Fire and Fantasy: A Limited Edition Collection of Urban and Epic Fantasy Read online

  A docile janitor opened the double doors. He glanced at all the students then turned to look at someone on the other side of the door. “Here you go, sir. Looks like the kids couldn’t hear you over their dodgeball game.”

  Another voice answered him, “Oh, thank you, James. I’m not usually without my keys.” Headmaster Frobisher popped his head in the interior doors with a huge grin on his face, apparently glad he hadn’t seen any orbs whizzing by, “Excellent, excellent. James, would you kindly tell Professor Day I found Professor Kapoi? I believe she forgot about the game today.” Frobisher waved to the janitor as the man walked back down the hall. He closed the doors behind him, nodding his head almost to himself, “Professor Kapoi, your class is impeccable when it comes to discretion. I should have known I couldn’t sneak up on a room full of your hunters.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Kapoi gave him the floor respectfully and the freshmen listened quietly.

  “Guardians, I just wanted to wish you luck with your chosen path and to tell you how proud I am of each and every one of you,” he looked at every student. “You are all so very important to the King’s Court and so very brave. The path of a hunter may seem almost impossible to some of you as you learn to navigate your relics and struggle to find your word, however, it is in all of you to succeed. You simply have to look within yourself and listen. Believe in yourself as I believe in you. Excellent work to you all,” Frobisher said, gesturing to Kapoi and Lourdie. He waved goodbye in the quirky, endearing manner that was all his own, “Happy hunting.”

  Lourdie pointed at her eyes and then pointed down the hill to the bushes in the distance right past a small bridge in Central Park.

  Abbey used her hunter senses and pierced through the darkness. She saw the barely visible golden ribbon of light hidden within the overgrown shrubs. The fracture was fading, shadowskins were near. Abbey nodded as she reminded herself to breathe again. Witnessing the luminescent fracture produced within a Chiarshadrin was extremely rare. The young hunter mirrored her mentor’s moves and slowly edged her way down the opposite side of the old stone bridge. A trickling stream hid the minute noises made by their treacherous descent through loose rocks and tangled vines.

  A beast was hiding in the deepest crevice under the arched bridge, trying to calm itself and revert back to its shadow form. Abbey stood watch as Lourdie whispered a word against her wrists and created a beautiful luminous purple orb. Mentor signaled apprentice to stun the slumbering beast with a pulse of her gun. In one motion, Abbey activated her weapon, aimed, and shot the unsuspecting creature. Boom, Abbey thought to herself. The krimvigar stayed down without a fight as Lourdie walked forward and encased the creature in her awaiting orb. It vanished seconds later, back to its own realm.

  Without warning the master hunter drew her favored weapon and it instantly hummed to life as she spun around to meet an oncoming assault. The stun baton’s violet light glowed like a magical blade cutting through the darkness. Lourdie became engrossed in a battle with a second krim as it lunged at her. She dodged numerous blows and landed several of her own with no effect. The netherwalker’s black opalescent hide of armor was too tough.

  Abbey stood slack-jawed. She was mesmerized, her eyes followed the baton’s light as it danced through the night sky. Amethyst light sparked off the krimvigar’s skin over and over. The fight in front of her was magnificent. Abbey couldn’t make out the blur of purple in front of her. Wait… this isn’t right. She shook her head, trying to get the cobwebs out of her mind. It wasn’t like her to get so distracted by the weapon she coveted. Instantly the hairs on her arm stood straight up as she realized what was happening. She was inside a shadowskin’s snare.

  Lourdie quickly turned and looked past Abbey, “Behind you!”

  Abbey followed her mentor’s intense stare. There she finally saw it, the shadow slithering towards her on the water’s surface. The full moon’s glow was reflected off every ripple in the water except where the smoky black shadow hovered like a black hole. It was transforming quickly. Abbey had less than a second to react. She aimed her weapon and shot, but the pulse went right through the half materialized krimvigo. The young hunter knelt down on one knee and tried again, this time aiming directly at its chest. The pulse stopped the creature momentarily, but it didn’t go down. He was now just feet from her, but the delay had given Abbey just enough time to conjure an orb as the beast lunged and came down on top of her.

  Abbey grunted and rolled onto her side. Struggling, she pushed the encased creature up onto the muddy bank and off of her five foot three frame.

  Lourdie crouched down protectively over Abbey and put her hand on the wrangling orb, almost willing it to implode. The hissing and popping stopped under Lourdie’s touch as the delvir finally took the imprisoned netherwalker home.

  The master hunter looked down at her apprentice. “Abbey?”

  “I’m okay, I’m okay.” Abbey got back on her feet and tried to brush off the mud, “Man, that dude was heavy.”

  “I’ll say. He outweighed you by a good four hundred pounds.” Lourdie scanned the area, but knew they were alone. “I hate the ones with thick armor, they’re impossible to stun.” She reached into her backpack, “Here, put these on. You’re soaked.”

  Abbey ducked under the bridge to quickly change. The hoodie and pants were way too big, but they would be warm and dry.

  “I’m sorry I missed the second krim that attacked you, Sensei.” The young apprentice rubbed her eyes, trying to erase the thought of her near failure, “I can’t believe I got caught up in the snare of Mr. Water Creeper there.” As Abbey zipped up the borrowed jacket she shivered both from the chill in the air and the thought of the shadowskin.

  “Padawan, give yourself some credit.” Lourdie held up her hand as if to count off, “First, I was closer to the krim and it just happened to lunge at me. Second, you recovered from the other one’s snare so quickly, that you not only fired two pulses but were able to create an orb. On top of that, you trapped it before it could even touch you.” Lourdie crossed her arms, “Hey, are you just fishing for compliments?”

  Abbey felt her face flush as she laughed, “No, I just want to be as good a hunter as you that’s all.” She emerged from the shadow of the bridge and drooped her head, “You and Professor Kapoi showed a lot of faith in me when you let me fill in for him tonight. I-- I just don’t want to let you down.”

  It seemed that Lourdie resisted the urge to roll her eyes with all her might, and instead smiled, “Kid, that will never happen.” The master hunter cleared her throat. “And as for being as good as me? I think you’re nearly there. Except,” she waved Abbey’s weapon in the air and handed it back to her.

  “Flux!”

  Lourdie scoffed. “Ha! Good.” She knew Abbey never made the same mistake twice.

  “I won’t lose track of it again, I promise.”

  “I know you won’t, Abs. Now, let’s get back to work. Can’t have Kapoi think I let you slack off.”

  The duo resumed their walk in Central Park. Abbey awkwardly patrolled beside her mentor trying not to trip over the pants that were a foot too long. The baggy things sadly reminded Abbey of a time when she didn’t have enough money to eat, let alone to even think about buying clothes that fit.

  A jogger ran by and nodded to Lourdie. A few minutes later a couple walking their dog past by and the man tipped his hat to them. It was a full moon, hunters were out in full force tonight. Even the two policemen ahead of them on horseback were guardians.

  “Lourdie?” Abbey asked quizzically.

  “Yeah.”

  “Why did you? I mean, a year ago, what made you choose me as your apprentice anyway?”

  Lourdie stopped walking and looked down at the young girl, “Well...obviously you caught my attention because you were the only one in your class that could create a delvir on the very first try. That and your spunk are pretty hard to resist.” The defeated look on Abbey’s face seemed to drive her on, “But do you want to know wh
at really made me choose you?”

  Abbey nodded with eager anticipation.

  “It was when you were completely exhausted, you were still willing to go again.” She shook her head in amazement, “No matter what I threw at you next you would have found the will to go on. You have an inner strength that shines through when you fight, and I don’t just mean physical combat either. You’re not a quitter Abs, it’s not in your DNA.” Lourdie cleared her throat and crossed her arms, “Besides, after your little demonstration of defiance, I wasn’t about to let anyone else get a hold of you.”

  “I felt like such an outsider,” Abbey shrugged and withdrew into her oversized hoodie. “Didn’t it...doesn’t it bother you that I came from the streets? I’m probably the descendent of King Arthur’s chamber pot butler.”

  Lourdie threw her head back and laughed out loud, “I don’t think there was such a thing as a chamber pot butler.” Then she immediately softened her response, “Most of us aren’t that certain of our ancestry, only the knights have the clearest lineage. Anyway, Abs, we all have to come from somewhere. I don’t judge people by their zip code. I measure someone by what they do with what life has thrown at them and how they use those experiences, good or bad.”

  “Mm, yeah,” Abbey said taking it all in. “But, dude. You’re the best hunter in New York. You should have like ten apprentices hovering around you at all times, or a waiting list or something, but you don’t.” Abbey quirked her head to the side, “Why don’t you?”

  “You know me, I’ve always been more of a loner.” Lourdie shrugged, “And Marcus has never pushed the issue.”

  “Were you even looking for an apprentice that day?”

  Lourdie smiled down lovingly, “Not until I found you.” She put her arm around the young girl’s shoulders, “C’mon, I promised Phil he could put some more meat on your bones.”

  That instantly cheered Abbey up and she began to sing. “It’s peanut butter nanna time! Peanut butter nanna time!”

  Three

  Darkness Devouring

  As Abbey and Lourdie headed to Phil’s she was still humming the tune by the Buckwheat Boyz when they suddenly both stopped walking.

  “Alley?” Abbey whispered and quirked her head.

  “Yep,” Lourdie replied. Early morning breakfast would have to wait. They crossed the street, slipped into the narrow alley, and readied their weapons. As they turned a second corner, the fight started instantly. Lourdie was shoved into a brick wall by the largest netherwalker either of them had ever seen. Her hunter’s senses were telling her that something was strange about this netherwalker. Something just felt off.

  Two other netherwalkers seemed conflicted as they turned their attention from the massive netherwalker to the hunters. “Did you see that?” Lourdie said as they countered blow after blow from all three creatures.

  Abbey gave her mentor a quick look of confusion.

  “The big one, I think he was fighting these two off. He’s not with them. It’s like he’s defending his turf or something.”

  “Okay creepy, but why?” Abbey asked as she dodged another blow.

  “I don’t know yet, but we’re going to find out.” Lourdie quickly developed a plan as they fought. “We’ll stun them all, banish the two smaller ones, but we’re going to let the big one get away.”

  “What?” Abbey sounded horrified.

  “Something is not right here. We need to follow the big one. Trust me, Abs. Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  Lourdie subdued the first krim and dodged a claw swipe from the second as she jumped aside to allow her apprentice room for banishment. Lourdie deftly maneuvered away from the stunned netherwalker as the second, a krimvigar, swatted at her and gnashed its teeth mere inches from her limbs. With their hunter precision they both fired at the third and largest netherwalker over and over until it fell lifeless to the ground.

  As Abbey lowered an orb to ensnare and banish the first creature, it managed to shake off the stun and lash out at her. Its huge maw snapped at her head, just missing her face.

  Too close! Lourdie thought as she watched her apprentice.

  Abbey must have felt the cold breath of the creature as a droplet of spittle fell upon her ear. She rolled quickly away into a defensive crouch. Her stun gun was already charging, and she was ready to fire again, but she stumbled over her own feet.

  Lourdie jumped from her own stunned netherwalker to the too-quickly recovered krimvigo. Lourdie only struck the beast once with her stun baton before her orb appeared a moment later. She actually punched the netherwalker with her larger than usual orb. Her fury was so great the encased beast was hurled back ten feet before it vanished, midair, back into the Nether realm.

  "Wow," was all Abbey seemed to be able to utter before she touched her ear. She looked at her hand and the blood on her fingers. “Just a flesh wound,” she sighed in relief.

  Lourdie rushed back to her apprentice. A small section of Abbey's hair had frozen and it fell to the ground when she shook her head.

  Pulling at the strip that remained she said, "Good thing I was planning on a haircut soon. I'm okay, Sensei. I promise. Do guys dig scars like girls do?" Abbey seemed to admire her hair’s new length "Ha! Hair by netherwalker!"

  “I don’t think it’s going to leave a scar.” Lourdie managed a smile, then frowned as she said, "He must have been very well fed to recover so quickly from being stunned. That's not a good sign."

  Abbey nodded in agreement and began to sit up. "Speaking of, we better do something with your creeper before--"

  Lourdie squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation, “This is going to hurt.” The massive krimvigar slammed its body into her tossing her through the air. It seemed to be fighting its instinct to do battle. Instead of continuing the attack it began to claw its way up a building.

  “Was being a rag doll part of your plan?” Abbey asked, helping Lourdie to her feet.

  “Not exactly. But look,” Lourdie said pointing to a building in the process of being remodeled. “That thing is running to something, not just away from us.” The hunters watched as the netherwalker jumped onto the building under construction. It climbed higher and higher toward an apartment window covered in plastic. Though it had no eyes, the slick black creature deftly navigated the New York building with ethereal grace. Lourdie shivered as she watched the ripped plastic sway in the wind, “Come on.”

  Mirroring her mentor's worry, Abbey asked, "Should we activate the Spam Signal? You know, get back up or something?"

  Lourdie had already pulled her phone out. “We’ll call on the way.”

  Lourdie and Abbey flanked the apartment door, weapons at the ready. Lourdie put her finger to her lips, then tried the door. She wanted to do recon before they charged in, something about this netherwalker had felt odd from the very beginning. The knob moved freely in her hand so she looked at her apprentice then nodded to the bright light above them.

  In a move that would make Spiderman proud, Abbey holstered her weapon, put her arms and legs out, climbed the hall walls, unscrewed the ceiling’s light bulb, and jumped back down, all without a sound. She resumed her stance flanking the door opposite her mentor and redrew her weapon.

  Lourdie used an old hunter trick and lifted the entire door slightly so its hinges didn’t squeak. She carried its weight effortlessly and opened the door silently. Lourdie’s hand instinctively went to her weapon as she gestured for Abbey to stay put. She slowly peered inside.

  The space was lined with walls of newspapers and mountains upon mountains of white plastic bags full of what, only the inhabitant could say. A narrow hoarder’s walkway meandered through rubble and trash to the back of the dark and damp apartment. Besides the overwhelming odors of rotting food and moldy paper, Lourdie’s hunter nose was assaulted by the smell of death. But not just any death. She squinted her eyes, searching through the madness. Then she spotted it, a man’s lifeless body. The shadowskin’s fresh docile kill was lying on a bare soiled mattress in t
he farthest corner of the back room, surrounded by even more piles of hoarded objects. One lonely blanket was crumpled around his feet. Lourdie had never witnessed a shadowskin’s kill before, but somehow knew it instantly. The smell was offensively unique and somehow familiar. Somewhere deep in her memory it was ingrained, the plague from so long ago, The Black Death.

  Pustules oozed from gaunt flesh, cracked and bloody lips were parted, recounting the dociles last breath, and deep sunken eyes remained open staring into blissful nothingness. The man’s desiccated body resembled that of a nightmarish creature who preferred to feast on brains. This is one story I wish wasn’t true, Lourdie thought to herself as she shivered. Over the centuries, the emaciated appearance of netherwalker victims elicited frightful tales of demons, curses, and plagues. The Court’s scrapers used these stories to their advantage in order to keep this deadly secret from dociles. Most recently the undead, or zombies, had cleverly and gruesomely been used to great effect. These poor souls slowly wasted away, eventually losing their appetite for food and ability to speak. Such incidents had diminished over the years thanks to the Court’s burgeoning technology, so it was shocking to find such a gruesome sight now.

  Overwhelmed with emotion by this affront to her entire existence, Lourdie gripped her weapon tighter in rage and frustration. If only the Vaelosh a’Rue had enabled us to kill these bastards instead of merely banishing them! She thought.

  Lourdie’s guardian enhanced vision pierced the darkness and followed the hoarders gaze up onto the ceiling. The man had removed most of the ceiling’s drywall, creating a huge pocket of space for even more of his possessions. And there, floating in the rafters like a canopy, was the largest shadow Lourdie had ever seen. It was massive, gorged on the life essence of its victim, and powerful enough to have already reverted to its shadow form. The dark mist weaved in and out of the metal beams like a death shroud, curving up and over, then billowing back down as its smoky finger like tendrils licked the air. But why did it come back here? Netherwalkers couldn’t feed on the dead... Then Lourdie heard it. A barely audible ragged breath and a weak th-thump of another docile’s heartbeat. Someone else was in the apartment, still alive but just barely.