Fact Check: Is the Kraej Company going to privatize a major source of underground water for the towns in the southeastern tip of the continent?

Answer: No. The Godeke aquifer will be managed by the five towns that sit above it.

—Business World, vol. 107, no. 8

Sariel

Our estimated time of arrival was in one hour. Seraph didn’t speak the entire time. His face was devoid of expression, and he barely moved. He was like a perfect statue of an EL instead of a real person.

“Don’t worry, she’s probably fine. She’s a tough one.” I gripped him by the shoulder. Seraph didn’t say anything, but his posture relaxed slightly.

The radio squawked. I reached forward and grabbed the handset.

“This is Alpha team. We’ve found the targets. All in good health. Position secured. Over.”

“This is Commander Sariel. Roger that. Over.” I felt a wave of relief that made me feel giddy. I hadn’t realized until then how wound up I’d been. Seraph’s head drooped down, and he covered his face with his hands.

“Sir, the renegades are on the run. They’re flying in your direction. If you’re lucky, you might see them. They’re wanted alive. Over.”

“Describe them. Over.” Alive? Maybe they needed information from the traitor.

“Z-73 Kraej standard army attack helicopter, sir. Over.”

I gave the handset to the pilot. Seraph had already taken the binoculars from the pilot’s chair. We scanned the skies for the enemy helicopter, and I took my wand out.

“There!” Seraph pointed, but I couldn't see anything. He handed me the binoculars.

We couldn’t be sure if it was the enemy or not until the other helicopter started firing missiles at us when they were near enough. Seraph’s ice spells made the missiles explode in midair. No one cast any spells at us. They must not have any magicians capable of hitting us from this distance.

“Fly to the east,” I said to the pilot. The direction didn’t matter. I just wanted more space to work with.

“You hit them first. I’ll take care of them when they’re grounded,” said Seraph.

I almost dropped my wand when I saw the expression on Seraph’s face. His mouth had gone hard, and veins were bulging on his forehead. I couldn’t remember ever seeing anger blazing across his face before. Those famous golden eyes were glowing with a white-hot fury.

“Okay,” I said. Much as I wanted to kick some ass, it looked like Seraph needed it more.

My casting range was almost as great as Seraph’s so I could hit them from here, but Seraph’s mastery of wind anima would enable him to get to them faster than me.

I gathered anima and channeled it through the legendary artifact Asteria had given me. Anger made me gather too much at first, but that was no good. The blowback from an overly-large attack spell would destabilize this helicopter, too. With some difficulty, I lessened the amount of anima I used.

“Vortex. Vortex. Vortex.”

I cast three spells in quick succession. The three points of the vortex formed a triangle, with the enemy helicopter in the middle. Now they couldn’t flee.

The pilot flinched away from the deafening sound of three vortex spells. Wind buffeted our helicopter. The radio squawked again. Alpha team must have heard the commotion. The pilot updated them on our current situation and flew our chopper farther away.

I waited until our helicopter was at the outermost range of my casting ability before I unleashed a series of spells.

“Bolt. Ice. Bolt. Bolt. Ice.” I kept the spells strong enough to force them down but not strong enough to kill them. Much as I wanted revenge, it would be better to capture Alfred alive in order to flush out any other renegade Lifers or ELs who were still in hiding.

“Aaand they’re down,” said the pilot. “I’ll land some distance away, sir.”

“Wait!” I grabbed Seraph before he could jump out. “Wait until we’re a bit lower.”

“This is fine,” said Seraph.

“Asteria wouldn’t want you to risk it.” Seraph might be the best at controlling wind anima, but that didn’t mean he should be taking risks. The other helicopter wasn’t going anywhere, so Seraph could wait a few minutes until our helicopter was nearer the ground. I let him go when I judged that it was safe.

Seraph jumped out of the helicopter.

“Leave some for me!” I called out after him.

“Goddess!” said the pilot. He stared at Seraph’s rapidly descending form. “I can’t believe it.”

When Seraph was near enough, I let my vortex spells die down. The fake Kraej soldiers opened fire on Seraph while he was still in the air. One ice spell put paid to that. Seraph froze the helicopter and everyone inside it. They were frozen, but they wouldn’t die if Seraph freed them from his ice spell fast enough.

Alfred, his body glowing red with fire anima, staggered away from the downed and frozen vehicle. The old man was the real deal, all right.

Seraph sheathed his sword.

“What the fuck is he playing at?” I said to no one in particular.

Moving with inhuman speed, Alfred managed to fire off one shot from his rifle before Seraph was on him. Seraph dodged, but the bullet passed so close to him that it cut his sleeve.

“Land as near them as you can,” I said to the pilot. “Where do you keep the restraints?”

A single spell from afar would’ve finished Alfred off, but Seraph must have wanted to bash his face in. I could understand that.

“Damn.” I shook my head when I saw Seraph aim a punch at Alfred’s side.

Alfred was armed with a long knife and a dagger. The older man didn’t have the strength of an S-class EL, but it was widely rumored that Alfred and the other senior Lifers had been the first subjects of the top-secret precursor to the EL Project. And what Alfred “The Bloody” lacked in sheer strength, he made up for in fighting experience.

Too bad for him that he was up against Seraph.

Alfred’s hands moved like a whirlwind of death, but Seraph was equal to it. He dodged or deflected each strike while constantly aiming for Alfred’s head or torso. The older man wasn’t rattled. He was meeting Seraph blow for blow, and his form was perfect. It was an incredible exhibition of skill and willpower.

I jumped out of the helicopter and ran towards them carrying a set of mithril restraints. “Don’t kill him!”

It was over the next moment. Alfred was just a fraction of a second too slow. Seraph caught Alfred’s wrist then I heard bones breaking. Alfred must have known he was done for, but he didn’t want to go down without a fight. His other arm snapped up. Seraph dodged the knife, but Alfred had another trick up his sleeve. A tiny dart flew from his jacket cuff along with a puff of poison gas. Seraph was forced to let go of Alfred’s wrist to avoid it.

“Seraph, stop playing with him. Release the ice spell on the others,” I said.

Seraph obligingly unfroze the helicopter. The pilot and I went off to tie up the fake Kraej soldiers who were all unconscious, but I kept an eye on what Seraph and Alfred were doing.

“Why did you do it?” Seraph asked Alfred.

“You don’t even know,” said Alfred. His voice was hoarse and weak. It was the only thing about him that revealed his real age. Alfred had been an old man before Dierk Kraej became president. He must be close to three hundred years old by now.

“I’m sure you’re going to tell me what I don’t know,” said Seraph. He sounded almost bored.

“Do you know what those pearls she gave her mean?” Alfred tried to laugh. It was a pitiful effort.

He didn’t say who “she” and “her” was but we knew who he meant. Ida Kraej, Magnus’s mother, had given Asteria a string of pearls for her coming-of-age ceremony.

Asteria was oblivious to the meaning of the gift, of course.

“I know,” said Seraph. “But that’s not going to happen.”

“I can’t let them become even more powerful,” said Alfred. “They already own everything. What wouldn’t they be able to do if the next generation of Kraej had her power, too?”

Seraph and Alfred exchanged a few more blows, but with the Lifer’s dominant hand out of commission, it wasn’t long before Seraph floored him with a punch.

I walked over to them and started tying Alfred up with the mithril restraints.

“It was worth a try. I’ve only got a few more good years in me, anyway,” said Alfred.

“Shut up, old man,” I said.

I finished trussing him up like a monster bird ready for the pot. Normally, I’d use a heal spell on a captive as badly wounded as Alfred, but I figured it was a wasted effort.