Elect II—22 Temptation, part 1 of 3

March 6, 2017February 19, 2017M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Riverbend made her warriors dress for battle and hid them around the entrance. Maggie Holmes quipped to Trooper Scott. “I don’t know why she said I was in charge.” They were just inside the main door of the administration building which Riverbend cracked open to speak to them.

“Now a little elf magic,” she said, and gave the signal. The security people were coming to the door down one side of the building. The other men were coming from the other direction. There were trees and bushes that lined the walk on both sides and Riverbend could not help a giggle thinking about it.

The State Troopers heard one of the elves shout with what Riverbend called directed sounds. It sounded male and only went where it was intended. “Quick, there are men trying to block off the entrance.” This was followed by the sound of gunfire.

The words in the other direction were, “Quick. Security people are trying to block off the entrance.” More gunfire sounds, and the elves made sure they stayed hidden, but with their bows ready.

Exactly on schedule, both groups of men reached the walkway at the same time. Guns blared and men fell while most backed up to the trees and bushes. There was a veritable rain of bullets across the brick walk at first

Maggie looked at her phone and shook it. “Come on, Carmine,” she said.

“Better to call Ms Nicholas,” Sebastian said. He had his gun ready but was content to watch the fight and not inclined to get into it.

“I called Nicholas, but Troopers are harder to get in off the highways. Carmine is the local.”

“But you called before the fight started,” Riverbend pointed out.

“Just as soon as I knew what was up,” Maggie admitted.

The fire rate slackened after a short while. One of the drug dealers tried to sneak up along the side of the steps. He took an arrow and fell, but that was just before a ton of local police came roaring up the back street, lights and sirens blasting.

“Idiots,” Maggie called them as the fight abruptly ended and men scattered to escape. Sebastian called on his radio. There were a couple of State Troopers on the street. “Make for the library parking lot. The drug dealers have a car and a van parked there. And hide if you plan to catch them, you light and siren freaks.” He saw Maggie smiling at him.

“I believe my rookie is learning.”

“Given the company I figure I better learn fast.” He pointed at Riverbend.

All they could see were the eyes beneath the helmet, but they were expressive. “What?” Riverbend asked, suggesting she had no idea what they were talking about.

###

Maria and Linnea were very busy with the wounded and Melissa and her and Amina’s elf friends helped as much as they could. Amina herself was kept back in case they needed her particular skills later on. She tried not to see what was going on, but she couldn’t help anticipate the casualties as they came in.

“A broken leg on the elevator. Missing fingers coming down the stairwell from the top floor,” she said, and every time she said something, she closed her eyes and shook her head.

Mindy and Arwen were guarding the front hall, but it seemed more like they were arguing about Alexander the Great. There were others, including Sara’s friend who was berating herself for not being up there with Aurora. “I should have stayed with the priestess,” she kept saying.

Officer Dickenson pulled in front of City Hall and turned off his lights and siren. He was surprised that Ms Riley, who drove her own car, somehow got there first. In fact, Roland was already in a conversation with the two police officers outside the main door. They kept repeating that City Hall was temporarily closed. They said it was electrical problems until the lights came on. Then they said it was a gas leak.

Jessica, Fiona and Harmony got to the argument first as Latasha waited for Officer Dickenson to get a shotgun out of his trunk. Jessica interrupted the argument with a finger pointed at the police officers. “If you two shoot the ogre you are going to be in big trouble.”

Harmony paused to call her troop in battle ready armor, and now that the front lights were on, the police officers saw everything. Harmony changed her fairy weave clothes to armor, picked up her helmet, grabbed the spear and shield the others brought for her and marched her troop inside.

“Now?” Fiona asked. She had opted to remain in hunter’s garb.

“Now,” Jessica agreed, and they each grabbed one of Roland’s hands and dragged him through the opening to Avalon before it closed.

Boston put her hands to her hips. “Hey! That’s my husband.” Officer Dickenson headed for the front door, dragged by an impatient Latasha. Latasha was not about to miss a chance to get a ghoul, but Boston used the opening to follow. “My student,” she said, pointed and hustled.

Out front, the two police officers stood quietly until one asked, “What did she mean, ogre?”.

Once on Avalon, Jessica felt the queasiness in her stomach so it was up to Fiona to act when Roland protested being dragged off against his will. They were in a big room with enough tables and chairs to double for a high school lunch room. Roland slammed his hand down on a table.

“But Commander Falcon will listen to you,” Fiona said, and Jessica moaned either because her stomach was churning or Fiona said the wrong thing.

“Commander Falcon?”

“Over here, Roland.” The Commander was sitting at one of the back tables. “I was beginning to wonder if the women were ever going to ask for my help.” He whistled and the wall of the building vanished to reveal some three hundred spirits of all shapes and sizes fitted out for war. They were spaced out across a great lawn, and they were looking impatient.

###

Back in City Hall, Latasha was not content to wait for the elevator. She was moving up the stairwell with abandon when Officer Dickenson stopped suddenly and raised his pistol. He looked ready to kill Latasha, but the ghoul that reached for his mind made a big mistake going after the big man rather than the women.

Boston’s orange magic snaked out rapidly into the stairwell. It froze Officer Dickenson in place so he couldn’t shoot anyone or anything, and it showed two ghoul feet and the nappy hair on top of the ghoul head. That was all Latasha needed. One great leap and one swing of her ax and they heard the clunk, clunk, clunk of a ghoul head rolling down the stairs.

“I got one,” Latasha said when she landed on her feet and watched the ghoul shrink down to a purple spot. She had been afraid she was going to miss all the fun, but then some twenty dwarfs, elves and other assorted people pushed up past them, some tipping their hats as they went, and Roland caught up to them.

“They filled the basement first so the ghouls couldn’t go to ground. Now they are clearing out floor by floor to the roof.”

“What do you mean go to ground?” Latasha asked as she nudged Officer Dickenson to help him clear his head.

Boston explained. “Most creatures that have low or no tolerance for the sun can dematerialize at dawn and sink into the earth. Many can then move through the earth until they get to a cavern or cave or place they can wait safely until sunset.”

“Like a basement?” Officer Dickenson asked.

“Yes, I suppose,” Roland answered.

“So every little kid who is afraid to go down into the basement may have a good reason. Maybe there is a ghoul or ogre hiding in the corner.”

“Troll,” Boston corrected him. “Ogres don’t entirely mind the sun. It would be a troll in the corner, or a goblin.”

Elect II—21 City Hall, part 3 of 3

March 1, 2017February 9, 2017M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Lisa sent Aurora and two of her elves to Sara. It was a gamble, but Aurora assured her it was not such a risk at elf speed. As soon as they entered the building, Aurora took off up the emergency stairs while Lisa assigned floors and sections of the building to her groups of three. The downstairs reception area was empty, until most of the groups moved out.

A spear came from nowhere and struck one of the elf maidens in the middle. It did not penetrate the armor deeply, but the elf fell, and moaned from the pain, and the others stared at her. Lisa looked in another direction. She quickly calculated the angle and estimated the distance while she clicked the rifle she was carrying from semi-automatic to automatic. She sprayed that distance with half a clip. They all heard the sound of pain and the surprise.

The ghoul materialized, unable to remain invisible. It was already leaking purple from several places when it became a pin cushion for elf arrows. As it collapsed, it deflated like a bogy beast until there was only a slight green and purple smudge on the floor.

“According to Mindy, one down, nine to go,” Ashish said. “I do hope they are not here in the hundred.”

###

Back in the accounting office, Rob Parker looked up at the sound of gunfire, but then he assumed the guns were with the good guys. He hoped they got one. He spoke to Ellain, the elf assigned to his group. “How do we find them if they are invisible?”

“They must become visible to interact with this world. They can be shot when invisible, but cannot fight back unless they can be seen,” Ellain explained.

“So invisibility is a mixed bag,” State Trooper Canelli commented.

“That is why they like the dark. They can see perfectly in the dark and it often gives them an advantage when they become visible to fight.”

“I was wondering why we are looking for invisible creatures,” Rob Parker said.

“They are clumsy and without grace. We look for the trail of things knocked over and listen for things bumped, if we are quiet.” Ellain put a finger to her helmet where her lips were hidden and she expressed her seriousness in her eyes, what could be seen in the light of the exit sign.

Rob Parker merely nodded, but Canelli said, “Makes sense,” just before he threw a hand to his head. “What is happening? Ghouls!” He shouted and began to fire at Ellain and Rob Parker. He looked frightened beyond reason. He looked possessed. Ellain’s shield and armor deflected two bullets as she moved toward the dark, but the third hit her in the hip and she went down. Rob Parker took a bullet in his shoulder before he got behind a desk.

The State Trooper continued to fire in new directions like he was suddenly seeing ghouls everywhere. But there was one corner he avoided and it was in Rob Parker’s line of sight. When he saw the filing cabinet wiggle in the dim emergency lighting, he opened fire. He hit something that moaned. An arrow from Ellain followed from where she had pulled herself into a dark corner while Canelli was firing in every mad direction.

Rob Parker saw a visible claw clutch at an arrow which appeared to be hovering in thin air. It was a direction, and he emptied his gun while Canelli put both hands to his head and screamed. The man spun around twice before he collapsed. The outline of the ghoul against the emergency lights did the same thing.

“Ellain,” Rob Parker called.

“Make sure it is dead,” Ellain responded, but the words sounded weak.

Rob Parker reloaded and became very aware of the bullet in his shoulder. He hated to abandon the State Trooper and a possibly still living ghoul, but in his mind the elf maiden came first. He holstered his weapon, roared at the pain in his shoulder and scooped up the maiden. He crashed out the doors and headed straight for the front reception area.

###

Upstairs, Sara and Paul heard a knock on the door. “Don’t answer it,” Paul whispered sharply. Sara responded in her normal voice.

“Ghouls don’t knock.” She opened the door and saw three helmeted heads dip in her direction.

“Priestess,” one of the women spoke. “Lady Lisa asked us to come and defend you. I am Lieutenant Aurora and my companions are Moria and Sunshine.”

Paul got up and looked over Sara’s shoulder. Sara smiled up at him. “We got elves,” she said.

Paul did not return her look. His eyes looked glazed and suddenly he pushed her aside and pushed toward the door, but the elves blocked his way. He shouted. “I’ve got to get out of here. I have to get out of here.”

Sara grabbed him and turned him enough to kiss him. It only took a moment for him to return her embrace and kiss her back. The elf maidens grinned in only the way elves can grin, until Aurora shouted, “Guard duty,” and shut the door. Sunshine and Moria grumpily turned to face the big room.

###

Lisa was in the basement. She took it upon herself to try and get the lights back on, but the basement was very dark and the emergency lights were few. Somehow, in the dark, she got separated from Ashish and Mirowen. Now she felt fingers crawling around her mind and she did not know how to fight back.

“Lisa.” Ashish came running up. “I thought I lost you.”

“Oh! I’m glad to see you, you have no idea.” The fingers seemed to leave her mind.

“You know it is dangerous to be alone here.”

Lisa nodded and asked, “Where’s Mirowen?”

Ashish looked back. “Coming,” he said before he changed his mind. “I lost her too.”

That did not sound right. Lisa had a question. “How did you see me in the dark?” She certainly did not see him until he was right on top of her.

Ashish put a hand on her shoulder, and he had a strong grip. “That does not matter now.”

Lisa knew that Ashish was not a touchy-feely type and not nearly that strong. She pealed the hand off her shoulder and watched Ashish’s eyes go wide with surprise. She hit Ashish in the face as hard as she could, thinking if it really was Ashish he would feel it in the morning. Suddenly Ashish arched his back. He had an arrow sticking out of his spine. Lisa needed no further evidence. She turned Ashish, grabbed his chin and broke his neck even as she feared she was killing her partner.

“Lady,” Mirowen shouted to her.

“Lisa,” Lisa heard Ashish’s voice and began to cry. By the time they arrived, the ghoul on the floor was gone to a purple spot. “I think I found the circuit breakers,” Ashish said, but Lisa could not stop crying. It was a little walk and a little work to get the lights back on in the building. That was when Latasha and Jessica arrived, and Jessica had been thinking that whole time.

Elect II—21 City Hall, part 2 of 3

February 28, 2017February 9, 2017M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Where do we start?” Riverbend asked honestly, not exactly sure what they were looking for.

Emily was up, dressed, and pacing. “Get your friends,” she said, and she waited while Riverbend called for the four elf maidens she had left in her direct command. Emily sent the first to fetch Heinrich. He was to meet them at the administration building. Then she instructed the others and sent one to the Library, one to the science building where she could also keep an eye on the engineering and technology building, and the third to security. “I know it isn’t recommended, but I need you to be willing to use elf speed and let me know if anything unusual is happening.

“That is spreading us rather thin,” Riverbend said.

“I know, but right now I don’t see as we have much choice,” and with that they set off for the administration building. Heinrich showed up after a half-hour with his elf in tow and they took turns watching the campus side of the building and the street side.

Emily looked up at the widows of the President’s office. The lights were on like the man was working late. She pulled her phone and found Nancy’s number. It was picked up on the first ring.

“Hello Nancy? This is Emily. I see the lights on. Are you working late?

“Yes,” she said. “President Batiste is waiting for a package.”

“What kind of package?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I was just told to wait.”

“Listen, Nancy. If a package arrives, don’t bring it into the President’s office. It’s a matter of life and death.”

“Oh, I don’t know if I can do that,” she said.

“Seriously. Please. At least wait until I get there.”

Nancy paused before she said, “All right. I have to go now.”

“Thank you. Thank you. It really is that important.”

“Goodbye. I have to go now.” Nancy hung up, and Emily shook her head and put her phone away.

It was slow waiting until the elf from the science building came back to report a strange little man came out of the science building wearing hot pads and carrying a metal box. That was how she described it. She said she would not have thought twice about it but he headed straight for the administration building.

“Riverbend, you and your friend need to check on the others—the library and the security office. I suspect things are happening and you need to bring them back here to report.” Emily paced before she sat on the building steps and tapped her foot like Latasha. It was only a moment before the other two elves came back. The one from security said there were a half-dozen security people headed toward the administration building but she did not think anything of it because she thought security people were supposed to come from the security building.

“Same here, sort of,” the one from the library spoke. “A car and a van parked in the library lot and a bunch of men got out but I did not say anything because they were not going to the library. They were headed here.”

“There he is.” The elf from the science building pointed gleefully, thinking she got something right. But the man with the metal box and hot pads was going into the administration building and Emily could not help the words.

“Damn it.” She was going to run for Heinrich who was on the street side of the building, but she found him coming to her.

“There are security people coming,” he reported. “And look who I found.” It was Sergeant Margaret Holmes and Trooper Sebastian Scott, state police.

“Shut-up.” Emily yelled and everyone did that. “Sergeant, you are in charge. Sebastian, you stay outside, too. Riverbend, I need some elf magic from your troop. We got security people about to arrive and unless I am severely mistaken, there are drug people coming up the library walk. I want you to get them fighting each other because they should both be going after the same prize. And I think that prize just went inside. Keep the men with guns out of the building. Heinrich, we have to stop the madness.” Emily grabbed Heinrich’s hand and dragged him up the front steps.

Once inside, Emily went up the stairs two at a time. She burst into the foyer outside the President’s office area, but no one was there. Heinrich, was only a couple of steps behind.

“I am not activated,” he whispered. “I don’t understand. I should be activated.”

Emily understood. Whatever was blocking Amina and Zoe was blocking Heinrich as well. She took his hand again and they walked into the office where Nancy was standing behind her desk. Only the desk light was on. The rest of the room was in shadows. They heard a voice.

“Stay where you are or the secretary is the first to die.”

Four men stepped from the shadows. The speaker, Ferdinand Franco had a gun trained on Nancy’s head. The other three had handcuffs which they put on Heinrich and Emily and then they made them sit on the floor, out of the way. They heard the ding of the elevator. Emily began to tug on her cuffs, but they were too well made to snap easily. Heinrich could only sit and watch as the man with the pot holders, holding the metal box, limped toward the President’s office.

Elect II—20 Underground, part 3 of 3

February 22, 2017February 7, 2017M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Roland rubbed his hands together and something like fire appeared in his hands. He dropped the flame and it illuminated the shaft all the way down, about twenty feet,

“Here’s a rope,” Jessica said and brought one end to Latasha. She went back and tied the other end to a steel column that held up the ceiling.

“Me first,” Roland said and grabbed the rope from Latasha.

Officer Dickenson spoke while Roland went down, slowly and quietly. “Science teacher?”

“Biology,” Boston said. “I’m thinking of letting Latasha do her project on arachnids.”

Officer Dickenson nodded. Jessica had a comment.

“I never had cool teachers like you. My science teachers in high school were all dorks.”

Roland directed his speech up as he got some kind of lights in place that stayed on. “Come down quietly.”

Fiona came next, but she looked first at Jessica and spoke to Harmony. “You did say these were not spiritual creatures.” Boston made Harmony call her troop so they could guard the opening while they went exploring.

Boston was the last to reach the bottom of the hole. She saw a cavern made of natural limestone and granite. There was an old cot along a wall with a couple of moldy woolen blankets folded on top. Several boxes held World War II ration packs and there was a rifle and a rusty revolver in one corner.

“Fallout shelter,” Harmony named the place.

“Nineteen-fifties, I would guess,” Boston agreed.

“Wow,” Latasha was curious about it all. “People used to think they were going to get bombs dropped on their heads?” She did not understand the thinking behind bomb shelters in America. Boston at least understood the history.

“Over here,” Roland called, and he showed them an opening at the back of the cavern. It was a perfect archway, like a door, framed in metal. “Looks like someone uncovered this more recently.” He pointed to the rocks and rubble pushed aside.

“Or some slight earthquake revealed it, and someone recently dug it out,” Jessica, the California girl suggested.

“Possible,” Boston agreed. She stood in the opening, tried to pierce the darkness of the long hallway and made a decision. “Roland and I. The rest of you wait here. Latasha, you have to guard our escape hatch.”

“But I—.” Latasha saw the look in her teacher’s eye and amended her words. “Yes Ma’am.”

Roland had another globe in a hidden pocket which glowed with a silver light that he could increase or dim with a word. It was like the three globes he left floating around the cavern with no visual means of support. Roland went first and Boston followed with a hand on his back. She immediately spoke.

“I have to call Lockhart.” They had entered a hallway of some kind of ship—no doubt an alien ship. There were small chambers on either side of the hall that glowed ever so slightly with a sickly green light. Each one held a spider, unmoving, and the hall looked like it led to a huge central room that gave off a green glow from hundreds if not thousands of such chambers.

“They appear to be in suspension, some kind of cryogenics,” Roland said, touching the outside of one of the chambers.

“I wonder how long,” Boston thought out loud.

“No telling. I don’t recognize the writing.” Roland pointed at the scribbles over each chamber which appeared to be a numbering system

“So wait.” Boston tapped her head and paced in the hallway while she talked. “Latasha’s enemy, Carlos the drug dealer finds this place to hide out from the police. He finds a partially uncovered door and manages to open it. After a time, he manages to revive a spider. A stupid thing to do, but it turns out to be a not so smart male with whom he can make a deal to kill off his rival drug dealers. All is well but he does not know that secretly the male has revived a female which he keeps hidden while she is busy laying eggs. When the babies are born, Carlos finds through the male he can have some control over the babies. He thinks this is even better, but when he meets Mama, he has to make a new deal, especially after Jessica and Latasha slice up the male. Mama goes along with it while she gets the lay of the land, but terminates Carlos as soon as she realizes she will do better without him.”

“That is correct.” Roland and Boston heard the voice. The big spider was clinging to the ceiling of the hallway looking down at them with multi-faceted eyes and snapping jaws. Roland and Boston wore a glamour that made them appear human, but they were not human. The spider shot her web to trap them, but they vanished at elf speed and were already in the cavern yelling by the time the webbing struck the empty hallway floor.

“Get out! Get out!”

A strand of webbing shot from the darkened hole before the Mama appeared. It wrapped around Latasha’s leg and yanked her feet from beneath her. A whip of the spider’s head and Latasha shot across the room to crash into the cavern wall. That hurt, but mostly it made Latasha angry, and she still had her ax gripped tightly in her hand.

Harmony rushed up the rope first to prepare her troop for what she expected might be an invasion of spiders. Officer Dickenson was right behind her, but not elf fast. He stopped at the hole. He swore mightily, turned, pulled his revolver and fired on the giant spider. Jessica and Fiona both fired their arrows as well. Officer Dickenson did not have the best aim, but both arrows struck the spider. The spider did not seem bothered by two arrows. Jessica and Fiona escaped up the rope without a word.

Mama spider tried to fire her webbing several times, but Boston had her wand up and the webbing went astray. Officer Dickenson ran out of bullets as Roland had his bow out and fired a flaming arrow. It struck the back end of the spider and exploded even as Latasha arrived. The spider was already leaking guts from the back when Latasha brought her ax down on the head and ended it. And there was silence for a moment before they heard the clickity-clack sound of spider feet in the hallway.

“Babies!” Officer Dickenson shouted. He about had his revolver reloaded.

“Get out!” Roland said again and Boston repeated it as she held her hands and her wand up.

Dickenson grabbed Latasha by the arm and also repeated the words, but softly, “Get out.” Latasha looked like she wanted to argue, but she did not. She went ahead of the police officer and jumped almost the entire way to the top. Dickenson followed more slowly.

Roland grabbed Boston around the middle and brought her to the base of the hole, even as the babies came pouring into the room and stopped at the magical barrier Boston put up. Roland tied the bottom of the rope in a harness around Boston so she could be pulled up, then he raced to the top.

Boston was straining against the pressure of the spiders trying to break through when the rope tightened and she began to move. Immediately, she pulled her barrier back to cover only the bottom of the hole, and then she tried to do something she did not know if she could do. As she went up, she sucked the air out of the hole to create a vacuum. The rocks around the hole collapsed into the vacuum to seal the exit. No doubt some babies were crushed at the bottom when the rocks settled, but it was more magic than Boston could handle and she arrived at the top of the sealed hole, dizzy and incoherent.

Roland kissed her quickly and stole her phone. “I have to call Lockhart,” he said without explaining for the uninformed. But even as he started through Boston’s interminable contact list, Jessica interrupted.

“Wait,” Jessica turned off her phone. “The ghouls have taken over city hall. Sara is trapped. We have to go.”

“Ghouls?” Officer Dickenson asked in a shaky voice. Latasha could only nod

Jessica stared for a second at her phone before she asked. “Ghouls in city hall? Why is that unusual?”

Elect II—20 Underground, part 1 of 3

February 20, 2017February 7, 2017M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Emily was still in bed three days later when Jessica and Fiona the hunter joined forces and found Carlos in an unused warehouse meat locker. He was completely drained of blood and stank. Fiona guessed he had been hanging for two or three days. They all kept quiet as they looked around the main room for Mama spider. Officer Dickenson spoke first.

“I imagine the big spider is long gone,” he said. He knew it was wishful thinking when the others contradicted him.

“She is near,” Jessica said.

“I can sense something, not far,” Latasha agreed.

Harmony called her troop for backup with a word. “There may be more babies as well.”

“Not what I want to hear,” Dickenson said. “But if there are more, we get out, call Schromer and get extra back-up.” It took some convincing, but eventually the women agreed.

###

At that same time, Sara was in the city hall, waiting outside the courthouse for Paul. She had come to realize if she did not go see him at work, she might never see him at all.

Lisa came out from testifying against one of the drug dealers Latasha got her mixed up with. “Off with time served,” she said as she sat beside Sara on the bench outside the courtroom. She expected Sara to say something about the lack of justice and how the streets will never be safe if the bad guys keep getting off so easy, but that was not what she heard.

“How do you do it?” Sara looked at Lisa with questions written all over her face. “With Josh and the kids, I mean. The only place I see Paul these days is here or over in City Hall where he is working in the Mayor’s office.”

Sara got quiet and Lisa paused for a moment to think.

“I got lucky. Josh knew what he was getting, police and all. He knew about my election, not all the details, but that my life would never be normal. He sent me flowers anyway. He said his programming job was the kind he could work from home most of the time, and he did not mind being a house husband and doing child care if we should have children. He said he would always be there for me. How could I say no?” Lisa smiled and then added a serious note. “Honestly, I don’t do it very well. I struggle with guilt the way most women do these days, I suppose. The days of wife and mother staying home with the kids are pretty much over. Women work these days because they have to, and the idea that a woman can have it all is a croc. Either work or Josh and the children are always getting gypped.”

“Not so,” Ashish said. He had come out of the courtroom in the middle of the conversation, but heard enough of it. “I think Lisa does a remarkable job of balancing things.”

Lisa gave her partner a brief smile but turned straight back to Sara who looked so serious. Lisa’s intuition was acting up. “You haven’t told Paul about you and the girls, have you?”

“I have, but not in detail, and I haven’t taken him to meet them yet. I’m afraid.”

Lisa reached for her hand. “Complete honesty. That is the only way to know if he is right. You don’t have the luxury of picking just any old husband.”

Sara opened her mouth and shut it just as quick. “When I met the girls I thought I stumbled into a band of superheroes, like the X-Men. I discovered it isn’t just Emily, you and Latasha. Each of the girls, in her own way, can do things no human being ought to be able to do.” Sara stopped and Lisa encouraged her.

“And then?”

Sara took a deep breath. “And then I found out I could do things that defied nature. Not big things, but subtle things.” She looked up at Lisa and let out the smallest grin. “I can glow in the dark.”

Lisa patted Sara’s hand and stood. “My pastor says we all have our crosses to bear.” She returned the slight grin and added the word, “Priestess.” Then she raised her voice. “Aurora.”

A young girl stepped around the corner, or more likely appeared from somewhere else. Sara was not fooled. She knew this was an elf in disguise. It was confirmed when Aurora stopped at the bench, looked at Sara, gave a little bow and said, “Priestess,” in echo of Lisa’s word. She turned to Lisa, nodded her head again and said, “Lady.”

“Anything?” Lisa asked.

“There have been ghouls here, but not here now.”

“Ha,” Ashish interrupted. “She hasn’t seen the lawyers.”

###

It was on a Saturday, around sundown, two weeks’ shy of finals, when Jessica and Fiona found their way back to that same warehouse. Latasha, Harmony and Officer Dickenson followed, and all said they knew the trails would return to this place.

“I about have this old warehouse memorized,” Officer Dickenson said while his eyes continued to search every corner for signs of spiders.

“We have been over this place,” Harmony admitted.

“And we found nothing,” Fiona agreed.

“But all the signs point here,” Jessica looked frustrated.

“Maybe we missed something.” Fiona began to second guess.

“At least the place is not full of webbing this time,” Officer Dickenson remarked.

“In here.” Latasha was by the door and everyone looked in her direction. A young man and a young woman came in. “That is why I asked for a second set of eyes. This is my science teacher, Ms. Riley.”

Jessica opened her mouth but said nothing. The absurdity of Latasha asking her high school science teacher for help was beyond even Jessica’s ability for quick remarks. Harmony and Fiona were not fooled by the glamours. Both heads dipped and Harmony spoke.

“Lord Roland. Lady Boston.”

Boston responded while Roland took a long look around the big room. “From the way Latasha described things, I am guessing a secret door.” Boston sat down in the middle of the floor and opened her purse. She took out a Jar of dust and a stick, which was her wand.

“Your wife is sitting down to find a secret door?” Officer Dickenson thought they should be tapping the walls and looking for signs on the floor, but in part he wanted to know who these strangers were. It was police curiosity.

“Yes,” Roland spoke openly to the police officer. “My wife was a witch before she became an elf.” Officer Dickerson just shut his mouth like it served him right for asking. “Like your Melissa,” Roland added for Jessica who nodded that she understood and stepped back to let the woman work.

Boston chanted very softly and waved her wand several times in between her chants. Jessica could see the orange colored swirl of the magic that surrounded Boston like a fine mist of fire. Every time she swirled the wand, the mist expanded to cover more of the warehouse floor. Officer Dickenson asked his question before it reached the walls.

“What is happening?” he whispered. “I don’t see anything.”

“Hush,” Latasha quieted him. “It is like a red-orange mist, and it looks like she found something.”

The mist began to pull together over one round spot on the floor. Boston got up slowly and brought her jar of dust to the spot. She sprinkled the dust and spoke, and the round spot glowed with a sparkling golden tint that everyone could see. Then she spoke.

“This is not a magical door. It seems mechanical in some way and that may be why our elves did not find it, because they were not looking with the right set of eyes.”

“You did say at first they were not spiritual creatures,” Fiona reminded Latasha who simply nodded and unwrapped her ax.

“Here, give me a hand with this,” Roland said to Officer Dickenson. Latasha also got down to apply her strength to what for all practical purposes was like a manhole cover cut smoothly out of the concrete floor. When it was open, all they could see was down into the dark.

Elect II—19 Leftovers, part 3 of 3

February 15, 2017February 5, 2017M G Kizzia Leave a comment

It was dark when Emily left her study group in the library. She normally did not think twice about walking home in the dark, but there was an early spring chill in the air which made her turn up her collar, and she shivered. It was a straight path to the dorm, beside the science building with the main classroom building, Gorgon Hall on her right. She had to go down a small hill and through a couple of dark patches where the trees obscured the walkway lights, but then she was in dorm land and only needed to cross the street to get to her suite.

Emily paused in front of the science building. She pushed her collar up again against the feeling that someone was following her. She tried to look back as she reached in her purse like she maybe left something in the library, but she did not see anyone behind her so she took a deep breath and passed it off as imagination.

A young couple burst through the science building doors and headed toward the library. Emily watched for a moment and felt like she wanted someone to laugh with and hold their hand. She sighed and looked and saw no one back there, so she started walking again. Someone was following her. She could run, and outrun any normal person, but as she came to the slight hill that went down to the street and moved into a dark area, she had another thought. She slipped behind a tree and held her breath.

She was sure whoever it was, or whatever, it was definitely following her. She imagined it paused at the top of the hill where it could not see her. She wondered who it might be. Riverbend was likely resting or for once doing as she was told—helping Lisa track ghouls. She could not imagine it, but she supposed Riverbend might have assigned another one of the elf maidens to temporarily take her place. But no, Emily thought, no elf maiden would be that obvious.

Emily heard a sight growl beside her and felt a rock-hard fist in her shoulder before she could turn her head. She flew across the walkway and slammed hard into a tree. She was hurt from one punch and when she looked up she was not surprised to see a monster of an orc step out into the dim light.

There was someone on the path, running. The person leapt and he had a knife in his hand which got shoved deep into the orc’s neck. The orc grabbed the young man with one hand around the waist and squeezed. The man arched his back and moaned as Emily heard bones break. Then the young man was tossed away like a rag doll.

The orc reached for the knife in his neck and pulled it out with a great roar. But by then, Emily had out her knife and came up from beneath to shove her knife in the orc’s belly and up toward the heart. The orc backhanded her, and mostly missed, but even at that Emily felt it hard enough to be seriously hurt, and she was shoved again across the walkway to crash and slide across the bricks on her back.

As the orc tossed away the knife from his neck, somehow the young man grabbed it. Emily was astounded. She thought she gutted the thing, and it was bleeding terribly from its neck and belly, but it seemed her cut through the abdomen only hit muscle. The knife fell out as the beast turned on her. She staggered to her feet. But then the young man managed a miraculous leap on to the orc’s back, though his ribs had to be broken.

The orc got the knife again in the neck, on the other side of its head. It roared again and jumped backward to crush the young man into the tree. Emily heard the big old tree crack from the weight and force exerted, and she moved in again, retrieving her own knife as the orc turned to tear the young man apart. It roared again and Emily shoved her knife into the orc’s mouth, reaching from behind. The backhand came again, but this time Emily ducked and rolled away. She moaned. The roll made it clear that she was hurt everywhere.

The orc turned on Emily once again, but it stood to spit and try to disgorge the knife from its mouth. It made great hacking sounds before an arrow struck it in the chest. Two more arrows struck the heart area and the beast fell to the ground to roll and grasp at the shafts.

Emily crawled over to the young man by the tree. She was sure he could not possibly be alive. She gasped when she saw him. It was Pierce’s younger brother. There was a flicker of movement and recognition in his eyes

“I’m glad you loved him. I’ve got a baby sister. Save her,” the young man said before the last of his breath went out of him.

Emily turned, though it hurt to turn. She saw a male elf making sure the monster orc was dead. She saw the female elf at her side, and the elf yelled at her. “I ordered Riverbend to stay with you. You have no business sending her off to help Detective Lisa.”

There was something in the way the elf said Detective Lisa that sounded familiar, but Emily could not think about that just then. She was busy passing out.

Emily woke a short while later, in her dorm and in her bed. Maria was there having tea with the elf healer, Linnea.

“Must have been a monster,” Linnea said. Emily could only nod.

“Nothing broken,” Maria reported. “But you have to be banged up bad.”

Emily nodded again as Riverbend came to the door and came into the room, crying.

Elect II—19 Leftovers, part 2 of 3

February 14, 2017February 5, 2017M G Kizzia Leave a comment

That same afternoon, Melissa and Maria finally cornered Amina. They had books Mindy picked out and Amina was just going to have to sit and look at the pictures in the hope of identifying whatever was blocking her, and maybe blocking Zoe. Melissa flipped the pictures. Amina tried not to look too close. Maria talked.

“It’s no good running away. We are running out of semester. We have to get to the bottom of this.”

“Here,” Melissa said.

“No please,” Amina turned her head.

“But this is a good picture,” Maria said. “Apollo and Artemis. Greeks. Hey.” She took the book for a moment. “I didn’t know they were brother and sister.” She moved the book back in front of Melissa when someone screamed. Heads went up. More screams followed.

The orc in the main room had a sword and he looked like he wanted to take out as many students as possible.

Maria and Amina rushed out from behind the library table while Melissa stood and pulled the wand given to her on Avalon. Blue magic snaked out and encircled the orc. She was attempting to immobilize the creature, but even as the orc’s movements began to slow, it shrugged like throwing off a fly. Melissa was lifted off her feet and flung back to slam into the nearest bookrack.

That brief slow down allowed Maria to kick the sword from the orc’s hand. It clattered to the floor and slid under the table even as the orc returned Maria’s kick with the back of his oversized hand and sent her spiraling into the lounge chairs. Amina went straight for the sword, but the orc went straight for her, and would have gotten her if she wasn’t prepared. As the orc reached for Amina, Amina spun around and sprayed his eyes with perfume. The orc howled and stood and scratched at his eyes.

Maria bumped a young woman who was sitting in the lounge area, unmoving, with her eyes and mouth wide open. Maria said, “Run.” That was all that was needed. The woman stood, knocked over her chair, threw her hands up to her hair, screamed and waddled off in her heels because actually running seemed too difficult. She got totally in Maria’s way and Maria added a second thought. “Never.”

As Amina grabbed the sword, the orc pulled out a knife. He looked angry for revenge until a young man hit the orc on the back of the head with an encyclopedia. Melissa ran up, holding her banged up shoulder as the orc staggered and then turned on the young man.

“Robert!” Melissa yelled, but she did not have to tell Robert to back up. When the orc turned fully, he lifted his arms and roared. Three arrows went straight into the orc’s chest. His eyes gazed over and he collapsed.

“Linnea,” Maria recognized the elf healer and her elf friends.

“Lord Roland and Lady Boston said we needed to watch you, not just the Queen.”

“Good thing,” Amina said.

“Yes,” Linnea agreed when she got down with Maria to examine the orc and be sure it was dead. “Boston said the law of luck would bypass the ordinary students and bring the trouble straight to your door,”

They all looked up at the sound by the door. It was Courtney Chase, and she was loud.

“Shit! Joe!” She ran back out the door shouting, “Joe!”

‘Quick,” Maria said. “You have to get this body back to Avalon.”

“Down here,” Amina said and pointed with the sword that was still in her hand. “The hallway is less conspicuous.” Two elf women grabbed the orc’s hand and dragged the body after Amina. Linnea followed. Maria looked at Melissa, but she was kissing Robert so that was no help. She picked up the fallen lounge chair and sat in it as there was a flash of light down the hall and Courtney Chase came back in, Cameraman Joe in tow.

Everything was quiet in the main room.

Courtney glanced down the empty hall suggesting she saw the light. She turned to Melissa and Robert. “Where the hell did they go?” Melissa and Robert were busy, so she harrumphed and stepped over to confront Maria. “Where the hell did they go?” she shouted.

Maria wrinkled her brow and scolded the reporter. “Please. Library,” she whispered.

Courtney made an angry and very unflattering face and returned the whisper with an edge in her voice. “Where the hell did they go?”

Maria answered in her normal tone and voice. “Where did who go?”

Elect II—18 Spring Break, part 3 of 3

February 8, 2017February 4, 2017M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The women left the bodies of the men to their fate. Those bodies would have just slowed them down. When they were ready, they vacated the ledge at the top of the hill and rode hard down the hill. Immediately, Melissa’s alarm went off. It was a perfect imitation of a car alarm and made all those different annoying sounds. But the orcs who decided against direct confrontation were not against hiding in the bushes and pelting the troop with arrows.

Jessica happened to turn her head so the arrow just scratched across her cheek. Two elves were wounded, one in the arm where she held her shield and one in the leg just below her shield. Most of the arrows fell short or hit the shields the women had pulled out against just this possibility. Emily’s horse took an arrow behind the saddle, but it did not penetrate deep and soon fell out on its own. Fortunately, the horse did not balk. It ran with the rest as hard as it could.

When the women got out of range and the alarm died down, they paused only long enough to examine their wounds. The bloody one was Jessica’s cheek, but a bandage was about all they could do. The bandage would turn red, but soon stop the bleeding. The one most seriously injured was the elf with the arrow in her arm, but she broke off the shaft of the arrow and looked at her Captain with determination etched through the pain.

“Ride,” the elf said, and Riverbend, who was barely holding to her own horse did not argue. They rode, perhaps not all out, but at a swift pace all along that valley. Twice more they heard Melissa’s alarm, but they did not stop. They rode through and saw no more arrows. And they saw no more orcs until evening, just at sunset.

The trees were already back to normal. The light was pure and untainted with the darkness. Sara and some others hoped they were out of it, but Riverbend knew better even if no one else did. Sure enough, there was a line of orcs directly in their path, and that line was three thick. The whole troop came to a halt some distance away.

“No way around,” Riverbend said. The river to their right was too fast and deep, and the trees to their left would give them no chance of outrunning the enemy. Emily did not pause.

“Wounded to the rear. Everyone else form up like two sides of a triangle behind me. We poke a hole to ride through. Protect the wounded.” To be sure, the line was ragged and would get more so once they started to ride, but the idea was there.

“Lances everyone,” Riverbend yelled. “Tuck them tight under your arms and shields up.”

Emily began to trot, Riverbend beside her. They all had fairy weave helmets since Jessica took that arrow in the face. No doubt they looked as formidable as they could be. The enemy began to shoot some arrows when they were still out of range, and there was some yelling and shoving among the orcs. But then the women were in full charge mode, spears pointed forward like needles deadlier than any arrow. Some orcs began to back away.

Then they were within range.

Fifty arrows came at them all at once, followed by fifty more. Some of the first fell short and some of the second overshot their targets. But some struck hard on. Many of the arrows were stopped by helmets, shields and armor, but a few penetrated. Two horses went down, but the elf with an arrow in her leg reached down and picked up one of the elves without stopping. Mindy was a bit more difficult. Arwen had to slow considerably to bring her aboard. Then they had to catch up, but by then Emily and Riverbend reached the enemy line and the orcs scattered, or died. The hole was plenty wide when Arwen and Mindy went through last, and they were free.

Two hundred yards on and they stopped. The orcs were not following them and there were wounded. Just about everyone was hurt, or had an arrow somewhere. The Kevlar proved effective, but not entirely so. Melissa had an arrow in her thigh. Maria had one in her side not unlike the one Jessica took all those ages ago in the gym. At least that was how it felt apart from the pain. Mindy likely had a concussion to match Amina’s. Jessica’s cheek was bleeding badly again, and Emily was sure her hand was broken this time. Even Sara took an arrow, in her foot, but she was more embarrassed by it than otherwise.

They left two dead elves on the field, and Emily started the tears. The elves cried with them, and then Sara started the hugging. It was not long, though, before they all vanished from that place and found themselves in a courtyard of the castle where little ones of every shape and size stood ready with stretchers and elf medicine that Maria the healer and Emily the would-be nurse wished they knew how to make.

###

Once the Amazons were settled in the hospital, all in the same ward, Zoe came to visit them. “At least none of you got killed,” she said with a smile. Several of the women moaned. “And I thank you for retrieving the apples. That was one of the things my elves could not retrieve.” she added as she turned to Amina. “Any idea who the mysterious goddess might be?”

Amina started to shake her head, but it hurt so she said, “No.” And it was a sad little no.

Zoe smiled again. “Cheer up. I have every confidence you will solve my mystery soon enough. Now get well. You still have a whole week of spring break. No reason why you shouldn’t spend it here.”

Zoe left. Nurses came and changed bandages and gave pills, just like back home. Then they were told to rest, but Hilde, who had said nothing that whole time finally spoke up.

“So tell me again why I am doing this?”

“You said in Israel you would be doing the same thing,’ Greta said, seriously. Several of the women looked at Greta like she had a loose screw, but Jessica remembered she was a psychology major. She probably had several loose screws.

“Can you think of any better training?” Emily asked

“I am not expecting Israel to be attacked by orcs anytime soon,” Hilde responded sharply.

“I don’t see why not,” Sara spoke up. “Everyone else wants to attack Israel.”

Hilde nodded and pointed at the Priestess. “One point for you.”

###

On the following Saturday the women sat around in the great hall where the dwarf lady, Ms Biggabut brought in some new treats for the buffet table and stayed to tend to what was already there. Riverbend and a few of her troop sat with them. Maria remarked that the week was far better than a trip to Florida if she did not gain a hundred pounds. She meant it as a compliment.

Ms Biggabut shook her head. “Young girls eat like birds.” They all smiled

“Better than Disneyland,” Jessica commented.

“Disneyworld,” Mindy corrected the Californian.

“And Six Flags put together,” Maria added.

Heads were nodding in agreement when Sara came in dressed only in a bikini. Natasha was the one who verbalized the “Wow.” They had only seen the Priestess in frumpy head to toe clothing, sometimes with a minister’s collar. This was a sight, and in fact Sara was very good looking, if not beautiful.

“Who would have thunk it?” Jessica said.

“Are you girls going swimming today? The mermaids said they would come up the river after lunch.” Sara looked down, like she, herself, was a bit embarrassed by what little she was wearing.

“Paul should see you dressed like that,” Emily said with a little impish grin that she was learning to imitate from being in such close quarters to the real thing.

Sara shook her head when a golden fairy came in the door and fluttered right up to her. “Are we ready?” the fairy asked. “You look remarkably lovely.”

The women all knew that voice. It was Commander Falcon.

Sara nodded and the fairy sprinkled her with some proverbial fairy dust. Sara rose up into the air and followed the fairy out of the room in flight.

“Paul is going to be so jealous,” Maria decided.

“She better stay away from Brinkman,” Jessica decided something else.

“Robert could not handle my little bit of magic. No way he could handle all this,” Melissa sighed.

“Bill would be freaking out, too,” Mindy responded.

“I would like a boyfriend.” It was Arwen, the elf who spoke up.

“I got mine,” Riverbend said with the biggest grin of all.

They all stopped when they heard the sharp crack of Ms Biggabut’s cooking spoon on the buffet table. “Boyfriends,” the old dwarf said through her frown. “All you get with them is the three Hs, heartaches, headaches and husbands, and husbands are usually the reason for the first two.” She cracked her spoon sharply once more when Amina spoke up.

“I think I am going to go out on another date.”

“Got anyone in mind?” Jessica asked.

Elect II—18 Spring Break, part 2 of 3

February 7, 2017February 4, 2017M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Come the morning, the Amzons helped with the horses as much as they could. It still took a good hour after breakfast before they were ready. Then Riverbend felt it was important to say something.

“I know you may be feeling rather stiff,” she spoke to the humans. “But the cure is to ride some more, to loosen up the muscles. We will be moving fast. Please try hard to keep up. We won’t leave anyone behind, but the faster we get in, the faster we get out to safety.”

Emily looked at her crew. The head nods suggested they were as ready as they would ever be. They started out at a walk, but soon were trotting and preparing to gallop. Half of the human women were already bouncing like bobble-heads in the back window of a pick-up. Emily would have been bouncing too if she did not have the strength in her legs to grip hard. She doubted they would get far without someone falling off, but Riverbend leaned over and whispered.

“A little magic has them glued to their saddles. Ready?” Without warning they broke into a clearing and let the horses run flat out.

Emily kept her mouth closed when they slowed down for the next little set of woods. She had bit her tongue, so contented herself with a look around. These woods were more open to the sky than the ones they wound through at the beginning. There was more room between trees, yet somehow these woods were darker. Emily’s eyes went several times to the sky, but she saw no smoke to block the sun, much less rain clouds, yet there was an eerie darkness that surrounded them all.

They rode all out again before they began to climb up into some hills. On the way, both elf and human alike turned up their noses at the sewer smell that came from a small stream.

“The land is changing,” Riverbend admitted. “To suit the orcs that live here.”

“Alice?” Emily asked. She could say that much.

Riverbend nodded. “Our Lady is good. She bears no ill will. She will let the orcs have it their way.”

Emily returned the nod as she began to see trees that were twisted and distorted like the orcs themselves. “I might not be so gracious,” Emily said.

“None of us would,” Sara said, and Emily turned her head to see that Sara and her elf had pulled up to ride behind Emily. Even as she looked, an arrow sank into Sara’s shepherd’s crook.

“Ride!” Emily reacted, and everyone kicked their horses to get up the hill as fast as they could while the two elves who served as rear guard turned in their saddles and fired several arrows in the general direction of the enemy. Those who understood such things prayed it was only a hunting party, but when they topped the hill they saw they were surrounded by a hundred orcs. The leader of the orcs had Jessica and Fiona trapped and held by the arms. They were not going anywhere. Emily turned in the saddle, saw the determination in the faces of her Amazons, and was proud of them, but she dismounted, and Captain Riverbend dismounted to walk with her.

Emily and Riverbend stopped some ten yards from the orc line, and Emily spoke.

“We are only here to retrieve the men.”

“And deprive me of my supper?” The orc commander laughed and several orcs laughed with him.

“We might not kill you all, but we can certainly kill most of you,” Emily shouted. She was banking on the orcs having some sense of self-preservation which might at least cause them to hesitate if it came to a fight. But the orc leader just laughed louder, until an arrow appeared in his chest. At the same time, arrows took out two of the orcs holding Fiona and Jessica.

Jessica did not hesitate to kick her other captor where he would feel it most. As the orc went to his knees, she retrieved her WAK.

Fiona was more deadly. While her orc stared at his dead buddy, she whipped his own sword from its holder and raked it across the orc face. Then she tapped Jessica and they ran for their horses that were nearby. The orcs guarding the horses actually moved out of the way as they got busy. Fifty fairies flew up and transformed into full sized warriors.

Emily stood transfixed, both fascinated and repulsed by the sudden barbaric gore that spilled out all around her. Commander Falcon ran up and yelled for her attention. “They did not buy our ruse.” He fought off a brute and yelled again. “Ride!”

Emily and Riverbend broke for their horses and both yelled the same word. “Ride.” The women grabbed their spears and held them like lances. To be honest, it was mostly the elves who cut a clear path through the orc line. Emily and Riverbend ended up in the rear, but they both pulled their swords and each took out one before they broke free. Emily breathed. She had been so scared and swung as she imagined so wildly, it was a wonder to her that she did not cut off her own horse’s head. Riverbend breathed as well, but said nothing until they were all well clear of the battle. Then she slid off her horse. Her leg was badly cut and she was bleeding profusely.

Everyone dismounted for a rest. “Only a moment,” Riverbend said through teeth closed tight against the pain. Maria and Linnea were right there to lay on hands. They stopped the bleeding, closed up the wound and relieved the pain, but neither could heal Riverbend completely, and she had lost a good bit of blood.

“Can you ride?” Emily asked. Riverbend looked uncertain. “For David?” Riverbend smiled and nodded. She could do it for David. “Good,” Emily said as she helped the elf to her feet and set her on her horse. “I don’t want to lose you. David would never forgive me.” Riverbend smiled a bit more and they rode, slowly. They were near their destination.

They arrived on the ledge of a tall hill where they could overlook the distant valley. At the back of the ledge there was a cave. Mindy suggested that it was likely the cave that lead to the door to the archives. Jessica found Sergeant Valenko and two other men hanging upside down from the ceiling of the cave. They were dead, their blood drained and hanging, no doubt, to tenderize the meat.

“No guards,” Riverbend noted as she slipped off her horse to sit for a minute in the cave entrance.

“Not true,” Mindy shouted as two dozen orcs came up the rise. The women were cut off from escape and only had a short cliff with a cave at their backs.

“Form ranks!” Emily commanded, and the Amazons grabbed their spears and began to form a line. The Women of the Watch caught on quickly and added their spears to the line. “Forward march!” Emily shouted, and as the wall of spears began to move forward in unison, Sara raised her shepherds crook and yelled. A blinding white light emanated from her being and caused the orcs to blink and back away. Most of the orcs changed their minds about the fight. They turned to rush back down the hill, but one big ogre, likely the one Emily kicked in the Archive room burst through the line. It was badly cut and had two broken spears in its middle which it tore out. It was far from dead, and several orcs followed it through the hole in the line before the women could close up ranks.

Jessica and Fiona had their bows and took out two of the orcs. Riverbend pulled her sword again, but she could hardly lift it. Emily faced the ogre and made her sword move left and right to distract and confuse the beast before she shoved the sword deep into the ogre’s chest. It howled, but sheer anger and hatred kept it standing. It looked paralyzed in its right arm, but it could still roar and reach for Riverbend.

Emily slapped the ogre’s hand away from the elf and the ogre looked surprised that he felt the slap. Then Emily punched the ogre in the eye while he was bending down toward the elf. She knocked the ogre to the ground, but immediately regretted the decision. It felt like her hand was broken. “Damn!” She got angry and jumped over the flailing beast. Her knife finished the ogre, but when she stood she said again, “Damn!”

Maria came after a moment, and Linnea joined her after the two finished treating the others. One elf had a broken arm. Arwen and Mindy would have bruised faces for some time, and Mindy would have a bad black eye. Amina might have a concussion and her elf had a deep cut on her arm from defending Amina.

It turned out Emily’s hand was not broken, but Maria said there were probably several cracks in the bones. It took some effort to heal the hand, and then Maria was spent. Linnea did not look too steady either. “I hope we don’t run into any more,” Maria said as she put her hand to her forehead to wipe away the sweat.

“Hey, Emily,” Jessica called from the cave.

“Majesty,” Fiona added her voice, and the two came out with a big bucket of apples. One of the orcs was not quite dead. It saw and it spoke even as it spit blood.

“Go ahead, elf. Touch the apples. Don’t you want to? Human, try one. They are delicious.” Riverbend, Arwen, Mindy, Sara and Emily all shouted, “No!” at the same time.

“To so much as touch the apple, for a little one is death,” Linnea said.

“It is the apple of youth. Jessica, it will make you young,” Mindy spoke at about the same time.

“But I am young,” Jessica said before she said, “oh.” She remembered the apples might make her young enough to where she ceased to exist altogether.

The orc laughed like it was his last breath. “We want no god over us, but we remember the rules,” it said and closed its eyes.

“How did you come to get these apples,” Fiona shouted at the orc.

The orc just laughed again and stopped moving.

“The goddess who will not show herself,” Amina said. She threw her hands over her eyes as if she saw something she did not want to see.

Riverbend took a piece of fairy weave from her own clothes and laid it over top of the apples. She attached it to the bucket and made it as thick as possible as a guard against temptation. “But who can take this?” Riverbend asked. “For elves it is impossible, and for humans it is irresistible.

“Let me see,” Melissa stepped up. She pulled her wand and focused on the bucket with the fairy weave cover, waved her wand over top, and shortly the whole thing smelled like the sewer stream they passed earlier.

Sara stepped up and held her nose as she picked up the bucket. “I will take the bucket. I am least likely to be tempted. The last thing I want is to risk being a teenager again.”

No one argued as the priestess strapped the bucket to the back of her horse’s saddle. Her elf helped and had one thing to say. “My lady is very brave.”

“One more thing,” Melissa said, and she let her magic surround the group and float in and out between them. “There.” She took a deep breath. “Now if there are orcs within bowshot, an alarm should sound.” But then she was as worn out as Maria and feared she would be no help if the alarm went off.

“The valley below looks clear,” Riverbend spoke to Emily who came back out from the cave, still nursing her hand. “We did not come that way for fear they would see us coming.”

Emily also tied a small satchel to the back of her horse’s saddle and nodded. “But we skirt the edge and ride hard.”

“Second tree to the right and straight on until evening,” Riverbend nodded.

Elect II—18 Spring Break, part 1 of 3

February 6, 2017February 4, 2017M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Eleven women followed Riverbend and stepped from this world to that world. Fiona, the elf huntress was there along with eleven elf warriors, all women dressed in tall leather boots, skirts of fine chain mail and helmets that covered all but the eyes and mouth. They carried swords, knives, spear-like lances, the inevitable bow, and wore soft green cloaks with the hood down overall. They looked formidable, but the Amazons could hardly appreciate that fact. They were all busy feeling sick, dizzy, and like they were dying or had already died. Those feelings passed soon enough, but by then all eyes were turned to the tall and stately beauty of the woman who approached across the lawn of soft, green grass. The elves dropped to their knees and lowered their eyes, but the Amazons hardly knew what to think. Emily saw a golden light buzzing around the woman’s head, but before the woman arrived it vanished into her golden hair at the shoulder.

“Welcome.” The woman’s voice was as beautiful as her person, and what is more, she was framed by a perfectly blue sky and a magnificent castle which stood on a hill some distance away. “I am sorry but there is nothing I can do about the transition between Earth and the Second Heavens. Some find it rough, but the feeling passes. Are we all here?”

Emily looked around and saw that the others were waiting for her to answer. “Yes,” she said. “All that are coming.”

“And it is all that were invited.” The woman smiled and the smile was dazzling, warm and lovely. “I hope you will have time to rest here. But I know the urgency of your task must come first.”

Jessica was feeling like she just moved from Earth to Oz. The colors of Avalon were more colorful, somehow, than any of the colors back home. In fact, back home was so drab by comparison she felt like she just went from black and white to color. “The Good Witch of the North?” Jessica could not hold back the words.

“Alice,” the woman introduced herself. “And welcome to Wonderland. This is the place for my little ones, where the spirits of the earth can come to rest from their labors.”

“In the Second heavens?” Sara made her statement a question.

“Yes, Sara. The first heaven is over the Earth as you know, and the third contains the throne of God, even as Uncle Paul wrote to the Corinthians. There is paradise in the third heaven. These second heavens are the place between. Matter, energy, and even time work strangely here and it is layered like a fine French pastry so many think there are seven or more heavens here but it is really all one.”

“But—” Melissa started to speak, but Alice interrupted.

“Now, Melissa. You above all know how Mister Hawkings postulated parallel universes. This place does not qualify, exactly, but you surely grasp the concept.” Alice waited for the next outburst, but the women fell silent so she spoke again. “Well, Commander Falcon, what do you think?”

“I think they will likely all get killed,” A gruff male voice spoke as the golden light exited Alice’s shoulder. It was a fairy and there were several gasps, and then several more when the fairy transformed into a full sized human. He looked human too, with a bit of gray around his temples and in his beard, and without the pointed ears of the elves or any sign of wings; that is to say he looked ordinary if one did not count the fact that he was standing in full plate armor, golden in color and with a falcon symbol on his chest plate.

“Now Commander. There are twenty-four of them and that is the Storyteller’s favorite number, and they will be twelve and twelve if David ever asks her.”

“As it may, my Lady. These Women of the Watch might yet provoke a war, and as for the humans…”

“Pardon me,” Alice interrupted and stepped forward to tap each human woman gently on the forehead. She spoke as she went. “Normally I have no say over human affairs, but this way I may track you and recall you if you are injured or in serious trouble.”

Mindy stepped up after she was touched. “But Zoe is a true goddess. You could simply wipe out the rebels if you chose.”

Alice stopped and touched Emily last. “Solve my mystery,” she said before she turned to Mindy. “I am Alice, not Zoe right now, but as far as it goes, I believe I will let the priestess explain why Zoe holds back.” And Alice vanished. She simply was not there anymore.

Every eye turned on Sara, including the eyes of Commander Falcon. Sara dropped her head and spoke slowly, but clearly. “Because every person deserves a fair chance to repent and be forgiven. We would not be here if the Most High wiped us out for turning our backs on him.”

“Enough.” Commander Falcon shouted. “Women, gather your horses and your charges. We will create the agreed distraction, but you are on your own.” Commander Falcon looked ready to leave, but he paused for a final word. “Good luck,” he said and he changed back to his normal fairy size and flew off toward the castle with such speed he also appeared to vanish.

The Amazons got swords, shields and spears of their own. They got fairy weave clothing as well, a magical cloth that could be shaped and colored on command. Emily told everyone to make the fairy weave into Kevlar-like vests. She assumed the men had guns. Sara made a long white dress and a white cloak with a fine hood instead, and the priestess would take nothing but her crook. No one argued.

The horses were a bit of a problem. Jessica had her own horse back home, of course, but of the others, only Sara and Melissa and the farm-girls Diane and Greta had ever ridden, and that was not much. The rest were all city girls, more or less. They had to force Detroit Natasha up on the beast. The Watcher Women were assigned to ride one beside each Amazon. Riverbend said it was to promote cohesion in the group, but she and Emily both knew it was so the elves could keep the Amazons in the saddle.

When they were finally ready, they turned their back on the distant castle and headed for the hills whose cliffs faced the sea. Maria was the one who asked. “What good is this? We can’t ride our horses across the water, can we?”

“Wait,” the elf healer, Linnea who rode beside Maria spoke softly. Maria waited, and when they passed through a gap in those hills, instead of being confronted with the sea, they found themselves on a grassy meadow that stretched into the distance for as far as they could see,

“The islands of Avalon can be reached without ever crossing the water,” Fiona explained to Jessica. They were the hunters who rode out front, like scouts. Jessica later said she understood completely, but none of the others understood at all except perhaps Melissa who talked about black holes and folded space and things that were even more confusing than the reality they experienced.

That afternoon they went to three or four different islands, or lands as Emily preferred to think of them. Riverbend had explained that they were riding alongside but outside of orc territory. In the morning, they would turn into orc lands and ride swiftly to the center where the men were.

“This way we may enter the land from an unexpected direction. With that we might be able to get in and out before they notice and mount a defense.”

“Might,’ Emily responded. “But what makes you think they aren’t watching us even now?”

Riverbend paused to look around. “That may be, but in the morning Commander Falcon has proposed to intrude, however briefly, on orc land. Our hope is he will draw all eyes to him while we dash for the center.” Emily nodded. She had no better suggestions.

“I would rather he draw all the spears to him,” Melissa said in her quiet voice from behind. Emily and Riverbend turned their heads briefly and saw Melissa’s elf nodding her head without a word.

“You put those two quiet ones together,” Emily accused. Riverbend just smiled in her elfish way.

“I won’t bite,” Sara said.

“Yes, Lady.” That was all her elf would say except for the occasional, “No, Lady.”

Maria and Linnea were exchanging recipes for Gazpacho, whatever that was, so Mindy turned to her elf and spoke. “My name is Mindy.”

“Yes, Mum. I’m Arwen. I was southern born myself, around Charleston.” Mindy perked up. But she would file that for later. First she had some questions.

“So tell me how Lady Alice and Zoe could be the same person.”

“The Kairos has been reborn one hundred and twenty-one times right down since the beginning of history. My father works in the Avalon history department. Oh, but I am not supposed to talk about it.”

“Yes, I see.” Mindy smiled. “Interesting, though, how she can be Alice one minute and a person who lived and I suppose died thousands of years ago the next.”

“Oh, it is worse than that,” Arwen said. “Lady Alice has not even been born yet.”

“What?” That threw Mindy’s thoughts into confusion.

“Yes, she won’t be born for another fourteen or fifteen hundred years. We aren’t quite sure, my father I mean, since it isn’t actually history yet.”

“She is from the future,” Amina spoke up from behind like it was an obvious fact.

“Holy Moly!” Mindy wanted to swear. “How does she do that?”

“Oh, I’m not supposed to talk about it,” Arwen said. And that was the way their conversation went after that. Mindy would ask questions and Arwen was not supposed to talk about it, with the occasional compliment that some of Mindy’s questions were tricky enough to almost be elf worthy.

When they stopped for the evening, they built a fire and laughed when they realized they knew some of the same jokes. Linnea brought out some crackers as Fiona cut a deer for the fire. Jessica watched as much deer cutting as she could tolerate. Maria thought it was going to be a very slim meal until Linnea added some heated water to the crackers and they blossomed into full loaves of hot steaming, fresh baked bread.

“You know, though. Laughing at humans is not encouraged,” Arwen admitted.

“Good to know,” Sara said, and there was silence for a time until Arwen stood up and told the story of the three dwarfs at the bottom of the well. All present, elf and human alike, laughed so hard at the story, their sides hurt. Even when they went to bed, there were occasional giggles that rose up here and there almost until sunrise.

Storyteller Tales & Thoughts

Stories and reflections on storytelling

Elf