Fear of Mystics (Saga of Mystics Book 2) (14 page)

EARLY WINTER

“You have heard it said that faith can move mountains. I believe it is true. I have seen faith do great things.”

-
        
Penelope Rivers,
Faith of the People

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

              Kyle was livid. He could not understand why this decision was made without him there. He stomped across the central courtyard and into the council chambers, making a bee line for his uncle, not even stopping to knock the snow off his boots.

              “Now, Kyle, wait a minute…” Ted began.

              “I am a grown man, Uncle Ted.” Kyle spurted out.

              “I know that, but…”

              “I can make my own decisions.” Kyle continued.

              “Of course you can…”

              “What makes you think you have the right to do this?” Kyle finished.

              Ted paused for a moment, this had clearly taken him back. “What right? I am the head of the council. You are among those who has continued to vote me into that position. Right has nothing to do with it.”

              Kyle huffed.

              “It doesn’t, bud.” Ted reached out and put a hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “I simply didn’t have time to ask. I certainly would have left it open to discussion, but I needed to make a decision and I did just that. Can I explain it to you?”

              Kyle nodded.

              “I need you here.” Ted began, but was quickly interrupted.

              “I am a better fighter than most. I know it isn’t my power, but I feel like I could make a difference.” Kyle hurriedly explained.

              “Of course you could. That is why I need you here.” Ted looked into Kyle’s eyes. “Kyle, I need a leader, and one who can fight. We are taking almost our entire force with us. I need you here, in charge of the Bluffs.”

              It made sense of course, if he had known he was being left in charge. It was a real honor to be chosen for this. Why hadn’t Britt told him that part? “Britt didn’t say…”

              “Did you give him a chance?” Ted asked with a soft laugh. “The way you walked in here, I am guessing he told you that you weren’t coming and you stormed out to confront me.”

              Kyle blushed a bit at that. Everyone was on edge. Whatever had been happening to people was getting ready to happen again. You could almost feel it in the air. “My emotions, they are getting the best of me.”

              “Yeah,” Ted responded in exasperation. “Beside the urgency of getting our people back, and being on the edge of full winter, I want to move the force out of the Bluffs before we all kill each other. The only reason we remained this long was to celebrate the feast.”

              “Thanksgiving without Rich was weird, though, right?” Kyle asked.

              “You know my feelings on religion, but yeah, it really was.” Ted replied. “We need to go get our people back, and before Christmas. With safety and numbers, we should be back before then, if we don’t have a protracted battle.”

              This was the concern, but most of the council felt that the numbers should suffice. The demi-humans, as Annie Grace’s friends had come to be called, had been arriving for weeks. She had been much more active than Kyle had understood. But, the demi (as they were known) would not be joining the force. They were too tired, and too afraid of the Faith. No one really knew if the Lord’s Hammer would be able to turn them back to humans and the demi didn’t want to take that chance. Still, the force would contain hundreds of fighters, as well as dozens of empaths. As far as they knew, the Faith was comprised of roughly one hundred monk-like workers, and four total fighters, The Lord’s Hammer. A force of this size should allow them to get their people back and broker for peace with this east-side group.

              “We good?” Ted asked.

              Kyle nodded.

              “Good,” Ted continued, “because I have sent four itinerant hunter groups in each direction, with two dogs each to find this Hermit guy. Grand Master says that without Cliff around, he is the only one who might be able to prepare gems of null for us to slap on these four guys. Eric left early this morning to bring troops of his own on this venture.”

              “Good,” Kyle offered, “I still didn’t like having him here.”

              “I understand that, better than most. But, we need to work with the people with whom we can work. Our working with him could make the whole region safer.”

              Kyle couldn’t argue with that. But this guy had been the reason that his dad had to leave the army, on top of sending people who killed folks. He was the essence of a bully, and Kyle was not fooled by his new demeanor.

              As though reading his mind, Ted said, “I don’t trust him either. Maybe I never will. But, we have to do what is best for the people.”

              Again, Kyle couldn’t argue. They both turned toward the door and walked out to find Grand Master Pike waiting, and talking with Max. As the two men drew close, The Grand Master turned to them.

              “Can I ask why you are keeping such a powerful empath as this young girl in camp when she is experiencing her first menses?” he queried.

              Both Ted and Kyle looked from the old man’s face to Max’s, not picking up what he was putting down.

              He continued, “Can’t you feel it? We are all experiencing her Pre-Menstrual Syndrome. She is one of the most powerful people here, and her power is redistributing the hormonal flux across the whole of the population.”

              Ted looked at his daughter astonished, “The fights, the attacks, the … other things?” Ted asked, thinking of the raging sexuality that came each lunar cycle. How had he not put two and two together. The Grand Master just looked at him like it was an obvious conclusion.

              Ted acted quickly, Kyle had to give him that.

              Ted knelt down near his daughter. “Honey, I am going to need you to stay here at camp and help Kyle protect the place. Can you do that?”

              “Sure, Dad.” She said.

              “I can try to ease her symptoms, maybe that would help,” Jack Collins spouted out from nearby. Kyle hadn’t even seen the man standing there.

              “Aren’t you going with the others?” Kyle asked.

              “No,” Jack answered, “Adam was still upset he didn’t get to do itineracies, or the last trip, so I am staying as the healer-in-residence.” He turned to Max, “Do you mind if I give you a checkup, Max?”

              “Nope,” she answered and walked off with him.

              Ted turned around to Pike and Kyle, “I would have liked her dogs by my side on this, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

              The Grand Master watched her walk away, “She is a great gift to your community. You know that, right?”

              Ted nodded, and the three of them walked to the staging area. The force would leave today, and Kyle would need to show a good face. He also needed to apologize to the man he loved for flying off the handle like that.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

              Andy watched the boss riding his horse up Manitou Avenue toward the East Gate of their camp. Eric Fine was alone. If there was a time to do this, it was now. Andy had the support of at least twenty men in the camp. If he played his cards right, he could use the weakness Eric showed in going for help to propel himself into the leader of the Manitou bandits. He was beginning to think that Eric wanted to stop the bandits from their normal patrols.  This would not sit well with the men Andy had left in camp. These were the types of men who took what they wanted. That would have been perfect for the old Eric Fine. But now, this soft man, who fished instead of battling, was threatening their way of life.

              Andy waved from his viewpoint in the watch tower next to the gate, to put the old man at ease. He would do this quickly and silently, and then explain to the sixty-four remaining men (other than the half dozen already in on the plot) what was happening. They would rebuild without the man they had once called Shogun.
Who knows,
Andy thought,
perhaps I will go back to using that title.
Turning to motion to the men below to open the gate, he made a quick hand gesture to let the six conspirators know to get in place.

              As he turned back to look at his commander for the last time he could still call him that, all he saw was the horse. A second earlier, Eric had been riding that horse up the street to the gates. Now, he was nowhere in sight. The men pushed the gate open and then looked up to Andy. Summers jumped down to the landing midway and shouted to his men, “Where did he go?”

              Seeing their eyes go wide, he turned, axe in hand. Eric stood behind him on the landing, a small smirk on his face.

              “Thanks for the greeting, General.”

              Andy swung the axe he had in his hands, but Eric let out a loud kiai, as he snapped the handle in two. The head of the axe spinning off behind his target’s swiftly moving body. Eric snatched the rest of the handle out of Andy’s hand.

              “If you are going to mutiny,” he said, “don’t change your behavior. It makes it obvious.”

              Andy didn’t even have the time to think about what Eric said. Eric settled into a stance, punching Andy in the chest with such force that he flew off the six-foot landing and into the street. Andy’s breath was knocked out of him, but he could still see what ensued. Eric lightly sprung down onto the street, as Andy’s six conspirators rushed him as one. Andy was proud of their teamwork, as they attacked him from different sides, in random patterns. But, it didn’t matter. He had never seen anyone move the way Eric did that day, not even Eric.

              He flashed a new knife in his hands as he defended himself, a huge smile on his face. That bastard was enjoying this. He crushed one man’s knee with a kick, then thrust the blade into his temple. The next met three slashes across his abdomen, as the man’s bowels fell out over the street. It might have hit Eric, and made him stumble, but he was moving lightning fast. This man lost his hand, the other sprayed blood out of his throat to the spot where a millisecond before Fine had been standing. It was over in seconds, all six men splayed across the road in death. Two men ran around the corner and Eric didn’t wait, he threw the knife in his hand with perfect precision, into the first man’s throat. But, the shocking thing was that the injured soldier reached for it, and before he could put his hands around it, it flew back into Eric’s hand and he walked up and buried it just under the sternum of the second man. Eric picked the man up like he was day old fruit and tossed him against the brick wall nearby.

              Andy now knew how much he had misjudged the Lord Marshall. There the man stood, not a drop of the others’ blood on him, barely breaking a sweat, and grinning from ear to ear. He caught Andy’s glare and walked toward him. Andy had not yet caught his breath, as Eric grabbed him by the hair and dragged him toward the center of town.

              The sound of the clash must have brought everyone out, because they were all standing in the center of town when Eric roughly dropped Andy to the pavement.

              “Anyone else?” Eric called out to the gathering.

              You could have heard a pin drop in town at that moment. Eric looked around, wiping the blade of his knife off on a cloth he pulled from his back pocket before sheathing it.

              “Well, men.” Eric continued, “That was downright fun! I haven’t had a fight in quite some time, and I need it to prepare me for a battle ahead. And there is a battle ahead, gentlemen. Out to the east of town is a group of religious fanatics who seek to subjugate the area to their predetermined will. They want us to lay down our power, our chi, and take up God as our only strength. They are somehow able to stunt our powers.”

              He waited for the mumbling to die down before continuing, “So, I have joined with our old enemy, the Council. We have made a pact to defend ourselves and each other. This is an opportunity, men. Make no mistake about it. I have decided to act. I am old hat at taking on religious extremists, and they won’t even know what hit them.”

              The crowd cheered, Andy could see Eric’s officer training from the U.S. Army coming into play here. Eric got to the point, “This is how it will play out. I will go to battle, and we will win. Then I will return and make a few changes. The time has come to build this community up, with our values, with our ideals, not those of other groups. But first, I have to go secure our future. For that, I will only take volunteers. Who wants to fight these fanatics with me?”

              The men were pleading to accompany him. Andy could see how poorly he had timed his conflict. Even he wanted to go to this war. But Eric wasn’t done, “I will need only about twenty to man the fort while we are gone. I was going to leave Summers in charge, but he has proven himself to be…unfit.”

              Andy could feel every eye there bore into him. Barr, one of the men he knew was on his side, stepped forward. “Lord Marshall, I would like to go with you. But, if you look to honor a person, I will sacrifice the glory of battle to protect our homes for the bandits.”

              “Barr! That is a great idea, and I accept that sacrifice. We have to come up with a new name again, though. Bandit scares the shit out of people. We only want to scare them so much.” Everyone laughed. “We will just be the Manitou. How does that sound?”

              “And you will be our king, our Fisher King!” The whole crowd cheered. Andy vaguely remembered some Arthurian legend about a Fisher King, but didn’t remember the details. Barr called out, “All hail the Fisher King!” Everyone shouted their approval.

              Once it died down, Eric added, “We don’t have much time. Barr, pick out nineteen others to share the sacrifice. The rest of us ride to war!” Everyone began to move off and get ready.

              Barr called out, “King Eric!” Eric turned. “What about him?” His voice dripping with disdain, Barr pointed right at Andy.

              “He is a traitor, and an attempted assassin. Hang him from the tree near the highway, for all too see.” Eric stated it so calmly. He gave the order and turned away, walking toward the HQ. Andy didn’t even have time to call out for mercy before three men grabbed him and yanked him down the street, occasionally pummeling him with fists and feet.