by N M Thorn
She stared at him without blinking for a few seconds like he was some kind of general nuisance and when she finally replied, notes of aggravation broke through in her even voice.
“If Russian Militsiya could solve this case, they wouldn’t bother contacting me. And the reason I’m here, in this office, is because you’re the only person who is qualified to recover the stolen artifact. You have special talents that are quite unique, Mr. Burns. I need them.”
Gunz shuddered inwardly. She obviously was implying that she needed the Fire Salamander. How could she know about his so-called special talents? How did she find out and who else knew about him? Something wasn’t right. If this woman was human, how could she know all this?
“Zane,” said Jim quietly without changing his position, “the order from above was loud and clear—we must cooperate.”
The same thin smile cut across Agent Zvereva’s face at Jim’s words. “Yes, Mr. Burns. With your military background, surely you understand what an order to cooperate means, don’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am,” replied Gunz dryly. “I know what it means. But since you seem to know everything about me, surely you realize that I’m no longer in the military and I’m not an official FBI agent either. So, if you want my cooperation and assistance, you need to answer my questions, or you’ll be watching me walk away. Let’s start with how you found out about my special talents.”
“Zane, please!” Jim shook his head, taking a step forward. There was something in Jim’s voice and the way he moved that sent chills down Gunz’s spine.
“It’s okay, Agent Andrews,” said Agent Zvereva, raising her hand up to stop him, “I’ll answer his questions. At least those that I can answer.” She turned to Gunz. “You are the Fire Salamander, Mr. Burns. The only Fire Salamander in our world.” She checked her watch and glanced at the office door. “Just like Agent Andrews, I have my own informant. She should arrive here in a few minutes. She’ll explain how I learned about you. Please, be patient—”
A soft knock interrupted her speech.
“Come in,” she yelled, turning toward the door and a derisive smirk appeared on her face.
The door opened up slowly and a woman in her late twenties walked inside. Gunz gasped and jumped to his feet, knocking his chair down. A wave of rage seared through him setting his whole body ablaze as he partially lost control of his fire power. His mind was overwhelmed by anger and he couldn’t think clearly. One second he was standing, his hands clenched into tight fists as he fruitlessly tried to get in control, the next second he was by the door, pinning the young woman to the wall, his flaming hand wrapped around her neck. She gasped, struggling to breathe, her pupils dilated from the pain of burns.
“You!” roared Gunz. “I warned you! I told you that if I ever see you again, I will kill you! Treacherous bitch!”
“Zane, stop!” Gunz felt someone seizing his shoulders and ripping his hand off the young woman. “Zane, please…” Somewhere in the back of his murky mind he recognized Jim’s voice and let go, allowing Jim to pull him away from the woman.
“What’s going on, Zane?” asked Jim, staring down at the blisters of burns on his palms. “Who is this woman and what did she do? I’ve never seen you so furious.” Jim turned to Agent Zvereva and her informant, gesturing at the door. “Agent, may I have the room, please? I need a few minutes with Zane alone.”
Agent Zvereva smirked and shook her head no.
“Anything you need to say to him, you can say in front of me, Agent Andrews. From this moment on, Mr. Burns is part of my investigation and, as such, he reports to me. If you wish to know why Mr. Burns is a little hot under the collar, I can explain.”
She pointed toward the young woman who was crying silent tears, clutching her burnt neck with both hands. Zvereva’s cold eyes took in her appearance and an expression of distaste distorted her features.
“Allow me to introduce Lera Volkov. She is the only daughter of the late Belarusian gangster Viktor Volkov. A couple of years ago, Lera betrayed Captain Oleg Svetlov who was Mr. Burns’ commanding officer and his best friend, I believe. As a result of her actions, Mr. Burns and two of his friends almost lost their lives during the rescue operation they ran to save Captain Svetlov. So, I can understand his smoldering hate toward Lera, but he will need to curb his emotions because Lera is an integral part of this operation.”
“I will never work with her,” growled Gunz. He finally got in control of his fire power, but his eyes were still glowing red. “I’m done here.”
He made a move toward the door, but Jim seized his arm above his elbow and whispered into his ear. “Zane, please stop. I can’t order you to work with them, the only thing I can do is ask… I’m in a bad situation, man… If you don’t cooperate, I’ll lose everything I worked for. My career will be over. My whole life…” His whisper trailed into silence, his fingers nervously digging into Gunz’s arm.
“Jim, I don’t understand. What’s going on? Why?” Gunz asked quietly.
Jim started to say something, but Agent Zvereva approached them, interrupting their conversation.
“Enough with the whispering,” she said in a no-nonsense tone. “Mr. Burns, do we have an understanding?”
Gunz met Jim’s haunted eyes and nodded. “Yes, ma’am,” he replied quietly. “I’ll work with you. What do you need me to do?”
She smiled icily and grabbed his left hand, checking his watch with interest. “Standard FBI issue watch, I assume? GPS tracker?” she asked, throwing a wry look at Jim. He nodded. “Leave this watch here, Mr. Burns. You won’t need it where we’re going.”
“The watch stays,” objected Gunz firmly.
Agent Zvereva shrugged but didn’t argue. “Fine, you can keep your toy. Now say goodbye to Agent Andrews because we’re leaving immediately.”
Gunz nodded and turned toward Jim. He didn’t like the situation in the slightest, but there was nothing he could do at this moment in fear of hurting his friend.
“Take care, Jim,” he said, as he squeezed his hand in a firm handshake. “I don’t know how long this operation will take, but if you need any help while I am gone, call Aidan. Do you understand me?” Jim nodded silently, his lips pressed in a grim straight line.
Gunz turned around and followed Agent Zvereva and Lera out of the office. They walked out of the FBI building and she led him toward a black SUV with tinted windows that was parked in front of the building. She unlocked the door and pointed at the front passenger seat.
“Sit down and put your seatbelt on,” she ordered.
He shrugged but climbed into the SUV and locked the seatbelt. In the meantime, Agent Zvereva walked around and got behind the wheel, waiting for Lera to get in the back seat. Once Lera was ready, she started the car and turned to Gunz.
“Are you comfortable?” she asked with a crooked smile on her face. Gunz raised his eyes at her, surprised by her question and nodded. “Perfect! Now, it’s time to sleep, Fire Salamander.”
A powerful wave of magical energy expanded around her. Gunz gasped, his Salamander’s senses overwhelmed by the sheer strength of her magical presence. He reached for his magic, but it was blocked. She touched his forehead with her two fingers muttering a short spell and everything around him went dark.
Chapter 3
~ Zane Burns, a.k.a. Gunz ~
A glass of icy water thrown in his face wasn’t Gunz’s favorite way to wake up, by far. To him, touching cold water felt like how submerging a hand into a pot of boiling water would feel to a human. But it wasn’t only his face, every inch of his skin was affected by the contact with frosty water. His wet clothes clinging to his body added to his overall discomfort.
Gunz opened his eyes and slowly sat up, supporting himself with his arms. Agent Zvereva was towering over him with an empty glass in her hand and a contemptuous smile on her face. Lera was standing behind her, peeking over her shoulder. She was wrapped in a thick wool cape and still shivered from cold.
“I hope you had a ni
ce rest because it’s time to get to work,” said Zvereva.
“You couldn’t find a nicer way to wake me up than throwing the cold water in my face?” asked Gunz, wiping his face with his hand.
“Be grateful that the glass didn’t follow,” huffed Zvereva throwing the empty glass on the ground next to him. “Well, at least you didn’t revert into your natural state. I was a little worried that waking you up in such an abrupt manner could cost my dear Lera her life, so I blocked your magic and your elemental power.” She cackled, winking at a half-frozen Lera.
“I never revert unless I want to do it,” muttered Gunz, surveying his surroundings.
The darkness of the night wrapped around him like a soft blanket. The sky deprived of sunlight was sparkling with a myriad of stars. The winter sky and the low temperatures added some brightness to the stars and extra crispiness into the frosty air.
He was sitting in the middle of nowhere. As far as he could see, on his left and on his right, a snow-veiled field was stretched for miles around. The snow around him melted into a frosty puddle from the heat of his body and his clothes were soaked with cold water. As the Fire Salamander, he didn’t feel the cold, but he didn’t enjoy the touch of wet fabric against his body.
A dark naked forest was looming a few yards away from him. A low dirty fog was swirling over the snow, slithering between leafless trees. A frosty winter breeze rushed through the woods lifting the fog up and carrying it forward, but the branches and shrubbery didn’t move, remaining still and soundless. The forest looked dead and ghostly.
A tall iron post was erected on the border between the dead forest and the empty field. A thick iron chain was wrapped around the post. On the ground, all around the post, a pile of dry branches was scattered like someone was getting ready to set the post on fire.
This place was eerie and odd. But the strangest aspect of this place was the overwhelming sensation of magic and power flowing all around him. Gunz remembered the way he felt the presence of the Original Power in Kendral and what he was experiencing right now was tenfold more intense. Even with his magic blocked by Agent Zvereva, he felt intoxicated by the energy of this place. This couldn’t be his world.
“Where are we?” he asked, getting up, squeezing as much water out of his pants as he could.
“I thought you’d never ask,” said Agent Zvereva, shaking her head. “Don’t you feel it? I’m sure even with your magic blocked, you can still feel the presence of magical energy all around you.”
“I do,” replied Gunz calmly. “So, where are we?”
She chuckled. “We’re in the Land of Dreams, Fire Salamander. One of four magical nexuses on Earth. I hope your mentor taught you at least some history of magic.”
“Why did you bring me here?” asked Gunz through clenched teeth, slowly losing his patience. She was toying with him and he felt helpless with his magic blocked and Jim’s future on the line. “What do you want from me?”
Agent Zvereva pursed her lips. “Mr. Burns, you have more power and magic than you can imagine, yet your knowledge of magic is skin-deep. To be able to really use the magic, you need to understand the forces that drive it, the history behind…”
Her voice melted into nothing. Gunz stared at her lips moving but didn’t hear a word she was saying, his mind far away. Everything she was saying sounded so familiar. He learned a lot about magic during the last six months. There was still a lot he didn’t know, but he was far from ignorant. In his mind, he went back to the moment he saw this woman for the first time and he remembered how he couldn’t sense any magical energy in her. To block a Fire Salamander’s access to his elemental power, she had to be an extremely powerful witch. And the way she was shadowing her own power was like—
“Are you daydreaming?”
Zvereva’s shrilling voice made him flinch. He raised his eyes at her, as understanding flashed over him.
“Are you a Guardian witch?”
“A witch? You’re insulting me, Mr. Burns,” she huffed. “I’m a Guardian mage. A seventh level Guardian mage. In case you didn’t know, the seventh level is the highest level a Guardian mage can achieve.”
“Then why didn’t you present yourself as such? Why all these lies? Why threaten Agent Andrews and pressure me? If your organization needed my help, all they had to do was ask!”
“Guardians do not disclose their true nature in front of humans, Mr. Burns,” objected Zvereva coldly.
“So, what do you need me to do?”
“I already told you. I need you to retrieve a magical artifact that was stolen,” started Zvereva, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “What I didn’t tell you was where I needed you to go and what this artifact was.”
“I assume you’re going to tell me all that sooner or later,” muttered Gunz.
“Yes, Mr. Burns, as soon as you take down a notch on your sarcasm,” replied Zvereva, dryly. “Being disrespectful to a person who just rendered you powerless is not a very smart move.”
Gunz raised his hands up, an uneven grin on his face. “Sorry. I’m all ears.”
She checked her wristwatch and smirked, satisfied. “It’s almost midnight. In a few minutes, I’m going to open the gates to the Nav. And you are going to walk through these gates—”
“The Nav? As in the Dark Nav? The World of spirits and demons?” hissed Gunz, staggering back a few steps. “Are you out of your goddamn mind? Right now, we are in the Yav, the world of living. No one can walk between Yav and Nav! There is only one god in the whole Slavic pantheon who can do it. And there is a good reason why no one can travel between these realms!”
“I’m pleased to see that you know the ancient Slavic mythology.” Zvereva slowly clapped her hands together, applauding him. “You are not as ignorant as I thought you were. But look around, Salamander. You are standing right on the border between two worlds. I can, and I will open the gate. And when I do, you will play your part. You’re an immortal Child of Fire. Besides one major Slavic deity, you are the only living being who can walk through these gates and have a chance to come back in one piece. As you put it, most of the gods can’t do it, I can’t do it either, so it has to be you.”
Gunz gaped at her silently. The danger of this quest and all the risks involved were enormous. He wasn’t afraid to die. Being the immortal Fire Salamander, death wasn’t an issue. However, the idea of being lost in the World of spirits and demons didn’t sound appealing. The realm of Nav was ruled by Chernobog, the god of Destruction and his wife Morena, the goddess of Winter and Death. He didn’t think Chernobog would appreciate him breaking into his realm uninvited and very much alive. Only dead and things that shouldn’t be alive in Yav belonged in the grim realm of Chernobog.
Zvereva took in his state of bewilderment and tapped her masculine boot on the ground, impatience in her every move.
“I have no time to deal with your fears, Mr. Burns. Remember what’s at stake here. Besides the wellbeing of your boss and friend, Agent Andrews, there is also a general concern about the balance of power in this world. This artifact is extremely powerful and leaving it in the hands of Chernobog is tilting the balance of power toward the darkness. So, you will do as you are commanded. The artifact you need to recover and bring to me is a pendant that looks like a double-edged axe, decorated with gold inlays. Remember, once you go through the gates, I will be the only person who can bring you back.”
Holy shit! She wants me to steal a magical pendant from Chernobog? The ancient Russian god of Destruction versus a newborn Fire Salamander. She is out of her friggin’ mind!
Gunz shook his head, raising his hand up. “Hold on. I can’t go into the fight with the god of Destruction on a whim. I won’t be able to even come close to him. You need to give me some time, Agent Zvereva. I have to think this operation through, get some kind of a plan—"
Her cracked dry laughter interrupted him in mid-sentence, and he fell silent.
“I’m opening the gates in a few minutes, Mr. Burns, and I
can’t give you any time for preparations. Deal with it,” she said, shoving her hands into her pants pockets. “And honestly, you shouldn’t be worried about how you are going to fight with Chernobog just yet. The only question you should be asking is how you are going to get in touch with me once you complete your mission. In case you missed it, let me repeat—I’m the only person in this world who can bring you back from the Nav.”
“Okay… Fine,” said Gunz, swallowing hard. “How am I going to communicate with you?”
She approached him and tugged on his shirt. “Take your shirt off,” she ordered, checking her watch again. “We are running out of time. Do it fast.”
“Excuse me?” asked Gunz, taking a step back.
“What don’t you understand?” she barked, closing the distance between them, invading his personal space. “I said, take off your goddamn shirt or I swear to God, I’ll rip it off you! Move it!”
Gunz unbuttoned his shirt and took it off, holding it in his hand. Zvereva seized his left shoulder with one hand, her fingers digging into his skin, and pressed the palm of her other hand to his chest. She muttered a short spell under her breath and immediately, a searing pain jolted through his body.
Gunz cried out, fighting her grip. She let him go and cocked her head, observing her handy work. A glowing red rune was decorating his chest. Its shine was slowly dimming down as the pain was subsiding. Gunz looked down at the rune on his chest and gently probed it with his finger. It was still sore.
“How does it work?” he exhaled, the ability to speak slowly returning to him. “How can I speak with you through it?”
“You won’t be able to speak with me. Once you walk through the gates, you are on your own. When you acquire the artifact and are ready to go back, press your palm to the rune and send some of your fire magic through it. I’ll feel it and pull you out of the Nav. Any other questions, Mr. Burns?”