Authors: L. J. Kendall
Your problem now.
The words sounded inside his head as the man, or dragon, stepped forward and Harmon found his own arms lifting without conscious thought to accept the burden. Which suddenly lightened, though Harmon had seen just the sketchiest motion of spell-casting.
'What- what's wrong with Benson? I thought, that is, his reputation, surely…?'
Some had said Benson was perhaps as powerful as Shen; perhaps as powerful as d'Artelle herself. Harmon struggled to marshal his thoughts. 'Why did you bring him
here
, to us?'
'Because here is where he needs to be.' The
satisfaction
in the accompanying smile made Harmon's hackles rise. 'Unfortunately, his mind has broken and he now represents a great danger to us all.'
'But why not keep him in your own country? Surely, you are better placed…'
There was the slightest twitch to the eyebrows, the faintest gleam of malicious pleasure in the strange gold-and-black eyes, and he stopped, sensing that every word he spoke somehow made him appear more naïve in the eyes of the dragon. Who, somewhat to his surprise, answered his question. In a fashion.
'Well, since the Fey-born declined to help, she can hardly object to hosting her replacement during his… convalescence.'
Again, the faintest emphasis on the final word made Harmon feel he was missing something important. And who did he mean by “the Fey-born?” Surely not the trillionaire, Morag Feyborn – she'd been dead a decade. And what did he mean by “her replacement?” Was he claiming the deceased Feyborn had been one of the two strangely-anonymous companions who'd made the first attempt, with him, to track down the Enemy of Mankind?
Shen's statement raised more questions than it answered. Before Harmon could ask more, however, the man was moving.
'Come. We will need to strengthen and improve your Barriers. I will show you how: I will do that much, at least, to ease your burden.'
And with regal self-assuredness despite his tattered silk clothing, he swept past them and up the wide steps as if the building were his own.
Which was how, minutes later, Dr Alex Harmon, 36, had found himself assisting the man who was now very likely the most powerful mage on the planet as he constructed a series of towering, interleaved magical workings Harmon scarcely understood.
Lao Pi Shen had also worked with Harmon to mend the younger man's disturbing injuries. Or perhaps
alterations?
A second working of magic, even subtler this time, and Harmon felt uncharacteristically humbled as he saw it wasn't only the strength of the man's magical power, but his knowledge and skills which clearly exceeded his own by at least an order of magnitude.
It had been humbling, yet also enlightening. It made him the only person still alive, as far as he knew – with the probable exception of their newest inmate – who had worked magic with the sorcerer who had recently come to rule China.
Harmon had dared to ask, then, how the third member of their team had died. The dragon lord had remained silent so long he had decided there would be no answer, when their visitor finally responded.
'There are some humans whose spirit make even one such as I, humble. We would not have succeeded without his sacrifice.'
But after that, the dragon had spoken no more. Except, as he left – surrounded, to his apparent amusement, by a hastily-assembled group of State Department officials and FBI agents – to wryly observe that he thought their government would be wise, in the circumstance, not to hold him to task over his lack of a passport.
Harmon had half expected the man to depart as mysteriously as he had arrived, but instead, the Emperor of China had simply bent his frame elegantly to enter the provided limousine.
Harmon snapped out of his reverie, blinking, as Sara's insistent tone ended his introspection.
'What is this place, anyway? Are we under the ground?'
'This is the Institute of Paranormal Dysfunction. I study magic, Sara, and what it means when it goes wrong inside people. Indeed, at the Institute we have one of the most skilled and powerful mages of our times. Unfortunately, something damaged his mind and he is here now to
be
studied: not to study
with
us.
'And no, we are not underground at present – although this building is such a maze of corridors it would be easy to imagine you were. Would you like to go outside into the fresh air?'
'Yeah!' She pushed her chair back and jumped up, ready to leave at once.
'
After
you have finished your breakfast, little one.'
She cocked her head to one side, staring at him.
Her eagle look
, he recalled with a smile. Structuring his will and thought, he gestured, and her chair returned, turning round a little toward her. Her eyes widened at the casual display of magic. Impressed and showing it, she returned to the table. 'Do some
more
magic!' she demanded.
He cocked
his
head to one side. 'Say
please
.'
She considered the command, pouting. He looked away, twirling his fingers idly, and had to conceal his satisfaction when at last she broke. 'Please.'
'Very well.' He gestured again, frowning slightly in concentration. She dropped her spoon as it suddenly twisted in her hand, then gazed at it wide-eyed as it drifted down into her cereal bowl. Her eyes followed it avidly as it dipped to ladle up a mouthful and then float up to her mouth, which she opened with a delighted grin.
He almost jumped when she unexpectedly snapped forward, trapping the spoon. Then slowly, gently, drew back to slide it from her mouth, her eyes locked on his all the while. A spark seemed to leap between them.
Harmon felt quite… strange.
Chapter 4
She kept an eye on her new uncle, just in case he did more magic, while eating her cereal as fast as she could. But it still took
ages
to get outside.
Blinking in the bright sunlight she pushed open the too-slowly opening door, pausing on the top step and drawing in great big breaths of the air. It smelled weird but good, all kinds of rich scents that were nicer than those back in the city. They were somehow familiar though, and she frowned as she tried to remember where from.
Jumping down the steps two at a time, she raced across the gravel and onto the grassy area beyond, stretching her arms out in eagle wings to swoop in a wide banking turn, a single 'Aaark!' escaping from her, that she just couldn't hold inside. She paused then to look back at the building and the strange man who'd adopted her. As his hooded eyes watched her intently, she wondered what he'd be like, as… as an Uncle. Would he get married one day? Give her a… uh, an
Aunt
?
She watched him standing there all stern and serious, in his white coat like a proper doctor, or maybe a scientist. She tilted her head sideways, considering him. Could he be a
mad
scientist? That'd be pretty cool.
Except mad scientists didn't get married.
She stared up at the building. It sure was big! It even had those up and down steppy-things running all along the edge of the roof. She wondered what it would be like to run along them. It did look a little bit dangerous, though. Maybe when her legs were longer, she decided.
He was
still
making his way toward her, so she ran back to him. 'It looks like a castle!'
He turned and actually looked at it, which was nice. Most grown ups just ignored what you said, except to tell you you were wrong.
'It was Victorian, originally, but there
has
been a mish-mash of later extensions. I suppose… it
is
reasonably old.'
From the corner of her eye, she saw something run across the lawn between two trees, and grabbed his hand. 'Look, look!' she squealed, but he just stood there like a lump. She darted off toward it, but it disappeared before she'd gone more than a few steps. She turned back to him, wondering if he'd seen it too. 'What was it?'
'A squirrel, Sara. There are many small animals in the grounds.'
A squirrel. So
that
was a squirrel. She wondered how hard it would be to catch one? What would they be like to hold? Could you pet them? It'd be nice to have something to cuddle. Quietly, she stalked toward the tree it had run up, then stood at the bottom, checking out the hand-holds. It didn't look like it'd be too hard to climb.
She looked back at her, uh, her uncle, and he had an odd expression on his face, like he was studying her, maybe deciding something. But he looked interested, too. Which was kinda nice.
The sky was blue, the smells so nice. It was like she'd moved to live in a castle in the middle of a forest. She wondered if maybe there'd be a wicked witch lurking somewhere? She turned in a big circle, taking it all in, amazed by just how clear and sharp everything was, right to the horizon.
She stopped, at the sound of steps coming around the side of the building behind them. Only a man, but by his side…
'Oh, wow, who's
that
?'
'Hmm? Brian Shanahan, our security-'
But she was already in motion, racing toward the sleek and powerfully-muscled dog. Its glowing red eyes had locked on hers with such interest, and its tail had already thumped once in hopeful anticipation…. She could tell straight away the robo-dog needed someone to play with: its eyes –
her
eyes – said how alone she was, and how happy she was to see Sara.
'Sara, stop, don't-!'
Her uncle was shouting dumb stuff, as if he couldn't see how much the girl dog looked like HyperGirl's companion, Argon. She had the same sleekly bulging weapon pods at her shoulders, but without the rocket thrusters at her hips. Probably he didn't watch
Heroes, Inc.
She wondered if she had unfolding wings like Argon, too.
The man ahead of her was also shouting at her to stop. She had to dodge as he reached down and tried to grab her while barking orders at “Faith” to “stand down” – but he was too slow. “Faith's” lips curled back in delight-
And then she was past the grasping hands, her own arms wrapping around Faith's furry neck to hug her tight while she inhaled the rich doggy smells. With her head pressed into the hard muscles, from the corner of her eye she could see the tail thumping madly. Her arms couldn't quite reach around the large chest. 'Oh, Faith, we'll have
such
adventures, just wait and see! Come on, I'll race you to the building!'
She broke away, pausing to slap her thigh for Faith to follow, then took off at a sprint. Behind her, she heard the whine of turbines spinning up, then Faith appeared at her side, head cocked briefly to see what
she
was doing, before the turbines whined higher and Faith bounded ahead.
She couldn't help but squeal in delight, laughing as she put her head down to chase the dog even harder. 'No fair!' she called out, 'You've got robo legs!' Then saved her breath for running.
Behind her, the men's shouting had finally stopped. She'd showed
them!
As if Faith was going to hurt
her.
Grown ups could be so dumb, sometimes.
When she and her faithful companion finished their first ever patrol circuit of the building together and loped back up to the two men, of course the two grown ups blahed and blahed for a while. She rolled her eyes at Faith. As if Faith would shoot
her
. Good grief! While the men complained, she and Faith secretly agreed to meet up later – that was obvious by the thumping of her tail and the way her long tongue lolled out happily over her steely teeth.
Eventually the men stopped talking. After a while she guessed they were probably waiting for her to say something.
'Uh. Sorry? I won't do it again?'
After a little more blah, Faith and her man headed off, while her uncle stared down at her.
He didn't say much, but she got the impression he was secretly pleased. Which was kinda surprising, but nice. The nuns would have been telling her not to run around like a crazy girl, or worse. Maybe he really was nicer than he looked? It was just his heavy eyebrows and how they made his eyes look like dark caves that made him look so fierce. But
she
could look fierce, too!
She wanted to stay outside and explore, but he pointed out that the building inside was quite interesting in its own right, and even had a display that would give her an overview of the Institute for Parra Normal Dis Numpton's – or whatever it was called – “considerable acreage.” Which just meant “a lot of land,” he explained.
And
, he'd added, it'd be a good idea to get a tour of the building itself so she could learn which areas were safe, and which to avoid.
Safe?
Now
that
sounded interesting, but she was extra careful not to let her interest show. Was it the
wrong
people that were the danger, or was it because they did mad-scientist experiments here? Or maybe it was both? They could have secret labra-tories or underground lairs, or anything, here! She had to hug herself to convince herself it was all real.
I'm so lucky!
Looking back as she followed her uncle inside, she saw Faith turn at the same moment. Their eyes met before Faith turned back to concentrate on her duties. But her tail was wagging!
And the woods beyond! Sara gazed out at the forested area inside the walls of the Institute, and had to hug herself again. So many new places to explore!
At lunch-time, much later, sweaty and grubby from her explorations, she ran back into the cafeteria, suddenly stopping at the sight of a long, gift-wrapped parcel lying just beyond her place-setting.
O
hhh! He got me a present!
Her new uncle had a smile on his face, though it was a bit funny-looking.
She looked at the parcel. It was wrapped in colorful paper, and quite long – longer than her arm. She ran up to the dining table. 'Is that a present for
me
?'