Age of Mystics (Saga of Mystics Book 1) (26 page)

THE ONSLAUGHT OF WINTER

“Cold can bring out the best in people, but very often it brings out the worst.” Dr. Bill Montgomery, Director of the National Weather Service

The snow began falling lightly as Shogun Eric Fine and his army moved out of the small, fortified town of Manitou Springs. Leaving behind two Tigers and fifty soldiers, the remaining four hundred or so soldiers and forty-three Tigers moved down the main road toward the west side retail district of Colorado Springs. Of the Twenty-seven Operatives in Summers’ group, only two accompanied the force on their march. Summers had been left behind in the compound to aid Colson in completing his duty to cleanse the compound of those without value.

Eric looked along the sides of the road, where the people of Manitou Springs hung from trees and utility poles as a sign to all people who would not comply with the orders of the Shogunate. The leader of the small town had been beheaded after watching every last man, woman and child be hung for their obstinacy. Now, Eric held two fortified camps, and was slowly moving his force to take the third. It would take them about a full day to get there with the large group they had, and the pace they were moving. He was not in a hurry, he wanted fear and anxiety to go before him to prime the people who squirreled away at the Hillside restaurant for the order to vacate and comply.

He had sent Miles Damiano to do a simple task, bring back Jenny Martinez. The man had never returned. A small group of Operatives had gone the next week to obtain intelligence, and had returned with the torn and bloody gi top that many of them wore under their jackets. The Ops thought it looked like the work of a bear or a mountain lion, but Eric had to act. He had to show that any harm coming to his appointed officers was dealt with in a quick and merciless fashion. He would have the entire community of the Hillside executed and tear their fortress down. This would set the stage for the eventual confrontation with his only real remaining nemesis, the Air Force Academy.

It was cold. He guessed that it was mid to late November, though no one kept a calendar any longer. It had been somewhere between three and a half to four months since the new world order. They had a few snows, but the snowy season in Colorado Springs did not really get going until January, so he figured he could take out the Hillside, and then return to his Shogunate and attack the Academy in the Spring. The flu had taken hold in the compound a couple of weeks before, and people had died. Without any medicine, it would not be the last mass death. He assumed many of those not in one of the compounds would die this winter from lack of sufficient protection from the elements. Up ahead, people started to give way as he walked up the streets.

As the people parted, most of whom were the remaining rabble who had not been allowed into Manitou, he saw Meyer and another Tiger standing there. The chubby man’s face was broad with a grin. Eric was a little annoyed at how much Meyer enjoyed that Damiano was no longer there to be a thorn in his side, he would have to appoint someone to the role of Meyer’s nemesis. The thought gave him a small smile.

Meyer called out, “Shogun! We have found a gift for you!” Meyer pointed with a full hand to the side, and another Tiger walked out leading four horses, saddled and ready to go. Eric was instantly pleased; it had been months since he had been in the saddle. He walked forward and pet each horse on the head. Finding one that responded well to him, he climbed up into the saddle and immediately appreciated the historical value of horses to warriors. He sat atop this gray mare and was able to see his whole force behind him, the mewling crowd and the direction they needed to face.

“Well done, General!” He said, “Where did you find them?”

“There is a stable nearby, George here knew the area and wanted to see if they were still there. They were.” Meyer smartly waited for the Shogun to give him permission.

“Well mount up, General!” Eric smiled, “You too, George. Leave the other animal for a replacement horse if needed.” He quickly added this last part, as a third Tiger reached for the reins.

Turning the three horses eastward, the three men sauntered down the street, their new perspective allowing them to better assess the surroundings. This was already working out well. The snowflakes became a little larger and fell with more rapidity. A light blanket of snow was accumulating on the roads and the houses. Four hundred men fell in behind the horses and they began the march to their next conquest.

“You are sure they are headed this way?” Ted asked of the two men who came to the gate.

The man on the left nodded. “They are killing as they go, the trees and power poles are hanging with corpses like they are Christmas decorations.”

Ted looked at the second man, he was clearly horrified. “Come, sit by the fire.”

The second man shook his head, “We just wanted to warn you. We have to keep moving.” He looked at his friend, who just nodded, and they left heading north. They moved quickly, like the hounds of hell were on their tail.

Ted looked down at his daughter, thinking of hounds. Her beautiful little face looked up at him. “There are four men at the Garden of the Gods, heading this way, but trying to hide.”

“Scouts,” Ted said, mostly to himself. He and Max walked back to the hidden entrance to the Hillside. “Honey, can you have the dogs call a council meeting.”

Max didn’t say anything, but immediately Ted heard the double bark, followed by the long howl and knew she had already responded. Getting through the first three walls into their encampment was hard enough. Three walls with offset opening, which were all hidden with illusion, made for tricky access, even for those who knew the tricks. Looking up, he could see Tom and Beth heading up to the next set of walls. Beth held the baby, Cooper Paolo, orphaned shortly after his birth by Miles Damiano. The community raised the baby now, but Beth was the main caretaker. She had also been a unanimous appointee to the Council, even though she still was the only person in the area who showed no apparent abilities of any kind. Taking care of Cooper gave her something to do.

As he and Max passed the second set of security measures, he saw the rest of the group waiting. They had torn down the restaurant and had erected a stone replacement, but the enclosure was cold as one could imagine it would be, so no one probably wanted to move inside.

“Anyone have a heat stone?” Ted asked, referring to the stones created using Kim Pile’s ability. Rich Carson took something out of his pocket and squeezed it in his hand, his eyes closed. He rapidly threw it into a pit in the middle of the dimly lit room, while Jenny walked around and turned on four light stones implanted in the walls. Each of them took seats on the benches around the fire. Casco could not come to every meeting, so one of the cadets, Eleanor Coolidge, sat in for him. Seeing that everyone had arrived, and was in place, Ted began.

“We knew it would come at some point. A large group is headed our way, maybe hundreds of fighting men. They are coming from the south, so we can assume that Eric Fine sent them.” Ted had learned who the Shogun was from Jordan Kane and Anthony Johnson, but he had assumed who it was from previous conversations. He also had a pretty good idea of what their compliment of men at arms was going to be. “If they emptied their barracks, we are looking at nearly five to six hundred fighters. From everything Jenny, Emma, Jordan and Anthony have told us, they won’t stop or reason, they will find a way to destroy us. Thoughts?”

Tom Barrett spoke up, “Can we run?”

Kayla cut him off, “When would we stop running? We have made a home here, it is defensible. Isn’t that right, Ted?”

Ted nodded, “It is. That doesn’t mean we will win. If it is a siege, we will definitely win. With Emma’s gardens in full swing, we can eat vegetables and fruit until the end of time. They would run out of supplies before the real cold sets in. But I know Major Fine, he won’t wait and do a siege. He knows time is not on his side. No, they are going to attack us directly.”

“What do we do, Ted?” his mother-in-law asked, still holding that baby in her arms. Ted was still surprised that the child never got cold. That was, however, an informational pursuit for another day.

“Well, I wish Jessica was here to help move some rocks, but Kayla, you will just have to do. How many Terras do we have now?” he asked about Terrakinetics, those whose abilities were with earth. They had begun shortening the names for ease of conversation.

“We have three beside myself.” Kayla answered.

“Okay, I need you guys to raise random and difficult to pass stones in a wide circle around us, leave no paths. It won’t stop them, but it will slow them and break formation. I wish Amy was here, we could put a moat up.”

“What about a moat of fire?” Rich asked. Leave it to the pastor to have some kind of hellfire response.

Ted smiled, “Great thinking, can you work with Kim to see how many pyros we can get to work on it?”

Rich nodded. “Will do.”

“Okay, how many healers? Six, right?” Everyone nodded. “Kate, I need you to hide healers, civilians who can’t fight and the kids inside the caves. Those caves can’t be seen, no matter what. Okay?”

Kate agreed.

“Jordan, Nat and I will go out and face them. I wish Kyle was here.” Ted shook his head.

Eleanor spoke up, “I will send two cadets as fast as possible to get them to come back.”

Ted relaxed a little. “It won’t be fast enough, but I would like him to come back as soon as he can.”

Eleanor nodded and walked out of the chamber to send her two cadets.

“They are approaching fast, so we need to prepare equally as fast. Any questions?” No one had any, so they all got up and went about their tasks quickly. Ted walked out of the chamber and over to the cliff. As the snow picked up its pace even more, and the wind grew, he stood looking toward the south. The weather hampered his vision, but he knew where they were, and how they were coming. He knew Eric Fine well, and knew he and his family would be dead within the week unless everything went their way.

He started to walk down to find Nat and saw his daughter, uncharacteristically cowering near one of the walls. He ran over to her, “What is wrong, sweetheart?”

Tears streaming down her face, Maxine hugged her dad with all of her strength. “Something bad is out there, Daddy. My pack is afraid.”

Ted ran his fingers through his little girl’s hair, and patted her on the back. “Daddy will protect you, sweetie, don’t you worry!” He sincerely hoped he would be able to make that statement true.

Colson walked around the compound in dismay. He thought he could do this, but the first execution had proven to him that he was unprepared for this new world. After he had watched Summers’ men execute another two hundred of the people from the Outer Circle, he got violently ill. He had continued to be ill each day, and Summers seemed to revel in his discomfort. The man was a sadist, he would find new and disgusting ways to execute people, and his men were no better. Colson knew they were following him through the Inner Circle even now.

Turning toward them, he just said, “Go, tell your boss I need to see him at the Tower.” He immediately turned back around and began heading toward the gate to the Shogun’s Tower area, or what had formerly been the hotel portion of the resort.

Shogun was outside the grounds. There was a slim chance that Colson could save some people, maybe head back to Fort Carson, or up to the Mountain. There was also a back way up into the region behind Pike’s Peak. Yes, that was it, he would lead a group up Old Gold Camp Road and then destroy the road so none could follow. But, first he would need to deal with Summers.

Walking through the final gate, he could see that the Operatives who had been following him had somehow beaten him to the Tower area. The two of them were walking up with Summers now.

“What is it, Mister Colson?” Summers said, his disdain for the title Mister dripping from his tongue. “I don’t have time for this right now.”

Colson knew that the young man meant he had to get back to killing the defenseless people in the Outer Circle. “Yes, that is why I wanted to meet with you. The smell is atrocious; it is making me sick every day. Why don’t you take the rabble away from the compound and dispose of them in a place more conducive to such things?”

Summers stepped in close, “Do you think I’m a fool, old man?” Colson chose not to answer the question, but he hoped the answer was yes. “I am not leaving the compound, so that you can take over.”

“This can’t continue.” Colson added, luring the younger man into the trap. “If Shogun returns to this smell of death and decay, he will deal with your inability to see reason.” He saw the question in the younger man’s eyes and knew that he had already won.

Summers spit off to the side, “Well, I am not leaving the grounds. Why don’t you take them away and deal with them? You are the Mayor, right?”

“What? I am not the executioner, you are!” Colson was careful not to go too far with his false indignation.

“And you are responsible for the care of the compound, Mayor!” Summers responded and laughed with his idiot cohorts. This was working out well.

Colson paused, as though he was searching for an answer to this dilemma. “Fine. But, you have to provide me with Ops and Police to aid in the duty.”

“No. It is your job; my men have their own work to do.” Summers turned and walked back the other way. By their body language, Colson could see they were sucking up to him and telling how brilliantly he had handled the older man. Feigning concern, Colson walked off, knowing he was still being watched. He had not imagined the situation would go quite this well. If he had any intention of coming back, he would have worked that manipulation into a glorious thing. As it was, he hoped to never see the younger man again.

After a few hours of preparations, Colson managed to lead the two thousand, four hundred and sixty-eight “value-less” people away from the Outer Circle, interspersed with them were the two hundred and fifteen “helpers” Colson had brought along. They were really just family members and friends, who didn’t even know they were being rescued. Due to the ops watching his every move, Colson had to keep up the charade even with those he loved.

Just before dusk, on a cold, snowy, November day, Colson led thousands of people to safety. They didn’t know it, but he was saving their lives.