THE VROL TRILOGY

by SK Benton

  "Luigi, my friend!" exclaimed the old mage from across the room, waving the newly-minted lycan over to their table.

  "Morning Draagh, Jennie," he said, nodding to both. "My little escort here made sure I didn't get lost, and she understands quite a bit of our tongue also."

  Jennie smiled and looked at her precious little girl. Liliana was smart as a whip, but also had a tendency to blow things up when not properly supervised. Jennie took great comfort in the fact that even Krynos told her the smart and mischievous usually ended up being the best leaders.

  "Morning, G. Did you sleep well? You look really… hey, you look really good!"

  She then stopped herself, not wanting him to believe that she had thought he had looked anything otherwise, but he put up his hand to stop her further.

  "I woke up this morning feeling really refreshed. I don't know, maybe it's the air here."

  Draagh smiled and put down his cup of coffee, and looking at Bagatelle directly said, "Luigi, your training shall take a different route than that of Jennie - I feel it is necessary for you to learn some things about this world - and yourself, before you get out into battle training."

  Bagatelle didn't know how to take Draagh's comments. He wanted to get out and start training hard, to prove himself. He went to respond to Draagh but was again stopped by the old mage.

  "Please, trust me. Trust is very important. You shall see and understand quite soon."

  Jennie looked at her brother with an expression that basically said, listen to him - he knows what he's talking about.

  With that, Bagatelle nodded and dug into the plate that was set before him, having built up an appetite during the course of the conversation.

  Once they had finished their morning meal Jennie bid them goodbye, taking Liliana to her classes and then going on to work with her Special Forces. Bagatelle followed his new mentor down a number of corridors, arriving at the same place where Max and Jennie had learned so much just under a year before.

  "Luigi," started the old mage, "although you have no innate magical abilities I feel it is necessary for you to learn and understand the nature of what we call magic - the energy that flows in every living thing in this world. I only do so as you are a sophisticated and educated man, and that it will hopefully help you to understand the changes you are experiencing - changes to your body that happen as we speak. Are you fine with this, my boy?"

  Bagatelle nodded, and although completely willing to go along with what his wise tutor was going to do, he had a question.

  "Draagh, I may need to ask for clarifications during our sessions. Are you fine with this?"

  "Why yes, of course! Ask as many as you like… as long as you do not interrupt me in the process."

  Bagatelle got a slightly confused look, but relaxed when Draagh cracked a small grin.

  "Ok, well, I woke up this morning and my skin feels smoother. It also appears that my gray hair disappeared a bit. Is this normal?"

  "Nothing normal about it, my dear boy. No, no - you are not a normal," responded Draagh, causing Bagatelle to grow a look of alarm.

  "I'm… not normal? Is something wrong?"

  "Oh no, no… you are not a normal. I am so sorry. I should have been more specific. You see, nearly the entire world is populated by what we call normals - humans that have no innate skills or extra abilities on a genetic level. You are not a normal, as you are a lycan."

  Bagatelle nodded; quite relieved that he was not abnormal, as he had believed his teacher had said just a moment before.

  "So, Luigi - as I had briefly told you some months back when we first met, in the proper world you will experience enhanced abilities. I am sure you already noticed your sense of smell and hearing."

  Bagatelle nodded his head in agreement. He nearly immediately started experiencing enhanced senses upon arrival the day prior, and remembered what he had been told while sitting by a campfire on the banks of the Urubamba River in Peru of 2818.

  "Now what is happening to you is caused by a number of factors. You have enhanced lycan genes. The lycan virus in your system works in conjunction with those genes, and the energy particles I spoke of work to enhance your muscles, nasal passages, vision and other senses. These particles also work to constantly heal and reinvigorate your body, making you near immortal. While you will naturally age, you shall do so quite slowly. Krynos is over 1,000 years old and still has many millennia before he starts feeling an aching in his bones, if he ever does at all."

  Bagatelle raised his hand slightly as a sign to tell Draagh he wanted to say something.

  "So, what you are telling me is that if I stay in a world where I have lycan abilities I will live for a very long time?"

  "Precisely, my son. In fact, as you are extremely young in lycan years and not nearly close to your prime you will experience an immediate rejuvenation effect - your body has already started a process of turning back the clock, which I am sure that you do not mind."

  Draagh wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive fashion, desiring a positive reaction from the former rear admiral, but instead was greeted with rapt attention and no comment.

  "Very well. Over the next few days I believe you will find that you look younger, will have reduced body fat and will also experience your enhanced abilities on a more intimate level. That being said, I wish for you to see a magic particle, as I call it. Max and Jennie have an entirely different name for it, as I imagine you shall also."

  Draagh waved his hand out and created a three-dimensional holographic display, showing what appeared to be a spherically-shaped object, with numerous appendages ending in knives and serrated claws, and also with what appeared to be sensors for optical, auditory and other readouts. It basically resembled a rolling ball of destruction - rotating death. Bagatelle stared at the object with great interest, being a military man and quite accustomed to instruments of war. Then, as he had done with Max and Jennie, Draagh caused the hologram to zoom out, causing the single ball to be joined by another, and then another, until Bagatelle saw a minor-mage manipulating a beautiful magenta-colored ribbon of energy around a chair.

  The minor-mage then performed a verbal cantus and destroyed the chair without any further effort.

  Bagatelle watched with his mouth slightly agape, coming to grips with the power of magic. It was technology. It was simply called magic by people who did not understand science.

  "Nanotechnology. That is what I see, but on a massive scale. You say that these so-called particles exist in everything, everywhere?"

  "Yes, my son - even on your world, although they operate on a frequency that makes them inactive and inaccessible to you. That was of our doing, I might say. In any case, you are here and they work for you now. I might also add that your description was exactly the same as Max's when he saw this very demonstration."

  "Well, Max does have a PhD… he's a smart kid."

  "Max is smarter than you would ever imagine, my friend. Smarter than you would ever, ever imagine."

  The two started going over some manuscripts that basically gave Bagatelle an overview of how enhanced worlds functioned, and once Draagh was satisfied that the man was up to speed they moved on to lycan abilities and forms - specifically the day form, the battle form and the death form, also known as phase 1, phase 2 and phase 3 respectively.

  Once Draagh had finished with his explanation it was quite apparent that Bagatelle was not looking forward to changing on the full moon, but in his mind had determined that he would work hard to gain sapience while in phase 3. Very few lycans ever accomplished this, but the ones who did were mentally very strong, and Bagatelle considered himself a powerhouse of mental discipline.

  The two finished for lunch, where they met with Jennie who surprised and nearly shocked Bagatelle when she showed up in her phase 2, or battle form. He almost reached out to touch her face where she had a bit of hair on her jawline but still retained her beauty. She then gave her brother a demonstration of a phase 2-to-phase 1 transition, and he watched, a
mazed as her form gradually shifted back to her normal appearance.

  Liliana didn't join them - she was on a field trip with her school classroom, so the adults ate quickly. Jennie bid them goodbye and the two men returned to Draagh's hall where he taught Bagatelle even more about the secrets of the Universe, including information on his own species, the Prīmulī, Max's Taxiarch biological father, the archangels and many other details.

  Towards the end of the day Bagatelle asked Draagh if he could get right into his lycan training without waiting for his rejuvenation. Draagh thought about it for a moment and then agreed, deciding to send Luigi to where Alea used to work before her banishment from the Rhönen Dominion.

  They finished the day and cleaned up for dinner, where they both dined with Jennie and Liliana and then retired to their chambers rather early.

  Bagatelle was almost ready to climb into bed when he heard a light knock on his door. It amazed him that he was able to smell that it was Liliana, who was with an animal of some sort.

  Opening the door, he saw his niece with an impish smile on her face while holding an animal carrier in her arms.

  "Tio! I want to show you a skill! May I please show you?"

  He couldn't turn her down. She was just so absolutely adorable that he couldn't say no, so he reluctantly opened his door and gestured for her to enter, having an odd feeling about what was to transpire.

  "Ok Tío. This is what we do when we see things that are bad."

  Through the scent Bagatelle realized that there was a cat in the box. He had never cared for cats, much like most with the recessive lycan gene - but he was willing to humor his niece. She gave him an innocent little smile and then opened the caged door to the carrier.

  A terrified black cat flew out of the box, screaming and running on the walls, shredding the long, hanging curtains in the process. Leaping across furniture in the room, it attempted to hide under the bed, but Liliana jumped down and crawled underneath, scaring the cat out of its hiding place.

  Then, when the cat was exposed and in full view, Liliana looked at the feline and pointed her hand without her wand.

  "Electrincantatio quassatio!"

  The cat was jolted with an electrical charge, causing it to fly across the room with its hair standing straight up, and creating a light smell of burnt fur. Bagatelle jumped out of the way, feeling a combination of mortification and amusement as his niece chased the poor creature around his room, hammering it with repeated cantuses.

  Having seen enough, he opened the door and let the animal race out into the corridor, where it quickly disappeared. Liliana gave him a look of disappointment, but then quickly changed her expression when he gave her an awkward smile.

  "Tio, do you like how I am learning?"

  "Well," he answered, "your skills look really great but… do you have to torture a poor cat?"

  She had a thoughtful look for a moment, then her eyes suddenly lit up as she said, "I understand, Tío. From now on I shall not practice on cats. I have grown beyond that."

  "Well that's good," he responded, glad that she had shown at least a bit of remorse.

  "Thank you Tío! You are so smart!"

  Liliana ran up and gave her uncle a hug around his waist, and then looked at him from the doorframe as she prepared to go back to her room, giving him a loving smile.

  "From now on I will practice on servants in the great hall!"

  She then raced off down the corridor before he could even say a word.

  My Lord. She truly is a handful.

  Chapter 6 - Magic Man

  In the dingy kitchen of a thoroughly trashed nightclub, somewhere in the middle of Hollywood, California, in an alternate, fractured timeline of the year 2819, Max Gunnarsson stood dumbstruck as he looked at Adam, the self-proclaimed mage, and studied him briefly. There was something wrong with the man - Max could smell it all over the place.

  "So, you're the mage here, huh?" asked Max, as he walked over and brusquely took the wooden spoon out of Adam's hand - a move that Adam appeared not to like. However, the man quickly changed his expression to one of friendly intent.

  While minor-mages had the same scent as normals, and couldn't be detected via enhanced lycan senses, Max was a real mage - not a minor one - and he could tell that Adam was simply a normal.

  "Yup - that's me! I perform duties for the clan and they provide me with food and shelter. Speaking of food, this stew smells wonderful. What do you call it?"

  "It's a guiso, from my hometown. It's about as close as I could get to my mother's recipe."

  Adam walked around the kitchen, keeping a relatively clear path between the two, and eyed Max up and down.

  "Jessica said you were a lycan. Hmmm, a bit smaller than typical size - rather subdued, but you appear to have about the same intellect as the rest of your kind."

  Max got a bit miffed at the man's intended insult regarding his intellect - he had multiple degrees and a PhD - one needed a lot of intellect to accomplish that, but he let Adam ramble on in his own self-serving manner.

  "Anyway, Jessica said you wanted to speak with me, as you are… lost? Is that correct? Because if you are lost I could probably help you in finding your way home - for a fee, of course."

  Max figured that anything would cost teeth where he was, but he wasn't about to give one thin peso, or tooth, to that clown.

  "So, you can help me find a way home - without even knowing where I live?" Max asked, trying to act according to the way that Adam viewed him.

  "Of course, my friend! After all, I am the only mage in these parts. Who else can help you? Now, why don't we sample some of this delicious smelling stew, and then we can discuss a very equitable payment plan. Oh, and just exactly how did you get here? Did the demons bring you?"

  Max didn't figure that Adam was very intelligent, as one who was trying to find their way home wouldn't stick around to fulfill any type of payment plan - he was being scammed.

  "Um, no - no demons. I woke up a short distance from here, in the street. In fact, I hadn't ever seen a demon before in my life. They don't exist where I'm from. But anyway, that sounds like a really great deal - I appreciate it. Why don't we go and eat with Dons and Jessica?"

  "Oh yes," responded Adam, "that sounds excellent."

  The two walked out into the bar area with a tray of stew-filled bowls, seeing Dons and Jessica over at a dinette on the far side of the poorly-lit room. Adam was a bit surprised to see nearly every person in the bar quickly make for the door once Max was in view, but then gave it no further notice as the two sat at the small table with the clan leader and his assistant.

  "Stew's ready. I added a couple of extra ingredients I missed last night."

  "Hey mate, I see you met Adam. Nice chap he is," said Dons in between slurps of the delicious guiso.

  "Oh yeah, we just met. Nice fellow. Says he's going to help me find a way home, for a price, of course."

  Jessica said nothing and merely sat there enjoying what was to pass for her afternoon meal. Then Adam started talking, causing Max to realize more and more that the man was absolutely full of crap.

  "Yes, so as I was saying to old Maxie-boy here, I'll whip up an enchantment to send him to his place of origin. As he was apparently not brought here by demons I should be able to bypass their locks."

  "Locks?" asked Max, "what kinds of locks are you talking about?

  "Oh yes - you see, the demons do something to us when they drop us off for hunting pleasures. We're unable to leave this zone. If we attempt to go off too far we start to feel an incredible amount of pain. It's how they keep us corralled in as prey."

  Max thought that sounded like something the Vrol would do - contain and feed, even though he was completely unaware of how they behaved, or even what the strength level of a flyer was. He also assumed that there was no sort of lock on his person, as he had accidentally slipped to a post-apocalyptic Hollywood through the errant use of his grandfather's staff.

  "Oh, ok. Well, I appreciate all you
can do for me, Adam. Why don't we finish up, and then you can tell me the specifics in the kitchen while I wash the dishes?"

  Dons grinned at Max. He had just seen the lycan power-punch one of the fiercest fighters in the region into the next neighborhood, without even breaking a sweat, and wasn't so sure he wanted to see him go so soon. Max gathered up everyone's bowls and left for the kitchen, with Adam about to follow him, when Dons stopped his clan mage.

  "Oy mate, I'm not so sure we want him leaving quite yet. He just took out Marko with a single punch. Could be the prat's dead, or out of action for a few months, and this chap could help us to get rid of more than a few enemies."

  Adam gave Dons a surprised look and smiled briefly as he had stared to formulate his own plan. He then nodded his head and followed Max to the kitchen.

  Adam entered the small kitchen to see Max dutifully cleaning things up in a very normal fashion. Washing a pot with hot water, which was a rarity in that world, Max basically ignored the man when he entered. Adam then went and took a seat on a countertop and cleared his throat, attempting to call Max's attention over the noise he was making while scrubbing.

  "Ahem… Max - Dons just informed me that you took out Marko with a single punch. Is this true?"

  "Yup, he was a dick," said Max, not adding anything further to his response.

  "Well, given that you were able to do something so astounding, Dons feels it is in the best interest of the clan that you stick around for… a while. However, as I am probably the most intelligent person around these parts, and due to the fact that I'm a genuine mage, I was thinking of something a bit more… beneficial to the both of us."

  "And what would that be?" asked Max, still facing away from the man.

  "Well, I was thinking that maybe we could come to some sort of arrangement where you perform services for me, and me alone. Then after a while I'll help you to get home."

  "And what if Dons doesn't like that? What if I walk out there right now and tell him what you are proposing to me? How are you gonna stop me from doing that?"