Mystic Realms: A Limited Edition Collection

by Nicole Morgan

  “Come on, we have work to do.” Smacking him on the shoulder, I gave him a brilliant smile and walked to the door.

  I peeked outside medical and indicated a go and went to the far side of the corridor. I could hear gunfire in the distance and wondered if the invaders were shooting people or if our men were fighting back. I allowed Lukas to take the lead once again. I realized I should have told him what I saw in this very corridor earlier, but it was too late now. Our steady pace got us to the junction much sooner than I expected as I glanced down my side. Indicating there was nothing, I saw him do the same and we continued straight.

  The closer we came to the main mess, the louder the gunfire and shouts became. The hair rose on the back of my neck indicating orb fire as well as guns. Swallowing hard, I knew what I had to do. Putting my crossbow on my other shoulder, I wondered what they would see when I rushed in. I closed my eyes briefly and leaned my head back gathering as much power from the earth as I could as my hands, palms up were on either side of my body. I could now feel all the hairs on my body, including the ones on my head, stand up as my power grew exponentially. I nodded to Lukas, who pushed open the doors to the mess as I let loose everything I had inside me. Better to be safe than sorry in this situation. My only hope being I wouldn’t burn myself out too soon.

  Chapter Four

  My first orbs took them by surprise as I hit they were turned away from me when I entered the room. The Q’Dahd had been the only ones using elemental electricity here as well as another weapon I could not identify. I could see everyone’s hair standing on end, the white hair of our enemy making an eerie halo around their heads. Then one of the white-face freaks turned slowly to see what or who was behind them. I waved at them and continued my rapid orb fire but knew I would quickly tire out if my output didn’t slow down soon. I didn’t know yet how to recharge my powers as I had never used more than three orbs at a time in my life.

  The distraction I caused gave our men enough time to rally and shoot even more lead into the intruders. But neither one of them had dropped nor had the bigger of the two got the idea those behind them were the bigger threat. I started an orb and pulled the crossbow from my shoulder at the same time. Tossing the orb along with rapid fire arrows finally did the trick for the first Q’Dahd, who had looked my way when I’d entered the room.

  My attention was drawn back toward the second one as another weapon seemed to miraculously appear in his hand instead of an orb. But I knew it was no miracle because he had retrieved his downed comrade’s unit in the blink of an eye. And for some reason, he had them both trained on Lukas.

  “No!” I dived in front of him, orbs flying at a rapid pace.

  A red streak hit my left shoulder, doing a through and through, and I went down as fire raced through my body. Suddenly, I knew the weapon’s configuration and everything it was able to do. It was like an instant data dump had happened the moment it touched my skin. Lukas began to fire his guns as did the men holed up behind lunch tables. It took everything I had in me to pull my recurve bow from my left side and hold it steady as the Q’Dahd continued to shoot red streaks at anyone he could see and that included me. His shots were now going wild, but they were a huge source of concern as the one which had gone through me made me weaker by the moment. Pulling an arrow from the quiver, I breathed heavily and loaded, narrowly avoiding a shot coming my way. Frankly, I was amazed I could even move let alone concentrate on keeping my arrow aligned with the albino’s heart.

  Matt might not know what else would put these guys down, but I had my ideas. “Hey…Whitie,” I called through clenched teeth. I was surprised he even turned my way as once again my arrow flew straight and went through his right eye. He went down in a thud. Clutching my shoulder, I went to stand over him, surprised to see him still alive. I knew part of the recovery process would require one to eject the offending item from their body. He would have a problem since the shaft went all the way through his head.

  “Sorry…you lose…asshole.” I closed my eyes against the pain in my arm. Looking down once again, I knew the albino jerk laughed at me and at what I didn’t know. I turned in a pain filled haze to see Lukas assessing the situation with the other men on the far side of the room. I could tell the plasma weapon had barely hit him on the upper left arm, but it wasn’t having the same effect on him as it was me.

  I gazed around the room, my senses swimming with all the smells, sights and sounds of the room. It was overwhelming me and passing out was only minutes away. Two of ours lay off to the side, husks of whoever they once were. I didn’t even want to think about their families. The other men had been well protected by the nearly six-inch-deep tables and the fact they had weapons. The whole room was like a battle zone with gear and food scattered everywhere. Evidently, it had been breakfast time when the intruders had first appeared. The circumstance I was in seemed to have me going in slow motion when suddenly I felt something grab my ankle.

  “No…you lose…we will not give up so easily.” He let go of me the moment he got my attention.

  I stood stunned because I could understand his harsh, guttural language, like nothing heard on Earth. I swallowed hard and saw him punch an apparatus on his wrist and vanish in a flash. The other one went with him as well, and I knew their technology would be a bigger problem than we had anticipated. They were linked, and they had opened some kind of instant portal to return to their world or wherever the hell they were going. Plus, it had been a damn plasma gun Whitie had used on me and plasma could carry a lethal punch. My head spun as I tried to keep a handle on my consciousness.

  “Lukas!” I cried as I lost grip on my reality and fell into a pit of darkness.

  I opened my eyes slowly and couldn’t begin to tell how long I had been out, but it was certainly a while if the aches in my body were any indication. My mouth had never been so dry in my life. Trying to lift my right hand, I became conscious of a weight on it I couldn’t move in my weakened state. I glanced down and saw Lukas lay there asleep, my hand and lower arm a pillow to his head as his hand clutched mine. Trying to move without waking him, I groaned unexpectedly.

  Sitting straight up, his red eyes met mine. “Doc…she’s awake!”

  “Well…hi yourself,” I muttered.

  He smiled at me and kissed my hand. “I’m only following orders.”

  Soon, Matt came to stand at my side. “How do you feel?”

  I lay for a moment taking an assessment of my body parts. The shoulder still hurt like heck but the burn I’d felt as I was passing out was gone. I felt so drained of life and energy, it was ridiculous as if something in the plasma had depleted a part of me. “I feel fine. Just drained. It was a plasma gun.”

  Matt sighed then. “I know. I was afraid that’s what had happened when you didn’t wake up right away.”

  I tried to push myself into a sitting position but found it hard. “What do you mean?”

  “We’ve cleaned out your system, but it seems as if there was some sort of draining agent or poison in the plasma weapon they had. From what we could tell, it had a two-fold effect. On elementals, it would drain you of your powers immediately but probably not your life whereas in humans the devastating effects were permanent.”

  I nodded as I remembered thinking their technology might overwhelm us. “I understand. It was like I got a memory dump of what the gun was capable of doing. Tell me those didn’t go as well when they disappeared. It could be something we could retrofit. How long does the effect take to go away?”

  Matt shook his head. “I don’t know the particulars about the weapon nor how long you will take to recover as I’d only heard about them when they brought you in. You guys are the first patients I’ve ever treated with injuries from one. Lukas was grazed and had very few ill effects. The shot went completely through your shoulder and you were out almost three days.”

  “Three days…what would happen if the plasma hadn’t gone straight through me?” I stared at him wondering if he thought along the same
lines as I was.

  “It would probably kill an elemental after bouncing around internally for a few moments then slowly eating away a person’s insides. The other strange item is being what it was, it should have cauterized the wound immediately, but it didn’t. If you weren’t half human, the antibiotics might not have done as well as they did.” Looking down at me, he smiled. “I do believe those guns are actually meant for any human resistance they encounter because it would kill them right away.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “As bad as it is, you’ll recover. Regarding the few humans who were shot, none of them lived and a few of them had wounds which weren’t near as bad as yours. I feel your healing powers are what kept you alive. I’m still not sure why it affected you the way it did. I mean…it could be your chemical makeup is female…there is so much we don’t know.” He sighed heavily.

  I reached out and touched his hand. It was so strange to have a brother. “Hey. It happens. We need to learn from this experience and move on.” I looked at him and Lukas. “How’s Darien?”

  “How’s Darien indeed. I wondered if you’d ever get around to asking about me.” A wheelchair rolled up behind Matt. “I suppose now you want more of an explanation.”

  I peeked at Lukas first then smiled. “I guess now is as good a time as any. I mean at least you have a captive audience with me being as tired as I am.”

  Lukas got up. “I think I’ll go get some coffee. Do you want anything?”

  “Please stay,” I urged. “I need you here.”

  He leaned in and kissed me hard on the mouth. “I’ve no doubt you do. I’ll get us both some coffee and I’ll make it quick.”

  I nodded, not sure I wanted to be left alone with the man I had recently found out was my father as my anger hadn’t completely dissipated. Watching the receding rear of the man I suddenly knew I would be with forever, my eyes wandered back to the one sitting in front of me.

  “I’ll be back in my office if you two need me.” I sent Matt a pleading look but all he did was squeeze my hand reassuringly and walk out the door as well.

  I swallowed hard then and tried to get my mind on anything but the task at hand. I wasn’t very good with emotions except when it involved saving some one’s life. Otherwise, it was all bottled inside, allowing me to focus on the enemy instead of myself and situation.

  “I supposed you want an explanation.” His poker face told me nothing and it was obvious why this man was in charge.

  I stared at him a moment longer understanding if I totally let go of my anger, learning my place in this battle would be easier. “It would be nice.”

  He folded his hands together in his lap and fidgeted a moment more before he began to talk. “Years ago, when I was young and dumb – no naïve would be a better word – I fell in love. She was an amazing woman with a kind heart, inner strength and an outer beauty to match.”

  “My mother.”

  “Your mother,” he agreed. “Amanda tried to put me off, but I was relentless in my pursuit of her. We stayed with each other one glorious weekend and it was then you were conceived.” He sat there staring, lost in thought of a place and time which only existed in his memory. “She had tried to convince me we couldn’t be together, but everything changed when she found out she was pregnant with you. I insisted we get married and she agreed on one condition.”

  “What was the condition?”

  He looked at me then, sadness in his eyes. “I would hear her story.”

  “Her story?”

  “She was the first one sent through the portal. She was supposed to prepare the way and teach some of us humans about what would happen. Her main mission was to help prepare an unaware human populous for a possible invasion of epic proportions. At first, I didn’t believe her but the more she talked the more I understood there was some truth to what she said. I didn’t realize until after she was gone, the delicate balance I had upset.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It was true what I had said to you and Lukas before in my office. They were supposed to come in pairs and on her world, most of those pairs fell in love and married. It made it easier for them I guess, traveling to different worlds and protecting the inhabitants. I do believe Lukas was her complement although he’s never said one way or another while they were so far from home.” He sighed heavily before continuing. “She came here and instead fell in love with me and we married. She died having you.”

  I rapidly blinked as sorrow flickered through me at never having known the woman who bore me. “You apparently married again.”

  “I did, and we had a couple more kids. But I always loved your mother and you. It nearly broke my heart when you left to find yourself about seven years ago. But you were determined to live your life your way no matter what I had tried to explain about your mother and your special gifts. I guess it was the human half overriding your protector half.”

  “What happened? Has my name always been Aingeal?” I wanted to know more about my mother but felt the timing was all wrong. Those were things to learn at a later time.

  “Yes. Aingeal is the name your mother chose for you long before your birth. And we don’t really know what happened. I had you on my radar for nearly two years, watching you, making sure you didn’t get yourself into too much trouble. Then you disappeared for five years. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t find you.”

  “So that’s why you know about the Q’Dahd. And why you seemed to know me when we met.” I bit my lip, knowing I had to tell him what had gone on during the time I had disappeared. “I really don’t remember much before I was here. I do know I ended up with a concussion about four years ago and that’s when I began to change as my powers finally came full force to the surface. It was hard dealing with them myself since I didn’t know anyone like me but felt there were more.”

  He nodded. “I know your mother said you would be genetically imprinted to take her place. She tried to prepare me for what would happen to you and the mission you’d face in her stead. I knew the change would occur in your early twenties. You’d know things from her world and about the Q’Dahd we couldn’t begin to fathom. All you would need is an exposure to them to understand what they did. You would also feel the urge to protect things that were less resilient than yourself. And you did.”

  “I don’t understand.” I frowned because I did remember helping everyone I could. I also remember searching out situations where the innocent and those unable to defend themselves were in trouble.

  “I tried my damnedest to keep you home. But you would wander far and wide to get the thrill of saving someone. I couldn’t understand why you would continue to put yourself in danger when the real battles were yet to be fought. I tried to force you to wait until you were closer to the time of your change. I didn’t realize it was a necessary part of your training. You had to learn empathy for the human condition. Can you forgive me?”

  “I don’t know.” I frowned and looked around the room, not really focusing on anything, looking for answers from without and within. “I mean…I don’t even know if what you’re telling me is true…though I feel it’s right. But I can’t remember a thing from before. Not really, just bits and pieces since the concussion I had was apparently severe. But the plasma gun seemed to jar something loose as I remember almost everything about it except the antidote. Just like you said, exposure then knowledge.” I stopped and watched him for a moment, memories coming slowly back “I know the Q’Dahd who were in this bunker won’t give up. I know we must prepare ourselves for what’s to come as they will come again and again. We definitely need to figure out how to shield this facility.” I stopped for a moment, trying to get a grip on my emotions as well as figuring out just where I fit in the whole scheme of the Protectors. “And I also know my humanness will give me some limitations the others, like Lukas, will never know.”

  I sat and stared at him for a while as he patted my hand. “Did your new wife like me? I mean was that part of the re
ason I left?”

  Darien looked surprised. “No, Jessica loves you like you were her own. She was a little confused at first but once she understood our mission, things fell into place for her. She was military all the way and had come from a military family before I came along.”

  I frowned. “Lukas mentioned our mission. I suppose you better tell me what this is all about. Other than protecting humankind…that much I’ve figured out on my own.” I had a feeling Darien trying to force me into his mold was one of the reasons I’d left home in the first place. Now wasn’t the time to voice my opinion.

  A sad look crossed his face and he reached for my hand. “Until the first Gulf War, I had taken what your mother said on faith as I’d never seen anything at all to prove it one way or another.” I could tell the memory of what had gone on there pained him to the core. “During that time, I was in military intelligence and we got a distress call from one of the outposts unlike any we had ever had before. Our unit was already in the air and mere minutes away. We had some of our best guys with us and a younger Lukas. I’d already realized he was more than he appeared, but I hadn’t really put him in the same category as your mother.” He stopped then and rubbed his forehead.