De'Vas Chronicles Book 4: Chapter 10

The sea breeze passed through Miller’s hair as he stood on the beach, the smell of salt hitting his nose. Unlike any other beach he had been to, this one was almost empty. He had heard most people came here to train in magic.

Mrs. Grayson sat in a beach chair not far from an old rusted cargo ship that had washed ashore years ago. She was wearing a sun hat while tapping away on a tablet connected to the cloned phone.

Master Rory sat beside her in his own beach chair. His sword rested on the back as the old elf’s brows furrowed at the Sudoku book in his hand, tapping the pencil on his chair in thought.

The swordmaster let out a sigh and turned the book toward Mrs. Grayson.

“Vivian…” he said.

Mrs. Grayson turned from her tablet and looked at the book.

“Seven,” she replied. “Top right.”

Master Rory’s eyes widened, and he quickly made a mark on the book with his pencil, a smile on the old man’s face.

“Thank you again, Vivian,” he said. “I’ll see if I can get the next one without your aid.”

Mrs. Grayson lifted her iced tea from the lid of the cooler and took a sip.

“I’ll be here when you admit defeat, Rory,” she said with a sly smile.

Master Rory let out a laugh, the smile on his face growing.

The two would have reminded Miller of an old retired couple on vacation, if not for the brutal fight happening before them.

The sound of steel clashing rang out over the cries of seagulls as the ice salamander and the dark elf crossed blades again. Miller knew the blades were blunted, Master Rory had said so, but every blow had substantial force behind it, judging by the sound.

Master Rory looked up from the Sudoku puzzle and frowned.

“Alyndra! Naomi has proved that she can meet and block your blows. Step up the difficulty, use your magic!”

Alyndra blocked a sweeping strike by Naomi, then looked toward the old elf.

“Yes, Master,” she said, catching her breath.

Miller watched as Alyndra’s shadow split into three behind her, then started to rise from the ground. Soon, three shadow versions of Alyndra stood beside her, each wielding a pitch black sword. A second later, all of them charged Naomi, and the ice salamander was put on her back foot, trying to handle four opponents at once.

Magic.

Miller had seen spells being cast on the news, usually when a paranormal was causing a ruckus. Not that he could blame them. If he suddenly appeared in a futuristic world, he’d probably knock over a few trash cans as well.

Years of movie and video game special effects had dulled the impact of what he had seen on the news. Now, though, to see magic in person threw the gravity of it on him.

He felt a cold breeze as Naomi used her Ice Magic, slamming a frozen spike into one of the shadows. Ice started to encase the shadow Alyndra, freezing it in place.

There were individuals in De’Vas who were walking WMD. Hell, the old man in the beach chair struggling with a Sudoku puzzle was probably one of them.

“Agent Miller,” Mrs. Grayson said, looking up from her tablet.

He stood a little straighter and turned toward his boss.

“You said Councilman Firebeard was one of those who appeared unhappy at Victor?”

Miller recalled the snarl on the dwarf’s face at the dragon when Mrs. Grayson made her accusation.

“Pissed off I think would be a better term than unhappy, ma’am,” he answered.

Mrs. Grayson nodded as she tapped on the tablet before her. It was connected to the clone of Victor’s phone, and Miller knew she was currently going through all the files inside it.

“I believe he will be more pissed once he learns what Victor and his friends have been up to in a few of his districts,” Mrs. Grayson said, tapping her chin in thought. “I think I’ll need to get Cleo to set up a little chat for me with Councilman Firebeard.”

Master Rory looked up from his Sudoku puzzle.

“I know that look. What are you planning, Vivian?”

Mrs. Grayson smiled and reached for her tea.

“I’m a very greedy and jealous woman, Rory. Something for you to keep in mind,” she said as she lifted the tea and took a sip. “Our enemies have their coalition, so why shouldn’t we lay the groundwork for our own. Perry says he’ll need a lot of resources for the rift device, not all of which Grayson Industry will be able to supply. Some originate from Vas after all. Allies might help us in acquiring them.”

Master Rory gave an approving nod.

“The Coalition will not like us recruiting,” he said.

Mrs. Grayson stirred her tea and frowned.

“They’ve already bared their teeth at us when they attacked my son. It’s time for us to show our own.”

Faylen

“And this is why District 95 is uninhabitable,” Cleo said.

They were standing on the rooftop of a two-story building as the sun set behind them. Faylen watched the street below in disgust as black ooze emerged from the storm drains onto the shadow-covered streets.

“Slimes,” she said with a grimace.

Cleo nodded.

“Death slimes to be exact. You can’t see the bones floating in them from here. They’re nocturnal and hide in the sewers during the day.”

Faylen turned and looked at Cleo.

“How did the district get this infested, and why hasn’t the Council cleared them out?”

Cleo shrugged.

“They’re too ingrained in the sewer system here. The Council has tried to purge this district several times, but the infestation always returns,” Cleo said. “We’re not sure if they rifted into the district, or if a few cells came in as hitchhikers on a paranormal that the humans placed here. Whatever it was, they took root and grew quickly.”

More and more of them came out of the sewers.

“They’re endless.”

Cleo stretched and walked away from the ledge.

“Pretty much, an endless supply of enemies resistant to Fire and Earth Magic, but weak to your Iron Claw spell. The perfect place for you to perfect that spell,” Cleo said from behind her. “Oh, and Faylen, try not to break a leg when you land.”

Faylen’s eyes widened as Cleo pushed her off the ledge. Instantly, she pulled on her Earth Magic, trying to break away the asphalt and soften the soil for her landing as she fell. The landing was far from graceful, but she managed it with little more than a bruised ass.

“Are you trying to kill me?” Faylen yelled at Cleo.

The banshee peered over the ledge down at her, a smug smile on her face.

“No, I’m trying to train you, and you better get those Iron Claws out, Faylen,” Cleo said with a chuckle. “Otherwise, I’ll have to console Ash when he gets back. I wonder how I’ll do that?”

Fire and earth swirled around Faylen as she combined the magics to create her Iron Claws. They formed in enough time for her to tear through the first death slime to reach her. The bones of everything it had killed floated in its gelatinous body. The iron destroyed the Death Magic within the slime, causing it to disperse into a puddle on the ground. Still, there were more coming for her. Many, many more.

Faylen tore through two more as she started to run down the empty street. Cleo followed along, jumping from roof to roof. She cast a glare at the bitchy banshee as Lilly called her.

“Don’t think I’m following you to help you out if there’s trouble,” Cleo said, her red eyes almost glowing. “I’m just doing it in case you try to climb out of the reach of the slimes and I need to kick you off another roof. You have to make it through the night, Faylen.”

Lilly

Lilly felt like her brain was in ten places at once, probably because it was. She lifted her Dryad’s Thorn, blocking the incoming blow from Agatha’s own thorn. Lilly gritted her teeth, doing her best to keep the plant sight active on the surrounding plants with her magic in them. This was what her mother decided to train her in first, fighting while her plant sight was active in multiple areas.

Their sparring match was taking place in a vacant lot that her mother had cleared of vegetation except for Lilly’s plants. Several members of her mother’s grove stood on the sidelines watching them, waiting for an opening to strike at Lilly.

I feel like the human fly!

That’s how it felt to her, anyway. The point of view from the old movie where the scientist accidentally combined himself with a fly. Those scenes always made her stomach turn, and this was no different.

She blocked another strike by her mother and tried to counter. She stopped mid-attack as she saw one of the sideline dryads move in her plant sight. Turning, her Thorn sliced through the walnut the dryad had thrown at her. Lilly smiled at the success, only to feel her feet being swept from under her.

Thud.

“That was cheap,” Lilly said as she lay on her back and glared up at her mother.

Agatha stared down at her.

“What you call cheap is survival,” she answered. “Don’t let an opportunity to strike your opponent slip by. It could be your last chance.”

The Thorn crumbled from her mother’s arm, and she gave an approving nod to Lilly.

“You did well. Come, let us rest and have some tea,” Agatha said before turning and walking away from the lot.

Lilly stood and rubbed her butt, she was sure there would be a bruise on her ass tomorrow. Quickly, she followed her mother back to the lift that took them to her home overlooking District 18.

The place had once been her home, but when her mother and the other dryads took over, they had driven away or done worse to those who had lived here. Now the district was something more akin to the horror movies she loved to watch, only this one really did send a chill up her spine. Her mother had done horrible things both here and to her father, things which Lilly could never forgive her for. Still…

She tightened her fist at the thought of Ash lost on Vas. Those Coalition bastards took him from her! And once she got him back, she was going to be strong enough that no one would ever take him away again.

The lift arrived at her mother’s home, and a kettle was already hissing on the table with the fire rune in it. Her mother walked toward it and sat down as vines placed two cups on the table.

“While we relax, daughter,” Agatha said while pouring two cups of tea. “Tell me about this human of yours.”