by C P Sennett
I took a glove out of my pocket and looked long and hard at the envelopes mark. It was a dark blue wax with the symbol pushed into. The symbol was of a man standing under a lamppost, clearly something to do with the group it belonged to. This wasn’t a house or bloodline mark, so it was fairly low key. It wasn’t the hardest thing to forge but to be on the safe side I took a picture of it also on my smartphone. Preparation and all, as inwardly I reminded myself I’m a darn smart wizard.
I turned the envelope upside down and concentrated. Just enough, to focus the heat I generated on a small part of the seal at the back of the seal. The energy was a little harder to wield as I had to focus it through the glove. Also, just onto the back of the seal, the part I can’t actually see as this is the bit which attached it to the envelope. The plan was one where I wouldn’t have to remake the actual seal, just to reattach it. This was a subtle magic which required a most tender of touches. As the faintest part of my gloved finger touched the seal which now I was holding upside down. My mind pushed the energy through my arm and in tiny pulses down my index finger.
Then, I could feel the heat slowly creeping up. Malcolm, as instructed had his hands just below so if the seal broke off completely it wouldn’t break on my lap. Such is the perils of doing this on the fly in a 4x4.
I wanted the seal to come away partly from either the top or the bottom of the paper. Or if it came off fully to come off in one peace and not to break. I know in practicing this I often reduced the wax to a warm melted blob until I mastered it.
Then, the tiniest pop as the top of the seal came away from the back of the envelope in one satisfactory piece.
I then whispered, “Wait Malcolm, let the wax reform for a moment.” As we both held still.
Then, cradling the seal and envelope I turned it over and gently opened the note with my gloved hand I read its contents.
“Well, fuck me.” was all I said.
****
Malcolm and I discussed the name on the sheet. It was an interesting choice and something the Red Claw lycans were hardly going to believe.
It could have been worse, it could have been my name or Malcolm’s but this had to be a joke. It was someone I knew, someone in Essex. Someone I knew well now, a nobody. Samuel Kovach-Kingsley a mouthful of a name, especially for someone so small.
A human who knew about the supernatural but that was it. Sam was a young thirty something man who was a supplier of old texts to the supernatural community. That would be the best way to describe him, a 140 lbs wimp, a bookworm of epic proportion. In fact, it was almost funny, he couldn’t finish off a curry let alone a lycan. A lovely man who suffered with Rhoticism, the miss pronunciation of the letter R.
Malcolm asked all the right questions. Could I be mistaken, could he have uncovered some older power or been possessed, salve to some ancient one which was using his body. Now, all of which possible but unlikely in this case.
Eventually though, all that was left was to call Samuel and ask him. I had Sam’s number as he had given me a bit of info on Essex, the players and his take on what was happening. He was a good man and a good friend of Wilf’s, someone Wilf trusted. Poor Sam was shocked when I had to inform him that Wilf had passed on. He was even more upset that I didn’t have much in the way of details as the Order was handling it at an official level higher than mine.
I flicked through my phone and called up his number.
“Hello?” asked a nervous sounding small voice.
“Hi Sam, it’s Eddie, the acting Sentinel.” I said knowing Sam didn’t have my number. Like most my number is a one-way street and when I dialled out I withheld my number.
“Oh, hi ya, Eddie, good to hear from you.” replied Sam, a shade more vigour returning to his voice.
“Sam, how are you my friend?” I asked warmly.
“Good, I’m good and good things are being said about you.” replied Samuel, carefully to avoid anything with an R in it.
“Thanks, you’re too kind. What, I rang for was something work related and I hope you can help.”
“Sounds interesting.” he replied and I could almost hear him smile down the phone at the thought of being useful. “Any news on Wilf?” he asked.
“Sorry Sam, nothing as yet but the second there is you’re my first call.”
“Thanks Eddie, now what can I do to help.
“The vampires of Essex, know many?”
“A few.”
“Know many lycans?”
“A couple, not many though. Not many who make themselves visible in Essex. Too many vamps.”
“So, you’ve not had any issues with lycans of late that you know about?”
“No, not at all I’m not daft.”
“So, if I was to ask if you’ve been at odds with anyone of late you would say?”
“I’d say no, my electrical suppliers are on my naughty list but I guess it’s not that sort of odds that you mean?”
“No Sam, this is serious odds.”
“Oh” he said, not a change in his note of voice, no obvious deception. He sounded like he normally does. Helpful and a little meek. “People as you know contact me for things, books and the like but they all know I only stick to what I am good at. Why do you ask, I’m not in trouble for anything am I?”
“No Sam, not at all.”
Then he broke and used an R, so I know he was getting a little worried now. “Weally?”
“Yeah really.” Cruel I thought that they started the affliction with an R, bastards.
“What do you know Eddie?” he asked.
“Nothing much Sam, your name come up in a conversation with a lycan. It’s not as bad as it sounds though.” I protested.
“Ok, so I’m not in any danger?”
“Nope. I’ll get back to you on it though if I think of anything else. For now though, just keep on the good side of people.”
“Sure thing, I’ll keep safe, make sure you do.” Was all he said which was his usual parting phrase. Even then, he sounded full of innocence, he was one of the saintly guys, he was more than good, just an honest man. “Sure, speak soon.” I added, knowing he wasn’t capable of hurting a lamb. Sam, wasn’t capable of taking on a lycan. He can just about handle lunch.
Malcolm looked at me wanting to see if my first thoughts were any different and they weren’t.
“Malcolm, Sam isn’t a willing part of this even if he is involved at all. He seemed, as I would have expected him to be, out of his depth, even in a puddle. Sam isn’t a killer and he seemed himself, totally himself.”
“If you’re sure then that will do for me.” he replied honestly. “We need to do something before the lid comes off this. I suggest we go talk to the Red Claws, it’s all we’ve got until something else presents itself, even if we hand this over with the proviso that this person isn’t the real killer.”
I started up the Beast. “Do you think they will sit on this if we hint we’ve got a plan in mind?”
“Pass but time is ticking, and we’ve got to show our hand, weak that it is. Otherwise they will do it their way and that isn’t going to be good for Kent or Essex.”
I nodded and soon after we were back in our respective vehicles and heading further into Kent. Malcolm had made a call to set up a meeting as we were supposed to at least hand this over. Also, we were not supposed to know its contents.
I had resealed the envelope and it was time to play our parts in this charade and we needed an Oscar winning performance and then some Freud level psychological skills.
We both drove down to meet the Red Claws at the point agreed by Malcolm. I didn’t like this, it was all out of my control and I hate to not be in total control of something. Both of us kept talking on speakerphone trying to formulate more detail into the plan as we drove.
****
When we arrived it was dark. I followed Malcolm into the carpark which would be our meeting place with the lycans of the Red Claw pack. Malcolm had shared what he could with me, talking about what to avoid say
ing, no magic and all the usual stuff. He had told me they were tougher in their human form than normal men and women were so not to take them lightly. I knew that much but I thanked him for this and the other info he shared.
Outside it was hard to see, wet and miserable but more worrying than the weather and the limited natural light there was an eerie shadow over the carpark was the visible woodland ahead and no sign of anyone. It was dark by the trees at the end of the car park gave me a bad feeling. The tree line was too close too us, close enough that any Werecreature could be just on the other side of the trees and us in its strike range even now.
I’ve read a some of the more respected texts on lycans. The problem with them is there is a lot of false documentation on them, I’ve always found life the best education but a helping hand here and there is always good. What I’ve read though is many of the lycans hit so hard that you can rarely do much about their second assault if you survive the first.
Vampires are super-fast, ruthless killers but with subtlety and physical power in equal measure. Your average vampire is stronger than your normal human and most get stronger with age. Typically though, even Elder vampires are not as strong as a mature lycan, many vampires are quicker but the animal senses on a lycan are sharper and they just have more bulk to hit with.
Both are supernatural enemies to one another and both heal fast, too fast. Think of lycans as a runaway truck. You know the hit is coming but all you can do is get out of the way or brace for impact.
I had pulled up beside Malcolm’s car and there was a good level of space between us. Nobody was around and the car park was empty with a weak light coming from the streetlight at the end. As I got out of the Beast I looked around. Malcolm and I had gone over how this would play out on the phone. Mostly he would be doing the speaking as he should have a rapport with whoever we met. I would listen but the big point he said was not to show any fear. No matter what, I had to keep my projection strong, whatever that meant. He had also given a Rocky Balboa analogy and that I needed to project that I’m tough too. It was a bit childlike but I got his meaning.
It’s easier for him I guess as he is about 250lbs of muscle and looks like a rugby playing brute. It’s a little harder for me at about 180lbs and significantly smaller set.
We didn’t have to wait long. A set of yellow eyes became visible in the treeline, still but watching us. Well, more me it seemed. The pair of eyes looking back at me reflected the light from Malcolm’s Mondeo headlights which he had kept on.
“It’s just checking you out Eddie.” said Malcolm reassuringly.
I couldn’t help it though, my hand was on my smaller sized staff, ready to use it if needed. After all, I wasn’t going in here with my pants down.
I took in a deep breath and locked eyes with the creature and put on my best, if not slightly lame, toothy smile.
“I’m cool, he will come over when he feels it’s safe.” I bluffed aloud and walked around to stand just behind Malcolm.
Then a human came out from the undergrowth. A man around six feet tall, average build and of all things, in a white shirt, tie and matching waistcoat and trousers. He looked like some old CEO, not the type of person to be coming out of the woods to represent a well-respected and feared pack of lycans. His strong grey hairline and thick salt and pepper beard was about a foot in length, adding to his dignified look. His hair was brushed back giving him a bit of an old-time carnival or traveller look facially but his clothing said something different.
“Evening all.” said the man as he only eyed me. Malcolm moved back behind me and turned off his car headlights and locked it as I locked up the Beast with my key fob.
Malcolm acknowledged the newcomer. “Hi Deek, things good?”
“They’ve been better.” said the man with a hard-to-place English accent.
“So I hear. Are we welcome?” asked Malcolm.
Deek never took his eyes off me. “You are.” he said flatly. “Who’s the outsider?”
“A friend, someone who can help sort things out I hope.”
I looked past Deek as the eyes were still just about visible in the woodlands, the ones I had seen earlier were not Deek’s. There was the another lycan in the woods.
I stuck to Malcolm’s plan though, say as little as possible and always let him or someone else introduce me. He said it was good form among most packs, so, I figured I had better play nice.
“You got nothing to say boy?” asked Deek walking towards me and glaring.
“When I do you’ll know.” I replied coldly with my game face on. After all he did say don’t show fear and I wasn’t about to put up with any tactics of intimidation. Tactics, Malcolm had also warned me about.
“You’ll keep.” said the older looking man who motioned for us to follow him into the woods.
Malcolm gave me an approving nod as he set off first with me a little behind him.
We approached the tree line where I could vaguely see something big ahead of us. It was just an outline, a mass of a moving shape barely lit at all. As we approached there was a low rumbling growl which came from it. It sounded awesome and terrible at the same time. A real deep pit of the stomach sound came from it and I was sure I could feel the vibrations it made in the air all around me. Most likely a lycan in its natural form and it was just in front of me as it moved on at the head of our group. Although it’s shape was visible I could still barely see it without magic. At this point and as pumped as I was feeling I had to suppress a desperate urge to shield myself. I guessed it was bigger than any lycan I had met before and that worried me.
We walked into the undergrowth and along a thin pathway ahead of me. I was just following Malcolm, so it was easy going for me. The big wizard was in front of me and although normally I wouldn’t have been able to see much past the big man, given his large size, I could still see this wolf man shape ahead of him. It was seven or so feet tall and a dark mass walking quickly in front of Malcolm. We were both walking fast to keep pace with our guide and I guessed Deek was in front of the wolf creature taking us onwards, silently into the darkness.
We reached a clearing soon, an area of felled trees. It was odd though as these trees looked like they had been felled a long time ago and then the area kept free of new saplings.
In the area was…nobody. Not a soul, just us and Deek, the tough looking old timer, the big wizard Malcolm and what I could clearly see was a monstrous looking lycan, more real than any movie, not that I watched many. This beast had thick long arms and powerful legs as it hunched forward with dark coloured claws at the ends of each of its fingers. This thing was massive, it’s muscles at first appeared lithe but still they were around three times the thickness of mine.
I bet it was fast as well. With my reasonable zoology experience it looked in proportion. Built with enough fast muscles to power its frame with the ease and speed of a natural predator.
It was as I took this monster in that I quickly realised there was another behind me. I had no idea that this one was there. I didn’t know where it came from as I had been so focused on the one in front. This one though was in the other non-human form they have. That of a wolf, like a large dog, I noticed it as it padded along beside me, silently.
I guess they are like a real wolf pack, often it’s the one you don’t see which is the stalker. The others are there to run you down or distract you and I had been distracted. The big lycan in front was dark coloured, dark brown or black but the one in the wolf form was pure black and I had no idea how long it had been behind me.
As the black wolf moved past me it went up level with Malcolm as the big wizard’s large hand dropped down and the wolf brushed it as we walked. Then it passed Malcolm, it’s dark face turning around with wet looking black eyes which still seemed to shine in the dark as it looked at me then Malcolm. Malcolm nodded to it which reassured me that he most likely knew who this one was.
The smaller black wolf then padding silently as it walked up and brushed against the big werecreatu
re’s legs but the lycan didn’t look down at the wolf, it just glared at me.
Then I saw its head. Big and dark in the night with a maw that looked as though it could crush my skull, if not take my head off. It unnerved me a little as I noticed you can see the intelligence behind its eyes. There is more here than a feral beast. There is something thinking, a hunter sizing me up.
Deek then spoke up. “So, wizard huh?” he said directing the question at me.
I nodded.
“My friends can smell strange scents on you. I guess it’s stuff you use in your magic and things.”
Again, I nodded.
“Well, boss man will be here soon enough and then we’ll see what you’ve got for us.”
Malcolm chimed in. “What we’ve got for him you mean?”
Deek shot him a glance…“Eh, yep.” he chuckled.
“Eddies here is with me,” said Malcom gesturing to me. “He’s a good man or I wouldn’t have brought him. None of you are to touch him ok. Remember, this is to get to the bottom of one set of ugly things and we want to try to help matters, not hinder them.”
“I think you will find boss man quite amenable.” said Deek, in as un-reassuring a voice as you could get.
I took no comfort from what he said…then, for the second time in not so long I witnessed true power.
Chapter 3
The man who approached me was huge, too big to be human and he appeared out of a mist. Of all things a magical mist as I could sense it. The taste of the mist bothered me.
In fact, he was so big that he reminded me of an ogre or a one of the lesser giantkin. This man appeared, and he was a fricking powerhouse. As he walked out from the treeline ahead he needed no introduction, this was Leo.
I could see thick muscle all over this man, if you could call him that. He was immense. With giant strides he approached us. His face was full of barely contained rage. The man’s hands were huge, everything about him was huge and this was his fucking human form.
This was someone who was simply too big to walk among humans, he was beyond human.