Wrath of the Iron Warlock

by Patrick Cassidy

  “You know just because Drexel Draco went and got himself killed in New York doesn’t give you the right to order me around. I’m not your apprentice Warlock, I’m your partner.”

  “Yes, my junior partner. Remember I give the orders. I run things out here; you nor Drexel would be able to profit from this without me.”

  “You don’t scare me Warlock. You better not double cross me, I already got a score to settle with the wizards who killed Draco, and I would hate to have to add you to the list.”

  “Boy, you wouldn’t last in a duel against me. I hit like a one way tornado, strike without mercy, and I don’t stop until I’m satisfied with the damage that is done. You don’t want to end up in a fight against me, you just do as you’re told. No more slip ups. I’ll take care of the deals and do what is necessary.”

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  I managed to levitate myself up to the roof and took out two of the gargoyle statues that were in the position I selected. I then looked down at the three headed dog and the two chimera who seem to have taken an interest in the noise going on. They managed to meet at the end of the stairs on the front porch, growling and sniffing at the air. I knew I was invisible, but I expected those beasts to be a little more intelligent when it came to sniffing out danger. Then again it could’ve been part of their training as guard animals.

  Mike kept shattering gargoyles while I was up there. At the same time, I took out a small potion vile from my inside jacket pocket. It was a special sleeping draft that I managed to blend myself. I took it in hand and chucked it at the group of animals at the end of the stairs. This potion was similar to the smokescreen potion I’ve seen Professor Salazar try to use to cover his escape after nearly trying to kill Ben on board the Flying Scorpion pirate ship. The only difference was that the smoke that came out was a blue mist that would force your target into a 24 hr. deep sleep. It was silent and it worked fast and was perfect for those who were standing around in a group. With in minutes the three headed dog and his two chimera friends drifted off to sleep. I started to levitate the creatures while they were asleep up to the roof starting with the three headed dog. Boy was he a big guy, even the spell I was using to pick him up felt heavy. He was heavier than a baby whale. As soon as I got him up I decided to levitate the pair of chimera back to their perspective spots on either side of the stairs on the porch, and then turned them to stone. I did the same to the three headed dog in the process, and then levitated myself down on the porch signaling Mike to come forward.

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  Ben made his way to the rear of the house. He nearly got coiled in the tentacles of a giant sea monster swimming in the pool, but Ben had managed to fend him off by shocking him with lightning. The Cyclops was coming around to investigate. Ben made himself invisible and quickly pressed his back against one of the walls of the mansion as the gigantic one eyed creature peered his ugly head around. Ben mumbled some kind of incantation and jabbed the Cyclops straight in the eye with his staff. The Cyclops dropped his club and was about to let out a painful gutter roar, but Ben reached into his pocket and pulled out a flat stone and gave it a quick toss. It went right into the monster’s mouth and got lodged in his throat.

  “Of course, the bigger they are the harder they fall”, Ben said to himself as he made a quick motion with his staff which levitated the Cyclops up and then with another quick swift swirl of his staff, Ben made a cyclone appear underneath the Cyclops’s back and had it carry him off so that way he wouldn’t be in any capacity to help his master. Ben then saw a cellar door with a lock attached to it as he approached the area that the Cyclops had been guarding. “Sweet”, he said. Right away he reached out to us telepathically. “Hey guys, I found a back door. I’m going to take it.”

  “Porch is clear to”, I told him. “Shall I make my way through the front door?”

  “Mike are you gargoyle free out there?”

  “100%. I’m joining your buddy on the porch now. We’ll take the front door.”

  “What about the old man?”

  “The giant is down Boys”, we heard Crow say. “Don’t ask me how, but let’s just say I know how to out smart these dumb monkeys; regardless if they have two or three heads.”

  “Don’t worry, we won’t ask. Well if you want your chance at the Warlock, now would be a good time to do so. Remember, only disarm him. Don’t kill him. We need him alive. See you guys inside.”

  “Don’t start the party without me”, Crow crowed out. Ben stooped toward the cellar doors, broke the lock open with his staff and disappeared inside. He was now in the basement of the Iron Warlock. A sea of deadly skeletons had sprung to live and were standing there waiting for him, but he was prepared to fight them. “Bring it on bone heads.”

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  Mike, Crow, and I joined our spells together in order to breakdown the Iron door. The Warlock was just coming out of his study the minute the doors were blown apart. He had his staff in hand and engaged the three of us in battle. I never seen a wizard dressed like him. Black and gold armor, helmet complete with a mask and Viking horns. The only thing that wasn’t metal on him was his cape. We were lucky we had him on the defensive, but I could feel the strength of his counter spells. He whirled his staff perfectly. Some of his apprentices decided to get in the game. Since Mike and Crow were locked in battle with the Warlock and doing better with there staffs then I was with my wand, I decided to battle the lackeys. I was starting to think Ben was right about me considering the thought of getting a staff. I couldn’t dwell on the fact now, we needed to get our objective done.

  “You dare challenge the Warlock”, he sneered. You could here a hint of anger in his voice right through the breathe screen of the mask. He was mad alright. “You dare break in my place and challenge me in my house. I’ll see to it that you never live to tell the tale.” I could feel a cold chill running up and down my spine at the sound of those words. Mike and Crow held him to the point where he was in front of the basement door on the side of the huge stair case. The minute the Warlock was about to strike both Crow and Mike down with a strong curse, Ben busted down the basement door right on top of him. He got up and began to engage Ben in a duel. Ben was ready for him, Mike joined his brother in the fight as well. The Warlock took them both on. It was two against one. Crow and I were going to join in, but Ben stopped us.

  “Jim, Crow; let Mike and I face the Warlock. Watch the doors and windows. We’ll get him under control, but keep his friends at bay.”

  “Already in the process Ben”, I told him.

  “I got the doors”, Crow said. He struck his staff down and immediately a wall of blue fire blocked the front door where the iron doors once stood. The Warlock was relentless, but Mike and Ben were not showing signs of weakness. It seems the Alatar brothers were much stronger fighting side by side together. The Warlock did send Ben flying to the top of the huge staircase in the hallway, but Mike was starting to force him back up the steps. Ben felt a little thrown, but wasn’t hurt. He quickly got to his feet.

  “Mike keep forcing him up the stairs, I’ll do the rest.”

  “What do you think I’m trying to do”, Mike hissed as he and the Warlock kept exchanging spells against each other as they were moving up the steps. The Warlock’s back was toward Ben.

  “Defend your master”, The Warlock called out as he hit the tip of his staff on each step as Mike kept forcing him to go up. Suits of medieval armor sprung to life in different parts of the mansion. Since none of his other lackeys were getting in, and the apprentices that he had inside with him were either knocked out or defeated, they were the next line of defense. Crow and I took care of the ones that were marching into the hallway, while Ben did his best to fend off the others that were basically on his floor. He caused a few cave-ins to crush the ghostly knights from coming at him. As soon as the Warlock and Mike were at the head of the stairs. He
levitated his brother out of the way.

  “Warlock you fought well, but at this point have a nice slip, see you next winter.” He struck the tip of his staff down and the staircase was instantly entombed in solid ice. The Warlock couldn’t keep his balance and slid all the way back down to the main floor. As soon as he was at the base of the stairs I managed to grab his staff. Between Crow and myself, we combined our spells together to create spell binders. Incase if I failed to mention it before; spell binders force criminal wizards and witches to be reduced to simple spells, but none of which could be used to escape or fight. “Alright Warlock”, Ben started to say as he cleared the ice and started down the stairs. “You’re coming with us, but first let’s talk to your people, you tell them they make one wrong move of any kind towards this house or without our knowledge, we’re going to finish the job, now speak.”

  “Everyone do you hear me outside. This is the master”, The Warlock called out looking over the wall of fire that now occupied his front door way. “Stand down, don’t do anything unless if I tell you to.”

  “Now tell them we got somebody coming up to the house to pick us up. There is to be no trouble about her.”, I said.

  “And remember you got a couple of staffs and wands pointed right at your back”, Mike reminded him. The Warlock repeated our demands to his bunch and then we sat him down as we waited for Crystal to pull up.

  “While you got his teeth pulled, why don’t you ask that monster about the deeds he stole from everyone in town”, Crow cackled out.

  “I’m not an idiot”, The Warlock sneered. “I knew one of you ungrateful urchins would come by and make an attempt to steel my property. You still own Crow’s Nest. All you have to do is turn the deed over to me so that I could collect my treasure. Now aside from your nephew, all of El Draco is going to pay for this. The only way to avoid suffering my wrath is to turn me loose and surrender your deed.”

  “I say grill him. We’ll find those deeds”, Crow laughed out.

  “No, you and Mike hold him here and wait for Crystal to arrive. Jim and I will search the mansion from top to bottom. I’ll start with the upstairs, Jim you start down here and work your way up, if you’ve already checked the area, leave a mark. I’ll do the same with the areas I hit.”

  “Right”, I told Ben. “And Mike, let us know if he decides to reveal the location as to where the deeds are.”

  “If he starts singing like a canary, I’ll tell you as soon as possible”, Mike said, and then Ben and I searched the place. Hopeful that Mike and Crow were able to keep the Warlock pinned down while we were at it. The mansion rang with the sound of spells and charms as we stripped the walls, tore through bookshelves, we even went as far as searching the appliances. Not that any of them would be a good choice to hide such paper work, but just to be sure that we covered all bases. I was in the study, and decided to take a look at the Warlock’s computer. I learned how to use magic to help me cut by his security and passwords. I’ve heard of hackers, but there is nothing more dangerous than a hacker who is actually a real wizard. Needless to say in order to learn about this stuff, I had made a few friends with some ordinaries, some of whom we met on some of our cases with in the two years working with Ben. One day I’ll have to share the story about how Ben and I were hired to go to Egypt to find a missing archaeologist only to do business with a mummy and an ancient curse. I managed to hack into the warlock’s OwlNet social media page, and I managed to come across his communications. For some reason I noticed there were a lot of messages from my friend Maximillian.

  “No, he can’t be mixed up with a fiend like this”, I said to myself. I knew Ben would love to have me admit that I was wrong about Maximillian, but then I thought about the word I had just mentioned, and then thought back to what Ben told me before we took this case:

  “Genies are immortal fiends.” I even had to think of the word “Fiend”. I didn’t need to repeat the rest to myself; because, I started looking over the messages that were sent back and fourth. Right then and there I knew that Maximillian had some explaining to do.

  “Find something Jim”, Ben asked as he came into the study from behind one of the book cases. He almost scared me as he entered. “Sorry buddy, this place is full of secret passage ways. I’m surprised he didn’t hide the deeds in one of them. Needless to say our friend has had a few surprises waiting for us around every corner. I almost ran into a few skeletons hanging around in his closets.” I managed to smile a bit, but then looked back at the computer. “You did find something. Tell me partner.”

  “You’re going to find out eventually”, I said. “I still don’t believe it, but take a look at this.” He saw the posts that were made.

  “Excellent detective work Professor”, he looked back and saw that I was hanging my head. “In my defense, I did try to warn you about him, but I understand if you don’t want to go see him about this.” He took out his crystal ball from his inside pocket and held it out in front of the monitor. It made a copy for him before he deposited it back into his inside jacket pocket. “Let’s finish the business at hand.”

  Chapter X:

  Trick of the Trade:

  We made a show of displaying that the Warlock was in our custody so that way his gang didn’t hold us up. It was working, they stayed out of Crystal’s way as she pulled up. We rigged the harness so that Talon and the hippogriff Striker could pull the wagon together. I got on the carpet while Ben and Crow got into the back of the wagon with the Warlock. Mike got on Wingbisuit and reminded the Warlock’s pals not to follow us as we started to take off.

  “You know, there is still time to reconsider all this”, The Warlock insisted as we were up in the sky and beginning to fly in the direction of El Draco.

  “There is nothing to reconsider”, Crow said. “You’re under arrest as the common phrase goes.”

  “True, but there is plenty to think about”, Ben said. “Let’s talk about what to do for a moment. Mr. Crow you want Travis back right.”

  “You bet I do”, the old man told him.

  “So how do we go about it”, Ben asked.

  “We already established this, The Warlock is our hold card.”

  “I think what my brother means is, yes we use the Warlock to get to him, but we need to make sure Tyrell doesn’t get him back and all of us in the same lime light.”

  “That Alatar brain definitely has been handed down to the present generation. Just like your old man, you got to know everything from start to finish”, Crow mumbled.

  “It pays to have the right answers a head of time makes it easier to plan ahead once we know what we’re up against”, Ben said. “Knowing how you knew our father, I think you’d understand that. One thing he had always taught us even before he brought us in to the business. Failure is never an option.” I could tell he was deep in thought. I knew what he was thinking of doing next. Our new task was not to take Travis Tuskora out of Tyrell’s jail, but to use the Warlock as our passport in. Once inside we take over and fort up. “Mike, use that mirror and tell Kate to contact Tiger. We’ll hold down the fort until he arrives with some help. Then I’ll head out to Vegas and see if Maximillian...”

  “Better let me handle that Ben”, I said. I could tell telepathically through his thoughts that he was half stunned that I would volunteer for this sort of task. “I know what you’re going to say, but I’m sure there is an explanation. Since he is my friend, I rather find out from him personally. Don’t worry, I can handle it if I’m wrong. If it’s a mistake though, I hope you can reserve judgment.”

  “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt buddy. Just be careful. You might do better with some back up.”

  “That’s not necessary. I’m better off doing this on my own.”

  “Alright, we’ll see you in El Draco as soon as you can make it back. Good luck.” I flew off heading north, leaving them to move in on Tyrell. I didn’t know what to expect, t
his was going to be an awkward conversation with Maximillian. I kept praying that he’d be able to help straighten this out, but I couldn’t get over seeing those messages between him and the Warlock.

  “Maybe it’s not him, maybe it’s another Maximillian. Maximillian is a pretty common name these days even among genies”, I said to myself, but then there was that little voice in the back of my mind saying. “Who my kidding?”

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  It was still dark when they had touched down in the spooky old ghost town. Mike had just finished talking with Kate through that mirror.

  “Tiger should be on his way by morning. Clair stopped by the house. Archie got nosy and tried to bring her in for questioning. There was a struggle, and she broke free, but there was one problem. The moon was full and Archie managed to not only catch up to her, but he bit her on the shoulder. Clair managed to fend him off, but she will become a werewolf now.”

  “I hope you left an amulet for her so she could be in control of the werewolf within”, Crystal told Ben.

  “Actually, for Clair there will be no need for the amulet. It is a common fact that the she werewolf is able to keep herself in more control then the male werewolf. True she’d benefit from the power of the amulet, but even Archie wouldn’t let a she werewolf have a lunar amulet. The reason is; because, the amulet would give the she werewolf more power then the male werewolf. You could imagine how humiliated Archie would feel if a she werewolf were to take him in a fight.”

  “How do you know so much about werewolves”, Crystal asked.

  “How do you know so little”, Ben replied. “My business it helps to know what you’re up against at all times. Then again I shouldn’t be surprised that they don’t teach this anymore. Not having knowledge of such things is a serious flaw in a wizard or witch’s education.”

  “We better see about helping Travis, we can debate the politics of a flawed education system later”, Mike said. “You want to do the honors of calling out Tyrell or shall I?”