by Martha Carr
“More like a new enemy.” A shiver passed down Leira’s back as her eyes glowed silver, the symbols changing to something Correk didn’t recognize.
“I wonder if the message is that one enemy is coming who’s powerful enough to throw the odds in his favor that we’re headed straight for his reality.” Correk watched Leira’s eyes brighten even further. “Focus on that idea.”
The symbols rippled across her skin again. Correk impulsively reached out and grabbed Leira’s hand to connect with her energy and felt a sharp icy cold fill his chest. He opened his mouth to speak and his breath turned to snowflakes as it hit the warmer air. He let go of her arm and felt the warmth gradually return. “Do you feel how cold that is?”
“I do, but the magic is protecting me from it at the same time. Fucking cryptic icy future behind door number one. Feels more personal.”
“Whatever it is, I’ve got your back. We fight with honor and to the end.”
“Was this Oriceran battle cry worthy? I’m more interested in finding the solution that steers us away from having to fight the icy future. I love a good battle as much as the next guy, but I’m not tied to it. I could find some other ways to fill my time. Get ready for the gates to open. Learn more magic so I don’t become a living light bulb. But I was planning to do that with you and Hagan. He’s my official partner at the PDF but…”
“Choosing to take on the responsibility of being the Fixer is me stepping up my game so I don’t get blown away by another fireball. The more I learn about magic, the more I can help choose a different door for the world to go through or at least be ready if we do end up in the deep freeze, or whatever that icy grip meant. It’s not enough to go on and is only a feeling. Our plate is full…”
Sparks shot across the room as a portal opened up in the living room.
“Need to get an Oriceran doorbell for those things…” muttered Leira. “Friend or foe,” she shouted, as her father, Jackson stepped through the opening. The Dark Forest of Oriceran was behind him, a gentle rainfall hitting the leaves. Jackson clapped his hands, shutting the portal as he shook off the rain drops running down his hair and back.
“This looks cozy.” Jackson stood in the center of the small living room, a rucksack tied to his back. “Not sure what my role is here.”
“Elf who doesn’t call first.” Correk scowled at him and threw the covers off, swinging his legs around and putting his feet on the floor.
“You don’t have a role here. I’m a grown ass woman. Is this a social call? You look ready for something.”
“I have a lead on a relic. Might be the one we need to ground Leira’s energy, but I’ll need some help to get it. I was actually going to ask tall, blonde and brooding here if he’d be willing to go along for the ride.”
“I’ll be coming along on this hunt. I don’t get left behind in my own story. Give me five minutes.” Leira easily bounded over the side of the couch and disappeared into her bedroom, leaving Jackson and Correk alone in the living room.
“So you and my daughter…”
“Are none of your business…” Correk created a small fireball in his hands and just as quickly extinguished it, glancing up at Jackson who smiled and made two appear in his hand, blowing on them to put them out, a wisp of smoke rising in the air.
Leira came back out dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with her leather jacket. “Smells like burning hair in here. Don’t want to know.” She held up her hand before they could say anything. “You two have the silence thing down. Let’s get going…” Her phone rang just as Jackson opened the portal and stepped through. “It’s the general. I have to take it. Looks like you two are on your own. Duty calls. Try not to kill each other.”
Correk reluctantly stepped through, looking back at Leira as she shrugged and the portal closed with a sizzle and pop, leaving her standing alone in the guest house. “Hello sir.” She held the phone up to her ear, listening intently. “I know the place. I can meet you at the office and we’ll leave from there.” Leira hung up the phone and slid it back into her pocket. “Maybe they can bond hunting for the artifact. Nah, one of them is coming back with a scorch mark.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The general was waiting for Leira when she got to the warehouse. He was sitting at Hagan’s desk, surrounded by Alan Cohen and two other familiar PDF agents, Mark and Gail. His hat was neatly placed on the top of the desk. “This must be big. You brought reinforcements.” Leira waved to the two witches, Patsy and Lois who looked grim and had situated themselves on the couches, not saying a word. I feel better when those two are talking like magpies. They only grow silent when magic is running amok.
The general held up his cell phone, waving it in the air. “We have a rather delicate problem. Patsy, run it again, please.”
Patsy raised her wand toward the overhead virtual screen and images started to form in the air.
“Looks like they’re here with us in the room,” said Mark, stepping closer, his mouth hanging open. He was wearing a blue nylon jacket with large PDA letters in white on the back.
“That’s Charlie Monaghan, the CEO of that corporation Correk and I visited.” Broke into, took their seeds away, destroyed a lab, pissed off Monaghan. A good day at the office.
“The men sitting next to him are several US Senators and they’re brokering a deal from hell.” The general drummed his fingers on Hagan’s desk angrily. “Fortunately for our side, a Wizard was sitting nearby and recorded the whole thing without anyone noticing. Lacey Trader was good enough to pass it along through channels.”
Lois gave a wave. “We’re the channels.”
“There was a vote recently on Capitol Hill that gave a childish kind of finders keepers to whoever finds artifacts first, giving Axiom a right of way I would have sworn they’d never get. Nasty thing about these kind of votes is that once the right is given, it’s harder to convince others to take it away.” The general gave a curt nod to Lois and Patsy.
Lois swirled her wand in the air, enhancing the sound quality so their voices became audible.
“I’m not interested unless this technology is coming online soon, and I mean within the next year.” The Senator was jabbing his wrinkled finger against the white linen tablecloth. The knuckles of his hand were swollen and twisted. “I don’t have the luxury of investing in green bananas.”
“New technology…” Leira stepped closer to the screen to watch.
“We’re getting close to being able to enhance humans with the machinery and prolong life, improve mobility…”
Shock grew over Leira’s face. Enhance humans… “He can’t be talking about using relics on human beings.”
“He’s negotiating to use it on them to keep them alive long past their expiration dates.” The general watched the men plotting, his mood growing darker.
“Too late, looks like their milk already curdled,” muttered Gail.
“This is worse than magic running loose. This is politicians with magic. If they figure out how to do that there’s no telling where it would all end.”
“She gets it!” Patsy threw her hands up in the air as Lois sent a pea-sized ball of light flying across Patsy’s head. Patsy saw the glowing volley just in time and ducked, smirking at Lois as the ball turned and knocked her in the back of her head and a half-eaten M&M popped out of her mouth.
The general was distracted by the virtual images playing out in the middle of the warehouse.
“Looks like we could just go over and join them,” said Mark, putting his hand in the air and watching it pass right through the screen.
“We need to know more about Charlie Monaghan’s intentions. This just isn’t enough information. I’m sending Lois and Patsy to follow him. He’s already seen you, Leira and it has to be someone with magical capabilities. He’ll never see those two coming and they’re a lot cagier than they look.”
“Let’s hope so,” whispered Gail, leaning closer to Alan.
“You are going to pay these Senators a vis
it.” The general got up from the desk and came to stand opposite Leira as he put his hat back on his head. The agents fell in behind him, ready to leave. “I’ve been able to pull a few strings and get them together in one room without overplaying my hand. I need you to make an appearance and put the fear of magic into them. Leave a lasting impression that will overcome whatever riches Charlie Monaghan is promising.”
“Of course, general. I can put on a shit show that will leave them checking under their beds for the rest of their lives.” Leira looked up at Charlie just as he got up from the table and turned to get the waiter’s attention. She stepped closer, looking at the back of his head, narrowing her eyes. I’ve got it! Wait… he was on the streets of Austin. Leira let the image play through her mind, looking for more details. Headed up 6th Street walking alone. She shook her head. Nothing. Why would he be in Austin. “There! Did you see that? Lois, can you replay that part and… stop it right there. Look at his eyes. What is that? His eyes turn totally black there for just a second.”
“We noticed that too and were hoping you’d have some input.”
Leira looked over at Lois who quickly shook her head and swirled her wand just enough to draw the Silver Griffins symbol in light that faded just as quickly before anyone else could see the gesture.
“I’m still new to a lot of this. That one is new to me, but I can’t imagine it’s a good sign.”
“Then we move on and gather more information. Here are the coordinates for the meeting. They should be gathered within the hour. Make it a good entrance.” The general turned and headed for the door without another word. The events of the day were weighing heavily on him.
Alan took Leira by the arm, whispering, “We need to talk. I’ll find you after the meeting is over.” He looked like he wanted to say more but the general was already in the parking lot.
“I’ll text you when I’m back at Estelle’s. We can meet there.”
He gave her arm a squeeze and took off in a quick jog to catch up with the others.
Lois and Patsy hung back, closing the door behind Alan as Lois held out her wand in the air. “Should have done this the first time I came here. You need your own human detection system.”
“You need to explain, Lois.”
“Look, I know you were raised like you were one hundred percent grade A human but face the facts. You’re a magical being working with humans. We’re all getting along really well right now but there are limits.”
“Sometimes harsh ones,” said Patsy, drawing a line across her throat. “We kid around with each other but we never forget we’re playing in their sandbox. They decide we’ve overstayed our welcome and things get bad pretty fast.”
“Charlie Monaghan is showing signs of having arrived at that point.” Lois pursed her lips and held up her wand to replay the scene again. “Those dark eyes. Never seen them before but heard about it from an old Witch I mentored with a long time ago. It’s darkness filling every square inch of him. I think you like to call it the Dark Mist.”
The color drained from Leira’s face. “I thought the Dark Mist only went after magical beings…”
“Normally, that’s a true statement.” Patsy found an old blue peanut M&M in her pocket and brushed off the fuzz, popping it into her mouth. “But Charlie Monaghan’s been handling a lot of very powerful artifacts. Using those artifacts, even.”
“Humans who mess with artifacts tend to do so with less than honorable intentions. The more they do it, the worse the intentions become. It gets to be like an addiction, filling them up inside.”
“They don’t see the shortcut as a problem, they see it as a solution to all their ills.”
“Till it’s not. But by then, living in this world on its terms has taken a backseat.”
“The old Witch told me that there were stories from when she was young of the darkness taking over some humans. Artifacts were getting dug up and tossed around in the last century, infecting some of the humans and stirring up magic.”
“It did not end well for anyone and took the Silver Griffins quite a while to clean up the mess and lock all of the artifacts in their vault.”
“It was really what got the vault going. One small catch, though was that the world talked about our kind like we were the devil.”
“Drew us with warts and giant noses. What’s that about? Seems a little discriminatory, if you ask me.”
“We had to go way underground. The Silver Griffins came up with rules to protect magic that were a lot harsher. A lot…”
Lois gave Patsy a sidelong glance. “All of that is our way of leading up to this.” She went into her green leather handbag shaped like a trapezoid with a gold clasp on top and pulled out a red-checkered dish towel. She held it in her palm, unfolding each side carefully. “We heard through the magic grapevine that you may be in need of some grounding, being a Jaspar Elf and all.” In the center of the dish towel sat a bracelet, sparkling even in the low light.
Leira put out her hand to touch it and felt a rush of wind in her lungs. The bracelet rose into the air and hovered just near her hand.
“That’s a pretty fancy trick right there. Your eyes aren’t even glowing.”
“I’m not doing that,” said Leira.
“We know. It’s the power in this artifact. It’s filled with some very old, pure energy of a different kind.”
“Lacey said that it was beings who were half magical, half human who filled the bracelet for a moment just like this one.”
“They saw it coming. It’s always been rumored that Jaspar Elves still existed. But, boy, Jackson did a good job of hiding his true self. Hunkering down in the woods of Oriceran and living like a hermit.” Patsy shook her head.
“And we knew that the spark of humanity was in the occasional person.”
“One in a few million but it’s there.”
“Eventually, the two might come together…” Lois moved her hands closer together. “Creating you, but with a tricky kind of catch. Mara was right to worry. Yes, we heard that whole sordid tale. But that whole melting into the light thing. Whoa!” Patsy felt the outside of her pockets but there was no spare bit of candy anywhere.
“Toni saw what you could do and stories started getting back to us and we wondered.”
“The bracelet is telling us we were right. You have the spark. Don’t worry, we’ll keep that one within the community with as few of our kind as possible.”
Leira moved her hand around slowly and watched mesmerized as the bracelet changed direction to keep up with her.
“You two are weirdly good at getting the good dirt on what’s going on.” Leira smiled, her eyes wide, fascinated with the bracelet.
“Thank you kindly. We may act the fool but it’s more of a cover than anything else. Human beings don’t fear what they don’t really respect.”
“The general respects you.”
“Until the day he doesn’t… Granted, he’s definitely one of the good ones but times change. Besides, people talk more around us because they see us as harmless.”
“Especially me,” laughed Patsy.
“She wields a wicked wand, trust me.”
“I remember you two at the seminary. I saw what you could do.”
“Oh, that was just a taste. You’re right about the general. He’s no fool and he hired us. Think about it.”
“This artifact will ground me…”
“No, this is only half of what you need. Notice it’s missing its stone and that’s a necessary component. The right kind of stone channels the energy in a loop, creating the grounding.”
“You need to get on finding one of those. We don’t have it or we’d give it to you but it’s rare. Mostly because we haven’t figured out how to tell when we’re holding one.”
“We’d have to hand one stone artifact after another over to you and wait to see what happens with you, the bracelet and the stone.”
Lois carefully covered the bracelet with the washcloth again, capturing it in the air, an
d rolled it up as Leira hugged her around the neck. “Thank you, thank you.”
“Heed our words though. You possess more power than even magical beings have been able to stomach at times. Be careful of who you trust.”
“Patsy, we had best be going. We have an assignment to get to and that meeting will just be getting under way. I’m sure those Senators must be wondering right about now who’s the guest speaker.” Lois let out a snort of laughter and handed the bundle over to Leira. “We hope this helps. Lacey’s not keen on letting you run through the vast collection they’ve locked up but if it comes to that, we’ll work on her for you.”
“Others are looking too,” said Leira.
“Not surprising to us at all. You are part of a large network that has your back. Remember that and call on us when you need us.”
It’s going to take all of us to defeat what’s coming. Magical and human had better come together. I can just feel it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The two moons were rising by the time Louie was able to get his band of humans all the way to the entrance. He stood back from them to get a better look
A loud screech echoed overhead as some of the men ducked and others pressed themselves harder against the wall. “Wish the earth would just swallow me up,” said a wiry man wearing protective goggles.
“You’d have to be on an entirely different world for that to work. Now, Oriceran would be more than happy to oblige, especially in these parts.” Louie silently counted down from five, holding out his fingers. “Right on time,” smiled Louie, as a harpie appeared, flying directly overhead, screeching and making ever smaller circles right over their heads.
“I have more confidence in my motley crew than that harpy,” he muttered to himself.
He thought better of taking stock of everyone outside of the entrance and ushered them all into the cool darkness, keeping an eye on the harpy. She looks big enough to pick off the short bald one in the back. “No, don’t leave your backpack outside here. Any number of flying, crawling, walking creatures will make off with it. You want to keep it, you keep it on or kiss it goodbye.” He rolled his lucky stones around in his hand, in and under his fingers as he assessed the scrapes and bruises. “No broken bones, few good scrapes and one good bump on the head. Not bad at all. Turns out all that jogging and playing golf really did pay off for you guys. I would not have believed it if I wasn’t here with you.”