Wednesday 27 March 2024

#64 Easter Woes + Short Diversions: First Mission

Happy Blog Day Everyone!


Its Short Diversions time again, and I'm returning to the world of Avalon Tales thus week to have a peek at Isabelle and Robyn’s first encounter...Other than that, we have the first of two Easter themed Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz! Don't worry though, there's no continuity there, other than a theme.


Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

As I stated above, this is the first of two new Easter themed strips. The thought of a giant chick cchasing the pair was too good to pass up, even if it didn't quite come out like the vision in my head. The giant, sentient Easter egg however, came out perfect. Always do enjoy these minimal word strips. Let's see how next week's turns our!


Short Diversions: First Mission


Looking at the reception of the first Avalon Tales Short story is what led me to write this one (helps as well that I wasn't planning on writing up the first meeting of Robyn and Isabelle, at least not in the first Novella). It wasn't that bad a write for once, the words flowed quite easily.

Please enjoy!

****

     The North Eastern Branch of Avalon was remarkably quiet. It’s hallways empty aside from admin and the guards that were on patrol. This was the calm before the storm, before there was a big operation, it was good practice to get the soldiers rested up. Isabelle wasn’t at rest though, she was sitting at her desk, open documents spread about before her, and a blank sheet of paper, awaiting the pen in her hand. Each file contained a picture and a brief report of the newest recruits to that particular branch. In accordance with the naming conventions within the organisation, they were the ‘Squires’, the lowest rank Avalon had, fitting next to the more common Knight and Knight Captain titles. Isabelle often wondered what possessed the leaders so long ago to adopt such a naming system, but it was entrenched, and as long as people knew what they were doing, it didn’t really matter. 

     Her commanding officer had put her in charge of assigning the Squires to the forthcoming operation, for many of them, this was their first live battle against the demon menace that Avalon had pledged to eradicate wherever it was found on the British Isles. It was not without risk.

     “Whatcha doing?” Robyn asked as she leaned on the doorway, looking in as Isabelle sat contemplating silently.

     “Ramona delegated the task of assigning the Squires to me… It’s not an easy thing to do,” Isabelle replied, understating the pressure on her. While they were supposed to have received the best training, and sometimes had been recruited from other military services that had encountered demonkind, the first battle was a test of wills, and sadly, one that was easily lost.

     “I remember those days,” Robyn said with a whimsical smile. She walked over to Isabelle and hugged her, offering her comfort.

     “I should hope so, it wasn’t that long ago.” 

     “Eight years…give or take. We were both eighteen…what a time.”

     Isabelle stopped at the realisation at how much time had passed.

     “That long already?” She mumbled, the words spurring memories to form, of when she was just a squire, that fateful day where she and Robyn first crossed paths…

—--

     The tunnel was cramped, forcing Isabelle to move far slower than she would have liked. Still, she had her orders, and she would see them to completion. Being a lowly Squire, she had been giving a reconnaissance role, to scout out some tunnels that had been found in some woods. All she had to do was sneak in, identify any threats, and retreat so the Knight squads could do their thing.

     So far, things had been quiet, in fact the tunnels could have been mistaken for relics of a by-gone age, if it wasn't for the fact they didn't exist a month prior. Isabelle stopped and looked around, using a little torch to light her way. She glanced at the map she'd been given, while the tunnels had not been mapped prior to this mission of hers, it did allow her to estimate where she currently was, and by her best guesses, she was under part of the outskirts of Manchester. Given that, she knew that the demon's lair had to be close. She found that, then it was mission accomplished.

     A far off sound changed that though, a cry, a child's cry. The way it echoed through the tunnel, told her that it wasn't coming from above, but ahead of her. She froze, working out her options in her head. Per the rules that all knights, and aspiring knights had to abide by, she would have to retreat and get in contact with whoever was leading the mission, telling them what she'd discovered. Inevitable this would have then led to her being sidelined for everything that followed. However, she had joined Avalon to protect, and there was a child who needed protection. There was a tinge in her shoulder, a sensitive spot bearing the snowflake shaped scar, a reminder of that fateful accident all those years ago. She knew what such a feeling was trying to tell her, there were demons nearby. Armed with this knowledge, she pressed onward, not blind to the potential danger she was throwing herself towards, but she kept asking herself, what would her mother do? That proved enough to fend off any wayward thoughts.

     The tunnel soon started going up at an angle, the child's cries getting louder and louder until Isabelle stealthy entered the ground floor of an industrial unit through a badly constructed opening. She darted behind a nearby steel pillar to get a good look at the situation.

     “Bosssss” a demon hissed “Is that child enough?” The demon was small for its kind, sitting kneeling in front of a larger creature that had the head of a bulk, with ears like that of a jackal.

     “Idiot! I said bring me at least four of these! I've already had to suffer the ignominy of being forced to stay here, I shouldn't suffer your stupidity as well!” The bigger demon's tongue seemed as sharp as its horns. It was this demon who was holding a small girl that was scared out of her wits. There were five smaller demons in total. All of them scurrying around, trying to avoid the bigger ones glare. Appearance wise, she recognised their more skeletal, frail frames as the more common demons that plagued the land. Their smaller size was peculiar but that didn’t matter at this point, Isabelle knew she had to get the girl to safety. Weapon wise, Isabelle wasn’t as heavily armed as she would have liked. She had a small handgun with modified rounds, and a combat knife that was meant for self defence only. She certainly didn’t have the means to kill all the demons, so she sat there trying to think what she could do.

     She had been so deep in thought that she hadn’t noticed someone behind her till they put a hand on her shoulder:

     “Tough one isn’t it?”

     Isabelle held it together enough so she didn’t jump, but was relieved to see it was a young woman dressed the same as her. Her brown hair was tied back in a ponytail with a red feather placed behind her ear. She gave a concerned smile, and it was clear to Isabelle that her focus was on the demons as well, particularly the big one with the child.

     “Squire?” Isabelle asked, hoping that her new friend would respond in the negative, leading to an increase in resources they could use to kill the demons.

     “Yeah, first mission…Don’t tell me you’re?”

     “The same? Yeah, so you’re going to be armed the same aren’t you.”

     “I got this,” the brown haired girl pulled a bow from a holster on her back.

     “A bow?”

     “And arrows with specially modified arrowheads, some very strong specially modified arrowheads …My younger sister made them.” 

     Isabelle didn’t know what she wanted to question first with that statement, as she felt there was a story behind both.

     “What’s your name?” she asked instead. If this was to be just the two of them, then so be it.

     “Robyn, Robyn Gouzen,” Robyn replied. “You’re Isabelle Blake, right?”

     “Guess you’ve heard all the rumours too then,” Isabelle sighed, turning back to the demons.

     “I don’t listen to things like that. Besides, I know what it’s like to have a famous dad,” Robyn got closer, putting her head near Isabelle’s. “Though all that small talk can wait till we’ve got that girl to safety.”

     “Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Isabelle admitted. Inside, she was relieved by what Robyn had said. She hadn’t been able to bond with her teammates as she would have wanted because of everything that was said about her. Her strange white hair, the fact that her father was the one in charge of Avalon. There had been so few people to reach out to her. Those that had were the Knight Master Galahad, who had taken her under his wing, and Ramona Trask who had been her trainer the year before. Now, she could add Robyn to that list.

     A friendship would have to wait though, Isabelle stared at the bow on her new friend’s back, and the beginnings of a plan started to form.

     “Okay, I think I know what we have to do, to ensure that the child is safe,” Isabelle said as she made sure her gun was loaded and ready to use.

     “You mean, you’re not doing what we’re supposed to do and get help?” Robyn raised her eyebrow.

     “That kid doesn’t have the time, and neither do we. There’s five of them, and two of us, easy odds given what I can figure out of the demons.”

     “What’s that supposed to mean?”

     “Trust me, get ready to act.” 

     “My parents told me not to trust someone I just met, but…” Robyn glanced at the demon who was now holding the child tight to his chest, with his eyes staring at her hungrily. “Guess this one time won’t hurt.” 

     “Good, You’ve got the best long range, so stay here, and I’m going to get their attention.”

     “You’re just going to waltz right up to them?” Robyn said in disbelief.

     “I said trust me didn’t I. I’m not about to die today,” Isabelle put the barrel of the gun against her face, calming her thoughts. Her eyes closed and a fraction of a second later, when they opened again, they were full of her determination. “Let’s go.”


     Robyn followed Isabelle’s lead and readied her bow as Isabelle herself went from pillar to pillar, getting closer and closer to the demons. The first part of her plan involved the art of surprise. She didn’t want her targets to see her until it was too late. At the moment, the smaller demons had started pestering the big one, wanting him to share some of his food with them, even if it was just a finger or two. The conversation made Isabelle’s skin crawl. At last though, she came to the point she’d wanted, and breathed a loud sigh of relief. In part as she was certain that the girl would be safe in a moment, and also, to get the demon’s attention. At first, there was only one demon that turned its head, the skin of it’s neck stretching as it looked. Needing better results, Isabelle stepped into the open, slamming her foot down to make an impact.

     “Who are you!” The large demon demanded to know, the smaller demons joined in with a chorus of the question.

     “I’m a Squire of Avalon, and as such, I demand you release that child to me, unharmed, right now. By Queen and Country, I swear that she is under my protection,” Isabelle had been rehearsing a speech like that ever since she was a little girl, and discovered that her own mother was a Knight of Avalon, striving to protect everyone she could. Her mother was gone now, but Isabelle made sure she was there to take up her mantle.

     “A runt like you a part of Avalon? Ha! Don’t delude yourself. You’re just another vermin who has come to die!” The demon gestured to the smaller ones who gathered round him. “You want more food? Then go and get it!” 

     At once, the smaller demons erupted into a feeding frenzy, they charged at her but Isabelle responded by calmly pulling out the handgun, and aiming the best she could. With a few controlled squeezes of the trigger, two demons fell, their heads being blown apart by the special ammunition.

     Seeing the dissolving corpses of their allies didn't dissuade them from their berserk attack, but Isabelle found her aim increasingly shaky the closer they got, and more and more wasted ammunition fell to the floor. A nerve rattling click signalled that the gun was out of bullets, and that the demons were upon her. With no sign of panic though, Isabelle reached for the combat knife and ran forward. She used the knife to knock back the demon’s clumsy strikes, as she got closer and closer to the bigger demon, who tilted its head to observe her. The creature had probably noticed that any damage the knife was doing wasn't permanent, unlike the bullets. 

     “You expected to kill us with such crap tools? I’m actually insulted!” the demon licked its lips as the smaller ones rounded on her, nipping at her heels. She was so close now, a few more feet and then it’d be over. An errant thought at the back of her mind questioned if Robyn was still standing there, waiting, or if she’d fled. She wouldn’t have blamed her, but something else told her she had nothing to worry about. One of the demons grabbed at her legs, causing her trip, another grabbed the other leg. Isbabelle slashed at their arms, trying to get some freedom, but the third one stalked around her, getting ready to pounce from behind. 

     The deluded demon eagerly anticipated the kill, and the fresh meat it was going to feast on. It howled in victory, but it was cut short as an arrow bore through its skull, and cleared through to the other side. The demon wavered as if a tree swaying in the breeze, before it fell backwards, its body already dissolving itself to nothingness. The other two demons looked around, almost forgetting Isabelle, though the sight of an ammo clip flying through the air quickly made them snap their focus back to where it should have been, but it was too late, as Isabelle had already caught the ammo clip, and reloaded. Now, at point blank range, the two demons didn’t have much they could do to avoid their fate.

     Bang-bang!

     Isabelle quickly rolled out of the way as the now remaining demon went to stand on her, still clutching the child. This wasn’t how the plan was supposed to have gone. Isabelle had assumed that, like they’d been told in training, that Robyn would have aimed for the big one in the first place. Indeed, Isabelle had been counting on that, wanting to get as close to the demon as possible in order to catch the girl as he dropped her. However, the plans had changed though, it would still have the same result. All targets eliminated.

     “So you had a friend waiting all along! Bet you think that you're clever!” The demon roared as it tried to grab Isabelle, who was trying to get to her feet. 

     “Don't you think you should be more concerned about her?” Isabelle replied, turning onto her back. As she spoke another arrow shot out, scratching the demon's shoulder as it moved to evade. He was still stubbornly clinging to the little girl, refusing to drop his prize, no matter how disappointed he'd been with her earlier. The demon eyed up the direction the arrows were coming from, having to make a decision about what to do. He narrowly avoided another arrow, this one cutting his cheek, and then he'd decided enough was enough and let out a huge roar:

     “Enough of this! I am a god amongst you pests! You are beneath me! All this effort! Why? To save this thing? Give it up! This is mine!” The demon was clearly enraged now, and it surged forward, heading to where he perceived the arrows were coming from. He demonstrated a super act of speed as he made it to the pillar, and sliced through it with his free hand. The look of surprise on his face as he realised that he's caught nothing. By now Isabelle was on her feet and running at him, she emptied the other ammo clip, but only a couple of the rounds hit him in the right leg, causing him to lower. This brought him down to the right height for Isabelle to strike with the knife, using all her force to plunge it deep enough that it got stuck.

     Looking at her with a bemused expression, the demon threw her off, leaving the knife where it'd stuck. Despite his injured leg, the demon was eager to continue the fight.

     “That the best you got?

     “No, this is all part of the plan,” Isabelle said as she got back up.

     “Plan? You planned to get beaten?

     “Not at first but I quickly got the gist.”

     “What are you on about?” 

     “Your end,” Isabelle smiled. “Or did you think that I left my knife by accident?”

     The demon stopped and looked at it the knife, still wedged in, and while the flesh was trying to heal itself, it couldn't, the foreign object keeping the wound open. 

     “I couldn't help but notice the arrowheads weren't being that effective against your skin, only nicking it at best…” Isabelle explained, walking around the demon slowly. The demon tried to do its best to watch her and keep an eye out for the next arrow, it ended up backing into the wall. 

     “How dare you!” The demon hissed, the grim realisation of why Isabelle had attacked kicked in, and with his free hand, he started trying to scratch the knife out, making an even worse mess.

     Isabelle didn't know where Robyn was going to strike from, till she saw a glimpse of a flicker of metal as the light caught the arrowhead just before it was propelled forward.

     “No, how dare you for attacking and murdering. How dare you for thinking you are above us. We are not here to serve your desires.”

     “I’ll kill you!”

     “I very much doubt that,” Isabelle replied as she took measured steps towards him. There was the distinct twang as Robyn let fly the last arrow, it soared through the air as if in slow motion, till impact. It sunk deep into the open, gaping wound, and the demon howled in pain. It finally dropped the little girl, and Isabelle was there to catch her. The demon caught hold of the arrow, and pulled out the shaft.

     “What?” He asked in confusion.

     “Should probably point out, that was an explosive one,” Robyn called out, not for the demons sake, but for Isabelle to get some space with the child.

     “Explosive?” No sooner had the demon mouthed that word, a small ringing sound rang out from the wound, and then, it exploded. The demon fell over, half of its body ruined. It coughed up black blood that practically evaporated before it even hit the ground. 

     “Nice shot,” Isabelle said to Robyn as the archer came out from her hiding place. “Impressed you hit a target that small.”

     “I could train you to do that,” Robyn replied with a smile and a wink.

     “That's a date... But, there's something I need to do first,” Isabelle pulled out her gun, and checked it one last time. She left Robyn with the young girl and went back to the demon, who was trying to crawl away.

     “Where do you think you're going?” She asked, raising the gun. The demon didn't reply, it just growled.

     “I saved one shot, just for this. For Queen and Country…” she pulled the trigger, and the demon died.


     “Do you think we're going to get in trouble for this?”Robyn asked.

     “Probably, but we saved a life, and that's all that matters to me.” Isabelle checked the little girl over, but apart from being scared witless and a few scratches, she was okay. The three of them had moved to outside the building, where they had finally called for back up. The first aiders, once they got there, would do a more thorough examination, and then return her home, if one remained. For Isabelle and Robyn though, neither of them predicted where that encounter took their lives…


****

That's all for this week.

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

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13


Wednesday 20 March 2024

#63 Not Again + Brennan and Riz: A Case Study

Happy Blog Day Everyone!


Today, I'm going to delve into the process I use to write Brennan and Riz Tales (of all sizes, with some alterations) using last week's short story as a case study. If you have read it, I implore you to go and check it out!

Before that though, we'd better catch up with the pair in comic form!


The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz


Another entry in my wordless strips and...it could be better, definitely messed up a few things in the art department (should have made the bars thicker). Still, the idea is sound, and who doesn't love the idea of Riz being put in time out within a pet carrier?


Brennan and Riz: A Case Study

So, where to start?

Like all good stories, it starts with an idea...one that I hastily scribbled in a note book, giving the idea a single sentence to sell itself. That sentence for the story last week? Five Lamps of Thornaby. I didn't have a lot to go on, but this story behind the story actually starts earlier than you'd think. You see, I actually wrote a draft up of this very idea a few years ago now. It would have been for a proposed "3rd Anthology" book of Brennan and Riz short stories. There is still plans for that book, but obviously you won't find this one in it.

I have the basis of the idea, I just need to expand it. In this case I wanted to turn it on its head and play with another idea that was churning in my mind: belief making things real. Now, I was already planning another story to use this with, a longer one (spoiler alert: still haven't written it) but this seemed like a good place to start a narrative thread. To make it work, I changed it from a real piece of folklore, to a fake one. I kept a real explanation of the Five Lamps of Thornaby that was a basis of the fake 'five death lights' of Thornaby.

When writing shorts, I'll either plot exhaustively or go at it with just the idea of where it's starting and see where I end up, going back to edit things if needs be. Seldom, I'll do bits of both, which is what I did with this story. I had a beginning, and I had a rough ending, the middle was a work in progress. Thus I went at it.

To simplify the plot, Brennan and Riz get called to deal with a couple of unusual deaths in Thornaby, revolving around the aforementioned 'Death Lights" except Brennan had never heard of them before, despite growing up in Thornaby. What followed is the duo trying to figure out how a made up piece of folklore can kill anyone before realising the truth. Knowing this, they then have to race to save the final victim and proving that seeing isn't always believing.

Sounds like a fun story right? Nope. I knew early on their was issues as the pacing was well off, and the threat practically non-existent. I pushed on, confident that I could fix things in editing but I hit another snag, u wasn't enjoying myself. The story had quickly changed into a comment on Internet culture, the idea of how a community could give life (see Slenderman for example) but the execution was flawed leading to a climax that dragged, as despite best efforts, nothing seemed in character. I finally finished it, but reading back through it some days later (always give time before you do a read through), it just wasn't very good and like other works I've talked about on this blog, it would have needed a complete redo rather than an edit. I made the (easy) decision to shelve it.


Let's flash forward to a few weeks ago when I was thinking of what short stories I could do for the blog. I had not long wrote down a new list of possible Brennan and Riz story ideas, for a proposed 4th anthology, I'd come up with a fair few ideas but found I'd put the five lamps on the list. After digging through some notes I'd made on the legend, I didn't think there would have been enough for a short story, not a decent sized one anyway. It was then that it clicked that it would be a perfect size for the blog (it didn't turn out that way, but that's the beauty of hindsight!). Using the research I crafted a small narrative, whenever I look at folklore, I have to decide the angle I take on it. Sometimes this is easy, others, not so much. With this one, it fell into the former category. As far as plot was concerned, I didn't plan further than the reason they were looking into things, deciding to 'pants' it. Evidence of this can be seen in the ending, which went darker than I would have liked, but it did fit the tone the story ended up with.

It's funny to look back and contrast the two versions, both born from the same facts but veered off in two complete different directions. Could I have fixed the other one? Maybe, would it have been worth it? No. I think I'm happy enough to allow the Lights on the Green appear as representation of one of Thornabys greatest legends.

Well, that's that. Not exactly the deep dive into my creation process but a greater look at how my weird brain works all the same.

There's another short deviations next week, and I can confirm that Isabelle and Robyn are returning for a walk down memory lane...

Till then,

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

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

Wednesday 13 March 2024

#62 Precautions + Short Diversions: The Lights on the Green

Happy Blog Day Everyone!


This week, it's Brennan and Riz's turn to shine in Short Diversions: The Lights on the Green!

...

What's that? 

....

They already get their own segment with a brand new Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz?

....

Well, Riz is a greedy rat, and he did promise to bite me if I didn't post this story...

So yeah! Double Brennan and Riz goodness this week! Please enjoy!


The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz


For all those Valarie fans out there (you know who you are) here's her updated appearance since last October...I never meant to leave it that long between appearances, I swear. Not quite sure her hair works at that angle though. Still, hopefully Riz won't be sticking his head into any more bags for a while.


Short Diversions: The Lights on the Green 

This was supposed to be a short, short, story but this ended up being one of the longest yet on this blog. I can't even explain why its this long other than it feels like a Brennan and Riz story that never made it to the books.

Please enjoy!

**********************

     It was a pleasant Spring night, or what passed for it in England. I was avoiding the muddy patches of the grass while Riz sat on my head like some demented watch rat.

     “Try nd keep yaself steady ya twat!” he yelled at me, as if I was doing this on purpose. If I had been, he’d found himself stuck in the mud as I would have flipped from his lofty perch.

     “I’m still not seeing anything,” I said, choosing to take the high road and ignore his comment.

     “Well, dat means we can jus go home now nd ferget all bout der job!”

     “God, I wish you were being serious.” I didn’t want to be out here. The ‘job’ was deceptively simple. People had spotted five lights near St Peter’s church, and the council wanted me to make sure that nothing untoward was being done to the ancient building. I was a bit uneasy as there were lingering memories of a previous time I’d been called here, though that time was Riz’s fault, this one was more that we needed the money, as rent was due. However, the people we spoke to hadn’t been helpful, with very few sightings to go off. The one we were told went as follows:

     Five lights in a plus formation floating through the trees, always going in random directions. That was it. That’s all we had to go on. With those scraps, we settled on ghosts, or a form of ghostly phenomena. The majority of people would be familiar with ghosts of people, I don’t think that needs an explanation, but there were, in rare cases, the times where you would have sightings of…let’s say smaller objects. I mean like only seeing people’s hands, floating through the air. 

     We assumed that this was the case, though there was an argument to be made that it could have been a will o’ wisp, but that was discounted due to the strange formation. With a ghost hypothesis in hand, we’d prepared appropriately. This led us to this situation we were in now, and I can tell you we’d been out here for four hours already. Four hours stumbling around, our eyes darting around, trying to spot the lights or just spot the difference from the lights and kids with their mobile phones out. You can see why Riz’s declaration that we just abandon the job had so much weight, as it was looking like we’d been sent on a fool’s errand. However, as much as I wanted to do that, the thought of returning to the council, empty handed, thus getting no pay, wasn’t appealing either.

     “Dis is so annoyin!” Riz called out.

     “Look, we’ll stay for one more hour.” I sighed.

     “Wudn’t be so bad if sumit wud jus happen already!”


     Almost as if he’d been challenging it, we did spot something moving through the trees. The lights resembled more flames than what I was expecting, and didn’t look ethereal at all, which was also worrying.

     “Still think it’s a ghost?” I asked Riz.

     “I’m not pickin up on nethin ova dere, so, yeh. Get us closer nitwit!” 

     Begrudgingly, I obliged, heading towards the tree line where the lights were also slowly moving forward. From a new vantage point, I started to see a faint outline behind the lights, but no sooner had I made this discovery, they faded from view.

     “It vanished? It bloody vanished! Wat der actual bloody heck!” Riz pulled at my hair in frustration before calming down a moment later. “Wait, does dat mean we can go ‘ome now? We saw it, nd it buggered off.” 

     I was going to answer, but there was a glow to our right and the lights appeared again, but this time, they were going the opposite way. With a second chance to get a good look at the target, I focused on the outline. With how it was positioned, I think we stood behind it, and whatever it was, had the lights in front. It seemed humanoid in appearance. There were no discernible features, with everything resembling a swirling mist..

     “Riz, what’s going on here?”

     “Duh, it’s der soddin ghost! Let’s get rid of it so we can go home!” 

     “Aren’t you curious at all about this warping faceless ghost? Or the fact that all we can see ifs the floating flames?” I questioned.

     “Do we get paid more fer knowin dose things?” Riz asked in return.

     “Well, no…”

     “Dere’s ya answer den! Dere’s da target, der rune ya need is in ya pocket, blast it nd we can go…Oh, it’s bloody disappeared again!” 

     With Riz saying that, I looked around, and sure enough, the lights had disappeared. Things were tense for a few moments as we waited to see if the spirit returned, but disappointingly, we were alone again.

     “Bugga,” Riz muttered. “Ya gunna make us wait out ‘ere longa now ta see if der ghost returns aren’t ya?”

     “Sadly, I think I have to.”

     “Fer once, ya cud ‘ave sed, ‘nah, let’s go home fer a cuppa, or booze’. Dat’s wat ya shud ave sed.” 

     “If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing right. Isn’t that what you’ve told me before?”

     “Only wen der job is worth a shed load of cash. Der council added an extra zero or two ta dat reward, nd ya wud be rite.” 

     I left a moment of silence to fall between us, before I spoke again.

     “I don’t care, we’re staying. I want to know who this is, and what is going on with them. Especially why they keep jumping around.”

     “Gawdammit, fine! We catch a cold nd itz all ya fault! Ya got it?”

     “Considering you always blame me, that’s nothing new, keep your eyes peeled,” I said, ignoring his rudeness again.

     “Wateva.”


     I think another hour passed before the ghost made its third appearance. Now, the person holding the lights was more solid looking than it had been previous. They appeared to be wearing armour, like the knights of old. His eyes were stained as if he’d seen a lifetime of hell. At first, I didn’t think that he could see us as he stared straight ahead, at a point that was beyond the trees. It was only as he walked past, did his head turn, but as abruptly as he arrived, he went to speak, but vanished before saying a word.

     “Please tell me that you believe this is odd now as well?” I turned to Riz, who was trying to look away.

     “Fine! Yeh, it’s smeggin odd! Ya happy now! Clearly der ghost is losin his focus nd can’t keep ‘imself ta getha. Probably y he’s poppin in all ova der place instead of stickin ta one path like all dose normal ones we deal wit.” 

     I waited till Riz had finished speaking before getting cocky with him.

     “Did being that helpful hurt you?”

     “No, but dis will hurt u!” 

     The little git bit my ear in revenge, which I should have seen coming as these exchanges always ended up like this. A quick plaster on my ear and I was ready to deal with the spirit. 

     There was a memory that was flickering in my mind, something I’d not thought of in a long time, but the sight of the ghost knight dredged it up. I looked back at the small building of St Peter’s church. I’d remembered my father telling me how old it was, that it’d been there since the 12th century , replacing an even older building. Part of the story he’d told me, was about a 13th century crusading knight called Robert De Thormodbi. Robert’s part in the tale revolved around how he was wounded in a fierce battle, and swore to create a shrine to St Mary should he survive. To honour his vow, he travelled to Thornaby and created it in St Peter’s Church, lighting five lamps to light it.


     Had I just encountered Robert, some seven hundred years after his last flesh and blood visit to the area? I certainly couldn’t discount the possibility. The lamps he was carrying, was he trying to get them into the church? That part I couldn’t figure out yet. I shared my thoughts with Riz, who didn’t really find anything that he could argue with, least not because he had no idea himself, and more importantly, he was wanting this job done.

     A tense half an hour wait ensured, but in the distance, the furthest away from the church the ghost had been, we saw the flickers of ethereal flames, and knew he was back.

     “Hold on Riz,” I shouted as I ran over to the spirit as fast as I could. Given how quick the spirit was at making himself disappear, I didn’t want to waste any time in getting to the bottom of this. As before, the ghost was fully visible, and he turned his head to me as we got closer. He had gone to speak, but I spoke first.

     “My name is Brennan, that’s Riz and we’re here to help you! You’re Sir Robert De Thormodbi aren’t you?” My words came out quickly, too quickly, as I was worried that he might not have understood what I was even on about. The ghost slowly nodded, it didn’t seem like it was intentional, instead coming off as recording that was being purposefully slowed.

     “The…Lights…” he said, his voice showing that same unnatural slow pace.

     “The lights? These ones?” I pointed to the ones he was carrying, wanting to try and cut any unneeded talking. Again, he nodded.

     “What are you doing with them?”

     “Need…to…relight…them…” With the ghost’s other hand, he pointed towards the church, the unfurling of his finger seemingly taking minutes instead of seconds.

     “You need to put these in there?” I was dying to ask why, as it made no sense, there was some in there, for sure, but they were normally lit by the priests as and when needed. No ghost lights required.

     “Yes…to….prevent….” those words were ominous, even Riz’s interest picked up when he heard them.

     “Prevent wat? Wat ya tryin ta say ya old coot!” Riz went to grab the ghost by the collar, but of course, fell through him.

     “Hmm…” he said from the ground. “I fink I mite know wat’s going on ‘ere, well, sorta.” 

     Taking my attention away from Sir Robert for a moment, I looked through him at Riz who was on the ground.

     “Sumit is interferin wit ‘im manifestin. It’s takin all ‘is will ta get ta dis point, nd it’s probably y he keeps jumpin from place ta place, neva gettin in dere.”

     “The…Lights….need….to…be…relit,” Sir Robert said, going forward again, but I saw him ripple, like someone dropping a stone into a pond, and with each ‘wave’ he grew more transparent. I knew he was going to disappear again soon.

     “Ideas, quickly, Riz!”

     “He keeps dis up, he won’t be able ta manifest at all…Job dun at dat point! Tho, we don’t know wat der lights are gunna prevent, jus my luck it wud be summit bad.”

     “Thanks for explaining things, but I wanted an idea to help.”

     “So, he wantz ta be ova dere, but he can’t as summit is stoppin ‘im. Clearly wateva that summit is, doesn’t want ‘im ova dere. Thus, we ave ta get ‘im ova dere. Ta do dat…Well, I do ave one idea, but ya ain’t gunna like it.”

     “Try me.” 

     “Ya gotta let ‘im possess u, it’s der only way he’s gunna get in dere.”

     I took another glance at Sir Robert, who was rapidly fading from view. I really didn’t have much of a choice at that point, and given the way Riz was nibbling on a rock, making a kind of a Rune I’d never seen before, yeah, it’d already been decided for me.

     “Please…Help….” Sir Robert’s voice fell to a whisper.

     “Rite, ‘ere we go,” Riz said putting himself between me and the ghost.

     “What happens if this fails?”

     “Den not payin der rent is der least of ya worries, ‘ere goes nuthin!” Riz crackled. He spoke that strange little language of his and Sir Robert flashed and was gone. At first I didn’t think anything had happened, till my body started moving on it’s own, and five ghost lights appeared in front of me, my outstretched hand holding them in place. 

     “Thank you,” a voice from within my own mind said. It clicked quickly that the voice belonged to Sir Robert, now talking at a normal speed.

     “You’re welcome?” It sounded to me like I said it, but my lips didn’t move.

     “Ever since I fulfilled my first vow, and lit the lamps inside this building, it has been my fate to return here, to make sure that they stay lit. I know the priests of today light them but that is not the same as what I will be doing,” Sir Robert started saying. With him being in control of my body, I wondered if it meant I could have seen into his memories, which would have gone a long way into explaining what was going on here. 

     “These are, what I have come to call them as, soul fires. Normal people won’t be able to see any difference once my work is finished.” Sir Robert was wasting no time with my body, and we were almost at the church.

     “The force that had been trying to stop me must be fooled by your strange tactic, but I doubt it will work a second time. If you are truly on the side of valour, I beseech thee to do all thou can in order to defeat it. I doubt that I can do this in future.” Everything Sir Robert was saying seemed to be cryptic, vague and purposefully lacking detail. Sadly, this was the norm for cases these days.

     “Is it this force that the lights are supposed to prevent?” I asked.

     “The lights will prevent great calamity while they are lit, but they do not last indefinitely, and the greater the pressure on them, the faster they will be extinguished.”

     Now, we were in the Church, how we got in, I don’t know as I wasn’t paying attention, instead trying to straighten everything out what I was being told. The inside of the church was small, and intimate, maybe space for fifty people at best. At the other side of the main doors was the shrine, and this was where Sir Robert, in full control of my body, strode up.

     “Is there anything you can tell me about this force? This enemy? What am I supposed to be looking out for here? I’ve got quite a lot of supernatural crap going on as it is!” 

     Sir Robert didn’t reply at first, as he was concentrating on hanging his spectral soul fires over the physical lamps, aligning them. I did feel something as he completed his task, a subtle shift and a warm feeling. The fact that I felt them was significant as it meant that Sir Robert had begun the process of returning my body over to me, his time up.

     “The enemy…is from beyond here. They have woken. I cannot see them, but I feel them, they are vast…” Sir Roberts’ words started to be stretched thin. “Thank you…again, you are…indeed a brave and…selfless knight. I pray that you…are victorious…Farewell…” 

     I couldn’t hear him anymore after that, and I had full control of my body once more. I blinked, my senses feeling a bit duller than before, and movements were sluggish at first.

     “Ya feelin betta?” Riz asked cautiously.

     “I think so? Everything seems quiet now,” I dragged my attention over to the soul fire lights that were barely visible to me. I observed the way the flames flickered and reached out to one, but felt nothing there.

     “Did he say nethin?” Riz scurried up to my shoulder. “Ya know, while he waz in yer hed?”

     “Well…” I took me a bit of time to get my thoughts in order, but I explained everything that Sir Robert had said,or rather what he tried to say. About this force that had been trying to stop im, that was apparently waking up, and wasn’t too happy. Normally, Riz is never surprised, he’s been around the block a few times, he knows everything, this news had him in silence, a contemplative silence, the sort where you would put your hand on your chin to try and work things out. He did have something to say about it in the end, a single word:

     “Shit.” 

     “That’s all you’ve got to say? Do you know what this force is? How to stop it?” I asked frantically.

     “Listen, der’s sum things ya can know bout, den dere’s otha things above ya pay grade…Dis is one of dose things. Dere’s a time nd a place ta learn, but fer now…” Riz looked awkwardly upwards at the night sky. The clouds had parted, granting us a view into the uncaring cosmos we drifted in. “Fer now…Ya jus gunna ave ta live wit wat ya know. Cuz, we ain’t ready at all fer dat fight….” 

     Riz’s words echoed around on the drive home, and for the next few days. The lady I spoke to at the council was ecstatic with the news that duly paid us. That was enough to keep Riz’s mind off the matter, and he settled back into his ways. For me though, I’d heard similar things from all sorts of places, sometimes it was from a Fae, or even other humans. I left myself go on autopilot, even ignoring Riz’s insults. Nothing was making sense, and while I was sure on some level the information would sink to the background, a comfort was taking away from me. That I knew that an ominous force was lurking around the periphery. I was left with the question of what to do now, and sadly, there was no easy answer to that…


End.

**********************

Well what did you think?

There's a strong chance you might see this in print at some point though in a cleaned up and expanded form. 

Funnily enough, there's more to say about this story but that will have to wait for now.


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 

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

Wednesday 6 March 2024

#61 Where The Real Money Is Made

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

It's March, which means it's time for my second monthly review! Did I do well? Or did I do very little again, scroll down to see!

Before that though, its time for more misadventures from that lovable duo:


The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

So, the answer to last week's teaser was, of course, the legendary Mel Brooks. His movies were a great source of inspiration to me when I was growing up, with Spaceballs being the very first one I saw (was probably way too young but it just leaves fertile ground for rewatches to see what jokes flew over my eight year old brain.

With all that said and done, I knew I wanted to do a homage to it somewhere, and thus was the siren call of Riz putting his own name on things to sell them, too good to ignore. It does make it a little wordier than I would've liked, but it is what it is.

Hope you all enjoy it though!

February Report

Another month has come and gone, and I swear they feel like they're getting quicker!

What has this short month bought for my writing?

To start with the obvious, I wrote two short stories for this very blog!

Valentines Date

The Contract

These two were fun to write and are technically connected (I.e. they're set in the same universe) they both turned out longer than I expected, especially the Valentines Date one. Judging by page views that one was also more popular. Bodes well for Avalon Tales, speaking of...

I finally finished chapter 1 of this ever changing novella. I'm over half way through chapter 2 so I'm hoping that this March will be better, but watch this space.

As for any movement on things getting published however, that's looking less likely (talking mainly Brennan and Riz here) as time goes on, but I am trying.

That's about it for this week. Next time, it'll be the loveable duo's time to shine!

Till then,

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

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble 

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13



Wednesday 28 February 2024

#60 A Little Bird Indeed + Short Diversions: The Contract

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Following last week's short Blog, I've brought the goods this time as Gabriel takes centre stage with a Short Diversions to call his own, quite nervous on the reactions on this one!

Before that though, let's check in on the lovable duo...

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

Well here it is, issue #60!

A bit of a challenge again, trying to match the poses in all three frames. I'd like to think I'm getting better! Got a fun one planned for next week mind, a homage to one of my favourite movies, hopefully I don't mess it up! If you want a clue, the directors initials are MB.

Short Diversions: The Contract

Ah Gabriel, despite being one of my favourite characters, there's surprisingly little work staring him, though recent years has seen an uptick (the Decagon Key, Malarkey's Fade to Noir, Malarkey's Hubble Bubble all contain Gabriel stories of a sort.) One day his main story will get out there, to see what his plans actually are.

Till then, enjoy his short deviation:

--------------------------------

The Contract


     “You can take your time, I’m in no rush, and neither should you, with a monumental decision like this…” The brown haired man said, his crystal blue eyes shining out of the darkened corner of the room. 

     “But Mister…” another man said, sitting at a large desk, a dozen of open folders were strewn about in a chaotic fashion.

     “I told you last time we did business, just call me Gabriel. There’s no need for formalities with us, we’re friends aren’t we? And friends help each other, which is what I’m doing now,” Gabriel spoke over the other man’s mumblings that were incoherent disagreements with the current situation.

     “Help? You said that last time! You promised me the free world!”

     “I gave you all the tools you needed. Not my fault you put your focus on the wrong place…That being your bank account. I told you to play the long con, but c’est la vie, as the people say.”

     The man buried his head in his hands.

     “My company needed it! Everything I’d worked so hard to achieve! It would have been wiped out thanks to those idiots on the board…” the man sneered. “They wanted to retire me, push me aside when I’ve given them everything!” He swept everything from the desk.

     “And let me guess…They’re doing it all again?” Gabriel casually walked over to the bar, looking at all the empty bottles. “You didn’t listen to me and now history repeats itself…What a shocker.”

     “No matter what I do, it’s not enough for them, they’re just waiting for me to fail.”

     “And fail you will, if nothing changes,” Gabriel gave him a smirk.

     “I won’t let that happen! I have my dream still to achieve!But…”

     “But? But what? What are you wanting to say but are too afraid to say? What is it you actually want me to do this time? What part of your survival do I have to help with? Is it to help procure yet more funds to stave off another coup d'etat?” Gabriel picked up a red apple from the fruit bowl near all the used up liquor bottles.

     “You know I can help you with anything you want. You simply have to say the words and then sit back. Of course, that board of investors isn’t your only problem is it?” He took a bite, savouring the taste.

     “What?” the man asked in surprise. “W-what d-do you m-mean?” A stammer appeared in his voice, as the very idea of a new threat, scared him.

     “Didn’t you know? I thought their investigation looked amateurish to me, I can see two of their cars outside the window now!”

     On hearing this, the man showed a new level of urgency and leapt to the windows, throwing open the blinds, letting the dying light of the sun in. He peered down at the streets so far below, wondering which cars Gabriel had been talking about. Different thoughts raced through his head, thinking back over the last few days, if he could remember seeing anything that looked out of the ordinary.

     “W-Whose i-investigation is it?”

     Gabriel didn’t reply, he simply smiled.

     “P-please, y-you have t-to tell me!” 

     “Since you asked so nicely, your government, or I guess, to be precise, whichever one handles business affairs. That much money appeared at once, the last time I helped you, and the way you handled it. People were going to take notice. Congratulations, you’re being investigated for corruption!” 

     “No, no, no!” The man closed the blinds again in a hurry, and started pacing across the floor. There were several times when he stopped and started to say something, only to abandon it before the first syllable had even left his mouth.

     “Guess when that news breaks, or if they decide to close the net, it will be game over for you…And a nice long stay in one of their prisons. I hear they’re nice places for people like you to be in. Especially if you’ve no money to bribe inmates for protection!” 

     “You can’t let them arrest me!” The man threw himself at Gabriel, grabbing hold of the bottom part of his shirt.

    “You know what I want to hear. Say that, and we can get to work. I know how I can both save your business, and yourself from a long and humiliating spell in prison.” 

     “I…” the man was about to say those magic words, but at the last moment, he hesitated, instead asking a different question. “W-What w-would you w-want in exchange this time?” 

     “Hmm, an interesting question, but since I’ve not even collected the first payment, I would say not to lose any sleep over it. Helping you here is its own reward, so how about it? Are you going to take back your life, or are you going to roll over for the vultures that are circling overhead?” Gabriel leaned in, a pen forming in his hand from black mist that swept out from his body. The man took a deep breath, wanting to calm himself before signing anything, but the thoughts of his impending future, and his inevitable fate if he let things play out, caused him to snatch the pen.

     “Gabriel, can we please have a d-deal.” 

     “Of course, I only aim to please,” Gabriel said bowing, his smile growing wider, a contract forming in his hand.


***

     An hour later.


     A different man was walking in stride through an underground carpark, his destination, his expensive car, bought so that everyone would notice him. His slick combed back hair and spotless suit designed to give people the impression that he was above them, that their petty lives were of no concern to him, as long as he got what he wanted.

     Just as he looked down on others, something else was looking down on him. As the man approached his car, close enough to unlock it with his keys, a slithering shadow gathered behind him. From it arose a roughly humanoid shape, though the arms and legs seemed to be hidden. The face was hidden behind a pearlescent mask, with two baleful red eyes glaring out from it. Brown hair gave the impression that whatever this was, used to be human. The man turned with a start, but was quickly silenced as the masked entity shot a tendril of shadows into him. The man struggled in mid air, but hung lifeless, and the monster that killed him allowed itself to be absorbed into the dead man.

     All this happened within a second, and the once dead man dusted himself down, stretching his limbs as if each one was new. He bent down to look in the car’s wing mirrors, rubbing his face and stretching the skin. Satisfied, he got in the car and drove away.  


***

     A week later


     “Well, don’t you look happier!” Gabriel said, walking into his client’s office. Whereas before it seemed to reek of desperation, the mood was more upbeat. The bar had been restocked with expensive brands and a bottle of champagne lay in ice, ready to toast success. The client was busy, signing documents and sending the multitude of assistants scurrying off with tasks.

     “I am!” the client said in-between dishing out orders. Gabriel went near the desk, and noted the newspaper that had been put there amongst other urgent paperwork. The headline spoke of a company executive that had gone on a rampage, killing his fellow board members and his own family in a murder-suicide. The police, in a surprisingly quick investigation, had chalked it up to a high-flying lifestyle and drugs taking its toll on an overachiever. Gabriel was proud of the characterization. He’d recommended that exact description after all. The client had found a lot of his issues had melted away with the deaths of his rivals. The government had also seemingly called off its own investigation. Whether that was connected to the passing of the board, or something that Gabriel had done didn’t matter to him anymore than the fact that he was safe. As a bonus, all the drama over what had happened to the board had allowed him to leverage several contacts he had. The client had back to back interviews in the days after the ‘tragic’ event.

     “I don’t know how you did it, but you did it! Things have never been better! I feel fantastic, it feels like I can do anything again!”

     “Well, maybe it’d be better if you didn’t ask too many questions. I’ll say that Void is a very efficient friend of mine. He’ll be more than happy to know that his work was appreciated.” 

     The man felt a little uneasy at that comment, an inkling of what kind of person he was dealing with crept into his mind, but he was in too deep now.

     “Something wrong?” Gabriel questioned, leaning closer, so that the man saw his own reflection in his crystal eyes.

     “N-nothing! I’m just…Curious as to what you actually want in exchange for all this!” the man quickly said, trying to cover up any doubt.

     “Well, funny you should mention it, but I do have a favour, and you’ll like it,” Gabriel tossed him a newspaper, having it appear in a poof of black mist. He then sat on the desk, watching eagerly as the man looked over the front page.

     “The governor is retiring? How does this affect me? You already handled my problem with the government?”

     “I want you to replace him. Or at least, throw your hat in the ring. I have no doubt you’ll win though, being a self made man who won’t shy away from telling those in power the truth of the common man,” Gabriel laughed as he spoke. “It writes itself, see?” He waved a hand over the desk, and a new contract appeared on the table, even wordier than the last one.

     “Can you guarantee that?” the man asked as he glanced over it.

     “I wouldn’t be telling you to do it otherwise! Just between you and me, I persuaded the governor to step down. He’d used up all his political expediency and I needed some fresh blood in the role. You, I can have everything you need on your desk in two days. What do you say?”

     “D-do I have a choice?” the weariness came out in his voice. Part of the man wanted to jump at this opportunity, it was a brief step away from his dream goal, but given that Gabriel was manoeuvring all this, and had shown that he wasn’t above getting rid of his pawns, the fear was real.

     “You know the answer to that…” Gabriel smiled again. “Relax, isn’t this what you’ve always wanted? This is a foot step to that power, power that I’ll deliver right into your hands. Besides, it’s just another signature, right? What haven’t you signed away to me already…”

     The man thought about it, he had wanted this, and it was true, securing Gabriel’s help had come with its own costs, would this be any different? No, this might be his only shot, he certainly probably wouldn’t manage it on his own, and if Gabriel pivoted to someone else? He shuddered involuntarily. 

     Gabriel didn’t say anything, he just formed the same pen as before, and handed it to the man.

     “Come on, I’ll be here with you every step of the way, future Mr President.”

     Those three words did it, the man took the pen, and signed the new contract, not caring for what those words would mean for everyone else…

--------------------------------

That's it for this week!

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

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

Wednesday 21 February 2024

#59 Mistakes Were Made + Update

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

A quick installment this week as the gods have decided its half term week for the kids, and I've got them running around! They doesn't mean no new Brennan and Riz Comic though, on the contrary...

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

I've had this idea on the back-burner for a while now, the thought of past Riz not caring about what harm he'd inflict on future Riz was too good to pass up! This was set to be the first appearance of Alice (if you know, you know), but her inclusion had to be reigned back to a mere mention on the contract. Probably better this way as I've tried describing her in the past and nothing seems to work without destroying the mystique.

Also can't help but note we're on 59 now...how time is flying!

Update

So, not much to say, after finishing that Avalon Tales short story last week, I resumed work on the main novella. I think its progressing well. Hoping to build enough steam on it to get a few chapters cranked out a week. However, I'll be putting it on pause at some point so I can write next week's short, which may or may not, revolve around a certain Demon Merchant if some renown. Can't confirm as I have to keep some plausible denabilty to his actions.

Something else that I've been doing, is planning anothed anthology for Brennan and Riz. I want to talk about this process in greater detail so expect it mid way in March...As if we're already on the third month!

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

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

Wednesday 14 February 2024

#58 Perfect Date Guide + Short Diversions: Valentines Date

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!

--------------------------------------------------------

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.”

--------------------------------------------------------

Till next time,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

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