The Crane War

by Graeme Rodaughan

  The table hushed, even the rest of the roadhouse seemed to pause for breath. Chiara declared, “I have something to say.”

  “Yes,” Jay remarked quietly, his gaze was glacial.

  “I am Chiara Morte, true daughter of Dalien Morte - the Red Ghost, princess of the Red Empire, initiate of the third rank, formerly known as al Ghurab, the Raven, I was the -”

  Jay half rose, picking up the silver-laced dagger and slashing it in a horizontal silver blur toward Chiara’s throat.

  She didn’t flinch.

  The team burst into motion. Jay had ramped first, he had the initiative, he was perfectly positioned to kill her. No one could save her life - except Anton. He blurred across Chiara from right to left. His left hand struck Jay’s wrist from below, sending his slash a foot higher. Anton lunged forward over the table, tackling Jay, lifting him free of his chair, and pinning him against the rear wall. The knife flew from Jay’s grasp and skittered over the polished wooden floor.

  “For fuck’s sake!” Jay shouted past Anton’s right ear. “Get out of the way!”

  Anton held his grip and declared in adamantine tones, “I’m not letting you kill her.”

  “Of course not, you’re too busy fucking her,” Jay paused and grimaced with hate. “Or is that she’s fucking you! Eh! She’s a fucking spy, she knows how to lie. She’s got you right where she wants you and you have no idea what the hell is going on - as usual.”

  Peter intervened, and pushed Jay and Anton apart, and declared gruffly, “No weapons, I can’t tolerate anyone else dying today.”

  Jay stood against the wall and panted for a moment. He locked a gaze of unadulterated hatred on Chiara and stated, “As for that creature; get her out of my sight.”

  Anton’s hand landed on the base of Chiara’s spine, and he loomed at her left shoulder. “She’s not going anywhere. We need her with us.”

  Jay snapped. “You already knew, and you kept it secret, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, I knew,” Anton replied. “We are too few to throw away good fighters.”

  “You can go too. Both of you are liars. This is my team and you can fuck off!”

  “We’re not going anywhere,” Anton declared, an edge of steel in his voice.

  Jay looked hard at Peter and Li. “And what about you two. Have you known all along?”

  Peter shrugged his heavy shoulders and stated, “I always knew it wasn’t me.”

  “I found out today,” Li replied. “Her DNA analysis was in the Panopticon data, along with her parent’s identities.”

  Jay grunted with disgust. “Fucking lies and betrayal. I’m wasting my time here.” He retrieved the White Dragon from the floor. He looked at Peter and Li, and ignored Anton and Chiara, and offered, “Anyone who wants to work with me to rebuild a new team can come with me.” He pushed past Anton and strode for the door into the parking lot behind the building.

  Peter declared, “Anton, Chiara, I’m with you. We make too good a team to break up. Chiara, I always knew it had to be you, but I know you never intended for Juliette and Yvette to die. Its war, shit happens. Frankly, given the amount of ordnance I throw around, it’s a miracle I haven’t killed all of us by now.”

  Li frowned and went after Jay. She had left the Green Dragon beneath the table; she’d come back for that at least.

  Chiara blinked, and turned in toward Anton’s shoulder. He put his powerful arms around her and held her close. The Mirovar force team was more wreckage littering her wake. The path of truth was not an easy one to walk. She lifted her face and whispered, “I love you.”

  Anton’s arms tightened protectively around her. A maelstrom of emotions whirled within her soul; remorse and sadness for Francis, a cold fury for her father, a loyal admiration for Peter and Li, and regret for the rift with Jay. The storm ebbed and flowed within, threatening to cast her sanity away.

  She clung to Anton; he was her rock. Her love for him a shining light within the storm.

  * * *

  Jay mounted his motorcycle in the parking lot behind the roadhouse.

  Li strode over to him. He looked up and implored, “Come with me.”

  She shook her head. Since her encounter with the quantum processors of the Panopticon she knew too much. Her future was with Peter, Anton and Chiara. “No, I belong somewhere else.”

  Jay scowled, his lips pressing into a thin line.

  “We never debriefed,” Li suggested, “What you need to know is that the mission was a bust. The Panopticon is due to be replaced in a month’s time by a more advanced system. Arthur Slayne bet it all on killing Crane and Armitage, and lost.”

  Jay shook his head, grinding his teeth in frustration. “What a fucking mess. Look … Li, are you sure you won’t come with me? I’m going to Salt Lake City, there are Shadowstone operatives there that know they have been serving vampires. I’m sure I can find some who are looking for an opportunity to strike back against the lies and betrayal. I’ll use the pressure point technique to activate their Ramp capability. Some will survive, and I will train them hard. I’ll have a new team in three months time.”

  Li arched an eyebrow. Jay had a plan and it could work, but she shook her head once and replied, “Yes. I’m absolutely sure.”

  “If ever you change your mind, you’re always welcome.”

  Li nodded. “I understand.” She watched him in silence. Jay fired up his motorcycle and rolled it back a few feet. He dragged on the throttle, whipping away in a roar and a flurry of stones.

  Li sighed. Hundreds of vampires couldn’t kill the Mirovar force team but the truth had proved deadly. She pivoted, her feet crunching on the parking lot gravel. She returned to the road house interior. Chiara was about to make an offer and she needed to hear it. Chiara was in a position to change the fate of the world. A world that no longer held the Mirovar force team.

  Whether it would be for better or worse remained to be seen.

  * * *

  A hubbub of noise filled the roadhouse.

  The roadhouse was crowded with emergency services personnel coming in for drinks and snacks. A quarantine cordon had been placed around Arthur’s airport. The rumors were flying thick and fast. Ranging from terrorist attack, to natural disaster, to industrial accident. The team overheard one policeman remark knowingly to his partner that this was the beginning of an alien invasion.

  Peter, Li, Anton and Chiara had retreated to a booth in a rear corner of the restaurant. Their swords hidden beneath the table. Mugs of coffee held within their hands. They had mostly sat in stunned silence. The Mirovar force team had ended in anger and hatred. What did that bode for the future? Nothing good, Chiara thought.

  Li leaned forward and broke the silence. “There are things you all need to know.”

  “Like what?” Anton asked.

  “Well,” Li offered, then commenced to give a quiet briefing of what she had discovered about the replacement Panopticon while connected with the Panopticon’s quantum processors.

  “Bummer,” Peter remarked. A rare frown creasing his forehead.

  Anton shook his head disconsolately, “All of that for nothing.”

  Chiara was willing to put the whole day behind her. Her old life was over. As shocked as she was at Francis’ death and the destruction of the Mirovar force team, she was giddy with relief, and buoyed by a pervasive sense of freedom and opportunity. Her new life was beginning here and now.

  Li looked to Chiara and asked, “What do you think?”

  Chiara did a double take. Li almost never asked her for her point of view on anything. She glanced at Peter, Anton and then back to Li and suggested, “We could seek sanctuary with the Red Empire. They have their main base under the Mount Scopus museum.”

  Li frowned for a moment, then advised, “That was destroyed on the twenty-fourth of August by Armitage. The details were in the Panopticon.”

  Chiara felt sick to her stomach. How could this have happened? This was on her father. Armitage could not have found out where the J
erusalem citadel was without his alliance with her. She stated, “There is a place called Matahat al Diydan. We can meet my father there.”

  “Would they have us?” Anton asked.

  “Without a doubt,” Chiara enthused. “We’re elite. Look at what we’ve survived.” She shrugged. “And my father is the Red Ghost. He will want me back now my original mission has been rendered a moot point.”

  “What was your original mission?” Peter asked.

  “Rise to the top of the Order of Thoth as my father’s agent.”

  Peter laughed, then shook his head soberly. “No shortage of ambition then.”

  “To be honest,” Chiara declared, “I’m glad it’s over.”

  “Even though it took the Order being destroyed for that to happen?” Li asked.

  “That part is terrible; I never sought that outcome.”

  Silence fell over the table for a moment. Chiara wondered if they would accept her proposal. She didn’t want to have to choose between staying with Anton or delivering her father to justice.

  Anton rubbed his chin and asked, “So, are we doing this or not?” he looked at Li. “There’s no guarantee you can haze the Panopticon replacement. We’ve got a month before the Vampire Dominion is going to try and hound us out into the open with their new surveillance system and hammer us into the ground. We need a solution in place before then.”

  Chiara reached over and grasped Li’s shoulder. “You have so much to offer my father. We can use your capabilities to reshape the Red Empire’s strategy. Imagine five hundred plus Ramp warriors responding to your loremaster oversight. This is the true union of the Ramp master factions that could make a difference against the vampires.”

  “I’m warming to this idea,” Peter offered.

  Li looked at Chiara and conceded, “I agree, we have to try this path. We can’t stand alone for very long.”

  “Before you commit to a decision on this,” Chiara advised. “You must all understand something.” Peter, Anton and Li regarded her with curious eyes. “My father has strayed far from the Way, and must be corrected. He has treated with the vampires, cut deals and sent our warriors to serve Armitage. This is unforgivable. We must tread warily. There is no guarantee he will honor our laws.”

  Anton asked, “What do you mean by ‘corrected?’”

  Chiara looked hard at Anton; her heart filled with resolve. “There is only one punishment that fits the crime - and that is death. I must pursue my father for his crimes, but first we need to secure our strength against the vampires.”

  “Right,” Peter stated dryly, “So, we’re going to ally ourselves with a man who has betrayed his own faith, laws, and people, and we’re doing this because it’s our best option?”

  Anton nodded, “It sounds like it.”

  Li nodded. “It’s less risky than attempting to go it alone.”

  “Well, count me in,” Peter declared. “I could use a less risky option.”

  Anton asked, “And when your father is dead, who replaces him?”

  Chiara lifted her head. “If he dies by my hand under the rules of challenge, then I will succeed him.”

  Anton’s eyes widened, and he offered, “Well, that’s an interesting rule.”

  “So, we add ‘palace coup,’ to the plan.” Peter stated.

  Li sighed; her eyes filled with something much older than her years. “Yes, we do.”

  Chiara stated quietly, “There is one more thing we should do before we go.” She faced Li and asked, “Can you do a loremaster vision for us?”

  Peter and Anton looked expectantly at Li.

  Li glanced around the team, pursed her lips, then nodded. “I will do what I have to do.”

  Chiara believed it would be enough. Li was a phenomenon. With Li’s help she could take the Red Empire away from her father and deliver him to justice. His original goal of uniting the Ramp masters would be achieved, but he would not be alive to see it.

  * * *

  Li remembered Patrick Wichowski’s advice and opened her loremaster laptop.

  He’d said, ‘Find something you feel really safe with or someone you have a very strong love for. Find or if need be, create a place of security, love, and joy. Something strong that you can rest in. Find that and start from there. What you must always do is never stand alone.’

  How was she going to be able to do that after the shocking losses of this day? Li shivered once, then stilled herself to a deep calm. She slipped into her Ramp like an Olympic diver winning gold with a splashless dive. She plumbed the depths of her silence, her loremaster ability blooming within her. Her implant warmed within her right forearm completing the links between her mind and the world’s networks.

  Everyone in the roadhouse vanished and the shadow was waiting. The darkness congealed into the shape of her dead brother Qiang, and he sat opposite Li in the booth.

  She raised her defense of golden flame. Shimmering light bloomed around her, pushing the shadows back.

  The Qiang-thing grinned and declared, “You already know that won’t work. I thought you were smarter than that.” Its left hand flashed across the table and gripped her right wrist. Her golden light flashed once and died. The lights within the roadhouse dimmed and the shadows loomed around her.

  Li pulled back with all her strength. Her wrist remained locked within its grasp. The Qiang-thing leaned forward, leering at her with an ancient lust. “Now let me show you how this is really done.”

  Cold tendrils of pure darkness emerged from his hand and ripped into her flesh, anchoring her right hand to the table. The darkness rushed up her arms like a thousand cold knives, great shadows advancing behind them, blotting out all light.

  Li withdrew deep within herself, seeking the sanctuary Patrick had spoken of. The loremaster vision dimmed and blurred. She was freezing, her right arm becoming numb and unresponsive. She searched, and searched again.

  Living memories flashed through Li’s soul. Her brother smiling gently while he sutured a training cut on her arm. Her own heart glowed with adoration and not a little hero worship of her older brother. He’d finished the sutures and made some quip about her being clumsy but he’d done it in a way that made them both chuckle. Qi could always make her laugh.

  Somewhere distant from her deepest self the growing darkness shuddered.

  Her mother hugged her; her eyes moist as she released her to go with the other children for her first day at school. Her heart filled with the excitement and enthusiasm of a five-year-old, surrounded by her mother’s unconditional love. A love that never wavered.

  The darkness intensified, a cold wave claimed her right shoulder - or did it?

  Her father cradled her while she sobbed her heart out on his shoulder after her mothers and Qiang’s funeral. Her father had managed to share with her his strength while dealing with the loss of his beloved wife and son. Her father looking at her with moist eyes filled with love and pride the day she’d mastered the twenty-one hidden deceptions. He said to her in a voice gruff with feeling, “You have learned everything I can teach you. Your only limits now are what you impose upon yourself.” Him hugging her immediately after saying that, his heart beating warm and true next to hers.

  She surfaced back into the visionary roadhouse.

  The Qiang-thing recoiled from her, hissing like a snake.

  Something came with her from her deepest self. A warm presence enveloped her, wrapping her in a shield of unconditional love. A pair of hands rested lightly upon her shoulders and her father’s voice whispered in her ears, “You are the daughter of dragons.”

  Nothing more needed to be said. Li found her center. Light bloomed, a white-gold flame erupting from a fathomless place deep within her, stretching out in an instant, evaporating the surrounding shadows, banishing all fear. The roadhouse vanished, replaced with an open field beneath a bright sun and an azure sky.

  The Qiang-thing snarled, retreating a step backward, its hands twisting into claws.

  Li raised the Green
Dragon - it was wreathed in a halo of golden flame. Twin legacies entwined, blademaster, loremaster, both and more, and declared in a voice resonating with more than human power, “Leave, you have no place here anymore.”

  The Qiang-thing’s skin melted from its face, revealing dark scales, and tawny eyes with vertical slit pupils. Its mouth gaped open and it laughed past rows of long fangs, a cold braying noise cutting through the air for a moment - and then fading away.

  Li had found her center in the enduring love of her family. As for Set, the Shadow, or the Qiang-thing - whatever form it may take - their war was not over. She was sure it had only just begun. As for the requested loremaster vision, she did what she could, and emerged back into the real roadhouse. She blinked, took a deep breath and let it out slowly and then declared with quiet certainty, “Chiara’s proposal holds great danger for us all, but it offers us the greatest benefit too. I believe we should do it. I believe we must do it.”

  The four of them looked at each other for a long moment. Anton broke the silence. “Let’s get moving before the vampires reorganize.”

  Li paused as the others rose from their seats. She’d picked up a hard, crystalline truth within her loremaster vision. A truth filtered from the legacy of her time connected to the Panopticon quantum processors. Two of their number would die soon. Which two was hidden from her but she had to press on - giving up would give victory to Set and his agents. She rose and followed a step behind the rest, leaving the booth for the parking lot behind the roadhouse.

  It was time to leave the United States.

  * * *

  The sounds of battle were long gone.

  Tamsah al Ramil stood in the shadows behind the roadhouse parking lot. His back against a tree, blending in perfectly with his surroundings. He’d practiced sound suppression; lowering his breathing, quietening his heat beat, and standing unnaturally still.