Werewolf Mage

by Harry Nix

  It was hot enough and cold enough to be uncomfortable and this time when his mana drained down it didn't regenerate, but rather just sat in place.

  “We sold the shield rings and added a bit of cash to buy those. They can hold any mage or magic user for two days straight before they break down. They try to cast a big spell they’ll get burned by fire and cold and it also stops them regenerating their magic. They cast a powerful spell it’ll burn and freeze their hands right off their body. This is gonna be perfect for capturing a mage,” Nia said.

  “No way out of these?” Alex said, experimentally testing the chain between them.

  “I don't know if they would hold up against a really strong werewolf. They have spells that strengthen the metal the more you pull on them. If you really want, cast a double strength Know Thyself but you’re probably going to get burned and frozen,” Juno said.

  Alex wasn't keen on the idea but figured it was a good idea to test in case he was ever in mage cuffs for real. He brought up two copies of Know Thyself and compressed them together before casting it.

  The bracelet around his left wrist burned him with a sizzle. On his right the freezing cold cut into his skin.

  “Dammit,” Alex swore.

  Although it was short-lived, the pain didn’t go away. The cuffs were draining his mana as fast as he made it and that meant he couldn’t heal.

  “That's enough now,” Juno said. She unlocked the handcuffs and Alex sighed in relief as the wounds around his wrists began to heal. His skin and fur was charred on one arm and frozen on the other.

  “Should we capture someone tomorrow?” Nia asked.

  Alex took the cuffs from Juno and cast Analyze 4x on them until the number of spells within appeared. There were thirty-six simultaneous spells operating, most of them just ????.

  Alex scrolled through the list, only finding one with a title – Mana Drain.

  He didn’t have enough mana to look into it (not without severely hurting himself and probably having Juno and Nia kill him shortly thereafter) but it seemed a contender to replace Flame Shield. Learning how to drain mana from a mage or magic user? That sounded very useful. Alex canceled the spells and let the mana continue healing his body.

  “I think we’re definitely ready to go,” he said.

  “I’ll be doing preparations for the rest of the day then,” Juno said, heading off to the downstairs room after giving Alex a kiss.

  “I’m going to start looking into your adoption. Capturing a mage is important but I think we really need to find out who your parents are,” Nia said. She gave him a kiss as well, one that lingered a little too long. She pulled away from him with a disappointed sigh, her cheeks flushed before forcing herself to go off the lounge room to start using Alex's laptop.

  These two girls otherwise engaged, Alex went back outside to continue casting magic, taking the cuffs with him. He delved into the Drain Mana spell but it was too large for him to copy across and he definitely didn’t have enough mana to return the compiled spell to its readable code state.

  Alex spend the rest of the afternoon practicing spells. He flung the same lemon across the yard multiple times and worked on remembering physical movements to cast spells. Setting aside Know Thyself, Analyze, Purify, Unlock and Find Food as non-urgent spells that didn’t require a physical movement still left six spells to link up.

  Eventually, night fell and Alex went inside, deciding it was his turn to cook up dinner for his two mates. He made a bacon, onion, mushroom and tomato frittata with a side salad and crusty garlic bread. Soon the girls were at the table salivating at the delicious food. Over dinner they discussed the plan again, Alex trying desperately to stay awake. His day of practice had wiped him out.

  It wasn’t long before he and Juno were sitting in the lounge while Nia took a shower at the other end of the house. They had the television on, Alex idly browsing the guide while struggling to keep his eyes open.

  “The Godfather is on later,” Juno said.

  “Yeah, maybe,” Alex said with a yawn.

  “What do you mean maybe? What’s wrong with The Godfather?”

  He shrugged. “Nothing is wrong with it. It’s a good movie.”

  Alex had clearly missed the warning tone in Juno’s voice. He couldn’t miss it now – or the butterfly knife she’d pulled from somewhere.

  “It’s a good movie. That’s what you want to say?” she said, her voice low and dark.

  Alex looked over and saw her twirling the butterfly knife in intricate patterns.

  “It’s a great movie. Possibly one of the best and I can’t wait to watch it with you,” he said, feeling like Juno was going to leap on him any moment and not in a good fun way.

  “Correction: it is the greatest movie ever made and a copy of it should be issued to each child upon their birth.”

  Alex saw Juno had the crazy eyes on. He tried a placating tone.

  “Yes my dearest darling one. Then after that we can watch” – he took a quick look back at the guide – “um... Air Bud, which isn’t going to be anywhere as good as The Godfather.”

  Juno suddenly flung the butterfly knife towards him. It embedded itself in the sofa, a hair away from his ear. She shot to her feet and pointed a finger at him.

  “You come in my house, on this day, the day of my daughter’s wedding and talk shit not just about The Godfather but Air Bud, too? You disrespect Air Bud?”

  She lunged at him and he caught the furious little witch in his arms. She slapped him and then planted a vicious kiss on him before leaping out of his arms and heading towards the kitchen.

  “You’re lucky you’re pretty wolf boy,” she swore as she stomped out.

  Alex was careful to wait to roll his eyes only once she was gone. He’d have to be careful during The Godfather, and Air Bud too. Who knew how many knives Juno had on her?

  26

  “That’s six. We’ll put another one over here,” Juno said as they completed another trap. She let go of Alex's arm and he sighed in relief as his mana began recharging.

  It was early morning and they were at the abandoned factory setting up traps for their ambush. Nia was inside the factory setting up barricades using any spare bits of metal she could find, blocking off pathways so any mages entering would be funneled in the direction they wanted.

  Juno and Alex had placed four magical traps inside so far and now two outside.

  Alex examined the spells that Juno was casting to make the traps, but they were still too big for him to copy.

  She was using two main spells. The first was a Sleep spell that would knock anyone out for ten minutes. The second was one Juno had written herself called Launch. Anyone coming in contact with the invisible rune would be shot fifteen feet straight up into the air.

  Alex stretched his arms and wished that they hadn't sold off the wand they'd taken from the first mage who’d attacked them out at April's. Although it had been necessary, and certainly saved him in clothing costs, it would have come in handy right now.

  Juno had used the last of their money to buy more ammunition for her hand guns but explained to Alex not to rely on them. Most mages used Shield or spell rings to protect themselves from projectiles. That’s what Juno, Nia and Alex were doing, each wearing a thirty-shot protection ring.

  The guns were essentially a sapping technique – something to whittle away their shield and keep them distracted.

  With three spells outside and four inside, they hoped they’d take out enough mages to kidnap one and bolt. Alex and Nia were going to get up close and personal while Juno fired magic from the rear.

  “Last one then it’s time to go,” Juno said.

  As usual, Alex saw the window open above her head as she cast the spell. He put his hand on her shoulder and focused on simultaneously drawing magic from around them and sending it to Juno. Alex watched as Juno’s screen filled with code and then compiled, collapsing down to its purest expression. He kept a hand on her shoulder as she cast it, Juno drawing on
his power as well as the magic around them to fuel the spell.

  As Juno was a Chaos Witch, her magic could go up or down at any given moment. Right now she described it as reasonably strong. They could only hope it stayed that way once the ambush was underway.

  With a final spell cast, another sleep trap, it was time to begin the next phase. Alex and Juno went inside the giant open-air factory and examined Nia’s barricades. They were careful to stay away from the traps, which were indiscriminate.

  There was a narrow pathway for Alex to drive Boris and a small area to turn around. If all went according to plan, he would drive in, turn around, pop the trunk and then they’d take up position, ready to ambush the mages. As soon as they stuffed one in the trunk they’d make their escape.

  “Time to get your game face on Wolfy,” Juno said and gave Alex a goodbye kiss. He kissed her back, lifting the little witch off the ground. Then he kissed Nia, wishing for a moment the three of them hadn’t been so exhausted last night. Who knew how this would go today?

  Alex pushed those dark thoughts out of his mind. They'd planned the best they could. They had magical defenses and weapons. In his hybrid werewolf form, he felt strong and confident.

  Now if he could only get himself to believe it.

  He drove Boris into the city, heading to a small cafe that he’d been to a few times. He ordered a muffin, making himself a paying customer and then headed to their single bathroom, locking the door behind him.

  It was the work of a minute to set up the soldering kit and fix the broken line Puzo had indicated. He ran the soldering iron under cold water and tossed it into his bag. Then he cast Analyze on the circuit. It didn’t reveal anything except for its weight and the required mana to activate it. Alex took that as a good sign – he could manually activate it and not get jumped while he was collecting his muffin.

  He put the ball into his bag, collected his muffin on the way out and went to Boris.

  “C’mon psychopaths, find me now,” he said as he cast Analyze on the circuit and then released a little mana into it. The circuit immediately came to life, a small active designation appearing on the screen. Alex closed the ball up and sat it on the passenger seat, wedging it behind his bag.

  With that he started up Boris and began driving laps of Baxter, eating his muffin. As Alex drove the streets he'd lived on since he was a child he realized just how pervasive the Great Barrier had been. He’d turn a street corner and expect to see a diner beside a law office except now there was a new building between them. He spotted a few more pawnshops similar to the one Bailey operated.

  He was sitting an intersection waiting for the light when he saw people averting their gaze from a little shop wedged between two other businesses. In the front window were various shrunken heads sitting on podiums. The shop had no sign but Alex could see into the back and the wizened old lady behind the counter, her wrinkled face looking like a shrunken head itself.

  There was a general feeling of unease or foreboding coming out of the shop like a chill wind. The old lady caught his eye and he shivered. Then the light went green so he hit the accelerator and got out of there.

  After an hour of driving around central Baxter, Alex was starting to wonder whether their plan was a failure when he spotted the red sedan behind him.

  There were two women in the front and it looked like three men crowding the back seat.

  As soon as he saw a screen appear above one of them he hit the accelerator, not wanting to wait for whatever spell they were casting. He turned a corner and roared down the road seeing the red car following behind. Whatever spell they'd cast must've been on themselves, as far as Alex could tell.

  Although their car appeared to be an older model, it was fast and soon swallowed up the gap between them. It was the first time Alex had driven Boris and he wasn't quite used to the weight of the old car – he skidded around a corner, the entire frame shuddering and groaning, before punching the gas and shooting off down the road, nearly losing it as he struggled with the wheel to keep it straight.

  He was only a few blocks away from the factory, heading into the abandoned industrial area when the back window shattered, a bullet hitting it. Alex didn't bother casting Shield. He had the ring on and had to trust in it. There were more thuds as bullets hit Boris.

  Alex skidded around the final corner and there was the factory ahead of him at the end of the road. They’d laid out small pieces of trash on the ground near where the traps were. Alex had a line to drive between scattered soda cans just wide enough for Boris.

  He floored it, driving as fast as he dared through the gates before hitting the brakes, trying to slow without skidding and entering the factory itself. Boris shuddered as he passed giant pieces of machinery that would have ripped the car to pieces if they hit. Alex let out a sigh of relief as he finally stopped.

  He quickly turned the car around, popped the trunk and leaped out, shifting to hybrid form as he did. He grabbed his gun from the passenger seat.

  Nia was already up in the rafters waiting. Alex carefully judged the distance and leaped, landing gracefully beside her. Juno was nowhere to be seen. He supposed the little witch had a concealment spell running, and didn't look for her because he didn't want to drain her power any faster than it already was.

  From the rafters there was a small window that looked out over the front gate. The mages came roaring down the road and then stopped inside the gate, piling out of the car. Alex had been right – two women and three men. The two women had guns. The men were carrying wands. All of them had hands glittering with rings and one was wearing a chunky gold amulet around his neck. They were wearing robes that looked far more modern than the mage Alex had killed at April’s. Less monk and more Jedi Knight.

  One of the mages opened the trunk. To Alex’s surprise two weredogs jumped out. These were smaller than the ones he’d seen before, as though someone had taken a Jack Russell terrier and transformed it. They were both small balls of muscle though and clearly had a crazy look in their eyes.

  The weredogs ran straight towards the factory. The first one hit a Sleep trap head on – the magic surging and the little dog passing out, thumping and rolling to a stop, completely unconscious.

  The second one had been following directly behind it, avoiding the other spells until it ran through into the factory itself. It hit a Launch trap. It shot up into the air with a startled yelp and Nia swatted, ripping its head from its body. The body fell directly to the ground, splattering blood everywhere. Nia flung the head to the back of the factory to prevent it rejoining and becoming a threat again.

  “Traps!” one of the mages shouted.

  As Alex watched, one of the mages cast a spell, his screen filling up with code. Alex tried to disrupt it, mentally shouting the Shield spell, hoping something would go disastrously wrong. It seemed to rebound off the mage and Alex cast it himself. Alex quickly cancelled it but not before it consumed a chunk of mana he couldn’t afford to lose right now.

  The mage shook his head as though he was shaking off a punch and then the spell compiled before executing. There was a roar of power that swept out from the mage, ripping Juno’s traps to pieces.

  One of the women began firing into the open door of the building while the others scattered behind her. Alex only realized that they'd given away their position by killing the weredog when one of the mages shot a bolt of lightning directly to where they were hiding. The beams they were standing on was metal, conducting the charge easily.

  Nia took the worst of it, getting flung off the beam into the back of the factory in a burst of sparks. Alex managed to jump off, dropping straight down on to one of the male mages. There was a crack, like bone breaking and for a moment all Alex could see was burning white light.

  He sat up, finding himself in the back of the factory, his ears ringing and blood pooling in his mouth. The mage must have had a defensive spell running. Somehow he’d managed to keep hold of his gun.

  Alex had Know Thyself runni
ng and it wasn’t good. Although he’d only been slightly injured, the shock had taken half his mana. He was barely to his feet when the bullets began flying.

  Ducking behind a piece of machinery he saw he'd already been hit five times, the protective ring saving him. Across the other side of the room he saw Nia standing behind another piece of machinery, shaking her head to clear it from being shocked.

  Their plan was falling to pieces.

  They'd hoped that a sneak attack by two werewolves from above would be enough to disrupt the mages quickly, but so far it had failed. All five were still alive and well and advancing on them. Every now and then one of the mages fired his wand, shooting a bolt of electricity after into the rafters or into various pieces of machinery, one of which sprang to life temporarily, clunking up-and-down.

  With their leaping ambush strategy in tatters it was time to fall back on their secondary plan: shoot the mages, wear their shields down and then rips their heads off.

  Alex started shooting, going for center mass. Each time a bullet hit he caught a flash of a screen above the rings as the spells blocked the hit.

  One of the women had taken cover behind a piece of machinery with many gaps in it. Alex kept taking pot-shots at her, aiming for any body part he could see. Nia was doing the same, targeting a wand-toting mage hiding in poor cover.

  Alex was wondering exactly where Juno was when suddenly three of the mages shot up into the air, crashing into the metal beams above them. To make things worse, one of the mages had electrified the beams just a moment ago so all three received a severe jolt before crashing back to the ground, stunning them.

  Juno emerged from the darkness, her concealment spell falling away. She was behind one of the women. She pulled out her gun and emptied it directly into the back of her head from point blank range. Alex saw a shield spell flaring but then it failed and suddenly the mage’s head into a mess of blood and bone, her dead body toppling to the floor.