God of Magic

by Logan Jacobs

  That was when our luck finally ran out.

  As Lavinia edged forward on the hill of rubble to take aim, and the mana glowed brightly in her chest, the ground she stood on gave out beneath her. Her hand slipped off her bowstring as she pitched forward, and her arrow flew in a wobbly arc to pierce the Guardian’s snout.

  The monster lunged for Lavinia as she fell, and Maruk, Aerin, and I all shouted and moved forward at once. The big warrior bashed at the Guardian’s flank in a running charge, and I lurched forward with no thought but to distract the creature as I yelled and threw rocks.

  Thankfully, the Guardian turned on the two of us instead, which allowed Aerin to slip by to attend to Lavinia, but when I looked over to where the archer lay at the bottom of the mound of rubble, she was completely still.

  Maruk and I fought to keep the creature’s attention, but with just the two of us and Merlin swooping overhead, we were stretching our odds against the Guardian. Every time it lunged for a bite or swiped out at one of us with its claws, it got closer and closer to landing a hit before the other could redirect it, and finally, it did. As Maruk backed up from his latest charge at the creature, he slipped on the muddy ground that surrounded the Guardian’s pool and fell back, and the Guardian dove forward with its jaws wide.

  Maruk managed to push himself back, and the Guardian’s jaws snapped shut over empty air, but the monster lunged again and again and the orc frantically crawled back through the mud.

  Merlin swooped over its head and grabbed one of the arrows that stuck out from its face with his talons, but he wasn’t strong enough to pull the creature back, and with its prey lying vulnerable before it, the Guardian ignored my shouts and the rocks I threw.

  I realized I would need to do more, that if there was a time for my last spell, it was now, and I drew my dagger as I ran forward. Before I reached the Guardian, however, before I’d even summoned my mana blade, the monster froze and ceased its pursuit of Maruk as if it had been given a signal.

  My blood froze as the Guardian’s head swung around, and I realized what it was that had attracted the Guardian’s attention. Bells.

  Aerin’s mana glowed like a tiny sun as she crouched over Lavinia and passed her hands over the other woman’s wounds, and with no thought to me or Maruk or Merlin, the Guardian lurched around to face them. I knew instantly that it could hear the music of magic just as I could, and that’s what drew it to the healer and her patient. Perhaps despite its blindness, it could see mana as well. It didn’t matter, though, because whatever the case, the Guardian’s attention was fixed on Aerin and Lavinia now.

  In that frozen moment, I knew I wouldn’t be able to reach them in time to strike at the Guardian. I wouldn’t be able to save them unless I used the last of my magic.

  I threw my hand out toward the women and focused the remainder of my mana with an intensity I had never felt before. My own magical energy tore through my body like fire, and I staggered forward a step under the force of it, and my vision went almost completely black as pain exploded in my skull. The world shifted violently, and I couldn’t tell if I had fallen to my knees or if I was still standing, but before the last spots of darkness obscured my sight, I saw myself.

  I saw the shimmering blue of mana outline the clone’s body as it stood twenty feet away from me between the Guardian and my friends. I saw the Guardian lunge forward and close its jaws around the clone, and as it did, the illusion broke into a shower of sparkling mana that lacerated its mouth like chewing on broken glass.

  A wave of nausea rocked me, but the pounding in my skull didn’t abate as it usually did, and the dark clouds that gathered around the edges of my vision remained. I was dimly aware of the piercing shriek of the Guardian, but it barely registered against the pain and fatigue that took hold of my consciousness. Only one clear thought came to me. The monster still wasn’t dead. We were still in danger.

  My movements then were automatic and dreamlike, and I almost felt as though I was watching myself from a distance as I curled my hand around the hilt of my dagger and began to run on unsteady feet toward the Guardian.

  The monster turned to face me, and it lunged for me with open jaws just as I kicked off the ground and leapt at it. The mana blade formed in my hand as I brought it down to the smooth, moist flesh of the Guardian’s head, and I felt it pull out the last bit of my mana as though my guts were being torn out.

  The blade bit deep between the creature’s sightless eyes, and the Guardian let out a cry of rage and anguish that shook the cavern.

  I clutched the hilt as I slid down the Guardian’s face, and the mana dagger cut a long slash through the top of its head. Its cry was cut off and its body swung wildly around and then fell with an earth-shaking thud to the cavern floor.

  The mana blade flickered out as I half-slid, half-rolled through the mud away from the Guardian’s head. My vision swam, and if I wasn’t in so much pain, I might’ve thought I was dead. Every part of my body ached, and I felt as though I’d been turned inside-out and pulled apart and compressed back together all at once. I didn’t bother trying to move, I just lay back in the mud and closed my eyes. Just a minute, I told myself. I’d just rest for a minute.

  Maybe it was a minute, though if it was more or less I had no way to tell, when I felt someone lift my head up and place a warm hand against my cheek. I opened my eyes and looked up into Aerin’s face as it slowly came into focus above me. There were tears in the elf woman’s eyes, and I could see her lips moving although I couldn’t make out what she was saying.

  Distantly, I heard the chime of bells. It was a familiar sound, but I couldn’t think of why at the moment. Still, it was comforting, and I closed my eyes again as the sound washed over me like warm water or sunlight. Little by little, the pain in my bones ebbed, nausea faded, and the clouds of fatigue in my mind began to withdraw.

  I became aware of people talking around me, their voices low and urgent. My head was propped up against something, I didn’t know what. My limbs tingled as though they’d been asleep and the blood was just returning to them. I smelled blood and mud.

  At last, I opened my eyes again, and this time, my vision was clear. Aerin was leaning over me, and by the angle, I guessed she had my head in her lap. Maruk, Lavinia, and Merlin crouched nearby, their faces drawn and ashen with exhaustion and fear.

  Aerin had been murmuring prayers, but when she saw that I’d opened my eyes, she let out a choked sob and leaned forward to press her forehead against my chest.

  “Gods, Gabriel,” she whispered hoarsely, “I thought you were dead.”

  I reached up and took her hand, but I didn’t have the energy to pull myself up yet. “And miss out on touring the country with you and becoming fabulously wealthy by performing feats of illegal magic? Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  Aerin laughed slightly and gripped my hand so tight her knuckles turned white, and I reached up to put my free hand against the back of her neck to draw her face down to mine for a kiss. I could feel the elf woman’s tears on my cheek as our lips met, and when we finally broke apart, she swept at her eyes with the back of her hand.

  I shifted and pushed myself up, which hurt more than I expected but wasn’t unbearable.

  Lavinia still had a few minor scrapes on her arms and face, and I noticed a shiny patch of skin where Aerin had healed a far more serious wound.

  “Are you okay?” I asked her.

  She nodded, but her voice was hoarse when she answered, “Broke my arm when I fell, but Aerin took care of it.”

  “Good,” I replied with a relieved smile. “I was worried about you.”

  Maruk was covered in mud but unharmed, and despite missing a few patches of fur, Merlin seemed to be alright as well, so I turned again to Aerin. Between healing me and Lavinia, she had used a lot of mana and even in the dim light I could see the shadows under her eyes and the weariness in her smile.

  “I’m okay,” she assured me before I had the chance to ask, and she leaned forward to wrap her ar
ms around me. “I’m okay,” she repeated.

  “We got the chest,” Lavinia said after a moment, and Aerin and I broke apart again. The ladona woman smiled. “The Shadow Delves bounty officially goes to the Foxes.” Her smile faded slightly as her eyes drifted out toward Ren’s body. “We’ll have to report what happened to him.”

  Meaning we would have to lie about the exact circumstances of the Stewards’ leader’s death. “Would anyone come to investigate?” I asked.

  Lavinia shook her head. “It’s a dangerous bounty. People die. It’s not worth risking anyone else to retrieve the body, and no one would have reason to doubt us if we said he was killed by the Guardian.”

  In an attempt to lighten the mood, Maruk said suddenly, “Oh! Show Gabriel what we found when he was unconscious.”

  Lavinia grinned and raised her eyebrows at me. “Check it out,” she said as she got up to retrieve the chest.

  At first, I was confused. I’d known we had retrieved the chest, as that was the whole point of our mission, but when Lavinia twisted the lock and opened the chest, I understood the cause for excitement. Along with the items listed on the bounty documents, the chest was full of weapons and armor.

  Lavinia pulled out a silver object that looked like it had been the handle to something, and when she brushed her thumb along the edge, silver wings unfolded from the handle and I realized it was a bow. The archer’s eyes gleamed as she held it out.

  “Anything that’s not listed on the bounty documents is free for us to take,” she explained.

  “But look at this,” Maruk insisted as he drew out a pair of shining arm guards. Miraculously, they appeared to be just the right size for the orc’s muscular arms, and the metal was engraved with an intricate swirling design.

  “The metal is enchanted,” the orc explained. “It’s impervious to nonmagical attacks, and the guards can generate magical barriers.”

  “That’s amazing,” I said, and Maruk looked proud as I examined the arm guards.

  “There’s stuff in here for you and Aerin, too,” Lavinia said. “Here’s an axe with some elven writing on it, I don’t know what it says.”

  Aerin’s eyes went wide as she took the axe from Lavinia. It was small, perfect for Aerin’s fighting style, and the handle was inlaid with designs in gold.

  “It says it was blessed by Evarun,” Aerin read in a hushed voice. “How did all this stuff get down here?”

  “Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to question good fortune?” Lavinia asked with a dry chuckle. “As far as I’m concerned, we earned all of this.” Then she fished through the chest again and pulled out a bundle of cloth that she handed to me. The fabric had an iridescent quality, and it was as supple as water in my hands.

  “That’s definitely enchanted,” the ladona woman told me. “Not sure what it does, but why don’t you try it out?”

  I shook out the cloak, threw it over my shoulders, and then put the hood up. All at once, Aerin, Maruk, and Lavinia looked shocked. Even Merlin seemed unsettled, and he crept forward to sniff at the fabric cautiously. I didn’t feel any different, and when I looked down, I didn’t look any different, but then Aerin filled me in.

  “That’s an invisibility cloak,” she said in a low voice, then she grinned. “Those aren’t supposed to exist anymore, just like manipulators.”

  “Well, what are the odds of that?” Lavinia mused.

  “I’m sure that it will come in handy,” Maruk added, and I was sure he was right.

  I took the cloak off and packed it away with the rest of my belongings for safekeeping.

  For a few minutes, we were all silent as we sat together in the mud on the cavern floor and passed around a canteen of water, but as the daylight that filtered down through the crack in the ceiling dimmed and signaled the approach of evening, I stood.

  “We should get going,” I said. “It’s a long way back.”

  No sooner had I spoken, however, when the air on my right rippled and a cascade of silver and gold glitter rained down into the mud. As the glitter fell, it revealed the shape of a woman, and not just any woman, but a goddess.

  Just as the first time we’d met, Theira wore a flowing white gown and gold jewelry set with pearl, and she looked just as out of place in the dank cavern as she had been when she was standing in my apartment. She smiled at us, and Aerin gave a panicked squeak before she dropped to her knees before the elven goddess.

  “Noble Theira, I thank you for the good fortune you have bestowed--” she began to recite, but the goddess stooped and lifted Aerin up with a hand on her shoulder.

  “Rise, my child,” Theira said in a gentle voice. “You have acted valiantly this day. You all have.” Her silver eyes swept over our group and came to a rest on me. “Gabriel, there are great things in your future, even greater than what you have accomplished here, but you have done as I asked, and so I come to offer my aid.” She swept her arm out and another shower of glitter shimmered in the air beside her, and then through the gold and silver sparkles, I saw stars and trees and a road.

  “This portal will take you back to the surface,” Theira explained.

  Aerin started to say something, but she could do little more than babble as she stared at the goddess.

  “Thank you, Theira,” I answered for Aerin and for all of us.

  The goddess inclined her head in acknowledgment. “This is all I can offer for the time being,” she said, “but know that as long as you continue to serve me, I will continue to watch over you. Go, now, you have quite the victory to celebrate, and this is just the beginning.”

  I nodded and helped guide Aerin through the portal the goddess had created after Lavinia, Maruk, and Merlin. I braced myself for the gut-wrenching feeling I remembered from the first time I had traveled by the goddess’ magic, but no such sensation accompanied the journey this time.

  The evening air was balmy and fresh as we stepped out onto the road into the purple twilight. Stars shimmered overhead and night birds called to one another in the trees on either side of us. We were back at the skull hill where we had first tried to enter the Shadow Delves. I turned back to thank Theira again, but the goddess was gone, as was her portal.

  When I turned back to my companions, however, I realized that Theira had done one more thing for us besides transporting us back to the surface. All the mud, blood, and other signs of our time in the Shadow Delves had been erased. Even the shimmering scar on Lavinia’s arm had vanished, and the archer actually smiled as she inspected her skin.

  Maruk had noticed the change as well and turned this way and that to examine himself. “I must say, I quite like that goddess,” he remarked. “Perhaps I should take up the devotion.”

  I suspected that last statement was directed at Aerin, but the elf was still too star-struck to notice.

  “I can’t believe I just saw Theira in person,” she murmured. “Theira called me valiant...” She gripped my arm, and the awe in her voice changed to excitement. “Theira called me valiant! Did you hear that?”

  “We were all there, Aerin,” Lavinia answered, but despite trying to sound unimpressed, I could see the ghost of a smile on the ladona woman’s face.

  I chuckled. “Yeah. She thinks you’re valiant. For the record, I agree.”

  Aerin blushed and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

  “We all did well,” I went on. “We should be proud.”

  Then Lavinia did smile, and Maruk did as well, and Merlin chattered happily as he wove between our feet.

  “I don’t know about the rest of you,” Lavinia said, “but I propose that our first act of celebration be to turn in now. I’m exhausted.”

  “That sounds good to me,” Maruk agreed.

  I nodded as well. Nothing sounded better right then than to lay down and sleep for several hours, but we all managed to stay awake long enough to set up a proper camp and eat before we settled in for the night.

  Maruk made tea over the fire, and Aerin curled up next to me as we sat around in a
circle and talked quietly about what we planned to do with our earnings when we returned the bounty. We would have more than enough to pay off the rest of the Foxes’ debts and still have plenty left over, perhaps even enough to start looking for a proper guild hall. Lavinia wanted one with enough space for an archery range and a few practice dummies, while Maruk thought we should invest in uniforms and better furniture. Aerin, of course, thought we ought to save most of it, but even she conceded that there was room in the budget for some upgrades.

  We decided to table any final decisions until we returned to Ovrista the next day, and the camp settled into a comfortable silence as one by one each of my friends drifted off to sleep. Aerin stayed awake the longest and told me stories about the elven gods, but in the middle of the description of one god she trailed off, and I felt her head droop against my shoulder. I ran my fingers through her flame-colored hair and leaned my head against hers. I felt more at peace than I had since I could remember, and I said a silent thanks again to the goddess that had sent me to this wonderful world.

  Chapter 19

  Theira’s promise to watch over us remained true, and we seemed to have unusually good luck all the way back to Ovrista. The weather was pleasant, we made good time on the road, and when we reached the city’s high white walls and guarded gates that afternoon, the guards waved us through without so much as a glance. All the better since I still had Allowen’s illegal books in my pack as well as the invisibility cloak. According to Aerin, the latter wasn’t, strictly speaking, illegal, but the Mage Academy had a habit of watching closely when anyone turned up with powerful magical items like it.

  We stopped first at the Magpie to drop off our weapons and gear, and though it was already growing late, none of us wanted to wait to go to the charter office to turn in the Shadow Delves bounty, so we gave Merlin a jeweled necklace to occupy him and set out again right away.