Fire Magic

by Holly Hook

  “Wait,” Xavier said. “You sent that vision of purple flames to El—to all the Seer Mages?”

  “You're catching on,” Thoreau said. “What an intelligent young man you are.”

  I could sense Xavier's anger. He was flushing red and clenching his fists with the vital scroll now at his feet. If he wasn't careful, he would step on it.

  “Anyway,” Thoreau said, facing me again. “As you can see, three of our five members of the Dark Council have not yet had the chance to arrive here and Leon's body is frankly getting, well, ripe. His death did not come at a very convenient time. I was hoping he would wait a few more years until our normal scheduled meeting. Two of the members cannot make it for another three weeks, which causes a problem.”

  “Well, enjoy the problem,” I said.

  “What kind of disgusting creature do you think I am?” Thoreau asked. “That's why I lured the two of you here and made it easy. Normally, magical wards prevent most Abnormals from even entering this place except for the Council.”

  “Easy?” Xavier asked.

  “Yes. Easy,” Thoreau said, smiling at him. The mayor was mocking Xavier. He knew how to hit the wrong buttons. I hoped that Xavier didn't try to do anything stupid. The chances of that were up there with Leon giving us both a big hug if we survived long enough to resurrect him.

  “Anyway,” Thoreau said, turning back to me. “The rite to extract a Mage's energy from their cells is very complex and requires that five different types of very powerful Abnormals be present, in addition to a large blood sacrifice.”

  “Where is my father?” I demanded.

  But Thoreau kept speaking. “Alyssa, you carry the pieces of the remaining three inside of you, however small and still dormant. You will stand in the circle with me and Gaozu and we will extract the energy from Leon. Then I will direct it to the Underground and end the resistance.”

  “I'm not participating,” I said, shuddering. I had pieces of the other three Dark Council members in me? But wouldn't that mean--

  “Wait,” Xavier said. “You can direct Leon's energy right to Cumberland's Underground from here?”

  “I have a special helper who's there now, making sure my competition will be in place for their destruction,” Thoreau said. “Have you ever met the Elder War Mage Thurton? He is telling the other Abnormals to go back to the Underground and from what he has told me over the phone, he has been very successful in driving them and the other Elders back to where I need them. After tonight, the Underground will be no more. He has agreed to be part of this rite. Once I have the energy I need, I will direct it to him and he will unleash the full blast on the Underground. They'll never see it coming.”

  Xavier's mouth fell open. “Elder Thurton?”

  I faced him. “Don't tell me he was the one who tried to torch us at the meeting.” I thought of the old man, convincing the other War Mages that the best place for all the Abnormals was back underground.

  Xavier gave me a weak nod. “We need to have a talk with him later.”

  “Why would the War Mages work with you?” I asked, mostly to distract myself from other horrible thoughts.

  “Oh, all old people fear death,” Thoreau said. “Well, not all of them, but the War Mages do. Some of the more corrupt ones know what's coming for them after they pass on. They are willing to broker deals with me to extend their lives. Now, why don't we stop talking? Alyssa, may you kindly step out here so we can get this rite going?”

  My sword burst into purple flames and I charged, blade pointed at Thoreau, but he dodged out of the way and left Gaozu in the line of fire.

  My blade hit and sank into the man's chest and the burning oil smell exploded, worse than ever. I gagged as I stood there, blade planted. Gaozu barely flinched. Instead, I watched as he reached for the blade, wrapped to hands around it, and pried it free.

  I fell back as wind snapped against me and tossed me into one of the glass cases, which shattered. Gaozu uttered something that must be a curse in whatever ancient tongue he was using. I managed to lift my head, ignoring the pain right under my shoulder blades where I had collided.

  Gaozu stood there, a narrow hole in the front of his golden robe. There was no smoke. There was no now-familiar orange glow of a fire burning someone from within. He didn't even show a sign of pain. Instead, he calmly ran his hand over the front of his ruined robe.

  And I watched as an orange glow—the same one that spread through the Abnormal enemies I stabbed—formed around his hand and the tear in his robe. Instead of burning, the glow mended the front of his robe and I even caught the sound of a strange sizzle, not like something was burning, but like something was pulling together.

  Gaozu was using the same magic I had to heal.

  Thoreau moved to stand in front of Gaozu now as if he wanted to protect the guy. Great friend, but it looked like Gaozu didn't need protecting.

  “I wish my friend could speak to you,” Thoreau said, “to tell you that you carry a little piece of him in you as well. Have you not figured out what Gaozu is yet? Think about it.”

  “You mean,” I said, “That he's like, related to me or something?” The thought was disgusting, mostly because of the stench he was giving off. I didn't smell like that, did I?

  Thoreau nodded. “You are somehow descended from my friend here. Lots of people carry ancient genes from ancient Abnormals and don't know it. Where do you think the vampire gene came from? All people, Normals included, who have the turning gene came from the same ancient ancestor. The same goes for some others. The pity is that most of these powerful genes are never activated. It takes a special event, such as being bitten or being exposed to an element like fire, to wake these genes up.”

  So I was loaded with lots of dangerous genes. Some still had to be woken and Shadow Wraiths were supposed to do me that favor. “That's awesome,” I said, trying not to look at Gaozu. I thought of the massive genealogy painting on the other side of the library, plotting generations and generations. It was as if Thoreau had been down here, trying to research and find the person with the right dangerous mix—me.

  “I'm glad that you think so,” the mayor said, missing my sarcasm. “Why don't we step out here and get this over with? I'm sure your father wouldn't want to wake up in the Infernal Dimension and discover that he only has a future of torment waiting for him. And your parents, Xavier. I don't think they want to go through the same thing.”

  Thoreau was right. He could do anything to my dad. The demon baron had three bargaining chips to use against us and he would.

  Xavier glanced down at the floor, to where the scroll had landed between his feet. He was shaking. We were trapped. I was some freak with the trace of all these powerful Abnormals inside of me and Xavier had promised to bring his parents back to Liliana. He slipped his hand into mine and the two of us walked out into the main chamber together. He squeezed my hand three times but I didn't know what it meant.

  Despair threatened to drag me down. I wanted to sink to the floor and pound the stone. Saving the Underground meant sacrificing our families. Death would be the easiest thing for them. Thoreau had worse planned.

  Saving our families meant killing the Underground.

  Thoreau said something to Gaozu, who walked over and dragged Leon's body by the robe into the circle. We had minutes left, if that. Then Gaozu said something back in what sounded like a different language. He was ignoring us like we were flies on the wall. Thoreau was the only one who mattered at the moment.

  And then the golden-robed man walked for the tunnel the tourists had gone down. I knew what was happening. It was his job to bring back the sacrifices so there would be plenty of blood for the rite, but we were down to two to one. Thoreau must be confident if he was letting his friend go off.

  Xavier leaned close to me. “Our families wouldn't want us to do this.”

  There was torment in his voice, lots and lots of torment. I had never heard him so anguished, not even in his worst moods. I knew that Dad wouldn't w
ant me to do this to save him. He had always told me he would die for me—but I couldn't do this. I would be condemning him to torment instead of magical sleep. But if I chose the latter I could never live with myself for allowing hundreds or thousands of people to die.

  But I knew what we had to do, what we were meant to do. We hadn't come here to help Thoreau finish this rite. We had come to stop him, and if we managed to wound or kill him, could he even hurt our families?

  I squeezed Xavier's hand tighter in agreement.

  “You will remain in the circle with Alyssa,” Thoreau ordered Xavier. “Unfortunately, I need to keep you alive. Have you strengthened your bond yet?”

  “No,” I said. “We haven't, and we won't.”

  “Very well,” Thoreau said. “The rite will still work. We'll worry about that later.”

  Xavier winked at me from the corner of my vision and I knew this was the time to move.

  We had to kill Thoreau.

  My sword burst into purple fire as I raised it and let out a war cry. I closed in from the left, Xavier from the right, as we charged. My blade lodged into Thoreau's side and he screamed, a horrible sound that echoed through the chamber. It was a cry from a beast in the deepest parts of the Infernal, an agonized roar that must be audible on the surface. I drove my blade deeper into the mayor's side as smoke rose from the wound. A charge of magenta energy struck him from the other side, wrapping around him and constricting as black blood poured out around the blade. The flames intensified and I screamed with rage, maintaining my hold, not letting Thoreau thrash me off.

  “Give back my father!” I screamed.

  Thoreau glared at me before roaring again. His teeth were yellow, all yellow and jagged and ancient. The sewage smell was worse than ever. Fire danced in Thoreau's eyes. A reddish tint came over his skin, then darkened. He was losing his human form, his disguise that fooled most of Cumberland and the rest of the world.

  “Give him back!” I repeated.

  Thoreau clawed at me, slicing my arms with black razors. Lines of pain burned but I ignored them. Another magenta charge flew at Thoreau, enveloping him in War Magic, one of the only things that could kill demons. He screamed again, in real pain this time. He deserved it for murdering so many, for wanting to sacrifice innocent people. The cave above glowed in purple and the stalactites looked like teeth ready to come down and bite.

  But Thoreau still wasn't dying. He thrashed and my arms trembled, holding the blade in place, holding him there like he was on a skewer. Yet another scream came, loud enough to hurt my ears, as he raked at the air with black claws. Black wings burst from the back of his suit and flapped, spreading out, making the air around us whoosh. I couldn't do this much longer. He was resisting. Too powerful.

  “Xavier!” I shouted. “Above!”

  My battle partner looked up and got it right away. He stepped back and I held onto the sword, keeping Thoreau in place as he clawed at me again, this time getting me across the cheek. Pain flared but my flesh tingled as it pulled back together.

  Magenta light flashed overhead and rock cracked and crumbled.

  “Alyssa!” Xavier shouted, wrapping his arms around my waist.

  I let him pull me back as I realized what was happening. Thoreau stumbled backwards, outside of the magic circle, and into the path of the descending stalactite. My sword still stuck out of his side, impaling him as the smoke died. He couldn't burn. He was a demon.

  But he could be crushed.

  Two tons of stone hit and black blood splattered everywhere as a deafening boom sounded through the chamber. We jumped back together. Thoreau's screams stopped and he lay there, red skin underneath a business suit and crumpled black wings. A puddle of black, inky blood spread out from the crumbled stone that formed the top layer of death and the stench was unbearable.

  We stood there together, still, watching as Thoreau flinched and reached out with one arm.

  “He's not dead,” Xavier said. “I don't know if he can ever die.”

  I would have charged him and finished the job, but my sword was underneath the mess somewhere. Too much could happen, so I remained still, wondering about my next move.

  I didn't have to wonder long.

  The chamber rumbled and an enormous whoosh sounded from somewhere in the exit tunnel. I grabbed onto Xavier's hand and pulled him away from the tunnel, over Leon's body and over Thoreau's struggling form, as the burning oil smell returned full force.

  “I heard something,” Xavier said.

  “So did I,” I said. “I think our other friend heard Thoreau and he's coming back. We're about to solve the mystery of what he is.”

  Xavier had no time to ask me what I meant. I could only stand there, weaponless, as Gaozu emerged from the dark tunnel and faced us, only he was no longer in human form.

  The massive creature took up the entire tunnel and had to squeeze himself out of it, bronze wings flattened against golden scales. His snakelike body coiled and then straightened as he walked all the way into the chamber on short reptilian legs, stretching out to show his entire form. Gaozu grinned, showing rows of very long and sharp teeth. The air heated and the hot wind blasted against us as he let out a breath, a breath that could contain fire when he did it again.

  “I thought dragons were extinct,” Xavier said, trembling and letting go of my hand.

  “So did I,” I said. “Run.”

  Chapter Twenty

  I stood there only long enough to watch Thoreau lift one very red arm and let it flop down again. The golden dragon—who looked just like the figure Dad and I displayed on our coffee table at home—took one step towards us and sucked in a breath.

  I took Xavier's arm and I bolted faster than ever had before, racing for another tunnel, any tunnel, that would shield us from the flames to come. Even if they couldn't kill me, they could destroy Xavier. I would go with him. Gaozu might not care about the Dark Pentagram thing that Thoreau was obsessed with.

  We bolted right over the five-pointed magic circle, right over a flame symbol—and into a tunnel on the other side of the room as heat and light broke behind us and fire crackled. I only let go of Xavier once we had sheltered in the tunnel and I whirled around, facing a line of fire that had erupted on the floor where we'd been standing a second before. The flames danced, then died off only feet away from Leon's body.

  “This could be bad,” Xavier said.

  The busted stone over Thoreau shifted as the demon tried to get up. Fire wouldn't bother him, either. He had nothing to fear.

  “I thought dragons weren't evil,” I said. “They're supposed to be lucky.” Dad's grandfather used to tell the stories. Some Chinese emperors were thought to be children of dragons. Dragons could bring rain, good luck...but this one just wanted to destroy us. My childhood was officially ruined. How was it possible that this one had given me some of my gene pool? What did that make me?

  “This one isn't,” Xavier said as Gaozu stepped forward to look into our tunnel. He couldn't move very fast. His dragon eyes were reddish, almost like dark rubies and they would have been beautiful under other circumstances. He was waiting.

  Of course, Dad's grandfather had also had some not-nice stories about dragons destroying towns. Maybe they were like people and some were good and some were bad. Maybe this one had spent too much time with Thoreau. Either way, Leon's body was still out there. Thoreau was still out there and if we went down, they could do the rite.

  Gaozu waited...and waited. I looked behind me to see where the tunnel led and panic crept into me as my gray vision snapped into place, letting me see all the details hidden in the dark.

  “We're in a dead end,” I said. “They're waiting for us.”

  “Great,” Xavier said. “Maybe you should go out there and negotiate with him, since he's family, after all.”

  I slapped him on the arm. “He's dozens of generations from me. At least,” I said. “I bet lots of people are related to him.”

  Xavier leaned close to me. “But you
can't burn.”

  “So I get to do the dirty work,” I said, talking mostly to keep my nerves calmed. Gaozu still had those very long, very pointy teeth and he could affect the weather.

  “This isn't a time for jokes,” Xavier said. “Leon's body is out there. Thoreau's alive. They're going to do the rite with or without us and then turn you into the tool to end the world. I think you should distract Gaozu. There's something I need to do.”

  I didn't get what he was saying. “Why?” I asked.

  “Remember when I said cremation is bad news for War Mages?” he asked. “We're going to set off the bomb before Thoreau can take that energy and send it to his traitor friend. I've got to make sure we can do the resurrection rite if we survive it.”

  Then I got it.

  We had to destroy Leon's body and set off all his energy.

  In here. With us.

  “We won't survive,” I said. “Unless we can Transpose out of here?”

  “That won't work,” Xavier said, grabbing my arms so that I faced him. “There are too many wards here. I just wish my sister and I had gotten along better.”

  I got what he was saying. We probably weren't making it out of here. I trembled. At least Thoreau would be gone. Maybe someone else could get through that portal at the ATC building and get our families out. I thought of the anguish Dad would feel when he found out I was gone. There would be no point of eternal torment after that. He would carry that pain for the rest of his very long life.

  “Okay,” I said as the dragon huffed, waiting for us to come out. “We try it.” I could think of no other way. “You do whatever and I'll keep the dragon off you. Then we grab a torch or something and set fire to Leon. Sounds easy enough.”

  “Oh, and Alyssa?”

  “What?”

  Xavier pulled me close and our lips met.

  The moment stretched out, eternal, blissful. Xavier's energy thrummed through me as we embraced, holding each other tight, as the dragon huffed once more.

  “I should have done that sooner,” Xavier said, smiling at me. “Let's get this over with.”