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

by James E. Wisher

  He wanted to say no, he wasn’t okay and he wasn’t sure he ever would be. Instead he nodded. “I’m fine. What brought you out here? There are still enemy wizards in the city.”

  Mr. and Mrs. Kane reached them and Mr. Kane said, “I finally got through to the Academy. They’re under siege. It sounds bad, Conryu.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Maria said.

  “No, please, stay here where it’s relatively safe. I have no idea what sort of mess I’m walking into. It’ll be better for everyone if I only have to protect myself.”

  He knew she wanted to argue, it was written all across her beautiful face. Thankfully she swallowed whatever she wanted to say and gave a mute nod. That nod said he’d be catching hell later, but for now she’d let him do what he had to.

  Conryu kissed her goodbye, opened a Hell portal, and stepped through. Cerberus came trotting up, tail wagging. Kai arrived a moment later.

  She wasn’t going to like what he had to say either. “I need you to stay here and keep Maria and her parents as well as my mom safe. There’s no one else I can trust to do it. There shouldn’t be any super-strong wizards left in the city so hopefully they’ll take the hint and leave.”

  “As you wish, Chosen.” She sounded so disappointed.

  “It’s not that I don’t want you to go with me, you know that, right? I just can’t lose anyone else. I fear that if I do I might go mad. And if I lose control who knows what might happen.”

  “I understand. Rest assured, no harm will come to them while I have life in me.”

  “Don’t do anything crazy. I don’t want to lose you either.”

  Conryu flew up on Cerberus’s back. It was time to hunt.

  11

  Absolute Power

  Conryu emerged from his portal in the sky above the Academy into a scene of chaos. He had Cloak of Darkness active before he even had time to think about it. To his left and right, teachers engaged prisoners in magical dog fights. They zipped around so fast he couldn’t make out who was who. On the ground below, the students huddled under a golden barrier riddled with cracks that still deflected every spell thrown at it. From the looks of it, that wasn’t going to last long.

  “Okay, Prime, how do I take out the bad guys without hurting the good guys?”

  “Unfortunately, dark magic spells tend not to discriminate. I know of no spell that does what you want.”

  Great.

  Conryu wobbled a few feet when a spell struck him.

  He spun and found a gaunt woman in green pointing at him and readying another spell. Conryu leveled his staff and sent a burst of raw dark magic at her. The black flames struck before she loosed her attack, negating her flight spell. She fell, flames still clinging to her, and struck the ground hard.

  That was one down.

  “Master, the barrier.”

  On the ground the barrier had shattered, revealing St. Seraphim on her hands and knees as well as hundreds of helpless students behind her.

  Conryu dove, landed in front of her, and raised a Dark Wall just in time to block a pair of incoming fireballs.

  He crouched beside St. Seraphim. “Are you okay?”

  She grimaced. “Backlash.”

  “What happened?”

  “I tried…” She fell over on her side, unconscious.

  God damn it!

  “Conryu!” Kelsie pushed her way to the front of the group and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Am I glad to see you.”

  “Likewise. What’s going on? Why aren’t you guys in the shelter?”

  Kelsie gave him the short version of what happened. When she finished he said, “Ever heard of a maze spell, Prime?”

  “Yes, Master. It’s a complex casting requiring at least six wizards, one of each element. It isn’t the sort of thing you just throw up at a moment’s notice. Someone is extremely determined to keep everyone here.”

  Spells continued to pour down on his wall. The strain was minimal, but if he had to maintain it, Conryu couldn’t go find Morgana and deal with the problem at its source. He needed the teachers out of the way so he could blast the invaders.

  “All the wind-aligned wizards capable of summoning a pixie come towards the front, please.”

  After some muttering and jostling, thirteen girls stood facing him. They looked more terrified than resentful at being summoned by a junior. Hopefully they weren’t too scared to do what he wanted.

  “I need you to send messages to the teachers. They need to disengage from their opponents so I can blast them all. Ask them to gather just in front of our position.” When none of the girls started casting he added, “The sooner the better.”

  They chanted and soon the pixies were zipping away, invisible in their wind forms. Now if the teachers just disengaged safely, they might have a chance.

  Conryu watched the sky from behind his wall. How long did it take to deliver a simple message?

  He got his answer a moment later when hurricane-force winds kicked up and sent the enemy wizards tumbling one way while the teachers flew down to land in front of Conryu. Dean Blane was the last to arrive and she hit her knees gasping for breath.

  Before the enemy had a chance to gather themselves, Conryu dropped the wall and cast, “The chill wind of Hades blow and slay. Death rides in the blackened air, Reaper’s Gale!”

  Screaming black winds streaked toward the still-disoriented enemy wizards. He didn’t dare hold back. There would only be one chance to hit them all in one go.

  Bolts of lightning and streams of fire shot through the miasma without affecting it. The gale hit the first woman and she dropped like a stone.

  A moment later another handful joined her. It took less than ten seconds for every invader to fall. When the sky had cleared, Conryu blew out a sigh and ended his defensive spell.

  “A little overkill, don’t you think?” Mrs. Umbra asked.

  “Better than the alternative. There are six more in the area. I can hunt them down so you can portal out of here.”

  “No.” Dean Blane staggered to her feet. “We’ll deal with them. You need to go to Central as fast as you can. We were supposed to provide backup, but as you can see we were tied up.”

  He nodded. If that’s what she wanted, he’d go. All the teachers against six enemies was a much better prospect for their side.

  “You’ll have to fly if you want to avoid the maze,” Mrs. Umbra said.

  “No, I have another way to get there. Don’t do anything crazy. It looks like you guys have had a rough time of it.”

  Mrs. Umbra barked a laugh. “Says the guy that’s going to fight the most powerful wizard on earth.”

  Conryu grinned. Before he could make a smart remark Kelsie hugged him again. “Please come back safe.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I will, promise.”

  A moment of concentration summoned the library door and he stepped through.

  Morgana was toying with them, Malice knew that and it annoyed her at the same time she silently prayed for a miracle to arrive before Morgana got bored and leveled everything. In the primary view-screen, one of the few surviving cameras focused on her, floating over Central while she watched her followers pick the Department wizards off one at a time.

  Fully half the wizards at Malice’s disposal were either dead or injured to such an extent that they couldn’t fight anymore. They’d lost contact with the Academy half an hour ago and Malice had no idea if Dean Blane intended to disobey her orders or was simply unable to.

  This was the moment where she was supposed to make a rousing speech and say they’d been in worse situations and survived, but she couldn’t do it with a straight face. This was the worst crisis the Alliance had faced since the Elf War and she had no idea what to do about it. The only good thing Malice had come up with was that their insurance should cover the cost of repairing the Kincade buildings assuming anyone survived.

  “Director, the president wants an update,” the comms offic
er said.

  “Tell him we’re losing, badly.”

  “Ma’am?”

  “You heard me. If he’s going to hide in his bunker while I deal with this alone, I’m not going to waste my time on updates.”

  “Director?” the ops commander said.

  “Yes?”

  “Something’s happening.”

  Malice refocused on the screen. All the enemy wizards had gathered around Morgana. That wasn’t good.

  Morgana pointed at the presidential residence and it exploded in one of the now-familiar mushroom clouds.

  “We’ve lost the president,” the comms officer said.

  Shouts rang out from every station. Malice let them go on for a moment then shouted, “Enough! We’ve only lost our line of communication. The bunker was designed to withstand a stronger blast than that. I’m sure he’s fine. Now focus. How are we going to stop them?”

  Everyone stared at her with blank expressions.

  “Hear me, Central City!” Morgana’s voice filled the air. “I weary of this game. Your government and its pet wizards are powerless against me. I grant you five minutes to make your peace with the universe, a kindness you didn’t offer my followers all those years ago.”

  Everyone stared at Malice, but she had nothing to say. Morgana was right. They were powerless. Perhaps this was how all those Malice crushed over the years felt before her boot came down on their throats.

  “Director, look!” the ops commander said.

  A glowing door appeared in the sky and a cloaked figure emerged, a staff clutched in its hand. She tried to make out who it was, but the cowl hid everything. Malice had no doubt Conryu Koda had arrived and that he was all that stood between them and utter destruction.

  She’d never been so happy to see anyone in her life.

  When Conryu emerged from the library he already had Reaper’s Cloak active, there were simply too many things that might go wrong to risk not having his best defense ready to go. When the door vanished Prime flew up the sleeve of his cloak. It wasn’t a perfect option, but he didn’t want the scholomantic wandering around on his own where one of the enemy wizards might grab him.

  Central looked a lot like London, though maybe not quite as bad. Smoke filled the air and explosions sounded all around. It was pure chaos.

  “Where is she, Prime?”

  “Northeast, a few hundred yards. Morgana’s terrifyingly strong, Master. Perhaps we should summon more help.”

  “What help could we summon that would be powerful enough to make a difference, but that I would be certain of controlling? I doubt even Cerberus and the Dark Lady have strength enough and I don’t want Kai anywhere near this fight. It’s you and me, pal. I’m counting on you.”

  “Understood, Master.”

  Conryu rotated until he faced northeast and scanned the sky. It took only seconds to spot the figure flying alone a little in front of a group of wizards. That had to be her.

  He gathered himself and focused on the fact that she was ultimately responsible for his father and god knew how many more deaths. The anger built in his chest and he let it roil. He called to mind images of the dojo and training. Dad’s faint smile when Conryu finally mastered a difficult technique. He’d never see that smile again and it was all Morgana’s fault. It was time to make her pay.

  “Let’s do this.”

  Conryu flew at full speed toward Morgana. Dark magic crackled in the crystal at the end of his staff.

  One hundred feet away he screamed, “Null take you!”

  The skeletal hand streaked away.

  For a moment he imagined it striking home, then she made a casual gesture with the red scepter and the most intense flames he’d ever seen burned the hand to nothing.

  Morgana faced him fully. Her features were sharp, but not unattractive. Slightly pointed ears poked up out of her hair and her eyes almost seemed to glow.

  “You would be Conryu Koda. My followers warned me about you. I acknowledge your strength. Of all those who have dared face me, your might comes closest to matching my own. But close doesn’t cut it. When I kill you, this world will lose all hope, making my rule much easier.”

  “You wouldn’t be the first lunatic to try and kill me and I promise you won’t have any more success than they did.”

  Her lip curled, revealing an elongated eyetooth. “Burn!”

  Flames hotter than those in the realm of fire slammed into him. Even through the cloak his skin reddened and started to blister.

  Conryu dropped straight down out of the flow, turned, and cast, “Rot and ruin, Entropic Blast!”

  The black arrow slammed into a golden barrier and shattered.

  She gestured and a spear of ice streaked at his chest.

  A dark wall appeared and negated the spell.

  “Damn, she is strong.”

  “Simple spells aren’t enough, Master. You need to use your strongest.”

  He wove around incoming lightning bolts, not trusting the robe to fully negate them. “I’m open to suggestions.”

  Use my full strength. You have no other hope.

  “Not from you. Prime?”

  “We could try Soul Burn. That might bypass her defensive spells.”

  A chunk of stone blown from the side of a ruined skyscraper missed him by inches. “Send it to me.”

  Conryu chanted the spell as Prime sent the words to his mind. He gestured with the staff and inky black flames streaked toward Morgana.

  The golden shield flashed to life and the flames vanished.

  She pointed the scepter at him then screamed and arched her back. Black flames burst from her mouth and she clawed at her hair writhing in pain.

  Conryu winced at the pain the spell caused, then remembered all the people she’d killed. If anyone deserved to suffer, it was Morgana.

  She clenched her jaw shut and closed her eyes. Golden energy gathered around her, growing brighter by the second.

  “Prime?”

  “Master, she’s—”

  What felt like a giant’s fist slammed into Conryu and sent him flying into a nearby building. The impact drove the breath from his body and the coppery tang of blood filled his mouth.

  Conryu spat a red stream and when he turned back Morgana floated a few feet away. “You made a fine attempt. No one has come that close to killing me in nearly a thousand years. In another decade you might grow into a true threat. Pity you won’t live long enough to find out.”

  This is your last chance, boy.

  Power gathered at the tip of Morgana’s staff.

  So be it. “Oh sweet Death, lend me your strength, Dread Scythe.”

  Dark power exploded outward, sending Morgana tumbling away. The top of the building Conryu struck transformed to rust and ruin in an instant. The staff’s shaft turned inky black and the crystal transformed into a shining steel blade. Cold unlike anything Conryu had ever experienced filled him to bursting.

  He turned his gaze to where Morgana floated. A voice he’d never heard before spoke through his lips. “I am Death Incarnate.”

  Kai paced in the borderland and tried to focus on her charge instead of the gnawing feeling that she should be with Conryu. Her assignment was to serve and protect him, but how to do both when he ordered her to stay far from him and protect his girlfriend? Kai had yet to reconcile her conflict so she paced and fretted, glad that her teacher wasn’t present to see her agitation.

  Out in the real world, Maria was busy tending the wounded that poured nonstop into the police station. She seemed to possess boundless energy, especially when it came to helping people. Still, Kai saw the strain in the way she moved. Maria was as worried about Conryu as she was. She also seemed to realize that she’d be more hindrance than help in a fight. Kai didn’t dispute that assessment. But she didn’t think it applied to her.

  A pulse came through the ring, making her flinch. The magic of the item allowed her to understand that he’d been injured, but not badly. Everything in her screamed to race to his s
ide and cut down whoever dared harm him, but she couldn’t, not without disobeying his direct order.

  The ring turned cold and a ripple ran through Hell. A lump formed in the pit of her stomach. He’d joined completely with the Reaper, both the ring and her awareness as a Daughter of the Reaper told her as much. Conryu must be in a desperate situation.

  She doubted the Reaper told him the consequences of his actions. Kai had read the stories about the former Chosen who walked that path and it wasn’t pretty. Someone had to warn him, but in his current state he might not listen to her. There was one person that she knew would reach him no matter what.

  Kai peered through the realm and found Maria resting on her own a little ways away from the injured. Good, she wasn’t interested in drawing attention.

  Maria flinched when Kai appeared beside her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Conryu has become one with the Reaper. He is now an avatar of Death.”

  “He must be in trouble.” Maria chewed her lip. “I’m sure he’ll pull through.”

  “With the Reaper’s power there is no question that he’ll win the battle, but if he kills his opponent while bonded with the Reaper, there will be no way to separate them. The Conryu we know will be gone.”

  “No.”

  “He must be warned, but in his current state I fear he will listen to no one but you. I am disobeying his wishes by telling you this and asking you to go into danger to warn him, but I see no other options if he is to be saved.”

  Maria reached out and took Kai’s hands. “You care about him too. Not just as a figure to worship, but as a person.”

  “Conryu is the first person to look at me as something other than a killing machine in a long time. He made me feel human in a way I haven’t since joining the Daughters. For that I would give him my life a million times over. I would battle the Reaper with my bare hands if I thought that would save him, but it won’t. Only your words, your love, can save him.”

  Maria nodded. “I’ll leave at once.”

  Morgana’s first thought before the wave of energy struck her like a charging rhino was how pathetic humans were. As she flew backwards, struggling to get herself under control, her mind raced. Where had that rush of power come from?