by Jamie Hawke
“First, a ritual that involved the body covered with mirrors, closed curtains…” Her eyes moved back over to Aerona. “I mean, in this case it’s not easy to complete the ritual, even if we had the herbs and mirrors and all.”
“In a gwynlos,” Kordelia cut in, “the deceased would have company, gifts, many gathering to eat bread and cheese. We would have wine.”
She glanced around, took a hunk of bread, and then nodded at an intern bringing in wine.
“There’s more,” Aerona said. “But this is a different time. And as has been established,” she nodded to Ebrill, putting her other hand on top of hers, “we don’t have the bodies. As far as I’m concerned, they’re better off now.” After a moment, her eyes moved to me. “What about you, huh? How do you all say your farewells to the dead these days?”
“Me?” I shook my head. “There’s what they show in the movies, and then there’s my family’s way.”
“Which is?”
Looking at the bottle of wine and then my glass, I took the bottle and raised it. “To the amazing lives they lived.”
I took a swig of the wine, then passed it to Steph at my side. She smiled, raised it, and said, “We remember them, and celebrate who they were.” She took her swig. It continued like this with each commemorating the lives that Draedar and the senator had lived.
“We have work to do,” Megha said when it was over. She waited until Aerona nodded at her. “The maps.”
Standing, Megha pulled out the book with the maps from before, setting it on the table and turning it so we could see.
“What are we looking at?” I asked. The book was opened to a page of D.C. As we watched, bits of the city lit up, tracing magic activity. “Why would there be magic like that, unless it’s tracing fights or something?”
“Can you imagine a scenario where the Yenifer you saw yesterday is out there and not fighting?” Kordelia asked with a chuckle. “The question is—who is she fighting?”
“And why?” Aerona added.
“She didn’t attack us, at least,” Ebrill pointed out.
“So, is there a third party, someone controlling her?” I asked.
“Possibly. What’s for sure is that she isn’t in her right mind.”
Watching for a few more moments, the light vanished. “She’s not…” I was about to say ‘dead,’ but then it lit up again.
“That happens occasionally,” Aerona said. Again, the light faded, this time taking longer. Circling an area of the map, she said, “So far, the activity seems to be sticking to this circle. Might be there’s something special about it.”
“Related to the portal, maybe?” Megha offered. “Or the magical items.” At that, she giggled.
We all looked at her like she was crazy, but then I saw the lump moving in her dress, coming out on her shoulder—that strange creature that Fatiha had been using as a magical item to pull on the runes that were keeping the portal open.
It looked at us. Its eyes went wide, and then it disappeared with a pop and flash of light.
“Still getting my new friend used to you all,” Megha said with a shrug.
“Friend, or pet?” Kordelia asked, frowning, apparently not liking the little guy.
“No difference,” Megha replied. “I like to think of all of you as my pets, too.”
I laughed, but she stared at me, stone-faced. It was hard to tell whether she was joking.
“Sorry, but… what?” Riland was the one to speak up.
“At least as long as I’m here.” Megha offered me a wink, as if that would mean anything to me in the moment. “Who knows how long that will be? Maybe I’ll take off after we find Yenifer, or maybe after we kill this Fatiha bitch. Tough call, really.”
“Why would you leave?” Ebrill asked. “We’re finally all getting back together.”
The question had been on the tip of my tongue, the idea of any of this new group not sticking around bordering on incomprehensible. Especially after the moments we had shared, the intimacy.
“Let’s stay focused,” Aerona said, waving her off.
“You don’t think this is a big deal?” Ebrill countered. “One of our teammates leaving?”
Aerona eyed Megha, then Ebrill, and gave her a humored smile. “Dear, this is Megha we’re talking about. She comes, she goes. Nothing unexpected about what she’s saying.”
“That was why she hadn’t been with the main group that day,” Riland added, nodding. Turning to her, frowned. “Hadn’t you even been thinking about going to the other side?”
“I did go to the other side, as a matter of fact,” Megha replied, earning a couple of gasps. Before more could be said, she held up a hand. “At Rianne’s command. I was fighting to get back with you when it all went to hell—which is one reason I ended up as I did, instead of…” She put her hands on her head, forefingers up to show horns.
“That explains a lot,” Kordelia replied, the glare still there.
“Where do we start, as far as tracking down Yenifer?” I asked. “Last place the light went out?”
“I’d think so.” Megha adjusted the book, then chanted a word I didn’t catch, causing the book to float up and become an outline of light. In a way, it wasn’t so different from what I had done with the Llyfr Sillafu spell book. While my version had been digital to resemble a game screen as I was used to, hers had more of a magical, fantasy feel.
Seeing my surprise, she grinned. “Nothing as fancy as you, but I know a trick or two. This will show up when I summon it, giving us a way of at least tracking her last known position.”
“Great. And what’s our means of transport? Teleportation? Flying?” I glanced at the gargoyles’ wings, then to Steph and Megha. “Brooms?”
“Do you see brooms anywhere?” Steph asked with a laugh.
Before I could respond, Galahad appeared at the door and said, “Aerona, you requested two cars?”
Aerona smiled my way as she said, “Correct.”
“We’re… driving?” I asked, not sure how I felt about that. “Won’t we be kind of exposed?”
“Using magic to try and find her wouldn’t get us there any faster, and would expose us even more,” Ebrill explained.
I simply nodded and gestured for them to lead the way. Riland gave me a ‘here goes’ look as he walked past, and Ebrill took my arm as she went.
“Come, driving will be fun. There’s a lot of this city I’d still like to see.”
I chuckled, walking with her to follow the others. “It’s not exactly an open-top bus tour.”
“You don’t know, maybe that’s what Galahad got for us?”
As expected, it wasn’t. But what he had was much better—two large SUVs with our own guard, the type you might see in the president’s motorcade.
“You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow,” Galahad said as he held the door for me, Ebrill going first. “Try not to forget that.”
I nodded. “Everything seems to be a priority, now.”
“Indeed.” He nodded, shutting the door after I’d entered the vehicle. He would stay behind and prepare what he could for next steps.
129
Inside it was dark, what with the tinted windows. To add to the effect, it looked like a thunderstorm might be coming. I wasn’t so used to those in the summer back in Oregon, but had heard the weather in D.C. could have its eccentricities.
Sure enough, as we went, clouds far off showed flashes of lightning. Distant, high above, and yet terrifying. More so, when I considered that it could be magic and a sign of a fight to come. When magic is introduced into one’s life, it becomes hard to think of anything strange in non-magical terms.
Megha took the lead, giving directions, while the rest of us leaned back, ready for anything. As she communicated with Steph and the guards in the other vehicle, I leaned back, thinking maybe leaving Shisa at home was a mistake. Since communications were open, I could hear Steph talking with Persival and one other of the wraiths, along with the guards. At least her opting
for the other vehicle made sense, now, but the idea of speaking with ‘ghosts’ didn’t feel exactly natural.
“Nervous about tomorrow?” Ebrill asked, eyeing me with both hands in her lap.
As crazy as everything had gotten, and with the others coming into the picture, I realized as I looked into her eyes that we hadn’t had as much alone time lately as I might have liked. With a slight shake of my head, I leaned toward her and said, “More about tonight.”
She nodded. “Good. Finding the rest of the ladies… is paramount.”
“Yenifer was one of our best fighters,” Aerona called back. “If we have her on our side, it’s like nothing can stop us.”
I scoffed, although hadn’t meant to. “Sorry. It’s just that, size and strength seem to be such small factors now, considering the amount of magical power we’re up against.”
“But when magic isn’t a factor anymore,” Ebrill countered, “you might appreciate having a beast like her on the team.”
“I’ll appreciate it either way.” I eyed her a moment longer as we rode, then leaned in. “Were you close?”
“Me and Yenifer?” Ebrill laughed. “We were all close.
For a moment we rode on, all listening to Megha give directions, curse as the point changed, then give new directions.
“What could she be fighting?” I asked, a dumb question since none of us had clear answers.
Ebrill shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “What I’m wondering is what this means for others? If she’s in this state… I don’t know.”
“As long as they’re alive and have a chance, I’m okay with whatever we come across,” Aerona called back. “They could be turned into unicorns for all I care, but we’d find them, bring them back to us.”
“Wait, unicorns…?” I scrunched my nose.
“They’re real enough,” Ebrill answered the unfinished question. “Although, I should say that they were rare to find, even in Avalon.”
“But they did exist?”
She nodded.
“You never saw one,” Aerona shot back. “How do you know?”
“Rianne told me.”
“Oh.”
That was it. I had to marvel at the power of one lady that the simple invocation of her name would bring an argument about whether a creature was mythical or real to a close. She had been quite amazing, what I had seen of her before, and the fact that she remained in some form even to that day.
“Almost there,” Megha said, glancing back eagerly. “Be ready for anything.”
A glance out the window showed that we were passing Logan Circle, with its grand Victorian mansions and the park—beautiful trees surrounding a statue of a man on a horse. We went up Vermont Avenue and came to a stop by an empty lot, half covered in grass and half dirt, right off R Street. I noted a swing and slide and guessed this must’ve been a school at one time, maybe elementary, but as I glanced around, I saw no sign of any scuffle or magic having taken place.
Trying to use my transmutation powers, I searched for magic traces, not sure if that would work. It showed me the glowing lines of the gargoyles and more specifically the book Megha held, but otherwise only revealed very faint streams of violet light near the top of a building across the street.
“That’s where it happened,” I said, indicating the spot. “But they’re not here, now.”
“I’ve got something,” Megha said, and then we were moving again, following another set of directions.
This time we headed up toward U Street, screeching to a stop when she called out, only to find a smoking apartment and stronger signs of recent magic, but no sign of Yenifer still being around.
“How are we going to make this work?” I asked.
“We keep trying until it does,” Megha shot back, irritation heavy in her voice. Suddenly she perked up, then threw open the door as she said, “Right next to us! One street over—faster to go without the cars.”
Shit. I followed, glancing around and using my transmutation magic to create a shimmer in the air that would block view of the gargoyles, in case anyone happened to be looking our way. All of us were out then, charging between buildings and over a wooden fence. We almost turned into a backyard full of partying college kids, but ducked back and went around instead.
“On the move,” Megha said, indicating the buildings, then up to the roofs.
The gargoyles grabbed us, then used their claws to dig into the side of the building and climb, fast. A moment later we were racing along, me on Ebrill’s back, Riland on Kordelia’s, when Aerona cursed loudly, coming to a stop. The rest of us came up beside her, anxiously looking around for any sign of trouble.
“She’s gone,” Megha exclaimed.
“What?” I asked.
“Gone. Not showing up. We… lost her.”
“She’ll be back,” I said, more out of hope than anything else.
We lingered a bit, sticking to the shadows as we were already too exposed. Our hope faded, so we started back toward the cars with the idea that we would check the book, see if we could find any more traces of her.
As fear warned, the next location ended up being a dud. We had driven around again, all of us quiet, feeling lost. We barely registered hope as the magic trace showed up again. This time, it took us to a corner in southeast D.C. where three homeless guys were shoving each other around next to makeshift tents, but otherwise nothing seemed out of the ordinary. We found ourselves a hole-in-the-wall bar and snuck the gargoyles in, determined to make up for it with a round.
“Maybe we should get you back to sleep,” Riland mumbled between drinks.
“At this rate…” I took a swig, eyes moving across Aerona and Megha with the book. Other nights I could see us going out to bars for fun, maybe having quickies or a quick tug in the bathroom, as was the nature of our relationship. But not that night.
“Maybe she’s fighting this war for us,” Steph offered, clearly trying to be the glass half-full type.
I rolled my eyes. “Sure, and by the end of this next beer, she’ll have defeated Fatiha and figured out how to handle the Nine. Cheers to that!”
“We can hope.” Steph shot me a glare at my sarcasm, making me feel like a dick.
“Sorry,” I said. “It would be great if whatever she’s doing were helpful, but it would also be helpful if she could find a way to communicate that to us.”
“At least if she were fighting against our people, we would have heard about it, right?” Kordelia offered. “I mean, the Order, or the good ones anyway. Galahad would notify us.”
I nodded. “You have a point. Maybe we should go get some rest after all.”
She grinned. “The best sleep you’ll ever have, though, is when you can trust someone else is off fighting for your life.”
“Or freedom,” I said, thinking about stories my dad had told about his brother, my uncle Ben, deployed for much of my childhood to Iraq and Afghanistan, depending on the years. As little as my dad had ever offered me, the idea that we only enjoyed our freedom because of the sacrifices of others had certainly stuck.
How funny, then, that now I was part of that force that fought so others could relax. If the people of the world knew of the evil arrayed against them, would they ever be able to sleep again? Not likely.
“Huh,” Aerona said from where she stood next to Megha.
“That doesn’t seem right.” Megha looked up from her magic maps, motioning me over. “I might be wrong, but… do you recognize this spot?”
I scooted close to her, eyeing the map, then blinked. “Gertrude’s house.”
“For some reason, Yenifer was either just there, or is there right now.”
“And if she’s there, I’d bet it’s something bigger than a fleeting moment’s worth of fighting,” Aerona said. We all seemed to agree, because we were out of there and back in the cars in a heartbeat.
Megha gave the directions to the drivers with a flip of her wrist, and I sat back, watching as we turned in the direction of my aunt’s old
house. It wasn’t long before we were passing through Adams Morgan and then on our way past some old residences.
“Why there?” I finally asked, glancing around.
“Well,” Ebrill leaned forward, wings cramped behind her. “My guess is as good as any, but I’d assume this means that whoever’s controlling her is aware of us.”
“Or of Gertrude, at least,” Kordelia said.
The best way to find out, of course, was to get to the house. I only hoped she was still around so we could get some answers. We got the good news and the bad at once, since when we arrived the house had flames taking over one side of it, two fire trucks and a fire engine out front, and flashes of magic going off on the rooftop.
A crowd had gathered, making our progress impossible. I got out and ran over to join the throng, just as a large piece of stone tumbled down from the roof and into the yard. We were far enough off that nobody could’ve gotten hurt, but the crowd let out a shriek.
“What happened?” I asked the closest guy—a hipster, complete with beard and tight jeans.
“Don’t know, guy,” he replied, not even looking my way, eyes still focused on the flames. “But, the strangest thing… the water is, like, bouncing off the air before even hitting the fire.”
“Oh, fuck.”
He turned his eyes on me, but I was already off, ducking back into the car.
“What happens if everyone figures out that place is magic?” I asked.
“No idea,” Steph replied, apparently taking the question because she had been around in our world the most. Well, her and Megha. Glancing in Megha’s direction, I saw that she simply shook her head.
“Great. First things first, we can assume Yenifer is still there. We need to join her.”
“Easier said than done,” Riland said.
“We still have the cat-cave entrance, right?” Aerona said.
“Bat, not cat.” I chuckled. “It’s worth a try.”
I told the driver to go around the back. I glanced up from time to time to see with relief that the fight was still in progress. As backward as that sounds, if there was still fighting, at least that meant Yenifer was still likely around.
