A Witch's Path Page 10

  They studied me. Cage asked what the others must have been thinking. "What if it doesn't remove the protections?"

  "It should reduce them enough for the bullets the plane will be shooting to shatter the spell. Any questions?" No one said anything, most likely because they knew it was a bad plan, but they didn't have a better one. "Then stay close. I've got to cast the containment spell, and the plane should be here soon."

  A radio call informed us that Grady had used all the arrows. I rushed around the pickup truck. Since I hadn't watched the arrows being fired, they were hard to find. I spied one and planted my feet. Using my wand, I sketched runes in the air. With a flick I sent the runes to bind to the oil on the arrow. A faint glow emanated from the oil. I sketched the last runes in the air and threw power into the spell. I felt it go up, falter, and steady with a smidgen more power. The containment bubble solidified into a visible sphere around Rexie. When the energy leveled out, it was self-sustaining. I removed myself from the spell, and found myself being supported by Middleton.

  "Are you okay? For a moment, I thought you were going to fall."

  "Thank you. I'm fine. It took more energy than I expected. There's a bottle on the side of my blue bag. Would you mind getting it for me?" He was slow to remove his arm from around my waist, unsure of my stability. As soon as he was sure I could stand on my own, he was digging in the truck. His concern was sweet, but I was fine. It was always difficult to guess the input for large castings.

  "Did it work?" Hal asked.

  "Yes. Even if the arrows are smashed, it will hold. The oil was helpful for setting the perimeter and boosting the power of the spell."

  "Good."

  "When will the plane be here?" I asked.

  "Eight minutes," someone answered.

  Middleton handed me the plastic bottle. With a grimace, I gulped down about a third of the nasty brew. It was an old family formula for restoring energy, but it kicked like bad vodka, and at some point you'd pass out for twelve hours of sleep to recover.

  I looked at Hal. "We need to be in contact with the pilot, because this only works if we remove the protection spells at the same time he fires on Rexie."

  "I'm on it."

  "Cage, Al, do you have any questions?"

  They shook their heads. "We feed you power, and hope nothing goes wrong," Al said. "It's pretty simple."

  Hal came back with Sgt Cooper trailing behind him. "We won't be in any shape to use electronics, so Cooper will keep us informed."

  "Thank you."

  "Part of the job, Ma'am."

  The radio squeaked, "ETA: five minutes."

  "Alright, I need to start casting. Let's get this going." I stayed standing because I worked better on my feet, but the guys sat down behind me. Al rested a hand on my right ankle, his hand warm against my cold skin. Cage's hand on my left ankle was even warmer. Hal held hands with the two of them, completing the circle. If there was any backlash, it would hit me first, and that was the best I could do to protect them.

  I pushed away my negative thoughts. The ones that said I'd sworn to avoid life threatening situations, and began writing the runes. Eight runes later, I heard Cooper say the plane would be in range in one minute. I quickly sketched the last two runes before pushing my power into them and connecting them to each other. "Ehaz," I said, feeding power into the spell. The spell activated, becoming an emptying hole trying to suck the power out of me. I clenched my teeth, trying to regulate the outpouring of energy. Distantly, I heard loud sounds.

  The guys were feeding me less and less power. I pushed more of my power into the spell. The guys fell out of the spell, leaving me to keep it alive, but I didn't have any more energy to give. Before I could cut myself off from the spell, something hit me, knocking me off my feet for the second time today. I hit the pavement, glad to be unconscious.

  *******

  "Michelle, can you hear me?"

  "Maybe we should try to get some of that brew in her. It says it restores energy."

  "It's worth a try, but how do we get to her?" A distant voice asked.

  I awakened slowly, trying to hear past the whooshing in my ears. I knew those voices, but it took me a moment to place them. King, Cooper, and Middleton were all talking about me. But why? I felt fine, or as fine as I was going to after being hit with the back lash from that spell.

  "One of the bravest things I've seen."

  "I've never seen anyone with a power reserve that large. I've never even heard of her, and I thought I knew every witch that powerful." I couldn't decide if that was Cage or Al, but the next sentence decided me.

  "Cage, my clan tries to know the developing powers, and her name isn't on the list. It should be. I wonder what clan she's from."

  If they were talking about me like I was a hero, it was time for me to move. I wasn't a hero. It had been a job. A hard, nasty job that would pay as much as I normally earned in a month. I'd earned every penny, because it might be another month before I could move. I wiggled all my important parts; I was in one piece. I opened my eyes and froze. A giant pink eye was examining me.

  My lungs started working again, and I promptly began to hyperventilate. Rexie wasn't dead. He was deciding how to eat me, and if he'd prefer me with some seasoning.

  "Michelle," Hal said. "Can you hear me?"

  I was too scared to answer him. It was taking all of my self control to keep my bladder from releasing its liquid.

  "I'm going to guess you can hear me, since your eyes are open. He's not going to hurt you. As far as we can tell he's turned into a Michelle obeying puppy." As if to prove Hal's point, Rexie gently nudged me with his nose. "Try sitting up."

  I inhaled, counted to five and, slowly exhaled, trying to figure out what I'd do if it tried to kill me. As soon as I started moving, Rexie pulled back, studying me to see what was going on. I slowly rolled into a sitting position. As soon as I was upright, I realized I'd made a terrible mistake. I made it to my hands and knees in time to vomit onto the pavement. After a few dry heaves I scooted away from the mess, and resumed a horizontal position. I thought I'd over-reached myself before, but I'd never felt like this.

  "Could you talk to us?" Cooper asked.

  "I lost too much energy, my body's rebelling, and I've been knocked out twice today. Could you roll me the healing brew and tell me what happened?" It looked like Rexie was standing guard over me, or that's what I hoped. I couldn't think of another reason all the guys would be fifteen feet away, and I'd have a dinosaur snuffling me.

  Cooper rolled the thermos of brew over. I sat up enough to gulp it down. Sleeping later would be fine, as long as I stopped feeling like a dried out husk right now. I picked my wand up off the ground and returned it to the arm sheath.

  Cooper said, "I might as well tell you, I think I've got the most complete story. You guys got the spell activated about ten seconds before the plane was in range. It blasted Rexie, here, with nearly a thousand rounds, and there was a huge flash. I was trying to get you to break the spell when the guys collapsed. When Cage and Al dropped out, it pulled Hal out of the spell too. Then the backlash came and it just hit you, or I think it did. It's hard to say because by the time our eyes cleared, Rexie was standing over you like a mother protecting her young.

  "We were able to help the guys. They're mostly back to themselves, but we couldn't get to you because Rexie would get aggressive. The plane hung around for a new minutes, but when it became apparent that Rexie was trying to protect you rather than terrorize the town, it left. "

  "Wait. How did it get attached to me?" The last thing I needed was a pet dinosaur. I couldn't afford to keep it, feed it, or house it.

  "I wanted to mention that earlier, but you didn't want to hear the possible outcomes," Al commented. "When I said the outcomes with you in them were better, I meant it capped the deaths. There were still a few paths that would've lead to more injuries and destruction. Nearly half of the paths had Rexie surviving the spell and weapon combination, and most of those end
ed with him being a fairly docile pet. I think we are in one of those."

  "So, he's mine?"

  "That I don't know. See if you can keep him calm while one of us comes to you."

  "Alright."

  Cage took a few steps forward. Rexie growled. "Cut it out. He's a friend." The big head swung between the two of us, but in the end Rexie took a few steps back and allowed Cage to come closer. I glanced at Al. "I thought you were joking, but he listens to me." Al shrugged.

  "Can I examine you? We need to know if you're injured."

  "Sure. I'm bruised, but I don't think anything is broken." However, my shirt was shredded, and I was thankful that I'd worn a conservative bra. Cage started with a physical examination, running his hands down my arms and legs, finding most of my bruises. "Why aren't you using magic to examine me?"

  "I don't think foreign energies would be good for you right now." When he got to my back he sucked in a breath. "You're missing a bit of skin." His fingers stilled on my shoulder, where the tattoo proclaiming me a witch, and declaring my clan, rested. "I thought you were clan-less. That's what they told me when I asked about you during the briefing."

  "I am."

  "You are marked, as a member of a clan."

  "I don't have a clan."

  "The clan scar says you do, whether or not they recognize you. In fact, you have two clans. . ." He moved to study my face. "Blessed by the Mother indeed."

  "What?"

  "You are unique, Ms. Oaks."

  Great. The last thing I needed was another witch who thought I was valuable because of my clan or lack thereof.

  "Why don't you claim a clan?"

  "Cage, you'll have to be clearer. If you're reading something in my tattoo, you know more of it than I do. I can't read it. If my father has a clan, I don't know anything about it. My mother's clan cast her out. I am clan-less by birth."

  "No, you are special; unique and gifted."

  A throat cleared. "I hate to break this up, but what are we going to do with Rexie? What happened to change his attitude? And why are you talking about clans?" Hal asked. His eyes were glued to Rexie, as if he didn't trust it to stay docile.

  The two witches shrugged, and Cage answered. "The dinosaur is not truly alive, not the way we are. He is a construct of formerly living matter and spells. As for Ms. Oaks, I suspect her clans will be looking for her. Her scar marks her as an Ieldra, one who is very powerful."

  The very human Lt Col Robins said, "I don't understand. I thought witches with power as limited as yours and Al's were rare. Most witches are capable of a variety of spells, and control a great deal of power, right?"

  "True," Al answered. "However, it takes many years to learn that many spells, and develop the strength to hold and direct that much power. Many young witches are like us, with limited powers, but over time they develop their skills and abilities, becoming powerful. Cage and I may yet become strong witches. We have power, and understand the foundations for many spells, but we must use runes to cast them. Our specialties are the things we can do as easily as she casts large spells. It would've taken us a day to construct the spell she performed in minutes. That's why young witches, like ourselves, spend years working in the clan business. It allows us to continue learning and developing our power while using our strengths to support ourselves. Our clans would've allowed us to remain with them, but they didn't need us and we wanted to serve our country."

  "Now that we've determined Ms. Oaks is a very unique young witch, could we return to the pressing issues, like the medical evaluation you should be doing, and figuring out what is going on with Rexie?" Cooper interjected before anyone else could continue the current line of questions.

  With a chastened look, Cage returned to evaluating my condition. While he was inspecting a scrape on my hand, a small medallion, embossed with an elephant, appeared in my palm. Under the medallion was a scrap of paper with a phone number.

  Cage whispered, "Lady, it would be a privilege to answer any of your questions. You need to understand how unique you are."

  I didn't say anything, but pocketed the coin. I might need it later. These witches seemed to know something that I needed to learn. Normally, I believed ignorance may not be bliss, but it was the next best thing. However, I was tired of being the only one who didn't know things about me. I chugged more of the restorative brew.

  "You have scrapes and bruises. Those will hurt for a while."

  "Thanks for reminding me."

  "You've had a nasty blow to the head, and a mild concussion. All the swelling is outside your skull, so try to avoid head injuries for a while and you'll be fine. I would heal it, but I'm out of energy for a while."

  "Awesome, you ruined my plans to go boxing later." At his confused look, I tossed up my hands. "It was a joke!"

  Lt Cage moved back to the rest of the group and Rexie immediately sniffed every inch of me. He seemed to determine that I was fine because he heaved a sigh and plopped down beside me, shaking the ground.

  "Does anyone have suggestion for dealing with Rexie?" I asked. So far this was the point we'd all dodged.

  "He doesn't seem to be a danger to anyone while he's with you." King offered.

  "True. I guess he could come home with me, though I haven't a clue how to get him back to the Lodge. What's the damage report?"

  "So far there haven't been any deaths. Actually, all the injuries have been from building debris or people panicking. As far as we can tell he stuck to property damage." I wasn't sure who volunteered that information.

  "Could you read him?" Hal asked.

  "Nope, I'm basically magic blind right now. I need to recharge." I was out of power and heading towards a long nap.

  An elf with short, spiked brown hair, and a police uniform pushed her way to the front. "Oh, let me look at him." Before anyone could protest, including Rexie, the elf marched up and laid a hand on his nose. His big eyes crossed trying to bring her into focus, but after the initial flinch of surprise he didn't move. The elf hummed, trailing her hands across his body. When she finished, she walked back to his head, rubbed his cheek, and whispered to him.

  "To start with, he doesn't like Rexie," she announced.

  "Do you like Ty?" The elf glared at me. She didn't think much of shortening Tyrannosaurus, but he nodded enthusiastically.

  "Now that a few of the spells are broken I can answer the previous questions. Ms. Oaks was correct. He's a mess of spells. He's still hard to hurt, but the two spells making him indestructible are gone, or greatly diminished. Something, spell or intentions of his creators, was making him ill-tempered. That's gone now. He attached himself to Ms. Oaks because she saved him."

  "How do you know that?" Hal asked.

  "Some elves are good with plants, I'm better with creatures. At this point he's a type of creature, and I can feel the intent of the spells. Michelle should check him more carefully later, but she's in no shape to do that now," the elf said.

  Hal frowned, and I jumped in before he could annoy the elf. "I'm glad someone can communicate with him. Ty does seem to have a better attitude, but I can't afford to feed him." And I didn't need a one-gal pet that destroyed towns.

  "Ty doesn't eat. Ty is real, in the sense that we can see him, feel him, and interact with him. However, he is not alive. Think of him as a sophisticated, magical version, of one of those artificial intelligence robots scientist are trying to make."

  "So, I can teach him, and he'll learn?"

  "Absolutely, he understands you, though he has a hard time communicating. If you know any elves, they may be able to communicate with him better than you." The elf scratched under his jaw, and he moaned in pleasure, thumping his big tail.

  "Ms. – what's your name?" I asked.

  "Nell."

  "Nell, could you tell him to assume people are nice unless they try to harm me?" If he wasn't trying to actively guard me, things would be simpler. "And could you teach him a few basic commands? Like guard, relax, friend, come, and lay down?" I had t
he world's biggest dog in a T-Rex wrapper.

  Nell talked to him for a few minutes, and from the sounds he made, argued with him. "Alright guys, come on over. Pet him, get him used to people." The group of people slowly walked over, and soon the guys were scratching his chin and exclaiming about the size of his teeth and claws.

  Hal came over to talk to me while we watched them pet Ty. "I think it would be better if Ty went home with you. I'll come photograph him in a day or two. I need the pictures for evidence. Nell assures me that he'll recognize me, and be willing to work with me. You won't have to be there."

  "Sounds good." I needed to slather myself in a gallon or two of bruise treatment and take a long nap.

  "I've been thinking about how to get him to your place. You need a ride home, and I think with some elvish encouragement he'll follow your car." I thought he'd follow my car without encouragement, but we didn't need to debate details. "We'll give you a police escort, and you guys can travel back to the Lodge at his pace."

  "As long as I don't have to drive. In about five minutes I'll be out cold. My bags need to come with me." My wand was safely strapped to my arm.

  Sgt Cooper shook me awake and guided me to a police car. My bags were already in the back seat. Ty looked at me through the window, his breath fogging the glass. I rolled down the window to pet him. We headed for the lodge and he trotted behind the car. With the crisis over, I fell asleep.

  My phone woke me up. According to the clock I'd been asleep for two hours. "Oaks Consulting, this is Michelle." I yawned.

  "Where are you?" Tiffany asked.

  "I'm in a car between Dahlonega and the Lodge."

  "When will you get here?"

  I repeated the question to the officer driving, and repeated his answer to Tiffany. "About thirty minutes."