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.”

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)

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.”

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.

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.”

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!”

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!”

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.

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…”

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.”

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…

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…

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.

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.”

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.”

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…)

Playing Hardball...Part 1

After an impromptu and emotional celebration, we returned to the house to find the phone ringing.

The Frau picked up the cordless phone while simultaneously offering instructions. “Naomi, you’re closest to Ravyn’s size, can you get some clothes for poor Ravyn? Rusty can you take care of this table? Cerry, would you be a dear and start some breakfast going?” After about the tenth ring, she fumbled with the buttons on the phone and answered that. “Hello?”

Her face lit up as she heard the voice on the other end of the line.

“Oh, Herne, I’m so glad you called. Ravyn’s back with us now!”

There was a pause as she listened to him respond. His voice was almost audible over the handset, but I couldn’t quite make out the words.

“What? Oh dear! Yes, by all means, activate the Railroad. I’ll let everyone here know about your concerns and start the ball rolling on our end.”

Jim’s face tightened considerably at the mention of ‘railroad’, he stood still as he tred to catch whatever was being said by Herne.

She paused again as he spoke for quite some time.

“Yes, we’ll turn it on now. Yes, we’ll notify the families. You guys take care. Let us know when everyone is safe!”

Frau’s demeanor had changed considerably by the time she punched the button to hang up the phone. She looked she wanted to slam the phone down, but thought better of it at the last moment. Instead, she turned to me. “Rusty, will you turn the television on to the Wolf Network News channel please.” Her teeth visibly grated as she spat those words out.

I nodded and went looking for the remote control. The WNN was not the first choice of anyone here, as it clearly had a hard line conservative bent to its coverage. By the time I found the remote, everyone had come back into the main room, gathering about the TV.

Ravyn was now wearing a pair of loose grey sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt that was clearly two sizes too large for her as she carried the bubbly Alexa in her arms. Naomi followed right behind.

The TV flickered on and we could immediately see why the Frau wanted to watch this channel. The screen was split into two main images and scrolling news banner beneath. The words ‘Breaking News’ were emblazoned across the top of both images. The screen on the right must showing earlier footage of the Coop lit up at night by the blazing fire that we had just barely escaped from. The left side of the screen was of a reporter talking with the smoldering ruins of the Coop as the backdrop.

The scrolling ‘news’ that rolled beneath the footage was supposedly encapsulating the highlights of the coverage to date. Just the first few snippets of it were enough to get Ravyn to gasp and Jim to clench his hands in anger.

“BIZZARE FIRE AT COLLEGE TOWN OCCULT HOUSE IN CHICAGO SUBURBS.”

“POLICE SUSPECT POSSIBLE SUICIDE PACT AMONG STRANGE CULT MEMBERS.”

“20 BODIES DISCOVERED IN OCCULT HOUSE FIRE NEAR CHICAGO.”

“NEIGHBORS CLAIM RESIDENTS OF OCCULT HOUSE WERE SATAN WORSHIPPERS AND THAT HOUSE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SHUT DOWN YEARS AGO.”

The reporter’s voice came across in response to a question from the studio. “Yes, Bill, I just finished speaking with a spokesperson for the East Napierville Fire Department and he has confirmed that fire appears to be very suspicious in nature and that they believe that accelerants were used, leading them to believe that the occupants of the house set it on fire themselves.”

The screen flashed over to a studio where a heavy set, balding man sat at an anchor desk and asked another question of the reporter. “Sam, I’ve seen some reports here that this house may have been used by a Satanic cult of some sort, can you give us any more information on that?”

The screen flipped back to the reporter, who listened to the question in his earpiece, nodding eagerly as the question ended. “Indeed, I can Bill. According to several neighbors that I spoke with, including one that we’ll roll the tape on here in a moment, this house was run by a wild woman known only as Ravyn Fyre. All of the witnesses agreed that this Ravyn Fyre was a well known witch and coven leader for a bizarre group that called themselves Trolls or Goblins, or some other name like that. She apparently used this house as a recruiting center and for strange night time rituals that often involved large fires and animal sacrifices. Let’s roll the tape of this interview.”

The screen flickered to show an older woman who looked an awful lot like Evelyn Olsen, a kindly neighbor that Ravyn had shared many a meal with over the years, but her mannerisms were not quite right. “Oh yes, I’ve always known that the people in this house weren’t to be trusted. When I tried to report on them though, they threatened me to keep me quiet. Ravyn Fyre even threatened to make my precious kitties disappear if I reported her to the authorities.”

The mike in front of the woman moved as the reporter asked another question. “Mrs. Olsen, do you think that the folks in this house were involved with occult activity in any way?”

She nodded vigorously. “Oh yes. I can’t remember all of the times I saw those young people dressed in strange robes-or even in nothing at all-dancing around fires at night.” She visibly shuddered. “I pray for the souls of those poor folk in the fire, I’m afraid that they will be heading in the wrong direction, if you know what I mean.”

The Frau snorted at that last statement before she spoke. “Rusty, turn that off. I’ve seen enough.”

(To be continued…)

Phoenix Rising...Part 3

I carried Ravyn’s body out to the clearing in the back of the house. The path to the clearing was barely visible through the thick undergrowth, but it was marked by small Celtic designs painted on tree trunks at eye level.

Once in the clearing, I set her body down in a nice grassy spot and set to building a pyre in the stone circle in the middle of the clearing out of the firewood that was stacked and ready to use nearby.

Jim, Naomi, and Cerrydwen joined in with the building of the pyre, each of them remaining silent as we worked.

The Frau brought a red gallon can of gasoline, which she set down in the grass near the stacked cords of firewood.

Alexa was kneeling in the grass next to Ravyn’s body, her small hands touching Ravyn’s forehead in a loving manner as she whispered unheard words to her.

Once the pyre was built, I moved to go get Ravyn’s body.

Alexa looked up at me as I approached. Her hands were now clasped around a small, brilliantly red, oval object that rested in her lap. Wet tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m going to miss her, Daddy.”

“Alexa, we’ll all miss Lady Fyre. She was a really special person who was very much loved.”

Alexa shook her head vehemently, her hair bouncing as she did so. “No, Daddy, I’m not talking about Lady Fyre. She’ll be here as soon as we’re done.”

The Frau and the others had gathered around us now, listening to this very special child as she spoke.

“Then who are you talking about, Alexa?”

Her shoulders bounced up and down as she was wracked with sobbing tears as she held up the small, egg-shaped object in her two tiny hands. “Betsy! I’m going to miss Betsy so much!”

Naomi squatted down next to her daughter. “But Betsy is already gone. We all wish she could come back too, but we’ve got to help Lady Fyre right now. Are you sure this is going to bring Lady Fyre back to us?”

Alexa nodded, at first too broken up to speak. But she calmed down and looked up into each of our faces before finally speaking. As she spoke, she placed the red egg onto Ravyn’s chest and then gently brought up each of Ravyn’s hands over the egg to make it secure. As she spoke, we could clearly hear a more mature version of Alexa speaking, like she had on previous occasions.

“Lady Ravyn gave me this egg that Betsy had created and asked me to keep it safe. She told me that if something really bad were to happen to someone I love and they died, that I could place the egg with the body into a really big fire on the same day that the person died and that the person would be allowed to come back. But she also told me that if something happened to Betsy, that the egg could be used to bring her back, but it could only work once. If the egg were used to bring Betsy back, it would take 1 year and 1 day for her to make another. So I can’t bring both Ravyn and Betsy back with the same egg. If I used the egg to bring Betsy back, she wouldn’t be able to help Ravyn in time.”

She looked down at Ravyn’s peacefully composed face after she had finished placing Ravyn’s hands onto the egg before looking back up at us. Her eyes reflected the maturity that had come over her voice.

“I know that Betsy would want me to bring Ravyn back over her. That is why I mourn the loss of Betsy. She is a creature from a different place, a creature that I will no longer be able to communicate with once this egg is gone, and that is a terrible loss. I also mourn for Ravyn, for I know that she loves Betsy and that she will be heartbroken at the loss of her friend, her companion. Right now, they are both together, spending their last moments in union with one another as they soar with the stars. Once the fire is started, they will be torn from each other, never to be together again in this lifetime. Ravyn wants to be back among us, but she is also saddened by the thought of losing one of her dearest friends.”

She stood up and looked directly into my eyes.

“Father, we must act soon. If we wait much longer, the pain of her loss may be too much for her to overcome. Please bring Ravyn to the pyre and start the fire.”

With those words, Alexa turned and walked towards where the pyre had been built, stopping just beyond the stone circle and waiting for us to join her.

I looked to the others gathered around Ravyn’s body.

Jim nodded silently, his jaw set in determination. Cerrydwen nodded as well, tears streaking down her face in empathy at the loss that Ravyn was about to experience. The Frau cleared her throat and motioned with the cane that I should do as instructed. Naomi was watching her daughter with a look that spoke of awe and deep, motherly love.

I reached down and slid my hands under Ravyn’s body, careful not to disturb her now clasped hands. I picked her up and followed Alexa toward the pyre.

I stepped inside the stone circle and placed her body gently onto the pyre.

Jim stood next to me, holding the can of gasoline. By the look on his face, he was struggling with the idea of dousing the pyre with the gas. His hands trembled as he struggled with the cap on the can.

I reached out and took the can from him. “I’ll do it.”

He nodded and stepped back to join the others outside of the circle.

I emptied the can on the wood all around her body, saving just enough to douse the sheet that covered her entire body, except for her head and arms.

The Frau hobbled forward, a box of fireplace matches in her hand.

I took them from her and motioned for her to step back. Once she was safely back with the others, each of them holding the hands of two others, I pulled a single long match from the box and struck it and tossed it onto the wood next to her head.

There a tremendous FOOM as the gas saturated wood exploded in orange flames that mushroomed up towards the sky. Had I been living, I’m sure that I would have been in pain from the contact burns, but instead, I just calmly stepped back, noting that my leather jacket was smoking.

As we watched the flames calm down, we gasped to see that Ravyn’s body seemed oddly unarmed by the inferno that raged all around and even under her. Her hands, however, began to glow with an incandescent red light that grew brighter and brighter as we watched.

Slowly, the fire began to take its toll, at first on the sheet that covered her body, and then on her hair and skin, which blackened. Everyone but me sobbed as her body was simultaneously consumed by the fire and lit by the glow of the egg that was soon only covered by ashes.

Finally, her body was no longer solid enough to support the brightly glowing egg, and it fell down through the remains of her torso and into the burning embers beneath. For the briefest of moments, the glow of the egg disappeared completely. I felt a flash of despair that the magick had failed.

Just then, there was another brilliant explosion of energy that rose from the remains of the funeral pyre and formed itself into a giant Phoenix form. The Phoenix looked down at us with its defiant gaze and opened its beak. A piercing, keening cry came forth as the Phoenix began to dissipate. Half of its energy seemed to tear off and float upwards, soaring back towards the unseen stars, while the bottom half of the form collapsed in on itself and took the form of a naked woman.

Ravyn Fyre stood before us with her arms raised to the sky, crying out in pain at the loss of the union between soul mates before crumpling to the ground, her body giving off tendrils of smoke as she sobbed.

Jim was the first to reach her side, laying his own jacket across her bare shoulders as he knelt beside her.

Alexa was the second one there. As Jim helped Ravyn sit up, Alexa jumped into arms and gave her a great big bear hug as she sobbed. “I’ll miss her too, Lady Fyre!”

Phoenix Rising...Part 2

The Frau joined Naomi in collecting the various bottles from Alexa. “Honey, why do you think that Lady Fyre needs to have a really big fire?”

Alexa threw up her now empty arms in exasperation. “I already told Daddy, because she told me so!”

“When was that, Sweetie?”

“She keeps telling me. I asked her if she was sure, because I know its wrong to play with fire, but she says ‘yes’ and we need to make it really soon.”

Naomi leaned down and picked Alexa up. “Did Lady Fyre say why we need the fire?”

Alexa nodded solemnly.

“Will you tell us?”

“Only if you promise to help me.”

Naomi rolled her eyes and looked at each of us in turn before turning her attention back to Alexa. “Alexa, we promise to help you to help Lady Fyre.”

“Lady Fyre says that we have to build a really big, really hot fire around her body. She also says that is really important to do as it soon as possible or she won’t be able to come back at all.” Tears began streaming down Alexa’s face. “I want to help bring Lady Fyre back.”

Naomi smothered her daughter in hugs and kisses, patting down her now wild hair with her spare hand. “Don’t worry, Alexa, we’ll help you to bring her back. Let’s get you something to eat while these others discuss how we’re going to do that, OK?”

The sniffling Alexa looked around at each of us, as if she were recording our nods as promises of support in her great quest. “OK, Mama.”

After they had left the room, I turned to face the Frau and Cerrydwen. “She wants us to build a funeral pyre and place Ravyn’s body in it? Can we even do that?”

The Frau shifted her weight and moved to sit down on one of the comfortable couches. She was looking at the seemingly sleeping face of Ravyn as she spoke. “If there is a chance that doing so might actually bring her back to us in some fashion, then yes, I think we have to try.”

Cerrydwen nodded. “Remember, her totem is the Phoenix and the Phoenix traditionally rises from its own ashes.”

Jim moved closer to Ravyn’s body. He reached down and brushed a stray strand of her hair from her face before looking up. “Can it really work?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “The Lady of the Lake brought back Naomi to us without even the benefit of having her body.” I moved closer to the table holding Ravyn’s body. Just as I got there, a stray thought occurred to me. “Hey, wait a minute! When I took Ravyn to the Lady of the Lake, she refused to help, but she did say something that I didn’t understand until just now—‘Return to your world and perform your rituals of loss and mourning. Only there will you find the solace you so desperately seek.’”

The Frau nodded, her eyes closed in contemplation. “Yes, that could be an obscure way of saying that the answer to our problem lies with a ritual of loss and mourning.”

Cerrydwen came up behind Jim and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “And given the nature of Ravyn’s powers, it would make sense to have her cremated as part of our ritual of mourning.”

“Yeah, but isn’t that illegal? We can’t just burn her body in broad daylight and expect no legal problems to come from it!”

Everyone turned to look at me, their incredulity showing on their faces.

“What? I am an FBI agent, you know. I figured I at least needed to make a pretense of worrying about the law!” I threw up my hands. “Ah, screw it! We have to try it. I can’t see Ravyn’s Spirit form around here, but I get the sense that Alexa really is able to talk to her, even now.”

Pointing towards the back of the house with her cane, the Frau stood back up. “Rusty, Jim, we have a very large pit out back, situated in a clearing about a hundred yards back in the woods. There are several cords of firewood already chopped back there. Rusty, if you can take Ravyn back there, the rest of us will bring the materials for the ceremony. Let’s get started.”

Phoenix Rising...Part 1

I emerged from the Shadow just outside of the small, cozy home that Cerrydwen and the Frau shared. The house itself was a single story affair that looked pretty rustic from the road, but that façade was by design. It looked like nothing more than nice country ranch home nestled into the backwoods country of the middle of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

The night was almost done, with a light glow illuminating the eastern horizon as night gave way to the dawn of a new day. I could make out Jim’s truck in the parking lot. He must have gotten word of the attack. His own home was less than half an hour away.

I was not looking forward to having to pass on Ravyn’s cryptic last words to him. I had no idea what question it was that Ravyn had answered and I wasn’t sure I even wanted to know. I had to admit to being more than a little jealous of the relationship that had appeared to blossom between them in the last year or so. My jealousy, however, was now tempered by the guilt and sorrow I felt at not returning in time to save her.

With a heavy heart and a sense of failure, I approached the door.

It opened before I was able to reach up and knock. The Frau clucked her tongue and whisked us inside so quickly that I didn’t even note the others gathered about the door until I was already inside.

“Oh dear, it looks as bad as I had feared.” She bustled through the gathered crowd, creating a path for me to follow. “Please bring her this way, Rusty.”

Cerrydwen followed closely behind me, her face a mask of concern and barely contained rage. “Who did this to her?”

Before I could answer, I was escorted by the Frau into a rather large, comfortably appointed living room with a humungous fireplace. With practiced ease, the Frau began barking directions out to everyone around her, but they were given in such a way as to instill willing obedience and a desire to help in all who heard them.

“Cerry, be a dear and get the healing mat and the massage table from the other room, would you?”

“Naomi, would you please get some fresh sheets from the linen closet in the hall?”

“Jim, could you please fill a basin with some warm water and bring me the disinfectant soap from the bathroom closet?”

“Alexa, could you please pick up your toys and put them away?”

As if the whole scene had been coordinated in advance, the Frau soon had me placing Ravyn’s ravaged body on the newly erected table for her examination. She was a whirlwind of action, carefully stripping the burned and torn clothing from her body, quickly cleansing the worst of the soot and dirt from her wounds, and then covering her with clean sheets.

Jim, Naomi, Cerrydwen all hovered nearby, instantly responding to any and all requests that the Frau made, each absorbing the shock of seeing Ravyn stricken in this manner in their own way.

Cerrydwen remained largely silent, her face a mask of intense agony, her eyes burning brighter than I could ever recall. Her movements were quick and choppy, as if she could barely control the rage that filled her.

Naomi was clearly shaken and seemed to almost be in shock at seeing the woman who had served as mentor and instructor laid low. Her face reflected the pain she felt, but also the uncertainty at having her whole upset yet again.

Jim moved slowly and deliberately whenever he was asked to help out in some way, as if he needed to be sure that he remained in control of his body. His jaw was clenched and his lips set into a determined frown as he opened and closed his fists whenever his hands weren’t otherwise occupied. More than once, I saw his hand slip down to Ravyn’s right hand to give a quick, hopeful squeeze to her fingers.

Alexa toddled about the room, just out of everyone’s way as they bustled back and forth. She seemed almost oblivious to the emergency taking place in the room, piling up wooden blocks and tinker toys into an impressive pile in front of me.

“Daddy, can you help me?”

Relieved to have a chance to turn my eyes away from the treatment table, I looked down at my smiling child and her rather large pile of wooden toys strewn in front of me. “What do you want help with, darling?”

“I need more! This is all I have.”

“What do you mean? It looks like you can build quite a big toy out of these.” I sat down on an ottoman that I hadn’t noticed before and scooted closer to the pile. “What do you want to build?”

She looked at me with her big brown eyes and smiled. “We need to build something really big for Lady Fyre. She needs us.”

I couldn’t help the sudden feeling of loss and pain that welled up within me at seeing the innocent hope in the eyes of my daughter. I reached out and pulled her into a big hug. “I’ll help you build something for Lady Fyre, darling. But we can’t do it in here, OK? They need all of the room they can get to try and help Lady Fyre out.”

“Oh, I know we can’t build it in here, daddy. I need your help taking these outside. We need to build a really big thing outside for Lady Fyre. We need to use as many sticks as possible. She really needs us to do it as quickly as possible!”

I was puzzled by her words, so I pulled back, leaving a hand on each of her shoulders and looked at her in the face. “How do you know what Lady Fyre needs, darling?”

She returned my gaze steadily. “She told me so.”

I was distracted briefly Alexa as I heard loud sobbing coming from Naomi. I looked up to see the Frau turn and face me, shaking her head, tears streaming down her face. Jim and Cerrydwen were locked in a sobbing hug, trying to give solace to each other.

The Frau spoke first. “She’s gone. There’s no power that I know of that can bring her Spirit back or restore this body. I’m sorry, Rusty. She was just too far gone.”

I nodded, knowing deep in my own non-existent heart that Ravyn had died. I had witnessed her passing on the dark precipice. “I thought so. I saw her Spirit form leave her body and depart as it if were pulled from the place. I tried to get the Lady of the Lake to bring her back, but she refused.”

Alexa broke free of my hold and walked off, humming to herself as she headed towards the kitchen.

I looked up at all of their tear-stained faces, seeing them mourn in ways that I no longer could. I felt hollow and empty inside.
I stood up, stepped over the pile of wooden toys and made my way to the table where Ravyn lay in now peaceful looking repose. Even dead, her face was a beautiful mask of dignity and determination. Her eyes were closed, but I could still picture them, vibrantly green and incredibly intense. Her dark red hair had been combed and lay fanned out above her head. The sheet covered her naked form up to her neck. It was very easy to imagine her laying in a spa, waiting for a massage.

I saw Jim across the table from me, looking down at Ravyn’s face. This seemed to be the moment to give her last words to him.

“Jim?”

He looked up at me slowly. His face was streaked with tears. “Yeah?”

“Ravyn did ask me to tell you something before she passed away.”

His reddened eyes narrowed, a lump seemed to form in his throat as he tried to gulp air before speaking. “Oh?”

I nodded, glanced back down at her face and then back up at his before I answered. “She said to tell you that her answer was ‘Yes’.”

His face changed, took on a more peaceful look at hearing that. He reached up with the back of his left hand and wiped away the wetness on his cheeks.

Somewhat relieved by his response, I took the chance to ask the question that had been burning in my own mind since I heard her last words. “If you don’t mind, I’d love to know what the question was.”

Before he could respond, Alexa barged into the room making all sorts of noise as she banged into furniture on her way towards us, her arms full of every bottle of cooking oil and flammable chemical in the Frau’s kitchen.

We all turned to look at this explosive mixture, but it was the Frau who got out the first questions Alexa.

“Alexa, where did you get all of that stuff and why are you bringing it in here?”

Naomi was already moving towards her daughter, reaching out to take some of the bottles from her.

Alexa stopped and looked up at all of us, clearly exasperated. “Lady Fyre needs a really, really big fire. Daddy won’t help, so it looks like I’m going to have to do it myself.”