(Mid-week guys and we're going strong.Only 318 so far, but I've seen stronger comebacks. Remember the goal is 1300 this week. So get to voting for that extra chappy on Sunday.)
"We'll cast a spell to map the whole area," Mordo said. "Once we find the humans that have not been transported, we split into two teams. The extraction team and the strike team."
One guess as to what team Jean and I ended up on. Kaecilius volunteered for the rescue team. I couldn't tell if he was just trying to get away from us or genuinely worried about the survivors. He was an asshole, but he did lose his wife and son. That was bound to fuck anybody up.
We assembled at the edge of the town, and five sorcerers stepped up to begin their spell when I raised my voice.
"Now, just hold on a minute," I said. "Why don't you save your strength and let Jean handle this part? She's certainly no sorceress, but if she really paid attention, she could get a read of every psionic signature in town and tell you where they're congregated."
Kaecilius frowned, and a nervous current rippled through the group.
"Uh, Dante," Jean said in a small voice. "I don't think I am ready."
"Listen to the girl," Kaecilius said. "The last time she was in somebody's head, she popped it."
"Not categorically true," I said. "She's in my head right now, and I'm fine."
Kaecilius remained unconvinced.
'Besides,' I mentally said to Jean, 'you're in all of their minds, aren't you?'
'Yes,' Jean said slowly. 'It's how I've always been. People's minds have always been an open book to me.'
'Why not extend that range slightly and use it to map out the town and our enemies?' I smiled at her.
'It is really that simple,' Jean said in realization.
'Remember, controlled chaos.'
Mordo alternated between Jean and me before speaking. "Kaecilius, I think you should let her try. She seemed stable enough to share a telepathic conversation with Dante. I'm sure there's no harm in scanning a few demons."
"And if she fails?" Kaecilius demanded.
"Then she can pop the collective heads of at least half of the demons present while I rush over to guarantee the safety of the hostage. You and Mordo can face Mesmer and Garok."
Kaecilius still looked skeptical. He was about to raise his voice again when he suddenly froze and swiveled to Jean, mandalas forming on his fists.
"How dare you!"
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," Jean said fiercely. "If I can get in your mind without killing you, then I can scan the town."
My eyes went wide, and I bit back a laugh as Kaecilius stood there fuming. Eventually, he lowered his hand, and Jean got to work.
---
Jean
The physical world faded away as I tapped into the Astral plane. Dante had suggested that I listen to the minds of the demons. Still, from searching Xavier's memories, I saw that entering the Astral plane was a far more efficient way to find, tag, and potentially eliminate the demons.
I saw splashes of color and symphony as thoughts echoed around me, and the thoughts of the men around me came through with startling clarity.
Mordo was assessing us, particularly Dante. He wondered how he could joke and talk with 3rd-degree burns covering the majority of his body.
I wondered about that myself, and it almost threw my psionic energy out of whack. A pulse would've been all it would've taken to lobotomize them all.
'Controlled Chaos,' I chanted over and over again. The mutant population of America was counting on me. I can't let them down.
Kaecilius's thoughts were no secret to me. He distrusted Dante because of his demon blood; he envied me and thought I didn't deserve my power.
The rest of the sorcerers' mind was a mix of mild attraction, curiosity, and fear--all that I was used to.
Only Dante's innermost thoughts remained a mystery to me. He'd opened a part of his mind to me, and I was hungry for more. He was like a really good book that I could only read part of the first chapter.
Even though he promised no more secrets, I could tell he held so much back.
He was the type of guy to do that.
Now that I had even more psionic energy to draw from, I saw how much his mind had developed since I met him nearly two months ago.
It was nearly triple the size, and I felt an undercurrent of something grander and older, but it was not the other being polluting him.
As powerful as he was already, Dante still seemed to be holding back.
It was something to ask him about when we had the time.
Putting my curiosity aside, I turned to the town and wrinkled my physical nose at the foul psionic energy wafting from it. I floated deeper into the town and was immediately greeted with an avalanche of thoughts and emotions—rage, hunger, and fear—being the most prominent.
I lashed out instinctively, wanting to make all of it stop, and some of it did. Several presences close to the city's entrance simply dropped to the floor.
Luckily, I was able to reign myself in before I did any more damage.
I felt the demons that saw their kin die start to panic as well, but before they could raise a voice, I commanded them to be still, like I'd seen Xavier do before, and they obeyed, so much so that they'd even stopped breathing.
They had a few minutes left of air left if I didn't release them, and I was not sure asking them to forget would be any better.
My only options were to end them or release them.
What if these were Pierce protective detail or guards—just everyday soldiers doing their job?
Would I be forced to make the same decision as well?
My breathing grew agitated, as did my psionic energy, and it was as if I was hearing Dante, Kaecilius, and the SHIELD operatives for the first time.
I could end a city if I lost control for even a single moment.
My heart rate skyrocketed. Why did I think I could do this?
This was a bad idea: the demon training wheels, the plot to infiltrate Pierce's mind, all of it.
Dante's steady hand pulled me back into that moment and kept me from spiraling further.
'Everyone starts somewhere,' his voice said. 'You don't have to be perfect. Just don't give up.'
I took his word to heart, muscling down my emotions. With a gentle flex of my will, the remaining demons I restrained collapse to the floor dead. As I flew through the town, I counted over 500 demons.
Scores of Watchers patrolled the streets, as did warped wild animals like hyenas, wild dogs, snakes, and even a sole Cheetah.
Behind their ranks were large demon brutes with stone clubs and gangly, fleshwarped humanoids with large stones in their hand.
Inside the church was a labyrinthine that was mostly deserted save for spots with illusions that led to stone-themed traps. On the basement floor of the church was an emaciated older demon with a rag covering its eyes. It wore a dark robe and held a long metal staff covered in strange symbols. Beside it stood two large brutes covered in chunks of stone.
In front of it floated a cage of twisted glowing metal hovering above a large ritual circle slowly turning white.
All of the men of the town were strangely absent from the cage, and of the women and children, four were unconscious and bound in special rope, while the rest cowered in tears as the monster spoke in some twisted language.
Diving into Mesmer's mind revealed the truth of the situation, and it almost made me hurl and rip apart the church at its foundations.
The fleshwarped soldiers I saw in the town were the missing men. The Mesmer had delivered them all to the Garok to be changed by the Blood Prince's latest artifact.
As for the bound women and children, they were mutants, which is the real reason why the Demons had chosen that town in particular.
The Mesmer didn't know much, but he believed Corvus, the First Son of Belasco, was close to another breakthrough. The first had allowed them to warp the locals and force them into Belasco's horde. And the second would allow the King of Limbo to create beings superior to the Nephilim.
Mutant-Demon hybrids.
The Mesmer, whose name was Talo, was preparing the Transfer ritual to send the humans and mutants back. And once it was open, he and the Garok could retreat while their minions covered their exit.
The building shook as I tried to reign myself using one of Xavier's visualization exercises.
'Imagine your anger was a Red Cloud leaving your body as you let out a long breath," he said, and I followed it dutifully. I couldn't lose my head.
Not now.
"I've found the hostages," I said, opening my eyes. "And the demons may have won this war."
(Read up to Chapter 80 on Patreon.com/ArtandCreativeWriting)