by Phil Stern
SORCERESS
Book Four of the
Cross-Worlds Coven Series
Phil Stern
Sorceress
Copyright © 2016 by Phil Stern
All Rights Reserved.
First Edition
October 2016
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are entirely the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
www.philstern.com
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
Author’s Note
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sorceress
CHAPTER ONE
WITH A DEEP sigh of relief, the young sorceress watched the holographic exam room finally fade away. Once again in the basic holo-template, she then formally shook her test mentor’s hand. That smiling, pleasant woman now also drifted off, leaving Caylee completely alone.
The tired 18-year-old turned about and hit the exit button. As the portal swished open, she gratefully stumbled out of her last final for the semester.
Caylee found herself standing on a perpetually curving interior balcony, off which led twenty other individual exam areas. The circular, enclosed test complex was made of tasteful steel and glass, with a wide open, naturally illuminated center area. Being on the second of three levels, there were dozens more holo-rooms above and below.
For a moment, the college freshman was actually tempted to leap over the protective railing, effortlessly dropping down to the ground level. Only a tiny burst of magic would be required, something any raw Coven candidate could easily do. Indeed, tucked safely underneath her white blouse, Caylee’s earth stone surged eagerly at the thought.
But this was Vail, the most mundane of worlds. Impossible leaps off of second-floor balconies could only be explained by anti-grav technology, which was definitely not allowed in the exam arena. Demurely smoothing back her blonde hair, along with a tiny adjustment of her entirely unnecessary glasses, Caylee instead walked over to the nearest staircase. Sedately treading down to the level below, she soon passed out of the test center entirely.
This was the end of the undercover operative’s first semester at Vail University, with the concluding “Comprehensive Examination” definitely living up to it’s tough reputation. Three straight hours of verbal and written probing by a cast of holo-examiners, on subjects running the gamut of basic science to artistic expression.
At one point she’d spent a full twenty minutes debating philosophy in an ancient stone amphitheater, questioned closely by an old man in a toga. Then Caylee had been whisked off to a Renaissance-style workroom to assist a “grand master” in designing some flying contraption. After that she was dumped into an intense office environment, leading a team developing software to help reduce pollution on mid-tech worlds.
She somehow handled all the complicated math, including a completely unexpected exercise in orbital mechanics. Luckily, Caylee had already stood on a real space platform with an actual planet spinning placidly below, and thus wasn’t intimidated by the holo-version of such things.
Her favorite part, though, had been simply sitting by a pleasant stream, painting a gorgeous stand of woods on the far riverbank. Perched on a simple chair, her sturdy easel before her, Caylee had vividly portrayed the slashing reds and golds of autumn. Easily providing her creation the necessary form and depth, she knew the result was impressive, especially for someone of her age.
Still, it had all been an exhausting experience. Almost in a daze, the enchantress now stood outside the test arena on a wider, larger walkway, near the top of the main university tower. It being mid-afternoon, there were few other people about. Strolling over to the outer wall, the youthful magician just stared out at the ultra-modern city.
It was an amazing view, even for someone who could justifiably claim the entire universe as her personal playground. Seen through virtually-invisible glass, Vail’s capital seemingly stretched to the horizon. A few aircars flitted about, with larger space liners drifting down from outer space. Indeed, of all the worlds the Coven regularly visited, Vail was one of the most impressive.
But even so, was this all really necessary? Witches weren’t generally sent off to college upon reaching their majority. Indeed, upon becoming full-fledged members of the Coven, they were normally allowed to spread their wings, travel around a bit. Spread their magic, so to speak.
Not to mention that she’d already proven herself out in the field! Thrown right into the line of fire by the sudden appearance of the ruby coven, Caylee had seen immediate action in several dimensions. Why pull her back from the magical front lines now?
Yes, in many ways Vail was considered a great assignment. And Caylee was also on call as an inter-dimensional courier for the Coven Leader herself, who often resided here. Which, in a way, was kind of important. But still…
Jerking upright, the young witch felt a very tiny brush of power against the back of her left leg. It was very faint, almost undetectable, like a single hair blowing against your cheek in a storm. Yet the odd, residual tingle was unmistakably magical. And foreign magic to boot.
The Coven itself were the only magicians on Vail, operating here with great care. Indeed, this might be the last place in the entire universe one would expect to encounter an unknown entity. A touch of panic settling in, Caylee somehow resisted the urge to immediately gather her own power.
Instead, she deliberately waited a moment, then casually turned about to visually scan the area. The foot traffic was still light, but picking up. A dozen or so students, having also completed their final, were gathered outside the test center in small groups. Even as she watched, two more of her classmates wearily slipping out of the testing arena. One girl gave her a tired wave before trudging off.
Yet of other magicians, alien or otherwise, there was no visible sign. Outwardly, everything seemed quite normal for a studiously mundane world.
Firmly quelling her growing alarm, Caylee ran a hand along her blonde pony tail. According to Coven doctrine, operatives must first “analyze and evaluate” this type of situation, then decide on a firm, unambiguous course of action.
Which all sounded very nice and tidy back in Haven. The problem was that a tiny magical tickle wasn’t much to go on! Or report to her superiors, for that matter. They’d probably just assume she was imagining things.
Pressing her back against the cool glass, Caylee’s mind began racing. Of course, the most obvious explanation was the Zarth coven, yet this clearly wasn’t magic from their ruby stones. Not that any Zarth girls were on Vail anyway. They probably didn’t even know it existed.
But whoever it was, this didn’t feel at all friendly. Under the circumstances Caylee must assume hostile intentions. Evasion was now essential, with full confrontation only as a last resort.
Taking a deep breath, the neophyte sorceress now did draw a tiny amount of energy from her earth stone. Still hidden away underneath her shirt, the magical talisman began emitting a faint, soothing aura. Mundane world or no, she certainly wasn’t going down without a fight.
The beautiful blonde now casually pulled out her Individual Communications Pad (or ICP, as they were locally known), mentally preparing a coded message. Prior to executing her own escape, Caylee must first warn everyone else of possible danger.
A more senior operative would send out a general grounding directi
ve to all Coven personnel in the dimension, requiring them to drop out of sight and avoid contact. However, Caylee would merely inform Norine, her direct superior on Vail, of the general situation. Norine, or perhaps even Eleanor herself, would then decide on any coordinated action.
Yet her first confident taps on the device produced nothing. The ICP was dead. Frowning, Caylee shook the damn thing, then irritably flipped the power switch back and forth several times. The battery, which was at 90% before her exam, was now completely drained.
Eyes narrowing, she irritably stuffed the slim device into her back jeans pocket. This wasn’t a random failure. Someone was playing hardball. It was clearly time to go.
However, this sudden determination was quickly foiled. Spinning to her left and starting to stride off, she nearly barreled into Wes, a somewhat nice guy from her class.
“Hey, Caylee! Sorry, didn’t mean to get in your way.” Holding up his hands, as if in surrender, he smiled down at her. “So what did you think of the test?”
Stumbling back from their near-collision, the sorceress quickly scanned him. No, Wes wasn’t responsible for the strange magic. “What are you talking about?”
“The test. Our final? You know, what we just did in there for three hours?”
“Oh, that.” Laughing idiotically, Caylee nearly jumped as someone brushed against her left arm. She was very exposed here. “Sure, it was great. But listen, Wes, I’m really late…”
“Actually, I was thinking…” With an endearing shrug, Wes smiled shyly. “Some of us are going out tonight, to celebrate, and I was hoping that…”
Now she felt another magical tickle, this time on the back of her neck. Jerking forward, the undergrad almost stamped down on his foot. “Damn it,” she muttered, now openly looking all around.
If nothing else, this erased any lingering doubt. Without question, Caylee was being stalked by a very skilled magician of unknown power and intentions.
“Uh, yeah.” Taking a half-step back, Wes clearly didn’t know what to make of her odd behavior. “But like I was saying…”
“Gotta go!” Darting about Wes, she nearly sprinted off. “Later!”
“Later!” she heard him sadly reply, even as the inward curving passageway quickly put distance between them.
Using her long legs to full advantage, the sorceress easily left the test center far behind. Two minutes later, keeping her guard up as best she could, Caylee reached the nearest Anti-Grav Chute.
Vail was full of tall, glass and steel skyscrapers with multiple means of getting around. The most basic (and fun) were the AGC’s. Consisting of large, square, vertical tubes, one merely had to leap in the direction you wished to go, up or down, occasionally re-propelling yourself with strategic shoves and kicks against the outer walls. It was like swimming around a building on a supportive sea of air.
Without even breaking stride Caylee raced the last several steps, shoved past several people timidly standing on the platform preparing to enter the chute, and dove straight downward.
This was rude and slightly dangerous, but still managed to stay within “accepted civilized dimensional standards.” Well, at least that’s what she’d claim if anyone made a fuss about it back in Haven.
Yet within a few floors Caylee was forced to become brazenly uncivilized. Encountering a nearly chute-wide block, she roughly pushed a fat boy out of the way with her left arm while giving a hard shove up on someone’s shoe with her right hand. Ignoring their aggrieved protests, Caylee shot over to the far wall, gathered herself, and plunged downward even faster.
Five floors later a middle-aged professor was forced to preemptively slip out of her way. A middle-aged brunette wasn’t as smart, and might possibly have taken a boot to the head. Desperately tumbling to the far corner, even as the woman began yelling, Caylee used the tiniest burst of magical energy to escape.
Around the twentieth floor she actually sliced between a couple inanely drifting “upstream” hand-in-hand, which was decidedly against the rules. All three of them slammed against the wall for a brief instant. Instantly untangling herself, Caylee blurted out an apology before continuing her mad descent.
The final drop being wide open, the enchantress shifted to a feet-first position, touching down on the padded floor in perfect balance. Immediately sprinting clear, she banged through the ground-level glass doors and into the grand courtyard beyond.
Pretending she didn’t hear him, Caylee ignored the security guard sternly calling her back. Great, so now Campus Security would be on her ass. Well, that was the least of her problems.
So what now? The Coven actually maintained an inter-dimensional safe house here on Vail, buried underneath a mountain several miles away. Eleanor was also head of her own company, with an imposing corporate headquarters closer by.
But the young sorceress had no intention of leading her pursuer to Coven facilities. Indeed, that may be why they flushed her out in the first place.
No. Caylee had to shake the stalker on her own, then re-establish contact with her sisters. If absolutely necessary she would dart across the Boundary, but only as a last resort. She actually knew of a small portal at the back of an alley near her apartment, but using that kind of magic within the city would be incredibly risky.
Jogging across the courtyard between buildings, the young operative spied a taxi disgorging passengers along the far street. Racing over, she dove into the back seat just as a departing businessman was shutting the door.
“Hanson Boulevard!” Caylee yelled to the driver, even as she untangled herself and sat up. “And step on it!”
Yet the craft remained frustratingly inert, the driver merely finding her eye in the rearview mirror. “What number, miss? That’s a long street.”
“Uh, well…” Trailing off, she now felt another tendril of the same foreign magic caress the outside of the cab. Someone was trying to find her. “Number fifty forty-seven!” she blurted out, mindlessly using the official room number for the test center.
“Fifty forty-seven?” he repeated. “You mean the liquor store on the corner of…”
“Just go!”
“All right.” Still in no hurry, the driver languidly put the car in gear. “But you know I’ll have to take off to get there, right? So air charges will apply.”
“Move the car!” She nearly screeched, kicking the back of the seat for good measure. “This is an emergency!”
“Wow.” With a shrug, he deftly pulled out and cut into traffic. “I guess someone really needs their favorite bottle of something.”
Glaring at the back of his head a long moment, Caylee then coolly glanced out the window.
For the next three minutes the driver skillfully wove though moderately-heavy ground traffic, the car itself hovering about three feet off the pavement. Entering the nearest round-a-bout, the taxi then circled twice to pick up speed before smoothly lifting up into the sky.
The sorceress had no way of knowing if they were still being followed. Though she sensed no magic in their immediate area, Caylee’s pursuer might simply be tracking her cab. Craning her head all about, it was impossible to tell if any of the other taxis zooming around were actually on their tail.
Belatedly, the Haven operative now remembered that these cabs actually broadcast their destinations to central dispatchers. Her tracker might well have tapped into that system. That raised the poignant possibility of one or more unfriendly people waiting for her at the liquor store.
Now leaving the city center, the driver dropped down lower to skim a hundred feet over some residential buildings. If Caylee was going to go, now would be the time. Sending a pulse of magic into the door itself, the witch clicked open the lock and rolled out of the cab entirely, ignoring the surprised roar of the driver as she tumbled away.
Of course, this was unwise on any number of levels. Since Vail was littered with all kinds of advanced sensors, her magical output could potentially have been detected. The driver might also alert the authorities to her lit
tle stunt, who would then saturate the area in a high-tech dragnet. Not to mention the rather lengthy list of operational violations she might have to answer for back home.
But calculated risk was all part of being a Coven operative. This was a heavily-traveled taxi corridor, and any strange sensor readings would probably just be written off as a backfiring cab. As for the driver, he was clearly the sort who just didn’t care. Having taken the precaution of leaving a nice fat bill on the seat behind her, Caylee suspected he would simply zoom off to find another fare.
Plunging downward, Caylee had to duck around two other taxis midair. The fake glasses soon went flying off, ripping away her half-assed invisibility spell with them. Yet the enchantment lingered just long enough to cover her brief descent. At least, no one honked or yelled out the window. All in all it could have been worse.
Hitting the top of a low building in perfect form, the fleeing sorceress rolled into a low crouch within a tasteful rooftop patio. Nice plants and two large outdoor chairs were situated nearby, with a small bar by a raised door leading downward. Other patios of differing styles and color schemes stretched across the entire building top, separated by low railings. This must be a cool place for everyone to hang out in the evening.
Luckily she didn’t have to wreck it with a rooftop battle, for Caylee had already decided that if someone followed her down, that’s where they’d settle things. When no attack came, she merely leapt over a low sidewall out into open air once more, dropping four stories down to street level.
Two young teenage boys on hoverboards promptly stopped and gawked at her. Pausing to smooth down a few wild strands of hair, she politely smiled at them. Why were they staring so? Surely they would just assume Caylee was just a building resident taking the quick way down via anti-grav boots?
Now one boy let out an absurd, suggestive whistle. The other laughed uproariously, as if this was the wittiest things in the world. Bestowing them with a distinctly-annoyed glare, the university student quickly moved towards the nearest intersection.
