Beware The Hunter

by Martha Carr

  “Cincinnati Mall,” Correk read out loud.

  He was at an outdoor mall in the suburbs of Cincinnati, and he could sense the witch already. He hurried, but hadn’t gone far when he noticed a large group of people just inside the entrance. The growing mob had surrounded a middle-aged witch, and were staring at her like she was a freak from the zoo.

  The woman had perfectly-styled shoulder-length brown hair and was wearing a workout outfit even though it didn’t look like she had been to the gym. Basically, she was a forty-something woman living in the ‘burbs. At first, he thought maybe she was just there with friends, but from the look on her face, she was in trouble.

  “Magical freaks!” someone yelled.

  “You’re dangerous! We saw what your people did in DC! We won’t let you do it here!” several other people yelled.

  A tall, thin man stepped forward with anger on his face. “Show us your wand!”

  The woman kept backing up, pressing her purse to her chest and shaking her head. A tear rolled down her cheek. “I don’t mean anybody any harm. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Bullshit! You’re a witch, and we all know it. Now hand over your wand. We are the citizens of this country. You’re not, and we’re taking control. We won’t let you harm anybody else!” The man had taken the lead, and everybody else was being riled up by his hate speech.

  The woman whimpered. “You don’t understand. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I would never hurt anyone, and I didn’t have anything to do with what happened in DC. Those were really bad people. There’s more to this than you understand.”

  The man reached for her, but she jerked away before he could touch her. “We understand perfectly. You magical freaks came to our world and expected us to let you in so you could take over. We may not have magic, but we’ve been through enough in our history not to let anybody bully us.”

  “Give over your wand!” someone else yelled as the crowd inched toward her.

  “You won’t take our children! You won’t hurt our families. Take your wolves and go back to your own planet! You’re not wanted here, and you don’t have any rights,” a woman screeched as she pushed the witch to the side.

  Correk moved quickly, making his way toward the crowd as others in the mall stopped to watch. He took a deep breath and pulled the energy in, then sent it out in an invisible spiral. It cloaked the area and allowed him to spot any magical beings who might be around. He thought if there were that someone would be helping her, but from the looks of it, the magical beings who were present observed from the fringes, while others looked extremely worried and were leaving as quickly as possible.

  Fear wafted almost tangibly through the air. It filtered through everyone in the mall, from the mob attacking the witch to the magical beings standing around, and even to the curious people who were just passing. It was contagious, and riled up the crowds further. One thing he had learned about humans, which wasn’t much different than with magical beings, was that when they fed on fear it never turned out well.

  One of the magical beings on the outskirts spotted Correk and recognized him from the news broadcast of the riot in DC. “The Fixer! Thank God.”

  The mob turned their angry faces toward him. They knew that whoever the Fixer was, he had to be some sort of magical being. He took a few steps closer to the crowd and sent out a stream of white light.

  He closed his eyes and whispered, “Never was, never will be.”

  The entire mob froze in place. Only those with magical abilities remained unaffected. They had no idea what was coming when they’d watched Correk whisper the spell, but it was the only thing he knew to do that would calm them enough to get the witch out. They weren’t going to stop, and his presence was only going to make things worse.

  “Oh, God,” the witch said, letting out a deep breath of relief.

  Correk realized that she was pinned against the wall by the statues of humans all around her. “You need to figure out how to get out of there. You know the spell doesn’t last very long. We need to get you out and everyone else in their position. I know you’re scared right now, but you don’t have to be anymore. Take a deep breath, and figure out a way to get from that side to this one. Everyone else, gather around me, please. Once she is safe, we have some work to do.”

  All the magical beings immediately made their way over to Correk. The witch tried to move several of the people, but no matter which way she bent or situated their bodies, she was still stuck in the corner. Finally, after several moments, she dropped to her knees and crawled out between their legs.

  Correk watched as she ducked and dragged her things behind her, finally getting free. He held out his hand and helped her to her feet, waiting patiently as she brushed off her knees. “Lexi Mason?”

  The woman nodded, wiping a tear from her cheek. “Yes, that’s me. Thank you so much.”

  Correk nodded and gave her a half-smile, then tilted his head to the side. “I don’t understand. Why didn’t you do that spell yourself?”

  Lexi was nervous, so nervous that she had to clasp her hands together to stop the shaking. “I don’t know. They caught me off-guard. I don’t even know how they knew I was a witch. I mean, I know some of those people! They live in my neighborhood, and they were looking at me like I was a Kilomea.”

  Correk was slightly surprised by her explanation. He narrowed his eyes and leaned closer. “You have no idea how they knew you can do magic?”

  “Look, I know what you’re saying, and no. I haven’t been using my wand. They had to have been told by someone who knows. The problem is that I don’t know that many people, and everyone who knows about me is magical.”

  Those words caused a cold chill to run down Correk’s spine. It was one thing for humans to rat out the magicals; that wouldn’t have been surprising at all. It wouldn’t have even been surprising if she were around a dark wizarding family, but this was just disheartening. A witch or wizard willing to betray their own kind?

  Lexi saw the troubled look on Correk’s face. “What? It’s not often that you see a look of distress like that on the Fixer’s face. That alone can make an entire room full of magical beings nervous.”

  Correk narrowed his eyes and let out a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. “It’s just disheartening that a fellow magical being would rat out their own kind. What I’m trying to get straight in my mind is why in the world they would do it. Do you know anyone who deals in dark magic? And you won’t be in trouble for answering this truthfully. It’s important.”

  Lexi shook her head. “No! Of course not. I don’t deal with dark magic, and I can sense it in people with the right spell. In this day and age, I do it on everyone I become close with. I even do it before I show any type of magic. To be honest, I can’t imagine why anybody would do that, but then again, people do strange things for strange reasons.”

  Correk shook his head. “You’re right. But we don’t have time to figure that out right now. Everyone, I need help from you guys. I need everyone to move these people around, arranging their faces and smiles. We don’t have much time left, so we need to hurry.”

  A couple of Light Elves and a few wizards nodded and immediately went to work. They moved some of the people to the other side of the mall to make it look like they were walking along. They carefully arranged their faces from frowns and anger to happy and relaxed.

  Correk nodded and turned around, taking a deep breath. He pulled the energy into a large orb, then tossed it and opened a portal in front of him and Lexi.

  “Come on,” he said as he grabbed the witch’s hand.

  On the other side of the portal, they could see a dark, dense forest and hear birds chirping wildly overhead. The witch gasped and pulled her hand free, shaking her head. “Not Oriceran, no. I can’t leave. My entire life is here. My family is here.”

  Correk turned to Lexi and clasped her by the shoulders, knowing he had to calm her down because they were running out of time. “It’s
not Oriceran. It’s a sanctuary here on Earth. I will make sure that we get your family and bring them there too. I can promise you it’s not forever, just for now.”

  Lexi looked at Correk, then at the portal again. “It’s here on Earth? Those look like Oriceran plants.”

  Correk nodded. “Those may be Oriceran plants, but it’s here on Earth. I’m taking you to a reserve in Texas where you can stay until we sort this out. Some very trustworthy magical beings run it, so I’m leaving you in good hands. I’ll also introduce you to the people who will be taking care of you. They are human, but they are trusted by the magical community, so much so that the Gardener gave them sanctuary on the reserve.”

  Lexi’s eyes went wide. “The Gardener’s real? I thought he was just a legend our parents told us about when we were young. Will we be safe there?”

  Correk tried to answer her questions as quickly as possible. “Absolutely. The Gardener knows that I might take people there. He protects all kinds of magical beings in the sanctuaries. Not to mention, the humans I’m leaving you with? I would trust them with my life. Hagan, the man I’m leaving you with, fought alongside us against the dark families. Now, come on, we have to get out of here.”

  Lexi looked back at the others and clutched her purse to her chest before nodding. She took Correk’s hand and they stepped through the portal, letting it close behind them.

  6

  “Correk! It’s been way too long! Come and give me a hug,” Hagan said as he opened the door to Correk and Lexi.

  “I miss you too, Hagan,” he said breathlessly as Hagan hugged him tightly.

  “Come in, come in. Rose just put on a fresh pot of coffee.”

  Correk smiled and glanced at Lexi before walking into the house. “I’m sorry to just barge in on you like this, but the Gardener knew I was coming. He just didn’t have a chance to tell you.”

  Hagan nodded and scanned his eyes over Lexi. “And who do we have here?”

  “Lexi. Lexi Mason of Cincinnati.”

  Rose walked out of the back room just as Hagan put on a big smile and shook Lexi’s hand. Rose set the coffee down on the table and walked over to them, pinching Correk on the cheek before looping her arm through Lexi’s and rubbing her hand.

  Hagan took a deep breath and looked at Correk seriously. “We can’t take in an endless number of wizards or elves, you know.”

  Correk nodded. “I know, and I’m sorry about this, but she was stuck in a pretty bad situation. It looks as if one of our own kind sold her out to the humans. She’s not safe there, and I promised her that I would get her family.”

  Rose smiled and pulled Lexi toward the main building. “Welcome to our home. Just ignore Hagan, he’s grumpy. My name is Rose, and I’m here if you have any questions.”

  Lexi gave her a sweet smile and nodded. “Where are we going?”

  Rose continued without stopping, “We're going to the main building. It blends in with the forest, so I’ll be able to show you all around. It’s really a beautiful place to stay, and it saved my life. The Gardener saved my life. Well, the Gardener, Hagan, Correk, and Leira saved my life.”

  Hagan looked over his shoulder and yelled, “Don’t forget about Yumfuck!”

  They heard Rose giggle as the women walked out of the room. “Oh, yes, Yumfuck. How could I ever forget about him?”

  Lexi lifted an eyebrow. “Yumfuck?”

  Rose nodded. “Mhmm. Smart as a whip, that troll is. And that green tuft of hair on top of his head is just the cutest thing ever. He’s a hero, you know…”

  Their voices faded and Correk let out a deep breath, glad to be done with that mission. Hagan showed him to the couch, and the two of them relaxed into the cushions. Hagan glanced at Correk. “How’s Leira?”

  “Oh, you know, busy as always, and just as worried about what is going on as the rest of us.”

  Hagan nodded. “So, what were you saying about the witch and wizards today?”

  “There was a mob mentality to these people, and apparently, most of them knew Lexi. Someone told them that she was a witch. According to her, she doesn’t know anyone dark, and everyone she had ever shown her magic to was also magical. That can only mean one thing. There’s a witch, wizard, or elf out there ratting their own people out. I just can’t figure out why.”

  Hagan sighed. “I feel like humans understand that a little bit better than the magical folks do. We spent centuries watching other humans rat out their friends, colleagues, and associates to get ahead in life. It’s a nasty little part of humanity, but I’m starting to realize that it might not just be humans.”

  Correk shook his head sadly. “That’s not how it’s supposed to be.”

  Hagan slapped Correk on the leg and stood up. “Come on. There’s something I think you should hear.”

  Hagan led Correk through the hall into the main operations area. He pulled out a chair and nodded to it as he typed quickly on the computer. A large screen in front of them lit up, and Lois and Patsy appeared. They were in Alexandria, in the old PDF office.

  “Correk!” Patsy cheered.

  Lois smiled. “It’s good to see you in one piece.”

  “It’s good to see you two as well.” Correk smiled.

  Lois cleared her throat and glanced at Patsy. “I wish we had more time to catch up, but I think we should just get right to it. We’ve been monitoring the activity of magical and non-magical beings, and there’s a lot of grumbling about magic all over the place.”

  A small chime sounded on their side, and Patsy looked at the screen reading the symbols as they flashed across. Lois held up her finger. “One second.”

  She pushed her glasses up and shook her head as she watched the information stream across. Correk could tell she wasn’t happy, and Patsy looked nervous and irritated at the same time.

  Correk sat forward and steepled his hands. “What do you know? What do you think you’ve found out? I think you may find that our information is very similar, but with your capabilities of streaming so many people at once, I’m hoping that you have a better answer for me.”

  Lois sighed exhaustedly and looked at Correk. “We think there’s a rat in the woodpile. A turncoat.”

  Correk had been afraid she was going to say that. He’d hoped for a different explanation than what he had already found out that day. “I think you’re right. I saved Lexi Mason today from a mob at a mall in Cincinnati. Someone in her circle of magical friends ratted her out to the humans. It was a small gathering, but they could’ve really done some damage to her. What I don’t get is why anybody would do this, and why they would pick someone like Lexi Mason. She isn’t famous. She isn’t part of this fight, and she isn’t someone who’s going to make the news across the country. This harassment is a statement piece.”

  Patsy dumped some peanut M&Ms into her hand and popped them in her mouth, chewing them nervously. She nodded along as Lois went on about the person who was giving away the information. “Somebody who knows us all well and could really do some harm. I can’t think of anybody I know very well who would be able to incite people so easily. I have to tell you it’s more than frustrating, it’s downright infuriating!”

  Lois angrily snatched her wand off the desk, shot a streak of blue light out of the tip, and cracked a desk in half. Papers exploded everywhere. Some were ripped in half, and others just fluttered around the room.

  Patsy jumped to her feet, spilling the rest of her M&Ms on the floor. “That’s government issue. They’ll take it out of our salary.”

  Lois wiped the sweat off her forehead and waved her hand at Patsy. “I’ll fix it later when I calm down. They’ll never know.”

  It was evident that this had gotten to Lois more than anyone else. She felt betrayed. Her own people were ratting each other out in a free-for-all. She couldn’t understand it any more than Correk could, but it didn’t surprise her as much. She had spent a lot of time around bad guys while working for the government and the Silver Griffins, so someone turning their back on th
eir own people wasn’t as shocking as it should have been for her, unfortunately.

  Lois put her hands on her hips and leaned toward the screen, her face four feet high in front of Correk and Hagan. “I hate to say this, but there’s no other conclusion. A former Silver Griffin has turned against us and is telling tales.”

  Patsy put her hands over her face behind Lois and turned away from the screen. They had already discussed it, and it made them both sick to their stomachs. Those were the people they’d spent their time with. People they’d fought beside, and trusted.

  Correk started to pace and rubbed his hands over his face. “I thought all the Silver Griffins went into something that was either government-related or tracked by the government.”

  Lois shrugged. “You have to understand, Correk—there were a lot of them. Some were injured in the line of duty, and many didn’t want to go back into government jobs. Tracking them all down was hard, and we didn’t think there was any reason to do so. They were Silver Griffins, for God’s sake. They took a solemn vow that they’d work to protect Oriceran’s people and the magical people on Earth. It was a privilege and an honor to be part of that, so I can’t understand why they would turn to the other side.”

  Correk bit his lip, trying to think. “What if it’s not a Silver Griffin? What if they’re trying to trick us into thinking it is? Or maybe they’re just that smart, so they seem like they would be. I just don’t want to jump to conclusions here, especially about a group of people who were so important to the magical beings on this planet. They protected the humans and the magicals alike, as well as the artifacts.”

  Patsy pushed Lois to the side. “That was my first reaction too, Correk. I didn’t want to believe that it could be a Silver Griffin. But I think Lois is right. That’s where everything is pointing. You have to remember that when the dark families started infiltrating things before the Silver Griffins disbanded, they were infiltrating them too. The thing was, there was so much going on and so many people to trust that it wasn’t at the top of our list to investigate at the time.”