“No… but you’re not alone,” I tell him. “You have us… for whatever that might be worth.”
“That’s true, Riley has managed to push him back more than once,” Imani says.
I grimace, not wanting them to have faith in that strange magic. “Yes, with a magic I truly don’t understand. It’s not like I touch anyone when I come close to the Door or that man, but as soon as I’m near, that magic hits me. The issue is that I don’t know how to use it. It seems like the only time Icanuse it is when I’m pushed to my limits, and then it just… happens,” I say as I flex my gloved hand and think about it. Even after using that magic a couple of times, I still don’t understand what Ididwith it. The first time it just like… demolished that entire building, and last time…
“Can you lock the magic into your pendant?” Lt. Lindsey asks. “Replace one of the others and then examine it and learn how to use it?”
I touch my pendant apprehensively. The first two magics I cannot lose, no matter what. And while the third isn’t necessarily anything I need to live, the person I borrowed it from is long dead. I could never replace it. Back when I was younger, I could achieve so much with that elemental magic. If I replaced it, I’d never get it back. But aside from that, the idea of holding on to a magic I can’t understand or control makes me uneasy.
“No, he will not be locking in magic that he doesn’t understand,” Torin says before I even get a chance to respond. “Magic that strong is not something to be taken lightly.”
I nod, glad that I don’t have to feel guilty over not using it when it could save them. “Yeah, I’m with Torin, I don’t want to replace anything I already have with something I don’t understand. I don’t want to accidentally kill people.”
Lt. Lindsey is quiet for a moment before asking, “What about a barrier? What if the next time the Door opens, we surround the area with a barrier?”
“How long do you think a barrier like that would hold?” Torin asks.
Imani, the only one here who can create barriers, shrugs. “I don’t know that I could do it alone, but if I found some others to help… Really, it depends on how strong we can make it. It would maybe buy us time.”
I’ve used her barriers before, but the problem with them is that they are strictly defensive. I can’t send my magic through them, so I can’t fight while using one.
“Time for what, though? We still aren’t strong enough,” I say.
“Time for a team to form,” Mickey answers. “Support. Distraction so that Riley and Torin can do something.”
I shift nervously on my feet. Just because we pushed him back last time doesn’t mean we can again. And what was the cost?
I glance at Torin’s healing chest and then down at my hands.
Torin catches Kit looking at him. “Riley, you said you did something to help me heal… how did you gain followers?”
“Well… finding followers in your world is much different than in mine. So… I used the internet.”
“No idea what that is, but it sounds sexy,” Torin says.
Mickey rolls his eyes. “Not everything Riley does is sexy.”
Torin almost looks offended for some reason. “Yes it is.”
Getting us back on track, I say, “I want to boost his followers. Let’s get a video of Torin doing something else.”
“Like?” Imani asks.
I shrug, not having thought that far. “Hell if I know… there has to be some asshole doing something in the city. You guys still have that wyvern? Let’s set it loose and then Torin can wrestle it back into a cage… with his shirt off… maybe even his pants.”
Imani and Lt. Lindsey both stare at me. “You’ve been hanging around Mickey too long; your ideas are atrocious,” Imani says.
I sigh, deciding that maybe she’s right. In my defense, my coworker for the last couple of years has been a succubus who hands out more sexual favors than library fines.
“Oh! What about that video of Torin riding on Riley’s back? You’ll both get some followers for sure then,” Mickey says.
Imani shrugs. “I mean… you never clarified that the followers had to be pure of mind.”
“I will go back through the Door to Torin’s realm and never return,” I growl.
“Might be worth it to save our world,” Imani says with a grin.
I ignore her and look to see if anyone else has a better suggestion. “Okay, we’re going with my idea. We’re going to make Torin do something.”
