The Power of Ten, Book Three : The Human Race

I was not, however, going to flip it around and look at the parts of it. “This uses Compression magitech for the cylinder and barrel, right?” I said, sighing inside about how heavy the thing was. I was such a wuss right now.

He nodded calmly. Helix was salivating at the sight of it, so Sir Pellier took his staff, and I held it out with two hands. He started to grab for it with one hand; I pulled back, glaring at him, and he sheepishly used both hands to take it.

His face changed when he held it. He did try to bring it up in one hand, and looked like he was going to break his wrist, and eventually he had to use two hands to hold it up.

“He’s four times stronger than he looks,” I told Helix kindly, as he finally lowered the pistol... was that even a pistol? “Angel Weight heavy gravity training. He can probably throw all of us over his shoulders and walk around normally. The recoil from that thing would probably knock you right over. He’s taking it on his heavyfoot and Damage Reduction, and can probably shoot it like a popgun.”

The scarred Warlock gave me an interested look, and didn’t bother to reach out to take the pistol back. It flipped right back to his hand out of Helix’s, and he holstered it with casual ease.

“Fast draw!” I smiled – click! I crossed my eyes at the barrel six inches from my nose, and the hammer driving home on an empty cylinder. Helix actually jumped, while Sir Pellier looked extremely impressed. None of us had really seen his hands move, or believed he could move that big a pistol that fast, and hold it so steadily. “You need to take some gun lessons from this man, Sir Pellier,” I observed, as he lifted the hand cannon away.

“I can see that!” the Paladin admitted. He drew his Lady Florentine at the Warlock’s questioning glance, and the snubnose automatic in the shoulder holster blossomed into the ornate Shotgun before all of us. He flipped it around once, and the barrel chopped down for short-range use. Again, and it was a long single-barreled hunting rifle, and then one more time, back to hand pistol use. “I haven’t had much time to practice with it in pistol form,” he admitted, and Warlock Fred nodded understanding.

STORM PACTS HELP WITH LONG RANGE SHOOTING. I DON’T DO MUCH SNIPING FROM A DISTANCE.

“And using your Wrath with it would just draw a big target back to where you were shooting from,” I pointed out, and he nodded agreement. “What exactly do you want us to do?”

PLUG THE WAYS OUT AND DRIVE THEM INSIDE. I WILL BE COMING FROM BELOW. THEY WILL WANT TO FLEE OUT THE SURFACE EXITS.

“Do you have a means to Interdict the area?” I asked professionally.

YES, I WILL LOCK THE AREA AGAINST SHADOWJUMPING AWAY, his flames swirled and said.

Which would also lock him in place, but he didn’t seem too worried by that.

“Are there legal ramifications?” I had to ask, looking to Sir Pellier.

“Warlocks are obligated by Patron Fiat to be in a constant state of War with their opposite numbers, and the Churches of Heaven naturally support the Heavenbound. If we kill uninvolved civilians or innocents, we will be prosecuted as murderers, and we will be responsible for any property damage we inflict on uninvolved parties.

“However, Evilbound Warlocks of any Pact are never considered innocents, and are outside the protection of the Law... as are the Heavenbound who hunt them.” He looked at Warlock Fred grimly, who just shrugged.

I was impressed that they managed to keep Hellbound outside the law, then considered some of the Hellpacts, and realized it probably hadn’t been that hard at all... and the Churches of Heaven wouldn’t have respected that law on its face. The lack of protection for the Heavenbound just meant mortal authorities wouldn’t be avenging what was ultimately a clash of Alignments that was going to happen regardless of what they did.

Simply by distributing knowledge of the conditions and powers of the Pacts basically meant nobody in their right mind would trust a Dark Warlock, and they were liable to be shot by anybody with sense... including their own people, in many situations.

Nevertheless, Hellpacts were boundlessly easy to acquire, as all you had to do was bargain away your soul. For the chance to wield magic, even corrupt as it was, there were no end of suckers willing to take that step. Five hundred per major Alignment per world at a time...

“The wererats, then?” I asked.

“Organized crime families, for the most part. While we can’t just shoot one out of nowhere, a wererat pretending to be human loses any legal protection at all in a fight against a human. The Lunar Clans generally police one another, and will act against one another if they start grabbing for power in human society... as will various other forces.

“Generally, it’s considered a conflict among the Powered, and the main thrust of the law is to determine who is responsible, making sure it isn’t more than an internal conflict. There’s generally high-level communication to make sure that’s the situation, but if it’s someone stirring the waters, both parties will generally unite to take out the outsider.”

Sir Pellier had definitely been listening to stories about this, but it was probably all common knowledge the way Helix and Warlock Fred were both nodding.

“The rats even talking to Warlocks is a perfect chance for the other clans to bring in someone else to wipe them all,” Helix said cheerfully. “They must be pretty circumspect about this. Someone had to have ratted them out.”

We all rolled eyes at him, and he just beamed at his pun.

IT WAS THE GHOULS, Warlock Fred’s flaming letters admitted. THEY PROBABLY PASSED IT ON THROUGH THE VAMPIRES. THE RATS KEEP FORGETTING THEY AREN’T THE ONLY LORDS OF THE SEWERS, AND OFTEN HAVE CONFLICTS WITH THE GHOULS.

“Dubravo?” Helix blurted out, earning more looks. “I, uh, was going to recommend that Miss Traveler go see him. He often deals in esoteric magic acquired by, uh, alternate methods.” He winced as he looked at Sir Pellier, who frowned back at him.

DUBRAVO HAS A VERY LONG REACH, Warlock Fred admitted without a change in expression. HE DEALS WITH A GREAT VARIETY OF BEINGS WITH LITTLE HESITATION.

“Surprise, surprise,” murmured Sir Pellier. “A Ghoul Sage is not a minor player, no matter where they choose to set up shop.”

Ghoul Sage? Local term, or did it mean a ghoul Caster? Have to find out...

“So their location was leaked, but why did it come to you?” I turned to look at Warlock Fred. “I expect someone wants to kill you while using you by bringing you in. Is there a fourth party involved in this?”

THE ILLUMINATI MAY BE INTENDING TO SET UP SHOP HERE. I WAS TRAILING A LICH NAMED BARON VON NACHTAL INTO THIS AREA, CLEANING UP SOME OF HIS PAWNS. HE’S KEPT A NICE STEP OR THREE IN FRONT OF ME.

I had to blink. “A true lich?” I had to ask. The minimum Level to become a Lich was Eleven, and generally, the higher the better.

He gave me a curious look. I AM NOT SURE OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WHAT HE IS AND A ‘TRUE’ LICH, BUT THAT IS HOW HE IS REFERRED TO. HE IS HIGHLY ADEPT IN ILLUSION AND BODYMORPHING MAGIC, AND APPARANTLY FAMILIAR WITH MANY OF THE ELDER VAMPIRES.

“The Illuminati have a lot of power in Europe and the Middle East. Thought we were mostly free of them in America,” Sir Pellier spoke up.

THEY HAVE ALWAYS HAD A PRESENCE HERE, BUT NEVER DOMINANCE. THE MAGI AND THE TEMPLARS HAVE CHECKED THEM, AND THE ARRIVAL OF THE GODS WITH THE SHROUD IS CERTAINLY DISCOMFITING THEM.

Helix looked really excited, as he was now ‘listening in’ on some pretty high-level talk that wasn’t rumor or random speculation. Gossip chowder!

“So, let’s assume this is a trap for you, as well as for the rats. Or just a straight-up trap for you with the Hellbound and the rats. They are smugglers, right? And the Gilded prefer to gain power in the criminal underworld, too. Ideal contacts for someone attempting to set up a route between the old world and here, if only as a relay point to get to Boston. How does that change what you will do?”

He regarded me, obviously thinking through things, and shrugged. HIGHER AMMUNITION EXPENDITURE, he replied fatalistically.

“Is there a reason Dubravo wouldn’t be working with a lich?” I inquired.

MOST OF THE FREE UNDEAD CLANS ARE RIVALS BY NATURE, PARTNERS BY NECESSITY. THE ILLUMINATI AND THE UNDEAD HAVE A COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP I DON’T PRETEND TO UNDERSTAND. THE NECROMANCERS RESPECT THE UNDEAD, BUT ALSO WANT TO DOMINATE THEM. A LICH IS BY NATURE AMONG THE MOST ELITE OF UNDEAD, AND WOULD LOOK AT THE VAMPIRES AND GHOULS AS LESSER BEINGS THAT SHOULD SERVE IT.

“I bet that gets them lots of fans,” I muttered, and the three men snickered. The Illuminati were the necromancy-using Caster set, and the Magi obviously were not. The Templars... who knew how they fit in. Legends only said they dickered in sorcery and stuff, with no proof... and in the no-magic world Terra-Luna used to be, was just that.

It also meant there were magical organizations in this place before the Shroud really brought in the magic. I had to wonder how that heritage was working with the entire world being thrown open to magic. Secret societies could have really taken a leadership role... or not, possibly because of the divine presence and power of the Alignments coming in and making themselves known.

Huh...

“But that changes how we should deploy, right? They’re going to have bait, then they’re going to have reinforcements. The whole objective isn’t to contain them, it’s to break the ambush.”

CORRECTION. THE OBJECTIVE IS TO KILL AS MANY OF THE HELLBOUND AS POSSIBLE, Warlock Fred flamed calmly.

“And the anthromorphs are just targets of opportunity?” He nodded once. “So, we’re not going to chase them, just kill them as we can. Fine. But we want to break the ambush. Where is it at?”

ONE OF THE MANY WAREHOUSES THEY OWN. His thin smile showed he knew exactly how dangerous that might be. THEY WILL BE MEETING THERE AFTER THE SUN GOES DOWN.

“Let’s assume they have teams already in position in the surrounding area. How’s your stealth chops?”

POSITIONALLY ADEQUATE. I CAN RIDE THE LIGHT OR SHADOWS, FLY FOR SHORT DISTANCES, AND CREATE AREAS OF DARKNESS OR FOG.

Multiple Pacts gave a lot of abilities. He was better than a Caster in some ways, just sticking to low Valence effects. Helix looked a bit envious.

“Sir Pellier, what do you think of the three of us creating a distraction, popping a few of them, and running away?” I asked directly.

The Paladin looked thoughtful at the idea, glancing at the scarred Warlock. “We’re assuming they are expecting Master Fred here. If we show up, that’s going to entirely throw off their game... especially if a Paladin Smites with, say, a Carbine or Handgun, and a Stormbound with purple hair and a bright blue staff is throwing around lightning.”

“But I don’t... oh!” Helix spoke up, grinning widely. “We’re putting on a show!”

AND YOUR ROLE?, asked the interested Warlock.

“I’ll be on Detect Shapechanger, Message, and back-up.” I flicked up my Shards, and his eyes narrowed in great interest at the sight of five of them. “However, their appearance is too singular. I don’t want to use them unless nobody lives to pass on their colors.”

HOW WILL YOU GET INTO POSITION?, he asked calmly.

“So, how’s the temple’s store of alchemicals?” I asked archly.