Age of Mystics (Saga of Mystics Book 1) (30 page)

THANKSGIVING

“a time of friendship and unity, a time of peace”
– Unknown, a thanksgiving folk song

Ted, Commandant Casco, and the rest of the council stood at gates overgrown with brush, staring through the bars at the long rows of well-planned plots for the community that was never finished, to which were laid brand new roads. The pre-construction work must have been done right before the Event (the name all were calling the world’s change now). It was perfect. The road to this gated entrance, the only access point to the high bluff, was a long and windy dirt road that wound up the mountain north of the Hillside and planed them here just south and west of their base camp.

Anyone coming up the road would be so visible, for so long, that the thought of attack would be unthinkable. They shook the gates, but they were locked solidly. The humor of these locks was not lost on their party. Ted turned to Kayla, with a grin.

“My love?” He said.

Kayla stepped forward and put her hand on the stone archway. “It isn’t real stone; it is a façade.”

“I guess we will have to remedy that.” Ted said, and let out a soft Kiai as he settled into a stance and hit the middle of the gate with an open palm.

The gate bent inward and the lock shattered. Wind had blown the snow away from the gates, and the last couple of days of sunshine had melted some of it, but the plateau was still knee deep in snow. The lack of brush or trees was mostly due to pre-construction work, and the plateau had been completely flattened on top to make room for houses. They could see the steam rising up from a few places and knew that was where they wanted to go. They all headed out in different directions to answer questions of their own about the space.

Ted thought back to the last week and a half. They had cleaned up the bodies, and had mourned their own, including a special ceremony Rich had performed for Princess. Eric and his minions had not come back, though they all doubted they had seen the last of Eric Fine. After the snow storm broke, they had made the decision to check out Red Rock Bluffs and see if it was conducive to the move they planned. As they walked around the grounds and took in its size, it was a huge planned community, Kyle approached. He had taken Tom Barrett’s place on the council when Tom was killed while fighting the Tigers alongside the cadets and Max’s dogs. Natalee had taken over the training of all people who showed power for fighting, a special and necessary type of kinetic ability.

“You were right, Britt,” Kyle called out, “hot springs, at least three of them. There are also two creeks and a pond that flow from a natural spring in the center of the bluff. It has what we need.”

“Okay,” Casco said, “let’s get everyone together.”

Kyle called out to the others and they all made their way to a spot near the center of the bluff where the Natural Spring created a deep pond that sprouted the two streams of which Kyle had spoken. They all stood there taking it in.

“Thoughts?” asked Ted.

“Everyone knows mine.” Casco offered.

“The Terras and I can work with this, but it will take time,” Kayla followed, “We would be in tents most of the winter. It is going to be cold, there is no wind break up here right now.”

Ted nodded; he had thought much the same thing. Kyle just said, “I like it, I approve.”

“It is safer than even the Hillside,” Jenny replied.

Beth just nodded, trying to get Cooper to take a bottle with some formula they had found in a house while foraging. Kate also gave a curt nod.

“I think you all know what I am going to say,” Emma began, “It is perfect for planting fields, especially here near the springs. The flat land works out great, but I will need seeds. To Kayla’s concern, some of the cadets are showing promise with plants. We might be able to grow some brush or small evergreens to work as a wind break, there are plenty of graft materials in the plants that are natural to the area.”

Ted considered that for a moment. Now that everyone was beginning to show abilities, they would need to categorize them for best use. But, that was a conversation for later. Rich had still not given his assessment. “Rich?” Ted asked.

“Well,” drawled out the incredibly likeable southerner, “This seems like a Godsend. I think this will do nicely, but I have a question.”

Rich waited for Ted’s nod to continue.

“Ted, I know how you feel about the faith, but a lot of us count on it. I would like to build a church, for services for those who wish to partake of them, for ceremonies and such, for meetings. Would that be something I could do here?”

Ted looked around, but everyone was looking at him, waiting for permission. “You are a good man, Rich. As long as the center is open to different beliefs and it is not mandatory to attend, you won’t get an argument from me.”

“Well, since we have moved off of the move, which I think we are all agreed on,” Ted started, getting nods around the group, “Kate wanted to say something.”

Kate was looking down. “Yeah, I think I need to resign from the council. Before you try to talk me out of it, I have thought about it and Ted and I have talked about it. I want to finally grieve the loss of my husband for a bit. If we end up being safe here, I can begin that. Also, I believe we are underrepresented on the council in the healing ability. I would like to nominate Adam to take my place.”

Rich cut in, “I am not sure Adam has any interest in that position. He enjoys healing and teaching the newbies how to heal. He doesn’t want to be a leader.”

Kate thought for a moment, “What about Erica?”

There were smiles all around as the Council approved greatly of the young woman.

Ted concluded the meeting with something to think about on their walk back to the Hillside. “We have come through the end of the world as we knew it, into a new kind of existence, one of power and treachery, or beauty and of danger. I can’t wait to make this new home, but it must be a choice, and we must have a purpose. I would love for all of us to consider this; I think that purpose lies in making the world a better place. It lies in healing, in protecting, in teaching and in challenging. I have some ideas on how we could make that happen, but we are a team. Let’s decide together what our new world looks like, and how we move forward.”

As they walked out the front gate, Kate turned and dropped a small diamond into the dirt at its base and the gate disappeared from view behind a large boulder, an illusion to keep wandering eyes away from their new home.

Leaving behind the burnt-out shell of his former fortress, and before that the most famous resort in the area, Eric had led his small band back to Manitou. When they first returned to the Compound, his anger burned and he took the group after Colson and the refugees. That size of a group was not hard to track, he had seen that the group had regularly split, there had been fights (they found bodies), and it looked like some headed south, some east and a small band of maybe a couple of hundred had headed up the back route to Pikes Peak. The snow storm had taken care of many of them. Whenever Eric came across any, his band would deal with them immediately. But now, sadness fell on him like a wave.

All of Eric Fine’s plans had been dashed, and those to whom he gave his leadership had rejected him in favor of chaos and death. He had decided to retreat to the built up town of Manitou Springs and wait the winter out. One of his men even said the old hot springs were active again for the first time in a century.

He had lost Damiano, and Meyer it seemed. Meyer’s group had never returned and Eric felt confident that could only mean one thing. Colson had rebelled and slipped out of his grasp, and his home had burned to the ground. He found himself retreating, a position he never wanted to experience. He wasn’t ashamed, Eric had never quite felt that emotion. What he felt was a despair about his plans not working precisely as he had outlined them.

As they approached the gates of Manitou, there were two guards on top of the barricade.

“Who are you, and what is your purpose?” called down one of the guards.

Eric just scowled up at the man, when another ran up next to him and said something.

“Forgive me, Shogun.” The man stated, and the gates opened to allow them in.

He hated that name now. He had already ordered the men he was with to stop calling him that, now he would have to train these men anew. Walking into an old brick building on the main street, he looked around for the man he had left in charge. The people who had occupied the town before them had set this spot as the headquarters, and Eric had just continued its use.

“Where is Garner?” he asked, annoyed by the delay.

The place was a shambles, Eric was disturbed by the lack of discipline it showed. The man came running down some stairs, disheveled, clearly he had been sleeping. The morale was low for the men he had passed and now he saw why. With the cat away, the mice just fucked off all day.

“Gather your things and get out.” Eric said.

The man looked at him inquisitively. “Where should I take up residence, Shogun? I live upstairs. By your leave, I will remove one of my subordinates, but it will take perhaps a day for two people to move everything.”

Calmly, Eric responded, “You misunderstand. Get out of my city, you are unfit to serve in my force. You have five minutes and whatever you can carry. If you are not outside the city in five minutes, I will allow any man who wants to take your life. Now, do you think you have many friends here, Garner?”

Garner’s face went suddenly pale and he ran back to the room he had occupied for the last few weeks. Summers walked into the building.

“The discipline is gone; this place is a wreck.” Eric stated.

Summers said nothing, it was a statement of the obvious.

“Gather everyone in the street. And, Summers, I mean everyone.”

The man walked out with the same stoic look on his face he always carried. He was probably one of the hardest men to read that Eric had ever engaged. Eric prepared to give the men new perspective. He walked out into the shining sun, made ever brighter by its reflection off the snow on the ground. He climbed up to the guard tower the man had just been standing on, watching Garner be let out into the street, and run away.

Turning toward his assembled group of maybe three hundred men, he began, “The world is changed, more than we thought. Playing games as ‘Shogun’ no longer can be tolerated. If anything, I am a warring Marshall, intent on two things. Those things are your survival, and our way of life. Look around you, these are your brothers, there are none like them. We are all that matters. Everything else is trash, everyone else is beneath us. We will conquer again, we will take what we want, be it person or possession. We will do this because we are the best. Your loyalty is required; infidelity is to be dealt with as a high crime. You men are on the inside of the movement, everyone out there is an enemy, even if we treat them as friend to achieve a goal. We are all that matters, we have no equal. There will be no more civilians in our walls. When you have needs, go out into the world and take what you need. We are the last fighting men of earth, and I am your Marshall.”

Eric finished his speech and felt the morale lift immediately. Appeal to men’s baser instincts and they will cling to you. These men would cling to him. As he passed, they adjusted what he asked to be called. They did not refer to his as Shogun, but instead as Lord Marshall. He guessed this was Summers’ doing, but it didn’t both him. This force would rule the area with fear and brutality. Eric would teach those who challenged him, or betrayed him, what were the consequences of those actions.

Kate could not take the smile away. She had to face it, she loved the idea of a wedding. When they had returned to the Hillside and found out that Adam proposed to Erica, it just made her happy. She had been grinning from ear to ear ever since she found out. She had rushed to tell Natalee and the two of them had giggled like school girls. Now she went to tell Kyle, who was gathering his things for the move like everyone else.

She turned up the hill and almost ran into her son in a moment of intimacy, an emotional bond with the young woman in front of him.

Jessica looked lovingly into Kyle’s eyes, “I think you have to tell your family.”

Kyle nodded, Kate thought he might have even had a tear in his eye. It was beautiful to see these two together.

Jessica kissed Kyle on the cheek, “You know I love you.”

Kyle looked sadly back at her, “I love you too, you are the best.”

Kate felt suddenly uncomfortable to be intruding on this moment, but she was already there, so she pretended she had not just seen that moment. “Hey, you two, do I have some news for you.”

They both turned and looked at her, but not until Jessica had given Kyle a knowing look, pushing him to say something. “What is that, Mom?”

“Adam and Erica are getting married.”

A wide grin crossed Kyle’s face and Jessica let out a little squeal. “That is fantastic!” She said. “They are such an awesome couple.”

Kate looked at the two of them for a moment, but since neither was giving her any more info, she decided to get that conversation started herself. “I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I just walked in on something about telling your family something?”

Kate was pretty sure that she knew what it was by the nervousness on her son’s face. For some reason, he looked exactly like he had at fourteen at the moment, something in his eyes. He had always been a soulful kid. “Are you worried to tell me that Jess is pregnant?”

Both of their heads popped up and Kyle let out a genuine laugh. “No, Mom, that is not the conversation we are going to have.”

Jessica was beet-red with embarrassment, but said, “That would be a miracle.”

Kyle stood up and walked over to his Mom and grabbed her by the shoulders, “Mom, I am gay.”

Suddenly the pieces fell in place. Kyle had a long term girlfriend in High School, but she had been a total psycho. She and Cal had always assumed he didn’t date more because of the devastating effect of that relationship. Kyle went into a long explanation about how he didn’t know, he never really thought about it. It was due to his real love for Jessica, a platonic love, that he came to understand that he just wasn’t sexually attracted to women. He and Jessica had long talks about it while they were at the Academy.

“Wait,” Kate interrupted, “Commandant Casco…”

Kyle smiled. “Yeah, Britt and I have been together for a little while. He is a great guy.”

“He is,” Kate stated factually, “I just thought there would be a problem with the military thing.”

The incredulous look that Kyle gave her reminded her of what she was saying. There was no American Military any more, and even if there was, the prohibitions against gays and lesbians were not what they once were. Kate just stammered out, “right, sorry.”

“But, Adam and Erica, huh?” Kyle said and gave his mom a hug.

She pulled away from him and this time took him by the shoulders. “You are and always will be my baby boy.” She teared up a little, “I am proud of you.”

Kyle hugged her so tightly she had a hard time breathing. Then Jessica hugged her, it was a nice moment, but Kate broke away suddenly and looked at them both. “Oh, I have to go tell my Mom.” Kyle’s face was filled with shock and concern. “Please, Kyle, I am not an idiot. I meant about Adam and Erica.”

Kyle looked down, “You can tell her if you want. I guess it would be nice to have a buffer between me and her old-school Christian ideas.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much, buddy. Grandma has room in her heart to accept this, but if you want, I will grease that wheel for you.” She ruffled his hair a bit with his hand, putting him at ease.

Kyle just nodded, and Kate continued her walk up the road until she found her mom and the baby, Cooper Paolo, sitting near the pond. She told her first about Adam and Erica.

“It is about time,” Beth said, “Those two are adorable together. Plus, that is a great way to break in the new home at the Bluffs, to have a wedding.”

Kate strengthened her resolve to combat any judgment her mom was about to unleash about the next topic, “There is one more thing I need to tell you about. Kyle just came out to me.” Her mom just looked at her with a blank stare. “Mom, Kyle is gay.”

Beth looked out over the expanse of Colorado Springs from her perch on the cliff, “Flowers will bloom in the spring.”

Kate just shook her head, her mom said the weirdest things. She was not going to let her ignore her son’s identity. “Mom, what the hell are you talking about? Did you hear what I just said?”

Her mom looked back at her suddenly, “Oh I am sorry, Kate. I thought we were telling each other things that were totally obvious. The love he has for Commandant Casco is so obvious.”

Kate was completely taken aback by her mother’s rather matter-of-fact response. “You knew?”

Beth let out a low chuckle, “Of course I knew. I probably knew before he did. I obviously knew before you did. I didn’t have the same expectations you did, so I just saw it earlier. I never understood why he was with that tramp for so long while he was in high school. All she did was play with his head.”

They sat for a while in silence as Kate took in her mother’s grace and awareness in a whole new way. She didn’t know what to say, and a long period went by while they said nothing. Finally, Kate asked, “You don’t have a problem with this?”

“Oh, honey,” Beth began, “We all have almost magical powers. I don’t think Kyle’s being gay is even something for me to think about.”

After a moment, something occurred to Kate, “We all?”

Beth smiled with a little pride, “I figured it out. I didn’t think I had a power and then this little baby taught me.” She looked into Cooper’s eyes and the baby cooed.

“He did?”

Beth nodded, grab that bowl down there by the pond and put some water in it. Kate did as asked and brought the water back. Beth put the baby in the car-seat carrier they used to carry him around when Beth wasn’t holding him, very near to where Kate had put the bowl of water. Beth walked over to where her daughter was standing a few feet away.

“Look at the bowl.” Beth said.

Kate looked over and the water inside the bowl was solid ice. Kate walked over and picked it up.

“You have an ability with cold?” Kate asked.

“Oh, no, that is Cooper’s ability, ice and cold. What would Cliff call that?”

“Umm, cryokinetic I think.” Kate was pretty sure she was right.

“Have you ever wondered why I find it so easy to find the doors you hide?” Kate nodded, “Well, I always wondered why everyone else was having a problem. I can see the doors others cannot. Your powers have no effect on me. As far as I can tell, no one’s powers have any effect on me.”