The First Day – Part 3 (The Finale)

Unlike other multi-parters I’ve done on the platform, this one is not meant to be self-contained, so I highly recommend you start at the beginning if you’re new to Jason Nightingale.

Part 1:

***

The letter was sent. A reply was found staked to a tree. The meeting was set.

So there we stood, Lusario out front while I stood off to the right and slightly behind, as any good apprentice should. Ready to assist but deferring to the expert.

One other benefit of the Nightingale cloaks beyond the weatherproofing and warmth: they perfectly concealed the crossbows Lusario and I each had slung from one shoulder, allowing them to rest between our arm and our hip.

The little girl that had caused such a fuss emerged from the tree line, pausing only for a moment at the sight of us before sidling up over the property and coming to stand a respectful dozen feet from Lusario.

“Ah, the famed Nightingales I’ve seen lurking about, yes?” she asked, sounding far from the timid schoolgirl her aesthetic evoked. I suppose that squared more with the threatening letters and animal mutilation.

Lusario didn’t blink. “Yes.”

“Too bad, I was expecting TJ with the deed to the house in hand—or paw, as it were. The deed the granting lord had never actually notarized.” She blinked, her gaze roaming between us. “That was your ruse, I gather?”

Lusario flicked her head over her shoulder to me. “His, actually.”

“Trust me,” I added. “You really did not want to meet TJ in the woods.”

Her green eyes centered on me, and I suddenly had the sensation that I was a piece of meat in the butcher shop being sized up by a customer. “Very clever, boy. Do you have any other tricks you’d care to show me?”

“Never mind that,” Lusario said in a gruff tone I’d only heard used to shut me up when something important was going down. “You’re trespassing on this land. By rights, we are here to escort you off it.”

The green gave way to the black in her eyes’ center. “Like those limp-dicked constables?”

“No dick here.” Lusario glanced back at me. “And I’m not quite sure he understands that whole component.”

The golden-haired menace licked her lips, and now I felt more like a deer being stalked by a wolf. “Oh? Then maybe I could show him.”

Lusario’s back straightened. “He deserves better than a snake like you, girl.”

“And what do you know, old woman?”

“Old enough to see through your shit,” Lusario replied, taking a step forward.

The snake metaphor held true as the corporate consultant/hatchet woman took advantage of that lessened gap to strike.

Admittedly, I haven’t worked in the field with Lusario much, but it was the first situation in all our time together that I saw her brought up short as the girl drew a sword seemingly out of thin air. Neither of us had much time to contemplate where she had concealed it without our notice as she completed her lunge forward with a diagonal slash from Lusario’s hip to her shoulder.

Shit.

The muffled scream I heard from the middle door of the home reiterated that I had better put all my training to use in a hurry as this was quickly becoming my first-ever solo job.

Lusario fell back with a strained gasp. Nightingale cloaks were good for a lot, but they were not armor, and hers had done little to resist the blade’s arc.

Another benefit of the shoulder-slings Lusario and I used was that they put the crossbow within easy reach of the shooting hand, allowing me part my cloak and whip the weapon up to the ready position in one fluid motion.

Lusario had always tried to dissuade me from carrying the crossbow with a bolt pre-loaded, cautioning I stood a good chance of impaling my leg if it went off by accident. But this was a rare scenario where I had defied her instruction, and I found myself glad because that meant I didn’t need to lose precious seconds pulling the string back and loading my bolt while facing a girl who moved like lightning.

Except, she didn’t leap the gap as I backed away a step at a time. Instead, a devilish grin crossed her face.

“The old woman isn’t here to keep us apart anymore,” she said, her voice turning sultry. “Kiss me.” Then the predator gleam returned to her eyes. “Kiss me and then we’ll kill the bears together.”

I shook my head, continuing to put as much distance as I could between us without sacrificing my aim for speed. “Don’t think so.”

Her head bent to one side at an almost unnatural angle. “Playing hard to get?” she cooed. Only now did I clock the pouches fastened to the peplum of her dress. The demon girl grabbed one and pressed it to her lips, untying it with her teeth and then puffing the powder at me in the same motion as blowing a kiss.

Maybe she’s got food, an unfamiliar voice whispered as the powder settled around me.

Sure, I’ll ask, I replied inside my mind.

Wait, that’s it?

Did you have more to say?

No. I mean, yes, I had a whole speech prepared. But I guess this is what we all wanted. She just doesn’t let me out of the bag much.

Do you want me to stall?

Now I just feel selfish for asking.

I’ve got you, man. Stretch your legs. Check out a memory and take a little mind vacation.

Ah, jeeze, now I feel like a dick.

Why?

The whole point of this is to convince you to join her. Or at least put down your weapon so she can get close enough to kill you. Normally, I’m fine with doing my part, but you seem like a standup guy.

Yeah, I knew all that before.

You… you did?

Sure.

Then why did you agree to go along with it?

I really like food.

Oh. Fair. Well, I should warn you, then: she doesn’t have any.

The fire that went racing through my chest at that thought made both my hands tighten on my crossbow to the point I nearly pulled the trigger by accident.

My opponent had stood and waited, watching the subtle changes in my expression as I conversed with the entity that had taken up temporary residence in my head. Now, however, the grim smirk had morphed to downturned lips. Apparently rage was not a usual outcome of this arcane sorcery.

“Hey, kid,” Lusario called out from where she lay, her voice strained. “You know how I said we needed clear and present danger before? Well, this is a textbook example.”

I already knew what I was about to do well before my mentor weighed in. Never mind that we didn’t have actual textbooks at Nightingale headquarters.

I spoke quietly, working hard to keep my breathing measured. “You ate their food, and you didn’t even bring any to replace it?”

She blinked at that. “What?” Then she turned to Lusario. “What’s he talking about?”

Lusario groaned as she shrugged.

“Ask your forebears,” I said, pulling the lever.

The bolt flew down the groove, its string well-rosined and the trigger spring well-oiled to allow a smooth transition from stationary to flight. All without any motion that would pull my aim away from the target’s center mass.

The outcome was so pre-determined I almost felt bored as it buried itself in her diaphragm. What else would it have done?

My interest did perk up as her legs gave out from under her. So little energy had been lost to friction in this finely tuned piece of lethal craftmanship that the bolt had traveled through her torso and struck her spine.

In any other scenario, that would have been the end of it. Her head slumped forward for a moment as her legs splayed out to either side of her, somehow managing to prop up her torso.

But I found myself more than a little impressed as she lifted her chin. That respect quickly shifted to a prickling at the back of my neck as the blacks of her pupils swallowed the remainder of her eyes.

“Not this way,” she hissed before reaching behind her back and retrieving a black pouch.

I scrambled to reload, certain that whatever she was about to do, I very much did not want her to do if at all possible.

Hey, dude. I think you already know, but if it needs to be said, you really don’t want to find out what that bag does.

I mean, if it’s going to put another another chill voice like you in my head, we’ll be fine.

Yeah, no, it’s not like that. I’d reload, if I were you.

I’m working on it. Get off my back!

Even well-drilled hands, arms, and shoulders needed a few solid moments of calm and peace to pull the string back to the catch. Which I found myself lacking as she untied the pouch and turned it over her open mouth.

I watched as gold dust fell out, and all at once the black eyes turned to a yellow so brilliant it was almost blinding.

The entity couldn’t help itself: I told you, dude.

If I die, you die with me.

Oh, fuck.

Yeah, so shut up and let me work.

Her hair billowed out in all directions, despite the lack of breeze. String nearly in position, I watched as she rushed forward with supernatural strength. It had to be supernatural strength, because the lower half of her body dragged behind her. But all that dead weight didn’t seem to slow her down in the slightest.

So it didn’t repair her legs. That could be significant, the entity muttered in my inner ear.

Yeah, I noticed, I replied as I struggled to stay out of reach of a paralyzed girl.

It’s a good thing, because you’d be so screwed otherwise.

Instead of only mostly screwed?

Just about.

Instead of reaching for me with her arms, a braid of hair shot forward, forming a spearpoint that I had no intention of comparing to the real thing. Now it was her turn to aim at my center mass, and I could either dive to the ground or continue holding the as-yet still unloaded crossbow.

Sorry, buddy, I thought as I let it fall and launched myself into a flying roll.

What are you apologizing to me for?

No, not you.

You talk to the crossbow?

As I came out of the roll, a slicing pain shot up my right leg, sending me tumbling back to the ground.

We’ve got bigger problems at the moment, I shouted internally as I tried to scramble back to my feet. The hair spear had carved a valley up the inside of my right calf, and that leg refused to hold my weight. Not without so much bitching that even my hardest jaw clench couldn’t drown it out.

Instead, I scrabbled forward on all fours, doing my best to ignore the whoosh of air beside my left ankle that may or may not have been a finger length from spearing me to the ground and ending this little chase.

Left! Look left! the entity called out.

I told you, let me work in peace.

Fine, go on and die because your pride won’t let you accept help.

Grumbling to myself, I looked to where it subconsciously urged my eyes toward.

A crossbow lay in the grass just ahead and to the left. Not mine, Lusario’s. What really caught my attention and inspired equal parts elation and consternation was the fact it was loaded.

No way Lusario had been able to do that lying on the ground. All that time riding my ass about carrying it loaded and how I would lose a foot, and here Miss Wisdom and Experience had been doing the very thing she told me not to do. I couldn’t help but be annoyed at the hypocrisy.

Even if that hypocrisy just might have saved my life.

Jeeze, dude. Maybe save the lecture for after you shoot the demon girl?

Yeah, yeah.

I seized the crossbow and flipped over using my core so I could keep both hands at the proper positions.

Only to find myself face-to-face with the blazing gold eyes.

Now it was the hair-spear-wielding demon’s turn to be brought up short as she found herself confronted by a slightly muddied and bloodied but otherwise unshaken gaze and steady hands around a familiar weapon aimed at her chest.

“This again?” her voice taunted me from every place but her mouth. “The same old tired tricks won’t work on me, silly boy. I’m the top consultant for my employers, because I always get the job done.”

It was the same tendency I had seen before. She liked to savor the moment before the kill, toy with her prey. The same way she had savored what she had thought would be the moment I gave in to my new companion. But some of us are not so firmly ruled by emotion.

“You shouldn’t have eaten their porridge,” I said.

She blinked. As soon as her eye reopened, I shifted my target and let fly.

The scream that carried forth seemed to be the end of the world. As I faced my last moment, I found only one regret: I had never tasted a whole roast duck. Casey always said that was her favorite meal, and the way she described it led me to believe I would just about die from flavor overwhelming my taste buds.

Then the screech stopped threatening to puncture my eardrums and instead seemed to tumble back into my opponent’s throat as gold began to leak out of her pierced eye. The golden locks that had torn up my leg settled back on her shoulders, seeming far more dull and brown than before.

As the final dribbles of gold leaked out and the light faded completely, she let out a sigh and slumped face-first into the dirt.

I looked around, confirming I was still in the land of the breathing. Blessed with new and untold opportunities to make something of this life, I thought back to that last vision of a roast duck when I had faced my end.

Then my eyes trailed to the pool of sparkling gold liquid. It almost had the consistency and color of honey. It was no duck, but…

I, uh, definitely would not eat that, dude.

Have you ever had a corporeal form? Have you ever eaten honey?

No…

Then let me reap my reward for a job well done in peace.

I didn’t want to do this, but I’m going to assert my influence to stop this. I don’t like violating bodily autonomy. I’m only doing this because it’s for your own good.

I reached for the golden liquid without the slightest hint of resistance or hesitation, cocking my eyebrow to say “Well?”

Shit, guess I’m more of a talker. Seriously, though, don’t do it!

Then a far more physical force clamped around my wrist. “Seriously? You didn’t even think to check if I was still alive first?”

Lusario’s voice shocked me enough that I paused. Also, her grip strength was somehow still more than I could overcome. Not that I tried because, you know, super loyal to my boss and company and all.

Okay, maybe I tried a little. But you would have too if you’d seen how good that glowing honey looked.

Her pale face covered in sweat fully ripped my attention away from the alluring beck and call of the liquid gold. In all our time, I’d never seen her this close to death.

“Oh, fuck,” I gasped, dropping my hand and scrambling to her side. I helped her shift onto her back to better assess the wound. “Lay still. You’re making the bleeding worse.”

“And let my replacement fuck himself up in ways we wouldn’t even understand by eating a demonic liquid he thinks looks like honey?” A combination cough-chuckle escaped her lips. “I don’t think so.”

I like this woman, the entity said with a great deal of approval.

Yeah, me, too, I found myself admitting before I could think better of it.

I reached to my belt where my field dressings were kept, but my hands started shaking as each bandage I looked at was covered in mud. Blood continued to flow from the nasty slash across Lusario’s torso. I had come all this way, fought and killed a demon, even.

Just to watch the woman who had given me this life bleed out in front of me.

“It’s all right, Jason,” Lusario said with a sigh, and my eyes turned wide as I assumed she was making her peace.

She must have seen my moon eyes and realized what I had interpreted that to mean. Resignation turned to indignation. “What? No. I meant dirty bandages are preferable to bleeding out.” Her hand clapped the side of my head. “I’ve been at this too long to die now. Get it together.”

Then she let out another thick cough-chuckle. “Good to see you care about something other than food, though. Or, someone.”

I looked away, a nervous but relieved chuckle escaping my lips.

Then a new hand fell on my shoulders. Except, hands don’t have claws. “Let us handle this, young Nightingale,” Gerald’s voice rumbled gently. “Plenty of clean dressings inside.”

Oh, right. The house. Still not used to the idea of one of those.

“It’s the least we can do for the duo that solved our problem,” Miriam added, draping my arm over her shoulders and hauling me to my feet.

Gerald did the same for Lusario, and together the husband and wife served as crutches for the Nightingales, helping them hobble through that somehow just-wide-enough door to fit man and bear side by side.

TJ stood in the entrance, practice crossbow lowering as he saw us. “I would have gotten her if she came for us.”

“I know you would have,” I groaned as my right leg continued to yell at me for ever being born. Then my eyes flicked to his weapon. “Hey, you loaded it! All on your own.”

“Finally getting the hang of it. No more restringing for you.”

“That’s good,” I said as we moved past. “Because I think our job is just about done here.”

TJ grinned. “Someday, I’ll be a Nightingale, too.” Then a new thought occurred to him and his grin slackened. “But, uh, is this how a job normally ends for a Nightingale?”

“Only the interesting assignments,” Lusario called back over her shoulder, smiling as her eyes met mine. “And I think Jason here is going to have a long career of those.”

***

Author's Note: Me? Setting up a future book? You must have me confused with someone else 😉