by D. R. Rosier
Today was going to be a busy day; classes, professor fixing, and assassinations. I kept having second thoughts about that last one, but really, I didn’t see another way. They would never fight us unless we cornered them, they would simply send puppets with fake memories and hide in the shadows.
Vinnie’s success yesterday with focusing the mind and keeping a cool head impressed me, but I was still going to start meditating toward getting my sword and shield. It was kind of a tough decision, but I thought I was doing well with keeping a cool head, if not nearly to the level Vinnie was. It still took effort to focus, but wasn’t nearly as draining as a sword and shield would be.
Bree was with me, in ghost form, her body upstairs in my bed. Neither of us really liked it, but she couldn’t follow me around to classes if everyone could see her, and we both wanted to stay together. Perhaps that was co-dependent, but she was undeniably a part of me, and me her.
I was also looking forward to my date with Ron tomorrow and wondered where he was taking me. I had a lot going on, but I was determined not to let that asshole fae and my grandparents screw up my life and make me put everything on the backburner.
I walked in the kitchen to grab a coffee, and I saw Vinnie and Kristi saying goodbye to Alicia in a very enthusiastic manner. I was happy they had worked it out before Vinnie turned into a basket case.
Vinnie turned to me and raised an eyebrow, “You ready to go?”
He had sounded a little surprised.
I looked down at myself, I was wearing tight jeans and a light blue sweater shirt.
“Is something on my face?”
He shook his head, “No, you look great actually, but I’ve never seen you leave the house with your hair still damp.”
I considered that for a moment, I did take the time to put on some light makeup, but he was right, usually I’d spend forever with my hair. Instead it was damp and put up in a style that looked good but was easy to manage. Maybe I was less vain… Nah, I still looked hot and knew it. It’s just not sleeping usually left me a lot of time to get ready.
I coughed, “I umm, didn’t leave myself enough time this morning.”
He looked uncomfortable and asked, “Ready?”
I gulped the rest of the coffee down and put the mug in the sink before I nodded.
He held Kristi’s hand for a moment, getting a safe spot, and we appeared right in my dorm room. It was odd, I couldn’t remember the last night I’d actually spent here. I would usually meditate while Kristi slept. So much had changed, some for the better, and some for the worse.
My morning classes went fine. I had a few party invitations for Saturday night, but I doubted I’d be around for them. Even if something happened and my date with Ron fell through it would be a busy weekend. I also didn’t fail to notice Talia, my aunt, was nowhere to be found all morning and was not in the dining hall for lunch.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to say to Professor Mendez. I had the idea to talk with him and hope his answers guided me to a solution. Maybe something as simple as lying and telling him I had put him under hypnosis when he pissed me off, and that day had all been in his mind. But I didn’t even get to phase one, when I asked for some office time, he begged off.
Professor Mendez had looked scared and said, “I don’t have any open slots today, see me on Monday and I can schedule you in sometime next week.”
I sighed as I watched him race for the door after class. I’d really fucked up on this one. I really hoped my other plans for today went better.
We decided to use the house as a base instead of the college. Over the years my mother had added so many wards and protections around the house, the coven, and the council building, we would have advanced warning in case they retaliated faster than we expected. It would be foolish to assume they had no backup plans in place, especially since they already knew they had been discovered.
We needed to start with their support, according to Kristi both my grandparents and Feinir were constantly surrounded by guards. We wanted more information too, exactly why and what they were trying to accomplish by manipulating and attacking us. I had a feeling only Feinir, and perhaps my grandparents, had any clue what the big picture was.
That had to be our end game, kill and enslave the souls of those three, and find out what the hell was going on and just how deep it all went.
Our plan was rather simple on the surface. Kristi was watching up to four at a time, constantly shifting and looking for a vulnerable target. Vinnie and I would be the team to take care of the target since realm hopping was an important part of the plan. Lastly, we were surrounded Bree, Kenneth, Alicia, Ray, Claudia and a number of ghosts for protection in case the enemies counter attacked.
There were also others we could call on if things got too bad.
I was acutely aware we made a terrifying team and was glad the other side didn’t have human magic on their side. Between the unique magic Vinnie and I possessed, plus Kristi, it meant no one who targeted our family would be safe. I was trying not to let the power go to my head, it helped that I really just wanted to be left alone to build a life. I think the fact I was a necromancer and already familiar with the temptations of power and controlling others helped me to keep my perspective.
Waiting for the first target took entirely too much time, and yet too short a time. Kristi sent us a visual and we stepped into limbo and teleported. I raised a shield as I looked around. We were in a large bathroom and I could see the silhouette of someone in the shower. Vinnie and I exchanged looks and I felt a deep weight settle on my shoulders and my gut tightened.
Right or not, defending my family and those I loved, it wasn’t easy to move forward. Killing was hard, and justified or not I knew it would add a weight to my soul. I could see on Vinnie’s face he would take care of it, but it was my plan. My idea. I walked through the shower curtain and saw a man in his thirties. I couldn’t feel his magic from the void at all. Not without a ghost there to feed it to me. I just knew he had been in the room with my grandparents.
He had his eyes closed to keep the soap from his eyes as he washed his hair. It was too easy to step out and release my power into him. I turned him into a revenant bound to me. I searched his memories, with him in my command he assisted my search of his mind. I had been right, he didn’t know the big picture. He did however add a few more people to the list that hadn’t been there that afternoon.
I set him on a mission to cause havoc and we went back to the house. I would let his soul go on after this was over, but for now… this was war and there were no rules, only the innocent would be spared. I passed along the pictures to Kristi and waited for the next target.
The first five went without a hitch. Vinnie had insisted we share the burden and killed two of them. After that we started to run into problems.
The sixth person appeared to be sleeping, but word of our attacks had gotten out and it was a trap. Vinnie and I stepped out of limbo and we were both struck by lightning from wards placed around the room. Luckily we were both shielded at the time, but it still startled us. The person on the bed smiled up at us and spoke a harsh word, raising a containment ward around us.
It was the one big drawback of attacking from limbo, we really couldn’t detect wards or magic in the real world from there.
Two more witches came through the door, which were not on our list, and the three of them started chanting. The inside of the ward started acting like a lightning generator and we were struck multiple times. I wanted to fight, but Vinnie shook his head. I realized his shield was greatly weakened and that the same was true of mine. I frowned, tossed a ball at our host, like we had practiced for the demons, and we stepped into limbo where their circle didn’t hold sway.
I watched as my spell literally exploded from inside the witch’s body. That was one target that would evade my necromancy. The other two witches ran for it.
“Should we chase them?”
Vinnie shook his head, “They might be leading us into
another trap, and we almost lost our shields and died in this one. If they had a true coven instead of just three… we may have been toast.”
I nodded and we reluctantly returned home. I fed two more pictures to Kristi and we argued about continuing.
Vinnie shook his head stubbornly, “The whole point of your approach is to minimize danger, walking into traps is just a bad idea, we got about a quarter of the people you saw, we need to wait for a while, let their guard drop again. Maybe tomorrow morning, or much later tonight?”
Kristi said, “I think he is right, I can see a lot of them gathered together, and all the rest are in a vulnerable spot. They must all be traps.”
I saw the logic of their argument, but I wanted this over with. That was a stupid reason to die though so I just nodded tightly. I monitored the five revenants I made, they did manage to take out three more people in surprise before they were all discovered and killed. Once their bodies were destroyed I released the bond to their souls and let them move on.
So it wasn’t too bad a turn out for our first attack, about a third of all the ones that were there when I crashed Kenneth’s return were now dead. Still, we had no idea how many there were yet, it was already apparent we didn’t know all of them as every kill had produced a couple of more targets.
I considered the possibility of not weakening them first. I reflected on the idea that we should just find a way to get at the top two even with all that protection around them. I just wasn’t sure if it would be a good approach, or if it was merely my impatience. I was about to admit defeat when I felt one of the house wards go off. A loud bang sounded like someone had driven a truck into the wall of the house.
What had I gotten us into? I had been so sure we would take them all down.
Vinnie and I shared a look and ran for the door, our shields popping up on the way. When we got outside there were four demons, and my Aunt Talia. She had an insane look in her eyes. Vinnie and I went to work, using the attacks we had trained so hard on. It was difficult. The demons were wicked fast, almost too fast to track at times, much faster than the ghosts we had trained on.
I was getting frustrated when I finally got my first one, it was so strange as he exploded but at the same time his shield kept his broken body contained. We were working on the other three and I saw Kristi facing off with Talia.
They were both hammering at the others shields. Kristi sending punches of telekinesis and fire while Talia sent her magic against Kristi. It was impossible to see everything going on over there as I was too focused on my own fight. I had no idea why Talia would attack us alone like this, but I didn’t have time to worry about it right now.
There was more than one close call as the demons charged and attacked us time and time again, if not for our reflex ability to go to limbo I’d have been dead many times over. Vinnie and I exchanged looks and we changed tactics. We started working together and focusing on one demon at a time, catching it in crossfire to great effect. We got the last three with our teamwork as they dodged one of our attacks, only to run into the others.
We turned to help Kristi but it turned out she didn’t need it. The attacks Kristi was trading with Talia had only been a distraction on her part while she prepared her real attack. I was awed as one of the boulders we were using for training shot out of the sky from above Talia, smashing right through her shield and slamming her body into the ground with a loud crunch of bone.
Supernatural shields could and did defend against the physical, but a ton of rock moving at speed was way too much for them. Talia’s body was nothing but paste.
I reached out with my necromancy and hooked her soul, wanting to learn what I could. I spoke to her mind to mind, ordering the information I needed and what she thought I needed to know before I released my Aunt’s spirit to move on. I learned that the other night she hadn’t been upset about the possibility of our death, merely that she hadn’t seen it happen. It turned out to be a goldmine of other information as well, but still short on some big answers. It was also information I could have done without ever finding out. The telling of it would not be easy.
Vinnie asked, “What was that about?”
I looked over to them, Vinnie was holding Kristi tight. For the first time I wondered who was first born. Before now it hadn’t mattered. Was it me, or was it him? I shuddered.
I said in a soft voice feeling lost, “She was insanely jealous, with the emphasis on insane. I’ll go over it when I tell about what I learned. I am still trying to get it ordered in my head, and we need to have Mom, Dad, and Amy here to hear it too. Probably the whole family should be there to hear it.”
I went back inside and got a beer from the fridge, and then decided a second one would be good. I wasn’t really hungry, but Bree had cooked us dinner while we were carrying out plans, so I ate. I could tell everyone was curious, but I kept putting it off, I didn’t want to tell it twice so I was waiting for my parents and the rest of our family.
It took a couple of hours before they could return home, but here I was again in front of my family about to give a speech of sorts, I still wasn’t sure where to start. I looked at my family one by one as I gathered my thoughts. What I knew didn’t change the fact I loved them all.
I said slowly, “This is very convoluted, I need to start far enough back so it makes sense. When the wars ended although they had worked together, the angels, demons, and fae were very suspicious of each other. When the fae found this world, a number of their seers had visions that the humans of this realm would be the end of their race.
“The fae argued among themselves. Some wanted to simply destroy the humans. They could have at the time as humanity was few and spread out. The seers saw that if the fae were to destroy what the other races would see as a helpless species of humans, the Angels and demons would turn on them, destroying them utterly.
“Talia did not know how humanity would destroy the fae, it was something Feinir kept hidden from all.”
I took a moment to push down my emotions before I continued.
“They almost did it anyway thinking it would be better to go out fighting. But one of the seers had a powerful vision and suddenly they had a chance after all. Talia did not know the details of how or why, but what was known is simple. The first born offspring of a Nephilim and a half demon would under the right circumstances, bring about the fall of humanity on this world.”
I felt a little sick in my stomach as I continued, “However, the prophecy also says, the second born would stop the first, thereby saving humanity and dooming the fae to eventual extinction.”
I heard mom gasp and looked over and nodded.
“That’s why the message said to keep it a secret. If Feinir had known who was second born, either Vinnie or I would have been murdered in our cradles. But hold on, I’m not done. We skipped a lot just now. The manipulation goes so much farther.”
I took a deep breath, “That’s when the fae race took two steps. They locked down the magic of this world under enchantment, and they welcomed all races here. The first was designed to slow down the advancement of humans here. The second was to specifically put warlocks on this world knowing demons would follow. They also knew the angels would be suspicious and send spies here to see what they were up to. The other races coming here were just a side effect of this plot.
“In other words, it was all a set up so angels and demons would have children with other races in the hopes that either their children, or even they themselves, would eventually have the prophesied children. A perfect way to draw the required races and hope that… nature would take its course.”
I shrugged, “At first the fae were content to sit back and watch, wary of taking any more overt actions that might change the prophecy. Feinir was sent here to keep an eye on it. But things didn’t come together, more often than not the Nephilim were raised to mistrust and hate demons which carried on to how the half demon children were regarded.
“This next part is speculation on Talia’s part
. But she thinks Feinir slowly went a little mad as the Nephilim populations started dropping. The angels were no longer suspicious and less and less were coming to check on things. As a result of this and time, the population fell over thousands of years as the Nephilim died in battle, accidents, and some just got tired of living so long.
“Feinir got fixated on you, mom, as the last one. He followed you for years and knew all about you and the family lines you had scattered. There were no half demon men either, so in his desperation he then started a campaign to force the prophecy into being.”
I felt a little sick as I sipped my beer.
“Feinir found a young warlock with no morals at all, and hired him. Promising him power and wealth and whatever he desired. That would be Grandpa Brian. He had Brian impregnate a succubus to have dad. Already back then he had planned to somehow get you two together, but wasn’t sure how yet.
“When dad moved out, that is when he seduced a witch and had Talia. Talia grew up hearing nothing but things about his plans for our family and it is why she attacked tonight. She had finally had enough. I had always felt a little uncomfortable around her at school but couldn’t pin down why. It was because she was just insane. I won’t go into what grandpa did to her over the years, there would be no point.”
I had gotten off topic and could see my father and mother looked how I felt.
“So Feinir had the players for the prophecy, but no way to get you together. That’s when he dove back into all the information he had accumulated over the years about mom. It was when he found Amy that he hatched his plan. It was perfect, she was related to you, mom, but she was also undead, a vampire. Dad of course, was a necromancer. It was the thread, the lure he used to bring you together.
“He hired a necromancer less powerful than dad, just to make sure dad wasn’t accidentally killed. Then he ordered the necromancer to steal Amy from her vampire master, and send her to attack dad. Feinir was fairly certain you wouldn’t kill her, he had watched you all your life and depended on it.