Black Knight Chapter 1

Tales of the Black Knight





Episode 1



Chapter 1(Good Doggy)



         I tore through the dark, damp, streets and back ally’s of what I had originally thought to be a relatively small town. I was carefully amending my previous assumption as I frantically searched for the right street. Normally I have a pretty decent sense of direction, even in a place I’m not wholly  familiar with. Its really not hard if you take time to pay attention and set landmarks. Not just the big ones like statues and historical locations, of witch this town had few. Simple things like trees, yes trees. They are as individually unique and distinct as people, and if you pay attention, they make great landmarks. The current fact that it was dark, that the recent rain storm had left a bank of fog over the town, and the simple fact that I was running for my life, made that normally easy task, slightly more difficult.



         I took in my surroundings as quickly as possible, the house to my left, the dead end road to my right, and the street that continued to stretch out before me. I also took in the unearthly howl from the darkness that was growing progressively closer no matter how fast I ran. My heart thundered in my chest and the pounding resonated through my whole body making that little bit harder to concentrate. Taking a deep breath I took a few seconds to calm my heart rate and steady my breathing. Cant say it made me feel all that much better but it gave me enough peace of mind to do some steady reasoning.



         A little trick I learned a long time ago, mainly from reading Sherlock Holmes novels. One, dropping to the ground I pressed my ear to the wet pavement and listened, “OK scooby doo, where are you?” I could hear the faint thump of my pursuer. This meant it was only a few minutes behind me and closing fast. Two, getting to my feet and closing my eyes I listened carefully till I found the sound on the air that I was looking for, running water, it was next to me to my right, witch meant what I was looking for was about half a mile up the road. Finally three... or it least there would have been a three but a blood curdling screech from the far end of the street sent the agenda strait ahead to screw the steps and run like hell.



         So, all decisions being set by current events I took off like a bat out of hell, whatever that means. Though id like to think of myself as a professional I have to admit to a small amount of panic as I tore down the street, OK maybe more then a small amount. I suppose this is as good a time as any to explain the situation a little. My name is Jim Knight, I’m in my late twenties, about six foot even, not particularly handsome or even distinct, you could easily walk past me on the street and not even notice me, and that’s how I like it. Kind of narrow in the face with brown hair in a relatively plain style. Real hero types aren’t GQ models, their not flashy or have cool gadgets like batman. I'm not sure id count as anything close to a real hero, but I know I have managed to do some real good in my time.



         The real people that make a real difference work in the background an that’s how they like it. That’s me, I’m a background person, and if I do my job right, you’ll never know what really happen. For the concern of the so called normal people, I’m a paranormal investigator and consultant. Its not a lie, not really, lets just say that the “Paranormal” as you think of it is what I would call the tip of one hell of a big iceberg, with a few nasty little things frozen in it. Most people do tend to see my kinda as somewhat eccentric, or down right nuts. However there are things that go bump in the night, then there are things that go bang in it, then things that crawl in your window and suck your soul out through your eyeballs, strip the flesh from your bones then use those bones as either tooth picks or furniture placements in their lair. That’s my department, and that’s how I ended up in this delightful situation. I love my job.

         

         Huffing at the end of the street my gaze, cloudy as it was, landed on the subject of my quest, the South street bridge. I put my hands on my knees and leaned forward in relief. The bridge was right there and I... was still about 50 yards away, Crap! I managed to get traction enough to run a half second before a long, large set of claws came down on the pavement were once I stood. Ever have one of those dreams where you run but cant get anywhere? Well they feel a lot like trying to haul ass on a slippery street with a pissed off, ugly ass, creature chasing you. Fortunately, being a thinker on my feet decided that a baseball slide would solve the last few feet problem. Grace, just for reference, is not my middle name, nor is it even a nick name, but what I lack in finesse I make up for in a primal desire to stay alive. So though my slide to the center of the bridge may have left more then its fair share of road rash, I was on my feet in about a half a second and to the railing wear I had stowed some gear just before sun down.



         I retrieved a six foot staff of ash wood carved with runes and designs from the outer railing of the bridge and gripping it tight I slammed the end down on the pavement with a satisfying thump. Looking up I saw my pursuer screech to a halt right at the edge of the bridge.



         It was shaped like a wolf, but it was at least the size of a bear, on rabies, with a touch of Gama radiation induced mutation in there. Its body was...inside out. That’s the only way one could describe it, with a carapace of bone and muscle straining and oozing underneath. The muscle and gristle glistened with some kind of sweat or ooze. And the skull was something out of your worst nightmares, with saber tooth tiger style fangs protruding from its white boney mouth. To make matters worse, two green lights seem to glow deep in otherwise empty eye sockets. The Hound of Tindalos was a sight to behold, and a terror that went right to your soul. I stared for a moment and swallowed hard trying to keep my heart rate below attack level. Taking in a deep breath I quirked my lips in a grin and tried to look relaxed. “You know,” I said, a little wobbly, “you should really stop picking at that, its going to get infected.”



         The hideous mass of flesh and bone before me wailed in anger and frustration and dug its claws into the pavement, getting ready for a spring. I thrust my staff in front of me and had to fight not to shout out, you shall not pass! The hound growled low in its throat and lowered its self, ready to lunge and rip me to shreds, but something was holding it back and it didn’t seem to know what. Fortunately I did, and I let myself relax just a little bit. Running water grounds out energy the closer you get, and being on a bridge over the fairly fast paced current of the towns river, the hounds power was not at its peek and it clearly had no clue why. I was safe... kinda, as long as it was confused and uncertain it might not attack right away. Trouble was, all power is dampened by running water, including mine. Fortunately I had a plan, not a great plan in retrospect, and not a safe plan, but at least it was a plan. On top of that, I was pretty sure the hound didn’t have a plan, they weren’t known for their brains. With a slow cautious step I began backing up toward the other edge of the bridge, but the hound caught even the slightest motion and growled. It edged forward wearily, the instinct of danger waring with its primary instinct to tear things apart.



         I kept moving slowly backwards, never taking my eyes off the hounds, and trust me that is no easy task. Looking into the eyes of a beast from the outer dimensions is not something you do for fun. Its like looking into the dark closet when your a child and seeing every nightmare you’ve ever had staring back at you just waiting for you to fall asleep so they can pounce. If I let them my legs would have frozen up in a heart beat and that would have been it. The worst part was I had no idea how far I had moved nor how far to the other side of the bridge. I knew full well that if I took my eyes of the hound for a second, it would pounce. Plus, something else was wrong, I wasn’t sure what, but as I continued to back up, warning bells were going off in my head. Keeping my eyes centered on the hounds face I took in as much as I could and... oh crap.



         In the span of a second, I realized what was the matter and what I had missed, and my breath caught in my throat. With out realizing it, my coarse had been altered. I had been so focused on keeping eye contact with my adversary that I had failed to noticed how as I had been slowly shifting toward the other end of the bridge, the hound had been slowly shifting to the other side of the bridge. It hadn’t stepped onto the bridge as yet, but it had move the opposite corner causing me to shift my position witch now left me with my back to the side railing. I was really going to have to reevaluate my estimation of their intelligence. Now I was in trouble, real trouble and bone face knew it. I swear, if I didn’t know better id say the damn thing was grinning at me. Must have been a trick of the light. This night was not going the way I planned, and it was such a simple plan. One lead it to the river, two cross the river and get it to follow, three wait till it was in the middle of the bridge and take advantage of its weaken state with a spell to break apart its construct body. Now doesn’t that sound really flipping simple?



         Now I had my back against a wall... or at least a guard rail, but the over all peril and shorts soiling fear is pretty much the same. On top of that, the hound had decided that I was not so much of a threat anymore and was moving in for the kill. Seems it was all that worried about the water anymore, when it could simply rip me in half with its claws, great... Now I had a plan B, but I really didn’t want to run with it. In the case of this plan B the B stood for BAD flipping idea. Though given the choice between a bad plan B and being nightmare dog chow...ah hell.



         The hound dropped to a crouch and sprung, and the world slowed. They do it in movies all the time, that one dynamic scene were time seems to slow down to a crawl. Looks really cool on the big screen. In real life, its not so cool, but it dose have its advantages if you know how to capitalize on it. As the hound came at me I pushed off from the rail and dropped into another baseball slide, slapping my left hand to the pavement and drawing power into the small string bracelet on my wrist. A simple black hemp number with thirteen tiny skull charms on it. As I focused the power and channeled it into the skulls they began to glow a sickly green. Using the momentum I still had I slid onto my back as the hound soared above me. I kept contact with the ground until two of the charms were full and then broke the contact.

         

         The hounds claws slammed into the ground on either side of my head and I heard the splintering of wood. The damn dog had broken my staff. That was annoying enough but on top of that I was nearly overwhelmed with the stench of grave rot. Managing to keep my wit, and my lunch down I raised my right hand and up and placed it against the hounds underside and released the power. The energy I had used to fill two of the skull charms exploded up my left arm and into my body. It felt like a million slimy, deathly cold, tendrils moving around in my soul. The power coursed down my right arm and culminated in my hand, were I released it. There was an explosion of green fire and crackling greenish lightning, and I heard the hound scream in the most horrible way as it was consumed by the green fire. Then, all went dark.



             I lay there for a moment catching my breath in the darkness. The release of energy had knocked out the lamps on the ends of the bridge. Thankfully I had only used a level two blast or the whole town might have gone dark. I wanted to get up, but my head was spinning, my breath still coming quick and shallow, and my body was chilled to the bone. I hate to use the dead mans bracelet, but as I said, better that then being dog chow. The bracelet of thirteen skulls or the dead mans bracelet as it was known, was old and dangerous magic that very few practitioners knew how to make let alone use, and for good reason. The skulls take in energy and twist it to the dark side, turning the life energy of the world into anti life energy or necro magic. Once twisted it could be used in all kinds of ways and all of them dark. This made it a tool not to use unless absolutely necessary, and even then you really should take a couple of days to debate it with your self. Using Necro Magic felt like slimy ice cold ethereal tentacles squirming around your soul and freezing it to the core. In short, you use it, you feel like crap afterwords. What I call a soul hangover, and it sucked.



         Slowly the lights at one end of the bridge came back as the local ether cleared from the blast and I could dimly see around me. The hound was gone. Small piece of ectoplasmic goo were steaming and evaporating around me. Once the hounds power had been blasted away, its fragmented body dissolved into the ectoplasm of the shadow zone. For now the hound of Tindalos was gone, at least until some other moron called up one of its kind again. However everything I had found out since taking on this case indicated that it had been called up by accident this time, so there was little chance of a repeat performance. Still, people should be more careful. When you find a forgotten native American village hidden deep in a swamp with skeletons decorating it. Its a safe bet that you should get the hell out of there and forget you saw a damn thing.         

         

         Taking in a deep breath I managed to sit up and look around. With the strengthening light from the remaining lantern I could see the last of the goo dissolving. At least there would be no traces left over, and I could probably pass this all off as a wild bear attack or something. I could also see my shattered staff. Almost two months of work and now it was little more then kindling, irritating. Movement in the corner of my eye drew my attention to the ground right next to me. I nearly shit my self as I saw the skull head of the hound lying there, starting to dissolve but still only in the early stages. Whats worse was the green glow from the otherwise hollow eye socket was still there, though it seem to be fading. Feeling that this decapitated skull was no real threat I got to my feet and stood over it, still keeping a weary distance.



         “Looks as though things didn’t go so well for you this time, huh?” I said. The hounds fading eye swiveled to me and a rasping sound came from the slack jaws. I leaned closer, though not too close and put a hand to my ear mockingly. “Whats that you say? Speak up now, don’t be mumbling.”

“We do not understand.” It rasped as it began to melt away in an ever expanding puddle of goo. I smiled a little, “don’t understand how I kick your bony ass? That what you mean?” As the last of the hounds skull began to dissolved the faint glow of its eye focused on me, “we do not understand why you fight against your own kind...”

         

         The remaining part of the skull melted away to goo witch was already starting to evaporate and I stared at the puddle with my mouth hanging open. What the hell had it meant by that. “Fight against my own kind?” I repeated. Part of me, a big part wanted to shrug the words off. It was just the hound trying to get into my head, but I really didn’t think the hound was that smart. Oh sure it had been smart enough to back me into a corner but any predator worth its teeth could do that, but I really didn’t think it was smart enough to drop a mind bomb like that on someone.



         Walking to the railing I turned and looked out at the river rippling beneath me with the half moons light playing along its current. This added a new piece to the puzzle. A twenty eight year puzzle that I was no closer to solving then I had been when I fist discovered it. The worst part was, this piece not only added to the puzzle but changed the picture entirely. I sighed and took off my hat, letting the cool night air dry my sweat soaked face and matted hair. My thoughts quickly settled, they usually do. There was no sense dwelling on a strange bit of information spoken by a dieing monster. I resolved to file it away and ask Mickey about it when I got home. This bombshell however, didn’t feel like it was going to be content in storage and I sighed again, “well gang, looks like we’ve got another mystery on our hands...”



Chapter 2 (Coming soon)