by The Eurostar
Somewhere:
Behind a desk of red mahogany sat a young, tall man stroking his red goatee, wearing an expensive Versace suit. His black leather chair was revolved to the opposite of the desk, looking toward the big window. Outside, a storm raged, and striking lighting bolts occasionally lit the dark countryside. On the desk, a rectangular sign covered in black velvet sported a single, polished steel C.
The man whispered into his Nokia cellphone, "Yes, sir. It will be done, sir." Then he carefully turned off the cellular telephone, revolved his chair in the proper position, and shouted, "Aurochs! Aurochs!"
A twisted old man, wrapped up in a gray mantle, entered the office, a malevolent smile grimacing his face. He stopped in front of the desk without saying anything.
"Aurochs, I need more monsters. Big ones. Deadly ones. At the mining camp, at the Alaska oil platform, and in India. I need them yesterday!"
"Sir, I don't think it's a smart move. If the... Cloaks... find out that one of them is using the art for one not affiliated, it will be a sad day for both of them. For both of us."
"I don't care. Summon more beasts, Aurochs. What do you want? More money? Women? Boys?"
"Heh heh. Funny. You know, sir, that I can have all of that easily, if I would. But there is something else that you have and that could interest me."
The old wizard knew a means of travel that let him move across long distances in a matter of seconds. But it was not an easy task. It cost a lot of energy. It took years away from his life expectancy. Black magic gave great powers, but only at great cost.
Aurochs had never used the travel spell before because, since the time he joined the Cloaks, he never really embraced their mission. He was a nerd in his youth, and all he ever wanted was some respect, some power. He never ached for the first line, for the spotlight. For all these years, he had managed to stay away from risky missions, never having to meet any Hood, never having to leave this dimension, always finding an excuse to be one that stayed back at the manor, overseeing things, doing research in the library, preserving his life...
And learning.
Learning magic, studying the old practises that most of the other Cloaks had never even heard of, deciphering thousand-year-old papyri and clay tablets, discovering new things. Never ever putting anything he learned in use for the cause, but only for his own satisfaction, for his own secret life. Because Aurochs became a mage to escape being a nerd.
And every other month, he left the manor for his secret mission, which he, after long preparations, managed to get approved by the council. Egypt, Italy, France, the American deserts, in search of historical magic artifacts and secrets about the natural magic of the native tribes.
A lie. A well-covered lie.
The true purpose of the trips was to live his secret life, the one of Auguste Bull, professional gambler. Venice, Monte Carlo, Las Vegas, and all the world's capitals of gambling and entertainment were the background of Aurochs' true life. The places where the nerd he was before was finally buried, and money, women and young boys were finally easy to pick like fruits from a tree, a very low tree.
For nearly two decades his secret life went that way, rewarding him for all the other times spent over dusty books or kissing the asses of the higher Cloaks. But then, some years ago, he discovered in horror that he was getting old. And with the age came illnesses. He discovered that he was about to die. Not suddenly, maybe not the day after or even the next year. But he, like everybody, had to die.
Like everybody? He knew the legend about the troll, the bastard troll that across the ages had always thwarted the schemes of the Cloaks and the Hoods. And there were lines, here and there, on scripted stones, on columns in Egypt, in Leonardo da Vinci's diary, in alchemists' manuals, about other immortals. A survivor of the fall of Babylon. A monk living in a secret temple on Everest. A mysterious man aching for power across the centuries, popping up in various parts of the world at different times.
Legends? If Aurochs had learned only one thing as a wizard, it was that legends are always truth. Over the ages, immortality was granted to more than one man. And he wanted to be the next one.
And for ten years, he had investigated. He had spread the word in the lowest parts of the metropolises of all the world. Many millions of dollars it had cost to him, but finally he had found a connections.
A young American tycoon, Clive Collins, was indicated to apparently know the secret, or at least to know something or someone related to the secret. And so Aurochs managed to meet the man, casually, as if it was only chance.
The young American was looking for men of power, metahumans, the news of the moment. Aurochs was not a metahuman, but he had power nevertheless. He knew the art, the ancient art, the source of true power on Earth.
And easily Aurochs went on Collins' payroll. His mission was to clear three pieces of land across the globe from any people presence.
Why? It took not many days for Aurochs to find that even his employer didn't know. Collins was working for someone higher up.
He didn't care. Play along was Aurochs' motto. At first, he showed himself only interested in money. But then, when it was clear that Collins was now depending on him, on his magic, he blew out the truth. He wanted the secret of immortality. And Collins could not deny that he knew something about that.
And that was the situation now. The secret would be revealed in exchange for a complete resolution of the problem in Uruguay.
There, the plan was not going smoothly. It seemed there was a band of misfits succeeding in fighting the beast that Aurochs had summoned from the hidden realm, a great unexpected event.
More powerful monsters were needed. But to open the gates for them, this time he couldn't operate from a distance, from a safe spot. This time he had to be there.
This time, for the first time of his life, he needed to be at the forefront, the first line. The thing he has ever avoided in all his life.
But this time he was only a step from the secret of immortality. This time he must take the risk.