Spectrum of Magic Complete Series - Spell Breaker - Fate Shifter - Cursed Stone - Magic Unborn - Libra

by D. N. Leo

  Ciaran shook his head. “I’ve sent for her. They’ll be here soon.” He glanced at his wrist unit. “My officers just confirmed. They’re safe and sound.”

  The sound of an incoming holocast interrupted, and a beam of light flashed inside the spaceship, inside of which stood the life-sized hologram image of the Host of the Daimon Gate.

  “You’re injured, Ciaran?” the Host asked.

  Lorcan nodded, acknowledging the Host. The Host responded in turn.

  Ciaran winced and walked toward the medical compartment. He pulled out a square medical patch and cleaned his wound. “I don’t have the ability to heal myself quickly, but this will help clean things up. It should look better by the time my wife sees it.” Ciaran flashed Lorcan a brief smile and then addressed the Host. “I called for you because one of the missions you sent people to complete on Earth might have caused collateral effects that I don’t think you’ll be happy about. I placed our intelligence system on Earth to keep an eye on things, and the system has just reported that a sea creature is gathering a massive amount of energy under the seabeds of all continents on Earth. That amount of energy could create a series of tsunamis.”

  Ciaran looked straight into the Host’s eyes. “It’s going to drown the entire human population. This creature has something to do with the Daimon Gate. What can you tell us about the key and the mission you ordered?”

  The Host arched an eyebrow and stared at Ciaran. Ciaran shrugged. “I can certainly find out myself, but it will take precious time that we might need in order to save the humans on Earth. I still have interests on Earth, so I’d like to protect the people there,” Ciaran explained.

  The Host nodded. “There was a myth before my time that the key of Psuche can give the holder the ability to control the water level of any universe, given the correct lineup of all astronomical elements. For me, it’s simply a key to secure one of our Eastern gates.”

  Ciaran nodded. “For creatures that live in an aquatic environment, water dictates their territories and is a prime motivation for invasion.”

  “I killed the woman who was supposed to give the key to the creature. It looked quite pissed. I’m not sure if it was because of the woman’s death or because it couldn’t get the key. But whatever the reason, if we go back to Earth to kill that reptile, do you think it would solve the tsunami threat?” Lorcan asked.

  Ciaran nodded. “It’s speculation, but it’s better than doing nothing.”

  Lorcan pulled out a little pouch and put it on the floor. “Here is the key. I’ll leave it with you, and we’ll return to Earth for the creature.” He looked at the Host.

  Ciaran arched an eyebrow. “I thought you said you didn’t have it with you?”

  “I’d hidden it before Brandon attacked me. Just got it back now.”

  “Brandon?” the Host asked.

  Ciaran nodded. “He was trying to kill me, too. He’s taken residence in Xiilok, outside your jurisdiction. And now he—or the person who took him in—wants the key, too. Maybe the myth has some truth to it—perhaps the key of Psuche does have magical powers,” Ciaran mumbled sarcastically. The Host stepped forward, moving the light beam up to encircle the pouch on the ground. He then bent down to pick it up.

  “Oh, no.” The Host shook his head.

  Lorcan and Ciaran watched the Host as he pulled out the key and pointed to its top. “The stone is missing. There’s an Indigo Stone that’s supposed to be mounted right here.”

  “So the key won’t work without the stone?” Lorcan asked.

  The Host shook his head. “The stone carries the power, and the key unlocks the power. They won’t work separately. This is now simply a metal key, and the stone an expensive decoration.”

  “But we took the key out of the patch lock at the temple. My guess is that it had to have the stone attached to it at the time— the Fire Fox clan wouldn’t have spent generations and sacrificed many lives to guard a useless key with no power. And the woman grabbed the key from me and ran to the beach. It wasn’t long before we caught up with her, and we killed her before she could give the key to the dragon. So what happened to the stone in between?” Lorcan exclaimed.

  “Time is relative,” Ciaran contemplated.

  “How does that explain any of this?” Lorcan raked his hands through his hair and paced in agitation.

  “Did anything strange happen between the time the woman took the key and when you killed her?” Ciaran asked.

  “Not really. She locked us in the temple and triggered a mechanism so the temple collapsed, and we were buried. We escaped via the drainage system beneath the temple. The only thing that was strange to me was the drainage. It was like a tunnel—long, dark, and confusing . . .” Lorcan trailed of as a thought came across his mind. “Dimensional hole . . . do you think that’s what it was, Ciaran?”

  Ciaran smiled and nodded. “The woman was obviously going to give the dragon the key without the stone. There must be more to that woman than meets the eye.”

  Lorcan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, she stripped naked on the beach.”

  “I beg your pardon?” the Host asked.

  Ciaran laughed. “Never mind,” Lorcan rumbled and continued, “So I guess we leave the key with you here and go back to Earth for the stone and the dragon?”

  Ciaran nodded. “You might be able to kill two birds with one mission. Take these.” Ciaran removed handguns from the weapon compartment and programmed them. “These are specially designed for the transitional zone, so I think they’ll work on Earth. They’ll definitely be superior compared to the current technology there and won’t be detected by any detecting device.” Ciaran gave Lorcan the guns. While Lorcan assessed the weight and the feel of them, the Host shook his head.

  Ciaran merely smiled at the Host and muttered, “I’m sorry your peace-keeping mission isn’t working out. But my friends are still on Earth. I’m not going to let them die because of this stupid reptile.”

  Chapter 3

  Hot sand rubbed at her face. Orla rolled to her side, moaning. Her entire body ached, but it was not the pain of battle, it was the pain of overtaxed body muscles after a body combat session at the gym. She opened her eyes, squinted at the bright sunlight, and immediately recalled what had just happened. She jumped to her feet, searching for Lorcan.

  Behind a small sand hill, Lorcan drew himself up, squinted his eyes groggily, and registered the situation. He swung around, catching sight of Orla, and grinned. “Are you okay?” he asked, glancing up and down her body.

  Orla nodded. “You?” She turned him around, checking him over.

  “I’m fine.”

  From behind a small shrub on their left, Roy and Mori stood up, taking inventory.

  “How are you guys?” Orla asked.

  “We’re fine,” Mori responded.

  Lorcan ran back to the sand hill where he had landed and dug around in the sand. When Orla, Roy, and Mori approached, Lorcan explained, “I’m looking for my wrist unit.”

  “The one Ciaran gave you?” Orla asked.

  Lorcan grunted a response and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw a black band sticking up from the sand a few feet away from him. Picking it up, he brushed the sand from it with the sleeve of his shirt. After blowing off the last bit of sand, he started coding. Everyone’s eyes were on the device, the only tool they had at the moment to reopen the portal that would take them back to the transitional zone of the multiverse. The device flashed green, signaling that it was operational. Lorcan sighed a breath of relief and put the device away.

  Orla rubbed at her shoulders. “It was a rough landing, wasn’t it? I thought Ciaran was more skillful than that when he opened the portal for us.”

  Lorcan smiled. He came over to massage Orla’s aching shoulders. “He is skillful. You should see him in battle. The transition was bumpy because we ran into some dust storms along the way. Anyway, I hope there won’t be too many rough days ahead of us.”

  Orla rolled her eyes. “We can only hope.”


  Roy stood stiffly, looking at Mori. “We’ll be all right. We’ll find the stone, and then return to the transitional zone. I’ll take you to Eudaiz.”

  “Is that what Ciaran promised?” Mori asked, arching an eyebrow.

  “If we complete this task, Ciaran will take you in. You can trust him—he’s that kind of guy,” Lorcan said.

  “And you know that because . . . ?” Mori asked.

  “We’ve had a lot of dealings with Ciaran. He has more important things to worry than dishonoring his promise,” Orla said.

  Mori shrugged.

  “He saved me and asked nothing in return, remember, Mori?” Roy asked. Mori looked at Roy. There was so much more she wanted to say to him, but she couldn’t say it in front of Lorcan and Orla. She tugged at the new weapon Ciaran had just given them to make sure it was secured, then walked away. “Where are we?” Roy asked.

  “Ciaran showed me the map of the energy moments underneath the seabeds, but we didn’t have a chance to convert the information to a surface map. But I think we’re somewhere between Japan and some small islands in Southeast Asia. I could locate us by triangulating the wrist unit and the base station, but I’m reluctant to activate the signals unless it’s absolutely necessary. We can ask the locals.” Lorcan squinted, his hands on his hips, and glanced around the endless expanse of white sand.

  “Well, this looks very promising,” Orla said, rolling her eyes. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a small head with black hair popping in and out from behind a black rock. Without a single word, her hand was on her weapon, and she was charging toward the possible stalker. She moved too fast for the person behind the rock to react or run away. The group followed her.

  Orla pulled her gun, pointing it at the rock. “Come out and raise your hands where I can see them.” For Lorcan, she added, “Yes, I learned that from cop shows on TV.”

  From behind the rock, a small child stepped out. He was a boy about ten years old with short black hair and huge brown eyes, which were filled with tears. The boy had his hands in the air, suggesting he’d understood what Orla said.

  “Hey, don’t worry. I’m not going to shoot you,” Orla soothed. She almost sounded like she was singing a lullaby. She put the gun away. The boy put his hands down, but his eyes still gleamed with tears. “I’m sorry I scared you. It’s okay now. We won’t hurt you. We’re just a little bit lost. Do you know where we are?”

  The boy stopped shaking, and a faint smile came across his face. Lorcan approached and pulled out the liquid map Ciaran had given him previously. He programmed it to reveal the surface map of the Earth and zoomed in on Asia. “Do you think you can point out on the map where we are now?” He laid the map on the ground where it flattened out and expanded like a paper map. Lorcan made a mental note to praise this technology to Ciaran. The boy crouched next to the map and reached his hand out, pointing to a particular location on the map, but before his finger could make contact, he turned his hand and pulled the gun holstered on Orla’s belt. The boy jumped back to his feet, stepped back, and held the gun shakily in his little hands, pointing it at the group of people.

  “Easy, easy, kid, that’s not a toy,” Lorcan said.

  “If you put it down, and go away, we won’t chase you. We don’t mean any harm,” Orla said.

  The boy’s eyes fixed on Roy and Mori. He stepped back as the group advanced. Then he lifted the gun, pointed it at Roy, and pulled the trigger. Mori yelped and dove at Roy, squashing him down.

  Chapter 4

  The gun didn’t discharge. It wouldn’t work for him because the kid wasn’t authorized to use it. It had been programmed only for the people in the group. The boy threw the gun on the sand and ran away.

  Orla started to rush after him, but Lorcan held her back. “Let him go.”

  “He shot at us. The kid shot at us!”

  “He didn’t shoot at us, he shot at Roy,” Mori said.

  Roy pushed Mori off him and grabbed her shoulders. “Never, ever do that again, Mori. Do not jump in front of me to block an attack.” Roy’s eyes sparked with fury.

  Mori waved her arms in the air in frustration. “You never know what’s coming at you,” she growled and walked away.

  “Why did the kid shoot at me? Do I look like the kind of thug who would harm a kid?” Roy asked Lorcan and Orla.

  “On the contrary, you’re as beautiful as a character straight from Japanese comic books. The thing is, even the bad guys in those comic books are sinfully gorgeous. Maybe you look like a character from the dark side, Roy.” Orla grinned.

  “Not helpful, Orla. And since when do you read Japanese comic books?” Lorcan asked.

  “I don’t read them. There aren’t many words. Mainly pictures.”

  Lorcan waved his arms in frustration. “Orla!”

  “All right, all right. But my point remains. Roy might look similar to some dark character that scared the kid.”

  “He wasn’t scared. He shot at me with hatred. With conviction,” Roy said.

  Lorcan nodded. “Roy’s right. The boy wasn’t scared. What could raise such vicious emotion in a boy who’s, what, barely ten years old?” Lorcan shook his head.

  “It has to do with his family.” Orla looked down at the sand where the boy had stood before. She said that more to herself than in response to Lorcan’s question. As a part of her training in sorcery, her family had tried to bring up evil spirits in her since she was as young as six years old. Orla felt a tug at her arm and saw Lorcan had grabbed hold of her hands. He pulled her into his arms. He said nothing, but she knew he could read what she was thinking.

  “Mori found something,” Roy said and ran toward Mori. Mori was crouching, examining something on the ground. Orla and Lorcan followed Roy. As they approached, she was staring at a small piece of black rock peeking through the white sand. Roy crouched next to Mori and then looked at Lorcan and Orla. “There are werefoxes nearby.”

  “Was the boy . . . ?” Orla asked.

  Roy shook his head. “I can’t tell.”

  Mori stood up and headed west. They followed her.

  After walking for a bit, they approached a small village, a generous description of a handful of temporary shelters carved into the sandy hills. Sandstone cliffs stood tall, arcing into natural dome, bizarre patterns imprinted on the rocks by the wind and water. The breeze blew in between the cliffs and the patterned rocks, creating an eerie flutelike sound, soulful and haunting. The sun was drifting away quickly, leaving a last drop of sunlight on the shiny limestone of the cliffs.

  Standing at the entrance to the village, they could see sparkling eyes from the shelters looking at them. They inched a bit closer, and the rumbling noise of growls became audible.

  “Don’t go inside. They’ll become hostile, whatever they are,” Lorcan warned. Mori continued on. Roy grabbed her arm, pulling her back. She hissed at him.

  “They’re werefoxes. They’ll recognize us. You know that, Roy,” Mori protested.

  “No, I don’t know that, Mori. They’re definitely some kind of were-creatures, but if the boy came from this group, they obviously hate me for some reason. I don’t think it’s a good idea to go in.”

  A snarl came from the shelters, followed by hisses, howls, and barking. The shadow of a little fox darted out from a shelter. Then there were many others that ran out in a herd. They stormed to a corner between two large rocks arched like a doorway and disappeared into the darkness. Mori tried to give chase, but Roy held her back.

  “We chased them off. They’re firefoxes, and we chased them from their home!” Mori cried out. Roy’s arms were like a pair of iron pliers, gripping Mori and lifting her off the ground.

  “You’re not going after them, Mori. It could be a trap. They’re firefoxes, but they’re not your clan. We can’t be here. You can’t go with them. Do you hear me?” Roy wiped away Mori’s tears and held her in his arms.

  Lorcan and Orla checked the shelters, finding none of the foxes left. Lorcan shook h
is head. “They obviously need a leader. Living in this condition and running away whenever anything that remotely resembles a threat comes knocking on their door—this clan won’t survive for long.”

  Orla hushed Lorcan. “Don’t give Mori any ideas. It’ll break Roy’s heart if she goes with the foxes and he has to go to Eudaiz.”

  Lorcan shook his head and sighed. Orla pulled him into her arms, tucked away a long strand of hair flopping on his forehead, and looked into his striking blue eyes. “We’re the lucky ones, aren’t we?” he said and kissed her.

  Chapter 5

  As soon as the sun climbed over the top of the limestone cliffs the next morning, the group left the shelter of the werefoxes behind and headed in the direction of possible civilization. Orla was utilizing the best of her psychic ability to sense the direction. The liquid map Lorcan relied on didn’t seem to work consistently. They followed the coast for a while, with the endless open water on one side and the limestone cliffs on the other.

  Roy pointed in the distance. “I think that’s a town.” He squinted his eyes, spotting the silhouettes of buildings.

  “Finally,” Orla sighed. Lorcan grinned and kissed her on the cheek.

  They walked a bit further and finally arrived at a town. There were a couple of blocks of small houses, a few convenience stores, a gas station, and a grocery store on the main street. Lorcan glanced around, making a mental map of the place.

  “There’s one thing that’s missing,” Lorcan mumbled.

  “People,” Orla whispered.

  “There are were-creatures nearby,” Mori said. Roy’s hand hovered over his gun.

  They were standing in the middle of the road, and there was no traffic. It was the middle of the day, but there were no pedestrians, no shoppers, and not even shopkeepers inside the open shops. It was like a ghost town. Lorcan pulled Orla behind him. Then he realized that they could be ambushed from behind as well.