The Andre Miller Saga

Andre Miller 16 The Cloud

After a few moments, an aura of calm set across the group, and the glow around Frankie faded. From the corner of the room came the voice of the harbinger. "The ascendant has come, now it begins."

"It's really creepy when he does that." Said Andre Miller, leader of his found family and summoner of celestials, as he turned to the corner where the harbinger was standing.

Caleb Murry, summoner of elementals and friend of Andre, asked "I don't suppose yelling shields and weapons would do any good at this point?"

Kyle Rhodes, defensive mage and teacher, "I very much doubt it. This guy is way outside of our weight class, and that's saying something." He said with amusement in his voice.

"He's not here to cause harm, are you?" asked Frankie Hernandez calmly, a defensive mage and a man with a destiny.

"If he was going to hurt us, I think he would have already." Said Tilly Rhodes, sister to Kyle, a specialist in defensive wards and talismans.

"A harbinger's duty is to be a witness, one should never be seen, this is highly unusual." Spoke Jophisis, the celestial Virtue who had just washed away Frankie's bad karma and inadvertently set a prophecy, and possibly a cataclysm, into motion. "I will report this to the celestial authorities. You have overstepped your duties harbinger."

"I do what must be done to see the events unfold as they must. On occasion, a boundary must be crossed to see the whole preserved." He replied and then vanished in a cloud of shadows and smoke.

"One of the few beings in the multiverse who may come and go even in the presence of its betters," Jophisis remarked. "That being said, I have completed our arrangement, Frankie of the House of Hernandez is free of the burden of the unjust karma placed upon his soul. I leave you in peace children of man." And he rose out of the summoning circle and vanished with the sound of electricity and the smell of ozone.

"How you feeling kid?" asked Andre as he cleared the circle and stood up.

"I think that counts as a triggering event," Frankie replied as he floated to his feet, and then stopped suspended several inches above the floor.

"Whoa, kid. No imitating a balloon, ok?" said Caleb as he took Frankie by the arm and pulled him down to the ground.

As Frankie landed there was a crackle of static electricity and he became grounded and fell fully to his feet. "That was weird. Let me try something." He traced the shield rune with his wand hand but nothing happened. "Guess I still need a wand or my kris. Well, it was worth a shot." He pulled his wand from his pocket and traced the basic shield rune and it formed a glowing yellow shield held in place by his offhand.

"Well, the color is new." Kyle said, "You usually have to be wearing the focal gauntlet for it to take on the yellow hue." Kyle pushed against the shield and it stayed in place, "How's the pushback?"

"I can't feel a thing. Try harder." Frankie replied.

Kyle leaned into it and gave it a good solid shove, and wound up pushing himself backward. "Whoa, and that's just the basic shield rune?"

"Yeah, I didn't feel anything. It's like I've got the gauntlet on, the shield is yellow and thicker. I guess my shields are going to be tougher now, that's not a bad thing." He said with a smile.

They got their shirts on and headed into the house.

"How do you feel, inside?" Andre asked as he sat at the kitchen table.

"Fine. Normal, I guess? I don't feel lighter or anything, just stronger, like I took off a heavy coat and my arms want to float up from muscle reaction."