The Curse of Oberon (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 3) (12 page)

**Liz**

It was twilight by the time we reached the wretched cliffs.  Connor was not as good of a tour guide as he let on and we became lost a few times.  With the sun setting against the rocks of the cliff, I had a very bad feeling about proceeding forward.  “Witches are deadly even in the most opportune of times, but at night fall, I do not like this.”

My protest fell upon deaf ears.  Neither Kristie nor Connor seemed to be in the mood to stop for the night.  “I am sorry Elizabeth, but Anita has been a thorn in my side for ta long.  We proceed as planned.”

“I swear Connor, if you get us killed, I will haunt you for all eternity.”

He attempted to give me a smile that spoke of confidence, but it was false.  “If I get us killed, I will let ye.”

The two Reds moved to the front of the group.  Fergus seemed a little on edge around Bernard, but that served him right.  “If ye’d all be so kind as ta follow me, I’ll be doin’ my best to get us ta the witches safe.”

A path led down into the valley of the cliffs, one we were now walking on.  Something weird was in the air; almost a feeling of static electricity.  I concluded we were surrounded by dark magic that the O’Byrne clan had weaved.  Did that mean the Dullahan was already summoned?  In the back of my mind I kept reasoning with myself that Connor was wrong, that he was overreacting to the power that this clan and the head of it, Anita, had.

Light was fading fast.  “We need to pick up the pace.”  It came out a bit more panicked than I wanted it to.  “This is a very dangerous situation.”

“Lizzie is right.  We need to move faster.”  Kristie grabbed Fergus by the scruff.  “Throw caution to the wind and move flea bag!”

The wolf took her at her word and began to sprint.  Fergus could move fast, almost as fast as a millennia old vampire and for a wolf, that was saying something.  The trek further into the cliffs was fraught with dangers; the O’Byrnes were no fools and covered the trail to their inner sanctuary well.  Connor tripped over a wire at one point that triggered a rock slide.  Luckily no one was hurt, but it also trapped us in with only one way to go.

“Hell Connor!”  Kristie was livid.  “Would you watch what you are doing?”

He dusted himself off.  “I am most sorry for the inconvenience.  It seems those ahead of me didn’t feel it was important ta holler out there was a trigger right here.”

“Oh of course master, I forgot it was my job in life to make sure you get through everything in one piece.”  Kristie added quite a bit of sarcasm to that last word.  “Or here is a better idea, the head of Ireland can watch out for his own damn self!”

Her voice echoed into the canyon, not something that was good for our situation.  “Kristie keep quiet!  You will ruin our surprise.”

“Liz, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but our surprise is gone.”

On a swivel, my head went to Bernard.  I snapped, “What do you mean gone?”

He looked scared.  “I have no idea what that smell is, but something big and fast is moving this way.”

We all stood there, quiet.  The last bit of sunlight fell out of sight, casting the valley into darkness.  Then, an awful howl filled the air.  Connor and Kristie both blanched at this.  In unison, “The Dullahan.”

Our options were limited.  We could not go backwards due to the rock slide.  Going forward meant running into the beast and it had the advantage.  “If anyone has any ideas…”

Fergus pointed behind me.  “There, a cave in the wall.  It’ll be a challenge ta climb, but it’ll provide us with cover.”

We didn’t have much time, so one by one we began the ascent to the cave.  The wolves, using their claws beat us up and secured the area.  Kristie, myself, and Connor made it just in the nick of time.  We fell flat to the ground and hushed our sounds – the Dullahan had arrived.

Fergus peered over the top and motioned to us what I assumed with the physical dimensions of the creature.  Using his arms, it looked as if he thought it was eight feet tall and pretty broad.  From my current situation, I could not see, but with a bit of inching around, I got into a better position.

From the backside, pale energy surrounded an outline of a giant man.  He was dressed in armor of the days of old and carried a large broadsword in his right hand.  His body peaked at the wide shoulders due to the fact the creature had no head.  Even with that shortcoming, Fergus was right; it was about eight feet tall.

Then it turned around.  In the center of the silvery armor was a face unlike any other I have ever seen.  The very metal that surrounded it and composed it was alive.  One eye was blood red and the other was midnight black, each oozing a substance of the opposite color.  Two slits for a nose framed over a mouth that was dripping with Hellfire.  Globs of the magma-like liquid hit the ground around its feet, incinerating the earth.

Scorch marks covered the front side of the armor where the Hellfire had hit it.  The daemonic face carved into the armor kept twitching from side to side, never once staying still, except for the eyes.  Every so often the slits for its nose would send streams of hot air into the cold night.  The vapors it created clung to the cold creature, adding an even more frightening appearance.  This was a daemon like from the bowels of the Pit, something right out of a nightmare.

As for the body, it just stood there, motionless.  I had a funny feeling that it knew we were either here somewhere or had been just moments earlier.  It also seemed in no hurry to move.

Like a ghost in the night, black magic surrounded the creature and it vanished.  A gust of wind blew all the way up into the cave we were hunkered down in, strong enough to push each of us back a few feet.  The magic in the air was the most dangerous I had ever encountered.

“Shit!”  Fergus was not one to mince words.  “How the hell do we combat that thing?”

“I’m with this guy, my hair is still on end from the energy that monster produced.”

The two wolves were shaken, but it appeared the vampires were in no spot to offer comfort.  Kristie looked scared for the first time I can ever remember.  “Tales of that beast do it no justice.  There is no way we can fight it and win.”  Connor was behind her, nodding his agreement.

“Enough.”  All four of them looked at me.  “That thing is a barrier between me and my revenge.”  Bernard knew what I was talking about and his face turned red from shame.  “Jonathan killed the first man I truly loved in a very long time in cold blood.  That love fuels the hatred burning deep inside of me.”

“Vic was my brother and he’d be pissed that I was acting like a coward.  You’re right Liz.”  He winked at me.  “No headless ghost is going to stop us from making sure Vic’s killer ends up six feet under.”

With Bernard behind me, I started climbing down from the cave.  Above us, Connor yelled out.  “This be suicide Elizabeth!  Listen ta reason here, there has ta be a better way!”

Without even looking up, my renewed anger pushing out the fear, “Either grovel there in fear Connor, or tighten up your spine.  Tonight, whoever comes with me, we are going to kill a Dullahan.”

“Liz sounds like a very lucky girl to have had you in her life.”

The flames from our campfire provided a nice sense of warmth.  We were going to be moving out again in the morning, restarting our campaign against Pan and the Orcs, so Isa relented to letting my build a nice big fire.  Plus she let me roast the deer I killed, so it was nice to have some fresh meat.  While I ate, she used the hide to repair the mess my clothes were in and make them a little better to stand up to the cold nights on this place.

Talking about Liz brought up a bunch of feelings long forgotten from my time on this horrible spit of land.  “She was certainly one of a kind, a complete lady but one who wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty.  She was able to whoop ass in six inch heels.”

Isa looked up into the starry night sky.  “I would love to return to the civilized world and dress as a woman again.  Though I worry from my time stuck here that I would not fit in anymore.”

I’d only been stuck here for months; this poor girl had been here for many years.  “That’s nonsense, as a vampire I’m sure you got a lot of friends still around.  After all, your kind doesn’t die all that easily.”

She gave me an almost bark like laugh.  Hey, that was a werewolf thing!  “Vampires are fickle creatures.  Out of sight, out of mind, that’s our mantra.  If I came back today, no one would notice or care.”

Jeez, that was a bit pessimistic.  “I know a few vampires and even though they all have their quirks, they don’t seem too bad.”

“You know the New World vampires, ones that have bucked tradition and social protocols.  I can’t even tell you the scandal a vampire of Liz’s social status being with a werewolf would produce.”  Considering she just kissed me not that long ago, I don’t think Isa cared.  “But today the old taboos have seemingly gone away.  Maybe soon I will get to see this change firsthand.”

“We get rid of Pan and I think our path to freedom gets closer.”

She stoked the fire, sending embers into the night air.  There was something really familiar about her, yet somehow really different.  Unlike my isolation with the Sphinx, this was more at ease, natural.  I felt as if my feelings were betraying what I had with Liz, but maybe it was time to come to the realization that what we had was over.  The girl thought I was dead and probably had moved on.  Hell, I couldn’t blame her.  No one would want another they loved to sit around and mourn day and night.

I smiled over at her.  “So, are you going to tell me some of your story?  And I don’t mean how you got here.”

“You’ll never find out my true age, but my story begins a long time ago.  I was born into an aristocratic Roman family of vampires.”  That answered one question, born not made.  “I married another my family selected and for a time we were happy.  Then it all fell apart.”

“What happened?”

She was no longer looking at me, but reliving her past.  I could see the pain in her eyes.  “Choices were made by many people that ended up changing the course of history and my life.  I went into hiding, knowing that there was nothing I could do from that moment on, at least at that time.”

“So you decided to drift through life with no plan or person?”  That seemed like a very lonely existence.

“It was a lifestyle I was accustomed to living – hiding that is.”  It was so strange to see this self-confident warrior vampire appear so vulnerable.  “I was never able to be myself, even to the family I had.”

Trying to keep the pity out of my voice (because no one wants to be pitied), “How did you survive all those years like that?”

“You do what you have to.  A survivor adapts to the conditions and landscapes they find.”  Her face shored up.  “You learn to blend in and observe without ever being noticed.”

I got the feeling that was about all I was going to get.  I was still curious how she ended up in England and crossed paths with my public enemy number one, old Johnny boy.  Maybe a time and a day would bring that conversation to light, but I took another direction.  “Back when we first met, you all but laughed at me when I told you I was out here to kill Oberon.  How well do you know him?”

“I don’t know him, but I know of him.  He’s found a way to weave his way into most myths and legends.”

Marko, just out of sight, grunted at that too.  “What did he say?”

He made a few more noises to Isa, not speaking like he had before.  “Marko says he’s encountered Oberon once by mistake and that he recommends staying as far away as possible.  The Old One doesn’t leave his sanctuary for good reason – it is the source of his power.”

Of course it is.  “Does he have any helpful tips for a cowboy that’s too stupid and stubborn to give up his task?”

Marko understood my question.  “Pain.  Suffering.  Mind.”  He grunted and gestured a bit more, getting more across to her than me.

She nodded at the conclusion of his little dance routine.  “Oberon does more than just magic; he controls the very space and time of his dwelling.  When you enter, you give up all control over everything you have.”

“Hmph.”  I wasn’t about to let that sorta talk get me down.  “I refuse to be afraid of him.  He’s a man after all; maybe a powerful one, but just a man like me.  That means he has a weakness.”

“If you say so.”  The moon was starting to go down, giving way to the first peeks of morning.  Dawn had arrived.  “As much as I’d like to continue chatting about you getting killed by Oberon, I still need you to take down Pan and the Orcs.  After that, go get killed all you want.”

“What’s our first play?”

Earlier in the night, Isa redrew her map of Neverland, marking all the important landmarks.  She pointed at the X, our current location.  “We’re just under a day’s journey back to Pan’s camp.  I took into account Orc patrols and avoiding the wyrm’s territory already before you ask.”  Smart girl.  “We’ll need to use stealth, the skill of the quick kill will be vital.”

“Not avoiding the patrols?  You want to just kill ‘em on the way in?”

Her fangs glistened in the rising sun.  “It’s either them or us and I prefer us.”  Well, I kinda do too.  “The wolves are the wild card.  I’m going to need your keen senses leading the way.  I’d rather avoid a conflict with them as they are pretty evenly matched with us.  But, if worse comes to worse,” and this time she really looked hard at me, “I’m going to need your assurances you can put them down.”

I was torn on this.  Killing isn’t my M.O. but survival came first.  “If it has to be done, then so be it.  But,” and I added a lot of emphasis, “only if it’s the only option.  I won’t kill in cold blood for nothing.”

It wasn’t the answer she wanted, but it was the one she got.  “Fine, I’ll trust your judgement, just trust mine too.  If I say we have to do something, believe me when I say it.”

“I can do that.”

We put out the fire and returned our makeshift campsite back to nature.  We left nothing behind that would indicate our next move or give the enemy any advantage over our current physical or mental states.  Surprise was our best weapon.  Gathering our supplies, we began to move out.

Isa and I stayed in a tight knit group, with Marko far enough behind us so that no one would know he was there.  It was slow moving through the cold damp forest, but the morning provided a wind into our faces; good for tracking and finding out our enemies locations.

The smell of orc hung over us like a thick blanket, which you thought would’ve hindered me.  However, it made them easier to track as small pockets of Orc’s stuck out a tad different from the overall cloud.  The first two patrols we encountered were small – easy enough for the two of us to take out quickly and quietly.  Actually it was mostly Isa.  Her abilities far exceeded mine and she was much more proficient.

The third group, probably around midday was significantly larger.  “This ain’t like the last two.  “I’m guessing there might be ten to twelve in this one.  Suggestions?”

She took a knee and motioned for me to do the same.  Quietly, “As we get closer to the main camp, the groups will get larger undoubtedly.  If I ask, Marko would handle them, but the noise from his attack will most likely alert the others nearby.  We’ll have but a few moments.”

There had to be a better way.  Looking around, I wanted to see what the island provided us to take out a squadron of Orcs this large.  Then it hit me, I knew this place.  We were back under Isa’s old hut in the trees.  “Instead of sending in Marko, why don’t we just bring the house down on ‘em?  Me and you can clean up the ones that survive easy-peasy.”

With a hint of surprise, “Why my dear Victor, you’re proving quite useful after all.”

“Yeah, yeah.  C’mon, let’s get into position.”