Abnormals

Victoria smiled at Rex asleep on the couch. They had these movie nights within a week of every time his parents invited the two of them somewhere, and sometimes when they went on their own. Once they were done with the film, it would turn to talking until finally one of them was so exhausted they fell asleep on the couch, often lying against their companion.

Though Victoria had won, she saw no reason to remove herself from the couch, and Rex.

“Tetra,” a stern voice said from her mirror.

“Shit,” Victoria muttered under her breath as she duplicated herself. Normally Brendan would be the one speaking to her. He judged most of her choices, but at least they got along. Nox the Light Master (Named for his long passed relative and Victoria’s predecessor to Shadow Master) wasn’t her favorite to answer, especially if Rex was in her apartment.

“What is it?” Victoria asked, strategically blocking view of the couch.

“There is trouble in your area.”

Brendan would have specified the state.

“Define ‘in my area’.”

“North America.”

She was worried about that. Brendan knew enough Earth-geography to give her a rough area to start with, but too many of the others never bothered learning outside of their region.

“I’m about twice your goddamn size in Australia,” she politely informed him through her teeth, “Could you point it out on a map, so I’m not scrambling with a ‘find trouble’ tracking spell?”

Nox scowled, but grabbed a nearby globe and pointed somewhere in the rough area of California.

“That’s close,” Victoria admitted, “Now what is the trouble?”

“Do you need everything spelled out for you?” Nox asked.

“I need all the information you have. You can admit if all you know is trouble. Information is nebulous.”

The conversation was now a stare down.

“It involves weapons,” Nox finally admitted, “That is all I can tell you. By certain accounts, your mortal assistant may be a great boon to you in this endeavor.”

How did he know about Xer?

“My mortal assistant?” Victoria asked.

“You’re in the public eye a surprising amount for someone whose powers work best in the shadows. Expected, given your name of choice.”

“What about my name?”

Nox made the motion to end the call, leaving Victoria once again in the dark aside from the television screen still showing the DVD menu.

“Why would a mortal assistant be a boon?” she asked. Rex was powerful by any account, but Nox wouldn’t consider any mortal to be stronger than a mage.

“This cannae be good.”

Tetra stayed very still. The armor wasn’t the quietest thing, and they needed to know what was happening before going in. From her barely existent periphery, she could see Xer fidgeting, giving her both comfort and concern in the fact he also struggled with stealth.

“Thank you for waiting, my dear friends,” a voice said as a man appeared from the shadows of the warehouse. “I’m sure you have plenty of questions. First, I will need a volunteer.”

“Hell no,” one of the customers said.

“Well I can’t very well be an example because all you’ll learn is how boring I am.”

With some mumbling and shoving, someone got pushed to the front as the well-dressed seller pulled him toward the crate. The volunteer reached in and pulled out a chain to some unimpressed sounds.

“They turn into your ideal weapon. Have you ever seen the way Tetra wields her sword, or that elven wizard when they use their gauntlet to cast a spell? Surely you’ve seen it among mages in your line of work. Their enchanted items shape themselves to please their wielder, and these are just the same, without the need for magekal ability.”

Tetra struggled to stay in her crouching position, but she needed more information before she burst in.

“Sounds like a fucking scam,” Xer muttered, causing the seller to look directly at their hiding spot.

“And look, there’s victims to test them on. If one of you can bring me Tetra, they’ll get a whole box for free.”

Tetra and Xer immediately ran to opposite sides of the building.

Quickly accosted by threats, Tetra summoned Excalibur, cutting through the chains of the volunteer from before. As he dropped them, they became two pieces of wood.

She didn’t have time to question it as several someones started shooting at her.

“Repercussum!”

The bullets bounced back non-lethally from her reflect shield.

“I’ve heard you called the Shadow Master, but I didn’t think it possible.”

She turned to the seller behind her, leaning comfortably on the wall nearby. She lunged at him as he disappeared and came to her back.

“I thought they stopped allowing Shadow Masters after Sir Nox died.”

She turned with a hard swing, mostly trying to remove him from her space.

“Nox didn’t have that temper though.”

“What do you know about my predecessor?”

She didn’t see him for a few moments as she warded away several goons with melee weapons. Again pieces of wood fell where their weapons once were.

“I know he was a fool,” the seller answered, “And he left your world with love still in his heart.”

She charged again, only to have him disappear again. Another group came from behind her, but got smacked by a giant plant as she turned around.

“The witch is with me!” Xer yelled, “Do you really want to fight both of us?”

Those able to hear scrambled off. Xer offered a bow.

“Are you really that impressive?” the seller asked, reappearing from the shadows, “What about you frightens these men so?”

Xer created fire from his hand.

“I recommend you get out of here too.”

“But we were having such a fine conversation, felt like catching up with an old friend.”

Tetra watched the seller, trying to discern what might be hidden. She kept Excalibur ready to use as she waited for an opening, though he seemed to have his eyes focused on her grip.

“How did such a weapon fall into your hands?” the seller asked.

“It chose me.”

With the seller’s smirk, Tetra charged, but he disappeared before she could make the killing shot.

“That was fast,” Xer said.

Tetra ran toward the pile of weapons, instinctively grabbing Excalibur as she felt light-headed. It actually did relieve the pain somewhat.

Inside the container was a bunch of wooden swords.

“What?” Xer asked.

Tetra grabbed one, suddenly holding a duplicate of Excalibur. She dropped the sword immediately, watching it turn back.

That’s why the seller was old enough to remember Nox, why she felt so woozy.

“Burn them,” she ordered.

“What?”

“Burn them. They have a dangerous enchantment for anyone that touches them.”

Xer waited for a moment, gesturing for Tetra to move back, before flame extended from his hands.

She’d have to destroy every last one of these tools.

“Seriously?” Rex asked, “Why do we have to ask her first?”

“She’s closest,” Victoria explained, “And if any one of our friends has the ability to track all of these accursed things, it’s her.”

Rex made a sickened expression.

“I thought you were getting along with her,” she told him.

“I can tolerate her, even admit that she does good work, but that doesn’t mean I want her help unless it’s an emergency.”

“It is an emergency,” Victoria revealed, “If I weren’t the best equipped master for the task, I’d be running with tail between my legs.”

That changed Rex’s expression. He gave a firm nod, and Victoria finally called the number, putting it on speaker.

“What a coincidence,” Tesla Coil answered, “I was just about to call you. Someone’s selling wooden swords on the black market. They—”

“Have you touched any?” Victoria asked.

“You know I haven’t actually thought about that in all my tests. I’ll—”

“No!” Tetra and Xer yelled together.

“Why not?” Tesla Coil asked.

“These weapons are being sold by a Dark Mage,” Tetra explained.

“And what is a Dark Mage?”

“Cursed beings that were once Mages. They take power and life from Mages to use a dangerous simulacrum.”

“Like Berserker?” Tesla Coil asked.

“But more malicious,” Rex said, “Apparently they sell their souls for this shit, and most unlucky victims don’t make it out alive.”

“That’s not great,” Tesla Coil said, “What are we going to do about it?”

“We’re going to destroy all these items. Xer’s fire seems to work well enough, but we’ll need more non-mages to handle such a thing.”

“Oooh,” Tesla Coil said, “You need me to bring the gang together. Berserker’s already working with me on this—we think it’s connected to something else—so I’ll call Nightingale, and you two can call Blaster.”

“We’ll meet you at the warehouse,” Rex confirmed.

With Jet handled, Victoria prepared the spells to change their clothes and bring them to the warehouse, but Rex grabbed her arm.

“Why does this have you spooked?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You know your shit. Magek problems don’t scare you, but you admitted to being terrified. What’s going on?”

Victoria knew it would be hard to explain. Rex was mortal, and therein lied his strength. He barely believed whatever she told him.

“He just spoke to me,” Victoria said.

Rex responded with a confused look.

“Dark Mages are supposed to be consumed by their hunger for power as they try to fill the absence left from their soul. He should have tried as hard as possible to take my power, especially because shadow mages are rare, let alone a master.”

“So you’re a delicacy to them?”

“Delicacy indicates it’s valuable. I’m like their favorite piece of candy laid on a platter, and he didn’t even bring his hand close.”

Rex nodded.

“So he’s been well-fed.”

That sounded right.

“Probably by the swords.”

“By the swords?” Xer asked.

“They had an enchantment that imitated the Dark Mage curse. I could feel them absorbing parts of myself. Even Excalibur couldn’t do much to combat it.”

Rex looked at her hip, where Excalibur was currently absent since she was standing in more civilian fare.

“So you think the swords are feeding him?” Xer asked.

Tetra nodded.

“But they worked on non-mages, didn’t they?”

Tetra shrugged.

“There are plenty of lack-mageks living among mortals. They can’t cast spells, but they still have power to be taken.”

“So the ‘volunteer’ was a plant?” Rex asked.

“I dinnae ken,” Victoria admitted, “Maybe he’s found a way to absorb from mortals with the swords as a go-between. Maybe they’re a red herring. I dinnae ken.”

“So you think he’s being a cocky bastard because the swords are keeping him full. What happens if we manage to get rid of the swords?”

Victoria didn’t answer.

“Victoria.”

“He’ll probably go after the largest source within range.”

She hated Rex’s expression.

“And what will he do then?” he asked.

“We’ll see when he gets there.”

She held her hand at her side, ready to summon her weapon.