Sand Storm, page 16
part #11 of Wildcat Wizard Series Series
"Obligation?" he growled, getting right up in my face, the stench of death all around him.
"Um, not obligation, assistance. We would not need to assist each other ever again."
"Haha, you should have seen your face. So funny." Otangu laughed loudly and the others joined in.
Vampires sure are a funny lot. Not.
The Gang's All Here
"We will do this favor for you," said Otangu, "and then I do not expect to see you again."
"What, and miss out on my charming wit?"
"Do not try my patience, pesky human. You forget with whom you speak."
I knew damn well with whom I spoke. A murderous vampire with no morals. An animal who owed me a favor and now I was here to collect. He could dick about all he wanted, he owed me and he had no choice. I'd still expected more messing about than this though. For him to try to weasel out of it somehow. Guess I'd forgotten quite how highly he regarded duty and honor.
"So you'll do it?"
"I will. Let us go and be done with this."
The entire group moved towards the entrance with a nod from Otangu.
"Wait, don't you want to know what you'll be doing first?"
"Whatever it is, it shall be done. You may ask us outside. I miss the night, the cold, the emptiness. We will go, then you may speak."
Damn but I hated these traditionalists. They were no fun.
Outside, they amassed on the large slab I'd recently been sitting on. They were there in a heartbeat, I had to walk up the steps like a normal person.
Otangu stood with his back to the precipice, his feet balanced right on the edge. His followers gathered around him. He beckoned me with a crook of a finger so I joined him, somewhat reluctantly, and not quite so close to the edge.
"Tell us," he ordered.
"Okay, there's this man, an old man who lived in the desert. Been there for fifty years or so."
"The wizard," said one of the women.
"Yeah, a wizard. Old guy, lived there alone, had a nice house. I've, er, been visiting my old master, and then went for a walk, and I came across him. He stole something from me, it's in a wooden box, and he has it. He's in the city, I can't catch him, so I'd be grateful if you could get him for me."
"We shall find him and we shall each taste his blood. You may have your box and then you may leave."
"Wait! Whoa there. No killing. Just the box, and what's inside, that's all I want." Otangu and the others scowled at me like I'd lost my mind. "What?"
"This man stole what is yours but you do not want him dead? You are a strange wizard."
"Yeah, I know, it's the British way. Please, just the box."
"As you wish. We will merely take a taste, not kill him. Have a little fun then return what you have lost."
"No, you don't get it. Don't hurt him, he's harmless. Well, sort of. Just the box."
"You dare tell me what to do?" barked Otangu, all pleasantries gone. Damn, he was still as touchy as always.
I sighed. "I wasn't telling you, I was asking, but can we please cut the bullshit? You owe me, and big time. All this fucking dancing around the subject, you acting the big man, spare me the crap. You are in my debt, and I'm here to collect."
I think I may have gone a bit too far. Nobody said a word, nobody moved. I held my breath and waited for a group of seven-feet-tall vampires to devour me, and not in a nice way.
Otangu laughed and placed an arm around my shoulder. Luckily, he didn't fondle me.
"Haha, you are a brave man, my friend. Come, let us do this thing for you and then we shall be even. I like you, Arthur, always have. So different to the other humans. So direct, unafraid, a true brave spirit. You are almost vampire."
"Gee, thanks for the compliment. So, we good?"
"Oh yes, my friend, we are very good indeed. Now, please tell me all about this man and where we are likely to find him."
The mood relaxed, which wasn't hard as it had been positively icy, and I told them all about the mystery man and how I'd been chasing him and where he was at the moment, at least best I could tell. Whilst I spoke, the vamps limbered up, stretched their frames out, cricked bones, yawned with boredom, then became increasingly edgy as they wanted to get going. Probably wanted a quick feed on the way.
What Otangu didn't ask was what was in the box. He didn't care, had no interest in artifacts or money or anything of that nature. All they needed was each other's company, food, and a nice slab to rest under during the day.
With a word from Otangu, his clan were gone, off at vampire top speed to scour the city and bring the thief back to the cemetery.
Once we were alone, Otangu squatted on his haunches and looked up at me. "This will be the end of it," he warned. "I will have repaid my debt and we will owe each other nothing. How I regret you helping me, how I have cursed your name, waiting for you to return. I do not like being in your debt, wizard, it is not our way. You will not come back, or I will destroy you."
"Sure thing. I never planned to return, never planned to call in the favor. But this is important, and I would never have asked otherwise."
"You would have left the debt unpaid? You would not have wanted the favor returned?" he asked, shocked.
"That's right. I didn't help you to be owed one, I helped because it saved lives."
"So strange, you humans. I will never understand you."
"And yet you were one, once upon a time."
"Please, do not remind me. But that was not the man you see before you. That was a different person, a weaker one, and it was so very long ago. People change."
"They sure do."
With that, he was gone. I stood alone and listened to the wails of the deceased.
Memories
When I was here last time, amongst other things I had an encounter with a vampire. Make that several. I was in the desert, had been for a while, and in dire shape. But not as dire as Otangu and his cohorts. They were the adventurous type even back then, and loved nothing more than to hunt. Bored with the city and the easy pickings, they'd decided to have a short vacation out in the wilds, getting back to basics kind of thing, even though they lived about as basically as you could get already.
That right there was a huge mistake. The one thing they'd overlooked was that the desert was just that. Deserted. They'd chased down a couple of tourists and gone to town on them over several days, catching them, having a taste, then releasing them only to give them a head start before resuming the fun and games. Otangu told me all this with relish when I met him and his cronies, as if I'd be impressed. I wasn't.
They'd eventually put the poor young couple out of their misery and when I came across them it was to find his group sitting amongst the remains, nothing left but bone and two ransacked backpacks. Otangu and his people were in a terrible state. They'd chased the couple too far out into the desert and had made the fatal mistake of hunting until the early morning, caught up in the excitement as they were, and were now fretting about what would happen when the sun rose.
I found them wailing, curled up tight in balls, weak as kittens, intermittently catching fire before dousing each other only to heal and for the cycle to be repeated over and over.
I stood there watching for some time, the scene before me obvious. I wouldn't save them, had no interest in doing so, for I knew the type and I knew what they had done, if not the gruesome details.
Otangu had asked me for help, ordered me in fact, but I shook my head and told them if they were stupid enough to get caught out like this then that was their own damn fault. He swore at me and said it was unfortunate but that they would survive, that they always did, and had built up enough immunity to overcome the sun although it would leave them weak for a while. I thought it was bravado, but couldn't be sure. He spoke with dignity and grace even as he burned, and then he proceeded to tell me what they had done, how it had happened.
My mind was firmly made up then. No assistance from the tired, sunburned wizard.
It was at this point that my friend Marcus made an appearance, along with his tribe. I spied them off in the distance the same as Otangu, and knew the vampires would be on them if I didn't do something. What followed was a hasty bargain made between us. I told him I would help them if they promised to leave the nomads alone. He agreed.
I headed off to the nomads and told them of my finding in the desert and they promised to change course so they'd avoid the vamps. You'd think they would be shocked by my tale, that I would be laughed at as a crazy foreigner who'd been out in the sun too long, but this was the desert, and people here believed. They gave me poles, and light canvas, and I promised I would return soon.
With the vampires laid out under the shade, they quickly regained their composure and the group began to plot their next meal. Otangu silenced them with a sharp warning, that they had made a deal and it was not to be broken under any circumstances. He had honor, and his word was good, and they had better act the same upon pain of death.
I was surprised by his outburst, by his insistence on being true to his word, and so they went hungry, slept through the day, and when night came they left to return with all haste to the city.
Before they went, Otangu told me he was in my debt, and it was clear he didn't like it. And that was that, apart from when I got back to the city and I checked them out, paid a brief visit during the day to see where they lived, beating a hasty retreat before they woke.
It was so long ago, and I still wasn't sure if I'd done the right thing or not, as how many lives had been taken since? But after meeting Marcus I was glad I'd saved him, let him have a beautiful life. Such is the way of things, never clear cut, never sure if what you do is right or terribly wrong.
But I knew when I saved the vampires that it was worth the risk, because even if I hadn't they would probably have survived, even if left in a bad way, and then they would have continued their murder spree, killed the nomads, hunted me down, and no lives at all would have been spared.
That's what I told myself at night when memories kept me from the mini-death I so often craved.
My thoughts were disturbed by the sound of crying. I watched a lone woman bend to a new grave and lay flowers. She looked exhausted, and sad beyond belief, probably at work until this ungodly hour then come to pay respects to her loved one.
Sometimes life is so fucking sad. I wanted to console her, but it wouldn't take away her pain, would only add to mine, so I turned my back to her and sat on the rock listening to a woman cry over the hurt we all suffer. She stopped eventually, left to return home, and then it was just me and the lost souls.
Guess I was a lost soul too. I thought I'd been found, had gained peace, but being here made me realize I was as lost as I'd ever been, maybe more so.
Old Acquaintances
"The debt is repaid in full," said Otangu as the entire group appeared beside me.
"Bloody hell, whistle or something so I know you're coming." I got myself together and reluctantly moved from where I'd been lying on my back, contemplating life's many injustices.
"We are vampires, we do not whistle. The debt is paid. Now, be gone." Otangu pushed a freaked-out old man clutching a box towards me but he came up short when he reached the end of his tether. A thin rope tied around his neck that tightened as he strained against it.
"Thanks, but was that necessary?"
"He tried to use his magic on us. On us! He is lucky to be alive. Take him, and go. I do not wish to see you again, wizard." Otangu passed over the rope to me and the vampires parted. We were free to leave.
I nodded to him, then spoke to the old man. "Time to go, and time to hand over what's mine."
"Enough chatter. You are trespassing. Leave, and fast."
"Hand it over," I hissed, but the stubborn mule clutched the box tighter and held his head up to meet my gaze.
"Never."
"Goddammit!" I yanked on the rope and strode past the vampires before Otangu decided to have a tasty double wizard snack now his debt of honor was repaid in full. I led the thief away and didn't turn around or even run, much as I wanted to do both.
We left the cemetery, me pulling the rope taut, infusing it with what magic I had as we went so he couldn't just burn through it and escape. I knew it wouldn't last long, that this was temporary at best, but I only needed it to hold for a few minutes and then this would all be over.
"Don't try anything," I warned. "I've had a crap night and the last few weeks have been even worse, so I'm in no mood for your nonsense."
"You cannot hold me, I am more than your equal," he said, but he sounded resigned, and we both knew I had the upper hand for now.
"One more word out of you and I'll give you to the vampires. All it takes is one shout out and you're food for the blood suckers."
"I heard what Otangu said. He owes you no favors."
"You think eating you would be a favor? Ha, he'll kill you because that's what he does, not because I want him too."
"And then he'll eat you too."
The sneaky bugger had a point, but I said nothing and dragged him around the corner into a nice dark alley so we could finish our business.
We faced each other, me with the rope tight, half the length wrapped around my hand. "If you make a move, try anything, then I will yank this rope as hard as I can and you'll get your scrawny neck broken. Understand?" He nodded. "Good. Now, slowly, bend down and place the box on the ground."
"No. Never."
What was with him? Didn't he know when he'd been beaten?
Reluctantly, I tensed my muscles then yanked as hard as I could on the rope.
His neck snapped and he crumpled to the ground.
Yay me.
I felt bloody awful. What was it about this man that had got to me so? He'd stolen, locked me up, starved me, almost killed me, tried to kill me in fact, and yet for some reason I was sad to see him go.
I reached down to retrieve the box and was flung back against the wall, smacked my head hard, then blacked out.
Ugh
When I came to a moment later, it was to find myself alone in the alley. The old guy was gone, the box was gone, even the rope was gone.
Wasn't this bloody typical. I had him, I killed him, I lost him. And I lost the artifact. Again.
Rather than waste energy and be annoyed standing up, I remained seated and got angry whilst also conserving energy. My head throbbed, the lump was large, but my thick skull didn't appear to be cracked so that was excellent news.
I replayed the final scene in my mind, wondering what had happened. I saw him refuse to release the box, saw his eyes widen as he realized I wasn't messing about and tugged the rope hard. I saw the power run down the rope, saw it snap hard and impossibly tight around his neck, and heard his neck break and saw him fall, dead, to the ground.
Then what?
I bent to retrieve the box and was sent flying.
How?
I hit mental rewind and slowed things down, went over it once more. What happened as I bent to get the artifact? Where did the assault come from? The box? His body? Was it his death curse? Nope, not that, sure didn't feel like it. What then?
There was only one answer to such a puzzle. He wasn't dead. I went over it again. Ah, yes, there it was. Just as I was about to get my hands on the box a powerful streak of energy burst from his outstretched hand, a hand that was conveniently pointed right at me. Then I was sailing away to have a meeting with a wall.
He wasn't dead, that was the obvious answer so must be true. But I'd broken his neck, hadn't I? Yes, I had. So he was seriously injured. You couldn't survive that though, could you? Guess you could.
Wizards are funny creatures. We can get up to all sorts, and if we have a mind, we can put up with a lot of discomfort, even injuries that should kill us. He was old, strong, and damn stubborn, so if he had enough strength, enough power inside, he could have channeled it just in time to stop himself dying from such an injury. It would have been a close call, and hurt like hell, but magic is mysterious, and works in all kinds of ways, so I should have known he'd pull something like that.
One thing was for sure, he wouldn't be fighting fit now, far from it. His damn neck was still broken, his power was all used up, and he would need a lot of rest to heal from such a serious injury.
Time was of the essence so I better get my skates on. I heaved up from the wall and limped out of the alley.
Damn Annoyed
Night was upon us, true night. When hard workers were laying exhausted in their beds having nightmares about the day to come. When most people were safe behind locked doors and only the insomniacs, the thrill-seekers, the night workers, or the stupid were out and about. Guess I was one of the latter.
Cursing myself for losing him after being handed him on a plate, I focused, refused to be distracted, and promised myself that next time I saw this utterly annoying old man I would kill him instantly and be done with his crap for good.
I just had to find him first.
How far could you get when your neck was broken and you looked like a low-budget zombie?
Quite far it turned out, as no matter how fast I moved, which, admittedly, wasn't that fast, and how intent I was on the emanations from the box and the thief, I still couldn't catch him. If I'd thought he'd do anything but rip my throat out, I'd have asked Otangu to go get him and kill him this time, but my favor was used up, there would be no second.
So I kept at it, continued moving, and after half an hour I realized something. We were moving away from the crowded city center and into the sprawling outskirts. He must have picked up a vehicle from somewhere as his speed increased dramatically, and with the streets almost empty he got up a good pace and left me for dust.
If this was how he wanted to play it, then I was in. Being sensible this time, I stopped at a twenty-four-hour mini-mart and stocked up on anything I could think of I might need if we returned to the desert. No way would I be caught unawares again. I bought toilet roll, ten bottles of sunscreen, wet wipes, soap, bottles of water galore, and a serious amount of food.
