Is It Magic - Chapter Three

 

 

“What was that, wizard? What did you throw at me?”

Suddenly the mass that made up the Walker began to shake, the black ooze splattering all over the place, hissing and steaming as it landed. “Oh, crap. I need to get out of here,” Relath whispered.

The door crashed open and Khat roared in. “Relath? You fucker!”

“Shit.” Relath made a dash toward the shaking Walker, darting under one tentacle and leaping over another. How he missed the one that flailed toward him as he jumped he had no idea, but he was thankfully, in the next moment, pushing back on Khat, forcing him backward out the door. “Run! We have to get out of here!”

“Wizard!”

With a quick look at the blob in the middle of his slowly disintegrating office, Khat’s gaze went right back to Relath. “Damn it, Relath! Don’t you ever do that to me again, you hear me? You understand? I will kill you myself!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it. You’re pissed. We’ll discuss it later. For now, run.”

“We will not discuss it! You will not put a fucking spell on me.” Bang! The walls shook and Khat swung around to look back toward the Walker. “What the hell?”

Relath grabbed Khat’s arm and pulled hard. “That’s what I’m talking about, idiot. Run! That Walker is going to explode!”

“Explode… No! My office!”

“Khat!” Relath raised his hands to put another flying spell on him, realizing it wouldn’t work anyway because his hands were now dry. But Khat slammed into him.

“Not again, Relath. Not fucking again! You promise me.” The voice would have been seductive if it hadn’t been for the growing smell billowing out of the door they just came through.

“Khat!” Relath shook his head. “Fine. I promise. Now let’s get the hell out of here!”

Khat took one look back, grabbed Relath’s hand and ran. Fast. Relath lost his balance twice and suddenly he was being lifted up by the big man and swung over his shoulder.

“Khat, put me down!”

“You’re too slow.”

The compression wave hit them right before the deafening sound of the explosion. It rolled them over several times and once he stopped, Relath tried to sit up, tried to rise to his feet and look for Khat. But he was disorientated, things were spinning and he fell back onto his stomach. Crap. He must have hit his head.

“Khat!” he croaked out. He knew the name left his mouth, but he couldn’t hear it. His ears were too full of white noise. He said it again, fear striking his heart. Where was Khat? He tried to turn, to see if the sheriff had somehow rolled passed him, but his body would not listen. He managed to turn over to his back and now was looking up at fast moving smoke. Damn. The Walker really blew. Started the fucking town on fire. One good thing, the fire was killing the smell.

He lay, unable to move, watching the smoke billow by as darkness fell. He hurt absolutely everywhere.

Then a most glorious sight filled his field of vision. Khat! He was okay. Thank the gods. Khat reached down and pulled Relath up and over his shoulder, effortlessly lifting him, and they were moving again. Things were still spinning for Relath and the jarring up and down while Khat ran was not helping. As hard as he tried, he could not stay conscious.

*          *          *

“Relath?”

That was his name. He heard it, but it was coming from far off and sounded muffled, as if it was coming from under water. No. That wasn’t quite it. It sounded like he was under water. But his eyes would not open so he couldn’t tell. Then he drifted away again.

“Relath!”

Damn it! Trying to fucking sleep here! Leave me alone. Leave…wait. He wasn’t trying to sleep. He was trying…trying to what? Kick someone’s ass. Something’s ass. An Angel Walker! Relath snapped his eyes open. “Khat!”

“Right here, I’m right here. Quiet.”

Relath could feel the gravel under his back, the roar in his ears still filling him, but it wasn’t as intense. His head throbbed. Khat was looming over him. “Where…where are we?”

“Remember where you were that first night?” Khat pointed over to a trash bin even as he was opening Relath’s shirt. “I found you right there.”

“Why are we whispering…and why are you undressing me?”

“Checking for wounds. There’s blood. I think it’s blood. Maybe not. Anyway, the royal army thundered into town shortly after we got out of the building. I dragged you in here out of sight just so I could watch and see what they were going to do. They joined in the effort to stop the fire. It’s certainly going to be interesting to see how they react to that Angel Walker, huh? But it’s probably still wise to stay here for the moment.”

“Um…Khat?”

Khat stiffened next to Relath. “What? Don’t tell me bad news, Relath.”

“Well, you see…that Angel Walker… Well, it…it won’t be there. They won’t see it.”

Khat sighed and, after ending his search for a nonexistent wound, he looked up at Relath. “Are you kidding? It’s all over the fucking place. I think that’s what’s on your shirt. Burnt saliva. That smelly-ass creature has got to be covering the entire inside of my office. How the hell is that going to be explained?” He watched Relath for a moment. “Ahhh fuck. Really? Why? I honestly don’t want to know, but why won’t they see it?”

“The Angel Walkers are simply energy…kind of. It’s hard to explain. They have mass and weigh a ton, too. However, they’re mainly organized energy. That’s why they have to feed all the time. They are a mindless consumer, greedy and needy. As soon as the Walker…died, its energy…dissipated, into the air. There won’t be anything left of it. There’ll be a little stench probably, but the soldiers won’t question that. Look.” Relath held up his shirt and the black smear was disappearing, leaving a gaping hole in the cloth. “Um…thanks for getting this off me, though.” He scratched his chest where the skin was slightly red from the ooze. “Damn stuff itches.”

Khat stood. “So we’re back to square one. We’re in trouble.”

“Yeah… Well, I am. You can walk free of this if you simply turn me in to them. I’ll make sure to tell them you tracked me down and captured me. You could even carry me out there. Hell, I can’t walk right now anyway. Fuck, what a headache.”

“Are you an idiot? I’m not going to do that!”

“Wait, wait, I’m fine going with them. I was going to go with them anyway because… Look, you don’t have to worry. I can escape them. I’m a wizard. Remember?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Khat, you can get away with this. Your lover…friend won’t be able to explain you bringing me to them either so he’ll have to shut up, too. Believe me, this is the way to do this. Now come on.” Relath sat up with a groan. “I’m not kidding about you carrying me either. Come on, big boy. Help me up.” He reached up to Khat.

Khat slapped his hand away. “Do you ever stop? First you cast your damn spells on me without my permission, treating me like some errant child, and now you’re telling me to betray you for my own sake? What kind of man do you think I am? Quit being an asshole.”

“I’m not being an asshole. I’m trying to save your life. You have one of those here and if you don’t do this, it’s over. Understand that.”

Khat squatted down to be back at Relath’s level. “I do. I do understand. And maybe this…life you think I have isn’t worth much. Ever consider that? You…you turned everything upside down for me.”

“Khat, wizards and dragons and probably a whole lot more I don’t even know about, exist. That’s not my fault.”

Khat sighed. “I know that. I mean…never mind. Listen to me. Maybe I…I don’t know… Maybe I want something different.”

“Different? How different?” Could he hope?

Khat looked into Relath’s eyes. “Very.”

“Okay.” Relath said slowly. “You mean like an exciting, glamorous life on the run? Because that may be your only remaining choice.” Relath’s heart started to thrum. Adrenaline like he had never felt before filled his body.

Khat smirked. “Maybe.”

Holy fucking shit! “Maybe a glamorous life on the run with a certain handsome skilled wizard who likes to break chillshade spells and blows up Angel Walkers?”

Khat narrowed his eyes. “Well…may have to think about some aspects of this.”

“Oh. Right.” Relath’s heart did a little hiccup that almost hurt. When would he learn where he was supposed to fucking stop? “So, hurry up and think about it.”

“Okay. I thought about it. Yeah. That’s what I want.”

Relath’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Yeah. If it’s with you, then okay.”

“I was kidding about the glamour part.”

Khat chuckled. “I know.”

“Might have been kidding a little about the skilled part, too.”

Khat outright laughed. “Yeah, I get it. Still okay with it.”

“Really? Okay?”

Khat leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips, then on the top of his head. “If I don’t leave with you, I won’t ever see you again, right?”

Relath couldn’t trust himself to answer.

“I don’t want that, to never see you again. You brought… I don’t know, something here.” Khat put his hand on his chest. “If you leave, you take that with you.”

“But…not a half hour ago you were basically telling me to get the fuck out. What changed?”

“I…” Khat stood back up and turned away. “I thought… When I saw you lying there so still… I thought I could live without you if you were safe.” He turned back to Relath and reached down to help him to his feet. With an arm around his waist and a big hand under his chin, he kissed him. Hard. Relath felt wetness on his cheeks. Tears? Probably. The only question was whether they were Khat’s tears or his own. But it didn’t matter. Not in the least. Khat pulled back out of the kiss and whispered. “But thinking you were gone, I suddenly saw my life truly without you and it scared the hell out of me. I realized I not only wanted, I needed you in my life. I need your irritating, self-absorbed, sexy ass wiggling for only me.” He grabbed one of Relath’s firm globes and squeezed.

“That supposed to be a compliment?”

“Mmmmm.”

Relath pulled the big man down and kissed him again. “Yeah. Could get used to that. But…”

Khat closed his eyes. “What now, Relath? If you have more bad news…”

“Hang on. It’s just that we need to do something about that group of king’s men who are hell-bent on seeing at least one of us trussed up and headed for the gallows.”

“Oh. Yeah, forgot about those guys.” He kissed the end of Relath’s nose. “So why don’t you wave those hands of yours and they suddenly think they found our bodies in the rubble?”

Relath laughed. “Listen to you! You are now an expert on all things magic?”

Khat turned yet another shade of adorable red. “No! I just thought…”

“Well, as awesome as that would be to be able to do, I can’t. However…”

“What?”

Relath pulled out of Khat’s arms, flattened himself against the alley wall and looked out at the soldiers, glowing in the light of the fire, still running, carrying buckets of water along with a few of the townsfolk, trying in vain to save the crumbling building. He heard Khat groan standing next to him.

“It took months to build that office. Now it’s gone. Just like that.”

“Fire is definitely cleansing, but it wasn’t just the fire that did that.”

Khat grunted. “So what are we going to do? We can’t exactly trot out there and start helping.”

“No. We obviously can’t do that, but… Not sure I can do it from here. Might need to get a little closer.”

“No! Relath, the only direction we will go is away from them, not toward them. What are you thinking?”

He took out his last bottle of elixir. “I can weave a pattern of beings into the water, something scary. Maybe that would be all it takes. They just might run like hell.”

“Maybe? Might? No, we need better odds than that.” He hazarded a look out.

“Well, you can contribute here, too, you know. I fucking hit my head and I’m the only one coming up with ideas on how to save your ass.” He looked behind Khat, cupped him firmly, and smiled. “Absolutely worth saving, too, I might add.” He smiled up at Khat and winked. “Ahhhh. You blush so pretty.”

Khat pushed a giggling Relath back. “Knock it off.”

“What. The. Hell?”

Both Khat and Relath startled and turned to see tall, skinny, very white Almar standing in the alley with them.

“Almar!” Khat stepped closer and in front of Relath.

Red fury rose up on Almar’s face. “You bastard! You already replaced me with…with this?” He waved a hand at Relath. “You know he’s a wizard, don’t you? Or, at least, he pretends to be! Those soldiers out there have come for him. And if you don’t want to find yourself shackled and heading for a hanging as well, you better step away from him right now!”

“Leave him alone, Almar. It’s over between us.”

“No! I won’t accept that! Come to my side right now, Khat. If you do I will forget this little indiscretion of yours. But understand this. That wizard will hang!”

“No. He won’t. And you and I are through. Just walk away, Almar. Leave us be.”

“Captain! Captain Harcourt!” Almar began to yell.

“Fuck, Almar! You asshole!” Khat pulled Relath from behind him and pushed him down the alley away from the chaos of the fire and the soldiers who were most likely now on the way to see what Almar was shouting about. “Move, Relath. We need to get out of here.”

“Khat!” Almar called to their retreating backs. “I’ll give you one more chance! When the soldiers capture you both, I will give you one more chance!”

“Blow yourself, Almar!”

“Khat!”

They took off out of the other side of the alley just as Relath heard shouts go up from the legion of soldiers as they entered the alley and evidently spotted them. Soon they were in hot pursuit. Relath could run, but he was amazed at Khat’s speed, especially with the man’s height and weight.

“Come on!” he shouted at Relath, who was slowly losing ground.

“It’s no good, Khat. There’s too many of them! They’re going to be able to cut us off.” Relath had no worries for himself. His concern was for Khat. He was now an accomplice with no hope of redeeming himself. A fugitive, just like Relath. But unlike Relath, he was vulnerable. “Right here, Khat. Let’s get in here.” They were running by a deep, dark alcove, and even though it would be a death trap if they were caught in it, the possibility they could get inside the building it was attached to was too high to pass up. Relath ran into the dark hallway and slammed right into the door at the end. Khat stopped just in time before smashing into Relath.

“Ouch!” Relath rubbed his shoulder for a moment where he had hit the hardest, then began to feel around for some sort of lever to pull the door open. “Found it!” But when he turned the handle and pulled, nothing happened. “Damn it! It’s locked. Or stuck.”

“Here, let me try.” Khat elbowed Relath out of the way. “Relath, you idiot. The door isn’t locked. You need to push, not pull.” The door swung in and they both clamored over the threshold.

“You always pull doors open. This door is backward.” Relath pouted.

“I guess that depends on which side you’re on. Point is, we’re in. Now what?”

“Not really sure. Where are we?”

“Mmmm.” Khat looked around in the near total darkness. “I think this is the back of the feed store.”

“Where is that in proximity to the river?”

“The river? It’s just down a bank…um…that way.” He pointed to the left.

“Great. Lead the way.”

They made their way through the dark store and out the front door. From there Khat led them into a wooded area and down a steep bank. They could hear the soldiers shouting in the distance and coming closer. Finally they stood on the bank of a noisy, fast moving river.

“Wonderful. This will work. I think. It’s our best shot anyway.” Relath bent down to dip both hands in the water. “Shit. That’s cold.”

“What’s our best shot?”

“Crossing the river.”

“Are you insane? The bridge is on the other side of town. We can’t get across here.”

“Why not?”

“Why not? Because it’s a river. It’s wide and deep, and you see how fast it is. And unless you’re an excellent swimmer…even then. We can’t cross here.”

“Well, I wasn’t thinking about swimming.”

“What? Wait a minute. No. Absolutely not. You promised, Relath. You fucking promised.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m asking. Otherwise I wouldn’t.”

“Why do we have to cross the river? What good is that going to do?”

“It’ll buy us time. Like you said, the bridge is on the other side of town. The soldiers will have to use that to chase us.”

“Damn it, I wish that jerk hadn’t… Fuck, that asshole Almar!”

“Well, I wouldn’t. He’s your lover.”

“For the last time, Relath, he’s not my lover!”

“Okay, okay. I get it. Now let me get us across this before we are both caught. Because if they come charging over that bank, I won’t give you any more choices.”

“Choices? What choices are you giving me right now?”

Relath thought for a moment, then tipped his head to the side. “Good point. None.” He raised his wet hands and waved them, whispering a chant. Khat rose quickly in the air and darted out over the water.

“Relath! Damn it, Relath! You need to warn me.”

“No time, and keep it down. They still have arrows even if they can’t chase us. So shut the hell up.” Relath pulled his arms in and chanted the same spell, and soon he joined Khat over the water. Then they both sailed together to the other side, Khat muttering obscenities the entire way.

When Relath set them down on the other side, an arrow whooshed past Khat’s nose and slammed into a tree beside him. “Run, Relath!”

They both threw themselves into the thick undergrowth, running as fast as the brambles and clingy vines would allow, paying no attention to the noise they made. Arrows followed them but not far. It would be at least ten minutes before the soldiers were thundering across the bridge to this side. It didn’t give them a lot of time, but Relath hoped it would give them enough.