by Jamie Hawke
“I’m getting something, but… I think they’ve found a way to counter my knight.”
My humor at her wording seemed ill-timed, so I attempted something, working with the shisa to pick up the magical scent of where the wraith knight had gone.
The shisa gave me one look and then ran, so I followed. My team was close behind as I rounded the church to see the shisa digging at a spot between the church grounds and the next house over.
“I got this,” I said, and the shisa moved out of the way, eyeing me with excitement. The little lion-dog was really starting to grow on me. “Thanks, Shisa,” I added, deciding that worked for a name. Why the hell not?
“Tell me we’re not about to unearth some massive tomb where undead will rise and fight us,” Kordelia said, eyeing the church.
Steph laughed but shook her head. “As far as I know, that’s not part of it.”
My focus, regardless of what awaited us, was on the transmutation magic that worked on opening a way for us before the enemy managed to get back on our trail.
Earth flowed aside like it was the sea before Moses. Sure enough, it opened into a tunnel beneath. We shared a look of excitement and then went in, charging through the tunnel with our path lit only by the glow of blue from Ebrill’s hand and orange from Steph’s. I took the time to close our entry point but already the sounds of monsters screaming for blood came from ahead and behind. They must have found their way in through other entrances.
The tunnel led to a whole series of underground networks, tunnels and rooms. We charged through, hitting a group of demons who had been on their way to find us. They fell in a matter of seconds. We moved on until Shisa finally stopped in a round, tall room, growled, and started circling, eyes looking up.
I followed his gaze and saw why. A form appeared as a silhouette against a ceiling that was half there, half not, but stabilized as the figure passed through it.
It was Fatiha, I saw as the light from our glow lit up her features.
“You think you’re so clever,” Fatiha said, drifting down toward us, dress fluttering about her, eyes glowing red. She landed and let her silver hair down so that it flowed around her shoulders. Despite her age, it wasn’t hard to see why I had once found her attractive. Although, now she was purely evil in my eyes, and that dimmed the attraction level quite a bit. She landed and gestured around us. “But, what sort of idiot would enter the lair of one of the Nine Ladies?”
“The nine witches of Ystawingun,” Ebrill said, eyeing her. “I should have known.”
“Not me, but I serve those who remain loyal.” Fatiha smiled, spread her arms, and looked like she was about to hiss, when instead, a stream of fire emerged and circled around her before vanishing. “There was a time when I could do so much more than that. A time before… you.” She glared at me. “That magic will be mine again, once you are disposed of.”
All of this was a bit much to process, along with the idea that there was someone in this place more powerful than her. And if so, that meant this other was likely guarding the tree and Gertrude. It only made sense, so I had to go out on a limb.
“We demand an audience.”
“What?” Fatiha frowned, put off.
“An audience with the witch who this hideout belongs to.”
“The Nine Ladies, we called them,” Kordelia said. “Not the type to take audiences, at least.”
“You know nothing of my mistresses,” Fatiha spat out.
“Don’t I?” Kordelia laughed. “Apparently, you don’t know, do you? About Rianne, about where she came from?” Fatiha’s frown made that clear, so Kordelia continued, “Surely you’re familiar with the two who abandoned the rest.”
“The traitors.” Fatiha nodded, curious now.
“Morgen was the well-known one, although she went back and forth, didn’t she?” Kordelia eyed the older woman, waiting to see if she would catch on.
“Mizoa!” Fatiha said, eyes going wide. “But… how? Rianne, she was before, no?”
“Not Mizoa, exactly. Rianne wasn’t one of the Nine Ladies but was Mizoa’s mother. In fact, it was learning of the betrayal by the rest of the Nine against her mother that drove Mizoa to abandon the group.”
“What’s your point with all this, Kordelia?” Fatiha asked. “You, who have been known to wade in both sides of the pond yourself.”
“Not anymore. And my point is simply this—your master, whoever it is… She will see us, one way or another.”
“In her time and place.” Fatiha’s fire suddenly went out as a wind blew through the passages and up to flow over her. She bowed her head.
“That time is now,” a voice said, one I was sure I recognized from earlier battles, or maybe it had been in my head before? Either way, it wasn’t new.
The wind picked up and then a ring of fire came together, nearly burning all of us but for quick spells cast by Ebrill and me. The fire formed one entity in the middle—a tall woman in a black gown singed by flames, with black eyes and hair held by a net of embers that glowed but did not burn.
“You requested an audience,” the fiery woman said. “Granted. Now surrender or turn to ash. Your choice.”
96
None of us moved, unsure whether to attack or run. Even Fatiha was frozen in place.
“Thiten,” Ebrill said, nodding. “I know you all too well. Or, of your legend, at any rate.”
“Well, then, we are off to a good start. I only know you as a statue, so…” Thiten grinned, wickedly. “What will it be? I’m guessing ash.”
“If you mean, do we refuse to surrender?” I stood tall, as best I could. “You bet your ass.”
She frowned, cocked her head. “It’s been long since the Powers That Be have allowed me to roam out of my dark holding, but language sure is strange these days.”
“This isn’t possible,” Steph said, fists clenched in a way that made small sparks trace her knuckles.
“What’s that?”
“She…” Steph turned to Thiten. “You can’t be here. I’ve read all about you, studied the same spells, and turned away when I read how they had contained you.”
“Clearly, I am free,” Thiten replied, and then sighed. “Enough toying with you. Ash it will be.”
Without another moment’s hesitation, the woman surged toward me, once again becoming the flames that had forged her. I thrust out with my newest ice spells, only to watch them shatter on the wall behind her as flames threatened to burn my skin. My saving grace was the ice wall I cast at the last second. It almost melted instantly but gave me enough protection that I wasn’t completely fucked. When the next attack nearly hit Ebrill, I cast more ice walls, and Kordelia deflected flames with her wings as she worked to get in close. A good hit, almost, but instead of making contact she ended up on the other side, slammed into the wall.
“Obliterate them!” Fatiha shouted from where she stood watching.
“Gorffwys,” I muttered, indicating her in hopes of the spell putting her to sleep. I shouldn’t have let her distract me, though. In the moment it took me to cast that and her shield spell to throw it off, I was under siege by a string of fire spells. Each one grew in power over the last. I dodged, threw ice walls before me, and gladly took Ebrill’s hand so that she could pull me out of the path of the last one.
Then I was on the attack, trying every spell I could. My ice sword nearly caught this ancient lady in the throat, once, but a flame shield rose and she vanished, only to reappear behind me. My transmutation took hold, letting me move through part of a wall to dodge her counterattack, and then exit at another spot farther along.
I was moving fast, maybe because of my enhanced stats from leveling up, or maybe because my life depended on it. Either way, I was starting to get the idea that this was too much for even us.
We all struck at once, and were all pushed back.
“Did you really think there was any winning here?” Thiten asked, rising above us with her fiery black robes flickering about. “Against one of the
Nine? You?”
She pulled her hands back and it was like all the air had been sucked from our side of the room. Flames curled along the walls, building and starting to form waves of fire that came right at us.
“We tried,” Kordelia said, determination in her eyes in spite of the defeated sound in her voice.
Steph growled and threw out another wave of wraith knights… only to see them fall as she, too, collapsed. I caught her, holding her tight as if that would protect her from the flames. Ebrill did the same to me, muttering spells.
Another growl, and then Shisa charged past. The lion-dog leaped for Thiten, and a strange thing happened—Thiten seemed to be met by a force field, sent flying back. I could breathe again, and the flames were gone.
Our enemy recovered but stared at Shisa with a mixture of curiosity and horror.
“I have an idea,” Ebrill said, and knelt next to Shisa, hand on its head. The flash of light showed me she had given it an amplification spell.
Shisa froze, amped up by Ebrill’s touch, and growled. An instant wall of blue light formed between us and Thiten, then surrounded her like a dome. She charged the wall, hitting it to be flung back against the far side, where she skidded to a stop. She pushed herself back up, cast fire at it, only to see the fire fade.
“No! You can’t!” Thiten screamed, pushing at but unable to break through the invisible barrier created by Shisa.
“How…?” I started.
“As I said, this can’t be the real Thiten,” Steph pointed out. “But a summoning, a part of her brought here via a spell, that could be held off by the protective magic of a shisa.”
“You have no right to talk about what I am or am not capable of,” Thiten, if that was really her, said. “I will destroy you. Before this is over, I will hunt each of you down and see you torn apart piece by piece.”
“Shut her the fuck up,” Steph said, then turned back to me and the other two. “It’s not her.”
“Let’s see who we’re dealing with, then,” Ebrill said, and cast a reveal spell. The dark dress faded first, the woman’s body exposed but burning bright with flames in places until that, too, flew away. Darkness lifted like a veil, revealing the dark form of a kneeling woman.
“Irla?” Ebrill gasped while taking a step back, voice nearly cracking. “No… how?”
“You were turned to stone,” Kordelia added. “One of us.”
With a shake of her head, Irla laughed and moved her hands quickly, creating a spell that held us each in place. “I was never truly one of you, was I?”
“Of course, you were,” Ebrill countered.
“Your kind always looked down on my people.” Irla stepped into the light and more of the puzzle came together—her dark skin, white hair. This wasn’t the Irla I had met in the mountains back in time. This version of her, which I had to assume was the real one, was a Drow.
“We were allies with the Drow,” Kordelia argued.
“You treated my people like slaves,” Irla spat back. “How can you talk to me about allies?”
“It wasn’t like that,” Kordelia pleaded. Seeing someone as tall and intimidating as her plead gave the conversation a whole new meaning. It made me wonder what had really gone on between these two groups so long ago.
“You see it your way, I see it mine,” Irla mumbled. “Now… it ends.”
She lunged for the gargoyle, a blade of flames appearing in her hands, and I could tell that Kordelia wasn’t even going to fight her—just let it happen. I couldn’t allow that, though, so I stepped in to meet that blade with my ice-forged one.
Only, at the last second Irla let her blade fade, so that instead of our blades meeting, mine sank deep into her chest. It didn’t draw blood, but instantly began to make her freeze over as it had with the rocky skin or armor of the giant.
She was held there momentarily, looking at me with a sense of relief and satisfaction, and then fell apart, shattering on the ground. It had been as if she wanted the release, and that troubled me.
Level up. Sweet.
Level 7 MAGE
Statistics
Strength: 22
Defense: 17
Speed: 19
Luck: 15
Charisma: 15
Mana: 600
Recent Spells
Gorffwys (sleep); Frost Footing; Ice Wall; Ice Claw; Frost Bite; Flurries
The new level almost felt wrong, confusing. But… flurries? I’d take that, whatever it meant. For now, we still had Fatiha to deal with.
97
Fatiha stood in the corner, face pale and eyes wide with worry. I moved for her and she seemed like she was about to fight, but instead held up both hands.
“You win,” Fatiha said. “For now. But when she—”
“Give me the tree,” I interrupted.
She clenched her teeth, glaring. Her hand shook as she indicated the far wall. Moving up to it, the wall gave way—the same wall I’d made an escape through during the fight with Irla! One more foot, maybe, and I would have found it. Unless there was some other magic to the hiding part that I wasn’t aware of.
The tree floated out to her, and she turned, letting it go to me.
“The Nine are out there, waiting…” she said. “When you meet Thiten in person, the real Thiten, you will die.”
“We’ll take our chances,” I said, frowning and mulling over the tree.
“How do we make it work?” Kordelia asked.
I had the answer, I hoped. Pricking my finger on the tree as I had seen Fatiha do, I let my blood drip into place, then willed my aunt to return.
“Come on,” I muttered.
When it didn’t respond, Ebrill stepped up next to me, hand on my arm, and arched an eyebrow. I knew immediately what she was thinking. Transmutation to make it respond to me. No sooner did the thought hit me than the tree started to glow as the blood changed, and the form of my aunt appeared.
“Hello, Jericho.” She stood before me, seemingly the real her—not even transparent as before.
“Aunt Gertrude,” I said, unable to believe she was standing there before me.
She glanced around, clenched her jaw, and moved close, her voice low. “This doesn’t look good.”
“We’re in the enemy’s hideout so, no, it’s not. We need to open the Liahona.”
My aunt turned to Ebrill, then Kordelia.
“It’s time,” Kordelia said with a reassuring nod. “He brought us back. He can find the others. Defeat the evil that once tried to take the power for itself.”
“Such faith in him, and… me.”
“Don’t tell me you’re betraying us, too,” I said.
Gertrude turned to me, very solemn. “Never.” Another moment, and she added, “So, you’re ready?”
“The forces of darkness are upon us,” Kordelia cut in. “We have no choice.”
“Jericho,” Gertrude stared, eyes never leaving me, “are you ready?”
“I am,” I replied.
“Very well. It’s a simple spell, really. Hold the Liahona and repeat after me.”
I did, and then together we chanted a long spell. As each word was muttered, small wisps of magical light escaped the Liahona, circling us, until at the end it was a burst of lights so that we saw nothing else but that magic and each other.
“Good luck,” Gertrude said, fading into the light.
“You can’t leave us,” I said, a sudden anxiety taking over me at the sight of her going.
“I have no choice,” she replied, hand up in farewell. “I am the last of the spell—the final piece of the key.”
“Thank you,” I managed, watching as the last of her faded.
When she was gone, the light burst outward, causing us to shield our faces. Sensing that it was over, I looked, and then stared around us in amazement. What I saw wasn’t that rocky area beneath the Virginia soil, but a land of green waters receding from its borders, a bridge of light connecting it to a land far off. Avalon was reconnecting with our world.
More than the awe I felt at seeing this, though, was the immense power I sensed at my fingertips. Maybe it wouldn’t all be mine, or fully accessible, but it was there, and eventually I could learn how to harness it. The breeze from Avalon touched my cheek, warm and comforting. It pulled me into this land of magic and made me never want to leave.
And, there was something there. A figure, rising from a point in the distance, that turned to face us, smiling. I recognized her from my dreams—Rianne.
“The magic has been restored,” she said, voice carrying as if she were right next to us. “But the war has just begun.”
“I understand,” I said, nodding in a deferential bow. “We will do what is needed.”
“I have no doubts.”
Laughter sounded, distant but all too familiar. I turned to Ebrill, who was clearly aware of it as well.
“Fatiha,” Kordelia said, confirming my thought. She turned to Rianne. “And the others? Aerona?”
“Aerona will join you, shortly,” Rianne replied. “But I must stay here. The others are gone.”
“As in…?” I asked, horrified.
“Not dead. But… gone. As Gertrude managed to find Ebrill and Kordelia,” she paused to smile at each, “some of the others have been discovered. You may find them, wake them, and bring them to your side. However…”
“Irla?” Ebrill asked. “We are aware of her betrayal, and she has been dealt with.”
Rianne took the news with a mixture of relief and sorrow, nodding. “She may not be the only one you find that darkness has corrupted. Be careful out there. For now, go back to your business. I will be here, accessible, helping you along your journey.”
“Thank you,” I said as the light faded and we were pulled back to our underground room.
At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but then I realized it was simply them adjusting to the darkness. And it wasn’t simply the darkness of the room, but dark, swirling shadows moving around Fatiha as she moved her hands, chanting.
