Defender of Magic

by Martha Carr

  "We already know all of this."

  "Sirius is in town, planning something."'

  Leira sat up straighter. "I suspected as much. It's not a secret where I'm living."

  "Yeah, your wards on this house are impressive. But I'm not sure they're going to be enough. They're taking their time planning this one. And, Wolfstan has it for you bad. If he recruited Sirius..."

  "Then there might be others. The thought has occurred to me."

  Louie wiped his hands on a dish towel. "Here's where you see how valuable I am to the team." He pulled out the drawstring bag and opened it, easing out the geode. "It's an artifact with Sirius' magic contained in it." Louie bobbed his head in excitement, rolling his eyes when Leira didn't react.

  "I'm sensing this is a really good thing."

  "Sometimes I forget how new you are to the magic of it all." He sat back down at the table and held the geode out for her, waving his other hand around enthusiastically. "In our world, this is as good as a GPS if we can get within a hundred miles of Sirius. Yeah? Now you get it."

  Leira picked up the geode and felt the buzz of magic passing through it.

  "But wait, there's more. A possible bonus. If we use something called the trapping spell at the same moment as Sirius or Wolfstan does and Sirius is within range of this geode, it will also locate Wolfstan."

  "Will they know someone has tracked them?"

  Louie shook his head. "No fucking way."

  "You are brilliant," said Leira, hugging Louie around his neck. "You know, this is the second time you've brought me an artifact that just might save my life."

  "Just doing my job, ma'am."

  "Now show me how to find Sirius and the trapping spell."

  Leira sat in the darkened kitchen alone holding the geode. "No time like the present." She centered herself, breathing in deeply and letting it out, holding the geode in her hand. Energy flowed in through her feet and up through her body, lighting up the symbols along her arms. She set an intention letting her stream of magic seek out the energy contained in the stone. "Find the source," she sang into the geode, the two threads of magic intertwining and flowing together.

  The energy flowed back and forth, looking for its source, but there was no sign of Sirius.

  "Try again," Leira whispered fervently in the darkness. "He's here somewhere."

  Again, the magic sped over the ground, searching everywhere but retreated, coming back with nothing.

  Leira felt her heart sink, wondering if the geode was just a pretty rock.

  Her phone buzzed on the table and she looked up at the clock. Five a.m., not even dawn. "What is with this night? Hello Hagan, what's up? It's even earlier where you are."

  "You had better get here. There's something happening on the outskirts of the sanctuary. The Gardener's alarms picked it up and he sent out some birds or drones, I don't know. There's a small army building up out there and there's a familiar silver-haired wizard at the front of the pack."

  A chill settled in Leira's bones. The geode may not have worked, but she knew where Sirius was in that moment.

  "You'd better hurry. Harkin keeps talking about going out there with the Gardener, but I don't think they're enough to fight off that pack. I've called Lois and she had a few choice words to say about her brother. I think she wants to take him out herself. She's letting Lacey Trader know, but it looks bad."

  "What about Rose?"

  Hagan's voice cracked, the first time Leira had ever heard that and it broke her heart.

  "If something happens to her because I took her to this place..."

  "We won't let that happen. Put her somewhere safe. We are all on our way. Sirius is trying to pick a fight. Let's give him one and cut off Wolfstan, at least from the Dark Families."

  "Hurry kid."

  "I'm almost there. I just need to grab Correk and Yumfuck."

  Chapter Twenty

  Leira stepped through the portal two hundred feet to the right of the assembled witches and wizards from the Dark Families, flanking them. Correk slipped through next with the troll on his shoulder, pulling the portal closed and stepping on any sparks. They were hidden by a thin stand of trees with a clear view of the congregation gathered at the base of the hill that lead up to the sanctuary. "There looks to be about a hundred of them and it's the old guard. I don't see many young witches or wizards with them," said Correk, crouching behind the tree. His longbow was strapped to his back and a sword tied at his waist.

  "Where did he find enough of the older dark forces to follow him?"

  "Sirius lead the families for a very long time. There were bound to be those still loyal to him. It doesn't matter what he's done. They still believe him when he says he will help them keep their rightful place."

  "Lois got in touch with Lacey Trader. The Silver Griffins are coming in force. But Sirius had to know this would be our response, and there are very powerful wards around this place. What makes him look so confident?"

  "Arrogance to begin with, but there's an even bigger question. How did they find this place? Wolfstan Humphrey has to be helping them."

  "We may not be taking him seriously enough if he can do this." Leira ducked down as the crowd looked up at a crack of thunder. Clouds gathered overhead, darkening the sky. "Lois said to wait for the signal and we would know it when we saw it." Yumfuck jumped from Correk's shoulder and came to stand by Leira, resting a paw on her shoe. "This waiting is not easy," she said.

  The air shimmered next to them and a portal began to open. Correk pulled out an arrow but Leira stopped him. "By the way, I reached out to one more person before we left."

  A portal opened just wide enough for Jackson to step through. Mara and Eireka were hard on his heels, followed by Louie.

  "You brought Mom and Nana?" hissed Leira.

  "I'm gonna assume you aren’t worried about me because you know I’m a badass," said Louie.

  "We would have skewered him from stem to stern if he had left us out and you were in danger," said Mara. "It took a bit of doing to get us all in the same room and figure out the coordinates, but baby girl when you need us, we will always come running. Where's Harkin?"

  "He's inside the sanctuary, protecting it from that side," said Correk.

  "Do we know if they can even breach the place?" asked Eireka, squeezing Leira's hand.

  "We don't but we have to assume they have something."

  "How did they find it?" asked Jackson, kissing Leira on the top of her head.

  "I suspect Wolfstan has a way of tracking Harkin," said Leira, looking at Louie. "I have a hunch Wolfstan has something with Harkin’s magic in his possession.”

  “That would be a fine piece of irony,” said Louie.

  “We can work on that problem after this one."

  "Look," said Louie, "something's happening."

  Sirius waved a new hickory wand, putting his hand up to shush the group. He stepped forward, lightning flashing across the sky and motioned for them to spread out into groups of three.

  "Do we go yet?" asked Mara. Jackson moved up to the front, his eyes glowing and the symbols along his arms flipping over furiously. "Things are about to start," he said calmly. "Leira, as your dad, I want to ask you to stay toward the back. But I know there's no chance of that so I'm gonna ask you to take out as many as you can, as quickly as you can."

  The air shimmered across the field to the left of the dark witches and wizards opening a mammoth portal.

  "I have a feeling that's our signal," said Leira, standing up straight. She grabbed Correk by the arm. "If it's the last good thing we do."

  "Today we fight with honor and to the end," he answered, kissing her as he held the back of her head.

  "They are here," Sirius growled. "Leira, show yourself!"

  Witches and wizards from the Silver Griffins poured out of the opening, their wands drawn, running to create a semi-circle around the dark forces. Lacey Trader and Lois and Patsy were at the front, Lois shaking her head at her brother. "You n
ever seem to learn," she shouted.

  "I just have to be me," he shouted back. Sirius held up his hand, signaling his side to wait, their wands aimed at the approaching Silver Griffins.

  "A lot of them have to be related to each other," said Mara. She looked around at everyone near her. "At least we can say all our family is fighting on the same side."

  Leira turned to the others and nodded. "You ready?"

  "Always," Mara replied, rubbing her hands together. "If those students of mine could see me now."

  "I've been ready," Jackson said with a smile. "It's been a while since we've fought side by side, Mara. Like old times. Let's do this thing."

  Prepare. The sword vibrated in Louie's hands. "Ready."

  "For Ossonia," Correk growled through gritted teeth.

  Yumfuck snarled, growing until he towered over them, stretching to his full height of eight feet tall.

  Leira put her hands on Correk's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. She could feel the rush of revenge creeping into him.

  "We have to be let go of any anger," she warned, looking him in the eyes. "He knows she's your weak spot, and he'll use that to get you to make mistakes. You are the new Fixer and you know so much more than you did even last year. We will get Ossonia out and Sirius will pay for what happened in Paris. He'll pay for all of it. For Alan and the other agents. All of it."

  Correk's expression softened, and he nodded, rubbing his thumb across her cheek. Leira smiled and walked to the front taking her place next to Jackson, pulling energy up through her body. A ball of fire grew in her hands and Leira stepped out from behind the trees, her family by her side. Sirius spun around, immediately raising his wand, sneering at Leira. "At last!" he cried out, lowering his wand, the two sides abruptly running at each other.

  Leira pitched the first volley, throwing the fireball in a curve that circled near Sirius, making him duck, hitting the wizard just behind him to his right and taking out some of his personal protection. Sirius scowled but he returned fire, whipping his wand across his chest and unleashing a curtain of fire, traveling rapidly at Eireka and Mara.

  Leira's jaw clenched and the energy stormed through her.

  "I've got this," yelled her grandmother, turning her hand in a clockwise motion, spinning the curtain of orange flames into a pillar and tipping it over onto a trio of witches. "That was satisfying. Oof!" She spun slightly to the left, a fireball punching her shoulder. Eireka moved to stand in front of her, returning fire.

  "There you are!" Sirius exclaimed, walking slowly toward Leira, the fight going on all around him. "Here I thought you weren't going to answer my invitation."

  "This has to end, Sirius. You've fallen so far down the ladder you've become someone's lame bitch," she said through gritted teeth, throwing a fireball straight at his chest.

  The others stepped out beside him as Sirius dove to the side, the ball of energy slamming hard against the glamour the Gardener had put in place, shaking it at the foundation.

  "He needs a Jasper Elf to break the wards," Leira yelled to her father. "Careful where you aim."

  Sirius kept his eyes fixed on Leira as he got up from the ground, anger burning in his chest. "Kill them all!" he yelled, shooting sparks into the clouds as they broke open and rain began to fall.

  Both sides took off running across the pasture, screaming loudly as they ran into battle.

  Yumfuck's fur was already singed on one side as he pushed into the middle of the fighting, swiping his claws at a wizard aiming at Eireka, taking him out of the battle for good.

  Patsy and Lois stood apart from each other aiming their wands to create an arc of energy over the heads of two wizards, threads of energy shooting off the arc, destabilizing their wands. "Now Patsy!" The two witches started turning the arc like a giant jump rope, catching different witches and wizards and knocking them over like bowling pins.

  Leira fired round after round of fireball at Sirius, holding him back. But she was suddenly distracted by a figure running down the hill from the sanctuary. "Hagan! No!" Hagan was running faster than Leira had ever seen him move, passing easily through the wards, his gun drawn. Near the bottom he aimed at a wizard caught in battle with a witch from the Silver Griffins, catching the wizard in the shoulder. The magical grabbed his arm and screamed, dropping his wand. Hagan adjusted his pants and kept moving.

  "What the fuck are you doing down here?" yelled Leira over the din.

  "Protecting my home. I'm not waiting for the fight to come to me. When have you ever known me to make you fight alone? Don't look at me like that, kid. The Gardener and Harkin are protecting the sanctuary."

  "How did you get Harkin to stay put?"

  "I didn't, it was the Gardener. He spelled out that Harkin owed him, and he was going to help him protect the animals within the forest. I thought those two were going to fight each other for a second." Hagan shot off another round, barely missing a witch, running to help Patsy and Lois.

  Correk found himself surrounded by two witches and two wizards, barely fighting them off. Sirius came from the other side, crouching low enough to wave his wand over the grass. Large patches of the grass began to tear and reshape itself, forming into short figures with a head and arms and legs. The first one reached Patsy, grabbing at her ankle as grass grew from its hands, twisting around her limb. Louie swung his sword, taking off the grassman's head, but it didn't stop it. The headless pile of grass and roots pulled at Patsy's leg, even as she wielded her wand in the opposite direction, spewing thorns at the encroaching witches.

  Tilt the blade slightly to the right, swing at a thirty degree angle.

  Louie didn't hesitate. He took the direction from the sword and swung again, cutting off the grassy fingers inches from Patsy's flesh. She wrenched her leg away just as Lois was finally able to get to her, sweat glistening on her forehead. "That was a close shave!" she yelled, helping her friend fend off attackers.

  The other grass figure reached Correk with Sirius closing in on him, dodging the arrows and their magic. A wizard lunged for Correk as Sirius yelled, "Get the ring! Search for the ring!"

  Correk shoved a boot square in the man's chest, cracking a rib and followed it with a kick to the head, knocking him unconscious. A grassman reached for him and he pulled out his sword, slicing off the arms as another approached. Louie joined him, turning his sword right and left, never missing, till they were all destroyed. Sirius retreated behind a wall of his followers, running behind the front line. He slid the sword back into its sheath, holding up the longbow again, aiming carefully.

  Lacey let out an angry whoop in the distance, her velour top ripped at the shoulder and a bruise across her cheek. A witch closed in on her, too close to raise her wand and Lacey leaned back, settling for landing a punch squarely in the center of the witch's face.

  Correk shot off an arrow, watching it turn in mid-flight, piercing a wizard who fell to the ground. He fired off another, narrowly missing a group of witches, the arrow whizzing past them. It got him close enough to Hagan to take out the sword. "Your gun isn't going to work for long, Hagan," he shouted, holding out the sword. "Do you think you can handle this?"

  "I know enough. The Gardener has been giving me lessons." He slipped his gun into its holster.

  Leira looked at him, her brow furrowed.

  "What? I get bored easily." He shrugged. "I guess I'm not as cut out for a desk job as I thought. Correk, let me have it."

  He held up the sword, admiring it. "This is a beauty. Has some real heft." A flash of light caught his eye.

  He turned just before a fireball reached his head, ducking and slicing through it with the sword. The orb split in half and fell to the ground, sending out sparks in every direction that burned the grass, leaving black streaks.

  The wizard tried again, throwing another fireball as Hagan held up the sword like a bat, smacking the flaming orb and sending it back, barely missing the wizard on its return flight. Hagan stomped over to him, grabbed him by the neck of his robe, and
lifted him into the air, brandishing the sword and running on adrenaline.

  "You messed with the wrong human," he bellowed, hitting the wizard over the head with the hilt of the sword. He threw the unconscious magical to the ground and stomped on his wand, breaking it in half. "I missed this."

  Slice right, left, turn and jab. Louie's sword pushed him through every move, taking out one magical after another while he twisted and turned his wand with his other hand, sending out a spray of pea-sized fireballs in all directions.

  Lois ducked, but one singed the top of her head. She pushed her glasses up her nose, glaring at Louie.

  "Friendly fire. My apologies," he yelled, turning back and sending a ball of light swirling around the field, knocking several witches off their feet.

  Lois patted the top of her head, going back into the fray and dodging a fireball only to be hit in the right shoulder by a stream of dark light. The magic spun her around and dropped her to the ground, smoke rising off her shirt. Patsy ran to her and went down on her knees, running her wand over the wound. "Earl is gonna have my head if I let anything happen to you. Not to mention you're my best friend and it took me years to get used to you."

  "You have a weird way of paying a compliment, but I'll take it."

  "It's the best I can do for now," said Patsy, helping Lois to her feet. "Can you still fight?"

  "I've still got the one good wing. Let's go cause some trouble."

  At the base of the hill, Leira stood back to back with Lacey Trader, fighting off a ring of wizards who had surrounded them. Leira set an intention, letting a stream of magic wrap around the wizards’ legs, pulling tight as the bracelet jangled on her wrist.

  "These assholes are tough," Leira growled, blocking a spell.

  "They're desperate and that can sometimes give people hidden strength. It's too bad they couldn't think of a better way to use it. They think they're out here preserving something precious."

  "Lead by Sirius. Duck!" They crouched down as a large pulse of energy blew over their heads, knocking down four wizards, cracking several ribs. "Thanks Mom!"