Underground Ring: Book 1

by M. M. Reid

  My eyes darted over to his partner who was still standing a few metres away. I attempted to decipher his thoughts and got…nothing? What is going on, I thought. I can’t read him. He knew how to block the Earth gift. This was clearly no ordinary officer and I guessed that, on some level, Ryan knew this.

  “Are you deaf, boy?” Ryan stepped into my view, glaring at me through his darkly tinted shades. “I said where is your ID? I’m not going to ask twice.”

  I held his gaze for a moment, ignoring Ben’s large, dramatic motions to use the Water gift on him. “My name is Augrais,” I spoke clearly and loudly enough for his partner to hear me. “I am a Master of the Mystic tribe.”

  There was a stunned silence from Ryan before he snorted, “What the hell is this nonsense?” I paid no mind to him, for it was his partner I was interested in. The dark, beady eyes of the other officer shined back at me and a strange feeling washed over me. I had felt this nervous tingling sensation before, as if I were a deer that had just caught wind of a predator.

  “Hey Ryan,” the partner said, his voice dead and melancholy as if he were a machine, “this van and kids match a description of a hit and run about two towns over.”

  Ryan looked from him to us. Ben looked like he was ready to bolt, Lee ready to urinate in his pants, and Trosian ready to kill whoever decided to touch him next, friend or foe. This was going to get uncomfortable very quickly and I had no time to decide whether Ryan truly understood the situation he was in. The only thing I understood was that I could not go along with this charade any longer. This had to end and the Shadow that was posing as a civilian needed to be dealt with before he summoned reinforcements.

  Ryan—perhaps being a veteran police officer, or maybe sensing the air around me changing—began to reach for his pistol. I grabbed both of his wrists between my left forefinger and thumb. I thought I had moved at a normal pace. However, the shocked reactions of my friends and Ryan contradicted this.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, then I pivoted violently and tossed the terrified police officer towards his pseudo-comrade. The Shadow now dropped his façade and ducked as his friend smashed like a rag doll into the car behind him, making the glass splinter and crack. He looked calm as if he thought he was in control. These boys would not be any sort of match for him and he would have four more Mystic skulls under his belt. The Fire within me began to boil as my suppressed rage spilled over. My response was both quick and fatal. I was upon him before he could even put his hand on his gun. I first struck him with both my hands on his ears. I could hear the eardrums explode with a sickening squelch. Drawing one hand back and firing it with deadly, energy-filled precision, I struck him with an open palm in his throat. He collapsed and gurgled, eyes wide with shock. His windpipe and throat had been crushed and he died a silent death. Ryan fared no differently. I was hoping to spare him, but he had left me no choice. Had I left him he would have brought others. I justified my action silently.

  As the Shadow minion died, a strange feeling came over me and I took a deep breath. Something empowered me, something coming from him. As this happened, I began to realize the truth of my present circumstances. I had just killed someone—a mortal offense in any culture. And yet…and yet I felt good. Taking a life made me feel as if I were a God among mere mortals. I had the power to take any life at any time. The Vitae began to seep back into me, away and hidden. As I turned back to my comrades, a slow sickening smile crept across my lips.

  “Augrais,” Ben said, looking from me to the sprawled Ryan behind me, “you just…killed them.”

  “They were Shadows,” I justified sharply.

  “One was,” Trosian corrected, staring at me intently. “The other was just a man.”

  I felt my stomach drop as another wave of realization hit me. I had just killed someone—an innocent no less.

  “Holy crap,” Lee put his hands on his knees as he began to hyperventilate from shock.

  “Augrais—” Trosian began again.

  “What would you have me do?” I cut him off. “He would have called for reinforcements.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Ben was now screaming. “Maybe use the Water gift on him? You killed him! You killed a freakin’ human being! Do you know what this means? Do you?”

  “Enough!” I cried, my Water silencing him. Pangs of regret now pounded within me. I took a moment of silence, choosing my words carefully before I spoke again. “Look, we have to get the bodies and the cars off the road. Otherwise more Shadows will track us here.”

  “That potion changed you, didn’t it?” Trosian asked.

  I didn’t say anything as we started to hide the evidence in silence. I remembered Lokus’s warning well. So what if I had to give up a piece of my humanity to kill the Violet-Eyed Demon and save the Mystics? None of them could understand the weight of the need for vengeance that I carried after the death of my father.

  It was high time for the sweet innocence and romantic dreams of heroic battle to evaporate. We now faced the cruel reality of War.

  Chapter 10

  The four of us sneaked away into the forest, like rats scurrying into a hole. We didn’t know exactly what we would find in this dark, damp place. Our only warning was the heightened Vitae here. It was nearly palpable. We had searched the police car and our attackers earlier for any clues about what was to come. Our efforts were useless, except for the two pistols and the several clips of ammunition that we stole from the bodies. Once we had searched it, the car and its inhabitants were rolled into a nearby ditch and buried under the dense foliage. The four of us stood in silence. My companions did not dare to do anything except shoot me an occasional nervous glance. I pretended not to notice as I turned to leave.

  We had spread out an hour earlier to cover more ground and, more importantly, to not draw attention to ourselves. I knelt down on the grass-covered ground. The forest itself was silent and looked pathetically bare, as if the land itself was poisoned by some malevolent presence. Shell casings littered the ground like shiny gems amongst the rotting leaves. This was the right place; there had been a skirmish here. Glancing about, I could see some trees 20 metres to my left that had been splintered from the bullet storm. I inhaled deeply, testing the cool, moist air for any scents. It wasn’t long before my enhanced senses caught what I had been looking for. I approached the most battle-tested tree out of the group, gingerly placing my fingers into the burnt and splintered wood as if it were an injured human.

  Unsatisfied, I slipped my hand around the other side, attempting to find the potent stench I was searching for. Something warm brushed my fingers and I instinctively withdrew my hand and slowly went to look at what I had found, ever wary of my surroundings. And there she was, the person my acute senses had picked up. The deep blue of her robe was tattered and faded by the filth of blood and dirt upon it. Her feet, still warm, were dripping with crimson blood as she hung from the tree, swaying back and forth like a beautiful ornament. So this was the tactic of the Shadows, I thought. This changes things. I let the Vitae embrace me like a warm cloak before I sung two calls of a dove. My companions would be out of sight, but not out of earshot from my call. With the help of my Vitae, they would be able to track me easily. It was Trosian who found me first.

  “I found a few more to our west just like this one,” Trosian spoke evenly, though I could tell he was visibly shaken by the lynchings. “I’ve never known Shadows to do this. Usually a swift, brutal death but this…” He shuddered.

  “They’re trying to send a message,” I responded in almost a whisper. I refused to shift my gaze from my fallen angel. “Trying to frighten the Pagans by hanging their dead.”

  Trosian made no response to this.

  “What the hell, man?” Ben’s voice echoed. “What the freakin’ hell?” My young companion’s face went pale and his eyes were as large as saucers.

  “Quiet yourself, Ben,” Trosian hissed, though he was visibly shaken. “We don’t know if they are out there.”

  “There�
��s a freakin’ person hanging from this tree and you expect me to calm down?” Ben’s voice rose to dangerous levels. “This is not cool. This is so not—“

  “Quiet!” My voice rang out, empowered by my Water gift.

  Ben’s voice sputtered and he coughed as if he had swallowed water down his windpipe. His cough grew more violent as he fell into the embrace of the leaves, his body shuddering.

  “Where is Lee?” I mused, speaking to myself quietly, ignoring the hacks of my friend.

  “He should have been here by now,” Trosian agreed, scanning the dense trees.

  “I really hate it when you do that, Augrais,” Ben said in a raspy voice, as he rubbed his throat. “He broke the line and went on ahead. I lost track of his Vitae shortly after.”

  “Damn it,” Trosian cursed under his breath.

  I allowed my senses to go to their maximum potential. I could not feel Lee. We had agreed that we would hold a line formation, out of sight of one another but not out of earshot. The two dove calls instructed the rest of the team to regroup to the caller’s position. If Lee had broken the line and moved out of earshot, that would mean he had stumbled across something.

  “We have no choice. Bring us back to your position, Ben. We’ll search from there.”

  It was another five minutes before Ben led us back to his exact position. There was a small X across the base of a great oak, about a few hundred metres away. Unlike our previous location, this area seemed relatively untouched. However, a nervous silence hung around this place like a dark cloud. I called to Lee again. No response. Trosian and Ben exchanged nervous glances as we spread out once again, this time keeping each other in line of sight.

  Do you have anything? I sent the message via my Earth gift to Ben and Trosian.

  Trosian responded negatively while Ben visualized the word No. It was then we all felt it. I froze dead in my tracks. The Vitae in the area suddenly began to flare up and the clap of gunfire rang out in the distance. I called with the dove song. No response. The gunfire intensified as I weighed my options.

  “Augrais,” Trosian whispered to me. “That might be Lee under attack.”

  We made eye contact for a moment. Trosian often challenged my leadership but this time was different. There was much more on the line and I could see that in the panicked look he gave me. He was going to go, whether I said so or not.

  I took off in response, heading towards the constantly rising Vitae. The terrain itself began to open up, and then dipped a few yards ahead. A dove call was sounded, muffled slightly by the gunfire. One, two, then three calls. Lee was warning us of danger ahead. The foliage blurred about me as I picked up speed. This is it! This is what we—what I—had been training for.

  I dipped behind a tree to survey the situation unfolding in front of me. The ravine below was littered with fallen trees and heavy granite rocks that glinted in the sunlight. I couldn’t see Lee, but could definitely feel the swell of his Vitae camouflaged among the dense foliage to the west. Trosian and Ben went east to help scout the area. With the help of my Vitae-infused eyes, I scanned for the source of the violence. The rocks and trees, augmented by my powerful vision, quickly gave away the position of a small band of people, all of whom were frantically checking their pockets. Their blue and violet robes gave them away as Pagans. It looked like they were out of ammunition for their small rifles and side arms. What was worse, they had limited time as another heavily armed group was advancing quickly over the rubble and brush. I recognized their dead, stony looks immediately. Shadows.

  Go! I commanded through my Earth gift, as we initiated the counterattack.

  The Pagans, fully realizing their dire situation, attempted to retreat from their hovel to a haven of boulders a few dozen metres to their south. The eight quickly became five, for they clumsily moved into the line of sight of their Shadow adversaries who wasted no time as they opened fire with automatic weapons. With their life expectancy dwindling by seconds, the remaining Pagans began to huddle around one individual to get some final comfort before death took them. But they were out of time. The Shadows began to move around the rocks, lifting their arms to deliver the final hammer blow. And that was when I intervened.

  With speed I could never have dreamed of before my transformation, I tackled the first Shadow into a nearby boulder. His breath was squelched from the shattering of his ribs and organs. His comrade behind him fired his weapon too late as I streaked toward him like a lightning bolt of justice, quickly pushing his weapon aside with one hand while the other crushed his skull into the wall of the boulder with an arm saturated with concentrated Vitae. His body slumped immediately and slid down, a bloody trail painting the otherwise grey rock. I did not notice the blood dripping from my fingertips. Arrows began to fly over me as Lee began to pick off the reinforcing Shadows from his new position amongst the dense trees. The victory cries from Ben and Trosian from the far side of the boulder told me that this battle had already met its forgone conclusion, with no thanks from the Pagans who were still in a state of confused shock of what had just taken place.

  The Pagans slowly composed themselves and approached me. It was a woman who spoke first. She was beautiful, tall, with long black hair that spilled about her curvaceous figure. Her face was that of an angel, beautifully crafted with soft cheeks and full lips, but still held a certain formidable quality that I had never seen in a woman before. In that moment my humanity stirred within me like a roll of thunder.

  “I suppose I should thank you for what you have done,” she began with an awkwardness in her voice that told me she was not used to uttering words of thanks.

  I paid her no mind, deliberately looking into the forest from whence I had come, and raised one hand, asking for patience.

  The all-clear sound was issued from Lee’s end on the higher ground. Lee descended the hill as Trosian and Ben rounded the corner of the far end of the boulder, shaken, but none the worse for wear.

  My gaze settled back upon this Pagan woman, her companions huddled close to her like scared cubs to a mother bear. She stared back at me, no inkling of fear in her eyes. There was something about this woman—I needed to know her, know who she was and understand the reason for the warm feeling in my belly. Instinctively utilizing my Earth gift, I attempted to probe into her mind but my head ached as I was blocked out with a bright white colour.

  “Do not try to read my thoughts, Augrais,” she said politely, a small smile spreading over her lips. “You will find us Pagans harder to read than you Mystics.”

  “And you are?” Trosian asked her, still remaining calm, unlike my rising temper.

  “I am Selene, Trosian,” she responded without taking her gaze from mine.

  “We should go,” I suggested through clenched teeth.

  “Are Mystics always this rude? Or is it just you?” Selene shot back, without a moment’s hesitation. “Not everyone has been introduced.”

  “Yeah what about us?” Ben complained over the conversation.

  “I want to say hi to the pretty lady,” Lee piped up.

  I rolled my eyes, feeling my patience fall as the Mother Pagan gave them a dazzling smile and introduced herself and her companions, before revealing that she knew their names as well. This woman’s Earth gift was impressive; she didn’t need even a moment’s concentration to pick a name from someone else’s mind.

  “My lady,” I spoke curtly, stepping directly in her field of vision, “we must go. Standing in this partial cover was ill-advised, especially when the Shadows were armed with long range semi-automatic rifles.”

  Selene was silent for a moment, her lips still showing her small smile. She then nodded to her companions who quickly ran to the bodies of the fallen, Shadows and Pagans alike, before she took the time to respond to me.

  “There are no Shadows in a five kilometre radius, Augrais.” She chose each word carefully, making absolutely sure she enunciated as if I were a small child.

  This time I would not ignore her rudeness. “Mind
your tongue, Pagan.” My voice lowered dangerously. “Do not forget who delivered you with a timely rescue.”

  “Rescue?” Selene scoffed. “Those poor Shadows would have died with or without your assistance.”

  With each word, I felt the blood pumping faster in my veins as my cheeks and ears burned red. Was she serious? Was this woman truly this stupid?

  “Stupid?” Selene took on a look of mock offense.

  “The circle.” Trosian pointed to the crudely drawn circle comprised of runes and symbols, exactly where the Pagans were huddled. “It seems you were prepared after all.”

  Pagans did not use Vitae in the same way that a Mystic would. The Pagans used their Vitae (or Magick as they liked to call it) in rituals and by drawing ancient symbols upon the ground to invoke their powers. They couldn’t summon their power as quickly as a Mystic could, but for setting a trap there was nothing better. It was the first time I had ever seen Pagan Vitae up close, although I had heard about it.

  “Do me a favour, Augrais.” Selene leaned forward. “Next time you want to speak—don’t.”

  Selene then dismissed me and left to gather her followers. It was clear now that she was indeed their Mother Pagan.

  “Did she just take his man-thority?” Ben interjected after a moment of awkward silence.

  “Sure did,” Lee chimed in.

  “Shut up, both of you,” I muttered under my breath. We began to follow the patiently waiting Pagans.