Law of Shadows

“Never let go once your opponent is off kilter.”

- A memory of the Old Ones.

***Yellowstone National Park***

***Sely***

I point at the rocky terrain of a small hill. “I think that's where the secret entrance is supposed to be.”

Our convoy drove at a steady pace for about an hour. Tina got us a place close to the elder's leading bus so that we can see what's going on.

According to Tetrach, there is a fairly large entrance to Gavin's second base in the side of a hill. We even got the exact coordinates. As we close in on our destination, the hill comes into view. The entrance is directly at the side of the road and camouflaged as a stone pit.

A dirt road forks off from the main road and leads right up to a ledge. From such a short distance, I can feel the whole place brimming with magic, so the ledge must be a magically concealed entrance. By relying purely on my eyes instead of all of my senses, I wouldn't have suspected that there is something off in the area.

Then I notice that the bus which was hijacked by the elders isn't stopping. “Hey, aren't they going to stop? What are they doing?” I watch in horror as the bus barrels over the dirt road and right into the ledge, where it disappears.

Tina laughs. “I think they don't want to take the risk of being betrayed. Tetrach's hearing was a very public business and Gavin must have his ways to get information about the rest of the world. They don't want to give him a single second to prepare.” She puts the pedal to the metal and the car jumps forward, following the bus which is leading our army.

I squeal and hold tightly onto the car's panic handle. “This is madness!” The tachometer rises quickly to over eighty miles per hour. “You have no idea what's behind that concealed entrance!”

“The elders wouldn't have done what they did if it poses a risk. Surely, one of them must’ve made sure that we don't drive into a wall.” Cecilia joins her sister and together they laugh like two maniacs. “That's what an elder is supposed to do. To boldly lead the younger generations to glory!”

“More like to their doom!” I call out and watch as other cars disappear inside the hill.

Tina turns the wheel to take the dirt road and our car leaves the asphalt. The motor goes nuts and the car is sent airborne. Then we land hard on the road's grit. Someone on the truck bed screams and introduces me to a few new curses. A few moments later, we pass through the ledge and I brace myself for impact. But nothing happens.

Instead, the ledge turns out to be a hallucination.

We pass through a zone which seems like a maze of mirrors and then our view is replaced by a totally different scene. I already expected that, but I wasn't too sure on what we might find behind the concealed entrance. We drive into a huge hall. It is at least the size of a football field and the ceiling is twenty metres above us.

There are five cornerstones which enclose a huge magical circle. Various people are tending to the ritual in small groups or alone. They look as if we've taken them by surprise since I can't identify any organized defence. The bus with the elders rams the first cornerstone of the large magic circle and I realize that the whole hall houses a single, large ritual. Even the walls are engraved with symbols.

Several of Gavin's people run around the area like frightened chickens. One of them happens to be right in front of us, but instead of stepping onto the break Tina accelerates further and hits the man. He is catapulted upwards and breaks my side of the front window before he passes over the car.

I thought that we would watch Gavin's demise from afar instead of going to the front-lines. There are hundreds of other people who can fight Gavin's puny clan. We are a thousand people against less than fifty.

Noticing the opportunity, Tina spins the wheel and causes the whole car to drift sideways. We plough through a group of opponents and are stopped by crashing into one of the other five cornerstones, breaking it.

I let out a sigh of relief and open the door, ready to fight. The first opponent tries to jump me before I can even get out of the car. He reaches out to grab me. A hand appears from above and its fingers dig into the man's eye sockets, holding directly onto his skull. Then he is whipped out of my field of view. Seeing that there are three more people getting back to their feet, I decide to cast directly from inside the car.

Instead of getting out, I draw a deep breath and guide the magic up my throat. Then I breathe out and simultaneously gather energy between my hands. Blue flames shoot at our opponents. One of the three is set on fire, while the other two got up in time to erect their barriers. I shoot the fireball at the second enemy and erect my own shields to protect myself against the explosion.

Most barriers are configured to absorb energy, so I always set my fireballs to explode before impact. The idea is to deal damage by blunt, physical force.

My target, a woman, is sent flying by the explosion. The whole car rocks from the force of my spell. She lands more than twenty metres away, right between our arriving allies. I write her off and turn my attention to the third opponent who is readying a spell of his own.

A horribly twisted body is flung at him from above me. The body impacts his barrier, but it does nothing more than to startle him. I recognize the body as the man who was so ungraciously yanked out of my field of view.

Then the man's barrier shatters and Tina appears right behind him. Her hand sprouts from his chest, dyed in blood. He stares with wide eyes at the cause of his death. His own, erratically beating heart is held right in front of his eyes.

Tina pulls her hand back out and he topples over.

Magnus's angry face appears from above the car's roof. He looks at me accusingly. “I thought we were supposed to watch! Not take down half of the enemies ourselves!” His eyes wander to a spot behind me. “Where is Cecilia?”

I turn around to find out that my mother is gone. “Oh, no. She must've run off to catch Gavin by herself!”

Tina points at an inconspicuous door at the far end of the hall. “She went that way.”

I get out of the car and search for more opponents, but there is nothing to do. Our people completely overwhelmed the enemy. There are still more cars coming through the entrance and the elders are already advancing trough the same door which Tina indicated.

Without thinking, I follow Tina who is already pursuing my mother.

“Not again! Stop running towards the danger! Women!” Magnus's enraged voice follows me, but I couldn't care less at the moment. I have the strange urge to be at my mother's side in her time of need. There are so many Old Ones with us that somebody should be able to take care of the ritual. Those things aren't my speciality anyway.

I nonetheless have a strange feeling of dread about the entire situation. It's true that there is a lot of energy in this place. The air practically vibrates with power, but the circle on the floor doesn't seem to be active. “Are we already too late?”

Tina shakes her head. “I don't know.”

We reach the simple door and force our way into a long corridor. There are several rooms to the left and the right. I recognize the setup as the same basic design of the living area in the compound. I lived there most of my life, so it takes me just one glance to know where to go.

“Follow me. Gavin's private quarters must be in that direction.” I overtake Tina and choose the left corridor upon reaching the first split. We encounter one of the elders who is watching over two beaten women and a child, but he seems to have things under control.

Since there are others directly on our heels, I continue on.

At last, I arrive in Gavin's private area. Like in the previous compound, he claimed several rooms for himself. I recognize the design and his peculiar taste in interior decorations. There are vases of all time periods and cultures everywhere. Screams alert me to a commotion in Gavin's study, so I rush to the door and step inside.

Inside, I find utter chaos. The room is a mess and it doesn't take a genius to see that someone fought in here. I sigh in relief when I see that Cecilia is alright. Annia took a liking to our mother, so I doubt that she would've taken it well if something happened to her.

Though, Mom most certainly had more dignified days in her life. She is screaming in rage and holding something bloody in her right hand. All I can see, is a piece of flesh and cloth. What's making the situation so humiliating for her, is that she is being restrained by four elders. One for each arm and each leg, and it still seems like they are having trouble holding her.

Magnus enters the room. He surveys the scene until he notices Gavin. “Holy shit!”

My attention wanders to Gavin. He is surrounded by three elders, but they don't have to do anything to restrain him. Seeing his wound, I also doubt that Gavin will be going anywhere any time soon. He is lying on his side with both hands between his legs. Both knees are pulled up to his chest and there is a rather large puddle of blood spreading under him.

I eye the magical circle on the room's floor with dread. It's clearly some sort of control matrix for the large one back in the hall. It also has no power.

Gavin moans, “You are already too late. Whatever you do, you can't stop it. We completed the ritual hours ago.”

One of the elders kicks him. “We have you, and you will answer for your crimes against our people.”

“Give him to me! That maniac deserves worse than you have in store for him!” Cecilia screams and her eyes flash red. She is totally out of control.

Tina rushes to her side and tries to calm her down, but that doesn't seem to be easy. “It's okay, Sis. I am sure they'll allow you to rip off a few more pieces before they execute him.”

One of the elders snorts. “Execution is too nice. The best punishment might be to lock him in a room with her.” His hands slip and Cecilia uses the chance to throw the bloody piece of flesh at Gavin. He is totally unresponsive when it flops against his forehead.

His earlier self-confidence is suddenly gone when he gets a good look at Cecilia's projectile. He moans in pain and rolls over. I have to admit that Cecilia got him good when I recognize the meaty thing on the floor.

That's when the ground suddenly starts shaking.

Magnus grabs my shoulder. “I don't know about you, but I don't want to be underground when Yellowstone blows up!”