Supernatural Games (15 page)

The demon’s replacement entered the main nave and walked toward the altar, then turned to walk around the baptistery. He trotted up the stairs on the left and stopped to look down into the baptistery before he jogged down the stairs on the right. Like the fae, he walked around the marble base of the structure, examining the twelve signs of the zodiac. He made a complete circle before stopping in front of Leo, the fifth sign of the zodiac. Hesitating, he considered his options before he pushed on the head of the lion. A few seconds later, a beam of light shot out of the lion’s open mouth and struck the cross atop a cupola near the altar. The cross looked like it absorbed the energy just before it spewed fire at the demon. Unfortunately, the demon was slow to react, and his clothing caught fire. He did a perfect drop and roll, extinguishing most of the flames in the process. Shaken, he staggered over to the sign of Aquarius and pushed on it. It didn’t take long for him to be flushed away. At least it would soothe his burned and chapped skin. 

By now, I was eagerly awaiting the next competitor. This baptistery was the most entertaining challenge so far. I now knew which two buttons not to push, but had no clue which button was correct. Running footsteps announced the baptistery’s next victim. It was the lycan bringing up the rear, and since that team was already down two members, they could ill afford another disabling injury. So far, the baptistery hadn’t seriously maimed or killed anyone, unless of course they’d been flushed into the sewers. Then they might wish they were dead. I had more experience than I shuddered to think about on vampiric sewers.

The lycan followed the same pattern as his predecessors, circling the baptistery and studying the signs of the zodiac. Just when I feared he would follow the ship of fools who were flushed, he pushed the Pisces sign. It didn’t take long for the structure to respond. The baptistery slowly sank into the floor with a grinding noise like stone on stone. It continued sliding until it disappeared, revealing a set of stairs. The lycan ran over and headed down the stairs and out of sight. I didn’t hesitate before I jogged over and followed him down the steps. I was standing in a dimly lit room at the base of the stairs. As I walked through the only door leading out of the room, the baptistery slid back into place. I found myself in a narrow underground cavern or tunnel. There was no way to tell for sure. I followed it for some time as the ground beneath me rose and a light faded. That is when I spotted the torches spaced irregularly along both sides of the wall. Then I recognized what the area depicted.

This was an underground cemetery beneath the city, a necropolis, or literally a city of the dead. I was standing in a narrow passage looking like it was dug by hand. Three tiers of shelves piled high with bones stood on either side of the tunnel. It all made sense now. The church was built on ice, and the tunnels went under the ice and back through an underground cavern.

As I followed the lycan’s retreating footsteps down the tunnel, I saw mounds of skulls, bones, relics, and ornately carved boxes covered in cobwebs and layers of dust. It didn’t look like anyone had been down here in centuries, although I knew the design team had been. They had taken great pains not to disturb anything. Rats scurried before me and I tried to ignore their presence. It sounded like the lycan had slowed down and I stopped to listen. A snort followed by a guttural growl told me the lycan had changed into his wolf form. Considering the fact one of his teammates lost toes to piranhas, while another took arrows to his backside, I considered this a prudent move. As a wolf, his night vision and his sense of smell were superior to his human senses. He would also make a smaller target, since he wasn’t walking upright. I didn’t want to give my presence away, so I stayed well back and watched. The lycan crouched and moved cautiously forward, stopping at each hallway, sniffing and sometimes moving a few paces down a side tunnel. Then he returned to where he’d stopped and continued along the main aisle. I wondered if this guy was lost. His behavior reminding me of the old saying, which suggests if you don’t know where you are going, any path will do. Fortunately, I had nowhere else to be, and at least this guy hadn’t gotten himself flushed.

As I cautiously moved forward, the floor sloped upward. This buoyed my little claustrophobic heart, causing it to leap for joy, and as I picked up my pace, felt the air getting subtly cooler. I turned a corner and entered a small grotto covered from floor to ceiling in human bones and skulls. It was a miniature replica of the Capela dos Ossos, or Chapel of Bones. The original was built in Portugal around the sixteenth century. This just solidified my belief that those Franciscan monks were a little bit twisted. If they were trying to convey that life is transitory or fleeting, this was overkill. Two compete skeletons hung from the ceiling. This place looked more like an ad for Torturers R Us. If the inscription over the door didn’t scare you, it should, or you couldn’t read Latin. It states, “Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos.” This translates roughly as, “We, the bones are here, await yours." I wasn’t certain how this challenge would end, but knew my bones wouldn’t be added to the tally.

The room was small, approximately 15 meters by 10 meters; the interior illuminated by light coming through horizontal slits in the ceiling. Eight pillars supported the wall of bones and the ceiling. The ceiling had stylized frescos etched into it in scalloped shaped sections. An angel holding a sword in one hand and two keys in the other flanked an altar to the left. A dove perched on the angel’s shoulder. On the opposite side of the altar was a marble ark with an extinguished candle on one side and an hourglass on the other. This place was rife with symbolism. If memory served me, the competitors had to touch the correct symbols in the correct order or they’d pay the piper. I counted four symbols for peace and three for death. The peace symbols were the angel, the dove, the sword of judgment, and the keys to heaven. The memento mori, or reminders of death, were the skulls, the hourglass, and the extinguished candle. However, the competitors would need to touch only four symbols in the correct order to win. I had no idea of the correct order, or the correct symbols.

The lycan took his time studying the ciphers and their placement in the room. If it was me, and thankfully it wasn’t my ass on the line, I knew what I would do. Now it was time to sit back and watch the show. The lycan moved up and tapped the hourglass, which flipped and dribbled sand toward the bottom of the glass. Next, he touched the keys and stood back to see if anything happened. As it turns out, he didn’t have long to wait before the tile he stood on glowed red and slid sideways, seconds before the tile dropped out from under him. He dropped from sight just before I heard movement from behind me. It wasn’t long before the fae burst into the room, his clothes covered in a thick layer of ice, hair frozen to his head. Large chunks of ice cracked, tinkling as they crashed, smashing into dazzlingly beautiful jewels like shards of ice on to the floor.

I had to stifle a laugh because this was a frustrated and irate fae. He looked like someone had pissed in his Wheaties, and he wanted a piece of them. I sure hoped his luck had changed. Realizing he was alone, he pulled out his instructions and reread them. He paced around the room, looking at each symbol from as many different angles as possible. The fae appeared to be understandably gun shy, and I couldn’t blame him. Apparently satisfied with his choices, he marched up and tapped the dove, causing the hourglass to upend and leak sand. The fae looked stumped, and honestly, so was I. He hadn’t touched the hourglass, so it would count as one of his four symbols. As he puzzled it through, the sand kept trickling down. That’s when he touched the keys to heaven. He wasn’t going to heaven. Of this I was sure, because the minute he touched the keys two wraiths floated from the ceiling. They carried scythes and wore hooded robes. These looked like rejects from Harry Potter’s dementor scenes. The fae wasn’t waiting for a kiss. He was running back down the hall in the direction he’d come.

I settled in to see who contestant number three would be. I thought it unlikely the vampire and demon subs would arrive in time, but stranger things had happened. There is an overall time limit for each universe, so if these guys didn’t pick it up there might not be a winner for this stage. As luck would have it, lucky number three lumbered into view, making enough noise to wake the dead, which in this place was not a good sign. The wizard popped into the center of the small grotto and stood transfixed staring at all the bones and skulls, paying particular attention to the two skeletons suspended by chains from the ceiling.

Then he took something from his pocket and traced a circle around where he stood. Chalk. This guy was putting a protective bubble around himself. It was a tad dramatic if you asked me, but all things considered, wasn’t necessarily a bad idea. There was only one problem with his approach. He couldn’t tap the symbols from behind his shields. Instead, he drifted around the room in his bubble like a hamster in an exercise ball. He would roll forward, teeter, stop, study, and rock forward again until he completed the tour of the small chapel. I sure hoped he knew what he was doing, because he made me dizzy. A small popping noise let me know he dropped his shield. Without hesitating, he walked over and touched the sword, which swung down and pointed at the keys. The wizard jogged over and tapped the keys before he moved to stand in front of the dove. Hesitating, he pondered his decision before he touched the dove, sending a shower of bones cascading on top of him. He was buried to his armpits in skulls and bones. Realizing he was pinned, he hit his panic button and the alarms sounded. Again, a crew came in to dig out the wizard, and he was carried out. His team would be assessed a time penalty, and they would have to start again.

It wasn’t long before the all-clear siren sounded. I settled in to await the next contestant. This challenge was entertaining. If these guys didn’t pick it up, the time would run out without a winner, then they would all be assessed a huge time penalty. Then I heard running footsteps, and the furious fae burst back into the room. He wasted no time tapping the hourglass, the dove, then the sword. He never got to the fourth symbol because his picks animated the two skeletons hanging from the ceiling by chains. The skeletons glided down and took off after the fleeing fae. He would be fit if he kept this up. First, he incurs the wrath of the wraiths, and now the scorn of the skeletons. This didn’t appear to be his lucky day.

The fae hadn’t been gone long when the vampire’s sub arrived. The vamps could use a little luck. They were already down a team member. He studied the room and the symbols so long, I thought he had nodded off. When he finally moved, he approached the extinguished candle, tapped it once, then moved over and tapped the sword. He never got to his third symbol because his first two picks triggered a trap door under the sword and he dropped from sight.

Time had to be almost out on this challenge. The competitors obviously knew it because I heard the sound of running footsteps. A few seconds later, the fae burst back into the room. I’ll be damned, this guy was resilient. Some people might think the third time would be the charm, but I doubted it in this twisted competition. I thought it more likely that as the old saying goes about coincidence and luck. If it happens once, it is an accident; if it happens twice, it is a coincidence; if it happens a third time, it is a frontal assault. The fae was all business as he approached the symbols for his frontal assault. He did not hesitate as he moved to tap the dove, then the hourglass, then the sword, and finally the keys. No doom or mayhem ensued. He had done it. The horn sounded, indicating we had a winner. I had to give him credit for his persistence. I went to find my team, so we could get out of there. We needed to figure out who was trying to kill me, because there was only one challenge left, and they weren’t likely to quit trying.

O
nce everyone returned to the Four Courts and ate dinner, we convened in our underwater meeting room. I reminded everyone we had thirty-six hours to figure this out and asked Corbin to summarize the events from the third challenge.

“Lauren, there were four injuries. There were two vampires injured, neither seriously, but their team is down to one member. The lycan’s had no injuries this round and are holding at two members. The demons had two minor injuries, leaving their team with two members. The wizards are also down to two members. The fae and elves both have full teams. The wizard won the first challenge, the elf the second, and the fae the third. It is still anyone’s game.”

“Thank you, Corbin, for bringing us up to speed. Tokem, please share what you found on the surveillance tapes.”

“Lauren, we haven’t watched all of it, but our saboteurs have been busier than normal. I think they may be starting to panic. Hopefully, they’ve been careless and we will find something we can use. The most important thing we discovered was the ice demon wasn’t part of the original plan. If you look closely again, you’ll see two energy sources. Like the giant raptor, the energy signatures appear to vanish once the ice demon melts. Nice touch, warming Frosty up.”

“Thanks, Tokem, Frosty was a deranged demon with a heart of ice. Seriously, the worst part about the ice demon was he absorbed my energy. If I hadn’t been able to melt him by heating up his armor, I wouldn’t have been able to stop him.”

“Lauren, have you come across anything like this before?”

“Jason, I’ve had wizards channel my energy, but I’ve never seen a demon that could. “

“Do you think the demon was animated by a wizard or another entity with the power to co-opt your power?” Traygen asked.

“It is possible and that may give us a clue. Corbin, can you seek an audience with Queen Aerlene and see if she can trace whoever animated the snow demon? You will need to take her a gem to bribe her. Jason can help you. You two take care of that, and we’ll continue debriefing.”

Corbin and Jason left, and Tokem continued with his overview of the video.

“We didn’t have a camera in the room where the demon was knocked out and you were confronted, but there is footage from the hallway leading to the room where you and the demon were attacked. We picked it up when you sent your holographic image into the room. You can see the explosion, then see you dive through the doorway.”

“I wish we had a camera in there because I know two sources of dark magic in that room. The one to the right of the door was less malevolent. It almost caused me to leap to my left, where the stronger signature waited. Fortunately, I had scanned the area and already knew there were two sources of magic present, or I’d have leapt right into the most deadly source.”

“It’s almost like a tandem of gloom and doom. Where one scares you and the other kills you,” Traygen surmised.

“It almost mimics the way wolves hunt. Several wolves scare the prey and spook it into running right into the wolf or wolves who will kill it. This is definitely the work of a predator,” Tokem observed.

“I agree with you both. If you look at the video from the hall immediately after the final explosion, you can make out two separate signatures that move into the hall then just vanish. It is exactly like the vulture incident. We need to know how they are vanishing. Since we weren’t in the room when they disappeared, we will need to go back to the place where the vulture attacked. This may be our last chance before the final challenge begins.”

“Lauren, I’m going with you.”

“Tokem, do we have any cameras Traygen can wear? I want to film our little trip and I’ll need you to monitor it live, so if you see anything we miss, you can alert us.”

“Lauren, it will take me only a minute to get Traygen set up, and then I’ll stay keyed into your mics.”

“That sounds good.”

“I’ll go with you, Tokem. Lauren, I’ll be right back.”

I settled in to wait for Traygen to return and let my mind wander. I thought back to the first place we felt the evil essence. It was at the bog in the first universe, right after it exploded. Then we found it again in the second universe where the vulture attacked me. It was in those dunes we first spotted the energy signature of the two separate attackers. We had no picture at the third universe, but we definitely felt their essence. I had no experience with people just disappearing. Teleporting I could do. using my dragon’s eye statue or pendant, but I couldn’t simply disappear. This whole thing was unnerving.

I heard footsteps approaching and assumed Traygen had returned. However, as I spun to greet him, I realized it was Jason.

“Did you get Corbin set up to meet with Queen Aerlene?”

“I did, and he had a beautiful emerald. I only hope he gives it to her. I think he fancied it.”

“You know he will. I have a question for you. Have you ever heard of anyone who could disappear without using a magical key, like my pendant or statue? I’m trying to figure out how the two assassins vanished with no visible instrument.”

“Lauren, I’ve never seen anything like what happened at the oasis. Let me ask around, it seems like I’ve heard of wizards able to create portals between universes. I just can’t place it. You and Traygen, be extremely careful. Whoever is after you won’t stop now. They’ll likely pick up the pace, knowing there’s only one challenge left.”

“We will. Let me know when and if you find anything.”

Jason left before Traygen and Tokem returned. Traygen had a helmet camera, and Tokem made certain our mics were working. Satisfied, we headed to the transport where our hovercraft would launch us into the area. It didn’t take us long to get into orbit near the second universe, where we were unceremoniously dropped from the cargo hold. Such a glamorous life we lived.

Once we were free from the plane’s turbulence, Traygen guided us into the air over the dunes. He checked the coordinates before he throttled up and headed toward the place where we blasted the vulture. It wasn’t hard to find because there were still bits of the blasted bird littering the side of the dune. Traygen guided us down, and we landed atop a nearby sandbank. We didn’t want to take the chance that turbulence from our hovercraft would disturb the area.

“How do you want to handle this?”

“Traygen, do you have your talisman in a handy place?”

“I wouldn’t leave home without it. You know it is my favorite toy, I mean amulet. I love nothing better than to be whisked away to you.”

“I know you do, My Love. You make sure to keep it where you can grab it in a split second, because whoever is behind this will shoot first and check later.”

“I suggest we examine the area where we saw the man disappear. I got a good whiff of his scent, so I’ll know it when we find the place.”

“I will recognize the scent as well. Let’s approach the spot from below and work our way up. This way if we displace any sand we won’t cover up anything we haven’t already checked.”

We walked down the face of the dune we were on and trudged through the sand until we were at the base of the adjacent dune where the assassin had disappeared. I led the way, Traygen followed with his camera rolling.

“Tokem, are we about where the video indicates the man disappeared?”

“Lauren, move over to your right two paces and you will be directly below the spot where he vanished. My guess is you’re about six feet below the exact place.”

“Thanks, Tokem. Traygen, do you smell anything?”

“Not yet, let’s move up, and I’ll check again.”

I inched forward as carefully as I could, so I wouldn’t cause the sand to cascade toward us and potentially bury any evidence.

“Lauren, stop. I think I’ve picked up the scent from the room and the oasis. Yes, it is the same scent, fainter, but our same killer.”

“I’ve got an idea. Hold still and I’ll send out my magic probe to see if I get any hits.”

I calmed my breathing and centered myself, as centered as I could be clinging to a sand dune while searching for an evil entity. Satisfied I was ready, I sent my second sight in search of the dark magic that still clung to the area. I didn’t find anything directly above us, so I moved from right to left, back and forth across the face of the dune. Yes, I felt a flicker or shimmer of concentrated magical energy. I gotcha, and you won’t get away this time.

“Traygen, Tokem, I got something up and to the right at about four o’clock. Can either of you scent or see anything?”

“Lauren, I am sensing heavy static in that location. I’m not sure what to make of it. I’ll pull the footage from a moment before our assailant disappeared. Give me a second.”

“Lauren, I’ll need to get closer to check for scent. I’ll wait until we hear from Tokem.”

“I agree, and think we should move wide of the area, then approach it at the same level.”

We trudged off and gave the area a wide berth. Satisfied we were far enough away, we began walking back until we were approximately ten feet away and on the same level with the spot.

“Lauren, I can definitely smell our attacker. He was certainly in this vicinity.”

“Yes, and I found the same area of density or disturbance when I rechecked the first video feed. Your attacker walked right toward that dense disturbance when he disappeared. So, I would guess whatever that area is, it provided his means of escape.”

“Any ideas?” I asked.

“Lauren, Traygen, whatever you do, don’t get any closer to that spot. We have no idea what it is, and for all we know, it could whisk you both away right into the waiting arms of the assassin.”

Before I could reply, Jason’s voice came through our mics.

“Lauren, Tokem, and Traygen, I think you’ve found a portal. Tokem is correct. Do not approach it. We need to research it before we decide how to approach it.”

“Jason, we are running out of time.”

“Lauren, I know, but it is too dangerous to chance any interaction with that thing. Come on back, and we can decide what to do next.”

I couldn’t walk away without knowing what that thing was. Jason told me not to approach it, but he didn’t say I couldn’t throw an object at it. I took my flashlight out of my pack and tossed it in the air to get a feel for its weight. Then I turned, eyed the shimmering area, and threw the flashlight at it. The flashlight sailed through the air and when it hit the area of density, it disappeared. Gone. Well, that answered that question. Now we know how our illusory and lethal assassins had vanished. What we don’t know was to where.

Traygen and I returned to our meeting rooms where the rest of the team was assembled. Corbin was back, and hopefully he had luck with Queen Aerlene.

“Corbin, what did Queen Aerlene know about the snow demon?”

“Lauren, she wasn’t overly helpful. She is miffed that we aren’t sharing our information on Queen Mab and her warlock.”

“Lauren, if I may interject.”

I nodded for Jason to say whatever was on his mind.

“Queen Aerlene knows we have arrest warrants out for the two spies, and she suspects or hopes Mab is involved. She would like nothing more than to publicly discredit Mab. I’ve thrown her a bone so to speak and informed her of our plans to arrest Grayson and Trax. She now knows the two were working together, and is satisfied for the time being.”

“Jason, where are we with the warrants on Grayson and Trax? I’d feel better if I knew they were under arrest.”

“Lauren, we haven’t been able to find either one of them. They may have planned to vanish, or more than likely heard we were after them. We are pulling out all stops to get them arrested.”

“Thank you, Jason. Corbin, go ahead.”

“As I said, she is irked that we are keeping her out of the loop. Nevertheless, the two-carat emerald I gave her persuaded her to look at Frosty’s rental agreement. It was no one she knew, and she seemed genuinely baffled by it. If I had to guess, I would say whoever activated Frosty used a bogus identity, so we are right back where we started.”

“I disagree; at least we know who wasn’t involved. We have known since we first scented the dark magic at the oasis it wasn’t anyone we knew. Now it is time to see if we can trace the magic.”

“Traygen, I don’t think we have enough time to track the magic. We have less then twenty-four hours before the final event. I have another idea. I think we need to scour the final universe and look for areas of disturbance like the one we just confirmed. If we don’t find it before the final challenge begins, I’ll go through the area by the oasis.”

“Lauren, that is too dangerous. You are exactly who they’re trying to kill. No, hear me out. I think you should remain visible, a target, and I’ll go through with a team. They won’t expect us, and we will either capture them or rescue you if they grab you first.”

“Jason is right. He is the only one who hasn’t been routinely stationed at the previous challenges, so won’t be missed when he slips away after the second challenge. The only risk is that the assassins will make a play before he is released from his duties,” Traygen noted.

“Lauren, this is why I need you to hold back until I’m cleared. You’ll still have plenty of time to get in place before any competitors arrive. Don’t argue, you know I’m right.”