Ow!
Elyse was awake and clawing at my chest. I tried to lift her off my shoulders, but she was in too much of a frenzy and her claws were sharp, so I dumped her off my back. She landed in an attack crouch and hissed at me. She was adorable. I lifted my wicked beast-form claws in what I hoped was an 'aw shucks' gesture and attempted a chuff, but I quickly discovered beast-form vocalizations all sounded like some kind of death threat.
Elyse stopped hissing. That was a promising sign. She sniffed the air and sneezed once. I couldn't blame her, because the forest fire smell was very overpowering. She must have been satisfied that it was me, because she shifted.
Oh boy, naked girlfriend time. Ok, I can handle this. I just faced down three blood mages. I shifted. We stood there for a moment, naked, silent, and then she ran into my arms.
Whoa.
A naked girlfriend hug was not fair at all.
"What happened?" Elyse asked, thankfully stepping back so that our bodies were no longer mashed together.
"Blood mages. Three of them."
"Mom and Dad?" Her lip trembled.
"Oh, they're fine, they're good. Well, your dad's leg is kind of messed up but I'm pretty sure it's nothing he can't handle. They're just ahead of us," I assured her.
"You were in beast-form again?"
"Um, yeah. Like I said, three blood mages and you know," I pointed behind me, "a forest fire. Beast-form seemed like the prudent choice."
"You are amazing, Orson Reid." She stood on her toes and gave me a quick kiss.
Every ounce of control I had at my disposal was currently being used to keep my stupid man body in check.
Elyse turned in a circle. "The fire is totally messing with my sense of smell. Which direction do you think the cabin is in?"
"Yeah, smelling our way is out of the question. I'm using my cool new spidey-sense magic river thing to guide us," I said proudly.
"Your what?" Elyse looked confused.
"You know?" I said smiling. "I'm dipping into the rivers of energy, the surrounding magic, to pinpoint your mom and dad."
Elyse raised both eyebrows.
I knew that look.
"Let me guess. That's not a regular everyday shifter ability, is it?" I asked, letting out a huge sigh and shaking my head. I couldn't win; every time I turned around, I displayed another thing that marked me as different. That marked me as the Ollphiest.
Wonderful.
"Nope. We can see the magic spectrum, things like auras, but nothing like you're describing. Like I said, Reid, you're amazing," Elyse said, as she re-mashed her naked perfection against me and gave me a kiss that in no way can be described as a peck. She then gave my butt a smack, adding, "And you're all mine. Now which direction is the cabin?"
I pointed. Elyse shifted and ran in the direction I was pointing. When I could finally breathe again, I shifted into bear-form and ran after her.
CHAPTER 16
As the cabin came into view, we could see Mr. Kelly standing on the patio deck scanning the tree line for us. He waved when he spotted us.
"Quick. Katie's grabbing our stuff and packing the car. We need to leave now," Mr. Kelly said, tossing us our clothes as we shifted back to human form. He was looking pretty good for a guy who had a mangled leg not too long ago. All that was left of his injury was a nasty bruise. His entire lower leg, below his knee, was a dark angry purple, but other than that, his bones seemed to be back where they belonged and the leg was holding his weight. He had a slight limp, but I guessed that by tomorrow he wouldn't even be limping anymore. Accelerated healing. You had to love it.
Mr. Kelly locked up behind us as we headed through the cabin and out the front door. Mrs. Kelly was just shutting the rear door of the Range Rover. She gave her daughter a hug and my hand a quick squeeze.
"Everybody in. The police just rolled by and this entire side of the mountain is being evacuated," Mrs. Kelly informed us.
"What about the blood mages?" I asked, concerned about another attack.
"Sweetie, I think you scared the living hell out of those blood mages," Mrs. Kelly answered.
Elyse and I shared a look. Mrs. Kelly was not a fan of cursing, so she must really be freaked out.
"Mom, such salty language," Elyse teased.
"Yes, dear. Get in the car, please," Mrs. Kelly said, all business.
Mrs. Kelly slid behind the wheel, another sure sign that Mr. Kelly's leg was still healing.
"How's your leg, Dad? Orson said it looked horrible," Elyse asked.
Mr. Kelly turned in his seat so he could face us. "I've had worse. Orson, I need to thank you for protecting my family."
"Always . . . I mean you guys are you know . . . like family to me," I said, trying to convey how much they meant to me.
Mr. Kelly was quiet for a moment, his eyes searching mine. He gave me a nod, a grunt, and turned to look out the front window.
Elyse reached over and squeezed my knee.
Mrs. Kelly made excellent time — with shifter reflexes speeding was no problem — that is, until we hit the main road leading down the mountain. A single line of cars snaked down the street, disappearing behind a curve in the mountainside. The fire had become a full-blown disaster. Mr. Kelly switched on the radio. The announcer confirmed that mandatory evacuations had been ordered, and fire officials were very suspicious because of the explosive intensity of the blaze. The fire department captain being interviewed confirmed that, in her experience, some sort of accelerant must have been used.
I huffed. "Yeah, a psycho blood mage accelerant. I can't believe they would burn down an entire forest just to get at us."
"It makes no sense. How did they even find us?" Elyse mused.
Mr. and Mrs. Kelly remained silent, but the tension in the car spiked. Elyse frowned at me and leaned forward in her seat to get her dad's attention.
"Dad? What's up?"
"We'll talk about it when we get off the mountain. Let your mom concentrate on her driving," Mr. Kelly suggested.
"It had to be Tommy," I said, my anger clear.
Boom.
It was as if I'd dropped a bomb.
Mrs. Kelly's hands tightened on the steering wheel. Mr. Kelly stiffened in his seat. Oh yeah, a direct hit.
"Uncle Tommy? Orson, there's no way―" Elyse began.
"I said NO talking," Mr. Kelly erupted.
"Dad?" Elyse said, surprised by his outburst, but Mr. Kelly had gone silent, his jaw throbbing from how hard he was clenching it. "Mom?" Mrs. Kelly glanced at her daughter in the rearview mirror.
I rested my hand on Elyse's shoulder and gave my head a small shake. Elyse waited a moment longer to see if her parents would respond — nothing. She slid back against the back of the seat and leaned against me. I put my arm around her and she sighed.
The drive down the mountain became a two hour marathon. Two hours of tense silence. The only time the silence was broken was when Mr. Kelly called Elyse's sister Jenny to let her know we were all right. He also told her to take Kevin, leave the house, and check into a hotel, and he would contact her later. Jenny didn't ask questions or argue. She just immediately agreed, and knowing all of us could hear her side of the conversation, she told us to be safe. The realization of what life must be like, day to day, as member of the Paragon Society was becoming clear to me. On a moment's notice, the world could flip upside down and how you reacted was very important. I was so thankful that I had Elyse and the Kellys on my side, to help guide me through the crazy.
Mrs. Kelly exited the highway as soon as she could and pulled into the drive-thru of an In-N-Out Burger. We ordered enough food for ten people and then parked in the lot of a huge Mega-market, as far from any other cars as we could get.
We still didn't speak. The four of us were starving, the run up the mountain and the fight with the blood mages had exhausted us and we were all a little cranky. Mr. Kelly passed out the food, and we all chowed down in silence.
I was working my way through my third Double-Double wh
en Mr. Kelly broke the silence with a long, chunky burp.
"Richard!" Mrs. Kelly admonished.
Elyse and I burst out laughing. Luckily for me, I had just swallowed a large mouth full of burger. Elyse wasn't so lucky; she had been taking a swig of Dr. Pepper, which shot out of her nose as she snorted in laughter at her dad.
"Ugh, gross," Elyse, sputtered.
This only made me laugh harder, which got Mr. Kelly laughing and even Mrs. Kelly was trying hard to stifle a chuckle.
"Ha-ha, you're all hilarious." Elyse was not amused.
The tension was broken and everyone relaxed, enjoying the last of the fast-food feast.
"So, those were blood mages, huh? Bunch of pussies if you ask me," I said lightly.
This got Mr. Kelly laughing again.
Elyse slapped my knee, "Orson," she hissed nodding toward her mom.
"That's okay, sweetie. I have to agree with Orson. They were kind of pussies," Mrs. Kelly agreed.
"Mom!" Elyse said, shocked.
Mr. Kelly and I both started laughing and couldn't stop. Mrs. Kelly smiled proud of her ability to crack everyone up. Elyse just shook her head and threw a French fry at me.
After the laughter died down, Mr. Kelly gathered up the garbage and tossed it in a nearby can. When he got back in, he sat side ways in his seat. Mrs. Kelly also turned in her seat.
"Let's start at the beginning," Mr. Kelly instructed.
"The initial attack was, what, a kinetic spell?" Elyse asked.
"Yes," Mrs. Kelly answered. "And I believe it was meant to kill all of us at once. I think the blood mages gauged the distance incorrectly. That was the only thing that saved our lives."
"Why was I the only one knocked unconscious?" Elyse asked.
"Dumb luck. You went head first into an outcropping of rock," Mrs. Kelly answered, her voice thick with emotion. "I thought you might have broken your neck." Elyse patted her mom's arm.
"Orson, you seemed to recover fast. Did the spell even slow you down?" Mr. Kelly asked, for clarification.
"Yeah, I got tossed through a tree, but no real damage was done."
"So, then your . . . charge at the blood mages . . ." Mr. Kelly began.
"Wait," Elyse interrupted her dad. "You charged three blood mages? Are you crazy?"
"I was kind of pissed at that particular moment. It seemed like attacking was the best thing."
"Blood mages are super dangerous. They could have killed you," Elyse scolded.
"That's the thing. They did try to kill you. That second spell they attacked you with, I've seen it used before and it's instant death," Mr. Kelly explained.
All of my super-senses were tingling. Mr. Kelly was trying real hard to cover up the fact he was wigging out. "What?" I asked, the words 'instant death' ringing in my ears.
"What?" Elyse echoed.
"It's a nasty and rare bit of blood magic," Mrs. Kelly added.
"You mean, it's like a real life 'avada kedavra'?" I was stunned. On one level, I had accepted magic was real but on another level, I never imagined a straight-up killing curse. And if Mr. Kelly had seen the death spell used before, that meant he had been in some 'Thunderdome' kind of fights.
"I don't know what that means. Is that even English?" Mr. Kelly asked, confused.
"Yes, Orson" Mrs. Kelly answered for her husband. "It's exactly that, an instant spell to murder people."
"Oh," I muttered.
Mr. Kelly would not be deterred. He pressed his line of questioning, "Orson, my question is . . . how come you're not dead?"
"Dad!"
"Damn it, Elyse, the question has to be asked. He was targeted and hit with death magic - DEATH MAGIC - and all it did was slow him down momentarily. Please, Orson, help us understand," Mr. Kelly pleaded.
I realized something at that moment. Mr. Kelly was afraid. The idea that I might be the Ollphiest had intrigued him when it had just been a theory, an abstract idea. But now he was facing mounting irrefutable evidence that I was the monster that his people feared. And, unfortunately, there was nothing that I could do to help calm those fears, because I was exactly what he thought I was. My only course of action was complete truthfulness.
I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "It's because I am the Ollphiest."
Mr. Kelly's eyes went wide. I think he was surprised at my direct honesty and maybe he had been holding out hope for another possible answer, one that didn't involve his daughter being in love with the boogeyman. Mrs. Kelly let out a small gasp. Wow, being faced with the reality of the Ollphiest really freaked them out.
Elyse was the one to break the silence. "So what? Hadn't we already figured out Orson was special?"
"I think the actual reality of it is a bit unsettling," I offered.
"Yes. Yes it is." Mr. Kelly let out a big sigh and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Orson, there was a kind of ripple in the magic spectrum when you dispatched the blood mage. Do you have any idea what that was?" Mrs. Kelly asked, giving me a reassuring mom smile.
Complete honesty.
Right.
"Yeah, she had some stored up magic, like a reserve." I looked to Elyse for confirmation. She nodded.
"That's right. All mages can store some magical energy internally."
All mages? How many kinds where there? There was so much I didn't know about this world I was now a part of. I was in serious need of a 'Magic History and You 101' YouTube video series or something. I continued my explanation, "Well, her magic reserves sort of popped when she died and I . . ." Oh boy, this would not be information they would be happy to hear. "I kind of absorbed it."
Elyse gave a low whistle.
"Oh, I see. Thank you for explaining," Mrs. Kelly said, looking at Mr. Kelly, eyes full of concern.
"All right. It's time for a recap of everything we know," Mr. Kelly announced. "Orson, please let me know if I've missed anything," I nodded, and he continued, "You are impervious to the following items - silver, powerful rune magic, mundane weapons like guns, bullets, and knives. Also, having just learned how to shift into your animal form, you have also gained the ability to shift into battle-form or beast-form, if you prefer. And to top it all off, death magic is only a nuisance to you and you can absorb the magic of your fallen enemies. Did I miss anything?"
"Um, well, there is one more thing," I hesitated to tell, but Mr. and Mrs. Kelly were on my side they needed to know everything.
"You're kidding me?" Mr. Kelly sounded exasperated.
"Dad, be nice," said Elyse.
"I'm sorry. Orson?"
"I can tap into the magical . . . I guess the best word is spectrum," I said quickly.
"That's something we can all do," Mrs. Kelly assured me.
"That's not what Orson means." Elyse tried to help me clarify.
Mr. Kelly rubbed his face. "What exactly is it that you can do?"
"Not only can I can sense the energy, the surrounding magic; I can also tap into it and . . . do stuff. For instance, earlier, I was able to locate Elyse through the fire, even though I couldn't see her or sense her in any normal way. I could see her through the magic."
Mr. Kelly chuckled. "I now see why the legends surrounding your kind are filled with blood and horror."
My kind? I thought we were all shape-shifters.
No.
We are Ollphiest.
All others kneel before us.
Not you again. Please shut up.
Elyse, my fierce protector, came to my defense, giving voice to my train of thought. "What do you mean 'his' kind? He's a shape-shifter, like us. He's just got some extra abilities. Who cares?"
"Everyone," Mr. Kelly breathed. "Everyone will care. Orson is a threat to the balance of power. He changes everything."
It was all becoming very clear. I was something that nobody had counted on. The Paragon Society ruled the magic world, they had the most powerful shifters, mages, and other magical beings on their side. Their rule was absolute. My very existence would threaten th
at rule.
"Is that why Tommy sent the blood mages?" I asked.
Mr. Kelly's eyes snapped to mine. "We don't know if that's what happened."
"Orson, Uncle Tommy hates blood mages. There's no way he sent them," Elyse said, pulling on my hand trying to get me to look at her and stop the staring contest with her dad.
Not this time. I would not look away again. Mr. Kelly needed to understand I would not turn a blind eye to the obvious fact that Tommy had tried to kill us.
"I'm on your side, son."
"It doesn't really feel like it."
Mrs. Kelly slammed her hand down on the horn. The piercing sound shattered the quiet of the car. Elyse jumped in her seat next to me, and both Mr. Kelly and I looked toward Mrs. Kelly at the same moment. Crisis averted — for now.
"Knock it off, both of you," Mrs. Kelly said, taking charge of the situation. "Orson, we will do everything in our power to help you. I promise." I nodded in acceptance. "But you have to remember we've been around a long time; we know how to play the game. Okay?" Then she turned to face her husband, reaching out to stroke the side of his head. "And you need to keep an open mind. I've known Tommy as long as you have, but if it wasn't him who betrayed us, it was someone close to him. Someone in his inner circle, and that's just as dangerous."
Mr. Kelly placed his hand over his wife's and turned his head so he could kiss her fingers. "You're right, as always."
"Is everybody finished?" Elyse chimed in. "Do you think maybe we could leave this lovely parking lot now and go home? I seriously need a shower."
"Of course, sweetie," Mrs. Kelly said, starting the car and heading back toward the highway.
CHAPTER 17
I had a lot to process. I was something that nobody alive had ever encountered. And that was saying something, because apparently Society members were all very long lived. Just the possibility of me being the Ollphiest was threatening enough that someone had ordered up a blood mage death squad to take me out. Imagine how everyone would react when their worst fears were confirmed.
Orson Page 15
