THE VROL TRILOGY (76 page)

"Shut
up
!" screamed Jennie, as she ran to the campsite
center. Her appearance caused Michael to indeed stop talking -
immediately. So stunning was her appearance in most situations that
men stopped talking, but yelling as she did, and looking as
beautiful as, well, as she was Jennie, caused Michael to stare,
slack-jawed and unable to formulate a response.

"Oh my… and who are you, precious flower?"
asked Michael, apparently forgetting that a massive lycan warrior
king had him in a potentially lethal grip.

"I'm your daughter-in-law, you wretched
puddle of squirrel vomit. Is it true that you don't want to help us
find Max?"

Before Michael could respond, Gabriel dropped
out of the sky, landing so hard that the ground shook and nearly
blew some of the villagers backwards.

"Father, this is why I was reticent in
assisting in the acquisition of my brother, who now seeks a simple
life of sifting through garbage. You were wrong, Father, in making
Mija-El the Taxiarch. It should have been me. I am the warrior you
seek. Mija-El is trash and has always been so. I have done my part.
We should be off, as I have a world owed me."

"Heya Gabe. Been a while. Why so gloomy, man?
You won the wager. She wanted you, not me, so here I am. Why don't
you help them to find the kid? You actually did me a favor. I like
this place."

Krynos dropped Michael, flinging him forward
as he did so, making sure the unwilling angel landed on his
face.

"My sons, did you wager on the affections… of
a female?" asked Draagh unbelievably.

"She is one of our kind. Not a monkey such as
these," responded Gabriel.

"Are you calling me a monkey?" Jennie
demanded of her uncle-in-law.

"You are inferior, yes, that is true, but the
ones with which my fallen brother surrounds himself are even lesser
beings than you, my niece."

"Piss off, Gabriel. You don't impress me as
anything amazing or wonderful. To me, you're just an arrogant guy
with wings who-"

In a blur, Gabriel had Jennie's throat in his
right hand before she could finish her sentence, but had not
counted on the fact that there was a large, and extremely strong
lycan king a mere two meters to his side - a lycan king who
considered Jennie Gunnarsson much like a daughter. Before he could
utter a sound, Gabriel felt a powerful blow to his temple, causing
him to release the lycan woman, as he flew into a tree that most
ungraciously stopped his motion.

"None shall touch the beautiful warrior
Jennie Gunnarsson. Not even an archangel. I gladly sacrifice my
life to keep my word," roared Krynos as he prepared to charge a
stunned Gabriel.

"Oh man, this is good! Sunny, load up my
bong, baby. I'm going to enjoy this," whispered Michael, as he
crawled off to the side, not wanting to be trampled by what was
becoming quite a turn of events.

Jennie pulled out her stinger and laid a
quick 50 rounds into Gabriel's chest as he went to get up at the
base of the tree. The only thing it did was shred Gabriel's
camouflage jacket - his skin was as prefect and white as the day he
was made. Realizing it was as fruitless as the time she tried to
shoot Draagh in Machu Picchu, she pulled out her katana as
Bagatelle ran to her side - the brother not wanting to die, but
fully realizing that it was inevitable unless Draagh intervened.
The campers, too loaded to even move properly, simply stood and
watched as the beings fought - each one fully capable of destroying
the entire campsite in one way or another. Fortunately, the
children were some few hundred meters away in an open field as they
played with magical toys that Liliana had created for their
enjoyment. The little girl, however, being a lycan, had amazing
hearing and knew what was going on. She was torn between going to
investigate and keeping the children safe, but she chose the latter
- for the time being.

Luckily for Jennie and Bagatelle, Draagh
slammed his staff into the ground, freezing everyone in place -
even Gabriel, as he glared at his team and then at Michael, who was
stuck in a ridiculous pose with a waterpipe up to his face and eyes
crossed, motionless in the middle of inhaling the pungent
smoke.

"Enough! You shall all stop now! Jennie, you
shall sheath your sword. Krynos, stay your hand. Gabriel, no more!
And Michael, put down that infernal pipe."

The ancient mage waited a moment, and then
released everyone. To his surprise, everyone did exactly as he
ordered.

"Apologies are in order. Gabriel, we start
with you."

"What? I must apologize - for what?"

"We aren't monkeys, Gabriel. We may not
have wings and be able to travel the stars in the blink of an eye,
but we are definitely
not
monkeys," yelled Jennie as she rubbed her throat where the
archangel previously had her in a potentially deadly
grip.

"You are correct, Jennie. I am sorry. It is
just that I see what a waste my brother has become, and I resent
him for it. Now, shall Krynos apologize for blind-siding me?"

"I am only sorry that I did not cause
you to suffer more pain, Archangel. You sought to bring harm to
Jennie, and for that there is
no
excuse."

"Okay, that is
kind
of an apology," responded Gabriel, knowing
he did act in a rash fashion towards the beautiful lycan
female.

"I
am
sorry I shot you Gabriel. I'm sure it didn't even bother you
at all, anyway," said Jennie.

"Actually, my niece, it still stings. For a
mortal weapon it is quite impressive. What is it called?"

As everyone in the group started talking to
each other in a more civilized manner, some laughter even broke out
and Draagh saw that frayed nerves were starting to mend. They still
had to deal with Michael, who was over in the corner loading up
another bong hit, but Draagh had a trump card up his sleeve and was
about to put it to good use. He walked over and brusquely picked
Michael up by the collar of his tunic, steering him out of the
campsite, while Jennie showed Gabriel her stinger, and Bagatelle
and Krynos traded tips on power punching.

Liliana sat in the open, grassy field
with her group of admirers, performing little tricks that really
didn't accomplish a whole lot, but looked impressive in any case.
The cantus that the children liked best was the one where Liliana
took some common insects and transformed them into a larger, more
attractive bug that did movements on command. She had magically and
genetically programmed a simple core language into the creature's
system which resembled the
machine
language of Earth's late 20
^th
century.
Machine
was a
language that was used to make wired and wireless remote controls
for commanding devices such as drones and terrain-based toys, so it
was perfectly appropriate for her natural creation. Children took
turns making the odd creature do flips and jumps on
command.

Michael watched the young lycan with great
interest for some minutes before the girl even noticed that her
great-grandfather had returned with someone in tow.

"Grandfather Draagh! You are back!" she
called out happily, but then quickly grew a look of sadness, as it
had appeared that he did not find the one they were searching for.
In fact, she believed that Michael was just another disheveled
camper.

"My dear Liliana, please my child, come over
here. I require your assistance."

Liliana looked over at the kids and said,
"Okay kids, our playtime has come to an end, and we need to let the
bugs go back to what they were."

The children let out audible sounds of
disappointment as Liliana blinked at the oddly built creature,
causing it to fall back into the separate entities from which it
had been created. Michael looked at his father with an expression
of pleasant surprise, nodding his head as he said, "Who is she,
Father? She is obviously lycan, but also a minor-mage?"

Liliana skipped up to the two and then
curtseyed to the new arrival.

"Good morning, sir. I am Liliana Gunnarsson,
daughter of Jennie and Max, and I am a mage - at your service."

Michael tried not to snort with laughter,
finding her mannerisms to be so precious. He set down on one knee,
bringing himself at eye level with the girl, as he bowed his head
slightly.

Liliana? It is a pleasure to meet you. So,
you say that you are the daughter of Jennie and Max? Then, that
would make me your… grandfather. Max is my son, you see, and…"

"Max and Jennie are my adoptive parents, so I
cannot claim blood relation to you, kind sir."

Looking up to Draagh, Liliana then plainly
stated, "So Grandfather, I am to assume that this is the Michael we
were seeking, and that our mission was a success?"

"Well, my dear. Yes, it is he who we sought
out, but the mission… well, the mission has not been successful,"
responded Draagh with a sad tone to his voice.

"How so, Grandfather? I see him standing here
in front of us. Is it due to the quarreling I heard while I was
caring for the children?"

"No Liliana. It is that Michael does not wish
to help us. He wants to stay here."

The little girl looked up at Michael with
giant, glassy eyes filled with sadness. It was a look that no being
with any bit of compassion could resist.

"You… do not wish to… help? Why? My father is
missing. Why would you not want to find your own son?"

"My dear granddaughter - it is that I have a
good life here and I long ago tired of being what I once was - a
violent being who only sought battle and-"

Before he could finish, Liliana's
glassy-eyed look of sadness turned into a face of extreme rage and
concentration. Thrusting her hand out, she screamed,
"
Electrincantatio quassatio
!"
blasting Michael off into the sky, and watching as he landed in a
heap on the far side of the field.

"Oh my, Liliana. Have you been practicing
your cantus enhancement techniques?" Draagh asked with a bit of
amusement. "That was quite impressive."

"Yes, Grandfather. Was it not excellent how I
launched him such a great distance? And without the use of a
levitation cantus, either! Shall I disintegrate his clothing while
he hangs upside-down from a tree and we allow fire ants to consume
his flesh?" she morbidly responded while wearing a smile of total
satisfaction.

"Oh no, my dear, that will not be necessary.
I believe he absorbed the message," Draagh said, trying not to show
his concern for Liliana's apparent ease at which she concocted
torturous retribution.

The little girl was quite proud of herself,
and for good reason. She had already surpassed most adult
minor-mages with her innate abilities and was delving deeply into
the full capabilities of magic, thanks to Draagh's tutoring. The
two then walked over to Michael, whose clothing was still smoking
from the charge of Liliana's blast.

"My son, I would like for you to again meet
your granddaughter, Liliana Gunnarsson. As you can see, she is
hell-bent on finding her father, so I would recommend cooperation,
lest we leave her here in your care. I am sure she could find all
sorts of experimental magic to use upon your attractive visage,
rendering you quite undesirable to all of your… wives."

"Yes, like releasing things on you that crawl
up your butt and eat your guts and-"

"Liliana, my dear, that will be quite enough.
I believe this is where we give Michael a chance to respond," said
the old mage.

Michael stood up, with a bit of difficulty,
and looked at the little lycan girl who had just basically beat him
like a wet rag with a mere mention of two words. Liliana glared at
him, her arms crossed and lips pursed tightly.

"Oh please, Grandfather, I would be
more than willing to practice on Max's father here. After all, if
we cannot find
my
father, I
will only desire to inflict pain and suffering on anyone who ever
had anything to do with his disappearance - and that includes
anyone who refused to help find him. How does that sound to
you,
father of my father
?
And… what shall I call you? If you refuse to assist us I shall call
you… road kill. No, how about I simply eliminate you if you do not
assist us?"

"Now Liliana, my dear, we do not kill people.
Only those who would do us harm," advised Draagh.

"I'll help," squeaked Michael with a tone of
resignation to his voice. "After all, who could refuse the gracious
request of such a lovely and talented young lady?"

"You simply desire to continue living…
Grandfather Michael," the cute little girl said with a triumphantly
menacing tone.

Jennie, Krynos, Bagatelle and Gabriel had
left camp and walked out to the field where Draagh, Liliana and
Michael were standing. Upon seeing them approach, Liliana happily
ran and practically jumped into Gabriel's arms, the archangel
awkwardly holding the girl before gently setting her down.

"Tio! Grandfather Michael said he is going to
help us!" the little girl yelped with a voice of total
innocence.

"And how did you come to make this pass,
little one?" asked Krynos.

"She kicked my ass. See? My tunic is ruined.
And then she said she was going to let things crawl up my butt and
eat me alive," complained the powerless Taxiarch as he pointed to
burn marks on his roughly-woven cotton shirt.

"It was an electrical cantus, and quite
impressive I must say," added Draagh. "I threatened to leave her
here with Michael for further magical experimentation if he did not
comply with our wishes."