by Ella Summers
“The building is completely empty, minus General Vale,” Logan said.
“The former Convictionite general you interrogated to find out about this place and the weapon? What’s he doing here?” Alex asked.
“He’s not doing anything here,” replied Logan. “He’s dead. The Convictionites killed him and strung his corpse from the ceiling. I’d imagine they knew he was going to leave them and made sure he learned about the weapon. His exit was quite public, so the Convictionites must have also known I’d come to interrogate the General and see what he knew of their plans.”
Kai’s jaw cracked. “They played us.”
“But why?” Tony wondered.
“To trick us into revealing the location of the Magic Council’s meeting,” said Kai. “So they could set off their magic bomb and kill the supernatural leadership in one swift blow.”
“The Convictionites must have retreated from this building when we discovered their ploy,” Sera said.
“All except for Nightstar and his mages. I bet the four of them entered the simulation from another location. Too bad.” Alex stretched out her fingers. “I am itching for a rematch.”
“Nightstar?” Tony asked.
“It’s a long story,” Kai told him.
“One best told over pizza,” Sera added.
Logan moved toward the exit. “We should depart now, just in case the Convictionites have booby-trapped this building.”
Sera and Alex snorted at the word ‘booby-trapped’.
Callum rolled his eyes at them. “Seriously. Are you two both four years old?”
Sera blushed. “Sorry.”
“We’ll behave now,” Alex promised.
“You two? Behave?” Dal’s eyebrows swept his hairline. “That’s something I have to see to believe.”
“This way,” Logan said to everyone. “Hurry.”
They followed him out of the building, through the big hole Kai had blasted in the exterior wall. The building didn’t tick, blow up, or do anything suspicious as they left. Even so, Alex had long ago learned that not all evil plans were so obvious. The Convictionites had failed to trick them into revealing the location of the Magic Council’s meeting, but they weren’t out of the game yet. Nightstar’s mocking laughter had made that quite clear. At some point, the Convictionites would make their next move. Alex only hoped they were all ready for it when it came.
They moved silently through the night until they finally reached a residential apartment building. It looked like an old-style building, built in the last century. Complete with boxes of red geraniums hanging off every balcony, a perfect match to the red window shutters.
Logan led them up the stone path to the front door. All the while, his eyes were darting around, seeking out threats in the darkness.
He pulled out a key and used it to gain entry to the building. Then he led them past a small foyer and upstairs via a winding staircase. He stopped in front of an apartment door.
“This is your place, Slayer?” Kai asked him.
Logan opened the door. “One of many.”
His work in Zurich had once taken him all over the place. He had several apartments, each one in a different part of the city.
They followed Logan inside, and he closed the door behind them. Alex already had her phone out and was using the Wizard House Pizza app to order them dinner. Sera joined her by the living room window.
“So, we’re eight people. Do you think twelve pizzas are enough to feed us?” Alex asked her sister.
“Better make it fourteen,” replied Sera. “All that running around and fighting bad guys has left me famished.”
“You do realize that you were in a simulation, so you weren’t actually running or fighting?” Dal told her.
“Ok, virtual running around and fighting.” Sera nodded. “You know, that makes me even hungrier than actually running and fighting. Better make it sixteen pizzas, Alex.”
“Way ahead of you, sister.” Alex dragged pizzas across her phone screen and dropped them into the delivery van.
Sera watched the flying pizzas. “Or should we make it twenty?”
“Na. That would just be greedy.”
“And not leave any room for dessert,” Sera said.
“You read my mind. They have cheesecake, Sera.”
“Chocolate cheesecake?”
“Of course.”
“Drinks?” Sera suggested.
“If we drink water, does that free up more room for cheesecake?” Alex asked.
“Sounds right to me.”
“Sounds mental to me,” Marek chimed in. He looked at Logan. “Your wife-to-be is barking mad. You know that, right?”
“I’m an assassin. No one has ever accused me of being sane,” Logan said serenely.
“So about Nightstar. That back there was his simulation?” Tony asked Kai.
“Yes,” replied Kai. “The Convictionites busted him out of prison. In exchange, he’s working with them. More than that we do not know.”
“We know Nightstar is not our biggest fan,” Sera said. “Not that I’m surprised, considering that it was our fault he ended up in prison in the first place”.
“You?” Tony’s confusion quickly dissolved. He snapped his fingers. “Of course. It was you.” He glanced at Kai. “It seems you found your mystery lady after all.”
“Found me? Wait, you looked for me?” Sera asked Kai.
“Yes. After we exited Mortal Coil, I tracked you down. But you were already gone. There wasn’t even a trail to follow. The place had been scorched clean of magic.”
“That was our dad,” Alex explained. “No one could cleanse a place like he could.”
“Your dad, he was former military?” Kai asked.
“Yes,” Sera said. “You really went after me. I’ve always wondered.”
“It’s a good thing he didn’t find you. Dad would have thrown a fit,” Alex laughed.
“Because you were sixteen at the time?” Kai asked Sera.
“Because you are a member of an old magic dynasty,” replied Sera. “The age thing would have been less of an issue to Dad than the whole sworn-to-hunt-down-and-kill-all-Dragon-Born thing.”
“Ok, pay up. I told you Ruby Dragon wasn’t a dude,” Tony said to Dal.
The commandos laughed, even Dal as he handed Tony a twenty-dollar bill.
Logan watched them. “You had quite an experience back then,” he said to Alex. “Are there any more blood enemies that I should know about from your past?”
Alex smiled at him. “Why would you think there are more?”
“Because you have a tendency to leave destruction in your wake,” Logan replied sensibly.
Alex’s smile exploded into a full-out grin. “You’re just jealous that you weren’t there back then to leave destruction in your wake.”
The doorbell rang.
Alex perked up. “That would be the pizza.”
“They are certainly punctual,” Sera said, as Logan went to answer the door.
“They always are when I have the pizzas delivered to ‘Slayer’,” Alex chuckled. “I get moved right to the top of the queue.”
Logan returned, balancing a stack of sixteen pizzas in his arms and a cheesecake box.
Alex grabbed four boxes off the top and set them out on the coffee table. “Now let’s figure out what Nightstar and the Convictionites are planning.”
9
The Hunt
“Ok, here goes. ’Twas the night before the wedding, when all through the town; not a creature was stirring, not even a clown,” Alex sang.
Sera buttoned up her sweater against the bracing evening wind. “That is some pretty bad poetry, Alex.”
“Yeah, well, what can I say? I fight with the sword, not with the pen.”
Sera flashed her a grin. “And you don’t mince words; you mince monsters.”
Alex snorted.
“Now that was grotesque,” Callum commented.
“You’re a commando,” Sera shot
back. “You’re used to grotesque things.”
“Nothing so grotesque as the Dering sisters’ poetry,” Dal said.
“Hey!” Alex protested.
“We take offense at that,” Sera added.
“If you two are finished clowning around, then we can get started,” Tony said.
He stood on a raised stone block. The ocean was at his back, and the wind rippled his jacket—but not his hair, which was cut short, nearly to his scalp.
“Wait, a minute,” Alex said. “Where are Logan and Kai?”
Callum chuckled. “They wanted to make an entrance.”
A roar boomed from above, like thunder. But there were no clouds in the clear sky tonight. Alex looked up to find a big black dragon instead. It opened its mouth, and a waterfall of fire poured down in a perfectly-controlled, narrow stream. Then the dragon puffed out, like he’d shifted back into human form. When the smoke cleared, Logan and Kai were standing right beside Alex and Sera.
Alex snorted. “Showoffs.”
“How did you do that?” Sera’s eyes narrowed, like she was trying to work it out. “Kai was there as a dragon, and then he was gone. And you two just appeared there. Yet Logan was nowhere to be seen before this.”
“Of course I was nowhere to be seen. To be seen is not very stealthy,” Logan said.
“How did you do it?” Sera asked.
Kai smiled. “We could tell you…”
“But what would be the fun in that?” Logan said.
“That disappearing-reappearing thing, it’s one of Logan’s tricks,” Alex told Sera. “I swear, if he hadn’t become an assassin, he would have been a magician.”
“But how does he do it?”
“Not sure.” Alex looked at Logan.
Kai stepped in front of Logan. “Oh, no. We’re not giving up any secrets, nor granting you any advantages. We are at war.”
It was the night before the wedding, and after days of back-and-forth, they’d finally come up with the most awesome idea for a combined bachelor and bachelorette party. Tonight, the four of them would embark on a pre-wedding scavenger hunt in San Francisco. The object of the game was to solve the clues, gather new clues from monsters, and be the first team to reach the end.
It was girls versus boys tonight, and the commandos had designed the hunt.
“War,” Sera said to Kai, putting on a serious face. “Right.” She winked at him.
“Sera, you’re not taking this seriously,” Tony chided her.
“Sure I am,” Sera protested. “I’m taking this seriously. We both are.” She elbowed Alex, who was laughing.
Alex quickly swallowed the last remaining chuckle and declared, “Right. Very seriously.”
It had been two weeks of stressful days since the failed mission in Zurich. They had spent hours upon hours each day on it, often working late into the night. They’d followed far too many dead ends and gotten absolutely nowhere.
They still had no idea what Nightstar and the Convictionites were up to. They didn’t even know if the enemy truly possessed a supernatural-killing weapon.
So, all in all, the lead-up to the wedding had really sucked. Times were stressful, and they seriously needed a few laughs. And something to get their mind off of it all. The commandos had really come through when they’d suggested the monster scavenger hunt. It was so simple, so straightforward, so nicely-back-to-basics.
“Have you chosen your team names?” Tony addressed them all, his tone actually serious.
“Yes,” replied Logan. “We are the Dragon Slayers.”
“Oh, that’s kind,” Alex snorted.
“And you, ladies?” Tony asked.
Sera wrapped her arm around Alex, squeezing her in closer. “We’re the Savage Sisters.”
Tony nodded. “Very well. Here are the rules of the game: no teleportation glyphs.”
Alex frowned.
“No flying using any means,” Tony continued. “No driving. No taking trains, bicycles, boats, or any other vehicle either. You must run or walk. And before any of you with super-speed get excited, both team members need to make it to each checkpoint. No leaving the slower one behind.”
“Spoilsport,” Alex muttered.
“Now, let’s begin.” Tony extended his hands. A folded piece of paper was tucked into each of his palms. “Here are your first clues. The first team to reach the end of the final challenge wins. Good luck.”
Alex and Logan dashed toward Tony. She grabbed the clue in Tony’s right hand, just as Logan snatched the one out of his left hand.
“May the best team win,” Alex told Logan.
“Oh, we will,” he replied.
Alex stuck her tongue out at him, then ran back to Sera.
“Behemoth, Golden Gate Park,” Alex read the clue. “Neutralize the monster and bring its horn to The Magic Shop to receive your next clue.”
Sera snorted. “Subtle.”
Alex shook her head. “I don’t think the commandos understand the concept of a ‘clue’.”
Sera shrugged. “The more obvious they make it, the easier this will be for us.”
“And for them too.” Alex pointed out that Logan and Kai were already running off.
“Come on, Alex,” Sera said. “We have to win this.”
Alex matched her pace. “Don’t worry, sister. Losing isn’t in our vocabulary.”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t in their opponents’ vocabulary either.
While running toward the park, Alex felt a buzz in her pocket. She heard Sera’s sweater hum too. They popped on their headsets.
“Hey, Naomi,” Sera said, breathing heavily.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” Naomi’s voice rippled with amusement.
“Not really,” Alex told her. “Sera and I are just about to kick the guys’ butts in the commandos’ monster scavenger hunt.”
Naomi sighed. “Wish I could be there, girls, but I’m neck-deep in planning your wedding.”
“It’s the night before the wedding,” replied Alex. “Knowing you, I’m sure everything is already perfect.”
“Hardly.” Naomi expelled a sharp sigh. “Eva took Marek out for a night on the town, so now I can finally get the real work done without him breathing down my neck, expressing dignified disdain at every decision I make.”
Sera snorted, which was a bad idea while running at these speeds. She started coughing.
“Which of you is choking to death the night before the wedding?” Naomi said in a stern tone.
“Sera,” Alex told her. “But she’s not going to die, promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that promise, Alexandria Dering. I expect two brides to walk down the aisle tomorrow, and if not, I will not be pleased.”
“Scary,” Sera coughed.
“Totally,” agreed Alex.
“Is that scary Mom voice the way you keep your twins in line?” Sera asked Naomi.
This time, Naomi’s sigh was softer. “Unfortunately, the boys haven’t yet developed the verbal skills to be cowered like that. Otherwise, my living room wouldn’t be set on fire on a daily basis.”
Alex and Sera had reached the edge of Golden Gate Park. Now to find the Behemoth in here. It was a big park. On the other hand, the Behemoth was a big monster. And like the commandos’ clue, not a subtle one.
“Would the commandos let a monster loose in a park full of people?” Alex asked Sera.
“No. They probably found out about the monster just now—and are using the hunt to have us take care of it.”
“How efficient of them.”
“Yeah. And that would explain the crappy clue. They didn’t have any prep time.”
Alex looked around. “There aren’t any people.”
“The commandos must have had a team evacuate all the people out of the park,” Sera said.
The leaves crackled under their shoes.
“But not tell that team to take on the Behemoth?” Alex asked.
“A Behemoth is very strong and very mean,” Sera re
minded her. “Only a crazy person would try to take one on.”
“Good thing there are two crazy people right here.”
Sera’s laughter chased them across the bridge.
“You’re both nuts,” Naomi declared.
“You’re just jealous you’re not here to fight the Behemoth with us,” Alex chuckled.
“No, I’m not,” Naomi said unconvincingly. “I find planning your wedding to be very relaxing, as long as I’m in charge of everything.”
“Killing monsters is relaxing,” Alex argued.
“Just don’t break any bones,” Naomi instructed her. “Casts don’t match with the wedding decor.”
Alex smirked at Sera. “Though a cast would be a great conversation-starter at the wedding reception.”
“Don’t you dare—”
“Alex is only kidding, Naomi,” Sera assured her. “And besides, both Kai and Dal can heal broken bones.”
“The Behemoth’s this way,” Alex told Sera and ran off the trail
“How do you know?”
“I can smell it.”
A loud, angry roar punctuated the park’s calm stillness.
“And there is that noise too,” Alex added. “It’s a dead giveaway.”
She cut up the hill, through the underbrush and long grass.
“Are you sure this is the fastest way?” Sera followed her lead.
“Of course.” Alex winked at her.
They wove between the trees and bushes. They were getting close to the Behemoth. The smell of burning ash stung Alex’s nose.
This time, the beast’s roar had originated from somewhere so close that Alex’s skin buzzed. They broke through the bushes, over the hill’s crest. It was there waiting for them: a large, bull-like creature, its muscular body covered in a layer of black hair, so smooth and sleek that it looked like a very thick coat of paint. The Behemoth had two very long, very sharp horns. The tip of each horn flickered with fire, like a pair of lit candles. Its black lips spread, displaying two rows of pointy, blood-stained teeth.
10
The Queens of San Francisco
The beast charged at Sera, who countered with a wind spell that stopped it in its tracks. Any other beast would have been knocked back by her magic. The Behemoth started to claw forward with its large hooves, pushing against the funnel of her wind spell. Damn, the thing was strong. No wonder it was called the Behemoth. With a capital B.
