Age of Mystics (Saga of Mystics Book 1) (20 page)

Every time they stopped, Cliff would spend time readying stones. The entire group had given him the stones from rings and earrings and necklaces. Most of these were used for light, which Kyle would imprint into them. Though he was twelve and had what he considered to be a limited talent, he was the person most researching the use of this new power, or magic, or whatever it was. He had learned a few things, and Ted had asked if he would tell them all at the next stop.

As it was past dusk and into the early evening, he was readying a list in his mind of just what he would convey. It was hard to concentrate while also trying to make sure not to stumble in the dark. Ted had decided they would not use lights in the open after what had happened at the Air Force Academy.

Shortly after Cliff had joined this group, they had met up with some folks from the Academy, who had brought them back to the Commandant. The Academy had basically set up a camp at the football stadium and the nearby sports complex that included a basketball stadium. It was all very military and Cliff found it kind of fun. The problems had come when the group began to show their abilities.

It seemed that some of the cadets had shown abilities, but the leadership had decided it was disruptive and told people they could stop using them or be barred from the grounds. They had already lost over a hundred cadets, who had chosen banishment over not using these new powers. Now they had a group of thirty people who embraced their abilities. The Commandant had ordered them not to use them, or to leave. Ted had taken a vote, and it was close, but the group had decided to comply. They had apparently had a similar experience before Cliff had joined them.

The situation had come to a head when some cadets found out the group were practicing their abilities whenever they went for walks. Ted had tried to reason with the base’s leadership, but they had all been banished. As a parting gift, Cliff had presented the Commandant with two light gems, but the man refused to touch them.

He still wondered about the Hermit. He had disappeared on the day that Cliff had joined the Black Forest group, as they called themselves, and no one had seen him since. That was about two weeks ago. Many in the group thought Cliff had made him up, because even a great tracker like Natalee could find no sign of a grown man who had travelled with Cliff.

They made camp and Cliff prepared for his little speech in front of a bunch of adults. As they gathered, Ted put five light gems before Cliff, so everyone could see him. Ted stood and addressed the group. None of the get-togethers were mandatory in the group, but everyone seemed intent on listening anyway. It was a lot of pressure.

Ted cleared his throat, “As most of you know, Cliff has spent every waking hour he has been with us studying the nature of our new found abilities, and the gems. He has agreed to tell us what he now knows. Cliff?”

Cliff stood up and looked at what he could see of the group. To an outside observer this looked like a group around a camp-fire, and that is just how Ted planned it. Maxine’s dogs were guarding and useful sentries.

“Hi, Everybody,” Cliff started nervously, “Ted asked me to speak about what I have learned about our abilities and the gems. So, let’s start with the abilities. Everyone has them. If you aren’t exhibiting them, then we just haven’t figured out what yours is yet. I can’t figure out how your abilities are chosen, some seem related to your likes, some to dislikes, some to natural talents, some to learning. Now, even though everyone has them, some are definitely stronger than others and I don’t know what causes that.” Cliff looked around at the faces he could see, he concluded that this was at least something everyone assumed, so he continued. “there seem to be two types of abilities. One is kinetic – like Jessica’s ability to move things, or Natalee and Ted’s martial abilities, or Kim’s ability with fire.” This part seemed to surprise even Kim. “The second type is empathic, like my ability with items and Max’s abilities with her pack.”

“So, as for using them, as far as I can tell, there are two parts of the use of these abilities. I call these parts form and function. Form is figuring out what it looks like. It seems like you have to know the form of the ability you are looking to use. If I were to guess, that is why Kyle’s light is small right now, he hasn’t imagined it as something else. Max has great form because there is no separation between her and the dogs in her mind. So, Pastor Rich could change from calming music to some other emotion if he imagined a different form of the music.”

Ted broke in at this point. “Cliff are you saying that only our minds make this form?”

Cliff thought about his answer for a minute, “Well, I wouldn’t say it that way. I would say we form it in our minds and then it becomes the ability. Does that make sense?”

Ted seemed to just think about that and no one asked any other questions, so Cliff continued.

“The second part of the use of the abilities is function. Another way to say that is purpose, what is the purpose of the ability. Again, using Kyle as an example, he hasn’t found a use beyond lighting up an area, so that is how the power manifests itself. To sum it up, you must have imagination, openness, and purpose.” There was a long pause. “Any questions?”

The questions were many, and varied, and lasted all night long. Cliff did his best to answer them, and slept well that night, knowing he had been of use to the group.

Zane Meyer’s patrol was going well. It seemed the rich people who lived in the area around the resort had deserted the area in the month since everything had changed. He knew there was a zoo up the mountain with wild animals and he hoped two things: one, that the animals were taken care of; and two, that the animals were not released. So far, they had seen no animals except for the normal ones, deer, elk, cats and dogs.

Shogun Fine had slowed the march to the resort, ordering the Tigers to search the mansions and create a perimeter. They used a map they had found in one of the houses to plan and set things up. Shogun had already determined rings of housing with the best housing at the resort and the lowest for the villagers with the least use. As they searched in this widest perimeter of houses, they had not found a single person living. They had found a few dead.

They expected more looters, but for whatever reason, there were none. Each house, or estate, was still in good condition and was full of the things that one would expect in a mansion where people had gone to vacation. He knew an inventory would need to be conducted, but that was a job for Damiano and the villagers he oversaw, not for the Tigers and soldiers of whom Meyer was the leader. He and his men would occasionally take a little something, a bottle of booze or a trinket of value, but mostly they left things as they found them. Meyer had made it clear to the rest that they would have to declare to Shogun whatever they took.

The day wore on and this slow, house by house, room by room search was grueling. As his group was searching houses, he was followed by Damiano’s group inventorying and another group who were moving cars, and fences and such to create a long barrier wall going around this section of the housing. Shogun’s plan had been to build a total of three defensible walls. Once they finished this level, the next would be a smaller circle and then they would move onto the grounds of the resort itself. Each level would be cleared, inventoried and secured. Eric considered the importance in searching and inventorying, so those tasks had fewer and more valued workers, but the walls were being built by the masses of villagers, so they were erecting much faster than Meyer was searching.

Meyer saw a small movement out of the corner of his eye. It could have been a dog, but he didn’t think it was. He sent his men on to the next house, but kept two of his best with him and put his finger to his lips to keep them quiet. They crept back toward the back of the estate, and Meyer saw the open door that he was sure he himself had closed. It had led to the pool house, which they had searched. It was certain that this was a person, and that person had effectively moved around to avoid detection while they searched.

Meyer then saw a shadow and knew where the person was, he made a hand motion to the others, but said, “I guess it was nothing, let’s move to the next house.”

After a short pause, he moved behind the couch and saw the woman cowering, looking the other way and waiting for them to leave. A smile crossed his face. “Lady, you want to get up now?”

The woman turned toward him in fright. She was in her mid to late forties, in full make up, had clearly had some plastic surgery and had huge fake tits. She had a skin tight jogging suit over her curvy frame. She wasn’t obese, she just had the heaviness of wealth, and even that was giving way to lack of food, he guessed. Before he could say anything else, she jumped up and tried to run, but the other men stood in her way and she ran back toward Meyer. As he reached out and grabbed her, she beat against his chest and tried to squirrel her way out of his grasp.

“Lady seriously,” Meyer said smiling, “this isn’t going to work. Just calm down.”

The woman then made one of the biggest mistakes that people do when they fear a man, she went for his groin, turning she tried to drive a knee into his genitals. She missed, but it was still a bad move. Meyer slapped her hard across the face with the back of his hand and it twisted her around, flopping her across the back of the couch. Meyer pressed his body against her to keep her in place and could feel himself becoming erect as he pressed into the unhidden form of her ass. He leaned over her and put his mouth right next to her ear.

“Oh, you want to play?” He said into her ear, then looked at the two others, “Hold her arms.”

With one move, Meyer roughly pulled her jogging pants and underwear down to her knees. She began to cry and squirm and he grabbed her by the hair, jerking her head back. He would have violated her in every hole and then told his men to do the same, but suddenly the thought of Shogun Fine came into his head. Eric couldn’t care less if he ravaged this woman, but he would have told him to do it on his own time. Meyer did not find her that attractive, it was the power that was giving him a hard on. He ripped her pants and panties all the way off, then had the others remove her top and sports bra. He turned her toward him, while she tried to cover her breasts and privates.

“Don’t try to kick a man in the balls unless you are prepared to take care of those balls later.” He reached up with the palm of his hand and roughly smeared the make up all over her face. Turning to one of the men, he said, “Take her out front to the others. She gets no clothes until I say she gets clothes.”

“Yes, sir.” The soldier said before dragging her by the arm out into the street. Meyer searched again throughout the house, but the woman was the only one there, so he marked the door as cleared, and then moved on. In the street, he saw the woman sitting on the ground, completely naked, while many villagers looked on with varying looks of horror and disdain. It thrilled Zane Meyer to see her shamed. It was his power that brought this rich bitch into the streets, and he would teach others to fear him, much as they feared Shogun.

Jenny Martinez had turned her small cave into a home. She had a small mattress, and as many amenities as anyone, she assumed. She was sheltered form the weather, safe from intrusion since she had secured the entrance and hidden it with bushes and had traded for enough goods and water to keep her going for a while. She had also begun going to the market and selling her gift of telling the story of an item. It was usually good for a few bartered goods, and she didn’t produce anything else, so she needed to sell what she could.

She had also honed her talent a bit, and now knew how to slow the images so she could tell the story. It wasn’t always in order, so for the purposes of barter, she preferred newer items. Items like the ones she had taken form the jewelry store had long histories that mashed up into each other. Her little glimpses of their past telling her something, but it was sometimes hard to put together. But, these were the ones she enjoyed more. It was her entertainment to try to put the pieces of this puzzle together, and she was getting better at it by the day.

She was now out of tradable goods and needed everything she had to survive. This would be the first day that the only thing she was offering was her reading services. She looked around her cave and grabbed two empty bags in the hope that she would be able to bring back some real items of value, or at least some antiques she could use to hone her skills and fill her nights with stories. It was a lot like watching movies, except you only got pieces and they never concluded.

Jenny went to the front of her cave and looked out the little peek-hole she had created. Since she saw no people, she moved the large plywood sheet she had laying across the entrance, but just enough to get out, then she replaced it. Even this was behind a large section of brush, so it could not be seen from anywhere but very close up. In the bushes, she centered herself and reached out with her mind. Seeing the occasional small flash that animals put out, and no evidence of a human, Jenny made her way out of the bushes and then dusted herself off to make herself presentable for the market.

The market was now going every day, and a little church service had started on Sundays. It took her a little less than an hour to walk to market each day, and it was a decent walk. Men had occasionally tried to follow her, but she was always able to lose them long before she got anywhere near her home. She was always on the lookout for people following her, because she was a young woman, who lived alone. Every walk, about once every four or five minutes, she would reach out with her mind and search for any people in the area. This day was no different.

About half way on her walk, she turned onto the downhill path toward the market area and immediately felt a fear come over her. Trusting her instincts, she drew herself off the path, and hid in the nearby growth. She reached out with her mind, and saw him immediately. There was a man about twenty yards ahead of her, also crouched in some bushes, but looking the other way. His aura was so distinct, it shocked her. She could see his features in it, which was unusual, as most people’s auras were just hazy glows. His was vibrant, intermittent blue, violet and bright white, but ringed with a grayish white border. She was glad that he looked the other way and thought to slink away back the way she had come.

But then he turned, and two sparkling violet eyes stared right at her. He did not move, did not seem overly concerned, but she could not even muster the strength to inch her way away. He stood and moved her way and she dropped, cowering in place. Jenny wasn’t sure she had ever been this scared in her entire life. He walked right up to where she was, and the fear just disappeared. Jenny stared at what she assumed was a homeless man. He was covered in dirt and mud, had a full beard, and even in this heat wore a hoodie with the hood up. It was only Jenny’s skill that allowed her to see his eyes, because up close, she could now see that he was wearing sunglasses.

“Hello,” she said, “I am Jenny Martinez.”

But the man was done with her. As though they were just passing on the street, he moved off back the way Jenny had come. He didn’t look back at her, just slowly walked away. Jenny didn’t really know what to do with herself, but she decided to just do what she had planned, and after a short pause, she returned to her trek to the market. That was the strangest encounter she had yet had, in this new existence.

After twenty minutes or so, came over a hill and could see the market. As usual, there were hundreds of people there and it always filled her with joy to see this. People were finding ways to survive, and it was beautiful. She made her way down to the old shopping center parking lot that now served as the area market and began saying hello to people she knew. As she looked around the little booths that people had set up, she could see the diminishing amounts of food. Over a month had passed and food was disappearing. There were men who sold dried meats that seemed to always have something to trade. Jenny assumed that they hunted or had livestock somewhere. Cheese was sold by some folks who she knew had goats, but they were beginning to lose goats to poachers and thieves, so the cheese was growing sparse. Jenny had traded for many jams, jellies and preservatives and stored them for the winter. She was all set, but she couldn’t say the same for many of the people she saw.

“Jenny, darlin’! How are you doing today?” came a rough man’s voice from a few stalls away. It was Carl Petersen, a kind old man who carved wooden staffs and whose wife, Maribel, made quilts. “Maribel is over at our stall, and she has someone who wants a reading!”

Jenny loved this kind, elderly couple. They looked out for others and everyone enjoyed their company. “Thanks, Carl. I will go see her.” The Petersens were one of the first families to start up the market, believing that everyone was better off when they worked together.

Jenny walked over and found where Maribel was set up. Her dark hair belying her age, Maribel Petersen was a beautiful woman. The two of them shared a Hispanic heritage, and in these times, any connection was good.

“Jenny,” the older woman started, “I want you to meet someone.” Maribel led Jenny over to where some people were looking through her goods. An attractive young man stood looking at quilts. “This is Jeffrey Cole.”

The man reached his hand out and Jenny reached out also. Instinctively, she switched her inner sight on as she always did when making a deal. The man was shrouded in pink, silver and dirty gray. These were not good colors, but they told Jenny something. They told her that this young man was being deceptive, guarded and that he wanted something from her. There was more to this meeting than she assumed. She looked around at the other people, and she spotted them. There, scattered among the hundreds of milling market-goers, were this man’s cohorts. They bore the browns that she had seen in the dojo men, but that was not uncommon in today’s environment. It meant they were self-serving and uncertain. It was the black outline that concerned her, that meant power and subjugation.

Just as Jenny had spent time honing her ability to read items, the market had given her time to learn the meanings of the different colors. These men were up to no good. She worked a plan in her head to get away, and spied a path which the men were not watching.

Jenny smiled at the man. “Okay, Maribel says you need your palm read or something?”

Maribel looked at her inquisitively, but Jenny continued, “Let me go behind this sheet over here and center myself so I can see with my inner sight, and then I will be ready.”

Jenny saw the man look at the other men, as she walked back behind the sheet. As she hoped, Maribel came soon after.

“Jenny,” the older woman asked, “What is wrong. You never had to center yourself before.”

Jenny whispered to her friend, “Grab Carl and get out of here. Those are bad men.”

Maribel nodded and said, “I will hold them off, when they try to find you, Carl and I will slip away.”

As Maribel pulled the curtain aside, Jenny could see Jeffrey Cole still standing there. As he turned toward her, his jacket came open a little bit, and she caught a glimpse of the black top underneath, emblazoned with the patch of the Fine Modern Karate Academy from downtown. She didn’t know how, or why, but they found her. Jenny ran, she didn’t look back, she just ran as fast as she could. She never even heard the violence that began shortly thereafter.