Happy Blog Day Everyone!
This week, blog day falls on Valentines Day, and it would be amiss that I didn't celebrate this occasion.
First off, we've got the second Valentines special of the Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz!
Then, the main event, is the Short Diversions: Valentines Date story. This one turned out to be longer than I first planned, but I hope you enjoy you it all the same!
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
Doesn't feel like two minutes ago that I was penning this strip, yet here we are again! The idea here was if Riz was asked to give his advice...a routinely bad idea if you ask me!
On the drawing side of things, there was a few snaffus with this one, notably Brennan's eyes and overall style. I don't know why I'm struggling with him as of late.
Short Diversions
So, today is Valentines day, so it was fitting that I gave you all a story based on it. I could have chosen a multitude of stories to do here, but I decided to give the spotlight over to Isabelle and Robyn from Avalon Tales (spoken about quite frequently, here and here).
Quite frankly, I love this pair and I hope you do too.
Enjoy!
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Valentines Date
“Do you ever think that they should have moved Valentines to a warmer month? July perhaps?” Robyn asked.
“I prefer it being in cooler weather myself,” Isabelle replied. The two women were walking down the dark streets of York, most of them had closed up, with only the bars disgorging people haphazardly.
“You would prefer the cold,” Robyn smiled. “I mean, that’s why you always turn down my ideas of a warmer retreat when we get time off.”
“No, I turn that down because we’ve got a job to do, and I think we should go on holiday more locally,” Isabelle replied, running her hand through her white hair.
“One day I’ll convince you to give it a chance, just you wait!”
“I keep telling you, it won’t happen!” Isabelle let out a little laugh, grateful that it was Robyn there by her side, and no one else. Her hand touched Robyn’s, grabbing it tight.
“Would you rather not be here tonight?” Robyn questioned.
“I’m with you, that’s all that matters,” Isabelle moved closer, but not for an embrace. “Besides, have you noticed?”
“You mean behind us? It was hard not to. I’ve felt their eyes undressing me ten times over.”
“You chose to wear that dress, I should point out.”
“All the better to match with yours! So, shall we give our lone guest what they want, or are we going to keep them wandering for a bit longer?”
Isabelle turned her head most she could without it being obvious, spying the man following them, keeping pace. It was only as they passed under the harsh glare of the street lamps that she was able to see what their stalker looked like. Scruffy black hair, a middle aged looking man, he looked as average as could be, unremarkable in all areas save for one feature. His eyes were glowing in the dark, a dull crimson. A creepy smile seemed to creep across his face whenever he caught sight of either woman checking in on him.
“Hmm, probably best to double back there,” Robyn glanced back as well as she spoke, while digging into her handbag, pulling out a black pager, pressing the solitary button on it.
The man behind them didn’t care about what they were doing or talking about. He couldn’t remember when he took this face, or even eating the person it had once belonged to. He couldn’t remember when he first started walking these streets, only that he was hungry, and that desire was burning him away every moment it wasn’t being sated. Seeing his intended prey quicken their pace a little, caused him so much excitement that he almost burst out from the fragile disguise he wore. All he could think about was consuming them, and maybe, wearing their faces next time.
“Is he still following us?” Isabelle asked, not wanting to look again. She knew from the lack of loud footsteps that he wasn’t chasing them, but she needed him to be somewhat close behind. Taking a pocket mirror out, Robyn held it up just enough to get a good look behind.
“Yup, he’s still there, we’ve got him good. Though, I can't say I blame him,” she joked.
“The rendezvous point is ahead. I wonder how quickly he’ll be if we broke into a sprint now?”
“Good thing we’re not wearing heels then isn’t it? Want a race?”
“What do you want if you win?” Isabelle knew what was coming. Her girlfriend enjoyed these little competitions. As much as the pair supported each other, they also liked challenging each other.
“I get to choose next year’s Valentine’s date!” Robyn said, looking at her.
“I suppose that’s acceptable.”
“And if you win?”
“I’ve already got what I want, so I’ll just take solace from knowing that in the ten years we’ve known each other, you still can’t outrun me! Ready?”
“Oh, this is on.”
The two women turned to face forward again, and didn’t say anything for a minute. They let things lie still, and then, they started to run, catching the man behind them with surprise.
Seeing his prey dart off, with far greater speed than he’d seen from any previous meal, he gave chase, letting his human form break in the process. His legs merged into one slimy form, like that of a slug, an additional two arms ripping themselves away from his chest that bloated as it transformed, each hand ending with razor sharp claws. His jaw unhinged itself and became a gaping hole filled with a multitude of teeth while his eyes became a bright red. With a murderous growl that echoed throughout the streets, that had become curiously quiet, he gave chase.
“That did it!” Robyn announced in between breaths.
“Concentrate on getting to the finish line! Or do you want me to win!” Isabelle replied, knowing that to pause now, would be certain death for them both.
“Oh, Izzy, you know just what to say to fire me up!”
Their destination was close now, but the monster was beginning to catch up, with speed that defied the abomination he really was.
His prey was so close now, he could extend his fingers and grab their hair, they were his things to play with, to eat. He didn’t think anything of it when they ran through the strange black and yellow tape that had cordoned off an area of the streets, nor that once inside the area, the pair had just…stopped. He was so hungry, he dove in after him.
“Can’t believe you won again,” Robyn said.
“Maybe next time, I’ll still let you decide what we do next year though, or maybe for our anniversary, if nothing comes up,” Isabelle retorted, she had a serene look on her face as she knew what was about to happen, especially with the demon now bearing down on them. She turned to face the creature for the first time, not batting an eyelid on its horrific form. Robyn did the same, but not before retrieving a couple of things from a bin next to her.
The demon had nothing to say to them, even if it wanted to, such things were beyond it now, all it wanted was to eat them, it didn’t care that they were unfazed by how it looked. Had it been any smarter, then it would have been, but such things were beyond it too. It went to pounce on them when a series of spotlights turned on, blinding it.
“Demon, you have prowled this land for too long,” Isabelle announced as Robyn handed her something from the bundle, a short sword and a modified handgun. She pointed the tip of the sword at the demon. “In the name of Avalon, I hereby order your execution, for Queen and Country!”
Recovering from the lights, the demon went to attack but it was stopped again, this time from a hail of bullets that came from hidden vantage points. There was no thunderous gunfire, as each weapon had been carefully fitted to reduce the noise such a salvo would make. Avalon had done its best to make sure that the general public wouldn’t know what was going on, even going as far as evacuating that small part of the city with bogus gas leaks.
Not content to let others have their fun, Robyn took aim with her composite bow, preferring that to the other weapons, each of her arrow heads had been specially made to deliver an explosive charge far greater in power than the standard ammunition the normal soldiers of Avalon used. The demon lashed out but caught no one with its rage, every hit it took brought it closer to death, dissolving black blood splattering everywhere. With a thud, the monster collapsed in front of Isabelle, wanting to still taste some flesh, despite its body being reduced to a bloody mess on the pavement that was rapidly disappearing. It’s one remaining arm, reaching for her.
With no fear, Isabelle stepped forward, swung the sword through the ruined limb away with the sword, slicing it cleanly. The demon’s momentum carried towards her still, and straight into the barrel of her gun, placed against its temple. The demon’s eyes bulged as it tried to focus on her.
“Begone, filth,” she said coldly as she pulled the trigger, finally putting the monster down. The monster heaved one last time before it collapsed, and within a few moments, all of the gore, the blood and what else, evaporated into the wind.
Almost immediately, a clean up crew leapt into action, returning everything to how it should have been. The other soldiers emerged from their hiding places, relaxing a little knowing that they’d succeeded. A few of them however made passing comments on Isabelle in particular.
“The Ice Queen strikes again,” one of them said to a friend, their eyes only giving Isabelle a cursory glance. Ice Queen. That was one of the favourite phrases that was thrown at her, combining her general work demeanour, with the fact that she was the Lord Knight Commander’s daughter, the offspring of the man who stood at the top of Avalon.
Robyn moved to say something to them, bow in hand ready to be broken against their skulls.
“Leave it,” Isabelle said, shaking her head. “It won’t stop them saying it.”
“If you don’t stop it though, they’ll continue to say rubbish like that, and you know that many of them already don’t like us-” Robyn started to say.
“It doesn’t matter what they say about us. All that matters is us,” Isabelle took Robyn’s hand and brought her closer.
“You’re right, just, I want you to have an easier life.”
“I’ll never have that, and you know it. That’s why I need you, to keep me sane…”
Half an hour later, and there was no signs of anything, people were allowed back into bars and homes. People were none the wiser, just as Avalon liked it. They had spent more than a thousand years dealing with the demonic threat to the British Isles without anyone knowing, and they had gotten it to an art form. Isabelle and Robyn sat on a bench as a nearby clock chimed midnight.
“The end of another Valentines that we had to work through, we’re making a habit of this, aren’t we?” Robyn remarked, cuddling into Isabelle, who returned the embrace, putting her head on hers.
“Comes with the job I guess, but we made sure it ended right didn’t we?” Isabelle whispered.
“Of course, I want every day to end like this, but I just realised I forgot something,” Robyn said with surprise.
“What’s that?”
“Happy belated Valentines, Izzy.”
“Happy belated Valentines, Robyn.”
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Till next time,
Keep on writing!
Peter James Martin
Quick Links
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir
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