The Andre Miller Saga

Andre Miller 68 The Deck

It was three days after the picnic and business was running at the new normal. The call service was still getting rung off the hook and flooded with mail and email. Infinity Brand wasn't accepting as many new orders as they once were and with the vacation coming in three months, they would have a 2 week period where there would be no business at all. The call service had a listing of reputable defensive, celestial, and elemental providers that they fell back on with recommendations. They had cut deals with various companies for a 5% referral fee for each job that they were given.

Frankie was more withdrawn and contemplative than normal since learning that whatever was going to trigger the coming catastrophe was in Birmingham already. Now it was just a matter of time until the last lock fell away and the final battle would begin. Though he rarely talked about it, he was worried about how much collateral damage would come from the final fight.

Andre contacted Hoziha and had him spread the word that whatever was coming was officially in play. The celestials would continue their patrols through and around Birmingham but stepped up their frequency and began checking the ethereal winds for any sign of disruption. But if Frankie was any sign of what was to come it would be small and contained until it wasn't.

Andre was sitting at the table sorting through business notes that Tilly and Janice had compiled for him to go over so that he had a general idea of where everything was. He had done a 2-hour phone in segment with a national radio program about summoning and the differences between celestials, elementals, and infernals. There had been some challenging questions and one of the in-studio guests kept pushing for Andre to admit that there was no essential difference between the three types of beings other than being morally aligned. It finally came to the point where Andre confronted the man directly.

"You keep going on about how the celestial, elemental, and infernal beings are the same except for how they deal with the forces of light and darkness in the universe. Are you a summoner, sir?" asked Andre

"No, but I don't see how that bears on the subject." Said the guest.

"Some other practitioner of magic then?"

"No, again I fail to see how that changes anything."

"I've been dealing with these beings in a practical way, in person, with daily contact for over 40 years. I have dealt with several celestials and an elemental today in fact. I've fought demons and trapped them in circles of power and banished them back to the hells from which they came. You have theories that you have drawn from books and a few interviews with what I can only assume were relatively young, foolish, or inexperienced summoners. I have firsthand experience with all three types of beings. I can state unequivocally that celestials are as different from elementals as a Monarch butterfly is different from a banana, and the difference between a celestial and a demon is far more drastic than that, comparing said butterfly to a 1987 Volvo. You have admitted to never having encountered a celestial, elemental, or infernal in your life but you feel that you are an authority on the subject. That's the equivalent of a person who has never drunk alcohol in their life telling a sommelier that all wines are the same. You deal with shaky theories and I deal is harsh truths. We are not the same."

There was a huff of breath and then the sound of an earpiece and mic hitting the ground.

"Well, it seems the professor is done with the conversation, as he just left the studio." Said the interviewer, "You're listening to KOGS radio and we'll be right back."

Once they were off the air the interviewer said, "Wow, you should have seen the color of the professor's face, Mr. Miller. I do believe you shut him down well and properly. We're going to have to change up the format of the next segment as we were going to be taking calls and have the two of you weigh in on them, but with your permission, we'll field questions directly to you."