“What have you done, Will Sanders? What have you accomplished that would make you able to say anything about him? Until you have faced what he has faced and made the decisions he has had to make, I would suggest you keep your damn mouth shut.”
I stood there with my mouth ajar as I heard the words Lyrica spoke. I also heard the deadliness in the last sentence. She had come a long way from that tiny little girl I had found in an old farmhouse. She was fourteen and as deadly as any Guard or Mage I’d ever seen. She had always been a cheerful and sweet girl, but, as Sanders was seeing, she was not someone to trifle with.
I headed down the hall before anyone saw me. I don’t think that was something I was supposed to hear, even though I felt a lump in my throat as I had heard their words.
Chapter 53
I awoke from a dead sleep when the portal opened and the Demons started crossing over. They were to the north and not all that distant. I jumped from the bed and got dressed. The rage was trying to surface and I beat it down.
When I reached the Dome, I found the RRT. Some were playing poker, some played dice. The ready Mage was Kevin Graves and his fear soared as I entered the Dome.
“Boss?” Rictor looked at me, “Got something for us?”
“Yeh, head north,” I answered and after a second, “Take the kid.”
Graves’ fear spiked again but he nodded shakily.
“Take the whole team,” I said quietly to Rictor, “but if it’s a very big nest, call me. The kid needs to go in and see it for himself. But I don’t want to send him alone on a large group yet.”
“Got it, Boss.”
I hated staying behind with a passion, but Graves really needed to be put to the test and what I felt wasn’t a large nest of Demons.
I watched as my Guards left without me. I kept my expression as iron as I could even though I wanted to go with them so bad. I guess that is the hardest part of being in command. Sending out men and women to face the enemy while you are not there with them.
I had the feeling this would become more and more commonplace since the Council had finally decided that leaving me here as the only Battle Mage wasn’t going to force me to screw up. Now they had given me many more ways to screw up than I had before.
Will Sanders was arrogant and very self-centered, but there was courage and a strong sense of duty down deep in his Soul. I knew that, with the right situation, he could become a great Battle Mage.
Olliver Garret, was steady. He was the type of person who, when given a task, approached it as a craftsman would approach a job. He would use what it took to get the job done, no more and no less. He always got the job done though.
Then there was Graves, who, I believed would become one of the greatest Battle Mages anyone had ever seen. If he goes one direction instead of the other. If he continues to run he will be useless to the Soulguard. The focus I had seen in the young man, if used, would be remarkable, to say the least.
There was no way I was going back to sleep, so I retrieved two of the short swords and returned to the Dome. Then I began to Dance the Blades, cycling through the stances at random. The true art of the Dance is to be able to switch from any stance to any other in an effortless fluid movement.
It was nearly three hours later when I felt the Demon presence disappear. Regardless of how Kevin Graves had done, the nest was gone. I would find out, soon enough how the kid had fared.
I wished that Lyrica was here to see his results as well. She was the reason he was here in the first place. But she was in Scotland by then. I would just have to call her and tell her the news after I heard how he fared.
Several hours later I sat in my office and waited for Rictor to report. He sat down slowly.
“That was the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen, Boss,” He shook his head in wonder, “We entered a cavern, and Demons flooded into the other side. I heard a shriek and I just knew the kid had run. But, he shot right through us and when he was in front, I swear, I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
He ran his hand across his buzzed hair, “He just looked like he exploded. Those disk things you shoot went everywhere. Fireballs flew all over the place and that Soullance thing you do was plowing across the room. All at the same time.”
“He just kept screaming and killing anything that moved until every Demon in that nest was dead. I just knew he’d burn out but he just kept firing everything until all of them were dead. The rest of us, combined, killed fourteen Demons. Do you believe that shit?”
I had a huge smile on my face.
“You knew he would do that?”
“I had a feeling about the kid after I saw the focus he achieved when I chased him around the Dome. I felt he could have gone in one of two directions, but I never dreamed he would be this good. I watched the memory as you reported and I am very impressed. It makes what I did to him worthwhile.”
I leaned back in my chair with relief filling me. I had been really worried that the kid would have gone the other way.
“Just what the hell did you do to him?”
“I showed him how to use all that fear as a weapon like I do with the rage,” I said, “and I’m happy to see he learned the lesson.”
***
“How do you use so much power and not have any build up inside you?” I asked, “Even when I reach that focus point my rage gives me, I can’t do that.”
“When I hit my focus point, it’s like the world almost stops. I have all the time in the world, it seems like to aim and fire everything. I’ve always had a knack for feeling the power flows, and this focus lets me actively regulate what is let into my stream. No more than was there before but no less either.”
“I’ll be damned,” I muttered, “I can actually see the flows and the power slips by me. Even with the world moving slow I can’t seem to get the time to do all that.”
“My focus point must be deeper in than yours,” he said, “The world is slower or I’m faster, whichever you want to call it. I just have more time to act in.”
“Goes to show, no matter how good you are, there’s always someone better.” I smiled and put my hand on his shoulder, “As for now, you’re the only one I’ve ever seen that can reach that much focus.”
***
“I swear its Déjà vu,” Prada complained, “I mean, really? The same frigging cave and the same situation?”
We stood looking into the cave where I had done my first patrol. And down under the earth I could see human souls, just like before.
“We brought a lot more people this time,” I said with a laugh. “Olliver, when we get down there, we’ll cut our way to the prisoners and you shield them. We’ll take care of the rest.”
Olliver nodded. He’s steady and does what he’s told. I’ve noticed this in him since he’d arrived in Knoxville. He may not be the most innovative or destructive of Mages, but he does what you tell him to do. You don’t have to wonder if he will or not.
“Let’s get it done,” I said and the world slowed down. I charged into the cave mouth with my swords flaming. Twenty-one Guards and a Mage charged in after me.
Moments after we hit the central cavern, we were standing near the same alcove full of people and Olliver raised a shield across the front of it.
I turned back toward the horde of Demons packed in the Cavern and let the beast burst free. With a scream of rage I was amongst the Demons and the Dance began. To my left, as always was Rictor and to my right, Prada. And they moved in synch with me. I think Sam was right, I believe I do project my movements into the Guards around me. When we fight together, we are one great big killing machine. If Janacek had been correct in his beliefs and we do pave the road to the afterlife with the Souls of our fallen enemies, then our road is gonna be one big son of a bitch.
When the deed was finished and I could detect no more of the ugly Souls around us, we returned to the shielded people that Olliver had calmed a great deal.
“I think I got a frigging piece of Demon down my damn shirt,”
Prada mumbled and squirmed a little.
“Want me to get it out for you?” Jacobs asked and ducked as she flung something squishy at him.
“Just offering to help, no need to get ill about it.”
“How many damn nests have we already found this year?” I heard Ramirez asking.
“This makes seven, so far,” answered Ric. “But the year’s only half through.”
“That’s kind of weird, right?” Ramirez said, “One or two is normal, but seven? Friggin weird, no doubt.”
As we neared Olliver and the people I could see a respect in Olliver’s aura that wasn’t there before. It was accompanied by a bit of fear of me, but there was less fear of me now and a bit more respect. Perhaps if I spent some time with each of them, we could get past all the stories they’d been told at the Academy. We are on the same side, I’m not some ogre or something.
“I bet they don’t reuse that mine in West Virginia,” Lewis said from the back of our group.
Prada chuckled, “No frigging doubt. Hey maybe you should kick a crapload of bombs back in here as we leave so they don’t try to use this one a third time.”
“Nah, I think we got this one memorized by now,” Jacobs said, “If we keep drawing this cave, we know where everything is.”
“Not like that place in New York,” Holsey returned, “You know, that one with the big hole in the middle. Didn’t someone fall in that hole full of shit? You remember that place, Jacobs?”
Everyone laughed as Jacobs looked around sadly.
“I hate you all.”
***
A flaming disk shot over our heads and slammed into the packed Demons charging across the cavern toward us. Sanders sent another soon after. He was behind us but had his disk launchers raised high enough to clear our heads by five feet.
“Lewis!” my voice boomed as I amplified it, “Take Chambers and Rooney and rearguard Sanders!”
The three of them broke formation on the left side and turned to head back behind Sanders. That’s when I felt it coming up from the rear.
The world slowed and I spun in place to open fire with four launchers at the same time.
Sanders aura pulsed with anger and fear until he saw I wasn’t shooting at him but over his head. He dived to the right and the shredded body of a Wraith collapsed right where he had been standing.
Our eyes met for a split second and I could see the gratitude rolling through his aura. I turned back to the front and joined the rest of the Guard once more.
“You through playing around back there, Boss?” Rictor laughed.
My sword severed a soldier’s head, “Maybe, maybe not. Let’s get this over with.”
I opened up my improved Soullance and Pulled hard. I raked it across the packed Demons and pieces fell everywhere. It left a scorch mark on the other wall of the cavern. Not many of the Demons in that part of the cave system survived.
“Maybe you should’ve started with that and then just clean up the mess after,” Jenna said from the left flank.
“Takes all the fun out of it if I do it that way,” I answered as more Demons piled into the Cavern to be met with Sanders’ disks.
After the Wraith is already gone, I don’t have to conserve the power for them. So once it’s dead the Mages can actually open up. We’re not like the Kid, he’s a frigging machine when he’s in the thick of it, power builds up in us as we use the Source.
I can use more than an average Mage can due to my tolerance for the Source in my body. I think it’s a trait of the Soullord. With two Mages down here I had let Sanders open up from the beginning while I saved the power for the Wraith. It’s nice to have two Mages at a time on a run.
As we made our way back out of the caves, Sanders walked up beside me, “Thanks, that thing would have got me for sure. I thought they stayed behind all their forces. That’s what they say at the Academy, anyway.”
I felt the rage claw and try to come out and Sanders paled a bit, “Are they trying to get everyone killed? Don’t they read the frigging reports? I send em in every time we do one of these. Damnit! The frigging Demons aren’t stupid, they’re adapting to our successes and changing their tactics.”
“We never heard anything about this in our tactics classes.”
“I never got to go to a tactics class at the Academy,” I said a bit more calmly, “Who teaches that?”
“Lucius Salvador,” he answered, “He’s been teaching that class for the last ten years.”
“I wasn’t there long enough to get to that. They had to send me out after the incident with Gavin.”
He looked at me a moment, “What really happened with Price?”
“He tried to block me from the Source after he already blocked Paige Turner as a practice run. He failed, he died.”
“They say you killed him on purpose and got away with it.”
“I would have if he hadn’t screwed up and killed himself. Think about it, if he tied us from the Source and it was discovered, he’d face abuse of power charges. He had to dispose of us if he’d have succeeded. He couldn’t let either of us live after that. They had planned this from the start, I have no pity for him or the ones who helped him. I have no pity for the one responsible for the idiot’s actions and we both know who was behind it.”
“He couldn’t be the one...”
“He damn sure is the one who put the whole thing in motion. Because I stood up to him once. He trained Gavin to do the block and threw his son under the bus. He figured either he succeeds and I am gone or he fails and I am disgraced and tried for killing him. Either way I’m gone and he gets what he wants.”
“But...”
“His followers are doing the same thing, Salvador sent his son to California knowing the boy was a coward. Either he causes the problem that he did or he dies. Either way a good Guard Captain is removed.”
“And don’t think for a minute that Graves didn’t have the same thing in mind with his son. He was sadly mistaken in the potential of that kid and we have a powerhouse to throw at the Demons now. The politics are getting harsh now,” I pointed to the Guards around us, “and we’re stuck in the middle of it all.”
“It boils down to one simple fact,” I said, “Whoever controls the Guards, controls the Soulguard as a whole. I don’t know if it’s power or money or both that drives the man, but Archmage Price wants all of the people who defy him in any way removed.”
“But, to send his son out to die for his vanity seems a bit much,” Sanders said.
“I’ve seen into that man’s Soul, Will,” I stared at him, “He’s more than capable of doing just that.”
***
As we entered the Guard base the secretary looked up and smiled our way.
“Janet, get Sandy and Randy on the phone, please. I need to see them in my office, and tell them I need a list of contacts at each base if they can do it. We need to get some information out to the other bases and I think we’re being ignored.”
“Yes sir.”
I turned to find Sanders and Rictor both standing behind me, “You really think they’ve been ignoring your reports?” Sanders asked.
“The odds are the other bases are getting the same type of reaction from the Demons, but if they aren’t yet, I want them fully aware of what’s been happening here. It could save some lives. They’ve figured out that if they take out the Mage, the Guard is much easier to take down without his support.”
Chapter 54
“I’m really worried about how frequently we keep finding the bastards,” Ric said. We were sitting at a booth at Puello’s Grill.
I nodded as I took another bite of the gumbo. It was really good and I had just gotten lucky to find it as the soup of the day.
“Yeah, something feels off about things and I can’t seem to wrap my head around what it is. We need to do something and I’m not sure how to do it.”
“What’s that?”
“I want to capture a Wraith.”
“Are you crazy?” he stopped w
ith his hand outstretched toward a piece of bread, “Capture? A Wraith?”
“I’m afraid a soldier won’t have enough information. I need a Wraith. It’s time we found out what the Hell is really going on.”
“What makes you think you can find anything out from it? We don’t even know if they can talk our language.”
“They can.”
He looked at me for a moment, “And when did you have this conversation with a Demon?”
“A long time ago, one of them talked to my real father. I saw it in Kharl’s memory. It laughed at them and said, ‘You’re too late man-things.’ It was while they were on a mission and the Demons massacred the New Mexico Guard post. It was the day I was born.”
“Ok then,” he said, “Then all we got to do is work out the details. First we take more Guards, you’ll be busy catching a Wraith so we‘ll clean the nest out. Don’t look at me like that. Do you see any other crazy Soullords around? Nope. So you’re on your own with that one. We’ll keep the rest of em off you, though. When the nest is clean you can figure out how to make one of those big bastards talk, cause I got no idea.”
“I really hate that they transferred our Mages back out of Knoxville. I was getting to like Sanders and the Kid was hell on wheels in a fight. This whole prospect would be easier if any of them were still here.”
I guess the Council had figured out that the Kid wasn’t another Salvador and gave up on that plan. It was a great feeling when Kevin had come and thanked me for scaring the shit out of him. He said it showed him that he wasn’t a coward like he had always thought he was.
“Yeah except the Kid probably would kill it before we could capture it anyway. I guess we’ll find out how to make it talk after we catch one of the big bastards.”
“All right, from now on keep a forty man RRT on standby at all times. With the frequency of the incursions, it shouldn’t be too long before we get a nest. Hopefully it will have a Wraith in it.”
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