The Legend of Silver and Gold Book Two The Old Ones

Dallas, Texas

It was great to live like a king. That’s what the man in the fedora hat and expensive suit thought as he looked out at the large city from his suite. It had taken him nearly a hundred years to get to where he was living but it had been worth it. After all, thanks to his inside guys at the banks, he was still getting paid for every book he had written back when he had still been alive and business was good.

There was a knock at the door. The man turned around to face the door. “Come in.” He said in a southern accent.

The door opened and a man limped into the room. He was wearing a fancy suit and had a cane in his left hand. “Mr. Howard, there was a phone call for you from New York City.” He told the man in the fedora.

Mr. Howard went up to the man with the cane. “Who was on the other end?” He asked. He wasn’t about to answer the phone unless he knew who it was. Not a lot of people knew that he was still alive and he didn’t want word to leak out.

“A Mr. Salazar.” The man with the cane replied. “He says you know him.”

Mr. Howard nodded. “I do know him Marcus.” He said before he went over to his desk. “I’ll take the call. You can head back to your office.” He didn’t want the man with the limp to hear the phone conversation.

Marcus looked at his boss before he limped away. He didn’t know why his boss didn’t want him in the room but he didn’t really care. He wasn’t paid to eavesdrop on Mr. Howard.

Mr. Howard waited until the door was closed before he sat down and pressed the speaker button. “How are you my old friend?” He asked before he smiled. “Have you been able to adjust well to this world?” The last time he had seen Salazar was shortly after Lovecraft had died.

“I’m doing quite well.” Salazar’s voice said from the phone. “How are you doing Robert? Last I saw you, we had found out Lovecraft had died.”

Howard thought back to that day. It had been a dark day for the two of them. He had taken over Lovecraft’s plan but the perfect time to release the Old Ones back into the world had passed. He shook his head. “I’m doing quite nice here in Texas.” He replied. “Being dead to the world has made me very rich indeed.” He laughed a little.

Howard became serious. “So what might I help you with? I get the feeling you didn’t call just to catch up with an old friend.” He said. Salazar did know how dangerous it was for the two of them to call each other. In the modern world, if the wrong person overhead them talking, it would ruin everything they were working for.

“You’re quite right.” Salazar said. “As much as I wish this was just a friendly catch up between two old friends, I was ordered to call you by Tempest.”

The minute Howard heard that name, he shivered. It was as if the room had just become colder. He had hoped to avoid Tempest after Lovecraft had failed at releasing all of the Old Ones. He had gotten goosebumps when he had met Tempest for the first time. Of course Lovecraft had been alive at the time but even he had been wary of Tempest.

“What does Tempest want from me?” Howard asked in what he hoped sounded like a calm voice. He knew that if Tempest knew that he was still alive, it would make sense that Tempest also knew where he was. Howard looked towards the entrance to his suite. He would have to keep a close eye on who all worked for him.

“Tempest has the Guardian and the golden child locked up in a safe location.” Salazar told Howard. “But he discovered that there is a new silver child somewhere in New York City and needs better equipped servants like you and me to hunt her down.”

Howard raised an eyebrow. “He said that himself?” He asked. He knew who Tempest rather use to find certain people and that humans like him were seen with contempt by Tempest. Salazar on the other hand wasn’t entirely human but it sounded like this job required more human looking servants.

“Not exactly in person but Nyarlathotep himself delivered the message after his mortal servants failed at capturing the silver child.” Salazar replied. “Tempest wants immortal human like servants and you’re one of the only real immortal humans that serve the Old Ones. You know this world better than Nyarlathotep or Shub-Niggurath.”

Howard realized what Salazar was saying. The mortal human servants had most likely been police and street thugs, the most basic servant type for the Old Ones. They didn’t know who they were really serving and that was just the way the Old Ones wanted it to be until they were free. No doubt the police thought they had just been chasing a suspect and would be ordered to stop chasing her.

Howard thought about the immortal servants that the Old Ones had. There weren’t that many immortal human in the world that served the Old Ones that he knew of. Most of them had been killed any time the Old Ones had tried to return to the world. He had been amazed by how many wars had aligned with the Old Ones trying to break free. The one movie about Old Ones, as inaccurate as it had been about the Old Ones, had been right about the amount of death that was required.

“When does Tempest want me in the city?” Howard asked as he turned his laptop on. Better to get going before Nyarlathotep showed up to take him the Old One’s way.

“As soon as you possibly can.” Salazar replied. “Tempest believes that the silver child is getting help from friends of the last silver child. The warrior Elizabeth, the son of Neptune and the daughter of the current golden child. We can’t rely on mortals to help us get this girl.”

“I’ll be there by midnight.” Howard said as he looked at his watch. It was already six in the evening. It would be expensive to get a last minute flight but Howard wasn’t worried. He could afford a last minute flight.

“Excellent. Let me know when you have arrived. I’ll make sure I have someone at the airport to pick you up.” Salazar said before the phone call ended.