Coven of Wolves

by Peter Saenz

I hear the sound of someone shuffling a card deck. Wei then tells Mei, “I am going to see what the spirits have to say about what we should do. I’m going to let the tarot cards give us some insight.”

  I immediately think about what Anna had told me about tarot cards, about how only simple amateurs and those not fully trained in the Craft believe they can actually work for them. It hits me that for all of their power and cunning, these Initiators are as completely clueless as I was only a few years ago. They definitely have raw talent, but are still tied to false superstitious beliefs and lies. I then remember about how Wendy had told Tobias and I that the other witch ghosts would be willing to help us in any way they can. I slit open my eyes to try to see where the Initiators had placed mine and Tobias’ swords. I finally spot both swords laying on the table in the middle of the room. I try to project my thoughts toward Tobias’ sword, asking for any spirits in the area to help loosen our hexing stocks. Once I try though, my mind numbs a bit, disorienting me. I can’t seem to focus on what thoughts are needed to project at the sword.

  Mentally drained, I rely on the only thing I have left at my disposal: prayer. On a very basic level, I wish for a safe exit from the Initiators. That whatever help anyone can provide us, to happen soon. When my prayers are done I feel a slight bit of clarity to my thinking process. I then begin to feel a very light tapping on the back of my hexing stock. I have no clue who is doing it as the three Initiators are still in front of me, watching over Wei’s shoulder as he draws various cards from the tarot deck. I look to my side and see that Tobias and Mika’s hexing stocks are being lightly tapped as well. The tapping causes them to come to, but when they look in my direction, I silently shh my lips at them, telling them to remain quiet.

  Suddenly a scream is heard from above.

  Feng says, “What the hell was that?”

  There are then more screams, and the sound of running, and things crashing from above.

  After a couple minutes Alice comes running down the stairs and says, “A whole army of soldiers just invaded the club! They’re everywhere and killing everyone in sight! My magics don’t have much of an effect on them. They...they killed Sharon!”

  Mei then says, “You fool! You’ll lead them down here to us!” She then extends her arm and fires a destructive blast at Alice. The magic engulfs her, reducing her to a cinder in seconds.

  Wei says, “What can we do? We can’t teleport out of here. The ground level is too far up. We’re not strong enough to make it that far.”

  Feng says, “The hidden room! We can hide in there until it’s safe!”

  After he says this I feel a latch somewhere on the back of my hexing stock come loose, causing the stock to open and fall to the ground. My proper level of thinking comes flooding back to me. The Initiators see that I’m now free and point their fingers in my direction. I quickly break free of the magic holding me to the wall and dodge out of their way. I barely miss a bolt aimed at my head. A black scorch mark is left on the wall instead. At that moment Tobias and Mika’s hexing stocks fall to the ground as well. The Initiators are about to release a bolt in their directions too when I hold both hands up on a stop position, and focus all of my strength on a mystical shield appearing in front of my friends. The shield works, but barely. Still weak, I fall to the ground from the effort. I use the last of my strength to reach towards the swords on the table. I will them to fly into my hand. They do. I clutch them close to my chest and close my eyes, readying myself for the killing blow to hit me. Instead I hear a loud zap sound, but feel no effect from their magic. I look up and see that both Mika and Tobias had followed my lead and created a small magical force field around the three of us.

  The Initiators begin savagely firing bolt after bolt at us, trying to break through. I then realize the reason for their need is because the doorway to the hidden room is now directly behind the three of us, also protected by the force field. I take a deep breath inward and find my spiritual center. I then use my own life force to help strengthen and support Mika’s and Tobias’ magic shield as best as I can.

  At that moment the sound of many feet coming down stairs can be heard to our left. Everyone looks toward the stairway where we see a dozen Synoro werewolf assassins entering the room. Mei shrieks obscenities at them and begins firing bolt after bolt in their direction instead. Her brothers join in immediately after.

  The Initiator’s bolts hit the first row of wolves squarely in the chest and face. Instead of the magical bolts reducing the wolves to ash as they did to Alice moments before, the bolts only seem to completely anger the wolves. The bolts cause the Synoros to stop their advancement but not retreat. Soon the wolves in the front row throw their swords to the ground and howl on a guttural level. They then begin to transform into their full werewolf forms. The changing werewolves grow several feet taller and their standard black assassin clothing rips to pieces due to their now much larger body size. Their black fur and shining yellow eyes causes them to take on an especially menacing presence.

  The Initiators look on in horror, but keep up their barrage of magical attacks. The bolts now bounce off of the fully transformed werewolves harmlessly as they lunge in for the attack. When they reach them, the werewolves take each Initiator and use their claws and mouths to savagely rip them to pieces. Mika, Tobias and I can only look on in horror.

  When they are done, the werewolves turn to us and begin to loudly growl as they take several steps toward us.

  “Wait!” I say, placing the swords on the ground. I hold my now empty hands in front of me. “I’m not going to attack you. None of us are. Adam is my father. The Archon Jason is my grandfather. We’re not a danger to you! We won’t fight!”

  At this the werewolves stop where they are and look at each other in confusion.

  “I need to speak to Nicholas.”, I continue. “I believe he is in charge here. I need to speak to him immediately.”

  Slowly the fully transformed werewolves revert back to their human forms. One of them pushes his way through the squadron of Synoro assassins that have now filled the room and up the stairs. The remaining wolves stand their ground, watching over us to make sure we stay firmly detained. After several minutes, I can see two forms pushing their way through the troops. When the disturbance finally reaches us, I see that the now shirtless Synoro has returned with Nicholas.

  Nicholas gets directly in my face, his facial characteristics shifting to resemble more lupine features. “You have a lot of balls sending someone to summon me after our last meeting. How the hell do you know my name?”

  I hold back my fear and as best as I can, which is a very hard thing to do at the moment. I hope he will not notice how truly terrified I really am. I stare back into Nicholas’ eyes to answer, “I know a lot of things. Like how you swore to my father that me and my mother would never come to any harm. I also know that my grandfather also swore to my father that we would be taken care of in every way as long as my father returned to the Synoro.”

  Anger fumes on Nicholas’ face but he finally takes a step back, allowing his features to return fully human. “You know too much.”

  I take a step back as well. “Look, I’m not trying to make things difficult for you. I promise we won’t fight you at all. I swear. As far as I’m concerned, I’d rather not have any connection to the Synoro at all. But I know that you have orders to take us in dead or alive. I’m hoping that you will keep your promise to my father, as well as the promise made by the Archon, and take us in without killing us.”

  Nicholas mulls his options over for a moment. I look at Tobias and Mika and hope that my gamble has worked. Nicholas looks at the various Synoro members around him. It’s then that I know he’s realized that I’ve just limited his options. Too many of the wolves now know about his promise that he didn’t dispute. They look at him to see which decision he’ll make.

  Finally Nicholas points to Tobias and Mika and says, “The promise was made that you will be left unharmed, not them. Emissaries, take them.”
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  Several wolves step forward to follow his orders. Panicked, I block their way and say, “No! You can’t!” I plead with Nicholas. “Please, they have become my family too. You can’t do this. I’ll do anything, just don’t hurt them. Please!”

  Nicholas looks at me and says, “The Sacred Law is clear: Any human who discovers our existence is to be immediately killed. Or is that something you didn’t know about Mr. Know-It-All?”

  “Yes”, I say. “I do know about the Sacred Law. Any “human” who discovers the existence of werewolves are to be immediately killed. But Tobias and Mika aren’t human! They’re witches! They live in a hidden society just like the wolves do. They don’t have anything to gain by revealing your secret to anyone. They’re just at risk as you are. Please, take them with us to the Counsel. Let them decide their fate.”

  Suddenly there is a rustling among the crowd of wolves. A female Synoro member appears and approaches Nicholas. “Sir, one of the club members managed to call 911 before we could get to them. The police are on their way. We need to leave now.”

  Annoyed, Nicholas says, “Fine. Take the three of them and let’s get out of here. Mason, handle damage control. The rest of you, disperse by the numbers. We’ll rendezvous at the airport in exactly 45 minutes. Got it?”

  The wolves nod in agreement and begin to approach us again.

  “Wait!” I tell them. “I have to do just one thing before we go.”

  Angered and annoyed, Nicholas says, “We don’t have time for this shit.”

  I turn to him and say, “The twisted fucks that ran this place were Initiators. I don’t know if you have any clue what that means, but they did some pretty vile things to innocent people. Do you see those amulets? They each represent a soul that is cursed to this prison. Let me set them free. Let me do this and we’ll go without any more fuss. I promise.”

  The wolves again look to Nicholas for approval. I give Nicholas the most sincere face I can. I subtly allow him to see visions of the countless trapped spirits I had witnessed before. I can see I hit some sort of nerve inside him. “You have 10 seconds.”

  “Thank you”, I tell him. I then turn to Tobias and Mika and signal for them to assist me. Still completely shaken by everything they’ve just experienced, they stumble toward me and stand by my side. After taking a couple deep breaths, we each close our eyes and focus on the amulets surrounding the majority of the room. With the Initiators now dead, the curse attached to each amulet has been greatly weakened. We psychically see each amulet in our minds and will for the remaining curse to be lifted. Snapping sounds can be heard all around us as the amulet’s jewels fall from their metal holdings and break into pieces on the floor.

  When we feel the last few traces of the curse have been dissipated, we open our eyes. What we see shocks us. Transparent figures have appeared, each mouthing the words “thank you” as they rise into the air and disappear. Two of the figures we see are Wendy and Joshua. Wendy waves to us smiling before fading away. Joshua follows immediately after.

  The wolves around us are speechless. I look at Nicholas and tell him. “They’re free now. Thank you.”

  Without saying a word, Nicholas motions for us to go to the stairs. I pick up Tobias’ sword and hand it to him. I then grab my Synoro sword and the three of us quickly make our way up the stairs. When we get to the main part of the club, we are horrified by what we see. Everywhere around us are the dead bodies of not only the body guards hired by the Initiators, but also of the ordinary club attendees. Some are sliced with swords while others look like they were mauled to death. When we get to the foyer area I see the body of Sharon, tossed like a rag doll on the ground.

  I look at Nicholas in horror. He looks back at me with an expressionless face. I’m suddenly aware of heat on my back. As I turn to look behind me I see that several of the Synoro assassins have set several portions of the night club on fire. With a sunken heart I wonder what I have gotten us into.

  §

  CHAPTER NINE

  Family Reunion

  The car drive to the airport is so silent you could hear a pin drop. I notice Nicholas stare a few times, watching as Tobias holds my hand. I can’t really tell if the look he gives us is revulsion or something else entirely. When we get to the airport we drive to an area set aside for what looks to be private charter planes. We drive into a hanger and inside are several expensive looking jet planes. The wolf soldier sitting in the front passenger seat gets out and opens the door for us. We file out, waiting to be told what to do next. Nicholas walks over to one of the jets with the cabin door already open. He stands beside it, waiting for us to go in first.

  When we get inside, Nicholas points to a specific seating area and stands to the side to talk to one of the wolves. We take our seats and look around us. Aside from partly resembling a well stocked armory, the jet is obviously tailored to someone with very little worry in the money department. Just in our area alone are several large flat screen televisions, plush couches, textured carpets, and a very well stocked bar. If I weren’t so fearful for our lives at the moment, I’d be impressed.

  When we sit, Mika turns to Tobias and I and says, “I can’t believe you two went through all that to save me. I don’t think anything I can say will give enough justice, but...thank you.”

  We both hug Mika, feeling her arms clench tight around us. Still holding her, Tobias tells Mika, “Of course we’d rescue you. Who else am I going to watch Steel Magnolias with?”

  Mika laughs through newly formed tears and says, “If we make it out of this, I’ll let you play that corny movie as many times as you want. I’m just surprised that grandmamma isn’t with you.”

  Tobias and I pull back from our embrace and look at each other. Mika notices the look. In a concerned voice she asks, “What is it? Did something happen to my grandmamma?”

  “Yes and no.” I answer back. “It’s a long story but basically, she disappeared. We don’t know where she is.”

  Now panic stricken, Mika says, “What? Was she captured by other Initiators?”

  Tobias grabs hold of Mika’s hands and says, “No Mika, nothing like that at all. We were trying to find out where you were being held and along the way...she teleported somewhere we can’t trace. According to Fenrus, she and Sekhmet were pulled far away by very strong magic.”

  “Oh my god”. Mika begins to shake. “What if something bad happened to her? What if she needs our help? We need to get out of here. We need to...”

  Tobias focuses Mika’s attention back onto him. “Mika, listen to me. We have no idea where she’s at. We couldn’t sense her anywhere in the city. When we get out of this, we’ll help you find her. I promise.”

  Mika stands up. “But what if she needs us now! I’m sorry, but I can’t wait. I have to find her. I have to...”

  “You’re not going anywhere.” We turn to see Nicholas standing near us. “The three of you are coming to one of our west coast compounds. If even one of you thinks about escaping...” At this Nicholas takes out a hand gun and points it at Tobias’ head. He then cocks the gun and continues saying, “your little trio is going to get knocked down a peg or two. Do you understand me?” He then takes the gun away from Tobias’ head, and holds it at his side. “And before you even think about using your magic to escape, this entire jet has about twenty magic inhibitors hidden throughout it. You won’t even be able to pull a rabbit out of your hats. Now, sit down and shut up. We’re going to be taking off soon.” Nicholas then points at me. “You.” He then snatches the Synoro sword from my hands. “Come with me.”

  Shakily, I slowly get up from my seat. Tobias gets a look of fear on his face but I reassure him that I will be fine. He watches nervously as I leave the compartment he and Mika are in and follow Nicholas into another room, out of view.

  Nicholas leads me to an isolated meeting room. As he closes the door behind us, I take a minute to take in my new surroundings. The first thing I notice is that the room is completely empty. On the large table sit
uated in the middle of the room is a map of San Francisco with several areas marked with big red X’s. I can also see another familiar looking map beneath it. I take a closer look and see that it is a layout of north east Phoenix.

  Suddenly I feel Nicholas grab me by the back of the shirt, spinning me around to slam me against the wall. As my back slams against it, Nicholas then uses the scabbard portion of my sword and his forearm to pin me to it at my neck.

  In a low guttural voice he tells me, “I’m only going to say this once so you better listen carefully. If you EVER embarrass me or question my authority in front of the other wolves I will kill you where you stand, promise or no promise. Do you understand me?” He then pushes harder against my neck. “Do &emdash; You &emdash; Under &emdash; Stand?”

  Unable to speak, I try to nod my head as best I can. Satisfied with my response, Nicholas releases me, allowing me to breathe again. I instinctively grab for my throat and bend myself over, coughing and taking in as much oxygen as I can.

  Nicholas then takes a few steps back and begins pacing. “I shouldn’t even be here wasting my time on you. There are more important things I should be doing.”

  Feeling the color come back into my face, I stand up and say to Nicholas, “I know. You’re readying my brother for his trials.”

  Nicholas whips his head towards me and says, “How do you know about that? Who told you?”

  “I’m a witch.”, I reply. “We’re not all knowing, but there are ways of seeing glimpses into things sometimes. I told you before that I want nothing to do with the Synoro and I meant it. As far as I see it, the Synoro have brought my family nothing but grief. You stole my father from me and my mother when I was still a kid, and now I find out that I have a brother I didn’t even know existed and he’s about to be killed by his own people.”

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” I can tell by the tone of his voice that I hit a nerve.