by T S Paul
“Shall I activate our agents on Earth? The more chaos they create, the more they will aid the invasion,” Dimachaerus said.
The Dragon considered this for a moment. He puffed great bouts of steam into the cavern. “Notify our allies first so they may prepare the way. Then you may release our hidden forces.”
“And the Demons?” The ambassador asked.
“Let them have their invasion for now. Haboryrm is just a pawn in a greater game he knows nothing about. The Demons will join or die. Fodder is fodder, after all. Make ready the troops, for we go to war in five Earth days,” Leomaris announced.
<<<>>>
Presidential Chief of Staff Gwen Akers strode into the Oval Office and dropped a large three-inch stack of folders on the edge of President Talbot’s desk. Taking one of the chairs in front of the desk, she set her briefcase down.
“What’s all this?” President Talbot asked.
“Everything you asked me for last night and a whole hell of a lot more. I don’t know what’s going on in the rest of the world but everyone here is freaking the hell out,” Gwen stated. “The others will be here in a moment, but I need to say something, Larry.”
Only a couple people outside of family could call President Lawrence Talbot by any sort of shortened name, and Gwen was one of them. They’d been together as both friends and business partners for more than twenty years. She’d been his campaign manager throughout the senate and presidential elections. As president, it was very rare to have a woman as a chief of staff, as well. He trusted her with his life.
“And?” Larry asked.
“I know we discussed this on the campaign trail, but whatever possessed you to allow Paul Montefort anywhere near this administration? My guys have a whole office devoted to tracking some of the double deals and sneaky underhanded things he’s been up to lately,” Gwen remarked.
The president leaned back in his chair with a sigh. Rubbing his beard, he shook his head and said, “Politicians have to bend to get things done. You know this, and I know this. He was the best possible choice at the time.”
“Bullshit! That is total bull and you know it. Fire me if you want to, but you are lying to me and yourself if you believe that that man is the one for his job. Seriously, Larry? Tell me the truth right freaking now!” Gwen slapped the desk with the palm of her hand.
It was so loud that the front door opened and two of his security detail secret service men stuck their heads inside. “Everything ok, Mr. President?”
Larry smiled and gave them a wave. “Just fine, boys. Gwen here got a little excited, that’s all. You know how dogs will hunt?”
Both agents nodded and closed the door.
“Code phrase?” Gwen asked her boss.
“Yes. Now I have to think of another one. You’re killing me here. Why does this bother you so much?” Talbot asked.
Gwen reached into the case by her feet and took out a large file marked Top Secret Ultra Vermillion. “Paul, the man you trust so much, has been receiving large sums of money from sources outside our country. We can’t totally prove it yet, but he’s been funneling that money into strange charity groups and quasi-militia groups since he took office. There are pictures and accounts here where he’s met with obscure government agents in facilities I didn’t know exist. Were you aware that Secret Service has a strike facility in upper Vermont that trains like they were in Army Special Forces? He spent a week there not a month ago. A week, Larry. I haven’t been out of this building for a week in more than a year.”
Larry held up his hands in protest. “He’s in charge of Anomalous Activity and some of our security agencies. It’s the Vice President’s job to do those things. You told me yourself you didn’t want him working directly with the cabinet or any of our people.”
“For good reason! What does he have on you, Larry?” Gwen asked.
There was a knock on the door and it started to open.
“We’ll discuss this later. The others are here.” President Talbot replied.
Gwen only glared at him as she quickly put the file back together and shoved it into her case.
Talbot rose and stepped around the desk to greet other members of his cabinet and the military. Leaning in close, he spoke to Gwen. “We will. I promise.”
“You better,” she remarked.
“Welcome, everyone. I’m not going to beat around the bush here. We have some serious problems in our country, and Gwen here is going to start us off,” President Talbot explained.
Gwen put on a forced smile and looked the group over. Two Generals, the President’s Science Advisor, the Director of Defense, and someone from the Paranormal Advisory Board, the PAB, all sat on the chairs and couches provided. Four members of the security detail had followed the group inside, but like furniture, nobody paid them any attention.
“We have a great deal to discuss here and little time to do it in. As of an hour ago, the Mage Storm has been stopped,” Gwen announced. The Science Advisor nodded to her.
“It has? How?” Talbot asked.
“We have satellite imagery of five or six powered individuals using Magic of some kind to shut it down. Facial recognition has pegged at least two of them as members of the Witches Council. Mr. Winchester, do you know anything about this?” Gwen asked. The man from PAB looked a bit startled.
The PAB was the brainchild of J. Edgar Hoover in the early 1960’s. The official story was that he wanted Paranormals to have more say inside the government. In reality, though, Hoover just wanted the influence and the power that came with whomever got the job. Maxwell Winchester was the newest in a long line of political appointees.
“My staff contacted the Council and asked, but we received no solid answers. We were able to match one of the faces you sent to a Witch known only as Montgomery. We think he’s a British National, but he’s been here in the United States for at least seventy years. That’s how far back our files go,” Winchester answered.
Gwen held up her hand and stopped him. “Wait just a moment, Maxwell. I’ve got an additional bit to add to that.”
Looking at the President, Gwen explained. “Before these Witches stopped the storm, it was redirected toward Idaho and all points east. A sort of Magical wall was erected in Southern Washington state that did the deflecting. We suspect that the Fae in that area have made their presence known.”
“The Fae? Like fairies? Little flappy things?” President Talbot waved his hands.
“Not those kind of Fairies, but they do exist. We have not officially had any sort of contact with the Fae since 1942. They vanished from sight and took most public knowledge with them. Regular humans either don’t believe in them or don’t remember them. But there is an embassy here in Washington for them.” Gwen paused pointing to Maxwell.
“The Embassy. Yes. We at the PAB do watch it,” Winchester said. “It has the honor of being the only building on US soil other than the Greek Embassy that has been under constant surveillance. No one has entered or left the building in seventy years.”
“So it’s empty then. Why watch it?” One of the generals asked.
“But it’s not empty. We see lights on and someone has been paying the electric bill for years. Our teams have spotted movement and the blurs of people at windows. The front door even opened once. As I was on my way here, I received a document asking to open up relations again with the Fae. It was on my desk,” Maxwell replied.
“Oh,” the general said.
“Exactly. We have no frame of reference when dealing with the Fae. However, the FBI has run into them a few times and we intend to work with them,” Winchester replied.
“Right. So now the big one. Charleston. Demons were spotted there this morning,” Gwen started to explain.
“How many casualties, and what are we doing about it? I thought we took care of Charleston. Didn’t we just discuss this yesterday?” The president exclaimed.
“We did, sir. Arcane’s Special Ops team is already there and so is the FBI’s Magical Divi
sion team. They were linked up not an hour ago. As far as we can tell, small Imps and Demon Bats came out of nowhere and started destroying parts…” Gwen explained the situation in the southern port city.
“What are we doing militarily to get in there and help?” Talbot looked pointedly at the military men.
One of the men came to attention and spoke. “Sir. We are mobilizing as many National Guard units as will respond. Boots on the ground is our goal here. Admiral Green was unable to come to the meeting, but he’s moving the sixth fleet into a position of support as we speak. Local Sea Scouts are setting up a defense line underwater a half mile outside the harbor. They will intercept anything trying to enter the harbor. Essentially, that area is now closed to traffic.”
“Sea Scouts and National Guard units? Is that all we have? This is the United States of America. What are the Army and the Navy doing this very moment then, that is so important?” President Talbot asked.
The second general stood up. “Transit, sir. You ordered us yesterday to relieve the Western defenders and to prevent any Demons in Italy from crossing over the sea to us. We’re trying to reroute some of the units now to be able to send to Charleston.”
President Talbot leaned back into his chair and was silent. He waved toward Gwen.
“With the Mage Storm gone we can now concentrate on eliminating the few loose Demons out there, as well. The explosion that occurred did seal the Portal there, and it’s closed. For now, though, it’s a bit chaotic out there,” Gwen explained.
President Talbot stood up suddenly. All the others in the room stood as well. “I need a small break. Gwen? Walk with me, please.”
Leaving the room with his COS in tow, the president walked straight to his sanctum, the Roosevelt room.
Carefully closing the door, Larry Talbot glanced at Gwen and frowned. “You could have started with Charleston, you know.”
Gwen shook her head. “You have to ease into things like that. Trust that anyone we could send we have sent. Now are you going to tell me?”
Larry looked away from a display of Teddy Roosevelt’s uniform and six shooters left over from the Spanish American war. “Tell you what?”
“What the Vice President has over you. You said you would explain!” Gwen threw up her hands in frustration.
Larry sighed and crossed the room to pick up what looked like a ratty box from one of the shelves. “Do you see this?”
Gwen nodded.
“This once belonged to Teddy himself. It’s an eyeglass case. In 1912, while campaigning for this office, a man shot him, and the bullet went through this case and into his chest. Teddy picked himself up and gave the speech he intended to give, without going to the hospital first. That is integrity. It’s what made the man who he was. That is one of the reasons I come here to think. I need some of that to soak into me,” President Talbot explained.
“Sir, Larry, you’ve been a great president so far. Whatever it is, it cannot be horrible. I’ve known you for more than twenty years,” Gwen exclaimed.
“Fine.” Larry turned toward the Dragon skeleton in the center of the room. Studying the skeleton for the thousandth time, he replied. “You were gone off to a Senate strategy meeting and Valery was at her mother’s. I’d been working like crazy, trying to get some bill passed and had been drinking. One of the interns…”
“Oh. My. God! Seriously, Larry? Does Valery know?” Gwen yelled.
“She does. I still think it’s the reason for her miscarriage two years ago regardless of what those damn doctors say. I had a fraternity brother take care of negotiations, but we bought the intern off and sent her on her way. It was just the one time,” Larry pleaded.
“And Paul found out. Or he set it up. You should have told me, Larry. There are better options than paying her off. Stupid. Fine. So what are we doing about the Vice President?” Gwen asked.
“Just like that?” Larry asked.
“Of course. We’re a team. If I don’t have to hide anything from Valery, this gets easier. What proof does he have?” Gwen leaned in and started hashing out a plan of defense and attack.
Neither one of them noticed a gleam where the eyes of the Dragon should have been. The wing tips and claws seemed to move in the wind, but there was no wind. As the long dead beast began to move its claws, a faint clicking sound could be heard.
“Did you hear that?” Gwen asked.
Larry Talbot cocked his head to one side and listened. The clicking sound was closer, as if right behind him. Turning suddenly, he saw Teddy Roosevelt’s prize possession actually move. The long-dead creature raised its head to the sky as if it were roaring and lunged forward!
The President’s surprise turned to one of shock and pain as the skeleton creature landed on his shoulder and took a large bite of his arm.
Gwen’s scream was louder than that of her boss, but not by much. Blood splattered everywhere as the Dragon skeleton tried to eat what it had bitten off.
Guns drawn, the Secret Service detail burst into the room and started firing on the living ancient.
Blam! Blam! Blam!
President Talbot lay on the floor, his blood draining out of him and onto a thirteenth century hand-woven rug. Larry could see his entire life flashing before him. Even as the detail fired upon the skeleton, it was gnawing on what remained of his arm.
“Clubs! Use clubs or something and smash it!” Gwen yelled orders at the guards. They yanked trophy elephant tusks off the walls and started to beat the skeleton in an attempt to free the president.
All over the world, similar incidents were playing out. Leomaris and the Dragon Empire were firing the very first shots in yet another war.
Chapter 17
Washington Square looked dead.
Walking down Church Street we could see broken, battered, and burning cars everywhere. A few human corpses lay in and out of the vehicles. Demon bodies were splayed out in places as well. One scene touched me so much it brought a tear to my eye.
There were two stickers on the back of the beat up old truck. The first read, “You will take my gun from my cold hand,” and the other said, “Freedom is Free.” What remained of an older civilian man lay beside it. The clocked-out pistol in his hand lay testament to his belief and conviction. My only hope was that he took out creatures who would have hurt others.
“We need to stop this. So many lives are being destroyed. I just can’t believe that Camilla would even consider doing something like this! She’s selfish but not evil,” I remarked as I closed the man’s eyes and picked up the gun.
My companions both growled but didn’t answer me. Shaking my head, I added the weapon to my small pack. Chuck could have carried it but the image of a WereCat wearing a backpack was already too much and it was a caliber we didn’t use. First chance we got I would lock it up.
Cat was still in her Sabertooth tiger form. Just the sight of her thousand-pound plus form scared most of the smaller Demons away. It would take thousands of the little suckers to affect her at all. Chuck’s warrior form was just as intimidating, but he could at least open a door without completely destroying it. Against Demons, claws worked far better than guns.
The stone and iron fence protecting the park was destroyed. It looked as though something just tore it up and tossed it. Iron work stuck out at strange angles from the walls of the two houses overlooking the park. Stepping carefully, I worked my way around the destruction to peer from the side into the park itself.
Burned grass and downed trees greeted me. The house we were supposed to find was on the other end of the park opposite the old city courthouse but the way inside was blocked. “Do either of you sense anyone?”
Chuck growled and brushed past me, his coarse fur rough and dust-filled. The giant Were leaped over the fallen trees and landed on the other side. Cat was smarter. She skirted the edge of the ruined fence until she found a clear spot and just leaped over it like was nothing. Looking back at me she chuffed.
“Show off,” I commented. Concentr
ating for a moment I reached down deep inside me, activating my telekinesis. I rarely use the mind gifts as we call them because it’s not very Witchy. And as Grandmother tells it, they give you very bad habits. Better to do things by hand.
This was neither the place or the time to listen to any advice from the past. Directing my will, I lifted the tree in front of me just high enough for me to walk underneath. One thing that popular science fiction series that Chuck made me watch got right was that size does not matter when it comes to Magick. Lifting a spaceship or a tree is just as easy as picking up an apple. I gazed up at the thousand pounds of wood and debris I just picked up and smiled. I loved being a Witch!
Crash!
I winced, ducking down to cover my body. Dropping the tree might not have been such a good idea on my part.
Chuck looked down at me and half growled half spoke, “Really?”
“Sorry, not thinking at all there,” I replied.
Following the path, we came to the obelisk in the center. Demon bodies were everywhere. Many were obviously shot. “Big battle here. Do you sense anyone?”
Even as I said it I reached out with my Magical senses, searching. There were humans in all of the buildings around us hunkered down in the attics or basements. The old courthouse had more than any of the others, though.
Cat chuffed and pointed at the courthouse. Reaching out, I gave her flank a pat and threw up another shield over us. Looking through the downed trees, I could see the tiniest bit of movement and it didn’t look Demonic.
“Chuck, see if you can make contact. Try not to scare them too much,” I ordered.
In typical male Were fashion the big man jumped and climbed the many tree limbs. The tree was massive. I couldn’t see how one of the Live Oaks could just fall down like that. Demons or no Demons.
Blam! Ka-pow! Blam! Gunshots rang out over the park.
“Aw crap!” I ran for the tree and started working my way through the branches to get through. Cat took the tree in a single bound, running to her packmates’ assistance. There was a shriek of a frightened woman and lots of growling. It was times like these I wished I could understand my friends when they were in other forms. Now was not the time but maybe I could work on a spell like that. It could come in handy.