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The door to Phoenix's room opened and in staggered Osprey, looking dazed. Automatically, he went toward her, and she practically collapsed into his arms, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Risa?" his voice held a million questions.

She just shook her head. He tucked her into his bed without a word.

Couple hours later there was a knock on the door.

"I am here to debrief Osprey," Elk announced.

"She needs rest. She's under her basal magic, scraped and bruised... she's been through it."

"She's been alone for a time. We need to know what happened there."

"Not tonight you don't."

The guard never saw the silent portal open. Tiger's fist sent him into the land of dreams. Osprey grabbed a small brooch off the table. Lioness frowned.

"This way."

The door wasn't alarmed.

Overconfidence?

Swan was alone.

Small mercies.

Lioness touched the Director's hand.

"I am Nobody. Focus on that. Fight them, not us." She said in a level, quiet voice. "It's alright."

We can't break the connection here.

She nodded to Tiger and Osprey. Tiger lifted Swan in a bridal carry.

"Package secured," he said.

Osprey unleashed the loudest tripple-anchored portal and they stepped through.

So much for alarms.

"Don't waste energy - if someone else checks something go with that." - Except then you're doubling back, because you missed something somewhere, and praying everyone's energy holds.

"Don't touch artifacts you don't understand, especially when they obviously want to be touched." - Except this one obviously belonged to the person they are looking for. And you don't realize it's magical until after you touch it.

"If you can use telepathic connection with your empathy, that's your greatest asset." - Except when you're standing against an opponent who abuses exactly that. 

Lioness had good training. And enough wits to not use all of it.

Who do you work for?

Angella snorted in derision.

"Myself."

But somebody is...

"Not being on 'the good side' does not mean I am not loyal, or have mutually beneficial relationships." she explained with the air of tried patience.

So you don't owe him anything?

The Queen's hand reached for the amulet once again.

"I can be grateful. If I weren't here," she indicated her comfortable quarters, "I probably would be gone by now."

There was an origin story in there, but what intrigued Swan was the way the amulet echoed - or rather amplified - the other woman's very life force.

The stasis didn't allow Swan to regenerate her magic fully. But it also didn't totally stop her power from trickling back in. They couldn't allow her to die of exhaustion either.

When they brought her back, the Queen gave her a little opening. 

You are not working alone, Swan suggested. Or should I say, you are not working for yourself? 

A sneer should have been the answer, but there her inner eye could suddenly see a dark shape looming over her tormentor. 

Hidden, unseen and yet menacing and pulling strings.

You're his last ditch attempt to reinforce what has failed.

"I wonder what is Raven like in bed..." the assets at the next table made Maddie almost spit out her coffee.

"Warm," Osprey replied automatically, with a deadpan, and the coffee was snorted out of Lioness's nose.

The assets had the decency to blush.

***

"Why is there a mirror on your ceiling, Lion?" Risa asked, opening her eyes in the morning light.

Phillip just shook his head. "Did you sleep well, Osprey?"

She did. Somehow he had the opposite effect on her than on most other women. He calmed her. She was the only one sleeping soundly in his bed.

"Ua mākaukau nā lei korale no ka luau no ka hoʻohanohano ʻana i ka ʻohana moana nui"

Blooming Coral! Raven thought as the newest dispatch landed on his desk.

It turned out a surprising number of "decorations" around the HQ could in fact be used as communication devices with the right tweak. 

However, apparently some station chiefs decided to be more careful than others. In this case, not only was the message in Hawaiian, it was also coded, just for good measure.

Thorne reached into his bookshelf for his Guide to the Islands from 1991 to try and decrypt it.

It was really tempting to think that magic was infinite. Especially with artifacts like the amulet to aid her own potential.

But in the end it was just another form of energy and could be depleted... albeit temporarily. It needed to be periodically renewed, replenished. 

That was exactly what Queen Witch was banking on.

"Let's see how long you can go without rest, Director."

After all, keeping your subjects sleepless was a tried and true way of softening them up.

She didn't underestimate her opponent - while she herself took a nap, she had Swan put in a magically induced stasis.

Angella Mărdărescu reached for the amulet around her neck. The agent was proving a little tougher than she expected, and without the extra power she would have most probably already broken free.

Which was why it was so important to find out what she was protecting.

Of course, the Master, or the other parts of Synergy could turn the tables instantly. But that would mean giving up her prize without the fanfare of conquest.

And the Queen Witch could not really have that. 

She will come to her... collaborators... victorious. 

Triumphant without a shadow of a doubt.

...or empty handed.

Swan's mind suddenly focused, with a clear relief. As if the information Queen Witch has been looking for all along didn't actually matter.

There is something else you're protecting, isn't there, Director?

Conscious thoughts swerved, projecting confusion of buildings and trinkets.

Oh, you are not going to think about it? This... artifact?

Of course, the word brought a glimpse of the very thing she was trying to keep hidden.

A small, flat, bejeweled... but not clear enough to identify.

A spike of panic as the thought was swept away.

Oh, no no. We're going to talk about that!

Swan smiled.

"Lioness," Tiger's voice sounded with the quiet intensity of command. "This is not your job right now, unless it has something to do with..."

"He's only here because I didn't do my job thoroughly enough last time," she gritted back, but then she closed her eyes and dropped the emotional barrage.

"If you as much as think about hurting anyone ever again," she said to the broken man at her feet. "I will find you, and by God I will finish my job. Understand?"

He nodded. "Please, don't..."

She turned away in disgust, speaking to her partners.

"Where to now?"

And then the sock landed behind a filing cabinet in a chilly room filled with stench of blood and death. A shiver ran through their fibers and they began creeping towards the source of energy pulsing in front of them. A small compact mirror shone with magic. The sock could not resist peering into it to see if they changed.

The image swirled and showed a series of worlds, adventures and feet. For a moment they saw their beloved mate, snuggled around them in the hamper.

Then everything went black, with only a piercing burning yellow cat eye looking back.

"I'm not Russian! They pressed me into service, I'm a Canadian citizen!" the soldier in the war torn town lifted his palms. Unfortunately for him, Lioness never forgot a face - and they have met before.

She pointed her gun to at his head, blind with sudden rage.

"You would shoot an ally?" Tiger asked quietly.

"Not our ally," she gritted. "But you're right." 

She looked at the man, trembling, and lowered her weapon. 

 "I'm a big fan of your work," she deadpanned. "Always wanted to... recreate it."

His head exploded with the echoes of pain and suffering of his victims.

"No dice with Greece," Wolf closed the laptop on his desk. "But I stumbled upon something interesting."

"It seems like some of our 'allies' from good old Constantinople have flown the co-op."

Eagle raised his eyebrows. 

"Do you think it could be related?"

"Motive and means, right? They definitely know enough to make it difficult for us to respond effectively."

"Do we have someone to set on them?"

"Osprey and Elk. He'd sure welcome some distraction."

"But she is with Lioness... speaking of 'flying the coop' - still no contact from them."

"Give the intel to Elk, see what he says."

The car they were in...probably for the last several hours finally stopped. The rough hands she started to identify as "her handler" dragged her out and this time actually blindfolded her, while she was still facing the vehicle. Not that she could see much otherwise.

Heavy door banged shut behind her, muting the street noises. Her steps and those of her captors' echoed over stone.

Another door opened and closed and the blindfold fell off, revealing a bona fide palace furnishings in a rather large suite of rooms.

"Welcome, my cherished guest," the Queen Witch's voice said, mock respectfully.

Thorne looked at the pile of papers on his desk and sighed. He picked up the bank statement with the weird transaction.

There were no pings on Maddie's personal phone. Nothing in any of the usual back up channels either.

He sighed again and reached for a cashier's check form. The amount - 888 was a code in itself. Into the "For" section he scribbled "Promotion Bonus. Confirm receipt for Agency records."

It was a good plan. Unfortunately Lioness won't look at their account until after the message becomes entirely futile.

And she won't say "I was worried, too" - by words.

Wolf and Eagle seemed to be adamant about their need to speak with Lioness.

Raven's hand combed through his hair in frustration. He brought the mug to his lips - empty.

Shaking his head the agent stalked into the kitchenette and refilled it by memory.

"...what is THIS???" he sputtered out the brown liquid which most definitely was not coffee.

"Mushroom 'coffee'," a timid voice said from behind his back. "It gives the same amount of energy, more actually, when you detox, and doesn't have the caffeine crash attached to it. The antioxidants lower cortisol..."

"But why is the coffee gone?"

Magic in artifacts was like fingerprints, you could learn a lot about the person who made them. Mouse touched the runes carefully and felt the spike.

Portals came in different shapes and forms, natural and artificial. Each hiding a story of connection and sometimes obstacles and danger. Invisible and yet undeniable. Osprey focused and stepped into one.

Emotions swirled around, left traces everywhere. A world of information, changing rapidly, flowing like a river, yet forever the same. Lioness closed her eyes to see a foreign world.

Clues, traces, puzzles. You could choose how to interpret them. Raven followed the narrative.

Blonďatá smršť, sršící energií, které je všude plno. Manažerka celé školy a přilehlého okolí. S každým se zná, všichni ji poslouchají, na všechno má názor. A pořád chce něco objevovat, někam odbíhat...

...na to, že mizí jako pára nad hrncem, už sis zvykla. I na neustálý příval slov, pokyny pro ostatní, zřetelné i přes celé hřiště.

A pak najednou zvedneš hlavu, a nevidíš ji uprostřed klubka dětí ve hře. Ani v dálce na průlezce.

Zpanikaříš.

Najdeš ji po nekonečných pěti minutách v koutku knihovny, ponořenou do slov příběhu, na míle daleko. Hluchou, slepou k realitě.

A víš, že ji nezapřeš.

"You know, cemeteries are full of indispensable people," Swan uttered philosophically. "And you don't see many necromancers for hire."

Queen Witch replied, amused. "They just hate wasting time and energy on someone we can keep alive."

***

"Thank you, Hoopoe, that will help."

"I'll be in touch, Wolf, Eagle. Take care!"

The two directors nodded just as a bird landed in front of them.

Newcastle is all taken care of and ready to assist. You can take this missive as my director candidacy... Elk

"He was always... forward," Eagle shook his head. "One reason to get a hold of Lioness ASAP."

The voice was ebbing and flowing. Cajoling and threatening in turn. Soothing and hurting in turn.

"You have a choice. It's really all up to you. I'm just here to help you see it. Give you some... clarity. Whether you believe they will obey or not... wouldn't it be better if they didn't have to come to your aid?"

The images cut. Her security detail. Agents from past and present. Good friends, random underlings. A mix only subconscious mind holds, dredged up to the surface.

Her surroundings warped and changed. Ballrooms and conference rooms, so much good she could do...

Why was there an iron, of all things, in the dungeon-like room, none of them knew (or cared to think about too hard).

However it came in handy, when Osprey used it as a knuckle duster, knocking out the guard. In the next moment she turned it into a shield, deflecting a spell. A second after that it was a flail, taking out the last opponent.

"Who can't use an iron now, Elk?!" she muttered, a memory of certain agent's insistence of having his underwear pressed to perfection flashing across her mind.

"Now to iron out the escape plan details..."

Swan noticed some commotion around her. Someone picked her up, murmured something she couldn't quite make out, but was sure was supposed to be soothing.

The emotions - excitement, relief, but also shock, fear and thinly veiled anger - suggested it was a friend.

"Let's get you home," gravelly voice finally made it through the haze of her mind.

She started moving her legs, nodding.

Did anyone actually come for her despite Omega?

"Home," she repeated and her eyes snapped open before she could finish the thought - luckily.

It was exactly what her enemy wanted. To find her home. To destroy it.

She flipped the mirror open.

I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!

The image split in two.

A larger than life female figure, shining with impossible light of magic, her eyes seeing through the depth of time into every soul, almost demanding worship.

A woman clad with white, shrunken, but soft, her eyes gentle, voice soothing, genuine laughter tingling.

"Our chief challenge lies in identifying channels that cannot be corrupted. What do you know of other locations so far?" Hoopoe glanced over his shoulder where an old fashioned map of the world, adorned with a few pins of differing colours hung.

"We're still only working on establishing alternate incoming communications of a more complex persuasion," Wolf responded. "Omega relies on the initiative of the Headquarters rather heavily in that sense."

"Wouldn't it be easier to let them find you? If you can find a public and yet clandestine enough platform..."

"Something we never before considered using," Wolf mused. "ClockApp?"

"Do you think they can hear us? And communicate back?" Raven asked Mouse. 

"Why don't you ask me directly, Raven?" The ornament responded with a crackle of magic static. "Agent Hoopoe, Jerusalem Branch Chief."

Before any of the agents could react, the voice continued. 

"Glad to see HQ getting emergency protocols under way. Any more intel on the Omega situation would sure be welcome. I have agents in precarious positions I can't leave hanging for to long..."

"Roger that. Hoopoe. Before we go on... How secure is this channel?"

"Israeli secure, my friend."

"Right, let me get you to Wolf."

Portals were an interesting discipline. A skilled portalist or an especially opportune placement might give them very diverse properties.

"Maybe we should go 'downwards' this time. Directly to the spot where the other portal ends?" 

Osprey focused deeply, her forehead creased with worry.

"Not unless you want to land on each other."

"Better than landing on a mine," Tiger growled, ever the optimist. "I'll go first, I'll catch you."

Osprey shook her head. All of this was a bad idea.

But she didn't have any better.

So she focused, and opened portal on the ground.

"One fall coming right down."

"The Star of David looks promising," Raven suggested.

Mouse shook her head. 

"Not everything around here needs to be magic. Most definitely not useful magic."

But she took the ornament down from the tree.

"Well wishes of peace and joy to the world," she grimaced. "Israeli colleagues got the sarcasm down."

The back of her neck prickled with sense of being watched.

"Zaraza..."

Mouse's fingers quickly tapped the points of the star in a sequence. The middle lit up as a tiny selfie camera.

"Seems your non-magic-reading instincts were better than our screening," she pointed it at him. "Say 'hi!'"

Morning sun almost seemed to make her face colder than the darkness it broke through.

She could feel the wind in her hair and the rocking and jumping of the speeding boat.

She still had no idea where she was, or where were they taking her. But something in the way her mind was controlled shifted. Suddenly she could see and hear. Actual physical world snapped back into existence around her.

Probing against new boundaries gave her some unpleasant jolts. Trying to focus on what her senses provided burned her mind like the Sun the wings of the proverbial Icarus.

The crooning of the popular moralizing ballad was especially jarring to Raven.

...and what have you done?

Not enough. Never enough. And yet, there was nothing more he could do.

Another year over and new one just begun.

Began with a real bang for sure.

He shook his head as he passed through the reception area. The ridiculously large tree still gleamed with lights and sparkled with baubles from all over the world.

He stopped. Narrowed his eyes. 

"Frog, can you call Mouse here, please?"

Maybe the universal time of goodwill and its symbols could be used to make contact.

"It's really pathetic, your insistence of dying alone, for the 'good of many'," the voice of her captor sounded almost bored in Swan's mind. "Why not live to fight another day? What happened to not leaving people behind?"

The agent answered only by dignified silence.

"You always think you are so much better. More moral. Your conscience and your hands clean. But are they really? Isn't that just a little, tiny bit hypocritical and selfish? Why not give them a choice to die for you?"

The images that followed almost didn't let her notice the creak of ship boards underfoot.

Her defenses were insufficient, the mind battle too exhausting. Swan needed a different tack, and the moment's respite gave her opportunity.

"Tell me about yourself?" she asked the intruding consciousness.

Deep womanly laughter responded, almost too genuine.

"Oh, would you like to hear my big evil plan?" an enchanting alto asked. "Or are you looking for a chink in my armor?"

Swan kept her thoughts and emotions carefully neutral, tinged with a mirror of amusement.

"I'm just a woman trying to make it in this world. Queen Witch for those who know neither magic, nor power, when they see them."

The Library was quiet, despite the number of agents milling about. Nobody dared disturb the silence.

Whispers of the tomes sounded like swell of the sea.

"It happened before," Mouse spoke sotto voce. "Before our time. We can find the accounts."

Raven shook his head. 

"I'll listen to it from her one day. Once we..." ...recover the body.

Mouse would rather know now.

What if the enemies found out what Aniani is? If Swan didn't die quickly enough?

"Somehow dying never feels like the worst option," Raven said philosophically, apparently reading her mind. "Unless someone else needs to do it."

The shield dissipated. Rough hand yanked Swan to her feet. She could see lips moving, but the ringing in her ears was louder than whatever insults they hurled at her.

Blinking, she realized her attempt failed. But the grip on her mind relaxed. She shivered - with shock or cold, she could not distinguish. Darkness shrouded the world around them. No way to know where she is. 

Her magic reached to the quell again, but before she could pull more than a sip, a portal blinked into existence. She was unceremoniously pushed through. On the other side the mental shackles reengaged.

Swan felt the other consciousness pressing heavily on her mind. Keeping her simultaneously subdued but supported, almost floating. Within her own mind, out of her own body.

She barely registered they were still moving. But suddenly she felt it. An influx of power. A source. Could it be?

No. The shackles held too tight. Never wavering in the control and torture that consumed emotions and thoughts.

But part of her mind returned to her body. And started moving. She felt her captors' fear of what surrounded them. 

And so she threw herself to the side. The explosion turned everything white.

"Naštěstí ti hajzlové nevědí, že tenhle barák je napojený na síť podzemních chodeb," polohlasem informoval své spoluvězně Jindřich. "Na druhé straně tohohle tunelu budeme v bezpečí."
Jan zbledl a z tváře mu sklouzl jeho typický lehce přezíravý úsměv.
"Copak jsme krysy?" pokusil se o sarkasmus, ale hlas se mu skoro zlomil. V očích mu blýskala panika.
"Je tam dost místa," ujistil ho Jindra.
"Já... já nemůžu."
Rezolutní zavrtění hlavou, které se na konci promění v poražené svěšení a trhnutí rameny.
Když zůstanou sami a Jan se otočí zády, Jindřich ho nacvičeným pohybem omráčí. Vzbudí se na svobodě na druhé straně.

Říká se, že dobré ploty (nebo meze) dělají dobré sousedy.
Tachov a Želejov byly příkladem moudrosti tohoto rčení, protože "obecní" louka mezi oběma vesničkami byla už bratru desetiletí předmětem žhavých sporů.
"Přece vím, u kterého stromu mi jako klukovi nařezali!" odvolával se sedlák Olbram na staroslavný hraniční rituál.
"Je tvoje paměť tak děravá, nebo prostě lžeš? Můj otec se musí v hrobě obracet!" hromoval hospodský Prošek, jistý si rodinnou historií.
Tyhle dva neustálé hašteření zřejmě chránilo od nudy všedních dní.
"Hraniční hřeb zaražený bývalým rychtářem je podle latinského zápisu v kronice ve stromu přesně uprostřed!" rozsekl spor jednou provždy Jindřich.

Nespornou výhodou služby u panstva byla možnost mít koně.
Šedivka byla sice na první pohled slabší kus, ale pořád lepší, než chodit pěšky.
Díky Zoře z hřebčína si vyzkoušel opravdovou rychlost v sedle Grošáka.
Chvíli uvažoval, že by si koupil Bucefala, ale 'nákladní' kůň nebyl jeho šálek čaje.
Klepna se sice nezalekla vůbec ničeho, ale nereagovala na české povely.
Hatatitla nesnášel sedlo ani udidlo, zato potřeboval silný stisk koleny a jemné řízení patami.
Celkem vzato se Jindrovi ulevilo, když znovu nasedl na svou 'starou herku'.
K jeho údivu Šedivka najednou jako by omládla, zesílila a zrychlila - všichni ji budou obdivovat.