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As we drew near, Shamas turned to us, and his eyes lit up. "Hey, Coz," he said. Shamas had acclimated to human culture surprisingly well, in both speech and actions. He was dark in hair with violet eyes, like my father and me, and he stood barely five nine. Sturdily built, he had the perfect physique for physical activity, and it never failed to amaze me that he'd favored cerebral pursuits. "Ready to take on the trolls?"
"Dubba-trolls, no less," I muttered.
Chase was talking to a blond officer. He let out an exasperated sigh and jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "Deitrich, until you can listen to orders, I want you on desk duty. This is the third time this week you've ignored direct orders from a superior officer. You're sidelined. Call for backup, and then get the hell out of here. I want to see you tomorrow morning, first thing. My office. Be there, or I'll kick you out of the FH-CSI and bust you down so far you'll be handing out parking tickets."
The cop shot Chase a look of pure venom, but he muttered a "Yes, sir" and turned to stalk away. Chase watched him go, then turned to the other man. "You have any problems with me, Lindt?"
"No, sir!" Officer Lindt shook his head. "I was on my way to get the stun guns like you ordered when Deitrich ordered me to stop. He outranks me."
"Yes, well I outrank him. Never mind. You move your butt back to the cruiser and grab those stun guns. Get back here as soon as you can." Chase waited until the uniformed man raced off to let out a string of oaths. "Damn it, Devins is behind this. He's been on my back the past couple of weeks about the Crypto issue, and he's goading the malcontents."
As Delilah murmured a soft "I know"—when he was on duty, she was careful to maintain a professional stance with him—I scanned the cemetery, looking for the trolls.
"Over there," Shamas said, pointing in a northeasterly direction. "Near the fountain."
And there they were. Two dubba-trolls, four heads, no waiting. I shivered. The damned things were a good eleven feet tall. As I'd told Chase, they were the worst of the troll family, and they loved takeout. Fresh meat on the hoof, no cooking required.
I groaned. "Cripes. You know we're just a platter of appetizers in their eyes. Except, perhaps, for Smoky."
Smoky shook his head. "I'm not about to shift into dragon form here. I've kept my profile carefully guarded for many years, and I want to ensure it stays that way. I'll have to help out the old-fashioned way."
"Too bad. That breath of fire you spout out could be quite handy with these fellows," Delilah said.
"Okay, what's our plan? We can't just rush them and hope for the best." I glanced around the graveyard, unhappily calculating our chances. If we dove in without some sort of strategy, we'd probably come out alive, but chances were somebody was going to get hurt.
Chase narrowed his eyes. "What do you think? Will stun guns do any damage?"
"They might, they're electricity, and that's a lot like fire," I said. "I'll prep a spell to call down the lightning."
Delilah frowned. "I usually use a knife, but I can rush in and do some damage with my fists, I'm betting. I've been working out a lot more lately, and if I can jump on the back of one of those creatures, I can start pounding his skull."
"Uh-huh… great," I said, my enthusiasm about as limp as a wet noodle. "Trillian? Smoky? What do you boys have for us?" I still was rooting for Smoky to turn dragon dude and fry them both with one big, fiery breath.
"That I'm a dragon does wonders for my strength in human form. I'll take one of them on," he said. I glanced at him, ever hopeful, but he shook his head. "I told you, woman, I'm not going to change form here. Do you know what that would do to the gravestones and markers? Have some respect for the dead."
Trillian actually smiled but quickly coughed to cover it up. "As I said in the car, my sword's not going to do much unless I can skewer one of them in the eye. I'll give it a try, though."
"Great. That ought to do it, all right." I snickered. "Why don't we just escort them over to the arboretum. Shamas, you got anything to help?"
"I was going to give my Fire Spray spell a workout, but you have to let me go in first, or you'll all be caught in the storm." He looked at us expectantly, and we all quickly eased back a step or two. Chase the first to move. He was learning, yes, he was.
"Be our guest," I muttered, wondering just where Shamas had picked up a spell like that. I knew for a fact he hadn't trained with any elemental wizards, and spells like Fire Spray didn't lie around free on street corners.
Shamas marched forward, muttering something under his breath, an anticipatory look on his face. His hair was braided back, a lot like Father's, and a sudden twinge of homesickness hit me. This would be so much more fun if we were back in Otherworld.
"I'm ready to rock," he said, and I got the impression he was actually enjoying himself. The trolls stopped tearing up the tree they were standing next to and stared at him, bewildered looks on their faces. No doubt, no one back home was stupid enough to challenge them.
Raising his hands, Shamas looked oddly out of place in his OIA officer's uniform. He called out in a loud voice. "Shellen, Morastes, Sparlatium…"
There was a loud crackle in the air around him, and a sudden swarm of sparks and darting flames burst from his fingertips, racing toward the dubba-trolls, who suddenly realized they were under attack.
The one on the left—the larger one—gave a loud roar and tried to fight off the fiery volley, while the one on the right stared dumbly at the approaching spark shower. The minute the arrows of flame hit, he roared to life and stumbled forward, followed by his larger friend.
"Holy shit, they're on the move!" Shamas whirled and raced back to us, the dubba-trolls hot in pursuit, all four heads rumbling obscenities in Calouk. If I hadn't been so concerned about being trampled, I would have shot back a few choice expletives. As it was, I whirled, taking off at full speed to the right, Delilah keeping pace beside me. Trillian darted along behind us. Smoky, Chase, and Menolly dodged to the left.
"What now?" Chase shouted from the tombstone he was dodging behind. He reminded me of the mouse Delilah constantly chased. Only she played with the creature. She'd given up trying to eat it. The trolls wouldn't accord us any such niceties.
Leaving Smoky and Menolly to guide Chase, I ignored him. Once I was out of the trolls' direct trajectory, I planted my feet on the ground and raised my arms heavenward. "Moon Mother, give me your power, give me your force as I call down the lightning!"
