by SK Benton
"And what would that be, my son?"
"I desire for young Liliana to come with us. I believe that between us all she has adequate protection, and she has informed me that she has yet to travel to another world where her skills may be used."
Jennie thought for a moment and found Gabriel to be correct. She and Draagh took Liliana to Azul, but her skills were nullified, as particle frequencies were different on that world.
"I think that would be fine," said Jennie. "After all, we aren't going anywhere particularly dangerous, are we?"
"That, my young lady, will depend on where we go once we find Michael. You see, I believe he is the key to finding Max."
"How could that be, old friend?" asked Krynos.
"Draagh took a drink of sarsaparilla and then continued, "Here is my theory - Max used my staff on an unauthorized four-dimensional slip. The ghanlo rejected him, as it will never leave my point in the space/time continuum. I believe it sent him to where I had banished Marnn's staff during our great battle."
"The Battle of the Blood!" boomed Krynos, who still enjoyed making exaggerated accounts of the fight.
"But Draagh, didn't you say that you had no idea where Marnn's staff was sent?" asked Jennie.
"Correct, my dear, but I surmise, as my staff rejected Max, it may also reject Michael to the same location, as he has similar genetics. So, we will need to find Michael, bring him here, and then have him replicate Max's activities, but this time while bringing me along. With the slightest bit of luck, we shall end up where Max was sent. I will then simply save the coordinates, return here for a recon team and we shall go find our lost friend and family member."
"I must accompany the recon team, also!" exclaimed Krynos, which caused everyone to turn and look at him. "Young Max is one of my most trusted commanders, and I look at him like I would a son. I am part of the team. I am also the king, so I can make the rules whenever I like. I believe Max would call that jenga."
Liliana clapped her hands in delight. "We are to find my father! And I am to help! Oh, this makes me so happy!"
"Lili, dear, please do not get your hopes up too much. Your faith is commendable, but we must be realistic," cautioned the girl's mother.
"I believe this could result in the desired outcome," stated Gabriel. "Liliana, you have every right to be positive. Something I forgot long ago, but recently rediscovered, is the power of positive thought. Humans have immense latent mental powers. Perhaps I was overly critical of them due to a subconscious fear, but my young niece here has awakened some of the hopes I used to hold dear. Mankind will indeed continue to evolve, and eventually match us in abilities. In a few million years, of course."
Bagatelle finished a mouthful of food and added, "So, if I understand this right, Max's biological father could potentially do the same thing Max did, and bring you to where he is?"
"Yes, that is correct, my dear Bagatelle, quite correct," answered Draagh.
Jennie sat at the table, quietly finishing her dinner, wearing a hopeful look on her face. In any case, she was certain that if this failed she would probably never see her husband again unless he found a way back to her.
"Gabriel and I have some things to discuss before retiring. We leave early in the morning, so we shall meet here for breakfast at 0600 hours," Draagh informed his son.
Everyone woke up at dawn, with Liliana being the first to arrive at the dining hall. She was already eating her breakfast of eggs, elk sausage and potatoes when her mother arrived. The first thing Jennie noticed was that Liliana wasn't wearing her usually school tunic and pants. She was in what appeared to be precisely fitting, brown leather battle gear. Something so well-made had to have been procured by Draagh, and Jennie fully intended on having a talk with him.
"Good morning, Jennie," the little girl said, "the elk sausage is excellent."
"Lili, where did you get that clothing?"
"From Grandfather, of course! Do you not think it looks most… cool?"
Jennie looked at her young child and had to admit that Liliana did look quite impressive. Aside from that, she was a formidable fighter, and this would be the first time she would be in a potentially hostile environment. Jennie was concerned, but not overly worried.
"Yeah, sweetie - you look great. Just don't let it go to your head, ok? Any sign of danger and I need you to take cover. Do you understand?" Jennie gave her daughter a stern look that was meant to be taken seriously. The child nodded her head and mumbled with a full mouth.
Draagh entered, followed by Bagatelle. Everyone greeted each other merrily, as they had good feelings about the day's mission. Liliana gave her Uncle G a kiss on his cheek, making sure that he saw her new battle leathers, which he eyed approvingly. She looked at her great-grandfather and smiled, as he winked back at her. He had created her clothing with special protective cantuses, making sure she would not be harmed by an average attack. This could be done to anyone, but it tended to hamper offensive capabilities, so it was perfect for a little girl who was not intended to fight in the first place.
"So, now that we are all here, with the exception of our king and Gabriel, I will begin to brief you all on today's activities. We are to slip to a location where Gabriel has stranded his brother."
The entire group gave Draagh an odd stare, never having expected to hear that come out of the ancient mage's mouth.
"Yes, I know. You see, Gabriel and Michael have been quarreling for centuries. But I believe Gabriel has come to terms with their issues. I can only hope that Michael feels the same."
Gabriel walked into the dining hall, dressed in the same desert camouflage clothing he was wearing when he first met with his father the day prior. Liliana looked him with a bright expression, and he returned her gaze, showing a bit of surprise at her attire.
"Liliana, you look like quite the warrior, I must say," said Gabriel.
The little girl stood up and curtseyed to her uncle, and then to the rest of the group.
"Thank you, Tío, I appreciate your compliment. I only hope to be of service."
Draagh looked over at Liliana and then continued, "Welcome, my son. I was just beginning to tell our friends that it may not be such a - as humans say - piece of cake, to get Michael to cooperate, if we indeed do find him."
"Father, do not worry. All shall be revealed when we go to Mija-El."
After finishing their breakfasts, everyone went to the armory to receive their weapons. Jennie also brought along her stinger in case it was functional in their destination. Meeting out in the open, grassy field in front of the castle they all waited, Gabriel being the last to arrive. When he did show up, he saw everyone waiting in a group, but Liliana was over at the edge of the moat, standing innocently.
"Tio! Come say goodbye to my pets!" she yelled from near the water's edge.
Walking over, only knowing that there was a moat, he approached Liliana while asking, "Liliana, of which pets do you speak?"
Before she could utter a single syllable, a massive great white shark shot up out of the water, landing its front half on the edge of the moat. Gabriel went into instant reflex mode, darting forward, grabbing Liliana and pulling her back before the shark's spray of water even reached them.
"Tio! This is Hermes! My favorite shark! I need to feed him before we go!"
Liliana pushed herself out of Gabriel's grasp and gave him a silly look, then popped over to the feeding cage, where she grabbed a leg of beef and dragged it over to the shark that was waiting on the water's edge.
"Does Hermes want some yummy bovine deliciousness? Eh sweetie?" the little girl comically asked, as she walked up and rubbed the massive shark's nose. Hermes wiggled back into the water as she then tossed the leg of beef up in the air, where the deadly fish breached and engulfed it before disappearing in the waters below.
Gabriel looked at Liliana with astonishment. He had never thought he would have ever met a human with such personality - and strength. Everyone else looked at Liliana as usual, with her mother being t
he most vocal.
"Lili, sweetie, come on. It's time to go. You can play with Hermes when we come back, ok?"
"Yes, Jennie! Hermes shall not eat any servants today as he has been well fed."
She plays with sharks…wow, thought Gabriel.
"Everyone, please - gather here," Draagh shouted as he tried to get everyone into a group. "We shall split into two groups when we arrive. Gabriel is not certain of Michael's location, so Krynos and Liliana shall accompany me, with Jennie and Luigi accompanying Gabriel."
Liliana jumped up to the front, raising her hand. "I am a mage and have slip capabilities!"
"Liliana, my dear, you do, but only on a local level, and that will not be necessary. Rather, I prefer that you come with us so that you might assist your king," said Draagh with a tone of finality.
"That is fine, Grandfather," responded the little girl, looking over and smiling at Krynos.
The entire group - Jennie, Draagh, Bagatelle, Liliana, Gabriel and Krynos - all waited as Gabriel brought up an infoscreen. Socrates appeared; ready to render assistance if necessary, but this time it wasn't needed. Gabriel hadn't been to their target location for nearly 25 years, but the coordinates were saved in his ghanlo, which resided in a short blade he wore on his hip. In the past he had used other hosts for it, such as in a staff like his father currently used.
Gabriel looked at the group; all but him were dressed down in brown-colored battle leathers, while he was wearing camouflage fatigues. He thought they looked impressive enough to basically scare the wits out of anyone where they were going.
"Everyone, our mission is to find my brother, Michael. He may be going by that name, or his historic name, Mija-El. He could also be called something completely different. Draagh and I shall stay in contact with each other, but everyone listen for either of us on your comm devices."
Liliana looked down at hers with a grin. She really felt like part of the expedition - she felt important. As she continued to look at her small badge, she scarcely noticed her environment change from the front of Krynos' castle to a wooded campsite filled with tents and camper vans.
Realizing she was somewhere else, she looked up and saw a large, colorful banner hanging between two trees that said Woodstock Forever.
Chapter 14 - Back in Sins
Max woke up on the floor again, but suffered no discomfort from the hard floor. He opened the magic-protected cubbyhole he had created in his room when he first arrived, extracting his katana and clothing. After properly dressing, he went downstairs to find Jessica struggling in the kitchen. He had nothing more to hide from his friends, as he had revealed most of his secrets the night before, so he put a hand on the woman's shoulder and said, "Jess, let me make you some breakfast. Wanna watch?"
The woman nodded enthusiastically as she saw Max move his hands around, causing utensils, pans and ingredients to combine into a perfect breakfast. She stood flabbergasted by the effortless magical display.
"Wow, Maxie. You are the real deal, huh?" she asked rhetorically. Max just grinned and took her hand that had a healing wristband. Examining it, he looked at her and said, "You know, Jess, this little wristband has a couple of other features you may not be aware of. For instance, did you know that you can now levitate things with it?"
Jessica looked at him curiously, as she was unaware of the wristband's potential. Max smiled and continued, "I want you to point your finger at this wooden spoon. As you do, I need you to say graveincantatio cochleari and concentrate on the spoon while you lift your finger up slowly."
Jessica did as Max asked, and was amazed to see the wooden spoon respond to her verbal command.
"I never knew I could do this!" she squealed. "Does Pandy also have this ability?"
"Not yet. I have to be honest with you, Jess - I modified your wristband a bit, but I'll do the same for Pandy so you two can have some enhanced abilities. Being as Adam thinks he's the bigshot around here, and now that I'm considering leaving I'll…"
"What?" she cried as her levitated spoon dropped to the floor, "You're leaving us? I mean, I know that you miss your family, but how can leaving here help? Plus I'm a terrible cook - everyone knows it too. It's been like a gourmet holiday with you around, Max. Please consider staying - we'll do anything we can to help you find your family."
"Jessica, don't you see, you ask me to stay, but you also say you will help me to find my family. Only I can help myself. I need to find a true mage who might possibly have access to Socrates, enabling what I explained last night - a 4D slip across space-time. Without that, I am afraid I will be stranded here forever. And being as Adam is a total fake and no one here has actually ever met a real mage, aside from myself, I need to travel and attempt the find one. I feel a pull to the north, for some odd reason."
The woman looked down at the ground, shuffling her feet a bit. "Well," she continued, "could you at least teach me how to cook? I really do suck at it."
"Of course I can. It's not hard. Really, it's simply combining the right ingredients and not using rotten stuff."
Jessica managed a weak smile, which turned into a big grin. The two worked together to make a nice morning meal, and then took it all out into the lounge area where Dons and Pandy were sitting.
"Morning, mate! Hey Jess, that smells quite nice," said Dons.
"Morning Dons, Pandy. Actually, Jessica prepared breakfast today."
Both Dons and Pandy tried to hide the dismay in their faces, but Max quickly followed up.
"We did it together - I have been showing her some of my recipes."
"Max showed me quite a bit, and I think you're gonna like it."
"Well, it does smell good, sweetie," said Pandy, "so I'm sure it's just fine."
Max served everyone bowls of the morning guiso they had prepared, and Jessica watched carefully as each took bites of their meals. To her surprise, Dons and Pandy both smiled and annihilated their breakfasts. Max winked at Jessica and dug into his own bowl, replenishing his resources that had whittled away overnight. Then, the three lycans lifted their heads simultaneously, smelling an unwanted individual. Adam was standing at the doorway, shifting nervously from foot to foot.
"Um… hi guys. Can I come in? Couldn't help but smell something great."
Jessica momentarily forgot that Adam was a jerk, and was pleased that someone else recognized her morning's creation. Dons looked at the resident mage, and then over to Max, who shrugged his shoulders.
"Dons, we have plenty more in the kitchen. You know, I did thrash him up quite a bit. There's a saying where I'm from. Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies…"
"Closer. Yeah, mate, we have it here too," Dons finished for Max as he looked again over at Adam and waved him in. "Yeah, come in, ya prat. Sit down and have some grub."
Adam sat down, but there were only four bowls. Max grinned at him and said, "Adam, feel free to make a bowl. You do know how to do that, right?"
Adam sheepishly shook his head. He realized when he was outclassed.
"No, I do not have that ability. Could you perhaps teach… me?"
"Oh, not even. You see, you can only recite little cantuses with your wand, which has limited abilities in the first place. Organic transmutation is not one of its features. Here, I'll make you a bowl."
Max pointed at the table and a small, wooden bowl appeared in front of Adam. He wasn't surprised, having already seen Max's abilities up close and personal before. Max was being a bit cruel to him, but it wasn't without reason - Adam needed to be knocked down a few pegs so he would give up his plans of clan conquest. If he doubted his own abilities then he would be weakened. Max then pointed over near Jessica and conjured a spoon on the tabletop.
"Jess, hand Adam that spoon, please - just the way I taught you."
Jessica pointed at the spoon and softly said, "graveincantatio cochleari" as she floated the spoon over to a stunned Adam.
"Jess! That's brilliant! How'd you do that?" asked Dons, with pleasant surprise in his voice.
"Max taught it to me this morning, and a few other things also," said Jessica as she smiled at their foreign friend. Adam stared at her, stunned that she had magical skills beyond simple healing and invigoration. One thing was for sure - he now had competition, so he needed to find new ways to be of use. He gave a weak smile, and started to eat the guiso that Max had dumped into his bowl.
"So, Adam, I think we need to have a clan discussion about your future with us. Right now is as good a time as any," said Dons as the others nodded in agreement.
"Sure, Boss. Whatever you say. Now that I am no longer top mage around here I guess I have no choice."
Adam looked at Max, who had decided to add a bit and give the fake mage some hope.
"Adam, I can understand your situation - sort of. You live in a place where an alien race hunts humans for sport, you can't leave, and you have a device that enables you to survive. But you got lost along the way somewhere. Dons, Jessica and Pandy are super nice people, so you were always surrounded by friends. Where I'm from it's the vampire race that is mean and nasty, not the lycans. We protect humans and fight the vampires. Here, well, I have a vampire friend - Lennie the drummer. He's a great guy, but if we were back to where I'm from we would be mortal enemies. Everything here is backwards, and I need to get home, but I want to make sure that you guys - all of you, are left in good hands. I think that you can rise to the occasion. But that doesn't mean you can go all Genghis Khan and take over the clan, got it?"
"What do you mean? Are you going to help me? Us? And what is a genghiskhan? Is it a magical skill"
"What I intend to do, with Dons' permission, is to teach all of you a few more things - that you can all do together. That means that I'll enhance Pandy's device, create one for Dons and fix yours - if you behave. And no, Genghis Khan was a brutal warrior in Earth's ancient past, not a magical skill."