This is a work of fiction any similarities between the characters, events, or locations in this story and actual locations, events, or people are purely coincidental.
© 2005 Warlord
Atlantis
By Warlord
We walked through the warehouse to check out the vehicle situation. The keys for each were conveniently on an ‘S’ hook hanging from the steering wheel.
Lisa selected the black Mercedes Benz G55 AMG backing it out of its parking spot to park it next to the door of the gunrooms.
We trooped back into the ‘go-to-war’ room. Tammy picked up a Glock 19 with an STW screw-on suppressor, as did Lisa. I selected a reduced-size Glock 36 in .45 caliber, also suppressed. Adrienne grabbed a full auto Glock 17. I grabbed a dozen loaded clips for each Glock plus another half dozen loaded clips for my Colt Auto.
I handed Tammy a Steyr AUG in 5.56 with a couple pouches of 40 round clear plastic magazines. Then I added a suppressed barrel for the AUG. Lisa was filling a gym bag with magazines for the MP5s. Adrienne found an MP5K-PDW in a small briefcase. I grabbed a MP5SD3 with its integral silencer and folding stock.
A large rack held Springfield Armory M-14 clones. I chose the M1A AA9126 Scout Squad rifle in 7.62 NATO. It was the classic ‘Cooper’ scout, with an eighteen-inch barrel, and its optical sight far out on the forearm. The muzzle flash hider was threaded for the eight inch long STW suppressor attached to the sling. Belts with pouches in the bins next to it held a dozen twenty round magazines each. I took several belts along.
I opened a large metal case to discover a Windrunner model 96, takedown bolt action in fifty caliber, mounting a specially adapted Leatherwood scope. The massive suppressor was there as well. A high magnification spotting scope on a unipod, with a built-in laser rangefinder was included in the case, along with one hundred rounds of match ammunition.
I picked up a Mark 46 mod 0 SAW in 5.56. Tammy and Lisa helped me carry half‑a‑dozen 200-round magazines out to the G55. I walked in with one more gym bag. Two M181A Claymores, an even dozen M67 fragmentation grenades, three M15 white phosphorous grenades, eight M8 HC white smoke grenades, two MK3A2 stun grenades and two M86 PDM all went in the big gym bag.
Tammy said, “You’re like a kid at Christmas.”
I laughed as I replied, “Can’t be too prepared, love. Still not sure where all the bad people are.”
She nodded at that. By now Lisa and Adrienne had joined us. Adrienne asked, “What about the pick-up?”
I answered slowly, “How about we get it in here under cover when we pull out?”
Adrienne nodded. “Yeah, good idea. We’re coming back here before we go to the ranch.”
We all nodded in agreement. Lisa threw a couple wool blankets she found over the guns in the back of the AMG. Tammy and I walked over to the rollup door, discovering that a large GMC kick box delivery truck had been placed artfully to prevent anyone outside from getting a look inside while the big door was open. I was shaking my head as I commented, “This fucker thought of everything.”
Tammy nodded, as she said rather ironically, “Except how to stay alive.”
I started as I looked over at her, then I agreed. “Yeah, there’s that.”
By then, we were standing at the 16-by-24, steel–powered, roll up door. A couple of bicycle locks were jammed in the tracks among the door rollers, as a rudimentary security precaution. Stick made short work of them. The door was controlled with a simple rocker switch, allowing it to be raised only part way. I glanced over at Tammy, who said quietly, “I’ll pull the truck in, while you keep watch from here.”
Nodding while squeezing her shoulder, I pushed the switch, and the door rattled, squealing in protest as it rose. I halted it head high, as we surveyed the scene outside. I asked, “How about it, Grid? Any threats? Anybody interested?”
Grid answered quickly, “No one, Champion. We are unobserved.”
I nodded, then I smiled saying, “Thank you, Grid, good work.”
There was a soft snicker in my head as Grid said, “The nod works as well, my champion. I fully sense your head motions and facial expressions.”
Tammy laughed now, saying, “She’s got you there, lover -- no place to run, no place to hide.”
With that, my Tammy love scampered out the door, heading to Adrienne’s pick up. Adrienne and Lisa were alert behind me in the shadows. My hand was under my jacket on the butt of my automatic as I watched.
Tammy pulled the pickup across the street and up the driveway, while I raised the door a couple additional feet to clear, promptly lowering it when she had the truck fully inside. She pulled around the GMC delivery truck, parking next to the Airstream Land Yacht lined up by the back-facing rollup doors.
Adrienne and Tammy quickly had the doors of the truck open as they transferred final, essential items into our Mercedes. Last, but not least, was the big envelope with the information about the mystery townhouse. Adrienne programmed the GPS with the townhouse address, while Lisa brought four water bottles for us. Over her shoulder, she had a large backpack with a red cross on it. She tossed it in back, saying softly, “The crash bag from the ambulance. Let’s hope we don’t need it.”
With that sobering reminder, we were ready to go. Adrienne pointed at me, saying, “You drive, Champion. I’ll handle doors and alarms.”
Lisa and Tammy slid into the open back doors of the four door AMG. Tammy had an MP-5K, while Lisa had the MP5 – PDW. Both guns were more or less discreetly in their laps. I handed Adrienne my Walther TPH. She kissed me lightly on the lips, tucking it in the left pocket of her vest. As I climbed into the front seat, I took my .45 out and laid it on the center console.
Slamming the passenger door from the outside Adrienne, gave me a ‘wind it up’ motion as she walked to the roll-up door’s control. I started the black MB, getting it in gear, and lined up with the big door. I asked, “We ready?”
With Tammy, Lisa and Grid’s affirmatives, I gave Adrienne thumbs up. She pushed the button, raising, then quickly lowering the door, barely clearing our departing back bumper. I sat impatiently on that driveway as Adrienne secured the warehouse. It was a matter of only moments before she was sitting next to me. She started to tease me, saying, “Miss me?”
Then she looked at my eyes. She said gently, “We’re safe, Champion.”
She patted my hand on the shift lever, as she continued, “Take us to the bad wizards’ secret hideout, Champion.”
I pulled out into Industrial Road, turning north, following the GPS prompts, while my ladies heads were on a constant swivel, looking for threats. Oddly, finding none made us more, not less anxious, as we just assumed that danger was indeed present and we somehow couldn’t see it.
Tammy decided we needed some music to relax us. Reaching into the bag at her feet, she retrieved a CD that she handed to Adrienne, who shoved it in the MB’s high end sound system, and soon we were being serenaded by the dulcet tones of Puddle of Mud singing “She Fucking Hates Me” at full window rattling volume.
We were northbound on I-15 freeway in the middle of another interminable LV traffic snarl. We exited unto 95, heading west toward the Suncoast Casino as I informed my companions. They laughingly offered to provide ‘camouflage’ for me if I needed any traveling money.
The GPS prompted me to take the next exit. After a couple miles of twists and turns, I turned right onto a broad avenue with wide boulevards and center median filled with flowers, palm and fruit trees. A discreet sign informed us that we were entering “Piedmont Estates.” A bit further on, we encountered the tall concrete wall right to the edge of the roadway, with the shards of glass on the top of the wall sparking in the desert sun. A high, wrought iron fence extended edge to edge across the roadway between the walls, with a power gate in the center of the incoming and outgoing roadway, all of it covered in some rather uninviting razor wire.
I eased up next to the entry keypad, as Adrienne slowly read to me. “Star, five, seven, three, four, pound.”
As I pushed the pound key, there was a loud buzz as the gate unlatched, slowly swinging open. As we rolled through the gate Tammy mused, “Perhaps lawyer Kenny deserves a reward for his good information.”
This leading to all manner of lewd and suggestive ‘rewards’ that Tammy might bestow on lawyer Kenny. We continued past the obligatory sign informing us that self-propelled golf carts had the right-of-way.
As we passed the immense clubhouse and community center, surrounded by a huge pond dominated by a tall, swirling fountain, I kept ‘adding zeros’ to the cost of a home in the development. As near as I could tell from the signage, there were five golf courses: gold, silver, red, white and blue.
We passed condominiums’ ‘verandahs,’ then four and six unit townhouses. A bit further were double houses. Then another electric gate blocked the road. I pulled up, while Adrienne consulted her file. I glanced at the girls gesturing expansively, saying, “A gated community INSIDE a gated community. What the fuck do you suppose JW spent for this?”
Adrienne and Tammy, who were hardly impoverished at home, offered some quick estimates that put my ‘numbers’ far in the shade. Adrienne finally found the right page in her file packet as she read, “Star eight, one, nine, two, pound.”
This gate also emitted an annoying buzz, as it unlatched and slowly swung open when I pushed the pound key. We drove through, still following our unerring GPS, to be surrounded by huge houses.
These were houses on a Christy scale, as if competing: each taller, bigger, grander, and more sumptuous than the last. Located in splendid isolation from each other, with the cul-de-sacs in this ‘estate’ area separated by high earthen berms.
Finally, as we reached the perimeter of the development, we turned into Rancho Vista View Lane cul-de-sac, there to confront its only house, 18699 Rancho Vista View Lane, the secret hide out of deceased dark wizard James William Miles.
I pulled to the cul-de-sac’s curb, as we took a minute to contemplate the scene. Casa Miles was HUGE! It stood out as gargantuan even in this estate development, surrounded by oversize palatial houses.
This entire cul-de-sac featured low water usage desert landscaping, with sparse desert grass clumps among Greasewood, Ironwood and other brush. Prickly Pear, Cholla, Barrel, Devils Finger, Ocotillo, Saguaro, and other cactus were everywhere in thick patches, including covering the sides and top of the high earthen privacy berms.
I’m sure JW had a hand in this high security anti-personnel cactus landscaping, because the entire outside of his house’s perimeter wall was solidly lined with a variety of these cactus, making an impenetrable natural barrier extending out far from the brick face.
This ‘cactus’ barrier would have to be penetrated, even before any intruder confronted the tangled multiple loopings and whorls of razor wire that solidly draped the wall’s dizzying height, in a continuous crowning around the building site’s side and back.
The Miles house was done in a sprawling Spanish style of bricks and white stucco, with red tile roof surrounded by the now ubiquitous high brick wall, surmounted in front with spikes and glass shards. The house’s third story and attic peeked over the front wall.
Only the driveway, blocked with its heavy sheet steel, sliding gate pierced this high brick wall. There was a keypad on a pedestal next to the driveway. Adrienne began flipping pages as I asked Grid, “What’ve you got?”
She announced, “As you might expect, more miasma only stronger. The house, even this cul-de-sac, hardly exist to the other residents and visitors. They pay NO attention to it. This remote location inside double gates only intensifies the effect.”
I asked, “And inside?”
Now there was a longish pause then I heard a very chagrined Grid. “Champion, I have failed you. There is an impenetrable spell adhering to the natural elements of the wall and roof of the house, preventing me from sensing anything inside.”
I quickly disagreed with poor Grid, “You haven’t failed me, love, not ever. This is essential information and it just means we approach things a bit differently. Right, ladies?”
They all were quick to tell Grid that she was doing fine. I had another question about the spell. “Grid, once I’m inside will I be able to control or countermand those spells?”
She replied quickly, “Yes, they are normally easily ‘broken’ from inside.”
I continued musing aloud. “Though this miasma and shield probably works for our purposes, as well.”
Adrienne held up the key ring triumphantly as she announced proudly, “I’ve got a magnetic card for the gate, with door keys and alarm codes.”
I nodded smiling as I said, “Good work, love. Let’s arm up. Assume we’re going in harm’s way, better safe than sorry. Suppressors, please; let’s keep it down to a dull roar.”
Tammy turned. Leaning over the back seat, she began retrieving guns and ammo from the cargo area. Her cute little butt was elevated, presented for my viewing pleasure in her skintight jeans. I was lost in contemplation of my rear view mirror, picturing my hard cock buried in the rosebud between her athletic cheeks, when a giggling Adrienne poked me saying loudly, “We can ALL hear you broadcasting Champion. We hear everything. It’s not a bad thing, but in the current circumstances it’s a tiny bit distracting.”
Tammy demurred, saying, “I think we should take a break, that sounded like fun.”
It was left to Lisa to say, “Let’s focus here, people. We ain’t exactly sure this is safe. Last time Champion went into a building blind, he got his ass handed to him.”
That brought us up short. We quit the horseplay as Tammy handed me the suppressed folding stock MP-5 while Lisa was screwing a ‘can’ on the end of her PDW. Adrienne and Tammy were each carrying a suppressed Glock 19. Adrienne handed me back my Walther TPH with its miniature suppressor.
My forty-five went in its shoulder holster as I asked Grid, “Anybody around? Lookouts, soldiers, police, bystanders?”
Grid came back promptly. “No, Champion. No one is anywhere in sight or hearing of us.”
I looked around at the eager faces of my ladyloves, asking, “Ready to rock?”
With their affirmative response, I put our ride in gear, approaching the gate slowly. Adrienne had her Glock in her right hand, while her left held my MP-5 by the foregrip, with the pistol grip in easy reach for me, just below the dash, out of casual view.
I idled up to the keypad pedestal, swiping the magnetic card. This gate slid open in total silence. I pulled into a broad driveway surfaced in pavers as the gate noiselessly closed behind us. I parked under the broad awning, close to the front door, with the wall blocking any view of us from the street.
We were quickly out of our black MB, leaving the doors open rather than risk ‘that’ distinctive noise. We stood in the two-story-tall entryway in front of the double doors, while Adrienne examined the alarm control keypad. She looked up, hissing to get our attention, as she whispered, “It’s not armed. Someone’s probably home.”
I whispered simply, “Shit!”
Tammy nodded. With hand signals, we quickly formed an entry team. I handed the MP‑5 to Tammy, while I held my TPH. When we were in position, I pointed at Lisa, then at the door lock.
Lisa unlocked the Medeco deadbolt, unlatching the doors and swinging them full open. The doors opened silently on well-oiled hinges, but somewhere the front door opening triggered a doorbell like ‘bing-bong’ that resulted in a clamor.
There was an instant clatter of high heels on tile accompanied by frenzied screaming and crying as two women charged into view. They were simultaneously trying to strip out of their miniscule outfits as they skidded into a submissive, face-down, kneeling posture in the foyer, all the while offering excuses for their clothed state, and hysterically begging forgiveness for not being on their faces, naked, when the door opened.
The display rooted us in the doorway. Recovering first, I poked Adrienne, sending her up the broad spiral staircase. She gestured to Tammy to follow her up. Lisa headed for the back of the house, while I tried to sort out the situation in front of me.
I was saying, “Grid, talk to me. Calm these two down.”
Grid replied, “The house is empty save for these two, Champion. These are two submissive slaves, exceptionally imprinted to JW. They are quite ‘crushed’, with no will of their own.”
Grid continued, “Apparently, JW, on his last leaving, informed both that they were ‘on notice’ -- failing to please him in all things would result in their torture and death. JW, upon entering this dwelling, expected to find both of them naked and prone here in the foyer, hence their hysterical response at our surprising them.”
The two now silent women were peeking up at me through their curls as I studied them. They were quite beautiful. Even here in Las Vegas, a town filled with beauty, they were astonishing examples of feminine perfection.
By now Lisa was back from her first floor reconnoiter, saying, “My medallion agrees with Grid, only these two are home.”
I nodded in agreement, as I asked, “You want to secure our ride? We may be here a while.”
Lisa laughed as she agreed. “This is a huge place. I wonder what-all he has hidden here?”
Lisa sauntered out the wide open double doors to our idling AMG, while I again focused on my new charges. I decided, might as well make this easy on all of us, as I spoke in a commanding tone, saying, “Up on your knees and greet your master.”
This had the desired effect; they sprang up upright on their knees, with their hands holding on to the stiletto points of their impossibly high heels, their bodies bowing backward slightly, giving them a lovely breast forward posture.
The petite oriental fantasy with breasts too large for her small frame had the temerity to say, “You are not our master. Where is JW, our king?”
I asked Grid, “King?”
Grid replied with an amused tone, “Delving into their memories, I find JW’s conceit that these two must address him, actually treat him as their king. Given what we just witnessed in the warehouse, perhaps his conceit had a larger intended audience.”
I shook my head, saying, “King of the United States.”
Grid contradicted me softly, “At least once in Jade’s hearing he used the title: King of North and South America.”
I asked, “Jade?”
Grid giggled softly, “I am truly sorry, Champion. The tiny but shapely oriental is Jade, while the tall, voluptuous blonde is Brandi.”
Grid continued in a far more serious tone, “No last names, Champion. In fact, they have no idea that such things as last names exist. They have no long term memories of JW or this place. His increasingly hostile brutal treatment of them seems a prelude to that torture and death he alluded to, followed with the attendant replacement with brand new girls until he tires of them and the cycle repeats again!”
I asked, “Any idea where he grabbed them or who or what they were before?”
I could actually feel Grid shaking her head, as she replied, “No, Champion. Perhaps a healing mage might find something. I am unable to discern anything relating to their pre-JW life.”
Finally, in exasperation, I asked, “And what am I to do with them, Grid, my love?”
Grid snickered. “You must enslave them, Champion, bonding and imprinting them to you. Otherwise, both will surely die an agonizing death of melancholia and depression, as they await their master, JW Miles.”
I was shaking my head as I looked up to see Tammy and Adrienne, coming down the broad formal stairway. From their broad smirks, it was clear that they had been monitoring my conversations with Grid.
I asked, “What did you find, loves?”
Adrienne answered, “Many empty rooms with furnished rooms that were also unused. A room on the second floor with a steel door and two deadbolt locks, near what we assume is the master bedroom.”
I barked, “You didn’t touch anything?”
Adrienne and Tammy jolted at my tone. Tammy responded peevishly, “No, of course not.”
I suddenly said in the same strident tone, “I have to check.”
I set off upstairs at a brisk walk. I went directly to the master bedroom. Once there, I went to the bedside cabinet, that had a large Kris knife on the shelf. This wavy-bladed knife, had an ivory handle with gold pommel, guard and hilt, surmounted by a broad, eighteen-inch black steel, Kris-shaped blade, covered with intricate contrasting gold damascene.
I lifted the glass door to the cabinet, and reached in. Scant inches before my fingers contacted the knife, my chest burned with agonizing pain as the Cajun ring from Paige and Claire suddenly glowed white hot, with the crystal lit by a dazzling blue light so intense it hurt my eyes like a welding arc. Just then, Paige and Clair yelled a warning.
“Don’t touch the knife!”
I heard them just as clear as a bell. My hand pulled back reflexively and a piercing nausea instantly engulfed me. That suddenly, I was projectile vomiting on the coverlet of the bed, screaming in agony, my head in a vise.
Adrienne, Tammy, Lisa, Jade and Brandi charged up the steps, but some barrier held them at the bedroom door. I grabbed the Cajun ring in my left hand. I was holding it tightly while it burned a hole in the palm of my hand. This excruciating pain, acting as a counterweight, quelled my nausea, focusing me.
I jerked Stick out of my wrist piece. I pointed Stick at the knife screaming:
STOP OR DIE!
Instantly, as if a switch was thrown, my nausea was gone. My head began to clear with my compulsion to touch the knife fading. The girls started for me. I yelled, “STOP!”
They froze in the doorway staring at me plainly terrified. I began speaking slowly with effort. “Quickly, while I have control. Fireplace tongs. Shovels. Hole in backyard.”
I was breathing in great shuddering gasps as I kept Stick centered on the black knife with my arm unwavering as if holding up a great weight.
I looked up to see Adrienne standing in the door, holding the two foot long scissor fireplace tongs. Adrienne was scared shitless, but dead game as she came to my aid despite the extreme dangers.
Adrienne clever girl had the special gloves and bag we used for handling ‘gadgets.’ She spoke clearly and slowly, “I’m here, love. I have my gloves on already. Put on these gloves now.”
I slipped into the gloves, switching hands with Stick, never leaving the knife uncovered. Next, Adrienne handed me the tongs. This was trickier, but I managed to grasp the blade just below the guard with the tongs. I gently lifted the knife into the open, while Adrienne opened the bag as wide as possible, jerking it over the knife and tongs, releasing it as the knife hit the bag’s bottom.
She stepped back, then turned, leading me out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and through the kitchen into the backyard. Tammy and Lisa had found shovels and gardening spades; they had a substantial hole over four feet deep. I felt a shudder from the knife through the tongs as it ‘realized’ its fate. I yelled, “Get the fuck away from the hole.”
Stumbling forward, stuffing the knife deep into the fresh dirt at the bottom of the hole, I began pushing dirt in the hole with my hands. Adrienne shoved me out of the way as Tammy and Lisa began scooping shovels-full of dirt on top of the Kris Knife.
The pain and nausea returned doubled. I lay in the sun on my stomach puking and on my back in Adrienne’s arms between bouts holding the burning thirteen pointed star of my Cajun ring as the hole filled.
My attacks finally began to abate when the tong handles disappeared from sight under the constant blitz of dirt from Tammy and Lisa shoveling. Finally, with earth filling the hole completely until it was mounded over, my ladies called a halt.
My nausea and pain were gone as I looked up into Adrienne’s wet eyes, saying softly, “You’re all safe now.”
I drew one unlabored breath and the lights went out.
My eyes opened to soft lights with my head pillowed in Lisa’s heavenly tits. She turned my head gently as we kissed welcoming me back to consciousness.
As my head and eyes cleared I realized that I was naked and she was too. I was reclining on her lap with my head elevated to her chest. We were on a massive leather couch in the conversation pit surrounding the outsized fieldstone fireplace (big enough to burn railroad ties) in the great room of the formerly Miles, now our, Casa.
A cheery fire burned in the fireplace. The room was done very much in an Old West motif, with massive ‘western style’ carved leather and wood furniture surrounded by paintings and bronze statues of men on horseback. Colts and Winchesters, set off by branding irons and antique barbed wire, shared the walls with the artwork.
Jade also naked was kneeling next to the couch on the floor, gently sponging my body with a series of warm wet washcloths that naked Brandi was intently replenishing. I had a bath towel filled with ice wrapped around my left hand. Etta James could be heard quietly in the background.
I saw Tammy and Adrienne, also nude, on leather chairs, looking over at me with expressions alternately loving and concerned.
Suddenly realizing my head was quiet as I said, “Grid, GRID! Are you all right, Grid?”
She answered instantly, “I am here, Champion, unharmed.”
I asked, “You weren’t hurt?”
Grid replied, “I was forced to hide during the onslaught.”
I looked around as I asked, “What happened? I’m a tiny bit sketchy about events.”
Suddenly no one wanted to look at me as they looked at the walls, ceiling, and floor. I was deeply saddened as I said sorrowfully, “Please talk to me, I’m sorry for what I did.”
Tammy’s head snapped around as she asked, “What EXACTLY do you think you did?”
I answered quickly, “I was so intent on collecting that cool knife that I almost released a demon or something.”
Lisa turned my head to make eye contact as she asked, “How did you know to walk right in to JW’s bedroom to pick up that knife?”
Suddenly I stopped, very puzzled, saying, “I’m not sure, I just knew it was there.”
As the silence dragged on, I was confused.
Tammy finally said, “Look Champion my true love, nobody here is mad or loves you any less – it’s just that I saw some weird and wacky shit that makes me doubt my eyes. I was probably unconscious or hallucinating. I’ll tell you what I saw then somebody else could jump in and tell you what actually happened during the really ‘bizarre’ hallucinations. Okay?”
I nodded, as by this time, Brandi was kneeling next to Jade with a glass of ice water extending the straw for me to take a sip. Tammy continued, “We came downstairs. You yelled at us, and headed up the stairs. Your voice and posture completely someone else, totally NOT you. You walked directly to JW’s room and there right to the knife. This even though the knife’s storage cabinet was not visible from the door, and the low shelf with glass front made it hard to see the interior even when in the bedroom.”
Tammy stopped and looked around; then she gracefully rose to walk to the bar. JW had installed an antique, ornately carved solid oak Old West Saloon, Bar including its back bar with the full length mirror along one wall of the great room. The surface of his bar was covered with indentations holding antique silver dollars and twenty dollar gold pieces under a single sheet of plate glass, custom sized to exactly fit the bar top.
Behind the bar, out of sight, was every kind of modern convenience including coolers, sinks, icemakers, and dishwashers. There were half a dozen beer taps, with assorted logos on their handles, scattered the length of the bar.
Tammy quickly found four chilled mugs and she drew four beers from four separate taps. She served us, saying, “I’m thirsty and you probably are too.”
I took a sip, then exclaimed, “Honey Weiss! Thank you, Tammy love, my favorite.”
She giggled, nodding in acknowledgement, as she resumed her seat. With a grateful swallow of her own, she resumed.
“We ran after you when we realized you were under compulsion. Just as I reached the bedroom door I swear I heard Claire…”
Adrienne interrupted, saying, “Paige.”
Lisa said, “Both of them.”
Suddenly, the three were wreathed in smiles as they realized that ALL of them saw and heard the same things. Tammy took a swig, then continued, “You were puking on the bed with your head surrounded by a thick black fog connected by a thin tail to the knife.”
Adrienne took up the narrative, saying, “The Cajun ring was glowing so brightly that it was visible right through the fabric of your shirt. You grabbed the ring as you began chanting.”
Confusedly I asked, “Chanting?”
She replied, “Yeah, chanting. Latin phrases in a sing song like Gregorian Chants.”
Lisa agreed, “Yep, Real Latin like an old time mass I used to attend with Grandma.”
Tammy added, “With some Greek phrases as well. I’ve attended Greek Orthodox Christmas service. Some of your words were very similar.”
I shook my head emphatically as I drained my beer. “I don’t know any Latin and less Greek.”
I looked around at them as Lisa refilled my beer mug. I asked, “Then what happened?”
Tammy replied quietly, “Then the really weird shit started to happen.”
Lisa and Adrienne nodded in agreement as she continued, “You’re holding the ring and chanting. Your eyes take on a light blue glow, becoming brighter and brighter until they’re like two flashlights. Your mouth opens and a pale blue fog comes out to envelop the knife, while the black fog around your head dissipates.”
She looked around; Tammy and Lisa continued to nod encouraging her. I said, “That’s when I told you to get the shovels.”
Tammy gave a bark of laughter, saying, “You didn’t tell us shit, Champion. You kept chanting while pictures started appearing in thin air. Pictures of shovels, pictures of us digging a deep hole, and pictures of you holding ‘it’ with the fireplace tongs.”
Tammy lapsed into silence nursing her beer as Adrienne picked up the story, saying, “I came back in the room with the tongs. You are holding Stick in both hands pointed at the Kris knife while your chest has a glowing spot, a deep sapphire blue, as big as a dinner plate where your Cajun ring hangs. You’re still chanting. Your eyes still shine like a pair of Streamlight flashlights but light blue, and now your mouth has the same light spilling out every time you open it to chant. Your body is surrounded and suffused in a pale blue corona. Blue fog from your mouth and tongues of corona discharge flow toward the knife continuously.”
Adrienne paused as she collected beer mugs for a refill, as she distributed the full ones she giggled, saying, “I mentioned about you chanting in Latin, right?”
I had to smile as I agreed. “Yes, you might have touched on it.”
Adrienne continued now, “You put on the special gloves and held the tongs with your stick hovering in mid-air, pointing at the Kris Knife. The gloves and tongs immediately took on your corona surrounded in a light blue aura. As you picked up the knife, you breathed out more of the light blue fog that coalesced around the knife. All this time, you’re chanting up a storm. We stuffed the knife into the ‘gadget bag;’ then, you followed me to the backyard, where Tammy and Lisa are digging away.”
Lisa began speaking. “Adrienne held the door while you came through with your ‘tong load’ I was watching from the other side of the hole. You ran forward, stuffing the end of the tongs deep into the bottom of the hole. The knife expelled a cloud of black thick oily smoke. You inhaled sucking all of it in, then you exhaled a cloud of bright blue smoke that engulfed the knife.”
I asked, “Bright blue?”
Tammy sat up to say, “Smurf blue, Champion. Blue smoke that surrounded the knife. Blue smoke that the dirt bounced off of as it formed a shell around the Kris Knife.”
Lisa nodded in confirmation as Adrienne finished up with, “I held you as the hole was filled with dirt. You were violently ill as you absorbed that smoke and softly chanting between but the lights were fading as the level rose until finally when the hole was full you ceased. You finally talked to me then passed out.”
Tammy asked, “You two saw all that shit too?”
Lisa and Adrienne confirmed seeing ‘all that shit’ as well. Suddenly the girls were hugging. Tammy and Adrienne ran over to hug Lisa. That also meant they were hugging me! Jade and Brandi took the opportunity to hug my legs as they knelt.
I sat up a bit as this was going on. I finally got my three companions’ undivided attention as I asked, “Ummm, we still OK? I’m not too weird for you to love? Am I?”
Now my three ladyloves grabbed me in a group hug as Tammy spoke forcefully. “Champion, WE LOVE YOU! We were never scared OF you; we were shit scared FOR you. We knew you were protecting us, even Brandi and Jade understood that.”
I settled back into Lisa’s arms, weak as a kitten. I asked Grid for an explanation. She replied slowly, “Champion, I was forced to hide. The black gadget was immensely strong and totally evil. Even our strongest mages would have had to be linked in a group to subdue the Kris Knife. I was moments from obliteration when you awakened.”
We all looked quite surprised at that admission. Grid continued, “From the descriptions, the blackness was evil emanations, while the blue your magical force with the addition of your Cajun ring. Somehow Claire and Paige’s ring unlocked the correct ‘containment’ spell, perhaps even stealing it from the knife’s consciousness. Your illness and weakness is a consequence of you actually absorbing the evil magic, using your body to shield us while you rendered it harmless.
Grid giggled as she said, “The Smurf blue bubble is the most interesting thing. You put a ‘solid’ magical barrier around the knife - I know of no other mage who can make such a solid barrier.”
Lisa asked, “Is Champion hurt?”
I replied, “I’ve got a hell of a burn in the palm of my hand.”
Lisa laughed as she tipped my head back gently. “Actually, you don’t. When we unclenched your fingers, the palm of your hand was unmarred, except for scratches from your clutching the ring so hard. The ice bag is to knock down some psychosomatic stress from your body ‘thinking’ it’s burned.”
With that she unwrapped my hand, giving Brandi the wet towel and ice remnants. I held my hand in front of my face, studying it like I’d never seen it before. Lisa was correct; there was only some generalized redness and swelling as my body tried to deal with my ‘imagined’ burn. Now even that was disappearing as if by ‘magic’.
Grid replied to Lisa, “Champion fought the magic elementally, organically using his body. He needs food, water, rest and your love to recover his lost weight and strength. I find no evidence of wounding, illness, or derangement from this magical encounter.’
Oh my, the raucous comments that the word ‘derangement’ triggered were finally a sign that we were somewhat back to normal.
Adrienne asked quietly, “Hungry, love?”
I nodded, saying, “Now that you mention it, starved.”
She turned to Tammy, saying, “Why don’ t you take Jade and Brandi into the kitchen, see what you can find. Take your time – we need to chat with our Champion.”
There was fairly significant eye contact as Tammy corralled our two new slaves, heading for the kitchen. I sat up straight on the couch. Lisa said, “Tammy already knows this, she can ‘hear’ us anyway.”
Adrienne refilled my beer mug, setting it on the low table in front of the couch. Lisa was staring into the fire as she began soft and slow, “During our explorations, I found JW’s abattoir.”
She glanced over at me. I nodded, saying simply, “Slaughterhouse, killing floor.”
Lisa continued, “Under the garage. It’s just AWFUL! He had big hanging hooks like a butcher shop. He took digital pictures and movies of horrific torture and butchery. Often time he used the Kris Knife you fought.”
She paused while Adrienne hugged her; Adrienne held her hand for the rest of Lisa’s narrative. I asked softly, “You want to clean it out, get rid of the bad shit?”
Lisa shook her head emphatically. “No. Everyone must see his true evil. There must never be a doubt that you were justified in killing him.”
“In a corner of that room is a file cabinet filled with his trophies of the women he tortured and killed. Things like jewelry, eyeglasses, makeup and swatches of fabric, or any personal item that struck his fancy during the death scene.”
She paused, gathering herself. I touched her free hand; she clutched my proffered hand as she went on haltingly, “The top drawer holds pieces of identification. I counted over a hundred drivers’ licenses, high school and college IDs, library cards, employee entry passes, and even bus cards. EACH a different person! He clearly preyed on runaways, homeless, and other throwaways. He was merciless.”
I handed Lisa my beer; she took a grateful swallow, then grabbed my hand as she went on, “There was a special folder in there for his slaves. Filled with identification from pairs of Blondes and Orientals. I found our two slaves.”
She gestured to the small envelope on the table by my beer. I found two Nevada Licenses. Brandi was Samantha Edgerly and Jade was Nikki Johnson.
I looked up with the two documents in my hand, asking, “What do we know about them?”
Lisa continued, “Samantha worked as a dancer at the Jaguar Club, a totally nude strip club. The “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ ads have a corollary. The Jaguar Club says: “What happens in Vegas, starts at the Jaguar!”
I asked, “And Nikki Johnson?”
Lisa laughed. “Seems phony doesn’t it? Nikki was apparently a blackjack dealer at Billy’s New Mexico Casino. You know it?”
I nodded, replying, “Know of it, small, long way from the strip and the big time. Nikki, hiding out or burying a felony from the gambling board, would find a useful lack of scrutiny if she was competent as a dealer, keeping her nose clean and mouth shut.”
Lisa nodded, saying, “My thoughts exactly.”
I shook my head as I thought about it, saying, “Smart fucker, more throw away people. Nobody surprised when Nikki or Samantha quit showing up for work. No questions or comments, life just fucking goes on. Then he kills them and finds two more in a town filled with pretty blondes and Orientals.”
I held up the ID, saying, “Now what?”
Grid answered, “Our healing mages may find enough to rebuild them. Given the destruction I’ve seen in their heads I’m not optimistic. They will likely be your slaves forever, Champion.
Grid continued, “Make no mistake. They are yours, now. On some elemental level, Jade and Brandi KNEW that the black Kris Knife was their ultimate master. Perhaps in their simplicity, the connection with the lizard brain is stronger. In any case, Champion’s combat and subduing of the Knife has gained their complete loyalty. Jade and Brandi are fully imprinted to you, Champion.”
I sighed heavily, saying, “I guess they will remain Jade and Brandi, my slaves. We need to check up on their ‘past life’ to find out how many loose ends JW left. After all, his was only a short-term slavery. I would be happier if we could rebuild them. Perhaps with expert help…”
I looked around the great room. The backpack with its Red Cross was near the couch, with the coffee tables having several of their personal Glocks sitting in easy reach, and my Colt hanging on the end of the couch. I looked up to the door, finally seeing our other ordnance along the wall, with the bags and cases on tables and chairs. I said, “We need to figure out how to extend our alarm outside to give us more warning of an intruder.”
Grid replied quickly, “Wards.”
In puzzlement I asked, What’s that, Grid?”
Grid replied, “Protective magic that is object based. In Atlantis wards are almost solely stationary, involving specific locations or buildings like temples, castles, encampments, and houses. The miasma and impenetrable spell on this house are variants of wards. Protective shield spells, embedded in a building wall before battle are wards as well.”
I nodded, thinking for a bit. Then I asked, “So, in addition to preventing other mages and wizards seeing or sensing inside this house we could set a ‘ward’ that would prevent magic from penetrating, while giving alarm if anyone tries a magical assault?”
Grid replied, “Of course, Champion.’
Adrienne and Lisa giggled at my exasperated expression as I said, “I really have to start paying fucking attention during my magic lessons. Grid, I assume that means ‘trip wires’ outside are a piece of cake?”
Grid answered quickly, “The trip wires I see in your memory are quite rudimentary by comparison. A classic Atlantean ward is ‘The Spider Web.’ This ward blankets an area and any contact on any strand of the web alerts the maker.”
I nodded, as Lisa and Adrienne were both clearly thinking about the possibilities of a good night’s sleep behind these wards. I asked, “What can be done about flyers?”
Grid was back instantly with, “’The Bubble’ – visualize a huge soap bubble surrounding this house. Any touch or penetration of any part of the bubble alerts the maker. And yes, Champion, we can set these together.”
I laughed, saying in an amused tone, “Gotta start paying attention to this magical shit. Grid, set web and bubble in concentric circles, centered on the house, surrounding the house, using the cul-de-sac entrance as the perimeter boundary, and alert me.”
At Grid’s affirmative, I continued, “Set a second bubble on top of our wall arching over the house with another spider web from perimeter wall to the house wall. Alert all of us immediately to any touch, penetration, or magical probing of either of these interior defenses. And Grid, add the magical shield to the impenetrable spell. Thanks.”
Grid responded, “Yes, Champion, at once.”
Adrienne asked, “Grid, is it possible to make the windows and door immune to physical damage with a ward? Sledgehammer proof? Bullet proof?”
Grid answered, “Yes, with the power now at my disposal I can accomplish that as well.”
I nodded. “Go for it, let’s make this as secure as possible. But Grid, any small woodland animals trip the ‘web strand’ I want to know immediately.”
Lisa was confused as she asked, “I would think you’d want to ignore false alarms. Don’t you want Grid to filter out the coyotes?’
I shook my head. “Nope. We won’t know they are false alarms. Any coyote might be looking for mice or it might be here under a wizard’s control, observing us. They sit too long watching, and I’m planning to send them to coyote heaven.”
Adrienne laughed as she said in a highly amused tone, “Apparently you looked up from your porn collection long enough to absorb some magical knowledge.”
I grinned, saying, “Watching ‘Beastmaster.’”
Lisa laughed now. “I would have figured you for ‘Xena?’”
Adrienne giggled, “I’ll bet he just loved Xena’s little sidekick.”
Now I laughed, “Guilty. Xena in her leather, with all that lesbian D and S subtext…”
Tammy was back to ask, “Do you want the meal in the kitchen or served in the formal dining room?”
I was smiling as I asked, “Which is more difficult?”
Tammy flipped me off laughing as she said, “Fuck you. Kitchen it is.”
We were all laughing as Lisa asked, “Do we have time to look at the locked room upstairs?”
Tammy answered quickly, “You’ve got at least a half-hour. Nothings critical. I can probably hold it another 15 or 20 if you need more time than that.”
Lisa turned to me, asking in some concern, “How do you feel about standing up and walking? We’ll help, of course.”
I asked, “Where are the locked rooms?”
Adrienne answered slowly, “We’ve found two so far, Champion. One next to the master bedroom, and the other downstairs. This house has a full basement with a large section walled off, with a steel door as the only access.”
I was smiling as I answered, “I forget you folks don’t put in basements. JW comes from the cold country where we all have basements.”
Lisa asked, “Why?”
I answered, still laughing, “It’s so fucking cold that builders have to dig the structure ‘footing’ down eight feet. Once you’re down that far, might as well scoop out the rest of the dirt and have a basement!”
They were laughing with several questions about my sanity for living any place that frigging cold. Tammy knelt on the couch next to me, while Adrienne and Lisa were on their feet. I nodded, and they gave me a boost until I was upright. They stood within reach while I adjusted to my new posture. I was grateful for their attention. I was plenty wobbly!
I shook my head. “Christ, I feel shakier than I did when I took the slug.”
Grid was quick to respond. “Yes, Champion. You fought the battle with your body; even, at times, IN your body. It will take some time for you to recover.”
Tammy looked at me in some concern. “You need me to help, love?”
I shook my head. “No, go ahead with our meal. I’ll be fine.”
She grinned tightly. “The hell you say.”
Tammy kissed me lightly on the lips as she turned toward the kitchen. Adrienne looked at me skeptically as she asked, “You up for this?”
I nodded. Lisa grabbed my shoulder holster while Adrienne picked up her full auto Glock. They each took an arm as we headed for the stairs and JW’s secret war room.
With the defeat of the dark artifact my unfocused dread was behind me. I was no longer worried; with the power of Atlantis, and now our ‘Cajun’ connection, we were more than a match for anything. Now all I had to do was figure out how to climb some stairs without falling on my clumsy ass.
Lisa mused during my slow progress, “So what do you suppose is so important that JW kept it in a room with a steel door locked by two deadbolts?”