by D. R. Rosier
He nodded at her and she stroked the dog’s fur. She then noticed the man’s brows furrow and he was looking up at an angle above her head. She turned her head and there was… A silver ball. Just hanging in the air at a few hundred feet. It was hard to see, but it was growing. The dog started barking up at it and she backed up a little, nervous of both the strange dog and the feeling of instinctive dread overcoming her as she watched the orb up above.
She saw lights then, streams of color and light stretching forth from it. A kaleidoscope of colors. Suddenly she covered her ears at the sound of jets, ducking low but unable to take her eyes off the orb. She watched as two trails of smoke approached the orb as the aircraft pulled up and out of sight. She expected to die then, in fire as the missiles hit the orb overhead.
Would she be safe just a few hundred feet down? Would the orb fall and crush her under its weight? She wanted to run. She just couldn’t, so she watched as the missiles crossed the distance. She gasped as the missiles simply disappeared when they hit the swirling lights, like they had never been. Then she saw the lights flash brightly and spread, and she knew no more.
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Jezebel cried. She watched the reports come in on the television. There were some world leaders left, the ones secluded away from their capitals. But the rest, even the ones in deep bunkers, were now dead. Every capital for each country across the world was simply… Gone. No explosions, no noise, they just ceased to be, a perfect half sphere of missing earth instead of a city.
Anyone standing outside the area, even just a foot away, was perfectly fine. It was like the cities were simply erased from existence. The amount of dead was, unreal. A number so large it simply lost meaning. Was this their response to what they did out in the desert? Everything seemed to lead back to her. Was being free truly worth this cost?
She knew the invaders would have come anyway, but that didn’t help her really, it was abstract. They were here now, here early, because of her actions. She watched as a statement from Gabriel was announced on the television.
Further resistance will be met with more such lessons. This is what you must do. One, allow us to destroy your technology and knowledge, we will not allow the threat of a scientifically advanced human race in this universe.
Two, you will turn over Jezebel Andrews to me for judgment and execution. These conditions are not negotiable. You will surrender and allow this. We did not come here to commit genocide but further actions on your part to stop us will lead to just that escalation, I will wipe the earth clean if I must.
Jezebel gasped.
Sandy said sadly, “This is my fault. We should have found another way. The answering attack was more brutal then I could have imagined though. We need to leave Vegas, now. The humans love you and were behind you but, this is too much for them to handle. We need to go before they turn on you.”
Jezebel shrugged, “Maybe they should. Maybe I should turn myself in. So much death, too much responsibility, I can’t... I’m too young for this, too inexperienced. We never saw it coming yet we should have. It is obvious in hindsight that he would cause mass destruction for losing one of his armies.”
Sandy sighed, “You can’t take responsibility for this. It was my idea. Maybe… We will find another way. We must figure out something. But you will not be turning yourself in. We need to go now. We can figure it out later.”
The four of them went to pack and get some stuff together. Jezebel wondered what hole she would be hidden in now. It was with some surprise that she ended up in the huge mansion on a Russian estate. Both Stefan and Lydia were waiting for them.
Lydia smiled and bowed, “Arch, screw that asshole, we need to fight. Better and smarter, but there it is.”
She watched as Stefan also bowed and she bowed back, not feeling it but not wanting to cause a problem. She had done enough of that lately. She saw him scowl at her look of defeat.
Stefan said firmly, “Jezebel, we can’t give in to them. Give yourself up and die? Give over all of us back into slavery? So what, they can pound us back into the dirt and caves? Only to do it again in seven millennia all over again? No, we will come up with a plan to defeat him and Ambriela. The risk to the world is great, but the safer way is no way to live.”
Jezebel felt her stomach twist at his words. She knew he was right. But the stakes were so damn high. This wasn’t really freedom or slavery. It was Freedom or annihilation if they kept fighting. No middle ground there at all. She took a deep breath and nodded.
“Okay, but it needs to be a really good plan, or I will turn myself in. It’s a huge pot to fold on, but I can’t gamble on the entire world. Who knows what could happen in another seven thousand years, where there is life there is hope.”
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Penny was close. The proof was close, she could smell it. She had considered just killing the bitch but she is old, and has a lot of support. Plus she wasn’t an assassin. She wanted to do this right. Show how corrupt and evil the bitch was before killing her career and ending her life in shame. There was so much more manipulation done then what had been done to her.
She sighed. It seems so petty after so many people just died. Even Amy and Tony had been white faced in council regarding the destruction of the capitals and promised to help with future engagements if the possibility came up. Still, Katrina needed to be stopped.
She wouldn’t let the bitch step on her heartache or the destruction of so many in the world so she can grasp at power, and Katrina’s time will come.
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Sandy was shaken. First she had been drunk on the power that she could wield with Daniel and Jezebel. All she had thought about was destroying her enemies. She didn’t think about how she would feel about all that death afterwards. There had to be a better way to go about it. A way to spare some if not most of their enemy. Send them home, or maybe just free them from slavery and let them stay?
That might be too much for the world to swallow now though, not with so much death as payment for her stupidity. Still, who would have guessed at such a huge escalation? She sighed softly. That is when she came up with a plan, or at least, the beginnings of one. She sighed. She would need an Elf to make part of it happen though. She went over and poured herself a drink and downed it in one gulp.
She sent Jezebel her idea, which wasn’t so much to actually attack yet, just to gain some more Intel. She opened a portal to that tree in the clearing in the Oregon National Forest and stepped through. It took about ten minutes, as if someone was waiting for her to show up. She followed the haughty Elf back to the village. She felt a moment of fear when she saw the shaman, but calmed. If it was her time there is nothing she could do about it…
She studied him as he studied her. Finally he nodded at her.
He asked, “So what brings you back here among us, alone even?”
She took a deep breath and said, “We need more information to plan our attack. To figure out how to stop them without the loss of more cities and millions of humans.”
He tilted his head, “So you want us to spy on them?”
Sandy actually smiled with anticipation and said, “Nope, I want you to steal something for me.”
He asked, “And what would that be that fills you with mirth at the thought?”
She told him.
He smiled and said, “I will do this for a magical item. Although we are expert in many types of magic the natural art of healing eludes us. You will make me an item that heals and have it ready when we deliver to you what you requested.”
She stopped and thought. She really couldn’t think of an evil use for healing, unless of course he healed someone evil. It seemed worth the price.
She nodded, “Done, but to do this I will need to stay here for a time and study Elven physiology. Actually, anything with DNA will do. It does not have to be a person. I will return it when I am done with it, so you needn’t fear me having it.”
He said, “Done.”
She felt the magic of the commitment swirl around her and settle into her body. She was now committed to making it happen on pain of death. The Shaman led her to a hut and pulled out a hair with a follicle attached and gave it to her. He had no fear she would keep it, if she did, she would die.
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Aris had taken the communication from America. She couldn’t believe the job that was set up. It would be incredibly dangerous and hard. But then, perhaps, these Angels did not know the telltale smell of a sneaking Elf. She was shaman and should not be doing this, but it had been too long since she had the fun of a mission, and the stakes were entirely too high.
If she failed this world would fall, the Angels, Demons and Weres would not be able to plan. She was surprised the Witch didn’t bargain harder, but then maybe making a healing stone was a negligent thing for her abilities. For the Elves it would be a priceless artifact.
She smiled. She was in Northern China, sneaking through a human military encampment, refilling her necessities on the way to the enemy. They for one would not reveal themselves to the humans, ever. They would rather go home than have to deal with it. She ran back out into the mountains and covered huge distances in a short amount of time.
She neared the Angels camp and slowed. She waited for hours, not moving a muscle, watching and studying the camp. Waiting for them to set out sentries and get to sleep for the night. She snuck past like a ghost, keeping the sentries upwind of her when possible. She grinned as she effortlessly snuck into their camp. She found the main tent without a problem.
She snuck up to and looked down at Gabriel, she was tempted for a moment to slide a knife between his ribs and take his life. The Elves were not in tune with nature like the Witches, but even they cried out at such horrid crimes. But that is not what she was here for. She snuck forward and cut off a few pieces of his hair. Useless to an Elf, but gold to a Witch. Maybe it was a good trade after all.
She snuck out of the camp and headed back northwest, heading for Moscow.
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Sandy was exhausted. That was hard. It had taken her a long time, and was her first foray into this type of magic. She had successfully tested it on herself, giving herself a scratch and holding the stone which healed it. It was rather ingenious actually. The spell didn’t just heal. It reached into the recipient and read their DNA then repaired the parts of the body that didn’t match.
Basically it tailored its healing to each recipient separately, creating a new template each use. She was closer to immortality now as well, her understanding of DNA and its workings were much improved over her time spent here. She left the hut and searched out the shaman. He seemed to be waiting for her. She sighed and walked over, handing him the stone.
He said, “What you asked for is in the hands of your Succubus.”
She nodded, “Great! The stone is simple, but it will draw life force to function, although never to death. It can also hold a lot, so I recommend someone hold it and charge it over the next month, then it will work even under the most unfortunate circumstances, such as being mortally wounded and alone.”
His eyebrows raised and he bowed, “This is truly more than I expected, I thank you and wish you luck with your mission.”
She bowed back and opened a portal to home. Finding Jezebel she took the hair and put it in her locket. She kissed Jezebel hard, she had missed her mate.
“I love you. I need to get started on this.”
She fell into a trance on the couch and started to dip through Gabriel’s mind and thoughts, building a viable plan as she went. She had a lot to skim through and it took her most of the day to accomplish it. But she thought she had a way to prevent retaliation. She didn’t like it though, and knew that Natalie and Daniel wouldn’t either. She took a deep breath and called the meeting.
Over the next hour she related the critical Intel she gained, and the beginnings of her plan. When she finished laying out the path to what she hoped was victory. She noticed Jezebel didn’t look nervous at all, as she suspected though, Daniel and Natalie didn’t look happy at all. They couldn’t really think of another way either though, so tentatively they had their strategy.
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Jezebel felt good about the plan. If it worked, well they wouldn’t have to worry about those bombs. And if it failed, well, she would be dead and they wouldn’t have to worry about those bombs. Either way she wouldn’t be responsible for more life lost and all she had to do to accomplish that was risk her life. She could live with that, even embrace the chance of dying.
Sandy looked dead on her feet. She wondered what her sexy Witch had to do for the Elves. She got up and pulled Sandy into the master bath and joined her for a shower. She loving cleaned her Witch from head to toe, paying close attention to all her sensitive areas. She smiled and stole soft tender kisses while she pleasured Sandy’s body in the way that only she knew how.
She loved Sandy so much. Without her she knew they would still be spinning in circles. Jezebel felt calm right now. This was all about the Witch right now. She reveled in the feel of Sandy’s quivering body as she manipulated her center expertly with soft fingers. She sucked in a nipple and bit down just hard enough to maximize Sandy’s pleasure as she reached her height.
She dried Sandy off with a towel and carried the sexy blonde to bed, laying her on her back and then crawling between Sandy’s legs to dip her head into her lover’s hot sex. Jezebel’s pleasure rose with Sandy as she read the lust and passion through her powers. She wet a finger in Sandy’s moist center then worked it into her ass as she expertly applied her abnormally long tongue to the tasty pussy her head was buried in.
Sandy gasped out in a breathless voice, “Oh god I love you don’t stop!”
She felt Sandy’s body tremble as she reached another orgasm, her finger caught in the blonde’s sphincter as she sucked in Sandy’s swollen clit. She pushed in some power for this orgasm raising the intensity and length of Sandy’s bliss. She heard her lover gasp then stop breathing all together as Sandy’s body locked up, unable to move, not even breath through the intensity of the pleasure.
She let Sandy fall a little at a time as her lover regained her breath, licking around her swollen pussy lips and slowly removing her finger.
She crawled up next to Sandy and held her as the exhausted Witch fell into a deep sleep. Jezebel breathed in deeply and made a satisfied sound at the smell of sex and the wonderful aroma of Sandy’s natural scent. She held her Witch until she too followed into sleep.
Chapter 17
Penny took a deep breath and checked the gun again. Round in the chamber, safety off. She stepped into the chambers reserved for Katrina. It was time for an accounting. She watched as Katrina’s eyes went wide and looked up at her in shock.
Katrina looked nervous but her voice was steady, “What is this? What are you doing?”
Penny sneered, “Did you think you could get away with manipulating me? Manipulating all of those others? Just to get Jezebel off the council so you could grab more power! You used my grief to manipulate me! It’s time to pay up!”
Penny watched as confusion washed over Katrina’s face, “What the hell are you talking about?”
Penny growled, “The Niklis report! The one you sent to me when I felt betrayed by Jezebel, the one you suggested I send to the Demons in Portland! Does that ring a bell yet?”
Katrina replied with her face going sheet white, “You were involved in that attack that exposed Demons to the humans? I don’t know anything about that!”
Penny started to feel unsure. She didn’t feel any duplicity at all in Katrina’s expression. She was older than dirt, but still. To lie that well, It was eerie.
She threw the folder on the desk and said, “There is the proof!”
She watched as Katrina read through the evidence, shaking her head, “I did none of this, I like Jezebel. She is a little young and her ideas mostly naive but it wasn’t a bad thing to balance out o
ur skepticism. I fought her in council, not behind closed doors!”
Penny lowered the gun as she continued, “Jezebel was sweet for a perfect world, and yes freedom is great. But what we have right now is Anarchy, all the Arches going in their own direction as long as they commit to a few simple rules. That’s not good enough. Anarchy is bad and will eventually end in disaster.
“Perhaps I was too hard on her, but she just wouldn’t get it. She was convinced I was after nothing but power and control. I admit I have ambitions in that direction, but just as a means to an end, not just for the sake of power itself. If I just cared about power I would be at home with my Angels ordered to serve my every need, I wouldn’t need to be here at all.”
Penny whispered, “If you didn’t do all this, then who did? They set you up too, probably wanted me to kill you. I just can’t see Patricia doing that, can you? But who is left?”
Penny felt defeated, all that work and nothing to show for it. It was all lies, who could be behind it?
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Rose smiled in satisfaction. Her plan was unfolding perfectly.
That twit Penny wasn’t questioning any of the Intel she was putting together on Katrina and dropping into her lap. And why should she? She was amazed no one was double checking her. They all talked about Patricia’s excellent intelligence gathering resources, but of course, she was really in charge of all of it. It all went through her hands, and some of it, directly from her imagination.
Jezebel had been the perfect opportunity for her of course. Once this invasion was beat back and that twit killed Katrina, well there would be only one person left to stop her Arch from taking control of everything. She had plans for Jezebel as well, once things settle down.
Of course, Patricia was under her thumb, even more so now with the rings, she could make her Arch do just about anything now. Nope, it wouldn’t be long now.
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Natalie leaned in and kissed Daniel, nipping on his bottom lip when they broke off the kiss. They had been discussing it and couldn’t come up with a better plan. Sandy’s idea seemed to be the only way. They were both stressed about it though, and she knew the perfect way to relieve their stress.
