The Dark Magical World of Alamptria (11 page)

She unbuckled his seat belt. “Come on, my young lad. We’ll get you out of here.” She managed to get Caprius out of the car as he fell to the snowy ground. “Now how am I going to get you home?” She cut the seat belt strap from the car and tied it around his feet. Then she grabbed the strap, slung it over her shoulder, and pulled Caprius’s body along the snowy ground. She pulled him to a nearby cottage. She opened the door, untied the seat belt strap on Caprius’s feet, and lifted him up. She was a strong but attractive, beautiful, blond-haired woman. She slumped him onto the sofa, which was near a fireplace. She went back outside and grabbed Caprius’s sword. “He may need this,” she said. Walking back into the cottage, she went to the bathroom, took a cloth, and wet it with water. Then she stood by Caprius’s side and lay the folded cloth onto Caprius’s forehead. She looked down into his face. “What a beautiful man,” she muttered. She put her hand on his face. Caprius’s eyelids began to twinkle. As he opened his eyes, he found the woman staring down at him with a smile.

“Who are you? Where am I?” he asked.

“My name is Shelly Hathoway. You’re in my cottage,” she said.

“Where is your cottage?” he asked.

“You’re at Pinewood Hills,” she said.

Caprius sat up. “I have to leave, immediately.”

“You’re in no condition to walk. You’ve just been in an accident.”

“My sword. Where’s my sword?” he asked.

“It’s over there on the table.”

“I need to get to my vehicle.”

“Hate to tell you, but your car is a total wreck. It’s inoperable.”

“Oh great. The rental department isn’t going to like this,” he said. “Can you drive me to Hillcrest Hills?”

“Look, I can see you’re in a hurry. Why don’t you stay here for a while, and I’ll fix you something to eat.”

“You don’t understand. I’m an agent. I work for the Elysian Assault Force. I’m on a mission. I need to get to where I’m going. I have an air shuttle at Hillcrest Hills. I need to get to it right away. There’s a terror plot, and I have to stop it!”

“All right, I believe you. But you need to get some food in your stomach. Have a bite to eat, and I’ll drive you to Hillcrest.”

“Okay. I’ll stay a while.”

She cooked up a quick lunch for him. They sat and talked. Caprius was feeling better and enjoyed the conversation.

“I see you have a picture on the wall of your father with a dolphin,” said Caprius. “And I see the other picture on the wall. You have a twin sister.”

“My father died two years ago. It was cancer. He had been fighting it for nearly three years. The chemotherapy helped at first. But the cancer came back.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” said Caprius. “You have any other family?”

“My mother divorced my father when I was only twelve. I keep in touch with her. She usually calls me every week. She’s supposed to call today.” Suddenly the phone rang. “Oh, hold on. That’s her right now.” She got off her chair and walked over to the phone. She picked it up and began to talk. “Oh, hello. Yes, I know. The Goncool oppression must not succeed. How many dead? We can be thankful that the casualties are low. Have the team meet me at the Hillcrest Pub tomorrow at noon. Bye.” She hung up.

“That was my contact.”

“I didn’t know you’re fighting the Goncools. You’re an agent!” said Caprius, astonished.

“Yes. On a mission for the Hillcrest Secret Service,” she said. “How are you involved in this?”

“The Elysian government is directly involved. After the bombing in Jasper, the cities have been put on full alert.”

“Yes, it is the same here in Pinewood,” she said. “I think maybe we should pull our resources together.”

“It seems we’re fighting the same war. I have a lead. A man by the name of Rover Tilbury knows the whereabouts of the Goncool stronghold. I have to find out what he knows. I must fly to Hillcrest Hills.”

“That is important,” she said. “We can help each other out.”

“How good of a fighter are you?”

“I’m quite good. I received many awards in judo competitions. Five first-place finishes.” She paused. “I’ll leave the dishes alone. Let’s sit on the sofa for a bit, and then we’ll drive to Hillcrest.” They sat and talked. “But first I have to cancel my meeting tomorrow.”

“Your people will understand?” he asked.

“I’ll just tell them I’m involved with the prince of Elysium and that we’ve teamed up. Since you have a good lead, they will understand.”

“So you know who I am,” he said.

“There’s hardly anyone who hasn’t heard of Caprius Seaton in this part of the world, or in Alamptria for that matter.” One thing led to another, and Shelly Hathoway lay a kiss upon Caprius. They began to kiss passionately. Caprius found his lips on her neck. She closed her eyes and fantasized. Then Caprius let her go.

“No, I can’t. I’m engaged to be married,” he said.

She undid her jacket and shirt, exposing her breasts. She put his hand upon her breast. “Consider it your bachelor party.” Again she kissed him.

“No, Shelly. We have to go,” he said.

She got off the sofa, and Caprius looked at her beauty. “I just have to make that call.” She tried making the phone call, but there was nothing but static. She decided on another approach. She pushed a button underneath a nearby table. The table flipped horizontally 180 degrees. A communication and security defense-targeting machine had appeared. Then she pushed another button, and a bright white light appeared hovering above the table. She entered a series of digits and pushed another button. “Red boot to command. Red boot to command, do you copy?” Within seconds, a three-dimensional head of a man appeared. The image had a bit of a distortion, as there was some interference. She tried to enhance the signal. “Gambit, can you hear me?” she asked. She had given command a message, but only luck would allow the message to be received. “It’s no good. I don’t know if they received the message,” said Shelly.

“This communication disruption can only mean that the Goncools know our whereabouts,” said Caprius.

Suddenly a red light flickered on and off on the console. As Shelly looked at it, she quickly pushed another button, and a series of small monitors came up from the consol. She quickly turned on six switches, six switches for six monitors. “We’ve got company. They found us,” she said.

“Not the sort of company one would want,” said Caprius. She quickly pushed another button, and up popped the target defense system. From the small attic above them came a series of weapons. Vampires, Goncools, and Magulas were approaching. They looked at the monitors. With the enemy now in sight, Shelly had her hand on a hand controller and fired the machine gun. Immediately the gunner dispersed many bullets. As she held the controller, the gunner swivelled from one side to another, up and down, firing bullets. Vampires were struck, and they plummeted down to the ground. She saw a vampire that had landed on top of the roof. As the vampire walked the rooftop, Shelly waited. When the vampire was in position, she pushed a button, and from within the roof sprang a sharp, long knife, which came out at the vampire’s feet and ripped through its flesh, coming out of the vampire’s neck. Another blade emerged from the first, penetrating the side of the vampire’s head. The creature was dead. Shelly immediately pushed another button, and the blades retracted back below the roof. The vampire fell dead and rolled off the roof onto the ground. She quickly put her hand back on the joystick, firing the gunner. More and more vampires swarming the sky were struck and fell dead. Caprius looked at one of the monitors and noticed a creature approaching the side of the cottage. He looked just below the monitor to see a targeting unit and an orange button. As he continued to watch, he saw the targeting unit light up, and he pushed the orange button. From the side of the cottage, a large flame came out of a metal pipe, which engulfed the creature. The creature burned with rage.

“How did you know about that?” asked Shelly.

“It was the Elysian defense system that gave your agency this weapon. We developed it. I recognize a number of these weapons.” Caprius looked at the side of the cottage from another viewpoint on a monitor. He saw a creature approaching. “You just stay on the gunner, and I’ll take care of the rest,” he said. When the creature came into his sights Caprius pushed a button, and in a split second a razor-sharp cutting tool came from the side wall, spinning with great speed and cutting the creature’s head off. The head tumbled down to the floor along with the body. The vampires continued to fly in the sky, making their way down toward the cottage. Suddenly, the roof began to vibrate.

“Oh no,” said Shelly. “Game over. The Magulas will rip through this roof in minutes. We have to go! Grab your weapon, Caprius.” A creature now approached the door of the cottage. Shelly activated an explosive device and locked it. She quickly opened a door hidden on the floor. “Come on! We’ve got less than one minute before this whole field blows up sky-high.” Caprius and Shelly went below and closed the underground entrance. They ran through the underground tunnel. “My car will be toast in a few minutes. But I’ve got another one underground,” she said.

“I didn’t know there was a tunnel underground here,” said Caprius.

“It was built by the Hesians nine centuries ago. They used it to hide from the Alfadores.”

Back in the cottage, three Goncools walked about. They were dressed in grey trench coats. One Goncool came to the weapon controls. He gestured to the other two Goncools. The two Goncools came over. As they looked at the weapon console they noticed a numbering system counting down.
Four, three
…

“Oh shit,” said a Goncool. Suddenly there was a big blast, and the whole cottage was blown sky-high. The blast was enormous. Every Goncool, vampire, and Magula was destroyed.

Shelly Hathoway and Caprius drove in a car. They had just come out from underground through an entrance. The car was run-down and quite old. But it had good speed. Shelly stopped the car, turning it as she did so. She and Caprius looked out at the great mushroom cloud. “How did you come into possession of an atomic bomb?” asked Caprius.

“I found the bomb underground. It was from a past war. I said to myself I would use it only in a critical situation.”

“Well, this certainly was a state of emergency. I’m sorry you lost your home,” said Caprius. Shelly began to drive off.

She drove Caprius down the street, going down the sloped hill. Shelly looked over at him. She gave him a smile. Caprius smiled warmly back. She turned the corner and drove swiftly. She made several turns.

“Careful,” he said to her. “We don’t want to end up in a ditch.” She turned another corner. And now she drove straight ahead. “Park just ahead.”

Shelly hit the gas and began to speed. The car drove quickly. Caprius’s eyes widened. She hit the brakes and parked the car.

They got out of the car. Shelly took her two short swords, putting them into her sheaths swiftly. Caprius had his claymore of power. “Where about Hillcrest is your air shuttle?” Shelly asked.

“It’s just over that hill in a clearing,” he said. They began to walk in the deep snow. They walked for half an hour. Now they walked through the woods. “Now let me see. I think it’s this way.” He pointed. They walked downhill, passing the trees. The branches were blanketed with a light snowfall. As the branches crackled, the snow upon them fell to the ground. Now Caprius saw his shuttle in the distance. Walking, they now approached the air shuttle. Caprius pushed a few buttons on his right wristband. Steam blew out of the side of the ship, and the back door of the shuttle opened from the bottom. They walked in.

There wasn’t a lot of head room, as one had to crouch down a bit. It was a small ship from the inside. But the exterior of the ship made it seem wider. That’s because the exterior metal walls were equipped with all sorts of technological devices. And the exterior walls were quite thick and could take a very heavy collision. This was a four-seat shuttle. As they walked in, the lights all along the walls lit up. Each seat had a light above it giving a soft glow. Along the front of the shuttle’s interior, on the ceiling, were hundreds of red and blue light sensors that twinkled on and off vertically. They lit row by row from left to right, and as one row of light blinked off the next row blinked on. The lights blinking from left to right took half a second. Now they seated themselves and fastened their seat belts diagonally from below. “Put your helmet on,” he said to her.

Shelly slipped the helmet on. “It’s a little too big for me.”

“Push the large button on the right side above the ear,” said Caprius.

Immediately, a cushiony, foamlike material expanded, filling up the space on the sides of the helmet. At the ear there was a small, quarter-inch pinhole, which was a hearing aid. And now as they spoke the sound of their voices was heard in a mono sound, which was played at medium volume. One wouldn’t be able to hear one’s voice otherwise with the foam material. That’s why the hearing aid was installed. The helmet served as great protection in case of a crash landing.

“Shelly, push the blue button on your seat belt.” As Shelly pushed it, the strap that came from the top right of her shoulder to her bottom left side began to expand four inches from the center to two inches at the top and bottom of the strap, where it finished expanding. At a thickness of one inch the material hardened. It still provided good comfort. Caprius turned on the rearview monitor, which was in front of them in the center. He turned on the ignition by pushing an orange button, and the shuttle came to life. Then he pushed a white button, and the pistons blew out air. Caprius pulled down a lever on his right side, and the air shuttle strode on and upward. The shuttle now glided above the trees, flying low. They flew at an extremely low speed; the journey to their destination would take them only about six minutes. Caprius and Shelly looked out of the cockpit at their surroundings. Snow covered the trees. They were up on a hill, but the hills very much below them down the mountainside had little or no snow. They were now approaching a small home, which was situated on a small hill surrounded by a lake. You couldn’t park on land, as there was no place to touch down. “There it is,” said Caprius.