Times Like These Read online

  "Only if you have not found a new prince, my Liege."

  "It will take many hundreds of daers to raise a new prince, you know that, Eldstaden."

  Eldstaden nodded. "That is true, but if you are not here, then he cannot challenge you, can he?"

  King Sladd sat back down on his throne. "So you also think I should go through to the jagtområder sooner, rather than later?"

  "Yes, my Liege. It would allow you to gather a great deal of power quickly in case King Flik should get ambitious. Further, you might find yourself a new prince in those lands. With so much food running about, no doubt there will be an abundance of suitable candidates to be found among the feast?"

  King Sladd thought about that. Normally he would wait until his princes and their lords had subdued the land and the prey before he showed up. Give them their heads and allow them to burn off the resentments that often festered between the hunts.

  Perhaps Ansigt had been right, that a bold move was called for when faced with so much food. It only made sense to him that the fight would be harder, because the numbers as well as the rewards were so much greater.

  Apparently great enough that even princes were having trouble prevailing. Obviously this feast of legend wasn't just meant for them to gorge themselves upon while growing fat and lazy. It was obviously meant to separate the weak from the strong. If he went through now, he could show them all how to deal with these lions and their ilk, and in the process of doing so, raise up princes of such power that he could kill Flik and take his princes away.

  And after that, who knows? Did there really need to be so many kings and queens after all?

  "Summon Talt to me. I want you to write up his task in such a way that he will believe we are unintentionally doing him the boon you suggested. Once he is gone, I will start preparations to take my house and my own lords into the jagtområder."

  "As you wish, my Liege!"

  Early Morning Washington

  "Mr. President, we just received reports of a nuclear explosion ninety-two miles northeast of Reno."

  The president yawned and, propping himself up in bed, he looked at the clock. It was a fair bit past five in the morning.

  "Did you contact Sean?" he asked, looking back at the Secret Service agent.

  "He's unavailable, Sir."

  "What about his wife, err," the president fumbled a moment as he tried to remember which one was senior, "Rachel?"

  "No one is available, Sir. General Baker is reaching out to his people there, but so far, no one seems to know anything."

  The president sat up in bed, swung his legs over to the side, and put his feet on the floor.

  "How big an explosion?"

  "Approximately one kiloton, Sir."

  "We don't have anything that small in our arsenal, do we?"

  "I wouldn't know for sure, but no, I don't think so, Sir."

  The president nodded slowly. "Okay. Call Mr. Bryson, and call director Kensington as well. Get Jill from homeland, and Baker from the Pentagon. Tell them we're having a meeting in thirty minutes; send out helicopters if you need to get them here on time."

  "That soon, Sir?"

  "Everyone in the world knows we're fighting a demon incursion in Reno. They're all watching it with their own satellites and whatever else they have. Right now I suspect every other head of state is also being woken up and told that we just set off a nuke.

  "It would be nice if I had some answers for them when they start calling, don't you think so?"

  "Yes, Sir! I'll get right on it, Sir!"

  The president watched the agent run from the room and shook his head as he looked around for his slippers and tried to recall the man's name.

  "Some days," he grumbled.

  "You wanted to be president," his wife grumbled from the other side of the bed.

  "That's true, that's very true. At least it hasn't been boring!"

  Finding his slippers, he made his way to the shower. By the time he'd gotten dressed and strode into the Oval Office, there was a fresh pot of coffee sitting on the coffee table.

  As he sat down at the head of the table in his favorite overstuffed chair, one of his aides handed him a cup of coffee, while another placed a plate with a cheese Danish on the small table on his left. Two much larger plates with pastries on them were set on the low table that sat between opposing couches. He was just finishing up his Danish when General Baker came in, looking quite crisp in his uniform. Jill from Homeland was on his heels; she didn't look as fresh, well groomed, or very awake yet, and grabbed a cup of coffee as she dropped down onto one of the couches to the right of the coffee table.

  Director Kensington and Carl showed up next. Both looked considerably more awake, but Kensington was wearing slacks and a regular button-down shirt instead of his usual suit, while Carl was in jeans with a t-shirt.

  The president turned to his chief of staff, who was wide-awake and dressed in a suit. Then again, he usually started his day at six, and it was now fifteen minutes after.

  "Josh, where's Mister Bryson?"

  "Still en route. They had to drive to a nearby field to meet the helicopter. They should be here in five, ten minutes tops."

  "What happened?" Kensington asked.

  "Someone, hopefully Sean, set off a large explosion to the north of Reno at the location of the demon's gateway," General Baker said.

  "Did it destroy the gate?" Jill asked hopefully.

  "No, it did not."

  "Mores the pity," she said with a sigh and picked up a pastry.

  "They've also launched a major counterattack against the demons there," General Baker said, continuing. "From what I've picked up so far, none of this was planned, it just happened. I'm unable to reach Sean's generals, or any of his leaders for that matter. It seems they're maintaining a communications blackout."

  "There's been a development with the lions," Carl said, looking at his boss, who nodded as everyone turned to look at him.

  "What kind of development?" the president asked.

  "Apparently they came back."

  "Came back?" Jill asked, looking confused.

  "From what we've gathered," Kensington said, picking up the conversation, "most of the lions don't live on Earth; we're not even sure if they're actually 'alive'. They all live or exist someplace else. On another plane or something. We're not quite clear on that, and neither are the magic users. The lions haven't been forthcoming with any information on that either."

  "Why am I not surprised?" Jill grumbled.

  "They're gods, Madam Secretary," Carl said with an embarrassed look. "You can't expect them to tell us what they're up to."

  "Anyway," Kensington spoke up again. "They're coming back. A lot of them, maybe all of them. Rumor puts it somewhere around thirty thousand of them have appeared in Reno and have been splitting up and traveling to where the other gates are."

  "And this has what to do with this morning's explosion?"

  "Explosion?" Carl said looking confused.

  "Hello everyone! Good morning, Mr. President!" Steve said, walking into the room in his hybrid form, wearing a pair of shorts and nothing else. Tisha was right behind him, and was also in her hybrid form and similarly dressed. "Excuse our appearance. Now, as for that explosion, it's quite simple."

  "Oh?"

  "Sean and the lions are invading."

  "Invading?" the president said, sitting up. "Invading what?"

  "Why, the Onderwereld, of course," Steve said with an outrageous grin. "Seems they've had enough of these demons always coming here and messing up their home. So they've decided to do something about it, and they launched an attack through one of the gateways less than an hour ago."

  The president noticed the shocked expressions on everyone's faces.

  "Why weren't we told?" Jill asked.

  "Because this is lion business, not human," Tisha said, and yawned, looking even more sleepy than Jill had when she showed up. "The explosion was simply a diversion," she added after her jaws snapped
closed.

  "Why weren't we told about the lions returning?" the president asked.

  Steve put a hand on Tisha's arm, stopping her from making another curt response.

  "Mr. President, you have to understand, the lions don't want anyone knowing how many of them there are, where they are, or even what they're up to. I don't understand the reasons for it, but that's just one of their many secrets. They didn't tell anyone they were coming back because they didn't want to cause a panic; they're not here looking to take over or run things. They're here to fight the demons and defend the Earth."

  "Why?" Jill asked.

  "Because we own it, it's ours," Tisha said with a smirk.

  Steve gave Tisha a stern look and she blushed, causing several of the others to exchange a surprised glance.

  "Look," Steve said before anyone could reply, "think of the lions as absentee landlords. They don't like to mess around much in human affairs because they like what we've done with the place. So they hang out at their favorite resort, work on their tans, and keep a few agents around to keep an eye on things.

  "Suddenly a problem crops up with an invasive pest, one the tenants can't deal with, so they slap it down each time it becomes a problem. But this time, the pests come back stronger than ever, and suddenly they decide, rather than just keep slapping it down, they'll go to the source and deal with it.

  "That's what's going on, to put it in more human terms."

  "Steve, even I find that explanation to be condescending," Carl said.

  "Well, if I let her explain it," Steve said with a nod towards Tisha, "you're all going to be a hell of a lot more insulted. Look," Steve said, grabbing Tisha's hand and dragging her around to the end of the couch on the left side of the table, which had the most open space, and dropped down into it, pulling her down next to him.

  "I've discussed the whole thing with her, I've heard every story, every reason, and a lot of it just comes down to 'because we felt like it'. They're old; their leaders are even older. They take the long view, the several thousand years from now view.

  "Well, Sean got pissed about having to deal with all this by himself, and he's young, so he doesn't take the long view. So he had words with his boss, and they had a big fight, and the end result is now they're all off helping Sean try to find a way to kill all the demons."

  "They had a fight?" the president asked, looking shocked.

  "Yup, real knock down drag out," Tisha said with a grin. "No one's punched Dad in the face in a real, real long time! Mom told me they really had it out."

  "I hope Sean's okay?"

  "He's fine," Steve said with a dismissive gesture. "But the point is, this sudden change in strategy is because Sean isn't willing to accept the number of deaths the lions were perfectly fine with, because they take the long view and Sean doesn't. So in a few short days they decided to change the way they were doing everything."

  "Besides which," Tisha said with another sleepy yawn, "we know they still have spies in the government, as well as other places. We didn't want anyone to find out what our plans were until after the fact."

  "Still, it would have been nice to have been told in advance," the president told her.

  "The blast was an unplanned diversion," Steve told them again. "Chad's taking advantage of the situation to push the demons back, for now."

  "So this was another case of the 'wrath of the lions'?" Kensington asked.

  Steve nodded. "Yes."

  "Jim," the president asked, looking over at General Baker, "do we have any nuclear weapons that small?"

  "No, we don't, Sir."

  "Then we're left with the problem of what to tell the Russians, the Chinese, and even our own allies. I suspect there've already been more than a few requests about what happened this morning, Josh?"

  The chief of staff nodded. "I think we've got at least two from every ally and major power now, Sir."

  "Might as well tell them the truth," Tisha said with a shrug.

  "I'm not sure they'll believe me," the president replied.

  "With everything that's happened in the last year, I'm not sure that'll be a problem," Tisha said with a toothy grin.

  "As long as we're here, Mr. President," Steve interrupted. "There is something else I want to discuss."

  "That would be?"

  "We're sending teams around to the other VA hospitals, and with the help of the Pentagon, we're tracking down many of the disabled vets."

  "Yes, I know, Jim here has informed me of that, and we're all very grateful."

  "Yes, well, I want to organize those people into a sort of 'home guard' and have them stand duty one day a week in their hometowns."

  "Why?"

  "Because we need someone who can quickly respond to any djevels that might make their way out here? We've got all these experienced soldiers who are now able to stand up and fight them. I'd rather not send them to the 'front', so to speak; they did their time, after all. But we could sure use them in the cities and the towns."

  The president nodded. "I see your point. Jim?"

  "I'll make it happen, Sir."

  "Thank you. Now unless we have any other business, you're all dismissed. Oh, and before you go, I would appreciate it very much if any reports do come back from the lions who are invading the demons' home, they could find their way onto my desk?"

  "I'll see what I can do, Mr. President," Steve said as he and Tisha got up, bowed, and quickly left the office.

  "I don't think you're going to be getting any reports, Sir," General Baker said with a chuckle.

  "What was that bit about them 'owning' the world?" Jill asked.

  "It's true, they own it," Carl said with a lopsided grin.

  "How can they own it? They got a bill of sale or something? I'd love to see them try and prove it belongs to them!"

  "You're looking at this the wrong way, Ma'am," Josh spoke up, surprising everyone, as he'd been very quiet until now."

  "And how's that?"

  "They left their little paradise to come here and fight in a war because the planet belongs to them. However much you may find their claim to be ridiculous, I believe it bears pointing out that without them, we'd all be food by now."

  "So in short, Jill," General Baker said with a laugh, "don't go looking a gift horse, or in this case lion, in the mouth."

  Jill shook her head and sighed. "Okay, okay. Still, it rankles me a bit at times. They're all so young."

  "Sean and Steve may be young," Kensington warned, "but don't forget that Tisha isn't. She's older than all of us. The same is true of their leader, whom she just told us is her father. From what I've gathered, speaking to Sean and Duncan, he's also a lot older than all of us."

  "How much older?"

  "I'm not sure anybody knows; it's kind of hard to believe someone could be over a hundred centuries old, it staggers the imagination. But recall that the elves and the dwarves have both said that when they got here, they found the lions already here."

  "Okay, okay, I get it. Don't go pissing off the lions or they might start asking for back rent." Jill shook her head and looked around. "I wish I could call in sick and go back to bed."

  #

  "We need to find food," the First growled and dropped down onto his butt. They were all in animal form, as it made traveling a lot easier.

  "Yes, food!" Peg grumbled from Sean's back, where she'd been riding for a while now.

  Sean looked over at Estrella; neither of them were hungry.

  "You want to know why they're getting hungry and we're not?" Estrella said to him.

  "I'm surprised by it. I'd have thought we'd have lost whatever 'food' we'd gained when we went back home."

  "Who cares?" the First said, looking over at the two of them. "The rest of us are hungry, and we better find food now before we're all starving like Peg is."

  "The only way to get food is by killing djevels," Estrella warned.

  "Fine, take us to a small town and let's wipe it out."

  "All the tow
ns here have a lord in them, who rules them and has several powerful demons that help him keep order in his town."

  "Noted. Now how close is the nearest one?"

  Estrella sat and pondered that a moment. They'd been walking at an easy pace for the last several hours, and she'd been making sure to avoid the towns she knew of. They were in Prince Spis' lands. He was a moderately powerful prince with a fair deal of lords, almost none of whom were extremely big. Spis had the most lords of any of the princes, but most of his were the least powerful.

  Estrella had always found that an interesting approach. If Spis lost a lord, he didn't lose as much power as the others did, so the other princes quickly learned not to prey on his lords, because in a one to one exchange, he always came out ahead.

  "We're in the northern part of Prince Spis' lands; he borders the mountains. I'm not intimately familiar with the area, but I think there's one off to the northeast, and another to the northwest of us. I'm not sure which is smaller."

  "Pick the closer one, I'm hungry," the First grumbled.

  "Okay, follow me then."

  Getting back up, they all followed Estrella through the woods.

  "I don't think I'll ever get used to these woods," Peym grumbled. "Black trees with black leaves just don't seem right."

  "Hopefully we won't be here long enough that you have to," Libby agreed.

  "In some ways it reminds me of my home, but not in others," Cali said as they walked.

  "Oh?" Roxy asked. "How's that?"

  "Well, home is very much dominated by blacks and whites. Many of the trees are covered in bark that is white, like your birch trees. Then there are those that are black, and of course in the winter the snows are all very white. But during the long nights of winter things get very dark, very black. The only colors you find in the winter during those long nights are inside the homes and the manors."

  "Well, at least it's not all that cold here," Roxy said with a smile.

  "Truly," Cali said, smiling back. "This place also seems to lack the peaceful feeling of the woods back home."

  "You know, the First mentioned earlier that there is a lot of negative energy here. I wonder if that is from the djevels having lived here so long? If they corrupted it?"