Raven stirred restlessly, the sheets covering her bruised and pained body soaked in her perspiration as demons chased her without relent through her dreams. Creatures of darkness and shadow, the demons danced between beings half-animal, half man, seemingly drawn from the depths of her racial memory to become legends given flesh and blood. There danced Wendigo, the Master of Darkness and Evil, and the eater of human flesh, his fangs already red with her life's blood. Behind him cavorted Sasquatch, his shambling minion, ready to rend her limbs from her body with his great hairy hands.
And around them both, twisting about with a body that was unnaturally lithe and flexible was the Trickster himself, Coyote as he laughed outrageously at the pain and agony that his demons were causing this woman of the First Nations. A woman that, while she had stepped beyond her heritage to become a lone gunman, had never forgotten the West Coast people she had sprung from, the Haida.
As if in mockery of Raven's proud warrior heritage and her clan totem of the majestic raven, bringer of wisdom to the First Nations of the West Coast and the source of her lone gunman name, Coyote hopped into the air with a laugh. And instantly he transformed into the massive black bird of the coastal forests.
But, instead of having eyes dark with intelligence and cunning, this raven bore red eyes of malevolent intent, its long beak dripping with blood. And the laugh had become a caw, a harsh, croaking sound that sent a chill of fear racing down Raven's spine. Wings sweeping through the air, it moved towards her with a dark purpose.
Before it could reach her, however, a ripple of psionic bioenergy washed over the dark shape, transforming it once more. Swiftly it retook human shape, growing legs and sprouting arms in place of wings. And then, with a final flare of psionically generated light, it became human and stepped into view.
With a chill, Raven realized it was her fellow lone gunman that now faced her, Coyote, the smile on her fellow Native American cold and cruel. In that moment she knew it wasn't coincidence that she was named after the Trickster, who had tormented her but a heart beat before.
"We just want to talk, Raven," the slender lone gunman purred in a voice that Raven now recognized as being full of deceit and perversity. "Surely this whole situation between Katengaur and Mordecai can be solved peacefully, don't you think?"
Then the psionic storm was raining down on her and Raven felt her shields, which had snapped into place at the first sign of trouble, get battered down by the combined attentions of no less than four hardwires. She didn't stand a chance. 'May the spirits of Killer Whale, Bald Eagle, Bear and Raven give me strength!' she thought darkly as her shields fell away. And she braced herself for the blow that would tear away her consciousness and send her spiraling away into the darkness.
With a gasp Raven's eyes fluttered open, her body still aching with the remembrance of that blow, searing and ravaging as it tore through her and snuffed out her ability to use psionic energies and abilities.
"Just relax, Raven," a soft voice came from somewhere to the Native American hardwire's right. Eyes narrowing slightly, she shifted her head until the blonde head of Jeriko came into view. As she felt Raven's eyes roll onto her, Jeriko smiled.
"You're no longer in danger. We've brought you to a safe place!"
"Jeriko?" Raven rasped, her voice a hoarse whisper and her head abruptly pounding as she tried to understand what was going on. "You're ... you're alive? I thought you died in Duchesne's ambush!"
Jeriko's broad smile widened slightly and Raven started as she caught sight of Jeriko's werewolf fangs.
"I did," the Swedish hardwire admitted in a soft voice.
"You ... you did??" Raven whispered in reply, confusion and astonishment rolling through her in a wave. But before she could pursue things, Mordecai's face slide into her field of vision. A wave of relief swept through the Native American hardwire at the sight of the familiar face, which quickly flashed her a bright smile.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Raven," the big man said, his voice tinted by warmth and relief.
"I might say the same thing to you," Raven quickly returned, her voice strengthening as she used it. Her confidence too took an abrupt upward swing at seeing the man in black and she felt her confusion slipping away.
Her eyes switched over to the smiling Jeriko.
"To both of you. Congratulations, Jeriko on your mysterious defeat of Death. Apparently with some improvements, if my eyes haven't deceived me."
Her growing smile then vanished as she felt seriousness descend onto her like a grim cloak.
"By your presence here, you've managed to either avoid Katengaur's ambush at the airport or, somehow, you managed to defeat her and her allies."
"The second option would be closest to the truth," Mordecai replied, reaching out to lightly press his hand to Raven's forehead. Despite not seeing the familiar flare of psionic energy brightening the big man's aura, which she easily could see in confirmation to the restoration of her own psionic abilities, Raven felt the warming surge of a healing wave wash through her.
Immediately the female hardwire's body thrilled to the return of strength that filled her every fiber in an instant. Startled once again by the sudden and unexpected wave of healing, she gasped out loud and sat up in bed, eyes wide.
"How ... I ...? I don't understand; you've managed to somehow heal my burnout and now give me strength?" she husked in astonishment. "Without using psionic energies?"
"Oh, I used psionic energies alright." Mordecai grinned openly, drawing his hand back as Jeriko reached for a neat pile of clothing that was sitting on a small table at the foot of Raven's bed, the only two pieces of furniture in the plainly appointed and rather small bedroom she now found herself in.
"But not quite the type of psionic energy you're used to dealing with." He accepted the bundle of clothing from Jeriko with a nod before turning to hand it to a stunned Raven, who was only now realizing that she wore only her underwear beneath the thin blanket that barely covered her.
"I'm afraid, however, that any explanation is going to have to wait. I healed you because I need you up and on your feet. I need you to contact Avalon and the rest of the independent nations here, in Calgary. I want to bring them in and talk to them before my hunting parties start sweeping through the streets!"
A handful of moments passed before Raven paused in the sipping of the hot liquid filling the mug cupped in her hands. Looking over the rim of the mug with her dark brown eyes she surveyed Mordecai and Jeriko, both dressed as she now was in the standard lone gunmen black combat gear.
To her practiced eye, she could see the subtle differences that now marked the two lone gunmen hardwires, both long time friends and associates. The big man, clothed as always in black, wasn't physically different; he was as massively powerful as he always had been. But psionically and psychologically, there was something about him, a darkness that seemed to be coiled around him like a dragon of soot, charcoal and thick mist, waiting to strike. That darkness was a grim and deadly purpose that wouldn't be denied. Not by any power on Earth, anyway.
As for Jeriko, the blonde Swedish hardwire had always been fit and trim as far back as Raven could remember. Now, however, Jeriko could only be described as muscular; a lithe and almost aggressively poised counterpoint to the man in black's brooding power. The new body, with its obviously increased strength and speed combined with the fangs that Raven had espied back in the bedroom to make the Native American hardwire wonder just what the hell Jeriko had done to herself to create such 'improvements'! And how she managed to avoid being dead, despite Duchesne's best attempts at making her so.
Going beyond the physical, Raven quickly noted that the same darkness purpose that clung to the man in black, also coiled lazily around Jeriko. Sheathed as they were in black, Mordecai and Jeriko were twins, psionic weapons of deadly intent chiseled from raw obsidian. And, for a brief moment, Raven found herself actually fearing them. The two of them, speaking in low whispers to each other as Mordecai held a report of some sort in his left hand, were havoc incarnate, just waiting for their moment to be loosed on the world!
With a blink, the deadly vision was gone and Raven was looking at two old friends readying themselves to talk to the handful of psionic nation members that had agreed to meet with them in a few minutes. But, in that same instant, Raven realized that the vision of latent destruction that she had glimpsed was a true vision, sent to her by the spirits of her ancestors. The two psionics that now stood before her would be ultimately responsible for ravaging the world, all in the name of protecting the Human Race from destruction.
'I wonder if the price is too high?' she silently pondered, resuming her consumption of the fluid in the mug, black coffee by the taste of it, no sugar. The bitter taste suited her dark mood perfectly. 'Or if any of us will survive the day of annihilation? All in the name of saving the Human Race?'
Savagely Raven stuffed her dark thoughts into the back of her head as she put the mug down onto the table top in front of her. This was definitely not the time to be considering such thoughts! The Brotherhood was real and was out there, preparing to launch its Armageddon Project that would see the genocidal obliteration of the Normal Human race, possibly setting off the greatest war that Humanity had ever witnessed or experienced. And, despite her misgivings, they had to be stopped. Her conscience and her morals both demanded it of her!
Hearing the ceramic mug being set down on the table's wooden top, Mordecai and Jeriko both looked up and over at Raven.
"Ready?" the man in black asked lightly, as if trying to determine whether Raven wanted to join them in going to see a movie, instead of traveling to Camelot where they were about to meet the independent psi nations in a congress that would change the face of Calgary forever.
Raven sighed and pushed herself back from the table, her chair scraping on the kitchen floor's ceramic tiles with a harsh rasp.
"About as ready as I'm ever going to be, considering that a mere three hours ago I was wondering if I would live or not."
"A progressive attitude," Mordecai deadpanned and, despite the overwhelming sensation of her impending doom, Raven grinned.
"I like to stay cutting edge, despite my upbringing," she replied, forcing a lightness into her voice and both Mordecai and Jeriko chuckled softly.
"That you do," Mordecai said with a grin of his own. He then glanced down at the heavy chronometer he wore on his right wrist. "And, in approximately eight minutes, you'll be so cutting edge, you won't know whether to jump or run!"
"I can't wait!" Raven said with a laugh. Then, once again the jocularity left her as a cloak of gloom wrapped itself around her. "So, how are we going to do this thing? Gateway? I'd think that a teleportal at this point in the game would reveal to what's left of the Brotherhood here in the city, that somebody powerful has arrived. Namely you two."
Mordecai frowned as Jeriko folded her arms beneath her breasts.
"Actually, no, they wouldn't see one of our portals." A faint smile returned to his lips for a brief instant as something passed through his mind at that instant. "Again, more of that unusual psionic energy that I mentioned to you earlier." The smile vanished. "Still, caution is best served in this situation. We'll be driving in my truck. It'll take longer but we'll be able to maintain both a low profile and a higher degree of control on the transition."
Raven nearly sat back down into the chair she had just vacated as Mordecai's words rolled around in her head. Caution? 'I thought Mordecai didn't even know what that word meant!' she thought, astonished as she stared at the big man. Who merely smiled back, as if reading her confusion, seeing her puzzled thoughts tumbling wildly inside her mind.
But if the big man wanted to play strategy and tactics, she didn't see anything wrong with that. Especially with all the carnage she had been witness to in the last couple of months!
"Driving," she said with a lifted eyebrow. "I don't think I've ever ridden in one of the Normals' motor vehicles. This should be an experience."
"Especially the way this man drives!" Jeriko said with a grin and Mordecai laughed out loud.
"You two can critique my driving later." He chuckled. "Right now we need to get going. We have just enough time to reach Camelot before the independents get there."
Stepping outside of the building that the small apartment that the three had been in, Raven was only a little surprised to see two Normals waiting for them beside a green, late model SUV sitting in the parking garage. Both straightened up as they saw the three black-clad lone gunmen appear, the taller of the two, a redheaded female flashing a quick smile of greeting as they approached.
"It's about time!" the female said in a low, almost sensuously husky voice that, despite its inherent sexuality was hard and professional. "I was about to send Duffy in after you! We'll barely make that house you want to go to in this traffic, as it is."
Mordecai grinned.
"Don't worry, detective," he replied. "I was well aware of the time." He glanced over at Raven. "Raven, I'd like to introduce you to Detectives McMaster and Duffy, both with the Calgary Police Department."
"They're ... Normals," Raven noted uncertainly, looking at first the hands the two Normals had extended with a pair of smiles then up into their faces.
"Not as normal as you think," the male Normal replied, a rumpled looking fellow nearly a head shorter than his companion with the distinct accent of Great Britain on his tongue as he leaned slightly forward to give her a wink and a broad smile.
"I can vouch for that," Mordecai said dryly. "Don't worry, Raven. These two have been thoroughly briefed and are well aware of the Shield. McMaster and Duffy have been serving as liaisons between the Normals and myself for some time and present no risk to the Shield. They've been working with me to establish resources in the Normal world that we can utilize in our drive to stop the Armageddon Project from getting off the ground without compromising the Shield itself."
"I see," Raven replied, taking the man's hand after a brief pause to mull over what Mordecai had said.
"A pleasure," the man said immediately, giving Raven's hand a light squeeze before dropping it. "I'm Cal Duffy."
"And I'm Dee McMaster," the redhead added, also taking Raven's hand and giving it a slightly harder squeeze before letting it go. "Welcome to the team." Then she was looking over at Mordecai with an impatient frown. "Can we get going now?"
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