The Shadowed Manse (10 page)

He squinted and saw it just above the sign that said TRAINING ROOM. “I can’t reach —”

Morgan held out one of her black, knee-high Converse boots. “Hit it with this!”

“Are you kidding?” he asked as he stabbed at the shades closing in on him.

“Got a better plan?”

“You throw it,” he said, as he slashed low to prevent one that dove toward his legs from reaching him.

“I throw like a girl!”

“Lexi! I need help!”

On cue, Lexi bounded inside and barreled into the shades, knocking them down and back. As quickly as they recovered, they’d tear her apart if he didn’t do something fast. Arthur took Morgan’s boot, cocked his arm back, and hurled it as hard as he could toward the dark-heart. The boot flew true, struck the stone, and smacked it against the wall above the door. It shattered like a Christmas ornament, and a rain of shards clinked onto the floor.

A shade's hand turned to a wisp of smoke inches from his face, then the entire shade vanished — along with the rest of the shades in the Armory.

“Everyone in!” Lexi shouted.

Vassalus and Valet dove inside. A few shades struck the shimmering force field protecting the doorway and disappeared. The wraiths snarled just outside, glaring at them. Arthur slammed the door shut. Just because they couldn’t get in didn’t mean he wanted to see them.

Valet had a nasty wound that was oozing a stream of silver gray blood.

“Are you going to be okay?”

Valet nodded yes.

“Can you die?”

Valet shook his head yes … then no … and then did a funny motion spreading his hands out wide. Arthur wasn't sure what that meant, but he pretended to and didn’t ask any other questions.

“Are you all right, my dear?” Vassalus asked Morgan.

“Not a scratch — Arthur saved me.” She looked at Lexi. “You’re bleeding on your back.”

“It will heal in a few hours,” Lexi said. “Wait, how did I know that?”

Arthur rolled his eyes and sighed. “I don’t know how you know. But it’s a good thing you’re going to heal. That wraith spiked you a half-dozen times with his tail.”

Lexi whipped her head around and looked at her flank in surprise. “By the stars, you’re right.” She sat and began to lick the wounds she could reach.

A fog cloud appeared, and then condensed into the form of another servitor. Like Valet, he lacked facial features and was covered in what looked like bandages. But instead of a bowler, this one wore an old-fashioned army helmet. He also wore a flak jacket and gray-and-white camouflage pants. A broadsword was belted to his waist. He saw Arthur and immediately threw his hand up in a salute.

“Um … at ease,” Arthur said.

The servitor finished his salute and stood waiting.

“You’re Arms, right?” Morgan said.

The servitor nodded. He beckoned them forward.

Arthur stepped further into the armory.

Seven glass storage cases lined the left wall; six cases lined the right side. The last case on the right was twice as big as the others. That case and the one across from it were lit on the inside. All the others were dark. Arthur followed Arms down the hallway. Each case they passed contained a suit of armor and an array of weapons.

A plaque at the top of the last case on the right read: ARTHUR PRIMUS, MULTIVERSAL PALADIN #107.

The case across from it was labeled: MORGAN APPLE, COMPANION #1857.

Arthur looked inside his case and muttered, “Wow, oh wow, oh wow. Rayguns!”

The two rayguns hanging inside the case looked like they’d been taken straight out of an old black-and-white science fiction movie — the kind Grandpa Nelson used to make Arthur watch with him. The rayguns had black rubber handles, bulbous main bodies of a silver metal, sleek barrels with coiled wires weaving in and out, and an array on the end that looked like a miniature satellite dish.

“Looks like a blaster pistol from an old movie,” Morgan said, standing beside him, “only more funky. Bet it shoots out some sort of energy beam that can hurt the wraiths.”

“I hope so.”

Arms nodded vigorously and gave a thumbs-up. That was good news.

“My father’s sword … er … Bright-Cage … it’s not here, is it?”

Arms shook his head.

“Have any idea where it is?”

Arms shrugged his shoulders.

The rest of his case held a sheathed knife and a suit of armor. There was an empty hook, and Arthur guessed the sword probably hung from it.

“What’ve you got, Morgan?”

“Gloves … very fancy gloves.”

Arthur stepped over beside her. Morgan’s case had the same style of armor, a knife, a single raygun, and a pair of strange gloves. The gloves were made of thick, black leather but had raised ridges along the back, like there were coiling wires embedded into them. The gloves looked like a cross between the lightweight sparring gloves he used in karate and an electric blanket. They reached up about two inches past the wrist, and a single ruby button was positioned on the inside of each wrist.

Arms touched Arthur’s glass case, and the door swung open. Reverently, Arms took down the suit of armor, starting with the jacket, which seemed to be made of canvas with reinforced patches of hardened leather over the chest, stomach, and back. As he handed it over, Arthur slipped it on.

“Wow,” Arthur said. “It's not much heavier than a big winter coat!”

Next, Arms gave him leg armor, which was two separate pieces for each leg. The first one he tied around Arthur's upper leg, so that it protected his thigh. The second went on his lower leg, right above the boot to protect the shin. Both were made out of the same tough leather plates sewn onto the jacket. Next there were two forearm guards that fit over the thinner sleeves of the jacket. Finally, Arms set the helmet on Arthur's head. It was silver, made of steel, and very basic in design, like an old war helmet. Leather sections came down over his ears and the back of his neck, and a chinstrap held it in place.

Morgan snorted.

“What are you laughing about?”

“You look silly.”

“Hey! This might keep me alive. Besides, you won’t be laughing when you put one on.”

“I am
not
wearing that helmet. I’m not wearing any of this.”

“You can’t go around in just your uniform all the time.”

“Watch me.”

“At least wear the vest.”

“No.”

“The arm guards?”

“No.” Morgan put her hands on her hips. “And not the leg guards, either. I will
not
wear any of that. I am happy with the clothes I have on. I don’t want anything else touching my skin. These are the only clothes I wear.”

“You wear white leggings and a black leather jacket in winter.”

“Yes, and it took me forever to find ones I was comfortable in. That’s different.”

“You could try the armor on, you might —”

“No.”

“It’s a lost cause,” Lexi muttered. “Give it up — she’s a weird one.”

“Madam!” Vassalus snarled, baring teeth. “You watch what you say about Companion Morgan. Honestly, I would expect more decorum from the numen of the Multiversal Paladin.”

Lexi snarled. “You’d better watch it, doggy.”

“I suggest you watch your attitude, you … you fluffy, half-witted, catnip fiend.”

“Outrageous!” Lexi said. “You cannot get away with such slurs. Arthur?” She looked at him expectantly.

“Oh no,” Arthur replied. “Leave me out of this. I’m not getting involved in any disagreements between you two.”

“Leave me out of it, too,” Morgan said.

“I guess,” said Vassalus, “that you will have to fight your own battles, Madam Alexis.”

Lexi stuck her tongue out at Vassalus. “You can’t handle me darling. Why I could —”

A rapier blade swished down between them. Both paused and glanced up at Valet, who wagged a finger at them. The two numina shot a dirty look at one another, and then backed down.

Arms tied the belt with the pistol holsters around Arthur’s waist and put the pistols in place. Arthur touched the hilt of one pistol, but Arms shook his head no. Morgan tied her own holster belt on — she wouldn’t let Arms do it — and fingered the pistol. Arms gave her the gloves, and she slipped them on herself. She started to press the ruby buttons against one another, but Arms shook his head no.

He spun and pointed to the sign at the end of the hallway: TRAINING ROOM. They followed him to the door. Arthur reached for it, but Arms slammed his arm across it, barring the way. Then he arched his arms up and acted as if he were a mummy or a zombie in a bad horror movie.

“More shades?” Arthur asked.

Arms gave a thumbs up.

“Any wraiths?” Vassalus asked.

Arms gave a thumbs down.

“That’s a good thing,” Arthur said. “But there’s no glowing triskelion — what’s holding them back? Why didn’t they come through this door?”

Arms shrugged, then pointed at the rayguns.

“You want me to use them?”

Arms gave him the thumbs up.

Arthur drew a gun with each hand. There were no buttons, no controls, no way he could see to add ammo or recharge them — there was a trigger and nothing else. He’d never fired any sort of gun before — he couldn’t even recall having ever used a squirt gun before. Oh well, it was just going to have to be one more thing that he’d have to learn while on the job.

Morgan drew her pistol and stood beside him. Vassalus and Lexi stood between them, ready to charge in. Valet drew his sword and hung back. Arms turned the latch and threw the door open. 

Chapter Nine

Canned Monster

The interior of the Manse just didn’t make much sense, not even for a magical house that was bigger on the inside. The Training Room was easily the size of his school’s gym. The walls and floor of the room were padded, like the dojo where he took karate. Perhaps two dozen shades were huddled in the center of the room. They spun around and charged.

“I see two dark-hearts,” Morgan said, pointing them out.

Arthur aimed his pistol. “You try for the stones, and I’ll blast the shades.”

The two numina bunched their muscles, preparing to leap when the shades got close.

Arthur aimed at the mass of shades hurtling toward him and pulled the trigger of the gun in his right hand. With a psychedelic WHUM-WHUM-WHUM sound, rings of silvery energy pulsed out of the raygun and streaked across the room. By the time the first blast struck a shade square in the chest, the rings of energy had grown to the size of a melon. The shadow man staggered back as it disintegrated into nothing.

That had to be the coolest thing Arthur had ever seen. He grinned and pulled the triggers on both guns several times. Whenever he managed to hit one directly in the head or chest, they evaporated. A hit anywhere else hurt them badly, and slowed them down. He managed to kill two more and injure three.
Not bad for my first time!

Even though the rayguns didn’t kick and were light, Morgan was a terrible shot. Her blasts went too high or too far to the side to hit the gems. Arthur kept blasting, and by the time the shades were close enough for the two numina to pounce at them, he had killed seven and severely wounded four.

Before Lexi and Vassalus could reach the enemy, he decided to try something different. He held the triggers down. A continuous stream of energy burst out of the guns, blasting the shades, as he swept the pistols back and forth. The continuous blast didn’t destroy the shades; all it did was knock them backward. Using it like that apparently made the shots weaker.

The guns stopped firing. He let his fingers off the triggers, waited a moment, then pulled the triggers again … nothing. That wasn’t good.

The shades recovered just as Lexi and Vassalus plowed into them. The three that weren’t tangled up with them charged toward Arthur and Morgan.

Finally, Morgan shot one of the gems. It shattered, and four shades disappeared. Lexi and Vassalus charged the remainder and made quick work of them.

They stood, catching their breath.

“These pistols are awesome,” Arthur said. “Hope I didn’t use up all the energy doing that.”

“The rayguns are all right,” Morgan replied.

“You just don’t like them because you’re a bad shot.”

She holstered her gun and stalked into the room. “Shut up.”

Arthur grinned; he was so right.

Valet rushed in, tapped him on the arm, and pointed at the other dark-heart hanging in the air.

“But we killed all the shades,” Arthur said.

The gem flashed four times, and in the shadows across the room, four shades appeared. Crap!

As Morgan drew her gun, Arthur took a shot at the dark-heart. Both his guns worked again — that was a relief. He fired several shots before he hit the stone. It shattered, and the shades disappeared.