Shadow Hunted

by L. A. Johnson

  The aroma hit Lydia quickly-wildflowers, ash, and decay. The smell entered her nose and left an aftertaste in her mouth that reeked of blood. She wondered what kind of magic he was using.

  “Spoiler alert,” Algorath said. “I was going to kill you all along. I made a deal with the goblins. They want the Shadow Slayer gone, and I want your sword and what little magic you have.”

  “You weren’t going to train me?”

  “No, it was all a lie. Well, more of a setup than a lie. Ian thought he would kill you and absorb your magic and give me the sword. We had a bet going, and it looks like I won. The outcome will be the same, though.”

  “Let them go, Algorath. This isn’t their fault,” Lydia said as the reality of the situation washed over her. “Or are you scared to go one on one with me without your stupid goblins?”

  “Sister, you don’t have a chance against me, with or without them. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

  “What would you have done if I had accepted your offer?”

  “The same thing essentially, you’d have just handed it over without a fuss. It would have been no fun, really.” Algorath extended his hand toward the fire and her sword flew out of the heart of the flames and into his hand. “And now, you will die by your own sword.” He took a step toward Lydia.

  “Oh!” Kaylee said. “Lydia, you also have dark magic. If the Wyrm Moon makes him more powerful, it makes you more powerful too!”

  Algorath stopped advancing. “It’s pointless. It’s over.” He motioned to the tree goblins. “Now hold her still.”

  The tree goblins grabbed her and held her arms and legs.

  Zack screamed, “No!” and fired a volley of gunshots near Algorath until there was nothing but clicking sounds.

  “Okay,” Algorath said. “I think we’re done here.” He crossed the distance between him and Lydia and readied the sword for the kill. “I’m afraid this is going to hurt a lot.”

  Lydia closed her eyes. She visualized Algorath and concentrated. She loaded up all the emotions she had- fear, anger, betrayal, worry for her friends, sadness for Kaylee and her forest, the joy of getting magic, the closeness she felt to Zack. She balled it up, but she didn’t aim it at him, she knew he’d be expecting that. Instead, she released it everywhere, in all directions. The sound it made as the magic left her was raindrops falling to the damp earth. That surprised her, and she opened her eyes.

  As soon as she opened her eyes, she could see her friends hit the ground as the goblins let go. Then she could hear the goblins scream as they were thrown backward. Then there was a thumping noise as they fell loudly to the earth.

  Algorath was knocked backward as well. He also fell into the damp earth. The sword fell out of his hand to the ground. Lydia sprinted at it and dove, but Algorath recovered his magic in time to send it back into the fire, even though he remained flat on his back. Lydia jumped on him in a rage at losing her sword again. She punched him in the face and chest. His nose was bleeding, but he was laughing like he had lost it. Lydia stared at him, but she couldn’t figure out why he was laughing.

  He took advantage of her distraction to aim a quick blast of magic at her, knocking her backward into the mud.

  From where she was lying on the ground, she could see the golem chasing away a sizable herd of tree goblins. It would help, but it probably wouldn’t be enough.

  “I must say, I now regret making the deal with these stupid tree goblins. You were a worthy foe, Lydia.” He called the sword out of the fire again.

  Lydia was back in the same position she was in before she used her best, amped up blast of creative magic. There simply would not be any other way for this to end. Even worse, the tree goblins around them that weren’t running from the golem were recovering from being knocked over. The only good thing about the situation was that for now, her friends were still free. “Run!” she yelled. “All of you. Get out of here while you still can.” Lydia didn’t take her eyes off of Algorath and her sword, but she could hear footsteps running away into the forest and it made her happy. If that’s all her magic had earned, then it was still worth it.

  Algorath looked down at Lydia lying on the ground, surrounded by tree goblins again. “Your friends are all gone.”

  “Duh,” Lydia said. “I asked them to leave. You heard me. What’s your point?”

  “All except one,” Brad said, from somewhere behind the fire. “What should I do with lover boy detective here?”

  “Whatever you want,” Algorath answered Brad.

  Lydia jumped to her feet and tried to rush Algorath, but he was prepared. He pulled back the sword for the killing blow.

  Zack screamed in pain. Lydia couldn’t see what was happening, but she knew it wasn’t good. Once Algorath committed to the thrust of the sword, Lydia ducked under and tackled his legs, sending the both of them crashing to the ground.

  Then Brad screamed. Lydia hoped that was a good sign. She realized that other than tackling Algorath and not dying, she didn’t really have a plan. She realized it when Algorath got up first, kicked her in the face back onto the ground, and regained his grip on her sword.

  He stood over her and whispered an oath she didn’t understand. Whatever he said sent a ripple of consternation throughout the tree goblins. Then he brought the sword over his head. Lydia closed her eyes, there was nowhere for her to go this time.

  “Algorath is a stupid name. And that’s not even how you pronounce that phrase in tree goblin magic lingo.”

  That voice. It wasn’t Algorath. Lydia knew that voice. It was Drat!

  Lydia opened her eyes. Drat was standing next to a dumbfounded Algorath. He snatched her sword and then disappeared. When he reappeared, he was kneeling next to Lydia. He handed her the sword.

  “Don’t worry about the goblins, Lydia,” Drat said, then he uttered a few oaths of his own and they backed off.

  Lydia grasped her sword and rushed Algorath, screaming. She braced for him to fight, or to dodge, or to hit her with a blast of magic. Nothing he did would surprise her at this point, except for disappearing completely. Which was what he did.

  Twenty-Two

  The momentum from Lydia’s attack carried her past where Algorath had been standing. She lost her balance and landed in the damp earth again. She looked around. “Where did he go?”

  “He’s gone,” Zack said from somewhere beyond the fire. “And so is Brad.”

  Drat looked straight up. “Well, his Wyrm Moon is on its way down. I guess that means you get to stay a Shadow Slayer. Oh, you’re welcome, by the way. I saved your ass. Again.”

  Lydia ran to him, bent down and threw her arms around him. “Thanks, Drat.”

  Drat turned to the goblins. “All of you were deceived.”

  Lydia stood up. “Drat, you can communicate with them?”

  He nodded.

  “Will they listen if you tell them to back off? Tell them that this part of the forest belongs to Kaylee, and that they’re not to ever attack humans who come here. If they behave, I will live and let live. If not, I’ll hunt them down.”

  Drat relayed the message and the tree goblins withdrew.

  That’s when Lydia remembered Zack. She ran over to him. “Are you okay? What happened?” she asked.

  Zack sheepishly held out his arm, where he had an open, gaping, bloody wound that looked like several rows of teeth caused it. “It’s bad.”

  Lydia frowned. “Didn’t Brad say that you wouldn’t last five minutes with a bite wound like that?”

  Drat walked away from the fire back toward civilization. “Maybe a human wouldn’t last five minutes, but your boyfriend there isn’t human.”

  Zack and Lydia exchanged an identical look of surprise before chasing after Drat.

  “What do you mean I’m not human,” Zack asked. “Of course I’m human.”

  “No, you’re not. Never have been. What is up with parents nowadays?” he ranted. “I strongly believe that once a kid is legal, you can and should share your e
ntire sexual history with them, so they know where they came from.” He winked at Lydia. “And because then they’ll also know how awesome I am.”

  “I don’t even know where to begin arguing with you about that, Drat,” Lydia said. They started to make their way back through the thick forest. Lydia was exhausted and happy. She had her sword and her magic. She was alive and talking to Drat and Zack. And by the way Drat was talking, she was pretty sure Zack was going to be okay too.

  “Hold on.” Lydia said. She went back to where the body of the soul sucker lay and brought her sword down across its neck. I believe I promised you a severed head to take back to the police station.” She lifted it to show him. It wasn’t nearly as heavy as she thought it would be.

  Then the three of them headed back to the parking lot. “No really,” Zack said, pestering Drat. “What am I?”

  Drat just shook his head. “Kids these days.” Then he disappeared.

  “Argh!” Zack said. Then he looked at Lydia as they walked along. “Do you think he’s telling the truth? Am I going to be okay because I’m not human?”

  “I think you will be okay, Zack. Drat is a lot of things. Annoying. Unpredictable. Raunchy. Brave. But he’s not a liar. Kaylee healed me after my first tree goblin attack. I’ll bet she can heal you too.”

  A few minutes later, Lydia and Zack entered Kaylee’s log cabin. The golem was there drinking some of Kaylee’s healing potion but looked otherwise okay. Kaylee was happy to see Zack and Lydia. And she was, in fact, able to fully heal Zack. Except for a gnarly scar.

  Later that night, Lydia got out of a piping hot shower and into boxer shorts and a shirt. She sat down on her couch with a cup of tea and put her feet up. There would be time to sleep, but right now she was wired with a million thoughts going through her head about everything that happened.

  She got a phone call. It was Zack. “Hi, Zack. What are you doing up at this hour? Paperwork? What did your boss say? Did you get your job back? Are you on your way to arrest Algorath right now?”

  “Okay, let’s see,” Zack started. “That was a lot of questions. Apparently, Algorath is everybody’s best friend at city hall, and none of the magic stuff can be used in an actual court, so he won’t be arrested.”

  “They’re just going to let him hang around and do whatever he wants?” Lydia asked.

  “Worse. He’s now on the city council.”

  “Oh boy,” Lydia said. That worried her, but she wasn’t going to let anything get to her tonight. Tonight was her night. She had kept her powers and her friends were safe. “What about the other stuff?”

  “Well, the decapitated soul sucker head was a big hit. And I got my job back in homicide.”

  “That’s great!” Lydia said.

  “But they only gave me my job back to keep me quiet about Algorath.”

  “That’s okay. You still deserve it,” Lydia said.

  “There was a catch,” Zack said, and his voice was more serious now.

  “Let me guess,” Lydia said. “You have to stay away from the crazy, sword-wielding girl fae maniac who helped you solve the crime.”

  “Yeah. I’m afraid so. There was some blowback from the swat team who all had to be debriefed after seeing what they thought was a giant snake in the lobby of a downtown condo building. Just so you know, the snake got away. You should watch your back.”

  “Bummer about the snake getting away. It’s okay, though,” Lydia said. “I’m happy for you. I’m glad you’re still in one piece, and if you want to stay that way, then avoiding me is probably a good plan.”

  “Thanks for understanding,” Zack said. “See you around.” He hung up.

  Lydia went back to her tea. The police department was obviously a better place with Zack in it. There was a knock on her door. She frowned and wondered if she should get her sword. Then she remembered she also had magic. She decided to chance it. “Who is it?” she asked.

  “Pizza.” It was Zack’s voice.

  She opened the door. He had a pizza box in his hand. “Hey,” she said. “I thought they told you to stay away from me.” She stepped back to let him into the apartment.

  “I said they told me to,” he corrected. “I never said I would listen.”

  “That’s my rebel. Oh, what kind of pizza is that? I’m starving.”

  “Everything on it,” Zack said proudly. “I figured you could pick things off if you wanted.

  “No, I love it.” She grabbed a couple of beers out of the fridge. “So, you’re part demon, eh?”

  Zack grabbed a slice of pizza and sat down. “That’s what the sprite said. Not sure what it means except for the fact that I’m still alive.”

  “Well, I know that it bodes well for us. I have a rule, you know. I don’t date humans,” Lydia said, scooting over next to him on the couch.

  “Well, I’ve never been happier to not be a human,” he said, leaning over to kiss her.

  “Ugh. You two again. And you still don’t know how a booty call works, Lydia. This is the worst ending to a magical victory ever,” Drat’s voice taunted from across the room.

  “Drat!” Lydia said, smiling. “Awful timing, as usual. Get over here, you little… hey, do you want some pizza?”

  “I thought you’d never ask,” Drat said, grabbing a slice.

  About the Author

  L.A. Johnson writes fun, original Sci-Fi and Fantasy you won’t find anywhere else.

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