by W A Rowland
“I honestly should have guessed. It fits with the rest of what we know about your power set, Liam. Especially knowing you can affect other demis’ core stones as well, it only makes sense that your guide can communicate with other guides as well and do I even need to say that it’s impossible? Actually, I’m just going to stop using that word, because apparently it doesn’t count anymore,” Bast said grumpily.
“Ok, so Agony and Sadism. She has some kind of Precog ability, and ancient mythology said she could call to men to do her bidding with only a glance, so probably some kind of hypnotism or pheromone seduction. I’d assume it has a limited range since she didn’t seem to get you with it,” Bast said, thinking out loud. “And you didn’t see Black use any abilities?” she asked again.
Liam thought hard and asked Lily if she remembered anything as well. The sound of Jessica screaming and her paralyzed body on the floor flashed in Liam’s mind.
“I’m not sure, but I think one of them can paralyze people. There was a girl in the office that they’d lured there. I only got a glimpse afterwards, but she screamed and it looked like she had been hit with a taser. She was conscious, but not moving” Liam remembered, seeing Jessica’s eyes pleading with him before she passed out.
“Were they in close proximity to her when it happened?” Thea asked.
“Yeah, they were in an office,” Liam said.
“Probably touch based then, neural overload, or something like that,” Thea responded.
Bast nodded. “That profile fits Algos to a T. But, how’d he and Anahita connect?” She said looking at Thea who got a grave look on her face.
“Who?” Michael asked.
“Oh! I know this one!” Kat said excitedly, then realized she was hopping up and down and stopped herself. “I remember from a history course I took in college, Algos was the Greek god of pain. His name became the Greek word of any kind of physical or mental suffering,” she said quickly to the surprised looks.
“Didn’t you go to school for Pre-law?” Rich asked skeptically.
“I had electives!” Kat defended.
“Kat is right. He’s probably going by a different name these days, but the guide and ability fit Algos, so we’re going under that assumption for now. I think I know what they’re after now,” Bast said ominously.
SECRETS AND SEPULCRES
Bast led the group into her room to a large screen inset into a side wall where she had a laptop plugged in. She poked a few keys and opened a file showing a map of the world, except there seemed to be extra landmasses off coasts and a new subcontinent.
“What is this?” Liam asked.
“This is a map of the world, just updated from what you know.”
“Bast, there’s an extra continent in the Pacific. That’s a bit more than an update,” he pointed out.
“You never wondered where Atlantis was?” Thea said chuckling.
“Atlantis?” he questioned ineffectually.
“Not the point, you can update your geography knowledge later,” Bast said, zooming in on the North American continent. There were many pins dropped with notes and lines drawn between them.
“These are anchor points. Mythology and fantasy authors like to call them ley lines or places of power or some other nonsense, but what they are is anchors between the planes. Demis, throughout the eons, have located and mapped hundreds, but there are several major anchor points. This map is the shared knowledge of the five major demi enclaves of the world of all of the major and minor anchor points that have been found,” Bast said explaining the small red circles scattered across North America.
“So what does this have to do with Black and the Association?” Steven asked.
Liam concluded that this was not given as common knowledge and Bast’s next sentence explained why.
“As connecting points, these places can act as a focus for a demi’s power, essentially allowing them to supercharge their abilities. The minor points can give a boost that might let a demi win a fight they otherwise may have lost, and usually only last as long as the demi is in the local area of the anchor point. A stimulant really, for our power,” she explained.
“The major points though, can boost a demi’s powers so much that they can theoretically affect the whole of the planet from that one location. Can you imagine, if Sarah could read the mind of every person on the planet at once? Or if Steven could push healing energy out to the population of a continent?” she said gesturing to the two demis as she spoke.
“The amount of power that the major points can give is dangerous for both the world and the demi. The few demis I heard of who tried to control that kind of power went insane almost instantly just from the sheer amount of astral energy that was being channeled through them,” she said.
“Luckily, back even before my time, several extremely powerful demis saw the threat of this kind of power being available to any demi or graven who happened to find it and devised a locking system over the major anchor points. Then they built monuments over the points with very specific, intricate requirements in order to access the points. One of them was Ra, from ancient Egypt, my father,” Bast stated.
The group was engrossed in her story and Liam was again reminded of just how long Bast had been around.
“As one might assume, the pyramids of Giza are one such locking mechanism. Ra had the ability to make his constructs impregnable by mundane means, so no matter how deep someone dug or how much explosive they used, they’d never find the Anchor chamber. Only a specific series of actions, made by demis specifically, would open the way to the anchor chamber. This kind of locking was repeated across the globe whenever a major anchor point was found.
“Overall, sixteen anchor points were found around the world, two on each continent including Atlantis. However, a couple hundred years ago, someone managed to unlock one of North American points. Now, I know, for a fact, that Ra took the knowledge of how to unlock them to his grave when Julian killed him, but whether by sheer luck or some account of the locking mechanism that we didn’t know about, a demi from Europe was able to get into one of the anchor point chambers. We still don’t know what the results of his visit were and a conclave of ancient demis was called to reseal it once he was displaced. I happened to be one of those contacted, due to my knowledge of Ra.”
“So that’s where you got off to in the 1800s!” Sarah said with a grin.
Bast just nodded and continued, “Unfortunately, without Ra himself, resealing the point in the same way was impossible. He had used a very specific power of his to craft the locking mechanisms and the demi who broke in had dismantled them while inside. Instead, we devised a new locking method, and hid the entrance with a major illusion. The war of 1812 was ramping up quickly and the point was in a highly contested area. We knew our seal wouldn’t be nearly as hard to crack as Ra’s had been, but it would at least keep out mundanes, but we had to rely on secrecy to hide it from Graven, so the entrance was sealed and all records of the anchor point were purged from any joint archive.”
Looking again at the map in front of them, Liam did notice that North America only had one large spot on it, not two. One was up in the Yukon Territory, but there wasn’t a second mark on the map. Liam saw what Bast was leading up to now and looked over at her.
“So you think that Black found this point, but that doesn’t explain why he needed my core,” Liam pointed out.
“The lock that we devised required five, unbonded core stones to unlock,” Bast said drawing gasps from the older demis in the group.
“Holy shit, Bast. So you’re saying that Black has four unbonded core stones?” Thea asked.
“That or he has four demis in his employ that he plans on sacrificing. Either way, it’s bad news. All he needs is one more, according to Cindy’s warnings, for him to carry out whatever his goal is. If it’s to get into the anchor chamber, then we have absolutely no choice but to stop him,” she said.
“What about the other ancient demis? Can’t we call them and
bring like… a demi army or something? If it’s really that much of a threat?” Steven asked.
“I’m the last one left,” Bast said sadly. “All of the rest perished during the various wars in the 19th and 20th centuries. As mankind got better at killing each other, it also got better at killing us,” she explained sullenly. “And good luck convincing any of the current enclave leaders to commit lives to what most of them consider a fight over myth.”
“Where is the anchor point then?” Michael asked. “We could go and guard it or reinforce the lock with more measures.”
“I don’t know,” Bast said.
“What do you mean you don’t know?! Didn’t you just say you helped reseal it!?” Michael responded.
“Yes, and then we purged all record of it, including our own memories. The only person who still knew the location was the psychic demi who did the purge, and she killed herself to keep that knowledge secret,” Bast said firmly.
“So what do we do?” Steven asked.
“If Black is collecting demi cores, then he has to be storing them somewhere. We need to go to his base and steal the cores that he has, then get them to the old man,” Bast said it as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
“Not to be that guy, but we don’t know where his base is,” Liam said.
“What are you talking about? Of course, we do,” Thea said. “We’ve known since Sarah plucked it out of a couple of their cronies’ heads the day they went after your apartment.”
“Right…” Liam blurted out, remembering Bast mentioning that when they’d met. That conversation felt like ages ago, but really, it had only been a couple days.
“It’s only twenty minutes from here. Place they call the ‘Acroterion Basilea’ whatever that means,” she said.
“It’s ancient Greek and means ‘Hearer of the King’ roughly,” Bast said. “Also used to denote an audience hall for nobility sometimes. Appropriately narcissistic for Algos.”
“Right, well, it’s under the remains of a defunct missile silo complex left over from the cold war,” Sarah chimed in.
“Why haven’t we gone and wiped them out again?” Liam asked.
“You’re assuming first, that we can. And second, that we should,” Bast said.
“Why wouldn’t we?!” Liam said more harshly than he intended.
Bast gave him an infuriatingly calm look. It was the kind of look that a mother gives a toddler who’s irate over their chicken nuggets being round instead of dinosaur shaped. “Because if we went and started a demi war anytime we disagreed with someone’s ideology on how they choose to use their guardian given powers, we’d have depopulated half of the planet due to collateral damage. It’s why we have a strict policy to only intervene when the consequences are on a global scale. If Black wanted to use his powers to be president or governor, we’d probably just shrug it off, because in the end, his influence would only be temporary. But now we’re dealing with something beyond temporary. If Black uses the anchor point, he could wipe out the entire planet in a matter of seconds, or worse, he could disconnect it from the astral plane altogether.”
“Why is that worse than killing the planet?” Kat asked, wide-eyed.
“Because you can’t exist without a soul, and your soul can’t exist without that connection. We wouldn’t just die; we’d completely cease to exist on the physical plane,” Bast said gravely.
Liam had zoned out after that as he was still upset over his chastisement about the Association base. He must have been visibly pouting because Lily suddenly elbowed him in the psyche.
“Quit it, pouty mcpoutface. You’ve got bigger problems,” she whispered to him.
This brought his attention back to the fore to see everyone staring at him.
“What?” he said.
“I asked if you’ve been practicing your enhancement powers at all,” Bast asked.
“Not really, nobody to practice on,” he said, trying to replay the parts of the conversation he’d missed in his head.
“We’re just going to have to risk it. Hopefully, we’ll get multiple tries once we’re on site,” Bast said to Thea.
“What’s going on?” Liam asked confused.
“We’re going to wipe out the Association base, weren’t you listening?” Sarah said with a grin.
“I…” he started, but was cut off by Kat.
“We all know what you were thinking about. She’s 5’6” with dark hair and big pretty brown eyes,” Kat chimed in, causing everyone to laugh raucously.
Liam’s mouth opened, then closed. He looked at Cindy standing next to him, who was currently sporting bright red skin and a scowl she was trying to hide behind a wall of her dark hair and hands.
Liam glared at Kat. She just smiled innocently back at him.
“Back on topic everyone. We’re leaving at 8pm, do what you need to before then to get ready. Thea, Michael, you’ll be in charge of teams one and two. I’ll be in charge of the third. Hansen and Cindy are on support and emergency exits with Kat and Rich driving,” Bast said.
“Kat and Rich are coming?” Liam blurted out without thinking.
“You have a problem with that bucko?” Kat said, letting her feisty show.
“I told you, Liam, they’re just as much a part of this now as we are. They’re willing to help, and we can’t exactly be picky. Besides, from what Steven told me, they handled themselves well during our rescue, so I’m glad to have them,” Bast explained.
“Right I just…” Liam suddenly had a flashback to Kat getting crunched between Varkolak teeth and Rich getting shredded by huge claws.
“Liam, seeing everyone here, knowing what’s out there now, how could we not try to help? I mean, we may just be silly little mortals, but we can still do our part. It’s all anyone can do really,” Kat said. “And who knows. Maybe you’ll need some mundane people like us; stranger things seem to have happened.”
“Liam, it’s ok. We want to help, and we know the risks. Unlike last time, we also know what we’re up against this time,” Rich said. “We can do this.”
“Don’t ever assume you know what cards your enemy has up their sleeve,” Bast said sagely, “otherwise you’ll find yourself facing a joker.”
Liam, for his part, was transfixed by Rich and Kat, who were both sporting bright silver auras, and the feeling of it was making him giddy.
Hours later, the teams had been prepared and they all were loaded into the two vehicles left to them: Bast’s F250 truck and the SUV that Steven had taken. Michael had managed to recover and repair the truck that afternoon, so half of the team wasn’t stuck walking to the assault.
The first team consisted of Thea and Hand, with Steven for healing if things got hairy. They were the main distraction. The second team was Jax, Sarah, and Michael, who could double as a field medic, if needed, but that team was primarily fire support and sniping to cover the entry and exit.
The last team was only Bast and Liam, who would be trying to sneak in through a roof entrance once the Association’s attention was pulled toward the front gates.
Bast’s plan was for Liam to use his fields to fly them in, then for him to augment what she called her “Shadow Meld” ability. She’d clear the entry and open the door for him and together they’d head to where Sarah said the crony had thought the stones were being held.
Once they had the stones, they’d exit back out of the roof and the other teams would withdraw, inflicting as many casualties on the Association as possible. The hope was that they could get in and out in under ten minutes, leaving long before Julian and his pack could appear.
Liam thought it was a good plan, up until he realized that it pretty much hinged on him not killing them on the flight in, and then on getting his augment ability to work before the Association slaughtered his friends. Suddenly, he was much more nervous about the whole thing.
“Hey, you’ve got this,” Cindy had said to him that afternoon. They’d stolen away to her room and he’d done another soul dive with her
at her request. They’d straightened out the issue from that morning. They’d enjoyed some time to talk about each other’s role in the upcoming fight and she’d taken the time to help dissuade his fears over his possible failure. He was quickly noticing that Cindy, for all of her crazy, was really a very caring, sweet, and lovely woman, and he understood a little better what Bast had said about her when they’d first met.
He didn’t think for a moment that he could fix her, or even help her. He doubted that she really even wanted his help. She’d told him that all she really wanted out of any relationship they may have, is for him to treat her like a normal person. She’d spent decades having people treat her with kid gloves, and despite all appearances, it actually annoyed her quite a lot. Liam resolved during that conversation that he’d first and foremost try to be her friend before he moved on to trying for anything else, even if Cindy herself seemed to have other ideas on that front.
She’d kissed him again there in her core, dressed in her fine gown and every bit the charismatic and decisive woman he saw her as. And Liam noticed that there in that place, the kiss had shared much more than a physical sensation. It felt much more potent than a simple biological response to attraction. There in her core, it carried an understanding with it. Something that bypassed all of the biological and mental barriers that they both had put up in the physical world. In that moment, he understood who Cindy Newsome was and who she wanted to be. And she likewise got a glimpse of Liam and his intense desire to protect and care for everyone around him. It carried with it knowledge of the other that took physical being years to find in another. And when they’d finally parted after that long moment in time, they knew that they could trust the other implicitly, without the shadow of doubt or regret. When he finally exited her core, he looked over at the woman sitting next to him, and he no longer saw the unstable girl he’d seen on his first night as a demi. He saw Cindy. Fierce and determined to live her own life, despite the physical limitations fate had placed on her. And then he truly understood the inspiration that Bast had talked about.