He was hit from every direction, then. A bullet zipped across the top of his head. Another one struck him in the butt. The next smashed through his shoulder. Another hit him in the back. As he fell to the floor they ripped through every part of his body.
Everything slowed. Somewhere in his mind he heard Sharp screaming his name. He couldn’t hear anything else over the ringing in his ears. It was as if he were in a tunnel. He tried to crawl, but couldn’t tell if he was getting anywhere. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth.
He fell down and rolled into a semi-sitting position with his back against a desk. He could go no further.
As the darkness began to set in a disturbance brought him back to reality. He opened his eyes and looked down a barrel. Beyond the barrel was a large revolver. Beyond that was the face of his girlfriend.
He watched in silence as she drew the hammer back. The blurry figures of the other bounty hunters appeared behind her. He couldn’t make out their faces. It was just as well.
He stared into the eyes of the woman he loved, betrayal transcending into anger, burning. It burned more than any of the wounds they’d given him. As his lifeblood pumped out all Bert felt was rage. Only one conscious thought entered his mind. One simple word...
Burn.
He didn’t know where it came from or how he did it, but the fire in his heart surfaced. Flames tore across the room. Rogue’s gun ripped from her hand and she fell back, holding her face and screaming. The fire didn’t stop. It poured out among them and into the building. He didn’t care. He pushed the fire on.
His last memory before the building came crashing down was the sounds of their screams.
Chapter 6
The memories still haunted Bert, and it still didn’t make sense. He’d never found out who wanted him dead. Nor why his girlfriend and the other hunters had agreed to it. He never figured out what he’d done to cause the fire. He’d only experienced that ability one other time, but that was another memory he didn’t have time to relive.
He pushed these thoughts out of his mind and tried to relax as he drove. He’d snuck away from the sleeping Lilith, wanting to keep the dark memories to himself. Sometimes when situations got stressful, Bert would come to this spot on his way to town. It was only a few miles outside of Eureka Springs, but not many people knew of it. Or if they did, they rarely visited.
It was back in the woods, off a seldom-used dirt road. It was a small clearing on top of a cliff, which overlooked a small creek below. It was a peaceful place where Bert would stop to collect his thoughts and try to be more Zen-like before he went stumbling into whatever drama awaited him.
Today was different, though. It wasn’t the dark wizard, the fact Lilith had shown up, or even the reliving of past memories which drew him here. It was something else. A feeling he’d only experienced a few times.
A feeling that foreboded danger. He could see it all around him, yet it was hard to put into words. It was something that, as far as he knew, only magic users experienced.
The magical energy he used to produce spells existed everywhere. Using large amounts of that energy could cause a disturbance in the atmosphere and everything under it. The sensation Bert felt was from a disruption in the natural flow of energy.
Like watching summer transition into fall. The feeling bearing down on a person when that smell hits the air and they first notice autumn is arriving. To look around and see the leaves changing colors and slowly falling from the trees. Noticing the unique shade of gray in the sky. Those first few bitter chills that roll through a person, raising the hackles on their neck, letting them know winter is knocking at the door.
It was the most similar thing to what Bert was experiencing, and most of the wizards he knew referred to it as the Autumn Woe. He had felt it before, but not like this. Never had he experienced it, or dreamed of experiencing it, at this magnitude.
As he tuned into it, the ground underneath him felt like it was trembling. The trees and plants around him seemed ready to jump from their roots. They sky seemed darker, and ominous, as though a storm were on the rise.
It all meant that something—or some things—very powerful were around. Bert could use magical energy all day, or until he passed out from fatigue, and he couldn’t cause a disruption that would even encompass the size of his house. There was no telling how far this spread. Miles and miles at least. There was only one thing he could be sure of. There were more magic users around than normal, and some of them had to be pretty damn powerful.
It must have been what Robert was talking about. If it had taken him this long to sense it, more powerful wizards were already aware. It might’ve had something to do with why Larry and Barry were extra uptight the night before. And, it also could’ve been the reason why Carter had wanted them to wait before entering the cave.
Something big was in the works and there were some serious power players involved. His stomach lurched as he realized it almost certainly had something to do with what the dark wizard was after.
“Boy.”
Bert jumped and turned to find himself facing his Uncle Tony, a menacing man who looked like an outlaw from an old western movie. Like a cowboy carved from granite. He wasn’t muscled up like a body builder, but had the build of a man who’d spent his entire life toiling in labor. His face was weathered and worn and bore the haggardness of years of hard living. He had a thick mustache, but was a few days behind on shaving the rest. He’d lost an eye many years before, and in its place was a false one that always sat in a squint of defiance. Despite having only one good eye, both told the unspoken tale of a lifetime of experiences, intelligence, and the cold killer gleam of a man best left unchallenged. To look into those eyes, one might find a glint of love or compassion, but the fool who found himself gazing into them as an adversary would only find danger, pure and thick as death. Behind those eyes burned the fires of rage and fury, a hurricane of pain and suffering through years of combat.
He wore old beaten boots that’d seen years of travel. His wrangler jeans were faded and rugged, bearing a permanent ring where his chewing tobacco sat. He wore a plain white t-shirt, with a tattoo of a bull peeking out from underneath one sleeve, and an old burn scar peeking out of the other. Bert new the burn scar ran up his shoulder and around to cover most of his back, appearing again on his neck just above his collar. On top of his head sat an old cowboy hat that looked like a relic from that long-forgotten time. It had once been white, but age and wear had turned it a dirty brown. It had a small band that appeared to be snakeskin, but Bert often found himself staring at the giant scales, wondering if any snakes that large existed.
“You scared the shit out of me, Tony!” Bert said.
Tony squinted at Bert. “I believe that’s Uncle Tony, boy.”
Bert smiled. “Yes sir, Uncle.”
Tony looked out across the low mountaintops as Bert had been doing. “So, you can feel it?”
Bert nodded.
Tony glanced at him with approval. “Good. You’re getting stronger, then.”
“What’s it mean? What’s out there causing such a disruption?”
“I don’t know.” Then he paused for a moment. “But I think you already know more than me.”
Bert looked at him in disbelief. “How do you always know?”
“Call it an old bull rider’s intuition.” He shrugged his massive shoulders and continued, “So tell me what happened.”
Bert hesitated for only moment, remembering the Dark Mage’s threat, then spilled the beans anyway. Uncle Tony could handle himself.
As he told him about Dasfarus, he found himself, as always, wondering just how powerful Tony truly was. Despite having known him since he was a child, and being trained by him, Tony was still a mystery. The life of a wizard was one of secrecy, and until someone could witness a wizard at work, it was impossible to know how strong they truly were. It wasn’t just the power. Much remained a mystery about the man as well. Tony was quiet and didn’t share stories a
bout the past. He was one of the people Bert trusted the most, yet he didn’t know that much about him. He didn’t even know if he had family or where he came from. He appeared to be in his fifties, but he hadn’t aged a day in all the years Bert had known him.
It was Tony who’d found Bert when his powers had manifested. Tony had been the one who decided Bert was going to be trained as a wizard. It would’ve been easier to send him off to wizard training and wash his hands of the boy, but that wasn’t his way. Bert had been sent to schools, but Tony had stayed in contact, and had personally overseen Bert’s training. Wizard training was like the school system in that wizards in training had phases they had to complete. When someone passed one stage they advanced on to the next. The final stage before becoming a legit wizard required a direct apprenticeship. Tony had taken the mentor role for Bert. He’d not only seen Bert through becoming a wizard, but had kept tabs on him ever since.
Bert owed a large portion of who he was to Tony, and if it hadn’t been for him, Bert was confident he would’ve been killed several times over. Tony hadn’t just taught Bert to be a wizard. He’d taught him how to survive. Beyond that, Tony had directly stepped in many times to save his life. It was Tony who’d found him shot to hell in the burning building. Tony had nursed Bert back to health, restoring him with magic. He never truly understood why the man watched out for him, and what little he really knew about the cowboy he’d learned from the man he called his father.
Tony had dealt with Bert’s mother as well. Bert’s biological father was gone before he was born, leaving Bert’s mom to raise him and his older brother. Learning her son had special abilities, and needed to go to a special school, hadn’t been easy on her. Tony had shown compassion and kindness, and had managed to turn it into a positive situation. Somehow to this day, Bert’s mother still didn’t know they were wizards. Unfortunately, to this day she didn’t understand how her son, with all his special schooling, hadn’t gone to college and become a doctor.
Bert’s mother had married Tony’s best friend, Auer Gemmell, when Bert was only nine years old. At the time it was rough on the two young boys, but Auer was an immeasurably patient man. It hadn’t taken long for him to grow on Bert and his brother. As far as Bert knew, Auer was just a regular human. However, he knew the truth about Bert’s wizard training, and took over the coordination with Tony. That relieved the immense burden of not understanding from Bert’s mother.
Bert had become extremely close to Auer, and could never have imagined having a better father. As a small child, he’d looked up to Tony as his mentor, but was always kind of scared of the giant man. Bert would confide this truth to Auer, who would laugh and do his best to comfort the boy. He’d explained that Tony was the type of person who’d give the shirt off his back to a total stranger, but he was also someone who should never be crossed. He’d said that Tony was a man from another time, that to him right was right and wrong was wrong. There was no gray. Tony always did what Tony believed was right.
Bert’s dad hadn’t told him much about Tony’s past, but he did give him a little story here and there when he knew the boy needed encouragement. He’d told him Tony had fought a great many battles as a wizard, but that he’d also never been afraid to fight as a man. That Tony was the kind of guy other men always felt the need to prove themselves against. Tony would never back down from a fight and he wouldn’t use powers, he’d fight with his fists, and he never lost.
Auer had also let it slip once that Tony had spent some time in prison, though Bert never learned if this was human prison or wizard prison, which were two entirely different things. He’d most certainly never found out why.
Perhaps the greatest mystery, beyond Tony’s power, was how high ranked in the Hand he was. Bert had never seen Tony interact with local wizards like Carter, so he simply had no basis by which to judge. Card carrying members of the Hand of Magic rarely divulged such information. Of course, there were some publicly known offices such as the one Carter held, but in most cases, no one really knew another wizard’s rank. The only time it came up was when two mages were in each other’s presence. There was a magical aura a wizard could sense about another. Bert could tell Tony outranked him, he just couldn’t see by how much. If Carter had been standing there beside Tony, he would be able tell they both outranked him, but he wouldn’t be able to tell which of the two was of higher rank. Only the two of them would know, and it wouldn’t come up unless one was giving the other orders.
The Hand of Magic was so secretive Bert wasn’t even allowed to tell other people who trained him. None of his wizard friends knew about Tony, and he didn’t know who’d trained any of them. The special schools they’d attended weren’t a concern for secrecy, mostly because they didn’t even know where they were, but they were forbidden from divulging who’d been the mentor that led them through their apprenticeship.
They were close to forbidden from telling regular people they were wizards, which Bert had actually come to understand. They were only allowed to tell someone they completely trusted without question, and they weren’t allowed to use their powers to prove it. If the person chose not to believe them, there wasn’t anything they could do about it. The catch was that the wizard was held responsible for the fallout caused by their honesty. If the person they told went and told others, or ran to the newspaper, the wizard was accountable.
Tony listened intently as Bert gave him a recount of the visit from Dasfarus. As Bert finished he nodded and said, “What else is bothering you?”
Without hesitating, Bert asked, “Have you heard any news about my father?”
Tony’s eyes squinted at him, like they were boring through his soul. He answered, “No, I’m afraid not.”
Right after Bert had turned eighteen he’d been sent away on one of his occasional wizard training trips with Tony. His mom and Auer had split up, but he never stopped considering him his father. He’d even moved in with Auer, and spent the majority of his time with him, where he could speak openly about magic. Before the trip, he didn’t know what was ahead of him, but his dad had given him a talk before he left. He’d told Bert that no matter what paths he chose in life, he should always do the right thing, and to use his powers as a wizard to protect the people he cared about. At the time, Bert hadn’t understood the conversation, but when Tony zipped him away he found out it was time for him to take his final test. Everything had built up to it. Passing that test had been the single greatest moment in his life. He’d finally proven to himself he could do it, and he hadn’t let Tony or his dad down. He couldn’t wait to tell his father. But when Bert got home, Auer was gone without a trace.
Bert had stayed in the house, hoping he would return. He’d lived there ever since. He’d looked everywhere he could, but no one knew anything about the disappearance of his father. He knew Auer wouldn’t abandon him, and he also knew Auer loved the house. He’d told Bert his dream was to live in a little secluded home by the creek. They’d built the house, and his father wouldn’t have just left it behind.
What had scared him most was the look on Tony’s face when Bert told him Auer was gone. Nothing ever caught Tony off guard, but he’d seemed genuinely surprised. He gave Bert his word he didn’t know where Auer had gone either, but he would do everything he could to find him.
Knowing the disappointment Bert faced in not getting to tell his father he’d become a wizard, Tony had told him Auer had never doubted he would succeed, and that he knew Auer was proud of him. Overcoming his disappointment had only left room for concern and despair. They’d been looking for Auer ever since.
Tony continued reading Bert’s thoughts. “If I find out anything about your father, I’ll let you know.”
Bert nodded.
Tony said, “Now, why don’t you tell me what’s really on your mind before I lose my patience.”
Bert sighed. Tony always knew. He couldn’t lie to the man or change the subject. It was like he already knew the answer, but just wanted to hear him say it. Trying
to hide something, or even worse, trying to lie to Tony, was not only foolish, but it came with the swiftest and harshest of punishments. Bert had learned this lesson the hard way while Tony had been training him, and had gotten one brief glance at just how powerful a wizard the man was.
Tony had taken him to a small mountain cabin. Bert had no idea where it was. Powerful wizards weren’t captive to modern means of transportation. Many could teleport. This was something Bert hadn’t mastered yet, though both Jim and Neil were fairly capable. Most wizards couldn’t just warp themselves anywhere. They had to know the place really well and use a ton of magic to pull it off.
The cabin sat high up in the mountains and was surrounded by tall pines. There were no paths to the cabin. Not even a hiking trail. They were totally cut off from the outside world and he didn’t have the first clue about where they really were. Bert wasn’t an expert on wildlife or plants, but from what he could tell they were still somewhere in North America. He saw squirrels, foxes, and rabbits regularly, along with other woodland creatures. In the movies, it always seemed cool, but even for a country boy the sounds of howling wolves, roaring grizzlies, and worst of all, the shrieking cries of mountain lions, were terrifying to wake up to in the middle of the night.
Living in the middle of the United States, Bert was used to the occasional snow, but he wasn’t used to endless days of training in it. From the time the sun came up Tony had him outside doing chores and practicing magic. He had little sense of time beyond the occasional breaks to eat a quick meal. Eventually the day became night and Bert was required to sit in the house and study old texts about magic until it was time for bed.
Occasionally Tony left for a few hours or even whole days. He’d leave Bert a long syllabus of chores and studies. Bert did exactly as he was supposed to, until one day. Tony isn’t here, he’d told himself, and there is no way he’ll know. It wasn’t like Tony quizzed him on most of it.
Moonshine Wizard Page 7
