DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Dragonbane
HTML https://dragonsbane.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Creative Corner
*****************************************************
#Post#: 163--------------------------------------------------
Black Ties: Part 1
DIR By: Gallowtree
Date: September 27, 2020, 6:58 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
<I took some time after writing Ghostbreaker to re-examine Max,
and think about what I wanted to do with him. I had the idea
that he would be part of a bigger unit or team devoted to
combating dangerous supernatural menaces. The idea stuck, and
evolved into a partial book called "Black Ties". I plan on
trying to un--Dresden Files the story to attempt to make it my
own. On account of the stupid character limit here, I'll have to
post it chapter by chapter, so please bear with me. As with
Ghostbreaker, all of this material is copyright me, Peter Ivey.
Thanks, and enjoy!>
Chapter 1
I moved quickly up the snowy hedge along the pathway. The
little alleyway that ran a few feet below the hedges was
unmarked by tracks of any kind. The night was clear, and the
full moon above turned the landscape of the deserted park into a
study in whites, greys, and blacks. Remembering my training, I
scooped some snow into my mouth to chill my breath – damn that’s
cold! Well, if they don’t see my breath, they’ll hear my teeth
chattering anyway! This was not my type of fight, all this
sneaking around. I was a fighter, face to face, fist to fist,
and I'd known that from childhood. A straight fight beat this
sneaking around, any day. Being under the command of a guy who
served in World War 2 as an intelligence officer had a lot to do
with our approach, I mused. Alfred Bromwell, our handler, had
been doing this stuff for a long, long time. Could this be
Carentan, the sequel? That’s a cheery thought. For a Brit,
though, Brom was damned impressive. I winced a little,
remembering our last sparring match – the old guy still had some
dirty maneuvers that left me hurting the morning after. You
know how to fight, he had said, now show me how you can avoid
one. Feeling suddenly a little less confident, I lowered
himself down into the snowbank by the hedge to reduce my
profile.
So far, so good, I reflected, settling in. The other ‘Black
Ties’ were also in the area, not too far from my position..
Black Ties. Phagh. Again, another affectation from antiquity
–might just have gone whole hog, and called us the ‘Dirty
Dozen.’ Yeah, I muttered to myself, great movie. Never
thought I’d be playing it out though; the high and mighty ruling
body of wizardry, White Council had something execution-worthy
over all the Black Ties, and now each one of us BTs were working
toward an eventual parole, say, in about fifty years. Gage,
one of my partners, was just a kid really…what a way to spend a
life! And my other partner, Dante...lord, what kind of life
could he look forward to? Of my companions, I knew that Dante
at least was keeping warm in the dead of this winter’s night.
As if on cue, the stone that hung on a leather strap against my
chest vibrated ever slightly. I dug into my coat to wrap my
hand around it…I muttered quietly…ya?
Two dudes in leather coming down the alleyway, Max…ten feet west
of me…stay frosty…the stone hummed out from Dante to resonate
within my skull.
Your sense of humor is refreshing, my Faustian friend, I
hummed back.
I’m glad you two are having a good time – I’m goddamned
freezing! Gage beamed back. Funny, I think that’s the first
time the stones have conveyed attitude. I smirked, even though
I felt little snowballs forming on my beard down in the snow.
They were coming.
The snow crunched under their feet, suddenly loud in the quiet,
snowy realm of High Park. I knew from how heavy their feet fell
that they were meaty, but not entirely unbalanced, which meant
they could be tough…I flexed my hands, knuckles popping as I
considered the prospect of having to take these guys out. Each
footstep was bringing them closer to me. But we're just
supposed to observe, right?
Through the hedge, I could make out two dark shapes, both
somewhat slender through the waist, and weirdly bulky through
the torso and shoulders…good God, they were built like pro
wrestlers. I was very glad that there were only two of them.
Great puffs of exhalation floated above their heads, and they
stalked more than they walked. As if they were expecting
trouble. What the hell was this? At nearly a dozen feet from
him, I suddenly could feel something different coming off of
the Hulkster-like figures, something that buzzed like the
after-effects of a spell. Magic? Low level, but definitely
something there. I wondered if Gage got a whiff of it; Dante
wouldn't have. I had to warn them, somehow – this was not what
we expected at all.
I curled my hand around the stone, and drew a complete blank.
What would be brief, but understandable…crap! They were close
now, almost in front of the hedge. I could see leather jackets
hung with chains wrapped around their torsos, nearly bursting
with the pure muscle mass they concealed. And…was that
hair…or…mane? Wasn’t that special. Special. Wunderbar! That
would do fine. Using as low a tone as possible, I spoke.
They’re special. One of the figures lifted an oddly bristled
nose, and looked over in my direction. Very, very special! The
brute leapt forward with one foot and bounded into the hedge
towards me.
Wunderbar!
*****************************************************
Page 1 of 1