Chapter 27: Prophecy Revealed

Getting out of the car, I kept my eyes on Lady Reynolds. She wore dark sunglasses and a trench coat. It was pleasant outside. I was sure that wouldn't last.

"Lord Setton, I've been looking for you," she started.

"How many are with you?" I asked.

I could tell she was blinking at my blunt question, even with the glasses impeding my sight of her eyes.

"How many Dragons are here Cicely?"

She cleared her throat and croaked, "Two."

"Get in the car and tell Sally I said to leave. I'll handle them."

"Ral, I can't just leave you."

I looked over Cicely's right shoulder. I could see Russ waiting in the distance.

"Ral, I heard about the attack on your store."

"That was fast," I said looking at Cicely again.

"It was on the news. There was even footage of you fighting off the gunners."

"Did you also happen to notice that one of the attackers was a Dragon?"

"Who?"

"I don't know her name. She had bright green eyes and moved pretty fast."

It was obvious Cicely was thinking about my description. "Did she have dark hair pulled back in a pony tail?" I nodded and she said, "Ral, that's Sever."

"Sever?"

Cicely nodded. "Her ability is a kind of neural blades. They glow green and will cut flesh. At the same time they will make you go numb or disrupt your nervous system."

"Fantastic, my luck's getting better all the time," I commented and then asked, "Has anyone from your House found out about the hostages?"

"That's why I'm here. We found them, but when we moved in to get them, the Dragons kept us at bay."

"Where are they?"

She handed me a card. It had an address on the back. "And Ral, one of the House Lords is involved."

I was about to ask who, but Russ chose that very moment to interrupt. I saw him coming and moved just as fast to open the car door, push Cicely inside and close it. If nothing else, she would be safe from the fight coming.

Like before Russ came at me with knives, but this time he moved with a grace and precision I didn't think he could have accomplished. I ducked and dodged. Moving away from the car, leading him away from those who couldn't protect themselves.

"Give it up Russ, you can't touch me."

"That's what you think..." he said and picked up the pace as he changed attack styles.

We must have looked like two blurs moving around the parking lot. No one could have recounted what happened. I didn't think about attacks or counter-attacks, it took all I had just to stay away from his blades.

When I had seen him with Roy and the third Dragon, I wondered how long he could have followed us had he decided to chase. It became apparent that endurance was something he never worked on because he started to slow down. I didn't feel tired in the slightest.

Finally I took the opportunity and grabbed one of his wrists. Apparently, he had chosen to let me and stabbed my arm shoving the knife completely through it, missing both bones. It hurt like nothing I had ever felt.

Blood splattered the cars we were next to. More dripped to the ground. The pain had stopped me for only the merest fraction of a second. Then I kicked him. I didn't care if he stabbed me again. I knew what it would feel like. I planted my foot in his chest and knocked him back, all the way across the parking lot.

Russ had let go of the knife stuck in my arm. His expression at my retaliation was something I would have considered comical, had I not been hurting.

I watched him land, waited for him to get up and come at me again. I would have said he had the edge, because I would have protected my arm and he could pull out another knife and be fresh for the fight. Fortunately, he didn't get up.

Another surge of pain flashed through my arm. I looked at the knife and grabbed it. I knew I could heal but I had to remove the knife and that was going to hurt just as much as when it went in.

Moving away from where Russ lay, I hunkered down between two cars. I thought about Sally and Lady Reynolds. My thoughts didn't go unanswered. I could feel Sally worrying for me, feel the motion of the car as she drove. They were away and hopefully safe.

Still gripping the knife, I focused. I tried to remember what I had been doing when I had been stabbed, so I could put the muscles back in the same position, the same state of flex for when the knife came out. I gripped the side of my leg as best as I could and pulled at the knife. Nothing. I couldn't move it.

Looking closer at the wound around the knife, I could tell that I was already healing, sealing the knife to me. I could also feel the knife inside my arm, as if my muscles were as touch sensitive as my fingertips. I was gripping the blade of the knife with my arm. I had to relax, but it hurt.

Looking around to make sure no one was heading in my direction I caught sight of the other man I had seen Russ with earlier. He was looking for me but didn't have Russ's speed. He would find me eventually, but I had to get rid of the knife first.

Focusing again, I relaxed my arm as much as possible. Again I pulled at the knife, trying to rip it out of my arm like ripping off a bandage really fast. Again, it wouldn't budge.

"What the hell?" I thought.

"If you're curious Mr. Setton, let me explain."

The voice was right next to me. I looked around expecting the other Dragon to be there but I spotted him even further away. It looked like he was going to check on Russ.

"My name is Steven Davis. I am a mind Dragon. Unlike most Dragons, I do not attack you physically. I have witnessed how you can very easily dispose of the other physical Dragons in such confrontations."

Again the voice was there, as if he were standing next to me. "You attack my mind then," I concluded for him.

"Correct. Not only can I keep you from removing the knife from your arm, but I can very easily add more."

Fear ran through me. Fear of what he might make me see, the illusions he could make real.

"Yes, that's right Mr. Setton, what I do is nothing more than illusion. You can keep telling yourself that but it will not stop it from happening."

"You're the one who hit me with abstract hammers back at the warehouse."

"Yes."

I had met Mind Magi who could force you to do things simply because you already wanted to. What was I going to do about one who could make up anything, whether you've thought of it or not, and make you believe it was happening?

I looked at the knife again, felt not only the shape of the grip in my hand but the metal of the blade inside my arm. Was the knife real or was I seeing an illusion he forced me to see?

"Mr. Setton, you've done quite a number on Russ. He's going to need an ambulance. Is this how you intend to treat the Mind Magi bound to your House?"

"The Mind Magi of my house don't try to stick knives in me."

I focused on the knife, and only the knife. Moving my arm I watched how the knife moved, felt how it impeded the muscles in my arm. I was sure the knife was real.