Blood, Blades and Bacon (Thorns of the Shadow Book 1) Read online

  She hesitated for a moment. Reaching some kind of resolution, she took a fine silver chain that ended in a beautiful pendent of curved silver and emerald from around her neck. Its shape was indescribable, a complicated mesh of numerous patterns and designs. On every fine strip of silver were very small, golden inscriptions that were unreadable.

  “It’s beautiful…” breathed KT as she took in the object’s splendour. Jewellery had never really appealed to her but this was a work of art.

  Her aunt smiled. “It belonged to Ava. I’m still not exactly sure where she got it from. I believe it was from a suitor but she was always a very private girl, even to me. She’d intended to pass it onto her first daughter,” she faltered a moment, fighting against a sudden wave of emotions. “I want you to have it now. It is too beautiful to be worn by a tired old woman like me. It will look perfect on you, just like it did her. You both look so alike you know,” the woman finished, tenderly passing the chain to her niece.

  KT hesitated but Susan’s hand didn’t waver as she held it out to her niece. She took it slowly, admiring it for several seconds before sliding it over her head. She had seen pictures of Ava wearing it and wasn’t sure how to feel about having something else that tied her to the woman.

  She searched for words but couldn’t find anything that felt fitting. “Err, thanks,” she answered lamely.

  “Ah, but enough about all of that. There will be plenty of time to talk when I speak with you all tomorrow. No need to bring the tone down now. Were you reading anything interesting before I interrupted you?”

  KT assessed how much she should say before answering. “It’s a book about myths and legends. I’ve always found that kind of thing interesting. Have you ever seen anything unexplainable out here in the forest?” she asked as innocently as she could.

  Susan smiled at her. “Oh yes. I remember you reading about King Arthur the last time I saw you. Hmm. Around here? I’m afraid not. The forest only hides wild animals, snow and more trees. Scotland has a rich collection of myths but I’m afraid I am no expert.”

  KT hadn’t expected much but she still felt a sense of disappointment. She was about to try her luck and press the older woman further when the library door opened and KT’s father entered.

  Bob Redthorn was a tall man of slender build, healthy but not fit due to living behind a desk in an office job for fifteen years. His black hair was short and scruffy while his green eyes were shielded by a pair of sleek glasses. He looked relieved when he saw his daughter stood beside Susan.

  “KT!” he breathed in relief. “Kai started to shout the place down. Looks like nightmares but I couldn’t wake him up. He looks rough. I went to fetch you but you weren’t in your room. I came here since I remember you being fond of the place. It appears that you were in safe hands.”

  “I’m fine, dad,” she answered, somewhat annoyed that her parents were still making such a fuss about her. “I was just catching up with Aunt Susan,” she explained, her tone a little softer now.

  “That’s wonderful!” he said. “I’m so glad that everyone is getting on. I just hope that Kai won’t miss getting to spend time with us. He looks pretty ill. How was he when you last saw him?”

  KT tried to reassure her father. “He drank too much. Just kept throwing them back until he passed out. Me and mum dragged his sorry backside to bed then left him. I saw him pigging out on cheese at the buffet table too so that probably explains the nightmares.” Her dad was more likely to believe the truth than her mother but it would still have been a long shot, especially with Aunt Susan there.

  “But he doesn’t even like cheese,” began her father.

  “Alcohol makes you do strange things, wouldn’t you agree?” she replied accusingly.

  “I was forced into that dress!” he snapped defensively.

  “And the crude pictures that you painted on the car?”

  Her dad turned away. “Fine. Point taken. I’ll leave you to it then. See you both at breakfast,” he said before beating a hasty retreat.

  “He never changes,” said Susan with a faint smile, old memories glazing her eyes for a moment.

  Seeing her chance to escape, KT grabbed it with both hands. “I had better go and check on Kai. Where would they be without older sisters?” The fact that Susan was eleven years her brother’s elder while KT beat Kai out by minutes was irrelevant. Older was still older and she never let Kai forget it.

  “Agreed,” Susan said then laughed softly. “I will see you both later. Hopefully we can catch up some more.”

  “Of course. I’m sure Kai would love to get to know you,” KT lied sweetly. “See you later.”

  The second the library door clicked shut KT made her way down the corridor and entered Kai’s room. He was still unconscious and his skin and sheets were drenched in sweat. His skin was still paler than normal and his breathing looked slightly erratic. It was still an improvement from when she had left him.

  “Kai! Wake up!” she said firmly, shaking his shoulders, anxious to talk about the night’s events. He didn’t stir. Weighing up her options she chose the direct approach and punched him hard in the gut.

  “Gah!” he choked as he sat up violently. His eyes were now wide open. “What the hell!”

  “How do you feel?” KT asked, the seriousness of her tone instantly grabbed his attention.

  “Well I feel kinda tired and my stomach hurts but other than that I’ll be fine. I’m just a bit shook up by a weird nightmare I had. I was making out with this hot Swedish chick when she turned into a monster and tried to rape and kill me. It was sexy in that ‘I’m going to hell for this’ kind of way,” Kai said with a yawn.

  “What about the blond haired man with the gun?”

  Kai looked up suddenly. “Wait! How did you-”

  “It wasn’t a dream. You really were attacked by a succubus and saved by a blond haired man with a pistol,” KT explained, passing him the bullet cartridge as evidence.

  “But that can’t be real,” Kai murmured, clutching his head with his hands. “It makes no sense.”

  “You’re right,” she smiled, throwing him his coat. “That’s why we are going to find this Déaþscúa and learn what’s going on.”

  Kai staggered out of bed and eyed his sister sceptically. “Wait up. Even if all of this madness was real, how do you plan on finding him? A man like that could be anywhere. It’s a bloody big forest that we don’t really know, we have limited equipment for hiking through snow and there are apparently dirty great demons out there. Did that impact with the tree knock the sense out of you?”

  “See, you do remember! You know it was real. Look, Kai, what do we have going for us here? I failed on the first step towards getting the job of my dreams and you… well you're you. There is a whole other world out there. I can’t let that opportunity just fly past me without even trying to take it.”

  “Damn it, KT. If all of that is true it just means we shouldn’t do anything. People die in real life when scary shit starts happening. This isn’t a story where we just saunter into a magical war and become saviours of the damn universe. Chances are we’d just die painfully, never to be found.”

  KT bit her lip. “I know. But that could happen in a backstreet of any city. Every time we step out the front door could be our last but we don’t let that knowledge rule us. This could be the biggest decision of our lives. I have to try. Whether you come with me or stay, I’m going out to find him.”

  She turned from Kai and strode towards the door. Kai sat for a moment then growled angrily. “God damn it, KT. You know I can’t let you wander around alone.”

  She smiled innocently at him. “He won’t get far,” she said, her eyes sparkling in the dim light.

  Chapter 3.

  “Look, we aren’t going to find anything. We’ve searched the whole area,” Kai said as the twins plodded through the frozen forest. The light of day was only just beginning to dilute the darkness of night and the air was still bitterly cold. They’d found no f
urther clues to the man’s whereabouts.

  “Stop moaning!” KT snapped. “You were attacked in this very spot by a mythological monster. Surely you want to know what’s going on?”

  “Of course I do! It’s just that it all felt so…surreal.” Kai sighed as he suppressed another yawn. “If it wasn’t for you I’d have not given it a second thought. I just don’t know what you’re expecting to find. You think we’ll just stumble across a ring of power or a magic stone that will suddenly make all of your dreams come true?”

  KT kicked at the snow. “I don’t know. I just… I just want there to be something more. What we saw was real so who’s to say what else could exist too? I have to at least try to find out more.”

  “So what do you propose then? You said that dude told us not to go into the forest alone yet that is exactly the first thing that we’ve done.”

  “We aren’t alone. We have each other. Anyway, that thing took us by surprise. We’ll be ready if there is a next time. We can finally put those karate lessons to use. Not that I expect trouble during the day.”

  “You quit those lessons after three months.”

  “I was the only girl and everyone was scared to face me. They all either didn’t want to hurt a girl or didn’t want to be hurt by a girl. How was I supposed to improve in that environment? Anyway, you quit the week after me.”

  “Yeah. I didn’t like the couch. Old Barry, wasn’t it? He thought he was better than me.”

  “He was a blackbelt.”

  “That’s hardly the point. Aren’t kung-fu masters supposed to be all humble and shit? Not rub it in our face how high and mighty he is.”

  KT rubbed the back of her neck absently as she thought. Her mind wasn’t really on the conversation. Her eyes drifted across the trees and noticed the broken branches that marked where the succubus had fled into the sky. Thinking back she knew that the beast had flown south, deeper into the vast forest.

  She pointed in the direction that the succubus had gone. “We go that way.”

  “Yes, brilliant idea! Let’s go deeper into an ancient forest after finding out that monsters exist. What could possibly go wrong?” Kai mocked as he waved his arms around dramatically. Despite his sarcasm, it was the first time he had shown any sign of energy.

  “Think about it,” reasoned his sister. “That man appeared after you were attacked by the succubus. He wounded it but then had to help us. We can assume that he was some kind of monster hunter as he knew all about them and carried around that pistol. He helped us so he is probably an okay guy. He wouldn’t risk the succubus attacking someone else. It makes sense that he would finish off the job.”

  Kai shook his head. “South covers a big area you realise.”

  “You’re such a pessimist. We won’t know if we never try,” KT persisted.

  “I’m not a pessimist; I’m an optimist with a negative disposition. There is a difference,” said Kai, resolved to the fact that he knew his sister had already won.

  Knowing that she had won as well, KT wasted no time in venturing off into the forest. Kai followed behind miserably. He struggled to keep his tired eyes open but KT’s eyes constantly flickered back and forth in search for any signs of the quarry. Drops of blood, a footprint, some kind of trail, anything.

  “I’d probably avoid mum when we get back. She saw you last night and assumes you were drunk,” KT commented as they plodded around the trees without anything supernatural occurring.

  Kai made a snorting sound somewhere between anger and frustration. “Great. I get attacked and still end up having her breathing down my neck. I wish she’d just give up already.”

  “You know she just wants you to succeed.”

  “Look, there are always going to be people who're smarter, stronger, faster and more talented than me. Practice makes perfect but perfection is unobtainable so why practice? Dear ol’ Mum always said to play to our strengths and my strength just happens to be being a smartass bastard with a fondness for pretty girls. I am the best at what I do and nobody can take that away from me.”

  KT had no answer to that argument that she hadn’t used a hundred times before.

  They walked in silence for another half an hour without finding anything of note. Even KT was beginning to show signs of doubt. Kai had succumbed to his weariness and was basically asleep on his feet, his legs propelled by their own rhythm more than by conscious thought.

  “Can we go back now?” he asked through a yawn. “I think I’m starting to dream again. I can smell bacon.”

  KT was about to offer a scathing reply when the scent of bacon caught in her nostrils too. The smell caught her by surprise and caused her to miss her step. She tripped and fell to the floor. “You’re not imagining it,” she said, holding up her hand for Kai to help her up.

  Kai ignored her and ploughed forward through the trees, sniffing heavily like a dog following a scent. KT pulled herself up and followed behind him. After a few seconds he came to a sudden halt in a small clearing.

  “My bacon senses are tingling. It was cooked here,” he stated confidently. He stood there wetting his lips hungrily since KT had dragged him from the lodge before he could eat breakfast.

  KT caught up to him and it only took her a moment to find scattered ashes that indicated a fire had been lit there. Judging by the way that the ashes were positioned, she guessed that someone had sloppily tried kicking snow over the fire’s remains. A passer-by would likely not have spotted them but for someone who was even remotely aware of the ground it was obvious.

  “It had to have been him,” she said matter-of-factly. Placing her hand over the ashes she felt a slight resonance of warmth.

  “Why does it? Anyone can eat bacon. Hell, it should be law that everyone has to eat bacon at least once a week,” muttered Kai. He was still savouring the smell. His stomach growled in agreement.

  “Who else would be out in the middle of a Scottish forest on New Year’s day? It is the only logical answer. If only I knew which way he went.”

  “West,” grunted Kai.

  “Why west?”

  Kai shrugged offhandedly. “He is a man who has just filled up on bacon. He won’t be wanting to walk uphill. The ground slopes down to the west.

  “Damn it. Kai, you can’t base all of life’s decisions on bacon.”

  Kai shrugged, his face a mask of innocence. “Why not? It’s never let me down before.”

  KT sighed in defeat. “Fine. We’ll head west,” she agreed, before setting off down the slope.

  They walked for another twenty minutes without seeing any signs of anything unusual. Kai stumbled along, his tiredness rapidly reducing his ability to function. More than once he tripped on a root or a section of uneven ground and staggered into a tree. He yawned, swallowed his own saliva, and began to choke noisily.

  “You’re right. This is pointless. We’d never find a man like that if he didn’t want to be found,” KT said frustratedly. She took a deep breath then visibly sagged. “What the hell are we doing?”

  “Choking,” wheezed Kai.

  KT moved to help him but came to a sudden halt. Her entire body was alert as her eyes darted to a nearby bush. It shook slightly then became still again. She took a cautious step toward it then dived away as the bush exploded into motion.

  A greyish-green blur erupted from the undergrowth and shot past her, smashing straight into Kai’s back. He screamed out and span around with his arms swinging. Whatever had hit him jumped back and dashed around to the side ready to strike again at his blindspot.

  It was a creature about half Kai’s height with a scrawny build and tight, dirty grey skin that stretched over a knobbly skeleton. Jackal-like teeth gnashed hungrily while pale yellow eyes with slit pupils jittered across the two teens seeking weak spots to exploit. Its nose and ears were sharp like blades, almost as lethal looking as the chipped fingernails. It had no hair whatsoever.

  A feral screech tore from the monster’s cracked lips as it leapt at Kai’s back. It flew th
rough the air quicker than Kai could move. KT dashed to intercept the attack and slammed into the creature’s side. It hit the ground hard but bounced back up quickly. It looked half-panicked but wasted no time in grabbing a stone that it hurled at KT. She blocked it with her arm but the blow still came keen. While she was distracted the creature charged at Kai. He was ready for it this time and punched it in the face. The thing’s entire body shook with the blow but before Kai could withdraw his hand it clamped its teeth down upon his fist.

  There was an echoing crack and the monster exploded like a bloody firework. Dark blood splattered everywhere while bone fragments and tattered skin filled the air like grisly rain. Both teens whipped around to stare through the blood haze at the man beyond.

  Déaþscúa stood with his pistol pointed toward them, a frown on his rugged face. That strange look of confusion that he had shown the night before passed across his features once again. He stood like that for a few seconds then sighed as he holstered the revolver.

  “I hate teenagers. You specifically tell them not to do something and they go out of their way to do it,” His voice was more reserved than angry. He walked toward them. “How did you find me anyway? I can’t decide whether to be annoyed or impressed that you followed me.”

  Kai’s skin was ashen and he trembled where he stood. KT watched him stare at the creature’s corpse then at Déaþscúa. Anger flared in his eyes just for a moment but then his entire disposition changed, his body relaxing and a blank look settling across his face. His pride had always been stronger than his fear. KT both respected and hated how quickly he could switch off his emotions.

  He shook off the remains of the creature’s jaw from his wrist then wiped a coating of gore from his face before speaking. “What the hell was that?”

  Déaþscúa looked at the viscera as though seeing it for the first time. “Oh yeah. That. I’d forget my own head if Jearl didn’t occasionally reattach it. That charming little creature was a goblin. Nasty little buggers. Just like you two. Now go away. Go home and forget everything you’ve seen or I’ll be forced to wipe your minds,” Déaþscúa informed them offhandedly.