Wizard War

by Sheryl Steines

  Fabien cringed, and Armand clenched his jaw. Not willing to be berated by those across the sea, the Criminal Justice manager stormed off.

  “While Graham and his team are busy in the morgues, Annie, you take Spencer, Gibbs and Cham,” Ryan ordered. “Marcus and Phillipe need to return back home immediately. I want you in Amborix to complete the memory modification spell. Graham said they were finished and have the equipment ready for you.”

  “Isn’t that the purview of the VAU?” Annie asked, confused. It wasn’t that they couldn’t do it, but the VAU was always responsible for performing that particular magical spell.

  “Don’t you think they’re busy enough? Just fix this.” Sometimes it didn’t matter that Annie was his goddaughter. Ryan had a job to do and offered no special treatment.

  It wasn’t a long conversation or meeting. Annie had no idea why the entire Wizard Council had been assembled as the computer screen went blank.

  Unless they’re showing force…

  *

  Annie peered at the map as Spencer and Lial Peng marked locations along the Amborix border. They were attempting to space the crystal locations for the memory modification spell evenly around the country, ensuring good spell coverage.

  This is a little overly detailed, Annie thought as Spencer removed one mark and added a second only millimeters away. Then again, in real location the difference was probably miles.

  Elsewhere in the cramped conference room, Cham, Gibbs, Shiff, and Brite sorted through the crystals Graham had provided, separating them for each group.

  While they were busy, Annie began reading the carefully worded spell she would be performing in Amborix.

  “What shall we do?” Marielle asked. Annie glanced up at Marielle, who was quickly followed by Roland and Jory. They entered the conference room with some caution, almost sheepishly.

  Annie had locked them out of the proceedings when Armand stormed away.

  Nothing!

  “You were ordered to not assist,” Annie told Marielle. What had been a chilled relationship only hours ago had turned to ice. Annie returned to the spell.

  Maybe I could have avoided this had I found Amelie was turned. It was a thought that had run through Annie’s head for the last several hours.

  I could have dropped just few drops of water on Amelie. This wouldn’t have happened.

  “We are not tied to this disagreement in any way. What can we do?” Marielle asked again. Annie sucked in a deep breath and blew it out, slowly making eye contact with Marielle; her blue eyes pleaded with Annie to let them help.

  “If you really want to assist, you can help lay crystals across Amborix. Phillipe and Marcus are going with us to meet Guenther. Until we’re ready, there’s nothing we need from you,” Annie said.

  “This isn’t going well, is it? This magical cooperation?” Marielle asked. Her smile was grim, and her bottom lip quivered. Her eyes never stopped darting across the room. Annie wasn’t surprised; most wizard guards would continue to assess the situation until resolution.

  “No. It’s really not.” Annie offered her own smile, which was nothing more than her lips curled upwards. “I realize that we took over, but here, you just don’t have the resources we need. We had no choice and I apologize that we ran you over, but this is serious. Amelie is dangerous. We did what we had to do.” Annie glanced at Spencer, whose concern was palpable. They all felt the pressure to get this right.

  After a later tiring conversation with the Amborix Witches Council, who had finished a heated discussion with representatives of the royal family, Ryan finally ordered Annie to handle it. The once symbiotic relationship was torn beyond repair. Neither the Witches Council nor the royal family wanted to wait any longer with the news of the queen. After a tenuous truce, the royal family agreed to wait for the witches to take care of the situation. That resolution fell to Annie, and she and the team realized they had little time to handle it before the news got out.

  “I have a suggestion to offer.” It was mild-mannered Roland who spoke. Everyone on Annie’s team looked at him with curiosity.

  “What kind of suggestion?” Spencer asked.

  “Place a memory modification spell over the French Wizard Council. We can do it from in here. From the Eiffel Tower. Out at the center.” He pointed out of the conference room toward the center of Wizard Hall.

  Annie wore the same concerned expression as her entire team. She glanced out of the conference room, following the direction that Roland pointed—up to the ceiling where a large metal pin hung.

  It’s perfect! A perfect magical rod!

  Annie realized the spells would be sent upwards and out through the tower and then scattered across France.

  But how?

  “So we cast the spell upwards and out. How do we target the Wizard Council and employees at Wizard Hall?” Annie asked.

  Marielle unpinned the small silver brooch from her lapel and handed it to Annie. It shocked Annie’s palm.

  “This?” Annie asked as she examined the half-inch pin, the one that had been proudly displayed on the lapel of all Wizard Hall employees.

  It’s not for unity! It’s a conduit for spells. Spells performed on their own people?

  Annie grabbed it with her opposite hand and shook out the hand with the small scorch mark. She glanced at Marielle, who offered a piercing look before softening her features. Annie shuddered.

  “We all have this.” Marielle smiled. “This should reach us all. Including the three of us.” She pointed to her team.

  Simple yet powerful.

  Annie placed her hand behind her back and shook it out; the scorch mark tingled across her palm.

  “That would be one way to save this shaky relationship…” Annie stared at the pin.

  But is that ethical? Should one Wizard Guard unit have that much power over the other?

  “No. No. While it’s not illegal to perform the spell, performing it on another unit isn’t ethical. No Wizard Guard unit should have that much influence over another guard unit. No. Definitely not,” Annie said.

  “We think…” Marielle exchanged glances with her team. “We think this war is silly. The rules of engagement between the Wizard Guard units should not be this difficult. We should grant assistance and help regardless. But this, this is an overrated pissing contest as you’ve said. You did nothing wrong.” Marielle held out her a hand for a magical agreement handshake.

  Annie was alarmed by how quickly the suggestion was offered. She was worried about the unforeseen consequences of performing the spell on another Wizard Guard unit. She handed the pin back to Marielle.

  “I do understand what you hope to accomplish by performing the spell. But there is so much that can go wrong. What if someone remembers? Who will take care of memory leaks? One of you or all of you should not be part of the modification.” Annie bit her lower lip. “Before we do any modification of this size we must get permission from our Wizard Council. It is how they keep us from performing modification spells without carefully thinking it through. They gave us permission over Amborix to deal with the queen’s murder. Not this.”

  “We do this whenever necessary to keep our people safe,” Marielle said.

  Again, Annie couldn’t hide the anxiety. She shared it with her entire team. They all watched Marielle with cautious concern.

  “Why would you do that? What could you possibly gain?” Annie asked.

  “We control information. Sometimes it is necessary to keep dangerous information away from our people. It keeps them safe. I think this is the solution to our situation,” Marielle insisted.

  “My first reaction is no. We shouldn’t do this. I don’t see how this would be beneficial to you or to us. It sets a very bad precedent, one unit wiping the memories of another.”

  Why would they offer this? Why would they do this? What are they hiding?

  “This will return the relationship, like a reset. Yes. A reset. We could forget all about Amelie and the damage. But it is up to
you,” Marielle said, her eyes wide and eager.

  “Why? Really why would you offer this?” Annie eyed Marielle suspiciously.

  “You might be bossy, but you are good at what you do. You didn’t miss anything with Amelie and your unit. You have resources. We couldn’t have accomplished as much as you did as quickly as you did. You deserve the benefit of the doubt so we can fix the relationship.” Marielle offered a wan smile.

  “And you won’t lose your job if they find out,” Annie said.

  “No, we won’t,” Jory spoke up. “They’ll never know. Not after the spell.” Jory’s smile was wide. Annie almost believed him.

  Maybe we’ll modify his memory too.

  Ignoring the offer, Annie looked at the map. “Are we done?” she asked.

  “It’s ready,” Lial said.

  She bent over the map and examined the locations.

  “Are they serious?” Spencer asked.

  “I think so. Later,” she said and pulled up the map, folding it carefully.

  Still ignoring Marielle, Jory, and Roland, she looked at the baggies filled with crystals. “And we’re all set here?” she asked Cham.

  “We have fifty good rocks,” Cham said.

  Annie counted the proposed locations on the map. “That should be enough. We’re meeting the Amborix guards on Mt. Rinehur, the direct center of Amborix. We’ll break into pairs. Each pair will disperse the crystals in their assigned locations. Spencer and I will remain on the mountain.” Annie pointed to each of the locations on the map. “Lial has the assignments.” She turned and looked at him. He was cross-referencing a more detailed map of the topography of the area, marking a crystal location and a teleportation spot.

  “Almost done, Annie,” Lial murmured as he circled another spot on the map.

  “I’m here to help.” Fabien entered the room, against his boss’s earlier orders. He glanced with puffy, tired eyes at the map on the table and then at Annie.

  Thoughts and pictures flashed in her head. She questioned his motives and the motives of the three wizard guards. They were too eager to help.

  Are they spying on us to ramp up this war?

  “I thought…” she began, but he held his hand up to stop her from saying any more.

  “This is more important than this territorial war of words. You need help to disperse these crystals.”

  Annie glanced at her team; Cham offered a short nod.

  “Fine. But I need you to drop the attitude. Just complete the task at hand,” she said.

  She sorted through her notes before assigning teams: Gibbs with Fabien, Shiff with Marielle, Brite with Roland, and Cham with Jory. Lial would remain with Annie and Spencer on the top of the mountain to handle any issues that might need resolution.

  Each team received a supply of twelve crystals and a marked map with crystal locations.

  They had dispensed spells in this manner before. It was a simple procedure. Crystals were cut from a much larger rock. The smaller crystals would be dispersed around the perimeter of Amborix, evenly spaced. When the spell was cast over the larger rock, the spell would search out the scattered crystals, blanketing the country in magic.

  Annie thought of the spell she had used just the previous week to turn shapeshifters back to their human forms. She shuddered quickly and placed the crystal in her field pack.

  “Any questions?” she asked the group.

  “We’ll see you back here when we’re done,” Marielle said.

  And the teams parted for Amborix.

  Chapter 28

  The highest point of Mt. Rinehur was a flat narrow surface, leaving them in the path of high winds that whipped and burned any exposed skin. Annie tightened her scarf around her face. She shivered and glanced at her phone, anxious for word that the crystals had all been placed.

  While Spencer fought against the strong gusts to start a warming fire, Annie stepped close to the edge where she could see for miles. She looked out over the tiny, ancient villages that lay along the languid, slow river. It was peaceful and dreamy.

  Another place I will never see.

  She shivered against the wind and checked her phone again. Twenty minutes had passed.

  Annie returned to Spencer, knelt beside him. “Too windy,” she said. “I’m going to sit over there.” She hid herself behind the only boulder on the mountaintop and watched the clock on her phone change.

  She placed the phone back in her pocket and warmed her hand.

  Thanks to the whistling wind, Annie couldn’t hear the rush of air that was displaced by the human bodies, but she could see the blurry forms of Phillipe, Marcus, and Guenther land on the mountain. She lunged from behind the boulder to greet them.

  “Hi Marcus, Phillipe.” Annie smiled at them.

  “Any news?” Marcus asked. A strong gust of air hit them, so he jumped up and down for warmth.

  “Nothing yet. Which is good news, we think,” Annie said.

  “We’re actually fascinated by the memory modification spell. We’ve never had the occasion to perform one before,” Phillipe admitted.

  “Well, here’s your chance to see it up close.” Annie handed them a list of locations and a bag of crystals.

  “So how does this work?” Guenther asked. He hadn’t spoken until now. Annie thought he was working too hard to suppress his anger. She bit her tongue to keep from smirking.

  “Place the crystal on the locations marked on the map. When I say the spell, the magic will fly from my crystal and find all of the crystals across the country,” she said with an uneasy smile.

  “Okay. This is doable. We should call when we’ve placed them?” Marcus asked.

  “Yes. Please. As soon as you’re done, text me and we’ll get the spell started. Just stay outside of the perimeter or you’ll be affected.”

  Too bad they’re not all this easy.

  “Good idea. Why aren’t you affected up here?” Phillipe asked.

  Annie pulled a necklace from beneath her jacket, an ugly gold piece with a gargoyle face at the center. “It’s not pretty, but it protects against the spell.”

  “Yeah, that’s scary. So in the future we need those. Good to know. I guess that’s it, then?” Marcus asked.

  “That’s it. Good luck and stay safe,” Annie said.

  Marcus and Phillipe offered a smile and a wave before they teleported from the mountain top.

  “How’s the royal family?” Annie asked Guenther, though she had a general idea—it hadn’t been easy.

  “We have them appeased for now,” he said coolly as he knelt beside the fire to assist Spencer.

  With an extra boost of magic, the fire finally took hold of the wood. When the fire began to roar, Annie scooted over feeling just enough heat to take the edge off. Guenther grunted and stood as he observed his country below.

  “Who is this Cyril Stonewell that turned the princess?” he asked.

  Annie bit her lip, glanced at Spencer, and stood up beside Guenther. “Eight months ago, he sat on the Wizard Council. His rise through the ranks was unremarkable, rather typical. He was eventually passed over for Grand Marksman, and that didn’t sit well with him. He went about a plan to take over the council. Before her murder, Amelie stole an integral part of the plan, and he had her killed. We’re not sure why he had her turned, unless it was Plan B in case the original plan fell through. Which is exactly what happened,” she explained.

  “And he’s dead? Is that correct?”

  “Amelie killed him when he released her from the coffin.” Annie watched as Guenther’s jaw went slack, as he linked his hands behind his back.

  “What do you think is really going on?” he asked.

  “A second round of crystals have been laid and are secure,” Lial announced unaware of Guenther’s question. Lial had linked the crystals to the map and watched patiently as each pair placed their crystals in the assigned locations.

  “Thanks, Lial,” Annie said returning to Guenther. “May I ask why you’re asking?”

/>   “Amelie running all over France, killing Van Altons… that seems odd to me.”

  “We underestimated the vampire. She’s turning up at locations before we do. I believe she’s being helped by a magical.”

  “Might it be someone in the Wizard Guard?”

  Spencer added magic to the fire. The flames raged against the wind. Annie and Guenther scooted closer, though it wasn’t much warmer.

  “You could very well be correct that someone in the Wizard Guard is helping Amelie,” Spencer agreed.

  “Someone who knows France. Perhaps someone who has a grudge against the family,” Guenther remarked.

  “That’s where to look,” Annie said and dialed Bucky. “Do you have time for a quick search?”

  “Yeah. Something new came up?” Bucky asked.

  “Can you pull up the database for the French Wizard Guard and find out if any of them are related to the Van Alton family?”

  Bucky paused. “Annie, are you sure you want to do that?”

  “Can you find the information?” she asked.

  “If it’s in any database, I’ll find it. But you are looking to connect another Wizard Guard unit to multiple deaths and using a vampire to do it.”

  “And I need proof before I bring these accusations to light. We’ve been thinking a magical is helping Amelie. As Guenther Grimm just pointed out, it seems to be someone who is well familiar with France. Someone who knew where we would be and when.”

  “Do you have an idea who we’re looking at?

  “I do have a theory, but it’s based on a gut feeling. If this person pops up on your list, we’ll dig further. Until then, I just need to know who is related to the family.”

  “I’ll keep it out of the reports. Between you and me,” Bucky said.

  “Thanks, Bucky. I’m very glad you’re on our side.”

  *

  Gibbs grumbled as they reached their third location. It had nothing to do with Fabien; he was by all accounts a model wizard guard as he refused to be used in this war between Wizard Councils. For now, he did whatever Gibbs required. Gibbs simply wanted away from this case and these people in general; he’d rather be at home in his simple life as a simple wizard guard.