Tracy had finished his work for the night. Thank goodness. He hated interruptions. Once he got into a groove he didn’t want to stop. It was hard to pick up the pace again, or remember where he had been. He put the last report in the manager’s box and returned to the front desk.
A large trollish man came in from the hallway. His skin was a dull green with wisps of wool like hair on his head. His yellowish eyes were narrow as he walked with a heavy gait. Tracy heard him grunt along the way. The words turned into coherent sounds when the creature reached the threshold of the lobby. It was soft curses the four foot wide fae made. It paused at the door and stared at Tracy for a moment before proceeding closer. He trudged up to the desk, banged his hands on the desk and growled, “What is this place?”
Tracy took no insults, it was clear to him that the creature’s mutterings and body language were not a threat. The creature was just annoyed. It was amazing how understanding body language helped communication. The tall night auditor looked up into the face of the creature and said, “Welcome to the Sleepy Wolf Inn sir. Which room did you come out of?”
“The sign said this." The creature stated and drew a shape with his finger. Tracy noted the number and made a room key.
“My apologies, the doors are made to automatically lock. This key will let you back into your room.”
“My ‘Room’ is my home. Why is it opening to this….earth-hole?”
“Magic,” Tracy stated calmly. “Bad magic has touched this place causing our rooms to open to strange places. We are working on fixing the issue. I apologize for the inconvenience.”
The green skinned troll just stared at Tracy. Its left lower fang twitched slightly in its mouth. Its black pupils were creased with red and seemed to narrow in on the mortal man. Tracy didn’t quiver. He stared straight into the monster’s eyes. “Again I do apologize for the inconvenience, and I assure you that it is a completely random effect.”
The troll took the key and looked at it curiously. Tracy held up his master key and used a motion to demonstrate how to put it in the lock. “Simply slide it down into the lock and pull out. A green light will flash and you can open the door.”
The troll let out another mutter and nodded.
The front door slide open and two men walked into the lobby. They wore jeans and long shirts. From the way they walked and talked to each other he could tell they were drunk. What were they doing out this late in such a remote place? Tracy let out an inward groan. The last thing he needed right now was two mortals, even if they were part of the magical society referred to as Parandus, to bother this creature. At this hour those that showed up were either tired travelers or assholes. And sure enough they spoke up. “Who let the rules down here?”
“How may I help you gentlemen,” Tracy asked. He was careful to keep his voice neutral.
The hulking troll turned to take in these newcomers with narrow eyes. Tracy prayed they kept their mouths shut, but knew they wouldn’t. There was no way he could rent rooms right now. Not with strange portals appearing, and the drama in back with the magic circle. There was also no way to know if this creature in his lobby was familiar with local etiquette.
“Give us a room.” The shorter of the two said tossing his credit card on the desk in front of Tracy. The night auditor was aware of the Troll's narrow eyes watching the scene. He caught the slip of plastic as it slid over the desk's counter.
What was it they said in relations class? Tracy couldn’t help but go back to his classes given to him through the Parandus council. Fae use courtesy as the utmost standard for judging people. Watching what was said and how it was said was vital with the fae. It was clear this troll would be analyzing everything that was said and done here.
“I’m sorry sir, we are sold out.” Tracy said calmly as he picking up the card and tried to hand it back. It wasn’t true, but there were two golden rules Tamara taught him. 1. If they give you trouble checking in, they will be trouble the entire stay. That wasn’t a steadfast rule, but proved true most of the time. The second was: Edit who you rent to after midnight. He did have rooms, but he wasn’t taking the chance of putting them in one and ending up sending them to the netherworld or something. The hotel would be completely liable. Unlike the other shifts where it was important to fill the rooms, he was about making sure everyone was safe, sound, and had a quiet night.
“Look again.” The man said. His voice dropped into a dark note as he eyed Tracy.
The other man stood next to his friend, “Do you know who we are? We are friends of the owner. So if you value your job you’ll make sure we’re taken care of.”
“I do not need to look to know I have no rooms for you,” Tracy said evenly to the first man. Then to the second, “I am sure that the owner would personally want to rectify this, would you like me to call her and find out?”
“Asshole,” The first one cursed as they stormed out. “You’ll have your ass handed to you when we’re done with you.”
“Good luck,” Tracy muttered as the lobby door swooshed closed behind them.
The troll turned back to him and stared at him for a long moment. Tracy stared back. It was strange that dealing with this monster was far more pleasant than the assholes that just walked out. “There’s a dozen in every crowd,” the troll growled at him. Then he held the card up and mimicked Tracy’s motion with it.
It was all Tracy could do not to laugh. He nodded and let the troll amble out of the lobby. How was it in this job he was more comfortable with the monsters of the world than other mages? Because there were written guidelines, he decided. He let out a deep sigh and the emotions he had kept bottled up. Tracy wasn’t about to let the troll know how scared he had been. Somehow the ability to push his emotions down and do that made him feel stronger. Still, he noted his hands were shaking. The back door opened and the little bells upon it jingled. Tamara, Mandi and the fae came back in. He stood back and watched as the two women walked in, with a fae in tow. Mandi gave him a high five as she slipped behind the desk. “We just did a flaticious spell.”
Tracy whistled, “I’ve only ever heard of those effects going off in questionable situations.”
“We should be clear for that.” Tamara sighed. “What’s happened up here?”
“Troll wandered in from another ‘foreign’ room.” He reported. “I refused to sell rooms for the moment until we figure this out.”
“Probably for the best,” Tamara agreed with a heavy sigh. She came behind the desk and commandeered one of the computers. The fae that had followed her out planted himself at the end of the desk and watched silently. Tracy wasn’t sure he hadn’t left yet. But his attention was brought back to his boss when she asked, “Did you call Aaron?”
“Dispatch said it was a busy night and might take a while. I tried to impress upon her the urgency but you know how they are. They think every call is life and death and we still have to wait our turn.” He said with a sigh.
Mandi chuckled as she came out of the office with a coffee mug in her hand. “It’s not yet.”
“What were they doing out there?” Tracy asked.
“I took notes, but it’s hard to say,” she said. “It’s familiar, but I’m not sure from where.”
Tracy took the notebook from her and studied it. “You know what this reminds me of, one of those grimoria books that accidentally hit the market."
"Oh, I think I heard of this." Mandi said with a light in her eyes.
"I haven't, inform me." Tamara ordered as she leaned against the computer terminal.
Tracy obediently explained. "Ambrose from the council library talked about them in class one day. He said they were never supposed to be released to the mundane public, but there had been a robbery of a smaller library and the books got out."
"I heard they were pretty advance. Some were written with a bunch of smaller spells that lead up to grand ones. But since they’re not beginner works they don’t necessarily cover basics." Mandi said as she sipped her coffee.
"Yeah he said they had a hell of a time when they first were released. There was big concern of some mundane getting their hands on them. A few still exist out there, but for the most part they’ve collected them all.”
“I wonder if there is a list of missing ones.” Mandi said in a musing tone.
The doors swooshed open and ten heavily armed men entered the room. The lead man wore dark green fatigues and had a rifle strapped to his back. They looked like something out of a bad cop movie. Their presence was a stark contrast to the comfortable atmosphere of the hotel lobby.
“Aaron,” Tamara greeted with a charming smile, “We were just discussing our problem.”
“Your problems are my problems love,” he said in his thick Australian accent. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and smiled at the others in the room. “How might our humble diplomacy hit squad be of service?”
“Diplomacy hit squad?” Tracy asked with a modem of amusement.
“It has a nifty ring to it, doesn’t it?” Aaron asked lightly.
“We have a problem. A circle renter apparently has some advanced spells planned but no basic training. In fact to our expert understanding was they were mundane. However they have a book and have been casting real magic. It has caused portals to open up in the hotel itself.”
Aaron’s face went dark suddenly. “Define portals?”
“Hi,” the fae at the end of the desk said with a wave.
Aaron turned to him. “Greetings milord…” He paused and turned back to Tamara, “Language spell?”
“Only on the lobby itself. It doesn’t matter what you speak everyone will understand clearly here,” she said.
He nodded and turned back to the fae. “Where do you hail from?”
“Vivanice.”
Aaron’s brows drew together. He looked back to the redhead. “I see. Tamara, I need to see the full scale of the situation.”
“Mandi will take you and your men up here. We have the whole scene frozen for the moment. If you’d like to leave someone with Tracy, he will continue to do what he does well, which is help anyone who comes out of the portal back to it. I’m going to go to my office.”