He decided to check on the other humans.
Mettan stared at the screen in front of him. The computer on Camadt’s Bite was feeding him information about his other two charges. Caleb had been sedated and was being held in a hospital-turned-prison. Paige was listed as needing to be picked up, but she was a low priority for the military. If he hurried, they might be able to get to her before they had to break her out of prison.
He wasn’t so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn’t hear someone enter the bridge. The dark-skinned Elf half-turned and saw the light-skinned human in a black military uniform. Every uniform was a one-size-fits-all, because of the enchantment on it. The spell would form the fabric to comfortably fit its wearer’s body, which allowed the Military to mass produce them and never have to worry about not having the proper size uniform for a crew member.
Before anyone could say anything, there was a shimmer and Kark appeared on the bridge.
“Whoa!” The human took a step back and began looking for something to turn into a weapon.
“You’ve only got one of them?” The red-haired Elf dropped onto the couch, “As eager as you were, I thought you’d have them all by now.”
“He wasn’t in any shape to collect last night.” Mettan grumbled, then pointed at the screen, but we’re about to pick up the next one.”
“Awesome!” His cousin clapped, “Before you do that, I need you to make a small detour.”
“Is anyone going to fill me in on what’s going on?” Alex demanded
The Elder bounced up, spun around, and offered his hand, “Kark
The human just eyed the new Elf, “What detour are we going to make when we can’t go pick up my siblings?”
“Alex,” Kark chuckled, “You have a path to walk, they have a different path. What is important right now is to find the Triftion. This detour is about the mission the two of you share.”
Mettan sighed. Showmanship was something his younger cousin had always enjoyed embellishing. While there was a chance that this was just a demonstration of a new fire spell, it was a small chance that it wasn’t important. Kark liked to goof off, but his cousin understood how serious things were right now, so while he may be acting carefree, the older Elf knew that his cousin was very concerned about something.
“I’ve landed the ship.” He stood up and walked towards the other two, “Where are we going?”
“Aren’t we taking the ship?” Alex asked,
“This is faster.”
It was the only warning before they were projected into a room. The projection confusion wore off in a few seconds, but the human few to his knees. Mettan knew that the first time was very disorienting, but every time, it got easier to manage, but it never went away completely. Even the best projection mages would have a second of fog on arrival, which was why it was rarely used as a fighting technique. One second of being defenseless was more than enough time for the enemy to cut you down.
“Where. Are. We?” The human wheezed.
“Atlantis.” A new voice answered.
“Is this all?” An older voice asked, “I thought you’d have collected them all by now.”
“He was too dead to pick up last night.” Kark pointed at Alex.
“Kark…” Feletis chided
“It’s mostly true,” Kark held up his hands as he turned to face Dumas, “He’s close to getting the second one though.”
It always made him a little tense to be around Dumas. The old Mage hunter had been partners with his father until one case went south and his father died. Dumas had retired to teach full-time after that, at least until the University had been destroyed. It wasn’t that Mettan felt any ill will towards the Elder, it just felt like there was a hole in the room for his father to fill whenever Dumas was around. But considering that Dumas was the last of his line, most people probably felt the emptiness that clung to the gray-haired mage.
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The uncomfortable silence had gone on for a little too long.
“Why am I here?” Mettan asked, “It has to be important if you pulled me away from a mission and the three of you are here.”
Feletis nodded at Kark, who let out a pulse of magic.
“We’re good,” the youngest Elf in the room assured everyone.
“We’ve seen some alarming things lately…” Dumas began.
“There’s a Dark Mage on Earth.” Kark interrupted.
The older Mage shot a glare across the room.
“You were going to take too long.” The red-haired Elf shrugged, “and he’s on a clock.”
“Elder Kark,” Feletis cut in, “Need I remind you that you now represent the Elders, so you should conduct yourself accordingly.” The Grand Elder turned to Mettan, “Since you are the senior Mage Hunter on Earth and the only one of the Elementalists acquainted with the Elders, you are being briefed as the supervisor. Any information you choose to share with the other trainers will be at your discretion.”
“How do you know there is a Dark Mage on Earth?” It had been almost twenty years since he had hunted a Dark Mage. At first, he wanted to challenge their decision to give him the responsibility, but as much as he didn’t want to step back into that role, he had seen the list of the Elves on Earth. The Earth Defense Fleet was composed of washouts, most of whom couldn’t handle being on an active front. If there really was a Dark Mage on Earth, then he had doubts that any of them could contain it. “Couldn’t it be a human?”
“We’ve seen a lot of dark things being done by humans in the last day,” Dumas said, “but none of them should be able to do this.”
The old Mage gestured at the wall to his right and an image appeared. The image of a few piles of clothes in a room filled the screen.
“I’ve already been there. Someone used Dark Magic to drain the bodies.” Dumas let out a deep breath, “Even if there was a human strong enough to do this, it would take weeks, if not a year, of practice to drain a body that perfectly.” He shook his head, “Only a seasoned Dark Mage could have done this.”
“Have the Wards been breached or could one of the ships have gotten out of the net?” Mettan tried to think of other explanations.
“I checked the wards myself, as well as the sensors. There hasn’t been any projecting onto Earth by someone who wasn’t an Elder and the only ships that have landed on Earth were ours.” Feletis answered.
“Could you tell if they were cloaked?” Alex asked
The Elves turned as one. Mettan had honestly forgotten his charge was in the room.
“His ship can turn invisible, so would your sensors have detected a cloaked ship?”
None of the Mages spoke.
It was a legitimate question. While the sensors could detect a weak magic cloak, a well-woven one would be able to slip right through undetected, but that would require a very powerful mage. At least one of Elder strength, which none of them wanted to admit could be working for the Dark Legion.
“It is possible but very unlikely.” Mettan answered, “A Dark Master who could slip in undetected wouldn’t be here alone when there is a fleet so close.”
“But wouldn’t that mean that this Dark Mage had help?” Alex asked another heavy question.
Mettan realized that the Elders in the room had already come to that conclusion. Because if they hadn’t, then the other 4 Elders would be in the room. They also wouldn’t be meeting in his cousin’s tower but in the central tower.
“You think there is a traitor.” The Water Elementalist stated more than asked.
The Elders looked at each other.
“It’s the only option that makes sense.” Kark admitted, “But we don’t know who it could be.”
There were four other Elders, three of whom had just been added to the ranks. Demetrius was Dumas’ former apprentice, whose absence showed just how concerned they were about a potential traitor. Lytha and Lurtho were twins. With such a low birth rate, twins were seen as a blessing, so these two had been at almost celebrity status. Each had been soulbound to a member of the Congress, which made them each a power couple. It was hard to believe that anyone who was so patriotic would be working with the Dark Legion.
That left the last Elder, Xannah Cascade. The Elder of Cryomancy was his bondmate, the Elf version of marriage, but they had been estranged since their daughter had been taken. But even with the distance between them, he couldn’t imagine her being a traitor.
“Do you want me to hunt this Dark Mage?” He asked
“No,” Dumas replied faster than the other two Elders could respond. “The prophecy is too important.” The gray-haired mage looked at the image on the screen, “If there is a Dark Mage out there, then it is probably searching for the Triftion as well. I feel that your paths will inevitably cross.”
Feletis nodded, “If you can trust any of the other Elementalists, then by all means, share this information with them. I’m going to go over the records to make sure that none of our people helped this fiend onto Earth. In the meantime” He gestured to Kark, “Don’t you have a charge to collect?”
The youngest Elf nodded and held out his hands, “Let’s go!”