by Mazhar, S
A lone bike revved its way up the path, appearing from behind Jason Burns’s cottage and joined the front of the crowd. Skyler parked and sat back, straightening up. He was dressed in similar attire to the rest of the Hunters: dark jeans, boots, a top under a long coat, but his coat was very different to the rest. Skyler’s coat was an ivory white with a large spiral shape glittering at the back in studded silver. The tips of his coat were silver, as were the folded down collars. Aaron spotted the black thread on his wrist when Skyler lifted his hands, adjusting his fingerless gloves.
“Who would want Skyler back?” Sam asked next to Aaron’s ear.
“Must be someone,” Aaron replied. “Skyler’s got plenty of friends.”
“Hunters don’t tie threads on one another,” Alan explained. “It’s only by the mages left behind, waiting for the Hunters to return.”
“So there’s someone, other than his Hunter buddies, that cares enough for Skyler to return?” Sam asked. “They must be mad.”
“Shh,” Alan warned but chuckled nonetheless.
Aaron searched the crowd until he found Kyran, parked near the front. He had to strain his neck, going on tiptoes to see Kyran’s hands, holding on to the bars of his bike. He couldn’t see anything around either wrist.
“Kyran doesn’t have any,” Ava said, making Aaron look around at her. “He never does.”
“Why?” Aaron asked. “Doesn’t anyone care for him?”
“Of course they do.” Ava smiled. “But they can’t tie a thread on every single Hunter. It would defeat the purpose.” She rubbed the black string held in her hand. “The thread symbolises a special connection between the mage and the Hunter. You can’t have a special connection with everyone, can you?”
A bike came belting its way up and stopped right beside Aaron. Ella grinned, a twinkle in her grey eyes as she straightened up on her dazzling blue bike.
“Whoa,” Sam gasped, but for once, he wasn’t referring to Ella. “Is that a Ducati Panigale 1199?” he asked, staring at her bike.
“You know your bikes,” Ella commented. She turned to Aaron. “Ready for the show, Adams?”
“Show?” Aaron frowned.
“At the Hub.” She tilted her head towards the path behind the cottages. “You can keep up with the hunt.”
“Really?” Aaron was intrigued.
“Yeah, really.” She slipped off her glove from her right hand and held it out.
Ava stepped forward with a smile and wrapped the black thread around Ella’s wrist before knotting it. She smiled at Ella, who smiled back just as warmly and slipped her leather fingerless gloves back on.
“Be careful,” Ava said.
“As always,” Ella replied.
Aaron noticed the hilt of a knife slotted into a holster strapped to Ella’s thigh. The silvery-white insignia was clearly visible on the black handle. Aaron couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer.
“Ella?”
“Yeah?”
“That mark.” Aaron nodded at the knife. “The circle with the markings inside. I’ve seen it everywhere. What is it?”
Ella didn’t even look down to see what Aaron was referring to. “It’s the mark of the Elementals,” she said. “Or, to call it by its official name, Aric’s mark.”
Aaron frowned. “Aric?”
Ella’s smile vanished and she stared at him. “Are you freaking kidding me?” she asked, her tone cold all of a sudden. “You don’t know who Aric is?”
“I don’t know who anyone is,” Aaron said.
“Oh for–!” Ella bit her tongue, eyes clenched shut as she swallowed back obscenities. “You...!” She took in a breath, clutching onto the bars of her bike. She looked around at Aaron with blazing eyes. “You’re telling me that you seriously don’t know who Aric is?”
“No,” Aaron said. “I seriously don’t know.”
“Do yourself a favour,” she said. “When your no good parents return, shoot them!”
“Hey!” Aaron objected.
“No, they deserve it,” Ella said. “I just, I can’t...” She twisted the gear and rode off, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake.
Aaron turned to Sam and Rose. “What just happened?” he asked. “She was being somewhat decent and then–”
“She threw a hissy fit?” Sam finished for him.
“Exactly.” Aaron nodded. “She knows I don’t know anything about mages. Why would she assume I know who this Aric person is?”
He looked around to see Alan shaking his head at him, eyes narrowed.
“For shame, Aaron,” he said. “You’re a mage and you don’t know who Aric is?”
Aaron opened his mouth to protest when a rumbustious cheer broke out amongst the mages. Aaron looked over to see Scott, standing before the Hunters, his face grim and dark bags under his eyes. He had obviously not slept last night, or for a few nights even.
“This is it,” Scott called, as soon as the cheers died away. “You’re heading out to execute a Q-Zone kill. You all know the rules.” His gaze swept through the crowd. “You will stay within your designated roles. No one will act the hero.” He stared at Skyler for a moment longer than the rest. “You do what you need to, to get the Lycans into the Q-Zone. You do what you have to, to keep them in the Q-Zone. When I tell you, you leave the zone – no questions, no exceptions.” His mouth thinned as he pressed his lips together and took in a breath through his nose, letting it out slowly. “And remember: if anyone is left behind in the Q-Zone after you’ve been ordered out, no one goes back for them. You never go back. Is that understood?”
The Hunters let out a tremendous ‘Yes!’ and roared their bikes in agreement.
Scott nodded and turned, waving a hand so the rectangular cut in the distance slid open after a blinding flash.
“Go,” he said. “May the fates bring you back to us.”
The bikes revved and the Hunters rode towards the open Gate, with Skyler and Ella leading them. The Hunters disappeared through the Gate, their long coats whipping behind them. The rest of the mages cheered, wishing them luck and success. When the last bike crossed the threshold, the Gate slid closed, melting into the background again.
Scott turned to face the rest of the mages. “You can make your way to the Hub now.”
The crowd moved with Scott, with the exception of the kitchen staff. Mary and her helpers started clearing up the table.
“Let’s go and see what happens in this Q-Zone,” Aaron said, hurrying forward.
He turned to see Sam and Rose hadn’t moved.
“Forgetting something?” Sam asked. “Humans aren’t allowed inside the Hub.”
Aaron’s face fell. “Oh yeah,” he muttered, his shoulders dropping in disappointment.
“It’s okay,” Rose said. “You go and check it out.”
Aaron really wanted to go. He had a strange desire to see the Q-Zone in action. At the same time, though, he couldn’t leave his friends to be bored senseless.
“Nah.” He shook his head. “It’s alright. We’ll hang.”
“That’s all we do every day,” Rose said, smiling. “It’s okay. You obviously want to go. You can tell us what it was like.”
Aaron couldn’t make himself leave. “It’s such a stupid rule,” he moaned. “Everyone should be allowed in the Hub.”
“But they’re not,” Rose said. “It’s fine, just go.”
Aaron shook his head. “Not without my friends,” he said. “Besides, it’s not like I’ll understand what’s happening anyway. I’ll probably just make all of them mad at me because of my complete lack of understanding about all things mage.”
Ava was clearing the table but she was taking her time to stack the plates. When the rest of the kitchen staff moved towards the Stove, she turned to Aaron and the twins. “You know what’s remarkable about Salvador?” she asked, addressing all three of them. “The stores. You must have seen them? Past the farm?”
Aaron remembered the unmanned shops he had discovered with Sam and Rose.
“They’re very useful,” Ava went on. “You can get almost anything there: clothes, shoes...books. There are so many books, including ones about mages and their history.” She smiled at Aaron’s surprised expression. “You could read all there is to know about mages, especially the famous ones that all mages ought to know about.” She held Aaron’s gaze for a moment longer before walking away, the plates floating after her.
Aaron turned to Sam.
“I’m on it,” Sam said before Aaron could speak, turning to run to the stores.
“I’ll go with him,” Rose said. “You go to the Hub, and tell us all about it tonight,” she said, running after Sam.
“Look for books that mention Aric,” Aaron called after them.
Both turned to give him a thumbs-up before racing down the street. Aaron turned in the other direction and set off towards the Hub.
***
The Hub was crowded with mages. When Aaron walked in, he saw almost every row in the circular room occupied by seated mages. Around the white table were the fair-skinned Empaths, sitting in high-backed chairs. The group of twelve looked as calm and serene as always in their floor-length, pale blue gowns.
Aaron found Drake waving at him, and gesturing to the seat next to him. Aaron climbed up to the third row and sat down by his side. From the raised platform, Aaron could see the map in the hollow of the table. It was the image of the mage realm, with its spidery black lines and thick-outlined blobs that represented different zones.
Scott was already there, leaning over the table, hands gripped at the rounded edge. His head was lowered but Aaron could just about make out the quivering of his lips as he muttered prayers under his breath. When he lifted his head, Scott’s eyes were still closed, but his lips were now pressed together, so tightly they were turning white. He lifted up both hands, and that’s when Aaron saw the chains looped around his fingers. Four silver symbols dangled from the ends of the chains: a circle, an inverted V, a spiral and three wavy lines. Scott opened his eyes and held up the circle, his lips still moving in silent words. He fitted the three wavy lines into the circle with an audible click. Then came the inverted V, which went into the middle of the circle and on top of the wavy lines. The last symbol, the spiral, slotted perfectly between the legs of the V. Scott finished his prayers and brought the silver mark to his lips and kissed it. He slipped all four chains around his neck, so the makeshift pendant sat proudly on his chest.
Scott sat down, hands pressed together, fingers resting against his lips and eyes trained on the map. Long minutes passed but nothing happened. The crowd gathered in the Hub were talking in hushed voices, worry and concern lacing their tones. Aaron looked around, waiting and watching, but nothing seemed to be happening.
“What’s going on?” Aaron asked.
“We’re waiting,” Drake replied.
Aaron rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I kinda got that,” he said, “but for what?”
“For the Lycans to be tricked out of the human world and into the Q-Zone,” Drake replied.
Aaron frowned. “That could take hours.”
Drake smiled. “It could take days.”
“But Scott said the Q-Zone can only be sustained for forty minutes.”
“Yes,” Drake replied. “Which is why the Q-Zone is set up, but not opened yet.” Drake glanced at the table, at Scott’s visibly strained concentration. “Scott will open it at the last possible moment, just before the Hunters lead the Lycans out of the human realm. It gives the Hunters as much of the forty minutes as possible to gather all the Lycans into the Q-Zone.”
“How is Scott going to know when that’s about to happen?” Aaron asked, feeling a flutter of nerves in his stomach.
“They’ll tell him.” Drake replied. “You see that pendant he’s wearing?”
“Aric’s mark, yeah.” Aaron nodded.
Drake looked surprised. He turned to stare at Aaron. “Starting to pick things up?”
“Shouldn’t I?” Aaron asked.
Drake paused for a moment before going on, ignoring Aaron’s last question.
“The Hunters have similar necklaces, depending on their individual talents. Scott can communicate with all of them through that pendant,” he said.
Aaron turned to stare at Scott. Now he understood the careful consideration Scott was showing the four symbols when he slotted them in place; it was his link to his Hunters.
The minutes rolled into hours. Mary arrived at the Hub with trays of sandwiches and pitchers of apple juice. Everyone had a little to eat except for Scott, whose sole concentration was on the map. When it reached three solid hours with no action, Aaron wanted to get up and leave. He thought about all the information Rose and Sam may have acquired by now. He wondered how many useful books they would have found in those stores. He was sure they were back at their cottage by now, reading through mage history. He felt a pang of annoyance at himself. He should have gone with them. He would have been doing something, instead of sitting here.
Just as he tensed his muscles to get up and leave, he heard Scott’s gasp. Every eye turned to Scott, to see him drop his hands and grip onto the edge of the table. His eyes were wide, mouth open as he listened to something only he could hear. One hand closed over the silver necklace.
“How many?” he asked. “Okay.” He stood up and ran his hand over the map, making the image shift and change. A white blob began materialising, just above the location Aaron recognised as Japan. “Go!” Scott said.
No sooner had he said the word than a strange shadow began clouding the sky. Aaron turned in his seat to look outside, past the glass walls. Thick grey clouds rolled in, stealing over the brightness of the day. Thunder boomed ominously and a streak of forked lightening lit the darkening clouds.
“Start praying,” Scott said, speaking to the Hub this time. “The Q-Zone’s open.”
***
The atmosphere in the Hub was by no means relaxed before, but after Scott spoke, the tension was so thick it was stifling. Aaron drew closer to the edge of his chair, eyes narrowing at the map on the table, and in particular at the white cloud. Small green dots – tiny pinpricks – began appearing in it, spreading across the cloud.
Scott’s hands roamed over the map, etching thin white wisps leading to the cloud. One hand closed over his pendant and he spoke to the Hunters.
“Portals are open,” he said while one hand traced more spidery lines into the cloud.
“Portals?” Aaron frowned.
“Shortcuts,” Drake said, his gaze on the map also. “They’re like tunnels that lead from the human realm into the Q-Zone,” he explained. “All the Hunters have to do is lead the Lycans to one of the portals and they’ll be zapped straight into the Q-Zone.”
“All they have to do?” Aaron asked. “You make it sound like it’s the easiest job in the world.”
Drake smiled. “Trust me,” he said. “Tricking demons into portals is the easiest part of the job.”
“Is that how we move from the human realm to this one?” Aaron asked. “By portals?”
“Not always,” Drake replied. “Portals are set up and controlled by Scott. He doesn’t leave any open unless there’s a hunt. The other way to travel between the realms is through a tear.”
“A tear?” Aaron asked, remembering the way they had arrived in his dad’s car. The fall off the road, the intense heat, the bright flash before hitting the bricked road leading to the Gate.
“There are rips, little tears that allow access from one realm to the other,” Drake explained.
“Can’t humans see them?” Aaron asked.
Drake chuckled. “Humans don’t know what to look for,” he said. “Even mages have to work hard to see them.” He turned to look at Aaron, a small smile on his lips. “When you were in the human realm, did you ever see a flash of lightning but hear no thunder following it?”
“Plenty of times,” Aaron replied.
“That’s someone passing through a tear,” Drake said.
Aaron frowned at him. “Thunder is always there, it’s just sometimes too far away to hear,” he objected.
Drake chuckled. “Don’t get caught up in human explanations. They’ll come up with anything to explain that which they don’t understand.”
“So you’re saying every time there’s a thunderless flash of lightning, that’s a mage passing through a tear?” Aaron asked.
Drake shrugged. “Sometimes mage, sometimes demon.”
Within minutes, the cloud steadily changed from white to green, as Hunters and presumably Lycans entered the Q-Zone under Scott’s instructions. Scott leant over the table, both hands closed around the pendant, eyes fixed on the cloud.
“Get them in,” Scott instructed. “How many?” he asked incredulously. “No, no! There’s more!” His expression relaxed and he closed his eyes. “Good, good.” He looked to the small clock hung on the adjacent wall, where red luminous numbers had started a countdown. “You’ve got just under thirty-eight minutes,” Scott told the Hunters. “Get them in, all of them.”
Aaron watched with bated breath, even though there was nothing to see, only Scott standing over the table. A few minutes passed with Scott doing more of the same, instructing the Hunters. He glanced across to the clock.
“Thirty minutes,” he said. “How many?” He closed his eyes and one of his hands made a fist. “Fantastic! I’m locking it down. End those sons of demons!”
One by one, Scott shut down the portals, so the white wisps disappeared, leaving behind the now pulsing green cloud. The murmur in the Hub picked up volume, with many smiling faces and nods of approval. Aaron saw others with their hands clasped, rocking back and forth, eyes closed in silent prayers.
“Alright, twenty-five minutes to go,” Scott said. “Fred, Rachel, get your teams and move out.”
Aaron saw a few of the green dots that were swimming around in the cloud disappear. Four minutes later, Scott issued his next order.
“Sarah and Joshua, move out.”
Another few dots vanished.
Over the course of the next ten minutes, Scott instructed more and more teams to leave, turning the cloud back to its white form, with only a few green dots left squirming inside.