The Seal of Solomon

by Jeffrey Ellis

  Facilitator William pondered that. "That's fine for any facility other than this one. We put our agents through an additional six months of mentored training with a senior officer. Lady Chelsea here is our primary trainer and one of the best. But you say you're fully certified? Lady Chelsea, what do you think about academy certification?"

  Before Squire Sebastian could react, she grabbed his tie and used it for leverage flipping him onto the floor. Her blade was out in the blink of an eye and she hit him with the flat side of it on high stun. He trembled a moment from the current then lay still. She dropped down, slamming a knee into his chest and knocked the wind from him.

  "Academy certification is okay if you never go in the field. You learned training manual tactics and now I'm going to teach you to fight. Lose the tie. It can be used against you. Never give a fey a point of leverage," she said as she stood up.

  She helped him up after the shock wore off and he got his breath back. He looked at her. She was half his mass and nearly six inches shorter yet she took him down and incapacitated him in seconds and he never had a chance to react. He was dumbfounded.

  "Are you coming?" she asked as she went to the elevator.

  He followed quickly behind her, taking off his tie as he went.

  #

  Facilitator William and Coordinator Anna sat in her office.

  "What's your impression now that he's actually here?" asked the Coordinator.

  "He's what we expected. He's what we all were when we came out of training. His numbers are phenomenal though. He has potential. You've seen his scores. He was top of his class in nearly every metric. That and his military record are why I recommended him after a friend at the Academy told me about him. He made GloCom's Elite Corp less than six months after basic training, was promoted to officer and was assigned to a classified moon base all within his first two years. GloCom's treatment of the moon incident was their loss and our gain. Despite his dad's objections, he has the makings of an exceptional field agent. I respect Director Abraham but it's his son's choice. Chelsea will whip him into shape. Her cadets make phenomenal field officers. Assuming she doesn't beat him to death first," he said.

  "Or end up in bed with him," said Anna. "She likes the pretty ones.”

  "Yes, she does. He’s in for a rough few months," he said.

  #

  Lady Chelsea and Squire Sebastian entered the armory. Provisioner Adam was at his usual station. "Hi, Sir Adam. I'm here for my new blade and to get Squire Sabbatical outfitted as well.

  "It's Sebastian," said the rookie.

  Lady Chelsea looked at him. "Excuse me?"

  He spoke again. "It's Sebastian, my name. You called me Sabbatical," he replied.

  "Oh, did I now?" said Lady Chelsea.

  She stepped behind him, kicked him in the back of the knee and he went down. She put her arm around his throat choking him and whispered to him "Don't question your SO rookie," then let him go. He pulled himself back up after he got his breath back. "Now what is your name?" Asked Lady Chelsea. He looked her in eye.

  "It's Sebastian. You can kick my ass all you want but that doesn't change the truth,” he replied.

  She smiled at him. "Right answer kid. You might get through this with a minimum of broken bones after all."

  “And I’m not a kid,” he said then continued, “I’m barely a few years younger than you are.”

  “You’re new to the field and green. In Warden terms, you’re a child. You grow up really quick in this business though so don’t sweat it if a few people call you kid or rookie for a while,” she told him.

  Provisioner Adam finished handing all the gear to the new recruit. “Want some friendly advice? Listen to the lady. She's got more kills than anyone in the field and handled some of the most dangerous fey we've ever seen. She's one mean bitch but she's good.”

  “Why that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me,” said Lady Chelsea.

  “It's true. You're good,” said Sir Adam.

  “Not that. I know that. I mean about being a bitch. Usually, it's much worse,” she said with a grin then turned her attention to Squire Sebastian.

  "You used training versions of most of these at the academy. Unlike the training versions, they're all coded to your DNA and if someone else other than a Warden touches them it won't be pleasant.”

  “The gun is a standard issue dual function laser emitter and projectile device. It has a variety of ammunition depending on the need. Restock from Provisioner Adam. Every time it's used must be logged.”

  “The blade is slightly different from the training version. It's a standard retractable blade with electric stun and micro vibration but in addition to the silver, salt, and wood folded into the blade, they now have cold iron as well. It took a while for the chemists to get that to bond to the alloy without losing its unique properties. Once extended, it still looks like a standard wakizashi and feels like one. It will work against about 95% of all fey and collapses down to about twelve inches," she told him.

  "At the academy, they said we could deal with all fey," said her trainee.

  She looked at him crossly and continued, "Deal with does not mean kill. There are a few we can only contain and haven't found a way to kill yet. Just another thing we can thank the Seal for. Anyway, stop interrupting. The under armor is thermally regulated, and polymer reinforced. The original design is based on the skin of certain reptilian fey that our engineers call nanomesh bioweave. It will stop a slug at point blank and absorb quite a bit of blunt force trauma. You might have some bruises though if you take a hard hit. It can resist some fire and cold. It does well against energy weapons and can dissipate most radiant energy but it's not unlimited and will eventually give out under intense bombardment so don't overtax it. There's a mask as well which we don’t often use but it’s there when needed. The armor can handle temps down to well below freezing and almost to the boiling point for a few minutes. Don’t count on armor to save you though. Rely on your training, not your tools."

  "Now that we've covered the external, let's talk about internal," she said and kept going, "The communicator implant,” she said indicating his right temple, “Is a standard bio-operational integration device without the academy limitations. You can use it for all communication and it has full access to all Warden databases. We use the communication sparingly. It’s generally only for combat or emergency as speaking directly into someone’s brain is considered rude for non-emergency use. You might get a headache the first few times you use it. The training version has a limited interface so it's not as intense and getting used to the full system takes some time. The heads-up feeds directly into your optic nerves and your eyes might burn a bit until you adjust.”

  She stopped a moment to let that sink in then continued. “Your master key implant,” she motioned at his thumb, “Will give you access to virtually every non-government facility on the planet, at least those not using old-fashioned physical locks. You can also enter most government facilities, apart from classified military and high-level offices like the UniGov’s executive offices. Private housing is also off limits unless in direct pursuit of a target. Remember, every door you open is logged and tracked in our global database. It's for official use, not peeping in the shower or watching free sporting events."

  "We can enter military bases?" he asked.

  "Yep," she replied. "We supersede the military in matters related to fey. They keep themselves occupied handling the normal things that you can defeat with a fighter drone like terrorist attacks and border disputes. They aren't equipped to handle the fey and since we never know where one might pop up we need to go wherever the fey are. Now, that being said, you ever enter a military base or government building you better have a damn good reason, or you might be in one of the cells downstairs with the fey. We have a good working relationship with GloCom even though they're a bit standoffish so mind your manners around the military. Your access is still a tiny bit limited until your initiation period is over and y
ou might find some places you can't enter...like my quarters...at least not yet," she said smiling.

  "In the cells downstairs with the fey? So, it's true then, we have some of the fey on site, in this building. There are rumors at the academy but..." he said, and she interrupted.

  "But they are completely true. There are a few we've run into that we can't kill. We've been able to capture those exceptions so far and we have a containment facility here with a few more like it around the world. The things in those cells are nasty. They have no concern for human life and exist to kill so we must keep them on ice. A lot of ideas were tossed around like transporting to the moon or launching into the sun, but we can't be sure if that will kill them and we'd rather have them where we can keep an eye on them. Come on, I'll show you," she told him leading him to an elevator.

  "Use your key implant, touch the panel here," she said pointing to a part of the elevator that appeared to be decorative.

  When he did, a panel opened, and another set of buttons appeared.

  "The first four are the upper floors. That's where we live and work. The bulk of the building houses supplies, housing for the cell guards, mid-level Wardens who get the easy jobs like record keeping or communications and support staff. You're being primed as part of the elite agents, so you'll be assigned a place upstairs when you’ve completed your probationary training. Assuming you survive of course. The last button though, that's the cells. Most of us don't go down there anymore unless we have to, but all new recruits have to see it. Might as well get it over with. Tap the button kid," she told him.

  The elevator descended and stopped. As they got off, he noticed a change. There was a heavily fortified checkpoint with well-armed guards. Past that was rows of cells. Some with bars, some with transparent covers and some completely sealed only viewable through a display screen. At regular intervals were what looked like submarine bulkheads.

  "This is the Cage. We house the fey here. These things can't be killed, they don't require sustenance or oxygen and we're at a loss on how to stop them. We have a golem that reconstitutes itself every time we kill it. We've blown it into little pieces and it just reforms. We dissolved it in acid and it took a while but reconstituted. The reptilian looking thing is impervious to damage. Our scientists designed a glue bomb to stop that bastard. This ball that looks like glowing dust, this thing is a willowisp. It's easy enough to catch but don't touch one because you'll be dead in seconds,” she told him.

  “For a while, we were experimenting, trying to find ways to kill them. We tested napalm, high explosives, poisons, and various other methods until the UniGov oversight committee deemed it cruel and unusual so now we just contain what we can’t kill,” she told him. “Honestly I doubt it matters anyway. Short of nukes, I don’t know if many of these things could be stopped and even nukes might not work for all we know.”

  They continued down the rows of cells, all in all about two hundred with construction crews working on more. Some of the fey were sentient and hurled threats or begged for mercy. Lady Chelsea ignored them all and continued the tour. "Anytime we run into something we can't kill, it comes here. Each cage is designed for the specific creature. We put them here and people get to go on about their lives. Let's head up and get your quarters assigned," she said and headed back.

  "Wait," he said. “What about that hallway? We didn’t go that way.”

  "Are you sure you want to know? If I were you I would say no and go to the elevator. This is one of those things best left a mystery," she told him.

  "You can’t just say something like that and expect me to ignore it," he said.

  "You won't like this one but if you're sure, if you're absolutely sure and you think you can handle a nightmare, then steel yourself and we'll go take a peek," she said hesitantly.

  He took a deep breath. "I think I can handle anything," he told her.

  They walked down the hallway and it opened into a large cubic room about 30 meters on a side, sunken so they were looking down upon it. It had a stairway and freight elevator leading down to the floor and she walked down the stairs, Sebastian following her. At the other end was a large metal door with laser canons facing it.

  They walked over to the door. The two guards stepped in front of them. "State your business Lady Chelsea," said the first one.

  "Lady Chelsea and Squire Sebastian. Recruit orientation," she replied. The second guard looked at the first one then at Lady Chelsea.

  "Do you mind if I head down the hallway until you're done? I don't like seeing this thing," he said, his voice shaking.

  Lady Chelsea scowled at him. "Absolutely not. Stand your ground Warden," she ordered. She looked at the doorway and said "Open it. Let him see the Tormentor."

  The doors slowly slid open to reveal a large cell encased on all sides by a thick transparent material. Inside was an amorphous black thing that seemed at once to be both solid and incorporeal. Electrical pulses came from the thing and it gave off a palpable aura of dread. It was big but because it was ever changing, exactly how big was hard to say. It was about twenty meters in diameter now. Just being near it made everyone uneasy and they wanted nothing more than to be anywhere else.

  Squire Sebastian stood stoically. "That's really it? That's the Tormentor." He didn’t want to believe it but had heard the rumors it was being contained.

  Lady Chelsea shook her head. "Yea. No matter how many times I'll never get over it just how freaky it is. We deal with magical and mystical things every day but that thing, that is some next level evil shit. Fucking dark wizards. It's a good thing they didn't survive the Seal," she told him.

  "Is that really Mordred's creation? It must be eighteen hundred years old," he said, his voice quaking a bit.

  "It is. Mordred summoned it in an act of desperation as he realized what the Council was doing. It didn't stop them, but it did manage to weaken the Seal. Close it up we've seen enough," she said and quickly walked away.

  "What do mean weaken the Seal? In all my training no one ever told us the Seal was weakened. What else is a lie?” he asked sounding confused.

  "It's not a lie, it's just information withheld on a need to know. Most of what you've been told was correct. Magic is real and very weak. Monsters are real and very strong. Everyone knows this nowadays. What they don’t know is what we know. History is a lie. Great wizards used to exist, and some were so powerful that religions sprang up around them. Eighteen or so hundred years ago, the timeline is a bit iffy thanks to the Dark Ages, two of those great wizards, Merlin and Morgana had a son whose name was Mordred. He was a nasty bastard, as evil as they come and power hungry. He waged war on the rest of the wizards, good and bad alike, trying to usurp their power. He couldn't be stopped so the remaining wizards formed a Council and found a way to stop him by suppressing magic. They created a final spell, Solomon's Seal. It would bind all magic, possibly forever. They formed the Wardens to serve as guardians for humanity after they were gone. Because of their connection to magic, once it was gone, they would go into a sort of hibernation. When Mordred realized what they were doing, he created a beast unlike anything before and sent it to stop them," she told him.

  She continued. "That story is mostly true it just has some bits omitted. Now, what you haven't been told. Arthur, captain of the guard at last base of power, Camelot, defended the gates when the Tormentor came. He and his knights held it back for a little while during which time the wizards cast the Seal. As the final incantations were cast, most of the Council left to go to their chosen places of rest to start their sleep. Merlin alone stayed to complete the spell. As he was finishing, the Tormentor broke through and entered the tower where he was casting. The Seal was complete but flawed thanks to the Tormentor's influence.”

  “The completion of the Seal caused massive global damage as a shock wave spread around the globe. They described it in the early records as the Earth shuddering. We’re guessing that was their term for tectonic activity on a global scale. The after effects match that. Vo
lcanoes erupted. Tidal waves hit. It was mass destruction. People were scattered, populations wiped out, cities swallowed. As a result, we were set back in our pursuits of science and learning, and it was a rough few centuries. History calls this the Dark Ages and they blame a different source, largely due to the efforts of the Wardens to conceal the cataclysm and hide the truth of the Seal to keep people from trying to break it,” she told him.

  “As for us, the Wardens originally lived in underground grottoes scattered across the world. Arthur was the first High Lord, but the individual enclaves managed most of their own affairs. Their thought was isolation would help keep them secret and their dispersal makes them better able to cover large areas. This worked for a while. We stayed in the shadows and hunted the fey. Early on, we communicated with other enclaves via secret messengers, coded messages, etc.”

  “After the Dark Ages ended, humanity changed. We started learning, building and advancing. It became harder and harder to stay hidden. We came out of the shadows at times and worked secretly with various governments that seemed benevolent and were able to be swayed to our cause to help with financing and resources. As time went by, we got better at the politics of cooperation and when the world finally unified a hundred years ago, many of the more powerful governments were already aware of us and helped to create the global order we have now. They also financed the construction of these fortified locations. We modernized,” she said seeming happy about that.

  She kept talking. “We learned new ways of capture and containment and new technologies like guns with various metals in their ammunition because as you know, many fey have a weakness to certain materials. We made some interesting discoveries, like lasers being able to hurt many types of the fey. Your sword is a good example of blended technology both old and new. It uses traditional folding methods of ancient Japanese master swordsmen while incorporating modern materials in the creation of the metal alloy to allow non-metallic substances to be in the metal without weakening it and has micro-circuitry giving it the vibration and electrical properties. We can communicate and research faster than ever before thanks to our technology and it's allowed us to make the world a safer place.”