The Phantom Feud

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

The small dog was brown and gray, with a large tuft of the elder look about its scruff. The sharp-tipped tail resembled that of a German Shepherd, and its ears were that similar pointed flop. Its fur was short and a little on the coarse side, and it was covered in fallen leaves and dirt.

The squirming bundle of adorable fluff squirmed side to side on its back, seemingly incapable of righting itself. At seeing me, its brown eyes seemed to light up, and it let out a sharp, squeaking bark. It redoubled its efforts to right itself, but only succeeded in getting itself dirtier.

Pomo responded with a sharp hiss as he thrashed in his mistress’ arms. That got the puppy’s attention, and the little rascal gave another bark before he finally succeeded in rolling onto his paws. The barker leapt between me and the feline, its tail stiff and its hackles raised. The pup planted all four paws on the ground and barked at the cat. Pomo’s answer was another hiss as he squirmed in his mistress’ arms.

“Pomo!” Eva scolded her fiendish feline as she took a step back with her flailing bundle. “Pomo, calm down!”

I wrapped my arms around the protective canine and drew him against my chest. The little pup let out a yelp and fell backward against me. It tilted its head back and stared up at me as another whimper escaped its dark lips.

“You need to behave, too,” I scolded the little dog before I turned my attention to Eva.

Eva was forced to toss the cat onto the ground where it landed nimbly on its four paws. There was a nice stripe of raised fur on his back and his green eyes gleamed with ire at the puppy. A swift swat of the butt by Eva’s hand quelled some of the anger as the cat shrank beneath his mistress’ tough love.

“That is quite enough!” Eva rebuked her familiar as she wagged a finger at the feline. “You know better than to attack the living!”

I blinked up at her. “The living?”

She looked down at the pup and sighed. “Yes. Like your coming, it’s very rare for someone to pass through the Veil who isn’t dead. However, wild and abandoned creatures have been known to pass over the fortifications and wander through the realm.”

I stared down at my squirming bundle. His soft brown eyes smiled up at me. “So, we need to get him back through the Veil?”

She clasped her hands in front of her and nodded. “That’s the only option. He would starve to death here, or worse, become a phantom or some other such creature.”

I winced as I imagined that scenario, and the next moment I climbed to my feet with the dog cradled like a baby in my arms. “Hear that, boy? I have to get you back home.” The puppy c****d its head to one side and let out a small whimper. I tilted my head down and inspected his scruff. “He doesn’t have a collar.”

“No doubt a stray,” Eva mused with a sad shake of her head. “But perhaps someone will be kind enough to adopt him if he makes it out of the woods.”

A little color drained from my face, but I bit my lip. What Eva said wasn’t wrong, but still, it just felt like something was off.

Eva opened her arms to me, and her voice was gentle. “Would you like me to take him?”

I lifted my chin and took a deep breath. “No, I’ll do it.”

“Then I will accompany you to the fortification,” she offered as she half-turned toward the woods in the direction of the Veil. “Night is nearly upon us, and you may meet with an errant arbiter.”

I nodded and we moved in that direction. Pomo let out a yowl which gave us pause, and Eva looked over her shoulder to cast an irritated look at him. “Well? Are you coming or not?” Pomo let out another pitiful cry, and she rolled her eyes. “No, I’m not staying here. I’ve promised to help, and I intend to keep my word.”

I lifted my eyebrow at my hostess. “Can you really understand what he’s saying?”

Eva folded her arms over her chest and sighed. “Not through words as he refuses to speak to even me, but his tone is enough for me to understand his meaning.” She returned her attention to her feline. “You’ll remain here until I return. I can’t sense any trouble in the domain but keep your ears open.” Pomo flattened his ears against his head and growled. Eva frowned but turned to me. “Let’s be off. There’s no reasoning with him when he’s mad.”

We resumed our journey and soon found ourselves in the woods. The coming night fell upon us as we made our way through the forest, and I couldn’t help but look over the place as if it were new.

“Reliving memories?” Eva asked me.

I gave her a sheepish grin. “More like trying to remember anything. Everything happened so fast that even though it’s only been two days, nothing’s familiar to me.”

She swept her eyes over the dark canopy above our heads. “It has been some time since I ventured out here. Most of my time is spent in the house or patrolling with Pomo, and he can’t travel very far from the house.”

I lifted an eyebrow at my companion. “So, what do you guys do between mortal combat with monsters?”

She chuckled. “Well, there were my experiments with the arbiters, but I’ve given up that hobby.” She let out a sigh and shook her head. “I discovered nothing from it, anyway.”

I thought back to previous conversations about her ‘hobby.’ “You were trying to figure out how to defeat them, weren’t you?”

She nodded. “Yes. That is, without using so much of my weakened power. However,” She held up one hand, and a soft green glow surrounded her fingers, “with the return of most of my power my research is no longer necessary.”

I started back. “Most of your power? Not all of it?”

Eva dropped her hand back to her side and stared ahead as a sigh escaped her lips. “Unfortunately, no. I’m grateful for the return of so much of my former strength, but I’ve yet to achieve the power that I had when I first arrived.”

A soft yelp came from the little bundle of fluff in my arms. The puppy wiggled and pawed at my arms, and his squirmy body managed to slip through my limbs. He dropped onto the ground and flopped about for a second before he righted himself and took off running. Unfortunately, the direction was to our left and away from the Veil.

“Hey!” I shouted as I raced after the puppy. “Come back!”

Eva lifted up one hand and the glow returned. Vines shot up from the ground in front of the puppy and they dove at the dog. The puppy yelped and dodged the vines. I, however, managed to trip over several of the tendrils and I crashed on top of the plants. The air was knocked from my lungs, and I lay there dazed, but my blurry eyes managed to watch the puppy disappear into the woods.

“Adi!” Eva shouted as she rushed over to me. She grasped my arms and looked me over with pursed lips. “I’m so sorry! Are you hurt?”

I climbed onto my arms and glared down at the earth. The vines had been crushed beneath my weight, but they slithered up like drunk mesmerized snakes and snapped their leaves at me before they retreated back into the ground. “Only a few bruises and internal injuries.” I looked up at where the puppy had gone. “Do you see him?”

Eva’s eyes followed mine and she pursed her lips. “Unfortunately, no. He’s vanished, but perhaps this is for the best. He may venture beyond the Veil on his own.”

“We have to make sure of that,” I insisted as I climbed to my feet and brushed myself off.

She stood and lifted an eyebrow. “Surely the dog is no longer our responsibility. It did run away, after all. What can we do for such an animal?”

I looked to where the small pup had disappeared, and my heart fell. It had been so terrified, like I was when I first entered here. I stiffened my jaw and spun around to face Eva. “I’m going to go look for the dog. You stay here and protect your Point.”

Her face fell. “I promised Duncan I wouldn’t allow anything to happen to you.”

I gave her a smile and shook my head. “I’ll be fine, and if I do see anything I’ll take off running toward your place. That way you can still keep your promise. Besides, can’t you sense when trouble’s around?”

Eva cast a look of suspicion at the world around us. “That was once a rule, but I couldn’t sense the intruder within my own house, and Duncan told me you were attacked by a phantom, and yet I have not sensed them since your coming, either.” She shook her head and returned her attention to me. “No, I do not like this arrangement. I would rather go with you.”

I clasped her hands in mine and looked in her eyes. “I’ll be fine. I’ll stick as close to the pentagram as I can and be back before you know it. Besides, I don’t want to take you away from your job because of a wild puppy chase. Pomo would never forgive you if he had to fight off a bunch of trolls all alone because you were chasing after a puppy.”

She still didn’t look too happy, but she gave a nod. “Very well but be careful.”

I laughed as I took off after the puppy. “What could happen to me here?”

Even as I turned away, I could see her eyes look past me in the direction I sprinted. There was something sadly worrisome about her gaze that should have given me a hint that I was running into more trouble.