by L R Deney
“Typical,” she said, then turned and stormed out of the chamber.
◆◆◆
The night air was always stale in Azramoas. To be fair, so was the day air. Unsurprising, because of the pocket of reality’s artificial nature. It didn’t actually have a sun or a moon or stars, just arcane lighting that mimicked such to make the denizens who lived in it feel more comfortable.
In time though, Azramoas would fall, just like everything else that stood in their path. A hooded figure that stood outside an alley raised the small ball of illumination several inches above his hand, then caused it to bob and dance about in signal. Soon the other hooded figure he had been waiting for saw it and quickly closed the distance between them. The light was snuffed and both of them retreated into the depths of the nearby alley.
“Someone has taken notice of your work on Earth,” the man who had been waiting for the other said.
“Yes? By who?”
“An old trouble maker by the name of Staci Drenvauder. There is little love lost between her and the Council.”
“What did she have to say?”
“Nothing that couldn’t be easily dismissed. However, it seems she’s been testing your wards.”
“Our wards are perfect!”
“And they remain so. I didn’t get the impression that she passed them. Nevertheless, I advise caution with her involved. She causes problems wherever she turns up.”
The second man chuckled. “I’m sure we can handle one woman.”
“I would not underestimate her ability to cause mischief. Do what you must, eliminate her if you have to, but do not allow your arrogance to grant her the advantage.” He reached into his cloak and pulled out an envelope stuffed with papers. “This is everything that the Council has on her. Read it.”
The other man accepted the package, pulled out a few sheets and called forth a small ball of light to read them. His eyes widened, then narrowed. He looked to his colleague. “This is accurate?”
There was a nod. “Yes.”
The light was snuffed out and the papers stuffed back into the envelope with a soft crinkle. “Well then, I will have my people look these papers over. We will exterminate this… thing with extreme prejudice.”
Chapter 5
“So they just blew you off?” Melanie asked in shocked disbelief.
“That’s the Council for you,” Staci replied dryly, eyes wandering across the surrounding trees. “They’re pretty typical as far as governments go. Inevitably unhelpful, resistant to take action unless it directly impacts their interests. Just goes to show that regardless of politics or creed, the nature of the State always remains the same.”
“Fuck. So now what?”
“Now we try the more unconventional avenues.”
The two women were strolling through Ravenna Park on a cloudy and occasionally rainy afternoon. Staci wore a long, black Victorian gown complete with a corset and an ankh necklace; whereas Melanie went with something more contemporary in a metal band t-shirt and tight black pants and boots. The park was mostly empty with a few passersby on the trails here and there, so it was pleasantly quiet with a soft breeze rustling tree limbs and the chirping of birds filling the air.
The path took them close to a small stream where a small wooden bridge branched off to the left to cross it. Staci smiled to herself and led the way, hoping that the person she knew who frequented the park was nearby. As they turned to cross the bridge, Melanie gasped at the size of the rock that awaited them on the other side of the stream, the tail end of the bridge curving to accommodate it. After the bridge were a few steps that led to slightly higher ground.
Crouched near the boulder was a woman boldly wearing a brightly colored, fuchsia ball gown. Startlingly enough, she appeared to have actual butterfly wings on her back. So far, she didn’t appear to have noticed either of them.
Staci raised her finger to her black-painted lips then promptly crept up behind the unsuspecting fairy person. Watching, Melanie covered her open mouth with her hands as Staci stopped, leaned down, and tapped the woman on the shoulder.
“Boo,” Staci said blandly as the other woman turned her head to look at her.
“Oh, you,” the woman said with a grin. “Escaped from your cage again, did you? They need to build better ones that can hold you.”
Staci chuckled, pulling back. “That will be the day.” Then she motioned for Melanie to approach.
“So what brings you to my nick of the woods, my dear?” the mysterious fairy woman said, standing up from the crouch.
“The Council decided to be as difficult as always.”
“What do you expect?”
“Much the same, really,” Staci grumbled with a shake of her head while she placed an arm around Melanie and pulled her close. “The Council and I have a long antagonistic history together. I expect them to do their jobs of watching out for people, and they remain steeped only in their interests.”
“Well I don’t know what you want me to do about it. They don’t like me very much either. No place for fairies in their court.”
“I don’t want you to do anything. Those guys can have fun in their circle jerk for all I care. But I could use your help in other ways. Lately there’s been a rash of disappearances in the city that the mundane authorities are unable to solve. The only clue is the clear racist motivations behind them; each scene has a Schwarze Sonne burned in a wall nearby.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“An old Nazi symbol.”
“Unsurprising, lots of those sorts of people around these days,” the fairy woman said with a sad look off into the distance. Then she glanced to Melanie. “I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”
Staci blinked. “Oh right, this is Melanie Brooks. Melanie, this is Seattle’s resident Fairy Godmother, Lanis Vila. If you need help, she can usually find you someone who knows someone. She helped me out a while back when I was still in a dark place.”
The Fairy Godmother sighed sadly. “I can’t help people as much as I used to. But I do what I can.”
“Well, as long as you’re trying,” Melanie said with a shrug. “There’s a lot of people who don’t even do that much.”
“Every little bit, no matter how small the action, helps,” Staci added with a bright smile.
Lanis turned her gaze away, looking up towards something that flittered by and up into a tree. Staci didn’t think it looked much like a bird or insect, and considering the Fairy Godmother’s presence, she wasn’t too surprised.
“So, anyway,” Staci went on, to bring them back to the original subject, “I was curious if you’ve heard anything that might help in my investigation.”
“Have you tried the homeless communities?” Lanis asked, turning her eyes back toward Staci.
The witch suddenly frowned to herself. “I should have thought about that.”
“Well, that’s why you come to me. Come on.”
Lanis turned to walk off in the direction that Staci and Melanie had arrived from. They wandered through the park for a time, the Fairy Godmother discussing her time in the city and her past work to help people, primarily those in the transgender and intersex communities. She also discussed the problems she’s observed about human civilization during her travels.
“You people don’t seem to like helping each other. It’s very odd.”
“Nevermind the hostility you’ve received when trying to help people,” Staci observed. She glanced to Melanie. “Case in point due to its relevance, the Council really doesn’t like it that she doesn’t conceal her fairy heritage when in public.”
“I refuse to play by their rules.”
“No assassins lately?”
Lanis stopped in her tracks and looked back at Staci. “What?”
“Or anyone they might send to try and enforce their rules?”
“My dear, they know better.”
After taking a route up and out of the park, reality appeared to warp around them. Staci didn’t
even flinch, recognizing the spatial shift as a routine travel spell that she often used herself. Melanie seemed to be getting used to them as well as she looked a lot less surprised than the night she met her when suddenly freeway on-ramps and off-ramps surrounded them overhead. The Fairy Godmother reached out an arm to prevent her companions from potentially walking into a passing bus.
Melanie looked around. “Wait, this is…”
“SODO,” Staci answered nonchalantly. “Near I-5 to be more specific.”
“Yeah, wow. That’s a lot of ground to cover from where we were.”
Both Staci and Lanis smiled knowingly at each other. Relatively, the trip from North Seattle to South Seattle was one of the shortest journeys one could make with a traveling spell. Traveling spells could theoretically go anywhere in the universe if the wielder of the magic was powerful enough. Staci lost count of how many times she traveled clear across the world in just a few steps. Almost nothing was beyond magic’s reach. Almost nothing.
Across the road, underneath one of the ramps, was a sprawling collection of tents lined up in the space between city streets. Occasionally a few people were seen entering or exiting said tents while others were lounging outside them. This was, unfortunately, one of the more visible homeless encampments in Seattle. For all of its presumably progressive policies, the Seattle homeless population was one of the highest.
Staci looked back toward the Seattle skyline with its numerous concrete and steel towers, and then back to the encampment. She shook her head.
Lanis led the way across the street, and Staci noticed more than a few pairs of eyes wander in their direction. She simply had to wave and smile in their direction. While a few of the looks lingered, others simply went back to what they were doing in response to the wave. The witch had to chuckle at that.
“If minorities are being targeted like you say, this’ll be the place to ask around,” Lanis explained, fluttering her wings a bit.
“Because no one cares about them,” Staci concluded. “Not the police, not the average citizen, not the city government.”
Lanis nodded.
After examining the area with a soft frown, Staci approached one of the homeless denizens. The middle-aged man looked at the trio oddly; his eyes lingering on Lanis the longest then shook his head. Holding her best composure, the witch did her best to ignore the reaction. These people were hurting, the last thing they needed was a lecture about rude stares.
“Salutations,” she said with a polite, greeting smile.
“Hello,” the man replied with a shrug. “What can I do ya for?”
“My friends and I are investigating a rash of disappearances,” she replied, sweeping her arm in a gesture back to her companions. “The redhead here, Melanie, has a personal connection to one of the kidnapped. Her friend disappeared a couple weeks ago without much of a trace. Several other people disappeared the same way, recently. All of them have been ethnic minorities. We suspect that white supremacists may be behind the activity. So we’re wondering if anyone out here has seen or heard anything out of the ordinary, anything that might be construed as suspicious or fitting in line with the rash of kidnappings.”
The man stroked his chin thoughtfully after listening to everything she had to say. “Yes, yes, some people around here have gone missing. Of course, the cops don’t really listen much, because we’re homeless. They just say that they’ll ‘watch out for them’ and none of us hear anything more. To them, homeless people going missing probably sounds perfectly ordinary. But there’s been a few Mexicans, some blacks, my neighbor’s Jewish friend that just plain vanished over the last month.”
“Where is your neighbor now? Can I speak to them?”
The man glanced to one of the nearby tents. “I think she left with another one of her friends to go to a store or something.”
“Do you know when she’ll be back?”
“Not really.”
Staci nodded. “Thank you for your time then.”
The witch led her companions through the homeless camp, asking around about the missing people. A lot knew someone personally that vanished and all described the same general apathy from law enforcement. That last fact simply caused a white hot rod of fury rise up through Staci. These people had become undesirables. Afterthoughts. The cruel world had abandoned them while capitalism treaded over their backsides.
Eventually they were able to derive the locale that the neighbor of the first man they spoke to had wandered off to. Apparently Denise and her friend Michelle had gone to a nearby Taco Bell to get some cheap food. Staci handed off a few dollars here and there to those who requested it before she led her companions in the direction of the popular fast food restaurant.
Walking along the road on the sidewalk as the cars drove past; the contrast of the world really struck the witch. One could easily see how wealth inevitably flowed upwards despite the claim of “trickle-down” by mundane politicians. It disgusted her that the world functioned like this, that this was considered an “acceptable way” to run a society.
Several minutes later, following several random honking horns and catcalls from passing vehicles, the Taco Bell came into sight. Two women, one with darker complexion than the other, stepped out of the restaurant and were walking toward their direction. Hurrying in her steps, eager to interview these people, Staci led the charge.
That was when everything went south. As the two women her group was heading toward stepped further from the fast food restaurant, Staci watched with shock and rising horror as several men materialized from seemingly nowhere and surrounded the two women. She wasn’t sure what they had used, traveling spell, shroud, but their trap had clearly been triggered before anyone realized that something was happening. The women screamed while the men advanced on them and Staci found herself running toward the scene, Melanie and Lanis close behind.
“Not this time, motherfuckers!” she shouted, weaving together a quick spell that promptly slammed into one of the attacking Nazis and sent him flying.
Lanis followed up by gliding toward the villains and engaging a couple of them with a sword that apparently shimmered into existence from nothing. Staci simply smirked at the sight before weaving a few more dark bolts of energy at the Nazis. The enemy was quickly in disarray, several of them staring at their female assailants in confusion.
“Run to safety!” Staci shouted to the two women that the Nazis had targeted. Without wasting a moment, both of them ran for their lives away from the combat.
That was the moment Staci heard the short wail of a police siren as a cop car seemingly appeared from nowhere and pulled up onto the sidewalk in front of the escaping women. Her eyes narrowed as two more white males emerged from the vehicle, one of them very skillfully weaving together a band of magical energy around the two women. Turning around, allowing Lanis to deal with the rest of the Nazis as she danced around them with her sword, Staci prepared to deal with this new threat.
Focusing more of her arcane power into her next spell, she created a far larger bolt of energy than those before it and sent it slamming into the two officers and their squad car. The vehicle was flung onto its side and the men were sent flying back several feet. Hurrying over to the women’s side, she recited a quick counter spell and their bonds rapidly fell away into nonexistence.
“Keep running, girls, we’ll deal with these bastards,” she assured them before turning briefly just in time to catch sight of Melanie clocking one of the assailants that was heading towards Staci in the face.
“Punch every Nazi!” Melanie declared, before kneeing him in the groin.
Staci nodded and turned her attention back toward the dirty cops. Both of them were slowly climbing back to their feet. Without wasting time, refusing to let them regroup, she fired off a few more bolts of magical energy. Each one slammed into the men, putting them further off balance. Staggered and desperate, one of them returned fire with a thin red spike of power that sped toward her head. Narrowly dodging it just in time, s
he still felt it slice against her temple.
She reached up and felt blood and her anger only boiled within her. Focusing that cold fury, she sent out a torrent of black needle-shaped bolts that tore into the alleged law officers. Both of them fell into pools of their own blood, and she didn’t care if they lived or died; they were incapacitated, that was enough.
Her gaze shifted back toward the scene that involved Melanie and Lanis. The original assailants weren’t in much better shape, cut up and bleeding into pools of blood from injuries inflicted by Lanis’ sword. Only one of them still stood and realizing that his cause was lost, quickly turned to flee, the air shuddering around everyone in the vicinity as he opened a portal to escape into.
Intending to pursue, Staci ran toward the portal but it quickly closed in front of her, denying her access. She stared at the open air where it had been for a moment, then shook her head. For once, one of their nefarious abductions had been thwarted, that was enough. Her eyes wandered the scene, noting the prone, bleeding bodies.
“We should probably get out of here,” she observed.
“A good idea,” Lanis remarked dryly.
“Oh, your head!” Melanie exclaimed, pointing toward the injury Staci sustained. “You’re bleeding.”
Staci shook her head. “No, it’s fine. Nothing I can’t fix myself later. Right now, like I said, we need to get out of here. Let’s head back to the homeless camp and get our answers from the women we rescued.”
Without any further words exchanged, the three women hurried back to the camp under the ramp. Based on everything that had happened during the struggle, it was clear that the enemy had infiltrated mundane law enforcement. How that would affect events yet to come, Staci didn’t want to contemplate right now. All she knew was that safety for the most vulnerable in society was growing far more scarce and fragile.
Chapter 6
Staci spent a long moment contemplating the activities of the Order of the Black Sun while she stared at a painting depicting rich, fat cats (literal cats) being carried on the backs of an oppressed rodent underclass. While she was quite the cat lover and found portrayals of felines as villains extremely cliché these days, she had to admit the message of the painting was powerful.