(The events and conversations in this post took place in the Lower World immediately before and during Drake’s final passing. These events can now be told in full. For a brief refresher on the context in which these events take place, readers are encouraged to re-read the posts from the following dates: March 18, 2007, A Visit from an Old Friend…Part 1; May 27, 2007, Drake’s Farewell Message; June 10, 2007, Meditation and June 14, 2007, Hell’s Bells…Part 1)
When Drake revealed to me the location of his secret stash of artifacts, his voice was been dry and raspy in my head, like he was having difficulty with what he was saying. “Rusty, I have been afraid to reveal this information to you, because it is perhaps the last and most dangerous truth that I have to tell you.”
“Drake, as much as you have lied, I can only imagine how painful it would be to have to tell the truth. Say what you have to say and be done with it.”
“It is not that simple, Rusty, because this truth goes to the very foundation of who you are and how you came to be as you are now. It was the one truth that I could not risk for you to discover on your own.”
“Drake, stop playing around. Nothing you have to say will surprise me.”
His dry chuckle resonated in my mind. “Very well, I will delay no further.” His voice became deep and somber when spoke again. “Long before there was an Omega Project, I had met a young man—an FBI agent—who I thought might have the potential to eventually inherit the struggle against the An’girasii. He was a talented Caster with a natural charisma and the strength to carry on a long, lonesome battle, if need be. He left the FBI at my urging and worked with me for several years. We learned a great deal from each other once we learned to trust each other. He taught me much about the Shadowland and the many Spirit Worlds that I had been unable to experience myself. I taught him of the long and bitter war that I had been fighting against my father’s people. After nearly a decade of working together though, we came to the mutual decision that he would not be the one. But even so, we made a solemn pact. The essence of that pact was that I would provide him with the initial financing and support to form a secret group of Casters that could become the backbone of a defensive force against the An’girasii if necessary, and in return, he would provide me with any assistance that I needed when I had found the person I considered to be the candidate. I also asked for his assistance in creating a secret storage site for all of the artifacts and books that I had acquired in my many millennia. He agreed, providing a place that was secret and safe.”
“Come off it, Drake. It sounds like you are trying to take credit for founding a group like the ORC’s.”
“Indeed, this young man was instrumental in just that, it was he who founded that little group that you are so fond of.”
“Yeah? I find that very hard to believe. Who was this mystery man?”
“He didn’t have to keep his end of the bargain until quite recently, so it is someone you know, or rather, you knew, quite well…”
I sat there stunned as I listened to his words, coming to a conclusion that I did not like very much at all… “No…not him!”
“Yes. John Red Bear was my ally in creating you.”
“That’s not possible!”
He sighed again. “I am sure that you have the means to ask him yourself, should he choose to answer you, but you may rest assured, John Red Bear helped me to make you who are now.”
“You better believe I’m going to ask him! But I want to hear it all from you, Drake. Finish your story and tell me where this stash is so that I can be done with you forever.”
“As you wish. It is well past time for me to move on in any event. After we parted our ways, he began to form the group that became the ORC’s. He sought out like minded Casters and individuals who had the potential to become Casters. He helped to mold this budding young group into a force for good, creating secret schools and academies all over the country. I began to gather individuals like Klimm and Papa Locks to me, in part to keep them from interfering with John Red Bear and his fledgling group, and in part because I had come up with a new idea to try that would need the services of Casters with fewer morals and inhibitions than those individuals that Red Bear was making contact with. Throughout the years though, I kept in secret contact with him, each of us providing guidance and resources to the other as needed. He had very deep misgivings about my new ideas, but maintained his pledge to assist me when I felt that the time was right.”
“So, you are saying that John Red Bear knew of this plan to make zombies of people?”
“He was aware of the general principle that I was looking at, yes. He wasn’t privy to some of the darker details that were required to make the Omega Project successful, but that was necessary in order to make his eventual role easier to play.”
“What role was that?”
“He played the role of the good cop.”
I snorted. “Let me guess, you played the role of bad cop?”
He chuckled. “Indeed, a role that I am quite comfortable playing.”
I shook my head. “Drake, just tell me this. Why did we—did I—have to go through all of this? Why did you have to bring John into this mess? And why did you have to tell me about his betrayal?”
“Rusty, over the millennia I have come to learn that I do not possess the ability to ultimately win this war that I have been fighting against the An’girasii. But I have learned something about what will be needed to win this war. Every trial, every single test that I have put you through has been designed to determine if you had the potential to develop into the person that could help lead this struggle. In all of my previous attempts, save one, I had either broken my potential successor or created a monster that I would later have to put down. John Red Bear was the lone exception. He was the one candidate that I parted on good terms with. In the process he taught me a very important lesson…that in order to succeed my heir would have to maintain an essential humanity that I have never had. Despite all of the years that have passed, I remain my father’s son.”
“An evil fucking bastard.”
“Indeed. That is why I needed him to help with you. I had to push you away, to make you stronger. I had to make you hate me enough to fight with everything you had. He was there to pick you up again, to keep you grounded in you human nature, and to give you the spiritual tools that would allow you grow in ways that I never could.”
“But why are you telling me all of this now? Why are you trying to ruin my memories of John?”
He sighed. “Rusty, I’m telling you this now because it is the truth. You needed to hear it from me—and him, if he is willing or able to speak to you about it—before it discovered by your real enemies and used against you. Red Bear sacrificed much in order for you to become who you are now. Don’t let those sacrifices be in vain.”
I sat in stunned silence as I contemplated everything that Drake had said so far. His voice was small and quiet in my mind when he spoke again.
“My last gift to you and your friends is the location of that vault I had mentioned earlier. You will find it safely hidden in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Here is the exact location and the combination you will need to access everything…”
With that last bit of information, Drake left me and the ring behind. His Spirit moved gracefully to stand in front of Alexa. Her small face was both serious and tender as she took his confession of and forgave each and every one of his thousands of crimes, one at a time.
I was still trying to absorb everything that Drake had just revealed when the sound of a footfall behind me caused me to turn around.
John Red Bear stood behind me in human form. His face was that of his younger self, but his eyes held all of the wisdom of his years and a tremendous sadness. “Jason, will you walk with me one last time?”
I couldn’t have been more surprised by his appearance here after what Drake had just told me, but I was suddenly nervous leaving Alexa alone with Drake. That nervousness must have been obvious.
“Jason, do not worry about her. She, of all people, is safe in this place.”
I snorted. “I’ve heard that kind of assurance from you before, John. But I’m not sure I want to have anything to do with you anymore.”
“I would understand if you refuse my request. You have every right to reject me, but I feel I have much to explain in just a short time. This is the last time that I will be able to come to you, so please, will you walk with me one last time?”
I swallowed my pride and my anger and nodded.
John turned and guided me out from underneath Yggsdrasil’s canopy and towards a small path that was opening in the woods beyond.
We walked in silence for a few moments. I couldn’t take it for long though. “John, is Drake telling the truth? Did you work with him to help create Rusty Bones?”
I could tell from the flash of emotions across his face that he was deeply conflicted.
“Yes, Drake spoke the truth, as much of it as he knows.”
“What does that mean?”
He stopped and knelt in the middle of the trail. I knelt down beside him as he began scribbling in the open patch of dirt with a twig.
“I am sure Drake has told you that he and met many years before.”
“Yes. He said that you were an FBI agent then.”
John nodded. “Yes, I was the first Native American agent that the FBI ever had. I had a promising career ahead of me, but despite the promising career track laid out before me, I was unfulfilled. I longed for something deeper, more spiritual than such a career would allow me become.
“One winter, near four decades ago, I left my assigned office and cases work to track down a vicious killer in the backwoods of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. There had been rumors that this killer was actually a wendigo, a creature from the myths of many tribes in that region.
“I had asked my supervisor in Detroit to allow me to go investigate this mysterious killer, but he refused. He said that there was no indication that this killer warranted the Bureau’s involvement yet. His victims were poor, rural, and Native American. He said that the locals and the tribal cops would handle the investigations. One Friday night after another brutal killing, I ignored my boss and set off on my own to investigate the matter.
“By the next evening, I had tracked the creature to an abandoned cabin deep in the woods. I was about to confront it by myself when I discovered that I wasn’t the only person tracking the wendigo. A strange man who later introduced himself as Drake Kampmann came up beside me and indicated that my shotgun and sidearm would be of little use against the creature. He recommended that I use a bladed weapon, if I had one.
“Before we could come up with a plan, the wendigo charged us from the cabin. It was a terrible sight. As Drake had predicted, my shotgun blast to its face had little effect on it. But luckily for me, the wendigo had no interest in me. It attacked Kampmann with its full fury.”
John shook his head as he looked up from his scribbling in the dirt. “I had never seen anything as fast as those two fighting each other. The wendigo towered over Drake, fully eight feet tall, but incredibly gaunt. Despite being very thin, it was wiry and strong enough to push down small trees with each clawed hand. Drake ducked and dodged with such speed and agility, striking the creature with only his feet and hands, yet obviously causing it great pain.
“In less than two minutes, it was all over. Drake had broken one of its legs and each of its arms. He had the creature in a headlock from behind. He looked up at me long enough to ask one question. “Can you come get the necklace out of my jacket pocket?”
“I did as he asked, pulling out a strange looking pendant with a large ruby at the center. He grabbed it from me and placed it on the creature’s forehead. The beast let forth a terrible howling shriek that died in the winter air as the creature dissolved in his arms. Needless to say, I had never seen anything like this creature or its demise.”
I looked down at the drawing that John had made in the dirt. It looked very much like the creature I had known as Grendel. “John, what does any of this have to do with why you helped to create me?”
John tossed the stick away and stood up. He motioned for me to continue down the path with him. “Jason, that was the day when my eyes were opened to the possibility—the reality, really—that monsters that were walking freely in this world. My people had stories of such creatures—most cultures have had their stories of fantastic creatures that roam the world—but I had never seen one with my own eyes. I had not yet learned to walk the worlds of Spirit, so this was all new to me.
“Drake saw something in me that day though, perhaps he sensed the shaman that I would later become, but whatever his reason was, he asked me to join him in his fight against creatures like the wendigo and their masters, who he named as the An’girasii, as you know well. In this strange, distant man, I sensed a certain strength and strong sense of purpose that I had been unable to find as an agent of the FBI.”
John turned from the path that lay before us and pushed through the thick foliage into the heart of the forest. He waved for me to follow him.
“I left the Bureau the following week and joined up with Drake Kampmann. We spent a period of several years together. He taught me much about his history and the war he had fought against the An’girasii. He took me to a number of masters and teachers that he knew of who helped me to find my path. It was he who was most responsible for me becoming a shaman of some small skill.
John stopped moving ahead of me and stared at a tall obsidian obelisk that was almost totally obscured by thick, leafy vines and tall, thorny bushes that had grown right up against it.
“What is that thing?”
“It is a map of sorts.”
“A map? A map of what?”
He moved closed to the obelisk and began pulling the vines off of it. I moved in to help him as he replied.
“It is a map that can be used as a guide through the many Spirit Worlds and to some places beyond as well.”
“There are places outside of the Spirit Worlds?”
John laughed and pulled another vine from the stone. I could see that there were thousands of tiny symbols, pictographs and writings all over it. “Oh yes. The multiverse is an inconceivably large and complex place. This obelisk is a both a map and guide post placed here long, long ago. There are similar markers in other places, other worlds. For those who recognize them and who discover the keys to unlocking their mysteries, these obelisks tell how to get to places that might otherwise be totally inaccessible. Before I leave you, I wanted to show this one to you and show you how to access at least a portion of its information. But first let me finish with Drake.
“After a few years under his guidance, I found the path that I knew that I needed to follow. Unfortunately, my destiny was not to be the Warrior, the Hunter, the Successor that Drake had been seeking in me. Our skills complimented each other in ways that found us each wishing that we had some or all of the skills and abilities of the other. We parted ways quietly after coming up with a new plan. Drake explained to me that he felt that he needed to re-create, as much as possible, the conditions that led to him becoming who he was, but that he would try to do so in such a way as to drive his chosen successor to acquire some of the same skills in the realm of Spirit that I had. That plan eventually led to your creation, and to the creation of the ORC’s.”
I dropped the vine I had pulled from the obelisk and looked into his eyes. “John, tell me this. Do any of the other ORC’s know of your involvement in helping to create the Omega Project? Do they know the role Drake had in creating their own organization?”
John shook his head. “No. Those were secrets that I have had to keep to myself. By design, none of the others share my guilt. Jason, I feel no pride in having deceived you as I have. It is a shame that I will carry with me as I leave these realms and move on to my next journey.” He held up his hands imploring me to listen just a little longer.
“Jason, I could not reveal any of this to you before because I could not risk the possibility of failure. You were our last best chance at succeeding before the An’girasii freed themselves again. Time had grown exceedingly short. I know this not from Drake and his stories, but from my own journeys and research through using these obelisks. So let me tell you how to access the information on this so that you can someday do your own research. I am not asking for your forgiveness, but only for your eventual understanding. Once you learn everything that I have, I hope that you will come to fully understand the necessity of what has been done to you. Please don’t judge me too harshly until then.”
At that point John showed me how to unlock a small portion of the mysteries of that and any other such obelisk that I might encounter. But dear reader, you will come to see how those things work in the coming weeks.
My next post will be made on Friday, January 4, 2008 where I begin the story of what happened after the surviving ORC’s fled El Diablito’s tower in the Shadowland.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Friday, November 02, 2007
Little Keep on the Borderlands... Epilogue
Cerrydwen waved us forward. “Come, let me take you to the others. I can explain things bit as we walk.”
Despite the appearance that these two were who they seemed to be, I was more than a little nervous as we came up closer to them.
Ravyn showed no such inhibitions and gave each of the women a big hug. She exchanged quiet, unheard words with each of them and seemed more than satisfied with the responses that each gave her.
The Frau padded up and gave both Ravyn and Zenny a long sniff and single wet lick on the cheek.
Jim took the more cautious approach of a small wave and a nod of acknowledgement to each.
Cerrydwen turned and nodded back in the direction from which she had come. “Well, let’s start our little tour of the mad man’s little tower of horrors.” The massive stone door grated open with a wave of her hand. “This whole place is a tapestry of tightly wound spells that must have taken years to craft. This lower level is where he houses a small army of the trolls that you have seen so much of.” She motioned for us to follow her into the gaping maw that led into the dark tunnel where the war trolls had retreated to.
I couldn’t resist breaking into the narrative. “Cerrydwen, how did you gain control of those things?”
Cerrydwen returned my look with a steely gaze. “Sorcery, Rusty. I don’t like practicing it in our world, but I am, unfortunately, quite talented in its use.”
“How is Sorcery any different than the magick that the Frau or Ravyn use?”
She gave a harsh little laugh before she answered. We continued shuffling down the long, curved corridor as she spoke. “You’ve seen me engage Papa Locks and others before in a battle of wills, where I try to make those folks face all of their various Karmic mistakes and dark misdeeds to get them to reform, yes?”
I nodded.
“That is something that I learned from John Red Bear, so that I would have magickal tools that would be a little less lethal and a tad less evil than my natural powers.” She stopped and looked at me deeply for what seemed like the very first time since we had met. “You see, the magick that comes most naturally to me is a very dark and twisted form of magick that is often referred to as sorcery. Sorcery gives me as much mastery over the bodies of other beings as I want. The problem is that this control can only really be used to bring them harm and pain. It is one of the reasons that you me very reluctant to form close attachments or to interact with other people very much. When I get frustrated or angry, it takes an enormous amount of control not to break bones or to choke them with a glance and a twist of my Will.”
“Wow.”
She nodded. “Yes, I was not a very good person when I was younger. I hadn’t learned how to properly restrain myself and I got frustrate very easily. If it hadn’t been for the Frau and her intervention when I was a teenager, I likely would’ve gone down an even darker road and ended up working with someone like El Diablito.” She turned away and started walking again. “So to answer your original question, Rusty, I got the trolls to follow me by demonstrating on a few of them that they couldn’t hurt me nearly as much as I could hurt them. There really aren’t that many left anyway, they aren’t what you would consider to be fast learners.”
The Frau swiveled her massive head towards Cerrydwen and licked an ear before projecting her thoughts to all of us. “Cerry dear, are you going to be alright?”
Cerrydwen nodded without looking back. “Yes, I’m in full control of myself. It’s easier this time because this place is so different and for the most part, the trolls deserved their fates. They are dark, hate-filled creatures that only serve those who they see as stronger. I’ve just allowed them to see my stronger side.”
We came to an intersection in the hall. We could have turned either right or left down similar type hallways, but instead went straight which soon led us to a large stairwell the curved upwards and to the left with long, shallow steps that seemed to stretch on forever.
Cerrydwen led us up the curving stairwell that ended at a large landing and a smashed wooden door. Picking her way through the debris of the door, she led us down a long hall, passing several doors that began to look familiar. It wasn’t until I saw the dark door with glowing rose emblem that recognized this place from the Nick’s memory globe. Passing the door marked with the palm tree only confirmed it.
Cerrydwen ignored all of these doors, taking us all of the way to the end of the hall where we encountered another broken door. This door had been crafted of metal and lay to side of the doorway, twisted and wrenched from its hinges. Beyond the door was an enormous room filled with towering book cases, scattered tables that were buried in scrolls, books and pieces of paper. Huddled around a large square table in the middle of the room was a group of about twenty bedraggled looking people, some of whom I recognized.
Ravyn bounced into the room, nearly skipping with joy at seeing so many familiar faces. She called out names as danced forward. “Moira! Herne! Alana!”
The faces of the obviously tired—and in many cases injured—ORC’s lit up as they saw the ever cheerful Ravyn moving towards them. She was closely followed by the Frau and Jim. I hung back, still nervous of some sort of trap.
Cerrydwen had stepped into the room and then slid to the side, hanging back in the shadows herself.
Zenny had shuffled quietly after Ravyn and the others, leaving Cerrydwen and I to our quiet shadows.
I looked over to her, studying the pained look on her face. “Cerrydwen, you don’t seem to happy to see us all together again.”
She shook her head, looking form the joyful group of long time friends and survivors to me, her expression remained stoic. “Rusty, you perhaps more than anyone else here understand how difficult it is to hold something dark and terrible inside, hoping to keep it buried forever. Tonight, I had to use abilities that I long ago sworn never to use again.”
I nodded. “I do. You can bury those abilities again, if you want to. I’m sure it wasn’t something that you enjoyed doing.”
Her lips quivered ever so slightly into the briefest of chilling smiles before she regained her stoic expression. She turned to watch the reunion as she responded in a quiet whisper. “That’s the problem Rusty. I really like it. It makes me feel so alive when I use those powers. I enjoy the pain that my victims feel. That is why those surviving trolls feared me enough to serve me. They recognized a kindred spirit when they saw me torturing and killing their companions.”
I reached out to touch her on the shoulder. She flinched as I did so. “I understand.”
Ravyn had finished her round of hugs. She turned to wave in my direction. “Hey Rusty! Come here!”
I moved from the shadows to join the group. I recognized a number of Ravyn’s students from the Coop as well as Moira and Herne. The others were strangers.
Jim was standing with Herne and a shorter, dark haired woman with an easy laugh and a slightly raspy voice.
As I approached, she came forward, offering her hand. “Rusty, I’m Alana Danae from the San Diego Circle. I’ve heard so much about you. I’m looking forward to working with you.”
I nodded as I shook her offered hand. “Likewise. I hear you’re pretty handy with computers.”
Ravyn interrupted with an impatient clap of her hands. “OK folks, I’m so glad to see each of you alive, but we really need to know where Alexa and Naomi are right now.” She glanced at each face in the gathered circle. “Do any of you know what happened to them? Cerry? What happened?”
Cerrydwen had joined with circle with little fanfare. Her face hardened as she took one step forward into the group and spoke up. “When we transported from Michigan to the safe house, we were attacked the moment we finished the transport. I was out of it before I realized who had attacked us, although I presume it was Papa Locks and El Diablito. I never saw what happened to Alexa or Naomi. Did anyone else see anything? Zenny?”
Zenny fidgeted with her hijab before lifting her eyes to look at everyone. “I saw the dark giant you call Papa Locks strike Cerrydwen with his fist before she could react. Naomi tried to escape with Alexa back through the portal but one of the doppelgangers grabbed her and prevented her from leaving. The one you call the Little Devil cast some sort of enchantment on me that caused me to lose consciousness at that point.”
Moira nodded. “A group of doppelgangers must have slipped into the safe house with the refugees from the San Diego Circle, because just as we were tending to the wounded and getting ready to call you, several of those that we thought were our allies attacked. The fight was over before we knew it.”
Herne coughed. “They were unbelievably quick. Once the doppelgangers had us subdued, El Diablito and Locks came through the portal with several armed goons and that freaky female, Rose. Moira and I had been paralyzed by some poison that the doppelgangers had used on us, but we were able to watch all of it.” He looked down at the floor, ashamed. “Once the doppelgangers had Naomi and Alexa, El Diablito turned to the largest of them and said: ‘There, you have your prize, now, I expect you and your masters to hold up your end of the bargain.’ The thing snarled at him and said: ‘The Fire Witch was slain as promised, it is not our fault that she was brought back. Our bargain is now complete.’”
“So that crinkled old man needed those things to take me down, did he?” Ravyn snorted derisively as she spoke. “OK, so do we have any idea where the doppelgangers took them and why they wanted Alexa in the first place?”
Herne nodded again. “Even as I was paralyzed, Alexa looked over to me and I heard what must have been her older self speaking to me. She said, ‘Herne, let the others know that this is what must happen. I am in no imminent danger from the An’girasii or their servants. They need me alive and unharmed. Don’t try to rescue us—it will only cause us harm if you do. When the time is right, we shall return. Until then, gather our friends, help them to heal and grow strong once again, and prepare to weather the coming storms. El Diablito and his new organization must be stopped from gaining too much control.’ Then they disappeared through the portal and I lost consciousness.”
I stepped forward. “Look, I don’t think we have much more time before El Diablito and Papa Locks recover from Ravyn’s surprises and come looking in on things here. We need to get out of here fast.” I looked at everyone’s faces. They all appeared eager to be quit from this place as well. “I know of a place that El Diablito doesn’t. It is a safe place the Drake had created to store all of the things he had collected over the millennia to fight the An’girasii. I can take us there now so that you all can recover, heal up and take stock of where we are as an organization. We’ll have all of the resources we’ll need to regroup and take on El Diablito when we’re ready.”
The nods of agreement and smiles of relief that greeted my recommendation were overwhelming. So with little more debate or discussion, I summoned the Shadow and opened a portal to our new, secret destination.
For the first time in a long, long while, a plan of ours was enacted without any changes or major surprises. The ORC’s disappeared from El Diablito’s stronghold and went into hiding while we regrouped.
Despite the appearance that these two were who they seemed to be, I was more than a little nervous as we came up closer to them.
Ravyn showed no such inhibitions and gave each of the women a big hug. She exchanged quiet, unheard words with each of them and seemed more than satisfied with the responses that each gave her.
The Frau padded up and gave both Ravyn and Zenny a long sniff and single wet lick on the cheek.
Jim took the more cautious approach of a small wave and a nod of acknowledgement to each.
Cerrydwen turned and nodded back in the direction from which she had come. “Well, let’s start our little tour of the mad man’s little tower of horrors.” The massive stone door grated open with a wave of her hand. “This whole place is a tapestry of tightly wound spells that must have taken years to craft. This lower level is where he houses a small army of the trolls that you have seen so much of.” She motioned for us to follow her into the gaping maw that led into the dark tunnel where the war trolls had retreated to.
I couldn’t resist breaking into the narrative. “Cerrydwen, how did you gain control of those things?”
Cerrydwen returned my look with a steely gaze. “Sorcery, Rusty. I don’t like practicing it in our world, but I am, unfortunately, quite talented in its use.”
“How is Sorcery any different than the magick that the Frau or Ravyn use?”
She gave a harsh little laugh before she answered. We continued shuffling down the long, curved corridor as she spoke. “You’ve seen me engage Papa Locks and others before in a battle of wills, where I try to make those folks face all of their various Karmic mistakes and dark misdeeds to get them to reform, yes?”
I nodded.
“That is something that I learned from John Red Bear, so that I would have magickal tools that would be a little less lethal and a tad less evil than my natural powers.” She stopped and looked at me deeply for what seemed like the very first time since we had met. “You see, the magick that comes most naturally to me is a very dark and twisted form of magick that is often referred to as sorcery. Sorcery gives me as much mastery over the bodies of other beings as I want. The problem is that this control can only really be used to bring them harm and pain. It is one of the reasons that you me very reluctant to form close attachments or to interact with other people very much. When I get frustrated or angry, it takes an enormous amount of control not to break bones or to choke them with a glance and a twist of my Will.”
“Wow.”
She nodded. “Yes, I was not a very good person when I was younger. I hadn’t learned how to properly restrain myself and I got frustrate very easily. If it hadn’t been for the Frau and her intervention when I was a teenager, I likely would’ve gone down an even darker road and ended up working with someone like El Diablito.” She turned away and started walking again. “So to answer your original question, Rusty, I got the trolls to follow me by demonstrating on a few of them that they couldn’t hurt me nearly as much as I could hurt them. There really aren’t that many left anyway, they aren’t what you would consider to be fast learners.”
The Frau swiveled her massive head towards Cerrydwen and licked an ear before projecting her thoughts to all of us. “Cerry dear, are you going to be alright?”
Cerrydwen nodded without looking back. “Yes, I’m in full control of myself. It’s easier this time because this place is so different and for the most part, the trolls deserved their fates. They are dark, hate-filled creatures that only serve those who they see as stronger. I’ve just allowed them to see my stronger side.”
We came to an intersection in the hall. We could have turned either right or left down similar type hallways, but instead went straight which soon led us to a large stairwell the curved upwards and to the left with long, shallow steps that seemed to stretch on forever.
Cerrydwen led us up the curving stairwell that ended at a large landing and a smashed wooden door. Picking her way through the debris of the door, she led us down a long hall, passing several doors that began to look familiar. It wasn’t until I saw the dark door with glowing rose emblem that recognized this place from the Nick’s memory globe. Passing the door marked with the palm tree only confirmed it.
Cerrydwen ignored all of these doors, taking us all of the way to the end of the hall where we encountered another broken door. This door had been crafted of metal and lay to side of the doorway, twisted and wrenched from its hinges. Beyond the door was an enormous room filled with towering book cases, scattered tables that were buried in scrolls, books and pieces of paper. Huddled around a large square table in the middle of the room was a group of about twenty bedraggled looking people, some of whom I recognized.
Ravyn bounced into the room, nearly skipping with joy at seeing so many familiar faces. She called out names as danced forward. “Moira! Herne! Alana!”
The faces of the obviously tired—and in many cases injured—ORC’s lit up as they saw the ever cheerful Ravyn moving towards them. She was closely followed by the Frau and Jim. I hung back, still nervous of some sort of trap.
Cerrydwen had stepped into the room and then slid to the side, hanging back in the shadows herself.
Zenny had shuffled quietly after Ravyn and the others, leaving Cerrydwen and I to our quiet shadows.
I looked over to her, studying the pained look on her face. “Cerrydwen, you don’t seem to happy to see us all together again.”
She shook her head, looking form the joyful group of long time friends and survivors to me, her expression remained stoic. “Rusty, you perhaps more than anyone else here understand how difficult it is to hold something dark and terrible inside, hoping to keep it buried forever. Tonight, I had to use abilities that I long ago sworn never to use again.”
I nodded. “I do. You can bury those abilities again, if you want to. I’m sure it wasn’t something that you enjoyed doing.”
Her lips quivered ever so slightly into the briefest of chilling smiles before she regained her stoic expression. She turned to watch the reunion as she responded in a quiet whisper. “That’s the problem Rusty. I really like it. It makes me feel so alive when I use those powers. I enjoy the pain that my victims feel. That is why those surviving trolls feared me enough to serve me. They recognized a kindred spirit when they saw me torturing and killing their companions.”
I reached out to touch her on the shoulder. She flinched as I did so. “I understand.”
Ravyn had finished her round of hugs. She turned to wave in my direction. “Hey Rusty! Come here!”
I moved from the shadows to join the group. I recognized a number of Ravyn’s students from the Coop as well as Moira and Herne. The others were strangers.
Jim was standing with Herne and a shorter, dark haired woman with an easy laugh and a slightly raspy voice.
As I approached, she came forward, offering her hand. “Rusty, I’m Alana Danae from the San Diego Circle. I’ve heard so much about you. I’m looking forward to working with you.”
I nodded as I shook her offered hand. “Likewise. I hear you’re pretty handy with computers.”
Ravyn interrupted with an impatient clap of her hands. “OK folks, I’m so glad to see each of you alive, but we really need to know where Alexa and Naomi are right now.” She glanced at each face in the gathered circle. “Do any of you know what happened to them? Cerry? What happened?”
Cerrydwen had joined with circle with little fanfare. Her face hardened as she took one step forward into the group and spoke up. “When we transported from Michigan to the safe house, we were attacked the moment we finished the transport. I was out of it before I realized who had attacked us, although I presume it was Papa Locks and El Diablito. I never saw what happened to Alexa or Naomi. Did anyone else see anything? Zenny?”
Zenny fidgeted with her hijab before lifting her eyes to look at everyone. “I saw the dark giant you call Papa Locks strike Cerrydwen with his fist before she could react. Naomi tried to escape with Alexa back through the portal but one of the doppelgangers grabbed her and prevented her from leaving. The one you call the Little Devil cast some sort of enchantment on me that caused me to lose consciousness at that point.”
Moira nodded. “A group of doppelgangers must have slipped into the safe house with the refugees from the San Diego Circle, because just as we were tending to the wounded and getting ready to call you, several of those that we thought were our allies attacked. The fight was over before we knew it.”
Herne coughed. “They were unbelievably quick. Once the doppelgangers had us subdued, El Diablito and Locks came through the portal with several armed goons and that freaky female, Rose. Moira and I had been paralyzed by some poison that the doppelgangers had used on us, but we were able to watch all of it.” He looked down at the floor, ashamed. “Once the doppelgangers had Naomi and Alexa, El Diablito turned to the largest of them and said: ‘There, you have your prize, now, I expect you and your masters to hold up your end of the bargain.’ The thing snarled at him and said: ‘The Fire Witch was slain as promised, it is not our fault that she was brought back. Our bargain is now complete.’”
“So that crinkled old man needed those things to take me down, did he?” Ravyn snorted derisively as she spoke. “OK, so do we have any idea where the doppelgangers took them and why they wanted Alexa in the first place?”
Herne nodded again. “Even as I was paralyzed, Alexa looked over to me and I heard what must have been her older self speaking to me. She said, ‘Herne, let the others know that this is what must happen. I am in no imminent danger from the An’girasii or their servants. They need me alive and unharmed. Don’t try to rescue us—it will only cause us harm if you do. When the time is right, we shall return. Until then, gather our friends, help them to heal and grow strong once again, and prepare to weather the coming storms. El Diablito and his new organization must be stopped from gaining too much control.’ Then they disappeared through the portal and I lost consciousness.”
I stepped forward. “Look, I don’t think we have much more time before El Diablito and Papa Locks recover from Ravyn’s surprises and come looking in on things here. We need to get out of here fast.” I looked at everyone’s faces. They all appeared eager to be quit from this place as well. “I know of a place that El Diablito doesn’t. It is a safe place the Drake had created to store all of the things he had collected over the millennia to fight the An’girasii. I can take us there now so that you all can recover, heal up and take stock of where we are as an organization. We’ll have all of the resources we’ll need to regroup and take on El Diablito when we’re ready.”
The nods of agreement and smiles of relief that greeted my recommendation were overwhelming. So with little more debate or discussion, I summoned the Shadow and opened a portal to our new, secret destination.
For the first time in a long, long while, a plan of ours was enacted without any changes or major surprises. The ORC’s disappeared from El Diablito’s stronghold and went into hiding while we regrouped.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Little Keep on the Borderlands...Part 4
I was up and running towards the third troll before his spear stopped skidding behind us. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do when I got to him, since I didn’t have a weapon in hand.
It had already turned its attention so fray between the Frau and his companion, so my leaping kick landed squarely on the side of his enormous kneecap. I felt and heard the crunching of the bone. His leg buckled and collapsed on itself.
I tucked and rolled out of the way of a massive fist that sought to crush me as the thing lashed out n a blind rage at its sudden immobility.
By the time I had tumbled to safety and regained my bearings, I saw that Jim had already found his own footing and was racing to help the Frau in her struggle.
Ravyn was striding forward towards the troll that was now trying to hobble towards me. She smiled as she sent a lancing bolt of flame into the back of its skull, ending his miserable life before his smoldering corpse hit the floor.
I turned to see how Jim and the Frau were faring just in time to see Excalibur slash downwards in a fatal stroke across the already tattered throat of the final troll. The Frau had rolled clear in time and stood on all fours, panting with exertion. Her fur was torn and bloody in several spots, but it wasn’t entirely clear how wounded she might be. Most of the blood seemed to be darker ichor of the troll.
I jogged back to pick up my batons and joined the rest of them near the mangled body of that final victim.
Jim mopped the sweat off of his forehead and nodded as I approached. “I can’t wait to give you back this damn sword and let you play at being the hero Rusty. I’ll be more than happy to resume my roles as a counselor, researcher, and treasurer.”
I chuckled at that. “Yeah, this sort of stuff is a lot less worrisome when you’re already dead.”
Before anyone else could join in the banter, there was a loud grating of stone on stone as a very large doorway opened in the back of the chamber. Several more armored, well armed trolls marched into the chamber, their hobnailed boots echoing in a strange unison as they lined up four to a side on each side of the doorway. The strangest part of this scene was the two smaller, hooded figures that emerged from the shadows behind the trolls. They looked to be human and seemed to have a distinctly feminine aspect to them that was not entirely concealed by the heavy cloaks that obscured their faces. One of the women was clearly taller and heavier than the other, but neither carried any weapons in their hands.
We all turned to face these new foes, each of us wondering how we would be able to face eight trolls and these two women of unknown strength.
Jim broke the silence first. “Fuck! Why would this damn sword choose now to go quiet?”
I glanced over at the blade in his hands, which was now no longer glowing. It had cooled and quieted as the women had entered the room.
The larger of the women gave a short, throaty laugh as she reached up and pulled back the hood to reveal her face. “Maybe that blade doesn’t want you to swing at a friend by mistake.”
Ravyn gasped. “Cerry? Is that really you?”
Cerrydwen nodded before turning to the trolls that now seemed to be under her command. She grunted an order in their guttural tongue that sent the guards trooping back from whence they had come.
I had my doubts. I had seen Excalibur go quiet on me at inconvenient times before. “Careful everyone, she may be a Doppelganger. And we don’t know who the other one is yet either.”
The smaller of the women stepped closer and brought her gloved hands up to her own hood. Zenny Al Farhan’s soft, musical voice spoke from within. “Rusty, we are not shapeshifters. You can touch me if you would like to confirm that.” She pulled the hood back to reveal her face.
“How is this possible? We had heard that you were captured by El Diablito and Papa Locks.!”
Cerrydwen walked forward slowly. As she came closer, we could each see that her face was badly bruised. “We were caught by surprise at the safe house and were captured with Alexa and Naomi. It’s a long tale though and I don’t think we have the time to tell it here. We need to leave before either El Diablito or Papa Locks return. My control over those trolls will not survive long if they comeback. I’ve found out though, that the trolls can tell who the Doppelgangers are. They are very efficient at hunting them, when they choose to do so.”
“Wait, where are the others? Where is Alexa?”
Her face clouded over in obvious pain. “I don’t know where Alexa or Naomi are right now. But almost all of our other allies who had been taken in the raids and were brought here are safe. Herne and Moira are watching over them on the next floor up since some of them were badly wounded. Let’s go get the others and get out of here. We can tell our respective tales once we are safely away from this place.”
It had already turned its attention so fray between the Frau and his companion, so my leaping kick landed squarely on the side of his enormous kneecap. I felt and heard the crunching of the bone. His leg buckled and collapsed on itself.
I tucked and rolled out of the way of a massive fist that sought to crush me as the thing lashed out n a blind rage at its sudden immobility.
By the time I had tumbled to safety and regained my bearings, I saw that Jim had already found his own footing and was racing to help the Frau in her struggle.
Ravyn was striding forward towards the troll that was now trying to hobble towards me. She smiled as she sent a lancing bolt of flame into the back of its skull, ending his miserable life before his smoldering corpse hit the floor.
I turned to see how Jim and the Frau were faring just in time to see Excalibur slash downwards in a fatal stroke across the already tattered throat of the final troll. The Frau had rolled clear in time and stood on all fours, panting with exertion. Her fur was torn and bloody in several spots, but it wasn’t entirely clear how wounded she might be. Most of the blood seemed to be darker ichor of the troll.
I jogged back to pick up my batons and joined the rest of them near the mangled body of that final victim.
Jim mopped the sweat off of his forehead and nodded as I approached. “I can’t wait to give you back this damn sword and let you play at being the hero Rusty. I’ll be more than happy to resume my roles as a counselor, researcher, and treasurer.”
I chuckled at that. “Yeah, this sort of stuff is a lot less worrisome when you’re already dead.”
Before anyone else could join in the banter, there was a loud grating of stone on stone as a very large doorway opened in the back of the chamber. Several more armored, well armed trolls marched into the chamber, their hobnailed boots echoing in a strange unison as they lined up four to a side on each side of the doorway. The strangest part of this scene was the two smaller, hooded figures that emerged from the shadows behind the trolls. They looked to be human and seemed to have a distinctly feminine aspect to them that was not entirely concealed by the heavy cloaks that obscured their faces. One of the women was clearly taller and heavier than the other, but neither carried any weapons in their hands.
We all turned to face these new foes, each of us wondering how we would be able to face eight trolls and these two women of unknown strength.
Jim broke the silence first. “Fuck! Why would this damn sword choose now to go quiet?”
I glanced over at the blade in his hands, which was now no longer glowing. It had cooled and quieted as the women had entered the room.
The larger of the women gave a short, throaty laugh as she reached up and pulled back the hood to reveal her face. “Maybe that blade doesn’t want you to swing at a friend by mistake.”
Ravyn gasped. “Cerry? Is that really you?”
Cerrydwen nodded before turning to the trolls that now seemed to be under her command. She grunted an order in their guttural tongue that sent the guards trooping back from whence they had come.
I had my doubts. I had seen Excalibur go quiet on me at inconvenient times before. “Careful everyone, she may be a Doppelganger. And we don’t know who the other one is yet either.”
The smaller of the women stepped closer and brought her gloved hands up to her own hood. Zenny Al Farhan’s soft, musical voice spoke from within. “Rusty, we are not shapeshifters. You can touch me if you would like to confirm that.” She pulled the hood back to reveal her face.
“How is this possible? We had heard that you were captured by El Diablito and Papa Locks.!”
Cerrydwen walked forward slowly. As she came closer, we could each see that her face was badly bruised. “We were caught by surprise at the safe house and were captured with Alexa and Naomi. It’s a long tale though and I don’t think we have the time to tell it here. We need to leave before either El Diablito or Papa Locks return. My control over those trolls will not survive long if they comeback. I’ve found out though, that the trolls can tell who the Doppelgangers are. They are very efficient at hunting them, when they choose to do so.”
“Wait, where are the others? Where is Alexa?”
Her face clouded over in obvious pain. “I don’t know where Alexa or Naomi are right now. But almost all of our other allies who had been taken in the raids and were brought here are safe. Herne and Moira are watching over them on the next floor up since some of them were badly wounded. Let’s go get the others and get out of here. We can tell our respective tales once we are safely away from this place.”
Little Keep on the Borderlands...Part 3
I gripped the batons in my hands and stepped forward onto the bridge that the Frau had created and led the way towards the shattered doorway of the tower.
Jim followed close behind, muttering half heard imprecations under his breath. Ravyn swung back onto the Frau’s humped back, burying one hand into the thick black fur to maintain her balance. With Ravyn secure on her back, the Frau shambled behind Jim, bringing up the rear of our small party.
Passing through the portal, I felt a wave of magickal energy pass over me that was similar to passing from one world to another. Inside, the dark grey monotony of the Shadowland was replaced by the vibrant colors and rich textures of the ‘normal’ world. I was standing in the brightly lit foyer of what could have easily passed for a modern office building. The walls and floors of the place were of highly polished red and white marble tiles while the abundant golden fixtures gleamed in the bright yellow light that they put out.
I had stopped in the middle of the foyer, caught off guard by the opulent setting until Jim bumped into me from behind. I stepped to the left and forward, batons held at the ready despite the apparent emptiness of the place, to allow Jim and the others to join me inside.
Jim stood there as stunned as I was. All he could muster was a whistle and a look of consternation that reflected how I felt myself.
Ravyn slipped off of the Frau’s back again and stood to her right, eyes narrowed as she tried to take in the sights as well.
The Frau gave off a wuffling snort and scraped a disdainful paw across the marble. “Children,” she called out to us mentally again, “don’t let this man’s illusions distract you from what we are trying to do. Rusty, watch out!”
Just as she called out, I felt more than I saw the presence of another being come up in front of me. Her warning came just in the nick of time as I jumped back just as the head of a huge warhammer landed right where I had been. The fine marble flooring shattered under the impact, sending red and white shards to go flying.
Excalibur leapt into action as the hammer head hit the floor. Before the unseen creature who had swung the massive weapon could pull it up for a second swing, the shining, singing blade lashed out and sliced into the massive wooden haft of the weapon, severing the metal head from the handle, pulling the surprised Jim in front of me as it did so.
A lancing bolt of red hot flames erupted from Ravyn’s outstretched hand and struck the unseen creature full in the chest. The explosion of energy that ensued shattered the illusion of opulence and modernity and laid bare the face that we were in a huge, unlit stone chamber that was littered with the bones and refuse of a trio of troll-like guardians.
The other two creatures that had been shambling into position to lay their own ambushes on us now gave up all pretense of sneaking by roaring out their own challenges and coming forward in attack mode.
The troll who had been hit by Ravyn’s flame bolt staggered back as it tried to put out the flames that began to consume him in earnest.
The Frau gave an excited snort and leapt to the attack against the troll on the right who was wielding a huge spiked mace. Even as she ducked under his first wild blow, she was growing and morphing into a larger, browner bear with much longer claws. Rearing up on her hind legs, she was as tall and nearly as massive as the nine foot tall troll that she now wrapped in a massive hug of claws, teeth and fur. The two of them tumbled to the ground, growling and snarling at each other in a titanic battle of beasts.
Seeing the final troll rear back and prepare to throw the massive spear in its hands, I dropped my batons so that I could reach and grab Jim with my left hand and Ravyn with my right and dove to my left, dragging them to the ground. The spear struck the stone floor where Jim had been standing creating a shower of sparks and a spray of pebbles.
(to be continued tonight)
Jim followed close behind, muttering half heard imprecations under his breath. Ravyn swung back onto the Frau’s humped back, burying one hand into the thick black fur to maintain her balance. With Ravyn secure on her back, the Frau shambled behind Jim, bringing up the rear of our small party.
Passing through the portal, I felt a wave of magickal energy pass over me that was similar to passing from one world to another. Inside, the dark grey monotony of the Shadowland was replaced by the vibrant colors and rich textures of the ‘normal’ world. I was standing in the brightly lit foyer of what could have easily passed for a modern office building. The walls and floors of the place were of highly polished red and white marble tiles while the abundant golden fixtures gleamed in the bright yellow light that they put out.
I had stopped in the middle of the foyer, caught off guard by the opulent setting until Jim bumped into me from behind. I stepped to the left and forward, batons held at the ready despite the apparent emptiness of the place, to allow Jim and the others to join me inside.
Jim stood there as stunned as I was. All he could muster was a whistle and a look of consternation that reflected how I felt myself.
Ravyn slipped off of the Frau’s back again and stood to her right, eyes narrowed as she tried to take in the sights as well.
The Frau gave off a wuffling snort and scraped a disdainful paw across the marble. “Children,” she called out to us mentally again, “don’t let this man’s illusions distract you from what we are trying to do. Rusty, watch out!”
Just as she called out, I felt more than I saw the presence of another being come up in front of me. Her warning came just in the nick of time as I jumped back just as the head of a huge warhammer landed right where I had been. The fine marble flooring shattered under the impact, sending red and white shards to go flying.
Excalibur leapt into action as the hammer head hit the floor. Before the unseen creature who had swung the massive weapon could pull it up for a second swing, the shining, singing blade lashed out and sliced into the massive wooden haft of the weapon, severing the metal head from the handle, pulling the surprised Jim in front of me as it did so.
A lancing bolt of red hot flames erupted from Ravyn’s outstretched hand and struck the unseen creature full in the chest. The explosion of energy that ensued shattered the illusion of opulence and modernity and laid bare the face that we were in a huge, unlit stone chamber that was littered with the bones and refuse of a trio of troll-like guardians.
The other two creatures that had been shambling into position to lay their own ambushes on us now gave up all pretense of sneaking by roaring out their own challenges and coming forward in attack mode.
The troll who had been hit by Ravyn’s flame bolt staggered back as it tried to put out the flames that began to consume him in earnest.
The Frau gave an excited snort and leapt to the attack against the troll on the right who was wielding a huge spiked mace. Even as she ducked under his first wild blow, she was growing and morphing into a larger, browner bear with much longer claws. Rearing up on her hind legs, she was as tall and nearly as massive as the nine foot tall troll that she now wrapped in a massive hug of claws, teeth and fur. The two of them tumbled to the ground, growling and snarling at each other in a titanic battle of beasts.
Seeing the final troll rear back and prepare to throw the massive spear in its hands, I dropped my batons so that I could reach and grab Jim with my left hand and Ravyn with my right and dove to my left, dragging them to the ground. The spear struck the stone floor where Jim had been standing creating a shower of sparks and a spray of pebbles.
(to be continued tonight)
Monday, October 01, 2007
Little Keep on the Borderlands...Part 2
The Frau’s voice echoed in our minds. “Once we get inside that thing, we can’t count on Rusty being able to get us back out of there with his power over the Shadow.”
I glanced in her direction. “Why do you say that?”
She returned the glance before swiveling her back towards the tower and grunting. “I see El Diablito’s handiwork all over this thing. He has created this tower out of magick that hasn’t been used in centuries, if not millennia.”
The Professor was curious now. “You mean things like this tower have been created before? I don’t recall reading about any of these in my text books.”
Ravyn chuckled and gave Jim’s cheek an affectionate pat. “Of course not, silly! Things like this would only be found in your fairy tales and myths when you were growing up, although now you can find references in all sorts of modern fantasy. The Frau is right though, this more than just a traditional Mage’s Tower.”
I looked the thing up and down again, trying to see what it was that made this place seem so unique to them. “I have to admit I haven’t seen too many towers of black rock rotating in the middle of a giant chasm before, even in the Shadowland, but what’s the big deal? I practically own this place. I should be able to zip us in and out without a problem.”
It was the Frau’s turn to chuckle. “Rusty, this tower exists not only here, but in many other places simultaneously. It probably has doorways to each of those places and allows the Little Devil to travel between different worlds almost as easily as you do. It isn’t fully of any one plane, so the only one who knows all of the rules and all of the spells that are active inside of it is El Diablito.” She shifted on her paws and moved closer to the edge of the chasm. “El Diablito is and has been made all too aware of your ability to travel freely in the Shadowland using the power of the Shadow. I am sure he has prepared his sanctuary for just this eventuality.”
“What, so we shouldn’t even try to get inside of it?”
She shook her massive head. “Not for a minute, Rusty. We need to get in and get back out again with any of our loved ones that we can locate, but I just wanted to make you aware that you may not be as free as you think you are to help us escape. In fact, I would caution against summoning the Shadow except in the direst of circumstances once we get inside. He may have any number of traps laid out for you that would take you and anyone who travels that way with you into a place from which there is no escape.” She was looking me right in the eyes as she projected her thoughts. There was a wry twinkle in her eye as she made her last point. “It is what I would do, if you were my enemy.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I got you. I won’t be calling on the Shadow unless there are no other options.”
She nodded. “Good. Now, Ravyn, my Dear, would you be so kind as to unlock the door for us?”
Ravyn’s smile was as wicked as I had ever seen. “I thought you would never ask.”
Sitting upon the Frau’s broad back, Ravyn raised her hands above her head and closed her eyes. The palms of her hands began to glow, first orange, then red, and finally turning bright white. Bright white rays of energy left each palm, joining together at a point a few feet in front of her head into a bright, swirling ball of energy that kept growing in size until it was fully as big as she was.
As the ball of energy seemed to reach a critical mass, Ravyn pushed it forward with a downward thrust of her palms towards the door.
It hurtled towards the massive double doors of the tower and exploded in a shower of energy and sounds. We were showered with white, crackling sparkles and bits of dark matter from the impact.
Jim was the first to break the silence. “Now what? How are we going to get over there?”
The Frau reared up on her hind legs and let forth a bellowing roar that echoed across the chasm.
Ravyn must have been warned because she sprang backwards adroitly and seemed to be waiting for something else to happen.
The Frau roared once again, this time even louder and more insistent than before.
The ground beneath our feet began to shake, at first gently, but soon was rocking pretty violently. The screeching of stones cracking and rubbing together in unnatural ways began to drown out the Frau’s voice.
Pillars of solid rock began to jut forth from all different angles both beneath and beside us, coming together to form an arcing mass of jumbled stone that began to bridge the span between us and the tower. Within minutes the bridge was complete.
I looked at both of my female companions with a new found level of respect as I shook my head. “So much for trying to sneak in.”
Jim grasped the glowing blade of Excalibur in both hands again, glanced around at each of us and nodded. “Screw the sneaking, it’s time to go kick some ass, take some names, and save our friends.”
I glanced in her direction. “Why do you say that?”
She returned the glance before swiveling her back towards the tower and grunting. “I see El Diablito’s handiwork all over this thing. He has created this tower out of magick that hasn’t been used in centuries, if not millennia.”
The Professor was curious now. “You mean things like this tower have been created before? I don’t recall reading about any of these in my text books.”
Ravyn chuckled and gave Jim’s cheek an affectionate pat. “Of course not, silly! Things like this would only be found in your fairy tales and myths when you were growing up, although now you can find references in all sorts of modern fantasy. The Frau is right though, this more than just a traditional Mage’s Tower.”
I looked the thing up and down again, trying to see what it was that made this place seem so unique to them. “I have to admit I haven’t seen too many towers of black rock rotating in the middle of a giant chasm before, even in the Shadowland, but what’s the big deal? I practically own this place. I should be able to zip us in and out without a problem.”
It was the Frau’s turn to chuckle. “Rusty, this tower exists not only here, but in many other places simultaneously. It probably has doorways to each of those places and allows the Little Devil to travel between different worlds almost as easily as you do. It isn’t fully of any one plane, so the only one who knows all of the rules and all of the spells that are active inside of it is El Diablito.” She shifted on her paws and moved closer to the edge of the chasm. “El Diablito is and has been made all too aware of your ability to travel freely in the Shadowland using the power of the Shadow. I am sure he has prepared his sanctuary for just this eventuality.”
“What, so we shouldn’t even try to get inside of it?”
She shook her massive head. “Not for a minute, Rusty. We need to get in and get back out again with any of our loved ones that we can locate, but I just wanted to make you aware that you may not be as free as you think you are to help us escape. In fact, I would caution against summoning the Shadow except in the direst of circumstances once we get inside. He may have any number of traps laid out for you that would take you and anyone who travels that way with you into a place from which there is no escape.” She was looking me right in the eyes as she projected her thoughts. There was a wry twinkle in her eye as she made her last point. “It is what I would do, if you were my enemy.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I got you. I won’t be calling on the Shadow unless there are no other options.”
She nodded. “Good. Now, Ravyn, my Dear, would you be so kind as to unlock the door for us?”
Ravyn’s smile was as wicked as I had ever seen. “I thought you would never ask.”
Sitting upon the Frau’s broad back, Ravyn raised her hands above her head and closed her eyes. The palms of her hands began to glow, first orange, then red, and finally turning bright white. Bright white rays of energy left each palm, joining together at a point a few feet in front of her head into a bright, swirling ball of energy that kept growing in size until it was fully as big as she was.
As the ball of energy seemed to reach a critical mass, Ravyn pushed it forward with a downward thrust of her palms towards the door.
It hurtled towards the massive double doors of the tower and exploded in a shower of energy and sounds. We were showered with white, crackling sparkles and bits of dark matter from the impact.
Jim was the first to break the silence. “Now what? How are we going to get over there?”
The Frau reared up on her hind legs and let forth a bellowing roar that echoed across the chasm.
Ravyn must have been warned because she sprang backwards adroitly and seemed to be waiting for something else to happen.
The Frau roared once again, this time even louder and more insistent than before.
The ground beneath our feet began to shake, at first gently, but soon was rocking pretty violently. The screeching of stones cracking and rubbing together in unnatural ways began to drown out the Frau’s voice.
Pillars of solid rock began to jut forth from all different angles both beneath and beside us, coming together to form an arcing mass of jumbled stone that began to bridge the span between us and the tower. Within minutes the bridge was complete.
I looked at both of my female companions with a new found level of respect as I shook my head. “So much for trying to sneak in.”
Jim grasped the glowing blade of Excalibur in both hands again, glanced around at each of us and nodded. “Screw the sneaking, it’s time to go kick some ass, take some names, and save our friends.”
Monday, September 24, 2007
Little Keep on the Borderlands...Part 1
Visibility in this place is always limited, as Shadows flit about, drawn to light sources like moths in the mundane world. Here, our vision was further obscured by the thick, almost bubbling fog that rolled over us in successive waves from the direction where the troll had come from before pooling around our knees. It gathered around the now dissolving mass that was the troll.
Undaunted by any unseen dangers that may have been lurking, I stepped into the mists towards where I had felt the location of El Diablito’s stronghold to be. I soon found myself on a rocky path between steeply rising walls of wet, black stone. The path would have been barely wide enough for that troll to walk through without brushing its shoulders against the sides.
I heard others as they followed behind, Jim right behind me, with the Frau and Ravyn guarding our backs.
The path continued at a slight up hill angle for a few hundred yards, twisting first right and then left. The fog was so thick and flowed so strongly into my face that I felt like a salmon swimming up stream at spawning time. I caught myself leaning into the flow of the fog even though I didn’t feel any resistance. It just seemed like there should be.
The walls on either side fell away as we rounded the last bend and the ground leveled out onto a large, flat ledge that at first seemed to overlook a vast empty chasm. The fog here was much thinner as it flowed in small wispy clumps to form the river of white as it rolled down the constricted path we had followed to get up here.
Jim came up next to me, Excalibur held forth in both hands as if he were trying to keep the alien blade at arms length. The blade was emitting a high-pitched hum that accompanied the pulsating white light that pushed the Shadow back with its harsh glow. “Looks like a dead end, Rusty.”
I shook my head and pointed with my left hand. “No, we’ve just got to find a way to cross over to that…thing.”
He peered into the darkness, straining to see anything. “What, I don’t see anything.”
The Frau padded up beside us and snorted. Her voice echoed in our heads as she projected her thoughts to us. “Rusty’s right, Jim. Show him, Ravyn.”
Ravyn nodded and sent a small red orb flying from her extended palm. It wasn’t very bright, but it didn’t have to be. The light emitted by the orb illuminated a sight that caused us all to gasp.
“Son of a bitch…”
“How the hell is that even possible…”
The orb had only gone about thirty feet out into the darkness before it came to float next to a huge black wall of stone that was rotating clockwise in the air. Ravyn’s hand motions guided the thing up and down, then back and forth until it was clear that the chasm was occupied by a huge, rotating tower of black basalt that was floating in that seemingly empty space. The thing was easily as big as a modern skyscraper, but it had all of scare factor of some Dark Lord’s Tower of Doom.
As we watched in horror and awe, the tower continued to rotate. The opening of what may have been a doorway began to come into view. The rotation slowed as the entrance came to fully face us, not thirty feet away, but with no visible way of crossing the yawning chasm between us and it.
Undaunted by any unseen dangers that may have been lurking, I stepped into the mists towards where I had felt the location of El Diablito’s stronghold to be. I soon found myself on a rocky path between steeply rising walls of wet, black stone. The path would have been barely wide enough for that troll to walk through without brushing its shoulders against the sides.
I heard others as they followed behind, Jim right behind me, with the Frau and Ravyn guarding our backs.
The path continued at a slight up hill angle for a few hundred yards, twisting first right and then left. The fog was so thick and flowed so strongly into my face that I felt like a salmon swimming up stream at spawning time. I caught myself leaning into the flow of the fog even though I didn’t feel any resistance. It just seemed like there should be.
The walls on either side fell away as we rounded the last bend and the ground leveled out onto a large, flat ledge that at first seemed to overlook a vast empty chasm. The fog here was much thinner as it flowed in small wispy clumps to form the river of white as it rolled down the constricted path we had followed to get up here.
Jim came up next to me, Excalibur held forth in both hands as if he were trying to keep the alien blade at arms length. The blade was emitting a high-pitched hum that accompanied the pulsating white light that pushed the Shadow back with its harsh glow. “Looks like a dead end, Rusty.”
I shook my head and pointed with my left hand. “No, we’ve just got to find a way to cross over to that…thing.”
He peered into the darkness, straining to see anything. “What, I don’t see anything.”
The Frau padded up beside us and snorted. Her voice echoed in our heads as she projected her thoughts to us. “Rusty’s right, Jim. Show him, Ravyn.”
Ravyn nodded and sent a small red orb flying from her extended palm. It wasn’t very bright, but it didn’t have to be. The light emitted by the orb illuminated a sight that caused us all to gasp.
“Son of a bitch…”
“How the hell is that even possible…”
The orb had only gone about thirty feet out into the darkness before it came to float next to a huge black wall of stone that was rotating clockwise in the air. Ravyn’s hand motions guided the thing up and down, then back and forth until it was clear that the chasm was occupied by a huge, rotating tower of black basalt that was floating in that seemingly empty space. The thing was easily as big as a modern skyscraper, but it had all of scare factor of some Dark Lord’s Tower of Doom.
As we watched in horror and awe, the tower continued to rotate. The opening of what may have been a doorway began to come into view. The rotation slowed as the entrance came to fully face us, not thirty feet away, but with no visible way of crossing the yawning chasm between us and it.
Monday, September 10, 2007
From the Frying Pan into the Fire...Part 5
As I called the Shadow, I formed a heavy, protective bubble around the four of us. The only light in this bubble came from one Ravyn’s small red stones that she held forth in her left palm. The stone’s soft red glow gave the space the feel of a submarine.
“I’m going to take us to the place in the Shadowland where Nicholas was taken by Rose and then made the wrong choice by choosing Rose’s door—which led to a cell. We didn’t get to see all of the different doors in Nick’s memory orb, so I think that is the place to start. I’m not sure if that corridor corresponds with a single actual location or serves as sort of Transit Station within the Shadowland linking multiple different locations. Hang on!”
With the power of my Will, I sent our little capsule hurtling through the Shadowland towards a place we had seen only briefly through the memories of a man I had never met.
The passage didn’t take all that long, but the tension inside the capsule grew thicker with each passing moment.
Jim passed Excalibur back and forth between his sweating hands, using each handoff to dry the offending palm on his jeans.
The Frau shifted on her heavy paws, anxious to be moving.
Ravyn checked and doubled checked her array of pouches and pockets, making sure that the ties that held them closed were secure, but not too secure.
I flexed my palms and fingered the forearm sheaths where my familiar batons were holstered, ready to drop down into my hands with a flick of the wrist.
Sensing that we were drawing near to the place, I set the capsule down gently and looked to my companions.
“As best as I can tell from inside, we’re here. Let’s stick together until we get the lay of the land.”
The Frau grunted and snorted, presumably in agreement as the dark substance of the capsule dissolved, allowing her to set paws upon solid ground once again.
Jim yelped in surprise as Excalibur came alive in his two-fisted grip. He spun in place and lashed out behind the Frau as lumbering figure emerged from the fog, massive club in hand in a pulverizing downstroke that he and the sword managed to parry.
The force of the blow buckled his knees, but the blow that otherwise would’ve crushed Ravyn’s skull was deflected harmlessly into the earth beside the Frau.
Remember the strange physics of the Shadowland, I launched myself into the air as I dropped both batons into my palms and flicked my wrists to open them to their full extension on my way towards the beasts head.
The Frau swung around slowly so as not to unseat Ravyn and shuffled back.
Jim’s upstroke sliced into the troll’s leg just below the groin, Excalibur scythed through the rock hard flesh like a hot knife through butter. Dark fluids erupted in a thick spurting stream towards the spot where Jim had been, but his spinning attack had taken him to the side, sword held aloft in his best hitter’s stance.
Meanwhile I slammed into the troll’s head, smashing his nose and crushing one eye with a series of swings with the batons. The creature’s thick skull and plate like skin protected him from any kind of killing blow, but my attacks were enough to forget the foes at its feet as he dropped the club and reached for my hovering form.
Seeing his chance and feeling the pull of Excalibur, Jim stepped into a two fisted swing that would have made Gary Sheffield jealous and eviscerated the creature as the glowing, singing blade again slipped through the heavy armor of the troll’s hide. Jim had to dodge to the side as the rush of the creatures insides came with a gush.
It took the troll a few moments to realize that it had been slain. When it did, it collapsed onto his knees first, and the toppled forward with a loud, splashing whumpf!
I dropped down beside the thing, looking towards Jim.
His face glistened with sweat and exertion, but his eyes glowed with exhilaration. “Holy shit!”
“Are you alright?”
He nodded, looked at the blade, and gulped. “Yeah, thanks to this thing. I can’t believe how much fun that was! Ravyn, are you OK?”
Ravyn hopped down from the Frau’s back and bounded over to Jim. She planted a big, wet kiss on his lips before answering. “Thanks to you I am.” She spun to face me, accusatory finger pointing in my direction. “Do you think you can avoid getting me killed again, Rusty? If you do get me killed, I’m going to haunt you from now to forever.”
The Frau sniffed the fallen troll and swung her massive head around towards us. Her voice came through telepathically to all of us. “This guy isn’t the only one of these things that guards this place, but it has been awhile since any of the others have been here. I’d say we not take too much time celebrating this small battle when we might not have much time before someone else comes by.”
“I’m going to take us to the place in the Shadowland where Nicholas was taken by Rose and then made the wrong choice by choosing Rose’s door—which led to a cell. We didn’t get to see all of the different doors in Nick’s memory orb, so I think that is the place to start. I’m not sure if that corridor corresponds with a single actual location or serves as sort of Transit Station within the Shadowland linking multiple different locations. Hang on!”
With the power of my Will, I sent our little capsule hurtling through the Shadowland towards a place we had seen only briefly through the memories of a man I had never met.
The passage didn’t take all that long, but the tension inside the capsule grew thicker with each passing moment.
Jim passed Excalibur back and forth between his sweating hands, using each handoff to dry the offending palm on his jeans.
The Frau shifted on her heavy paws, anxious to be moving.
Ravyn checked and doubled checked her array of pouches and pockets, making sure that the ties that held them closed were secure, but not too secure.
I flexed my palms and fingered the forearm sheaths where my familiar batons were holstered, ready to drop down into my hands with a flick of the wrist.
Sensing that we were drawing near to the place, I set the capsule down gently and looked to my companions.
“As best as I can tell from inside, we’re here. Let’s stick together until we get the lay of the land.”
The Frau grunted and snorted, presumably in agreement as the dark substance of the capsule dissolved, allowing her to set paws upon solid ground once again.
Jim yelped in surprise as Excalibur came alive in his two-fisted grip. He spun in place and lashed out behind the Frau as lumbering figure emerged from the fog, massive club in hand in a pulverizing downstroke that he and the sword managed to parry.
The force of the blow buckled his knees, but the blow that otherwise would’ve crushed Ravyn’s skull was deflected harmlessly into the earth beside the Frau.
Remember the strange physics of the Shadowland, I launched myself into the air as I dropped both batons into my palms and flicked my wrists to open them to their full extension on my way towards the beasts head.
The Frau swung around slowly so as not to unseat Ravyn and shuffled back.
Jim’s upstroke sliced into the troll’s leg just below the groin, Excalibur scythed through the rock hard flesh like a hot knife through butter. Dark fluids erupted in a thick spurting stream towards the spot where Jim had been, but his spinning attack had taken him to the side, sword held aloft in his best hitter’s stance.
Meanwhile I slammed into the troll’s head, smashing his nose and crushing one eye with a series of swings with the batons. The creature’s thick skull and plate like skin protected him from any kind of killing blow, but my attacks were enough to forget the foes at its feet as he dropped the club and reached for my hovering form.
Seeing his chance and feeling the pull of Excalibur, Jim stepped into a two fisted swing that would have made Gary Sheffield jealous and eviscerated the creature as the glowing, singing blade again slipped through the heavy armor of the troll’s hide. Jim had to dodge to the side as the rush of the creatures insides came with a gush.
It took the troll a few moments to realize that it had been slain. When it did, it collapsed onto his knees first, and the toppled forward with a loud, splashing whumpf!
I dropped down beside the thing, looking towards Jim.
His face glistened with sweat and exertion, but his eyes glowed with exhilaration. “Holy shit!”
“Are you alright?”
He nodded, looked at the blade, and gulped. “Yeah, thanks to this thing. I can’t believe how much fun that was! Ravyn, are you OK?”
Ravyn hopped down from the Frau’s back and bounded over to Jim. She planted a big, wet kiss on his lips before answering. “Thanks to you I am.” She spun to face me, accusatory finger pointing in my direction. “Do you think you can avoid getting me killed again, Rusty? If you do get me killed, I’m going to haunt you from now to forever.”
The Frau sniffed the fallen troll and swung her massive head around towards us. Her voice came through telepathically to all of us. “This guy isn’t the only one of these things that guards this place, but it has been awhile since any of the others have been here. I’d say we not take too much time celebrating this small battle when we might not have much time before someone else comes by.”
Thursday, September 06, 2007
From the Frying Pan into the Fire...Part 4
After the initial surge of adrenaline passed, Jim looked back to me. “Wait a minute, are you sure this is the best idea? Won’t you need this weapon if we face any powerful foes?”
I shook my head. “If we were going in to make an all out attack and to cause damage, then yeah, I’d keep the blade with me and leave you somewhere safe. But right now we just need to get in, find as many of our people as we can, and get back out again. I also don’t know where we would be able to leave you where you would be safe right now. We don’t know who our mole is, other than it is likely not any of the four of us, and so I don’t think it is wise for us to split up in any way.”
The Frau nodded. Her voice came through telepathically again. “I agree with Rusty. Excalibur seems to be OK with you holding it, so let’s not argue about that. I also agree that splitting up is not a wise idea. We’re going to need to move fast and stay together so that Rusty or Ravyn can get us out of there in a hurry if things get too bad. Ravyn, my dear, I’m going to suggest that you ride on my back. We should make quite the formidable duo!”
Ravyn’s face lit up. “That sounds like fun.” Her expression grew more serious. “I’ll carry the computer with us as well since Jim’s going to have his hands full.” She then walked over to Jim, reaching into a pocket of her skirt and pulled out a small pouch. She poured out three small, red, round stones from the pouch into her hand. “Jim, open your other hand please.”
He did so, slightly confused.
She placed the three stones in his hand and closed his fingers over them slowly before planting a kiss on his cheek. “These things will explode on impact when thrown and become fireballs like the one I threw at the Asylum. Just call out ‘Phoenix’ as you throw it. Be careful, you will want to be at least ten to fifteen feet away from the impact point. These things don’t discriminate like that sword does.”
Jim gulped as looked down at the miniature red fireballs in the palm of his hand. “Uh, I’m not sure I want to be carrying this much firepower in my pocket, if you know what I mean.”
Ravyn gave him a sly wink. “Don’t worry, it will only add to what’s already there.”
Jim blushed, cleared his throat and slipped the red pellets into his pants pocket, unwilling to trust his voice at any retort.
I stepped up to his rescue. “OK, when we land, I’ll take the lead. I will try to manipulate the Shadow in the area to obscure our presence as much as possible. I’ll take down any guards as quickly and as quietly as possible while the Frau and Ravyn search around for any prisoners, once any of them are located, let me know, and I will either break the doors down or slip inside through the Shadowland.”
Both Ravyn and the Frau nodded in agreement.
“Jim, you stay right behind me unless I get tied up with a bigger opponent. Don’t try to help me out unless you don’t have any other choice. I’d rather you watched my back. If I have to slip into the Shadow to rescue a prisoner, I’ll want you to be near Ravyn and the Frau. Trust the sword. It won’t generally allow you to swing at something or someone that it doesn’t feel deserves it. Use those fireballs of Ravyn’s to cover our retreat, if necessary.”
He gulped and nodded as well, still holding the sword out away from his body.
I surveyed all of my companions before speaking again. “The opponent I am most worried about is Locks. If he shows up, I’ll take him on myself. He has grown in power and seems to have access to a lot of the abilities that I have, so don’t try to play the hero with him. His body has clearly been highly modified much like mine. I also have a very bad feeling that he is the one that is most tied up with the An’girasii.”
Jim cleared his throat. “Can you face him without this sword?”
I smiled and nodded. “One reason I thought to give you that blade for now was because I have the strangest feeling that the blade would not allow me to use it against him. It would probably allow you to swing at him, but that sword has a perverse sense of fair play that can be all to annoying. So, is everyone clear on the plan so far?”
Ravyn sighed and chuckled. “Yeah, it’s as clear as mud, since we hardly know this place that we are going to, we don’t know who or what we will face, and who, if anyone, will be there to be rescued. Other than those few, insignificant details, it’s about as good a plan as you’ve ever come up with Rusty!”
“OK then, let’s roll!”
Ravyn giggled as she grabbed a handful of thick black fur on the Frau’s shoulder and hoisted herself up onto the Frau’s back. She adjusted her skirt and reached out to take the briefcase that Jim was handing up to her. She took out the shoulder strap from a side pocket and clicked it into place before putting the thing over her shoulder and sliding it to her back, leaving both hands free.
“Last call for all passengers for Zombie Air, Flight 666, going straight to Hell!”
I shook my head. “If we were going in to make an all out attack and to cause damage, then yeah, I’d keep the blade with me and leave you somewhere safe. But right now we just need to get in, find as many of our people as we can, and get back out again. I also don’t know where we would be able to leave you where you would be safe right now. We don’t know who our mole is, other than it is likely not any of the four of us, and so I don’t think it is wise for us to split up in any way.”
The Frau nodded. Her voice came through telepathically again. “I agree with Rusty. Excalibur seems to be OK with you holding it, so let’s not argue about that. I also agree that splitting up is not a wise idea. We’re going to need to move fast and stay together so that Rusty or Ravyn can get us out of there in a hurry if things get too bad. Ravyn, my dear, I’m going to suggest that you ride on my back. We should make quite the formidable duo!”
Ravyn’s face lit up. “That sounds like fun.” Her expression grew more serious. “I’ll carry the computer with us as well since Jim’s going to have his hands full.” She then walked over to Jim, reaching into a pocket of her skirt and pulled out a small pouch. She poured out three small, red, round stones from the pouch into her hand. “Jim, open your other hand please.”
He did so, slightly confused.
She placed the three stones in his hand and closed his fingers over them slowly before planting a kiss on his cheek. “These things will explode on impact when thrown and become fireballs like the one I threw at the Asylum. Just call out ‘Phoenix’ as you throw it. Be careful, you will want to be at least ten to fifteen feet away from the impact point. These things don’t discriminate like that sword does.”
Jim gulped as looked down at the miniature red fireballs in the palm of his hand. “Uh, I’m not sure I want to be carrying this much firepower in my pocket, if you know what I mean.”
Ravyn gave him a sly wink. “Don’t worry, it will only add to what’s already there.”
Jim blushed, cleared his throat and slipped the red pellets into his pants pocket, unwilling to trust his voice at any retort.
I stepped up to his rescue. “OK, when we land, I’ll take the lead. I will try to manipulate the Shadow in the area to obscure our presence as much as possible. I’ll take down any guards as quickly and as quietly as possible while the Frau and Ravyn search around for any prisoners, once any of them are located, let me know, and I will either break the doors down or slip inside through the Shadowland.”
Both Ravyn and the Frau nodded in agreement.
“Jim, you stay right behind me unless I get tied up with a bigger opponent. Don’t try to help me out unless you don’t have any other choice. I’d rather you watched my back. If I have to slip into the Shadow to rescue a prisoner, I’ll want you to be near Ravyn and the Frau. Trust the sword. It won’t generally allow you to swing at something or someone that it doesn’t feel deserves it. Use those fireballs of Ravyn’s to cover our retreat, if necessary.”
He gulped and nodded as well, still holding the sword out away from his body.
I surveyed all of my companions before speaking again. “The opponent I am most worried about is Locks. If he shows up, I’ll take him on myself. He has grown in power and seems to have access to a lot of the abilities that I have, so don’t try to play the hero with him. His body has clearly been highly modified much like mine. I also have a very bad feeling that he is the one that is most tied up with the An’girasii.”
Jim cleared his throat. “Can you face him without this sword?”
I smiled and nodded. “One reason I thought to give you that blade for now was because I have the strangest feeling that the blade would not allow me to use it against him. It would probably allow you to swing at him, but that sword has a perverse sense of fair play that can be all to annoying. So, is everyone clear on the plan so far?”
Ravyn sighed and chuckled. “Yeah, it’s as clear as mud, since we hardly know this place that we are going to, we don’t know who or what we will face, and who, if anyone, will be there to be rescued. Other than those few, insignificant details, it’s about as good a plan as you’ve ever come up with Rusty!”
“OK then, let’s roll!”
Ravyn giggled as she grabbed a handful of thick black fur on the Frau’s shoulder and hoisted herself up onto the Frau’s back. She adjusted her skirt and reached out to take the briefcase that Jim was handing up to her. She took out the shoulder strap from a side pocket and clicked it into place before putting the thing over her shoulder and sliding it to her back, leaving both hands free.
“Last call for all passengers for Zombie Air, Flight 666, going straight to Hell!”
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
From the Frying Pan into the Fire...Part 3
The transit through the Shadowland and into another world was brief and almost random in nature as I felt the need for us to land in a place that I had never before been and to which it could not be predicted that we would retire to.
I had to reject two worlds because they presented survivability problems for my friends, and third world was rejected because the portal would have taken us to a strange looking city teeming with inhabitants of unknown dispositions.
The fourth attempt finally resulted in place that was less than ideal but seemed to meet our immediate needs for safety and privacy.
I closed the portal immediately.
As soon as she regained her bearings, Ravyn knelt down next to Jim. “Are you all right Jim?”
Jim groaned once and retched onto the ground away from her. His let go of the bat and grabbed his temples. “Ugh. I don’t think trans-dimensional travel is going to help my concussion any, but it was probably better than another punch in head from Papa Locks.”
The Frau gave the cold air a sniff and started circling the small, barren valley that we found ourselves in.
I turned to Ravyn and Jim. “I don’t think anyone could have followed us here, so we’re probably safe for the time being. We need to come up with a plan.”
Ravyn stood back up. “Well, we need to see if we can find a way to rescue Alexa, Naomi and Cerrydwen. We can’t leave them to El Diablito. Then we need to find out how our safe houses are being discovered and attacked.” She threw up her hands in exasperation. “Everything we’ve worked so hard to build over the last ten years is being taken from us. Worse yet, our friends are getting hurt and killed!”
I held up my hands. “Hey, I agree. We can’t let those monsters have any of our people, if we can prevent it. Especially if El Diablito is foolish enough to think that he is pulling a fast one over the An’girasii. I don’t think that he has the first clue about dangerous and powerful these creatures are.”
Jim sat up, picked his bat back up and used it to help him get to his knees before he stopped to recover. He fought off another bout of nausea before looking up at us. “I don’t think I’m in any condition to be of much help in any rescue attempt.”
Ravyn reached down and gave him a hug. “You gave as good as you got, Jim. I don’t think El Diablito will be doing any dancing in the near future, not with the way I heard his knee crack when you pasted him!”
Jim smiled at the thought of landing those blows. “That did feel good.”
The Frau came shambling down the nearest slope before parking herself next to Jim. Her voice came through telepathically. “Rusty, do you remember the memory orb that you watched from Nick’s encounter with Rose?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Do you think that you can take us to that place where Nick was held? I have a feeling that we will find at least some of our friends there.”
I nodded again. “I was able to get enough of a feeling for that place. I do think that I can find it again. But wouldn’t that be right in the middle of El Diablito’s organization? We’d probably have to fight our way through.”
She grunted. “We might. But the best defense is often a good offense. I think they’re going to need some time to recover from Ravyn’s fireball. I doubt that they are going to be expecting us to strike back immediately. If we wait, they might realize that we can get to their stronghold and move their prisoners somewhere else. We might also be able to gather some much needed intelligence on who their source on organization is.”
Ravyn nodded. “I agree. I’m tired of being a damn victim. Let’s hit them for a change!”
Jim stood up, groaning as he did so. He wobbled as he spoke. “I’m game, I think. Just point me in the general direction and stay out of my way.”
Seeing how green he looked around the gills, I wasn’t too sure this plan had any chance of success. Then an idea came with a flash. I reached up to the hilt of the blade on my back and projected my thoughts into it.
With more than a little surprise, I felt an acknowledgement from the blade and grudging acceptance to my request.
I drew the blade and held it out towards Jim. “Jim, I think Excalibur will serve you better than that bat of yours.”
Jim looked shocked. “I’ve never used a sword…I wouldn’t know how…”
“Hey buddy, in case you hadn’t noticed, I never used a sword before either. That’s the beauty of this blade-it will pretty much wield itself. Hopefully, we can get in and back out without you having to really wield it in battle, but I will feel much better if you have this thing in your hands than if you are trying use baseball bat against people who can throw magick around. This thing will protect you from most of what anyone can throw at you.”
Jim reached out tentatively to take the hilt of the blade in shaking hands. He flinched as his fingers touched the hilt.
I let go as Excalibur settled into his grip. Color returned to his face as if healing energy flowed from the blade through his arms and into his body. He blinked as he stared at his reflection in the glowing blade of the sword.
“Whoa. I never would have guessed that this sword could be so light.” He looked back to me, nodding. “I feel much better now! I’m ready to go!”
I had to reject two worlds because they presented survivability problems for my friends, and third world was rejected because the portal would have taken us to a strange looking city teeming with inhabitants of unknown dispositions.
The fourth attempt finally resulted in place that was less than ideal but seemed to meet our immediate needs for safety and privacy.
I closed the portal immediately.
As soon as she regained her bearings, Ravyn knelt down next to Jim. “Are you all right Jim?”
Jim groaned once and retched onto the ground away from her. His let go of the bat and grabbed his temples. “Ugh. I don’t think trans-dimensional travel is going to help my concussion any, but it was probably better than another punch in head from Papa Locks.”
The Frau gave the cold air a sniff and started circling the small, barren valley that we found ourselves in.
I turned to Ravyn and Jim. “I don’t think anyone could have followed us here, so we’re probably safe for the time being. We need to come up with a plan.”
Ravyn stood back up. “Well, we need to see if we can find a way to rescue Alexa, Naomi and Cerrydwen. We can’t leave them to El Diablito. Then we need to find out how our safe houses are being discovered and attacked.” She threw up her hands in exasperation. “Everything we’ve worked so hard to build over the last ten years is being taken from us. Worse yet, our friends are getting hurt and killed!”
I held up my hands. “Hey, I agree. We can’t let those monsters have any of our people, if we can prevent it. Especially if El Diablito is foolish enough to think that he is pulling a fast one over the An’girasii. I don’t think that he has the first clue about dangerous and powerful these creatures are.”
Jim sat up, picked his bat back up and used it to help him get to his knees before he stopped to recover. He fought off another bout of nausea before looking up at us. “I don’t think I’m in any condition to be of much help in any rescue attempt.”
Ravyn reached down and gave him a hug. “You gave as good as you got, Jim. I don’t think El Diablito will be doing any dancing in the near future, not with the way I heard his knee crack when you pasted him!”
Jim smiled at the thought of landing those blows. “That did feel good.”
The Frau came shambling down the nearest slope before parking herself next to Jim. Her voice came through telepathically. “Rusty, do you remember the memory orb that you watched from Nick’s encounter with Rose?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Do you think that you can take us to that place where Nick was held? I have a feeling that we will find at least some of our friends there.”
I nodded again. “I was able to get enough of a feeling for that place. I do think that I can find it again. But wouldn’t that be right in the middle of El Diablito’s organization? We’d probably have to fight our way through.”
She grunted. “We might. But the best defense is often a good offense. I think they’re going to need some time to recover from Ravyn’s fireball. I doubt that they are going to be expecting us to strike back immediately. If we wait, they might realize that we can get to their stronghold and move their prisoners somewhere else. We might also be able to gather some much needed intelligence on who their source on organization is.”
Ravyn nodded. “I agree. I’m tired of being a damn victim. Let’s hit them for a change!”
Jim stood up, groaning as he did so. He wobbled as he spoke. “I’m game, I think. Just point me in the general direction and stay out of my way.”
Seeing how green he looked around the gills, I wasn’t too sure this plan had any chance of success. Then an idea came with a flash. I reached up to the hilt of the blade on my back and projected my thoughts into it.
With more than a little surprise, I felt an acknowledgement from the blade and grudging acceptance to my request.
I drew the blade and held it out towards Jim. “Jim, I think Excalibur will serve you better than that bat of yours.”
Jim looked shocked. “I’ve never used a sword…I wouldn’t know how…”
“Hey buddy, in case you hadn’t noticed, I never used a sword before either. That’s the beauty of this blade-it will pretty much wield itself. Hopefully, we can get in and back out without you having to really wield it in battle, but I will feel much better if you have this thing in your hands than if you are trying use baseball bat against people who can throw magick around. This thing will protect you from most of what anyone can throw at you.”
Jim reached out tentatively to take the hilt of the blade in shaking hands. He flinched as his fingers touched the hilt.
I let go as Excalibur settled into his grip. Color returned to his face as if healing energy flowed from the blade through his arms and into his body. He blinked as he stared at his reflection in the glowing blade of the sword.
“Whoa. I never would have guessed that this sword could be so light.” He looked back to me, nodding. “I feel much better now! I’m ready to go!”
Thursday, August 30, 2007
From the Frying Pan Into the Fire...Part 2
I stepped forward as I tapped the end of my baton in my free hand. “Klimm! Give me one reason that I shouldn’t just end your miserable existence right now?”
El Diablito looked down at the prone form of Jim at his feet before reaching down and picking up the black briefcase at his feet. He cackled before he spoke. “I know how much you value your friends, Rusty. They are all you have after all, now that I have that little bastard daughter of yours safely tucked away.”
His words stung me worse than anything physical that he could have done. I lunged forward, but drew myself short a couple of paces from them. “What have you done with Alexa?”
Diablito had flinched when I came forward, but found his courage again as Rose drew herself up beside him and Papa Locks inched forward as well.
“Oh, it wasn’t easy to get those arrogant fools to launch an all out attack on your organization. They didn’t think your ORC’s posed much of a threat just yet and weren’t too eager to expose themselves, so I had to clue them in on some of Drake’s little media tricks. Don’t worry Bones, your little Alexa is perfectly safe, although I can’t say as much for her erstwhile guardians.” He shook his head as spoke. “Papa Locks here was quite glad to show his mettle against that vile wench you call Cerrydwen. Rose will enjoy playing with her new pets very much!”
I was just about to explode in homicidal rage when I felt a small voice whisper into my head in a long-forgotten language.
“Rusty, it’s the Frau. Don’t react to my voice, just listen. Jim’s coming around and will make the first move. Don’t make any sudden moves until he does. Ravyn’s waiting as well. Once Jim makes his move, we’re going to need you to get us out of here as fast as you can. In the meantime, keep that Little Devil talking.”
It took me a moment to digest the Frau’s instructions and then realize that I couldn’t give anything away. It was also the first time I could remember where I was being asked to keep one of my enemies talking.
“Klimm, you’re playing with very dangerous matches if you think that you can control the An’girasii for any period of time.”
Diablito laughed again. “Everyone can be controlled, if you know the right levers to use.”
I shook my head. “You obviously have no idea of who you are dealing with, Klimm. Those things aren’t human. They need to be stopped before they take over this world. If you gave them information about us that allowed them take us down now, then you may have served their purposes more than they served yours.”
He nodded. “Yes, I’m quite sure that is what those arrogant fools believe. But you’re wrong, Bones. I know exactly what these creatures are. More importantly I know where they came from and what they fe….argh!!!”
Jim had lashed out with the bat that had fallen close to him and struck Diablito on the knee with a thunderous blow that ended in a vicious snapping sound. Jim was muttering something as swung that sounded quite a bit like ‘you don’t fuck with a man’s automobile’.
El Diablito dropped the briefcase as he fell to one knee, just in time for Jim to land a second, glancing blow to his shoulder that slid up and connected with his skull with a dull thud that ended all outcries from the older man.
Rose lashed out towards Jim with her talon-like nails, but not before one of the Frau’s enormous paws connected with her. The massive blow sent the slender woman flying over El Diablito and into Papa Locks before he could react, sending them both sprawling.
Ravyn grunted as she hurled a small of flame over the three main antagonists and into the room behind them. The ball expanded almost as quickly as it flew, blowing up into a great swirling maelstrom of fire that exploded and threw flames and debris in every direction as it landed.
Summoning all of my Will to keep myself from delivering the final blow to the sneaky bastard myself, I sighed and summoned the Shadow and pulled Jim, the Frau, Ravyn and the briefcase in with me before the flames of another Ravyn induced inferno could reach us.
El Diablito looked down at the prone form of Jim at his feet before reaching down and picking up the black briefcase at his feet. He cackled before he spoke. “I know how much you value your friends, Rusty. They are all you have after all, now that I have that little bastard daughter of yours safely tucked away.”
His words stung me worse than anything physical that he could have done. I lunged forward, but drew myself short a couple of paces from them. “What have you done with Alexa?”
Diablito had flinched when I came forward, but found his courage again as Rose drew herself up beside him and Papa Locks inched forward as well.
“Oh, it wasn’t easy to get those arrogant fools to launch an all out attack on your organization. They didn’t think your ORC’s posed much of a threat just yet and weren’t too eager to expose themselves, so I had to clue them in on some of Drake’s little media tricks. Don’t worry Bones, your little Alexa is perfectly safe, although I can’t say as much for her erstwhile guardians.” He shook his head as spoke. “Papa Locks here was quite glad to show his mettle against that vile wench you call Cerrydwen. Rose will enjoy playing with her new pets very much!”
I was just about to explode in homicidal rage when I felt a small voice whisper into my head in a long-forgotten language.
“Rusty, it’s the Frau. Don’t react to my voice, just listen. Jim’s coming around and will make the first move. Don’t make any sudden moves until he does. Ravyn’s waiting as well. Once Jim makes his move, we’re going to need you to get us out of here as fast as you can. In the meantime, keep that Little Devil talking.”
It took me a moment to digest the Frau’s instructions and then realize that I couldn’t give anything away. It was also the first time I could remember where I was being asked to keep one of my enemies talking.
“Klimm, you’re playing with very dangerous matches if you think that you can control the An’girasii for any period of time.”
Diablito laughed again. “Everyone can be controlled, if you know the right levers to use.”
I shook my head. “You obviously have no idea of who you are dealing with, Klimm. Those things aren’t human. They need to be stopped before they take over this world. If you gave them information about us that allowed them take us down now, then you may have served their purposes more than they served yours.”
He nodded. “Yes, I’m quite sure that is what those arrogant fools believe. But you’re wrong, Bones. I know exactly what these creatures are. More importantly I know where they came from and what they fe….argh!!!”
Jim had lashed out with the bat that had fallen close to him and struck Diablito on the knee with a thunderous blow that ended in a vicious snapping sound. Jim was muttering something as swung that sounded quite a bit like ‘you don’t fuck with a man’s automobile’.
El Diablito dropped the briefcase as he fell to one knee, just in time for Jim to land a second, glancing blow to his shoulder that slid up and connected with his skull with a dull thud that ended all outcries from the older man.
Rose lashed out towards Jim with her talon-like nails, but not before one of the Frau’s enormous paws connected with her. The massive blow sent the slender woman flying over El Diablito and into Papa Locks before he could react, sending them both sprawling.
Ravyn grunted as she hurled a small of flame over the three main antagonists and into the room behind them. The ball expanded almost as quickly as it flew, blowing up into a great swirling maelstrom of fire that exploded and threw flames and debris in every direction as it landed.
Summoning all of my Will to keep myself from delivering the final blow to the sneaky bastard myself, I sighed and summoned the Shadow and pulled Jim, the Frau, Ravyn and the briefcase in with me before the flames of another Ravyn induced inferno could reach us.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
From the Frying Pan Into the Fire...Part 1
Ravyn and I followed the same path that the Professor had taken a few minutes earlier. Each of us had a number of bags in hand, but hers were of the lighter variety than mine.
After crossing the lot, we came to a set of heavy metal double doors with the one on the right having been left ajar. Just as I moved to set on the bags down to open the door further, the Frau lumbered up behind us, wuffling in excitement.
“Rusty, hold on! Something doesn’t smell quite right.”
“This place has a ‘right smell’ to it? We might as well go in, Jim’s inside already.”
The Frau’s head swiveled back and forth. “Then he’s not alone.”
Ravyn dropped her bags with a crash. She reached out with her right hand to yank the door open while holding her now flaming left hand up above her shoulder. “Come on you two, we can’t leave him alone for long!”
I followed suit, dropping the rest of her bags and triggered the baton to drop into my right hand. I held the door that Ravyn had opened so that she and the Frau could slip into the dust filled darkness within.
The place had definitely been an institution of some sort. It had the wide corridors and tiled floors of a place that had once been clean and well-maintained.
Ravyn and the Frau padded ahead of me, while my heavy steps echoes throughout the empty halls. Jim’s trail was readily apparent in the grime that covered the tiles.
The small orbs of fire that now danced around Ravyn’s shoulders, provided most of the light that we had, although stray beams of dust-filled sun-light cut through the darkness in intermittent patches.
Ravyn motioned for us all to stop for a moment and called out, her voice cutting through the grim silence of the place. “Jim, where are you?”
In the distance we heard a muffled attempt to shout in response that was interrupted by the sickening sound of a smack to someone’s head and a dull thud.
That sent Ravyn racing forward with the Frau lurching to a run behind her.
I called the Shadow and placed myself solidly ahead of both of them so that I would bear the brunt of any hidden attacks.
Jim’s trail led us around a blind corner and into a large, dark room that was probably once a cafeteria.
Several figures stood waiting for us as we rounded the bend.
El Diablito stood in the center of the group, his grey eyes sparkling with mischief as waited with his arms crossed.
On his right was a thin, waif-like woman with hungry, almond-shaped brown eyes, and lanky, dark hair. I recognized her as Rose from the memory orb I had seen months earlier.
On his left was an even more ominous figure, the shrouded figure of Papa Locks, his gloved fists clenched at his sides. He loomed over the unconscious form of Jim.
As we pulled up to face these three, several more figures emerged from the Shadow around the room. Each of these half dozen figures had the heavy shoulders and the bearings of men who were more than comfortable in dealing out violence. They each held weapons of one sort or another, ranging from sub-machine guns for the farthest three to the oddly glowing and crackling clubs of the three closest to us.
El Diablito chuckled as we took in the scene.
“It was so nice of you to invite me to your little party…”
After crossing the lot, we came to a set of heavy metal double doors with the one on the right having been left ajar. Just as I moved to set on the bags down to open the door further, the Frau lumbered up behind us, wuffling in excitement.
“Rusty, hold on! Something doesn’t smell quite right.”
“This place has a ‘right smell’ to it? We might as well go in, Jim’s inside already.”
The Frau’s head swiveled back and forth. “Then he’s not alone.”
Ravyn dropped her bags with a crash. She reached out with her right hand to yank the door open while holding her now flaming left hand up above her shoulder. “Come on you two, we can’t leave him alone for long!”
I followed suit, dropping the rest of her bags and triggered the baton to drop into my right hand. I held the door that Ravyn had opened so that she and the Frau could slip into the dust filled darkness within.
The place had definitely been an institution of some sort. It had the wide corridors and tiled floors of a place that had once been clean and well-maintained.
Ravyn and the Frau padded ahead of me, while my heavy steps echoes throughout the empty halls. Jim’s trail was readily apparent in the grime that covered the tiles.
The small orbs of fire that now danced around Ravyn’s shoulders, provided most of the light that we had, although stray beams of dust-filled sun-light cut through the darkness in intermittent patches.
Ravyn motioned for us all to stop for a moment and called out, her voice cutting through the grim silence of the place. “Jim, where are you?”
In the distance we heard a muffled attempt to shout in response that was interrupted by the sickening sound of a smack to someone’s head and a dull thud.
That sent Ravyn racing forward with the Frau lurching to a run behind her.
I called the Shadow and placed myself solidly ahead of both of them so that I would bear the brunt of any hidden attacks.
Jim’s trail led us around a blind corner and into a large, dark room that was probably once a cafeteria.
Several figures stood waiting for us as we rounded the bend.
El Diablito stood in the center of the group, his grey eyes sparkling with mischief as waited with his arms crossed.
On his right was a thin, waif-like woman with hungry, almond-shaped brown eyes, and lanky, dark hair. I recognized her as Rose from the memory orb I had seen months earlier.
On his left was an even more ominous figure, the shrouded figure of Papa Locks, his gloved fists clenched at his sides. He loomed over the unconscious form of Jim.
As we pulled up to face these three, several more figures emerged from the Shadow around the room. Each of these half dozen figures had the heavy shoulders and the bearings of men who were more than comfortable in dealing out violence. They each held weapons of one sort or another, ranging from sub-machine guns for the farthest three to the oddly glowing and crackling clubs of the three closest to us.
El Diablito chuckled as we took in the scene.
“It was so nice of you to invite me to your little party…”
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Sole Asylum...Part 5
I brushed myself off and began picking the shards of branches and bark that we sticking out of my skin as I looked around to try and gauge how close we came to the Asylum.
The truck had crashed into a very stout tree on the edge of a desolate looking parking lot. The pavement of the lot was cracked and marked with potholes, some of which were large enough to sport their own small trees. The other three edges of the lot were bordered by hulking, multi-story, brick buildings that gave off a distinct feeling of brooding, sullen anger. Many of windows had been broken, but almost all of them were covered by iron bars.
I waved a broken branch that I had plucked from the base of my neck towards the buildings behind the truck. “The Asylum, I presume. See? That wasn’t too bad.”
The bear that was wearing the tattered remnants of the Frau’s outfit looked up at the building and gave out a wuffling snort before the Frau’s voice came through inside my head. “Not too bad, Rusty. I don’t know how many more of your little adventures I can handle, however, I’m an old lady! Oh and I will need some help getting my luggage out. I don’t think you want me streaking around here!”
I reached out and scratched the bear behind the ears. “No problem, Frau, I’ll be glad to help you out. I see those two are a little preoccupied.”
Ravyn and Jim were standing near the driver’s front quarter panel. Jim was leaning on the truck with his right hand clenched into a tight fist, as he leaned down to allow Ravyn to dab away the blood from his face.
Jim’s lips were drawn tight as he struggled to contain his obvious rage.
As she gently wiped the blood away with a handkerchief, Ravyn was speaking to him too softly for me to hear what she was saying.
The Frau snorted again and began padding towards the woods. “Ravyn knows which bags are mine and where we need to go inside the Asylum. I’m going to take this opportunity to do some scouting.” She stopped and looked back at me. “Do you mind stripping the last of this clothing off, Dear? I don’t want to leave an unnatural trail.”
I walked up behind her and began pulling the stretched and shredded remnants of her sweatpants and sweatshirt from her fur. Before long, she was bounding off into the thick, overgrown underbrush.
After the Frau disappeared from sight, I turned to see Jim moving to the tailgate with Ravyn following close behind him.
“Hey, the Frau said she was going to scout around. Do either of you know which bags are hers?”
Jim grunted something unintelligible as he opened the tailgate and reached in to grab the briefcase that held the computer I had seen earlier and a baseball bat. Without further comment he stalked off across the parking lot towards the largest of the three buildings that were in sight, directly across the lot.
I looked to Ravyn. “What’s up with him?”
Ravyn gave me one of those looks that only women seem to be capable of. “He’s having a tough time dealing with everything that has happened in the past day. It’s also killing him that he has no idea how the rest of the group is doing—who’s been hurt or killed, and who’s still in danger.”
I nodded. “Yeah, it has been pretty eventful.”
Ravyn reached up and pulled a piece of bark from my forehead, shaking her head as she did so. “I think you’ve been dead too long if you call this day ‘pretty eventful’. Help me get some of these things inside and we can start getting settled. Getting things set up and ready for the Convocation will help Jim more than anything else right now.”
The truck had crashed into a very stout tree on the edge of a desolate looking parking lot. The pavement of the lot was cracked and marked with potholes, some of which were large enough to sport their own small trees. The other three edges of the lot were bordered by hulking, multi-story, brick buildings that gave off a distinct feeling of brooding, sullen anger. Many of windows had been broken, but almost all of them were covered by iron bars.
I waved a broken branch that I had plucked from the base of my neck towards the buildings behind the truck. “The Asylum, I presume. See? That wasn’t too bad.”
The bear that was wearing the tattered remnants of the Frau’s outfit looked up at the building and gave out a wuffling snort before the Frau’s voice came through inside my head. “Not too bad, Rusty. I don’t know how many more of your little adventures I can handle, however, I’m an old lady! Oh and I will need some help getting my luggage out. I don’t think you want me streaking around here!”
I reached out and scratched the bear behind the ears. “No problem, Frau, I’ll be glad to help you out. I see those two are a little preoccupied.”
Ravyn and Jim were standing near the driver’s front quarter panel. Jim was leaning on the truck with his right hand clenched into a tight fist, as he leaned down to allow Ravyn to dab away the blood from his face.
Jim’s lips were drawn tight as he struggled to contain his obvious rage.
As she gently wiped the blood away with a handkerchief, Ravyn was speaking to him too softly for me to hear what she was saying.
The Frau snorted again and began padding towards the woods. “Ravyn knows which bags are mine and where we need to go inside the Asylum. I’m going to take this opportunity to do some scouting.” She stopped and looked back at me. “Do you mind stripping the last of this clothing off, Dear? I don’t want to leave an unnatural trail.”
I walked up behind her and began pulling the stretched and shredded remnants of her sweatpants and sweatshirt from her fur. Before long, she was bounding off into the thick, overgrown underbrush.
After the Frau disappeared from sight, I turned to see Jim moving to the tailgate with Ravyn following close behind him.
“Hey, the Frau said she was going to scout around. Do either of you know which bags are hers?”
Jim grunted something unintelligible as he opened the tailgate and reached in to grab the briefcase that held the computer I had seen earlier and a baseball bat. Without further comment he stalked off across the parking lot towards the largest of the three buildings that were in sight, directly across the lot.
I looked to Ravyn. “What’s up with him?”
Ravyn gave me one of those looks that only women seem to be capable of. “He’s having a tough time dealing with everything that has happened in the past day. It’s also killing him that he has no idea how the rest of the group is doing—who’s been hurt or killed, and who’s still in danger.”
I nodded. “Yeah, it has been pretty eventful.”
Ravyn reached up and pulled a piece of bark from my forehead, shaking her head as she did so. “I think you’ve been dead too long if you call this day ‘pretty eventful’. Help me get some of these things inside and we can start getting settled. Getting things set up and ready for the Convocation will help Jim more than anything else right now.”
Monday, August 20, 2007
Sole Asylum...Part 4
Hurtling sideways through the ether of the Shadowland while holding onto the rear bumper of an F-150 Ford pick-up truck is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the easiest place to try and summon up the concentration needed to open a portal to the ‘normal’ world.
When you add in the complications of needing to open a portal large enough for a truck to go through and the concern for the safety of the occupants—and of any potential bystanders who might be nearby—the task only got harder.
But it was absolutely critical that I find a way to solve this problem in a way that left open the possibility for a safe landing.
My one advantage, other than sheer desperation, was that working with the Shadow was extremely easy in the Shadowland itself.
So, ignoring the precarious position that I found myself in, I began weaving the strands of Shadow together into a web-like bubble. I was careful not to seal it up completely until I had some idea of where we would land.
Before I could seal the bubble and activate the portal, I experimented by throwing out tendrils of Shadow to slow our momentum and orient the whole bubble in what I hoped would be the right direction. The sheer mass of the truck and its contents and the speed with which it was traveling, made the task nearly impossible to accomplish in the short time that we had.
After several fitful attempts at getting us oriented, I sealed the portal, closed my eyes, and prayed.
The jarring, crunching impact of the truck threw me into the air, spinning as I went flying.
The front end of the vehicle crumpled up, just as it was designed to do, as it plowed into the trunk of a thick tree. Before I landed myself, I did note that the airbags deployed before anyone’s head smashed through windshield.
My own first impact took place about twenty five feet away and fifteen feet above theirs. It also happened upside down and backwards as I slammed into the tree trunk ass first. Just as that impact registered with a loud cracking sound, I began the slide down through the spindly branches of the now-destroyed tree to land head first in a bush.
By the time I managed to get on my feet and look back to the truck, I saw the passenger door being pushed open by a grumpy looking black bear. Jim wrenched open the drivers door, pulling off his cap as he wiped away the trickle of blood oozing from his nose. Ravyn quickly followed him, bouncing out unscathed, but none too pleased at having a second near-death experience within 12 hours of her first…
When you add in the complications of needing to open a portal large enough for a truck to go through and the concern for the safety of the occupants—and of any potential bystanders who might be nearby—the task only got harder.
But it was absolutely critical that I find a way to solve this problem in a way that left open the possibility for a safe landing.
My one advantage, other than sheer desperation, was that working with the Shadow was extremely easy in the Shadowland itself.
So, ignoring the precarious position that I found myself in, I began weaving the strands of Shadow together into a web-like bubble. I was careful not to seal it up completely until I had some idea of where we would land.
Before I could seal the bubble and activate the portal, I experimented by throwing out tendrils of Shadow to slow our momentum and orient the whole bubble in what I hoped would be the right direction. The sheer mass of the truck and its contents and the speed with which it was traveling, made the task nearly impossible to accomplish in the short time that we had.
After several fitful attempts at getting us oriented, I sealed the portal, closed my eyes, and prayed.
The jarring, crunching impact of the truck threw me into the air, spinning as I went flying.
The front end of the vehicle crumpled up, just as it was designed to do, as it plowed into the trunk of a thick tree. Before I landed myself, I did note that the airbags deployed before anyone’s head smashed through windshield.
My own first impact took place about twenty five feet away and fifteen feet above theirs. It also happened upside down and backwards as I slammed into the tree trunk ass first. Just as that impact registered with a loud cracking sound, I began the slide down through the spindly branches of the now-destroyed tree to land head first in a bush.
By the time I managed to get on my feet and look back to the truck, I saw the passenger door being pushed open by a grumpy looking black bear. Jim wrenched open the drivers door, pulling off his cap as he wiped away the trickle of blood oozing from his nose. Ravyn quickly followed him, bouncing out unscathed, but none too pleased at having a second near-death experience within 12 hours of her first…
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Sole Asylum...Part 3
Shuffling around like silent zombies, we loaded up Jim’s truck with a few overstuffed bags of clothing and personal items and several boxes of groceries from the Frau’s enormous pantry.
Ravyn and I piled into the narrow back seat of the truck while the Frau rode shotgun.
As we set off through the quiet, narrow back country road that would take us north to I-94, the winds began to kick up as the edge of a large, dark, bank of clouds rolled over us from the west.
By the time we reached the highway entrance ramp, enormous drops of water were splattering on the hood and windshield of the truck. Jim pushed up the bill of the second cap. “I didn’t think that rain was in the forecast for the next week.”
A flash of lightning was soon followed by the rolling booms of thunder, signaling for the real downpour to begin. Sheets of water sluiced down across the road.
The Frau chuckled, pushed up her own glass and pointed towards the clouds with her cane. “My bones are telling me that this is no ordinary storm. The hair on the back of my neck is standing up as well. Someone or something doesn’t want us to get where we’re going.”
Jim grunted and punched a button on his radio. He fumbled around with the knobs, adjusting them back and forth several times, only to come up with crackling static. “That’s strange. This radio is normally pretty good.”
Ravyn scanned the highway from her seat next to me. “Hey, I can’t ever remember seeing I-94 this empty. There isn’t another car or truck in sight in either direction.”
I leaned forward from my seat behind the Frau. “Jim, stop the truck. Pull over to the side of the road, but leave it running and in gear.”
Jim pulled over to a stop. As the vehicle stopped, so did the rain.
The tension in the truck was thick. Ravyn clenched and unclenched her fingers, clearly itching to start throwing fire at whatever was causing this weather weirdness. The Frau clutched her cane in white knuckled hands as she scanned the horizons. Jim’s hand gripped the steering wheel, his shoulders hunched and tense.
I patted the seatback in front of me. “Frau, I’ll need to get out of the truck.”
She nearly jumped at my words, but she nodded and started fumbling with the door handle.
The rain had now stopped completely, but a low rumbling sound could be heard coming from the west.
The Frau opened the door and stood on the running board of the truck still holding the door open as she looked back to the west. “Oh my! That looks like a tornado coming our way.”
I clambered out of the back seat and through the rear half-door to stand on the shoulder of the road. Looking back, I saw the huge black funnel cloud that was barreling its way down the highway right towards us.
I slammed the half-door shut and waved the Frau to get back in. Over the growing roar of the oncoming tornado, I called out to Jim. “We’ll never outrun this thing, someone is controlling it. I’m going to open up a portal through the Shadowland. When I wave at you, gun this thing and go through, I’ll follow along as soon as I can!”
Jim’s eyes grew wide for the briefest of moments before he set his jaw, clamped down even harder on his steering wheel, and nodded his agreement. Ravyn seemed to be yelling something, but whatever she said was lost to the howling wind and the shutting door.
I rambled forward to a spot about a hundred feet in front of the truck and turned to face the coming funnel cloud and the hopeful looks of my dear companions.
I had never before created a portal that could fit something as large as a pick-up truck. I was not entirely sure that it was even possible to transport a mechanical machine like and automobile through a magickal, spiritual place like the Shadowland, but we were clearly very short on options.
It was hard to take my eyes off of the looming, ever-closer tornado and the havoc that it was creating less than half a mile behind my friends, but it was necessary if they were going to have a chance at surviving.
Instead, I stared at a spot about twenty feet in front of me. I focused my Will as I called more of the Shadow to that spot than I had ever called upon before.
Darkness formed as the Shadow pooled into the spot I had chosen. It grew rapidly, but nearly as rapidly as the tornado bore down on us.
With my left hand I continued to pour as much Shadow as possible into a puddle on the ground that rippled with dark energies, while I raised my right hand and waved for the truck to come forward.
The winds were whipping, it was getting more and more difficult to stand tall in the face of blowing, churning air.
Jim released the brakes of the truck and punched the accelerator. The truck lurched forward as the engine strained to get up to speed. Jim turned the wheel ever so slightly to align the vehicle with the pool of darkness that now stretched across the entire right lane of the highway.
A tree branch crashed into me as I stood stock still. I maintained my concentration as the truck raced with the screaming tornado to reach the portal.
I began striding forward myself, using both hands now to direct the dark energies of the pool to rise up and form an arch that would be large enough for the truck to go through.
The truck, the tornado, and I all met just feet from the Shadow Gate.
The back of the truck was lifting from ground and sliding to the left as it was caught by the funnel cloud, but its momentum continued to carry it through the gate as it spun in the air. Still using most of my concentration on keeping the portal open, I leapt forward, grabbing onto the rear bumper as it swung into the portal first.
There was an immediate silence as I passed into the calmness of the Shadowland that almost immediately shattered by roaring of the truck engine as Jim continued to hold his foot to the pedal, despite the lack of any ground for the wheels to gain traction on.
As soon as I saw that the front of the truck was through, I closed off that portal and began working on another to get us close to the Asylum…
Ravyn and I piled into the narrow back seat of the truck while the Frau rode shotgun.
As we set off through the quiet, narrow back country road that would take us north to I-94, the winds began to kick up as the edge of a large, dark, bank of clouds rolled over us from the west.
By the time we reached the highway entrance ramp, enormous drops of water were splattering on the hood and windshield of the truck. Jim pushed up the bill of the second cap. “I didn’t think that rain was in the forecast for the next week.”
A flash of lightning was soon followed by the rolling booms of thunder, signaling for the real downpour to begin. Sheets of water sluiced down across the road.
The Frau chuckled, pushed up her own glass and pointed towards the clouds with her cane. “My bones are telling me that this is no ordinary storm. The hair on the back of my neck is standing up as well. Someone or something doesn’t want us to get where we’re going.”
Jim grunted and punched a button on his radio. He fumbled around with the knobs, adjusting them back and forth several times, only to come up with crackling static. “That’s strange. This radio is normally pretty good.”
Ravyn scanned the highway from her seat next to me. “Hey, I can’t ever remember seeing I-94 this empty. There isn’t another car or truck in sight in either direction.”
I leaned forward from my seat behind the Frau. “Jim, stop the truck. Pull over to the side of the road, but leave it running and in gear.”
Jim pulled over to a stop. As the vehicle stopped, so did the rain.
The tension in the truck was thick. Ravyn clenched and unclenched her fingers, clearly itching to start throwing fire at whatever was causing this weather weirdness. The Frau clutched her cane in white knuckled hands as she scanned the horizons. Jim’s hand gripped the steering wheel, his shoulders hunched and tense.
I patted the seatback in front of me. “Frau, I’ll need to get out of the truck.”
She nearly jumped at my words, but she nodded and started fumbling with the door handle.
The rain had now stopped completely, but a low rumbling sound could be heard coming from the west.
The Frau opened the door and stood on the running board of the truck still holding the door open as she looked back to the west. “Oh my! That looks like a tornado coming our way.”
I clambered out of the back seat and through the rear half-door to stand on the shoulder of the road. Looking back, I saw the huge black funnel cloud that was barreling its way down the highway right towards us.
I slammed the half-door shut and waved the Frau to get back in. Over the growing roar of the oncoming tornado, I called out to Jim. “We’ll never outrun this thing, someone is controlling it. I’m going to open up a portal through the Shadowland. When I wave at you, gun this thing and go through, I’ll follow along as soon as I can!”
Jim’s eyes grew wide for the briefest of moments before he set his jaw, clamped down even harder on his steering wheel, and nodded his agreement. Ravyn seemed to be yelling something, but whatever she said was lost to the howling wind and the shutting door.
I rambled forward to a spot about a hundred feet in front of the truck and turned to face the coming funnel cloud and the hopeful looks of my dear companions.
I had never before created a portal that could fit something as large as a pick-up truck. I was not entirely sure that it was even possible to transport a mechanical machine like and automobile through a magickal, spiritual place like the Shadowland, but we were clearly very short on options.
It was hard to take my eyes off of the looming, ever-closer tornado and the havoc that it was creating less than half a mile behind my friends, but it was necessary if they were going to have a chance at surviving.
Instead, I stared at a spot about twenty feet in front of me. I focused my Will as I called more of the Shadow to that spot than I had ever called upon before.
Darkness formed as the Shadow pooled into the spot I had chosen. It grew rapidly, but nearly as rapidly as the tornado bore down on us.
With my left hand I continued to pour as much Shadow as possible into a puddle on the ground that rippled with dark energies, while I raised my right hand and waved for the truck to come forward.
The winds were whipping, it was getting more and more difficult to stand tall in the face of blowing, churning air.
Jim released the brakes of the truck and punched the accelerator. The truck lurched forward as the engine strained to get up to speed. Jim turned the wheel ever so slightly to align the vehicle with the pool of darkness that now stretched across the entire right lane of the highway.
A tree branch crashed into me as I stood stock still. I maintained my concentration as the truck raced with the screaming tornado to reach the portal.
I began striding forward myself, using both hands now to direct the dark energies of the pool to rise up and form an arch that would be large enough for the truck to go through.
The truck, the tornado, and I all met just feet from the Shadow Gate.
The back of the truck was lifting from ground and sliding to the left as it was caught by the funnel cloud, but its momentum continued to carry it through the gate as it spun in the air. Still using most of my concentration on keeping the portal open, I leapt forward, grabbing onto the rear bumper as it swung into the portal first.
There was an immediate silence as I passed into the calmness of the Shadowland that almost immediately shattered by roaring of the truck engine as Jim continued to hold his foot to the pedal, despite the lack of any ground for the wheels to gain traction on.
As soon as I saw that the front of the truck was through, I closed off that portal and began working on another to get us close to the Asylum…
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Sole Asylum...Part 2
The goodbyes between the group heading towards Herne’s Lodge and those of us heading east towards Detroit looked like they were going to be short and sweet. Ravyn took the longest with Cerrydwen, taking the opportunity to give her a list of all of the folks from the Coop that she wanted Cerrydwen to check with Herne about.
I gave Naomi a quick hug and then picked up Alexa to give one as well.
She looked directly into my eyes as I did so, her expression suddenly very serious. “Daddy?”
“Yes, Darling?”
She brought her small brown hands up to rest on each of my cheeks. The tone of her voice changed from her normal high-pitch to the deeper, huskier voice that came when her older self spoke.
“The storm clouds of change, turmoil, conflict are gathering. I want you to know that there is no way to stop the coming storm, the winds must blow, the waters must rise, and the blood of many will be shed. My vision cannot penetrate through the fog of war that obscures the coming time of trouble, but I have a feeling that this will be the last time that we will be together for quite some time. Do not worry for me, Father, or for Mother. Others are watching over us as well. What will be, will be.”
“But, why…”
She moved her left hand from my right cheek to hush me by putting her finger gently to my lips.
“I cannot tarry long, so please listen to me now. You all will be sorely tested by both the enemies that you know and those that are not yet revealed to you.” She removed the hand from my mouth to touch my chest. “You will need to use all of the gifts of this body that you inhabit if you hope to prevail, but it is your humanity that will be your greatest asset. Follow the heart that yet beats within your Spirit and we will meet again. Don’t forget who you are, or your cause will be lost.”
She bent forward and kissed me and motioned for me to put her down, which I did. She walked over to stand in front of Ravyn, who knelt down to be on the same level.
Alexa reached out and took Ravyn’s left hand into both of her own. “Mistress Fyre, I have learned so much from you. Thank you.”
Ravyn’s breath caught in her chest, she looked like she was about to cry, as if she sensed the words that were coming next. “Oh, Alexa…”
Alexa reached up and touched Ravyn’s lips as she did mine. “Know that the Powers have smiled on this second life that you have been given. You are more than worthy of this honor. Betsy will come again in your dreams, if you allow her to. I cannot say for sure that we will meet again in this life because the gift that you have received obscures you from all future visions. I do not know what this means, but I don’t believe that you can be seen by any of your enemies in this way either. I know that you will use this knowledge and this extra time that you have been given wisely and that you will continue to give more of yourself than anyone could ever rightfully ask of you. I hope to feel your warm embrace again.” With that, Alexa grabbed the stunned Ravyn in a crushing bear hug that ended with a kiss on Ravyn’s forehead.
Alexa then moved to stand before Jim, who also knelt down to hear what she had to say. Even on his knees though, he towered over her diminutive frame. She reached up on her tip toes to take the well worn cap from his head, revealing a mass of tousled hair in the process.
“Uncle Jim, I will never forget the tenderness of your embrace when I was brought to you by Father from that terrible storm.”
“But you were just a baby…”
She smiled as she placed the cap on her own head and took his right hand in her left hand. Her tiny hand was dwarfed by his. “That love for others is what will sustain you through this storm. Please know that the work that you do, the knowledge that you impart on others, and the love that you freely give, all matter. Without these things, the world would be a much poorer place. Everything you have done, and will do, helps to lay the foundation for a better, more peaceful world.” She reached up and embraced him before planting a big, wet kiss on his cheek.
Jim’s cap still on her head, she moved to stand in front of the Frau. “Grandmother Bear, I am honored that you allowed me to ride on your shoulders all those nights when others thought we slept soundly. The lessons that you taught me under stars will be with me forever, and will guide all that I seek to accomplish.”
The Frau looked over to Naomi sheepishly, before chuckling and bending down to take Alexa into a bear hug. “I had as much fun as you did, Child.”
Alexa smiled. “Your quiet strength and your boundless patience will be of more use than your still sharp claws in the coming battles. Your healing skills will be in great demand, use them well and generously and the rewards will be greater than you can imagine.” With those final words, Alexa planted a kiss on the Frau’s puckered lips before disengaging and bouncing over to Naomi’s waiting arms.
She pulled Jim’s cap off of her head and waved it to us as her normal voice returned. “Bye, bye everyone! I love you!”
Grim faced, Cerrydwen joined Naomi and Alexa in the engraved pentagram on the floor of the main room and activated the Transit Point. With a bright flash of white light, they were gone.
The rest of us stood in silence as each of us contemplated the words of a powerful young girl who was wise beyond all human comprehension.
I gave Naomi a quick hug and then picked up Alexa to give one as well.
She looked directly into my eyes as I did so, her expression suddenly very serious. “Daddy?”
“Yes, Darling?”
She brought her small brown hands up to rest on each of my cheeks. The tone of her voice changed from her normal high-pitch to the deeper, huskier voice that came when her older self spoke.
“The storm clouds of change, turmoil, conflict are gathering. I want you to know that there is no way to stop the coming storm, the winds must blow, the waters must rise, and the blood of many will be shed. My vision cannot penetrate through the fog of war that obscures the coming time of trouble, but I have a feeling that this will be the last time that we will be together for quite some time. Do not worry for me, Father, or for Mother. Others are watching over us as well. What will be, will be.”
“But, why…”
She moved her left hand from my right cheek to hush me by putting her finger gently to my lips.
“I cannot tarry long, so please listen to me now. You all will be sorely tested by both the enemies that you know and those that are not yet revealed to you.” She removed the hand from my mouth to touch my chest. “You will need to use all of the gifts of this body that you inhabit if you hope to prevail, but it is your humanity that will be your greatest asset. Follow the heart that yet beats within your Spirit and we will meet again. Don’t forget who you are, or your cause will be lost.”
She bent forward and kissed me and motioned for me to put her down, which I did. She walked over to stand in front of Ravyn, who knelt down to be on the same level.
Alexa reached out and took Ravyn’s left hand into both of her own. “Mistress Fyre, I have learned so much from you. Thank you.”
Ravyn’s breath caught in her chest, she looked like she was about to cry, as if she sensed the words that were coming next. “Oh, Alexa…”
Alexa reached up and touched Ravyn’s lips as she did mine. “Know that the Powers have smiled on this second life that you have been given. You are more than worthy of this honor. Betsy will come again in your dreams, if you allow her to. I cannot say for sure that we will meet again in this life because the gift that you have received obscures you from all future visions. I do not know what this means, but I don’t believe that you can be seen by any of your enemies in this way either. I know that you will use this knowledge and this extra time that you have been given wisely and that you will continue to give more of yourself than anyone could ever rightfully ask of you. I hope to feel your warm embrace again.” With that, Alexa grabbed the stunned Ravyn in a crushing bear hug that ended with a kiss on Ravyn’s forehead.
Alexa then moved to stand before Jim, who also knelt down to hear what she had to say. Even on his knees though, he towered over her diminutive frame. She reached up on her tip toes to take the well worn cap from his head, revealing a mass of tousled hair in the process.
“Uncle Jim, I will never forget the tenderness of your embrace when I was brought to you by Father from that terrible storm.”
“But you were just a baby…”
She smiled as she placed the cap on her own head and took his right hand in her left hand. Her tiny hand was dwarfed by his. “That love for others is what will sustain you through this storm. Please know that the work that you do, the knowledge that you impart on others, and the love that you freely give, all matter. Without these things, the world would be a much poorer place. Everything you have done, and will do, helps to lay the foundation for a better, more peaceful world.” She reached up and embraced him before planting a big, wet kiss on his cheek.
Jim’s cap still on her head, she moved to stand in front of the Frau. “Grandmother Bear, I am honored that you allowed me to ride on your shoulders all those nights when others thought we slept soundly. The lessons that you taught me under stars will be with me forever, and will guide all that I seek to accomplish.”
The Frau looked over to Naomi sheepishly, before chuckling and bending down to take Alexa into a bear hug. “I had as much fun as you did, Child.”
Alexa smiled. “Your quiet strength and your boundless patience will be of more use than your still sharp claws in the coming battles. Your healing skills will be in great demand, use them well and generously and the rewards will be greater than you can imagine.” With those final words, Alexa planted a kiss on the Frau’s puckered lips before disengaging and bouncing over to Naomi’s waiting arms.
She pulled Jim’s cap off of her head and waved it to us as her normal voice returned. “Bye, bye everyone! I love you!”
Grim faced, Cerrydwen joined Naomi and Alexa in the engraved pentagram on the floor of the main room and activated the Transit Point. With a bright flash of white light, they were gone.
The rest of us stood in silence as each of us contemplated the words of a powerful young girl who was wise beyond all human comprehension.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Sole Asylum...Part 1
After some deliberation it was decided that our side trip to check out the stash left behind by Drake would come after we set up a base of operations at the Asylum.
While Naomi, Alexa, and Cerrydwen packed up for their journey through the Transit Point to Herne’s Lodge, Ravyn grabbed me by the shoulders. “I need some decent clothing, Zombie. This simply will not do.”
I nodded. “OK. What do you want me to do about it?”
She smiled. “You’re taking me shopping.”
I glanced down at my watch. “There’s not much open at this hour. It’s still too early for anything except those 24 hour supermarkets.”
Her grin was positively wicked. “That’s why I need you. Jim’s told me about a group of very high end boutiques in New York that is wholly owned by the Mercury Unlimited Group. This shopping trip is going to be courtesy of Dick Arnold and friends.”
“But why would they open just for us?”
She reached up and slapped her palm on my forehead. “You can be so dense. If I was going to wait for them to open for business, I’d ask Jim to go along so that he could pay. I need you to get me in and out without setting off any fire alarms. You can also carry a lot more than he can!”
The light switch in my head flipped on. “Oh. I get it, now. You know I spent most of my arresting petty criminals. Now I get to play one.”
She stood there watching me impatiently. “Well, what are you waiting for, let’s get going before they open up!”
I sighed and summoned the Shadow to take us to the Big Apple for our illicit shopping trip.
We returned less than an hour later, my arms loaded down with several bags containing most of Ravyn’s new stylish wardrobe.
Ravyn bounced off with a couple of smaller bags in hand in to change from her borrowed sweatpants and t-shirt into her chosen outfit as I took the rest of the bags to Jim’s truck.
Jim just shook his head as he surveyed the bags that I packed into the cargo area of the truck. “I don’t even want to know how much all of this would have cost.”
I shook my head. “Let’s just say that we can now add Grand Larceny and Breaking and Entering onto our RAP sheets.”
“Well, at least she’ll be well dressed for her mug shot.”
“I’ll say. Just wait until you see some of the things she got.”
I noted that a brief, wistful look flashed across his face before his serious demeanor returned as he coughed out his response. “Well, I’m sure it was all quite necessary.”
While Naomi, Alexa, and Cerrydwen packed up for their journey through the Transit Point to Herne’s Lodge, Ravyn grabbed me by the shoulders. “I need some decent clothing, Zombie. This simply will not do.”
I nodded. “OK. What do you want me to do about it?”
She smiled. “You’re taking me shopping.”
I glanced down at my watch. “There’s not much open at this hour. It’s still too early for anything except those 24 hour supermarkets.”
Her grin was positively wicked. “That’s why I need you. Jim’s told me about a group of very high end boutiques in New York that is wholly owned by the Mercury Unlimited Group. This shopping trip is going to be courtesy of Dick Arnold and friends.”
“But why would they open just for us?”
She reached up and slapped her palm on my forehead. “You can be so dense. If I was going to wait for them to open for business, I’d ask Jim to go along so that he could pay. I need you to get me in and out without setting off any fire alarms. You can also carry a lot more than he can!”
The light switch in my head flipped on. “Oh. I get it, now. You know I spent most of my arresting petty criminals. Now I get to play one.”
She stood there watching me impatiently. “Well, what are you waiting for, let’s get going before they open up!”
I sighed and summoned the Shadow to take us to the Big Apple for our illicit shopping trip.
We returned less than an hour later, my arms loaded down with several bags containing most of Ravyn’s new stylish wardrobe.
Ravyn bounced off with a couple of smaller bags in hand in to change from her borrowed sweatpants and t-shirt into her chosen outfit as I took the rest of the bags to Jim’s truck.
Jim just shook his head as he surveyed the bags that I packed into the cargo area of the truck. “I don’t even want to know how much all of this would have cost.”
I shook my head. “Let’s just say that we can now add Grand Larceny and Breaking and Entering onto our RAP sheets.”
“Well, at least she’ll be well dressed for her mug shot.”
“I’ll say. Just wait until you see some of the things she got.”
I noted that a brief, wistful look flashed across his face before his serious demeanor returned as he coughed out his response. “Well, I’m sure it was all quite necessary.”
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Playing Hardball...Part 3
Jim tossed his mangled, misshapen cap on the couch and stalked off towards the front door mumbling something unintelligible.
Everyone else began to mill around, gathering items that they might need and packing them into bags.
The slamming front door told us that Jim was back, a small black briefcase in hand. He moved to the bar counter between the kitchen and common room and opened the case to reveal a computer of some sort.
I moved to get a better look. “What’s this all about?”
He glanced sideways at me before pressing a button that began firing up the thing. “I need to make the alert goes out to all ORC facilities and independent operators out there. This computer represents the merging of magick and technology that we have been able to come up with. It has the capability to uplink to the net in a way that can’t be tracked or traced by anything the government has. I don’t want anyone else caught by surprise.”
The inside of the case was completely taken up by this computer. He had opened it like a laptop computer, and while the keyboard looked a little clumsier than those of modern computers, the screen looked completely normal. It didn’t look particularly ‘magickal’. I said as much.
He grunted. “We designed it to look as normal as possible to outsiders. It’s not the equipment on the outside that makes it special. It’s the power source and connections to the net that make this thing special. Well, the software is unique. We couldn’t exactly ask Bill Gates to come up with an operating system for this thing.”
I watched as the screen booted up in a flash of colors and 3-D graphics. “Who did all of this?”
“It was a group effort. The software was designed by one of our closest friends from the San Diego Circle, Alana Danae, she’s both a Shaman and computer whiz. I’m really hoping that she was able to make it out alive from that attack out there, we’re going to need her talents.”
Once the computer finished booting up, I watched as Jim’s hand flew over the keyboard and mouse as he toggled open a number of different applications, sent dozens of messages. After the messages had gone out, he surfed among several different bank accounts. He cursed violently as some of the sites appeared to be blocked, but for those that he could get in, he logged into each one, made several lightning quick moves and logged out of each them quicker than I could even note which banks or brokerages they belonged to. He was closing the machine down within minutes.
As he closed the shell of the briefcase, clicking it into place, he looked up again at me. “It looks like some government agency has already identified some of our accounts and has placed blocks on them.” He shook his head. “We are under a coordinated, full fledged attack. These guys are playing hardball with us.”
Ravyn moved in between us, grabbed each of us in one arm looked up at Jim. “Well, as I understand it, it takes two teams to play any game with a ball. We need to gather ourselves, figure out exactly who is attacking and why, and hit back with everything that we can. I know there’s one particular Bane out there that I want a rematch with!”
Jim nodded. “I’ve sent out a request for an emergency Convocation of the Clans to take place at the Asylum once everyone has safely seen their people to safety. We need to know who’s already been attacked, what resources we’ll have available to us, and to come up with a battle plan before this situation gets any worse.”
Cerrydwen came up. “Did you say that the Convocation is taking place at the Asylum?”
“Yes.”
She shook her head and raised her left hand for emphasis. “You can count me out. I’m not setting foot in that cursed place.”
Ravyn cocked her head. “Why? What’s wrong with the place?”
The Frau chuckled as she waded into the conversation. “The Asylum is in the basement of an old mental institution just outside of Detroit. It sits on a large, abandoned campus that affords us a lot more privacy because it is rumored to be haunted.”
Cerrydwen shuddered. “It’s not a rumor. That place is awash in tortured Spirits and echoes with their pained cries. I could feel the terror of that place just be driving by it. I won’t be going there with you.”
The Frau patted her on the shoulder. “That’s OK, Dear. I’m sure Herne could use some help getting everyone off to the safe houses. Besides, I don’t think Naomi and Alexa should go to the Asylum. It is not a pleasant place.”
Jim nodded. “That’s probably for the best then. Frau, Ravyn, Rusty and I will be heading to the Asylum-we can get there by driving in less than hour-and set up for the Convocation. Cerrydwen, Naomi and Alexa will use the Transit Point and head out to the Lodge and then off to whichever safe house Herne feels is the safest.”
I remembered something that had almost gotten lost in all of the excitement. “Hey, we might want to make a side trip, if we can. Drake gave me the location to his store of weapons and items.” I looked over at Jim. “And, with that computer, I think you’ll be able to access the accounts he gave me the passwords to. I seriously doubt that anyone has been able to put any blocks on those funds.”
Everyone else began to mill around, gathering items that they might need and packing them into bags.
The slamming front door told us that Jim was back, a small black briefcase in hand. He moved to the bar counter between the kitchen and common room and opened the case to reveal a computer of some sort.
I moved to get a better look. “What’s this all about?”
He glanced sideways at me before pressing a button that began firing up the thing. “I need to make the alert goes out to all ORC facilities and independent operators out there. This computer represents the merging of magick and technology that we have been able to come up with. It has the capability to uplink to the net in a way that can’t be tracked or traced by anything the government has. I don’t want anyone else caught by surprise.”
The inside of the case was completely taken up by this computer. He had opened it like a laptop computer, and while the keyboard looked a little clumsier than those of modern computers, the screen looked completely normal. It didn’t look particularly ‘magickal’. I said as much.
He grunted. “We designed it to look as normal as possible to outsiders. It’s not the equipment on the outside that makes it special. It’s the power source and connections to the net that make this thing special. Well, the software is unique. We couldn’t exactly ask Bill Gates to come up with an operating system for this thing.”
I watched as the screen booted up in a flash of colors and 3-D graphics. “Who did all of this?”
“It was a group effort. The software was designed by one of our closest friends from the San Diego Circle, Alana Danae, she’s both a Shaman and computer whiz. I’m really hoping that she was able to make it out alive from that attack out there, we’re going to need her talents.”
Once the computer finished booting up, I watched as Jim’s hand flew over the keyboard and mouse as he toggled open a number of different applications, sent dozens of messages. After the messages had gone out, he surfed among several different bank accounts. He cursed violently as some of the sites appeared to be blocked, but for those that he could get in, he logged into each one, made several lightning quick moves and logged out of each them quicker than I could even note which banks or brokerages they belonged to. He was closing the machine down within minutes.
As he closed the shell of the briefcase, clicking it into place, he looked up again at me. “It looks like some government agency has already identified some of our accounts and has placed blocks on them.” He shook his head. “We are under a coordinated, full fledged attack. These guys are playing hardball with us.”
Ravyn moved in between us, grabbed each of us in one arm looked up at Jim. “Well, as I understand it, it takes two teams to play any game with a ball. We need to gather ourselves, figure out exactly who is attacking and why, and hit back with everything that we can. I know there’s one particular Bane out there that I want a rematch with!”
Jim nodded. “I’ve sent out a request for an emergency Convocation of the Clans to take place at the Asylum once everyone has safely seen their people to safety. We need to know who’s already been attacked, what resources we’ll have available to us, and to come up with a battle plan before this situation gets any worse.”
Cerrydwen came up. “Did you say that the Convocation is taking place at the Asylum?”
“Yes.”
She shook her head and raised her left hand for emphasis. “You can count me out. I’m not setting foot in that cursed place.”
Ravyn cocked her head. “Why? What’s wrong with the place?”
The Frau chuckled as she waded into the conversation. “The Asylum is in the basement of an old mental institution just outside of Detroit. It sits on a large, abandoned campus that affords us a lot more privacy because it is rumored to be haunted.”
Cerrydwen shuddered. “It’s not a rumor. That place is awash in tortured Spirits and echoes with their pained cries. I could feel the terror of that place just be driving by it. I won’t be going there with you.”
The Frau patted her on the shoulder. “That’s OK, Dear. I’m sure Herne could use some help getting everyone off to the safe houses. Besides, I don’t think Naomi and Alexa should go to the Asylum. It is not a pleasant place.”
Jim nodded. “That’s probably for the best then. Frau, Ravyn, Rusty and I will be heading to the Asylum-we can get there by driving in less than hour-and set up for the Convocation. Cerrydwen, Naomi and Alexa will use the Transit Point and head out to the Lodge and then off to whichever safe house Herne feels is the safest.”
I remembered something that had almost gotten lost in all of the excitement. “Hey, we might want to make a side trip, if we can. Drake gave me the location to his store of weapons and items.” I looked over at Jim. “And, with that computer, I think you’ll be able to access the accounts he gave me the passwords to. I seriously doubt that anyone has been able to put any blocks on those funds.”
Friday, July 27, 2007
Playing Hardball...Part 2
I turned to face the Frau. “OK, we’ve seen what’s happened at the Coop. What else is going on?”
Frau scrunched up her face as she moved to take a seat on a comfortable looking sofa and waved for the rest of us to do the same. “You all might as well sit down. Things have gone from bad to worse in a hurry.”
Cerrydwen emerged from the kitchen to place a steaming platter of eggs, sausages and toast on the counter that separated the kitchen from the immense common room. “If anyone’s hungry, come and get it while it is still hot.”
Ravyn rushed to the bar stool nearest the food and began piling a plate high with servings of everything. She waved at the Frau to begin speaking. “Don’t wait on me. I’ve never been so hungry in my life. I’m listening!”
The Frau nodded, setting her cane to the side as Alexa came bouncing up into her lap with an energetic giggle.
“Herne did note that everyone that Ravyn and Betsy had sent out there had arrived safely, but the news was certainly not all good.” Her glasses slid down towards the end of her nose as she spoke. “He has already received a second group of refugees from the San Diego Circle and has heard reports of an attack on the Salem House in Boston, but he hasn’t been able to reach Tessa or any of the other principles of Salem House.”
Jim gave a low whistle and took off his hat in frustration. “That means that three of our largest teaching facilities have been hit on the same night!”
Ravyn looked up from her plate, her mouth half full of food. “No wonder he mentioned the Railroad.”
The Frau nodded. “Yes, he has activated the Railroad and has been sending out the refugees first.”
I looked around, everyone else seemed to know what the Hell the ‘Railroad’ was, so I had to ask. “What is this Railroad business and what does it have to do with these attacks?”
Jim stood up. He began twisting and wrenching his baseball cap in his large hands as he began to explain. “The Railroad is one of major contingency plans. It was actually something we came up with when we were dealing with Drake and his minions, when we thought that we might be pitted against the FBI and other federal agencies in trying to help you in those early days. It is based on the Underground Railroad that helped freed slaves escape the South before and during the Civil War. It is a way of moving our people around without too much notice.”
“I guessed as much, but where are these folks going and how are they getting there?”
He shuffled his feet and twisted his cap even tighter in his hands. “We have a network of transit points that link each major ORC facility to few select safe houses scattered around the country that are known only to select principals in each facility. It was one of those transit points that Ravyn activated to get most of the folks from the Coop to Herne’s Lodge in the Rockies.”
Frau cleared her throat. “Yes, as well as the dozen or so from San Diego. The Lodge is one of our primary rally points, but Herne is concerned of the possibility that it has been compromised as well. That was why he activating the Railroad to move out most of the refugees to even safer locations until we can get our bearings and come up with an appropriate response.”
Ravyn bounced up from her stool now that her plate was empty and stalked over to me. She stood facing me, hands on her hips. “I know one thing that we’re going to be doing! Bane hunting! I…”
My Bureau issued cell phone chose that moment to erupt in music, silencing Ravyn in mid-sentence. With more than a little trepidation, I reached into my pocket and pulled it out. I didn’t recognize the number, so I flipped the phone open. “Bones here.”
Agent Jennifer Wilson’s voice hissed through the crackling static of the ear piece, but she was clearly trying to mask it. “Damn it, don’t use any names. It’s about time you I found you. Look, I can’t talk long. The Bureau is shutting us down.”
“What? Why?”
“I just received a summons from very high in the Bureau. All work in our unit is to cease immediately and all agents and assets are to report for reassignment immediately. The scuttlebutt is also that you’ve been compromised and have gone rogue, but I don’t believe it. There is an all point’s bulletin out for you to be taken into custody by any means necessary. That’s why I had to use this disposable phone to call you. I recommend that you dump this phone immediately when we terminate this call and get rid of any other Bureau issued items that might be traceable.”
“Damn! What about you?”
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me. Oh, two more quick things. First, that body that I was examining disappeared along with all of my notes and computer files, but I can tell you that I think they have an aversion to silver, the purer the silver the better. Second, your friend in DC, the one named after the African tribe, has been taken very ill and has been quarantined for the last week. No one except his doctor and the guards that have been assigned to his room is being allowed to see him for any reason.”
“Jesus…”
“I have to go. Remember, ditch your phone immediately and get away from wherever you are. There are serious resources being dedicated to finding you right now and they don’t have good intentions.”
The phone went silent and the squealed in protest as I crushed it in my hand.
I looked up in the questioning, concerned faces of my compatriots. “Well, it looks like we just moved from the frying pan to the fire. We need to pack up as quickly as possible and get the heck out of here, pronto.”
(To be continued…)
Frau scrunched up her face as she moved to take a seat on a comfortable looking sofa and waved for the rest of us to do the same. “You all might as well sit down. Things have gone from bad to worse in a hurry.”
Cerrydwen emerged from the kitchen to place a steaming platter of eggs, sausages and toast on the counter that separated the kitchen from the immense common room. “If anyone’s hungry, come and get it while it is still hot.”
Ravyn rushed to the bar stool nearest the food and began piling a plate high with servings of everything. She waved at the Frau to begin speaking. “Don’t wait on me. I’ve never been so hungry in my life. I’m listening!”
The Frau nodded, setting her cane to the side as Alexa came bouncing up into her lap with an energetic giggle.
“Herne did note that everyone that Ravyn and Betsy had sent out there had arrived safely, but the news was certainly not all good.” Her glasses slid down towards the end of her nose as she spoke. “He has already received a second group of refugees from the San Diego Circle and has heard reports of an attack on the Salem House in Boston, but he hasn’t been able to reach Tessa or any of the other principles of Salem House.”
Jim gave a low whistle and took off his hat in frustration. “That means that three of our largest teaching facilities have been hit on the same night!”
Ravyn looked up from her plate, her mouth half full of food. “No wonder he mentioned the Railroad.”
The Frau nodded. “Yes, he has activated the Railroad and has been sending out the refugees first.”
I looked around, everyone else seemed to know what the Hell the ‘Railroad’ was, so I had to ask. “What is this Railroad business and what does it have to do with these attacks?”
Jim stood up. He began twisting and wrenching his baseball cap in his large hands as he began to explain. “The Railroad is one of major contingency plans. It was actually something we came up with when we were dealing with Drake and his minions, when we thought that we might be pitted against the FBI and other federal agencies in trying to help you in those early days. It is based on the Underground Railroad that helped freed slaves escape the South before and during the Civil War. It is a way of moving our people around without too much notice.”
“I guessed as much, but where are these folks going and how are they getting there?”
He shuffled his feet and twisted his cap even tighter in his hands. “We have a network of transit points that link each major ORC facility to few select safe houses scattered around the country that are known only to select principals in each facility. It was one of those transit points that Ravyn activated to get most of the folks from the Coop to Herne’s Lodge in the Rockies.”
Frau cleared her throat. “Yes, as well as the dozen or so from San Diego. The Lodge is one of our primary rally points, but Herne is concerned of the possibility that it has been compromised as well. That was why he activating the Railroad to move out most of the refugees to even safer locations until we can get our bearings and come up with an appropriate response.”
Ravyn bounced up from her stool now that her plate was empty and stalked over to me. She stood facing me, hands on her hips. “I know one thing that we’re going to be doing! Bane hunting! I…”
My Bureau issued cell phone chose that moment to erupt in music, silencing Ravyn in mid-sentence. With more than a little trepidation, I reached into my pocket and pulled it out. I didn’t recognize the number, so I flipped the phone open. “Bones here.”
Agent Jennifer Wilson’s voice hissed through the crackling static of the ear piece, but she was clearly trying to mask it. “Damn it, don’t use any names. It’s about time you I found you. Look, I can’t talk long. The Bureau is shutting us down.”
“What? Why?”
“I just received a summons from very high in the Bureau. All work in our unit is to cease immediately and all agents and assets are to report for reassignment immediately. The scuttlebutt is also that you’ve been compromised and have gone rogue, but I don’t believe it. There is an all point’s bulletin out for you to be taken into custody by any means necessary. That’s why I had to use this disposable phone to call you. I recommend that you dump this phone immediately when we terminate this call and get rid of any other Bureau issued items that might be traceable.”
“Damn! What about you?”
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me. Oh, two more quick things. First, that body that I was examining disappeared along with all of my notes and computer files, but I can tell you that I think they have an aversion to silver, the purer the silver the better. Second, your friend in DC, the one named after the African tribe, has been taken very ill and has been quarantined for the last week. No one except his doctor and the guards that have been assigned to his room is being allowed to see him for any reason.”
“Jesus…”
“I have to go. Remember, ditch your phone immediately and get away from wherever you are. There are serious resources being dedicated to finding you right now and they don’t have good intentions.”
The phone went silent and the squealed in protest as I crushed it in my hand.
I looked up in the questioning, concerned faces of my compatriots. “Well, it looks like we just moved from the frying pan to the fire. We need to pack up as quickly as possible and get the heck out of here, pronto.”
(To be continued…)
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