Before Wazad reinforced the barrier around the garden where Tolot slept in his tree to keep him contained and undetectable to anyone looking for him through arcane means, and before she opened a portal next to Paul’s large truck next to the lake where it was parked, she sat inside a room of the Museum that was optimal for deep concentration. The room was small with no windows and it was completely dark inside with the lights off and the door closed. Gregory stood in the darkness while Wazad sat cross legged on the floor. Soon, her body illuminated the room in a golden glow that Gregory couldn’t stare directly at. Before long, the form of Issac Washington, the Master of Universal Arcana, took shape in the glow and Wazad stood with Gregory to speak with the golden hologram she’d created.
“It’s good to see familiar faces,” Issac said. “I’ve been on Druont for months, I can’t wait to get back.”
“I hope you’ve been met with kindness,” Wazad said.
“For sure, the Druintes are very different from humans, but they’ve listened to our predicament and they’ve been eager to help. Though, I’m sorry to say, they know very little of magic, they are scientists and they severed their connection to the arcana of their homeworld. The druinte who kidnapped Paul and changed him, killed him if you ask me, that druinte knows a lot about the razews and the authorities here are forcing his cooperation in my investigation into the quantum link between our planets. I think the guardians of the quantum bridge who helped early Earthlings seal the easy passage between our worlds, were razews. The razew are apex predators, they are extremely intelligent and the Druintes know very little about their culture since they fled the wilds of this planet. But it seems the razew are experts of the arcana of this world and the universe. I’m attempting to make contact with the razew of this planet, but it is dangerous and I’m having trouble gathering others to join me. But the only way to make sure this doesn’t happen again is to find something here to guard it, and the Druintes don’t have enough arcane knowledge to do it.”
“That all sounds like bad news,” Gregory said. “It’s bad enough these things are shapeshifting monsters that can eat people in a gulp, they know magic too?”
“From what I gather, they are very good at it,” Issac said with a nod.
“Paul and the lightning boys are on the trail of the razews here,” Wazad explained. “We think they may be consorting with witches.”
“That cannot be good,” Issac said seriously. “Have you talked to the Morrigan? She should able to help with witches.”
“I haven’t been able to reach her by any means,” Wazad said. “None of the deities have responded to me, and my portals to the moon don’t work. I think something is happening, something serious. If you can’t be here to help, we can deal with it. I wonder if you will allow Gregory some magic to help me.”
Issac nodded slowly and stroked his chin.
“No,” he said after a while. “Gregory has shown incredible progress, but his education is important. Until he fulfills my requirements, he will not wield his magics. I know someone else who can help you. Zacchaeus. He owes me one.”
“The man possessed by the Needy who brought these things here?” Wazad asked with frustration.
“I’ve met him, he has real potential. He doesn’t control the Needy exactly, but he bargains with it and it listens to him. Take him with you to investigate the witches. Let me know if he’s someone we can trust. Maybe we can flip the Needy to our side.”
Zacchaeus was on the coast of North Carolina, near the city of Wilmington. He’d entered an axe throwing competition and he waited patiently on his mark for the game to start. When the referee signaled, he threw a kill shot, waited for his opponent next to him to complete his throw, then he walked to the wall to pull his axe out of the target.
The venue was outside and there were bleachers on one side that was packed with spectators cheering on Zacchaeus’s opponent who was a local professional with many championships under his belt. Zacchaeus entered the tournament that attracted the best in the area with it’s thousand dollar prize, and Zacchaeus was sure that he could find his murderer at a competition like that one.
Since his return to his home universe, Zacchaeus is still in possession of the device that allows him to sublime to another universe, though he rarely uses it, and he has been looking for the razew called Raza in his human form and all of his razew friends. Zacchaeus learned that they had reproduced, and in addition to the four that he’d help to bring to Earth, there were six new ones that were almost the same size as their parents. And he’d learned that there was another razew that he’d never encountered somewhere else in the world. Issac Washington had told him that shortly after he’d returned to his home universe.
Zacchaeus threw four more kill shots to the amazement of the crowd. After swapping positions with his opponent, he threw five more kill shots and the crowd celebrated his perfect game.
“You got one hell of a throw,” Zacchaeus’s opponent said after the awards presentation and the two sat in a nearby bar. “You ain’t from around here, I reckon?”
“I’m from Mississippi,” Zacchaeus said. “I’m out this way visiting friends, heard about the tournament and thought I’d try my luck.”
“You been throwing long? Your form is different than people around here.”
“Not axes, really, but I can throw anything. My grandmama taught me. She can throw a playing card and slice a fly in half. I seen her do it.”
“That’s impressive if it’s true,” the man chuckled. “Though, if she throws better than you, I guess it’s not that hard to believe.”
“All the axe throwers around here throw the same? Y’all practice together and everything?”
“Most people that enter competitions and stuff, yeah.”
Zacchaeus picked up his bag from the floor and set it on his lap as he rummaged through it. Eventually, he pulled out an axe and handed it to the man.
“That look familiar?” Zacchaeus asked. “I found it over at the throwing range off the highway. It looks kind of like yours, impressive, thought somebody might be missing it.”
“It does look like mine,” the man said as he inspected it closely. “I don’t recognize it, though. Maybe the guy that makes mine would recognize it. It’s a hardware store on the edge of town, ask for Earl, tell him I sent you. Awful good throwing today, buddy.”
The man returned the axe and the two shook hands before he left the bar.
The axe had been used in a murder that involved one of the razews who was undercover as a high ranking member of the military stationed at Camp Lejeune. Zacchaeus believes that the razew hired the killer to maintain his cover, and Zacchaeus hoped that finding the killer would give him intel on the razew.
Zacchaeus finished his drink and put the axe back into his bag. Just as he turned to stand up from his stool, lines of energy began to materialize in the space before him and he wondered if Issac Washington was creating a portal. But when the oval portal was complete and everyone in the bar marveled at it, no one stepped through, and instead, a strong arm reached through and grabbed Zacchaeus, then pulled him through.
“We have to get in touch with their parents soon,” Gregory said to Wazad. They leaned against Paul Young’s truck that was parked next to a lake. Ivan and Clay were curled up asleep in sleeping bags on the truck bed. The moon was bright over the lake and stars dotted the sky.
“They seem to be handling the separation well,” Wazad said. “Once we know for sure they’re not a danger, I’ll be happy to return them to their families. They are adorable.”
“Where is this Paul guy?” Zacchaeus asked. He’d been peeing behind a bush and then he stood annoyed in front of Wazad and Gregory.
“He’s tracking,” Wazad said. “He’ll be back soon and then we can go after the witches.”
“I was in the middle of something when you snatched me out of that bar,” Zacchaeus said.
“And this is more important. Don’t worry, your investigation will be there when we’re done. And the Master is grateful for your participation. He said you owed him one.”
Zacchaeus grumbled something under his breath and he seemed to talk to himself for about a minute.
“Let Issac know I want to talk to him when he’s back on the planet. We need to iron out who owes who favors and why. But if there’s razews here, I’m glad to do my part. The Needy is excited to eat them, so let’s find these witches and then get to the razews.”
“I thought the boys were gonna consume the razews,” Gregory said.
“That was the plan,” Wazad said, “but we’ll have to fuse them again for that to happen. If the Needy wants them, he can have them.”
Just then, Paul landed next to the truck like he’d jumped from a height.
“What the hell?” Zacchaeus exclaimed. “Where did you come from?”
“They’re not here,” Paul said, “but they’re on the way.”
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