The Raven's Shadow: The Aegis of Merlin Book 4

by James E. Wisher

  “It’s in my office. The mayor said we aren’t supposed to leave this room.”

  “There aren’t any guards,” Maria said.

  “It’s not that far away,” Terra added. “I can’t see why they’d care. If you’re too scared I’ll go.”

  She started to stand, but Lin waved her back. “I’ll go. If one of us is going to be locked up, better me than you.”

  Terra snorted. “As if they could hold a wizard that didn’t wish to be held.”

  Lin left the office and Dad asked, “What are you thinking?”

  “Based on the speed of the island it will enter and exit the potential zone of activation over the course of a day. If I’m right Mercia could possibly activate the boxes within twenty-four hours rather than forty-eight.”

  Mara stared. “You mean Conryu only has one day?”

  “Less than that actually. I can’t give you any accurate numbers until I run my theory through Lin’s program.”

  Conryu conjured a tiny Cloak of Darkness spell and shaped it to look like sunglasses. As disguises went it was pretty pathetic, but just walking around without so much as a hat made him feel exposed. Prime had shifted so he resembled a simple, if ugly, book and Conryu carried him tucked under one arm.

  The streets were quiet as they made their way toward Third and the Burger Shack where they were supposed to meet Jonny. Conryu hoped they didn’t run into any trouble. Not that Dad and Jonny couldn’t take care of themselves, but against guns they’d be in a tight space.

  They stopped at a crosswalk and waited for the light to change. “You have a plan, right?” Kelsie asked. She sounded so optimistic he hated to burst her bubble.

  “I have an idea, whether it’s nonsense or workable we’ll have to wait and see. Either way I don’t intend to give myself up.”

  “I don’t think you should. I can’t imagine the government being willing to turn an innocent citizen over to terrorists on the off chance they might do the right thing. It seems as criminal as what the Society is pulling.”

  The light changed and they crossed over along with the small group that had gathered. Five minutes later the restaurant came into view. Across from it was a green bench beside a trash bin. The bench offered a good view in both directions and no one was close enough to eavesdrop on them.

  “Let’s sit here.”

  They settled in to wait for Jonny. Conryu held Prime on his lap, angled away from the street so no one would notice him speaking. Kelsie sat close to him like she was his girlfriend, letting him keep his voice down while they talked.

  “Okay, Prime, we need to find those boxes. This winter we theorized they were moved through dark portals. Is there any way we can track where they went?”

  “No, Master.”

  “Damn it.” That had been his one good idea.

  “Not in the human realm at least. If we go to the starting location Cerberus may be able to track where they went through Hell. We can then emerge and recover the items in this world.”

  “Are you sure that will work?” Kelsie asked.

  “Not at all. I’m not aware of something like this ever being done before.”

  “It gives us a starting point at least. Next problem. Will the spells I know be enough to deal with any shadow beasts we encounter?”

  “No, Master. Dark magic works mainly through entropy. Shadow beasts are already dead and have no physical form to decay. Domination will allow you to control them, but I have no spells that will destroy them. Fire and light magic would be best.”

  “I can work with that. Last thing. If we run into those cops again I need a nonlethal way to disable them quickly.”

  Prime opened and flipped through his pages, eventually landing on a spell called Reaper’s Gale. Just the name gave Conryu a chill. He started to read and Kelsie moved in closer to follow along.

  The spell drained the life force of anyone caught in the effect. He read the words over and over, committing them to memory.

  “This looks lethal,” Conryu said when he finished memorizing the spell.

  “If you cast it at your full power it absolutely is.” Prime snapped shut. “But if you modulate it, whisper, use a flick of your wrist instead of a full swing, and most importantly, focus your will on not killing anyone, it will serve your needs admirably.”

  Kelsie glanced at him. “Do you have any idea how terrifying it is to know just how easy it would be for you to wipe out scores of people with a wave of your hand?”

  “Yeah. I think about it before every spell I cast.”

  Jonny ambled down the street ten minutes later and waved to them. When he reached the bench Conryu and Kelsie got to their feet and they started down the sidewalk. One of the locations he’d helped clear this winter was only half a mile away. It wouldn’t take them long to figure out if his theory was workable or not.

  “Did you have any trouble at the electronics shop?” Kelsie asked.

  “Not a bit, though your dad’s wallet is lighter by a hundred and twenty bucks.”

  “I didn’t think prepaid phones were that expensive.”

  “They’re not.” Jonny dug the cheap little flip phone out of his pocket and showed it to Conryu. “He offered me an extra forty to help tide us over.”

  That gave them seventy with what he had in his wallet. Since Conryu didn’t expect to have to do much shopping it should be plenty. One way or the other this business would be settled in two days.

  As the little group walked along toward the abandoned building Conryu found his gaze darting left and right, checking every person they passed for a reaction. Either no one watched the news or they all had other things on their mind. It helped that the majority of the people around them kept their heads down and were absorbed in whatever was on their phones.

  As much as his father hated it when everyone was distracted, right now it struck Conryu as the best trend ever. If they’d had to travel everywhere by dark portal it would have been hard on Jonny. Should it come to that, Conryu planned to ask his friend to sit the rest of the mission out.

  The condemned building looked exactly as he remembered only without snow. Yellow police tape blocked the entrance, but Jonny just ripped it off and shoved his way inside. The little niche that had held the box was now plainly visible and a fresh selection of beer bottles littered the floor. The sour stench of alcohol and piss perfumed the interior. Without the ward the punks that partied here must have returned.

  Kelsie put her hand over her face. “Oh my god, it stinks in here. Who would come to such a place for fun?”

  “The smell’s a lot easier to tolerate if you’re drunk or high.” Jonny looked at the dump and crinkled his nose. “Pity I’m completely sober right now.”

  “Can you stand it for a little longer?” Conryu asked. “It would probably be safest if I try and locate the box on my own. If I find it I’ll come back for you two.”

  “Not planning on ditching me again are you, bro?”

  “I want to go too,” Kelsie said.

  “I appreciate that, guys, really, but if it takes me a while to find the new location I don’t want you to have to spend any more time in Hell than necessary. Especially you, Jonny. I have no idea what excessive exposure to dark energy would do to a non-wizard.”

  “Accelerated aging and cellular breakdown.” Prime flew up out of his grasp and hovered in the middle of the room. “Long-term exposure will literally rot a normal human from the inside out.”

  Kelsie grimaced. “Yuck.”

  Jonny crossed his arms and for a moment Conryu feared he might want to argue. “Fine, but you better come back and get me before you do anything stupid.”

  Conryu held out a fist and Jonny bumped it.

  “Promise,” Conryu said. “If there’s stupid stuff to be done, we’ll do it together.”

  He turned and held his hand out. “Reveal the way through infinite darkness. Open the path, Hell Portal!”

  The black disk appeared and Conryu stepped through it with Prime be
side him. When the portal had closed Prime turned to face him. “Those two are a liability, Master, especially the boy.”

  Conryu sighed and reached out to stroke Cerberus’s side. He didn’t know exactly how the giant dog appeared beside him without Conryu noticing, but he’d become so used to it he didn’t even jump.

  “I know, you’re right, but they’re my friends and they’re trying to help. If I tell them they’re just in the way I’ll damage two very important relationships.”

  “If you don’t, you might get them killed.”

  “Yeah.” No arguing with that. “Let’s focus on the matter at hand. If we can’t locate the boxes this problem is moot. Cerberus.”

  The demon dog focused all six eyes on him.

  “I need you to track something for me. A magical artifact was moved from here through a dark portal. Can you follow it?”

  Cerberus raised his heads and waved them around, mouths open and noses sniffing. He padded around, a little this way, a little that way, until he finally barked and crouched down.

  It didn’t take a genius to interpret that. Conryu leapt onto Cerberus’s back, snatched Prime out of the air, and they were off. Cerberus bounded through the darkness, sniffing as he ran.

  It seemed they hadn’t gone any distance when Cerberus stopped and barked again.

  “Here, huh?” Conryu looked around, but it wasn’t like there were any landmarks to help him figure out where he was. He didn’t know how demons did it. “Guess we’ll just have to take a peek.”

  Conryu raised his hand to cast the portal spell again, but Prime stopped him. “If there are protections in place it would be wise to look before we leap.”

  He climbed down off Cerberus. “Okay. How do we do that?”

  Prime opened and his pages flipped. When he stopped, Conryu read the spell. Vision Gate. That sounded useful. “Grant me the power to see through realms, Vision Gate!”

  The darkness swirled, though the effect was more psychic than visual. Three seconds later a round portal appeared and through it he saw a pedestal with one of the boxes sitting on it. He reached up and patted Cerberus. “Good boy. Reveal!”

  Lines of dark energy appeared in his enhanced sight. Plenty of wards, though considerably less than he’d expected. He willed the view to pull back. The new location had stone walls and was almost as dark as Hell. The view shifted again, this time top down. Beside the pedestal was a channel with brackish water running through it.

  “Great. Of course it’s in the sewer.” Something moved further down the tunnel and a moment later a pair of great black hounds padded into view. “They look familiar.”

  Cerberus growled deep in his chest.

  “Shadow hounds, Master. It’s good that we scouted the area first.”

  “It certainly is.”

  A couple minutes passed as he sent the viewing portal all around the area near the box. There was no sign of any more guardians. Two shadow beasts wouldn’t be a problem for him now.

  “Let’s do this.” Conryu raised his hand.

  “What about your promise to retrieve your friends before going after the box?” Prime asked.

  “I will, but first I’m going to kill those shadow hounds.”

  He opened the portal twenty yards from the hounds and stepped through. They must have sensed his presence. Conryu had barely cleared the portal when two pairs of red eyes raced towards him.

  “All things burn to ash, Inferno Blast!” Searing white flames blasted from his hand, filling the tunnel and obliterating the hounds. He allowed a full minute before he stepped back into the portal.

  “That was impressive, Master. I’ve seen fire wizards that couldn’t conjure flames that intense.”

  “Thanks.”

  Cerberus took them back to where they started and Conryu opened another portal.

  “Did you find it?” Kelsie asked the instant he emerged in the condemned building.

  He nodded, feeling a little queasy. Casting that many spells in such close succession was enough to exhaust even him. He needed to rest, but first the box. He’d be damned before he let whoever was behind this move it again.

  “There are some wards protecting it so you two need to stay behind me until we deal with them. Hold still, Jonny.”

  His friend stopped pacing long enough for Conryu to cast Cloak of Darkness.

  “I should warn you the box is in the sewer. If you think it stinks here just wait a second.”

  Moments later they were standing a safe distance from the pedestal. Kelsie summoned a flame sphere to light the place up. Jonny shook his head. “All this fuss over that thing?”

  Conryu had to admit the black box wasn’t terribly impressive on its own, but he knew the power of the artifact inside. He crossed his fingers and wrists. “Darkness dispels everything.”

  He hurled the black sphere, which exploded on impact, wiping all the protections away. He waited ten seconds more just to be sure.

  “I think we’re good,” Kelsie said.

  Conryu agreed and they strode over to collect their prize. His spell had blasted off the necroplasma, revealing the clean wood beneath. He flipped the lid open and inside was a black gem half the size of his fist. Instead of sparkling in the firelight the gem seemed to absorb it.

  “It must be worth a fortune.” Jonny reached out to touch the gem.

  “Stop!” Conryu, Kelsie, and Prime all shouted at the same time.

  Jonny jerked his hand back. “What?”

  “Never touch a magical artifact until you’re sure what will happen,” Conryu said.

  “It’s one of the first things they teach us,” Kelsie added.

  Conryu put his hand over the gem. “Shatter!”

  It burst into tiny black flakes. All the magic stored in the gem vanished.

  He snapped the lid shut. “I bet Terra would like to have a look at this. What do you say we get out of here?”

  When Lady Raven felt something drawing near one of her artifacts she assumed it was another sewer worker and her shadow hounds would deal with the intruder shortly. Sure enough seconds after she became aware of the presence it vanished. That was the third unfortunate to stumble on her hiding place. Not too bad considering it had been there for six months.

  She stretched out on her couch and returned her attention to the tv. It had been an amusing few hours, listening to the city’s leaders lie and make excuses as they tried to reassure the people that there was really nothing to worry about. That the Society wouldn’t do something so horrible. Even the idiot men running the city couldn’t be stupid enough to believe the threat was a bluff. All the mayor needed to do was ask the Department of Magic and he’d learn the truth.

  No, it was all propaganda to keep the people calm. If the leaders of the world failed to do as they were told, they’d learn what the Society was capable of. While Lady Raven dearly wanted to help release their imprisoned leader, a part of her wanted the deadline to pass, freeing her to activate her artifacts and watch hundreds of shadow beasts overrun the city.

  She sensed another presence and less than a minute later gasped as a sharp pain stabbed her chest. One of the artifacts had been destroyed.

  Even if the incompetents from the Department somehow located her new hiding places they didn’t have power enough between them to overcome the protections she’d woven around them.

  Her stomach twisted. It had to be him.

  Lady Raven leapt off the couch and marched to her casting chamber. Ignoring everything else she went straight to her scrying mirror. She focused her will, but when the cloudy depths of the mirror cleared, only an empty pedestal appeared.

  With a massive effort she restrained herself from smashing the mirror to shards. If the boxes were in danger she needed to increase her defenses. She paced from one end of the chamber to the other. What could she do that would slow the abomination down?

  Two shadow hounds were obviously not enough. It would be a simple matter to summon more, but she doubted that would do it. It
was time to call in a few markers. Lady Raven had made more than her share of allies in Hell, done them favors, and it was time to cash in her IOUs.

  That left one more matter. Did she dare tell the Hierarchs that the project was in danger now that they were within hours of success?

  Not yet. If the boy forced his way past her enhanced defenses once more then she’d alert her superiors. Better to seek help than allow the enterprise to fail completely. It might cost her a promotion, but that was a small price compared to a swift execution.

  Maria paced while Lin and Terra fiddled with the computer. Despite the warnings no one had bothered Lin on his trip to and from his office. In fact, he said he hadn’t seen another soul. It appeared those in charge had ordered the building cleared. For some reason Maria found that disconcerting. A couple hundred people worked for the Department. Even—make that especially—if there was a crisis you’d think there would be plenty for everyone to do.

  It felt like they were trying to hide what was happening.

  “Would you please sit down?” Dad said. “You’re making me even more nervous.”

  “Sorry, but if I sit I’ll fidget. I just realized I haven’t seen Angus. He’s the one that called Conryu. I figured they’d have him locked up with the rest of us.”

  “I haven’t seen him since this morning.” Dad sighed and shook his head. “Angus is surprisingly sneaky and has a tendency to show up or disappear when you least expect it. My guess is he’s holed up somewhere, staying out of sight. Hopefully, just this once, he’ll keep out of trouble.”

  Terra slammed her fist on the desk. “I knew it! Based on my calculations Mercia will be able to activate the boxes in sixteen hours and the island should move out of range in another forty.”

  Maria stopped in her tracks. “Conryu thinks he has two days.”

  Terra nodded. “If he finds one of the boxes and neutralizes it Mercia will know and she’ll activate the other four as soon as she’s able.”

  Lin started typing and Terra looked down at him. “What are you doing?”

  “Research. I’m curious about the mayor’s advisors. Something about those two struck me as off.”