Awaiting Tony's side of the story

“You’re in the wrong century, lollipop,” stated Pritkin. Knives and potion bottles began floating in the air from invisible marionette strings. The cloud of carnage surrounded Pritkin like a cobra hood, ready to strike with equal veracity. “So are you, mage,” replied the Guild member, the last word spat more than spoken. He drew his pistol and shot in the same movement, sacrificing accuracy for speed. Unfortunately for him, the shot hit the door frame instead of its intended target. Pritkin didn’t miss, though, his knives hitting the Guild member’s shooting arm, doing minimal damage. The French soldiers still near the cabin still thought that the cabin’s inhabitants were French travelers, so they were a little confused about the current situation. The Guild member was commanding this detail, but they weren’t convinced that Pritkin was an enemy yet. Their confusion was only enhanced when Francois stepped out of the cabin and yelled at the Guild member in French. She waved her hand, attempting a new spell but failing. The gesture was seen as one of contempt for the Guild member by the soldiers. At this point the soldiers and the Natives moved out to the circumference of an invisible circle, keeping both the Guild member and the cabin in sight. At that point Caleb had had enough. He wasn’t much for just sitting around while others, especially Pritkin, did all of the dirty work. He raised his shields and just walked out of the cabin, passing Pritkin on his way. He had a pistol in his hand, but kept it aimed down, and just walked menacingly towards the Guild member. He sent quick glares to the soldiers and the Natives, but kept his main focus on the Guild member. Then Cassie got an idea. "Billy Joe,” she said. “Whaaaatt?” whined Billy Joe. “Go out and find out what our new friends are thinking,” she stated. “I can tell you right now what they’re thinking. ‘Let these idiots fight it out, then we’ll mop up what’s left and take care of their women afterwards.’  That’s what they’re thinking!” proclaimed Billy Joe. “Oh, they’ve got a big surprise coming if that’s what they’re thinking, but thanks for that, Captain Obvious. Now go!” replied Cassie. So Billy Joe went out and searched the minds of the soldiers and the Natives, finding only confusion and hesitation at the spectacle that they were seeing play out before them. They didn’t have time for these distractions, as they still had a Major to kill.

Think about it. That could be fun.

After opening the door to the log cabin, Rhea and Rico stepped out to do a little recon, and they were immediately confronted by a group of people. Suddenly, Rhea wished that she had worn her brown dress on this trip. She saw what looked like some French soldiers, some Natives, and 1 man dressed in period garb looking suspiciously at her and Rico. In the span of a second, Rico was mentally plotting the demise of all of them. He had his route planned out, using his vampire speed and strength to kill the soldiers, then the Natives, then the suspicious guy before any of them had a chance to blink. Luckily for him and the group, he hesitated, because making a scene may not be the best thing to do at the moment. They were here to gather information first before acting, so he kept his knives hidden. For now. He did mentally send a thought to the only other vampire in the group, Louis Cesare, to tell him to get his French derriere out there. Rhea, having learned a little bit of French while at Court, decided that talking to them was the best option, so she meekly told them, with what little French she knew, that they were travelers trying to get back to their boat. The soldiers listened, but the combination of Rhea’s broken French and the fact that there weren’t supposed to be any French travelers in this English settlement made them extremely wary. They kept their muskets trained on the two and continued to question them, until Louis Cesare stepped out of the cabin. “Papa!” exclaimed Rhea, trying to add a little bit of credence to the story. But Louis Cesare didn’t really need her help to convince the soldiers. In his perfect French, he validated Rhea’s story, and asked the soldiers what was going on, and if they could provide protection on the way to the boat. The soldiers believed him and told him that they were attacking this English settlement. They knew the battle plan, so three of the French soldiers and a half dozen of the Natives were able to accompany Rhea, Rico, and Louis Cesare to their alleged boat, away from the fighting. With half of the soldiers gone, they hoped that the rest of the team would fare a little better. Meanwhile inside the cabin, the others were discussing what to do next. Pritkin, with the patience of a Black Friday Wal-mart shopper, decided to  open the door and deal with what was left of the soldier’s group. When he did, his eyes met the eyes of the Guild member staring back at him.

So Rico and Rhea cautiously opened the door and stepped out of the cabin. As soon as they did, they heard,”Qui etes-vous? Qu’est-ce que vous-faites?”

“Girls burning, men and women in old English garb hanging from nooses, a small, old courtroom...” Cassie sat upright, her eyes wide open. She knew the power was calling her, because of course it was calling to her when she was naked doing her favorite thing. Well, second favorite thing, but he was downstairs. She knew what she had to do, and she knew where she had to go. She had learned some American history while she was a little girl living at Tony’s. She whispered only a single word, because everyone knew its connotation. ”Salem.” “Time to gather the troops,” she thought, as she stepped out of the bathtub, being careful not to drip on the books as they floated downstream. She then got dressed and found Rhea and Rico. “C’mon lovebirds, we’ve got work to do,” as a look of shock came over Rhea’s face. Rico just smiled. They headed downstairs to see if Cassie’s favorite war mage was busy making the mops and buckets clean the room themselves. She got a bit more than she bargained for, as apparently there was a meeting of the minds happening. Pritkin was there, and he was talking to Caleb. Then Cassie heard a loud commotion going on, but she didn’t understand a single word of it, as Louis Cesar and Francois were having a heated discussion about proper fashion, judging by their arm movements. “Sorry to interrupt everyone, but the Palmer Mass Transit System will be leaving the station soon, so all passengers must now show their tickets and prepare to board.” Pritkin gave Cassie “The Look,” and asked,”What’s going on?” She looked back at him with a wink and a smile and replied,”You’ll see.” And then she shifted.

My latest LEGO project. It will be on display at Brickworld Chicago next month.

That would be funny.

Favorite minor character. So many good choices. I think Carla, though, because of how much she helped Cassie. It seems for the better part of the series that Cassie has had Pritkin to fall back on (hehehe.) Because of the whole Demon Council story line, now Cassie really is fighting alone. It’s one of the main reasons Cassie tells herself that she needs Pritkin, to help her fight Ares. Cassie’s interactions in the beginning with Carla were humorous, and when the shit hit the fan, Carla stepped up to provide whatever help she could during the battle. But it was afterwards that Carla’s influence in the story really shined, penning the infamous headline that shamed the entire magical world. Carla’s domino set off a large chain of events that were vital to the outcome of the final battle, specifically the backup pythias, who came out of hiding after reading Carla’s story. I would actually like to see more fallout from Carla’s story in future books, as in more people stepping up to help Cassie be the best that she can be.

There were some other memorable quotes and moments throughout the book, but I like this one the best as the tone-setter that it is.

I’m going to post my 3 favorite quotes in the form of a haiku: Oh. Look. It was worse. My name is Cassie Palmer... Consider it fucked. I’m not sure how well those 3 go together, but oh well.

Signed, Cassie

Signed, Court Appointee Dear Court Appointee, I’m starting with your letter because it’s a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I don’t want to beat a dead horse (sorry,) so I’ll be working closely with the Silver Circle to ensure that their schools don’t become a death sentence (again, sorry) to necromancers. You have some special abilities, CA, and I’ve known a few necromancers in my life, so I’ll be keeping your and their thoughts in my head as I deal with Jonny’s cache. If it comes to it, I’m known to cause a stink that will raise the dead (mostly sorry.) Keep your chins up, necromancers, because I’m on your side, til death do us part (not sorry about that one.) Signed, Pythia