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Chaos and Order: The War Eternal "Small Wars" An Urban Fantasy Tale (Set in the Consultant Universe) Magic has always existed and is now openly acknowledged. 10% of the population is magically sensitive and 5% can actually be taught to cast spells. Only about 1% has the ability to earn a Magic-User 3rd Class license. In a country of 300 million that means there are potentially 3 million professional practitioners. However, it takes hard work and training to develop that raw talent. There are currently, in the United States, about 1 million licensed practitioners. Of that about 100,000 are rated Magic-User 2nd Class, with approximately 10,000 Magic-User 1st Class, and nearly 300 Masters in the entire country. The multiverse is layered with world stacked upon world. Stretching out along one axis are the Courts of Order and in the opposite direction the Wastes of Chaos. On a second axis are the Empires of Light and in the other direction the Layers of Hell. Along the third axis are the Demesnes of Science where magic is a parlor trick and in the opposite direction Realms of Magic where mechanical devices are laughed about as myth. Through it all the only thing separating each layer of existence is the veil. The veil is as thin as silk and nearly impenetrable unless one has the power and the skill. For those with the ability it can be parted and thus, Elves, Dwarves, Fairies, Ogres, Orcs, Trolls, and all manner of legendary creatures walk the land. The power of magic is rising. How humanity reacts will chart the course of civilization for the next thousand years. An Age has come to an end, a new Age has arrived, and as yet no one has noticed. *********************** CHAPTER ONE Ambushed *********************** The North Californian, late afternoon, sunlight streamed down into the food-court from the high vaulted glass and steel ceiling. In the mall parking lot lights had started to come on providing plenty of illumination as the tall thin teenager in a long black leather duster made his way into the food-court. A few of the shoppers he passed gave him a quizzical look since it was too warm for such a coat. By the time he made it to the center of the food-court the mall security had spotted him and were slowly moving toward him. This caused a grim expression of maniacal delight to twist his pale features. Reaching under the duster his hands came out with a pair of pistols and before the first overweight security guard could react he opened fire, at nearly point blank, into the man's chest. Chaos exploded around the youth as customers either ran or dove to the ground trying to escape the barrage of bullets. The teen laughing now spun in a circle firing at anything that moved not really trying to hit anyone so much as trying to cause panic and chaos. A short distance away a thin athletic looking woman with black hair dressed casually raced toward the sound of the gunfire drawing a pistol from beneath her designer blazer as she ran. The gun looked very large in her small hands as she ignored the screams of the shoppers and the confusion around her. She carefully lined up her shot and squeezed the trigger twice. At the last second the teen seemed to become aware of her. At the same instant, as her gun barked, the teen crossed his forearms in front of him as if to shield himself from her attack. There was a distortion in the air around the young man and a pair of concentric rings rippled out from where the bullets and had slammed into an invisible wall raised by the youth. When he looked at the woman his eyes blazed with a red light. "Caecus Cordi! How kind of you to accept my invitation!" There was something odd about the sound of the teen's voice! It had a raspy quality like nails being dragged across a chalkboard. "X'lye'ous, if I'm not mistaken?!" Not waiting for a reply the woman continued, "I'll be taking your token with me when I leave here today." "I don't think so," the teen replied and then jumped straight up and impossibly seemed to accelerate toward the glass at the top of the dome. As he did he once again crossed his arms only this time above his head. The glass exploded up and out creating an exit for him to fly through. "Shit!" The woman holstered her weapon and dropped to one knee. "Hold it right there!" The security guard had his side arm out and had it pointed at her although he was so hyped up with adrenalin that the barrel waved around drunkenly. The woman glanced with annoyance at the guard and then slapped the flat of her hand against the cool tiles. Instantly the shadows, from a nearby potted plant, leapt up covering her in darkness and a second later when the shadow dissolved she was gone. The guard looked around in bewilderment and not seeing a threat moved to the first wounded shopper to see if he could help. Outside the mall the teen came down in the parking lot, landing with a shockwave that rocked the cars around him and caused several alarms to go off. He didn't pause to look around instead he holstered his weapons and slammed one fist into the palm of his other hand and shouted. "X'LYE'OUS!!!" Fire exploded out from his hands and raced along his body and impossibly, instead of burning, his body grew and changed as the fire got brighter and hotter covering him from head to toe in flames. The transformation last only a few seconds and when it was done he was ten feet tall and didn't resemble a human in the slightest. His clothes had burned away leaving his bright red skin exposed. From the waist down his legs had transformed now resembling a gorilla's. His torso and arms were still human, but instead of having fingers five long snakes writhed and hissed from the end of each hand. His head was a bald human's except that his nose and mouth had pushed out into a snout and he had a large set of fangs growing up from his lower jaw. Out of his forehead a pair of horns grew curling like a rams. His huge phallus was erect with excitement as he scanned the sky behind him looking for the woman who'd chased him into the parking lot. Then the fire that had covered his body raced down his arms coalescing into a large spear before flickering out. The spear was at least fifteen feet long with a three foot leaf shaped blade at one end and a spiked butt- cap at the other. "Caecus Cordi, you bitch, come out and fight!" In response the shadows between a row of cars behind X'lye'ous leapt up and out stepped a woman. This woman's face was the same as the one from the mall but that's where the resemblance ended. She was fifteen feet tall and dressed in black, white, and grey plate-mail resembling an English Knight. A pair of black wings swept up from either side of her helmet and broad sword hung from her belt. She held a bow in her hands and without saying a word she drew and let fly an arrow with a grey shaft and white feathers and a black arrow head. X'lye'ous somehow sensed the attack and spun around avoiding the shaft. With a bellow that broke the glass in the car to either side X'lye'ous lunged forward driving his spear toward the Knight of Order. The knight twisted slightly to one side and blocked the attack with her bow. Then she lifted her front leg and planted a stomp kick into X'lye'ous's chest throwing him back and into a car ten feet behind him. Before X'lye'ous could climb out she drew another arrow and shot X'lye'ous in the chest. "AAarghhh!!" X'lye'ous's scream echoed around the parking lot. Shadows flickered out from the arrow, twisting out and down so that they quickly covered his chest in a web of shadows that disrupted X'lye'ous's power. "I told you I'd be taking your token" the woman said drawing a long dagger from her belt. Without warning the knight stumbled forward and to the side from a blow to her back. She turned the stumble into a front roll and came to her feet dropping the dagger and bringing her bow around to target the new threat. She was facing an eight foot tall monster with the lower body of a spider. Instead of a spider's head a human looking body grew up from its thorax and its two human arms were unnaturally long. The creatures head looked like a human skull since it was covered in a transparent skin. In each of its human looking hands it carried a single bladed ax. The pain from the ax blow to her back made her grimace as the knight drew and nocked an arrow. Before she could fire she was hit from above. The force of the strike caused her to drop the bow and drove her to her knees as the weight of a third monster came down on her shoulders. It struck an ineffective blow against her armored head causing the shadow-steel to ring. Then a blow struck her neck where there was a gap between her armored shoulder and the protection offered by her helmet. At the same time she was driven face down onto her belly. In desperation the knight reached out to the shadows and pulled them around herself and her attacker. When the shadows vanished both figures were gone. X'lye'ous managed to pull the arrow from his chest and stumble to his feet. He looked around and seeing the place where the knight had been he roared into the night. As he did flames flickered around his wound and it closed. X'lye'ous picked up the arrow he'd pulled from his chest and looked at the grey shaft with its sliver white arrow head and black feathers. "You've not escaped yet, bitch." *********************** The moon was just above the horizon and shone down into the clearing when the shadows surged into a swirling knot and then vanished leaving a monster on the back of an armored figure. The monster's legs at the mid-thigh morphed into a pair of birds legs bending backward at the knee joint, its talons were clutching tightly to the shoulders of the figure under it. Its body was that of a handsome man and it had a pair of large black wings growing out of its back. His head and face were handsome with a strong jaw and high cheekbones. Then a third eye blinked from the center of his forehead as he gazed down at the woman. The only clothing he wore was a loincloth that did little to conceal the huge bulge of his manhood. In each of the Chaos Daemon's hands he held a weapon known as a Kama, traditionally used by Asian farmers as a sickle to harvest rice. The Kama in its left hand was covered in bright red blood. For a second the daemon looked around in confusion at the change in scenery. This was all the opening the knight needed. Because all of its weight was on her shoulders she pulled her feet up under her and, twisting her head to one side, she rolled up and over one shoulder trying to catch her attacker's legs with her own as she moved. The Daemon snapped his wings once and soared up a good ten feet before he landed and spun around to face the knight. She'd surged to her feet and had drawn a curved long sword which she held in her right hand while her left arm hung uselessly at her side. "Dar-usk'kin, I should have known! Attacking from above and behind is your signature move. But since when do you answer to X'lye'ous?" As she spoke the knight circled to her right shadows flickering over her wounded neck and arm. The daemon stood up to his full height and Caecus Cordi, Knight of Order, realized that he was now over twelve feet tall. "You are mistaken Knight, I don't serve X'lye'ous, he serves me! I know what you're trying to do! You think to buy time to heal your wound. I was ready for you! You'll find a poison in your body that your power won't heal. You're vessel is already dead!" "Perhaps, but I'll take you with me!" At that the knight lunged forward and Dar-usk'kin, Daemon of Chaos tried to take to the air, but the shadows at his taloned feet wrapped around his legs holding him to the ground. In shock he failed to block and the knight's blade as she drove it into his ribs. He swung his right hand Kama in response, but the knight had already pulled her sword out and danced back out of range. Dar-usk'kin's scream of pain shook the trees around the clearing. "You'll pay for that! I'll take your mark and place it on my throne in Chaos and your unending agony will be an example to all who oppose me!" By this time the shadows holding his feet and worked up to his waist and the Daemon sliced at them with his blades. With each slice the shadows dissipated slightly. Once free Dar-usk'kin looked around for the knight and growled in anger when he failed to spot her. Then out of a shadow to his right a blade sliced down taking his right hand off at the wrist. As the hand flew clear bright green mist burst from both the arm and the severed hand. "NNnnooooo?!!" The green mist quickly spread until it covered Dar-usk'kin from head to toe. When it dissipated it revealed the unmoving body of a man in a business suit. Blood pumped from his severed arm indicating that he was alive but unconscious. The knight thrust her sword point first into the ground and stepped forward, carefully picking up the severed hand. With some difficulty, since she was only able to use one arm, the knight pulled a ring from the first finger and tossed the hand away. The ring was made of white gold and showed a stylized birds head with its mouth open mid-screech. Where the bird's eye should have been was a small emerald that still flickered with power. The knight dropped the ring into a pouch at her side and tossed the severed hand away with a grimace. She reached up with her right hand and felt her injured left shoulder and knew the poison moving in her veins would resist her attempts to heal herself. For a second she thought about leaving the injured mortal, but then she reached down and gripped his wounded arm and shadows flowed down covering the injury for a moment and when they disappeared the bleeding had stopped and both the stump and wound in his side were covered in new flesh. The knight went to where she'd left her sword and pulled it from the ground and after wiping it clean sheathed it. Suddenly she looked to one side and cursed. A ball of red flame the size of a fist appeared and rapidly started to grow. Not waiting for X'lye'ous to appear she stepped into a shadow and vanished. *********************** The sun had just set when Caecus Cordi stepped out of the shadow cast by a warehouse in Los Angles. If X'lye'ous was tracking her she needed to keep moving if she wanted to escape him. Then she felt blood drip from her left hand to the ground and knew she very little time. He brothers and sisters of Order would offer sanctuary if she could reach them. Normally meetings were set up in advanced and locations were never used twice. She took a moment and focused, the shadows shifted and moved and then took the shape of a Raven. The bird leapt onto her outstretched arm. "Find my brother Tenebris Lux and tell him I need his help!" The raven cawed once and soared into the sky vanishing quickly from sight. I need to throw them off my trail, she thought, knowing that if she stayed in her true form her power would blaze out like a beacon to any Daemon or knight in the area. Stealth was her best ally now. The knight placed her hand on her injured shoulder and the shadows again surged forward covering her and when they vanished she stood once more in her human form her left arm drenched with blood. "We must find you a new vessel." The voice that spoke came from the woman's mouth yet its tone and inflection were slightly different and she had a distinct British accent. "I can't leave you Beth! If I do you'll die." "If you stay in me, we'll both die. Cordi how many bodies have you worn over the years? Your mission is more important than my life." The woman, who'd apparently been having a conversation with herself, moved toward the dark shadows cast by the warehouse wall and disappeared. *********************** The wind in Chicago was cold in early March and Beth shivered. Cordi's power was fading and as it did she felt exhausted. She also knew that the poison was causing her to run a fever. She had enough power for one more shadow-step and hoped that her trail had been obscured enough to slow down the hunters. This was her fourth step since the warehouse in L.A. The memories Cordi had shared of X'lye'ous were enough to convince Beth that it was only a matter of time before he caught up to her. Beth focused on the knot of power inside of her and glanced at her hand as her palm burned with energy, the Mark suddenly visible. It was a sigil made of dark lines swirling in a twisting pattern that vaguely resembled a Celtic knot. "Find my replacement; one brave enough to continue the fight! Find my successor; one strong enough to bear the burden! Find my heir; one noble enough not to be corrupted by power!" Then in a whisper with tears running down her cheeks she finished her commands, "find someone able to love, invoke!" The sigil on Beth's palm spun and the shadows around Beth leapt forward and then the place where she'd been was empty. Save only for the pool of blood drying on the ground. *********************** CHAPTER TWO Awakening *********************** I walked to the corner careful to look both ways. It was after ten p.m. and it was a brisk March evening in Norfolk, Virginia. I was tired in a good way, I thought, as I jogged across the street. Tonight's class had been fun, if a lot of work. My Sensei was demanding and he'd been pushing me lately. I've been practicing Aikido since I was ten and now, at seventeen, he was getting me ready for my black belt test scheduled for this summer after I turned eighteen. Some martial arts allow kids to earn a junior black belt, at my dojo Sensei just made you wait, so I'd been a first kyu for the last two years. In addition to practicing Aikido I was on the high school wrestling team and two hours of wrestling practice followed by dinner and then two hours of Aikido left me physically exhausted, I'd be sleeping well tonight. My schedule also dampened my social life, as my girlfriend Marci liked to remind me, I thought with a slight grimace. The walk home was only about three quarters of a mile, although if I took a shortcut up the alley by the Stop-N-Shop, I could cut the distance in half. I moved through the parking lot and ducked down the alley beside the store. As I got to the end I saw that the gate in the chain-link fence was closed. I'd expected this and tossed my backpack over it. On the other side of the fence was a small field I'd have to cut across to get to my street. Abruptly I felt a gust of cold wind from the alley behind me. "Help, me." I turned around at the sound of the woman's voice. I squinted into the darkness and made out the pale face of a woman sitting on the ground with her back up against the wall of the Stop-N-Shop. "Ma'am, are you okay?" I moved forward puzzled since I'd just walked right by her and had obviously missed her. "You aren't what I was expecting." Her voice was little more than a whisper and her accent made it hard for me to understand her. "Are you hurt? I can go into the store and get some help." "Come closer let me see you." I was more curious than worried; I can take care of myself, besides the woman didn't appear to be in any condition to hurt anyone. I moved closer and then dropped to one knee next to her and noticed her shoulder was covered in a dark liquid. She glanced down at the palm of her right hand and then up at me. "You're the one! I wish there was time for me to explain, but I need your help." "Is that blood? Holy shit, we need to get you to a hospital!" She reached out with her good hand and clasped mine. I don't know why, but the intense look in her brown eyes made me swallow, I couldn't look away. "I have a question you need to answer as honestly as you can. If you had the chance to save dozens, maybe hundreds, of lives though it cost you your future, would you?" "I don't know. What kind of question is that?" She gripped my hand tightly and I felt some sort of power surge into me forcing me to focus on her eyes. "Given the chance, would you save life, even if you must take life, even at the cost of your own, would you?!" For a moment it seemed like the world stood still then I whispered, "Yes, I think so, but how can anyone be sure?" This seemed to satisfy her because she relaxed back into the wall for a second and looked up at me and grimaced in pain for a moment. Then she motioned for me to lean in closer. "I was marked on my hand for the work that needed doing. I choose to mark your brow for the leadership that is needed," she whispered. With that she reached up and before I could stop her, placed her hand on my forehead. Then the world seemed to explode around me. Everything went white and then black this lasted for an eternal instant and then it was like I was looking at the world through a black and white TV. Fire burned in every vein as a white hot flame seared by forehead. I would have thrown back my head and screamed, but I couldn't move. A wind seemed to blow from this strange woman into me and my whole body tingled and twitched as the fire turned to a cold that burned just as fiercely. Then it was done and I fell over backward, away from her, to sit on the hard cold ground. My forehead still burned where she'd touched it and I couldn't help the spasms that caused my body to convulse. As the twitching died away I felt myself blink and then I watched as I lifted a hand and looked at it. It was like I was a passenger in my own body. I stood up and moved to the woman's side. "Goodbye, Beth, sleep deeply and well. Your work is done." The voice that came out of my mouth was a woman's voice and if I'd been able to I'd have shouted and looked around. I then watched as my hand reached down and closed this strange woman's eyes. I abruptly realized that she was dead! I now felt tears running down my cheeks. For a minute I knelt next to her, quiet and unmoving, head bowed, with one hand resting over this woman's eyes then I pulled my hand away. I watched, unable to control my hand, as I reached down into the pocket of her blazer and pulled out a small bag, covered in strange symbols, and stuffed it into my front jeans pocket. Then I stood and jogged to the fence. It was only four feet high so I put one hand on it and vaulted over it, just like I normally do, and picked up my backpack and jogged into the field. By the time I gotten to the far end of the field I realized that I was again in control of my body. For a second I thought about turning around and going back to the Stop-N-Shop, but something inside me made me think that would be a bad idea. Instead I headed for home trying not to think about what had just happened. *********************** I opened my eyes groggily and slapped at the alarm as it buzzed next to my bed. Every bone in my body ached as I rolled to a sitting position. There was enough light streaming in through my curtains for me to stumble to my door. I opened it and could smell the coffee that my dad had already started down in the kitchen. I love the smell of coffee, although I don't understand how anyone can drink the bitter stuff. I walked across the hallway and was happy to see that the bathroom door was open. If I'd hit snooze a couple of times then my sister would've beaten me into the bathroom. She's only a year younger than me and already took twice as long to get ready. I turned on the light, shut the door, and started brushing my teeth and was a little surprised at how pale my face was this morning. My sandy brown hair was cut short and my naturally tanned face seemed pale. For a second I stared at my forehead suddenly remembering my trip home last night. There was no sign of a mark on my forehead. I must have imagined the whole thing, I tried to rationalize. I finished brushing and rubbed my chin with one hand. Lately I'd had to start shaving every morning so today I was pleasantly surprised to find a smooth chin. I started the shower and stepped on the scale. 135 lbs. not to bad I thought since I was wrestling at 132 this year so I only had to cut three pounds before Saturday's weigh-in. At six foot cutting weight to get under 140 lbs. was normally hard for me so only having to cut three pounds over the next two days was great news. I'd been expecting to have to cut five or six. By now the shower was warm so I climbed in and started cleaning up. As I did I thought about last night. I must have imagined the whole thing, a woman dying in an alley, my forehead burning yet no mark or scar, and then that weird feeling of not being in control of my body. I mean once I got to my street everything felt normal I got home and found my mom and dad watching TV and my sister sitting at the dining room table working on her calculus home work. She'd asked for help and after I put my gi in the washer I sat down next to her with a large glass of water. My sister and I often teased each other but we're actually very close. We had to be since my dad was in the Navy and we'd moved every two years for as long as I could remember. I'd been in 7 schools and was now getting ready to graduate. Christina and I had been through so much together and it had forced us to become close. I'd had calculus last year and AP Calc this year, so helping her wasn't a problem. Except that I found myself unable to focus and after drifting off for the second time she'd suggested I go to bed. I finished up and dried off quickly knowing that Christina would want to get in soon. I wrapped a towel around my waist and opened the door just in time to find Christina lifting her hand to knock. My sister Christina is very pretty with long blonde hair and a skin tone several shades lighter than mine. She was also six inches shorter than me and already had plenty of curves for a sixteen year old. "Are you done?" "It's all yours." I turned sideways to slide around her and darted into my room. My room drives my mom and dad crazy since there are clothes scattered all over the floor along with plates and cups from snacks. I've tried to explain that everything is exactly where I can find it. That doesn't stop them from forcing me to clean it every Sunday. By now, Thursday morning, it looked like a tornado had spun its way around my room. I found a rumpled pair of jeans from the floor and a t-shirt from a basket of clean laundry I was supposed to put away two days ago, socks, cross trainers and I was ready to face school. Abruptly I froze in shock. There was a lump in my jeans pocket. I reached in and pulled out a small black bag with symbols stitched into it with silver thread. My legs suddenly felt weak and I sat down on the bed. This was the bag I'd watched myself take from the woman in the alley. Reluctantly I worked at the knot holding the bag closed until the string came loose and I was able to empty the contents of the bag into my hand. The only thing in the bag was a simple yet beautiful ring made of either silver or white gold with a birds head caught mid-screech and an emerald for an eye. As I held the ring I felt a tingling sensation from it and then it was burning my fingers. "Shit!" I dropped the ring and moved away looking at my fingers. I had a pair of blisters from where I'd been holding it. How is that possible, I wondered? The ring hadn't been hot, was I allergic to whatever it was made of? I grabbed a dirty sock and picked up the ring and put it back into the black bag pulled the strings tight and sat the bag on my bedside stand. I sat there looking at the evidence that I hadn't hallucinated last night's events for a few minutes. What should I do? Who would believe me if I told them? At last decided I needed to go to school. Tonight I'd talk to my parents about what had happened. I pulled out my backpack and stuffed in clean clothes for wrestling practice this afternoon and then almost as an afterthought books and homework. I rushed down the stairs taking them three at a time and plunked my bag down next to the kitchen table. My mom turned around and smiled at me. "In a hurry this morning Joel?" "I'm just starving." I said picking up the cereal box and dumping a bunch of Cheerios into my bowel. "Aren't you cutting weight?" "I've only got to lose three pounds by Saturday; I can do that in a day." I said shoveling a large spoonful of cereal into my mouth. "Your sister has ballet after school and will need the car. Can you get a ride home from practice tonight?" "Sure, Jeff can drop me off," I said between mouthfuls. By the time I was done eating Christina walked into the kitchen. She was wearing Capri's and a light blue blouse and looked really pretty, although I'd never tell her that. "Are you ready to go?" I asked. "Yep," she said picking up an apple from the fruit dish on the table. "Christina, you need more than that!" "Mom, I don't have time, see ya." I went to the cubby where we kept the car keys and saw that the keys to the Cavalier were missing. "Looking for these?" Christina said holding up the car keys. "Hey, it's my turn to drive to school! Where did you get those?" "From your desk, you drove the car home from wrestling practice yesterday and as usual never hung them up." "You went into my room without my permission?" "Obviously, if I hadn't we'd be spending the next ten minutes looking for the keys." Christina said handing them to me. "Come on its time to go, or we'll be late." On the one hand I was annoyed at the idea that she was going into my room, on the other hand she was right. I'm always losing things. I decided to shut up and followed Christina to the garage. The used Chevy Cavalier wasn't the coolest car but Dad had bought it for Christina and me to share so I couldn't complain. The drive to school took ten minutes and since Christina had put on the head phones to her IPod the second she'd jumped into the passenger seat it was filled with silence. After I parked we got out of the car and I tossed her the keys which she promptly dropped. "Hey, can't you hand them to me like a normal person?!" "Learn to catch," I said with a laugh and jogged up the steps toward school. *********************** I stood in the locker room with a towel wrapped around my waist looking into the mirror. Practice was over and guys were showering up but I was preoccupied. School had been pretty normal. Although as I thought back a few things had seemed odd. I'd been easily distracted all day, a new color would catch my eye, a vibrant shade of red, or I'd hear a noise and become mesmerized trying to figure it out. Only to discover that it was a fly banging against a window at the far end of the classroom. Then there was wrestling practice. This had easily been the best practice of my life. I'm a decent wrestler, I'd earned a starting varsity spot as a senior but there was a junior, Brian, who was constantly pushing me. Today I'd been so full of energy that I'd raced through the exercises and drills and when wrestling with Brian he'd suddenly seemed slow and weak and I'd pinned him several times without any trouble. The Coach had been so pleased he'd matched me against several of our best wrestlers in heavier weight classes. I'd beaten them as easily as I'd beaten Brian. After practice coach had pulled me aside and said that I was peaking at the right time and if I won my weight class in the tournament on Saturday I'd have enough points to make state! This meant that our team had a shot at winning a state championship. If we did everyone would remember the team of 1998! "Joel, stop admiring yourself and let's get going!" Jeff said pulling a t-shirt over his head. I went to my locker and changed into my street clothes. Jeff had an old Chevy S-10 pickup truck which even though it was older than our Cavalier, I thought, it was cooler or at least manlier. As Jeff pulled out of the school parking lot I spotted a black Suburban parked across the street. The guy sitting in it caught my eye for a second and I felt a chill wash down my back before Jeff turned the truck away. I looked over my shoulder at the SUV which was still parked and I wondered why I was being so jumpy. The trip to my house was filled with Jeff talking about the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament. Even though he was a wrestler Jeff loved watching basketball. I wasn't really into the sport so I mostly listened as he talked about who he thought would make it into the tournament. Just before we arrived at my house I felt the hair on my neck stand up again and looked over my shoulder, behind us was a black sedan and there was something about either the car or the man driving it that made me shudder. Then Jeff pulled into my driveway and the sedan continued on. I let out a breath that I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "Hey, Joel, I don't know what you've been doing to improve so much, but do you think you could give me some pointers?" It took me a second to realize that Jeff was talking to me. "Uhm,...yeah, sure." I grabbed my bag from the floor and slid out the passenger door. "See you tomorrow." *********************** Christina had returned just in time for me to snag the car keys and head over to the dojo for practice. I normally walk, but when my mother had come home from work she'd told me that there'd been a murder down by the Stop-N-Shop and she didn't want me walking tonight. When she'd explained that they'd found a woman's body in the alley next to the store with some kind of knife wound in her shoulder I'd felt a chill run over my body. It just wasn't possible, was it? I knew that I should tell her that I'd been there and explain what had happened. I opened my mouth and for some reason nothing came out. I tried to clear my throat and start over and again I found I couldn't speak. What the hell is going on? I wondered. Aikido had been a great balm for my troubled mind. I'd driven to the dojo and practice had been exhausting and that had allowed me to postpone thinking about the dead mystery woman or trying to figure out why I'd been unable to talk to my mom about what had happened. Once I got home I got cleaned up and went down stairs planning to talk to my parents about it. I stopped in the doorway to the living room and saw my parents sitting on the sofa watching TV and hesitated. What should I tell them? I thought I'd met the dead woman from the Stop-N-Shop, and that she'd marked me? There was no sign of a mark and dad would want to know why I hadn't tried to help her or at least called 911. Telling them that something or someone had had taken control of my body and forced me away from the woman would make me sound crazy. A wave of exhaustion hit me and I had to reach out and grab the wall for support. For several seconds I focused on breathing and then slowly made my way to my room. I was so tired it was hard to focus. I swatted at the light switch, turning off the lights on my second try, and then I collapsed fully clothed, face first, onto the bed. My dreams were fitful and strange. I dreamt of a woman's face half covered in blood screaming in defiance, then it changed and I saw a clear field where a female warrior in form-fitting plate armor battled a monster with black wings, then it shifted again and again. In each scene the beautiful brunette woman battled one monster after another, sometimes in armor of both familiar and exotic designs and at other times she was clothed in leather and once she simply wore shadows. Then there were the shadows! In every scene they seemed alive and they responded to her commands becoming weapons that she used with great skill or armor that she protected herself with. Sometimes she fought on the streets of strange cities and at other times battled the endless horde of monsters in forests or mountains. Most of the time the brunette fought alone but once in a while she was joined by other warriors who grappled with the bewildering variety of foes. In every dream there was one thing that was constant; the beautiful brunette always protected the defenseless and fought against a horde of chaotic looking creatures. Then the dream shifted and I was standing alone in the middle of a plateau filled with columns of stone. The stones were made of either black or white marble and alternated with each column. There appeared to be a path between the column's that wound around to my right and something told me that I should follow the path. As I walked I noticed that there wasn't really a source of illumination and that each column cast a shadow. I felt oddly content here like this was a safe place unlike the previous dreams. Then I stopped. I suddenly realized that I was being watched. "Who are you?" I shouted turning around in a circle. I was greeted by silence. "Come out and let me see you!" Something told me I needed to continue to the center of the maze of columns if I wanted an answer to my question. So after waiting for a few seconds I turned and continued following the arcing path. As I walked deeper into the maze I lost track of time. It felt like I'd been walking for a long time although in a dream it's hard to be sure. As I walked I noticed the columns were getting taller. They'd started out just taller than me and now they towered far above my head. Then all at once I found myself in the center of the maze. I assumed it was the center of the maze because I'd found a large open circular area. In the middle of the open space there were a pair of columns one white and one black about five feet apart at the base. About ten feet up they leaned in toward each other and by the time they'd reached twenty feet they'd begun to twist together spinning around each other forming a single pillar. They continued to climb until I lost sight of the column in the featureless grey sky. Then my eyes were drawn to the shadow at the foot of the twined columns and the stone chair hidden within the shadow. I moved closer and by the time I was halfway to the throne concealed in shadow I saw that there was someone sitting in the chair. I froze when I realized that it was a woman. "Joel Ryan Campbell, I've been waiting for you," the woman said in a powerful female voice that sent shivers up and down my spine. For several long seconds I didn't know what to say. Then I blurted out, "who are you?!" "I've had many names over the years, here, now, in this time and place, I'm known as Caecus Cordi, but Beth used to call me Cordi." "You're the woman from the alley behind the Stop-N-Shop!" For a second the shadows around the woman moved and flickered like they had a life of their own. "Yes, and no. The woman you saw was Beth, she was my vessel." "Your vessel? I don't understand who,... no... what are you?" "I'm a Knight of Order. There aren't very many of us here in your realm, although I suspect that is about to change. This realm is becoming a new front in the war between Order and Chaos. The Daemon Lords of Chaos have begun a fresh campaign and this realm will soon become a front line, maybe even THE front line, unless we can turn them back now." I looked at her and then around the calm still plateau before I glanced back at her. It struck me that it was very peaceful here and that everything was either black, white, or a shade of grey there was no color. Then it also occurred to me that there were thousands and thousands of shadows cast by the pillars under the dim grey light. "This is obviously a matter of magic, have you talked to the Guild, or if there is trouble, the police?" I asked. "Your human Guild of Magic-Users is unprepared for what's coming. And it's my duty to prevent the Daemon Lords form arriving here in force in the first place." "If that's true then why are you talking to me? I don't understand." "Do you know what happened yesterday when Beth passed my mark on to you?" "No, what mark? I looked in the mirror this morning and there wasn't a mark!" "That's because we are still going through the Joining. Once we are fully merged you will be able to draw upon my power at will and when you do the mark will become a visible warning, anyone who sees it will know that you are a Knight of Order." "What do you mean, joining?" I said and then added; "And what power?" "Neither the Knights of Order nor the Daemons of Chaos can manifest a physical form in this realm. We need a human body, a vessel, for our spirits and power. When Beth passed on my Mark she passed on both my spirit and power to you. You, Joel Campbell, are now my vessel." At this the woman stood up and moved out of the deep shadow into the dim grey light. She was tall over twice my height and I had to admit stunningly beautiful. "I can't be your vessel!" "Why not?" "Because I'm not a Magic-User," I said grasping at straws. "I'm barely able to sense magic and I don't have enough strength to cast a spell." "What makes you think that I need a Magic-User as my vessel? In fact you're the first vessel I've had who has the ability to sense magic. No, Beth used my power to craft the search and call the standards, and you answered the call. You are my vessel." "What does that even mean?!" Just then the dream faded and the annoying sound of my alarm pulled me from my dream. *********************** CHAPTER THREE And So It Begins *********************** I clawed my way to consciousness and slapped at my alarm. Unfortunately I misjudged my strength and accidently sent the alarm clock flying into the wall. "Ugh,..." I groaned as I sat up. I rubbed my eyes and felt the gritty residue of really heavy sleep. That was a crazy dream I thought. It had felt so real but it couldn't have been! I mean come on, a Knight of Order? I'm fairly caught up on current events and if there was some kind of Order-Chaos War being fought here in the United States then the Guild would have announced it. At a minimum one of the cable news networks would have been talking about it. I sat still trying to think. I'd never had a dream where I'd actually talked to someone before and it had been unbelievably clear. Then I had an urge to find the bag I'd pulled out of my jeans yesterday. I went to my nightstand and not seeing it I started looking around. I spent several minutes searching for it and at last I spotted it on the floor partially hidden under my well-worn paperback copy of Michael Moorcock's "Pawn of Chaos: Tales of the Eternal Champion." I picked up the bag and was surprised to find it empty. I glanced at the clock and realized I needed to get moving I could look for the ring once I got home from school. I looked down at the rumpled clothes I'd slept in and decided a shower was in order. I crossed to the bathroom only to discover that Christina was already inside. "Damn!" I muttered. Okay plan "B" breakfast and then a shower. I went down to the kitchen and finding it empty sat down and started eating. "Joel Ryan Campbell, did you sleep in your clothes?!" I looked over my shoulder to see my mother standing in the doorway glaring at me. "Uhmmm,... yeah, I guess so. I was just so tired that I forgot to take them off last night." "Well you're not going to go to school looking like that. When you finish eating you're going to go upstairs and change." I looked at her for a second and rather than tell her that I had no intention of going to school in these clothes I decided to just nod. "Yes, ma'am." I finished eating went back upstairs just as Christina was leaving the bathroom. "All yours Joel," she said with a laugh. I had no idea what she did in there in the morning since she showered the night before, I just figured it was one of those female mysteries I was better off not knowing. I closed the bathroom door and looked into the mirror. I was startled to see that my hair was several shades darker than yesterday and much longer. If it kept growing at this rate I'd need a haircut this weekend. Then I leaned in to look closer and saw that for the second day I didn't need to shave and if anything my skin was paler. In fact I now had almost the same complexion as Christina. "Weird" I got the shower going and while I waited for it to heat up dumped my clothes into the corner and stepped on the scale. "Holy crap!" I was down to 130 lbs and I hadn't been trying to cut weight at all. In fact I'd just eaten two bowls of cereal, toast, and a banana. What the heck is going on with my metabolism, I wondered. The shower was now warm so I stepped in and started lathering up. After a few minutes of scrubbing I looked down and was surprised by all of the hair in the floor of the stall. I glanced down and saw that all of the hair on my arms and been scrubbed clean. I looked at my legs and realized that they were as smooth as a new born babe! "What the fuck is going on!?" I again looked at my arms and saw a small spot on my left forearm with a strip of hair. Carefully I ran my hand over the area only to watch, in dismay, as all of the hair fell out as I brushed it. I turned off the water and got out drying off as quickly as possible. The mirror was covered in condensation. I wiped it clean looked over as much of my body as I could. My skin was now very pale and I had hair on my head and around my crotch but I had no hair on my arms, legs, or armpits. In addition my chest felt a little sore and my nipples were sensitive and looked a little puffy, which was strange. I wrapped a towel around my waist scooped up my dirty clothes and dashed across the hallway to my room. I realized I was running late and hurriedly got dressed and raced down to the kitchen where Christina was waiting impatiently for me. "Aren't you ready yet princess?" she teased. "God, I thought girls were supposed to take their time getting ready." "Bite me." I went to get the keys only to discover that Christina already had them. "It's my turn to drive today, remember?" "Fine." With that we headed out to school. *********************** If anything I was even more distracted today than yesterday. It wasn't just hearing things or becoming fascinated by sights and colors. All day I felt like there was someone looking over my shoulder and whenever I turned around it seemed like I should've been able to see my mysterious companion. But there was never anyone there. Then at lunch Cindy Markland, easily the hottest girl in the senior class had all but asked me out and I'd been so distracted I'd missed it. When she left Jeff hit me on my arm. "Dude, are you just brain dead today or what?" "Huh, what are you talking about?" I replied. "You've wanted to go out with Cindy since 9th grade and she comes over and talks to you and you just grunt either yes or no? What the hell is wrong with you man?" "I don't know! I've just sort of felt out of it today, besides I'm dating Marci." Jeff just shook his head and picked up his tray. "Well I hope you're ready for practice after school or Coach will have your ass!" I got to the locker room late. I'd had to find Christina and let her know that she could take the car since Jeff was giving me a ride home again. Coach had made me do laps for being late which was fine since I felt like I had energy to burn. Once practice really got going I just sort of fell into a zone. Everything once again felt so slow and easy. Like everyone else was moving in slow motion and the exercises where simple. I raced up the peg board setting a new record for getting to the top and down again. Rope climbs had been cake and then during one- on-one drills it felt like I'd been toying with my partner. At the end of practice coach had weighed us and I was down to 125 lbs. "Joel, son, you need to stop cutting, you could wrestle down another class. But I need you at 132, understood?" "Yes, sir," I replied feeling confused. I hadn't been trying to cut weight. The drive home had been filled with Jeff playing heavy metal in celebration of the weekend and getting ready for tomorrow's tournament. As we got closer to my house I noticed that we'd been passed by a cop car and then a fire-truck. When Jeff pulled onto my street I could see smoke rising and the street was blocked off. "Hey, just drop me off here. I'll walk the rest of the way." "Are you sure? It looks like there's been a fire," Jeff said sounding concerned. "Yeah, I'll be fine." I grabbed my backpack and as soon as Jeff pulled over I jumped out. I waved good-bye and started walking toward my house. As I did I once again felt a stirring behind me like someone was looking over my shoulder. I turned around in a full circle looking for whoever it was and again didn't see anyone. As I got closer to my house I saw more emergency vehicles and then I realized they weren't just near my house. They were at my house. I broke into a run and had only made it two steps before a voice spoke. "Joel, beware! I sense the power of a Daemon. Slow down and let's look around." I stopped and looked around and again saw no one. "Cordi is that you?" I whispered trying to remember the name of the woman from my dream. "Yes, and whatever is going on up ahead was caused by a Daemon! You need to be very careful. The daemon won't be able to sense me in you yet because we're still joining. But we are very vulnerable right now. Don't rush in and don't do anything out of the ordinary and if I tell you to do something just do it, okay!?" "No, it's not okay. I'm talking to an imaginary friend and my house is burning! I need to know if my family is okay." "Keep your voice down! No one else can hear me. We don't want people to see you talking to yourself. When I'm joining a new vessel I'm almost totally undetectable. There was no connection between you and Beth so my enemies shouldn't have been able to find you or your family, but if they have, then,.... yes... your family is in danger." "Okay, I'll take it slow, but after this we need to talk. I didn't ask to be your,... vessel?! And my family better be okay," I whispered. I moved forward at a brisk walk and in a few seconds was able to confirm that my house was on fire. Two fire trucks were spraying water onto the house in an attempt to keep it from spreading to the other houses in the neighborhood. For several minutes I stood there watching the fire and then noticed a fireman talking on the radio of a sedan parked a little way away from the trucks. As I approached him I felt Cordi stir inside of me. "Joel, be careful, don't tell him who you are. Say that your name is Jeff and you're friend Joel lives here." I knew the voice was in my head but it was hard not to twitch and turn to look for the woman speaking. "Excuse me, sir," I said trying to get the fireman's attention. "What is it son? This is an active fire scene you need to get back." "Sir, my friend Joel Campbell lives there," I said pointing at my house. "Do you know if he's okay?" "It's too early to know if anyone was in the house. Do you know if Joel or his parents have a cell phone?" "Sure," I said and gave him my mother's cell phone number. "Thanks, kid, what did you say your name was?" "Jeff,... Jeff White," I lied. "Okay, why don't you head on home Jeff. I appreciate the help." After I'd walked up the block I turned on the first side street moving away from my house. "Okay, what the hell is going on?" I whispered trying to stay calm. "I felt the power of a daemon. In fact I know which daemon it was. I just don't understand how he found us." "So where is my family? What's going on?" "Look I'll answer all of your questions, but not here on the street. I've got a safe house nearby, let's go there and talk." "How will we get there? I don't have a car, unless you're saying it's within walking distance." "Give me control of our body for a minute and I'll see what can be done." "Assuming I was good with that, how would I do it?" "Just relax and sort of think of letting someone else steer." I felt apprehensive, yet somehow I felt like I could trust Cordi, so I let out a breath and closed my eyes and tried to relax. After a second my eyes opened even though I hadn't opened them. I started to panic but Cordi was there. "It's okay Joel, I've got it, I won't hurt you just please try to stay calm." I fought down my panic and after a second I felt my head look left then right. Then I started jogging down the street. There was a van parked at the curb that had caught Cordi's attention. It was an older van and it had plenty of rust spots, it was also sitting under the branches of a large oak tree. Cordi moved us up next to it and placed one of my fingers on the driver's side window and focused on the plainly visible knob locking the door. For a second the light seemed to distort and a shadow inside the van curled around the knob and then there was a clicking sound as the knob moved up and the door unlocked. "Wow, that was cool!" I thought at Cordi. "Thanks, but be still, I'm trying to focus. This is extremely hard right now since we are not fully merged. There's also a slight risk of discovery so we need to be quick." I had the strange sensation of feeling my mouth move without me controlling it and the even stranger sensation of hearing a woman speak. With that Cordi slid us into the driver's seat and shut the door. She then reached down and cupped the ignition with my hand and I again felt a sort of trickle of energy then my hand turned and the van started up. When Cordi pulled my hand away, for a second, there appeared to be a kind of shadow key in the ignition, but now that the van was running it disappeared. "Joel, you'll need to drive. I'm not strong enough to stay in control." "Where am I driving?" "I'll give you directions." Suddenly I was once again in control of my body. I pulled the van out and headed away from my house trying not to think about my parents and my sister. A little over an hour later I was pulling into the driveway of a secluded farm house, about twenty minutes from Richmond, VA. "This isn't Norfolk you know." "You're right, I don't have a safe house in Norfolk, I like my privacy and this is the closest safe house I have." Cordi replied. "I'm not complaining but I've got a thousand questions and you haven't been real talkative." "I've been trying to figure out what happened. Come on let's go inside and get some food and then I'll answer as many of your questions as I can." *********************** I parked the van behind the farm house so it couldn't be seen from the road and then at Cordi's direction found a spare key hidden in the barn. As I approached the house Cordi made me stop. "Joel, I need to take control again for a few seconds." "Why?" I asked looking around for possible threats. "Because the house is warded, I paid a guild Magic-User to ward the house so I'll need to part the ward. I just need control for a few seconds." I closed my eyes for a few seconds and tried to relax. This time I sort of felt it as Cordi took control. Once again my eyes opened without me doing it and I watched as my right hand rose and my fingers twisted into a strange looking gesture. Then Cordi spoke; "Kal??s ??rthate sto sp?ti filo" I felt again the weird sensation of my mouth moving without me controlling it and the sound of a woman's voice coming out of my mouth speaking words I didn't understand. I also noticed a tingling sensation and my limited ability to sense magic told something had happened. "The wards are down and will stay down for about five minutes. We should go inside." I suddenly realized that I was back in control so I walked up to the back door of the house and used the key to open the door. Once I entered the house I could tell it had been a long time since anyone had been here. Most of the furniture was covered and there was a layer of dust on everything. Cordi directed me to the kitchen and the pantry, which was stocked with canned goods, and I got to work heating up a can of chicken soup. "Okay, so you said you explain all of this too me, now feels like a pretty good time." I said out loud as I stirred the soup. "There's a war going on between the Courts of Order and the Wastes of Chaos, it's known as the 'Eternal War' and has been going on since the beginning of time. If fact it was the Court of Order's imposition of time upon the Multi-Verse that sparked the first battle. Since that event the two sides of settled into a sort of necessary balance. It's when the balance is disrupted life throughout the multiverse is threatened." Cordi answered out loud in her powerful female voice using my mouth without having to ask permission. "Okay, uhmmm,... ... who or what are you? Why did,...uh,... Beth 'Mark' me? "My name is Caecus Cordi, I'm the Court of Order's Knight of Shadows. I was sent here to this realm by the Grand Duchess DePotentia Et'Honestas when she learned that the Daemon Lords where going to begin invading. We aren't yet sure why they chose this realm but I've been ordered to stop them and protect the natives." "Why are you in my head? And couldn't you have contacted the Guild they protect mundanes like me from magical predators?" "I'm more than just in your head Joel. When you accepted my Mark my spirit, mind, and power began to merge with you. I can't manifest a physical body here and neither can a Daemon." At this Cordi paused for a moment and then continued. "The other knights assigned to this realm and I have discussed contacting the Guild but my brothers and sisters believe that at this point it might do more harm than good. For now we are trying to fight our war with the daemons without drawing too much attention." I had to pause for a few seconds and think about what she'd just said. I didn't think that I'd 'accepted' her mark. But I had answered yes to Beth's questions and I could have moved away. Instead I'd stayed where I was and allowed her to touch me. But I hadn't known at the time that I'd be putting my family at risk. "Uhm, okay, you can give me more of the big picture later. Where is my family? And are they okay? You said that you know which daemon was at my house." "I felt the echo of X'lye'ous power back at your house. He is a powerful Fire Daemon, I'm sure he is responsible for starting the fire." "Why!? Why would some daemon set my house on fire?" "There are a few reasons. He might have been trying to capture your family, thinking that I was in your mother or sister, and accidently set the house on fire. He could have missed your family and set it on fire as a warning or did it in an attempt to get me to respond." "So how do I find my family? Can I call my mom or dad's cell phones?" "Not just now. For now we need to be patient. If you're family is okay we'll find them tomorrow, if they've been captured then we'll have to figure out how to rescue them." "So what do we do tonight?" "Tonight we start exercising. I'll show you how to use my power. The more of my power you draw, the faster we'll finish the joining. If your family has been captured then we'll need to be as fully joined as possible to rescue them." "And I thought tonight would be easy since there isn't any Aikido on Friday." I said in a lame attempt to make a joke. *********************** CHAPTER FOUR The Ties That Bind *********************** I soon found that my wrestling coach and Aikido Sensei had nothing on Cordi when it came to working. We started with yoga like positions and when I claimed I couldn't stretch any further and my arms were trembling with fatigue she just said to relax and focus on the knot of energy inside of me. We were working in the dimly lit basement of the safe house and as I figured out how to pull up the power inside of me the shadows seemed to deepen. Suddenly I was seeing clearly into the shadows and I noticed that they had a tendency to reach out to me. "As I said earlier, in the Courts of Order, I'm the Knight of Shadow. I'm at my most powerful in the shade. I'm weakest, but not helpless, in full bright light or total darkness." By now we'd moved from stretching into a series of punching and kicking patterns. I caught on quickly, so she changed things and soon I was learning to summon and dismiss a shadow. Next she taught me how to control my own shadow so that it flared out into a pair of shadow-claws extending from each hand. I could only hold them for a few seconds but it was an amazing feeling. Satisfied with how far I'd come in just a few hours she now had me sit down and meditate. "Joel, the goal here is to relax and project yourself into the Shadow- Court." "What is the shadow court?" "It's the place where I met you in your dream. Once you learn to send your spirit there we can move on to more advanced lessons. I can also control the flow of time there to a degree. So we can spend a dozen hours there training and have only one go by here." I sat down and closed my eyes thinking about the core of power inside of me. I then tried to bring up a picture, in my minds-eye, of the place where I'd first talked to Cordi. "That's very good Joel, now focus on letting the power flow over your body. Fill every part of your being with my energy from the tips of your fingers to your toes push the energy throughout your body." I concentrated on the cool knot of power and slowly started to feel it respond. Then abruptly it slipped away. "You were focusing too tightly. Concentrate on bringing it up and feeling it then slowly guide it. Don't force it, or grip it too tightly, if you use brute force of will on it you'll just lose control." I started over, this time focusing on feeling the power and then very gently I let it wash over me. It felt like there was a tide of liquid power rising and then I realized that it was flowing out from my center, to every limb, in time to the beating of my heart. Then my skin began to tingle as the trickle of power turned into a flood of icy hot energy that was as bright as the sun, and as dark as the void all at once. The power now moved freely flowing out in every direction, filling my whole body! Abruptly I felt my body respond to the power, my skin rippled and shifted, moving without my guidance, under the sweet dusky power raging inside of me; it felt so good that I didn't care! I realized in that moment I could sit here forever holding this power and be happy. Oh my God, I thought, this could become very addictive. I'm not sure how long I sat there, only that by the time I became aware of my physical self again I could feel sweat running down my face, back, and curiously between my pectoral muscles. Even as I sat still, sweating, I practically quivered with energy! Every part of my body tingled, and I wanted to explode into motion I felt so ALIVE! "You're ready, now focus on my court," Cordi said. I thought about the grey twilight and the pillars of white and black marble and the throne sitting in the shadow cast by the twined pillars and closed my eyes. "Welcome to my Court, among the Knights of Order this place is known as the Shadow-Court." I opened my eyes and sucked in a deep breath in shock. The court looked just like it had in my dream only now I s