Zombie Mage (30 page)

The distraught mage attempted to rush towards them but
Gull managed to intervene and save the day.  He poked his head out from beneath
Cuthbert's throne and clenched his ankles tightly.  The mage couldn't stop the
inevitable.  He toppled over the edge of the junk pile and fell to the ground,
slamming his head against a stone slab at the bottom.  He lay motionless, out
cold with the force of the blow. Olligh shook his head in disbelief.

"Good work!" Marvin said, fiddling with
Olligh's choker. "Hey, even Gull managed to impress me. He didn't do too
badly for a sliced up corpse."

"Hey," Gull called. “I can’t believe you’re
complimenting me.  A moment ago you wanted me to stay at the entrance.  I think
your exact words were - stay here you useless lump of flesh."

Marvin released the catch on the choker and it fell to
the ground. Olligh rubbed his mouth and smiled. "Thank you, Marvin.  That
was nearly as bad as having my mouth stitched up."

Gull grinned. "Hey what about me?  Do I not get
any thanks? I'm shattered.  Do you know how long it took me to climb up
here?"

"You too," Olligh continued. "You all
saved the day. I can't believe we managed to defeat him. I thought I was about
to relive a horrible death."

"Worse than the one you already have?"
Marvin asked.

"Definitely.  I can't think of anything worse
than having my flesh removed and serving as one of Cuthbert's minions."

"Take my word for it, flesh is over-rated."

 "And look at you, Marvin.  How did you manage to
get that body working?"

Marvin shrugged. "Hetty knocked one of their
heads off and just plonked me on top with a bit of that horrible sticky
potion.  We just kind of moulded together."

Olligh laughed for the first time in ages and it felt
wonderful. "Absolutely incredible!  Even to this day, magic never fails to
astound me.  How did you get here?"

"You can thank me for that," Gull said,
trying unsuccessfully to clamber down the side of the junk pile. "We were
worried about you and thought you may need our help so I tried looking through
your tome to find the spell that would allow us to travel through the
cosmos."

"That's odd - you obviously found it and managed
to cast it?"

"No, your writing is horrendous so I gave up on
that idea, but I did remember the portal that Cuthbert created.  Although he
shut it off at his end, it was still open in the graveyard at Ekelton so we all
jumped in and it returned us to the next nearest exit which was in that ghastly
field of battle."

"That's wonderful.  I'm so happy you all
returned.  Your quick thinking certainly saved the day."

Hetty and Michael joined them in the courtyard and sat
next to Olligh.  Hetty smothered him with hugs but Olligh didn't mind. 

"Hey, what about me?" Gull shouted.
"Can someone come up and get me? I'm feeling kind of left out and lonely
up here."

Marvin sighed. "Okay, Lumpy, I'm coming. We don't
want you feeling lonely, you'll just start blubbering."

"Bet you were surprised to see us, eh?"
Michael asked.  He had a smug expression on his face. "I managed to
clobber him good with a stone or two.  My father taught me well, eh?"

"He did indeed, Young Man.  I'm sure he'd be
proud of you if he were here today."

With Hetty's help, Olligh managed to stand; he shook
his bad leg again, trying to resolve the numbness.

Michael pointed at Cuthbert. "What we going to do
with him?"

"Well," Olligh replied. "We can't leave
him here.  He's a lunatic and a murderer."

Gull scratched his nose. "That’s not a good
combination."

"Yeah, I had an uncle like that," Marvin said.
"In the end he murdered himself."

"I think we should take him back with us and hand
him over to the remaining Dark Cloaks," Michael said.

Olligh nodded thoughtfully and retrieved the blue
bottle from his pocket. "Yes, good thinking, Michael, but first I believe
he should have a taste of our delicious, sticky black liquid."

"Oooh!" Hetty said, handing Olligh another
bottle. "Please, Two!"

Olligh grinned.  "Well, I'm sure you're right, my
dear. Perhaps he would enjoy two.  He'll be sleeping like a baby."

Everyone laughed.

The only task remaining for Olligh was to retrieve Marvin’s brain from
the circus.  Once he had it, his friends could then rest in peace but first he
had to return everyone safely to the church. Huddled together, he summoned the
cosmic energies and concentrated on the trail to the Ekelton crypt.

The journey was uneventful and Olligh landed on the
crypt floor next to the statues, followed closely by his friends.

“Gull,” Olligh said. “How strong are you feeling?”

Gull peered up at him and flexed the muscles in one of
his arms.  “Stronger than ever, why?”

“Can you crawl ahead and alert us if you spot any Dark
Cloaks? If they’ve returned from their recruitment campaign we’ll need to be
wary.”

“Sure thing, Boss, but what you going to be doing?”

Olligh pointed at Cuthbert.  He was still unconscious
and sprawled out on the floor.

“We’re going to have to sort out Cuthbert but we
shouldn’t be long.  We’ll meet you in the great hall in a moment or two.”

Gull nodded and heaved himself over a step and through
the adjoining passage to investigate the church.

“Wait up, Gull!” Marvin said, following his friend.
“I’ll come with you.  I’ve got to keep these new legs active in case they
decide to stop working.”

“Do you have to?”

“Well somebody has to look after you.  Remember you’re
just a lump of flesh.”

Olligh turned to Hetty and smiled. “Hetty, how strong
are you feeling as well?”

Hetty returned the smile. “Hetty very strong!”

“Good, I have a little job for you as well.  Poor
Cuthbert looks a bit bloated, probably with all the gas he talks but it’s
doubtful I’d be able to manage him.”

“Hetty manage okay.”

Olligh walked towards the cell area, followed by Hetty
and Michael.  Hetty had the additional duty of dragging Cuthbert by his arms along
the floor.  On reaching the dark passage, Olligh noticed two of the cells were
still occupied by the mindless ones.  Hearing people approach, they pressed
their hungry faces against the bars with morbid fascination; drool dribbled
from their mouths and their wild eyes watched intently, willing anyone to get
closer.  An empty cell with its key in the lock stood next to them.  Olligh yanked
the door open and gestured inside. 

"This one will do, Hetty.  Can you drag him in
there?"

Hetty nodded enthusiastically and dragged Cuthbert
inside.  She lifted him onto a stone slab next to a bundle of blankets and
draped one over him. Happy that he looked comfortable and snug she returned to
Olligh with a sad expression on her face.

"Well, it's better to be safe than sorry,"
Olligh said, turning the key in the lock.  "At least if he does wake up
here, he'll have someone to talk to in the next cell."

"He looks quite comfortable in there, doesn't
he?" Michael said.

Olligh glanced at the sleeping mage. "Indeed, but
he snores like a pig.  That's another good reason to keep him here."

He handed the cell key to Michael. "Here, stick
this in your pocket.  You're now officially on jailor duty."

Michael accepted the key with a broad grin on his
face. Meanwhile, Marvin returned to the cell area with a tired looking Gull
clinging to his shoulders.

“I’m pooped!” Gull said.

“I hope I heard that right,” Michael said.

“Yeah, he’s got no stamina,” Marvin agreed.  “By the
time he got to the hall he was just a fleshy mess.”

Gull sighed pathetically. “Bah.”

“Good job I decided to follow you, eh?”

“Have the Dark Cloaks returned?” Olligh asked. “Is the
great hall still void of activity?”

“Yep,” Gull replied. “It’s void of activity, just like
Marvin’s brain.”

“Hey, Freaky Face, do you want me to drop you?”

“Good,” Olligh said. “Marvin, talking about your brain,
I need to go and retrieve it.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No.  You’ve been through enough. I would like you all
to go to the resting chamber and make it comfortable for your passing.  I won’t
be long.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Gull said. “I’ve had
enough adventures to last me a lifetime. Giddy up horsy.”

“The cheek of it,” Marvin said. “Do I look like a
horse?”

Olligh didn’t hang about.  He prepared for one last
journey away from Ekelton and summoned the cosmos to return him to the circus. 
He just hoped it was still there and hadn’t moved on.

* * * *

The audience were ecstatic with the circus magician.  He’d already
wowed them by making the most beautiful white doves appear from nowhere and by
floating on the stage right before them but now his final trick was beyond all
comprehension.  His beautiful assistant had stepped into a vertical container
and he effortlessly sliced through her with large, sharp metal blades.  Next he
severed her head with the last remaining blade but she still managed to smile
and move her head and arms from within the container. 

The audience whooped and cheered, unable to believe
their eyes but the magician hadn’t yet finished.   He drew a curtain around the
container and the music became more intense as he slowly circled it, waving his
magical wand for good effect. 

“And now!” he shouted at the top of voice. “Prepare
yourselves! For what you are about to witness is pure magic. What was once inside
will now be gone!”

The magician opened the curtain and yanked on the
container door handle, his face beaming with pride.  The door opened and the
audience cheered.  The beautiful assistant had indeed vanished but in her place
was a festering zombie with a hideous face plagued with boils.

“Oh, hello there,” Olligh said, bemused. “Sorry about
this but I think I may have miscalculated the entry point of the cosmic trail.”

The magician dropped his wand and screamed.  The
audience continued to cheer, finding the act most refreshing.

“Give your beautiful assistant a kiss for me,” somebody
heckled from the front row.

The magician was having none of it.  His days of
creating magical tricks and illusions were now officially over.  He ran,
terrified, to the side of the stage and out of view around the back. 
Meanwhile, Olligh stepped out of the container and closed the door behind him. 
He peered around at the audience, wondering how he managed to slip up with his
calculations but at least they weren’t booing or hissing him.  He was unsure of
what to say or do so merely smiled and waved slightly while deciding which way
to go.

Unfortunately for Olligh, it looked as though the show
was just about to begin.  The strong man he met earlier in the tent while rescuing
Marvin decided to make an unexpected reappearance but this time he brought two
hungry looking lions on stage with him.  The lions roared defiantly and the
strong man leered at him.

“You won’t escape this time!” he yelled. “I’m going to
rip your scrawny head off and feed it to my lions!”

The crowd stood and cheered, impressed by the display
of ferocity but Olligh just wanted to hide.  He contemplated returning to the
wooden container but he didn’t think it would be a secure alternative.  Instead
he decided to summon the cosmos and try to escape before things got out of
control.

The strong man realised what he was planning and tried
to stop him.  He muttered something to the lions and released them.  Both lions
charged towards Olligh, desperate to rip their teeth into his fleshy neck and
feed on him.  Olligh needed to act fast but he was running out of time to cast
the spell.  In response to the lions advance he decided to follow his first
instinct and secure himself in the container; at least that way he would have a
little more time to consider his next spell.  Opening the door he was surprised
to see the beautiful assistant cowering inside.  She took one look at Olligh
and screamed frantically, pushing past him to escape.  Not one to argue with a
beautiful woman, he swopped places and shut the door behind him.

Outside, the lions also had a change of plan.  The
fleshy man was no longer available for them to chew on but in his place, the
skinny bikini-clad woman looked like an easy target.  Seeing the lions approach,
she screamed with horror and tried to run but they were too fast.   Within
seconds, and much to the delight of the audience, they had caught up with her
and slammed her to the ground.  The lions tore into her soft, warm flesh with their
teeth and claws, spraying the wooden container with fresh blood.

By this time, Olligh had finished his spell and
managed to plunge back into the cosmos.  He was glad to be away from the show
and wondered what sort of people they were to enjoy such a vile, blood-thirsty
event.  Regardless, he still needed Marvin’s brain so he reconnected to the
trail and returned to the world.  This time he landed in the field beside the
tent.  He could still hear the crowd chanting and cheering and he wondered if
the poor assistant had survived or if the strong man had simply left her to her
fate.