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

by James E. Wisher

  “Construction is not complete.”

  “Not on the main building, but the dorm is done. It’ll be tight for everyone, but they’ll fit. If we fail to hold Morgana in Central, you’ll have to use your best judgement where to take them next.”

  “Will I not be joining you in battle?”

  “No, someone with experience needs to stay with the kids. That’s you. There’s no one else I’d rather trust.”

  St. Seraphim bowed. “I will not let you down.”

  Emily hoped not. If the Alliance was to have any hope of rebuilding, they’d need those students. They represented the future of magic.

  Conryu wasn’t sure how long he’d been staring at the interrogation room door. How was he going to explain to his mother that it was his fault Dad was dead? He was waiting for inspiration to strike, but so far nothing had come to him. He ran a hand through his hair, reached out for the knob, then pulled back.

  “Master, I believe your mother will wish to see you no matter the circumstances. She seems a most reasonable human.”

  “Yeah. Thanks, pal.”

  The door opened and he found himself face to face with Mr. Kane. Over his shoulder his mother was at the little table, head on her arms, resting.

  Before Conryu could think of something to say, Mr. Kane hugged him. “It’s good to see you well. I’m sorry about Sho.”

  “Thanks. Maria’s out front with her mother.”

  “Okay. I’ll leave you and Connie alone.” Mr. Kane walked back out toward the lobby leaving Conryu once again frozen in front of the now-open door.

  Just suck it up and go in. He gathered himself and stepped through, not stopping until he stood behind his mother.

  He put his hands on her shoulders. “Hi, Mom.”

  She reached up and grabbed his hands. “Your father…”

  “I know.” Conryu’s chin trembled and his voice broke. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I’m sorry I didn’t kill that masked bitch when I had the chance. Everything that happened is on me. But I’ll make it right, I’ll—”

  Mom leapt up and hugged him, burying her face in his chest.

  “It wasn’t your fault.” He barely made out her muffled voice. Mom looked up at him. “Sho did what he always did, the right thing. He wouldn’t want you beating yourself up over what happened and I don’t either. You’re not responsible for what that crazy woman did.”

  “But I am. I had two chances to kill her and I didn’t have the guts to do it and now Dad’s dead. How can that be anything but my fault?” Tears poured freely down his face as rage and sorrow warred in his heart. He knew his mother didn’t blame him for what happened, but he blamed himself.

  “Conryu, look at me.” When he met her gaze his mother said, “You can’t preemptively murder people because they might do something bad in the future. There’s no way you or anyone else could have known what she’d do to Sho. You need to accept that before it tears you apart.”

  How was he supposed to accept it? His brain said she was right, but his heart argued otherwise and he’d never know which was right.

  “Nice staff,” Mom said.

  Conryu laughed. “Thanks. It comes with a library. That’s where we’ve been for the last six weeks. Maria thought it was heaven.”

  “I’ll bet.” Mom finally smiled. “I—”

  An explosion rattled the building cutting off their conversation. It sounded like it came from the parking lot.

  He listened for gunshots, but everything was silent. “Prime?”

  “Magic of some sort, Master. I can’t tell more from here.”

  “We’d better check it out.” When his mother started to follow Conryu said, “Mom, please stay here. If anything happened to you…”

  “I know. I feel the same way about you. That’s why I’m coming.” She had that look that said no amount of arguing was going to help so they went toward the front of the building together.

  A large group had gathered by the front door and they were muttering amongst themselves. Conryu spotted Lin and angled his way.

  “What’s going on, Sarge?”

  “A masked wizard fired a warning blast then demanded we send Shizuku out. We have two minutes before she brings the building down on us.”

  Conryu’s grip tightened on his staff. “Was it a dragon mask?”

  “No, a dog or wolf. Mrs. Kane is arguing that she should go and many agree with her.”

  “Hell with that,” Conryu said. “I’ll deal with Lady Wolf myself, the way I should have back in the Land of the Night Princes.”

  His mother grabbed his arm. “Conryu.”

  “It’s okay. This, at least, is something I can do.”

  She let him go and Conryu marched toward the gathered people. They’d surrounded Mr. and Mrs. Kane and Maria and were shouting for her to go out there and save the rest of them. Maria held tight to her mother’s arm and wouldn’t let her move.

  Conryu forced his way past them. When he reached Maria she gave him a desperate look. He smiled. “I’ll handle it. You guys wait here.”

  He tried to force his way through to the door but a big, bearded man grabbed him. “You ain’t the one she wants. You go out there and we’re all dead. Grab the woman and shove her out!”

  The man flinched when Conryu turned his glare on him. “If you lay a hand on Mrs. Kane you won’t have to worry about the masked wizard. I’ll melt the flesh from your bones and feed what’s left to my dog. Do you understand?”

  He nodded and shuffled quickly out of Conryu’s way. With the path open, Conryu continued toward the front door.

  “I almost believed you meant that, Master,” Prime said.

  “I did mean it. No one else I care about is going to get hurt. Cloak of Darkness!”

  When the darkness had covered him and Prime, Conryu stepped out into the parking lot. Lady Wolf stood, hands on hips, glaring at the police station.

  Her gaze shifted to Conryu. “You! I told them I wanted that woman. Now after I kill you I’ll have to burn the place down around their ears.”

  “You say that like you imagine that’s the way it’s going to go. Last time we fought, you couldn’t run away fast enough.”

  “I had a mission to complete. Today I’m free to kill you.” Lady Wolf thrust a hand out and dagger-long shards of ice shot toward Conryu.

  He negated the spell with a burst of raw dark magic channeled through the staff. “Where’s Lady Dragon? I have business with her.”

  “Don’t get ahead of yourself!”

  She crouched and chanted another spell. Water appeared, flooding the parking lot. She sent lightning racing through the water. A faint tingle made it through his protection, but that was it.

  Conryu raised his staff and leveled it at her. “Hand of bone, touch of death, reach out and claim the life of my enemy, Reaper’s Touch!”

  A skeletal hand made of dark magic streaked toward Lady Wolf.

  She raised a wall of ice which exploded the moment the hand made contact.

  The hand reached for her, forcing Lady Wolf to slide under it and raise a second barricade. It didn’t last any longer than the first.

  When she took to the air, the hand followed, like a life-seeking missile. Conryu made no effort to temper the spell’s power. If she died, Prime could tell him how to extract the information he needed.

  A lightning bolt slammed into the hand, making it waver for a moment.

  “What was that?”

  “Every time the hand negates a spell it weakens,” Prime said. “That’s the only way to stop the Reaper’s magic, wear it down until it breaks.”

  “Good to know.” Conryu returned his attention to the battle in the sky. The hand was little more than a wavering blob giving off wisps of dark magic. It looked like Lady Wolf was going to beat it.

  A final blast of ice shattered the hand and Lady Wolf paused in the sky.

  “Gust!” Conryu slashed down with the staff. A burst of wind roared out of the sky, struck Lady Wolf, and drove h
er into the pavement with enough force to crack the earth.

  Whatever defensive spell she cast must have been a good one as she tried to push herself up.

  Conryu cast again. “Fists of stone, bind and hold, Stone Grasp!” A dozen arms of stone wrapped her up from neck to toe and held her tight to the ground.

  He crouched down in front of her. “Where is Lady Dragon?”

  She snarled at him, but refused to speak.

  At his silent command the arms tightened around her, drawing a gasp.

  “I’m going to ask you once more and if you don’t tell me what I want to know I’m going to kill you and see if your corpse is more forthcoming. Where is Lady Dragon?”

  “I don’t know! She told me to bring the scarred woman to Lincoln Park. Lady Dragon patrols over the city at random. She’s obsessed with finding the wizard that escaped when she attacked the Department. I’m not the only one hunting for her.”

  “I believe you.” Conryu twisted the staff and the arms crushed Lady Wolf to pulp.

  “You killed her,” Prime said. “I didn’t believe you’d do it.”

  “I am done with half measures. My weakness has cost everyone too much. Once I deal with Lady Dragon, I’ll head to Central and Morgana. I’m going to end this, once and for all.”

  Kelsie huddled with the other girls in the emergency bunker. The builders hadn’t worried much about comfort when they put the room together. It was little more than a giant, reinforced box big enough to hold the entire student body. One of the water-aligned seniors created a cold area and another used wind magic to circulate it, so at least the heat didn’t grow overwhelming.

  Mrs. Lenore did her best to keep everyone calm, but it wasn’t easy. The scent of fear and sweat permeated the air along with faint sobs. She strained to hear what was happening outside, but nothing reached them in their little hole. It felt like they’d buried themselves and were simply waiting for the invading wizards to throw on the first handful of dirt.

  She shuddered and tried to turn her mind to other things. Kelsie still didn’t know how Conryu was doing. No one told her anything since she cut ties with her family, not that anyone told her much before. The world was falling down around their ears and there was nothing to be done about it.

  Someone rapped once on the hatch that led to the bunker before it swung open. The shining eyes of St. Seraphim appeared in the opening. “Mrs. Lenore? I’m coming down.”

  When the Head of Light Magic reached the bottom, Kelsie moved closer to try and hear what they were talking about.

  “Dean Blane has ordered the students evacuated,” St. Seraphim said. “I’m to take you through a Heaven portal to the new west coast facility.”

  “That isn’t complete,” Mrs. Lenore said.

  “No, but it is fifteen hundred miles from anyone looking to kill us.”

  “Good point. Alright everyone, we’re leaving. Grab your stuff and line up.”

  Kelsie didn’t have anything beyond her clothes so she ended up near the front of the line. She’d never been through a Heaven portal before. Since she was dark aligned the risks always seemed greater than any potential gain.

  St. Seraphim chanted and a golden disk appeared. It gave off a warm, pleasing heat that was the complete opposite of what she felt when Conryu opened a Hell portal. Nice as it was, when Kelsie took a step closer it felt like something opposed her, trying to force her back.

  “For those of you who have a dark alignment,” St. Seraphim said, “you’ll need to focus and push through the resistance. Don’t worry, no pain will result. Once you’ve entered the portal, stay close by. I don’t want anyone getting lost.”

  That was reassuring. The students started stepping into the light. Kelsie lowered her head and marched forward. With each step the resistance grew, but she plowed on. Finally she entered the portal. All around her students drifted in blinding light.

  It took nearly a minute for all the students to pass through. When St. Seraphim had joined them and closed the portal she said, “Everyone join hands and relax. I’ll handle our movement. All you need to do is let it happen.”

  Kelsie grabbed the hand of a girl in brown she didn’t know and another in red she’d seen around but hadn’t spoken to. With the human chain complete they took off. Or at least Kelsie assumed they did. As in Hell, there were no landmarks to guide them.

  Time meant nothing in the infinite light, but eventually they glided to a stop and St. Seraphim opened another portal. When Kelsie’s turn came, Heaven practically spat her out onto the grass.

  Spells exploded overhead. Lightning crackled and wind whipped.

  What was going on? The west coast campus was supposed to be secure.

  She spun in a circle and stared. They’d emerged on the lawn in front of the main campus building, right where they started from.

  Students screamed and a fireball detonated a little ways away from them.

  “Everyone get behind me!” St. Seraphim shouted.

  Kelsie hurried to obey. Not a moment too soon a golden dome appeared over them to deflect a pair of incoming spells.

  “What happened?” Mrs. Lenore asked.

  “I’m not certain, but I believe we were caught in a maze spell,” St. Seraphim said. “Only such a powerful illusion spell could have misled me about our course. Someone really doesn’t want us getting away.”

  In better days, before magic became a part of his life, Conryu used to come to Lincoln Park and play on the jungle gym with Maria. His favorite pastime was hide and seek in the stand of evergreens that filled a third of the park. He stood amongst them once again, watching the sky for Lady Dragon. Assuming her flunky hadn’t lied to him, she ought to be along eventually.

  Conryu felt practically naked out in the open with no magical defenses in place, but Prime insisted a skilled wizard might detect even passive spells. He wasn’t looking for a duel. As soon as he saw the masked lunatic he intended to hit her with a Reaper’s Touch and end it in one go. Not an honorable way to face your enemy and his father would no doubt be rolling over in his grave, but since Lady Dragon put him there, Conryu would show no mercy.

  “Master, someone’s coming.”

  Conryu focused on the matter at hand and scanned the sky. A small, green dot approached at a fair clip. He raised his staff and concentrated all his rage into the crystal. When he saw her masked face, Conryu cast, “Hand of bone, touch of death, reach out and claim the life of my enemy, Reaper’s Touch!”

  The skeletal hand shot out, right toward her.

  Lady Dragon slashed her hand and white-hot flames blew the hand away. She turned her gaze toward Conryu and sent a torrent of flames roaring toward him.

  He cast, “Shroud of all things ending. Cowl of nightmares born. Dark wrap that looks upon all things’ doom, Reaper’s Cloak!”

  The dark robe settled around him just in time. Prime slipped up his sleeve as trees exploded left and right, their sap boiling in an instant.

  He stood untouched in the middle of the inferno. The familiar voice appeared in the back of his mind. So you have embraced my power at last. Your hate is sweet indeed. Will you feed me souls?

  “A few at least. I’m done playing with these maniacs. I hope you can find an especially nasty pit for this one.”

  That will not be a problem. Send her to me and her suffering will be legendary, even in Hell.

  “That plan suits me quite well.”

  Conryu cast a flight spell and rose out of the flames. When he was level with Lady Dragon, she loosed a fireball at him. The flames were warm, but not unpleasant.

  When they guttered Conryu said, “Null take you!”

  The skeletal hand rushed forward and again she lashed out with flames. The two forces fought, the flames pushing the hand back for a moment before it surged forward again.

  All Lady Dragon’s focus was on his spell so Conryu soared right, working his way around her. She either didn’t notice him or lacked the strength to attack and hold off Null’s attention
.

  He was directly behind her when the hand exploded into shards of dark energy.

  Conryu charged the crystal with dark magic and swung with all his might. She turned just in time to take the blow full in the face. Her mask exploded and Lady Dragon fell from the sky.

  Some residual magic must have protected her since she didn’t end up as a greasy stain on the grass when she hit, but she still landed hard. Conryu touched down beside her and stared down at her ruined face. Blood stained her skin and the right cheekbone had caved in making her skull look lopsided.

  Lady Dragon rolled over on her side and spat teeth. “You’re not who I expected.”

  “No? Lady Wolf was kind enough to tell me where to find you.”

  “I’ll kill her.”

  “Unlikely. She’s already dead and you’ll be joining her soon enough. You killed my father.” Conryu leveled the staff. “Enjoy your time in Hell. Null take you!”

  Her life force vanished in an instant, the now-empty husk rotted into a pile of stinking meat. Conryu grimaced and took to the air. His father’s killer was dead, but he didn’t feel better. The emptiness felt deeper if anything. Still, the world was a better place without Lady Dragon in it.

  Prime wriggled out of his sleeve. “What now, Master?”

  “Now Morgana. Once she’s out of the way, the Department should be able to handle the remaining escapees.”

  If you hope to defeat a half-elf, you will need my full power.

  “Do I not have it now?” Conryu asked. The cloak made him essentially invulnerable to magic and he could kill at a word. What more did the Reaper have to offer?

  The ultimate expression of my power, granted only to those with great power and my blessing, combines cloak and scythe. This spell is called Death Incarnate. You will become my avatar, as close to a demon as a human can get. Nothing less will allow you to defeat Morgana.

  “We shall see.” Conryu let the cloak vanish and take the Reaper’s voice with it.

  “Conryu!” Maria came running across the park toward him, her parents a few yards behind. He landed and she hugged him the moment she reached him. “Are you okay?”