Wanderers 3: Garden of The Gods (The Wanderers)

by Richard Bamberg

“What the hell are you talking about?” Emily snapped.

  “Their auras, it’s the energy field that surrounds a living body. It can be compared to your soul. It’s not exactly the same thing, but the two are intimately related. You see dear–”

  Emily leapt to her feet, stomped over to the fireplace and stood at parade rest, staring into the flames.

  Ashley looked from me to Tess. “Give her a few minutes. Finding out that Tess is okay was enough of a shock. Add to that the existence of magic, and I’m afraid someone as conservative as my Emily has a little trouble adjusting to the change.”

  Emily growled something beneath her breath but didn’t turn from the fireplace.

  “I didn’t want to upset her. I just didn’t feel right not telling her what happened to me. It may be years before I see her again and I thought I’d take the opportunity to see her.”

  “I understand dear. I’m glad you did. So,” Ashley looked at the two of us for a second before continuing. “Can I get you two Wanderers coffee or perhaps something stronger?”

  “I think a drink would be good,” Tess said.

  “And you Rafe?”

  “I’ll have whatever you’re having, Ashley.”

  “Wait a minute,” Emily said as she turned from the fire. “Tess isn’t old enough to drink.”

  Tess stood and glared at her aunt. “I am not a child, Aunt Emily. I’ve been in combat; hell, I was killed in combat. I think that makes me mature enough to have a drink if I want it.”

  “What are you talking about? Killed?” Emily questioned.

  “Weren’t you listening?” Tess said. “A Valkyrie came for me after the explosion. Valkyries are reapers of the dead on the battlefield. What do you think she was there for?”

  Emily paled. “I thought that was some kind of euphemism. You really think you died and came back?”

  “Rafe? Help me out here,” Tess pleaded.

  I felt sympathy for my apprentice and spoke up, “Tess is telling you the truth, Emily. She’s been selected by Verðandi, one of the Norn sisters of Norse mythology, to be her agent in the fight against the unnatural. We’re Wanderers. We keep the unnatural and all sort of villains from interfering in the affairs of humans. We live a dangerous but exciting life, and aren’t likely to die in our sleep. We answer to and are beholding to no one save for Verðandi. We control powerful magics and rarely lose a fight. Assuming we survive the next few days, I expect Tess to be my apprentice for decades to come.”

  Emily stared at me. Her mouth opened twice, but nothing came out. Finally, she looked at her wife. “Sweetheart, could you get the good whiskey out? I think I could use that drink after all.”

  Chapter 16

  Therese

  We sat quietly sipping our bourbon while outside the day turned to twilight. Aunt Emily and her wife–Oh, my God! My Aunt was married. To a woman! I couldn’t get over it. She’d never given the rest of our small family any indication she was gay. I couldn’t believe she hadn’t ever broken it to me. I could understand her not telling my father or her parents, geez, never her parents. They were stuck somewhere in the 1950s. But she must have known I would be fine with it. I wondered if she had told Mom before she died.

  The ice clinked in my glass as I finished up the shot that Ashley had given me. I licked my lips and surreptitiously eyed the bottle that sat on the coffee table. Ashley noticed my glance and leaned forward to pick up the bottle. I held my glass out, with a shy smile, while she poured an equal amount over the remains of my ice.

  “More ice, dear?” she asked.

  “No, this is fine…I guess I should call you Aunt Ashley,” I said.

  “I would love for you to do so,” Ashley said with a heartwarming smile.

  I could see why Aunt Emily had fallen for her. Just in the few minutes, I’d known her I had been made to feel welcomed and relaxed around my Aunt’s wife.

  “If you finish that I’m not letting you drive. You’ll have to spend the night here,” Emily stated matter-of-factly.

  “Oh, I don’t have to drive,” I said, taking a sip of my freshened drink.

  “I heard you arrive on two motorcycles. How are you going to manage to not drive one of them?”

  “Maia can drive herself,” I said and then remembered that we hadn’t talked about our familiars, yet.

  “Maia? Who’s that, dear?” Ashley asked.

  “Ah, well,” I looked to Rafe for help.

  Rafe laughed. “Go ahead and tell them, Tess. It won’t hurt anything.”

  “Well, Maia is my familiar. She possesses my Harley.”

  “Familiar?” Emily asked.

  “It’s like a helper for witches, sweetheart. I wouldn’t have thought Wanderers would have one,” Ashley stated.

  “I just got mine a couple of nights ago. She’s marvelous.”

  “And just what kind of animal is this Maia that she can drive your motorcycle?” Emily asked.

  “She’s a hippogriff, something between an eagle and a horse. She’s quite beautiful. Rafe,” I said with unplanned enthusiasm. “Can I show them?”

  Rafe looked concerned.

  “Oh, come on. You said it wouldn’t hurt anything.”

  “That was for telling them, not for freaking them out with the real thing.”

  “They aren’t going to freak out. Will you?” I asked looking toward my aunts.

  “I don’t freak out,” Emily stated forcefully.

  “Sure you don’t, dear. What my wife means is that she won’t freak out any more than she already has,” Ashley said with a wink to me.

  “Rafe, please?” I said.

  “All right, but not in the driveway. I’ll move them around back, and they can see them there.”

  “Great, you are so sweet,” I said, trying to butter up his ego. It didn’t usually work, but he was still a man.

  “Yeah, tell me about it. Give me a minute or two and then come outside.”

  Rafe finished his drink, stood up, and walked to the front door. As soon as the door shut, Aunt Emily spun to me. “Tell me the truth, Tess. Is he keeping you against your will?”

  “Against my will? Aunt Emily, I wouldn’t leave Rafe if my life depended on it. Verðandi’s call has given me a mission in life that is so much more than I could ever have hoped. If you could just see what I’ve seen in the few days we’ve been together. We’ve traveled to other worlds!”

  “What? Other worlds?” Emily said with a grunt.

  “Yes, there are other worlds besides ours. Some are just behind a veil from us. Rafe can open a portal to these other worlds, and we just step through into them.”

  “This is sounding more impossible with every statement you make. Other worlds, come on, girl, you can’t expect me to believe other worlds.”

  “You don’t have to accept everything, Aunt Emily, but everything I’m saying is God’s honest truth. Come on, they should be in the back yard by now.”

  “How? I didn’t hear the motorcycles,” Aunt Emily said.

  I chuckled as I downed what was left of my drink. I glanced toward the bottle with thoughts of a third drink, but when I caught the glare Aunt Emily was giving me, I decided against asking for another. It wasn’t like I needed another, the first two hadn’t even kicked in. Maybe later, after Emily had seen the familiars, she’d want another drink herself.

  Aunt Ashley rose and led the way to French doors that opened onto a much wider deck than the front one. Cliffs of pale stone rose at least fifty feet above the small backyard. As soon as all three of us were on the deck and Emily had pushed the doors shut behind us, I saw Rafe standing at the foot of the cliff between our rides. Both familiars had resumed their Harley forms. I guess Rafe wanted to see the expressions on my Aunts’ faces when they changed.

  “It’s gotten too dark to see anything,” Aunt Emily said. “I’ll get the lights.”

  “Don’t bother,” Rafe said as fairy lights winked into existence over each of our heads.

  Emily let out a grunt of surpris
e, but Ashley laughed and applauded lightly. “Well done, Rafe. Well done.”

  I stifled a laugh at Ashley’s enthusiasm over such a minor feat for Rafe.

  Ashley again led the way, down the short steps to the backyard that was bare rock with a sprinkling of ornamental plants. I followed my aunts to Rafe, and we stopped a dozen feet or so back from him.

  “So where are these familiars that control your motorcycles?” Emily asked.

  “They’re right here. Now remember, these are our familiars and are no threat to you. Don’t freak out,” Rafe said.

  Emily harrumphed loudly, but Ashley nodded eagerly.

  Rafe nodded toward me, and I spoke up, “Okay, Maia, you may change back to your natural form.”

  “As you wish,” Maia said.

  I saw Aunt Emily flinch, but she made no other move as she tried to identify where the voice had come from.

  A moment passed and then my Harley shifted forms. It elongated, grew great, feathered wings, and then stood erect on four horse-like limbs. Its single headlight morphed into two bright yellow eyes set deeply in the head of an eagle whose beak looked powerful enough to snap off a human’s arm.

  “Wow!” Ashley said.

  “Holy crap! What is that thing?” Emily asked.

  “I am a hippogriff, not a thing,” Maia said with a toss of her head that stood her feathers out.

  “You ride that thing, ah, sorry, hippogriff?” Emily asked.

  “Boy, do I. She flies effortlessly with me on her back. It’s amazing. Hey, if you want, she’ll give you a ride. Won’t you, Maia?” I said.

  “If that is your desire,” Maia responded.

  “Perhaps another time,” Emily said.

  “I think a ride would be fabulous,” Ashley replied.

  “You can both go. One of you can ride Beast,” I offered.

  This time, the harrumph came from Beast.

  “Be nice, Beast. These are my Aunts,” I said.

  “If Rafe orders, I will grant the ride,” Beast said with his usual growl.

  “Don’t mind him, he just sounds grumpy. He’s actually a sweetheart,” I said.

  The rumbling in Beast’s throat vibrated deep in my chest.

  “Be nice, Beast,” Rafe ordered. “And don’t scare the ladies.”

  “He doesn’t sound anything like, Maia,” Ashley observed.

  “That’s because I am nothing like her,” Beast agreed.

  “Okay, Beast, you may change,” Rafe said.

  Rafe’s 1965 Harley began to morph, growing four massive legs that ended in claws that could rend steel as well as flesh. Its tail elongated, and spikes appeared on the last foot or so of it. Its body grew in size, if not mass, and then its great black mane appeared behind a head twice the size of mine. Its nearly human face displayed teeth that had no lack of enormously long canines.

  “Oh, wow, now that’s an impressive animal,” Aunt Emily said. “But how does it fly?”

  Beast gave a shake of his head and shuddered as his bat-like wings opened wide showing off their twenty-foot spread.

  Aunt Ashley took a step back and bumped into my hands as I kept her from moving farther.

  “It’s a manticore!” Ashley said.

  “At your service, lady. It’s nice to meet a human who knows her creatures,” Beast said with a bow of his head.

  Ashley tilted her head in reply. “Wow, you are amazing. You both are. I had no idea either of you really existed.”

  “Not in your world for many centuries,” Beast said.

  “Geez, I wish my grandmother could have seen you,” Ashley said.

  “What?” Emily asked.

  “She was the one that taught me the little bit of magic I know. I was never very good at it, as witnessed by the bad ward I put on the house.”

  “That’s the second time a ward has been mentioned. Are you referring to that writing you did on the doorjamb? I thought that was some kind of Jewish custom,” Emily said.

  “Yes and no. It’s customarily done by cabalistic practitioners, but not most Jews.”

  “And what’s it supposed to do?”

  “It keeps evil spirits or demons out of the home,” Ashley replied.

  “And you believe in those things?” Emily asked.

  “Well, I didn’t really, but my grandmother taught it to me, and she did. I just followed her practice out of respect for her.”

  “It never hurts to have a ward on one’s home. There are many things that can’t cross a threshold protected by a ward. There are even more things that are weakened if they cross without permission,” Rafe said.

  “That’s right,” I added. “Rafe told me that even he would have trouble hurting you inside your home unless he was invited across the threshold.”

  Rafe gave me a look that told me I had revealed too much.

  “Why would he consider harming us?” Ashley asked.

  “I wouldn’t. It was just another lesson for my Apprentice to absorb, not one to spread among the mundanes,” Rafe said.

  “Mundanes?” Emily asked.

  “Non-magic users,” I inserted.

  “It sounds derogatory,” Emily added.

  “No, just a description that most magic users use when talking about everyone else. It isn’t an insult,” Rafe assured.

  “Sounds like one,” Emily repeated.

  “Rafe wouldn’t insult you, Aunt Emily. He’s not like that, truly,” I said.

  “Can we really go for a ride on them?” Ashley inserted.

  I glanced at her, thankful for her changing the subject. “Sure you can, Aunt Emily. Take your pick, although we should probably ride along with you, just to keep you safe.”

  “Safe from what?” Ashley queried.

  “To keep you from falling off, mostly,” Rafe said and then gave me a look that implied he didn’t want me to say anything about how dangerous our life had become so recently.

  “Can I pick first?” Ashley asked, staring at her wife.

  Emily nodded.

  “Then I want to ride the manticore. Beast wasn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Beast growled.

  “Then you’ll ride with me, Aunt Emily. Maia, will you kneel please?”

  Maia knelt where she stood without comment.

  “Just how does this work?” Emily asked.

  “I’ll get on and then you mount up behind me. Hold onto my waist so that you don’t fall off.”

  “Aren’t there stirrups or reins?” Emily asked.

  Beast growled. “Most certainly not. We’re not dumb animals.”

  “Then how do you stay on?” Emily asked. “What if it turns upside down?”

  Rafe grinned, and I hurried to reply before he could say something insulting to my aunt. “They won’t let us fall off. Besides, if it happens, a Wanderer has no problems letting himself down to the ground.”

  “Say what now?” Emily asked.

  “Just don’t worry about it, Aunt Emily. Nothing will happen to you as long as Rafe and I are here.”

  It was only a small lie to relieve her stress. I couldn’t levitate her back to earth if something went wrong, but as long as Rafe was nearby, I wasn’t worried about anything happening to my aunts.

  I settled in at the base of Maia’s neck and then offered Aunt Emily a hand. She looked at it skeptically, but took it and swung a leg up behind me.

  “There, that was easy. Now hold onto my waist,” I ordered.

  I looked at Beast and saw that Ashley had already settled in behind Rafe. She had her arms tight around him and was speaking into his ear. I wondered what she had to say that she didn’t want her wife to hear.

  “Ready?” Rafe asked.

  “After you,” I said.

  Beast leapt into the air with a blast of wind and then Maia followed with no direction from me. I felt Aunt Emily’s hands tighten around my waist.

  “You don’t have to hold that tight, Aunt Emily. Maia won’t do anything to dislodge you. Just relax and enjoy the ride.”

&n
bsp; “That’s easy for you to say,” Emily grumbled.

  We soared up in a cloudless sky. In less than a minute, we were a thousand feet above the ramparts of Palmer Park. The lights of Colorado Springs stretched out on all sides of us.

  “This is marvelous!” Ashley shouted.

  Maia beat the air with long slow beats that moved us through the air at speeds that would have teared our eyes but for her personal ward. It wasn’t as thorough as a shield, but it kept the wind down to a strong breeze.

  “It is fantastic,” Emily said. “I’m glad I came. This is lovely.”

  “I knew you’d love it,” I said.

  We flew west, and I could see the looming red rocks of Garden of the Gods between our location and the mountains. I hoped Rafe wouldn’t go to close to that place. If whatever Rowle planned happened with my aunts with us…well, it wasn’t something I wanted to think about.

  Shortly after crossing the brightly lit ribbon that made up the Interstate and its traffic, Rafe turned toward the south. We circled over downtown, there was an impressive crowd of people along the streets there, and then we turned back toward my Aunts’ home.

  I looked west and saw a single light at the top of Pikes Peak. I wondered if we’d have time to go there. It’d been a dream of mine when I was a kid. We had never gotten west of the Mississippi, but I had always figured that someday I’d be at the top of the America the Beautiful Mountain.

  I heard a growl from Beast. “Rafe, we’re being followed.”

  All four of us turned to study the area behind us.

  I saw countless lights on the ground and at least a dozen in the air between us and the mountains. “I don’t see anything,” I said.

  “Me either,” Ashley said.

  “There,” Aunt Emily said. “About our five o’clock, front to back, and about two o’clock high.”

  It took me a second, but then I deciphered what she meant and looked for what she had noticed. I saw it. A flashing light at least a mile or more behind and above us.

  “Do you think we showed up on radar and someone is checking us out?” Ashley asked.

  “People don’t show up on radar, at least not easily,” Emily said. “It takes metal or rigid materials to reflect radiation.”

  “She’s right,” Rafe said. “That’s some kind of helicopter. Who do we know with helicopters?”