Another Week

We get an interview set up for the following week with plenty of time to prep. This situation is delicate. We need to ensure that we don't have any slip-ups. We need to ensure that the information that we give is precise. The court of public opinion is on our side for the most part. There are still those out there doing their damndest to bring me down to their level. No matter what I say or do, I know there will still be those out there who will twist anything they can into their own propaganda.

Admittedly, I'm not in the clear on this. I baited this fight a month in advance intending to show an ugly side. It worked better than I thought it would. Now I have to work with what I've been given.

The tech team does its bit to get our end of the broadcast set up. They have me set up in the same spot as before with the lights in my face. I get my earpiece in so I can hear the questions being asked. They also gave me a TV to reference to get an idea of where I should be and what some reactions are.

I get the countdown and here we go again. I put on a light smile to show enthusiasm that I am here. This interview is with a duo-pair of parrots. I get a colorful introduction from them as they kick things off, "We are ecstatic to welcome Red, pardon. The Fox, Red to our show. Red, you've been in the news constantly for the past few weeks for bringing magic to light in the world. Your most recent escapade was in Death Valley where we are all still kind of confused as to what happened. Can you please share a little on that?"

I give it a few seconds before I begin to answer to ensure there is no follow-up to that or requests for anything specific. I keep my answer concise, "I would be glad to. One month ago I was arrested by military police. That ordeal led to this when I requested to meet with the one who issued the arrest order. In preparation for this, we set up a tent in a secluded meeting place with a camera at a safe distance and a microphone with a repeater in the tent. We met with General Weller who informed us of what was happening. That audio has been circulating for a while so I will save you the time on that. As he left, I and one other individual were still in the tent when we were blatantly and brazenly fired upon."

I give them a second to process what's said and give a rebuttal. I watch the screen as they seem to be in a state of disbelief. I know the audio conversation with General Weller was released. I also know that the video of the incident was also released. It was analyzed and slowed down to show a large grey mass that had come into contact with the ground before it erupted into a ball of flame with a heavy explosion.

The shock dissipated as they moved on to a follow-up question, "How did you two walk away?"

"Barrier spell. A reinforcement of magic that is designed to take heavy and brunt blows."

"And anyone can do that?"

I had to ponder this one. "Yes and no." I shift in my seat as I ready myself to address this. "We were hit with something incredibly heavy with a high yield. Barriers are not a fix-all for anything that can come at you. They have strength, they can be overpowered, and broken rendering them useless. Anything that gets through them after that comes straight for you."

"So it would have taken an immense power to protect from that kind of attack."

"It does, yes."

I may have survived the blast but I wasn't pretty by the end of it. My concern was for Anne. She was able to walk away unscathed. Then came the hard question… "We all want to know what happened after that. We've seen the footage of the firestorm. Pentagon officials were quick to put a statement out. What happened on the ground?"

Honesty is my best policy here. I recount how I confronted General Weller. How he told me about the planned assassination and strike. I let him run off to his army and he brought them back to fight instead of walking away. I acted to defend myself and that was the result.

Yes, it was a massive use of magical power. But I avoided mentioning that I took the chance as a display of power for others and myself. They seemed flabbergasted about this. That one person could produce such a result so quickly. Then the question came, "Can magic be used in this capacity by anyone?"

I imagine that anyone in my position would be intimidated to answer this question. I have stuck with my ideals this entire event. I have set the groundwork with my stances on how I feel and how I believe that things should be. "I can say, for absolute certain, that this is not something just anyone can do. It requires a great deal of power to pull from the area around you and from yourself to create an event like this. I am able to because of what I am. I am a creature of myth and legend that contains an incredible power. I am able to do spells like this because I have the ability. If anyone were to attempt this, most would surely die. Those who would succeed would not be in a good shape after."

"What's stopping you from using this power at will? To say, take over the world?"

"I don't want that. I've said from the beginning that I want magic users to be able to live their lives in the open. I don't want the responsibility of running the world. That sounds awful."

I try to play it off as a joke. I get the laugh I want to break down the tense situation. I do plan on defending magic users should someone try to oppress them again. At the same time, I plan on pushing back against magic users that try to oppress anyone. I'm not taking sides. I'm pushing for an equal playing field.

Some will criticize me for playing both sides. There have been some magic users who have spoken up about this saying that I'm not doing enough to help. They've also said that non-magic users don't need any more advantages. I've also been told that I'm favoring magic users by not ensuring protections from magic users. This all keeps coming up despite my repetitive statement that I will not allow magic users to suppress non-magic users and vice versa. I haven't made it public but I intend to enforce this with force. I just hope it doesn't come to that.

The rest of the interview goes without issue. After that one hump, the rest is easy. The conversation is light. They touch on magic theory here and there asking weird questions. Some had incorrect information that I was able to put into perspective with a little more knowledge. I know that they are supposed to take a professional approach to everything and direct the conversation through various topics that were set beforehand. I get them talking and drive them completely off course into the depths of some weird specialization.

A good time was had by all. We cut our broadcast at the end. I hand out "good jobs" all around to the folks who made it work. I go back to playing the waiting game. I'm waiting for word on that location. I lay in bed looking at the ceiling wondering where in the world it could be. I cry out to the universe to answer me, "Where is the castle I'm looking for located?"

But the universe does not answer back. I am left in the quiet of my private space. A knock at the door brings me back to reality, "Come in." It's one of the rats that works with the church. He's been working hard to keep communications going between all the different groups. He seems rather uneasy about stepping into the room, "Pardon the intrusion but we may have a lead on the location you are looking for."

Maybe the universe did answer me. Just not directly. He continues as he hands me a letter and a drawn map, "They believe it to be in the Scottish Highlands. A castle that hasn't been occupied in quite some time. It seems to be isolated." The sketch that I get looks vaguely like the tapestry I saw. It's close enough that I'm willing to give it a shot. He can see the light of intrigue in my eyes as he smiles. He knows that's what I was looking for. "How soon can we leave?"

"We can have a flight ready for you tomorrow morning."

That will be perfect. One more night to sleep in a bed before going off on another adventure. I call it an adventure but everything up to this point has been more of a nightmare. Maybe I'll catch a break this time around. Maybe I won't be hunted by a bunch of crazies. Only time will tell if I don't continue to jinx it by calling these things out.

I shouldn't get my hopes up for this. There is always a chance that "similar to" isn't the place I am looking for. There is still something deep inside me that wishes that this is the place. I could get a lot of answers that I'm looking for here. I could find out more about myself and my history. I can also find out who wrote that warning. Maybe they left more behind. There are a lot of "what ifs" being thrown around in my head. Sleep isn't going to come easy with this bit of excitement.

Maybe Anne can help tire me out…