Forged

by Benedict Jacka

  “Deleo is here,” I interrupted. “You want to catch her, get up here now.” I hung up.

  Thirty seconds. I was feeding the future where the switch failed, pouring energy into it. Sixty percent, seventy, eighty, ninety, ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven . . .

  It stuck at ninety-seven. There was a slight possibility of a short circuit that I couldn’t seem to shake. Three percent chance of killing myself. Could I risk it?

  Five seconds. I put a surge of power into the fateweaver, giving it everything I had. The short-circuit future wavered and vanished.

  My hands shot out and I pulled both detonators from the C-4, like sticks coming free from particularly stubborn clay. Just as I did, the air on the far side of the room darkened and a gate appeared in front of the tinted windows. One of the detonators was far enough out and the ward didn’t trigger, but the other did, and I swore I saw the flash of an electric spark as the explosive missed going off by less than a second.

  Rachel stepped through the gateway and turned towards me with a look of death on her face.

  chapter 7

  All the alarms I’d so carefully avoided went off at once. Red lights flashed, magical and electrical warnings went flying out, and Rachel sent a disintegration beam at my chest.

  I dropped, the ray passing overhead and taking out a chunk of wall. The table with the housing hid me briefly and I heard Rachel’s footfalls as she closed in. She’d have me in sight in seconds.

  When you can’t run, attack. I came up in a lunge, my knife searching for her heart. Rachel’s shield flared and the blade glanced off. She tried another disintegrate spell, but I was inside her range and knocked her arm away; the beam went high, destroying a patch of ceiling.

  Mr. Verus! November sounded panicky. The alarms—

  I know! I snarled. I drove Rachel back, kicks and slashes keeping her briefly off balance, but I couldn’t get through her shield. Rachel recovered and cast some spell I’d never seen. A sea-green whip of darkly glowing light formed at her hand and I threw myself backward; the snaking whip caught my knife and a table leg, cutting both in half. The table went down with a crash, sending computer banks tumbling to the floor, and I dived behind it, rolling out of sight.

  Rachel’s footsteps started up again as she continued her approach. I looked from side to side, my thoughts racing. The toolbox didn’t hold anything that could break Rachel’s shield. My dispel focus could, but trying to use that against someone as fast as Rachel was suicide. There was the computer case holding November’s core, with the blocks of plastic explosive, one detonator that was triggered . . .

  . . . and one that wasn’t. I grabbed one of the blocks of C-4, shoved in the detonator, then stood and threw it in a single motion.

  Rachel saw the block coming and strengthened her shield. The ward on the detonator registered the magical energy of the spell and triggered instantly.

  Light and sound hammered me with a roar. I’d seen what was coming and dived for cover, but in the confined space of the data centre the explosion was horrendous. The shock wave battered my body and sent every piece of furniture in the room flying. A table crashed down on top of me, then all of a sudden everything was silent but for the ringing in my ears.

  Somehow I managed to get to my feet. Daylight was streaming in: the windows along the far side of the room had blown out. The room was filled with smoke, and I coughed as I kicked aside the table and staggered over to November’s housing. The housing was scrap, but in the fraction of a second I’d had to spare, I’d managed to nudge the explosion in the direction I’d wanted, and November’s core had survived largely undamaged. That was extremely unnerving, November said. Mr. Verus? Are you still there?

  Yes. I’d lost track of my toolbox, but not the backpack. I started to pull cables out of November’s case.

  I thought you were going to kill me.

  I said I’d get you out, didn’t I? Now shut up and let me concentrate.

  One of the cables was refusing to come free. I kept yanking at it for a good five seconds before I registered that it was held in by screws. I spun them loose, still dazed from the explosion. I’d lost track of Rachel, but I knew she’d be back.

  The last screw came out. I heaved up November’s case; my left hand slipped but the right held steady and I got it into the backpack. I shrugged on the straps as I stood up and started feeling my way towards the exit.

  Mr. Verus? November said. I know you said not to bother you, but we may have a problem.

  I’d already sensed it. Gate magic was being used outside the data centre, both the steady signature of a gate and the briefer flashes of the more specialised teleportation spell that I’d only ever seen used by space mages. I’d made it back into the main corridor, but I knew that as soon as I stepped out onto the roof, it was going to start a fight. I slumped against the wall, my legs still shaky. Starbreeze? I asked, reaching out through the dreamstone. I could really use a lift right about now.

  Come watch the fire man, Starbreeze said brightly.

  Maybe later. I really need to get out of here.

  I’m busy.

  Starbreeze!

  No answer. I looked ahead to see what would happen if I opened the front door.

  There were four people out on the rooftop, and all of them were looking straight at where I’d appear. One I’d seen before. He was short and slight, with English looks, and was dressed like a civil servant who’d just stepped out of the office. His name was Barrayar, and he was Levistus’s personal assistant and troubleshooter. I’d never fought him, but I knew he was more dangerous than he looked.

  The other three were strangers. There was a black guy, and a man and a woman who looked Japanese. All were wearing matte-black combat gear with low-level magical enhancement that looked like a weaker version of my own combat armour. I’d glimpsed them in my path-walking, enough to have a vague idea of what they could do, but not in detail. November? Give me a report on those three.

  November answered instantly, the thoughts and information flashing into my mind. Coleman Ward, aka Crash. Elemental adept, ranked near-mage level. Force magic: enhanced strength, speed, toughness, mobility, personal range only. Ito Ryuunosuke, aka Jumper. Universal adept, ranked mage level. Space magic: personal and touch-range teleportation. Ito Midori, aka Stickleback. Elemental adept, ranked near-mage level. Force magic: creation of circular force planes, offensive and defensive utility. Group status: limited affiliation with Light Councils of North America, Japan, and Korea; outlaw status in China. Employment status: long-term retainer contract with Levistus. Primary duties: personal security of Levistus and two designated priority locations, of which this is one.

  I didn’t like the sound of that. Adept mercenaries don’t live long enough to make a name for themselves unless they’re good. I scanned the futures, looking for ways out.

  There weren’t any. I couldn’t reach any exits from the data centre apart from this one, and the wards prevented me from gating. Worse, Rachel was on her feet and heading for me. She’d appear at the end of the corridor in less than fifteen seconds.

  Okay, time to go back to thinking like an underdog.

  Rachel was less than five seconds away. My supply of one-shots was low, but I still had a few that I’d saved for a rainy day. I pulled a condenser from my pocket and waited. Rachel came around the corner thirty feet away. I let her get a glimpse of me, then as her hand came up I threw the condenser to shatter at my feet and kicked open the door.

  Water magic flared: both the weak magic of the condenser as its mist cloud rushed out to obscure everything around me, and the sharp deadly signature of Rachel’s disintegration spell. I sidestepped and the beam flashed past through the doorway towards Barrayar and the three mercenaries. There was a shout but I was focused on Rachel. She hadn’t stopped casting, and even blind, Rachel’s guesses at my location were way too accurate. I twisted
aside from one beam and then another: the wall behind me puffed into dust, and more beams sped through the gap. Then I felt more magic from behind.

  I sprinted through the gap and away down the edge of the building, catching a glimpse of a violet-tinged disc of force cutting horizontally through the mist. I came out of the light and into the dazzling sun, ducking around a corner and breaking line of sight to Barrayar and the mercenaries.

  I jumped over a pipe and skirted a pair of huge fans. Behind me, the bright September day lit up in a furious exchange, force magic against the sea-green light of Rachel’s disintegration beams. I didn’t have time to see who was winning, and didn’t care. I was focused on whether any of them were coming after me. I’d only been in sight for a moment, but that might have been long enough for them to catch a glimpse and figure out—

  Force magic pulsed. I came to a stop and turned.

  Barrayar came flying down from his jump like a falling missile, and landed on top of a flat-roofed shed with a crash. The small concrete-and-metal building shook under the impact, and Barrayar stood up. The wind ruffled his hair and tie, blowing them out to one side, and his eyes were hard. “It’s in that backpack,” he told me. “Isn’t it?”

  “Hey, Barrayar,” I said. As I spoke I was path-walking in all directions, scouting the terrain. The part of roof I was on was largely bare, cluttered with industrial equipment but with no way down. “So how are things—?”

  “I’ll only say this once.” Barrayar’s voice was clipped. “I don’t care about catching you, not today, but that synthetic is more dangerous than you can possibly understand. Drop it right now and you can leave. Do anything else, or try to stall, and I’ll kill you.”

  “Dangerous how?”

  When Barrayar had said “anything,” he’d meant it. A thin line of force magic flashed out like a bullet.

  That line was the width of a fingernail, and invisible. It was also powerful enough to rip through my armour and internal organs and go right out the other side. I twisted, my divination giving me warning to dodge left even as I used fate magic to pull the attack to the right, and felt the vibration as Barrayar’s spell punched a neat hole in the roof. Barrayar tracked me, firing again, and I ran, the impacts lacing lines of death through the futures.

  I put a small building between us and ducked as Barrayar shot through it blind, the attack going over my shoulder. I’d run too far and now I was out of roof. Up ahead was another skyscraper, a little lower than Heron Tower; down below, the traffic on the A-road wound its way around a growing cluster of police vehicles that looked like toy cars.

  There was another crash as Barrayar landed on the building right behind. I turned to see him looking down from less than twenty feet away, his eyes narrowed. He aimed his right hand at me, palm first, taking his time to make sure he hit, maybe wondering why I wasn’t dodging. Then he paused. He’d sensed the same thing that my magesight had: a powerful elemental source, rising fast.

  With a whoosh Cinder burst up into the sky like a phoenix. Wings of fire spread from his shoulders; dark red flame burnt about one hand, while on his other a gauntlet shone with power. Cinder reached the peak of his leap, hovering, and aimed downwards; Barrayar jumped away as the roof of the small building erupted with a roar.

  Cinder floated forward and down, landing in front of me with a thud. A fiery shield burned around him, the flames licking at his hands and legs without consuming them. “Why are you standing around?” he growled.

  I grinned. “Never been so happy to see a Dark mage.”

  Starbreeze came flitting up behind Cinder, giving him an interested glance before looking at me. “Where did you go?”

  Cinder leapt up with another flash of fire magic into a smaller jump. He landed on the scorched roof where Barrayar had been, and strode out of sight. “I’ll tell you later,” I said to Starbreeze. “Mind getting us out of here?”

  “Oh, okay.” Starbreeze swept around me. I felt her starting to transmute my body to air. Just a few more seconds, and we’d be—

  The transmutation stopped with a sudden jar, my body turning back to flesh and blood. Starbreeze separated from me, floating away. “Can’t.”

  “What?” I said. “What do you mean, ‘can’t’?”

  “Can’t.”

  “Can’t what?”

  Starbreeze pointed at my backpack. “He’s heavy.”

  “What do you mean, ‘heavy’? That doesn’t make any sense!”

  The air above Heron Tower flashed red, fire magic meeting force with a boom that sent a shiver through the building. November, I said. Why can’t Starbreeze transmute you?

  Ah . . . assuming Starbreeze is the air elemental mentioned in your files, I’m not entirely sure. My core was constructed using certain hybrid materials that are held in a more unstable state than is typical for—

  I don’t need a science lesson! Can we fix it?

  Well . . . given the timeframe, no.

  Sea-green light flashed. I was running out of time: Cinder couldn’t keep everyone busy and it wouldn’t take them long to track me down. “Go watch the fire?” Starbreeze asked.

  “No! Look, if you can’t transmute us, carry us.” I pointed across the gap to the nearest skyscraper: it was only a street’s width apart, maybe sixty feet across and about as much down. “Get us there.”

  “But you’re heavy.”

  “Starbreeze! Please!”

  With an exaggerated sigh, Starbreeze swept around me. My hair whipped as if in a whirlwind, and with a jolt my feet left the roof. Painfully slowly, I floated over the railing and down into the sky.

  The flash and boom of attack magic sounded from the rooftop. Behind was Heron Tower, ahead the other skyscraper, below a seven-hundred-foot drop. The afternoon sun beat down out of a blue sky, leaving us horribly exposed. I couldn’t see any of the combatants on the roof behind, but I knew how visible we were. The other rooftop drew closer. Thirty feet . . . twenty feet . . . ten . . .

  The futures changed, suddenly and for the worse. Starbreeze! Get us onto the roof, now!

  Okay, okay. Starbreeze changed angle. You’re still heavy—

  A violet disc of force flashed out from Heron Tower. I’d seen it coming and pushed with the fateweaver, trying to diverge its track from ours. I almost made it; it missed us but clipped Starbreeze, who dropped me with a yelp.

  I twisted in midair and my feet hit concrete with a jarring thud. “Ow!” Starbreeze said. “That hurt!” She fled, disappearing.

  I stood. Unlike Heron Tower, the top of this skyscraper was a construction site. A tower crane rose from the roof centre like a gigantic tree, its blue-triangle column stretching up into the sky. Pipes, steel beams, and building materials were scattered around, and a high fence prevented anyone from jumping or falling. There were some buildings at the far end that I knew had roof access. I also knew I wasn’t going to get the time to reach them.

  A figure jumped from the roof of Heron Tower, crossing the sixty feet in one impossibly long leap and landing on the roof with a boom. It was one of the mercenaries, the black guy. A second later, mercenaries two and three blinked into existence forty feet away, the Japanese guy holding the shoulder of the woman. All three looked at me, sizing me up.

  “Can we talk about this?” I asked.

  The black guy charged.

  I stood still for a second as the adept pounded towards me, studying him in present and future. The adept—Crash—was big and fast; he moved with more-than-natural strength and came in for an attack strong enough to break bones. I ducked at the last second and tripped him, sending him flying, then sprinted towards the other two.

  The woman, Stickleback, watched me coolly as I closed the distance. Her hands glowed with a faint violet light as a disc of translucent force appeared between them, growing, rotating, and starting to spin all in a fraction of a second before it flashed ou
t at me at knee-height like a giant flying saw blade. I jumped over it, but she was already making a second, followed by a third. I dodged each one, closing the distance. Thirty feet, twenty feet, ten—

  The Japanese man hadn’t taken his hand off the woman’s shoulder. Space magic pulsed, and the two of them vanished, reappearing sixty feet behind me.

  I turned to look at them. That is really annoying.

  Pounding feet announced Crash’s arrival. I stepped away from a reverse spin kick that would have shattered my skull, then gave ground against the punches that followed. Crash responded to my lack of aggression by pressing in; I took the opening and hit him with a palm strike to the face. It should have broken his nose, but instead my hand stung as if I’d hit wood, and Crash rocked back, catching himself and watching me with calculating eyes.

  Protective force magic, evasive teleportation. I didn’t have time to get through that many defences. I broke contact, running left.

  Stickleback responded, throwing discs of force. I weaved, letting the discs pass ahead and behind. Stickleback and Jumper were near the roof’s edge and I cut across the middle. The futures I was looking for lined up and I sent a surge of energy through the fateweaver.

  Stickleback threw another force disc and I dropped flat. The disc sailed over my head with a hiss and struck the base of the tower crane, the force magic shearing through steel. With a shriek and a groan of twisting metal, the crane fell, toppling straight towards Stickleback and Jumper.

  Stickleback looked up at the monstrous thing falling towards her, and her eyes went wide. Jumper teleported just in time, and both of them vanished as the crane came down with a horrific crash, splintering the fence as the cross-beam of the crane smashed down onto the top of Heron Tower.

  Dust and particles swept up into the air. The crane, which had once risen vertically into the air, now formed a crooked bridge between Heron Tower and the skyscraper I was on. The three mercenaries were all staring at the destruction, and before they could decide what to do next, I dashed along the side of the fallen crane, and jumped through the gap in the fence and out into space.