Cloak Games: Omnibus One

by Jonathan Moeller

  “I thought humans weren’t allowed to learn that spell,” said Alexandra.

  “We aren’t,” I said. I wanted to shut down that line of thought. “That’s another of those questions you can’t ask me. But suffice it to say the Elven lord who taught me that spell disagreed.”

  Alexandra swallowed. “I see.”

  We reached the top of the hill, and I looked down into a broad, wide valley. If I had to guess, I would have said it was maybe ten miles across, though distances are hard to gauge in the Shadowlands, and sometimes change when you’re not looking. A river of black water flowed through the center of the valley, white mist rising from its surface. Patches of misshapen, blue-glowing trees dotted the valley, and here and there tall obelisks of gray stone rose from the ground, their faces carved with alien symbols. At the edge of the water rose a ruined structure…

  “Is that a…a castle?” said Alexandra. “Like in the European Union?”

  “Looks that way,” I said. The half-ruined castle had a grim aspect, and it looked as if it had been crumbling for thousands of years. I drew out the business card and cast the spell again. It confirmed my fear – the Shadowlands touched on Alexandra’s office within that ruined castle. “We’ll have to head for it.”

  “Why?” said Alexandra, arms wrapped tight around herself. “It looks like the sort of place where…I don’t know, some kind of ogre or something might live.”

  She was more right than she knew.

  “Because the Shadowlands overlap Earth…erratically, let’s say,” I said, trying to think of how to phrase the explanation. We started down the hillside into the valley, the ribbons of fire throwing writhing shadows from the twisted trees and the obelisks. “Like two loose threads that only cross each other at certain points. That little valley where we appeared? Apparently that touches the Capitol back in Madison. The ruined castle touches your office, or maybe Duke Carothrace’s offices.” It was possible that the ruined castle represented the office, since the Shadowlands sometimes reflected the real world, but it wasn’t important now. “So if I tried to open a rift way like, right here, I have no idea where it would go. Might go back to Madison. Might open up in the middle of the ocean.”

  Alexandra blinked, taking careful steps. I really, really wished I had thought to bring better shoes. “How do you know we can get back from that castle?”

  I waved one of her business cards. “Physical object from your office. It links back to Earth, and I can use it as a compass to find the way. We got lucky. The Shadowlands could have touched on your office a thousand miles from where we are standing, and I lost all the other physical objects I was carrying when I dropped my courier bag.”

  “Why don’t we just go back to the Capitol?” said Alexandra.

  “Because,” I said, “there are bombs going off right now. We take a rift way back to the Capitol, we might land in the middle of an explosion. Or step into the path of a bullet.”

  “What happened?” said Alexandra. “Do you know? The Homeland Security officers were firing at the nobles. It was….it was awful…”

  “Rebels,” I said as we reached the bottom of the valley. I took a quick look around, but nothing moved, the castle’s ruins silent at the edge of the water. “Russian guy named Sergei Rogomil. He’s real bad news. I think he infiltrated Homeland Security to assassinate the Jarl and make trouble between the High Queen and the frost giants.”

  “Is that why you came?” said Alexandra. “You thought this might happen and…and you didn’t warn anyone?”

  “No,” I said, thinking up a suitable lie. “No, I had no idea Rogomil was in the United States. If I had known he was going to attack the Jarl…well, I would have done some things differently.” That at least was true. “Anyway, it won’t be your problem soon. We’ll get you back to your office, and that will be that.”

  “Homeland Security is going to talk to me,” said Alexandra. “Probably the Inquisition, too. What…what should I tell them happened?”

  “Tell them you ran back to your office when the bombs started going off,” I said. “You tried to find any other employees of the Duke, but you lost them all in the rush of the mob. There were thousands of people there, and Homeland Security and the Inquisition are going to talk to all of them. You’ll probably have the same story as hundreds of other survivors.”

  “Oh, God,” said Alexandra, blinking back tears again. “There were thousands of people in the square. I wonder how many of them are dead.”

  “A lot,” I said. “Rogomil’s good at what he does. And if we don’t want to join them, we need to hurry. In some ways the Shadowlands are more dangerous than a bomb.”

  “Why?” said Alexandra. We passed one of the peculiar gray obelisks. I could not tell if it had been wrought of stone or metal, but I wasn’t about to touch it. “Robert would…say things, from time to time, but never much. He didn’t like to talk about the Shadowlands.”

  “The warded ways are safe enough,” I said, “but there are all kinds of wild creatures in the Shadowlands. Wraithwolves and bloodrats, for one.” Or anthrophages, for that matter. “Some of them are so alien we can’t understand them, and quite a few of them eat humans. Some of them have magic of their own, powerful magic. Then there are the demesne lords.”

  “Lords?” said Alexandra.

  “I don’t really understand how it works,” I said, “but sometimes a powerful wizard, whether human or Elven or something else, can claim a demesne in the Shadowlands. It’s like they…link themselves to part of the Shadowlands. They get tremendous power within their demesne, but can never leave it. Sort of like being a demigod in a prison cell, I guess.”

  “Why would anyone do that?” asked Alexandra. “It sounds horrible.”

  I shrugged. “Some people like power.” Morvilind had not told me very much about it. At first I thought it was because he feared I might seize a demesne in the Shadowlands for myself and use it against him. Later I understood it was because the information was of no use to me. The scale and complexity of the magic required to claim a demesne was so far beyond my skill that I might as well have tried to tear down a mountain with my bare hands. “Happens by accident sometimes, too. Like, during a big battle between wizards in the Shadowlands. I think we might be in a lord’s demesne right now.”

  Alexandra flinched. “How do you know?”

  I pointed at one of the gray obelisks. “Those things. I’ve never seen them before, but I’ve heard about them. I think we’re in Grayhold, a demesne ruled by someone who calls himself the Knight of Grayhold.”

  “I’ve…heard of him, actually,” said Alexandra. “A little bit, anyway. Sometimes the Duke talks about him to the other nobles.” She looked embarrassed to have been caught eavesdropping on her lord. “He said the High Queen must always include the Knight of Grayhold in her calculations.”

  “From what I understand,” I said, “Grayhold is a demesne in Earth’s umbra.”

  “Umbra?” said Alexandra.

  “Um,” I said. We passed two more of the gray obelisks and entered a patch of twisted trees. Their leaves gave off a pale, ghostly blue glow. I didn’t know what touching the leaves would do, and I didn’t want to find out. I would have warned Alexandra, but fortunately she had the sense to stay well away from the trees. “Every world casts its own shadow of influence into the Shadowlands. That shadow of influence is called an umbra. We’re in Earth’s umbra right now. Grayhold is a large demesne within the umbra, and the Knight has absolute power within it. I think he’s neutral towards the High Queen, but doesn’t let any invaders like the frost giants or the Archons pass his lands.”

  “Why is it called Grayhold?” said Alexandra.

  “Damned if I know,” I said. I pointed at one of the obelisks, visible through the trees. “Maybe he likes gray pointy rocks? I don’t know.”

  Alexandra let out an unsteady giggle. “I…didn’t think of it that way.” Her laughter faded. “Would the Knight be upset that we crossed his demesne?” />
  “Probably not,” I said. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you and I are nobodies. I know a little magic, and you’re an event coordinator. We’re not the kind of people that a lord of a Shadowlands demesne would care about. So long as we don’t actively piss him off, I doubt he’ll notice or care.”

  “How would we piss him off?” said Alexandra, stepping carefully over a root.

  “Don’t know,” I said. We reached the edge of the trees, and I saw the castle waiting ahead. It was another mile or so. My ankles and calves were starting to hurt from walking over the uneven ground in high heels. Next time I did something like this, I would disguise myself as a janitor or a waitress or someone with an excuse to wear comfortable shoes. “Let’s get out of here before we accidentally find out.”

  I took another step forward and froze.

  “What is it?” said Alexandra.

  I gestured for her to be quiet.

  Something was moving in the trees to my left. I went motionless, listening, but heard nothing but the unending cold wind of the Shadowlands making the glowing leaves upon the trees rustle and moan. Damned hard to hear anything moving through that. My heart pounded against my ribs. There were any number of things that might be stalking us. Perhaps was best to run for the ruined castle. Or to simply open a rift way here and take our chances with where it deposited us.

  Then I saw the dark shape moving along the edge of the trees, head rotating back and forth like a dog lifting its nose to smell the wind. It was a tall, thin man in a crisp black suit, his face pale and gaunt, his black hair slicked back from his skull, his eyes like black pits in his face.

  The anthrophages I had fought outside of the Silver Dollar had looked just like that.

  Which meant that they had found me again.

  Chapter 5: Intruders

  I grabbed Alexandra’s arm and leaned up to whisper in her ear.

  “Keep quiet,” I hissed. “Don’t make a sound, and follow me.”

  “What going on?” said Alexandra. At least she had the sense to whisper. “That man…couldn’t he help us?”

  “That’s not a man,” I said. “And for God’s sake shut up. If it finds us we’re dead.”

  Alexandra swallowed and nodded, her eyes wide, and she followed me as we retreated into the trees, their eerie blue glow painting the ground. I shot a look at the ruins of the castle. It was about a mile away. If we ran in a dead sprint, we might be able to make it, assuming we didn’t twist an ankle on the way. But the anthrophages were fast, and in open country they could run us down without much effort. For that matter, I would need at least a few moments to pull together my magic and open the rift way back to Earth. It would be easy for the anthrophages to kill me while I cast the spell.

  But I didn’t think the anthrophage had noticed us yet.

  It looked, at least for now, like a man strolling through a shop, looking for a particular item. If I hurried, maybe we could hide long enough for the anthrophage to wander away.

  I stopped beneath one of the twisted trees, the blue light from its leaves falling over us. That made us too visible, so I took a couple further steps back, until my back was almost to the glossy black trunk. Alexandra followed, casting nervous glances at me and at the disguised anthrophage. The creature still hadn’t noticed us, at least as far as I could tell, but I suspected it thought I was nearby.

  Else why would it be here…and wearing an identical disguise to the ones I had seen at the Silver Dollar?

  “Listen to me,” I whispered. Alexandra gave a sharp nod, her earrings flashing in the light. “Don’t move. I’m going to touch you and cast a spell that will make us…harder to see.” I didn’t want to tell her that I could work illusion magic, but she would probably figure that out on her own. “Also, don’t touch those leaves. I don’t know what they do, and I really don’t want to find out.”

  Alexandra nodded again, her eyes wide, her breath coming sharp and hard. She was afraid, but she was controlling it. Hell, I couldn’t blame her for that the fear. God knows that I was terrified. In fact, I had a better reason to be terrified.

  I knew exactly what the anthrophages would do to us.

  The dark-suited form moved closer. I cleared my mind, gathering magical power, and cast a spell. Silver light shimmered around my fingers, and I gestured with my left hand, reaching up to put my right hand on Alexandra’s shoulder.

  As I did, my spell Cloaked us both.

  I hoped it would be enough. We might have been invisible and undetectable…but nothing would stop the anthrophage from blundering into us by accident. The creatures had keen noses, and they could follow our scent right up until they walked into us. If the anthrophage hadn’t yet scented us, it would go in search of other prey. If it had caught our scent, it would not stop hunting until it found us, and then we found have to fight.

  I could deal with one anthrophage. Guns didn’t work in the Shadowlands, and neither did electronics (I had bricked poor Alexandra’s phone by bringing it with me), but Corvus had taught me a spell to unleash a globe of lightning. I could hit the anthrophage with enough lightning to kill it, or at least incapacitate it, and then Alexandra and I could run like hell for the castle.

  The trouble was that anthrophages hunted in packs. If this one found us and sounded the alarm, its friends would arrive in short order to kill us and eat us.

  Hopefully in that order.

  I stayed motionless, watching as the anthrophage circled the edge of the eerie little forest. The creature’s hands were tucked in its trouser pockets, and I wondered if that was an affectation of its disguise, or if its hands were simply cold. The anthrophage looked for all the world like a man out for an evening stroll…if people went for evening strolls in the Shadowlands.

  Alexandra remained motionless next to me, and I heard the harsh rasp of her breathing. I wondered if I should have warned her about the anthrophage’s true appearance. If the creature changed form suddenly, and she screamed…

  Well, too late to worry about it now.

  The anthrophage went motionless directly in front of us, about thirty yards away, and I waited. Little spasms went through my limbs from the effort of holding the Cloak in place. The anthrophage’s head rotated back and forth, its nostrils flaring, and its gaze turned towards the ruined castle and the dark river. Perhaps something had captured its attention, and the creature would wander off.

  Then the anthrophage’s head snapped around to look right at me.

  Alexandra shivered, trembling a little beneath my fingers. I wanted to snap at her to be quiet, but I didn’t dare make any sound. The anthrophage went motionless as a statue, its deep black eyes seeming to sink right into me. I stared back at it, my heart thundering in my ears, sweat slithering between my shoulder blades from the effort of holding the Cloak in place.

  I couldn’t have told you how long we stood like that. No more than a minute or two, surely, but it felt like hours. Still the damned anthrophage did not move. Maybe it would just stand there until I could no longer maintain the Cloak…

  The creature dropped to all fours, its face pressed to the ground, its arms and legs bending like those of an insect. Alexandra shuddered at the grotesque sight. The anthrophage crawled back and forth over the ground like a giant black-suited spider, its nose pressed close to the earth, and as it drew nearer I heard it sniffling. It was following our scent, and in only a few moments it was going to follow our trail to where we stood Cloaked.

  Cold certainty closed around me like a fist.

  Just as well. I couldn’t maintain the Cloak for much longer anyway. I prepared myself for what I would have to do. Or I tried to, anyway, since the Cloak absorbed all my power and concentration.

  I would have to be quick.

  “Be ready,” I rasped out, and I released the Cloak in the same instant.

  There was a flicker of silver light, and we became visible. Alexandra looked back and forth between me and the anthrophage, her eyes wide and wild. I staggered to the l
eft, wobbling a bit as a wave of dizziness washed through me. Magical exhaustion is a bit like exercising too hard and too long without staying hydrated, and it took every bit of strength I had to focus my will for another spell.

  The anthrophage’s head snapped up, its black eyes staring at me, and a wide smile spread over its gaunt face.

  A smile that was too wide and too sharp for a human.

  The anthrophage’s body rippled and changed as it discarded its human guise. Its skin turned gray and glistening, black fangs filling its mouth and black claws like daggers bursting from its fingers. Its eyes turned into venomous yellow pits, its nose a triangular black crater. Black spines burst from its back, shredding its jacket, and the creature’s vile smell washed over me, a mixture of sulfur and rotting meat. The anthrophage leapt to its feet, still wearing the black suit, and launched itself forward, claws reaching for me. Alexandra was screaming, and I couldn’t really blame her, because the anthrophage looked like something from the imagination of a deranged artist on powerful drugs.

  Fortunately, it had taken the creature a few heartbeats to discard its human guise, and that was all the time I needed to catch my breath and summon more power for a magical spell. I summoned as much of it as I could hold, until a torrent of fire roared through me at the uttermost limits of my control.

  The anthrophage was only a few paces from me when I cast my spell, which was just as well, since I almost made a botch of it. The power took shape and burst from my hand, and a globe of bluish-white lightning the size of my head erupted from my fingers. It wobbled on its axis, and likely would have missed the anthrophage entirely, but the creature was only a few feet away.

  So the globe hit the anthrophage in the face with gratifyingly dramatic results.

  The anthrophage’s head snapped backwards, crawling fingers of lightning shooting up and down its limbs. The creature’s snarling voice rose in a furious scream of pain, and it staggered back, its claws slashing at the air. Alexandra shrieked, and I drew in my power, trying to ignore my aching head, and cast the spell once more. Another globe of lightning spun from my fingers and struck the anthrophage’s head, and more bolts snarled up and down its body. Its grayish hide blackened and charred, and it fell upon its side, smoke rising from a crater in its forehead.