Chapter 9: Hidden Talents

The mists of the morning hung low over the foothills, as Jake and Sarah walked to meet with his dead foster father.

It had been eight months by that point since he had died, One of Morningstar’s personal victims. One of his first, in fact. Before that point, Thomas Rowan raised and supported him, for most of that time presenting himself to Jake as a wealthy businessman Only in the final weeks had he revealed his true nature.

He knew less than he thought he did.

When he saw Timothy Redding, it was almost like looking in one of his real father’s photo albums. During Vietnam, Rowan had been a young blond-haired man, a peer to this father in age. Jake knew who he was looking at almost immediately. He just had trouble believing it. It was only through his angelic senses that he became sure of whom he was looking at.

He mused, as he walked the trail, how much the two of them in the photograph would resemble Rowan and his father.

His troubled thoughts were like an open book. Sarah took his hand.

They had left Dominic, already digesting some rather heavy revelations, back at the camp. He needed the rest, the time to think. Jake didn’t blame him.

Jake had come to the Lord’s service from a far greater remove, especially owing to what had happen to his brother. In Iraq, he had seen with his own eyes what could happen between people of faith. By the time he came back home, he had very little patience for the claim of those who promised messianic splendor, if only one would kill one’s neighbor.

One would have thought he would come out of it with whatever was left of his faith snuffed out.

In that war, seeing men doing ungodly things in the name of God, he had begun to wonder whether the problem was these faiths, which all preached peace, or just the fact that people could just be bastards towards one another, regardless of what faith they were born to.

People could rationalize just about anything. Qu’ran forbids suicide? Then killing yourself is martyrdom. Jesus tells you to love your neighbor? Them first. Your enemy? Oh, please, we have to be realistic here!

How many people stood at the edge of the abyss, having justified all the steps in-between with their good intentions? He had once stood there.

In one moment it had become very simple. Love. Not some rationalized kindness, or some arrogant need for company in one’s beliefs, nor some “realism” about what was “best” for others. Love.

Love was what kept the universe together, because a God who did not love would have blotted the confoundingly imperfect people and their world from existence, in search of something better.

Folks just had to learn to look at the rest of the world with the same love. The fact that the fanatics had to struggle against a world that confounded the perfection they willed just showed how dimly they perceived that love.

But he knew he was no great prophet of that love. He needed help to love like, a teacher. He knew of somebody like that.

Right now, he though, he needed all of that help he could get.

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Redding’s feelings were no less mixed as watched them approach, but for different reasons. He loved this boy like a son, and having left rather abruptly, he would now return the bearer of bad news.

He did not have to fake the smile on his face as the man who had been his son walked forward and embraced him.

“Tell me, what was your secret,” Jake quipped as they parted, “diet, exercise, a really funky magic spell?”

“My career, really. I picked a job with excellent health benefits.” Redding said.

“No, seriously?” Jake asked.
“It’s the truth. The host of a Seraph is mortal. But death itself can be undone by the holy spirit.” He explained.

“So you did die. He did kill you.” Jake said.

“And so ended the life of Thomas Rowan, and thus began that of Timothy Redding.” Redding said.

“How old are you?” Jake asked, the implications dawning on him.
“I have seen more years than the eldest of the Elders.”

Jake looked back at Sarah.

“She will outlive you and many others. Is that what you fear? Or is it the notion that she would have come back, even without your love?”

He looked around at them. A dark cloud seemed to hang over Jake.

“Whether you were the doorway or the key to the door of her return is irrelevant. You gave everything for her, not knowing nor counting the cost. And you, Sarah, were willing to do the same. You will live a good life together, on the foundation of such love.”

“So what have you been doing with yourself lately?” Jake asked.
“I’ve been a little out of his world, actually.” Timothy responded.
“California?” Jake said, a wicked grin on his face.
“Serkal.”

If they had thought themselves astonished before, that response certainly piqued their interest further.

“Serkal. Mikhale’s world. How’s he doing?” Jake asked.
“He’s doing his penance. I’ve been guiding his way, the way of others. Doing what I always do.” Redding said.
“Why not here? This world’s tearing itself apart.” Jake said.
“It will tear itself apart. That said, we will do what we can to hold things together, including confronting Morningstar’s forces.” Redding said.

Jake stood there, leaning against a tree, arms folded, brow furrowed. Something was up. Something was strangely out of kilter.

“Agent Leonard is important, but just what requires the presence of the Voice and his master together with the Me, Sarah and all the rest of us grunts?”

“We’re going to purify the Chyek Pao’cithex. Do you recall the place?

Jake’s hand strayed to his stomach, to the memory of an old wound.

He recalled it, alright. His other self remembered the place, remember who had made it the haunted place that it was, and most importantly, who wanted it kept that way.

He thought of that, and shuddered.

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Jake informed Agent Leonard of the plans of his superiors back at the Campground Pavilion. Tables were set out for maps and such. The wall had a map of the whole course laid out.

“It sounds like a good thing.” Dominic remarked.
“The best of things, and that’s why it will bring a whole world of shit down on us. Our enemies will drop on us like a ton of bricks.” Jake said.

“So why at a time like this?” Dominic exploded.
“Because he knows something we don’t. I don’t like it, but he’s not going to hold off on my account, and he’s not opening the debate. He’s giving us warning.” Jake said.

“I can understand why you trust him, given who he is, so what’s the deal? What worries you?” Dominic said.

“You and I both know what the deal is. How do we tell your friends and colleagues about this? And how do justify your coming along?”
“Me?” Dominic said astonished.

Jake looked him square in the eye.

“These won’t be random bad guys coming after us. These will be the people we’re looking for. Perhaps even Serketh himself.” Jake said.

“So what are we dealing with here?” Dominic said.

“My last trip through those grounds… It almost killed me. The bandits like to hide in the place; Not sure they like us too much. There are some creatures that have been twisted by the cursed nature of the place, and some that got just plain mean ‘cause of how nasty the area became.” Jake explained.
“What’s so important about it?” Dominic asked.

“The discord and the suffering of the place make it good camouflage for Nephilim or Seared. The suffering of the place is built on the enslavement of a number of Aucethabi. They can feed off of that power. A lot of their magic depends on such parasitic behavior.” Jake continued.

Was it just me, Dominic thought, or does Riley take this personally?

“Tell me one thing: will exorcizing that place help my fellow agents?” Dominic demand.

“Anything that weakens Serketh’s power strengthens the chance that most of them will leave this country alive. If they survive the siege, their chances will improve.” Jake stated.

“We have to tell them the truth. We can leave out who exactly Redding and Joshua are, but we can’t lie to them about the danger, or about what’s coming.” Dominic said.

“But what do we tell them? This is going to be our doing. From their point of view, they’re going to see this as us putting them in greater danger. That’s not good for our credibility.” Jake said.

“The timing is problematic. We’re lying to them by omission or commission either way. It’s short warning. This won’t make us popular.” Dominic groused.
“What would you tell Agent Petersen, or your friends?” Jake offered.

“Is this right in our way? Can we avoid this, detour off to the side?”
“It straddles the road. The terrain makes it difficult to navigate around. I wouldn’t recommend taking your folks, with so little training, into the outlying areas.” Jake informed him.

Dominic turned to the map. “Where are we here?”

It was not one of those maps you would find in a shop. This had been handmade work. Jake walked up to one point, about a fifth of the way down the map from the gate.

The maps outlines filled in with exquisite detail all of a sudden, looking suddenly like a heavily edited satellite photo of the course of the road. A shimmering illusion of that stretch of the course came out at them.

“Wow. Neat effects.” Dominic said.
“I’ll take that as a complement. The illusion’s mine. Maps can be a bit abstract.” Jake spun it around slowly, as if they were looking through it with a camera.

A forest astride the road, nestled in the midst of treacherous mountain canyons. A glowing aura of light rose parallel to the path of the road. Dominic guessed that was the limit of the road’s ward.

The road took a rather direct path, through the smoothest ground available. Whether that was made smooth or that way to begin with was lost to time. Compared with the rest of the paths though- well, Dominic could see why Jake didn’t want them trying to go around. A more open road fed into a bottleneck in the mountains, which lead to a high valley.

The woods around the road were one part of it, but to the sides were craggy, difficult paths, many of which led out side the range of the Gate Road’s ward. To one side was a small range of snowcapped mountains. The other, a treacherous descent to white water rapids, with cliff faces.

“You ever heard of those Aspens in Colorado, or that fungus in Michigan where everything’s one big organism? That’s what this is here. Only the relationship can be much more inclusive of other species. The Aucethabi, if they’re wounded mortally, may bond with one of the trees in a colony like this, their immortal consciousness bounding with the tree, the tree partaking of their immortal body and powers of illusion. A symbiosis. That’s not what happened here.”

Dominic asked the obvious question.

“What did happen here? A Nephilim came by and asked the village whose ruins you see there whether they would join with them. They refused. He forced the trees to take them unwillingly, a rape of their body and souls. As if that wasn’t enough, when an Elohim came here later seeking to purify the place, he was taken and imprisoned there, by means we do not yet know. The Aucethabi say that this event, which occurred nearly a thousand year ago, strengthened the place’s malice.” Jake explained.

“Is the place likely to kill folks?” Dominic asked.
“Does every year. Not more than twenty or thirty, though. Mostly, people get harassed by bandits or attacked by beasts. Because most people aren’t foolish enough to come here without sufficient escort, most people pass through here safely, if a bit lighter in the purse sometimes.”
“So it’s not that great a hazard.” Dominic said.
“Maybe it is. At least for us. We can tell them quite honestly that this is an ambush point we need to clear.” Jake said.
“How much credibility are we left with if we remain un-ambushed?” Dominic asked.
“I didn’t say we were going to defend against an Ambush, I said we’re going to clear it a place from which we could be ambushed. Still, it seems kind of thin.” Jake groused.

Dominic scowled. Lies, deceptions. Problem was, every path of mistruth they started on had the potential to gut everything they were trying to do. The more they tried to manipulate Dominic’s fellow agents, the more distance they would put between them when the truth came out. They were coming at the problem the wrong way, trying to manipulate them as if they had no right to think for themselves. That would never sit well with these people.

“We’re not going to get anywhere lying to them. Let’s tell them this: An agent of those you work for was sent here to disrupt Nephilim operations before we got here. When the disruption comes, we’re going to be in the area and we’re going to get hit hard, They have been made aware of this, and so they’ve recommended we get in close so we can pool our resources and withstand the assault better. I’ve been brought along because this relates to my original assignment, which you never said I’d give up when you worked out the deal. So when do we tell them this?” Dominic said.

Jake smiled, “We tell them right away. We’re going have to double up on the training, or these guys will be dead meat. We don’t have the supplies to stick around. We’re going to have to teach them while they make the journey.”

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John was the one to relate the plans to SAC Green. Green was royally pissed.

“I thought you said you were going to protect us!”
“Mr. Riley’s superior had these plans in motion a long time before he told him or us. We just walked right into them. If you had taken our advice in Arnokedic, this wouldn’t have been a problem.” John told him.

From a distance, the others could see the argument.
Agent Silver smiled as he walked in beside Agents Petersen, Schlesinger, and Mendelson. They could all see Green pacing around shaking his finger at the man. He even poked John in the chest. Roth and Hooper followed

“It’s good to finally see somebody stand up to that bastard.” Darius said.
“Let’s see him act all badass now.” Roth cheered.
“You know, I think he should be grateful that John isn’t an easy man to anger.” Mendelson said.

They looked back at him.
“But I don’t know. Next time he waves that finger in John’s face, he might take the arm it’s attached to, rip it off, and wave that in Green’s face. But of course, John is a very calm, patient man.” The others look back at their boss in dread. Rachel looked at Mendelson and mouthed “You’re bad”. Mendelson did not smile back, shook his head. She remembered his power from back in that Arnokedic square, and shuddered.

“Don’t worry about him.” a voice said from behind them. She turned.

Dominic stood there. “Worry about yourselves.”
“What’s going on?” Mendelson asked.
“After we cross the Rekio Bathchau—
“In English” Hooper interrupted.
“Those blue mountains ahead of us.” Mendelson supplied, glaring at him.
“After we get there, there’s a rather restricted pass we have to go through. Mr. Riley’s superiors have just given us good news and bad news about that. The good news is that they’re going to be permanently clearing a hazard there. The bad news is that we’re going to be right on top of it when they do, so they’re telling us to expect a fight.” Dominic said.

Darius rose up. “Are you serious? On top of all the things…”
“Did I ask Green to come after me? Did I make you follow him?”
“You traipsed into this place.”
“Not unprepared. I trained for this. I accepted the advice of people who knew the territory.” Dominic said.
“Don’t you have any loyalty beside yourself?” Darius asked with disgust?
“On nights I’m lucky, I don’t dream of the people left dead by that bastard Zarrach. I don’t dream of father smothering their children. My loyalties have been to my fellow agents, and the people of my country who I swore an oath to.”
“The dead ones, at least.” Darius said.

Dominic spun around and marched off.

“That guy seemed to grow a pair since last I saw him” Roth said, surprised.
“He’s crossed the line.” Agent Silver said, sneering.
“And so have you, my friend.” Mendelson said.
“I didn’t ask you, buddy.” Silver snapped at him.

Rachel still looked after Dominic.

“He’s been through a lot. I can’t say he’s not the better for it.” She said, finally breaking her eyes away from her frustrated partner.
“He’s playing Dungeons and Dragons, for Christ’s sake!” He yelled back at her.
“Yeah, and so are the rest of us. He’s just the first one to notice.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I shot at three men center-mass from three yards away, just like you saw Captain Taylor demonstrate the other day. Only his wasn’t some fun demonstration, this was a bunch of mutated freaks bearing down on me like they were high on angel dust. I could have been killed if it hadn’t been for all the crap you can’t take seriously.”

Schlesinger spoke up. “He saved us, too. The Seared had an ambush waiting for us. Dom and Riley cleared them out.”
“You think he couldn’t have…”
“Set it up? Dominic? They guy who would tell you if he broke your coffee cup, even if nobody saw it happen?” Rachel said.
“They could have put him up to it.” Silver concluded weakly. He didn’t want to dwell on that thought.
“Who put us up to this?” She demanded.
That was enough for Silver, who left, Hooper looking back.

Mendelson looked at her, sadness in his eyes. “This isn’t going to be pretty.”
“No. It’s going to get very ugly.” She said.

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Agents Silver, Roth, and Hooper approached SAC Green about the matter within minutes of their respective arguments.

“We can’t fight them on the weapons, and we shouldn’t. We don’t want to end up dead. I want you three to become experts if you can, and encourage others to do the same. That also goes for whatever advice they have on the local issues.”
Hooper objected immediately. “You can’t be serious, sir!”

SAC Green looked at him.
“Don’t get angry with me. Special Agents Petersen and Leonard are right about the Deflectors. If we’re facing people with that, we need backup weapons. We do not, though, want them to work this death march out as planned. We’re supposed to be escorting Dominic out to protective custody, not getting tangled up in local politics. You three need to find ways to slow this caravan down. Is that clear?” He ordered.

“Should we get others on our side for this?” Hooper asked?
“We need plausible deniability on this, so no telling the rest about our talk here. No drawing attention to ourselves. You need to find a way to slow us down that’s not going to draw suspicion to us.

Roth nodded. “Sounds good, sir.” he said.

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“Do everybody a favor, Jake.” Merrick requested.
“What’s that?”

“Don’t train with him in front of the others. You might inflate their expectations.” Merrick told him.

Jake mulled those words over as he walked down the line.

“Each one of you fights for your life today. The funny thing is, you will have to learn not to think of that when you go into battle. I will start you all off with the individual moves. Then we will go into a series of kata. The Martial Artists among will recognize the term. We’re talking routines that will teach you how not to think when you’re fighting.”

A snicker from among them. Jake smiled at the one who laughed. Then he turned and swung his walking staff at Dominic, who drew his sword out in a backhanded block, flipped it over to block a lower strike, blocked a repeated swing, then brought his sword up in a fighting stance.

“The human brain becomes conscious of things half a second after they happen. It of course edits this out, but still, the delay is there. If you wait to think about what you’re doing, you’ll be too late to do anything about it. If you want to think about something, think about strategy. Don’t be thinking about how to move. You all walked here, put one foot in front of another, reacted to changes in terrain to get here, and most of this was done without the need to involve real thinking.”

He relaxed his stance and Dominic, wary, did the same. Jake smiled that wicked grin of his. He turned that devious face on the rest of them.

“Dominic here has learned his lessons well. He’s had the time and effort put in to do well. He’ll be training some of you in shield combat. Pay attention to him. He’ll teach you well.”

He walked back to Merrick.
“That’s not what I had in mind.”
“They couldn’t respect him as an equal. Now they will respect him as a mentor. What’s your real problem here?” Jake asked.
“Why is Joshua lavishing so much attention on this one guy?”
“Jealous?” Jake accused playfully.
Merrick sighed, not amused. “You know better than that.”
“We’re not told everything, you know. Every time I try to get a fix on what will happen, Everything just stirs up into chaos.”
“Thought you Cherubim were the experts at dealing with chaos.” Merrick said, puzzled.

Jake smiled.
“Dealing with it, not figuring it out. Most of what we do is simply go with the flow. If you try and predict things, try and control things… Well, it’s like trying to think your way through a sword fight.”
“That’s not reassuring, Jake.” Merrick said.
“If you want reassurance, talk to my wife, that’s her department. Cherubs like me don’t show up unless there is a problem. Nearest I can figure, Agent Leonard’s at the center of a pretty big one, one that could have global implications, given who he and the others here work for.”
“What about him, though?” Merrick insisted.

“He might have mage abilities. Something not unlike Mendelson’s Dead-zoning. He seems to have an unusual sense of every situation, and what to do.”
“Like a Jedi.” Merrick joked.
“It doesn’t seem to be voluntary. It may, though, explain why he’s survived two encounters with a Nephilim. He should be trained, I think.” Jake said.
“No, he shouldn’t. He should be told.” Merrick said.

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Jake told Agent Leonard of his suspicion. It was difficult to find him afterwards. Rachel, though, thought she knew where to look. She asked whether there was any place where somebody could swim. That drew strange looks, but they told her.

She found Dominic’s armor near the waterfall’s pool, about thirty yard from where he stood, soaked, wearing the undertunic and trousers that usually underlay the pads, plates and mail.

He stood directly in its flow. From the air alone she knew the temperature of the water was frigid. This wasn’t what she remembered. The worse she expected to find was him skinny-dipping or something like that. She should have known he was too bashful for that sort of thing.

Not that she didn’t note what she had seen. The water clung to muscles she hadn’t seen on Dominic before he left on the trail of Zarrach. The brief naughty thought occurred to her that the men on the team could be sold on the training on how much they could impress their wives and girlfriends on their return. For some reason, as she approached him, she didn’t call out to him, simply left him, eye’s closed, the water coming down over his shoulders.

She was feet away when she finally spoke his name. He stepped back behind the falls, then came out with a towel draped around his shoulders.

“Exactly what were you doing?” She enquired, a note of worry in her voice.

“Jake told me it was the last warm shower I’d get for a while.”
“Seriously.”
“Saw Buddhist monks do it.” He said, drying his ears. “Apparently, the cold helps them empty their minds of all distractions.”
“Did it work?”

“Yes. I’m hypothermic, but I’ll be one with the universe when I die.”
“Which will be pretty quick if we don’t get you into some dry clothes. You don’t happen to have a pair, do you?”
“A spare set in my pack, near that boulder.”

She went there, fished them out, tossed it to him. He moved to take the tunic off, then looked at her a moment. She got the message.

“I’ll be behind the boulder.” She said, turning away.
“You sure you won’t peek?” He answered, as he changed.
“I’ll catch it on the internet when it comes out on video.”
“Right after yours?”
“After mine? What are you talking about?”
“The kinky sex romps videotaped with the senior agents?”
“Those? I thought I tossed all the copies in the incinerator.”
“Oh, I kept a few for my private collection.”

“Alongside the printouts of Scully and Mulder fanfic porn?”
“So you did get to those copies. Damn. I was going to blackmail you for your Def Leppard collection.”
“It’s Led Zeppelin, dickhead, and you’re never getting your uncultured hands on it now.”

Silence. She turned around, saw him, dressed only in the trousers, back to her. “What’s wrong?” She walked towards him, stopping within arms length.

He looked back on her, a soft smile on his unshaven face, his eyes said.
“Like old times.” He said.
“Old times. I’m not sure I miss them that much.” That got his attention.
“Why not?”
“You’re finally letting yourself unwind a little. Conan the Investigator.”
“So, I’m a manly man now?” He said, affecting an Austrian accent.
“I always thought you were strong before. You just let other people get in your way all the time. You made cases, let them take the credit…”
“Jake is saying, I’m one of them.”

It took her a moment for her to change gears on that one. “One of- One of who?”
“One of them.” He said.
It sunk in.
“One of the mages.” Rachel said.
“Have you told Mendelson and the others?” she asked.
“I’ve told you. What did I do wrong here?” he asked her.
She felt her heart sink at the tone in his voice.

“I went too far, didn’t I? This is what hap-”
“Why are you talking like that?” She asked.
“What?” he asked, startled by the worry in her voice.
“You’re one of the best damn agents I know. Hell, you should know I was friends with Tony long before all this. I don’t care.” She said.
“What about everybody else?”
“It’s none of their fucking business.” She said in the most pleasant tone she could manage.

He laughed.
“I’m serious. Tell who you want to. What is it that they say you can do, anyways?” She asked.

He took in her expression. “They say I’ve got a sixth sense about trouble, or something like that.”
“That? Shit, everybody knows that. It’s part of your reputation.”
“He says it’s real. I was able to see an Aucethabi when cloaked, to time my attacks, to avoid the attacks of others.” He stated.
“That’s not a handicap in our line of work, you know.” She told him.
“Some people are more concerned with the purity of the system than it’s function, Rachel. My career…”
“Oh, I see. Are you just trying to make me feel sorry for you?” Rachel said.
“Sorry. What have I got to look forward to, after all this?”
“Taking down that son of a bitch Magnus. That’s what you’re here to do, right? You got yourself here, you got some pretty good people on your side. Arrest this Serketh character and grill him like a sirloin steak.”

He couldn’t help but smile, chuckle. She brightened. He thought that was a beautiful sight.

Somebody cleared his throat. Dominic didn’t have to look to know it was Jacob Riley. “You weren’t trying to duck out on me, were you?”

Dominic’s face fell a little.
“He and I were having a private moment here. You have a problem with that?”
“Oh no, go on. I won’t mind.” He said.
“He’s a real smartass, this friend of yours.” She said under her breath, audible to Dominic, who tried to hide the smile that came to his face.
“Go on, get dressed” she said. Dominic went to get his armor. She heard, rather than saw Riley descend from the rocks.

“Thank you.” he said, looming behind her shoulder. She turned to him.

“For what?” She asked.
“For helping him.” he said.
“I’m not doing that for you.” She said.
“Nonetheless. Nobody should have to go through that kind of pain.”
“What would you know about that?”
“There’s nothing like giving your life to an organization, then having them reject for something you can’t do anything about.”
“You’re putting him in that position.”
“He’s looking for something, and I’m helping him to find it.”
“Find what?”
“The meaning to his life.”
“Couldn’t you just tell him?”
“I can’t live his life for him. He could be something else, you know. He’s got that kind of talent.” Jake observed.
“You told him.”
“Not just that. Your friend could become something else, something far rarer. He could be a hero.”

She didn’t know whether he had flipped his lid. It didn’t seem to matter. She shook her head and walked off. “Yeah, I figure you’ll make him into one, even if it kills him.” she snapped.

He looked after her as she stalked off. When she was safely out of earshot, he looked up to the heavens and said, “I only hope that it doesn’t come to that. He’s a damn decent enough guy.”

With that, he walked down to where Dominic was putting on his armor.
“What was up with that?” Dominic said suspiciously.
“You’re a lucky man, you know that? Friends like her.”
He looked back at her. “Yeah. I know.”

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The training sessions over the next few days were pretty brutal. It was a boot camp in all but name. Rachel overheard Jake telling Sarah to expect a great number of injuries.

Sarah taught them archery. They used native wood bows that took an obscene amount of strength to draw. Rachel noticed Dominic’s absence. She asked.

“I taught him while we were in Padzhir, getting him outfitted.”
“How did he do?”
“He was a very good student for an average teacher such as I.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. I think you’re a rather kick-ass gal myself.” Rachel said.
“My husband’s the one who kicks the asses. I’m the one who puts them back together again.” Sarah joked.
“That’s a nice arrangement, if you can get it. Guaranteed business.” Rachel said.
“How are you doing in the training?”
“I’m aching all over, I’m bleeding. Got my bell rung a few times. Nothing I haven’t been through a few times before. The men are bitching like something else, though, and that’s the biggest pain in my ass.”
“I didn’t mean your injuries. I know all about those. Where do you think you’ve done best?” Sarah asked.
“Not to brown-nose to much, but I’ve liked archery.”
“You do show a healthy interest in that. What otherwise?”
“I’m not butch enough to carry one of those weapons that Merrick guy swings. I could carry something smaller, though.”
“Jake would say that the disadvantage in that is reach.”
“Meaning…”
“You’d have to rely on speed, on trickery. Do you have any fencing experience?” Sarah said.
“No, I never worked undercover on that sort of stuff.” Rachel Replied.

Sarah waited patiently for a moment.
“Okay, no. Besides all the fun and games here, I’ve never handled a sword in my life.” She replied, giving up on the joke.
“I think a rapier would be good for you.”
“Like three musketeers? I’m going to be battling huge behemoths with a fencing sword?”
“A rapier is not built that thin, though it is thinner than your standard Bastard, two-handed, or broad types. It’s primarily a stabbing weapon, but it’s virtue is that it’s light, it’s quick, and properly used, it can defeat heavily armored and armed foes.”
“You’re kidding, right?” she said.
“It’s not a sword for blocking, but you don’t have the body weight or strength compared to these people to simply absorb blows anyway. The point is to deflect and divert, to side-step and dodge, then take the opening.”
“Sounds like my kind of weapon.”
“That, Agent Petersen is the point of a rapier!” Sarah said, followed by uncomfortable silence.
“That wasn’t very good.” Rachel told her helpfully.

Sarah shrugged.
“Then I must forgive you for your lack of fencing experience.” She said.
Rachel knew she had walked into that one. Still, it was a gentle barb.

“Touche.” Rachel replied.
It took a moment, as they both smiled. “Touche.” Sarah replied.
They laughed.

-----------------------------------------------------

Jake separated who was going to be trained with each kind of weapon as the week went on. Most were provide with shields. Ironically enough, two of the men who excelled enough to be given traditional longswords were Agents Hooper and Silver. They proved to be rather competitive in comparison to most.

The course for qualification for the sword was not easy, especially since this wasn’t the simplistic fighting that most people associated with the weapon. The Huntsmen were trained in the medieval style of swordsmanship, where the weapon could be used as a club, as a hook to take the weapon, like a spear, and of course like a blade. This wasn’t hack and bash alone, this was a sophisticated martial art the equal of any other in the world.

In fact, every weapon was taught with such sophistication. The sword was merely one of the more versatile of weapons.

Roth and Schlesinger, friends despite the rivalries between their associates, were pleased to find out that both of them would be learning spear tactics. They could train together in friendly battles.

Rigetti, who worked construction to get himself through school, found the war hammer suitable to his tastes. Some of the agents took to calling him Thor behind his back. Schlesinger told him Thor’s hammers was only that long-handled in the comics. In Norse Mythology, the weapon, known as Mjolnir, was actually had far too short a handle. Rigetti told him quite politely that he really didn’t give a shit about that. If Schlesinger

The highlight came when they went to the armorer. Hudson, often known as the old Battleaxe, got himself a rather big model of just that weapon. When he came out of the shop, there was a rather improbably horned helmet perched on his balding skull.

Rachel, Schlesinger and Rigetti, who had come for their own fittings could only stand there and gawk at it. Rachel asked the question Schlesinger was too polite to ask, and Rigetti too amused to speak out loud.

“What the hell is that thing on your head?”
“It’s a helmet, my dear.” Hudson patiently explained.
“It’s a hood ornament!”
“I know you and everybody else will give me shit about this, but I’ve decided that if I’m going to be an idiot, I’m going to be a magnificent idiot!”

Amused silence. Then laughter. Even he had to crack a smile.
“Okay, I’ll pick something else.” He said, pretending aggrieved defeat.

------------------------------------------------

Though they would only fight with wooden swords, the rest of the agents still worried that they’d kill each other. Jake regarded Silver and Agent Leonard as the best of those training with the swords. He wanted to see how good.

Rather than let them fall back on the shields, Jake wanted to see their skills without them. As both used the Bastard Swords, both trained first using the two-handed techniques, so it didn’t ask them anything neglected in the training. They were dressed in padded armor, and face guarded helmets protected their features.

They walked out into the wide arena at the town center.

They started with swings from on high, clashed to a bind, swords stuck together by their mutual force. Dominic twisted his sword and slid it along Leonard’s sword and knocked his head back. Darius knocked his sword aside, staggering back.
Gathering himself, He swung at Dominic’s side. Dominic blocked him, thrust forward with his sword. Darius sidestepped, entangled Dominic’s arm as he moved forward.

Dominic clubbed Darius in the stomach with the pommel of the sword, doubling him over, then grabbed him by the shoulder, turned, and symbolic cut him open from hip to shoulder. Darius fell back on his butt.

He got up and walked towards the edge of the ring. Dominic approached and tapped him on the shoulder with the practice sword. Darius immediately spun, smashed it aside. “You son of a bitch!”

He drove Dominic back, until both were in a bind.
“Good. I was beginning to think you didn’t have it in you.” Dominic said, a smile on his face. Dominic twisted and slid his sword. Darius was ready, and dodged, moved under his arm and past him, scoring a hit across Dominic’s back.

Dominic turned around, sword raised high. This guy was holding back. He was expecting the Agent to fight full force, given his feelings. What was it?

Dominic decided he needed to make this guy fight seriously.

As he had been taught, Dominic centered himself, yielding his mind to a calm center. Weeks of teaching had brought him to the point where he no longer needed to think to chain together his moves.

Dominic felt at that moment, for all that was around him, as if there were a cold wind stirring within his head, a vortex of thought, whirling around a core of pure open nothingness.

But this was not a black hole consuming everything, but a white hole, a fountain of light pouring forth, washing everything trivial away.

Dominic simply dominated Darius. He did score any hits, but he didn’t have to. He was escalating things, bit by bit, forcing Darius to fight cleaner, with more discipline, with less fruitless thought.

Darius confronted by all this was puzzled. What worried him the most at first was keeping up, but as Dominic assailed his guard and forced him back. Darius knew he wouldn’t be let off easy if he tried to give up. He didn’t want to seem like some kind of wimp, easily beat up by this… this… Turncoat. This betrayer.

Darius drew in his anger, focused it, made it a white-incandescent source of strength and power. He raged at Dominic, putting him on the defensive for once; or maybe that’s just what it seemed. He started overextending himself without even realizing it. His anger was driving him to be aggressive, and Dominic used that against him.

That’s when he saw Dominic’s eyes through the helmet’s face guard.

Nothing there. It wasn’t a vacancy. It was pure neutrality. Dominic simply wasn’t letting himself be read. Dominic was the eye of the storm. As with all eyes, the calm quickly ended. Darius knew his anger couldn’t compete with that. Dominic wasn’t going to let him knock him away. He was going to let Darius bleed away every bit of passion driving him to attack. He was going to let him pound his heart against his armor of calm until he was too tired to fight back.

And what then? A pathetic loss?

No. If Dominic wanted to play the game this way, he would too. He let everything bleed out. He stopped caring about striking the death-blow, the flashy move. He could not match Dominic’s smooth control, but he didn’t need to. He just need to keep up.
Back and forth, around and around, full sword and half-sword. Those who had come for a real fight were not disappointed.

It finally ended, about ten minutes in, when their practice swords mutually shattered, leaving both breathing hard, both tired, and both holding stumps of their swords like idiots. At least they thought so. Everybody else had their jaws on the floor.

“I think that’s God’s way of telling you two to take a break.” Jake said.

They took off their helmets, looked across at one another.
Dominic shook his head, a smile on his face. “I still think you’re a bastard.”
“Speak for yourself.” Darius respond, a smile on his face.

Darius walked over to the side. Hooper confronted him.
“What the hell was that?” He whispered fiercely.
“He wasn’t going to let me off easy.”
Roth shook his head. “I think he means you.”
“I took Kendo when my father worked in Japan. I needed something to vent my frustration at my dad for moving me there.”

Hooper was still not satisfied.

“What’s your problem? Don’t want me able to stand toe to toe with someone like him?” Silver asked.
“You know what’s coming.”
“He reminded me of something.”
“And what’s that?”
“You would never understand.”
“Really.”
“I tried hating him. He wouldn’t play that game. You can’t hate him and win.” Silver told him.

John approached Dominic on the other side.
“Dom, you held back. You should have laid him on his ass.”
“Of course. I don’t know, I just wasn’t at the top of my game.”
“You were teaching him. You know who he’s working for, don’t you?”
“Same employer I do. The guy has a sense of honor. He’s let his career go to his head, but he isn’t a bad guy.”
“I think the problem is, he’s picked the wrong sword. He moves like a Samurai. Did you notice?”
Dominic nodded. “A lot of slashes and cuts. Do you think you could scrounge up a Katana?”
“I’ll wait ‘til he asks me for one.”
“Just give him one. He’ll know what to do with it.”

----------------------------------------------------

“Did you say dogs?” Dominic asked.
“Big ones. Like horses.” Rachel said.
“Yeah, I’ve seen a few dogs like that. My aunt had a malamute, sucker was huge.” Dominic recounted.
“No, I mean big.”
“I know what big looks like. Damn thing could put its paws on my shoulders.”

As Dominic turned around and saw them. He gawked as Merrick explained them.

“In the Talleran, these puppies are known as the Lethjirool. To us, they’re just the Drools. Legend has it that these guys were imported from Serkal itself, sort of mage society’s land of mystery. Legend also has it that these guys are the tamer breed of what those ancients had.”

You could call them Lethjiroolja, Theckspath (as the Aucethabi did), Drools, or just big freaking dogs. They were horse sized creatures, and that took a little adjusting to, given the sharp teeth in their mouths. They were maybe a little lower to the ground, and thicker in the legs.

They were covered in armor. Almost wolf-like, they only lacked the murderous intensity. They seemed docile, but even dogs could get angry, and these beasts looked like they could gulp swallow a head or an arm whole.

Dominic couldn’t help but smile. These were their rides through the Bauthchau Rekio.

“Doesn’t anybody just ride horses?” Rigetti griped, looking at these new creatures skeptically.

John scratched one behind the ear. The beast’s huge jaws lolled open.

“Nah, The local wildlife enjoy them too much. We use the Drools, because they can enjoy the wildlife right back.” John said. The beast chomped its teeth, Then gave big, stupid dog grin as if to illustrate.

“Besides, these things are good at navigating the mountain trails, and like I said when we started, we’re heading through those mountains.” John finished.

Merrick interjected. “The best among you will form a mounted squad. The rest will be pulled in the wagons by the Mithahlath.”

The Mithahlath were to the Drools what the guys on romance novels were to real life men: comparatively muscle-bound, shaggy, and thick-featured. Apparently, the beasts of burden needed more bite than the oxen could provide either.

“Whatever happened to cute and innocuous wildlife?” Hooper groused.
“Charismatic megafauna? I’m afraid the baby seals club you back in this place.”
“Why doesn’t somebody just come in and wipe them out?”
“The whole world’s like this. Creatures in this world tend are tough to kill. Therefore, every creature that wants to eat or defend itself has to be though enough to deal with that, or in possession of some other defensive ability, like camouflage, illusion, or powerful venom. It’s just like our world, only here the stakes are raised. We are creatures of a much gentler world. We’re not making you tough here just because swinging a sword will make you look cool. We’re making you tough because you’re guests on Darshiaro, and every other creature is out to survive at your expense.”

Hooper considered this for the moment. “Does that include the Aucethabi?”
“No more than the people here. Who would you survive at the expense of, Agent Hooper? The Aucethabi share a defense with us. They stick together. They watch each other’s backs. They will go to great lengths to recover a lost comrade, even if in means bringing back their corpse. This loyalty has been extended to you, and as long as you honor that, they will fight to the death for you. Considering these guys can live for over three thousand years, I’d say that’s a rare privilege.”

“What about this Aucethabi you guys say would try to kill us? Does he share that particular point of view?” Roth asked.

“The Aucethabi absolutely hate the guy. Unless they were bound by other promises, they would kill him on sight.” John answered honestly.
“If they’re so chummy, why would they do that?” Roth asked.
“Because he killed a guest under their protection and aided in the murder of his own kind in the village that sheltered him. What is it, Agent Leonard?” John asked.

“That’s this Ghostfields thing we’re heading for, isn’t it?” Dominic answered.
“Indeed it is.” John said. He could not recall telling the agent anything about the past of the place. Was it a lucky guess?

“Why did he do such a thing?” Dominic asked.
“The Chyek Paucithex was created to be a source of power.” John mused.
“Somebody cut him in.” Dominic said.
“Or promised to.” John qualified. “Either way, he destroyed an entire village to gain the power he was promised. We shouldn’t underestimate what he’s prepared to do to a bunch of FBI agents he’s never met.”

John turned to the rest of them.
“Among your first allies will be the beasts behind me. Gain a good relationship with them, and like the Aucethabi, they will loyal to the death. I’m going to teach you some things about these creatures, and you’d better listen. Misunderstandings between you and your Lethjrool will not typically work out in your favor.”

---------------------------------------------------

Respect was paid. With the giant dogs, that was key, and the sight of these monsters with slavering mouths of teeth started many out on the right foot. However, John had to advise a number of them to approach more confidently. Drools didn’t like those that tried to challenge them, but if they thought they could intimidate or appeal to somebody else, they would.

The Agents were prepared with the Drools one by one, for that very reason. One important issue was contact. They were left to sleep for a night or two at the beast’s side, to observe certain rules of approach. The beasts were trained to be affectionate, but restrained (nobody wants a eight-hundred pound creature jumping on them to say hello).

Riding them was a different matter. You couldn’t ride a Drool like you would a horse. For one thing, they didn’t tolerate hitting or whipping. For another thing, they weren’t motivated by fear like those creatures were. Though riding a horse was a relationship, riding a Drool was more like a partnership. Those who forgot that among the agents were often flat on the ground, with John intervening with the growling beast.

But when things worked? Drools were agile, great climbers. The saddles were specially constructed so riders could practically hang off the creatures’ backs. Directing them wasn’t all that different from telling the dog to do a trick, besides the fact that the people were on them while issuing the commands. Needless to say, nobody asked them to roll over or play dead.

When all was said and done, only a few agents were unable to master them.

They all stood their proudly, at the end of the training, the packs of beasts by their side.

John clapped, laughing.

“Okay people. Now we learn how to fight on these creatures!”

The outraged cries could be heard in the next valley.
“Calm down, people!” John said, grinning. “The people we’re facing will not be courteous enough to allow us to dismount to fight. Besides, you folks have learned both skills apart. Now you’re going to learn how to fight mounted on them, and how to use these lethal critters as weapons themselves. These are war-mounts you’re on. They were born and bred for this. They will not disappoint you. Don’t disappoint me.”

-------------------------------------------------

They didn’t, and that was SAC Green’s problem. Agent Hooper pushed the point constantly with him.
“If they were to walk out today, our people would think they were Huntsmen. Its disgraceful.” Hooper said.
“It’s what they have to do to survive.” SAC Green said weakly.
“Bull. They’re just brainwashing them. Letting them play swashbucklers. Whatever happened to using the assault rifles, the Glocks, like we’re supposed to. We’re federal agents, not the Golden Horde of Ghengis Khan.”

The corners of SAC Green’s lips crept upwards.
“Don’t be such a worrywart about them. These folks are level-headed. This is another world. When they return they’ll forget about this place. Or remember it as some crazy adventure. You look at poor old Dominic- they’re just visiting his world. He will face his end as an agent alone.” Green said sadly.

“Do you want the end to come sooner or later? Do we still want to slow this parade down before it hits that disaster?” Hooper asked.
“Keep your voice down. Yes. That’s what I suggested at the very first, if you recall. Where are the others?”
“Practicing.” Agent Hooper stated, his tone speaking volumes in implications. Green nodded, not gravely, but with a certain resignation.

“You want me to speak with them later?” Hooper asked.
“Please do, Agent Hooper.”
“What should I tell them? What are our plans?”
Agent Green thought for a moment. “The plans are up to you and them. The less you tell me, the fewer lies I have to feed the Elohim and the Huntsmen. Do you understand me?”

Hooper smiled. “Perfectly, sir.”

The old game of plausible deniability. As Agent Hooper left the tent, he knew he had his leverage on the old man. How many leaders had suffered for such purposeful ignorance? In any age, you had to be careful who acted on your hints, whose connection to you was not nearly so tenuous as you’d like to pretend. The old man had been on top for far too long. He had to be careful, though. Green was not alone in seeing Dominic and his friends as a threat. And the other two? He’d have to get their reactions before he would know what to do. He’d have to see how much they would play ball.

------------------------------------------------

Rising from his sleeping bag, Dominic held his stomach. His newfound senses were acting up. Sarah looked up from the table she was working at.

“Did Joel put too much spice in the meal tonight, Dom?”
“Something’s up. I’m feeling it.” He said.
“Can you nail it down to something?” Jake said, lying behind his wife and her sleeping bag.

“No.”
“Well, it can’t all be your talent. Why don’t you take a walk to calm your nerves?” He told Dominic.

Dominic took his suggestion.

Sarah turned to him.
“I felt that. Why are you telling him—“

”He’s not the only one who gets gut feelings.” He said, settling back and closing his eyes.

Outside the tent, yards away by that point, Dominic was indeed feeling the pull of his talent. He walked the squared-away lanes of the camp, like a bloodhound following a scent.

And who did he pick up on? Terrence Hooper. Son of a Bitch, Dominic thought. His talent was sort of like a spider-sense- it made him aware of possible threats. Now it had made him aware of Hooper. Hardly reassuring.

He almost stumbled into view. By the end of their conversation, he was glad he hadn’t. He barely stopped himself from rushing them.

Still, at the end, something strange had happened. When Hooper departed, Dominic felt his sense of danger go with him. Peering around the tent, he saw his boss, sitting by the fire, a sad, chastened look on his face.

In their world, he had nearly gotten him killed. Here, he was at the mercy of other forces, the world out of control. In their world, Dominic hand needed saving from him. Here, in this world, it was SAC Green who needed saving.

In the meantime, though, Dominic had to catch up with the real threat.
He was surprised but not shocked to find the trail leading beyond the camp. There was an element of vigilance to his talent, which he had been practicing to improve since learning of its existence. It didn’t alert him to people going to bed for the night. It enabled him to divert a practice sword which what going to smash the throat of one of the agents. It allowed him to identify and disarm a hideous trap that had been set in the woods, just before a student laid his foot down on it. It allowed him such an edge in combat that he only sparred with the Huntsmen, Darius, and Jake.

Whatever the problem with Hooper was, it was immediate. Was Hooper going to wander into danger, and force Dominic to save him? Or, as the conversation with SAC Green indicated, was Hooper himself a threat?

Talent and the training John gave him allowed Dominic to follow almost soundlessly. He let his intuition guide each step, the pace of his watchful track of Hooper’s path. Finally, he made his way to a clearing deep in the woods. What was going on?

Dominic soon had his answer. He thought he was seeing things initially, but there was no mistake after a point.

It started as bare threads around his hands, ghostly and faint, and strengthened. Soon the arcs were sinuously weaving between his hands. The energy passed up his arms, and then outwards, until the whole of the clearing was alight with the energy.

And yet Hooper stood in the midst of that, calm, content, like a human tesla coil, unaffected. The rival agent smiled, almost childlike. It was the first time Dominic had ever seen him like that.

The display faded.

Suddenly, Dominic was aware of others around them. He was surrounded. Bandits. He’d been a damn fool to come out here alone.

And no armor. He had left that back at the camp. Damn. That’s what pissed him off the most.

They surrounded him, most with spears, a few with swords. The spears were going to be bad, with their reach. He stood read, and let the first come to him. The first one was armed with a spear. So be it. He was in the middle. As he shot the spear forward, Dominic grabbed it, took a big step, then kicked them man in the shin, breaking it. His target let go of the spear, and he rushed through that hole in their formation. Unfortunately, they had more behind him.

No matter. He was armed, and that was a start.

It got nasty fast, and Dominic shamelessly relied on his ability to time his blocks and attacks. He managed to drop a few, wounding them His problem, in the end, wasn’t his skills. It was the shitty weapon.

It broke on him, and one of them wounded him in the leg and arm with a sword. The man attacked him again, and though wounded, Dominic used the broken remnant of the spear’s shaft to trap the sword beneath his arm, and yank it from the man’s grip. The man found himself weaponless, and turned to run. Dominic opened up his back with his new sword. Others came along and took him away.

When fighting those who were human, Jake’s advice had been to wound. A dead comrade could be left where they lay. A living one needed attention, and somebody to haul them back.

Still, he was left with more people than he could fi—

Then it came, with a sound like a transformer blowing, a sizzling burst of electricity, smashing into this nearest opponent. A bolt took the next one and then the next. That sent them running away.

Hooper stood their, his forearms sparking.

“What are you doing here, you stupid son of a bitch?”

------------------------------------------------

When the adrenaline wore off, the pain from the sword wound hobbled and Dominic found himself sitting down.

“What’re you doing?” Hooper demanded.
“I got to rest, the leg’s pretty bad.”
“Are you kidding, with the bandits out here?” Hooper said.
“I’d know they were coming.”
“Like you knew they were coming?” Hooper challenged
“I can get distracted. But I’m not the only one with a power.”

Hooper froze.
“You imagined it. You were wounded, and one of them used mage powers.”
“I saw you. I was following you when I was jumped. I saw you play thunder God. Just what are you up to?”

He had taken precautions, precautions far beyond what The Huntsmen and the Elders would have suspected him capable of, far beyond what they would have pierced with the casual watch they kept on the agents.

Yet this guy…

“You first. How’d you follow me?” Hooper asked
“I told you, you’re not the only one with a power.” Dominic replied
“You lied to us.” Hooper said, weakly
“I haven’t known long enough to tell a lot of people. You obviously have, with that kind of control. I’m not going to give you up, but I’d like to know what’s going on.” Dominic said.

Hooper though about it for a second. He knew Dominic. Trusting, sometimes a little gullible. That’s why he didn’t like Hooper that much, since Hooper and others had played tricks on him. He didn’t take that real well. But now… Hooper saw the opportunity to ingratiate himself.

“A lot of these guys, these mages. They’re born to people just like them. My parents were normal. I never liked the look in their eyes when let a spark come off my hands, or when I shocked them on accident. So I just let them pretend it was nothing. I’d come out to the woods… I think you have the idea. When I got into my teen years. I thought it was cool. I didn’t do it in front of anybody, but still, when you’re that age, a secret power’s the coolest damn thing. It’s… only… I don’t know what to do now, especially given Green and everybody.”
Do what you have to, Terry. Meanwhile, we got to get back.”

Hooper looked at him. Often, Dominic was hard to read. But he saw a genuine sympathy in Dominic’s expression. Maybe that was enough. He thought for a moment. He had thought of killing Dominic, but that might prove troublesome. Dominic might not have been as careful. I would be difficult to explain things if anybody saw Dominic go out, and saw him come back. He could earn some brownie points from the Huntsmen by being repentant about going off on his own, and Dominic could tell them the convenient truth about his rescue.

He decided, then. He was going to wrap things up.

“Your talent telling you anything?” He asked Dominic.
“Feels like their approaching from the North.” The agent responded.
“You stay here, I’ll check it out.” Hooper told him.
“Wait!” Dominic said, with evident concern.
“Don’t worry. I can take care of myself.” He told him.

--------------------------------------------------

The Bandit Chief encountered Hooper about half way between the scene of the attack and where Dominic lay injured. They got no further.

“Pyaxas yevebyek hei rubchuavksa, eipcuvthaub, kapi rekeethpyaek waveib?” The Angry man yelled.

Is my kin’s blood how you honor your bargains, outlander?

Hooper looked up.

“Zaubnaloksheib kevchaubve rauke vouthoth.” He replied.
Your services, he said, will no longer be necessary.

This he said with a smile on his face. With that, he raised his arms and sent lethal bolts into the chief and his men.

----------------------------------------------------

He came up running, and helped Dominic to his feet.

“What was that ruckus?”
“They’re a bit closer than I thought. Let’s get out of here!”

This might work to his benefit, Hooper thought.