Throughout the tour of the crater Willem was strictly business, as though he had only just met the agents charged with investigating the anomalies. He knew far more than his subordinates could have gleaned, describing the nature of the land-shifting plague that had gripped Albrooke. He claimed that what they were standing in was actually a lakebed and that the diverted flow of the rivers were turning towards depressions such as the one they stood in. “It’s intentional terra-forming,” He said, his eyes fixated on the walls of the crater.

       “Well the fact that the town council contacted us must mean magic is involved,” Tim said,

       “Magic plays no role in this.” Willem scoffed, “And let me just say the town and their little council come to me about what happens on my land. Maybe a lake here isn’t such a bad idea. ”

       “This is also happening outside your land, Willem,” Nadine added, “and it was chosen to be addressed here first.” His mood flashed from typical neutral to an extreme only he could attain. That complete drain of humanity from his face, the absolute nothingness stirring behind his shining eyes. It was as though he turned off his ability to acknowledge whoever offended him as sentient being.

       But there was more – more than Tim was getting out of his words. Although his features were virtually unreadable, Nadine knew his mannerisms well enough to see the blatant omissions he kept each time he opened his mouth. To the average person, his words would have made perfect sense, but not to one so accustomed to his company. She had only seen him bend the truth a handful of times and to lie outright meant the secret of the anomalies was far greater than the one they had come to uncover.

       “So no magic, huh?” Tim acted at buying what Willem said, “So what is it, then?”

       “What else could it be?” Willem was never one to back down from an obvious challenge and usually shut them down with his trademark glare.

       “You tell me.” Nadine was impressed by Tim’s immunity to what had buckled so many an ego,

       “An act of God, maybe?” His faint smirk sent alarms ringing in Nadine’s head. She was beginning to realize that Willem wasn’t irritated by the Mask presence – it was her own that was getting to him. His typical neutrality took hold once more and he shrugged, “Either way, feel free to do whatever it is you do to earn that paycheck. I’ve put enough time and effort in this hole in the ground.”

       With that, he made his leave, regrouping with Maria and the others who were waiting just out of earshot.

       “Effort, huh?” Tim noted, adding to himself, “Someone might take that out of context.” Almost in response to his doubt the winds picked up and they were brushed by the chilling portent of a coming storm. The walk back to the manor was accompanied by the wild rustling canopy coupled with the ever-present rumbling of an inbound torrent. They came upon the clearing for the estate where they could see the clouds rolling upon them like the engulfing maw of some cosmic beast. “I didn’t hear anything about rain.” Tim said out loud this time.

       “The earth isn’t the only thing churning around here.” Maria reminded him of a fact he should have kept in mind. She looked at Willem and nodded just before he led the others into his palace. The storm reminded them of its presence with a low, throttling murmur that rattled the windows behind her. They could hear the rain beating through the canopy, “We can talk more inside, although you might be able to beat the storm back to town if you leave now.”

       “We’ll stay,” Nadine said before Tim could. Maria proceeded inside while the agents returned to the car for their bags. The storm drained much of the light and color from the scene. “So what do you think?” She asked only when she was sure they were alone, “I wouldn’t be surprised if the storm is one of their doing.”

       “That’s some high-level mojo up there,” Tim looked back at the roiling mass, then to the house, “Almost as bad as what’s in there, I bet.”

       “You’re more right than I think we both want to admit,” Nadine agreed.

       The interior of Willem’s manor was as expansive as it was luxurious. Just beyond the front entrance was the lobby where a wide black desk stood flanked on either side by doors leading to the inner sanctum. Between these doors and beyond the glass wall behind the desk poured a waterfall spanning the breadth of the gap. The ceiling over this area was transparent as well, tinting the lobby with the setting sun’s aura.

       Just beyond the doors was an open area littered with all the modern luxuries money could buy. There were two pool tables sitting in the middle, with a bar lined with bottles of every variety against the far wall. A U-shaped formation of couches and chairs were placed before the largest, flattest television Tim or Nadine had ever seen hanging on a glass wall. Beyond this was a breathtaking view of the forest hosting the crater. But above all else was the ceiling here. Looking up they could see the source of the waterfall; a swimming pool on the second floor churning with the constant circulation of water cleansed by an advanced filtration process in the manor’s basement. Willem’s advisors left them at this point to rack up a game of pool while Maria took them to their rooms.

       The second floor, while mostly dedicated to accommodating the pool itself, was lined all the way around with doors. She explained that along with her own room for those later nights, there were several others to accommodate guests. Each was far greater than the ones they booked at the local bed and breakfast, complete with its own bathroom. “This is beginning to look less like a job and more like a vacation.” Tim said the moment Maria left them, “Still doesn’t mean I won’t be sleeping without my gun under the pillow.”

       “Tim,” Nadine said as he made his way for his own room, “None of this is going to be a vacation, you know that, right?” He nodded and she made to put her bags in the room. The one she ignored was reserved for her clothing and toiletries; the one she ravaged held her equipment. Having been fixated on gadgets since before they became mainstream gave her an affinity for the hi-tech the Masks used to keep at par with Kingdom miscreants. She tapped into the mainframe through her tablet to check the logs from the recording devices laced throughout their uniforms. Something Willem said made her think but she focused more on hiding her tell, knowing full well she could recall it here. Or so she thought. Instead she heard a conversation that never happened, small talk about the weather and who still lived in the area. This wasn’t right at all.

       She left the room and went straight to Tim’s, invisibly shaken by the sound of her own voice speaking another’s words. Her hand had yet to knock once before the door opened and he let her in. There she let her tension manifest only slightly, “Have you checked the gear?” She asked.

       “Oh.” He said in a grave tone, “I thought you were here to make out.” Nadine’s usual indifference to his stupidity had been replaced with a burning glare, “I was checking the registry to see if your old boyfriend’s cronies are legal or not.”

       She ignored the remark, “And?”

       “They are,” He said but didn’t seemed convinced, “Who would let them across any border is a better question.” There was a grading system on how powerful Kingdom citizens ranked among the median. As Nadine browsed the files Tim showed her she was shocked; just one of these women held too magic for a small town like Albrooke to occupy without consequence. It didn’t take them long to delve deep enough to find who authorized the passports. “Holy shit.” Tim said when Willem’s name was found on the order for their registration.

       Nadine was in shock; for such powerful beings to be let in, let alone out took a lot of sway on both ends. Sway Willem Tarrant apparently had on levels way over their pay grade. “He’s just a human, like you and me!”

       “I think we both know that’s going to end up being very, very wrong by the end of this.”

       She told Tim of what she found in the logs she checked and he wasn’t at all surprised or unnerved. Together they scanned the feed of their reports, finding false information being made before their eyes on the fly. To anyone listening or watching the readings, everything was going smoothly and there was very little reason for concern. They had long since drawn the conclusion that they had been cut off for a reason. “I’m going to find him.” She said finally, “It’s time to ask some questions.”

       “So what am I, the muscle?” He asked,

       “You go do what you do best,” She advised him, “Go talk to the girls.”

       A nod and a wink was all it took to send Tim on his favorite part of every assignment; although he considered all three of Willem’s subordinates monsters, talking to and looking at them was icing on the cake. That wasn’t true; the real icing on the cake would be slapping a set of Magusite shackles on each one of these fiends and shipping them back to their God-forsaken wasteland of a Kingdom for some overdue process.

       As she made her way around the pool, Nadine noticed a set of double doors made of glass. Behind them was a broad staircase, hiding the contents of this floor by their spiraling ascent. Willem’s room, she assumed, and went to move on if Maria hadn’t somehow caught her blind spot. She jumped, feigning away from the instinctive response to reach for her gun – they both laughed it off softly. “It’s been a long day for us all,” The mage told her, “He shouldn’t be long, just taking a quick shower and he’ll meet you downstairs shortly.”

       “Alright.” She nodded graciously, “It was a long ride, I think I’ll take a few minutes to unwind and I’ll head right down.” She caught Maria’s quick glance at her sidearm, “I could stand to lighten up a bit too, I suppose.”

       “I assure you there’s no need for those here,” Maria told her, adding, “No use, either.”

       Nadine credited Willem for honing her keen of observation. Having spent so much time together, she learned to read the subtle changes in his face to gauge his mood. Even his own mother never quite knew how her son was doing until Nadine came along. Having refined this skill helped her excel in life and it would help her once more. She felt the weight of her sidearm, holster and all before she laid them out on the bed. There was no reason to approach him armed if her only intention was to talk.

       She found Willem sitting exactly where Maria had said he would be, bathing in the glow of the intense action sequence he was watching on his tv. Where others would be on the edge of their seat, he sat there, looking nearly lifeless sunk into his couch lounging in his pajama pants and a worn down sweater she vaguely recalled him wearing when it was new.

       “Willem….” She began, unsure if he was even listening, “I don’t know why you left Albrooke the way you did and it’s taken me a long time to realize you simply wouldn’t… or couldn’t tell me.”

       “Make your point.” He said, and the comment cut like a knife if only for a second.

       “My point is, if you’re in trouble, Willem….” He made no response. If Willem didn’t talk, he wasn’t going to, “I can help you.”

       He turned his head to look her in the eyes, an act he almost never made which disturbed most people. A great calm overcame her, a paralyzing, numbing bliss as if she waited for this moment for years. “Nadine, I don’t think you understand this yet,” He spoke placidly, “but I’m not the one in trouble.”

       Tim moved through the halls of Willem’s manor unmoved by the grandeur and modern decadence knowing no mortal effort was exerted to raise any of this. Little did his partner know this was the beginning of the endgame to an operation years in progress. Tim knew the mages followed Willem, and it wasn’t because he was one of them, but he wasn’t human either. He wasn’t a high enough rank to actually know what Willem was and he was kind of glad not to. The Masks were making a big play and he was part of it. That’s all that mattered.

       Mages constantly emit an aura displaying their prowess. Invisible as it may be, others of their kind can read this through a sixth sense, making them aware of each other’s location. Willem’s aura, however, is only present when he activates his abilities. Tim’s role in this whole operation was to capture this aura using a prototype camera designed just for this. Then they could analyze it to see what they were dealing with and begin to work on counter-measures. In the end, it didn’t matter if Nadine was a bargaining chip; she would be promoted and commended as though she weren’t.

       His efforts to speak with the girls were fruitless. Maria and the platinum-haired projection were nowhere to be found and the giant eye candy wouldn’t give him the time of day before she retired to the top floor. With them gone, it was time to get to work. He loaded his pistol with standard Magusite munitions. Magusite was the only substance known to ignore magic, meaning these bullets couldn’t be diverted and punched through any barrier. It was even integrated into their uniforms to hinder offensive magic but it only went so far. With the camera in one hand and his gun in the other, he made his way out to the pool. Looking through the transparent base, he could clearly see Nadine and Willem speaking. It was time.

       Nadine had no idea why she was told the story of her life since Albrooke the way she did. It was as if they were kids again, but she knew they weren’t. Nadine always found she slept better after a visit with Willem, having let all the day’s pressures be wiped away by his patience and insight. Even so, the words came out on their own before she could think them up, and she was at peace. Utter tranquility was a luxury at best and this fleeting taste of it was about to end.

       Tim burst in through the door leading upstairs. She was just about to ask him what was happening when he pushed the gun to the side of her head. At first she thought one of the mages got to him until he spoke, “Alright, Tarrant, if I so much as feel this gun twitch or my brain tingle I spray her brains all over the couch.” Cautiously she turned to Willem and found the most sinister grin spreading across his jaw line.

       “Nice….” Willem responded, as if he knew more about the situation than any of them, “So what could you possibly want?”

       “Your powers.” Tim replied, “Activate them, or whatever it is you do.”

       “But Tim, even you said….” Nadine began,

       “He’s not a mage.” He recalled, “That doesn’t mean he’s not something else.”

       “Since when?” She turned to Willem again and his eyes were narrowed, his glare filled half with condemnation and half amusement, “Since when, Willem?”

       Finally he shifted his attentions to her and shrugged, “Since birth.” And his eyes shone with a deep violet light. Its eeriness was doubled by the fact that it did nothing to the shadows in the room. She heard the camera click behind her and felt Tim pick her up by the collar. Willem rose as they began to back away. He kept to a safe distance but followed them nonetheless as if he cared nothing for his own safety. Whatever power he possessed, whatever wrath he had the potential to unleash he restrained for Nadine’s sake and she couldn’t help but wonder why.

       With the gun still pressed to the side of her head, Tim swung the car out of its space and began barreling down the wooden tunnel leading to civilization. Once the light of the estate was a good distance away, he placed the pistol back in his holster. In turn, Nadine now drew the spare gun at her leg and put it to his head, “Start talking.” She demanded.

       Tim told Nadine of his meetings with the upper echelon. He explained that an endgame scenario was unfolding before them but claimed to know little else. He emphasized the fact that they never once called Willem a mage and that conventional tactics just wouldn’t do. Nadine’s hands started trembling as he spoke these words in synch with the waning confidence in his voice. “I’m sorry for the gun thing,” He said, “They told me it was the only way we were going to get out of there no matter what happened.”

       “Why didn’t you tell me this?” She asked,

       “Down there, when you were talking to him, what did you say?” He countered and she realized it right away. She was telling Willem things about Mask operations and detailed personal information, “He’s been doing it to you your whole life, Nadine. It’s not what you think or thought it was.”

       “That’s why you didn’t tell me anything….” She knew she should have been hurt but if what Tim was saying was true, she wanted nothing more than to arrest Willem then and there, “Turn around.”

       “No way.” He shook his head, “They told me if we get away, stay away.”

       Nadine looked out the window, realizing they were crossing a rural intersection flanked on all sides but one by crop fields. The last quadrant however was engulfed by the furthest reaches of the forest hosting Willem’s estate. Just as they crossed the intersection, that black, heavy car they parked next to earlier appeared from the path adjacent theirs. It slid sideways, sending a wake of thick dust churning in its wake as the aggressive pursuit began. Tim, once a veteran of his hometown’s street racing circuit, howled with delight and pushed the accelerator to the floor.

       The dark, hulking vehicle kept up with his high-speed antics remarkably well for a car of such girth. The engine roared like a starving beast nipping at their heels. Nadine jumped into the back seat and readied her pistol the moment she confirmed the presence of Willem’s platinum-haired subordinate behind the wheel. Tim handed her his sidearm to double their chances of escape. Leaning out the back window, she took aim as a warning that at a moment’s notice could become a hail of Magusite gunfire.

       For someone with a background seasoned by his teenage years of street racing, Tim was dead-sure he was going to outmaneuver the hulking monstrosity. Whoever sat behind the wheel deserved the top tier position of his old circuit. Her flawless dominance over the engine roaring under the hood less than a car-length behind made each glance in the mirror more hopeless than the last. Without warning the wheel jerked to the left on its own and somehow the parking brake had been pulled. A hard hit to his rear fender sent the rental into a spin which lined them up for the finishing blow. Nadine was able to pull in and brace herself just as beast’s grill gored them. The car slid down the road before it rolled onto the passenger side and in turn the roof.

       After what seemed like an eternity of screeching metal, a torrent of sparks and throttling violence, they were able to collect their senses. Barely conscious, Tim found himself for the most part unharmed but disoriented from dangling upside down from his seat. Nadine, who wasn’t wearing her seatbelt at the time, was bruised all over and cut from the broken glass. “You okay back there?” He asked, lowering himself to the crumpled ceiling.

       She was just about to reply when she heard a car door slam shut. Looking through the window she saw that heavy car idling exactly where it hit them. Two pairs of feet stalked towards them until a hand appeared, tightly gripping the lower part of the sill, “Hold on.” With an effortless heave Willem’s giantess subordinate rolled the car back onto its wheels. She then proceeded to tear the driver’s side doors off and pull them out as well. Never one to be without a trick up his sleeve, Tim drew a knife from his holster and cut her across the cheek. The gash filled with a yellow light which took the wound with it as it faded away.

       When Tim made another attempt to fight his way out of this, she responded with full force. He found his arm caught suddenly in that massive grip; Nadine could hear the bones being crushed with Tim’s anguished cry. The same yellow light shone through the skin of his forearm. Nadine could see the bones mending to perfection and only then would Tim submit. She realized then that the aether-being was standing directly in front of her, scanning Nadine’s features with those strange eyes.

       “You’re lucky I don’t have the strength to draw mine.” She said.

       Nadine was so shaken and sore she could only stand because the giantess had propped her against the car. Even still she met the sprite’s angry glare head-on. The young woman’s teeth changed subtly, shifting from picture perfect to razor sharp in a matter of seconds. The white around those strange, beautiful eyes filled with blood. Her nails had grew long, predatory and she ran one across Nadine’s throat. She leaned in, “You’re lucky I’m not hungry.” A pulse of that light Willem emanated flashed in their eyes and the sprite’s features returned to normal, “He says get in the car.”

Continue to Chapter 4