by Jan Stryvant
Maybe Morgan was right, Al seemed to think so, but Jerry wasn't so sure. In fact he was starting to think that maybe it was time for him to step aside for someone younger and more aggressive than he was. As for right now, he was going to go back to his office and go over all of the reports and all of the files one more time. The last thing he wanted was to be responsible for a lack of information that might end up sending their people into a meat grinder a second time.
"Yes, Mother?" Roberta said as she walked into her mother's office. It was late, many hours after midnight and her mother never stayed up this late. From the look of her sitting behind her desk in her nightgown, Roberta suspected that she'd been in bed.
"I just had a very interesting conversation with Channtelle."
Roberta sighed, Channtelle was one of their more notorious members who was definitely on the other side of the good / bad divide.
"What's she done this time?"
Deanna shook her head, "Nothing bad, in fact I have to commend her for remembering who our friends are. You know that Sean and the others were attacked at their home Sunday night?"
Roberta nodded, "Yes. I haven't heard from Sean or the others about it however."
"That's because Sean was critically injured. He's in a coma apparently."
"What!" Roberta said eyes wide.
"Tomorrow, some of the elder dwarven healers are going to go up to Sean's and heal him. However, from all accounts, the Vestibulum are planning to attack again, and soon, so as to 'finish the job.'"
"Oh no!" Roberta gasped, "What are we going to do about it?"
"There's not much the Guild can do about it, Roberta, the Vestibulum are way more powerful than the Guild and in any straight up confrontation between the two of us, we will lose. I have to keep the best interests of the women here first and foremost, after all.
"But Sean is your man, the father of your unborn daughter, so it seems you have a decision to make."
"I have to go up there," Roberta said, nodding.
Deanna smiled at her daughter, "Yes, you should. They don't have a lot of magic users up there. In fact I think you should bring as many who want to go with you. While the Guild can't do anything, no one would know that we were involved if you were all to go up there before any attack that may happen."
"Thanks mother!" Roberta said and ran around the desk to give her mother a hug.
"Oh, don't thank me yet," Deanna warned her.
"Why?" Roberta asked, looking at her a little suspicious.
"If you go up there, and if Sean survives, I daresay that he's going to keep you there."
"What!"
Deanna sighed heavily and looked at her daughter, "I should never have bought you that lion plush when you were a little girl, I swear all you've ever had were lions on the brain. You went after Sampson, and look where that got you."
Roberta blushed, "But he gave me Sarah! And well," Roberta blushed again, "he was worth it."
"And you went after Sean the moment you saw him, but unlike Sampson, Sean needs you, as well wants you with him. You need to decide Roberta, it's the Guild, or it's Sean. Neither one of us is going to let you keep vacillating between the two of us for much longer. You're going to have to choose."
Roberta bit her lip, her mother was right, if she went up there, and Sean lived, there'd be no leaving him. If she stayed here, he'd still visit, but what if she stayed here and he didn't survive? How would she feel then?
Night Moves
Cali untangled herself from the others, it was almost time to go get Sheila, so heading off to the bathroom, she quickly cleaned up and grabbed the things she'd need for tonight. Then slipping out of the room, she made her way down to Sheila's.
A soft tap in the door, and Sheila opened it, looking at her.
"Let's go."
She heard Sheila sigh as she came out of the room and quietly closed the door behind her, they both headed for the back door, with Cali leading. Cali smiled and said a soft 'hello' to the guard who smiled and spent more time ogling her body than asking any questions.
"Which car should we take?" Cali asked Sheila as she looked around at the several cars and vans that now filled the parking lot.
"This one, it's the quietest," Sheila told her. So they got into Sean's mother's car and after starting it up, Sheila slowly drove off.
"Okay, now where are we going?" Sheila asked her.
"To the Vestibulum compound," Cali said as they drove past the gate.
"What! Why are we going there?"
"You are going there to help me get in," Cali smiled and handed Sheila a map. "I made a map so you can find it."
"I know where it is," Sheila growled.
"Oh, good!"
"Do you have a map of the insides of the place as well?"
Cali nodded. "I was there when Sean and Daelyn questioned the people they brought back from Sawyer's place after the attack there. I made copies of everything."
Sheila nodded her head in reply; after their earlier conversation, she wasn't surprised that Cali was prepared.
The drive there was quiet. Cali just sat there staring out the window thinking about what she had to do. This was going to be her big chance at finally redeeming herself, of living up to what she had been trained to do, of becoming what she was meant to become. Everything that had happened to her since she'd been betrayed and discovered, all of the pain, the humiliation, the punishment, all of that would no longer matter. This time she would triumph, this time she would not fail. This time her ancestors would smile on her and when the time came to pass on, she could enter into the afterlife with her head held high as they would all know that she had done her family and her teachers honor.
When they turned off onto the road that the compound was on, Cali gave Sheila directions to turn down a side road, and then told her where to park the car.
"Okay, we're a quarter mile from the compound. We'll go on foot from here."
"What do you need me to do?" Sheila asked, sounding just a little worried.
"I need to get inside the residence. I might need your help for that."
"Why?"
"I don't know much about the modern alarm systems they use here," Cali shrugged and taking off her sneakers, she left them in the car, and then pulling out a black cap, she tucked her long red hair up inside of it, hiding it from view so it didn't give her away. "I only know about the ones they use in Europe."
Sheila realized that was all of the answer she was going to get, so she just nodded and followed Cali as she led them through the scrub and around the occasional tree as they quietly moved past the homes. At least everything here was spread out, so it wasn't like they were having any problems avoiding any locals that might be awake.
When they came to the compound, Cali could see the damage that the attack from two days ago had done; she could even see two of the spots where the walls had been breached. From the rock that was lying around, no one had even started to clean up the mess yet.
Cali stopped and took a minute to get her bearings. She could see the main residence on the other side of the wall, so they were where she wanted to be. Then she took a closer look, trying to spot any obvious traps, and checking for where the guards were keeping watch, so she could avoid those areas as well.
Last of all Cali looked for the telltale signs of magical spells and trip lines. There were several still on the walls, but they only covered half of them now and there were none on the ground leading up to the wall at all. She guessed that they still hadn't repaired the spells that the attack had broken either.
Cali pointed to a spot on the wall. "We'll go over there," she whispered to Sheila.
"Why there?"
"There's no magic there."
"How do you know that?" Sheila whispered back warily.
"Oh, I can see it."
"You can see magic?" Sheila was surprised by that admission.
"Oh, all dark elves can see magic, some better than others. I'm very good at it.
; "Now come," Cali said and bending down low to present less of a profile she dashed over to the wall with Sheila following.
Once there, Cali got out two thin daggers and Sheila watched in surprise as Cali used them to climb the wall.
Sheila simply shifted into her hybrid form, and using both her lycan strength and her fox claws, she quickly followed Cali up, using her claws to climb.
Cali had to admit that was pretty handy as she watched Sheila climb up behind her. Too bad dark elves couldn't be infected with lycanthropy, being able to change into say a big black cat would definitely make scaling walls a lot easier.
Dropping down the other side of the wall into the shadows, Cali took a moment to assess her surroundings as Sheila landed quietly next to her. Cali took a moment to glance at Sheila, she hadn't seen her in her hybrid form before, and she had to admit, Sheila was rather sexy as a fox. Then again, from what Peg had told her, Sheila's looks were why she'd been made into what she was.
Not really unlike why Cali had been picked to be trained into what she was.
Turning back to look around the area, she didn't see any guards, though she could see a spider's web of spell lines glowing on the grounds, which were probably alarms that would trip if you stepped on one.
"Do not stray," Cali whispered as softly as she could, causing Sheila's ears to twitch. "There are magical alarms here," and with that Cali took a careful route to the house. At least it wasn't far from the wall here.
When they got to the house, she counted windows between the one they were at, and the end of the house to get her bearings. She had a map of the building, but it was based on what people had remembered, so she had no idea of just how accurate it was. She moved over two windows, but the magical lines on the ground prevented her from going any further and she dared not cross them right now.
"Open this one," Cali whispered.
Sheila nodded and quickly checked the window for alarms. Surprisingly, she found one, and pulling a few items out from the pouch on her waist, Cali watched as Sheila quickly tricked it, then opened the window, which wasn't locked.
Cali eyed the alarm bypass and carefully climbed through the window, with Sheila following her. Looking around the darkened room, they were in the library, which confirmed the information she'd been given. Now they just had to find their way upstairs.
Tiptoeing across the room, Cali went for the door on the far right side of the room, as that was closest to one of the stairways that led up. When she got there, she peeked under the door while Sheila checked it for alarms. Once Sheila had nodded to her, Cali opened it carefully, and then using a mirror Cali checked the hallway.
There was a man sitting at a desk facing the front door. He was reading a book, and not paying all that much attention to anything behind him, and he was surrounded by two glowing circles on the floor. Neither of which came anywhere near them, so moving quietly and carefully, Cali made her way to the stairs and slowly started up them, with a now human Sheila following carefully.
When they got to the next level, Cali got down on the ground, before she came to the top of the stairs for that floor, and crawling up the last few steps carefully, she peeked over the top and looked down the hallway. There was a guard on this floor as well, sitting at a desk, like the one downstairs. Only this desk was set in the middle of the hallway and faced out from the wall, giving the guard a clear view of the entire hallway. There weren't any glowing lines on the floor around him, though she could see several glowing items on the desk.
This guard was also reading a book, though at the end of each page he would look up and check each end of the hallway while he turned the page.
Cali counted slowly until he turned the page, then did it again. It took him about thirty seconds between page turns; this was going to be tough. She wished that she had access to better equipment; a blowgun with a dart would work best here. Maybe in the future she would have to visit this 'Sawyer' that they talked about; maybe he had access to some of the better tools of her trade.
Sheila patted her leg and moving back down below the step Cali looked at Sheila.
"Suggestion?" Cali whispered in her ear.
"Not a one," Sheila admitted.
"The hard way, then," Cali sighed and quickly stripped down to the buff, removing all of her clothing she handed it to Sheila, who was looking at her wide-eyed and concerned.
Smiling, Cali crawled back up the stairs and waited until the guard looked up as he turned the page. Giving him a few seconds to get engrossed in what he was reading, she stood up quickly, and then proceeded to stroll down the hallway, on quiet feet, stark naked, with a big smile and a fixed expression on her face, eyes fixed on the far part of the hallway.
Carl started and then jumped in his seat as he saw her: a red haired, black skinned woman, completely naked, was strolling down the hallway, and she was hot! She had a big smile on her face and she was strolling down the hallway, just as bold as day.
"Stop right there!" Carl said turning in his seat to face her.
She didn't stop, she didn't even seem to notice him, she just kept walking down the hallway in his direction, that incredibly hot body of hers getting closer and closer. He was just about to sound the alarm when he realized that she wasn't looking at him, her gaze was fixed straight ahead and she wasn't making a sound!
Grumbling Carl set the book down; obviously Ted had gotten bored downstairs and was playing a trick on him.
"Damn, Ted," Carl sighed and shook his head, "You almost had me! But really, red hair on a black woman? And that body! Way too good to be true!"
Standing up Carl moved around the desk, he'd pop Ted's little illusion when it got to him and see if he couldn't give the guy a headache. Carl had to admit though; it was a pretty good trick. He had no idea that Ted was a practical joker, but then these long shifts were pretty boring now that they didn't have any lycans to do them.
As she came up to him, Carl poked the illusion with his finger, which he knew, combined with his disbelief, would cause it to disintegrate.
Only, instead of dispelling the illusion, his finger hit soft flesh!
Cali smiled at the guard's shocked expression when his finger poked her in the chest.
Then she punched him in the throat with a knuckle strike, before he could warn the others, crushing his larynx. Grabbing him by the belt, she hauled him away from the desk, to keep him from possibly hitting any of the alarms there, as he started to flail at her.
Spinning him around before he got orientated, she kicked him behind the knee with the side of her foot, causing his leg to bend as she wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled down with her weight. She had to kick the other one as well, she wasn't very heavy really, but that did the trick and she brought him down to his knees, as he grabbed her arm and tried to take a breath, but with her arm around his neck in a choke hold, along with the damage from her initial strike, he wasn't able to.
Before he could get his wits back, and possibly get away from her, or worse yet, cast a spell, Cali pulled back her right arm and hit him with a knuckle strike to the temple, as hard as she could, momentarily stunning him. Pushing his body forward, she jumped up into the air bending her knees, her arms out for balance as her red hair fanned out around her head, and as he went prone, face first on the floor beneath her, she snapped out her right foot in a knife edge kick to the base of his skull as her body came back down, combining her weight with the force of the kick and snapping his spine and killing him instantly.
Rolling off the body, she listened a moment. The whole thing had been quiet, except for when the guard's body had hit the floor, but the carpet here was thick, so she didn't think anyone had heard it.
Looking down the hallway, she saw a very wide-eyed Sheila peeking over the edge of the landing.
Cali waved her forward, and then turning back to the now dead guard she carefully picked him up, and dragged him back to his chair, which she spent several minutes re-arranging him in, so it would hopefully not be obvio
us that he was dead should anyone come up here before she was finished.
Looking around she saw Sheila was still back by the steps, and putting her hands on her hips and tapping her foot, Cali stared at her, and then motioned for her to come here.
Cali watched as Sheila slowly came down the hallway, looking around nervously.
Cali took her shirt and vest first and put them on first, then her shorts, and then her cap to hide her hair. Once dressed she patted her vest to make sure everything was where she'd put it. Then turning she counted the doors on the left side of the hallway, until she had the one that she wanted.
"I, I had chloroform!" Sheila whispered, looking at the dead guard, shocked.
Cali held out her hand, "Give."
Sheila nodded and handed her a small flask, and then a small cloth.
"Thanks," Cali said and put them in her pocket, then quickly moved over to the door to the room that she wanted. There were glowing lines on it, so she looked at them for a moment, stopping Sheila from touching it. This was always the tricky part.
Finding one of what her instructors had called a 'feed node' she carefully put her hand on it, and started to draw out the power of the spell.
"What are you doing?" Sheila whispered.
"Draining the spell," Cali whispered back.
"You can do that?"
Cali just nodded; dark elves' relationship with magic was different than that of the other races, because of the way magic worked in their home world. She pulled the magic into herself and let it flow through her and out into the floor of the house beneath her through her bare feet, feeling the almost sexual rush that it gave her. It was too bad that the ability only worked on spells like this one, if it had worked on items, she might have been able to drain the collar put around her neck back when she was first sold.