by Ben Meeks
“Highness,” Otis said after her.
She stopped but didn’t look back.
“My youngest is six and has watched nearly every Disney movie made, about five hundred times. Drives me crazy. She is now telling me she doesn’t want to hunt. She doesn’t want to hurt the innocent animals. A bear that won’t hunt, it’s terrifying,” Otis said.
“And what did you do?” she asked without turning around.
“I remember that she is going to grow into her own person and hope she comes back to reality. Forcing a hunt on her would only make her hate it that much more. I also remind myself that even if she never hunts, she can still be a valuable member of the pack and do great things. Being different isn’t a bad thing, unless we make it that way,” he said.
The Queen turned around to meet his gaze, “If I wanted two-bit advice from a flea bitten mongrel, I would find a stray bitch in the woods to ask council of.” With that, she turned and headed up the stairs.
I looked at Otis, ready to jump in the way if he lunged after her but he was smiling. Not a happy smile but a smile nonetheless.
“I’m starting to think she doesn’t like me,” he said.
“I’m sorry, guys. I didn’t expect that level of vitriol. She always seemed more reasonable to me,” I said.
“She is stuck in the past. We will keep our word, but I’m afraid we won’t have peace as long as people sacrifice the future for old grudges,” he said.
“I have one more favor,” I said. “Tomorrow night I need the bridge closed. We don’t need any traffic happening by. What will it cost me to have you make some calls and make sure the bridge is under construction?”
“I am tired of bargaining. We will do it for friendship and mutual benefit. Just remember who your friends are, Obie,” Otis replied.
“Thank you. If I’m still alive in two days I will never forget it,” I said.
I changed back into human form and headed up the stairs. The Queen’s reaction surprised me. I had never seen her lash out like that. I’d seen her lash out with her pistols, but she was still calm while doing it. She lost her cool down there. Harlan must have really gotten to her. I caught up to her just outside the fence.
“Highness, there was one more thing I wanted to talk to you about. I heard about a magical device called a soul stone. It supposed to contain a person in it. Kind of pulling a person out of their body and keeping them in storage, so to speak. Do you know of it?”
She gave me a sideways glance. “I am familiar with it. Why do you ask?”
“This demon has taken someone very dear to me. I believe I can restore her but to do it I will need a soul stone. I was hoping you could get me one. I know it’s a lot to ask,” I said.
She spun to face me, obviously still upset. “Have I not been imposed on enough with those curs? You know I banned magic in my kingdom. Why do you think I would be willing or able to supply magical artifacts?”
She didn’t worry about the bikers standing within earshot by the fence. They took note of the disrespect and took a few steps in our direction. The Queen didn’t appear concerned, but her guards made ready with their guns. We continued toward the cars as we talked, the guards following behind keeping an eye on Tom C.
“Rumor has it that when you banned magic, you collected everything in the kingdom and locked it up. If that’s true you might have what I need. Look, I’m desperate here,” I said.
“I apologize, Obie, these negotiations have brought up some old feelings I thought had dissipated, and that’s on top of what my idiot son did. You have always been a friend to us, but soul stones are hard to come by. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but if I can, what are you willing to give for it?” she asked.
“I’ve got money, name your price” I said.
She gave me a dismissive smile. “I don’t need money, Obie.”
“What do you need then?” I asked.
“Security. I’m afraid this bargain will be short-lived. When it falls through, there’s a good chance it’s going to be bad. If that happens the Elvin Nation will need friends, and a Keeper is a good friend to have. I’ll get you a soul stone and as payment, some point in the future, I’ll call on you for a favor. You come when I call and do what you are asked. No questions,” she said. “Also, if hostilities break out you will side with me.”
This kind of offer was something I was obligated to pass on. My loyalties had to be to Thera first, but what are the chances the Queen would call in a favor that would interfere with my obligations to Thera? I knew Otis wasn’t going to do anything to break the peace so having either one of them to side with shouldn’t be an issue. It had to be slim to none, besides, with only a day to spare, I didn’t have any other options. Without a soul stone, there was no other way to get Naylet back. We made it to the cars and the attendant opened the door to the SUV for the Queen to get in. I was out of time to think about it.
“Agreed,” I said, extending my hand.
She shook it and got into the car. Harlan sat in the back, looking at the floor. I didn’t envy him.
“Give us a minute, Obie,” she said, closing the door.
I could hear the Queens muffled voice from inside the car—she was clearly not pleased. While I waited, I thought about my plan and all the moving pieces that had to come together to make it work. The best I could do was show up and hope everyone came through. If they do then we just might pull it off. If just one thing fell through, then the plan for killing Petra probably wouldn’t work and getting Naylet back would be impossible. The sound of an opening door brought me back to the present. Harlan got out of the SUV while the Queen rolled down the window.
“I will be expecting you tonight,” she said.
C H A P T E R • 24
“It’s not at all like I pictured it,” Harlan said when he spotted the clubhouse on top of the hill surrounded by the junkyard.
Otis had it built in the Forties, around the time Harlan was born. They made the transition from the local werebear pack to what would become the modern Tortured Occult. By that time, the Shifter and Elvin cold war was well under way, so Harlan would have never had the chance to see the headquarters of the Elvin Nation’s most hated enemy.
“Not as nice as what you’re used to?” I asked.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s magnificent,” he said. “The stories I’ve heard make it sound—”
I knew why he stopped talking; he was about to say something he shouldn’t. “How could you hear stories about it if the elves stay within the Nation? The Queen wouldn’t have spies running around would she?”
“Would it surprise you to hear that she did?” he asked.
“I would be disappointed if she didn’t,” I said.
I parked in my usual spot beside the clubhouse. We went in through the front, stepped into the changing room and closed the door behind us.
“You should probably leave the hat. You can stick it on any of those pegs,” I said, pointing to a row of open pegs behind him as I slid my shoes off.
Harlan was reluctant but removed the beanie from his head. Completely understandable considering what he had just been through. “How does this work?”
“It’s very informal. The only people here will be the five council members and Cearbhall. The meetings are closed to the public but we do have others attend if they have a reason to be here. All you have to do is make the proposals the Queen instructed and vote on anything that comes up.”
An overweight coyote squeezed its way into the changing room through the dog door. It sat down and looked at us with its tongue out panting.
“Does he bite?” Harlan said, eyeballing the creature.
“Not unless you’re made of nougat,” I said. “This is Hambone. He represents the masses. This is Harlan, prince of the Elvin Nation.”
The coyote shifted into a panting kobold. “A pleasure.”
“Nice to meet you.” Harlan extended his hand.
Hambone shook it with all the enthu
siasm he could muster. “Wow, an elf, here and royalty no less. I can see why you called a meeting. It’s very nice to meet you,” he said. “I’ll see you back there, okay?”
Hambone exited into the bar. Chatter flooded into the changing room when he opened the door.
“What’s this?” Harlan asked, showing me one of Hambone’s buttons.
“Oh, it’s close to election time. He loves passing out those buttons,” I said. “Just throw it out.”
“This should be interesting,” Harlan said, taking a breath.
“Nothing to it,” I said, shifting to krasis. “Let’s get back there.”
The chatter died off almost completely in the packed clubhouse when we stepped through the door. Most people here hadn’t seen an elf in a century or more and some never had, much less part of the royal family, even if it was just one of the males. I spotted Cearbhall, Otis, and Adan in the corner and gave them a nod. Hambone was busy buttering up some constituents at a nearby table. Harlan followed me to the back room for our meeting. Inside was a large pentagonal table with five chairs. We each took our normal seats, with Cearbhall leaning against the wall by the door. Harlan hesitated before moving to the only vacant chair, between Hambone and me.
He pulled the chair out, picked up a doughnut box off of it, and peeked inside. “What about the moldy doughnuts?”
“Oh, sorry about that. Your seat has been vacant so long, I was using it,” Hambone said.
“Should I throw these out?” Harlan asked.
Hambone fell back in his seat like he had been struck. “Throw them out? There’s nothing wrong with them!”
Harlan gave the doughnuts a second look. “Ugh, they’re fuzzy.”
Hambone patted the table in front of him. “Doughnuts are like wine, they get better with age. Just set them here.”
Harlan complied, brushed some crumbs off the chair, and took his seat.
“Let’s get this meeting started. Harlan, you have met Otis, and Hambone. The last member of the council is Adan, the emissary for the wererats in Atlanta.”
They nodded a greeting to each other.
“Thanks, everyone, for showing up on such short notice. I called the meeting because we have a serious situation that I wanted to make you aware of. There is a demon on the loose that’s caught Thera’s attention. I won’t go into the specifics, but Thera is prepared to bring down floods, tornadoes, the whole nine if we can’t kill this demon quick. The result would be death and devastation on a massive scale of both humans and ultras. I have a plan in place to deal with the demon. The elves and the T.O. are both helping, so if everything goes according to plan, tomorrow night we will kill the demon and things will be back to normal.”
“And if it doesn’t go according to plan?” Adan asked.
“Then I feel sorry for anyone living in North Georgia,” I said.
“Maybe we should evacuate,” Hambone said.
“What about the humans?” Otis asked.
Hambone rifled through the doughnuts and began chewing one, his canid jaws sending crumbs falling all over himself and the floor and muffling his words. “The humans aren’t our responsibility, besides, how would we warn them? Call in a bomb threat for the state?”
“I think it might be wise not to tell anyone,” I said. “Any kind of mass exodus could scare the demon off, ensuring what we’re trying to avoid. We need everything to look normal.”
“And if you fail, we let everyone die,” Hambone said.
I leaned forward to accentuate my point. “We won’t fail.”
Adan stroked his muzzle. “What about the elves?”
Everyone looked at Harlan. “The Queen is moving all nonessential personnel to the northern border.”
“Why do the elves get to evacuate but no one else can?” Hambone said. “That’s not right.”
“I went to the Queen to get her help, so she was aware of the threat ahead of time. Elves move around all the time, and with the way relations have been, no one is even looking at them. It won’t change anything,” I said.
“That’s not the point. We are talking about keeping a secret that could cost the lives of our friends and neighbors, unless it’s the elves, which aren’t really our friends. No offense, Harlan, you’re wonderful,” Hambone said. “You know Adan is going to report back to Atlanta and they will do something, too. If the T.O. is helping in this fight then they are already aware. The only people left out are the ones that are going to die ugly.”
“I don’t like it any more than you do but it is what it is. We can’t risk a panic messing things up,” I said.
“Vote then,” Otis said. “All in favor of keeping it secret.”
Everyone except Hambone raised their hand.
“Opposed.”
Hambone held the opposition alone with a scowl.
“It passes. We don’t make an announcement. Do we have any other business?”
Harlan took the cue and opened his mouth to speak. Before he could get a word out Hambone cut in. “I want to talk about the dust. While a lot of the dust was recovered from the recent theft, we lost four crates. That’s a big problem both in potential threat, and the hit we are going to take to our supply. Assuming we’re all still alive in a few days, we need to address the issue. Word has already gotten out that Hob was attacked. People are worried.”
“I agree. It will take months to recover and with the supply down, prices will rise. Trouble is inevitable if the dust runs out or people can’t afford it. Some people will stop practicing magic but some will go to the black market to get dust and that’s bad for all of us,” Adan said.
“I’ve been looking at the numbers and there’s another problem. Base supply is down about twenty-five percent,” Hambone said.
“Sorry, what’s base supply?” Harlan asked.
“It’s materials taken from the ultras that are produced in daily life, fingernail clippings, shed scales, lost teeth, and hair from haircuts for example. Things that can be dusted without harming the donor. When someone dies they have the option to donate their body as well,” I said.
Harlan nodded and Hambone continued. “That by itself is within the normal ranges but it’s just going to exacerbate the problem if it doesn’t turn around.”
“There’s nothing we can do about base supply. It is what it is,” Otis said.
“We have to do something,” Hambone said, starting on his second doughnut.
“Could we recover the missing dust?” Adin asked.
“I think it was used. Hank and Cearbhall saw it as well. This demon had a magic like I had never seen before. It looked like it was burning the dust pretty quick. The good news is it’s not out there to cause trouble,” I said.
“Yeah, but we can’t get it back either,” Adan said.
“A couple of days isn’t going to make a difference. Why don’t we table this until we settle the bigger problem of this demon?” I said.
“Anyone opposed?” Otis asked.
The table was silent.
“Any more business?” Otis said, looking directly at Harlan.
“Yeah, I have a couple things. The Queen is willing to participate in the council again. I have been appointed as her representative. There are changes she would like. First, she would like to move the meetings from the clubhouse to the Southern Outpost,” Harlan said.
“That’s pretty far away,” Adan said.
Hambone wasted no time in voicing his disapproval. “That’s not going to work! I don’t want to move into the Elvin Nation. There’s no way I can run that far for a meeting.”
“I can give everyone a ride to the meetings, it’s not that big of a deal. Less than an hour away,” Otis said. “My only concern is that we have our privacy. We need a place to talk freely.”
“That’s not a problem, there’s a room on the second floor we can use. It’s private and can be designated as our meeting room,” Harlan said.
“A snack table,” Hambone said.
“What?” Harlan asked
.
“If I’m going all that way there’s going to be a snack table, since I don’t have an empty chair anymore, and you provide the doughnuts.”
“Sure, no problem,” Harlan said.
“And candy bars.”
“Candy bars too,” Harlan conceded.
“Maybe some chocolate covered slugs?” Hambone’s eyes widened in anticipation.
“Don’t push your luck,” Harlan said.
“Vote,” Otis said. “In favor of moving the meetings to the outpost?” Everyone but Adan raised their hand. “It passes, we will have the table moved and starting with our next meeting will be at the Southern Outpost. What’s next?”
Harlan continued, “The Nation is used to a certain level of freedom. The Queen is looking for a promise that there won’t be any restrictions placed on the Nation.”
“So that would mean nothing would change really,” Otis said.
“Do we need to discuss it or can we vote?” I said.
“Vote,” Adan said. “In favor.”
Everyone raised their hands.
“Excellent. Well, if you will excuse me, I have a lot to prepare for,” I said, standing up from the table.
“One second, Obie, I have one more thing,” Harlan said. “The Queen would like the use of magic to be banned from the region, both its use and the production and distribution of dust.”
“Outrageous!” Hambone said, his mouth falling open, spilling half chewed doughnut on the table.
I sat back down and shot a look to Otis. He didn’t appear to have any more answers than I did. This wasn’t agreed to. Did she expect that we would back this? She couldn’t think that we would.
“You can’t be serious,” Adan said. “The rats will never agree.”
“Oh, I don’t expect it to pass. I was told to bring it to vote and that’s what I’m doing,” Harlan said.
“Ok, vote then,” I said. “In favor.”
Harlan raised his hand.
“Opposed?”
The rest of the table voted as expected.
“Motion denied,” I said. “Anything else?”
Harlan smiled and shook his head.