Part 1: Moments Before

I walked into the underground garage area below Nebelgutt. It was fairly cold down here but not uncomfortable. Sabrine was walking behind me, wearing a pink hoodie, black tights, and thoroughly distracted by her phone. Her hair was in a loose bun atop her head. I was carrying a toolbox.

“Here it is,” I said, standing next to a large object covered by a tarp.

“Okay,” Sabrine answered.

I started the process of pulling the tarp off the car. “Sabrine come on, help me,” I ordered.

“Sorry,” the girl responded, sticking her phone in the front pocket of her hoodie. “Rayven and Anna have some plans for Thriza before she leaves again.”

“Cool,” I said. “I’m sure everybody will have a really fun time.”

Sabrine smiled sheepishly.

We pulled the tarp off the classic car carefully, rolling it on the ground behind the vehicle. It sparkled in the thin light of our parking area. The metal and chrome of the car seemed to be polished to a fine sheen.

“Why am I here again?” asked Sabrine.

“You’re going to tell me how much magic is associated with this car. Something is screwing up Anna’s photography. My guess is that the problem is somehow linked to this car.”

“Right!” said Sabrine.

“Isn’t she a beauty?” I said, scanning the vehicle.

“Ah ... yes,” temporized Sabrine.

I wasn’t a mechanic. I was an interested amateur with enough knowledge of cars and engines to get myself into serious trouble if I wanted too. Though I was fascinated by muscle cars from the sixties and seventies old cars in general attracted my interest.

“She’s a 1927 Minerva AF 32 CV Sport Sedan with a 100 horsepower 5,954 CC Sleeve-Valve Inline 6-Cylinder Engine and a Zenith 2-Barrel Carburetor.” I surveyed the interior before crouching next to the car. “Looks like she’s all stock too.”

“Well this car has been sitting down here forever,” commented Sabrine. “Even Thriza doesn’t know where it came from.”

“What do you think Sabrine?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Magic has been being used in or around Nebelgutt for two centuries at least, maybe longer, so strange things can just happen.”

“Strange things?”

“Oh yeah Michael. In 1982 I remember the entire second floor just disappeared for like, a month and a half I think.”

“What? You’re kidding,” I said.

“Nope,” responded Sabrine. “Nebelgutt is the definition of a haunted house.”

“What did you guys do?”

Sabrine shrugged. “We just had to deal with it. I recall it was a pain to get upstairs or downstairs. We had to teleport quite a bit.”

“It’s good to know that parts of the building I live in can spontaneously disappear,” I commented.

“Well objects, like buildings, can become infused with magic, especially considering Nebelgutt is surrounded by an illusion,” said Sabrine.

“Now you’re thinking like me Sabrine. Is this car infused with magic?”

“Okay. Give me a second,” said the young woman. She closed her eyes and outstretched her hands. “Scio. Sciens. Eruditio.”

I watched my coven-sister cast her spell. She repeated the three word phrase several times before she relaxed. Sabrine scowled and shook her head slightly.

“What did you see?” I asked.

“There’s too much ambient magical energy around. There is something odd about the car but my spell scatters in this environment. I did get a strong feeling of Kurtael surrounding the vehicle but I was hoping for something more specific.”

I thought about that. Kurtael was the decan of death magic and necromancy, the forces of fear, disease, and decay were associated with it. It’s aethyr, what most would think of as a guardian or embodiment, was Menqal, the Lord of Ruin. Death magic was not inherently evil or good – death is part of the natural cycle of life – but it’s presence here was interesting.

“I wonder what that means,” I asked rhetorically.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean anything Michael,” responded Sabrine.

“Weird,” I responded.

“You got this car running before though, right?”

“Oh yeah, it runs,” I responded. I got into the Minerva and hit the starter. The old car roared to life. To say that the hundred year old engine purred like a kitten wasn’t true. The carburetor needed to be cleaned and probably tearing the entire engine down and cleaning it would be a good idea.

“Wow, that sounds rough and I don’t know anything about cars,” commented Sabrine.

“It’s all good,” I responded smiling. I switched off the growling engine.

“Thank you!” said Sabrine.

“So what do you ladies have planned for Ms. Thriza?”

Sabrine smiled. “Oh ... just some girl time. Rayven and Anna thought about asking you to help but they decided on just the girls this time around.”

“Duane is doing well?” I started to get the tarp back on the Minerva. Sabrine helped.

“Oh sure,” said my coven-sister. He’s a bit more stand-offish than you were but he’s coming around. Today he gave his two-week notice at his job.”

“Good. I know Duane has more going on than I do well, than I did,” I said.

“So you meet with Thriza almost every day,” began Sabrine. “What is she up to?”

“I wish I knew,” I answered. “She is as mysterious with me as she is with you guys.”

Sabrine scowled. “She hasn’t really shared anything about what’s going on with any of us. I know there is more to this organization than just our little group, a lot more actually, but I don’t have any specifics.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m worried about her.”

“Me too,” said Sabrine. “I hope all of this doesn’t involve a demon, like what Rayven and Coral sensed. Demons are so dangerous!”

I nodded grimly. We finished pulling the tarp over the old car and headed upstairs.