The Long Chain

by Dan Willis

  The Brit sneered.

  “No, he didn’t. Doyle contented himself with sipping from the cup of knowledge when he should have drained it to the dregs. It’s why he wasn’t ready when the darkness came.”

  Alex shook his head. He thought he’d been following along, but he must have missed something.

  “You’ve got to be better, Alex,” the Brit went on, seemingly oblivious to Alex’s confusion.

  “What are you talking about?” Alex interjected.

  The man looked at him with a cocked eyebrow, then shook his head.

  “Have you ever heard the expression that those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it?”

  “Sure.” Alex nodded. “It’s a quote from Edmund Burke.”

  The Brit smiled briefly at that, then his face shifted back to a serious expression.

  “Humans never seem to learn, Alex,” he said. “Individuals can learn, but as a group, we just keep repeating the same mistakes over and over. It was just over twenty years ago that the shadows of war spread over Europe. They erupted into a conflict unlike any this little planet has ever known. People died on a scale that was unimaginable just a decade before.”

  “What does that have to do with Iggy or the monograph?”

  The Brit looked sad at the question.

  “I had hoped he would be ready when next the world teetered on the precipice. Ready to use the knowledge in the Monograph to pull the world back.”

  “That’s a lot to expect from one storytelling doctor,” Alex said.

  “You say that because you don’t understand what’s really in the Monograph,” the Brit said. “Dr. Doyle didn’t understand, either. He let his fear control him.”

  “What’s in the Monograph is dangerous,” Alex said, a bit indignant at the stranger’s characterization of Iggy. “There’s nothing wrong with avoiding danger.”

  The Brit shook his head.

  “Gunpowder is dangerous, Alex,” he said. “Yet you carry enough to kill you twice over under your left arm, right next to your heart. Fire is dangerous. Yet people drive cars that contain fiery explosions inside their engines.”

  Fire.

  Something about that word struck a chord in Alex’s memory. Something he’d forgotten.

  “The city,” he gasped, surging weakly against his bonds. “You have to let me go.”

  The Brit watched him for a moment, then turned and walked away, toward the wall. When he reached it, he took hold of the barn door and pulled it open. Brilliant sunlight spilled in, temporarily blinding Alex. When he managed to force his eyes open again, he saw a dazzling blue sky and in the distance, the spire of Empire Tower. It appeared to be early afternoon and there was no trace of fog anywhere.

  Alex’s mouth dropped open and he sagged against his bonds as the burst of energy faded.

  “Your efforts to retrieve Dr. Burnham’s notebook were successful,” the Brit said, pulling the door closed and plunging the attic room back into semi-darkness again. “The ravishing Sorceress and the good Doctor managed to dissipate the fog early this morning.”

  Something about the way he said ‘ravishing’ bothered Alex. He was about to ask how the man had known about Burnham’s machine, but the answer was obvious — the same way he’d known Alex was about to drown in time to pull him to safety. The man had been watching him.

  “Now,” he said, walking back to where Alex sat. “The mistakes of the past are returning. A darkness is gathering, the same as it did twenty years ago.”

  “Are you saying there’s going to be another war?” Alex wasn’t sure he really wanted the answer to that question.

  “Without doubt,” he said. “Last time I assumed that it was the folly and stupidity of man that led to war. This time I know better. Dark forces are at work, Alex. They seek a war, they desire it. They exist to rule man, or failing that, to destroy him.”

  Alex shook his head.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” he said.

  “Don’t you?” the man said in an amused voice. “How do you explain the sudden reappearance of ancient and long forgotten magics, of alchemy turned to a devastating weapon of disease, of science given the power to burn down whole cities at the flick of a switch?”

  Alex felt his blood run chill.

  “Yes,” the Brit said. “You have seen it. Someone is preparing for war, Alex. They’re weaponizing magic and science on a scale never before imagined, and you only know about the little bit you’ve seen. Think about how much you haven’t seen.”

  Alex was thinking, and it scared him. The Great War had taken somewhere north of thirty million lives. The numbers were so high as to be almost meaningless, and this man was saying that not only would it happen again, but that it would be worse?

  “Why are you telling me this?” Alex asked, his voice subdued.

  “Another good question,” the Brit said in a bright, energetic voice, as if he hadn’t just predicted a second global war. “Are you familiar with the works of Archimedes?”

  “You mean beyond the Monograph?” Alex asked. “I know he ran naked in the street when his bathtub overflowed.”

  The Brit tisked at him and shook his head.

  “If you’d studied the Monograph more carefully, you’d know that there’s a quote by Archimedes on the very first page. It goes, ‘Give me a lever and a place to stand, and I will move the world.’”

  “So — what?” Alex asked. “Are you telling me you’re going to move the world?”

  “Yes!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands together in glee. “Finally, you’re beginning to understand — and it’s about time, too.”

  Alex wanted to protest. He was pretty sure he didn’t understand anything the Brit was saying, not really. Before he could think of a way to say that so he didn’t come off sounding dense, the man continued.

  “Unlike lesser men, I do learn from history,” he said. He was speaking in a loud, dramatic voice and pacing back and forth, as if he were on stage or addressing the legislature. “I was far too lenient with Dr. Doyle, I see that now. I shall not make the same mistake twice.”

  He turned to Alex, reaching into the inside pocket of his suit coat. He withdrew a pasteboard book that resembled Alex’s red-backed rune book exactly, except it had a dark blue cover. Opening it, the Brit tore out a single page and crumpled it up in his hand.

  “You don’t start out moving the world, Alex,” he said. “You have to begin small and work up to it. So I’m going to start by moving you.” He held the crumpled-up paper out on his open palm. “Here’s a little motivation for you.”

  With that, he used his thumb to touch one of the heavy rings he wore. Alex saw a spark jump from the metal surface and ignite the flash paper. In one quick motion, the Brit threw the burning paper into the air and it flared into a long flame as it burned and vanished. It left a floating, deep blue rune behind.

  Alex squinted at it, trying to recognize and remember every line and symbol. It reminded him of the rune on the bottom of his ghostlight burner, but it was much more complex.

  The rune pulsed suddenly, then ignited into a cobalt blue light that was so bright it forced Alex to look away. When he did, he gasped. All around him, in a circle on the floor, were brilliant runes. They glowed the same color as the hovering rune, and Alex couldn’t tell if they were naturally that color, or if that was a result of the light. As he studied the runes on the floor, he recognized some of them. There were three life runes joined to linking runes, anchor runes, and others he didn’t know.

  The strangest thing of all was that none of them appeared to have been written on the floor. They seemed to hover in place, just over the wooden boards, and they would occasionally ripple and move as if they were being viewed through water.

  The runes on the floor pulsed like the hovering cobalt one had, preparing to activate. Alex shut his eyes tight as they flared to life, their brilliance dazzling him even through his eyelids. Below him, where he’d heard the swine before, came an unholy noise th
at raised the hair on his neck.

  Alex had seen the operation of a slaughterhouse before. Once the swine were brought into a pen, a worker would hook each pig’s rear leg to a chain that would then pull them up into the air. Once they were off the ground, a second man would slit their throats with a butcher knife and their carcasses would be sent into the factory for processing. As soon as the pig felt the pull of the chain it would begin squealing, the sound more than a simple squeal; it was a scream of mortal terror.

  It was a sound Alex had never forgotten.

  That same sound swelled up from the room below. The rune construct on the floor had three nodes that lifted up as if they were hinged, turning until they were all facing him.

  The screaming of the pigs ended abruptly, as if it had been a recording that someone had simply switched off. Around Alex, the three runes glowed with a greenish light, then they shot forward, converging on him. Like the fishhook rune had done earlier, they passed right through his chest.

  The sensation was what Alex imagined being hit by a bolt of lightning felt like. Every nerve in his body seemed to burn and his muscles surged, straining against their bonds. It was part agony, part ecstasy, and it filled him up from the inside, forcing the very breath from his body.

  The chair to which Alex was tied shattered in a shower of splinters as he simply tore it apart and stood up. Power coursed through him and he shouted an unintelligible battle cry.

  As quickly as the sensation had come, it vanished. Alex found himself standing among the ruins of the wooden chair, panting like a racehorse that had just won the derby. His entire body tingled, and he felt invigorated in a way the rejuvenator had never managed.

  He felt powerful.

  Looking up, Alex found the Brit standing, watching him with his arms folded and an amused expression on his face. Anger flowed through Alex and he took a step forward, determined to get some answers even if he had to beat them out of the man. His leg gave way beneath him and Alex found himself suddenly face down on the floor.

  He tried to push himself up, but could barely move his arm.

  “What...what have you done to me?” he demanded.

  The Brit laughed and shook his head.

  “The first time’s a right bastard,” he said. “Don’t worry, you’ll shake off the effects soon enough.”

  “The effects of what?”

  “I just transferred the life out of fifty pigs and into you,” the Brit said. “It should keep you alive for another year or so. You’ve got that long to figure out how to do it for yourself.” He reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a large, brass key. “Or I suppose you’ll die,” he added. “That ought to provide you with all the motivation you need to get studying.”

  “Why?” Alex asked as the Brit moved to the back wall. He pressed his ornate key against the wood, and it melted into the solid surface as if it were porridge. As the tip of the key vanished, a brass plate with a keyhole appeared beneath it.

  “I told you, Alex, the world is on a dark path.”

  “Right,” Alex said. “A lever and a place to stand so you can move the world?”

  “Exactly,” he said, turning the key. As he did so an ornate vault door melted out of the wall.

  “What does any of that have to do with me?” Alex demanded.

  The Brit chuckled and gave him an amused look.

  “You’re going to be my lever, Alex,” he said, pulling the door open and revealing a vault beyond that looked like a museum. He winked and then stepped inside. “You are going to be my lever.”

  He closed the door and it melted away, leaving only Alex and the empty room behind.

  THE END

  A Quick Note

  You made it. You got all the way to the end, thanks so much for reading my book, it really means a lot to me. I’m guessing you’re a fan if you’re reading this so I want to ask you to do me a favor. Independent authors live and die with Amazon reviews. Even if you reviewed my previous books, each book counts individually and the more reviews I get, the easier it is to get my books out to more people. So if you would be so kind, take a moment and follow this LINK over to Amazon and leave me a quick review. I’d really appreciate it. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just a quick note saying whether or not you liked the book.

  Thanks so much. You Rock!

  Since this is book 3 in the Arcane Casebook series, I’m going to assume you’ve already downloaded the prequel novella, Dead Letter. If, for some reason you haven’t, however, you can get it absolutely free, right HERE. Dead Letter is the story of how Alex met Danny and the first case they worked together. Get yours now.

  So take two minutes and leave me a REVIEW HERE. And, if you didn’t get Dead Letter before, grab your free copy right HERE.

  I love talking to my readers, so please email me at dan@danwillisauthor.com — I read every one. Or join the discussion on the Arcane Casebook Facebook Group HERE.

  Look for Mind Games: Arcane Casebook #4. Coming Soon.

  Also by Dan Willis

  Arcane Casebook Series:

  Dead Letter - Prequel

  Private Detective Alex Lockerby needs a break and it materializes in the form of an ambitious, up-and-coming beat cop, Danny Pack. Alex and Danny team up to unravel a tale murder, jealousy, and revenge stretching back over 30 years. It’s a tale that powerful forces don't want to come to light. Now the cop and the private detective must work fast and watch each other's backs if they hope to catch a killer and live to tell about it.

  Dead Letter is the prequel novella to the Arcane Casebook series.

  Get Dead Letter Free

  In Plain Sight - Book 1

  In 1933, an unwitting thief steals a vial of deadly plague, accidentally releasing it in at a soup kitchen in Manhattan. The police, the FBI, and New York’s ‘council of Sorcerers’ fear the incident is a trial run for something much deadlier. Detective Alex Lockerby, himself under suspicion because of ties to the priest who ran the kitchen, has a book of spells, a pack of matches, and four days to find out where the plague came from, or the authorities will hang the crime squarely on him.

  Get In Plain Sight

  Ghost of a Chance - Book 2

  When a bizarre string of locked-room murders terrorize New York, the police have no leads, no suspects, and only one place to turn. Now private detective Alex Lockerby will need every magical trick in his book to catch a killer who can walk through walls and leaves no trace. With the Ghost killer seemingly able to murder at will and the tabloids, the public, and Alex’s clients demanding results, Alex will need a miracle to keep himself, his clients, and his reputation alive.

  Get Ghost of a Chance

  Dragons of the Confederacy Series:

  A steampunk Civil War story with NYT Bestseller, Tracy Hickman

  Lincoln’s Wizard

  Washington has fallen! Legions of 'grays' -- dead soldiers reanimated on the battlefield and pressed back into service of the Southern Cause -- have pushed the lines as far north as the Ohio River. Lincoln has moved the government of the United States to New York City. He needs to stop the juggernaught of the Southern undead 'abominations' or the North will ultimately fall. But Allan Pinkerton, his head of security, has a plan...

  Get Lincoln’s Wizard

  The Georgia Alchemist

  With Air Marshall Sherman’s fleet on the run and the Union lines failing, Pinkerton’s agents, Hattie Lawton and Braxton Wright make their way into the heart of the south. Pursued by the Confederacy’s best agents, time is running out for Hattie and Braxton to locate the man whose twisted genius brings dead soldiers back to fight and find a way to stop the inexorable tide that threatens to engulf the Union.

  Forthcoming: 2020

  Other books:

  The Flux Engine

  In a Steampunk Wild West, fifteen-year-old John Porter wants nothing more than to find his missing family. Unfortunately a legendary lawman, a talented thief, and a homicidal madman have other plans, and now John will need
his wits, his pistol, and a lot of luck if he’s going to survive.

  Get The Flux Engine

  About the Author

  Dan Willis wrote for the long-running DragonLance series. He is the author of the Arcane Casebook series and the Dragons of the Confederacy series.

  For more information:

  www.danwillisauthor.com

  dan@danwillisauthor.com