The Woodward Academy, Year 7

Chapter 4: September

David knocked on Prof. Zoroaster's door, and entered when he was acknowledged.

"Good afternoon, David.  What can I do for you?"

"Hey, Professor.  I figured we could arrange a time for our advisory meetings for the semester."

Prof. Zoroaster frowned.  "That could prove difficult.  My schedule this semester is a bit...  Look, you're at a point now where you truly don't need much guidance.  You still have that list of objects I asked you to work on?"

"Yes, sir.  I was going to start on a viewing lens just as soon as I'd finished perfecting my mood room."

"Okay, good.  Well, what I want you to do this semester is simply make as many things from the list as you can manage.  If you need help, come see me, or Prof. Dartson, if I'm not available.  Otherwise, I'll see you at the end of the semester.  You're doing well enough with these things that you really don't need me watching over your shoulder anymore."

"If you say so, Professor.  How many of these things do you figure I can get done in a semester?"

Prof. Zoroaster shrugged.  "It depends on whether you end up having trouble.  You'll recall your difficulty with the mood cube, which is usually a simple one for an advanced diviner like yourself.  Everyone has their quirks.  If things go smoothly for you, I could see you finishing... three or four different items on the list.  If you have trouble... well, you might not finish any.  The point isn't how many you finish, it's what you learn along the way."

"Yes, sir."

"Now... there's another matter I need to discuss with you.  It's a bit of a new area for you and I."

"Oh?  What's the problem?"

"Due to the... upcoming issues with the Were Nation, I may be called to Senesty from time to time to consult with the king.  I'm one of a few that the king calls upon to do seeings for him.

"During those times, I will be gone for at least two days, to get to Senesty and back, plus the time to do the seeing."

"You can't just do the seeing here, and relate what you've seen to him?"

"No.  Your concern over mirror security has made an impression, and the king's staff no longer trusts mirror communication.  That is something you need to put at the top of your list, David: to see if you can secure that communication, or find another way for the king to speak with his people without the danger of being overheard."

"Yes, sir.  Anyway, so you'll be off campus for at least two days..."

"Yes.  Obviously, during that time, I will be unable to teach my classes.  Prof. Dartson cannot take over for me, as he has a full class load of his own.  I have managed to portion out various classes here and there to qualified teachers, but I have two subjects left to be covered."

"Oh?"

"Yes.  Crystallomancy, and oneiromancy.  And, after talking with Prof. Blackstone, I was wondering if you'd be willing to fill in for me during those classes, should the need arise."

"Prof. Blackstone probably overstated my ability as an instructor, sir," David replied immediately.

"Your pass/fail record would suggest otherwise," Prof. Zoroaster countered.  "Besides, the truth is, I know of no one else who has both the qualifications, and the time."

"What if I'm not on campus myself those days?"

Prof. Zoroaster shrugged.  "In that case, class will just have to be canceled.  But I don't want to cancel it if I can help it.  This wouldn't be a frequent occurrence.  It might happen twice in the semester, at worst."

"Well... okay.  If I'm available.  But I'm telling you, Professor, I'm not as good as Prof. Blackstone thinks I am."

"You don't need to be.  You just need to be knowledgeable about the topic, and able to communicate clearly.  I know that both of those things are true of you.  So, I can let the registrar know to contact you if I need a replacement?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good.  Thank you, David.  I know it makes you uncomfortable, but no one expects you to take over as if you've been doing it for years.  You just need to keep them progressing forward, so that my absence doesn't harm their education."

"Yes, sir.  I'll do my best."

"I already know that," Prof. Zoroaster said.  "Again, thank you.  Now, good luck with your divinatory devices, and I'll see you... when I see you."

"If not before," David said with a smile.

"Quite right!" Prof. Zoroaster replied.

"Where to this time?" David asked Joe.  They were heading north in his truck.

"Cabot Cove, Maine, wherever the hell that is," Joe said.

David punched in the address Joe gave him, and got the route.

"What've we got?"

"Another damned disappearance."

"Same MO?"

"Don't know yet.  All we know is someone called it in."

"Right."

The drive to Cabot Cove was quiet and uneventful.  The quiet was somewhat disturbing, however, as Joe was usually more talkative.

When they pulled into the driveway of the incident address, they saw a sheriff's car on the street.  The sheriff's deputy was standing on the porch of the house.

"You the wizards?" the deputy asked.

"That's us," David confirmed with a grin, and introduced himself and Joe.  "What have we got?"

"Weirdest thing," the deputy said.  "The front door is just... missing.  It's like someone took it off and took it with them.  There are scorch marks all over the house, but nothing's really burned... like it was a low-level fire, you know?"

"Let's take a look," Joe said.

David and Joe stepped in and looked around.  David examined the doorway, to see that the screws were hanging out of the hinges, which were still attached to the door jamb.  It really was as if someone had just taken the door right off.  But nobody would leave the screws in the hinges that way, unless...

David did a quick spell to check, and it became clear that there was magic involved.  It seemed to him like it was probably a bit of conjuring, but the magic revelation spell wasn't that specific.

"Hono ventus, you figure?" Joe asked David, motioning to the walls.

David looked around.  "I don't think so.  Hono ventus creates real fire, which would easily catch some of this stuff on fire, too.  No, this had to be something that could do char damage without starting a new blaze."

"Orelay grilovat?" Joe offered.

"What the heck is that?" David asked.

"You use it to scorch things without any actual fire.  Some people use it for cooking without a fire pit."

"Interesting.  I've never heard of that spell.  Is this the kind of damage it can do?"

"Sure."

"Could be, then.  I'll have to remember that one for my next camping trip."

Joe smirked.

David turned back to the deputy.  "Who was the victim?"

"Otis Hensley.  Age twenty-five, single.  Works for the local cannery.  Considered by all around to be a total scumbag."

"Oh?" David asked with interest.

"Though no one was able to prove it, Hensley is believed to be responsible for a string of arsons up in Portland."

"Something special about these particular arsons?  That's not usually a crime that gets people all riled up," David said.

"Yeah, well, in this case, each arson was a house fire.  Inside the house was a family of four.  Always a couple married at least ten years, neither of them ever divorced.  Two kids, a boy and a girl, the girl was always younger than the boy.  Hensley, or whoever did it, slipped in, drugged each of them, except the little girl, so they wouldn't wake up.  The little girl, he would tie to the bed with enough rope so she could move around, but not enough to escape.  Then he poured gasoline all over the place and torched it.  The families never had a chance.  Those who heard the screams of those little girls needed counseling."

"I can believe that," Joe said.  "This motherfucker is sick."

"Was that his defense?" David asked the deputy.  "Mental incompetence?"

"Never went to trial.  There was never any evidence that would point to a specific person."

"Then why do people think Hensley did it?"

"Because when he went to jail for an unrelated crime for a year, the arsons immediately stopped."

"Pretty good reason to think it was him.  And I can see why people would be pissed that he'd gotten away with it," Joe said.

"Yep," David said.  "Our kidnapper strikes again."

"Come on, David... this guy was just begging to be killed."

"We have no sign of him being killed, Joe.  But look at it: we have a wizard who came here, removed the door, blasted a few holes in things, scorched the walls!  I wonder if he used a fire illusion like I did once, to scare the shit out of this guy and make him pliable."

"The others were both women," Joe objected.

"You're still trying to fit this into a serial killer-style scenario," David said forcefully.  "This guy's a vigilante.  He doesn't give a shit if they're men, women, black, white, old, you.... well, actually, he does seem to be sticking to a certain age range.  All three have been in their twenties."

"I think you're reaching."

"Three kidnappings.  Three identical MOs.  That's reaching, to you?"

"They happened hundreds of miles apart," Joe said.

"If our notional kidnapper lives in Boston, it's about a two, maybe three-hour spread from here to Hartford by car.  Joe, people drive those kinds of distances around here all the time!"

"Then why no bodies?" Joe demanded.  "If he's getting rid of bad people, where are the bodies?"

"Joe... really?  Let's pretend you were a murderer.  What would you do with a body, so that it was never, ever discovered?"

Joe thought for a long moment, then said, grudgingly, "I'd vaporize it."

"Right.  Disintegration hex, and poof!  No more evidence of a body.  Not even enough for us to find, let alone the Earth police.  If he's killing them, and has even half a brain, we will never find the bodies."

"What do you mean, if he's killing them?"

"If he was just going to kill them, why bother with intimidation?  He could just bust in, hex them with razpadat, and be gone.  Ten seconds, no evidence, nothing.  But he's leaving all sorts of evidence behind, and it looks very much like an intimidation job."

"False clues?" Joe suggested.

"Possibly," David replied immediately.  "We'd have no way of proving that one way or the other until we find this cocksucker.  But my money says he hasn't killed anyone.  Either that, or he had something he wanted to do to them first, some ritual way in which he needed to kill them.  If that's the case, then we may find bodies."

"Why?" the deputy asked, getting caught up in the conversation.  "If he can just zap them away..."

"If there's something ritualistic about it, it will depend on what his ritual is, and what it means to him.  If he needs to leave that body intact, then he can't disintegrate it."

The deputy nodded.

"We're going to need everything you have on this guy," David told the deputy.

"Sure.  I'll call in and have the office get a copy ready for you."

"Thank you."  David turned to Joe.  "We need to go up to Portland and get a copy of the case files on those arsons.  We need to look at every single person who was involved with those families who might be looking for justice."

"But it has to be a wizard," Joe objected.

"But the wizard could have been hired," David replied.

"You're all over the place on this one, David.  I think you're way off base."

"You really think three different wizards committed these crimes?" David asked him.

"I think it's a possibility.  Perhaps the second and third are copycats."

"Copycats from what?  We haven't put any of this in the papers..."

"The Earthers probably have, though."

David frowned.  That was a distinct possibility.  He said, "Okay... still, I don't see it.  I'm far more ready to believe that we have a 'gun for hire' on our hands.  A wizard who's selling his skills to anyone willing to pay him."

"Doesn't that bring you back to the question of why he's bothering to kidnap them?" the deputy asked.

David frowned further.  "Yes.  If he was hired to kill them, there'd be no ritual.  Perhaps he wasn't hired to kill them.  Perhaps he was hired to bring them somewhere so that they could be... 'dealt with'."

"You're constructing this big house of cards, David, but it's based on nothing at all."

"Maybe, but my theory gives us something to investigate.  Yours doesn't."

"Sure it does.  For this crime, someone wanted revenge.  The courts didn't give it to them, so they took this guy off somewhere and probably beat him to death... or tied him to a bed and burned the building down around him.  That's what I'd do."

David said, "But that person would have to be a wizard."

"Not unheard of," Joe said.

"Something to be checked," David told him.

"Yeah.  Let's get going."

"I'll lead you back to the office," the deputy said.

"Thanks."

David pulled his glidecar to a halt behind the Rimohr coach.  He saw all the others gathered, just waiting for things to get started.

"Hey, David," Chloe greeted him.  Vivian did likewise.

"About time you got here," Joe told him shortly.

David just stared at him.  "You called me an hour ago.  It takes an hour to get here."

Joe didn't respond.  "Okay, folks.  Down the road is an old abandoned guild hall.  Our information says it is being used as a safehouse for the slave trader we've been after.  Kirkland, Stroud, you'll lead the assault team in the front.  I'll take the backup team, which will go in the back door.  Try not to hex each other in the middle.

"We have no information about the exact layout of the building, nor where inside they would be holding the daubentonians.  Make sure you identify your targets before you cast those hexes.

"Any questions?"

"Do we have any idea how many bad guys we're dealing with?" Tom asked.

"No," Joe said.

"Do you want the entry to be loud or quiet?" David asked.

"Quiet.  The building's too large to make an aggressive entry work."

David nodded.

"Anything else?"  No one else had questions.  "Let's go do this."

David donned his entry gear inside the Rimohr coach as they made their way down the road, until the safe house was just around a bend.  Looking around to make sure he wasn't anywhere within earshot, David quietly asked Vivian, "What's up with Joe?  He seems a bit annoyed..."

Vivian shook her head.  "He's been like that the last few days.  I don't know what's going on.  Maybe it's that arson you guys went to."

"I guess... though I'd think he'd just be pissy at me, not everybody."  It was clear that Joe was being short with everyone, and that was very unlike him.

"Maybe a problem at home, then," Vivian offered.

David frowned.  "Maybe."

Once they arrived at the spot, Joe said, "All right, everyone out.  Divide into teams.  Keep in mirror contact until the entry."

Joe led his team off, and that included Vivian.  Chloe and David were joined by Tom and Peter.

"You want to take this one?" David asked Chloe.

"You think I'm ready?" she asked him.

"You're the officer.  You'd better be ready."

Chloe frowned at him.  "Okay."  She led them off in a crouch, crossing the open field rapidly, until they were leaning up against the safe house.  They moved gingerly, trying to keep their noise to a minimum, until they were at the front doors of the guild hall.

"How do we know there's no one on the other side of those doors?" Peter asked.

"We don't," Tom said.

David looked to Chloe.

"If we open that door and there's someone right there, he's going to fry whichever one of us is standing there," she said.

David nodded.

"Any ideas?"

David considered for a long moment.  His reverie was interrupted when Joe called on the mirror.

"What's the holdup?" he snapped.

"We're trying to figure out how to tell if it's safe to open the door," Chloe told him.

"If you wanted safe, you should have been a pri school teacher.  Get in there!" Joe ordered.

"Yes, sir!" David snapped back.  He then turned Chloe's mirror, so that she fogged off from Joe.

"What the fuck's his problem?" Tom asked.

"I don't know," David said.  "Since none of us can think of a normal way to do it, we're gonna cheat."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm going to fade through the door and just look."

"But that invalidates anything you find."

"Not in this case," David said.  "Whatever's on the other side of that door, we're going to find, anyway, because we've already got the KO to go in.  This just makes us safer doing it."

Before anyone could object further, David faded to invisibility.  He pushed himself through the door, and found no one at all in the entrance hall.  He turned himself visible, to see if someone was just waiting in hiding, but nothing happened.  He turned himself solid at that point and opened the door.

"Come on in.  Ain't nobody here but us chickens, it looks like."

Chloe assembled her team and they began to clear the building.  David stayed with Chloe, and Peter and Tom broke off to look in different rooms.  It didn't take long before they encountered the backup team coming down the hallway.

"Anything?" Joe asked.

"Not a damned thing.  Nobody here," David said.

Joe growled.  "Fine.  Kirkland, Stroud, Dempsey, you three go through this place with a fine-toothed comb.  If there's evidence here, find it."

"Aye-aye, mon capitan," David said.

Joe glared at him.  "Let's have a little professionalism on the job.  Now get to work."

David stared after him.

"Okay, who glamoured Wilson to look like Joe?  Good likeness, but the personality's all wrong..." David called out to the others.

There were various chuckles.  Joe obviously heard them, as he stopped walking away, but after a second, he merely resumed his exit.

"Might as well get to it," Chloe told the other two.

David grunted.  Peter nodded.  "Where you want me to start?"

"Just pick a room," Chloe told him.  "We'll start at the back and work our way forward.  Once we've finished the ground floor, we'll go upstairs.  If this place has a basement, we'll do that last."

"We're gonna be here all fucking day," Peter said.

"Look at the bright side," David said.

"What bright side?" Peter asked.

"You don't have to put up with Joe's bad attitude while you're here..."

Peter let out a single bark of a laugh, and said, "Yeah, you got me there."

"Okay, you two," Chloe said.  "Let's get to it."

"Say, how are we supposed to get home?" Peter asked.

"Now you know why Joe didn't stop in Gorumshead to pick me up," David replied.  "We'll take my glidecar."

"Cool."

David was laughing at a joke Chloe had told him as they both walked into the squad room at Bolmont Division Headquarters.

Joe snapped at them, "Where the hell have you been?"

Chloe looked anxious, but David just said, "We were having lunch down the street."

"Dating a fellow officer is against the rules," Joe barked.

David raised one eyebrow.  "First off, no it's not, and second off, we're not dating.  We were eating lunch and discussing the case.  Why do you think I'm even down here?  We're trying to figure out where to go with the Slaver Case, since all we found at that guild hall were more travel documents."

"I don't need an essay on how you spent your day," Joe growled.  "You're required to check out when you leave the office."

"And we both signed out with Nancy."

"You didn't check out with me," Joe retorted.

"Okay, that's it," David said angrily.  "Maybe everyone else in this room feels like they need to put up with it, but I'm not going to.  What the fuck is your problem, Agent Garibaldi?"

"Mind your own business, Intern Stroud!" he snapped back.

"You made this my business when your attitude began to impact my ability to do my job," David said reasonably.

"Oh, really?  And was it also vital for your ability to do your job for you to grill my wife about our daughter's illness?" Joe screamed.

"Ahh," David said.  "I should have realized by the timing.  I assume Zyla told you about our conversation."

"Yes, she did!  And what right do you have to interrogate my wife about our private lives?"

David sighed.  "A few points.  First off, I did not 'interrogate' Zyla.  I asked a question.  She answered it in a fashion that led to a discussion.  She, unlike you, had no hesitancy in telling me what was going on, except that it made her uncomfortable to talk about it.

"Second, I have the right to ask Zyla about things because she and you are my friends.  Friends who have, in the past, been reluctant to talk about issues where they could use some help, which means that I can't take either of your words for it when you say nothing's wrong, without digging a little deeper.

"Third, had you bothered to tell me about this at the time, then I could have told you a lot sooner that there are folks in Donunda who are working on a better treatment for the illness.

"And fourth, if this was so goddamned private to you, why are you screaming at me about it in front of a room full of people?  I asked my questions of Zyla for my own knowledge.  I didn't give that information to anyone else.  You, on the other hand, just broadcast it to about a dozen people.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, sir, Officer Kirkland and I have work to do."

David turned away from Joe at that point, and motioned for Chloe to lead the way over to a side room where they could talk without having to see Joe's face.

Joe stood there, his jaw clenched, while everyone else in the room pretended he didn't exist.

"Do you think it was a good idea to upbraid him in front of the entire room that way?" Jailla asked.  David was walking across his back lawn at Pendergrast Manor, chatting with Jailla about his day.

"Maybe not, but I was too pissed off to care.  And frankly, he's been so pissy to everyone lately, not just me, that they all deserved to know what was going on."

"But now he faces the embarrassment of even more people knowing something he was trying to keep even from a close friend."

"I know.  But he brought that upon himself.  I mean, he's been acting this way because he's pissed off at me and pitying himself.  The pitying himself he can't fix, but he could have, at any point, taken me aside and chewed my ass out for an hour, if that's what he needed to do."

"Did you apologize for asking Zyla about it?"

"Hell no.  And I'm not about to.  As her godfather, I'm entitled to know about Grace's health.  As Joe's and Zyla's friend, I'm maybe not entitled, but certainly deserve to know whenever they have a serious problem like this.  Joe was being unresponsive.  I had the opportunity to talk to the other partner, so I did.  I didn't exactly drag it out of her, Jailla.  I asked a question, and she answered it.  She thought I already knew."

"Really," Jailla said.

"Yeah.  Which is probably why she felt the need to tell Joe about our conversation.  I wonder if she expected his reaction.  I wonder what he's been like at home."

"Probably not pleasant."

"Yeah.  I may have to find a way to talk to Zyla quietly and find out."

"If Joe learns of that, it could end your friendship."

David snorted.  "If I didn't already," he confirmed.

"Officer Intern Stroud, reporting as ordered, sir," David said formally.

"Cut the crap," Joe said, his voice sharp, but emotionless.  "We have to go meet someone."

"Oh?  Who?"

"An informant.  Says they have information about the arsonist who was kidnapped."

"We're going to Earth?"

"No.  They're meeting us here in Bolmont."

"Okay... when are we supposed to meet?"

"Right now.  Let's get moving."

"Yes, sir," David said.

Joe frowned sharply, but then moved past him and out to the waiting coach.

The trip to the outskirts of Bolmont was made in silence.  They got out of the coach and entered a small park area.

"The informant said he'd meet us by the lake."

David just grunted in acknowledgment.

As the two reached the lake, they found no one waiting there.

"I guess he's running late," Joe said.

David said nothing, looking around.  The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up, trying to warn him, but he was a little slow in deciphering that signal.

From David's right, a bright blast of magical energy erupted out of a bush.

"Joe!" David screamed, but it was far too late.  The blast hit Joe full force, tossing him ten feet before he hit the ground.

David ran to Joe's side.  He couldn't tell for sure if Joe was alive or dead, but he sure as hell wasn't getting up to help with whatever was about to happen.

David straightened, and saw ten people emerge from the bushes.  He recognized two of them, and a ball of cold, calculating rage erupted from the depths of his soul.

The Clan.  You motherfucking sons of bitches aren't getting off with a slap on the wrist this time.

David drew his sword as one of the Clan said to another, "Damn, Vic, nice blast.  He's dead, for sure."

"So are you," David said darkly, aiming his sword at them.

"You ain't noth-" the guy started to say.

"VALK MAMMUT!" David screamed at the top of his voice.

The lightning bolt that shot from the tip of David's sword was six inches in diameter.  His first target was Vic, the one who had fired at Garibaldi.  Vic screamed - briefly - in intense pain before his body was completely vaporized by the amount of energy it was absorbing.

David immediately moved his spell to the one who had congratulated Vic, and who had started to mouth off.  His death was just as fast and just as painful.

David ended his spell at that point, and looked at the others.

"If you try to run away, I will do the same goddamned thing to you," David told them.  He looked back at Joe, and then turned to face them.  "Pull your wands."

"What?" one of them asked.  David had just vaporized the only two attackers who'd had weapons drawn already.

"Pull your wands," David ordered.  "The only chance you have of walking out of this park is to defeat me in combat.  I intend to kill every last one of you motherfucking assholes, so if you want to live, pull your wands."

With that pronouncement, the remaining eight all pulled their wands.  Three of them immediately cast hexes, but David moved so quickly, none of them could hit him with their spell.

David chose to take on the ones who had hexed him first.  He could rightfully claim that he was just defending himself from them.  The first died by decapitation from a sword slash.  The second was blasted by the energy beam that Prof. Teller had taught him.  The third was run through the heart by David's sword.

The other five were giving serious thought to running, but one look into David's almost manic face showed that he would live up to his promise, and blast them if they tried it.

One of the remaining clan was carrying a staff of his own, and he charged David, swinging with it.

David parried the attack, spun around in a continuation of the parry, and slashed across his attacker's throat.  The attacker fell to the ground, and was dead in short order.

David paid no attention, but moved on to the others.  It didn't take long before every Clan member who had entered the park that day lay lifeless on the ground.  Only when he was absolutely certain that they were all dead did he put away his sword.

Quickly, David moved back over to Joe.  He knelt over the seemingly lifeless body.  Remembering the spells he'd cast over Sam, David did a healing scan.  He was immensely relieved to find out that Joe was still alive, but worried that he might not be for all that much longer if he didn't get help quickly.

A mirror call to the office took care of getting a healer, and Supervisory Agent Keef, heading their way in one big hurry.

The healer arrived first, and was aghast at what he saw.

"There's only one you can help," David snapped.  "He's over here."

"How can you be sure?" the healer asked.

"Because I made damned sure there was only one you could help," David told him bluntly.

"Oh," the healer said, and then bent to work on Garibaldi.  "Shit.  He's going to need serious work and fast.  I need to get him back to the infirmary."

"I can't leave.  Where is your office?"

"I'll take him to the central healing infirmary, on Doyle Street."

"I'll find it," David said.

The healer nodded, then levitated Joe into his coach and took off at the fastest speed his horses could take him.

David didn't have too long to wait for what appeared to be every Rimohr in town to show up.

"What the hell happened here?" Keef asked.

"We were ambushed by The Clan," David said.  "Joe was seriously injured in the initial strike.  I made sure they couldn't finish the job."

"Eight on one?" Keef asked.

"No, it was ten on one.  Two of them no longer have bodies."

"If you could do that, why are there any left?" Dikko asked snidely.

"Because I was angry, and vaporizing them wasn't satisfying," David replied, leveling an intensely menacing gaze at Dikko that made him walk several steps further away.

"Could you have taken some of them alive?" Keef asked.

"And done what with them?  I couldn't arrest them, and I had to worry about Agent Garibaldi's condition."

"Why couldn't you arrest them?" Chloe asked.

David just looked at her.  "I'm an intern, remember?  My training officer was incapacitated.  I had no official authority to do anything as a Rimohr."

"But you took on these men..." Keef said.

"As a citizen defending a duly appointed Rimohr Agent.  There were eight of them, and only one of me.  I was in fear for Agent Garibaldi's life, so I could not risk being gentle with them."

"Nice defense for murder," Dikko said.

"Every one of these men cast hexes at me before I did anything to them," David said.  "However, if you'd like me to start committing murder, I can think of someone I'd like to get out of my face...  Perhaps you'd like an introduction to the spell I used on the first two?"

With that, Dikko left the park and stayed that way.

"You really took out ten men alone?" Keef asked.  "What did you use to take out the two?"

"Valk mammut," David said.

"Holy shit," Chloe said.  "That's one hell of a spell."

"I was, shall we say, annoyed."

Chloe snorted.  "Annoyed.  Uh-huh.  Like you were 'annoyed' when The Clan attacked Prof. Stott?"

"Something like that, yes," David confirmed.

"Okay.  You know, of course, there will be a hearing about this."

"Of course."

"I've already sent someone to inform Mrs. Garibaldi.  For now, you're free to head to the infirmary.  I know you'll want to be there when he wakes up."

"If he wakes up," David muttered darkly.

David had only been in the infirmary a couple minutes when Zyla came bursting in.  She tried to rush into the room where Joe was lying, but David gently blocked her way.

"Is he..." she started, then choked up and couldn't finish the sentence.

"The healer's still working on him," David said.  "We don't know anything for sure yet."

"What happened?" she asked shakily.

"We were ambushed by The Clan.  He got hit by their first spell before we could even react to it."

"Are you okay?" she asked, her concern for her husband momentarily pushed aside in concern for him.

"I'm fine, they weren't able to hit me.  Honestly, I'm trying to figure out how hard they were trying to hit me."

"What?" Tom asked.  He and a couple other Rimohrs had accompanied David to the infirmary, to keep an eye on their wounded colleague.

"Tom, there were ten of them.  If even half of them had fired that same spell, aiming at both of us, we'd have had no time to react.  I barely had enough time to see the spell and shout Joe's name.  If they'd been aiming for me, they'd have nailed me, too."

"So what do you think was going on?" Tom asked.

"I don't know.  I plan to find out, though."  Turning back to Zyla, he said, "There's a waiting room right over here.  Why don't we go and sit down?  You look about ready to collapse."

"Oh, David... I don't know what I'd do if I lost him.  I told you, I'm just a housewife.  It's all I wanted to be.  But to be a housewife, you've got to have a husband.  If he dies..." she began to shudder.

"Shh," David said, wrapping an arm around her.  "Let's not think the worst.  We don't know what the healer's going to say."

"It's taking an awfully long time," Zyla said.

"It's only been about a half hour," David replied.  "It took me a lot longer than that to figure out how to help Prof. Stott.  And my friend Flo.  Just because it takes a while doesn't really mean much.  Try to relax.  I know the waiting is tough, but working yourself into a frazzle isn't going to help him."

"You're right, of course," she said, taking some deep breaths.  "But I can't help but worry about him.  He's my whole world.  Well, him and Grace."

"Where is Grace?" David asked.

"I left her with a neighbor.  I didn't want her to see this."

David nodded.

David sat with Zyla for three more hours before the healer emerged from the room where he was working on Joe.  Zyla's hand was shaking as she reached for David's.  He took her hand, squeezing gently, and then held it tightly to show support.

"H-how is he?" Zyla managed.

"He's going to survive," the healer said.  He knew that this was the most important piece of information, and he wanted her to have it first.

"But?" David asked, recognizing the doctor's tone of voice.

"But he's going to be here for a while.  The spell he was hit with is extremely nasty.  I don't know what it was, but its effects were ongoing until I was able to finally dispel them.  He has several broken bones.  Those are no big deal, as you know.  Fixing bones is simple.

"The problem is that he has magical damage.  Several of his organs are only functioning because I have him on strong sustaining spells.  They will eventually begin working on their own again, but it's going to take some time."

"How long?" Zyla asked tearily.

"Two, maybe three weeks.  Could be a little more.  It depends on how well his body helps me along with the repairs.  Did you hear the spell that was used?" the healer asked David.

"No," David replied, shaking his head.  "The first thing I noticed was a ball of brilliant green light."

"Green.  That's interesting.  Something for me to look into.  Too bad we can't ask his attacker," the healer said.

"What happened to his attacker?" Zyla asked David.

"He did not survive his encounter with my anger management problem," David said with a smirk.  Knowing that Joe would be okay, even if it required a few weeks in the infirmary, had removed David's feeling of dread, and had allowed his humor to return.

Zyla smiled at David, understanding the reference.

"Can I see him?" she asked the healer.

"He's still unconscious, but you're welcome to go in and visit.  You, too, if you like," he said to David.  "No reason to restrict his visitors... but he's not going to be a very good conversationalist, probably for a couple days."

"Thanks, Doc," David said.  Seeing the look on the healer's face, he said with embarrassment, "Sorry, Earth term."

The healer nodded, then moved off.

Turning to Tom, David said, "You gonna let the others know?"

"Yeah.  Then I guess we'll head back to the office, unless you think one of us should stick around?"

"Tom, you outrank me and have at least three years' seniority.  I don't tell you what to do, it's the other way around."

Tom just grinned.  "Yeah, well, you're so damned good at this shit, I keep forgetting.  Besides, you've got a better sense of these Clan bastards than the rest of us.  Will they try to get him in here?"

"No," David said.  "Whatever they were doing, I can't imagine them continuing the hit in here.  Do me a favor, though."

"If I can," Tom said.

"Find out how Joe found out about the guy we were supposedly supposed to meet."

"Sure.  I'll ask around."

"Thanks.  I'll be in tomorrow.  I have paperwork to fill out by the truckfuls now, I'm sure."

"You know it," Tom confirmed.  "I'll see you later.  Ma'am," Tom said to Zyla, who was waiting for David to finish his conversation.

The two Rimohrs left, and then David turned back to Zyla.  Together, they entered Joe's room.  His body was bathed in a sparkling field, but the bruises and injuries to his body were clearly visible through it.

"My god, what did they do to him?" Zyla whispered in horror.

"Remember, he's going to be fine," David told her.  "No matter how bad he looks right now.  Just keep telling yourself, he's going to be fine."

"Are you sure they won't come for him again?" Zyla asked David.

"Fairly sure.  I'll have the office post an officer, if it will make you feel better, though."

"I'd appreciate that, David.  I don't think I'd be able to sleep knowing he was lying here helpless and unprotected."

David nodded.  "I'll call in in a minute," he told her.  "I'll take tonight's watch."

"Actually, could you come stay with us tonight?  I'm going to have a really hard time explaining this to Grace... and I think I'm going to have trouble sleeping without someone else in the house.  My mind will conjure up all sorts of evil."

David nodded.  "Not a problem," he said.

"Thank you, David," Zyla said, and then hugged him.  He hugged her back warmly, trying to give her as much support as he could.

"Commissioner Hirsch," David said in surprise when he was called into Keef's office the next morning.

"David, good to see you.  I need you to tell me what happened yesterday."

"We were ambushed by The Clan.  Agent Garibaldi was seriously injured, and incapacitated.  Since I was no longer able to act as an officer... I acted as a pissed off civilian."

Commissioner Hirsch grinned.  "You're sure they were Clan members?"

"I recognized two of them immediately.  After the incident was over, I also recognized two more."

"How many were there, in total?"

"Ten."

"And how did you manage to escape without so much as a scratch?"

"That is a very good question, sir.  I can only assume that, for some reason, I was not to be targeted.  As I told Tom last night, if they had wanted to hit me, I wouldn't have had any more time to react than Joe did."

"None of them said anything to you, made a threat or gave a message?"

"I didn't exactly give them time to chat, sir," David admitted.

Commissioner Hirsch grinned again.  "But they didn't start to."

"No, they were busy congratulating themselves on taking out Agent Garibaldi."

The commissioner nodded.  "I've discussed this with the Executive Minister.  This challenge cannot go unanswered.  They've specifically targeted Rimohr officers."

"Sir, the likelihood is that, whatever their purpose, I was the actual target..."

"You are still a Rimohr, Officer Stroud.  In any case, whether they meant to attack you or Agent Garibaldi, they crossed a big wide line they're not allowed to cross.  Agent Keef, The Clan is almost exclusively a Bolmont Division problem.  Your orders are as follows:  Get rid of them, by whatever means necessary."

"Sir, in order for us to use deadly force, they need to be declared a natural threat..."

"Happening as we speak.  The Executive Minister is speaking with the King of Callamandia on the issue this morning."

"Excuse me," David said.  "I'm confused... the Executive Minister is who?"

"The Executive Minister is the head of the Office of Outlawed Magic.  He was appointed by the Council of Wizards.  He interfaces with the various nations to make sure that our authority remains intact worldwide."

"Oh, okay."

"As I understand it, you have a personal quarrel with this Clan," the commissioner said.

"They've killed a lot of my friends," David said.

"Ever wanted a hunting license?"

"Only every time I hear the words 'The Clan'," David admitted.

"Well, you just got one.  Take them alive if you can.  If you can't... don't let them get away."

"Yes, sir," David told him, trying - and failing - to hide the look of satisfaction in his eyes.

"I'll leave you to it, Agent Keef, Officer Stroud.  There will be no hearing on yesterday's incident because we have no witnesses to either back up, or contradict, your version of events.  The fact that Agent Garibaldi's life was in danger cannot be disputed.  As such, your actions appear appropriate.  In any case, the Academy Commission and I have signed off on your actions."

"Thank you, sir."

The commissioner nodded, shook hands, and left.  Agent Keef looked at David.

"I know you haven't got the seniority, but I'm putting you in charge of this particular task force.  Pick four people you want on your team, and hunt these bastards down.  You will be required to carry on with other cases as they come up, but this is obviously a priority for the Commissioner, so keep that in mind."

"Yes, sir."

David left the office.

"What was that about?" Chloe asked David.

"A dream come true," David replied with a vicious grin.  "Tom, Peter, you guys up for some maggot hunting?"

"Always," Tom said.  "Who're we after?"

"The Clan.  All of them."

"What's going on, David?" Vivian asked.

"The Clan has just been declared a natural threat," David said.  In Callamandian terms, a 'natural threat' was the term used for something that should be considered an imminent danger to one's life, and should be treated accordingly.  That is, it should be destroyed on sight.  This was the term used to refer to the lamias before David was able to provide them with Bloodbank.  "Agent Keef has been kind enough to put me in charge of the Clan-hunting task force.  I just need to find two more people."

"What, you don't want girls on the team?" Vivian asked.  Chloe nodded sternly.

"This is going to get bloody.  I didn't really want to put either of you in that mess."

"How bloody?" Chloe asked.

"We arrest them if we can.  If we can't, the Commissioner's words were, don't let them get away."

Vivian nodded.  Chloe looked a little pale.

"I'll back you up," Vivian said.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that," Chloe admitted.

David nodded.  "Ed, you in?"

"Sure," he nodded.  "How do we start?"

"The reports concerning Clan activity stop at Gorumshead.  There've been no reports north of there.  So we're going to Gorumshead, and we're going to sweep the place.  The school will be my job.  The rest of you, just round up anyone you can get your hands on."

"You need backup?" Vivian asked.

David shook his head.  "I'll have Tanya and the security department help me out."

"Okay."

"Let's go do this," David said.

"David?  What can we do for you today?" Dean Lengel asked.  The look on David's face was one she had seen previously, when David was on very serious business.

"I need you to round up the entire school into the cafeteria once again."

"Looking for more spellcasters?" she asked.

"Looking for The Clan," he said coldly.

She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing about it.  "Will lunchtime be suitable, or does it need to happen immediately?"

"No, lunch is fine.  No point in disrupting the good students' class time."

"Very good.  I'll see you at lunch, then."

"Yes, ma'am."

David marched into Byron Hall, followed by the entire security department, backed up by the DIRT members.  They spread out, blocking the exit to the lunch hall.  David moved up onto the platform, where Dean Lengel was standing.

Nodding to her, David turned to the assembled students, and magically amplified his voice.

"By order of the Office of Outlawed Magic, I am here to arrest all members of The Clan.  All students will stand and raise their sleeves to expose their forearms.  If you are bearing a Clan tattoo, you will be arrested.  If you resist arrest, you will be killed.  No, I am not joking.  Do not test my patience, because I do not have any left."

David ended his amplification spell, and moved off the stage.  As he walked toward the first row of students, he was accosted by Prof. Hellerhan.

"You cannot threaten our students on our campus!  You have no right-"

"Shut up," David snapped.

"I will not!  I will stand up for the safety and the rights of our students!"

"Fine.  Let me phrase this another way.  Either shut up, sit down, and stay out of my way, or when you get out of the infirmary - which will be sometime next year - you can look forward to a fifty-year stay in Rothblood.  In case you've not heard of it, it's in Giant country, and it makes Barnard Hill look like a luxury hotel.  I am executing a duly certified Rimohr Order, and you are interfering with the authority of a Rimohr Officer on duty.  I am not joking, and I'm not going to put up with your crap.  Get out of my way, or you're going to get hurt, and frankly, I will enjoy doing it.  Your choice, Professor, but I should warn you, I've already killed ten people this week.  One more won't bother me all that much.  Especially not if it's you."

There were murmurs among the other students, and Prof. Hellerhan looked pale.  He stepped back shakily and slumped into a seat at one of the tables.  David strode down the line of students, pulling out the ones with tattoos and motioning them over toward the security department.  Any obstinacy or backtalk did not last through one look into David's eyes.

After David had made his first pass, he then had Prof. Phillips cast an anti-glamor hex, which would force any hidden tattoos to become visible.  Another walk down the rows produced four more people with tattoos.  David shoved them up toward the security officers, as well.  These four would face additional charges for hiding their affiliation.

Once he was finished, he marched back to the front of the room, and stared down the members of The Clan.  "Each of you will be transported to Bolmont.  You will be arrested, and you will spend a minimum of two years in prison.  The Clan has been declared a natural threat to society.  Consider yourselves lucky: had you resisted, you would be dead now.  Those were my orders."

"How can you really believe mere students could be a natural threat?" Prof. Hellerhan scoffed.

"My Rimohr supervisor is lying in the central healing infirmary in Bolmont.  He was ambushed by people no older than these 'mere students' you talk about.  He was nearly killed.  I'm not sure exactly how much you've been paid, Professor, or if you're just really this stupid.  The number of people killed by The Clan numbers in the dozens.  The number injured numbers in the hundreds.  The number assaulted by them numbers in the thousands.

"Maybe you're okay with that.  The Rimohrs are not."

"Yeah, but I notice you didn't do squat until one of your own got hurt," one of the Clan members said snidely.

"Didn't we?  We've been putting Clan members in Barnard Hill for almost a year and a half now.  You scum forced us to change the method we were using to deal with you.  If your group is willing to take on armed and trained officers of the law, why should we believe you'll have any compunctions about going after untrained civilians?  By directly targeting lawful authority, you've declared yourselves enemies of the state. 

"I'd like you to consider this little tidbit, jack-off: you may have thought this whole Clan thing was fun and games.  It just cost you your freedom, and your wizarding license.  Still having fun?  Guess I managed to touch you fucks after all, eh?  Certainly managed to touch the ten of you cowards that were oh-so-brave as to ambush Agent Garibaldi and myself."

The Clan members didn't say anything more.  The others in the room murmured quietly amongst themselves at the sheer venom in David's demeanor.

"Tanya, if you'd escort our guests to the holding cells, I'll be along shortly."

"Will do."

"Oh, and Tanya?"

"Yeah?"

"If they resist, feel free to kill them."

"Uh... right."  She gave him a raised eyebrow, then turned and herded the Clan members out of the lunch hall.

Dean Lengel approached.  "Please tell me there will be some leniency applied for those students who were members in name only."

David looked at her.  "That's not up to me, but the laws regarding natural threats rarely allow for leniency."

"If it were up to you?" Dean Lengel asked.

"If it were up to me, I'd feed them to the wyverns," David said coldly.  "At this point, there is no such thing as being unaware of the consequences of The Clan.  The deaths they've caused have been well publicized, as have the riots in Bolmont.  Any person who joins knows they're getting into a group that regularly commits serious crimes.  We're not talking vandalism here, ma'am, we're talking about assault, rape, and murder.  If they are so incapable of understanding those facts that they join anyway, just to look cool...  They deserve whatever punishment they get, as far as I'm concerned.  The only reason I didn't just mow them all down is that the Commissioner told me to try to arrest them first."

Dean Lengel was rocked back by the sheer hatred in David's voice.  She chose not to discuss the subject further with him.

At that point, David left the lunch hall and made his way over to Fensterman Hall.  On the way, he mirrored for the largest Rimohr coach that was available, as he had over forty people to transport.

"How did it go?" Zyla asked quietly.

"Well, the school is as clean as we can make it, and we figure we got almost all of the Clan members in Gorumshead.  We'll never be sure we got them all, but there certainly aren't going to be enough of them to be a real problem anymore."

"How many did you have to kill?" she asked nervously, uncomfortable with the idea.

"None.  They were smart enough not to test me today."

"I'm glad.  Killing's not good for you."

"Even worse for them," David said.

"That kind of hatred can eat you up inside, David.  You have to let go of it."

"Oh, I will.  Just as soon as The Clan has been obliterated.  Until then, they still have seventeen lives to answer for."

"Only seventeen?"

"I wasn't in charge of preventing the other deaths."

"Is that why this bothers you so much?  You feel responsible for them?"

"I am responsible for them.  I could have chosen to be more violent with The Clan from the very start of that fight."

"But you weren't supposed to.  You were following the rules."

"Yeah.  Rules that I knew beforehand weren't going to work.  When you do something that's legal, but still wrong, it makes you responsible for whatever happens."

"You weren't in charge, anyway.  The security department..."

David snorted.  "Seth was following my instructions that night, not the other way around.  No, that was my battle, and the losses are on my head.  The least I can do for those seventeen men and women is to make damned sure to run down the gang that caused their deaths."

"Have you ever spoken to the ones who died that night?"

"No.  I don't think I could look them in the face, quite frankly."

Zyla frowned.  "I wish I knew what to say.  I think you're putting way too much on yourself.  There was plenty of guilt to go around that night.  The school's disciplinary personnel, for one..."

David snorted.  "Yeah, I had a run-in with Prof. Hellerhan again today.  He was the head of the Board of Discipline that year."

"What happened today?"

"I threatened to put him in the infirmary."

"Wow.  I'm not sure I've ever seen this side of you before."

"Not pretty, is it?" David said seriously.

"No.  But I note you only threatened to put him in the infirmary.  You didn't actually do it."

"Again, he was smart enough to get out of my face."

"At least you had the control not to go after him anyway."

David grunted.  After a moment, he asked, "Has there been any change?" he motioned to Joe, who was lying unconscious on the bed, to indicate what he was talking about.

"No.  The healer doesn't know when he'll wake up."

"Keep good thoughts."

"I'm trying.  But you know the guilt you feel about the people who died that night?  I feel almost as bad."

"Why?"

"Things weren't so happy at home before this happened.  The thing with Grace had really blown up after I told him that I'd told you.  When he left that morning, I didn't even say anything to him."

"These things happen," David said.

"If it had been the last chance I'd ever had to talk with him..." she started.

David put his hand on her arm and squeezed gently.  "He's going to be okay."

Zyla nodded, taking a deep breath and looking over at him.

"So he was being a grouch at home, as well, huh?" David asked after a moment of silence.

"As well?" Zyla asked, confused.

"He was a royal pain in the ass at work."

Zyla frowned.

"There you two go talking about me behind my back again," Joe muttered from the bed.

Zyla rushed to his side and hugged him.  David moved to the other side of the bed.

"We weren't talking about you behind your back," David said.  "You were facing us the entire time."

Joe tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace.  David said, "I'll go get the healer."

By the time David got back with the healer, Zyla was crying happy tears, and she was holding Joe's hand.

"Honey, could you give me a minute with David?" Joe asked.

"Of course," she said.  She leaned down and kissed him, then squeezed his hand before leaving the room.

"You want me to step out?" the healer asked.

Joe shook his head.  "No, I just didn't want her to be here."  He looked over at David, who was looking at him guardedly.  "You okay?"

David looked at him funny.  "I'm fine, why?"

"I figured you might have gotten hurt by whoever got me."

"Ah.  No, I managed to come out of that uninjured."

"Good.  You arrest the bastard?"

"You know I can't arrest anyone, Joe."

"Well, you knock him out, then?"

"I vaporized his sorry ass."

Joe looked at him in some surprise.

"What?  He hurt my partner."

"The way I'd been acting, I thought you might give him a medal, instead."

David snorted.  "I didn't even think about that at the time.  Besides, if anyone was gonna knock you upside the head for your attitude, it was going to be me, dammit."

Joe chuckled.  "I'm sorry, David.  I know I was acting childish.  I was just having trouble accepting Grace's condition, and I... well, frankly, I didn't want you bringing it up every week as you tried to find a cure for it.  That would have just reminded me over and over again how much I fucked up my family."

"All you'd have had to do was tell me that, Joe.  I would have limited my questions to Zyla."

"That bugged me, too.  That you went to Zyla.  I know, it's stupid, but I felt like you went outside the chain of command in our relationships."

David chuckled.  "Because in order to talk to your superior, I have to get your permission?"

Joe laughed, then coughed, as it caused him some pain.  "Something like that," he said.  "I forget, from time to time, that you and Zyla are also good friends, that you do spend time together without me.  Honestly, even that kind of got rolled into this mess... the things you've been there with Zyla for, that I wasn't able to be.  Grace's birth, that whole thing with the factory...  I'm grateful, don't get me wrong, but it hurts that I had to let someone else do it."

David nodded.

"So... obviously you knew that I knew that you knew about Grace... why didn't you say something about it?"

David shrugged.  "I didn't think you needed me to tell you that you were being an inconsiderate prat," he said with a grin.  "As pissed at me as you were, nothing I said would have gone down well.  I just figured to wait until you'd cooled off."

"Thanks.  That was probably a smart move.  You badgering me about it would probably have just made me even angrier."

"You have a chance to think all this shit out while you were unconscious, did you?"

"No.  Over the last thirty minutes, while I've been awake listening to you two talk."

"Bastard," David said with a grin.

"You said something about clearing out The Clan?"

"The Clan is who attacked us.  We've been given a hunting license by the OOM."

"Damn.  And I don't get to play."

"If you're nice, I'll save a few for you.  But don't count on it."

Joe chuckled.

"Anyway, I'll go get Zyla.  I'm sure you want to see her more than me.  I'll call Agent Keef and let him know you're awake."

"Thanks, David.  For everything.  Hey, David?"

"Yeah?"

"'Prat'?" Joe said with a raised eyebrow.

"Sounded better than calling you an idiot, didn't it?"

Joe chuckled.  "I guess.  Thanks, I think."

"What're friends for?  But you know, you need to learn to duck faster.  If you keep getting into these positions, I'm not going to be able to keep saving your ass."

Joe grunted.  "You'll keep me around.  You don't want to have me haunting you as a ghost."

David grinned.  "I know how to banish ghosts, remember?"

"Ouch," Joe said.

David laughed.  "I'll go get Zyla now.  You take it easy."

"What's up, Tom?" David asked as he walked into the office the following morning.

"We pulled in this group of Clan members on the way in."

"You guys ride together?"

"Yeah, Peter and I live next door to each other.  We usually take the same coach.  Caught these guys trying to vandalize a storefront."

"Trying?"

"Well, the guy whose store it was happens to be a Level 2 Spellcaster.  Their hexes were, shall we say, less than impressive against his protections."

David chuckled.

"You want us to just file them off to Barnard Hill?"

David turned to the group of them.

"I want to know two things.  The first one of you who can give me both gets a reduced sentence."

"We ain't telling you shit," one of them said.

David blasted him with a huge ball of energy that sent him flying across the room and into a door.

"Obviously, he is disqualified from the offer.  Let me remind all of you that you have been declared a natural threat.  You have no rights, no protections whatsoever.  You're alive because the Commissioner told us to try to arrest you first.  If you cause us trouble, we are already authorized to kill your motherfucking sorry asses.  In short terms, you are no longer citizens.  You're barely even considered people.  Do not try my patience.  I have been given permission to treat you the same way you treat others.  The difference is I'm much better at it than you are.

"Now then, to my two pieces of information.  I want to know who is running the Bolmont cell of The Clan, and I want to know who is the ultimate leader of The Clan.  If you have that information, speak up.  If you do not have that information, or aren't willing to tell me, I'd advise just keeping your mouth shut.  You'll live longer."

One of the youngest members quietly said, "I think that's just one person."

"Shut it, Milo," another Clansman said.

David walked up to the Clansman and stared him down.  "I don't think you heard me."  The Clansman tried to look David in the eye, but that immediately caused him to shake uncontrollably in terror.

"You," David said, turning to Milo, "Come with me."

David took Milo into the Quiet Room and sat him down.

"Now, you said that it's one person.  What do you mean?"

"I mean that there isn't another cell of The Clan, as far as I know.  Not since you wiped out the Woodward cell yesterday."

"So The Clan only existed in Bolmont and Gorumshead?"

"Well, I mean, we'd move around a bit, if there was something interesting to do, but... yeah, I don't think we exist anywhere else."

"Are you more than just a member?"

"Not really."

"Then how would you know for sure whether there were other cells or not?"

"Well... I mean, they'd talk about the Woodward cell, but they never mentioned any other cells, you know?"

David nodded.  "So who is the leader of The Clan?"

"I don't know his full name.  All anyone ever called him was Beckel."

Milo immediately wondered if he'd be safe running out the door.  The look on David's face suddenly became murderous.

"That mother fucking son of a cocksucking bitch," David muttered darkly.  "You sure about this?" he demanded of Milo.

"Yeah... well, I mean, it's just a name I've heard.  I've never met this Beckel guy.  You know him?"

"Yeah, I know him," David growled.  "Sit tight.  You'll be going somewhere other than Barnard Hill."

David walked out of the Quiet Room and motioned to another of the Clansmen.  "You.  With me."

The one who had threatened Milo spoke up.  "You tell him anything-"

David interrupted him.  "You finish that sentence and you'll be dead before you take your next breath."

The man looked at David, saw the malice evident in his gaze, and decided not to speak further.

David led his chosen interviewee into a different interrogation room.

"You want to tell me who the leader of The Clan is?"

"I tell you, they kill me."

"You don't tell me, maybe I kill you quicker," David offered.

"You ain't no murderer.  They are."

"Okay, that's possibly true... but I can certainly make you wish you were dead."

"I can't."

"Okay, fine.  Then how about this?  I already have a name from the other guy.  Either it's the right name, or the wrong name.  In any case, if you don't give me a name, I'll just say you did.  Either way, you lose."

"I'll tell them you're lying," he said, fidgeting.

"Oh, and they're going to believe that, when you walk out of here without a scratch on you."

The guy swallowed hard.  "You wouldn't."

"I would.  I will.  You're going to give me what I want, or you can spend your entire prison stay looking over your shoulder."

"Either way, I end up doing that!"

"You cooperate, I send you someplace that the other Clansman aren't going."

"Can you guarantee that?"

"Yes," David said.  He couldn't fully guarantee it, but the magistrates were giving weight to Rimohr requests for sentencing.  It wasn't really important to David, anyway.

"His name's Rob Beckel," the guy said after a long moment of thought.  "He runs the whole show."

"Where do I find him?"

The guy snorted.  "Fuck if I know.  I've never seen him.  I got my orders from that guy you blasted.  He got them from someone else, who supposedly got them from Beckel.  For all I know, Beckel could be a myth."

"Trust me, he's not," David said.  "Stay put."

Interrogating three more of the Clansmen ultimately wound up with the same result.

"Well?" Keef asked when David had packed off the rest of the Clan members to Barnard Hill.

"Either they're telling me the truth, or they have an orchestrated lie to cover this situation.  But they are blaming someone that is personally known to me, and I know he's a shit.  I would not put this past him at all."

"Who is it?" Keef asked.

"Robert Beckel.  Age twenty-nine.  Rat-bag extraordinaire."

"You want to put out a King's Order on this one?"

"Fuck that shit.  This bastard is mine."

"Getting this personally involved isn't a good idea..."

"Agent Keef, this asshole had his sister seduce my roommate so that my roommate would commit a bunch of thefts and try to blame them on me.  He then apparently formed The Clan, a group that has cost me seventeen friends and colleagues.  The Clan exists only in Bolmont and Gorumshead... and it's pretty clear it started in Gorumshead and spread southward.  That means that Beckel was starting at the school... which means, most likely, that he was after me with the whole goddamned thing.

"You bet your ass this is personal.  This fucknuts has killed people just to get even with me for getting him in trouble in the management facility.  If you think I'm letting someone else take this bastard down, you've got another thing coming."

Keef nodded in understanding.  "I see your point.  But where do you start?"

"We've already started.  Ripping The Clan apart will eventually expose Beckel, unless he starts running.  I don't think he's quite that smart, though.  But if I want to do this faster, there's a guy I can target.  His name's Faggioni.  We tried to bust him earlier this year for a protection racket scheme.  He was using The Clan as muscle.  He's got to know Beckel.  He'd have had to make an agreement with him to use Clan members."

"He's not going to tell you willingly."

"No.  That's why we need to get him on a charge.  Something nasty."

"Think you can?"

"I'm damned sure going to try."

"Good luck.  Run with it."

"Thank you, sir," David said.

David stepped in and swung his fist, but failed to connect with anything solid.  The gargoyle swung his hand, connecting with David's chest and sending him flying ten feet across the yard.

David rolled twice, bringing his feet under himself, and then launched into the air, a quick spell augmenting his leap.  He elongated his staff while in flight, and he slammed the tip of it into the gargoyle's chest, knocking him to the ground.  David landed on top of him, and blasted him with a medium-strength energy spell.  This wasn't enough to do any damage at all to the gargoyle, but it would have certainly broken the bones of any werewolf who'd had the misfortune of feeling it.

David jumped back from the gargoyle, knowing that a new attack was forthcoming.  He did not, however, expect it to come from the side, rather than one of the ones in front of him.

David and the gargoyle tumbled across the ground until the gargoyle gripped David around the waist and heaved, throwing him thirty feet and causing him to land in a pile.

David groaned in pain, unable, for the moment, to rise.

"Enough," Goliath called out, and the gargoyles all relaxed.  Goliath moved to David.  "Are you injured?"

David was finally able to push himself to his knees.  "No more than usual," he grunted.  "But I'm not sure I can continue."

"You've already carried on for five minutes more than I thought you would," Goliath admitted.  "You are getting better."

"Yeah, it took you a whole ten minutes to wipe the floor with me this time," he said with a chuckle and a grimace.

"You should not expect to beat us.  You are facing off with four gargoyles at a time, when usually the numbers need to be in the other direction for you to win."

David grunted again.

"In any case, you have done well.  We shall end tonight's session.  When do you think you might be able to return for further training?"

"I'm not sure.  Hopefully in the next day or two."

"Take tomorrow night off to recover," Goliath said.  "Your next battle will be with six of us."

"Couldn't I just take on an entire werewolf army?  It'd probably hurt less..."

Goliath's laugh rolled across the courtyard.

"Good work, David.  Good night."

"Yeah," he said.

With that, the gargoyles all took wing, returning to their assigned places along the castle's walls and towers.  It took a bit longer before David made it back to his feet.

When David was standing, he found Penny waiting for him about twenty feet away.

"Hey, Penny," David said warmly.  "Been watching me get my head handed to me?"

"Yes.  It was quite distressing."

"I'm fine.  Just sore."

"Come inside, and I'll see if I can't help relieve some of that."

"Okay," David said.  He followed her into the castle and up the stairs.  They didn't go to the master suite, but to guest quarters, which were almost as nice.

"Lie on the bed, and I'll give you a back rub.  That may ease some of the pain."

"Thanks," he said.  He took off his shirt and pants before ghosting himself and lying down on the bed.

Penny began to press firmly into his muscles, trying to ease the tension out of them, and increase the magical flow which would help him heal.  "Do you really feel as though you are still learning new things from the gargoyles?  It seems as if, at this point, you're just punishing yourself."

"Not all training is about learning something new.  A lot of the time, it's about ingraining what you already know.  I'm not yet as good as they can make me."

"You've been able to go toe-to-toe with them one at a time for weeks.  Surely that's good enough."

"Penny, if I have to come back here to defend the school from the weres, I'll probably be alone.  There's no real motivation for the king to send troops to defend this mountain.  That means that, at best, I'm going to have some professors, and maybe a few of the upper level students to help me.  We could be facing hundreds of werewolves.  One on one isn't nearly good enough."

"I suppose.  I just don't like seeing you hurt."

"Thanks.  I'm not real fond of it myself, but it's better than the alternative."

"What alternative?" she asked.

"Other people getting killed."

Penny frowned, and pressed a little harder into his muscles.  David groaned at that.

After she had worked over his back, she moved down to his legs.  Finally, she had done for him what she could, at least in this fashion.

"Do you feel better?"

"Much.  Thank you."

"Good.  Roll over."

David did, only to discover that, at some point during the preceding hour, Penny had managed to remove all of her clothes without him noticing.  She didn't say anything at all, but instead reached for his underwear, which was the only garment he had left on.  Shortly, he had nothing left on.

"Sit up," she said quietly.  Once he did so, she kissed him passionately, and embraced him.  She sat in his lap, his cock trapped between them.  Some gyrations of her hips brought his shaft to complete hardness as they continued to kiss.

Finally, they pulled apart, and Penny looked at him lustfully.  "Do you remember the first time we made love?"

"In the management facility.  Of course I do."

Penny turned her head, looking around the room.  "I see a lot of flat surfaces here..."

David grinned.  "Should we start with the night table?"

"Absolutely," she replied.  She climbed off him, and then pushed herself up onto the night table while David got off the bed.

David moved to her and placed the head of his cock at her opening.  She embraced him as he slowly moved forward, sliding his dick into her in one smooth motion.

"Oh, that feels so good," she said, right before her lips engaged his once more.

David slipped his tongue into her mouth as he began to thrust his cock inside of her.  Penny moaned softly, her tongue dancing with its partner, her hips rolling against him.

David ran his hands up and down Penny's sides as they coupled, occasionally fondling her breasts, but never staying in one spot for too long.  His thrusts picked up speed as his climax approached.  Penny could sense his arousal, and bucked harder against him, squeezing his dick with her pussy muscles, trying to draw the cum from him.

She got her wish just moments later, as he thrust deep into her and froze, his load bursting from his dick and filling her up.  He groaned into her mouth as his orgasm washed over him.

When he was finally coherent again, David stepped back from Penny.

She looked at him and said, "You're not done..."

David grinned.  "Still a lot more flat surfaces to go.  But you'll have to get me hard again..."

Penny smiled as she slipped off the night table and slowly sank to her knees.  Her mouth engulfed his cock, and she gently swirled her tongue back and forth as she sucked on him.  In no time at all, David was hard as iron and ready to go.

"Your turn to choose," David said as he helped her up.

Penny smiled, and motioned to the dresser.  She walked over to it and leaned over one end, so that her chest was pressed against the top of it, presenting her pussy to his view.

David moved in behind her quickly, sinking his shaft deep into her wet and waiting hole.  Gripping her hips, he began to thrust hard into her.  Penny moaned in pleasure as her heat rose.

In short order, Penny was right on the very edge of climax.  David slowed down slightly, keeping her on that knife edge of passion for long moments.

"Oh, gods, David, please!  If you don't let me come, I will go mad!"

David grinned, then reached forward and tweaked both of her nipples at the same time.  Penny immediately screamed out in ecstasy, her orgasm hitting her like a runaway coach.  David continued fucking her throughout, prolonging her pleasure until finally she started to come down.  He slowed his movements at that point, so that she could catch her breath.

Once Penny was again able to think straight, she said, "Next..."

David laughed, and they moved on to more furniture.

David and Penny had made love on every surface in the room.  At the moment, they were sitting on a lounge with his cock snuggled warmly in her pussy.  They were taking a breather.

"Penny, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course you can."

"Why did you ask me to call you Penny?  I know what you told me years ago, but I've asked other people why they don't call you Penny, and they've told me that you never asked them to.  Why was I different?"

"Did you really want to call me Penelope?" she asked with a small grin.

"It honestly doesn't matter what I call you, especially not now... I just want to know why I was different to you."

Penny sighed gently, and leaned her body against him.  "Penny is what I ask my lovers to call me.  Penelope is much too formal for intimate encounters, don't you think?"

"Hmm," David agreed.  He couldn't say much more, since she'd chosen to kiss him at that point.  When she stopped, he smiled, but was still confused.

"But that first day, we weren't lovers.  Heck, you didn't even know me."

"Oh, I knew you.  I'd spent most of my time watching you after you got here.  I knew that first day that I wanted you to be my next lover."

"Then why did it take you a year to do anything about it?"

"I first wanted you to be at a point where you would find it a natural progression in our relationship.  And I also wanted you to not be involved with someone else already.  Had you not been dating Amanda, I would probably have done something during the spring.  But after you and she broke up, I didn't feel it would be appropriate for a few months.

"I feared waiting until you were back at school.  I felt like you might have found another girl quickly, which wouldn't have left me any chance.  That's why I came to visit you."

David kissed her again, still softly.  "You were willing to wait all that time?"

"I hadn't had a partner in fifteen years.  Waiting another short while was no problem."

"Wait... I thought you said you'd been dead for twenty."

"I had.  I took a ghost lover at one point, but it didn't work out.  He was apparently at the end of his desire to be around, and he discorporated.  Do you have any idea how disheartening it is to know that you aren't enough of a woman to keep a man from destroying himself?"

"It couldn't have been your fault, Penny.  You're a wonderful person."

"Thank you, David.  I admit that my original interest in you was that you could not abandon me in that particular way.  That wouldn't have been enough for me to pursue you, but it's what started me to looking."

"You know you're making me feel bad, right?" David said lightly.

"How so?"

"I feel horrible for what little time I've given you over the years."

Penny ran her hand along his cheek.  "You have treated me just fine, don't you worry."

"I wish we could spend more time together, though.  I don't get up to the castle anymore, except to get my ass kicked."

"Would you really want to see me more regularly?" she asked sincerely.

"Of course I would," he replied, almost offended by the question.  "You're very special to me.  I really enjoy the time we have together.  Even when we're not naked," he said with a grin.

"Hmm," she replied, squeezing his cock with her pussy muscles as a reward for that comment.

"If you weren't so attached to the school, I'd ask you to come live at Pendergrast Manor.  At least then I'd be sure of seeing you two or three times a week."

Penny's look changed to one of surpise, mixed with interest.  "You would actually want me to live in your space?"

He stroked her hip.  "Why wouldn't I?"

"What about Olissa?" Penny asked.

"Olissa doesn't mind ghosts.  As far as relationships go, she doesn't have any say in that sort of thing anymore, by her own choice."

"I can't believe you're really asking me," she admitted.

"I'd be happy if you were there.  I'd even fix up one of the attics, if you wanted me to.  You could then have a completely private space to go to get away from people.  The only person who could follow you there would be me."

Penny pushed herself tightly against David.  "I'd like that.  I'll move myself to your home... but only while you're there.  The rest of the time, I'll be here.  I still love this school."

"I can understand that.  So do I."

"Can I ask, what brought this to your mind just now?" Penny asked him.

"Well," he said with a frown, "I ended up killing some people the other day.  They had seriously hurt Joe, and they were members of The Clan, and my rage just kind of came out of me.  Then Joe's wife said something about how killing wasn't good for me, and it reminded me of you, and how you've always tried to counsel me away from my darker side."

"How does that lead to asking me to live with you?"

David shrugged softly.  "I realized you were the kind of person I needed to have around me, to help keep me in control of myself.  Then, the more I thought about you, the more I realized that I missed talking with you.  I remember the long walks we took that first year, just wandering through the castle discussing things.  I realized I'd lost something when we stopped doing that, and I decided that I really wanted it back."

"I see," Penny said.  "I noticed you didn't mention anything about our physical time together..."

"I didn't figure I needed to say that I missed that," he said, rocking his hips slightly to push his cock further into her.

"Mmm," Penny murmured.  "Well, then.  Should we celebrate our new arrangement?" Penny asked, squeezing his dick with her pussy again.

"Absolutely," he replied.  He then sat up, pulled her close, and rolled over, setting her onto the lounge and smoothly sliding his dick in and out of her.

They spent the next several hours celebrating.

"Here's the file on Faggioni, David," Nancy said, setting it down in front of him.

"Thanks.  And thanks for expanding it for me, rather than letting me try to figure out who to ask."

Nancy chuckled and walked back to her desk.

David flipped open the file on Charles Faggioni and began to study it.  He was still looking it over when Tom walked up.

"Whatcha workin' on?" Tom asked.

"Faggioni.  Trying to see if there's anything in here we can nail him on."

"That's the guy who was threatening the pub owner?"

"Yeah."

"Finding anything?"

"Only proof he's a scumbag.  Hey, I just thought of something, I never asked you where Joe got the information about that 'informant'."

"Inform- oh!  Nancy got an anonymous mirror about it."

"How the hell do you mirror someone anonymously?"

"You just cover your face, or the mirror, with a cloth.  No big deal."

"Hmph."

"Anyway, it happens a lot, and that's what happened in this case.  Someone called in, said they wanted a meeting."

"Damn.  Can't really go anywhere with that."

"Nope."

"Well, thanks, anyway.  I'm gonna keep reviewing this file.  Let me know if you need me for anything."

"Sure."

"You looking to become a court aide?" Peter asked David the next day.  David was sitting with several law books scattered across his desk.

"Still trying to nail Faggioni," David said.

"You going to find evidence in there?" Peter asked.

"Not evidence.  A tripwire."

"Excuse me?" Tom asked, having heard the start of the conversation.

"Faggioni's smart.  He's covered all the usual bases, so we're not going to catch him in a straightforward case.  What I'm looking for is some law that he doesn't realize he's breaking, and that we're not used to looking for, either.  Either that, or some legal way in which we can break through his defenses.  So, something that will allow us to spring a trap to catch him.  A tripwire."

"Having any luck?" Tom asked.

"I think so, but only if he's still working with whatever's left of The Clan up in Gorumshead."

"What difference would that make?" Peter asked.

"Because the status of The Clan has changed.  If he is still working with them, and he claims to not be a part of their gang, then that falls under the definition of organized criminal activity."

"Couldn't we have gotten him on that before?"

"Before, he could claim not to know what The Clan had done, specifically.  Or he could have claimed to be a member of the gang, and then the best we'd have had him on was illegal gang activity.  Now, if he claims to be a member of the gang, he's going away for a good long time, anyway."

"So, how do we make this stick?"

"We've got to go back to Gorumshead and find a Clan member who's still working for him."

"So we catch The Clan, to catch Faggioni, to catch The Clan," Peter said.  "I'm beginning to feel like I'm watching... what is that Earth game?  Oh, yeah, pang pong."

"Ping pong," David corrected with a chuckle.  "When you've got someone as slick as Faggioni, you've got to work with all the tools."

"Right," Tom said.  "So, what next?"

"I'll go back up to Gorumshead and ask around, see what I find.  Who wants to go with?"

Tom volunteered, and so the two took off for Gorumshead.

"David, aren't you supposed to actually attend class at some point?" Agent Keef asked him the next morning.

"I don't actually have classes anymore.  Don't worry, I'm still getting my school work done.  I just tend to do it at night."

"All right, then.  You have any luck up in Gorumshead yesterday?"

"No.  But if there's anyone still up there, I'm sure I'll spot them in my usual activities."

"Good deal.  It's fortuitous that you're here, though.  I've got a job for you and Vivian."

Keef handed him the case, and then headed back into his office.  David opened it up as Vivian came over.

"What have we got?" she asked.

"Drug pusher," David said, almost disinterestedly.

"Selling off potions, like the last guy?" she asked.

"No, this one's just selling plain old dope.  But he's a wizard, so we have to go after him."

"Where is it?"

"New York City," David said.

"Well, at least you can check up on your friend while we're there," she offered.

David grunted.

"You seem not to care much about this," Vivian said.

David shrugged.  "If people want to fuck up their brains with drugs, that's their business.  I'll do it, because it's my job.  The other guy was selling shit that didn't do what was expected of it.  Coke, heroine, speed... yeah, they're going to kill you, eventually.  But you know that going in.  If you still do it, then that just proves you're stupid, and we might be better off without you.  That shit he was selling could kill people in an instant... that's not what they were being sold."

"So all you really objected to was they were being lied to."

"In a sense.  You can't make a rational choice if you don't have the facts about the situation."

"You think doing drugs is a rational choice?" Ed asked.  He was sitting nearby, so could hardly help but overhear.

"It can be.  Even when it's an emotional choice, you're still weighing factors.  You say to yourself, 'the danger isn't as important as how much better I'm going to feel.'  So, not good logic, but still, logic of a sort.  I doubt too many of them would take a drug if the seller said, 'Take this, and you'll be dead in twenty minutes.'"

Ed shrugged in acceptance of the idea.

"So, should we go?" she asked.

"Yeah, let's get it over with."

"Say, how are we getting to your truck?  I didn't see your glide car out there."

"I took a coach in this morning.  My glide car is being enlarged.  But my truck is now near the Bolmont travel gate, anyway, so we can just take a coach there, too."

"Detective Fletcher, we meet again," David said.

"Hey!  Oh, um... I don't remember your name," he said embarrassedly.

"David Stroud.  This is Officer Vivian Columbo."

"How do you do?" she asked.

"Hey," Fletcher said, shaking her hand.

"Where's your partner?" David asked.

"Court.  Something we can do for you?"

"We're here on business.  We always check in with the department when we show up, just to avoid problems.  Also, do you happen to know a pusher calling himself Magic Mike?"

"Oh, yeah.  He works in our precinct.  Word is he's a tough bastard.  Three other pushers have wound up in the hospital, thanks to him."

"Yeah, being a wizard does tend to give you a leg up in a fight."

"He's a wizard?"

"Yeah.  We're here to bring him in."

"Not that I mind, but what crime has he committed that you guys go after him for?"

"We uphold the laws of whatever jurisdiction we're working in.  In this case, he'll be arrested for dealing drugs."

"But don't you have to then bring him to us, follow our rules..."

"No.  We uphold your laws.  We don't submit to your criminal justice system.  He'll be tried in Callamandia... if he's a citizen.  I didn't check on that."

"He's not," Vivian said.  "He's only a magician."

"Shit... where do we try non-citizens?"

"There's an international court to handle it," she replied.

"Ah.  I hadn't encountered that before."

Vivian nodded.

Turning back to Fletcher, David asked, "You know where we can find this mutt?"

David and Vivian stepped out of David's truck.  Det. Fletcher stayed behind them; he was there only as an observer.

It didn't take long before they ran into interference.

"Well, if it ain't two Joes and a ho," one of the men said.  There were five of them, and they lined up to block David's path forward.

"Do you find women so threatening that you have to denigrate every one of them you meet?" Vivian asked calmly.

"Don't give me no fuckin' lip, bitch," the man said.

David turned to Vivian.  "If I kill this pig snout, will I get into trouble?"

"Unless he tries to kill one of us first, yes.  Pig snout?"

"Something that spends most of its life rooting around in its own filth," David explained.

"Ah."

"What you call me, motherfucker?" the man said, obviously offended at the comparison.

"I called you a pig snout.  Was it the word pig, or the word snout, that you stumbled over?  Perhaps you were unaware that pigs had snouts?"

"Oh, you should'n'a fucked with me, asshole."

"Why not?  You're not a threat."

"I bet my .357 is," the man said, pulling it and aiming it squarely at David's head.

David was unimpressed.  "Okay, you think so?"  David sighed quietly, fading from solid to insubstantial.  Strangely, no one seemed to react to that, which made David think they were all high on something.  "Tell you what we're going to do.  I will let you empty your gun at my head.  However, if, by some miracle, I survive, I will get to use one of the several weapons I am carrying, on you.  Deal?"

"What, you got some kind of death wish, man?"

"What do you care?  You're so big and mighty, you're the one with the gun.  The man with a plan!  The macho muchacho!  Come on, Dickless, let's see what you've got."

The man fired six rounds at point blank range.  None of them, of course, hit David.  One of them did hit his truck.

"Oh, now you're in deep shit, fucknuts," David said.  "That was my truck you just hit."  David faded back to solid form.  "Now we get to play with one of my toys."

Reaching into his coat, David pulled out his sword.  "Now, you have a few options.  You can stand here and be hacked to little pieces, you can kneel and concede that you were far too stupid to win this fight to begin with, or you can run like hell.  But you'd better run fast, because if you choose that option, I'm only going to count to five before I... hey, where you going?" David shouted to the retreating backs of his fleeing victims.

 "You in some kind of mood?" Vivian asked.  "It's not like you to toy with criminals."

"You told me I couldn't kill him and not get into trouble.  We've got nothing we can arrest him on... and I wasn't about to back down from that piss ant.  That only left me with humiliating him."

Vivian sighed, then smiled slightly.  "Come on, let's go get 'Magic Mike'."

"Now, him, I can beat up if he resists, right?"

"Right."

"I hope he resists..."

Vivian chuckled.

It was only another half block before they found the building they were looking for.

"He sells out of the alley," Fletcher told them quietly.

The three entered the alley and saw him dealing to a customer as they spoke.  David quietly chanted a containment hex.

"He's going to bolt," Fletcher warned.

"Let him.  He won't get far."

The dealer and the druggie turned their heads at the same moment, and saw the three officers walking toward them.  They both took off in the opposite direction, running all out.  Even had they noticed the slight green tinge, they were running far too fast to stop in time.  They each impacted the field and were sent flying backwards, tumbling to the ground and landing in a heap.

David led the other two up to the pile which was their target.

"Michael DeSantos?" David said.

"Go to fucking hell," the guy said, groaning.  "Leave me the fuck alone..."

"You'll be alone soon enough, Mr. DeSantos.  Barnard Hill is a solitary-only facility."

Vivian said, "Michael DeSantos, you're under arrest for using magic to aid in violating the laws of your residential jurisdiction."

"You can't prove I ever used magic to do this!" DeSantos shouted.

"You were seen doing so.  Don't worry, you'll hear about it at your trial," David said.  He moved over to the other pile of human, which was just now starting to wriggle.  "I'd suggest you find a different way to pass your time and waste your money.  Perhaps skydiving without a parachute.  It's roughly as intelligent, but a lot quicker.  The rush will blow your mind... well, until your mind is splattered all over the ground..."

The man just groaned and kind of gurgled.

"You'll have to find yourself a new source, buddy.  Magic Mike is going to Prestidigitory Prison, the Sorcery Slammer, the Legerdemain Lockup, the Hocus-Pocus Hoosegow, the-"

"Oh, shut up," Vivian said, strangling on her attempt not to laugh.

David shrugged and turned back to their perpetrator.

"On your feet," Vivian said to DeSantos.  She handcuff-hexed him, and they led him back toward the truck.

"If I'd had my wand with me, you'd have been toast," DeSantos snarled at David.

"If you'd had your wand with you, chances are you'd be dead now," David replied matter-of-factly.  "You went for a whopping two years of school.  I'm in my seventh.  You are not a threat, so stop being stupid.  In fact, if you'd like, I will hand you my wand, and we can see which one of us lives long enough to make it back to Dugerra."

DeSantos paled at that, and kept his mouth shut.

"Hardly a fair wager, David.  You're already dead," Vivian said.

"Details, details," he replied with a grin.

"You really are in a mood today..."

David shrugged.

David's good mood - which had been precipitated by the successful completion of his mood room - was shattered the following Monday.

"Where to this time?" David asked with a sigh.

"Albany, New York."

"Ah, hell, not there again.  She wasn't a student, was she?"

"Not that I'm aware of.  We're not going to a campus...  Is this your glide car?"

"Yeah.  I told you it was being enlarged."

David's glide car had originally been the size of a coupe, with only the one bench seat to be sat on.  It was now the size of an SUV, with a second seat in back, plus lifted higher off the ground, with a huge cargo area in the rear.

"Probably been cheaper for you to just buy a new one."

"Except they don't make ones like this.  I checked.  I don't know why they don't, but they don't."

"Maybe you should tell them to do so."

"I did.  They brushed me off.  So I just found someone willing to modify what I had.  The gliding enchantment is very complex, so it wouldn't have been cheaper to have them enchant something else.  Making modifications to the physical car, that's no big deal."

Vivian nodded.

David and Vivian stepped out of his truck when they arrived at the address in Albany.

"No one here," David said.

"Well, it did take us a while to arrive."

David grunted.  An accident on the Turnpike had delayed them for more than an hour.  "I guess we go to the station."

"We can't.  We need to see the crime scene."

"Well, I guess we can call them, then," David said.  He pulled out his cell phone, and looked up the local police department number.  A brief call later, and the appropriate detective was on his way.  David leaned against the side of his truck, just waiting.

"Have you been in to see Joe lately?" Vivian asked.

"I am in to see Joe daily.  I'm still spending my nights at his house, for Zyla's sake.  Usually, Grace ends up falling asleep in my lap."

"It's a good thing you're doing, looking out for the family while he's laid up."

"Zyla's my friend as much as Joe is... and Grace is my god-daughter.  Why did you ask if I'd been in to see him?"

"I was wondering how he's doing.  I was in a few days ago, but he was kind of grouchy, so I didn't stay long."

David snorted.  "He's a terrible patient.  He grumps at everyone.  Just ignore it.  Or threaten to make him stay longer by smacking him really hard..."

Vivian giggled.  "I'll keep that in mind."

After a while, the detective showed up.  He introduced himself, and then led them into the crime scene.

"Door's still here, and intact," Vivian said.

David nodded.  "Scorch marks on the walls, though."

"And here on the floor... in a perfect ring."

"Yeah... detective, has the forensic team been out here yet?"

"Yes.  FIU went over the place, but other than the visual oddities, they didn't find anything to go on.  There is no trace, for instance, of an accelerant that could cause this scorch ring.  And no natural fire would make such a perfect circle."

"Right.  Time to check for magic," David said.

Vivian nodded.

David did a quick spell, and got the expected result.  "We've got a wizard here," he told her.  Turning to the detective, he asked, "What can you tell us about the victim?"

"Antonia Casini, age twenty-four," the detective started.

"A good Italian name," Vivian said.

"Yeah?" the detective said, "Well, in this case, she was good Italian scum.  Antonia Casini was accused of killing her six-month-old daughter, then partying for two weeks before then reporting the child 'missing' to the police."

"You said accused, not convicted..." David said.

"We never found a body.  Convicting someone of murder without a murder victim is a very hard thing to make stick.  She had a good lawyer, we had a shitty case."

"But you're pretty sure she did it," David said.

"I'd bet my pension on it," the detective told him.

David nodded.  He turned to Vivian and said, "So, number four.  Another scummy person taken out of their home with no sign of real violence, but signs of magic used to possibly intimidate.  Cases in Maine, Connecticut and New York.  Three women, one man, all in their twenties.  Identical MO in every case."

"But no sure proof it's the same person doing it," Vivian said.

David nodded.  "It is conceivable that a small group of wizards got together and is using the same tactics for their own ends.  I will, however, stipulate that logically, whoever is doing this, if it isn't one person, they know each other."

"I'd have to agree.  The timing would be too coincidental otherwise."

The detective asked, "What are you two talking about?"

David said, "We believe this to be part of a string of serial kidnappings that has taken place across the northeast.  This was done by a wizard, so it is our case.  That ring on the floor, and those scorches on the walls, those were done by magic."

"Uh-huh," the detective said, a little non-plussed.

David simply held up his hand and formed an energy ball.  "Care to get hit by it?  It won't kill you, but you won't like it, either."

The detective stared at it for the longest time, then shook his body slightly to break free of its hold.  David then extinguished the ball.

"So, where do we go from here?" the detective asked.

"We'll need to look over the case file from her investigation.  It is possible that this was done by someone who had an axe to grind."

"But you said it was a serial thing..."

"One of the possibilities is that our wizard is working for-hire, and that he isn't actually associated with the people at all."

The detective nodded.  "All right, well we'll have to go back to the office for that."

"Lead the way," David said.

"So how are classes going?" David asked Lydia.  He was taking a day off, as it was the Festival of Merlin.  He and the Peg Riders had performed their demonstration early in the afternoon, and beyond that, he had nothing official to do.  Spending time with his sort-of girlfriend seemed a good way to relax.

"Tougher than expected," she admitted.  "Especially Potions."

"Who's your instructor?"

"Prof. Flamelle."

"I don't know her.  Is she tough?"

"Not especially.  The problem is that she's incomprehensible!"

David chuckled.  "Sorry, I'm not the best person to ask for sympathy with Potions.  It comes a bit too easily to me.  But I might be able to give you some help with your homework..."

"That'd be nice," she said.  After a few moments of silence, she asked, "So, what's up with you and Christa?  She still after you?"

"As much as ever, yes," David replied with a sigh.  "Thankfully work has kept me off campus a lot, so she hasn't had a lot of opportunity, but every time she catches me alone, it's like fighting off a tangle tree."

"Why not just boink the bitch and be done with it?"

David shrugged.  "Because she's the king's daughter, and I'd kind of feel like I was betraying his trust to do that, when he expects me to be keeping her safe."

"No one says the king has to know..." Lydia offered.

"Why are you encouraging me to sleep with other women?" he asked with a grin.

"Because I think she'll leave you alone once you do, and then I can have you all to myself again," she replied with a corresponding smile.

"Uh-huh," David said, unconvinced.  "You don't have me to yourself, anyway, given there's always Olissa... and I thought you didn't want me permanently, anyway."

"Yeah, well... Want to get dinner?" Lydia asked.

"Sure, but you're clearly dodging the question."

As they approached the cafeteria entrance, they saw the line.

"A line?  For dinner?  What're they serving, roast dragon?" Lydia asked.

David shook his head.  "That idiotic magic troupe is back again.  They'll expect you to demonstrate some magic for them."

Sure enough, when they reached the front of the line, one of the two wizards said, "Welcome to our feast.  To enter, you must demonstrate your most spectacular magic."

Lydia considered for a moment, then performed an illusion charm that had bats issuing from the top of her head.

"I always knew you had bats in your belfry," David said to her with a smirk.

"I'm only crazy for you," she said with a smile.

"A bit dull, but satisfactory.  You may pass," the man said.

The other wizard spoke to David.  "Your most impressive magic, if you please."

"I don't want to discourage the first-years," David said.  "Just let me past."

"Not without a bit of magic, young demighost," he said.

"Fine," David said with a sigh.  Bringing his hands together, a small spark of light emerged.  As David pulled his hands further apart, the light grew, until it was obvious that it was a ball of electricity, lines of charge flowing over its glowing surface.

The ball grew and grew as David pulled his hands further apart, until the ball was three feet in diameter.  David then launched it straight up, until it was a hundred feet over the lunch hall.  At that point, David clapped his hands, and then threw them wide.  A rolling peal of thunder echoed across the field as the lightning ball dissipated into thin air, strokes shooting in all directions.

Behind him, several students screamed, and others gasped.  After a pause, several applauded.

"Good enough?" David asked the wizard with a challenging look.

"Yes, quite impressive.  You may pass."

As David joined Lydia, she said, "I didn't know there was enough electricity around here to make a big ball like that."

"Prof. Rutherford ramps up the electricity generators during the feast, so that people can play."

"Wow.  That looks like it's hard to do."

"It's not easy," he agreed.  "Come on, I'm starving."

"No you're not, you're changing the subject," she said with a grin.

"Okay, fine.  You're starving."

"Too true.  Let's eat."

"So that was your first ever Festival of Merlin?" David asked.

"Yeah.  They don't have one in Travaysal, and the family never went over to Senesty, let alone to the festival city."

"Where is the festival city for the Feast of Merlin?" David asked.

"Cormatsen."

"Why there?"

"It's the home of the first wizard college in Callamandia."

"Good reason, I guess.  Anyway, that's pretty much it for the festival.  What do you want to do now?"

"I hear that, in our second year, we get to learn sex magic," Lydia said.

"Annnnd...." David said, leading her.

"And I wondered if you'd like to give me a sneak peek at what I'm gonna be learning!"

David grinned at her, and then they headed for the Monster Moat.

David was having a quiet lunch with Dean Lengel when his mirror buzzed.  It was a rare day that he remained on campus this year so far, and he was annoyed to have his time interrupted.

"What's up?" he asked Joe when the face appeared in the mirror.

"We need you down here.  We've got a bandit on the loose.  He just tried to rob the Bank of Callamandia."

"Tried?"

"Well, he didn't get very much.  Just a few granas that were in the open.  In any case, it's a crime against the king, and we've got to catch him."

"Can't you just trace him?  I mean, surely he's got to be blazing magic all over the place..."

"He's using speed magic, and running us in circles.  We simply can't get him cornered."

"And one more guy's gonna help that?"

"Couldn't hurt," Joe said.

David thought for a second, then he asked, "Is it possible to deputize people?"

"Deputize?"

"Give them limited authority to effect an arrest."

"Oh, I see what you mean.  Yes, we can commission Rimohr Delegates.  They have only the power to detain a specific individual for the imminent arrival of a Rimohr officer or agent."

"Okay.  I'll be down with some help in about a half hour."

"See you then."

David signed off with Joe, then stopped and thought for just a moment.

"Who are you going to get to help you?" Dean Lengel asked.

David just smiled at her, then he turned back to his mirror.  "Ellen Abernathy," David told the mirror.  In a moment, her face appeared.

"David!  Good to see you.  I thought the demonstration was glorious!  Did you make any new contacts?"

"A couple.  Look, I need you to call together the Peg Riders for me.  I have a job for them."

"Oh?"

"The Rimohrs need help tracking someone down in Bolmont.  A little coverage from the air would go a long way."

"Will this be dangerous?" she asked.

"Shouldn't be.  We can keep them at a distance if we need to, but I think the pegs could be a real help in cornering this guy."

"Okay.  Where do you want them to meet you?"

"Tell them to catch up with me on the way to Bolmont.  I'll tell Cupcake to fly slow."

"She's not gonna like that."

"Don't I know it.  Let's move on this, okay?"

"You got it."

David put away his mirror and turned to the dean.  "Sorry to interrupt our lunch."

She waved it away.  "You've got work to do.  Good luck."

"Thanks."

David ran the short distance to the Savage Hall Annex, and whistled for Cupcake, who, sensing his urgency, came at a gallop.  He vaulted the fence just as she slid to a stop.  One smooth jump had him up on her back.

"We're going to Bolmont, but we have to let the other Peg Riders catch up with us, so don't go too fast until they do."

Cupcake snorted unhappily at being restrained, but she leapt into the air anyway, turning southwest for Bolmont.

Cupcake wasn't good at restraining herself, and so the other riders only caught up to them at the very outskirts of Bolmont.  David led them toward the Rimohr HQ, and brought the guild to a halt in the street right outside the offices.

Joe was there waiting with Vivian.  They had been expecting his glide car, not a parade of pegs.

"What the hell is this?" Joe asked in shock.

David looked back at the guild members, then turned back to Joe, "Meet the Rimohr-Commissioned Mounted Patrol."

"When did the Rimohrs commission a mounted patrol?" Vivian asked with a grin, knowing the answer.

"In about ten seconds or so, when Joe gets his bearings back."  To Joe, he said, "I'm surprised they let you out of the infirmary already.  It's not even been three weeks."

"They couldn't put up with his grumpy self any longer," Vivian said.

David smirked and nodded.

"He's on desk duty, though.  Can't go out and have fun with us young folk."

"Well, you know, with advanced years, you gotta slow down."

Vivian nodded, not bothering to hide her chuckle.

"Are you two done?" Joe grumped.

"Um... yeah, I think so.  For the moment," David concluded.

Joe motioned to the Peg Riders behind David.  "You want me to commission... all of them?" Joe asked.

"Just in case," David confirmed.  "I'm hoping that they won't get close enough to need it.  What we'll do is provide you with eyes in the sky, so that we can see where this guy is going, and maybe help you get ahead of him.  With so many of us, it'll be hard for him to avoid us all.

"If need be, however, we can swoop down and detain him until you get there."

"Try not to detain him too painfully," Vivian said.

David harrumphed.  "Unless he's a Clan member, he'll be fine."

"Right," Joe said.  He turned to the others and had them raise their right hands.  "Do you swear, with due gravity and consideration, and under penalty of international law, to perform your duty with proper attention and care for the safety of the innocent, and do you swear to use only the necessary force to detain your fugitive?"

All the riders behind David said, "I do."

"You are hereby commissioned as Rimohr Delegates for the next twenty-four hours.  Your fugitive target is the man who robbed the Bank of Callamandia.  His picture is here," Joe handed the picture to David, who made himself a copy of it, then handed it back to the others, who did likewise.

"If you can avoid getting involved, please do so.  I don't need civilian casualties on my conscience or my record.  Use your mirrors to call in to me or David.  David... you have all the authority you need, and you know what to do.  Go do it."

"Aye-aye, mon capitan!" David said with a flourished salute.  He then wheeled Cupcake around to face the others.  "This guy could be anywhere within the city.  There are Rimohrs and others watching the roads out of town, so it is unlikely he's gotten clear.  We'll divide up as such," he said, and started pointing to each rider and giving them an area to search.  "I'll search the area around my home.  It's close to the woods, and he might try to go that way, to get free without being seen.  Don't be a hero, folks.  We don't know if this guy's willing to fight it out.  He hasn't hexed anyone yet, but that doesn't mean squat.

"Okay, let's get moving!"

With that, Cupcake leapt hard, her wings beating furiously as she clawed her way into the sky.  She was heading toward the manor in just a couple seconds, and it didn't take them long to get there.

"Okay, girl.  You know this area as well as I do.  Keep your eyes open.  You saw the picture.  Let's just cruise up and down the roads and see what we can see."

Cupcake whinnied her acceptance of the plan, and she swooped low.  If a carriage came along, she would barely clear the head of the driver.

"David!  I think we've spotted him.  Kimble Drive and Richardson Avenue."

"On my way," David said.  He had no excitement, since this was the fifth call so far.  Three of those had been obvious false alarms.  The fourth had slipped away before David had arrived..  This one was likely a false alarm, too.  If the guy had any brains, he'd be holed up in a house someplace and wouldn't go anywhere for a week.

Cupcake covered the distance quickly, and David found the others circling lazily over an area.

"Where?" David asked.

"Down there in the apartment complex.  Laying by the pool.  You can't see from this angle, but we wanted to stay out of his line of sight.  If you go around the other way, you can see his face."

David nodded, then directed Cupcake to do just that.  He came back around to the others.

"It sure does look like him."

David called Joe on the mirror, and gave him the address.  It was only a couple minutes before three Rimohr officers arrived at the front of the apartment complex building.

"Let's wait here," David said.  "In case this guy tries to run."

Sure enough, as soon as the guy saw the Rimohrs coming outside to the pool area, he got up and made a beeline for the fence.  He was up and over it in a couple seconds, and out in the street.

"You two, stay behind him.  Cupcake, we're going to get ahead of him and circle back."

David's gorge rose as Cupcake dove for the ground, on a street parallel to the fugitive.  She went several blocks before she turned back toward the street he was on.

When they rounded the corner onto the street, they were surprised to find that the fugitive was mere feet away from them.  Cupcake reared up so as not to hit him, and David used her motion to slide off her to the ground.

The fugitive saw David, and turned to run into a nearby house.

"Rimohr Officer!  Down and freeze, or I will hex!" David shouted, yanking his wand and aiming it at the suspect.

David could see that the guy was still considering his options.  David blasted a bolt of energy past his head.  It was weak and wouldn't cause any damage to what it hit, but it didn't look that way to the fugitive.

"I said down!" David snapped.

The fugitive dropped to the ground and spread his arms out straight.

The other two riders, who had kept their distance once David had shown up, came in close now.

"Damn, I thought you were gonna run him over," Brian said.

David snorted.  "Didn't expect him to be quite that quick."  Looking down at the fugitive, David said, "Don't you move, or something bad will happen to you."

"Yes, sir.  I won't, sir.  Please don't hurt me, sir."

"You don't move, and I won't," David told him bluntly.

"Thank you, sir!" the man said.  David just shook his head.

It didn't take too long for the Rimohrs from the apartment to show up.  Tom was the leading officer.

"Hey, David, I see you got him.  How the hell did he get all the way down here?"

"That spell he's been using, I guess," David said.  "We almost didn't intercept him.  If it had taken us a couple more seconds to run the side street, he'd have been past us."

"Still, damn good job," Tom said.

David nodded.  "Brian and Delgroot spotted him.  I just came in to verify and call you guys."

"Good work, guys," Tom said to the Peg Riders, who high-fived each other.

"You need me here?" David asked Tom.

"No, why?"

"I'm gonna collect the riders, get debriefed by Joe, and then head back to Gorumshead."

"Good deal.  We'll catch you later."

"What, catching him now wasn't good enough?" David asked with a grin.

Tom chuckled and waved David away.

"All right, Chloe, tell us what we've got here," Joe told her.  He was leaning on his desk, because he was still not fully recovered.

"I've spent the last few weeks digging through records to find everything this slaver bastard owns.  It was made more difficult by the fact that he's hiding behind company names and other legal crap.

"What I finally turned up was this storefront.  It's not in operation, but yet he's still known to hire fireflies to keep it lit.  In addition to the actual shop portion, the store has a large storage area in the back.  Big enough to easily hide a few dozen daubentonians, if he crowds them in."

"Where's this place located?" Joe asked.

"Just outside of Collender," she said.

"You notice we keep moving north?" David asked.  "First Bolmont, then Balke, now Collender... is this a real trend, or just a coincidence?"

"He owns several other properties south of here," Chloe said.  "I picked this one because it seems to be active - none of the others were - and because it's the closest to our last raid."

David nodded.

"Okay, we need to get going.  It's going to take a while to get there.  Everybody, mount up!"

The Rimohrs had landed well away from the storefront, and had donned civilian-looking clothes to approach it.  They all gathered in a working pub down the street from the storefront, where they could keep an eye on it.

"So, there it is... now what?" David asked.

"Same as usual.  We go in and check it out," Joe said.

"Division of labor?" David asked.

"You feel comfortable with Chloe?" he asked.

"You realize you're asking a trainee to pass judgment on an officer, right?" David reminded him.

"Yes, because the trainee is the one with more experience."

David sighed.  "I have no problems working with Chloe."

"Okay.  You two, and Tom, will go in the front.  Vivian, you take Dikko and Peter and go in the back.  I will stay here to..."

"Drink mead and pretend you're watching," David said with a grin.

Joe growled at him.  "This desk duty shit is a pain in my ass."

"Get out of the chair once in a while," David quipped immediately.  The others laughed as Joe sputtered.

"Get going.  Keep your mirror open, in case I see something happening."

David and Chloe nodded.

As the three walked as casually as they could down the street, David asked, "So who's taking charge of this entry?"

"Tom's got seniority," Chloe said.

"You'll notice Garibaldi mentioned me last," Tom pointed out.  "Nobody puts me in charge."

"Why not?" David asked.  "You seem to be up to speed to me..."

"I don't do well in leadership roles."

"Ah.  Okay.  Chloe?"

"I don't want to screw this up.  Too many lives on the line."

"Might not be any lives on the line.  The last two were completely empty."

"I'd rather not take the chance."

David grumbled to himself, but nodded.  "Fine."

The three reached a point directly across from the building, and studied it for a long moment before they dashed across the street.  They pressed themselves against the wall, keeping out of the windows and door, which had glass panes in it.

"Joe, are Vivian and them in place?"

"Just about.  Give them another minute."

"Gotcha.  Let us know when we can go."

"Will do."

David kept looking up and down the street as he waited.  Just as Joe started to speak, David saw someone come around the corner, one building down the road.

The man had been looking down at something, but he looked up as he walked, and saw David and the others at the front door.  He didn't need a second look, but turned and ran as fast as he could back around the corner.

"Let's go!" David said.  He yanked out his wand and sped off.  In less than ten seconds, he'd rounded the corner after the runner, but he was nowhere in sight.

Tom and Chloe were soon beside David.

"Check each of these buildings.  He's got to be here somewhere.  Try to sense any magic use."

"David, there's magic all over the place here," Tom objected.

David grunted.

A long, exhaustive search that included Vivan's group turned up nothing.  Finally they gave up and returned to the original building.

"Do we go in?" David asked Joe over the mirror.

"Yes.  There might still be evidence in there."

David nodded.

"No need for finesse, I don't guess," he said to the others.  He blasted the door off and the entire group of six entered the front of the building.

The store area was empty, but they heard movement coming from the back.  David took the lead and they all moved down the hallway.  When they arrived at the door to the storeroom, David was about to blast it free, when he changed his mind.

"Avata," he said, clicking the lock open.  He pushed open the door, to find a room loaded with daubentonians, all looking frightened and confused.

"Well," David said, "We haven't got our slaver, but we found his intended slaves.  I believe this is your department," David said to Chloe.

Chloe grunted.  "I've got a lot of work to do."