Shield Maiden shrugged.
“It’s impossible for me to know without having more examples to draw from, but yes,” she said, with a sad smile.
Rose leaned in closer to her. Malcolm was drawn away from their conversation by Rain Dancer, who tapped him on the shoulder and held out something in his other hand. A thin trail of smoke ran up from the tip of what looked like a cigar, and smelled like weed.
Seriously? This dude is too much.
“I don’t really smoke weed,” said Malcolm. “I mean, I’ve tried it before, but it’s not”-
“Take a small puff,” said Rain Dancer. “It’s just a normal blunt. You’re among friends, you know?”
“For the record, I don’t actually know that,” said Malcolm. “This could easily be a ploy to get me to let my guard down.”
“I beat you and your girlfriend while you both had your guards up,” said Rain Dancer, with a smirk. “Now, come. It’s good weed, you will see what I mean.”
Malcolm chewed on his lip for another second before accepting the blunt. He shook his head, wondering at the series of events that brought him to this moment, and then took a very small puff.
Almost immediately, he broke out into a fit of coughs. The smoke hit his throat harder than he’d expected it to. He passed the blunt back to Rain Dancer and took a long sip of his wine, which only made his head feel that much lighter.
“You know how to go for it!” said Rain Dancer. “I am impressed. Feel good?”
“Oh…” Malcolm rubbed his forehead. “I feel… something.”
He looked over at Rose and Shield Maiden. They were sitting on opposite sides of the table, but they were both leaning into their quiet conversation. Malcolm was struck by how beautiful and exotic they both looked, but also by something more than that.
She seems so comfortable. How many other sprytes and demons has she actually had to talk to, outside of the riffraff at Terri’s Tavern?
“You’ve got a question on your mind, ya?” said Rain Dancer.
Malcolm nodded, folding his arms. It was a little hard for him think through the fog of alcohol and weed.
“I’m just curious…” said Malcolm. “The dream you said you had. What was it about?”
Rain Dancer grinned. Apparently, Malcom had asked the right question.
“It was of a world where my people, the star touched, are safe to live and love and be happy!” He slammed his hand down hard table. “I have a dream, Wind Runner!”
Rain Dancer jumped up, climbing so that he was standing on the table.
“I have a dream!” he bellowed. The acoustics of the underground chamber made his words echo for what felt like an eternity. Over at the other table, the Awakened Children were all bowing in Rain Dancer’s direction.
“He gets a little over the top whenever he gets stoned,” said Shield Maiden. “Ask him to tell you about it when he’s sober.”
“I have a couple of questions about the whole Zodiac thing,” said Malcolm. “How does it relate to demons and sprytes?”
“It’s… complicated,” said Shield Maiden, with a subtle eye roll. “You should direct those questions to Rain Dancer.”
“The genocide will come to an end!” shouted Rain Dancer, still on the table. “We will create a new world.”
He extended one of his hands up and let loose a flash of lightning. The ceiling in the main chamber was high enough to allow for it, and light flickered across the faces of everyone watching. Malcolm wasn’t sure what to think.
Okay, this is a little over the top.
“Show them!” yelled Rain Dancer. “Show them what we can do!”
He gestured to Shield Maiden, who looked like she’d rather not, but proceeded to join Rain Dancer in his theatrics. Surprisingly, Rain Dancer also pointed to Rose. She furrowed her brow, as though she was declining his offer, but Rain Dancer leaned over, took her by the wrist, and pulled her up onto the long, rectangular table.
Malcolm started to stand and join them, but Rain Dancer caught his eye and slowly shook his head. He felt a sudden flash of irritation, being the odd man out, especially given the fact that Rose was going along with it.
“Watch the power of the star touched!” Rain Dancer tapped Shield Maiden on the shoulder. She waved one of her hands through the air, creating a circular pattern of spherical bubble shields above them.
Rain Dancer blasted lightning upward, creating arcs between the bubble shields. He grinned and looked over at Rose, giving her a nod of approval. Rose hesitated, glancing back at Malcolm with a strange look in her eyes.
Slowly, she lifted her hand and summoned her shadows. She made tendrils of darkness swirl around in the space underneath the bubble shields, the path of each one affected by the light from the electricity.
It was a scene unlike anything Malcolm could have imagined. Special effects in movies might be able to come close, but it was such a strange and specific combination of superpowers that he doubted it could ever be replicated.
Malcolm felt like he was watching a kind of strange initiation, and became all the more aware of the fact that he wasn’t a part of it. He wasn’t a demon or a spryte. He could only watch Rose, standing on the table in a triangular formation with the other two, using her abilities freely in a frivolous display of power.
Malcolm sipped on his wine and looked over at the Awakened Children. Their faces were filled with unbridled awe. Some of them were making gestures with their hands, probably related to another facet of the church’s worship.
He looked back toward Rose and the others on the table. Rain Dancer was holding her hand, along with Shield Maiden’s. The display was spinning now, turning in circles like a carnival ride made of magic. Malcolm tapped a finger on his chin, feeling as though he couldn’t help himself any longer. He stood up.
Summoning the wind, he gave all of bubble shields a hard push. They flew toward the side of the room, taking Rain Dancer’s lightning show along with them, bouncing harmlessly off one of the walls. Rose looked over at him and he winked at her.
“You…!” Rain Dancer looked furious. Shield Maiden sighed and set a hand on his shoulder.
“Relax, Rain,” she said. “Don’t take it so seriously. He’s clearly a playful sort.”
“This is not some kind of game, you know?” said Rain Dancer. “It’s meant to be taken seriously.”
“You could turn it into a game, if you wanted,” said Malcolm. “A couple of soccer goals, Shield Maiden’s bubble things. You could call it Power Ball.”
Rose jumped down from the table and stood close to him, an amused smile on her face.
CHAPTER 17
Things relaxed after the dramatic display, and Malcolm returned to eating his food. Rain Dancer excused himself from the chamber after a short, whispered conversation with Shield Maiden. The Awakened Children, for the most part, began to return to their food and conversation.
Malcolm noticed Rose watching their table. He managed to pick out Rose’s sister on a closer inspection. She looked similar to Rose, or what Rose might have looked like before becoming a spryte. Pale skin, dark hair, and deeply expressive eyes.
“You should go talk to her,” said Malcolm. “Give it another shot.”
Rose sighed.
“I’m not sure there is any point,” she said. “And what if…?”
She trailed off a little bit.
“What if, what?” he asked.
“What if I’m better off not remembering who I am?” Rose asked, quietly. “Remember what Rain Dancer said? About getting his powers in prison, and turning into a demon behind bars? What if it’s something like that for me, or something even worse…?”
“When I first met you, you said that you thought you were a champion before becoming a spryte,” said Malcolm. “I doubt you have too many skeletons in the closet to worry about.”
Rose shrugged, but didn’t make any move to leave the table.
I would have done anything for a chance like this with Danny.
They spent another half hour at the table. It would have been boring, if not for the lingering effects of the weed and wine. Malcolm chatted with Rose about nothing in particular, feeling a bit as though their captors had forgotten about them. Shield Maiden finally came over after a while and set a hand on his shoulder.
“I want the two of you to see something,” she said.
“What is it?” he asked.
“It will give a little more insight into what we have down here.” Shield Maiden gave the two of them a stiff smile.
Malcolm glanced over at Rose, who looked intrigued as well. They followed Shield Maiden out of the main chamber and through an industrial looking door. The floor sloped downward, and they continued through another door into a room filled with machinery.
Rain Dancer was inside, facing away from them. He gripped an electrical conductor in each hand, and static coursed over his body. His dreadlocks would shoot up and out every couple of seconds, reminding Malcolm of the legs of a squid, or octopus.
“This is where Underworld gets its power from,” said Shield Maiden. “Rain Dancer likes to act as though it’s an easy thing for him, but he spends several hours down here each night using his powers at full capacity.”
“He looks exhausted,” said Rose, frowning. Rain Dancer had his shirt off, and sweat slicked over the muscles of his shoulders.
“You both have powers of your own,” said Shield Maiden. “What do you think would happen if you were required to use them for hours at a time, day after day?”
Malcolm shook his head slowly.
“Does he ever have episodes?” he asked. “You know, losing control… getting violent… that sort of thing.”
If he did, all of the Awakened Children would be in serious danger.
Shield Maiden smiled sadly and gave a slow nod.
“He does,” she said. “Though, with me around, they’re containable. I usually encase him in a shield that he can’t break through, though conjuring one so strong does take a toll on me, as well. After a day or so, he comes back to reality.”
“You could do that for other monsters, too,” said Rose. “Couldn’t you?”
Shield Maiden nodded again.
“Now you’re beginning to understand,” she said. “There are ways around the downsides of embracing one’s powers fully. When Rain Dancer preaches, when he calls us the ‘star touched’, he’s speaking from what he believes the world could be.”
“That makes sense,” said Malcolm. “Apart from the stuff about the Illuminati… and the Zodiac. To be honest, I’m still a little hung up one couple of points.”
Rose flicked him in the shoulder with her finger.
“I should find a room for the two of you to rest in,” said Shield Maiden. “We can continue our conversation in the morning.”
Malcolm and Rose followed her back into the main chamber, and then into a room off the hallway that led to the dormitories. It was a guest room, with a carpet, a queen-sized bed, and a private bathroom.
A massive improvement over that concrete cell, for sure.
“If you need anything, my room is two down on the left,” said Shield Maiden. “Please don’t hesitate to ask. The two of you are our guests.”
Malcolm nodded, though a cynical voice in his head wondered how much that really was the case. He waited until Shield Maiden was out of the room and then walked over to the bed and sat down on it.
“Do you think they have any listening devices set up in here?” he asked Rose.
She shrugged.
“If they do, there isn’t much we can do about them,” she said. “Let’s just talk quietly.”
She came over to the bed and sat down next to him. Malcolm held her hand for a minute, feeling a little overwhelmed by the situation.
“We have to find a way out of here,” he said, softly. “They’re treating us kindly, but I sincerely doubt we’ll get a chance to escape unless we make one for ourselves.”
“I agree,” said Rose. “But you were right about what you said before. The best way forward is for us to play along, and wait until they trust us enough to give us an opportunity.”
Malcolm sighed and lay back on the bed. Rose rested her chin on his chest, frowning as she watched his expression.
“You look worried,” she said.
He leaned his head to one side.
“I’m not sure that’s the right word for it,” he said. “More like… confused.”
“Why?”
“This place… it reminds me of the Champion Authority’s local headquarters,” said Malcolm. “And Rain Dancer’s sermon, the way he’s pushing his view point, it’s a little crazier, but also kind of like the flipside of what Multi and Tapestry and the others believe.”
Rose frowned.
“Why is it that a crazy sermon from a cult leader leads you to a moral crisis, but not sex with me?”
Malcolm chuckled.
“Sex with you is fun enough to be simple,” he said. “Obviously.”
“Maybe I should work on making it more complicated, then,” said Rose. She kissed him softly on the lips. Malcolm smiled as he felt her hands begin to roam across his chest and stomach.
He was surprised by how tired he was, and content to let Rose do most of the work. She stripped off his clothes with slow movements, kissing bare flesh as it became available.
Malcolm ran his hands over her breasts as she pulled her sweatshirt over her head, revealing the lack of a bra underneath. Rose was already naked from the waist down, and she pulled her panties to the side, rather than taking them off, to slide down onto his shaft.
She rode him slowly, lovingly, even. It was different from how they so often ended up having sex, Malcolm manhandling her and Rose teasing him with her shadows. There was a connection there, in the place of lust. Malcolm felt like he had a partner in crime, not just between the sheets.
“Does that feel good?” whispered Rose.
“Does this?” Malcolm planted a kiss on one of her nipples and felt her shiver in response.
“Oh!” moaned Rose. “That feels so-”
The door opened. Shield Maiden stepped into the room in midconversation with Rain Dancer, only realizing her intrusive mistake after it was too late.
“Sorry, bad timing!” she said quickly. “Rain Dancer just had a question for Rose. We didn’t realize…”
Rain Dancer leaned against the room’s doorframe with a smile on his face that Malcolm didn’t like the look of.
“My question has already been answered, you know?” He stared at Rose, who brought an arm up to cover her breasts. “I’ll see you both tomorrow. Ms. Shadow Spryte… Wind Runner.”
Rain Dancer and Shield Maiden left the room. Malcolm sighed and looked up at Rose, who was blushing fiercely.
“What was that about?” asked Malcolm.
Rose leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.
“Does it matter?” she whispered. “How about you let me finish what I started?”
Malcolm gave her butt a squeeze, and felt her slowly grind herself up to speed.
CHAPTER 18
Malcolm awoke the next morning to the sound of chanting coming from down the hall. Rose was asleep against him in bed, and he gently jostled her awake.
“Hey,” he whispered. “Wake up time.”
Rose groaned.
“Please tell me we’re in your apartment, and all of yesterday was just a dream,” she said, voice groggy.
“Unfortunately not,” said Malcolm. “But if we stay on guard, we’ll be out of here soon enough.”
She nodded, and the two of them dressed quickly. Malcolm decided that there was no point in waiting for Shield Maiden or Rain Dancer to come to their room to summon them. Instead they both headed out of their room and down the hall, towards the commotion.
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br /> The Awakened Children were gathered for breakfast, but it looked like they were chanting some kind of hymn before digging in. Malcolm recognized the tune of it immediately, and almost couldn’t believe it.
“What?” asked Rose, noticing his smile. “I take it you find this funny.
“The song,” said Malcolm. “That’s Drive, by Incubus. 90s rock.”
“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried, you know?” Rain Dancer walked up behind him and Rose, with Shield Maiden following not far behind.
“That’s… my line,” said Malcolm. He didn’t elaborate any more than that.
It’s probably better if I don’t let them know that their cult is serenading me with the music of my focus activity.
“Wind Runner,” said Shield Maiden. “I’d like to spend some time with you alone today, if you don’t mind.”
“Uh…” Malcolm glanced over at Rose. “Can you elaborate on that, a little? You’ve got some vague phrasing going on.”
Shield Maiden looked unamused.
“I wish to get a better sense of the extent of your powers,” said Shield Maiden. “And also to speak with you about a few… serious matters. We’ll be going outside Underworld. Rain, can you help with that?”
Rain Dancer grinned. He walked over to Malcolm and extended his hand as though to shake his. Instead of making contact with his palm, he gripped Malcolm’s stabilizer and sent a quick, electric pulse through it.
“There,” said Rain Dancer. “Now it will stay cooked even when you’re out of my range. Probably for the best, ya?”
Malcolm stared at him in stunned silence. He wasn’t interested in giving Rain Dancer and the Awakened Children any inside, champion only information, but the urge to tear the demon down for what he’d just done was near overwhelming.
There is a bomb inside my stabilizer. A bomb that he very well could have just set off.
“Oh, thanks,” said Malcolm, flatly. “Is Rose coming along, too?”
“Rain and I spoke about it last night,” said Shield Maiden. “We think it would be prudent of us to allow her some… personal time. With her sister.”
Wind Runner: The Complete Collection Page 26
