Soulguard (5 page)

Chapter 9

              It was a couple of days later before the Mages arrived. Trent and his dad had gone back home after it was agreed that the Senator would tell the right people about what really happened and start the right rumors to keep as much of it a secret as he could.

              Trent would start Soulguard training in several months, when he turned eighteen.

              Jack Riordan and Mattie had gone home as well. She would start her official training in a few months as well. Jack offered to stay and help if the Mages became difficult.

              “If things go bad, this doesn’t need to fall on the Guard,” was Kharl’s answer.

              Tien had gone back to the Academy for much the same reason.

              I was nervous as I watched a stretch limo pull up the drive. I watched Kharl’s aura as two men and a woman exited the car. Relief flowed across his aura as he saw the second man, and he smiled.

              “Don’t worry, Son, the second guy is Gregor Kherkov,” Kharl said, “He’s one of the good guys.”

              Gregor was a dark haired man of medium height. He was stocky and seemed quite fit. The other man was tall and skinny with dirty blonde hair. He had one of those huge noses that brought visions of Ichabod Crane from the headless horseman cartoon to mind.

              The woman was tall and gorgeous. She was blonde and very well built. Her looks would generally have me stuttering and making a fool of myself except I saw her Soul and it wasn’t pretty at all.

              I looked at their Soulstreams. A typical Guard has a stream about three inches in diameter. Kharl and Kyra had streams of about five inches. I think they must grow with age and use.

              The first two Mages’ streams were a bit bigger than Kharl’s, maybe eight or ten inches. They didn’t have the intricate knot of a guard but it still looped in and out of their bodies several times.

              The third Mage, Gregor, had a stream of at least sixteen or eighteen inches, larger than my own, and I could see the power rolling in his aura. He looked at me as he entered the room and his eyes widened in surprise. Then he saw Kharl.

              “Kharl,” He smiled and offered his hand. Kharl shook it with a smile

              “Hi Greg.”

              “Be still my beating heart, is that Kyra?”  Gregor laughed, “As beautiful as ever, I see.”

              He looked at me with a penetrating gaze. His eyes widened and I saw realization flash across his aura, along with a flash of memory about a man who looked a great deal like me.

              He chuckled, “This explains a great deal.”

              He turned to his companions, “Let me introduce you to Regina Worthington and Allen Denton. Regina, Allen, these are the infamous Kharl Jaegher and Kyra Nightwing, former Soulguard Elites.”

              I saw recognition in both Mages at the names.

              “So this must be the boy we are here to block,” Regina Worthington said as she turned to me.

              Gregor snorted, “You
are
aware of my particular gifts?”

              “Yes,” she answered, her eyes narrowing in anger.

              I could see the anger and hate in her aura, arrogance rolled across it as well.

              “He’s an untrained child, and you’re the second most powerful Mage in the United States, so what’s the problem?”

              Gregor turned to me, “I would like for you to do me a favor, Young Man. We don’t ask Mages to do this but would you be kind enough to lower your privacy shield for a moment?”

              “The last time I did, I was attacked by a bunch of Demons and close to a hundred people died,” I answered.

              “Hold on a second, I’ll put up a shield around us,” Gregor returned. I watched as he pushed a shield out from his body. It was much faster than how I weaved one from my stream, “I think that should do it.”

              I looked to Kharl and caught his small nod. So I closed the portal switch.

              Both Mages stepped back and Regina actually gasped her face pale as a sheet.

              I opened the portal to a trickle again, raising my shield.

              “That will never be asked of you again, Young Man. We set a lot of store in our privacy, but that just cut through about an hour of argument,” He turned to the other two mages, “If you want to try to block that, you can. I think the solution is obvious, someone with this much power needs training. We need to enter him into the Academy, now.”

              “It seems, we have no choice,” Allen Denton agreed.

              Regina nodded. I could see the emotions rolling within her. Jealousy, arrogance, hate, and underlying it all, fear.

              Why would they fear me? I’m just a kid. Somehow I knew I would never get to be a kid again. When I left this place I would have to leave a man, or I wouldn’t survive where I was going.

              “Bring him to the Academy,” Regina ordered Kharl with an imperious tone, “He starts in one week.”

              She turned and exited the house without even a glance in my direction. Allen followed, but I saw a fearful glance at me from the man.

              As Gregor walked toward the door, he stopped in front of me. “Come see me when you are enrolled...” He looked at me questioningly.

              “Colin.”

              “Colin Rourke,” he finished. “I have a feeling things are going to be interesting around the Academy now. Your father upset things greatly when he attended. And he wasn’t ‘corrupted’ by the infamous Kharl Jaegher and Kyra Nightwing.”

              He nodded to me and turned to Kharl and Kyra. “It’ll be nice to get you two back in action as well.”

              I saw genuine happiness and excitement in his aura.

              He laughed loudly, “We're living in interesting times, my friends. Interesting times, indeed.”

Section 2

Mage

Chapter 10

              The Mage Academy is located on the top of a mountain range in Montana. It’s very close to Glacier National Park and completely hidden from view. When the plane landed at the small airstrip, near a ramshackle hanger, I was skeptical. But I was to find that most of the complex is underground, cut into the mountain range itself.

              Kharl had needed to stay behind until later. He needed to turn his contracting company over to Giles Meldon, one of his head foremen. He had been planning this for some time because my eighteenth birthday was approaching. He really hadn’t expected to do it quite this soon though and there was a bunch of paperwork involved.

              Kyra had been able to quit her job much easier and she had come with me.

              “Are you ready for this?” she asked.

              “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess,” I felt like I was infiltrating an enemy stronghold.

              “There are some good Mages, son, like Gregor,” she said in a soft voice, “Most of them are just scared of the Archmage. I’m sure you’ll see why soon enough. Just try not to make waves and you’ll do fine.”

              “I just want to learn how to control this power in me. I’m not here to make enemies,” I chuckled, “I should be pretty good at blending in by now anyway.”

              She smiled, “Just remember, never drop your privacy shield. There are few Mages with the power you have and it would cause more trouble than good, I think. There aren’t many Mages and they are a jealous lot.”

              “Hopefully I can come to the Guard barracks some. If for no other reason than to have you and dad kick my butt around a sparring ring.”

              “I think we could oblige you. Although, if you’re feeling like getting a good lesson in humble, you should try to spar with Tien. He puts all the Guards in their place, even the Elites.”

              We entered the hangar and walked across a large space for the plane to be parked. On the other side sat a Soulguard, reading a book.

              I saw the title and laughed, it was my favorite author. The sci fi series was about an alien invasion, and with the help of good aliens humans got to choose some of the weapons to fight them. They’d approached Sci fi writers to decide what to use and my favorite was the guys in the powered armor. It was a great series.

              The Guard put his book down and looked questioningly at us.

              “New arrival for Mage training,” Kyra informed.

              He looked at me, “You must be Colin Jaegher. I know Kharl and if you’re half the man he is, you’ll be the best of that lot.”

              The name was a bit of a surprise, but as we entered the door behind the guard, Kyra whispered, “We thought it best, with all the tension, not to bring up Kel right now.”

              “It’s fine with me, you and Kharl are my parents,” I answered, “I’m proud to carry either of your names.”

              “There’ll be some tension from being a Soulguard’s son, but I think it will be easier than being Kelvin Demonkiller’s son. They almost deify that name in the Academy.”

              She looked at me seriously, “Don’t take me wrong. He was my friend and we all loved him, but what he did is still remembered to this day and it’s made the Mages much more cautious than they should be. He proved that they’re mortal and it scared some of them.”

              I understood why it scared them. My father had killed nearly five thousand demons in that nest, working his way to the top of the clan. He’d finished with a group of Wraiths and all of their Soldier protectors at one time.

              I actually understand what he did, now that I had fought Demons myself and it amazes me what he must have been capable of. According to Kharl and Kyra both, they feel more power from me than they’d ever felt from him. It scares the crap out of me.

              The hallway we entered led to an elevator, where Kyra punched the button for the first floor below us.

              “That’s where you get off and go in for orientation. I go to the bottom, where the exits to the outside, lower down the mountain, lead to the Guard barracks,” she said, “I love you son, and be careful.”

              We hugged and I stepped off the elevator when the door opened.

Chapter 11

              I stepped into a waiting room with a desk at the far end. A woman sat behind the desk typing something on a computer keyboard in front of her. As I walked over, she stopped typing.

              “May I help you?”

              “Yes, Ma’am, I’m Colin Jaegher.” I answered, “I’m supposed to report here for Mage training.”

              “You’re the kid from Michigan,” She nodded as she realized who I was, “We’ve been expecting you.”

              She motioned to a hallway that curved around to the left of her desk, “Head that way and take the fourth door on the left. You’ll meet a Senior Mage there who will interview you then take you to the Dome for testing.”

              I nodded, “Thanks.”

              “Good luck.”

              The woman wasn’t a Soulguard or Mage so the Guard must actually employ regular folks for some tasks. There weren’t enough Mages to do stuff like this, anyway. According to Jack Riordan, there aren’t over one hundred or so Mages in the whole United States. Maybe as much as seven hundred in the world.

              And I couldn’t see Kharl sitting behind a desk greeting newcomers as they came in the door either.

              I turned left and walked down the slightly curving hallway. The compound must be round, because the hallway stretched in the other direction as well. Instead of curving right, it curved to the left.

              At the fourth door I took a deep breath and turned the knob.

              To my surprise, behind a large mahogany desk sat a smiling Gregor Kherkov.

              “Welcome,” Gregor’s cheerful voice erased the sense of dread that had been building up, “I know, I could have told you I would be meeting you, but where’s the fun in that?”

              He laughed and motioned to a seat across from him, “Have a seat, Colin. The first thing I want to talk about is how in the hell you killed a Wraith and left a smoking crater where your school used to be.”

              I had been thinking about this for some time now, “I think the way I make shields is what killed the Wraith, Sir. I didn’t even know what to expect when I Pulled. A lot of that power went straight into the shield instead of me.”

              He looked perplexed, “Exactly, how do you make shields?”

              “Kharl told me that I can trust you,” I opened my Inner Eye to see his aura, “Is this true?”

              He looked at me for a few seconds, “Up to a point. I will not betray the Soulguard to keep a secret.”

              He spoke in total honesty. I didn’t think keeping my secret would cause any problems there.

              “The first thing, then, is I have a special talent that Kharl says no other Mage he’s ever heard of can do. I can actually see the Soul and the Soulstream. Because of this, I can see shields and power flows.”

              “You can literally see them?”

              “Yes.”

              He nodded, “And how does this affect your shield making?”

              “No one told my how to make a shield. Kharl taught me to make a privacy screen. Over the years I figured out how to make a screen I don’t have to concentrate to keep active. I weave the screen from my stream before it actually gets to me.”

              I saw amazement flash across his aura and even a bit of jealousy. He squashed that quickly and I could see his shame at feeling it in the first place. That, alone, would have convinced me that Gregor was a good man.

              “I can see where that would be much easier to keep active,” He nodded. “I take it, that your shield was also built this way?”

              I nodded, “When I Pulled from the Source, a lot of the power went straight into my shield and probably saved my life.”

              “I can see the logic there. Next, when you Pulled, how much did you Pull? Did you just nudge it? Describe how you would call what you did.”

              “I Pulled with everything I had,” I answered. “My Soulstream is a third bigger now than it was before then.”

              He looked at me in amazement again, “How big is it now?”

              I held my fingers in a circle about twelve to fourteen inches in diameter, “Yours is about two or three inches bigger than mine.”

              “And you Pulled as hard as you could?”

              “Yes Sir.”     

              “Hmmm,” he scratched his head as he thought about it. “This definitely gives me a lot to think about. And Kharl was right, there are no Mages who can actually see the Soulstreams. I can see where that would give someone an amazing advantage over the typical Mage. If I were you I would definitely keep that between us.”

              “I will.”

              “There are a few details we need to go over before going to the Dome. Your pay starts when you sign your papers. You receive $2,000 per month, payable at the end of training, until you are assigned your first post. There is a $2,000 sign on bonus, you receive that immediately after swearing the Oath. Kharl tells me that you swore the Oath years ago. The Oath is binding and the most important part of Soulguard training.”

              I had sworn to use my Soulguard training to fight Demons long ago. We use our power to fight Demons, not Humans. It is the foundation that the whole Soulguard is built upon. With the knowledge and power that we gain when we knot our Soulstreams, we could seize control of the world altogether. The Oath is what prevents that from occurring. The Soulguard enforces the Oath. Not even the most powerful Mage could stand up to the whole Soulguard in a circumstance like that.

“Everything is provided for you until your release from the Academy. This is standard for any Mage in training. Once you reach your first post, you receive $3,500 per month. Depending on where you are assigned, there may be some other things you’ll be paid for such as housing and food. If you are in one of the larger stations there is housing already provided. I also need a next of kin to contact in case of emergencies. Kharl and Kyra, I assume?”

              “Yeah,” that sounded ominous, but I’ll be fighting Demons so I expect I won’t be dying of old age. Having some money might be nice, though.

              “Let’s get down to the Dome, then and you can show me some of this shield work. And we can test your weapon skills as well. Although, considering who trained you, you’re probably better than our weapon trainer. I’ll probably set your weapon training up with Tien Yueh, the Soulguard Weapon-master.”