by Charley Case
“Okay, the team will be teleporting there in the next fifteen minutes. I’ll let them know you’re in charge. Clean these Rougarou out. They are not going to be stopped otherwise. And Mila?”
“I know,” she said, rolling her eyes, “I’ll be careful.” She hung up the phone and turned to see Harvey working on the second pack of cookies.
She put her head in her hands and groaned. “God, I wish I was with Finn, having a grand old time treasure hunting. He’s got all the luck today.”
Dead ratmen littered the floor all around Finn as he took in long, even breaths, getting his rage under control. Looking over his shoulder, he could see a trail of the dead minions leading back into the darkness where he had started the long trek across the gigantic chamber.
He turned back to the opening in the wall in front of him. It was an open set of double doors made of foot-thick stone. Beyond them was a cube-shaped room thirty feet to a side. His dark vision could just make out a row of ten pillars against the far wall, each of them with a section that rotated and was marked with half a dozen pictographs. In the center of the pillars was another set of double doors, but these were shut tight.
Finn sighed. It was a puzzle. He hated puzzles. That was why he and Penny made such a good team. He did the killing, she did the thinking.
“Fuck it.” He groaned. “How hard can it be?”
He looked down at his blood-soaked clothing and picked a chunk of ratman off his forearm, flicking it onto the ground.
“I hate minions,” he muttered before striding into the cube-shaped puzzle room.
As soon as he got to the halfway point, the doors behind him slammed shut.
He spun, his guard up, but there was no enemy, and he relaxed—until a scraping sound made him look up.
Footlong spikes lowered from the ceiling.
“Oh, come on!”
Then the ceiling started descending slowly, intent on crushing him if he didn't solve the puzzle in time.
“Great. No pressure, Finn.” He turned back to the pillars and tried to figure out how to solve the damn thing.
He went to the first pillar and started rotating it, looking at each picture. There was a man fishing, a dog jumping over a fence, what looked like a bird taking a crap on a man’s head, two people either sword fighting with really short swords or two people touching penises—he couldn't tell which—and finally, a picture of a ratman pooping off a cliff.
He rotated through the pictures again.
He roared in frustration, “I fucking hate puzzles!”
Chapter Fourteen
Mila stacked another table against the window to the left of the Red Brick Tavern’s front door. Harvey slid a chair up behind her and carefully went for another, wobbling only slightly, while Mila wedged the chair into the rickety barricade they had built.
“I don't think this is going to hold against a pack of Rougarou,” Mila said, shaking the stack and having to steady it before is all tumbled to the floor. “They wouldn't even need to huff and puff. They could just call it a bad name, and it would come tumbling down.”
Harvey chuckled at the bad joke but waved her back. “Let me finish it up before you judge too harshly.”
Holding out a hand, he furrowed his brow and concentrated as his palm began to glow with golden light. The bar filled with the smell of rain, and a string of small bubbles began to pour out of the light from his hand and zip across the room to attach to the barricade. The bubbles came faster and faster, slowly filling the gaps. When bubbles filled all the spaces and bound the tables and chairs together, they began to pop, leaving light gray concrete behind. Within a minute or two, the barricade was made of tables, chairs, and a shit-ton of solid concrete.
Mila nodded. “You were right. The finishing touches really brought the whole thing together.”
Harvey laughed, went to the makeshift barricade on the other side of the door, and repeated the process.
Mila looked over the preparations they had made. The back door was made of steel and had two crossbars holding it closed, which was about as secure as they could make it in the tight space. The two barricades covered the only two windows in the bar, but the front door was going to be a problem.
The door was just a simple wooden door with a window in the top half. Mila was pretty sure she could kick it in, given half a chance. A Rougarou would break it down with one swipe of its claws.
“What’s your plan for the front door?” Mila asked, looking over her shoulder at Harvey.
He gave a defeated shrug. “We’ll just have to use it as a choke point and fight them off. We can't seal it up until everyone is in here. If you can free the rest of the townspeople, they will make a beeline for here. This is the designated fallback point.”
“What about when everyone is here?”
“I guess I’ll concrete it up like the windows. We’ll have to see what works best. I don't want to leave any of my people out there.”
Mila nodded. “I can understand that.” Mila looked around the bar at the two dozen people sitting in small groups. “How many know offensive magic?” she asked quietly.
He glanced around the room before turning back to her. “Not many. Like I said, most people moved out here to live a peaceful life. There are a few, though. We can do some damage if we need to.”
Mila started to reply but was interrupted when two large bubbles appeared and instantly popped, leaving a small group of people in black tactical gear standing in the center of the bar’s dance floor. A few of the towns fold let out yelps or screams but calmed down quickly when Mila approached the heavily armed men and women with a large smile on her face.
“You must be the G.A.E.L. team. I’m Mila Winters.” She held out a hand to the tall thin man who stepped forward.
He took her hand, shaking it once before returning it to the rifle butt strapped across his chest. “Good to meet you, Dr. Winters. I’m Glen, the team’s lead.” He pointed to a pink-haired elf with a large pack on her back and several grenades strapped to her chest under her rifle. “This is Jenny, our demo expert.”
The pink-haired elf tipped her black helmet like it was a cap. “Nice to meet you, Dr. Winters,” she said, shaking Mila's hand.
Carl hiked a thumb over his shoulder to a huge orc, who was surprisingly not equipped with a weapon besides a pistol in a thigh holster. “This is Howard, our front-line caster. He’s quick with the spells, and can rip a guy’s arms off if they get too close.”
Howard rolled his eyes, and in a very clear voice that spoke of education and proper decorum, said, “I would never rip a man’s arms off. Far too messy. A pleasure.”
They shook hands, and Mila was about to ask him something when Carl continued,
“This rogue is Nick.” He pointed out a gaunt dark-haired Peabrain who flashed a smile through his five o’clock shadow and reached out a hand, which Mila took.
“Dr. Winters.” He nodded. “I’m front-line melee and scouting.”
Mila looked him over and noted he had no weapons, not even the tactical bulletproof vest. He was wearing a black shirt and trousers and black combat boots.
“Looks like you forgot your gear, Nick.”
He chuckled but Carl was the one to answer, rubbing his solid chin as he considered the dark-haired man. “Nick specializes in form-changing, usually bears and the like for fights and weasels and cats for scouting. It’s a damn handy set of skills.” Nick gave a lazy salute at the compliment.
“That’ll be helpful. One of the big problems with the Rougarou is how fucking big they are,” Danica said, coming over and wiping her hands on a bar towel.
Mila nodded. “They’re a good eight feet tall.”
Carl nodded. “We’ve fought them before. Nasty sons of bitches.” A small woman stepped out from behind Carl.
She was shorter than Mila by a good two inches, which made Mila's eyes widen. At 4’10” she hardly ever met a grown adult who was shorter than her.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mila apolog
ized, not realizing the introductions were not over. “I didn't see you standing behind Carl.” She reached out a hand and the small woman took it, shaking with a fairly weak grip.
She looked human, but Mila spotted the wand tucked into a holster beside her only other weapon, a pistol in a thigh holster, which said she was more than likely a witch. She nodded, making the slightly large helmet wobble on her brown hair, which had been twisted into a tight bun at the nape of her neck.
“This is Tina,” Carl said, nodding at the small woman. “She doesn't talk much, but when she does, it's filthy.”
Tina gave him a withering look, but the others on the team burst out laughing.
“Sorry, Tina.” Carl chuckled. “Just have to bust on the new guy. Tina here is our artillery and utility witch. She’s in charge of things like crowd control and long-range targets.”
“Glad to meet you all. Please just call me Mila. Dr. Winters takes too long,” Mila said with a smile, turning to introduce her two companions. “This is Danica Meadows. She’s a medical doctor and healer. And this is Harvey, the mayor of Elk River and the bartender here at the Red Brick Tavern.”
Everyone exchanged handshakes before they seated themselves at the largest table in the bar, a huge round wooden thing with seats enough for twelve.
“We’re still waiting for Penny to get back,” Mila informed them. “She’s following the Rougarou and will be able to let us know where we need to go. Can't do anything until then. We were just fortifying what we could in case the wolfmen came back.”
Carl nodded. “Good idea. Do you mind if we see if there’s anything we can add?”
“That would be great,” Harvey said, standing up and pointing to the back of the bar. “The back door in particular could use a little love.”
Carl signaled for Tina and Howard to go with him. “See if you can do something about the structure while you’re at it,” he said as Tina passed him and gave a nod.
“What’s wrong with the structure?” Mila asked when they were gone.
“Nothing, I’m sure, but it’s just a wooden building,” Carl said, waving a hand to indicate the plaster walls. “Most people don't realize the walls of a structure are usually just siding, some kind of insulation, and plaster on the inside. If you’re lucky, code requires a layer of plywood in there somewhere, but on something this old?” He shook his head. “I’ll eat my helmet if there’s even insulation. Howard and Tina can reinforce it with spells they mastered for just such an occasion.”
“I didn't realize the walls were such an easy way into a building,” Mila said, eying the walls suspiciously.
Carl waved it away. “Most modern buildings are much safer, but you have to watch out for the old ones. If we don't prepare a Rougarou, could just charge through a wall without even feeling it. Don't worry about it; they can take care of it.” He leaned on the table, resting an elbow on the worn surface. “Preston gave us the basic rundown, but if we’re waiting for your dragon friend to return anyway, why don't you start from the top?”
Mila cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. “How did you know Penny is a dragon?”
Carl chuckled along with the rest of his team. “Mila, we’ve met before.”
Her eyes went wide. How had she forgotten meeting these people? Was her journey into Valkyriehood messing with her memories? “I’m sorry, I don't remember.”
“Let me rephrase that,” Carl amended when he saw the distress in her eyes. “We were one of the teams that fought with you against the Dark Star. All of us but Tina; she hadn't joined up yet. We never officially met, but after the battle, we did say hello in passing. I caught glimpses of the fight forming my side of the park. Plus, when a dwarf king and a dragon show up on Earth, people start talking. Not to mention, you showed some impressive powers out there.” He held up a hand, forestalling her comment. “We know what you are because information is power, and Preston likes his teams to be informed before they get into combat. But also know that that information stops with my team. Your secrets safe with us.”
Mila felt uncomfortable with how many people knew she was a Valkyrie, but to be fair, most of them found out before she had been told by Victoria to keep it a secret. Besides, the G.A.E.L. team would have found out soon enough fighting beside her. Or at the very least, they would know something was weird about her magic.
“I appreciate that. What should I call you? Sergeant? Lieutenant?” Her face flushed with embarrassment. “Sorry, I don't know much about the military.”
He smiled. “We don't have a rank system beyond what we use internally in case a new team lead needs to take over in the field. We’re a private organization that doesn't operate beyond the squad formation. Formal rank isn’t needed. You can just call me Carl.”
“Carl, right. So, this is what we’re working with?”
Mila told him everything she could think of, including the part about Heather since they already knew she was a Valkyrie and the info would do nothing but help the situation. After he had all the details, Carl sat back in his chair, his thumb and bent forefinger stroking his shaved chin.
“Can you handle the magic-user?” he asked, an eyebrow rising.
Mila thought about it and nodded. “I think so. The three of us should be able to handle her. What are you thinking?”
“Divide and conquer.”
“What about this Lord of hers?” Mila asked.
“She said he was still slumbering, right? I’m guessing that means he’s not going to be much of a threat, but we can reassess when we see the battleground.”
The front door opened, and as one, everyone at the table stood and readied either weapons or spells, pointing them at the intruder.
Penny’s eyes went wide, and she threw her hands up in surrender.
Everyone relaxed and stowed weapons and spells.
“Chi chi,” Penny said, her hands still up.
Mila rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we know it’s you. Were you able to track them?”
Penny smiled and launched herself toward the table, flapping her wings once before landing. “Shir shee shee. Chi shir?”
Mila got up and went behind the bar, grabbing a bag of chips and a sleeve of cookies from the rack and brought them back, tossing the snacks to Penny. The dragon snatched the chips, and tore the bag open, shoveling chips into her mouth like the Cookie Monster, sending shards raining down.
“She needs to replenish her magic. We skipped lunch,” Mila explained. “She said they went back to the sawmill. Evidently they didn't even try to not be seen, just tore a path directly there.”
“Are they inside or out?” Carl asked Penny, who had finished with the chips in record time and was tearing the cookies open.
Her mouth was still full of chips, and she held up a finger while she chewed quickly before swallowing the mouthful. “Shir squee.”
“Inside,” Mila translated. “She couldn’t get a good view of what was happening in there since they closed the big overhead doors before she could get close.”
Nick barked a laugh. “You got all that from two words?”
Mila shrugged. “More or less. I edited out a lot of the swearing. Didn’t want to offend your delicate ears.”
Jenny elbowed Nick in the ribs, laughing. “Man, she’s going to fit right in.”
“Oh, come on. She couldn't have said anything too bad. Look how cute she is. I could tickle dat widdle belly for hours,” Nick said, descending into cutesy baby talk as he made tickling motions with his fingers.
Penny stopped mid-chew, slowly swiveling her head to give him a deathly stare. She spat out her mouthful of cookies before bursting into a very long rant that included several jets of flame and a number of hand gestures that needed no translation.
When she finished, she pulled out a fresh cookie and bit it in half while staring Nick down.
He swallowed hard before slowly turning to Mila, who just smiled. “What did she say?”
“She said she would appreciate it if you didn't demean h
er as if she were a pet. She is easily the most intelligent person in a hundred miles, and would appreciate if you treated her as such,” Mila translated, the smile never leaving her face.
Nick swallowed. “She was talking for a while there. That’s all she said?”
Mila shrugged. “More or less.”
Chapter Fifteen
Danica teleported Carl and Howard to the outskirts of the sawmill to show them where it was, then quickly brought them back to the bar.
Mila told Harvey that they shouldn’t be long and to expect his people to arrive in mass, then to set up the front door barricade and wait for her and the G.A.E.L. team to return by teleport. He wished them luck and shook her hand.
“Be careful.”
She smiled. “One day, people won’t feel the need to tell me that all the time. Don’t worry, Harvey. I’m much tougher than I look.”
They prepared their weapons, and Mila activated her armor. She gave Carl the signal that she, Danica, and Penny were ready, and they all teleported to the location Danica had shown them.
The three large bubbles popped, depositing them behind a fallen tree, thick with underbrush. The G.A.E.L. team immediately fell into a defensive posture, scanning the area for any signs of the enemy. Carl gave the all-clear signal, and they quietly moved up the edge of the woods overlooking the clearing with the sawmill and derelict buildings.
Crouching in the underbrush, Carl held up a hand, forming a grapefruit-sized bubble from the dim light in his palm. A sharp smell like cut grass hit Mila's nostrils as she watched the first bubble float up a few feet and a second one form in his hand. After a second, the two bubbles glowed and pulsed for a few beats before the floating bubble became so clear she could barely make it out against the sky. The bubble still in Carl’s hand, however, showed a slightly shifted view.
The floating bubble rose quickly, climbing past the tall cedar trees that surrounded them. Mila’s jaw dropped when she saw the view in the stationary bubble climb along with the other bubble.