“Remind me again why you’re making a spear?” Abagail asked while watching her husband rummage through their shed, looking for tools.
“The man introduced himself as Cú Chulainn, and Cú Chulainn wields a spear. Seems fitting for me to have a spear as well.” Cillian stood with old wood axe and a long piece of wood. “Also, trusting the wisdom of fantasy authors around the world, I’m assuming that magic wont work with guns. At least not well.” Well, mostly hoping, he added internally.
“So you’re absolutely sure it’s not just a manifestation of some boyhood fantasy?” Abagail asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Absolutely sure.” Cillian stood straight and looked her in the eye, shamelessly lying.
“Mhmm” Abagail hummed sarcastically and turned away.
Cillian took his finds and went towards Tony’s garage, where he has a small forge. Tony has been dabbling in blacksmithing since high school, having always been fascinated with ancient weaponry. The hand built furnace was already heated, Tony standing next to it working a set of bellows. There was an anvil near by, with a selection of hammers on a table next to it.
“I found an old wood axe and an eight foot hickory 4x4, can we make that work?” Cillian asked.
“I won’t reuse metal, but the hickory is perfect.” Tony turned towards Cillian, wearing a long leather apron and very thick gloves.
“Is there something bad about reusing the metal?” Cillian put down his axe and lumber, and looked at the tools hanging around curiously.
“It’s already been tempered, so it’ll be nearly impossible to get anything durable out of it after heating it again. I’ll use some 5166 spring steel I have that was meant for a sword. The man who ordered it got Raptured, so it’s no problem to use it for this.” Tony went to a set of shelves situated along the back wall of his garage and selected a billet of steel.
“Go ahead and start working that 4x4 on the lathe. Cut it in half first. I’ll make a two foot head, so a four foot shaft will give you a spear that’s just about as tall as you are. Perfect for fighting on foot.” Tony pointed to a table sat then to the lathe set in a corner as far from the forge as possible.
“Got it.” Cillian went to work on the hickory while Tony began heating the steel.
Some time later, Tony called out to Cillian. “Yo, you should watch and learn. Forging is fun.” He took the steel from the fire and turned to his anvil. Gripping his hammer, Tony began to beat on the steel rhythmically, forming a point at the end of the billet.
“I’ll start by giving it a point, then I’ll beat a bevel into it. I’ll be giving it two edges, along with a strong point so it can cut and stab.” Tony explained as he worked, turning back to the fire as the steel had lost its heat. “After there’s a good shape formed, I’ll split the last foot of the billet, and form a socket in between the split. The shaft will set into that hole, and the two extensions will be riveted to the shaft for extra stability.”
“I trust your judgement.” Cillian replied, watching Tony work. He was fully focused on his task, only sparing the tiniest bit of attention to explain the process to Cillian.
As time passed, the spear head began to take shape. Cillian had long finished shaving downs the shaft, and was watching Tony work. He hasn’t taken even a moments break in three hours. Cillian looked at his watch, and noticed it was past lunch time. “Hey, lets take some time and get some food”
Tony looked towards Cillian, not fully processing his words. After a second of confusion, he looked at the clock on his wall. “Yeah, let’s do that.” Tony left his hammer and the spearhead on the anvil and took off his apron. “Can Bella eat dinner with you guys tonight? I plan to keep going until I finish after we eat some lunch and it should take me through the night.”
“Of course, I’ll send some your way as well. Abagail wont mind making a bit more.” Cillian followed Tony out of the garage and into his house. Bella was watching tv, some kind of cartoon, and eating Oreos.
“Man, it’s annoying how all the good takeout places are closed.” Tony said while opening his refrigerator to look for some food. “I hate cooking, and all I have that doesn’t need cooking is cold cuts.”
“I would commit war crimes for some Ezio’s” Cillian grabbed the bread and moved it to the counter while Tony took out the cold cuts.
“That whole family got Raptured, didn’t they? Not surprising, they were legitimately faithful Catholics.” Tony took three plates from the cabinet. “I’ve got some of those purple bag Doritos in the cupboard, grab them out.”
“I miss those guys. Not just the pizza, Lorenzo was a good dude.”
After making their sandwiches, and a plate for Bella, Cillian sat at the table and turned on the tv while Tony grabbed two bottles of beed from his refrigerator. The local news station loaded up, playing one of those courtroom shows that always play in the afternoon. Tony joined Cillian at the table. “These shows will forever be a guilty pleasure of mine.”
“I’m only rarely in front of a tv when they’re on” Cillian was scrolling through his phone while munching on his sandwich, checking the recent news. “Have you seen these articles about how the wildlife has been getting aggressive and wandering into populated areas?”
“Bella said something about that this morning. I haven’t looked myself.” Tony looked at Cillian, trying to see what was on his phone.
“I wonder if it has something to do with this new energy, as Aine calls it. Animals getting more aggressive could be a sign of things changing.” Cillian typed on his phone, searching for other news related to the animals.
“I’ll leave that to your daughter to figure out, it’s too much for simple folks like us.” Tony laughed at his own statement and started flipping through the channels on the tv.
“Right, definitely above my pay grade” Cillian put his phone down and focused on his lunch. “I’m going to take a drive around town after lunch, see if there’s anything strange going on.”
“Sounds like a plan, come find me tomorrow morning and I should have your spear ready.”
Cillian finished his sandwich, put his plate in the sink, and turned to leave. “I’ll being Bella over now, she can hangout with Abagail until dinner.”
“Sounds good, see you tomorrow” Tony waived then went into his garage to continue his work.
~~~~~~~~
Cillian drove around his town, watching the people. Three weeks wasn’t quite enough for things to return to normal, but the downtown area was starting to fill back up. Teenagers on dates, old friends going to the salon or barber, family’s with their children having picnics in the park in the center of the downtown square. People were beginning to move past the sudden disappearances.
Cillian left his windows down, listening to the sounds of the town and enjoying the fresh air. He spent a couple hours driving around, stopping at a few local stores to check in on some friends, getting some fuel at one point. Nothing seems to be out of place, he thought. I suppose I should head home, Abagail should nearly have dinner ready.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
It was summer time, so even in the evening there was plenty of daylight remaining. The town was showing no signs of slowing down. The local bar, situated on the downtown square, was starting to show some signs of life. Cillian drove his truck towards home, happy to see that his town was still peaceful at least.
As Cillian was nearing home, only a few blocks away, he saw a figure on four legs down the road. The hell is that? He drove closer, slowly approaching the figure. Is that a cat? Once he got close, Cillian realized that the figure was a very large cat, with short tan fur and a black bit on the end of its tail. Is that a fucking cougar? Why the hell is there a cougar in Missouri? They haven’t been here since the 1800’s.
The cougar looked at the truck, standing still and lowering its head a bit. Cillian heard a low rumbling sound coming from its direction. I’m going to just go ahead and turn around. Cillian stopped the truck and put it into reverse. The cougars eyes began to glow, it opened its mouth and made a sound like a distorted recording of a woman screaming. Suddenly, it dashed foreword, moving much faster than you would expect. It jumped on the hood of the truck and swatted the wind shield with its big paw.
The windshield shook, cracks spread like a spider web from the spot the cougar struck. Holy shit, how did it break that? Cillian reached for his glovebox, scrambling for his pistol he kept there. The cougar swung again, spreading the cracks. Cillian grabbed his pistol, disengaged the safety, chambered a round and aimed at the cougar. As the cougar raised its paw for a third strike, Cillian squeezed the trigger. A shot rang out, and blood sprayed from the cougars chest.
The cougar took a step back, looked at Cillian and made its scream again. A faint red smoke began to gather around the cougar, its eyes glowing like flames. The cougar stepped foreword and raised its paw again. Fuck it, the whole magazine then. Cillian took aim again, but this time he didn’t squeeze the trigger only once. 14 more shots rang out, and the cougar sprayed blood. The windshield was covered, the blood seeping through the cracks the cougar created.
Cillian took a few deep breaths, calming himself. I hope that thing is dead. He grabbed another magazine, reloaded his pistol, and climbed out of his truck. People had come out of their houses after hearing the gunshots, wanting to see what was happening. “Are you okay?” A woman called out from her porch. “I’m good, y’all should stay back through. This thing isn’t dead.”
Cillian glared at the cougar, which was trying to climb back to its feet. There was a puddle of blood below it, and its chest was riddled with holes. After a moment, Cillian saw the deformed bullets begin to fall from its chest. Let’s try the head this time. Cillian took aim again, this time focusing on the cougars head. It was a tough shot, but after putting 15 rounds to waste in its chest he hoped the head would have better effect.
Cillian squeezed the trigger again, this time the bullet struck the cougar directly in the right eye. It stepped back, its head hung low, then screamed and leapt towards Cillian. Why won’t this damn thing die? Cillian fired again, over and over, until another 14 shots rang out. All of them struck the cougars head and neck. Blood and grey matter sprayed all over and the cougar fell to the ground. Some of the gore splattered on Cillian, across his face and chest.
Cillian stood still, watching the cougar which was lying before him. Blood was flowing from its head, and its brain was exposed to the air. As he watched, the red smoke gathered around its wounds. The bullets began to climb out from its skull, and the flesh began to reform. Shit, it’s still alive?
The woman shouted out again, “Here, take this.” And tossed a baseball bat towards Cillian. He dropped his pistol, and caught the bad then immediately approached the cougar. It was still lying on the ground, but it had began to twitch. Cillian took the baseball bat and swung it as hard as he could on the cougars head, hoping that if he completely destroyed its skull it would die. After a few swings, Cillian was horrified to see that it was still healing, even faster than before.
What the hell am I supposed to do? Cillian backed away, as the cougar started to rumble and tried to get to its feet. He watched it warily, as it stood up and looked towards him again. The cougar made its horrifying screaming sound, but this time it was even worse. Its eyes were glowing red and the read smoke condensed around it, making it seem to have blood red fur.
The cougar leapt towards Cillian again, swiping at him with its paw. Fuck! Cillian fell backward, barely avoiding the cougar. It jumped onto him, hitting him with its paws. Cillian felt its claws tear the flesh on his chest, the pressure from the strike cracking his ribs. As the cougar went to bite Cillian neck, another shot rang out. The cougar was knocked to the side, spraying blood from bots sides as a bullet traveled through it entirely. An old man, hunched over and barely standing, was approaching with a large rifle. “Son, I don’t rightfully know what that thing is, but I’ll help you kill it.”
Cillian looked at the old man, nodded, and tried to stand. Fuck me sideways this hurts, Cillian thought as groaned and slowly stood. He looked at the cougar, and thought, I really don’t want to use this in public until Aine understands it better, but I also like being alive. He focused on his hand, willing the energy from the bead to flow through his hand into the bat.
The bat began to glow with a bright light, like a small sun born on earth. The cougar started to scramble, seeming disturbed by the light. Cillian stepped towards the cougar as it still struggled to stand and swung the bat as hard as he could. The bat struck the cougar and a great cracking sound was heard, the concrete beneath the cougar breaking from the strike. The cougar screamed, this time from pain, and swiped at Cillian from its side, still struggling to stand after the old mans rifle destroyed its shoulder. It grazed Cillian's leg, tearing the skin but not doing significant damage. AGAIN! Cillian sent more energy into the bat, and it started to vibrate. He swung it again, and with a resounding sound struck the cougar in the head.
Dust and rubble flew around, with bits of flesh and blood from the cougars skull mixed in. The bat exploded into fragments. Cillian stood above the cougar, whose head had been rendered unrecognizable. He took some heaving breaths, and looked around at the people watching. After a moment, the adrenaline stopped and his legs went numb.
“CILLIAN!” Screaming as she ran down the street, Abagail came with Brian following. Cillian collapsed onto his behind, exhausted and in pain. This is a whole lot worse now that I’m calm. He looked at his chest, which was soaked in blood and dripping onto the road. His leg was also bleeding, though nowhere near as much as his chest.
Abagail stopped and knelt, looking at the wounds on Cillian’s chest. She reached out, almost touched the gashes, then stopped and looked into his eyes. “We need to get you to the hospital.”
Brian stood at the side, looking at the remains of the cougar, and the destruction that surrounded it. “Did you do this, dad?” He turned and looked at Cillian, wonder and a small touch of fear in his eyes.
From a few blocks away, sirens could be heard approaching. The people watching came closer, looking at the cougars corpse, and Cillian who was sitting on the ground bleeding. Abagail took off her sweater and used it to try and stop the bleeding, though she wasn’t very successful. “So much blood.” She mumbled, trying to apply pressure to the wounds. “Lay down!” She snapped off at Cillian, looking at him with an angry expression.
“Sure thing, love.” Cillian said, slurring his words a bit. I’m starting to feel a bit dizzy. Cillian laid on his back, and Abagail moved to his side, still pressing down with the sweater. She started to tear up a bit.
“Why the hell would you get out of your truck?” Abagail asked with a raised voice, almost shouting.
“I shot the damn thing 15 times before I did, I figured it was dead.” Cillian looked over at the cougars corpse. It had stopped bleeding, its blood running half way down the block to the storm drain. That thing bled a lot more than should have been possible.
”Did all of the gunshots we heard hit the creature?” Brian asked, still examining the corpse. He was poking at it with a stick he had found from somewhere.
“All 30. 15 to the chest, 15 to the head and neck. Then I crushed its skull with a bat. After it stood up for the last time, I tried using the magic Aine discovered. It died then, after two hits. That’s where the cracks in the ground came from.” Cillian looked back at his wife, hoping her seeing him talking and aware would ease her worries.
“Cracks? Dad, that’s a crater, not cracks.” Brian said, looking back at Cillian. Cillian looked again, as well as he could from his back. There was indeed a crater, roughly two feet wide and a half a foot deep that the upper half of the cougar was falling into. Its center was directly below what little was left of the creatures head.
“Huh. That sure is a crater.” Cillian said, with a bit of shock. How on earth did I manage that?
Finally, the police arrived, followed closely by an ambulance. The police quickly approached the cougar, punching Brian away from it. The paramedics rushed to Cillian, one of them saying “Please move aside mam, we need to get through” before helping Abagail to her feet.
“How are you feeling, sir?” One of the paramedics asked Cillian, looking into his eyes.
“Absolutely terrible, how about you?” Cillian said with a bit of snark.
”I was great until we got this call. Sir, can you tell me your full name and date of birth?”
“Cillian O’Murdoch, January 13th, 1990.” Cillian answered
”Very good, we’re going to get you patched up and into the hospital for some further treatment, okay?” The paramedic responded while applying some sort of compress to Cillian’s chest.
They loaded him into the ambulance with Abagail joining after sending Brian home, and drove off to the hospital.