Roll of the Dice

Chapter 15

"So, let me get this straight. If we kill the Master before he has time to fully form in our realm, his power will be destroyed?" Nic asked.

"Yes," Amadan replied. "As he comes through the portal he will be at his weakest. His physical body will be intact; however, his magic cannot be fully transferred over until he has established ties in this realm."

"And how exactly can we do this?" Tanya asked.

Amadan glanced at her and cleared his throat. "His magic comes from his heart. Purify his heart, you destroy his power."

"You make it sound so easy," Chris chuckled.

"Quit making jokes Chris," Nic said. "How long do we have before the portal is open?" He asked.

"Not long...early this evening," Amadan replied.

Nic pushed up his glasses and squeezed the bridge of his nose. He sighed. That didn't give them that long to gather supplies and form a plan. He looked back at the group.

"Right..." Nic paused. "I want all of you to head home, get cleaned up and meet back here by one o'clock. At which point we will form a plan, pick up some last-minute dice and head to the ritual site. This is our last stand. We'll be like Dumbledore's Army." Nic gave them a reassuring smile.

They all got to their feet and dispersed.

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Chris had finally finished showering and headed quickly to his room before his parents could notice the scars. Gently, he liberally wiped rubbing alcohol on the worst of them and applied gauze. He stared at himself in his mirror and sighed. He couldn't believe that this was happening. A few weeks before he had been a normal teenager, worrying about girls, playing sports, keeping his grades up, working. Now he and his friends had to save the entire city. Was this how his parents felt on duty? How did they even manage this? He rubbed his neck and shook his head. Silently, a little stiffly, he pulled on a pair of khaki's and a black t-shirt. As he walked towards the door, he tucked his phone and wallet into his back pocket, deciding to pack light. As he walked down the dark hall, someone cleared their throat. Chris turned to find his father standing at the television room door. He gave his father a smile.

"Where do you think you're going Chris?" His father asked.

"The guys and I are going to an afternoon movie before doing some more gaming," Chris lied.

He turned away and walked to the door.

"You're certainly spending a lot of time with your friends," his father said.

"I'm sorry," Chris said, placing a hand on the doorknob. "I'll spend some more time with you and mom this week."

"No need to be sorry, your mother and I think this is good for you Chris. I know it hasn't always been easy making friends with us moving a lot. So, we're happy that you're finally getting to be a normal teenager," his father said.

Chris paused. This was the first time that his father had said something like that before. He tightened his grip on the doorknob momentarily, hanging his head. Before leaving Chris turned and hugged his dad tightly.

"Thanks dad. That means a lot." He smiled and opened the door. "I'll be back late."

"Okay, stay safe Chris." His father turned and walked off.

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As usual, everything in Tanya's house was chaotic. Again, her father was fighting with her brothers again. They had been laid off from their janitorial jobs at the hospital and that was causing stress up the wazoo. Their mother joined the argument from the kitchen. Tanya knew that her mother had to pull a lot of strings to get them those jobs and they had wasted their chance by constantly being late for their shifts. They then decided that it was a smart idea to cuss out their boss when they were threatened with a non-paid suspension. It was no wonder that they lost their jobs so fast. By this point, however, Tanya had gotten used to these fights. She typically just tuned them out.