The Castrator - Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov (most read books in the world of all time .txt) 📗

EXACTLY WHAT HAD HAPPENED. AND THEY WOULD HARDLY HAVE BEEN CRIMINALLY LIABLE ANYWAY. BUT ELLAR WONDERED WHAT HAD CAUSED DURAITH TO ACT THE WAY HE DID.

WILLIE ELLAR WAS ABOUT FIFTY-FIVE - WITH THE LOOKS OF A DASHING COWBOY, A REAL WOMAN-BREAKER, A PROEDOH BY BIRTH, A PARTY-GOER AT HEART, AND AN EXCELLENT HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT AND WEAPON-HANDLING EXPERT. HE WAS TRULY AN ACCOMPLISHED STREET SOLDIER.

THE ROCKERS RETIRED AND MADE A SORT OF BIVOUAC FIFTEEN MILES FROM THE KESHENA, TAKING CARE NOT TO BE TOO CONSPICUOUS FOR THE FIRST TIME.

GUS HAD INSTRUCTED DURAITH THAT IF THEY JOINED IN THE ADVENTURE, THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO GAIN SOMETHING OF FELISTER'S LEGACY.

THE ENHAR DURAITH DIDN'T SEEM PARTICULARLY PLEASED, BUT THEN AGAIN, HIS MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE GAVE HIM SOME REASON TO AT LEAST ASSUME THAT THE GHASS POSSESSED POWERS BEYOND ORDINARY HUMAN CAPABILITIES.

- 'YOU'LL HAVE YOUR ANSWERS SOON ENOUGH,' GAS PROMISED HIM, 'BUT YOUR FRIENDS SHOULD HELP ME TOO, OR AT LEAST GIVE IT A TRY.

DURAITH CLIMBED ONTO THE BIKE AND PULLED AWAY. HE WAS ABOUT TO TELL THE SHABBY STORY OF ELER, WHO COULD EVEN FIND HIMSELF HANGED FOR NOT SHOWING ENOUGH MANLINESS - AS THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THIS BREAKAWAY FROM THE SOCIAL NORMS AND LAWS ROCKERS GANG UNDERSTOOD IT.

PERHAPS A QUARTER OF AN HOUR PASSED BEFORE DURAITH ARRIVED AT THE BIVOUAC OF HIS FELLOWS. THE ROCKERS HAD BUILT A FIRE AND HAD STOLEN SOME LAMB FROM A NEARBY FARM, AND NOW THEY WERE WILLINGLY PICKING AT THE CARRION, ENJOYING EVERY BIT OF WHAT THEY HAD CAPTURED.

AS HE DROVE LIKE A MADMAN TO THE BIVOUAC, DWIGHT HAD THE FEELING THAT SOME PERVERTED, INVISIBLE, UNCLEAN CREATURE HAD TOUCHED THE COLD MUZZLE OF A REVOLVER TO HIS TEMPLE, NOT TO PRODUCE A DEADLY SHOT, BUT TO REMEMBER THE ORDER OF BENZOUR, WHO HAD HIRED HIMSELF TO COMPENSATE THEM IN SOME-NOT YET QUITE DEFINITE-WAY.

IT HAD BEGUN TO GET DARK AND THE GRASSES AROUND LOOKED LIKE SOME KIND OF UNCLEAN GHOSTS CASTING BLACKISH-BLUISH-GREEN SHADOWS.

ELLER GREETED THE SECOND GANG LEADER NOT IN A GOOD MOOD, BUT STRANGE AS IT WAS, HE WAS IN NO HURRY TO ATTACK HIM OR ASK THE FIRST QUESTION - JUST MEASURING HIM WITH A LOOK OF THE MOST CARING KIND. THE REST OF THE MOTORCYCLE THUGS WERE PICKING THEIR TEETH AT THE DELICIOUS CHUNKS OF LAMB, AND SOME HAD EVEN TAKEN TO COOKING THEMSELVES A LOVELY LAMB STEAK, AS THEY COULD AT LEAST REST FOR AN HOUR OR TWO BEFORE FINALLY DECIDING WHAT TO DO.

THEY DIDN'T SEEM TO PAY ANY ATTENTION TO DURAITH, BUT IN REALITY THERE WAS A WILD RAGE RAGING IN THEIR SOULS AT BEING MADE FOOLS OF - THEY WERE LIKE BLIND MEN WHO WANTED TO LEARN SOMETHING IMPORTANT, AND DURAITH WAS THEIR MESSENGER.

ELLER WAS DRINKING WATER FROM SOME SORT OF TUBE - LIKE A REAL "DEGREE WOLF" AS SOME MEMBERS OF THE GANG WERE SOMETIMES JOKINGLY CALLED. HE THEN SET ABOUT THOROUGHLY WASHING HIMSELF OF ALL THE SMOKE HE HAD COLLECTED ALONG THE WAY.

INCIDENTALLY, THE GANG'S RIDES WERE OF A WIDE VARIETY OF BRANDS, FROM HARLEY DAVIDSON TO KAWASAKI AND EVEN ROYAL EAGLE. IN GENERAL, THERE WERE SOME REAL CONNOISSEURS AMONG THE GANG MEMBERS, AS THEIR IRON HORSES CRISS-CROSSED THE UNITED STATES FAR AND WIDE, GIVING THEM THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET AWAY QUICKLY AND SAFELY FROM POSSIBLE PURSUIT BY THE AUTHORITIES.

ROCKERS USUALLY DRANK HARD - ESPECIALLY AFTER CARRYING OUT SOME MORE SERIOUS POGROM. BUT ELLER HAD ISSUED ORDERS FOR THEM TO BE AS SOBER AS A HIGH SCHOOL GIRL IF THEY WANTED A PIECE OF THE PIE.

WHEN DURAITH APPROACHED AND BEGAN TO EXPLAIN GUS BENZOUR'S REQUEST, ELLER LISTENED TO HIM CAREFULLY - WITHOUT DROPPING THE USUAL PROFANITIES AND THREATS THAT THOSE BASTARDS WOULD PAY.

THEN SAID TO HIM THOUGHTFULLY:

- "UNLIKE US, WHO COULD BE LEFT AS DOGS IN THE ROAD, KILLED IN SOME RANDOM GUNFIGHT AND NO ONE WOULD REMEMBER US, THE INDIANS TAKE CARE OF THEIR DEAD," HE POINTED WITH HIS HAND INTO THE DARKNESS, "THERE IS AN INDIAN CEMETERY NOT FAR FROM HERE. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE NATIVES SAY? THE SHAWNEE AND HURON INDIAN CEMETERIES IN KANSAS ARE EXAMPLES OF THIS, AND WE'RE JUST WAITING FOR A BULLET IN THE FOREHEAD!"

AFTER STARING INTO THE TWILIGHT, FROM WHICH EVERYTHING SEEMED ABLE TO CRAWL, HE CUT OFF:

- YOUR FRIEND HAS A REALLY UNUSUAL PROPOSITION, BUT WHAT THE HECK, THE LOOT MIGHT BE GOOD. I'VE HEARD THAT THE OLD FELISTER WAS A RATHER SINISTER AND BRUTAL SORT. I'VE ALSO HEARD ABOUT THE POLICE RAID ON HIS FARM. YEAH, APPARENTLY IT'S ALL BLOODY WEIRD?

ELLER WAVED A HAND AT DURAITH SINCE DURAITH WAS MORE SENIOR THAN HIM:

- LET'S GET BACK TO THE OTHERS! WE'LL HEAR THEIR OPINION TOO.

THE GROUP HAD EATEN THE DELICIOUS LAMB, AND SOME OF ITS MEMBERS HAD LIT A CACHAQUE TO PASS THE TIME.

AFTER A BRIEF CONVERSATION BETWEEN THEM, THE TWO HAD LAID OUT THEIR PROPOSED GASSES, WHICH, THOUGH UNUSUAL, ATTRACTED THEIR ATTENTION.

- "FUCK HIM," ROARED A STOUT FAT MAN, "WE'RE FROM HELL, AND IF FELISTER ISN'T AN EXAMPLE OF SOMEONE WHO'S BEEN IN CONTACT WITH HELL, I DON'T KNOW WHO WOULD BE. LET'S SEE WHAT THE FAT FARMER WAS HIDING."

THE OTHERS MUTTERED SOME VAGUE AND NOT VERY CENSORIOUS LINES.

THEY COULDN'T STAY HERE TOO LONG, AND SOME DECIDED TO TAKE A LITTLE NAP, AS GUS HAD OFFERED TO ESCORT THE GROUP TO BLUEBIRD AND OURSELVES, AND IN RETURN THEY COULD CLAIM SOMETHING FROM THE GREAT SPIRIT AND EVEN GET A POSSIBLE CUT OF WHAT THEY FOUND. THE ROCKERS HAD TAKEN THAT RISK - NOT BECAUSE THEY REALLY WANTED TO CHASE SOME IMMINENT CREATURES, BUT BECAUSE THE HINT FROM THE DURAITH HAD GIVEN THEM A CLEAR IDEA THAT IT WAS BETTER TO SUBMIT TO THESE FORCES.

THE NEXT MORNING, VERY EARLY, THEY SET OUT FOR THE MENOMINEE RESERVATION, BUT DID NOT ENTER IT, BUT PRACTICALLY BYPASSED IT, ACCORDING TO THE INSTRUCTIONS OF GUS BENZOUR HIMSELF.

GUS HAD ALSO EXPLAINED SOMETHING VERY ENTICING TO THEM - EVEN IF THEY FOUND ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN THEIR SEARCH FOR FELISTER'S INHERITANCE, THEY WERE GOING TO GET A FAT BRIBE FROM SOME OF THE POLITICIANS IN NOVA SCOTIA WHO WERE OF INDIAN DESCENT, IN THE FORM OF AN EXTORTION - AND THIS IDEA APPEALED TO THE BANDITS IMMENSELY, BECAUSE IT ALSO INVOLVED A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF SPECIFIC INFLUENCE, NOT JUST PLAIN ROBBERY.

 

[1] The Hells Angels are meant.

THE LAST LESSON

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE LAST LESSON

 

ON THAT LAST NIGHT BEFORE THE ANGELS OF HELL CAME, BLUEBIRD GATHERED US TO IMPART HIS FINAL LESSON, FOR IN HIS WORDS IT WAS TOO LIKELY THAT HIS POWERS WOULD LEAVE HIM AT ANY MOMENT, AND THAT MEANT NEW TORMENT FOR ZONARA TO RESURRECT HIM AGAIN - AND HER POWERS WERE EXHAUSTED FROM THE PREVIOUS RITUAL.

- "YOU WILL LEARN TO TRAVEL BY THE MOST ORDINARY ASTRAL PROJECTION," BLUEBIRD DECLARED, "BUT YOU MUST REMEMBER THE VARIOUS PRINCIPLES OF THIS DIMENSION. YOU MAY EVEN COMMUNICATE WITH THE ARTIFICIAL DEMON THAT SUSTAINS MY SOUL HERE, BUT YOU MUST NOT LET THE NEGATIVE ENERGY THESE ETHEREAL CREATURES ENDOWED WITH CONSCIOUSNESS HAVE DESTROY YOU. OTHERWISE YOUR JOURNEY THERE WILL BE IN VAIN."

SOME SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOLLOWED, WHICH OPENED OUR EYES - ZONARA ADMITTED THAT MOST OF THEM WERE KNOWN TO HER, BUT BLUEBIRD WAS A TRUE WIZARD WHO COULD EVEN WAGE AN ENTIRE WAR IN THE ASTRAL WORLD - AFTER ALL, HIS ANCESTORS WERE GREAT WARRIORS WHO HAD SHED THEIR BLOOD IN THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE - SO HE HAD HIS FIGHTING SPIRIT TO DRAW FROM.

- "AS I TOLD YOU, TIME PASSES DIFFERENTLY THERE," BLUEBIRD CHIMED IN AGAIN, HIS PURSED LIPS BETRAYING THE PAIN HIS ALREADY CURSED SOUL FELT, "BUT DON'T FORGET THE MATERIAL WORLD. MATERIAL BODIES HAVE THEIR OWN ASTRAL PROJECTION FOLLOWING THEM, AND YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO MAKE YOUR JOURNEYS AGAIN - SO ACT WISELY. THIS MAY BE CRUCIAL ON THE PATH OF YOUR SALVATION. WE ARE, AFTER ALL, CHILDREN OF THE MIDDLE WORLD! AND THE YOUNGEST AND OLDEST ARE THE CLOSEST TO THE UNSEEN WORLDS!"

HAVING SAID ALL THIS, BLUEBIRD POINTED OUT THAT WE MUST BE CONFIDENT ENOUGH THAT BEYOND WE MUST RELY SOLELY ON OURSELVES TO FIND A WAY OUT AND BACK INTO THIS WORLD.

ARLO HAD SOBERED UP AND HADN'T TOUCHED HIS DUTCH GOODS IN A FEW DAYS - HE'D REALIZED THAT HIS LIFE HAD A CHANCE TO TURN IN A FAR BETTER DIRECTION, AND IF HE MADE THE EFFORT, MAYBE HE COULD FIND REDEMPTION FOR THE SINS HE'D COMMITTED - THE BETRAYALS, AND ALSO THE FUCKING LIFE OF AN UNDERCOVER INFORMANT HE'D BEEN LEADING.

I HADN'T TOLD ZONARA ABOUT OUR CONVERSATION, BUT SHE WASN'T A CHILD AND I WAS SURE SHE SENSED THINGS NO WORSE THAN I DID. LIKE EVERY NECROMANCER AND BLACK MAGE, SHE HAD A FINE SENSITIVITY AND FEEL FOR THE EMOTIONS OF PEOPLE, AND ALSO FOR THE EMOTIONS OF SPIRITS - IN THE ASTRAL WORLD, THAT COULD ONLY BE OF USE TO HER - IN A WORLD WHERE UNSUSPECTED POSSIBILITIES LURKED.

GUS RETURNED ONLY TO TELL THEM WHAT HAD HAPPENED BETWEEN HIM AND THE LEADER OF THE HELL ANGELS, DURAITH. THEY REMAINED SILENT, AND I, ELIZANDER BARNANE, SAT BY THE CAMPFIRE ON THE RESERVATION. WHO KNOWS WHY I FELT LIKE I WAS IN SOMEONE ELSE'S PLACE.

THE CARVED FACES OF THE NATIVES LOOKED TO ME LIKE SOME MYSTICAL BAS-RELIEF, AND A SINGING SHADOW WAS BUSTLING ABOUT HELPING A BLUEBIRD, THOUGH THE DEMON THAT WAS MOST LIKELY AROUND WAS DISTURBING HER. SHE HAD MADE SOME SORT OF POTION OF HEALING HERBS TO INFUSE STRENGTH INTO HIS BATTERED BODY.

- "AS ARRANGED, THEY'LL ARRIVE TOMORROW," GUS SAID QUIETLY, "IT GETS REALLY SERIOUS FROM HERE."

- "DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THEM?," INTERJECTED ARLO, "THEY ARE LIVING BARBARIANS. DEMONS IN HUMAN SKINS! THEY COULD KILL EVERYONE!"

ZONARA WAS SILENT, QUIETLY SAYING SOME PROTECTIVE SPELL IN HER MIND. IN THE WORLD OF TRUE MAGIC, THE MESSAGE HAD TO BE SINCERE, SMOOTH, AND EVEN-TONED - THAT MADE IT EXTREMELY POWERFUL, AND IT USUALLY WORKED.

- "THEY WILL FOLLOW THE PATH MAPPED OUT FOR THEM BY GUS," A BLUE BIRD APPROACHED, "THEY WILL BE LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN IN YOUR ARMS. PUPPETS WHO FOLLOW ORDERS - AND NOTHING MORE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME WILL HAVE THEIR OWN CONSCIOUSNESS AND UNDERSTAND THE BENEFIT OF THEIR INPUT IN FINDING YOUR ANSWERS."

BLUEBIRD WAS KIND OF SCARY, BUT ANYONE WHO KNEW HIM COULD JUST SEE THAT THE OLD DEMON WAS WEARING HIM DOWN QUITE A BIT, AND WE APPRECIATED THE FACT THAT EVEN THOUGH HE WAS HALF ALIVE AND USING HIS LAST STRENGTH, HE WAS DOING HIS BEST TO HELP US.

- "YOU MUST MAKE YOUR FIRST ASTRAL JOURNEY BEFORE THEY COME," SAID BLUEBIRD.

ZONARA DECIDED TO BE FIRST, BUT ARLO EXPRESSED HIS DESIRE FOR HIM TO IMMERSE HIMSELF IN THIS STRANGE WORLD AND GET A TASTE OF IT.

WE ALL RETURNED TO THE TEPEE, AND ARLO LAY DOWN ON THE SOFT INDIAN BLANKET - BOTH ZONARA AND BLUEBIRD WERE READY TO PROVIDE TIMELY ASSISTANCE IN CASE OF NEED.

- "PLACE AND TIMING ARE VERY IMPORTANT WHEN SENDING YOUR ASTRAL SUBSTANCE," BLUEBIRD GAVE FINAL INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE ARLO DOVE BEYOND FOR THE FIRST TIME.

ARLO EJECTED HIS ASTRAL SUBSTANCE THROUGH THE SOLAR PLEXUS, AND FOLLOWING THE CLOUD OF ASTRAL SUBSTANCE THAT FORMED, HE SLOWLY FORMED A SPHERE OF ASTRAL MATTER THAT WAS BOUND TO THE POINT OF EJECTION WITH AN ASTRAL THREAD.

AFTER A WHILE, ARLO HAD