My Brother's Keeper(12)

Kendrick remained silent. He had been around a long time; he had seen what the taste of power could do to people.

Meryn's mouth dropped. "Seriously? We're dealing with a paranormal version of Pinky and the Brain?"

Kendrick blinked at her. He couldn't help himself; he started to laugh. How did she do it? How did she manage to reduce the most serious threat to their world since the Great War down to a cartoon?

"Meryn, I love you," he said and wiped his eyes. Around the table, everywhere he looked, he was met with confused expressions. Only Rheia and Anne were smiling.

Kendrick scowled at the men. "Don't any of you watch television?"

Darian shook his head. "Not really, though I'm surprised that you understand Meryn's references."

Kendrick sighed. "I don't get out much. Television is a welcome change of pace when I need a break from my studies."

Anne giggled at his side. "And he doesn't play well with others."

Aiden frowned. "Why does that sound familiar?" He glanced down at Meryn.

Gavriel cleared his throat. "So we have the Committee using our current crisis with the ferals to gain political leverage to change our current power structure..."--he laid his head back with a sigh--"all while we are scrambling to deal with the destruction and chaos the super ferals are creating."

Meryn reached under the table and pulled out her laptop. "Are we going with the term 'super feral' as the official name?"

Gavriel raised his head and stared at her. "You know, you are right. We have not come up with a name for them as of yet."

Colton shook his head. "I don't like it. It makes them sound more impressive than they really are."

"What about reapers?" Anne asked softly. "They're responsible for taking people's souls right?"

Meryn smiled at her. "That's perfect! So the rambling, brainless monsters that y'all are used to are ferals. The ones that wear the soul necklaces and lead armies of ferals are now called reapers." Meryn tapped away on her laptop.

Kendrick noticed that Anne had turned white. He leaned down. "What's the matter?"

She looked up at him, her blue eyes wide. "She said rambling, brainless monsters. That sounds a whole hell of a lot like zombies to me!"

Meryn looked at her. "They are not zombies because they don't go after people's brains; they kinda eat all the body parts."

Kendrick watched as Anne started to sway in her seat. "Just breathe. Nothing can get to you here, I promise."

Meryn shook her head. "Actually we've been attacked here twice."

"Meryn! Remember what I told you about being more observant to social cues?" Elizabeth hissed.

Meryn looked over at Anne, and her eyes got wide. "Sorry!"

Kendrick wrapped and arm around Anne and pulled her close. "That was before I was here. Nothing can attack this house and survive."

Anne looked up. "Promise? I swear, I normally have nerves of steel, but I just can't do zombies. When I was a kid I stayed up after my parents went to bed and watched Night of the Living Dead, I've been having nightmares ever since."

Kendrick took one more moment to enjoy the feel of her tucked in close before he gave her a final squeeze and let her go. "Promise. An army of those things could attack and they wouldn't make it to the first step of the porch."

Aiden snorted. "Don't make promises you can't keep. Those things are strong and ruthless. They think and they learn. They aren't like normal ferals."

"Reapers, call them reapers," Meryn interjected.

Kendrick looked across the table. "I never make promises I can't keep."

Colton laughed. "Come on Kendrick, you versus an army?"

Kendrick just stared at him.

Colton quieted. "Seriously?"

Kendrick decided that it was time to give the men a reality check. "Gentlemen, I have more than enough power to handle these so-called reapers and not break a sweat. You're used to working with witches that are under five hundred years old. Storm Keep will only allow young witches to serve in the units outside of Storm Keep. Once they hit five hundred years old, they have to return to the city where they continue their studies and are assessed. If they are deemed too weak to serve the city as a witch, they can resume their positions amongst the units; however, most do fairly well and go on to master their chosen field of magic."

Aiden stood, his face a mask of anger. "Why? Why are we struggling and losing good men when Storm Keep could turn the tide easily by sending out older witches?"

Kendrick shrugged lazily. "Why doesn't Noctem Falls send out their older vampires, those capable of mind control and illusions? Why doesn't Éire Danu let warriors use their portals? No, race is willing to give up their best and brightest; nor are they willing to share valuable secrets. These terms were agreed to when the pillar cities were formed and the units created. Besides, I don't think it's a simple case of throwing magic at something. Even if you had the power of the older witches at your command, it wouldn't do you much good. Most of them specialize in only one form of magic. I know men who have dedicated centuries to perfecting a single spell. You might get one or two spells out of them, and then they would be cannon fodder. You're actually better off with younger witches who can take orders and cast multiple types of spells repeatedly."

Aiden sat back down his brows pulled together. "What about you? I doubt you would end up cannon fodder."

Behind Aiden, Ryuu began to chuckle. "Heika is an exception to the general rule when it comes to the witches."

"So we kinda lucked out that he's Keelan's brother?" Meryn asked.

Kendrick smiled at her. "Pretty much."

Aiden scowled up at the squire. "Any other words of wisdom?"

Ryuu nodded. "You remember the old saying about these types of tricky situations?"

"Follow the money?" Meryn quipped.

Ryuu shook his head. "No. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."

"I don't want to be closer to that douchebag," Meryn complained.

Kendrick snapped his fingers. "Meryn, you've given me a great idea."

"You're going to follow the money?" she asked.

"No, but if I can get ahold of enough necklaces, I may be able to trace the magic back to the caster. It all depends on how they were created."

"What do you mean?" Anne asked.

Kendrick wondered how he could explain higher magic in terms they would understand. "For everyday magic, the caster relies on his own power; it's like a well stored inside of them. But for higher, more complicated magic, a caster has two options: gain the power of a higher being or offer the universe something in exchange for what you are asking."

Anne's eyes lit up. "I know what you're talking about!"

Kendrick stared at her in shock. "You do?"

She nodded. "I saw this in Fullmetal Alchemist. I think it goes something like, 'Humankind cannot obtain anything without first giving up something in return. To obtain or create something, something of equal value must be lost; that is alchemy's First Law Of Equivalent Exchange.' In the show, two brothers try to resurrect their dead mother, but the price was too great. Just making the attempt cost one brother an arm and a leg and the other his entire body. His soul had to be attached to a suit of armor."

Kendrick fumed. "Between video games and anime, any teenager can learn the sacred arts; it isn't right."

"What video game? If it teaches magic, I'm so in." Meryn declared.

"It's an RPG; I can show you later," Anne promised.

Aiden, looking a bit pale, turned to Kendrick. "It's just a game right? They can't really learn magic, can they?"

Kendrick growled and thumped his fingers on the table. "I have no idea. Then again, I didn't know they were teaching the masses alchemy via anime either. Knowledge gained with no effort is like handing a child a loaded weapon."

Gavriel cleared his throat. "Your idea? I believe you were going to explain how you could discover the identity of the necklace creator."

Kendrick shook his head. He would have Anne show him this anime about alchemy later. "Right, my idea. So basically, exactly what Anne said. If the person who created the necklaces could not contract help with a higher being, then they would be subject to the laws of equal exchange. If that's the case, I can easily trace it back to the spell caster."

"How?" Elizabeth asked.

"Oh! Because the caster would have had to offer up something of equal value, something they themselves owned. I bet it was their own soul," Anne suggested.

Kendrick stared down at her in amazement. "Are you sure you're human? So far, you have understood every aspect of magic I have discussed."

Anne nodded. "Of course I am, but I have always loved reading books about fantasy, playing RPGs, and watching anime." She smiled up at him.

"That is so cool! You know way more than I do about this stuff, and I've been living here for months. I bet you like Doctor Who, too." Meryn grinned.

Anne shook her head. "Sorry, no."

Meryn's smile disappeared.

Elizabeth chuckled. "It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Wait!" Meryn stood. "You mean you don't watch Doctor Who? Like, at all?"

Anne shook her head again. "Nope."

"Does not compute! Does not compute!" Meryn waved her hands in the air.