“I’m Zed.” The dog woofed a message decipherable only to him.
The escort handed me a bundle of care notes, a card in a sealed envelope addressed to Geoffrey, a box of lotions and soaps, another lead, apparently in case, although he didn’t say in case of what, and a bed almost as large as mine. I called for help and Vic and Morwen came rushing to my rescue.
They took control of all the dog gear and I held to the lead. I stood with—according to the care notes, the dog’s name was Hurian—what a surprise—Hurian in front of Victoria and said, “This is Victoria—protect her with all your heart.”
Hurian woofed and wagged his tail.
I moved to Morwen and said the same thing and received a repeat woof. I said to Vic, “Go get Hunter—this is his dog.”
Hunter came rushing down the front stairs followed by Vic and Dena. I stood Hurian in front of Dena and introduced her, and I received another woof. I moved to Hunter who, surrounded by the girls, appeared bemused.
“Hunter, this is your dog. There’s a card and lots of care notes. Hurian, this is Geoffrey, now called Hunter.”
I lost the lead and Hunter almost was knocked over as Hurian pulled away and stood tall, his fore paws on Hunter’s shoulders. I heard a loud slurp as the dog wiped his tongue across Hunter’s face. Hunter grimaced at the slobbery swipe although wrapped his arms around the huge animal and held him tight. I handed him the card, which he opened. He read it and smiled to himself. He tucked the card away, unclipped Hurian’s lead and handed it to Vic.
He said, “Come with me, Hurian. Let’s check out the property.” The hound woofed and tucked himself in at Hunter’s heel and both set off.
Victoria said, almost wistfully, “That’s a lovely dog.”
Morwen reminded her sister, “You wanted a pet years ago, but didn’t want to take care of it. One cancels out the other.”
Vic sighed. “I know.”
I interrupted the sad fest and sent the girls about their duties. Except Dena. I hugged her and said, “I’d describe our night as interesting.”
“Not interesting enough”
“Promises.” I grinned.
Our back and forth was interrupted by the arrival of the first pixies. Ron hie Ronald checked them in and directed them to the back of the houses where they could eat their promised breakfast. He saw me with Dena and said, “Fifty dwarves arriving in twenty minutes. Angel has special breakfast cooking for them.”
For a moment I wondered what the dwarves would eat for breakfast and decided I didn’t want to know. I had noticed a large butcher’s van delivering a vast load yesterday. I wondered if we’d ever get back to our more limited guest list.
Two buses stopped outside and based on the commotion and Ron hie Ronald’s dive through the front gateway, I concluded the dwarves had arrived. Dena and I stood on the top step and watched. I counted. The pixie had promised fifty and he delivered fifty. The newcomers were taller than the pixies, at about three feet, and most were bulkier. They were bearded and carried battle axes or hammers; some had both. The dwarves wore heavy boots, leather breeches, and jerkins, while some also had lightweight chain mail. All had spiked helmets. They were singing a battle song as they entered, the words sounding like ‘we are the champions.’ Based on their demeanor and weapons, I suspected they’d be a force to reckon with.
Ron hie Ronald introduced the two senior officers of the dwarf force. Their names were long and beyond my ability to remember; he saw the look of horror on my face and cut the introductions short. He said, “It’s simpler to use friendly names. This is Archmarshal Frigg, and this is Archmarshal Val.”
We all shook hands, including Dena. The senior pixie continued, “I mentioned you were prepared to assist with spells to strengthen the tube the dwarves are building. I said there can be no guarantees, that as a senior mage you would do your best.”
“Good. Archmarshals, once we resolve this soul stealer infestation, I’ll come with you to see this tube. You can tell me all about it. I’ll do my best, I promise.”
Archmarshal Frigg said, in impeccable English, “Sir Zed, your offer is remarkably generous. We’ll enjoy a few days away from our tube construction tasks while we help you overcome these dastardly soul stealers.”
“I need some of your force to remain here, to help guard the property. Perhaps half?”
Archmarshal Val answered, “That’s my responsibility, Sir Zed. We’ll protect it, for sure. Now, someone mentioned breakfast and I’m looking forward to a decent haunch of venison.”
I watched the two dwarves head to the kitchen with Ron hie Ronald. I turned to Dena and said, “Archmarshal Val—she’s—she’s—”
“She’s one of the warriors. Yes, beard and all.” She smiled and dug her fist into my ribs. It hurt. “You were going to say?”
“What? Me? Nothing, nothing at all.”
The pixies were straggling from the kitchen area back to the front of the house.
“We’d better head to Soho. I’ve got my maps and search areas defined.”
Dena agreed. Ron hie Ronald was busy and I found Augustus instead and said, “We’ll be at the park, you know, Soho Gardens. I might have one or two police officers with me.”
“Yes, Sir Zed. We’ll be there. I’ll tell Archmarshal Frigg to meet us at the park, once they finish breakfast.”
I said to Marcus, “Leave a note for Leopold; he’ll want to know where we are, if he wakes early.”
Minutes later, Dena and I, with Marcus as escort, were headed to Soho. My household was protected, I hoped, as much as we could manage.
It was time to seek out the soul stealers.
oOo
Chapter 19
“Under no circumstances are your pixie forces to attack a hatchery. The young are vicious and aggressive. They’ll feed on anything alive. They don’t kill their food first, they eat it, dead or alive.” I was addressing the ten senior pixies who each were responsible for a hundred pixies. “The keywords are search, discover, report. Raiding the hatchery is my responsibility. I’ll be here with three or four police officers, twenty-five dwarves, and perhaps some Dar-Iide warriors.” The last item depended on Leopold. Marcus of course, would cover Dena and me. He had his machine gun, full loaded, with several spare magazines in his back pack.
Augustus was in charge of the pixie force. “We understand, Sir Zed. We have instructed our pixies. We have your maps and we are ready to go.”
“Good.”
He gave a signal and five hundred pixies roared their reply. I hoped they would heed my warnings. Within seconds, they disappeared. There were a handful of mundane humans in the park; fortunately, they were ignoring our presence.
Mowers said, “It’s a good start, Zed.” He had ten police officers with him, none of whom were armed. I’d pointed out that flaw earlier, and apparently Parley had refused to consider issuing weapons. He remained a nonbeliever. From Mowers’ reply I’d got the message he would visit Parley, with intent, if any of his small force were killed. I suspected Mowers’ grandmother had been more than an assistant to a witch doctor; otherwise Mowers, too, would be a nonbeliever.
We’d taken over a small portico in the center of the park. It provided a slight elevation, so we could see around the area and the roof protected us from the slow drizzle. The grass was sodden. It was an English summer, no doubt. The police occupied one side of the small shelter and Dena and I, with Marcus, occupied the other. Mowers had totally ignored the weapon slung over our guard’s shoulder.
Dena said, “There’s the embassy car. I wonder what the two witches think they’ll be doing?”
She had taken to describing the two Tir-Kiran mages as witches. I could understand why. My only worry was to not underestimate them.
As we watched, the two junior mages exited their vehicle and made their way to the portico. There was no sign of the embassy secretary. When they arrived, I was intrigued to see neither cloak showed signs of dampness from the rain.
“Good mornin
g,” I said. Dena nodded.
The young mages replied in unison, “Good morning, Ser Zed.” They ignored Dena.
I couldn’t resist. “Where is Ser Nova this morning?”
Sher Myr replied, “He—ah—he had embassy duties to attend to.”
I provided a high-level update to the newcomers. “We have search parties in action. They have instructions to report if they detect a soul stealer hatchery. We have a force here,” I indicated the dwarves, “and another force, Dar-Iide military, in reserve.” They both stirred at the mention of Leopold’s recruits.
Again, it was Sher Myr who spoke. “Sir, I thought you had two Dar-Iide guests—Lord Ren, and Marcus.” She indicated the latter; Marcus was standing back, his machine gun at the ready.
“We have another eighty or so, available.” I omitted the detail of their exhaustion from traveling the universes.
“Oh.”
I sensed an attempt to send a message, although I was unsure to whom. However, I had blanketed the park with a protective spell so that only Dena and I could transmit messages.
The two mages whispered to each other. They seemed uncomfortable.
Damn. I almost jumped out of my skin when Lucifer made his appearance. He walked toward me from a shaded portion of the portico and said, “Sir Zed, good morning. Lady Dena.”
I looked him up and down, frowning. “Good morning, Sir Lucien.” I used the name he’d used in his visits twenty years ago. The two young mages drifted off to the side of the portico as far away as they could manage.
Lucifer smiled his approval. “You’ve commenced your search?” He looked around the park. “Surely you need more resources to assist you?”
“We have more.”
“I discovered some of them, when I visited your home. No, I didn’t enter—your wards—the magical ones, the two younger sisters of Lady Dena, made it clear I should not. The young ladies told me—ah, Hunter—was exercising his new pet dog in the back of the property. I was pleased the delivery was successful.”
“I’m amazed at the change in Hurian. He was very slobbery when we introduced him to his new master.”
Lucifer laughed. “The change is permanent, I promise.” He was silent for a moment, examining the two red-cloaked mages. “May I ask?”
“Tir-Kiran. They were somewhat imposed on us. They are a trap of some kind. Either to eliminate me in the confusion when we try to clean out the soul stealer hatchery, or so I’ll be blamed if they suffer in this hunt for the soul stealers.”
“Astute. You’re correct. They’ve been tasked to kill both of you. I can reverse that command—they would kill each other instead—or I can remove most of their powers. Tell me which?”
I was tempted to take the first option. Instead, I said, “If you remove most of their powers, I won’t need to control them in addition to the hatchlings.”
“Done. Sir Zed, I don’t want anything to happen to Lady Dena. Promise me you’ll do your utmost?”
“Of course. I’ll protect her with my life.”
“Excellent. Now, I must be off. Let me know if I can help. Toodle.” He waved and sauntered off, disappearing into the shadows.
Dena had been silent the entire time. “Sometimes he’s too much. Other times he’s a gentleman. I think he’s conflicted, deep inside. We can’t trust him.”
“The trust part is sustainable while Hunter is with us. Otherwise I agree.”
An hour went by. I used my map of Londin and a tracking spell to monitor the movements of the pixie teams. Their progress was steady—one could be tempted to say it was slow. However, I knew the depth of searching required, which was compounded by the need for the pixies to remain undetected. The two Tir-Kiran mages were bored. Half the police officers had returned to their base. Mowers remained, occasionally pacing around the park.
I decided to talk to the dwarves and signaled Dena to join me. Their Archmarshal had claimed a corner of the park and his men were carrying out training activities. I thought they could do with a break from running in the rain.
“Archmarshal Frigg.”
The dwarf snapped to attention. “Yes, Sir Zed.”
“If I can interrupt?”
“Certainly.” He turned to his squad. “At ease. Relax for a few minutes.”
Aah, magic.
I said, “Tell me about this tube construction project.”
“Yes, sir. We decided—mainly to give the younger generation an education and increase their knowledge of the earth—about three years ago, to build some tubes. Tunnels, I suppose, is another name. We are linking up places like Euston, Baker Street, Embankment, Hyde Park, even Buckingham Palace, so we can move people underground, far more efficiently than using roadways.”
“How will you move your passengers—what type of vehicle will you use?”
“We—ah—we think an electric bus could work. We’re planning a competition next year, for a suitable design.”
I was intrigued, I must admit. “You’d need more than one, so passengers can go to and from those places. And some way to continually power the electric motors.”
“Yes, sir. Our tubes are designed for two-way traffic. Well, sometimes.”
“What difficulties are you experiencing?”
The Archmarshal tried to scratch the top of his head; however, his helmet was in the way. He said, “Well, we’ve had objections from the Palace, you know. Queenie said she doesn’t want to be woken at odd hours through the night by traffic passing underneath the building. Also, the Tir-Kiran Ambassador has protested our plans. He doesn’t want the tube to go under his embassy. It makes life difficult because we’d have to redesign at least one section, so it doesn’t have a kink. We also must prove our tubes won’t weaken the building foundations above us. We know they won’t, of course, but, well you know—”
“So, you’ve built the tube already, the one underneath the embassy?” My mind raced with the possibilities.
“We—er—ah—er—just a small one. Proof of concept.”
“Thank you for the details. Once we sort out these soul stealers, I’ll be happy to spend time with you to help with your tubes.”
Half an hour later I checked the map again. For some reason, three of the search teams had merged and all indications were two more were intending to do the same.
“Dena, I think the pixies have discovered something.” I showed her the map and my tracing of the movements of the teams. They had crossed over Marylebone Road, headed up Baker Street, and now were gathering near Clarence Terrace and Regents Park. It was difficult to identify their precise location.
“They’re disobeying your instructions?”
“It seems so. I’ve tried to contact Augustus, but there’s no reply. Either he’s too busy or he’s been injured or worse. I’m worried the hatchlings could escape into Regents Park.”
“They could already be there. The Regent’s University buildings would make ideal refuges and serve as a trap for you.”
“See if you can wake Leopold. I’ll try to contact some of these other pixie leaders and then I’ll alert the dwarves.”
I called out to Mowers. “We may have contact.” He headed over. The two Tir-Kiran mages looked attentive at the news. I busied myself with attempts to reach the pixie leaders. At last, one replied to my call.
“Yairs—this is Februis.”
“This is Zed. Februis, what’s happening?”
“We’re not certain. Augustus was talking to Octav by cell phone. He stopped in mid-sentence. Octav decided to check. He stopped talking in mid-sentence, too. Thruvius decided to follow-up. That’s three team leaders who have gone silent, now.”
“Where were they?”
“Regents Park, near the university. We’re moving that way, but—” He went silent.
Damn. Something or someone was picking off the team leaders, detecting them when they were using cell phones. I didn’t like the thought. Whoever was moving against us was using high -level magic.
Dena said
, “Leopold is awake. He’s organizing his force and will meet us at the south end of York Gate. He’ll be there as soon as he can.”
“The senior pixies are being eliminated one by one, when they’re on their phones. Four down. I don’t want to phone the others in case I cause them to be taken out, too. Damn.” I decided to take a risk and used a mental contact telling the team leaders where to meet us, cautioning them to not use their cell phones.
I said to Mowers, “We’re heading to the south end of York Gate. There’s a possibility the soul stealer hatchery is in the park, possibly in the Regent’s University buildings.”
Mowers whistled. “That will make it bloody difficult.”
“Get your men underway. Call out whoever you can, to assist, even if it’s only for crowd control. We’ll have to get the buildings evacuated, if that’s where the hatchery is.”
I left him to his tasks and headed to the Archmarshal. “Frigg, get your dwarves on their bus.” I provided the address. He and his squad set off at a run.
Now it was our turn. I told the Tir-Kiran mages to get in their embassy vehicle and follow us. I gave them the location in case they couldn’t keep up. Our car was waiting, ready to go and Marcus held the door open for Dena and me. When we were onboard, he climbed into the front passenger seat. Mabel was our driver again, and I gave her directions. We set off at speed.
Action at last. Possibly.
oOo
Chapter 20
We were the first to arrive at York Gate, probably because Mabel enjoys driving aggressively and I had instructed her to hurry. The old bus carrying the dwarves was steam driven and likely to take another five minutes. I estimated the embassy vehicle was a minute or two away. Leopold could be another fifteen minutes. I had no idea when Mowers would arrive. Some pixies were already waiting for us, and others were straggling into the meeting area. There were, so far, three team leaders. I recognized one and called him over.
Soul Mayhem: Zed's Chronicles of the Parallel Universe Disruptions Page 13