Blue Words - Part I Page 24

cracked across Gudrik’s stoney face. George’s eyebrows dropped, the corner of her mouth curled into a sneer and she slammed her forehead into his nose. Gudrik’s head flew back and smacked against the wooden railing.

  “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I HAVE BEEN!” George screamed. Gudrik casually shook the fuzz away and wiped the trickle of blood from his nose.

  A giggle rose from the group and after a moment Gudrik joined in. He filled the group in on the laboratory, the soldiers and the attackers. It took some coaxing from Kahn to get all of the details, but eventually Gudrik shared everything. “I am not certain if you can take any meaning from these or not. I cannot read it. It’s strange, the blood in those vials seems protected from me or something.”

  Kahn took the specimen rack from him. “They’re crystal. We aren’t sure why, but it seems to mess with our abilities.....and yours too it seems.” He began to turn one of the samples, examining the labels from every angle before passing it on to Dorian. “If nothing else Gudrik, it tells us that they are experimenting with your blood. I have no idea what he is up to, but frankly whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

  “I don’t know what you guys are getting all freaked out about,” interrupted George, “It’s magic, it’s not like he is going to get anywhere.” Kahn turned to her, his brow laden with concern.

  “You have to realise George that there is not really any separation. What we do, what Gudrik does, there is some explanation for it. It is science; we just don’t understand it yet.”

  Gudrik leant his voice, “I have glimpsed the incredible advances made by man since my time, things we would have considered magic. Do know that a man has walked on the moon?” he asked glancing at Kahn for support in case they didn’t believe such an outlandish claim. George looked confused, missing his connection. “I fear that in this age Kyran may actually have the tools needed to unlock our craft.”

  “Okay fine, but why? He hates what you are, why copy it?” The Inscribed and the Warlock all shared blank looks.

  “Look, he’s a whole other level of bat shit crazy, let’s not get caught up trying to understand why,” snarled Malaki.

  The room fell under a mist of silent contemplation as all parties grappled with the gravity of the situation. Until now the Inscribed had only ever conducted discreet, surgical attacks on Kyran, ensuring their struggle remained from public view. They lived in a secret world, a world of shadows, a world which only the Inscribed and Kyran’s forces were privy to. The direction they were moving would change the face of their war for good. With the authorities and Gudrik involved this would become a much more public battle. It could be the end of the war, but at the very least it would be a major escalation which would certainly expose their existence to the world.

  “Hey look at this label,” Malaki said suddenly, flicking one of the vials to Teefa. “It’s got a long number on it.”

  “Yeah so?” Dorian replied, shrugging his shoulders and flicking his fringe.

  “Look at the letters which start it off.”

  “R-S-C?” Teefa read out.

  “Recognise those initials?”

  “Raven Skull Creek,” Kahn interjected, his eyes igniting as he said it. It went right over Gudrik’s head, which must have shown, because Malaki explained.

  “It’s one of the Drake mining leases, one we have had our suspicions about for some time. The parasite holds lots of mining leases around the world which have facilities on them. Most are completely above board, just regular mining operations. But a couple have raised all sorts of flags for us. Raven’s Skull Creek is one of them.”

  “It could be just a coincidence,” said Neasa.

  “RSC could stand for Random Sample Collection, or Ravenswood Surf Club,” added Teefa sarcastically.

  “It’s a long shot, but it’s all we really have to go on. It would be asking for trouble going after the city facility again,” said Dorian glancing at his father.

  “Yeah, a dead soldier would have the military on high alert,” agreed Teefa.

  “Plus it sounds like Gudrik killed the Spear. That would have pissed Kyran right off. She only took over from the Spear with the eye patch a few months ago, plus another one died in that chopper crash a couple of years back. No potentials yet I’m guessing. He may have ended the blood line,” suggested Brood.

  “Shame, I would have loved to see the look on that bitch’s face as she died,” Teefa said looking into space, as if imagining it.

  “She was kind of hot,” smirked Brood. Teefa looked at him, disgusted. “In a vicious ice-bitch kind of way.” He gave her a wink.

  “You will have to explain the significance of this woman during the journey tomorrow,” grumbled Gudrik.

  “Where are we going?” asked Dorian.

  “Tomorrow, we will look at this Raven Skull Creek site from a distance, weigh our options. Kyran is many things, but foolish is not one of them. If this place is what you believe it to be, then it will be well defended. Do you have any more troops you can call on?”

  “Ami will break her cover, she is already in that facility,” replied Kahn. Malaki gave him a disapproving glare.

  “I’ve heard Half Man and his pack are in the country at the moment,” muttered Brood.

  “That’s just a bloody rumour,” snapped Malaki.

  “His men would be good to have at our side, and he holds no love for Kyran,” Brood added.

  “True, but we are on a limited time frame here and even if the rumour is true we still have to find him,” Kahn said squashing the idea.

  “What about Crave?” piped in Teefa.

  “For fuck’s sake, what about him?” grunted Malaki furiously.

  “He may be a drug addled nutter, but he is handy in a fight and despite everything, he is one of us,” she replied.

  “Do we even know where he is?” asked Kahn.

  In the silence of the verandah, they could almost hear Brood’s guilt. Kahn rolled his eyes.

  “Yeah I know where he is staying. A little beach town just north of Sydney. I was drinking with him the night Gudrik joined us.” There was a lot of sighing and head shaking amongst the group.

  “You go get him,” Kahn said to Brood. “Teefa go with him, make sure this doesn’t turn into a bender.” He thought for a second. “Neasa you go too, make sure Teefa doesn’t kill either of them on the trip home. We can check it out without you, but be fast, we’ll need you the following day.”

  “We’ll be here,” replied Neasa as they left.

  “Tomorrow night we will plan our campaign,” Gudrik said.

  At dawn Gudrik, Kahn, Dorian and Malaki loaded into the black sedan which had sparked the new chapter of their saga. The back seats were still stained with patches of dry blood soaked into the fabric. They began the four and a half hour journey inland to the Raven’s Skull Creek mine. George and Paw waved them off in the fledgling rays of the new day’s sun, Pup stood loyally at their side. Tabitha was still asleep. Ironically this was the first sunrise she had missed in weeks. “Probably best,” thought George. She would not be happy about her Googy going.

  “We are meeting Ami out there,” said Dorian, shattering the silence born of nerves and weariness.

  “Huh!” protested Malaki abruptly. “You put far too much trust in her. She was in his service then, and she is now.”

  “Malaki!” growled Kahn, pulling rank. “Put it aside. We do not speak of other Inscribed in such a way. She passed the trials just as we all did and has proven herself on numerous occasions.”

  “He needs to put his feelings for her aside,” replied Malaki, directing his remark at Dorian. Dorian gave him the finger in reply and lit a cigarette.

  “This familiar was in Kyran’s service?” Gudrik asked, siding with Malaki.

  “Yes one of his paladins, the Sword. But she has been with us for over six hundred years now. In recent years she has infiltrated the Raven’s Skull Creek facility as an employee,” Dorian replied, defending Ami.

  “Easily
done when you are friends with the frigging boss,” mumbled Malaki under his breath.

  “Along with his legion of greys, Kyran also has five elite paladins, which rank just below their Forsaken Guardian, as they call Kyran,” said Kahn ignoring Malaki’s snipe and changing the focus of conversation. “The Hammer, the Spear, the Dagger, the Arrow and the Sword. He trusts them more than any other person on the planet. Yet he has never trusted them enough to share the blood. Instead he has systematically bred descendants of his original five with partners of his choosing to produce his next generation of paladins. Each paladin sires a nest of three potentials. Male or female is no issue; any of the bloodline capable of defeating the current paladin in single combat is promoted.”

  “The children are raised and trained in a convent referred to as The Forge,” added Dorian.

  “The Spear didn’t put up much of a fight,” scoffed Gudrik.

  “The paladins of today are not as tough or as the ones of old, that is true, but do not underestimate them Gudrik. You got lucky with the Spear, sounds like you caught her off guard,” counselled Kahn.

  “How much of a fight does that Sword of yours give you Dorian?” snapped Malaki.

  “Enough!” scolded Kahn. Both Malaki and Dorian muttered curses at each other, but the matter was left to rest.

  The costal scrubland quickly gave way to thick forest as the road wound north-west away from the ocean. They snaked up and over a lush green mountain range. Time rolled past and as the forest began to disappear it was