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Fate's Shadow by Steven L. Smithen (11)


Ten

 

The next morning found Caleb and Kiera sitting on the private jet owned by Fenris Security. Kiera was red-faced and Caleb couldn’t keep from giggling like a ten-year-old girl at a boy band concert.

“It’s not funny,” She huffed.

“Oh yes, it is,” He replied.

“No one would’ve known had you picked them up before we went into the apartment.”

Turning in his seat, “I had my hands full, and your lace panties were the last thing I had on my mind at the moment.”

Keira huffed one last time before she began giggling. “It was kind of funny.”

Caleb chuckled, “Yep, it was like something you only see in the movies or read in a book.”

It wasn’t long after that the pilot closed the door to the aircraft before returning to the cockpit. The plane began to move a few minutes later.

They were headed to New Tokyo, Japan. Initially, they were going to make a stop off in Missoula, Montana but Caleb and Kiera’s passport and new drivers licenses were waiting for them at breakfast along with sly smiles from Maeve and Micah.

The first leg of the flight was uneventful and after stopping in Seattle for fuel Caleb and Kiera were jetting across the north Pacific. Having eaten dinner, the young couple were fast asleep in each other’s arms when a loud bang and a sudden drop in altitude woke them with a start.

“What was that?” Kiera asked while Caleb wiped the sleep from his eyes.

“Not sure try the cockpit,” Caleb suggested.

That was when the door to the back of the plane exploded open and in rushed four armed individuals dressed in bluish-grey fatigues and body armor simultaneously with the cockpit door flying open knocking a shocked Kiera backward and onto the floor.

The sound of air guns firing came from behind Caleb where he struggled to get to his feet. When the pilot leveled a rather large pistol at his head. Caleb noticed that Kiera had four darts sticking out of her back.

“I would stay where you are hellspawn,” The pilot spat out.

“Everything ready?” One of the four in armor asked the pilot.

The pilot nodded, “Yes, I’ve disabled the auto-pilot. If you guys could get her, we can be out of here.

The one who asked the question ordered two of the others in armor to grab Kiera before the leader turned in my direction and lifted the visor of her helmet to reveal Veronica, Kiera’s one-time best friend. She leveled her tranquilizer gun at me, “Your mother sends her regards.” The pistol bucked twice in her hand before she lowered her visor and turned toward the group. “Let’s get out of here, I don’t know how long those tranqs will last on him.”

The group moved toward the back of the aircraft leaving Caleb’s unconscious body behind on the plane’s floor. An aircraft that currently had no pilot or crew.

 

 

An indeterminant amount of time later Caleb came to consciousness and moaned audibly as he stumbled to his feet. “Kiera?” He called out but was only met with silence.

He staggered to the kitchen area of the plane and removed the tranq darts before grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. Caleb opened the bottle and downed the contents before turning to the sink and washing his face.

Coming out of the kitchen he turned toward the area of the plane where Veronica and her fellow Valkyries were hiding only to find the back of the plane empty.

Returning to the cockpit, Caleb tried the knob to find the door locked. It was also one of those high-security cockpit doors that all airplanes had been using since before his birth. He turned from the door to see if the cabin had anything that he could use to force the door open.

Finding nothing that he could use Caleb turned back to the door. “Well, I guess it’s about time to see if what my mother and Micah believe is true and I have inherited my father’s power and strength.”

Taking hold of the handle in one hand and put the palm of his other on the door. After taking a deep breath, Caleb willed power through his body into his hand holding the door handle.

A couple of minutes passed before the handle began to heat to a cherry red before he felt the door move as the handle melted away and allowing the door to swing open.

Just as he thought the cockpit was empty. Not being a pilot most of the gauges meant nothing to Caleb but he would also see that the auto-pilot was engaged, and he found a GPS showing the flight path. The plane was somewhere over the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia.

An alarm sounded in the cockpit and Caleb scoured over the flight consul and found a red blinking light that showed the plane was almost out of fuel. “Well, fuck me.”

Caleb slid into the pilot’s seat. “I guess I should see if I can’t make this any worse. I’m going to crash anyway. Let’s see if I can at least survive the crash.” He turned off the auto-pilot.

 

 

Kiera was escorted into the office belonging to the Mystic known as Paul in the Brotherhood Commanderie that had been built in the city of Petropavlovsk located in the southern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Petropavlovsk was once a sizeable naval port for the once mighty Soviet Union and later Russian Federation.

The Commanderie was controlled by a Brotherhood Mystic, their version of spell wielders. Most believed that they were Witches who had been raised Catholic or Eastern Orthodox and thought the Church was the answer. Others felt the Church to be hypocrites by using the same evil to combat another.

Veronica and her three other Valkyrie sisters brought Kiera before Paul. “We have brought you the apostate.”

The tall man in black and white robes turned to face the newcomers. Paul wasn’t an ugly man he had soft brown eyes and short cropped brown hair with flecks of gray throughout, and a well-trimmed goatee. Rumor had it that he believed himself to be the Apostle Paul incarnate.

“Ah, yes I see. You four can leave us and wait outside,” Paul commanded.

Veronica and her sisters snapped to attention and saluted with a fist to their chests before turning and exiting the room.

“Where is Caleb? What have you done to him? What do you want with me?” Kiera inquired.

“Well if all goes to plan then that thing that you called your boyfriend will be crashing into the countryside shortly. As for you, I thought that would be clear. You have betrayed your oath, and you will now be excommunicated in the old way,” Paul said matter of fact.

Kiera fell to her knees as tears fell from her green eyes. “NO!” She cried out her heartbreaking as grief caused her body to shake.

“It will all be for the best, child. Maybe, in the end, you will find redemption.” With a snap of his fingers Kiera began to lift off the ground. Her arms and legs flew apart so that she was spread eagle then she was slowly lowered onto a wooden cross in the shape of an X. Once she was in place manacles snapped shut on her wrists and legs before the cross rose to an upright position and locked into place.

The shock was evident on Kiera’s face. Not many that she had met since this part of her life had control in telekinesis like this person had.

Paul picked up a flogger that had Kiera screaming, struggling, and doing anything that would grant her freedom but to no avail. The flogger had a polished wooden handle with strips of braided rawhide formed the cat-o-nine tails each ending in a wicked bard.

The first flick of his wrist shredded Kiera’s shirt drawing blood. After the second and third strikes, her clothes were nothing but rags barely hanging onto a body was bleeding and covered in red welts. She was crying, and her voice was hoarse from screaming after the tenth strike.

Paul stopped and called out, “Valkyries, come in here and turn her around while I get cleaned up.”

Veronica and her sisters reentered, “What of her wounds and lack of clothes?”

“She’s an apostate, she deserves no decency. Her wounds aren’t that bad. Just turn her over, or you’ll join her,” Paul answered before he left through another door in the chamber.

 

 

Caleb was quite proud of himself. He had slowly descended the plane’s altitude. It wasn’t dissimilar from the game Flight Simulation for his computer only problem was he always crash landed when attempting to land on the digital runway. He was pretty sure he was going to crash land the real plane in the wood and mountains of the Kamchatka Peninsula, hundreds of miles from nowhere.

The closer the plane got to the ground Caleb continued to change course hoping for some a nice pasture or some farmland. He sure as hell didn’t want to head up into the mountains. “I’ve seen too many survival movies like that, and it never ends well.” He said aloud as he spotted a lake off to his left.

As he was turning the plan toward the lake, the engines died, and Caleb lost all power. “Here goes nothing and if anyone is listening, I really don’t want to die today.”

The next thing Caleb noticed was the smell of burning wires, metal, and wood. He also hurt everywhere but was still strapped into the pilot’s seat, and it didn’t look like he had been speared by any of those enormous trees he could see through the shattered windscreen.

Caleb was about to release the safety belts that held him when he heard people moving through the wreckage. Not wanting to burn to death he called out for help.

After several minutes Caleb heard strange voices and a peculiar language just before two slim individuals wearing leather and fur clothes moved the wreckage out of the way and helped Caleb out of the aircraft.

They help Caleb walk several hundred feet from the wreckage before lowering him to the ground. That’s when a short, stocky fellow walked over and stuck his hand out. “I’m Baltar,” He offered.

Caleb took a closer look and realized that he knew who and what these people were, but he could also now understand them. That part confused Caleb even more than being rescued by dwarves and elves. “I’m Caleb and thank you for your help.”

“Tis no problem. We saw the plane going lower and lower and know that no airfield is around here. Also didn’t hear the engines when you passed over our village.”

“Why do you all live out here away from civilization?” Caleb asked curiously as to why they chose to live apart from the humans and other supes.

Baltar looked around and saw that his party of hunters were ready to head back to the village. “How about I tell you while we walk to our village. I noticed that you understand our language what kind of freak are you?”

Caleb stood back up and moved stiffly at first, but soon the soreness left his muscles. “I’m a Witch and to be honest I don’t know why I can understand you though I have a theory. I think it has something to with what my mother did to me.”

“Yer mother ya say. She must be some Witch herself then but back to yer question. The Russians usually don’t have any issue with our kind, but this part of the peninsula is controlled by the Eastern Orthodox Church and their bleeding Brotherhood. Down in Petropavlovsk, there is this Brotherhood Mystic who runs the show and has mandated that all Fae and Supernaturals alike be collared and enslaved.”

“Fuck, that’s who crashed the plane and took my girlfriend and left me to die,” Caleb replied.

“The Brotherhood?” Baltar asked.

“Yes, the pilot said ‘your mother sends her regards’ before they shot me with tranq darts. He had help in the form of Valkyrie agents.”

“Just who is your mother, son?” He asked Caleb.

“The Morrigan. We should probably hurry because if I know the Brotherhood, they’ll want to make sure that I’m dead,” Caleb replied.

“The Bloody Morrigan is yer mum? Well hell, that’s just fecking dandy. Come on lads let’s get a move on,” He ordered the others.

 

 

Kiera was beaten, bloody, and very naked not that she gave a shit. She didn’t think the human body could take this much punishment and pain.

Paul had moved on from the flogger to rattan caning, she wasn’t sure which was worse. His latest strike was interrupted by an underling.

The newcomer whispered, but Paul’s response made Kiera smile. “What do you mean they didn’t find a boy? There is no way Witch or not that he could’ve survived the plane crash.” Paul stepped away from Kiera and placed the cane back on his ‘workbench’ before turning back to the underling, “Alert the Furies and Valkyries. Tell the Inquisitor I would like to speak with him.” The other man bowed then left in a flurry.

“What’s…wrong? You’re…plan…not working…the way you wanted it to,” Kiera struggled to say. “He’ll…come…for…me.”

“That is exactly what I’m hoping for,” Paul replied mirth in his voice as he left Kiera to her pain and suffering.

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