Guardian of My Soul (14 page)

It was a way for them both to remain alert, but pass the
time without too much pain.

Kyle sipped his tea and pulled over the small folding card
table. Setting it up between the two chairs, he watched as Sally dealt them
both a hand of poker. They didn’t talk or joke, both of them dividing their
attention purely between the cards and their surroundings. Kyle picked up his
cards, glanced at them and returned them before focusing once more outside.

He could tell the night would be long, he only hoped this
would all be worth it in the end.

Bonita raised her hand in the universal gesture of “Stop” a
couple hundred feet away from the small log cabin they had found. The sky was
pitch black and even though her eyes had adjusted to the inky darkness twenty
minutes ago there still was not much to see except trees, the ground and the
almost invisible dirt track that served as an off road trail to Kyle Revell’s
supposedly well hidden cabin.

Having learned from her previous mistakes of hiring idiot
buffoons to subdue and capture Kiera Patrick and Josh Delamere this time Bonita
had decided to take action herself. She fully realized, however, that there was
no way she could take down two Guardians by herself without outright killing
them both.

Over her years as a Tribunal member she had every now and
then come across those who had been caught dabbling in the darker arts. Were
the circumstances extenuating and the chance of monitoring and rehabilitation
sincere, rarely the Tribunal let those charged with such serious crimes off
with a firm warning.

When cases such as these fell in her lap, Bonita had always
been very careful to cultivate the acquaintance, knowing such wizards and
witches could later be useful to her. Three such wizards now accompanied her.
They had all moved into different sections of the Enforcers and it had taken
her little to convince them all to accompany her.

A half true story about how these two Guardians had run off
with a sickening, black magic ritual the Tribunal wanted back and how she
needed their help off the record and the wizards had all but fallen over
themselves to eagerly help.

“Now remember,” Bonita chided them as they formed a small
half-circle around her. “These are trained Guardians. They will not relinquish
their prize lightly. If you must kill them, I can live with those consequences,
but I prefer you take them alive if it can be done with no bloodshed.”

“Do you think we have any chance that they’ll handing the
manuscript over?” the sandy-haired Tracker asked. Bonita was fairly sure
Alistair Lyle was not used to fighting dirty anymore. She had been surprised by
how soft he appeared when they had met a few hours earlier. She remembered him
as a beefy, angry young wizard. Something innate about him had changed over the
last eighteen months since she had seen him last.

He had helped get them to this point and Bonita knew she
could not afford to kill him in front of the others. A part of her hoped he
would be lost in the battle ahead. The other two, Eames and Sagar were still as
hardened and power hungry as she remembered. The darkness creeping slowly still
over their souls. She would have to watch those two, make sure they didn’t
steal the ritual out from under her nose.

“We can always hope,” Bonita replied casually.

Lyle didn’t appear completely satisfied to Bonita’s critical
eye, but he didn’t raise any further objections or questions either. When a
moment had passed in silence she decided to move on and deal with Lyle, should
the need arise, later. Both Eames and Sagar remained alert and continually
scanned the area for any suspicious trip wires or booby traps.

“I want to try this stealthily at first,” Bonita insisted in
a low whisper. “Both Revell and Bowry are well seasoned, extensively trained
mercenaries. Each of them have years of experience under their belts. I don’t
think we will be able to hold them for long, nor do I think we will have but a
few brief moments of surprise to retain an edge over them. You’ll be able to
feel the pull of the power of the ritual, it will be unmistakable no matter how
they have tried to conceal it. Remember with the simplest of glamour spells they
will be able to make it appear like anything, so stay alert and don’t be
fooled.”

“Once we have secured the ritual what are our standing
orders?” Eames asked with a brief shake of his shaggy dark hair. “Do we subdue
the rogues? Fall back? What are your other aims for this mission?”

Bonita treaded carefully, wording herself so it couldn’t be
used against her later, but also to get her message across as clearly as
possible.

“If they willingly surrender and give themselves up you are
to take them into custody,” she started cautiously. “I can organize for a
temporary cell in the Tribunal court quarters and we can let them stand trial
as is their right by law. I don’t want to give any of you a false impression,
however. These Guardians have given up any goodness left within them. They have
stolen a potently dark ritual, a binding spell of untold evil. These are not
good wizards who have merely slipped from their path. They have willingly and
willfully chosen to turn to the darkness within them. Even should they appear
to surrender I would not lower your guard for one moment or give them an
opportunity to take you down.”

“So you’re saying we treat them with whatever force we deem
necessary?” Sager clarified, clearly wanting to hear the words directly from
her mouth so he could point the finger should the entire mission go to hell.

In a sense this made Bonita feel even better. She need not
worry any further about the course of action she had already decided upon. It
would make her cleaning up of the mess after it had resolved that much easier.

“I’m saying for you to each use your judgment,” Bonita
replied firmly. “But to keep in mind these are rogue agents who might be
desperate to escape when cornered. How you deal with it is up to you, your
conscience and your educated, trained thoughts as the situation unfolds.”

All three wizards nodded, Eames and Sagar in particular
looking eager. While she had not given them permission to kill the two
Guardians outright, she had cracked the door for them to open. Clearly they both
now felt as if their asses were covered regardless of how the situation
unfolded. Lyle still looked less than enthusiastic and Bonita made a note to
herself to keep an eye on the wizard.

“Let’s rock,” Sagar cheered as the three wizards each
punched fists with one another. Guns were drawn and magic crackled upon the air
as all four of them jacked their powers up, heightening their senses and
readying for the battle ahead. While bullets and shrapnel were awesome weapons,
each of them had their own magical powers to fight, maim and kill with.

Unsure of how strong a reaction Kyle and Sally would defend
themselves with they all assumed the worse and readied themselves as thoroughly
as possible. Bonita had to restrain her darker impulses, not wanting the unmistakable
dark tinge to her own magic to give her cards and endgame away too early on.
She needed to play her tricks as closely as possible to retain the element of
surprise.

Bonita kept her distance a few good paces behind the lead
team as they slowly made their way toward the cabin. For better or worse they
were now committed. The cabin stood just up ahead of them, dark, quiet and
still in the cool, crisp early morning air.

* * * * *

Kyle had pulled the overstuffed, comfortable chair right up
to the window. Sally lay fully clothed on top of the bed having finally fallen
into a fitful sleep. He had remained silent as she initially tossed and turned,
not wanting to keep her from the rest she so clearly needed. It had taken what
felt like an excruciatingly long time, but finally she had settled, her breaths
coming in soft, regular puffs and he knew she had found some solace in sleep.

Tiredness hovered on the corner of his awareness, but Kyle
knew he could last the few hours remaining until dawn. Once the sun rose and
Sally awoke they would exchange places, and she would Guard them both while he
grabbed a few critical hours of rest. For now he remained alert and performed
mental puzzles to keep his wits sharp. Their safety rested entirely on his
shoulders and he would not let anything happen to his witch.

And so he remained seated below the level of the window, his
head angled so he could see outside clearly and watch for the soldiers he knew
would arrive sooner or later. The clouds covered what thin sliver of a moon
there should have been in the late evening sky. The cabin sat in complete
darkness and hours ago his eyes had adjusted. Kyle continually fed a tiny bit
of his magical powers into his senses to heighten them just faintly.

He needed enough energy to be able to see better in the
darkness, but not enough for anyone Tracking him or focusing on power surges to
find anything astray that could lead directly to them.

By his mental calculations it was just after 3 a.m. when the
first of his basic motion detectors went off. Unlike all the cool, whiz-bang
technological gadget Kyle secretly drooled over he had learned to use his magic
and common, simple items to mimic the extraordinary new technologies he
coveted.

Kyle had tested his personalized motion detectors many times
and—knowing how useful they would prove to be—brought them along with him in
his duffel. Four small slivers of glass from a broken compact had been infused
with the tiniest particle of his magical essence. The mirrors had then been set
with one purpose only, to send a jolt of awareness to him—connected through his
magic—when anything living moved past its range.

The energy needed to perform this was minute, an almost
un-noticeable amount of magic. The mirrors’ inherent purpose was to reflect the
world around it. Kyle was not altering that. He only modified it by creating a
microscopic sentience, so when the mirrors did pick something up it would be
communicated to him through his magic. The simplicity of the motion detectors
had assured their success and come in particular usefulness many times.

Having stationed one of each sliver of glass a decent
distance in each direction Kyle hoped this first line of defense would prove
itself helpful in giving him and Sally a few minutes warning when the troops came.

When the first detector went off Kyle moved on silent feet
around the cabin toward the direction indicated. He ducked beneath that window,
crouched and remained still as his eyes searched. Dimly he saw four figures in
the shadows. Kyle’s blood pumped fast and he leaped to swift, silent action.

Without a whisper of noise he crossed back over the room and
with a gentle hand on Sally’s shoulder shook her. The only sound she made was a
deeply drawn-in breath and her eyes flashed open as if she hadn’t been asleep
at all. Kyle pressed a finger to his lips to indicate she remain silent and in
the brief hand language they had created between themselves over the last
decade he indicated there were four hostiles over in the lower east quadrant
and they would be under attack any moment now.

Sally rolled off the bed and in a smooth motion. She
crouched, picking up her small handgun. Placing it in the waistband of her
jeans at the small of her back she nodded to indicate she was ready.

He watched as she glanced over to the small dining table
that had been set up near the kitchen nook. The notebook lay open on the wooden
bench, the edges of the paper curling and stained a smoky looking black.

Feeling the adrenaline surge the seconds before a bust
occurred Kyle’s senses all became hyper-aware. He indicated with a gesture for
Sally to guard the rear windows and being sure to keep out of sight himself he
watched the group of four stand around for a minute. In the inky darkness he
could not recognize any of them, so there was no way for him to work out who
the traitor was and whether the traitor had assistance from similar-minded
friends or whether they had hired extra help in taking down Kyle and Sally and
gaining possession of the ritual.

From the shadowed outlines three appeared to be well built
wizards and one tall, slender witch. Silently he passed this information back
to Sally and they remained still, waiting. When Kyle saw the three wizards move
forward he snapped his fingers and relayed what little information he could to
his partner. The wizards had the seasoned step of trained professionals, the
witch had the easy, loping stride of someone with little to no aggressive
training.

Kyle guessed with a bit of surprise that the witch would
likely prove to be either the traitor or possibly a witness for whatever the
rogue had planned. Uneasy, Kyle communicated silently with Sally. She reassured
him they had faced far worse odd than four to two before and they would
certainly be able to manage those chances.

Warm with the knowledge they could face down and conquer
anything, Kyle waited with bated breath as the wizards closed in on the cabin.
One of the wizards split off from the rest, circling around the back of the
cabin.

With quick, sharp movements Kyle warned Sally one of their
number was coming her way and he cast a glance over his shoulder to watch as
she turned to ready herself. Pride and love welled in his chest. His warrior
witch faced the danger head on. Despite everything she had been through in the
last day and a half his partner appeared cool, calm and perfectly in control.

The two wizards left appeared determined to breech their
eastern wall, most likely Kyle guessed through the large, framed window. Sally’s
wizard came from the west, either to guard the rear and stop any possibility of
their “escape” or to breech them from behind. The slender witch followed but at
a distance, clearly either the wizards’ back up or just keeping out of the way.

Patiently Kyle watched and waited in silence as the wizards
paced toward the cabin. As they reached the perimeter of the side garden Kyle
slowly paced back from the window. A quick glance over his shoulder showed
Sally mimicking his action, stepping away from the far wall and into the center
of the room.

“Back to mine,” Kyle ordered, the command whisper soft under
his breath. Sally stepped back the last few paces and they stood back to back,
their hands partially raised ready to defend themselves as they had thousands
of times before and likely would continue to do so well into the future.