The men stood there, dumbstruck that the group had discovered them. Before anyone could say anything or act, they reached into their coats, drew sidearms and opened fire. Acting on instinct, Jason tapped into his magic before moving his arms in a quick sequence. Immediately, a shield of emerald magic went up, with Jason holding his arms out, keeping the barrier in place.
The men emptied their clips, but not one shot punched through his shield. Every bullet flattened to moment it hit the magical barrier, like bugs on a windshield. The moment their guns clicked empty, Jason dropped his shield and moved his hands to bring up an offensive spell.
Sheena was already ahead of him by this point, as she unleashed a wind breath spell. The moment Jason's shield dropped is when she used it, knocking the men over like bowling pins. As they fell to the ground, Xaera charged in, snarling at the men who tried to burn such knowledge. The men scrambled to their feet much faster than anyone believed possible and were running hard.
Xaera was hot on their heels, and they didn't dare try to bring their weapons to bear. Almost instantly, the one in the lead halted at a four-way junction. They were cut off by Eva, who had circled around to box them in. Amy and Darren did the same from the other way, while the fairy women flitted in the final direction. The three men were surrounded and had no means of escape.
With their weapons empty, the men raised their fists and charged Xaera, figuring her for an easy target. They received a rude awakening as one of them swung hard at Xaera, his fist connecting with her jaw. A sickening crunch sounded, and the man screamed in pain, clutching his mangled hand.
With a scoff, Xaera stepped forward and backhanded the wounded man, sending him sailing through the air. He flew past the other two and landed hard on his back. The other men stared at their friend, then back at Xaera, confused and afraid.
"What the fuck are you?" one of the men queried.
"Much more than either of you can handle," Xaera grinned as her hands were wreathed in her Troll magic.
Their eyes bugged out of their heads, and they stared at the rest of the people there, knowing full well they were out of their league. The two men made to help their friend up and they stared at the people surrounding them, wondering what they would do next.
"If you're going to kill us, then just get it over with already!" the hurt man groused.
"We won't hurt you. What we are going to do is get some answers out of you, starting with why you are here and why you're trying to destroy all that ancient knowledge," Jason began.
"Ask all you like. You're not getting any answers out of us. Flasks!" the leader called out.
All three men reached for flasks they kept on their hips and drank from them. Everyone there moved to stop them, but they moved too quickly, swallowing the contents of their flasks. Almost instantly, the three of them began foaming at the mouth, choking on their spit, before falling over dead.
"Gaia, damn it!!" Jason groused.
"They drank poison??" Phalmina cried out, appalled that any living being would value their lives so cheaply.
"Not just any poison. Cyanide. The moment you have it in your mouth, you're gone. It acts fast and in high enough doses, any aid that could be rendered is useless," Jason explained.
"How could you tell it was cyanide?" Sheena wondered.
"Use your senses and tell me what you think," he stated. Sheena did as he suggested and not only saw what it did to the men, but also could smell its stench.
"Yup. It's cyanide all right. Who the hell are these guys?" the ebon skinned woman asked.
"That's a damn good question! Let's find out," Jason said as she squatted down in front of these men.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Sheena blurted out.
"Searching these assholes. They're corpses, and they couldn't care less right now. They shot at us and would have killed us if it wasn't for our magic. They knew about the archive of knowledge we stole and were trying to keep it from us. We need to know who they are," Jason stated as he was rifling through one of the men's pockets.
"Jason has a point. We should search them," Amy agreed.
"Fine, but I'm not touching them!" Sheena told them, grossed out by the corpses.
"Didn't say you had to. Just help us piece together who they were," Jason asked.
"I can do that," Sheena replied.
Darren kneeled by the third one, searching his pockets, while also looking the man over, trying to get a sense of who he was. Darren then noticed something as he was searching the man's inner coat pockets. The corpse's shirt had moved, and he noticed a mark, like a tattoo beneath the fabric. Intrigued, Darren pulled at the fabric, saw the tattoo, and paled at what he found.
"Darren? Sweetie, are you OK?" Daelina asked, flitting to her lover.
"No, I'm not," he replied hoarsely.
"What is it?" she wondered.
"We're in deep shit. I mean real fucking deep!" he grated, his eyes wide with fear.
"Darren, what is it?" Amy asked, never having seen her brother look so terrified.
"Pull on that man's shirt and tell me what you see," he told her. Amy did as he asked and found a tattoo on the man's chest.
"A scorpion?" she asked.
"Yes. The sigil of the Praetorians," he whispered.
"Praetorians?!? Those evil fucks are real???" Sheena breathed.
"Who are the Praetorians?" Jason asked.
"During the times of the Roman Empire, they were Caesar's most loyal and trusted bodyguards. They were the best soldiers the Empire offered, afforded the best training, the best equipment. Eventually, they became a political force of their own. They weren't just soldiers though, but also served as spies and secret police for the Caesars of Rome," Karla replied, after checking her smartphone.
"Sounds like they were the Gestapo of that ancient Empire," Eva remarked.
"Hitler pulled the idea of the Gestapo from the Praetorians of Rome. History states they had been disbanded by Constantine the Great. After their dissolution, the ideals of the Praetorians were lost to history," Karla said, mystified by these men.
"If these guys are Praetorians..." Luke began, his mind whirling.
"Then the Sons of Caesar must know that we've taken their archives," Jason replied, filling in the blanks.
"There must be information in there that they don't want found," Eva stated.
"A conclusion I just came to myself. We're going to have to find a place to move these books to," Sheena said.
"What do we do about them?" Karla asked.
"I got this. Ema, mind giving me a hand?" Phalmina asked.
"Sure," Emalia replied. The two fairies waved their hands and in seconds, they brought forth Gaia's magic. A few seconds more, the runes they sought appeared and grafted themselves onto the men. The moment the runes were on, the men shrunk down to where they were the size of tabletop miniatures.
"Well, that certainly solves a few issues, but we should check on the archive," Jason stated as he led the way back to the storage unit. Everyone but the two fairies followed along in his wake, hoping that it was still there. The moment they got back, they saw nothing had changed. The gas cans were still there, as were all the books that they now possessed.
"Hey Darren, you ok? You look a little spooked," Jason asked.
"I am. I've only ever heard stories of the fabled enforcers of the Sons. They are supposed to be the best of us, the most devout. Those whose loyalty is never in question," Darren replied.
"You think they'll be likely to send more then?" Karla wondered.
"It's not likely, it's a certainty. The Praetorians never leave a job undone. If any Praetorian fails their mission, it is then assigned to another group until the job is done," Darren breathed.
"Or until they're all dead. Either way, we have one hell of a conundrum on our hands. Where we could potentially store the books that is safe," Karla stated.
"Well, my apartment is out. Way too small and it's a little cramped anyway," Jason told everyone.
"What about your place, Liz?" Amy suggested.
"Terrible idea. Praetorians will be able to walk through the barrier you have up," Darren replied, shooting the idea down.
"How do you know?" Daelina asked.
"When I was learning from my father, when he first told me about the Praetorians, I asked what made them so feared. He told me because they are trained to fight, with no assistance from magic. Magic, while a powerful tool, could also be a form of weakness, if they relied on it too much. So, Praetorians are trained to fight and hunt down anyone without magic," Darren explained.
"That might explain why we couldn't sense anything on them, other than the fact that they're just regular humans," Eva mused.
"Yes. Because of them being so ordinary, they can blend into a crowd and be gone in seconds. But that's not the scariest part," Darren stated.
"What's the scariest part?" Amy wondered, almost afraid that she even asked.
"Praetorians, after they're trained to become the men they are, reintegrate into society. They are never called up unless needed, and they could be anyone. A good friend, a co-worker, a deacon in your church, anyone in the world," Darren told them.
"Fuck! We can't wait to move this archive. It needs to be moved ASAP!" Jason groused.
"But where do we move it to?" Sheena asked, wracking her brain for ideas.
"It would have to be someplace remote, one where we could see these bastards coming. A place we could enchant to keep everyone out, unless they possess a Rune of Passage. But where..." Jason started, before his eyes lit up with an idea and he smiled.
"Where are you thinking?" Sheena asked, seeing that an idea had come to him.
"That property that Carlotta had us investigate!"
"What?!? Are you crazy? It would be suicide to place anything there!" Sheena yipped.
