Witch Clan: Warriors! by John Stormm (good book club books txt) 📕

wake up from. If you die here, you die here. It is as simple as that. Om biggun tu?”

“Tiggum, Grandma.” Johnny sobbed.

“Land sakes, Son,” she said, “Losing our pride and joy would just about kill your Grandpa and me. Be careful for our sakes. It‘s not as if we can get another like our Johnny.”

“Grandma, I couldn’t even think right,” he said, sniffling. “All I could see is their cruel faces and hear their mocking voices and then only the sound of their breathing and their heartbeats. I could smell their sweat and even the blood in their veins and taste the salt of them in the air. I thought I would die if I didn’t tear out their throats.”

“Hunter vision,” Little Fox said.

“What?” she asked.

“It’s what we call hunter’s vision,” he replied, “though this is about as extreme as I’ve ever heard it get. It’s what happens to a big cat or a predator when it becomes focused on its prey.”

“Do you mean he is set to prey upon human beings like they were rabbits or something? she asked incredulously.

“Well, he did look more than a little feral up in that tree,” John said uneasily. “But it seems it gets triggered only by certain kinds of men. The murdering kind. He didn’t get like that when he dealt with that robber. He was angry, yes, but not like this. A medicine man might say that such murdering bastards were his lawful prey. Dark medicine and very powerful, but still medicine for healing and protecting the people.” He looked hard at Johnny.

“You told me once that Coyote gave you a new name?” Little Fox quizzed.

“Panther Boy,” Johnny replied, still sobbing.

“No kidding,” John said, chuckling.

“You find this amusing?” Emma asked.

“Strangely appropriate, would be a better description,” John replied, looking around. “I think our hosts have more to say just now.”

The ranks of Sidhe Elders and Masters looked on at the exchange silently, heads cocking to one side and the other in serious contemplation of the trio in their midst. It was then that Emma understood where Johnny got that peculiar trait and all but burst out laughing.

“So, will you help us?” Eldritch Siara asked blinking at the human display.

“How?” John asked. “We can’t fight your war for you. We’re not gods of war. We are only human. I hate to think of what weapons of destruction they might obtain in our own world should they find it. Truth told, we fear destroying ourselves if we don’t exercise more wisdom than we have in the past. What can we be expected to do?”

“I might be able to explain that best to you.” Master Shabriri stepped forward.

“This is Shabriri,” Johnny said. “He’s the one I’ve been telling you all about that’s been teaching me about my other side.”

“With all the gruesome lessons, you mean?” John asked with his eyes never wavering from the tall Sidhe.

“Please understand. The boy has inherited the best of two worlds,” Shabriri said. “There is much I have to do to prepare him to measure up against the best and the worst that both worlds would throw at him. It may seem harsh at times, but I’ve never given him more than he could handle and I’m more than a little pleased at how he’s done thus far.”

“I understand,” John said quietly. “Just so’s you understand what she’ll do to the both of us should we fail her grandson in any meaningful way, if you catch my drift.”

“I think I understand,” Shabriri said reluctantly. “In any case, we do have a plan that probably only the three of you will ever likely be able to pull off. You will not be required to fight our war for us, nor even for yourselves.” The Master paced towards the Pool and the images he spoke of came to life in the reflection.

“The place where these attacks are coming from is a human dominated plane called Logres, and not too much unlike your own in some ways,” Shabriri explained. “Wizards are the ruling class there, and the Grand Wizard is an ambitious, little tyrant named Mordred VII. Sometime in the past year, members of his military establishment, known as The Pentacle, have found the means to crossover into our realm and have been raiding various shrines and temples for artifacts they can use for gaining power or wreaking havoc. We were thinking that if we disguised yourselves as visiting royalty from yet another human plane rich with artifacts, that Mordred might accept you into their midst, if only to woo the secrets of your world or make an alliance that would bring him more power. There would be a two fold focus. The first would be to retrieve the Rift Wand from his possession and thereby limit his options for his attacks and extra planar forays for weapons. The second, should we be so lucky, would be to lure him into an extra planar trap and thus put an abrupt end to his murdering dynasty.“

“What makes you think he won’t kill us out of hand as he has with those people of yours?” Emma asked.

“Greed, bigotry and fear,” the Master replied. “He wants all the power he can get his hands on. Nonhumans mean less than nothing to him, but humans might be perceived as equals. In which case, he will need to assure himself that he is not in for a similar invasion. The fact that he will believe himself to have royal hostages in his possession he will likely choose to bargain for a better deal.”

“And when is all this likely to happen?” John asked.

“We need to be ready to crossover by the next Summer Solstice,” Shabriri replied.

“We have families and lives to live in our own world,” Emma explained. “How long do you propose we put our lives on hold?”

“I’ve considered that,” Elder Sian interrupted. “If we have you crossover to here and outfit you for your mission, there will be a time lapse where an hour of your time may equal as much as a week here and with the further dilation of crossing over yet again into Logres we may add a few more days to that. Theoretically speaking, you should be able to stay the better part of a year there and be gone for a mere weekend in your own world. But truly, it could also take you longer than that.”

“Also, during this time, our own rangers will be gathering more pertinent information as we can and conducting forays of our own,” the Eldritch interjected. “If it is possible, we will choose not to put your people in harms way, however, it would be wise to consider what would come of this tyrant finding weapons in your own world for as soon as he knows, he will come and you’ve seen how he has no regard for the lives he takes or spends in the taking.”

“Well,” Emma replied with a long sigh. “It seems we’ve got about six months to consider your plan and prepare. After what I’ve seen, I’m not inclined to say no to this. It would be good if you could keep us updated on the situation and give us more information on the identities we are to assume if we are to be convincing. I shudder to think at what mischief he might accomplish getting his hands on but a single atomic warhead. Our own planet is poised already to destroy itself should a single errant one of these manage to detonate.”

“We have an idea that should not fail to impress the Grand Wizard,” Elder Shan replied. “As they are already familiar with our world and customs, we have some relics from the Atlantean age that will be somewhat familiar to his own culture and not be connected with the Sidhe here.”

“Atlantean royalty, are we?” John commented. “Is m’lady comfortable with this?”

“Get comfortable with that speech,” Emma said dryly. “I think we’ll be doing a lot of that in the days to come.”

“Then you will help us, Matriarch?” Eldritch Siara asked for the second time, clearly hoping to exact a witch’s iron bound promise.

“For the present,” Emma answered, “you have my word as a witch that we will do all in our power to aid the Sidhe in this. I still have some few reservations about committing the finest blood in our family to a battle not yet our own and to this plan as I understand it. For one, will it be necessary for my grandson to be exposed to this? And aren‘t there other humans better suited to be drawn into such a thing?”

“Yes and no,” Shabriri said striding forward. “Yes, your grandson must accompany you if this is to work. We will be outfitting yourselves with a few powerful artifacts that could only be manipulated by a Sidhe mind. In this way, we assure ourselves of a few important things. First, the power and complexity of such items will certainly serve to hold Mordred’s interest in what he may stand to gain from you all. Secondly, if they fall into the wrong human hands, they will be able to do very little mischief with them. Thirdly, Johnny is the only one among you that thinks like a Sidhe, but looks very much like a human. He has been living like a human for his whole life. This should help you gain Mordred’s confidence enough to spring our trap. It will be in his best interests to treat you all as royalty. Unless something goes terribly amiss, I see little chance of any harm coming to any of you which is the primary reason this Council has approved of this plan. For my second answer, no. No other humans would be half so suited to succeed at such a plan. First of all, the society is human and wizardly, while you are of similar craft and a human society. You are most likely to understand what you find