Page 6 of Dragon's Desire

"There's plenty of other work that needs to be done. Your talents may fit better in a division like data analytics or field support. I'm not saying those jobs are any less important. It's those tasks that allow modern witch hunters to do what we do best." Then he smiled. "Hell, a couple decades ago, we didn't even have that. It was only in the last century that we started to get people in positions of influence instead of on the front lines."

Cadet Wallace raised his hand again. Peter wasn't sure if he was going to like this kid or not.

"Yes, Cadet?"

"Positions of influence?"

"Government jobs, research grants. We needed people in the right places to help modernize a witch hunter's arsenal. We still rely on some very old tools. People not believing in witches meant that fewer innocent people were caught up in it. Still, it also meant most people weren't going to invest the time, money, and resources into making a witch hunter's tools better. Why build a gun to kill something that doesn't exist? So many witch hunter tools are literally medieval."

He caught Laura's eye again.

"Why don't we have some hands-on experience with the tools of the trade. I'd like to see how you handle them. Follow me to the training grounds."

5

PETER

Peter led the cadets to the training grounds and then stood between two tables, both of which were covered with a white sheet. Whatever was on his right was bigger than what was on his left.

"As I said, a witch hunter's arsenal has been difficult to modernize. But those are just the things that you use to directly attack a witch or defend against their magic. There was nothing stopping us from adopting other modern equipment for support purposes."

Peter pulled the sheet off the right-hand table. There was a pile of equipment PEACE issued to almost all field agents. Most of it wasn't any more impressive than what a civilian police officer might carry. Though some of the equipment was something, the average police officer would use. Beat cops didn't get grappling guns because beat cops didn't have to bring someone down who could levitate—or at least they didn't use to. They were living in a different world now.

The trainees took some time practicing with the grappling guns.

When they were done, Cadet Wallace asked, "I didn't see much time scheduled for standard firearms training. Is there a reason for that?"

"Good question," he said before he picked up a gun from the table, made sure the safety was on, and held it up.

Looking at Laura again, "You may know exactly how to handle a gun, and while that's certainly impressive, it's not likely to help you against a witch." He looked around at the others. "You can shoot a witch with a gun, and if you're lucky, you might kill them, but they use magic to protect themselves. If you shoot at them and your bullet is stopped by magic, you've just told them where you are and that you're an idiot. They will kill you in seconds."

Peter turned to the other table and pulled the sheet off, revealing a pair of daggers in sheaths, a crossbow, a handful of crossbow bolts, a strange-looking pair of handcuffs, and several clay jars.

Wallace's eyes fell to the other much smaller table.

"Yes, cadet?" Peter prompted. He could see the question already crawling through Wallace's brain.

"Nothing, sir."

"Speak your mind. I can see it on your face. What is it?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I don't want to bother you with so many questions."

"I'd much rather you ask them now than get your ass handed to you by a witch. Some of them could quite literally do that to you."

Peter laughed.

"Is this really all there is?" Wallace asked, nervousness causing his voice to crack slightly.

"This is the stock that PEACE has acquired and is not currently being used in the field by someone who has passed witch-hunter training. I had to give up some of my own tools to even get this much in front of you. Let's go over it."

He picked up one of the sheathed daggers.

"This is a blessed dagger." He held it out in front of him, ready to pull the dagger out of the sheath. A few cadets leaned in, including Wallace. They all had an audible groan of disappointment when he pulled was looked like a pretty standard blade. He looked at Wallace and said, "You were expecting it to glow or something, weren't you?"

The cadet actually blushed and answered, "Yeah, kind of."

"That's not how they work, and you should be glad of it. If you're sneaking up on someone in the dark, you don't want your weapon to give you away."

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