Thesky erupted with magic, surging with the radiant force of Gladiatrix’s overwhelming power. In an instant, she had channeled enough force to sizzle the atmosphere and make every molecule in a quarter-mile radius vibrate. Even as nothing more than manifested psychic energy, my being shook in her presence. The mere aura of her strength hit hard. Gladiatrix released her levitation and nosedived to the ground. Each second, she plummeted while harnessing telekinesis, which propelled her faster.
Wards scattered across the cloaked base glowed in preparation for the assault. Not a single one had an opportunity to trigger, to activate, to defend the secret hideout of the Celestial Coven. One superior punch shattered every defense, from the wards lining the air to the sigils etched onto the building walls to the enchantments hidden beneath the surface of the ground. Gladiatrix’s telekinesis boomed in waves, continuously circulating the terrain and smothering any opposition.
Name: Alicia Lawrence
Branch: Alteration (Supreme Physicality)
It made my presence difficult to maintain. Not that I was needed for this mission. My role in the Global Guild was quite limited. Mainly, I only existed as a discretionary consultant due to Milo’s insistence and the fact that I was the only person who could remotely track The True Witch and her Celestial Coven.
All the same, I needed to be here. We hadn’t located any of their hideouts in almost a month. After a small breakthrough over the summer, where I pinpointed nearly twenty secret refuges that The True Witch relied upon, our findings quickly became scarce, and the coven of vile witches worked harder to cover their tracks.
Gladiatrix tilted her head in a way that suggested she heightened her senses. I tried not to pry too deeply into her thoughts when she went on missions such as this. Mostly because she was the only witch I knew who was immediately aware of my psychic presence if I linked my telepathy to her mind. All part of her incredibly superior casting capabilities. Also, I wasn’t technically supposed to send manifestations of myself on these infiltration missions. The Global Guild maintained strict rules on how their members, associates, freelancers, et cetera, used magic in their name. So, I used it in my name instead. All the same, Gladiatrix had a penchant for rules and maintained an adamant attitude toward authority and blah, blah, blah. Hence, I kept a healthy distance, barely glimpsing her surface thoughts.
“No witches, no warlocks, just demonic energy.” Gladiatrix clenched her fists. “Looks like it’s another demon disposal.”
In a flash, she bolted through the steel doors of the facility and barreled ahead faster than my psychic presence could keep up with. Zipping down empty hallways and past abandoned rooms, she reached the hidden basement chamber where a murky mind dwelled in the shadows.
I didn’t know how much the Celestial Coven relied on demons in the past, but since releasing and detaining Theodore Whitlock, the coven has kept plenty of them at nearly all their hideouts. No matter how quickly Global Guild forces scouted and infiltrated, there were never any witches or clues. Only demons.
“Only one demon,” Gladiatrix said with a bored sigh. “Shame. Looks like the Celestial Coven might be running low on resources.”
“They have no need for large forces when aligned with the tremendous strength of my kind.” A pale gray creature slinked from the shadows, smiling with a jagged row of sharpened fangs.
Vampire! I shivered. Oh, how I despised vampires. They were some of the deadliest of demons lurking in the world. Thankfully, this one didn’t possess a host body or bother augmenting its monstrous features into something humanoid, which vampires were notorious for doing. Unlike most demons, they could blend entirely in human form aside from prominent fanged eyeteeth and glassy red eyes. This vampire maintained its true form, though. Elongated arms reached its knees, which bent backward like a feline. The short black body hair added a bit of color to the hauntingly pale and clammy flesh.
“Soon, you will face the wrath of my entire clan, and as such, you shall know—”
In a blink, Gladiatrix leapt ahead and punched her whole arm through the vampire’s head. She cast banishment in waves, shattering flesh and bone and tar in tandem.
“Next time, bring the whole clan to start with and give me a real challenge.” Gladiatrix withdrew her arm, and by the time she wiped away a few drops of tar, the entire body of the vampire had been banished.
She truly was a one-woman army.
It didn’t take long for her to clear away the rubble and search the debris in the basement for clues on the Celestial Coven’s movements. I wasn’t sure why Gladiatrix analyzed every little detail like they’d missed something. They never did. And anything potentially helpful was usually obliterated by their demon thralls before said demons were destroyed by Gladiatrix. Or any of the other Global Guild forces sent to investigate. Though, usually when it was out of the country, like this location, they wanted to send Gladiatrix because the board running the guild had to ensure the world only saw their best at work.
Once her search turned up nothing but scrapped tech, junk enchantments, and broken gadgets, Gladiatrix made her way back to the surface without investigating the upper levels of the building. The Celestial Coven never utilized any of their base’s buildings but instead relied on network passageways below. This one didn’t have much in that regard, so we were back to square one.
“You should’ve waited for me, love,” a British accent called out.
A man flew toward us. Well, toward Gladiatrix. He wore a suit quite possibly more elegant and intricate than any of the suits Milo had. It didn’t help that he had a majestic cape fluttering behind him. And yes, Gladiatrix wore her golden cape, too, but this guy used telekinesis to make the fabric flow. He wore a starlit silver mask that matched the interior of his cape design and an emerald green top hat that matched his suit. He was a pale man, ghostly even to me, and I lacked much of any type of tan. There was something oddly familiar about this man, but I couldn’t place it.
The flutter of butterflies from Gladiatrix almost brought the walls of her thoughts down. My guess was she had a thing for accents or charming masked men. In either case, I didn’t investigate too closely. Instead, I allowed the few surface thoughts that buzzed around her to fulfill my piqued curiosity.
“I told you I didn’t need any backup,” Gladiatrix said. “They didn’t even bother with a real defense this time.”
The last few operations she’d infiltrated had over a dozen demons awaiting her arrival. They didn’t fare much better than the single vampire, so either the Celestial Coven was running low on demons they could control through Theodore Whitlock, or they figured it was a waste of valuable resources to throw them at witches like Gladiatrix, who cut through the fodder instantly.
“It’s not about backup,” the masked British gentleman responded. “I want to confirm the Global Guild isn’t overstepping on matters best handled internally.”
“The Celestial Coven is aglobalthreat, and you’re one of many countries they’re bouncing between right now,” Gladiatrix replied. “If you want to whip out the bureaucratic red tape, be my guest, but I don’t have time for a pissing contest on who has the authority here,KingLiberty.”
“I’d never invoke bureaucratic policy, shudder the thought.” King Liberty had a full-body convulsion to emphasize his comment. “I merely wish to keep things transparent with the public, that which should be known, of course. We both know your guild has the same cloak-and-dagger tactics as our Royal Army.”
That made sense. King Liberty was one of those vigilante-approved witches in the UK. One of the more famous monikers, too. They had quite a few of them since all casting remainedunder the full control of the Crown. While vigilantes were popular among the public, those masked witches always had to maintain government approval to avoid arrest.
Kind of a paradox to be sanctioned by the government so they could act outside of government rule. Then again, I still found it hilarious how the monarchies clung to their authority by creating magical monopolies on who could and couldn’t cast, then loaning their royal armies to their governments. Not that America had a much better system with guilds and governments arguing over power and freedom.
I didn’t know the full extent of the current King Liberty, but the title and mask he wore came with notoriety. There was a lot of magical world history to cram into a single semester of classes, but I always managed to cover the Rise of Free Witches in the United Kingdom, which eventually led to vigilante witches casting all across Europe. When the monarchy seized control of all casting rights in the UK, they privatized and militarized all magic use under their authority, which allowed a lot of royal families across the continent to maintain power in some fashion.
