Chapter 7- Luther #2
A tiny flare of annoyance blooms in my chest. Max is straight; they’re just buddies, and I don’t care that Taz is smiling at him.
“I’m only here to undo any hexes,” Taz says.
“And we should all be sharp. So let’s remain quiet so we can sneak up on whatever is here,” I say to the pair behind me. When I turn back around, Necia gives me an unimpressed look. My best friend can read me like a pamphlet, but I refuse to interpret what she’s implying.
That’s going into the bucket of denial marked “Taz makes me act weird.”
The massive white farmhouse is on the outskirts of a tiny village less than a kilometer away.
Chief Tuttle reported it to be abandoned; all the more reason to dig into the dark magic being practiced here.
We enter the massive barn, and my eyes have to squint to get used to the lack of natural light.
It’s quiet, but it seems a little too clean.
“Bonsoir! Il y a quelqu’un?” Max asks out loud.
“Hello. We’re with Canadian Intelligence,” Necia hollers.
No response, so I nod at the others. Wordlessly, we take out our flashlights. We observe hay and farm tools littered about, but most of the stalls look like they haven’t been touched in months.
“The ground,” I whisper. My four teammates bring their lights down to gaze at what I’m referring to.
“What?” Max asks quietly.
“If this place is abandoned…”
“Then why are there fresh boot tracks?” Necia asks, finishing my sentence.
My heart pounds in my throat, and I reach for my geo arcanum, hoping the others are ready for anything. When we turn a corner past a wooden partition, I freeze up.
Runes are painted all over the walls in what is presumably blood. And there’s a table in the center. My breath leaves my throat when I shine my flashlight on the wooden table.
A person is bound, gagged, and tied to it.
“It’s an altar,” I mutter. Necia and Max quickly move to untie the person as I survey the surroundings in horror. We studied violent rituals in school, but to see one in the modern day is unheard of.
“A sacrifice,” Taz says, staring up at the runes.
“But for what?” I murmur, next to him.
“She’s out cold,” Necia says. “But there is a pulse.” Necia and Max lay her down and begin to call in HQ to report the situation. Before anyone can dial, the far door opens abruptly.
A man in a purple robe stands before us. He looks just as shocked as we probably look, and he’s holding a dagger. It seems we were just in time for the party.
“Freeze. Drop it,” I say.
“Arrête!” Max says.
Before Necia can conjure a mock gun from her pockets, the man drops his dagger and raises his hand. He might be surrendering, so the four of us slowly approach him. My relief is short-lived when I notice the purple energy floating around his fingers.
“We got a warlock,” Taz announces.
I raise my hands, ready to cast any spell, but it’s too late. The cultist summons a wave of purple energy, pushing Necia and Max to the floor. Taz and I are far enough away that it barely shoves us, and we remain upright.
The man flees, but I run to my partners. When I crouch down, Necia waves me off. “I’m fine. Get that sonuvabitch.”
“But you could be―”
“We can’t let him get away! Think of the mission,” Necia says as Max stands up.
I nod at Taz, and, without saying another word, we run out the door.
The woods aren’t too dense, but a dark, unfamiliar environment is still exactly that. Luckily, our suspect is out of shape, and Taz and I gain on him in seconds. Before he can get to the proper woodsy trail, he stops and turns on us.
Huffing, he declares, “We will be heard. In this world or the next!”
Instantly, I’m pushed back with a blast of red energy. Taz stops next to me, and the look on his face is one of shock and distress.
“Your chest!” Taz says.
On my shirt now lies a maroon construct made of pure energy; it’s about the size and shape of a bowling ball, but weighs nothing. With both hands, I summon magic to pull it apart. It fizzles, but turning around, we can see the ball reforming behind me in the air.
The cultist laughs in a sinister tone and runs off, faster than before. Before I can tell Taz anything, I feel a tug on my body.
It’s a maroon void. The suspect summoned a magical black hole. I can barely stay upright, and the bubble behind me grows larger. No amount of leaning forward is countering the gravitational pull. When the void engulfs my back foot, I struggle to move forward.
Taz stares at me in alarm, but before he can say a word, Necia and Max reappear. They slow down, but I nod toward the forest. “He went into the woods!”
“But you―”
“There’s no time!” I say, cutting off Necia. “Think of the mission!”
Necia appears irritated at her words being thrown back at her, but she knows I’m right. Taz takes my hand. “I got him. I’ll undo this hex; you two get the cultist.”
This seems to assure my team, so Max and Necia give chase.
The bubble, however, continues to pull me in. “Can you undo it?” I ask, hopping forward on one foot.
“Maybe, but I need to study it.” Taz pulls me, but he’s no match for this hex.
“We don’t…rggh…we don’t have time,” I say as I grunt. The orb has both my feet and most of my torso. With my free hand, I pull in more power from the setting sun. Magic sparks through my fingers as I focus on any spell to pop this bubble.
“No, Luther, don’t! It might―”
Taz’s words are the last thing I hear before the bubble hex pulls both of us into the void.