Magic Underground: The Complete Collection (Magic Underground Anthologies Book 4)

by Melinda Kucsera

  The room had no candles in it, so as soon as the sun sunk behind the horizon, it was pitch-dark inside the cell. I lay down on the bed, pulling the covers up to my neck. Besides being as dark as the pits of hell, it was also freezing cold.

  I had never missed my own bed, my own room, more than in those moments.

  After tossing from side to side over half an hour, trying to fall asleep, I realized I must have fallen asleep somehow after all, because I had transported from my tiny cell to an even worse place: a cage.

  The cage was suspended in the air with iron chains. A storm raged outside the cage; that was the only way to describe it. Thunder, lightning, rain…beyond the cage, I could see nothing but the storm, no matter where I looked. The storm raged up, below, left and right, surrounding me.

  “Who are you?”

  I hadn’t noticed the man inside the cage with me, so I practically jumped out of my skin when he spoke.

  He wore black leather pants and a matching black shirt. His eyes were as dark as a bottomless well. He was beautiful—not just handsome, but beautiful. If the most talented artist of the Seven Kingdoms combined the best traits of the handsomest men in the Kingdoms into one statue of perfection, that statue wouldn’t even be half as beautiful as this man was.

  I was so busy staring at him I forgot to answer his question. “Uhm…” I said eventually, struggling to find the words. What was it he had asked again?

  “Who are you?” he repeated.

  “I’m Saleyna.” I still couldn’t tear my gaze away from him. At first, his beauty had made me overlook it, but upon closer inspection, I saw the marks across his face and neck, similar to the rune on my forehead, except he was completely covered in them. The faint lines of the runes looked like a piece of art, making him look even more breathtaking.

  “Who are you?” I asked. My mind felt clouded, overwhelmed. I knew this was a dream—it had to be—but it still felt very real.

  “I’m Veritas.” He seemed as entranced by me as I was by him. “How did you get here?”

  I shook my head, keeping eye-contact with this mysterious man who was no doubt the most beautiful specimen I had met in my entire life. “I don’t know. One moment, I was sleeping, and the next…”

  “You ended up here,” he finished my sentence for me. His gaze traveled up to my forehead. “You’re a mage.” He didn’t say it with disdain, as the Red Robes had; he was merely stating a fact.

  “Yes, I am.” I didn’t bother denying it.

  “Then that explains how you got here,” he said, although to me it didn’t explain anything. “I like your name.” The smirk on his face made an armada of butterflies tumble around in my belly.

  “Thank… thank you,” I struggled to say. “You… your markings.”

  It wasn’t a question, but somehow, he still managed to figure out what I meant. “To keep my magic locked up, same as yours,” he explained.

  “But there are so many…” I kept on staring at him, like a lovesick teenager who had never seen a man before in her life.

  “The Red Priests struggled to keep my magic locked up, which is why they also imprisoned me in here.” Here, in a cage surrounded by a storm.

  I had never heard of anything like this. Of anyone so strong and powerful that he had to be branded multiple times just to contain his magic. I stared at the stranger—at Veritas—in awe.

  “It’ll be dawn soon,” Veritas said. “Not that anything ever changes down here, but I can feel it.”

  “Is this place real? This isn’t just a dream?” I frowned.

  “It’s real, all right. But it’s not on the same plane as the rest of your world is, mage. It’s in the In-Between.”

  What the heck is the In-Between?

  Before I could ask him, Veritas shook his head. “You’ll wake up soon. You must come find me, Saleyna. Not in this world, but in yours. Find the In-Between and find me. You’re my only hope.”

  As he looked at me, his eyes shining brighter than diamonds, despite their dark, infinite color, I wanted nothing more than to help him. I had to help him. He needed me.

  But helping him, a magic-wielder who was also, apparently, extremely powerful, could jeopardize my entire mission. It could mean I had to risk my own life.

  Before I could ask how I should find this In-Between, I woke up.

  The storm clouds were replaced by the brown stone of my cell, Veritas was replaced by a sullen-looking Cullyn, and the cage was replaced by my bed.

  “Time to get up,” Cullyn said harshly. He looked as if he would rather spend an eternity in the slave mines of the Empire than spend a day tutoring me.

  As I got up and followed Cullyn, my mind lingered on the stranger—Veritas. Had he been telling the truth? If a magic-wielder so powerful existed, maybe he was the key to solving all this, to overthrowing the Red Priests, to making sure magic was only used scarcely so another Great Famine could be avoided? The key to saving myself, my brother and the entire Brotherhood of Whispers?

  Or had it all been a dream, after all?

  “I don’t have all day,” Cullyn complained while I tried to keep up with him as best as I could. “Your training starts today, so hurry up.”

  My stomach knotted from worry about my ‘training’ starting today.

  Whether Veritas was the key to solving all my magic-related problems or not, all I knew was that I had to keep my magic a secret at all costs. No one could find out; as soon as Cullyn or one of the other Red Priests had the faintest idea I still had access to my powers, they would execute me before I could even try to persuade them otherwise.

  I had to keep my magic hidden and refrain from using my powers, no matter what.

  Will Saleyna be able to keep her magic a secret from the Red Priests?

  Who is the mysterious Veritas? Is he telling the truth, and is he as powerful as Saleyna thinks he is? Find out in the next installment, Wayward Magic.

  About the Author

  Majanka Verstraete studied law and criminology, and now works as Legal Counsel. Ever since she learned how to read, she dreamt about writing books. She writes about all things supernatural, her books ranging from children’s picture books to young adult novels, all the way to new adult academy and reverse harem books.

  For more information about the author, please visit http://majankaverstraete.com

  Don't forget to grab your copy of Wayward Magic now!

  Amaskan

  Raven Oak

  “Amaskan” is a story I’ve wanted to write ever since the characters’ appeared in Amaskan’s Blood and Amaskan’s War. Something about these characters hooked me, and the idea of telling their origin stories made both me and my readers excited. In the Boahim Trilogy, magic is wild and new for most of the Little Dozen Kingdoms, but in this novelette, magic remains hidden. It’s the thing of legends and tales long ago. It’s also terrifying when wielded by mythological creatures rumored to have helped the Thirteen Gods build the world…

  Raven Oak

  It’s not murder if it’s Justice. Or that’s what Shendra had been raised to believe. The feared Order of Amaska had made a trained killer out of her brother, allowing him to seek justice for their mother’s murder. Now Shendra faces a similar decision… Answer the Gods calling and join the Order. Perhaps change it and herself for the better.

  Or die trying.

  Amaskan

  Fifteen-years-old and still the memory of her parents’ murder stung. Homeless and starving, her elder brother had discovered his young sister sleeping in a dirty alleyway. Long since a member of the Order, he’d convinced her to join him with a chunk of fresh bread and cheese.

  Fifteen minutes was how long it had taken her to pick the lock the first time she’d tried it. Provided she could pull herself together enough to survive the trials, she would join him in the Order of Amaska. Her fingers shook, and she almost dropped the thin rod to the cobble below.

  Fifteen hours ago, she’d been little more than a trainee but now… Now everything
mattered with a sharpness that left her gasping as she stood in the dark alley, the night’s air her only companion.

  I must pass the test, if not for my sake, then for my brother’s.

  The rod shook beneath her fingers as it slid into the lock. Her skin crawled as a few leaves fell to the ground, and she forced herself to ignore her body’s reaction. The only shadow that watched her was her own.

  Polished iron, the lock was a simple thing—nothing difficult really—the sort of lock one would find on half-a-dozen middle class homes across Sadai, yet her fingers continued their trembling habit.

  The wind stopped and in the silence, a slight gasp sounded from the other side of the door. She paused until the sounds passed before resuming her work. Narrow notches across the rod’s top knocked against the lock’s interior, and the spring compressed beneath the rod until a subtle click announced the lock’s submission. She turned the knob half-an-inch before the breathing returned.

  If he breathes any harder, he’ll be hyperventilatin’ before I can get this damned door open. Leave it to my mark to be an insomniac.

  Shendra counted to ten. Twice. She was halfway through a third count when the footfalls shuffled away, and she cracked the door open enough to access the hinges, which she smeared with grease. Likelihood of squeaks aside, she slid through the open door.

  Darkness shrouded the front room, but light drifted in from a narrow hallway ahead. Any floorboard could betray her, so one slippered foot before the other, she prowled her way across the room, both ears open. When the shuffling from the hallway picked up, she pressed her back against the wall and held her breath as the mark passed by the open doorway. A second door opened and closed behind him, and after another dozen heartbeats, she peeked around the corner.

  Nothin’.

  No servants. No furniture. Just a long, narrow hallway with two doors at either end.

  At least it would be easy. The mark had no escape other than through her. Shendra’s muscles quivered as she passed through the corridor with all the speed of a Boahim Senate decision, which was to say not quickly at all. She scowled at the thought of the senators—cowards, the whole lot of ’em. For all their talk of justice, they’d done little more than frown at her parents’ murder five years ago.

  The door stood before her, and like tomorrow’s mission, it filled her with trepidation.

  Dammit. Get it together.

  Another pause, another reason to doubt her ability as an Amaskan. A real Amaskan would’ve been in and outta here in a few heartbeats. Some killer I am.

  She pressed her face against the wood grain and listened. Small hiccups pierced his light breathing as he drifted in and out of a shallow sleep. The rod wasn’t needed for the interior door, as the knob turned gently beneath her hands. More grease was applied to the hinges, but the next heartbeat proved it wholly unnecessary. One foot into the bedroom, a hand gripped her upper arm tight enough to bruise.

  “You’re dead, Shendra. You’ve failed.”

  The candlelight reflected off Bredych’s blue-gray eyes, and Shendra leaned her head against the door’s hard oak, her black hair falling forward to cover her face. “I can’t fail tomorrow. I don’t know what’s wrong, but I couldn’t stop shakin’.”

  Her brother nodded. “Somethin’s off for sure. All that shaking, I could hear the rod in the front door. You havin’—” He bit off a curse before correcting himself. “Are you having second thoughts?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why you bother fixin’ it. Not like anyone cares if you talk all proper when you’re killin’ ‘em.”

  “They might. If you’re sent into a job that requires it. Besides, you avoided my question.”

  The sigh that escaped only reminded her of the tension rigid between her shoulder blades, tension that ran straight down to the balls of her feet. “I-It’s not that I’m havin’ second thoughts so much as havin’ third and fourth thoughts. I mean, I’m gonna kill—”

  He pressed a finger against her lips, his grin a cold flame. “There can be no doubts, sister. None. Fail enough and they’ll—”

  “Kill me. I know.”

  A snap announced the front door closing, and they both flinched. “Guess Master Elish is here,” said Shendra, and a moment later, the bald man stepped into the hallway, broad chest leading the way.

  Master Elish stared down his bull-like nose at his trainee. “Considering the tension in your frame, I suspect something went amiss with your practice run?”

  Like her brother, Bredych, Master Elish’s frown aged him, a reminder that they both carried decades more practice in the art of killing someone. She leaned back into the room’s shadows, shoulders slouching. And Bredych wonders why I have doubts about committin’ myself to the Order. It doesn’t matter what I tell myself, this still feels like murder.

  When Bredych’s elbow connected with her side, she recalled her master’s question. “Bredych caught me enterin’ the bedroom, Master.”

  “But first I heard her pick the lock. She still hasn’t mastered it.”

  “I’m feelin’ out of sorts tonight, Master Elish. Been thinkin’ a lot on my folks.” The lie fled easily from her lips. Yes, they’d been on her mind, but her stomach chased circles around her doubts—the real reason for her distraction.

  “Families are a liability, as they have proven to be tonight.” The rebuke was deserved, so she said nothing as they followed Master Elish from the training houses. Her black wraps clung to her tall frame in the heavy air outside. Shendra tugged at her silk-wrapped wrists as they trudged up the hill towards the Order’s main building.

  She might’ve been dressed like her brother and Master, but everything else was a harsh reminder of her future here. Their bald heads and jaw tattoos marked them members of the Order, but it was more than that. The way they moved—almost flowing across the ground—and the way they carried themselves with a confidence that spoke of commitment to their calling. Shendra sighed.

  Despite the late hour, most training areas glowed with torchlight as fellow trainees drilled in the arts of assassination. For all that Master Elish refused to use the term, it fit. The Order of Amaska might’ve served Justice, but killing someone—no matter the reason—was still murder, not to mention a crime against the Thirteen. The knots in Shendra’s stomach twisted tighter and she touched two fingers to her forehead. Thirteen lead me to thy will.

  “Relax,” Bredych whispered as he kept pace with her fast steps. “You’re too obvious.”

  It was easy for him. At thirty-eight, the Order was more than a way to make money. They were his family and his passion. Besides, he’d never minded doing what was necessary to get along in life. Shendra slowed her steps.

  Two Amaskans stood guard at the main building’s entrance, and they nodded to the group as they passed. The casual seating area lacked its usual occupants, and Master Elish gestured for them to join him in the entryway’s empty chairs. “Your preoccupation with family created a failure today. Will you be ready for tomorrow?”

  “Yes, Master.” Another lie, this one less easy than the first.

  “When is she not ready?” Bredych said as he twirled a small twig between lanky fingers. “This is my sister we’re talking about.”

  Tonight was the wrong evening for the joke as Elish turned sharp eyes on them both. “We have much to discuss before the trials tomorrow.”

  A small group of trainees passed them, carrying an undignified amount of giggles with them as they walked by. Her brother waved, missing the tension in Elish’s shoulders. Her master’s exact age was a mystery, but the Order’s records estimated near sixty—an easy to forget fact when training with him left her one long, walking bruise the next morning.

  But this evening, the way his right leg settled awkwardly across his left knee, reminded her that more than her own future within the Order was at risk. If she failed, his bid to be the next Grand Master would be ground into the day’s dust. After all, if he failed to train her successfully, how c
ould he lead the Order? Shendra exhaled, allowing the air to sweep away the weight of her thoughts.

  “For nearly five years you’ve sheltered and trained with us,” Elish said as he followed her gaze. “And for that long, you’ve never been as quiet as you are this evening. If you truly wish to commit yourself to the Order, I ask you to speak your thoughts plainly, Shendra Abner.”

  The laughter in her brother’s eyes fled, and his feet ceased knocking against the chair leg as he stared at the wall over her head. “I—” She paused as Bredych’s thoughts leapt up and danced unspoken before her. He might as well have been screaming. “I’m not sure the Order is the place…”

  The charred remains of her sentence withered to the ground as her Master frowned at the old debate. “It’s far too late for that, Shendra. Either you will be reborn into the Order tomorrow, or…”

  Maybe she could find a moment to leave before morning arrived. One glance at her Master made her doubt the idea, and she nodded her acceptance.

  “I told you she was ready for tomorrow,” said Bredych as he grinned. Normally his smile was contagious, but this evening, his lips were the only ones turned upward.

  Tomorrow, she’d become an Amaskan, or she’d die trying.

  Dim lamps made for darkened hallways at this hour. Shendra paced the hallway outside the small meeting room. “I can’t believe ya told him,” she said to Bredych.

  “What else could I do? Something was obviously chewing on you, and if I didn’t speak up, it would have been my ass on the fire right along with yours. Or had you forgotten that part?”

  “I’ve not forgotten, but what makes ya think you’ve any chance to be Grand Master? Yer not even on the council yet! At least Master Elish has a chance at the position. At least he has a reason to be worried ’bout tomorrow.”