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

by James E. Wisher

  It didn’t take long to find Kai and open a viewing window. The Society wizard was on the third-floor landing with her hands raised. The gestures looked familiar.

  “She’s opening a portal,” Prime said. “What are you going to do?”

  He wanted to scream that he didn’t know, but all he could do was shake his head.

  “She’s going to escape,” Prime said.

  “I can see that. It’s not a simple decision, killing someone. I can’t just leap into it.”

  “Chosen. I will do it. Just give me the order.”

  He looked at Kai, standing there, hand on her sword. It would be simple enough. The wizard was distracted by her spell. One step and a slash. That would be the end of it.

  No. He couldn’t ask Kai to do that.

  “Reveal the way through infinite darkness. Open the path. Hell Portal!”

  Conryu stepped through and raised his staff.

  The wizard’s eyes went wide.

  “Gust!” The winds hit her like a truck, lifting her off the ground and slamming her hard into the wall. She slumped and didn’t move. Still, the life force burned bright in her chest.

  Weakling!

  Better a weakling than a murderer. Conryu conjured a disk to carry her and retreated to the roof to deactivate the barrier.

  By the time Conryu finished stripping the artifacts off the unconscious wizard and transporting her downstairs, Jemma and the others were waiting. The Ministry wizards looked exhausted and Angus was still muttering to himself. Maria seemed okay and that was what really mattered to him.

  “Did you have much trouble?” Jemma asked.

  “Not really.” As long as you didn’t count deciding whether to pass judgement on someone’s life. “She had a couple artifacts on her, I assume they came from your collection.”

  “That’s classified,” Celia said.

  “Right.” Conryu dug the ring and pin out of his pocket and tossed them to the suspicious wizard. “The barrier statue is still on the roof.”

  “You just left it there?” Celia demanded.

  “I know you’re not giving me shit five seconds after I handed your headquarters back to you.”

  Jemma raised her hands. “Easy, Celia. We owe Conryu a great deal and not just for today. Why don’t you put the artifacts away and search the building for any surprises. Lock the prisoner up as well.”

  “What about you?” Celia asked.

  “I’m going to take Conryu to the bunker. Hopefully the communications staff have made contact with the Alliance. I’m sure he wants to know what’s happening on the home front and the king will want to thank him personally for all he’s done.”

  “I’m not sure—” Celia began.

  “I wasn’t asking your opinion,” Jemma said. “You have your orders. Marsha and the others will help you.”

  “Understood, Director.”

  “I believe I’ll ride this business out here,” Angus said. “No offense, my boy, but things have a tendency to get dangerous around you.”

  Conryu held in a sigh of relief until Angus and the others were out of sight. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about the crazy professor. It would be hard enough protecting Maria. Hopefully, he’d find somewhere safe to leave her as well. Not that he didn’t love having her with him, but it was so crazy right now.

  “Do we travel by portal or fly?” Conryu asked.

  “Actually,” Jemma said. “The palace grounds are only about ten blocks from here. I thought we’d walk.”

  Conryu shrugged and they set out. The three of them marched through street after street where the buildings had been reduced to little more than rubble. Twice, wandering zombies came shuffling their way, forcing Conryu to burn them to ash.

  “It’s so horrible,” Maria said. “What will everyone do?”

  “We’ll pull through,” Jemma said. “Londoners are tough. The city was completely destroyed during the Elf War and we rebuilt it better than ever. We did it once, we can do it again.”

  Conryu liked her attitude, though he suspected Jemma was being a little overly optimistic. It would take years to repair the city and winter would be on them in weeks. The people were in for a rough time and no mistake.

  The palace was little more than a heap of confetti. A single man wearing a red uniform stood in the middle of the debris field. He carried a rifle which popped up the moment he spotted them. Conryu readied a spell, but Jemma moved in front of him.

  “Have you dug out the bunker?” Jemma asked.

  “Is that you, Director?” The soldier lowered his weapon and snapped to attention. “Yes, ma’am. His Majesty was getting worried about you. We all were. How are things in the city?”

  “Calm for now, thanks to Conryu. Have the techs gotten communications back up?”

  “Yes, ma’am, satellites too. You can go on down. I’m sure His Majesty will want a full report.”

  Jemma led them past the nervous guard and down a set of steps to a closed door. She waved her hand and the door opened. Inside was a large room filled with computer equipment and monitors of all sizes. On the largest screen was an image of the Alliance president.

  Conryu couldn’t make out what he was saying, but from his ashen complexion and dark eyes, he suspected it wasn’t good news.

  Jemma led them to a terminal with a young woman busily tapping away at a keyboard. She didn’t even seem to notice them until Jemma said, “Ellie.”

  The tech flinched and looked up. “Hello, Director. Glad you’re okay.”

  “The satellites are back up?”

  “Yes, ma’am. It’s real bad.” She typed in a command and an image of a burned-out city appeared on her monitor. “That’s Liverpool. Morgana destroyed every decent sized city on her way across the country. We’re estimating deaths in the high six figures.”

  “God almighty,” Maria whispered.

  “What about the Alliance?” Jemma asked.

  “Pretty bad there too,” the tech said. “Morgana and her crew trashed Sentinel City before moving on to Central. Looks like they’re putting everything they have toward defending their capital. Don’t tell anyone, but I listened in on the king’s conversation. The Alliance president is trying to find help, but we have nothing to offer.”

  Conryu only registered every other word after she mentioned Sentinel City had been attacked. He needed to get home.

  “Jemma, we’re leaving,” Conryu said. “Good luck.”

  He held out his hand to Maria who took it at once. Conryu willed the library door to appear and it obliged. Everyone turned to look, but he ignored them and stepped through. They’d be home in seconds. Hopefully everyone was okay.

  10

  Central Showdown

  Conryu tried to will the library door to open in his apartment, but it refused. He glared at the opening like it was being willfully disobedient. The Librarian floated over. “The door can’t appear in a location that doesn’t exist.”

  His throat closed and he had trouble breathing for a moment. His home was gone. Were his parents gone as well or were they out when the building got hit? There was no way to know.

  Maria let out a little sob. He put his arm around her and clenched his jaw. They couldn’t assume the worst. Like as not both their parents were at the Department and Dad might have been at the dojo.

  He refused to panic.

  Conryu shifted his focus and ordered the door to appear in the Department parking lot. Even if the building was gone, the empty lot should be there.

  Immediately the door formed and swung out.

  “Master, there might be enemies—”

  Conryu ignored Prime and strode through the door. Even if there were enemies waiting, they’d wish they were somewhere else given the mood he was in.

  They emerged onto the pavement and the door vanished behind them. Conryu gaped at the ruins. All the buildings had been destroyed.

  “Oh, god, Conryu.” Maria buried her face in his chest.

  “Prime, do you
sense anything?”

  “No, Master, I’m sorry.”

  He needed to think. Where would they have gone, assuming anyone survived the attack? Not back home, since home no longer existed.

  Conryu absently stroked Maria’s hair as he considered one place after another. Finally he said, “Can you think of somewhere they might have gone?”

  She wiped the tears from her eyes. “There’s a police station not far from here. Assuming it survived the attack, they might have gone there.”

  It was a place to start anyway. He focused on including Maria in the spell then cast, “Father of winds, carry us into your domain. Air Rider.”

  They soared into the sky and Conryu asked, “Which way?”

  She pointed and he flew east. A few seconds later he spotted the tank.

  His heart raced. He recognized it at once from his mother’s description. If the tank made it here, maybe Mom did too.

  The steel beast sat beside a handful of intact cop cars outside a mostly intact station house. For safety’s sake he cast a pair of Diamond Skin spells after they landed, just in case the officers were in “shoot first and ask questions later” mode.

  They made the short walk to the front door in silence. Conryu didn’t dare get his hopes up, even after seeing the tank. One of his mother’s assistants might have driven out after all.

  Five steps from the entrance the door opened and a pair of guns poked out. “State your name and address.”

  Conryu knew that voice. “Sarge? Is that you?”

  The door opened the rest of the way and Lin moved outside. “Conryu? We thought you were missing or something. Good to have you back.”

  “Thanks. Our parents?”

  “Chief Kane and his wife are here and so is your mother.”

  Maria breathed out a long sigh and squeezed his arm. Finally a bit of good news. At least partially good.

  “What about my dad?” Conryu asked.

  “Sensei is gone. I wasn’t there for the attack, but Chief Kane can fill you in. Come on.”

  Conryu allowed himself the fiction that his father was out in the city helping people as Lin led them past a pair of nervous officers who kept their weapons drawn. He needed to believe that if he was going to keep functioning, but from Lin’s tone the truth was far too obvious.

  “There are still a few wizards roaming the city,” Lin said. “The guns make them feel better, even though normal bullets are only a little more effective than spit balls. We’ve set the office up as an aid station. The three wizards that have joined us managed to drive off two attacks, but we’re in serious need of reinforcements.”

  A few yards into the building the wounded started piling up. Deeper in, a woman screamed and a moment later a baby joined in. Desks, chairs and even the floor were occupied by people with various injuries. Some were missing limbs and even the best off were splattered in blood.

  At the rear of the room a golden glow appeared. Someone was using healing magic.

  “Mom!” Maria ran toward the glow and Conryu followed her.

  Mrs. Kane knelt beside a woman, a newborn baby in one arm, her free hand extended, light magic glowing around her fingers. The woman was bleeding badly. Conryu wasn’t much of a healer, but it was clear something had gone wrong with the birth.

  Mrs. Kane fell back and the glow vanished. “I can’t. I’m out of power.”

  “I can help,” Maria said.

  Mrs. Kane’s gaze darted to her daughter and her eyes lit up. “Thank god, Maria. We feared the worst.”

  “Go ahead,” Conryu said. “I’ll take care of the woman.”

  Maria ran to her mother and embraced her as best she could around the baby. Conryu touched the bleeding woman with his staff and cast, “The gentle light of Heaven washes away all wounds, Touch of the Goddess.”

  The bleeding stopped at once, and she lay back and fell sound asleep. Conryu smiled. It was a wonderful thing, to save a life rather than take one. He wished all his decisions were as simple as this one.

  The crying baby drew his attention back to Maria and her mother. Tears ran freely down both their faces. Maria helped her mother up and a nearby officer took the baby. Conryu finally noticed the scars covering Mrs. Kane’s face.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “The Department was attacked. I took some shrapnel in the face and arms. Nothing serious, but it hurt like the devil.”

  “I can heal your scars,” he said.

  Conryu took a step closer, but she raised her hand. “Save your strength. There are plenty of people who need it worse than I do.”

  He couldn’t argue with that. “Where’s my mom? I saw the tank out front.”

  “She’s resting in one of the interrogation rooms with Orin. When we told her about Sho, she didn’t handle it well. The station nurse gave her something to calm her down.”

  So much for his happy fiction. “What happened?”

  Mrs. Kane filled him in. When she finished she added, “He died protecting us. If I’d been stronger, I’d have stopped the lunatic from killing him. Who am I kidding? I’ve never faced a wizard as powerful as the one that wore the dragon mask.”

  The room spun around him. Lady Dragon killed his father.

  Null’s words came back, stabbing him like an ice pick to the brain. If you let them live, what they do after is your responsibility.

  “It’s my fault,” he whispered. Only his hand on the staff kept him upright. “I had two chances to kill her and both times I was too weak to follow through.”

  Maria left her mother’s side and hugged him. “It is not your fault. You didn’t make the crazy woman’s choices for her.”

  He knew she was trying to make him feel better, but Conryu recognized the truth. If he’d killed Lady Dragon that day at the Kincade mansion, his father and a lot of other people would be alive today.

  Dean Emily Blane stood beside Angeline in the empty lounge and watched the thirty or so wizards circling around the school. She couldn’t get a clear sense of their power, but thirty would be a problem even if they were only modestly strong. At least the students were all safe in the bunker they built after the dragon mane attack last year.

  The tap, tap of the Death Stick drew her attention to the Head of Dark Magic. Angeline’s wrinkles appeared even deeper as she scowled. Emily didn’t need to ask what she was thinking.

  “You want to be out there fighting.”

  “Don’t you?” Angeline asked.

  “Of course. If these people think they can invade my school and get away with it, they’re sorely mistaken. But we need to consider the students’ safety. Not many of them are strong enough to fight and none have experience. Even the teachers, despite their considerable knowledge, don’t have much in the way of combat experience. I doubt more than a handful have used magic to kill.”

  “I suppose not.” The tapping stopped. “I further suppose that none of our enemies were sent to the Lonely Rock because of their poor personalities.”

  “No. If it comes to a fight I wouldn’t count on anyone besides the two of us, St. Seraphim, and Anna Grundy. If the others can keep the students calm and out of the way that’ll be a huge help.”

  Angeline snorted. “They must know that as well as we do. Why don’t they attack?”

  That was indeed the question. The former prisoners hadn’t showed any hesitation before now. Emily’s eyes widened. “The prisoners don’t want to fight, they want to keep us pinned down so we can’t help in Central. As long as we have to protect the students, we’re stuck.”

  “That’s cleverer than I’d have thought. Effective too.”

  A faint buzzing filled her ears followed a moment later by St. Seraphim’s voice. “Dean Blane, Director Kincade is on the phone and she wishes to speak with you.”

  Emily grimaced. Malice, just what she didn’t need right now. “I’ll be there in a moment.”

  “Trouble?” Angeline asked.

  “With a capital M. I don’t know what she thinks I ca
n do, but I’d better go talk to her anyway.”

  “Better you than me. I don’t care if she fires me so I’m apt to tell her just what I think of her.”

  Emily wished she had that option, but for the good of the school she needed to stay on Malice’s good side, or at least her better side. She doubted Malice had a good side. “I’ll be back as quick as I can.”

  Angeline nodded, seeming totally unconcerned by the wizards besieging them. And maybe she was, Angeline had seen more in her life than any five other people Emily knew. If she had three more like her, they could handle their problem in a blink.

  Emily jogged up to the administrative floor and took the phone from St. Seraphim. “She seems in a poor temper,” the Head of Light Magic warned.

  That described Malice every day of the week. “Yes, Director?”

  “Why aren’t you here yet?” Malice demanded. “I ordered the school mobilized days ago.”

  “I’m aware of that, but we’re in a situation here. If the teachers go to Central, the students will be vulnerable and I have thirty wizards outside that would no doubt love to take advantage. As dean, my first responsibility is to my students.”

  “Your first responsibility is whatever I tell you it is. Morgana is tearing the city apart. The Department is barely holding. If we don’t receive reinforcements soon we’ll break. You think Morgana won’t be paying you a visit herself once that happens?”

  Malice had a point, even if she made it in her usual tactless way. They needed to break the siege. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

  Emily hung up before Malice gave her any more orders. How could she move the students to safety? They’d have to risk traveling by portal.

  “St. Seraphim, I want you to open a Heaven portal and have a look around. If there are no enemies waiting on the other side, we’re going to send the students through.”

  St. Seraphim offered an elegant nod. “To where shall we take them?”

  Emily chewed her lip and wished she knew the secret that allowed the other woman to remain so calm all the time. “Our west coast adjunct facility will do for now.”