New Players In The Pattern

[Aiden Finnegan]

Aiden sat in the back seat of his limo, which was parked on a quiet city street. The Red Pit’s neon lights cascaded down onto the sleek black car, giving it a look like someone splashed bright paint all over it. The restaurant specialized in American BBQ, southern BBQ to be specific. It was the closest thing he could find out here that remotely resembled Cajun and Creole cooking. They didn’t use the ‘holy trinity’ in their recipes, but Aiden could live without that. He had never been big on the celery anyway.

                The last few hours were a blur to him now. As soon as Sage had signed off from their VR meeting, Aiden had rushed about the house in a mad dash to pack his bags and get Lasher all set up for the trip. The dog was currently sitting next to Aiden, head sticking out of the window, his drooling face not knowing which way to look as a few locals made their way down the city sidewalks. Lasher was very well behaved, he never barked at anyone unless Aiden willed it. The training lessons weren’t cheap, but he was very thankful for them in the end.

                The food was already ordered and hopefully bagged up, just waiting to be grabbed by Aiden. Sage was nowhere to be seen, yet. Aiden was starting to get nervous. What if the man bailed on him? It wouldn’t be the first time Aiden had been stood up. If it happened again… well, sitting here in a stretch limo had a way of taking away any sting that might come with rejection. Living far away from here would help too; Aiden didn’t often come into Moscow, so there wouldn’t be any risk in running into Sage after a possible rejection. That would be too embarrassing.

                Spending a year or two in a coma had a funny way of keeping you out of the loop. On the ride from Suzdal, Aiden had watched the videos Sage supplied of Nox training. Aiden had to watch it over and over to really believe any of it. The magic in the video could have been faked. But then there were the stories about the Ascended and the Sickness, things Aiden knew about but really never paid attention to despite moving to the area. It’s what had sparked the ideas for this new novel, but Aiden had gone in a completely different direction with his research. After that first spark, he dove right into reading about different myths and legends, not once looking back at what the Ascended was saying on the world stage.

                It was much worse than Aiden feared. The Atharim? Aiden had heard nothing about them until today. He had been excited to learn how to use magic, but if there were those out there that would kill you for doing so… It was like the Salem Witchcraft Trials all over again! Perhaps this really was all a bad idea. A fireball manifested above the car as Aiden felt fear rise up in his gut. He fought it back down and the flame winked out. Aiden scrambled around in his seat, trying to see if anyone walking by noticed.

                “Safe… I think… An assassin wouldn’t be obvious about anything, though… Oh, Sweet Mother, what have I gotten myself into?” Aiden said to himself.

                He almost told the driver to turn back and go home, but then Aiden remembered what Sage had said about the Sickness… Aiden could die either way. At least if he stuck around he could see Sage again and he was starting to like looking at the man.