by Jamie Davis
Jonesey finished unfolding the lace next to Marci. It was now a circle about two meters in diameter. “Go stand over there and help me lift this up and lower it down so it covers Marci as completely as possible. Once it is in place covering her, we should be able to sever the spell fighting to take control of her.”
The elf was right. As soon as the delicate lace came down over Marci’s head, her chin slumped to her chest and she became still, no longer rocking back and forth. Jonesey waited and watched until Marci groaned and said, “What the hell? What am I doing on the floor my bedroom?”
Jonesey nodded at Kurt and together they lifted the veil of lace up and away from Marci’s head. As they did, she looked up, noticing the two of them for the first time.
“Hey, guys. Did I invite you over? I don’t seem to remember. Everything’s a little hazy.”
“Don’t worry, Marci. Something weird was going on and I got Jonesey to come over and help me deal with it.”
Marci glanced down and noticed the crystal sitting in her lap for the first time. “How did this get here?”
“You mean up here and not in your secret hiding place in the bottom of that chest?” Kurt asked.
“How do you know about that? I have never showed you that.”
“Marci, no one’s heard from you for three days. I came by and checked on you. Good thing, too. I found you sitting here hugging that crystal and rocking back-and-forth like you were in some sort of trance. Jonesey figured out you were under the control of some sort of spell but the crystal kept it from working on you. You must’ve gone down into the secret room and retrieved it.”
“A spell? What kind of spell and who cast it on me?”
Kurt explained what Jonesey said about a portal nearby.
Marci nodded. “She’s right. It’s nearly impossible to get magic to pass from one side of a gateway to another without having pretty significant control and power behind you.”
“Of course I’m right,” Jonesey said putting her hands on her hips. “The question now is what do we do about it. Whoever did this to you will try to do it again unless we figure out what they’re after. Also, I’m a little pissed at you for not telling me about finding a Chaos Crystal. The way you described it, you didn’t lead me to believe that’s what it was.”
“I didn’t know that’s what it was, Jonesey. I’m sorry. I thought Chaos Crystals were just myths.”
Jonesey laughed. “You know better than that. Nothing is really a myth. Everything has a basis in fact at some point in the past. Chaos Crystals are rumored to be leftover pieces of solidified energy from the Big Bang. There are clusters of them scattered around the universe. I’ve never actually seen one or know anyone who’s found one until now.”
“That explains the way it can magnify and accelerate the use of magic,” Marci said. “If it is truly a collection of energy left over from the Big Bang, it would possess incredible power.”
“I wonder if it could be the Cardinal reaching out to get the crystal back?” Kurt asked. “Perhaps he cast the spell to try to control you.”
Marci nodded. “It’s a definite possibility. He didn’t seem the type to just fly away and not try to get his property back.”
Jonesey looked back and forth between them with a puzzled look on her face.
“The Cardinal is the person I stole the crystal from,” Marci said. “He was the one using it to control the population of the world we visited on a delivery run. You know the one. It was also being used to suppress the use of magic and technology in a large area around it. Your friend Sanith lives there.”
Jonesey nodded. “I remember. If it’s really him, and this Cardinal really was a demon of some sort like you said, he might possess enough energy and control the cast a spell through a gateway like we just saw.”
“I think we need to track down the gateway he’s using to control you.” Kurt crossed to the window and looked outside. “Jonesey, you said it had to be within half a click of hear, right?”
Jonesey nodded.
“Good. First, we need to get Marci some food and water.” Kurt looked at Marci. “All right?”
Marci nodded.
Kurt smiled and kept going. “Once we get you back on your feet, we’ll head outside. You can sense gateways, so you should be able to figure out if there’s an open portal nearby within that distance.”
Marci smiled. “Piece of cake, K.C.”
He liked the look of the smile on her face. She was still pale, but she was looking and sounding more like herself again.
Kurt and Jonesey leaned over and helped Marci standup. She hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink for days. She was a little wobbly on her feet as she stood in her bedroom. After steadying her, they helped her out to the small table in her kitchen.
She sat down at the table and Kurt went into the kitchen to see what kind of food he could find. Jonesey grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water from the tap, handing it to Marci. She drank it down in a few large gulps. She handed the cup back to the elf.
“I needed that. Can I have some more?”
Jonesey nodded and filled the glass again. Kurt couldn’t find much in the refrigerator or the cabinets. He ended up settling for making Marci a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He figured they could send out for some delivery food and get her something real to eat later. This would be good enough to hold her over though.
Marci snatched the first half of the sandwich from the plate when he brought it in to her. She chowed down on it.
Kurt laughed. “I guess you really like peanut butter sandwiches.”
“I’m just hungry,” Marci said around a mouthful of food. “You’d be hungry too if you hadn’t eaten in days. How long has it been again?”
“Your dad said he spoke to you three days ago.” Kurt shrugged. “I figure at least two days, maybe three since you came under the spell.”
“I guess I’d better text my father and tell him I’m all right. Let me do that while I finish the sandwich. Then I’m going to go get a shower. As soon as that’s finished we’ll put the crystal back in it’s hiding place and then we can go looking for this portal. I think I need to have a few words with whoever was casting the spell on me.”
Kurt and Jonesey shared a glance as they stood on either side of their friend. They, too, wanted to figure out who did this to her. They also wanted to make sure she was safe. Kurt knew she was in no condition to be confronting anybody, at least not on her own.
Marci finished the sandwich and pointed to the couch. “You two sit there. I’ll be out in a few minutes then we can figure out who’s did this to me.”
Jonesey and Kurt sat on the sofa while Marci went to clean up and change. They’d work on tracking down the spell caster as soon as she came out.
Chapter 6
Marci reemerged from her bedroom and looked a hundred percent better than she did when she went in. The shower and change of clothes worked wonders on her. It seemed to perk up her mood, too. She wore a pair of tight black jeans, a white T-shirt and her short, black leather jacket.
“All right,” Marci said. “Let’s figure out a way to track down the source of the spell. Jonesey, you said it was coming through a portal. I know all the portals around here and I don’t think it originated from any of those places. Almost all of them are pretty heavily developed. The gateways are watched closely by the authorities, too.”
“It could be an unregistered portal,” Kurt suggested. “One that hasn’t been reported or discovered by the GEU officials. If you weren’t looking for it, you wouldn’t pay any attention to it.”
“You’re right. I’d just attribute the energy spike to another known gateway opening. Still, now that we know, I’ll know what to look for. I guess I’d better fire up a spell and see if I can track down any active portal that we don’t know about.”
“Are you sure you’re recovered enough to do that?” Jonesey asked. “I know a spell like that must use quite a bit of energy.”
; “I’ll be fine,” Marci said. ”I just want to make sure we figure this out. I’m a little pissed that somebody tried to take control of me like that. I want to have a few words with them.”
Marci crossed the room to the corner of her kitchen she reached her hand under the countertop. There was a soft click as she pressed on something there. With a heave, she lifted up. The entire counter levered upward, revealing a hidden compartment beneath. Kurt stood and walked over to look and see what was inside. He shouldn’t have been surprised. It was full of weapons, mostly firearms of one sort or another.
Marci pulled out a semi-automatic pistol in a clip-on holster. She also grabbed several magazines to go with it. She clipped the holster on her belt so that it was hidden beneath her jacket and shoved the magazines in her back pocket.
“Come on,” Marci said.”Let’s go. I can begin the spell once we get outside. If it’s only within a half kilometer of here, it shouldn’t be too hard to localize it. The harbor is to the north. I can’t imagine someone is out there in the middle of the water with an unregistered gate and no one noticed. That means it has to be south of this location so all we have to do is draw a semicircle with the harbor at the top and start searching.”
“You make it sound so easy,” Kurt said.
“It is. The energy given off by a gateway is significant if you know what you’re looking for. I should be able to track this one down if it’s been active in the last few hours.”
“Someday you will have to teach me how you do that,” Jonesey said. “I’m still amazed at the way you’ve been able to use your understanding of physics to enhance your magical senses.”
“I’m sure we can work something out, Jonesey. Maybe we can make a trade and you can teach me some of your tech mage mojo.”
Jonesey smiled and nodded. “We might be able to at that. Come on let’s go find this gateway.”
They exited the building and started to their left. The condo building was in an area alongside several apartment buildings. Most of this part of Baltimore used to be harbor warehouses. This was where goods were unloaded and stored after they came in by ship years before.
Many of the old brick warehouses still stood empty nearby. Some had been renovated and turned into loft apartments and businesses occupied the others.
Marci held one hand out in front of her, a faint golden glow coming from her palm. She walked along and moved her hand back-and-forth in front of her in a semicircular arc. Kurt realized she was drawing in magic and using her hand as a sort of passive sensor to detect the energy emanating from any open gateways.
They walked along the sidewalk in a clockwise arc along the imaginary semicircle. Stopping in front of each building, condo complex, and warehouse until they’d worked their way around the semicircle, almost returning to Marci’s apartment building. Then Marci stopped and smiled.
“Gotcha!” Marci said. “I can’t believe I didn’t detect this gateway before. It’s less than a hundred meters from my building. It must not be used frequently or I would’ve definitely detected it as I came and went.”
Kurt looked up, examining the building before them. The sign on the side of the brick building said “Baltimore Diner and Restaurant Supply.”
It appeared to be closed despite the fact it was midday. He leaned over and cupped his hands around his eyes while he tried to stare in through the windows at the front of the building. He couldn’t see any sign of anyone else there. In fact, the showroom looked empty.
“I think no one’s home,” Kurt said. “It looks like it’s out of business. Let’s go around back and see if there’s a rear entrance. There’s too much traffic passing by on the street here for me to pick the lock and not get noticed.”
The two women nodded, and the trio walked around to the rear of the brick building. It was an old structure. They probably used it as offices for the warehouses scattered around nearby once upon a time.
Out back, there was a plain, grey steel door at the back of the building. It was situated in an alley and was hidden from view from the main street. Kurt pulled out his dental tools and set to work on the lock.
It didn’t take him long to get inside. He pulled the door open and gestured for the two ladies to go in first. Marci had her pistol out and Jonesey produced a rather wicked looking dagger from somewhere on her person. Kurt reach down to his belt and grabbed his stun baton. With the flick of his wrist, he deployed it to its full half meter length.
Once inside, Kurt pointed across the large storage room they’d entered. There was a door along the far wall.
“Someone’s here,” Kurt said. “You can see light coming from under the door.”
“Well,” Marci said. “Let’s go figure out who’s been running this portal and messing with my head.”
Before Kurt could stop her, Marci moved across the room and yanked the door open, stepping through to the other side. Kurt and Jonesey raced to keep up with her. By the time they got to the doorway, Marci had already headed down a long hallway and started up a set of stairs at the far end.
“Slow down,” Kurt called. “Don’t go racing into something you can’t handle without us.”
Marci either didn’t hear him or ignored what he said. He tried to move faster and catch up to her before she reached the top of the stairs. He didn’t succeed.
She burst through the door at the top of the stairs and Kurt braced for the sound of gunfire. Marci was definitely a shoot-first, ask questions later kind of gal.
To his surprise there were no shots. He and Jonesey raced up the stairs and caught up to Marci. She stood in a large, second-floor room. It was empty except for a glowing blue portal. In front of it lay the body of a man dressed in blue jeans and a chain mail shirt, of all things.
Marci had already bent down to check on the body on the floor. Kurt and Jonesey caught up to her. Kurt knelt to help her check for a pulse.
A broad smear of blood led from the portal to where the man lay. It showed he crawled to the middle of the floor despite whatever injury he had.
“Roll him over so we can see what’s wrong with him,” Kurt said.
As Marci tried to roll him over, Kurt realized the guy was still alive. He let out a loud groan of pain.
“Overrun,” the man croaked out through parched, cracked lips. “Colonel Evans said we couldn’t hold them any longer. Something’s changed. The demons are stronger than they used to be. He told me to go through the portal and tell you we need more help.”
There were broad gashes torn in his armor and as Kurt examine the wounds, he discovered what looked like deep gouges caused buy claws in the man’s chest. The biggest surprise was what looked like a Hell’s Gater crest tattooed on the man’s left shoulder.
“Jonesey, I don’t suppose you have any sort of bandages or first aid gear in that backpack you’re carrying?” Marci asked.
“Give me a sec,” the elf said.
Marci tried to stop the bleeding, but it was a losing effort. The man sighed, letting out a gasping breath as Marci pressed down on the wounds with both hands to stem the flow.
Kurt wondered aloud, “What sort of creature or weapon would cause the sort of injury and tear straight through steel armor like this?”
Another voice sounded behind them, startling Kurt. “Demons, that’s what. Their claws cause wounds like that.”
Kurt twisted around and his jaw dropped. Cappo Czerech stood at the top of stairs behind them.
“What are you doing here?” Kurt asked. “Are you following me, or something?”
“I should ask you the same thing. This is my building. I own this place and I have to wonder what it is you’re doing here. Breaking into one of my properties and poking your nose into my business isn’t what’s going to encourage me to give you an extension on your payments.”
“You two can argue about who’s supposed to be here later,” Marci said. “In the meantime, we have to figure out what happened to this man.”
Jonesey produced a few packages of me
dical dressings from her pack. She handed Marci a pressure bandage that looked like it had come from a military surplus store. She also produced several rolls of gauze. Marci turned and tried to staunch the bleeding in the man’s chest. He coughed and bloody spittle came from his mouth as he tried to speak again.
Cappo saw the body on the floor for the first time. “Kendall? Is that you? Oh my god, it is.” The gang leader rushed forward to kneel next to the man on the floor as Marci continued to administer first aid.
“Hey, boss,” Kendall said. “I’ve got bad news. The demons have overrun Colonel Evans’ position. We could no longer hold the area around the gate. They sent me to find you and tell you all was lost if we don’t get the holy glaive soon.”
“Take it easy, Kendall,” Cappo said. “I finally found it. It just arrived. I only have to get it to you and then all will be saved.”
Kendall tried to speak again but fell into a fit of coughing as more frothy blood came up from his lungs. Marci tried to apply more dressings to the ones already in place, but it was too late. With a final gasping sigh, Kendall stopped breathing and his eyes glazed over.
Cappo rocked back onto his heels and crouched next to the dead man staring at the body for a few, long seconds. Then he looked up at Kurt with a crooked grin. “Maybe you won’t have to worry about making those future payments after all, Kurt Carter.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the delivery job I’m about to offer you. Not that you have a choice about whether you accept it or not. You and your friends broke into my business and discovered something I can’t let you know without some way to guarantee your silence.”
“I still don’t understand,” Kurt said. “How do you know who this man is?”
Cappo shook his head. “There’s no time for answering questions right now.” He turned to look at the open gateway. He glanced back at Marci. “I assume you are Kurt’s partner, the one able to control and open gateways?”
Marci nodded. “I am. Why?”