by SA Magnusson
Racing forward, I sent a surge of power into my barrier around Jen, hoping that it would be strong enough to hold.
The mage struck.
I felt it through my connection to my magic, and then I saw it as Jen went staggering.
I reached her just as she slid across the ground. She held her Taser in both hands, pointed outward.
“Did I hit her?” Jen asked.
“What?”
“Did I hit her? I pulled on the trigger before she blasted me with that strange magic.” She looked over my shoulder. “Thankfully you did something to protect me.”
“I kept my barrier around you.”
“Yeah. Like I said.”
“You’re not hurt?”
“No. And go figure out what the hell that woman is doing,” she said.
I twisted, holding the sword out in front of me, and the mage was there again. She held her hands outward, and faint light glowed within them. It took a moment for me to realize that runes had been placed on either palm. They seem to be branded there, different than the tattoos that had been placed on the vampire familiars.
“You’ve become troublesome,” the woman said.
“Troublesome? I’m not the one out here trying to attach my spell to the river.” I watched the woman, and this time when her eyes twitched again, I smiled. “You didn’t think we’d pick up on that, either? Some of us can feel it.”
She sent a blast of power at me, and I fortified my barrier. The sword didn’t fade nearly as much as it had the last time, and her attack parted around me.
“You’ll find that I’m not quite that easy to defeat.”
“One of the fae on this side? Interesting.”
“I’m not one of the fae.”
“No? Then what are you?”
“Something I’ve wondered about myself.” I swung my sword, angling it toward her leg. I wasn’t surprised when she brought her hand down and the blade parted around it. What sort of spell did she have control over that allowed her to do that? I’m not even sure that I had seen any mages of the council have control that tight.
A spell built, and I felt it behind me.
The paralytic. It was a familiar sense, and it came from a familiar spell caster.
Most of the time when it came to magic, I wasn’t aware of who was using it, or the intention of the spell. With this particular spell, and the person who held it, I had much more familiarity than I would prefer. I knew Barden was close.
The mage stiffened, but it lasted only a moment, barely long enough for me to start bringing my magical sword back around. When I did, she twisted her hand, pointing at the blade. All of a sudden, the color faded, disappearing.
“Not just troublesome, but you seem to have some troublesome friends.”
I stared at my now empty hands. What the hell had just happened? How had she simply dismissed my sword?
“Who are you?”
“Someone who knows what’s coming,” she said.
“And just what is coming?”
“The usual. Danger. Despair. War.”
Power built again, much closer. Once again, it was the paralytic, and it struck the woman, lingering a little longer this time. She squeezed her eyes shut, and as she did, her skin began to glow a faint purplish color.
The coloration reminded me of what happened when I used my magic.
Could she have the same type of magic as me?
I’ve never met anyone else who shared my type of magic, not since I realized how different mine was. There was a color to it when I used it, enough of a color that it let me realize that what I possessed was different than what others had. Not only that, but the way that I use magic was dramatically different. Could she have something similar? Could that be why I couldn’t detect magic from her?
If that were the case, what purpose was there in the runes placed on her hands?
More magic built, this coming from somewhere nearby. Could it be dark mages, or was this the mage council?
The woman stared at me. “It seems that you and I will have to finish this another time.”
Power built again.
“Dr. Michaels. Do you need assistance?” Barden asked.
The other mage jerked her head around at me, and she stared for a moment. Something in her eyes changed, and then, with another surge of power, she disappeared.
I glanced over at Barden.
“Did you recognize her?”
“The woman you were just fighting?”
“No. My friend sitting here.” I shook my head. “Yes. The woman I was just facing. Did you recognize her?”
“I do not. She seemed to be somewhat powerful, though.”
“Incredibly powerful,” I said. “And I wasn’t able to detect her magic.”
Barden arched a brow at me. “Are you certain?”
“Do you think I would make that up?”
Barden regarded me for a long moment. “No, Dr. Michaels. I don’t think that you would make that up.”
Jen pulled on my arm and I glanced over at her. “Did you see her face?”
“What do you mean?”
Jen frowned. “When Barden said your name. Did you see her face? She knows who you are, Kate.”
I shook my head. “I was trying not to get destroyed by her magic. I mean, she was able to simply dismiss my magical sword.”
“It’s unfortunate that she has your name, Dr. Michaels.”
“She just has my last name.”
“And the fact that you are doctor. That might place you in danger. Perhaps you would allow us to offer our protection.”
“I think I’ll be okay,” I said.
I turned toward the rune that had been made, and found three mages surrounding it. All three of them were from the mage council.
When I approached, one of them turned and looked over at me. When he saw Barden, a spell built from him. I stepped forward, slamming a barrier between the two.
“Don’t even think about it.”
The man glared at me. “And who are you to tell us what to do?”
“She’s my granddaughter.”
I turned just as Gran approached. Power surged from her, and whatever spell she was using radiated off her, the kind of power that I didn’t often detect from her.
Gramps came alongside her, and he flashed a smile. “Hey, Katie.”
“Counselor Michaels. Forgive me.”
Gran waved her hand. “What is this?” she asked. The mage who had thought to challenge me started to answer and Gran shook her head, cutting him off. “I’m asking my granddaughter.”
He nodded.
I stepped over to them and Barden joined us, staying close by. Jen remained near me, too.
“Are you enjoying the fact that I’m using magic more openly?” I asked.
“You seem to be,” Gran said.
“I wouldn’t have been out tonight other than the fact that I was sitting in my condo and felt the effect of this spell.”
“You felt it from your condo?”
I looked down at it. The shape was similar to the last two that had I seen, though it had some subtle differences. I wasn’t able to detect what those differences were, only that they were there.
“I could feel the effect.”
“And how is it that you knew what to look for?” Gran demanded.
“Because I found another one earlier tonight.”
Gran glanced over at Gramps. “Two in one night?”
“And my people have found another,” Barden said.
“Your people?”
“If your council would have agreed to the truce that we have discussed, we might be able to work together, but as it stands, it seems as if there remains a separation.”
“We continue to advocate on your behalf,” Gran said.
“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we are no longer hunted. If the council decides to attack once again—”
“The council won’t attack,” Gran said.
“Can
we talk about what happened here,” I asked.
“I’m not sure what this is,” Barden said.
“Did you talk to Darvish?” I asked.
Gran glanced at me briefly. “Darvish shared with me what happened. He also shared with me the reaction that you had when you attempted to use the last spell.”
“It was different than the first one.”
“Each one is slightly different.”
“Why?” I asked.
“For the same reason that people aren’t generally able to tap into the power of the ley lines,” Gran said.
“Because the ley lines are each different?”
Gran stared at the marking. “Each of the ley lines is a little different, and they come together in such a way that allows them to create even more power.”
“Then why was I able to use one but not another? I haven’t had any problems using the Mississippi River before.”
“I wonder if many of them are experiments,” Gran said.
“Experiments?”
“Whoever this spell caster is, they are placing various spells, trying to determine the efficacy. And it seems that they are growing bolder and even more successful with each one they try.”
That explanation fit with what had happened. The spell I had used to draw power from the other side of the Veil had been more recent than the one that Darvish had secured. I suspected, but didn’t know, that the spell he had surrounded had been one of the earliest, and because of that, they had managed to keep it secure, but it wasn’t nearly as well-developed as the more recent ones.
“You need to get Florence out here to study this spell,” I said.
“She has already taken photographs of it,” Barden said.
“Then we need to remove it,” Gran said.
“It’s not going to be easy. I tried to disrupt the spell when I first arrived, but I wasn’t able to. I was heading down to the river to try to hold it when I was attacked by that mage.”
“What mage?” Gran asked.
I described my attacker, hoping that Gran might recognize her, but she stared without any look of recognition in her eyes.
“You haven’t heard of any rogue mage like that?”
“There has been no report of anyone like that.”
“Whoever she is, she’s powerful. And I didn’t like the fact that I wasn’t able to detect her magic.”
Gramps chuckled. When I shot him a look, he shrugged. “Welcome to what the rest of us experience, Katie.”
“Well, I got used to being able to detect magic when it’s used around me. The fact that she was able to do so and attack me without any warning makes it harder to capture.”
“Yes. It’s the same way that facing you was difficult,” Barden said.
“But don’t you all have spells that you used to detect the use of magic?”
“There are spells, but they come at a cost. When we place spells like that, we aren’t able to use other magic, at least not well,” Gran said. Barden nodded, signaling to me that it must be the same for the dark mages. “With you, you don’t have the same downside. You’re able to detect the use of magic all the time, and you don’t struggle with the possibility that someone might attack you without any sort of warning.”
“Not until recently,” I said.
And I didn’t like it. I had come to depend upon that connection, to count on it, and if I didn’t have it, I would have to be prepared for the possibility of someone attacking me at any given time.
Did it mean that I was going to have to walk around with a barrier in place? If there was a mage with as much power as I had encountered roaming the streets of Minneapolis, I needed to do something to be prepared. I couldn’t simply let her get close to me.
As Jen had suggested, she had a name—my name.
With that, she would be able to find me.
It meant the hospital might not be safe.
I looked over at Jen. Her eyes were drawn and I could see the fatigue within them. The night had gotten away from us and she had already experienced enough tragedy of her own.
“I’m going to get Jen back home. I’m going to get some sleep, and then I’m going to get up and be ready for work in the morning.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Barden asked.
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea or not, but I don’t have any other choice. And I’m not going to live my life worrying about what might happen.”
Barden and Gran shared a look that left me uncomfortable.
I tapped Jen on the arm and we started away. I paused for a moment. “You need to disrupt that spell.”
One of the other council mages came running over to Gran. “It’s drawing on the river.”
“That’s what we hear,” Gran said.
“There’s something more. Whatever is taking place within it is increasing.”
I turned my attention to the spell, focusing on it. As I did, I could feel the effect of what the mage mentioned. There was something happening.
When we had gotten here, I had thought the formation of the spell was all the woman had been after, but that didn’t seem to be the key. It was growing, changing, and as it did, it was drawing upon more and more power.
For what purpose?
Gran and Gramps joined the other three council mages, and they formed a circle around the spell. Power built from them, but nothing changed.
Barden glanced over at me before turning his attention to someone behind him. They motioned, and the two of them joined the five mage council mages. Standing in a circle as they were, the power building from them was enormous.
And still not enough.
“Shit,” I said.
“What is it?” Jen asked.
“The spell is more than those seven mages can counter.”
“That little lady did that herself?”
“That little lady had enough magic that she was able to simply wipe away a powerful spell on my part.” I glanced over at them. “I’m going to have to help with this. You can head back to my condo and wait there.”
“Wait? Kate I’m not going back until you’re with me.”
I took a deep breath and nodded. As I headed toward the water, Jen caught up to me and grabbed my arm. “I thought you were going to try and help them.”
“I am going to help them, but I can’t do so the same way they are. I’m going to see if I can’t separate this spell from its connection to the ley line.”
“By that, you mean the river?”
I nodded.
“The water has to be nearly freezing! Think about how cold it’s been. You can’t go in there.”
I hadn’t given that thought before, but it was bound to be unpleasant. It might even be nearly frozen at this point, though the Mississippi never really froze.
I reached the shore and Jen stood a few steps behind me. Chunks of ice floated near the shoreline, but the main part of the river was still flowing. I glanced back, feeling the power from the spell the various mages were trying to coordinate, but nothing they were doing was enough to stop the spell that was now drawing upon the ley line.
Wrapping myself in a barrier, I stepped forward.
The barrier did nothing to take away the biting cold as I splashed into the river. Jen shouted after me, but I ignored her, focusing only on the magic that was calling to me. I didn’t have time to do anything else—and I didn’t have the necessary focus to do anything else, either.
Power swirled around me, merging with my own magic. I drew upon it, and as I did, I realized that something was off.
I had called upon the magic of the Mississippi River before, and I had attempted to use the power flowing through it to heal, thinking that it could save Aron when he had nearly died. I knew the way the river felt and I recognized the magic that was here, but what I picked up on now was different than what was usually present. I tried to ignore it, continuing to call on that magic, but something about it was wrong.
“Kate?” Jen hollered at me
.
I opened my mouth, trying to call out to her, but I couldn’t.
It was almost as if the spell was diverting the power, drawing it out of me, changing it in a way that siphoned it off me.
That wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t drawing it off me, but it was affecting the way that I was drawing upon it, leaving me tingling.
At first, the tingling was on my skin, but then it started to flow through me, a tingling sensation that raced through my arms and in my chest, and finally settled within my lungs. My breathing was labored and the clinical part of my mind began to work through what was happening to me.
It was the same thing that had happened to me before.
Anaphylaxis.
And if I didn’t do something soon, I would get to the point of shock.
If that happened, there would be nothing that would save me.
Circling my barrier around me, I held onto that, trying to cut myself off from the connection to the ley line flowing through here, but I had already allowed myself to get too close to it.
The spell continued to build around me and I struggled to hold onto my barrier, but I couldn’t use any more strength than I had. I had put everything that I had into holding onto this barrier, and even with my connection, it still wasn’t enough.
“Kate!”
I tried stumbling forward, if nothing else to get out of the water, but my legs didn’t work, almost as if they were frozen in place. It felt almost as if the paralytic held me, confining me.
I staggered forward, falling. Water splashed over my head. The cold washed over me, painful and burning throughout me.
“Kate?”
Hands were on me and I tried to fight. Who was it?
Everything hurt. It was a pain unlike anything that I’d felt before, and it rolled through me, waves of agony that washed over me.
I blinked, clearing water from my eyes, and realized that Jen crouched over me, her face too close to mine.
“Taser,” I managed to get out.
“What?”
“Taser.”
“Kate, I’m not going to tase you because you were nearly drowning. I’m not going to make it worse.”
“Taser.”
“Kate?”
It was the only thing I could think about. If she could—and would—tase me, I had to think that I would be able to shake off the effects of what was happening. I needed to separate from it somehow. The electrical current within the Taser should be enough, sort of like shocking an unstable rhythm.
