatures, but the beiier was even faster. It knew that if it was going to do any damage to the álvur, then it would have to administer a death by a thousand cuts. And that's exactly what it did. The small nicks started to multiply, the attacks intensified and Jöanth's reactions gradually got slower.
The thing administered a near fatal blow when it was able to nick Jöanth's carotid artery underneath his jawline. The cut wasn't deep enough for him to bleed out anytime soon, but it was deep enough for blood to flow freely. This seemed to encourage the thing even more. Three lightning-fast attacks followed. Three more nicks blossomed on Jöanth's exposed upper arm, the back of his sword hand and forehead.
The one on Jöanth's forehead was the most concerning as it was deep enough for blood to flow into his right eye, impairing his limited vision even further. The thing was about to slash at his left eye, when Eleanor saved the day. Her intense spot light seemed to light up the room and the thing screamed in pain and frustration as it had to abandon its attack. The portable light, which was used to spot wildlife at night, boasted 1 million lumens. It was so bright that the entire study and small library was brought into instant focus. The beiier only had one option, and it fled back up the chimney with a high-pitched screech that made the windows shudder.
Jöanth offered a thumbs up to Eleanor and shouted at her to come into the house immediately. He then walked to the door and opened it, which produced high pitched screams from the girls. RW and Charlene didn't expect to ever see the big álvur bleed, let alone be covered in his own blood. The entire half of his face was bright red. He smiled at them, and this seemed to make it even worse as his white teeth seemed to brighten the crimson.
“It's worse than it looks,” he
said. “To the kitchen, quickly. It got out and may be back. Keep your eyes open.”
They entered the kitchen where Eleanor was already opening the first aid kit, ready to patch Jöanth up. She was worried about the cut to his neck the most, but Jöanth waved her hands away as he sat down.
“The one over the eye first,” he said and placed his right hand on his neck. “Clean that as good as you can please. That eye is caked shut, I need it to see better.”
Eleanor was sure she saw a glow from beneath his hand, but didn't ask questions. She immediately set to work cleaning the blood from his eye.
“Where are you, you maggot!” Jöanth surprised her.
His voice was loud and booming and she was sure the entire neighborhood heard him.
“You spineless coward! Come face me, you grub!” For emphasis, Jöanth turned towards the open back door and shouted out into the night, towards the dark forest that lay at the edge of Eleanor's property. “A sumailan has more courage than you!”
He looked to the girls and quickly rattled off an explanation. “It's an actual Scyphozoa-type spineless creature that lives on land on the world where the beiier comes from. It is considered one of the most cowardly creatures in all the worlds.” He turned to the door and took a deep breath. “A sumailan is probably more intelligent than you as well!” He screamed. Jöanth lowered his voice and looked at the girls again. “If that doesn't rile it up, nothing will.” He motioned for them to back off into the living room. “Be ready with your tor...”
The lights went out.
CHAPTER 50
The beiier somehow cut the power to Eleanor's house. No lights worked which meant they only had their torches and camping lanterns to rely on.
Jöanth was about to suggest that they all move into a room with only a single small window, like the bathroom, when the thing's high-pitched screech could be heard. It sounded like it came from the front of the house and the girls all trained their torches that way.
Stirring Embers: An urban fantasy action adventure (The Light and the Void Book 1) Page 37