Tesser: A Dragon Among Us (A Reemergence Novel)

by Philbrook, Chris

  The talk on WWS was heightened and excited, not because one of them had seen something specific, like the reappearance of an incredibly powerful artifact, but because they all had seen something. Their magic was growing. Each of the meek spell casters had seen his or her own ability to wield the arcane art grow in the preceding weeks. One mage had only started to study reputable texts a week prior and was already able to wield a fledgling form of telekinesis.

  Man, what a lucky asshole.

  The rest of WWS was crap. Nothing of note. No sightings, no truly substantial revelations worth telling Mr. Doyle about.

  Daft Punk gave way to Death Cab for Cutie.

  Abe's second internet destination was The Delphian Covenant.

  The Major Leagues, baby.

  Abe would never dare to shorten The Delphian Covenant to The DC, not even in the secluded sanctum of his head. The circle of warlocks that operated The Delphian Covenant would know if he did. He wouldn't dare risk their wrath, however unlikely it was.

  The Delphian Covenant was a news site dedicated to the arcane. Seven male warlocks worked for the site as the modern day, magical equivalent of journalists. Abe's favorite writer was a man named Oliver Douglas. Oliver was a well-spoken man and an excellent writer, as well as a successful practitioner of water-based magic. Some of the other spell casters that had met Oliver claimed that he was able to use highly refined skills to walk on top of water and form tendrils of water, despite the overall waxing of all magical power in the world. Abe was jealous once more.

  Oliver’s writing was focused on the magical occurrences of the European continent. His last article on The Delphian Covenant was about a circle of stones deep in the German forest that had begun to vibrate a few weeks ago. Abe had never heard of the stones. The date of the new vibration seemed to coincide with the morning that Abe was able to cast the telekinesis spell to turn off his cell phone. Oliver had taken some video of the circle of stones and of the interviews he'd done.

  Bingo. Maybe this will be good.

  Oliver spoke at length about the composition of the stones and their placement in relation to constellations and phases of the moon. He commented on how the stones seemed to be vibrating in varying frequencies. There were seven gray stones, each the size of a modern refrigerator, and all but one was vibrating. Local mages filled in the back-story as they stood in front of the circled granite obelisks, with the voice-over English translation courtesy of Oliver.

  "The Seven Stones of the Black Forest have always vibrated in some fashion. Six of the stones have vibrated for a very long time, you see, centuries, millennia. One of the stones stopped vibrating about ten years ago, and that happened just before all the magic began to fade away," said a middle-aged German woman. She was clearly from the area and looked halfway between elated and terrified.

  "The sixth stone was the stone that stopped vibrating a decade ago. But just now, just this summer, the seventh stone began to vibrate once more." She turned and pointed at a stone that had a faint glimmer of gold to it. As Oliver zoomed in on the seventh stone, Abe caught traces of actual gold filigree laced into the granite. The stone itself was beyond beautiful up close. Oliver panned his handheld camera to each of the other stones, and in turn, each stone revealed its own strange and beautiful quality. One had similar veins of a red substance that looked like iron, whereas one stone had scattered bits of an amber-colored gem embedded into it. Each obelisk was unique. The sixth stone, the silent stone, had amethyst in it.

  "The two most remarkable stones are the water stone and the fire stone." The woman gestured to two stones arranged conspicuously from one another in the circle. To the west was a stone that was unremarkable in any way, save for a small hole in the center of its peak that issued forth a gentle stream of water. The water cascaded down the stone, covering it in what looked to be a glossy film of water.

  The Water Stone.

  To the south was the other extra-remarkable stone. The German sorceress skimmed some of the water off the side of the Water Stone and brought it to the south stone, and emptied her hand atop it. The water sizzled, popped, and steamed immediately.

  That thing has to be boiling hot to the touch.

  "The Fire Stone is boiling hot to the touch," the German woman said.

  Abe sighed.

  "There seems to be an elemental correspondence to the stones?" Oliver asked in German.

  "There is. To the North is the Earth Stone and to the East, the Air Stone."

  Abe looked at the other three stones arranged about the circle. One was the dead amethyst stone. The other two were the golden- and amber-filled stones. Something very strange rang in Abe's mind about that trio of stones mixed into the seven. Something about their placement made his mind buzz, like seeing an unsolved puzzle for the first time.

  Very strange.

  The rest of the interview gave more back-story to the forest and to the group of people who had protected the circle. Abe listened intently, but found nothing in the interview that made his brain click.

  Facebook changed that.

  Abe was assaulted immediately when he logged in. He had three new friend requests from people he'd met at the Friday Night Magic Card tourney the week prior, and he accepted all of them once he recognized the names.

  Nerd unity.

  He had two messages to read as well. One was from a former coworker asking how he was doing since quitting and the other was from a girl he'd been flirting with for months. She almost seemed interested and that was a great sign for Abe.

  I wish I had to balls to just fucking ask her out. Abe took a sip from a near-empty can of Red Bull.

  He had several notifications as well, and most of those were people liking something he posted, or commenting on a status that he'd put his two cents in on already.

  Inane bullshit.

  Death Cab for Cutie transitioned into Porter Robinson, but after a couple songs, he switched to Lynryd Skynryd.

  One of the notifications did manage to catch his eye. A local friend he'd gone to BC with had tagged Abe in a post.

  Naked Vigilante Hobo, eh?

  Abe grinned and clicked on it.

  In the status update, there was a link to one of the local news stations. Abe read the brief article speaking about a man who'd intervened and stopped a potential rape, then clicked on the triangle and started the video.

  He laughed at first, but as the dark video came near to closing, something made Abe pause the video.

  What the…?

  Abe rewound a few moments of the black and white video and watched it again.

  No way.

  He repeated the process once more. Then twice.

  "Mr. Doyle!" Abe yelled as he pulled his headphones off. The loud southern rock escaped into the study and within seconds Mr. Doyle was yelling back.

  "Turn off that infernal racket, Abraham! That music is likely rotting both our brains right at this very moment!" Mr. Doyle was pissed.

  "Sorry! I've got something, Mr. Doyle. I think this might be something special. You need to see it."

  "I'm coming!" The older wizard hollered back from up the hall.

  Abe reopened browser windows pointed at Oliver Douglas' articles on The Delphian Covenant and left the video feed of the naked man open as well. When Mr. Doyle arrived, he had turned off the music and was ready to make his presentation.

  "What is it?" The British man asked as he leaned over the back of the expensive leather chair.

  He smells like old books.

  "I've been researching all day, as you asked," Abe said confidently.

  "Good. You’ve found something?"

  "Yeah. I saw this video about The Seven Stones of the Black Forest earlier. Have you heard of them?"

  Mr. Doyle nodded knowingly, "Yes. I've been to them once. Right as the Second World War came to a close. I was in Germany with the Allied forces working against Hitler's occult teams. There is nothing new about the stones."

  Once again, the man shows his true
age.

  Abe sighed again. "Well, if you recall, only six of the stones have vibrated continuously, and about ten years ago, when the magic began to fade, one of the stones stopped vibrating, right?"

  "Yes, that seems so." Mr. Doyle seemed irritated by the old news.

  "Well, it appears that the very same day that I cast my Commoveo spell, we had that earthquake that fucked up the Green Line, and you asked me to quit my job, the seventh stone, the one that has never vibrated… began to vibrate."

  Mr. Doyle leaned forward, suddenly very interested. "Continue."

  "The Seventh Stone is the gold stone," Abe said as he brought up the video of the naked man from the other night. "I just saw this on Facebook. A friend sent me the link. At first it seemed like nothing, but watch."

  Mr. Doyle leaned in even closer to get a good look at the small video. Abe made it full screen, and the older man seemed satisfied. Abe watched Mr. Doyle's face as the security camera footage played on.

  The British man's eyes went wide.

  "Play it again."

  Abe did as he asked.

  "Play it again."

  Abe played the video a third time.

  "This is a black and white video, yes? Absent of color?"

  "Yes. It was taken from an ATM across the street. Pure happenstance, really. I think it's connected, Mr. Doyle. I've got a very strong feeling about it."

  Mr. Doyle nodded, slowly at first, but then emphatically. "Yes, my apprentice, I do believe you are on to something. Please, continue your search, but focus it on the naked man exclusively. I believe he might be very, very important. Fine work, Abraham. Bloody fine work." Mr. Doyle stood straight and walked from the room.

  He's walking really hard.

  "Mr. Doyle, are you alright?" Abraham asked, concerned.

  The old man turned. He looked far older than he ever had before. "The spells that have sustained my life for so long are failing, Abraham. The years will be catching up with me before long, I suspect. Hopefully, we can sort this out and I am able to refresh the spells, though I feel that my time here is near its end no matter what comes of the magic." Mr. Doyle looked sad.

  "What are you going to do now?" Abraham asked.

  "I'm going to research the Seven Stones. I have a few Germanic texts on them that might shed more light on the vibrations and their meaning."

  Abe nodded.

  "Bloody, bloody good work, Abraham. You'll make a fine mage one day," Mr. Doyle said softly before turning and walking out of the office.

  Abe sighed for the hundredth time and turned back to the computer monitor. You know, that was the biggest compliment he's ever given me. With a fresh smile, he hit play on the video once again and paid very close attention to the naked man's eyes.

  They were gold. Despite the fact that the video was black and white, the man's eyes shone through as pure flecks of gold.

  Just like the seventh stone.

  "Fuck yeah."

  Chapter Ten

  Tesser

  I appear to be a bit of a celebrity. I'm somewhat accustomed to this. As a dragon, everything ran before me and told tales of my coming, my generosity, and my anger. In my human form, they told tales of my prowess in war, my skill as a leader, and my… virility.

  This is very different. Now, I appear to be a bit of a cultural attraction. Dare I say, some think of me as a form of hero. When the two young girls came into the restaurant several nights ago, they brought a large amount of attention my way. They bought me some of the pizza served here, which was very tasty, and then took several pictures of me using their cell phones.

  Cell phones. Delightful devices that use science to transmit both voice and images through the air. It is a tremendous thing to see a non-magical means to communicate over vast distances. Apparently these devices are able to transmit entire conversations across oceans and continents, requiring only the effort of a few movements of a thumb.

  The owner of the pizza establishment has granted me a job. I work for him keeping his patrons safe from eleven in the morning until he closes at 2 in the morning. I am able to do this because I've learned how to tell time. Humans have created clocks and watches that can monitor the passage of the sun and moon without actually seeing the sun or the moon. Jerry, the owner of the pizza shop, bought me a wrist-mounted clock called a 'watch.' It has a large face with a yellow man made of sponge, who goes by the name Bob.

  I find it charming.

  He has also given me permission to stay in the back of the shop overnight to rest. I don’t really need to sleep every night, but I am choosing to do so. It is what the humans have always done, and when I am with a species, I match their habits. It allows for the most amount of consistency and I stand out a bit less.

  Keeping the patrons safe has been an easy task. For the majority of the day, I stand or sit near the front entrance and have my picture taken with women. I don't need to ask them to leave with my shitty English; they are simply delighted to be in my presence. I've decided to not have sex with any of them.

  Yet.

  The nights have been a bit livelier, though primarily for the same reason.

  Fermented beverages. Beer, wine, and liquor. I've had beer before, or at least what the humans would've called what they drank then beer. Wine, or fermented grapes, has a history almost as old as I am, and I enjoy a sip or two when I can. Liquor is a newer innovation. Fermented grains and strange fruits concocted to be much more powerful than beer or wine in terms of intoxication.

  Many humans act like complete assholes when they drink these beverages. Some nights, it seems like all of them are assholes.

  I've learned enough English to understand that most of what they say is nonsense when they are drunk, and that most of what they do is also utter bullshit.

  I like that expression: bullshit. It doesn't actually refer to male cow feces; it means to be flagrantly wrong or false. For example, saying that I am a mere human is bullshit. I am actually a dragon. Humans call this kind of humor sarcasm.

  I think I will use it extensively. Sarcasm. I like to laugh.

  When the drunkards come in later in the night, I need to be a bit more aware of what is happening. I've had to intervene in several fistfights in just the few days I've been doing this task, and while relatively easy work, I need to be very careful to use minimal strength. Human bones are very strong, but I am a dragon and breaking bones comes very easy to me. I still don't want to play my hand too early.

  The women, drunk or sober, all seem to want me sexually. Almost every female that comes in either has already seen the video from the alley, and knows what my naked body looks like, or they can simply sense that I am the alpha male in the room. It's part of who and what I am. Life, in all its forms here on this lovely world, has come from or been sculpted by dragon kind in some form or another. But that's a very long story for another time. Tonight, I protect the young college kids who are trying to get their late-night pizza slices.

  College is an interesting development. Organized learning. Organized higher-learning. It astounds me the level of investment humans have put into education. It certainly explains why they've advanced their understanding of material sciences. Technology they call it. Magic appears to have been forgotten in the shuffle, but this is still quite fascinating. When I was last in their society, creating reliable fire and making boats was the pinnacle of their achievements. They've come so far.

  "Hey gold eyes, you have a name?" A cute brunette with short hair that framed her face asked Tesser.

  Tesser smiled and watched her cock her head to the side teasingly. She was yet another girl who wanted to flirt.

  Another adventure in spoken conversation. Here we go. "My name is Tesser. What's yours?" He replied.

  I still haven't got the accent quite right.

  "Katelyn, but you can call me Katie. Or just call me later?" The girl extended her fingers with a small slip of paper pressed between two of them.

  That’s a piece of a menu. Shame she tore o
ne up. Jerry spends good money to have those printed for his businesss, I'm sure.

  Tesser smiled and took the slip from her. "I don't have a phone yet."

  The girl looked overly sympathetic. "You're getting back on your feet, right? You were homeless before?"

  Tesser nodded, understanding the basic idea of what she was getting at. "Yes, I am not from around here."

  "Where are you from? You sound European," Katie asked pleasantly as she rolled her head to the other side in a calculated gesture. A stray lock of her hair drifted across her cheek.

  Shit.

  "You probably haven't heard of where I'm from," he replied.

  "Try me. I'm an anthropology major." Katie smiled again as she traced a finger on her cheek to tuck the hair behind her ear. Another decision made to arouse.

  Behind Katie, two men started to raise their voices at one another. Tesser's golden orbs twitched past her and watched them as their fingers balled into fists at their sides. Jerry paid him for moments just like this.

  "Excuse me," Tesser said with a smile. He gently moved Katie out of his way and walked over toward the two men.

  "Fuck you, dude. BC over BU everyday!" One moron exclaimed.

  Male pride. Tesser sighed.

  "The only major they offer at BC is smoking dick, faggot!"

  Well that should be enough to get the other man to-

  A punch came out. The thinner man who was freshly insulted put all four knuckles of his fist into the teeth of his adversary, sending him stumbling backwards into a crowd of patrons. Many other voices leapt into the fray, and a massive scuffle was only moments away.

  Dammit.

  "STOP!" Tesser bellowed. He reached deep, further into his chest than any normal man could've, and his voice carried a note of authority that was superhuman. It was the trumpeting of an elephant on the African plains, the roar of a tiger in the Indian jungle. A primal bellow. The entire crowd of pizza eaters and preparers froze solid and went silent. A popular pop song played in the background, sounding lonely somehow in the absence of the human buzz.

  The man who threw the punch turned, several of his knuckles bloodied by the teeth of his victim. His pain and anger overrode his good sense. "Who the fuck are you?"