Soulguard (23 page)

Chapter 51

My birthdays always seem to go in one of two directions. Either I have something really wonderful happen or I end up with my face in a wall.

              My twenty seventh birthday was bound to be one or the other. Since I happened to be perched on a mountain top, as far from civilization as I could get, and I was trying new skills that I just couldn’t really do inside, I totally expected one or the other to occur.

              I pushed a shield into a massive boulder at a passive level. It was a round shield much like what would be used to power a fireball. I was trying to ascertain whether I could make explosions inside rock to possibly cave in the caverns around whole nests of Demons at a time.

              I had read that an enclosed explosive will do much more damage than one out on the surface. I really didn’t want to try this inside the dome.

              Everything was doing fine until I Pulled and sent it inside the shield for the Soul bomb to use. Unfortunately the solid rock and the Soulfire had a volatile reaction and there was a great big explosion ten feet in front of me.

              It seems like a person who blows himself up on a regular basis would learn to anchor his shield. No, why bother with that when you can blow yourself off of a mountain top?

              As I sailed backwards, I looked down to see the edge of the mountain receding away from me and the seriously long drop below me.

              “Ah shit.”

              At that point, I was leaning toward a face in the wall day.

              As I looked at the ground getting farther and farther away from me, an idea began to form. So I began crafting a shield around myself. I smiled as it took shape even as I began to fall after the blast’s force wore off. Then I spread my arms and opened the portal on my new shield. The wings caught the air and I soared forward instead of down.

              Maybe it wouldn’t be a face in the wall day after all. It was the most wonderful feeling I had ever felt and the exhilaration of actually flying was awesome.

              Unfortunately, I don’t know jack about aerodynamics. So while I was reveling in the feeling of flight I neglected to see the cliff face to my right was getting much closer. When my wingtip touched the rock face it spun me right around to slam face first into the damn thing.

              I decided as I bounced and tumbled the rest of the way down the mountain, this was never going to be spoken of to anyone, ever.

***

              “I’m a little worried about the frequency of their attacks, this year.” Rictor said.

              We were both standing in the dome. I had looked at the blueprints of the Knoxville Guard base and found a safe direction to fire my newest weapons. I’d taken Lyrica’s idea and flattened the fireballer down to a disk launcher. It put all the power of a fireball behind a razor sharp disk about two feet in diameter.

              “Me, too,” I answered, “I contacted the head of the Scotland Academy yesterday and he says that attacks have increased, both there and in China.”

              I turned and aimed toward the target that I had put a shield around. When I opened the portal to the disk launcher and Pulled, fiery disks erupted from the launcher to slam into the target.

              “That’s a hell of a lot faster than the fireball,” Rictor said.

              “The penetration is better, too,” I returned, looking at the slices that covered the back wall behind the outer shield, “It might take out a Wraith faster. Give it less time to get to you.”

              “Or the Guards around you.”

              “The main thing I want to test is something I been working on, lately. I studied a little about lenses and I’m hoping to be able to focus power through one.”

              “Should I back up to a safer distance?” Rictor laughed.

              “It’d probably be smart,” I smiled and opened my personal shield.

              He saw my shield come up and he took off toward the door, “Shield comes up, you cut a trail,” he muttered and raised his shield.

              I formed a small lens-shaped shield in front of me. It was barely visible because I wanted to see what happened. It was not much more powerful than a privacy screen to start with.

              I formed a small feeder tube the same size as the lens and Pulled a very small amount through it directly at the lens. There was no noticeable difference, so I started easing the portal to the lens open. As it strengthened, the power changed shape on the other side. It actually worked. The power was visibly hitting a single point, then spreading back out.

              “That wasn’t worth running over here for,” Ric yelled from the door.

              “Just give it a minute.”

              I crafted another lens at the point where the power was the most focused. This one was different. It was designed to take waves coming in from an angle and make them turn straight once more. As I strengthened the shield, the power was a smaller stream but much stronger.

              “Excellent!”

              “Really?” Ric shook his head and started back over.

              That’s when I opened my eight inch Soullance and crafted lenses inside of it.

              “This is the fun part,” I said and Pulled gently till the power was focused the way I wanted.

              Then I Pulled like I normally would and my lance erupted with a blinding stream of condensed power that pushed me backwards several steps. I stopped and the light level lowered. I turned to find Ric back at the door, looking like he’d never left that spot and I laughed.

              “That make you feel better?” I asked.

              “Much more like I would expect.”

              “It took me years to figure it out, but if I test on a small scale it’s a lot safer when I do it on a large scale.”

              “Yeah, but the other way was much more amusing to everyone else,” He chuckled, “You don’t even know how many times that video of you blowing yourself up has been played around here. If you’d copyrighted that tape you’d be a millionaire.”

              “Hardy Har.”

              I turned back to my target to find a three inch hole in its chest. I looked through the hole to see a hole in the wall behind it as well.

              “Now
that
is a Soullance!”

              “More like a laser cannon,” Ric said, “This is what watching Star Wars will get you, light sabers and laser cannons. Next thing you’ll want to do is change the name of the Source to the Force.”

              “You know, that would be...”

              “Absolutely not,” Rictor interrupted and turned around. He walked back out of the dome without another word.

              “What? What’d I do?”

***

              “Have you heard what happened in California?” Randy Quincy asked.

              “No, what is it?” I answered.

              “Our illustrious leader sent the son of Lucien Salvador out to Sacramento. The boy has the spine of an eel, but his father is one of Price’s staunchest supporters.”

              “This doesn’t bode well.”

              “It gets worse. The first nest cleanup he goes out on, the shit hits the fan and he runs away. Four guards injured and one died. It was a small team because there was a Mage with them.”

              “When are they trying him for cowardice?”

              “That’s the thing,” he said, “I am thoroughly ashamed of the Mage establishment. They claim that the Guard Captain didn’t send enough Guards in some sort of attempt to get rid of Salvador. They tried him for negligence and blocked him from the Source.”

              “What!?”

              “They didn’t even use the truth seer for the trial,” Randy said, “What the hell is going on?”

              Rage was building in me again, “The bastard is trying to weaken the Guard. No matter how much power he has, the Guard is the power base for all of it. If he controls the Guard he controls all of it. I can’t see him controlling someone like Riordan. We need to keep a close eye out for other plots. Try to see if we can locate the Guard Captain who was blocked and get him here. I may be able to help him some.”

              “You can’t save everyone, Boss.”

              “We can damn well try.”

              “You can’t unblock him,” Randy said quickly, “They’ll look for that and say you defied a decree from the Council. They’ll block you.”

              “They’ll try,” I smiled and Randy almost stepped back a step. Rage was trying to break out.

              “Sir, you have to think of the bigger picture,” he said, “If you’re declared rogue or blocked, there’s nothing you can do that won’t be done facing almost every Mage in the Guard. Some of us will back you. But it will be a civil war amongst the Mages and right now we can’t afford that.”

              “Just find him and bring him here,” I said, “I won’t violate the laws but I want him protected until the time when the Archmage is confronted for his crimes. And they are crimes. One day he’ll face the consequences of his actions just like everyone does. When that day comes, I’ll be right there waiting.”

              “Yes sir.”

              I turned and strode out of the room toward my office and as I entered, the phone began ringing.

              “Colin Jaegher,” I answered.

              “Hey, Son,” Kharl’s voice returned.

              “What can I do for you, Old Geezer?”

              “I think we have a problem here, Son,” He said and I could hear the worry in his voice.

              “Is it about the Sacramento thing?”

              “That’s part of it,” he said, “Price seems to be more erratic lately and the deal with Franco is just part of it.”

              He continued, “Yesterday, Lyrica was running on the trail when she saw Price and four other Mages up in the trees. She turned and headed back down the trail instead of going on. Anything sound familiar to you?”

              “I’m on the next plane back,” I snarled, rage boiling inside of me, “If he hurts one hair on that girl, I’ll kill him and I’ll melt the fucking Academy to slag.”

              “Calm down, Son,” he said quickly, “If you do that, they make you a criminal and turn the whole Guard against you. Some would still follow you and we’d have a civil war. There’s no way that wouldn’t bleed over into the public eye. We’ve got a much easier solution, a temporary solution but a lot easier.”

              “What is it?” I said shortly.

              “Lennox Flynn is going to take Lyrica to the Scotland Academy for a few years. We want to send at least two personal Guards for her and I thought you would have a suggestion or two as to who they should be.”

              I didn’t even hesitate, “Trent and Mattie. I hate to lose Trent here but I want someone like him there and Mattie is one of the best Guards I know. You just make damn sure she’s safe, Dad.”

              “You know I will, Son,” He said, “I love that kid and she has Guards with her all the time now. He can’t touch her where there are witnesses and we have people around her all the time.”

              “As a matter of fact,” he said, “I think we may just send her to Knoxville until Flynn heads back to Scotland.”

              “Do that,” I said, “No one will dare attack her here.”

              “Hell, son,” Kharl chuckled, “The first thing she said when she told us was that she wished she had went on up and kicked their asses.”

              I took a deep breath and beat some of the rage down, “She probably could have, to be honest. But they would have been trying to kill her, not block her. They know she can stop a block. I’ll wait, for now, but there’s swiftly coming a day of reckoning. I shit you not. If I have to break my oath and every law in the country, I will. He’ll step across a line that he really doesn’t want to cross.”

              “And when it comes, we’ll be at your back, Boy.”

Chapter 52

              I sat in my office, reading over the list of recruits heading to Knoxville. Surprising enough, there were three Mages coming in and fifteen new Guards. Over the last few years, almost all of the new recruit guards cycled through Knoxville. Partially, so I could check the shields and I think Jack wanted them to meet me and see that all Mages aren’t like the ones at the Academy.

              More and more, the Academy was filled with the kind of Mages that would do anything the Archmage asked. Whether it was out of fear or just trying to gain his favor. The whole situation was enough to make me want to puke.

              The incident in Sacramento was an indicator that Price was preparing to move his agenda up a notch. Steve Franco was on his way to Knoxville, I wanted to make sure nothing happened to the man. He did not deserve the shit storm that fell on him and I wanted him safe until I could do something about his situation.

              My thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the phone.

              “Jaegher,” I answered.

              “Hey, Colin,” Gregor Kherkov said, “Thought I’d call and give you a heads up. They’re sending a few Mages to you. We had a choice of Salvador or another Mage named Graves to go to Knoxville. I took the advice of Miss Jayne and sent you Graves. She had one message for me to give you. She just said ‘Fix him, she’s not scary enough’.”

              “That’s a little cryptic, don’t you think?”

              “That’s just what the young lady said and I have no idea what she means,” he said.

              “Has she left to come here, yet?”

              “She and her two watchdogs are with your new recruits. I have to say, I think you couldn’t have picked a better pair to go with her. Trent is as easy going as they come and Mattie won’t hesitate to kill anything that comes for her. Both are intensely loyal to you, and therefore to her.”

              “I’d trust those two with my life.” I answered, “But I’d trust any of the Knoxville Guards with my life, I have many times.”

              “Hmm, there was one more thing Lyrica said for me to tell you about Graves.” He said, “She said he held as much fear in him as you do rage and you’d know what had to be done.”

              “Oh Lord, I have an idea what she means for me to do. And she’s probably right, she’s not scary enough for it,” I let out a long, drawn out sigh.

              “What is it?”

              “It’ll make him or it’ll break him and I’m not sure which it’ll be until I see him.”

              “His father is the highest ranking Mage on the Council, if that tells you what you may be dealing with.”

              I tapped my finger on my desk for a moment, “If it was like Salvador, she wouldn’t have said fix him. There has to be something good about the man or she wouldn’t have said that.”

              “Oh he’s a much better person than Salvador,” Gregor said, “He’s just, how can I put this gently? Very cautious.”

              “If Lyrica is right, he’s scared shitless. I know how much rage is in me and if his fear is anywhere close to that, I don’t know how he walks out of his house each day. But I’ll deal with it and I’ll let you know what happens when it’s done. You don’t need to know any details until then.”

              “That sounds decidedly unpleasant. Please call with good news, when you do.”

              “I’ll do the best I can.”

              “Heh, you always do, Colin. Be careful.”

              “Always,” I said and heard his laughter as I hung up the phone.

***

              “Welcome to Knoxville,” I said to the gathered recruits as they stood before me in the Dome. Around the edge of the Dome, several of the Guards stood watching. Jacobs and Prada were both near the door watching. I could also see Lyrica’s Soul, she was staying back in the hallway until I was through.

              “You Guards will be going with Lewis.” I motioned to the huge man to my left, “He will show you your quarters and give you the dime tour of the facility.”

              I turned to the three Mages, “I don’t know what you three have heard about me, and I really don’t care. I am a Soullord. This means I can see into your very Soul and I know what lurks inside. I can see what you feel and I can see what your intentions are before you even take action.”

              All three were looking at me with fear rolling through their auras. I glanced toward Prada and Jacobs, who both had confusion rolling through theirs. This is not how I usually act toward people and they were a bit nervous.

              “In California, politics lead to the end of a good man’s career and the death of a good Guard. I will tolerate none of that shit here.”

              I looked dead at Kevin Graves and did the hardest thing I’d ever done.

              “You are consumed by fear and today you will learn how to use that fear. Up until now, the fear has used you.”

              His eyes were wide and I could almost see him trembling.

              “Step forward and join me in the practice ring,” I demanded harshly.

              “Jacobs, get us a set of practice blades.”

              The fear was growing, more and more in Graves and I hated every minute that this went on, but it was necessary. If I waited, his fear of the infamous “Soullord” would fade some and I needed all of his fear for what he would have to do.

              I looked into his eyes, “Strong emotions bring a focus you cannot even imagine, when you embrace them. Your fear is as strong of an emotion as anything you will ever feel and you
will
embrace it. Use the power of that fear and become more than you ever thought possible.”

              Jacobs returned with the practice swords and handed Graves two of them and me the other two. He looked at me with worry in his aura. He could see the rage building inside me. Most of the Guards can tell when I start raging and Jacobs was definitely worried.

              “Feel the power of your fear,” I said as I began letting the rage come forth.

              I could see his fear rocket as my eyes began to smolder. I was seeing him through heat waves and he was trembling.

              “Now reach out, grab it by the throat, and make it yours!” I roared and started for him.

              Fear will force fight or flight. He had spent his whole life with flight as the answer. Today he would learn fight, one way or the other.

              He turned and shot away from me and I roared in fury as I shot after him.

              “You can’t run from me!” I snarled and hit him across the lower back with my left blade.

              He screeched and shot forward with me on his heels

              “I’m faster than you,” I whispered in his ear and slammed him across the shoulder with my right blade.

              As I followed hot on his heels around the Dome, I projected a memory of three Soulguard Elites dancing around me. They kept hitting me until the rage jumped and I attained the focus from it.

              “That’s where you find it,” He jumped as he heard me whisper in his right ear. I was right on top of him and I struck him with my practice sword again.

              Around the Dome we went and he got faster and faster, but I was right on his heels and every time he slowed I hit him again. I could see the terror peaking and knew that the moment of truth was almost there.

              Suddenly Graves turned and faced me, I could see the very point when the focus came. His eyes cleared and the panic was gone. There was a thinking brain behind his moves and I deliberately held back so that he could attack and not feel totally outclassed. I do have nearly twenty years of training.

              We began sparring and I blocked every attack but I could see the dawning realization of what he had done.

              “That is the focus I’m talking about,” I said softly where only he could hear. “Use the fear to grab that focus and you are better than you could have ever imagined. You think faster, you act faster and you
never
have to run again.”

              I turned and walked from the Dome, leaving the twins to show our new Mages around the facility. They looked at me with pity rolling across their auras. They knew how much it hurt me to torment that boy into action.

              As I stepped out of sight I leaned against the wall with my face in my hands. I let out a drawn out sigh. The kid would always have fear but he knew how to use it now. Whether he does use it or not, we would have to see.

              I heard voices from the Dome.

              “He wouldn’t have chased me around the room like that, I’d have fireballed his ass.”

              I heard a snort and Randy Quincy said, “He’d have fed it to you. Did you not see what just happened when that young man harnessed his fear? He almost blurred, he was moving so fast. The Boss was just playing with him. He could have beaten that boy down at any time. He learned to harness his emotions a long time ago and you’d be amazed if you ever saw him fight Demons.”

              “Wait till I tell Kevin’s dad,” the man said, “He’ll be in some back room supporting Mages after this.”

              Randy laughed, “You think they can touch him? They tried to tie him from the Source, and four Mages died. He removed a permanent block from a Mage’s stream. Even the Demons have sent a creature no one has even heard of to try to kill him and he cut its head off. Good luck, if you intend on making him your enemy. The best thing you can do is follow orders and watch that man to learn what a Mage is supposed to be.”

              “Oh, no,” he mocked, “Be good or the Soullord will come get you.”

              I stood and started to walk away, I really didn’t want to hear the rest of that conversation. The way Randy had talked made me sound like some sort of hero or something and I know I’m not a hero. Too many people have died for me to make me believe something like that. I just do what I owe them. My best.

              I stopped as another voice joined the conversation, “That’s right, the Soullord will come get you. When you are a six year old girl, alone and frightened, facing a Wraith and a hundred Demons who want to kill and eat you. He will come and get you, and he will stand alone between this little girl and that horde of Demons. Then he will kill them all and take you somewhere safe. And because this little girl has lost her whole family to the Demons, he will give her his own family. He will make sure you are trained to fight and always be there if you need him.”

              She paused a moment, “I know he will do this because he did that for me eight years ago and not a day goes by that I’m not thankful because it’s another day I have that would have been taken away from me. I can look around at the Souls of the men and women here and I see memories of similar things that he has done for all of them.”

              “What have you done, Will Sanders? What have you accomplished that would make you able to say anything about him? Until you have faced what he has faced and made the decisions he has had to make, I would suggest you keep your damn mouth shut.”

              I stood there with my mouth ajar as I heard the words Lyrica spoke. I also heard the deadliness in the last sentence. She had come a long way from that tiny little girl I had found in an old farmhouse. She was fourteen and as deadly as any Guard or Mage I’d ever seen. She had always been a cheerful and sweet girl, but, as Sanders was seeing, she was not someone to trifle with.

              I headed down the hall before anyone saw me. I don’t think that was something I was supposed to hear, even though I felt a lump in my throat as I had heard their words.