by N M Thorn
Kal chuckled. “I didn’t ask you to revert. You have everything you need at your fingertips, my boy. You have the power. Just like Mrak said, you’ve become more powerful than I could ever imagine. Now open your mind… sense that fire that is not only within you… but the fire that you are. As cliché as it sounds – allow yourself to be free. Be yourself and burn these goddamn restraints off your body.”
Feeling lost, Gunz slid down from the table, opening himself to the flow of the elemental power. Nothing came. The gray stones suppressed every scrap of magic or Fire power he had. It seemed like the jewelry Kal used was a lot stronger than the one Kogan used. He touched the collar on his neck and felt something wet under his fingers. He glanced at his fingertips stained with his blood and raised his eyes at the Master of Power.
“This jewelry is a lot stronger than the one the low life slavers used on you,” explained Mrak Delar. “I built these myself. And I can guarantee – you can burn them out. Now, stop trying to channel the Fire. Be the Fire.”
“When I get out of these restraints, remind me to kill you, Mrak Delar,” said Gunz miserably.
“Sure I will, but only after you become the Fire.” Mrak Delar laughed, giving him a quick tap on the shoulder and walked back to Kal to give him some space.
Gunz closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, clearing his mind. Be the fire… Easy to say. What the hell is that supposed to mean?
He thought for a moment and then instead of channeling the elemental Fire, he connected with the small flame that always burned in his heart. He lowered his head and through the prism of his power, looked at his chest. He could see the fire flowing through him.
Gunz focused on his flaming heart and let go of his control, allowing the Fire to take him over. In a way it felt similar to the way he felt when he reverted into the natural state of the Fire Salamander and yet it was different. There was no elemental energy blast. There was only the Fire – the most powerful element in its full glory. Burning bright like thousands of suns, he spread his arms wide, enjoying the overwhelming feeling of his own strength, power, and absolute freedom.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Mrak Delar surrounding him with a power shield to contain his fire and he laughed. He didn’t know why he found it amusing. The way he felt at the moment was beyond comprehension. Then he remembered the gray stone jewelry and in his current state, it seemed like an unimportant, insignificant nuisance. He redirected fire toward his neck, wrists and ankles and a heartbeat later, the gray stone jewelry was gone, evaporated, destroyed by the Fire.
Kal walked through the shield and gently touched his shoulder. Gunz turned his igneous gaze at him and smiled.
“Father… it’s incredible.”
Kal chuckled softly. “Yes, it is. But you shouldn’t stay in this state too long. Now, control your Fire and come back to me, my boy.”
It was harder than he thought it would be. It wasn’t hard for him to get the Fire under control. It was hard to part with the feeling of power and freedom. Nonetheless, he suppressed the Fire, returning back to his human form. The gray stone jewelry was gone and the weakness, dizziness and soreness were gone with it.
He stood, breathing hard, staring at Kal and Mrak Delar. They exchanged a look and hooted with laughter.
“You should see your face right now,” Mrak Delar finally managed to say. “If you’re ready, you can try and kill me now.”
Gunz chuckled, shaking his head no. “I think I want to keep you around for the next few hundred years, Mrak.”
Kal smiled, listening to them joking. “I’m just glad to have you back,” he said finally, his voice sounding deeper than usual. “No one can ever enslave my children and live to see another day. Do you understand me, my boy? Never again!”
Gunz ran his fingers over his neck and smiled. “Never again.”
Epilogue
Two weeks later
~ Aidan ~
The shrilling ring of his cell phone rudely ripped Aidan out of his dream. He jolted up, wildly searching the dark room for the source of the sound. The phone was ringing and vibrating angrily on top of the coffee table and just now Aidan realized that he had fallen asleep in his living room.
The last two weeks since his return from California had been nonstop work. Even though Uri had done his best taking care of his school, there was a lot that needed to be done and Angel’s state of mind wasn’t doing Aidan any favors. Even though he explained everything to him, Angel wasn’t in a forgiving mood, constantly getting back to the subject of Mrak Delar and his so-called betrayal. And as soon as Chernobog had arrived and asked for Angel’s help to search for other dark souls that Morena let out of the Dark Nav, Angel jumped on this task and disappeared.
Theron had decided to stay in South Florida and Aidan offered him work in his school. He was a sweet guy and loved kids, but he needed a lot of training in everything, including how to keep his true nature under control and well-hidden at all times.
On top of all that, he had to help Jim and Zane. With both of them gone for a while, the city was in a state of supernatural turmoil. Every night, he came home exhausted and last night, apparently, he hadn’t made it to his bed but fell asleep on his couch.
He grabbed the phone, almost dropping it, and swiped the screen from left to right, answering the call.
“Hello?” His voice was sleepy and hoarse.
“Mr. McGrath?”
Aidan recognized the voice of the Guardians’ Archmage and a feeling of unease spread through him. Archmage Allerton was calling him, not summoning him.
“Yes,” he replied, pressing the phone tighter to his ear as if he was afraid to drop it.
“Mr. McGrath, sorry for the late call, but we have an urgent situation,” he said, his voice gruff and tired. “I could have summoned you, of course, but I prefer not to do it. The headache it gives is a bitch. Especially in the middle of the night.”
“Yes, thank you for that, Mr. Allerton,” replied Aidan, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. “What’s your emergency and how can I help?”
“Well, Mr. McGrath, I’m sorry I have to do this to you, but I need you here, in the Guardians HQ as soon as possible,” he said, a vibe of discomfort in his voice. “It’s important.”
“Fine,” replied Aidan, rising off the couch. “Give me thirty minutes and send Jamie Coldwell to meet me at the gates.”
Thirty minutes later, Aidan was at the gates of the Guardians HQ. Jamie stood outside the gate with his car. As soon as Aidan materialized, he opened the backdoor of the car, offering to Aidan to get in.
“I’ll ride with you, upfront,” objected Aidan, getting into the front passenger seat.
Jamie opened the gate and got into the car, slowly driving through the property.
“Is there anything I should know, Jamie?” Aidan asked, staring at the approaching building of the Guardians HQ. “Anything you can tell me.”
“Mr. McGrath,” started Jamie and choked, falling silent.
The sound of his voice and the look of sympathy on his face made Aidan want to run and to be as far away as possible from this place that brought nothing but pain to him.
“Jamie, what happened?”
“I don’t know,” replied the young man. “I’m just a guard. But I believe it’s about your Tessa. I haven’t seen her in lessons for the last couple of weeks and yesterday there was a closed assembly of the Guardians Council.”
“Dammit,” muttered Aidan, slightly lightheaded as the world around him crashed.
Jamie stopped the car in front of the Guardians HQ building and rushed around to open the door for Aidan. He walked out of the car and followed the guard inside, hardly registering anything around him. He was expecting to be escorted to the Assembly Hall, but Jamie walked him through the long corridor and knocked on the door of the Archmage Allerton’s personal study.
The guard opened the door for him, and Aidan walked inside. Quinn Allerton got up greeting him and waved at an empty chair, offe
ring him to sit down.
“Mr. McGrath, I called you here in the middle of the night because Tessa is missing,” said the Archmage without any preamble. “She left the Guardians HQ without notifying anyone and as such she broke a few major rules. Nevertheless, it’s not her rule breaking that worries me. The real problem is that we don’t know where she is. Even her friend Missi has no idea. We can’t sense her magical signature or presence anywhere within this realm.”
Aidan got up, opening himself up to the full flow of his power, illuminating the room with a brilliant light. He rose up and for a few seconds silence lingered in the air. Then he lowered himself on the floor and fell into the chair.
“I can’t sense her neither in this realm nor in the Otherworld,” said Aidan. What the hell did she do now? Why didn’t she call me? “When did you say she disappeared?”
“Two and a half weeks ago,” said the Archmage. “Why?”
“She didn’t call me,” said Aidan, shaking his head. “And now I know why. She probably tried, but I was unavailable – locked within the God’s snare in Novak’s facility. Dammit!” He slammed his hand on the desk, breaking it in two.
The desk collapsed and all the paperwork spilled on the floor, followed by the stationary office phone. Luckily, the Archmage didn’t have a computer on his desk. Quinn Allerton hopped to his feet, knocking his chair on the floor.
“Jeez, the way you look, Mr. McGrath, I forget that you’re an ancient god with the strength and powers of an ancient god,” he exhaled, staring down at the two pieces of his demolished desk.
“I’m sorry, sir,” mumbled Aidan uncomfortably. “I’ll pay for the damage.”
“That won’t be necessary,” objected the Archmage dryly. “I called you here because I need you to find Tessa. She’s grown extremely powerful, yet she’s not in control of her power. And we’re talking about the power of a god. The god of Thunder to boot! The consequences could be disastrous should she lose control of her power.”
“Any idea on why she left and where she could have gone?”
“No. We asked everyone she was friendly with and no one knew anything.” Quinn Allerton shook his head. “Mr. McGrath, I don’t need to remind you—”
“You don’t need to remind me of anything,” Aidan interrupted him, rising. “I’ll find her. Can I count on the Guardians’ help, in case I need it?”
“Of course, Mr. McGrath,” replied the Archmage with a sugary smile. He approached Aidan and tapped with his finger on the silver pendant on his chest. “As a loyal member of the Guardian Order you can always count on our support. And judging by the situation with Tessa, you’ll be a member of our Order for quite some time.”
Aidan held his breath, counting in his mind to ten and back and then smiled icily. “It’s late, Mr. Allerton, and as much as I enjoyed our little chat, it’s time for me to go. I will notify you as soon as I hear anything about Tessa’s whereabouts.”
Without waiting for Allerton’s approval, he inclined his head slightly and left the office.
Same night
~ Zane Burns, a.k.a. Gunz ~
Two swords collided with a loud metallic clang and steel sung as blades slid against each other all the way to their guards. A few sparks emerged from under the blades, shining brightly in the surrounding night.
The vampire’s eyes, glowing with a dim scarlet light, were just a few inches away from Gunz’s face. Yaroslav applied some pressure on his blade, pushing Gunz back and quickly switched his position, making him lose his balance and fall to one knee.
Yaroslav laughed and pulled away, allowing Gunz to regroup. Gunz chuckled, wiping perspiration off his forehead and got up, heavily leaning on his sword.
“You’re getting better, Zane,” noted Yaroslav, sheathing his sword.
“Thanks, Slavik, it’s nice of you to say that,” he replied, shaking his head. “I don’t think I’ll ever get to your level. You’re the only person besides your mother who can give a hard time to Mrak Delar and his black sword.”
“You’re not as bad as you think,” objected Yaroslav with a half-shrug.
“I didn’t say I was bad. I said you were better.” Gunz laughed, heading toward the house. “Po malenkoj?” he asked, tapping on his neck in a Russian drinking gesture and motioned at Yaroslav to follow him.
“Po malenkoj?” repeated the vampire, grinning. “Sure, I’ll take a shot.”
They walked into the kitchen and Yaroslav sat down, tapping his long fingers on top of the table. Gunz brought two shot glasses and filled them with vodka to the brim. The harsh smell of alcohol reached the vampire’s sensitive nose and he grimaced, picking up his shot glass.
“It’s been a while,” he said wrinkling his nose. “I always hated the smell though.”
Gunz lifted his shot glass, clinking it with Yaroslav’s.
“Nu, poehali,” he said, downing the vodka in one gulp.
“Let’s go,” agreed Yaroslav, repeating the same statement in English and emptied the shot glass.
“Can you still speak Russian?” asked Gunz, playing with his empty shot glass.
“I can understand, but I’ve been told that I speak funny,” replied Yaroslav, brushing his long hair off his face. “I was just twenty when Akira turned me and took me away from my home. I think I speak Japanese a lot better than I speak Russian.”
Gunz nodded and leaned back in his chair relaxing.
“Where is Aidan?” asked Yaroslav, also reclining in his chair, stretching his long legs.
“Probably with his crew, patrolling the city,” replied Gunz absentmindedly. “I’m usually out there with them, but today I took some time off to practice my sword skills with you.”
“I wish I could join you and Aidan,” mused Yaroslav. “But I’m not sure if Aidan and his crew would approve.”
“Why wouldn’t they? You’re fast and strong, and your fighting skills are superior to most fighters I know.”
“Vampire, remember? He’s a god. He may not like working alongside with someone like me.”
“Aidan?” Gunz smirked, shaking his head. “He’s not that kind of a god. He doesn’t discriminate. Trust me. He’d love to have you by his side. Plus if he has someone new to torment during his martial arts lessons, maybe he’ll get off my case.”
Yaroslav nodded and his eyes slowly drifted from him to the dark square of the window where a small vial filled with a thick clear liquid sat on the counter. Gunz followed the direction of his friend’s gaze and tensed.
“I thought you disposed of it,” said Yaroslav quietly.
“I was going to…” Gunz bit his lip, avoiding the vampire’s eyes. “I couldn’t.”
“You have to, Zane. This is the kind of temptation you don’t need,” said Yaroslav, frowning. “You know that you can’t even think about using it.”
“I know,” replied Gunz miserably. “I wasn’t planning to. Just—”
“Zane, listen to me,” said Yaroslav leaning forward, his voice a low growl. “Even the slightest thoughts of using it are dangerous. If you separate Angie’s essence from Zmey’s, you’ll free not only her but also the Lord of Chaos. And to get her out, you’ll have to open the coffin. I know you’re hurt and grieving, but consider the consequences, my friend.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Gunz slammed his hand on the table, everything inside him twisting with pain. Then he took a deep breath. Yaroslav was his friend and he was just trying to help. “I know that, Slavik, and I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize the safety of this world. I just want to keep it. It’s like a ray of hope for me, you know? If Novak… um… Rasputin was able to create this elixir, maybe there is something else out there that would allow me to bring her back without any consequences.”
“Magic always has consequences,” objected Yaroslav softly. He got up and headed toward the backdoor. “Just be careful.”
He was gone before the door closed behind him. It seemed like he just soundlessly melted into the darkness.
“Vampires…” muttered Gunz. “When is he going to learn leaving at normal speed. Him and Akira, both…”
For a moment, he stood there, staring at the vial. Then he shoved it in the pocket of his jeans and waved his hand, unfolding the fire curtain of his portal.
Gunz walked out of his portal outside the protective circle of magic that was surrounding Mount Karasova. The desire to be as far away from here as possible overwhelmed him. He grunted, knowing perfectly well that what he felt was the result of the “turn away” spell the Guardians were casting over the large area around the Mount.
He touched the magical dome, sending some of his fire energy through it and a middle-aged man materialized in front of him. He threw one look at Gunz and frowned.
“Mr. Burns, you shouldn’t be here,” he said dryly. “Not again.”
“You’re right, Jasper. I shouldn’t be here, but this is the last time,” promised Gunz peacefully, raising his hand up. “I swear.”
Jasper sighed. “I understand. Your beloved is buried there, and you need some kind of closure, but believe me, coming here all the time is not going to help you move on. And that’s what you need to do. It’s been a year, Zane…”
“Jasper, let me through, please,” pleaded Gunz quietly, but his body stiffened as he forced his aggravation under control. “I swear, I’m here to say my goodbyes. I’m not coming back ever again.”
“Fine. Last time.” Jasper touched the protective dome, opening a small door for Gunz. “I’m going to leave this door opened, so you can open your portal home straight from the Mount. I hope I’m not going to see you any time soon, Zane.”
Gunz passed through the protective dome and kept walking without looking back. The vial with the elixir was pressing against his leg and he was trying not to think about what he was going to do once he got inside the cave. He knew he couldn’t use it, but at the same time, he felt like he was betraying Angelique.
