The Wizard Killer - Season One: A Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy Serial by Adam Dreece Page A

was once a raging river inside me is quickly draining down to an annoyed stream. Maybe this is pointless. It’s like I’m trying to lift a boulder.
    “What’s that deep hum?” she asks.
    I open my eyes and turn my head about. “That’s the engine. It’s starting!” Shutting my eyes tight, I grunt and push harder. “Come on! Come on!” The deep hum grows and the engine starts vibrating.
    The oner peeks out the barn door and then closes it. “The carn’s coming up the path, there’s fire everywhere. We’re out of time.”
    I stop. “I thought you already said the carn was almost here.” Glancing around at the barn, I shake my head. “Wait, something doesn’t make sense. Why would it be coming here? You said it was pushing us towards here, but—”
    She glares at me. “You need to get the levi-car up in the air! Focus!”
    Nodding and with a deep breath, I give a final push.

episode twenty

    Closing my eyes, I imagine pushing every last drop of energy out of me as hard as I can. The engine’s hum grows until one corner of the levi-car lifts up with a clunk, then another. I hold on tight as each of the six levitation points kicks in and the levi-car and its flatbed stabilize. “Haha!” I yell, withdrawing my hand from the engine carefully. I stare at the silver discs as they start to pulse, heat now radiating from them. Carefully I close the panel and hop down to the ground. “We need to turn the levi around if we’re going to have any chance of driving past the carn. And forget about trying to hit it with this, we don’t have enough room to get up to speed.” She stares at me, unflinching. I stare back, something’s off. “Will you help me push?”
    The oner nods.
    “You push on the far end of the flatbed, while I push on the opposite front end. It’s not going to want to move, remember, we’ve got to overcome that. Once it starts to move, it’ll be easy, just like getting a cart out of a rut. Got it?”
    It bothers me how she’s standing there again, blinking at me. I can tell she’s thinking. What’s there to think about? Just when I’m about to ask her what’s going on, she replies.  
    “Yes.” She moves into position.
    I search my shirt for a clean spot to wipe my face and give up. Planting my hands right beside the front levitation point, I dig my feet into the dirt floor. “Ready? Three, two, one, now! Grrr! Move! Move you yigging piece of… that’s it… Come on!” Finally, with a metallic groan, the levi-car gives up its desire to stay still and lets us spin it around.  
    Laughing, I bend over and put my hands on my knees, letting the muddy sweat drip off my head and face. “Give me a minute and then we’ll get going. With a bit of luck, we’ll get passed the carn and outrun whatever freak storm that is.”
    The oner’s lips are pulled tight, her brow hinting at something I can’t pick up. “You seem tired. Will you be up for a fight?” she asks, giving me a sideways glance.
    I wave her off. “Don’t worry about me, I’m exhausted, but I always have a little extra in the tank for emergencies. I have to say though, that levi-car felt like it had ten hearts, not one. Maybe someone over-engineered it? It was like it was made to empty me out.” Taking a deep breath and straightening up, I point at door. “Speaking of fights…” I look about, shaking my head, “shouldn’t the carn be here by now? Not that I want to die but… what’s going on?”
    She stares at me, blinking. There’s that eerie delay again fragmenting her reaction. Her head moving back then stopping, her mini-expression then changing, and so on.  
    Squinting at her, I lick my lips. “There’s no carn, is there?” Scanning about, I spy my bag on the flatbed. Keeping an eye on her out of the corner of my eye, I decide to go for my short sword.
    She taps the flat sides of her swords together and points them at me. “Drop your sword.”
    My shoulders slump and I sigh as I let it fall and put my