Witch Clan: Warriors! - John Stormm (best thriller books to read txt) 📗

aside for scrying. The Eldritch filled them in on everything that happened when she had checked in on Willard and Leona up on Cobb’s Hill. Emma was relieved to find that Willard was in fine shape after the ordeal. Her concern for his safety had been well placed and Siara kept her part of the bargain in repairing the damage of a massive heart attack. Leona had taken it all like the trooper she had proven herself to be back in Annwn and kept her head throughout the ordeal.

Two of the Elite Shadows would never rise again. The other two were badly injured and jibbering like idiots and the fifth, it was assumed, got blasted back to Logres on the business end of a Louisville Slugger. The authorities took the injured as prisoners and the warheads were retrieved by military officials. Willard, Whitey, Leona and some local dog owner named, Howard were debriefed and sworn to secrecy by a super secret organization called, Majestic-12 that had taken control of the situation from there. Sidhe involvement was never suspected except by her own clannadh as it should be.

Johnny had turned up the volume on Uncle Milty in the other room as they huddled and discussed the situation as it stood thus far. The threat of the Rift Wand had ended, but there was still the knowledge of how to cross over into Gwynydd at odd times to raid and sack villages and shrines. The general mindset and policies of the current regime needed a change of venue and that was going to have to come from the natives on this side of the rifts.

Dodger had related to them about the Vizier’s and the Grand Marshal’s rune covered robes and the Tome he had recognized these as having come from. Indeed, all the Witch Kids, past and present were researching the full details of their government’s involvement in things the general populace might not well approve of. If word of all this could reach the masses via the scryboxes, perhaps a different regime could take the reins and end the pillaging of neighboring worlds.

“I wish I could say I was confident that it would be that simple to have them removed,” Little Fox said, keeping his voice below the level of the blaring scrybox.

“Between the three of them, “ he added, “they have the halls of power entangled in their collective webwork. We’ll have to divide them long enough for the Logrens to conquer their influence.”

“How can we do that?” Johnny asked. “If you’ve got any ideas, let me know and I can work ‘em on the Grand Wizard, himself when I meet with him tomorrow.”

“Are you sure you still want to go to that, Sonshine?” Emma asked. “We can always make an excuse that you were under the weather and they’ll understand. As predatory as that man comes off, I keep having these misgivings that he thinks he’ll find an easy kill in you.”

“Me too,” Johnny replied, “but I’m already too suspicious to give him any easy marks to jump at, and if he jumps at me the wrong way, that’ll be one problem solved.”

“Don’t get so cocky,” Little Fox warned, “you’re only setting yourself up for a hard fall later and we don’t want to lose you to some foolish notion. These men didn’t get to where they are by being careless. You would better serve our overall plans if you over estimated his offenses and defenses. Benjamin Franklin used to say that he always expected the worst. Not that he was pessimistic, but knew that if he was prepared for the worst, he would have the best chances, and if the worst didn’t happen, then it was a pleasant surprise. Respect your enemy enough to steel yourself for the worst he may do and only then do you stand the best chances of surviving and winning.”

“I’ll remember that,” Johnny said, growing pensive.

“That’s my boy,” Emma said, ruffling his hair and hugging him close. “So, we have an opportunity here. While Johnny’s with Mordred, maybe we can get a few of the kids and do a tour of the Capitol and maybe meet with the cronies and see what kind of slip ups we might manufacture with some odd information about that Tome.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Little Fox asked.

“No,” she answered matter-of-factly, “It’s just the only weak spot in their armor that we know about and maybe we can just innocently stumble around the subject until someone steps on a nerve and find a way to work it to our advantage. At least the three of us will be in the general vicinity of each other, giving us a better vantage.”

“Yeah,” Little Fox mused aloud, “I was thinking that getting Johnny loose from us was too much like the divide and conquer strategy we want to use for ourselves. Maybe we should do some shopping and meet with some of the kids and take that little tour and just happen to be in the building when Johnny arrives for his audience with His Excellency.”

“It’s a plan,” Emma said with a wink.

* * *

“These are the sigils they wore on their robes,” Dodger pointed to the elaborate figures in the Tome. “I’m sure of it.”

“Wow!” Hex exclaimed, “They were conjuring up a real stinker of a demon and they would have been the only ones untouchable to it. Here’s the invocation ritual here, which sounds like the deal you described at the rehearsal. They must’ve planned to do most of the ritual and leave the calling until the right moment and then unleashed this Faschysto-stinkus critter on the whole assembly.”

“Is that actually its name?” Foggy asked.

“Kind of, sort of,” Hex replied. “In these sorts of things, you never want to speak its real name unless you’re protected somehow. Like wearing robes with those sigils on them.”

“I don’t get it,” Charm cut in. “It’s a devil, but not a Sidhe devil. What would they expect to get for their efforts?”

“The only one working magick on that stage,” Jinx explained, “would be Grandma Emma, and if they did all of this in advance so that they only had to say the one word, and that being it’s name; everyone watching would think it had something to do with the Matriarch’s ceremony and they would look like the heroes if they stepped in a stopped it.”

“Everything they’ve done,” Jolt added, “from the beginning, even from the murders, has been to give the illusion that they are busy, working hard to save us all from some awful things. But they are really the awful things we need saving from.”

“That’s warlocks for you, and all the time we give them more and more freedom,” Foggy finished, “we get mired deeper and deeper into their power. We get weaker and they get stronger.”

“They have to be stopped,” Hex insisted. “But how?”

“Seeing’s how you already know its name,” Little Fox interjected to the startled crew, “maybe we can all take a little tour to the halls of power and maybe trip them up." No one but Cat had noticed the Mohawk and the Matriarch coming up on their meeting in the alley.

“I would have said something,” she called from her perch, “but I figured it would be a pleasant surprise for a change.”

“No problem, Cat,” Hex returned. “I take it you have a plan for confronting them. Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”

“Yes,” Little Fox agreed, “and yes. We were thinking of something very public, as in ‘public relations’ oriented and legal. A school tour with a couple Atlantean celebrities shaking hands with the Vizier and the Grand Marshal and perhaps a little impromptu question and answer period with a few loaded questions for the cameras.”

“Will Stormy be with us?” Sylph asked.

“He’s meeting privately with the Grand Wizard in the Ivory Tower,” Emma answered. “We just wanted to be somewhere near in case he needed us and since it’s your world and your government, we thought you might have some questions that beg for honest answers, though I doubt they will give any. In any case, we’ll keep them busy so they can’t work over my grandson and maybe we can create enough unplanned stress to make them slip up a little on the scrybox and make people look a little harder at them.”

“Count us in,” Hex chimed. “How are we going to pull this off?”

“We hired a school bus and a driver, sport,” Little Fox said. “It’s parked in front of Perlman’s and of course there’s media vans out front waiting to tell the world what kind of clothes we were shopping for and why we needed a bus. We’ve also made appointments to meet Frick and Frack in the Vizier’s office today. It’s a natural.”

Mr. Gwynn put on his best suit and a schoolmaster’s robe from Perlman’s and led the youngsters up into the school bus. From there, the limo and the bus made their way to the Capitol where Emma had already made an appointment to meet with Dauntless and Rumsdon. Media cameras followed the whole charade as the Atlantean Matriarch exchanged pleasantries with the schoolmaster and his charges as they toured the building together. For the benefit of the cameras and reporters present, Emma assured the schoolmaster that the Vizier and the Grand Marshal were the kindest of gentlemen and wouldn’t mind sharing a little of her time with them in encouraging such bright young minds to study harder for a brighter future. A guard went inside the offices immediately as the contingent of reporters, celebrities and school kids made their way up the hall. The Matriarch had hardly knocked when Dauntless answered his door displaying his widest possible grin.

“And what surprise have we here?” he asked pleasantly.

“Oh, please be a dear,” Emma gushed, “and maybe you and the Grand Marshal could say a few encouraging words to these bright young