Authors: Andrew Ball
Daniel sighed and ran a hand through his
hair. "This was a one-shot thing to patch
things up because she’s Rachel’s friend. And
you know, it actually went pretty well.
We’ve drawn up a cease-fire."
"…then Eleanor is ok with it?"
"Yep. Looks like I made the cutoff."
"Where’re they at?"
"Eleanor’s in her room. Rachel’s
outside." Daniel grinned sheepishly. "I was coming to see if you were here."
"Right. Because now that the red tape’s
cut, you’ll be fucking like rabbits every
chance you get."
"It’s not like the only thing we do is -"
"I don’t want to hear your bullshit!" Jack
shouted. Daniel took a step back. Jack
swiveled back around and slapped his
computer mouse on the desk. "Go have sex
on the roof if you want it that badly. Room’s
closed. Men only."
"Fine," Daniel said. "Let me know when you feel like apologizing for being a massive
asshole."
He was almost out the door when Jack
stopped him. "Daniel."
"What?"
"You can’t trust her."
"I’d trust her with my life."
Daniel slammed the door shut. It was
more noise than he should have made so late
at night, but he didn’t care. What the hell had
crawled up Jack’s ass?
Rachel walked up to him. "I heard the
arguing."
Daniel marched toward the common
room. Rachel had to hurry to keep up. "…
he’s got this idea you’re sucking up all my
time. Jack…" Daniel sighed. He paused at
the entrance to the lounge. "I’m his best
friend. And he means a lot to me, too. But
it’s different for him. I’m something really
important."
"…it sounds like, you know…"
"You and Eleanor." Daniel rubbed his
forehead. "Out of the frying pan."
"You’ll both think this was stupid in the
morning," Rachel said. She kissed him on the
cheek. "Just relax and talk it out later. And
you should have your poker nights, right? Or
Blade Wing Commander nights."
"That’s Wing Blade Commander."
"You know what I mean."
"I don’t know. I feel like Jack doesn’t
like women in general. There’s something
there."
"Do you think he’s gay?"
"What? Seriously?"
"I mean, it could be," Rachel said.
"…no. That’s not it. Something bigger
than that."
Daniel sighed again. He worked a finger
through the lock of hair on his forehead. Jack
had been furious. Would it really be as
simple as apologizing?
Rachel slapped at his hand. "Stop that."
He made a face at her. "Stop what?"
"That thing with your hair," she said.
She twisted a strand of her hair up in her
finger and lifted it toward him. "You always
do that when you’re worried, or thinking
really hard. Stop worrying. It’ll work out."
"I never noticed." He sighed. "Maybe
I’m overthinking it."
"It’ll be fine. Promise." She kissed him
again. "Did you really mean what you said to
him? That you’d trust me with your life?"
"Absolutely."
Rachel smiled. "That was really…
something to say, I guess. I’m glad you feel
that way."
Daniel gently rested his forehead on
hers. "You know what? Me too."
"Heh. Well." Rachel’s hand gripped his
tie. "Let’s focus on immediate problems.
Like me. In a suit. Being…dominant."
"I like the sound of those things." Daniel
frowned. "But we have a location problem."
"I know a spot." She took his hand and
led him out the door.
****
Rachel brought him off the campus and
into the long series of parks, ponds, and fens
that wound down past the Common. At this
hour, even in downtown, there weren’t many
cars out. Secreted behind the trees and tall
grass, Daniel felt like they were the only two
people in the world.
She stopped in a small grove and sat
down on a bench. "What do you think?"
Daniel rubbed his arms. "…outside, on
a park bench."
"Yes."
"This is your special spot?"
"Is there a problem?"
"It’s a tad chilly."
Rachel loosened her tie. "Are you just
going to stand there and complain or what?"
Daniel sat down next to her. She
grabbed him by the collar and dragged him
into a kiss.
He drew back for a breath. "Yeah,
you’re definitely hot when you take charge."
"Good." They started kissing again. She
undid her tie and threw it around his neck.
Daniel heard a rhythmic sort of thump
coming from their right. He broke the kiss.
"What’s that?"
"What’s what?"
The sound grew louder. Daniel pointed
behind her. "You don’t hear that?"
Rachel frowned. "Now I do." They both
leaned to look as the noise steadily grew.
A hulking monster came pounding out of
the bushes across the grove. Its ape-like face
was surrounded by a mane of black hair.
The Smasher.
He tried to stand. Rachel was faster. She
pushed him behind her. "Run back to campus,
get Eleanor!"
"What are you -"
Rachel spared him a glance. Her face
was hard steel. "Now! Go!"
The Smasher didn’t wait for them to
finish their conversation. It trundled in,
swinging a huge fist up, then down. Daniel
reached for his power. He should have
enough speed to throw them both out of the
way.
Rachel did something with her hands.
There was a flash of light. An arm of rock
and dirt stretched out of the ground and
blocked the fist. The Smasher’s attack
cracked it in half, but the monster reeled
back, clutching its hand.
Daniel got a better look at it the second
time. Rachel made a triangle with her hands
and forced her eyes shut, focusing hard. Two
glowing circles covered with runes and lines
formed on the ground, fluorescent lighting
sitting in the grass.
Sigils.
From underneath the light rose two dirt
and rock statues. Their heads and shoulders
were covered in grass. They marched
forward, nature’s golems summoned to fight
the contractor.
"Rachel?!"
"I can’t explain now!" Rachel’s soldiers
ran toward the Smasher. She pushed at
Daniel’s back. "Run! Get out of here!"
The Smasher punched. The head of one
of the golems was blown away, but its arms
kept moving. It caught the hand. Its partner
kicked at the smasher’s forearm, but it didn’t
do any visible damage. The Smasher roared
and whipped that arm backward, and the
golem holding it was tossed aside like a
ragdoll.
Rachel bent low. She was still focused
in that same position. Three more sigils
appeared in the ground. Three more earth
golems grew out of the dirt, leaving small
craters where they’d taken up material. Their
glowing symbols peeled off the ground as
they rose, resting their backs. Daniel was
reminded of the inscriptions on the
extractors.
The five mud dolls attacked the smasher
from all sides. He thrashed out at them, using
his fists like wrecking balls. The golems
couldn’t match its strength, but even when
they lost arms, they could patch and regrow
themselves using the dirt all around them.
They were zombies that refused to rest.
"Daniel!" Rachel screamed. "I can’t
hold him off forever! Get out of here!"
But Daniel’s feet were nailed to the
floor. Sigils. Real magic. That meant Rachel
was a wizard. A magician. One of the people
that wanted him dead. That wasn’t possible.
But it was.
It fell on him like a collapsing house of
cards. A secret she couldn’t tell him. An
unmentionable family situation. The reason
an eighteen year-old was the bodyguard of a
nineteen year-old. The reason Madame
Flemmet called him mundane, why they’d
gone awkwardly quiet at the party when he’d
casually mentioned magic tricks.
Even the gold and yellow tabards of the
Ivory Dawn matched Eleanor’s bedspread.
She’d treated him like he was second class
because he actually was second class. He
was a normal person playing with fire. In a
way, it had been for his own good.
He remembered Henry’s expression
after he promised to protect Rachel.
Strong
words, Daniel. I wonder if you really know
what they mean.
It had all been right in his face the whole
time. Why hadn’t he noticed?
He looked up. The Smasher was carving
through the golems. They couldn’t regenerate
themselves fast enough—or Rachel was
getting tired. He crushed one to dust,
flattening it to the ground. He grabbed one
that was closing in and threw it against a
tree. Its body cracked in half, and it fell
apart.
It started toward Rachel.
A massive fist came down. Three golem
palms combined to stop the punch. Rachel
was drenched with sweat. The sigils shone
brighter, and the three hands shoved back,
fighting against the Smasher’s power.
The ape brought his other hand in from
the side, sweeping at them while they were
focused on holding back his other arm. Their
legs were blown out from under them.
Rachel was defenseless while her golems
tried to piece themselves together. Her
opponent moved in for the kill.
Daniel’s double-kick caught the
Smasher in the chest with all his power
focused into the soles of his shoes. He hit
hard enough that even the heavy monster was
thrown off its feet. The ground shook as it
tumbled over and over. It came to a rest with
a groan.
"You’re a magician?!" Rachel shouted.
"But—!"
Daniel swallowed. He had to drag his
head back to meet Rachel’s gaze. "Not
exactly. I’ve met that thing before. We
fought. It’s the Boston Smasher."
The Smasher propped itself up with a
hand. It stared at them, but hesitated. Its eyes
darted between the two of them, seeking
some advantage. Daniel crouched low. In the
first fight, he’d been going easy, trying to see
if the Smasher had any special powers
besides size and strength before he used
everything he had. With Rachel standing
behind him, exhausted, there wasn’t time for
caution. He had to go full-on right from the
start. And if that wasn’t enough, well, he
could always outrun it.
"Daniel," the Smasher grumbled. "I can’t believe it."
"…how the hell do you know my
name?"
"What, besides Rachel shouting it?" The
Smasher’s head began to change. The great
mane of hair shriveled. Its skin shrunk and
wavered. Jack’s face appeared. It was tiny,
perched on top of the ape’s giant body.
"That’s how."
"You’re…that’s not…" Daniel’s voice
cracked. "Did you know Rachel was a
magician?!"
"I told you to stay away from her for a
reason," Jack said. "When I was out hunting Vorid, I saw her and Eleanor fighting.
They’re both magicians." Jack pointed at her.
"That makes them our enemies. You know
how it is. You’re the same as me. A
contractor."
"Why are you doing this? Why did you
kill those women?!"
"I already told you why," Jack said. "I’m different now, Daniel. We both are. You said
it yourself. We have the power to change.
We can become stronger." Jack shook his
head. "I never would have attacked you
before, but I didn’t know it was you. We can
work together. You’re someone I know I can
trust."
"What the fuck. What the fuck, Jack?!"
Jack shrugged. "Sorry to be the bearer of
bad news. You had to find out sometime."
Daniel shook his head. "No. No way.
This -"
"You know what we have to do," Jack
said. He pointed at Rachel. "If you can’t do
it, I will. She knows what we are. She’ll tell
Eleanor, and then we’ll be hunted down.
They’d probably hold your family hostage or
something. Why do you think I was so pissed
about you going to that party? Eleanor’s
father is one of the strongest magicians in the
world. Even if you were normal, you don’t
belong with them."
"What are you saying?!"
"We have to kill her, Daniel."
"…Rachel?"
"It’ll just be another murder," Jack said.
"We can make alibis for each other. We
were in our room, playing video games. No
problem." He smiled. "I’m glad I’ve got a
friend in this. I’m glad it was you."
"You’re a contractor," Rachel said.
Daniel turned back. Her face was white.
Tears were rolling down her face. "How
could you do that to yourself?!"
"Rachel, I can explain this," Daniel said.
"I really can. Just -"
"Explain?!" She scrambled back past the
bench. Two of her golems moved to shield
her. "Explain how you murder people to add
power to your own soul?!"