I suspected who had been behind the deaths. I figured it was probably my mystery visitor from last month. He had seemed like a pretty capable sort. I really wished he'd show back up. I really wanted the whereabouts of a certain headquarters housing a bunch of telepathic assassins.

"I really needed to talk to you about something that happened a month or so ago, anyway, Jim," I said, "It started when I found this guy in the back seat of the car I signed out."

Chapter 30.

Over the next week, my Mage squad began to show up. Lennox had found eight of them from various parts of the world to volunteer for this. I hoped I could get along with them all. Mages are harder to deal with than Guards. They are used to being in command, and most of the Mages I have met seem to feel a bit well...entitled.

The first three were waiting outside of the barracks for me. I walked out to find two men and a woman standing patiently outside.

"Colin," Lennox Flynn said, "this is Galen Stone, Reyna Sereno, and I believe you've already met Len Yueh."

I reached out and clasped Yueh's hand, "It's good to see you again."

I hadn't seen him since the funeral rites after First Kansas.

I moved to my right to find myself facing a solid woman of about five and a half feet. She looked like a body builder.

"Good to meet you Miss Sereno," I said.

"Reyna, please," she said with a husky voice, "Is that Rictor Hughes back there?"

"Yes," I said, "He's my second in command. I take it you know him?"

"He was a lowly Marine when I met him outside Laos," she said with a smile, "Maybe you should ask him about his last mission as a Marine."

"I'll do that," I said. My curiosity was definitely peaked.

I continued to my right and shook Galen's hand, "Nice to meet you Mr. Stone."

"We've heard a great deal about you sir," his British accent was unmistakable, "I'm looking forward to learning if any of it was true."

"Probably not," I said. "Things tend to get blown out of proportions along the rumor trail."

"Don't let 'im fool ye," Flynn interjected, "The odds are 'e did more than 'e's bein' credited with."

"I may have done some of it," I admitted.

The three of them smiled and Flynn laughed, "Each Mage has brought ten Guards as their squad. We can introduce them as soon as they get settled."

"That's fine," I said, "As I said, Rictor Hughes will be my second in command, and each Mage will report directly to him. I have one other Mage from here who will have a squad as well. Andrea Prada will join us later today. She's training with Gregor at the moment."

"Isn't Hughes a relatively new Mage?" asked Stone. I could see the uncertainty in his aura, "We were told not to expect too much in the way of traditionalism, but I have to ask."

"Yes he is," I said, "but more importantly, he's been my second for the last twelve years, and he knows how I think and what I'll want when I order something you may consider ludicrous."

"I see."

"He is also one of the most capable people I've ever had the pleasure of serving with in the Guard. As most of you were warned, the new Guard is not as traditional as the former. We have four Soulguards on the Archmage's Council, if that tells you anything at all."

"Don't take it wrong, Sir," he said. "I'm not casting aspersions toward Mister Hughes. I was just looking for a bit of clarity on the subject."

"Not a problem," I said. "If any of you have any questions, feel free to ask me at any time. If you want to know why I'm asking you to do something in training, ask. But when we are on mission I want no hesitation. I'll be asking for things you don't normally do, and I won't be able to wait until I've explained everything to do it."

All three nodded, as well as Flynn.

"Feel free to get settled in," I said, "or you can come see the new facility receive its shield."

"How many Mages will you be using for this shield?" Reyna asked, "I've only seen one shield tied to the Source before. There were twenty Mages working in unison to do that one."

"'E does these shields by isself," Flynn said with a knowing smile.

"This I absolutely have to see," Stone said.

"As will I," Said Len Yueh.

"I will also come see this," Reyna said.

"Alright, then," I said, "let's head out to the Gate and set this one up. I hope they got the ventilation shafts deep enough this time."

"Tis a fact, that," Flynn said.

It wasn't long before we all stood next to the newest facility the government had installed to house another rapid response team. Our RRT's had grown a bit but they remained the same. They were ready at a moment's notice to hit anything that came out of the Gate.

"How do you raise a shield without the help of the other Mages?" asked Reyna, "I know the mechanics and it's hard to believe you can channel the power it takes to hold the Source back as you do the final stages."

"It's not really a matter of power so much as a matter of timing for me," I said. "Since I can see the power flows, I just need to disconnect at the right time."

As I was talking I was crafting the shield around the facility. When it was finished, it was a dome that was fed by two twelve inch streams. The two streams were hovering above the ground ready to be sent into the Source when I was ready. I concentrated and lit the whole construct up. Power flowed up my stream as I did so. It takes a little power to light things up for others.

"Bloody Hell," muttered Stone.

"Now I will push the other side down and just before the power hits me, I'll do the other and disconnect from the construct."

"That just seems incredibly dangerous," Reyna said.

"It's not so bad after I did it a couple of times," I said.

I pushed the far side down into the Source, and the power of a twelve inch stream surged through the shield. Just before it reached my end, I slammed the other end down. About a second later, I cut my tie to the shield as the power joined and the shield blazed to life.

"Bloody Hell," muttered Stone.

"Ye said that, already," Flynn said with a smile.

"I really meant it," Stone answered.

An engineer approached with a frown on his face, "Sir, I hate to say it but we got one of the shafts a little high."

"Damn," I muttered, "time to be a groundhog."

"A groundhog?" Yueh asked.

"Yeah," I said, "now I get to crawl down an airshaft to open a hole in the shield."

"How do you open a hole in the shield when it is already tied to the Source?" Yueh asked.

"Something I discovered fairly recently is that I can manipulate flows of power all around me. Lyrica can do the same. She actually ripped the life out of a five hundred foot circle in Montana because she can affect power flows the same way."

"You talk of amazing things," Reyna said, "as if they are an everyday occurrence. I think our new job is going to be quite exciting."

"It's part of the whole Soullord thing, it seems," I said. "We both discover things all the time. Sometimes I don't seem to be discovering things fast enough. I find out things as much in the thick of battle as not. That's part of the importance of this unit. I need everyone thinking about new things we may accomplish together. I've got a pretty good imagination, but I think it'll help immensely to have other viewpoints working toward a common goal."

"We know next to nothing about what you can do, Sir," said Stone.

"I intend on spending the next week with you guys, after the others show up, to show you what we've discovered so far. Then I hope to get some new ideas and we can try some of what Prada calls 'crazy shit'."

"Tis actually an apt name for the things I've already seen," Flynn said.

As we had been talking, we had followed the engineer down to an access hatch to the ventilation system.

"Anyone wanna come crawl through the vents with me?"

For some reason there was a great deal of looking around at the inside of the room.

Reyna Sereno yawned with a good deal of exaggeration, "I think we all need to get settled in with our forces."

"Right, I think I told my Guard Captain I would meet him at," he paused and glanced at his watch, "three thirty-five."

"I see how it's gonna be," I muttered as I crawled into the vent. There were a few chuckles behind me.

Chapter 31.

"Let's dance," Lyrica said and grabbed my hand to pull me to my feet.

"I can't dance," I said. I heard a snort behind us where Trent and Mattie both sat. Prada actually laughed aloud and I heard Ric choke on something.

I turned back to them, "What? I never danced with anyone before."

"What do ya call that thing where you run around the battlefield with a pair of swords? Seems like it was called something with blades," Prada said, "Oh yeah, the Dance of Blades. If that's not dancing I don't know what is."

"Yeah but I don't want to kill anyone," I started.

"Silly man," Lyrica said, "just go with the flow. You just dance like you want to be close to someone instead of try to kill them."

I followed her toward the dance floor where there were crowds of people dancing to a tune I'd never heard of.

She started to move with the music, and was into my arms in a flash. I began to mirror her moves, and it was a lot like the Dance, except there was no rage. Soon, people were pulling away from us as we began to move together. I could see her Soul blazing, and I could actually feel what she was about to do. So I was always there when she changed.

We flowed across the floor like we did while dancing the blades, and we never even noticed when the song changed. We just flowed into it like we had been dancing together for years.

As I had told Paige, up until this very moment, my happiest moment had been on a battlefield, drenched in the blood of Demons.

But, now there was something else. A new moment and there was no rage. Nothing of the monster inside, and it was as joyous a moment as I could conceive of ever happening.

As the song ended, she was in my arms, and I was staring into those deep pools of emerald fire. We were only inches apart, and I was falling into those pools of fire when I felt them arrive.

I felt the Shak'Tar, and my happy moment was gone as the rage flooded my consciousness.

Lyrica's eyes widened as she saw the rage flood my aura, and she was twisting around toward the direction I was looking. I could see the portals opening on her stream as she readied weapons for an attack.

Then I saw him and clasped her arm, "Hold on, he's the one I told you about. Give me a minute but be ready, there are five more outside."

The crowd that had been rapt as they watched us was heading away from us now as fast as they could. I guess two people who seem to just catch on fire would send most people backing away. I may have been projecting a bit of rage as well. They tell me it's a bit overpowering when I do that, and it makes me a bit frightening.

I could see the disappointment in her aura, "I'll leave you to business then. If you need me, I'm ready."

She backed toward the others, "And we really need to talk about some things, Colin."

I nodded, "That we do."

She had seen and felt all that I had projected toward her while we danced. She knew exactly how I felt about her, and I knew what she felt about me.

I turned to walk toward the man who had saved my Angel's life. I owed him a debt. One I would repay, whether my allies agreed or not.

"I came at a bad time," he said with a nod toward Lyrica. "She was the target?"

"Yes and if you hadn't come forward, I would have lost her," I said. "I owe you a debt that I probably could never repay. I will make sure your Asylum is granted."

"I am happy that you can keep your love," he said. "I lost mine before I even knew what the word meant."

I saw a memory flow across his aura. A woman held between two men and a Kresh ripped her apart. It ate her right in front of the man standing before me, and I could feel the emotion that ripped through him. His pain and helplessness, and then his bottomless rage. A rage I know quite well.

"I'm sorry that had to happen to you," I said. "To do that right in front of you is monstrous."

Suspicion flooded his aura, "How would you know that?"

"I just watched it in your Soul."