19. ~Talon~

19

~Talon~

A new incarnation of Obsidian.

That was what Ore had called it.

But that didn’t even begin to do it justice.

We’d found out why Ore hadn’t been trackable while he’d been out here. It existed within a pocket dimension, something he’d created to keep it off everyone’s radar while he’d been developing it.

Apparently, he’d been working on it for weeks.

He hadn’t actually been up at the Exemplar compound each time he’d left Abigail’s house for hours on end. He’d been splitting his time between there and here.

Here being a compound in its own right.

Although, Ore called it a base of operations.

There were blocks of multi-story concrete buildings all with a purple hue emanating from them, signaling they’d been created by his magic. They surrounded a large courtyard where I took in former professor, Edgar Marlowe conducting a training session with at least three hundred beings, a mix of magic-wielders, vampires, werewolves, Light Fae and even Dark Fae.

Beyond that was a larger two-story gray stone building with arched double entrance doors, where Ore was leading me and Xavier to now. Apparently it was the hub of the operation.

“This is a hell of a thing,” Xavier said, as he took in everything like I was as we made our way around the training session, Marlowe and Ore exchanging a chin lift as we went.

“It’s coming along,” Ore said. “More recruits are coming in every day.”

“I can’t believe you did all of this,” I uttered.

“Without telling us too,” X added.

“ Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” Ore told us. “Besides, I needed it off the ground first to see if the idea was even viable. Not to mention, before bringing you in on it, I needed things to be stable, for everyone to be back on solid ground again.”

“And you had your own doubts too because you were shaken up,” X pointed out.

“That too.”

“So going to the DFR helped to alleviate that then?”

“There was some of that, especially regarding coming to terms with my mother’s involvement. But mostly it was to get my father’s take on this new incarnation of Obsidian. He understands the political landscape better than I do from centuries of operating within it—and outside of it. He’s experienced the pitfalls of going against Exemplar. And that’s not what I’m going to do here. Obsidian will aim to work alongside them. A militarized force that can go where they can’t, can do and act in ways they can’t because of the burden of all their bureaucracy, all the rules and procedures weighing them down. Exemplar will no longer deal with active threats, it will manage the supernatural world, dealing with day-to-day issues. But the rest, issues like Constantine, will be dealt with by Obsidian. My father believes the best way to ensure Obsidian is accepted is to demonstrate what its capable of first, to have that being Exemplar’s introduction to it.”

“And is that what you’re going to do?” I asked.

“No. I’m going to meet with Elliot to discuss it with him. Only him. I respect what he’s trying to do, but he is weighed down by all the rest. Still, I don’t want to go around him. But after we talk and I reveal what I’ve created, there will then be a show of force against the enemy.”

We made it into the central quarters and Ore took a sharp right that led through an open doorway and to a stone staircase.

As we made our way down, X asked, “How are you going to produce a show of force against the enemy when we have no idea where Constantine is?”

“We may not currently know where he is, but we do know where a unit of his new acolytes are based and waiting on their orders from him.”

“How? The only potential lead we had was from that unit of vampire acolytes that Alena and I found, which you then sent along to Exemplar that night.”

Ore grinned. “Like I told Alena, not everything was what it seemed that night.”

“So you didn’t really want me to shut down the hunting because you were worried she couldn’t handle it, that she was too revenge-bound and on edge, and would be putting herself in danger?”

“Those were factors, of course, and I know you realized that for yourself when you did actually stop, even though you didn’t agree with me. It was the wakeup call she needed to tone it down.”

“Yeah, she could’ve easily tortured or even killed those sorcerers, but she didn’t,” I said. “She could’ve also wiped them out with her angel magic, but it would have hurt everyone and everything around her, so she made a different choice, the right and rational choice, even under extreme pressure.”

“Exactly,” Ore agreed.

“I thought you were beyond the manipulation with her,” X questioned.

“She wasn’t listening to my warnings and she was on the track to ramping up to something big, dark, and beyond dangerous. I did what needed to be done to help her.”

X shoved his hand through his hair. “Fine.”

“Really?” Ore asked, as surprised as I was that he was letting it go so easily.

“Yes, you asshole. When I was in charge, going hunting with her, I felt a little of the weight you usually bear in that respect. And I understand now. I see your point. And it worked. She’s better for it. I also believe you’ve changed and unlike how things were before, the manipulation and puppeteering is behind you, and that was just a one-off, emergency situation sort of thing. Now get back to the issue with the vamps.”

“The main reason I warned you off and wanted you to shut down your hunting and trying to track Constantine was because I already had this operation in progress. The approach you and Alena were using was in direct contrast to mine, what I was trying to build here. I didn’t send the vampires to Exemplar that night.”

We reached the bottom of the staircase and found ourselves looking out at a row of cells sealed with his purple ward. “I sent them here.”

“That’s them,” X murmured to himself, eyeing the vampires behind the bars sitting in their generously spacious cells.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring in the sorcerers as well who attacked Alena and the Academy as Elliot arrived on the scene and had them taken to the compound. He was obviously alerted to the mass expulsion of dark magic that was technically Constantine’s. He thought it was him.”

“How the hell did you get these vampires to tell you anything?” X asked. “Did you… break them, torture them?”

“I didn’t need to. Also, you know I don’t care for that being the go-to, after the way I grew up in the DFR with my father pulling things like that far too often.” He led us back up the steps and away from the cells, then told us, “I’m the only reason they’re not in Valmont.”

“But they’re in another prison here,” I pointed out.

“Temporarily. I’d already determined from my own research—some of that being my induction at Exemplar and seeing how they did things, along with the deficiencies there, and the many uprisings that were occurring all over the supernatural world—that these new acolytes couldn’t be tortured or simply talked down to give us the leads we needed. They’ve agreed to do Constantine’s bidding because they’re afraid of the alternative and they don’t believe Exemplar can protect them. The only way to counter that, to turn them, was to offer them an alternative. Obsidian. Constantine promised them a new day, a new world order, but his involved mass destruction and wiping out half the supernatural world to achieve said goal. Because he’s borne from chaos, it’s what he does. He’s violence and darkness personified. My way of bringing about a new world order is through co-existence and change not built on razing the entire current world order to the ground in the process, while also offering the protection so many beings feel like they’re without at the moment, so much so that they’ve turned to Constantine for it.”

“Wow, that’s ingenuous,” I uttered.

“Offering a viable alternative to him,” Xavier mused.

Ore nodded. “They’ll remain here until they prove themselves. Once I can confirm that their intel is viable and also not a trap. They’ll also be safe here from reprisals from Constantine once we hit the locations of the other acolytes they’ve given us and that intel points right back to them. Once their intel is proven viable, they’ll be free of the cells and assimilate into Obsidian. The same will go for the other units of acolytes that Constantine has amassed in the weeks since Abigail’s death. I’ve learned that he only gives bits and pieces of information to each of these units, so the vampires in there only know of the existence and location of a couple of other units, those that their missions require they must work with. But if we follow that path, the proverbial trail of breadcrumbs from one to another, we’ll eventually be able to determine most of his network, possibly even Constantine’s location too. We also have another lead in that my research has also determined that many of the uprisings that Exemplar has identified via their Eye of Intuitum were incited and even orchestrated by Constantine’s acolytes to draw Exemplar’s attention away from the actual misguided beings following him. I have members of Obsidian out there now investigating those uprisings and working to make connections to yet more enemy units.”

“Holy shit, this operation is insane,” I cried, unable to contain myself over it.

Ore laid his hand on my shoulder. “And now I need you here with me. To pull this off and make a definitive show of force that the supernatural world will respect and have them believing that Obsidian can be trusted to protect them, that it’s the answer to Exemplar’s failings in that area, we’re going to need the power of a phoenix.” He smiled. “Especially one who’s now proven his ability to control all that power. I received your report of the message that Roland slipped you and I also need you to help me reach out to the student body of Electi Academy, those determined to join our crusade. With Electi Academy shut down again, this is the perfect opportunity to recruit them.”

I nodded fervently. “I’d be honored. Shit, I’m with you all the way, Ore.”

He hugged me to him. “I knew you would be.”

“What about X?” I asked, eager to hear what his role would be.

Ore’s expression turned grave as he looked at X. “I know what that vampire unit offered you. I also know they wanted your magic and that the sorcerers have since obtained a sliver of it, which is now in Constantine’s possession.”

“I didn’t tell you about the offer because it wasn’t of consequence. I don’t want it. And it’s likely a load of bullshit too, just a ruse because Constantine is feeling our sire connection now all that black magic is out of his system.”

“Is it because you believe it’s bullshit that you’ve convinced yourself you don’t want it?”

“No. I’m finally comfortable being what I am. I’m in tune with my vampire side more than I’ve ever been.”

“All right, because there may actually be a way, X.”

“What? You’re fucking with me?”

“No. Not about this. Never. To cure you of your vampirism, Constantine believes it will require undoing your death, the moment he took your life, part of the process of turning someone. To achieve that, he intends to take another’s lifeforce and transplant it into you.”

“Fucking shit, could he actually do that?” I asked.

“The level of power it would require… it shouldn’t be possible for him, not without all that black magic coursing through his veins. But the seemingly impossible has never stopped him before. He’s found his way around things, even arranging his own resurrection.” He told X urgently, “I need you to go to Elliot and give him this information. He needs to look into this right away. His knowledge base is extensive, far beyond any of ours.”

“What about your father? I mean, Ore, I didn’t tell my dad for a reason. He could lock me down for this, sideline me. He already sees me as a victim in so many ways and with me trying to burn in the sun, he’s still on edge when it comes to me. I don’t want that, I need to prove that I’m beyond that, I need to be an asset now, a help here in this war, to you, to everyone possible.”

“I understand. You will be a help by doing this. This plan of Constantine’s is dangerous to begin with, but its overall purpose is what worries me more, why he offered you this, what he gets out of it. With you and Elliot working together to figure that out, it will cut it off at the quick and prevent yet another fucking catastrophe at that madman’s hands. Besides, my father needs to focus on Alena and the failsafe right now. Not to mention, Elliot is more familiar with your magic than anyone else is.” Ore stepped up to him and slid his hand to his cheek like he did with me when I needed comfort. “And when you’re done, I need you back here by my side helping me lead this new incarnation of Obsidian. ”

“You do?”

“Without a doubt. You’re rational and strategic and you can handle yourself well in high-pressured situations, as I’ve seen through your conduct in the far too many battles we’ve found ourselves embroiled in lately. You also help to reel me in and balance me out. We’re going to need that when Alena also becomes a part of this, because you know what she brings out in me with the two of us always challenging one another.”

X smiled, taking his words in. “Together we’re stronger.”

Orpheus nodded. “The four of us together? Fuck, we can’t fail.”

X’s smile widened. “The heirs will rise.”

“It’s our time now,” Orpheus said.

“Shit, yeah,” I cried, throwing my arms around the two of them and pulling us together.

They chuckled and I beamed out at them as it all rolled over me.

This wasn’t just another plan.

This was the shit.

This new incarnation of Obsidian , Alena working on her new ability, Ore working to change the balance in the supernatural world… it was all the big time. All major steps that were leading up to one surefire thing.

Nothing would ever be the same.