Hells Magic (The Armistice Book 1)

by Leslie Vatenar

  Liam left. He returned some time later, worried.

  “Damn, Jayden, there are guards outside. And they’re powerful.”

  Oh, dammit. The Hells soldiers had found me. Why the hell now? I understood at the very moment I asked myself the question. I’d used my magic against Jayden and a lot of it. I’d given them my position, served on a silver platter.

  And we could add one more problem to the list that kept getting longer than my shopping list earlier that month.

  “They could be Armistice guards,” Jayden suggested.

  “Yes, they’re powerful enough to be. Even more,” Liam replied.

  “What? No, they’re not Armistice guards,” I said.

  Jayden took a step forward. His power only grew, taking up all the space in the room. It looked like a nice and sunny morning just before the Apocalypse and the unleashing of all the natural elements. The destruction lay quietly under a fine mist of calm as a whale would hide under a rock. You can’t miss it. I didn’t understand his magic, it was foreign to me.

  It seemed too ruthless and dark to be that of a mage, too pure and subtle to be that of a necromancer and far too powerful and raw to be that of a shapeshifter.

  “That was your plan from the beginning. Distracting us by the time they get here?” he asked me, his voice colder and harsher than ever.

  “No, not at all. These soldiers aren’t with me. They’re against me.”

  My high-pitched voice was rising almost as fast as my panic. We had to get out of there as soon as possible. No more time for questioning.

  “What have you done?”

  “We don’t have time for that. They’re much more powerful than the Armistice soldiers; if they enter they’ll kill us all.”

  “Liam, hold them back.” Liam went away. “Now tell me the truth because until I have it, none of us will leave this place.”

  “But you’re insane. Do you really want to die?”

  “Don’t underestimate me. I know I’ll be fine. You, on the other hand…”

  Anger, a surprising spawn of my internal feelings, despair and worry, surged in me. “Screw you.”

  In two strides, Jayden came dangerously close, and I swiftly got up from the chair, minimizing the superiority in size he had over me. Poor effort.

  “Repeat that,” he said, danger coming off him in waves.

  “I’m trying to save us,” I said simply.

  “Then speak.”

  “Promise me you’ll help us if I tell you everything.”

  He didn’t answer. He stood there, staring at me with that indecipherable look, while there were Hells soldiers outside who could simply blow up the house. I had no solution, yet again… He didn’t let it go and the soldiers would soon attack. So, I gave in, praying that Alice used a euphemism by saying he wouldn’t be cooperative.

  “The Armistice was attacked, that’s why Alice sent me to find you.”

  “I don’t believe you. No attack would make Alice desperate enough to want my help.”

  “That’s the truth,” I cried out. “And believe me, despair is the feeling that has inhabited me since the attack. Alice was dethroned.”

  “It’s impossible. The Armistice is the best-kept place on Earth.”

  Did I have to say more? Expose our weakness? He still didn’t seem ready to help us.

  “You’re not telling me everything. I don’t believe you,” he said.

  Liam entered the room, breathless.

  “Jay, I do what I can, but they’re powerful. Like really powerful.”

  “They’re Hells soldiers,” I informed them.

  “What?” Liam shouted. “What are you doing with Hells soldiers hot on your tail?”

  Jayden was still staring intently at me. “I want to see. I want to see what happened at the Armistice.”

  He seemed much calmer than Liam, who was panicking right there. The mention of the Hells soldiers hadn’t even affected him.

  “But ho—” I started to say before I realized what he meant.

  And it was a categorical no.

  I backed off and banged the chair just behind me. “No, no, no. Never.”

  “Tick-tock, you’re wasting precious time.”

  He wanted me to let him into my mind. So he could see the entire scene as if he’d been in my shoes. But from the moment he entered my head with my agreement, my psychic barriers would be permanently invisible to him. He could enter as he saw fit, without my consent.

  The possibilities in someone else’s mind were endless. Mental control, listening to thoughts, implantation of ideas and memories. I shuddered, thinking of the power I would give him over me.

  And he’ll only believe me when he sees the scene.

  “Do you know Alice?”

  “Yes.”

  Trust wasn’t our forte at the moment. I doubted that he was telling the truth and he doubted me. Anyway, if I were dead, I wouldn’t be able to do anything for my people. I could feel the black magic of the Hells soldiers sneaking into the room. It was getting more and more suffocating. I didn’t have time to convince him anymore.

  “Go ahead.”

  Seeing the resolution on my face he took my head in both hands. I lowered my psychic barriers, which allowed him to enter my mind. I could feel his presence in my head. It might be the only time I’d feel that. Next time, I wouldn’t even feel if he was inside my head.

  What was I doing?

  His mind was imposing, strong and determined. It filled my mind with authority. But our minds seemed to complement each other, turning around each other like two stars without ever touching each other. But something changed; he lost his superiority and confidence, he retreated into the depths of my mind, small and inhibited. I understood that he was reliving the scene at the Armistice and something was affecting him.

  My mind gradually approached his, intrigued by this change in attitude, and it touched it gently. Instantly, his mind took on a gigantic scale, crushing mine and bringing excruciating pain to my body. We both opened our eyes. Jayden caught me when my legs suddenly lost the manual about the duties they had to perform in my body.

  “They have broken my spell, Jayden,” Liam said, panicked.

  Manual found, I straightened myself, slightly shaken by what had just happened.

  “Liam, take Katy to the car. Wait for me there.”

  Liam reached out to me.

  “Are you going to help us?” I asked Jayden.

  “Yes.”

  His power pierced through the black magic of the soldiers. We were no longer in the sunny morning but in the Apocalypse, at the opening of the sixth of the seven seals, to the sound of trumpets, when a massive cataclysm devastated the earth.

  What I felt, the power that emanated from him and the visualization brought by his magical waves, was as terrifying as it was intriguing. “Intriguing” was rather subjective because I was sure any sane person would have run away.

  His magic was eerily similar to Craid’s in terms of intensity. Perhaps Alice had decided that we should fight fire with fire.

  Relieved by his answer, I took Liam’s hand and we ran. There were no soldiers in front of the house. But it was impossible. The best thing to do was to surround us. The soldiers were far from stupid.

  “Wait,” I said, pulling on Liam’s hand.

  “Don’t worry; Jay lures them to fight them.”

  “What? On his own? He’ll get killed,” I said, looking back.

  “He can take care of himself,” he said, pulling on my arm. “The only unfortunate thing is that I’ll miss the show.”

  We reached the black car parked in front of the house. Liam led me to the front.

  “Here, I’ll leave you the front seat,” he said with a wink and a smile.

  He went to sit in the back seat. We waited for a few minutes. I didn’t see any soldiers, but black magic saturated the air. I could hear bangs, thunderclaps, barking, and screaming. I was looking
at the house, but the fight was in the back.

  Suddenly Jayden appeared, entered the car, closed the door, and started the vehicle. For a while, we didn’t run into any cars. We joined the major roads, and I clung in vain to the handle while we meandered between the other cars, our speed increasing every second.

  “If the Hells soldiers didn’t kill us, you’re well on your way to doing so.”

  He changed gears and sped up. “It would be really stupid to escape soldiers from the Hells and die in a car accident.”

  “Let me think about those wise words, genius.”

  “You should have more confidence,” he said, looking at me.

  “Eyes on the road!” I shouted.

  Sweet Jesus…

  “You set me up!”

  Jayden looked at me with confusion, but Liam, who had understood I was speaking to him, exploded with laughter.

  “You gave me the front seat because you knew he’d drive like this,” I said, closing my eyes to avoid looking at the road.

  We were going so fast that I could always see the turns too late. If I saw them at the last moment, I hoped Jayden knew the road by heart. Otherwise, we were closer to death than before.

  Finally, I opened my eyes, I felt the speed all the more with my eyes closed and it was hardly better.

  “This driving is saving your life. Your cover-up spell is becoming more and more ineffective, and other soldiers are after us. The goal is to shake them off. And Jayden does it perfectly.”

  “How did you make a cover-up spell?” Jayden asked.

  “A taxi driver did it for me.”

  “Okay. The soldiers I killed had already created a portal for reinforcements. Liam, I need you to use your powers to hide Katy’s magic. They’re looking for her, so they must have an object belonging to her to detect her magical essence. Blur the tracks.”

  “Okay, boss.” I felt Liam’s power expand into the car while Jayden’s was completely out of the air.

  Powerful mages could hide their powers from others. Liam’s power seemed different from that of the necromancers. Softer and less terrifying, but strong and effective. Strange. His magic was also intriguing.

  After about 30 minutes of driving, Jayden finally slowed down.

  “Okay, Jayden got into your head, but I don’t have the story. Why do we have Hells soldiers after us?”

  I glanced at Jayden. Had he really made up his mind? Was he going to help us? And why?

  “What happened?”

  I saw Jayden clench the steering wheel with both hands.

  We need this steering wheel, please don’t rip it off.

  He turned to me, surprised.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” he said, turning his eyes to the road again.

  “Katy?” Liam called, impatient.

  “Yes? Oh, sorry. Uh… There was a reception at the Armistice. The Order members were all gathered. After serious discussions, the evening continued in a more cheerful and fun tone. Supernaturals mixed like never before, shapeshifters danced with mages, everyone had fun. But on the stage where the pop music group was singing, a portal opened, and a man appeared with soldiers from the Hells. I don’t see how he did that, it’s impossible to open portals to the Armistice, the magic that protects the place is supposed to prevent it. Whatever it was, he broke the barrier, entered, and black magic of unparalleled power exploded within the Armistice.

  “The queen was the only one who protected herself and she attacked him immediately. But Craid repelled all her blows. During the fight, he approached her enough to stab her. He was efficient and powerful. Alice was doing her best, but for once… there was someone stronger than her. All the shapeshifters, mages and necromancers who survived the explosion, and me, joined the battle, but the Hells soldiers kept us busy while Craid smeared a magic stone with Alice’s blood. He shouted his name, a demonic smile on his lips, and then he used a spell…”

  Talking was getting harder and harder. I stayed silent to catch my breath, my throat dry, my heart pounding. I was much less hysterical than the first time I told Frank this story, but I still felt upset and traumatized. It was hard to see my friend stabbed, helpless in front of the situation. I’d never seen such a horrible scene. The dismantled bodies littering the ground and the sea of blood in the room would forever be etched in my memory.

  “We’ll destroy that bastard!” Liam exploded.

  After a few minutes, I calmed down again and continued.

  “After the spell, he threw Alice into the air and I caught her. She got up, ready to attack again, even though blood was flowing from her belly. But… her magic… it was all gone. He had stolen it.”

  “What? How is it possible to do that?” Liam asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  Jayden hadn’t loosened his grip on the steering wheel; his knuckles were whitening, a vein in his neck was pulsating and it looked like he was trying to control himself. So, he’d switched sides. I wondered what relationship these two had had and why Alice had never told me about him.

  “You’re telling me that Craid is a man powerful enough to infiltrate the Armistice, defeat the queen and take her powers? The queen is the most powerful mage in the universe. That’s how the Order members are selected, do we agree?”

  “Yes.”

  “All right,” he squeaked.

  “After noticing her lack of power, she watched the fight raging around us, but it wasn’t in our favor. The Hells soldiers were decimating the most powerful shapeshifters, mages and necromancers who could exist. Our soldiers didn’t last long, and the fighting was bloody. The swords of the Hells soldiers cut off supernaturals’ heads or pierced their bodies. Supernaturals were screaming, trying to flee, trying to protect their children. Some committed suicide when they saw the violence with which the soldiers had killed their friends. I grabbed Alice by the arm and we ran away. She was injured and I don’t know how to practice healing spells on anyone but me. So I hid her in an underground passage of the castle to get help, survivors, but she stopped me. She said she could manage, that she would not run away, and that I had to do something to save our people.”

  “Which leads you to us.”

  “That’s right.”

  “The Hells soldiers are powerful, the highest warriors a necromancer can bring out of the Hells. Formerly necromancers of the highest ranks, they had created a kind of sect in which they sacrificed people to increase their power. They were serving someone, but no one knew who. Something happened, and they all disappeared. They ended up in the Hells. But they’ve maintained a link with the world of the living, allowing other powerful supernaturals to call them when needed.” He sighed deeply. “I think… after careful consideration… that it’s time for me to write my will.”

  He scoffed. Then a nervous laugh burst out of him for several minutes before he finally calmed down.

  “We’re really in trouble, aren’t we? How can we defeat this Craid? I think I may have masked Katy’s magical essence, but these soldiers aren’t mere necromancers.”

  “I’ll kill Craid with my own hands,” Jayden said.

  I studied him. His eyes seemed to flash, he was frowning and his jaw was tight. Anger seemed to be a loyal friend because from the beginning it was the only emotion he seemed to feel.

  “What changed your mind?”

  “He made a mistake.”

  Hearing his evasive answers, I didn’t insist. He was on our side, it was enough. And I didn’t want to anger him more.

  “Now where are we going?” I asked after a few minutes.

  “To my house. I might have an idea of how to get rid of the soldiers.”

  CHAPTER 7

  After going to the hotel to pick my belongings up, we arrived at Jayden’s house, far from the city. I gasped in front of the Mediterranean-style house. A swimming pool stretched about ten meters long, and an impressive lawn surrounded Jayden’s three-story house. The walls we
re painted white, and black venetian blinds covered the windows. The roof was flat. The upper floor had a terrace that would surely offer a splendid view of the pool and the landscape. It was the most beautiful house I had ever seen.

  “The house is protected by a spell created by the former owner. I think we can spend the night safely here.”

  ***

  The rest of the night went by quietly.

  Sitting by the pool in front of the house, I remembered the last moments with Alice and her proud and delighted smile when I told her I’d been accepted as a guardian of minor supernaturals. This was my dream. I had finished my studies, but I was looking for a first job. I’d found it.

  Unfortunately, the joy of this splendid news was short-lived.

  I felt a presence behind me. His magical power seemed less petrifying than a few hours earlier, but it was still impossible to mistake the person.

  “You said you had an idea of how to send the Hells soldiers back to where they came from. What’s that idea?”

  “I have an idea, but Liam and I disagree on it.”

  I went back into the house with Jayden.

  “So what’s the problem?” I asked the two supernaturals in front of me, leaning on the kitchen counter.

  Liam’s black hair was disheveled. It was obvious he’d spent the night turning in his bed rather than sleeping, unlike Jayden, who seemed fresher than on Christmas morning. In daylight, he was even more impressive than the previous night. He was wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt stretched tight over his muscular body. His high cheekbones were sharply cut, and his clean-shaven face revealed his square jaw. His piercing blue eyes held an unprecedented calm. If he were a model, he wouldn’t have had any competition, he was that attractive. But behind this physical beauty was an unfailing determination and discreet violence that blended perfectly to get a man willing to do anything in order to get what he wanted. It didn’t matter who stood in his way.

  “He wants to use you as bait!” Liam said angrily. “How can you think of a plan like that?”

  It looked like I had indeed figured him out.

  “I need them all to be in the same place. To do that, we just need to give them what they want.”