by T S Paul
I waved my arms to the left and every box, piece of furniture, and wall hanging flew toward the opposite wall with a crash. Opening that door wasn't going to happen, but the walls were something else?
My hands made a digging motion, and the paneling on the wall peeled back and fell to the floor. Underneath was old brick. I muttered my spell words internally. Grandmother had been right, I was giving too much away saying the phrases aloud. I carefully crafted my weapon of choice. A fireball. My hands swirled over and over until in front of me was a seething ball of flame.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bill take a step backward. He bumped into Chuck who whispered something to him. Setting a shield to catch any spray, I tossed my fireball at the wall. The world slowed as my eyes watched the brick get intensely hot and start to shatter. In an instant, my fireball struck the wall, bricks over-baked and shattered into dust. The fireball continued toward the open space. Grabbing it, I transmuted the energy from heat to cold making an instant ice ball.
"There. I made my own door." Chuck jumped into the hole first. The edges crumbled under any pressure, so he had to help all of us down. I looked back and could see the electromagnet holding the real door closed. I should be able to open it to get back out more easily than we had entered.
The stairs descended at least thirty feet before opening up into a large room. The remnants of some sort of mechanical device were still bolted to the walls. The room was laid out as a dormitory space.
"I count forty beds. They all look lived in." Chuck poked at the linen, but there appeared to be no personal belongings.
"Agatha, I hear noises from behind this door!" Cat had her weapon drawn and was listening at the door. I slipped into my diagnostic spell and scanned the room.
"Break it down! There are at least three young Weres in cages in there!" The knob of the door came off in Cat's hand she pulled so hard!
We all rushed forward to find three children in three by three cages. A row of another half dozen enclosures ran the length of the small room.
"Go away. We don't want you. Go away." The child in the middle was smaller than the other two. They, unlike him, said nothing and only stared numbly at us.
"We are the police, we are here to save you."
"I don't believe you. Go away." The child hid his face behind his hands.
Popping the lock off the cage with a wave of my hand I reached for him. "Don't you want to leave?"
"That's what the other man said. He said he was there to help me." The boy allowed me pull him out and set him on the table nearby.
"What is your name sweetie?" Cat wrapped a blanket around him.
"Thomas. Thomas Douglas."
Cat sat down next to Thomas and put her arm around him. "Where did you come from Thomas and what Pack do you belong to?"
"I live in Fort Wayne. We don't belong to any Pack. Momma says Packs are stupid and of the Devil."
Keeping her voice soft, Cat continued to speak to Thomas. "Does your Momma say which Pack is the Devil?"
"Momma says...Momma says the Archers are the worst." Cat smiled.
"They might be Thomas. Momma is always right. Do your friends speak?" She pointed to the two other boys sitting next to Chuck.
"No. They only talk to the stinky men and the big white man. He calls them Joey and Chandler, but I don't think it's their real names. Can I go home now?"
"We will take you home soon. Did you see where the bad men went? Did they say anything?" Cat smiled down at him.
"They were busy. The big men barely talked but the stinky ones yelled and talked about amy bushes and dawn tacks. They threw food at us and told us to keep still."
"We need to look around some more. Bill is going to watch you. OK?" I motioned Bill over.
"Bill, can you keep an eye on the kids. We need to track these bastards down." He nodded and sat down next to Thomas.
"Amy bushes and dawn tacks. What does it mean?" I looked at Cat.
Cat cocked her head to one side and began repeating the words over and over. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide.
"It's not Amy bushes but ambushes. These are the ones that tried to kill us. I think the other one means dawn attacks."
"Good work. They did ambush us, but we didn't see forty plus people. Who else are they attacking? We need to call Ana!"
Chapter 18
A war had started right under our very noses. According to Anastasia, Daniel Jaeger and his entire Pack were laying waste to the Petrovs as we spoke. Even though it was daylight, I told her to use Ivan and pack up her RV. She needed to come pick up the little boys while we went after the Packs. Bill would stay and help the kids, but we needed to go right freaking now!
"How are we supposed to stop a war, Agatha!" Chuck took every shortcut his phone told him about to get us closer to the Petrov Estate.
"I can freeze those that I see. Cat is taking you and going after the leadership. Change if you have to, but we need Daniel and his son immobilized. They look to be the aggressors here. Keep a sharp eye out for any funny business. The Reverend has at least thirty well-armed troops. We assume he's working with Daniel. Do the both of you still have the amulets I made for you on?"
Both Cat and Chuck touched their chests. "Yes, we do." They almost said it at the same time.
"Those should protect you from the worst effects of my spells. I'll be spreading Wolfsbane and Aconite around so try to resist the urge to sneeze."
I pulled out my sidearm and checked the ammo. Silver bullets made the magazine very shiny. I hoped I wouldn't have to use it.
"Remember. We may have super abilities, and we may be powerful, but we aren't bulletproof. Duck if you have to."
The sounds of gunfire could be heard over the engine as we approached the main gates. Unlike the last time we were here, they were now twisted and broken. Gunfire was coming from the main house. Plumes of smoke and ash rose into the sky from the remains of several vehicles and one small building. Surrounded though they might be, the Petrovs were still fighting back.
Cars were parked in a half circle at the front of the estate. Slowly moving bodies lay here and there as the Pack doctors tried to keep people comfortable. As a people, Weres are practically indestructible, but some things could harm them. Silver and the herbs I carried did the most damage. Mundane weaponry could hurt them, but it rarely killed unless a limb or head was removed. Rocket launchers and explosive grenades apparently worked well too.
Chuck slowed to a stop, and the three of us jumped out. A quick glance of the area showed a small cluster of men around one of the cars. With all the explosions and gunfire going off around us they all failed to hear our arrival.
Motioning to the left and right, I directed my friends to take out the men on either side of Freddie Jaeger. He was bent over the hood of a car pointing to a map.
I cast a personal Ward and felt it encase my body. It wasn't unbreakable, but it would protect me from claws and teeth. In the distance, an explosion caught everyone's attention. Smoke and flame rose from the roof of the once elegant house. The men in front of me yelled and pointed, clapping each other on the back. Feeling rather than seeing where Cat and Chuck were, I approached the nearest man and put my hand on his shoulder. "You're under arrest!"
Freddie Jaeger looked over his shoulder in shock. He jerked away stuttering. "You're supposed to be...d-dead!"
Smiling I zapped him with a freeze spell and said "nope." Cat and Chuck corralled the other four men, and I zapped them too. The map they had been looking at fluttered to the ground.
"That was too easy. We got lucky." Cat nudged me out of the way and grabbed the map off the ground.
"You're right about that. As a bonus, we got Freddie." I looked at the map. It was a fairly well-drawn representation of the estate with lines of attack drawn on it.
"Agatha, look here." Cat pointed to a cluster of dots and the word reserve. We may have found where Daniel was located.
"Is there any sign of the Reverend and his troops?" I scanned
the map again.
Cat shook her head. "It's not on here. They might be the reserve, not Daniel."
"We need to catch both of them regardless. Can you and Chuck make your way around to the rear of the barn?" Cat's attention wasn't on me at all.
She was staring off toward the main estate house. Gunfire and explosions were still coming from it. "Cat?"
I poked her in the ribs. "Cat!"
She turned and blushed slightly. "Sorry, Agatha."
"I'm sure he's OK. Come on. We have a job to do and a war to stop. Can you and Chuck make your way around to the barn?"
She nodded and looked toward the house again.
"Here's what we are going to do." I talked as we ran.
~~~~~~~
Another explosion shook the house. Stephan staggered against the desk he was using as cover. Waking up in the arms of three women felt like a million years ago. Now his world was filled with fire and death. Glass covered the floors all over the house. Every step was like walking on gravel. From his vantage point, he could see attackers repeatedly charging the doors only to be beaten backward. Every entry point was under mass attack!
"Stephan! We can't hold them for too much longer. My boys are just about out of ammo!" Charles crawled his way up the broken stairwell. A well-aimed grenade took out the railing and banisters over an hour ago.
"Damn! Who knew Daniel had this many troops! Is there any way we can break out?"
"Not that I can see. We're trapped! You could challenge Daniel for leadership. That might be a way out." Charles peeked over the desk to watch the next assault.
"Do you really think he would let me? Remember what he did to our own father? No. We have to defeat him somehow. What about the basement? Is the old escape route still working?"
"Stephan. Alpha, you cannot use it! Any sign of weakness and the others..." Charles paled at the suggestion.
"Do you really think so little of me Charles? I was thinking of the women, children, and our wounded. We will bring everyone down to the lower level and make our stand there. Spread the word. I'll try to get the wounded moving. The Gods don't seem to favor us now."
~~~~~~
"Is everyone in position?" Joshua Pepin watched the battle from on high. To him, it was like an online video game.
The Pepin Beta stood tall over his boss. "Yes, Sir. Our snipers are ready and the ground troops in place. One of our scouts said to tell you that the FBI is here."
"What! Where?" He scanned the battle with his field glasses but didn't see anything.
"They were spotted over by the Jaeger's first aid station. It's only the two women and a man. No backup troops or State police." Robert pointed towards the left.
"What use is two women against all of this? Send the orders. Let the attack begin!"
Snipers positioned atop the surrounding hills started firing at any target of opportunity. On the ground, small groups of heavily armed troops began attacking the Jaeger Weres from the rear.
~~~~~~~
Stephan helped one of his men stand. The Pack member was missing both a foot and a hand. The bleeding had stopped, but he was weak from blood loss and shock. Another of his men suddenly ran up.
"Sir! Someone is firing on the Jaegers! Come quickly."
Following the man back up the stairs, Stephan looked toward where he pointed. Suddenly he remembered the man was called Tony. Stephan watched as one of the attackers was cut down mid-stride by a sniper in the hills.
"Charles!" Stephan started yelling for his Beta.
The crunching sound someone walking on glass could be heard. "Charles?"
"Right here. Did you get the word, someone is helping us?"
"Yeah, Tony here told me about it. Do we know who it is?" Stephan pointed to the Jaeger troops dropping where they stood.
"We could win this, look!" Tony stood up to look at something and froze. He half turned toward his Alpha before falling to the ground with a startled look on his face. A perfect hole now graced his forehead.
"I don't think they're on our side." Shouts were heard as the snipers began firing at those inside the estate as well as those outside.
~~~~~~~
Someone was messing with his plan! Daniel watched from the barn. Who was this new player? The attack was going perfectly until someone else started picking his men off. If it were the FBI or the State Police, they would be yelling at them with bullhorns or something. No! These people were just killing his Pack!
"We have to go now, or all is lost." Daniel looked at the ten Specials he purchased from the Alpha of the local Austin Pack. The Reverend was as shady as you could get, but none of his deals so far had been scams. Honor among thieves is how he thought of it.
The lead Special just stared at his new boss. Following orders to the letter was the primary directive for both him and his brethren. It is why they were so popular with packs on the fringe of Were society.
Daniel stopped short when he realized none of the heavily armed men were following. "Alpha Leader we need to attack, now!"
"Sir." The large former slave turned and made a hand motion. The other nine Specials sprang into action and followed Daniel into battle. Anyone that got in their way was cut down. The Special troops had no compassion, no feelings, and no free will. They charged right into the attacking Pepin Weres, cutting them down.
~~~~~~~
We arrived at the barn too late. We watched as our prey escaped into the sweeping battle.
"Damn it to hell! How does this guy move so fast? Did you see the size of those guys with him?" I looked back at my friends.
The man in question never looked back as he and the men with him cut their way into the house. Indiscriminate snipers were shooting at everyone, including us! A third sniper round ricocheted off my shield.
Ducking low and out of the line of fire, Cat spoke to me. "They look like those two we have in lock up. More slave warriors?"
I nodded in agreement. "Has to be. That explains his lack of outrage at his son's killers. This was all a power play."
Chuck ducked down by the barn's window just as a round hit the area next to him. "It's getting hot here!"
Cat and I both acknowledged him and pressed ourselves flat to the ground. "If the Petrovs are holed up inside, and the Jaegers are attacking, who's shooting at us?"
My shield absorbed another hit. "It could be the Reverend's people."
Cat crawled closer to me to use me as a shield. "Maybe. Could he be helping the Petrovs?"
Chuck pointed to a man falling from the roof of the estate. "If he's on their side he's doing a lousy job of it."
I shook my head and cast another shield spell. This one built a small pillbox shape around our position. At least the sniper shots wouldn't hit us anymore. I sat up and looked around, several shots ricocheted off the new shell.
"So Jaeger attacks Petrov and then Austin attacks all of them? That makes no sense. He doesn't have enough troops to control the whole town!"
"What about those guys? They don't look like Bob or Tod." Cat pointed. Normal-sized men and women were shooting at Daniel and his men as they attacked the doors. The shooters were outside the fence.
"Mercenaries? We are missing something here." I stared at the attackers. Something wasn't right.
"Can't you just freeze the entire battlefield? It would solve all our problems."
~~~~~
Daniel was ecstatic! Punching through the main doors was easy as pie. The Specials were worth every cent he paid for them. They shrugged off minor hits and barely flinched when shot in vulnerable areas.
The entrance to the main house was blackened by both fire and explosions. Many dead and dying Were from both packs lay in their own blood. Bits and pieces of the combatants lay everywhere. Three of the Special troops ripped the doors off their frames and ran inside guns blazing. Very few defenders were left. Everyone else was one level down, preparing to defend againt the final assault.
"Kill everyone! Nits make lice!" Daniel smiled to himself. He
had always wanted to say that. His pistols blazed as he shot another surrendering Petrov down. With them all dead, the town and the mine was his!
Like the professionals they were, the Specials rampaged through the house gunning down survivors and wounded alike. As each man or woman died, the sound level inside the house lessened.
"Sir. Mission accomplished." The lead Special presented his report to Daniel.