Ascendancy Origins Trilogy

by Bradford Bates

  The silver blade had been a gift, and it had proven its worth time and again. Silver would not kill a Lycan, but it acted as a paralytic. The beasts would purge it from their systems in a matter of seconds, but sometimes, a few seconds was all you needed to save your life. I continued to circle slowly, trying to use the buildings behind me to cut off at least one direction from which I could be attacked. Two more of the Lycans sprang into action, the first one incinerated with another burst of flame. The second one slammed into me, sending me flying backward into the wall of the inn. Somehow, I managed to keep my sword in my hand. Rising to my feet, I could already feel the pain in my back. Something may have cracked when I hit, maybe a rib.

  Luck seemed to be favoring me; the beast that hit me had not been able to stop its own momentum, and its leg was now impaled on a beam from the broken wall. I stepped forward, dodging the beast’s massive jaws as they snapped shut. A quick thrust to its heart stopped its movement. On my way past the beast and back toward the remaining Lycans, I took off the creature’s head and set it on fire.

  The six remaining Lycans had gathered around a new beast. This must have been the alpha of their pack. After four of its own had been killed, it was no longer content to wait in the forest. This new monster was going to be a problem, though. It had to be close to ten feet tall, and I doubted if it weighed under a thousand pounds. It growled at the other beasts, and they fell in behind it. It turned its face toward me and spoke.

  The words came out deep and grating. “I see they finally sent a real warrior to challenge me. The last few warriors the Council sent my way didn’t survive the night.”

  I was impressed that the Lycan could speak; that was something I had not encountered before. Maybe they all could, and we just did not know it. The thought that the Council had sent men here before me made me even angrier. The fire I had set in the inn sparked and crackled behind me, just as my rage did inside. I would find out just who had sent me here when I got home. For now, I had to turn my attention back to the beast.

  I brushed some of the dirt from my shoulder with my free hand. “I think we have moved past the time for talking, dog.” The magic inside of me finally snapped; with a wave of my hand, three of the Lycans just ceased to exist. I could see where their shadows had burned into the ground. The rage was making my gift more potent than ever before. I would need all of that strength to make it out of this alive.

  The alpha moved back behind the three remaining beasts; his move gave me time to stab one of them with my sword. The other two turned and ran back toward the forest, fearing my blade over the wrath of their alpha. When they reached the edge of the forest, I used my gift to pull the ground open under their feet. Moving the earth back into place essentially buried them alive.

  The alpha did not waste the momentary distraction and charged at me. The howl of rage would have been enough to freeze a lesser man in his tracks, but it only stoked my anger. I planted my sword in the ground in front of me and pulled all my magic inward. I let the hate and rage fill me with horrible power. I channeled that power into myself and multiplied it until I could no longer contain it. The alpha leapt for my defenseless throat, and I released the spell. The supernova exploded out of my body as I fell unconscious.

  The ground around me was warm. How long had I been unconscious? Slowly, I made my way back to my feet. Something felt off. I looked down and realized that I was naked. I was standing in a small crater. I could not see out of the top, so maybe the crater was not as small as I had thought. The earth in front of me started to shatter when I tried to climb out. I picked up one of the broken pieces and was surprised to see that it was glass. I looked back down to where my feet had been and noticed the melted steel for the first time. The sword had been a gift from my father; I was saddened by the loss of it.

  When I finally made it out of the crater, I noticed just how devastating the destruction had been; the village was gone. A few small fires dotted the edge of the forest, but not a single building was left standing. I had killed every man, woman, and child in this place, and yet I felt no regret. They had made a deal with a devil of sorts and reaped their own rewards. I stumbled my way down the road out of the village back toward the remains of the caravan. I hoped to scrounge enough wearable clothes from the corpses to continue my journey back home. I would have some explaining to do when I got back. This level of magic would not go unnoticed. The Council would have a few things to explain to me, as well.

  5

  Adam

  I waited not so patiently outside for Sarah and the pack to return to our base. I felt the chill coming in on the breeze from the bay. It was a cold enough night that the chill had worked its way up from the bricks and wormed its way into my shoes. I could almost imagine a thin sheet of fog down by the water, to match the mist I was seeing from my breath. The season had not turned too cold yet, but the memories of harsh winters lingered in my mind. I hoped that she would return soon. Sarah was too important to our cause to lose hunting one random Demon. I was starting to worry that I should have sent one of the Gifted with them just as a precaution.

  I steeled myself against the possibility that Sarah might have died tonight. I kept repeating to myself that it had been the right decision, the best call I could have made at the time. Sarah was a pure warrior, and a terrible foe to face in battle. Years of combat had honed her instincts, and the new armor our enchanters had crafted for her was almost indestructible. Still, waiting here in the dark, I worried; they should have returned by now.

  The creak of the large wooden gates stirred me from my melancholy thoughts. I held my breath as I turned toward the sound, knowing that this might be the time my luck did not hold. I exhaled sharply as I picked out Sarah in the crowd. She was alive, she was safe, and had returned to us. The pack milled around the courtyard as I stood watching.

  All of them were encased in battle armor except for Sarah, who wore hers on her back. They started shifting back to their human forms, and one of the gate wardens ran over and draped a blanket around Sarah’s naked shoulders. The pack was completely comfortable with nudity, while for many of us, it was something we were still struggling to get used to. The new armor our enchanters had created had for the most part eliminated that problem. I hadn’t expected to see her momentarily naked when I came out to wait. Sarah looked over at me and laughed at the shocked expression on my face. She winked before following the rest of the pack toward the armory. I swear, they seemed to delight in making the rest of us as uncomfortable as possible.

  I took a seat on the bench, still basking in the knowledge that she had survived. The Ascendancy could not afford to lose her now. She was the key, the only thing keeping the pack with us. Her slaying of the Ifrit would only increase her standing amongst her people. It was not often a Lycan succeeded where one of the Gifted had failed. I hoped that my own people would also celebrate her slaying of the Demon. It would help grow the bond we had been trying to foster all along.

  The door to the armory opened, and Sarah emerged fully clothed. I had an involuntary sigh of relief. I had been worried she would tease me by coming out naked, and probably just when John had returned. I wasn’t sure how he handled the Lycans’ predilection for roaming around naked, but the man handled it better than I would have. Sarah walked over to me and I patted the bench beside me. “Welcome back.”

  She sat down. “It’s good to be back.”

  I watched her for a moment, taking in her Native American features. I could see how her looks had easily won John over. Not only was she a fighter, but her exotic features made her stand out in a crowd. The air of calm confidence she walked around with did nothing to lessen her allure. Sharp wit, combat savvy, and beauty a deadly combination at the best of times.

  She seemed to be wondering why I chose this night to wait outside rather than in my office. Normally, I wouldn’t even require them to check in with me; I would just read their report the next day. “I see you lost your new armor.”

  She gave
me a devilish grin. “Let’s just say it got too hot.”

  I let a little chuckle out. “I can see John is starting to rub off on you.”

  Now it was her turn to laugh at an old man’s attempt at humor. When she finished, she said, “He must be. It seems lately the first thing that pops into my mind is some kind of smart-ass retort. I’m sure you didn’t come all the way out here to hear those.”

  I placed a hand on Sarah’s shoulder and gave it a fatherly squeeze before removing it. “I’m just happy to see you returned to us. An Ifrit is nothing that we have encountered before, and I was worried about your safety. It is starting to seem like the Demons we are encountering are becoming stronger. That imposes a whole new set of problems on us.”

  Sarah filled me in on all the details of her fight with the Ifrit and how it ended with her losing her sword and armor. I was impressed by her quick thinking and determination. Once again, I had been reminded to never underestimate her. “Make sure you stop by and tell the enchanters what happened. I am sure they will enjoy the challenge of fixing it, once they get over the shock that their enchantments failed. I also took the liberty of ordering extra sets for the pack, so you should have some temporary armor ready to use if you need it.”

  Sarah nodded. “It’s true, there is nothing the enchanters like more than a challenge. Hopefully, they won’t be too upset when they see what the Ifrit did to their armor.”

  I watched in awe as her head turned toward the gate a full five seconds before I could hear the rumble of the car’s engine. The car pulled around in a tight circle so it was facing the gates again. Two men climbed out of the back seat. I was almost disappointed that something hadn’t happened to Joshua. Before I was in range to hear what was being said, they gripped each other by the forearm and shook once, then broke apart smiling. Sarah darted past me and wrapped John up in a massive hug, then gave him a brief kiss on the mouth.

  Funny how you never think of yourself as old, until you do something that in your youth was easy, and now you find it dreadfully painful. Sitting in the cold for an hour had done nothing to improve my limberness. My joints cried out in silent agony as they begged me to go somewhere warm and let them rest. I shuffled over toward the group basking in their youthful exuberance.

  When I reached them, all conversation stopped. I took that as my cue to speak. “Welcome back, gentlemen. I take it your mission was a success?”

  John looked over at Joshua for a second before answering. “It was a smashing good time.”

  They both broke out in fits of laughter. I was happy to see that they had bonded. It would only make my efforts to keep Joshua on our side easier. I had been afraid that making John work with someone new, especially someone who was sent here as a spy, would make him nervous. Clearly that was not the case.

  I waved my hand in the air, shooing away their little inside joke. “Now, gentlemen, we will have business to attend to in the morning. I expect you to have your reports ready then. Get some much-deserved rest, and I’ll see all of you in my office at nine.”

  All three of them gave a groan when they noted the time. Somehow, they thought nine was early. I was lucky if I didn’t have to get up and pee three times a night before waking up at five. Granted, tonight would be an exception. It was close to two a.m. now, so tomorrow, none of us would be operating on a full night’s sleep. I walked away enjoying the sound of aggravated youth. It brought a small sense of pleasure to my ears.

  Right at nine, Henry opened the door and escorted in my three favorite people. Okay, two of my favorite people and one snitch I had to keep an eye on. All of them still looked tired, but none of them showed any signs that they would not be able to handle a full day of work. That was good, because I had tasks for all of them. Sarah and John were two of my best; they could handle anything that I threw at them. So far, Joshua was proving to be more of a help than a hindrance, which was a pleasant surprise.

  After they each took a seat, I gave them a brief moment to get comfortable. When I looked up from my papers, each of them was watching me intently. I met each of their looks one at a time, indicating that I was aware of their presence. I liked what I saw in my three youthful charges: determination, fearlessness, and a healthy respect for what we were trying to accomplish here. Again, a feeling of being blessed rolled over me. Without John and Sarah, none of this would have been possible. My failures at leading the Council had taught me many tough lessons; I was hoping not to repeat any of them with the Ascendancy.

  Wrapping up my quick self-evaluation, I jumped right into the business at hand. “Before we get into what we need to accomplish today, I want to thank all of you for the service you provided last night. Sarah, you and the pack did an amazing job ending a threat to the city and avenging one of our members. Killing a Demon of that magnitude should send a message to all of Demon-kind to avoid our city.”

  I turned my attention to John and Joshua. “You two did a very good job of dealing with a pesky warlock that has been evading us for some time. The city will be a better place without his potions on the street. Also, our cleaners found some new leads in his shop, something about an underground marketplace for trafficking demonic goods. I have a few people tasked with finding out more.”

  I looked down at my notes before continuing. “It has also come to my attention that someone anonymously donated money to the victims’ families, those who had been killed by the Ifrit. Please thank the pack for me, Sarah. That was a very generous thing to do. I decided to match the donation that you made. Hopefully, that will help them in their time of need.”

  Before I could continue, Sarah interrupted me. “How did you know that we made the donations?”

  “I’ve had people watching the families to make sure that nothing else happened to them.”

  Sarah rushed around the edge of my desk and gave me a brief hug. “Thank you so much for helping them, Adam.”

  I patted her arm gently and pointed back to her seat. As much as I would love to hear about how generous I was, we had business to attend to. “What we do in protecting this city comes with a price. Sometimes we need to be able to do more; sometimes we have to rebuild people’s shattered lives from the ground up. All of you have impressed. Last night was not an exception, but for you it was work as usual.”

  I watched as each of them took the praise in their own way. Joshua the consummate gentleman barely blinked an eye. John leaned back in his chair, grinning. Sarah was beaming from ear to ear. I was glad that I could provide them with some small amount of joy; often times, we only spoke of what was ailing our city. So far, it looked as if Joshua would be a man of his word. He wanted to work, and I had a special task for him today.

  I looked at John and let my smile slip away. The happy moment was gone. “We have finally tracked down the nest of Fallen Dimitre.” I watched as Sarah’s and John’s expressions hardened almost immediately. They were both still upset that he had slipped through their fingers after raising a giant serpent Demon in front of them. “I want you two to head out now before he gets another chance to slip away. If you need help, take as many of the Ascended as you need. Take him alive if possible, dead if you must. Every other Fallen there is expendable.”

  I watched as a little sparkle reached John’s eye. He had been waiting for this chance at payback since earlier in the fall. He also lived for this type of mission; extermination was one of his specialties.

  I handed him the dossier, and he quickly passed it to Sarah before asking, “How did you find him?”

  “We actually had several of the Fallen reach out to us. They seem to want Dimitre gone as badly as we do. Once they realized his goal had changed to taking over every nest in the city, the leaders of the nests banded together to oppose him. None of them knew what he was doing when he raised the Demon, or so they say. The last thing they want is for us to hunt them while they are hiding from Dimitre. Needless to say, this could be a trap, so be careful.”

  John sat back in his chair and looked over Sarah
’s shoulders as she flipped through the pages. “Is all of this intel still actionable, Adam?”

  “It was as of last night. Unfortunately, we had bigger fish to fry then. It’s always possible that they moved during the night. Before you go, I also wanted to fill you in on one last piece of information. We have had no luck finding any kind of leads on the Naga. It’s as if the serpent slithered out of that warehouse and just disappeared from the face of the earth. So if you cannot bring Dimitre in alive, at least try and find out what his plans are before you kill him.”

  John stood up to leave. “I guess I can try.”

  I looked over at Sarah. “See that he does.”

  They both laughed. I could tell John was happy to be heading out. He hated attending meetings or doing any kind of office work. He wanted to be out there hunting Demons. I gave them a wave as they walked out of the office to get to work.

  Reorganizing a few things on my desk, I opened a new folder. I gave the contents a cursory examination and then looked over at Joshua. “Today, I have a special task for you.” I could see his eyes widen with a bit of surprise. He had to be shocked that I would show any kind of faith in him so soon.

  Since I would be traveling with him, faith was not a concern. “I need you to accompany me on an errand to our prison facility.” This time, his eyes widened with fear instead of shock. “Try not to get too worked up; you are going there to assist me, not to disappear forever. I have someone there that I want to question; we have a long history, so I need someone unbiased to listen in case I miss something.”

  Stillman looked at me with cold and calculating eyes, a look I would get used to in the future. He had to be weighing his chances of coming out of this alive. Having worked with the Council myself, I could see why. “Come with me. I have a car on standby to take us there. You can stop thinking of ways to escape. It’s not a trap. If I wanted you dead, I would have killed you the moment you stepped into my office that first night. You are an asset to me now, and I am putting you in play.”