THE VROL TRILOGY (73 page)

"Um… hi guys. Can I come in? Couldn't help
but smell something great."

Jessica momentarily forgot that Adam
was a jerk, and was pleased that someone else recognized her
morning's creation. Dons looked at the resident
mage
, and then over to Max, who shrugged his
shoulders.

"Dons, we have plenty more in the kitchen.
You know, I did thrash him up quite a bit. There's a saying where
I'm from. Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies…"

"Closer. Yeah, mate, we have it here too,"
Dons finished for Max as he looked again over at Adam and waved him
in. "Yeah, come in, ya prat. Sit down and have some grub."

Adam sat down, but there were only four
bowls. Max grinned at him and said, "Adam, feel free to make a
bowl. You
do
know how to do
that, right?"

Adam sheepishly shook his head. He realized
when he was outclassed.

"No, I do not have that ability. Could you
perhaps teach… me?"

"Oh, not even. You see, you can only recite
little cantuses with your wand, which has limited abilities in the
first place. Organic transmutation is not one of its features.
Here, I'll make you a bowl."

Max pointed at the table and a small, wooden
bowl appeared in front of Adam. He wasn't surprised, having already
seen Max's abilities up close and personal before. Max was being a
bit cruel to him, but it wasn't without reason - Adam needed to be
knocked down a few pegs so he would give up his plans of clan
conquest. If he doubted his own abilities then he would be
weakened. Max then pointed over near Jessica and conjured a spoon
on the tabletop.

"Jess, hand Adam that spoon, please - just
the way I taught you."

Jessica pointed at the spoon and softly
said, "
graveincantatio cochleari"
as she floated the spoon over to a stunned Adam.

"Jess! That's brilliant! How'd you do that?"
asked Dons, with pleasant surprise in his voice.

"So totally NOT fair!" squealed Pandy, "I
wanna do it too!" She looked at Max expectedly and folder her arms,
while making a contrived, pouty face.

"Max taught it to me this morning, and a few
other things also," said Jessica as she smiled at their foreign
friend. Adam stared at her, stunned that she had magical skills
beyond simple healing and invigoration. One thing was for sure - he
now had competition, so he needed to find new ways to be of use. He
gave a weak smile, and started to eat the guiso that Max had dumped
into his bowl.

"So, Adam, I think we need to have a clan
discussion about your future with us. Right now is as good a time
as any," said Dons as the others nodded in agreement.

"Sure, Boss. Whatever you say. Now that I am
no longer top mage around here I guess I have no choice."

Adam looked at Max, who had decided to add a
bit and give the fake mage some hope.

"Adam, I can understand your situation - sort
of. You live in a place where an alien race hunts humans for sport,
you can't leave, and you have a device that enables you to survive.
But you got lost along the way somewhere. Dons, Jessica and Pandy
are super nice people, so you were always surrounded by friends.
Where I'm from it's the vampire race that is mean and nasty, not
the lycans. We protect humans and fight the vampires. Here, well, I
have a vampire friend - Lennie the drummer. He's a great guy, but
if we were back to where I'm from we would be mortal enemies.
Everything here is backwards, and I need to get home, but I want to
make sure that you guys - all of you, are left in good hands. I
think that you can rise to the occasion. But that doesn't mean you
can go all Genghis Khan and take over the clan, got it?"

"What do you mean? Are you going to help me?
Us? And what is a genghiskhan? Is it a magical skill"

"What I intend to do, with Dons' permission,
is to teach all of you a few more things - that you can all do
together. That means that I'll enhance Pandy's device, create one
for Dons and fix yours - if you behave. And no, Genghis Khan was a
brutal warrior in Earth's ancient past, not a magical skill."

"Max! You mean you can make my wristband even
better?" asked Pandy excitedly.

"Yeah, I can. And I'll make one for Dons
that's fitting for him."

"Like what kind of device, mate? I only has
me sword."

"Then that's what I'll enhance, if you like.
And as an added bonus, no one else will be able to utilize your
devices. I'll attach ‘em to your DNA."

Adam got a slightly confused look on his
face, seemed to think for a moment and then asked, "Um, while I'm
asking questions - what's DNA?"

"Deoxyribonucleic acid - it's the molecule
that basically contains your genetic encoding, and is one of the
three macromolecules essential for all known forms of life."

"That's science, not magic. I thought you
were a mage."

"I started out as a scientist, but in reality
magic is science - just not science that most people know or
understand."

Max saw that Dons was starting to look
concerned, his eyes shifting back and forth between he and Adam, so
he performed a silent cantus, causing the former clan mage to want
to go to the bathroom.

"Um, excuse me. I should go wash my hands,"
Adam said as he quickly got up and ran to the head.

"Max, I gots me a feeling you had something
to do with that, mate," his comment making Max snicker a bit.

"Yeah, I needed to get him out of earshot for
a minute. Look, no one will be able to use your devices, but all
three of you will be able to deactivate or nullify Adam's. He also
won't be able to use his wand against any of you. But as promised,
I'll enhance all of your devices so you can care for each other.
Sound good?"

"That sounds great, Max. Girls, that all
sound good to you too?"

Both the girls nodded their heads as they saw
Adam return from the restroom.

"Now, on another note, the reason I'm doing
this is because I'll be leaving soon. I have to find a real mage
who has access to certain… stuff."

"What kinds of stuff are you talking about? I
thought you were a real mage-" said Jessica.

"I am, but I am missing something - namely
access to Socrates. He's like a sentient computer who helps mages
to navigate. I can't contact him from this world."

"So there's really not anymore you can do
here?" asked Pandy.

"Afraid so, little one. I have to find a way
back to my family. It's already been far too many days."

Max rapped the table rhythmically with his
knuckles as he envisioned Jennie in his mind. He missed her
terribly… for her strength, her love and her bravery. She was an
amazing woman, way out of his league, and even as he tried to
discover a way to get back home he knew in his heart that she was
trying to find him. He had tried to figure out how he got where he
was time after time, and still couldn't piece it together - he used
Draagh's staff to 4D slip to the Machu Picchu in his own timeline,
but instead of going there he ended up where he was - a
post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, CA of 2819. Right year - wrong
reality. Really wrong reality. Magic wasn't supposed to work where
he was, but it did - mostly. Everything else was also backwards or
wrong, like how vampires (that shouldn't exist) were friendly
fellows that preferred tomato juice in their beer, and many lycans
(who also shouldn't exist) were total assholes - not the natural
protectors of mankind. His stomach always gently had a northerly
pull - a notion to go upstream. One night he had a dream of a town
with tall, ornate wooden poles near the water's edge, and there
were massive green trees everywhere. It was odd that he had
remembered his dream, so it had that much more of an effect on him.
It was time to move on - soon.

"So mate, you say you wanna head out.
Whereabouts you thinking of goin'?"

"Well, I have a feeling north would be good.
Plus, I could stop by that multi-species clan that Lykanrol tried
to slaughter and see how they are doing - maybe give them a bit of
help."

"That sounds nice, Max. I hope those people
are all right. Heck, I'd go with you if I could leave the city
perimeter, but you know the demons… erm, the Vrol, they put
something in us," stated Jessica with the utmost sincerity.

"Oh, that's right!" exclaimed Max. "I can get
those trackers out of you - all of you. No sense in giving the Vrol
an unfair advantage, right? Hell, when I'm done you'll be able to
walk right up behind them and shoot ‘em in the head without them
even knowing you're there."

"Teeth! Lots of teeth!" cheered Pandy, as she
bounced up and did a little dance.

"Hey mate, that sounds right good, but you
don't have ta go curing everyone now, do ya?" asked Dons, fully
expecting Max answer to be in the negative, which it was.

"Dons, you know I can't do that. I mean,
you're my friend, but I gotta get the trackers out of everyone
‘cause the Vrol are the enemy of mankind."

"Yeah, I figured as much. You're a good
bloke, you are."

Around lunchtime Max went out into the street
to talk with the locals. He invited everyone he talked to in to
Seven Sins that evening, where he would help them avoid the demons
for good, and even make it so they could go back to their homes if
they knew where they were from. He asked them to spread the news to
their families and friends and to get as many people into the
protective area of the club as possible.

"Hey Max! How goes it, friend?"

Lennie was his usual chipper self. Max looked
at him and really wished he could change Lennie to a normal, or
even a lycan. Anything would be better than a short-lived vampire.
Apparently, they had naturally occurring aphrodisiacal compounds in
their bloodstream that they could call on command. There may have
been other side benefits to being a vampire, but Max wasn't aware
of them. He just felt badly that his friend probably wouldn't live
for more than a few more years.

"Heya, Lennie. You got the news about
tonight?"

"Yeah, sure did. Looking forward to it and
all. But you know, between you and me, what's going on? I mean,
it's common knowledge you turned into a giant wolf and ran off the
other day, but beyond that I only know you came back safe and
sound."

Max sat down on a busted concrete slab and
told Lennie his whole story - from his childhood up until that very
moment.

After about an hour Lennie was sitting in the
same spot, shaking his head.

"You know, I thought you were
different. But man-oh-man! I never imagined you were
that
different. This is really cool,
mate! I really hope you get back with your family and save your
world. I mean, if I didn't have to take care of my girl I'd go with
you and help out. Sounds like you have something worth fighting
for."

"Lennie, that's a great offer and I'd take
you with me, but didn't you get the part where, in my universe,
vampires are sociopathic parasites? I don't want that for you, my
friend. You are way better off here, raising a family."

"Well, let's go have a beer. On me, mate.
Tonight we'll put on a great show after you talk to everyone. Dons
told me drinks would be half price too."

Max nodded his head and walked inside Seven
Sins with his ripe smelling friend to have a pint. Or two.

###

Up north, at the Lykanrol campsite, Miles sat
by the fire pit as he waited for his afternoon appointment. Sheeva
was by his side, lightly rubbing her tummy. Indie hadn't left his
tent since the interloper Max had performed some perverse demonic
spell on him, eliminating his reproductive organs. None of them
really understood how they could have been so blind and allowed the
foreigner into their midst. Sheeva was confused, Indie blamed Miles
and Miles simply blamed Max, who had killed both Sally and
Jason.

Before any of them had finished their lunch
they heard a rustling in the brush outside the camp area. The scent
was different - it wasn't lycan, so it most definitely wasn't Max.
It was their appointment. They sat still, waiting for him/it to
show its face, and when it did they all sat in a state of shock.
And horror.

"Who is Miles? I'm Kylen. We have an
appointment."

The remaining members of Lykanrol sat,
jaws agape and in shock, as a nearly naked, bald-headed
Caucasian-looking humanoid creature with six
chitinous,
insectoid legs skittered over towards
them, moving like a crab. Because he had a normal torso and two
arms, he would have looked human if he had two normal legs - except
for one other major difference - he had a massive mouth in his
abdomen. It perversely undulated and snapped razor sharp fangs, as
Miles and Sheeva looked on in horror.

"Miles, what did you do? What is this thing?"
whispered Sheeva.

"He's gonna find and kill Max, baby. We can't
have that punk coming back and taking over Lykanrol now, can
we?"

"So, you called me to kill someone. Where is
this person, and what did they do?" asked Kylen.

"He's a lycan, named Max Gunnarsson, and we
believe he's in Hollywood. He killed half of my clan while we
slept, including the children. The dude's totally evil, and he even
drank the blood of all the children - before he ate their
faces."

"Hmmm, sounds like a nasty sort. Well, it
will take me a couple of days to get to Hollywood, as I work my way
south, completing jobs for clients. There will be an extra charge
for transportation, got it? I don't like traveling down to Los
Angeles."

"Yeah, I got it," growled Miles, "do you
guarantee termination of the target?"

"Absolutely. But I am paid up front, as I
don't expect to come back here."