Impundulu and followed the path that he had taken. She didn’t take to the air again because she was worried about the vulture familiar but she did take huge leaps over rocks when she could see clearly enough to choose her landing place.
She looked up and saw Impundulu disappearing into a cave in the side of the mountain only a few hundred feet above her and she took one more huge leap which bordered on flight and landed at the cave entrance only moments after Impundulu had gone in.
She rushed in and realised her mistake because Impundulu was waiting for her on the other side of the entrance. He struck her across the shoulders with the full weight of his forearm and knocked the breath out of her. She staggered forward and dropped to her hands and knees but she moved fast enough to avoid the vicious kick from Impundulu’s clawed foot and it swung past her nose as she pulled back her head. Then she was on her feet and facing him. Her knife was in its sheath and she didn’t have the time to take it out so she had to rely on her unarmed fighting skills, such as they were. She also had the knowledge of her demonic powers on the Astral Plane but so did Impundulu and he was full-demon, not half, like her.
The fight was not going so well for Dusty and she caught Impundulu’s fist to the side of her head and as she saw stars and blackness closing in on her vision, her last thought was that she had let Ange, her best friend in the whole world, down – terminally.
When Dusty woke up she was sitting against a large rock and her head was throbbing. She looked around for Impundulu but didn’t see him and wondered why he had left her alive.
Then she panicked and thought about Ange who was still sitting in the middle of a bedsheet, surrounded by salt and burnt-out candles and she stood up. Her head thumped and her vision swam and she realised that Impundulu had whacked her a fair one but she had to get back to Ange.
Again her sight went from normal to tunnel vision and the blackness closed in and she knew she was going to pass out. Shaking her head wouldn’t help but she tried it anyway and stumbled to one side, landing on one knee with a hand to the ground to steady herself. Then she felt a hand under her arm, helping her up. She looked around but couldn’t quite see who or what was helping her but she mentally prepared herself in case it was Impundulu lulling her into a false sense of security.
When she was standing upright again, she feigned dizziness more than was necessary in order to put Impundulu off his guard.
“The deception is not necessary. I know that you are not so badly injured as you are making out to be. You can stand up straight without fear of further injury. If I had wanted to kill you, I would have done it when you were unconscious.” The voice was deep and calming and she looked up in surprise. It was not Impundulu. It was certainly not Impundulu.
The young man that stood before her was taller than she was with jet black hair and violet eyes. The eyes danced with a humour that she could almost feel and his smile was kind. His clothing was contemporary but other-worldly, he had clothed himself as she had, once he had arrived in this world. The chances were, then, that he was human or at least half-human as she was.
Suddenly Dusty was very interested.
“Oh, hi.” She had become suddenly tongue-tied. “I’m Dusty,” she managed.
“Yes you are, but a quick brush down will sort that out.” He looked at her a little strangely and she wondered why for a moment and then it occurred to her that he thought she was describing her state rather than introducing herself.
”Oh no, I mean, my name is Dusty.”
He nodded that he understood and his smile widened. “Is that a nickname of some sort? I mean, are you always dishevelled and that’s why you acquired the name?”
“No, it’s my given name. It means valiant fighter. My mum knew what I was, you see.”
Again he nodded. “Half-demon you mean?”
It was Dusty’s turn to nod. “And you are?” She prompted him to make his introduction.
“Hunter.”
“Of what?”
His brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed as a result and she was taken aback at how very gorgeous he was and suddenly she was on the alert again because she remembered how her mother had been Glamoured and where that had led her.
“I mean, what do you hunt?” She explained.
“No, I am a hunter yes, obviously, but my name is Hunter. My parents knew what I was too. I hunt for bounties though, people and other – ah, beings – pay me to hunt things.” He finished with a weak explanation but Dusty knew that he probably didn’t want to mention demons as his quarry because of her heritage. ‘Hmm, gorgeous and thoughtful... I like that,’ she thought.
“What happened to Impundulu? I have to catch him and bind him so that he forgets about my friend Ange.”
“I have already performed that ceremony on the Incubus; I doubt it will be bothering your friend again.”
“You do understand that I can’t just take your word for that? I don’t know why you had anything to do with this but my duty is not being paid for, it’s personal. My friend is in danger and I’m the only one she can turn to. I need to make certain if you don’t mind, now, which way did Impundulu go?”
“I can take you to it, him if you like.”
They exited the cave, Dusty following Hunter; taking note of the clothes he had adorned himself with on entering the Demon-side of the Astral Plane. His tastes ran very similar to hers. Mainly black and casual-functional, sturdy boots, knife sheath, jeans, t-shirt and leather jacket, although hers were still the dull red colour for camouflage on the ash road. Hunter also had something very interesting hanging from his belt. It was a long silver thread but it swayed as though it was exceptionally heavy.
“What’s that?” She asked once they were down at the bottom of the Wraith Mountains and on level ground again.
Hunter looked to where she was pointing and shrugged. “It’s a rope.”
“Yes, but what kind of rope? There’s something special about it, please tell me.”
Hunter sighed and Dusty wanted to listen to him sigh again and again. She shook herself and brought her mind back to the matter in hand.
“It’s a rope made from Unicorn mane and it makes demons forget.”
Dusty saw a look pass across his eyes and stopped in her path. “Oh, so you’re thinking that if you had used that on me back up in the cave, I would have forgotten about my mission and you wouldn’t be taking me to find that Incubus. You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble if you’d have thought of that,” she said, smiling at his obvious neglect in his duties.
“It obviously didn’t work, did it?” He asked pointedly.
“What? You mean you used that thing on me? How dare you?” Dusty became angry and yet her mind was working overtime. “So you rescued me from the Incubus, wiped his memory and then tried to wipe mine? Did you also try putting a Glamour on me too?” She saw the look on his face and stopped walking again. “You did! Oh I can’t believe this! So, what do you really look like? Show me or I’ll perform the incantations myself.”
The sulphurous air shimmered as he dropped his Glamour. He still looked the same but he wasn’t as irresistibly attractive as he had been. Instead, the young man before her looked like a young man rather than a demi-god.
“Yeah, that’s better. I should have known,” she muttered and walked past him.
“You can’t blame me for trying, Dusty,” he said to her back. Then he ran a little to catch her up. “You took on that Incubus on your own, without your weapon even and I thought you were so brave and I figured that if I helped you, you’d just look on me as a kid and wouldn’t want to know me, so I made you think I was cool before you got to know me.”
“Actually, idiot, I thought you were cool for helping me anyway. How old are you then?”
“I’m almost two centuries old, you see, I’m still very young in all of this...”
“You think you’re...” She stopped talking and walking at the same moment. “Just how old do you think I am, Hunter?”
He did no
t seem to catch the hint in her voice and he went on and answered the question. “Well, you’re able to fly on the Astral Plane, you can clothe yourself and alter the colour of your clothing to camouflage yourself and the birds came to protect you and I know you’re part demon so I figure you must be easily a millennium...?”
“Really? No, I actually mean it, really?”
He nodded.
“I’m eighteen years old.” She said it in such a cold tone that there could have been ice forming on the words.
“Oh,” was all that Hunter could manage.
“And the birds, that wasn’t my doing. As for the rest, my mother went to great efforts to learn everything she could about my... about the Incubus that spawned me and she studied and taught me for the eleven years that she lived after my birth. Then my grandparents took it upon themselves to continue my studies because they felt that they owed it to my mother to protect me in every way they could. They made me practice my Astral Planing and everything to do with Daemonology. My grandfather is now so knowledgeable about the subject that he gives talks and seminars on the subject and they travel the world giving the talks.”
“Yes, I have heard of your grandparents. I have even been to a few of their seminars, which was another reason for thinking you were so cool. I didn’t realise that you were their granddaughter though. I thought they knew so much because you had been teaching them for their whole lives.”
“Yeah, apology accepted,” Dusty said sarcastically and began walking again.
After a while she could see Impundulu’s tracks for herself so she realised that they were catching up to the Incubus.
“So, where would I get a Unicorn rope then?” She asked.
“I can get you one but it doesn’t work in the human world.”
“That’s ok; I’d only need it for the Astral Plane.”
“Oh, I thought you were thinking of wiping your friend’s bad memories for her.”
“Even if I could, I’m not sure that I should, maybe this episode will teach her a lesson on not playing with Ouija boards in future.”
“Here it is - Impundulu’s lair.” Hunter pointed at a hole in the side of a large rock. It looked nothing like a lair to Dusty but she didn’t say so and she waited while Hunter summoned the Incubus.
Impundulu emerged from his hole with a bit of a struggle, the hole was very small and his body had to be manipulated in all sorts of unnatural ways in order to get out. Dusty could hear bones snapping and then creaking as they rearranged themselves and she thought it may have been because of the bump on her head, but she felt a little nauseous at the sounds.
Impundulu was petulant and did not seem to recognise Dusty, but he did recognise Hunter.
“What do you want, mercenary?” Impundulu asked.
“Now, Impundulu, please keep a civil tongue in your head or I’ll be forced to make sure it’s no longer in your head.” Hunter sounded a lot more mature than he had as they were walking. He was more self-assured than he had been. This was his comfort zone and no mistake.
“What are your plans for the coming Witching Hour?” Hunter asked.
“I have no plans. You know I have no plans. You took all my plans away and now I can’t remember where I was going, but I do remember that I was enjoying it and you took that away from me!” The last of Impundulu’s speech was yelled, in much the same way as a spoiled child would make their demands upon an indulgent adult. “Go away, mercenary. Leave me alone.” And the Incubus crawled back into its hole, snapping bones and twisting limbs in the same way as before and again it made Dusty feel nauseous.
“There, are you happy now?” Hunter asked.
“Yes, I’m satisfied that Impundulu will not be coming for my friend.” Dusty was extra-careful to not mention Ange’s name within earshot of Impundulu because if the Incubus heard her name, his memory may return and he may remember what he was doing to her before Dusty and Hunter intervened.
Then Dusty smiled a warm and genuine smile at Hunter and said: “I’d like to see you again sometime if you’d like to. I still think you’re cool, even though you did think I was like, a thousand years old.”
Hunter smiled at her first few words and then his smile changed to a grimace because of his acute error but because she was still grinning at him, he smiled again and had the decency to blush a little. “Yeah, I’d like that too. Where are you based?”
“Based? Do you mean where do I live?” she grinned again. “I live in the heart of Sherwood Forest, in the middle of the woods, where there are lots of magical beings still. I’ll expect you when I see you then, please feel free to drop in any time, but make sure you drop in at least a hundred yards from my house because I have it protected and I don’t know if it would harm you. You’ll be ok if you’re not using magic to arrive by but otherwise, I think we’re pretty well protected.”
“Ok, I’ll remember to walk in then.” Hunter held out his hand for Dusty to shake and their friendship was sealed. The warmth of his skin was pleasant and she thought that he wasn’t such an ordinary-looking guy, in fact he was very cute and she knew that she’d be thinking about him a lot more in the near future. She hoped that he didn’t leave it too long before he visited.
Then Dusty crouched down and sprang upwards, soaring up higher and higher until the dark, dirty red of the Demon-side of the Astral Plane gave way to the more peaceful side and she saw fleeting glimpses of Cherubs (horrid, spoiled creatures) and Angels (sometimes nice, sometimes arrogant, always beautiful) and a flash of a Griffon as the sunlight struck his wing tips. Dusty felt extraordinarily lucky to have gotten out of that situation in one piece. Thank goodness for Hunter.
Dusty arrived back at Ange’s bedroom just as the sun was breaking and she showered to remove the Demon-side dust from her body. Then she put her clothes back on and muttered the incantations to bring Ange back out of her enchanted sleep.
Ange’s eyes looked so much better without the dark circles under them and though she’d had just eight hours sleep, she felt as rested as though she’d slept for a hundred years, or so she said. Dusty smiled because she knew for a fact that Sleeping Beauty had been grumpy when she’d been woken after her century-long sleep. A Dryad had told her on good authority, having seen first-hand from the hedge that had grown around the castle over the hundred-year-long imposed slumber.
“So what happened then?” Ange asked when she’d been in the shower and got dressed.
Dusty handed her friend a coffee and settled down to tell Ange about Impundulu and Hunter.
Dusty parked her bike in the shed-cum-garage that was reserved just for the Ducati. It was untidy but dry and a workspace all her own. Her grandad had always tried to instil in her the importance of ‘a place for everything and everything in its place’ and she knew that the advice was sound but she just couldn’t get to grips with keeping the workshop tidy enough to pass his rigorous inspections.
The bike was making little ‘ting ting’ sounds as it cooled because right after leaving Ange’s house, she’d gone for a good long ride to clear her head. Because finally everything was filed in her mental compartments, she knew she would be able to sleep.
It was only about 10:30 am but she’d been up for well over twenty four hours and a satisfied exhaustion was starting to creep up on her. She knew that she’d sleep well enough, even through the day.
Dusty walked through the open back door and greeted her grandmother who was cleaning and tidying the immaculate kitchen.
“Hi Gran,” Dusty said.
“Morning sweetheart. What have you been up to?” She looked at Dusty and made reference to the dark circles under her eyes. It seemed that Dusty had cured Ange’s sleep-deprived circles and acquired some of her own in return.
“I was called out to a bit of a Ouija board emergency. Ange had got a case of Incubus infestation and it was a nasty one. Have you heard of Impundulu by any chance?”
“Yes we have and he’s a nasty one. Did you manage to sort it out dear?”
Dusty’s grandfather appeared at the door leading from the hall. He had heard his granddaughter arrive home and had come to chat with her.
“Yes he’s sorted now, Grandad. I got into a bit of a scrape though, he pulled me Demon-side and I had to follow him to the Wraith Mountains.” Dusty didn’t keep anything from her grandparents, they would worry about her, of course, but if she left anything out, they would worry more and so instead of going right up to bed, Dusty told them the whole story of Impundulu, Ange and Hunter.
As she was telling them about Hunter’s failed attempt at Glamouring her, Dusty sipped the hot chocolate that her grandmother had made in order to help relax her so that she’d be able to sleep better.
They smiled or frowned in the right places but didn’t interrupt and soon Dusty had finished telling them her adventure. They were worried that she had needed help but grateful that Hunter had been there. Dusty could tell that her grandfather was not too impressed at Hunter’s gallantry when he’d tried to Glamour her but Dusty explained that if it had been her rescuing him, she’d have probably tried to do the same – if she had a Unicorn rope of course. Anyway, she reasoned, it didn’t work, so no harm done and if Hunter did come through with his promise to bring her an enchanted rope, she’d be very happy about it.
Dusty went off to bed, a very weary young woman. Her grandparents were concerned about the lost sleep but knew that she was young and healthy, not to mention half-demon, and she’d catch up on that sleep soon enough.
Dusty still had a little more work to do regarding Impundulu and she prepared herself for travelling on the Astral Plane again.
Instead of going into her bedroom, she went into her study, the one that her grandmother only went in to clean – thoroughly. Dusty didn’t rest on those laurels though, she made absolutely certain that the area she was about to use was scrupulously clean, without the chance of even a speck of dirt within the area she was going to use for her ritual. Her grandparents heard her vacuuming and they knew what she was doing. They would keep an eye on her of course, because she was their darling granddaughter but she was also perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Then Dusty took another shower and returned to the study.
Dusty drew the circle and from inside of it, she also drew the star which made up the rest of the symbol. Then she sat in the centre of the clear space, the same place where she had put Ange earlier, and she meditated.
Very quickly, she was in a deep trance and her Astral body took to the air. She looked down on her body even as she clothed her Astral self.
This was one part of her job that she loved, the utter freedom.
Dusty hovered above her home and saw a figure walking towards the house. It was familiar somehow and she took a closer look. As she floated only fifty feet