by R. L. King
Before he could solidify the thought, the sensation vanished. Bright, flashing acid green changed first to intense white and then to inky black, like the aftereffects of a whole bank of flashbulbs.
Stone staggered forward, still gripping Verity’s hand, and caught himself just before he pitched forward. Next to him, she tripped on something and flailed her free arm to right herself. He held her there until she was steady.
“Holy shit!” she panted, blinking rapidly. “That was—”
But Stone didn’t answer. In fact, he barely heard her.
He’d been pointing a different direction than he was, and when his vision cleared, the first thing he saw was a pair of figures standing twenty feet away from him.
“Oh, bloody hell…” he whispered, his whole body growing cold.
One of the figures, he didn’t recognize. Of medium height and weight, the man wore a dark shirt, pants, and jacket. His hair was light blond, his face smooth and calm. He stood with a confidence suggesting that he knew exactly where he was and what he was doing there.
Next to him, unmoving but with her face set into a grimace of rage, was Kyla.
35
For a moment, the three of them—Stone, the man, and Kyla—regarded each other in silence. Then Verity spun around and spotted them too, and her eyes widened in shock.
“Kyla!” she called, and made as if to run toward her.
“Stay where you are,” the man said, just as Stone grabbed her shoulder. “Both of you.”
“Who are you?” Stone demanded.
“Kyla!” Verity yelled again, but didn’t move forward. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine—except for this asshole.” She pointed at the man, then shot a baleful glare at Stone. “Where the fuck did you go, Stone? You said you wouldn’t go without me!”
Stone ignored her and focused on the man. He couldn’t get a good look at him from this distance, but nothing about him looked distinctive. His voice had been soft and pleasant, neither too low nor too high. It was almost as if he were making a specific effort to be unmemorable. Even his aura was unremarkable, a medium blue extending only a couple of inches from his body. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“Step away from the rift, Dr. Stone,” the man said.
“You know who I am? I’m at a disadvantage, then. Care to introduce yourself?”
“You don’t need to know who I am. It’s best if you don’t. Please step away from the rift, both of you.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to close this thing.”
“No,” the man said softly. “You’re not.”
Stone could feel Verity practically vibrating with leashed tension next to him, but so far she remained quiet. “Suppose you tell me why not.”
“Because I won’t permit it. You don’t know what you’re dealing with.”
“Then tell me!” Stone had about hit his limit of people telling him he couldn’t do things for…reasons. “Either tell me why I shouldn’t do it, or get out of my way. Those are your two choices.”
The man chuckled. “I think you’ve missed a few. You wouldn’t want this young lady to suffer any distress, would you?” He indicated Kyla with a head movement.
“I’m not a fucking young lady!” Kyla shouted.
“Let her go, whoever you are!” Verity yelled.
“So let me get this straight,” Stone said as if neither of had spoken. “You’re threatening someone who’s got nothing to do with this? Very brave. Why don’t you threaten me instead? Let Verity and Kyla go. This is between you and me.”
“Like hell it is,” Verity snapped. “That’s my girlfriend over there. That means I’m involved now too.” To the man, she said again, “Let her go now, you coward.”
Stone took a step forward and spread his hands wide. “Go on—it’s me you want. I’m tired of all this messing about. Let’s have this out once and for all. Or even better: let’s talk. Tell me why I shouldn’t close the rift. I’m a reasonable man. Give me something I can work with, and perhaps we can reach an understanding.”
“I can’t do that, Dr. Stone. I’m sorry.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you connected with that orange thing that showed up in Pennsylvania?”
“Orange…thing?” The man seemed confused.
“Something—a foggy figure with an odd orange aura—showed up there and tried to prevent me from closing that rift. It killed a man, and told me I was tampering with things I didn’t understand, and could be causing trouble I had no way to stop. But it wouldn’t tell me why. It called me ‘scion.’ Do you know anything about that?”
“I share no direct connection with this entity, but it was correct,” the man said, unruffled. “You have no idea what you’re meddling with.”
“So why can’t you tell me? What’s the big secret? What is it that you and Kolinsky and Madame Huan and gods know how many other people are trying to keep from me? This is bloody ridiculous. What possible good could come of having these dangerous dimensional rifts popping in and out? They’ve been here before—I know that. Who stopped them then?”
For the first time, the man showed a recognizable emotion—surprise—but it was fleeting. The pleasant mask was back again in less than a second. “How do you know they have appeared before?”
Stone laughed. “Ah, so I’ve got some secrets you don’t know, too. That puts us on a bit more level footing, doesn’t it? You tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine. Let’s start with who you are, and what your connection is with the others.”
“I’m sorry, Dr. Stone.” The man took a step closer to Kyla. “I did not come here to offer bargains, but to deliver a warning. You will cease your efforts to locate and close the dimensional rifts.”
“Or what?”
“Or I will begin by killing this young woman here. Protocols prevent me from attacking you directly without provocation, but she and your apprentice enjoy no such protections.”
“Protocols?” Stone demanded, astonished. “What protocols? Why am I protected when they’re not? Verity’s a mage too. Why is she different?” He paused. “It’s because of this ‘scion’ rubbish, isn’t it? Is it related to my family? Is this whole business related to my family?” A chill ran down his spine as a thought struck him: every member of his family on his father’s side, from his grandfather back as many generations as he could track, had been the darkest of black mages, connected with a shadowy organization called Ordo Purpuratus. He’d thought the organization long-dead, but what if it wasn’t? If that were true, did that mean Kolinsky was connected with them? He was a black mage, of course, so it wasn’t inconceivable. But Madame Huan, the most benevolent white mage he’d ever known? Was she involved in this too?
“I cannot share that information with you,” the man said. “There are things you aren’t permitted to know at this point.”
“At this point? Does that mean I’ll be allowed to know them later? When?”
“Step away from the rift, please. Take your apprentice and this woman and leave now. I won’t impede you in any way if you do.”
Stone took a deep breath. His heart pounded hard, and his whole body hummed with energy. He glanced at Kyla, who was still glaring at them, and then at Verity, who was glaring back at the man. “You don’t listen, do you? I don’t know what these ‘protocols’ you mention are, but I don’t care. I’m not bound by them. You might not be able to hurt me, but I’m damned sure I can take a dent out of you if you don’t back off and get your arse out of here now.”
His heartbeat increased even more—he remembered how quickly the entity with the orange aura had killed Clyde in Pennsylvania, and he was taking a big risk by goading this man without knowing his capabilities. But neither Verity nor Kyla was as defenseless as Clyde had been. “This is your last warning. Tell me what this is about, or get the hell out of here and let me close this rift and get this town back where it belongs.”
The man smiled. “Ah, Dr. Stone, you do amuse me. You have bra
vado, I’ll give you that. You’re a credit to your line. But there’s no way you can—”
Kyla moved faster than Stone could follow, her own physical form of magic turning her into a blur. With a primal roar, she stomped her steel-toed combat boot down on top of the man’s foot.
The man yelped in pain and staggered backward.
Verity acted instantly, grabbing hold of Kyla with a telekinetic grip and jerking her free of the man, flinging her nearly twenty feet to the side and taking off after her. “Go, Doc!” she yelled. “Do it!”
The man recovered fast, his face wreathed in rage now. He spun toward Verity and Kyla, raising his hands.
Stone moved faster, and he didn’t hold back. He had no idea how powerful this guy was, but if he was on par with Kolinsky and Madame Huan, that would make him formidable indeed. He couldn’t risk half-measures.
But he did know from past experience that Kolinsky, at least, could be hurt when he wasn’t expecting the attack, and he counted on that being true for this man as well. He opened the conduit to Calanar and unleashed a punishing cascade of pure magical energy, letting it thunder through his body like water from a wide-open fire hose. He didn’t try for any finesse or control this time, but merely let the energy channel through him until he couldn’t do it any longer. His own roar mirrored Kyla’s.
The energy hit the man and blew him backward, and this time the look of astonished surprise on his face didn’t fade. He screamed as his body rolled over and over, smashing into the ground and rock outcroppings, his arms and legs flailing. After a couple of seconds a bright shield flared around him, but clearly it was too late to block the brunt of Stone’s attack.
Stone let the onslaught continue until the energy pounding through his body went from exhilarating to painful, then cut it off, panting, and examined his work. His shield was still at full strength, and he raised glowing hands as he approached the man.
“Do I still amuse you?” he called, hyper-focused and ready to extend another shield if the man seemed inclined to go after Verity and Kyla.
He didn’t seem so inclined, at least not at the moment. Battered and bloody from both the magical attack and slamming into rocks as he flew backward, the blond man struggled halfway up and fixed a painful glare on Stone. “You…will regret that, scion,” he growled, a bright vortex of green light forming around his hands.
“Want more?” Stone hit him with another blast. It wasn’t as strong this time, but some of it still punched through the man’s weakened shield and knocked him back again. The green vortex faded.
Never taking his attention from him, Stone moved cautiously forward, bathing the fallen figure in enough light to see he wasn’t faking the injuries. Stone had hurt him, and badly. Another shot like that might be enough to do serious damage not only to his opponent but to himself, but the man didn’t need to know that. “I don’t want to kill you, but I don’t take well to anyone threatening my friends. Now get the hell out of here.”
The man’s glare was half rage, half astonishment, his eyes burning out of his bloody face. “How…did you…”
Stone grinned. He couldn’t help it. “Secrets. Like I said—I’ve got a few of my own. Now—go.”
He spat blood into the dirt. “This…isn’t over, Stone.”
And then he vanished, leaving behind the faint odor of copper and ozone.
Stone stiffened, immediately unleashing another, lower-powered and wide-spectrum blast in front of him. He couldn’t afford to allow the man to turn invisible and attack him—or worse, Verity and Kyla—from another angle.
The blast hit nothing, and magical sight showed no sign of the man’s aura.
Stone stood in place, still panting, as Verity and Kyla ran up behind him. Verity’s magical shield glowed around both of them.
“Are you okay?” Verity demanded. “Who was that? Where’d he go?”
Stone didn’t answer right away. He continued scanning the area, looking for any hint of a lurking figure, an aura, or any other indication that the man was still in the area. As injured as he was, he likely couldn’t maintain the spell for long.
Nothing showed up.
“Doc?”
He allowed himself to relax, just a bit, though his body still jangled with tension.
“Is it okay now? Is he gone?”
“I…think so,” he said between breaths, then nodded toward Kyla. “Nice diversion, by the way.”
“Thanks. I fucking hate it when guys call me ‘young lady’ in that condescending tone. He deserved it.” Her gaze sharpened. “Why the hell did you run off? You said you’d take me with you!”
“No choice.” Stone took a few more breaths to calm his heart rate. “Wasn’t on purpose, I promise. But now I want to take care of this rift before our friend sorts himself out and comes back for round two. Verity, please keep an eye out for anything approaching, will you?”
“Got it. You okay?”
“I will be. Just let me do this. And don’t come any closer, so you don’t accidentally wander into the town before we’ve got it back.”
She eyed him with concern for several seconds, but finally nodded. “C’mon, Kyla, let’s let him work. I want to get out of here. Don’t you?”
“More than anything,” she agreed.
When both of them walked a short distance away and began patrolling, Stone set to work on the rift. It would be a little harder now that he’d just used all that energy to take down the man, but there was no helping it. He had no idea if the man would return—or if ‘protocols’ would still keep him from attacking if he did—but he wasn’t particularly interested in finding out.
He stood a few feet back from the rift, far enough so he could keep the whole thing in sight, and then repeated the same procedure he’d used on the other rifts, pumping Calanarian energy into it and focusing on bringing its crackling edges together.
It was definitely more difficult this time—and not only because of the energy channeling. This rift was bigger than the others, and more potent, and definitely resisted being sealed. Now that it was here, it seemed to want to stay here.
Slowly, though, it began to respond to his efforts. As the edges came together from both sides, almost like a pair of zippers joining two pieces of fabric, Stone noticed at the corner of his peripheral vision that the forms of buildings and other structures were becoming more distinct. He couldn’t let go of the energy yet, but a thrill surged through him nonetheless. It was working! Just a little more, and…
There!
The two edges of the rift finished joining the middle with a little astral pop. The green light flared brighter than ever, then winked out like the picture on an old-style TV set. In front of him, the tiny gas station, the general store, the sheep, and all the other structures of Cinder, Wyoming shimmered into view and settled into place, solid and substantial. After a moment, a light flicked on inside one of the residences, and several of the sheep in the pen began to baa softly.
“Yes!” Stone said with a grin, pumping his fist. “Damn, I’m good.”
“Humble, too,” Kyla said dryly from behind him. “See, V, I told you he was an arrogant ass.”
“True,” Verity said, taking Stone’s arm and squeezing it to show she wasn’t serious. “But you gotta admit, he lives up to his billing sometimes.”
“All I gotta admit right now is that I want to get the hell out of here before somebody in that town notices us and starts asking questions.” She threw a contemptuous glance toward Cinder. “Besides, I hate sheep.”
Stone took a final look around, scanning the area with magical sight. He didn’t know what he expected to see, but all around him the area seemed serene, untroubled, and completely magic-free. As he watched, the shimmering yellow aura of a shadowy figure emerged from one of the residences, appeared to take a look around, and then went back inside. With a sense of satisfaction, he turned to follow Verity and Kyla back to where they’d left the Jeep.
He knew this wasn’t over—whoever that ma
n was, he’d probably be back for another round. There were still other rifts, a lot of them, out there, and he had to decide what he wanted to do about them. There were too many for him and Verity to close them all—even if they could, it would take too long. Who knew what kind of mischief the things could get up to in the meantime, especially if they popped up in the middle of heavily populated areas? He didn’t see any way around it: he’d have to share this information with other powerful mages, and hope they weren’t in league with Kolinsky and Madame Huan and who knew how many others.
“Doc? Coming?” Verity had stopped and turned back toward him.
“Yes. Yes, I’m coming.” He took off at a jog. He could worry about all this in the next day or two. For now, all he wanted to do was go home.
36
“So—did your friends get their stuff back?”
Jason and Amber sat across from each other at a table in a boisterous barbecue joint in Truckee. Despite the clamor of several TVs playing sporting events, a rowdy Saturday-night crowd cheering their teams on, and rock music on the speakers trying to compete for attention, they ignored all of it in favor of the little bubble of privacy they’d created for themselves.
“Yeah,” she said. “Everything was in the truck. You should have seen Darryl—he was practically doing a little dance, he was so happy. Oh—that reminds me.” She grabbed her bag from where she’d hung it over the chair. “I owe you and Verity some of the fee I got for getting it back.”
He waved her off. “You don’t owe me anything. I was happy to help. I’ll take V’s back to her, but I doubt she cares either. She gets off on that kind of stuff. Adrenaline junkie, my sister is.”
“Yeah, I kind of got that impression.” She pulled some cash from her wallet and pushed it across the table to him. “But give it to her anyway—I owe her big. If she hadn’t been along, that might not have gone nearly as well as it did.” Her expression sobered. “Is she okay? I know she was pretty freaked out over…what happened.”
“She’ll be okay. She’s tough, and she’s seen worse. It wasn’t like she killed the guy.” Jason shuddered at the thought of what the mage must have gone through in his last couple seconds of life. “I gotta go back tomorrow and help her move.”
