Luckily, we didn’t run into any trouble until we got there. We turned to enter the town when a group of black cloaked figures stepped into the road in front of us. One of the figures raised his hand and the truck turned off. Baker who was driving tried to turn the key back on and it was stuck. We slowed to a halt about a foot from the line of figures. The leader of the group walked up to the driver’s side.
“Can I ask you fellas where you are heading and what your business here is?” his voice was deep and resonated almost like there were two voices coming out of him. He had 3 small horns cresting his brow ridge and his eyes were green with a vertical slit pupil. He had tattoos and brands that glowed internally on his face and down his neck.
“We are just looking for safety from the demons.” I also added a thought to my brothers
“We will need you to relinquish your weapons and submit to a screening of sorts for us to make sure you aren’t demons.” Shyft laughed,
“Do we look like demons.” The Enclavist leader did not seem amused.
“Demons can hide their true form son, we cannot take the change and risk the lives of the denizens of this city.”
Shyft stopped grinning and said, “Im sorry sir. Yes, we understand that the safety of the residents is of the most importance. We submit to the search.” We got out of the truck and handed our weapons over to some of the guards. Two female Enclavists walked up and stood before us. They raised their hands. Energy sprang forth from their hands and spread over each of us. It didn’t have any malicious intent. After a few more minutes they withdrew their energy and walked over to talk to the leader. They whispered back and forth, gesturing toward us a few times. Two more guards came walking out of the woods next to the road toward us. They walked up to the leader and said a few quick things. When they went to leave one of the new arrivals looked in our direction and he gasped.
“YOU!" he said looking at us. "What are they doing here?” he asked the other guards.
“We were just finishing the screening of them. They passed. How do you know them?” the leader looked at us suspiciously.
“They are the ones I was telling you about. The humans that had more energy than any I had ever met. They threatened me but, ultimately let me go.” He seemed to be visibly shaking. The leader snapped his fingers. The rest of the guards raised their hands and gathered energy at the ready. The leader then raised his hands and his hands started to glow green. Vines made from his energy shot out of his hand and wrapped around each of us restraining us.
“If what you say is true, we will take them into custody and allow the High Priest to decide what to do.” I looked at Shyft.
Once my energy touched the ground and formed a circle around me I shouted through the link to my brothers
All at once Baker sprouted blades from his skin allowing him to move around cutting the vines to pieces, Shyft’s entire arms and legs burst into flame burning at the vines, and the circle of energy around me formed several large stalagmites of ice grazed my arms cutting the vines, also cutting me drawing blood. Within seconds we were free and we took off running. Shyft ran over to the guard holding our weapons and quickly put him into a headlock. He dropped the unconscious guard, gathered up all our weapons, and ran for our truck. Baker and I got to the truck and cranked it up. Shyft jumped a good ten feet to land straight into the back of the bed. I gunned it and sped out of there. A few energy blasts impacted the road and trees around us but none of them hit us. Then I turned off onto a dirt road and headed deep into a patch of woods. I pulled into a thick grove of trees and turned the vehicle off.
“OK so what do we do?” I asked my brothers. They both shrugged. I got out of the driver's sear and sat on the ground against a tree. I lowered myself into a deep meditative state and just emptied my mind. I sat like this for about a half hour when the sound of vehicles brought me back to the world. I stood up and mixed my energy with my natural ability to disappear in the woods and spread my energy to cover the little grove we were hiding in.
“They will spot us if we don’t move.” Shyft said
“Don’t move and don’t make a sound.” I answered.
“That won’t stop them from seeing us.” Baker said opening his shield and spear preparing for a fight. A few moments later a convoy of about 4 vehicles full of Enclavists came down the dirt road.
“Don’t move.” I whispered. They passed right by the grove and didn’t even stop.
"How the hell did they not see us?” Shyft asked.
“I mixed my energy with my ability to disappear in the woods. It kept us hidden.” I answered slyly
My brothers relaxed and put their weapons back down. “Maybe we can use that to get into the city.”
I shrugged “Only if we can find a part of the city that is next to the woods. I don’t think I can do that unless I’m in the forest.”
“I guess that makes sense.” Baker said inclining his head.
“We need to find a map of the surrounding area.” I said. We all agreed to that plan.
We loaded back into the jeep and after I checked out the area with my sensory magick. I got back the response ping and the area was free of any users. We made our way back to the road and headed away from the Enclavist city. We found an abandoned gas station about 5 miles down the road. The place had been completely looted but we did find a useable map of the area around the city. We found a small spot on the west side of the city that was pushed right up against a patch of the forest. We took several hours to get around the city to the woods on the west side. We hide the truck and our gear the only things we decided to take into the city were our smaller melee weapons. I had my kukris, Shyft had his warriors chain, and Baker had his pistol.
We headed through the woods using my new-found camouflage magic. Once we got to the back of a row of buildings, we slipped around the side and cautiously made our way onto the street. The city was bustling like there wasn’t a war for the world going on. There were street venders and shops open on the main road. The sheer size of the crowd was startling. Music floated down the street from Bourbon street. The smell of food was overwhelming and appealing. Most of the people were dressed in black robes or cloaks but there were some plain dressed folk as well.
“Where do you think, the book is being held?” Baker said with some of his attention being drawn to the food smell coming from a bar across the street.
“I think we need to find a place to have some privacy.” I said quietly. We walked onto the square and found an inn that was open and had a sign for vacancy. The man behind the counter was a short portly fellow with several tattoos covering the dark skin of his forearms. He smiled as we walked in. His teeth were sharpened to points. It was unsettling to look at.
“Bon morning folks, what can I do for you?” his accent told me that he was born and raised in Louisiana.
“Morning sir we would like to rent a room.” He put on a pair of small rimmed reading glasses
“Yes, I do have a suite available. The room will cost 69 drachma.” I looked at my brothers then back at the man.
“I’m sorry sir, but we are new here, aren’t drachma from Greek mythology?” I asked the man.
“Sorry yes they were but since we took over the city the council started minting coins and called them that. If you are new you may not have any, we do accept barter, anything occult in nature.” I shook my head and said we didn’t have anything to barter now but we may be back shortly. The man nodded and went back to his ledger.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
We walked out of the inn. I pulled out a coin from my pocket and spun it between my fingers. It helped my mind focus on the situation. Then it just clicked I took the coin and charged it with energy so it would feel cold and give off a green vapor. Shyft smirked and said,
"You are a genius Wingless.” We went back into the inn. The man looked up again,
“Back so soon?” I put the coin on the counter and said,
“Yes we wanted to try to sell this but we really need the room.” He looked at the coin and his eyes widened.
“This is amazing, where did you find it? It has definite power.”
“We found it near a battle field where the army had fought the demons.” I answered matter of factly
He pulled out a small bag of roughly minted coins with a vaguely arcane sigil on one side.
“I will buy it from you for 1000 drachma and rent you the room for 2 weeks.” He seemed really pleased by his luck. Shyft stepped forward.
“2000 and room and board.” His counter seemed to catch the man off guard.
“Ok I will agree to that.” His eyes were narrow. He added another small bag of the hefty coins and then handed us a key for our room. I handed the coin to the clerk who grabbed it quickly and walked into the back room. We headed to our room. There were two beds and a couch. I took the couch and my brothers got settled on the beds. I emptied the two pouches to count the coins. They were large and thick coins of steel or iron with a rune on each side. After messing with the coins for a while I looked up at my brothers.
“Well should we start looking around the city?” I jingled the coins in the pouches, “We have some spending to do.” We left the inn and made our way into the center of the city. There were shops everywhere, all of them occult in nature. Some were selling books and reference materials, others had herbs and oils for spell work. There were a few shops that sold supposed relics. We came to a relic shop that had a giant store front window with some of the items for sale. Right in front of the display was a coin that had a green glow with a price of 10000 D.
“These people have no idea what they are doing, do they?” Shyft said laughing to himself.
“I don’t think they really do.” Baker answered. Most of the people in the town had sigils tattooed and some type of body enhancement, horns or scales grafted on their skin, skin discoloration, or eye changes. They also had insignia on their robes or cloaks. None of them had auras of their own but they did have varying degrees of energy that emanated from their glyphs. There were a few well equipped guards walking through the streets and stationed around the square. They were intently watching the denizens on the street. I did spot one that had blood red eyes with no pupils, not sure if that was from a transplant or from misuse of magick. I send a thought to my brothers over the link.
After a few moments, the coin let off a burst of cold energy causing small ice crystals to form on the fountain water. None of the residents in the fountain area showed any sign of noticing the energy burst. The guards didn’t show any sign of noticing except for the red eyed guard. His head snapped straight toward the fountain and he leaned over to speak to the guard next to him. The other guard nodded and the red eyed individual slowly headed toward the fountain to not draw attention. He was about ten or so feet from the fountain area when the other guard started to walk around the other side of the fountain area. The coin lets off another burst of ice energy which causes a small portion of the water falling from the upper bowl freezes in a thin sheet of ice. One of the couples sitting by the fountain looks over suspiciously. They get up quickly and step back. The red eyed guard stops, rolls up his sleeve on his right arm, and puts a hand over one of his glyphs.
I send the thought to my brothers. A few of the other guards rush over and detain the couple that had moved away. My guess is that they think the couple was responsible for the energy. Then my coin flairs one last time and all the water in the fountain freezes solid making a beautiful statue of ice and stone. The guards let the couple go knowing that they weren’t the culprits.
The red eyed guard’s partner ran up to the fountain and put his right hand out facing the fountain and his left hand activates a glyph on his forearm. A blast emanates from his hand and hits the fountain encasing it in a barrier of some kind. The red eyed guard activated the same sigil on his arm for a second time and seemed lost in thought. His eyes then refocus and he gives an almost nonexistent nod to some unseen recipient. The other guards close around the fountain and form a perimeter. One of the guards approaches me.
“Bonjour Monsieur, may I ask you a few questions?” his accent was very southern with a hint of French.
“Yes sir, what can I do for you?” I use the most southern accent I can muster without it sounding fake.
“What did you see around the fountain area in the last few minutes?” he had a pen and small writing pad out.
“Nothing, then the fountain turned to ice.” I tried to sound as sincere as possible.
“Would you be willing to submit to a testing for magick?” he asked. “Of course, officer.” I answered.
“Please show me your hands and do not move.” I extend my hands and empty my mind to keep as suppressed as possible. He closes his eyes and two identical runes on the backs of his hands start to glow. His energy slowly covers my hands. For a few minutes, he stands there with his eyes closed and then his energy slowly fades. His eyes open and he regarded me for a second.
“Thank you, Monsieur you are free to go. May I suggest that you attempt to test into the Enclave. I can tell that you don’t have the energy to do what was done here today but I can feel a slight familiarity to energy in you and I think you have the aptitude to do magick.”
I nod “Thank you, officer I will take that under advisement.” I stood up and then walk away. “Let’s meet at a restaurant or bar asap.” I sent my brothers the images of a few bars and restaurants I had made note of. They both send back the same image of a pub near our inn. We all walk through the streets separately away from the guards and make our ways to the pub called McLaurnes.
The pub’s atmosphere was homey and inviting. Even for this time of day the pub was full of patrons. Everyone was enjoying drinks and listening to the band that was playing. Most of the people in here were normally dressed and none of them were runed or altered. As we walked in a young girl of about 17 or 18 came bouncing up.
“Hi yall, three in your party?” she eyes Baker and Myself quickly then her eyes linger on Shyft. She blushes a little bit and turns to take us to a table. We end up getting a booth near the back of the pub. We ordered a pitcher of beer and some nachos. It was nice to have a semi normal day in this time of the world. It was almost unsettling not having to fend for ourselves and living on guard. Almost like a dream that you want out of.
The clamor of the band and the sound of laughing and singing patrons made it easy for us to have a semi private conversation.
“So that guard had a pretty good sensory ability, he didn’t peg me as the source of the coin’s energy, but he did sense that I had some magick proficiency and suggested that I test to join the Onclave. What do you guys think?” Baker took a deep drink of his beer and Shyft folded his hands in front of his face thinking.
“I guess it would open doors for us to find the Key better but what if they try to make you inject demon blood or something? What would that do to someone like us?” Shyft looked very disgusted by the thought.
“I don’t know. I could use minor glamour to make it look like I inject and ingest the demon stuff and I can also fake getting tattoos if need be, but if they insist on administering themselves id be stuck.” I said.
“If he sensed your affinity then maybe we could come with you and join as well.” Baker said setting his beer down.
“I think keeping you guys as an up my sleeve ace would be better. That way if I get in to trouble you guys aren’t implicated or being watched.”
Shyft grimaced “I don’t like the idea of you being alone but you are the master tactician brother so if you think this is the best course of action I’m game.”
Baker reached for a nacho and said, “As long we have a set evac plan I agree and you better keep us up to date through the link.” Shyft nodded in agreement.
“Ok so evac plan will be similar to how you guys got me out of the sector 9 laboratory. You guys bust in wreck the place and get me out. Then we hit hard get the book and get out.” I stopped for a minute to take a drink, “Sound good?” my brothers looked at me and smiled. They were on board. We spent the next hour or so discussing what might happen. I left the pub alone and headed back to the square to ask the guard where to go to take this test.
The commotion from the earlier had settled down and the guards were back in their positions around the square. I walked around the square and found the guard that had interrogated me. He was watching a few kids that were hovering around one of the shops looking around suspiciously. I walk up to the guard and he looks at me.
“Ahh, Monsieur, nice to see you again what can I do for you?”
“You mentioned that I should try to test into the Conclave. Where would I go to do that?” I asked trying to sound equally excited and scared at the prospect.
He smiled and said, “The testing center is just a few blocks that way.” He pointed off to the north. “It’s a converted office building and this insignia is on the front door.” He turned so I could see the insignia on the back of his cloak. Already having made note of the insignia before I just looked for his sake.
“Oh, ok thank you. Would now be a good time to go check?” he looked at his watch and nodded,
“Oui, they are open at all hours.” I thanked him again and headed off in the direction of the testing building. Once I was outside the building I let my brothers know where I was through the link. They let me know that they were two buildings down on the roof. They had been following me since I left the square. The day was overcast and dark, just the way I like it. Knowing my brothers were watching my back and not 30 feet away in case of the need to evac quickly. I walked up to the building and head inside.