Page 10 of Whispered Warnings: Part Two

Huh, not too bad at all.

Eventually, the conversation turns to the breach.

“I know we have fixed the breach and everything, but in the excitement of Neith showing off,” Evander starts, grinning at me and making me smile before he continues, “anyway, we need to figure out how it happened in the first place.”

“Fuck, you’re right. We were so focused on getting it fixed and then Neith’s power that we didn’t even think about it,” Ransom replies.

“So, what could have done it then, and why?” I ask. “Was it just the Scavengers?”

Griff shakes his head, “No, Scavengers are strong enough to break through weak wards, but Ransom’s wards aren’t weak.”

“What about the actual hole in the ward?” Reed asks, “Was there any sign on there that could tell us anything?”

Ransom shakes his head, “No, there was no magical trace at all. I would have noticed it.”

“There is a small chance that the ward just wore thin in that area, and the Scavengers took advantage of it,” Raiden suggests, although judging from the look on his face, he doesn’t really believe what he’s suggesting.

“I don’t know, but I didn’t scent anything unusual, so there may be a chance that it happened like that,” River replies.

“I guess we are just going to have to keep an eye on the ward and trust that Winston knows what he is talking about. Nothing but the Scavengers came through,” Evander replies.

“I have lots of alarms set up on the ward now, and Neith’s magic made it practically impenetrable. Reed proved that when he went supernova on it, so if something did deliberately do it, they won’t be able to do it again, and I will be able to catch them trying,” Ransom explains.

“Good,” Evander says, and then looks confused as he glances at a silent Doc, “Why are you frowning?”

Doc’s frown gets deeper, “I don’t know. I feel like I’m forgetting something important, but I’ve got no idea what.”

“That’s strange,” Griff mutters, “especially for you. You never forget anything.”

“Exactly,” Doc replies. His expression clears, “I’m sure that I will remember it eventually if I really have forgotten something.”

“It has been quite a stressful few days,” I point out.

“That’s very true,” Doc replies. “Speaking of stressful days and needing to de-stress, we should probably all get ready to go to Sully’s.”

“Good point,” I say.

We soon have everything cleared up and we all split up to get ready to go, arranging to meet by the front door.

I don’t know about the others, but I definitely need a shower. Thankfully, my hair isn’t absolutely full of grossness, as it has been the last few times that I have battled something.

As I walk into my room, I realize that I was right earlier and once again my sword is back in his place next to Betty, and clean.

“Thank you once again for coming to my aid today,” I say to it. I think it’s important to thank it even if it has no way of actually understanding me. It feels right to do it, so that’s what I will do.

I move from my intended path to the shower and instead sit down in front of Betty and my sword.

“I’m sure the sword has filled you in on everything. It’s pretty fucking insane,” I say to Betty and then turn my attention back to the sword. “I really need to name you. Let’s do it now, it’s been too long, and you definitely deserve a name. Fred? No. Reginald? No, that doesn’t fit either. Aloysius? No, that’s super weird, plus how the fuck do you spell that? I bet it’s not like it sounds. Al-oh-wish-us.” I shake my head, and cycle through a few more names silently.

I am a really big believer in the fact that names have power, so you need to be really careful what you name something.The last thing that I want to do is name him something that means death bringer or something like that. I need to choose his name with care.

Chapter Four

Neith

“I’ve got it!” I exclaim suddenly, and if they weren’t inanimate objects, they definitely would have jumped. They are inanimate objects though so I just carry on talking, like a perfectly sane person. “Asael.”

Magic that I now recognize as his hums in the air. It doesn’t seem mad, and I don’t find myself on the pointy end of a sword, so I am going to assume that he likes his new name. I definitely feel like it fits him.

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