by Andy Nadir
“Huh, it’s hollow. Almost like it needs…”
He glanced at the ball of Skyfire near him. Hesitantly, he pushed it towards the little knight.
It drifted idly along towards the Knight, and tapped its helmet.
Suddenly, there was a sound like a vacuum, and the Skyfire ball was sucked into the knight.
Alyosha held his breath as he watched the little knight.
When nothing happened, he exhaled in disappointment.
His breath flowed past the little knight, and his eyes filled with small orange flames. He felt a rush of energy leave him, and his head dropped to the ground.
He tried to move, but he lacked the energy to do so. He stared ahead helplessly as the knight slowly began to move.
It jumped around a little, and it’s flaming eyes found Alyosha.
“Master!” It squeaked, and bowed.
Alyosha grunted. “Wow. I didn’t think that would work.”
The knight prodded him lightly with its lance. “What is wrong, Master?”
“I used up too much energy. I’ll feel better soon.” He said.
The knight nodded. “I know things. I feel both Malice and Skyfire in me, and a strong portion as well. It has been centuries since I have had a regenerating power source. Thank you very much, master. How can I repay you?” It asked.
“Start of by telling me who you are and what you mean by that.” Alyosha replied.
The knight nodded. “I was a human about one thousand years ago. I made a deal with a Demon, and I was stuck in Hell waiting for someone to summon me. It happened a few times, but the summoner always gave me a body that could only last a day or two. There are a few mortals who can do magic, but they get it all from the Demons. They were all too weak to give me a real body, until this. When I use any energy, I regenerate, just like you. But I have this great new body! Look at this shiny helmet!” It smacked it’s hand against the helmet.
Alyosha grinned. “The others should be here soon. What is your name, little knight?”
“I do not remember my name, Master. It has been too long. I like being called Little Knight though.” It responded.
Alyosha chuckled. “OK, LK. My friends should be here soon. We can tell you a bit more about what’s happening then.”
Sure enough, the rest of the group returned to the field a few minutes later.
“Alyosha! What are you doing?” Abby yelled to him.
“Can’t move!” He managed to reply.
They hurried over to him. “What happened?” Leah asked.
“Playing with too much power. But, I was successful.”
Abby raised her eyebrows. “You’re sitting in a small blast indent unable to move. How is that successful?”
“He made me this body!” LK called up.
They all looked at the small knight in surprise.
“What the heck?” Leah asked. She knelt down beside the construct and squinted at it.
It poked her in the nose with its lance.
“Ouch! That lance is sharp!” Leah rubbed her nose.
“Your breath smells bad!” LK responded.
“You don’t have a nose…” Connor muttered.
LK fell silent. “If I had my trusty steed, I would run you all to the ground.”
“Well, you don’t.”
Alyosha sighed. “This is a pointless argument. Better settled with a game of chess.” His eyes lit up.
“LK, I need a little power.”
The knight walked stiffly over to him and placed a hand on his head. There was a rush of energy, and Alyosha exhaled in relief.
“Thank you.”
He pushed himself into a sitting position. “This is what I can contribute. I can make more like this, but I do not think any will be quite as powerful. Too much energy.”
Leah raised her eyebrow. “Powerful? That thing is the size of a brick standing upright.”
LK waved his lance in the air. “Girl, use your power on me!”
Leah looked at Alyosha, and he nodded.
Leah’s hands crew the small claws, and she turned to LK. She hesitantly prodded him with one, and suddenly LK blurred into motion.
He jumped over one of her claws, and slammed the tip of his lance downwards into it, snapping it from her hand.
She yelped, and pulled her hand back. The claw had already regrown, but there was now a claw resting on the table.
“Ok, No more like this guy.” She agreed.
LK picked up the claw and slung it over his back with his free hand. “This will be a trophy of battle.”
Abby snickered. “Leah, you just got beaten by a knight the size of your hand.”
LK looked up at Abby. “Coincidentally, that is the same size as your brain.”
Chapter Thirteen
Her mouth fell open as LK turned around and strode back to Alyosha.
Leah chuckled. “Want some ice for that burn?”
Abby frowned at Leah. “Whatever. I brought the enchanted broom.”
“Hey, do you think people would want to buy demon claws?” Connor asked.
“Demon claws were often used as ritual knives. If we can carve it, they could sell for a lot.” Logan said.
“I can carve them, but Master will need to give me a tool to do so.” LK said.
Alyosha nodded. “It requires no sustaining energy. I can do that.”
“Ok. Go to main base, we can talk to the council then.”
He clapped and disappeared.
“Let’s go.” Alyosha said.
The rest of them followed Logan.
Leah opened her eyes to see the others striding away.
She hurried after them. “Do you even know where the council is?”
Logan shrugged. “Probably behind the biggest doors. And the biggest doors are the ones right to the left of the lobby, leading into the French restaurant.
“But I like Chinese!” Leah complained.
“Suck it up. We aren’t going to eat anyways.”
He lifted his hand and knocked on the door.
A few seconds later, a voice replied, “Enter.”
Alyosha pushed the doors open, and they walked inside.
Several people were sitting in chairs in a semicircle around the doors.
“What is your reason for coming here?” The man on their left asked.
“We wish to open a shop.” Logan replied.
“Samples?”
Logan nodded to Alyosha and Abby. They placed their makings on the floor.
Logan pointed to Abby’s broom. “She can animate things. That broom will sweep the floor on command.”
A council member chuckled. “This reminds me of a Disney movie. Can it easily be stopped?”
Abby nodded. “Just say stop.”
“It seems nice enough.”
The member turned to Alyosha.
“You make things from clay?”
Alyosha grinned. “No, I could never use clay. Too hard to learn.”
LK waved his lance in the air. “I’m not made from clay!” He yelled.
The council member’s eyes snapped open in surprise.
“By the three planes! You bound a human soul into a construct of this world and gave it a refilling power source?” The council looked over Alyosha in new light.
Alyosha shrugged. “Close. The materials are not of this Plane.”
“Malice.” One stated.
He nodded. “Malice and Skyfire.”
The man in the middle scratched his head. “But you used two opposing forces to make something lasting. That is certainly interesting. We would like you to keep us updated on your progress with this power.”
He shrugged again.
LK waved the demon claw he was holding around. “We’re also going to sell carved claws.”
“You have the plague demon shifter in your group, yes?”
Leah nodded. “That’s me.”
Logan cleared his throat. “We will also sell enchanted maps.”
> The council talked with each other for a bit. They turned back to the group.
“We will allow you to build a shop. When your building is finished, come back to us.”
Logan nodded respectfully to them, and they left the room.
“Ok, we need to buy materials. None of us can control stone, so we can either do it by brick and cement or wood.”
“Wood would fall down easily.” Alyosha said.
“But it can be repaired fast.” Chuck noted.
“I think we should go with brick. It feels more…safe. You know?” Connor said.
Logan nodded. “Stone and cement it is. Come on. Follow me.”
He led them to the lobby, where a large stone jutted out in the middle of the room.
“That’s a waystone. Find a construction shop and tell the others.” Logan said and placed a hand on the stone.
Leah did the same, and a rush of names flooded her eyes.
She mentally scrolled through, looking for something that would suggest construction.
“Bob’s bunnies? Seriously?” She muttered to herself.
“I found one. Dukes stonery.” Abby said.
Logan rolled his eyes. “Sounds more like he is selling drugs than stone.”
“Whatever. Just will yourself there.”
They sent themselves to Dukes Stonery.
Leah looked around. “It’s made out of stone.” She noted.
A man walked through the door behind the desk.
“Oh, hello there!”
Logan nodded to the man.
“We need stone and cement to build a shop about the size of this one, maybe a bit larger.”
The man nodded. “Ok. You look like recruits to me. Do you have ten gold coins?”
“Gold coins? I thought the currency was gold…” Leah asked.
He shrugged. “It is. A gold coin is about a quarter pound of gold. Do you have two and a half pounds of gold?”
“No, but we have other things we can offer.” Logan said.
“Like?”
“We can enchant an item for you, or give you a demon claw.”
The man raised an eyebrow. “A demon claw?”
LK hurled the claw at him, and it skittered on the desk coming to a stop against his chest.
He picked the claw up. “It’s shiny.”
“I’ll do it since you guys are rookies. But, next time you come, bring gold.”
He pressed his hand to the ground, and stone bricks began to rise. When they finished, they pushed outward and began to stack up.
When there was a massive brick that almost touched the ceiling, he stopped. “Ok, that will be enough. For cement, use this bucket. It has a limit of taking too much cement, so only use how much you need. Then smash it.”
They thanked him, and Logan placed a hand on the bricks and vanished with a snap.
The rest of them followed him back to the base.
Chapter Fourteen
“Ok. I’ll draw the outline for where to put the stones, and then you guys stack ‘em up. Connor can put the cement down, and the rest of you put bricks down.” Logan said.
Alyosha frowned. “I do not feel like lifting bricks right now. I want to try something.”
He sat down, and summoned up Skyfire and Malice.
He let the Skyfire hover, and began stretching the Malice. When it was about to break, he poked holes in it and pulled the two sides out. He had to summon up several more balls of Malice before he finished.
A construct of thick beams made of Malice stood before him. It was vaguely humanoid, but its legs and arms were thinner. It was on its hands and knees, but when It would stand, it would tower over them.
“That’s it? You made a sculpture? We watched you for half an hour, and you made a sculpture?” Logan asked.
Alyosha smirked, and pressed the Skyfire into the construct.
He summoned up another two balls, and pressed them in as well.
He blew on it, and felt energy rush out of him. Not nearly as much as with LK, but still a good portion. The energy inside the construct swirled around, flashing. It suddenly blasted out, bouncing off invisible walls inside the construct.
It stopped bouncing around, and turned a darker orange. The Skyfire filled the whole thing, and pulsed merrily.
“Stand.” Alyosha said.
The thing shuddered, and pushed itself to its feet.
“You are one scary bastard.” Alyosha decided.
“It looks like you made it out of bones.” Connor muttered.
There were several cracks as the thing snapped itself a jaw. It was ragged, and perfectly fit the picture of a monster with jagged teeth.
“Master.” It nodded its head to Alyosha.
He gulped. “Follow the instructions of everyone here. We need you to help build a house.”
The construct nodded. “I shall do so.”
Logan shook his head, and turned around. “Ok, we have to clear the grass off the field. The other field was made of dirt, so no problem. But, we can’t build a house on grass. So let’s get rid of the grass.”
The construct loped over to the grass field and crouched in front of it. It’s mouth opened, and a blast of Skyfire roared out.
The flame covered the entire field in a moment, and abruptly stopped.
The grass was all burned away, and the dirt under it had taken on a glossy sheen. Logan tapped his foot against the ground.
“It’s melted.”
“Dang.” Leah said.
Logan nodded. “Leah, can I see your claws?”
She shrugged, and claws appeared on her hand. He lifted her hand to his face, and looked at it. “LK!”
The knight jumped off his shoulder and smacked a claw off. Leah yanked her arm away from him. “What the heck?”
Logan picked the claw up. “I needed something to draw with.” He said in a way of apology.
He walked out the field and drew a large square. “Ok. Lay the edges of the bricks against this line.”
They all picked up bricks, and began to lay them down. Alyosha watched them from atop the brick pile.
“This ability is very handy.” He decided.
Abby rolled her eyes at him as she picked up another brick, and went back to put it in the first layer.
When they filled the first layer of brick, Connor walked over and put cement over it. The process was repeated until Alyosha’s throne of bricks had completely disappeared.
“Now we need you to blow Skyfire over it. Make everything dry up and the bottom layer bond with the ground.” Logan said.
“Go ahead, Bones.” Alyosha said.
The construct nodded, and blew a blast of fire over the building.
The fire sputtered out a second later, and Bones dragged itself to the top of the building. It crossed its legs, and sat down. It stopped moving, and the Skyfire in it flickered out. A small spark remained in its head, but it did not move further.
“It doesn’t renew its energy. It’s going to stay like that. I should technically destroy it, but it looks cool.” Alyosha said.
Leah patted him on the back.
“We all know you’re a big softie.”
Alyosha rolled his eyes at her.
They walked into the hole left in the shop, and looked around in the large stone room.
“We have a lot of renovation to do.” Logan said.
Leah nodded. “I don’t really want to do any more today. It’s late.”
Logan peered out of the entrance hole. “Leah. It can’t be later than nine.”
She shrugged. “Zombie apocalypse? We’ve got nice beds here. I intend to use one.”
Alyosha nodded. “I call room 1. It is closest to here.”
He held up a key with the number one on it, and rushed out of the shop
Logan grinned, holding up a key with the number two on it. “I got two.”
He also ran off.
Abby rolled her eyes. “They’re so childish. I call room three!” She screeched,
sprinting off.
Connor raised his eyebrows. “I’ll take four.” He pulled a key from his pocket.
“Where are you getting the keys?” Leah asked.
“Check your pocket. Alyosha had LK plant them.”
Leah reached into her pant pocket and pulled a key with six on it. “I got six. Dad, you got five then?” Chuck nodded.
“Ok, lets go.”
They headed to their rooms, and promptly fell asleep.
Alyosha sat in the bed, with Little Knight next to him.
“Is what we are doing right? We’re in the middle of an apocalypse, and we’re setting up a shop. It seems wrong…” He muttered.
LK shrugged. “The guardians aren’t going to send your squad up against the plague demons yet. They have experienced members out there. You’ll have a crack at the zombies soon enough.” He said.
Alyosha nodded. “I guess so. It just feels wrong.”
“Why don’t you make bird constructs to go attack the zombies? They can draw power from the plague demons when they die?” LK suggested.
Alyosha scratched his chin. “I think I could do that. Yes. It would work well!”
“I’m going to sleep now, Master. Wake me up if you have need.” LK said, and sat down on the nightstand. He stopped moving, but Alyosha heard a soft hum of energy as LK sucked energy in.
“I need to make him a birthday gift. He was “born again” Yesterday. He wanted a mount.” Alyosha thought to himself.
The sun dipped past the horizon, and all the light in the room left. Alyosha summoned up a ball of Skyfire and sent it hovering in the air above him.
A grin stretched across his face. “Ah. I know.”
A ball of Malice appeared, and he began to work.
It felt like it had only been minutes when the Sun came back up and the room filled with light. The Skyfire ball Alyosha had put up was long gone.
He was still working with the Malice, putting finishing touches on it.
“Sleep…” He muttered to himself.
He summoned up a ball of Skyfire, and gave it to the mount he had made.
He blew over it, and there was a hum as the miniature dragon roared to life.
It sat down next to him on the bed. It was about double the size of LK. “You are Little Knight’s mount.” He said, and his head crashed to the pillow. His last sight was the dragon lying down next to LK.
Chapter Fifteen
Leah woke up when the sun rudely broke into her room through the window.
She groaned, and pulled he pillow over her head. “It’s the zombie apocalypse. There isn’t supposed to be a sun, the sky is supposed to be dark.” She muttered.
The sun obliviously disagreed, and had no problem showing it.
Someone knocked on her door. “Leah! Let’s go eat!” Chuck yelled.