December 14, 2004 – 03:00
The Greenland Plant
Frank woke up to use the bathroom and noticed Coralis wasn't beside him. He looked at the time as he climbed out of bed: it was 3 in the morning.
"You have to go again?" said Frank, seeing her making coffee. "I swear, you're just as busy as you were when you played flyball while working for the EBEE and other side groups."
"Holy gods from above, I don't even have the time to miss flyball and my brain hurts from mind-link overload."
Coralis took advantage of Frank being awake to grab what she needed from their bedroom.
"What is it this time? I felt you coming to bed 2 hours ago," said Frank, walking out of the bathroom.
"I have to meet Alejandro in Greenland to investigate and collect information about a tip DeMarco gave me last night. His superiors received some potentially manipulated information about some newly added names he believed shouldn't be listed. He traced the origin of the file from a location in Greenland, where he doesn't think has phone and internet signals. It was encrypted and seems to have been sent through satellites, but the area is inhabited, not even by a military installation. He doesn't trust it."
"In other words, from a group who thinks the newly added are a threat to them."
"I don't know the people who got recently added, but it looks that way, so I passed the information to the shadows, and we're checking it out," said Coralis, finishing her coffee.
"Could also be local elementals who've been poking around them. Being on their list may not stop you from going against them, but you know it's a deterrent to some listed people. Did you at least eat something?" said Frank, noticing the absence of food containers and dishes on the countertop.
"True. I ate before coming home earlier, so I'm good for now," said Coralis, making sure she wasn't forgetting anything. "I'll call you later."
She kissed him, and she was gone.
Alejandro arrived at Northeast Greenland National Park before Coralis. He landed atop a mountain and sent her his coordinates through mind-link.
"Glad I grabbed my insulated cloak. I think I will get one suitable for all weathers and seasons," said Coralis when she landed beside him, almost an hour after he arrived.
"Careful from whom you buy it from. My brother bought one from an artisan in central Spain, and it caught on fire when portalling from the mountain to the beach."
"I don't use portals, but I see your point. I'll ask a cousin of mine. She and her mate made a specialty in crafting spelled clothing. All right, let's look around," said Coralis, jumping back on her stick.
Fifteen minutes later, as they were flying along the perimeter of the national park, they felt a change in the air and stopped moving, hovering still on their stick.
"I'm sensing wards, blood witch type of wards," said Alejandro.
"Blood witches and djinns," said Coralis, closing her eyes. "We can bypass the blood witches one without being detected, but the djinn layer I'm sensing will be trickier."
"Whoever gave you that tip is onto something. Blood witches and djinns, it can't be a peaceful group," said Alejandro after communicating that information to the Shadow Elementals heads. "Let's see how wide these wards are. I'm sure the both of us could take them down, but it would probably tip them about us."
Twenty-five minutes later, they stood on the ground at the foot of a mountain, a large lake lying next to them.
"Their wards are somewhat basic. They are meant to keep elementals and humans away, but that's about it," said Alejandro.
"If we shift into our animal form and put on a bind while in that form, I think we can pass through them without them sensing wards disturbance."
"Good plan. Binds won't stop us from communicating through mind-links, but Alejandrito the Mouse isn't a speeder."
"I'll shift into my mini-panther version and hope I won't get spotted. This isn't a scenery for a black panther to blend in, even in a mini version of it. Your mouse might be slow, but easier to camouflage."
Alejandro chuckled and took one of his binds from his cloak before shrinking it and shifting into his mouse form. Coralis followed suit, and they passed through the wards.
"You do stand out like a sore thumb around here at this time of year, but I am impressed that you can shift into a mini version of your animal."
"Practicality when hunted is a great motivator in finding new tricks."
"Whatever this place is guarding within these wards must be somewhere around the middle point. Doubtful whatever we're looking for would be on the perimeter of the wards," said Alejandro.
"Agreed. Something feels eerie out here, it's almost too quiet for the feels of these wards."
They walked along the edge of the mountain. Coralis wished there was a line of shade, she didn't like being out in the open, where she could be spotted from afar, even when walking as Cheetah.
"Thankfully mermaids aren't involved, or at least they don't seem to be. I would hate having to dive underwater," said Alejandro.
"Think you can ride on my back without raising suspicions if we're seen?"
"On your back, probably not, but I could cling to the side of your neck by the collarbone. From afar, I could appear to be a greyish spot of dirt. If we pass by people, you could make it look like you're eating me."
"Let's do this then so we can travel faster in this tundra," said Coralis while crouching down so that Alejandrito could climb on her.
She could feel its tiny claws digging into her coat, but it wasn't painful. Twenty minutes later, they found an opening: a wide crack and a narrow path leading into the middle of the mountain. Cheetah turned onto it and followed the pathway, leading into a small ledge bordering the wall of a wide cave, a few metres above ground. Despite being in the middle of an icy mountain, the air in it felt warm.
In the middle of the cave, they saw three large basins filled with lava, a furnace and several workbenches. The cave was crawling with djinns.
"They are forging weapons! Who gave you that tip? Has to be someone very well connected," said Alejandro through private mind-link.
"Let's just say that he's an unlikely informant who has no idea of where he sent us."
Cheetah walked along the ledge, trying to find an obscured corner they could observe while remaining unseen. She stopped between a boulder and a stalagmite.
"Holy gods from above! We need to destroy this hub, they are making djinn mystical weapons. Can you imagine what will happen if these weapons get distributed to the people we're fighting against? They're certainly aren't made by any allies, or we would have known something about them," said Alejandro.
"We do need to find a way to interrupt their operation. The question is, how do we destroy the weapons? We could set the place on fire, but I don't think it will destroy them, and someone is likely to flee with them and their parchments with the drawn blueprints. A better question is, for whom are they making them? For humans to use or for clans against us?" said Coralis.
"Maybe both. We must block all exits and kill everyone here before they find us out. We're in a djinn weapon factory. I don't think we can destroy these things before they use them against us. I'm seeing pistols being made, which means the bullets for them must be crafted the mystical-weapon way."
"We will need backup, at least to ensure no one comes out. I think the best way to go with it is not to worry for now about the blades and the pistols in this place. We find their stash of raw material, turn it into silver powder and blow it all on them. It should weaken them enough for us to be able to behead them all before they understand what's going on. Then, we search the rest of the place to dig up documents and information."
Alejandro mind-linked to other Shadow Elemental members about what they found, and Coralis told them their plan.
"If they are indeed djinn mystical weapons, I don't think we'll be able to destroy them there, and they probably are trackable through their elemental imprint," said Milkya.