Mistfall Page 8

  “Luca!” I shouted. “What the hell? Get off of her!”

  I guess I really didn’t need to worry about Hailz getting hurt. She seemed to have the upper hand in this fight.

  Hailz had managed to coil herself tightly around Luca’s torso. You could tell she was restraining herself from crushing him to death. It doesn’t take provocation to make Hailz kill, she did it for sport.

  “Why did you attack her?” I was still a little shocked at his overreaction. Luca tried to speak, but only managed to gasp for air.

  “Um Hailz? Could you let him go?” I asked.

  “I’d rather not. In fact, I’m rather inclined t watch him die. Slowly, of course. A rush job is never as much fun. You barely have time to watch the life slip from their eyes.”

  Great, out of all the jinn out there I get the murderous psychopath. Then again, I do have fun killing my enemies too, so what does that say about me?

  “Hailz, I’d really like it if you didn’t kill him.”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “Fine, but I’m not letting him go until I leave.”

  I crossed my arms. “Wait a second. Aren’t you supposed to do what I tell you now that you’ve bound yourself to me?”

  “Learning curve,” she replied sarcastically.

  Luca, no longer having his ribs slowly crushed, had finally quit wheezing.

  “Are you okay?” I asked him.

  “I’m fine,” he replied grudgingly.

  “Why did you attack Hailz?”

  “That vile, lowly beast and I have a long standing argument,” he sneered. “Oof!”

  Hailz had momentarily tightened her grip on Luca.

  Wonderful, my only two allies hate each other.

  “I’m sure the story of the rivalry between the two of you is an interesting one,” I began.

  “That it is, would you like to hear it?” Hailz interrupted.

  “For another day,” I added, shifting my weight to my other foot. “What are you doing here Hailz?” It wasn’t like her to pay a social visit.

  “The Master requests an audience with you this morning.”

  “Right,” I rolled my eyes, “he requested.

  “Semantics,” she retorted.

  Luca was mumbling his feelings on Iblis’s request when Hailz’s tail slid across his mouth, gagging him. My stomach heaved at the thought of tasting a slimy snake tail in my mouth.

  “As enticing as meeting the source of all evil is, I’m going to have to pass.” Did I mention that sarcasm is my second language?

  Hailz was nonchalant in her response. “The Master thought that might be your answer, so he asks you this: Who will you turn to when all the world turns against you?”

  She didn’t give me a chance to respond. Hailz disappeared in her usual flurry of magical dust, leaving a rather angry Luca in her wake.

  He wiped his hand against his mouth attempting to remove the Hailz aftertaste. “You let her bind herself to you?” he asked at me incredulously.

  “I didn’t have a choice,” I said flatly.

  He started pacing back and forth, holding a silent argument with himself.

  I sat back down on the log, waiting for the oncoming storm.

  Luca stood in front of me, opening his mouth to say something and quickly closing it again. He did this a few more times before I decided to break the uncomfortable silence.

  “Luca, I don’t know what you two have against each other but-.” He cut me off. I was getting tired of being cut off mid-sentence.

  He ran his hand through his sandy blond hair in frustration. “That’s the problem, you don’t understand. You’ve effectively made yourself the enemy by allying yourself with the Underworld.”

  “Does it matter? I’m already an enemy of the state.” I used air quotes with the ‘enemy of the state’ bit.

  The muscle in Luca’s jaw clenched. “It’s not a joking matter. Perhaps it’s not too late. Tell me, what did she bind herself to? If we destroy the object, the bond will be broken. It’ll be like none of this ever happened.”

  Luca had proved himself a trustworthy ally, thus far, but there was no way I would give that information up. Not even to the gods themselves.

  “It’s a dagger. I only had one in my bag. It was innocuous enough to go unnoticed.”

  Luca’s anger abated at that. “Good. Will you grab it? I don’t want you accidentally leaving it in a corpse. I’ll hang on to it for now.”

  My spidey senses were tingling. But, since I wasn’t giving him Hailz’s real object, I didn’t have a problem giving it to him in order to find out if he was deceiving me.

  “Sure, no problem, I said. I walked back to the makeshift tent and opened my canvas bag. Kneeling down, my back to Luca, I rifled through the clothes and myriad of deadly weapons I had packed. I grabbed a dagger and set it on the ground so I could refasten the straps on the bag. Something hard cracked against the back of my skull, turning my world to black.

  9. You Remind Me of the Babe

  There were two things I was aware of upon regaining consciousness. The first was that I was alive. The skull splitting headache I was experiencing was evidence of that. The second was that I was somewhere not nice.

  I opened my eyes and looked around. Somewhere a lamp was giving off a faint glow. The light was unable to penetrate the surrounding darkness to give me any clues of my current whereabouts.

  The feeling of a glass shard repeatedly being poked around in my head made it difficult to rid myself of the headache right away. I remained on my side while my magic grew strong enough to overcome the pounding, piercing ache.

  That taken care of, I sat up, assessing my situation. Lying down or sitting upright, the scenery was black as pitch, aside from the dampened glow of a lantern. I summoned up my own light in the form of a warm, golden orb of fire. I tossed it into the air to illuminate my blindness.

  I was greeted by the confines of an oubliette. What’s an oubliette? It’s a cell, without windows or an entrance/exit (except my magic of course). A person only ends up in one if they are meant to be forgotten.

  It explained why I wasn’t chained up. I was pretty sure my magic would be useless to open the sealed door, but gave it a try anyway. I felt out with my mind for the door and was greeted by static. I tried again, this time just lobbing fire balls, electrical orbs, and whatever else I could think of at the walls, ceiling and floor. One by one, each assault fizzled out. I felt like a fly trying to stop a freight train.

  My magic, with its limitless resources, seemed to be relegated to the inside of this bedroom sized prison. “Thank Hades I’m not claustrophobic,” I mentioned to the walls.

  I was wondering if it was Luca who had used me for batting practice when cracks began appearing on one wall. The cracks stretched out into vertical, parallel lines. Once they had reached a certain height, slightly taller than I was, a new crack grew and connected the two lines creating a door.

  The door gave a bone-crushing groan as the stone grated against the floor, revealing Luca.

  “Speaking of the bastard,” I said.

  “I believe the phrase is ‘speaking of the devil,’ he responded softly, his eyes focused not on me, but the ground.

  “Nope.” I got up from the cold floor and walked over to him. “The terminology is quite correct in this case.” Luca’s eyes would not meet mine. His attention was focused everywhere else.

  “What did you do Luca?” I demanded. He didn’t answer and continued staring at the floor.

  Toe to toe with him, I pushed him hard against his chest. “Tell me!” I shouted as he stumbled back a step or two. I lurched forward to hit him…I mean inquire further when King Abel entered the oubliette.

  The Erlking Abelard, or King Abel as he was going by these days, it seems, is my captor. A rather imposing figure, built more like a hulking Viking than elf, Abel could command a room with his presence alone. He looked like he was in his mid-forties, but that probably meant he was closer to four hundred and fifty years than f
orty-five. He was wearing a very expensive, tailored Italian suit. Whatever business the Elves did in the human world must pay very, very well. Luca and Abel shared the same turquoise eyes, which wasn’t a normal Elf trait.

  “Oh leave the boy alone,” Abel said, emphasizing on the word boy. He followed orders.”

  “I didn’t know you were so well versed in war criminalese Abel,” I retorted.

  “That’s King Abel Magdalene.”

  My surly mood was further amplified by the full use of my name. I didn’t like it and if anyone was going to call me by my full name, it sure wasn’t going to be Snap, Crackle, and Pop.

  “You’re not my king, Abel.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” he forewarned me.

  I knew I wouldn’t get away with it, but I took a few shots at him anyway. Instead of using fireballs, I opted for lightening.

  “Screw you Abel,” I snarled and whipped the electrified bolts towards him. They were absorbed by an invisible wall. Elves don’t have this kind of magic. What kind of fire was Abel playing with?

  “I think not,” he simply stated. “Perhaps it would be best to leave you here for awhile. Some time in total isolation may open your mind to the proposition I have for you.”

  I took a page out of Luca’s book. I turned my back to Abel, a sign of disrespect, and said nothing in return. I must have struck a nerve, because he retaliated with a parting comment that shook me to my core.

  “Magdalene, I don’t believe you have been properly introduced to the Captain of the Aelfadl and my oldest son, Luca.”

  My heart plummeted twenty feet into the ground, but I stood stock still. Now I knew why Luca wouldn’t look me in the face. Abel, amused at his duplicitous son, turned and left, with Luca in tow. The grinding stone door closed and resealed me in my tomb.

  Melissa crossed my mind soon after they left. Luca told me that he was letting her stay at his place. Now knowing what Luca was, I could only assume she was dead.

  I felt the tears welling up in my eyes, but forced the feeling to return to the pit of my stomach. I would cry for her later. Right now I needed that as fuel to my fire. First chance I got, I would run Luca through with whatever sharp object I could find, shish kabob style, his father shortly thereafter.

  I decided that, in the meantime, my new abode needed a little sprucing up. I had a few reasons for doing this. First, I needed to test the capabilities of my magic. Second, it would irritate Abel. Thirdly, this place was depressingly gloomy. If I was going to spend eternity down here I would at least be comfortable.

  I weaved my magic into the empty space. Chairs materialized, a bed sprung from thin air, and books flew in the air like birds, finding their perch on a bookshelf that had grown from the ground up, moments before.

  Twenty minutes later, I had all the trappings of a quaint English cottage. A fire was even roaring in the fireplace I added at the last minute, chasing away the chill of the damp stone. The dark desolation of the oubliette was gone.

  I reached into my pants pocket and pulled the compass out. I’m glad I listened to my gut. Otherwise Hailz would now be a servant of the Elf King. Against my better judgment, I rubbed the compass and spoke her name. The walls weren’t about to answer me back and I needed a little perspective.

  Hailz apparated, leaving a thin film of sparkly covered dust over my just finished work. My future snake skin purse took a look at my surroundings and laughed heartily. “So you’ve finally been betrayed by the one who was desperate to earn your love only a day ago.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Does this dungeon look like a token of affection?”

  “You’re not dead,” Hailz pointed out.

  “Irrelevant.”

  “Is it now?” she asked as she slithered around the room, inspecting the walls, floor, and ceiling.

  I crossed my arms. “As much as I adore our usual verbal sparring, I summoned you here for a reason.”

  Hailz stopped perusing my selection of books and looked at me like I was stupid. “I can’t get you out of here. I assume you already know that, your Iblian magic being stronger than mine.” I swear, if she had hands, the word Iblian would have been in air quotes. Needless to say, the sarcasm was dripping heavily off of her venomous fangs.

  I sat down on an overstuffed couch. Time spent with Hailz was aggravating at best. I could at least be comfy.

  “I summoned you here because I need your opinion,” I told her.

  Hailz quit moving and became eerily quiet. Great, now she decides to shut up. Her eyes became cloudy and her body stiffened. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought her dead. No such luck for me, she was only molting.

  Out of the transparent skin appeared a young woman, mid-twenties, and rather pretty. She was a bit shorter than me and had strawberry colored hair. Hailz’s eyes retained their red glow, a side effect of spending too much time in Hades.

  She stretched her newly grown limbs and plopped down on the seat next to me. “That’s much better. I haven’t had appendages in some time.”

  I pointed to the husk on the floor. “You can’t clean up after yourself? Hope you’re toilet trained, otherwise you can leave right now.”

  Hailz snapped her fingers and the papery leftovers disappeared into thin air.

  She shoved me with her shoulder. “I don’t know why you’re so grouchy.”

  “Prisoner,” I replied shaking the imaginary chains on my wrist.

  She tilted her head to the side. “Well, there is that,” she admitted.

  She conjured up an brown, leather ottoman to rest her feet on. “You know something, you’re a horrible host.”

  I just sighed. When and if I get out of here, I had planned a trip to Hades to return Hailz to Iblis, quite possibly in pieces. I could have gotten up and made it by hand, but was weary of Hailz. I conjured up two cups of steaming, hot chai tea and assorted scones. I made sure they were full of fat so it would go straight to her hips. Petty, I know, but it made me feel just the teensiest bit better.

  “Okay.” I turned to Hailz while she ate. “Why does Abel have jinn magic?”

  She choked on the buttery pastry. “What?!?!” she replied in between gasps.

  “Abel. He’s using jinn magic,” I repeated.

  She laid down her scone on the plate and waved her hand in the air, dismissing me. “Impossible. You have led a rather sheltered life. He probably just has a Witch in his employ.”

  I threw a biscuit at her head. “As much of a country bumpkin you may think I am Hailz, I know the difference between a Witch’s spell and our magic.”

  “Oh please, tell me all about it.” Her tone was patronizing and I really wanted to slap her in the face with a fish.

  I abruptly stood up. I was fuming and needed to move around otherwise we’d end up at each other’s throats. Then I’d never get the information I needed out of her.

  “I tried to attack Abel,” I told her. “My magic was deflected by an invisible wall.”

  Hailz yawned, bored with the topic. “Very telling Mags. Again, a Witch.”

  I put one hand on my hip and pointed at her with the other. “Damnit Hailz, let me finish! A Witch’s barrier spell would have a tell tale shimmer. This had nothing. If I hadn’t tried throwing lightening at him I would have never known it was there. So genius, who else’s magic do you know that leaves no signs?”

  Her jaw dropped.

  “That’s right,” I continued, “no one else’s magic besides our own.”

  She jumped up at attention. “That’s imp… No. But how?”

  “Hailz, do you know something you’re not telling me?” I asked.

  Her voice dropped an octave. “It’s impossible that he has a jinn you cannot overcome.”

  My mind reeled at the thought. Hailz was right. Had Abel used an Ifrit or Marid, I would have easily broken through the invisible shield that had protected him. Was it possible that there were others of my kind that had escaped the god’s wrath?

  I wanted to ask Hailz,
but she had other plans.

  “Thanks for the tea, have to go, good luck,” she rambled off and disappeared, adding more dust to the oubliette. My guess was that she was tearing through the Earth to inform Iblis with the new turn of events.

  My suspicions were confirmed, but where did that leave me? I still wasn’t sure what I was up against as far as that invisible wall was concerned. Plus, I was still trapped in this awful hole in the ground.

  Abel wanted something from me. What that was could be anyone’s guess. My best course of action, I decided was to rest up. What comes next may just take every ounce of energy I had.

  It took the Keebler Elf three days to come back and see me. I will say this; I ate and slept well those few days. Aside from the strange dreams I was still having of John, which I was starting to remember more clearly, I couldn’t remember the last time I was so relaxed and refreshed.

  Santa’s Little Helper wasn’t expecting the Otherworld’s most finely furnished oubliette. Abel rubbed his hands together in agitation, but said nothing of it. My subconscious was pointing at him, singing “neener, neener, neener.”

  “What’s up Abe?” I casually tossed at him. “You don’t mind if I call you Abe?”

  WOW. If he could shoot lasers out of his eyes, I would have been a pile of pixie dust.

  “It’s Abel, King Abel and you would do well to remember it Magdalene.”

  Despite my predicament, with three days of R&R I was back on top of my game. Calling me anything other than Mags wouldn’t bother me now. I just smiled while he worked out the tense jaw muscle that had begun to twitch in time with his heartbeat. That’s where Luca got it from.

  Abel worked out the muscles of his jaw with his hand. “You can listen to my offer or remain here for eternity,” he said.

  I let off a few pot shots to the left and right of him to see how far his “shield” extended. They were absorbed as direct hits, but to the left and right, they hit the stone wall behind him, leaving scorch marks as proof.