Satyr Play 03 Pt. 02

A shriek of pure rage shot through their connection, and Henry took that as a good sign.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" Mab's voice thundered through the link, and those gathered around Henry leaned away from the intense hatred as her voice shook the ground around him. "I wasn't finished!"

Henry felt the corruption dripping from the spell she held ready to add to the Global Overlay Spell. It was a far more aggressive and destructive variant of the Fae Wasting Disease the field was designed to protect against! She was going to invert the protection spell to inflict the very disease it was curing. Only this time, the wasting spell would take days to kill its victims, not centuries. It radiated its murderous intent as she tried to force it through the link, but Henry launched another rapidly bound spell of his own at it. Ripped from her mental grip, the malignant spell was quarantined, then rapidly disassembled into harmless base elements and scattered by the current in the Wild Magic.

"NO! NO! NO! You insolent cretin! Who gave you the right to interfere with my divine vengeance!" Mab spat. "You are nothing! I'm Queen of all Fae—"

Henry's rage against the creature who'd stolen his daughter's body threatened to ignite. "Not anymore! Now you're just Mad Mab!" He readied his antivirus spell once more, wondering how it might be used directly against her, but she shrieked in pure fury and vanished.

Shaking with unspent adrenaline, Henry reached for the healing spell and pulled it gently towards him. However, this time, instead of wispy sheets of mist, an intense green light came crashing down on the clearing like a waterfall. The sky filled with more and more green light falling in beams from above.

The current in the Wild Magic was so much stronger now. The green light flooded the clearing and spread out in all directions, linking up with other light falls. Henry and Meixiu, who was returning to them, were the only ones who felt the full pressure of the flow. For the others, it was just light acting like a liquid, which was amazing enough to dazzle them. The Silver People felt their energy increase as the light flowed around them.

As he was standing directly under a torrent, Henry felt his grip slipping on the ground. He was at risk of being swept tumbling away. His strength hadn't been replenished yet, so, in desperation, he dropped his glamor. His strength surged and he dug his hooves into the forest floor.

Raymond and Eleanor gasped as they looked up at the horned creature standing where Henry had just been.

The four silver people gawked at him in shock, and Minkah looked concerned.

Henry glanced at them and shrugged. "Sorry, I needed the extra strength of my true form." He felt his connection to his daughter, and the healing spell was firmly linked to him, so he faced Eleanor. "Let's heal him now," Henry suggested.

Eleanor just nodded and turned to her husband, who continued to stare at the Satyr. She felt big hands land on her shoulders and she sucked in a breath as the weight of potential settled upon her. She suddenly felt like she had the power to do... anything. She looked down at the bullet wound, then looked closer and closer as her vision revealed new levels of detail she'd never seen before. She reached for forceps and felt them in her hand. She reached into the wound and felt the forceps capture the edge of the slug. The sensations traveled through the instrument even though it was made of light. She gently tugged the bullet back out along the channel it made on the way in.

Once she had it out, she dropped it to the forest floor and released the forceps, watching the light simply fade away. She began to search for the bleeder. The nick was small, but blood was trickling out with each beat of his heart. She looked closer still at the artery and made micro sutures with the green light to close the tear, then ran a line of green light along the torn edge like glue to reinforce it. As she backed her vision out of the wound, she repaired the damage she could. She finally blinked her eyes back to normal and leaned back. She felt Henry pull his hands away and the sudden loss of the power he was feeding her made her sway slightly.

Sitting back on her heels, she gazed down at her husband, who was looking more relaxed. "Are you done?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes," she said with a smile. She turned her face to Henry, who was rocking on his hooves. He didn't look so good. "Henry?"

"So tired," he sighed.

The sound of fighting was quickly getting closer.

"They saw us. We have to go! Do you have a car?" Minkah said tersely.

Eleanor helped Raymond to his feet. He nodded to her. "This way," she said. They moved quickly through the woods, stealth no longer their priority.

Short seconds later, they came to a fence, and the four Silver People tore through it, leaving a gap for the rest to get through easily. A short distance up the road, they reached the car. Henry switched back to his glamor and leaned against the side of the car panting.

Meixiu moved to his side. "I got a text from Sigrid. Roy is not doing so well against Carl. The man drank so much of your blood and is stronger. He is hurting Roy badly."

Fear shot through Henry at the thought of losing Roy, his surrogate dad. It was too much. His strength failed him, his glamor reactivated, and he barely registered Meixiu pushing him into the middle of the back seat before his eyes rolled back.

-=-

Meixiu hopped in and pulled the door closed, and put her window down as Minkah got in behind the wheel. Eleanor tucked Raymond in on the front passenger side and got in the back seat behind her husband.

"Where are we going?" Minkah asked.

"Go to VRL in Manhattan," Meixiu said as she nodded to Sam to make sure he'd heard. Sam smiled as he nodded, and the four Silver People raced away. Meixiu put her window up and lifted Henry's eyelid. His pupils were tiny, so he'd left his body again. She knew she could pull him back, but she also knew he needed to be where he was going now.

"Say goodbye to Roy for me too, Henry," she said quietly.

Chapter 35

Sigrid's idea of sniping insults from the sidelines to enrage Carl was partially successful. He did lose his temper, and his fighting did get sloppy, but even with Roy's devastating surgical strikes against the brute, his endurance and healing speed were superior to Roy's.

Worse, when Carl did manage to land one of his blows, it did more damage than was being inflicted upon him.

Roy was slowly losing this fight. She'd sent a note to Meixiu after she received one saying they had Henry. She wanted to prepare them for what might happen.

She looked at Carl and he didn't look that good either. The bastard thought he'd crush Roy quickly, but they'd been fighting for some time now. Each taking time to heal after attacks as they warily watched the other, gauging the time to strike again. They'd just completed a pass, and Roy was looking shaken as Carl had seized the legs of le Brère and used him as a medieval flail against Roy. He killed his own man trying to bludgeon Roy to death. It was just another example of how little he cared for his pack.

Sigrid watched Mary walk up to Roy and say something.

Seeing his opponent was distracted, Carl surged forward.

When Roy grabbed Mary's legs and swung her into the side of Carl's head, the brute did a complete cartwheel, feet leaving the ground as Mary's double fist hammer punch cracked his jaw. Carl tumbled and scrambled back, stunned as his confidence took another blow as well.

Roy released Mary's legs, and the woman sat up slowly. Apparently, being swung like a club affects the inner ear badly. She wobbled off the floor over to Sigrid's side.

"Nice try," Sigrid whispered.

"Shut it. I'm trying not to hurl."

Sigrid looked back to Roy and froze. Something was seriously wrong. "What-what's he doing?"

-=-

Michelle Beaumont stood at the window of her condo and stared in shock and dismay at the green light surrounding her building.

She'd been fretting about losing her job and putting Dayshia's new home at risk.

When the green light fell, she thought it was lovely, at first.

Then she saw someone from her building on the sidewalk below walking home. When the light washed over them, their glamor immediately dissolved. They were caught out in the open in their true shape.

This was a personal nightmare for Michelle, and it was coming true! She cried out, but there was nothing she could do as the being lifted their briefcase to hide their face as they ran the rest of the way home.

Michelle stared at the green light surrounding her and saw it went on as far as the eye could see. She'd never be able to leave the building, but then, she had nowhere to go, now.

-=-

Sam and his friends stopped a short distance from the road and held hands.

"What do we do?" Jeannie asked.

Jake shook his head. "We're definitely going down the rabbit hole now!"

Sam nodded. "People who can disappear into shadows, turn into big goat people—"

"He's a Satyr," Jake clarified, and Sam grinned at his encyclopedic friend before continuing.

"Glass People, Silver People, furry werewolf people, and two big guys with tusks. Not your typical crowd at the Nascar track."

Brenda spoke up. "Those people back there seemed like they knew what was going on. I think we should stick with them. The pretty Chinese girl invited us."

Jeannie nodded, as did Jake. Sam smiled at them as he agreed as well. "Okay, we stick with them. The next question is, do we tell our new army buddies about them?"

Jake frowned. "They disguise themselves as human, and I think I can figure out why. How about we just tell them army boys to meet us in Time Square, Manhattan? That way, if something goes sour, we can get their help quickly?"

Sam smiled and nodded. "You go catch up with our new friends while I drop that hint to the Army."

They sped away, and Sam got closer to the fighting. He wanted no part of that. He spotted the Sergeant and rushed up to her side. She glanced at him.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"Watching unbelievable stuff. Listen, when you're done here, meet us in Time Square," Sam said with a nod towards the battle which seemed to be winding down.

"Time Square? Why there? What's going on?" Mick turned to ask, but Sam was gone.

She growled to herself. This night just got crazier and crazier.

-=-

Roy had come to the grim realization that he wasn't going to be able to outlast Carl. The bastard's energy reserves were too great, and Roy was running on empty.

He'd underestimated the impact of Carl's Wild Magic evolution.

Sigrid's pissing Carl off had helped, and Roy had scored a killing blow, but Carl's mind had slipped into a feral state and continued to fight.

There would be two dead alphas on the cold cement floor tonight.

"Roy!"

He flicked his eyes over to Sigrid and Mary. They were both watching him with dread in their eyes. They knew he was done.

"Roy!"

He frowned. It wasn't the ladies calling him. He felt a sudden warmth against his chest, and it wrapped around his back. Was he being hugged? He recognized this feeling and stood up straight. "Henry?"

His fatigue was fading as Henry's warmth sank into his body. Roy wrapped his arms around himself, hugging Henry in return.

"I may consider you my old man, but that doesn't make you old. Stop acting like it! Finish this! I need your help. Mab's back and the sky's falling," Henry growled and dumped his energy into Roy, who tasted... stale donuts and cola?

-=-

Sigrid watched Roy stand up straight and say something quietly as if speaking to someone. He wrapped his arms around himself and smiled with his eyes closed. His red fur began to floof up, making him look like a big fluffy puppy.

That looked so adorable, she almost missed seeing Carl launch himself at Roy. He was definitely slower than he'd been during the fight, but Roy wasn't reacting this time. She had no time to call out a warning.

Just before Carl's outstretched claws reached the throat he wanted so badly to rip open, Roy dropped below the grasp. Then he immediately exploded upwards, driving the claws of both hands through the underside of Carl's jaw, up through his skull, deep into his brain. Carried by Carl's mass and trajectory, the two crashed to the floor, but Roy twisted mid-flight to ensure he would be on top. Looking into Carl's terrified eyes, Roy clenched his fists, shredding his brain. The monstrously sized alpha twitched violently, made an odd gasping sound, then went still.

Roy pulled his hands free, stood next to the body, and shook the gore off his claws onto Carl's corpse. It began to collapse in on itself, shrinking back into his Human form.

Sigrid stared in shock as Roy howled his victory. The vast empty chamber reverberated with the sound and raised the hairs on the back of her neck. The two muscular goons stared at Roy in awe and immediately exposed their throats in submission. He stared at them until they began whimpering, then he switched to his Human form.

"Return to your homes. I'll be coming to make assessments in the next few days—best civil behavior. If I hear you've been fighting, both sides die. Pass that message along to the pack," he snapped.

They nodded and rushed from the building.

Roy waited until he sensed they were alone, then he dropped to his knees. Sigrid and Mary rushed forward. He sat back on his heels and took some deep breaths as his wounds slowly closed. Mary was rapidly speaking into her mic, alerting the team of Roy's victory.

"What happened? I thought you'd taken him out much earlier," Sigrid exclaimed.

Roy shook his head. "I did. I scored a mortal wound about eight minutes ago. He was bleeding internally, but he wouldn't acknowledge it. He'd gone feral by that point. I could do nothing but wait him out, but I had nothing left, and he just kept attacking. We would have both been dead after this fight."

Mary grabbed his shoulder. "What was that little thing you did at the end there? Looked like you were praying, and suddenly you're all Bruce Lee, Fist of Fury!"

Roy chuckled, and his smile spread across his face. "Henry visited me."

"WHAT?" Sigrid and Mary exclaimed.

"It was a mind walkabout thing? He fed me a shitload of energy. Tasted odd, but it worked for one last burst." His smile faded. "He said something about Mab making the sky fall?" He looked down at Carl, and the ladies helped him to his feet.

"We'll call in the clean-up team," Sigrid said as they walked back to the front entrance. The moment they stepped outside, they froze. It was like the Aurora Borealis had melted and was falling from the sky to rush around at ground level like a raging river. They crossed the lot quickly to get into their SUV, and a nearby curl of the green light swung wide and passed through them. They all picked up the pressure sensation and had to lean into the current to stay on course for the truck. Mary insisted on driving as Roy was still weak from his healing injuries. They climbed in and quickly closed the doors. Looking out the windows, they could see the green light falling here and there from the sky like waterfalls.

"This is going to cause one hell of a panic! We need a master strategy meeting back at VRL!" Roy said. "Call Mahati and let her know this is Mab's doing, and she should call Ms. Hoek—"

Sigrid's cell vibrated from an incoming call. She answered as it was Meixiu.

"Are you safe?" Sigrid asked immediately.

"Yes, we're driving back to the city. Henry is unconscious. I think he went to say goodbye to Roy," Meixiu answered sadly.

"Roy tells us he did visit him, but not to say goodbye—"

"Hey!" Roy barked indignantly, and Sigrid waved him to silence with a small smile. She continued.

"Henry gave him enough energy to finish the fight. He also told him that Mab was making the sky fall."

Meixiu made a surprised squeak. "Is that what's happening with the green light? We saw it pouring down like it's never done before. Mab did this? Is it affecting anyone badly? It didn't hurt us!"

Sigrid was looking out the window, and the sky did seem to be falling in green waterfalls, thousands and thousands of them in all directions. She looked back at the docks and was surprised to see it wasn't falling over the water, only on land. A little further out, it appeared to be landing on a ship. Was it hydrophobic?

"We're in a pretty empty area. Not too many people down here, but it didn't hurt us," she said.

"We're going back to VRL, and the woman who kidnapped Henry is driving us. He insisted he had to stay with her as he was in her custody," Meixiu explained, and Sigrid picked up the woman's unease about that.

"That's fine. Get back as quickly and safely as possible. We're going to VRL too. Park in the basement and text me when you arrive. I'll let you in," Sigrid explained. "How is Henry now?"

"One moment," Meixiu said.

Sigrid listened and heard Meixiu speaking to Henry, commanding him to return. When she came back on the phone, she was upset.

"He's not returning! He always did before!" she cried.

Sigrid frowned with worry. "He's still breathing?"

"Yes!" Meixiu said nervously.

Sigrid heard Eleanor's voice. "He's overextended himself. He was exhausted after he helped me operate on Raymond. We could go to a hospital and get him a glucose and sodium chloride infusion."

"Meixiu, let her know I'll have one ready for Henry when you arrive," Sigrid said.

"Thank you, Sigrid," Meixiu said softly.

"Be safe," Sigrid replied and hung up.

She immediately dialed up Mahati, who picked up on the first ring.

"Sigrid! Do you know what's happening outside?" Mahati blurted.

"Henry says it's Mab. She's done something to the Fae healing spell," the Valkyrie explained.

"Is it dangerous?" the lawyer asked.

Sigrid contemplated that question. "Well, it's heavily laden with Wild Magic. If you get caught in the middle of it, I assume it wouldn't behave well with your magic. It might even affect your glam—"

Sigrid's eyes widened as she froze in shock. "Oh my god! What if that's what Mab intended. She strips away everyone's glamors and exposes all of the Hidden Races!"

"Aye, that sounds exactly like something she'd do," Roy growled.

"Wild Magic affects humans too." Mary reminded them, and they looked to her in worry.

"Mahati! Stay inside!" Sigrid said urgently to her. "Call the Minister of Security and let her know Mab may have triggered something disastrous. Tell her Henry is no longer at the containment facility but remains in the custody of her pet assassin."

"Kali's out there," Mahati gasped.

"Call her. Warn her," Sigrid said and heard the line disconnect. She immediately called Camila.

"Sigrid! How's Roy?" her friend exclaimed immediately.

A smile bloomed on the blonde's face hearing her concern for Roy. She glanced at Roy as he had to have heard that cry. From his pleased smile, he had. "He's a little worse for wear, but he won. But that's not our biggest concern at the moment."

"Hey!" Roy exclaimed in protest again, but Sigrid ignored him.

"Mab messed with the Fae's healing spell. It's falling to the ground, and it's overloaded with Wild Magic," she pointed out.

"What? Wait a minute!" There was the sound of drapes being pulled open. Sigrid heard the sound of two voices gasping. She recalled that Lorelei was staying at her place.

"Oh my god! That could burn out glamors!" the Succubus gasped, then her voice became more strained. "It affects Human's too."

"Yes. I've called Mahati to get her to contact Hoek to give her the head's up," Sigrid informed her. "I've also heard from Meixiu. She and her friends found Henry. The assassin is with him, and he's apparently in her custody. He's currently unconscious and likely having another out of body experience. Meixiu wasn't able to command him back to his body this time."