Blood and Madness Read online

  “It is controlled by a clan of Trolls,” I told her.

  Azlin sighed.

  Then, she said, “This isn’t working, Bazal. You could sneak in, without us, but with us… impossible.”

  I had already come to that conclusion as well.

  “And, even worse,” she added, “if you find your two injured women, how are you going to get them out?”

  “I don’t know,” I growled, past exasperated. “I just can’t just leave them behind.”

  “I have a solution,” Azlin said, looking a bit embarrassed, as she held up Hollis’s arm bone.

  “Why do you have that?” I asked. “I threw it away.”

  “And, I retrieved it,” she replied.

  “It is covered in fuck-with-Bazal spells,” I growled.

  “But, it also has the spells that you need to successfully sneak into wherever they are being held,” she countered.

  I raised my hands to my forehead, ready to have a fit.

  “Simply remove the offending spells,” she prompted, making it sound obvious.

  I looked at her in surprise.

  I hadn’t thought of that option.

  “We will need access to tools and a workbench designed for a wizard,” I told her, growing exasperated again. “And, clearly, I don’t have either.”

  Azlin smiled. “I know someone here,” she admitted. “They will help us for a price.”

  “Who?” I asked, wondering if I knew them.

  “She calls herself, Shy,” Azlin replied.

  “Nope,” I said. “Get a new plan.”

  “I have done business with her before,” Azlin continued undeterred. “I still know the passwords to get to her.”

  Sighing, I said, “She’s an oriental, human female, correct?”

  “Yes,” Azlin said with a smile. “Do you know her?”

  “She’s about this tall,” I said, holding my hand a foot below my chin, “and missing her left arm from just below the shoulder.”

  “Yes.”

  “I removed her arm,” I admitted.

  “Oh,” Azlin replied.

  “We fought, as children, she lost.”

  It was as simple as that. Shy had tried to kill me. I had objected.

  Silence filled the little grove.

  “It’s the only plan that I have,” Azlin finally said.

  And I didn’t have a better one.

  “What will you pay her?” I said, knowing already that this would be a cluster-fuck.

  “The location of my old body, and a trainful of gold,” she replied.

  Huh.

  That might work.

  “She hates me,” I said, trying to be as blunt as possible.

  “Then she will enjoy slicing your arm open and yanking out your arm bone,” Taesa said with a grin.

  Yep.

  Cluster-fuck.

  - 18 -

  “Alright,” I said. “How do we find Shy?”

  “She lives in a building next to Carry-it-Away Park,” Azlin said with a smile.

  I looked at her and blinked. That was a dangerous, black-market sort of place. Hundreds of tents filled it daily, filled with nasty, vicious people. And, I only had a shirt wrapped around me for pants.

  “It is near the river and your bridge,” Azlin said. “That is the bridge that you were talking about, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” I said, not thrilled about any of this.

  “Cast your disguise spell,” she prompted, “and we will leave.”

  I sat and thought about what to disguise myself as.

  Nothing came to mind.

  Not one damn thing.

  Taesa sighed.

  “A goblin will work,” she said.

  Nodding, I cast my spell, making myself look like one of the thugs that had brought the girls to The Hollow Bride.

  Then, we started walking.

  Most of Columbia was in complete, abandoned ruins. But, some neighborhoods had survived. Only, now they were home to hundreds of non-humans.

  We passed Orc held ghettos of run-down buildings that leaned against one another, trying not to collapse. A few orcs leered at the women with me, so we just kept our heads down and walked faster. Fighting a whole tiny town of Orcs would be a disaster.

  When we passed a destroyed shopping center, thousands of birds erupted out of the top of it. All three of us moved next to the remains of a wall for shelter. Shocked by the creatures sheer volume of noise.

  Nope.

  Not birds.

  Cicadas. Giant fucking cicadas. Just like the ones that took the survivors from the train. The swarm circled in the air several times. Then, they headed northeast, away from us; toward Hana and Mary.

  Crap. That couldn’t be good.

  After they were gone, we hurried along, down a boulevard covered in debris. Old automobiles lay rusting in the road, along with shopping carts, and trees that collapsed after the sun disappeared.

  Sounds of people began to meet my ears. The closer we came to Carry-it-Away Park, the louder they became.

  I noticed the first gun-wielding thug sitting and guarding the road to the park. It was a Red Goblin covered in leather and sporting an AK-47. I stared at the weapon in awe. It was a legendary gun that even two-hundred years after the darkness fell still worked perfectly. And, it was the first machine gun that I had ever seen. Even the dwarves in Charleston didn’t make them yet.

  The Goblin had a red bandana on his head with a barbaric black axe stitched into it. He gave the three of us the evil eye, but he didn’t stop us from entering the park.

  Carry-it-Away Park always reminded me of the largest flea market that I had ever seen. There were hundreds of tents, all filled with something scavaged from the wreckage of Columbia. And, supernatural creatures dominated it. As a child, it had been full of colors, smells, and unusual objects that had stunned my little Goblin mind.

  Now, it was even better.

  Darkness still surrounded us, but the Park was lit up with a bastard-mixture of electrical lights and their magical equivalent. Fey Lanterns with dying pixies dominated the area. Each pixie had a different scent and color, filling the tents with a rainbow of colors that made me feel like I was in heaven.

  Street vendors roasted meat to my left, and an old wizard sold all sorts of potions on my right. If we had more time, I would have asked him questions about how he brewed them. Blister had taught me a little about making potions, but I wanted to learn more.

  I just wish that I could have explored the market and enjoyed my time here. It might be possible to find a new grimoire here, mixed into all the junk. But, locating it would take time.

  On the other side of the park, dominating the horizon was the Temple of the Frozen Frogs, nicknamed because of the enormous metal sculptures that surrounded it.

  It was the home of Shy’s family.

  I walked toward it like a prisoner on death row.

  “What’s wrong?” Taesa asked, taking my hand.

  I pointed at the temple. The building was at least four stories tall, and it was covered in green lanterns that glowed with an ominous glare.

  “That’s Shy’s home,” I said.

  “You said that you’re responsible for her losing an arm,” Azlin mentioned, as she stopped and stared at a line of slaves.

  Human slaves.

  That was new. The Park had always had a no-slavery rule in the past. And, now that I thought about it, what was a Red Goblin doing guarding the entrance?

  Apparently, something had changed in the last twenty years.

  The slave line moved forward as an Ogre gave the chains a yank. Shouts of excitement poured out of the direction that he was going.

  Glancing down the street, I saw a stunning Asian woman dressed in only see-through silver mesh and black silk standing on a stage with chains on her wrists and neck. A red-skinned Goblin was taking bids on her.

  I cursed, stopping the two girls with me in their tracks.

  “What?” Azlin asked, glancing in t
he direction that I was looking in.

  “It will be hard to get Shy’s help… when she is on stage being sold,” I snapped.

  Azlin looked closer.

  Then, she swallowed hard.

  “Dammit,” she hissed.

  Then, the foolish Elf dashed down the aisle toward the slave market.

  - 19 -

  “I see twenty gold, do I have twenty-five?” the Goblin shouted, pointing his stick at a fat Oni that smiled happily. The creature was sitting in a padded chair that several slaves had carried to the market. Three ivory horns poked out of the oriental ogre’s head, and a long white beard curled down to its fat, exposed stomach.

  A lizard creature with the head of an alligator raised a stick.

  The Goblin grinned and pointed. “I have twenty-five, do I have thirty?”

  “We need her,” Azlin snapped when I caught up to her.

  “We don’t have any gold,” I growled. “Or anything else of value. Purchasing Shy is impossible.”

  I glanced up at my old friend on stage.

  It had been years since I last saw her. Shy’s dark black hair hung down past her waist. Chestnut brown leather covered artificial limbs on both of her arms. Apparently, during the last twenty years, she had lost her other arm as well.

  But, it only added to her appeal, instead of subtracting. The brown leather and the black metal beneath it gave Shy an air of… different.

  Unique.

  The word rang out in every creature’s mind that was bidding on her. They all wanted a piece of the wizard... whether to fuck her or eat her. It didn’t matter. The desire was all the same.

  Straps and buckles held Shy’s artificial limbs in place, and I had always liked straps and buckles.

  Shy looked angry, furious even. Her green eyes, rare in an Asian woman, sparkled with fury. Whoever purchased her would have their hands full. Shy was a Mage of terrifying power.

  Why was she allowing herself to be sold?

  “Fifty,” the fat Oni snorted, making his stomach wiggle unpleasantly. His shirt only went to his navel, leaving his thick, hairy gut hanging out.

  “Mr. Shinzo bids fifty Golden Petals for the right of First Mangulation!” the Goblin chortled.

  “Fuck,” I hissed. “She’s not being sold as a slave. Shy’s going to allow the winner… to cut something off of her, as they fuck her.”

  “How can it be her first time, though?” Azlin mused, missing the whole point. “She isn’t a virgin, and look, she is missing several body parts already!”

  “I don’t care,” I growled. “This isn’t alright.”

  “You didn’t care if she was a slave,” Taesa noticed. “But, cutting her up… yes… that’s a problem.”

  She was right.

  I really needed to think more about how I felt…

  “One hundred,” the Lizard hissed. Agitated, the beast twitched, and feathers spread out on his back like a rooster’s ruff. And, below his stomach, something that looked like an erection was forming.

  I looked away quickly. Staring at another man’s junk wasn’t on my top ten list.

  The Goblin pointed at the Lizard and shrieked, “One Hundred Golden Petals has been bid by Mr. Tliztluhtup.”

  “A thousand.”

  The words slipped out of my mouth before I could even think.

  The Goblin looked at me with a stunned expression, as I dropped my disguise and stepped forward.

  “Beggars aren’t bidders,” he snapped at me, which was fair. I looked like a beggar.

  “I am the son of Mog,” I proclaimed.

  The market became quiet.

  The Goblin stepped back in shock.

  Then, he smiled, exposing that several of his pointed teeth were gold.

  “The son of Mog has bid one-thousand Golden Petals,” he shouted in joy.

  “No!” Shy shouted.

  “Quiet,” the Goblin hissed, “Or, your sister dies.”

  Ah. So that was the game.

  Flames… actual green flames… simmered in Shy’s eyes, before she shut her mouth and stepped back.

  “Are there any other bids?” the Goblin shouted, looking at the Oni and the Lizard.

  Mr. Tliztluhtup ground his jaws together loud enough that I thought his teeth would shatter. Then, he shook his head from side to side, flickering his tongue in and out with irritation.

  The Goblin looked at the fat Oni.

  “He has no gold!” the monster shrieked. “Look at him, he is wearing a shirt for pants!”

  No one laughed. My father was universally feared, even if he was being held as a prisoner.

  “He is the son of Mog,” the Goblin replied. “That is all the currency he needs.”

  I hated using my father’s name as payment.

  It was time to make my own name and gold. Running through the Dark as a pauper was becoming a problem.

  The Oni shrieked again. Then, he hissed. “Two thousand.”

  The Goblin blinked hard.

  Then, he did a little spinning dance of pure happiness.

  “Two thousand Golden Petals for the right of First Mangulation!” he screamed.

  That cut it.

  “Dagaḍa Tvacā,” I growled.

  Stone flowed over my skin, darker than ever before. Usually, my granite was a dark gray, but this time, rock the color of basalt flowed over my features. Stretching, I grew taller and broader. My hair became thick, like a lion’s mane and Blister’s tattoos gleamed with a silver sheen that almost glowed.

  I hadn’t expected any of that. My tattoos had never glowed, and my skin was always a dull gray.

  But, the effect on the Oni was instantaneous.

  “Morikawa…” he gasped, looking at me like I was the demon from his nightmares.

  I had always assumed that Blister based my transformation on an Ogre. But, maybe the blood and magic that allowed me to take this form were from an Oni.

  “I retract my bids,” Mr. Shinzo stammered. “All of them.”

  Then, the Oni fled, leaving his chair, and his slaves behind.

  - 20 -

  The Goblin looked poleaxed.

  By retracting his bids, the Oni had lost the right to anything that he had purchased today, or possibly ever.

  “So do I,” Mr. Tliztluhtup blurted out, as he turned and fled as well. The crowd looked at the two of them in surprise.

  Their bids were both gone.

  “I bid one gold coin,” I said, as I stomped over to the Oni’s chair. In its haste to leave, the creature had left its money pouch behind.

  The Goblin scowled.

  “You bid one-thousand Golden Petals,” it hissed at me.

  “And, now I have changed my bid, which is my prerogative,” I said, holding up a single Golden Petal.

  Looking around, I asked. “Does anyone gainsay my right?”

  No one spoke.

  In fact, people were slipping away quietly.

  What the hell was a Morikawa?

  “No,” the Goblin hissed. “I will not sell my right of First Mangulation for such a paltry sum.”

  I moved closer to the stage.

  But, before I could speak, an Asian woman moved out of the darkness. She was wearing a green silk kimono. Pins and a bright green fan were styled into her hair in the back.

  “Then, you will lose your right to sell in the market,” Lady Shufen announced.

  Shy’s mother looked tired. I could see dark bags hidden under makeup, but they were there. And, she looked like she hadn’t eaten in days.

  “You no longer run the market, bitch,” the Goblin snapped back at her.

  I slipped forward and grabbed the creature by his neck. Then, I lifted him up into the air.

  “You will not speak to Oba Shufen like that,” I hissed at him. “Apologize immediately.”

  “Bazal, Stop!” Shy shouted. “They have taken my sister!”