Ascendancy Origins Trilogy

by Bradford Bates

  “Seal the gates! We have unwanted company.”

  He rushed back through the door and I watched as it slid closed and locked in front of me. I rose and turned around slowly only to see the two people I least expected. Sarah and John, how had they tracked me here? How was it even possible? There was only one way out of the underground and it was through them. With my magic in the state it was I would never be able to fight them. My laughter turned to dust in my mouth as they approached.

  John looked at Sarah with a smile. “Well what do we have here?”

  13

  John

  I almost couldn’t believe it, after five months of fruitless searching Edward just landed right at our feet. It was almost too good to be true and if I wasn’t mistaken that was Mathew that darted back inside of the market. Could we really have just solved two problems at once? Edward was slowly getting to his feet, and he looked a little worse for wear.

  This wasn’t the same man that had fought against me six months ago. He looked haggard and he had bags under his eyes. There was a small bloodstain on his shoulder where my sword had punctured it. That didn’t make sense, the wound should have been healed by now. It should have been fully healed months ago. Something was going on here that we didn’t know about.

  Edward dusted himself off and looked at us with a smile. “It seems as if I can’t catch a break.”

  “That tends to be what happens when you make deals with the wrong people. The type of people that would think it is ok to burn down an entire city just to kill one man.”

  “Well you can’t say the plan didn’t have merit, and for the record I was actually trying to send the city back into the ocean. The fire was just a happy coincidence.”

  “A coincidence that killed over three thousand people, and nearly destroyed our entire city. Their blood is on your hands, and today you will answer for your crime.”

  “Their blood and so many others. Don’t think to judge me because you kill for a cause. We aren’t that different, you and I. You just haven’t been pushed over the edge yet. Give it time.”

  Sarah snarled next to me, she was done listening to him. If it wasn’t for Edward there would have been no need for me to make that deal with Cane to save her life. At least we had a chance to right half of the wrong today. Then we could call in reinforcements and start trying to work our way into the market. There was a former student of ours that had some explaining to do.

  I felt Sarah tense beside me, she was about to spring at Edward and I called on my gift to shield her from any magic he might try and cast against her. Her back feet left the ground and Edwards’s fire bent around my shield leaving her untouched as she barreled into him. She pulled him roughly to his feet, one arm wrapped around his throat holding him in place. The small dagger I kept tucked in a sheath between my shoulders found its way into my hands. This was going to be quick and painless, which was more than he deserved.

  Edward tried to cast a few more spells in my direction but I sent his magic bouncing harmlessly away. Sarah switched her grip on him pulling his shoulders back. Edward screamed in pain and the red spot on his shirt grew in size as the wound opened again. I pulled my dagger back, ready to plunge it into his chest, when a voice called out from behind me.

  “Not so fast, John. I need to speak with you about a favor you owe me.”

  I watched as Sarah reversed her grip with one hand at Edward’s throat. The hand started to change into a claw. I had never seen that before. I didn’t know she could only change part of herself into her beast. I had always thought it was all or nothing, but that was a discussion for another time. Her hand tensed and she prepared to rip out Edwards’s throat. “It is a good thing that favor doesn’t extend to my partner.”

  “Oh but I think it will,” Cane said as he shuffled into view. “You see, I’m going to ask you to see that no harm comes to Edward today, and if it does, our deal is void.” His eyes flashed red.

  “We can’t just let him go.”

  “Technically I didn’t ask you to, only that he not be harmed.”

  “So as long as we kill him tomorrow it’s ok.”

  Cane titled his head to the side as if he was listening to something that we couldn’t hear. I could have sworn I heard him mutter, “Oh, very well,” before he turned his attention back to us. “I think I have a proposition for you that you may find appealing.”

  “Just spit it out,” Sarah said.

  “I’ll leave with Edward unharmed, and in five days I will deliver him to a location where he will get what he always wanted, a one-on-one battle with Adam. If he loses, he is dead, and if he wins you have my permission to do what you want with him.”

  “It seems like a lot of trouble when the outcome is the same as it is now. He dies, why wait for Adam to do it?”

  “He is in debt to an employer of mine, and they cannot collect until he has been given the opportunity to face Adam one last time.”

  “Something about this still doesn’t feel right. What do you think, Sarah?”

  “I think this is Adam’s mess and he should clean it up himself.” She pushed Edward away from her and towards Cane.

  “This absolves my debt to you?”

  “It does.”

  “Then go, but at some point I will be coming for you.”

  “I look forward to it.” His eyes flashed red. He moved Edward in front of him and they started to move back down the tunnel.

  Sarah and I followed them, staying far enough back that Cane wouldn’t be worried about us trying anything. We needed to get back to our base and tell Adam just what in the hell was going on. He had to be ready for this battle. Why the five days? There was something going on here. I knew one thing, there was no way Adam was going to the battle alone. I wouldn’t interfere but I would be there to make sure that no one else did.

  We rushed into Adam’s office as soon as we arrived back at base. He stood and his eyes crinkled with concern. “I didn’t expect you back so soon.”

  “We have news,” I said giving Sarah a look.

  Adam motioned for us to take a seat and he sat down as soon as we were seated. “I take it you ran into Cane.”

  Sarah growled, “Why would you say that?”

  “It’s the only logical explanation as to why you would be back so soon.”

  Sarah was about to say something else and I placed what I hoped would be a calming hand on her arm. “We had a run in with Cane.” Adam nodded in understanding. “We also saw Edward and Mathew.”

  Now we had Adam’s full attention. “You saw Edward? Is he still alive?”

  “He is, and here is the interesting part. Cane used his favor to save him.”

  “So Edward escaped again,” Adam said followed by a sigh.

  “Not exactly. Edward did leave with Cane, but he promised us that we would see him again in five days.”

  “And why would he ever actually do that?”

  “Because all Edward wants is the chance to battle you.” Sarah growled. She blasted Adam with such an icy look that it had me praying for a warm summer. “All of this is about you and him, it always has been. You need to end it this time.”

  I looked from Sarah back to Adam. “It’s true. Cane said he would send us a location for you to do battle with Edward. He said whatever the outcome we can take Edward after the battle.”

  “Why would he help him now, just to turn him over to us?”

  “I got the feeling he was acting on orders from someone else, that he would have preferred for us to kill Edward.”

  “Now that falls to you,” Sarah said.

  “Thank you for coming straight to my office to let me know what happened. If you don’t mind I’d like a moment alone.”

  “Wouldn’t you like to hear the rest of our report?” I could see he was deep in thought about what he was going to have to do. There was a much larger story here than we knew about. From the look on Adam’s face I could tell that at one point he had truly cared about the man.

 
; “You did say something about seeing Mathew, correct?” Adam seemed to pull himself back to the present from whatever memory he had been thinking about.

  “We did, he was kicking Edward out of the market. We didn’t get a chance to see much more. He had them seal the door to it, and we had Edward to deal with.”

  “So it’s true that he is now working for Cane.”

  “We didn’t see him actually take any orders from Cane but it sure looks that way.”

  “Did you find anything out about the murders?”

  “Not yet, but there is only one way to make a name for yourself in Cane’s organization. Since the murders stopped when Mathew joined the market we can only assume it was him.”

  “Then he will have to be dealt with as well.”

  “We can do that, but it can wait until after you resolve this battle with Edward. The market isn’t going anywhere and neither is Mathew.”

  I stood up and Sarah walked out of the room in front of me. I looked back once to see Adam rubbing his eyes and staring at the wall as if he couldn’t see what was right in front of him. This was going to be hard on him. I knew that he would be able to beat Edward in a fair fight, but Demons tended to never do anything unless they controlled the outcome. I felt a warm hand slip into mine and Sarah pulled me from the room.

  14

  Edward

  Once we were in the car and away from John and Sarah I finally started to relax. “It seems that I am in your debt again.”

  “I would tell you not to make a habit of it, but in five days you won’t be my problem anymore.”

  “I guess we will see about that.”

  Cane’s eyes flashed red. “It’s already been decided, your time is up. This is your last chance to secure your revenge, try to not screw it up.”

  “Oh, I plan on taking full advantage of the situation.”

  The car pulled to a stop and the door opened without me touching it. “Get out, and get yourself right before you face Adam.”

  “I’d say that it has been a pleasure, but it really hasn’t.” The door closed and the car drove away. I walked up the stairs and into the house I had been using for the last six months. Maria greeted me in the entrance. She took in my battered appearance and frowned. I smiled at her and pulled her to me. I gave her a kiss, and then moved her back so I could stare into her beautiful brown eyes.

  “What happened to you?” she asked while moving a hand down my cheek.

  “Nothing that matters now. I need to head down into the summoning room. I have a ritual to complete.”

  “We don’t have a sacrifice in the house. I can make a few calls and have one brought here for you.”

  “I won’t need one, just a quiet place to work. When I come back my shoulder should be healed.”

  “Should I wait for you upstairs?”

  “That would be perfect, and maybe prepare a bath. This shouldn’t take long.”

  “I’ll see you soon.”

  I watched Maria as she walked up the stairs. Something about the way she walked, maybe the sway of her hips, kept me fascinated. I watched until she was completely out of sight and then stood there for a moment reliving the image. I might only have five days left on this earth, I wanted to make the most of it. Spending a few evenings with her would be required for me to step away from this world.

  I moved down the stairs with a spring in my step that I hadn’t felt in months. There was finally hope, hope that I would finally be whole. The ritual wouldn’t take long but it would be intense. I pulled in a few deep breaths as I entered the summoning chamber. The room was cold and dark. The candles around the edges danced to life with a thought. The ingredients tumbled from my bag and I started to line them up in the order that they would be used.

  Everything was in place, and I breathed a sigh of relief that nothing had been damaged on my brusque exit from the market. I pulled the bowl towards me, it wasn’t just any bowl. This was the top half of the skull of a holy man. It had been blessed and buried in consecrated ground for a hundred years. I moved the leg bone from the same man to the side of the bowl. It had been cut in half and the knee joint would make the perfect pestle for grinding the ingredients.

  I spent the next three minutes grinding all of the ingredients into the bowl. I used a sharpened silver cross to cut my finger open and used my blood to make a paste out of it. The last ingredient was the basilisk eye, the same one I was willing to fight for. I put the eye into the bowl and crushed it with my gruesome pestle. The eye squished and I worked it into the mixture.

  This was the most important part of the process; the magic contained in the eye would only last for so long. I worked it until the paste was a smooth consistency. It looked almost like red and green toothpaste. I removed my shirt and sank two fingers into the mixture. I made a circle around the wound, and then started to draw the ritual’s symbols on my chest. The last thing it called for was a line of paste from between my eyes, down my nose, and one line under each eye.

  I started chanting the words; they rolled seamlessly off my tongue. I could feel the power flooding into the room. I opened my eyes to make sure that I wouldn’t miss the bowl. I dipped my finger in and pulled the last of the paste out of it. The gooey substance slid under my tongue and I almost retched. I found a way to keep it there while the words continued to pour from my mouth. The mixture dissolved under my tongue and my spirit started to float away.

  The pain ripped through me and for the first time I wondered if I made a mistake. The world started to spin and I was looking at myself from above. I could see the darkness swirling around my heart and I reached down to pull it away. It fought against me; the demon didn’t want me to break the connection. It finally came away with a snap. I held the greasy black substance away from my body and forced my consciousness back inside of my body. As soon as I could feel my body around me, I cast the spell to heal my shoulder.

  The flesh knit back together almost instantly. For the first time in months I felt whole, the pain was gone. I felt a certain sense of elation and then the Demon essence wrapped itself back around my heart. The pain flared from my chest and I fell over heaving, my vision started to swim and my arm went numb. I was struggling to breathe, and the darkness was closing in. I found my way back to the door somehow and opened it. I fell into the hallway and looked towards the stairs. Two beautiful legs were running towards me. The last thing I saw before I stopped breathing was Maria’s chocolate eyes.

  Something was wrapped firmly around me, but where in the hell was I? I started to struggle against the bonds and felt a hand push me back to the bed. I almost lashed out but then her voice finally reached me.

  “Edward, it’s ok.”

  “Maria?”

  “Calm down, everything is ok. You’ve been unconscious.”

  “How long?”

  “Three days.”

  Three days. Three of my final five days left on this earth and I had spent them unconscious. I reached out to the hand on my chest, running my fingers over her skin. It felt nice to touch someone I knew wasn’t here because they wanted something from me. I slowly opened my eyes. It was bright, but everything must feel that way when your eyes haven’t been open for days.

  Maria smiled at me and helped me into a sitting position. A glass of water found its way to my lips and I drank hungrily from it. The cool liquid swam down my throat and exploded into my empty belly. I managed not to gag, and then I greedily drank more. Maria moved the glass away and placed a kiss on my lips. The warmth of her lips on mine after the coolness of the water made them tingle. I pulled her into an embrace and then rolled over on top of her.

  “God, I’m hungry.”

  “I thought you might be, but I can’t get you the food until you let me go,” she said, raising her eyebrow and giving me a questioning look.

  I darted in for another kiss, letting my hand roam freely across the top of her dress. “Before I can do that I have another appetite that I would like to satisfy.”

 
She moaned as I kissed her neck, holding me there to make sure I didn’t move. For the first time I realized that I was already naked. That was one problem that solved itself. I continued to move my kisses down Maria’s neck until I found the top of her dress. I pulled it down with my teeth and rained kisses on what I exposed. She tilted up below me and I growled as her body pressed against mine. I felt a sense of delight when I realized she had moved so she could lift her dress up for me.

  I lost myself in her warm embrace as we rolled around the bed. She felt so good in my arms, I was going to miss this when I was gone. She almost made me feel whole again, her brightness and warmth chased away the darkness that had curled around my soul. When we broke apart I almost cried. The agony of not being one with her anymore was almost too much for me to bear.

  “I’ll go and see about that food, you see if you can do something about that smell.”

  For the first time I became aware that maybe diving straight into a romp wasn’t the best approach. I had been asleep for three days, and she was right I smelled awful. That made me love her even more. She had given me what I needed despite the state that I was in. I watched her as she left the room. She looked back once and I couldn’t help but smile.

  After she was gone I found my way into the bathroom, I got the hot water running for the tub and went to take care of some more pressing urges. The water was warm and I wasn’t dirty, but the soap washed away three days’ worth of funk. I felt refreshed. I moved a hand up to clean the wound on my shoulder, preparing to hiss with pain as the hot water entered it. When nothing happened I looked down. It had worked, it was worth it. My shoulder was healed and although my body was weak I now stood a chance of beating Adam.

  “You do, with my help,” a voice whispered.

  I spun around, sloshing water out of the tub, but no one was in the room with me.