by Tao Wong
Mud. Name.
“Clear? How is it clear?” I growled by the time I caught up.
Caleb didn’t bother to answer my question. “Your Mana is low. You’ll need to rest. We will cancel today’s training. But you should be careful from now on.”
“No. Really? I should be careful about doppelgangers sticking knives in my stomach?” I snorted.
Caleb just turned aside when we neared his apartment, leaving me to walk the rest of the way back alone. Alone, grumpy, and just a little worried.
Chapter 2
By the time I got back to my apartment, I’d calmed down enough to realize that I’d never asked a lot of the questions I should have. Among other things—who sent the doppelganger? While I knew that my reluctant guardians had been hard at work keeping me safe, I hadn’t realized the level of enmity I had gained. However, someone sticking a knife in my chest was a rather pointed reminder that being ignorant might not be the safest option.
On top of that, there was someone else I really needed to have a word with.
By the time I opened my door, I was fuming a little. The front door slammed before I stomped up to the living room to see the placid gaze of my jinn—my real guardian, my friend.
“How come you didn’t warn me?” I snapped.
“Warn you? Was I supposed to do that?” Lily said innocently.
“Lily.” I point at my chest. “Stabbed!”
“I know,” Lily said, her face sobering. She turned toward me, almond eyes fixing on my own mud-puddle-brown eyes, and offered me a sad smile. “I know. But I’m bound by the rules I set up as much as you are. I couldn’t tell you, because he was an appropriate threat. He didn’t have a gun. He didn’t have a magical weapon. Just a knife.”
“Which nearly went into my heart,” I snapped.
Seeing Lily flinch made my anger cool, her words reminding me once again that the jinn was bound by the magic of the ring. She could twist and turn, prod and edge the rules a little, but in the end, she was still caught. I flopped onto the couch and traced the new scar through my shirt.
“I know. I’m sorry…” Lily drew a deep breath. “I wanted to. But I couldn’t. Can’t. You have to be careful, have to watch out for threats of your level.”
Something in the way she said it, the way she wouldn’t look at me, made me sit up. “Lily—”
“I can’t say any more,” Lily said. “But you’re in the inn.”
Silence filled the room, only broken by the hum of the taxed laptop fans. In the corner of my gaze, I noted her character being PKed, left unattended in a hostile zone. That Lily didn’t notice was perhaps the biggest clue as to how disturbed she was.
I finally broke the tension by leaning forward and turning on the TV screen. “So. You know, Ascend Online 3 dropped last week. I never did get around to playing it…”
Lily perked up, eyes glowing with enthusiasm. “Oooh! I wonder if they’ve fixed that long travel time bug yet. Everyone complained about it in the previous edition…”
***
That was how Alexa found us later in the day, when she made it down. Ever since she’d lost her income as an Initiate, Alexa had had to find interesting and novel jobs. Since the majority of her skill set involved killing supernaturals, her first year had been tumultuous. That changed when she received a job offer at Atlantis, the hottest nightclub in town. She worked the VVIP section there, keeping the various supernatural denizens in check.
Alexa barely gave us a glance before she performed her afternoon ritual of bacon and lettuce sandwiches, coffee, stretches, and more coffee. When she flopped into a nearby chair, she only shot the game a quick glance.
“Why is there a bag full of bloody clothing left to rot?” Alexa’s tone was less worried guardian and more weary roommate. “We talked about how blood sets if it’s not soaked.”
“I think that shirt’s a goner,” I said. “What with the stab hole. I can’t keep using shirts that you’ve sewed together and having people give me that look.”
“What look?”
“The one that wonders why your shirt has a suspicious-looking sewed hole where your heart should be.”
“Heart?” Alexa sat up, brows drawing together. “This… Spill. Now.”
I sighed, hitting the pause button—to Lily’s disapproval—and turned toward Alexa to explain my most recent near-death experience. The ex-Initiate was a good listener, only interrupting twice to clarify certain points.
“Both Lily and Caleb warned you to take extra care?” Alexa confirmed. She waited long enough for me to nod before she drained her cup of coffee and walked upstairs without another word.
“Alexa?” I called after her uncertainly.
“Leave it. She’ll be back,” Lily said. “Can we at least finish this quest?”
“I don’t think so,” I said as thumps and smacks drifted downstairs.
“Bah!” Lily sighed but saved the game before crossing her arms unhappily. A moment later, she let out a yelp of surprise when she spotted her still-open laptops. “When did I die!”
In short order, Alexa came back down with a series of folders. She dropped them on the coffee table before leaving to get even more. Curiosity made me browse the carefully labeled folders, only to shiver as I read them. The Illuminati, the Mage Council, the Knight Templars, the Druidic Order, and even the Council of Shadows and Dark Races were there. Every major power I could name had their own folder, some thicker than others.
“What is all this?” I said as I picked up the folder for the Mage Council.
Personnel files of familiar faces greeted me, each file offering a detailed chart and had at least one, if not more, pictures attached. Surprisingly, the files even listed their game data. Or perhaps, as I considered the information, it shouldn’t be such a surprise. After all, Lily’s game data was a good, if rough, estimate of threat level.
“Everyone and everything that has taken interest in you.” Alexa said, tapping the files. “At least the ones I know of. Some are, well, a bit more circumspect.” To underline that, she prodded a rather thick folder that just said “miscellaneous.”
“You’ve been keeping track of all this?” I said, my eyes widening in disbelief. “But why?”
“I am your friend, you know. Also, I like to know who might want to blow up the house I’m living in,” Alexa said. “Now, you said it was a doppelganger?” I nodded dumbly and Alexa frowned, staring at the pile. “Let’s split them then.”
“By?”
“Ability, then likelihood of using them.”
I groaned but chose to not complain, taking my stack of the pile. In truth, it didn’t take long for us to separate the various groups, with some—like the Mage Council—having the ability but not motivation while others—like the Templars—having no ability or motivation. In short order, we had a small pile of likely suspects.
“The Council for Pagan Religions,” I said, running my finger over the folder. I noted the numerous smaller file folders contained within it. Among them, the Druids. “Tell me again about them?”
Lily looked at Alexa, who spoke while she headed over to the coffee pot. “A more recent invention. Until the sixties or so, the various pagan religions and magic groups worked individually. But the hippie movement brought a surge of interest. Rather than stand aside and potentially miss new recruits, especially considering how small the groups had grown, the Council formed. It has representatives from everything from the Druids to wiccans to Native American shamans.”
“Wasn’t there something about how the Mage Council and some of the other groups tried to suppress the Council members?” I said.
“Yeah. The beatings, Canada’s residential schools for the First Nations, all of that was because the other powers were pulling strings.” Alexa made a face. “Not that a lot of strings needed pulling…”
I grunted in understanding. While the amount of influence supernatural groups had on the governments of the world
was not insignificant, most government policy was a matter of shared interest than a single power—or powers—calling the shot. In most cases, a supernatural group would work a bunch of human special interest groups to have policies come through. The problem with influencing entire nations was that you were dealing with hundreds, millions of people. And if you’d ever tried to organize a large dinner party, you’d know just getting people to agree on pizza or nachos can be difficult.
“So the Druids are their frontrunners for watching over me, but why do you have them in the ‘potential’ pile?” I said.
“I really wish you’d kept a sample of the doppelganger,” Alexa said, shaking her head. “Without one, it’s impossible to narrow down what it was you saw. Was it a fetch? A demonic construct using a physical change? A shui gui that took Shane’s body?”
“Probably not the last,” I said. “The shui gui inhabit the corpse. So it wouldn’t have changed.”
Alexa inclined her head in acknowledgement before continuing. “It could even be a Changeling.”
“He was kind of ugly for a fae.”
“Not all fae are pretty,” Alexa said. “In fact, many aren’t and just cover it up with glamour.”
“So what you’re saying is, because the Druids and the Council have access to these other supernaturals—either from their business or membership—they’re on the list?” I said.
“Exactly.” Alexa shrugged. “Low though. I’m more inclined to suspect the groups that haven’t put someone to act as your guardian.”
“Like your employers, the Dark Court.”
Also known as the Council of Shadows and Dark Races. Among their many members were vampires, werewolves, naga, ogbanje, and aswang. The Council basically accepted any race or group that was inclined to “feed” on humanity and other supernaturals. Because of their liberal acceptance policy, they’d gained a rather bad reputation overall; even if they strove to police their own.
“Not the Council itself,” Alexa said. “They voted already on the ring and weren’t able to gain the majority they needed.”
“Majority for what?”
“Anything,” Alexa said, shaking her head with amusement. “A majority is required for any action. They voted to try to take the ring by force, to act as guardians, to watch you, to assassinate you, to bargain with you”—the blonde counted each thing off with her finger—“I think that’s it. Anyway, there’s a vote every month and nothing has come of it.”
“So you’re saying some of them might want to kill me,” I said. “And they obviously would have the contacts.”
Alexa nodded. “Which is why we should probably talk to them.”
“Great.” I shake my head. “Can we do it before the club opens?”
Alexa flashed me a sympathetic smile, knowing how much I hated those noisy, sweaty, alcohol-filled hellholes. Not that it had stopped me from trying them once or twice in a vain hope of getting laid. Of course, my expeditions had all ended in failure and an empty wallet. I’d admit that was probably as much a failure of my technique as anything else, but the added layer of danger from a supernatural hotspot did nothing for my desire to visit Atlantis again.
“Right. So we visit the Dark Court and ask questions. Who else do we have?” I said, turning my thoughts away from those depressing memories. And my rather long dry spell. Look, try living with two gorgeous women for two years while getting burnt, stabbed, and bitten regularly and you’ll realize how morose a man can get.
“Well, because Lily gets banished if you die, we can ignore the majority of the dark cults,” Alexa said, pointing at the second and rather large pile of individuals with the ability but not necessarily the motivation. After all, long-term planning wasn’t their mainstay, and the desire to own the ring was their greatest motivation. “We’re mostly looking at people who don’t want Lily free. Or in the hands of Mage Council or one of the others.”
Lily, glancing up from her computers, made a face, showing her distaste at the thought of falling into one of those group’s hands again. I nodded.
“Which leaves us with… the Odd Fellows, the Alfar, the Kaaba, the Nine Unknown Men, the White Lotus and Blue Shirts…” Alexa read down the list.
I winced with each new name. Some I only knew from reputation—secret societies like the Nine Unknown Men—while others were powerful immortal groups. In a few cases, the names were individuals who had gained so much power—like Annanasi—that they warranted their own folder.
“You know, when you say it like that, it seems like more people want me dead than alive,” I muttered.
“Oh, they all want you dead. Just when,” Alexa said, frustration evident as we rehashed an old argument.
“Yeah, but not right now. This sounds like most people want me dead,” I said.
“There’s only one ring. And thus only one owner,” Alexa said. “One winner. A lot of losers. And while most people who owned Lily were content to just use her for personal gain, now?” A shake of her head. “Now people understand how much she can do. And fear what she will be forced to do.”
“I’m not that powerful. I mean, Lou and Mer would counteract major changes,” Lily muttered.
“You’re not helping your case by name-dropping them.” Alexa drew a deep breath, probably pushing aside her irritation. “I’ve told you before, Henry, that ring is a weapon, one that no one is going to be happy is being used. The fact that you have a single wish left unnerves a lot of people.”
“And also safeguards him,” Lily interrupted.
“And protects you. But if they can remove the ring from play, they will.” Alexa stabbed a finger at me. “Just because you want to ignore the problem doesn’t mean it’s going away.”
“And what can worrying about it change?” I snap at the blonde, crossing my arms. “You think I don’t know people want me dead? That once I hit Level 100, when the wish is over, I’ll be forced to fight a battle royale? But what can I do? I can’t give Lily away. I’m not going to let her be traded around, used, or stored away because people are too scared. I can’t train too hard, because that’ll raise my level. I can’t get new equipment, because they’ll know what I’m getting. All I can do is wait.”
“You could spend some time learning about your opponents.” Alexa stabbed the documents. “You could pay attention.”
I growled, shaking my head. Even if I did, how confident was she of the veracity of her information? And, even if I wasn’t studying her books, I was certainly learning at my various assignments. But even as I did, did it matter? Many of these organizations were hundreds of members large. The people they sent weren’t going to be the ones we knew. When they came, they’d have the information and tempo advantage. “It’s not enough. It’ll never be enough.”
Alexa opened her mouth to protest, only to be interrupted by the beeping of a watch. We both looked at the watch Lily was shutting.
“And you’re done. You’ve been at it for three minutes.”
Alexa pursed her lips, staring at the watch before letting out a huff and ending the argument. I offered Lily a smile of gratitude, only to receive a worried look in return. Even if Lily, playing mediator had given us our time out, it was not an argument that was going away. It’d gotten so bad that we had ended up with this compromise tactic to vent. But… In the end, I found myself looking away from her too.
Maybe I was avoiding the topic because I didn’t want to think about my death. But no matter how many times we argued, neither Alexa nor Lily had offered a better solution. If there was one that didn’t involve magically wishing away our enemies, we hadn’t come across it.
***
After everyone had calmed down, we returned to our conversation about those who might want me dead. The problem was, the list was extremely long and our actual facts were extremely short. Without the corpse and the results of any analysis, we could only work from the most basic of descriptions. And unfortunately, that description fit a wide variety of cre
atures.
A good two hours later, we’d gone through every document and website we could find and narrowed the list down to a half dozen types. None of which were supposed to have any real presence in the city. But globalization had brought about a large number of good and ills, including the globalization of supernatural assassins. No longer did you need to rely on the untalented and limited pool of killers and thugs in your locality. Now, with an appropriate posting or contacts, you too could hire an international assassin.
Yay.
“We’re getting nowhere,” I said, pushing aside my laptop. “Unless we can get the body, this is a fool’s errand. And even if we did figure out who it was, it doesn’t bring us any closer to who hired him.”
“So what do you want to do?” Alexa said, slipping a bookmark into the book she was reading before closing it.
“We go talk to your bosses.” At Alexa’s grimace, I pushed on. “A good portion of our potentials are part of the Council. If someone came in, they should know. Or at least, be able to find out.”
“I don’t know…”
“I do,” I said. “They aren’t our only clue, but they are our best bet. Let’s go.”
Rather than wait for Alexa to respond, I strode up the stairs, grabbing my bag on the way. Upstairs, I threw in a new ziplocked bag of extra clothing, a traveling first aid kit, and looked around before deciding on grabbing my latest experiment. Puzzle ward blocks. See, wards needed two different things: the actual carved wards themselves and the power to charge them. The best option was to charge and carve the wards at the same time, to imbue the wards with the powers you needed. In fact, for the vast majority of mages, that was the only way they knew how to do it.
I wasn’t the vast majority of mages.
Lily had dumped a ton of information into my brain, and after some initial teasing of the spell forms in my mind, I’d realized that many of those forms, especially when linked to a ward, were independently functional. That meant that I could, as I’d done, carve individual wards—the code of a spell—independent of purpose and power. They were just simple blocks, but if put together in the correct sequence, they created a new ward spell.