Chapter 15 #2
“We don’t use our powers in the competition, Susan, that’s the whole point.
These games are like a yearly rite of passage for all of us.
We get to compete against the fittest humans on earth and see how strong we are without using our magic.
It’s a challenge, not just in strength, but in control.
Which,” she added, “just between us, we’re not great at. ”
“Oh. You’re testing yourselves.”
“Exactly.” She nodded vigorously. “You remember that episode of Buffy where the Watchers dulled her strength to see how she’d be able to handle being the Slayer without it?”
“Oh, that was a sad one,” the jacked-up man behind her said. “She really never forgave Giles for that, did she?”
“No.” Candice shook her head. “Poor Buffy.”
“Poor Buffy,” a few other berserkers echoed.
I blinked. They waited patiently.
I got it. “Poor Buffy.”
They nodded sympathetically.
“It wouldn’t be a challenge if we used our powers,” she said. “And there’s not enough of us to hold our own games, so we do this. It’s like a religious experience for us, Susan.”
“Okay,” I said. “I understand. You were nervous and worried about the banwyn. Can we get back to why you stole Audrina?”
“Like I said, we heard the Devourer was here in the human realm, so we panicked, and came up with a plan. We thought Connor might leave us alone if he thought our stone was already closed. That’s what you do, right?”
I nodded.
“So, we decided to find you, and see if you’d close our stone for us. We thought it was a great idea.”
I suspected as much. “You could have asked, you know.”
Candice shifted uncomfortably. “Well… there was a little dissent in our ranks. The rumor mill in supe circles is running high right now, and nobody is really sure if you’re the good guy or the bad guy.
We thought it would be best if we abducted you and interrogated you a little first, before we decided what to do. ”
My eyebrows rose. “Really? Why would I be the bad guy?”
“We heard you stole magic from the siren stone and from the scribe stone,” she explained. “Some people are saying that it makes you just as bad as the Devourer.”
“I didn’t steal it,” I gasped. “The stones gifted me with magic before they closed.” The suggestion that I was just as bad as Connor was both insulting and worrisome.
“That’s a little offensive, if I’m being honest, Candice.
I didn’t want the magic. I didn’t ask for it, and I’m not on some crazy tyrant power-trip to take over all the Worlds like the Devourer. ”
“And,” she went on, ignoring me, “I hate to be the one to break this to you, but there are some supes who think you are the one we need to watch out for. If the prophecy is true, then you might turn out to be a worse bet than Connor.”
“What does that mean?” My fists clenched. Suddenly, I was furious, but not at Candice or the berserkers. In fact, I was so mad at myself, it was a surprise that I didn't turn muscley or purple.
Whenever something important came up, I had always prided myself at getting all the information I needed to make an informed choice. I didn’t make rash decisions, and I carefully assessed all the information at hand.
But I’d never demanded to know exactly what this prophecy was. I’d dismissed any idea of it because I didn’t believe in prophecies.
Nobody could tell the future, and I was sure of that. Despite devotees breathlessly pointing in retrospect to the ramblings of renaissance-era poets high on magic mushrooms, nobody had ever successfully predicted a major event occurring in advance. Not once. Not ever.
In my pigheadedness, I’d missed an important point.
It didn't matter if the prophecy was real or not.
It was enough that it existed, and people were making decisions based on it.
Their decisions led to actions, and their actions led to consequences.
Which led me here, to a warm-up room filled with purple monsters, and Audrina still in danger.
I’d made a mistake. Again. And it wasn’t one I could blow off this time.
Candice peered at me. “You don’t know what the prophecy is?”
“Don’t tell her!” Cecil’s muffled shout drifted over to me.
“Cecil!”
“Not yet, Chosen. Donovan doesn’t want to scare you.”
“Argh!” I clenched my fists. I couldn’t possibly be more scared than I was now, but it wasn’t for myself. Only one thing mattered right now. “Candice. Where is Audrina?”
She grimaced, shrinking a little. “Well, that’s the thing. While we were willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and question you, and maybe get you to close our stone, apparently, we weren’t the only ones that wanted to get hold of you.”
My gut felt like it was going to explode. “Where. Is. She?”
Candice lowered her eyes, looking away from me. “The centaurs took her,” she whispered.
“The centaurs?”
“Yep. They obviously heard that we’d snatched the Chosen One. They don’t tend to mix with us at all—they’re arrogant assholes—so we should have realized what they were up to when they approached us.”
“Tell me what happened,” I spat out through clenched teeth.
“A couple of them came into the gym with a new vitamin-loaded protein powder and tricked Todd into letting them look around. They found where we’d stashed Audrina and took her.”
“You ruined our plan, Todd.”
“Yeah, fuck you, Todd.”
“They drugged me!” The giant purple monster in the back, muscles bulging out of a Hawaiian shirt, jumped up and down, shaking the whole room.
“They put beta blockers in that goddamn vitamin b formula. I was so chilled out I barely noticed them throwing that kid in a sack and galloping off into the distance.”
The futility of this whole trip crashed into me. They didn’t have Audrina. A whole new group of monsters had her.
“I don’t understand,” I moaned, rubbing my temples. “How could anyone think that she’s the Chosen One? There is no hint of any magic about her.”
“No offense, Susan,” Candice said mildly.
“But if you were to hold a photo of you and Audrina up to a crowd and ask them to pick the Chosen One, they’re going to pick the awkward-but-uniquely-pretty teenage girl with the guitar, not the no-nonsense capable middle-aged woman with the FUPA and sensible shoes. ”
I grimaced. “Point taken.” I blew out a long, frustrated breath. “So, the centaurs have taken Audrina.”
“Yep.” Candice nodded.
“Right. And centaurs, generally, they’re not evil bastards, are they?”
“Not evil, no. Haughty, pretentious, arrogant assholes, but not necessarily evil.”
This didn’t sound so bad. “So, as soon as they realize Audrina isn’t the Chosen One, they’ll let her go.”
“Well, yes, but unfortunately, their massive egos might ruin everything.”
“Why?”
“They didn’t take her because they wanted her to close their spark stone,” Candice explained, her expression grim.
“They don’t want their spark stone closed.
Those arrogant fuckers are playing with fire.
They took the Chosen One from us and invited the Devourer to their realm for a summit.
They had the bright idea to get both of you on stage to state your intentions for the Middle World, like politicians in a town hall debate.
” She snorted. “They honestly believe that they get to decide who should win.”
A chill ran through me. The centaurs had invited Connor to their realm? And they had Audrina?
Connor would kill her. He would kill her just to annoy me. “I have to go,” I whispered, my lips bloodless. “I have to find the centaur realm.”
“Wait!” Candice looked alarmed. “You have to close our stone.”
“Fine.” I held out my hand. “Give it to me, I’ll do it quick.”
“It’s not that simple. It’s hidden in a pocket dimension. You won’t be able to see it until you break through the protective wards.”
“She won’t be able to get through the wards,” a voice snorted in the back. I looked—It was Hawaiian shirt Todd. “Look at her.”
“I don’t have time for any of this.” I shook my head. “We have to go. We have to find Audrina. I’m sorry, Candice. I’ll come back.”
“It could be too late,” she said desperately. The logo on her sports bra distorted again as her muscles swelled. “We need it done. We can’t have Connor coming for it and bringing the banwyn with him. Susan… we won’t survive!”
I hesitated.
“She’s a dried-up old cow.” Todd’s mustache bristled. “And the ward is a test of strength, Candy. There’s no way she’ll be able to win. Besides, we’ve only got half an hour before we have to compete.”
“Shut it, Todd,” I ground out. “You know what? Let’s go.”