Seventh

by Ray Chilensky

  “I’m here,” Clive said.

  “Call mom,” Cadell ordered. “Tell her we’re coming home and we’ve been torn up pretty badly. Cai looks really bad.”

  “Already done,” Clive advised. “Colm and Christian are beat up but functioning. Cal’s in a bad way and Evelyn is out of commission. What about you and Helen?”

  “I’m pretty much all right,” Cadell responded.

  “Helen took a pretty good shot but she’s on her feet. We’ll need help to move Cai.”

  Colm’s voice came over the radio. “I’m on my way to you, little brother.”

  “Haul ass!” Cadell admonished. “We’ve got to get home, heal up, and figure out how we’re going to salvage this cluster-fuck.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Astrid met her sons as they pulled their vehicles into the garage. With her were Brandell Selkirk, Eve and a tall blond woman in her twenties. Both the blond woman and Astrid went directly to Cai where he lay in the Escalade’s rear seat, his head cradled in Helen’s lap. Cadell slid out of the driver’s seat and helped Colm move Callum out of the Cherokee’s rear seat. Brandell helped Evelyn out of the Escalade’s front passenger seat.

  Cadell looked at the blond woman as she tended Cai. Her hands were glowing with blue and silver magic and Cai’s wounds were closing. “God and the angels be praised,” he said, smiling. “You really are a Godsend, Emily. You’re sure going to have a lot of work to do tonight.”

  The woman smiled back. “I’m glad I’m here,” she said. “I hit the road as soon as I heard about the trouble you all had here. I can’t believe my dad wouldn’t help you with this business about Solomon’s ring. No one in the family will stand up to him except me and Aunt Eve.”

  “You’re a Corey?” Evelyn asked, still being supported by Brandell.

  The woman looked up from tending Cai. “I’m your cousin Emily,” she said, a look on her face that bordered on shame. “We met once when we were kids.”

  Eve stepped in and touched Evelyn’s face. “We can make introductions later, after your wounds are healed.”

  “Emily can help with that, too,” Cadell said. “She’s healer caste.”

  “Let’s get everyone into the living room,” Emily urged. “I have Cai stabilized, but I need to do more work on him. The rest of you need attention, too.

  “Did Uncle Randal disown you, too?” Evelyn asked as Cadell and Brandell eased her onto one of the easy chairs.

  “He probably will when he finds out I’m here,”

  Emily replied. “But we weren’t exactly close to begin with. I have a tendency to bob when he thinks I should weave.”

  “How did you get here so fast?” Clive asked as he helped his mother remove Cai’s shirt. “The drive here from Philadelphia must have been tough in this weather.”

  “I called Emily right after Randal refused to help find the ring and kicked Evelyn and me out of the family,” Eve explained as she cut off Evelyn’s ruined, blood-soaked jeans with a pair of scissors. The wounds still trickled blood despite having been treated with a healing tincture.

  “Once Aunt Eve told me what all of you were up against, I got in my car and didn’t stop for anything but gas,” Emily added. “I knew you’d need me.” She went on laying her healing hands on Callum, closing his wounds and causing the bruises that covered his head to fade.

  “You weren’t wrong,” Cai said, his eyes fluttering open. “Where are the ring and the vessel?” he asked. “Blackwell has them both,” Cadell said, downing a glass of whiskey in one gulp.

  “We still have some time,” Astrid said, touching Cai’s cheek. “Even with the ley line convergence in the swamp, it will take time for the warlock to gather and focus the power he’ll need to open the vessel.”

  “Unless he finds some more children to sacrifice,” Evelyn observed, wincing as Eve cleaned her wounded thighs.

  “We have to get moving,” Cai said, trying to rise. His mother placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. “You’re not ready to get up yet. Emily may have healed you, but you need rest.”

  “She’s right,” Emily agreed. “I can heal the holes someone put in you, but I can’t do much about the blood you’ve lost. You have to rest and let your body replace it naturally.”

  “Are your brothers coming right behind you?” Cai asked Emily.

  “No,” she admitted. “They won’t go against dad.” “Then there’s no one else,” Cai said. “The other families can’t get here in time without teleporting and they won’t risk that because of all the portals Blackwell’s warlock has been opening; even if you make a containment circle. There’s no one else.”

  Emily paused, meeting Cai’s determined stare. “All right,” she relented, using her magic to heal Evelyn’s thighs. “There’s an elixir I can put together to get you all up and running, but it takes its toll. It will heal you completely and you’ll be fine for a few hours, but then you’ll crash in a big way. It will be like coming off a three week drinking binge while doing crystal meth.” “Get to work on it, when you’re done here, please," Cai ordered. “Helen, help her if you’re up to it.” He turned to his mother and pulled himself to an upright position on the sofa. “Mom, we have to risk ’porting to the swamp. I know it’s risky, but there’s no other way to get there in time. Are you up to that?”

  Astrid nodded. “I can do it, if Helen helps me,” she said. “I won’t be able to send you directly into the swamp. The energy radiating from the convergence would disrupt the spell.”

  “And we’d all come out of the portal as chewed stew meat,” Cadell said, completing his mother’s thought.

  Astrid continued. “We can get Chepi to cast a containment circle at the other end of the portal. That will lessen the chance of ripping open the dimensional barriers.” “Who’s Chepi?” Evelyn asked.

  “Chepi Queppish,” Cadell answered. “She’s a Wampanoag tribal mage, a member of the Hidden and

  Callum’s ex,” he added, gesturing at Callum where he lay on the second sofa. Callum, still unable to speak because of his broken jaw, shot Cadell the dirtiest of looks.

  Evelyn smiled wryly at Callum as she watched the gashes on her thighs close under Emily’s ministrations. “I take it things didn’t end well between them.”

  Cadell grinned impishly at Callum. “She used her magic to turn him a nice shade of Oompa Loompa orange for a week.” Callum pointed at Emily urgently and then at his jaw with an annoyed grunt.

  Having treated everyone’s more serious injuries Emily returned to Callum and gently probed his jaw. “I have to set the bones before I heal you or they’ll be misaligned. It will hurt.” Callum gave her a thumbs-up and gestured at his jaw. Emily manipulated Callum’s shattered jaw for several seconds before she laid glowing hands on both sides of his face.

  Cadell’s face still held his grin. “Do you really have to fix his mouth?” he asked.

  Callum extended his middle finger and gestured emphatically toward Cadell.

  An hour later the Selkirk brothers, with the exception of Clive stood in Astrid’s spell casting chamber where another six-pointed star drawn with a different array of magical symbols encompassed by a circle had been drawn on the floor. Evelyn and the newly-healed Josh joined the brothers at the center of the star. Having rearmed and dressed themselves for fighting in a swamp, they waited as Astrid and Helen made the final preparations for opening the portal. Emily had retired to a guestroom to recover from the strain of healing so many serious wounds in so short a time. Astrid and Helen stood at the end of one point of the star. Both were deep in trance and gathering magical power to them.

  “They’re almost ready,” Brandell Selkirk announced, observing Astrid and Helen carefully. “You boys had best be sharp,” he admonished, looking at each of his grandsons in turn. “I know you hate going back to that swamp, but you have to forget about what happened there the last time. Blackwell will have that swamp full of Tainteds and God knows what else. It will be a fight just getting to the convergence. T
he only thing that will be in your favor is that it will be close to daylight when you get there.”

  “We’ll get it done, gramps,” Callum said.

  “I know you will,” Brandell said, slapping Callum on a shoulder. “Just get it done without any of you getting killed.” Callum grinned at his grandfather.

  “I’d go with you if I could,” Brandell proclaimed. “But this old man will just slow you down.”

  “You’re more badass than all of us put together, Gramps,” Cadell replied, smiling.

  “I’ll bring everyone home, grandpa,” Cai assured the elder Selkirk.

  Helen blinked as she came out of trance. “We’re ready,” she said, approaching the group. “I have to stay here and help Astrid anchor this end of the portal. Hopefully that will minimize the damage we do to the dimensional balance. I wish I could go with you.” “We wish you could, too,” Cai consoled her. “But mom needs you. Besides, you can help Emily make some more healing tincture while we’re gone,” he quipped, attempting some humor. “We’ve been going through that stuff like crazy lately and we’re probably going to need a few gallons more when we get home.” Helen frowned.

  Cai’s joke was too close to being true to be funny.

  Cai turned to face his brothers and their friends. “This hunt could get really bad. The swamp is the worst place in the world for us to be fighting in, and Blackwell and his goons will have all the advantages except darkness.”

  Cadell turned to Josh. “Josh, you don’t have to come with us. We have to answer the Calling, but this isn’t your duty. You’ve already done enough.”

  Josh stepped closer to Cadell. “I should just slap the stupid out of you,” he said. “You’re my best friend. You’re my brother in all the ways that really matter.” He gestured toward Cadell’s brothers. “You’ve all treated me like family. This may not be my Calling, but it’s damn sure my duty.”

  Cadell nodded and smiled. “Okay, buddy,” he said. “I was just making sure.”

  Josh smiled too. “Well, now that you’re sure, I’m coming. Besides, I get to try this new whopper-chopper Shane made for me,” he said, brandishing a rune-blade patterned after a Filipino Sansibar-style shortsword with a forward canted blade and recurved edge. “This was too big to carry when we were covering Evelyn at the bar, but I won’t have to worry about that in the swamp.”

  “I’m coming, too,” Eve said, entering the thaumaturgy chamber wearing a pair of tan canvas pants, a long black woolen sweater and a black leather waistcoat. Truesight showed that she had a use-worn, rune-engraved Bowie knife attached to her belt in a leather sheath. Runes were visible on the handle all the way to the hilt.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea, Eve?” Cadell asked. “I mean, are you physically up to it?”

  “Maybe not,” Eve retorted. “I’m an old woman and I’m not a warrior,” she added. “But my brother Randal has neglected the Blessed Calling and disgraced the Corey family. He may not want to do his duty, but I have to do mine.” She entered the circle and star and stood beside Evelyn.

  “Let’s go,” Cai said.

  Helen went back to Astrid who was still in trance. She took Astrid’s hands and quickly slipped back into a trance state. The two women began to murmur an incantation in a rhythmic drone. The air in the chamber became thick and hot. The droning incantation seemed to physically fill the room. The words gave the magic form. The magic gave the words power. In seconds a shimmering oval appeared in front of Cai. It gradually expanded into a portal just large enough for a man to fit through. Cai paused to look at his mother, grandfather and Helen as a hot wind blowing through the portal whipped his pony-tail-bound hair around his head and shoulders. His face was bathed with a fluctuating orange and red light. “God and the angels be with you all,” Brandell said. “Don’t get killed,” he added. Cai led the group into the portal.

  Chapter Twelve

  Evelyn fell to her knees and vomited as the portal closed behind her. Her head was throbbing and she was seeing double. Going through the portal left her shivering and still uncomfortably warm. Cadell and Eve knelt beside her, offering comfort and encouragement. “Son of a bitch!” she said, after she had gathered enough breath. “You could have warned me about how horrible that was going to be.”

  “Sorry,” Cadell said. “You’ve been taking everything that’s been happening so well. We forgot that you’re a rookie. Portal travel can be a bitch the first few times you do it.”

  “It will pass, dear.” Eve said, stoking her niece’s back.

  “If I’d known you were bringing a newbie, I would have put down plastic,” A husky feminine voice said. Evelyn forced herself to raise her head and see the owner of the voice. She saw a short, willowy woman with long, black hair that reflected the light from the many candles that lit the room Evelyn and the Selkirks had portaled into. The woman wore a blue denim coat, loose, almost baggy blue jeans and tan leather hiking boots.

  “Sorry, Chepi,” Cai replied. “We were fighting the clock and forgot that Evelyn hadn’t `ported before.”

  “I’ll clean up the mess,” Evelyn said, having recovered enough to stand. “Blowing chunks on someone’s floor is the way to make a good first impression.”

  The woman chuckled. “This floor has seen worse,” she said, gesturing to guide Evelyn’s eyes around the room. It seemed to be a smaller version of Astrid’s thaumaturgy chamber. Evelyn realized that the floor was marked with the same circle and star symbol as Astrid’s chamber. The major difference between the two rooms was that in this one, all manner of Native American weapons, artifacts and artwork hung on the wood-paneled walls. She extended a hand to Evelyn. “I’m Chepi,” she said.

  Evelyn teetered a bit and Cadell took her arm to steady her. “Evelyn,” she replied, tentatively disengaging herself from Cadell’s hold.

  “We can do introductions later,” Cai interrupted. “Do we know where Blackwell is?”

  “He portaled in about an hour before you got here,” Chepi replied. “My sisters are doing what they can to slow him down.”

  “Then let’s get moving,” Cai ordered. “Blackwell’s got too much of a lead.”

  “One more thing,” Chepi interjected. “I’ve been watching the news out of Boston. The police found thirty-five bodies at the Church of Angelic Love. They’re saying it looks like a mass sacrificial suicide.”

  “That’s how the warlock was able to use so much magic against us on Castle Island,” Colm observed. “And why he only brought mercenaries with him.” “You’ve lost me,” Evelyn announced.

  “The Church of Angelic Love is a cult that worships Blackwell.” Cadell explained. “They think they’re worshiping a real angel, though. Blackwell uses a glamour to make himself look like an angel of the Lord. Normally he just feeds off the energy from their worship, giving him a steady source of power. But thirty-five people willingly sacrificing themselves would be a really massive one-time power boost. Blackwell must have let the Warlock channel that power. That’s why he was so much more powerful than we expected earlier.”

  “If he has any of that power left over, then, that means we have to move faster,” Cai said. “It may not take him as long as we thought to gather enough power to open the vessel.”

  “Are you all right, Evelyn?” Chepi asked. “You look like you’re still shaken up.”

  “I’m okay,” Evelyn answered. “It’s just that after seeing the kids the warlock murdered, and now hearing about those cult members being conned into killing themselves, I’m starting to understand what evil is. I mean really understand it. Until now it was just a word. But I see

  it’s more than that. Evil is a real, powerful thing.”

  “Now you’re getting it,” Christian said. “The Blessed and the Hidden don’t just fight demons and cultists; we fight evil in its truest, filthiest forms.” His eyes took on an uncharacteristic sympathy. “Evil is real, all right,” Christian went on. “And it’s unforgiving.

  The drive from Chepi’s home in
the town of Easton was cramped. The group made it riding in a somewhat disheveled 1990 Ford Taurus and an even older Lumina minivan. Snow was once again falling and road crews had only just begun to clear Route 106; Prospect Street had not yet been touched. This made the relatively short drive from Easton to Brockton agonizingly slow. Even as dawn broke, the wind-driven snow limited visibility and made the road itself difficult to see.

  “You said your sisters were trying to slow

  Blackwell down,” Evelyn asked Chepi from the back of the Taurus. “How are they doing that?”

  “They’ve established circles of power on all four sides of the convergence,” Chepi replied as she fought to keep the Taurus on the road. “They’re using their power to disrupt the flow of magical energy through the lines that run into the convergence. That will make it harder for the warlock to gather the power he needs.”

  “Are all of your sisters mages?” Evelyn asked. Chepi nodded slightly. “Yes. Magic has run in the women of my family for generations. We’ve lived in or near the swamp since before European settlers first met the Wampanoag, protecting the people from the spirits in the swamp.” “You’ve had demons here for that long?” Evelyn inquired.

  “Yes,” Chepi said, nodding. “'Hockomock’ means ‘place of spirits.’ We have our own varieties of demons. Pukwudgie are sort of like evil leprechauns. Wendigo are people who sinned so much that they turned into monsters. Mishibijiw are water monsters that will drag you under rivers and streams and drown you. The ley lines that flow through this area can randomly open portals that lead to many dimensions, and all kinds of things come through them. My family has been keeping them contained as best we can for generations. What Blackwell wants to do, though, could cause a disaster beyond what the demons in Solomon’s vessel will cause. The power that will be released when the vessel is opened could surge through the convergence and open hundreds of new portals all over the area. It would be beyond apocalyptic.