Into the Circle

27Apr05 - Into the Circle


<begin transmission>
"Thomas.  Tell Moira to be ready."
<end transmission>

Korrick shut off his comm and disabled the tracking circuit with a quick twist of a claw.  He had disabled his hospital transporter long ago.  He did not want to be tracked tonight, particularly not by the Talons.  They would try to help.

He left the Hollows behind, speeding toward Skyway and points east.

-----

16Apr05

He'd been hiding beneath the chair in Moira's room when the attendants came to transfer her.  Hospital personnel could not be trusted to treat a body properly.  He was following the ambulance when it failed to turn north in King's Row and drove instead to a warehouse in Independence Port.  The place was well guarded, and while he was able to slip in unseen, he knew that attempting to interfere would be a waste of effort.

"Took you long enough.  They could raise the alarm any minute."
"Hey, you wanted the job done right, or fast? Phoenix won't notice a thing for half an hour yet."
The gurney wheels snapped straight and hit the concrete with a thud.  "Hey, be careful in there!  We're gonna catch hell if the body gets damaged."
There was a snicker.  "Yeah, that's because -she- wants to do all the damage herself."
"Shut up, I'm not getting whipped or worse because of your big mouth."

"Here's the rules.  We keep the sleeping beauty perfect for -her-.  No funny business.  Four on at all times, and if a Talon shows up, don't forget you've got a hostage.  They probably won't find us until -she's- good and ready for them, but if they do... well, the fun starts early.  Clear?"
"Yes, sir!"

The men in their uniforms saluted and grinned.  Hidden in shadows, Korrick bared his teeth, but it was not a smile.

-----

Korrick climbed the roof to the broken ventilation fan, slipped unnoticed past the guards and the infrared detectors in his cloak of shadow.  He had played this game often enough in the past week, though he could do nothing more than check that Moira's body was still alive and well.  Now, he had had enough of being patient, enough of stalemate, and time allowed the enemy to prepare.  Thomas, Sam, and Gabriella were waiting for him, though they did not know it.

He coiled into his best vantage point, between two crates very near Moira's guards.  He would wait as long as it took for the odds to shift in his favor.

-----

25Apr05

"Now, if we can just find her body."

Korrick could just hear the little group of Talons speaking over the slap of the waves on the ferry.  They had a plan, a spell in mind, that with the concerted efforts of Thomas, Sam, and Gabriella would enable Moira to inhabit her body once more, or so they said.  They would need her body, of course, and the use of a circle of power.  Korrick had heard the term before, but it was one of those words of magic that seemed to refer only to other magical things... spirit, soul, symbol, spell.  He wondered what perversion of natural law caused the S sound to be required in magical discussion.

The group had largely said their goodbyes and left, when he saw it.  A white fluttering shape hung before Thomas, gleaming brighter even as the sun set.  Korrick approached cautiously lest it should be a threat, readying himself to fight, yet even at full focus his senses could find no life in it to seize.  He broadened his perception till Thomas burned like a beacon and the air swirled with tiny organisms, yet the shape was less than nothing.  He realized that Thomas was speaking to it.

"Moira... I... I've missed you so much..."  

This thing could not be Moira.  He knew where Moira was, and it was the same place she had been for days.  But Thomas knew of these things... His spread hands tasted only Thomas on the air, he could not hear the shape, he felt no heat from it.  He moved closer than was polite, and Moira's face smiled at him as his outstretched fingers passed through her arm as through air.

Some time later, he realized Moira and Thomas were both looking curiously at him.  Thomas said gently, "I think she wants to know why you're looking at her so intently."

"I am sorry.  I do not understand...  But I will do what I can."

-----

The sun had risen and set again as he waited, and the guards had changed three times.  Presently a lone guard walked to Moira's door.  The taste of fresh blood preceded him, tasting of human and of fear and pain.  Korrick made sure he could not feel his own hunger.
"One of you, come with me a minute."
"We're not supposed to leave our posts, you want to have -her- on our case?"
The big man showed the blood on his hands, and the taste came more strongly.  It was familiar... then he knew it.  She had caught another Talon.
"Well, -she's- having herself a good time, but it'll take two of us to get the boy's rope over the rafters.  It'll only take a minute."
The men exchanged glances and smiles.  Korrick held very still as two of them got up and followed the bloodied man.  He could trail them, find Alex... but he had only moments, and Moira was right in front of him.  Softly he hissed.  

Then he was moving silently, right behind the near guard as he said something about "-her- pretty-boy."  Flat on the floor he extended his hand in a haze of deathforce, and pulled the life out of the far guard to briefly color the air.  The near guard was still drawing breath to scream when Korrick's claws found his throat and silenced him.

Into the tiny room, filled with the taste of her breath, licking the blood from his left hand while he tore free the invading tubes and wires and threw them down.  She was taller than he, but draped across his shoulders she was stable enough, and he exerted himself to cloak them both.  He sped through the warehouse, following a well-practiced path, then up the wall and out through the broken ventilation fan.  He had thought it would be the last time he used this route.  Perhaps he would be back.

-----

25Apr05


Rowan Thorn was as talkative as ever, chattering with Achilles about the sources of their names.  Korrick listened, though he was waiting for the sun to set.  The guards were less alert at night.

The three of them hunted Trolls and Outcasts along the edge of the Hollows.  The gang members were more than willing to tackle what appeared to be a little girl.  Rowan was a formidable fighter, yet Korrick found himself shadowing her more than Achilles, concentrating first on the enemies that threatened her.  When he became aware of this, rather than tighten his control, he merely observed his own reactions.  Sometimes the instincts of his body were useful.

A Troll's bat cracked against her skull.  She squealed and Korrick saw the flash of spilled lifeforce in the air.  Something shifted in his perception; he lashed out at the Troll, tapping his strength, draining his life till the creature lay sightless on the asphalt.  He realized he had been making a sound he had never made before, a shrill clicking in his throat that echoed off the buildings.  He could not imagine the use of such a noise.  It was not in any word he knew.  

When the moon was well up, Rowan had to return home.  Korrick steeled himself to touch hands with her without flinching.  The experience still nearly overwhelmed him.  She was Moira, she was Thomas, yet she was solely and utterly Rowan, as unique an individual as any other.  It was one more thing he would have to think on, once his task was done.

He crossed the Hollows at speed, heading south towards the pale fingers of light that rose from the Circle of Thorns' great stone altars.  Drawing near to one, he could see no source for the light; it gave off no heat, it was not alive.  But it was a circle.

He switched on his comm to record a short message for Thomas.

-----

The sun was rising, fading the columns of light, when Korrick brought Moira's body to the altars.  He crouched beside her on the stone, keeping his shadows over them both, and turned on his comm and his tracking circuit.  The hospital transporter could stay broken.

<begin transmission>
"Thomas, Sam, Gabriella.  Come to the Hollows.  I have something for you."
<end transmission>

He waited and watched the surrounding hills.

Eventually a robed Thorn wandered near and turned to stare at the altar.  Korrick was certain that he and Moira were shielded from any sense he knew... but there were senses he did not have.  A second Thorn came near, then others.  He would have to draw them off, at least until the other Talons arrived.

He readied himself to fight openly and loudly, to cause a commotion. They would ignore Moira, he would see to it.  Something shifted in his perception... he cocked his head, he opened his left hand and closed it again on the memory of Rowan's touch, that of three beings in one.  

Then his cloak fell away, he raised his claws and let the taste of cinnamon flow from him, he slashed at the air to make himself look threatening.  The Thorns cried out and pointed at this apparition.  He could hardly decide where to leap first.

"Kkk-kkk-kkk!"

His body wished to fight.  For once, they were in agreement.