A Wisp of a Cloud
by Alan Loewen
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
With a last look at the horizon, Ryan spun about and knelt before the man. Firmly, Ryan slapped his cheeks. “Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey,” he taunted.
With a groan, the man stirred and shook his head. Suddenly, his eyes widened in surprise, and began fighting his bonds.
“Sorry, Mr. Pyre, but when I tie a knot, it stays tied.”
Pyre glared at Ryan. “So you survived yesterday?” he asked.
“Barely,” Ryan sneered. “Two of my work crew didn’t.” He stood and dusted off the knees of his jeans. “All this because I shut down your little scam?”
Pyre sneered. “Scam. You call my little pet a scam?”
“Well, I’ll give you a point there. It seems you have a little more credibility than what I assumed. Anyway, the police are still looking for you. You shouldn’t have stolen my aunt’s retirement.”
Pyre shrugged. “Your aunt gave it to me willingly. And you just said I have some actual power. Now, I recommend you let me go.” He nodded his head toward the far horizon. “My rescuer’s appeared.”
Ryan looked up to see a small cloud, just a white wisp of condensation moving across the treetops toward them. He turned around to face Pyre.
“I’m not running. I’ve decided to try an experiment. Yesterday when that cloud came into the parking lot, it made a beeline for me, but two of my people were in its way.” He involuntarily shuddered. “I saw what it did to them.”
Pyre’s eyes widened when Ryan took out a knife and flipped it open. “Relax,” Ryan said. “I need you alive.” He quickly cut the one rope that bound Pyre to the car. “Now, stand up.”
Ryan roughly made his prisoner stand and walked him ahead to a spot of dirt bare of wreckage. “Now you just stay there and let’s see if it’s willing to go through you to get to me.”
Pyre spun about his face contorted with contempt. “Idiot! I’m its master! It is only interested in you.”
Ryan shrugged. “Yeah, I thought as much.” He reached in his hip pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “Thanks for the keys to your home. I figure that book you got in your study, the one you read to your so-called disciples might have some info on this thing.” Ryan looked up. The small cloud had cleared the treetops and was descending toward them. “Anyway, I know I can outrace it on my motorcycle. It’s not that fast. I’ll get to your home well before you and your pet. That is if you don't get eaten first.”
Pyre looked nervously up at the descending cloud. “Tell you what,” he said. “Let me go, and I’ll dispel it for you.”
Ryan shook his head in the negative, and Pyre quickly began to run. There was a loud bang, and Pyre fell to the ground, his right knee a bloody ruin.
Ryan slipped his Glock 43 back under his jacket into his waistband. “One of the people your cloud turned to bloody mist yesterday was my best friend. No deals.”
Looking up, the wisp of a cloud was now just twenty yards away. Ignoring Pyre’s screams, Ryan moved into position so the cloud would encounter the wizard first.
“Come and get me,” Ryan said calmly.
Fifteen minutes later, Ryan rode his motorcycle away from the junkyard. Behind him, a bloody stain was all the remained of cloud or wizard.
To Ryan’s relief, without Pyre the cloud dissipated, and Ryan sped toward the wizard’s home. His aunt told him Pyre’s grimoire was in Latin, a language he was unfamiliar with. Still, Ryan was a quick learner, and man-eating clouds could be a handy tool in the right hands as long as one didn’t stand between the cloud and the intended victim. And who knew what other interesting secrets waited to be revealed.
Ryan smiled to himself as he flew down the rural road.
Behind him, a small wisp of a cloud slowly followed.
Behind him, a small wisp of a cloud slowly followed.
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