by Noah Layton
I frantically raised my staff, casting my electricity spell… Only to be met with silence as the man stared back at me.
‘Magic doesn’t work here,’ the man said, his gravelly voice sounding confident and resolute. ‘I thought that we could just talk.’
‘You’re him, aren’t you?’ I said. ‘You’re the one who attacked us in the forest, the one with the worgs… The one who killed all of those people.’
‘That’s me,’ he laughed. Then, he did the last thing that I expected.
He pulled back his hood.
I was staring across at a pale, washed-out man in his early-thirties. His face was gaunt and sharp, his hair a receding, greasy black, his eyes so dark that they almost seemed to match that color. A large, prominent scar ran down one side of his face, stretching from his eyebrow right to his jawline.
‘Have you abducted me?’ I asked.
‘I haven’t done anything. What you see around you is the dreamscape. It’s the collective unconscious that all humans share. If you’re any old human then you won’t know how to use it, but if you know the ways of magic then its possible to end up here. But most never do, seeing as how its so overwhelmingly boring. I mean, look at this place!’
He threw out his arms, letting out a cackling hyena laugh and throwing his head back.
‘And you’ve brought me here because…’
‘You are the only person to escape my clutches since I began my quest. At first I was irritated… Oh, you can’t imagine how much I wanted to rip the skin straight off your bones in that forest after you hopped through that little portal of yours… But then I realised that I actually enjoyed it a little. It was… Fun, having a challenge. Usually it’s just a case of listening to them scream while I rip them to shreds. Don’t get me wrong, I fucking love that. But like everything, often it’s the journey rather than the reward at the end that’s most enjoyable.’
‘So you are working towards something,’ I said. ‘Whatever the fuck you’re doing I am gonna stop you.’
‘Stop me? You?’ The man laughed. ‘You may have escaped me, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that I deem you to be some kind of fateful warrior. You’re a trainee, aren’t you? I can see it in your face, the naivety… I was just like you not long ago. Until my master came along and showed me real power.’
I swallowed the comment about naivety. He may have been right, but I couldn’t lose face. Not now, when I was facing off against my enemy.
‘Your master?’
‘That’s right. I have a sponsor. He introduced me to this world, just like you were. But it seems I’ve got something of an edge compared to you. While you’re scrambling about with those bitches of yours, casting these pathetic, useless spells, I’m commanding forces that you couldn’t even dream of. He showed me the way. The fastest path to power is to take it by force from the weak.’
‘Maybe,’ I replied, ‘but people who take power by force don’t often end up keeping it. They usually end up having it taken from them in the exact same way that they take it. By being strung up and executed like the murderers that they are.’
The man let out another garbled, hysterical laugh.
‘The only way that that’s going to happen is if you and your little whores manage to kill me, and that’s never gonna happen. Your coven is the only thing standing in my way, and considering the performance that you’ve put on so far, I don’t think I’ve met my match, even if you did get away from me. I will find you, warlock, and I will end you… Then I’ll decide what to do with your women. They’d be much better suited serving somebody with my powers… I’m sure that I’ll have plenty of fun with them.’
My blood felt like it was boiling. The thought of the girls serving this asshole. My girls?
Wait, my girls? Where had that idea come from?
‘Well,’ I stared, gritting my teeth, ‘I really admire your confidence, but the next time we meet I’m going to rip your fucking head off and feed it to those bastard worgs. I suppose they’re the only attention you can get considering your line of work. I don’t know who you’ve been hanging around with, but from my experience girls tend not to go for guys who spend their evenings rolling around with corpses.’
‘Men, women,’ he said, his voice taking on a serious tone as I knew I had aggravated him, ‘It’s no matter. I’ll decide what they do. And they will treat it as an honor to be controlled by a man like me. And don’t act like you don’t think the same thing. There are two routes ahead of you. Join my cause and serve a true master, or wallow in that coven of yours, waiting until I find you. And I will find you.’
I took a deep heaving breath, looking at my bleak, desolate surroundings.
‘I’m gonna have to pass on that one,’ I replied, ‘but if you open up that portal to hell before I catch you and beat the shit out of you, make sure to kiss the devil for me. He’s the only one who’ll go for you now.’
In that instant the man’s temper reached boiling point. He sprinted at me suddenly, drawing a blade from the folds of his cloak and raising it upwards, ready to stab down.
I had no time to defend myself. No sooner had I attempted to raise my short staff than the knife came slamming down, straight through my skull.
I yelped out, throwing my arms up before me and falling to the ground as the blade cut through my head.
And suddenly I found myself slipping backwards on the base of the shower, falling against the tiled wall and sliding down onto my ass. I panted frantically, my body shaking in the darkness of the bathroom as I ran my hands over my head where the knife had come down.
Laughing nervously, I got a hold of myself. I had taunted the guy to the point of snapping, and had got what was coming to me.
It looked like going back to classes tomorrow was gonna have to wait.
***
‘Looks like it all adds up,’ Lois said, cradling her cup of cocoa. ‘He’s trying to open up one of the Nine Circles.’
I had woken up the girls after waking up from the encounter on the dreamscape. Briefly I had thought about hitting the hay and getting some sleep, but the moment that I had sat down on the edge of the bed I knew that that was never gonna happen.
Now we were in the living room, and Scarlett and I had recounted our findings before I told them everything that had happened during my encounter.
‘This just comes down to what he wants to let loose and who is making him do it,’ I said. ‘What could he be wanting to let out?’
‘It’s hell,’ Brianna said matter-of-factly. ‘It may be a wasteland, but there are all sorts of terrifying things lurking in each of the circles. Gets worse as you get closer to the centre, obviously. And that’s where… He is.’
‘So he’s real?’ I said. ‘The Devil?’
A silence akin to the one that had resounded over mine and Scarlett’s meeting with the man in the blood den now reigned over the coven.
‘He dwells in the centre, where he looks after the worst of the worst. Each of the circles is ruled by a different demon, which become progressively more brutal until you reach him.’
‘And I’m gonna go ahead and assume that this guy is gonna unleash one of them… And his minions.’
‘Sure seems that way,’ Scarlett said.
‘You realise what this means, don’t you?’ Brianna said. ‘This is bigger than us. Much bigger. We’re gonna need to report it to the High Order. It’s out of our hands now.’
‘Another lost case,’ Lois said, shaking her head. ‘I think this calls for something a little stronger, girls…’
Lois smiled and headed to the kitchen before returning a moment later with a half-full bottle of whisky in her hand.
‘This is a coven tradition, Tom,’ she said. ‘We have a small drink every time we successfully complete a case.’
‘That’s a pretty full bottle of whisky,’ I said.
‘Probably because it’s rare that cases actually go well for us,’ Brianna smiled, shooting me an ambiguous look. She hadn’t s
aid a word about seeing me and Scarlett, and it didn’t look like she was planning on doing so, even if there was a knowing glint in her eyes as she gazed into mine.
‘I think we can make an exception this time,’ Lois said, uncapping it and handing it to me. ‘Why don’t you do the honors, Tom?’
‘It’d be my pleasure,’ I smiled, taking the bottle and checking the label. ‘This is a bottle of 50-year McAllister. How the hell do you have it?’
‘We found it when we moved in,’ Scarlett said. ‘In the back of a kitchen cupboard. Likely left here by the previous coven. Do you know a lot about whisky?’
‘My grandpa used to drink it. One of the only things that I remember about him, actually. I’ve never had a lot of family to speak of, aside from him. He was the last one to go a few years ago… Taught me a lot of stuff that a guy shouldn’t know about till he’s older. Things that I’ve never even used… I guess there’s always a use for something, though, right?’
I looked around at the girls, who all had their eyes on me with genuine compassion.
But then another thought hit me.
‘No,’ I said resolutely, taking up the bottle cap and returning it to the head of the bottle, screwing it back on tightly. ‘No, we’re not doing this. We’ve come this far. I’ve seen what this coven is capable of, and the work that you girls put in. I know that you’ve had a run of failures with your cases but this one isn’t getting added to the list, no matter how serious or dangerous it is. We’re not drinking, because the case isn’t done yet.
‘Look, I know I’ve only been here for a few days, but I know that we can do this. We can prove the value of this coven and what it can do. I don’t know how or why it had to be me who ended up here, but either way I ended up becoming a warlock, and I intend to see those responsibilities through. My responsibility as the warlock of this coven is to lead it, and that’s what I’m gonna do. We’re gonna solve this, and we’re gonna stop this guy.’
By the time I was finished with my speech I was almost on my feet. I expected the witches to be looking at me with their trademark raised eyebrows and sceptical expressions, but instead they all looked inspired and pretty damn hopeful.
‘Fuck it,’ Lois smiled. ‘What have we got to lose? I mean, apart from our reputations, our home and our lives.’
‘I’ve never been crazy about any of that stuff anyway,’ Brianna laughed. ‘Although that might come down to the fact that I’m half-demon.’
The girls stood up with their cocoa, and so did I. We clinked our mugs together and drank it down.
‘The moment this case is over we’ll finish that bottle,’ I said. ‘But not until then. So where do we start?’
‘With going back to bed,’ Scarlett laughed. ‘If we’re gonna do this we need some shut-eye.’
Chapter Ten
We all arose early the next day, getting a quick breakfast and deciding on a plan of action now that we were all well-rested.
‘Lois and I are gonna start prepping supplies for when we find this guy,’ Scarlett said. ‘Who knows what we’ll need when we come face to face with him, but better to have too much than too little.’
‘I’ve got an idea how I can find something else out about him,’ Brianna said. ‘But it’s risky.’
‘Everything we’re doing right now is risky,’ I said. ‘You want me to help out?’
‘I actually need your help on this one. I can’t do it without you.’
‘Just tell me what you need.’
‘Oh, you really shouldn’t have said that.’
Scarlett took off into the back yard while Lois headed to the sparring arena. Brianna and I, though, took a trip to a part of the house that I had never been to before.
At the top of the stairs was an assuming red door with a series of locks along the frame. Brianna produced her wand from where it was tucked into the strap of her bra and brandished it down the locks, each of them undoing one by one until our way was unbarred. She opened the door and led me in, quickly throwing her arm out and pressing it against my chest as she waved her wand again, lighting up a series of flaming torches that filled the room.
If it could even be called a room, that is. I immediately understood why the succubus-witch had stopped me from going any further. We were standing on a small wooden ledge that arced around a large circular room, giving onto a drop of perhaps 20 feet.
‘Holy shit…’ I muttered, admiring the elaborateness of the place. It was a gigantic cylinder standing upright, and every single part of the walls was lined with shelves that were stocked with volumes of all colors, sizes and page numbers. ‘You never told me you had your own library.’
‘There’s a lot of stuff we haven’t told you, Tom,’ she said. ‘Not because we’re keeping anything from you, but because there’s that much. What you see in here are compendiums of magic and magical theory that you won’t find anywhere in the human world. They have to stay well-guarded.’
The first time I had ever walked into the college library my mind had been blown by the sheer volume of copies and editions that lay on the shelves – I can still remember our enrolment guide telling us that there were half a million books in the college archive, and that wasn’t including papers and documents that were kept loose and separate in cold storage.
Taking in the astonishing sight of the library now, though, was an even greater experience. These books had never been seen my mortal eyes. I was being exposed to a realm of hidden knowledge for the first time.
‘Time for a leap of faith,’ Brianna said, unleashing her wings. I had only seen her do it a couple of times thus far, but having a moment now to take in the elegant sight of her red and black wings whip against the air sent a chill of excitement through me.
Despite having turned off her passive attraction powers, I could still remember how she had made me feel when she had first entered the kitchen on the night that I met the witches. I had never wanted to have any girl more than I had in that single moment, and even though I could separate myself from it, a desirous lust for the half-succubus still remained.
Brianna jumped from the ledge, her wings slowing her fall before she landed expertly on the lower level of the library. It was a hell of a drop, one that I would no doubt break my legs in attempting if I were stupid enough to try it, so when she turned to face me, her wings tucking back into place, and said ‘jump’, you can forgive me for being a little sceptical.
‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ I replied, scoffing. ‘I’ll break my legs. And that’s assuming that I end up landing on my feet.’
‘Don’t be such a pussy,’ she said slyly, her words sounding like embodied silk as she grinned up at me with perfectly white teeth. ‘The strength that has come about within you since the Warlock Ritual would allow for your legs to take a greater impact from the fall. Even so-’ Brianna brandished her wand, pointing up at me – ‘I’m not gonna make you do that. I mean I am gonna make you jump, but I’m gonna catch you.’
‘You’re literally a demon from another dimension and you expect me to believe you… I think it’s you who needs to be questioning this whole situation, not me.’
‘Look, we haven’t got all day. Trust me.’
‘Trust me…’ I repeated sarcastically, shaking my head.
But what reason does she have to lie?
Suddenly something nudged into my back. I had been standing on the ledge overlooking the library, thinking myself safe from this act of stupidity that I was determined not to literally fall into, but I didn’t need to decide.
I had been so distracted by the situation, and by the sight of Brianna’s sexy, red body, that I hadn’t noticed her sharp flick of a hefty volume from the shelf behind me, sending it hovering along the wall before smacking me straight in the back.
One little push had sent me off balance, and in an instant I tumbled from the ledge.
The twenty-foot drop passed in a second, my stomach feeling like it was rushing to merge with my lungs, when my whole form slowed and my
feet touched down upon the ground lightly.
‘You should’ve seen the look on your face,’ Brianna laughed as I got a hold of myself.
‘So much for a leap of faith.’
‘Sometimes faith is a gift. Sometimes you need it given to you. Either way you’re down here, so let’s get to work.’
After Brianna explained what we were looking for, a faded red volume with tiny figures dancing down the sides, I quickly realised that there was no rhyme or reason to the structure of the library, never mind some kind of ordered system.
But that wasn’t entirely the girls’ fault.
‘When we first arrived at the coven it hadn’t been occupied in decades. We set to work one day applying a simple alphabetised system that would place the books into sections and sub-sections; alchemy, charms, summoning and the like, but when we came back from completing the first section everything had changed. So we placed a camera in here and found that the books deliberately switch places of their own volition.’
‘Bullshit.’
‘I’m serious! They move around on their own. If you try to apply some order it just gets worse, but if you leave them be it doesn’t get too bad. It’s like… A quiet rebellion. I can only guess that one of the witches from the previous coven placed the charm on the place, although for the life of me I can’t imagine why. Some gigantic practical joke, maybe… But either way, I still haven’t found a spell to stop it.’
We searched for half an hour, examining the volumes shelf by shelf, I taking the bottom section while Brianna took the top. Nine rows up, crammed in amongst a thick collection of black tomes with only a series of white symbols along their spines, I found what we were looking for.
Pulling the book out from its horizontal position atop the others, I examined the cover. She had been right – it was embossed with the silhouettes of dancing devils that literally pranced across the cover with pitchforks in their hands.
I didn’t call up to Brianna immediately. I was too enamoured with the cover, staring at the captivating realism of it. It was like staring at the screen of a tablet, and as I ran my fingers over one of the devils I could feel the embossed patterns literally moving beneath my fingertips.
