Page 79 of Black Onyx
“I know you want to kill him yourself, but Ryu wants me to make the suggestion that if shit hits the fan, you just let him eat your father,” Reaper suggests.
I burst out laughing, “Why do I get the feeling that you’re both on board with that idea?”
He shrugs but doesn’t deny it.
“We can call that plan B.” Storm reasons, and Reaper nods.
“I want to be the one to take him out but not at the risk of any of you or of him escaping, so if you get the opportunity, take it.” I try to clarify. I’m not pig-headed or vengeful enough that I’m losing sight of what’s really important. At the end of the day, he’s not only trying to kill me but is also putting all of the guys at risk, and I’m not okay with that. Despite the odds, I care about these fuckers, and I will protect them with my last dying breath.
The plan we have is relatively simple, and that’s purely because we don’t have the information that we need. Hopefully, Poca will come back with good news, and this will be simple enough. As if I summoned him, Poca suddenly appears in the middle of the room.
“Hey!” I greet him happily, rubbing behind his ears, “that was quick. Did you find him?”
Poca starts sending me images rapidly, clearly excited that he’s done a good job.
“Whoa, buddy, slow them down a bit. I can’t see.” The guys look at me curiously, so I explain, “he’s sending me images but too quickly, so I can’t actually make them out.”
“That’s so cool. Do you think he’d be able to send them to the rest of us too?” Mayhem asks.
“Whoa, I take that as a yes. Thank you, Poca,” Loki exclaims.
“If you close your eyes, it’s less disorientating,” I warn them, remembering how weird it was seeing a double image when he first sent a picture to me. “Okay, Poca, where is he?”
The first image he sends is of the giant castle where I grew up, well, in the basement dungeons unless I was needed to keep his image up. Next, he does something he’s never done before and sends us a memory of what he’s seen, complete with sound. In it, I see my father talking to one of his guards; he tells him that he has business to attend to and will be in his office for the rest of the night. Not to let anyone interrupt him and stay on guard outside of the door before he closes it and goes to sit at his desk.
“That was incredible,” Rival compliments as the images fade, and Poca sits looking at me expectantly. I, of course, give him more ear rubs.
“Yeah, that memory with sound was a new thing. He’s never done that before.” The guys look at me with understandably impressed looks while I compliment Poca, “you did so well.”
“Could it be possible that because your magic was being dampened, his was too?” Storm asks, his sparking horns giving away his anger.
“I suppose it would make sense; he is connected to me.”
“And because he is your familiar, he would’ve been feeding you as much of his magic as possible in order to top up yours and make sure that you were protected.” Mayhem adds.
“Seriously?” I ask. It had never occurred to me that he would be doing that.
“Absolutely, it’s one of the main functions of a familiar.” He replies.
“I actually don’t know much about familiars other than what I’ve learned from him. It wasn’t like I could ask questions and look it up, not with the threat of my father hanging over me.”
“I can help with that, but first, we need to get rid of your father,” Mayhem replies.
“I’d really appreciate that. As far as my father goes, I can get us into his office easily. If Killian and Storm could cover us in shadows as much as possible, it will help conceal us, so he’s unaware of our presence for as long as is feasible.”
“We can do that easily enough.” Storm says, and Killian nods along.
There’s a knock on the door, and Loki gets up to answer it, “That’ll be the food. Let's eat and then nap.”
“Sounds good. We’ll set off at about two am and should be back before anyone notices that we’re gone.” Storm finalises the plan.
**********
I didn’t get nearly enough sleep, but I’m ready to get this over with; we need my father out of the picture. He poses too big a threat to us all. I’ve just finished getting dressed, and I’m contemplating which weapons to take when I suddenly remember the last time I went into the Void. I couldn’t remember how I got back, and until this moment, I had completely forgotten it even happened. Before I start to panic, a wave of calm washes through me, and I know without a doubt that whatever happened was not a threat to me. I still don’t know what it was, but I feel like I’m not meant to know yet, as frustrating as that is. I also don’t know if it’s going to happen again, but I guess we’re going to find out very shortly.
With that somewhat put to rest in my mind, I turn my attention back to the weapons. I know that it might not be the brightest idea to take one of my custom-made, black blade weapons, but they have certain spells embedded in the purple gems that have magic dampening properties. If I can get to him without him noticing me and move quickly enough to dispatch him, then I should be able to end him easily. It’s that thought that cements my decision, and I place it in the concealed weapon holder on my hip and make my way out of my room to find everyone ready to go and looking sombre.
“Ready to go?” Storm asks.
