by J M Guillen
“What—?” She glanced at the card at the same moment she spoke. Her eyes grew wide, fascinated. I watched as sleep fell through those open eyes.
A pained expression crossed Simon’s face. He hates using it, I thought.
“A ’course, Munchkin, there’s a coupla things I need you to understand. You listenin’ to me?”
“Yeah.” Elizabeth’s dreamy voice drifted. “I’m listening.”
“I get that the wind is scary. I mean, I don’t get it, as I never had anything like it.” He shook his head. “I understand you’re scared, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Kiddo, I’ve known you since you were a little over knee-high. I watched you grow up. I’m not some strange man to be afraid of. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
She shook her head the smallest bit, as if she tried to reconcile something. “I met you in an alleyway.”
“Well, here’s how I’m gonna take care of you.” Simon took a deep breath. “You remember a moment ago, when you felt that tempest in your heart? Remember how vast and terrifying it felt?”
“I still feel it.” Her voice trembled.
Of course she did, I realized, she still held the blue jay feather.
That likely accounted for how well she still communicated. I didn’t know if Simon had ever used the card on someone who held Grace, much less someone using their power at the time.
“Well, here’s the deal. You are never gonna feel it so large again, never so vast and terrible. Not until I or Abriel say you can. It will never frighten you because of this.”
“It’s too big to hold.” Even while held beneath the power of Simon’s card, tears threatened Elizabeth’s eyes.
“I been told your Grace is fierce, Little Lizard.” He chuckled. “Leapin’ Lizard. That’s funny.”
“Not funny.” Elizabeth shook her head, her voice dreamy and far away.
“As you learn, you’ll be able to feel how immense that thunderstorm is, but it’ll be a while. I’ll teach you some exercises that will help you shape it. They’ll make you feel like you’re in control.”
“Can’t control it.” She shook her head. “It’s every wind. It’s every wind that ever blew.”
“You’ll learn to, I promise you.” Simon took a breath. “But until you do, until you’re ready to master it, you’re not gonna draw on it completely. It’s gonna feel like the wind is a vast and terrible ocean, and you’re trying to draw its power through a drinking straw.”
“Just a little bit of it.” Elizabeth nodded, as if she began to understand. “I can hold a little bit of it.”
“For now,” Simon agreed. “I might make you a trinket or two that will let you feel more of it. I’ll teach you Empyrean sigils that’ll help you shape it.” He paused. “But, Princess, the power is yours. It’s not in any of the arcane things I give you, and it’s not in some angelic language.”
“Mine.” For the first time she smiled. “It’s special isn’t it? My dad will be so proud.”
“Yeah…” I watched worry march across Simon’s face. “He will be proud. But you can’t tell him until I say it’s time. Also—” He seemed to scramble for a thought here. “Let’s not talk about your dad again, you and I. Not your family, nothin’ personal.”
“Why?”
“We’re just gonna focus on your training. That’s what matters here.”
“Okay, Simon.”
“That’s it, then.” Even as he held the card, he started ticking fingers. “You’re not afraid of the wind anymore. You can only access a small part of it, although I’ll give you tools to help grow that.” Two fingers. “If at any point, I or my friend Abriel say you can, you’ll be able to grasp of the fullness of your power, just as you did today with that feather.” He held up the third finger.
“I understand.” Elizabeth nodded, and her tears started to dry.
“Well, okay.” Simon bobbed his head, satisfied. Then, almost frantically he ticked up a fourth finger. “Oh, and if I die you can call upon all of your strength as well.” He paused. “This doesn’t last forever, is what I mean. No matter what.” Another pause as he thought of something else, and his thumb went up. “And you don’t remember any of this. Last thing you remember was me bamboozlin’ these folk.” He gestured toward the diner patrons.
“Okay.” She paused. “Simon?” Her plaintive voice seemed shy.
“What, kid?” Simon seemed disconcerted.
I understood. The fact that she could even ask a question while under the effect of the card hinted of the child’s power.
“Thank you. Thank you for taking care of me.”
“Oh.” For a long moment, Simon just stared at her, bewildered. His voice trembled when next he spoke. “No—no problem, Liz.” He cleared his throat. “Don’t listen to this next part, all right?”
“Okay.” She gave him a dreamy smile.
He shook his head and glanced at me. He spoke to the record of memory to be carried through the years.
“Liz, I never done nothing like what we’re gonna do here. If Rusiel told me square—and I have no doubt he did—your peculiar little gift is somethin’ fierce. Stronger than anything Rufus had, stronger than anything I’d ’a ever known.” For a moment, he seemed to struggle with words. “I hope you know I done my best.” His voice cracked, and his eyes shimmered a touch. “I hope you aren’t mad I ran a little roughshod over you today. You were so scared. You were so young and so scared, and I didn’t know what else to do.”
i don’t think you harmed the girl, simon.
“Please don’t be mad at me. I know sometimes I’ve been pretty rough with your dad too, and he is my best friend in the world. I weren’t trying to do anything here today other than take your fear.” He paused. “I wish you could see how magnificent you are. I wish you could see the look in your eye when the wind is bursting in your heart.”
He paused again and glanced around the diner. Then he wiped his eyes and composed himself. “I hope you understand I’m scared too.” He placed the card back inside his coat.
The girl blinked and drifted out of her daze.
I noticed that as she awoke, Elizabeth covertly peered within Simon’s open coat.
“A playing card, huh?” She nodded toward his coat, grinning. “Not the throwing star?”
“No!” Simon seemed horrified. “That would’a killed everyone here!”
4
Alicia pulled back from my face.
I blinked as my mind shifted back to the present.
“It is your birthright, to hold Grace.” Those words came softly and almost caressed me.
I wept.
“You’ve already begun to grasp the fullness of your power, you know. After all, Simon told you that you would begin to master more of it as you came into adulthood.”
“No, I don’t.” I tilted my head just a touch in thought. “Well, when I had the Aegis, I was able to do quite a bit more.”
“Simon told you he might occasionally craft a trinket or two to assist you with feeling your power.” She skewed up her mouth for a moment, as if she tried to articulate something essential. “The Aegis of Dudael is a protective sign, and that is all. A few of the sigils on the other beads allowed you to feel more of your own power.”
“So the exhaustion didn’t come from the bracelet?”
“The weariness you felt was a direct side effect of grasping too much of the power that rests within you.” Alicia smiled.
“But last night,” I furrowed my brow in thought, “after the Aegis broke, I didn’t feel as much of my own power. So if I’m supposed to master more of my gift as I come into adulthood, how come I didn’t feel it last night?”
“I can’t know, obviously.” Alicia shifted on the bed. “But if I had to guess, I might say your mastery of this thing would naturally have come in slowly, like a child learning to walk.”
“Oh my God.” I sank my head into my hands and groaned. “I’m so tired of that metaphor.”
“I think it likely to b
e apt.” Alicia grinned at me. “But, of course, it doesn’t have to be that way. Simon set things up so that either he or I could release the fullness of your strength upon you.”
“Yeah.” My heart beat fast in my chest. “I caught that too.”
“Nervous?” She quirked up the side of her mouth.
“More than a little bit.” I took a breath. “I mean, I remember the coffee shop. I remember how I got lost in the vastness of the wind.” Then I had another thought. “What about the Seals?” I cocked my head at her. “Are they not required? Some kind of Dumbo’s feather?” I narrowed my eyes. “Like the blue jay feather?”
“Simon crafted those Seals specifically to give you guidance and focus. They are like lines and signs along the road. You certainly don’t need those things to drive.”
“They help a hell of a lot, though.” I nodded. “Okay, the Seals are useful.”
“Do you wish me to do this thing, Elizabeth?” The words held a touch of formal staccato, and I knew that if I glanced at my friend, I would see her eyes burn with radiant truth.
I took another breath.
I gazed at Alicia and felt the irrepressible shine glow from her eyes.
“Yes, oh A’Briel.” I spoke the name wrong, and I knew it, but I wanted the form to be right. “Give me my birthright, and grant me the mastery my mentor wished me to have.”
“It is yours, Elizabeth Shepherd.”
The moment she said my name, great floes of ice burst somewhere deep within my mind, a sundering crack that jolted me straight to my core. I gasped as my spine bent, and I lurched backward.
I fell onto the bed.
And the Wind…
It was every song that had ever been sung on the lips of every lover who had ever lived. It had carried every war cry, had thundered over the fall of every civilization.
It burst in my bones. It sang in my sinews.
As I relaxed my mind into it, I fell into the eternity of every human’s breath.
“Oh, God,” I babbled. “Oh, holy fuck me God.”
“Liz!” I could hear the horror in Alicia’s tone, yet she seemed distant, so far away as to almost feel foolish.
I bathed in the Wind. My soul cavorted within it. I flew through every summer tree; I set the leaves to dance.
Joy.
I knew the face of infinity.
I tasted the kisses of God.
I sang, and it sang, and the world stormed along, a tumult of everything that could ever be.
The Arms and Equipment Guide
Three hours passed before the guys showed up again, which was probably all for the best. For most of that time, I remained on my back staring at the ceiling, babbling secret mysteries that lay within the Wind.
According to ’Licia, I sang songs, whispered dreamily, and in general took a complete leave of my senses.
That was okay; reality had been particularly shitty lately.
“What’s up, ladies?” Baxter walked in the front of the store as the bell over the door tinkled. “Good news, Rehl and I have solved all of our problems!”
“Oh?” We had come downstairs to let them in, but Rehl had just used his new key.
“Last night, we decided to have ourselves a little bit of a pow-wow,” Baxter asserted.
“Bax decided he didn’t want to go back to the dorms,” Rehl explained.
“Which is what led us to have the time for a movie marathon.”
“Okay?” Alicia, who had dressed in jeans and a pentacle shirt, stared at the guys as if they weren’t speaking English.
“We watched Blake Runner.” Rehl gave me a smug grin. “All three of ’em.”
“As a result, we feel ready for today.” Baxter arched his back and puffed his chest out. “All we gotta do is figure out exactly where the front door to Fallen Leaves is.” He drew one arm back and thrust it forward as if to strike an opponent. “And punch through!”
“Oh God.” I stared at Alicia.
“What?” She seemed confused at the horror evident on my face.
“We’re going to die today, Alicia.” I grasped her shoulder. “We’re definitely going to die.”
2
“Jokes about how awesome Blake Runner is aside,” Baxter put in, “Rehl and I did actually talk quite a bit of strategy this morning.”
“Well, we all remember we get an attack bonus when flanking.” I smirked at him. “And also during backstabs.”
“Those are obvious,” Rehl replied. “I figured I’d park my car somewhere close.” Rehl jerked his chin at Baxter. “Bax had the idea of leaving the keys inside it. That way, if anyone needed to use it to get away, they could.”
“I could… could take my motorcycle too,” I mused. I found it a little difficult to focus. Even though I kept it inside, the Wind constantly pulled within me. “If anyone is likely to get caught up in some of Lorne’s bullshit, it’ll be me. If you guys know I have a ride, it frees you up to escape.”
“We also talked about making certain we’re all well-equipped before we go on campaign. I thought I’d focus mostly on firearms and ordinance, though.” He shrugged.
“Okay,” I nodded and tried not to grin in delight at the Wind’s touch.
“Not that I won’t take that handy shotgun,” Baxter put in with a grin, “but the other night Alicia tried to work as an on-the-spot pronunciation dictionary for both using Simon’s special toys.”
“If Bax uses more magic items, and I use more firearms, then Alicia doesn’t have to babysit both of us to make us effective in a scrape,” Rehl explained.
“That…” I turned to Alicia. “That actually makes some amount of sense.”
“We didn’t know, though, if you’d take any of Simon’s gizmos, Liz.” Baxter gestured to my now bare wrist.
“No.” I smiled at him, Wind capering through my hair. “I’ve got a handle on things. I think I leveled last night.”
“I never get any experience points.” Baxter pouted and crossed his arms.
“There are other things we need to consider.” I gazed around and made certain I had their attention. “Do you remember the story about the secret behind the dumpster and how quickly the Silent Gentlemen showed up?”
“Oh.” Baxter completely deflated. “I didn’t even think about them.”
“I assume they didn’t show up when we fought Lorne’s goon and hounds because the Aegis hid us.” I turned toward Alicia. “It kept the Facility Ass-hats from knowing we were changing reality in the shop.”
“I think it very likely.” Alicia’s voice went soft, as it often did when she listened to Abriel.
“So it sounds as if we might be a little bit stuck without it.” Rehl fiddled with the long braid that hung off his goatee. “If we use Simon’s toys at the wrong time, we’re going to call the attention of the magic police.”
“I somehow doubt this is an issue once we’re inside Fallen Leaves.” I raised one eyebrow at them. “Think about how each time Lorne sends one of his Billy Goats Gruff, we get dragged into some nightmare reflection of the world.”
“So Fallen Leaves is some kind of pocket dimension?” Baxter gazed at me in wonder.
“Simon said as much. I think, once inside, we can play with all of our toys.”
“Are we certain the Ass-hats can’t detect what happens in these pocket places?” Baxter scratched at his stitches, caught himself, and ran his fingers through his sandy hair.
“Knucklebones wasn’t damaged in the assault.” Alicia looked thoughtful. “I’d say when Lorne drags us into his little horror show, it doesn’t affect the ‘real’ world all.”
“Right. We weren’t in this place.” I waved one arm around. “When we’re all other-planar, the Ass-hats don’t care about using juju.”
“So that’s the line then.” Rehl nodded. “Play nice until we get dragged all extra dimensional.”
“I have a question.” Baxter pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Don’t the men in black know when Lorne does his juju?” He paused ob
viously searching for words. “Why doesn’t he get black-bagged every time he drags us through portals?”
“I have no idea.” I shrugged. “And, unfortunately, it doesn’t matter. He either has some understanding we don’t, or opening those gates doesn’t cause a blip on Facility radar.”
“That’s just no fucking fair.” Baxter crossed his arms.
“On another topic, you guys made a good call last night in the Ramble. There are walkie-talkies and headsets in the Armory.”
“That’s point number two.” Rehl raised his eyebrows at me, and then pretended to count on his fingers. “Point five. Something.” He shook his head. “The Armory.”
“Yeah?”
“We should take an hour, preferably two, and go over some basic weapon etiquette.”
“Keep in mind, the cops are going to come if we shoot.” Baxter frowned. “It doesn’t help Simon if we’re in jail for reckless endangerment.”
“It will be worse than that,” Rehl said sunnily. “We don’t have permits for any of these weapons. If we’re caught, they’ll be presumed stolen.”
“We can’t go in unarmed!” I shook my head.
“We’ll decide what we’re taking once we’re up in the Armory,” Rehl said. “Smart move is to go ahead and spend some time learning basic firearm safety. As interested as Baxter is in that shotgun, the better play is to have a weapon you can hide, something you can conceal.”
“That seems reasonable,” I agreed. “Let’s go upstairs and get some training in. We can talk more there.”
3
The next several hours flew by.
Firearm training ended up being a whole lot of common sense. Obviously, we couldn’t actually shoot the weapons without drawing attention to ourselves, but we did learn quite a bit in a short amount of time.
“I’m taking a Beretta again.” I glanced at Rehl. “I hope I don’t have to fire it at all, but I’d rather have it than not if I get stuck in that store.”
“Makes sense,” he agreed. “Take extra clips this time.”
“I’m not taking a gun.” Alicia wrinkled her nose. “There’ll be innocents around.”