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"Devil Lights in the Sky"
May. 22nd, 2022 09:16 pm"Devil Lights In the Sky"
9/1-9/2/1994
I.
It was just getting dark when Jeremy Bane reached the top of the rise and gazed down on the Virginia hills. The town of Wilkeston was fifteen miles behind him. He had left his Mustang parked where the dirt road had turned into a mere trail and hiked the last couple of miles. On a warm September evening with no clouds and a starry sky overhead, the Dire Wolf stood and frowned as he inspected the scene with misgivings.
The sightings of mysterious red lights in the sky over the past month were not what had drawn him here. The newspapers called them "Devil Lights." His Midnight War had never touched on UFOs. It might seem funny considering all the other bizarre phenomena he did deal with, but Bane had never believed that Earth had been visited by extraterrestrials and he wasn't even sure there was life out there among the stars. He hadn't really thought much about the topic, the Midnight War was enough to hold his full attention.
What had made him drive here from New York City were the inexplicable events surrounding Carl Freer. The career criminal had broken his probation by associating with his former gang members and had fled when the police had tried to take him in. He had been pursued here. At one-thirty on the afternoon of September 2nd, the pursuing officers had last spotted him running up this path. He had paused to throw a few bullets at them, which made them hesitate enough for them to lose sight of the thug. Then blinding red lights had appeared from the sky directly overhead. The cops had felt nauseous and suffocated for a few minutes, and then had weakly resumed the chase but found no trace of the fugitive
Then, at two-forty that same afternoon, Carl Freer had been arrested for breaking into a car in Tampa, Florida. ID was positive both in Virginia, where he had been living, and in Tampa, where he was fingerprinted. He would not talk even to a court-appointed lawyer and was still being held in Florida. How he had gotten there in a little over an hour was making the authorities have conniptions. Even if he had been boarding a private jet ready for take-off when last seen, he could not have arrived in Tampa that quickly, and the fact he was last seen running up a hill in the hills of Virginia, miles from the nearest town let alone airport, made matters even worse.
In the fading light, the Dire Wolf scowled as he knelt. Any possible footprints in the soft dirt had been trampled over. He had last spotted Freer's size 13 boot marks a half mile down the path. But there was something interesting. Bane was kneeling at the crest, and a few feet ahead the hill dropped down steeply to a creekbed that was empty this time of year. Something about the grass. His night vision was kicking in, one of the benefits of the tagra tea diet he had been on Tel Shai for twenty years, and he saw a wide area of the grass was lightly scorched but only on one side of the blade. He plucked one and bent it, finding it brittle.
Bane knelt there for a long moment, trying to come up with explanations. In the Midnight War, some beings could travel across long distances instantly, either through their own gralic abilities or by using Gateway crystal. He had three of those crystals himself. But those gates did not generate heat of any sort, and this grass had been exposed to intense if brief heat. This was something new. He wasn't sure what it meant...
Brilliant red light from directly above hit him with almost physical impact, knocking him onto his back. He couldn't see clearly. As soon as he hit the ground, Bane rolled and was up again on fingers and toes, ready to move. The light made him feel dazed and sick. A deep humming noise from overhead shook his body and gave him nausea, but he managed to get up and just started running before a concussion wave of hot air struck him violently. The Dire Wolf rolled across the grass, jumping up again and trying to look up at the red light through his fingers. He could almost make something out, a dark shape at least thirty feet across. The last he knew was a thumping burst of searing heat smashing into him.
( the rest of the story )
9/1-9/2/1994
I.
It was just getting dark when Jeremy Bane reached the top of the rise and gazed down on the Virginia hills. The town of Wilkeston was fifteen miles behind him. He had left his Mustang parked where the dirt road had turned into a mere trail and hiked the last couple of miles. On a warm September evening with no clouds and a starry sky overhead, the Dire Wolf stood and frowned as he inspected the scene with misgivings.
The sightings of mysterious red lights in the sky over the past month were not what had drawn him here. The newspapers called them "Devil Lights." His Midnight War had never touched on UFOs. It might seem funny considering all the other bizarre phenomena he did deal with, but Bane had never believed that Earth had been visited by extraterrestrials and he wasn't even sure there was life out there among the stars. He hadn't really thought much about the topic, the Midnight War was enough to hold his full attention.
What had made him drive here from New York City were the inexplicable events surrounding Carl Freer. The career criminal had broken his probation by associating with his former gang members and had fled when the police had tried to take him in. He had been pursued here. At one-thirty on the afternoon of September 2nd, the pursuing officers had last spotted him running up this path. He had paused to throw a few bullets at them, which made them hesitate enough for them to lose sight of the thug. Then blinding red lights had appeared from the sky directly overhead. The cops had felt nauseous and suffocated for a few minutes, and then had weakly resumed the chase but found no trace of the fugitive
Then, at two-forty that same afternoon, Carl Freer had been arrested for breaking into a car in Tampa, Florida. ID was positive both in Virginia, where he had been living, and in Tampa, where he was fingerprinted. He would not talk even to a court-appointed lawyer and was still being held in Florida. How he had gotten there in a little over an hour was making the authorities have conniptions. Even if he had been boarding a private jet ready for take-off when last seen, he could not have arrived in Tampa that quickly, and the fact he was last seen running up a hill in the hills of Virginia, miles from the nearest town let alone airport, made matters even worse.
In the fading light, the Dire Wolf scowled as he knelt. Any possible footprints in the soft dirt had been trampled over. He had last spotted Freer's size 13 boot marks a half mile down the path. But there was something interesting. Bane was kneeling at the crest, and a few feet ahead the hill dropped down steeply to a creekbed that was empty this time of year. Something about the grass. His night vision was kicking in, one of the benefits of the tagra tea diet he had been on Tel Shai for twenty years, and he saw a wide area of the grass was lightly scorched but only on one side of the blade. He plucked one and bent it, finding it brittle.
Bane knelt there for a long moment, trying to come up with explanations. In the Midnight War, some beings could travel across long distances instantly, either through their own gralic abilities or by using Gateway crystal. He had three of those crystals himself. But those gates did not generate heat of any sort, and this grass had been exposed to intense if brief heat. This was something new. He wasn't sure what it meant...
Brilliant red light from directly above hit him with almost physical impact, knocking him onto his back. He couldn't see clearly. As soon as he hit the ground, Bane rolled and was up again on fingers and toes, ready to move. The light made him feel dazed and sick. A deep humming noise from overhead shook his body and gave him nausea, but he managed to get up and just started running before a concussion wave of hot air struck him violently. The Dire Wolf rolled across the grass, jumping up again and trying to look up at the red light through his fingers. He could almost make something out, a dark shape at least thirty feet across. The last he knew was a thumping burst of searing heat smashing into him.
( the rest of the story )
