Chapter 8

“Five quatloos on the humans,” said Provider One.

“Ten quatloos on the goblins,” said Provider Two.

“Provider One, will you cover Provider Two’s bet?” said a third voice.

A few seconds went by.

“Yes” was the reply.

All three disembodied brains silently glowed in their glass-enclosed chamber located deep below the mansion. All three silently monitoring the events taking place above.

We were back to sitting around the table, trying to wrap our heads around what had just happened, what was now happening.

It was obvious to all of us that something incredible had happened. We could now use magic. It made no sense at all, but then, neither did Ash’s disappearance nor did the goblins.

To further confound us, we started noticing items of interest in the dimly lit room. Guy found a huge greatsword in one corner. Sheila found a longsword and a shield. Jamie noticed an orb sitting on a bookshelf. Ryan was toying with some daggers and shurikens she had found mounted on a wall. I found a long staff with a cross embedded into it.

We also made one other interesting discovery. Jake had absolutely no powers at all. No magic that we could discover and magic couldn’t be used on him, as he purposely cut himself and tried to have me heal him, to no avail.

Still, we took him as our leader in this, so direction would come from him.

“I think we need to split up to try and cover more ground. This is a big place. We’ll use the Sending Stones to stay in touch with each other. Guy, you and Raina take the 2nd story. Sheila and I will cover the first floor. Bruce, you and Jamie ... I’m giving you the basement. Be careful, I haven’t been down there myself. If anyone runs into trouble, call for help immediately.”

“Don’t you think we should split up by our specialties? Put a striker with a spellcaster and--” started Guy.

“Do you want to be split up from Raina?” Jake shot back.

Guy looked at Raina. “No.”

“Okay then, I realize that our groups aren’t optimal, but it’s what we have to work with. Let’s get moving. Gather up your stuff.”

I took my staff and moved towards Jake, motioning him away from Sheila.

“Hey, if you run into any trouble, anything that looks odd, let me know and I’ll be there in a flash, I know you don’t have anything to--”

“I’ll be fine, man,” said Jake in a low voice, “but thanks.”

I was worried that with him having no magical abilities, the sword he was wielding was not going to help much. And while Sheila was fine in our combat situations, I wondered how she would hold up in what could be real combat.

“Bruce ... if this goes bad...”

I knew what Jake was getting at.

“Don’t worry. You’re covered.” We fist bumped. It was more than macho. I was telling him that if something happened to him, Jamie and I would take care of Sheila. He was also on notice of the reverse if something happened to me.

The depth of all our friendships was being tested.

We had dropped off Guy and Raina on the 2nd floor. The plan was for them to sweep the bedrooms and other areas there, and then move down. They were the strongest fighters, and in melee combat, had very impressive talents. Next was Jake and Sheila. I hoped that they weren’t the first to find any trouble.

Jamie and I were left alone in the elevator as we continued down to the basement.

“Ready, babe?” I asked.

Jamie leaned in and kissed me hard on the lips.

“Now I am,” she said, holding her orb in her left hand, her wand in her right.

The doors opened and while I wasn’t sure exactly what Jamie was expecting, I knew that what I saw was nothing like what I thought I’d see.

It was not a basement in any sense of the word. It was ... magical. It was more of a forest setting than a room. There were vines and trees and bushes. It was dimly lit. It seemed like there were some walls too, of sorts, more likely old, wooden structures that had seen far, far better days.

Speaking into the stone in my right hand, I spoke to the others and told them what we had found.

We moved forward, not waiting for reinforcements. It was the first of many mistakes that were made that afternoon.