Satyr Play 03 Pt. 01

The opening shrank a little, then a channel formed in the crowd before it, allowing several Silver People to pass between them and go through. They began pulling the Glass People into Eden, picking the smaller ones up and carrying them inside only to come back for another. The larger ones were just dragged. The Silver People were so fast they began collecting their loads from Earth's side to rush inside. They quickly cleared the area before the rip. Then they just stopped, and another group of Silver People rushed in from projecting the field to take over ferrying the new Glass People through the tear. They were quickly making a dent in the number of Glass People waiting in the large open area, but the rip began to shrink.

While all this was happening, the news anchors were speculating madly about invaders from space.

The drone camera was knocked out of the sky, and the news channel video feed switched to the long-range camera outside the city, which just caught the tail end of the jet's pass over the field and the fireball it left behind. The plane must have dropped an incendiary bomb. Not to be undone by the military, a second news drone quickly flew toward the park, and they soon saw the long scorch mark and trench cut by the explosion. Some Glass People could be seen climbing out of the channel no worse for wear. The same couldn't be said for the civilians who'd be standing outside the field but in the blast zone. The Silver People, all of them now, were rushing the remaining glass beings through the rip, which had shrunk considerably. It was a constant blur of silver as the group rapidly disappeared through the opening. They suddenly stopped as the orange light winked out. The rip had closed. There were only a few dozen Glass People left on Earth's side. Some of the Silver People were on Eden, but at least a half dozen remained on Earth. They weren't moving. The news anchors continued to spout one wild theory after another.

"Can they open another doorway to Eden?" Michelle asked.

Henry shook his head slowly as he stared at the screen. "Not for a while. It takes a lot of energy to do it. Maybe tomorrow."

"They don't have that long! The troops are almost there, and the people seem agitated as well!" Sigrid said.

Henry just shook his head. If he still had the ring, he'd have a stronger link to magic, and he might've been able to open a gate from this side, but that was all useless as he didn't have the ring. The frustration coursed through him, but he could do nothing.

The remaining Silver People suddenly raced away, faster than the eye could follow. The civilians surged into the open space brandishing whatever weapons they could get their hands on. The Glass People encircled the smaller ones and linked arms, their backs to the onrushing Humans.

The human's fear made them vicious, and their attack was terrifying and brutal, but try as they might, they couldn't damage the incredibly tough glass.

The news feed cut suddenly to return to the shocked faces of the people sitting behind the desk. They didn't have anything intelligent to add.

Tish joined them in the living room and muted the TV. She looked at Henry's conflicted expression. "What's wrong?"

His eyes met hers, and he just shook his head as he looked away. How could he explain his sudden rage and desire to spin that damn ring! Humanity was so quick to give in to its fear and hate when faced with the unknown. This was just another wake-up call for the members of the Hidden Races, himself included.

However, he knew he had to be so careful not to fall victim to the same rash impulses he despised. There were good Humans. His eyes landed on Dayshia, Sandy, and finally Tish, the best examples he had for quality Humans, until he changed them. His emotions suddenly surged, and he pushed himself to his feet to pull Tish into a tight hug.

"Oof! Henry, what's wrong?" she asked with concern.

He couldn't speak as he struggled to get control over his emotions again.

Tish pulled him towards the barstools by the kitchen island. "Let's get some food in you. I can feel your muscles trembling."

As he sat, Meixiu placed in front of him a full plate of eggs, bacon, sausages, and toast before him, with a glass of orange juice to wash it down.

"Thank you," he said quietly and received a sweet smile in return. He began eating, oblivious to the looks of concern the ladies were sharing behind his back.

Sigrid flipped the channel to a local station. "Fuck!" she exclaimed as she spotted the headline on the screen next to the news show host. The serial killer had struck again.

"We were out there last night patrolling Manhattan, and the killer struck in the Bronx!" Sigrid growled.

"Turn up the volume!" Dayshia asked, and Sigrid bumped it up.

"...horrifying attack in the Bronx Zoo overnight. On location is our field correspondent, Marley Banx. Marley?"

The camera cut to a young and cute-as-a-button, pale-skinned blonde woman with a sassy bobbed hairstyle. She seemed to be struggling to keep from vomiting. Her expression was intensely grim. She'd probably only reported on fluff pieces before. Today, she'd been forced to report a much grittier story.

"Thanks, Dave. Behind me, you can see the south entrance to the beloved Bronx Zoo, where hundreds of happy visitors enter to enjoy the park. That won't happen today as the zoo is closed for a police investigation. Sometime last night, one of the overnight security guards was brutally murdered close to the African Lions exhibit. In a startling twist, two of the park's lions were also murdered in this vicious attack!"

The screen split to show the main news anchor in the studio as well. "You mean two of the zoo's lions were killed?" he said, trying to get her to amend her statement. She shook her head vehemently and widened her eyes. "No Dave, it was murder! Lioness' Nadalli and Shella were discovered in their enclosure. Both suffered terrible injuries which lead to their deaths!" There was a surge of activity behind her as police rushed by. Marley looked frantically to her right, and the camera followed to show several officers tape off a section of the sidewalk next to the zoo's fence. There was some mumbling off camera, then the picture swung back to the stricken face of the reporter.

"Dave, we just got word that a fourth victim was found just on the other side of the fence, mere steps away from us. In fact, there appears to be blood splatter on... the-- HHHURRRRKKAAAaaah!"

The petite blonde reporter suddenly ejected a surprising amount of her stomach contents before the video feed went back to the studio, capturing their grimaces.

Sigrid quickly muted the TV then looked sheepishly over at Henry, who was struggling to keep eating after hearing the awful sounds behind himself. He needed the energy, so he kept at it.

Sigrid looked over at Meixiu. "The killer got the security guard, two lions, and someone on the sidewalk outside the fence but hid the body inside the park." She shook her head. "I don't get why he attacked the lions. The victim on the sidewalk was likely a surprise. They caught him leaving, so he killed them."

"This killer sounds very dangerous if they can kill lions too! Maybe it would be better to leave this to the authorities," Sandy suggested nervously.

"I don't think the Human authorities can deal with this, and the Hidden Races authorities aren't numerous enough to cover every part of the city," Sigrid insisted and shook her head.

"Breakfast is ready for anyone who wants some," Meixui offered.

Sigrid stood and joined Henry at the island. Miexiu slid her a plate.

Michelle left the living room to give Henry a kiss on the cheek. "I must go." He turned to face her.

"Thank you for watching over me with the others. It means a lot to me having such incredible friends," he said.

She gave him a brilliant smile then left with Tish, who locked up after her.

Once everyone remaining had a plate, aside from Meixiu, whose diet had been met by Henry the night before, they found space around the kitchen island and enjoyed their meal.

Tish pouted at Henry. "I'd love to get a dining room table to fit everyone, but we'd have to give up on the extra seating in the living room."

He sighed and nodded. "The get-together last night proved the setup we have works, but you're right, not for a dinner party."

"I can probably guess, but why don't you fill us in on how you got injured last night," Sigrid asked.

Henry nodded as he looked at her. "It was partly my fault. I was so impressed with how Mahati dealt with Mab, I was paying her a lot of attention. Yuko became jealous then drunk. She jumped on me to kiss me, and we tumbled back onto Mahati's lap. That's when Mahati dropped her glamor and heaved us off her onto the coffee table."

"We're going to need to buy a new set of stemware," Tish noted, and Sigrid winced.

"Yeah, it ended up embedded in my back," Henry sighed with a wince of his own from the memory of the pain.

"That's when Yuko began an attack spell against Mahati. Is that how it's said?" Sandy asked. Henry shrugged as he still didn't know himself.

Sigrid's face flushed with anger at the thought of the wild Kitsune able to wield magic but with no sense in her head.

Dayshia saw where Sigrid was going and spoke up. "Mahati was right there with a magic attack of her own. Henry tackled Yuko and took her and Jun over the back of the second couch. Her spell seemed to just pop. While that happened, we got our shields up, and Tish blocked Mahati's... shot." She looked to her bestie. "You're right. We need lessons on the vocabulary of magic. I feel stupid even talking about it." Sandy nodded with a frown.

Sigrid looked at Tish with wide eyes. "You stepped in front of an attack from a Nāga?"

Tish suddenly looked nervous and defensive. "I had no problem blocking it, and it just fizzled out over our shields. No one got hurt." She suddenly got angry. "How are we to know what's safe and what's not safe to do!"

Sigrid held up her hands in surrender. "My apologies! You're right! You couldn't have known. I'd love to have a shield like yours." Her own shield flashed into being, strapped to her arm, and she smiled at it fondly. "Mine would also have stopped the energy, but I would have definitely felt it." She released the shield, which vanished, then she looked to the others who were all blinking the spots from their eyes. "Oh! Sorry about that! I keep forgetting how much brighter it is now that I'm linked to the Wild Magic."

"That's a weapon in itself," Dayshia noted and got a bright smile from the Valkyrie.

The tall blonde shook her head. "Still, Yuko is becoming a problem. She should have been punished by her own people in Japan for using an attack spell inside a home."

"Wait! Was that what happened in my old condo that night she barged in to yell at Stanley? It wasn't a stun grenade?" Sandy gasped.

Sigrid nodded. "Henry is somehow able to collapse spells with his hands. The energy just gets released in a wave and knocks people silly. He did the same to Mahati when she first met him. He's been lucky, though. He shouldn't do that!" She glared at Henry, who nodded sheepishly.

"Now that you're awake, Jun explained why Yuko is behaving so badly," Tish said, and Sigrid looked to her curiously. Henry's expression was more guarded.

"She said that the binding she used on Stanley with her tears is still affecting her as she is soul bound to him until she's pregnant with his child."

"What?!?" he exclaimed in shock. "She said the binding was broken for her, too!"

Tish gave him a sad look. "She lied."

"GAH! That little... FUCK! She drives me nuts!" Henry exclaimed.

"Jun said that Yuko will be driven mad if she doesn't find a way to break the bond, and there's only one way. She needs a child."

Henry's mind was reeling with this latest disclosure. Pieces were falling into place. The reason for Yuko's release from her punishment in Japan, the purchase of a condo in his building, and the times she attempted to kill him! "I'll bet you there is another way to break the bind. My death. If I die, the binding is gone." Yuko couldn't have maneuvered her own release or the condo purchase. It also couldn't have been her father. "Shit! It's her mother! All this time, I thought she was on my side!" he looked at the startled expressions on his friend's faces. Not Sigrid, of course, as she was aware of the detail and was nodding thoughtfully.

"Yuko's Mother would naturally side with her daughter. Kitsunes are rare, precious. As Yuko is trapped by the soul binding, the mother would give her daughter every opportunity to escape from it," the Valkyrie reasoned. She caught Henry's eye. "You cannot hold her actions against her, mother or daughter, as this is instinct."

Henry saw the conviction in his friend's eyes and slowly nodded. "But what do I do? It's not like I can just be Stanley for a while so Yuko can get pregnant."

Tish stood next to him and took his hands in hers. "As Yuko is a wielder, there is a danger that the Wild Magic in you would be toxic to her. However, Mahati explained that it might be possible if your glamor's special properties truly adhere to her specific needs. She would need to be very explicit in her desires. She needs Human sperm. Mahati suggested a test run, but you'd wear a condom. The result could be checked to see if it's Human. I'm guessing that means it wouldn't contain Wild Magic."

She saw that Henry was looking very uncomfortable. "What's wrong?"

He squirmed a little. "I'm a little weirded out by the thought of Mahati discussing how I should be having sex."

"Because she's a snake lady? I get that," Dayshia said sympathetically.

He shook his head. "No, no, it's just... we're not like that. She's a coworker--"

Sigrid raised an eyebrow and tilted her head as she looked at him with a flat expression.

"No, uh-- I mean... she's a friend--"

Sandy, Tish, Dayshia, and Meixiu all matched Sigrid's gestures and expression.

"Come on! You know what I mean! I don't think of her in that way!" he growled in frustration causing the ladies to giggle at successfully teasing him.

Tish poked him gently in the chest. "You don't, or you haven't yet?" she suggested with a coy smile.

Henry knew they were just having a little fun at just laugh it off, but for some reason this morning, he just couldn't.

He suspected the main reason was the expectation that he'd participate in giving Yuko a child. That topic, children specifically, was still sensitive to him. He felt like he'd somehow failed the daughter he had with Mab. His initial joy at discovering he would be a father for Tish's child had faded with his worries about being fit to be one. He was still thrilled for Tish that she was getting the baby she'd always dreamed of, but no one, to this day, had asked him if he was ready to be a dad.

Henry forced a smile to his lips and nodded slightly, drawing a few more giggles from the ladies. He stood and stepped around Tish. "Thank you for breakfast. I'm going to take a shower, alone!" he added as Tish's eyes lit up. She pouted to him, but he just walked away.

Once he was in the bedroom, he collected a clean kilt from his drawer and walked into the bathroom. He closed and locked the door and tossed his new kilt onto the counter next to one of the sinks. Standing before the large mirror on the back of the bathroom door, he dropped his glamor. He took a moment to remove his old kilt and pushed it into the laundry bin. Then he took a good long look at the Satyr in the mirror.

He was tall and very strong. Not that his strength was useful in the slightest against the magic of Mab or Baba Yaga. Both had easily bested him in the strength category because they were wielders, and he was just a conduit.

Baba connected him directly to the realm of Wild Magic. While he couldn't feel it, its power coursed through his veins and hummed in every cell in his body. He apparently contained more magic than anyone had ever seen on Earth. And that didn't even take into account the temporal energy stored in his horns!

Yet, he could do nothing with any of it.

He couldn't use it to stop Mab from stealing their daughter's body.

He couldn't use it to stop Baba from switching his and his daughter's fingers.

He couldn't use it to stop Baba from stealing his child from him.

Now he had another child coming from Tish and Yuko needed one too.

He wouldn't be able to protect those children either. Any children-

An impotent rage filled him and just as quickly drained away, leaving him feeling hollowed out.

He looked away from the mirror and switched back to his Human glamor to step into the shower.

Who was he kidding? He was just a tech geek. He wasn't hero material.

For that matter, how could he even be a father?

Chapter 8

Henry was more than a little sleepy and was in a deep funk when he arrived at work on Monday morning, so he missed hearing Roy calling out to him in the lobby. The big redhead caught up to him just before he stepped onto the elevator.

"Henry!" Roy called out once more.

Henry twitched and turned to see the concerned expression on Roy's face. "Oh, hi, Roy. What's up?"

The big man put an arm around Henry's shoulders and guided him away from the elevators. They stopped by a small seating area. Roy quickly glanced at an old man reading a VRL brochure then dismissed him.

He turned his attention back to Henry, who seemed shaky. "Are you okay, son?"

Son. Henry sucked in a sudden breath that caught in his chest. His exhausted state wrestled him for control over his emotions.

Roy was immediately contrite. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that--"

Henry held up a hand as he forced his breathing to steady. "No, it's fine. I-I slept terribly last night. I'm barely functional today."

"Why did you come in?" Roy asked.

"The special guest list? The Directors of the NSA, the CIA, and the FBI will be here to pick up their new firewall packages. Camila asked me to be available."

The woman in question had just stepped off the elevator and overheard the last bit. "What did I ask for? Henry! You look exhausted! Why are you here?" she said in dismay as she approached.

"I asked Henry that question first, and it sounds like it's your fault," Roy remarked.

Camila frowned then pointed to the elevators. "Hold that thought. We're taking this upstairs to my office."

They stepped into an open car, and she pressed the button for the top floor. The controls were biometric sensors and determined she was allowed, so up they went. They rode in silence, and the men followed Camila to her office. Henry nodded to Felix as they passed through the outer office.

Once they were seated and the privacy field was engaged, Camila looked to Henry. "Why are you so exhausted? Does it have anything to do with the reason you called upon the Fae's healing spell?"

Henry shrugged. "No. I just slept poorly." He glanced up at Camila, who was still waiting. "Nightmares." He didn't want to get into the details as they would try to tell him it wasn't his fault when he knew it really was.

"Would you like to talk to someone about it? It doesn't have to be us," she added.

He shook his head.

Roy and Camila shared a look. "What made you need to call on the magic again?" Roy asked. It was the question he'd wanted to ask when he saw him arrive.

Henry shrugged again. "Just Yuko and Mahati waging a magic battle at our condo. I got injured in the process, but Dayshia and Mahati were able to use the spell to heal me."

"A Kitsune and a Nāga had a magic battle. Was Yuko vaporized?" Roy exclaimed.

"No, I broke Yuko's spell, and Tish blocked Mahati's with her shield," Henry explained. At Roy's incredulous look, Henry frowned. "If you want more details, speak with Mahati."