"How is she?"
Madera sat down in a nearby chair and looked at her teammates. "She'll live. The doctor my associates sent over patched her up and now she's doing some form of restorative meditation, or some weird mystic shit. So, our mark is under some kind of hypnotic control or something this priest is putting out. We could snatch him next time he attends Church, which is pretty much every day by now, but I think he'll be violent if we did that. If we want a happy delivery day, we're going to have to break this priest's hold over him. Problem is, the bastard appears to be bulletproof and our best mage is down and out at the moment."
Gemini looked to Alberich, "Can you take this guy on?"
"Lower his defences and I can get him no problem. Magically, if Astrid's run-in with him is any indication, he's out of my league."
"He's bulletproof... what about sword-proof?" X3 asked.
"We don't know if his barrier spell is bullet-specific or not. But with all your implants, you'd be an easy target for his magic. We can't risk you becoming a convert," Alberich said.
"So where does that leave us?" De Madera asked.
"Where we started," Gemini said. "So we treat this like a new job. Madera, see if your people know anything about this church. X3, tail the priest, learn his habits and his daily life. Stay well back, so if he has any detection magic up, you won't be found. Alberich, keep an eye on Astrid. We don't know how vengeful this priest is and whether any of his flock will come after her. I'll go chat up the congregation and learn what I can from them. We need to figure out this guy quickly before he has enough devoted followers to wage a Holy War on the non-believers of Seattle."
"So, everyone else?" De Madera said with a short laugh. "I'll need some of that slush fund of yours. These guys have helped us twice and now I'm about to go for dessert. They're going to want something this time."
Transferring several thousand to Madera's commlink, Gemini steeled herself. "All right, you guys find out what you can, and I'll go talk to crazy people."
Astrid found herself in a small village. The smell of salt was heavy on the air from the sea not far away. The town was a quaint village of wooden homes with thatched roofs. The technology was nonexistent here, practically medieval. Her injuries were gone as well. Despite the strangeness here, she felt totally at home. After a moment's reflection, she realized that the trance she had put herself in to help the healing process had had the side effect of putting her on a vision quest.
"Welcome, my child."
She turned to see the smiling face of her Patron, Tyr. The Viking man was broad shouldered, tattooed and handsome. His square jaw showed a little stubble and being shirtless, his perfect physique was easy to see.
"Master Tyr!" Astrid quickly knelt before her Patron God.
"Please, there is no need for you to kneel here. I am here to guide you. Come. This way."
The Viking man led her to one of the thatched roof cabins and stepped inside. Roast pig turned on a spit, heavy leavened bread sat next to a pot of something that could be considered soup. Two heavy cups full of mead sat beside the fire. Tyr sat down lifted his glass, took a healthy pull of the alcoholic beverage and looked at Astrid. "So... why are you here?"
Astrid gave her patron a perplexed look. "I...I thought you were going to guide me."
"In due time, but you need to understand things fully before I know where to guide you to."
Astrid tore off a piece of bread and thought for a moment. "I guess I'm here because I failed."
"Ah, is that what you think?"
"Didn't I? I had my enemy before me, I used my power effectively and efficiently, as you've taught me. And instead of success, I was badly injured and had to be dragged off. Victory should have been mine."
"You've only got half the lesson, my child. The warrior is victorious when he has planned and measured out that success. You were unprepared for that challenge."
"The nature of my work is to deal with the unknown. How can I prepare for success over the unknown?"
Tyr sat for a moment as Astrid ate the bread she had taken. "Do you know the story of how this happened?" he asked, holding out his right arm, showing the mangled stump where his hand used to be.
"You sacrificed your hand so the great wolf Fenrir could be bound by the other Gods."
"Very good. Sometimes, warriors need to make those sacrifices and withdraw. We learn from the experience and can approach it anew, wielding our newfound knowledge."
"OK... but I didn't really learn anything, aside from the guy had far more magic than my readings first told me."
"Even that is valuable information, but think back. You are missing something."
Astrid took a swallow of the strong mead, but the alcoholic sting seemed to sharpen her reflection on the events at the church. She had watched him intently the entire sermon and his magic had seemed so slight. She had already blocked two of his spells when she had made the decision to strike him down. Then the blackness moved in...
"That black energy... what was that?"
"Take the information you already know. You already have what you need," Tyr said.
"His power was weak, but when I moved to stop him...something else intervened. He's using borrowed power!"
"Very good. What can do that?"
"A spirit pact. Something that feeds off of worship and devotion. He brings it followers and it gives him power. Probably masquerading as something from his own beliefs."
"You're a good student, Astrid. Now that you're armed with new knowledge, how to defeat your foe?"
"Kill the spirit. Destroy the pact, destroy the man."
"You are ready. Fight your battle and show me your victory."
Breaking the trance, Astrid shot bolt upright in the team's safehouse and looked around, slightly confused at first.
Alberich looked at her and smiled. He was in the midst of cleaning his weapons when he spoke. "Welcome back. Feeling any better?"
"Where's the rest of the team?" she asked, looking around for the others.
"Out doing some legwork. Why, what's up?"
"I think I've figured out our latest problem."
The team gathered around the battered Astrid, who was still clutching her ribs in discomfort. Upon hearing Alberich's call, most had returned promptly. Only De Madera had not yet returned, citing a need to complete negotiations before coming back.
"Well, we're here. Madera's on his way back, but he's patched in through the network. What have you found out?"
"While I was recovering I had a vision from Tyr..."
"Oh this ought to be good..." De Madera muttered over the commlink.
"Madera, quiet!" Gemini said shortly. "Go ahead."
"He had me go back and learn from my mistakes at the Church. As I was playing things back in my head, I realized something: the attack that hit me didn't come from the priest at all."
"I beg to differ," Madera said. "I saw a bolt of light fire from him to you. No one else could have fired that."
"It could happen if the priest has made a spirit pact."
"A what-now?" X3 asked.
"It's like a bargain one makes with a powerful free spirit," Alberich said. "It can be a risky proposition, depending on what the spirit wants in exchange."
"What is this, a swap meet for mages then?" Madera asked.
"In a crude sort of way, perhaps," Astrid said, "The spirit lends power to the mage in exchange for what it needs to sustain itself. Usually, it leeches from the pact member, but in some cases the mage can use surrogates."
"The church congregation..." Gemini said, the information sinking in.
"Exactly. The larger the congregation, the more emotions to feed on."
The door opened and Madera strode inside. Closing and locking the door behind him, he sat down opposite Astrid with a scowl of his own. "I might have found another wrinkle just to make things even more entertaining."
"You have got to be kidding me..."
Madera sat back and took them through his investigation. "After everything that went on at the Church, it made me wonder. My friends have only recently shown any interest in the place, because of its rapid increase in size. The place looks to be totally above board otherwise. However, after the priest denied any knowledge of the drugs in his communion crap, I took a look at the idea that maybe he really didn't know."
"That's a stretch," Astrid said.
"It's a stretch, but it paid off. The drugs are being added by a third party. The wafers are being prepared at a little bakery in Chinatown. Apparently some entrepreneurial Triad member bought the place up and has been baking trace amounts of Red Mescaline into their confections to drum up a loyal customer base before jacking the prices. They've been doing it intermittently so not to get caught by the cops, but their competition knows something's up."
"So these people are getting high on hallucinogens during communion, think they're really seeing God and come back regularly?" X3 asked.
"Think of it as a more Pavlovian response. They go to church, they feel real good and the longer they're away, they start feeling worse again. Rather than feel unhappy, they attend church more often. By going to church more often, they're exposed the priest's magic more and really start to believe his gospel. They draw in friends and family and the disease spreads," Gemini said. "So how do we stop it?"
"Stop what? We're diverting from our original mission here," X3 said. "We're here to get this guy Robert. How hard is this?"
"Until we break the hold this spirit has on him, it's too much of a hazard, both to us and him to just snatch him off the street. We need to get rid of this spirit and the priest," Astrid said.
"Do we really want to allow the Triads to sell Mescaline-laced cookies to kids on the street? We may not be getting paid for all this, but we can't just sit idly by..." Gemini said. "They're all connected."
X3 sighed. "All right... so how are we doing this then?"
Everyone sat quietly for a moment considering options. "It's going to take most of us to deal with the priest, but I don't want the Triad to catch wind of their largest customer getting taken down." Gemini mused aloud.
"I'll deal with the Triads," X3 said. "It'll be quiet and clean."
Gemini nodded. She didn't always approve of X's methods, but when it comes to drug-laced food being sold to the public, they deserved what was coming.
"All right. Astrid, this priest is your field of expertise. What do you suggest?"
"The priest is drawing all his power from this pact he's made. I need to draw this thing out of hiding and kill the spirit first and foremost. Once we destroy it, the priest will be easy. Alberich, that will be your job. When you get the signal, drop him quickly."
"Done."
"Madera and Gemini... you guys will have to be in the church."
"Won't he recognize me? I did shoot at him...tends to make people remember you," De Madera said.
"Have X3 doctor you up to look different. I need you stay close to Robert. When things go down, he may get violent or he may panic and try to flee. You need to keep him close."
"Can I pacify him? I can always hit him with a stun baton and keep him from getting far."
"No permanent damage, but that is likely the safest course. Gemini, you need to keep the priest distracted. If he gets wise to what I'm doing, he'll move to assist the spirit and I'd be hard pressed to stop them both."
"I'll do what I can."
"Alberich, you will need to plan out your shot carefully so only the priest gets marked and no civilians get hurt. Work with Madera and Gemini to figure something out to that end. That's more your area than mine."
"I'll check the surrounding area for a good vantage point and come up with a plan," Alberich said.