(This is my entry to the Fantasy Smackdown 2.1, Round 1 - Urban Fantasy.

Pictures used:

1 - Man in hat and trenchcoat with staff

2 - Fairy

7 - Catman

8 - Flying jellyfish/forcefield

4 - Lion man (guest appearance :P)

Farming implement - Tractor)

A Death in the House

Khalid grunted in annoyance as Celestine lowered the newspaper to hand him her phone. He looked around the café which wasn't crowded this evening. He read the text message from inspector Flynn:

Something has gone down. Need to meet.

"Tell him to meet at Hackney's in an hour," he said to Celestine.

"Hackney's? Where's that?"

"It's a bar, a short walk from here. He's a policeman, he'll find it. I haven't been there in a while myself."

He returned the phone and raised the paper. Celestine lowered his paper again.

"Aren't you even curious?" She asked in between typing a reply.

"No."

She sat back in her chair and folded her arms on her chest looking at him through slanted eyes. He sighed and folded the paper, she wasn't going to let him read until they had finished the conversation.

"No, I'm not curious. There's no point in speculating about it when we'll know everything from Flynn in less than an hour anyway."

Celestine didn't respond except to unfold her hands and lean on the table.

"Look Celestine, when you've been around as long as I have, you kind of stop being curious. It's like you've seen it all," he shrugged.

"Well, we're not all like you Khalid. It's easier for you to do that, you're an immortal, and you were probably around to witness the Red Sea parting."

"I'm not that old. You've got a pretty long lifespan yourself."

"Four hundred years tops. Not even close to immortal. What is your earliest memory?"

"Don't," he raised an open palm and let out a breath, "don't go there. My earlier memories aren't really pleasant. I think we've covered this before. Let's get back to the topic."

Celestine nodded an apology, "Ok. So, Flynn. He never calls unless there's an emergency that he can't handle. He knows our area of expertise so I assume it must be a non human incident."

"Or he just wants to meet for drinks?" Khalid smiled and shrugged.

Celestine raised an eyebrow and smiled at him, "like that is ever going to happen."

"I just hope it isn't a rabid vampire again. That last one nearly tore my arm off," he subconsciously rubbed his left arm.

"I don't think so. They have a crack team for that. Besides with those ultraviolet bullets, they can handle it. I think it's a more delicate matter. Probably very very secret, possibly political." She tilted her head slightly rolling her eyes to the roof in thought.

"Political? And us? That doesn't sound good. It's gonna be like we're the last hope and I don't like that kind of pressure."

They discussed about their recent encounters with Flynn and concluded that it was definitely a delicate matter. Finally, Khalid looked up at the clock, "time to go."

Celestine stood up and stretched a little, earning appraising looks from the present patrons including Khalid. He studied her briefly, her innocent eyes were a contrast to her mischievous black hair which seemed alive somehow; the black dress hugged her form and the black stockings only added to her beauty. Her wings were folded behind her and hidden by the dress and hair.

"You coming?" She asked him.

"Huh? Yeah. Sorry."

He grabbed his hat and trench coat from the chair next to him. He pulled the hat down tight on his head and shook the trench coat vigorously before putting it on. He left the payment and a generous tip, and they left together.

Cutting through several back alleys, which Celestine wasn't very keen on, they reached the designated place with more than ten minutes to spare. Khalid looked at the old bar sign, it really was an old bar in a not very friendly part of town.

Celestine fetched a cigarette and lit it looking at Khalid, "you know that no indoor smoking bullshit. Might as well light a quick one before we head in."

"I thought you quit."

"I've cut down, now it's only one after a cup of coffee."

"You have about ten cups of coffee in a day."

"Who's counting?" Celestine laughed.

Khalid shook his head smiling and went back to looking at the bar's signboard, the establishment was much younger than him. He knew for sure that the owner, another immortal named Hackney, was older than him; he had served under Hackney in the king's army a few centuries ago. He heard Celestine grind the cigarette butt under her boot and turned around motioning for her to lead the way.

They entered the bar and Khalid had to look around for a good few minutes before he found Flynn sitting in a corner table with his back to the wall and eyes on the pair. How a seven foot well built man could make himself next to invisible was something that had always confounded them. He didn't show any signs of acquaintance. They walked to the bar counter and Hackney served them. Khalid looked at Flynn with a raised eyebrow and received a nod in response.

"Haven't seen you in a while. New look. Got a new name?" Hackney asked Khalid.

"Khalid," he replied, "Khalid Young."

"Ah. Arabic."

"Yes, Arabic for-"

"- immortal," Hackney cut in, "I know."

Khalid nodded and grabbed his and Flynn's drink and followed Celestine towards Flynn's table. They sat down without being asked and stared at Flynn who motioned for his beer. After taking a big gulp he looked at the pair closely and slipped them a picture.

"Do you know who that is?"

Khalid studied the picture, it was a catman in dress military outfit looking at a device that looked like a pocket watch, he radiated royalty and importance. But Khalid couldn't quite place him. Celestine took one look at the picture and said, "Prince Camomir of the House of Paws."

"Very good," said Flynn smiling and giving Khalid a disapproving look.

"He's the heir to the House and an influential power broker," added Celestine.

"Yes," said Flynn, "but you're mistaken when you say that he is an influential power broker. You see, he is the most influential power broker. The House of Paws has a finger in every damn pie even beyond this city, and it was all possible because Camomir played the game with a lot of patience and wisdom beyond his years."

"Right," Khalid interfered, "thank you two for the lesson on Camomile the power cat. I'm so glad this is just a social gathering with idle chit chat".

"Camomir!" Hissed Celestine, looking offended. Flynn just laughed shaking his head.

The laughter died sooner than it came and he looked at them seriously. "The reason I asked you both here is this: Prince Camomir has been found dead in his home office. There was no sign of a struggle but it is apparent that he was murdered-"

"Wait, how can you be sure?" Khalid cut in.

"There was a hole in the middle of his forehead and a bullet embedded in the wall behind him. I think that is conclusive enough. Now, for reasons that are not obvious this cannot become public. This death will be treated as a tragic accident, probably a race car collision, since they have a private race track on the estate. I want you two to poke around and see if you can figure out who was behind this. Obviously you can't question people directly; you'll have to be as discreet as possible. The political ramifications if this gets out will be enormous. I cannot do much since this cannot be official but I can provide you with covert assistance."

"Right," Celestine took a sip of her drink, "one thing that we need to clear first. The not obvious reasons, we need to know that. Khalid and I are not gonna go into this dark cave without at least a matchstick."

Flynn leaned back in his chair drinking in slow gulps. Both of them knew he was stalling but neither rushed him. He slowly sat forward and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Ok. As usual, what I tell you is strictly between us, this time even more so. Ok?"

They both nodded. He got his phone out of his pocket and typed and waited for a few seconds. At last he showed them an image. Khalid looked at the lion man sitting on a throne with a sword across his feet and an expression even more grim than his own. He shook his head.

"Denebic Zukal of the House of Mane," said Celestine.

Khalid shot her a look.

"What? You should at least browse through those gossip magazines that you say are useless," she shrugged.

"Denebic Zukal is known to be ruthless and cunning," Flynn said, "he's also a brilliant strategist and a gifted politician. Rumour has it that since his take over of the House of Mane he has played behind the scenes to undermine the House of Paws in many areas and has actually succeeded in making them lose some ground. The hatred between them, in secret of course, is tangible to any person who knows the real politics here. Any news of Camomir's murder would potentially end up in a bloody battle between the houses and it cannot be allowed. Camomir's brother, Cabedin, is the one who called me to the house in person and begged me to keep this a secret and enlist only a trustworthy and discreet person to investigate. The last time there was a battle between powerful houses it ended up destroying an entire densely populated city not to mention the houses involved."

Khalid smiled, he had stayed away from politics for too long and didn't even know the players anymore. But it wasn't anything he hadn't seen. He was sure there was far more here than a murder and a political tussle. He had been around for long enough.

"Alright Flynn, we'll see what we can do. But once we're done, you make sure the houses don't come after us because we know their secrets."

Flynn nodded.

Khalid and Celestine stood up to leave and shook hands with Flynn.

"When can we meet Cabedin?" Asked Khalid.

"Right away," answered Flynn, "come on. I'll give you a ride."

An hour later, Flynn dropped them outside a huge gate. An armed man walked up to them.

"Can I help you?"

"We're here to see Prince Cabedin," answered Celestine.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"Tell Prince Cabedin that Khalid Young and Celestine Wallace are here to see him. It is quite urgent."

"Wait here," said the man as he hurried back to the guard shack.

Khalid was looking around the place and he could count three more guards in the vicinity including a dwarf who was hiding in the bushes.

A small section of the gate swung open and the guard motioned for them to go through. There was a golf cart waiting to take them to the main house. The driver was a pleasant man who smiled at them and asked them to sit and did not speak another word until they reached the house.

Prince Cabedin was standing at the head of the stairs waiting for them, his expressionless face and rigid posture made Khalid a little uncomfortable. He shook hands with them and led them to his study where he closed the door and offered them drinks which they politely declined.

He sat heavily across from the pair and studied them briefly. Finally he let out a breath.

"Inspector Flynn is a friend of the family, he assures me that you are as discreet as they come and that you've helped him before in delicate matters."

They nodded in confirmation.

"Do you mind if I have a drink?" He asked standing up.

"It's your house Prince Cabedin," said Khalid.

"Just Cabedin, please Mr. Young," he said walking to the mini bar in the corner.

"In that case, you can call us Khalid and Celestine."

"Very well. I suppose Flynn must have told you of the cold war like situation between the houses of Paws and Mane."

"Yes, he did."

Cabedin walked towards them with a glass in hand but did not sit down.

"He must have also told you about his suspicions of Denebic Zukal. The fact is: I don't think Zukal has anything to gain with the death of my brother."

He sat down, "Zukal took immense pleasure in defeating Camomir. Zukal is an egomaniac, he's not a psychopath. In all the meetings that we've had, they have had a grudging respect for each other."

Khalid took it all in and closed his eyes for a few seconds. He knew what was happening, at least he knew of the few possible scenarios, none of them were good.

"Does anyone else know?" asked Celestine.

"As far as I know, only the most trustworthy in the house, even my ill father does not know. The remaining help have been told a race car crash story. We had one of the drivers fake the accident on the race track behind the estate and replace Camomir's body," he had tears in his eyes. "I hope you can find out who is behind this. But I don't want a stampede in this jungle. If you can't find anything, then let it be. We cannot risk a bloodbath on account of one death, even if it is my brother and the heir to the House."

"Flynn was also talking about a war. It's only two Houses, how could it be a war?" Asked Celestine.

Cabedin smiled, "well, if there was an issue between the Houses, all the affiliated Houses will get involved to get a piece of the action."

"And how many Houses are there on each side?"

"Seventy nine houses with us and about fifty five with the House of Mane, and that includes various races on both sides."

Celestine's eyes grew in amazement as she took it all in and looked at Khalid. He looked like he had heard it all before.

"Does Zukal know?" Asked Khalid.

Cabedin remained silent.

"I'll take that as a yes," Khalid repositioned himself to get a better look at Cabedin.

"Zukal called a little while back, he assured me that he had nothing to do with Camomir's murder. He is also of the opinion that it shouldn't be publicized."

Khalid stood up, "if it is ok with you, may we see Camomir's office?"

Cabedin rose from his seat and led them towards the room. They entered it cautiously as if not wanting to disturb a crime scene.

"It's quite alright," said Cabedin, "you won't be disturbing any forensic evidence. Flynn has taken all that he wanted. I've even cleaned the blood off the wall," he motioned towards the chair.

Khalid inspected the chair and found a hole in it and a hole in the wall. "Where is the bullet?"

"Flynn has it, he said he would run a ballistic test on it in secret."

Khalid kneeled down under the table and mentally filed everything he saw, "is that a panic button under the table?"

"Yes, an emergency alarm. The room is sound proof, so it is necessary."

Khalid turned around and saw a bigger picture of the same one that Flynn had showed them earlier, he took longer than necessary to study it.

"That was two years ago, when he became the heir. In his right hand is the Medal of the Heir, a priceless antique in the family that has been passed down for eleven generations."

Khalid turned to Cabedin, "we won't take up more of your time, Cabedin. We'll be in touch."

Cabedin handed Celestine a card, "that is my personal number. If you need anything at all, please call. Don't worry about the time."

Celestine tucked it in her pocket, "sure."

"Andre will drop you back to the city," said Cabedin.

An expensive black vehicle of the latest model was waiting for them at the foot of the steps to the house. They shook hands with Cabedin, "Khalid, Celestine once again I must remind you of the need for discretion. Lives are at stake."

They nodded and left in the car.

Khalid was in deep thought for the entire ride, Celestine used the time to catch up on her sleep. They thanked the driver as he dropped them off and walked up to the office.

"It's not Zukal, I'm sure," Khalid threw his hat and coat on the stand and sat at his desk.

Celestine sat on his desk, "it could be anyone from any of the Houses including the smaller supporting ones."

"Yes, but what is their motive? There has to be a motive behind this. There are only two that I can think of. One of the smaller Houses want to make themselves known, which is highly unlikely, or the scary one: someone is actually trying to start a war and destroy both houses and their supporters. A third faction is trying to enter the game."

"Hang on. Hang on. A third faction creating a war? What would they gain? You heard Flynn, it would probably destroy everything."

"Yes, but if it was a calculated move, whatever the perpetrator intended would survive," he stopped to think, "I need to know if Camomir had any visitors that night."

Celestine retrieved Cabedin's card, "should I call?"

"No. Let's ask Flynn. I'm sure he must have asked Cabedin already."

Celestine called Flynn and walked to her desk, she sat down and started taking notes. This went on for about ten minutes while Khalid pushed his chair back and put his feet back up. He tried to relax and not rush into putting things out of order in his head. He would have to wait till the phone call ended.

Finally Celestine ended the call and came back at his desk.

"Right. They had only four visitors that night. Frono Milyatur, an elf from an allied House; their cousin Nastad; Alfred Jones, the Mayor and Gareth Singer."

"The actor Gareth Singer?"

"Yeah. Cabedin recalled that the last person was Singer and that Camomir walked him to the door joking and laughing with him the whole time. That means he was alive when all of his guests left. They're also perplexed as to how an assassin could get in and leave unnoticed. I've asked Flynn to forward the crime scene photos if he had taken any. He said he only took a few pictures that he'd forward to us in a few minutes."

"It wasn't an assassin. It was a friend or an ally or someone in the house, there is no one else who could have done that and walked out of there."

"Woah! Keep that thought to yourself for now."

"There can be no other explanation. I know this sounds bad, but do you think Cabedin might be involved?"

"Cabedin? Really? I think we should be going out and investigating this thing."

"There's nothing out there and we can't ask anyone anything. This case has to be solved here," Khalid pointed to his head.

Celestine's phone rang suddenly, it was an unknown number. She frowned and answered the call in speakerphone, "Hello?"

"Miss Celestine Wallace?" A voice closer to a growl asked.

"Yes."

"Miss Wallace, my name is Denebic Zukal. Are we being overheard?"

Celestine looked at Khalid before answering, "yes, my partner is listening."

"That is good. My sources tell me that you are looking into the murder of Prince Camomir."

Celestine did not offer a reply.

"I just wanted to let you know that you have my every support in finding this killer. I know that I might be your suspect number one at the moment. But I assure you that you will find me innocent. If you need any help, call me back on this number. Or we could arrange a meeting at your convenience."

"Thank you Mr. Zukal."

"Not everyone wishes death upon their opponent, some have the utmost respect for those that are on the other side. Good night, Miss Wallace."

The call ended abruptly.

"That was weird," said Celestine. Khalid smiled back.

She stretched to full length standing on her tiptoes, "I'm gonna go to the roof and untangle my wings, I might have cramps."

After Celestine left, Khalid booted up their computer and checked the email. Flynn had sent them the five pictures. A couple of them were of the dead Camomir sitting in his chair, then one of the bullet in the wall and the other two showed the room in general. Nothing looked undisturbed. Khalid magnified the image of Camomir sitting dead at his desk. He was almost smiling with his hands on the table, there was no hint of fear on his face. There was something there that Khalid couldn't quite place.

He looked at Celestine's phone and Cabedin's card on her desk. He debated about calling the man at the time. Finally, he decided to call him, he did say that they could call at any time. He stood up and walked to the window while talking to Cabedin. When he ended the call, he came back to his seat and sat down sweating heavily.

After wiping his face he walked to the roof to find Celestine. He found her dress and boots on a chair. She was sitting facing away from him on the ledge in only her thigh high stockings. Her translucent wings were in full display. They were neither very big nor exquisite but to Khalid they were beautiful and he could never tire of looking.

"Are you peeping again?" Celestine giggled.

"Yeah," he laughed. "You don't have to keep it folded you know. You can put it out." He sat a little far from her looking down at the brightly illuminated city.

"It draws too much attention. There aren't many fairies around anymore, the plague nearly wiped us all out. The remaining ones are always hounded by one party or the other. So, no thank you, I'll keep them in."

She smiled and turned to look at him, he was still staring at the view below. Celestine could always tell when something was bothering Khalid.

"Talk to me, Khalid."

"It's all very confusing. I know I said that I've seen it all but sometimes there's a new one in the equation."

Celestine pulled her feet up a little and rested her head on her knees, "tell me what you think Khalid."

"Initially I had a suspicion on Cabedin. You know, Camomir is dead, he's next in line, the very basic simple motive of power. But after meeting him, I had to dismiss that. I had dismissed Zukal earlier on, he'd have to be stupid to pull this off. He might as well have shot himself. So now we're back to square one," he sighed.

Celestine smiled at him, "well, it's not like we have to report to Flynn tonight or anything."

"Speaking of which, what do you know about Flynn?" He asked her.

"Let's see. I know that he's half elf, half human; his father was an elf. His grandfather was a member of the Elven Council before they fought among themselves and dissolved it. He has been in service for nearly twelve years now and received a wide range of accolades especially for bringing down organized crime and introducing effective violent crime control methods. In short: a tough smart guy. Why?"

"Well, we're going to see him now. Get dressed," he stood up without looking at her and turned to walk back down.

When Celestine reached the office, Flynn had already put his hat and coat on. He walked to the far corner and retrieved his staff twisting and twirling it in his hands and over and above his shoulders and head.

"Arm yourself. It's late," he told Celestine.

She nodded and slipped on a thigh holster with her gun.

"Phone please," he asked her.

Celestine handed him the phone. He dialed Flynn's personal number and put it on speaker phone.

"Yeah?" Flynn answered right away.

"Flynn, we need to talk."

"Talk."

"In person."

There was silence for a few seconds.

"The docks, the old abandoned Walkers warehouse. That good?"

Khalid looked at Celestine, she nodded.

"Yeah, we'll see you there."

Khalid disconnected the call.

"That's a pretty creepy place," Celestine commented. "You have found out something while I was on the roof, haven't you?"

Khalid did not reply.

"What is it?"

"It's only speculation. I hope I'm wrong but we'll find out soon enough."

Celestine did not push him further, she could almost see his aura of confusion and pain? That had her confused too.

They hailed a taxi and got down a few blocks before the place. They walked the remaining distance in utmost silence. Even without her wings, Celestine could hover a few inches above the ground. When they located the warehouse, they stopped and looked at each other then shrugged and continued on their way. Very cautiously, Khalid opened the door.

"Come in. There's no one else here," they heard Flynn call out.

Khalid was still cautious and that put Celestine on alert as well. They walked close to each other. The lights came on suddenly and they found Flynn leaning on the wheel of an old tractor with an amused expression.

"What's up? What's so urgent?" He asked.

"We met Cabedin, things look a little suspicious on that end," replied Khalid, "he's adamant that Zukal isn't behind this. Then Zukal himself called up to say that he was innocent and would provide any help."

"Interesting," said Flynn, "what else?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I have a suspicion of my own."

"Wait," interrupted Flynn, "are you thinking that Zukal and Cabedin are in this together? That they planned to bump off Camomir and get Cabedin in position in exchange for some more power to the Mane?"

"That is a possibility. But that wasn't what I was thinking."

Khalid parted his legs slightly and held his staff firm in his right hand, Celestine noted this and put a foot back assuming a casual fighting stance herself.

"In the pictures that you forwarded, Camomir had his hands on the table. That makes one wonder why he'd be so relaxed if there was an assassin in the room. Obviously the killer was right in front of him if he had to shoot him straight in the forehead. Wouldn't he have at least tried to reach for the panic button? Yet his hands were on the table and his face calm even in death. Logically that means the killer is someone that Camomir knew intimately."

Flynn nodded his head slowly.

"How many visitors did Camomir have that night?" Khalid asked suddenly turning to Celestine.

"Four," she answered.

"Is that right, Flynn?" He turned to Flynn and held the man's eyes.

"That's what I told her," Flynn replied not breaking eye contact.

"I called Cabedin before I came here. Camomir had a fifth visitor late in the night, right Flynn?"

Flynn was silent.

"A friend of the family," continued Khalid.

Flynn did not break eye contact but suddenly smiled wide, "it could have been anyone."

"Not anyone."

Flynn broke eye contact and leaned back on the tractor, "clever, Khalid. I shouldn't have underestimated you. You've never shown any interest in politics. I thought you might not be very interested in uncovering this murder and referee a political wrestling."

"Things that don't add up bother me," he shrugged, "why Flynn? What did you hope to achieve?"

"What did I hope to achieve?" Flynn's voice rose, "WHAT DID I HOPE TO ACHIEVE? Have you seen those arrogant Houses? Do you know what the House of Paws has done? They made the Elvin Council fight among themselves and destroyed the elf's power base. The only threat to their power was pushed to implode with cunning and ruthless precision. Camomir reduced the hundred member Elvin Council to a mere twenty one Houses governed by his laws. The ones that did not bow to the House of Paws were forced to join the other power, the House of Mane. The elves reduced to nothing but pawns and soldiers. I hoped, my dear Khalid, to destroy these houses and restore the balance."

"You're the one who wants it kept a secret."

"It won't be a secret for long. In a week's time, the rumours will start. In a month, there will be confirmed reports. A few weeks after that, war," there was a rare twinkle in Flynn's eyes.

"You're insane! So many innocents will die," Celestine interjected.

"Collateral damage. Every war has them."

"You can't get away Flynn. The Houses will know," Khalid said.

"Only if you leave here."

Flynn backflipped to the roof of the tractor and said some spells in Elven while pointing at them. Jellyfish like creatures appeared at the windows of the warehouse and broke in screaming like banshees and flying towards the pair.

Celestine invoked her magic and created a forcefield around them to keep the creatures at bay. They kept crashing into the forcefield trying to weaken her. The screams disturbed her concentration and one tried to pierce through, only to be smacked to dust by Khalid's staff.

"Give up! My will will be done!" Flynn shouted.

"Never!" Celestine shouted and in a fit of anger projected the forcefield outward disintegrating the creatures and throwing Flynn of the roof of the tractor. They heard a grunt from behind the tractor and then saw Flynn flip it straight at them. Celestine managed to create another forcefield just in time which was barely enough to keep them safe from the explosion as the tractor hit the forcefield. The warehouse walls blew outward in all directions and the roof collapsed bringing the entire structure on top of them. Celestine almost collapsed from the mental exertion of deflecting the debris. Khalid helped her stand up and they checked for Flynn in the rubble. They could not find him.

"Bastard got away," Khalid uttered a few choice expletives in forgotten ancient languages.

"Come on Khalid, let's get out of here."

They half ran a few blocks away and quietly ducked into a late night café while police cars and bomb squad vehicles rushed to the sight of the explosion, a couple of fire trucks and ambulances also followed.

"Do you think the war will happen?" Celestine asked.

"I am not sure. It will depend on if we can convince the Houses of Flynn's treachery. We don't have any evidence. I don't know how our word will hold up."

"I hope a mobile phone recording will do," Celestine held up her phone, "when I saw you tense up even after Flynn identified himself, I assumed that there was something wrong. So I switched the audio recording on in case there might be something."

She played the recording in a very low volume and they could hear the entire conversation.

"It won't stand up in court, but we don't need to convince any judge or jury. The sound is Flynn's alright," commented Khalid. "You're a clever one," he beamed at her sipping his coffee.

"Looks like there are some tricks an immortal can learn from us mere mortals," she laughed.

"Mere mortals," Khalid mused, "you are a dangerous one." He leaned and grabbed the newspaper from the next table making Celestine sigh and shake her head smiling.