Chapter 14: Tools Of The Trade
Taylor and Ashley stood back to back, the clattering of hooves and the eerie glow of the carousel tightening around them. The skeletal horses, no longer harmless decorations, stalked closer, their hollow eyes glowing. Every movement felt deliberate, and predatory, as their bony legs moved with a clacking rhythm.
The crimson imp, still bound, squirmed in Ashely's arms. "That's impossible," it whispered. "Imps can't wield this much power. Not alone."
Taylor's gaze remained fixed on the tightening circle of horses. The flicker of doubt in her chest was drowned out by the adrenaline pumping through her veins. "We'll worry about the how once we're out of this mess," she said, her voice tight but steady.
Ashley's eyes darted between the skeletal steeds, looking for a weakness, a gap in their ranks. "Do you see an opening?" she asked, her voice barely audible above the growing thunder of hooves.
"Nope," Taylor replied, her jaw clenched.
Above them, the purple imp's laugh sliced through the air, high-pitched and mocking. It perched atop the carousel like a twisted ringmaster, eyes gleaming with mischief. "This is your last chance," he called out, voice dripping with amusement. "Hand him over, or take your chances with my little pets. Trust me, they bite."
The skeletal horses snorted, their empty eye sockets glowing brighter as they closed the circle tighter, the rhythmic clop of hooves growing louder, more urgent. Ashley's grip tightened around the imp, her jaw set in defiance. "We don't make deals with bullies," she hissed.
"Suit yourself," the imp sneered.
With a sharp snap of his fingers, the skeletal horses lunged forward, breaking formation and galloping straight at them in a chaotic cross-pattern. They came at them from all sides, hooves kicking up dirt and dust as they crashed through the narrow space. Taylor and Ashley ducked and dodged, narrowly avoiding the wild, bony charges. Despite their terrifying appearance, the horses were lighter than they seemed, their bodies hollow, lacking the raw power and muscle of real horses.
Taylor winced as one of the horses bumped into her shoulder, its cold, wooden frame jarring against her skin, but the impact was more of an annoyance than the crushing blow she'd expected. Another horse careened past, its skeletal head turning unnervingly.
Through the swirling chaos of the stampede, Ashley's eyes locked on a gap — a small opening where two horses had staggered into each other. Without hesitation, she grabbed Taylor's hand. "Now!" she shouted, pulling her forward.
Taylor didn't need to be told twice. She took the lead, yanking Ashley through the opening as the horses scrambled to regroup. The world became a blur of motion as they sprinted down the path, the clattering of hooves fading behind them for a moment. But the horses weren't far behind.
The pathway twisted and turned, flanked by rows of tents that loomed like colourful sentinels under the carnival lights. The skeletal horses gave chase, their hooves pounding the ground in a relentless rhythm. The sound was growing again, like the tide coming back to swallow them.
Ashley's eyes flicked toward the tents. "Taylor, through there!" she shouted, motioning to a narrow gap between two of the largest tents, the entrance barely visible in the flickering light.
Taylor nodded, veering sharply toward it. The horses behind them let out a series of bone-rattling screeches as if sensing their prey's sudden shift. But the gap was small, just enough to let two humans through. Taylor lunged forward, pulling Ashley behind her, the two of them slipping into the shadows as the horses collided with the fabric of the tent tearing it down and continuing their pursuit.
As they ran past the maze, Taylor tightened her grip on Ashely's hand and pulled her into it and through the maze until they turned a corner. The sharp scent of hay and soil filled their nostrils as they weaved through the twisting pathways. They took a sharp turn around a corner, and Taylor yanked Ashley into a narrow alcove between the towering walls of hay. The two stumbled to a stop, their backs pressed flat against the prickly surface, breaths coming in ragged gasps.
The rhythmic pounding of skeletal hooves grew louder, the ominous clatter closing in, rattling the very walls of the maze. Taylor's eyes darted to Ashley, silently urging her to hold still. The sound of hooves became deafening — and then, just as suddenly, it started to fade. Fainter and fainter, until all that remained was the distant murmur of wind rustling through the maze.
Ashley dropped to the ground, setting the imp down with a huff. "That was not fun," she muttered, trying to steady her breathing. She glanced at the sticky remnants of pumpkin still clinging to her jacket and grimaced.
Taylor slid down next to her, her body sinking into the cold earth as her muscles finally unclenched. Her grip on the doll, still tucked tightly in her hands, didn't loosen, though her head lolled back against the hay wall, eyes closing briefly.
The imp, sitting awkwardly on the ground, wriggled in its binds and glared at them with narrowed eyes. "What now?" it asked, a scowl pulling at its lips.
Ashley grimaced as she looked down at her jacket, wiping at the sticky remnants of pumpkin mush clinging to the fabric. "I'd say a hot shower, but that's not in the cards, is it?"
Taylor opened her eyes and glanced sideways at the imp. "What did you mean by imps shouldn't be able to wield that much power?" she asked, her voice calm but firm.
The imp huffed and struggled against the glowing restraints binding its arms. "Release me, and I'll tell you."
Taylor raised an eyebrow but didn't move, keeping her expression unreadable. "You're really not in a position to be making demands."
The imp's lips twisted in a sneer, its glowing red eyes narrowing. "Neither are you," it said coldly, its voice dripping with disdain.
Taylor shifted slightly, her gaze steady. "Maybe, but the only thing that can release you is currently encased in a block of jello. So unless you'd rather wait until we figure that part out, you'll sit tight. We'll let you go when we can."
He pressed his lips together and glared at her from around Ashley. "How convenient… Very well. Beings like us can do… we can do a lot, especially on Hallow's Eve. We can bend and manipulate objects or spaces that are infused with our essence, but that takes time. The rate at which he has been overwriting my influence and controlling all of this at once is unheard of."
Ashley still wiping at her jacket, glanced up, her lips curling in a sceptical smirk. "Are you sure you're not just jealous that he's better at your game?"
The imp hissed, its small body bristling. "He did not best me!" it spat, its voice sharp. "Had you not interfered, I would have regained control of the house. But what he's doing… it's unnatural. It's wrong."
"Really?" Ashley raised an eyebrow, not entirely convinced.
The imp squirmed again, its face twisted in anger. "Yes, really! What he's doing goes beyond mischief. We are tricksters, not destroyers. He's broken the rules."
"This whole thing is unnatural," Ashley scoffed before looking at Taylor. "Do we really believe this guy had nothing to do with taking Andros and Alyssa, and trying to kill us?"
The imp's glare softened, if only slightly, as it slumped in its bonds. "I did no such thing. I was only playing pranks. It's what we do on Hallow's Eve. We trick, we tease, but we do not hurt humans. That," it gestured vaguely in the direction of the chaos outside the maze, "that abomination is responsible for all this havoc. And he wants to pin it all on me."
Taylor held her head and took a deep breath. "Well Jen believed it and she could see more than we could. She had a little magic on her side today and she'd be the least likely to believe him without cause," she said as she brushed her thumb over the doll's head. "So yeah, I don't think they're working together. We also know that the Court doesn't take breaking laws very well. If no-tail back there wants this guy so bad, pinning this on him isn't an out-there motive."
"So what now? Call for back-up?"
Taylor shook her head. "Eric already put in a call to the Guardians, hopefully, they are getting people out. And the cops are probably going to show up. But I don't know how they're going to handle this. And the nearest rangers that we know of are in New Tech. So we're on our own."
"Great. So we've got a superpowered imp that's pretty much taken over the carnival, captured some of our friends and frozen two in jelly. Plus Wes is a…" Ashley stopped short and turned to the imp. "You said you could turn him back… turn him back!"
The imp wriggled in its glowing restraints, sparks of green flickering at its fingertips. "Technically, I can," it grumbled. "But not while I'm bound like this. My magic's being blocked."
"What do you mean, blocked?" Ashley demanded.
"It's the restraints," Taylor interrupted, her eyes narrowing in thought. "They're designed to hold mutants — keep them from using their powers. I guess they work on magic too."
"Why don't you just blast him like you did me?" the imp grumbled.
"There's only one weapon I know of that can do that. It's currently stuck in jelly too."
"So the two of you are useless then. Great. First, you interrupt my ritual, then you stop me from leaving and now I'm going to be a scapegoat for that… that abomination."
"We're useless?" Ashley echoed. "Says the imp who turned our friend into a doll and can't turn him back."
"I can turn him back. I can even free the other two he captured, but only once you release me from the restraints you put on me," it hissed, his voice rising.
"Shhh…. Do you want to get captured? We're a little outnumbered here."
"Free me and I can release your friends. Maybe they can actually do something. Or we are all doomed."
Ashley tugged on her jacket and turned to Taylor. "I say we use blabbermouth here as leverage. Get our friends back, all of them."
"You can't do that! I'm innocent!"
"Well since I'm so useless, maybe that's my only option," Ashley shot back.
Taylor looked at the doll in her hands before turning to the imp. "You turned him into this so I assume you can turn him back without too much trouble. But how are you going to free the others?"
The imp snapped its head toward her as its little chest heaved. It glanced at Ashley with a sneer before turning back to Taylor and puffing its chest out as best it could. "The space around the house is infused with both my essence and his. With enough concentration, I could bend it to my will long enough to release them."
Taylor glanced at Ashley, "So we need to get him close, give him time to work."
"But we have to free him first," Ashley reminded her.
"I know. But we can't stay here," Taylor said, her tone urgent. "Midnight's closing in. If we don't get Alyssa and Andros back before then, we lose them. Not to mention whoever else that thing has captured." She turned to the imp, her eyes hard. "How do we stop him?"
The imp was silent for a moment, staring up at her with an unreadable expression. Taylor stepped closer, her voice low and dangerous. "Taking him down works in your favour too. Or did you forget that he's trying to hand you over to the Halloween Court? We've been there, proving your innocence isn't going to be easy and the punishments aren't a walk in the park either."
The imp blinked and looked from her to Ashley whose face held the same resolute expression and back again. It stayed silent for a moment but when it spoke its voice was steady and devoid of any mirth. "You.. you're strange for humans. You run toward danger, challenging forces you don't understand. One of you weilds a weapon that can disrupt magic. Another can see through the veil. And you claim to have been to the Halloween Court, though no human has ever set foot there. Who are you?
Taylor and Ashely shared a look until Ashely blinked in recognition. "Jen could see things that weren't there… how? You didn't explain that."
"Kinda busy running for our lives," Taylor pointed out dryly. "Sorry, old habit. But uh… it was uh… the card, the one the woman at the stand gave her yesterday, with the green eyes on it. I don't know what she did but it started glowing, disappeared and then she could see things."
"The card? The Card!"
Ashley's eyes widened as she dug around the bag slung across her shoulder. She pulled out a familiar envelope and slid out the card with the image of the hammer. The imp's eyes locked on the pattern on the back and its eyes widened.
"Ho…How? Who are you?"
Taylor and Ashley looked down at him with quizzical looks. "You're not being helpful," Taylor bit out.
"Do you know what you have?" The imp asked, ignoring the irritantance in her voice.
"Uhh…"
"That is a Card of Destiny. How do you have that? Does it even work in this world?"
"Tonight it will," said Taylor. "And I think someone from your side wanted to stir things up in a different way."
"How do they work?" asked Ashley.
The imp shrugged. "I have only heard of them. They are supposed to grant the person they find what they need most in a dire hour. But that is ancient, powerful magic. It's not something just anybody can wield."
Ashely looked down at the card and gently ran her fingers over the word Tool. 'What you need to move forward will be in your grasp'. The woman's words floated through her mind and she felt drawn toward it. "Maybe," she said, her voice sounding distant and her eyes never leaving the image. "Maybe we just need to ask for what we need. And we could really use some tools right now."
She closed her eyes and held the card up between her fingers. "Magic was on our side once tonight, let's see if we can get it to work again."
Taylor unknowingly held her breath and the imp continued to stare. A moment passed and nothing happened. "Knew it!" The imp exclaimed. "Something that powerful won't work in this world. It has no magic to fuel it."
Taylor glared at the imp before reaching out to grab Ashley's shoulder as the brunette opened her eyes and stared forlornly at the card. "I don't get it. It worked for Jen, why not now? This is ridiculous. Work damn it! You are literally the last chance we have to fix this. I need you to work!"
As the words left her lips the card began to glow, softly at first, then brighter. It pulsed with energy, a warm golden light filling the space around them. The imp gasped, Taylor's breath caught in her throat, and Ashley just stared as the card disintegrated into a shower of golden dust The dust swirled in the air, coalescing into two glowing objects. As the light faded, Taylor and Ashley gasped. There, suspended before them, were two familiar devices.
"That's it? You possessed a card that could give you anything and that is what you choose."
"These things have helped save more than one world," Taylor stated as she reached for the golden flip phone with the eagle motif. As soon as it touched her skin, a familiar static energy coursed through her body, and a familiar screech echoed in her mind, reminding her of the first time she held it. She smiled."And right now they are our only hope of getting out of this."
"I can't believe that worked," Ashley marvelled as she strapped her device around her wrist.
"Maybe magic is on our side tonight. You ready to do this? There's no laying low once we flip this switch."
"What are you…?" the imp started but was ignored.
The two women stood together and nodded. "Let's do this"
"Wild Access!"
"Let's Rocket!"
The imp looked on with wide eyes, its jaw falling open as the two figures before him were engulfed in shimmering orbs of bright yellow light. They pulsed, giving off a brilliant glow and then as quickly as it appeared, the light faded, revealing Ashley and Taylor, now encased in sleek, vibrant yellow suits that shimmered in the dim light.
Ashley stood confidently in a suit that clung to her form with a skirt draped over her hips. Her head was encased in a black and yellow helmet with an opaque visor that obscured her face. A band stretched across her chest, marked with small, colourful rectangles that stood out against the rest of her suit. Silver shoulder pads extended outward slightly, giving her a subtle, armored appearance. A white belt wrapped snugly around her waist, accented by a gleaming yellow buckle shaped into a perfect triangle, a holster resting on her side, weapon ready. Her gloves and boots, a stark white that contrasted sharply with the bright yellow of her suit, completed the ensemble.
Next to her, Taylor was dressed in a similar form-fitting suit. Gold accents traced the lines of her uniform, most notably around her belt and helmet, elevating the vibrant yellow. Her helmet was smooth, the visor a deep black, swallowing any hint of expression, but it was crowned with white and gold detailing that gave the impression of an eagle. Diagonal black and gold lines slashed down from the collar to mid-chest, while an intricate symbol of an eagle sat over her heart. Around the waist, a belt of gold wrapped securely, the centrepiece being an ornate buckle sculpted into the fierce likeness of a lion - but upon closer inspection, one could see other animals hidden in the design, their forms blending into the mane. Attached to the belt was a gleaming sabre, the hilt golden, with a glowing yellow stone embedded at its core. Similar to Ashley, she wore white gloves but with bands of gold cresting at the elbows. The boots, reaching just below the knee were yellow with gleaming gold bands.
Taylor glanced down at her hands, the fists clenching and releasing as she took in her transformation. "As much as I hate this situation…" she muttered, her voice reverberating through the helmet. "It feels good to be back."
Ashley, full of restless energy, punched her fist into her open palm with a satisfying crack. "Let's get this guy."
Taylor nodded, her posture shifting, eyes narrowing behind the visor. She turned to the imp, who had yet to recover from its shock, still staring up at them with wide, disbelieving eyes "You… you're not human. You can't be."
"Oh, we most definitely are," Taylor said coolly, her tone laced with danger. She took a step forward, the sabre sliding from its sheath with a soft metallic whisper. "Your kind just likes to underestimate us."
She knelt down to meet the imp's gaze, the tip of the sabre resting lightly under its restraints. "Here's the deal. I let you go, you help us save our friends and catch that creep. I'll vouch for you with the Court if it comes to that."
The imp, now quivering slightly, nodded eagerly. "I can agree to that."
"Good." Taylor pressed the blade just beneath the bonds, the energy from the yellow stone illuminating the dark space between them. She hesitated for a heartbeat, letting the threat hang in the air. "But betray us, and I will come find you. Unlike the Court, I won't hear you out."
"And she won't be the only one," Ashley echoed, her voice cold and steady from behind her helmet.
The imp nodded. Taylor flicked the sabre upward with precision, the blade slicing clean through the restraints. The bonds fell away and flickered away. The imp immediately felt the pressure around its arms and wings fade and wasted no time stretching its wings wide and launching into the air, doing a few flips and turns.
"Much better," it muttered under its breath, spinning midair to face Taylor. "I thought you said you couldn't free me."
Taylor sheathed the sabre with a sharp click. "That was before. There's some magic even technology from the future can't block."
She nodded to the doll still lying on the ground. "Take care of him. We'll distract the other guy as best we can. But move quickly and work fast."
"And remember what we said about double-crossing us," Ashley added. " Now go."
She turned to Taylor and nodded. The imp saluted and flew over to the doll picking it up. It watched as Taylor turned around and spread her arms. Metallic feathers shimmered into existence across her arms and back, sliding together seamlessly to form wings. She took a running start and leapt into the air. Ashley followed close behind, jumping high and grabbing Taylor's ankle as they ascended.
As the imp watched them disappear into the sky, it shook its head, muttering to the doll in its arms, "Between you and me, buddy, this was not how I expected my night to go." The doll, remained silent, its unblinking eyes staring back at the imp.
With a huff, the imp flapped its wings harder, soaring over the maze below before dipping into the shadows. It disappeared into the dark, leaving nothing but a whisper of movement behind.
Thanks for reading.
Till next time...