by Martha Carr
“Guess it sucks to be short.”
To his right, Leira sent fireball after fireball across the parking garage, taking out a couple of wizards before she had to duck to avoid being hit herself. The mobsters advanced, sending out multiple strikes at a time. She created a shield, holding it tightly in front of her as she was pushed back. They finally forced her into the corner, struggling to hold her shield in one piece. Leira kept her hands up and a steady flow of energy coming through them. She had to get out of that corner or she would be done for. She looked around.
Across the street was a Starbucks, brimming with magical folks coming and going from the train station. She lifted an eyebrow and looked at the wizards, who were still pelting her with dark magic. She took a deep breath and created a larger shield in front of her.
“Yumfuck!”
The troll spun and looked at her with surprise. He growled when he saw that she had been backed into a corner.
“Hold them back. I’m gonna go get reinforcements,” she yelled, nodding at the Starbucks.
“You got it,” he growled, bolting toward the group.
As Leira—shield still up—slowly sidestepped toward the entrance, she paused to watch Yumfuck plow through the crowd of wizards, slashing his claws and taking off heads like it was no big deal. The mobsters had to face him and forgot about Leira for long enough for her to drop her shield and make a run for the entrance. She sent out fireballs at the few still paying attention to her and darted across the street. She flung open the door and sprinted to the back, not slowing down as she ran onto the platform.
Several people stopped and stared at her since she was covered in dust and ash and breathing heavily. She looked around, hoping that what she had planned was going to work.
“I’m Leira Berens, and we have a huge breach out here. Anyone who can help, please come with me.”
Immediately several of the magical folks dropped their briefcases and satchels, pulling out their wands and began to gather their energy as they made their way toward the Starbucks hallway. Many of them knew Leira’s name. They had heard about her various fights and battles, and knew she was more than a little special. The rest knew there were artifacts close by that needed to be protected.
As the group walked out of the Starbucks they stopped for a moment, staring at the Yakuza as they spilled into the open. Louie moved fast, dodging magic as he swept through the men, cutting them down as fast as he could. Yumfuck panted, snatching wizards up, ripping their heads off, and tossing the bodies over his shoulders. The Yakuza noticed the new group that stood ready to fight and began their assault.
Fireballs began to fly both ways across the street, and the nearby civilians took cover in open stores. The magic struck both good and evil. The light from the energy glimmered against the glass of the Los Angeles high-rises, and screams and sirens could be heard in the background. Leira and the others stood strong, throwing out as much magic as they possibly could. She glanced to her right and zeroed in on a young woman not much more than twenty who was casting quickly, her magic powerful. Leira couldn’t help but notice there was something about her—something incredibly familiar.
“They are retreating!”
Leira turned back quickly as portals opened all over the street. The Yakuza—what was left of them—dove through, trying to get away. They had been scared off, and at least half of their men had been killed. The magical exchange of fireballs slowly decreased and finally came to a stop when the last Yakuza was gone. Leira looked up and down the line, nodding in thanks. A couple of people had minor injuries, but all in all, they were okay. She turned to where the woman was, the familiar face, but she was already gone.
Yumfuck shrank down to three feet and walked beside Louie as they made their way to Leira. Just then the Silver Griffins appeared and began spelling the minds of the civilians. The magicals who stepped up to help nodded and headed back toward the Starbucks.
“That was insane.” Louie gawked as he looked around.
“I know.” Leira shook her head. “Thanks for your help, guys. I have to make one phone call before we can head back.”
Louie and Yumfuck nodded, and Leira pulled out her phone. She plugged her ear to block the sound of the sirens as General Anderson’s phone rang.
“Leira.”
“General Anderson, half of the Yakuza were killed, and the other half escaped. The vault is safe for now, but you need a better system. This is not secure in the least.”
“I know, and we’re working on it. The battle in Chicago set us back a few steps.”
“I understand that,” she replied. “I am getting ready to leave here with my crew and head back to the house to check in with my contact. May I assume that I can portal into your office and pick up my pay?”
“It’s already at your house on your kitchen counter. Correk was there, but he left at the same time as me. He had a call.”
“Yeah, that happens a lot. Thank you, General.”
“Good work, Berens.”
Leira nodded and hung up, sighing deeply. Another job completed for the government, but at least she had done it on her terms. The Yakuza were dangerous, far more so than she had realized. They were highly trained witches and wizards, and that coupled with their Earthly combat training made them very dangerous indeed. Louie looked inquiringly at Leira.
“The general said, ‘Good job.’ Louie, I will have your money soon, and I’ll text you. In the meantime, I need you to search for more information on the dark families. They took the bounty off my head for whatever reason, but they still shouldn’t be this quiet. Something isn’t right—I can feel it. The dark families don’t give up that easily. They are known to be ruthless and ever on the alert.”
“I can do that. I have some contacts I can check with.”
“Perfect. Report back to me with anything you find out. And thanks again for your help.”
Louie nodded and let out a deep breath as he opened the portal. Leira didn’t know he was the one who had gotten the bounty lifted, but to do so he’d had to drop a book of spells in their laps. She wouldn’t be happy about it, but at the same time she was right—the silence from the dark families was eerie. He stepped through into an alley in Chinatown, letting the portal close without another word. He had his mission, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.
11
Leira and Yumfuck stepped through the portal into their living room. Leira tossed her bag on the couch and stretched her arms overhead as the portal closed behind her. Yumfuck hurried into the kitchen and looked sadly at the sandwiches, which were still sitting where they’d left them. The lettuce was wilted, and the coffee had gone cold. Leira chuckled as she walked in, picking up the plate and dumping it in the trash.
“How about peanut butter and jelly?”
“That works for me!”
Leira pulled out a loaf of bread and the peanut butter and jelly and began to make the sandwiches. She thought about the battle, and how ruthless the Yakuza were. They were definitely not a group she ever wanted to face on her own. If it hadn’t been for Yumfuck, Louie, and the helping hands from the train platform she wasn’t sure she would have made it out of there in one piece.
“That was some pretty hardcore work you did against those mobsters today.”
“They interrupted my lunch,” he grumped, shoving a Funyun in his mouth. “And they tried to kill you. Nobody messes with my human.”
Leira smiled and carried the plate of sandwiches to the table. She sat down as Yumfuck put a couple on his plate. “I love you too, Yumfuck.”
“We’ve got each other’s backs,” Yumfuck mumbled through a mouthful of sandwich, spewing crumbs onto the table. “Those men were good, though. They had some magical strength.”
“They did,” Leira replied, picking up a sandwich.
She replayed the event, making mental notes of what she could do differently the next time she came up against them—and she knew there would be a next time. As she pictured the line
of magicals who helped she stopped on that familiar face, still not sure where she’d seen her before. Whoever she was, she had strong magic similar to her own. The symbols on her arms and chest had been flipping wildly, and the white light emanating from her hands had been almost blinding.
Leira didn’t know many magical people on a social level, but judging by the business suit the woman wasn’t part of any fighting squad. Leira shrugged it off, figuring she would either cross paths with her again or not. That wasn’t what she needed to focus on. There was a lot darker magic out there than just the dark families, which was something she hadn’t really thought about before. She had been so obsessed with stopping them that she had neglected to remember that crime came in many different fashions. The Yakuza was strong—stronger than the dark family they had faced months before. They were determined and well-trained. That made them dangerous since it meant their attacks were calculated. Leira would need to be the same when it came to the mob. She couldn’t just go rolling in there anymore, not without thinking about things first.
She didn’t have a mentor or a teacher or even a boss anymore, which was good in many ways. However, when it came to guidance and background on what she would be facing, not having Turner or General Anderson at the helm made it her responsibility to figure out. Leira picked up her sandwich and opened her mouth to take a bite, cringing as a portal opened next to her. She sighed and put the sandwich down, turning to see Senator Brushwood and his cronies at his conference table.
“Sorry to interrupt your lunch.”
“Don’t these things have a ringtone or something?”
“I’ll call next time,” Senator Brushwood replied with a chuckle. “Thought we could get the briefing over with before we left the office for the day.”
“Right.” Leira sighed. “Office hours. Forgot people actually had those.”
Leira wiped her hands off and stood. Yumfuck looked up at her with pity and shot Brushwood and the others a nasty look. Leira chuckled and patted him on the head.
“Don’t worry about it, buddy. I’ll be back soon. This shouldn’t take very long.”
“Better not. Motherfuckers,” he grumbled.
“I think that’s the first time you’ve used that in a correct reference. I’m proud of you.”
Leira walked through the portal into Brushwood’s office, looking back and smiling at Yumfuck as the portal closed. She sat her normal seat at the end of the table and folded her hands in front of her. The other men shuffled their papers, but Brushwood just sat there waiting for Leira to begin.
“Not all the Yakuza were killed, but we got a large portion of them. Your coordinates dropped us right in front of them and a firefight ensued. They had at least two dozen men, and they were all very powerful wizards. They knew their stuff, and they were trained. There was no chaos or emotion in these mobsters. They were like soldiers, working through the moves, fighting with honor, and falling with pride. We took several of them out before I was backed into a corner. They were barreling down on me, so I ran for reinforcements. There was a Starbucks across the street, and I grabbed whoever would help from the train platform. We had a good number of excellent civilians come to our aid. Together we were able to diminish their numbers and forced them to abandon their effort. The Silver Griffins were already onsite as we were leaving and were wiping the non-magicals’ memories of the event. We were exposed, but it couldn’t really have been helped.”
“What about the ones that got away?” a senator asked.
“Well, I suppose they will regroup, but I doubt they will make the mistake of going after that artifact vault any time soon. They all learned a pretty good lesson from this try. Still, I am going to start needing more information on who I am chasing before I jump in. Had I been there alone, I would be dead. On top of that, I need to know what the ultimate mission is. I would have chased them, but we had already risked a lot so I let them go. The protections on that vault, like I told General Anderson, need to be improved. Just about anyone could go in there, start a fight, and get into the vault. It’s dangerous.”
“I agree,” Brushwood replied. “And you did an excellent job. None of us expected you to kill every last one, though we did hope for it.”
“Let me ask you something. Are the dark families and the Yakuza allied in any way?”
“Not that we are aware of, but we definitely can’t say that it would be a surprise if they weren’t. They share a common goal, which is to be on top, and each group will use black magic in any way they can to achieve that. Their alliance would only make sense. Why? Did you see a member of the dark families?”
“No.” Leira shook her head. “I didn’t, but it got me wondering.”
“Well, I just want to say ‘good work.’ General Anderson said he dropped off your payment.”
“Yes, I got it. Thank you.”
“Now, my contact said that you brought along reinforcements—a troll and a wizard with a sword.”
“I did. It was my call, if you remember correctly. Our agreement was for me to do things my way.”
“Oh, I couldn’t agree more. We were actually just discussing it, and we think you should bring your team more often. We will pay them for their services—not what you make of course, but a payment based on the level of the hunter’s skill and their experience in the field. We need all the help we can get, and I don’t care about spending the money.”
“That would be great, but just know, that they aren’t employees. They are also freelance, and I have the say-so on when and where they go.”
“Not a problem. If you would relay the offer to them we would be much obliged.” Brushwood leaned back in his chair. “If they come with you again, we will consider a contract. Otherwise, let us know the details.”
“I can do that,” Leira replied.
She sat there for a moment looking at the senators, who were all working on different things. They had barely paid attention to what she was saying. Had magical battles become so commonplace that they no longer fazed them? It was still fresh to Leira every time she went. She loved it, but each time was different in some way—a different species, a different location, or a different kind of problem.
“Senator Brushwood, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why are the Japanese mob traveling all the way to the States to find artifacts? What do you have down in that vault? I know for a fact that there are tons of artifacts in Japan, so why come here?”
“Though I can’t tell you what we keep in that vault, I can tell you that everything in it is top secret and can’t be found anywhere else on Earth. They needed something special—something specific—and we were just lucky that you were able to stop them before they got their hands on it.”
Leira nodded, knowing that was the political answer. It was the first time Leira looked at Brushwood and saw a politician, not a magical creature on her side. He was just like the rest of them, with ulterior motives in the back of his mind. She thought about pressing him, but she wondered what the point would be. Obviously they had a leak since the Yakuza had known where a top-secret artifact was, and it wasn’t like he was going to sit there in a room of his peers and confess to wrongdoings and dark magic. And the last thing that she needed or wanted at that point was a larger bullseye on her back.
“Thank you, Senators,” Leira responded, standing up and shaking Brushwood’s hand. “You know how to get ahold of me if you need me.”
“We do, and don’t forget to tell your team about our offer. We will make it worthwhile for them, which would be a nice start for their lives here on Earth.”
Leira gave the senator a tight-lipped smile and opened a portal to the house. She stepped through, looking over her shoulder to see Brushwood staring at her. His gaze made her uneasy, but politicians and lawyers always gave her that feeling, no matter who they were. She stood in the living room for several moments listening to the crunch of Funyuns from the kitchen. She wasn’t hungry anymore, and wanted to g
et some more information on the Yakuza. She could go to Turner, but she knew he was busy with a mission so she decided to call the second-best source of information, or rather, the number one as far as family and loved ones were concerned.
“My beautiful granddaughter, it’s so good to hear from you! I was just talking to the other teachers about getting you out here to make a speech to the students.”
Leira’s grandmother was starting this year at the School of Necessary Magic as Headmistress. It was the perfect job for her, and Leira could tell she was happy. She deserved it after spending over a decade in the World in Between.
“That would be great,” Leira replied, not too sure about speaking in front of all those kids. She would figure out how to avoid it later. “How are you?”
“I’m doing well, but the real question is how are you? I didn’t expect to hear from you, since I felt a bit of tension earlier and assumed you were out doing your job.”
“I was, and it's actually part of the reason I am calling.”
“All right, what’s the story?”
“I had to stop a group of Japanese mobsters—the Yakuza—from getting into the vault to get artifacts. They were crazy well-trained, so I was glad I brought along Yumfuck and Louie.”
“Oh, my, the Yakuza are back out of the shadows. That is disheartening.”
“You know about them?”
“Not many magical folks that don’t, at least the older ones. They have been around since the first gate opened from Oriceran to Earth. They are trained like ninjas, fast, stealthy, and can sneak around without you even knowing they are there. They take all emotion out of their work, which, as you probably already know, makes them dangerous. Do you know what they were after?”