Chapter 7 – West

Last time on BTL: the Queen made a guest appearance as the boys had a little skirmish with the Queen’s guards. After things were settled, they went to pack up…and go West!

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Earth

“C! We’re not going to make it! We have too many wounded here!”

Jupe was right and we all knew it. With our backs turned and foreplay over. We were sitting ducks.

Chuck came up to us as we heard the hissing from behind.

“Come on, you pansies, let’s move it,” commanded Chuck. Taking my arm around him Chuck gave me leverage. Ras ran to Jupe and did the same. Gunblaze and Burnsy scouted ahead.

At that point I could have recited what the Sisters telepathically said to me and what they were going to do to us, but I chose not to. Their voices, projecting into my head, pounding with each syllable kept me off balance. Things were bad enough, going slow enough. I saw ahead of us that Gunblaze and Burnsy were at the vortex.

Three-fourths of the way there, I noticed the shadows starting to move. They cautiously moved closer to us, the predator taking full measure of the prey.

“C…” I said nervously trying to move my feet faster without fainting. Ras and Jupe had pulled fifteen feet ahead of us. It was then that Chuck stopped and breathed heavily.

“Chuck?” I looked at him as he sat me down. He took off his trenchcoat. I had never seen him without it on. He covered me completely with it.

Poking my head out I said, “What the heck is going on? What are you doing?”

His voice gruff, “Stay underneath the coat, or you will die.”

“What?!”

He jerked his head and looked me in the eyes. “Get under the fucking coat!!”

I heard them getting ready to attack. I threw the coat over me again. In my head, they were laughing at me. And then…then I heard Chuck. And through a bullet hole in the coat I saw him. My mouth dropped as I saw the magic-user that was attached to him, soul-linked and situated as if it was riding piggy-back turn visible. My eyes widened as he began to chant and his eyes sparked. And my heart stopped as he let loose a blinding light spell. Even through the tiny hole my skin started to immediately sizzle. I screamed. With pain. With sorrow and exhaustion.

And just as it began, the pain stopped, and the coat was lifted.

Chuck grabbed me with both his hands and jerked me face to face with him.

“My god,” I gasped.

“NOT A WORD!” he growled.

My eyes inched over to Chuck’s back but the magic-user had turned invisible again.
Chuck lifted me and carried me the rest of the way. Coming out of the tunnel we saw our group waiting by the vortex.

“What was that noise and light?” asked Burnsy.

Chuck did not stop and as he was going into the vortex he grunted, “Your salvation.”
Burnsy looked at the rest of them and shrugged his shoulders. They followed us into the shimmering light.

Out into the real world it was daylight and Chuck immediately put his coat on top of me. I heard the whirling of the chopper blades nearby.

*Thump-thump* (169 bpm)

Chuck barked orders at the group as they got onto the chopper. I sensed a lifting sensation. Looking through one of the holes I saw Gunblaze and Burnsy leaping into the chopper and five feet away Ras helping Jupe. They got to the chopper and with Jupe’s bum leg, Ras cupped his hands and lifted Jupe to safety. The chopper now five feet in the air, Ras grabbed onto the railing as the chopper lifted itself and him off the ground. Sensing we were out of danger I drew a breath and let it out.

As I let it out, Ras’ head jerked back. And climbing up by shoving her hands deep into his legs was one of the vampires. Everyone went to the edge, Chuck holding onto Ras as the others punched and kicked at the creature.

“Hold on, buddy!” Chuck yelled above the engine of the chopper.

“Get…her off!” gargled Ras. Blood spewed out of his mouth as the creature punctured through his sides.

The creature thrusted another hand into his back.

“Mother fucker! Mother fucker!” cried Jupe. His face turning beat red.

*Thump-thump* (100 bpm)

Another hand thrust.

“Bitch!”

“Let me through!” Burnsy came up with his two pistols. He emptied both guns into her face. This caused her to slide down to his waist, but her hands cut a foot long opening in his back.

*Thump-thump* (75 bpm)

“Christ!”

Jupe dug around his pack and produced a double barrel shotgun. Chuck holding onto Ras’ arms Jupe aimed down, his body half out of the chopper with Gunblaze holding onto his legs.

“Eat it!” Jupe butted the shotgun against the face of the creature. The gun exploded its shrapnel forward and the head of the vampire exploded. Her body detached now and fell fifty feet to the ground in a wet thud.

“Get him up! Get him up!”

*Thump-thump* (40 bpm)

Chuck pulled him up. Muscle, sinew, and bone hung out of his back.

“Come on, now,” Chuck got up in Ras’ face. “Come on. You’ve had worse. Stay with me!”

Jupe yelled at him. “Come on, now! Come on, look at us, focus!”

*Thump-thump* (25 bpm)

Ras’s eyes slid over to me and I weakly showed him the Book for which we came for. He smiled slightly.

“Ras?!”

*Thump-thump* (15 bpm)

His head rolled over and the glint of the cross on his necklace hit my eye.

“Come on, now!”

*Thump-thump* (5 bpm)

*Thump-….

“Oh…shit.”
“God.”
“No.”
*……..*

Acadia

“‘ng? Yo! ”

I shook my head into present mode and looked over at Butress who was packing his bag. My fingers were rubbing the cross that used to hang on Ras’ neck. The faith behind it although fading still heated my fingers.

“You’ve been staring out the window for five minutes now. Thought I was gonna have to give you mouth to mouth in order to get you going.” He grinned.

“Spare me the fantasies, young man. ” I quipped. “I’m ready…just thinking.”

Butress looked down at his bag and nodded. “Come on, we don’t want the drill sergeant kept waiting.”

We were the first two out of our group to make it to the commons area in front of Burny’s. Through one of the windows, I could make Burnsy out giving orders to everybody and shaking his finger at Jonesy. HS, Chuck, and Jupe rode up on stallions and behind them was one extra horse for me, Butress, and Burnsy. Burnsy came out the swinging doors of the bar and promptly turned around and cupped his hands.

“And don’t use the good stuff until I get back!”

We watched Burnsy walk up to us with his hand rubbing his forehead.

“It’s so hard to find good work on this world.”

Chuck looked at him. “I could straighten them out for you.”

“YOU…” Burnsy launched a middle finger in Chuck’s face. “…be QUIET! I’ve had about enough of your intrusion into my affairs!”

Even over Burnsy’s yelling we heard it. For it whined and droned and irritated us beyond comprehension. We heard it and all the horrors that go with it. We heard the voice of Lil Skold, Gunblaze’s bard.

“And then I was driving the coach with four horses one black and white one white one tan one black with four wheels and a seat and I was driving it down by the river *weeeoooowwwmmmm* like that driving it down by the river. I ran over a dog a cat a rat and a fat obese woman that was slow. So that’s why I was late.”

Gunblaze rode in front of Lil Skold on his pure white mare and Skold rode on a donkey. When they met up with us, Gunblaze opened his helmet plate and looked at us.

“How the hell do you stand his prattling?!” asked Jupe.

Gunblaze cocked his head. Then he held up a finger. Reaching up to his helmet he took it off to reveal matted sweaty hair.

“I’m sorry, what did you say? I can’t hear a damn thing with this on.”

“Never mind.” growled Jupe as he turned away.

“Listen up group!” commanded Chuck. “We have not explored this world enough to know of the true dangers it may hold for us. If you want to bow out now, I will not blame you nor condemn you. I can only promise you that if mileena is found you will have a chance to go back home. Beyond that, luck and imagination may take us elsewhere.” Chuck looked over the group. Only Buttress muttered something incomprehensible.

“Aw, hell, Chuck,” gutturalled Burnsy. “Every world is the same when it comes to two things: danger and their women. Every world has danger and all their women are pink inside. Heh heh.” He held up his hand for anyone to high five him but was left hanging.

“OH!” cried Gunblaze. “YOU!” He pointed a gauntleted finger at him. “You disgust me. Cover your ears Lil Skold!”

“But, but…” stammered Lil Skold as he covered his ears, “I thought a woman’s blood was RED!”

Gunblaze waved Burnsy away from them. “Oh, it IS Lil Skold. It is. Get away from us dirty man!”

Burnsy turned his horse to the west and began to trot away. “That boy will learn some things if’n he stays around me!”

“Let’s go!” yelled Chuck. “Jupe and HS have got the point, Butress and engma cover the rear, everyone else in between. Say goodbye to civilization!”

In my mind, I still didn’t know if I had made the right decision. Friends or the city and the sheer number of people that were under my protection. No matter, I had made the decision to go west. I still couldn’t help but feel that when we came back to Windhaven, she wouldn’t be quite the same.

“Strike up a tune, Lil Skold!” ordered Gunblaze.

“Oh, god.” muttered Burnsy.

Lil Skold played the beginning chords of a song.

“Oh my god.” I turned to Gunblaze. “You taught him a ‘Pet Shop Boys’ song?!”

“Only but the best from here on out!” exclaimed Gunblaze. “Hit it Skoldy!”

Skold had the chorus, Gunblaze the soprano, Jupe the bass, and the rest tenor:

West – Pet Shop Boys

*TOGETHER we will go our way,
TOGETHER we will leave some day
TOGETHER your hand in my hand,
TOGETHER we will make our plans
TOGETHER we will fly so high,
TOGETHER tell all our friends goodbye
TOGETHER we will start life new,
TOGETHER this is what we’ll do

GO WEST life is peaceful there
GO WEST in the open air
GO WEST where the skies are blue
GO WEST this is what we’re gonna do
(GO West, this is what we’re gonna do,
Go West)

And that is just what they did. They went West. To find a woman named mileena. Kill a dragon. And meet the mysterious elves.

-Next, the beginning of Part Two…..”Explorations”!