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face the bathroom door, wobbled slightly, and saw Lorelei watching him with wide, concerned eyes.
He looked to the General. “Thank you so much for your help with this, General. You have my number.”
Crane nodded.
Henry walked back through the bathroom door to his hallway. The last few Silver Soldiers went through to the hospital. Then it was only Siobhan, Lorelei, and Henry. He closed the closet door and reset it back to Meixiu’s mansion. He opened the door again and stepped through.
With that, Henry depleted the last of his reserves and collapsed, unconscious before he hit the floor.
Camila stood in front of the large living room fireplace in Meixiu’s mansion. The vampire was sitting on a large cushion nearby, looking into the flames with a content smile.
Just to her left sat Roy and Mary on a loveseat.
Standing next to them was Sigrid holding her son, Stanley, while Hilda was next to her, cradling Ylva in her arms. The other Valkyrie had left to return to their duties elsewhere. They’d all promised to join the fight should the Demons come out of hiding and attack directly.
On a sofa was the bestie group of Sandy, Kesini coiled up in her lap, Dayshia, and Tish, who was holding Celeste in her arms. Tish’s and Dayshia’s families had all gone home for the night.
Marisa was relaxing on a lounge chair with Natalia stretched out over her body, asleep.
Mahati and Kali rested back on their tails by the large picture windows, which showed it was snowing lightly once more.
Lorelei sat perched on the edge of her chair as she fretted while Siobhan was in a chair next to her holding her hand. They’d been the last ones with Henry before he passed out from exhaustion. Eleanor King made this diagnosis after Roy had carried the unconscious man upstairs to put him to bed. Once she’d finished her examination, the doctor and her husband went home.
“Henry is taking on too much too quickly,” Camila said and saw nods from most of those gathered in the room. Hilda was the exception. She just frowned and glanced at the others.
“You disagree?” Marisa asked her bluntly.
“How is he going to get stronger if he’s coddled? His challenge has been clearly laid out before him. He must defeat the extra-dimensional monsters of unfathomable power. I will be the first to admit he’s a useless warrior… yet he wins. How? By pushing himself beyond anything a normal person could endure. I witnessed him step into the mouth of a huge Ribbon Beast and grab its razor teeth in his hands, badly slashing them. He broke its jaw and crushed its skull with his bare hands, then healed himself. It was the sloppiest fighting I’ve ever witnessed, yet he won.” She looked at the incredulous expressions on the faces of the others. “He will find a way, even if it brings him absolute agony and a glorious death.”
“You watched Henry fight a Ribbon creature, and you didn’t help him?” Camila raged.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
Hilda frowned as she saw everyone scowling at her. She looked at her daughter. “Why can’t people understand this is the way of the Valkyrie?”
Sigrid was pissed at her mother as well, but mostly because of her unbendable notion that the world must follow her values and beliefs. “Because they aren’t Valkyrie?” she replied, then looked at Camila.
“Henry mentioned these beings were patient. He said the tainted magic in him would eventually affect him. Has anyone asked him why he’s in such a hurry? Couldn’t he take the time to pace himself through the effort to maximize his strength?”
Lorelei spoke up. “After he addressed everyone downstairs, he spoke with Siobhan and me and indicated he had to help the General. I think he felt guilty or somehow responsible for getting the man involved. He also seemed driven to get Baba to let go of the spells. He didn’t tell us why there was an urgency, but he achieved the first task. The General is no longer Human. Henry made him a Dragon.”
Camila blinked in surprise and looked at Roy. “A Dragon! The strongest type of wielder!” Her eyes widened further as another fact arose. “A Dragon linked to the Wild Magic!”
Roy nodded. “Thank goodness the man’s as level-headed as they come. This also means there are no more Humans. The evil fucker’s deal with Baba is done. Henry should be able to begin disabling those spells.”
Siobhan spoke up. “About that. Henry encountered another Demon. We were in the next room, but we could hear very clearly. This one was in the General’s empty hospital room. It tried to kill Henry and capture the General for the tainted energy, but Henry captured it instead. He told the General it was being controlled remotely by a Master Demon. He told the Demon the General was clean, and it went into a rage. It said Henry couldn’t stop them from bringing their Masters to the world, then Henry killed it. I don’t know how the Master Demon knew about the energy surrounding the General. It might know the remaining energy is in Henry. I don’t know where it’s getting its information.”
“Henry had a very busy day. Let’s see if we can’t convince him to take the rest of the week off,” Camila said, and heads nodded, except Hilda’s, but they ignored her.
Sigrid glanced at her mother before she spoke. “We’ve spoken with the Valkyries, and if we are to be effective against a better organized and supported Demons, we will have to act on mother’s suggestion. All the Valkyrie will have to be upgraded to being linked to the Wild Magic.”
Roy snorted. “Are you suggesting Henry beds all of them? I don’t think the lad’s too keen on that idea, considering how some Valkyries have treated him.” He fixed a stern look at Hilda, who turned her face away.
Sigrid nodded to him. “I thought maybe Henry could put his new abilities with magic to work on finding an alternate method.”
“We’ll ask him when he wakes up,” Camila said. She looked at the gathered people and saw some unhappy expressions. “The next thing I’d like to do is ask everyone how they’re coping? We’ve been so focused on Henry as he’s been at the center of some world-shaking events that we forget to think about ourselves. The world has changed and is still changing in tremendous ways. The Hidden Races are no longer hidden, and Sigrid’s work with the Council’s Global Transformation Support Program is capable of handling the fluctuating rate of post-Human changes.”
There was applause for Sigrid from the group then Camila continued.
“Also, a huge thanks to the efforts of Lorelei, Raymond, and Siobhan, as we no longer have to worry about being hunted.”
Camila started the applause, and everyone else quickly joined in. Lorelei and Siobhan smiled bashfully and nodded to the others.
Once the applause died down, Siobhan stood to face the room. “Lorelei and Raymond created a series of new files, which the distribution page I set up will release over the next month. We felt it prudent to ensure a surplus in case we find ourselves too busy to prepare new ones for a time.” Heads nodded.
“Do you believe this effort will need to continue indefinitely?” Roy asked.
Lorelei shared a look with Siobhan and shook her head. Siobhan answered for them. “We don’t know. We’re hoping once the majority of people have changed to their final state, it won’t be necessary any longer, but it’s not a burden to do as it’s fun. Who else can claim to have this many singles in the number one spot week after week, globally?”
Chuckles erupted across the group, and Camila could see people relaxing. This was good. She looked to Mahati, whose expression wasn’t as cheery as the others. “Something concerning you, Mahati?”
The woman glanced at Camila in surprise. “No. It’s nothing.” When she saw Camila was still focused on her, she sighed and shook her head. “I must visit my mother. This societal upheaval may have destabilized certain interests the family is dependent upon.”
“Do you need a security detail with you for protection?” Roy asked.
“What? Oh! No, thank you, Roy. There’s no need to be concerned for my safety. Mother wouldn’t dare try something so foolish now,” Mahati said with a smile. Kali didn’t look so convinced, but she held her tongue.
“We’re going back to business as usual this week. Meixiu has graciously offered to keep the magic doors in place for anyone who wishes to keep access to the mansion open. All are welcome.”
Meixiu smiled and accepted the thanks from the others.
“I’m going to need access to the closet we’re currently using to get here,” Lorelei said. “Can we turn it off and on as needed?”
Camila smiled but shook her head. “I don’t think magic doors work like that.”
Siobhan had an idea. “What if we bought a door and frame and mounted it to an empty wall in our home, like Henry’s doors to Eden in the cave? Then Henry could use that door. We could paint the door and frame like a piece of art for our home. Henry said he could make the doors only work for us. It would make the mansion more secure if all the doors were set that way.”
This generated more smiles and nods from the friends.
“I know my family will love this idea, and the kids will especially love decorating them,” Tish gushed.
“One important consideration. The doors can’t have any windows in them. Henry said he won’t make magic doors with them,” Roy said firmly.
Camila looked at him curiously. “Did he say why?”
Roy shook his head. “He didn’t, but I got the impression that something frightened him about doing it.”
Sandy perked up. “We all got a fright earlier today when he reset the door to bring the table back upstairs. He jumped and scared us when the glass switched.”
Roy frowned. “D’ya think he might be seeing the big evil?”
Siobhan shook her head. “It couldn’t be. I caught the briefest impression, and it terrified me so badly that I couldn’t speak or stop crying for several minutes. He said looking directly at them would drive you mad. Maybe it’s just a hint of them? You’d have to ask him.”
“Whatever he’s seeing, the new doors can have no windows or glass of any kind in or on them,” Roy insisted. He looked at the others and saw they were all nodding. He held Tish’s eye. “Please make sure your family knows.” She agreed.