Magic Gale - Part Twenty

Michael had watched the story with interest and could understand why she felt the way she did about Shok’Artel. He was feeling a bit homicidal toward the Wizard himself after the tale, this was certainly NOT someone they wanted working with Bling. He had shared a little of his own background with her, which she listened to with interest. They had similar histories, and yet so different. Farm girl turned Sorceress and rich boy turned Superhero, yet here they were sitting in a warehouse together swapping childhood memories. The tales changed to comparisons of life and training and soon there was a healthy bit of boasting and challenging going on. Rysta had just bragged about her athleticism even without the help of her magic and Torrent challenged her to prove herself. She asked Aardrin to position himself in the middle of the warehouse facing them with his head down, his nose practically on the floor.

“Watch carefully, Torrent. I’m betting you wouldn’t be able to do this.”

“Okay.” Black Torrent stood up and stretched. “But no cheating.”

Purple Mage gave him an artificially hurt look, “I would never cheat!”

“That face you’re making does not convince me.” He crossed his arms and smirked.

Could you just hurry this up? You’re making me nervous. This ground is not soft and I don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself. It hasn’t been long enough for me to change.

“Shhhh, Aardrin. It’s going to be fine. It’s just like when we were training in the Grove.” Rysta rubbed her hands together. “Just hold still and keep your head down.”

The Grove had soft grass, not this cement stuff.

“No powers!” Michael reminded her as she sprinted toward Aardrin.

“Don’t need them for this, Torrent!” She laughed and leapt up from in front of Aardrin, hands on his withers like he was nothing more than a large vaulting horse. She then managed to get up into a handstand and flip over so she was standing on his back, facing toward the watching hero. “Tada! Still can do it!” She looked smugly down from her perch on top of Aardrin.

Rysta! Sit down! Those boots of yours have spikes in them and they HURT!

“Oh! Sorry Aardrin.” She sat down quickly, or rather, fell into a sitting position straddling Aardrin’s back. Michael winced, imagining what that would feel like if he tried it. She looked at Michael sheepishly as he walked towards them, “I forgot about the cleats in the boots.”

“Ow. Poor guy. That’s got to hurt.” Michael patted Aardrin’s side absently as he looked up. “How are you feeling? I mean, you did all that . . . stuff . . . and you don’t seem to be tired . . .”

She looked thoughtful. “You’re right. I don’t feel drained at all. I just feel a little hungry.” She slid down off Aardrin, deliberately bumping Torrent with her hip. Michael took advantage of the situation to remind himself of what her backside felt like. She gave him a sly look and bumped him again, then he found himself on the receiving end of the same kind of caress.

“You’re playing a dangerous game there, Mage.” He grinned at her.

“I’m all about fair play, Torrent. Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it.” She smirked right back at him.

Oh Gods, will you two STOP. Aardrin’s ears flattened against his head and he looked pained. I liked it better when you were fighting.

“Aardrin, you are such a killjoy.” She rolled her eyes but stopped her hand’s wandering with a quick slap that made Michael widen his eyes slightly in surprise then narrow as he looked at her slyly.

“You really aren’t going to make this easy, are you?”

“Now what is the fun in that, Torrent?” She giggled and walked a bit away from him.

Michael looked over at Aardrin. If one of the horses in the stables had that expression, you were in danger of being bit or kicked. He was suddenly aware that Aardrin had a good set of big teeth, four very powerful hooves, and didn’t look happy. He really wished he knew what Aardrin was thinking.

Apparently, Rysta knew, “Aardrin, stop being such a hypocrite. I’m old enough to know what I’m doing and just as capable of making my own decisions as you are.” Suddenly, Aardrin’s ears went up and his eyes widened, then he shook his head.

Torrent cleared his throat and looked at Mage, deciding a change of subject was in order, “Why do you think you’re not feeling tired?”

Rysta turned to give him a thoughtful look. “I don’t know. It really doesn’t make sense. It’s almost as if there’s more magical energy to pull from than there was before.” She dug into one of the pouches in her belt and pulled out the amulet she had made. Rysta stared at it for a while in surprise then whispered, almost to herself, “It’s charged.” She shook her head, “That shouldn’t have happened for at least another week given the ambient magic.”

“What about that stuff in Bling’s warehouse? Could you be getting some from that?” Michael felt a chill go down his back when he mentioned it.

Rysta shook her head and continued to look down at the amulet, “No. It’s the wrong kind of magic. Any spells of mine aren’t going to be able to tap that nastiness. I wouldn’t want to anyway.” She visibly shuddered at the thought.

“Then where is it coming from?” Michael didn’t like the idea that there could be more magic suddenly.

She frowned, “I don’t know. Perhaps I should try and find out.” She looked up at the ceiling of the warehouse.

He put a hand on her shoulder before that look became movement. “Wait. The last time you tried to track something magical . . .” He stopped, not really wanting to remember what happened the last time. “Besides, we’re here on guard duty. It can wait until Zephyra shows up to relieve us.”

She bit her lip and looked at the amulet again, “I’ll mention it to Tiernan when we get back and see what he thinks.” She glanced over at the caped hero. “It might be a good thing. Then Aardrin will be a human more often and Tiernan will be able to do more to help solve this issue with Bling and Shok.” Rysta frowned fiercely after mentioning their names.

Michael’s voice was soft and had a forced cheer to it, “It also means you are closer to getting back home.” He hadn’t removed his hand from her shoulder and he squeezed slightly.

“Aye, well, that won’t happen until we clean up the mess around here, will it?” Her voice was suddenly subdued as she put the circular gold item back in her belt pouch. “We can’t leave things the way they are now.” She looked up at him, her purple eyes capturing his.

“Definitely can’t leave things the way they are.” He smiled, wishing that Aardrin wasn’t there.

Purple Mage grabbed his cape and pulled him down into a very passionate kiss. It was nearly enough to make Michael forget that they had an audience, until he felt the violent snort of hot breath on the back of his neck. Rysta broke off and glared up past his head. “Aardrin!”

“It’s okay.” Michael grinned, resisting the urge to kiss her again. He looked up at Aardrin. The healer’s horse ears were flat back as he glared at Black Torrent. “She’s right though, she’s perfectly within her rights to do what she wants. Even with me.” Michael smirked up at the annoyed animal, already making mental plans for the rest of the night that included Rysta and no interruptions.

Rysta narrowed her eyes at Aardrin and then shook her head, “He said that he’s going to remember your words and hold you to them.”

Aardrin gave a strange horsey snicker that made the caped hero give the healer-turned-horse a suspicious glance. Then Torrent shrugged and tried to come up with things that would be distracting enough that both he and Purple Mage could keep their hands to themselves until Zephyra showed up to take over.

*****************

Ravenswood looked at all the items that Yule had set out. “I feel like I’m a conspiracy theorist preparing for the Illuminati.” He crossed his arms and looked at the older man. “Seriously?”

“Dead serious. I wouldn’t be using it if it didn’t work.” Yule chuckled. “Maybe those conspiracy nuts actually do know something.”

Ravenswood picked up the shield that Yule had obviously made out of several aluminum pans, “Please tell me that we won’t have to wear aluminum foil hats.”

Yule snorted in amusement, “Tiernan claims that Shok isn’t capable of getting into our minds, so that won’t be necessary.”

“But . . . why aluminum? It’s so soft! How could it possibly protect against anything?” Ravenswood poked the shield with his finger and it dented, making his point for him.

“Aluminum is a metal that exists in very small quantities on their world. Tiernan says he only knows of one mage who has used it, and she forged it into a sword that absorbed all magic.” Yule picked up an aluminum rod and tested its weight thoughtfully, then spun it in his hand quickly before setting it down again. “It’s what I used to shield all our communication devices against interference from Rysta’s magic, so I know it works.”

“Yeah, but you’re still going to get knocked into a wall if someone does something like Rysta did to that light in the warehouse.” Ravenswood was still looking skeptically at the shield.

A ball of light came from Yule’s left hand and smashed into the shield Ray was holding. The aluminum bent slightly and made a loud metal bang but there was no force transfer to the detective’s hands. “It absorbs everything. Even the force of the magic.” Tiernan smirked, “It’s quite amazing material.”

“Could you WARN me next time?” Ray stared at the man in shock, “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“Sorry. I was just trying to prove a point.” The smirk disappeared and Yule rolled his eyes in annoyance, “Damn Wizard is getting better at popping out unexpectedly. Sorry, Ray.”

“Looks like someone is making cheap LARPing equipment.” Melody came in and surveyed the scene. “Is this really going to work?”

Ravenswood set down the shield and grumbled, “Apparently.” His mood improved instantly when his wife gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and he smiled at her, “Your turn at horse sitting coming up?”

“Yep. Don’t know if I’ll be reading to him like Sara did. Maybe I’ll get lucky and he’ll just sleep through the night.” Melody smiled and gave her husband another kiss on the lips. “Hopefully we won’t have to do this very long.”

“The sooner everyone gets back to where they belong, the better.” Yule grumbled then looked up at Ray. “You ready for the first step in this?”

“Yeah, let me go find the respirator and I’ll get suited up.” Ravenswood was not looking forward to this part after hearing what Michael and Rysta had dealt with, but both Yule and Tiernan had assured him that he’d be safe. He hoped they were both right as he hugged Melody tightly. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, but you’ll be fine and won’t need it.” She winked at him. “Love you.”

“Love you too, don’t get too bored.” He kissed his wife once more, suddenly reluctant to let her leave.

“I’ll be fine.” Melody returned the kiss, smiled, and waved him off, “Go get ready! I’ve got to get dressed.”

Ravenswood went off to the equipment storage area, but his stomach was starting to tie in knots for some reason. He had a very bad feeling about tonight.

*****************

“Yeah. We’ve found the horse.”

“Well . . . GO GET IT you idiots!” Bling’s voice blasted through the phone, making the man holding it pull it quickly away from his ear.

“Yeah, see, there’s this problem. There’s two capes in there with it; Black Torrent and that new chick . . . Purple Girl or whatever she calls herself. I’m not messin’ with them.”

“Listen, you reprobate, I need that horse and I need it YESTERDAY! I don’t care if the place is like Fort Knox! You get that horse or you can forget any payment!”

“Okay . . . okay . . . we’ll keep watching the place. Maybe they’ll get bored and go someplace else.”

“Don’t you morons have anything that can knock people out? You brought tranquilizers for the horse, right?”

“Well, yeah. But we’re not equipped to deal with any capes . . .”

“THEN GET EQUIPPED! Get me that horse TONIGHT or I’m going make sure your lives aren’t worth the dirt under my feet! UNDERSTAND?!” Bling hung up.

“Yessir.” The man glanced over at his partner. “Looks like we need to get some supplies and get that horse tonight.”

“But that’s Black Torrent in there! He’ll turn us into mincemeat!”

“If we come back without that horse I think you’d prefer being mincemeat.” The man with the phone grimaced. “I’ve got an idea but we’re gonna need some help.” He opened the truck door and slid out. “Come on! I’m not goin’ by myself!”

“Right. Coming.”

****************

“How’s it feeling, Ray?”

“This thing is bulky . . . I don’t know if I’m going to be able to manage it on a warehouse catwalk.”

Yule looked at the detective critically, “Yes, I see what you mean. Let me see if I can fix some of that before you go.” He took the piece of equipment and set it down to start adjusting it.

A sudden beeping alarm made both men look up in surprise.

“That’s the Tower security alert . . .” Ray jogged to the computer to see what was going on. “It looks like the cameras are freaking out all over the Tower . . . top to bottom.” Ray looked at Yule. “Magic?”

Yule walked slowly over to the communication center, obviously listening to Tiernan. “Wizard says it’s a possibility but he doesn’t know what it could be specifically.” He sat and put in his earpiece, “Torrent? Do you copy?” A pause. “Yes. Is Zephyra with Aardrin? Good. I need you and Mage to do a visual check of Crystal Towers. Something’s making the security cameras go crazy. Yes. Just tell me what you see.” Yule waited then his eyes widened. “Repeat that?” Yule stared off into the distance for the moment. “Copy that. Does Mage think she can do something about it?” Yule frowned thoughtfully. “Okay, let her do it then. The last thing we need is too much attention drawn to our building.” Another pause, “Well, even if it’s obvious, no one is going to be able to take pictures while she’s casting something. Right. Okay. Keep me informed.”

“What’s going on?” Ravenswood came up next to Yule, curiosity obviously eating at him.

“Apparently the building is ‘glittering’ according to Michael.” Yule looked up at Ray and shook his head in bewilderment. “Rysta says she can fix the situation.”

Ravenswood blinked. “Glittering? What does that even mean?”

Yule shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine.”