by Jan Stryvant
"Okay then," Morgan stood up and walking over to the door opened it. "I'll let you two get back to work," and showed them both out of the office, then went off to catch up with Carol in supply.
Morgan just had to smile, it was a great time to be alive, and he had it all thanks to some upstart brat who thought he could take him on. For the first time since he'd wrested control over the local council away from Royce he felt like he was doing something great with his life, even more so than when he'd sent out his people to wipe out the local Ascendants.
Perhaps that was because he didn't go with them, he realized now that he should have. He should have been there, leading them, killing their enemies with his own hands! Oh Wednesday would be glorious. He would see battle, and his side would persevere! It would just be like the stories he'd heard as a child. It was funny; he always thought if the honor of battle ever came his way, that he'd be worried, possibly even scared, over what might happen to him. But now that it had come? He was eager for the fight! Fear, fear was for lesser men, not him!
As he was walking by the healer's area he decided to pop in and see Mike on the spur of the moment, and see if he could raise his spirits some.
"Mike!" Morgan said coming into the room. "I'm so glad to see that you're still with us! I must confess that I was worried that we might have lost you."
Mike looked up at Morgan as he walked over; honestly he'd never seen the man looking happier.
"Thanks, Morgan. You're not here for Jerigg are you?"
Morgan shook his head, "Of course not. I even told Jerry to lay off of him. Loyalty like that is to be rewarded, Mike, and you were right to rescue him from Jerry. Honestly, I had no idea or I would have put an end to it myself. Where is he anyway?" Morgan said looking around the room, "Wanted to thank him myself for saving your life."
"Really?" Mike looked surprised. Jerigg, was actually sleeping under the bed out of sight. "I think he went off to change his clothes and take a shower. But I'll let him know when he gets back."
Morgan smiled and nodded, "You know, why don't you ask him if the others will be happy to come back with us if we were to go up there and get them?"
"Come back with you?" Mike asked, a little worried now.
"We're going to go up there and deal with this Sean character ourselves. Show him that he can't go pushing the Vestibulum around, and take back that which is ours. I wish we could go tomorrow, but there's so much to do, so we're gonna go up there Wednesday bright and early and show him the error of his ways!"
"But we don't have any lycans, Morgan."
Morgan smiled and nodded, "Yes, sending them was a mistake, I see that now. So we're going up there ourselves."
"Wait, you're sending mages out there?"
"Of course! We're all going, me, the council, it's going to be glorious, Mike! Too bad you won't be able to join us, it'll be the sort of story you'll tell your kids about."
Morgan looked around the room and then back at Mike and smiled, "Well, I need to get back to work, there's lots to do and never enough time to do it! Take care of yourself, Mike! And take care of your friend too!"
"Thanks, Morgan," Mike said looking at him wide-eyed as he left the room, wondering just what was going on.
"He can't be serious?" Jerigg asked, coming out from under the bed.
Mike just stared at the door, "I think our leader is living in a different world than the rest of us now."
Rebuilding
"Roxy!" one of the guys who worked in the command center called running up to her.
"What is it, Chet?"
"There's a mage down at the gate! I think it's that one that you let go yesterday!"
"What the hell does he want?"
"I think he wants to talk to the wolves that used to be on his team. He also brought the one who took him home with him."
Roxy looked at Jolene, "Want to go find out what he's up to?"
"Sure, might as well."
Roxy turned back to Chet, "Go find the ones he's looking for and tell them they can talk to him if they want."
Chet nodded and ran off as Roxy and Jolene got up and walked down to the gate to see what this mage wanted.
As they approached the gate, they could see the two men, the werewolf was dressed in regular street clothes today, and was standing by the car. The mage was sitting on the hood, looking rather drained, with a bandage over his left eye.
"Jo, is that you?" Mike said as she and Roxy approached.
"Hi, Mike," Jolene said with a smile.
"You know him?" Roxy asked.
"Yeah, he's one of the guys I was 'seeing' before I took up with Sean."
"You're with this Valens guy now?" Mike said, looking surprised.
Jolene smiled, "I'm one of his wives, Mike. This is Roxy, she's also one."
"Multiple wives?" Mike blinked.
"He's a lion, they like to have prides," Jolene said, still smiling at him. "Now, why are you here?"
"I wanted to talk to my team; I wanted to see if they were okay."
"Well, that's up to them," Roxy said. "I sent someone to tell them you're here." Roxy looked at Jerigg, "Are you staying?"
"Ummm."
"Go, Jerigg," Mike said waving a hand. "Things are getting crazy back there, it's better if you weren't a part of it. Besides, wouldn't you rather be free?"
"But you're still weak, Master, who'll take care of you?"
"I'll be fine, trust me, but there is one favor you can do,"
"Yes?"
"Call me Mike. Okay?"
Jerigg nodded and smiled, "Thanks, Mike."
Several people came trotting up at that point, and Roxy watched as they all greeted Mike, not a single one of them called him 'Master' however, all calling him by name.
"I have to ask," Mike said as they settled down, "are you happy here?"
All of them nodded and told him yes.
"Where's Shia?" he asked looking around.
"Chasing one of the free males," one of the guys laughed. "She set her sights on him the moment he found us and agreed to help us save you."
"Well good for her."
"You should stay here, with us, Mike. You'd like it here, hell; I bet they'd all like you here as well."
Mike sighed and shook his head, "Not right now, not with all of this going on, Shep. They'd see it as a betrayal, and like it or not, they are my people."
"Is there something going on back there that we should know about?" Roxy growled.
"Sorry, I can't talk about it," Mike told her and sliding off the car slowly he gave Jerigg a hug, "Good luck, thanks for all you did, we're even now, you don't owe me anything. Also I release you from any and all bonds you had with Vestibulum, you're your own man now, Jerigg." Mike looked at the rest of them, "That goes for the rest of you too, not that I think I needed to tell any of you that.
"Maybe when all of this is over, we can all go out for some beers for once."
And with that, he got back into the car, waved to everyone, and then slowly drove off.
Roxy looked at Jerigg, "So just what is going on back there?"
Jerigg shook his head and sighed, "Morgan wants to attack."
"But he's out of lycans!" Shep laughed.
"Himself, he wants to lead all of the mages in a mass attack, no lycans, just magic users. He thinks if he can kill your leader while he's still recovering, he'll become famous, immortal even."
"And just how many people share this idea?" Roxy asked.
"Morgan is a very charismatic leader. Every time people start to cool to the idea, he whips them all right back up again. He's going to do it. I don't think he cares if he lives or dies, Mike thinks he's crazy, that losing the battle broke something in him. He even came into Mike's room this morning, before we left to tell Mike that he was going to get everyone back for him. It was ... strange."
Roxy nodded and turned to the others, "Well, you all can show Jerigg here where he's sleeping, Jo and I need to get back to work." Turning, she and Jolene headed
back towards the house.
"Jo, just how much damage do you think they could do to us?" She asked once the others were out of earshot.
"They've got a lot of members, Rox, if most of the adult men turn out, that could be over three hundred people."
"We need to have a meeting," Roxy sighed, "Get Oak, Hunter and Sten. I'll round up Maitland and Sean's other relatives."
"Where are we meeting?"
"Might as well do it in the bedroom. It's probably the only private place we have right now."
§
Sean looked around, he was out on the mountain side with all of the others.
"Does this mean I'm dead?" he asked, looking over at his lion.
The First shook his head, "No, not yet. First I wanted to apologize to you."
Sean blinked at that, "Why?"
"Because I didn't tell you that I had lied to the Joseph fellow, so you didn't realize how truly important you were."
"And because we told him we wouldn't help him if he didn't!" Another lion that Sean didn't recognize said with a chuckle.
The First just sighed, "Yeah, that too. I'm still a bit upset with you however, so don't think any of my threats have gone away."
Sean gave The First a look, "Yes, Dad."
All of the lions sitting around them laughed at that, Sean noticed then that there were a dozen of them.
The First just shook his head.
"Now I see why you like him," the lion who had spoken up said.
"So you'll do it?" The First asked.
"Yes, I'll do it. Mtawala, you in?" the lion asked, turning to a second one.
"Yes, Nguvu. I must say that I look forward to being your brother once more."
"Well, thank you both," Sean said, "for helping me." Sean looked at The First, "What happens now?"
"Now they will travel to your compound, where your body is, and fix it. Thankfully neither of them is far away, as you'll be dead in about thirty hours if they don't."
Sean shuddered at that, "Then I owe you both."
"Oh, don't worry," Nguvu said with a very toothy leonine grin, "we plan to collect!"
"I'm afraid to ask what I'm agreeing to," Sean chuckled while shaking his own head.
"You didn't agree to anything," The First said, "They did," and he waved towards the other lions on the hill with a paw.
"Yes, but you told them to!" Nguvu laughed.
"What did he tell them?" Sean was curious now as to just what he was going to have to do.
"The next two times you breed one of your wives with a lion, we will each be born."
"So do the world a favor," one of the other lions from the group said in an exaggerated whisper, "Only have lionesses from this point out!"
"Aw, you wouldn't do that to us, would you, Sean?" Mtawala said.
"I think," The First growled, "that the two of you had really better get a move on, or he won't be having any children."
"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" Sean sighed.
"I thought you already did," The First rumbled and as Sean watched, the two lions both suddenly disappeared.
"How long will it take them to heal me?"
"Not very, once they get there. But they both have a long way to travel, which is why I wanted them to get started."
"Nobody who was closer wanted to do it?" Sean asked, "Or does it take some special ability?"
"None of the younger ones wanted to leave what they're doing. Mtawala and Nguvu are older and they don't mind leaving as much. Especially now that they've been assured that they'll get to go again."
"Wait, go again?" Sean said confused. "And why's it such a big deal to leave what you're doing?"
"Because they're going to give you their power," The First said. "All of it."
Sean wasn't sure what to make of that, as all of the other lions nodded.
"So don't screw up again, because the next time, no one is going to want to help you. This is a one time thing."
"I thought you said you'd destroy me if I screwed up again?"
"Yeah, there's that too."
§
"So," Roxy said to everyone in the room, after relating the news, "that's what we're up against."
"How tough can a bunch of wizards be?" Daelyn asked.
"Very," Maitland said, "lycans are just as susceptible to magic as anyone else, and a large number of mages can cast an enormous amount of spells, more if they decided to circle, which I'm sure some of them will.
"Add to that any magical charms or items that they may have, and we're talking a tremendous magical onslaught. Just be glad that these don't seem to be highly trained for war, or we would be in very serious trouble."
"So what do we do about it?"
"How many of your people have those amulets that protect against mind magic?"
"Two hundred and sixty-five," Oak said. "Sean was going to make a bunch more once we got the new people settled, but," Oak motioned to Sean's unconscious body on the bed.
"I would say that we consider moving those who don't have the amulets to a central location, where we can cast a ward over all of them. That or move them someplace else. They'll be the most susceptible."
Roxy nodded, "What about them? How do we engage them?"
"My daughter and I shouldn't have too many problems, and once their shields and spells start to run down, the lycan troops can engage them. But when they first come at us, they'll have all of their best spells and best defenses set. So I would suggest heavy artillery to beat down their shields and flamethrowers."
"What would be best," Daelyn grumbled, "would be if we could just get rid of this Morgan guy. If he's the one rallying their troops, without him around, perhaps it would all fall apart."
"Well, I don't see us being able to do that," Roxy replied.
"She has a valid point," Maitland said.
"She does?"
Maitland nodded, "If he is their leader, we need to target him first, just as they're targeting Sean. We should make all of our efforts aimed at killing him first, when the attack comes. That will hopefully make it that much easier to get them to break and run."
"Gas works well against them too," Hunter spoke up.
"Gas?" Roxy asked.
Hunter nodded, "Something colorless and odorless, so they don't see it coming."
"Won't they just cast a spell to stop it?"
"Most magic users don't expect to get into fights these days, so they don't have the spells to deal with something unexpected like that. We just have to make sure that they don't blow it back at us."
Cali listened to them as they continued to discuss what they would have to do to defend against the coming attack, but her mind was only partially on it. Daelyn's comment had struck a chord in her: if they killed the leader, the rest would fold. It had been her job to kill a leader once, but she had failed at that job, much to her everlasting disgrace and shame. But this time, this time there was no one to warn of her plans, no one who could betray her. She could redeem her honor and remove her shame. This was her house now; Sean was her husband as well as her lord. She would save him, and all of those in her new house.
Cali smiled as she looked around the room slowly, as they finished up their meeting and set off to do their assigned tasks.
She could do this.
She would do this.
Behind Closed Doors
Grandmother Robin grumbled to herself as she sent the assistant librarian back off into the deep stacks of old books to find another tome for her. Her daughter Valerie and her grandson Gunter, who had both become outstanding healers in their own right, were helping her comb through the stacks of old books. Thankfully everything was cross-referenced or they'd be here forever.
"I found another one, Mother," Valerie said, and slid the old leather bound book over for Robin to look at. The pages were actually vellum instead of paper; this was definitely one of the older books in their library. Most were newer copies of older ones, but this looked like an original.
Scann
ing over the page, Robin found it. A spell to reverse necrosis. While Sean's tissues may only be recently dead, they were still dead, if only a few minutes ago. They had found several spells last night to stop that effect from spreading, if only temporarily, so they could be healed. Now they needed a spell to reverse the dead flesh, so that too could be healed.
Running her finger down the page, Robin smiled; the notations around the spell told the user that this spell only had a high success rate if used immediately. Its purpose was for surgeries that were once considered dangerous, because of the crude tools surgeons had to rely on a thousand years ago. Apparently it was not uncommon for even the best of surgeons to damage important tissue while cleaning or repairing a wound. This spell's purpose was to fix those mistakes.
"This looks promising," Robin said copying the spell into the book she had set aside for this endeavor.
"We should bring the other healers in and go over just exactly what we're planning on doing," Gunter said. "This is going to take a lot of coordination. We're going to have people casting three different types of spells as we restore or stabilize tissue, and then heal it before it can degrade again."
"Four types, actually," Robin sighed.
Gunter looked up at her.
"We need to replace his mana. I don't think he'll have recovered any because of that field he's in. So if we don't replace it, his body will just eat itself when his own healing kicks in."
Gunter blushed in embarrassment.
"He's right though, Mother," Valerie sighed and leaning back in her chair she stretched. "If Gunter forgot about that, the odds of any one of us overlooking something is too great to ignore. If we get more eyes in here and start going over the details now, the more likely someone will find anything that the three of us have overlooked."