4 - Scriostóir

 

 

The smile that crossed Cerdic’s lips was feral and triumphant as he watched the morning news a week after Jakie and Manny had turned over their spoils to him. Tensions between two warring countries had risen and death was in the wind. The only down-side to his morning was the news that one of his colleagues, a Scriostóir working as a terrorist half way across the world, had met his final demise at the hands of a Caomhnóir. But such was their world. He, himself, had dispatched several Caomhnóir in the past centuries, something he looked upon with pride.

 

Rising from his bed, Cerdic readied himself for the day. When he was finished he studied himself in the mirror. His dark blonde hair was swept back from his forehead and at the moment he was clean-shaven, his normal mustache and small beard sacrificed because they wouldn’t suit the role he was playing today.

 

When he arrived downstairs, he found the boys seated at the breakfast table.

 

Manny whistled in approval as he looked at his mentor. “You should do that more often, Mr. Wyndham. It’s a great look on you.”

 

“I’m glad you approve,” Cerdic replied, chuckling. “Alright, young men, I have a brief announcement. I shall be gone for a week or more. During that time Mr. Shadrick and Gebhard will be in full control of you and the house. I’ll leave your assignment list with Gebhard. Any slip-ups and you will face me when I return. Is that understood?” He looked at each boy in turn, receiving nods of acceptance from each one. “Very good. I know that you will make me proud.”

 

“Sir,” one of the middle boys said, raising his hand, “what if, well you know—“

 

“If you are careless and the police should catch you, you will be bailed out, brought back here, and summarily punished by Gebhard and then you’ll be under house arrest until I return. Therefore it would behoove you, all of you, to be extra careful. I will tell each and every one of you that I have the utmost faith in your abilities and I do not think that will happen. I would not have selected you otherwise.”

 

“Sir,” Jakie’s hand rose. When Cerdic nodded, the boy asked, “Will you call us?”

 

“Of course. Don’t I always? I’ll tell you all about London and what is going on with Hamlin.”

 

“Do you think he still remembers us? It’s been a year.”

 

Ruffling Jakie’s hair, Cerdic said, “You remember him. Why should he have forgotten you?”

 

Jakie shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess he wouldn’t.”

 

“Precisely. Now, all of you, finish your meal and get to work. Just because I’m not going to be here does not mean you may slack off of your chores until the last moment.”

 

“Yes, Sir,” the boys all chimed back in unison.

 

 

3 - Scriostóir

 

Cerdic watched Jakie leave, congratulating himself on having handled the boy perfectly. Jakie had expected much worse. Now he would be even more cautious on the job, and feel an even deeper need to keep doing his best to please the man who held his fate in his hands.

 

There was a time, in the not too distant past, when Jakie’s screw-up would have earned him a beating. But in these modern times Cerdic had learned to temper the impulse to administer a severe thrashing when a boy blew a job, or came close to it. The authorities in this day and age took a dim view of corporal punishment unless they were the ones administering it. And, since he had civilians working with Jakie and the others, to wit Mr. Shadrick, their tutor, he couldn’t take the chance that one of them would decide to report any suspicious bruising to some agency such as Child Services.

 

He’d often thought that was part of the reason it was so easy these days to corrupt the populace in general. They needed outlets for their innate viciousness and depravity. Outlets that were being kept from them by governments and religious organizations who felt it was their duty to legislate morality.

 

At least he, and others like him, were doing their parts to bring down those entities and thus, in the end, humanity itself. His only regret was that it was taking so long, thousands upon thousands of years. If it weren’t for the do-gooder Caomhnóir who were trying to redeem themselves by working for the very superiors they should despise… He shook his head. That mystified him and always would. But, he figured, that was the way of the world.

 

For now, he had to do something interesting with the information he’d gotten from the wallet Jakie had lifted and that in the folder Manny had so conveniently found in a foreign dignitary’s hotel room.  Crossing to his rack of music, he thumbed through the CDs, finally settling on Iced Earth’s ‘The Crucible of Man’. That should put him in the proper mood.

 

Smiling, he set to work.

 

 

Release day - Lochlan: An Apprentice Mage's Tale

 Lochlan: An Apprentice Mage's Tale

https://www.jms-books.com/edward-kendrick-c-224_229/lochlan-p-4711.html

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5WJDZXT/   

 

GENRE: Gay Fantasy Erotic Romance
LENGTH: 49,913 words
RATING:

Mage Roland sends Lochlan, his adopted son and apprentice, to a distant city to steal a valuable item -- a relatively simple task for a thief with Lochlan's skills. On his journey, Lochlan meets two commoners will soon play an important part in his life -- Garratt and his sister, Maurenn, who Garratt is escorting to meet her betrothed.

At first, the young men dislike each other but they are thrown together again when Garratt discovers why Lochlan is in the city and convinces him that he can help if Lochlan will teach him the art of thievery.

Then, there's the problem with Hankin, Maurenn's betrothed, who intends to wed her so he can have an unpaid servant at his beck-and-call. When Garratt finds out, he and Lochlan devise a plan to sneak her out of the city, but only after they retrieve the item Roland needs -- a flask of Vampyre blood. They manage both objectives, and in the process Lochlan and Garratt begin to care for each.

There's a reason Roland wants the blood. He intends to use it a part of a plan to eliminate a coven of Vampyres who hide in caverns on Ayr Peak. As his plan comes together, he brings in friends and Lochlan to help complete it.

Will they find and eliminate the Vampyres? If they do, how will it affect Lochlan's budding relationship with Garratt, especially when the problem of a rogue werewolf needs to be addressed and Lochlan is once again called upon to help his father?

EXCERPT:

"I'm back," Lochlan called out as he entered Roland's house.

"I'm in the workroom, as if you couldn't have surmised as much," Roland called back. "Join me if you would."

When Lochlan hurried into the workroom, the first thing he noticed was the flask he'd purloined from Lord Anfroy's place of business. It was lying on its side with the top removed. Beside it he saw a clear, stoppered vial filled with what he could only presume from its color was the Vampyre blood which had been in the flask.

"How?" he asked in disbelief.

"A simple containment spell which kept light and air from reaching it during the transference," Roland replied as if Lochlan should have figured it out for himself.

"Oh. That makes sense. What will you do with it now?"

"I'm still pondering on that. I may use some of it, because it won't matter if it's pure blood or ash, to call the shade of the Vampyre to whom it belonged. When it appears I will compel it to tell me where on Ayr Peak the remainder of the coven hides."

"That would be a good thing to know if we're going to eliminate them. You might want to ask how many there are."

Roland gave him a dry look. "That thought did occur to me."

"Sorry. What will you do with the remainder of the blood?"

"Create a potion of protection against the creatures. Enough for every man who is willing to go after them."

"Including you and me, I hope."

"Me, definitely," Roland replied. "You ... well, I'll make the decision when the time comes."

"Oh." Lochlan resisted showing his disappointment with the idea he might not be included in the hunt. "Do you have anyone in mind specifically to take on the task with you?"

"I do. One is Tibost, a freebooter and quite proficient thief. There's also a pair of brothers, Walcher and Piers. They are mercenaries by trade, who I have hired when I needed their skills for specific jobs. Lastly, Mage Edarin, an old and trusted friend whose powers are equal to mine."

"Only four men other than you?" Lochlan asked, not terribly surprised at the inclusion of a second mage.

"You want I should put together an army? I think the Vampyres would know immediately if a large group of men was hunting them. It has happened before and the creatures fled to a new hiding spot without engaging in a battle they might not have won. With the men I have in mind it should be possible to approach without the Vampyers' knowledge and thus slay them before they can slay us."

"You need a scout," Lochlan told him.

Roland eyed him with a knowing smile. "I presume you're offering your services."

"Well, I'm not bad at it. It's what I do when I'm trying to decide how to safely enter a home or shop which has something I'm after."

"You have a point, although I'm certain Tibost is well versed in scouting, too. As I said, I'll consider bringing you along."

"I'll come with you whether you like it or not," Lochlan said under his breath, knowing full well that Roland could keep that from happening if he deemed it necessary.

If he heard him, Roland ignored what he'd said as he began preparations for summoning the dead Vampyre from wherever it had gone after its final demise.

 

 

2 - Scriostóir

 

Cerdic looked at the boys as they lined up in front of him, each one wondering who was in for it this time. He moved his eyes slowly down the row, taking in the six faces one by one. At fourteen, Jakie was the youngest of the group and the slickest when it came to lifting something from a mark. Manny was the oldest at eighteen. His specialty was getting in and out of places with no one being any the wiser. The other four ran the gamut when it came to their jobs, but each was a specialist in his own area.

 

Cerdic had collected them one by one off the streets of the city, offering them a place to live, three squares a day, and the security of knowing that if they did as he ordered they’d be safe from the human predators that targeted the young and homeless.

 

He didn’t do this out of the kindness of his heart. Over the last thirteen centuries he had honed his skills and learned through trial and error how best to do what he had to, to please his masters and remain on this side of the veil.

 

Finally, he pointed to Jakie. “In my office, now. The rest of you, eat and then get on to your homework. I expect to hear from Mr. Shadrick that you’ve completed his assignments perfectly.”

 

The rest of the boys heaved quiet sighs of relief as they watched Jakie with pity when he marched slowly out of the room. Noting that, Cerdic smiled to himself. The boys were a good team, made better by the fact that they really did care about each other. He was quite certain they’d be relieved when Jakie returned to tell them he’d only gotten a reprimand and nothing more.

 

“So,” Cerdic said sternly as he walked into the office to find Jakie standing at attention in the center of the room, “exactly what happened?”

 

“I was good, I got what you wanted. The chump didn’t even know. But there was this dude,” Jakie looked down at the carpet. “I shoulda been paying more attention.”

 

“Indeed you should have. I’m very disappointed in you. Did this man see your face?”

 

Jakie shook his head hard. “No, Mr. Wyndham. Least I don’t think so. He shouted and I took off. The cop, well he was at the hotdog cart on the corner so I’m real sure he didn’t either.”

 

Crossing to his desk, Cerdic picked up the wallet that Jakie had lifted along with a set of keys. Flipping the wallet open, Cerdic rifled through it, smiling when he saw it contained what he’d thought it would. Then he turned back to Jakie.

 

“You will spend two hours in the gym with Gebhard. I’ll let him know that he’s to work you until you drop. After he’s finished with you, you’ll do your homework. Understood?”

 

Jakie nodded. “Yes sir, Mr. Wyndham.”

 

“Very good. Now go eat supper before there’s nothing left.” Cerdic ruffled his hair. “You screwed up, but you did well despite that.”

 

“Thank you, sir.”

 

1 - Scriostóir

 

Cerdic watched with one raised eyebrow as the boy ran hell-bent-for-leather down the sidewalk, the cop just a few yards behind him, and gaining ground. The boy would be in for severe punishment once he reached the house, but for now—

 

Cerdic stepped casually forward as if unaware of what was happening, ending up directly in the cop’s path. The officer veered just enough to keep from slamming full force into Cerdic, hitting his shoulder hard instead. He reached out, grabbing the officer to keep from falling.

 

“Are you all right, sir,” the officer asked even as he tried to extricate himself from Cerdic’s grip so that he could continue the chase.

 

“I’m fine,” Cerdic responded. “Please continue on and catch the miscreant.” 

 

With a sharp nod, the cop looked around, muttering angrily when he realized the boy was nowhere in sight. After checking once more to make certain Cerdic was all right, the cop went back down the street, disappearing around the corner.

 

“Miscreant?” someone said, chuckling.

 

Cerdic turned to see one of the older boys leaning against the building wall. “It means—“

 

“I know what it means, thanks. I’m not a total dunce. You gonna kill Jakie when you get back?”

 

“That, Manny, depends whether what he got what he was sent for. If so, he’ll escape with a tongue-lashing. Otherwise…“ Cerdic smiled tightly, leaving the rest unsaid. He knew Manny understood. “Have you completed your assignment?”

 

“Yeah.” Manny glanced around to make sure no one was watching and then handed Cerdic a slim folder, which he immediately slid into his camera case.

 

“Get going then. I expect you back at the house for dinner.”

 

After giving Cerdic a mocking salute, Manny strolled off and Cerdic reentered the hotel that stood half a block away from the UN Plaza.