Trios

Introducing the leader of the Dark Forces….

Dan and his younger twin brothers, Pat and Simon, live in a fairly ordinary Yorkshire village and enjoy a mostly quiet life. The only unusual thing about them is their strong affinity for water, which has something to do with the special cottage in which they grow up. The cottage just so happens to sit over a natural source of magic that saturates the three brothers and primes them to reach their true potential. All they need is a magical makeover and they'll have a chance to make a difference in the endless conflict between good and evil.

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Trios
by Terry Volkirch

Chapter 8: Dark Forces

The sun had just reached its zenith, marking midday at the cemetery. The dew had completely evaporated by then and the day had warmed enough to be comfortable wearing shorts and a tee shirt. All of the birds had settled down for a rest from the heat except a lone mourning dove on the edge of the wood.

The dove cooed its displeasure at some mild threat and its agitation briefly increased when an ill wind suddenly gusted in one small corner of the cemetery. The wind swirled and howled, sending birds in all directions away from the noise. The wind died as suddenly as it appeared just before a bright light flashed and a man popped out of thin air very near the graves of the three girls.

The short pudgy man's unshaven face, rumpled clothes and mussed hair made it look as if he'd slept off a drinking binge in the woods overnight. The man patted his jeans and tugged at his long sleeves before looking around and shaking his head.

"Oy. Always a bit rough wit' sendin' me," he said, talking out loud to himself, a common habit of his. "Don't 'preciate it none. Bad enough I got to come up here and nose around for a bloody salamander."

He muttered a little more and soon started doing what he came for, wandering round the cemetery looking for a certain set of three graves. It didn't take long to find them, and it didn't take long for him to be noticed by a certain spirit who floated just above her grave, glaring directly at the invader's face.

Emma felt the disturbance of a teleportation spell and was ready to see who arrived but the human male surprised her. She expected to see a lower class minion of some sort. Having a human snooping around was definitely bad news, especially since he reeked of fire magic. She could tell. The man was definitely the font for a Dark Force trio.

"Stupid bitches," he said very clearly, clearly enough that Emma could read his lips. "Always stickin' yer noses in our business. Got what were comin' to ya, ya did."

Emma's eyes narrowed to slivers of anger. This was one of the men responsible for her death.

The man waved his arms in the air, startling the girl spirit. She feared he detected her and stood ready to cast some evil spell on her. She backed up and away, only to see him cackle with malice before spewing a long string of profanity that would've made the girl blush if she still had a body.

He ended his vulgar tirade by spitting on each of the three graves, one at a time, saving Jenna's for last. He missed the last grave, being the farthest from him, so he marched over to it and coughed up a large, green glob of saliva and snot, hitting the girl's name plate dead center. Then he cackled again.

Emma fumed at the display, but she didn't know what to do about it. She couldn't interact with any physical objects. She felt powerless — until she remembered one thing. Every living thing had a spirit, even subhuman men. Her scowl slowly changed into a humorless smirk as she quickly made plans. She didn't have much time. She figured Jenna would feel the man's presence and come to investigate. She wanted to be done by then.

After a quick run through a couple scenarios, she settled on one. First, she had to grab the man's spirit. After that, things got a bit crazy, but if she succeeded, the man wouldn't be bothering them again anytime soon.

The edges of the man's aura oozed a dark gray color, making her hesitate. It didn't feel right but she continued anyway. She ran her hands down the aura to his base chakra and grabbed with both hands. She basically gripped the man by the spiritual equivalent of his testicles, making him squeal.

"Oy! Me nads!" he screamed, just before Emma yanked his spirit out of his physical body, which crumpled in a heap over Jenna's grave.

Being separated from his body confused the man's spirit for a short time, but Emma waited until his awareness trickled back. Then she snarled and shrieked, scratching at his spirit as if to tear it apart. The startled man instinctively protected his face and tried to back away towards his body but Emma kept pulling him farther and farther away, yelling a single word at him. 'Body!' She tried to make it sound like she was crazed and completely focused on stealing his body from him.

It worked.

Since they were both spirits, the man could hear her and she unnerved him to no end. He knew it was possible to steal a body and he didn't even try to fight back. He just tried pulling back into his body to escape the crazy girl spirit. When he finally did make it back to his body, he pissed himself and immediately teleported back to where he came from.

Emma had to admit that the thought of actually stealing his body did cross her mind, but she had no intention of doing that. Body theft would be an evil thing to do and she wasn't evil. Besides, he was a smelly man and she'd rather be dead than be a smelly man. That thought nearly made her smile. Then she noticed that when he picked himself up from Jenna's grave, he unwittingly wiped his disgusting gift from the name plate. That did it. She smiled for the first time in months.

~o~O~o~

Jenna arrived at the cemetery by herself. She cautiously stalked her grave from the west, keeping to the wood for cover. After seeing that no one was about, she slowly entered the grounds and called out for Emma.

Emma popped her head up through the grass above her grave. 'What kept you?' she said. She still grinned from ear to ear, enjoying her little victory.

Jenna didn't know what to think. She couldn't remember the last time she saw her friend smile. Even when they were alive, the humorless middle girl of their trio would rarely smile. 'What happened?' she asked. 'Did something happen? I definitely felt something going on here. And why are you smiling?' She couldn't help herself. Not knowing was driving her crazy.

'Everything is fine,' Emma told her, still smiling. 'I don't think we'll have any trouble from the Dark Forces any time soon.'

No matter what Jenna tried, no matter what she said, she couldn't get any more information about what happened in the cemetery from her friend. They both ended up going back to give the new trio more lessons.

~o~O~o~

A light briefly flashed from the pointed top floor of a London skyscraper. The tall, glass building, with a circular cross-section and slightly rounded sides that curved to a dull point, looked vaguely like a giant pickle, earning it the nickname, "The Gherkin." Triangular and diamond-shaped glass panels in various shades of blue covered the building, making it quite striking, even beautiful to some eyes. The same couldn't be said for the current contents of the top floor.

The same short, pudgy man who had appeared in Askern cemetery found himself back to where he started, magically transported in the blink of an eye. His trousers dripped on the shiny top floor of the beautiful skyscraper.

"Here now," a tall, gruff man said with a sneer. "Look at you. Disgusting. Get yourself cleaned up and report to my office." The man wore a pin-striped cashmere suit and a look of superiority. His short dark hair glistened with gel. His perfectly manicured fingernails and soft palms showed a man who didn't like to get his hands dirty. He had minions and lackeys for that, and according to him, everyone in the world fit that category, including the other two members of his trio.

The trio leader turned on his heel and returned to his office, leaving the short man alone to follow orders.

~o~O~o~

After changing clothes and giving himself a brief pep talk, the short man, also the font of the leader's trio, found himself standing in front of a large mahogany desk very near a padded, black leather chair. He sank his bare feet — he couldn't find a clean pair of shoes — into the plush beige carpet and tried not to be intimidated by two large bookshelves full of law books and a wall full of awards and diplomas. He wanted to sit but knew better. He had to wait for permission — to do anything. He couldn't even speak without permission and he wouldn't get permission to do anything until he was thoroughly humiliated.

"Bloody hell, Ray. You're a disgrace. Instead of coming back with the bloomin' salamander, you come back with nothing but urine-soaked trousers." The leader shook his head. "I'm assuming it's your urine." He nodded at Ray and got a timid nod in return. "I don't want to hear any excuses. Just tell me one thing. Did you find the source of the elemental fire magic that our agents detected up there?"

"No, Richard."

"What did you call me?" The leader glared at Ray, warning him not to make any more mistakes.

"No, sir!"

"Then what did you find, you useless prat?"

"I was attacked by a ghost. It was one of the trio, sir. She di'n't like being dead."

"And why would you think that?"

"She wanted me body, sir."

Richard laughed. It wasn't a pleasant sound.

Ray tried very hard not to mutter. He wished very much to be back up on the top floor of the tower, basking in the strong source of elemental fire that he could tap into up there. That's why the tower was built where it was, and though the architects claimed they added all the glass windows to bring in more sunlight, the trio knew better. Wielders of magic designed the whole building to reach up to and focus magic fire. Lots of sunlight was just an added bonus, especially since the energy of the sun was also a source of elemental fire.

"Are you listening to me, you worthless shite?" Richard said, intruding on the poor man's daydream.

"Yes, sir. Uh… no, sir. I was thinkin'."

"Oh, really. This should be entertaining. What were you thinking about?"

"I was thinkin' that it'd make more sense to be called a tap. I tap into magic. I don't know what a font has to do with anythin'."

Richard rolled his eyes but soon raised an eyebrow. "Actually, you might have something. Font, flow and fetch are ancient terms that have little relevance today. I think we could use a fresh look. Marketing will love it. It'll make us look better when we take over the world."

"Or die tryin'," Ray muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, sir!"

"Quite right. You'll be a tap, Peter can be… an amp, short for amplifier. And me?" He paused a moment to think, staring outside at the stunning view through his office window. "I'll be the tuner," he finally said. He gave his subordinate a smug look and waited for a proper response.

"Very clever, sir."

"Very clever indeed, Ray. Now back to your report. You have yet to give me a full report. I don't have any more time to waste on you so make it quick."

"Yes, sir! I told you most of it, sir. The ghost girl yanked me spirit right out of me body and attacked me. She sounded half mad, sir. All she kept sayin' were, 'Body!'"

"Fascinating. So you didn't detect any trace of the salamander then?"

"I didn't have time, sir. She attacked me as soon as I… got to the graves. Maybe she attacked the salamander too. Sent it packin' or worse."

"Indeed," the leader raised a skeptical eyebrow. "That will be all then, Ray."

The short, pudgy man spent a precious half second eyeing the soft leather chair with longing before turning to leave the office.

Richard returned his attention to the papers on his desk and didn't spare a glance or a good-bye for the man.

The leader of the Dark Forces spent much of his time planning. He had plans for everything, covering every contingency he could think of. He wouldn't be denied what he considered to be his birthright. His motto was, 'With great power comes great privilege.'

He removed the only threat that he considered to be worth his time and effort — Jenna and her trio — and tried to leave it up to his subordinates to watch for any other possible threats. So far, he believed himself on track for global domination.

The main part of his plan centered in the UK. The man left a path of destruction that followed ley lines and ancient sources of elemental fire. He even made a game of it, causing explosions in a spiral pattern that any agent at MI5 could see if they bothered to plot all the explosions on a map. The spiral wound to a point at Westminster and it was well over half way complete. He'd destroy the British government and take over the small island nation, the first step in his plans to take over the world.

Stop me if you can. But I'm betting you can't.

~o~O~o~

Dani sat in the passenger seat of the car and the twins sat in the back, all three dreading their destination. They watched a blur of green and brown pass by without really seeing any of it. All they could do was think of one horrible scenario after another as they looked ahead and imagined what their impending visit to the doctor would be like. They all did independent research on the Internet. They knew more about gynecological exams than they ever expected and they flinched whenever they saw a glint of cold steel reflecting in the morning sun.

Sue made appointments for all three of her children together as soon as it was convenient. Being out of work herself and having the kids out of school for summer holiday made it easy enough to do so. She didn't have any schedules to juggle.

She left the cottage early since parking was never easy and herded her three daughters-to-be to the doctor office. Another short wait inside and she'd have the three of them sorted. Then the fun could begin. She entertained several daydreams on the drive, most of which involved shopping for girls clothing and accessories, lots of accessories. The family didn't have loads of money but she'd dip into her savings if need be to cover more than the basics. Her daughters had a whole new world to explore.

Doctor Kilgore ushered the family into his examination room almost immediately, like he was waiting for them. it bothered the three girl-boys a little. It made him look like a stalker or something. Still, he was a professional and he looked and sounded the part, being an older man with graying hair, dressed nicely in a dress shirt and tie. He calmly asked each of them for a description of the changes in their bodies and privately examined each teen in turn with their mother present. After several confused looks and sounds, he eventually shrugged his shoulders and threw up his arms in defeat.

"I don't exactly understand this," he told Sue, "but since your phone call, I've done a little research."

"On the Internet," all three of the teens said in unison, momentarily distracting the doctor.

"As I was saying," he said. "I researched the problem and the only thing that fits is that they're all partial hermaphrodites with latent female reproductive organs. The female organs appear to be dominant and activated at…." He glanced at Dani. "Or somewhat after puberty. I'll need to do some tests to confirm it but it's my opinion that we'll have to reclassify your three sons as daughters." He went on to try to explain the condition as best as he could with his medical science background.

Sue tried to hide her joy and mostly succeeded. Only the sparkle in her eye betrayed her but the male doctor completely missed it. Dani and the twins noticed and felt a little nervous. Their intuition told them there'd be loads of shopping in their near future.

~o~O~o~

The next morning, Sue and George sat at the dining table. George skimmed the newspaper headlines as usual while Sue quietly sipped her tea and thought about how to break the latest news about the boys to her husband. She watched as the sun slowly creeped over the surface of the table, making her think about the inevitabilities of life. Nothing could stop the cycle of day and night. Then she thought about the weather and how the only constant in life is change. Change is inevitable. But people seem to fight change nonetheless.

She mentally chastised herself for stalling.

"George?"

"Yes, Dear?"

"I don't know if it's heredity or what, but Dani isn't the only changeling in the family."

George kept reading for several seconds until her words sunk in. He carefully folded the newspaper and placed it on the table before looking up at his wife. "What are you going on about? This isn't about your Mum, is it?"

"What?! No! It's… it's about Simon and Pat. I took all three kids to the doctor and they all have the same… issue."

Her husband waited to see if she was pulling a prank. When it appeared she was serious, his face reddened. Sue couldn't tell exactly what that meant, but knowing her husband, it was something like frustrated confusion.

"Bloody hell, Sue! Do all the men on your side of the family turn into women? Because it doesn't happen in my family."

Definitely frustrated confusion.

"This is the first time I've heard of it," she told him. "It certainly surprised the doctor too, but he came up with a possible explanation. He blamed some of it on modern society and all the chemicals out and about in the world. A lot of them can mess with hormones. That and there have been examples of it happening all throughout history. It's more common than people realize because most people can't handle it and keep it quiet."

"Well… it is quite a shock. First we're a happy family with three young men. Then I find out Dan… Dani is changing. I admit it bothered me… at first. But I went with it, didn't I?"

"You took it very well, George."

"That's right, I did. But Pat and Simon too? How? Why? Am I next?!" He bowed his head and held it in his hands.

Sue quickly scooted her chair over next to her upset husband and put a hand on his arm. "Don't be silly, Dear. It'll be alright. They're still our children. We have to support 'em, don't we? We'll get through this."

George moaned but didn't say anything.

"We can change schools if the… girls have problems with bullying."

He looked up with a fierce look. "And continue to keep it quiet?"

"No use looking for trouble when you don't have to, right?"

"Bollocks!"

Sue gasped at her normally placid husband.

"We should ask the… girls. They deserve a say in this. But if I have my way, they'll stay and explain the situation. Face it like a…," he paused, blushing.

"Like a man?" Sue finished for him.

He gave her a faint smile. "Sorry."

"You're right about asking their preference, but if things don't work out, I think the right thing to do would be to move. It's hard to get any support from the school these days."

"True, that. But I still don't like the idea of being chased off. Water Works cottage is my home. My family grew up in this cottage."

"I know. But we have to think of what's best for the whole family, not just your ancestors."

George sighed his acceptance and his wife continued.

"By the way, you should know that we had to do a little shopping yesterday. The girls will be needing new school uniforms and a new wardrobe."

"Now that worries me!" he said with a smile, showing that he wasn't serious.

Sue playfully swatted his arm and gave him a quick kiss and cuddle to send him off to work. She stood in the front doorway with a pleasant smile on her face, watching as he drove off.

That went fairly well, I think. I've got a good husband, I do.

~o~O~o~

A clear sky greeted the countryside for another beautiful early morning of summer. The three sisters, as they were now officially declared, gathered in their usual spot near their home, sheltered by several large oak trees. Simon's name changed to Simone and Pat was Patricia, though she still insisted that everyone call her Pat.

Ash lounged in the wagon and dreamily watched the two golems as they instructed the sisters on the use of fire magic. Its limbs and tail hung over the sides of the little wagon. The large and still growing young salamander wanted to chase the clay figures but a certain secretive someone made sure that Ash got enough play time so it was content for the moment.

Dani kept her fire spells at a minimum level, careful to avoid any unwanted attention, while the younger twin continued her studies as font. Pat sat bored next to Ash's wagon and occasionally siphoned off a little of Simone's fire magic to feed to the salamander.

"Keep it up, Simone," Kate told the girl. "You're doing quite well."

"Thanks, Kate." Simone flashed a smile as she literally glowed with the energy of fire magic that she held inside her. "This is so much nicer now that we can talk to each other."

Kate sighed.

"Oy. I can almost see a smile." Simone couldn't resist a little teasing.

Kate drew a smiley in the air, making a short curve with her tiny hand. Then she raised two fingers in the air like a backwards peace or victory sign. It would be dire insult to a stranger but they both knew it was in jest.

Dani looked over at the older twin after creating a tiny flame in the palm of her hand. "Pat! You should be practicing."

"I am!" Pat shouted back. "I'm feeding your pet."

"Ash isn't a pet!" The rest of the group shouted in unison, surprising themselves. Then they all laughed, even Pat.

Pat shook her head of short brown hair. "Until it says something, if it even can talk, it's just a pet." She couldn't help thinking of Ash as a pet.

Ash did appear very much to be nothing more than a wild creature, but after hearing Pat's words, it cocked its head and amazed everyone. "Patteeeee," it said, in a raspy but clearly understood voice. It repeated the name several times just to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

"Ash seems to really like you… Patty," Simone said, smirking.

"My name is Pat!"

Ash vigorously nodded and again said, "Patteeeeee."

"That's not what Ash says." Dani said, and everyone laughed, everyone except Pat.

Pat still hadn't accepted being a girl, and it wasn't just because she still had prominent boy bits. Dani seemed to accept it fairly well and Simone loved being a girl, but for some reason, Pat felt uncomfortable and she didn't understand why. It frustrated her because the three sisters felt closer than ever in all other respects. Being happy as a girl was the only thing she couldn't bring herself to share. It almost made her cry, and that just upset her more because boys didn't cry.

She did have a point. She wasn't exactly a girl. The three sisters did still have boy bits, and those boy bits allowed them to gather and use elemental air and fire magic just as well as any male magic users. While the three of them hung somewhat in limbo between the two genders, they could use all four types of elemental magic. The formerly living trio thought that the ability to use the four elements might make the difference in the battle with the Dark Forces so they quickly taught what little they could of fire magic. They had to press their advantage while they could, before the sisters became truly all girl and lost their ability to wield more powerful fire magic.

Jenna hated and feared fire magic. The Dark Forces used it to kill so many, including herself and her two best friends. Even before she knew much about its destructive potential, she still didn't like it much. She could never use it very well and learned very few spells, most of which were mixed with other types of elemental magic, like the creation of the golems. She did have one good offensive spell that involved fire though, and she saved it for last.

"The last spell I'll be teaching is what I call the dancing fire sword spell," she told Dani. "It's a classic. I take a weapon, like a sword, animate it and add fire to attack an enemy from a distance. If you've enough power and concentration, you can keep two or three flaming swords in play at the same time."

"That sounds cool," Simone said, still glowing with fire magic.

"You might want to power down, girl," Jenna warned.

"Right. Dark Forces watching and all that." Simone sighed and the glow faded away. "I was hoping to see a pair of dueling fire swords."

Jenna would've smirked if her golem face allowed. "You'll have to settle for dull kitchen knives. That's all we've got anyway."

She sent the magical thought form to Dani who then spent a couple minutes processing it before casting the spell on one of the knives. The knife rose slowly in the air, twirled a few times and burst into flame.

Simone clapped several times and giggled.

"Oy," Pat said. "Do you have to be such a girl?"

The giddy girl turned and stuck her tongue out at her twin sister.

Dani ignored her sisters. She was already moving the flaming knife through the air, trying loops, feints and thrusts. After getting the hang of it, she sped up the movement until the knife was a glowing blur. It left a long trace of light in the air behind it, giving the fetch an idea. With an even greater burst of speed, the knife spelled out Jenna's name in the air.

Simone clapped and giggled again. Even Pat was impressed. Ash looked at the display with a glint of mischief and hunger in its eyes.

With the success of one knife, a second flaming knife soon joined the first and the two of them had a mock battle. Sparks flew as well as flames as metal struck metal. Even with small kitchen knives, the spell could be quite deadly, something they might need in the battle against the Dark Forces.

~o~O~o~

 © 2013 by Terry Volkirch. This work may not be replicated in whole or in part by any means electronic or otherwise without the express consent of the Author (copyright holder). All Rights Reserved. This is a work of Fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional and any resemblance to real people or incidents past, present or future is purely coincidental.