Authors: Charlotte Abel
“Turn out the dang lights before you blind ‘em and open the door.”
The spotlights went out. The metallic clanging of an industrial door rolling open set Josh’s teeth on edge. A row of sputtering florescent lights provided the only illumination inside. The flickering lights gave the warehouse a bit of a rave feel. But the vibe coming off the hundred, or so, people assembled inside wasn’t the least bit festive.
“What do we do, now?”
Hunter kept his voice low, but Josh had no problem hearing him through the speaker in his helmet.
He answered just as quietly. “Cut the engine and put the key in your pocket then wait for an invitation to enter the building.”
“Going inside is the easy part. I’m more worried about getting out.”
“It’s going to be impossible to communicate privately without our helmets. We need a signal to alert each other if one of us spots trouble or needs help.”
“Three coughs and a sneeze?”
“Sounds good. Do your best to stay close so I can cover you with my shield if I need to.”
Hunter cut the engine and pocketed the key.
“Like a tick on a dog.”
Josh removed his helmet and discreetly turned off the intercom. His pulse throbbed in his neck.
Rider’s voice called out again. “Well, what’re you waiting for? Get on in here so we can close the door.”
Josh could feel the tension rolling off Hunter in waves. He put a hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”
“For you, maybe. But I double crossed a lot of people when I was spying for Ms. Wisdom, including Uncle Rider.”
Josh had forgotten that part of the story. Unfortunately, Rider hadn’t. With a flick of the reins, he forced his miniature horse and wheelchair between Hunter and Josh. The barrier was psychological, not physical. The tiny animal barely reached his knees and Rider was no match for either of them. But he was obviously pissed.
“This here meeting is only for folks I trust. And you, Hunter Feenie, ain’t one of ‘em.”
“I trust Hunter with my life. He stays with me.” Josh hadn’t meant to raise his voice, but since it silenced the muttering crowd inside the warehouse, he decided to run with it. “If anyone has a problem with that, they’re free to go.”
“And then what? Will our entire families be branded as traitors if we leave? Will you sick your trackers on us and hunt us down like animals?” Josh searched the crowd, but in the dim light, it was impossible to determine who’d challenged him.
“I said you’re free to go, and that’s exactly what I meant. Leaving without hearing what I have to say is rude, but it’s not an act of treason.”
Two incredibly unattractive people, a man and a woman, shoved their way from the back of the warehouse towards the open door.
“But know this…” Josh drew himself up to his full six and a half feet and amplified his voice with magic. “If any of you betray me, you will pay the maximum penalty allowed by mage law.”
Josh didn’t know the first thing about mage law, but he assumed there’d be some contingency for dealing with traitors.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” The ugly man’s face reddened. Spit flew past his rotten teeth as he yelled at Josh. “What gives you the right to waltz in here and start threatening law-abiding citizens?”
Josh had known that his authority would be challenged at some point, but he hadn’t expected it to happen within five minutes of his arrival. Several lines from the Book of the Dead popped into his mind.
You were born to rule and reign.
To save us all from ruin and pain.
Defeat corruption with righteous valor
And the noble strength of royal power.
The stars and the planets are nearly aligned.
Blood calls to blood, its powers to bind.
You’ve been warned before, our patience wears thin.
Solstice approaches. It’s time to begin.
Josh didn’t want to be king, but he knew in his heart that if he didn’t step up and take control, right now, the Book of the Dead would find a way to punish him.
It might even hurt Channie.
“I asked you a question, boy.” The ugly man leaned in closer. His rancid breath burned Josh’s nose.
“Get. Back.” Josh didn’t use magic to amplify his voice or force the man out of his personal space. He didn’t need to. This man wasn’t a soldier, like Intimidation Nesbit. He was a bully. And bullies rarely stood up to anyone that didn’t cower before them.
Silence settled over the crowd.
The vulgar man rocked back on his heels, seeming to teeter on the edge of indecision for a moment then lowered his gaze.
“My name is Valor Veyjivik.”
A hushed whisper rose up from the crowd. It was easy to tell from their confused expressions that they had no idea who Valor Veyjivik was.
“My grandmother is Dominance Veyjivik. Twenty years ago, she tried to kill my father, Vengeance. I’m here to end her reign of terror.”
Josh’s announcement was met with complete and utter silence.
The man that had challenged him looked like he might throw up. His ruddy complexion drained to an ash gray. He dashed out of the building without waiting for his companion. She spewed a mouthful of obscenities at the people in front of her and shoved her way out.
“Good riddance.” Rider’s declaration broke the tension. Everyone started talking all at once.
About half the crowd smiled and pressed closer. The other half eyed Josh and Hunter warily and edged back. A few more slipped out the door and disappeared. Josh was afraid the deserters would turn into traitors. He squatted beside Rider’s chair. “Do you trust the people that left not to report our location?”
“There ain’t no one for ‘em to report to. They’re already on Dominance’s round-up list.”
“This is pretty valuable information. Couldn’t they use it to get back in her good graces?”
“They ain’t got the courage to try it.” Rider unhooked his wheelchair from the back of his tiny horse then rolled forward and unbuckled the leather straps of her harness. “I didn’t call this emergency meeting so you could stand around and watch me groom my horse. Tell us the plan.”
Josh had to bite his tongue to keep from asking ‘what plan?’ Instead, he nodded and stood up. He’d just have to wing it. “I know that most of you don’t know me. You have no reason to trust me, much less join me, but that’s exactly what I’m asking you to do.”
A tingle of magic ran over his skin like a caress. Filaments of light reached out to him from several different people, including Rider and Hunter. Josh opened himself up to it and gasped as a rush of energy renewed his mind and body. This must have been what the Book of the Dead meant when it told him to ‘gather his army and feast on their power.’
He pointed at a middle-aged woman ‘feeding’ him a portion of her power. “Do you see this?”
She nodded.
“Are you doing it on purpose?”
“No, sir, Prince Valor.”
The fact that she’d called him ‘sir’ was bad enough—the woman was old enough to be his grandmother—but he hated being called ‘prince.’ He wanted to tell everyone to just call him Josh, but no one in their right mind would follow an eighteen-year-old kid named Josh into battle. It was past time for him to grow into the title.
He motioned for her to come forward. “What’s your name?”
“Discernment, your liege. At your service.” She bowed her head and damn near curtsied.
Josh took her hand and encouraged her to stand up straight. He brought her to his side and addressed everyone. “I’m here to serve all of you, not the other way around.”
Another strand of light floated towards Josh, and then another.
This is loyalty, freely given.
“No one should ever be punished for the crimes of another.”
Five more strands of light sought him out.
“And no one should have to live in a constant state of fear.”
Dozens of energy strands, too numerous to count, joined the glowing bundle attached to his chest.
“Too much power corrupts even the most honorable people.” Josh thought of Wisdom’s death pledges and Prudence’s crimes against her own family. “Dominance is drunk with power, yet still craves more. I’m asking you to join me in my quest to end her bloody reign of terror.”
“We’ve tried, but she’s too strong.”
Josh looked for the man that spoke, but couldn’t tell for sure who it was. It didn’t really matter. Everyone, even the people who’d joined him, nodded in agreement.
“I’m not asking anyone to face off with her. That’s my job. But I am asking you to stand up to her thugs. Protect one another. And not just the people in your own families, clans or regions. If we can look beyond our own tiny worlds…if Cumberland, Appalachia and Ozark mages join together in a united front…we’ll be invincible.”
“That’ll never work. There’s too many blood feuds that have been going on for generations.”
“It won’t be easy. But it’s the only way we’ll succeed.” Josh noticed that the assembled mages were standing in small groups. “How many of you put aside longstanding grudges to gather here tonight?”
No one spoke or raised their hands or nodded their heads, but there were several furtive glances between the different groups.
“If you can do it for each other, you can do it for all mages that want to live in a world free of fear, pain and Dominance.”
“How do we know you won’t be even worse than her?” The man that questioned Josh was one of about a dozen mages that had not yet given him their loyalty.
“You don’t. But I promise to do my best to set things right.”
“Are you willing to swear to it?”
“My word is my bond. I’ll never swear a death pledge to anyone for any reason. But I’ll never ask anyone to swear one to me either.”
“What if we want to remain neutral?”
Rider rolled his wheelchair closer to Josh then spun it around to address the crowd. “Dominance has promised to kill entire clans if even one member stands against her.”
Statements like that weren’t going to help Josh recruit anyone. In fact, it was having the opposite effect. The glowing ball of energy in front of his chest dimmed. He was already losing the loyalty he’d just gained. Fickle mages.
Josh’s shield popped into place just before Hunter yelled “Look out!” A blinding flash of light and a bone jarring
boom
knocked him to the ground. At first, he thought his shield had failed, but it was still buzzing around him. And he wasn’t hurt, just half blind and partially deaf.
The stench of burning flesh and hair stung his nose, but he felt no pain. He tried to get up but something held him down. No, not something…someone… Hunter. A scream of agony made it past his damaged ear drums. They were still under attack.
I need to see. I need to hear. I need to know who’s attacking us.
Josh’s vision cleared. Bright veins of energy danced across his shield, buzzing and sparking like a damaged transformer.
A cacophony of angry shouts, cries and moans replaced the ringing in his ears. He rolled to the side and gently laid Hunter on the ground. His groan of pain was a relief. At least he wasn’t dead.
Josh hovered over Hunter, protecting him with his body as well as his shield and scanned the crowd. Sparks of red energy flickered around the hands of the man that had challenged him.
Treason cannot be tolerated. Kill him.
The voice in his mind, demanding he retaliate was not his own. It belonged to the Book of the Dead.
Rage coursed through Josh’s veins.
That man tried to kill you. His curse bounced off your shield and critically injured Hunter. He must be punished or you’ll lose what little respect you’ve gained.
Josh wanted to kill him, but the man broke off his attack and dropped his hand.
All the color drained from the traitor’s face. He backed up. “I’m sorry. It was just a test.”
“A test?” Josh spat the words out then looked at Hunter, keeping the traitor in his peripheral vision.
“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” The man’s voice rose in pitch as it dropped in volume. “I wanted to see how quick your reflexes are and how strong your shield is.”
“Shall we see how strong
your
shield is?” Josh’s hands shook from the effort of controlling the magic building behind his navel.
Everyone scrambled away from the man as the air around him shimmered. His shield didn’t look very strong.
“That’s all you’ve got?”
“I…I used a lot of energy to…er…test you.”
The idea of attacking a weakened opponent didn’t sit well with Josh, but he couldn’t afford to let him go unpunished. He couldn’t risk another attack either. “I should kill you right now.”
“Please…I’ve got a family.”
“So do I.” Josh thought about Channie and their unborn baby. “You don’t deserve to be a mage. Surrender your power.”
“Wh…what?” Confusion clouded the man’s face.
Josh extended his hand, palm up and narrowed his eyes.
Give me your power.
The man arched his back and screamed as red light erupted out of his chest and stomach.
It shot across the room then passed right through Josh and into the Book of the Dead, hidden deep inside his backpack. He felt the book’s pleasure as if it were his own. But he refused to let it control him.
Stop it. That’s enough.
Josh fisted his hand and lowered it to his side. If he took all the man’s power, it would kill him. He left just enough to sustain life, but not enough to use magic.
“What have you done?” The man fell to his knees and sobbed.
“Get out.” Two distinct and opposite emotions warred within Josh. Remorse for stripping the man’s power—something akin to castration—and satisfaction for protecting his clan, his family, his wife and unborn child from an evil man. “The next time you attack me or anyone under my protection—I
will
kill you.”
~***~
Josh fought the Book of the Dead for control of the energy it had confiscated from the traitor.
I need it to heal Hunter. I can’t afford to weaken myself in front of my clan.