Chapter 17

The vehicle that seemed to be the epicenter of the magic emanations was in a depression on the ground. Kyle picked his way over and around the broken crumpled asphalt cautiously. Out of corner of his eye, he kept checking on Samantha’s progress. Not that she couldn’t handle herself, but old habits died hard. Their big brother, Davelor, had always ground it into his head that they were supposed to look out for Sam.

School had been rough for Sam. And after Gleipnir became a part of her life, things had gotten more complicated. The pact item had been both her new best friend and defender, and the cause of so very many calls from the principal. Even if it was only because he was adamantly defending his partner.

“Wait a second.” Gleipnir called out. “I’m sensing a changed in the magical currents. Is anyone picking that up?” Everyone stopped in their advance and Kyle took some more readings.

“Yes.” He confirmed, his brow furrowing at the meter. “I’m reading two sources now. One’s coming from…” Looking up at the damaged building that had been incorporated into the quarantine zone, he pointed toward the highly suspicious hole in the wall before glancing at his sister again.

“Hey, Sam.” She quirked her eyebrow at him inquisitively.

“Yes, Kyle?” Sam’s obvious wariness was not lost on her partner who tried not to snort in amusement.

“You requested defense specialist mages to back us up, didn’t you?” Kyle was kicking himself now for not remembering to ask for them himself. He’d let himself get distracted like the young impetuous man everyone older than him thought he was.

“I sure did.” She assured her brother. “I don’t know why they weren’t out here already. I mean, it’s a Purple Alert. How are we supposed to do our jobs if we get attacked by monsters while we’re out here.” The diatribe wasn’t one she’d intended on, and she blushed slightly. Working with her brother was making her act too familiar in this serious situation.

“We’ve got two major sources of magical emanation. One is from whatever is in the truck and the other is from the thing in that…is that a warehouse,” Kyle squinted against the sun again. There was just no avoiding it in his eyes today, “...well, whatever that building is over there. He waved a hand and the loose sleeve of his warlock’s robe flopped around his wrist as he did.

“What’s your verdict then?” Sam asked affably. “You’re in charge baby brother.” Kyle’s shoulders dropped and he gave her a flat look of disgust. “What now?” The technician really wasn’t sure how she had offended her kid brother this time.

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“You just blew our charade.” He gestured to Sam’s partner, Alex, who was choking on air as she processed the trick the siblings had played on everyone. “Oh, fuck it!” He gave up and moved on to more pressing matters.

“I’m fairly certain that what we’re looking at is one dead magical creature that released most of its magic at once, which is what overloaded the magic collectors. The dead body and whatever the second source is, are still leaching magic into the vicinity. And…” he gestured at the hole in the side of the building, “I’m not entirely sure that second one is dead. Let’s get the first thing identified before the second wakes up, yeah?”

“Heck yes.” Specialist Jones spoke up in emphatic agreement. “I have orders to remove you from the area if it’s dangerous. How dangerous is it, Sir.” Unsure why the soldier was treating her brother like he was a superior officer and not just a civilian he was guarding; Sam gave the pair a quizzical look.

“Agreed. Let’s get a closer look at what’s in the truck.” They began moving again in the direction of the Mountain King Mover’s vehicle. All the while Specialist Jones kept a hand on his weapon and alternated his watch between the vehicle and the ominous hole leading into the dark interior of the warehouse.

As they drew closer, it was plain to see that something hadn’t exploded inside the truck. Instead, it seemed as if something that was small, had suddenly gotten too large.

“Someone’s shrinking spell wore off, you think?” Sam offered Kyle who nodded grimly to her.

“That or a shapeshifter that reverted back to its full size after death.” The younger brother chimed in, sharing his theory. “I think I see flesh.”

“And blood.” Sam confirmed pointing at the red that had flowed out of various tears in the sides of the vehicle to dribble and pool congealing beneath it.

“I see scales.” Alex proffered unprompted when they’d finally gotten close enough to focus on what she could clearly confirm was damaged flesh. From his place on Sam’s hip, Gleipnir sniffed. Then he growled and snarled in a low offended voice.

“I. Smell. Dragon.” The whole group stopped at that. Kyle and Sam because…well…dragons! But the two with them gave pause for another reason.

“How the hell can you smell anything, Gleipnir?” Alex rounded on Sam and glared at the shining surface of Gleipnir’s current needle-sword-whip combination. “You don’t have a nose.”

“Ugh!” He complained angrily. “Must you humans always question my ability to sense things. I’m alive. I can see without eyes. I can hear without ears. I can feel with, well, I do touch things. Why wouldn’t I be able to smell? Good grief.” He settled down after his spiel to just grumbling about how insensitive some humans were and Kyle had to interrupt them before Alex got pulled into one of the Gleipnir debates that the pact item was famous for in their family.

“I see scales too.” Kyle verified what Alex had said and pulled his notebook out of its holster. He set it in place, hovering in the air, and flipped it open to a random blank page.

“Archive query.” He commanded. “Scale patterns of magical creatures that emit high levels of arcanes after death.” He watched images appearing in the notebook, hmming as he compared and discarding the ones that didn’t match what he was seeing before him. “Too many close matches. I need more information to go on.”