The Crucivire

Chapter Fifteen: Ice Cold

Captain Wagner remained silent for a moment or two, his face deep in thought as he stared at the door before him. Frost spread over the door as the wechuge lurked behind it, its growls barely audible through the steel. Alice watched the other door with trepidation, goosebumps forming on her flesh as she felt the temperature drop.

"Sir, what's the plan?" asked Alice.

"I'm thinking," said Wagner, remaining silent for a moment before saying. "I would engage the wechuge myself to let you escape, but we have to assume that if our backup can't get in, then we can't get out. Furthermore, there's no doubt Caldwell wants me to fight the monster while he gets a chance to ambush you unprotected. Under those circumstances, I can't let you go out there alone. Right now, I think our best move is to wait here and keep these two blast doors closed. Whatever is keeping the other hunters, it won't keep them forever. If we're patient, they'll be here."

Suddenly the door separating them from the wechuge started going up, the levers on either side of it snapping into the up position as well. As they could hear the gears grinding, the pair of them tensed up.

"Captain," said Alice. "Is the wechuge still behind that door?"

Wagner saw a pair of white paws with sharp claws scraping under the door.

"Yes," said Wagner. "It is."

Wagner reached over to pull a lever and drop the door again, but the moment his hand touched it, sparks flew.

"Gah!" he exclaimed, pulling his hand away.

"Captain!"

"I'm fine," said Wagner, shaking his hand.

Captain Wagner then pulled out an incendiary grenade and rolled it under the door. After a moment, they heard the wechuge running away before the grenade went off, sending wisps of fire slipping under the door. After a few more moments, the fire cleared, and they waited for the door to rise. Once the door was open they aimed their gun flashlights. All they could see was an empty hallway.

"Captain," said Alice. "What's going on?"

"A good question, Hayes," said Wagner.

Wagner slowly reached out for the lever that had shocked him moments ago, and once again, sparks flew, causing him to pull his hand away. A moment later, Wagner went to another lever and tried the same test. As before, sparks flew, and Wagner looked at it with disbelief written all over his face.

"It can't be," said Wagner. "There's a spell on the levers."

"A spell?" asked Alice.

"Yes. I'm afraid we can't rely on the blast doors now. Also, it explains how the wechuge opened the door. Caldwell must be controlling it. He probably cast his spell on the levers once he had the beast under control."

"Sir," said Alice. "I don't remember spells like this in training."

"That's because they shouldn't be possible," said Wagner, his stern eyes looking out for danger. "Not anymore, at least. Many of the creatures we face were created by magic long ago, but the old sources of magic have since reduced to a trickle, not unlike a well running dry. These days, most magic users can only get enough for very small things, nothing truly powerful. The amount of power needed to control something like a wechuge, or what he's done with the levers, hasn't existed in a long time. If someone has that much power, and he's working for the vampires, then we're in a lot more trouble than we thought."

Alice swallowed nervously.

"Why didn't he use magic against you earlier?" asked Alice.