Red

Karen put the phone down, the wrinkles on her face deeper than normal. Her default sour expression had just gotten worse from the call. She rubbed her bloodshot eyes and stared at her desk blankly as if building up the strength to talk. “There isn’t an easy way to put this…so I am just going to say it. With the Sovs piling up bodies in their quest to get this wizard and our forces on the brink of an all-out war, our orders are to find and neutralize the wizard and associates.”

“Wait, what?” Nina’s worn face lit up like it had been hit by an electrical shock. “It’s just a family…with children!”

“Maybe! Or maybe this is Goblin Valley all over again,” Karen snapped back, looking more like her cold, and calculating Colonel moniker than a mother.

“I am so sick of hearing about Goblin Valley, without anyone actually telling me anything. What really happened? And don’t give me this we lost agents bullshit, why is everyone so damn afraid of what happened at Goblin Valley?”

Red understood Nina’s frustration, all the reports from that day with their redactions, always key elements hidden surrounding the events that day. Officially, six top agents were lost responding to the largest spike of ESH since World War II, but there was more, much more. Only Mistress Kreeg and two other Wreckies knew what really happened that day, the two surviving agents Nina was sitting with at that very moment. Karen had been promoted to run the entire organization as a direct result of her actions at Goblin Valley. Those same actions also put her in direct conflict with Red who was the most decorated agent in the history of the organization.

“Compartmentalization,” Red said, as if he had just seen a ghost.

“Normally, I’d agree, but I think the situation warrants her finding out,” Karen said, with an unusually delicate tone.

Typical daughter favoritism. “Because she’s your daughter?”

Karen took a deep breath raising herself up and puffing out her chest so she could stare down at Red. “Because of what I am asking you both to do, potentially killing innocent people. She has a right to know why.”

Red demurred, it’s not like he had a choice.

Karen continued, “It was the start of the cold war, the Sovs were desperate for ESH and fresh bodies. They had lost most of their ranks during World War II. The Warlock of Stonehenge and plus, maybe twenty, were all that remained. Long range sensing technology was still in its infancy, but even then, we could detect a level ten event anywhere on the planet, just not with pinpoint accuracy. As you know, ESH only comes from extraterrestrial diamonds. The problem is most of these diamonds are destroyed on impact or shattered into microscopic particles. You see—”

Nina cut her off. “What about organic generation? You know plant generated ESH? I heard—”

“Conspiracy theories and stories put out to sell fancy plants and magical glow lights and all kinds of other crap.” Karen tilted her head like a disapproving parent as Red rolled his eyes. “Trust me, we have explored all these stories. Now listen, the only source of ESH is extra-terrestrial diamonds from meteors. And by this point all the known craters had been explored and harvested…or so we thought. The Warlock had apparently picked up the scent of a previously unexplored crater in Utah, not far from Goblin Valley, the Upheaval Dome. What everyone thought was just a salt dome in the middle of a vast canyon turned out to be an unstable impact crater that eventually collapsed on itself. Mother Nature erodes the surrounding area over thousands of years, and you get something that looks like a salt dome. You see, the Warlock had survived this long because he has two unique skills, which have also made him the single biggest threat this organization has ever faced. In fact, the Wrecht Order was created solely as a way to stop him. The first, is his ability to sense even the tiniest ESH laden diamond, which is apparently how he became such a powerful wizard to begin with. We are talking down to the microscopic level, he can find and collect it. And he’s been doing this for, well, we don’t really know how old he is, but apparently, he’s older than Mistress Kreeg. He’s been doing this for his entire life, slowly building his pile, making himself stronger and stronger. Which is why if he gets whatever source this family of wizards has, it wouldn’t just tip the balance, it will overturn the balance in his favor. If that happens, no one, not even Mistress Kreeg could keep him in check.”

Nina shook her head. “Hold on, this doesn’t add up. Why does that mean we have to put the family down? Why would they give it to him? The Sovs have been doing nothing but attacking them from the start.”

“That brings us to the Warlock’s second, far more nefarious specialty, recruitment. Ever wonder why Sov’s don’t stop being Sovs? Just like ESH, the warlock collects souls. When you become a Sov it’s not some kind of silly swearing in on a book or blood oath, it’s far more real and binding. When you join the Sov family, as they call it, the warlock creates a permanent mental connection with you. And it isn’t a symbiotic relationship, the host loses control of their mind, body, and free will.” Karen stopped to take a sip from her tea. The pain was still obvious in her eyes. “This allows the warlock to be everywhere and know everything any Sov knows. Which brings us to Goblin Valley.”

Red started to speak. “We knew he was there.” He cleared his throat. He kept his voice tight hoping to keep the emotions in. “We thought that would be the day we ended the Sovs. Mistress Kreeg was pulled away with a diversion and we naively thought in his weakened state we could take him out. Eight mages against a wizard, it should’ve been easy. And it was at first, we found him at the site of the crater and attacked. Blast after blast we finally managed to wound him, preventing him from teleporting out. We chased him through canyons and desert to Goblin Valley only a few miles away. Having him surrounded and numbers in our favor, we moved in. But Goblin Valley is a maze of boulders and rock pillars. As we went in, Lisa was on my left when she saw him duck around a boulder and she pursued, not realizing that all of his remaining Sovs were there waiting for us. It was a trap, we were setup. Lisa was the first, the first…” His chest grew tight.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Nina spoke up, softly. “Wait, who’s Lisa? That Sov from the ballpark mentioned her.”

Almost inaudibly, Red said, “my wife.”

A flash of anger shot across Karen’s face. “And you broke formation and split the group!”

“You didn’t know it was a trap!” Red yelled, furious. “I told her to not to, we should have been side by side like always, but she was just so excited to finally get that bastard.” Red sunk in his chair, more sad than angry. “And what am I supposed to do, let her go by herself?”

“I told you not to!” Karen yelled, angrily. It wasn’t his fault Lisa broke formation. It wasn’t his fault she had gotten sloppy. Karen was mad at him because she couldn’t be mad at Lisa.

Karen’s voice softened. “I probably would have done the same thing, but if you hadn’t things might have ended differently.” Karen stood up to look at black and white pictures on the wall of a happier version of herself having drinks with another woman. “Up until that day, you had to be willing to become a Sov and there were plenty of stupid people who would fall for the promise of nearly limitless magic. But people still had to be convinced, or at least fooled. That all changed at Goblin Valley. The warlock had figured out how to force people into the Sov family, whether they wanted to join or not. And if you can pick anyone to add to your flock, why not the most powerful mages the Wrecht Order had to offer.”

Karen’s voice started to get shaky, but she persisted. “One by one, our top mages fell. The once proud and powerful fell victim to those damn lifeless grey eyes…we lost six mages that day before Red and I escaped, and I will never repeat that again.” Karen looked at Red as he fought to hold it together. The events of the day ran through his head in an endless loop of fear, heartbreak, and shame he couldn’t change. Then something so foreign happened he doubted it was real for a second; Karen hugged him.

Nina watched with amazement but didn’t say anything until Karen sat back at her desk. “Okay, but why all the secrets?”

Karen continued, “well, in addition to gaining someone’s powers, the Warlock also possesses all their knowledge as well. So, the more you know, the bigger target you become. One reason the Sovs have been so hard to destroy is they always seem to know everything, because if they get one of our agents, they now know everything we know. So now we compartmentalize. Everything!” She looked down at her desk before shoving some papers into her desk drawer. “There is still more I want to share with you both, but I don’t dare risk it.”

Nina looked back and forth at both of them still in disbelief. “Okay, I get it, we can’t let Sovs get to the Harpers, so we rescue them.”

“And what if they say no?” Karen snapped. “Then they know we are after them and we’ve lost the element of surprise. We think only one of them is a wizard, but who knows by now, that ESH source is like nothing we have ever seen. They could all be wizards for all we know. You think we have a chance against five wizards? We can’t risk it, we nearly lost the fight back in Goblin Valley, and I am not letting the agents we sacrificed that day die in vain.”

“So, you’re telling me we can’t figure out a way to break the Sov connection?”

“No one, and I mean no one has ever escaped his hold, and believe me, we tried everything imaginable and things we never should have.” Karen said, staring daggers at Red. Those last words hurt as guilt ran through him. “Rest assured there is no way to free a Sov, whether they joined willingly or not."

“Except death,” Red added, rubbing his eyes.

“No, there has to be another way,” Nina said, still defiant.

Karen shook her head. “We had to kill two of our own that day and more since. Nigel was one of the oldest and most powerful Wreckies of all time. Still to this day we are feeling the repercussions of that tragedy.” Karen looked down, her chest heaving. After a long pause she finally lifted her head, pain in her eyes, defiance in her voice. “We will not repeat the mistakes of our past. I am not allowing that reality to happen again.”

Nina snarled, “so, killing them before they become Sovs is an okay reality?” It was as if she were gearing up for a fight.

“We have to contain the threat or—"

“This is fucking stupid!” Nina raged. “Tell Mistress Kreeg she is fucking stupid. You both need to get your heads out of your collective asses. You know, I’m surprised there is so much room for all the heads in the all the asses around here!”

Karen yelled back, “our primary objective is to find the threat, contain the threat, and neutralize the threat! If you can’t do that, I’ll find someone who will!”

The solid wood cabinet behind Nina shattered into a pile of debris, no doubt from one of Nina’s famous temper tantrums of destruction. Red was impressed it had taken this long.

“Feel better?” Karen said, staring disapprovingly at her daughter.

“Yes, I do, actually. Fine, I’ll do this, but don’t hide behind terms like contain and neutralize, just say it, kill the family so they don’t join the Sovs. Anything else, Colonel?” Nina said, as the anger raged in her eyes.

“Nina, you're responsible for the house. Find the occupants and the ESH source, contain it and neutralize it. Red, we’ve spotted the wizard in Egypt, your job is—”

“Yeah, find, contain, and neutralize,” Red said, now impassive.

Karen took a deep breath. “Look I don’t like these orders any more than you, but our job now, as it always has been, is to protect the world, not just one family.”

Nina stood up, throwing her chair back against the wall where it also burst into a pile of debris, joining the remains of the former cabinet. “If you don’t like the order, then I suggest you get it changed before you turn your daughter into a serial killer.” The office door flew off its hinges as Nina stormed out. This was quickly followed by the door being thrown back at the now destroyed doorway sideways causing the door to break into a jagged pile of broken metal and glass. Damn, she was powerful when she was mad.

“She’s got quite the temper. I’m really starting to like her,” Red said, smiling. “You know she’s right, don’t you? You don’t save the world by killing innocent people.”

“Again, we don’t if know they’re innocent!” Karen was now yelling again.

“Exactly.” Red stood up. “We’re the Wrecht Order, that means law and order, for everyone, be it wizard or the Harpers. We don’t get to decide when it’s convenient, that’s how you get the Sovs.”

“Save your little inspirational speech for someone who doesn’t know how much blood is on your hands.”

“Yeah, I have blood on my hands, righteous blood, the blood of evil people.” Red looked around the room taking it all in one last time. “I’ll do this, but I’m through with this organization after this.”

“Here we go again, you know you can’t leave, you owe thirty more years of service.”

“Consider this payment in full or you can get someone else to do it.” He knew she didn’t really have a choice. There was no one else as capable as him and with an almost guaranteed showdown looming with the Sovs. He would get it done as he always had.

Karen’s demeanor changed as a hint of pain crossed those ferocious eyes for the briefest moment. “That’s it then? After all this, this is it? One last job and you’re gone?”

“Yep.” He headed for the door. “And I need access to the Locker, if I really have to take down a wizard while fighting off the Sovs, I’m going to need hardware.”

“Fine, don’t let the door hit your ungrateful ass on the way out.”

“What door?” Red laughed.