Ancient Wings : Book 1 - Aegis

9 - This Way And That Way

And a spacious trunk loaded with weapons.

He opened the trunk to show Aveo. The man whistled appreciatively.

"Lad, I think I'm in love," Aveo said quietly.

"I'm not selling the car," he told him dryly.

Aveo chuckled then looked from the broadaxe to him.

"Are ye sure? I can make an excellent offer," Aveo tried again.

Cidney shut the trunk and moved to the driver side.

"Not even for the lost libraries of Alexandria."

*****

The drive to the latest crime scene was more comfortable than Cidney thought it would be.

They talked about demons and methods of killing them. Basic hunting strategies.

It was nice to be able to talk to another gargoyle about it. Then they talked about hitting a pub tonight to celebrate the demon kill. It sounded like fun to him.

He drove into the alley and shut off the car. They both got out and went to the trunk.

He took off his wool coat and put it away. He slipped his leather harness on, then pulled on his old trench coat that he kept in the trunk specifically to hide weapons in public.

He slid his short sword into the sheath down his back. He put on his belt with a couple smaller blades and throwing knives that had been dipped in holy water. He even put salt into the pockets of his coat and jeans. Aveo gave him an inquisitive look.

"Ever throw dirt in your enemy's eyes?" he asked. "This is a more painful version for demons."

Aveo raised an eyebrow.

"I've haven't used those tactics before," Aveo admitted.

He chuckled.

"You're two feet taller than me and outweigh me by at least a hundred pounds. You've never had to," he pointed out.

"Good point, lad." Aveo smiled as they headed towards the alley.

It wasn't hard to find where the girl died; the red stained cement was a big clue.

He knelt down on the cement, pulled out a small knife and scraped up some of the dried blood.

Disgusting, right, but he needed it for tracking. He made a small ball of flame in his left hand and held the dried blood in his right.

When he was focused on his objective, he added the flecks of blood to the flame. The yellow flame turned red. He held it in both hands and brought it in close.

He gave it direction quietly. "A life was taken. Justice I seek. Track the one who did the deed. Let only gargoyle eyes see."

He dropped the flame onto the blood-stained cement. The flame spread over the rest of the blood before shooting down the alley and turning left.

He got to his feet and stepped out of the flames.

"Impressive, lad," Aveo said. "It's not often I don't hear magic in Latin."

"It's not really magic. It's energy manipulation." He grinned. "And I've never had to use Latin."

They started walking down the alley, following the line of red flame. Aveo stayed by his side.

"Truly?" Aveo asked, impressed.

He nodded his head.

"My mom insisted on me learning it along with spell work. But I always found it faster to just tell the energy exactly what I wanted." He shrugged. "It used to drive her bonkers."