by Gabi Moore
I really feel like we might have fallen then and there, had it not been for the mandatory safety installations that the county had required the restaurant install prior to providing operation permits.
A thick haze sprayed out from hidden dispersal points within the cob structuring of the hearth. Within moments, the fire was smothered, and the whole area was covered in a thin white layer of chemical flame retardant. I stood up, my body still pushing the chemicals away from its surface. The reasonable thing to do would have been to wait, and maintain some sense of composure, Draw the attacker out, and then engage on my own terms.
The only problem with that approach was that while I may be able to defend myself, Erol here was as defenseless and trapped as he had likely been in his entire life. Knowing that now was one of the few moments I would have when the environment itself dictated the favor of the battle in my direction, I took action.
My movement into the cloud was incisive and acrobatic. For a moment, I felt the thrill of being in battle once more. The way that my mind executed mastery over my body was addictive. I had already plotted out the most likely trajectory between the fire pit and Erol's position. My body was in place quickly enough, allowing me to meet the attacker head on.
For my bravado, I was rewarded with a glancing knife blow to my upper thigh. The cut stung, but I was in motion, and the damage was more superficial than not. As soon as I made contact, I positioned myself as closely to the attacker as possible. I wanted to be inside of the range of any blade, and more persistent in my attack than any magical assault. The aggressive nature of my attack was necessary in my mind, in order to determine just how bad the odds were for us getting out alive.
Landing on the balls of my feet, I bounced, and drove my injured thigh upward to catch the assailant between the legs. The attack was deflected with a downward strike. I felt the hilt of the weapon clang against my kneecap, and gritted my teeth through the pain. Through the fire in my nerves, I forced my elbow downward, meeting the arm that held the blade head on. The blow was solid, and though I felt the searing heat of yet another cut, the strength holding the knife had been compromised.
Another sequence of hits followed as my shoulder connected with a nose, and my free hand worked around the back for a low end kidney punch. The sound of the dagger falling to the floor gave me strength, so I jumped into the air for an aerial attack.
The attacker dove forward at the same exact moment, and the crotch of my leg wrapped around the neck of the assailant. My weight fell down upon their back squarely, and the two of us collapsed onto the ground below. Immediately on landing, I allowed my instincts to push me forward. A simple twist of my torso thrust my weight down toward one side of the attacker. My thigh and knee retained their tight hold on the neck of the fighter. As I fell, the satisfying crack of my enemy's neck reverberated through my legs.
I stood up once more, as the dust from the fire extinguisher finally cleared.
"Oh my God!"
I ignored the sound of Erol's vomiting in the background, as well as the cries of the waitress from inside of the building. The tree line was my primary concern, and where we stood, we were completely vulnerable to attack. A glance behind me showed me where Erol was sick on the ground, as well as a nearby table that he was unsuccessfully trying to hide under.
With a quick move, I kicked the legs of the table inward, causing the table to fall at a diagonal to the ground. With Erol protected, I took an immediate dive toward the central hearth. At that moment, the best coverage I could find was behind the protection of the cob walls which surrounded the extinguished flames.
Even as I dove, arrows sank into the ground behind me. The same volley had peppered the table where Erol was hid. The arrows were coming from the right hand side of the woods. There had been about eight total. A skilled Fae archer could use a multiplication spell on the arrows in flight, but that did not mean that the they could achieve a spread of multiple targets. A quick evaluation of circumstance, led me to believe that there were at least two more attackers hidden within the woods. I glanced down at the fallen assailant, and immediately cursed.
Gods be Damned!
None of this made any sense, and it most definitely didn't bode well for things to come. The entire experience here was an awful reoccurring flashback to my time as an active service member. The problem here was that for reasons unknown to myself, I was no longer fighting with the same allies as before. In the past, our side had fought for freedom from oppression. The Wild Fae had decided to help in their own way, and had then retreated back into obscurity.
Looking down at the body of the fallen, I recognized the Crest of the Wilderness.
The fallen attacker had been a Wild Fae Assassin.
Now that I knew the identity of those who were attacking us, my job was supposedly easier. I could likely deduce the methods of attack, set up responses, and with a bit of luck, I could win the battle. The unfortunate reality of the situation was that now that I knew whom I had killed, I actually felt sickened.
The Wild Fae had been some of my strongest role models throughout the course of the War. I admired their skill and ethical philosophy. I even found myself longing for the aesthetic of their homes after going back to the Capitol.
The Capitol itself was stale, and grotesquely artificial in my own mind. There was a certain vivacity to the Wild Fae that I felt the rest of the populace missed out on in their return to the Capitol.
In all likelihood, if I examined the body of the assassin closer, I would undoubtedly recognize who they were. I would have trained with them, and eaten smoked rabbit over a small campfire with them. No doubt it was the same for the archers hidden in the wood. .
With tears welling up in my eyes, I reached my hand into the fire pit. My hand clasped around an ember the size of an apple, and I pulled it out from the ashes.
Ignoring the searing pain on my fingertips, I cast a spell on the embers, and threw it as far across the field of battle as possible.
I didn't throw the ember at the archers, but in a line perpendicular to their position. As the ember soared through the air, a wall of flame spilled out from inside of the coals, and connected with the grasses below. The flames would not last for more than a minute, because the ember itself had not contained that much potential for heat.
A minute was all that I needed.
"Erol, get up! We're leaving!"
He was unresponsive so I slapped him across the face and grabbed ahold of his collar. While staring into his eyes and willing him to be present with me, I fished the keys to the truck out of his pocket.
"Follow, or die."
The words were spoken with a grit in my teeth. I had no interest in having him die, but I absolutely was not going to kill any more Wild Fae in the name of Thane's pet mission.
Something about this whole situation had gotten incredibly fucked up, and I needed space in order to figure things out.
I left at a run, opting to go around the side of the restaurant, rather than through it. The wall of magical flame provided cover, both visually, and by incinerating the shafts of the arrows as they passed through the blaze. Even as we passed along the side of the building, the deadly arrowheads buried themselves into the wooden siding of the restaurant. However, the shots were all based off of an estimate of where we might be, as opposed to a straight on, vulnerable kill shot.
We were lucky, and I had no desire to press that luck any further.
The car was unlocked, and the keys were in the ignition before the firewall had been extinguished. To his credit, Erol didn't make any sort of bother about my driving his truck. I knew the police would be en route, but we were far enough away from the city to where I didn't think it would be too much of a problem. I put the car in gear, and we accelerated through the dirt lot and onto the highway once more.
As a matter of course, I knew the battle had to be over.
There was no reason that the Wilder Fae would leave their fallen on the Material Plane, regardl
ess of their reasons for staging the attack. Among everything else that they stood for, honor to the fallen would be respected if nothing else. The way that the humans dealt with their corpses on the Material Plane was a process of chemical preservation and, dissection, autopsy and cosmetic beautification.
The process made me sick just to think about, and I didn't have half of the sensibilities of the Wilder Fae. There was no way in the Hells that they would tolerate that level of barbarism, enacted toward one of their fallen.
For the moment, we were safe once more.
As we passed, the one-mile mark away from the cafe, a police car approached, siren's wailing in the distance. I pulled respectfully over to the side of the highway and slowed in order to make room for the car. While pulled over, I cast a glamour spell on the two of us. For convenience sake, I transformed myself into Rita's Daughter, and Erol into her boyfriend. I had seen both of them naked within the last few hours, and it was easiest to bring their images to mind.
The cop car sped past with only a slight slow and glare in our direction. I smiled in response, and the cop continued on his way to the restaurant.
As soon as the threat was passed, I dismissed the spell. The implications of spending any more time in that young woman's skin than necessary was completely and totally undesirable to me. Not to mention that Erol, in spite of himself, was more attractive in his natural form than that young stud Rita's daughter had been wrapped around. At least Erol had a brain. He would have figured out where the ring was, sooner or later.
We just didn't have time for deductive reason.
I looked over to catch a glimpse of him, and to his credit, he was doing better now that we were on the road, and the coast was clear. He was still a bit visibly shaken up, but I didn't blame him too much.
"First time you've seen somebody killed?"
He nodded and looked out the side of the car.
I recognized this pattern of behavior from myself during basic training. The idea that you can take a life in the moment of battle is very different from actually taking the action. When someone does that on your behalf, you're often caught between an overwhelming sense of gratitude, and a total repulsion at the character of the person who has undoubtedly been labeled a killer in your own mind.
I didn't care what Erol thought of me as a person, but I wanted him to know that I wasn't planning on killing him. I figured that at least with that level of common ground, he and I had a fighting chance of getting our shit done together. After this afternoon, there wouldn't be any more coyness between the two of us.
He knew in no uncertain terms that I was dangerous, and that magic was a very real and deadly factor in this entire equation. What's more is that beyond a doubt, a very real enemy had been defined in his mind. He may not know the entirety of the reasons for the attack, but the fact that they wanted him dead was more than enough information, I'm sure.
I let him process his thoughts, and continued to steadily drive into the forest. The only thing left for me to worry about at present was when he would get his thoughts together and start sharing the details of his research. I decided it was time to lay it all out.
"I need whatever information you have about the next portal opening, and I need you to give it to me in non-scientific speech. I don't want to deal with any of that bullshit math, I just need you to do the translations, and tell me where we need to go. Do you understand me?"
The question was direct.
I looked at him as I drove, and caught him staring wide-eyed in my direction.
"That's right, everything's coming clear now, I'm sure. Maybe you feel some sense of relief that I killed for you, but let me be the first to tell you that the one who died was worth more to me than you, and I'm not sure I would have done the same thing again. Is that understood?"
He nodded and cleared his throat.
"We need to go back to my house, then I will help you."
" Of course we do..."
Chapter 11
"I knew you were coming."
That was one of the first of a long strain of statements that came out from Erol's mouth as we went around the far side of the mountain, and made our way back into town. As it turned out, he actually didn't know shit, but his theories were interesting regardless.
At the end of it all, it was revealed that I was actually an agent of the O.T.O, here to bring about the new world order. As it turned out, I apparently had the DNA of archaic serpent masters inside of my body. Any human beings who used magic were descendants of Atlantis. The combination of DNA sequencing made our race particularly susceptible to forces of darkness. Obviously the fact that I was a trained warrior and was willing to kill in order to seek after occult knowledge was evidence to that end.
As for the others, the people that attacked us earlier that afternoon were none other than the Shadow Government of the Material Plane. Undoubtedly, they had been tracking his phone, which had cued them off to our location. His research was getting close to its completion, and now that all of the hard work had been finished, the vampires were closing in on him in order to make the kill.
From his synopsis, it wasn't clear to me whether or not he classified me as a vampire, but I didn't really care, as long as he cooperated.
"You're completely nuts," I replied. "You know that, don't you?"
"I know what I saw."
All I could do was shake my head and drive.
"Erol, I can't even begin to explain to you how inaccurate your picture of reality is."
I was going to tell him what was actually happening, but I didn't actually know myself. Perhaps in some way, his vision of reality was accurate, though the symbols might have been twisted within the limits of his paradigm.
Either way, I had no desire to share with him any more than necessary. At the moment, he had already conceded to giving me the information for the location of the next portal; I didn't need to care about much more than that. I figured we could worry about opening the damn thing when we got there, but at least it would be a push in the right direction.
"Don't be long, or the Shadow Government might make this a short trip."
"Oh God... You're right. If they have my phone tapped, then they probably have the house under surveillance as well. No! No. Don't stop here. Keep driving!"
I pulled over in front of his house.
"Hurry the fuck up."
The stress was obviously getting to him. He wasn't thinking clearly enough to be a rational person. Besides that, he was starting to get on my nerves.
"Oh, you're right. If they have this place under surveillance, then they would totally know that my car had driven pat and that would only tip them off that we know that they know."
"If you're not back in five minutes, I'm going to leave without you. That means the next O.T.O agent assigned to your case will find a crucified corpse on your lawn instead of an Erol. Now get the fuck out of the car."
"You wouldn't do that..."
He opened the car door, stepped out, and looked at me earnestly. "You need me."
As much as I would love to say that his last statement wasn't true, I could not. Likely, the most painful part about spending time with Erol was that for all of his un-examined conclusions, there was a ring of truth at the basis of his observations. Regardless if the conclusions drawn weren't accurate, for some reason, he still had his finger on the pulse.
Five minutes passed, and neither the O.T.O, nor the Shadow Government showed up to assassinate Erol, and steal his files. Regardless of the apparent moment of safety, Erol's return was not without some level of surprise.
Emerging out from the house, briefcase in one hand, and backpack in another was Erol. Following closely behind were Amethyst and Rosemary.
I should have known.
He opened the back door to the truck cab, and the dogs leaped in without hesitation.
"I'll drive from here," he said with confidence.
I thought about telling him to fuck off, but then I realized that I
needed to back off a bit and let him take the helm for a while. There was no reason for me to continue assert control in a non-threatening situation.
"You're right," I conceded, and I opened the door and climbed into the passenger side of the truck.
Now that he was back in control, I could see a natural sort of liveliness to him. The adventure was beginning once more in his mind. Behind Erol's soul, in that moment, stood a sense of exploration and finality of purpose. The truth behind the experience was written all over his face. He expected that the moments to follow would be the purpose for which he had lived out these many years of his life.
"Good for you," I muttered.
Shunting the dogs to one side of the rear cab, I lowered my seat.
Erol may have found his purpose, but I still had no idea what the hell was happening. The appearance of the Wilder Fae worried me more than an little. As far as I was concerned, I was stuck, operating on previous orders, with new information that threw a significant doubt into the nature of the mission overall.
The problem was that this new information only provided a source of cognitive dissonance, and not any sense of true evidence of betrayal. The problem with the Void was documented, and had no apparent solution. The entire reason I had agreed with Thane in the first place was because of the overwhelming evidence that our world was about to suffer catastrophic ecological changes, and nobody was doing anything about it.
"But why would they want to stop me..."
"Who's they?"
Ever perceptive, Erol had picked up his investigation where he left off not long ago.
"My brain hurt.
I strained to think of a way to explain it to him in a way he could understand. I didn't want to go through the entire history of a fictitious race with him, while contending with the long standing imaginary constructs that he held in his own mind.
"At a certain point, people end up believing what they want to believe, and I'm not sure it is worth while to attempt to change things after that."
"Well if I've got something wrong, and you can prove it, then why not just share it with me?"
