The Wielder: Sworn Vengeance (The Wielder Series) (32 page)

We all look at each other after hearing the very loud
call.

Arix summon
s up my worst fear with a few words, “The General calls.”

I looked over to Pffiferil for some confirmation and all I g
et is a shrug as he turns and heads for the door back into the bunker. 

General Znuul, that’s what Sheyliene always called him.  That’s who he was. One who sat at the right hand of the emperor of hell itself – sorry
the Helterzen realm. Powerful, unforgiving – the Destroyer of Hope and Devourer of Souls - an unmovable force that met the Queen of the Fae in battle on her home turf and lived to tell the tale after actually bringing harm to her and all around.

A beast of legend.  Now, my brother in revenge.  I remind myself that Maldgorath is himself somewhat a beast of legend
and just as old.  I remind myself that was then, this is now.  My hesitation overcome, I head back in with Arix, Vets and Hjuul in tow.

Znuul
and Karen have left the couch and are standing in the wide open area.  Sheyliene I don’t think has moved, though she did look over at me to give me a halfish smile. Znuul surveys us and cracks a half-smile himself.

“Sorry about the display earlier
, but it’s time to see if Arix’s spell can power that thing – you ready sorcerer?”

“Of course
,” is Arix’s deadpan response.

“Time to see if we can track our prey then.”

We all start to head back in to the garage, when the sound of a door flinging open and padding feet get our attention – it must be Sil and Kitten.  I turn to see it’s only Sil, now wearing Kitten’s house robe.

“What did I miss?” she asks looking at all of us with urgency. 

“Where’s Kitten?” asks Znuul.

“In her bed, happy
, tired – I asked her to stay.” Sil’s eyes turn to Karen, “She’s really nice, just kind of overly protective of him.”

Znuul sighs and looks at Karen. “Are you two
sleeping toge…?”

T
hat gets him a punch in the arm by Karen before he can finish.

He blanches at the punch, look
s at Karen with a furrowed brow, rubbing his arm like it really hurt. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes I did. I’ll only tell you once like I told Arthur.  Sil’s a friend and that’s all.”

They left it at that and we all file back into the garage.  Arix makes a bee-line to a small wooden box where he pulls out a tiny crystal, a brass looking apparatus, the communicator coin thing and a piece of chalk.  He sets the apparatus down, draws a circle around it with intricate glyphs on the floor and installs both the crystal and the communicator device.

“We are ready
,” says Arix standing from his work, “All that is required is my wielder’s permission to make contact.”

I have compelled Arixtumin to
never contact Maldgorath without my express wishes. This is for obvious reasons.  In fact, he’s not even allowed to speak if I allow a connection made.  I still don’t believe Arix to be trusted.

I look around and ask everyone if they’re ready.  I get aff
irmatives from everyone and a “But,” from Znuul.

“He cannot know I’m here. No one here is to let him know we are in league. It’s the last layer of his surprise.”
He looks around at us all. “Mouths shut – right?”

The group responds collectively with
, “yea’s” and “right’s.”

I look at Arix. “Dial him up.”

Arix touches the coin thing and calls out his name, “Lord Maldgorath, I beseech thee.”

Beseech… jeez.

We wait about a minute and tell him to do it again.  He does.

After a short pause, Maldgorath’s slimy voice
resonates from around the coin-like communicator device.

“Arthur? Is that you?  It must be, Arixtumin doesn’t appear to be allowed to speak to me.”

Well that confirms my fear that Maldy would be trying to get Arix to sell me out some way. I feel relieved I’ve prevented that from occurring.

“No sir
,” I say back loudly. “He’s not allowed to play. By the way, how’s that shoulder of yours – being almost split in two can hurt.”

I can almost feel his teeth grind. The impunity of a human ta
lking to him in such a way!

Kind of makes me smile.

“I heal rather rapidly from things like that Arthur, you know that. By the way, how is it you so effectively shield yourself from my scrying view?”

“Maybe he has a witch helping him you
horse’s arse,” Karen says coolly.

“Ah yes, Ms. Redditch, if
Ahtsag was here I’m sure he’d have some words for you, knowing him it would probably be about splitting open your loins with his erect rod.”

Karen’s eyes immediately look over a
t Znuul and she smiles. “So is Ahtsag your summonling or is he just that much of a piece of shit?”

“Oh, I’m afraid he’s just t
hat much of a piece of shit, Ms. Redditch. And would he happen upon you, I do think he would take many and glorious liberties with your flesh.  At least that is what he tells me.”

Karen is smiling. She knows he’s full of
crap.

“So where are you buddy?” I interject
, “Been so long. We should get together.”

“In time you impertinent worm. On my terms. On my timeline.”

I look over to Arix who is frantically gesturing over the apparatus.  Apparently a little more time is needed.

“Fair enough Maldy.” I know he hates that name, but I can’t help but bait him a little. “You’re going to make me have to come find you.  Hmm… let’s see.
How about the QuanJing Metal Foundry?  That sounds like a good starting point?”

That gets nothing but silence from the bastard. I’m thinking I touched a nerve.

“Surely you’re not there now? Hells bells Maldy, that’s like the worst kept secret ever. Talk about being in the most probable place.”

“Well I know where your fam
ily is,” is his come-back in an almost neener-neener fashion.

Shey start
s to buck up at that.  She even gets out a, “You!” out.  But Znuul was right behind her, large hand over her mouth and he restrains her.

“Was that my little Pixie I heard? I can hardly wait to get her back, she
was one of my better performers and certainly made me good coin. She was always so enthusiastic under fresh dominance."

He’s called out my family.  That was inevitable.  But no
w is no time to back down, no time to show fear.

“Yeps
, that was her.  Come on down, you can say hi to her and her little bow.  Oh, that’s right. I can’t see you actually paying my family a visit.  You’ll just send some of your summonlings.  You have no backbone. Come on to North Carolina, let me serve you up some true southern hospitality.”

T
hings get quiet again.  Then Arix looks up at me excitedly, giving a thumbs up.  We’ve done it he thinks.

“You’d like that?  In fact I bet that’s the whole purpose of this little talk – make me emotional, make me show up where you want me to?  You don’t have a clue where I am.  You’re guessing.
Ha! You don’t fool me so easily.”

Znuul is rolling his eyes and smirking while still maintaining his grasp on
a squirming and kicking Sheyliene.

“Fine then.  Where to meet? Surely you want round two as much as I do?”

“On my terms, human.  Oh, is my Silithes there?  Darling, you hurt me badly.”

“Only the beginning
,” she snaps back.

“Oh, shame. Here’s something to consider.  Bring Arthur to me and when I reap his spirit, I will gift you to someone of much lesser will – maybe even a mentally deficient – someone that
possibly even you can possibly dominate.  Imagine that – owning your own wielder.  Sweet, no?  Same offer for you Arixtumin.”

“Not happening dirt bag
- you killed my Jerry,” Sil spits back.

I make the signal to Arix to cut the communication and he does.

Standing now, he plucks the crystal from the brass holder and hands it to Pffiferil, who hops on the map walks over to the nexus of the device and installs the crystal in a holder. Then Pffif carefully leaves the table.

“
Do it Sorcerer,” orders Pffiferil.

Arix mutters some unintelligible phrases and draws a figure in the
air. “Reveal!” he proclaims. The crystal glows slightly and the pointer begins to move ending over an area in China.

“Well I’ll be
,” says Karen, Maldgorath is in China.

Znuul lets go of Sheyliene’s mouth. She turns around and I can only imagine the look she’s giving him. He’s not paying attention
to her though, instead he's looking at me, Karen, Arix and Pffif

“It works.  Job well done.”

“You expected less,” asks Arix.

“Hey
,” interjects Sil turning me by the arm. “You know that offer stuff is just crap to divide us, right?”

“Yea.”

“China here we come!” proclaims Sil to the group.

“No
,” says Znuul stopping the momentum of the moment.

But
I know why. We have one shot. We need to be where he will be, not where he was. I look at Znuul acknowledging his thought.

Sil looks confused as does Shey.
Vets is just at attention, like the good warrior she is - just waiting to be given an objective.

“The hunter
s must be patient,” Znuul’s voice reverberates through the garage. “We need to be able to predict his movements, not react to them.”

Sil looks at me, having caught on.  “Th
at probability thing you were babbling about.”

I shoot a wink at her.

“It wasn’t babble,” says Znuul in a lower tone. “It’s just common sense. We don’t want to be where our prey was.  We want to be where it is.”

Damn, apparently I think like an ages old demon.

The first thing we did was figure out shifts
to monitor Maldy’s position.  There are 10 of us. There are 24 hours.  That made things easy. Each of us has about a two and half hour shift. 

P
oor Arix though, he’s on call continually as we discovered that when Maldgorath moves inter-dimensionally, the tracking spell disengages.  So, anytime Maldy moves with his dragon, Arix has to re-do the tracking spell. Often, multiple times because he moves to other alternative dimensions and no connection could be made from ours.

I have the 2am to 4:30 am shift, relieved by Znuul.  We both figured its best
that we take the crappy shifts as we are the ones bound to revenge.  Karen has the shift before mine as she’s oath-bound too.

At least this isn’t like last time where we were locked into the bunker until Znuul’s doppelganger showed.  We are
free to leave, allowed to do whatever.  And we do.  We have become the scourge of local buffets.  You can’t imagine the damage Znuul, Vets and Sil can do. The words of the owner of the Peking Garden still ring in my ears… “You eat too much! Go home and do not come back here!”

We’ve been tracking
Maldgorath for almost two weeks now – this is good. Patterns are starting to develop in his movements. China, Egypt, Serbia, and good old Houston, Texas appear to be visited with some regularity.

Patterns have also developed amongst ourselves too.
– Silithes most of all.  The first is insisting on our playing a board game mid afternoon – it’s a “bonding thing.”  I actually kind of enjoy that.  Her other pattern is asking for a healing spell in the morning to satiate her non-food related hungers – it started every other day and quickly became a daily thing.

I have to admit I kind of like seeing her shiver when I cast the healing on her. I know she’s playing it up –
big time - but I also know I’m performing a service.  And keeping her from having to chew on someone else’s soul, or use that really expensive blue stuff.  The hugs and thank you’s aren’t bad either.  I can’t believe I’m enjoying hugs from my succubus…

Pffiferil’s developed a pattern
too.  He’s taken to joining me during my shift, figuring it’s a good time to play pass the flask or share whatever he comes in with from Znuul’s bar.  While I don’t generally play along, it’s been good spending time with him and hearing his opinions on everything from his observations of our host, our prey’s patterns, current sports and concern for our little Sheyliene.

“She ain’t right
,” were his exact words last night, followed by a “well, we all know she’s not right, but Ima meaning she’s more not right.  She’s all quiet.  She ain’t said nothing about you ana the wench playin’ games.”  He even admitted he tried to provoke some responses from her through his particular brand of jokery – to no avail.

And it’s true.  She’s been very, very quiet.  That is something she is normally not. The first week or so I took it as relief, because she has become rather, well
, like a spoiled, overly needy child. 

After Pffif’s observations, it made me think that maybe the quiet isn’t all good.

Tonight’s shift is a nice one.  Pffif and Sil join me: Pffif with flask, Sil in negligee.  I think she thought I might be alone, but you’d never know it. She just seems to roll with anything. But truth is I’ve never, ever been alone in the garage, because Hjuul is always by my side. Not the best conversationalist, but I know without a shadow of a doubt he’s looking out for me – and always willing to listen.

Pass the flask
is played with abandon – but without me. Pffif even coaxes Hjuul into taking a swig, which gets a shaking of the jowls and some whining.  Funny enough though, after all that, when offered again – Hjuul takes another – and another.  Sil is rather tipsy and falling into her old, less inhibited ways and that offers Pffif the opportunity to totally ride her about it.

Which of course, she g
ives less of a damn about.

All the same, good times.
Predictable.  And there is comfort in predictability.

My shift end
s and Znuul comes to relieve me. His face shows a smile of amusement.  Pffif and Sil are totally faced.  Hjuul is rolling around on the floor making “hrrmm” sounds, two shots turned to eight. 

“Well Arthur, I’m sure you’ve at least kept up with his movements as you appear to be the only sober creature here
,” is Znuul’s low smirking response.

“Still in Egypt
,” I reply.

“Aww, fun times come to an end
,” says Sil, somewhat faltering on her first attempt to stand, but righting herself and pushing on past Znuul, looking at him in that hungry way as she somewhat staggers by.

I know that succubus isn’t hungry either, I just fed her this morning.
  That should be good for almost two weeks at least.

Znuul looks over at Pffiferil sitting in a folding chair. 

“Ima not even tryin’ to walk out yet,” is the little man’s response which gets a resonant laugh from Znuul. 

“You’re going to have to
,” says Znuul.  “Private matters to discuss with your wielder.”

“
Acch!” says Pffif, who basically pours out of his seat. After a moment of stabilization, he gives me a salute, followed by one to Znuul and makes a precarious zig-zag walk to the door.

“I have come to like that little
Clurichaun quite a bit, despite him jabbing his fingers into my thigh in Tarim,” Znuul says to me, grabbing the lawn chair Pffif was sitting in and engulfing it in a creak when he sits down. “But what I want to talk to you about is your Pixie.  She... she… surprised me today.  And it hasn’t left me.”

O
kay. I have no idea what could have been so drastic that Znuul would take time to share his observations with me. For years, Shey has called him numerous names, questioned his character, and generally been just be less than nice to him. Given their history, I understand why. Totally.

Then he lays
it on me.

“She forgave me
. This very afternoon Arthur...”

I just look at him as confused as I am sure he is
, “She did what? “

“Forgave me.  Not as much for my sake she said as her own.  Something about
not being able heal herself holding onto old hates.”  His eyes were serious.  “She remembered what I said about us being brought together for a reason, she said that reason was for us both to heal – and that she couldn’t unless she let me and what I did go.  Then she told me to go find my own healing. Which is nicer than where she usually tells me to go.”

I sit there in silence locked on Znuul’s now human, red-brown eyes and ask the question that comes to mind. “Why is this an issue?”

His eyes turn away from me at that question. “It shouldn’t be.  I was acting in the manner I knew to at the time. It was war. There are no rules to war other than winner takes all.  Still, her forgiving me has… shook me somehow.  I can’t explain other than I wish to weep for the pain she experienced.  Logically, I have no responsibility. Yet, I feel... I feel responsible.” The look on his face is somewhere between confusion and disgust. “If I had consumed her then, rather than sold her, her pain would have ended.”

“I thought you have no regrets, Znuul.”

That remark gets me a smile that I can see is covering the very regret I brought up.

“She has pain or conflict
,” he says, shifting the focus from himself to her. “Something happened. Of what I have no idea. You may wish to find out what it is and see if you can help her.”

Znuul
is telling me my fairy needs help. Pffif is telling my fairy needs help.

Somebody
help me.