Free Web NovelChapter 498: The Bait
Arthur Blackwynd slept while his head was tilted back against the sofa cushion at an angle that would have caused most people to wake with a stiff neck. One arm hung over the side of the sofa, the other hand lay across his chest, rising and falling with each slow, deep breath.
His face, in sleep, was younger. The lines of tension that usually carved themselves around his eyes had smoothed. His jaw, perpetually set against some unseen enemy, had relaxed. He looked less like the Shadow Monarch and more like a man who had simply... stopped.
Dexter had claimed the high ground.
The cat was sprawled across Arthur’s head, paws dangling over his forehead, tail draped across his nose, belly rising and falling in a purr so deep it was almost inaudible. He had somehow arranged himself to maximize both comfort and inconvenience, a skill that cats had perfected.
Arthur’s eyes opened.
For a moment, he simply stared at nothing in particular, then he registered the weight on his head.
The tail across his nostrils.
"I didn’t even realize that I slept," he said.
His voice was rough, he said it again, softer this time, almost to himself: "When did I even..."
Dexter yawned, and resettled himself on Arthur’s head.
Arthur reached up, gently dislodged the cat, and sat up. The world tilted for a moment, he ran a hand through his hair, found it matted in approximately seven different directions, and gave up.
Dexter, displaced but unbothered, jumped to the floor and began cleaning a paw.
Arthur stood, looked around at the ash in the fireplace, at the pale dawn light, at one of books that belong to Raven he had apparently knocked off the side table sometime in the night. He bent, picked it up, placed it back where it belonged.
Then he walked to the Estate’s garden, and George was already there.
He stood near the rose beds, a pair of pruning shears in one gloved hand, his posture as immaculate at dawn as it was at midnight. He did not turn when Arthur approached, he simply continued his work, snipping away dead leaves with the precision of a surgeon.
"Master Arthur," George said without looking up. "Awake already."
Arthur stopped at the edge of the garden path.
"You seemed as though you could sleep for a week," George continued. He set down the shears and finally turned, his dark eyes scanning Arthur’s face. "I was prepared to let you."
Arthur ran a hand through his hair again.
"I don’t even know how I succumbed to sleep like that."
"Succumbed," George repeated, tasting the word. "An interesting choice, as though sleep were an enemy you lost to, rather than a biological necessity you finally acknowledged."
"Same thing... besides did you even sleep?"
"It is not, and naturally I did." George picked up the shears again and returned his attention to the roses. "You have been running on willpower and whatever powers you for approximately six weeks. I have been counting, the fact that your body finally overruled your obstinance is not surprising to me in the slightest."
Arthur opened his mouth, then closed it.
Leaned against the garden wall.
"Fair," he admitted.
"By the way," George said, "you received a message from Lady Kara last night and apparently since you were asleep you didn’t notice, so instead she called me."
Arthur blinked. "Did I?"
"Check your phone, I know that you never do. Some people still use those devices, Master Arthur. Not everyone can teleport at will to contact people." George said calmly.
Arthur reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone, the screen, when it lit up, showed a cascade of notifications.
Twelve missed calls.
Three text messages.
Two voicemails.
All from Kara Zor El.
Arthur swiped through the messages, the most recent text read:
"I know you’re probably busy, or mad, or both. But I’m at Kal’s Fortress. Before you say anything.. I came here for a reason. Running tests with Kryptonian tech is better than anything they have on Earth. I’ll be back when I’m done. Try not to miss me too much. (Also, if you’re ignoring me on purpose, I will find a way to make you regret it. Love you.)"
Arthur stared at the screen.
"She thinks I’m mad," he said.
"Are you?"
"No." He tucked the phone back into his pocket. "I was just asleep."
"Ah." George’s shears paused. "The great and terrible Shadow Monarch, felled not by Apokoliptean warriors or Monarchs or the weight of cosmic responsibility, but by a sofa and a cat."
Arthur’s mouth twitched.
"Don’t start."
"I would never."
"It doesn’t matter, anyway," Arthur said. "As long as she’s safe, I’m okay with that, and she is right you know."
George set down the shears and turned to face him fully, his expression was unreadable.
"I told you," George said quietly. "Not to worry too much, all of you are strong and I believe that you can pull through anything." freёwebnovel.com
Arthur met his eyes.
"You did."
"And yet."
"And yet." Arthur pushed off from the garden wall. "I’m going to keep worrying anyway. It’s sort of my thing."
"Along with dramatic entrances, questionable sleep schedules, and an alarming tendency to take on the burdens of the universe single-handedly." George added.
"Those too."
George inclined his head. A breeze moved through the garden, warm, sweet, smelling of roses.
Arthur turned toward the house.
"Aaand," George said, his voice carrying just a hint of resignation, "you are leaving again."
Arthur stopped, didn’t turn around.
"Sorry," he said. "I can’t just stay here doing nothing, as much as I want to, there is just so many things that require my attention."
George was silent for a long moment.
"I understand Master Arthur, and I would never stop you from doing what’s necessary."
Arthur’s shoulders relaxed slightly. He hadn’t realized they’d been tense.
"Cya," he said, and vanished.
The shadows swallowed him whole a single ripple of violet light, a whisper of displaced air, and then nothing.
.
.
Five seconds.
That was all the silence lasted. And then Raven suddenly appeared and landed lightly on the garden, her cloak settling around her.
"Oh," she said. "Hey, George."
"Welcome," he said. "Lady Raven."
Raven glanced around the garden with her violet eyes.
"I thought I would find Arthur here.." she said.
"You just missed him." George moved to stand near the doorway, "He departed approximately five seconds before your arrival."
Raven’s shoulders dropped in disappointment, "Aw, damn it." She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it back from her face. "And I came as fast as I could..."
"Something urgent?"
"As usual." Raven said. "I just finished a long job with the Titans, a hard one, I thought.." She stopped. Shook her head. "There’s something we need to do, something I need to tell him."
George watched her. His expression was patient, attentive.
"I’m afraid I do not know where he teleported to," he said. "He did not share his destination."
Raven turned from the window.
"But you could still catch him," George continued. "Use your magic, track him."
Raven’s laugh was soft.
"He’s a very difficult person to track."
"I am aware."
"His magic is... different. It doesn’t leave traces the way normal magic does, the way I could sense him before is because his presence was so enormous he wasn’t that hard to miss but after he gained his full powers, he can control that presence of his at will. So now it’s like trying to follow a shadow through darkness." She paused. "I’ve tried before and it doesn’t work."
George tilted his head. "And yet you will try again."
Raven looked at him with a smile.
"Yes," she said simply. "I will."
George inclined his head. "Then I wish you luck."
"Thanks, George." Raven’s cloak rippled around her, the edges already beginning to dissolve into shadow and smoke.
"If I don’t find him... tell him to answer his phone."
"I shall do that."
Raven smiled then she was gone.
.
.
.
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NYX -
The Central Shadow Battery was illuminating the city in spectral light, the energy it emitted was not any form of radiation that conventional instruments could measure.
It was will, fear, death, a collection of emotions.
And somewhere inside it, a dragon of purest fear slept dreams that would have driven lesser beings mad.
Hal Jordan’s ring flickered, then flared, then flickered again, as if it couldn’t decide whether to be afraid or awed.
"Holy..." The Green Lantern floated a few feet above the battery, his construct armor materializing around him reflexively. His eyes, human eyes, unaugmented, unprepared tried to take in the city and failed. "You really changed Qward..."
Arthur Blackwynd stood at the edge of the platform, his violet eyes reflecting the light of a thousand shadow-lanterns. The wind, if it could be called wind moved through his hair. "Yeah," he said. "It’s still Parallax inside, by the way." He pointed.
Hal followed his gaze to the Central Battery, to the thing that pulsed within it, barely visible through the layers of shadow and will. A shape. A presence, something that curled and uncurled in the darkness.
"Wait." Hal’s voice cracked. "Parallax is still in there?"
"Where else would I put him?"
"I don’t know... I thought he was gone with the yellow lanterns..."
Arthur’s mouth curved. "He’s contained and under my control.." He turned to look at Hal, past the ring and the uniform and the bravado. "The Guardians still don’t like me, by the way, I’m also aware that part of the reason they don’t is the existence of this whole Corps."
Hal’s jaw tightened. "I’m not even going to comment on this."
"Because you know full well what these guys are capable of."
"Because I know full well what these guys are capable of," Hal agreed. He landed on the platform, his ring had stopped flickering, it had settled into a steady glow. "And yeah. The Guardians still don’t like you, they don’t like anyone who does things they didn’t authorize."
"Not that I care what they think."
Hal laughed. "I know... I know."
The Flash appeared beside them in a crackle of displaced air, his boots skidding slightly. "This place is amazing.." Barry said, looking around with wide eyes. "And I mean that literally. Alot of things don’t make sense here," He made a vague gesture with his hands.
"I know." Arthur said.
Barry stared at him.
"Metaphorically," Arthur added.
Hal let out a low whistle. "You really did change Qward."
"I gave it purpose." Arthur turned away from the Battery, facing the city below. "The Weaponers built this place to create instruments of fear. I rebuilt it to create instruments of protection through fear. The Shadow Lanterns don’t hunt innocents and spread fear the way Sinestro did, their sole purpose is to guard and protect the innocents of the universe."
"They’re being hunted, though."
The voice came from behind them.
Batman stepped out of the portal’s lingering glow, his cape settling around him, he had come through last. "It’s obvious to me why we are here."
Arthur’s expression darkened. "You are right, but no one got killed this time," he said. "Because I made sure they never engage once they see the attacker. Retreat protocols, get out, report back."
"Is it him again?"
"Yes." Arthur’s jaw tightened. "My Lanterns describe the same figure every time, tall, armored, the same ship, Apokolips made."
Batman’s cowl tilted. "Steppenwolf."
"Steppenwolf." Arthur began walking toward the edge of the platform, toward the bridge of solidified shadow that led into the city proper. "I organized a trap. A false report, a Shadow Lantern supposedly guarding something valuable, isolated and vulnerable. If our mystery attacker takes the bait..."
"They walk into a place full of Lanterns," Hal finished.
"They walk into me."
/-\
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