by Jeff Hale
I looked over at Malachai, and he nodded slightly at me. I grinned and readied myself. These Purity assholes were about to feel the wrath of two pissed off Sentinels brought to bear on them. I would have to work with Malachai to pull this off, but it was either that or be captured and miss Celeste’s party.
I was not missing that party.
NINE
I took a breath and pulled the Aether into me as I augmented my strength and speed once again. Then I lunged at the nearest guard in a maneuver similar to the one I had just used on Malachai, connecting my forehead with the bridge of the trooper’s nose. He crumpled, holding the ruin of his nose as blood streamed down his face.
Malachai laughed, and I saw that his hands were free and his blades were out. I burned through my bonds and conjured my own blades.
“Back to back!” I called out, and felt Malachai move in response. I raised a shield around myself as the troopers opened fire. Several others rushed forward with iron batons. I knew that if I was hit by an iron weapon it would disrupt my connection with the Aether and disable my powers for a short time. It might only be a couple seconds, but it would be long enough to do some real damage.
Two rushed at me at once and I immediately went into the defensive. I felt Malachai moving behind me, and I heard the sound of his blades intercepting several attacks. The two in front of me worked in a coordinated effort. One would swing an overhead blow meant to hit my shoulder, while the other went for a horizontal swipe at my chest. I brought my ice blade up vertically, blade down in a parry against the chest swipe, and swung the blade in a natural arc to my left, deflecting the shoulder strike.
They then both went for overhead strikes, which I deflected aside with one counter swipe of my fire blade. The one on my left jabbed to my right and the one on my right jabbed to my left, hoping to confuse me with their crossing attacks. I brought my ice blade upwards in a circular motion that started on my left and traveled to my right and then upwards. I brought the blade back in full circle and swiped across to my right, catching both with the slash. In two more quick movements, I jabbed out with my fire blade to the one on my left and then stabbed at the one on my right with my ice blade, and as a third rushed up, I brought both blades back across to their respective sides, the fire to the right and the ice to the left, catching him in the path of both, cutting him nearly in twain at chest level.
As he fell I brought my left foot up and put it on the back of his head. I pushed down with my foot, planting his face into the floor with enough force to crack the tile flooring. Using that as leverage to push off, I went into a front flip towards two other troopers that were standing, firing guns at us. As I came down I brought my blades down in vertical sweeps that caught both gunners on their outside shoulders. I landed and brought both blades down diagonally, slicing through them and exiting through their inside hips.
A quick, simultaneous extended swipe to the side with both blades eliminated two more gunners. I stood and assessed the situation. Suddenly I was surrounded by seven troopers with batons. A blast of electricity eliminated two of them as Malachai moved in beside me. The troopers started to circle.
One swung in at Malachai and I stepped across blocking that blow, then countering to the guy on his right. One to my left took a swipe at me, and Malachai blocked him, and countered to the guy on his left. This continued as several more rushed us. Malachai and I both worked as one conjoined unit, playing off each other’s moves and not letting a single attack come even close.
After a few minutes, I nodded at Malachai and he simply grinned. I grabbed my fire blade in a reverse grip and stabbed behind me, foiling an attack coming in from behind as my blade slipped through the trooper’s chest. I pulled the blade free quickly through his side and brought it across in a swipe that eliminated another oncoming attacker, slitting his throat.
I spun the blade back into a normal grip, and extended a powerful double stab the way I was facing, stabbing each blade into a trooper. Malachai, facing the opposite direction but standing right next to me, mirrored the maneuver, killing two other troopers.
I brought both blades out in a deadly swipe on either side, eliminating several troopers as the blades cut through their chests. Malachai again mirrored my movements, eliminating those behind me. More rushed in, and we spun, reversing our positions, but duplicating the moves we had just pulled off, each of us eliminating another eight troopers.
I stopped and looked at the carnage surrounding us. No more troopers were moving against us and I realized that the lack of oncoming attacks was due to having no opponents to deliver them. I glanced over at Malachai and nodded in appreciation. I didn’t know who he really was, but it was obvious that we worked well together.
“Well, brother, it seems as though there are no more idiots to kill,” he said, sounding a bit disappointed.
“Seems like it, but I believe that the police are on their way,” I said, dismissing my blades.
“Ha! Have fun dealing with them.” He terminated his own blades.
“You’re staying here as well. You’ll answer for your crimes.”
“Yeah. You keep believing that, brother.”
“You killed a normal human with your powers. You’ll answer to the proper authorities for that.”
“And who is going to enforce that? You?”
“If I have to.” I conjured my blades again.
He didn’t reciprocate like I thought he would. “Tsk tsk. Anyone else you have in mind for bringing me to justice?”
“If they have to, I am sure that the fae will cooperate and bring you in.”
“Now that might be a problem. I hate having to kill fae, they don’t stay dead like they ought to. Or if they do, it was hard just to get them dead.”
“You can’t just do what you want with your powers and not expect to answer for it.”
“Why not? I always did before. Why does that have to change? Who besides a few could actually enforce their laws on me, or even punish me for my transgressions. Face it, brother, no one can hold us accountable.”
“Eventually they’ll find a way.”
“Not today.” He grinned at me and then vanished.
I shook my head, letting out a frustrated sigh, then dismissed my blades and sat on a nearby bench to wait. I’d have to give a report and suffer through questioning by a MAGE agent, and he’d more than likely have a fae noble counterpart to help keep me in line if it was needed. Though I could kill lesser fae, and possibly a noble depending on his individual power level and abilities, most nobles would have no problems killing me outright. Don’t even get me started on the royalty; they’d hand me my ass without breaking a sweat.
Everyone had to answer to transgressions against humans. A transgression against other Aetherics was another story. They had their own systems of governance, so crimes committed against them by another Aetheric would be dealt with by their own kind. It was why I hadn’t been brought before human authorities for my fight with Henry, if Henry had even wanted to stain his pride by reporting it. If the shifters had truly wanted to press the issue they could have talked with their own leaders, who then would have probably contacted the fae and brought me to trial. Likely the fae would just laugh in their faces though. Politics usually played a huge role in inter-Aetheric dealings, and if Henry’s pack did work for Baba Yaga, then they wouldn’t be well liked.
The fae of this area were human supporters, so they tended to frown on anyone who held ill will towards humans. It was one of the many reasons they did not tolerate vampires in Las Vegas and why there was no local vamp family here. I was pretty sure that the fae were the top level of government that we Aetherics had. The reasons were many and varied, but the simplest was that they were the most powerful type of AE that dealt with humans, and they had been the first Aetheric species to come forward to the governments of each nation with a unified front, with promises to support the local government and bring stabilization in a time of chaos.
For in species conflicts
, each Aetheric group governed their own kind: shifter on shifter, sorcerer on sorcerer, etc. But if it was a cross species matter or if the person who needed to be brought to justice was too powerful for the group in question to handle, then the fae would be called in to help administer justice. Of course doing so could possibly show weakness in a current regime, and in the Aetheric world that was usually trouble.
I didn’t have to wait long for the police to show up. A full group of five officers came in, weapons drawn. Magical items of all sorts were the hot new ticket on the markets, and I noticed that each officer had a personal shield activated. My best guess would be that their guns carried iron ammunition as well. They didn’t make me kiss the floor or cuff me, but they waited with their guns trained on me until several MAGE agents accompanied by a single fae noble arrived. As the agent in charge opened his mouth to say something, I just shook my head.
“Before I say a damned thing, I’m calling an advocate. You have a problem with that?” I asked evenly.
The agent shook his head, so I carefully pulled my cell phone from my jeans pocket and dialed Lucien’s number. He told me he would get there as soon as possible, and a few minutes later he materialized a few feet from me. He was resplendent in a white suit with a red shirt and black tie and his hair was pulled back in a severe pony-tail. He advised I just tell the complete truth as there was no wrong doing on my part, and they could use all the information on Malachai that I could provide to them.
I was reluctant on giving them that particular bit of info. I wanted to take Malachai out myself, and I felt that I owed him a little since he had helped me against the Purity Movement. In the end, I decided to tell them everything since he had taken an innocent life.
I filled out short report forms for the police, MAGE, and the fae court detailing everything that had happened. Unfortunately nothing could be done about the Movement for Purity. Humans attacking Aetherics was considered excusable since an attacked AE could defend himself with his full capabilities. The common belief was that if a human was stupid enough to attack an AE, he deserved what he got.
“I never thought that Mordred would have escaped his prison. Why didn’t you inform me of this sooner?” Lucien asked after I had been released to leave.
“Didn’t think it was necessary if you were going to call Lochlan off his hunt. Malachai was hired by Lochlan to kill me. I figured he would have been called off. Are you sure that Lochlan didn’t go back on his word?” I wanted to ask about Baba Yaga, but I figured he’d bring it up in his own way in his own time.
“Positive. He knows better than to cross me, and I informed him that you were under my protection. Malachai must have come back for personal reasons,” he mused.
“He threatened Serena. Er, Celeste. I couldn’t let that fly,” I said sullenly.
“No. I don’t suppose you could have. But now he knows that she is a valid target if he wants to hurt you. Take care that she does not come under his scrutiny as a means to get to you. If you think it necessary, I can make sure that no permanent harm can come to her,” he offered.
“No. Not yet. I want to keep her from all of this for as long as possible.”
“The Aether is part of our world now, and as such, a part of her world now. She will come across it sooner rather than later,” he warned.
“I know, but she doesn’t need to know how involved I am yet,” I said sadly.
“You are too accustomed to hiding that part of yourself. You should embrace it. It is nothing to be ashamed of,” he told me softly.
“I don’t want to scare her. I can’t have her thinking…” I said in a low voice, trailing off.
“That you’re not human?” he finished for me.
“Yeah,” I confirmed.
“If her love for you is true enough to see her to the other side and back again, I doubt she would turn her back on you for who you really are. Remember that this is now who and what you are. It has become a part of you. You cannot take it out of you without removing a part of who you are. It has shaped you too much,” he advised.
“I know, but… I just want her to think I’m mostly normal for right now. It’s also a good way to protect her,” I pointed out.
“Are you completely sure of that?” he asked.
“No, but it’s something at least. I just don’t want her to think of me any differently once she does remember who she is, and who I am.”
“Fair enough, but do not keep it from her if she remembers her past life with you. She would only come to resent that you couldn’t trust her with that kind of revelation. Love and trust in most cases are one in that same. Remember that,” he said.
“I will. Thanks for everything, Lucien. You’ve done so much for me, and I really do appreciate it,” I said gratefully.
“You are deserving of my aid, as you have aided me selflessly in the past. Don’t think anything of it. I will continue to help you as you will continue to do the same for me. It is the nature of friendship, and I value that as I have very few people I would call friend,” he admitted.
“I’m honored that you would think of me as a friend, Luce. I had no idea,” I said, slightly awed. “Now…” I began.
“Baba Yaga. I wasn’t blowing you off, Aerick. I wanted to be sure that she really was here. She is. Do not go after her on your own. She is a powerful witch, even more powerful than Merlin at this point. Nothing on this planet is of the same caliber as the Iron Hag. You couldn’t hope to take her on. She would simply kill you and eat you. Or worse, she would capture you and eat you alive, as she is wont to do with those that fancy themselves heroes,” he warned.
“I need to at least talk with her. How do I find her?” I asked.
“You do not. If she knows your intentions, and she wishes to speak with you, she will make it known and you will stumble across her cottage. But, if you do, then be careful. Once inside there is nothing anyone can do to rescue you should you anger her,” he stated.
“I will be. And thanks again, Luce,” I said
“As I said, think nothing of it. Come, I believe you have a party to attend this weekend?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah,” I confirmed
“Do you have anything to wear?” he inquired.
“Yeah, but…” I started to say.
“Come with me, I will make sure you arrive in style. I will even accompany you,” he offered.
“I should warn you…” I started again.
“Yes, you invited Dave. That is fine. I only want to make sure that you have a good time and possibly impress your angel. I won’t be in this form, but in the form of a miniature firebird.”
“Okay. Didn’t think I’d have a fiery parrot for the party.” I smiled at him.
“You are pushing the boundaries of our friendship with such comments.” He smiled back at me to let me know he wasn’t serious.
Lucien led me out of the mall and to his white limo. It had depictions of a Phoenix bird airbrushed on the sides with the Velvet Flame logo on the front doors. I realized that it was one of the limos he used for his club when escorting guests to a big party at the club.
He took me to several upscale clothing shops in the area. He made sure I wouldn’t be over dressed, but still dressed to the nines in terms of price. I settled on a loose dark blue button up shirt, which I would wear untucked, black slacks, and a pair of three hundred dollar street shoes.
“There. Now you will impress your angel, and probably have a hard time keeping the other females off of you as well,” he said.
“Other females?” I asked, shocked.
“There will be other eligible college females there, I am sure,” he pointed out.
“I hadn’t thought of that,” I admitted.
“Of course not. You were preoccupied.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t worry too much about this. I mean she most likely isn’t Serena after all,” I said with a sigh,
“Perhaps not. Now. I will take you home so you can get some rest. Your prev
ious wounds will take their toll if you don’t. I will arrive with the limo on Saturday at four in the afternoon. Be ready.”
True to his word he had the limo drop me off at the apartment. I went inside and started to strip down as I headed towards the shower. There was a note on the fridge:
‘Got called in tonight. Money on counter for pizza. Get a cheese for me’
~Dave
I ordered the pizza and hopped into the shower. I got out and dried off, and pulled on some sweat pants and crashed on the couch. I dozed in and out as I flipped absent-mindedly through the channels. The pizza arrived about fifteen minutes later. I paid the driver, making sure to give him a decent tip. As he turned away I realized that it was Kevin from Celeste’s house the other day. I made a note of that little bit of info and filed it away. I might need it someday.
I ate my fill of the pizza and headed towards my bedroom. I was exhausted as Lucien had predicted. I was sore everywhere and I needed rest. Just because I could use the Aether to heal my injuries didn’t mean that I didn’t have to deal with them on some level at some point. I went to sleep thinking of Celeste and Serena, possibly going back to school and how tomorrow was going to go if I did.
I knew it would be a good idea just to see if Baba Yaga was willing to talk with me.
Or maybe, I could have just one normal day.
Yeah, keep dreaming, Kerensky.
_______________________________________
I was fourteen and getting ready to go to Serena’s birthday party. It wasn’t Serena’s birthday yet. That wasn’t until the eighth of October, but she had wanted a pool party for her birthday ever since she and her family had moved into the new house back when I was in fourth grade. Her sister, Alysa, had decided to hold one this year in June for an early fifteenth birthday party.
Luckily, I was in Oklahoma at the time so I could attend, which I knew would make the party mean that much more to Serena. She was always upset that I had to go back to Vegas before her birthday hit. She was always around for mine in December due to winter break, but hers being in October was right in the middle of school time.