Gloom Rising (The Book Wielder Saga 1) (11 page)

“I lost my squad in the Tropica undergrowth. We were trying to take down an enemy officer and his unit, but even being a native Tropican didn’t help in that dense jungle; they were like ghosts. I was determined to find my mark, to avenge my lost comrades, but I was getting nowhere and I knew it. Then I stumbled onto the strangest thing; a jet black wolf in the middle of the jungle. It looked at me and transformed into an enormous black man. Oh, he was handsome. He offered to turn me and help me find my mark in exchange for some wild times afterwards. I used to have dreads back then, but try keeping that up with Werewolf hair growth. Way too much maintenance,” Brooke laughed, running her hand over her smooth scalp. She then paused to think for a while and eventually continued. “After the war I helped put down the resistance, and then there was nothing to do. The fight was over. So I travelled for a bit, saw the world and then settled in Rura. It wasn’t long before I’d joined the Shadow Circle and was able to put my old skills to use again. Thanks to you defecting, Lewis, I got a pretty good promotion and an excuse to come to the Capital.”

“You’re welcome B,” Lewis said with a wink.

“I was in the war too,” Alexander said excitedly to Brooke. “Started in the Desem front lines and worked my way around.”

      
“The Desem front lines – you mean in the trenches?” Brooke was shocked. “So you were one of the first Dogs of War?”

“I was indeed,” he said proudly. “Showed the Industrians a few of my special moves. My favourite is one I call the trench-buster...”

Winston and Lewis left the war veterans behind for a bit to get better acquainted with each other, and they both stopped at an ATM machine to check their bank accounts. Lewis went first, and his eyebrows rose visibly showing he was pleased with what he saw before withdrawing a big wad of money.

Winston was filled with excitement as he put his bank card into the machine and entered his pin number. When his available balanced popped up on the screen it almost knocked him off his feet. He never thought he’d see so many digits in his account. He withdrew one thousand Imperial Credits, and the ATM gave him a two-hundred note, three one-hundred notes, and ten crisp fifties.

      
Lewis took the lead and showed Winston the places to go if you weren’t on a budget. He got some new smart and casual clothes for his wardrobe, placed an order for some slightly erotic canvas wall hangings and other decorative items to be delivered to the hotel, and grabbed a few kitchen and bathroom essentials. Lewis then led them on a short trip to a shabby market section where they sold everything, from fake brand name clothes and cheap food that was almost out of its sell-by date, to pirated CD’s and videos. Some stalls sold strange looking but beautiful crystals and ‘magical’ herbal ingredients, but they were all fakes. They went down some stairs to a small old looking ‘magic’ shop.

The front section of the shop sold and displayed the same fake crap that was available on the market stalls, and there were old tomes of myths and legends, witchcraft and wizardry. At the back there was a highly out of place secure metal door. The till was at the beginning of the shop and attended by an elderly looking female mage. She nodded to them slowly and pressed a button under the desk, and after a few ‘clunks’ the metal door swung slowly open and they followed Lewis inside.

A stone spiral staircase took them to the real shop. It was a cosy shade of blue from hanging magefire lamps, stalls of real world base ingredients and magical Gloom reagents were set in the middle of the room, and shelves of alchemy equipment and strange bits of bric-a-brac were set around the outside. At the end of the room there was an alcove containing a crystal ball on a stone pillar, and above it was a curved hand painted sign that read ‘shoplifters will be disintegrated’ in homey artistic lettering.

“We can get you a few bits here but you’ll want to hit the Shadow Market tonight for the rest,” Lewis said.

“Okay, what should I get?” Winston had neglected his alchemy far too much.

“Right.” Lewis swept along the shelves and passed things to Winston. “Mortar and pestle, a couple magefire stones, retort stand, and crucible looks good. Get the rest later.”

“Okay.” Winston struggled to keep a hold of everything but managed it back up to the till without dropping anything.

He paid the old mage who precariously packed the items in a sturdy bag with plenty of crumbled newspaper in between everything to keep it all safe.

They left the shop and decided to get a coffee and some dinner together before heading back. They found a nice restaurant and went in to be seated. They were attended by a young waitress who got flustered and blustered by Brooke’s lack of smart clothing and highly exposed nipple bar piercings through what she did have on. She tried to refuse them a table but a feral growl from Brooke and a few Imperian Credits from Alexander defused the situation and got them a table outside in the rear seating area amongst lots of pretty flowers and well-kept trees. They ordered their drinks, studied the menu, and ordered food.

Alexander produced an old tin with a faded Imperian logo on it, which was filled with papers, filters, and fine Tropican tobacco. “Would anyone else like one?”

“Definitely,” Brooke said with a smile,

Winston thought about it and decided to give it a try. “Sure, yes please Alex.”

“Go on then, I won’t be left out!” Lewis added straight after.

With expert dexterity and years of experience Alexander had rolled four perfect cigarettes in the time it took most people to do one, and he sneakily lit them with a magical flame that came out of his thumb like a lighter. Brooke giggled a little bit too much, and Winston and Lewis looked at each other with an amused expression. They both knew that the two were probably going to end up in bed together. At first Winston had to fight the urge to cough, but the smoke had a smooth rich taste to it and it wasn’t long before he was enjoying every drag.

Their drinks arrived. Lewis and Winston had a nice big mug of coffee each and a plate with a bowl of sugar and a small metal pot of milk, while Alexander had a thin flute of expensive wine and Brooke had an ice cold beer out of the bottle. Winston went first adding, his milk and sugar to the hot black coffee before handing the rest over to Lewis. He put a small dollop of milk in and emptied the whole bowl of sugar into the mug. The three other stared at him speechless and he didn’t even register.

Brooke broke the silence. “Would you like some coffee with your sugar?” she joked.

“What?” Lewis seemed confused. He looked at his mug and then seemed to wake up. “Oh yeah, sorry, I just like sweet things!”

“You may end up having a heart attack at that rate,” Alexander added informatively,

Lewis took a big gulp of coffee and a drag on his cigarette. “If I get something I can’t fix with alchemy or a spell, I’ll just get one of you wonderful
full
Supernaturals to turn me,” he said uncaringly.

Once again, Winston was forced to agree with Lewis’ crazy logic. There was definitely something eccentric about him, but then everything was weird these days, and when he stopped to think about it all he was alarmed at how comfortable he was becoming with the strangeness of his new walk of life.

The food came shortly after. Like most Werewolves, Brooke had ordered more than one dish. She had a seafood platter, half a roast chicken, and well done steak and chips. Alexander had a modest pasta salad and Winston had a large cheeseburger that he had to cut in half to manage to get his teeth around, with a side of salad and curly fries. Lewis had a steak that was so rare and bloody it looked like it hadn’t touched the grill, and he gobbled it down quickly along with some cheese-smothered garlic bread.

They weren’t stretched for time so they got some dessert and another round of drinks. Brooke and Alexander had the same again and Winston and Lewis moved on to spirits mixed with soft drink. Alexander had an ice cream sundae, Brooke had a chocolate fudge cake, and Winston had a cookie dough cheesecake with vanilla ice cream and squirty cream. Winston could have easily mistaken Lewis for a Werewolf, as he had one of what everyone else was having plus a plate of syrup-covered waffles. He’d wolfed down all four before the others had even finished their single servings.

Once they had finished, their bill was brought over. It was horrendously expensive but nothing compared to what the group was worth; crime did pay. Winston offered to pay for the whole meal, and everyone thanked him graciously but it hardly registered on his account. He paid at the bar by card and gave a generous tip. The waitress didn’t seem so bothered about their visit after all.

They casually made their way back to the hotel. They parted ways with Alex and Brooke who went to the hotel bar together, and Winston and Lewis made their way to their rooms on the top floor.

“What room are you in?” Winston asked when they were in the elevator.

“Luxury room number thirteen,” he smiled. “Unlucky, huh?”

“I’m in lucky seven. What are the odds?” Winston joked.

Winston got back to his room, unpacked his new clothes, and put away his new alchemy gear. For the rest of the day he caught up on some much needed studying from his book. He browsed a few spells but really focused on the herb lore and potion making. He checked out the book Gregory had given him too, as it had some interesting variations and combinations that he certainly wouldn’t have thought of. He decided that his target goal would be to successfully turn his Nightmare Nettle into some Dreamleaf in the next few days.

He felt like he was at the limit for his academics for one day so he had a nice relaxing bath and lounged around for the rest of the day. He set up the computer and watched a lot of television, then got changed into a suit after the clock turned eleven. He made sure he looked as smart as possible, slicked his hair to the side, and made his way down to the underground garage.

Everyone who was attending from the Shadow Circle was assembled around a variety of vehicles. There were sports cars, jeeps, bikes, and an armoured van similar to the one from the Woodsholme trip but much bigger.

Veronica was leaning against a sleek red sports car. Her hair was tied back neatly and she was wearing a smart suit and dress that wasn’t revealing for a change, but it still gave her the overall look of a very sexy secretary. “Fancy a ride sweetie?” she asked as cheekily as ever.

“Of course,” he replied as he embraced her tightly and gave her a long passionate kiss.

Lewis entered the garage and watched the scene. “Unbelievable!” he said with an envious tone.

Winston shrugged nonchalantly. “What can I say? I guess I’m just a lucky man.”

“A
very
lucky man,” Veronica corrected jokingly.

“Anyway,” Lewis said, “I’m going to head back to the Gloom for a bit to make sure they’re all set for tomorrow. Just wanted to come and wish you luck for your trip to the old people’s home. Oh, and make sure you pick up some top notch gear from the Shadow Market.”

Veronica smiled naughtily. “Don’t you worry, blondie, I’ll make sure he does.”

Lucius stood on the bonnet of his priceless black sports car (it didn’t move an inch under his feet so it must have been pretty well armoured) and addressed everyone in the garage. “We’re entering the Catacombs through the Capital Library so we won’t be travelling far, but nonetheless be on the lookout for any trouble, Triumvir or Inquisition related. We’re under the magnifying glass so to speak, so I want best behaviour at all times. We’ll have our time but tonight isn’t it, so only react violently as a last resort! Now let’s move out!”

With that, everyone got into their respective vehicles. Alexander, Brooke, and Xavier rode in the van with a few high ranking gang members. Lynette was with Kavarne on his bike, and Veronica and Winston cruised along comfortably in her crimson car. The other vehicles contained Lucius’ retinue of protectors.

It only took them a few minutes to reach the Capital Library’s large and dimly lit car park; it must have been a strange sight to see so many flashy cars parking up in one place, especially a library.

The Capital Library was said to be the largest in the world, and it was rumoured to contain at least one copy of every book that had been published in recent years, plus many tomes from the olden times. It was a long white rectangular building and contained several floors, and the outside had impressive columns and statues of Imperian heroes of old built into recesses in the stone work. There was a magnificent glass dome on the roof that showed that all the lights were still on inside.

The building was run twenty-four hours a day by an order known as the Archivists. They technically still came under the rule of the Trinity of Old but in the past few years they had started to take the gang’s bad example and branched out more into the human world. Their order had been formed long before the Trinity, and existed only to record and share knowledge. The purchasing of libraries, book shops, and publishing factories had been their most extrovert move to date, and even though they still viewed themselves on side with the Trinity they had gone against their requests and began publishing up-to-date books on all facets of the Supernatural world. They only sold them to fellow Supernaturals so they couldn’t see any harm in it. If a normal human did see one of the books they would most likely think of it as a work of fiction, and the Archivists saw it as their duty to their fellow Supernaturals to share their knowledge.

The Shadow Circle gang walked up the big stone steps towards the building’s wood and glass double doors. Two members of the Archivists, a male Werewolf and Vampire, were waiting directly inside the lobby. They were wearing light blue shirts tucked into dark grey trousers with smart shiny black shoes, and their hair was slicked to the side similar to Winston’s style, but theirs was practically glued to their heads. These were the least glamorous Supernaturals he’d ever seen. They even had white name tags stuck to their shirt pockets.

“Good evening and welcome to the Capital Library,” the Werewolf with ‘Ralph’ written on his name tag said politely.