by Logan Jacobs
The ex-trooper waited until the Chief had issued instructions that sent one deputy back inside and the other one toward the other old church, where a large crowd had gathered outside. When the Chief turned to head back into the department, Darwin pressed the second button.
The ground actually shook for a moment as the second round of explosives went off. The Chief bolted from the building with two more deputies right behind him.
“That just leaves the guy on the desk,” Darwin declared.
We sprinted from our hiding spot and made it to the front door of the Police Department before it closed. Darwin was through the door first, though Sorcha and I were right behind him.
The man on the desk had clearly recognized Darwin, and he’d already started to step from behind the desk with his hand on a crossbow when I raced through the door.
“Stay!” Sorcha commanded in her hypnotic voice.
I glanced behind the deputy for a moment as I wondered if there was a dog in here that I hadn’t seen.
“Take us to the prisoner,” Sorcha ordered.
The deputy’s legs wobbled, as if they couldn’t decide which direction to move in.
“Take us to the prisoner,” Sorcha ordered again in a voice that had somehow gotten even deeper.
The deputy, a redheaded man with very thin lips, slowly turned and walked toward the far end of the old church. We passed the Chief’s office, where a cup of steaming coffee still sat next to an open file, and an unlit file room, as well as an office reserved for ‘Investigations’.
The deputy stopped at the final door for a moment, then slowly opened it. Two brick steps led to the covered walkway, and at the other end stood a heavy oak door with an iron lock.
“Open the door to the jail,” Sorcha instructed.
The deputy stepped just inside the door to the old church and pulled a set of keys from a hook. He then moved slowly down the steps, along the passageway, and stopped in front of the door. He stared at the keys for a moment, then selected one from the ring which he slid into the keyhole. A moment later, the oak door opened soundlessly and the four of us stepped into the jail.
Darwin snatched the keys from the deputy and ran toward the back of the jail, while Sorcha kept the deputy locked in place. I moved to the back of the old church and pushed the door open enough so I could hear if anyone else returned before we had Freya out of the cell.
“He’s got her,” Sorcha called out a few moments later just as I heard someone enter the front door of the police department. I let the back door swing shut and ran across the passageway to the newer building.
“Someone’s coming,” I warned as I bolted into the jail.
“Find the right key,” Darwin yelled out as he tossed me the key ring.
Freya was holding onto the ex-trooper with all her strength, with her face buried against his shoulder. The mutant didn’t make a sound, but I could see her shoulders shivering as she clung to her grandfather.
I ran to the side door that Mary Wright had used and found the correct key on the second try. I threw the door open for Darwin and Freya and handed the second Mossberg to Darwin as he and his granddaughter ran by me.
“Our turn,” I called to the Irishwoman.
“Go back to the front,” she instructed the deputy. “Tell them you were checking on the prisoner. Tell them you were worried that someone might try to break in. Tell them she’s still in the cell.”
“I’ve got to tell them that I came to check on the prisoner because I was worried that someone might try to break in, but she’s still in her cell,” the deputy replied as he turned back toward the oak door.
While the deputy stumbled back toward the offices, Sorcha and I dodged through the door and into the training yard. I spotted Darwin and Freya at the corner of the building, and then they slipped into the darkness and were gone from view.
Then I tossed the keys into the night and followed Sorcha into the barn.
“I really wish we’d gotten that gray mare,” Sorcha sighed as she took a look at the horses in the stalls.
There were six horses all together, all young and powerful, and not one looked happy to see us. Two even tried to bite us as we walked along the aisle.
“These are the new recruits,” I surmised. “Deputies that already have a horse trained for police duty probably ride it home so they can be ready to go at a moment’s notice.”
“Are any of these tamed?” Sorcha asked.
“These two at the end,” I called out. “They left them saddled in case of an emergency, just like Darwin said they would.”
Sorcha joined me and peered over the stalls at the last two horses.
“I guess we’re taking these two, then,” she replied.
The horses were both bays and both tall, and even though they were the calmest of the bunch, they still snorted at us and shook their heads.
“I’m just glad they keep horses ready all night long,” I said as I opened the first stall. “There’s no way we could have all ridden on that ATV.”
I had the first bay out of his stall by then and handed the reins to Sorcha while I opened the door to the second stall. The second bay nearly bolted past me, and I had to lunge toward him just to grab the halter. I swung into the saddle as best as I could with the rifle still in one hand, then held the reins for Sorcha’s horse while she mounted.
As we rode toward the open barn door, I opened the rest of the stall doors and shooed the horses out into the night. I doubted they would wander all that far, and by morning, they would return in search of breakfast, but for tonight, it would keep the deputies from giving chase.
Our herd of six horses burst from the barn just as the jail door was thrown open. I spotted the Chief in the doorway as we rode past, and I heard him yell for one of the deputies, but then we were out of the yard and on Main Street and on our way west again.
We galloped past Lewiston Road and the old granary that Darwin had mapped for us and finally reined our horses in at the tottering sign for Bob’s Big Burgers. It was as odd as Darwin had promised, and featured a bigger-than-life statue of a very fat, smiling man in bright blue pants and a checked shirt holding a board with the name of the restaurant. The board had come loose from one of the hands, though, and it moved in the cold night air.
“They’re not here yet,” Sorcha noted as the other four horses started to mill around.
“I’m sure they’ll be here soon,” I replied as my horse started to tug at the bit.
But it was a few more minutes before we heard the hum of the ATV. The horses had all looked up at the unfamiliar noise, and as the odd little vehicle came into view, the other four began an easy gallop back toward town. Our mounts tried to follow, but Sorcha and I managed to keep them under control.
“Easy as pie!” Darwin declared as he pulled up next to us. “Next stop, Erie!”
“How’s Freya?” Sorcha asked.
The rabbit woman was curled up in her seat with her face hidden behind her knees and arms, though she did look up for a second when she heard Sorcha’s voice.
“She’ll be fine,” Darwin replied. “Just as soon as we’re far away from here.”
And that’s when our easy escape became a lot more difficult.
The sky suddenly lit up in a shower of red and orange, and the two bays reared up. It was all I could do to keep my seat, and I saw Sorcha struggle with her own mount. I heard Freya squeal, but Darwin dropped to the ground next to the ATV and grabbed both of the pump action shotguns from the passenger area.
When I had the horse under control again, I turned to look at the stretch of road we’d just ridden across. Four mages walked solemnly toward us, and I realized there had to be a portal mage in the group, since there weren’t any other horses nearby. I guessed that one of the lot was probably Medrick, and the rest were probably the mages from the Magesterium that had been sent to question Freya.
The fire mage in the group launched another attack, this one directed toward Darwin. The old-timer
managed to roll away before the fireball lit up the space where he had been standing, but I saw flames lick along the side of the ATV and smelled the acrid scent of burnt tar from the pavement in the old parking lot. I saw Freya leap away then, and her mutant agility carried her toward the other side of the parking lot in a flash.
I swung the Winchester to my shoulder as the fire mage started to create another fireball, but taking aim from the back of an anxious horse was a lot more difficult than taking a shot while standing on firm ground. I managed to get off a round before the mage could launch the fireball, and somehow I hit him, but the mage only staggered and stared at the spot where his hand used to be. There was nothing but a bloody stump and a ragged end of bone left. The mage started to wail, though I wasn’t sure if it was from the pain or the shock.
“Charles was right about taking off limbs,” I muttered as I tried to steady the horse.
My ride had tried to unseat me again as soon as I fired the rifle, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sorcha struggle with her horse as well. Clearly, horses and guns were not the best mix.
“He has a gun as well,” one of the other mages called out.
“Medrick, you little shit!” I heard Darwin call from somewhere just to my right. There were some overturned tables in that direction, and though I couldn’t see him, I figured he must have taken shelter behind one.
“You’ve always been trouble!” the mage who had called out the warning about the gun declared.
Medrick was short, with a narrow face and two enormous ears, and he peered toward the tables with contempt written all over his features.
“Like hell!” Darwin yelled as he leapt up with the Mossberg I had created in his hands.
I knew exactly what he meant to do, and as he opened fire with the pump action, I leapt off my horse and bolted to a spot behind the ATV just as the boom of the shotgun exploded into the night. I crouched down as soon as I was in position, then peered over the edge of the seats. Medrick was sprawled across the ground, his arms flung wide and his head tilted back so that his eyes seemed focused on the road behind him. A hole almost big enough to stick a fist through had appeared in the middle of his chest, and blood still spurted from the wound.
While the remaining mages tried to retreat from Medrick’s body, I pointed the Winchester toward the fire mage again, felt the rifle kick back into my shoulder with authority, and saw the mage’s face explode as the bullet found its mark. Blood sprayed out in a bright red ring that coated the remaining two mages, as well as the road around them. White bone and gray brain matter flashed in the dying firelight as the mage’s body slumped to the ground.
“I’ve got the one on the right!” Darwin yelled over the ringing in my ears.
I didn’t bother to respond as both Darwin and I took aim on the last two mages. The sound of the Winchester seventy and the Mossberg pump action firing at the same time was as loud as the explosives that Darwin had set off earlier. The noise rolled across the land even as the last two mages fell to the road in a gory display of blood and tissue. Flecks of brain matter and lung tissue hung in the air for a moment, then dropped to the ground in a ring around the two bodies.
“Hex!” Sorcha called out in warning. “There are more on the way.”
I glanced over and saw that the blonde mage had grabbed the reins of my horse and seemed to have both animals under reasonable control. I also spotted Freya nearby with a glowing Glock in her hand.
“She knows how to use it,” Sorcha offered when she saw my look.
“Get the horses behind the building and see if you can keep them calm,” I instructed.
Sorcha nodded, and both she and Freya started to lead our mounts deeper into the shadows behind Big Bob’s building. When they were safely out of sight, I ran across the lot and joined Darwin behind the table.
“How many?” I asked as I joined him behind the table.
“Looks like another five,” Darwin hissed. “I can’t believe they sent this many just to question Freya.”
“I’d guess some of them are here for me,” I sighed as the mages stopped while they were still several hundred yards away. “And I’ve already used three shots.”
“Looks like the bastards are learning,” Darwin remarked as he glared at the four men and one woman who lingered in the road but refused to move closer. “I guess we’ll have to go to them.”
The two of us watched the mages for several moments, and then the woman and the tallest of the men suddenly ran into the shadows on either side of the road.
“You want the woman or the man?” I asked.
“I’ve got the woman,” Darwin replied as he peered toward the right. “There’s a drop-off over there I can use.”
“You go first,” I suggested.
The ex-trooper nodded, then peered over the top of the table. When no fireballs or lightning bolts zipped our way, Darwin stood up and sprinted toward the right, one Mossberg in his hands and the other strapped to his belt. I stood up at the same moment, the Winchester already nestled against my cheek and shoulder, and opened fire.
Bolts of lightning streaked across the sky just as I fired, and I was knocked to the ground, flat on my back. All I could see was a bright light, and every hair on my body stood on end. I smelled smoke and hoped I wasn’t on fire as well, though it didn’t feel like anything was burning. I somehow rolled back behind the table, the Winchester still in my grasp, and did a quick assessment.
Everything still moved, even if it did ache, and there were no flames leaping from anywhere, so that was good. My personal alarm was going off though, a reminder that I only had one bullet left in the Winchester rifle. I peered around the edge of the table and saw that there were only two mages still standing in the road, and they had backed up even further and left their compatriot crumpled in the middle of the road.
I heard one of the Mossberg shotguns boom at that moment, and the two mages in the road both looked in the direction of the sound. I used that moment to dart toward the left, where the other mage had disappeared, and threw myself between a pair of shrubs before the mages had a chance to throw another lightning bolt.
I took a moment to catch my breath and then moved more quietly between the trees. I wasn’t covering much distance, but that was fine. I just needed to catch the tall mage before he caught me, and I was willing to bet I had more experience prowling around in the night looking for things like wolves and giant rats than he did.
The mage could move quietly, but he was trying to move quickly as well. It wasn’t long before I heard the rustle of leaves, and the crunch of a pebble. I froze, and waited, and finally spotted the outline of a man moving just ahead of me. I took one deep, slow breath, then lifted the Winchester once again. The blue steel of the barrel looked like a line drawn in the night sky straight toward the mage, and as he eased into view, there was no doubt about the outcome.
The crack of the rifle echoed through my body, and I felt the momentary kick of the gun as the bullet cleared the end of the barrel. The smoke was almost lovely in the moonlight before it was carried away by the nighttime breeze. But the bullet had found its mark by then, and the tall mage toppled over before he could even register what had happened.
I inched closer after the gun disappeared and found the mage facedown in a puddle of water. There was a large crater in the back of his head, and bits of gray tissue poked out of the wound. Blood bubbled out from the wound and oozed down the side of his head where it swirled in a puddle of rainwater.
Despite the small victory, I felt a moment of loss as well. I’d fired the last shot from the Winchester, and I wouldn’t be able to recreate it for another twenty-four hours. After a moment’s thought, I decided a rifle was still my best weapon, and I looked down to find the trusty Ruger twenty-two in my hands. I checked the safety, just as Darwin had instructed, though I knew the weapons never appeared with the safety on.
I heard one of the Mossbergs then, a big booming sound that rolled around inside my head for a
moment. It was a reminder that we still had work to do, so I left the mage’s corpse and started to work my way closer to the pair that had remained in the road. It was slow going with only the moonlight, but I found a spot that I estimated would put me parallel with their position. I inched toward the road as soundlessly as I could until I found a good blind behind a tree and and an old concrete post. I peered around the edge of the tree, but only one mage still stood in the road.
It was the lightning mage, a dark skinned man with a shaved head and a ball of electricity dancing along his fingertips. His eyes roamed along the road and the bushes until he heard movement nearby. Before I could react, he tossed the lightning toward the spot, and a blinding flash lit the area brighter than the sun. I ducked behind the concrete post and waited for my eyes to clear, then turned to look at the road again.
The mage had moved toward the sight of his strike, where a puff of smoke lifted into the sky. As he moved, lightning started to form at his fingertips again, and he slowly raised his right hand as he prepared to launch another attack.
I stepped quickly from my spot and had the Ruger twenty-two at my shoulder as soon as I was in line. I pulled the trigger as the mage started to turn around, and the crack of the rifle ricocheted off the crumbling concrete. For a moment, I locked gazes with the mage, and then the bullet pierced his chest and buried itself in his lungs.
The mage wheezed for a heartbeat, and then blood bloomed along the front of his robe and spilled from his mouth. He went down slowly, as if the air was being pressed from his body, but he finally collapsed onto the road, his eyes still locked on me.
I stepped cautiously toward the mage, then scanned the area for friend and foe alike. I heard something move in the bushes and raised the Ruger instantly, then lowered it when Darwin appeared with both shotguns.
“Where’s the other one?” Darwin asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “He must have moved while I was circling around to this spot.”
“The girls,” Darwin warned as he started to run back toward Bob’s.
