Blood Moon, page 16
part #1 of The Wizard's Journal Series
“Very nice to see you again Mr. Zane, but I am curious as to what your intentions are since my client’s truce proposal expired several hours ago. Please tell me why you have come to my office uninvited. It would seem such a decision could be, well let us say, an unhealthy choice at this late hour.”
“Well, you know what they say Moony boy: It’s never too late to tidy up loose ends.”
“An interesting thought Mr. Zane, but please tell me what you believe will be the result of this predicament you have gotten yourself and your sister into.”
Moon was grinning, the kind of grin that Tom the cat had when trapping Jerry the mouse. I’ll admit, the situation was grim and Moon knew it, so I responded in the most careful possible way.
“I was thinking of asking you to speak with Lupzarro, you know, wolf to wolf, and stop any plans involving harming innocent people. If that doesn’t work, well, I guess I’d settle for blowing up your shinny new building and killing you fur balls.”
Moon’s eyes lit up bright yellow and his voice became deep and course. Perhaps the fur ball was caught off guard hearing a threat from someone he considered a trapped rat. I grinned back at him and maintained eye contact hoping he might take me more seriously.
“You are fifty feet below the surface. No one can hear you nor can anyone save you. This will be your last few moments on Earth Mr. Zane,” he said, his eyes turning back to grey, and his voice sounding more human. “Please excuse me Mr. Zane, I digress. It would be impolite for me to allow harm come to you and your lovely sister before my client has had a chance to bid you both farewell.”
With those final words, the screen blinked showing the one and only, king of the Manhattan lycanthropes, Lupzarro.
“Hello … hello there Mr. Zane. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to see you again. We departed so quickly the last time we met, I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye. Too bad you would not accept the truce I wished to have between us. It would have been the easy way to settle our differences, but since you have come to Mr. Moon’s office, you present me with a better choice. Better for me of course, not so good for you I’m afraid.”
“Look Lupzarro, I’m here only as a professional courtesy, a last attempt to see if you’ll listen to reason. It’s quite simple. If you back-off your plans for tonight, I’ll pretend we never met. This assumes of course you remain a good wolf in the city. The alternative is not as pleasing, I assure you.”
“Yes, yes, I heard your threats issued to my attorney. Such nonsense is of no consequence, especially since you are … how do humans say … oh, yes … trapped like rats in a cage. But not all is lost Mr. Zane, not for a little while at least. I have some entertainment for you and your sister to enjoy before things get messy in Mr. Moon’s board room. Please enjoy the show. Goodbye Mr. Zane.”
The screen went black.
The ‘show’ … that doesn’t sound good.
I took my coin from my pocket and said, “Unclass staff.” The coin lifted into the air and turned into a blue-white swirl of color, and then changed into my staff. The amulets on top of my staff, necklace, and ring all began to glow.
Alura jumped off the chair and faced the door. About ten seconds passed, which seemed like hours when waiting for monsters to kill you, then the monitor flickered. We saw what looked like a train or underground subway terminal. The image quality was grainy and in monochrome showing people moving around with others sitting on benches. A subway car soon appeared from the tunnel and passed a platform. Alura looked at me and I saw fear in her eyes. She then looked back at the screen and made tight fists.
“He’s going to attack people in that subway,” she said. “Lupzarro’s going to kill those people.”
“Do you know where this place is Alura?”
“No, but I know how to find out. We need to call Sarila.”
“Call … as in call using a cell phone needing a signal? We’ll never get any reception this deep underground.”
Alura took her phone out of her pocket and, sure enough, there was no signal. She moved the phone close to her lips and said, “Keob.” The phone’s screen glowed brighter and began to ring.
“Not a normal phone brother, remember? Sarila made these from magical elements. They will work anywhere.”
“Alura, fill me in my dear,” Sarila said.
“Later Sarila. Right now I need you to lock in on the satellite feed coming from where I’m located. It’s probably a metropolitan subway camera somewhere in the city.”
“Yes, certainly,” Sarila said, clearly hearing the urgency in Alura’s voice. “Give me a second … got it. It’s at terminal 57 at 32nd 50 West Broad Street.”
“Azul and I are at Moon’s office 50 feet below ground and things are about to get ugly. We need boots on the ground at the terminal as soon as possible. No time to waste. People are about to be killed Sarila, so please hurry.”
Chapter 15
Sarila told Alura she would get help right away and the phone transmission ended. At that moment, Alura’s eyes opened wide and she gasped. I looked at the monitor where Alura’s eyes were fixed and saw several wolves attacking people. They were not shapeshifters, but the four legged wolf soldiers like those we fought in Iraq.
People were screaming and running in a panic. A few managed to get up the stairs leading out of the terminal, but several poor souls were being mauled to death. A few moments later the victims stopped moving while the wolves continued dismembering their bodies. Alura hid her face in my chest, but I kept watching, feeling anger building up a swell of magical power in me. Alura must have sensed it because she stood back and stared at me.
“Azul, your eyes … they’re blue. They’re Zeshtune eyes.”
Images and memories surged in my mind like a hurricane. I was remembering things: Zeshtune, battles, Kyiel, Thyzil, and the Mayans. I could remember everything now, at least what I believe was everything.
Wind began to swirl around the room and tossed chairs into the air. Alura took shelter under the conference table. I pointed my staff toward the doors and shouted words not used for thousands of years: “Raza zitum.” Circular saws of blue-white light leapt out of my staff and spinned with razor sharp edges that hissed as they circled the room. I moved my staff forward and shouted, “Aktum,” and the saws exploded through the locked doors. The lycanthropes on the other side were shredded into pieces and turned into burning ash so quick, they barely had a chance to yelp. The saws buzzed around the hallway, and after not finding any more fur balls to chop up, they disappeared.
Alura came out from under the table, still stunned by what had happened. She gently placed her hand on my chest.
“Azul,” she said, her voice quivering.
I was still looking ahead, eyes bright blue and my amulets were glowing. I couldn’t hear Alura because my mind was overwhelmed with anger and powerful magic.
“Azul,” she said a little louder, and again I didn’t respond. “Brother, can you hear me?”
The wind began to quiet down as I turned to look at her. My eyes turned brown again and my amulets stopped glowing. I had released my anger without causing unnecessary destruction.
Alura smiled. “Azul, you did it. You’ve completed recognition.”
We embraced. “I know Alura, I know.”
“Can you remember? Do you remember Zeshtune?”
“Yes, I think I remember everything. Come Alura, we have work to do. First we kill the wolves, and then we kill Lupzarro and his attorneys.”
I placed the tip of my staff on the elevator door, which caused a bright flash and snapping sound. The door opened and we entered, then I looked at the ceiling and said, “Aktum.” My eyes turned blue again and my amulets glowed as the elevator moved upward.
It occurred to me that when the doors opened at the lobby, Alura and I might be facing a couple of human guards who probably were just doing a regular job. I reached into my wizard bag strapped under my coat and took out one of the white coins to cast an invisibility spell. I took hold of Alura’s hand and crushed the coin on the floor saying, “Relesa.” Alura and I watched ourselves fade and disappear in the metal reflection of the elevator door.
When the door opened, the guards were at their post and only glance at what appeared to be an empty elevator. Alura and I quietly walked pass the guards and out of the building unnoticed until the revolving door spun. The two guards close by looked at the spinning door and then at each other with blank expressions. They couldn’t see us.
Alura and I got into her Porsche and the invisibility spell began to wear off. I could see the outline of my hands and feet, but we were semi-transparent like a ghost. Alura raced her Porsche to the West Broad Street subway terminal faster than I have ever seen her drive, but this time I didn’t have any white knuckles. I was as anxious as she was to take out Lupzarro and his wolf pack.
“Lupzarro will be there watching somewhere in the dark,” Alura said. “He will join in on the hunt after his soldiers have their fill. Pack leaders are sadistic and find great pleasure watching their prey suffer before they themselves begin killing.”
“We’ll find Lupzarro Alura, I promise, and we’ll find his lap dog Moony too in due time. They will pay for what they have done, every last one of them.”
Alura screeched her car to a stop and double parked outside the subway terminal entrance. The police had already cordoned off the area and several police officers were managing onlookers who gathered to see what all the commotion was about. Another officer was interviewing a witness and more police cars pulled in behind us. We showed our press passes and were allowed to get as far as the officers guarding the stairs to the platform. There were two more officers at the corner of the first stair platform peeking around corners with their guns drawn.
“Can’t go down there, press or not,” one officer said.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Some kind of animal, or more likely a nutcase who thinks he’s an animal.”
“Really, how do you know that?”
“The perpetrator keeps howling up and down the tunnels. It’s some kind of freaky crazed killer loose down there. Witnesses say wolves attacked them. You know what I think? It’s some kind of hypnotist freak playing with peoples minds. One thing for sure, there is at least one victim below. That’s all I can tell you.”
“Thanks officer. We’ll get out of your way,” I said.
Alura and I headed back to her car which was now blocked in by a number of police cars. We sat inside to discuss what our next step would be realizing time was not on our side.
“Alura, do you know another way to the platform?”
“No. Police will have cordoned off all the entrances up and down from this one by now. We need to find a way in from here.”
“Okay then. We’ll get inside to the platform just like we got outside of Moon’s office building.”
“Hold on,” Alura said, then turned and kneeled on the drivers seat. She pulled the rear back seat section off revealing an arsenal of weapons in a storage compartment and began grabbing the usual items: swords, pistols, grenades, and more. “These weapons must be on me when you cast the invisibility spell so they will be hidden.”
It was interesting seeing just how flexible my little sister was as she maneuvered around inside a small car. She quickly strapped the Desert Eagles to her legs, the grenade belt across her chest, and packed her pockets with .44 magnum clips. Then something interesting happened. Alura’s choice of weapons is her double edged 36” long silver swords. There was not 36” of room in the entire Porsche, and to my surprise, she twisted and turned in all kinds of ways that I thought humanly impossible.
Alura let out an exhausted breath and said, “I have to open my window to put the swords on my back.”
The car windows were tinted dark to prevent outsiders from seeing inside. If the window was opened, we’d risked being discovered carrying a whole lot of weapons not covered by any weapon permit. I mean, how many New Yorkers carry grenades strapped across their chest? On second thought, don’t ask – don’t tell.
Alura reached inside the Magical Herbs gift box and took out some wolfsbane.
“Here, put this in your coat pocket,” she said.
I decided to put wolfsbane in both pockets, to be double safe. Wolfsbane had the unique ability to throw off a lycanthrope’s sense of smell. We used it when fighting against Lupzarro in Iraq and it drove his wolf soldiers crazy. They kept pointing their snouts in the air, unable to figure out what they smelled. For a natural herb free of magic, wolfsbane is a must have for anyone hunting werewolves.
“Wait until I tell you the coast is clear,” I said and Alura nodded as I watched several police officers walk by the car. “Now Alura,” I said and she lowered the window a few inches, then moved the swords out and back inside to the straps on her back, and did this within a couple of seconds.
She didn’t even look, and no cuts. Very impressive.
We both looked around to see if anyone noticed – no one did – so I reached into my wizard bag and took out a white magic coin. I placed Alura’s hand into mine and broke the coin in my free hand, then said, “Relesa.” The inside of the Porsche lit up with bright blue-white light as Alura and I became semi-transparent and then invisible.
“Think anyone saw that?” I asked.
“Hope not, but if they did, all they’ll find is an empty car should they check it out.”
We had to exit my door keeping our hands held together for the spell to remain intact. I got out first, then Alura slid over and out from the passenger door. We looked around again to make sure no one had noticed anything unusual. Two officers were about 20 feet in front of us, but they were facing toward the subway entrance and unaware of our presence. Satisfied that no one noticed the crazy lights emitting through the windshield, I gently closed the car door and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Let’s turn the hunt on the hunters,” I said as quietly as possible, and although I couldn’t see Alura, I knew she was smiling with delight at the thought.
As was the case when at Moon’s office, no one noticed as we walked past the police and down the subway stairs. It wasn’t long before I smelt wet dog, leaving no doubt what was ahead. We turned a corner passing the two officers who had their guns drawn and quietly walked down the last stairs leading to the final platform.
The wolf smell intensified, but there was also something else in the air – it was blood. I read somewhere when enough blood is gathered in a small area that it took on an unmistakable order. Blood was a smell you never forgot and I immediately made the connection with the blood spilled at the Iraq desert fight.
The smell was making me nauseous, but that was nothing compared to how I felt when we turned the last corner. There were pieces of human bodies and pools of blood all over the platform. I heard a dripping sound and saw splats of blood hitting the floor in front of us. When I looked up, I stepped back pulling Alura with me and almost unclasped our hands. Above was a human leg in blood soaked jeans and a sneaker dangling from electrical conduits. Our mouths dropped open and we grimaced.
A few moments later, growls sounded out from the dark tunnel and we saw six yellow dots moving closer to our position. Three lycanthropes came into view with their snouts curled up, showing long sharp teeth, and began scanning the area. They stopped about thirty feet ahead of us and began sniffing in the air, indicating our Wolfsbane was doing its job. The fur balls knew something was near, but were confused and unaware that we were only feet away.
Alura squeezed my hand to get my attention and whispered, “Get ready.”
The lycanthropes began moving forward again as we readied ourselves to let go of each others hand. Alura grabbed the handle of one sword with her free hand and I reached in my pocket and held my staff coin in my hand. With one hard squeeze of our hands telling each other it was time to fight, we let go and the lycanthropes saw us. Before any of the fur balls got a chance to react, Alura had already pounced on one, and with a furious swoop of her sword, she severed its body in half.
A second lycanthrope ran toward Alura while a third started toward me. I took the coin out of my pocket and said, “Unclass staff,” changing it into its full length staff. The lycanthrope targeting me leaped into the air growling with teeth as big as they come. Just before it got close enough to chew my face off, I clubbed it with my staff which sent it smashing into a concrete wall. The lycanthrope yelped and fell to the ground.
Alura was swinging her sword and dodging the other wolf attacks while the one I clobbered got up and started back toward me. I pointed my staff at it and shouted, “Aknor firster,” producing a thick stream of wizard fire that consumed the beast into flames. I looked back at Alura who kicked the burning head of a wolf like a football and grinned.
“Hey there blue eyes,” she said and started walking toward me, not noticing a very large lycanthrope was about to pounce on her.
“Alura, watch out,” I shouted, but it was too late.
The 300 plus pound seven-foot tall lycanthrope had caught Alura by surprise and knocked her into a concrete pillar. She hit the pillar hard, cracking several tiles before falling limp to the ground.
“Alura,” I shouted again, but she didn’t move or respond.
The shapeshifter stood there staring at me. I think it was grinning – as much as an ugly werewolf face could – and it began walking slowly toward me on its hind legs. It was Lupzarro in his natural smelly wolf skin. He spoke to me a coarse almost intelligible voice.
“Time to die wizard,” he said, then pointed his head at me with both arms extended outward ready to strike, and I pointed my staff at him.
“Aknor firster,” I said, sending forth another stream of wizard fire.
Lupzarro managed to jump out of the way and the fire burst into a wall scattering blue-white light in all directions. I only saw a blur of movement and he was gone. Destroying Lupzarro was not going to be easy. He was fast for targeting with my magic, at least with any degree of accuracy.
