Supernatural Games (8 page)

Once everyone arrived, I filled them in on my visit with the queen. I asked Jason if he found anything when the alarms sounded.

“Someone has breached security in one of the universes,” Traygen said, as he and Tokem moved to the monitors.

The rest of us followed, and in minutes we stood in front of the monitor for the desert world. I stared at the monitor but didn’t see anything.

“What set it off? I can’t find anything which looks out of place,” Corbin noted.

“We don’t know, but something or someone was definitely near the door.”

“Traygen and Tokem, could that mean they didn’t necessarily enter through the door? Could they have set it off merely by being close to the door?”

“Lauren, you make a good point. The alarm would sound if someone was close enough to the door and unaware of the surveillance,” Traygen speculated.

“Reset the alarm and I’ll check it out. If they used magic, I might be able to pick it up and follow it. Corbin will come with me while you guys check the footage.”

Corbin and I put on our suits and headed to the portal for the second universe. I only hoped the portal was somewhere near the entrance. We had the entrance coordinates so we could find it. I just didn’t like the idea of walking around in any of these universes, but we couldn’t wait for the transport and hovercrafts. Any traces of magic would be long gone. When we got inside the cosmos, Corbin keyed in the coordinates. We were about half a mile south of the portal entrance.

I looked around for any signs of activity and spotted nothing but sand in all directions. It was a good thing we had a GPS unit or we would be totally lost. I followed behind Corbin and sent out my senses. I senses life to our left, and so far didn’t detect any magic. I kept my senses on high alert to avert an ambush.

“Lauren, do you hear that?”

“What?” I listened and still I heard nothing, but Corbin’s ears were more acute than mine. I didn’t hear it over the wind blowing harder. The sand started to blow and there was nowhere for us to find shelter. I grabbed hold of Corbin and pulled him down beside me in the sand. I put a shield around us, which protected us from the sand and most of the noise, but the windblown sand blotted out the light. It looked like twilight.

“Can you get us out of here? I am claustrophobic.”

“It would be too dangerous in these conditions. We will have to wait out the storm. I hope it stops before we use up all our oxygen.”

I might have drifted off. I hoped so, because the alternative was death from lack of oxygen. I reached around to find something to push off to sit up when I found Corbin. He was asleep beside me. I looked outside the shield and all I saw was sand. Fortunately, we weren’t totally covered because light shone above us. I wasn’t sure how we would get out without being buried by the sand. Before I could give it much thought, I felt the shield shudder as if it had been struck. I looked frantically around, but saw only the small space above us.

“Corbin, wake up, I think we have company.” I shook him and he sat up rubbing his eyes.

“What’s going on?”

“Something or someone just shook the shield, but I can see only the area directly up above us.”

I sent out my senses to probe the area to try to locate anything magical or human. Yes, I knew a group of unidentified objects headed our way. I powered down my senses in case it was another magic user. It was possible it didn’t know we were down here. The minutes ticked by and the shaking was getting stronger. I was positive that whatever was out there headed in our direction. Then the ground shook on our opposite side. Now we had unknown things on both sides. I only hoped we weren’t the intended destination.

We waited for the earth to stop trembling before I sent out my senses. It appeared that whatever had been in the area left. I decided it was time to get us out from under our protective dome. I sent a small current of air up into our shield, causing it to vibrate. It cracked like the shell of an egg, leaving us to chip away an area large enough to wriggle through. I didn’t think anything could make this god-forsaken place look good, but the fresh air caressing my face helped.

Corbin moved us further south, following the GPS’s coordinates. We plodded along over dunes and across windswept fields of rocky scree. I grabbed Corbin’s arm, forcing him to halt. My guess is, we were a mere hundred yards from the entrance. Unfortunately, it felt like something wasn’t right. Maybe I’d seen a shift in the sand in front of us.

“Lauren, don’t move. There is something moving under the sand in front of us.”

I looked where he was pointing, just before a giant worm broke the surface, showering us in sand. It looked like an eyeless worm. Sounds harmless I know, but I had never seen a night crawler with teeth like these.

“Run!”

Corbin and I ran back the way we came. When I thought we’d put enough distance between us and the worm, I chanced a look over my shoulder. Shit! It was gaining on us. All I could think was it glided through the sand like a shark through water, leaving a sandy wake furrowing out behind it. Corbin grabbed my hand and nearly yanked me off my feet.

“Come on, there are rocks up ahead. You scramble up there and prepare to blast it. I’ll distract it.”

“Corbin, no. It’s too dangerous.”

“Get going and don’t worry about me. I’ll turn into Bat Boy right before it chomps.”

I ran for the rocks and activated my bracelet on the run. When I got up on the rocks, I saw Corbin running at the giant earthworm. Right before he was about to collide with it, he changed into a bat and moved up out of reach. The wormed thrashed its head in frustration, snapping its jaws, spewing and spitting sand. Then it spotted me. It bellowed its outrage rancorously, snapping its jaws, while callously eyeing me. I raised my arms and sent a steady stream of fire directly into its mouth. It didn’t even flinch. It dove under the sand and continued in my direction. Sadly, just when I was certain I was a goner, the sand around me exploded. The blast sent fragments of earthworm body parts and gore raining down, drenching me in carnage and slime. Finally, I had to blink to clear my eyes. Icky!

“Nice, who did your outfit?”

“This isn’t funny, damn it, Corbin. It’s disgusting, and I see you managed to stay above the fray.”

“Lauren, you know I don’t do grunge.”

“Come on Hot Stuff, let’s get to that opening before anything else decides to throw up on me.”

We made it to the area around the entrance without encountering any other inhabitants of this universe. I sniffed the air and sent out my senses, detecting a strong scent of magic - dark and demonically abhorrent magic. It was pure evil, and if I didn’t already need a shower, I would after tasting this magic.

“There is strong black magic or ancient evil around here. Nevertheless, I think I can follow the signature, but stay on high alert.”

I made sure my bracelet and staff were set to full power. Then I placed a shield over us both, which saved our lives. We moved between boulders and into a small wash, when a blast of energy smashed into the shield. We both flung ourselves face down in the sand. Fortunately, it saved us from the sand and debris that flew in every direction. I couldn’t tell who was firing at us, and I motioned for Corbin to inch up and to his left. I followed right behind him. Another blast of energy hit us, slamming hard into our shield. I didn’t know how much longer the shield would hold. Damn it, we were pinned down, and I couldn’t see who was firing at us. Corbin nudged me, and I turned to see what he wanted. That’s when I saw he was in bat form. Great, just what I needed, my partner going bat shit crazy.

He flew at the shield and then at me. What the hell? Then I got it and dropped the shield long enough for him to fly out, before I threw the shield back up. I tried to inch forward, and another blast thwacked into my shield, sending sand ricocheting off my defensive dome. I moved back and tried the other direction. I had only advanced a little when Corbin flew back towards me, and I followed him farther away from the shooter. At least we weren’t being fired at. We circled around until we must have been opposite of where the original shots came from. Corbin changed back.

“Whoever is shooting at us is just ahead. I’m going to buzz him and you take him out.”

“Did you see who it was or how many?”

“No, only the muzzle flashes. I’ll attack on the count of three. Don’t miss or I’ll be toast.”

“Wait, I’ll put a shield on you.”

I sent a shield around him and he was off. I counted to three then sprayed the area with fire. It looked like the Fourth of July. When I stopped shooting, Corbin was flying back to me. He changed and landed beside me in the sand.

“Did I hit it?”

“Lauren, there is nothing there.”

“What do you mean there is nothing there? Something or one was firing at us. Corbin, you keep your shield in place until we sort this out.”

“I know those bullets were real, but I can’t see anything. Come on, let’s check it out. I’ll circle around and make sure we aren’t being ambushed.”

I moved slowly forward, being careful not to alert our attacker or attackers. Stopping, I sent my senses out in front of me, and the scent of strong magic assailed my nostrils, causing me to shudder. Whoever had been here had used strong magic. I found the area where I had fired from, and the place was blown to bits. That’s when I saw it...footprints, moving footprints. What the heck was I seeing, or not seeing? I knew the footprints were moving. This was no illusion. I had only one way to find out who they belonged to. I raised my arm and sent a volley of fire in a circular pattern around the footprints. I dove as my blast ricocheted off what could only have been a shield. I nearly succeeded in incinerating myself. I rolled, and the sand sprayed up in a geyser where I’d just been standing. Before I could do anything else, the cavalry arrived. Traygen and several other men on hovercrafts landed near me. I sent out my senses and could not detect the presence of anyone. I stood up and dusted the sand off my clothes.

“Lauren, are you all right?”

“I am fine. Someone shot at us. We couldn’t see anyone at first, then saw a set of disembodied footprints moving away. So I fired, spraying the area with my bracelet. I dove behind a boulder before whoever it was fired back. Let’s check the area, but I am afraid the hovercrafts obliterated any remaining tracks.”

We scoured the area but we couldn’t find anything the hovercrafts hadn’t erased when they landed. Corbin and I hitched a ride back with Traygen and the guards. On the return trip, I filled Traygen and Tokem in on our close encounter with the giant worm and our unknown assailant.

“What do you think was going on with the invisible attacker?” Traygen asked.

“Whoever it was, used strong dark magic, and I believe they were using a cloaking spell to conceal their presence. I was fortunate enough to see the footprints, or we might not be here. But I think we now know what set off the door alarms.”

“Is the cloaking spell a technically advanced one, and do you think we’ve got one intruder or multiple ones?”

“It isn’t a complicated spell, and if Corbin hadn’t gotten around behind him he might have gone undetected. What worries me more is, whoever it is possesses very strong magic. Magic that is caustic tasting means it’s banned by the council.”

“Did I just hear someone say council?”

“Jason we were just discussing tonight’s intruder.”

We filled him in on everything from the time the alarm went off until we were attacked by our invisible intruder.

“I really don’t like this. I am going to convene the council and see if they want to cancel the games. In the meantime, keep digging. We need to know who is behind this and what they are up to, and most importantly, what they hope to gain.”

We were all up early. Tokem and Traygen began studying video coverage from all four universes. Hoping to get any evidence or clue about who or what we were facing, Corbin and I waited to hear from Jason.

“Lauren, I think we should go back to the second universe and see if we can pick up the trail at a point farther away from the spot where we got fired on. What do you think?”

“I think it is better than sitting here waiting for Jason to show up. Let’s suit up and check it out.”

We put on our suits and I transported us back to the second universe. Corbin led us toward the area where we were ambushed. I kept my senses on high alert for any uninvited guests and any traces of magic. It didn’t take long to find the place where we were fired on.

“I think we should stay together and walk about five feet apart. There are too many dangers in this place to go off on our own.”

“Or do you want me to change into a bat and scout from above? Then I can lead you to anything I find.”

“Works for me. Just keep a look out for larger flying threats.”

Corbin flapped away, and I began my examination of the area. I put up my shield and started my search. I walked in a large ever-expanding circle around the area, and when I didn’t find anything, stepped back another three feet and repeated the process. I still hadn’t found anything except signs of where the hovercraft scoured the brush and bent the smaller plants. I was entering an oasis that was mucky. The mud sucked at my boots and my feet squished, splashing and oozing muddy water as they landed.