by Lil Hamilton
Lan was looking intrigued again. “There are quite a few witches here. More than any Other race.”
“A plague of them,” I muttered.
“You believe them to be a threat even though your magic is stronger. Is it because of their numbers?”
“Well, yeah. There is no way to control them or predict them. Something I fear the government will soon discover. Many races are concerned with right wing bigots and hate crimes, even the fae, but it is the witches that will turn people against us all. Just a matter of time. With all the new drugs they put out there combined with the practical use of curses they are setting themselves up to be a target. The Whites think they will be the solution, but hate never is that rational. In Haven we have a serious problem with them and no authority to do anything about it. Inter doesn’t have the resources to go around nullifying their spells.”
“Still has a witch ever outsmarted you?”
“Yep. The fae are many things but we are not nearly as creative. Witches are highly competitive and in that often deadly environment they come up with spells that would curl your toes. And sneaky too. Sometimes I’m vulnerable to curses if they get beyond my natural shields and then I don’t know it until it reveals itself.”
“Damn hard to remove too,” Dill added.
“And costly as well. The Whites totally rack in the dough for that.”
“Yes. It seems they are more fruitful.”
I nodded. “That does seem to be the issue. They are a dime a dozen and most weaker than Bud beer, but combined into covens they become a threat.”
“They are still a weak breed physically. The rule is to kill them before the spell is cast,” Lan said.
“Got that right. Teeth, claw, sword or bullet,” Dill said flashing a broad grin.
Yeah fine for them to say but I couldn’t do that even if I was the blood thirsty sort. Damn oaths.
He looked at his watch. “Almost dawn. Daylight is the best time to go in.”
“Nightfall would provide more cover,” Lan said. I could tell by the intent look in his eyes that he looked forward to some action.
“Sure it would, but these guys don’t work in the day. Most of the things they do for a living also require cover,” Dill said. “Most of their rituals are night orientated as well because their Craft can be illegal. These guys as nocturnal as vamps. Not to say some of their monitors are not active during the day and guards but the rest will be sleeping off spellwork and their shift.”
“Right then, I’ll contact Chera since I want her in on the mind meld. If she is scrying for power when we drop those wards she can point us in the right direction the closer we get in, plus alert us if we unintentionally triggered a ward,” I said.
“I’ll grab some coffee and donuts. Never go scouting through coven territory without a nice hearty breakfast in you,” Dill added.
I agreed with a yawn. I would also have to spin a refresher spell or I might not be so alert without my preferred ten hours of sleep. After the crime scene and then Liona, I was beat. I waved him off.
“What do you need?” Lan asked.
“Nothing. Won’t be long.”
He sat down on the floor cross legged and watched me. I noticed he had materialized his sword. Yep, definitely ready for action.
I closed my eyes. ‘Chera?’
There was not response right away, but I got the sense she was focusing intently. ‘God? Is that you?’
‘I prefer Goddess Devine actually.’
‘I knew you were a woman.’
‘That aside. You get anything yet?’
‘Not much really. The wards are making everything hazy. The strongest ones though are in the warehouse district within their coven territory markers. Good news…my sort of looking about isn’t triggering any alarms.’
‘We’re going to go check things out. I’m going to link you, me, the demon and Dill in a mind meld spell so we can keep in contact throughout. You’ll see the wards drop or flicker when we pass through, which will give you a better idea of the hot areas than us. If you spot anything just tell us. Guide us to the most likely locations. And warn us if anything goes wrong.’
‘On it. And God, while I’m taking with you I have a friend. She is such a sinner. She’s sleeping with a demon. Will she go to hell for that?’
‘She better not.’
‘Good, cause she’s a sinner. I mean she likes all her sins. Over.’
‘Roger that. And you will feel a very sharp pain when I do the melding it is because you are also quite the sinner and need to be punished. Over and out.’
Her laugher faded as I let the link slide. Good thing she found that funny. I had spoken without thinking and given our previous conversation and Chera thought she was the worse sinner of them all.
I spun the spell out and like a spider threads a web, sending out strands of energy to Chera first, then Dill and finally Lan. Once the threads were in place I made a web and sealed it with a flare of power. ‘Dillian’
‘Here. Hey, do want chocolate donuts or chocolate chocolate donuts?’
‘You need to ask? Chocolate chocolate, stuffed with chocolate and with chocolate sprinkles. And a mocha coffee.’
‘If the fae could get fat you would be bed bound by now,’ Chera added.
‘Lan? Are you getting anything?’
‘Got it. You like chocolate.’
‘I thought chocolate was a substitute for sex?’ Chera said.
‘No, it’s better than sex,’ I replied.
‘Again I must try harder to please you,’ Lan said.
‘Good God, I have to listen to this for the next few hours?’ Dill grumbled.
After that was set I began to spin some spells in my lower consciousness. Sleep spells, repel spells and a few others that would be needed for such a trip. Consciously I could spin a new spell in a few minutes, but a few minutes was all an enemy needed to get the edge. In my lower consciousness I could spin several spells at the same time, to have them ready if needed, they just took a little longer to prepare and gather energy to form their structure. It sounded easy enough, but holding several prepared spells in my mind was not as easy as it sounded, it was like doing math while having an intense conversation about Nietzsche with a priest. Eventually I would drop the spells, they would dissolve and the energy would disperse. Or, in this case, I would use them all up.
After I scarfed down three donuts and drank my mocha I felt a lot better. In my office I kept a variety of fae constructs, as they might be needed, but sometimes clients like to see them. I pulled out my heavy charms, able to protect the carrier from more nasty spells and then another charm to make us blend in. Lan looked at them sceptically, but I figured that since they were passive magic he could wear them without affecting them. At least temporarily. Dill and I put them on without thinking. We needed a little magic amour just in case.
We decided on our entrance points and Lan poofed to his, Dill shifted and ran off to his, while I took the Mini. I parked in a residential area at the outer edge of Eastfalls, which made most of the homes odd little constructs with no windows and deep basements. I had my outer shields expanded and my demon aura feelers out as I slowly moved down the street, my eyes scanning for traces of magic residue and of course graffiti markings.
It was when I made it to the first main road I saw the coven tag. It was on the corner of a building across the street, near the top. It was spray painted in black and gold, but it also had the faint blue energy haze of an active marking. I unfocused my eyes and opened my more sensitive other sight and then I could see the barrier of the first ward. A sort of light rippling blue. A warning ward really, stating it was their turf and this was the border. It likely was only tuned to witches, because Inter would have to make a fuss if a coven began warding citizens out of places by magical force. Passive wards always had a blue hue to them. So I knew we could pass without any active reaction from the spell weave, but although I could see the energy I had no idea what it was for specifically.
Sometimes I could get a vibe of what a witch spell did, but they didn’t speak the same magic lingo I did. So it was a lot like understanding the semantics without the syntax. Colors though gave me some indication of the spells intent.
‘I got a marking on Forest Grove St.’
‘Got one here too,’ Dill said. Since he was coming from the south, he would have to be blind to miss them. That place had seen many a turf war, so the markings were in more obvious spots.
‘Okay, Lan, you’re up.’
‘Approaching now,’ he said.
All he had to do was fully expand his demon essence and his very nature would take care of the rest. High demons when their essence wasn’t fully tapped down were Not welcome in witch territory, but not like a witch could stop them since it wasn’t really their territory. I’m surprised demons didn’t take a stroll like Lan was about to do more often just to piss them off. Maybe they did. I would if I could.
I crossed the street until I was right in front of the ward field. When it wavered and then blinked I said, ‘On my mark, Dill.’
It blinked out. ‘Go,’ I said hustling forward myself.
I turned and it was blinking again but in moments settled. Because the spells were such a large weave, which took several witches to put up and were grounded to external energy sources, it meant one little disruption did not cause total failure. That was not the case if a ward was placed on an object or had no external energy source, because once disrupted there was no energy to reset it.
‘No alarm sent,’ Chera said. ‘Found a hot spot two blocks down for you Ray and one for Lan straight ahead.’
I moved at a slower pace then. The hot spots would be surrounding by a stronger more specific ward, but also the markings would be harder to find. Down the first block of mostly old rundown stores, pawn shops and high loan places. A few herbal stores and one apothecary. The streets were narrow and the buildings all two stories high; the style with a shop below and an apartment above. A few of them were tagged, but those were markings for the building to show they were under the coven’s ‘protection‘, which meant they were paying the coven to protect them from other covens as well as the coven itself. On the second block though I found the inner ward. It glowed a strong vibrant yellow to my sight, but was actually set within a stone post on the corner. Yellow was an active ward, meaning if it was breached it would have some effect on the specified targets. It did not look like much, but when I leaned to inspect it you could see the tiny runes etched into it. ‘Stone marking for the inner ward.’
I waited while Dill sought his out. ‘Got it.’
I focused until I could see the yellow ward field as Lan moved forward. Nothing seemed to happen.
‘Dillian, go now, your section is down,’ Chera said and I cursed.
‘They layered the wards, so that if one goes down the others are stable. I’ll have the bypass this one. Go ahead, I’ll catch up.’
I studied the marker a little more closely. It was definitely designed to alert a witch of anyone breaching without a pass. If you breached it then you would trigger the aggressive response, in this case a spell that would make you forget why you were coming that way and make you anxious to leave. Good and subtle as a large ward ought to be. I placed my hands on it, let my awareness spread through it. Then I basically hacked it, letting my presence showing as having a pass. “Vox ut obducti, subscripito, tutis, notuset,” I said spinning a small spell out, making it known to the matrix that I has a registered pass and was known the system.
I stood up, scanned the area for any witch presences or even a human watcher and then walked though. There was really little traffic about. A few mundane humans walking about on their business ignorant of mine while I eyed them warily just in case. The ward remained intact and didn’t flare when I passed. Hopefully, no one felt the shift in the field, but I doubted it when the lesser witches watched them. Never could tell though, some witches were highly attuned to energy fields no matter their skill.
“Occultistis ex os, Turpise,” I said triggering my mild invisibility spell, which translated to unseen and hidden from sight. I waved my arm in a gesture from my head to my waist, cloaking myself in the spell that prevented someone from physically seeing me, but not bothering to hide my energy signature.
‘Found some parameter guards,’ Lan said. ‘They are silenced.’
I idly wondered if he meant killed and then decided it was not worth bothering over. We only needed one alive.
‘Let the countdown begin,’ I said. Once you took a few of them out it was bound to be noticed. Most covens held its members in some sort of link matrix, to both keep an eye on their activities as well as be aware of anyone being killed. ‘I got my warehouse in sight. Doesn’t look like much on the outside. White brick, barred windows and flat roof.’
I approached slowly, taking use of cover despite the invisibility. I picked a spot to observe from and waited for any indication the building was warded or guarded.
‘Found the control room. Has two witches inside and one mundane,’ Dill said. ‘I’m going to take them out and then see what is showing on their mage display.’
‘Well, if they noticed my slip into the grid they would be a little riled up by now.’
I watched as two witches, dressed in casual jeans and t-shirts but sporting amulets I could feel the sizzle off from where I stood. Yep, they had the witch bling down for sure, all snazzed up in silver and gold. They met in front of the building, obviously on a guard rotation and now having a chat and a smoke. Using my other sight I was a little disturbed at the strength these two had. For peons anyway. Their auras were as black as pitch, which given the Nihilo philosophy would be a badge of honour. Boy would they feel like asses when in the next life they became pond scum. Obviously if I wanted to snoop around in the warehouse, I would need to take them both out at once. Thankfully, I did not need to cast a spell at them, so they could see and react. These two were heavy on the amulets, holding spells for them to activate, but the only charm I saw, an orange haze, was entirely blunt attack defensive. Since I didn’t want to harm them, the charm would do very little. I knelt down and place my hands on the ground. This trick always caught people off guard; their shields were very rarely grounded to the earth, which meant the soles of their feet were their Achilles heel. Plus running power underground created less of a vibration. I knew they would begin to get a feel for my presence soon enough if I tried to bypass them. Even if they were totally off the ball my essence would make them feel either itchy or paranoid.
I spun the paralyze spell slowly out into a ball of power under each hand. Looking up I said, “Habitum, etiam net permovis, pareo,” and I released both and targeted it. I felt the spell zing out and then in a second both women froze and flopped to the ground. Smooth.
‘Took out two guards. Going in.’
I made a quick dash over to them and then hugged the wall of the building, sliding up to them. I placed my hands a foot above them and began an intricate waving and gestures with specific hand movements as I created a flimsy illusion to make them simply look like they were not there, but with a slight glamour element to discourage people from stepping near them. Basically a ‘not here, but avoid spell’.
‘Well, I found the hot spot of Chera’s,’ Lan said. ‘It seems to be a barracks. At least fifteen witches in there.’
‘That would be the lower coven house,’ Dill said. ‘According to the map anyway. And your right, looks like fifteen to me. Don’t see a main coven house. Likely the higher ups don’t house where all the action is.’
‘Lan, cover it. We may need a distraction and you would definitely make one. Plus on the way out we need to snag some of these. I might just circle out with the two I put down.’
It would not be the first time I ditched my car in favour of using a transport circle to my home. I loved my Mini, which is why it was secured by a great deal of spell work to keep it as I left it.
I peered into a window, but they were too grimy to e
ven see into. ‘Dill, any witches currently at my location?’
‘No and that building is listed as the storage. I’m afraid if you go in and tamper with the security you will definitely set off the alarm. I can’t do anything from here. The system is all magic based.’
‘Okay, then maybe we’ll do a rush of it. Lan makes a fuss and takes the attention off me. I take a quick look to see if our marks are there and then I circle out with my captives and meet you back home.’
‘Sounds good,’ Dill said. ‘I’ll check any paperwork they have here and take anything interesting. Just tell us when you’re done.’
‘What sort of distraction?’ Lan asked.
‘Storm in there yelling for some warlock named Bob to fight you like a man.’
‘Right. I’ll figure something out.’
I went around the building to the front entrance and began to feel the security resonance of the place. It was highly warded and unusually focused on all races, not just witches. That being the case, the ward was not overtly aggressive and focused more on intent of the intruder, rather than just all intruders of a certain nature. Sometimes they did not ground wards either, so they were flexible, which meant being fae I could just manipulate them a bit. Not so here. They were grounded and in fact I sensed they went down deep. That usually meant a basement. The door had a panel on it that when touched would recognize a witch as friendly, if I had time, I could hack it, but as Dill said, that would leave a mark on the system.
“Defensus,” I said triggering a spell I designed to mimic a witch spell. It created a shield that was designed only to slow a spells approach, giving enough time to defend. If the ward had some programmed response for fae I wanted to be able to counter it.
