“Ah, I’m sorry. My name is Trig Lothren. I’m with the State Police.” He showed the farmer his fake badge. “We were investigating your neighbor’s property. He said he saw some trespassers on his land and they were upsetting his cows.”
The farmer shook his head. “I don’t know anything about that. Nothing unusual has happened here. That is, until the dogs started barking.”
Sure enough, a couple of mutts were standing on the front porch of the old farmhouse, sniffing and looking in the direction of the woods. “They must have heard me walking up the path. They were most likely barking at me.”
“Yeah, that must be it.” The farmer shook his head, still confused.
Trig handed the man his card. “If you see anything unusual, would you please let me know? I’m at this number.”
They shook hands, and the farmer said, “Sure. I’ll call if I hear of anything.”
“Thank you.” Trig waved goodbye as he walked down the farmer’s driveway.
Stephanie and the two ogres were waiting by their sedan.
“How'd it go?” she asked Trig.
He shrugged. “He'll call if anything comes up.”
“What'd he just do to the farmer?” the ogre boy asked Stephanie.
“He made certain that the farmer won't remember seeing you. We can’t have humans knowing about magic and magical beings, at least not yet.” She looked at both children. “Are you two OK? Are you hurt?”
“No. We aren't hurt,” the boy ogre said. He looked down at his body and then at his sister’s. “I think we're OK.”
“He was gonna kill us?” the girl asked.
“No, hon. I think he was just scared, and he wanted to frighten you away.” She smiled at them. “What are your names?”
The boy said, “My name is Roderick. This is my sister Petunia.”
“Nice to meet you, Roderick and Petunia. My name is Stephanie. My friends will sometimes call me Steph. And the wizard over there,” she pointed toward Trig, “is my partner Trig.”
Petunia spoke up. “You said you were from the Silver Griffins. We've heard of you. You put people in jail for using magic on Earth. You won't put us in jail, will you? We didn't make the magic that brought us here. That mean gnome did.”
That piqued Stephanie's interest. “You didn't make the portal?”
Roderick answered, “No, ma'am. Like my sister said, it was a gnome.”
“Do you know who this gnome is?”
Petunia said, “No, ma'am. We never saw him before. He was walking through the forest near our home, and he was throwing and breaking things. He scared us, so we hid. He came up really close to us when he cast the portal spell, and it felt like it was pulling us. Before we knew what was happening, it sucked us in, and we ended up here. Is this Earth?”
Stephanie nodded.
Roderick continued the story. “When we landed on this side, we saw the gnome hurrying away. We didn't know how to get back, but we didn't want to go near the gnome because he scared us, so we went the other direction looking for help. That's when the farmer came out and was gonna shoot us.”
Stephanie nodded in understanding. “It's OK. We'll get you back to Oriceran. In the meantime, my partner Trig, and I have to find this gnome. You said he went that way?” she asked, pointing in the direction they had suggested.
Roderick said, “Yes, ma'am.”
They all climbed into the sedan. The two children sat in the back, Stephanie sat in the passenger seat, and Trig drove. On the drive to the next farmhouse, Stephanie phoned the captain to update him on the situation.
When they came to the next farmhouse, Trig parked the vehicle at the end of the drive. Stephanie turned around and asked the kids to stay in the vehicle while she and Trig spoke to the residents.
Petunia pleaded with both adults. “Please don't leave us here alone. Let us come with you.”
Roderick said, “We'll be good. Honest.”
Stephanie smiled at both of them. They were very polite children, especially for ogres. “Kids, I'm not worried about you causing trouble. It's just that humans aren't used to seeing ogres. You are magical beings, and they don't have much magic here. Also, we don't know anything about this gnome. If he's mean like you think he is, he might be dangerous.”
Roderick looked at her with big, sad eyes. “But doesn't that mean that we shouldn't be left alone?”
Stephanie sighed and then smiled. “Yes. Yes, it does. OK, you can come, but you need to remain out of the humans’ sight, OK?”
Roderick and Petunia nodded.
Trig smiled at Stephanie. “You'd make a good mom.”
She smacked his arm.
He turned to the kids. “Are we all set, then?”
Everyone nodded, so he said. “OK, let's go. Kids, stay hidden behind us.” They heard a couple of OKs.
From the barn came the sounds of animals in distress. The cows sounded like they were in pain. With a look of concern, Trig turned to Stephanie and said, “I know that sound. When dairy cows miss a milking, it becomes painful.”
Stephanie's eyebrows lifted.
He put both hands up and said, “I'm not a dairy farmer, but I've lived around them most of my life. One of my neighbors had a farm that lost power, and it took them a couple of hours to get their generator running. The cows were in a lot of pain until they could start milking again.” He looked sad. “They were considering putting some of them out of their misery if they couldn't get power back on to the milking machines.” Trig shook his head at the memory. “I don't think I could do the job of a farmer.”
Looking in the direction of the distressed cows, he said, “I'll go look at the barn. Do you want to go check the farmhouse?”
Stephanie nodded. “Sure. Be careful.”
Trig grinned at her. “Back at ya, partner.”
Stephanie smiled as she walked up the driveway toward the house. When she got closer, she motioned for the children to hide, and they slid behind the trees along the side of the drive.
Chapter Five
Knowing the children were well hidden, she continued to walk up the driveway to the house. She didn’t want any more humans to have their memories wiped, so she hoped they would remain concealed.
Pembroke was sitting on the porch contemplating his new life on Earth. He took a long drag from his pipe. Looking toward the drive, he saw a woman walking toward him. Well, hell, he thought.
He pulled a dagger from his waistband and placed it under the chair cushion in such a way that he could easily grab it if needed. He waited for the lady to walk to him.
Stephanie stopped at the stairs that led to the porch. “Hello, sir,” she greeted the man while presenting her badge to him. “I was wondering if you could answer a few questions? It's regarding an issue that occurred earlier today.”
She looked closely at him. She could see that he was a gnome. His charm didn't work on witches.
Pembroke didn’t want to deal with this, but he thought better of it and played along. “An issue? From this morning? I’ll answer what I can, officer, but I have been here all day, so I don’t know what kind of help I can give you.”
“Fair enough,” she said as she reached for the wand in her pocket. “Maybe you can start by telling me what a gnome is doing sitting on a farmhouse’s porch only hours after a portal from Oriceran reportedly opened nearby?”
Pembroke didn’t even think, he instinctively reached for his hidden dagger and flung it toward the woman in front of him. He was aiming for her center mass, but the dagger missed its target and struck her in the thigh, just missing the femoral artery. It caused her to fall to her knees.
As she was falling, Stephanie was able to get a shot off with her wand. A ball of flame just missed hitting the gnome in his forehead. Instead, the fireball managed to fly past his bald head, singing his ear.
Stephanie crawled behind a tree for cover. Propping her back against the tree, she pulled the dagger out of her leg. Pressing down on her wound with one hand and h
olding tightly to her wand with the other, she turned to take another shot at the gnome but heard the door open and close. The gnome was no longer on the porch.
Grimacing, she stood and loudly said, “Kids, get Trig, but stay away from the house. I don’t want either of you getting hurt.”
She saw Petunia run toward the barn. Roderick must have stayed put. This gnome was dangerous. She hoped the children remained hidden.
Not seeing anyone looking out from the house, she felt it was safe, so she limped toward the door. Her leg throbbed and it was very difficult for her to stay focused.
Pulling herself up the porch stairs, she made it to the front door. She stayed off to the side for cover as she tried to open it, but the gnome must have managed to lock the door when he went inside.
Stephanie said a short incantation as she pointed her wand at the lock. There was a click as her magic unlocked the door.
Still using the side of the door for cover, she carefully pushed the door open.
Immediately her senses were overwhelmed by the sickly scent of death. It was so intense that she wanted to vomit. She momentarily closed her eyes, not wanting to think about what she might see when she went into the house.
The hallway was clear of any immediate danger, so she slowly made her way inside. Sure enough, on the floor were the bodies of an elderly man and woman. A sense of grief fell over her, but she quickly squelched it. She’d grieve later. She had to focus on subduing the psychotic gnome.
Pembroke was hiding behind a display cabinet in the dining room. He had a wand out and pointing at the room’s entrance. As she limped past, he was able to take a quick shot at her.
His fireball struck Stephanie in her abdomen, and she doubled over from the force of the blast and the pain of the burns. She successfully patted out the flames on her shirt, but the fireball had managed to penetrate her abdomen. Blood oozed from the wound, and she could smell her burnt skin.
The loss of blood, first from her thigh and now from her abdomen, was starting to make her woozy and she was afraid she would lose consciousness. With her back against the wall, she slid down to the floor.
Damn, she thought. This psychopathic gnome has some skill, or he’s the luckiest son of a bitch who ever lived. Or I’m the stupidest agent who ever lived for coming in here without a backup or any healing potions.
Out loud she said, “If I’m going to die here, I’m going out on my terms.” She turned to face the dining room. When she saw the tip of a wand come up, she quickly aimed her wand at it and let loose with a fireball.
The fireball hit Pembroke’s arm, causing him to drop his wand. Stephanie shot another fireball in his direction that hit the gnome in the shoulder before she passed out from blood loss and pain.
Pembroke was also in pain, but he wasn’t out of the fight yet. Seeing that the woman was down but not dead, he went into the hallway where he had left his bag. He pulled out the Magic Extractor he’d brought with him from Oriceran.
He unhooked the coil of copper wire and looked around for a place to ground the staff’s magic. The floor of the farmhouse wouldn’t work since it was wood, but there was a potted plant nearby. It wasn’t large, but with luck, the amount of dirt it held would hold the magical energy from the device’s crystal. He put the tip of the copper coil in the plant’s dirt, aimed the crystal point toward the unconscious agent, and pulled the trigger. The crystal started glowing.
As expected, the crystal pulled the magic from Stephanie and sent it into the potted plant’s soil. Pembroke was elated. His invention worked! How exciting, he thought.
Before the strange contraption had finished draining her, though, Trig burst into the house.
Pembroke dropped the Extractor and ran farther inside and went down the stairs to the basement. Trig was going to follow him, but he saw Stephanie unconscious on the floor.
Trig knew that she was injured, but there was nothing he could do at that moment. When he lifted her head and tried waking her, Steph’s eyes opened and she weakly told him, “Go…get…him. He...needs…to be…stopped.” Her eyes closed again, but she was still conscious.
He shook his head, but he knew she was right. With tears in his eyes, he told her, “I’ll be back. You better still be alive.”
She gave him a weak smile and opened her eyes again to look at him. “Go!”
As Trig was chasing the gnome into the basement, the two ogre children snuck into the house. Seeing Stephanie on the floor, Petunia ran to her. In her hand was a little vial containing an orange liquid. She poured the liquid down Stephanie’s throat and sent a prayer to her goddess.
Stephanie opened her eyes and looked at the young ogre. She weakly thanked the girl.
It didn't take long for Stephanie to start feeling better. She could feel her health returning, but she still felt like something was missing.
She forced herself to sit up, which was hard because she was still very weak. Rubbing her head, she asked, “What happened?”
Petunia answered, “You were hurt pretty bad. That gnome tried to kill you, but Trig chased him away.” She held up the vial so Stephanie could see it. “I gave you some of our healing potion, although it’s made for ogres, so I wasn’t sure if it would work. Mom makes us carry some when we go out into the Dark Forest. It wasn’t enough to heal you completely. I’m sorry.”
Stephanie shook her head. “No need to be sorry, honey. You did well. You saved my life today. For that, I will be forever indebted to you.”
Stephanie looked around the room. There was blood everywhere, some dry from the dead farmers and some still sticky from her. She saw a strange contraption lying on the floor, a stick with wire wrapped around it and a crystal attached to it. The end of the wire had been stuck into the dirt of a potted plant. At first, she was confused, and then she knew why she felt like a part of her was missing.
Holding up her wand, she tried to cast a fireball at the plant, but nothing happened. She pointed the wand at a vase on the table and tried casting a fireball at it. Once again, nothing happened. Her magic was gone. Panic set in; she was scared. As a witch, magic was her essence, her very being, and now she had none.
She heard noises coming from the basement. Trig! He was in danger and she had no magic, but somehow, she had to help him. She had to save Trig, so she pushed herself up off the floor.
Turning to the children, she said, “Stay here, kids. I have to take care of the gnome once and for all. You two are special, and I need you to stay safe. OK?” She had only known them for a couple of hours, but she was becoming very fond of them.
They nodded, and Stephanie limped as fast as she could to the basement. At the entrance, a cane was lying against a wall. With no other weapon available, she grabbed it.
She could hear a scuffle. It sounded like there was a really good fight happening. When she got to the bottom step, she saw Trig and Pembroke throwing punches at each other.
The shorter gnome ran into Trig’s midsection and slammed him into shelves holding canning materials. Glass jars went flying everywhere, and the fighters fell into the pile of broken glass and wooden boards.
Pembroke placed his good hand over Trig’s face, trying to crush his head into the debris. Trig’s right hand was free, and he managed to punch the gnome in the arm that had been injured by Stephanie’s fireball.
Pembroke screamed and lost his balance for a moment, which was enough of a distraction for Trig to push the gnome off him. Once Trig regained his balance, he gave the gnome a kick in the gut.
The gnome was hit so hard that he flew toward Stephanie, where she was holding the cane like a baseball bat as she balanced on one leg. When the gnome came near her, she swung as hard as she could, striking his back right below the neck. He flew across the room, unconscious as he hit the wall.
Trig smiled broadly as he yelled, “It's a HOME RUN!”
He handed her his wand so she could send the psychotic gnome to the Silver Griffin lockup. “Do you want to do the honors?”
She sighed heavily and sat down on the bottom step. “I’d love to, but unfortunately, this piece of shit stole my magic.”
Trig laughed. “Yeah. OK.” He shook his head. “No, really, do you want the honors of sending him to lockup?”
Stephanie’s face didn’t change. She still looked beaten. “No, really, he stole my magic. My poof was pilfered.”
Trig didn’t know how to react. He had never heard of that happening before. He pointed the wand at Pembroke, said an incantation, and the gnome disappeared, magically transported to the Order of the Silver Griffins’ headquarters.
Trig turned back to Stephanie. “He stole your magic? Really? How did that happen?”
She explained about the magic-extracting device Pembroke had used.
Trig responded, “That thing is dangerous. Where is it now? It should be locked away. Better yet, it should be destroyed.
As Stephanie got to her feet, Trig pulled her to him and hugged her. Kissing the top of her head, he said, “We’ll fix this. We’ll make it right. Come on, let’s go back to the office. We’ll take care of the kids and get you looked at.”
Stephanie nodded, thinking that even without her magic, she was enjoying this moment.
They stopped in the hall on their way out of the house. The kids were still there and Stephanie hugged them both, glad they were OK. She let them know that the gnome was in custody and no longer a threat.
Trig called for the cleaners. There were still two dead bodies, and evidence all over the place that showed Trig and Stephanie had been here.
While Trig was making the call, Stephanie went to the Magic Extractor, which was lying on the floor next to the pot. The wire still in the dirt, and she thought she saw the plant glow. “That can’t be right,” she said out loud.
Trig was watching her as he was talking on the phone.
It looked to Stephanie like her magical energy was stuck in the cramped space of the planter with nowhere to go. She touched the glowing plant, and immediately felt a rush of energy as magic—her magic—flowed back into her. She sucked in a huge breath at the power that suddenly raged through her, and stumbled backward.
Tales from the Oriceran Universe: Fans Write For The Fans: Volume 1 (Oriceran Fans Write For the Fans) Page 15