by Daniel Ruth
“Absolutely! There used to be these things called roller coasters,” I blathered quickly. “Something like trains on tracks, but the tracks had carefully designed hairpin turns and loops that people went on to be thrilled. Isn’t wonderful how they have updated their transport to include us in the fun?”
Another bang heralded wisps of blue smoke blowing through the vents. I pointed randomly at the ground ahead of us. “Oh look, a new bookstore, let’s stop off there and see if they have the 1964 edition of the ‘Archeologist’. I have been looking for that one forever.” I think I was pointing to a fountain, but I was caring less and less about authenticity. “Taxi, please deter to the next intersection and land.”
“I apologize sir, but the route is locked. We will be approaching your destination in four minutes, please state your account number for funds transfer,” stated the artificial calm voice.
“Four minutes. We would have to be going almost three times the speed limit to make the trip in that time,” I muttered to myself, absently crunching the numbers. As if on cue we were pushed back in our seat as the car sped up. Honking around us was now almost non-stop, achieving a doppler effect as each quickly faded behind us.
“I don’t think I like roller coasters,” Estella said nervously, her aura blooming around her as her state of mind caused her energies stir excitedly. Another crackle from the machinery initiated us into another round of fun, as the air car flipped upside down while otherwise continuing on its course.
The elf maid and I fell out of our seat in a pile on the roof as this became our new floor. “Can we stop now? Please?” her frightened voice asked.
“I would love to oblige, but I think we are riding this to the end unless we jump out,” I said soothingly. It pretty clear that we were not in control at this point. While I could jump out, that would still leave the car hurtling towards its destination. I had an uncomfortable feeling its destination was still my house. At least I could affect the outcome a little more from where I was. “Hey Estella, do you happen to have a force field spell in your repertoire?”
“Um, yes,” she gulped loudly. “Several of them!”
“I would suggest you cast them all,” I could see my neighborhood approaching quickly. “Now!”
I erected my own field and noted that as we approached my home there was an odd crowd gathered around it. A mob of several hundred tiny demonic insect creatures surrounded the house. The ward’s effects were easily delineated by the simple expediency of burning the demons on the edges that were forcibly shoved into the protected zone by the mass of the group behind them. It almost looked like there were fireworks, as demon after demon entered the immaterial, but very real, warded sphere and then went up like a roman candle. A small bundle of clothes was huddled in front of my door as the inferno raged twenty feet from the lump.
Meanwhile, the air car was accelerating and appeared to be aimed directly at my entryway. I forcibly expanded my aura and was rewarded by spumes of smoke from the vents, a reverberating explosion from under the hood and a ballistic trajectory... still aimed directly at my front egress. At least I wasn’t accelerating. I put a force bubble on the front porch, covering the bundle there and with all my telekinetic strength pushed down on the vehicle of doom.
This forced the car downward into the permacrete of the road. I had tried to push us flat as opposed to nose diving into the ground, so we scraped along the ground, the ‘top’ of the car skidding and creating a cascade of sparks. I kept up as much pressure as I could in the hopes of keeping us from flipping uncontrollably and adding as much friction as possible. I heard the sound similar to massive hail stones pelting a tin roof, as innumerable tiny bodies were smashed by the car and most likely pulped. A moment later the entire car lit as if it was a center of bonfire before striking was I assumed to be my barrier, causing foam to pour out around me cushioning us somewhat from the final jarring impact.
I flailed around a bit trying to get the foam from my eyes. I needn’t have bothered, since within seconds the foam evaporated leaving a sticky residue on the elf and I. Looking around I noticed that the car had held up remarkably well. Actually the elf had held up well too. She looked a bit bedraggled and sticky with a green sheen that could have been a sign of nausea or merely the remains of the foam.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I kicked the door off the frame and crawled out. I reached back to help her out. Everything was sticky. Disgusting.
“I. Hate. Roller. Coasters,” she spat as she crawled out of the overturned vehicle.
“Look on the bright side,” I offered absently as I surveyed the mess. “The car exploded before they could bill my account.”
We stood among the embers of a small artificial hill made up of tiny demonic skeletons and ashes. Surrounding the house was still an enormous crowd of foot tall, ant-like demon that were clicking at us agitatedly. We had apparently plowed though a good half of them, but the remaining numbers were spreading out to fill in the swathe of destruction the car had left. They blithely stepped over their pulped fellows and the fireworks display at the front line of demons being pushed in the protected area began again.
“That’s a lot of demons,” muttered Estella. “Should I summon an elemental? I am a bit low on energy and I think my friend may not like being called so soon after he just did me a favor...”
“Don’t bother,” I responded eying the horde of tiny terrors. “Admittedly that many demons would be nasty to fight, even weak ones like these. But they can’t get in and my wards can last indefinitely. Only the physical effect ones are energy hogs.” I think. I never had an army of demons constantly pecking at it, but the wards versus minor supernatural evil, demons, spirits and vampires are pretty passive. They should be able to sip off the lay line that was nearby.
I heard a whimpering behind me and turned to see the bundle on my doorstep move. A tiny head peered up at me and it took a moment to realize that a tiny girl was sitting on my porch, her arms around her knees. She had obviously been crying as her cheeks still glistened with tears.
“Beth?” I asked in confusion. What the heck was Jeremy’s sister doing on my porch surrounded by demons? Okay, I still didn’t know what I was doing here surrounded by demons, but maybe she actually had some answers. “What are you doing here?”
She stood up quickly and with a squeak of relief and excitement rushed towards me. Unfortunately, my invisible barrier was still up between us. She ran head first into it, bounced back with a hollow thunk and collapsed unconscious on the ground.
“Damn, Jeremy is going to kill me,” I exclaimed, slapping my forehead as I dispelled my bubble and went to examine the girl. I could feel Estella at my back as I knelt next to the girl. Fortunately, on this side of my dispelled barrier the ground was clear of demon bones and ashes. I ran my hand over her a few inches from her body and was able to sense that it was mostly stress and pressure that was responsible for her state. The knock to her head was just the final nail. The best thing I could do for her, would be to let her rest for a few minutes. I needed to take out the trash anyway. Picking up the girl, I opened the door and went inside.
I wiped my feet at the door and then laid Beth on the couch. “Would you mind looking after her for a few minutes? I need to take care of the demons. Oh, wait. Call Jeremy and tell him his sister is here too. My vid should still be working.”
“Of course I will,” she said in a sober tone. It was the most serious I had seen her since we had met.
I stopped to wash my hands and face clean of the foam before heading to the basement. Behind the newly acquired barrels of holy water, I had stacks and stacks of ceramic bowls with airtight lids that I had inscribed with a basic preservation ward. I had intended to go over to Tower Plaza and ask for a cup of demon bits, but apparently fate provides. I grabbed all of the bowls and slowly made my way back upstairs, the stacked bowls swaying ominously.
“Did you get a hold of Jeremy?” I called out as I passed the living room.
“N
o, I keep getting his answering service,” she stated quietly. She must have washed up a little as well because she looked less sticky and green. The proudly colorful clothes that she had gone out this morning in were a far cry from the stained rags that she now had, but they were better than what she had ten minutes ago.
“Beth should sleep for a bit if you want to take a shower,” I suggested as I continued out the front door. “There are clean robes in the closet but I am afraid I don’t have any clothes that would fit you. While I am sure Mei wouldn’t mind loaning you a dress, she’s about a foot shorter than you.”
“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” the elf asked, somewhat cheered by the prospect of being clean again.
“No, I’m good,” I assured her. “I’ll be done by the time you’re out.”
By then I was out the door staring at my clicking audience. Setting down my bowls, I started scooping several bowls full of ashes and several more full of bones. I started to whistle cheerfully as I worked. Except for the whole wrecked vehicle thing, this was really working out well. I paused to see the furrow the car had plowed in the street and the gore staining my steps. Okay, mostly good. The gore should evaporate soon as the demon essence returned to their own plane. I then moved up to the protective ward barrier that was still lit by brightly burning demons being pushed through it.
The miniscule beasts clicked and hissed in a fury as I approached. I ignored them and continued whistling as I reached through and grabbed one. Careful not to move the demon through the barrier I grabbed its head in one hand and twisted it in a full circle, eliciting a popping crack noise as the neck shattered. The body twitched and was still. I moved the bowl out of the ward and placed the corpse into it and then placed the lid on it. Only then did I bring my bowl full of demon ingredients back through the protective ward.
Naturally the demons did not let this action go unopposed. While I was doing my processing, the demons companions leaped at my exposed hands, virtually covering them with writhing insectile bodies. Truly disgusting, however my force field was still up and to be honest they were as minor a supernatural threat as demons came in. If I went out of the ward they could swarm me and perhaps seriously injure me before I dealt with them, five or ten at a time was beyond trivial. I simply moved my arms back into the ward and the demons burst into brilliant multicolored flames as they entered the field. This did horrible things to my sleeves, but it was take far hotter fires than that to actually burn me.
In this manner, I filled up the remaining bowls with quick efficiency. I had been limited in what circles and wards I researched due to a lack of ingredients. Only so many items can be substituted with dragon’s blood. It was well worth a few clothes. This restocking actually had no noticeable impact on the number of demons. To be honest, they seemed as numerous now as they did before I skidded the taxi through the host.
Shaking my head ruefully, I went back into the house with my bounty and after safety storing it away, went back to the living room. Estella still wasn’t out, which was fine since I wasn’t finished yet. I quickly popped the cover I had inscribed with the anti-magic ward off and headed downstairs. As I went, I slid the durasteel beams into the place that secured the house’s windows and doors.
Once I was in the basement, I approached the protective ward with some trepidation. I was taking a bit of a gamble here. Double or nothing. If my anti-magic ward actually destroyed my protection ward I would be forced to go out and directly confront and fight hundreds of little demons. I had no doubt I would win but the house might get trashed and it would take me time to heal. With a sigh, I firmed up my resolution and slammed the warded cover over the protection ward. A ripple went through the ether as I felt a lack of something that I had barely even noticed was there. Almost immediately after, I heard clicking scratching and clawing as minute demonic claws scrabbled on the outside of the house, desperate to get in. I counted to thirty and then removed the cover.
The energy of the warding flooded the area again, calming my mind and filling me with a sense of security. Likely a false sense of security, but these days I would take what I could get. Outside, a chorus of hissing screams sounded. It would be redundant to say it was the voices of the damned. While I was in the basement I could image that army of darkness that had packed itself against the house now was in flames. It was unlikely that any of the creatures would survive, but dealing with a handful of the bugs would be simple. After more than a minute of hissing and screaming there was silence.
I trudged back upstairs and into the living room, retracting the beams as I ascended. Estella was there, an obviously hastily donned robe over her and her hair still full of suds. Apparently the wail of hundreds of dying demons can almost rouse the dead, because Beth was sitting up on the couch looking around franticly.
“Hello Beth,” I nodded to the little girl as I snapped the vid cover on again. I shook my head sadly. Smoke wafted from the exposed electronics. I had forgotten to turn the unit off before I had removed the lid. Jeremy would have to fix it again. I had just gotten used to the idea that it would be working reliably. “We haven’t been able to get in touch with your brother. I’ll have to go to the store to use their terminal to call him again.”
“There’s no point in that,” the little girl said tearfully. “They took him.”
My gut clenched as Beth told her story. It was short and to the point. Several men in suits had broken into their house while Jeremy was home. They were incredibly strong, smashing through the front door with casual ease. I had made a point in ensuring Jeremy had upgraded his home to some higher quality defenses, which implied a nonhuman smash and grab.
Beth had been in her room, but it was obvious they had ignored her. If these were shifters, they doubtless had enhanced senses and wouldn’t have missed the tiny girl peering down the hallway. The apartment’s lights had flickered and the tiny stunner Jeremy had concealed on him only shot once before sparking and dying. He may as well have been throwing spitballs for all the good it did him. They ignored the hit and apparently one of them electrocuted him from across the room. I winced at the complete overkill. Jeremy is many things, but a combat monster is not one of them. He was rather a retreat and regroup fellow. I never could understand that approach, but I tend to be proactive on situations that impact me.
I frowned again as Beth finished her story. She cowered away from me earning me a stern look from Estella. I forced a smile on my face, but I doubt it was very comforting. “I see that they pretty much ignored you when they picked up Jeremy, but why did they send an army of demons after you?”
“I don’t know where they came from,” she shivered in reaction, evoking a one armed hug from the elf next to her on the couch. “When the power came back on I took a taxi to here and when you weren’t home I waited for you on the porch.”
“Oh, I see,” I said softly. I certainly did see. Jeremy was taken, most likely by Jin’s upgraded henchmen. The next step was storm my home with demonic vermin. I wasn’t quite sure whether it was because of Mei or myself that triggered it, but Beth was unfortunate enough to get in the crossfire twice.
“Why didn’t you call your parents,” Estella asked. Good questions, young humans had guardians.
“They have to see the doctors today. They are going to be in isolation until tomorrow.” The timing was a bit too convenient, it sounded more intentional than accidental.
“I’m sorry are they sick,” Estella softly asked.
“No, there’s this entire nanite plague prevention thing going on,” I interrupted, receiving a blank look from the Álfar. “There’s a whole backstory that involves how Australia melted,” I offered. The blank look didn’t change. “It’s not important.”
“Okay.” For a moment, Estella looked as lost as the girl. “Well then, I guess we will look after you until your brother is returned.”
“That reminds me, how did you get the taxi to take you here?”
“You’re on my emergency contact list,” Bet
h said quietly. “The city pays for transport to anyone on that list. They’ll bill mom and dad later.”
“Sounds like talking to the vampires just got moved up in the priority list,” I stated decisively. “Conrad is talking to the shifters and I’ll talk to Vivian,” I paused for a moment in thought. “Maybe Vince would be a better bet. Yeah, let’s go talk to Clan Fiero.”
“Isn’t Beth a little young to take to a meeting with an undead clan?” Estella asked disapprovingly, her normal cheerful countenance hidden from view.
“Why?” I looked between the elf and the young girl. Estella still had a guest robe on and it looked like Jeremy’s sister had run out of the house in pajamas. “Oh, right, you guys need to get dresses. I should probably change my shirt too.”
“Our clothes are beside the point,” the elf said sharply. “You can’t take a child to parley with the dead.”
“She must be at least three years old, and Jeremy said she was advanced for her age. I was killing rabid vampires when I was that age,” I offered in confusion.
“Don’t be absurd,” Estella contradicted waving a finger at me. “Humans mature far slower than that. She obviously can’t be more than thirty, she shouldn’t be away from her parent’s side, regardless of this silly ‘nanite’ issue.”
“I am eight years old,” an indignant voice called out. Estella and I looked at each other in confusion.
“So... is that old enough to go out with us?” I asked, not nearly as sure of myself as I was a moment ago. It seemed pretty old, but I was walking around, talking and hunting beasts for food hours after I hatched.
“That seems so young,” the elf trailed off less sure than she was as well.
“Eight is old enough to do things on my own, I got here didn’t I,” she huffed. “I’m practically an adult.”
“See,” I stated in triumph.
“She’s so tiny though,” Estella said frowning.
“Only a little bit more than Mei, and you can’t say she isn’t an adult.”