Supernatural Games (6 page)

“Lauren, look at those rocks. I think I found your runes.”

“Good eyes, Tokem. Get a picture and we can compare it to the ones we found earlier.”

“Got it, let’s get out of this god-forsaken place.”

I radioed to have us picked up. We got the transport’s coordinates, and I headed toward the place where we were to meet. They picked us up and I told them to take us to the final universe. The last challenge was a world covered in ice and snow. We were again dropped into the arctic landscape of the universe. This world was encrusted in snow, glaciers, and ice. Wind buffeted our hovercraft and sleet bounced off the windshield.

“Talk about out of the fire and into the frying pan, or more accurately, the freezer. Seeing this place, I can understand how people get snow blindness. Sing out if you see any runes.”

“Will do.”

We rode along in silence until I saw the shimmer of the northern lights. They hung above the sky like a curtain of elegantly hung neon lights. They danced toward us, and I noticed what they were leaving in their wake. Everywhere the lights touched the ground, the snow was melted down to the rock.

“What the hell was that?” Tokem asked.

“I don’t know, but it burned everything it touched. It looked like the shimmer of the lights was more like an electrically charged force field. We will give it a wide berth.”

Tokem was standing on the dashboard of the hovercraft. He continued scanning the area in a sweeping motion. I was glad to have him, because it took all my energy to pilot the hovercraft. I didn’t have much experience with them. We rode on until we saw a large crevasse below us. It ran in a north south direction. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I saw giant paw prints in the snow along the rim of the ravine.

“Did you see those paw prints or have I been at this too long?”

“Lauren, swing around and I’ll look again. I saw something, but I wasn’t sure what it was.”

I banked the craft around to the right and came in for a lower pass. That is when we felt something slam into the hovercraft. Shit, what the hell was it? I pulled the nose of the craft up into a steep climb. That’s when I saw it. Big Foot? Whatever the hell it was, tossed ice spears at us.

“I thought the whole Big Foot thing was a myth,” he said.

“Yeah, well that isn’t a polar bear tossing those things. Besides, most of the world thinks vampires, lycan, fae, and elves are myths. We know they’re very real. What I can’t tell is if it’s a familiar or a real creature. There is only one way to tell. Hold on.”

“Lauren, what in the hell are you going to do?”

“Buzz him. You look for any sign of runes or any trace of magic.”

I came in hard and fast, and sent Big Foot diving for cover. Unfortunately, he had friends, and they unloaded all their ice spears at us. We took at least one solid hit and I lost power in that engine. I immediately radioed for a pickup and pulled away from the hoard of Big Foot wannabes. By the time we finally rendezvoused with the transport, our hovercraft was losing altitude. This was the last place I wanted to be stranded. I could’ve hugged the captain once we were back on board.

“Tokem, did you see the runes on Big Foot’s arm?”

“Yes, despite holding on for dear life. Who the hell gave you permission to drive this thing?”

“No one. I have a driver’s license. What more do I need?”

“So by your logic you can fly a plane. My life flashed before my eyes when the second ice spear struck us.”

“Suck it up and go see if the others are back. I’m going to my room to write down the runes I’ve found.”

“Nice try, I know you are really changing your undies.”

I threw a small amount of energy at him. Then I went back and sketched out the runes I’d found in all four universes. They weren’t all the same. The ones on the rocks in the first and second universes were the same, while the ones on the stone man and Big Foot were the same. So, what were they and what did they do? I teleported to my home office and began studying my Grimoirie for answers. It took me a while to find what I was looking for. Then I returned to the Four-Courts to see if the others were back. I found everyone sitting around the conference room. I kissed the top of Traygen’s head and sat down beside him.

“How was your meeting with the lycan alpha?”

“Fine, once he quit lifting his leg,” Traygen muttered. “I thought I might need to go medieval on his ass.”

I raised my eyebrows and waited for someone to explain. “I would have loved to see that, since you’re the only one who would know how to go medieval on him,” I said with a chuckle.

“Let’s just say he wasn’t happy with our line of questions. Nevertheless, I don’t think they are involved,” Corbin offered. “We apologized or if you will, threw him a bone and he was happy.”

“I didn’t think they would be either. However, I’m glad we can rule them out. While you two were visiting the lycan, Tokem and I visited the last two universes. We didn’t investigate much, just enough to show me there were runes similar to the ones I found in the first two universes. I checked my Grimoirie and found comparable runes. The spider and the jaguar are familiars and the markings beside the scorpion and the stone man are portals.”

I let what I told them sink in before I continued. From the looks on their faces, they understood the serious nature of what I’d found.

“Is there any way to tell whose familiars those are, or where the portals lead to?”

“Traygen, it’s too soon to know whose familiars they are, but there is a way to find out where the portals lead. I just need to create a similar portal here and travel to the other end to find out where it takes me.”

Corbin spoke up. “I don’t like the sounds of entering a portal and not knowing where it ends. We could land up to our asses in alligators.”

“I don’t like it either, but don’t see any other way, unless someone has a better suggestion.”

“Wait, doesn’t that mean whoever is operating those portals can travel toward us just as easily? I don’t like it.”

“Tokem, I don’t like it either. Fortunately, I can put a lock on our end, which should prevent access to anyone except for members of our team. I better get started.”

I left them, and found a small storage closet and carefully copied the two sets of runes. I put them on opposite ends of the space so we’d have room to enter and exit the portals. When I was finished, I checked to make sure they were exactly the same. Satisfied, I went to find the others. I found them armed and ready to go. I already had my staff, and activated both the staff and my bracelet. They emitted a soft bluish glow that told me they were armed.

“I’ve made the portals and they’re ready to transport. I’m not sure, but as far as I can tell, the portals are identical. However, they will either take us to the same place or a different spot in the same area. Arm your weapons and let’s get this done. The sooner we know who we’re dealing with, the sooner we can stop their interference.”

I took them back to the storage closet where I had etched the two portals.

“I put both portals in this storage closet, one at each end so we don’t pop out of one and into another.”

“Nice job, Lauren. I’ve spent most of my life trying to get out of the closet, and you expect me to walk right back in.”

We all looked at Corbin and then I burst out laughing. The others soon joined in, and it took us a minute to regain our composure.

“Point well taken. I’ll try to be more sensitive next time.”

Once everyone was standing by the portal at the north end of the room, I spoke the power words and we vanished from sight. We landed in a small room off an empty corridor. I’ll be a son of a bitch. I flashed us right back to where we came from. Without taking the time to explain, I transported us directly over to the second portal and we vanished. This time we landed in another empty room I didn’t recognize. I sent my senses out to see if anyone was around, and I couldn’t detect a thing. I motioned for Tokem to investigate the area. No one spoke as we waited for his return.

He’d been gone so long; I started to worry when he darted back into the room where we waited. He motioned for us to return to the Four-Courts. Once we were safely back, I relocked both portals to discourage uninvited quests. We moved into our conference room to discuss the new developments.

“Tokem, what did you find? Where were we?”

“Mab’s castle. I had to search before I found anyone. I think we were near their wizards. The air was charged down there. Since when did the fae start using warlocks?”

“What do you mean?”

“Someone in there has been using dark magic, the kind forbidden by the Council of Wizards.”

“This can’t be a good thing. As you already observed, the first portal took us to the council sub-basement, the other to a place in Mab’s castle using dark magic. We need to contact Jason.”

“Do you think we need to cancel the games?”

“Traygen, I think that’s Jason’s call. I’ll summon him.”

As it turned out, we didn’t have long to wait. I filled Jason in on what we’d discovered. He said nothing for several minutes, appearing to weigh his options.

“We obviously have a security breech. I don’t know who I can trust at the council, and apparently the fae are involved in some capacity. We need to find out what is going on. The games have never been canceled, and without more information, I don’t think we should scratch them yet. Lauren, can you track the magic users by the signatures they left behind?”

“Yes, but not without giving away the fact we know they’re involved. If they find out we’re on to them too soon, we might not figure out what they’ve done. We also don’t know if they have portals in the other universes.”

“I have a suggestion.”

“Go ahead Corbin,” Jason said.

“Can we put a small camera outside each portal and monitor it to see who is coming and going? Since it isn’t magic, and it’s outside, the games should work.”

“Yes, especially if we put them in camera range of the portal but not right next to it,” Tokem added.

“In the meantime, I’ll do some digging on my end. I’ll check to see if we have any wizards missing. Keep me updated.”

As soon as Jason left, Traygen and Tokem brainstormed on what equipment they’d need. Once they obtained it, I would transport them back to set things up. Corbin and I reviewed what he’d learned from the fae. I perceived Queen Aerlene knew more than she was sharing.

“Lauren, is there any way to tell who is manipulating the familiars?”

“If we could catch one, it should have runes engraved on it, which would tell us who created it. Sadly, I don’t like our odds against the jaguar or the spider.”

“Me either, but they can’t all be giants. It would be too obvious. I say we go on a hunt. Are you in?”

“As long as it doesn’t slither, count me in.”

“Good, I’ll leave a note for Traygen.”

We decided on the first universe, because we’d spent more time there than anywhere else. Honestly, it seemed the lesser of the four evil universes. I hoped I would never again have to set foot in any of the other creations. We armed ourselves with our usual battle gear, but this time Corbin added a tranquilizer gun. It would put anything up to sixty pounds to sleep or I could stun it with my bracelet. Stunning was trickier because I might hit something vital with my bracelet. We used one hovercraft, and I left the driving to Corbin. I used my sight to scan for magically induced energies. Any time magic is used, it leaves a telltale trace, like an invisible trail of breadcrumbs.

We were dropped off by the transport and Corbin made a high swing over the area to make sure there were no storms brewing in the immediate vicinity. Then he took us down below the cover of the trees. We inched along, moving cautiously, painstakingly, and slowly through and around the branches and treetops. There were too many types of birds to count, and there seemed to be monkeys and apes in large groups. I watched them move with my magically sensitive sight, looking for the flashy signature of the person responsible for the familiars.

I found nothing beneath the canopy, so Corbin took us down another twenty feet. We were now about fifteen feet in the air. There were more trees, but they were spaced further apart. We noticed anacondas and different snakes I hadn’t seen before. Then I saw a small flash out of the corner of my eye, and it was gone. I tapped Corbin on the shoulder and motioned for him to move off to our left. I kept my sight open and looked for what had caused the small flare. Then I saw it again, a frog about the size of a small house cat. What was up with all these animals? They all looked like they were on steroids. I pointed, and Corbin moved closer to our frog.

I leaned over, pointed my bracelet at the frog, and put it on stun. I squeezed off a round, but it jumped right as I shot at it. It adroitly avoided my small burst of energy. It dove into the smaller denser brush below us. We circled around looking for it, searching for any sign of our missing amphibian. Corbin tapped my arm and pointed to a small shrub directly below us. I sent out my senses, and that’s when I detected it, but it hid from my sight among the low, multi-colored vegetation. These types of familiars operate with the intelligence of their animator. I had an idea, and pulled my pack around, unzipped it and opened it to find my net. I had put a small net with weights sewn into its edges in my pack. I found it, and then I motioned for Corbin to move us back over the shrub. When I thought we were directly above the bush, I dropped it. Before the net landed on it, the frog jumped up entangling itself in the net. Corbin was faster than I was, and he shot it with his tranquilizer dart. Stunned, it sagged against the net, twitched a few times before it went still.