Chapter 13

Everyone had piled into Luke’s van, eager to go find Jason and the girls. Luke did not understand what sort of trouble Jason had gotten himself into, but the fact that it involved fairies, magic and such?!? He had a lot of explaining to do when he found him, if he didn’t strangle the man first!

“Any idea where we’re supposed to go?” Luke asked as he started the engine.

“I can give you a direction of where he is, but I can’t be any more specific until we get closer,” Phalmina told him.

“Fair enough,” Luke replied as he put the van into gear and drove.

He headed straight for the highway, thinking that would have been the fastest way to get to wherever Jason was. Apparently, Phalmina had ... bonded with him? ... as a means of sharing their experiences and understanding one another better. Luke didn’t pretend to understand it, but sounded wickedly cool. He wondered if it could be done for someone without magic and tucked that question away for later.

Luke looked back into the van and saw the Gaian women assembled there. The one who surprised him the most was Xaera, as he didn’t expect a troll woman to look like she did. He kept his eyes on the road, partially to avoid causing an accident and also to keep Karla from giving him the stink eye. They’d only been together for a few days, but he wasn’t sure if she was the jealous sort, so he kept his eyes forward.

With Phalmina acting as their compass, she directed Luke more accurately as they neared Jason’s location. They had left the highway and were now in a very affluent area. Many of the houses there were closer to proper mansions, easily worth millions of dollars each.

“I can sense him ... he’s in pain!” Phalmina cried out. “Faster Luke, please!”

“I’m going as fast as I can without drawing attention to myself. If we get pulled over and questioned by cops, we won’t be able to help him!” Luke replied, a little annoyed.

“He’s ... there!” she pointed, her finger stabbing toward the largest house on the block.

“In there? You sure?” he wondered as he pulled up to the house next to it.

“I’m positive! I can sense his magic and lifeforce, but ... it’s distorted ... like it’s being blocked or something!” Phalmina said.

“I sense something ... not right,” Daelina stated, her skin crawling with a sense of wrongness.

“I can feel it too. The magic, it’s strong and ... corrupted. Like it’s ... a perversion of everything right and natural,” Xaera muttered, her mouth tasting the magic in the air.

“This place doesn’t look like anyone’s been here for years,” Karla stated, looking over the property in disgust.

“Hold on. Look up there!” Luke said, pointing to the walls and gates surrounding the property. Everywhere, there were cameras pointed at multiple angles, to minimize any blind spots in the feed.

“Cameras. So what?” Karla wondered, unamused.

“If this place was abandoned, then why are the cameras new?” he asked. Karla looked up at the devices and saw that Luke was right! The cameras were new and not cheap either, by the look of them.

“Do you think there are any blind spots?” Karla asked.

“Odds are, there aren’t. Not with cams like that. But I can try a remote hack and see if I can at least create a feed loop. Keep it repeating bogus footage while we sneak inside,” Luke replied.

“Is there anything we can do?” Phalmina asked, eager to go after Jason.

“If you can keep a watch outside and make sure no one is coming while I work, that would be helpful. But I don’t know if you’ll be able to do that,” Luke told them.

“Pfft! That’s easy!” Emalia said as she, Daelina and Phalmina waved their hands in a quick spell, shrinking back down to fairy size.

“Whoa! I didn’t know you could do that!” Luke said, eyeing the tiny women.

“There’s lots that we can do that you don’t know about,” Emalia said, flirting with him. Luke had an uneasy look on his face until Phalmina came to his rescue.

“Ema, behave yourself. We have a job to do and we need to give Luke the time he needs,” Phalmina snapped. Emalia was a little crestfallen, but nodded and flew out of the window that Karla had rolled down. The fairies zoomed on out, but Phalmina lingered behind for a minute, shooting a wink at Karla before joining her friends as lookouts.

Karla smiled to herself as she was glad that even among the fairies, there those with some sense of propriety. She didn’t know how Phalmina could tell that Luke was with her, but she supposed that such creatures had enhanced senses. Or something along those lines, she didn’t know, but that the fairy had stuck up for her like that was heartening.

She turned her attention back to Luke, who was working his magic over his laptop. Karla hoped he could find a way into the structure and quickly. She had heard rumors about groups like this, that went after creatures and people with magic. But it was only hearsay and wild, crazy nonsense she’d heard in Denmark. At least, she hoped that’s what they were.

Jason blinked his eyes as he came to, wondering what had just happened. He remembered standing in Elizabeth’s living room when ... He craned his neck around and tried to move, only to find that he could not. Turning his head further, he saw shackles kept him chained down. Jason struggled against them, trying to use his Gaian strength to break through, but nothing happened.

“It’s pointless to resist,” a male voice told him.

Jason’s head snapped over to the speaker and saw that it was Chad. He was approaching him, wearing a fancy ceremonial robe, accompanied by three other men. They too, were wearing similar robes, but with fewer adornments. Jason wondered if the embellishments had anything to do with status, but put that thought from his mind. He looked down at the shackles and was confused how he couldn’t break or bend them.

“We etched them with runes which contain your power,” Chad told him smugly. “None of your abilities or ... magic ... will work here.”

The man spat the word ‘magic’, as though it was a filthy word and beneath him. He gestured to the other men, who walked forward to Jason. He then noticed they had pots on their hands, along with paint brushes. The men took the lids off the pots and dipping their brushes in, painting something on Jason.

“What the fuck are you doing?!?” Jason demanded.

“Preparing you for a power transfer. You have much power, which is being misused. We will take it and put it to its proper and correct use,” Chad sneered as he watched the procedure.

“So, you take that which doesn’t belong to you? That explains a lot!” Jason growled.

“Such power will always belong to men like me! How men like you come by it is irrelevant, because we will always take what belongs to us. People like you are merely tools to be used and cast aside when they no longer have any use,” Chad laughed.

“So, you steal that which you cannot have, because you feel you deserve it?” Jason shouted, trying to startle the men from painting the runes on him. Sadly, they didn’t shift or waver, continuing their work without issue.

“Yes. Pity that you cannot understand that concept,” Chad scoffed.

“Before tonight is over, I will kill you!” Jason promised.

“Ha! If anyone will die tonight, it will be you and not me!” Chad laughed. The men painting the runes on Jason had finished their work. Chad looked over the runes, and after inspecting them, he nodded, dismissing the men. He then grabbed Jason by the face, his fingers digging into Jason’s cheeks.

“You gave me a good run around for a little while, but you could not escape me. No one escapes us and now, you will pay the price for crossing us,” he said, before spitting in Jason’s face, before backhanding him. Chad then laughed at the fury on Jason’s face and walked away, knowing that he had the Druid at his mercy. He would enjoy taking his power and making Jason beg for his life before he took it.

Xaera, now in her troll form, hid in a nearby tree, while casing the mansion. There weren’t any guards on the grounds, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any inside the house. The fairies had been flying about, getting a better look at the grounds and reporting back to Xaera. Xaera was wearing an earbud, so she could talk to Luke about what the fairies told her.

“Is that all the cameras the fairies have spotted?” Luke asked, concerned.

“It is. They’d like to have time to get closer and get a better look, but something is blocking them,” she reported.

“We’ll figure that out in a minute, just let me work my magic. A little shift here and bit there and ... I’m in!” Luke crowed.

“You control the cameras now?” Xaera asked.

“Not necessarily. I can see what they’re seeing and I’ll need a few minutes to prep some tricks, so we can at least fool the cameras into ignoring us,” Luke replied.

“All right. Do you still need me here?” she asked.

“Nope. Come on back!” Luke replied into the device. Xaera avoided being seen as she climbed down from the tree. She made it to the ground with little difficulty and moved back to Luke’s van. Xaera climbed into it and closed the door, as Luke was cycling through the camera feeds on his laptop.

“Strange. There’s a lot of automated security, but no personnel on the grounds,” Luke said, trying to figure out why there were no guards.

“Too many people would see such guards and think there’s something worth guarding inside. By convincing the world that there’s nothing there, just an old empty house, it keeps everyone who would pry, away from it,” Karla stated.

“You know, that makes sense, to a degree. The cameras are well hidden enough to where it does almost look abandoned,” Luke agreed.

“OK, I have both good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?” Phalmina asked as she flitted into the van via an open window.

“Bad news first, please,” Luke told her.

“The bad news is, that we can’t get inside to get a closer look. There are runes that have been carved into the stone walls and entryways, that prevent me or my fellow fairies to pass,” she replied.

“Runes? What kind of runes?” Karla wondered.

“The evil, corrupted kind. They are perversions of what they should be. Though they are weaker than a Gaian rune, the power behind them is ... considerable. We have no idea how we will get through,” Phalmina finished.

“You said you had good news?” Luke asked.

“Yeah. There are multiple ways into the grounds, but they are guarded by both cameras and runes. There is no way we can cross over and inside the grounds,” Phalmina said, worry creasing her face.

“Mina, I have a question,” Karla said.

“Ask.”

“If we defaced a rune, to where it no longer kept its original shape, would it still have any power?” the Danish woman wondered.

“No, it would not. Why do you ask?” Phalmina queried.

“Luke, do you have a hammer in this van?” Karla asked, an idea forming on her face.

“Yeah, I have a couple of them in a toolbox in the back. But why do you need...” he started before realization hit him. “That just might work!”

Karla was already in motion, rummaging around until she found Luke’s toolbox. Opening it, she shifted some tools around until she found what she was looking for. There were two hammers in the bottom of the toolbox; one was a one-pound ball peen hammer, where the other was a five-pound sledge.

“These should do nicely! Do you have a place where we can go and not be noticed by anyone in the house?” Karla asked.

“Yeah! There’s a small gate which has a single camera on it. It looks like a garden gate, which has seen no use recently. I should have the feed in ... got it! I’ve got a feed loop going on it and the surrounding cameras! Not sure how long it will hold, but you better get cracking!” Luke quipped, chuckling at his wisecrack. Karla rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same as she opened the door to leave.

“Can someone tell me what’s going on?” Emalia wondered as she hopped on Karla’s shoulder as she left the van with both hammers in hand.

“If I can break the runes that are keeping you out, you should be able to cross into the grounds, ja?” she asked her fairy companions.

“You should, but how are you...” Daelina wondered, before putting the pieces together.

“Let me help. I can swing that bigger hammer, no problem,” Xaera said, coming up next to Karla.

“Are you sure? I don’t know if you can...” Karla started before she witnessed Xaera pick up a nearby rock and crush it into gravel in front of her eyes! Using only one hand!

“OK. You take the heavier hammer. Ladies, tell us which runes we need to strike,” Karla told her new friends.

The women hurried to the garden gate, not wanting to stay in the path of a camera that might break through the feed loop. They approached the gate, and the fairies flitted back, keeping their distance from the runes. Xaera stayed near, but refrained from touching them, keeping her hammer handy.

“Try that one there, right in front of you, Xaera!” Phalmina instructed.

She saw the fairy was pointing at a rune that looked like an arrow, with intertwined lighting bolts. Nodding, the troll woman swung her hammer mightily, taking a sizable chunk out of the stone. Xaera felt the shift of malevolence almost immediately, like it had lessened somehow. She then searched for any other replicate runes and found three more; on the upper left and right corners and one more in front of Karla.

“Let’s break them!” Xaera said enthusiastically! Taking a few minutes, the women smashed the runes to where they no longer held the power to repel the Gaians. They drew near, but still could not cross over, as these sigils were runes of empowerment, not protection.

“There must be other runes that maintain the barrier, but which ones??” Phalmina groused, needing to get inside to help Jason.

“Maybe we just smash them one at a time and hope we get lucky?” Xaera suggested.

“If it helps us get in, then do it!” Emalia told them. Taking their cue from the fairy, Karla and Xaera got to work, smashing the runes into unrecognizable craters. A couple minutes later, Phalmina felt something substantial happen. It was a feeling, a sense of the barrier that held them back, breaking away.

“I ... I think it’s gone!” Phalmina said with a laugh.

“Are you sure?” Daelina asked.

“There’s only one way to find out!” the fairy woman replied, and she flew through the gate. Instead of being bounced back, incinerated or a multitude of other things that could have happened to her, there was nothing. She stopped a few feet past the wall and turned back to face her friends, hovering in the air.

“The barrier is down! Let’s get inside and find Jason!” she said, before zipping off deeper into the grounds. Daelina and Emalia gave chase, heading after their friend while Karla and Xaera were right behind them.

“Here, you take this. I’m much better with my hands than a hammer anyway,” Karla said, handing Xaera the ball-peen hammer.

“Better with your hands? How?” Xaera wondered.

“You will see,” Karla smirked as she followed the fairies to the mansion.

In the dungeon beneath the mansion, Amy and Eva had finally come awake. They took a few minutes to orient themselves before they saw Elizabeth was there too. Standing on their feet, they quickly tried the doors, but found they were solidly made and wouldn’t budge.

“Any ideas on how we’re going to get out of here?” Amy wondered.

“None. I’d ask Jason about this, but they took him away and I don’t know what they’re doing to him,” Elizabeth worried.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be all right. He’s strong and capable. If anyone’s going to find a way out of this mess, he will,” Eva said confidently.

“I sincerely doubt that,” a male voice announced by the exit. The trio of women glanced over to the source of the voice and saw that it was Wayne. He was staring at them with a smug sense of confidence that made the ladies’ skin crawl.

“There is no escape from us. No one is going to help you, especially not that lying wretch of a man,” Wayne scoffed.

“What did you do to him?!?” Amy cried out angrily.

“Nothing ... yet. What we will do to him, is the same thing that we will do to you and your mother. Unlike him though, you will be made to serve us and obey, as you did before that boy’s interference,” Wayne stated haughtily.

“I would rather die than become a slave to you again! I don’t remember everything that happened, but I remember being here before. What the fuck did you do to me?!?” Eva demanded.

“You are in no position to be making demands of me, dearest wife. I will make you mine again and this time, I will not be so lenient with the freedom I give you,” the man sneered.

“You will not have me, not like that. Never again! Jason is ten times the man you ever will be, and a hundred times a better lover!” Eva seethed at him.

“You let another man touch you?!?!?!?” Wayne thundered, his anger rising.

“Yes, I did, and I enjoyed every second! That ‘boy’ as you call him, does more for a woman than you ever could dare to dream of!” Eva spat at him.

“Not after we are finished with him. You will both do as I say and you will be happy that your husband, lord and master is giving you the direction you need. There will be no need to think for yourselves after tonight,” Wayne said confidently, letting his anger subside.

“A life of servitude? Fuck you!” Elizabeth ground out.

“Such lives, you should and will be grateful for. None of you will be defiant like this for much longer. Amelia will go to her future husband, while you will become a servant. To be given and used, from master to master, until we tire of you,” Wayne smirked.

“NO. FUCKING. WAY!!” Elizabeth growled.

“You will wish you had been kinder to me. Pity. You would have made a decent wife for one of the order. Bring them,” Wayne ordered.

Almost immediately, half a dozen men walked into the dungeon area, with keys in hand. Two men went to each cell and unlocked them, ready to bring the women out. Elizabeth yelled and charged them, but one of them blocked her clumsy attack, while the other sucker punched her. She doubled over, falling like a sack of potatoes.

“You sick, sadistic bastards!” Amy shouted.

She then charged and struck out with her hands, her nails trying to find her captors’ faces. She missed and one of them casually backhanded her, dropping her as the others had Elizabeth. Eva could have fought, but decided not to, as she would need her strength before the night was over. That much, she could sense for certain.

“Smart. In your heart, you always know that submission is best. Wouldn’t you agree?” Wayne taunted as the men brought the women out. Eva stopped and stared at her husband with venom in her eyes before she spat in his face.

“Fuck you!” she growled. In response, Wayne backhanded her across her cheek, drawing blood from Eva’s mouth.

“You will pay for that, but only until you know your place!” Wayne sneered before he turned away from her, leading the party out of the dungeon.

Eva hadn’t taken the hit well, but the glare of pure disgust on her husband’s face had been well worth it! He led them away from the room and down a stone hallway which was lit with torches. The end of the hallway opened up into a cavernous room, which was partially occupied by other men who were robed similarly to Wayne. Many of them were from the church they were a part of, while there were others Eva did not recognize.

“High Cleric, the ritual is nearly ready, and all is commencing as it should be. We are just waiting on the arrival of his Holiness before we begin,” Chad said to Wayne, with a bow of his head.

“Chad?!? What the fuck are you doing here?” Amy growled at the man.

“They have promised you to me, as my future wife. But there are things that need to be done to you to make you more ... compliant,” he grinned.

“You bastard!” Amy shouted at him.

“After we are done with you tonight, you won’t think so,” Chad laughed evilly. Elizabeth groaned and looked up to find the owner of that voice. She knew that voice. It was the voice of the man who had led the group of guys who had gang-raped her in high school! She didn’t know who he was back then, but now, Elizabeth saw his face and swore that she’d see him dead before her feet!

Karla and the Gaians found entering the house was no real issue. There were no runes on the archways of the house, and the fairies could sense no malevolent magics nearby. They walked in through a nearby door, after Luke had hacked the security system’s doors, allowing them entry. The fairies and Xaera were mini sized and sitting Karla’s purse, so as not to rouse suspicion or alarm if they were seen.

Karla made her way into the mansion, walking into a disused art gallery. She did not understand where she was going, but she heard talking nearby. She crept slowly to the source of the sound, hoping that they wouldn’t hear her. Nearing the doorway in which the talking was happening, Karla pressed herself against the wall and listened.

“ ... are we certain this will work?” one man asked.

“Pretty damned sure that it will! Turns out that the man who stole the Marston women away has substantial power of his own!” an older voice replied excitedly.

“Isn’t it dangerous? Trying to take that much power?” the younger one replied.

“It’s close to the limits, but we wouldn’t be able to take his power if we found him later. We must kill those who grow that powerful. It was a miracle we found him when we did! Another few days, a week at most, and we would not be able to take his power. At least, not without the help of another chapter of the Brotherhood,” the older man replied.

“What the hell are you doing here?!?” a male voice thundered.

Karla’s head snapped around and located the source of the voice. It was a rather large man about fifty meters away who had spotted her in the gallery. He started closing in on her, but the other two men she was listening to came out of the doorway, finding her instantly. They got to her first, but Karla had her hands up and was ready for them.

These men might have been big, but for someone well versed in the art of Wing Chun kung-fu, size didn’t matter. She remembered her training and drills, blocking and rolling with the blows they threw, while keeping herself protected. With several successful block sequences, Karla then countered, dropping one man.

She turned to the second one, and he looked unsure of himself, which she capitalized on, putting him down for the count with several well-placed blows. Both men were on the ground, moaning and groaning in pain as the bigger man finally reached her. She used the sequences she was taught, but the strength and power of this man’s attacks were staggering!

He seemed to sense this pressed the attack, knocking Karla to the ground. She tried to reach for her purse, but screamed as the brutish man grabbed her ankle, dragging away from it. He flipped her over and with a lecherous grin, grabbed her shirt and tore at it. She screamed, begging for him to stop, but he just grinned.

“You weren’t strong enough to stop me from beating you down. You’re not strong enough to stop me from doing what I want with you,” he laughed, taunting her.

“She may not be, but I am,” the voice of Xaera stated.

The brute looked up and got an eyeful of the troll woman before she swung the sledge she was holding. There was a sickening crunch, and the man’s face was pulverized into red mush. He stood there for all of three seconds before he toppled, his body slamming into the ground like a felled tree. Xaera offered her hand to Karla, who took it gratefully, standing up and fixed her shirt as best as she could.

“Xaera, did you have to kill him?” Phalmina asked as she become human sized once again.

“He was trying to violate Karla. I didn’t think, I just acted,” the troll woman said, defending her actions.

“That brute, he was stronger than a normal human. I’d say that we have the right place,” Karla said, rubbing her bruised arms.

“But what do we do to find Jason?” Phalmina wailed.

“Ask one of those two,” Karla stated, jerking a thumb at the two stirring men. Phalmina perked up at this news and flitted over, slapping one man awake. He came to and shook his head, before focusing his eyes on Mina. His eyes widened, and he tried to get away, while prying her hands away.

“I’d stay still if I were you, or she’ll have at you!” Emalia said as she grew to human size, pointing at Xaera. With her red hair, blue skin, tusks, and sharp teeth, Xaera looked fearsome. Especially since she clutched the sledge that was still dripping blood from the man she’d killed.

“John?!?” the young man called out.

“He’s dead and you will be soon, if you don’t talk,” Phalmina threatened.

“I will never speak to you, freaks!” the man spat at them.

“OK. Xaera, rip his arms off,” Phalmina instructed.

“Gladly!” the troll woman said, eager to inflict pain on those who took her friends.

“Wait! You haven’t asked me anything!” the man begged.

“Start talking then! Where is Jason?!?” Phalmina demanded.

“Jason? That redheaded brute?” the boy asked, confused.

“Yes. He was likely brought here with our friends, Amy, Eva and Elizabeth,” Emalia said, standing over the man with energy crackling in her hands.

“We have taken him below ... to the ritual chamber!” the man replied.

“Ritual chamber? What are they going to do to him?” Phalmina wailed. The man stopped speaking at that moment, afraid he had already said too much. His tune changed quickly when Xaera hefted him up by the throat, choking the life out of him.

“The lady asked you a question!” Xaera growled menacingly. The man tried to speak, but he couldn’t as his airway was being cut off, and he tapped Xaera’s hand.

“Xaera, let him down. He can’t talk!” Daelina snapped. Snarling, Xaera let him down, but kept her hand on his throat, just so he didn’t get any ideas. He took in a lungful of air before he spoke again.

“This ... Jason, he has power. Power that we can take for ourselves. They will drain his power, then kill him when he is of no further use,” the man croaked. Xaera then roared in anger and, in a fit of rage, tore the man’s throat out.

“XAERA!” Phalmina shouted.

“He was just as guilty as these others here. We didn’t need him, anyway. The way down is here,” she said, pointing.

The fairies and Karla followed her bloody finger, staring at the partially open door that was disguised to look like a wall. Phalmina breathed a sigh of relief before she embraced her magic, wreathing her hands in Gaia’s energies. The rest of the fairies did this, readying themselves for battle. Xaera hefted the hammers she held and handed them to Karla, deciding to rely on her magic and natural strength.

“Let’s go get our friends back.”

Jason lay there, helpless on this altar, still straining against his shackles, but they wouldn’t bend. The ritual had already begun, and the men chanting were using some kind of corrupted magic to power their chant. Jason resisted as best as he could, but he could feel the power Gaia gifted to him, slipping away. It was as though what chained the power to him was slowly being eroded, breaking the link he had to Gaia.

He would have said something, but they gagged him, not wanting him to interrupt their chanting with his shouting. These men had brought the girls out too, gagged them and were making them watch. He could see them crying and trying to deny what they were seeing, hoping that it wasn’t real. But it was real, and they were living this moment, watching the man they cared about, be drained of his gift.

Jason could feel himself getting weaker, his strength being sapped from him as he lay there. His magic was weakening, and felt it being taken from him, almost to where he couldn’t sense anything. It was at that moment, where he sensed ... something, but he didn’t know what. He focused as best as he could and he thought he saw the old man, who looked like he was important, turn his head as well.

Suddenly, a thumping sound reverberated through the room. Not loud enough to distract the men from their chanting, but enough to be noticed. The old man looked at several young men nearby and gestured to them. They bowed immediately, not saying a word to disrupt the ritual, and headed to investigate the source of the sound.

The quartet of men left the chamber by a hidden passage, where the noise was emanating from. Piercing screams erupted out of nowhere, causing many of the men present to turn and see what was going on. Something large and heavy then flew through the air, smashing into Wayne’s face. It knocked the man over, disrupting the ritual. The moment the chanting stopped, Jason could feel his strength and magic return, invigorating him once again.

“What in the name of Caesar is going on?!?” he shouted, demanding to know who had dared interrupt such a sacred ritual.

Shouts of horror greeted his inquiry as the men looked to see what had knocked him over. It was the severed head of the young man, Chris, staring up at him with lifeless eyes. His breath caught and his head snapped up to see what had become of the rest of him and his friends.