“I don’t like him.” EB said with a touch of bitterness in his voice.
Arx, seated at the same briefing table, asked, “Why?”
EB, the only other person present, said, “I just don’t.”
“But you were the one who convinced Justin to trust him? Do you no longer trust him?” Arx asked.
EB folded his little arms and pouted. “I trust he isn’t our enemy. I’ll grant that. But, he’s too pretty. I mean, those chiseled good looks, all those muscles, and sheesh, put on some pants dude.”
“Oh, I see. You’re jealous.” Arx smiled.
“Am not! He’s just too handsome and, too, I don’t know, flirty. Did you see the way he was winking and smiling at Chase? I mean, get a room... wait, no, don’t get a room. Don’t even think about that. Why can’t we find him a room on the base in Alaska? That’s the perfect place to put him.”
Chase walked into the room and sat. “EB, are you already complaining about our guest? You can’t be jealous of every handsome man who visits the station.”
“You called him handsome! Does he have a spell on you or something?”
She let out a heavy sigh. “He does not have a spell on me or anything. He is handsome. His smile is sweet, his chest is beefy, and he has the most adorable little tail.”
EB hopped up on the table, turned around and wiggled his little puffy tail at her. “What? Look, I have a cute tail, a charming smile, and... okay, so I don’t have all the muscles, but I am a bunny rabbit. I can’t exactly beef up. But, seriously...”
“This is neither the time nor the place to talk about that sort of thing.” Justin walked in with a tablet in his hand. “Where is our guest of honor?”
“I’ll go get him. He might be lost.” Chase said.
“You should be careful around him.” EB muttered.
Chase angrily asked, “Why?”
“Oh, you know, he’s a Satyr. I mean, haven’t you read the myths and legends? Satyrs are sex crazed tricksters. They’re disgusting, lecherous, ...”
Torrik walked in with a cup in his hand. “What else am I?”
Chase said, “EB was just telling us about the ancient legends of satyrs.”
“Oh,” he sat down in a chair, “I see. Most of my kind left this world four thousand years ago with the original migration to the magical realm. A few stayed behind. So, whatever you know about my people would be from those who were here long after the rest of us. I don’t know how they acted or what they did, but they certainly don’t represent those of us who moved away.” He took a drink and wretched, “Oh, that’s horrible.”
“What is it?” Arx asked.
“Something your kitchen maid in the messy place gave me called Caff...cov...um...”
“Coffee,” Chase said.
“That’s it. Coffee. This is terrible.”
“It’s an acquired taste,” Chase said.
Justin cleared his throat and said, “Mind if we get on with this meeting?” Everyone quieted down and looked at him. “Okay, this is the situation. We have all monitoring stations and leagues on the lookout for any suspicious activity from Nova, Lady Echidna, or any of her minions. I have put special measures into place to guard from another situation like the one in Stockholm. However, everything is quiet.”
“Lady Echidna is not on the move?” Arx asked.
Justin said, “I believe her operation is currently searching for the Egg. Gar is currently securing the egg where it will be protected for now.”
Torrik said, “What is this egg?”
EB said, “Uh, it is the... um... well, Justin will yell at me if I say it...”
Justin pinched the bridge of his nose. “It is the Eye of the Hydra you were looking for.”
“Hey, you said we weren’t sup’osed to say that out loud,” EB scolded him.
Justin gave EB a withering glare and then said, “We have it hidden in a secret location that will only be known to one person for now.”
“Then have that person take me to it,” Torrik casually said.
“Not yet. I have a plan. But I need some information first.”
Torrik sat back and asked, “What do you need to know?”
“Everything. Who is this Lady Echidna... or Queen of Black Magic as you called her? What does she plan on doing?”
Torrik said, “It is a long story.”
“Any information could prove vital.” Justin took his seat and waited for answers.
Torrik laughed, “All business, I like that. The Queen of Black Magic was once, long ago, a member of a group called the ArcBlades. They were the most powerful, skilled warriors in all the known universe. ArcBlades were seemingly immortal and had unparalleled powers. They were also honorable and devoted to protecting the innocent. At that time, the magical kinds who currently live in my world were living on Earth. The Queen of Black Magic started a war between the magical and non-magical kinds. However, she then divided the magical peoples against one another with those who believed in her ways against those who did not. We called it the War of Three Sides. It almost destroyed everything. Merlin the Great ended the war, and the Queen was defeated.”
“How long ago was this?” Chase asked.
“In your years, roughly four thousand.”
Arx asked, “Are you that old?”
Torrik snorted, “No. I’m only two hundred.” He said this as if it were a simple thing.
Justin asked, “If the Queen was defeated so long ago, what happened to her?”
Torrik said, “Our kinds left this world and settled in a new world that Merlin had founded for us. The Queen followed us there in disguise, falling into the ranks of the few remaining ArcBlades. She convinced others among the ArcBlades to continue her original plan for domination over the lesser magical peoples. She was defeated and exiled back here, along with a small legion of her own followers. Five others fell with her back to this world. We don’t know much more after that, only that she cursed four of the others and turned them into terrible monsters. We believe she transformed their power into stones that she used to control the very fabric of magic. Her goal was to return to our world and conquer it. But she was thwarted. Legend says that her first general was the one who stopped her and he banished her to yet another realm and hid the stones. That was the last we had in our history books. Not until recently, when we sensed the use of the dark magic, did we have any idea that she was still even alive.”
Chase said, “Could this general be Nova?”
Torrik shrugged. “I don’t know his name. I doubt anyone from my realm knows it. Much has been lost in all these centuries.”
EB said, “It is true. Nova is an ArcBlade.”
Justin asked, “What do you know?”
“Nova once told me about himself. When he learned who I was, who my people were, he knew that we were like the people of Yohan. My race, the Vexillians, are also a magical kind, but of another world. Your world has many non-magical people, which caused the problems that led to the magical people leaving. The Vexillians lived in a world where all were magical. But, long ago, our two peoples knew each other. He told me that he was a disgraced member of a once proud group called the ArcBlades. Though he lost his honor, he would get it back by devoting himself to defending this world and keeping it safe. He told me never to even say the name ArcBlade aloud. But, now that you all know, I guess it’s alright.”
Chase asked, “Does this Queen want to get back to your world still? Is that her goal?”
“I can’t say for certain, since I never met her or know what she is thinking today. But if history is repeating itself, then she is probably trying to get back.”
“Why?” Justin asked. “If she merely wants to subjugate a world, why go after yours when she is already here?”
“Again, I don’t know what is on her mind today. But, the truth is, she gained her power through an unforgivable magic... blood sacrifice. She murdered many to gain greater power. She even sacrificed her own to craft the stones that control the monsters under her command. Magical blood is powerful. She wants to return to obtain that power again. That, at least, was her original goal.”
Justin asked, “If you take the stone back with you, will she be able to get it?”
“No. She and her general were both banished by extremely powerful magic, which is why she needs the stones to return. Also, there is a great divide between our realms filled with magical beasts to stop any who try to cross it without permission.”
“Then we have our objective. Find the remaining stones and return them to your world for safekeeping.” Justin said.
Chase asked, “How do we do that?”
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