Chapter 21

Vince spread his arms out, hoping to keep Sergeant Murphy from noticing the bizarre sight behind him. He was more successful than he had been with Marazza. “M-morning, officer.”

Murphy ignored Vince, to his surprise. “Ms. Sintala—”

“Ag Sintala,” said Nanora in a polite but firm voice. “Sintala is my clan’s name, so I’m of them. It would be Ms. ag Sintala.”

“Honey, I don’t much care what you want to be called.” He holstered his gun, which Vince took as progress. “Though you lied through your teeth before. Looks like you two are in cahoots.”

Nanora’s face flushed. “What? I am not… well.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “He may not be quite so villainous as I thought.”

“Is this the time?” asked Vince. With the officer’s focus on the witch, he chanced a look over his shoulder. Bayla was obscured by a faintly glowing energy cocoon. Her transformation wasn’t this slow before. Is it because she isn’t just changing on instinct? Is this what control looks like?

Vince had made the mistake of drawing the officer’s attention back on himself. “Good question, Vincent Meyer of Cedar Hill Condominiums on 8th street, Unit 5E.”

The young man winced. “You looked me up, huh?”

Murphy strode forward, his thumbs looped in his belt. “Son, your girlfriend KO’d me before. You think I wasn’t gonna take that personally? I’m glad you’re here; it saved me a trip.”

Nanora tilted her head. “You told me it was Vince who assaulted you.”

Murphy stopped in place, looking slightly sheepish. “So I did. Well, they were together, so he was an accessory.”

“I see,” said Nanora, casting a remorseful look Vince’s way. “I am not the liar here, then.”

Murphy looked Vince’s way, not wanting to look Nanora in the eye right then. “You alright, son? You look like you’re having an attack.”

“You aren’t far off.” Vince’s knees knocked, and not just because he was weary; thinking of Marazza had reminded him that his arm had been halfway down a shark’s throat not ten minutes before. “It’s been an exciting couple of days.”

“You’re telling me,” replied the officer. “Somebody want to explain what the hell happened here?”

“Language!” chided Nanora. Nobody paid her any mind.

“I can explain that,” said an unexpected voice from behind. A firm hand patted Vince’s shoulder twice. “You may stand down, Champion. This constable knows better than to threaten us by now… if he is wise.”

Vince looked at where he expected Bayla’s face to be as she walked past him, but he got a look at her chest instead. He shifted his gaze up quickly. Good thing she’s got her Aqua Armor clothes again, or this’d get embarrassing.

Murphy gave the orca a once over, his eyes narrowing. “Weren’t you shorter?”

Bayla looked down at herself and spun around, showing all of her sharpened teeth as she grinned. “So I was! Fantastic, I have some control over my form, even if I am stuck as a Landmaiden.”

Bayla stood a head taller than she had before. That still only put her eyes in line with Vince’s shoulder, which was fine by him. Considering how many times I’ve had to carry her, that’s about what I can manage.

“Glad you pulled through,” said Vince, lowering his arms to his side. “That took too long for my comfort.”

“It was not a diverting experience for me, either,” huffed Bayla.

Murphy rubbed his temples. “So… y’know what, I can’t decide if that sabretooth cat or that little girl growing up overnight is weirder. But that isn’t important right now. The hell was all that racket?” He cast his eyes upwards, seeing the cracked timbers from Vince’s impact. “Shit, what am I gonna put in my report?’

“Language,” said Nanora again, though she sounded more resigned to Murphy’s vocabulary. “We fought a battle here against a mighty foe. It was only through our combined effort that we drove him away!”

“I doubt that,” said Bayla, studying Sergeant Murphy. “Marazza still had plenty of fight left in him. He must have heard the approaching wail and left. It was rather obnoxious; I wanted to flee as well. I take it that racket was your doing?”

“The call said there were lions roaring underneath the wharf, bright lights, and people shouting. You better believe I’m flashing the sirens,” replied Murphy. “And what in God’s name is a Marazza?”

Vince stepped forward. “A land-shark, basically. Nasty customer, too.” He bent down, retrieving one of Marazza’s shed teeth from the sand. “See?”

“We forced him to flee, though,” insisted Nanora.

“Not really,” said Vince. “He kinda ripped through your summons. Bit the leg off your sabretooth, remember? I didn’t do a lot better.”

Murphy’s face went white. “It beat that monster?”

Nanora poked at Murphy’s chest. “Yarlan is not a monster! He is a sweet boy.”

“But this Marazza… thing ate him up.” After a moment’s thought, Murphy spun on his heel and started walking back towards the rocks. “That’s it, I’m out.”

“What do you mean, you’re out?” Vince caught up with him easily, with Bayla and Nanora following closely behind.

“Kid, you know what they pay me for?” The mustached man took off his broad-brimmed hat to wipe the nervous sweat off his forehead. “To write speeding tickets and throw out-of-towners in the drunk tank on weekends. Supernatural shit? Monsters? Super-strong orca cosplayers? I’m calling somebody else. I don’t know who just yet, but the FBI sounds like a decent place to start. Maybe the National Guard.”

“What? No, if you do that, they’ll capture Bayla!” Or worse. He did not give that last thought voice, just out of superstition. “They’ll put her in a lab somewhere and throw away the key!”

“If there’s monsters on Fin Island, the world needs to know,” he countered. He cast nervous glances at Bayla and picked up the pace.

He’s scared. Can’t say that I blame him; hell, I’m scared too. And Bayla isn’t exactly gentle.

While Vince considered his next words, Nanora took her shot. “You cannot!” Nanora blocked his path, flinging her arms wide. “It is my sworn duty to keep Avalas a secret from the down-planers. If that knowledge became widespread, I would be stripped of my title!”

Murphy frowned. “Sounds like this Marazza thing beat a bunch of your pets?”

Nanora nodded reluctantly, casting a mournful look at her blackened summoning charms. “Yes, he is a worthy foe.”

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“They weren’t all burnt up last night, except the one,” he said. “Probably means you can’t ‘summon’ them either.”

“Yes, that is correct,” said Nanora, adding a sad nod.

“Then make me,” said Murphy, brushing past her.

Nanora stood there, her mouth working silently as she pondered his brusque manner.

Bayla preferred actions to words, and before Vince could object, she had tackled the portly policeman to the ground. “I accept your terms,” she said, pinning his right arm behind his back.

“Bayla!” Vince ran up alongside them, his adrenaline banishing the soreness from his limbs. “Sir, I am so sorry. I swear, she doesn’t mean it.”

“Funny,” grunted Murphy as he struggled against Bayla’s iron grip. Between her taught muscles and leverage, his efforts were futile. “Assaulting me twice in twenty-four hours kinda seems like she means it!”

“I will release you if you swear to not inform this eff-bee-eye,” said Bayla. “It sounds like things would be stormy if they become involved.”

“Bayla, you need to let him go.” Vince’s tone was firm, but he kept his voice under control.

“When he promises,” she insisted, enjoying her newly increased leverage.

“Bayla! You can’t do this to a goddamn sheriff!” Vince’s arms wrapped around her stomach and pulled as hard as he could.

To everybody’s surprise, he not only lifted Bayla, but Murphy with her as she refused to break her grip. The three flopped to the ground, Vince and Bayla in a tangle of limbs. Murphy had hit the ground chest first, and he cried out as the wind was knocked out of him.

“Oh my,” said Nanora, clutching nervously at her staff, unsure of what to do.

“Stand down, Vince!” barked Bayla, rising onto all fours over him. “You just agreed that my enemies are yours, and this man has made himself my enemy.”

“No, you did that,” said Vince. “You keep jumping him every chance you get!”

She shot him a threatening glare that stopped his heart for a moment. “You said that if he leaves, the eff-bee-eye would capture me. I will not be kept in a cage for the diversion of some Landmen like those other poor orcas! I will end this man’s life first, and then our secret shall be kept.”

“I-I cannot allow that,” said Nanora, clearly distraught by the worsening situation. “My mission is to protect each side of the Veil from the other. That includes Constable Murphy as much as it does you.”

“This is all insane,” wheezed the still prone Murphy.

“Let’s finish this,” said Bayla.

The orca cried out as Vince’s grip found her wrist. He withdrew his hand, and his face blanched as he spotted red marks his grip had left. “Oh no. Bayla, are you okay?”

“Okay?” she asked, clutching at her wounded limb. “No, you just… wait. How did you wound me? You are strong for a Landman, but not so strong as that.”

While their attention was divided, Murphy managed to get back on his feet. The pair looked up to see the black barrel of Murphy’s pistol.

“On the ground! Both of you are under arrest!” His eyes were wild with terror, which frightened Vince more than the gun itself. “Screw the FBI, I’m calling the army, the navy, the—”

The business end of Nanora’s crystalline rod caught Murphy on the back of the head, dropping him like a sack of rice. The pistol went flying, half burying itself in the sand.

Vince and Bayla stopped their struggles, both gawking at the Ivory Witch in slack-jawed befuddlement.

With a grunt, Nanora flopped him back onto his back and brushed the sand out of his mustache. “Sometimes even allies of good have to use tough love,” she said, sounding a tad sheepish. “It was for his own safety; I know you were going to do worse, Princess Wakerider. Will you relent now that he is no danger?”

“For now,” she replied.

Satisfied with Bayla’s answer, Nanora tended to the unconscious Murphy.

With one crisis averted, Vince realized that he and Bayla were in a slightly compromised position. They were face to face, him on his back and her on all fours over him. The part of his mind that was not busy being irate with Bayla noticed that more had changed about the orca than her height. Her face had lost some traces of youth. Before, Sergeant Murphy had thought she was too young to drink, and he could not blame him. Now she looked subtly older, closer to his own twenty-six.

Vince nearly forgot his was upset with the orca as she stood up and began brushing herself off. Sheesh, I didn’t think she could get any hotter; I guess she just had to put her mind to it.

He shook his head. Think with your brain! That doesn’t mean she can get away with literal murder!

She cast a withering look down at him before offering a hand up. “You do not seem to understand your role as my champion.”

“And you don’t seem to get how screwed we’ll be if we tangle with the government! Tanks and planes and… crap you have no idea what I’m talking about.” He took her hand, still startled by her change in height. “Either way, you can’t go around killing people.”

“He threatened me,” she countered. “I do not tolerate such behavior at home, so I certainly will not tolerate it on land!”

“That’s—”

Nanora had put a finger on either side of her mouth, blowing a piercing whistle that echoed all through the wharf’s underside. She looked sheepish when the two turned to face her.

“My apologies; we have no time to argue,” said Nanora. “When Constable Murphy does not report back, they will send that nice Constable Tammy to check up on him. We should not be there when she arrives.”

“Tammy?” asked Vince. “Who’s that?”

“You don’t know the name of your constables?” asked Nanora with a note of doubt in her voice.

“I never had much cause to deal with the sheriff’s department until you two showed up!”

“What about him?” asked Bayla, nodding to the unconscious Murphy.

“That can wait a minute; Nanora clocked him pretty good,” said Vince.

The redheaded witch blushed. “Oh no, I really did.” She bent down, checking his pulse. “Oh thank the Creator, he’s still alive.”

“I’m almost surprised; it was a fine blow,” replied Bayla. “I am not healing him this time,” she added with a huff, her arms crossed beneath her chest.

“It didn’t need to happen, but Nanora’s right; this isn’t the time to argue. But I’m not going a step further unless you tell me what a Champion is. What did I sign up for?”

“Is it not obvious?” asked Bayla.

“No, you didn’t exactly spell it out back on the beach,” he retorted. “What am I now, your serf? Your knight?”

“It was in the vow; my enemies are now yours,” replied Bayla. “We orcas live in pods led by the Matriarchs, and the greatest magical power is passed down the royal bloodlines.”

“Guessing that’s how they got to be royal to start with,” said Vince. “Kinda like the kings and queens of Earth, only replace magic with money or popularity. If the Matriarchs are so powerful, though, why do you need Champions?”

“It is a way to recruit males to help during wartime,” said Bayla, “and a way to bond promising wanderers to the Pod. To help fight, I mean.” She cast her gaze away from his, and he wondered if there might be more to it than that.

“Wanderers?”

“Males who have left their home pod,” said Nanora. “It’s similar to how the lesser blackfish of this world work.”

Bayla frowned at the interruption, but nodded. “If you had been able to weave magic before, then your talents would have been enhanced. Many who aren’t from the royal lines can only create enough Aqua Armor to cover their head. In your case, it empowered you to summon a full suit of Aqua Armor, despite only being a Landman.”

Vince sighed. “For all the good that did me; one minute I felt like I was going to have a heart attack, then I felt like I was a superman, and just as quickly I was normal again.” And useless.

Nanora smiled up at him. “Remember, no matter how dark things seem, there is always a way out.”

Glad somebody thinks that. Vince scratched at his chin. “We don’t want him here when Tammy shows up, either,” said Vince. “He really will call the FBI, or the army. I guess…” He gulped. “I guess he’s our prisoner until we have a better plan.”

“Killing him would be simpler,” said Bayla.

Vince glared at her. “Can’t disagree with you, but no. I don’t suppose either of you have a good way to move him?”

Bayla studied her bruised wrist. “Lift him for us, Champion.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? He weighs like two-hundred pounds, and I already feel spent! I won’t get him far, if I can lift him at all.”

“Humor me,” she said. She stretched her arm towards the beach, levitating over a ball of water to heal her wound.

He shrugged, handing his ever present backpack to Nanora, who took it without protest. He lifted the unconscious sheriff in a fireman’s carry. Instead of the intense muscle strain against the immovable object he expected, he nearly threw Murphy over his head. A helping hand from Bayla helped to steady the shockingly light load.

“The hell?” asked Vince.

“Language,” said Nanora. “You’re usually better than that, Vince.”

Better than that? Boy, she sure changed her tune quick. “Bayla, is this your doing?’

“It must be,” said Bayla, hurling aside the reddened wastewater from her self-healing. “Interesting! You gained more from becoming my champion than we thought.”

Vince’s eyes goggled. “Jesus, it feels like I’m wearing my backpack. A bigger backpack, but a backpack. Speaking of, can someone grab it?” Nanora complied. “Thanks. Now where do we take him?”

Nanora looked like she was about to speak up, before pausing. “I am not sure. We should take him somewhere so we can make him see reason when he wakes up.”

“Yeah, we can walk right through the wharf with a cop on my back. Plus, Bayla and I walked here from Cedar Hill. We don’t even have my car to hide him in.”

“Is there anyone you can call for aid, Vince?” asked Bayla.

He fished his phone from his pocket, which was also surprisingly easy to Murphy slumped over his shoulder. He sighed as his fears were confirmed as a miniature wave of seawater sloughed off the phone. Completely dead.

“Your mother?” offered Bayla.

“Absolutely not,” said Vince. “Even if I could call her, Ma would kill me.” Checking what was still working, he saw that his mechanical watch was still ticking, at least. “But there is someone with a van who’s probably waking up about now.”