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"The Dwindle Horn"
"The Dwindle Horn"
5/30/1981
At nine-thirty, Jeremy Bane stepped out of his rental car and pocketed the keys after parking in the first available spot. The young valet bowed slightly and walked stiffly away, evidently miffed at missing a possible tip. Watching him go, the Dire Wolf frowned more than usual. He was always serious and sour, but the nature of this case made him uncomfortable. On a beautiful warm May evening, Bane was standing in front of an exclusive casino in the South of France with a half million dollars in his pocket to gamble, and he felt no excitement at all.
For one thing, he was in disguise, which he hated and which always made him feel ridiculous. It was a bare minimum, just his black hair lightened to a sandy brown and given a few weeks extra growth, dark contact lenses over his pale grey eyes, and some wax injected in his nose to widen its bridge, but the change was enough. Bane's white dinner jacket and suit had been tailored to make him look heavier than his gaunt frame, and he remembered to slouch which took two inches off his height. The Dire Wolf glanced around and found no one was paying the slightest attention to him. Perhaps he didn't look as foolish as he feared. Taking a deep breath, he started up the wide marble steps to the front doors of Casino Frisson, walking past mostly elderly men and women in clothing that cost more than a new car would. Everything was brilliantly lit. The excited chatter of the upper class looking forward to throw their money away buzzed around him and he felt so out of place it hurt.
Bane was greeted at the door by a handsome fellow in a doorman's uniform complete with white gloves and billed cap. He was recognized from the previous night and ushered through. To his left was a cloakroom and to his right a short vestibule where visitors could wait while gamblers were summoned.
He stepped up to a cashier's window and converted a few thousand dollars into chips, which he tucked away in both pockets of his dinner jacket. Before leaving New York, Bane had been taught the bare rudiments of what he would need to know by Michael Hawk. He stepped down into the huge high-ceilinged first room of the casino, where card games were going on, and watched warily for a few minutes.
A waiter approached with deference, and Bane ordered plain club soda. In a few minutes, the man returned with a sparkling crystal glass on a tray. The Dire Wolf took the drink, tipped the man and went back to studying the scene. It all seemed stupid to him. He had no gambling instinct. As far as he could see, these places were snares where the odds were stacked so heavily toward the house that you might as well just throw your money on the floor and walk out and get it over with.
Eventually, he decided to move on. The next room was even larger, more ornate. Everything looked like it belonged in a palace, from the plush burgundy rugs to the elegant hand-crafted chairs to the gleaming chandeliers. Here were the roulette tables. As Bane watched, a fat old man leaned forward to see the results of his bet and sank back down into his chair as if stricken. The people next to him smirked and raked in piles of chips.
As he sipped the club soda, Bane caught no trace of the man he was hunting. Perhaps the prey was in disguise just as he was, but that seemed unlikely. When you're six feet seven as Karl Eldritch was, disguises were futile. Reports of Karl Eldritch seen in this casino had been received only twenty-four hours ago, and Bane had immediately come here. The Dire Wolf sighed inaudibly and found a table where poker was being played. Most of the men at the table seemed American, and at least one was arguing with his partner in a strong Texas accent. Bane asked to be cut into the game, received his cards and began to play. He held his own for a while, ordered another drink, and settled back to await developments. For a while, he was ahead but, in a sudden reversal, he lost everything. The Dire Wolf paid off, thanked the people at the table and moved on.
It was going to be a long night. Bane drifted from one game to the next, answering attempts at conversation politely and mostly watching others play. By midnight, he had actually won a few thousand and was back where he had started. But he was getting cranky. So many people were smoking and the haze in the air annoyed him, as did the smell of liquor and the way the women's voices got shrill as the drinks went down. The Dire Wolf decided to step outside for a moment and get some air before he started a fight just to blow off steam.
As he walked past the crowded bar, he spotted a dining room to his left and caught the scent of roast beef and onions. That would be a good idea. His enhanced metabolism gave him reflexes faster than a normal human's but also left him with a metabolism that burned calories mercilessly. When he came back in, he would enjoy a huge midnight supper.
Going outside was an immense relief. A breeze brought cool night air, and the relative silence made him feel happier immediately. He took a deep breath and drew himself up to his full height, rolling his shoulders and almost smiling. That was better. His sinuses felt clogged from the smoke and stuffiness inside the casino and he started walking. On the other side of the parking lot, beyond a grove of small trees, the twelve-story hotel where he was staying loomed up. And beyond that was only a village that had been inhabited by fishermen for generations but which was now peppered with tourist shops and overpriced boutiques.
Striding into the night, Bane suddenly felt like himself again. No one else was out here at the moment. He paused. Coming around a corner was a woman in a sleeveless maroon dress that was a little too short and too tight for modesty. It had a scoop neckline and some glitter around the hem. From a lifetime at war, the Dire Wolf automatically scrutinized her for any possible threat. Her body language showed no hostile intention. All she carried was a black handbag, which might contain a weapon but his judgement thought not. As she saw him, her face lit in a luminous smile.
The woman was remarkably beautiful, at least five feet seven with a slim figure and long legs. Her jet black hair hung straight past her shoulder blades and swung as she turned around. That oval face was almost hypnotic with its full lips, straight nose and huge dark eyes. Bane saw at once she had some Asian blood, and decided on Japanese, going by her golden peach skin. Half French and half Japanese was his appraisal. She rushed up to him.
"There you are, you silly boy!" she sang out and caught him in an eager embrace. For a second, he was overwhelmed with sensations. Firm soft breasts against his chest, a faint aroma of lilac, strong arms tightening around him and then she was kissing him and he was surprised as a hot tongue slid into his mouth. Even someone as repressed as Jeremy Bane was had to be distracted by all this, then she broke free.
"Ah, but you don't remember me?" she said with heartbreak in her voice. Her English was excellent with just a trace of a pleasant accent.
"Oh, I think I'd remember you," Bane snapped. "What game are you playing, lady?"
"Is that all you have to say to me, my love?" she began, then she seemed to catch something out of the corner of her eye and rushed off into the parking lot. Considering she was wearing heels, she made good time. Bane watched her for a second, saw two big men in dark suits coming in from the side to intercept her and decided to get involved. Holstered under his dinner jacket was the anesthetic dart gun and the matched silver daggers were as always sheathed under his sleeves. It looked as if tonight was not going to be a complete waste of time.
II.
He sensed someone behind him and wheeled about as two thug ran up. "Okay, buddy," the man said. "What did she give you-" was all he managed to say. Bane took one sideways step to meet him and stopped the man in mid-step with a straight punch to the middle of the face. The thug fell over backwards and his head hit the sidewalk with a thump. Standing behind him was the second goon, not as tall but making up for it with the Glock in his hand.
"Freeze-" he started. But Bane snapped, "I'll get back to you later," and whirled on one foot, his other leg whipping up to smash a steel-capped boot across the man's jaw. The crunching noise hinted that extensive oral surgery was in that thug's future. Even as that goon dropped, the Dire Wolf was racing across the parking lot toward the row where the woman was facing two more gunmen. She was standing with hands on hips, weight on one foot and seemingly insolent in the face of two pistols aimed right at her.
Dropping low, almost scuttling along on toes and fingertips, Bane flashed between the rows of Mercedes and Rolls-Royces and Ferraris, coming around behind the two thugs. They were standing side by side, their shoulders almost touching. Much too close together, he thought, they have not been well trained. One held a 9mm Parabellum, the other a 45 automatic, and both were right handed. As the Dire Wolf surged up from the ground behind them, the woman gave away in her eyes that she saw him and the men froze. Bane seized their gunhands and yanked them up so they were aiming the guns directly at each other. He was about to say, 'don't move' but both men fired at the same time and killed each other. The shots were deafening at such close range and the white flashes left afterimages like lightning.
"Whoops," he said, letting the bodies sag to the concrete.
Seeing the woman staring at him goggle-eyed, Bane shrugged. "I didn't intend that. Better them than you, though." His ears were ringing so hard he wasn't sure what he had just said. Being that close without protection had left him deafened more than once.
She looked down at the bloody corpses, then back up at him. She opened her mouth, tried to speak, then closed it again.
Bane grabbed her wrist. "Come on, I think you need to do a little explaining." Over by the casino doors, he could hear excited voices. People were coming out to investigate the shots and they would find the two injured men on the sidewalk, then two gruesome corpses in the parking lot. The Dire Wolf ran to where his car was parked, and the woman came willingly with him. He unlocked the door on her side, leaped around and got behind the wheel. It was a new cherry-red Audi he had leased just that morning. Pulling around, he headed for the exit and was on the long access road to the highway before anyone saw the car clearly. Bane swung around in a loop and pulled into the parking lot of the hotel where he was staying, just out of sight of the casino. He turned off the engine and could hear voices yelling in the distance.
"All right, then. Give me a name."
"What? Why should I? Who are you?"
"I'm the guy who just saved you from being either abducted or killed. Good enough?"
She considered that. "Very well. Rook. That is how I am known."
"Rook. Got it." Behind the wheel, Bane wrestled out of his white dinner jacket and turned it inside out, yanking it back on. The inner side was black and cut like a sport jacket. Tugging off his tie, he stuffed it in a pocket and then unbuttoned his white dress shirt to reveal a blackturtleneck underneath. He glanced over to see Rook watching him with a faint smile. Leaning forward, he popped the tinted contact lenses out and dropped them in a plastic container.
As he straightened up to face the woman called Rook again, now his eyes showed in the light from a lamppost as a cold grey. Her expression changed, became apprehensive for the first time. Bane pulled a soft cloth from under his seat and began rubbing his hair briskly with it. The impregnated cloth quickly dissolved the soluble dye and his hair became its normal black again. He combed it once with his fingers and relaxed a little. Now there was only the wax injected in his nose to remove, but he would need hot water for that. He glared over at the woman.
"Dire Wolf," she said. "Of course. Now it's obvious. You're the American, Jeremy Bane."
He nodded. "Let's get everything clear. You pulled that hug and kiss to plant something in my left jacket pocket. I can feel its weight now. So I assume it's something those jokers wanted and which you wanted to keep from them. Right so far?"
"So far," Rook answered, regaining her composure. "I intended to find you after I lost them so I could explain. But they were nearer than I had thought."
"Start talking, then. Give me answers."
She leaned back, light from outside the car highlighting her cleavage as she intended. This detail was wasted on Bane, as she saw by his impatient expression. "Very well. Perhaps you have not heard of Rook. In some circles, I am well known. I appropriate items that better belong somewhere else, I retrieve other items which have strayed from their rightful owners, all for a reasonable fee."
"Cat burglar. Jewel thief. Retriever of stolen property. I've read reports on Rook. But all your crimes are done without violence, and since you always rob criminals or the super-rich, you are regarded as a sort of romantic Robin Hood who does no real harm. Europe is not my usual territory, so I didn't think our paths would ever cross."
"And you?" she continued in her subdued French accent. "The Dire Wolf. A notorious vigilante, tracking human monsters like Samhain or Golgora or the Slaughterman. I am hardly someone you need concern yourself with, my friend." She held up her hand. "As much as I am in your debt, I would like you to return my property now, if you please."
"YOUR property? That's dubious. No. We're going up to my suite, and I'll get a good look at what you planted on me. Then I'll decide the next move." He opened his door. "Let's go, Rook."
Outside the car, she turned away and Bane said quietly, "Get serious. You saw me move against those gunmen. You won't take three steps before I catch you. Come on." She deflated slightly, straightened her dress and accompanied him toward a side door of the hotel.
"It'll be locked, you realize," she said, just as he thumbed a device inside an inner pocket. With a buzz and a click, the door unlocked and they went through without setting off any alarm.
"I have my natural curiosity," she said. "How did you do that?"
"Oh, I have some useful gadgets," Bane replied. He opened a stairwell door and followed her up to the third floor. The hotel was not that old, but the carpeting in the hall was thin and the decor drab. He stopped before a plain wooden door with a brass plate that read 309. Gesturing her to be silent, he stood with one ear close to that door, slowing his breathing, eyes distant. A full minute passed, then he unlocked the door and ushered her in.
Thumbing on the overhead lights, closing the door behind them, Bane led her into a modest suite with a double bed and couch with two chairs, all in the same room. A TV sat on a stand, there was a dresser with a wide mirror. One door was open to show a tiny bathroom, one doorway revealed a kitchen. On the bed was a knapsack and small travel bag.
Rook crossed over to peer out the window, which faced the casino just beyond some trees. "I can't see anything, of course," she said. "But I imagine there is quite a commotion."
"Have a seat," he told her bluntly, indicating the couch. "Let's see what those gorillas wanted and what you thought would be better off hidden on me." He reached inside the pocket in the white side of the reversible jacket and took out a curious device. Small enough to fit in one hand, it looked like a ram's horn made of copper, with a short lever on its side and a grate over the open end of the horn.
Bane glared over at her. "This is a relic of ancient Zhune. It's unmistakable. Rook, I don't know if you realize it but you have made one of the most dangerous men in the world angry at you. You robbed Karl Eldritch!"
III.
She settled back on the couch, adjusted her skirt, dropped her handbag beside her feet and began to explain. "Ah well. For some time, I have had my eye on a toad named Achile Bouchet. His income comes from the drug trade and from ownership of several houses of joy. It was my observation that he travels with large amounts of cash on his person and only one bodyguard. A low-hanging fruit, ready to be plucked in my estimation. I watched him, got an idea of his usual schedule and entered his permanent suite here in this hotel, on the top floor, at an hour where he would be going about his unsavory business."
Bane came over and stood in front of her, arms folded. "Keep going."
"So. There I am in my little black cat suit, mask and gloves, searching his bedroom when what should I hear but voices in the parlor. Imagine my chagrin. I put an eye to the keyhole, remaining ready to leap into the closet if need be." She glanced up at Bane, bringing her arms together in her lap to emphasise her breasts, crossing her legs at the ankle, gazing up at him with a hopeful smile.
"Save the sex appeal," he said. "I'm all business."
"Oh very well, be that way. I watched as the vile Bouchet entered with a guest, a gigantic beast who had to duck to get through the doorway. His head is shaven by the way, his face is square and brutal and he has hazel eyes. But he dressed well. Does he sound familiar?"
"Karl Eldritch. How he's alive is beyond me. The last time I left him, Eldritch had a hole right through his chest where his heart used to be."
"Really. That is curious." She took a breath and went on. "Bouchet offered him a drink and this Eldritch brute accepted. They talked, I could not make out the words, and Bouchet opened a locked metal trunk he dragged from under the couch. Inside was that metal ram's horn, it looked like a child's toy to me. Bouchet held it up and I made out him saying that the agreed price was not enough, he wanted more."
Bane said nothing, but he made a hurry-up gesture.
"Eldritch was raising his voice in anger at this point. He said the Dwindle Horn was of no use to anyone but himself. Bouchet had no way to charge it. This seemed to annoy the pig, so he handed it over and said words to the effect of 'let's see you do anything.' Then Eldritch held the trinket in his hand and explained something about how it ran on atomic force which only he in the modern world understood. Something strange happened. The brightest white light I have ever seen burst around Eldritch's hand. My eyes teared. I smelled ozone. And the huge brute laughed out loud."
"Come on, hurry, we may not have much time."
"Eldritch raised the toy ram's horn and hefted it in his hand. Then he laughed again and said it was time to see if the Zhune artifact still worked. He threw the lever on the side. There was a deep humming noise, the air shimmered wildly and.. well, Achile Bouchet began to shrink. Suddenly he was five feet tall, then three. He barely came up to Eldritch's knee. When he was no bigger than a mouse, he started running around in a panic and Eldritch snatched him up with one hand.
"This was horrible to witness. Bouchet was screaming in a high shrill voice, wriggling and trying to escape. Eldritch kept laughing. He kept Bouchet in one hand, placed the ram's horn on a table and went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind them. I am sick to think what happened to Achile Bouchet, but he is certainly floating dead in the sewers now."
"A shrinking ray.." Bane said. "Leave it to ancient Zhune. I wouldn't have thought such a thing was possible. Then what happened?"
"It was my only chance," Rook went on. "I ran from the bedroom and out the door into the hall. At the time, I was not really aware I had snatched up the ram's horn as I went by the table. Out in the hall, I went down a flight of stairs and seized this dress which I had hidden under the steps. It took but a second to discard my catsuit, pull on my dress and keep descending. I hardly broke stride. At the ground floor, I put on these shoes and placed the ram's horn in my handbag here."
Bane was examining the Zhune artifact, which felt warm to the touch. "Eldritch charged it up with atomic force. He's the only one who understands the lost science of Zhune, which converts matter into energy and energy in matter. Right now, I am sure he is on his way here."
"Really. That's an unsettling thought. I have been on the fringes of your, how you say, Midnight War for years now. I had trouble with Those Who Remember not long ago. So all this is not hard for me to comprehend. But this man Eldritch seems like bad news."
"You have no idea. So, you grabbed this Dwindle Horn and ran like a rabbit. What happened?"
"Outside the lobby, four unsavory beasts saw him leave in a hurry. I had no car. My thought was to hurry over to the Casino Petit and allure some fool into giving me a ride as far away as possible. My guess is that your friend Eldritch emerged after disposing of Bouchet and dispatched his henchmen on my trail. I made it to the front of the casino where I saw a brave-looking handsome young man and, well, you know the rest."
"Time to move again," Bane said. He bent to pick up Rook's handbag and handed it to her, which seemed to surprise her, as did his giving her a hand to rise off the low couch. "I think we need to put some miles behind us."
White light flared up from the door, blazing brighter than the sun, and the doorknob vaporized entirely. A neatly cauterized round hole showed where the doorknob and lock had been as the door swung inward to show Karl Eldritch in the hall.
IV.
Filling the doorway to the point where it seemed he might not be able to get through, the warlock blinked and tilted his shaven head to one side quizzically. "YOU. Again." His voice was so deep as to be hard to understand. "Why am I not surprised to find you in my way once more!" Eldritch lifted a beefy hand and white energy crackled around it.
"Whoa," Bane told him calmly. "Think for a second. I've had time to hide the Dwindle Horn. If you blast me, it'll be a long tiresome search before you find it again."
Eldritch rumbled deep in his chest with frustration. "Why I haven't killed you is beyond understanding. I will have that Zhune relic, Dire Wolf. I am the only man who understands their amazing science, their devices rightfully belong to me."
"So you claim. Listen, first I need to know something, like how the hell are you alive? When I left you, there was a hole in your chest I could stick my fist through and your heart was completely gone. I'm not a doctor, but that strikes me as a fatal wound."
"Because I know the ultimate secret of the universe! The conversion of matter into energy and back again. My body drew on the atomic force of matter near me and transmuted it into flesh and blood. Within an hour, I took a breath as my new heart began to beat." Eldritch raised his hands again. "I may well be immortal, Dire Wolf. Time will tell."
Bane placed himself in front of Rook, shielding her. "Let the woman go, Karl. Your beef has always been with me. Let her go and I'll tell you where you gizmo is hidden."
"Hah. A knight of Tel Shai to the very end. You will tell me in any case, Bane. After I burn away your arms and legs into stray atoms, your stubbornness will evaporate with them. You will be happy to give me what I want." The giant warlock's face split with a gleeful leer.
"This may sound suggestive coming from me," interrupted Rook. "But I'll give you what you want."
Eldritch did not understand for a second, and when her meaning sank in, it was too late. A deep humming filled the room, felt rather than heard, and the sorcerer reeled back in dismay. He clutched his head and nearly fell. As Rook lowered the Dwindle Horn, Eldritch was already beginning to shrink.
"I knew you put this in my handbag because of the weight," she told Bane. "He thought it still was on you."
In a few seconds, Eldritch had deflated down to six feet tall. Then he was no higher than Bane's waist, the size of a child. Suddenly the warlock lost his nerve in raw panic. "Help me!" he screamed. "DO something. Don't let me shrink into oblivion." Eldritch was no bigger than six inches tall as he grabbed desperately at Bane's pants cuff. "Hurry. Do something..." And then, just like that, Karl Eldritch could not longer be seen.
Rook was bent over, staring down at the spot where the sorcerer had stood. "I don't... where did he go?"
"Beats me," Bane said. "I'm not much of a scientist. Maybe he's like those one-celled animals you see through a microscope. Maybe he just doesn't exist at all anymore."
"I didn't intend to make him just... vanish like that. I thought he'd be small enough to be harmless."
The Dire Wolf took the Dwindle Horn away from her and pocketed it. "I was counting on you to use this gadget before Eldritch realized it was in your possession. If I had been holding it, he would have atomized most of me and claimed it."
Rook had her hand clamped over her mouth, still studying the empty spot. "What a way to go. It's awful."
The Dire Wolf snorted. "You say that because you don't know all the things Karl Eldritch has done. He was a mass murderer already and he was just getting started. It's better that I didn't know how to save him, because I'm not sure I would have."
6/1/2014
5/30/1981
At nine-thirty, Jeremy Bane stepped out of his rental car and pocketed the keys after parking in the first available spot. The young valet bowed slightly and walked stiffly away, evidently miffed at missing a possible tip. Watching him go, the Dire Wolf frowned more than usual. He was always serious and sour, but the nature of this case made him uncomfortable. On a beautiful warm May evening, Bane was standing in front of an exclusive casino in the South of France with a half million dollars in his pocket to gamble, and he felt no excitement at all.
For one thing, he was in disguise, which he hated and which always made him feel ridiculous. It was a bare minimum, just his black hair lightened to a sandy brown and given a few weeks extra growth, dark contact lenses over his pale grey eyes, and some wax injected in his nose to widen its bridge, but the change was enough. Bane's white dinner jacket and suit had been tailored to make him look heavier than his gaunt frame, and he remembered to slouch which took two inches off his height. The Dire Wolf glanced around and found no one was paying the slightest attention to him. Perhaps he didn't look as foolish as he feared. Taking a deep breath, he started up the wide marble steps to the front doors of Casino Frisson, walking past mostly elderly men and women in clothing that cost more than a new car would. Everything was brilliantly lit. The excited chatter of the upper class looking forward to throw their money away buzzed around him and he felt so out of place it hurt.
Bane was greeted at the door by a handsome fellow in a doorman's uniform complete with white gloves and billed cap. He was recognized from the previous night and ushered through. To his left was a cloakroom and to his right a short vestibule where visitors could wait while gamblers were summoned.
He stepped up to a cashier's window and converted a few thousand dollars into chips, which he tucked away in both pockets of his dinner jacket. Before leaving New York, Bane had been taught the bare rudiments of what he would need to know by Michael Hawk. He stepped down into the huge high-ceilinged first room of the casino, where card games were going on, and watched warily for a few minutes.
A waiter approached with deference, and Bane ordered plain club soda. In a few minutes, the man returned with a sparkling crystal glass on a tray. The Dire Wolf took the drink, tipped the man and went back to studying the scene. It all seemed stupid to him. He had no gambling instinct. As far as he could see, these places were snares where the odds were stacked so heavily toward the house that you might as well just throw your money on the floor and walk out and get it over with.
Eventually, he decided to move on. The next room was even larger, more ornate. Everything looked like it belonged in a palace, from the plush burgundy rugs to the elegant hand-crafted chairs to the gleaming chandeliers. Here were the roulette tables. As Bane watched, a fat old man leaned forward to see the results of his bet and sank back down into his chair as if stricken. The people next to him smirked and raked in piles of chips.
As he sipped the club soda, Bane caught no trace of the man he was hunting. Perhaps the prey was in disguise just as he was, but that seemed unlikely. When you're six feet seven as Karl Eldritch was, disguises were futile. Reports of Karl Eldritch seen in this casino had been received only twenty-four hours ago, and Bane had immediately come here. The Dire Wolf sighed inaudibly and found a table where poker was being played. Most of the men at the table seemed American, and at least one was arguing with his partner in a strong Texas accent. Bane asked to be cut into the game, received his cards and began to play. He held his own for a while, ordered another drink, and settled back to await developments. For a while, he was ahead but, in a sudden reversal, he lost everything. The Dire Wolf paid off, thanked the people at the table and moved on.
It was going to be a long night. Bane drifted from one game to the next, answering attempts at conversation politely and mostly watching others play. By midnight, he had actually won a few thousand and was back where he had started. But he was getting cranky. So many people were smoking and the haze in the air annoyed him, as did the smell of liquor and the way the women's voices got shrill as the drinks went down. The Dire Wolf decided to step outside for a moment and get some air before he started a fight just to blow off steam.
As he walked past the crowded bar, he spotted a dining room to his left and caught the scent of roast beef and onions. That would be a good idea. His enhanced metabolism gave him reflexes faster than a normal human's but also left him with a metabolism that burned calories mercilessly. When he came back in, he would enjoy a huge midnight supper.
Going outside was an immense relief. A breeze brought cool night air, and the relative silence made him feel happier immediately. He took a deep breath and drew himself up to his full height, rolling his shoulders and almost smiling. That was better. His sinuses felt clogged from the smoke and stuffiness inside the casino and he started walking. On the other side of the parking lot, beyond a grove of small trees, the twelve-story hotel where he was staying loomed up. And beyond that was only a village that had been inhabited by fishermen for generations but which was now peppered with tourist shops and overpriced boutiques.
Striding into the night, Bane suddenly felt like himself again. No one else was out here at the moment. He paused. Coming around a corner was a woman in a sleeveless maroon dress that was a little too short and too tight for modesty. It had a scoop neckline and some glitter around the hem. From a lifetime at war, the Dire Wolf automatically scrutinized her for any possible threat. Her body language showed no hostile intention. All she carried was a black handbag, which might contain a weapon but his judgement thought not. As she saw him, her face lit in a luminous smile.
The woman was remarkably beautiful, at least five feet seven with a slim figure and long legs. Her jet black hair hung straight past her shoulder blades and swung as she turned around. That oval face was almost hypnotic with its full lips, straight nose and huge dark eyes. Bane saw at once she had some Asian blood, and decided on Japanese, going by her golden peach skin. Half French and half Japanese was his appraisal. She rushed up to him.
"There you are, you silly boy!" she sang out and caught him in an eager embrace. For a second, he was overwhelmed with sensations. Firm soft breasts against his chest, a faint aroma of lilac, strong arms tightening around him and then she was kissing him and he was surprised as a hot tongue slid into his mouth. Even someone as repressed as Jeremy Bane was had to be distracted by all this, then she broke free.
"Ah, but you don't remember me?" she said with heartbreak in her voice. Her English was excellent with just a trace of a pleasant accent.
"Oh, I think I'd remember you," Bane snapped. "What game are you playing, lady?"
"Is that all you have to say to me, my love?" she began, then she seemed to catch something out of the corner of her eye and rushed off into the parking lot. Considering she was wearing heels, she made good time. Bane watched her for a second, saw two big men in dark suits coming in from the side to intercept her and decided to get involved. Holstered under his dinner jacket was the anesthetic dart gun and the matched silver daggers were as always sheathed under his sleeves. It looked as if tonight was not going to be a complete waste of time.
II.
He sensed someone behind him and wheeled about as two thug ran up. "Okay, buddy," the man said. "What did she give you-" was all he managed to say. Bane took one sideways step to meet him and stopped the man in mid-step with a straight punch to the middle of the face. The thug fell over backwards and his head hit the sidewalk with a thump. Standing behind him was the second goon, not as tall but making up for it with the Glock in his hand.
"Freeze-" he started. But Bane snapped, "I'll get back to you later," and whirled on one foot, his other leg whipping up to smash a steel-capped boot across the man's jaw. The crunching noise hinted that extensive oral surgery was in that thug's future. Even as that goon dropped, the Dire Wolf was racing across the parking lot toward the row where the woman was facing two more gunmen. She was standing with hands on hips, weight on one foot and seemingly insolent in the face of two pistols aimed right at her.
Dropping low, almost scuttling along on toes and fingertips, Bane flashed between the rows of Mercedes and Rolls-Royces and Ferraris, coming around behind the two thugs. They were standing side by side, their shoulders almost touching. Much too close together, he thought, they have not been well trained. One held a 9mm Parabellum, the other a 45 automatic, and both were right handed. As the Dire Wolf surged up from the ground behind them, the woman gave away in her eyes that she saw him and the men froze. Bane seized their gunhands and yanked them up so they were aiming the guns directly at each other. He was about to say, 'don't move' but both men fired at the same time and killed each other. The shots were deafening at such close range and the white flashes left afterimages like lightning.
"Whoops," he said, letting the bodies sag to the concrete.
Seeing the woman staring at him goggle-eyed, Bane shrugged. "I didn't intend that. Better them than you, though." His ears were ringing so hard he wasn't sure what he had just said. Being that close without protection had left him deafened more than once.
She looked down at the bloody corpses, then back up at him. She opened her mouth, tried to speak, then closed it again.
Bane grabbed her wrist. "Come on, I think you need to do a little explaining." Over by the casino doors, he could hear excited voices. People were coming out to investigate the shots and they would find the two injured men on the sidewalk, then two gruesome corpses in the parking lot. The Dire Wolf ran to where his car was parked, and the woman came willingly with him. He unlocked the door on her side, leaped around and got behind the wheel. It was a new cherry-red Audi he had leased just that morning. Pulling around, he headed for the exit and was on the long access road to the highway before anyone saw the car clearly. Bane swung around in a loop and pulled into the parking lot of the hotel where he was staying, just out of sight of the casino. He turned off the engine and could hear voices yelling in the distance.
"All right, then. Give me a name."
"What? Why should I? Who are you?"
"I'm the guy who just saved you from being either abducted or killed. Good enough?"
She considered that. "Very well. Rook. That is how I am known."
"Rook. Got it." Behind the wheel, Bane wrestled out of his white dinner jacket and turned it inside out, yanking it back on. The inner side was black and cut like a sport jacket. Tugging off his tie, he stuffed it in a pocket and then unbuttoned his white dress shirt to reveal a blackturtleneck underneath. He glanced over to see Rook watching him with a faint smile. Leaning forward, he popped the tinted contact lenses out and dropped them in a plastic container.
As he straightened up to face the woman called Rook again, now his eyes showed in the light from a lamppost as a cold grey. Her expression changed, became apprehensive for the first time. Bane pulled a soft cloth from under his seat and began rubbing his hair briskly with it. The impregnated cloth quickly dissolved the soluble dye and his hair became its normal black again. He combed it once with his fingers and relaxed a little. Now there was only the wax injected in his nose to remove, but he would need hot water for that. He glared over at the woman.
"Dire Wolf," she said. "Of course. Now it's obvious. You're the American, Jeremy Bane."
He nodded. "Let's get everything clear. You pulled that hug and kiss to plant something in my left jacket pocket. I can feel its weight now. So I assume it's something those jokers wanted and which you wanted to keep from them. Right so far?"
"So far," Rook answered, regaining her composure. "I intended to find you after I lost them so I could explain. But they were nearer than I had thought."
"Start talking, then. Give me answers."
She leaned back, light from outside the car highlighting her cleavage as she intended. This detail was wasted on Bane, as she saw by his impatient expression. "Very well. Perhaps you have not heard of Rook. In some circles, I am well known. I appropriate items that better belong somewhere else, I retrieve other items which have strayed from their rightful owners, all for a reasonable fee."
"Cat burglar. Jewel thief. Retriever of stolen property. I've read reports on Rook. But all your crimes are done without violence, and since you always rob criminals or the super-rich, you are regarded as a sort of romantic Robin Hood who does no real harm. Europe is not my usual territory, so I didn't think our paths would ever cross."
"And you?" she continued in her subdued French accent. "The Dire Wolf. A notorious vigilante, tracking human monsters like Samhain or Golgora or the Slaughterman. I am hardly someone you need concern yourself with, my friend." She held up her hand. "As much as I am in your debt, I would like you to return my property now, if you please."
"YOUR property? That's dubious. No. We're going up to my suite, and I'll get a good look at what you planted on me. Then I'll decide the next move." He opened his door. "Let's go, Rook."
Outside the car, she turned away and Bane said quietly, "Get serious. You saw me move against those gunmen. You won't take three steps before I catch you. Come on." She deflated slightly, straightened her dress and accompanied him toward a side door of the hotel.
"It'll be locked, you realize," she said, just as he thumbed a device inside an inner pocket. With a buzz and a click, the door unlocked and they went through without setting off any alarm.
"I have my natural curiosity," she said. "How did you do that?"
"Oh, I have some useful gadgets," Bane replied. He opened a stairwell door and followed her up to the third floor. The hotel was not that old, but the carpeting in the hall was thin and the decor drab. He stopped before a plain wooden door with a brass plate that read 309. Gesturing her to be silent, he stood with one ear close to that door, slowing his breathing, eyes distant. A full minute passed, then he unlocked the door and ushered her in.
Thumbing on the overhead lights, closing the door behind them, Bane led her into a modest suite with a double bed and couch with two chairs, all in the same room. A TV sat on a stand, there was a dresser with a wide mirror. One door was open to show a tiny bathroom, one doorway revealed a kitchen. On the bed was a knapsack and small travel bag.
Rook crossed over to peer out the window, which faced the casino just beyond some trees. "I can't see anything, of course," she said. "But I imagine there is quite a commotion."
"Have a seat," he told her bluntly, indicating the couch. "Let's see what those gorillas wanted and what you thought would be better off hidden on me." He reached inside the pocket in the white side of the reversible jacket and took out a curious device. Small enough to fit in one hand, it looked like a ram's horn made of copper, with a short lever on its side and a grate over the open end of the horn.
Bane glared over at her. "This is a relic of ancient Zhune. It's unmistakable. Rook, I don't know if you realize it but you have made one of the most dangerous men in the world angry at you. You robbed Karl Eldritch!"
III.
She settled back on the couch, adjusted her skirt, dropped her handbag beside her feet and began to explain. "Ah well. For some time, I have had my eye on a toad named Achile Bouchet. His income comes from the drug trade and from ownership of several houses of joy. It was my observation that he travels with large amounts of cash on his person and only one bodyguard. A low-hanging fruit, ready to be plucked in my estimation. I watched him, got an idea of his usual schedule and entered his permanent suite here in this hotel, on the top floor, at an hour where he would be going about his unsavory business."
Bane came over and stood in front of her, arms folded. "Keep going."
"So. There I am in my little black cat suit, mask and gloves, searching his bedroom when what should I hear but voices in the parlor. Imagine my chagrin. I put an eye to the keyhole, remaining ready to leap into the closet if need be." She glanced up at Bane, bringing her arms together in her lap to emphasise her breasts, crossing her legs at the ankle, gazing up at him with a hopeful smile.
"Save the sex appeal," he said. "I'm all business."
"Oh very well, be that way. I watched as the vile Bouchet entered with a guest, a gigantic beast who had to duck to get through the doorway. His head is shaven by the way, his face is square and brutal and he has hazel eyes. But he dressed well. Does he sound familiar?"
"Karl Eldritch. How he's alive is beyond me. The last time I left him, Eldritch had a hole right through his chest where his heart used to be."
"Really. That is curious." She took a breath and went on. "Bouchet offered him a drink and this Eldritch brute accepted. They talked, I could not make out the words, and Bouchet opened a locked metal trunk he dragged from under the couch. Inside was that metal ram's horn, it looked like a child's toy to me. Bouchet held it up and I made out him saying that the agreed price was not enough, he wanted more."
Bane said nothing, but he made a hurry-up gesture.
"Eldritch was raising his voice in anger at this point. He said the Dwindle Horn was of no use to anyone but himself. Bouchet had no way to charge it. This seemed to annoy the pig, so he handed it over and said words to the effect of 'let's see you do anything.' Then Eldritch held the trinket in his hand and explained something about how it ran on atomic force which only he in the modern world understood. Something strange happened. The brightest white light I have ever seen burst around Eldritch's hand. My eyes teared. I smelled ozone. And the huge brute laughed out loud."
"Come on, hurry, we may not have much time."
"Eldritch raised the toy ram's horn and hefted it in his hand. Then he laughed again and said it was time to see if the Zhune artifact still worked. He threw the lever on the side. There was a deep humming noise, the air shimmered wildly and.. well, Achile Bouchet began to shrink. Suddenly he was five feet tall, then three. He barely came up to Eldritch's knee. When he was no bigger than a mouse, he started running around in a panic and Eldritch snatched him up with one hand.
"This was horrible to witness. Bouchet was screaming in a high shrill voice, wriggling and trying to escape. Eldritch kept laughing. He kept Bouchet in one hand, placed the ram's horn on a table and went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind them. I am sick to think what happened to Achile Bouchet, but he is certainly floating dead in the sewers now."
"A shrinking ray.." Bane said. "Leave it to ancient Zhune. I wouldn't have thought such a thing was possible. Then what happened?"
"It was my only chance," Rook went on. "I ran from the bedroom and out the door into the hall. At the time, I was not really aware I had snatched up the ram's horn as I went by the table. Out in the hall, I went down a flight of stairs and seized this dress which I had hidden under the steps. It took but a second to discard my catsuit, pull on my dress and keep descending. I hardly broke stride. At the ground floor, I put on these shoes and placed the ram's horn in my handbag here."
Bane was examining the Zhune artifact, which felt warm to the touch. "Eldritch charged it up with atomic force. He's the only one who understands the lost science of Zhune, which converts matter into energy and energy in matter. Right now, I am sure he is on his way here."
"Really. That's an unsettling thought. I have been on the fringes of your, how you say, Midnight War for years now. I had trouble with Those Who Remember not long ago. So all this is not hard for me to comprehend. But this man Eldritch seems like bad news."
"You have no idea. So, you grabbed this Dwindle Horn and ran like a rabbit. What happened?"
"Outside the lobby, four unsavory beasts saw him leave in a hurry. I had no car. My thought was to hurry over to the Casino Petit and allure some fool into giving me a ride as far away as possible. My guess is that your friend Eldritch emerged after disposing of Bouchet and dispatched his henchmen on my trail. I made it to the front of the casino where I saw a brave-looking handsome young man and, well, you know the rest."
"Time to move again," Bane said. He bent to pick up Rook's handbag and handed it to her, which seemed to surprise her, as did his giving her a hand to rise off the low couch. "I think we need to put some miles behind us."
White light flared up from the door, blazing brighter than the sun, and the doorknob vaporized entirely. A neatly cauterized round hole showed where the doorknob and lock had been as the door swung inward to show Karl Eldritch in the hall.
IV.
Filling the doorway to the point where it seemed he might not be able to get through, the warlock blinked and tilted his shaven head to one side quizzically. "YOU. Again." His voice was so deep as to be hard to understand. "Why am I not surprised to find you in my way once more!" Eldritch lifted a beefy hand and white energy crackled around it.
"Whoa," Bane told him calmly. "Think for a second. I've had time to hide the Dwindle Horn. If you blast me, it'll be a long tiresome search before you find it again."
Eldritch rumbled deep in his chest with frustration. "Why I haven't killed you is beyond understanding. I will have that Zhune relic, Dire Wolf. I am the only man who understands their amazing science, their devices rightfully belong to me."
"So you claim. Listen, first I need to know something, like how the hell are you alive? When I left you, there was a hole in your chest I could stick my fist through and your heart was completely gone. I'm not a doctor, but that strikes me as a fatal wound."
"Because I know the ultimate secret of the universe! The conversion of matter into energy and back again. My body drew on the atomic force of matter near me and transmuted it into flesh and blood. Within an hour, I took a breath as my new heart began to beat." Eldritch raised his hands again. "I may well be immortal, Dire Wolf. Time will tell."
Bane placed himself in front of Rook, shielding her. "Let the woman go, Karl. Your beef has always been with me. Let her go and I'll tell you where you gizmo is hidden."
"Hah. A knight of Tel Shai to the very end. You will tell me in any case, Bane. After I burn away your arms and legs into stray atoms, your stubbornness will evaporate with them. You will be happy to give me what I want." The giant warlock's face split with a gleeful leer.
"This may sound suggestive coming from me," interrupted Rook. "But I'll give you what you want."
Eldritch did not understand for a second, and when her meaning sank in, it was too late. A deep humming filled the room, felt rather than heard, and the sorcerer reeled back in dismay. He clutched his head and nearly fell. As Rook lowered the Dwindle Horn, Eldritch was already beginning to shrink.
"I knew you put this in my handbag because of the weight," she told Bane. "He thought it still was on you."
In a few seconds, Eldritch had deflated down to six feet tall. Then he was no higher than Bane's waist, the size of a child. Suddenly the warlock lost his nerve in raw panic. "Help me!" he screamed. "DO something. Don't let me shrink into oblivion." Eldritch was no bigger than six inches tall as he grabbed desperately at Bane's pants cuff. "Hurry. Do something..." And then, just like that, Karl Eldritch could not longer be seen.
Rook was bent over, staring down at the spot where the sorcerer had stood. "I don't... where did he go?"
"Beats me," Bane said. "I'm not much of a scientist. Maybe he's like those one-celled animals you see through a microscope. Maybe he just doesn't exist at all anymore."
"I didn't intend to make him just... vanish like that. I thought he'd be small enough to be harmless."
The Dire Wolf took the Dwindle Horn away from her and pocketed it. "I was counting on you to use this gadget before Eldritch realized it was in your possession. If I had been holding it, he would have atomized most of me and claimed it."
Rook had her hand clamped over her mouth, still studying the empty spot. "What a way to go. It's awful."
The Dire Wolf snorted. "You say that because you don't know all the things Karl Eldritch has done. He was a mass murderer already and he was just getting started. It's better that I didn't know how to save him, because I'm not sure I would have."
6/1/2014