Malicious Tales

Chapter 9

The tension in the square could have been cut with a butter knife. Vesper Light stood against a pillar, cigarette in his mouth as he waited for the arrival of the half-Daemon. He hadn’t brought any other Risen with him and he was starting to regret it as he noticed a few Fallen lurking about the place. They were only Zombies, the pawns of the Fallen army, but in large numbers they could cause a serious problem for the lone Risen. Not only that, but if the Zombies were here, then the Fallen Morph assassins probably had him surrounded. They were probably right under his feet, in the pebbles of the floor, in the pillars..

    Vesper flung himself from the pillar, his paranoia setting in, just as Salem appeared behind him, looking rather sheepish beneath his deep green trench coat.

    “Something wrong, Mr. Light? You look a bit jumpy.” Vesper glared at the teenager, disgusted at himself for showing any sign of weakness. Brushing himself off, he raised his head in a way that just screamed vanity.

    “I’m not a fan of bugs, Mr. Stone. Especially ones that are difficult to crush,” he sneered, before walking towards a taxi and motioning for Salem to follow him. He failed to notice the movement of the Fallen forces as they prepared to follow him.

    Malice watched the short exchange from the fountain, hidden behind an oversized newspaper. She could tell that the Risen had caught on to their presence by the way he was twitching ever so slightly, but that much had been expected. As long as he didn’t connect Salem to the Fallen, their plan would still work. Malice was just hoping Vesper wasn’t as intelligent as he pretended to be, or they’d be in a bit of trouble.

    As Vesper and Salem got into the taxi, another Necromancer of Asiatic appearance approached her and bowed his head as he spoke.

    “The Morphs have infiltrated the car, we’ll be able to tack them easily. The Vampyres are also on the move and the Daemons are ailing them from the skies. We will not fail you, Ruin-sama.” Malice smiled at the handsome Necromancer but shook her head at the formalities.

    “Just Malice, please. How long until we know their whereabouts?” she asked him.

    “As soon as they stop moving, we’ll be there, Malice-sama.”

    “Good. How are we getting there?” The other Necromancer gave Malice a funny look, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

    “Um.. Malice-sama? You do know how to shadow walk, don’t you?” he asked, a concerned expression crossing his features. Malice shifted from foot to foot, looking slightly embarrassed.

    “What does that entail again?” The Asian man sighed, shaking his head.

    “They probably should’ve given you a little more training really, Ruin-sama. No offence, but you don’t exactly seem prepared. I can teach you when the time comes, if you’d like?” he offered.

    “That’d be great. I just hope I’m a fast learner. Thanks..?”

    “Masaharu Tenshi. But Haru is fine” Malice nodded, satisfied that she knew the name of at least one soldier. Now all that was left was to wait for news of Salem.

    The half-Daemon was twitching. He could just feel it, right under his eye. He really hoped Vesper didn’t notice, because he couldn’t exactly explain why. After all, the sentence, “the Morph I’m sitting on keeps poking me” doesn’t fit in to a casual conversation. Sale squirmed a bit in his seat, trying to move away from the highly unprofessional Fallen without making a scene. It didn’t work.

    Vesper glanced at Salem from the corner of his eye. He really wished the boy would stop moving in his peripheral vision, he found it highly irritating. Turning away from Salem as much as the small car allowed, he tried to ignore him, but to no avail.

    “Cease and desist, Mr. Stone,” he hissed, smacking the hybrid in the back of the head.

    “That was seriously unnecessary, Vesper,” Salem commented, scowling at the Risen. The pair folded their arms and looked for all the world like three-year olds that got their favourite toy taken away. The two sulked for the rest of the journey until finally they arrived at the outskirts of a large forest. Paying the driver, Vesper led Salem out of the car and a little way into the forest.

    “Welcome to Sanctuary, Mr. Stone. I doubt you’ll enjoy your stay,” Vesper chuckled, before handing the hybrid to the Risen guards and striding back out of the forest.