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The General was quiet and sipped at his drink as he rolled that idea around in his head. While he had no idea how magic worked, Henry’s theory seemed… viable.
Feinberg’s cell rang, and he spoke with the Sergeant before handing off the cell to the General. He spoke quietly to someone and finally hung up. He looked to the others as he handed the cell back to the Specialist. “We’re to meet them at Paulus Hook Pier in fifteen minutes.”
Back downstairs they went, and the Corporal picked the General up in his arms again and ran towards the pier. Henry dropped his glamor, picked up Siobhan, and ran after them. When they got to the waterfront walkway, they looked out over the water and spotted Lorelei’s head above the water. Henry set Siobhan down and waved his arms to get Lorelei’s attention. She moved towards them, so he pointed to the pier, and she began moving there instead. Henry picked up Siobhan once more and ran to the dock. He set her down and switched back to his glamor. They met the General and the Specialist just as a forty-five-foot Coast Guard response boat pulled into the pier and tied up. Mick joined them on the dock just as the crew welcomed the General on board.
Henry looked to the Sergeant. “Why didn’t you go with them?”
She gave him an uncomfortable look. “I’m not too keen on going on or into the water. Silver People don’t float, and the river bottom is too soft to run on. We’ll stay on dry land, thank you very much.”
It was Henry’s turn, so he followed Siobhan onto the boat. He was handed a lifejacket which he immediately put on and moved back from the crewman to put some distance between them as a precaution.
“What are we doing, General?” said the sharp-eyed young man.
Crane looked uncomfortable, then pointed to Lorelei, who was watching them from the water.
“Lieutenant Jeffreys, she needs us to move to the middle of the river. She’ll meet us there,” he said. He waved to Lorelei, and she nodded before dipping under the surface again. “Once we’re in the center of the river, I’ll be going into the water with these two and the woman already there. You’ll need to maintain your position so you can extract us after no more than ten minutes. For now, you should remain in the cabin to maintain your physical distance from his man. If you haven’t transformed yet, that is.”
The Lieutenant looked at Henry and quickly backed away.
“Thanks,” Henry said to the General.
“I feel foolish trying to describe any of this to the unaware,” Crane sighed.
Henry nodded as the boat pulled back from the pier where the two Silver Soldiers waited.
It didn’t take long to reach the middle, and Lorelei rose out of the water like she had a personal elevator. He saw she wasn’t even wet! She had fascinating powers!
“The river is ready. It will only pull on the aura, but I have to be the one to see it. It will take its instructions from my sight. Siobhan, I’ll need to see what you see, so I can guide the river.”
Siobhan slipped out of her life jacket and transformed into her seal shape before tumbling over the side of the boat into the water.
One of the Coast Guard personnel rushed from the cabin to stare at the seal bobbing in the waters. “A SELKIE! That’s a possible transformation?” she cried excitedly.From NôvelDrama.Org.
General Crane looked at the name on their uniform. “Ensign Bailey? Please return to the cabin. We’ll discuss this after, okay? Ten minutes in the water, then we’ll be done.”
“Right, sorry, General.”
“It’s quite understandable. Thanks!” he said gently, and she went back inside.
Henry moved closer to Crane. “As I need bare skin to transfer the Wild Magic to you, could I ask that you remove your top before you go into the water?” he asked apologetically.
“Shit, why not. I’ll keep these dry for when I get out.” He shucked off the life jacket, the winter coat, and the tracksuit until he was just in the boxers and the thick socks. After a moment, he tugged the socks off too. These items were stuffed into a locker to keep them dry.
He stepped to the side of the boat and accepted Lorelei’s hand as he stepped onto the water platform she was now standing on. It moved them about twenty feet away from the vessel, then began to lower them into the water.
Henry saw Siobhan waiting for him. He would have preferred switching to his Satyr form, but the life jacket wouldn’t fit. Taking a deep breath, he stepped off the side of the boat and plunged into the frigid water. He resurfaced, and the seal bobbed in the water next to him. He gave her a thumbs up. She swam behind him and began pushing him away from the boat toward Lorelei and the General.
When they were three feet away, Siobhan stopped pushing and swam between Henry and Lorelei. They both reached out a hand and pressed them against her slick fur. Instantly, Siobhan was sharing her perception of the aura.
It had settled into a uniform density around Crane, clinging tight. Henry saw no opportunity to reach the man with the Wild Magic. As he discovered how little control he had in maintaining his position next to the General, he began to have doubts this plan would work.
“Is the river not able to get a grip on the aura?” he called out to Lorelei as he saw nothing happening.
“It’s almost ready to start pulling!” she called back.
Henry began pooling Wild Magic into his hands so he could lunge forward and slap a hand against the man’s chest or back if it became exposed. He’d push the energy into the man as quickly as he could.
Crane suddenly bobbed upwards, almost leaving the water, except the river followed him up to keep him immersed. They splashed back down, pushing Henry further from the man.
“The aura is fighting back!” Lorelei called to them. “The Hudson has a grip, so I don’t need to see it anymore.” She moved away from Siobhan and frowned as she listened, then she looked at Henry nervously. “Second attempt.”
Once more, Henry was knocked back by the upwelling as the General was lifted to the surface, but the river pulled him back down as he was still in the grip of the water.
Henry came back to the surface, sputtering and coughing. He wiped at his face and looked around until he spotted Crane.
“General! Are you okay?” Henry called out.
The man gasped and looked for Henry, spotting him over his shoulder. “I feel like the rope… in a game of… tug o’ war!”
Henry realized with the way the river was fighting with the dark energy shield, Henry was getting pushed away from Crane. He needed to be right next to the man, and he needed to be touching Siobhan so he could see the dark magic field.
“Try number three!” Lorelei yelled as Siobhan began pushing Henry closer.
The Hudson heaved under Henry, and the General yelled in pain as the elemental made an all-out effort to rip the aura from the man. The dark energies whipped the water’s surface explosively as it lost its grip on its host in a few locations.
Siobhan grabbed Henry’s ankle and pulled him away from the frothing water, saving him from being beaten senseless. She ducked under the waves, as did Lorelei.
Then he saw it. The General’s back, between his shoulder blades, was free of the dark shield. Something huge was surfacing below him, but he put everything from his mind except that small strip of bare skin.
Time slowed as he opened a small tear to Eden directly before him and a second tear directly above Crane’s back. He slapped his hand through the two to strike cold, wet skin. As his fingers touched the target, he released the stored charge of Wild Magic in a massive pulse and hoped he didn’t kill the man with the volume of magic he’d dosed him with.
The instant passed, and Henry realized Siobhan was no longer gripping his leg; he was upside down and rushing toward the river’s surface. He just had time to yank his hand back, release the two tears, and throw a shield around himself before hitting the water’s surface.
There was a deafening boom as the dark magic spell failed with a concussive blast and its shockwave shot out in all directions from the epicenter of the General’s unconscious body. Only Henry was above the surface when the blast wave sent him skipping across the river like a thrown stone until he slammed into the side of the Coast Guard response boat.
Everything went black.
-=-
“Boy.”
Henry’s mind floated in the darkness. Was someone speaking?
“Boy.”
He recognized the voice but not the tone. It was the sound of defeat. “Baba? What’s wrong?”
“They cheated.”
He knew who she was talking about. “Yes… but it’s okay, Baba. I took care of it.”
He felt her attention focus on him fully. “What did you say?” He heard surprise in her voice.
Henry wanted her to acknowledge what he’d done for her, but he realized it wasn’t important. She wasn’t his parent. She didn’t save him from the genocide of his people because of anything so frivolous as compassion… or love.
“The last condition on your deal has been completed. Now, there are no more true humans.”
Baba’s voice continued to hold disbelief and shock. “You did this?”
The urge to scream at her rocked him, but he struggled to remain calm. It didn’t matter.
“Yes, Baba. I dosed the last Human with Wild Magic. It broke the Dark Entities’ magic surrounding him, keeping him Human. It’s done. The bargain is over. You’re free.”
Silence surrounded him in the darkness, and he wondered if that was it. Was she gone?
“You did this for me?” Baba’s voice asked, trembling.