PROLOGUE

Tuesday, May 19th, 1998

SLAVA AND WALTER FINISHED POURING the circle of salt, in the basement of a country estate home. They had created a massive seal designed to contain an Aether Walker. Stomachs lighted by pride, they stepped back to admire their handywork—a feat not done in nearly a century.

Now to test it.

"Bring It in here," Slava called to his daughter. "Lance, head upstairs until I call for you."

"I want to stay, how am I going to learn if you keep sending me out of the room?" Lance said, not moving from a chair by the door.

Julia guided a drugged Aether Walker from the food cellar into the circle upon the floor. What was now the basement, had once been a kitchen for a large estate. Ironic that what had once been a noble's personal kitchen, now served as a dungeon and personal research facility.

"Lance. I said get upstairs." Slava's tone was firm.

"Mom, tell him I'm ready," Lance pleaded. "Are we a team or not?"

The Aether Walker looked like an overgrown salamander. Walter focused on it, trying not to get involved in another discussion on whether or not Lance was ready. If Walter didn't know better, he'd have said it was cute—almost like a child's toy. With green eyes surrounded by black, the comical size of his head and a tongue that hung down to its waist. He helped Julia position it—its skin felt like a wet leather sofa.

"It's time papa. Lance needs to learn alchemy with real world experience. He's read all the books more than once." Julia stayed focused on the Aether Walker while she spoke.

Slava spoke firmly in russian, then in english for Walters' benefit. "Alright, but stay in your chair, and keep quiet."

"Thank you dedushka"

The Council had been clear in their instructions, discover the true forms of the Aether Walkers. With the rapid expansion of modern science, the Council had decided it was time to test their hypothesis. What had been speculation for centuries, was now verifiable.

"How long for the sedative to wear off?" Walter asked.

"At least an hour," Julia said.

 

 

"Let us make sure the seal will hold it," Slava handed them each a box of salt.

An enormous book rested upon a counter, displaying the appropriate seal they were using—it spanned four feet across and three feet tall, leather bound and far older than the basement they stood in. How the pages had been enchanted to prevent aging was a complete mystery, and the instructions around the seal were hand scribed in Latin. Walter had been forced to learn Latin in school as a young man, and those wasted years were about to prove worthwhile.

The Aether Walker stood—swaying slightly—in the center of two circles. The innermost circle was blank, leaving enough floor space to fit six Aether Walkers, had they needed it. Spanning between the first and second circle, were hundreds of painstakingly drawn symbols made from salt.

Walter had spent the better part of the day to draw out the holding seal, and more than once was forced to start over from scratch. The concept was simple enough. Prevent any Aether Walker from crossing either circle. Meaning that the one design was perfectly suited to be a containment seal, or an emergency shield if they found themselves over run by Aether Walkers. The original author of the book hinted as much.

After 30 minutes of checking each tiny symbol, Walker was confident the seal would hold.

"It'll work," Walter placed his box of salt on the counter next to the book.

"Are you sure?" Slava asked.

"As sure as I can be." Walter turned his attention to Julia, "Are you ready?"

She stood on the far side of the circle away from the book staring at the salamander like Aether Walker that lay sprawled out in the center of the circle, beginning to stir.

"Yes," she said. "We should hurry though. The sedative is wearing off. It must work differently within their physiology."

"Assuming they have different physiology," Walter said.

"One of many reasons we are here, no?" Slava asked.

The two nodded in agreement.

All four were fixated upon the Aether Walker trapped within the circle. This was the moment they'd been waiting for. The culmination of months of work, and hours of debating with The Council.

Convincing The Council, it was safe to experiment on one of Them, hadn't been easy. In the end it required Walter to call in every favor he was owed and hand out a few markers of his own.

The Aether Walker staggered to a sitting position, and took in its surroundings.

"What?" it trailed off.

"Don't bother trying to escape," Walter said. "You're securely locked within the circle upon the ground, and we know what you are, so there's no need denying it."

"I don't know—"

"Please," Julia said. "Let's not insult one another."

The salamander pushed itself up and stood to face them. Hesitantly he reached out toward the barrier and pulled his hand away in a flash when it touched the circle.

"My arm feels numb, like when you lick a nine-volt battery," the Aether Walker chuckled to himself—from a dark humor, or his funny bone was unclear.

"Now that you see we're telling you the truth," Walter continued, "Perhaps you're ready to answer our questions—"

"Who is your leader?" Slava jumped in.

Walter's veins burned with excitement and he could only assume that the other two felt the same.

"I don't know what you mean by that," the Aether Walker said. "The prime minister is John Major."

The containment seal worked both ways—the Aether Walker couldn't attack them, but it also meant Walter couldn't strangle the bastard for being cheeky. Instead he was forced to glare at it, with what he hoped was a face of intimidation. Walter was well known for his intelligence and research abilities—it was the main reason he'd rose through the ranks—but intimidation was never his strong suit.

"We can keep this up all day, but I'd rather us finish this in time for dinner."

The Aether Walker remained silent.

Walter moved to the book and flipped through the pages in search of a torture spell modifier. If the Aether Walker wasn't willing to speak, then they'd compel it.

"Last chance," Walter said.

Silence.

The Aether Walker didn't flinch, instead he almost seemed to relax. Did he not think Walter could backup his threat? A good bet, since Walter didn't even know if it would work. He'd really hoped the threat would have been enough.

The seal alteration was simple. It called for adding five banana-like symbols to the seal upon the ground, in accordance with the five elements. The others watched as Walter applied a new symbol to modify the seal before following suit.

Walter placed the last symbol and the Aether Walker began to writhe upon the ground. Silent screams stretched across its face. Its eyes rolled back, revealing the solid black sclera. The writhing slowed and Walter rushed to brush away one of the banana-like symbols from the seal, instantly ending the torture.

The sounds of the Aether Walker's screams erupted as a torrent of sound, bottled up from the seal's barrier. It had been screaming at the top of its lungs, judging by the deafening sound.

"I presume we have your undivided attention?" Walter asked, his voice flat as if he were reading an instruction manual.

"Yes," the Aether Walker gasped, still twitching on the ground.

"Who's your leader?" Julia asked.

"I don't know what you mean," the Aether Walker raised his hands in the air, pleading for understanding.

"I think I believe him," Julia said.

"No," Slava said. "He lies."

"You need to work with us, or you're going to die here." Walter told the Aether Walker

"What do you want from me?"

"Who is your leader?" Slava asked again.

Silence.

Walter locked eyes with Slava and nodded. There was no other option. Without warning, Walter drew another banana-like symbol with salt.

The torture began instantly, but this time the Salamander looking Aether Walker convulsed with such intensity it managed to rip its own tail free. After a brief dance across the floor, the tail hit the seal barrier and vanished in a puff of black smoke.

They watched closely, as the inner circle slowly became obscured by smoke as dark as night.

"Break it," Julia yelled.

Walter hesitated for a second, before quickly erasing another banana with his foot.

They still couldn't see, but they could hear the Aether Walker softly twitching on the ground. Walter moved to the displayed book and read.

Traditionally the seal was used to execute Aether Walker's suspected of killing a human. The torture was only used as a means of confession before carrying out the final sentence.

"Is it alive?" Julia asked.

"Does not matter," Slava said. "If it dies, we will find another. And another. Until one tells us what we need."

"Ask it something different." Lance broke his silence to the dismay of Slava. "All I'm saying is, 'who is your leader' is a broad question. Ask it how it got here or something."

"Lance, that's enough." Slava glared him into silence.

"Maybe he's right." Julia breathed in a barely audible tone.

"Says here that the seal was used as a means of execution," Walter said. "Sounds like a horrible way to die."

They all traded glances with each other.

"So how about it buddy," Walter turned toward the circle of smoke. "Want to tell me who your leader is, or do I draw the final symbol and leave you there to die?"

"No, please believe me," The Aether Walker began to cough. "If I tell you, he'll kill me. I'm sure it will hurt worse than this."

"That is a start," Slava chuckled. "We know it is a he. Tell us more."

"Please I can't talk to you," it begged. "He probably already knows I've been compromised."

The smoke began to rise toward the ceiling of the basement, revealing the salamander on the ground hugging its own legs.

"Tell us what we want to know, and we'll let you live," Julia kneeled beside the seal.

The salamander's dark green eyes focused on her and whispered, "Die."

In a sudden flash, the Aether Walker's tongue shot across the two circles and wrapped around Julia's neck. Before anyone could react, Julia was pulled into the Aether Walker's embrace.

"No-" Lance bolted out of his chair, but Slava's face told him to sit back down and shut up.

"Walter," Slava said.

"I know, I know," Walter flipped more pages in the book. "It shouldn't be possible."

"Le- me go," the Aether Walker said while its tongue tightened around Julia's neck.

Her face was already turning purple. Lance's rapid breathing could be heard throughout the room.

"I can—"

"Okay," Walter said, his hands held in the air to show he didn't have salt. "Loosen your grip, she's dying."

The Aether Walker obliged and Julia gasped for air.

"S-ep asi-" it demanded.

Walter stood between the Aether Walker and the stairs out of the basement.

"You let her go, and we'll let you go," Walter offered.

"No. I le- her go af-er," it said.

Before Walter could counter, Slava drove a dagger—a beautiful stiletto, twin pairs gifted to him and Walter from The Council—under the right armpit, through the lung, and pierced the heart.

The sudden shock caused the tongue muscles of the Aether Walker to contract, severing Julia's spine at the base of her skull. She died before she hit the ground.

As did the Aether Walker.

The three men held their breath in stunned silence for what felt like hours. Lance was the first to move, pushing to his mother's side. He pulled her out of the Aether Walkers grasp. His sobs echoed off the stone as Slava turned his back, dropping the stilettos to the ground.

Walter's glance dropped to the floor and he realized his mistake. With his last swipe he'd taken away more than just the banana like shape. He dropped to his knees, as tears wet his cheeks.