by Tom Keller
"Thank you," I said, standing and picking the bag of clothes back up. "Mind if I change first?"
"As you wish," she said with a nod.
"What is it you want to know, High Priestess?" I asked, coming out of the bathroom zipping up my jeans a minute later. "What makes you ask what I am?"
"Please, Robert," she said, shifting in the chair. "Let us not play games. I saw the news stories of your contact with the Keres. While she may have kissed you, they are not known for their compassion. While you were bleeding on the temple steps, instead of dragging you from the battlefield, such as it was, she was cradling you in her arms and comforting you."
"Maybe you underestimate them," I replied.
"I think not," she said, smiling again. "I am not like the others. I do not fear their kind. Yet I cannot recall a time when any of the Keres have turned a human over to another Fae, let alone asked one to watch over them. You are clearly not just another mortal, at least not to her. Why is that, Robert?"
"Maybe because I had the balls to talk to her," I replied, finding it more than interesting that Kyras had asked the priestess to watch over me.
"Perhaps," she agreed. "But I cannot help but believe there is more to it than that. Then there is the question you asked Erato. Surely, you know as well as anyone that none of the Gods have been seen since The Fall. Even Gaea herself has not walked among us since then."
"Yet still you serve her."
"Of course," she replied. "Gaea is mother to all. She made her displeasure known and punished those that betrayed her trust."
"Kind of a long time to hold a grudge," I said, shaking my head. "How long's it been, by the way?"
"What is time to an immortal?" she retorted. "To me, it has been but the blink of an eye since The Fall. Do not be confused. She has not failed us. Had she not allowed The Fall to occur we would have all perished. Look at us now. The Fae prosper in this world. Surely she watches over us still. But what about you, Lieutenant? Why the sudden interest in Gaea? What sort of quest can you be on? For that matter, why did the Keres not drag you to the Underworld as they would have any others that dared confront them?"
"You said she asked you to watch over me," I replied. "What exactly did she say?"
"That you were different. She believed you'd been touched by the Gods. Have you?"
"Oh, I've been touched by the Gods all right," I said, getting up from the bed. I considered my words carefully before I continued. "I'm no longer the same Robert that I used to be, which is probably what the Keres sees in me. You can thank Gaea for the transformation, by the way. It was she that changed me."
"You had a vision?" she asked, standing to face me.
"It was no vision, High Priestess. At least not to me," I said, trying not to laugh. "She spoke to me. Just like you and I are speaking right now."
"That is imposs…" she began to say, then raised her hand to her mouth before pointing her index finger up. "But yet the Keres was swayed. Tell me, what quest did the Goddess command of you?"
"That's just it, Priestess," I said. "I don’t know."
"I do not understand," she replied, tilting her head to the side. "How could you not know your own quest?"
"Like I said," I began, trying to weave a story that would make the point without revealing too much. "Gaea appeared to me. She was … well… let's just say she was disappointed in me. Hell, I'm not sure if that's exactly it. I think she's disappointed in all of us. Maybe she thinks we've forgotten about her. Anyway, she showed me that things could be better…. and…" I put my hands up and moved them around the room, then sat back down. "Well, here I am. Somehow I've got to change things. I just don’t know how. But I started with changing myself. So when I saw the temple, I knew I had to go there. That was foolish, and I'm sorry about that."
"Sorry," she asked, looking confused. "What do you have to be sorry for?"
"I brought those Demons onto the temple grounds," I replied. "If I hadn’t gone, they'd have attacked me somewhere else."
"Know this," she said, leaning forward to take my hand. "The temple is sanctuary to all. While the Goddess does not preach violence as a matter of course, she does not forbid her children from protecting themselves, nor does she look down upon those that use it righteously. It matters not why they were there. Justice demanded retribution from those that violated the haven she provides. You have done that in her name. You have nothing to be sorry for."
"Thank you for that," I replied.
"Not even I can claim to know the will of the Goddess in all matters," she said, letting go of my hand and standing. "But I will meditate on what you have told me. I know you pledged me to secrecy, but I would ask your permission to discuss this with a few select others of our order. If the Goddess truly has appeared to you, then this is a momentous occasion. No offense, but one visit claimed by a human is not enough to be sure of her return. You have been named a Hero of Gaea for your actions that night, none will betray your confidence should you allow it."
"I understand. That'll be acceptable," I replied, getting up. "Thank you, High Priestess Ligia. Your guidance will be appreciated."
"I look forward to speaking with you again," she said, nodding, nodding before lifting the privacy spell that covered the room.
Moments later, there was a knock on the door. It was the Healer, Elithia. She spoke briefly with the priestess before she left and then stepped inside, closing the door behind her.
"You look much better," she said, walking over and taking a seat in the chair by the bed. She scrolled through the chart she'd been carrying in her hands. "So, no Fae in your background. Unusual, but not unprecedented." She stood up and walked over to the bed and pointed at my stomach. "May I?"
"By all means," I said, pulling up my shirt. She probed the area where the wound had been, then placed both hands over it for a minute before returning to the chair.
"Completely healed," she said as she sat down. "You're a very lucky man, Lieutenant.
"I'll chalk that one up to your skill in magic," I replied, pulling my shirt down. I tried not to look like I was staring. The last time I'd seen her was when she'd been killed by the Dark Fae in front of my eyes. Even if I couldn’t talk to her about it, it was good to see her alive and doing well.
"I appreciate that," she replied with a grin. "But humans are a resilient species and after looking at your file, it's possible you have built up an immunity against the Demon's poison. Then again, perhaps it is simply Gaea watching over you. It was, after all, her temple you were found at."
"You may be right," I said, standing up and noting her use of Gaea's name. "Or maybe you just give yourself too little credit. Either way, I assume that means I can get out of here? Not that I mind the company, of course."
"That is correct, Lieutenant," she replied, her eyes sparkling as she laughed. "And thank you for the compliment. I'll sign off on your discharge papers when I leave here. You can sign out at the front desk."
"Don’t I get a wheelchair?" I asked with a grin.
"Do you require a wheelchair?" she asked, looking at me strangely. "We normally save those for patients that need them."
"No, of course not," I said, fumbling. Then I reached over to shake her hand as she stood up. "Thank you again. May the sun shine upon you and may your roots grow deep and never thirst."
"As it does on you," she replied with a nod, then smiled again. "You seem well versed in the greetings of the Dryad."
"Just a hobby," I said, smiling. "Oh, by the way, I heard there was another Healer that worked on me at the scene. Please tell her what I said, and if either of you ever need anything, please let me know."
"I will do that," she replied, stopping at the doorway. "I'm sure Askel will appreciate it. She, too, is of the Dryad."
Askel, another Fae I was acquainted with back in my world. Things were getting cozier every minute. But whether that was good or bad still remained to be seen.
Chapter 9
I stuck my gun and dagger in my belt
and covered them with my shirt, then left the room and checked out. They did things differently here. Almost hotel like, I reviewed my hospital bill and signed off on the charges, making arrangements for the rest of the flowers and plants Nikki hadn't taken to be delivered to my house later. It was all covered by the Department, of course. Like at home in the old days, any incident I got into was considered to be on duty. Well, at least that made things simple. I passed the nurse's station and walked through the doorway into the waiting room, heading for the phone at the information desk by the door. I'd planned on calling the office to send me a ride when I overheard two women arguing in the corner by the bathroom.
You gotta love Gaea's idea of an alternate universe. The two gals arguing were local newspaper reporters. The young one I didn’t know, but the older one was familiar. It was Michelle Brickey. With everything else Gaea had thrown at me, I wasn't surprised. Only she didn’t look like she'd fallen on hard times in this world. She was dressed in designer jeans and a silk blouse, with a pair of shoes that didn’t look like they came off the rack at the local second-hand store, not to mention her purse had designer bag written all over it. Judging by her comments, she was chastising the young reporter for not getting a story. Apparently, she was supposed to get an interview. The funny thing was, she was told to interview me, but the hospital wasn't having any of it. They'd told her to wait down here. Which, believe it or not, she'd been doing since yesterday.
I decided to have some fun. I'd already gotten enough crap for getting publicity, but what was O'Malley going to do? I was Gaea's Hero after all. Besides, I needed to find out a few things and Brickey might just be the source that could get them.
"You the reporter that wanted to talk?" I asked, stepping between the two of them. She glanced up and froze as I interrupted the discussion, then looked over at Brickey who just shrugged. Then she turned back to me and nodded her head enthusiastically.
I pointed to a couch against the wall and then sat down beside her, giving her about 5 minutes to ask questions as Brickey just stared at us from across the room. The young reporter was still jotting down information into her notebook when I ended the interview and excused myself. She'd gotten enough to make her happy so I got up and headed over to where Brickey was standing, still looking dumbfounded.
"Come on, Michelle," I said, walking past her. "I need a ride and you're it."
"What the…! " she exclaimed, following me out the door. "Do I look like a taxi service… and since when are we on a first name basis? Just because you do one interview doesn't mean…."
"Michelle," I said, taking her arm and leading her through the double doors to the outside. The sun had already set and we continued onward down the path that led to the parking lot behind the main building. "We never talk. Why is that?"
"Maybe because the last time we met you threatened to throw me out the door of City Hall," she said, then stopped suddenly. "Wait a minute! Are you still on drugs or something? You need to go back inside, you're acting way too strange for me."
"I wish it were that simple," I said with a grin. "But, no, it's not the drugs. Truth is, I need a favor."
"Of course you do," she said, pulling away. She put her arms on her hips and tried to stare me down. "I should have known something was up. You want a favor? Why in the hell should I do anything for you?"
"You're still a reporter, aren't you?"
"I'm the editor, as you well know," she replied, angrily.
"Even better," I said, taking her arm again. "Then a favor for a favor ought to be worth even more."
"A favor for a favor? Right!" she exclaimed. "Just what is it you want, anyway?"
"I need to see the file you have on me."
"Are you out of your mind?" she asked, stopping in midstride. "I'm not letting you get your hands on any information from my sources."
I let her rant for a minute before cutting her off. "Michelle!" I said, putting my hand up. "Chill for a minute. I don’t want any of that. I just need to see the public info. That's all. No confidential shit, no shootings. All I want is personal stuff. Public interest, obits, that kind of thing. Anything you have in the paper's morgue on me or my family. That's all I'm asking for. In return, I'll owe you a favor. That's not asking too much, is it?"
"You're kidding me, right?" she asked, incredulously. "That doesn’t make any sense. I'm supposed to believe you're gonna owe me a favor for that? Why would you even ask? You have to be aware that we've got back issues dating back to when the Las Vegas Age started in 1905. You can find it yourself in a couple of hours. It's all on microfilm, as you well know."
"Yeah, well… " I replied as we continued walking into the parking lot. "I don’t want to spend hours looking for it and I'm guessing you've already pulled that stuff on me anyway."
"You have quite the ego, Lieutenant," she said, smiling slyly. "What makes you think I'd have a file on you?"
"Contrary to what you might think," I replied, stopping between two parked cars. "I have a lot of respect for you. Any reporter, excuse me… editor… with your qualifications would have a file on anyone, or anything for that matter, that was important in the city. While I may not be on your dinner party guest list, I'm betting I'm a pretty good source of stories, or am I wrong about that?"
"Well…," she began to say as I pulled her to the ground.
"Get down," I said, as I heard the swish of air and the flap of wings as something passed over us.
"What the…?" Michelle said, startled as she looked up. "Is that a Dra…?"
"No," I replied, crouching beside her and putting my hand over her mouth. "Worse, for us at least. It's a Draco, a Wyvern, and it's after us. They only have two legs but we still need to watch out for their claws. Oh yeah, they bite too. Look, I gotta find out who's controlling it." I caught a whiff of brimstone just as the lights went out. "Shit! Gotta be a Dark Mage. Where's your car?"
"Two rows over," she said, pointing north. "But…"
"That's too far. Listen to me," I said, whispering in her ear. "You need to stay down. I'm gonna try and lead it away from you. Whatever you do, don't leave until I come back." I pulled out my gun and looked at her again. "I'm serious now. Do not stand up and run for it. It can see in the dark and will key in on any movement. Got it?"
She looked scared but nodded in agreement.
"Hey," I said, patting her shoulder. "Don’t worry. This is what I do. Besides, think of the story you're gonna be able to write when this is over."
I low crawled between the rows until I'd gotten a few parking spots over from her, then crouched behind a car and tried to see who was out there. Being human in this place meant I didn’t have Fae eyes, but it was nice to see that Robert had decent night vision. Not that I could see anyone yet but I'd take what I could get. I looked up just in time to see a few stars blotted out and ducked just before I heard the Wyvern's jaws snap at empty air. I dove beneath the car and crawled to the other side.
I'd guessed it was a Draco, more commonly known as a Wyvern, because it was too small to be a Dragon. Besides, Dragons are noble creatures and seldom work for the bad guys. You could slave collar them, of course, but only an idiot would bring one to the center of town and risk having it seen by just anybody. Really tough to kill, Wyverns were more like dogs, fiercely loyal to their master, and they didn’t care if you were good or bad. The size of a large wolf, they're also a lot smaller and easier to hide. Not that that made any difference to me in this situation, but it did give me something to focus on. Without a sword, all I could do was hope to lead it away until help arrived. Wyvern's scales are almost impervious to bullets, even the ones we carried. It would take a lucky shot in one of the few weak spots to bring one down. But that's all I had to work with since I doubted it would get close enough for me to use my dagger.
I started moving south through the lot, away from Michelle, when the car I was leaning against suddenly shook as a blast of magic pushed it into the truck next to it. I fell flat and rolled under it just in t
ime to avoid getting pinned between them. I saw a shadow move a few spaces over and brought up my gun but it was gone before I could fire. I started to crawl in that direction when I heard the flap of wings. I rolled over onto my back just as the Wyvern swooped down toward me, his claws raking my stomach as I brought up my gun. It was gone before I had a chance to shoot. Getting back on my knees, I began to move again when I heard the screech of tires and a car barreling into the lot. Then I heard a whistle and the Wyvern's answering shriek. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and then the parking lot's lights came back on. I looked over the hood and spied Mal and his partner standing by their car. His partner had a long gun and Mal had a sword but the Mage was nowhere in sight.
"Chickenshit," Mal murmured, sheathing his sword as he looked over at me. "Sorry about that. We tried to get here in time but he beat us to you."
"You know who he was?" I asked, walking up to him as I stuck my own gun in my belt.
"One of Marissa's Mages," he replied. "Just got the tip from a snitch not 10 minutes ago. Apparently, someone wants to get even. Not too hard to find out you were getting treatment here. I tried to call, but the hospital said you'd already left. I told them to go on lockdown and that we were on our way."
"Good idea," I said, turning back to the parking lot. "I'll be right back. Gotta check on a civilian." I hurried back to make sure Michelle was okay. Having actually listened to what I said, she was sitting on the ground next to the car where I'd left her.
"I see he got away," she said, not missing a beat as I helped her up. She was obviously not as frightened as I thought she'd be.
"Win some, lose some," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "I guess he didn't want to face off with us after the cavalry arrived. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," she said, wiping the dust from her clothes. "Does this happen to you a lot? People and things trying to kill you? I mean, I see everything that comes across my desk, but this seems a little excessive?"