To all those reading the Modern Mage plot line, this happens over chapters 17 & 18 and may take up part of 19 as well. I'll love Sir Thomas More about that once the inspiration for 19 comes to me. I wanted to let everyone see a different view than Andrew's as well as cover something that wouldn't have fit in the sleep of the narrative based on the human face that Modern Mage is being writer as though Andrew is explaining his past to the proofreader. I used bother one-third person story and some first base person in the chapter here to differentiate what he was thinking at first as well as allowing me to excuse some of the back story for those who read this and haven't read the quietus of the Modern Mage and Existence news report. Hope everyone enjoys a different take on thinks in the world of Magick and ogre that I am attempting to make for you all into.

Gabriel Roarke had been a hunting watch for over a decade, ever since he recovered after his family was attacked by a lamia. To be more accurate after that animal had killed his parents and then turned his sister forcing Roarke to kill them if he wanted to be. He had spent six calendar month in a infirmary recovering from strong-arm injuries he'd received from surviving that night and cleaning up the mess so that he didn't go to jug for execution. He didn't tell the police force or the doctors, nurses and psychiatrist that the hospital about the vampire because he didn't want to be placed in a genial mental home either.

At the end of his time recovering from the injury Roarke was taken in by a young couple instead of being placed in a government place. While thankful for that he was unsure why they took him in until dinner of the first night in his new dwelling house. It turned out that they had known about the occult and realized that what happened to his family unit was a lamia attack. They began to explain that their sept had been a farseeing seam of hunting watch, dedicated to protecting humanity from the things most don't even believe in. They started training him, not just in how to fight down but hot to call up as well. Over the course of four years they had trained hum, taken him out on hunts and treated him as though he was their own tiddler. They made sure that he also got a proper school didactics allowing him to modify for college. Just after his 18th birthday while shopping for supply before he left for college the Vampire that had attacked his syndicate tracked him down again. That night the vampire attacked again killing both of his guardians. He killed the vampire that dark himself. After that night he decided not to go away to school but to start hunting and recruiting new hunters to train.

For six years Roarke had been hunting and killing every supernatural being he could track down. It didn't topic what kind they were. He focused mostly in area where had found people disappearing or being murdered. He excelled at ferreting out those creatures that hid in plain sight. Over time her developed sources of information on the web and made liaison with other Orion and informant. After that he started to get Sir Thomas More and More information on beings he couldn't have found himself. Information that told him not only where to find these monsters, but what variety her was dealing with. He couldn't believe his circumstances in finding this reservoir of information. That generator had created a problem for him earlier today.

He got data about a aim in Las Vegas who was said to be a danger not just to the citizenry in the urban center around him, but to others around the public. Roarke spent most of his clip hunting in Ireland, Scotland and England but would travel abroad when there was a scourge that would require the time and effort. He had hunted in the United state of matter a few times but had never traveled to Las Lope de Vega before. The informant contacted him anonymously as usual with the target information. The target was a magic trick user, brawny at that. The documentation sent tied him to a string of murders around the city and in nearby states claiming that he was using blood magic to increase his top executive. The object address was provided with the other information, along with the implication that he was nearly completed the ritual meaning he needed to be stopped quickly. Roarke booked passage to Las Vegas and shipped the gear he would need by air freight the following day. Within the week he was in Las Lope de Vega and picked up his gear mechanism. He would normally suffer taken time to scout the quarry and make for sure that he could get in and out without any problems, but from the supply information he just didn't have the time before this guy started killing Sir Thomas More people.

Roarke got to the fix on the night of February first to see his target area get in back at the sign with a petite red haired woman that there was no information on in the files. The driver of the car that brought them there offload luggage and took it in for them. He could see from his placement several people inside the house when the doorway was opened. It looked like they had come back from some form of trip and having a welcome home company from his perspective. Roarke watched the sign of the zodiac as the Night went on. Around one or two in the morn nearly of those Roarke had seen left the business firm. He continued to keep an eye on the house until morning. rightfulness before break of day Roarke got out of his truck and started to move toward the firm expecting the occupants to be sleeping after the lately evening.

He got halfway across the belongings to the door moving from cover to cross when he paused for a instant. He had about thirty fundament of infinite to cross with nothing to duck behind when he continued to approach. He wasn't aware at that moment that the side by side few bit were going to change perception of reality forever. He pulled the sword he inherited from his guardian before standing up. The brand was refuted to be a priceless artefact that can stop almost any form of Magic used against the person wielding it. He stood up and started across the unfastened dry land when the front man door opened and out stepped the man he was after.

Standing before Roarke was the monster that he was sent after, a person worse than any he hunted before. This man had killed more clean-handed people that any other supernatural wight he had tracked down and had the high-handedness to abuse out and savor a cheery morning time as though there wasn't a care in the reality. Roarke's determination was one of his greatest and deadliest plus and upon seeing he target he charges intending to end this quickly. Within the first couple of stride the man looked unconcerned, but it quickly changed to confusion as he dodged the swing of the sword and rolled away. Roarke firmly believed that this man was truly a ogre simpleton by the fact that he was man and made the choice to destroy liveliness for his own amplification. Vampires needed bloodline to live and were soulless, werewolf were idle uncontrolled fauna, other supernatural creature hadn't even started out as human and while they needed to be destroyed you couldn't harbour them to man morality. When a man decides that he would rather toss off for power, money or any other reason they made themselves worse devil than those born to it.

The monster he faced scanned the arena, probable looking for aid in fighting Roarke off in purchase order to save his own miserable life story. He spoke up,"What do you want here ?"

Roarke's reply was direct and even, no common sense of rage or angriness in his tone. Roarke kept his emotions in check when he hunted. He didn't kill out of ire or revenge ; his motives were as everlasting as he could form them. He hunted to protect man for the monsters as his defender had taught him."Your foreland,"was the reply.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it won't be that easy. Walk away, leave me and my acquaintance alone and I'll do the Saame for you. I don't want you stagnant and you don't want to die,"was the response from his mark. Did this giant really believe that it would be that elementary to survive ? Did he not see the determination on Roarke's face ? This man was a coward praying on the debile to clear power and thought process he could simply verbalise his way out of his own demise.

"I've been threatened by and then killed better than you, why would I walk away now ?"Roarke replied evenly. While he couldn't be sure that he wouldn't be killed himself he decided that this man would not live to kill anyone else either. Roarke was determined that either he would last this scrap or neither of them would. With that mind-set he knew he was the most dangerous form of foe anyone had ever faced.

"shuffle your choice and let's get this over with,"the monster relied with a lack of solitaire. Roarke was Sir Thomas More than willing to oblige him if he wanted to die. He started to conclude with the target again, staying on the globe of his human foot ; trying to be ready for anything this man before him could do. The enemy moved far faster than he was expecting and sidestepped past Roarke, opening distance that he didn't want to give him. He still knew that he wasn't faster than no of the other affair he hunted and therefor the monster would die. Roarke closed again quickly, swinging to separate this man's body at the shank. His target dodged, dropping into a crouch and sweeping at Roarke's invertebrate foot. Reacting instinctively he started to jump over his enemy's leg but was caught briefly by the attack. He landed on his vertebral column instead of flipping out and away, turning the landing place into a curl back away from his opponent. Roarke realized that no matter what else this quarry was, he was also a trained fighter.

"Why are you here ?"the man asked.

"I'm here to pour down you, I figured that was obvious by now,"Roarke replied, letting his tone grow dark and menacing.

"That office was obvious labourer ass. What I want to know is the intellect you chose to try and bolt down me ? I've never done anything to harm you or yours that I know of, so why am I your target ?"Roarke was shocked by this response. Did this monster really feature the gall to telephone him a diddly ass ; and why was it that so many of his targets had tried to meet innocent when faced with their own mortality ? Own up to what you do in living and admit your due was his ism ; if you can't you shouldn't be doing whatever it is in the first topographic point. Roarke knew many would see him as little more than than a manslayer even though he did what was needed to protect others.

Roarke closed again a little more cautiously and started his swing trying to bisect this man from shoulder to opposite hip. His enemy reacted quickly, stepping inside his compass with a jab to the throat. Immediately after that his opponent followed up with a human knee to the bulwark. Roarke's only thought was that this man didn't just cognize how to fight he jazz how to win a fight. Roarke couldn't call option it dirty fighting as his guardians had stressed from the showtime that all was fair in lovemaking and war. His Step-Mother for deficiency of a better term used to say"You can oppose by the rules or you can agitate to win. I would rather you fight to win."Right after the attacks to stun him the enemy shoved him and backed up to make headway some blank instead of following up which worried Roarke as he had no on-key knowledge of what form of powers this man could bring to bear.

When Roarke got back to his feet his enemy was now armed with two foresighted thinly metal bars. They were each about thirty column inch long and looked about an inch or so slurred. When they closed again, Roarke had his target on the defensive. If for nothing else, Roarke had to give his antagonist credit for being a battler. They went back and Forth for several transactions, both of them tiring but luck was with Roarke as his target seemed to be fading faster. The man turned the tables forcing Roarke to defend himself even more as he sought a way through his grooming and acquisition with the broadsword. As they continued this pestilent terpsichore Roarke heard a sound toward his left but kept focused on his opponent. The man looked away toward the door as his physical structure turned toward the blank between Roarke and that sound ; that was the opening he was waiting for. Roarke whipped the sword in from the side slicing a pipeline across the man's abdomen leaving a lead of blood flowing behind its passing.

"Saint Andrew ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !"a woman's vocalisation screamed. The objective stepped back turning sideways to come at his face opened up from Roarke's attack on him. He switched the adhesive friction on the blade and drove it up towards the butt side driving it in just below the bottom rib. Roarke's spirit was lifted as he knew he was successful in his quest to shoot down the monster. Roarke's elation was short lived however as this monster stepped forward pushing the sword deeper into his organs. The man had a feeling that Roarke recognized from his own mirror. It was a look that said that while I may be dying but I'm taking you with me. Faster than he could react to the fire Roarke's wrists were crushed by one of the metal bars as the other contacted the side of his head. He was fine with dying as long as he knew that his prey had been eliminated before he could stimulate any more trauma. Those were his dying sentiment as he lost consciousness.
********************

Those were some of the thought flowing through my head word as I drove away from that same house belated that evening. Among the others were the facts that I wasn't dead as I should have been ; I had been knocked out at the mercy of a man I thought to be a devil. Not only had I not been killed for attacking him, Andrew and his wife Sindee had treated my wound and spoke to me. I didn't want to listen at world-class but I was a captive audience initially. They had treated me better than I would have treated an opposition. They were trying to convince me that not all supernatural beingness were evil devil, that some of them were even out to help protect the human race. They had reasonable tilt for their point of panorama. When I asked them why they didn't just give away the truth to the man race with the evidence they gather they told me that Humanity wasn't ready to accept the truth. I had no real line of reasoning for that but before I could persist in had me challenge my own assertion by asking how I found out about the occult world. I told him the intact true statement of what happened to my family and I when I was only fourteen. By the time I finished telling them the level they simply cut the circle tying me to the president and fed me while we continued to talk.

I turned out that I may have been helping to bring about the destruction of the great unwashed that I made it my mission to protect. Andrew told me that he was Mage, not just some human being who gained access to powerfulness ; that Mages abilities were natural and not the result of death and destruction for power. I don't know what to imagine of everything he has said because it is so dissimilar to what I have spent the last 12 year believing. When I left his home he told me to think things through, walk some and I might chance what I need as I go. When I get back to the hotel I intend to do just that. One of the things I have to think over is whether I want to bequeath this city in peace with him and his allies to protect it or to ally myself with him against this strange foe he told me about. I pulled up to my hotel valet, dropped off the car and started walking, wandering and thinking. I had no melodic theme where I was going as this was my foremost stumble to the urban center of Las Vega, but I knew I could find oneself my route back or call a cab from a bar to get back to the hotel when I needed.

The more I wandered the more confused I became as the truth I was shown was at war with the reality I had known. It's not wanton to face the verity and your own misconceptions about it but it needed to be done. I kept walking, not paying attention to the streets, and just letting my foundation direct the course I walked. My focus was on finding what I needed to in parliamentary law to work through the disarray I was feeling. Somehow after being out walking for an hour or so I found myself in front of the door to a night club. Looking at the sign I saw it was called the Existence. I figured I could use a deglutition and stepped toward the doors before I even noticed the assembly line going down the block. The porter looked down at me as I stepped up and placed a hand on my shoulder to stop over me from entering. That's when I noticed the line and realized I wasn't likely to get that deglutition after all.

As I turned to take the air away I bumped into another gentleman stepping up to the doorway beside me. He was taller than me and dressed well. He was wearing what looked like tradition tailored wear. total darkness linen slackness, a cobalt blue silk shirt with the top two button undone, a linen jacket matching the knickers and a nice dyad or custom leather boots. He had brown hair and the palest grey eyes I had ever seen. What was most striking about the center is they looked like they had seen more history than anyone else I had ever know and he looked like he was only a couple class my aged. Between him and the doorman, I was more intimidated by this stranger. I realized that while I had been evaluating him he had been doing the same to me and I had to prize that. He held out his handwriting to me,"I'm Chester A. Arthur Masters, and you are ?"

I reflexively took his bridge player and shook it,"Gabriel Roarke sir ; a joy to adjoin you."I'm not indisputable why I said sir except the facial expression in his oculus and the way he carried himself seemed to overtop respect. I've met a duo masses that had similar charge but nobody that grabbed my attention like he did.

Arthur turned to the gatekeeper,"Marshall, I'm going to fill Gabriel here in as my guest tonight, please add him to the list in the future."Then he turned to me."You look like you need to get a drink and maybe talk about something. I own the placed and find it's conductive to thinking things through and finding what you need. First drinking on me."

Chester Alan Arthur opened the door and waived me in ahead of him. It was such a gracious offer I couldn't bring myself to refuse ; besides my walk and just going where I felt I needed to be led me to the room access. I decided to keep an surface mind and go in. When I entered I was struck with just how large this place really was. The bar country wasn't much with child than any of the pubs back household, but the bar area was just the beginning. There was a club behind the master bar through a soundproofed Plexiglas wall the appeared to adulterate an entire block. If the owner and the scope of its size weren't enough to impress me, the security system arrangement would have. I've seen military installations with lupus erythematosus security and protective covering than this stead. I followed King Arthur to a large tabular array in the substance of the primary bar arena that had a reserved polarity on it. He motioned for me to sit as he took the chair facing the door with his back to the bar.

As I sat down I read the sign posted above the bar and couldn't helper the joke that came out. It read :

The use of weapon is strenuously discouraged, lawbreaker will be Penalized. For those of you who don't have two brain cell to form a idea the above means"YOU twist IT, YOU EAT IT ”, This insurance is strictly enforced

Arthur looked at me and where my optic focused. He turned a smile on me that made me like the man even more. I could tell from his eyes he had seen too much of what was out there and now from his smile that he didn't let what he saw soften him down. I hope that one day I'll be able to say the Saame thing. While we were sitting there a petite youth woman walked over to the table with two glasses and a quartz carafe full of an amber colored liquid. She set the two glassed between Chester Alan Arthur and myself before pouring the drinks. She then placed the bottleful on the table before stepping away. As I was watching her I could see her evaluating me much the same as Arthur and I did to each former and I got the intuitive feeling that this cleaning lady would not only down for Chester A. Arthur but die for him as well. Whoever this man is, he not only inspired respect he commanded allegiance as well. The woman was just over five foot and could bear been more than 125 quid or so but she carried herself with the grace of God of a dancer or fighter and I had my supposition as to which.

"Gabriel, if you care to join me, this is a very old and rare cognac that it would be my joy to share with Irish gentleman such as yourself."

"Thank you Arthur, it would be my pleasure."I took the drink and didn't correct him about calling me Roarke as I preferred as I was here at his hospitality. I took a sip from my deglutition and felt the liquor burn slowly down my pharynx and warm me from the inside.

"So Gabriel, if you don't mind my asking, what wandering thought brought you to my doorway this evening ?"King Arthur inquired politely.

I chuckled briefly before responding,"I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you. At the very least you may think I'm drunk or crazy."

Arthur turned his foreland to look me and stared directly into my middle as he replied,"You may be surprised. I learned a very recollective time ago as a bartender that I needed to celebrate an open up nous about the truth of the populace. Besides, many people that show up here seem to have something they need to talk out even if it sounds a bit strange. Just because I sit out at the table more often than working the stick doesn't mean I'm no longer a bartender. Speak up about what's on your intellect, if it sounds a little crazy I'll attribute it to the drink and call you a cab when we're done."

The way he spoke and the calm espousal in his eye made it prosperous to voice at least some of my thought process. I figured I could cover the broad strokes without giving him the details that would put me in a mental institution."Have you ever known that you were doing the right thing because you knew how the cosmos worked only to have the truth routine and big H you over the head ?"I asked him.

"Since verity is a relative full term as we subscribe to our own perspectives ; that has happened to me on no LE the a dozen occasions. I learned a new fact each time. Knowledge is about fact and wisdom about accuracy. The truth can switch as often as we do as people. It's the facts that we need to learn that cause the trueness to be re-evaluated. involve for example, as a kid I never believed in any of the goliath in the movie until I saw my first one. I knew the the true was they didn't exist before I was exposed to the fact that they were very,"President Arthur stated in an even and relaxed tone.

I wish I could say that I picked up on what he said right away but honestly I just didn't,"That is an matter to linear perspective on truth and facts….."I fell silent for a instant as my brain was catching up on what he just said."Did you just say that you know that the monster from the flick exist ?"

"Of class I did. However, I think you already knew that as well. More importantly, I believe that you are having an issue resolving the fact that while these being in fact exist, in true statement they are not all monsters. Would that be a even off assessment ?"

I hadn't been surprised by anyone in a hanker meter, but this day was shaping up to be one of new and disconcerting experiences. I opened my mouthpiece to answer a few times and closed it again before finally being able to put a coherent thought into words,"You could easily put it that way. How did you recognize what I was thinking about ?"

Arthur smiled at me before he answered,"start is that you wound up at my door and only those who need to find this property if they haven't been invited. Second is that you carry yourself as a warrior in a time and place where there aren't many left in the world and since you're completely human I would strike you were a hunter. The merely way a Hunter would arrive at my threshold is if they were having some sort of crisis or organized religion or some other such issue they need to operate out. Third, and what made figuring out the first two easier is a mutual friend gave me a school principal up about a young man who he sent wandering with the estimation planted on letting the walking scout him to what he needed."

I looked him directly in his disconcerting regard and asked,"Andrew ? He knew I would wind up here ?"

Chester A. Arthur chuckled and replied,"No, he didn't know. He did hope your wandering would bring you here because this place may provide you some on the perspective you need to work through you dilemma."He took a straightaway smell around the room."Since you have arrived here and sat with me you have been looking the post over. tell apart me without looking again what you noticed."

I answered quickly and from memory as not to bias the response by over thinking things,"I saw busy bar and club with serious security department quantity in place to protect the lieu and patron from any potential situation including an encroachment by a hostile nation. I saw people sitting around having conversations and beverage without the drab humor you see in a lot of bars and clubhouse. I saw mass dancing and smiling, moving on and off the saltation floor. I saw that beautiful Loretta Young madam who brought the cognac over value me as though I may be a threat and saw that she was more loyal to you than I'd ever to be able to properly put into words."

"Very observant for the agile glances you took. I will also have to tell Sam about the compliment you paid her in your assessment."He smiled and continued,"Now, convey another feel around. Take your time and seem closely. Scan just the bar room if you want to engage a look through the ice to the baseball club and assure me again what you see."

I did as he instructed, taking my fourth dimension to do this rightfield. I paid attention to every particular I could spot letting my centering linger on the dance base beyond the splitter. I looked over the client and the staff, looking for anything that I had missed in my scan of the way when I entered. By the time I was finished looking around I'm sure my jaw was hanging subject in shock at what I was seeing around me. I almost didn't believe my own heart."There are all kinds of occult existence in here along with mortals ; Supernatural beings that actively war with each other. I can see at to the lowest degree a yoke of Vampires shooting pool with a couple of Werewolves over there. I can see some being in here that I can't positively identify as to what they are. I don't understand how there can be so many supernatural beings in this one city, let alone this one building without them trying to tear each other and the place apart as well. How is it that no one violated the policy above the bar ?"

Again a smile spread across Arthur's expression,"I'll explain as best I can and maybe it will serve you resolve your own identity crisis. First and foremost, when I opened this place initially, it was just the bar portion that we're sitting in. That happened long before I knew what existed beyond the ambit of my world. I later came to know a lot more about the the true and the facts of what goes on in this globe. Among the dissimilar supernatural race there are traditionally spot to meet between rival clans or folk or whatever social grouping that species gathers themselves in to. These places have many name calling selected by the race in question, but it is always neutral territory and the pattern are not to be broken. The more popular full term for these places is an Elysian Fields. I would assume this to be a reference to the Elysian field of study from Greek mythology as they were a place of paradise interchangeable to heaven in former religions. Either way, I believed that while the different race had placed where they could forgather to form out issues between their own sort, there was no place to meet with another airstream where they could peacefully discuss things without it generating into another bloodbath. With the abilities I had and have grown into overtime I turned my minuscule corner bar into an Elysium for all who enter. My stave and I are more than capable of enforcing the disinterest if we have to, but most who come here just revel the chance to relax and be who they are, not what they are expected to be. contain the pond game you pointed out. They are playing couplet, but it isn't Vampires versus Werewolves, they're split evenly. That table in the street corner over my shoulder with the two men playing cheat and having a discussion ; one is a Mage and the early a Technocrat. Outside of this place they are mortal enemies because they have different beliefs. In here they discuss their belief in hopes of opening the other person's eyes to the truth as they see it. And Samantha whose loyalty to me you commented on ; I owe her my animation several meter over and not once has she allowed me to thank her or rejoin her with any kind of favor beyond the friendly relationship we share. She is old than me by an order of decades even though she appears younger. She is a Warrior of exquisite science, a loyal and beloved acquaintance, a intimate and ally as well as a kind hearted woman once you get to know her. Sam just also happens to be a lamia. The first think you need to think about is that just because some writer put something in a book because they didn't understand and were afraid of a lilliputian verity doesn't mean they were mightily. Now, don't get me legal injury and take over they are all adept law abiding people no topic what they are. Like humans, the supernatural have some that are born good and will always be so and some that are pure evil and like it there. The residual of the population of supernatural beings falls somewhere in the grey-haired area and should be treated as they treat others."King Arthur's grinning turned from openly friendly to one of mischief. He reached up into the air next to me and made a sound like methamphetamine or alloy snapping then reach out like he was handing me something before continuing,"Now that I have completely broken your grip on realism I need to open my barkeeper a open frame while you think though all that has been revealed to you today. If you have questions or need to talk let me sleep with. If you need a ride back to your hotel, George I will collapse you a ride unless I'm free to do so."He stood to go to the bar and as he turned to walk away,"You're welcome here whenever you want."He poured me another glass of the cognac before taking the decanter to the bar with him.

So there I sat, a huntsman in the middle of a nightclub full of the creatures I had hated and hunted for twelve days. I thought about seeing just how effective the staff could be a enforcing the weapon policy, except that was not what I wanted to do. None of these hoi polloi had done anything to me and they didn't seem to be doing anything overtly evil as I looked around the room. I saw a yoke of vampire feeding, but the people they were feeding from offered their necks and wrist to the vampires in question. So there I continued to sit and attempt to reconcile my hold out 12 days with the finish 20 four hours. Not an easy task and one that had my ego taking a beating at the way I was used by my source. As much as I wanted to blame it all on the mystery person, I had to take the inculpation for not researching the targets myself and allowing myself to be used as a weapon. I can't tell you how hanker I was sitting there in that chairwoman, struggling with the correct answer to my brain-teaser, but the sun had risen before I finally walked out of the Existence and headed for my hotel.

As I walked down the street, I looked back at the name of the place and found it fitting. It was a lieu for all those in existence to go and relax without needing to struggle senseless wars, worry about being killed simply because of who or what you were. It was also a reminder of the gold to strain for ; a peaceful being. I still had to go back to see St. Andrew and discuss what the other option he was offering. That however could wait until the next day as I'd already been up around forty hours or so now and needed to take a breather .