Death Incarnate: Aegis of Merlin Book 7 (The Aegis of Merlin)

by James E. Wisher

  Celia grinned. “I like the sound of that.”

  When the final Ministry wizard disappeared inside, Lady Tiger and her group landed in the now empty parking lot. Lady Raven emerged from a dark portal and hurried over to the dead wizard. She didn’t pay the least attention to the rest of them as she waved her hands over the pieces of flesh and chanted. Darkness gathered the pieces of the body together, seeping into every pore, and drawing the remains into a complete figure. After a few seconds it sat up and climbed to its feet.

  Lady Raven glared at them all. “What? You can never have too many reinforcements. And this one won’t hesitate to obey, unlike her.”

  Marsha lay unconscious on the pavement. Despite their best efforts, no amount of magic had been able to break her will. It must have had something to do with her Ministry training since they’d dispelled all her active magic.

  “What now?” Donna asked.

  All eyes turned to Lady Tiger. Was this how Lady Dragon felt? Everyone constantly looking to her for answers? No wonder the leader of the Society always seemed to be in a bad mood.

  “Now we find a way in. If our prisoner is reluctant to give us what we need while alive, perhaps we can learn what we need from her corpse. Lady Raven?”

  Lady Raven shuffled over and crouched beside the unconscious Ministry wizard. She brushed her hair aside then peeled back one eyelid. “This sort of spell is best cast at night, or at least out of the sun.”

  Lady Tiger glanced at the horizon. Maybe an hour remained until the sun dipped out of sight. They could wait that long. “Donna, take the others and make a patrol around the building. I don’t want anyone sneaking up on us when the ritual starts.”

  When the former prisoners had gone Lady Raven said, “Where did you find this lot?”

  “Same place we found you. They were the only ones that didn’t want to continue on with Morgana.”

  “Why didn’t you, want to continue with her that is?”

  “Let’s just say the reality of Morgana’s freedom didn’t measure up to what I’d expected. I decided to cut my losses and stake a claim here.”

  Lady Raven cackled and chanted in Infernal. A black ring appeared around Marsha and symbols formed in the gaps around her body.

  Lady Tiger shuddered as a wave of chill, necromantic energy washed over her. She wasn’t squeamish by any stretch of the imagination, but she’d never had much of a taste for the truly dark arts. The spell forming in the dying light was well known to her. The Society used it on the rare occasions when other forms of magical coercion failed to procure the information they required. Every time she’d seen it cast before, the victim was already dead. In fact, she didn’t even realize it could be used on the living.

  Her former subordinate, however, seemed to revel in her work, capering around the circle like a mad monkey, twisting a finger here, adjusting the energy flow there. Horrific as the spell was, Lady Raven directed it like a master. Before her capture, Lady Raven had been the highest-ranking dark magic user in the Society.

  “There!” Lady Raven stopped and stood, hands on hips. “When the sun vanishes I can release the conjured energy and complete the ritual.”

  “I didn’t realize Soul Compulsion worked on the living,” Lady Tiger said.

  “It doesn’t. My variation includes the preliminary step of separating the soul from the body directly before shackling it. It’s much more effective than recalling the soul from the netherworld. I can keep it detained indefinitely, torture it however I wish, even destroy it outright should I grow particularly annoyed. Just wait until you hear her scream, that’s the best part.” Lady Raven rubbed her hands together and stared at the horizon.

  Lady Tiger took a step away from the black circle. She’d bound her success to a lunatic. Not the best plan in hindsight, but she’d committed herself so no sense getting worked up over it now.

  From her perch in the Ministry lobby, Jemma watched the black circle form around Marsha. She recognized the Soul Compulsion spell at once and after a moment of study puzzled out the strange alterations. They meant to rip Marsha’s soul from her body then bind it. She’d have no way to resist their questions, but even if she told her tormentors everything she knew it wouldn’t make any difference. Jemma had already reset all the Ministry’s defenses and changed the passwords. Marsha no longer knew how to safely enter the building.

  The old woman casting was the same one she’d battled in the borderland, Lady Raven. That suggested the other one was a Society member as well, no surprise given the mask. As dark wizards went, Jemma judged she was about equal to Lady Raven. The question was, was the second woman stronger or weaker than her compatriot? Either way it didn’t matter.

  “I have to save her,” Jemma said.

  “Don’t be stupid,” Celia said. “You can’t risk the whole building to save one person. Your responsibility is to protect the Kingdom.”

  “I know my responsibilities, but I also know what that spell’s going to do to Marsha. I can slip out the side door, rescue her, and flee. One of the girls can seal the door behind me. The risk is minimal.”

  “You’re our leader. We need you here.”

  “Not as much as she needs me. You’re more than capable of leading the others. Hell, they’d probably be better off with you in charge. I’m going and that’s the end of it.”

  Jemma hopped off her stool and strode away before Celia offered another excellent reason why she shouldn’t do what she needed to do. It wasn’t that she was looking for an excuse to rescue Marsha. The Ministry really would be better off with Celia in charge. Jemma had thought so since she took the job.

  Halfway to the side exit she ran into one of the junior wizards, a young one just graduated from school, and grabbed her up. Five minutes later they reached a little side door that opened into a blind alley shielded by magic. It was the most heavily warded exit in the building.

  Jemma waved her hand and muttered the password. There was a faint shimmer as the defensive spell deactivated.

  “As soon as I’m clear restore the ward. Don’t let anyone in. I know how to deactivate all the protections so I won’t be knocking. Understand?”

  She nodded, her lip trembling. This was what Celia was worried about. She couldn’t let them lose heart.

  “If it was you or any of the others out there I’d be just as determined to rescue you. You’re a Ministry wizard and you know your duty. I have complete confidence in all of you. Now, chin up.”

  The girl’s expression hardened and she nodded once. That was more like it.

  Jemma pushed through the door and out into the alley. The sun had almost set. She didn’t have time to waste.

  One step clear of the door and she went airborne.

  A tight turn set her soaring toward the parking lot. The two enemy wizards and the zombie they’d raised remained where she’d last seen them.

  The sun disappeared under the horizon and the older woman took a step toward the spell circle.

  Jemma thrust out a hand and cast, “Darkness dispels everything!”

  The sphere of dark energy shot out and destroyed the circle. The Black Ring’s chill made it feel like she’d dunked her hand into liquid nitrogen.

  Her success nearly cost her when twin streams of flame streaked out from the woman in red.

  A quick drop in altitude saved Jemma from getting her face burned off. The flames’ intensity surprised her. The second woman was definitely the stronger of the two.

  Jemma cast, “Cloak of Darkness.” That would protect her from the worst of the flames.

  Her theory was tested a moment later when a fireball exploded three feet from her.

  Jemma went flying out of control, the heat from the blast searing her lungs. When she’d recovered her equilibrium, she noticed Lady Raven busy restoring her spell circle.

  She was getting nowhere fast. If she couldn’t best the fire wizard her efforts would be for nothing.

  Thunder cracked and a lightning bolt from the main entr
y sent Lady Raven flying before arcing into the zombie and killing it for a second time. The partially completed circle dissolved.

  Celia emerged from the front door, lightning crackling around her hands.

  The fire wizard, caught between the two of them, grabbed her partner and vanished into a hastily conjured portal.

  Jemma hurried over, casting a strength-enhancing earth magic spell as she ran, and scooped up Marcia. Celia waved at her to hurry. She need not have bothered. Jemma ran as fast as she could with Marsha’s body slung over her shoulder.

  Once in the lobby she set her injured burden on one of the sofas and blew out a sigh. That had been too close.

  “I thought you said it was stupid to risk the Ministry for one person,” Jemma said.

  “It was, but for two maybe it was okay.” Celia grinned.

  Jemma smiled back. Her stupid risk had paid off. Marsha was safe.

  A minute later an explosion sounded from the direction of the side door.

  She leapt to her feet. “Get Marsha in a healing field. I’ll see what’s going on.”

  Jemma ran off, not looking to find out if her order had been obeyed. What the hell had happened now? Maybe His Majesty was right. Maybe they were cursed.

  Lady Tiger emerged from the wind portal a few feet from the open side door. Lady Raven stood beside her, unharmed by the lightning bolt that struck her. When she’d received word from a wind messenger that Amanda had spotted the gap in the wards and secured their entrance, she’d given Lady Raven the mental command to allow the enemy to think they’d been driven off. It would make their breaking in that much more of a surprise.

  The nervous young woman stood at the open door, the body of an even younger Ministry wizard at her feet. Lady Raven spent a few seconds animating the body then everyone slipped inside. Beyond the door waited a long empty hall. No guards, either human or magical. If they relied on that wisp of a girl to protect the entrance all on her own, then they were more desperate than she’d imagined.

  “What now?” Donna asked.

  “Now we secure the building,” Lady Tiger said. “Stick together and overwhelm them with numbers.”

  The others nodded and fell in behind her. Lady Raven sent the zombie staggering ahead of them to trigger any welcoming surprises. The body remained intact for the most part, and shuffling like it did, gave a fair approximation of a person in distress. It might serve as a useful lure, assuming there was anyone in the place to see it.

  They cleared one hall after another, encountering no one and finding nothing of any great interest. The place felt more like a typical government building than the home of the Kingdom’s wizards. More importantly, where were the artifacts? There had to be a vault somewhere.

  “Madison? Are you okay?”

  The concerned voice came from up ahead. Someone must have noticed their zombie.

  Lady Tiger pointed down the hall and a moment later a red-robed woman came around the corner. She had just enough time to register that her colleague wasn’t alone before Lady Tiger cast, “Fire Bolt!”

  A blast of fire shaped like a javelin streaked out and struck the Ministry wizard in the chest. A hiss and boom sounded as her attack struck a water barrier.

  The enemy wizard raised her hands to counterattack, but the zombie reached out and grabbed her by the throat, cutting her off mid-spell.

  The zombie squeezed and the woman’s throat crunched. She went limp and Lady Raven hurried up to cast her animation spell again. She seemed to enjoy raising the dead even more than she enjoyed killing them in the first place.

  Lady Tiger shuddered. At the best of times, Lady Raven hadn’t been entirely stable, but her time in prison seemed to have pushed her completely over the edge. At least she was working her dark arts on the right people. Not that Lady Tiger doubted any of their fallen would end up as stumbling undead if her former subordinate had her way.

  “Let’s get out of this hall,” she said. “Someone was bound to hear that boom.”

  Lady Raven gestured and the newly created zombie collapsed in the middle of the passage, looking for all the world like a normal body. Lady Tiger and the others slipped into empty offices on either side of the hall and settled in to wait.

  Jemma snuck along through the dark halls, all her senses, both magical and mundane, alert for danger. And there was danger. Whatever had caused that explosion wasn’t natural. Every few feet she paused and listened, but all she heard was the pounding of her heart. The silence of the Ministry building felt so wrong. Usually over one hundred people, wizards and support staff alike, would be bustling around on one errand or another.

  She clenched her fist. Somehow they’d put things back to normal. It might take months or years, but she swore she’d see it done. A faint tingle of magic came from up ahead. She must be getting close.

  Footsteps came from behind her. “Director! What was—”

  Jemma spun and held a finger to her lips. If anyone was nearby the damage was done, but no need to compound it.

  Misty tiptoed closer and mouthed, “What happened?”

  Jemma shook her head and continued down the hall. The magic she sensed was getting closer. It was dark magic for sure. She was the only dark magic user amongst those who’d made it to the rendezvous and she hadn’t cast any spells down here. That didn’t bode well for what they’d find.

  She winced when her fears were confirmed. A little ways ahead a body lay in the middle of the hall. It was the source of the dark magic.

  Softly Jemma murmured, “Cloak of Darkness.”

  Behind her Misty gasped. “Ella!”

  She ran past Jemma toward the fallen wizard.

  “No!”

  Too late. The moment Misty moved within reach, the body lashed out, striking her on the side of the head with enough force to send her flying into the wall.

  Misty slid to the floor and didn’t move.

  Jemma didn’t have time to check on her now. The zombie staggered to its feet and took a step toward her.

  “My will compels you,” Jemma said. “Halt!”

  The zombie shuddered, but kept coming. That told her someone was controlling it directly. And that meant they were inside the building.

  They’d been infiltrated.

  “I’m sorry, Ella.” Jemma focused and cast, “Rot and ruin, Entropic Blast!”

  The zombie crumbled to dust.

  Her moment of victory didn’t last. Six figures emerged from the offices beyond the body. Even in the poor light she recognized the two Society members. The rest wore prison uniforms and angry snarls.

  Six against one was too much for Jemma. She doubted she could best just the Society members on her own. With a final glance at Misty she shook her head and ran.

  Fire scorched her back, but her protective spell kept it from doing more than hurting. Blades of ice streaked past her then she rounded a corner.

  Pounding steps from her pursuers kept Jemma running. They’d lost the Ministry. She had to accept that. They lost it as soon as the enemy got inside.

  She murmured a wind spell as she ran and said, “Enemies have infiltrated the building. All Ministry personnel evacuate at once. Muster at the branch office downtown.”

  Jemma trusted that those able to do so would flee on their own. She needed to collect Marsha and make herself scarce.

  Celia must have gotten her message. When Jemma reached the lobby, Marsha was floating beside Celia a few feet from the door.

  Jemma waved her hands. “Go, go!”

  A fireball exploded to her left, sending Jemma staggering. She caught her balance and spun to find her pursuers a few yards behind.

  She slashed her hand through the air and cast, “Wall of Dark Decay!”

  An impenetrable black barrier sprang into existence at the end of the hall. The dark magic wall would absorb any magic used against it for thirty seconds. Not long, but enough to give them a head start.

  Celia was out the door and Jemma came hard on her heels. She paused for
a moment to activate the Ministry’s failsafe. At her command, all the building wards permanently deactivated. That should make it easier for them to retake headquarters, assuming they ever had the numbers to try.

  The downtown office was two miles south. Maybe they’d pick up a few stragglers to bolster their numbers. God knew they needed the help.

  “They’re getting away,” Donna said.

  Lady Tiger stood in the lobby and watched the last of the defenders running away as fast as their legs would carry them. She controlled the building now, but getting rid of the extra baggage would be good.

  “Take the others and finish them off,” Lady Tiger said. “I’ll search for any stragglers here.”

  “You don’t want to lead us on the hunt?” Donna asked.

  Lady Tiger shook her head. “You’ve demonstrated your ability and I have full confidence you can handle anything you’re likely to run into. When you’ve dealt with the Ministry wizards hurry back and we’ll make plans for our next move.”

  Donna puffed up at the praise, just as Lady Tiger had known she would. “I’ll bring you their heads.” She waved her arm and the four ex-prisoners ran out the front door.

  When they’d gone Lady Tiger grinned. Good riddance. Hopefully she’d have the artifacts before they returned.

  “So what now?” Lady Raven asked. “You seemed awfully eager to be rid of the dead weight.”

  Lady Tiger considered the mad dark magic user dead weight as well, but for now she was useful dead weight.

  “Somewhere on the premises we’ll find a vault containing a dozen or more elf artifacts. I intend to claim them and your powers will be most useful in carrying that out.”

  Lady Raven cackled. “You didn’t want to share. How petty and yet how like a Hierarch. I’ll help you, but I want first choice of artifacts.”

  Lady Tiger grimaced like it was a difficult decision. She could choose whenever she liked. Lady Tiger planned to reduce her to a pile of ash the moment they had access to the items.

  “Agreed. Let’s find some stairs. I suspect the vault is in the basement.”

  “Why guess, when we can simply ask?” Lady Raven laid her palm on the floor and cast, “Spirits of the fallen, rise to my call.”