by C. M. Lance
The medallion across the room rose above the peg until the chain slid free. He gestured at it and it sped toward him. The trolls halted in front of the cell. One noticed his gesture and turned to look. The medallion flew by his head. He reached for it, and missed. It sped into Sig′s raised hand with a smack. Ahhh, it felt good.
"Hey, what are you doing? Give me that."
He backed against the wall and muttered "Aðalbrandr." The ceiling rushed down at him. He ducked.
When he straightened, his head touched the roof. The trolls gazed up at him. Their jaws hung slack. One grunted, "Huh?"
With his sword, Sig sliced through the door lock. The door swung open. A troll pushed it back. Sig kicked it open. It hit the troll and he bounced back two steps.
Sig ducked under the door casing and sheathed his sword over his shoulder before straightening up. The ceiling was higher here.
He wanted to feel it when he hit them. Is this what battle rage felt like?
One troll rushed him with a roar. Sig stepped to the side and drove his knuckles into its neck as it surged past. It dropped to its hands and knees and bounced back up.
The next one grabbed for him and Sig leaned back and snapped a sidekick into its face. Its nose squashed and the creature stumbled back three steps before it fell down. The first troll jumped on his back, wrapping one arm around Sig′s neck, and pummeled him in the head with the other. It felt like being hit with a large rock.
Sig backpedaled and slammed the troll on his back into the rock wall opposite the cell bars. Its grip loosened when its head smacked the wall, but he didn′t let go. Sig grabbed the troll by a pant leg and pulled both legs up and around. Spinning to where the fallen troll was getting up, he smacked it in its damaged face with both of his brother′s massive feet.
It staggered back. Sig flipped forward, twisting in the air to land on the troll clinging to his back. As he landed, he drove his elbow into the troll′s chest. Something gave and a gust of fetid air blasted out.
Sig rolled out of its relaxed grip and kipped to his feet in time to block a kick and then two roundhouse punches from the standing troll. He snapped two quick jabs into the troll′s already damaged face. It staggered back and dropped to one knee, catching its balance with a hand on the wall.
This was fun. These hulks were so big they never had to learn how to fight.
He spun back to the other. It had managed to pull itself upright and charged again. It wasn′t very smart but it was persistent. Sig bicycled his legs in the air. The troll bent to block the first, lower kick and received the heel of the second foot in the middle of his face. Its face pulped and he landed on his back, head snapping back on the flagstones with a smack. Blood streamed from its nose and mouth.
The other pushed up from its knee. Sig grabbed an arm and whirled, throwing it head first into the cell bars. The bars bent apart as its bullet-shaped head pushed through. It slid down until its neck lodged where the bars came back together. That troll had one hard head.
Sig turned to where the other troll had rolled over and tried to rise from the floor. This wasn′t as much fun as he′d hoped. They didn′t take as much punishment as he expected. If he′d known, he wouldn′t have hit them so hard, to make it last longer.
The troll pushed up to its hands and knees. Its head shook and blood sprayed. Sig grabbed the troll by the collar and pants, took three quick steps, and rammed its head between the bars next to the other troll. When he let go, it slid down until its head lodged. Sig stood sideways, grabbed two bent bars and heaved, pulling one bar toward him and pressing the other away. The bars squeaked as he forced them back together so the troll couldn′t get his head out by standing up. He did the same for the other troll.
Now he didn′t have to worry about trolls at his back while he figured out how to get out of here. He walked toward the hall outside the chamber. He didn′t know what he′d find out there.
Sig bent forward, pulled the sword out of the holster on his back, and stuck his head through the doorway into the hallway. He looked both ways. No one hid beside the wall. The hallway stretched ahead for sixty feet. Doors lined both sides with a door at the far end of the hall. Next to his doorway, a small table held his wallet, keys, and cellphone. He tried to dial his cellphone with fingers that were too big. Worry about that later.
The first closed door on the right was locked. The next door stood open. He looked in, but the smell and the sight before him almost made him lose the lasagna he′d eaten. A bloody cloth lay in the corner by the door. Bones, some still with meat attached were scattered around the room.
Sig picked up the cloth, shook it out, and dropped it. A frilly dress. He backed out and shut the door. Leaning against the wall, he threw up.
The next door hid an empty room. He considered checking the doors on the other side of the hall, but decided to continue on this side and come back if needed. The fourth doorway revealed a stairway leading upward. A closed door stood at the top.
He climbed the steps, placing his feet close to the wall to prevent squeaking. At the top, he tried the handle. It was unlocked. He pushed the door open and waited. Nothing happened. It led to a storage area. Shelves lined the walls and a row ran down the middle of the room. An identical door stood next to the one from the steps. When he checked, he discovered that it concealed heating and cooling machinery.
Another door stood across the storeroom.
It opened onto a large, lushly carpeted, wood paneled recreation room. Immediately to the left of the door sat a shuffleboard table. The room also contained two card tables, a billiards table, three pinball machines, and a dartboard hanging on the wall. Across the room, a doublewide doorway stood open to a hallway. Exiting the game room, he saw a window set high in the wall at the end of the hallway. Outside, the lower part of bushes spread. He must be in a basement. The trolls occupied a subbasement. He thought of the dungeon in Mom′s vision.
The doorway marked a transition from thick, sound deadening carpet to a marble floor. He tiptoed across the floor to a marble stairway leading up. It had a marble stair rail and a wide maroon carpet runner running up the middle. Listening carefully as he ascended, he didn′t hear any sounds.
It opened to a magnificent foyer at the top. Expansive and tastefully furnished, he didn′t know what he expected, but this wasn′t it.
Anticlimactic. He could imagine torture instruments or a rack perhaps, but not a large floral arrangement in a Chinese vase, atop an ornately carved antique sideboard. They were fresh flowers too. He smelled Stargazer lilies, one of Mom′s favorites.
Not wanting to stick around and see what other surprises awaited he tiptoed to the front door. It wasn′t locked. He ducked through the doorway and saw that landscape lighting illuminated the manicured grounds to show them to best effect. He and Rick had eaten dinner at twilight.
He jogged across the lawn to the double gate blocking the driveway. Should he force it open? Hell yes, after the way he′d been treated. He sliced through the hinges on one side. The gate leaned. It fell outward with an echoing boom when he shoved. He sheathed his sword and walked across the fallen gate.
In the street, he looked both ways and didn′t see anyone. He glanced back at the house before he laid his wallet and cellphone on the ground. Someday he′d have to find out if everything on him vanished when he changed, but not today.
He said "Koma aftur." The standing gate appeared to grow. Real estate ads would classify the house behind it as an estate.
He retrieved his wallet and phone. Crap, almost two a.m. and he hadn′t picked up the professor. Nothing he could do about it now, on foot, but where was he? Was he even still in Chicago? He turned on the GPS and brought up Maps. He played with it for a moment and finally determined the address of the estate. He saved it for future reference.
He dialed Rick from his Favorites list.
"He… Hello?" Rick sounded blurry.
"Rick it′s me. Can you pick me up?
"Sig? Where are you
?"
Sig gave him the address. He heard a metallic bang.
"Man, I′m in the back of your Jeep. What am I doing here?"
"In the back of my Jeep?"
"Oh, now I remember. That big Moldovan kicked my ass tonight. I could barely hold my arm up. My eyes kept closing. After I lost, I couldn′t find you. I staggered out to your Jeep and lay down in back to wait for you. Now you′re calling me. Why are you calling me, why aren′t you here to drive us home? Where is that address?" He sounded unfocused.
"I′m not sure. It looks like a real nice part of town."
"I′m still up at the Game Room. I don′t have keys to your Jeep."
"OK, you′ll have to lie on the ground in back; reach up to the top of my hitch receiver, there′s a magnetic box, with a spare key in it. I don′t know how long it will take you to get here. I′m going to start walking. I don′t want to stay where I am."
"I thought you said it was a nice neighborhood?"
"I said it looks like a nice neighborhood, but I know better."
"Got the box. The key′s in it. Is it or isn′t it a nice neighborhood?"
"I′ll let you be the judge when you get here. I′m walking. Call you when I get somewhere."
He disconnected and walked toward the nearest streetlight, then the next, and the next. Passing the fourth, he pulled up Favorites again and dialed the Professor.
"Sigurd, where are you? I waited and finally took a limo home from the airport. I′m in it now. Unoccupied limos are scarce after midnight. Are you all right?"
"I′m not sure where I am. I′m walking down a neighborhood street. I just parted company with a couple of trolls who held me captive. They took my amulet, but I managed to get it back and escape. I feel like I′m babbling."
"You′re doing fine, but it sounds like a terrible experience. What can I do?"
"I think I′m OK now. I′m getting away from the vicinity of the trolls. I′m not worried about them, but I don′t know where their Master Wizard is. Rick′s on his way to get me. I′ll call and let you know when he arrives. Then I′ll come home and tell you all about it."
"Call me if you need anything. I′ll see you soon."
"It can′t be too soon." He disconnected.
Sig parked the Jeep at the Professor′s front steps and shook Rick awake. Rick had asked Sig to drive when he picked him up, since he almost fell asleep twice on the way over. Sig′s second phone call to let Rick know his new location woke him once and luckily, he woke up the second time just in time to prevent a crash.
Sig no longer felt the affects of whatever knocked them out as Rick did. Maybe it had to do with his changing into Battle Wizard shape.
The Professor bustled about the kitchen preparing hot tea. Oatmeal raisin cookies sat on the table. Rick declined and asked if he could lie down in the library.
The Professors eyes widened. "That is completely uncharacteristic. Come sit down."
Rick sat in the kitchen chair. "I′m really not hungry, maybe if you have some coffee?"
"I′m not going to force you to eat. Sit here and relax. Will you let me see if someone cast a spell on you?"
"If I relax I may fall asleep."
"That′s perfectly acceptable. I′ll wake you when I′m done." He walked around the chair, placed his hands on Rick′s shoulders, and muttered something unintelligible. He closed his eyes and muttered something else. He lifted his hands off Rick′s shoulders and moved them upwards, tracing Rick′s head, not quite touching.
He shook his head and walked around in front of Rick, his fingertip characteristically stroking his mustache. Rick leaned his head back to see him through drooping eyelids. He snapped them open but they drooped again. Professor Herman reached out, raised Rick′s chin, and looked into his eyes. He released his face and stepped back. "No magic. From the reaction of your pupils, I would guess a drug.
"Of course, if it is the kind of magic which I suspect holds Sig′s talents hostage, I couldn′t tell. But I don′t believe it is."
"I just want to lie down."
"Take the guest bedroom you usually use."
"I don′t want to dirty your sheets or cause any trouble."
"That isn′t a problem. The faeries will take care of cleaning the room."
"Fairies? What kind?"
"The domestic kind. You can sleep without concern. We have a special arrangement. They take care of the house and I take care of them."
Rick got up and trudged to the stairway.
Sig watched him go. "I hope he makes it to the bedroom."
"It must have been a powerful drug if it affects a Were like that." He turned to Sig. "Tell me what happened."
Sig described what he remembered. The Professor listened intently without questions. A look of great sorrow filled his face when Sig described finding the frilly dress.
"Can you find the house again?"
"We have to. They said he′s going to get another little girl before the full moon. We have to stop him."
"We have time. I believe that the full moon is a week away. Rick will know for sure. Can you find the house?"
Sig held up his phone. "I′ve got the address stored in my GPS."
"Let′s write it down, just in case. The trolls said Dmitri is their brother and his father is their Master?"
"Yes, and I got the feeling they didn′t like Dmitri or their mother."
"Understandable, troll mothers aren′t known for nurturing natures. In some troll species, the females are larger and more ferocious than the males."
"I don′t think I want to meet one."
"Would you care to take a ride?"
"Now?"
"Yes, I′d like to find the house."
"Tonight?"
"No time like the present."
"OK, but what about Rick."
"He′ll be fine here and I don′t believe he would provide assistance. He′s asleep on his feet."
"Let′s go. I want to see it again."
Sig felt disappointment when Professor Herman bypassed garage door number one, which hid the Maybach. Dissatisfaction vanished when the Professor opened garage door number two on a 911 Porsche Cabriolet Turbo. Professor Herman smiled over at Sig as they climbed in. "It′s a nice night. I only drive this when I can leave the top down, otherwise I don′t fit."
Sig folded into the seat and looked over to see that the hat the Professor had donned projected above the windshield frame. The Professors knees stuck up as if a grasshopper was driving the sports car. "Your legs don′t quite fit either."
"Learning to endure tribulations builds character." He placed the car in reverse, let out the clutch, and swung the car around on the expansive parking apron. He pressed the opener for the front gate, shifted into first gear, and accelerated down the curving driveway. They passed through the still opening gates and flicked a right turn onto the street. It felt like the car rode on rails.
Both Sig and the Professor had silly smiles as they rocketed around the next turn. It was almost three a.m. and traffic was sparse.
They sped onto Hwy. 94 and accelerated. Sig watched the speedometer and saw it pass one hundred and fifty miles per hour. He guessed that his expression mirrored the joy on the Professor′s face. Over the wind noise he shouted, "Aren′t you concerned about cops?"
The Professor grinned back and shouted. "They won′t notice us. A little trick I use to avoid speeding tickets."
"I′ve got to learn that trick."
With their exit flying toward them, the Professor flipped the steering wheel to the right. Sig pressed his hands on the dashboard to counter the rapid deceleration. At a more normal rate, they approached an affluent residential area.
Sig pointed to a house as they slowly cruised by. "That′s it sitting back there on the hill." Low lighting still illuminated the clipped and polished landscape.
At the end of the long cul-de-sac, they made a U-turn. The Professor stopped at the entrance where one gate still lay in the driveway. "Let′s check it out."
He climbed out of the car. Sig hesitated. "I′ve been here already. You go ahead."
"I need you with me to check something. Please come."
Sig climbed out and they walked toward the gates. The Professor stepped over the fallen one, but recoiled when he tried to walk through the opening. He stepped back. "Will you enter, please?"
"Been there, done that." Sig walked over the gate and into the estate.
"Fine, now come back, change, and try it again."
"OK, but, like I said, I′ve already done it."
He repeated his entry as a Battle Wizard while the Professor watched. "All right, let′s go home."
Sig changed back, climbed into the car and they headed home.
"May I understand what we accomplished back there?"
"We ascertained that the estate is heavily warded against magic. When I tried to enter, it hindered my progress as if I were immersed in a vat of Gelatin. Additionally, I sensed magical alarms activate. Correct any misapprehension I may have, but I believe that you entered the estate as a human and a Battle Wizard without any impediment and I didn′t sense any alarms associated with your ingress. The wards don′t sense your magic. You operate in stealth mode when faced with magical wards, if that′s not too humorous to say about a nine-foot Battle Wizard."
"Mom would never believe it. Sometimes she calls me Bull — like bull-in-a-china-shop."
"Not uncommon in growing boys. I recognize this house."
"You′ve been here before?"
"Once, two years ago I attended a reception for the Physics department here. It′s Dean Heathcoat′s estate."
Sig, Giselle, and the Professor met the next morning in the Professor′s office. As they sat down, Rick knocked and poked his head in the door. "Excuse me. I just wanted to let you know that I managed to wake up and make it to work today, Professor. Thanks for letting me stay the night. Whatever I had really knocked me out last night."
"If you have the time, I′d like to have you sit in with us. You were involved last night and it will save me time since I′ll need to fill you in later anyway," Sig said.
