Chapter 9: Sadness and
the Tropics
The
hijacked plane continued on its course for the Bahamas, the communist
not giving any instruction to the contrary. Overseer sat in his
chair, which was noticeably fat-roll free at the moment. The
young agent of the law still looked as if he would do something soon,
though Overseer was getting impatient and bored with the whole
affair. If there was going to be a shooting, he would prefer that
it begin soon. After all, he needed an excuse to turn
something--or someone--into a wombat or other furry creature.
Overseer had already decided that it didn't matter if anyone felt the
ripples in reality. After all, the sorcerers' guild would never
risk coming out into the open--in public.
That, and
he was an expert at avoiding the guild's agents. Having been on
the run for so long, it was only natural that he'd learn a few tricks
and techniques along the way. He also could safely assume that
with the stir his call to Yates had caused, the guild was busy enough
trying to track the movements of all the rogue sorcerers in Europe, let
alone the two or three that chose to live in America. Europe had
always been the location of choice for sorcerers, as many saw the old
Gothic architecture as reminiscent of their childhood. Overseer
had never really liked the Gothic style himself, preferring the newer
mansion designs of the late 19th century.
Overseer's
thoughts on architecture were cut short as the terrorist unexpectedly
pointed his gun at him. A babble of words that Overseer was too
bored to listen to washed over him. From his gestures, it was
obvious the commie was threatening to execute him first if whatever
demands he happened to have were not met. Overseer tried to
stifle a laugh, but couldn't. His maniacal laughter echoed
throughout the cabin. The hijacker seemed angered by this display
of insolence, and pulled out a knife, holding it to the sorcerer's
throat. This only elicited more laughter from Overseer, causing
some of the passengers to decide that he was obviously suicidal.
The other passengers would have thought the same thing, if not for a
hidden hint of malice in the sorcerer's laughter. These slightly
more attuned passengers found themselves hoping that the hijacker
wouldn't do anything rash, as they felt the danger of what might happen.
Unfortunately, the hijacker was not so attuned to his
senses. As the nervous young agent prepared to shoot--for he had
finally drawn his gun--the communist's knife slashed across Overseer's
throat. Passengers screams of horror turned to those of surprise
as the hijacker's own head suddenly fell off. Overseer chuckled
to himself. He always had so much fun doing a shift in forces,
and this had been quite satisfying. As the terrorist's head
rolled down the center aisle the nervous agent accidentally
fired. The bullet sped toward Overseer's head, stopping at the
last second to change into a hamster. The flying hamster landed
on Overseer's shoulder, and commenced a whirling display of kung-fu
maneuvers.
Overseer
sighed. His Familiar could be so melodramatic at times. The
bullet in question had been tossed into the inter-dimensional
nothingness where Familiars were kept until needed. It had been
the first thing Overseer could think of, not having much time to react
and all. Annoyed at the young agent, Overseer changed his gun
into an iguana and got up to head for the bathroom. There was
still some of the hijacker's blood on his robes, and he wanted to at
least give cleaning them a shot. He liked those robes, and while
the idea of blood soaked clothing did appeal to him, he knew that it
always just got sticky by the end of the day.
Exiting the
bathroom, he was confronted with the shocked and frightened stares of
the rest of the airplane. "What? You act like you've never
seen a guy use the bathroom before."*************
David made
his way out to the garage one last time. Ruth was with him, and
the two of them found Aaron's car waiting for them. One of the
computer technicians walked up and stammered an explanation.
"You see,
um... well, we all know that Aaron was like a brother to you Ruth, and
so we all thought that you should have his car. I know it's hard
to let him go, but maybe this will help you remember him a little."
Ruth
smiled, holding back a few tears. "Thanks guys. I
appreciate it." She turned to David. "Well, I guess this is
it then. We're off to the new headquarters." Suddenly, Ruth
realized that she had absolutely no clue where the new headquarters
were. She hadn't gone at all, instead electing to stay and help
pack things up. "Say David... could you perhaps drive? I'm
not exactly sure where we're going."
David
laughed. "Yeah, I'll drive. You'll like it there--it's a
lot bigger than this place, and the rooms are much more
comfortable. Lots of space to keep everything, you see."
Ruth
nodded. "Hmm, that'll be nice. My room was getting a bit
cluttered. 'Course, I suppose if I actually cleaned things up
once in a while that wouldn't have happened, but you get the idea."
"Right, I
understand perfectly." David chuckled and opened the passenger
door of Aaron's old car. Walking to the driver's side, he pulled
on the handle. The door didn't budge. Puzzled, he checked
to see if the door was unlocked. Seeing that it was, he pulled
again. As he was about to give it one last shot, he suddenly
remembered Aaron mentioning something about his door. "I assume you'll
have to open the driver's door for me. I remember him telling me
you couldn't open it from the outside."
Ruth
nodded. "That's right." She leaned over and popped open the
door easily. "Well, I suppose we should get moving."
David slid
into the driver's seat, a little sad to be leaving behind the place
where he had gotten started, but happy that they were headed toward
safety--for the time being at least. He still was worried about
when the next attack would come, but he had resolved to do his level
best to keep the new headquarters a secret--just like their old one
should have been. It still confused David as to how their
movements had been tracked so well, but the only explanation seemed to
be that there was a spy in the council, and Doc had said that this was
highly unlikely.
"Nonsense
David. These folk wouldn't dare to betray us! If we are
discovered, it is likely that they would be in as much danger as
us--more, really as we'd be after them along with our pursuers."
However, Doc's face showed that he was hiding some thought of his that
he did not wish to voice. David had the feeling that Doc had his
own suspicions and just wasn't sharing them.
Ruth looked
over at David, noting that he seemed lost in thought about
something. "Hey, what is it?"
David shook
his head a little as Ruth's voice brought him back to the
present. "Hmm? Oh, just thinking."
"That was
obvious." Ruth chuckled. "What's bothering you? You almost
look worried."
David
looked at Ruth, debating whether or not to tell her; after all, she
could have been the spy. Finally, he decided that she was
trustworthy enough to tell his suspicions to--after all, she was his
closest friend, and she had been nearly killed in the attack(definitely
not the sort of thing that would happen to an informant). "Well,
I've been thinking how that sorcerer knew where to find us--and how he
tracked us so well. I think we have a mole."
Ruth's face
showed that she was of the same mind. "Well, I've thought that
myself. After all, for those people to know you were out
searching, they'd have to have pretty good intelligence. It's not
like they were just loitering around the search area by accident.
You said yourself they looked as if they had lots of time to set things
up. They would need to know the plan beforehand."
"Exactly. A mole's the only way I can think of that
happening." David responded. "The only question is, who?"
"I have no
idea." Ruth fell silent, running over the possibilities in her
mind. There was nobody she could think of who seemed capable of
such an act. The two continued on their way to the new
headquarters, each deep in their own thought.*************
Minneapolis
once had a city park, and it now grew wild after the abandonment of the
city. It was here, in a grove of trees, that two figures could be
found, holding one another and weeping silently. A freshly dug
grave lay at their feet, and it was obvious that the grave had been dug
by those present. Dirt was still caked on the man's hands, and
the woman with him had hands in similar condition.
Aaron tried
to find some way to gather his thoughts, but he couldn't quite
manage. It had been a long and terrible day. He had carried
Lydia back to the van, Jo walking beside him mechanically. Laying
his burden in the back seat, Jo had mentioned that Lydia had always
said she wanted to be buried somewhere wild. The city park had
been Jo's idea--Lydia had loved both the wild and the city, and here
was a perfect melding of the two. They had labored long to dig
the grave using shovels that had been in the van, and when it was
completed, they had slowly lowered Lydia down. Jo had dressed
Lydia's wounds and made her look as presentable as she could.
Along with her body, Jo had lain Lydia's crossbow at her side, and
after a few simple words and prayers, they had slowly filled the grave
in. It was the hardest thing that Jo had ever done. Even
now, standing with Aaron and looking down at the grave, she couldn't
bring herself to believe that Lydia was really dead.
Aaron
stood, remembering those he had buried before. A friend of his
had died of a rare heart disease when he was only sixteen, and a
technician of his who had been shot and killed by a Hunter. Both
times, the loss had wounded him deeply. Now, it seemed as
if another scar would be added. He hadn't known Lydia that long,
but near the end, they had become friends, helping each other control
Jo during her Manifestations. It had been a life changing
experience for her, and Aaron had been glad to help her through it.
Jo had
buried her mother, but for some reason she felt more pain over losing
Lydia. Perhaps it was the difference in age, as she hadn't really
understood what was going on when her mother died. Now, after
spending so much time with Lydia, having her so suddenly and violently
snatched away caused a pain Jo hadn't known possible. There was a
part of her that was no longer there, that she couldn't get back.
It was gone, buried in front of her, and she would not see it again
until she herself died. For a long time, the two stood at the
grave, both alone with their thoughts.
It was
Aaron who first broke the silence. "We'd better get moving
Jo. It's getting late."
Jo's voice
was husky with sorrow. "I can't leave her Aaron. Not
yet. Wait a little longer, please..."
Aaron
nodded in understanding. "As long as you need Jo. Take your
time." He kept speaking, though he didn't know what drove him to
it. "I know it hurts Jo. It hurts a lot, and you think it
won't ever stop. I guess it never really does. But somehow
I think that the last thing Lydia would want is for you to give up
now. It will take time before you can move on, but Lydia asked me
to protect you, and I mean to keep that promise. I'm going to be
here to help you through this."
Jo looked
over at Aaron as he spoke. A new light seemed to come into her
eyes, though there was still sadness present in them as well.
"Thank you, but I'm not sure if there's anything you can do to help."
"Maybe. Maybe not. Regardless, I'm going to be here,
just in case you need someone to talk to." Aaron was trying to
figure out just what he was supposed to do at this point.
'Protect Jo' Lydia had said, and while he did indeed want to do so, he
wasn't quite sure how to go about doing it. Actually, he wasn't
even sure what the plan was anymore. It was obvious to him that
Jo would want to continue her study of the virus, but he didn't know if
she would be able to make any real progress without help. Again,
he thought of returning to headquarters and letting Jo work with Doc,
as he was sure the extra help would be appreciated. Now, however,
was not the time to talk of such things.
It was
another hour before Jo could bring herself to move from the
grave. Even then, it was hard to do, leaving her friend
behind. She walked shakily, exhausted by her grief. Aaron
offered his arm as support, but Jo insisted on walking by
herself. The return trip to the apartment was made in silence,
only broken by Jo's quiet weeping. It hurt Aaron to see a friend
in such pain, but there was nothing he could say. No words of his
could ease the loss.
As soon as
they entered the apartment, Jo headed to her room and fell asleep,
exhausted. Aaron remained up for a while longer, reliving the
moment over and over again in his head; berating himself for not being
more cautious. He should have told Lydia and Jo to go off on
their own. The Hunter had been looking for him, not them.
Now she was dead, dead because he had been stupid enough to think that
he could handle the situation without any trouble. Frustration
was etched on his face, anger and guilt fighting an inner battle to see
which could make him feel more wretched. It was a long night.*************
Overseer
stepped off the plane, breathing in the tropical air. It was hot,
but not uncomfortably so. It had been a pleasant flight after the
incident with the hijacker. Overseer had gotten his own row, as
the rest of the passengers were too frightened of him to risk sitting
next to him. That sort of arrangement suited Overseer just
fine. He would have to remember to use the same tactic on his
return flight.
It had
occurred to Overseer that perhaps someone might have reported the whole
incident by now, so he elected to exit the airport as quickly as
possible. This entailed charging through the packed crowds and
diving out of the nearby concourse window. Glass shards littered
the pavement as Overseer rolled to a stop and stood, brushing himself
off and picking up his carry-on bag that he used to break the
window. Opening it up, he checked that his sword was still safe
and walked to the rental car lot. He would get a nice sports car.
The clerk
at the rental agency was quite accommodating. Especially after
Overseer chopped the desk in two with his sword and threatened to do
the same to the clerk. Moments later, the sorcerer pulled out of
the lot in a rather sharp-looking convertible, complete with six speed
manual transmission. Speeding toward his vacation house, Overseer
suddenly sensed that all was not right. There was another magical
user here... one that he couldn't place, and one that was stupid enough
to be using powerful majiks openly. Must have been a guild
sorcerer, and one of the higher ups at that. Overseer made a
mental note to be careful and continued to his rented beach house.
Rounding a
bend, Overseer whistled in appreciation. That travel agent had
been right. The place was huge. It looked out of
place--architecture harkening back to Gothic days on a resort island is
after all an oddity. Overseer was more of a modern architecture
fan himself, but the house did remind him of his youth. Overseer
remembered those days with fondness. Living as a peasant, hearing
stories about the Black Death, it had all been so much fun.
Overseer mostly remembered using his powers to get out of the peasantry
and into the running of well funded and shadowy organizations. In
fact, his first base of operations had been in a castle that looked
very much like the obviously smaller version that stood before him.
Entering
the house, the first thing to catch the sorcerer's eye was the fully
stocked bar and the massive television. Overseer smiled. He
was going to enjoy his vacation. He decided that his first item
of business would be to head for the beach--only a mile away.
He'd just walk. It would be oddly relaxing.*************
The travel
agency clerk was currently enjoying herself as well. Overseer had
placed her in complete control of the Organization while he was away,
and that gave her all the powers that he wielded (except for the
sorcerous ones of course). At the moment, she was doing what any
good leader would do--abusing her powers.
Dull-witted
henchmen waited on her hand and foot, and all of her meals were ordered
from the finest restaurant in Minnesota. The only thing wrong
with the job, the clerk decided, was the parts where she had to
do work. This annoying responsibility now intruded on her private
massage. A simple report detailing the movements of the rogue
sorcerers. Apparently, Overseer had done something to get them to
increase their activity. The clerk wasn't too worried about any
of this at all. After all, she would be paid regardless of the
success or failure of Overseer's plans.
The only
thing of note that crossed the clerk's desk was another report on the
movements of the sorcerer's guild. Apparently, one of the high
council was also vacationing in the Bahamas. Sighing irritably,
the clerk picked up the phone to send word to her new boss. *************
"Wow, you
weren't kidding." Ruth couldn't say any more about the new
headquarters. It was immense, an old military base that had been
hit hard during the war and abandoned by the government along with the
rest of the city. It seemed like the perfect place to hide out.
David
gestured out of the window. "See, this is all a bit exposed, but
the largest part of the base is underground. It's like a small
city. The surface structures are still sound, but they haven't
decided if they want to risk having people out in the open."
Ruth
nodded. "Makes sense to me. After all, I'm sure the
government would want to keep tabs on this place, wouldn't they?"
David shook
his head. "Nope. In fact, the computer techs have spent the
past week hacking the military's surveillance systems just to be sure."
Ruth was
confused. "Then why would they be worried about us using the
surface structures?"
David
pointed to his left. "Somewhere over there is a Hunter
base. We don't want to attract any more attention than necessary."
"Why would
we set up so close to a Hunter base? I thought the point was to
avoid those things!" Ruth didn't understand why the leadership
would make such a risky decision.
David
shrugged. "I'm not sure. I asked Doc about it, but he won't
say. I think we're hoping they won't look so close to their own
base. The only other reason I can think of is that if our base is
discovered again, the Hunters will probably get caught too."
Ruth
considered a bit more. It made a tiny bit of sense, but there was
still some other reason that she couldn't quite place. The answer
came to her suddenly. If Aaron was in Hunter custody (though the
chances of him still being alive were slim to none) and escaped, he'd
not have far to go--and they'd know if any escape happened from the
noise it would surely cause. So, Doc hadn't given up either, had
he?
David had
fallen silent, alone with his thoughts for the moment. Most of
them were full of worry. He didn't like the new location at
all--the proximity to the Hunters made him nervous. Still, he
couldn't fault the reasoning of the leadership. All Hunter
activity seemed concentrated far from their headquarters, almost as if
they didn't think lycanthropes would dare to live so close to their
base. In this case, the safest place was right under the noses of
the Hunters. As long as they remained underground, then the
chances of detection were minimal. Some of those who had first
scouted the location reported finding tunnels that exited far from the
base, and this was in fact how most of the equipment had been brought
in. David had elected to take the top route because of his
dislike for tunnels as well as the desire to spend more time talking to
Ruth.
Aaron's car
continued to wind its way through the roadways of the base,
occasionally swerving to avoid a chunk of debris or a crater.
Though most of the structures were sound, many had been blasted to
smithereens. It was in the skeletal remains of one of these
buildings that David stopped the car and hopped out. Ruth watched
him for a moment, wondering just what he was doing, until she noticed
him bending over a control panel of sorts that somehow had survived the
base's destruction. David manipulated a few controls and stepped
back, satisfied. Ruth sat and waited patiently, then noticed that
the floor was sinking. David hopped back into the car, closed the
door, and the two descended into the darkness. David flipped on
the headlights.
The floor
came to a stop some two hundred feet down. A tunnel opened up
before them, and with a slight grumble from David about tunnels, the
car moved forward, it's headlights illuminating the passage before
them. Dust floated through the air as the car made its way
through several twists and turns.
The inky
darkness was rather boring to look out at, so Ruth began to talk, her
mind wandering through numerous nooks and crannies of her
consciousness. "It's strange, isn't it? Moving from the old
base, I mean. I spent all my time there, and now it's time to
start over again. I wonder how many times some of the older ones
have gone through this."
David
shrugged. "I'll bet Doc's done it a ton of times. He's been
around here longer than anyone else I've met. He seems
comfortable with moving, though I'll admit it was hard to leave the old
base behind. It's like leaving your birthplace in an odd sort of
way. I mean, that was where we were trained. All the
experience I have now comes from the old base."
Ruth
nodded. "Yeah. I don't like how things have suddenly
changed on me. Losing Aaron, nearly losing you, and now
relocating... it's starting to wear on me, you know?"
"Well,
fortunately, you didn't lose me. And more fortunately, I didn't
lose you." There was a brief pause. "You mean too much to
me for me to lose you now." David was, if possible, more
astounded to hear himself say such a thing than Ruth. It just
seemed to have slipped out, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
Ruth was
silent for a moment. David had just said exactly what she had
been thinking of saying, and to be honest, she was a bit disappointed
that she had been beaten to it. Then again, now it wouldn't seem
so odd for her to say it right back to him. "You know, I'm glad I
haven't lost you either. When that sorcerer attacked, all I could
think of was how terrible it would be to lose you. Guess that
made me realize how much you mean to me..." For some reason, Ruth
thought she sounded a bit awkward, and elected to fall silent.
David was both happy to know that his friend cared for him as he did
for her, and utterly clueless as how to proceed. He also elected
to remain silent.
Fortunately
for the both of them, their awkward silence didn't last much
longer. A light had began to show itself in the distance, and as
it grew, Ruth realized that it was coming from a massive hanger at the
end of the tunnel. As the car exited the tunnel, she was struck
by the amount of people bustling about. There was so much work
being done to complete the move, she couldn't even tell what some of
the people were doing at all. Her thoughts on the size of the
hanger and number of people working couldn't shake the awkward feeling
she had, unfortunately.
Thankfully,
Doc was there to meet the two. "Well, I see you made it here all
right. Took the alternate route, I assume?"
David
nodded, glad for the distraction. "Figured she could get a look
at the surface structures. See if she had an opinion on whether
or not we should move some of the base up or not."
Doc
nodded. "Well, that decision has already been made. We're
not going to risk it. It's risky enough being this close to the
Hunters base now, and I don't like the idea of open fighting on the
surface should it come down to it. After all, I doubt that would
go unnoticed by the rest of the world."
David
bobbed his head in agreement. "Yeah, especially if I changed
forms to the sorcerous wolf. That would attract way too much
attention."
"Indeed it
would. Now, could you two help out a bit with moving everything?" Doc's
expression showed that they didn't really have a choice in the matter.
"Sure! Glad to!" David was happy to help, as it would
mean getting out of the car and perhaps distracting both him and Ruth
so that the both of them could avoid the subject of what they had said
in the car.
"We'll get
right on it!" Ruth was also quite happy, as she was becoming very
confused about her feelings for David. On the one hand, she
hadn't known him for very long, but on the other, he was the one guy
she felt close to. At least she would be distracted for a while,
and then she'd think about it all later. *************
Jo awoke,
slightly fuzzy on how she had gotten back to the apartment. It
seemed odd to her that she hadn't been woken up by Lydia--but then she
remembered everything. Lydia would never wake her up again, and
Jo would never throw random things at her for it anymore. Lydia
was gone, and Jo was reliving each terrible second as her mind slowly
worked its way through the events of the past evening. Oddly
enough, Jo hadn't even had time to consider that she had killed a man
last night, being too preoccupied with losing her friend. Now she
had the guilt that comes with taking another's life to deal with well
as her loss. The world closed in around her, accusing her of
murder. A part of her kept telling her it was all her fault, that
if she hadn't captured Aaron in the first place none of this would have
happened.
Then again,
if she had done nothing, she and Lydia would have continued to kill
innocent humans. As painful as losing Lydia was, Jo knew that she
had made the correct choice. Fortunately, she wasn't completely
alone either. Aaron had promised to stay with her while they
figured out what to do next. Jo stood, intending to get up, but a
wave of sadness and loneliness hit her. All mulling over the
issue still hadn't served to combat the deep loss she had suffered, as
much as she wished it would have. Jo collapsed back onto her bed,
lost for the moment in her own despairing thoughts. Any happy
memories of Lydia were for the moment forgotten, deserting her for the
ugly memory of seeing Lydia shot.
Aaron had
managed to fall asleep late into the night, but it had been a restless
sleep, filled with the ugly feeling of failure. He couldn't shake
off the feeling that the whole mess was his fault. He had been
the one to suggest traveling as a group, and he had been the one to say
that there was no danger from the Hunter. Though the death did
not effect him as deeply as it had Jo, he was perturbed by his failure
to save Lydia. Jo, however, was not used to loss, and
Aaron knew that Jo was feeling many times worse than he. It was
for this reason that he decided to get up and check on her to see how
she was holding up. He rose, and deciding that he couldn't stand
to wear his dirty kilt anymore, threw on a pair of pants from a
previous owner so he could wash it. Aaron made his way around the
hole in the floor to the door of Jo's room where he listened for a
moment. Hearing the sound of muffled weeping from within, he
rapped lightly on the door. "Hey Jo, it's me. Are you doing
all right?" It was a silly question to ask given the
circumstances, but it was all he could think to say at the moment.
Jo raised
her head from her pillow, wiping tears from her eyes as she did
so. "I'm fine, I think." Actually she was far from anything
resembling fine, but she did not want to be a burden to Aaron.
Aaron, of
course, didn't believe a word of it. Still, if she wanted to be
left alone, then he would leave her alone. Sometimes it was best
to be with one's own thoughts for a while. He couldn't resist
making sure, though. "Are you sure? You sound pretty
terrible. But if you don't want to talk about it, then I guess
I'll leave you alone."
Jo suddenly
felt alone again, terribly alone. "No, wait! You can come
in and talk." Part of her still wanted to be alone, but she felt
the need to talk to another human (or the nearest equivalent) more
strongly.
Aaron
entered the room a little warily, unable to shake the feeling that
somehow he was trespassing. Jo looked up as he entered, and it
was plain to see that she had been crying. Aaron wasn't sure what
to say, considering himself to be lousy at comforting others. He
decided that his best move would be to simply ask the question "How are
you feeling?"
Jo grinned
wryly. "As well as can be expected. I mean, I'm certainly
not feeling all that fantastic, but at least I'm not suicidal."
Aaron
grinned at the small attempt at humor. It was a good sign that
she hadn't given up hope yet. "Well, that's certainly good to
know." A thought struck him. "You should get something to
eat. It's nearly mid-afternoon."
Jo
shrugged. "I guess. I'm not really all that hungry
though. I've had other things on my mind I suppose."
Aaron
nodded. "Yeah, I can understand that. But you should eat
something all the same."
Standing,
Jo made her way to the kitchen, Aaron following close behind.
From their slightly depleted supplies, the two managed to make a
halfway decent meal. As the day wore on, Aaron kept up
conversation with Jo, doing his best to ease her pain.*************
Cloaked
figures on beaches tended to draw a lot of attention, Overseer
decided. The nice couple next to him on the beach certainly
proved that. He had been sunning himself (as much as one could
with a cloak on) for the past half hour, and the two hadn't stopped
looking at him the entire time. He had half a mind to tell them
to mind their own business, and then perhaps turn them into newts, but
he did need to lay low for the moment. Then again, he wouldn't
have much luck laying low if all of these people kept looking at
him. He would have to change into more "native" attire in order
to get some peace. The only problem was, he didn't have any
native attire. Suppressing a shudder, Overseer realized that he'd
have to go shopping. In a mall setting, most likely. With
lots of other people. Worst of all, he wouldn't be able to use
majik at all.
Steeling
himself against the inevitable, Overseer rose, grabbing his towel from
the sand and shook it out. Much to his delight, the sand blew
into the young couple's eyes. Chuckling with glee, Overseer began
the short trek back to his house. He soon discovered just how
much sand could get into his cloak. It was a surprising
amount. As he walked through the gate, Overseer suddenly sensed
that he was most certainly not alone. Another cloaked form stood
at the door, waiting for him. Something about the form was
slightly familiar, bringing a feeling of disgust and annoyance that he
couldn't place.
The hood
fell back, revealing what could only be described as a gorgeous young
woman. Overseer's face remained hidden, though it was obvious
that he was annoyed. He did not need her showing up on his
doorstep. Not when his plans were in motion--but that was
probably why she was there in the first place. Grumbling, he
arranged his features into something resembling a friendly
greeting. Unfortunately, his spoken greeting was a far from
friendly "What are you doing here?"
"Come now
Overseer, is that any way to greet someone? You really must learn
manners. How about a proper greeting for your old wife?" The Mistress
Overseer inquired sweetly.
Overseer
crossed his arms. "Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my
manners?" Clearing his throat, he gave the proper greeting.
"Go to hell."
His wife
ignored him. The Mistress Overseer had married the sorcerer about
one hundred years previously, and had promptly divorced him 5 years
later. His overall bad mood (and the fact that she couldn't
manage to control him) had been enough after five years. Since
then, she had been kind enough to stay out of Overseer's way, only
showing up whenever he had something particularly good in the
works. In this case, she had caught wind of a plot to kill the
rouge sorcerers, and after learning the source--immediately set out to
find him. Mistress wasn't an idiot, after all. She knew
that Overseer wasn't in the business of telling the truth.
Overseer,
for his part, remained wary. Granted, he may have hated her with
a fiery passion only surpassed by his hatred for gum on the sidewalk,
but she also hadn't revealed his location to the sorcerer's guild
despite being a member. Then again, it was the threat of their
mutually assured destruction (Overseer happened to know all of the
violations of the rules she was responsible for) that kept her from
telling. Overseer was sure that as soon as she got the chance
she'd have the guild breathing down his neck. It would not do to
anger her. With a mental shrug, Overseer resigned himself to the
inevitable. "Well, if you're not going to go to hell like I
asked, I suppose that you may as well come inside."
"That's
more like it darling." The Mistress Overseer (her real name was
Jane, but she liked the title Overseer as much as Overseer did) said
with a simpering smile. "We have much to discuss, you and I."
Overseer
resisted the urge to attempt to change his ex-wife into a cabbage and
opened the door. The two cloaked figures entered the mansion, and
the door slammed shut.*************
Lord
Wyndalf's interest was aroused. Kate had just finished telling
him what she knew of Overseer's laboratory in Minnesota--which was
quite a lot. To him, it sounded as if Overseer was doing
something big. The only thing that puzzled Wyndalf was the fact
that there had been no reports of majikal use up until a few months
ago. It simply didn't make sense. Surely Overseer could not
be doing the experiments that Kate seemed to think he was capable of
without majik? If Overseer had found some way to cover up the
ripple effect of majikal use... then the guild could be in very serious
danger.
"You're
sure he's been experimenting with lycanthropes?" Wyndalf leaned
forward, doing his best to conceal the worry etched on his face.
Kate
nodded. "I saw a few of them while I was there. There were
all these tubes and containers with parts of lycanthropes in them
too. I don't know where he got them all, I never saw anyone
deliver anything."
"Then we
must assume he was conjuring the items." Wyndalf declared.
"If that is true, then we shall have to mount an investigation.
We cannot allow such a blatant violation of the code to go
unpunished. We may also find some information on Overseer, which
would be most helpful." He carefully weighed his options once
more before making the final decision. "We leave tomorrow.
I will take a group of three. That should be enough for a swift
investigation."
Kate spoke
up. "I would like to request that I be allowed to participate in
this investigation m' Lord." Flowery speech always made a good
impression, or at least she hoped it did.
Wyndalf
smiled. "I thought you would ask me that. I had planned for
you to come; your knowledge of the laboratory will be a great asset."
Kate tried
not to dance with glee. "Thank you m' Lord."
"Oh for
God's sake, you don't have to brown nose. You can just call me
Wyndalf." The sorcerer liked the titles and such, just not in a
one on one conversation.
Kate was a
bit taken aback by the annoyance in Wyndalf's voice, but recovered and
nodded. "Right then. Thank you Wyndalf."
"Go get
some rest. It will be a busy day tomorrow."