by T S Paul
Tears were running down my face, I could feel them. “I don’t believe it. I can’t. Grandmother…” I wiped by face with the sleeve of my jacket. “Grandmother raised Camilla just as she did my mom. As mean as she is there is no way, not even a little bit, that she could do something like this! How much hatred do you have to have in your body to allow this to happen to babies?”
“Agatha, I was right there with you when she fought beside those assassins. She tried to kill you a bunch of times and you were just a kid then, remember?” Cat wrapped her arm around me.
“I need to look her in the eye and hear it for myself. Only a monster would do this!” I pointed at the small body behind me.
“And a monster did.” Xavier Cedar’s voice interrupted us.
Without even looking I asked, “How so? I can see that Demons were here.”
“Captain Demons. Nasty creatures, and a real bitch to bring down. This mess was at least one, plus a group of smaller soldiers. I can see the imprints of their feet,” Xavier replied.
I spun around to see him and the Mages squatting down on the ground, straddling the rail tracks near even more bodies. The monk and the soldier were flanking them, guns drawn. They really were a finely tuned unit.
“A Demon is a Demon. I’ll burn them down for this atrocity!” I couldn’t live with the loss of so many helpless people.
Xavier signaled his people with hand motions. The two gun-toting guards spread out a bit and the Mages each took two steps back. Their heads were all swiveling left and right. “Not every Demon behaves this way. Trust me when I say that. We’ve fought them for years.”
“Like this?” I swirled my hand around me at the destruction.
“Not exactly, but yes. We were in Sicily a day or so ago.” Xavier paused as one of the Mages motioned to him. He shook his head at her and continued, “That is Top Secret by the way. There wasn’t a Demon Lord there. According to documents we found, they conducted a ritual requiring a massive amount of death and brought a being across the dimensional planes. We think that part of the sacrifice required your Aunt Camilla. The Demon Lord isn’t just here. It’s her. The monster you seek really isn’t your Aunt but the Demon inside her.”
I stood stock still for what seemed hours but was only seconds. Grandmother had trained me very well. It was her intention for me to take over the Coven when I was older. Neither of her daughters were worthy enough for the responsibility of ruling the town and her other duties. Duties that I had only just recently found out about. During the course of these classes and trials I was taught about that which threatens our world. Everything from Dragons to Demons. I’d only encountered each a single time so far not counting the current situation. I knew about possession of the soul but not the body!
“That’s not supposed to be possible. Demons can take your soul and eat your body, but not both. How?” I asked.
“A spell. Only one spell could do it and it’s found in the Book of Undying. At least according to rumor that is,” Xavier explained. There was a slight catch in his voice that I picked up on immediately.
“Which copy does Arcane have, the one from California or Haiti?” I asked. I knew the name of the book he spoke of. Every Witch in the world was supposed to know of it. A small part of our training was based around the knowledge believed to exist within it.
Xavier shook his head but the two Mages with him looked at each other then back at their boss.
I didn’t buy it. The book could and would protect itself from prying eyes. A human shouldn’t even be able to speak the name of it without spellwork. “California then. It was thought to be lost during the earthquake. Do your masters understand the threat that book poses for the world? They’re playing with fire! How did the Demons get ahold of it?” I asked.
The female Mage took a step closer to Xavier just as he said, “It’s not our copy they have.”
Victoria slapped Xavier across the back of his head in a classic ‘Gibbs maneuver’ and threw up her hands in disgust. “Idiot.”
Xavier frowned and shook his own head and stared at the Mage. “Sorry.”
“You better be. Wait until Michael hears about that little slip of yours,” Victoria remarked.
“If what you imply is true, we need to find it. That book can doom us all,” I stated.
“What sort of book are we talking about? A grimoire?” Cat asked.
“Not exactly. Nobody knows for sure when they were created, but a group of books called the Undying became known to the Witches Council around the year twelve hundred. It is believed that only a dozen true copies existed in this world. They are filled with Magick so black and evil that only a trained archiver is allowed to touch it,” I explained.
“I’m all for freedom of the press and stuff but why allow something like that to exist?” Cat asked.
“It’s not. They spent years tracking the copies down all over the world. My Great Great Grandmother Verity Blackmore was part of the hunt. She took a copy off Dragases Palaiologos himself in 1453. Even that one was destroyed. Only two are thought to still exist.” I paused and pointed at Xavier. “Now this man over here is worried that I’ll inform on him and have his destroyed as well.”
“If it must be,” Xavier replied.
I looked down in thought and consulted the bracelets. They had started whispering to me a few months ago in English, or at least I think it’s English. They had their own opinions of many things. But something this evil had to be stopped.
As I communed, I listened to the Humans. Both Mages rebuked their leader, telling him to shut the hell up and to stop giving it all away.
“Do you know which Demon is inside of her?” I asked.
Xavier shook his head. “We don’t, and it’s only a possibility that there is one in there.”
“What of the Strega?” I asked. If they were still in play, there could be hundreds of assassins out here as well.
“Gone and dead. We found the remains of many of them along with some explanation. They killed off as many of their own to bring the Demon forth. All the soldiers and all the assassins. They must have really wanted this Demon here. But somehow the tables were turned, and it was the Strega who were controlled, not the Demons. Whatever plans the Demons have are their own this time,” Xavier explained.
Wonderful.
“I still have to confront her to be absolutely sure.” I looked at the humans.
Xavier nodded and motioned for us to lead the way.
This was going to really suck. I looked back toward the bus. Chuck and Blake were still inside. “Chuck, are you guys ready yet?”
In response, Blake came stumbling down the stairs, falling to the ground. Chuck stepped down with a huge smile on his face. I didn’t ask, but I assumed they’d had a small conversation about guns, accidental shootings, and why pissing off something that can tear you limb from limb is a bad idea. It made me smile. I love my team so much.
“These are the people I mentioned to you, Blake.” I turned back to Xavier. “This is Agent Blake, he’s part of our team.”
Xavier gave Blake a once-over look and pointed toward the historic area of Charleston. “Who’s got point?”
We started down the road past the rail cars. Chuck and Cat took point. Their enhanced senses would alert us to anyone or anything we needed to worry about. Xavier, Blake, and the Mages stayed near me. The two fighters brought up the rear.
Muttering to myself, I cast a skin-tight shield around my body. If I kept it tight on the surface of my skin it was almost imperceptible by anyone. It was my version of tights that I called Stone Skin. I created the spell as a result of playing video games with Chuck. Lots of inspiration to be found there.
“Any thoughts as to why no Demons here?” I asked the Mages.
The woman, Victoria, looked at Xavier who nodded. “We’re not completely sure, but we know that some of the bigger ones are territorial. Or it could be they were ordered to stay away from here for some reason. The military did tests on them in th
e 1950s but they weren’t voluntary.”
I nodded my thanks. The tests I knew about. Grandmother wasn’t happy that the government ordered the military to test Paranormals secretly to find weaknesses they could exploit. Most of the subjects were unwilling and disappeared afterwards. It was one of the darker moments in human paranormal association. The one story told among most law enforcement circles is how they dropped Trolls from planes to see how resilient they were. What they don’t talk about is the experiments done on Vampires and Werefolk. Even Unicorns were taken apart to see how they function. The military learned what they wanted to know but at a great cost that included the loss of trust in a nation full of Paranormals. It was but one factor as to why I’m the first Witch in government service. The instilled hatred is even now a factor. Hearing about Demons being tested made me wonder if they still had them somewhere. Because unlike Paranormals, Demons are a finite resource.
“At least it’s easier to move now. We can get there faster,” I replied.
Xavier only nodded, but I could hear just the edge of his conversations over their radio system. His team seemed to make a sigh of relief when Cat and Chuck took point. It’s pretty common knowledge that Weres have some of the best hearing on the planet. What isn’t known is that humans or other species adopted by a Pack can get it as well. Each Pack is a bit different but there exists a form of spellwork that can pass powers or skill to a non-Were. I did that very thing with my two friends way back in school when we formed our own tiny Pack. Because of that, I’m able to hear, see, run, jump, and move way faster than most Witches my age. I’ll take whatever advantage the Gods see fit to allow me.
“...just this section. They seem to be less than fifty yards away in a giant circle,” TJ informed his boss.
“If they see you do they attack?” Xavier asked.
“Not yet. It’s like they’ve been ordered to ignore this section of the warehouse district. Want me to race ahead and check the next cross street?” TJ asked.
“Negative. Allow the FBI’s team to do that. Those Weres would hear you coming up on them like you have no idea. Stay in your area and stay frosty,” Xavier responded.
I turned my head toward the human leader since his last word sounded a bit sharp. “Everything ok?”
Xavier looked back at me with a fake smile. “No problems. TJ just saw an unfamiliar Demon. Nothing to worry about.”
The street was getting tighter and tighter to move in. Dozens of civilian cars were parked every which way. The bodies were still there, but now we had to step over them rather than go around.
“Boss, this might be a good time to take out the Witch. Her team isn’t here and with her down we can proceed to her Aunt. We talked about this,” Hamilton whispered into Xavier’s ear.
I sent a tendril of Magick into both my bracelets and my personal shields. Grandmother had warned me about these people. If I had to take them down I would. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Xavier subtly giving orders by hand, using some sort of signals. I was just about to form a fireball when a voice surprised everyone.
“Are we there yet?” Fergus spoke from my shirt pocket.
Xavier almost instantly dropped into a combat stance with a .50 caliber handgun in his right hand and a Bowie knife in his left. Both Mages were powered up. Victoria had twin swords in her hands, and Hamilton gripped a Roman style gladius.
“You missed lunch. Did you find me some hay?” Fergus asked.
It was almost comical. My team is very used to Fergus and his antics, but these guys… these guys were really freaked out.
My miniature Unicorn hopped out of my pocket and pulled himself up to my shoulder in an instant. “Whew! It gets hot in there sometimes. So… where’s the hay?”
Xavier lowered his weapons and stared at my shoulder in what looked like horror. He took a couple of steps closer until he was no more than an arm’s reach away.
“What’re you looking at buddy? Unless you’ve got hay, oats, or a pizza in those pants, you better just move on along.” Fergus looked up at me. “What’s with this guy?”
“That...that’s a Unicorn,” Xavier commented as he gaped at Fergus.
“Of course I’m a Unicorn. Do I look like a parakeet or something?” Fergus answered.
“Is it magical or something?” Xavier reached out to touch him.
“Whoa! One more inch and you’re mine buddy! See this horn up there?” Fergus shook his head, making it gleam. “It’s all about the horn as I see it. Come closer and let me demonstrate it for you.”
Xavier pulled back out of my unicorn’s range and looked at me questioningly. “Your file said you had a unicorn, but we assumed it was back home or whatever. How does it talk?”
“I’m not an ‘it’ and I’m standing right here!” Fergus yelled. “Just for that, you’re first buddy!”
I looked down at my little fighter and said, “Fergus, calm down. He didn’t mean it.”
Fergus shook his head. “Humans. They need lessons.”
Fergus’s horn started to glow until it was as bright as the sun on a mirror, then it suddenly winked out of existence. “Take that!”
“You’re going to blind me with your shininess?” Xavier asked him.
“Nope,” Fergus trotted across my back to stand on my right shoulder. “You’ll see.”
A loud buzzing noise filled the air and simply gigantic bees or hornets came out of nowhere. The four inch insects began to dive bomb the humans! Xavier threw up his arms to protect his face and both Mages started chanting. Fergus started dancing on my shoulder as I took several steps backwards, almost falling over Blake, who I’d forgotten was bringing up the rear.
“What are you....Ahhhh!” Blake jerked to the left to avoid me and ended up on his ass in some bushes.
“Damn it, Fergus! Stop it right now. We need them to get to Camilla,” I yelled.
My unicorn stopped dancing and looked up at me. My eyes must have been glowing or something because he actually listened for once. He wiggled his head at the flying little terrors and they winked out of existence. A disturbed silence settled over our group.
“By the way, this is Fergus,” I said. “He’s my Unicorn. And he’s a Wizard.”
Chapter 12
“How do you have a Magical talking Unicorn?” Victoria asked me.
I smiled. “You folks claimed to know everything about me, but it seems you know nothing. Fergus is my friend and my friends all have depths of which you haven’t imagined yet.”
The human Mage looked to her boss who nodded and signaled with his hand. “Ok. Is he dangerous?”
“We’re all dangerous. That’s both the business and the way we are. It’s what you do with power that makes you who you are. We going to go stop the bad guy and save the world any time soon?” I asked. “Sitting here talking about it isn’t getting the Demon out of my aunt. How about we cut through that warehouse area over there.”
Xavier consulted a small tablet he pulled out of his cargo pants pocket. “That might work. Sat imagery shows it as a shortcut. If we thread our way through the warehouses over there we might be able to sneak into the market area.”
Reaching out with my Magickal senses, I scanned the area ahead of us. Other than Chuck and Cat I could only feel humans. “Cat, can you hear me? I whispered. “We’re shifting to the left into the warehouse area.”
“There is no way those Weres’ hearing is that good,” Victoria remarked.
“You have your secrets, I have mine. They’ll be there when we need them,” I replied.
The members of the other team all looked skeptical except for Hamilton. He had more of a shrewd look. I made a mental note to stay away from him. Fake Jedi or not, his actions were those of a fanatic, and that sort of person will both surprise and challenge you. The special communication system my team used was unique. Only we possessed it, and I’d never informed the FBI that we had it. Chuck had taken a standard Special Operations earbud system and upgraded. Add in a little bit of Magick
and boom! We could communicate without interference for more than a hundred miles. How did I do it? No idea. I did it almost a year ago, well before I gained the second bracelet and almost total control over my Magick. I’ve studied the earbuds a few times but never tried to tamper with them. Chuck had the foresight to have me zap a whole case of them rather than just enough for the team. He told me later it was in case only a few worked.
This part of Charleston was interesting. Gigantic cruise ships lined the left river banks along the piers. Right beside them were old shipping warehouses and wharfs. In my mind’s eye, I could see antique sailing ships cruising up and down the river, heading out to sea or putting in for supplies. My hometown of Briarwood might be one of the oldest settlements in the United States, but this town dripped history. Back home we had Grandmother’s house and just a couple of old structures, but Charleston had it all! If we weren’t hunting I could see us spending a week or two just exploring this place.
“I’m not seeing any Demons here, Aggy,” Cat whispered into my ear from afar.
I responded with our location then asked, “Can you find a reason? Those train cars were tossed by something big.”
“Me and Chuck are right at the water’s edge and we’ve got nothing like that. There are some sunken boats about a hundred yards out and we can see damaged docks farther up but no Demons,” Cat tried to explain.
I passed along what she was saying to the Arcane group. Once again, they looked at me like I was crazy.
Pursing my lips, I gave them something to chew on. I tapped my ear and explained in a roundabout sort of way, “We’ve got comms. Special made just for us from the FBI. The distance is extended.”
Xavier nodded. “Range?”
“Couple of football fields total. They’re new. I think we’ve been testing them for a half year or so.” Total BS but I wasn’t about to tell them that. Let them try to find them on their own.
The Arcane leader made an obscure hand motion. “That explains it then. We thought it was something Magical.”