by Alex Steele
With a growl of frustration, Swift lowered the bow and stood there panting. Even her arms shook with fatigue. “I was so close, but it was as if...something was missing.”
“I felt the same way,” Master Hiko said with a nod.
That wasn’t a good sign. If Yui had given me some powerful weapon we couldn’t even use, I was going to set it on fire and throw it back in that box she’d dragged me through.
“You should try,” Swift said, holding it out toward me. “She said it drew on something else, maybe she meant the mayhem magic.”
I hesitated. My gut was telling me this was risky. In a way, I didn’t want the bow to work for me. It felt like it would mean something if it did. Something I didn’t want to be true.
With a sigh, I took it anyhow. “Make sure you both stay behind me. I have a bad feeling about this thing.”
Swift actually looked a little excited at the prospect, but moved behind me as requested and stood next to Master Hiko.
“I wish Gresham were here to see this.”
I gave her an incredulous look. “This thing could theoretically kill me.”
“Pretty sure Yui won’t actually kill you considering how often she’s saved your life,” she replied, raising an eyebrow. “Stop being dramatic and test it.”
I grumbled as I stepped into position. She was right, but I still didn’t like it. Just because it wouldn’t kill me didn’t mean it wouldn’t have other undesirable effects.
Something changed as I lifted the bow. Magic surged up my arms, rippling along my skin and stretching out of the bow itself. The runes on the bow lit up, glowing so brightly the entire bow looked as if it were made of gold.
My arms moved on their own, pulling the string back taut. An arrow of pure black formed within the bow. It vibrated with power and an eagerness that I could feel as if it were my own emotion. I aimed at a tall tree about twenty feet away. There was no doubt in my mind the arrow would strike true. It felt my intention, knew its target, and it would seek it out like a guided missile.
On an exhale, I released it.
A high-pitched screech rent the air as the arrow launched itself from the bow. Magic tore from me like a tsunami, pushing it on. I had a half a second to realize this was a huge mistake before it impacted.
The tree exploded. A massive ball of fire billowed out like a wave. My magic responded immediately, snapping in front of us in a wedge-shaped shield. My knees gave out as exhaustion flooded my limbs. Heat rolled overhead and around the shield, scorching the ground on either side of us.
Oooh, that felt good, the mayhem magic whispered.
Of course the asshole in my brain liked it. My body, however, did not. My chest ached and every breath was a struggle. Stars skittered across my vision, blurring everything. Even sound blurred as I fought to stay conscious.
As soon as the flames dissipated, I dropped the shield. The tree was gone. As were about a dozen others. A steaming crater sat before us instead, molten rock smoldering in the middle. Dust hovered in the air like a thick fog.
I turned back and glared at Swift. There were two of her. “I told you so. There’s no way I can use that more than once in a fight. I barely managed to stay conscious.”
She hurried past me without even acknowledging that I’d been correct. “This is amazing. I hadn’t expected this level of destruction, but it makes a certain sort of sense considering the source of the bow. A god wouldn’t make something mundane.”
Master Hiko followed her, stroking his beard in a rare sign of nervousness. At least someone was as unsettled by this as I was.
What a fun new toy, my magic murmured.
“Why am I the only one that can use it?” I muttered, not really expecting a reply. Standing still seemed like too much effort.
Swift’s head popped up. “Is your magic talking to you again?”
I nodded, finally forcing myself back to my feet.
“Well?”
“I was just asking what it knew about the bow.” I shrugged.
I’m sure you can figure it out.
“Why not just tell me?”
There’s no fun in that.
My eye twitched in irritation. This was like having a meaner version of Yui in my mind. I was not a fan. In fact, if it could go back to being silent and mysterious, that would be great.
Master Hiko watched me from a distance, arms crossed tightly. Disapproval was clear on his face. I wasn’t sure if he simply distrusted the mayhem magic — something I could hardly blame him for — or if he disliked the bow and its source. There were too many unanswered questions and every day seemed to bring a new one.
The eye winking at me from the new katana flashed through my mind. My arms moving on their own to draw back the bow. The way the mayhem magic moved on its own to protect me...protect us. Perhaps I shouldn’t be trusted.
Swift frowned and turned back to the crater. “It is interesting that only you can use it — even though it apparently exhausts you. The mayhem magic must be the key. Though…” she hesitated chewing on her lip.
“What?” I prompted.
She looked up, brows drawn tightly together. “This is Apollo’s bow right? He’s a god, but he doesn’t have mayhem magic, does he? That deity is known for archery and music and healing. Not chaos. The opposite, in fact. What’s the connection?”
I looked down at the bow with renewed concern. The voice in my head was conspicuously silent.
Twenty-Five
I set the bow on the chest in the secret room in my father’s office. It seemed like the best place to keep it for now. No one but me could get into this room.
I paused, trailing my fingers along the delicate pattern on the lid. I still couldn’t open it, and I still had no idea why it had been left here. Perhaps it wasn’t meant for me, but it seemed strange to lock it in here with the family ring as the key if it wasn’t meant for me. With a frustrated sigh, I left the room, shutting the door firmly behind me.
Swift was down in the training room going through exercises with her new sword wearing the armor as well. I paused in the doorway and watched her practice. Her movements were faster without the weight of the massive hammer, not that she was ever slow. She had always swung that thing around like it weighed nothing.
There was an added vicious grace to the way she could strike now. It was mesmerizing to watch. And strange. The sword cut through the air as she moved through an unfamiliar kata. She seemed to know it well, though.
Ending on a controlled downward swing, she finished her practice. Sweat glistened on her forehead. She sheathed the sword and turned to face me. “Got it safely tucked away?”
“As safe as it can be.”
The sword and armor disappeared in a flash, leaving her in her normal clothes — minus the red trench coat. “Should we tell the others about the bow?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I hadn’t even considered it. For now, I think it’s best if no one else knows. I’ll tell them before we go in to rescue Bradley, but at the last minute.”
“Alright, I was thinking the same thing.” She sighed and headed toward the door. “I keep feeling like something is about to go seriously wrong. Either magisters are going to show up and arrest us, or Fate will appear again. It’s like I’m missing some obvious threat staring us in the face.”
“I’m feeling pretty paranoid too,” I admitted. “I don’t think I’ve relaxed since the fight in Moira. Oh, that reminds me. What did Master Hiko want earlier? It looked like you two were arguing.”
“Oh, nothing. We weren’t. Just, uh...nothing important,” Swift said, stumbling through an obvious lie.
I raised an eyebrow. “Just nothing, huh?”
She sighed. “Master Hiko asked me to do something, but I haven’t decided if I think it’s a good idea yet.”
“What did he want?”
She waved away my question. “I’ll tell you after I’ve decided.”
“Is this revenge for keeping secrets?”
That earned me a self-satisfied smirk. “It certainly eases the guilt.”
“Are you staying here again tonight?”
“I’ll be back tomorrow evening, but I have to actually do some laundry.” She shook her head. “Feels weird to be reporting somewhere other than the IMIB offices.”
“Especially considering where we have to go instead.”
“Every time I start to settle in somewhere, it gets taken away from me.” She laughed bitterly and shook her head. “You’d think that at my age, I’d be used to it, but I hate change more than ever now.”
“Maybe the prosaics have it right with their lifespans. You’re ancient by their standards. A crotchety old woman,” I said with a growing grin.
She punched my shoulder — lightly for once. “And you’re a crotchety old man.”
“You know, you’re here so often I’m starting to think you should just move in. Might make it easier to get your laundry done.”
“Are you propositioning me, Blackwell?”
“Yes. This is all part of my master plan to seduce you.” I waggled my eyebrows at her.
She burst into laughter, face turning red as she struggled to breathe. “No wonder you’re still single.”
“That’s totally uncalled for!” I objected in mock offense.
We headed downstairs and she waved goodbye. I headed toward the kitchen, intending on getting a snack before going back to the training room to exhaust myself. My skin was still crawling with the energy of that stupid bow.
I paused in front of the kitchen door at the sound of footsteps. It was a steady stride, not Bootstrap’s uneven scampering. Viktor rounded the corner, apparently having come in the back door again.
“Blackwell,” he said, nodding in greeting. “I have some news.”
“Any reason you waited for Swift to leave to share it with me?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I did not realize she was here recently,” he said without a hint of deception. The man had a poker face that rivaled Hiroji’s. I’d just have to trust him. And tell Swift later.
“Alright, what’d you find out?”
Viktor crossed his arms. “The Awakened are after someone in Purgatory. Their leader, perhaps. Several of their long term members have been tossed into that dungeon. It could be any of them, or all of them.”
I leaned back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. Another complication, but one we could probably work with. “Alright. If it’s just a rescue they’re after I can hardly blame them. Not many people deserve to rot in a place like that.”
“And what if this person does deserve to be there?” Viktor asked, eyes never leaving my face.
“Then we’ll deal with that after. The Awakened claim they can help us get in, and the longer we wait, the less likely we'll be able to get Bradley out alive.” I shrugged. “I’ll trade an asshole for Bradley if it comes down to it.”
Viktor nodded once. “I agree.”
“Do you think you can find out who, exactly, they’re after?”
He shrugged. “I’ll continue to try. They are eager to use my skills, and are therefore trusting me more quickly than they should.”
“Who are they wanting resurrected?” I asked with a frown.
“That’s another thing I intend to find out as soon as possible.” He checked his phone, typing a quick message. “I’ll be gone for a couple of days, or longer. They have asked me to do a few things to cement my place with them. Lopez knows when to look for me.” With a brief nod of farewell, he disappeared down the hallway once again.
I headed back upstairs as I turned all the new information over in my mind. The Awakened were getting more suspicious the more we dug into their activities. I already disliked the way they talked. It was cultish. Hearing Bootstrap echo their lingo had unsettled me. And now they were raising the dead.
Most mages asked for cremation, rather than the prosaic custom of burial, in order to prevent a necromancer from ever raising them from the dead. That meant they were either killing people to interrogate them, or they were after the recent dead.
Twenty-Six
The manor was too quiet, and my thoughts too loud. Armed with a piping hot mug of tea, I put away thoughts of sleep as I padded into my father’s office.
A full moon shone through the window, casting a soft, blue haze over the room, giving it all a ghostly appearance. Fitting for tonight’s activities.
I blew softly on my tea before testing the temperature. It was still a bit too hot to enjoy, so I set it aside on the shelf and pressed my hand against the bookcase to open the hidden room. The door swung open and I followed it, stepping into the small room as it filled with light from the enchantments that were left behind.
The chest sat on its stand, taunting me, but I ignored it. I’d spent too much time on the seemingly impossible task of opening it. The writing on the inside of the door was my task for tonight. Both of my parents were meticulous in everything they did. This was out of character — therefore likely to be important in unraveling this mystery.
I’d copied the runes down to study them, but I wanted to see the originals right now. There had to be something I was missing. Gresham had given me two books on obscure runes while we were there visiting him. I pulled out the first and began the tedious task of trying to find a match for any of the internal symbols in the runes.
Once again, the seemingly contradictory nature of some of the runes baffled me. I double-checked one and discovered my initial reading had been correct. With both symbols combined, the rune seemed to imply it could both open and close something. A single rune could only perform one action — normally the two would have to be separated.
I rubbed my thumb over the rune. There was an errant line that looked almost like a mistake, which made me wonder if dust or something else had obscured part of it. My finger came away clean. Sighing, I turned to the book, but my eyes snapped back to the rune as a memory flickered through my mind.
“Bloody runes,” my mother muttered as she sat hunched over her work desk.
I pushed up onto my tippy toes to see what she was doing.
“See that?” she said, pointing at a crooked line. “That’s why you learn how to draw runes the right way the first time. I mess this one up every time, all because I was careless in my studies at your age.” She pinched my cheek and grinned at me. “Did you study hard at school today?”
I traced the line again. It was the same mistake, made in a rush. My mother had written these, not my father like I’d assumed.
If it was her...then these runes could be something entirely new. The contradictions could be intentional. She had always toyed with spells, twisting them into new and creative enchantments.
I stepped back and looked at the back of the door again, trying to take it all in. The runes trailed off toward the end, almost as if she hadn’t finished whatever she was writing. It could be that the key to what this all meant was missing. Either left off intentionally, or because she’d been interrupted.
My phone rang, the loud noise of the ringtone startling me. The caller-id showed Swift’s name, so I answered immediately. “What’s wrong?” It was way too late for a normal, friendly call.
“Something is going right for once,” she said excitedly. “I’m with Gresham. He found our quote.”
“Doesn’t he know it’s the middle of the night?”
She snorted. “He doesn’t sleep when he has something more exciting to do. Why are you complaining anyhow? It’s not like you were sleeping either.”
“I could have been though,” I muttered with a sigh. “What is it from?”
“Prometheus Bound, an ancient Greek tragedy. The hero of the story is, of course, Prometheus. He was a trickster who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans.”
“That explains the name of the club too, then. Any connections to an eagle?”
“Yep. Prometheus was tortured by Zeus who sent an eagle to devour his liver every day.”
“All for stea
ling fire?” I asked as I set the books from Gresham back on the desk and closed up the office. I’d continue looking into the runes after we sorted out this new information.
“That’s how the story goes, but there’s no telling how accurate it is.”
“So, are the Awakened worshiping Prometheus, or are they just using the mythos for their own ends?”
“Hard to say. They certainly seem fanatical enough, and the way they stole everyone’s magic at the club could have been part of a ritualistic sacrifice. There isn’t much precedent for people worshipping Prometheus, though. He wasn’t a god in the normal sense of the word.”
I headed downstairs toward the kitchen. “Wasn’t he a titan?”
“Yes, and the titans were, in a sense, simply much older gods. They fought with the Olympian gods for control of the universe and lost.”
“Interesting. Where does Fate fit in with all of this?”
“The Fates in Greek mythology were on the side of the Olympians, though I don’t see much crossover between them and Prometheus. Prometheus’s main conflict was with Zeus himself.”
“This is getting more complicated. Could this be the war everyone has been referring to? Round two of the Titans versus the Olympians?”
Swift hesitated, then said. “I really hope not. The damage from the skirmish in Moira was bad enough. A full scale war could destroy the entire world.”
“We need to find out more about what the Awakened want, and soon.”
I opened the kitchen cupboard and dug out the Oreos. There was still half a package, just like I left them. I’d almost expected to find them eaten now that Yui had sort of shown back up.
With a shrug I tossed them on the table and poured myself a glass of milk. Might as well enjoy them while I could.
I popped a cookie into my mouth. Halfway through chewing, a bitter taste flooded my mouth. Grabbing a napkin hastily, I spit it out.
“Yui, what the fuuu…..”
The room went black.
Twenty-Seven
