Freedom of Flight Ch. 02

"Throw them in the pits. Bread and water are all they are to be given. When Alanna is well will the punishment and death sentence be dealt." He decreed. His orders were carried out instantly, each man eager to get them out of their halls as not to sully them further with their presence and for their punishment to begin. He walked up to his chair and sat, a server quickly poured him a large horn of mead as other's put down food and bread. He pushed his meal aside for a moment and grabbed a scroll and quill. He shook the ink well to make sure the ink was mixed and would not fade too quickly. He carefully pulled the stopper from the well and dipped the quill into the ink. He spread the scroll and used gold weights to keep the heavy hand-made paper flat. He picked the quill up, gently tapping off the excess as he composed the letter in his mind. He sighed and put the quill to paper, writing in his long flowing script as he poured out the events of the day as he knew them and added everything he had learnt.

He picked up a small clay pot when he was finished and shook it over the page, covering it with a fine layer of very fine sand to collect the excess ink to prevent the letters from smudging. He removed the weights and carefully lifted the page and let the fine sand run off the page and onto the ground. He rolled the letter up and put it in a travel tube, sealing the cap with wax. He picked up a hollowed reed whistle and blew a series of notes.

A blue, gold and red phoenix appeared in a blinding flash of light and landed before him on the stand that was there just for him. He ducked his head down and drank from the cup set onto his perch.

He smiled at his long time pet; although he never actually treated Remus like a true pet, "Remus, old friend, I need you to give this message to Amy. You remember her right?" He asked the intelligent bird.

The majestic bird dipped his head in a nod. He knew and liked Amy, she would always give him a glass of brandy when he went to deliver messages to Sage. He particularly liked the brand she kept hidden behind some books in her study.

He offered the message to Remus with a bow. Remus took the message in one of his talon feet and took flight, he whirled around the room for a moment as he focused his mind on Amy. When the moment was right he vanished in a blinding ball of light.

****

Amy paced as she glanced at the police standing in her office taking her statement. She was beginning to get annoyed with them and their insistence that it wasn't a missing person case until forty eight hours had elapsed but that they would start a file. Electra walked in, followed by her partner. She had dropped everything when she got Joe's confusing phone call.

"Ma." Electra said, startling her partner.

He straightened his tie as Electra hugged Amy. He didn't know Electra was related to Senator Luis. Wolfgang was offering a recent family photo to two officers and pointing out Alanna and Sage in the madness of the picture.

Dave approached carefully, wondering what was going on. Senator Luis was a heavy weight in the Senate and a stupid fool was one who pissed her off and she looked beyond pissed.

"What's wrong? I got a weird call from your P.A." Electra asked after she quickly flashed her badge at the officer taking her mother's statement.

"Alanna and Sage haven't come here after school and college. Alanna said she was going to pick up her sister after her college class, but even then they should have been here four hours ago. I had a strong feeling that they were in danger so I tried to call but neither answered." Amy told her. "I sent Drifter and Sammy to see if they were held up somewhere. They followed their scents to a large pool of blood." At Electra's look, Amy quickly reassured her. "Not theirs. Both Drifter and Sammy know the scent of their blood. They've cornered off the area and backed away. They called me, I called the police and they don't believe me."

Electra glared at her mother in frustration, what was the point of her being in the FBI if no one used her? "Ma, you should have just called the FBI. They would have acted on this straight away. And why didn't they have body guards? You've had threats before."

Amy glared back at her daughter, she didn't need to be lectured. She wanted to go out and hunt down whoever had her children. "Because none of the ones who have threatened me are stupid enough to take on a Nephalim. Child or not, Sage is a force to be reckoned with, Alanna is no lightweight either. The cubs are protected but I thought Sage and Alanna together would be left alone." Amy defended herself and her actions. When she had been elected as the first Were Senator, she had tried to keep her children's lives as normal as possible and that meant no secret service detail or bodyguards.

Electra sighed, she knew her mother was right. Sage was sixteen and under fencing and kickboxing champion in the Were martial arts league. Alanna was the under twenty fives martial arts champion two years running in the same league, and together they were the leagues team champions. They sparred together all the time so knew each other's moves, which allowed them the knowledge to move as one, making them a force to be reckoned with.

"I know, ma." Electra said before she cursed, ashamed at herself for taking her worries and fear for her sisters out on her mother. She suddenly turned her head from the appearance of a blinding flash of light.

From the blinding light, Remus appeared and landed on Amy's desk after wheeling around the room once. Amy turned and blinked quickly to remove light spots.

"Remus." Amy approached the phoenix and took the message. She quickly broke the seal on the canister, tipping the scroll onto her table and started to read.

Wolfgang read over her shoulder and went pale as he read what had happened to his daughters. He was however relieved that both had kept their wits and had been brave, more so Alanna. Amy finished reading and offered the letter to Electra. She then went to a shelf and moved several books to get at the bottle of brandy she kept specially for Remus. She grabbed a tumbler and placed it down before him, pulled the cork from the bottle and poured him a glass. He rubbed his head against her fingers in gratitude. She returned the bottle to where it came from and sat to wait for Electra's reaction.

Remus sung gently as he drank his brandy. The soft musical notes helped to lower the stress levels as who could remain stressed with a delighted phoenix singing in the room?

Electra finished reading just as Amy summoned Vivian. She needed answers and since Vivian had spent a considerable amount of time on Sogol, she was the one Amy had to question. Vivian appeared out of thin air, startling the humans in the room who were unaccustomed to the rapid comings and goings of Ancients. Wolfgang and Electra didn't even react and Amy only did it because she was impatient for answers.

Vivian smiled in greeting then frowned as she sensed the remaining tension in the air. She walked over to Amy. "What's wrong?"

"Alanna and Sage were kidnapped by some Gephalim." Amy told her as she jumped to her feet to pace.

Vivian went pale. "Shit… let's go…" Vivian summoned several swords into her arms.

"No… they're safe, Dominic rescued them. I just want some questions answered." Amy stated.

Vivian nodded, made the swords vanish and sat, ready to be interrogated.

"Firstly… what do you know of a weapon called a nerve whip?" Amy asked as she paced before her grandmother.

Vivian winced involuntary the moment Amy said nerve whip, a little of her colour left her face. She took a deep breath. "It's a three-fold weapon. It is a whip so it cuts into flesh but it has magical properties. It sets every nerve in the general area of the lash on fire, each lash…" she hesitated wondering who had been lashed but quickly forced the thought from her mind. "Each lash makes the pain more intense. Tarval told me that the most any Da'Vaila can withstand is six lashings before blacking out." She hesitated again, she didn't really want to know but she had to know. "Who was lashed?" Vivian asked quietly.

"What is the third part of the weapon?" Amy asked, not wanting to tell her until she knew everything about this weapon.

"The pain doesn't abate after the lashings, it sticks around, one day for every lashing. Even the smallest movements will cause intense pain. The wounds won't heal until the side effects wear off, its why it is used for punishment. To make the lesson stick." Vivian told them. "Who was lashed?" she asked again, a little more firmly this time.

"Both of them were."

The rest of the colour left her face, her stomach started to churn, ready to rebel. "How many lashes?" She waited as Amy hesitated to answer, as if mentioning the number out loud would make it sound even worst than it already was.

"Sage had twelve, eight of which she was awake for, Alanna had thirty all of which she was awake for." Amy said calmly although she was far from calm. Her fists were clinched, lengthened claws dug into the palms of her hands, blood dripped from her fists but she didn't feel any pain or if she did she was simply ignoring it.

Wolfgang grabbed Amy as he watched her shake violently, trying to rein in the beast that wanted nothing more than to tear the head off the man who was responsible for hurting their children. He wrapped his arms around her firmly and put his body between her and the humans, Electra moved as well; another line of defence if she snapped. It took several moments but she eventually pushed the beast back, unclenched her jaw and opened her mouth to ease the sore muscles in her jaw, her teeth slowly shifted back to normal but normal they became.

He released her knowing that she was back in control. He had never seen her loose it like that but their children had never been in any true danger or hurt before. He was of the same mind, his wolf was foaming at the mouth wanting to shake and tear the monster apart. Seeing that violent reaction in his mate made him force his reactions back, to be there for her the way she was normally there for him. Amy was quite gentle to Were standards so seeing her like this was a revelation to him and allowed him a glimpse into her world and what she went through.

Vivian felt her stomach heave as the numbers kept running through her head, she lurched to her feet and grabbed the nearest bin just in time as her stomach rejected her last meal. She had seen the weapon in use on more than one occasion during her stay. The most memorable was the man who had disobeyed a direct order. He was racked up and he suffered through five lashings. His screams had haunted her sleep for a very long time. The thought of the whip being used brought back horrible memories but the fact that it was her great grandchildren on the receiving end of those lashes made it a hundred times worst.

Electra stroked Vivian's back as she waited for her stomach to settle. One of Amy's aids took the bin and gave her a fresh one just in case. "You've seen one used, haven't you?" Electra asked, quietly.

Vivian nodded. "The screams haunted my dreams for months. After I witnessed it, I left the Gephalim I was staying with and met Tarval."

Amy closed her eyes as Wolfgang nuzzled her neck to comfort her. "They are safe. Dominic will not let anymore harm come to them." He kissed her jaw. She nodded and sat at her desk to write a reply to Dominic.

Electra took copies of the letter with her as she walked over to the officers. "It's a federal matter, I want copies of any notes you have. If the press get a hold of this and I track it to you… I will have your badges. Dave, let's go to the site and get a feel of it." She pulled out her phone and dialled Sammy's number to get a location. He nodded and followed her out.