Shadow Realms

by M K Mancos

  Hell, I was willing to try anything at the moment. I’d use voodoo dolls and chewing gum wrappers if I knew of an incantation that would get Kells back using both.

  I found one of the brass constructs and cracked open the cover. Parts shimmered in the dim light, giving off a golden energy. A quick flip of a switch inside—a lever moved into a downward position and I replaced the cover with a snap.

  I set the disk down and tapped it on. Light dispersed from the disk, but the portal didn't open.

  The men on the platform shuffled nervously as they watched me. One of them approached me with his hardhat stuck on his head at an odd angle.

  "You need some help, son?" The man had a weathered face and thick, shaggy brows lowered low over his face. He was about as suspicious of me as any man had a right to be.

  I didn't blame him. Not by a long shot. I figured I was ahead of the game that he hadn’t clobbered me with a shovel on sight.

  Coming up with an answer to his question stymied me. I needed all the help in the universe, but I sincerely doubted these humble men who were working to build the train lines under the Hudson had any tricks up their collective sleeves to assist me with opening a time well.

  "Did you see anything odd here?" I bent down and inspected the area where the well had been.

  He gave me a look as if I'd lost my mind. "You mean other than you stepping out of nothing?"

  "I didn't exactly come from nothing. That would be silly, wouldn't it?" When all else failed, challenge what the observer saw.

  "If you say so."

  "So, did you? See anything odd before I arrived?”

  "Not that I noticed. But then, I've been working."

  "If you were working, then how did you see me arrive?"

  The man didn't answer, and I didn't press. He didn't have the hallmarks of a shadow being, and his expression was too skeptical and suspicious to be anything but a product of his time.

  I ran the disk over the area where the well had been and didn't even get a hit. The only hope I had was that Kells hadn't taken off her necklace, or had it removed from her when the nature of the jewelry came to light.

  Whatever else I did, I needed a plan and some time alone in the tunnels to open a portal. Not to mention, I really needed to get back to the future in order to help in the onslaught of the shadow realms.

  As it was, we didn't have nearly enough war mages to fend them off. What I really wanted to know was where the train had gone. It had dematerialized around me as I passed through the well. Had the same thing happened to Kells?

  The man looked down at my hands. His gaze centered on my ring. A slow smile filled his face. He held out his right hand to offer the matching ring he wore on his finger. "Nice to see you, brother?"

  A warm feeling blossomed in my chest. He was a member of the Convention. I'd never met him before, but that wasn't unusual. We had agents all over the world and in all time periods. The fact he was here at this exact moment told me the agency had been expecting trouble during the tunnel dig.

  I extended my hand and shook his. "And you."

  We didn't exchange names. Not at this early date. Not in an area where there had been major shadow activity. Too dangerous.

  I took in his rough, dirty work pants, and shirt. He had on a jacket and carried a pickaxe. "You're working down here to help build the tunnel?"

  He pulled me aside, away from the other men and lowered his voice. "Sent here. There've been rumblings around these parts since before the war. We've been watching and waiting."

  "Oh, I can tell you, you're right. The shadow realms used this tunnel. But they won't be coming en masse for another hundred and forty years." I watched the area where the well had opened. "I need to get back to my time."

  He gave me a long up and down. "You don't look as if you belong here. At least not down here, but I'm sorry. I don't know how to open a well. Not my area of expertise."

  "I can do it, but it takes a while. And the right implements." I began to despair if I'd ever get out of there. I needed to be back in my time to help with the fight. Not stuck here trying to figure out where they took my girlfriend.

  Yeah, all right. I thought of her as my girlfriend.

  Actually, I'm pretty sure she was the love of my life, and I wasn't going to let her go into that damn void with the shadow beings, not once, but twice under my watch. Honestly, I thought they were testing me. My power, my patience.

  A light rustling started. The walls shook. Dirt began to pour in from the ceiling. He grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the scene. "Cave in!"

  The shout echoed down the tunnel, prompting workers to clear the area.

  I'd already been close to one the year before when the mine in Cooper's Mill had failed and shadow beings poured from the opening. Luckily, they were of the incorporeal variety and hadn't been seen by most of the inhabitants of the town. Still didn't make me want to get close to tons of earth falling in on my head.

  We rushed to one of the other tunnels. The other workers were ahead of us by several yards. They stopped abruptly and started backing up as a unit.

  I came to a halt and looked at my Convention companion.

  "Damn," he murmured.

  From the rock face came creatures made of melted skin and twisted limbs. For all their odd appearances, they moved with a grace I would never have expected. They were the things of nightmares. Beings even demons might shy away from knowing.

  I'd seen them before. Not in physical form, but in teachings. Archives. I knew enough of their origins and history to feel real fear growing in my gut. I wasn't too manly to admit things had taken a turn for the worse.

  My companion looked over at me. "What the hell are they?"

  "Golems, for lack of a better name. They only cross over into the human world when they’re going to pull someone through a portal."

  I had a horrible feeling this was what was sent to grab Jane Porter.

  They carried long spears with obsidian tips, filed to a point. I reached into my pack and pulled out a small ball. I chucked it as if I was playing pitcher in the majors. It soared over the heads of the stunned workers and right into the middle of the golems. The ball split apart and painted the inside of the cavern with blinding blue light.

  The golems screamed and tried to shield their eyes, but they started to dissolve. My heart thumped hard. These weren't the normal golems. If so, the light would have only stunned them enough to stop their progression, trapping them in place.

  As they melted, the fluid sunk into the ground, returning to the dark caverns where they'd been created.

  "Come on. Let's get out of here before the shadow realms sends more of them."

  My companion nodded and herded the other workers to the section where the pushcart waited.

  Unfortunately, the only way out was back to Jersey. Lord and Lady, I didn't want to leave that tunnel, but it wasn't safe. Not until it was shorn up again and supports placed. What I really wanted to know was if the damn golems were sent because of the well, or some other reason. Having two war mages of the Convention in one place would have been tempting in any time period.

  We had to move for quite a while before we came up and into the light. Actually, more time had passed than I imagined, and dusk had fallen. The New York skyline across the Hudson was very different than what I was used to, and a moment of panic filled me. Not only had I been separated from Kells, but from my time.

  I sat on a bench and opened my pack. I had pencils, pens, paper, and other more serious hardware. For now, I used the pens and wrote out a few quick spells then kissed it and set it on fire with an incantation, sending it to the wind.

  "My name is Malachi," I finally said to my silent companion.

  He watched my hands for a moment and a quiet sadness filled his face. "Kendrick."

  "My girlfriend and I were separated when the train we were on went through a time well." I looked over the water and at the flickers of the spell as it caught the wind. “This is the secon
d time in the space of a week she’s been pulled through, and I have no idea what the shadow realms want with her.”

  Kendrick bent his lanky frame to sit on the bench next to me. “Best sometimes not to know and concentrate on getting her back from them as soon as possible.”

  “We were on our way into Manhattan. Wells were popping up all over, and my director, Astrid, told me to get there as soon as I could. We had no choice but to take the train. Traffic was pretty much snarled at all other approaches.” I wiped a hand down my face. The spell lingered on my fingers, tickling as it moved over my skin as a cobweb might when caught on the wind.

  “I think that spell had more emotion in it than you intended.” He nodded to the bright dots cast against the sky like fireflies.

  No doubt it did. I may not have acted like it sitting on a bench in the past, but I was desperate to get Kells back.

  “We do need more men on the crew. Tomorrow they’ll see to fixing the cave-in, putting up supports, and trying to make up for all the work lost today.” Kendrick tapped my knee with his hat. “Why don’t you come home with me, have a good meal, and sleep. You’ll be able to think better in the morning.”

  “I’m afraid to leave. What if another well opens and more golems come through? What if they have Kells?”

  Kendrick pointed to small brass cylinders sitting around the entrance to the tunnel. “You see? I have my watchdogs out.”

  I didn’t know what they were, but I knew a Convention construct when I saw one. Since I was at a loose end and Kendrick knew the lay of the land, I decided to take him up on his offer. At the very least, I’d have an ally to help me defeat the shadow realms in this time period.

  I stood. “I appreciate this.”

  He gave a self-deprecating shrug as if my gratefulness embarrassed him.

  As we walked down the streets of Hoboken, I turned and gave a last lingering look at the darkening sky.

  “So, you knew the shadow beings were going to make their move?”

  He glanced at me under the glow of the streetlamp. “Yes. Once we started disturbing the soil, I had a feeling they’d come out of hiding. Not that they’re from inside the earth, but they seem to enjoy dark, dank places.”

  Shadow beings loved any place that made humans uncomfortable.

  “In my time, we’ve noticed the correlation between the shadow beings and certain seismic activity, as if the heat, pressure, and energy of volcanoes makes it easier to open rifts. I’ve also observed they enjoy water, and places where the earth is unsettled.”

  “Huh.” The sound was caught between disgusted acknowledgment and affirmation. “Well, this is the site for it. Which is the primary reason the Convention sent me to watch over things. No way we were getting out of having a bit of the nasty buggers getting into our world through a rift in the tunnel.”

  We walked the rest of the way to his apartment. It was a small hovel of a place with one bed and a small sofa pushed up against one wall. Since beggars can’t be choosers, I was determined to fold up on the little sofa of suffering and pay my dues to the Convention.

  He started a fire—by waving his hands at the belly of the coal stove—and set a pot on top. “Should be hot enough in a few minutes.”

  I had no doubt about that. I’d met a lot of witches and mages in my days, but I’d never met a firestarter. What I had done with the paper was considered a spell burn. Not a full fire. My magic only allowed me to heat enough to smolder paper, nothing more. Oh, given the right circumstances and dry enough kindling, I could fan one into existence after starting a smolder, but not fashion one with the wave of my hand—a distinct, but important difference.

  As he started what I assumed would be our supper, I looked around his space. This dude was a hardcore, old school war mage. Most of his apartment was filled with different devices meant to fight and defeat the shadow realms. Unfortunately, his time and mine hadn’t seen a decrease in activity, and the history of the fight weighed me down.

  After doing our best to keep those powers in check since the ancients, we were no closer to ending them. Could they even be vanquished, or would the fight continue on into the future? Generations of witches and mages battling it out to see who ranked supreme in this dimension.

  To tell the truth, the thought nearly sent me back out into the street. How fruitless to have to keep fighting the same enemy over and over again. When were they going to get the idea that we didn’t want them in our world? None of the dimensions wanted them. They had their own world to live in; why didn’t they stay there?

  I folded my arms and studied a double-headed axe that looked as if it had been at the Battle of Hastings. “What does your landlord say about all the implements?”

  Kendrick looked up from the pot he stirred. “Nothing.”

  A crafty expression had entered his steely gaze.

  I smiled as if just catching on. “You own the building?”

  “Block.” He gave a negligent shrug. “It’s easy money, and I can travel on assignment as required without the need to hold down a regular job.”

  The man had to be rolling in money. I wanted to laugh at the humble way he lived for having so much; yet, there was a simple practicality about the situation I greatly admired.

  “I started as a trouble-shooter for a toy manufacturer in Upstate New York. I’ve been promoted to CEO. Makes it easier.”

  “The Convention is great about getting pesky things like traditional jobs out of the way.”

  I wondered about our predecessors. How had they lived and worked? I knew some of them were actually part of the Knights Templar. Of course, working for the Convention was a career of feast or famine, so other employment had to be kept in order to maintain a living. However, it had to be flexible enough to allow for long, unexplained absences.

  Kendrick called me to the two-seater table up against one of the walls in the small kitchen and placed a bowl of stew in front of me.

  “Sorry, it’s heated up from yesterday.” He pushed a bread plate over to me. “Here. Have some bread to fill you up.”

  “Thank you. This is awesome.” Truly, I was thankful for anything that even resembled sustenance.

  The stew was very good and filling. I told him since he’d made dinner and gave me a place to sleep, I’d do up the dishes.

  He left me to it and went into the bedroom and brought out a blanket for me to use. Somehow, I didn’t think I’d get cold. The little apartment might have looked as if it had drafts, but the stove made it cozy and warm.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t think I was going to sleep. My mind kept going to Kells and what she was going through, and how in the world was I going to get her back this time?

  Four in the morning came with a peal of bells and whistles. I came up off the sofa not knowing where I was much less what was going on. Kendrick came running out of the bedroom, tripping over his pant legs as he dressed.

  "The alarms!" he shouted as he hurried by me.

  It all came back in a rush of adrenaline. I threw the blanket off me and grabbed for my shoes, thankful I hadn't taken off my pants.

  I hurried behind him, picking up my backpack as I went by. We ran down the stairs and out into the street. No one else was about at this time, except for delivery men and those going over to pick up the ferry into Manhattan. Not one person paid attention to the annoying wail of the sirens emanating from Kendrick's sensors. As we turned the corner that led to the water, darkness streamed up from the hole, oozing out onto the cobbled streets.

  "Damn, there's a lot of them." I swung my pack off my shoulder and dug inside for the light bombs. These weren't golems, so I hoped the light might make them recede into the pit.

  I didn't have near the arm to pitch it as far as it needed to go. However, I was a runner—had been since middle school track team. Now, I ran like a bitch to get the light bomb close enough before the darkness eclipsed all the light in the street.

  I stopped just short of piling into them and getting absorbed by the shado
w beings. With all the power in my six-foot frame, I let that tiny globe go and it hit the inky blackness with an explosion of light. Disembodied screams rent the dawn. Hair stood on my neck and arms. Pins and needles grated along my nerve endings. No doubt it was one of the worst sounds I'd ever heard.

  Kendrick covered his ears and looked at me as if I had control over their reaction. Hell, I was proud it had any effect at all.

  I grabbed another one out of my pack and tossed it into the diminishing congregation. The shadow beings dissipated as a fog composed of pitch.

  Kendrick moved to one of his alarms and reset it. The light bombs lay on the ground. Their energy was spent and needed recharging with spells and sunlight. I stuck them in a separate pocket in my backpack.

  "Pretty handy, those. I've seen you dissolve golems and disperse the dark with them. You make them yourself?" Kendrick straightened from his task and regarded my pack as if it might reach out and bite him.

  "Of a fashion. Another war mage designed them, I just improved on them."

  Not that I couldn't have made them. My necklaces had gotten pretty popular within the ranks of mages and witches. They liked to give them to their loved ones to protect them and keep them from falling into the wrong hands.

  If it hadn't been for one of my necklaces, we wouldn’t have gotten my sister, Maddie, back from her time leap.

  We stayed near the area, placing symbols of protection near the entrance to the tunnel. As day began to bring more people to the waterfront, it became apparent that our quick fight had some lasting effects that non-magical people picked up on. Not with any sense of what really happened, but most looked over their shoulders as they walked, or chafed at their arms to ward off a chill. Most people had varying degrees of magical sensitivities, even if they didn't realize or acknowledge it.

  The amount of energy in the area from a thwarted invasion and breaking apart of shadow beings, left a taint on the air.

  Next morning, we returned to the tunnel. Engineers were down there with construction workers shoring up the area of the cave in. News coming from inside the tunnel wasn't good, or promising, but not as bad as I'd first feared.