Soulguard

by Christopher Woods

  For some reason, what I said sparked a sense of approval from the man. Maybe because I admit I’m not the best, I don’t know.

  “Well, follow me,” Jacobs said while giving Prada an evil look.

  She snickered, “I get to be a secretary, you can be a guide.”

  As we walked down a hallway he muttered, “Evil woman, she knew I was in the middle of a poker game.”

  Chapter 35

  “Do you know what’s in these orders?” The Mage captain asked as he finished reading them.

  “I know the gist of them, Sir.”

  “You’ve pissed off someone very high up in the Mages, Young Man.”

  Rictor, who had been summoned when I was introduced to Sam Keller, the Mage Captain, snorted.

  Keller looked up at Rictor, “What did I miss?”

  “More like everyone high up in the Mages.”

  “Really?” he sat back in his chair and looked a bit closer at me. I saw the instant the realization hit him and I saw a memory flash across his aura, of a man who looked strikingly similar to me.

  He sat up straight, his face pale, “Dear God, are you Kel’s son?”

  All that I had seen of this man’s aura said that he was a good person and I was almost to the point of not caring anymore if everyone knew who I really was.

  “Yes, he was my father,” I answered, “but I was raised by Kharl Jaegher and Kyra Nightwing.”

  “Those are two names I haven’t heard in some time,” he looked at me for a moment and turned his stare to Rictor.

  “So what did he do to piss everyone off?”

  “From what I gathered, it started when they entered Colin in the Academy while the Archmage’s son was considered the top Mage trainee. The arrogant little bastard decided that Colin was the enemy. Then the...”

  As Rictor told the story of my last ten months, I watched Keller’s aura. I watched the full spectrum of emotions flow through the man’s aura by the end of the tale. Somehow Rictor had even heard of the confrontation I had with the Archmage, and it said a great deal about Keller’s character that Rictor told the whole story to the man.

  “I didn’t think it was possible to piss off more people than I have but I stand corrected. You’ve not only done that but done it in less than a year. I’m impressed.”

  He shook his head, “You know the Archmage will try to bury you for what happened to his son. But, he’ll wait a while to do it. He’s a patient, evil son of a bitch but he’s so strong, no one will stand against him.”

  “I know,” I returned, “All I can do is my best. I’ll face what I have to when I have to.”

  “They’ve actually done you a favor, sending the other two Mages with me. They’re arrogant pricks and would be more trouble than they’re worth to keep here anyway. They think you’ll be swamped with running this place but they don’t know about my secret weapon.”

  He smiled broadly, “Recently they blocked a young man from the source and sent him here. He’s a frigging genius when it comes to running the business end of the place and the two Mages they did leave you have been running the Guard base for me for years. You can focus on the Patrol which is what Rictor here says you are well suited for.”

  I felt a great surge of relief when he made these statements because I have no idea how to actually run anything.

  “I’ll let Rictor show you around and you can get settled. Then I’ll introduce you to Warren and the twins. I can postpone leaving for about three days, I’ll try to give you as much information as I can in those three days. You should do fine with the help that’s already in place.”

  “Is that Warren Grimes?”

  “You know him?”

  “They blocked him from the Source the second day I was at the Academy. I didn’t expect he would work for the Guard after that.”

  “That man is as dedicated to the Guard as anyone, he just wasn’t suited to fighting demons. They should have just allowed him to do something like this as a Mage and he wouldn’t have arranged for the block to happen. I talked to him for ten minutes after he got here and I put him in an important position where he’s thrived.”

  “I just wish the block didn’t make someone so weak. A blocked Mage doesn’t live long under much stress. A regular human has a much stronger stream than a blocked Mage or Guard.”

  I definitely needed to talk to Grimes, I might be able to help him out and still not violate any oaths.

  ***

  “We’ve got more than ten businesses based out of this hub alone,” Warren said, “The Guard has businesses located all around the world. Unlike the government, they can’t tax the populous to provide the money to pay the Guard.”

  I nodded, “And you are the head of this hub’s business ventures?”

  “Yep, I’ve been running this part for the last nine months. I had a pretty hard time after they blocked me from the Source, but I have a purpose again and it helps me deal with the loss.”

  “Listen, I’ve met with you a few times and I see what Keller saw in you. If you could have at least, some of that back, would you take it?”

  He looked at me suspiciously, “I arranged for this to stay away from the front lines. I’m a computer nerd, not a warrior. I can’t do what you and Sam do. If I was a Mage again, that’s what they would want of me. I just can’t do it.”

  “If I give you some of it back, so you can be at least like a normal person, you won’t have to face Demons. Just do what you do now. I think you should be as strong as a regular person, even if you don’t want Mage power again.”

  “That would be great, except you just can’t reverse what was done,” He returned sadly, “It’s called a permanent block from the Source for a reason.”

  “You talk to the Guard Captain about Source blocks. Then if you’re interested, come see me,” I said, “and while I’m here, I need some advice.”

  “What do you need?”

  “It seems I have a good bit of money and I don’t know what to do with it. I have thirty thousand dollars and what I draw from the Guard makes it where I don’t need to use it to live on or anything. I talked with Sandy and Randy about my pay yesterday and I’m making more than twice what a Mage recruit makes because of the Acting Mage Captain rank. I really haven’t got a clue what to do with it.”

  Sandy and Randy Quincy were the twins who ran the base for Keller, or for me now I guess.

  “I can do some investing for you, if you want or possibly start some sort of business for you if you want. It never hurts to have more income than the Guard provides in case you end up blocked from the Source or something,” he laughed bitterly.

  “I don’t know, how bout I make the funds available to you and you do whatever you do with it. I can invest thirty thousand now and probably, as long as I’m getting the higher salary, another five or six thousand a month.”

  “I can definitely do some good for you with that if you want. I’ll have to get some papers together for you to sign but we can set something up.”

  Even with giving him that much each month, I would still draw several thousand for myself. I was amazed at the amount of money I was making. I’d never really had any money before, but I’d never really needed any either. And now I didn’t need much for myself, I had moved into one of the Mage quarters at the base, so the only bill I had was the money it took to feed me.

  ***

  It hadn’t been a whole day since I talked to Grimes when he entered my office with hope rolling through his aura.

  “Is it true,” he asked in amazement, “Did you unblock a Mage at the Academy?”

  “Yes,” I answered, “I can unblock you, but if I do you’re a Mage again. What I think I can do is loosen the bind so that you have as much stream as a regular person. If you choose to knot it, you have to take the Guard Oath to never use your power against another human. It will be your choice. I’ll tell you now, you can’t hide it behind a privacy screen from me. And I will hold you to your Oath.”

  “Understood.”r />
  I stood up and approached him. I reached out my hands like I had done when they tried to block me and slowly loosened the knot until it expanded to about three inches. You could see the paleness leave his face as life-force flowed into him again.

  “Oh that feels wonderful. I’ve felt like a shadow for the last eleven months. You won’t regret this, Sir. I won’t let you down.”

  In his aura, I could see that he meant every word he spoke.

  Chapter 36

  “So how do the patrols work?” I asked Rictor. “I think I have the other stuff in hand. Keller was right about Grimes and the twins, so now I can get down to business with the patrols.”

  “We have a hundred Guards stationed in Knoxville. Half of them are on duty at any given time. There is always a rapid response team of twenty Guards ready to go at once to join a patrol. Typically there’s a Mage on duty at all times too, but there’s only one of you, so we have to do the best we can.”

  “I’m supposed to stay here with the rapid response team?”

  “Ideally, yes,” He looked at me with a grin, “Somehow I don’t expect it to work out that way so we got you a sat phone. It picks up anywhere and you can get some experience with the patrolling aspects of the job.”

  “A patrol is two guards who, basically, drive around looking for trouble. You know as well as I that we can feel them if we get close. The first thing we do when we sense them is call in the RRT. Then, when they arrive we wipe out a nest. If we find one Demon, we follow it to the nest while the RRT is in route.”

  “I see,” I said, “so the smart thing would be for me to stay with the RRT and come in with them.”

  “Yep, if you choose to patrol, I’d say keep it close to base so you can join the RRT when they get the call.”

  “How often are the nests found?”

  “Maybe one or two a year,” he said, “we don’t see a great deal of action but when we find one there’s plenty of fighting to go around.”

  “How many Demons are there in a typical nest?”

  “The ones I’ve been into had around a hundred or so with Soldiers controlling them. All except one, it had a Wraith and about a hundred and fifty soldiers with around three hundred lesser demons. We took forty Guards and two Mages down into that one.”

  “Ok, I’ll be around Knoxville for the most part. If you need the RRT I expect to be called. I think you should send someone east, though. I don’t know why I feel this way but I feel that there’s something to the east.”

  “Will do. You want to head that way with me?” He asked, “It’ll let you see what we do in a patrol.”

  “Yeah I’d like to go,” I hesitated, “But should I go? I really don’t know what I’m supposed to do here.”

  “Keller went on a patrol at least twice a month, so it’s not bad for you to go,” He answered with a grin, “I know you don’t want to stay here all the time waiting and it’s alright. We’ll get the call if the RRT is called in.”

  I felt relief because he was right, I wanted to go hunt down Demons, not sit and wait for them to attack. The researchers hadn’t uncovered any missing persons reports or animal attacks recently, but a feeling just kept nagging at me. There was also a feeling from the North, but it was different. It wasn’t evil, and I felt evil to the east.

  “Tell the Guards to be ready,” I said, “I’ve seriously got a bad feeling about the east.”

  He looked at me for a moment and nodded his head, “You got it, Boss.”

  We went to the armory and gathered the standard short swords for the Guard and some black body armor that was standard wear for a RRT. As we exited the armory, Andrea Prada saw us and turned our way.

  “Are you two going on a patrol?”

  “Thought I’d go out and show him the ropes,” Rictor answered.

  “Any chance I can go with you? The secretary called in again and I just know they’ll want me to be her replacement.”

  Rictor laughed, “Rather fight Demons than answer phones, huh?”

  “God, yes.”

  “Get your gear and come on.”

  ***

  We headed east and veered onto I-81 headed toward Johnson City. After driving for close to two hours, I began to see a darkness in the distance to our right.

  “They’re out here, all right.” I said and pointed toward the hills to our right, “We need to head that direction as soon as we can.”

  “You felt this from all the way back at the base?” Rictor asked.

  “I felt something evil in this direction. I can see them now, they have a darkness that surrounds them that I can see.”

  “That’s gonna help when we send out patrols,” He returned. His aura showed that he was impressed.

  “You may as well call in the RRT, Rictor,” I said. “That darkness is pretty big.”

  “You got it, Boss.”

  Prada didn’t say a word, but I saw doubt in her aura as she glanced in my direction. Rictor must have read her mind, because he chuckled.

  “You’ll find, Andrea, that when the kid says something, it tends to be true,” He said, “trust me.”

  She looked my direction again and I smiled, “You can always tell me ‘I told you so’ if I’m wrong.”

  She shrugged, “You’re the boss.”

  I could still see the doubt in her aura until we reached the distance where they could feel the Demons themselves. She looked at me with surprise and amazement in her aura.

  “I stand corrected.”

  We drove down some back roads to get a little closer, then pulled to the side and got out of the SUV. We went to the back and began putting on the body armor and I strapped my harness with the twin swords to my back. Excitement was coursing through me and my ever-present rage was building as I looked at the darkness ahead of us.

  I looked closer and my rage grew, “They’ve got prisoners up there.” I pointed into the hills ahead of us.

  “I see human Souls very close to em.”

  “You see Souls?” Prada asked in amazement, “What kind of Mage are you?”

  I jumped half the way up the hill, directly toward the darkness, my eyes focused on the human Souls clustered in the middle of the black souls.

  As we got closer, I saw a cave mouth ahead of us and the darkness seemed to be centered in one large area under the ground. There appeared to be about twenty or twenty-five humans down there in the dark.

  “How much longer for the RRT?” I asked.

  “An hour.”

  “We can’t wait that long, guys,” I said, “We’re gonna have to cut our way to the people where I can shield them till the team gets here.”

  “Can you sense how many Demons are down there?”

  “A lot, and I see a very dark spot at the back of the cavern that has to be a portal.”

  Rictor had a grin on his face as I talked of cutting our way in, I realized that Rictor really loves killing Demons.

  My rage was boiling dangerously close to the surface and I didn’t see any reason to wait any longer.

  “Let’s do this, I’ll take point. Ric, left flank, Prada, right flank. Stay with me till we get to the people so I can raise a shield.”

  Both nodded, Rictor wasn’t surprised about me taking point but Prada was. But she knows how to follow orders and fell in at my right without hesitation.

  “Go.”

  We shot into the darkness ahead and my swords burst into Soulflame, lighting our way. Seconds later, both Soulguard’s swords lit up as well. The cavern was just ahead and I charged right into a mass of Demons. My rage soured and I began to dance the blades. It felt so good to let the rage free, even if it was only for a moment.

  We reached the group of captives, who were screaming in terror, but they couldn’t run from us. They were backed against a wall in some sort of alcove in the cavern. I turned and slammed a shield across the front of the opening, just before the Demons slammed into it.

  My rage burned and I paced the inside of the shield, my eyes never leav
ing the Demons on the other side. I wanted out there. I felt like I was vibrating, I wanted out there so badly.

  “Boss!”

  I beat the rage back down inside of me and turned back to Rictor and Prada. The people in the alcove cringed as my gaze crossed them. I was still seeing through what looked like heat waves.

  “Calm down, Colin,” Rictor said softly, “We’re in and the people are safe now. The team should be here soon and we can wipe this nest out.”

  Rictor thought it was adrenaline or just the excitement of my first battle. He had no knowledge of the rage I feel when I see Demons, or how hard it is to beat that rage back down once I let it out.

  “I’m ok,” I answered quietly where the captives couldn’t hear me, “I just hate the waiting. I want them dead.”

  Prada was staring at me like I was some sort of crazed lunatic. She turned to the captives and sheathed her swords.

  “You’re safe now,” She said softly and began to try to calm the terrified people.

  People don’t calm down when I try to calm them so I didn’t even try. I left it to Prada and turned back to the shield and began slowly pacing back and forth in front of it while we waited for the RRT to get there.

  I thought about throwing some Source grenades, but I was afraid it might collapse the cavern and that, I’m pretty sure, would be a bad thing.

  Finally, after what seemed like forever, Guards poured into the cavern and the Demons outside my shield turned away from us.

  “Let’s hit em from behind!” I opened a portal in the shield and after we exited the shield, I left it attached to my stream and closed the portal we’d used as a door.

  Then with a joyous cry, the world slowed and I began the Dance once more. It was one of the greatest feelings I’d ever had to destroy the monsters that had hunted me my entire life. They’d taken my parents, they’d killed hundreds of innocents. All to get to me. They’d regret it, now that I was ready for them to come. The hunter was now the hunted.