The Legacy facility on the outskirts of town was hidden in the middle of a large blanket of trees. No one knew of the castle structure, it was well camouflaged and cloaked amongst the growing vegetation. Much of it was an illusion to keep people away.
The building out front housed the Knights Foundation. It was the face of the secret spy agency. As they are also beginning to realize their true company's Legacy isn't all based on discovering intel or hidden truths. It's really much deeper than that. King Arthur wasn't really a man. It was more of a concept, a mantle, a manner of being to aspire to. In this story there are a few who fit this description. They all have faults, everybody does. But at their core they are all Arthurs.
James is keeping a secret from Faith that is crushing him. Hailey is pregnant and the baby isn't his. He has his suspicions but all of them are too unbelievable to comprehend. Why had Noah really disappeared? He is beginning to suspect his friend and it's really hurting his heart. But worst of all he had taken Hailey back after all her lies and now this. How did a man trust his spouse who had stepped out on him? Like Faith had at the beginning of this story, he is wondering if stepping into the interim position was a mistake. James really needed to talk to her, get her take. She was a good sounding board and always got to the truth of things.
He can't see her from his position outside and Danny had disappeared earlier. He wasn't truly sure where. All he knew was that this was scaring him more than he thought it would. Usually he was so detached when conducting surveillance. He was just realizing he had lost that calm edge he normally had on cases.
He knew it was because how close he and Faith had become during the last few months. Singing with her had filled a hole in his heart he hadn't realized was there. They were talking about a new song, a mash up of some of her old CCM favorites. She was really looking forward to it. James had asked her to step up to lead worship when half the team left when Kara did a weird disappearing act a few weeks back.
Faith was just getting her feet wet but the spirit inside the sanctuary was so much more calming and worshipful. It was a feeling he had missed with all the showmanship that had previously been on stage. There was a place for that at times, but sometimes you just needed simple songs that cried out to God to come in and heal you.
He spied Danny off to his left. The man looked like he had been through the ringer.
"Are you okay?" James asked.
"I don't know, man. Something happened back there. I felt this weird vibration all around me. And now I want to go all Hulk on someone for no reason at all," Danny cleared his throat. "It's actually kind of scaring me."
***
Inside the Knights Foundation building, Kain Newcastle slid into the room at a run. He was a man now at just over forty but managed to keep his boyish charm in tact.
"We've had a ripple in the time stream. I think we lost Noah."
Mac looked up from the new disguise he'd been crafting. To say he was a bit of a chameleon was an understatement. It was no wonder Enigma was his codename.
"Was he hiding in a knight when it happened?" Mac was the team's troubleshooter. But they both shined in that area.
"We can't really tell but we think so. My theory is that it pushed him into limbo."
Kain could see Mac inwardly curse. The man was true north and hadn't cursed in front of him the entire time he'd known him.
"Not good."
"The team has other ideas they are working on. Darien and Robbi are doing their mental gymnastics and Steve and Gia are studying up on the history of similar situations. Everyone's all in."
"Good. We need a good challenge to brush up on our skills." Mac didn't crack a smile.
"You're real funny. A comedian in fact. You gonna go on the road with that act?"
"I'm worried Kain. It's like God is working in fast forward. Something is up and we need to get a handle on it. It's not like we have history to rely on here. We are on the leading edge, creating reality as we go."
"Don't worry, Mac. We'll make it work."
Mac prayed to God he was right. This reality was scaring the crap out of him.
***
In a forest directly south of the church compound, Kara stood in a whirlpool of energy. No one knew about her power or what she had accomplished already. Getting rid of Noah had been step one. Nick was next. That secret white knight was on her last nerve. He had fooled her too many times. Now both he and Faith would pay the ultimate price. A double sacrifice would give her spell more power. The demons already followed her lead and attacked the more important church members. Getting rid of Crossroads would be a big win for their team.
Kara laughed at the people reading this. "You think this is just a fairytale? We are in a war here. The dark against the light." She held in her hand the true north part of Noah's heart. The evil part was still in Danny. She was looking forward to using him in the future. Faith was just his type. She could use him now to lure her to her ultimate doom. Nick would surely follow. The man was so noble, too noble. All those Knights Foundation guys were.
She laughed. James would get a real surprise pretty soon. Time ripples were making changes even she couldn't foresee.
***
I inched toward him and reached for Nick just as the time ripple hit. His clothes changed and so did his face. It was much like her red Merlin cloak but in a deep hunter green, plus he had the same interesting belt around his waist. Attached to his left side was a device peeking out from under his shirt. It was vibrating energy waves. I reached for it and he grabbed my hand.
"Don't," he muttered, his speech slurring. "I don't want them to get you too."
I moved my hand to his face making him look at me. "Nick, this is attracting them to you. It's hurting you. I can see it."
He grunted as one slammed into his chest. "Better me than you."
I am pretty stubborn and have dealt with the demon realm a lot in the past few months. The longer he let it go on the more dibilating it would be.
I found the salt in the kitchen of the outbuilding. God had laughed at her once calling it is inside mineral just like she was his inside man at the newspaper before she quit. Salt was the secret thing in every kitchen that repelled demons.
I made a potion of salt and water and sprinkled it all around, especially around Nick. Then I lined the doorway thresholds with salt crystals.
"These things are annoying."
"You're telling me."
I reached to his waist and turned off his device. "I knew you had an unnatural amount of energy. That really necessary?"
"Inside spice." He pointed to the salt. Then he pointed to himself. "Inside man."
I smiled. "Mind reader now?"
Nick returned my smile with a half smirk. "One of my better talents."
"You're an enigma for sure," I laughed.
It felt good not to suspect him of wrongdoing. but someone was manipulating them all on a masterful level.
"What are we even doing here?"
"Not sure. I have a bit of a memory gap."
"Manipulation can do that." My inner knowing was screaming at me to move. "We need to get out of here. James is outside."
Nick shook the entities off his aura then attempted to stand. "I can't. I'm undercover."
"So is he. Get over it and work together." Geez, men!
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