Heart's Darkness

by H D A Roberts

  "All I can say is, thank God those Sidhe took themselves off, I had no idea how to get rid of a Spirit Bond," she said, which made me laugh again.

  "I honestly don't know what I'd do without you," I said.

  "Well, it's a good thing you'll never have to find out, then, isn't it? Now, tell me about these 'encounters' of yours. Spare no details, tell your Tethys, nice and slowly..."

  Chapter 20

  After some hard thinking (which Tethys didn't help with), I decided that there was no point in fretting and getting miserable over things I couldn't change. I was going to enjoy my time with Jocelyn and Maggie, and the new friends I was making at University. I was actually quite surprised by how much I'd started to enjoy myself at that place. In my first days, I'd considered just leaving, but now it was like I was finally fitting in, and I loved that.

  My anger hadn't gone, but it was ever so slowly starting to fade, to become part of the background, allowing me to just be me, apart from all the pain and fighting that came with being the First Shadow.

  Alas, whenever I thought things like that, whenever I'd started to come towards some sort of catharsis, or peace, the Universe liked to come around and kick me hard in the arse for my trouble.

  We slipped into November with my hardly noticing. I spent a lot of my time getting to know Jocelyn again, taking Maggie out on little trips and fending off the increasingly authoritarian dictates of Mary and the mother hens.

  The fear of those in the Magic School had largely vanished once it became clear that I wasn't going to hurt anyone. Even Hadleigh seemed to have gotten used to me (a little, there was generally only one scream a fortnight).

  Tethys finally managed to get a hold of those things the Witches had asked for and called me back to Blackhold on a wet Friday night.

  I found her in her study with a heavy carrying case on the floor next to her. She smiled and hugged me as I came in.

  "Hi!" she said brightly, "I have that stuff you asked for, but... do you know what's in this book?"

  She pulled it from the case and handed it to me.

  "Journal of Patricia Krell, Witch," I read from the cover. It was a copy, neatly bound in modern materials, clean white paper and string. The original had likely been hand-written going by the title, but this version had been transcribed into a modern font, the diagrams copied neatly, or even scanned.

  "There is some nasty stuff in there, Matty. That's the journal of a Red Witch."

  "Red... as in?"

  "You guessed it. Cannibal. A very enthusiastic cannibal going by some of the entries, or should that be entrees?"

  I shuddered at that rather dark joke, "Does it contain the recipe Jones asked for?"

  "It does," Tethys replied, flipping to the right page, "but it also contains Spells to rip living energy out of a human body for absorption by a Witch; poisons that kill in a variety of ways, potions that can dominate a mind... I don't think we should let this stuff out of our sight. Certainly not to people we don't know that well."

  "Let's see."

  I took a moment to leaf through the thing. I didn't get more than half way through the first chapter before my eyes went wide.

  "Nope," I said, slamming it shut.

  "Saw the recipe requiring the testicle of a virile Sorcerer, huh?"

  "What?! No! I just saw the one requiring the liver of a newborn! There was a testicle one, too?!"

  She sniggered, taking a sheet from her desk, "This is a photocopy of the potion recipe. If this is what she really wanted, then there shouldn't be a problem."

  "You say that like you have doubts."

  "Well, of course I do, but you shouldn't let that stop you. I completely trust maybe three people, and they all live under this roof. Not that you're any better."

  "Hey!"

  "Come on, be honest. Me, Cassandra, Kandi, Demise, the other Archons. Do your trust anyone else?"

  "My parents!"

  "Oh, well struck, sir, you've really showed me," she replied dryly.

  I glared at her and slid the recipe sheet into the case, which was full of little plastic bags containing all the strange materials Jones had asked for. Tethys had told me that the market value of these things was in the tens of thousands, which really made me hope that the Witches were good for the money.

  It wasn't that my finances couldn't take the hit; it was just a bad precedent to set.

  I said goodbye to Tethys, and used my Will to levitate the case so I could carry it with me through the Shadow Realm to the Witches' House.

  It was quiet, no music this time, though the lights were on, as it was late in the day.

  I knocked, and was taken through to see Jones.

  "You're late! Do you have it?" she asked, her eyes darting to the clock on the wall beside me, which told me I was maybe two minutes late.

  "I was able to get the recipe you asked for, yes," I said, handing her the case.

  "What about the rest of the book?!" she practically snarled, snatching the case from me and quickly digging through it.

  "My source was only able to get this one recipe. But I'm informed that the rest of the book was somewhat... unwholesome."

  Rage crossed her eyes for a long moment, and I realised...

  "You knew what else was in that book, didn't you?"

  Her face went bright red, and she opened her mouth to say something-

  BOOM!

  An explosion. A big one, coming from the front of the house. It was large enough that the house shook, and several windows broke, I could hear the sound of falling glass, followed by screams.

  I was running in an instant, Jones and her duplicity forgotten as I shoved my way through one door after another. I had shields in place before I'd left the first corridor and Mage Sight cast seconds later.

  That let me See that we were in a spot of bother.

  There were twelve Magicians out front, two of them Sorcerers, one with an affinity for Air, the other for Fire. The rest were Wizards, a mix of Primal (Lower) Magics, mostly Fire and Air, with a smattering of Water and Earth Magicians for variety. That was strange in itself. A group of Mages this size, and no High Mages? No Flesh Magicians, Telepaths or Ghost-walkers?

  Not that I'd ever met the latter (thank God), but still, it was a very narrow sampling of talent, and that meant something important, if only my brain wasn't diverted by fear for the people behind me.

  I barged through the front door and onto the driveway, skidding to a halt, Jones hot on my heels. The front gate had been blown off its hinges, there were molten fragments all over the driveway, still glowing.

  I recognised the Aura of the Pyromancer who'd attacked me on the way back from the tournament duel. He was dressed as he had been then, and so were the others with him, all in black, faces covered. Why the hell were they attacking me there, of all places?

  Were they attacking me at all? Maybe they were there for the Witches?

  "Mathew watch out!" Maggie snapped.

  Wait, Maggie?!

  When... what... how?!

  I spun to see my friend clutching Jones' wrist in an iron grip, a wrist attached to a hand holding a long, Enchanted dagger, glowing with Dispel constructs that would likely have shredded the weaker shields around my back before sinking right into my ribcage. There was also some form of bright-green, viscous substance on the blade; poison?

  "What in the hell?" I managed.

  "The Duellists are here to kill you, she tried to help," Maggie said simply before swatting the Witch like a bug. The smaller woman went flying head over heels (literally!) to land in the rose bushes (ouch) with a broken jaw, a broken nose, a fractured eye socket and a pretty serious concussion.

  In other circumstances, I might have felt bad, but she had tried to kill me.

  The other Witches, naturally, did not like this, and there sure were a lot of them all of a sudden. They started moving towards me, hands beginning to glow with their meagre powers. Thirty-plus of them might not be too much of a threat on their own, but whe
n combined with the dozen Magicians on the other side...

  Duellists, Maggie had said... after that huge clue, it wasn't difficult to figure out who the Magicians were. They were Stonebridge's duelling team (some of them, anyway). It was their powers that should have been the giveaway, I should have realised it earlier. High Magic and Telepathy couldn't be used in the ring, Flesh Magic didn't put on a good show, and Spirit Mages tended to be reclusive and highly antisocial. That left Earth, Air, Water and Fire... which was what I was seeing. Serves me right for not using Mage Sight during the Duels...

  The Witches were still advancing; quick as a flash, no- faster than that, Maggie had a pistol in each hand, pointed at the Witches.

  "Please, please give me a reason," she whispered. Her guns were black and blocky, automatic pistols with extended magazines. The way she could shoot, I had no doubt that she could kill everyone there with no trouble, and not even have to reload; Witches couldn't shield for toffee. They stepped back, hands up, energy dissipating.

  There was a standoff for a second, with none of the sides willing to start a Magical battle, not now that their surprise attack was neutralised, but nor could anyone back down, things had progressed too far. I was about to say something to calm things down (or try, anyway); the Witches were a decent sort, who might be reasoned with, but Maggie decided to move things along herself.

  "Come out! I can smell you two!" Maggie snapped, her voice blasting out into the night, loud enough that the air seemed to shake with a deep resonance that sent more than a few of the Witches running.

  There was a dull chuckle from behind the Magicians.

  "You always were the smart one, Maggie."

  The Warlock; Solomon's Warlock.

  That explained a few things.

  My mouth twisted into a snarl as he appeared from behind some sort of Warped shield, which was why I hadn't been able to see him. Mage Sight worked well on just about everything, but if you twisted Space enough to create a pocket, and hid in it, you could conceal yourself from even that Spell.

  And where he was to be found...

  The grass behind us rustled and the girl appeared, the Lycanthrope. Her teeth were elongated into fangs and her fingers had sprouted bear-like claws.

  At least that answered that question. Werebear.

  "Oh, I've looked forward to this," the monster snarled, her, now yellow, eyes locking onto my friend.

  "Everyone just calm down, we don't need to do this," I said, trying to be reasonable, as Maggie shifted one of her guns to the Were's head.

  "Need?" the Warlock said, sneering at me, which thoroughly pissed me off (but then, everything about that kid pissed me off), "No, Shadowborn, we don't need to do this. We want to."

  "Are you sure?" I asked lightly, "Because the last time we dealt with one another, your Master exploded and you had to be carried off by your girlfriend."

  Which made all this a little peculiar. It wasn't like Solomon was stupid enough to underestimate me. If this pair of idiots was there, then he should have been as well, he wouldn't send them in alone (their 'armies' didn't count)...

  But then it clicked, "He doesn't even know you're here, does he?"

  The Warlock's eye started to twitch. He even started to sweat.

  I could draw conclusions from that...

  "Ha! Not only does he not know you're here, he also told you not to go near me, didn't he?"

  The girl growled, but there was an undertone of nervousness to it. Another hit.

  "Aw, bless you two walking clichés, you thought you'd impress the old man by taking initiative, didn't you?"

  Half the Warlock's face was twitching now. I wondered if I'd accidentally given him a stroke, or something.

  "Shut up!" Warlock snarled, as good as admitting I was right, stepping towards me, balls of Space Magic appearing in his hands.

  "Let me see if I can guess the rest. The pair of you were sent to infiltrate these two groups, rile them up and set them working against me, maybe orchestrate the occasional attack or subterfuge, but you were supposed to keep it low-key, in preparation for a combined effort with your boss. Stop me if I'm going too fast."

  "We'll kill you," he growled, his eyes lighting up with fire.

  "And it might have worked, too," I said, ignoring the threat, "The hammer of the Duellists against the anvil of the Witches, distracting me long enough for your boss to swoop in and take my head... only now it won't work because the Warlock went early and blew the whole operation."

  "He was well known for blowing things a little early, just ask the girl," Maggie added, a little cattily, which made me laugh again, and only seemed to enrage the young Warlock. He looked like he wanted to attack, but I'd likely planted some doubts in his head (which was the whole point).

  That just left Jones to figure out. She was clearly a power-hungry loon. The question was whether she started working with Solomon's pair of imbeciles before or after she'd formed her alliance with me, not that it especially mattered. She was a clever one, I had to admit, she saw an opportunity to acquire some rare ingredients and she took it. I wondered if the Werebear was aware of her side-deal? Well, a problem for another day...

  "First things, first, why don't we get rid of the peanut gallery?" I suggested, "Maggie, close your eyes and cover your ears."

  She obeyed immediately and I cast Sensory Overload. Normally it was a directed Spell, with anyone behind the caster safe from the effects, but I was casting it all around us, and that would likely have knocked Maggie out, too.

  Witches and Duellists dropped like stones, completely insensible, and would remain so for quite some time. Anybody with even the slightest experience of Battle Magic knew to layer their shields with sound and light elements. Aside from anything else, Laser Lances and Sonic Overpressure Spells were astonishingly dangerous, and capable of bypassing simple shields completely (and lethally), and that was without taking into account more subtle things like my Sensory Overload.

  The Duellists fell like the Witches. Because they were only trained to perform, not to fight, they'd never been taught to create proper battle shields. And now they were on the ground... that made me smile.

  Unfortunately, Warlock was different. He didn't know anything except Battle Magic, and he was just fine. His girlfriend, however...

  Not only was she flat on her back and twitching like a landed fish, she had also soiled herself rather badly. Lycanthrope physiology was a little different to human standard, even in their unchanged form, so the frequencies affected them slightly differently (oh, what a shame...).

  I nudged Maggie and she opened her eyes again.

  "Nice," she said, taking in the dropped enemies. She turned to aim her guns at the Warlock, who was staring at me with incredulity all over his face, coupled with a growing fury.

  "You should see your face," I said, a little smugly, happy to goad the idiot now that it was just him left, and I didn't have to worry about Spells in the back.

  And that was all it took...

  He screamed with rage and hurled his Space-attack right at me.

  A quick Dispel caused it to explode less than ten feet from him, hurling the duellists near him all over the place and ripping several of his shield layers apart. Not to be out-done, Maggie started firing her guns. Though she remained within the shields I'd put around us both, she made sure to poke the muzzles of her weapons outside my defences before firing (which was good, the bullets were Dispel-Enchanted, and would probably have damaged my constructs on the way out).

  Warlock's shields were quickly peeled away by bullet and Spell, but he recovered quickly, very quickly, I have to say. His form lit up with electricity and flickering flames that he quickly hurled at us. A vortex of spinning air met the attacks, dispersing the energy back into the air, where I stole it for myself, merged it into a Chaos Lance, along with some Force I'd been gathering, and sent it right back at him.

  His few remaining shields bent under the strain, and then shattered, forcing him to dodge out o
f the way. I felt his body start to hum with Flesh Magic, and then he moved. And wow, was he fast! Whatever he'd done to himself, he moved with Vampire-like speed, all but vanishing and reappearing in front of me. He wasn't quite Demise-fast, much less Cassandra, but damn!

  His hand struck my shields, and the release of kinetic energy tore half of them away in a single attack.

  Alright, leaving aside the fact that Warlocks were heinous, nasty creatures that should be repeatedly beaten in a sensitive place... that was damned impressive. If he'd been fighting just about anyone else, he'd have won right there. It was only the fact that I vastly over-engineered my Shields that kept me alive.

  He had obviously anticipated a swift victory, too, because when his attack hadn't taken my head off, he just stood there for a long second.

  One second too long.

  For an instant, our eyes locked, and I smiled, just a little. The boy's face slowly twisted into an expression of fear as his accelerated thinking allowed him to realise that he was now thoroughly, irretrievably screwed.

  The night seemed to compress on him as my Shadows dropped onto his head. This was the problem with the 'speedy' ones. When moving at speed, they relied too much on all-out attack, to the exclusion of any defence at all, thinking that they could dodge everything they needed to. Demise and Cassandra were the same, I still hadn't managed to persuade them to change their ways completely, but Demise was making progress, at least.

  Anyway, he hadn't restored his shields, none at all.

  Idiot. I strangled him with my Shadows. I rarely had the chance to practice that. It was hard to come by volunteers willing to endure a little mild suffocation, and the ones that were, liked it too much (I'll give you three guesses...). The trick was to get enough pressure around the arteries and veins either side of the neck. Cassandra had showed me the physical version of this, something she called a 'choke-hold', which was not fun (you can probably guess how she'd demonstrated it), but the Magical version worked quite well.

  He was out in seconds, dropping to the gravel in an insensible heap. Maggie looked down at him, a broad grin on her face.