by T D Raufson
He twisted his upper body as far as he could and leaned back to see what was behind him. The dais was sitting on a rocky ledge that led back to an opening in the wall of the mountain. He could not see beyond the opening, but it appeared that the ledge was accessible somehow or his observers would not have been able to reach him. He relaxed his torso and looked at his staff again. His fingers were tingling, and he could feel the metal and wood beneath them. He could command the staff, but it could not help him quite yet.
There was no magic infused in the staff that could speed up his transformation. The spell would have to follow its own course, but he wanted to know if the staff’s magic still worked. In his mind, he formed the trigger word for the staff’s power and called on something simple. A ball of intense light appeared a hand’s width above the gem. It would appear that he was not completely unarmed or unprepared, he realized with a reassuring laugh, dismissing the orb of light with a mere thought.
For the first time, he wondered how many sunrises he had stood on this peak as a stone guardian. There was no easy way for him to tell, yet everything around him seemed to testify that it had been a very long time.
The rays of the sun had reached his waist. He could feel his cloak and shirt brush and move against his skin as they began to relax over his back. This last revelation verified that his backpack was missing, which meant that not even his traveling spell book was with him. This was disappointing. His fractured memory could not be trusted; the spells he normally had at his disposal were gone. He could only rely on his tools and the simple spells he could never forget.
He continued his inventory. He did have his travelling bag slung across his chest. Some of his preferred potions and elixirs rested on the strap that secured it to him. Items he never traveled without were in the bag. His favorite wand rested in a slot along the strap that crossed his chest and his rod seemed to be tucked into one of the long pockets of his cloak. He had not traveled here on his own. Someone, the dragons perhaps, had moved him to this location, but he had what he needed to get back to his keep.
The staff was still stuck to the stone base next to his foot, glued in place until it too could be graced by the sun’s seeking rays. A single, powerful trigger word was all that was needed to send magic flowing through the staff again to shroud his still vulnerable form in a clear dome of protection. With the shield in place, he released the powerful wood to focus on other matters.
“Now, let’s look around.” Both hands were now free, so he pulled a small metal sphere from his travelling bag. Chanting at the sphere, he tossed it into the air above him. It climbed away from him in a straight line, faster than his toss could have propelled it.
Eyes closed so that he could see what the orb was showing him, he ignored the concentration-crushing tingling in his legs as the sun continued releasing the rest of his body. In his forcefully focused mind, an image formed of his perch from above. He was the small dot on the edge of a lower peak of the mountain. A trace vanished into the mountains behind him. When the sphere stopped its climb and hovered, he turned his head, directing the orb to twist and show him another view. On the edge of the sphere’s vision, he found the signs of life he was looking for. The couple was walking quickly away from him, following the trace down the mountain. They were dressed in jester’s attire and carried oddly shaped parcels on their back. The woman was still leading.
Beyond them, he could see what looked like buildings on the edges of the curved orb’s image. It was a village. Someone there would be able to help him. Breaking the connection by opening his eyes, he released the orb from its orbit. The sphere dropped into his hand, and he slipped it back into his bag.
As the sun reached his feet, he flexed his knees and gingerly tested them to see how well they would perform on the walk out from his perch. His cloak billowed around him in the breeze, which he inhaled deeply into his lungs. The air, coated with the foul smell of dragons, agitated him. They had obviously extended their rule over the entire world, as they had wanted. Once they had figured out how to trap him and stop the Arcane Brotherhood, they had been free to do whatever they wanted. He should have known better than to try to deceive them. Lesson learned. That made his next step simple; he had to destroy them completely before they undid everything he had achieved. Renard again flexed his long frozen muscles, grabbed his staff as the sun released it from the stone and kicked snow off his boots. Turning away from the overlook he had watched for far too long, he faced the trace behind him. Down that path, he would find answers and his way back to his keep. Something he had wrested from the grasp of the knight guarding his memories told him what he wanted was still waiting for him there. Once he had it back in his hands, he could finally end his fateful dance with the dragons.
June 21 – 0750 CEST – Munich, Germany.
Rebekka was ready for her day, and this was going to be her day. In her mind, it had been a long time coming from her last year in college three years before, but it was finally here. She had used her skills, her wiles and a little bit of her grandmother’s magic to earn this position, and nothing was going to stop her, not even the whispering simps she chose to ignore. Who cared if the slow movers around her said she slept her way to the top? What did that matter? She would still be on top. The fabric of reality would have to change to keep this from being her day.
Stepping out of the elevator, she walked past the receptionist who grinned and waved at her like the child she was. Rebekka returned the salutation; no reason to burn a bridge before the announcement. After the announcement, she wouldn’t care what half the women in the office thought, and the other half only mattered because they were still above her. Things were changing, and Rebekka had to remember who had helped her get where she was and who had stood in her way. A wink and a thumbs¬ up punctuated the childish ritual. Rebekka wanted to be somewhere else. To avoid any further conversation, she ducked into the bathroom just beyond the receptionist’s desk.
Inside the door, she paused to remind herself that tomorrow those international executives the young receptionist had been signing in would be Rebekka’s clients. This was the last day of bouncing from project to project and helping overpaid accountants look good. All she had to do was keep Jaeger focused and everything on track.
She looked up and down the plum business suit and preened. She adjusted a few things, checked the white camisole for makeup, fluffed the blonde hair a bit and then stared herself in the eyes. She voiced the words her grandmother had both taught her and warned her about on her sixteenth birthday. At that point in her life, the words had helped her get through taunting and jests at school. Since then they had become a reliable tool whenever she needed a little extra confidence. The familiar tingle of assurance she felt from the spell straightened her spine.
Spell cast.
Appearance checked.
She turned to leave the bathroom, ready for whatever was beyond the door.
As her hand reached for the door, it sprang open. Gertrude, her friend from college and member of her mother’s coven, stumbled through the opening and paused when their paths merged.
“Guten Tag, Gert,” she said, just a little agitated that her friend couldn’t look up from her own feet as she walked.
They had been friends for years. Rebekka had tried to help her stand up and take her place at the company, like she was helping the young receptionist, but Gertrude was weaker.
The glow of immediate recognition started to fill her friend’s face as she looked up from the floor. The normal smile she always had for her coven sister began to form until their eyes met and a cloud descended over Gertrude’s features. Her eyes sparked and became angry. Her fists clinched at her side, and she stood up for the first time in years. Neither moved. Rebekka braced for a slap that she was sure was coming.
Gertrude walked around her, as if she were a pole in her way and slammed a stall door. Rebekka didn’t move as she recovered from the encounter. Although her friend had not slapped her, she was still reeling
from it as if she had. What had she done to offend Gertrude? She hadn’t, recently, stolen any men from her, that Gertrude knew of. From the stall, Gertrude mumbled something under her breath that Rebekka chose to believe she had misheard. There was no way her friend would have called her that.
Glancing at her watch, Rebekka decided to leave this problem where it was for now. As soon as the promotion was announced, she could tell Gertrude about her new job, and that would smooth over whatever she was angry about. At this moment she needed to be in Jaeger’s office.
He didn’t know he had a meeting with her this morning, but she intended to see him before he went to the meeting. He was going to let her present her plan today, and too many things could derail him. She had to shore up his resolve, and that might take a few private minutes in his office. She turned around just in time to confront the angry face of another woman entering the doorway. She snuck through the doorway without too much difficulty to nearly be run down by Jaeger‘s boss’ wife. She stepped aside to avoid the imminent crash as the woman stiffened and rolled her shoulder down to drive it into her.
“Watch where you’re walking, whore,” the passer-by said more loudly than an office would allow.
Standing against the wall where the woman had forced her, Rebekka watched her walk away. She shook her head and looked down the hall. Had she forgotten the full moon? What was up today? Too much to do to worry about one angry woman, but that was weird. Jaeger had introduced them a few weeks before at a spring party when a new client had been secured. She had really liked Rebekka then, which made the encounter even more odd. They had talked for most of the party. She could not afford to have the boss’ wife angry with her. Rebekka was all too aware of how much power the boss’ wife wielded. That problem would have to be fixed, just not today.
She relaxed against the wall to regain her composure for a count of ten before deciding to go on. When she was confident there was nothing she could do about the situation, she pushed off the wall and focused on the door across the no-man’s-land of cubicles.
She was glad she had cast that spell, otherwise she would be feeling overwhelmed already. On particularly difficult days, it bolstered her spirits so she could make it through. Today, she was going to need a maximum dose. All it did was polish her aura a bit and increase her allure. Past results had been mixed, but she liked the way it made her feel, so she used it whenever she needed a boost. As she walked across the floor toward Jaeger‘s office she wondered if, for the first time, her grandmother’s warning about the spell had come true. According to the legend, the spell had the opposite effect on the same-sex observers of the caster. She discarded the random negative thought as she approached Jaeger‘s door. He would be glad to see her.
With the safety of Jaeger‘s door in sight, Rebekka started to feel like she could relax, when Wilhelm approached her like a sergeant major. He was a very Catholic, very married, man who worked with Jaeger . He had told her more than once that she needed to find God. As a joke, she had written a little hex for him last Halloween and stuck it in his desk drawer. It was supposed to make him a little more amorous toward his wife and maybe get him off her back. She had forgotten all about it until he stepped in front of her as she reached for the doorknob. The look of devotion and love in his eyes frightened her.
“Fulfill my greatest dreams and come away with me. I have a little time coming. We can go to the coast and explore each other.” His hand was on hers before she could pull away. He looked into her eyes and the total submission made her shiver.
“Wilhelm, you’re married. That would break several of your commandments. Think about what you’re saying.” She smiled at him as if she was continuing his joke and reached past him for the door.
The spirit in his eyes drained from his face, and he suddenly looked all of his sixty years. Taking the opportunity, she opened the door and continued into the room, closing the barrier behind her. She leaned against the door as if it were a bulkhead between her and the wild beasts. What a strange beginning for her day.
“What’s wrong, Bekka?” Jaeger looked at her from over the top of his newspaper. He smiled his familiar smile, and she relaxed in it. She was safe here.
“Nothing.” She shook off the morning’s odd events and returned his smile. No time for trivialities, she had to possess this day. He set the paper aside. “I just wanted to check with you and make sure everything was still set.”
He stood from the desk and approached her. He placed his hand on her face. The sign of affection had been reserved for private moments so it surprised her a little, but she leaned into his caress and smiled up at him. She couldn’t afford to lose him now. Tomorrow, who cared, but today she had to maintain his interest.
As if on cue, the phone on his desk demanded his attention. He ignored it and leaned in to kiss her, but the incessant ring would not go away. Grudgingly, he released her with a growl before their lips could meet. He spun the base around and read the display to see who it was. Guilt and concern replaced passion on his face.
“What does he want?” He lifted the receiver before she could read the name. “Yes, sir?”
It was their boss. She knew by the way he said sir. It was not abnormal for the boss to call, but Jaeger was acting as if he had been caught doing something bad. Rebekka grinned at the realization of what he was feeling guilty about and watched her rather uncomfortable lover.
“I understand. Yes, sir. I’ll make sure of it. Today?”
Jaeger refused to look at her, and an odd feeling filled her gut. She put on her most alluring smile and cleared her throat.
Jaeger looked up at her, grinned a guiltier smile and raised a finger for her to wait before looking back at the blotter on his desk.
“Are you sure that’s a wise choice, sir?”
The question seemed to cost him all of the energy in his body. His shoulders slumped as the answer came across the wire. He looked up at her, and his eyes showed the conflict in his mind.
“I see. Yes. Of course. I’ll let you know when it’s done. Yes, of course.”
He hung up the receiver and looked at her again. This time he looked like an animal that had just lost a fight with the alpha male. If he’d had a tail it would have been between his legs. He picked up the receiver and dialed another number. She watched the numbers and realized he was on the phone with personnel. He was calling the “Axe Man.”
“You’re busy, and I need to get to my desk.” She tried to extract herself from the office. It was bad for her to be witnessing these events. Someone was about to be fired.
“No, wait. Have a seat. I need to talk to you.” The look in his eyes had changed from desire to distress. He seemed to be begging her to stay while wishing she were in a different country. Rebekka felt a cold chill run up her spine.
What was going on?
What was happening to her day?
What had happened to her plan?
This man was supposed to be her hope for a future, and now he was acting like her executioner. No one knew about their relationship. No one knew how she had used him. Jaeger hung up the phone, and her mind returned to the office where her future was being decided.
“Rebekka,” he said and sat down in his chair.
He shifted papers on his desk as if he was looking at something.
“There have been some complaints. I was going to talk to you about them, but they’ve gone too far. There is nothing I can do.”
What?
Anger filled her mind. She wanted to melt her lover into his seat, but she couldn’t remember the long and mostly useless incantation. So, this was the way they were going to do it. She smiled her most innocent smile, and his face seemed to shudder. He was not happy with this, but he was doing it. She hoped his guts would boil as he struggled with his cross-purposes.
“It seems that several people have complained. The company is going to have to separate you.”
“What?” This time she said it. She had expected a warning. She would not
get that promotion, and she would have to start over with someone else; but she never expected to lose her job. “How can you do that? There’ve been no warnings. My record here is clean. I have rights. What is this all about?”
“The complaints are quite serious, and we would rather not draw this out. We’ll mail you your check. You will be paid until the end of next month, but you cannot come back here.”
There was a knock at the door as if cued by his words, and two security guards stepped into the room.
Really, they even sent in security. What was she going to do, fight for her job?
“I’m going to need for you to go with these men.”
She looked back at them and wanted to hurt them. She wanted to pay them all back for what they were doing. There were no complaints. When she woke that morning, everything had been in line for her to start a new life; the life she had built for herself over the past three years. She cocked her head to the right and looked at the door. It looked like she was going to start a new life, just not the one she had planned. She grinned at the two men and whispered the secret words she often played with when someone made her very angry. The little spell she had learned as a child from one of her mother’s books had a nasty little ring when repeated aloud, and it took a few seconds to get the whole chain out. She had forgotten what the book said it did because it had never done anything but make her feel better. She loved the way it sounded as she spoke the last few words into the air of the small office. As usual, with a wicked flourish of her hands, she pointed at the two men as the book had said to. Unlike the other times she had cast the spell, this time she felt some of her anger rush from her gut to her hands and exit her fingertips. Her targets’ eyes grew incredibly wide as blue, fiery bolts leapt from her fingers and struck them both in the chest. The force of the bolts threw both men back through the door. The frame, the glass windows on either side of it and the door shattered and fell back onto the nearest desk as each man created a hole in the wall. The cracking of bone accompanied the sound of each man striking the desks and rubble. Office drones rushed away from the crashing glass wall and stood off to the side of the now disturbed work area. The security officers lay in the rubble rolling on the floor. They were patting at the blue flames that were burning their uniforms with limbs that were not broken and groaning at the pain. Rebekka stared for a moment at what she had done and didn’t move. That had never happened before. What would have happened if she had released all of her anger into the little curse? They were alive but not getting up from where they had landed.