Victorian Days & Nights by: Elsbeth Magic & Mayhem in Victorian England

Chapter 10

Luna sat back, looking over the map that adorned the wall inside Black Jacks office. The team had just returned from another night dealing with a curse that had been re-energized. The curse from a long dead Roman woman had been particularly nasty. Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni, had sacked London, once called Londinium putting 25,000 of its citizens to the sword.

“Can’t say that I blame her really.” The mage, named Black Jack, walked into the room passing his jacket to a large troll like man. “Tell everyone good work, and I will see them this evening.”

“Who were you talking about?” Luna asked.

“The Roman Priestess, Boudicca, men killed.” It took some effort but the group found an old wall that had once been part of a Temple of Mithras, buried underneath the remains of the woman was found along with bones of four small children.

“Look at the map.” The Vampire marked the map with a small red flag; at least a dozen other similar flags were marked the map as well.

“It’s well within range of what we have expected from the incident with the factory.”

All of these strange curses and haunting had been within a three mile radius of the factory where the gate of the ancient entity’s prison had been opened.

“Jack?”

“Hmm.”

“Thanks.”

Jack looked up at the Vampire and shrugged. “No need, we can use the help and in fact you have been helpful. I don’t think we would have found the Priestess tonight without you.”

With an affinity to the dead, Luna had been able to find the mournful ghost. Unfortunately in her grief, six London street workers had lost their lives from the curse cast almost two thousand years ago.

“Plus, who am I to object, have you seen my team? We have two half trolls, a Indonesia snake Shape shifter, and let’s not forget Mora who no matter what she says I am pretty sure is a Leanan Sidhe…”

“Corporal Pendleton” Luna smiled. “Sorry, he isn’t undead.”

Jack sighed. “No real surprise there. And of course the team leader…me” He smiled, pointing at his chest.

“You’re not…”

“How many twenty-seven year old men look like they’re in their eighties?” Jack shrugged; reaching into his jacket he took off a gun belt and placed it into a drawer. “Go ahead and ask, I know you’re wanting to. Is what happened to me related to what happened at that factory?”

Luna nodded.

“About a year after your…disappearance, we ran to ground an end of the world cult. Sounds familiar, right?” Reaching into another drawer, the mage pulled out a bottle of scotch and a couple of glasses. After pouring, he sat back on his chair holding his glass. “Two teams were responsible for their capture. The first team went through the front gate; the second went around back through an old tunnel. Funny, but it seems so long ago.”

Tilting the scotch into his mouth, he reached for the bottle and poured himself another. “No one is sure exactly what happened. However, they must have opened the portal for a brief moment. At the end, there were only four survivors. From my team; Grim, one of the half trolls, add sixty years to someone who lives to be three hundred and not a lot happens. Corporal Pendleton of course.” Jack smiled. “And finally myself.”

“So what happened to you, for someone who is eighty you seem rather…”

“Spry?”

The Vampire nodded.

“I was the furthest away when it happened. My outer appearance changed, but internally I am still twenty-seven. Most of the time anyway.” Jack Black made a face and poured another scotch down his throat.

“Who was the last survivor?”

“I don’t have to tell you, obviously you know that already. In fact, she was the closest person besides the poor devils opening the gate, on the other side of a sealed door apparently.”

“Erin.”

“Lady Kinsley” Putting the cap back on the scotch, the mage put it back into the drawer, replacing it with a stack of papers. “Well, I for one am not done for tonight. I have some paper work to do before I can go home. Well actually, I plan on taking Brigit out for breakfast, and then I plan on going to sleep.”

Luna nodded; she could feel that the sun would soon be up. “I need to get home.”

“Good night to you, Leila.” Jack absentmindedly waved as he turned to his paperwork.

The Vampire looked at the mage for a second, and then happily left the room to search for her own breakfast.

Twenty miles north of Paris, a group of French officers walked across a factory floor. All around them, workers toiled away, moving thick sheets of steel into place. Watching the activity for a moment, the group headed towards the foreman’s office.

Leading the group Colonel Jean Kellerman stopped before a tall red haired man. Dressed in black pseudo military garb, the Colonel came to attention and saluted.

Returning the smart salute, the man smiled and shook the Colonel’s hand. “I see you have fared well, Jean, since that little expedition in Vietnam.”

“Yes but if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be here. I doubt we would have been able to move our guns at Paper Bridge.”

“I was just happy to help.”

“And now you’re here to assist our government once again. This machine of yours is wonderful. It can deflect all rifle fire, and even lighter cannons…simply amazing.”

“And you have no problems with production?

“Not at all, it’s well within our ability. In fact, since the Germans appear to be more active as of late, our military’s budget has been increased.”

“That’s always a good thing.”

“Yes for you as well, although I’m a little confused that in payment we are offering you chemicals.”

“We simply don’t have the means to produce the amount needed.”

The Colonel shrugged. “No need to explain, my friend. Simply just curious that’s all.”

A roar of an engine from behind the ground startled everyone, as a monstrous land machine moved across the factory floor.

“The wonders of steam power, it moves our trains and soon it will help us win wars.”

As the slow moving tracked vehicle passed the group heading off towards the testing grounds, the red haired man turned towards the Colonel.

“You gave our land ship a new name.”

The French officer smiled. “We need to keep our enemies from discovering what we are doing. No one is interested in water storage containers on our farms.”

The red haired man nodded as the land ship began to gain speed, smashing through several wooden walls. “Well Jean, your tank is a fine weapon.”

“I have heard our friends have similar plans?”

“Trust me Jean, your government is well ahead of anything that any country can put in the field. The age of horses is over. Plus with your new weapons, you shouldn’t be too worried about other European powers.”

“I am sure our government will be very pleased to hear that.”

“As long as you can supply us with what we need, Jean, we shall continue to help you as well. As you know we have common enemies.”

The French Colonel smiled. “Very true, come let me take you to the factory, so you can tell your employer that we believe in taking good care of our friends as well.”

Authors Notes: A special thanks to djkauf for a little elvish editing. If you like the story please leave a Kudos, if you have the time I would love to hear from you. Thanks to all for reading! - Elsbeth