Jack Orin and The Death Dome

Chapter 3 The Stardust Trail

“You got to calm down, worrying like this won’t help,” Anubis said while making some tea from the leftover water from earlier.

           “Easy for you to say, I have scanned over this blood with almost every spell I have, and the results aren’t making sense. One spell is telling me it's human, while another is telling me demonic. The only thing they can agree on is that old magic is at work.”

           Anubis finished setting up the tea bags into the two cups on my coffee table, then proceeded to pour the hot boiling water into the cups. “Reminds me of the incident you dealt with back in 1863 back in London; the one with the clockwork machines.”

           I groaned and rubbed my head. “God that was hell, but it's nothing similar. This monster actually bleeds.” I sat down and sipped my tea. Anubis always knew how to make excellent tea from scratch, even if the teabags were old.

           “Couldn’t you use some of the advanced tracking spells to see about this beast’s whereabouts? I am sure you could use one of the angel’s feathers as a conduit.”

           I shook my head. “I’d rather not use an angel feather unless absolutely necessary. Also, most of my advanced tracking spells need some ingredients to work, and I am about out of the necessary ingredients. It may take longer just to gather the necessary ingredients, just to try to use a spell that even Athena hasn’t used. I have to try other methods, otherwise, this is going to be a short search and rescue.” I finished the tea and smashed the cup into the ground. I then reach into my pocket and bring out a small yellow bag.

           “Going to really summon him, huh?” Anubis said while still enjoying his tea.

           “Not like I have a choice; he has eyes and ears in dark places, plus he owes me a favor,” I said while making marks on the ground with the powder.

           Anubis chuckled. “Honestly, who doesn’t owe you a favor, although I am a bit disappointed you haven’t noticed anything different about me.”

           I finished drawing the symbol before looking up at Anubis. After a few moments of staring, I noticed that he made another body for himself that was slightly different than the last one. His last body was skinnier and less muscular, he was an inch taller as well and his face was a bit more formed. He still retained his Egyptian features and kept his baldness look from his last body. “What was wrong with the last one if I may ask?”

           Anubis chuckled and gave a smile. “Well, since you asked, I thought a more macho look would be more appropriate. It gives me more of a terrifying presence, and a more attractable one.”

           Before Anubis continued on with talking about himself. I raised my hand, silencing him. “As much as I would love to hear you ranting on about why you made the change for the next 3 hours. I would rather use this precious time to find my descendant and summon Almont of the brothers three.”

He nodded in compliance and sat back ready to enjoy what was to come. “Time for the show.”

I nodded in agreement. I raised my arm and pointed the palm of my hand towards the symbol. Sigo nunca bata yiro ji su takata. As soon as I finished uttering the words, the symbol glowed red and a crackling sound could be heard from the ground. Fire shot up from the ground and a shadowy figure appeared in the fire with crimson eyes. The room shook with fear as the crackling sound from the fire blew louder and fiercer with every second. The wind from the fire blew the furniture back and created a whirlwind of flying books and papers. The fire then dissipated and the only thing left in its place was a figure in human form. My eyes flashed in both disappointment and hesitation as the figure became clearer. The figure standing in front of me was wearing a custom black suite, with silver buttons, black shoes, 3 rings on each finger, a cane, and a black hat. The figure was African American and looked to be in his late 50’s with not only grey hair on his head but on his beard too. This was not Almont, but someone I did not intend to summon, his brother Balbano.

Balbano eyed the room while ignoring both myself and Anubis. He swung around his cane without care as he walked to the table where Anubis sat. With one flick of his finger, a napkin appeared in his hand and several people appeared before me. They were all dressed in fine red suites and bell hats similar to those in an upscale restaurant. They moved without hesitation and waited on Balbano within seconds and brandished a plate of fresh fried seafood and crab legs and poured a glass of what looked to be white wine in a glass; all for a party of one. “hmmm, can you smell that food boy; that freshly fried food smell. I’ll tell you, that the most important part of any meal is the smell. You get that wrong and it just ruins the illusion.” He said in his deep smooth voice.

“Really, and here I thought eating and making a mess in my home would ruin the illusion,” I said in retort.

Balbano gave a small chuckle as he ate his food and eyed Anubis from head to toe. “Don’t tell me, you got yourself a new body, I’ll say for a god of the dead, you’re not very creative in your choices are you Anubis.”

“Better to make a subtle change in appearance than wear the same body bag for the past two centuries,” Anubis said.

Balbano roared with laughter at that statement. “Are you kidding, this body bag speaks volumes to my personality, I wouldn’t change it for the world.” He said as he continued to munch on his food. “So, Orin, are you gonna just stand there, or are you gonna tell me what this is all about. I know you wouldn’t summon me without reason.”

“I didn’t summon you, you just appeared in your brother’s stead,” I said with a hint of annoyance in my voice.

“Well, Almont was busy, and I wanted to check up on my favorite Spaniard. It’s been ages since we last spoke. Plus, it gave me an excuse to eat. You know it’s so hard to summon these guys in hell. I mean they just burn up in seconds, leaving only a tray of food with no one to feed me. At least no one as scrumptious as these boys.”

I snapped my fingers and the bloodstained cloth appeared in front of Balbano near his plate. I could see a hint of curiosity escape in a form of an expression, something that was unlike Balbano to do.

He picked it up, sniffed, and tasted the bloodied cloth. “Well? isn’t this a treat. Where the hell did you come across this? This blood reeks and tastes of old magic.”

“It was given to me for a case which is not up for discussion. My question is if you can track the origin of this blood or where the person will next.” I said as I walked to the table and sat down.

After examining the blood further, he put the cloth down and began to shake his head. “This blood is weird; you probably know it has human and something else mixed into it as well. As for tracking it I may or may not have one of the last remaining hellhounds of old kept somewhere. If anyone is able to track this thing, it should be her.”

“What makes this hellhound different from any other?” Anubis asked.

Balbano smiled at Anubis. “Cause this dog is older than both of us combined. It’s one of the first 100 hellhounds created by the king himself. They were used to track and hunt things much scarier and older than I could ever dream of. Its nose is unlike anything ever seen and can most likely find your little Quasimodo without a hitch but at a cost.”

I snap my fingers and the glass appears in front of me, and with another snap, a bottle of whiskey appears. I poured the whisky into the cup and took a swig. “Given both of your brothers owe me a favor, I think that should cover the cost.”

Balbano laughed a laugh that filled the room. “Oh, Orin boy, you're funnier than I remember. I will tell you this once.” He grabbed my arm and locked his crimson red eyes into mine. “I don’t care if my kin owes you a favor, they ain’t me nor can they get you the hound. I am the only one here who can give it to you, and my price ain’t up for negotiation; you dig.”

I pull my arm away while maintaining eye contact. “I dig, so what’s the price? What can I offer you that you don’t already have?”

Balbano smiled, “Souls, that’s the price for the hound.”

I snap my fingers and a jar appears in front of us. “This jar houses the souls 100 damned. This should cover the cost.”

Balbano shakes his head. “This ain’t gonna cut it. I need fresh souls and they smell like they’ve been in there for a few hundred years.”

I looked at him confused. “Why are fresh ones necessary?”

He put his finger on the table and a symbol I recognized appeared in front of me. “The Mark of Rainier, you boys are trying to move up in the world.” He nodded in response. “I thought that contest wasn’t for another 20 years, it seems a bit early for the soul collecting competition for ranking up in Hell's army.”

Anubis looked at me with surprise. “You didn’t hear what happened?”

“No, what happened?”

Anubis looked at Balbano, who nodded in his direction as if to say go ahead. “ Seven months ago one of the archdukes of hell was killed and banished to purgatory. It created quite a stir, considering no one knows who pulled it off or why. Ever since then, there has been a power struggle just to see who ranks up, which is why the competition is being held earlier for the third time in all of history.”

“Guess retirement does have its drawbacks. This explains the need for fresh souls, but I don’t have any fresh souls on me.”

Balbano took a sip of his wine and swished the liquid in his glass. “Listen, the competition doesn’t end until the first of June, so you got four months to make good. So, if you agree to help us with getting 100,000 souls, then we have a deal.”

He pulled out his hand and I just stared at it. Could I do it? Would I be able to give him that many fresh souls in time? I could probably call in a few favors with some of the gods of death and maybe some of my friends in the underworld, but if it's time for the competition, it’s going to be hard. Guess I have no choice if I want to save Julia, “Deal” and I shook his hand.

A gust of wind kicked out around my house and a red symbol formed around both of our locked hands. “Glad to be doing business with you Orin; can’t wait to collect those souls.” In a bright red flash, Balbano was gone and in his place, a hellhound stood.

“Well, that went well. Guess we better get started if we want to track this thing down.” I said, staring at Anubis.

He nodded back. “Remember my old friend. I can only help for a short amount of time in this fight. That is what I am only allowed to do. If I interfere more, I will be summoned back to Ra and be punished for getting more involved than I should.”

I gave out a small smile. “I know and I thank you for helping me out, even if it’s for a short amount of time. Now, let’s see how this hellhound will actually help because I don’t think Balbano will offer a refund if it doesn’t.”

With one sniff of the blood, the hellhound howled and began to run.