Ashley's Tale - Demon's World 05

Chapter 17

I woke in pain. My head was killing me. To my surprise I could reach my magic, so I healed myself. I slowly opened my eyes and I was lying in Harmon's arms and he was radiating concern, mixed with rage.

There was also some type of... field in the air. It stopped me when I tried to open a portal, or really do anything outside of my body. We were in what looked like a stone room with bars on it, it was some type of cell. My first fuzzy thought was I didn't think they had cells here. Then I heard that same dry voice.

"Behave Witch, and you may yet live." He patted a device outside the cell about the size of a cell phone and continued, "This little device should keep your powers contained in any event, so we don't have to constantly monitor you or cut off your power ourselves."

I sat up against the wall, uncomfortable with the intimate way Harmon had been holding me, mostly because I wasn't minding it at all. I was also never more scared in my life. No Witch understood the power the Elves had, or why we couldn't detect it. It was so disturbing my power could be taken at a whim. I took a deep breath to settle my emotions before speaking.

"What do you want?"

Harmon said, "Yes, explain to me why a five thousand year partnership was just betrayed."

The Elf sneered at Harmon, "Partnership? You were paying us to use you actually. When we first came upon the Demons they were a threat to us, worse, they were... are animals. We had our dimension blocked, but we still worried, then you came along with your high ideals, and made it easy. It didn't hurt that what we told you was actually true. But after a couple of hundred years we found ourselves not only safe, but with a good tool to destroy other dimensions who were a threat to us.

"Demons are pathetically easy to manipulate, we just dropped a frequency in the right ear and they ran off to conquer. Even after you stopped the wholesale slaughter, at least those dimensions were put back in the stone age, no longer a threat. You are probably wondering why I am telling you all this."

He turned his head and glared at me, "Because you took our favorite tool away. We don't want to risk our lives in other dimensions when we can have these animals do it for us. Except you stopped that. The reason I am telling you, is you need to understand the stakes. You will take your magic blockers and leave this dimension, be satisfied yours is safe from the Demons. If you do not, the first planet the Elves will attack will be yours, and I assure you, we are quite capable of it, blockers or not.

"Once the scourge of Witches is removed from the universe, and the pathetic remains of your people are struggling to survive the aftermath, we will simply remove the devices ourselves."

That... didn't make any sense. Yet, I couldn't read him at all to know what part was the truth, and what wasn't. But I was reminded of the saying, if you are going to bluff, bluff big. What I truly didn't understand is why he wanted me to remove the devices, which seemed where the threat was pushing me. I was pretty sure destroying my world was a bluff, but I couldn't figure out why they wouldn't just remove the enchantments themselves.

Their magic could detect and stop Witch magic. Couldn't it? Why bother to make me do it at all? Under my fear and confusion, I was intensely curious to know what their power was, could they truly not detect our magic? But that doesn't make sense either. I frowned.

And although I thought attacking my world was a bluff to force my hand, I had to admit that little device on the table was impressive. Just how technically advanced were the Elves? I was getting a headache as I started to think in circles.

"Can I think on that, and do you have any food?"

He growled, "A short time, I will not be very patient with you. You can eat, or die, when you make a decision, consider starvation as times up," he stomped out of the room and slammed the door.

Harmon sounded miserable, "I'm sorry, I had no idea."

He looked at me strangely as I frantically started checking all over my body, and when that failed, I checked Harmon's. I figured the Elves carried us in here. I didn't smile when I found one and at Harmon's questioning look I shook my head for silence and put the Elven hair in my mouth. With that field on, it would have to be inside my body.

It was a brazen move, one no Witch would normally take. After all if I tried to read the Elf, he would know immediately, so why bother trying. But that wasn't what I was going to do. I sat up, crossed my legs and fell deeply into my magic, slowing the world around me to a standstill. Then I started studying the Elf's DNA. I was a strong Witch when it came to life, always had been.

I wasn't sure how much time was passing, but I spent at least a subjective week going over and over the Elven DNA and I made a discovery that both seemed to be impossible and was extremely confusing.

The Elves had no magic at all. Not a drop of it.

Even more than that, the dimensional signature on the hair indicated it was far past the difference between the Demon world and Earth's, the magical field in that dimension would be almost non-existent. I could go there, and use magic, but I would never gain any more back than I had when I went there as far as I could tell. I could take it, but I wouldn't naturally get any back from sleeping or resting.

So how did the Elves detect and stop magic? They didn't, so what did that leave? Tech? That didn't seem likely with that device sitting in the corner, I felt nothing like that earlier, and didn't have access to internal magic either. So how did they do it?

I went back in the DNA, looking for anything else. It felt like weeks when I finally stumbled across something promising. I was sure I had already spent months and perhaps eight hours in real time. It had to do with the mind, it looked a little like the way a Witch's mind speech was set up, but more, so much more.

The Elves had mind powers, unrelated to magic. It was more like telepathy on steroids. I had to admire how well the Elves have lied all this time, never giving a clue their powers did not originate with magic to the other races.

I thought it all through and it seemed to make sense. They weren't blocking my magic, they were manipulating my mind to do it for them. Not only that, but in a way I could not detect, which was kind of freaking me out. I worried for a minute that meant they could use our minds to do actual magic, but dismissed that, they probably just knew enough of how it worked to get our own minds to turn it off.

Witch magic was subtle and required study, not to mention the expansion of our senses. However they probably could get some Demon magic to work, throwing fire around was easy.

It also meant they could read minds and I was suddenly very glad there were no Elves in the room right now, if there had been they would have stopped me. It also would explain why they can't find and turn off the enchantments in orbit, or any enchantment really, they can't manipulate magic, just the mind. That made me wonder why the lust magic from a succubus still worked on them...

Maybe they just hadn't been able to figure out the mechanics for it to turn it off?

The longer I thought about all they could do, the more I understood. Their amulets didn't work with the Demon magic to block automatically, it actually controlled their minds enough to direct protective magic. Hmm, how did that work without an Elf mind present to direct it? Maybe some technology disguised as magic? I remembered how I shied away from their amulets, and wondered what I would have discovered before now if I hadn't been afraid to look.

Enough of the speculation, the real question, the only question that counted was, is there any way for me to block access to my mind? And can I find out how before they come back?

Perhaps through some type of field I could create with magic, something that would scramble things for them?

There had to be a way, a frequency their brains worked on, something. I dove back into the DNA and studied it, trying to figure things out before they came in, and killed me for discovering their greatest secret and the key to their advantage over the rest of us.

I couldn't figure out a way to block their brainwaves, any field that did that would destabilize the brainwaves of any race and cause death. The field I needed wouldn't work as a shield either, it would just be bad. I wasn't too keen on the murder-suicide plan. So what did that leave?

Uneasily, I started delving into my own DNA, into the part that dealt with mind speech, and knowledge transfer, which strictly speaking, wasn't really magic in and of itself. I was looking for a way to both identify and block the Elves from invading my mind, I had no inclination to learn that skill, just how to block it out.

This was a somewhat desperate undertaking, and I wondered if it would make me a vegetable if I screwed up. This was ten steps past being able to control age by simply following the current DNA, this was actually wiring in new abilities. Well, if I died I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

I looked up again to check the room, still not back, and I took the time despite the risk to go over it painstakingly over and over again. I didn't believe it would interfere with my current abilities and magic, I would just be able to detect and block any telepathic intrusion from my Elven friends.

It actually wasn't that much of a change, Witches were already touch telepaths, often seeing surface thoughts when touching another, and we were powerful Empaths able to cover a large area for detecting emotions. The change was small, but I still hesitated despite every second risking death.

Fear drove me though, and I eventually took a deep breath and started changing my DNA, increasing the renewal speed of billions of cells as my new DNA template took shape. When I was done I released my magic. I didn't feel any different, and my power felt the same. I was still getting emotions, mostly worry from Harmon, but no thoughts. I couldn't know of course, if it had worked until an Elf tried to control me.

Worse, I couldn't put it off, because of the field. If they came in and failed to read my mind, and I was still unable to use my magic externally, they could still just kill me. I walked over to the bars, and using my shape shift ability thinned and made my arm long. Long enough to pick up the device and pull it through the bars.

I couldn't find the switch, and wondered if maybe it was controlled telepathically.

Harmon said, "What are you doing."

I sighed. "For good or ill, I am ending this now," and I threw the device into the brick wall. I was filled with satisfaction as it burst into small pieces.

I found myself being pulled into Harmon as he kissed me hard, and hungrily. After a few seconds I came to my senses and pushed him back.

"What was that about?"

He shrugged, "In case we die, I've wanted to do that for a while."

I shook my head and loosed my magic, the bars made an alarming sound as I crushed them into a huge iron ball, then rammed the door down with it.

I asked, "Where are we, do you know?"

He nodded, "This castle is old, this room used to be used to hold and torture an enemy to death, it was dishonorable and something I put a stop to."

"Can you get us back to the dining hall then? I want to kill the enchantment before we fight if possible, I don't want any Elves getting away knowing what I know. If that makes sense."

He snorted. "I have no idea what you know, so no it doesn't make sense, but follow me."

I was following him down the hall when I started cackling like a loon. He looked back at me as if worried I was losing it.

I said feeling quite silly, "The pressure of the situation has made me stupid, no need to sneak up there at all."

I took his hand, opened a portal to the dining room, and we stepped through. The dimensional portal they opened earlier was still there, I reached out with my magic, destroyed my enchantment and watched with satisfaction as the portal snapped closed.

I couldn't tell where the Elves were, or even how many of them remained here, but I guessed at least five, only one had left earlier. I had always thought they blocked that ability too, but now I knew they didn't have magic, so like humans they wouldn't show up on my Demon supernatural radar.

"Any idea where they could be? And I assume you are okay with killing them?"

I had no qualms about it, they had high tech stuff that could kill me, they might even have more magic killing devices. I wasn't going to chance anything by giving them opportunity to use it. They didn't even have to touch the devices, even if I held them still, they could activate the crap with their thoughts. If my DNA tweak worked, all I did was take their greatest advantage and even the playing field, they were still a big threat.

He answered, "No, feel free to kill them if you can. They may be in my office, or in their rooms, it is early morning, you were meditating for about ten hours."

I winked at him, "Lead the way."

We went as quietly as we could, but no one was in his office. I followed as he led us through some hallways. I knew we were there, when I turned into a wing and the hallway had plants and indoor trees in the corridor. One good thing about Elves I guessed, they loved nature as much as Witches did. A more cynical part of my mind wondered if it was just part of the lie they presented when saying they had magic.

The first door I opened had a sleeping Elf, I felt a twinge of conscience then dismissed it. These beings had not only used the Demon race to destroy countless billions in other dimensions, they had threatened Earth. I created a gravity ball inside his body, the results were rather messy. One down, four to go. I closed the door and moved on to the next.

I killed two more in the same fashion, the last two burst out into the hallway, perhaps they were all mentally connected, and my activities... slaughter, had disturbed their sleep. I felt a tickle in the back of my mind, and pushed it away, then as their eyes widened, I ended it. Perhaps they would have put up a better fight if they knew what they faced, they had no reason to doubt their abilities.

I turned to his shocked face and he said, "How?"

I led him back to his office and we sat down, now that I wasn't worried about them reading his mind for the information of what I had done, I explained what I did, but rather vaguely. I had a feeling his six weren't the only Elves here.

"I figured out a magic to block theirs. Listen, do you have any idea how many Elves are here? I know one of my vassals has one..."

He coughed uncomfortably, "Actually your Vassal's Elf was one of those six, I had him keeping an eye on Dane through that idiot Forlin. Once both he and Dane were dead, I recalled him."

I frowned in thought, "So... just the six? You don't think they smuggled more in anywhere?"

He shrugged. "I kind of doubt it, I keep tabs on all the Rulers, I would have known about it. Besides, they were here to manipulate us into doing their work. Why put in more resources than needed, it probably didn't occur to them they would ever be blocked and prevented from coming in force if necessary. That is, if the cowards would truly ever do so."

I didn't have any helpful feelings one way or the other, I guess I had no choice but to take him at his word. This time he was the one who started laughing out of the blue, I waited for him to explain.

"It's a marvelous opportunity, just in case I'll put out the word that the Elves betrayed us out of fear of our power, and blocked us from leaving our dimension. If any do exist, they will become hunted."

I snickered. The man was devious, I hated that it was necessary, but it would also deflect any suspicion that it was actually Harmon's idea to do so.

I said, "I need to leave, there will be a lot of people worried about me. Plus, there are at least two Elven tribes on Earth, I need to get word out and we'll need to decide what we should do about it."

If I remembered right, there was one in Russia somewhere, and one in Washington State in the forests. I sighed, who knew if there were more than that though...

I gave him a hug and peck on the cheek, then opened a portal and stepped through. I couldn't feel anyone near, and the thought of an Elf being nearby convinced me I was totally paranoid now. I opened a double portal to my condo and stepped through.

Chapter 18

I frowned looking around. It was almost eight am, and although I was only missing one night I had thought they would be worried. I shrugged and started getting ready for work, using magic to feel awake and rested. As long as I slept tonight it should be fine. Before I left I compressed the months of memories from last night and sent them to Mom and Cat.

It wouldn't be easy for them to duplicate what I did regardless, once they understand it, it will have to be tailored for Humans as opposed to my hybrid DNA, then even more so by the individual. It was incredibly dangerous, more so than the ability to change age, and only one in three Witches ever worked that one out.

In short, it would be a while before other Witches could even attempt to make themselves immune to the telepathy of Elves, and even then it will only be a handful that are both intelligent, strong and brave enough to risk it. Still, I didn't want to start a panic, I had no intention of revealing the Elves to the Humans, but something told me their peaceful coexistence here was more about keeping an eye on how dangerous we got.

I frowned as I considered it may have been the Elves who set the Demons on us in the first place. If that was true, we might be in serious trouble. Right now those Elves were locked down and couldn't get new orders, probably. Still, I'd let my mom and Cat deal with it for now, I was late for work. I got dressed quickly and took a portal to the woman's room on the task force floor and walked out.

It was just a couple of minutes past, so no one said anything about me being late. I joined Todd and we headed out for the day as I tried to forget the shit ball I had just left and concentrate on my job. When I had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, I hadn't expected it to be quite so big. Worse, I knew I was only seeing the edges of it and it was pushing my pessimism into paranoia.

They were lying about magic to keep their telepathic abilities a secret, but what else could they do? Could they control a person's body as well as the magic? Modify memories? I really needed to get a grip on myself and focus on my job, it would be ironic to get killed by some low life because I wasn't paying attention.

I opened up my magic and slowed things down. I could feel the life around me, even as far as the park and I let that soothe and relax me for a moment. When I released it all, I was still worried, but I had managed to calm down quite a bit. I wondered briefly if I was letting my fears for the unknown get to me much like a Human would for those of us with magic. Their abilities were downright frightening.

But I dismissed it, if they had been open and peaceful I didn't think I would feel this way. It was the calculated dishonesty of their lies and the actions on the Demon's world that was making me classify them as a threat. But what could I really do? I was the only one who could effectively fight them, I didn't think declaring war on them by myself was a very good idea. I was also wary of telling the government or anyone else besides the two I had told.

Not because of trust, but because they could be read by an Elf. I would expect their response to knowing we knew their secret would be excessive. I started questioning everything I was taught, were they truly warring tribes of mercenaries, or was that simply an excuse to seed their agents throughout the dimensions, to keep watch and destroy any species becoming a threat?