Paths of the Hunter, chapter 20
YAY! We're coming to the end now. I'm posting 21, 22, and the epilogue tomorrow!
Title:Paths of the Hunter, chapter 20
Genre: Dark is Rising fanfiction
Rating: PG (suspense, mild violence)
Chapter 20
Will stood on White Mountain where Amy had sprained her ankle, watching as the clouds skidded over the moon and stars in the icy breeze that had picked up in the last hour or so. He could see the lights of Rock Springs burning brightly, although the murky dark haze that had covered the city a week ago was only worse now.
Taking off his cowboy hat and plastic guns, he stared up at the full moon, waiting as the wind gusted and played with his dark blue cloak. He supposed that it probably would look quite dramatic if there were anyone around to see. He shook his head, wondering how he should call the Chinaman. There were so many ways to get the self-proclaimed dark lord’s attention.
He smiled and then began to speak quietly to the ancient force in the mountain. He felt it stir, a looming, powerful entity older than any of the Old Ones. It seemed to regard him sleepily, and then really awoke. Will could feel the shift in the winds and watched the ragged clouds thicken and cover the moon. “Please help me,” he whispered to the mountain in the Old Tongue. As he did, he used the Gift of Gramarye to see and feel all the beautiful things in the earth, from bright crystals and gems to the roots of the oldest mountains and the young passion of all the volcanoes. He could feel the mountain responding, and he knew that he would be safe as long as he fought on this ground. He would not be moved, much like the mountain upon which he stood.
HE COMES. The voice of the mountain resounded in Will’s head, deep and filled with all the power of unshakeable earth. MAKE READY, OLD ONE.
Will pulled his cloak tighter against the rising cold wind, watching the haze over the city thicken into a black, oozing mass and start to flow toward the mountain. Concentrating while he still had time, he called on all of his gifts as an Old One, remembering long-dormant words of power and things of magic. Rolling up his sleeve, he fingered the Sign seared into his flesh long years ago. It made him think of the jade Sign, and Amy. He wondered if she was okay.
He pushed that thought away as the blackness drew closer. He needed to focus. Her life and everyone else’s depended on it. She would be fine.
He could see a figure in a black cloak riding the crest of the oozing wave, a black cloak embroidered in red with eastern dragons. There was no mistaking the Chinaman, and Will smiled grimly. Cheng was rising to the bait.
The black wave began to climb up the foot of the mountain, towering over Will like it was a child about to squish an insignificant bug. Will didn’t even blink as a swirling column broke away from the darkness, depositing Cheng in front of him. The agent of the Dark smiled at Will, a twisted smile of triumph. “Will Stanton, last of the Old Ones. You are a fool to face me openly like this.”
“Am I?” Will asked quietly. On the outside, he was calm and collected, but inside he could feel the rush of adrenaline and the quiet fury of one who has waited too long for justice.
“Do you not see the power of the Dark here?” Cheng gestured grandly to the black mass behind him. “You have no chance of defeating me, not in this place. Turn away, Stanton, turn away and let the Dark claim this place. It is lost to you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” the Old One spoke, clenching his fists at his side. He refused to lose a place with forces like the mountain on which they stood. “As long as there are people like Amy here, you will never have complete control.”
Cheng laughed, a dark mirthless sound. “Talk is cheap, Old One. Why don’t we just get to business?” And without further warning, he gestured at Will and the wave of the Dark rose threateningly and began to fall.
Will spoke a few quick words in the Old Tongue, and raised his hands against the crashing mass that would destroy him. Light sprang up around him, and the ooze crashed against an invisible shield. Will struggled to maintain that space around himself, fighting against the full gathered strength of Cheng’s darkness. As the wave crashed and swirled around him, he could hear the horrible cacophony of shrieks and screeching laughter and despairing screams that was the Dark. He had never quite grown accustomed to the sound, despite all his years in the service of the Light. He could feel dark, cold fingers reaching out for him, screeching as they encountered the barrier of light around him.
Cheng’s face twisted as he raised his hand, fingers outstretched at Will, and the swirling mass returned for a second attack. Will leaped from where he was standing to the top of a large boulder, brandishing his bare forearm at the Dark and chanting quickly in the Old Tongue. A shaft of light shot from the Sign on his arm and pierced the darkness. The shrieks grew as the black mass was cut down, hewn into pieces.
Cheng hissed in anger, and drew a sword that Will had not noticed hanging at his side. It was a long, straight blade, made of a black metal that seemed to suck all the light out of the air around it. The wind gusted, and the black cloak flared, making the dragons dance as though they were alive.
Will frowned. He had not expected the weapon. He looked around for something to help him, something to keep him from being cut into pieces. He felt the mountain sending reassurance to him, and he looked down to see a round, flat rock at his feet. Asking for the extra strength from the earth, he lifted the stone and raised it as a shield as the Chinaman’s first blow fell.
Sparks flew as Cheng advanced, Will circling with his earthen shield and waiting for the right opportunity. He raised the shield again as Cheng struck, stepping to one side and angling the shield so that Cheng’s blade slid off and into the ground. Will could feel the mountain reach up to hold the blade, just for a second, but it was enough. With all his strength, he swung the shield around, catching the Chinaman on the side of the head.
Cheng flew back, dazed, blood flowing from the wound that Will had opened. He shook his head, and his eyes cleared. Will grimaced. The Dark was with the other man, and would not let him die that easily. Cheng picked up his sword and began chanting in the speech of the Dark, pointing the weapon at Will. The darkness began to regroup behind the Chinaman, taking on the form of a great black dragon. Will knew that the dragon would swallow him up, help of the mountain or not.
He began chanting himself, willing the clouds out of the way. He needed light to work with here. The Dark-summoned clouds were slow to move, and Will felt the beginnings of panic as the dark dragon grew to fill the sky, red and purple lightning flashing along its back and forking from the open, grinning mouth. He could not lose here. Too much depended on his survival.
He called on all his gifts, and commanded the clouds to move. He felt the starlight and moonlight on the other side joining with him, coming to the aid of the last Old One. A shaft of moonlight finally broke through the clouds, shining down on him, and he spoke to it, willing it to meet the challenge of the Dark. A creature began to take shape behind him, although he could not see its form.
Cheng bared his teeth at Will, a feral growl rising from his throat, and he brandished his sword, commanding the dragon forward. Hissing, it leapt at its master’s bidding. Will watched as it descended on him, jagged teeth in a mouth gaping and ready to swallow and destroy him. With an almost panicked cry, he called to the creature behind him to defend him.
An eagle’s screech cut through the air as the winged creature rose to meet the dragon of the Dark, slashing its talons along the dragon’s sinuous body. The dragon turned from Will to face its new foe, and the dragon and gryphon rose high into the sky. Red and purple and gold and blue lightning flashed over the mountain as the titans clashed. Will and Cheng watched, having put so much of their will and power into the creatures, each urging his beast on toward victory.
Will gasped as the dragon grabbed the jugular of the gryphon, feeling the wound in his own neck. He could feel the strength begin to drain out of him, and he desperately willed his gryphon to fight back, to do something as the dragon began to suck all the lifeblood out of it.
The bluish white creature gave a defiant shriek and dug its talons deep into the underbelly of its assailant. The dragon gave a mighty cry, releasing Will’s creature. The half-eagle fell plummeting toward the ground, and Will released it. It dissipated, becoming nothing more than moonlight once again.
Will watched, anxiously waiting to see if the gryphon’s gift had been deadly. The dragon thrashed and writhed in the night sky, sending red lightning all through the clouds. Will could feel it dying, and he seized the opportunity. Picking up a good-sized rock, he whispered words to the earth. The shape of it began to change, until he was holding a stone katana. He charged at Cheng as the dragon gave one last shrieking roar and multi-colored lightning exploded from the dying mass of the Dark. The Chinaman managed to block the first blow, but Will twirled around him, following through with a second long and powerful slash.
Cheng dropped to his knees, holding the injury in his gut and looking down at his red hands in disbelief. Will towered over him, sword poised for the killing blow. It would all end here. Justice would be done and catastrophe prevented.
Cheng began to laugh, a dark sound that echoed through the night, and Will hesitated. Why was he laughing? Surely he could not think that the Dark would triumph now. “What?” he demanded.
“You may kill me now, but it’s too late for your girlfriend. By now events have been triggered that not even you could stop, and only I know where she and her power-hungry friend are. They will both die, and you will have to live with the knowledge that it was your fault.” Cheng coughed, and the Old One could sense that he was dying.
Will leaned over and grabbed him by the collar. “Where are they?” He was fighting the growing terror that seemed to say that Cheng was right, and that not only was Amy going to give her life, but Candace as well. He remembered all too well how easily the lords of the Dark betrayed those who gave everything to follow them. In a brief flash he saw again the crumpled velvet coat lying in a broken heap in the snow, Merriman’s beloved former liege man betrayed by those he would have served. “I’m not going to let them die like others have.”
Understanding dawned in the Chinaman’s eyes, and he laughed again. “You think that I will tell you for the price of my death? You are a fool, Will Stanton. Let me go and I will tell you where their bodies are. You are already too late to save them.”
Will brought the sword back, the point at Cheng’s throat. “Tell me,” he growled. He could not let Cheng go. He needed to do the right thing and kill the man now, and save a lot of people from his evil workings. If he gave his word to let the Chinaman go, he would have to abide by his word as an Old One. He had to kill him, and yet he could not let Amy and Candace die.
He wondered where the boy had gone, the boy that had been willing to sacrifice his sister to hold on to the Great Signs of the Light so long ago. The Rider had been a far more frightening opponent, and yet Will had stood strong against him. What had changed since then?
He released the shorter man, shoving him backwards onto the ground. “Where are they?” he demanded once again.
“Will you let me go?”
Will took a deep breath. Merriman was not going to be happy with him. “You have my word as an Old One that you may leave this place freely, never to return again.”
The Chinaman glowered, knowing that Will would cut him down like last year’s tall weeds if he did not uphold his end of the bargain. “They’re in a warehouse on the edge of town.” As he spoke, Will got the picture of the right building from his enemy’s mind. “But you are too late, Old One.”
Will spat on the ground at Cheng’s feet, not sure whether he was more disgusted with his opponent or himself. “Get out of here, before I change my mind.”
The man in the black cloak, which only looked silly now, scrambled to his feet and down the side of the mountain. A swirling column of dark mist descended from the sky, taking him away. Will watched him go, and then looked out over the city, looking for the right edge of town. He had stood there almost ten minutes, trying to figure it out, when a fireball erupted from an industrial district on the western edge of Rock Springs. “Amy,” he whispered, horrified, and began to run.
Title:Paths of the Hunter, chapter 20
Genre: Dark is Rising fanfiction
Rating: PG (suspense, mild violence)
Chapter 20
Will stood on White Mountain where Amy had sprained her ankle, watching as the clouds skidded over the moon and stars in the icy breeze that had picked up in the last hour or so. He could see the lights of Rock Springs burning brightly, although the murky dark haze that had covered the city a week ago was only worse now.
Taking off his cowboy hat and plastic guns, he stared up at the full moon, waiting as the wind gusted and played with his dark blue cloak. He supposed that it probably would look quite dramatic if there were anyone around to see. He shook his head, wondering how he should call the Chinaman. There were so many ways to get the self-proclaimed dark lord’s attention.
He smiled and then began to speak quietly to the ancient force in the mountain. He felt it stir, a looming, powerful entity older than any of the Old Ones. It seemed to regard him sleepily, and then really awoke. Will could feel the shift in the winds and watched the ragged clouds thicken and cover the moon. “Please help me,” he whispered to the mountain in the Old Tongue. As he did, he used the Gift of Gramarye to see and feel all the beautiful things in the earth, from bright crystals and gems to the roots of the oldest mountains and the young passion of all the volcanoes. He could feel the mountain responding, and he knew that he would be safe as long as he fought on this ground. He would not be moved, much like the mountain upon which he stood.
HE COMES. The voice of the mountain resounded in Will’s head, deep and filled with all the power of unshakeable earth. MAKE READY, OLD ONE.
Will pulled his cloak tighter against the rising cold wind, watching the haze over the city thicken into a black, oozing mass and start to flow toward the mountain. Concentrating while he still had time, he called on all of his gifts as an Old One, remembering long-dormant words of power and things of magic. Rolling up his sleeve, he fingered the Sign seared into his flesh long years ago. It made him think of the jade Sign, and Amy. He wondered if she was okay.
He pushed that thought away as the blackness drew closer. He needed to focus. Her life and everyone else’s depended on it. She would be fine.
He could see a figure in a black cloak riding the crest of the oozing wave, a black cloak embroidered in red with eastern dragons. There was no mistaking the Chinaman, and Will smiled grimly. Cheng was rising to the bait.
The black wave began to climb up the foot of the mountain, towering over Will like it was a child about to squish an insignificant bug. Will didn’t even blink as a swirling column broke away from the darkness, depositing Cheng in front of him. The agent of the Dark smiled at Will, a twisted smile of triumph. “Will Stanton, last of the Old Ones. You are a fool to face me openly like this.”
“Am I?” Will asked quietly. On the outside, he was calm and collected, but inside he could feel the rush of adrenaline and the quiet fury of one who has waited too long for justice.
“Do you not see the power of the Dark here?” Cheng gestured grandly to the black mass behind him. “You have no chance of defeating me, not in this place. Turn away, Stanton, turn away and let the Dark claim this place. It is lost to you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” the Old One spoke, clenching his fists at his side. He refused to lose a place with forces like the mountain on which they stood. “As long as there are people like Amy here, you will never have complete control.”
Cheng laughed, a dark mirthless sound. “Talk is cheap, Old One. Why don’t we just get to business?” And without further warning, he gestured at Will and the wave of the Dark rose threateningly and began to fall.
Will spoke a few quick words in the Old Tongue, and raised his hands against the crashing mass that would destroy him. Light sprang up around him, and the ooze crashed against an invisible shield. Will struggled to maintain that space around himself, fighting against the full gathered strength of Cheng’s darkness. As the wave crashed and swirled around him, he could hear the horrible cacophony of shrieks and screeching laughter and despairing screams that was the Dark. He had never quite grown accustomed to the sound, despite all his years in the service of the Light. He could feel dark, cold fingers reaching out for him, screeching as they encountered the barrier of light around him.
Cheng’s face twisted as he raised his hand, fingers outstretched at Will, and the swirling mass returned for a second attack. Will leaped from where he was standing to the top of a large boulder, brandishing his bare forearm at the Dark and chanting quickly in the Old Tongue. A shaft of light shot from the Sign on his arm and pierced the darkness. The shrieks grew as the black mass was cut down, hewn into pieces.
Cheng hissed in anger, and drew a sword that Will had not noticed hanging at his side. It was a long, straight blade, made of a black metal that seemed to suck all the light out of the air around it. The wind gusted, and the black cloak flared, making the dragons dance as though they were alive.
Will frowned. He had not expected the weapon. He looked around for something to help him, something to keep him from being cut into pieces. He felt the mountain sending reassurance to him, and he looked down to see a round, flat rock at his feet. Asking for the extra strength from the earth, he lifted the stone and raised it as a shield as the Chinaman’s first blow fell.
Sparks flew as Cheng advanced, Will circling with his earthen shield and waiting for the right opportunity. He raised the shield again as Cheng struck, stepping to one side and angling the shield so that Cheng’s blade slid off and into the ground. Will could feel the mountain reach up to hold the blade, just for a second, but it was enough. With all his strength, he swung the shield around, catching the Chinaman on the side of the head.
Cheng flew back, dazed, blood flowing from the wound that Will had opened. He shook his head, and his eyes cleared. Will grimaced. The Dark was with the other man, and would not let him die that easily. Cheng picked up his sword and began chanting in the speech of the Dark, pointing the weapon at Will. The darkness began to regroup behind the Chinaman, taking on the form of a great black dragon. Will knew that the dragon would swallow him up, help of the mountain or not.
He began chanting himself, willing the clouds out of the way. He needed light to work with here. The Dark-summoned clouds were slow to move, and Will felt the beginnings of panic as the dark dragon grew to fill the sky, red and purple lightning flashing along its back and forking from the open, grinning mouth. He could not lose here. Too much depended on his survival.
He called on all his gifts, and commanded the clouds to move. He felt the starlight and moonlight on the other side joining with him, coming to the aid of the last Old One. A shaft of moonlight finally broke through the clouds, shining down on him, and he spoke to it, willing it to meet the challenge of the Dark. A creature began to take shape behind him, although he could not see its form.
Cheng bared his teeth at Will, a feral growl rising from his throat, and he brandished his sword, commanding the dragon forward. Hissing, it leapt at its master’s bidding. Will watched as it descended on him, jagged teeth in a mouth gaping and ready to swallow and destroy him. With an almost panicked cry, he called to the creature behind him to defend him.
An eagle’s screech cut through the air as the winged creature rose to meet the dragon of the Dark, slashing its talons along the dragon’s sinuous body. The dragon turned from Will to face its new foe, and the dragon and gryphon rose high into the sky. Red and purple and gold and blue lightning flashed over the mountain as the titans clashed. Will and Cheng watched, having put so much of their will and power into the creatures, each urging his beast on toward victory.
Will gasped as the dragon grabbed the jugular of the gryphon, feeling the wound in his own neck. He could feel the strength begin to drain out of him, and he desperately willed his gryphon to fight back, to do something as the dragon began to suck all the lifeblood out of it.
The bluish white creature gave a defiant shriek and dug its talons deep into the underbelly of its assailant. The dragon gave a mighty cry, releasing Will’s creature. The half-eagle fell plummeting toward the ground, and Will released it. It dissipated, becoming nothing more than moonlight once again.
Will watched, anxiously waiting to see if the gryphon’s gift had been deadly. The dragon thrashed and writhed in the night sky, sending red lightning all through the clouds. Will could feel it dying, and he seized the opportunity. Picking up a good-sized rock, he whispered words to the earth. The shape of it began to change, until he was holding a stone katana. He charged at Cheng as the dragon gave one last shrieking roar and multi-colored lightning exploded from the dying mass of the Dark. The Chinaman managed to block the first blow, but Will twirled around him, following through with a second long and powerful slash.
Cheng dropped to his knees, holding the injury in his gut and looking down at his red hands in disbelief. Will towered over him, sword poised for the killing blow. It would all end here. Justice would be done and catastrophe prevented.
Cheng began to laugh, a dark sound that echoed through the night, and Will hesitated. Why was he laughing? Surely he could not think that the Dark would triumph now. “What?” he demanded.
“You may kill me now, but it’s too late for your girlfriend. By now events have been triggered that not even you could stop, and only I know where she and her power-hungry friend are. They will both die, and you will have to live with the knowledge that it was your fault.” Cheng coughed, and the Old One could sense that he was dying.
Will leaned over and grabbed him by the collar. “Where are they?” He was fighting the growing terror that seemed to say that Cheng was right, and that not only was Amy going to give her life, but Candace as well. He remembered all too well how easily the lords of the Dark betrayed those who gave everything to follow them. In a brief flash he saw again the crumpled velvet coat lying in a broken heap in the snow, Merriman’s beloved former liege man betrayed by those he would have served. “I’m not going to let them die like others have.”
Understanding dawned in the Chinaman’s eyes, and he laughed again. “You think that I will tell you for the price of my death? You are a fool, Will Stanton. Let me go and I will tell you where their bodies are. You are already too late to save them.”
Will brought the sword back, the point at Cheng’s throat. “Tell me,” he growled. He could not let Cheng go. He needed to do the right thing and kill the man now, and save a lot of people from his evil workings. If he gave his word to let the Chinaman go, he would have to abide by his word as an Old One. He had to kill him, and yet he could not let Amy and Candace die.
He wondered where the boy had gone, the boy that had been willing to sacrifice his sister to hold on to the Great Signs of the Light so long ago. The Rider had been a far more frightening opponent, and yet Will had stood strong against him. What had changed since then?
He released the shorter man, shoving him backwards onto the ground. “Where are they?” he demanded once again.
“Will you let me go?”
Will took a deep breath. Merriman was not going to be happy with him. “You have my word as an Old One that you may leave this place freely, never to return again.”
The Chinaman glowered, knowing that Will would cut him down like last year’s tall weeds if he did not uphold his end of the bargain. “They’re in a warehouse on the edge of town.” As he spoke, Will got the picture of the right building from his enemy’s mind. “But you are too late, Old One.”
Will spat on the ground at Cheng’s feet, not sure whether he was more disgusted with his opponent or himself. “Get out of here, before I change my mind.”
The man in the black cloak, which only looked silly now, scrambled to his feet and down the side of the mountain. A swirling column of dark mist descended from the sky, taking him away. Will watched him go, and then looked out over the city, looking for the right edge of town. He had stood there almost ten minutes, trying to figure it out, when a fireball erupted from an industrial district on the western edge of Rock Springs. “Amy,” he whispered, horrified, and began to run.