Unbreakable Storm

by Patrick Dugan

  Alyx pushed his head back, peering at the ceiling as he thought. “Is it prophecy?”

  Charles stroked his beard. “If the apparitions were truly there, what else could it be?”

  “Tommy wouldn’t be able to ken a true apparition from an illusion as one of the Council could. The enemy could be laying a false trail for us, especially after what we faced in old-world Argentina.”

  Charles grunted. “Regardless, we need to protect ourselves.” Without warning, he muttered something I couldn’t hear, and red rings materialized around me. They collapsed on me, holding me so I couldn’t move. “What the...”

  Alyx responded far faster. He flicked his hand at me, blue dart streaking across to destroy the rings. “Tommy is not an enemy, and I won’t have him treated as such.” Alyx had risen from his wheelchair, hovering as if he stood on legs. His face flushed with anger, blue energy crackling along his clenched fists.

  I pulled from my reserves, preparing a bolt to return fire if Charles tried anything again. “I don’t know who you think you are, Obi-Wan, but if you try that again, I’ll burn you to a crisp.”

  Charles rose to his feet at a leisurely pace, straightening his robes as he turned to face me. “I am the Grandmaster of Protection, and I’ve fought your kind before, whelp. Stand down before you force me to put you over my knee like the impudent brat you are.”

  My anger flared, and so did the electricity arcing up and down my arms. “You might think you’re some bad-ass Yoda, but I’ll go supernova and fry you where you stand.”

  Charles laughed. “Boy, you are testing my patience.”

  “Enough!” Alyx roared, a blue shield forming between us. “We are on the same side. This is only doing the enemies’ work for them. NOW SIT DOWN!”

  I let go of the power roiling in me and sat back on the couch. Charles glared at me, then did the same. Alyx shot us both dirty looks. “Like dealing with children,” he muttered.

  “Well, he is a child.”

  “I meant you, you pompous ass. Sit there and shut up while I think.”

  Charles straightened his back, a haughty glower on his features. “I’ve been the Grandmaster Protector for over 500 years. I’ll not be spoken to like that, especially by you, who has only been on the Council for a score of decades.”

  Alyx bowed toward the older man. “I beg your forgiveness, Lord Protector. Now can we get down to what we need to do about Eiraf?”

  Invoking her name snapped Lord Douche Nozzle back to the present. “Yes, it is the issue now, isn’t it?”

  Alyx sighed. “Did you have any encounters on this trip through the gateway?” He rolled his eyes at me, as the musty old wizard took his seat. I stifled a laugh.

  “No, I thought I might get pulled back to speak to her more, but nothing happened. Can I ask what is going on?”

  Charles harrumphed but held his tongue when Alyx glared at him. He paused before addressing me again. “It’s extremely complicated, and I’m not at liberty to discuss most of it, but I can tell you this.” He rubbed his eyes then launched into it. “The Council was created by the strongest wizards to ever walk the earth, in direct response to the enemy.”

  I broke in, my curiosity getting the better of me. “Who’s the enemy? Evil wizards?”

  He shook his head. “I can’t explain it to you, but let’s stick with they are evil. There is a third group who attempts to maintain balance. Think of them as the fulcrum of a cosmic balance beam.”

  My eyes widened in shock, the implications that Eiraf could be using me to hurt my friends shook my confidence a bit, though I should have seen it as a possibility. “Are you saying they will help the enemy?”

  “They be honorless curs that swing as the wind blows,” Charles exclaimed. “We should be hunting them down. Better to know you don’t have a dagger at your back wielded by a supposed ally.”

  I swear I thought I could see steam rising off Alyx like an overheated radiator. “They believe the balance keeps the universe from being destroyed. They don’t help or hinder either side but will act to address threats. Whether they are allies or not makes no difference.” Alyx shifted in his wheelchair, adjusting his position. “Eiraf is a seer, older than any other being we’ve ever encountered. She’d not harm you, but she could point you in a direction that would serve their purposes. The real question is, what are you doing that would warrant her interest?”

  I shrugged. “We’ve been searching for Mr. Waxenby. I don’t see why it would matter.”

  “I agree. It would seem a small matter in the scope of things. We should destroy the gateway as a safety precaution.”

  “But how will I get back? Or come here to get supplies or travel?” I mostly kept the panic from my voice. I think.

  Alyx held up his hands. “There are other ways we can travel between two places. The doorbell represents the easiest way, but not the only way. We can discuss this later.”

  I couldn’t see why searching for Waxenby would have an impact on a magical war that had been around since the beginning of time. I went over Eiraf’s words again and again in my head, looking for a clue, but honestly, if Alyx and Oldy-wan couldn’t spot it, I doubted I would.

  Charles rose, banging the butt of his staff on the floor. “The time has come to see this doorbell. We should remove it until we can ascertain if there is danger present.” This guy must be a blast at parties. Gladiator never sounded like he fell out of a middle school production of Shakespeare.

  Alyx glanced at me, his eyes twinkling with mirth. “Aye, me matey, let us go in search of booty!” His pirate accent hit the mark as Charles reddened slightly. “Sorry, Charles.” He didn’t sound sorry though.

  I rose and followed as Alyx rolled to the basement door. A few feet away, he floated out of his chair and descended the stairway. Charles stomped along behind him, grumbling under his breath the whole time. I distinctly caught the words “whelps” and “banishment” as we went.

  I entered the basement and my jaw dropped. The door to the gateway stood wide open. The green lights from the vortex tinted the room. “How did it open without one of us pushing the doorbell?” I asked worriedly.

  The question answered itself as a tall, pale figure stalked through the opening, three huge hounds following close behind. The face swiveled toward us. I couldn’t tell if it smiled because four tentacles had replaced the lower portion of its face where a mouth should have been. Its skin reminded me of a drowned corpse; it had four talons instead of fingers that I got a good look at as it pointed at me. It said in a sibilant, raspy tone. “I have come for you.” The hounds spread out, lowering themselves to leap. They stood three feet at the shoulder, red skinned with flames flaring along their spines. The lead dog barred teeth the size of daggers.

  Charles bellowed. “Begone, foul beasts, or feel my wrath!”

  The lead dog advanced as the squid dude laughed, a ball of light growing in his hand. “Ha, your magic cannot compare with the might of X’nthar. Prepare to die, mortal.”

  I knew I should have brought Abby with me. “Nice puppies. We don’t want any trouble.” The dog growled as the three advanced slowly, red eyes tracking me as I stepped back.

  “We do,” Squid-head hissed.

  I unleashed a stream of electricity at the nearest dog. “Bring it on, ugly.”

  17

  The bolt slammed into the lead dog, eliciting a howl of pain as it slid across the floor. The second dog leapt over the downed hound. A flash of blue light formed around me as I launched a shot at the second hound just as the third crashed against the shield Alyx had thrown around me. The impact jarred me to the point I only scored a glancing blow.

  “The hellhounds can teleport, so watch yourself,” Alyx yelled, moving out of the way as Charles pushed past him.

  Charles swung the staff at the rebounding dog, striking it with a solid thwack, red sparks erupting where the staff struck. The dog flew across the room, headed in Squid-head’s direction. A quick flick of the thing’s taloned hand
diverted the airborne hound. He responded with a glowing ball thrown toward Charles.

  Charles bellowed a laugh. “You’ll need better than that.” He held the staff before him, releasing a stream of fire from the dragon head’s mouth. The ball vanished into the flames.

  Alyx coughed behind me. “Try not to burn the place down, Charles.” Alyx threw four blue spheres across the floor. They rolled like marbles, growing in size as they went. The surfaces shimmered, shapes revealing themselves under the pulsating surface. Arms formed as the head pushed upward like a swimmer breaking the surface of the water. One turned, expelling a stream of water over the sectional smoldering from the pyrotechnics. The remaining three closed on the tentacled horror at the other end of the room. Shards of ice flew in rapid succession like an ice machine Gatling gun.

  “Water against a kraken-born? You jest,” It batted the ice aside with ease. The shapes flowed and became water that once more splashed to the floor. A slash of energy ripped across the room and hit another hastily readied shield. Alyx swore under his breath as he fought to keep the shield intact.

  Three more hellhounds joined the fight from the open doorbell portal. Charles chanted as he launched return fire against Octo-man.

  “We need to close the portal,” I yelled at Alyx.

  Alyx stood near me, sweat pouring down his face as he held the shield around us. Charles fought on, but Squidy seemed to have no worries holding the two of them off.

  I’d have to close the portal myself. I pulled on my source, letting a fist-sized ball of energy fly to hit the lead dog in the face, pulping its head in the process. They could die, that’s for sure. I leapt over the dog I’d fried earlier, putting a bolt into its injured pack mate on my way. No sense leaving an enemy alive at my back.

  I closed in on the two remaining hounds, readying my attack, when they vanished. I dove forward, tucking and rolling like Blaze had taught us. It saved my life.

  The two dogs struck each other as they collided where my head had been seconds earlier. I unleashed twin blasts, hitting one in the neck but missing the second entirely. The bolt sent an avalanche of drywall and dust scattering. The dog turned, flames flaring to life as it crouched for its next leap.

  “Tommy, grab the doorbell before more come through,” Alyx yelled, sending a burst of blue flame at the squid thing.

  I glanced to my right, where the bell sat affixed to the wall. The hound pounced as soon as my attention shifted. I took a page from Abby’s playbook and rolled back as the weight landed on me. I’d just gotten my foot under its belly in time and used my momentum, and a liberal amount of juice, to propel it through the portal. Unless it grew fingers, there wouldn’t be any way for it to get into Castle.

  I rolled to my side and lunged for the doorbell. Unfortunately, it wasn’t there. I turned to see the device resting in the taloned hand of our enemy. “Squidbert, I’m going to need that back,” I snarled as I readied a bolt to blow his ugly head off.

  “I think not, mortal.” A slash of light appeared behind him as he stepped back into an alien looking landscape. The portal started to close, but its progress stopped as a blue barrier flashed into being.

  Alyx flew past me, headed toward the new exit. “We have to get it back!”

  He disappeared through the portal. Charles went through a second later. I ran but saw the web of blue energy fading. I dove for the opening. As I passed through, I wondered if I’d be sliced in half if it closed on me. Luckily, I belly flopped on the red sand, all my extremities in the correct places.

  Charles wielded his staff like a battle axe, attacking the sorcerer with wood and flames, being countered with the glowing, golden magic the other used. Alyx spun in the air, bolts of blue energy streaking away from him, dropping the bats as they dove at the two.

  Something struck me in the back, talons digging into my shoulders. Energy from the impact filled my depleted reservoir, sharpening my focus. What I had thought were bats, weren’t. They looked like a cross between a pterodactyl and a Rottweiler, blood-red eyes glowing above a mass of long, razor-sharp teeth. I reached up, grabbed the thing’s leg, and delivered a shock strong enough to light up a house. A howl of pain rattled my brain. I’d expected a bird’s screech, not a lion’s roar. Thankfully, it let go, flapping its giant wings to escape. I sent a shaft of energy slicing through its torso; green ichor fountained out of its back as it spiraled into the ground.

  I noticed blood running down from the puncture wounds in my shoulder, but I didn’t have time for injuries right now. I went street fighter on the next monster who closed in on me. I struck it just under the gaping maw, shattering its teeth with the impact. It flipped backward through the air, striking its brothers in the process. I put my back to Alyx, and we fought on. Nothing got close as we delivered a rain of death to the things.

  The numbers dwindled once one of the brighter bird things decided there were easier ways to get lunch. “I’ve got this, help Charles!” Alyx shouted to me.

  I didn’t like what I saw. Charles had talon marks across his face and torso as Squidy and he fought. He seemed to be slowing, the squid mage striking more often. I ran, leaping at the last possible second for more momentum. On the down stroke, I punched, my fist glowing with built-up power. I caught the sorcerer across the tentacles, splashing slime on his white robes and the sand next to him. His head snapped back, eyes wide in surprise.

  His hands flashed toward me, but I blocked them, stopping both with my wrists. Blaze would have been proud of that maneuver. I lashed out with a front thrust kick, striking him in the sternum. He folded like a fancy napkin at Thanksgiving. The doorbell landed in the sand near my feet. I grabbed it, keeping an eye on tentacle head as I backed up to where Alyx stood as he supported Charles, the larger man’s arm over Alyx’s shoulders. “What should we do with the terror from the deep over there?”

  Alyx grunted. “He won’t be bothering anyone for a while. We need to get out of here before the dangerous stuff comes.”

  I did a double take. “Those things weren’t dangerous?”

  “Not in comparison.” Alyx spoke a couple of words, and a portal appeared in front of us. “We need to get Sir Charles to the Council for healing. The Kra-kelal tore him up pretty good. Nasty fighters.”

  I pulled the fire lord’s right arm up and settled it over my shoulders. He still clung to his staff. “Tommy, watch out for his staff, it’s warded…”

  Alyx didn’t get to finish before the butt of the staff swung, hitting me in the shin. A shock like I’d never experienced before went through me, and I crumpled to the sand. A strange energy swirled inside me as I lay there with two hundred pounds of Sir Charles collapsing on me.

  “Are you alright?” Alyx asked, concern etched on his face as he lifted the Lord Master Fire Protector Dragon Staff.

  I nodded slowly, rising to my feet. My ears felt like a gong struck by King Kong, and my whole body tingled with a strange sensation. “I think so.” I stumbled after them through the portal into a marble-lined hallway. As I stepped through, I heard the familiar ding of an elevator arriving. Funny, I didn’t see an elevator.

  Down the hall raced at least twenty men, armored and carrying swords and shields. All had red tabards over their chainmail, a lion symbol in gold adorning them. “Halt trespasser!” yelled the guard in the lead.

  Alyx swung around, facing the men, his eyes burning with anger. “Bertron, stand down. Sir Charles has been injured in battle. We need to get him to Lady Makeda for healing.”

  The man held up a hand, and the weapons behind him were lowered but not put away. “Sir Alyx, you have a trespasser with you that we dare not allow.”

  “Allow!” Alyx’s voice cracked like a lightning bolt across a clear sky. “That ‘trespasser,’” the word was layered with scorn and dismissal, “just fought a Kra-kelal and saved your master’s life. Now, put up your swords and carry Sir Charles to Lady Makeda for healing.”

  “Yes, sir,” Bertron said, crisply saluting Alyx by placi
ng has a right hand over his heart. He signaled, and two uniformed men scooped up Charles, a third gently pulling the staff from his grip. Alyx noticed my raised eyebrows as I watched the guard walk away carrying the staff that had shocked the crap out of me.

  “The guards are bound to Sir Charles, so the wards don’t activate.” He gestured for us to follow along. “Mages invest a lot of time in building items of power, but if you fall in battle, someone has to be able to bring them back.”

  “Makes sense.” I glanced at Alyx as he floated along next to me. “Why don’t you have a staff?”

  He shrugged noncommittally. “They take a lot of time and energy to build properly. It’s also difficult to wield them without legs. I have other trinkets that serve me better.”

  I took in the surroundings. We walked down a corridor large enough to land a plane in. The stone walls glowed faintly, and giant columns soared to the ceiling thirty or more feet above. I gasped as the celestial bodies above moved in unison along the hallway. Everywhere I looked, marvels stood barely noticed by the inhabitants as we strode along. “What is this place?”

  “Speculo Regis. The first Council built it here to act as a gathering place for all the mages.” Alyx paused as a group of robed and hooded people crept pass, chanting as they went. “Magic has diminished on Earth over the millennium, but we still protect our realm from things like the Kra-kelal and much worse.”

  “I’d hate to see worse than that.” We approached a massive, ornate door. Bertron halted the company; Alyx floated up, placing his hand on the door. It shimmered and disappeared. Alyx waved the men holding Charles in; the rest took up positions along the hallway, hands on swords. I took a step to go with Alyx, but Bertron stood before me, hand against my chest.

  “I’m sorry, lad, but strangers aren’t allowed into the Physicka.” He gestured toward an ornate bench. “Please take a seat until we work the situation out.”