A Boy, a Dog Girl and the Weight of Years: Part One

The warehouse loomed over them, a cold metal goliath daring them to go further. They had parked the car two blocks away and made their way further on foot to avoid attention.

“They are chained to tables in the center of the warehouse, all laying in front of a man staked to a slab of stone,” Jelks said, his gruff voice wavering from exhaustion.

“What are they doing with them?” Zack asked.

“Draining them of magic, it looks like. The five best students of VanVeer Academy, it makes sense they would be using them for some kind of ritual.”

“Guess it pays to suck,” Chista said.

“Let’s go. I escaped through a side door. It was damaged in the struggle, so it should still be open.”

The four made their way slowly around the building, trying their best to muffle their foot falls in the crunch of the snow, eventually coming upon the door hanging from its hinges.

“This way! Hurry! Inside, children!” Jelks said, a slight edge to his voice.

“Aren’t you worried about guards? It sounds like you barely got out of there last time.”

Zack stared at Jelks, his face serious and stony.

“They said they were evacuating as I left. Their hideout was compromised.”

“Why would Baltz and the others be inside then?”

“They are in the middle of some kind of magic ritual! They cannot move the subjects! Now are you done interrogating me?”

“Honey?”

The dog girl lifted her face to the air, sniffing at it. A low growl came from her throat.

“It smells bad. Like the forest. But he’s telling the truth. I think it’s only us here.”

Zack nodded, locking his eyes with Jelks unpatched one.

“Lead the way, pirate.”

It was cold, dank and musty inside the warehouse, the air itself feeling like an oppressive warden in a sinister jail. From the center of the stacks of crates they could see a wavering green light pulsing softly.

“Careful now. The guards are gone, but I don’t know exactly what they’re doing,” Jelks whispered.

They crept forward, Honey sniffing the air softly, weaving through the labyrinth of boxes until they finally rounded a corner and saw the horror at the center of the maze.

The five contest winners were chained to steel medical tables. They moved slowly, exhausted, each breath a labor. From them flowed the green glow, a bright gaseous energy which surrounded a nearly nude man with large metal spikes driven through his limbs and into a stone slab.

“Baltz!” Chista softly exclaimed, seeing the boy on the table closest to them. She darted out from behind the crates, running for him.

“Hey! I’m supposed to be the one to dangerously run out like a moron!” Zack hissed behind her.

Chista raised her hands. A blue glow surrounded the locks on the shackles around his wrists and ankles. “Envision the lock…see inside it…then blow it to hell!” The locks blasted off Baltz’s shackles as the magic surged out of them.

“Baltz, if you wanted to make Chista come to you, I think you could have picked a much less complicated way of getting her to do it,” Zack said, helping him sit up. Baltz’s head slowly lifted, his eyes straining to stay open as he looked at Zack, Honey and Chista.

“No…not you…”

“Please don’t complain about me being the one to rescue you,” Chista said, doing her best to send healing magic into him.

“You…they wanted…you here…Chista…”

“What? Me? Why would they want me? I’m sixth place, remember? Heck, I’m only here because Jelks led us to…”

“Jelks…they killed him…”

“No, he got away! He got out of here and found us! You’re safe!”

Baltz used the last of his strength to grab Chista’s arm. He yanked her so she was face to face with him.

“He’s…not…Jelks!”

They went as still as graveyard statues. The three words Baltz had uttered exploded in their brains. They would have had more time to think about it if Honey hadn’t shoved them roughly to the ground. A large metal bat whipped through the air, devastating the space Zack’s skull would have been in.

“You ruined the surprise,” Jelks said, taking the eyepatch off to reveal a completely normal eye underneath.

“Get him!” Zack shouted. Honey transformed immediately to her dog form, snapping her jaws at the false butler. She leapt and was swatted away by a massive fist, crashing into a crate.

“You might be wondering why I brought you here,” Jelks said, stepping forward. Chista used her magic to seize his bat. He reached into his pocket, pulling out several large metal pellets. He threw them at her, smacking her face and causing her to raise a shield. Jelks took the opportunity to rush forward, punching her in her unprotected stomach and causing her to drop. “Young wizards don’t know how to multitask, do they?”

Zack shouted a desperate war cry, throwing punches at the larger man. Jelks smiled as he fought back, trading blows as the pentagrams trained athlete stood toe to toe with him.

“Honestly, I don’t want you, Zack. Or the dog girl. Or even these five, though they have been useful to power up the Fallen Doctor. No, I wanted Chista. And through her, her father.”

“Fallen Doctor? Why am I not surprised! Everyone has an ulterior damn motive!” Zack roared, clipping Jelk’s chin. He saw then there was makeup covering his face, an expert application of prosthetics which changed the shape of the man’s face.

“I needed Chistos here for this exact moment! His daughter was his weak spot, but kidnapping her would be difficult. The old man kept a watchful eye on his precious girl. Ah, but having her come willingly with me! Stage a kidnapping of someone she was invested in, then have the headstrong boy daddy trusted lead her into the maw of the dragon…”

Zack screamed as his fingers tore at Jelk’s face. Within the same moment the ceiling of the warehouse exploded. Chistos and Madam VanVeer floated down on the flying carpet, energy crackling off of them as their rage simmered. Jelks looked up, laughing, as they could finally see who hid behind the makeup.

“Well, the gang is all here. It is time to settle our debts,” Skabbart sneered.