Adelfried

  With Federico's house behind them, tall trees on either side framed an impressive view of a city stretching out below as if they were up on a mountainside. A narrow rectangular pool ran along the edge of the cliff to the city below.

  Harold checked his watch. He spoke quicky. “I must go.” He tossed a cell phone to Adelfried. “Call me. We can talk more.”

  In flash and crack of thunder, he disappeared. And Minna stood inches from where he had been. “Where is he?”

  “Where is he?” Adelfried took a half step back, his fists clenched. “You! Where have you been? You have imprisoned Ying. All but imprisoned me and Jim. And...and...” His words became lost to him as his outrage got the better of him.

  Minna pointed at the phone in Adelfried’s hand. “Did he give you that?” She flicked her fingers, and the phone flew from his hand.

  No. She wasn’t treating him like a child anymore. He reached out with his mind for the phone. It stopped in midair. He focused harder and it started to come back to him.

  "What are you doing?” Minna snapped. “Give it to me.”

  “What am I doing?” Adelfried put his hand out. “Why are you trying to control me? Control everything I know? What are you afraid of me learning by having a phone?”

  Minna reached out her hand. “It’s not about what you will learn.” Her voice started to strain. The phone started to move to her. “It’s...he can track you with it.”

  “He can obviously track me already. He found me easily before I had the phone.

  “Above ground, yes. But not underground.”

  Adelfried pulled with every bit of determination he had in him. It was time to prove to her that he was not going to be discounted so easily. There was no skill to this. There was no modern magic versus old magic. This was now a game of wills. And he wasn’t going to lose.

  The phone froze.

  Minna grunted.

  The phone lurched towards Adelfried. Before it hit his hand it fragmented into a ball of plastic and electronics.

  “Fine,” Minna said folding her arms. “I will simply render it untraceable.”

  A streak of ESH hit an invisible barrier around Minna. Jim fired once more, but neither shot had any effect.

  Jim aimed his weapon down. “There, now that I have your attention. It’s time to let my wife go.”

  Minna raised her hand towards Jim. The green crystal mounted in the back of the rifle snapped loose from its casing and flew into her hand. “There. Now that I have your attention. It is time for me to take it back. You are not allowed to have this.”

  Jim clicked the trigger repeatedly, but nothing happened. “Fuck you.” He reared back and hurled the rifle at Minna. She ducked. Jim shook his head almost laughing. “I didn’t expect that to work.”

  Minna rose scowling at Jim. Her hands pulsed green, but she didn’t retaliate.

  “Enough of this!” Adelfried yelled. “Who are you?” He circled Minna, looking her up and down in disgust. Was this really his daughter? So cold. So mean and calculated. “What makes you so different than the Sovereign Sect and Harold? You have done nothing but disregard the Harpers and me since the moment I saw you. You lie. You kill. You hurt. You imprison on a whim. As far as I am concerned, there is very little difference between a Wreckie and a Sov.”

  Minna’s eye’s met Adelfried’s. Those last words cut through whatever facade of righteousness had been insulating her. He had finally said something that hit home. Her face crumpled as if he had wounded her. “Papa...” Her voice wasn’t defiant but wounded. She took a deep breath looking away. “Very well. Come with me.”

  She clapped her hands together and in a flash of light they were no longer on Federico’s back lawn.

  A blue ocean and a warm salty sea breeze greeted them. Standing under the cover of a grove of palm trees, tan sand and thick foliage surrounding them on both sides, Minna waved her hand parting the sand in front of them exposing a rusted metal hatch. The hatch slid sideways exposing a dark shaft with a ladder.

  She held her hand out. “Come. Take my hand.”

  What was this place? He glanced around, seeing no sign of Jim or Federico.

  Minna said, “They are fine. I left them there...unharmed. I need to show you something and this is none of their business. But you need perspective, and it is better to show than tell.”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Whatever that meant. Adelfried took her hand and warm sage green ESH wrapped around him like a blanket. They floated down into the dark pit. As they descended lights flicked on and the hatch closed above them. Adelfried could only tell they were descending quickly by watching the rungs of the latter shoot by at a dizzying pace. How deep were they going? And what was down here? Was this a trick? No. It couldn’t be. She was still his daughter and as much as she had done wrong, she never once threatened him. That wouldn’t change, hopefully. Adelfried twisted his neck as they continued to plummet, uncertainty and stress starting to gnaw at him.

  They landed countless stories below ground, in front of them a circular vault door radiated ESH. To the side was a terminal with the outline of a hand. Minna placed her hand on it and with a beep the door swung sideways. On the other side a long well-lit concrete hallway led on for some distance ending at another door.

  A remote tropical location. Hidden entrance. Underground vault door sealed with ESH and a long tunnel. This was a prison. It had to be. But for who? He refused to believe she would ever consider locking him up. She went through the opening, but Adelfried hesitated as the idea of his own daughter being his jailer danced around uncomfortably in his thoughts. This was becoming too much.

  “Minna, where are we going?”

  She didn't turn around. “Come. You will see. What, you don’t trust me?”

  Adelfried had his own power, and Minna wasn’t going to harm him. Harm no, but hinder? Jail? No. He had to have some faith in her. Even if he didn’t trust her, she would not lock him up. She still viewed him as an ally. He would see this through. He pressed forward, but alert and ready. “No, I don’t trust you. You and your Wreckies have lied to me before.”

  Minna slowed her step for a second but continued forward down the tunnel. “I have never lied to you.” The vault door slammed shut behind them. Wherever they were, he was committed now. “But I have not told you everything. There have always been too many eyes and ears and not enough time.”

  He didn’t know the full story, but this was the time to press. Evan had said, ‘she’s lying,’ and it could only have been Minna, and maybe Ying. But no, Ying would never mince words. He had always respected that about her. While he didn’t believe Harold either, he still believed, or hoped, that Harold would not hurt Leyna. The two had to be related? Regardless, this was his chance to find out.

  “What really happened with your mother?”

  Minna’s voice was measured. “I told you. Harold killed her.”

  “That’s not what he said.”

  Minna spun around, eyes fierce, arms to her side as if she were ready to fight. “And you believe him over your own daughter? What did he tell you?”

  Adelfried took her hand. It almost burned to the touch as her body pulsed angry magic. “Some version of the truth, no doubt. So please tell me what really happened. In detail. Or is there something you also wish to remain secret?”

  “I have never lied to you!” Minna pulled her hands away to continue down the corridor.

  She was hiding something. He had hit the nerve. “And yet you avoid telling me more?”

  Minna remained silent until they reached the door at the end of the corridor. But instead of a thick metal door, like he had expected, it was a plain wood door you might find in a house. Minna put a hand on the door but didn’t open it. “Now is not the time to tell you. But I do not want to give you reason to not believe me.”

  She took a deep breath but refused to turn around. “Mom died as Harold was trying to turn her into a Sov. I...I tried to save her.” Her voice broke as pain leaked through her words. “I tried to fight him off, but...he is the master of body magic. No one is his equal.” Her words verged on tears. “In the struggle...Mom didn’t make it.” She sniffled and wiped her face. She turned around, her face red, and grabbed her Papa in a hug. “I tried to save her,” she cried into his neck. “I tried as hard as I could, but he is too strong. He is...I can’t ever rid this world of him. I have tried for so long. So long. But he persists and never dies. And now, my own father believes him and not me.”

  She pulled back wiping her eyes trying to regain her composure. “He took you away from me so long ago. He has taken mom from me. Please don’t let him take you again. I know I’m not perfect, and I have done so much wrong, but you don’t understand how much he has taken.”

  Adelfried’s chest was heavy. So much hurt in the world over a family squabble. So much power wielded by so few. “I know now not to ever truly believe him. But I think I understand now why you hate him. But you will not defeat evil by being evil. Harold is a flawed man with immeasurable power. He has done evil, but I know deep down inside him he believes he is doing what is right. As we all do. But if we are to stop him, we can’t lose ourselves.” Adelfried caressed her cheek. “You can’t lose yourself and become him. How many people has he killed? And how many have you killed trying to stop him?”

  “You don’t understand.” Her voice still leaked pain. “He has—”

  “I know that Evan can cure the Sov condition. Yet, you still kill when it is not needed. That is not how we win. Evil does not defeat evil.”

  Minna took a step back wiping her eyes. “I was so close. So close to ending all of this. Can’t you see that?”

  “What I can see is that Ying lays comatose in a boobytrapped bed in your hospital. I see that you shackled Jim. I see that your Colonel tried to lead us to the detention facility. I have seen a lot of your attempt to stop Harold that is more hubris than a genuine attempt to stop evil.”

  Minna’s face hardened. “Ying suddenly was able to harness the power of a wizard and nearly killed me? Jim was exposed to the Sovs for some time. How was I—”

  Adelfried snapped, “She didn’t though, did she? She healed you. I have no doubt that if you woke her, she’d say the same. You claim to be trying to do good, but you and your Wreckies are a menace.”

  Minna did not back down. “I will not debate the politics of this world with you and the purpose of the Wrecht Order. But I will admit that I...in my attempt to deal with Harold may have...gone too far. I will change that, but I cannot allow Ying to leave. Not without understanding more of what happened. She was able to cut through my protective shield like no other.”

  Adelfried sighed. “If she had wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be here.”

  “It’s not that. You don’t seem to understand. I am the most powerful wizard in the world. There is no debate about that. She cut me down in a heartbeat. She is a risk to the entire world.” Minna raised her hand. “I will have her awakened and she will not be restrained. But she must stay at Wrecht HQ until we understand more. Is that not fair?”

  Adelfried shook his head. “That is for her and Jim to decide.”

  Minna stared back not saying anything. “Very well. Now, please. Have I restored your faith in me? Are we resolved?”

  “We are better.”

  “Good.” Minna opened the door. “Because I want you in a good mood when you meet your grandson.”