Dawn stuffed the last of her meal into a mouth that was frighteningly large, chewing for as long as possible.
Finally, she took one last swallow. 'Ugh, fine. The Merlins are warrior mages. King Arthur didn't have one man called Merlin. He had lots of men called Merlins. They were his bodyguards, his honour guard, and they helped his men fight the Fae for control of England.'
She paused to wave her hand and order another coffee. 'The Merlins won but weren't able to drive the Fae and their allies truly from Britain. So, they killed those they could and forced out those they could find. Only they missed a lot, so a Charter was written, a peace treaty of sorts. But the Fae have long memories and can bear grudges like no one else. As a result, they quite often cause trouble. Unless what they do is illegal, there's nothing anyone can do, so they most concentrate on being nasty, tricksy little things. They're also very good at hiding in plain sight. If you don't know what you're looking for, you won't spot them. Even if you do know what you're looking for, it can still be difficult.’
'Give or take the odd mistake, that wasn't too bad. Recite like that at your verbal exam and you'll do well.' She and I had only been together for less than six months, but it felt like we'd known each other for years. Despite the awful attitude, she was also a fast learner. Having a practically photographic memory helped.
'Great. Can't wait to tell a Merlin about the Merlins. Next steps?'
'Time to rattle some cages. We need to go to the reference library and ask about the best way to Unbind the Hound.'
'Erm. Won't that piss off all the wrong people, as well?'
'Yep. But might also cause someone to tip their hand. Not the main target, but someone working for them, perhaps. Someone bricking it about taking on the Merlins.'
'Bloody hell. You're going to make us the bait!' She gasped.
'Yeah. Exciting, eh?'
I ignored the twin-vee signs she gave me, pretending I was too busy sending a text to notice.
ACCESS GRANTED
The reply come split seconds after I sent my own text.
'Right, the Librarian awaits.'
Every major city and some of the bigger towns had Libraries. Each was run by at least one Librarian, Magicians of the 6th Circle. Serious bad asses with an encyclopedic knowledge of the Magical world. Think of the most annoying fan-boy you can, then give them the power to turn your bone marrow to acid, and that's a Librarian.
Funnily enough, libraries weren’t necessarily always found in actual Libraries. That would have been too obvious. The Bodleian Library was one of ours, but that's because we founded Oxford Library. We founded all the good universities. Some of the bad ones as well, just to balance things out.
The Cathedral Yard was still full of tourists and locals taking pictures of the fire-ruined Royal Clarence Hotel and the buildings next to it.
That had been one of my least fine moments, something I still couldn't even think about for fear of having nightmares for a solid month.
There are Marks, and then there are Marks. I never meant to burn down on of Exeter’s most beloved landmarks.
Dawn linked her arm through mine as we passed it, hugging me in tight. Walking into the Waterstones from the Cathedral entrance, we went straight into the tiny downstairs section dedicated to science fiction and fantasy books.
It was my favourite part of any book shop, and I particularly liked to see what the Mundanes were thinking was happening in the Real world, as opposed to the World of Veils they lived in.
“Wash my Hands” by Kormac was playing. Classic electro-swing, if anything from such a new trend could be called classic.
'Jane, so good to see you!' Steve smiled, bleached white teeth gleaming, bleached yellow hair slicked back perfectly. 'And, Dawn, hello, darling!'
Our resident Librarian glided over to us and made muah-muah noises as he mock kissed us. With a wave of his hand, he Sealed the small room.
Not only would Mundanes see an empty room, they'd also change their mind about entering, finding something much more pressing to do. We used similar Spells to get about places we shouldn't be in. The Mundanes would find that their gazes just drifted over us. They looked at us, they just couldn't see us.
Plug, his pet pug, waddled over from his basket, snuffling in excitement, so much so his paws came off the carpet by all of an inch.
For a pug of his girth, this was indeed impressive. I suspected he'd need a lie down and a nap in short order.
'Hello, Steve, nice hair,' said Dawn as she bent over to ruffle Plug's head.
She had a soft spot for the extravagant, and Steve was most certainly extravagant. ‘I don't do subtle, dahling,’ was one of his favourite phrases. In his spare time, he was known to be an excellent dancer in pretty much every school there was.
'Thank you! I'm going with red next time. Anyway, get me, what can I do you for?' He addressed that to me as Dawn and Plug made snuffling and cooing noises at each other.
'I need to know how to break the Binding on the Hound. And whether anyone else has asked the same question,' I said.
He paled underneath his fake tan, one hand rising to cover his heart. 'And why on earth would you want to know that?'
'What? How to break the Binding, or whether someone else has asked this before?'
Sweat had appeared on his brow, and if he hadn't been Botoxed to his eyebrows and back, I'd have been able to tell a lot more.
As it was, any poker player worth their salt would have killed for a face so straight.
'Why are your hands shaking?'
The news that someone was looking to free the Hound was bad, but it wasn't that bad that someone such as Steve would get the shakes. Especially as the bloody thing was miles away on Darkmoor.
The real danger was to the locals and whatever idiot was trying to free it. I glanced at Dawn as I shifted my right foot back, blading my body, closing my profile as much as possible. Stepping away slightly whilst pretending to look at a book on sale. Dawn did the same after giving Plug one last pat.
We now had two vectors on Steve, approaching from slightly different angles. If he took one of us on, he'd have to turn away from the other sufficiently enough that it gave them a distinct advantage. Mouth dry, I silently prayed it wouldn't come to that.
'Goodness me, so they are!' He laughed, a high-pitched staccato-like screech, nothing like usual. My stomach knotted, legs starting to feel weak, 'No one has asked before you.'
'Are you sure about that?' My heart was in my mouth, pissing off a Librarian could be a career-ending move. Life-ending as well. But the way he was acting scared me more.
'Of course!' His voice deepened, eyes flashing unnaturally for a split second.
I started a slow Shift. Aside from being a Magician I was also a Shapeshifter. In my case, I was a tiger. Something to do with my mother's Indian ancestry. Shapeshifting was passed down the mother's line. Thank God, I wasn't an elephant.
I Shifted just enough that my hands grew, claws extending. If it came to a fight, I was going to literally fight tooth and nail. Wolverine had nothing on me.
'Care to Swear on it?' I tensed, ready to strike out, a casting on the tip of my tongue.
'How dare you! You Minor little bitch, you third ringer, you're nothing but a lonely old maid.'
Ouch. That last stung. No, it bloody hurt. Especially coming from Steve.
'Swear,' I said through gritted teeth, my eyes prickling. Bloody onion fairies. Sweat was literally pouring down his brow, a clear sign he'd been Compelled, forced against his will to forget or lie about the Hound. I suspected the latter as he had answered the first question.
'Steve,' said Dawn softly, reaching out to gently touch his arm, 'mate, take a chill-pill.'
He moved quicker than I thought possible. His hands blurred and, suddenly, Dawn was sliding with a whoof and a squawk across the display table, books flying everywhere. She flipped over the edge of the table, head cracking the floor with an audible thud, feet flying over her head. It would have be
en comical in any other situation.
Stepping to the left, I put myself outside of his reach. Checking his nearest arm with my rear hand, I smashed my lead palm into his head, rocking it. I didn't want to kill him. I was just hoping I could snap him out of it. Get things back on track.
The look on his face when he turned to face me told me everything. He was too far gone. Whatever, or whoever, had compelled him had used an insanely powerful spell.
Shit. I didn't have time to say anything as he opened his mouth, and a stream of fire lanced out towards me. My Icons activated immediately, a Shield springing up between us, and a counterattack of water streaming into his mouth.
The fire cut off immediately, and Steve started to choke, the water continuing to play over his face, blinding him, choking him and—more importantly—distracting him.
I decided to go old skool, as the kids like to say. His hands were up high, his Icons currently useless because automatically activated Icons were a big no-no when in the presence of books that would regularly try to attack you. Librarians had a thing about preserving books at all costs.
Hand up high, meant that down low was open. I'm not one for fair fighting, so I hoofed a foot straight into his groin, putting everything I had into the blow. I could have sworn I felt the tendons in my feet give way, I kicked that hard. Apart from an instinctive flinch forward, the blow had no effect.
'My turn.’ he burbled through the water. His first punch rocked my head, stars exploding before my eyes. The second, to my gut, felt as though he was trying to touch my belly button to my spine.
The stars went supernova, and I dropped to the floor, the sudden urge to curl up into a ball overwhelming. I saw him switch feet, preparing for a kick of his own. After all, why use the energy required to Cast when you can just as easily beat the shit out of your opponent?
As he let loose with the kick, I finally managed to clasp the Icon my hands had been clawing for. The world stopped or seemed to. Slowed so much as to be indiscernible from being so.
The Flash could never move as quickly as I could now. I had less than thirty seconds to act, counting the time off in my head.
With all the time in the world, I moved myself out of the path of the foot, walked over to where Dawn was, and gently raised her to her feet. If I did it too quickly, the movement, when time sped back up, could cause her any number of untold injuries.
That said, I gathered up a handful of books and threw them at Steve. I had to move in a strafing pattern, so they didn't just stack up, and I picked some absolutely doozies. Thick, hardback covers. Just the sort of thing to keep someone on their toes.
Reaching the last five seconds, I plucked and activated my Shield Icon, and my Wind Icon. I was about to cause a right mess. Still, needs must.
Time started again, and everything happened at the same time. Dawn squawked as she found herself back up on her feet and back in the fight. The books all shot through the air to slam into Steve's face, and the foot he was swinging met thin air and continued through until he kicked the bookshelf I'd been lying in front of.
Even as he turned, I let loose with the Wind Icon. Funneling the air straight at him, I blasted him face first into the bookshelf. The effect was devastating. His head cracked into the shelves, his clothes blasted from him, and every book on the shelf not sheltered by his body burst apart, shedding their contents all over the room. Deactivating the Wind Icon, I watched as the now-unconscious Steve collapsed back onto the floor. His once-perfect nose was smeared across his face, and there was a gap where several of his also once-perfect teeth had been reduced to shattered stumps.
'Fuck. Me.' Dawn was, if not eloquent, succinct and to the point.
'Indeed,' I gasped, the effects of the time spell starting to catch up with me. If I didn't act quickly, I'd be useless in a fight if Steve recovered.
Yanking a thin silver bracelet from my arm, I grasped both of his hands and slapped the bracelet across them. It immediately expanded and circled both of his wrists before sealing. Who needs handcuffs?
'Quick, take this.' I passed Dawn a roll of duct tape (yes, duct tape. I always have a roll of it in my coat pockets). 'Be a dear and gag him. I need …' words started to come hard, 'I need.' Darkness descended.
When I came to, I found that I was leaning up against one of the less damaged bookshelves. Steve sat opposite me, glaring in a way that I found strangely comforting. Mainly because he wasn't trying to break his bonds and kill us both. Which was a step in the right direction, considering I had absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Compulsion would have seen him kill us both.
'Thank God, you're awake. What the hell happened?' Dawn appeared next to me, handing me a can of coke. 'Steve's packed lunch. Don't worry, it was unopened
‘I took the can, cracked it open, and chugged until I had to take a breath. Letting out a very satisfying belch, I leaned back against the bookshelf. 'I used a time spell. Basically, I sped myself up. But doing so takes a toll on the body’ and the come-down is bloody awful. Which is why I don't do it often and haven't since you joined me.'
'Bloody wish I'd caught that on camera. The books were genius!' She laughed; a proper belly laugh that was impossible to resist.
'Right,' I said after we'd caught our breath, 'We're going to need to speak to Steve. I'm hoping that the Compulsion has been broken. Smashing your face to bits on a bookshelf often works.'
I levered myself off the floor, only then noticing that my arse was soaking, 'Bugger. Looks like I wet myself.'
'I'm pretty certain I bloody did,' muttered Dawn. I decided to let that slide. The magical world was a scary place, and I doubt that there was anyone in our particular line of business that hadn't soiled themselves at some point in time. Me included.
'Okay, I want you to ready a Sleep Spell. I'm going to take the tape off his mouth. If he even looks like he's going to let rip again, dust him. Okay?' When she didn't reply I looked up at her. She gave a jerky nod, breasts heaving as she psyched herself up. It was very distracting.
I didn't waste any time on a count-down, just reached out, gripped and ripped. The tape left a broad, angry-looking area of red skin. With puffed up lips and a swollen nose, Steve looked absolutely awful.
'So, we going to have any trouble?' I asked, holding my meaty paw.
'Fuck you. You've smashed my face.' I think that's what he said anyway. It sounded more like 'Foo you. Oo've maffed ma path.'
'Yeah, well, not sorry about that. You do know that you were Compelled, don't you?'
He nodded.
'And do you know by whom?'
'No. And if I ever do, I'll bloody kill them.' Again, that was what I thought he was saying. And I believed him. He'd personally fought at least ten duels that I knew of and killed or crippled everyone he'd faced.
'Back to the real reason we're here. Has anyone been asking about the Hound, or how to release it?' I watched his face carefully; Dawn rose onto her toes. We could have cut the atmosphere with a knife.
'No, nothing. Not that I can remember anyway.' I leaned in as closely as I dared, certainly not close enough for a sneaky headbutt, and looked deep into his eyes. Bollocks, he's telling the truth I thought as I nodded slowly. 'Okay, I'm going to take my bracelet back.' He
'Just so I know, we're cool yeah?' I most certainly didn't want Steve to be coming after me. I had far too many enemies as it was.
'Yeah. We're cool.' I hid my relief as we left as quickly as possible. There was one thing I needed more in the world at that moment, a drink. And only one place I wanted to have it at.
Longbrooke Street, as with most places in Exeter that are near to the true heart of the city, is steeped in history. Named after a brook—running through land owned by the Long Brothers—that was bridged over long-ago, it was the route that William the Conqueror took when he came to besiege the city in 1068.
What wasn't mentioned in the annals of the Mundanes, was that it was once also the haven of some German Fae, who had been driven from their la
nd by Romans much, much earlier in history.
Somehow, through the mists of time, those Fae had managed to remain, living as peacefully as those of their kind could, and even managing to live through the worse of the Purges.
One thing that all humans have in common is a love for booze. Exeter was filled with pubs and breweries, and so, using a bit of human know-how and some Elsewhere ingredients, the Fae managed to build their own little empire, trading decent quality booze and food for a quiet life over the centuries.
The Book Cover was their latest venture. Mundanes were embracing all things steam and diesel punk, harkening back to times that never were, but which could have been. A speakeasy, it was one of the few places frequented by Magical and Mundane alike.
The frontage was that of a book shop, run by the eminently powerful Mrs. Lebowski a Fae no one in their right mind would ever cross. Sat behind a vintage wood desk, with an equally vintage phone and typewriter, she allowed patrons through a secret door only if they gave her the password of the week.
Naturally, Magical and Mundane could never truly mix in such an establishment, especially when booze was flowing freely. It was fine for Dawn and me to pop into the local 'spoons for a slap-up breakfast, but to have a pub rammed-full of slightly pissed Magicals and Mundanes was courting utter disaster.
And so, there were two passwords. The Mundane’s could be gleaned from Facebook easily enough. The Magical could only be perceived with the Sight and was plain as could be to any that had it. Five-Foot flaming letters were hard to miss, after all.
As each password was given, the secret door would open and the patrons step through. The Mundane door opened into the Exeter City Council registered establishment. The Magical opened into a pocket dimension that was rumoured to be located somewhere near to Jupiter.
Both had DJs, and some of the best electro-swing in the solar system, each playing the same track so that no matter which door was open, the people in the queue would effectively only hear one bar. It was utter genius.
Hell Hound Page 4