Chapter 28

The day had passed quickly, Nata making some calls from the privacy of her bedroom while Carmody and Angelina roamed her small apartment, examining the books and exotic objects that filled her shelves and cabinets.

“Hey, these look interesting” Angelina said to her friend and pointed to a collection of rounded stones in an open wooden box. Carmody joined her and looked inside, seeing what appeared to be smooth river stones of different colours. Each had Runes carved into them, a type of ancient writing that Nata had told her once about.

“Those Runes, they make a spell focus don’t they?” Carmody said. “Nata told me they are similar to the tattoos she has. It lets her channel her power into a spell without having to memorise all the words”

“Yes, that is correct” Angelina praised her friend. “My mother used one she called a Candlestone to test if I had developed any magical aptitude. She did that for years”

“What does a Candlestone do?” Carmody wondered, sorely tempted to pick one of the stones up to see what happened.

“They glow like a candle, but without any flame or heat” Angelina said knowledgeably. “The more powerful an Adept is, the brighter the stone glows”

“Cool! Is there a Candlestone in this box?”

Angelina bravely dipped her bandaged hand into the box, turning over some of the stones, clumsily picking up a couple to examine the markings. Nothing unusual happened, which disappointed Carmody, until her friend found the one she was looking for.

“Aha! I recognise the Runes on this one. It is just like the one my mother has” She held it up to the light, twisting it backwards and forwards. “The idea is that anyone who has the potential to become an Adept will draw power instinctively from the Dark Side, activating the light spell enchanted into the stone”

The girl lowered the stone and looked at it sadly. “Mom tried every year until my eleventh birthday, testing to see if I could become an Adept”

“Why did she stop?” Carmody wondered.

“I Awakened as a Telekinetic” Angelina said. “It turned out my genetics weren’t right for an Adept. We can only be one or the other, not both. I think I broke my mother’s heart the day I tested positive at the Awakening Centre”

“Nata says most people will always be NOMAs” Carmody sighed. “Those of us who can use Abilities or Magic are in the minority”

“Yeah, I guess that is why they hate us so much” agreed Angelina. She gave Carmody the Candlestone to hold while she rummaged about in the box, keen to see what else she could recognise.

Carmody held the round stone between the index finger and thumb of her left hand, looking at the runic script carved into it. A faint tingle came from the stone, not unpleasant and she laughed a little.

“That tickles” she told Angelina. “You never said the stones had static electricity in them!”

“Huh” was all Angelina managed, her eyes drawn to the stone in her friend’s hand. “Carmody, what are you doing?”

“What? Nothing” she replied and followed the other girl’s gaze to the Candlestone. It was glowing with a faint yellowish light, gaining brightness slowly. “Is that normal?”

Angelina made no reply and instead jumped up and pulled the heavy curtains across the living room window, plunging them into darkness. Except it was not dark, the light in Carmody’s hand growing ever brighter.

It already surpassed the light of a candle, rivalling the bright glow of the headlamps that the AURA team used for night time missions. Still the brightness grew until neither girl could look directly at the glowing stone without squinting.

“Carmody, how does it feel?” Angelina demanded breathlessly, crouched at her side as Carmody held the stone as far from her eyes as she could.

“It just tingles a little” she responded. “There is no warmth or anything”

The light was now so bright she had to turn her head aside, blinking afterimages away from her vision. Around her the whole room was lit up as bright as day and the glow stabilised at last at that level of brightness.

Carmody heard a sound from Nata’s bedroom and in sudden panic she dropped the Candlestone onto the rug covered floor. The glow immediately diminished like a dying ember and by the time Nata opened her bedroom door the stone had reverted to its normal appearance.

“Why is it so dark in here?” Nata called out, backlit by the light from her bedroom.

“Sorry Nata” Angelina answered. “I was telling Carmody a scary story and wanted to set the mood” The girl went and picked up the fallen stone, her hands feeling far more useable since the morning and casually dropped it into the wooden box before she drew the curtains back.

Nata regarded her with a confused expression.

“Scary stories?” she muttered loudly. “On today of all days?”

“I thought it would give some perspective to the dangers we would be facing” Angelina lied smoothly. “But I forgot how it ended so there was no point after all”

“I see” Nata responded, although she obviously didn’t. “You Okay, Carmody? You look as white as a ghost”

“I’m fine” Carmody finally said. “It was just quite a shock, that was all”

“Okay” the Sister replied. “Well, it looks like we are as ready for tonight as we can be. Dog will be picking us up an hour before dusk and driving us to the location. My contacts have managed to get it prepared for us and will be out of there before we arrive”

“So it will just be the three of us, right?” Carmody asked her.

Nata nodded in agreement. “Plus my old mentor, Bishop Wainwright. I can’t ask the Order for help without approval from the new Bishop. Anyway, the less people involved the better. I want to avoid getting anybody hurt that doesn’t have to be”

“Are four of us going to be enough?” Angelina asked the Sister.

“Of course!” the Sword told her and smiled confidently. She then noticed her open box of Rune Stones on the shelf. “Hey, have I shown you girls my collection of Stones?” She reached for them only to be stopped short by a loud cry from Carmody.

“What’s the matter, Carmody?” Nata asked her in alarm.

“Sorry, I just remembered the end of the scary story that Angelina told me!” she improvised hurriedly. “It was really frightening” she added lamely.

“Okaaay” Nata said more slowly this time and switched her gaze between the two guilty looking girls. “Is there something I need to know about?”

“Absolutely not” Angelina assured the Sister and put her arm around the other girl, giving Carmody a comforting squeeze. “I promise not to tell her any more scary stuff”

“Fine” conceded Nata. “In that case, let’s get you dressed in your AURA suits and have something to eat. This could turn into a long evening”

Dog’s electric SUV hummed to itself as he drove the oversized vehicle into the lot adjacent to the park. Warning signs attached to portable fencing advised the whole park and facilities were closed due to repairs and was expected to re-open in February V27.

“Is this the place?” wondered Carmody from the rear seats, looking between the shoulders of Dog and Nata in the front. “It reminds me of that park where we fought the Electric Dragon”

“It is” Nata replied evenly. “We needed someplace that had a big open area, preferably underground, that we could control” She turned in her seat to regard Carmody and Angelina with her dark brown eyes. “I know this place has bad memories but it has everything we need. I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable”

Angelina shivered for a moment and Carmody reached an arm around her friend.

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay you with” Carmody reassured her.

“I’ll be fine, Carmody” the girl assured her and unbuckled her seat belt. “Let’s get this done”

The four of them got out of the vehicle and Dog opened the rear hatch, handing out tough black canvas bags of equipment to the others.

The big ex-Guard closed the rear door and regarded the three young women in front of him.

“Are you sure you don’t want me down there as backup?” he asked Nata, who just shook her head no.

“I appreciate the offer, but you won’t be able to hurt this guy. He would just take you down without a second’s hesitation”

Dog nodded sagely and grinned at her.

“You know, if I was a lesser man I might feel hurt by those words. Lucky for you I can accept that harsh assessment and rise above it”

Nata gave her combat trainer and friend a narrow eyed glare.

“I mean it, Dog” she warned him. “The thing inside of Hammerton is powerful. If it breaks out of the vessel that contains it, you can’t hurt it with any weapons you possess”

“I have a Plasma Gun” he declared. “One shot only but it is a hell of a shot. It can cook an elephant at two hundred meters, guaranteed”

“Eew!” Carmody interjected. “That is gross! Why would you want to cook an elephant?”

Nata grinned at her mentor and shook her head.

“Bad Dog!” she chastised him. “You have upset the girls now. Just wait up here for us and try to stay out of trouble”

Dog gave her a grin of his own.

“Okay, Imp” he agreed. “I’ll wait for your call”

=====

Nata, Carmody and Angelina were in the service elevator, descending to the underground maintenance facility. It was big enough to carry a truck and moved very slowly, so the two girls had wandered around the metal framed carriage as it dropped into the earth.

“Are you frightened?” Carmody asked Angelina, the pair of them in the opposite corner to a preoccupied looking Nata.

“Yeah” Angelina admitted. “Hearing about the Pact my parents made to save my life was pretty unsettling”

“Nata felt bad about having to be the one to tell you” Carmody observed. “It should have been your mum and dad who told you”

“I know. It explains a lot though, like why my mother was always jetting around the world for weeks at a time. I thought she didn’t care about me, always putting the business ahead of my needs”

“Do you hate them for what they did?” Carmody asked.

Angelina gave her answer due consideration and the elevator ground to a halt by the time she was ready to reply.

“No. They did what they did to save my life. Is it wasn’t for this agreement, I would have died thirteen years ago. I can’t hate them, no matter what the price Hammers demands from me”

The big metal gates slid open, revealing a vast concrete lined chamber lit fitfully by work lights erected around the perimeter.

An old man, grey bearded and wearing pale grey slacks and shirt beneath a black overcoat greeted them as he stepped close to the elevator. He had a long bladed sword in a leather scabbard held loosely in his left hand, the straps of the baldric dangling to the floor.

“Bishop Wainwright, thanks for being here” Nata greeted him and stepped up close to the old man. He held out his right hand but the Sister embraced him instead, her hands wrapping around his broad shoulders. The man relented and put his right arm around her, completing the gesture.

“I am retired, Nata” he reminded her. “These days you can just call me Alfonse” The pair separated and Nata turned to the two girls who were looking on in a kind of awe.

“Bishop, this is Carmody Brentwood and Angelina Brackenridge” she announced and each girl nodded shyly to the older man. He smiled warmly back and both of them felt a sense of calm strength come from the former head of the Order.

“Is it true you were a Paladin?” Carmody asked him eagerly. Her eyes fell to the sword he carried and pointed to the sheathed weapon. “And is that your Holy Avenger?”

He laughed aloud, a robust roar of amusement that echoed loudly from the distant walls and ceiling. It was a warm sound and Nata joined him.

“Sorry Bishop, I am afraid she often thinks of things in terms of old games” Nata added.

“Yes, I was a Paladin” the Bishop replied to Carmody. “I was a dedicated warrior of the Order for many years, until my body got too tired to wield a sword. Now I am just a volunteer teacher at our Orphanage, trying to help the young ones choose a path that suits them”

Carmody’s eyes had not left the sword so he chuckled and drew it, the long blade gleaming in the work lights. Runes covered one side and he turned it to show her the opposite side, where a fancy looking set of engravings surrounded a name.

“This is Ferro Mortis” he explained. “The name means Iron Killer or Iron Death, depending on your interpretation. It was crafted by a master swordsmith in the year 1096 AD and saw battle in the Crusades. The weapon has been used by Swords and Paladins of our Order for close to a thousand years yet it is as sharp and deadly as the day it was first made”

He took the blade carefully in his hand and presented it hilt first to the young girl.

“Do you want to see how it feels in your hand?” he asked her, his face amused yet she saw a gleam of interest in his eyes.

Carmody reached out tentatively, fingertips brushing the ancient weapon, then drew her hand back.

“Nah, it’s Okay” she said with a grin. “I’ve already got Excalibur” She gestured to the cricket bag slung over her shoulder.

“Stop trying to recruit my friends” Nata admonished the Bishop and he smiled as he re-sheathed the blade. “She is not even a Catholic” she added.

“Michael doesn’t care what religion you are” Bishop Wainwright reminded Nata. “It is the desire to protect the innocent that he seeks. Your friend here is full of that”

“Never mind the sales pitch. Is the circle ready to be activated?”

The Bishop moved to the edge of the raised platform that abutted the elevator. His lifted arm pointed to the big open floor, a rectangular space around fifty meters long and half that in width. All the workshop machinery had been removed and the surface of the floor rippled strangely in the lights. A central dais of concrete rose up in the centre, flat topped and low.

“It’s ready” he confirmed. “Took some time to dry, but we got it done”

Carmody and Angelina came to the edge and looked out, their mouths open wide.

“Is that a lake?” Angelina gasped. “I remember this being a concrete floor”

“It still is, under about ten centimeters of water” the Bishop responded. “We have set a trap for your butler and hopefully the water will conceal it”

“Okay” Angelina replied thoughtfully. “So what is that central platform of concrete for?”

“It used to have some machinery mounted there. They removed it all when the clean up works began down here. Now it forms the center of the trap” Nata explained to her.

“What will go there?” the girl asked. Nata looked at the two girls standing side by side.

“You will, Angelina. You are the bait in our trap”

The man who had been Hammerton had given up his own life thirteen years ago, sacrificing himself to allow the Master of Yolanda a vessel to host his essence. Nothing remained of that man except his outward appearance, yet at times it felt to the butler that some of his old self came to the surface.

A ghost of memory, a glimmer of habit, made him act and feel in ways quite alien to the being that now dwelled within the flesh body of Giles Hammerton. Like now as he stood on the roof of a bland residential tower, forty storeys above the ground, watching the sun finally sink below the western horizon.

Hammerton had been a mercenary soldier, serving under Major Frank Brackenridge as a Sergeant. The soldier had been skilled and brave, fighting in battles across war-torn Europe under the Major’s steady command. He had never felt fear and knew with quiet certainty that the Major would lead him through the deadly conflict to a time of peace and plenty.

Every day, as the sun would set on whatever forsaken piece of land they found themselves fighting over, the Major would always take the time to watch it drop slowly below the horizon.

“It is the best and worst time of the day, Giles” he would tell his Sergeant. “The fading sun reminds us we have survived another day of our lives. The darkness that comes reminds us we still have to survive the night and pray for dawn”

Hammerton waited until the last glimmers of light vanished and felt the power flow into him from the Dark Side. Far off he registered the presence of his servant, the Witch Yolanda, staying close to her beach front home as he demanded.

He sniffed the cooling air, sensing at last the unimpeded scent of his beloved Angelina. She was close, the protective Wards that had been placed about her fading as the day ended. His agreement with the girl Carmody was ended too, his obligation to her ended at last.

“I am coming, Beloved” he declared aloud and lifted himself on wings of shadows. He aligned himself to her direction and with a beat of smoky wings hurtled towards his prize.