Chapter Thirteen – The Whisperer

Dave’s eyes fluttered open the next morning even before his alarm clock was set to go off. A glance at his nightstand confirmed that there was still a good half-hour before he had to start getting ready for the day. He rolled over onto his side to spoon against his wife, smiling when he realized she had changed out of her lingerie to sleep nude, as she usually did. Maddie’s warm body always felt so wonderful against his, especially with his morning wood wedged between her butt cheeks.

“Morning,” Dave whispered.

“Mmm… what time is it?” Maddie mumbled.

“Only six,” Dave replied, cupping one of her full breasts in his hand and rubbing her nipple for good measure. “We’ve got plenty of time.”

“Too early… need sleep,” she moaned, trying not to react to his attentions.

“C’mon, it’s your first day. And what better way to start the day than with a little wakeup fuck?”

Maddie sighed; she was growing wetter from his penis pressed against her. “You are incorrigible, David Brighton. Three times last night wasn’t enough for you?”

“With you? Never,” he whispered, planting a kiss on her neck.

Maddie couldn’t help but shiver at his touch; Dave always knew just how to push her buttons. “If you insist.”

With the invitation extended, Dave shifted his pelvis down a bit and slipped his cock between her legs, feeling the stickiness of Maddie’s womanhood. She parted her legs a bit to allow him access, feeling him penetrate her as they spooned. Maddie adored this position more than any other; she could almost go back to sleep from how relaxed it made her feel. Dave’s arms were around her, his attentions were slow and loving, and she didn’t even have to open her eyes to participate.

“Glad you gave in?” Dave asked, continuing his lazy thrusts.

“Maybe…”

As their passions increased, Maddie lifted her top leg up and draped it back over Dave’s body, giving him a better angle for his thrusting. She was now wide awake and could feel every caress of his hands and lips. Sensing she was near orgasm, Maddie turned her head back to face Dave and pressed her lips to his. By now, Dave had her leg lifted into the air, holding her in place as he pounded his last into her pussy. As their tongues dueled, their desires at last boiled over in a powerful mutual orgasm. Maddie moaned in pleasure and contentment at feeling his seed filling her womb.

“Love you,” Dave said, kissing her once more.

“You must. You keep hanging around,” she giggled.

BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP!

“Shit… that’s just rude,” Dave muttered, shutting off his alarm clock with a wave of his hand. “Let’s ignore that for a few minutes.”

“Not a chance,” Maddie shot back, disentangling herself from her husband. “If we don’t get up now, I just know you’ll try to seduce me again! A respectable woman like me simply cannot afford that.”

“You know you love it.”

“Be that as it may, it’s time for work. Come now, off to the shower with you.”

“Nag, nag, nag…”

*****

Two hours later, Dave and Maddie stood at the start of the Black Cloud Trail at Mount Elbert. Now that he knew the way, there was no need for the formality of starting out at the NSA building in Atlanta. Normally, Maddie would have had to enter that way, but hers was a special case. Thus, she had been given clearance to enter Command-One with Dave.

“You ready for a little hike?” Dave asked.

“As I’ll ever be.”

“Just remember what I taught you. All you have to do is thicken the air and draw it in around you. That’ll keep you from getting lightheaded.”

“An important skill. Anything to ensure I can continue to use sorcery even in extreme environments,” Maddie nodded. “Let’s go.”

The pair then took off at high speeds, feeling the exhilaration of the wind in their faces as the climbed higher and higher. As Maddie became more accustomed to the altitude, Dave continued to push the pace a bit, keeping them both on their toes. After about an hour, they had reached the summit of Mount Elbert.

“My god…”

“Yeah, it’s a thing of beauty,” Dave agreed, taking in the view.

“And this is your office window?”

“Our office window,” Dave reminded her. “But yes, for the foreseeable future.”

After a few moments more of lingering, Dave activated the portal to take them inside Mount Elbert. They arrived to find Patricia waiting for them.

“Morning, Dave. And Madeleine, I presume?”

“Yes, indeed. Call me Maddie, please,” she replied, extending her hand.

“Patricia Jenkins. A pleasure.” Turning to Dave, she said, “If you’ll hang here for a bit, I’ve just got a couple of things to take care of with Maddie, need to get her credentials and ID cards. You good?”

“Yep, I’ll be right here,” said Dave.

Dave milled about the area for a few minutes, watching everyone hard at work at their desks. It still blew his mind how the Masons could observe the entire country from here, knowing in an instant if sorcery had been used illegally. Hell, they had known for weeks before contacting him that he and Maddie were using sorcery. If he was right, the only reason they waited was to assess his strength before jumping in, a far cry from the events he had witnessed the day before.

“Mr. Dave!”

Dave turned at hearing a high-pitched voice shouting his name and saw Tammy running towards him with a big smile on her face. Her mother attempted to keep her in place, but it was no use; the girl was as excitable as could be, and cute as anything with her braided pigtails swinging behind her. A few seconds later, she arrived and hugged Dave’s leg.

“Well, hey there!” Dave chuckled. “How are you, Tammy?”

“I’m good.”

“Tamara, will you quit runnin’ off like that?!” Latonya said, walking up behind her. “I’m really sorry about that,” she said to Dave.

“No problem,” he smiled. “Glad to see you two in better spirits.”

“Uh huh. Yesterday was… stressful.”

“Understatement of the year,” Dave chuckled.

“Gotta say, your people have been good to us,” Latonya continued. “Patricia said they needed to move us out of Detroit right away, but they gave us a place to sleep here, even brought what few things we had in our apartment along. Lots of changes…”

“How are y’all doing with those changes?”

Looking down at Tammy, Latonya replied, “Well, this little firecracker couldn’t be more excited. She can’t wait to start her new school.”

“I bet the teachers will be the best!” Tammy cheered, flashing a grin that revealed her missing front tooth.

“I think you may be right about that,” Dave agreed. “And how ‘bout you?”

“Me? I’ll be ok. I’ve always been resilient,” Latonya said. “But Jabar? I’m not sure.”

“Yeah, I’d imagine this’ll be the hardest on him,” Dave nodded.

“It’s not just what happened yesterday. He’s figured out that Tammy’s going to be the center of attention for a while, and he don’t like that idea. I couldn’t even get him to leave the room this morning.”

“It’ll take time, but once he starts to get into the feeling of a new normal, I’d bet he’ll thrive,” said Dave.

“I hope so. Oh, I also wanted to apologize for the stuff I said yesterday. I know I was kinda hard on y’all…”

“We get it,” Dave said, waving her off. “It was a crazy stressful situation, never know how someone will react.”

“Well, look who’s up and about!”

They turned to see Patricia and Maddie making their way over with another man in tow. He wasn’t sure, but Dave thought he looked to be of Native American descent. He was a tall man, standing two inches taller than even Dave, with his black hair cut high-and-tight like a soldier. The trio soon arrived and Patricia shook hands with Latonya.

“How’d everybody sleep last night?”

“Better than expected,” said Latonya. “I was just talkin’ to Mr. Dave here, apologizing for being so rough on y’all yesterday.”

“Already forgotten,” Patricia replied with a warm smile. “Oh, I’d like you to meet a couple of people, Latonya. This is Maddie Brighton, Dave’s wife.”

“How do you do?” Maddie said, shaking hands with Latonya.

“Ooh, a Brit! And a pretty one, too! Dave, how’d you manage to land a hard ‘ten’ like this gal?” Latonya joked.

“Honestly, I’m still trying to figure that out,” Dave laughed.

Patricia cleared her throat, capturing their attention once more. “And this gentleman is Eyota Black. Tammy’s going to be working with him today.”

“Greetings, Tammy. My name is Eyota, but you may call me EO.”

“EO? That’s a funny name!” Tammy giggled.

Before Latonya could scold her, Eyota replied with a smile, “I agree, and that’s why I chose it!”

“Ok, I’ll let Eyota get started with these two while the rest of us dive into today’s work,” said Patricia.

“Actually, Madam Chief, I think the Brightons would be well served to join us on our little field trip, considering their unique circumstances,” Eyota mentioned.

“Oh, good idea!” Patricia agreed. “Well, I’ll leave you all to it, then!”

As Patricia walked off, Dave asked Eyota, “What sort of field trip are we taking?”

“You’ll see,” he grinned. “If you’ll all join hands.”

Once they did so, Eyota activated a surge of his aura energy, teleporting the group away. They then found themselves in a secluded forest of some sort. Realizing they were going to be hiking a bit, Dave and Maddie transformed their business attire into more durable clothes for the outdoors. Tammy and Latonya were still working on taking in their surroundings.

“Beautiful… where are we?” Maddie asked.

“Olympic National Forest, specifically the Colonel Bob Wilderness,” said Eyota. “We’re here to get Tammy her Channel, which also is why I asked you two to come.”

“How do you mean?” Dave asked.

Eyota only winked and knelt down to be face-to-face with Tammy. “Do you see this stone in my bracelet?” he asked.

“Uh huh.”

“This is called a Channel, Tammy. It’s what allows us to use magic.”

“Really? But… I thought I used magic yesterday? You know, by accident?”

“You did,” Eyota nodded, “which is why you need this Channel. It will not only allow you to use sorcery when you want to, but it also keeps your power from spilling out by accident, like it did yesterday.”

“So, how do I get one?” Tammy asked.

“I’ll show you.” Eyota led the way through the mass of trees. “Stay close to me, everyone. We’re about to encounter some rare and magnificent creatures, but you must do exactly as I say.”

“Eyota, I’m confused,” Dave said. “What does all this have to do with our Channels?”

Eyota flashed a knowing grin over his shoulder. “You don’t know what they really are, do you?”

“No, not really. My teacher passed away before I could learn everything.”

Eyota then crouched and peered through a bush. “Look.”

Ever so slowly, the group gazed out into a clearing. At first, there appeared to be nothing but mist there, but the fog soon began to thin out, revealing four slender legs with hoofs on them. As more of the animal was revealed, they saw that its hair was the purest color of white, flawless in every way. Soon, its strong neck gave way to the horse’s head everyone expected to see, until the creature’s entire body was visible.

“My God… is that what I think it is?” Latonya breathed.

“It is,” said Eyota. “A unicorn.”

“I thought they were only myths?” Dave replied, as in awe as the rest.

Eyota nodded. “Most magical creatures are only myths. Centaurs, trolls, mermaids, and the like. Some, such as dragons, were real at one time but are now extinct. But unicorns? Completely real, as you can see.”

“What do we do?” Maddie asked.

Eyota answered, “We stay here for the moment; don’t want to spook her, do we? Unicorns are proud creatures, and they have reason to be. They were the world’s first practitioners of sorcery, after all. Theirs is an innate magic that is quite different from ours. While humans require another object to focus and manifest their power, unicorns are able to perform incredible feats even at birth. They are creatures of immense purity and intelligence.”

“How intelligent are they?” Dave wondered.

“Sentient, and even though they do not speak the languages of men, they are sometimes known to communicate with humans through their aura. Ah, it looks like she has noticed us. Ok, Tammy, are you ready to go meet her?”

“I think so,” the girl said with a mix of excitement and apprehension in her voice.

“Don’t worry, EO will be by your side,” Eyota said with a wink.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Latonya asked.

“Positive. Unicorns are my specialty; I have devoted my life to understanding them.”

Latonya grimaced a bit but nodded to her daughter. “It’s ok, Tammy. Go with him.”

Eyota took the girl’s trembling hand and led her into the clearing. They moved with caution, taking only one step at a time and maintaining eye contact with the unicorn all the while. The creature stood its ground and even seemed to nod to Eyota as if they were familiar with each other.

“My friend, I would like to introduce you to Tammy,” Eyota said in a calm voice. “She has just discovered her gifts and needs help in harnessing them.”

“Hi,” Tammy whispered.

The unicorn studied her for a few seconds before giving a snort and lowering its head down to Tammy’s level.

“Very good. You can pet her, Tammy. Just don’t touch the horn,” Eyota instructed.

Though still trembling, Tammy collected her courage and reached forward, touching the tips of her fingers to the white fur on the unicorn’s neck. It was silky smooth to the touch, as was the silver hair of its mane. Every individual strand shimmered on its own, yet none shone more brightly than any other. This was a creature of perfect balance and purity. As Tammy continued petting the unicorn, a faint glow of aura appeared around the two of them.

“What’s happening?” Latonya whispered from the bushes.

“No idea,” Dave admitted.

Eyota just stood there in silence wearing a massive smile on his face. This scene never grew old to him, no matter how many times he witnessed it. After a minute or two, the unicorn gave another whinny of approval.

“Hold out your hands,” Eyota said to Tammy.

The girl did as she was told, cupping her hands together and holding them in front of her. The unicorn then tilted its head to one side, placing its eye just above Tammy’s cupped hands. The creature blinked a few times, causing a few tears to bead up in the corner of its eye. After two more blinks, the tears rolled into a single drop and fell into Tammy’s hands, becoming a solid violet stone the size of a marble the instant that it touched her skin.

“Wow,” Tammy breathed.

“Thank you, my friend,” Eyota said, patting the unicorn on the neck. Though he then expected the unicorn to scamper off, the creature eyed the bushes they had been hiding in and neighed a couple of times. “Them, you say?” Eyota asked. “Of course.”

Eyota then took Tammy’s hand and led her back to her mother before turning to Dave and Maddie.

“What just happened out there?” Dave asked.

“Come, let me show you. I think my friend wishes to meet you.”

Dave and Maddie followed Eyota into the clearing and approached the unicorn, who still stood tall and proud above them all. Just as Tammy had done, they made eye contact with the creature, who then beckoned them to pet him.

“This is so surreal,” Dave whispered.

“I quite agree,” said Maddie.

Eyota nodded. “Unicorns are the ultimate free spirits, unable to be shackled by anything short of death itself. They will not allow themselves to be seen by any who possess no magic, and they are especially sympathetic to those with high magical potential, such as the two of you.”

“But if they cannot be seen, how could Latonya see this one?” Maddie asked.

“Latonya gave birth to a child with the gift of sorcery. Even though she possesses no magic herself, the genetic potential still resides within her,” Eyota explained.

“And what was up with the tear from earlier?” Dave wondered.

“That is why I wanted you two to come today. You received your Channels from another person, Merlin, I presume.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Maddie replied.

“Thus, you never had the opportunity to learn of their origins. Our Channels are crystallized unicorn tears,” Eyota said. “They are the embodiment of a unicorn sensing one’s magical potential and sharing a part of its power with that person, allowing them to then perform sorcery. This is a rite of passage for every sorcerer, and in Tammy’s case, it was important for her to do this right away.”

“How so?” Dave asked.

“Tammy’s power was so great that it spilled out of her yesterday. This is rather common, but the fact that her power was so deadly when uncontrolled is a cause for concern. Had we not intervened as we did, her brother would have died from his injuries. She may end up being stronger than any of us one day. As such, she needs her Channel, not only to begin her training, but also to ensure her power will not flare up on its own. With her Channel, I imagine that only profound emotional distress could cause her power to spill out on its own. Now, the only way magic will come from Tammy is when she decides.”

“So, the Channel is more than just a conduit… it also acts as a stopper!” said Maddie.

“Precisely.” Eyota observed them for a few moments more before commenting, “I must say, I am not surprised that she would want to meet you two, but she seems quite enamored with you, Maddie.”

“Because she’s an absolute darling and knows a fellow beauty when she sees one,” Maddie giggled, patting the unicorn’s mane.

Eyota chuckled. “Perhaps, but to me, it feels greater than that.”

Maddie said, “Hmm, well, I’m not sure… oh!”

“What’s wrong?” Dave asked.

“Nothing, but… she says she needs to show us something.”

Eyota’s eyes went wide. “She spoke to you?!”

“Yes, in my mind,” Maddie answered.

Eyota couldn’t believe it. “Incredible… there are only a few select humans that unicorns choose to communicate with directly. Becoming one of those people is a lifelong dream of mine.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry-”

“Do not be sorry, Maddie,” Eyota grinned. “This is a great honor.”

Maddie turned back to the unicorn, appearing to have a mental conversation with it. “Of course, we’ll come with you,” she said to the creature. “We’d better follow her.”

At that, the unicorn turned and trotted off into the trees. After gathering Tammy and Latonya, the group followed Eyota as he tracked the unicorn through the woods. Dave and Maddie had no clue where they were going, being unable to sense the unicorn’s presence anywhere, but Eyota kept moving forward with great confidence. It was clear he was nothing short of an accomplished tracker.

“If I may ask, what tribe are you descended from?” Dave said to Eyota.

“The Sioux,” he replied. “My mother was a supremely powerful sorceress and advisor to the Security Council before her untimely death. I have tried to carry on her legacy of understanding unicorns, but she was a true master. Like Maddie, she learned to communicate with them directly. My father was not a native, nor a powerful sorcerer, though he was a great historian. The Masons owe much to his efforts to discover the lost parts of their history, even before the official formation of the Masons.”

“And how many sorcerers were there in America before the Masons?”

Eyota shrugged. “It’s hard to be sure; there were so many tribes scattered across these lands, and none of them kept many written records. From what we do know, those who practiced sorcery lived amongst their tribes as mystics and healers. Their abilities were accepted without fear or protest by most tribes.”

“I guess that makes sense, as spiritual as Native Americans usually are,” Dave said.

“Indeed. In any case, once the United States was formed, the Masons began to explore the area of the Louisiana Purchase, even before Lewis and Clark. I am thankful that the interactions between the Masons and the native peoples were far more peaceful than those between the natives and the United States Government. Once the Masons realized that many of the leaders of these tribes practiced sorcery as well, they established a ‘live and let live’ policy. Some tribal mystics even decided to work with the Masons, while others preferred to continue their isolation.”

“And what about today?”

“Today, all sorcerers must be under the jurisdiction of the Masons in order to practice sorcery legally. It’s a long story, but suffice to say that the aftermath of the Battle of the Badlands convinced virtually all the tribal mystics of the need to band together with the Masons. In any case, there will be time enough to discuss this later. Look.”

They looked in the direction Eyota was pointing, seeing the unicorn awaiting them through a tunnel of trees. As the group approached, the unicorn stepped aside to reveal another unicorn lying on the ground. Maddie was the first step forward, being the one that the unicorn had spoken to. She was horrified to see that the unicorn on the ground had a fatal wound in its neck, with its blood staining the grass around it. Worst of all, the dead unicorn was missing its horn; only a stump remained on its head.

“Dear God,” Maddie gasped. “What could have done this?”

*****

One hour earlier

“What exactly are we doing in the Olympic National Forest?” Mark asked impatiently.

“Your initiation,” replied Charlie. “What happens here will determine if you truly have what it takes to be of value to the Illuminati. Now, aura masks on,” he continued, concealing his face behind a veil of his aura energy.

Both Mark and Charlie were perched on branches high above the forest floor, but what they were looking for was beyond Mark. All he knew was to follow Charlie’s directions or face the consequences. He did not want to find out what said consequences entailed. After several long minutes, Charlie pointed to a spot below them.

“There. That’s your target.”

Mark squinted before activating a spell to enhance his vision. “Wait… a unicorn?”

“That’s right.”

“What am I supposed to do?” he asked, afraid of the answer.

Charlie stared Mark in the eyes, his gaze seeming to bore into the man’s skull.

“Kill it.”

Mark’s eyes went wide with shock. Few crimes were punishable by execution under Masonic law, but this one was top of the list. His palms began to sweat as he realized how serious this was becoming.

“Kill a unicorn?” he asked meekly.

“Yes. This will prove your loyalty to the Illuminati.”

“But… how?! How am I supposed to kill a creature of pure magical energy? It’ll know I’m coming before I can even get close!”

“Your Shroud will conceal you until you’re close enough,” Charlie assured him. “There’s no time to explain further. This is your chance, Iger. Do it, or else…”

Now knowing there was no other option, Mark focused ahead on his target and activated his aura mask. As Charlie promised, the creature seemed completely unaware of their presence. Mark took a deep breath and summoned an aura dagger in his hand. In an attempt to disconnect from the situation at hand, Mark tried to visualize the unicorn as Dave Brighton. He saw all the destruction the young man could cause with his casual disregard for the well-being of others. Mark was all that stood in his way. He leapt from the branch and flew through the trees at high speed, his eyes never once leaving his target. At the last second, the unicorn turned and saw him, but it was too late. Mark tackled the creature to the ground and slit its throat in one swift motion, which was simple, given his element of surprise. The unicorn let out a single cry of pain before falling silent and bleeding out in seconds. Mark stood, panting and sweating from his attack, his hands and clothes stained with unicorn blood.

“Well done.”

Mark’s head snapped back and saw Charlie approaching with a sinister grin on his face.

“I… I just did what had to be done,” said Mark.

“Regardless of the reason, you’re one of us, now,” Charlie replied. “Just one last thing to take care of. The horn. Remove it.”

“The horn?”

“Iger, you ask an awful lot of unnecessary questions,” Charlie growled. “Do it. If you need to know why, you will be told. Otherwise, shut up about it.”

With a heavy sigh, Mark turned back to the slain unicorn. His hand trembled at what he was about to do, but it didn’t matter, not after what he had already done to get to this point. He knelt down, gripped his dagger tightly, and sliced off the unicorn’s horn in one swift motion. Mark then stood and faced Charlie, holding the horn out to him.

“Good enough?”

“That’ll do,” Charlie nodded. “Now, let’s get rid of the body. We can’t leave any evidence behind.”

As the two men turned to take care of the unicorn’s remains, they found themselves faced with yet another unicorn. The creature stared them down from across the clearing, snorting in anger and stomping the ground with its hoofs. It knew exactly what had happened to its friend.

“What now?” Mark asked.

“Let’s try to scare it off.”

The two men attacked the unicorn with nonlethal blasts of aura energy, but the unicorn was unfazed, dodging with ease and inching closer to them. They attacked again, but this time, the unicorn created a field of aura energy around itself and its fallen friend which bounced their attacks back at them. As Mark and Charlie had to give ground, the unicorn continued to advance, launching powerful blasts of aura energy at them from its horn, each of which was far stronger than what the humans could produce.

“It’s too strong!” Mark said, defending against another energy blast.

“Fall back,” Charlie growled.

“What about leaving evidence behind?”

“I’m in charge, and I said to retreat, for fuck’s sake!”

Just as the unicorn was about to unleash a killing blow, the two men teleported off to parts unknown. The unicorn scanned the area for several long seconds to make sure the threat was gone, then turned to its fallen friend. In spite of the pain that had been caused that day, the noble beast refused to cry. Such actions were only reserved for those who proved worthy.

*****

“Dear God,” Maddie gasped. “What could have done this?”

“Man,” said Eyota. “Only a master sorcerer could be strong enough to kill a noble creature like this. But why, I cannot say. To kill a unicorn is the worst crime a sorcerer can commit, punishable by death under Masonic law.”

“I think the ‘why’ is pretty clear,” Dave chimed in, trying his best to hide his disgust at the scene. He waved to Latonya to keep Tammy back so that she wouldn’t see what had happened. “The horn’s been cut off. I presume unicorn horns are valuable?”

Eyota shrugged. “Their horns are the source of their power and contain a well of infinite magical energy, but only a creature of purity can harness that energy. Many years ago, there were isolated incidents of unicorn poaching, but those activities ended even before the Masons could intervene. Unicorns are fiercely protective of their own and would not rest until they had killed the poachers that had slain their family members. It did not take long for poachers to realize this and abandon their efforts; the risk was simply too great. That is what makes this so strange. Any sorcerer powerful enough to kill a unicorn and escape with his life would have certainly left behind some magical signature, but I am detecting none. There must be some explanation for this.”

Maddie turned to the unicorn that had led them there. “Pardon? You say there were two men who did this? Oh, my. And they were using what kind of sorcery?” Maddie listened intently for several seconds more before saying, “Hidden sorcery? That’s what you said?”

“Hidden sorcery? What does that mean?” Eyota inquired.

Maddie patted the unicorn’s head. “I’m not sure, and neither is our friend. She says that she never sensed the attack on her mate, only the fact that he had died. When she came to investigate, there were two men who had just removed his horn. Both were shielding their faces with their aura energy. They attacked her, but she fought back and attempted to kill them. They managed to escape before she could do so, but she says that she still could not sense their power, even as they were attacking her.”

“This is most troubling,” Eyota said, pondering the situation. “I must set up a crime scene here to preserve any evidence that may remain. Dave, if you will take everyone back to Command-One and alert Chief Jenkins. Perhaps they have detected something of this slaughter.”

*****

“There’s been a what?!” said Patricia.

“A unicorn murder,” said Dave.

“You’ve got to be kidding!”

“I wish we were,” said Maddie, “but his mate confirmed it. Attacked by two men in disguises. She said they were using ‘hidden sorcery’ of some sort. She couldn’t sense anything, so we were wondering if you might have detected something on your end.”

“Let’s find out.”

Patricia then led the way from her office out into the main work area. Most of the observation analysts were hard at work, examining any uses of sorcery that seemed out of the ordinary. Soon, they reached an empty cubicle with a computer.

“Dave, this’ll be your work station,” Patricia said. “I’m going to have you research to see if we might have picked up on anything. Just follow my instructions.”

“Will do.”

For the next thirty minutes, Dave learned the finer points of the MBAS Observational Network. As Patricia had boasted the previous day, their scanners stretched from coast to coast, allowing him to instantly see any use of sorcery within the country. On his computer screen, blips that appeared as green were legally registered Masons with full authority to use sorcery in their everyday lives. He only investigated those further if the amount of power detected was large enough to possibly mean someone was in trouble, but Patricia assured him that those cases were rare. Dave then learned about the much less common red blips, signifying unauthorized uses of sorcery, usually by children who had yet to be detected by the Masons. These were so rare that he didn’t see any live ones during his work. Finally, there were yellow blips, which signified the use of non-human sorcery, allowing the Masons to keep an eye on the unicorn population.

“Ok, looks like you’ve got the basics,” said Patricia. “Now, let’s roll it back to the time you think the attack took place.”

“Got it.”

After typing a few commands, the map of the United States on Dave’s screen began to roll back in time. The green and yellow blips cascaded across the screen like a weather radar map, showing him the history of sorcery for the last few hours. After a few seconds, he paused the screen and zoomed in to examine a large yellow blip in the Olympic National Forest.

“I think this might be it,” Dave said. “This was a massive spike in magical energy, and it looks to have come from a unicorn.”

“The location’s right, too,” Maddie observed. “Right in the middle of the Colonel Bob Wilderness.”

“Hmm… why is that the only part we’re seeing?” Patricia wondered. “A spike that big can only mean the unicorn was defending itself from something, but nothing else is showing nearby.”

“We have reason to believe that whoever did this was somehow able to hide their sorcery,” Maddie explained.

“You mentioned that before, but how can you be sure?” asked Patricia.

“The unicorn told me. She said she couldn’t sense the power of the men who killed her mate, even as they were attacking her.”

Patricia’s eyes went wide at this. “The unicorn spoke to you?!”

“Yes,” Maddie admitted, blushing a bit.

Patricia was about to ask for more details, but then thought better of it. “We’ll keep moving for now, but we need to have coffee later and talk about this more,” she said to Maddie. “Anyway, if the unicorn couldn’t sense opposing sorcery, I doubt our scanners would have been able to pick anything up, either.”

“Got something,” Dave chimed in. “It’s a red blip. Just showed up, and not too far from where the attack happened.”

“Lemmie see.” After glancing at the screen, Patricia continued, “That’s too big and controlled of a blip to be a Chickling. Whoever did that has at least passed basic training.”

“Maybe the perpetrator returning to the scene?” Dave wondered.

“Could be. Only one way to know for sure,” Patricia replied. “You two stay here, I’ll check it out.”

“Certainly not! Not if my new friends are still in danger!” Maddie insisted.

“With all due respect, Maddie and I have plenty of experience in unknown and potentially dangerous situations,” Dave agreed. “Besides, everyone needs backup, even you. We’re coming with you.”

Patricia sighed. “Is this how it’s always gonna be with you two?”

“Probably,” Dave grinned.

“Fine, let’s go,” she huffed.

A few moments later, the trio had teleported to the location on Dave’s screen. Patricia gestured to them to be silent and peeked around a nearby trunk, spying a nearby clearing. Though she couldn’t be sure, Patricia thought she saw a human body lying face down in the underbrush ahead of her. After pointing it out to Dave and Maddie, they each nodded and agreed to take a stealthy approach. Dave and Maddie moved to the flanks on either side of the clearing while Patricia approached directly from behind, keeping watch for any traps or ambushes along the way. After several agonizing seconds, she stood a few feet away and saw that the body was moving, still very much alive.

“Hands where I can see them!” Patricia commanded.

“WHOA! What the hell?!”

In an instant, the figure popped up on his feet, revealing himself to be a young man of about eighteen or nineteen. Patricia then saw that a girl the same age was lying on the ground beneath him. She stood as well, looking awkwardly at Patricia as the two teens tried to compose themselves. The girl straightened her t-shirt, which had slipped up over her bra, and the guy was frantically trying to zip his jeans back up.

“It’s just a couple of kids. Come on out,” Patricia called out, and the Brightons moved to join her. “What the hell are you doing out here?”

“We… um, w-we just wanted some p-privacy,” the boy stuttered.

Seeing NWMHS Senior Class on both of their shirts, Patricia continued, “Northwest Masonic High School? They don’t teach you not to practice underage sorcery?”

“I-I don’t know what you mean,” the boy gulped.

Patricia just rolled her eyes. “Neither of you are licensed if you’re high school seniors. Did you really think we wouldn’t detect an illegal teleportation spell?”

“I told you,” the girl hissed to her boyfriend.

The boy was about to speak again, but Patricia cut him off. “Don’t even bother. You both know the rules, and you chose to break them. Mr. Brighton, what do you think?”

After studying them for a few seconds, Dave asked, “Have you seen anyone else around here?”

“No, it’s just us. Why?” the boy replied.

“Nothing for you to worry about,” Dave said. Turning to Patricia, he continued, “I think this is just wrong place, wrong time. You?”

“Agreed,” she sighed. “You two are damn lucky we’re the ones who caught you. There’s been a major crime in the area. If our sentries had been the ones to find you, they might have reacted more forcefully.”

“Hey, we’re cool. No harm, no foul,” the boy pleaded. “Just… please don’t tell our parents. Her dad would kill us. We’ll just-”

“Just shut up, please,” said Patricia. “Mr. Brighton, if you two will take them back to Command-One and alert their principal.”

“Will do,” Dave replied.

Just as they were about to leave, Patricia shouted over her shoulder, “And call their parents!”

“Yes ma’am,” Dave chuckled.

*****

Patricia returned to Command-One a short time later, finding Dave hard at work at his computer station.

“They give you any trouble?” she asked.

“Nah, they’re pretty good kids, all things considered. Just made a bad choice,” said Dave. “Their principal said she’d help straighten them out. That is, if the guy survives. The girl’s father was pretty pissed at what they were about to do.”

“Understandable,” Patricia chuckled.

“So, I’m wondering why that’s the only instance of truly illegal sorcery I’ve seen since I got here. Unicorn attack notwithstanding, of course,” Dave continued.

“Honestly, illegal sorcery isn’t a huge issue for us. From the moment they begin their training, every sorcerer is brought here to see what we’re capable of in detecting any sorcerers who misbehave. In addition, all Masons consent to constant monitoring in order to use sorcery in their everyday lives. Simply put, there’s nowhere to hide. This sort of thing with teenagers is about the worst we have to deal with on a regular basis.”

“I guess that makes sense,” said Dave. “Like the NSA, except nobody wonders if they’re always watching; every Mason knows they’re being watched.”

“Exactly. Anyway, we need to take your statement of what you saw out at the crime scene. This way, please.”

As Dave followed Patricia, he couldn’t help but worry that the Masons might have become complacent in their detection capabilities. He made a mental note to research those concerns another time.

*****

The rest of the day was a mountain of paperwork and legal proceedings in the aftermath of the unicorn attack. After taking care of their two detainees, Dave made a statement of what he saw, along with Latonya and Tammy, though they were not grilled with any intensity once it was clear they had kept their distance. Maddie, on the other hand, had the longest day, though she didn’t mind one bit. All she wanted at that point was to find out who had staged the attack in the forest; her experiences with the unicorns had clearly impacted her. She and Dave eventually returned to the crime scene with the MBI, or Masonic Bureau of Investigations, and walked them through what they had seen. Once Eyota corroborated their version of the events, the team began to canvass the area for any evidence the perpetrators might have left behind. By the end of the day, even Secretary Carson had come by to see the crime scene for himself.

“You know, things were nice and quiet for a good long time before you showed up,” Ben muttered to Dave dryly. “But since you came on the scene, we’ve had a time-traveling sorcerer, an attempted murder and subsequent trial, a near-miss international incident with England and Japan, and now a dead unicorn! To quote Roger Murtaugh, I’m getting too old for this shit…”

“Believe me, I never wanted anything like this to happen,” Dave replied. “To be honest, I sometimes wonder if things might have been better off if Nimue had never pulled me back in time to begin with.”

“But then you look at Maddie, right?” Ben smirked.

Dave laughed. “Yeah, pretty much. Still, this is… disturbing.”

“I agree. There’s a reason this crime carries a mandatory death sentence under Masonic law. It’s a violation against nature, an act of violence against the purest of creatures to ever live.”

“I try to avoid violence if at all possible, but I’d sign up to pull the trigger on whoever did this in a heartbeat,” Dave agreed.

“Get in line,” Eyota said from several feet away, still crouched over the dead unicorn.

Ben turned to face Dave. “Is it true your wife can hear them?”

“Yeah,” Dave nodded. “I don’t pretend to understand it, but it was almost like the unicorn chose Maddie to be her interpreter.”

“Amazing,” Ben said with a smile. “There hasn’t been a true Unicorn Whisperer since Eyota’s mother, Kolaki. It’s incredibly rare. Hell, sometimes we go an entire generation without a true Whisperer. That’s why men like Eyota are so important. He understands as much about them as he can, even if he can’t communicate directly with them.”

“And all on her first day,” Dave smirked.

“Yeah, you two are a couple of showoffs,” Ben replied. “Normally, we start sorcerers off with simple stuff like observation from Command-One, but after today, I’m assigning Maddie to work directly with Eyota. I have a feeling we’re going to need her.”

“Where is she, by the way?”

“Still debriefing with Chief Jenkins,” said Ben. “She says you two looked into it and found no detection of sorcery at the time of the attack, right?

“Yeah. At first, we thought we might have caught the killers returning to the scene, but it was just a couple of high school kids sneaking off with a teleportation spell. Wrong place, wrong time.”

“Hmm, odd. I wonder if the attacker somehow used something non-magical?”

“Not from what I’m seeing,” Eyota replied, walking over to join them. “The unicorn’s throat was slit with an aura dagger. Nobody may have sensed it, but the attack still left behind physical evidence. The investigators also found signs of a brief struggle, likely from the unicorn’s mate showing up and trying to kill whoever did this.”

“And no chance of our surviving unicorn identifying the culprits,” Patricia said, arriving with Maddie. “Seems they were using their aura to mask their faces.”

“Shit,” Ben muttered. “So, where does that leave us?”

“We still have a bit more of the crime scene to process,” said Eyota. “I’ll deliver my full report tomorrow.”

“Ok, everyone, go home and get some sleep,” replied Ben.

“What about the unicorns?” Maddie asked. “Aren’t they still in danger?”

“Already taken care of,” Eyota replied. “Each unicorn herd now has one of my best men camping out with them for their protection. They will be safe until we find the killers.”

*****

“Hey, Jerome,” Dave said as they arrived. “We brought Chinese!”

“Man, you know the way to a guy’s heart! Maddie, always a pleasure.”

“Hello, Jerome. We aren’t intruding, are we?” Maddie asked.

Jerome snorted at this. “Please. Y’all are welcome anytime.”

“How’s your research project going?” Dave asked as he dished out the food.

“Interesting, to say the least,” Jerome replied. “First off, I found out what everyone already knew about the Illuminati. They started out as a group of idealists in Bavaria back in the late 18th century, but were outlawed by Charles Theodore shortly thereafter. From then on, their influence on world history was limited to rumors and whispers from rival groups trying to vilify them; they really don’t have the influence they’re rumored to have. As far as this group of political idealists, I’d say it’s pretty much a nothingburger.

“Now, as for your new info about the Illuminati as they relate to sorcery, I think you may be on to something. I haven’t been able to find anything official, no surprise, but I was able to find several small groups with strong anti-Masonic leanings. The ones I’ve found mostly operate on forums and chat rooms, meaning hacking into their member records was simple.”

“Which is why I asked you to help,” Dave grinned.

Jerome continued, “Turns out, most of the members of these anti-Mason groups are loaded, very wealthy and influential. They don’t use their real names, of course, but poking through their security protocols was no sweat for me. Once I found out who they really were, the results were eye-popping. We’re talkin’ CEOs, college professors…”

“Politicians?” Dave asked.

“A few, yeah. Not so much in national politics, but some state legislators and a couple of mayors in big cities.”

“It’s a good start, but how do we use this to prove that the Illuminati are still around?” Dave wondered.

“We start with the names I’ve come up with,” said Jerome. “Gotta figure out if they’re sorcerers secretly trying to undermine the Masons or just conspiracy theorists against secret societies in general.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard,” Maddie chimed in.

“How do you mean? You do realize how many sorcerers there are in America, right?” Dave asked. “How are we supposed to sort out the conspirators when we’ve only been on the job for two days?”

Maddie giggled. “Dave, have you forgotten that your Incantus is autonomous? I was reading mine yesterday while you were at work and found that it had already updated itself to include information on the Masons, as well as a list of all current members.”

Dave turned bright red at this revelation. “Yeah, um… she’s the smart one,” he said to Jerome.

“No shit!” he laughed. “C’mon, let’s get to work.”

*****

Mark waited back in the Illuminati’s Challenger Deep headquarters, staring through a plexiglass window at a workshop. In it, one of the Illuminati’s men inspected the unicorn horn he had retrieved. His work was slow and methodical, analyzing every inch of the horn before continuing. Mark realized that the horn had to be delicate, but patience was not a virtue he had in great supply these days.

“What exactly is he doing?” he wondered.

“He’s preparing your horn for its transformation,” Charlie said from behind him.

“Transformation into what?”

“Your Shroud, of course.”

“What do you mean? I’m wearing my Shroud, aren’t I?” Mark asked.

“That’s just a temporary Shroud, made through artificial means. Your training wheels, if you will. It allows you to conceal your sorcery from the Masons, but only if you’re a distance away from them. If one of them was in your immediate vicinity, they’d be able to detect you even through your Shroud. Those Shrouds were the first means our ancestors developed to hide their power from the Masons, but they were unable to fully utilize the power in unicorn horns at that time. They lacked the ability to properly forge such materials. Today, however, our Shrouds are perfect in function, and yours will allow you to infiltrate the highest levels of the Masonic hierarchy undetected.”

“Are all Shrouds made from unicorn horns?”

“They are,” Charlie replied. “They’re the only material sufficiently powerful enough to allow us to bypass the Masonic sensors. With every ounce of the horn’s power compacted into one ring, our emotions can then meld with our normal power for a type of sorcery undetectable by our enemies.”

“But what of the unicorns? Won’t the Masons discover the body?”

Charlie grimaced. “They probably will, but I’ve alerted the right people. Besides, our sorcery is still untraceable. They’ll never guess what really happened, especially since this is the first time in our history we’ve failed to dispose of a unicorn’s body.”

Mark sighed, pondering all of this. “You mentioned that the horn is transformed into my Shroud. How does this transformation take place?”

“Watch.”

Looking again through the plexiglass, Mark now saw the worker levitating the horn in the air in front of him. He then slid open a hatch in the wall, allowing a reptilian creature to crawl out on four compact legs. Its hide was black as tar and its scales were like chainmail, sturdy and protective while also being lightweight. Though the creature wasn’t massive, maybe ten feet long at the most, the forked tongue and glowing yellow eyes made it clear what Mark was looking at.

“A dragon?!”

“That’s right,” Charlie grinned.

“But… how?! Dragons have been extinct for over a millennium!”

“True enough, except for their distant cousins, the Komodo dragons. When my ancestors learned of a genetic connection between the two species, they journeyed to Indonesia and studied the Komodo dragons, discovering many of them possessed recessive genes of true dragons. After bringing some of them back with them, the Illuminati modified their genes with their sorcery, allowing these dragons to give birth to true dragons. To my knowledge, ours are now the only dragons on Earth. They’re tame, completely obedient to our orders, and their primary purpose is to assist in the forging of our Shrouds. Dragon fire is the only thing on the planet hot enough to make a unicorn’s horn malleable. See?”

Mark watched in wonder as the smithy and the dragon worked as a team. The dragon breathed jets of white-hot fire when instructed, heating up the unicorn horn. The smithy then used his powers to compress the horn a little bit at a time. Every so often, the dragon would provide another blast of fire, followed by more compression from the smithy. After thirty minutes of this process, the dragon returned to its pen and Mark was presented with his new Shroud.

“Incredible,” he marveled.

“Yep, it’s a thing of beauty,” agreed the smithy.

Mark removed his old Shroud and compared it to the new one. While the old one had a bit of a rougher texture, this new Shroud was smooth and shiny, displaying Mark’s reflection in it. As with his old Shroud, the extreme heat from the forging process had turned the unicorn horn pitch black. Mark was amazed at how thin and compact the final product was, considering the amount of material that went into making it. As he slipped off his Channel to place the new Shroud on his finger, the two seemed drawn to each other. Before he knew what was happening, the Shroud jumped from his hand and latched itself onto the inside of Mark’s ring, bonding to his Channel in the process.

“Mark Iger, your life is never going to be the same,” Charlie said from behind him.

*****

“Impressive… Iger actually brought back the horn.”

“Yes, but their escape was not clean. The Masons discovered the body and are already investigating what happened.”

“Is there any danger of being exposed?”

“For now, they remain ignorant of our continued existence; this is the first time one of our unicorn hunts ended without the body being destroyed. Still, I cannot shake an unsettling feeling. They will know that something is amiss when their investigation continues to turn up nothing. Even if they don’t realize we are still around, they may begin to suspect that it was an inside job.”

“What are you proposing?”

“Nothing, not yet. But I think our imbedded sleeper agents should be made aware of the possibility of unexpected activation.”

“They are well aware of their duties and responsibilities. The only sleeper agent we should concern ourselves with is our newest recruit. Once Iger proves himself capable and trustworthy, he may be a valuable asset to our plans.”

“I agree. Oh, and there is one more thing we need to discuss. The Masons have discovered a powerful young sorceress named Tamara Orson.”

“How young and how powerful are we talking about?”

“She is only seven years old, but the accidental discharge of fire would have been fatal for her brother had the Masons not intervened. I estimate her overall potential to be enormous, perhaps even higher than that of the Brightons.”

“Damn, that’s bad. David and Madeleine Brighton already pose a significant problem to us in joining the Masons, and now a girl that could be stronger than them? With three sorcerers of that caliber on their side, our chances of overtaking them get slimmer and slimmer.”

“I agree, which is why we need to take direct action. A plan has been formulated. All we need is an opportunity…”