covered in giant holes and run-off channels. "You know how they find them. If you want to blame someone for forcing this upon you, you need to blame yourself, or your unicorn friend. Seriously, if I was going to do some crazy breeding program I'd be at the next house."
I lost my hold on the door, but grabbed for it again as I nearly flew out of the seat, even with the seatbelt on. "Then why did we check all of those other houses?"
He turned onto what passed for the main road out here. "We had to go past all of them before we could get to this house. We didn't want to tip them off if they were doing something naughty, and we knew we could control access to this next place. Besides, the place fits your unicorn's description perfectly. It's technically in Cherokee, but no one comes out here and the county line runs down the edge of the property."
We bumped along a bit further. "How much further is this place?"
"About two miles."
I stopped asking questions. I knew I would just look dumb. Every ditch, hole, and bump made me happier that I wasn't driving my car. Eventually we rolled to a stop behind the car in front of us. With trees and brush on each side of the dirt road there wasn't anywhere to pull off to and I thought we might be backing out. Again, I was grateful I hadn't driven.
"We'll do this like the other houses. One officer will talk to the owner. You're going poke around magically from a distance." Jerry walked me up to a point where I could barely see the run-down shack of a house through the woods. It would be difficult for anyone to see us.
Watching an officer walk up the steps, I started to look, sort of. Closing my eyes I let down my inner barriers and threw some magic in the direction of the house. I was hoping to stick my magic to anything with magic in the house. Once I'd found the magical objects, I could examine them more closely. My magic floated to the ground, and for a moment I thought it would just pass into the earth and dissipate. Then it stuck, not just a bit here and there, but all of it. Not only did it stick, something—or some things—started to pull the magic in, like it was eating my power. The pull on my power had me stumbling forward a step before I braced myself. I quickly reeled in as much of my power as I could and cut myself off from the rest. The loss of power hurt, leaving me tired and a bit unsteady, but it was a small price to pay to avoid being sucked in by whatever was in there.
My eyes popped open. "You need to get everyone in there now. Surround that place and go in. I don't know what's going on, but it's covered in magic and someone feeding off the energy of sacrifices."
Jerry studied me. "You're sure?"
"Yes."
Jerry started issuing orders and sending people to the house. Two officers took off, faster than humans could run, to the back of the house. Another two officers charged in the door, and the rest covered the perimeter. For one short moment nothing happened, then screams, crashes, and a gun firing three times shattered the quiet moment.
I was up and running as soon as the last shot was fired. I had really powerful healing charms with me and someone might need them. I burst through the door and saw chaos. Two officers had something pinned to the ground and were trying to cuff it. The third officer in the living room was holding his arm, swearing. I ran to him.
"What happened? Let me see."
He pulled his hand away from his arm long enough for me to see three deep slashes, and blood gushing out. "Damn thing got me with claws not long after I got inside. It was cutting up the," he looked sick, "person in the kitchen."
"Here, take this." I activated one of the major healing charms. "Press it against your arm." Knowing the charm would heal the damage, I left him standing against the wall and hurried into the kitchen. I nearly puked. It looked like it should have been a dwarf, but every inch of it was covered in shallow cuts. It was chained on top of the kitchen
I lost my hold on the door, but grabbed for it again as I nearly flew out of the seat, even with the seatbelt on. "Then why did we check all of those other houses?"
He turned onto what passed for the main road out here. "We had to go past all of them before we could get to this house. We didn't want to tip them off if they were doing something naughty, and we knew we could control access to this next place. Besides, the place fits your unicorn's description perfectly. It's technically in Cherokee, but no one comes out here and the county line runs down the edge of the property."
We bumped along a bit further. "How much further is this place?"
"About two miles."
I stopped asking questions. I knew I would just look dumb. Every ditch, hole, and bump made me happier that I wasn't driving my car. Eventually we rolled to a stop behind the car in front of us. With trees and brush on each side of the dirt road there wasn't anywhere to pull off to and I thought we might be backing out. Again, I was grateful I hadn't driven.
"We'll do this like the other houses. One officer will talk to the owner. You're going poke around magically from a distance." Jerry walked me up to a point where I could barely see the run-down shack of a house through the woods. It would be difficult for anyone to see us.
Watching an officer walk up the steps, I started to look, sort of. Closing my eyes I let down my inner barriers and threw some magic in the direction of the house. I was hoping to stick my magic to anything with magic in the house. Once I'd found the magical objects, I could examine them more closely. My magic floated to the ground, and for a moment I thought it would just pass into the earth and dissipate. Then it stuck, not just a bit here and there, but all of it. Not only did it stick, something—or some things—started to pull the magic in, like it was eating my power. The pull on my power had me stumbling forward a step before I braced myself. I quickly reeled in as much of my power as I could and cut myself off from the rest. The loss of power hurt, leaving me tired and a bit unsteady, but it was a small price to pay to avoid being sucked in by whatever was in there.
My eyes popped open. "You need to get everyone in there now. Surround that place and go in. I don't know what's going on, but it's covered in magic and someone feeding off the energy of sacrifices."
Jerry studied me. "You're sure?"
"Yes."
Jerry started issuing orders and sending people to the house. Two officers took off, faster than humans could run, to the back of the house. Another two officers charged in the door, and the rest covered the perimeter. For one short moment nothing happened, then screams, crashes, and a gun firing three times shattered the quiet moment.
I was up and running as soon as the last shot was fired. I had really powerful healing charms with me and someone might need them. I burst through the door and saw chaos. Two officers had something pinned to the ground and were trying to cuff it. The third officer in the living room was holding his arm, swearing. I ran to him.
"What happened? Let me see."
He pulled his hand away from his arm long enough for me to see three deep slashes, and blood gushing out. "Damn thing got me with claws not long after I got inside. It was cutting up the," he looked sick, "person in the kitchen."
"Here, take this." I activated one of the major healing charms. "Press it against your arm." Knowing the charm would heal the damage, I left him standing against the wall and hurried into the kitchen. I nearly puked. It looked like it should have been a dwarf, but every inch of it was covered in shallow cuts. It was chained on top of the kitchen
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