Wolves and the River of Stone (14 page)

“Ouch,” he said as his hands began to pale slightly and the near-skeletal fingers began to look normal once again. He reached out and grabbed the handle, raising it close to his face. His eyes lit over the hammer, its head weighted toward the front of the handle. Mike examined every inch in great detail before he looked up at Cara again. “It’s clean.”

“That is truly the Smith’s Hammer?” Cara said.

Mike the Demon flipped the handle and caught the spinning tool as if it weighed nothing. “Looks like a fancy cutler’s hammer, doesn’t it?” He spun the hammer sideways in his hand and smacked it against the remaining anvil. My body vibrated with the thunder erupting from the blow and I saw some of the crowd look up, as if expecting to see thunderheads in the sky. “Doesn’t sound like one though, does it? I tried making a sword with it once, but the hammer made a bit much noise.” Mike laughed and handed the hammer to Zola. “Take good care of that. It’s a legend, to be sure. You should see it in action.” He shrugged his shoulders in a circular motion and rolled his neck.

“Thank you,” Zola said.

“Don’t thank me. I owe Aeros. I owe him a lot, and he asked me to give it to you. I can’t say no to the old bastard. Mind you, one good smack with that hammer would take care of him, but ...” he shrugged again and said, “I like the old bastard.”

I took a wad of bills out of my pocket and set fifty dollars on the counter for Mike.

“What’s this for?” he said as he picked it up.

“The knife.”

The demon smiled and popped open the display case. He handed me the blade hilt first. It was heavy, but well balanced. He handed me a thin sheath that I snapped around the blade, and then slid into my pocket.

“Gut a fish with it, or stop a sword with it. The edge will hold.”

“Hopefully I won’t have to try either of those things,” I said as I smiled and met his eyes. I was almost surprised to find a normal hazel color in their depths. “Thanks.”

“Thank you, Damian Valdis Vesik. If it ever dulls, bring it back to me.”

I raised an eyebrow at my full name.

“Aeros,” Mike said as his lips curled up into small smile. “He likes to talk, and you’re one of the more interesting things he’s met recently.”

Zola chuckled and fingered the hammer. Nixie walked up beside her and looked closely at the Smith’s Hammer.

Mike almost jumped out of his skin. “A water witch?! What are you doing here?” He reached backwards and his hand wrapped around a hammer.

“Searching for the Smith’s Hammer, of course,” Nixie said. She straightened the shoulders of her gown and flashed a dazzling smile.

Mike’s forehead creased as he let go of the hammer and rubbed his arms. When his hands pushed his sleeves higher I could see the black rivers and ash across his skin where he’d absorbed the anvil. It looked like abstract sleeve tattoos on both arms. “You’re helping them?” he said.

She nodded.

Mike shook his head. “This world is not the one I knew. So much changes so fast.” Mike gestured to me and Zola. “There was a time you two would have been killed by your own kind for not killing her.”

“I am not so easy to kill.” Nixie’s face hardened and Mike’s eyes widened as he took a step back. I don’t know what he saw, but he seemed anxious as hell and ready to bolt.

I heard Foster whisper, “Let’s go. This is getting weird.”

“Getting?” I said.

I nodded to Mike and he returned the gesture as our group walked away from his forge. Nixie smiled and wrapped her arm through mine.

“What was that about?” I said as she steered me toward the clothing store.

“Mike is a fire demon,” Nixie said.

Cara and Zola burst into laughter.

“Of course,” Aideen said as she bounced in the air in front of us. “Being a water witch, you could kill him.”

“Yes, I could.” Her voice was cold and it made me look at her again.

“You okay, Nix?”

Nixie took a deep breath and nodded. “I don’t like demons. They used to kill my sisters for sport, until one of us discovered fire demons can drown.”

I bit my tongue just in time, almost having pointed out the fact water witches hunted humans in much the same way. Instead, I just nodded and thanked myself for the rapid use of my brain-mouth filter.

***

Call it destiny, call it an accident, but as I tripped up the stairs to the clothing store, my hand flashed out and landed on a rack of codpieces. Thankfully, empty codpieces.

“Oh, I agree,” Nixie said. “You definitely have to get one of those.”

Foster was in hysterics twenty minutes later as I handed the clerk more money than I thought you could spend at a Renaissance Faire. I glanced down at myself and blew out a breath. A forest green doublet with nickel buttons was fastened over a light linen shirt, and I had to admit it went well with my black jeans. Although I was still not sure what to say about the matching codpiece, tied to a thick leather belt.

“You look lovely,” Nixie said as she slid her arm around mine.

Foster burst out laughing anew.

“Let’s eat,” I said as I ignored the fairy and led Nixie down the stairs. We only had to walk around the corner to find one of the many outdoor pubs at the faire. I placed an order while the others found a seat.

Zola came over to help me carry the food back to the picnic table.

“That was quite a bit of money to impress a girl, boy.”

I shot her a glance and smiled. “That obvious, huh?”

She glanced at my crotch and chortled. “Well, Ah certainly wouldn’t say it’s subtle.”

I felt my face flush, and not from the heat. “Yeah, yeah, you can give me shit later.”

She laughed again as she started passing the food around.

We gorged on a round of turkey legs and some mad concoction known as a pizza bratwurst. Probably not authentic period food, but it sure as hell tasted good. The three fairies took a little bit off each of our plates.

“It’s not chocolate, but I could eat another one,” Nixie said as she licked the grease off her fingers.

“You ate the whole thing,” Cara said. Her voice a mixture of awe and disgust.

Nixie paused with her pinkie in her mouth before she finished cleaning it off with a small pop. “Yes, it was good.”

Foster was sprawled out on his back, his hands over his stomach. “I’m gonna die.”

“Promises, promises,” Aideen said as she leaned over his face and took a huge bite of pizza brat. “Mmm, that’s good. The grease just runs right down your throat.”

Foster put his hand over his mouth. “I’m gonna hurl. Bloody hell, I’m gonna hurl.”

Aideen laughed and rocked backwards on her heels, balancing herself on outstretched wings.

We finished a few minutes later, water bottles and plates empty. I tossed the pile in the trash and we started walking back to the entrance. We had a few detours along the way. Cara was fascinated by a booth selling wooden roses. I shelled out a few more dollars to take a couple home for her. Nixie got distracted by a camel. Or as she called it, “A magical beast able to survive without water!” Foster and Aideen raided a sample of ice cream left unattended and eventually Zola stopped to say goodbye to Cornelius.

“Who is he?” I said when we had crossed the bridge and entered the sparsely populated grassy parking lot.

“Retired,” Zola said with a snap.

“Retired what?” I said innocently.

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose before shooting me a sidelong glance with a small smile. “You’re not going to stop are you?”

I raised my eyebrows and frowned just a little. “Stop what? We’re necromancers consorting with a demon. What could be worse than that?”

“Take care in your questions,” Cara said as she fluttered between me and Zola. “You may as well tell him. He does have a valid point.”

“It’s not that Ah don’t trust you, boy,” Zola said. “Ah promised Cornelius Ah wouldn’t tell anyone about his past.”

“Just a little?” I said.

“Give it up, Zola,” Foster said. “You know he’s as persistent as he is stubborn.”

“Fine, fine,” she said. “This goes nowhere. Cornelius is a blood mage.”

I gaped at my master. A blood mage. I’d met a bloody blood mage. They’d warred with the old gods. They lost in the end, yes, but they wielded enough power to carry the war on for almost five centuries. They were referenced in some of my books. There were practitioners and even some Fae that theorized the blood mages influenced the strongest bloodlines. It was possible their meddling gave rise to the spike in powerful human mages over the past few centuries.

“Retired!” she said vehemently.

“I thought they were all dead. How old is he?”

“Old. Things have a way of surviving, as do some people.”

“That they do,” I said. “That they do.”

We walked across the field in silence for a minute. Nixie led the way with the fairies fluttering around her head. I pondered the existence of a blood mage and wondered if Aeros would tell me more than Zola had. Or maybe Zola would open up if I pestered her about it. I smiled as my feet slid through the damp grass, wind whistling through the woods beside us.

“Can you believe this, Damian?” Zola loosed the Smith’s Hammer from her belt and held it up in her right hand as her left shifted her cane. “Ah wonder what Mike could have done to earn Aeros’s trust. The Smith’s Hammer is a true power. Why didn’t the demon use it?” She turned the hammer in her hand and then slid it back through the braided belt at her waist as Nixie and the fairies fell back beside us.

I shifted my codpiece and grunted. Nixie snickered.

“Mike told us he tried,” Aideen said. “Maybe he succeeded and we just don’t know.”

“It is ... possible.” Zola nodded as her cane clacked against the asphalt of the path running alongside the parking lot. “Damian, Ah need to get back to the Pit. They have a list of protected soulstones in the archive. We need a minor stone to destroy Tessrian’s artifact.”

“What’s a minor stone?” Nixie said. “Is it a weak stone?”

Zola shook her head. “No, weak stones aren’t classified. They’re generally bad for a necromancer’s art. Minor stones are powerful, but they are shadowed by major stones.”

“Are major stones the strongest?” Nixie said.

“No, child. Pravus stones are the strongest.”

“Pravus stones are abominations,” Cara said. “They hold the remnants of thousands of souls. Only a few have existed, and all led to great times of darkness.”

“But major stones and pravus stones are capable of great acts of benevolence,” Aideen said. “All soulstones are, it just depends who is using them.”

Zola nodded and tapped the head of her cane as we walked back onto the grass and up to the car. “And for some godforsaken reason, dark necromancers can sense the bloody things. A gift no Fae and no neutral necromancer can claim.”

I unlocked the door to Vicky and said, “Sounds like they’re meant to do harm.”

Zola grimaced. “Ah’ve heard more people than you say that, boy.”

“With a name like pravus, no atrocity would be surprising,” Cara said.

“Would you like the front seat, Zola?” Nixie said, completely pulling our attention away from the darkening conversation.

“No, that’s alright. Sit with the boy.”

I smiled as Zola climbed in the back seat with the fairies and Nixie sat beside me. I tossed my bag full of street clothes onto the floorboards behind the seat. As I settled in, ripples ran through Nixie’s gown and it was suddenly replaced with jeans and a black t-shirt.

“Are you trying to be funny?” I said.

“Whatever do you mean?” Nixie said in a musical voice.

“You know what, Damian?” Foster said. “I think Nixie looks better in jeans than you do.”

 “Well, so do I, but thanks for pointing it out.” I laughed and shook my head. “Alright, to the Pit. Again.” I pulled out of the parking space. “I think I’ve been in the vampires’ house more than my own lately.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re really missing your crap shack,” Foster said.

Aideen slapped him, but couldn’t hide her own grin.

I sighed and said, “Bloody fairies.”

Nixie and Cara exchanged amused glances before Zola burst into laughter. They were still chuckling as we pulled onto Highway 70 a few minutes later.

N
o one wanted to be dropped off as we passed the Fifth Street exit that led to the shop, so we continued on toward the Pit. It didn’t take too long to get all the way down to Town and Country, drop Zola off, and drive right back up to the shop. The sun was still bright, and I was looking forward to relaxing for a while.

Main Street was packed, so we parked behind the building. I could hear the cu siths barking before I even had the key in the door and my foot on the deadbolt.

“Aw, they missed us,” Aideen said.

I laughed and braced myself for imminent attack as I pushed the door open. Bubbles and Peanut charged Nixie and Cara instead. They barely clipped my legs as they ran past.