by T S Paul
“Holy crap, Agatha! That was awesome!” Cat exclaimed.
It had taken a lot out of me, but it did the job. Only the Demon Bats survived the blast, and they were screeching away in panic. Both bracelets were glowing.
“I’m glad it worked, but now anything and anyone in the area saw that as well. Expect the Demons to counterattack. We need to get off this bridge and into the city,” I told her.
I felt Chuck as he stepped up beside me and asked, “Would what looks like a military convoy count as good or bad?”
“We’ve fought cultists before. It depends. Why do you ask?” I asked him.
Chuck pointed toward the right of the bus. We were finally off the bridge. Just a short bit more and we’d be in the oldest part of the city. That was where the true battle would start. Speeding straight at us from the west were two military vehicles, and it looked as though they weren’t stopping!
“Cat, look out!”
Chapter 8
Team leader Xavier Cedar was at one of those moments that changes a person. The city of Charleston was under major attack and he and his team were supposed to ignore it. Landing in a flaming hot landing zone was bad enough. There were Demons everywhere! He’d called it in to Arcane command back in Indian Springs and had gotten this answer.
“No. Commander, I do understand your dilemma. We’ve all been there. If you complete the primary mission, you may tackle the secondary. Intelligence believes that Camilla Blackmore is the key to stopping the Demon Lord from raising even more forces. Stop her and we may have a chance at winning this. The civilians will have to fend for themselves for now,” tactical operations Commander Best explained.
“That’s not acceptable to us, Commander. People are being eaten by the hundreds and we’re just letting it happen!” Xavier replied.
“Sacrifice a city to save a nation. This is the sort of choice Arcane has to make. Do you really think we like making them?” Commander Best asked. He hid it well, but there was anguish in his voice. “My family lives just outside of Charleston. It is all I can do to not call and warn them. This is the job you signed up for, Xavier. You know the consequences of not following orders.”
Xavier bowed his head for a moment, remembering his fellow team leaders. Just before the Sicily operation, a large majority of them rebelled and refused to enter the fight against the Horde. He’d heard rumors, but they were all either dead or locked away in the deepest hell Arcane could find for them. Information was power. All four of them and their teams knew way too many of the secrets this country tried to hide from its citizens. “I do.”
“I know it sucks, Xavier. But if the one that raised them is allowed to roam free…” Michael Best paused. “If she is allowed to escape, she could do this again, and again, and again. You and your team were the ones that brought us the intel on her and the Strega. It was you who made the connection. Do your job.”
Xavier stared at the transmitter in his hand before he spoke. “Understood. But all these deaths are on your head.”
<<<>>>
Across the country, deep below the Indian Springs military base, Commander Michael Best pressed a button shutting down the transmission. “They already are. Status of Theta Section?”
A technician sitting next to the commander looked up at him. “Unknown. Exfiltration was completed, but the helo disappeared.”
“And the Mage Storm?” Best asked.
“Past level F13 and climbing. The science section says it has already surpassed any storm recorded. Only those described by the Fae in legend surpass this one,” the technician replied.
Commander Best sighed. “And those were what brought that race to our world in the first place. What do the Mages say?”
“That it’s hopeless!” A voice shouted from across the room.
Commander Best looked up. An older man with rheumy eyes and rumpled clothing stood just inside the doorway. His shirt was stained with some sort of purple liquid and there were what appeared to be feathers in his hair. “Mage Ward,” Best said. “Thank you for joining us.”
The old man frowned and shrugged off the door guard’s attempts to either stop or help him. He marched down the aisle of desks and workstations until he stood in front of the main control center. “You and these idiots you hired allowed it to happen. The end of humanity.”
Michael shook his head. “No we haven’t, and you know it. Humanity is resilient. We have always overcome what life has thrown at us.”
“Life? You call a Demon invasion life?” The old Mage shook his head. “We should never have loosened our control over this group. The vision of Arcane has changed too much.”
“The vision is still the same, only much more modern. Humans are our only focus,” Michael replied. He made a slight motion with his hand.
Mage Ward snapped his fingers and a purple tinted shield popped into existence all around him and each member of the command staff, except Commander Best and the approaching guards. The entire room was suddenly deathly silent. A faint hissing noise could be heard from above. “You forget who built this place, boy. That trick was old in my time.”
Guards on either side of the room stopped and looked toward the commander. Their orders were to apprehend the purple shielded Mage but even they knew it was impossible with shields. As part of their training, they had been immunized from the sleep spray Arcane used to subdue malcontents.
“What would you have me do?” Commander Best asked.
“More control over the Mages under you would be a good start. Teaching them to not screw with the weather is another. How do you plan to stop that thing?” Mage Ward asked.
Michael sighed and looked at the Mage, “you can drop the shields now. We won’t hurt you.”
Mage Blaise Ward snorted and looked up at the commander incredulously. “I was born at night, but not last night. The shields stay.”
“Fine. Whatever. Our plan was to use every available Mage to deflect the storm out to sea…”
“Which you don’t have,” Ward interjected.
“Then ask the Witches Council for a favor,” Best replied.
“Which you won’t get. Not from those bozos,” Mage Ward laughed.
Commander Best ignored the old man. “With their help, we should be able to turn the storm away from our country and either have it dissipate or turn it out to sea.”
The Mage shook his head and pointed at Michael. “That right there tells me you’re out of touch. Turning a storm like that loose on the Pacific Ocean could kill hundreds of fishermen and impact an island or small country. You do know that those people are humans as well, don’t you?”
“He does,” a new voice snapped from the entrance to the room.
All heads turned to stare at the two men in the doorway.
“Mage Ward, it’s time for you to leave. Either return to Zeta level or leave the base entirely. Commander Best has a job to do,” Mr. Right said.
“Another one of our mistakes. Right and Left,” the old man muttered.
“I won’t ask what it was you just said. It’s not important to the conversation,” Mr. Right said as he stepped fully into the room. A step or two behind him was the man known as Mr. Left. He served as both a troubleshooter and an assassin if need be. “The Mage Storm is being handled.”
Both Commander Best and Mage Ward spoke at the same time. “It is?”
“Check the screen.” Mr. Right pointed upward. “Residents of the Fae community, in conjunction with the American Witches Council, have turned the storm and are compacting it somehow.”
With the leaders of Arcane in the room with him, Mage Ward dropped the shields.
Seeing this, Michael barked an order to the techs and the image on the screen shifted. An overhead image of more than a dozen Witches and Wizards could be seen doing something to what was left of the storm.
“That does not excuse you from your lack of duty,” Ward replied. The older Mage turned his head and smiled at Mr. Right. “You should check outside to see if a sq
uadron of flying pigs just rolled by. How did you do it?”
“My ways are my own. Thank you for your concerns, but we have everything under control here,” Mr. Right replied.
“Still not believing you on that one. Never forget, we are watching you. You only think you are in charge up here.” Mage Ward turned around and walked toward the door. With a wave of his hand, the men guarding the room all flew backwards, sticking to the surrounding walls. He glared at the leaders of Arcane as he walked past them. Mr. Left’s hands gripped pistols but didn’t raise them.
“You needed to gas him as soon as he appeared. It’s the only way to be sure,” Mr. Right commented as soon as the old Mage was clear of the room.
“Why do we allow them to live down there?” Commander Best asked his boss.
Mr. Right looked around the room at the attentive technicians and said, “Another time and place, Commander. We will discuss this in my office.”
Right and Left left the same way the Mage did, through the main door. Every man and woman in the room sighed in relief and thanked whichever gods they followed that no one had died. Something was off if the leaders were fighting each other.
Mr. Left, notorious for random kills, looked back through the door at Commander Best and shook his finger.
Michael gave the room a once over and yelled, “Get us back online! Give me Storm tracks and pinpoint that Portal in Charleston. This isn’t over by far, folks.”
Speaking to his assistant beside him, Michael bent down and whispered, “Hold the fort here. I need to make a call.”
Within moments, he was upstairs in his office calling Washington. “We have a problem here.”
“What sort of problem?” Grand Master of the Hammer, Mathias Offenberg asked.
“The kind that could lose us the support of Right and Left,” Commander Best explained.
“It’s your job to ensure that doesn’t happen. We are so close. Do not be the one link in the chain that brings us down, Commander,” Mathias growled.
“I’ll take care of it. I just wanted you and the others to be aware of the problem,” Best replied.
“What did you do?” Mathias asked.
Michael stared at the phone in his hand for a moment before starting to explain. “In all of our planning, we forgot about the Mages that started Arcane. Only a few are left, but they still wield power over this place…”
<<<>>>
“It’s either with us or without us, Sergeant.” Xavier’s faint British accent made him sound a bit like a secret agent. “But we are taking the Humvee with us. Downtown Charleston is too far to hoof it.”
“That is an issue, sir. I signed for that vehicle, and it needs to be within my sight at all times,” Martinez replied.
Xavier slowly shook his head. He and the others were inside the air tower, looking out at the Demon-infested airport runways through the tinted glass. Charleston was miles away and they needed that truck. He was about to give Victoria a sign to freeze the lot of them when the sergeant spoke again.
“This position isn’t defendable. With all the Demonic activity, only an idiot would attempt to land here, your pilots notwithstanding. Can my men and I attach themselves to your unit? I do understand that you and your team aren’t regular service,” Sergeant Martinez stated.
Robert Jenkins, Team Wood’s weapons specialist, started to laugh. He covered his mouth for a moment but couldn’t keep the chuckle in. Xavier turned to glare at the heavily armed man, but that only made him laugh more. After a moment, the man regained some control of himself. “We,” he pointed to his companions, “are just about as far from regular service as you can get.”
Sergeant Martinez looked at his three men and smiled, they got it too. At least one of these strangers had a sense of humor.
“You can’t just leave me here alone!” Army Air Controller Jacob Stevens remarked. He was starting to think coming downstairs was a bad idea.
Everyone had forgotten about the man whose tower this was. Stevens was literally shaking in his boots at the idea of dealing with a field full of Demons.
“My original orders and that of my men was to guard the door and prevent access of unauthorized personnel. Demons don’t quite fit that description and as I told these folks,” Sergeant Martinez explained, “we cannot defend this spot. Are you able to direct planes in at this moment?”
Stevens winced and shook his head. “You’re right. But I’m not a gun-toting soldier. I direct planes for a living!”
“To earn those stripes on your arm, you must have had the same basic training as these men over here.” Xavier pointed to the guards. “Am I correct?”
“Well, yes,” the controller replied.
“Great! Can you drive a truck?” Xavier asked and pointed toward an equipment shed.
<<<>>>
That was how Team Wood and company found themselves roaring down the highway, weaving in and out of stalled or damaged cars. Many shots were fired from both sides of the vehicles, but ammunition was at a premium.
The fastest way to the historic area of Charleston from the airport was straight down the business route of highway 52, which was clogged with dozens of civilian vehicles. So much so they were having to drive up onto sidewalks and grassed medians to make any sort of progress.
“Watch out for that…” there was a loud bang followed by a crunching sound, “…car.” Human Mage Victoria Pepper zapped another Demon Bat off the Humvee windscreen with a tiny fireball. Victoria covered her eyes. “There’s more of these things than there were in Sicily!”
Hamilton waved his hand at a mob of Imps, watching them explode one by one. Killing things gave him a small thrill. He understood why the creatures were here but he had a job to do. “The Demon Prince wasn’t present in Sicily.”
“Who are we going to kill, then? The woman or the Demon?” TJ asked. The master martial artist rubbed his hand together.
“Some of the intel says they might be the same person. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Not too much longer now,” Xavier replied. “Radio the truck to take point. I can see lots of cars ahead.”
Team Wood’s Humvee moved back, and the three-quarter-ton truck took its place. Its whole purpose here was to soak up the damage. Suddenly the drivers of both vehicles slammed on their brakes to avoid colliding with an approaching airport shuttle bus.
Chapter 9
Cat yanked the wheel of the bus, swinging us around in a screeching turn. I could see actual smoke coming from our tires. The army Humvee and truck that I’d seen at the last minute had swerved at well.
“Is everyone ok?” Cat yelled out.
I had a soreness on my left leg from hitting the wall of the bus but nothing a quick whispered cantrip couldn’t fix. Checking my front pocket, I could see that Fergus, as usual, was still asleep.
“What the hell was that?” Chuck asked.
Cat was visibly shaken. She’d been ignoring the traffic signals because, well, Demons. And then out of seemingly nowhere a small military convoy had come barreling toward them.
“We nearly hit a couple of military trucks. They’re over there.” Cat pointed across the intersection to a field under the parkway structure.
Chuck hit the door and took up a defensive position, still watching for Demons. Taking a quick glance around I pulled a tiny bit of power from Fergus and my own reserves. Channeling it through both bracelets at the same time I threw up a shield over the bus. “Can you see who they are?”
“Humans. They sound pissed!” Chuck replied.
As I watched from inside the bus I could see a group of soldiers taking positions around the larger truck and a motley collection of people by the Humvee.
“Agatha, I think you should come out here,” Chuck asked.
I checked on Blake before standing up. The young Agent’s frozen body had rolled off the padded bench and was lying on the deck of the bus. He still had a frozen look of surprise on his face. I shook my head. Reporting this incident was going to be just
so much fun. Director Mills wasn’t going to be very amused with me.
The short bus we borrowed had a rail to hold while climbing aboard along with two steps down. Rather than take the steps, I swung down and out of the bus. Half in and half out. It looked and felt cool. “What’s up?”
Chuck looked over his shoulder at my position and smirked, “Funny. I thought you might want to speak to these folks before they shoot at us. That tall one doesn’t look happy and I think at least one is a Mage.”
The other group was maybe two hundred feet from us, so I was able to pick out certain details. Heavily armed, not regular service, and Magickally capable. Like flicking a switch inside my brain, I turned on that part of my Magick Grandmother calls Mage Sight and looked at the approaching humans.
Bright is the only way I can describe three of them. The two men and a single woman were lit from the inside like pumpkins at Samhain. Grandmother had once told me of human Mages and at the time I didn’t quite believe her.
<<<>>>
“Human Mages are a rarity, Agatha. They appear in the human population about one in one-hundred-thousand children. All children are able to recognize Magick for what it is at a young age. But only a few can do anything with it. They must be identified and trained,” Marcella Blackmore explained.
I can remember looking at her incredulously. “How?”
“How what child?” She asked me.
“Why can all children see Magick? You told me once that only Paranormals had that ability,” I answered.
My grandmother smiled that smile she always used when I said something pleasing. “Our species and theirs have always mixed throughout time. We weren’t always separate. Interbreeding is possible with almost all the humanoid races. It is only tradition and prejudice that have prevented it. If you examine every human Mage you will discover that somewhere in their background is a Paranormal. History… I should clarify that. Human history is filled with them. Do the names Merlin and Taliesin ring a bell? Nostradamus and John Dee were others. Humans with just the right amount of ancestry.”