Nephalem, like Max and I, are gifted with an increased ability in all schools, but even we have a weakness. Mine, is a general lack of control with the wind element. To counter that, I am extremely strong with earth magic. Combine the two, and I have little hope at using lightning.
Beyond the one contrast in each wizard, the other elements can be even. By that, I mean that those who are strongest with fire are weak with water, though their ability with earth and wind are about the same. Why it's that way, I'll never know. Some way the gods decided to keep us in check if I had to guess.
"Not even a single spark?" he asked. "I'm not even that weak with fire." He created a small flame in the palm of his hand that lasts three seconds before the air conditioner blows it out.
Max, as you can see, is strongest with water. That's the primary reason he's able to take down dark wizards so easily. For whatever reason, dark wizards tend to be drawn to using fire. Probably has something to do with the destructive nature of that element.
"My body is one big ground." Which is why I never do my own electrical work. I learned that lesson the hard way when I tried to change out a bad light socket in the office. The second my screwdriver touched the ground screw, it sent a jolt of pain through me, knocking me to the floor. I was out for a few hours before Stacy found me unconscious, in a pile of my own vomit. Of course I would do that on the one day I sent her out of the office for lunch.
"Your ability with earth should give you an advantage," he said. "He won't be able to use his electrical attacks against you."
"Apparently he can." I shivered thinking about what the shock treatment the nanobots gave me.
"His creations, yes. Him, no. On top of his ability with tech, he is also able to use electrical attacks. Luckily, he probably hasn't had any training with it."
"Well that's good. Means I only have to deal with the minions and his tech."
He snorted. "Those are worse. I imagine trying to fight off a bunch of shocking nanobots wouldn't be fun."
For those about to ask, his strength with water isn't a curse against lightning attacks. The only reason he would have to worry would be if he was doing something to his body with the water. Even creating a rain shower wouldn't be enough to threaten him any more than normal.
"Your normal magic should work against his minions. You just need to be efficient with your spells."
"Yeah, can't go wasting essence by trying to take them out one at a time."
"That will drain you fast," he added.
"Yeah, I learned that the hard way when I tried to take out a few dozen cop cars and a firetruck."
"Wow, he took over a firetruck? That guy has some balls."
I nodded. "I was already drained when that showed up."
"You just need to learn how to do an EMP blast. Even with your pitiful skill with lightning, you should be able to pull that off."
"EMP blast? You mean like they did on the Matrix series?"
"Not nearly that big," he said. "Pull off up here." He pointed to the entrance of a park. "We need to find a place with a little room."
- 22 -
"Here should do," Max said, pulling a half dozen cheap watches out of his backpack.
We stopped alongside a flowing creek somewhere deep inside Boulder Mountain Park after a two hour hike. Don't get me wring, I loved the scenery and the time away from everything, but it seemed like a lot of effort just to learn one spell.
"Why do we need to be this far out?" I asked. "I probably won't get it to work anyways."
"You'll get it," he said, handing me a watch. "And when you do, the people of Boulder will be glad you didn't fry all their electronics in the process. You have to remember, the world relies on technology these days. Using this spell in a poor location could send the area into a blackout... or worse."
"How practical is the spell if I can only use it away from technology? Doubt he will fight me in a place like this."
"There are ways to control the size and strength, not that you'll be able to. Just understand that you need to hold off on using it until you are in a good spot."
Max took off his leather jacket, and rolls up the sleeves of his Harley Davidson tee shirt, revealing a full sleeve tattoo on his right arm. The pattern is elaborate though I could make out a few of the people drawn in.
"New ink?" I asked, walking over to take a closer look.
"The boys insisted I get something to show my allegiance," he said, twisting his arm around to show it all off. "I sure wasn't going to get a piercing where they wanted me too."
I closed my eyes and tried to shrug off the mental image that immediately popped into my head. "Why the ink though?"
"Helps sell my image, don't you think?"
If he was trying to look like a grizzled biker, he was well on his way. If it weren't for his saggy biceps, he might actually look intimidating.
"Looks sweet," I said. "Any special meanings to any of it?"
He shook his head. "You know me. I just told the artist to do something cool and took a nice long nap."
Max was always the sporadic type. He was the kind of person to jump in head first and deal with the consequences if they showed up. I could go on for hours telling you about the dozen, or more, times I've seen it personally. I could only imagine the stories his other friends might have.
"So," I said, strapping the watch to my wrist. "What's the trick to this EMP spell of yours?"
"It is just like casting a lightning bolt, but instead of a focused blast, you release the energy in a circle."
"Sounds promising." Either he forgot I've never been able to create a lightning bolt, or he is crazy enough to believe I can do it. I'd put my vote on the later.
"It should be. I know you did something close to one the last time we trained together though back then we didn't know how important the spell would become."
"That wasn't even close to a circle," I said. "It was directed at the ground, more than anything."
"That was just a lack of focus," he added. "The trick to the spell is to keep your eyes up."
"It's one of those spells, eh?"
Max nodded.
There are a variety of spells that are targeted primarily by using your eyes. Not the obvious ones like attack spells either. I'm talking about spells where the level of your eyes can determine the effects. If Max was correct, I send my first EMP wave into the ground, as I had a bad habit of looking down at my feet in those days.
"So, how do you cast this one?"
"It's similar to using a lighting bolt." He waived a pointed finger at me, when he noticed me trying to speak. "It's mainly air with a slight bit of air to create the friction. The main difference is that you don't focus the blast out of your fingertips, like you would the bolt. Instead you need to exhale to send the energy out in a circle."
"Shouldn't be too bad," I said. "As long as I can keep my affinity with earth form letting all the power leech into the ground."
"Exhale with your eyes up high to keep that from happening." He took a few steps back, placing the remaining watches on the ground to keep me from frying the whole batch in one go. "Let's keel this simple. As long as you can release even a bit of it, the watch on your wrist will be worthless."
I wanted to argue that the watch was worthless anyways. The longest I've ever got one to last was a little over two years. In contrast, the Rolex I bought six years ago is still running strong. There's only one thing I hate more than wasting money, and that's shopping, so when I actually get to the store, I'm not afraid to spend a little extra for the name brand products.
"We'll see." I filled my reserves and channel the mix of wind and earth, like Max told me to. It didn't take me long to see how bad this attempt was.
Max uttered a curse, shielding his eyes from the dust devil I created on the mountainside. I covered my mouth with the collar of my shirt to avoid breathing in any more of the dirt and debris being thrown around than I had to.
"Less wind there, sport," he said, before breaki
ng into a coughing fit. "The amount of earth was about perfect though. Give it another shot."
"Your funeral," I said, trying not to laugh as he dusted him self off.
I tried the spell again, this time lessening the amount of wind I threw in. At first, nothing happened, but before long I felt a tingle on the tips of my fingers. It was a spark. The first one I've ever been able to do.
"There you go, kid," he said, clapping. "Now let it go."
When I exhaled, I felt the spark moving. It coursed through my veins, working its way through the soles of my shoes before sending a wave of energy through the ground.
"Well, you definitely need to practice," he said, examining my watch. "At least you finally drew a spark."
"I think I need another way to take him down," I said, rubbing the dirt out of my hair. "This isn't going to work." Three hours later, I wasn't any closer to summoning an EMP blast than I was the moment we got here. You can call it a lack of patience, but I knew it was related to my affinity with earth. Every spark I've been able to create dissipated into the ground.
"Your only other option is to fight him straight up," he said. "You just need to catch him with his guard down. Drop him before he has a chance to return the favor."
"Easier said than done. I doubt I'm going to get another shot at him alone."
"You could try a veil," he said. "Go in there in another form to get close. Then attack him when his guard is down."
"Could work," I said.
"Going to be your only option unless you want to find yourself outnumbered." To tell the truth, I could still be outnumbered this way, but it would give me the first shot. This time I wont waste it on a right hook.
"You know, there is one way to fix that problem," I added. "You sure you need to leave in the morning?"
"Positive. I have council problems of my own."
"What did you do to upset the council?" I asked as we walked back to the car.
"Oh," he laughed. "It's not that. This is my service week for the year."
"I'm sure they'd understand."
He shook his head and opened the car door. "You know better than that, kid. This is the reason they let you pick your weeks ahead of time."
"What do you say we go grab a bite to eat and a few beers before you leave? Give us a chance to catch up on a few things."
"You buying?"
"Guess so," I smiled.
"You sure I can't talk you into staying?" I asked as he stepped out of the car.
"Would if I could, kid. You know that better than anyone."
I reached into the back seat and grabbed his pack. "I appreciate you coming here anyways. Even if your tip didn't work."
"It may still work. Never know what can happen under pressure." He smiled before walking towards the terminal.
"I'll call you when this is all over," I shouted.
He nodded and waved before walking through the door. Part of me wished he would tell the council to shove it, but it wouldn't do any good. I personally found how how they react when you miss your scheduled appointment when I came down with a nasty case of the flu a few years back. Apparently being sick wasn't a good excuse to show up late. I figured a group of wizards, most being humans, would understand that I needed to rest a few more days. I even offered to make up the days on the end of my term, but they wanted none of it.
Oh, well. Looked like I had to handle this one solo. Wasn't my favorite choice, but it was better than letting him roam the streets. Once I lost sight of him inside the terminal, I pulled out my phone to call the only person who could help me now.
"How was your time with Max?" Stacy asked when she answered the phone.
"You realize I pay you to answer the phone professionally, right?" I joked.
"I do. But I also know you put caller ID on these phones for a reason," she said. "And it wasn't to avoid bill collectors."
I sighed. "I need you to go ahead and buy that train ticket."
"You figure out where they are headed?"
"No, but I doubt they would schedule two departures so close together. That should give me enough time to find him before he gets off."
"Give me a moment," she said, before I heard her rapidly pressing the keys on her keyboard. She obviously had me on speaker phone, another habit I wanted to break her from. "You're set. You just need to bring the ID you used to buy the car to pick up your ticket."
"Good," I said. "Don't get a big head over this, but I appreciate your help on this case. I wouldn't have been able to track him down without you."
"If you liked that, then you will love this," she said.
"You holding out on me again?"
She laughed for a few seconds while I shook my head. "Let's just say that there's a meeting in Boston in two weeks," she said. "I'm willing to bet Brad is heading there to meet with lawmakers about his new business plans."
"What new plans?"
"Looks like Massachusetts is close to passing a law legalizing recreational marijuana. He filed paperwork with the state a few weeks ago in case it passes."
"Which it will since he'll just manipulate the vote."
"Precisely. He wouldn't go through all the trouble if he wasn't sure it would happen."
"You outdid yourself again," I said. "In my top desk drawer is an envelope with some cash in it. Why don't you take your new boyfriend to dinner tonight, on me?"
"Thanks," she said. "But we broke up."
"Already?" I asked, shocked.
"Yeah, he was a jerk. But don't worry, you can pay for my friend instead."
"Sounds good. Lock the place up and get out of there. I won't need you again today. Just make sure the answering machine is on."
"Will do."
With that out of the way, the only thing I have left to do is wait for the train tonight.
- 23 -
I pulled up to the Denver Amtrak station around six o'clock wearing a fine new outfit I purchased a few hours ago. With some time to kill, I hit one of the local malls to pick up some clothing, hoping to blend in a little more. I opted for a pair of dark black slacks and a white button up shirt. The kicker to the outfit was a black trench coat that draped down to my knees. Knowing I was going to be in a position where I may need to hurt, or even kill someone, I needed a way to conceal my staff. The council would object much less to the use of the blade it concealed than to the use of magic here.
"I'm here to pick up my ticket," I said, handing my ID to the woman behind the counter. She was an older gal, in her late forties judging by the wrinkles forming around her squinted green eyes, though she seems stuck in the eighties thanks you her Peggy Bundy style haircut. I could see Al shaking his head on the couch already.
"Just a moment," she said, typing on her computer. "I'm sorry. Looks like the ticket was canceled an hour ago."
"What do you mean, canceled?"
She turned her monitor around to show me the screen. Sure enough, it said 'canceled' in beg red letters over my name. Looks like I didn't have the element of surprise after all.
"Fine," I protested. "I'll buy a ticket then."
"I'm sorry sir," she said, shaking her head. "The train is booked solid." She typed a few more things before looking back at me. "We have another heading out first thing in the morning."
"Won't do me any good," I said, struggling to contain my anger. "You sure there isn't anything you can do?"
She shook her head.
Well damn, there goes that plan. Fortunately, being a wizard gave me another option she wouldn't see coming.
"Is there a bathroom close, at least?" I say, doing the dance. "Been holding it forever."
She smiled and pointed down the hall. "Down that way and to the right. Second door is the men's room."
"Thanks," I said, jogging down the hall.
I was thankful the bathroom was quiet when I entered. While I can create a veil from inside a stall, they are much harder to check. Especially since I left my mirror in the car. I stood in front of the large glass mirror
next to the sinks and started my spell.
The look I was aiming for was similar to an old style detectives, so I wouldn't have to veil the outfit as well. Sure, I could've done one that covered my whole body, but I wanted to save something for the fight. It took a few minutes, but I finished my spell right as someone walked through the door. The old man snorted as he walked past me, locking the stall behind him.
"Who does he think he is," he said. "Perry Mason?"
I had to walk out of the bathroom to keep from laughing. This veil was going to be perfect. As I walked down the hall I watched the people passing me by. Stopping when I noticed a man walk by with an envelope sticking out of his back pocket. I let a smile reach my lips when I noticed the Amtrak logo on it. There could only be one thing inside.
His ticket!
Normally, I'm against thievery, but I had to get on this train. If the last few weeks were any indication, he probably won't want to be on board anyway. There was a good chance this train may not even reach its destination.
I followed the man as he walked down the hall, not close enough to tip him off, but not so far back I'd lose him if he makes a quick turn. He stopped momentarily at a vending machine, reaching into his back pocket to pull out his wallet. He placed a few bills in the machine and pressed the button for a Diet Coke. I waited until he bent down to grab his soda before making my move, rushing in to snag the ticket and get the hell out of there.
Apparently, I wasn't the only one with this idea as a younger man wearing a green shirt and blue jeans beat me to the punch. He didn't stop with the tickets though, he went straight for his wallet.
"Thief!" I shouted, pointing to the kid as he ran off.
The man at the vending machine took a moment to check his pants, leaving me to sprint after the kid. He ran through the crowded hallway, weaving his way in and out of traffic attempting to lose me. Unfortunately for him, he had no idea how determined I was to get that ticket.
Sparked: The Nephalem Files (Book 1) Page 13
