by Kelly Hall
“Cool, I’d like to get us all in the hologram room as soon as possible. It was Paul’s turn on the schedule today, so I thought we could go ahead, if you’re okay with that?”
She liked his style. He was always ready to do what needed to be done. He was a natural leader. “I think that’s a great idea.”
Jarreth and Delilah walked up with somber looks. “I wanted to apologize again before I go to Grady. I can’t believe I did it, either, and I knew better.”
Delilah patted his back. “You’re a good friend, Jarreth. You just got carried away.”
“Well, it won’t happen again. You have my word.” He placed his fist over his heart and bowed his head toward Rebekah, and then to Canter.
“It’s all good, man. But I have some bad news.”
“Don’t tell me I’m kicked off the squad.” Jarreth held his fist over his heart a while longer than he needed. “I want to go on the mission.”
Canter shook his head. “You’re going, but so is Grady. He’s a strong fighter and we need him. Despite our differences, we’re on the same side of this war.”
Jarreth covered his mouth and then raked his hand through his hair like he was about to lose it. But after a minute, he looked at his friend and the Huntress. “Fine. I can respect that. I just wish you would have told me before I cut off part of his ear.”
Canter gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. “Good throw, by the way.”
“Not really. I didn’t mean to hit him. I just wanted to scare the shit out of him and hoped to hit the door across the room.”
Rebekah was surprised he admitted that but decided not to give him a hard time.
“We’re going to the hologram room,” Canter said. “Grady is going to be there. Are you up for it?”
Jarreth looked like he’d rather cut off his own ear than go see Grady again.
Rebekah crossed her arms. “I’m not going to have to come down there and babysit, am I?”
Jarreth grinned. “Only if you don’t have anything better to do, but I’ve always loved an audience. You probably should see your best trainee in action.”
As he looked her up and down, she contemplated showing him what her throwing stars could do.
Instead, Rebekah leaned in close, licking her lips seductively. “I have seen enough of you in action for a lifetime.” Her expression faded as she turned away and headed to the door.
Delilah moaned. “I can feel that foot massage already. Better make sure you flex your fingers and keep them limber. I’m winning that bet.”
“No way. I’m just buttering her up. She’s going to be putty in my hands. You just wait.” The training room door closed with a loud clank, turning his head. “Do you think she heard that?”
“I’m thinking that’s a yes.” Delilah high-fived Canter, and the three of them headed toward the hall that led to the hologram room.
After Canter had sent out a text to the rest of the new squad, they gathered one by one.
Katie Kelly fell in line with the others who were standing against the arena wall. “What’s this all about? Are you going to throw stars at us, too?”
Jarreth stepped forward. “I’d like to apologize for earlier, Grady. My actions were as uncalled for as your words, and I really hope we can put the incident behind us and continue to fight for the same team.”
Grady turned his head. “What’s that? I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you.” His sarcasm was thick and tinged with anger, but Jarreth knew better than to counter.
The others’ laughed quietly until Canter spoke up. “If you have a problem, you can leave, but I had already chosen you to be a part of this team before the fight. We have a special mission coming up, and I need everyone working together.”
One of the other cadets, Cooper, spoke up. “Are we going to get revenge on the assholes who killed Paul and the others?”
“Yeah, as a matter of fact, we are,” Canter said.
“Then count me in.” Cooper nudged Layne and Chris, and the three placed their fists over their hearts.
Katie put her fist to her heart, too. “Paul was a good guy. He and the others deserved better.” She elbowed Grady, whose nostrils flared.
“Fine,” Grady said. “For Merik and my friends.” He put his fist over his heart and joined the others.
Jarreth stepped forward. “Are we cool, you and me?” He extended his hand.
Grady looked at his hand like it was covered in shit. “We won’t ever be good, pretty boy, but I’ll have your back when it counts.”
“Fair enough.” Jarreth put down his hand and shrugged. “Let’s get this bitch going.” He walked over to the hologram computer and set the thing for a half hour. “Let’s give ourselves a workout, shall we?”
“Deposit your weapons in the lockers and gear up.” Canter made sure that everyone was unarmed in case anyone grabbed one of their actual weapons in the dark instead of the dummies which took their place in the arena.
Everyone found their positions as the room came to life with holograms, and suddenly, they were no longer inside the arena but in the deep woods of a magic forest. Wild animals and flying witches were around every corner, and the objective was to kill as many enemies while protecting each other and the other humans.
Computers kept tabs on everything, including their life forces, and when someone was killed, they sat out and waited for the others to finish. Being the last one standing was not the goal. Finishing as a team was.
Canter gripped his knife and ran across the arena toward a werewolf who looked like a man with a wolf head, rather than what actual shifters looked like. Whoever had designed it must have had a twisted sense of humor, and things were so overly simulated as fantasy that it was nearly comical. It was probably another regulation set forth by the Church, but all of the hunters knew things would be much different in the field.
As Canter moved forward, the wolfman gave chase, running on all fours and rearing up on his hind legs as he stopped to change directions. That was when Canter gutted him, causing the image to disappear.
Before he could think to celebrate, another was on his heels, but Jarreth was there to slash through it.
Delilah spotted a little girl crying by a tree, and as she approached the child with caution, a huge phoenix came from the sky, taking her in its talons and carrying her up in the air.
As her feet left the ground, she screamed, and Canter threw his spear, driving into the back of the phoenix. The fiery bird fell from the sky, and as Delilah braced for a crash landing, Jarreth jumped in and caught her, sliding on his knees as if he were stealing bases.
Giving her a wink, he put her on her feet, and then he jumped up and turned around in a circle to see he was surrounded by devil pigs.
Grady was across the field, battling some kind of evil imp, and Jarreth refused to yell for his help. He threw a few stars, taking out two and wounding the third pig, but that left four more as another one crawled out from behind a stump and grunted as drool dripped from their mouths and snouts.
Delilah appeared to Jarreth’s left, striking downward at the little curly-tailed monster with her spear. It buried into the ground. “What the fuck did you set this thing on? Level apocalypse?”
“It does seem like there are a lot more animals than usual. It’s probably malfunctioning like everything else at this academy.” He saw a shadow overhead, and a witch swooped down, trying to kick him in the head, and Jarreth ducked, then quickly grabbed her broom handle, flying up in the air just in time for the pigs to collide with each other. Shaking off the blow, they turned and went after Delilah.
“Shit!” She wrestled with her spear, trying to pull it out of the ground, but it wouldn’t budge. Grady came up behind her and shoved her to safety, or maybe he was just being an ass, but he slaughtered the rest of the pigs, sending their images away.
Jarreth had problems of his own. When he had let go of the witch’s broom, he ended up falling into a den of lions. But they weren’t just any lions. No, these had
fire for manes and demon-red eyes. Their roars were an evil growl, putting Jarreth’s hairs on end. There were two on one side and one on the other, and his only hope was to climb the rocks to safety.
He took out his whip, lashing it toward the beasts like a tamer in a circus, and then he backed his way to the rocks and ran as two arrows whizzed by, killing two of them. He looked up as Cooper was pulling back another arrow, and just as the last lion was about to gain ground, his arrow struck it, turning him to vapor as his claw swiped, disappearing just before it made contact with Jarreth’s ankle.
Chris was standing at the top of the rocks where Jarreth found his way out, and the guy offered a hand until he was safely out of the way.
Canter ran past them, his knife already raised to stab the evil imp who had Katie cornered against a tree. The little monster had cast a spell, and vines were crawling up her legs and arms, pinning her against it. When Canter’s blade made contact, he heard laughter and looked up to see an imp who was too far out of reach. Katie looked at Canter with pleading eyes, and he stepped forward, placing the knife between her breasts, using her cleavage to get beneath the thick vines. When he sliced through, they disappeared. The imp in the tree growled like a small yipping dog, but Canter pulled himself up on the lowest limb, swinging his legs until he made purchase, and then killed the ugly beast.
He felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Katie smile. “Thanks.” She took off in a bound and stabbed a wolf just as it was about to transform, and then she stopped to catch her breath.
Canter saw a witch making another dive, going straight for her. “Katie, duck!”
She ducked, but it wasn’t in time, and before she knew it, she was being lifted by her hair. The wicked witch cackled like it had won and dragged her as high as the arena would allow, which was pretty damn high, considering the building was four stories tall. But luckily for Katie, the witch swooped again, still holding her by the hair, and that was when Jarreth threw another star, this time killing the witch and saving Grady’s girl.
Canter was there to catch her, but the force of her fall carried them both to the ground. Katie landed on top, her face pressing into the crook of his neck.
“Are you okay?” they asked in unison before bursting out in laughter.
The room had gone quiet for the most part, so they rose up as Layne made the last kill, and Grady, Cooper, and Delilah joined Chris and Jarreth on their way.
“That’s it, right?” Delilah looked around, wondering why the session hadn’t ended.
Canter wiped his brow. “There has to be something else.” They looked around at the human holograms standing in the distance.
Delilah cursed beneath her breath. “It’s one of them.”
Grady readied his blade. “A shifter. One of them is a shifter.”
“And if we get the wrong one, we lose,” said Katie.
The sound of the little girl crying got their attention, her angelic face, the round cherubim cheeks, her cupid’s bow lips turned up in a wicked grin as she tucked her chin and her eyes turned red. The trainees exchanged a look.
“Why does it have to be the creepy little girl?” Jarreth hated movies with dolls and creepy children. “Someone kill it.” He nudged Cooper.
Cooper shook his head. “I’m not killing it. You kill it.”
The others laughed, and Canter let out a sigh. “Fine, I’ll kill it.” He started toward her, his knife raised high above his head, but before he could make it across the expanse, one of the other human holograms howled and made a run for him. Canter screamed and threw his knife just in time to kill the shifter, but the little girl was already frothing at the mouth and slowly making her way over.
“Son of a bitch!” He was out of weapons.
Just when he thought he was a goner, a spear buzzed over his head and stuck in the little girl’s chest, blowing her into a million pieces of light, which then disappeared. The signal sounded, announcing that the session was over, and then the lights in the room slowly got brighter.
“You’re welcome,” said Grady.
Jarreth hated that the guy had saved their asses but was thankful he’d mastered the spear. As the lights brightened even more, he could see Rebekah in the observation room. A man stood beside her, his cleric’s collar and black shirt were the only things that gave away his status.
She came out to join them, clapping her hands, as the old man stepped up beside her. “That was a great display of teamwork,” she said. “Well done.”
“Well done, indeed,” said the old man. He had kind eyes and long gray hair, which didn’t match his nearly black beard.
“I’d like you to meet Father Timms. He’s here to secure the grounds, but more than that, he’s going to help me whip you guys and girls into shape.”
Chapter 14
The angel dropped Ignis off on Esper about a mile away from his old hometown of Mire’s Crossing. Landing in the center of the village would have drawn too much attention to him, and Ignis hoped to slip in and out without causing a stir.
He knew he could mist and make his way into town much quicker, but that particular trick wasn’t something his peers could do. If someone saw him, every mage in the village would mob him with questions about how he did it. And that was the best-case scenario. At worst, they would assume he was a dark mage and try to murder him. His misting power was just one of many reasons he had always felt like an outcast here.
With a sigh, he started the long walk to a place that hadn’t felt like home in thousands of years. The marshy soil near Perdira’s Mire caked his boots in mud instantly, reminding him what a shit hole this area was. Life for him had been infinitely better on Earth.
Not only had he been taken in by the Church, allowed to live in disguise, but he’d made friends there. Father Cornelius had been the first, and then Rebekah, and though they weren’t many, it was more than he’d ever had in Esper.
He cast a quick spell to remove the mud and protect his boots from further defilement, but the spell fizzled and did nothing. He cursed at his mistake. He hadn’t been back to Esper in at least fifty years, and he’d forgotten that magic worked differently on Esper than it did on Earth.
Mages drew their power from the living energy of the land, and each Realm’s energy was unique. On Earth, this offered him access to powers mages on Esper could never duplicate, but it also meant he had to adjust his spells to resonate with Esper’s energy when he was here. And some of his spells simply wouldn’t work here at all.
Just one more reason he despised returning to this Realm.
He corrected his spell, and the mud fell away. His walk was much more pleasant without the grime weighing down his steps.
After taking the long way, he arrived at Mire’s Crossing, named for the nearby bridge which spanned across the swampy mire. As far as he knew, the bridge was the only way to pass through the swamp without wading waist-deep in fetid water.
Unfortunately, the town’s proximity to Perdira’s Mire meant the air constantly stunk of filth and decay. He didn’t miss that stench or the way it seemed to seep into his pores. When he got back to the academy, he would have to take an extra-long shower if he ever wanted to feel clean again.
Ignis came to the village square where Solomon’s Key was located. He had spent a lot of time at the tavern when he’d last visited. The Green enchanters who ran it magically infused the drinks so they packed a serious punch, making it popular with mages and humans alike.
He took a deep breath and headed into the pub hoping that no one there would remember the last time he was here. He had introduced the drunken patrons to some of Earth’s better games of chance. He’d spent almost a week gambling here, relieving the locals of their gold until the owner, Gaius, kicked him out and told him never to return.
After bells on the door signaled his arrival, Gaius’s familiar voice croaked, “Ignis Fatuus? Don’t walk in here like you’re welcome.”
Ignis hadn’t used his last name in hundreds of years, but he mu
st have revealed it fifty years ago when he was deep in his cups. He walked toward the old Green behind the bar.
Gaius was round and had a rather unfortunate face, and he looked like he had barely aged a day since he tossed Ignis out on his ass. Mages aged about five times slower than regular humans, once they hit maturity, so Ignis’s unnatural youth wouldn’t raise any eyebrows.
“Gaius, how are you?”
“Still missing that money you stole from me,” the man said.
“Hey, I won that money from you fair and square,” Ignis said, speaking the truth. It wasn’t his fault they sucked at gambling here.
“If you’re here to gamble, you’ll find no willing fools here,” Gaius said. “People are still griping about the Earth mage who bankrupted the entire town.”
Ignis noticed more than a few angry looks from patrons at nearby tables. “No gambling. I’m just here to talk.”
“How’s life on Earth? Still chasing dogs with that Huntress?”
A few of the others laughed. Once again, he was the outcast here in Mire’s Crossing. Although if they had any idea about his time here thousands of years ago, their reception would be even chillier.
Ignis kept his face expressionless, but inside, he cringed. How much had he revealed to these people the last time he’d been here? Apparently, the magically fortified wine had loosened his tongue. All the more reason to make this visit a short one.
He reminded himself he was here to gather information for Rebekah. By the end of the day, this backwater town would be just a bad memory again.
He forced a smile and chose to ignore the insult. “Good old Solomon’s, where everything in this Realm gets chewed up and spit back out.”
Mire’s Crossing was located just below the Southern Pass out of the mage homeland of the Cradle. Anyone coming in and out of the Cradle who needed to cross the mire came through here, which made it a haven for information and gossip.
Ignis leaned against the bar. “I have something to ask.”
“Let’s have it then, and we’ll see how it tastes.”
