Blood Moon, page 26
part #1 of The Wizard's Journal Series
I laughed. “Really … well don’t worry my friend, they’ll be many more battles and little time for you to miss this hell-hole. Don’t forget, we still need to destroy Moon and his partners.”
Thyzil laughed and slapped me on my back.
“Yes wizard, many more battles. This is good.”
We rode up the elevator to the surface and shared our different versions of what happened along the way. It was like a telephone game where a person says something into the ear of another person and by the time what was said passed through a number of other people, the last person heard something completely different. Such is life I suppose.
When the elevator door opened, I saw Lieutenant Mack and Alura reviewing an architectural map of the building. The good lieutenant had made the tenth floor into a command station and his soldiers were already packing up the electronic equipment. Mack waived for us to come over.
“Glad to see you two made it out okay,” Mack said.
“Yea, me too. What’s all this?” I asked.
“Standard operating procedure sir. Sarila had us sweep the building for possible threats and now everything is clear.”
I looked around and saw Alura speaking to three Zeshtune men wearing familiar military style fatigues with a Keob insignia, and of course, they had brilliant blue eyes.
Interesting … these are the first male Zeshtunians I’ve seen, except for Thyzil. I wonder where these guys came from.
One of the Zeshtunians picked up a silver case and followed Thyzil into the elevator to return to the arena.
“I can guess what’s inside that case. Crystals, right?” I asked Alura.
“You are correct dear brother. The crystals will destroy any remaining wolves attempting to flee through tunnels that we don’t know about.”
“What about the three Zeshtune bodies?”
“Thyzil will retrieve them. Once everyone is back on the surface, he’ll set off the crystals in the area. Lieutenant Mack’s men will then setoff the C4 explosives to collapse everything and seal this place off forever.
“Does ‘everything’ include the building we are standing in?”
Alura winked. “That’s the idea Azul. We’re going to level this place to the ground.”
Having thousands of tons of rock and cement crash down on the arena would certainly make it disappear for good. I Hope Lieutenant Mack brought enough C4 because I’d hate to think any wolves might get loose in the city, which leads me back to finding Moon. The building was shielded, so Sarila wouldn’t be able to lock onto Moon’s DNA signature. No matter because I have his blood. If the fur ball was anywhere in the building, my tracking spell would lead me right to him.
I found my way to a small kitchen where there were packages of sugar next to a coffee machine. Perfect, powdered sugar will do just fine. I poured a half dozen of the sugar packs onto the counter and mixed in some of Moon’s dried blood. I then placed my hand over the sugar and said, “Trako, trako, trako.” The sugar began to sparkle and swirl on the counter until it gathered into a neat pile. I used a coffee cup to collect the sugar and blew away what little was left off the counter. Instead of spreading out and disappearing from sight, it coalesced and moved out of the kitchen to the unblocked stairway.
“Moon was here inside the building,” I muttered.
The tunnel Moon escaped through must lead back here and he slipped by Lieutenant Mack’s sweep to avoid detection.
Gotcha now fur ball.
Alura and Lieutenant Mack were still looking over the building schematics when I interrupted.
“Alura, we got a problem, or an opportunity depending how you see it. Moon … he’s here inside the building somewhere above this floor.”
Alura’s eyes widened and Mack went silent.
“What? How do you know?” she asked.
I poured a small amount of the sugar into my hand and blew into the air. Alura and Mack watched as the sparkling sugar moved across the room and up the stairway.
Alura grinned. “Alight, let’s go get him,” she said while pulling the slides back on her pistols to load each chamber. “I am fully loaded with a fresh supply of grenades and a desire for revenge.”
“Hold on,” I said. “I’m going after Moon alone this time while you and Lieutenant Mack stay here and guard the stairway. We can’t risk Moon getting away, not this time.”
Alura hesitantly agreed and told me I had 15 minutes before she would come looking for me. I was about to question the little amount of time, and she repeated it with emphasis before I could say another word.
“15 minutes brother, not a second longer. I mean it.”
I frowned a little, then reluctantly nodded and moved to the stairway entrance.
Alura is not accustomed to sitting on the sidelines, but this was now my fight. I wanted to be the one to dust Moon. It was personal.
“Good luck sir,” Mack said.
“Thanks Lieutenant. Hopefully this will be the last time any of us have to deal with Moon or his partners ever again.”
I started walking up the stairs with my staff in one hand and the cup of sugar in the other. This was the first time I would be facing a lycanthrope entirely alone, and more than one if Moon’s partners were also in the building.
Once at the 11th floor door, I took some sugar from the coffee cup and blew it into the air. The sugar continued moving up the stairway and I followed, blowing more into the air at each floor. Upon reaching the 20th floor stairway, I was completely out of breath.
Perhaps an exercise routine might be a good idea. Then again, just getting through each day without being eaten alive was probably more than enough exercise for anyone.
I blew the rest of the sugar into the air. With nowhere to go but the rooftop, the sugar traveled under the door.
Thank goodness. Fighting a lycanthrope on a roof without walls to stop my body from falling 20 floors was about as bad as it could get.
“Okay guys,” I said, pushing the button on my com-link. “Looks like Moon is on the 20th floor. Stay put and keep an eye open for his partners – they could be anywhere – and I’ll let you know what I find up here.”
“Roger that,” Mack said.
“10 more minutes Azul. If I don’t hear back from you in 10 minutes, I coming up there.”
I smiled. “I made it up 10 flights of stairs in five minutes. Not too shabby, huh? What do you think about your big brother now?”
“Only 9 minutes now, so stop wasting time chatting.”
I didn’t have to see Alura to know she smirked and rolled her eyes. But hey, getting a reaction from her was half the fun even if I wasn’t able to see it first hand. The other half was to help me relax as best possible.
I opened the unlocked door and was surprised to see bright light everywhere. The exterior walls were all glass and daylight flooded in from all directions, which I considered a fighting advantage. Offices lined the walls and typical corporate furniture filled work areas in the middle of the floor. There were a lot of places to hide and I knew each office and cubicle I passed might be an ambush.
Moon was here somewhere and he had no place to run – so I kept telling myself while trying to forget he had escaped twice before. Sure, he could go up to the roof, but Lieutenant Mack’s snipers would pick him off as soon as he stepped out into the open. Unless he could grow wings, he’s trapped here and one of us was going to die today – hopefully not me.
Hold on, Moon is a shapeshifter. He probably could grow wings and fly away. I hope Mack is planning on shooting anything leaving this building, with wings or anything else.
Blood drops on the carpet – Moon’s I hope – provided a perfect tracking trail. Normally a blood trail is a fighting advantage, but being injured could make Moon more dangerous, which is a disadvantage.
Alura was right … I do think too much.
With each step I took, the smell of wolf got stronger, but the blood trail led further down the corridor. One or both of Moon’s partners had to be nearby.
Off to my right was a sitting area that had some chairs, a couch, tables, and vending machines with assorted junk food all neatly lined up along a wall. There was no one there, but I sensed increased danger and the wolf scent got much stronger. I turned to look out across the open office area to my left and didn’t see anything there either. A moment later a reflection on a computer monitor appeared, and when I turned around, the last vending machine was missing and in its place was a lycanthrope.
You have got to be kidding me … a vending machine? Alura did say that the older lycanthropes learned how to take on the form of inanimate objects, but I wasn’t sure if appearing as a vending machine was actually a transformation, or merely an illusion. This is the fur balls home turf and where their clamor would be strongest.
In either case, that was my last thought before the fur ball was on top of me. My defense shield kicked in, thank goodness, and surrounded my body with a green transparent field that didn’t bother the fur ball in the least. After trying to bite my head off, he lifted me up by my throat with one hand and moved me close to his teeth. Then, in one quick jerk, it threw me like a bag of feathers into a cement column which nearly knocked me unconscious.
Man, these fur balls are stronger than I had thought. The damn thing tossed me across the room like I was a rag doll.
Thankfully my defense shield kept my bones from breaking, but everything still hurt like heck nonetheless. It felt like I hit a brick wall while driving a car, and while the seat belts might protect your skull from being smashed like a Halloween pumpkin, stopping suddenly on solid cement takes your breath away in a big way. Nonetheless, I was still alive and happy to have a magical version of a seat belt.
I looked up as the fur ball was on top or me again wildly thrashing with its arms and trying to bite my face off. There wasn’t anything I could do to fight back while my defense shield was up, which was the downside of the shield – nothing gets in, and nothing gets out, not even magic.
The fur ball paused every few seconds to lift its head toward the ceiling and howl – this was my window to attack. When the fur ball lifted its head again, I gathered my magic energy, and as it lowered its head from a long howl, I pushed my staff through the defense shield into the fur balls mouth and shouted, “Raza zitum.” My defense shield collapsed as magic rush out as the fur ball went silent and stopped thrashing. Its eyes grew large from being surprised, and then it happened … blue-white saw discs began swirling around inside its head and exited in a number of directions. The fur ball was still staring at me with big yellow eyes as sections of its head slid onto the carpet. I pushed myself away using my feet and watched the lycanthrope burn into a pile of ashes.
“Wow, that was extreme,” I said, not entirely believing what happened, and checking myself for broken bones.
The fur ball I dusted had white markings on its ears and nose making it one of Moon’s partners. Moon was larger and had a solid black coat, and smelled worse.
One down, two to go.
I got up off the floor and thanked the stars above for still being alive. Despite feeling like a bus ran me over, I was good to go because I knew Moon was only steps away from getting dusted.
Chapter 24
I reached for my com-link to contact Alura and Lieutenant Mack, but it was gone. Must have fallen off during the fight. No time to waste looking for it.
If Moon and his other partner attack together, I may not be able to beat them with magic alone. It could be lights out for good if I’m caught off guard. I began to think that leaving Alura behind was may have been a bad idea.
I continued tracking Moon’s blood trail and it led me to a large door with a bronze plate mounted on it that spelled out ‘Robert Moon, Attorney at Law’. The blood drops stopped at the door, so I was fairly certain he was in his office. I pointed my staff forward and slowly opened the door and there he was, in human form sitting at his desk. His head was drooping and his right side, still missing an arm, was drenched in blood. He hadn’t enough time to regenerate from such a wound, which meant he wasn’t at full strength, and in turn gave me the advantage.
I grinned. “Hey Moony, not feeling so well?”
Moon lifted his head and looked at me. He didn’t have his usual cocky grin telling the world how superior he was. Instead, he looked drawn out, weak, and pale as a ghost.
“Mr. Zane, I must compliment you on your fighting and survival skills. I was told of this, but one has to experience such things personally. Wouldn’t you agree?” he asked, taking slow measured breaths.
“I guess so. Did your pal Ah Chuy Kak tell you this?”
“Yes, he and others have said as much. Mr. Zane, you and I are merely pawns in a game that is far beyond our control. We are nothing more than puppets that do what our masters wish. This is how things have always been.”
“Looks to me like Ah Chuy Kak has cut your strings Moony.”
“It would appear so, but not unexpectedly Mr. Zane. Ah Chuy Kak does not respect any form of weakness, and as you can readily see, my strength is leaving me. This brings me to the one proposal you might find acceptable Mr. Zane. If I were permitted to leave this building without further harm, I would help you find Ah Chuy Kak. Finding him should be more of interest to you and the Zeshtunians than destroying me.”
“Oh really … why is that?”
“You see Mr. Zane, Ah Chuy Kak is the the first lycanthrope. My kind were originally bred to protect Ah Chuy Kak and his regions of power, which since the last Great War has been confined to this world. So long as we serve him, he allowed us to pursue a small portion of wealth and power, such as this law firm. Ah Chuy Kak’s reach is deep and far Mr. Zane. He owns the very thoughts of your most powerful politicians, businessmen, and secret organizations.”
“And I’m suppose to believe that a lap dog like you is going to help me destroy his master?’
“I want to live Mr. Zane. The help I am offering you is far more valuable than my death.”
“I’m not so sure about that. I mean, I’ve been looking forward to dusting you for so long, days I think,” I said sarcastically. “Besides, I’ll eventually find your fur ball master without your help, so you can understand my reluctance in making a deal.”
“Perhaps you will find him Mr. Zane, however, there are more powerful masters coming soon who may destroy Ah Chuy Kak. Before this happens, Ah Chuy Kak will call upon his legions to do terrible things in an attempt to gain pleasure with those who would seek his destruction. Many humans will die in the wake of his quest to build an army to fight on his behalf.”
“You’re talking about the Darkzon.”
“Yes Mr. Zane. Only I can help you find Ah Chuy Kak before it is too late.”
“Tisk tisk, naughty wolf,” I said, wagging my finger side to side like a scolding parent. “Making deals with fur balls doesn’t seem to be a good idea to me. What deal did you make with the little girl in your arena or those Zeshtune warriors before removing their heads? I think I’m going to decline your less than generous offer Moony. No offense … well yea, there is some offense intended. Actually, there is a lot of offense intended.”
Moon took a deep breath of air and stiffened his body.
“Very well Mr. Zane, very well.”
In an instant Moon transformed and smashed through his desk. He was fast, too fast for me to react as he grabbed my throat and tossed me through the wall to the next office. My defense magic kicked in keeping me in one piece and I was able to get up and ran down the corridor. Moon was not far behind running on all fours – well, less one arm of course, so all threes – and considerably faster then I was using my two legs.
I knew out running Moon was not going to happen and that he was too close for me to turn and blast him with my staff. I felt my defense shield strengthen as Moon yanked me up off my feet and tossed me again into a nearby office, this time right through a solid two inch thick mahogany door. When I stopped bouncing on the floor, I found myself up against a large glass window. I also saw that my staff was now behind Moon who stood 10 feet in front of me and looked extremely ticked off.
Well, if I can’t destroy him, at least I can tick him off some more before he takes me out.
I stood up and brushed pieces of glass off and then proceeded to laugh.
“Was it something I said Moony?”
Moon snarled and slowly approached me when an idea popped into my head. I took a grey coin that freezes time from my wizard bag and cuffed it inside my palm. Maybe I can turn this situation to my advantage after all.
I tried not to show any fear, which is hard to do when thinking my heart might be ripped out of my chest any second. Moon sensed my fear and narrowed his eyes as drool dripped from his teeth to the floor. He raised his one arm forward making a loud steady growl, ready to strike, and I dropped the grey coin on the floor. At the moment Moon leapt into the air toward me, I crushed the coin under my foot and shouted, “Relesa.”
I had closed my eyes when casting the spell, because if it failed, I didn’t want to see what came next. A few seconds later I was still alive with my back against the window. I slowly opened one eye and then the other. The spell worked. Moon was frozen still about three inches from my face with his mouth wide open. Strange, but the first thing that came to my mind was that Moon looked like he had a bad hair day with a taxidermist. I guess this was simply a reaction to realizing I wasn’t dead.
I slid along the window away from Moon’s hungry mouth and darted behind him to pick up my staff. I couldn’t move my staff because it was frozen on the floor like everything else nearby. I kept my hands on it though, ready to lift it when the time spell wore off.
In a flash, normal time restored and Moon went crashing through the office window. I lifted my staff up and said, “Aknor stellara,” sending a series of lightening bolts straight into the fur ball while he was in mid-air. Moon bust into flames and howled in agony as he began his decent. When I looked out from the smashed window, I saw Moon turn into a cloud of ash as he hit the parking lot.
I couldn’t have asked for a more fitting end. That leaves one more fur ball – Moon’s second partner.
Thyzil laughed and slapped me on my back.
“Yes wizard, many more battles. This is good.”
We rode up the elevator to the surface and shared our different versions of what happened along the way. It was like a telephone game where a person says something into the ear of another person and by the time what was said passed through a number of other people, the last person heard something completely different. Such is life I suppose.
When the elevator door opened, I saw Lieutenant Mack and Alura reviewing an architectural map of the building. The good lieutenant had made the tenth floor into a command station and his soldiers were already packing up the electronic equipment. Mack waived for us to come over.
“Glad to see you two made it out okay,” Mack said.
“Yea, me too. What’s all this?” I asked.
“Standard operating procedure sir. Sarila had us sweep the building for possible threats and now everything is clear.”
I looked around and saw Alura speaking to three Zeshtune men wearing familiar military style fatigues with a Keob insignia, and of course, they had brilliant blue eyes.
Interesting … these are the first male Zeshtunians I’ve seen, except for Thyzil. I wonder where these guys came from.
One of the Zeshtunians picked up a silver case and followed Thyzil into the elevator to return to the arena.
“I can guess what’s inside that case. Crystals, right?” I asked Alura.
“You are correct dear brother. The crystals will destroy any remaining wolves attempting to flee through tunnels that we don’t know about.”
“What about the three Zeshtune bodies?”
“Thyzil will retrieve them. Once everyone is back on the surface, he’ll set off the crystals in the area. Lieutenant Mack’s men will then setoff the C4 explosives to collapse everything and seal this place off forever.
“Does ‘everything’ include the building we are standing in?”
Alura winked. “That’s the idea Azul. We’re going to level this place to the ground.”
Having thousands of tons of rock and cement crash down on the arena would certainly make it disappear for good. I Hope Lieutenant Mack brought enough C4 because I’d hate to think any wolves might get loose in the city, which leads me back to finding Moon. The building was shielded, so Sarila wouldn’t be able to lock onto Moon’s DNA signature. No matter because I have his blood. If the fur ball was anywhere in the building, my tracking spell would lead me right to him.
I found my way to a small kitchen where there were packages of sugar next to a coffee machine. Perfect, powdered sugar will do just fine. I poured a half dozen of the sugar packs onto the counter and mixed in some of Moon’s dried blood. I then placed my hand over the sugar and said, “Trako, trako, trako.” The sugar began to sparkle and swirl on the counter until it gathered into a neat pile. I used a coffee cup to collect the sugar and blew away what little was left off the counter. Instead of spreading out and disappearing from sight, it coalesced and moved out of the kitchen to the unblocked stairway.
“Moon was here inside the building,” I muttered.
The tunnel Moon escaped through must lead back here and he slipped by Lieutenant Mack’s sweep to avoid detection.
Gotcha now fur ball.
Alura and Lieutenant Mack were still looking over the building schematics when I interrupted.
“Alura, we got a problem, or an opportunity depending how you see it. Moon … he’s here inside the building somewhere above this floor.”
Alura’s eyes widened and Mack went silent.
“What? How do you know?” she asked.
I poured a small amount of the sugar into my hand and blew into the air. Alura and Mack watched as the sparkling sugar moved across the room and up the stairway.
Alura grinned. “Alight, let’s go get him,” she said while pulling the slides back on her pistols to load each chamber. “I am fully loaded with a fresh supply of grenades and a desire for revenge.”
“Hold on,” I said. “I’m going after Moon alone this time while you and Lieutenant Mack stay here and guard the stairway. We can’t risk Moon getting away, not this time.”
Alura hesitantly agreed and told me I had 15 minutes before she would come looking for me. I was about to question the little amount of time, and she repeated it with emphasis before I could say another word.
“15 minutes brother, not a second longer. I mean it.”
I frowned a little, then reluctantly nodded and moved to the stairway entrance.
Alura is not accustomed to sitting on the sidelines, but this was now my fight. I wanted to be the one to dust Moon. It was personal.
“Good luck sir,” Mack said.
“Thanks Lieutenant. Hopefully this will be the last time any of us have to deal with Moon or his partners ever again.”
I started walking up the stairs with my staff in one hand and the cup of sugar in the other. This was the first time I would be facing a lycanthrope entirely alone, and more than one if Moon’s partners were also in the building.
Once at the 11th floor door, I took some sugar from the coffee cup and blew it into the air. The sugar continued moving up the stairway and I followed, blowing more into the air at each floor. Upon reaching the 20th floor stairway, I was completely out of breath.
Perhaps an exercise routine might be a good idea. Then again, just getting through each day without being eaten alive was probably more than enough exercise for anyone.
I blew the rest of the sugar into the air. With nowhere to go but the rooftop, the sugar traveled under the door.
Thank goodness. Fighting a lycanthrope on a roof without walls to stop my body from falling 20 floors was about as bad as it could get.
“Okay guys,” I said, pushing the button on my com-link. “Looks like Moon is on the 20th floor. Stay put and keep an eye open for his partners – they could be anywhere – and I’ll let you know what I find up here.”
“Roger that,” Mack said.
“10 more minutes Azul. If I don’t hear back from you in 10 minutes, I coming up there.”
I smiled. “I made it up 10 flights of stairs in five minutes. Not too shabby, huh? What do you think about your big brother now?”
“Only 9 minutes now, so stop wasting time chatting.”
I didn’t have to see Alura to know she smirked and rolled her eyes. But hey, getting a reaction from her was half the fun even if I wasn’t able to see it first hand. The other half was to help me relax as best possible.
I opened the unlocked door and was surprised to see bright light everywhere. The exterior walls were all glass and daylight flooded in from all directions, which I considered a fighting advantage. Offices lined the walls and typical corporate furniture filled work areas in the middle of the floor. There were a lot of places to hide and I knew each office and cubicle I passed might be an ambush.
Moon was here somewhere and he had no place to run – so I kept telling myself while trying to forget he had escaped twice before. Sure, he could go up to the roof, but Lieutenant Mack’s snipers would pick him off as soon as he stepped out into the open. Unless he could grow wings, he’s trapped here and one of us was going to die today – hopefully not me.
Hold on, Moon is a shapeshifter. He probably could grow wings and fly away. I hope Mack is planning on shooting anything leaving this building, with wings or anything else.
Blood drops on the carpet – Moon’s I hope – provided a perfect tracking trail. Normally a blood trail is a fighting advantage, but being injured could make Moon more dangerous, which is a disadvantage.
Alura was right … I do think too much.
With each step I took, the smell of wolf got stronger, but the blood trail led further down the corridor. One or both of Moon’s partners had to be nearby.
Off to my right was a sitting area that had some chairs, a couch, tables, and vending machines with assorted junk food all neatly lined up along a wall. There was no one there, but I sensed increased danger and the wolf scent got much stronger. I turned to look out across the open office area to my left and didn’t see anything there either. A moment later a reflection on a computer monitor appeared, and when I turned around, the last vending machine was missing and in its place was a lycanthrope.
You have got to be kidding me … a vending machine? Alura did say that the older lycanthropes learned how to take on the form of inanimate objects, but I wasn’t sure if appearing as a vending machine was actually a transformation, or merely an illusion. This is the fur balls home turf and where their clamor would be strongest.
In either case, that was my last thought before the fur ball was on top of me. My defense shield kicked in, thank goodness, and surrounded my body with a green transparent field that didn’t bother the fur ball in the least. After trying to bite my head off, he lifted me up by my throat with one hand and moved me close to his teeth. Then, in one quick jerk, it threw me like a bag of feathers into a cement column which nearly knocked me unconscious.
Man, these fur balls are stronger than I had thought. The damn thing tossed me across the room like I was a rag doll.
Thankfully my defense shield kept my bones from breaking, but everything still hurt like heck nonetheless. It felt like I hit a brick wall while driving a car, and while the seat belts might protect your skull from being smashed like a Halloween pumpkin, stopping suddenly on solid cement takes your breath away in a big way. Nonetheless, I was still alive and happy to have a magical version of a seat belt.
I looked up as the fur ball was on top or me again wildly thrashing with its arms and trying to bite my face off. There wasn’t anything I could do to fight back while my defense shield was up, which was the downside of the shield – nothing gets in, and nothing gets out, not even magic.
The fur ball paused every few seconds to lift its head toward the ceiling and howl – this was my window to attack. When the fur ball lifted its head again, I gathered my magic energy, and as it lowered its head from a long howl, I pushed my staff through the defense shield into the fur balls mouth and shouted, “Raza zitum.” My defense shield collapsed as magic rush out as the fur ball went silent and stopped thrashing. Its eyes grew large from being surprised, and then it happened … blue-white saw discs began swirling around inside its head and exited in a number of directions. The fur ball was still staring at me with big yellow eyes as sections of its head slid onto the carpet. I pushed myself away using my feet and watched the lycanthrope burn into a pile of ashes.
“Wow, that was extreme,” I said, not entirely believing what happened, and checking myself for broken bones.
The fur ball I dusted had white markings on its ears and nose making it one of Moon’s partners. Moon was larger and had a solid black coat, and smelled worse.
One down, two to go.
I got up off the floor and thanked the stars above for still being alive. Despite feeling like a bus ran me over, I was good to go because I knew Moon was only steps away from getting dusted.
Chapter 24
I reached for my com-link to contact Alura and Lieutenant Mack, but it was gone. Must have fallen off during the fight. No time to waste looking for it.
If Moon and his other partner attack together, I may not be able to beat them with magic alone. It could be lights out for good if I’m caught off guard. I began to think that leaving Alura behind was may have been a bad idea.
I continued tracking Moon’s blood trail and it led me to a large door with a bronze plate mounted on it that spelled out ‘Robert Moon, Attorney at Law’. The blood drops stopped at the door, so I was fairly certain he was in his office. I pointed my staff forward and slowly opened the door and there he was, in human form sitting at his desk. His head was drooping and his right side, still missing an arm, was drenched in blood. He hadn’t enough time to regenerate from such a wound, which meant he wasn’t at full strength, and in turn gave me the advantage.
I grinned. “Hey Moony, not feeling so well?”
Moon lifted his head and looked at me. He didn’t have his usual cocky grin telling the world how superior he was. Instead, he looked drawn out, weak, and pale as a ghost.
“Mr. Zane, I must compliment you on your fighting and survival skills. I was told of this, but one has to experience such things personally. Wouldn’t you agree?” he asked, taking slow measured breaths.
“I guess so. Did your pal Ah Chuy Kak tell you this?”
“Yes, he and others have said as much. Mr. Zane, you and I are merely pawns in a game that is far beyond our control. We are nothing more than puppets that do what our masters wish. This is how things have always been.”
“Looks to me like Ah Chuy Kak has cut your strings Moony.”
“It would appear so, but not unexpectedly Mr. Zane. Ah Chuy Kak does not respect any form of weakness, and as you can readily see, my strength is leaving me. This brings me to the one proposal you might find acceptable Mr. Zane. If I were permitted to leave this building without further harm, I would help you find Ah Chuy Kak. Finding him should be more of interest to you and the Zeshtunians than destroying me.”
“Oh really … why is that?”
“You see Mr. Zane, Ah Chuy Kak is the the first lycanthrope. My kind were originally bred to protect Ah Chuy Kak and his regions of power, which since the last Great War has been confined to this world. So long as we serve him, he allowed us to pursue a small portion of wealth and power, such as this law firm. Ah Chuy Kak’s reach is deep and far Mr. Zane. He owns the very thoughts of your most powerful politicians, businessmen, and secret organizations.”
“And I’m suppose to believe that a lap dog like you is going to help me destroy his master?’
“I want to live Mr. Zane. The help I am offering you is far more valuable than my death.”
“I’m not so sure about that. I mean, I’ve been looking forward to dusting you for so long, days I think,” I said sarcastically. “Besides, I’ll eventually find your fur ball master without your help, so you can understand my reluctance in making a deal.”
“Perhaps you will find him Mr. Zane, however, there are more powerful masters coming soon who may destroy Ah Chuy Kak. Before this happens, Ah Chuy Kak will call upon his legions to do terrible things in an attempt to gain pleasure with those who would seek his destruction. Many humans will die in the wake of his quest to build an army to fight on his behalf.”
“You’re talking about the Darkzon.”
“Yes Mr. Zane. Only I can help you find Ah Chuy Kak before it is too late.”
“Tisk tisk, naughty wolf,” I said, wagging my finger side to side like a scolding parent. “Making deals with fur balls doesn’t seem to be a good idea to me. What deal did you make with the little girl in your arena or those Zeshtune warriors before removing their heads? I think I’m going to decline your less than generous offer Moony. No offense … well yea, there is some offense intended. Actually, there is a lot of offense intended.”
Moon took a deep breath of air and stiffened his body.
“Very well Mr. Zane, very well.”
In an instant Moon transformed and smashed through his desk. He was fast, too fast for me to react as he grabbed my throat and tossed me through the wall to the next office. My defense magic kicked in keeping me in one piece and I was able to get up and ran down the corridor. Moon was not far behind running on all fours – well, less one arm of course, so all threes – and considerably faster then I was using my two legs.
I knew out running Moon was not going to happen and that he was too close for me to turn and blast him with my staff. I felt my defense shield strengthen as Moon yanked me up off my feet and tossed me again into a nearby office, this time right through a solid two inch thick mahogany door. When I stopped bouncing on the floor, I found myself up against a large glass window. I also saw that my staff was now behind Moon who stood 10 feet in front of me and looked extremely ticked off.
Well, if I can’t destroy him, at least I can tick him off some more before he takes me out.
I stood up and brushed pieces of glass off and then proceeded to laugh.
“Was it something I said Moony?”
Moon snarled and slowly approached me when an idea popped into my head. I took a grey coin that freezes time from my wizard bag and cuffed it inside my palm. Maybe I can turn this situation to my advantage after all.
I tried not to show any fear, which is hard to do when thinking my heart might be ripped out of my chest any second. Moon sensed my fear and narrowed his eyes as drool dripped from his teeth to the floor. He raised his one arm forward making a loud steady growl, ready to strike, and I dropped the grey coin on the floor. At the moment Moon leapt into the air toward me, I crushed the coin under my foot and shouted, “Relesa.”
I had closed my eyes when casting the spell, because if it failed, I didn’t want to see what came next. A few seconds later I was still alive with my back against the window. I slowly opened one eye and then the other. The spell worked. Moon was frozen still about three inches from my face with his mouth wide open. Strange, but the first thing that came to my mind was that Moon looked like he had a bad hair day with a taxidermist. I guess this was simply a reaction to realizing I wasn’t dead.
I slid along the window away from Moon’s hungry mouth and darted behind him to pick up my staff. I couldn’t move my staff because it was frozen on the floor like everything else nearby. I kept my hands on it though, ready to lift it when the time spell wore off.
In a flash, normal time restored and Moon went crashing through the office window. I lifted my staff up and said, “Aknor stellara,” sending a series of lightening bolts straight into the fur ball while he was in mid-air. Moon bust into flames and howled in agony as he began his decent. When I looked out from the smashed window, I saw Moon turn into a cloud of ash as he hit the parking lot.
I couldn’t have asked for a more fitting end. That leaves one more fur ball – Moon’s second partner.
