The Writing's on the Wall

The Writing's on The Wall - Part 5

Serling sat in his Impala with the engine and lights turned off as he waited fro Tikka to return. The house they were looking for had been on a dead end street and he didn't want to risk attracting attention or possibly getting trapped if the Inferni or the Magic Feds turned up. After the death of her sister Leila, Tikka had finally been free from the Inferni coven she had been a part of and her recovery in one of the Shield of Light safe houses had been swift. Serling had been working with her had decided that Tikka was ready to become more active in their cause, time was running out and her agility and knowledge of magic proving perfect for this sortie. But he still had a sawn off shotgun under his car seat and a few grenades in the glove box just in case things went south and force was required.

When Tikka has returned to the Shield members after the incident with the wand at the safe house she had told them everything that had happened and of the prophecy that had been proclaimed in the Fogteeth Clans church. They had had set up surveillance of the orc clan across the city. It was more difficult for them to keep tabs on the two police officers Ward and Jakoby – especially since the media attention surrounding their part in the events, and the interest from the Magic Feds – but they had a few contacts within the force and were kept reasonably up to date on their movements.

The book had first come to them from one of their lookouts who had retrieved it from the scene of a drive by shooting involving the Fogteeth clan. At first it appeared to be just a sketchbook – random drawings and some sketches Serling recognised as renders of some of the Graffiti around LA. But on closer inspection Serling had realized that there was something special about many of the images contained within. Spread throughout the pages were snippets and annotated sketches of graffiti from several different cities – Serling could read and speak fluent orcish and he recognized several of the dialects and characters. To a casual observer they just looked like random images – but it was too close to be a coincidence.

Tikka had told them about what had happened the night of her sisters death, the resurrection of Jakoby and the Cop Ward being a Bright. And it was all laid out their before him. Not actual likenesses – but the different pieces of the story almost all appeared in this sketchbook in one for or another. The Shield of Lights own seers had already foreseen that Ward and Jakoby would have a vital role to play in the prophecy when they rose to their attention after Wards shooting was reported in the media – but this was so much more detailed. These images were from cities in several European counties and across the USA... something big was happening, he could feel it – and if this artist knew more then they needed to know exactly what that was.

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Tikka crept through the kitchen and living room and into the hallway. It was a fairly standard house but her years living with the Inferni had not equipped her whit the knowledge of what a normal home was like so she marvelled at all of the books and ornaments and furnishings as she tiptoed along.

Curious, she lightly pushed open the door to the bedroom and stood listening to the relaxed breathing within before she entered. Although the room was dark Tikkas elvish eyesight meant that she could see clearly and she gleefully crept along to the dressing table upon which various photographs and trinkets lay with several brightly coloured items of make-up and some jewellery. Tikkas hand hovered over the objects lovingly – finally, with a glance back at her sleeping host she gingerly picked up a large hooped earring and held it up to her face, peering through it at her own reflection in the mirror. Stifling a giggle she returned it down onto the dresser and made her way over to the bed. The Fairy had now entered the room and was perched again on the beds headboard. Tikka crept up to the head of the bed and crouched so that her face was only inches away from the sleeping humans. She sniffed lightly as she took a loose strand of the girl's hair in her hands and marvelled at the colour. Then she noticed that the girl was injured – her arm... Tikka could sense the broken bones and her hand hovered over the exposed fingers peeking out from the cast. She reached out delicately and slowly moved her own fingers closer to gently brush the soft tips of the girls fingers – her eyes fluttered as she could feel the magical energy – faint but constant - that flowed through the girls finger and spread out through Tikkas body.