Perfect Strangers

by Jan Stryvant

  "Then why haven't you freed the others?"

  "Any fight to free anyone is always going to be a bloody one, possibly with several deaths on both sides," Roxy said and shook her head, "who would want to risk their lives for anyone who isn't a member of your immediate family?"

  "So," Chad said, "In short, you're too fractious to work together, as a whole, to stop the magic users from keeping some of you as slaves."

  Roxy nodded, "That's about the height of it. Plus they don't tend to grab just any lycan; there are lycan families that have been under the dominance of certain families or counsels for centuries."

  "And how to they enforce compliance?"

  "Again, it varies," Roxy sighed. "Some are just out and out slaves, and if they act up, they'll be killed. It's a favorite trick of some groups to put a ceramic capsule into the body of their lycan slaves, that is magicked and easily broken open when needed to kill the lycan by introducing pure powdered silver into their blood.

  "Others," Roxy shrugged, "they've either been conditioned from birth to follow orders, or perhaps have family members held hostage, or in some all too rare cases, they're there willingly, because they're treated well."

  "So, it's not exactly like the Helots," Chad said.

  "Steve mentioned that word," Sean said. "Who were they?"

  "The Spartans had a subclass of people called Helots. They did all the farming and everything else that a military society that can't be bothered with, basically they handled the nuts and bolts of survival that the Spartans needed. But they out numbered the Spartans by quite a bit. As the Spartan's society continued, they began to fear the Helots, because of their greater numbers and good physical condition from working hard all day.

  "So eventually they'd declare war on them, once a year or so, and during that time, any Spartan could strike down any Helot, without fear of moral reprimand or drawing the ire of their gods. More than once there was an organized culling of the ranks as well. It doesn't sound like the magic users have gotten to that point at least. But the striking down of anyone who angers them...."

  "Or who they fear," Sean interjected, remembering the recent storm.

  "Or who they fear," Chad nodded and continued, "has certainly led to a lot of hate against them, I'm sure. Which, regardless of if you're successful or not, is going to lead to a lot of recriminations, and deaths."

  Sean shrugged, "As long as they kill the right people, I don't really care."

  Sean noticed he got a couple of looks from the girls when he said that, though Roxy's was in obvious agreement. Jolene looked a little worried, and Daelyn looked a little sad.

  "Okay," Chad nodded, "but, who are the right ones?"

  "The ones who were involved in my father's murder, of course."

  "Ah," Chad said, "but what about the ones involved in the murder of other lycans? Are they the right ones too?"

  "Probably," Sean agreed.

  "Well, then you're going to be in trouble," Chad warned him. "Because from the sounds of things, that's going to probably be the majority of the magic users out there."

  "Oh, I doubt it's that many!" Sean said, shaking his head.

  "If you don't do a thing to stop it, are you not involved? If you accept it? If you make jokes about it? If you don't speak out against it? You're dealing with a very slippery slope here, Sean. At some point, you're going to have to draw a line. If you can't get the majority of the magic users on your side, the odds of your winning are zero."

  "But we out number them!"

  Chad shrugged, "But they're in the entrenched position, they have the power, and I don't doubt government, on their side. The simple fact that the practice is still going on, shows that you're fighting an uphill battle."

  Sean sighed, "Fine. But the ones directly involved in my father's death, they're not getting away."

  "Chad," Jolene spoke up. "Just how many slave revolts have succeeded in history?

  "Well," Chad sighed, "technically only one."

  "Only one!"

  "What do you mean 'technically,'" Sean asked.

  "Well, Haiti was founded because the slaves there all revolted, and eventually gained independence. Then there was the Baptist War in Jamaica, which while they lost, Britain outlawed slavery the next year, so in effect you could claim that they won. Then there was the escaped slave Gaspar Yanga, he founded a colony that lasted forty years, during which he was an outlaw and fought with the Spanish, until he negotiated a peace treaty with the Spanish, who in return for him paying taxes, recognized his town."

  "So the odds are against us then," Sean sighed.

  "Hey, you've got me on your side!" Chad laughed, "And from the sound of it, the dwarves at least would like to see you succeed. You see, the problem comes when the reparations and retaliations start. If the majority of magic users think that they have no choice but to fight, they'll fight. But if they think that it's just more trouble than it's worth, they won't."

  "I don't think they're going to want to give up their slaves," Jolene warned.

  "Hey, it's the twenty-first century. People have been opposed to slavery for nearly two centuries in this country, same for most of the world. These people don't live in a vacuum, I'm sure a lot of their kids don't care for it, so they'll start facing pressure at home.

  "And," Chad smiled, "if Sean here can in fact remove their hold over the lycans, well they'll be in a position of preferring to sue for peace over one of going to war. The key," Chad turned to face Sean, "is you will need to enforce that peace once it comes. And this isn't going to be easy for a very long time."

  Sean sighed, if there was one thing he'd learned about Chad, it was that he was damn near always right about anything dealing with politics, war, or people. It was one of the things that made him such a gaming genius. Chad always outguessed and outmaneuvered those around him, more than once he'd told Sean in whispers exactly what his opponent was going to do in a gaming match.

  And because Chad had his kneecap shattered in a senseless retaliation by a gang member who had mistaken Chad for somebody else back when he was in high school, he knew that Chad had serious issues with random and senseless violence. Chad had wanted to go into the military and prove that when it came to tactics, he was the best.

  Now he was permanently four-F.

  "Okay, fine. If I promise to do everything I can to stop there from being any recriminations, once things settle down, will you help me?"

  Chad smiled, "Of course, you know I'll never get another chance to run a war."

  Sean nodded, "I promise."

  "Ah, good! Now, let's make some plans!"

  Sean reached into his pocket and dug out three of the enchanted gold coins, he'd enchanted the rest of them earlier, just in case.

  "Get a chain, and wear these from now on," he said and handed one to Chad, one to Alex, and one to John.

  "What are they?"

  "Protection from scrying, and mind spells. Like I mentioned earlier. If you guys are going to be involved in this, even a little bit, I think I owe you one of these."

  "Thank you," Chad said and put his in his pocket, "Now, Steve told me about the money raising ideas he had, and those are good. Getting the word out to your supporters is always worthwhile, and a getting them to donate to your cause is always great.

  "But what we need first are some nice propaganda victories. Things that are easy to accomplish, which give the other side a black eye, and brings you both acclaim and followers. Easy victories to make you look like a winner, followed up by something a little more difficult to make it clear that you're a serious contender."

  "And just what would those things be?" Roxy asked.

  "Ah! These things always write themselves," Chad said with a smile, "all I need is good current intel on what the councils you see as your enemies are up to, as well as the ones you see as on the fence, along with all the background you have on them.

  "But the first thing you always want to do, is hit them where they think they're strongest. Because
this early in the war, they won't be expecting it and the psychological damage to them will be considerable, even if the damage is minimal."

  "Like when Doolittle bombed Japan?" Daelyn spoke up.

  Chad nodded, "Exactly! So where are each of these council's strongest?"

  "At their coven houses," Jolene said. "Where they meet to discuss business, council business, and do any rituals or circle casting."

  "And what's the worst thing you can do to their coven house?"

  "Burn it down?" Daelyn asked.

  Chad shook his head, "Too impersonal." Chad turned to Jolene, "Why do they use the coven house, why not meet at the leader's home?"

  "Because they're old and the circle enchantments are steeped in power...." Jolene stopped and smiled at Chad, "and if we were to disrupt the circle, it would take them couple of days to rebuild it."

  "And they wouldn't be able to cast? Or circle?"

  Jolene shook her head, "No, they'd still be able to do those things, but it would be harder and cost them more power. And once they got it restored, it wouldn't be as powerful or settled as the one we ruined.

  "Oh, they'd be annoyed at the very least, possibly even pissed."

  "How hard would it be?" Sean asked.

  Jolene grinned, "Not very. That's why they keep them in a separate place, to keep them from accidentally being ruined."

  "How well guarded are the houses?" Roxy asked.

  "As I recall, not very," Jolene said, "but I haven't been to many of them. They do guard them when they're being used fairly well, but when they're not?" Jolene shrugged, "They're not viewed as high value targets to most people."

  Chad grinned, "But the rank and file will see it, and they'll look at their leaders and wonder just what is going on and demand answers."

  "Won't they just write it off as a harmless prank?" Daelyn said.

  "If your enemies broke into your most sacred place and your leaders told you 'it was nothing, just an annoyance,' would you believe them? Or would you think they were hiding something and become suspicious?"

  Daelyn shrugged, "Why wouldn't I believe them?"

  "Because we're gonna lie about what we did there, that's why!" Chad laughed. "No matter what the leaders say, there's always going to be that small kernel of doubt, and we'll play on that, trust me, we will."

  "But why would they believe you? The others in that council group, that is."

  "It all depends on just how honest the leaders are with their people. Most leaders aren't very, and from what you've told me about these people already, and their love of secrets, I suspect there will be a lot of suspicion."

  Jolene nodded, "He's right, Dae. My uncle's a leader of one of the better covens, and even they get pretty secretive at times. From what I've seen of the ones we've had problems with so far, they're a lot worse."

  "So," Sean said, "we do a raid on the coven houses of the councils we're up against, then what?"

  "Then you recruit," Chad said.

  Sunday Morning

  Sean looked out the back window of Daelyn's 'Cuda as they slowly cruised through the graveyard. Mountain View Cemetery was right off the highway, though you couldn't get there directly. They came up five-eighty of course and then just took eighty until the exit just past the place.

  Roxy was sitting in the front seat, so she could enjoy Daelyn's driving like a complete maniac on the way up here on the highway. Fortunately, early Sunday mornings in Reno, most of the streets were deserted.

  They'd left Jolene back at the bunker to work on some defensive spells and some other odds and ends. The bunker was definitely someplace they were going to stay a while, so they might as well make it as comfortable as possible, as well as making it hard to find and well defended.

  "So, where's the center?" Daelyn asked from the front.

  "The circle, that's it. Just drive around it slowly, once."

  Daelyn did that, and as she did Sean looked around for a big concrete flower planter.

  "What about your grandfather's grave?"

  "Too obvious," Sean and Roxy said at the same time. Roxy looked back at him and grinned, so he leaned forward and kissed her.

  "You two are sickening," Daelyn sighed.

  "Oh, once you get over being embarrassed, you'll be sickening too," Roxy chuckled.

  "Oh? What about Jo?"

  "Jo only does lewd," Roxy snickered.

  Daelyn sighed.

  "Over there," Sean said pointing to a crypt that was just off one of the side roads that led like spokes from the center road that circled the offices and the wake halls for the cemetery. There were two rather large cement flowerpots right in front of it.

  Daelyn nodded and pulled the car to a stop in front of the crypt, Roxy opening the door and quickly getting out as the car stopped. Flipping the seat forward, Sean followed as Daelyn also got out of the car and they walked up to the pots.

  "Which one is it?" Daelyn asked.

  "No idea," Sean said walking up to the one on the left. "I guess we try one, and if that doesn't work, we try the other."

  "Why not try both?" Roxy asked walking up to the other one. "So, what do we have to do?"

  "Push down on it then turn it clockwise a quarter turn. Then pull up on it and turn counter-clockwise a quarter turn. After that, you should simply be able to lift it up."

  "And it's under the urn?" Daelyn asked.

  "Supposedly," Sean said and pressing down on the concrete, he felt something give a little. Turning it was fairly hard, it was stiff and there was sand or something in the mechanism.

  "This one's not moving," Roxy grunted.

  "Sean's is," Daelyn said.

  When he got it the full quarter turn, Sean pulled up on it. It took a lot of strength and he had to strain at it. Once he felt it stop rising, he then had to fight the grinding mechanism again and turn it all the way back, where it stopped.

  Sean looked around to see if anyone was watching them.

  "Anyone watching?" he asked the girls.

  "Not that I can tell, why?"

  "Cause I'm gonna have to shift to lift this. This thing is heavy."

  "We're good."

  Bending his knees and lowering himself, Sean quickly shifted and wrapping his arms around it, he slowly stood up, grunting as he did so. He could feel it pulling up out of the ground, but it was even heavier than he had thought.

  "Damn, Sampson must have been hella strong to have pulled this out of the ground!" Sean grunted. A moment later, Roxy joined him, helping him to lift it up.

  "Okay, I can see under it," Daelyn said, looking down into the deep hole that was now revealed. Recessed off to one side was a square metal lined cubby with a black rectangular bag sitting in it, which the plug of the pot would easily seal. "There's a plastic bag, just a moment!" She said and scrambling around to the other side and reaching down into the hole she grabbed it and pulled it out.

  "Got it, now don't drop it! Lower it back into place."

  Grunting, Sean quickly put it back down, and then turned it back part way so no one else could easily lift it out. Though easy was probably a relative term!

  ""Come on, I think we're drawing attention!" Daelyn said and jumped back into the car.

  Shifting back, Sean followed Roxy back to the car, diving in the back seat as she slid into the front. Sure enough, looking out the back window he could see someone was trotting over to investigate as Daelyn suddenly took off.

  "At least you didn't spin the tires," Sean chuckled.

  "Hey, it's a graveyard, I don't wanna be disrespectful if I don't have ta' be!" Daelyn chuckled and tossed the sealed plastic packet back to Sean.

  Taking it in his hands, Sean looked at it. It was a very thick and heavy plastic bag alright, about twelve inches by eight by four, sealed all the way around. Feeling it with his hands, it definitely felt like there was a box or something inside. The problem was he couldn't tear it open, it was definitely too tough, and the back seat of the 'Cuda was too small for him to shift.

&n
bsp; "Roxy, be a Hon and lend me a claw for a moment?"

  Sean held out the bag as Roxy shifted, and flexing out one long claw from her index finger, she dug into the bag, and then slowly cut it open along one side.

  "That's pretty tough stuff," Roxy commented.

  "It sure is," Sean said and now that he was able to get his hands inside it, he slowly ripped it open the rest of the way. Inside, there was a wooden box, with a latch. Taking the box out of the bag and opening the box he saw that a book sat inside, filling it. Attached to the inside of the lid, there was a small pendant that was about the size and shape of a military dog tag, that looked to be made out of the same material as the lycan chain that he now wore around his neck.

  The moment Sean touched it; he felt the power in it. Bring up his enchanting spell he started to check it over as Daelyn drove. Whatever it was, it was complicated. The spell on it was massive, far greater and far more involved than the one on the lycan chain was, and studying it would not be easy, if even possible, as the spell was constantly changing as he looked at it!

  That surprised him. Sean had no idea something like that could be done, but he remembered his father's warning about the power that this item contained. It could very well be that his father knew a secret method to keep others from learning his techniques, which considering how jealously alchemists were supposed to have guarded their secrets, only made sense to Sean.

  On a hunch, Sean took the tag out and touched it to the bottom of the tiger-eye stone on his necklace. There was a small 'click' and it attached.

  "Handy, that," Roxy said, watching him.

  "It only makes sense, and it proves my dad made the necklace after all."

  "So what is it? What does it do?"

  Sean shrugged and looked at the book still sitting in the box. "I have no idea, but I bet it's all inside of this."

  "That's great and all," Daelyn started, "but remember about our needing another car?"

  "Yeah, I do," Sean told her.

  "Well, I see something in that used car lot up ahead, so let's check it out."