I was over confident and arrogant. I was so sure of my ability to overcome anything that stood against me. I threw myself against stupid odds and somehow survived. I had proudly assumed I knew better when I sought to save my now dead sister. Had I listened to those around me, she probably wouldn’t be dead now. Marcus’s coup would have failed or never been launched – I had been his spark to turn against his former master. The emergence of our kind perhaps would not have happened at all, or would have taken a far less catastrophic turn. I had often wondered if perhaps I should have submitted to the little evil to save myself from the greater. Had I chosen to submit to Victor and become what he had wanted, none of this would have come to pass. It was so real to me I could almost taste it. Victor would have turned me into the weapon he had planned: a weapon aimed at his own kind. I would have been powerful, maybe even more so than I am now. Inevitably Victor would have set me loose on Marcus and I would have destroyed him and set Victor on the path to Primea. Our kind would be damned under the heel of an immortal tyrant, but millions of people would have been spared this fate. Was that better in the long run? Would Primea have been enough for Victor? He had always claimed to advocate for an exclusionist policy where our kind was concerned. Would that have been enough, or would his Nazi history lead us to a much worse fate? I gritted my teeth as I contemplated the scenario. It pained me to admit it, but that future may very well have been preferable. But that path was no longer available.
“What do you see when you stare at the night sky?” Emily pressed again. “Your expression is so strange.”
“I see an end,” I repeated, this time answering honestly.
“To the war?”
“No,” I whispered. “Mine.”
“You want to die?” Emily murmured softly. She seemed surprised.
“No,” I shook my head, “but I see it in the stars - it’s all I see in the stars. I do not stargaze often.”
“And yet you brought me here?” Emily replied. “Why?”
“You wanted to understand me. Now you do.”
Emily was silent for a long time as we gazed at the stars. It was as if we were thieves in the night, drinking our stolen wine on borrowed time. If I were more of a romantic it could have been a magical night, but those urges had long since passed in me. Honestly, this was nothing more a crude attempt to manipulate the woman into revealing her secrets to me. I hadn’t known it at the time but I wasn’t the only one playing games.
“I’m going with you, to Los Angeles,” Emily stated unexpectedly.
“No.” I cut her off immediately. “It would not be safe.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not your call,” Emily replied firmly. “I’ve already put in the request and it’s been approved by command. It’s done.”
I sighed. “I make no guarantee for your safety.”
“Don’t treat me like a child,” Emily snapped. “I’ve been to war zones before.”
“Not like this, you haven’t.”
Emily’s face twisted at the insult, but she let it pass. We waited in silence for several seconds before she eventually reached into her pocket. She rummaged around until she found what she was looking for. It was a simple electronic device about the size of a chocolate bar. She passed it to me.
“I know that you said you didn’t want me to interview you, but this is a voice recorder,” she explained quickly. “If you won’t talk to me, then maybe you’ll be able to talk to it.”
“Are we still on that?”
“No – hear me out,” Emily continued. “I think it’s important. Your name in particular is going to be remembered after all this, and I think it’s only proper that it at least be remembered correctly.”
I didn’t answer. I had no wish to be remembered after all this. I’ve had to do things that no amount of explanation can justify. There was no good light I could be cast in. In my anger and in my loss I had indeed turned into the very monster I was trying to fight. I had turned to Necromancy so quickly to restore my powers. I had executed and callously let people die without thought or remorse. No – no good could come from having my story told.
“No,” I repeated firmly. “I’m a murderer and a war criminal.”
“I know,” Emily replied softly. She had no illusions about who or what I was. “That’s not what this is about. Don’t you want to pass something on to future generations?”
Emily’s words cut through me like a knife: future generations. I would have no future generations and I certainly had no wisdom that I wanted to pass down to them. The only gift I could hope to pass onto the next generation would be a chance to choose their own future. A future without me or Victor – that was the only gift I could hope to give anyone. I only hoped that I could accomplish such a feat. It didn’t look likely right now, but I was hopeful for a future in which the sins of our kind could be swept clean.
“I will think on what you say,” I whispered as I ran my fingers across the device in my hands. I brought it to my mouth and pressed the record button.
“My name… is Devon Wills and I am … a mage.”
I pressed stop and then rewind. I pushed the device into my pocket. Now was not the time.
* * * * * *
I had the nightmare again that night. I had found Renee amongst the ruins of Los Angeles. We had fought and once again I had killed her. I had gazed into her eyes as she fell before me, only this time I wasn’t sure whose face it was. Had the face been Renee’s or had it been Emily’s? In my dream I wasn’t so sure. I needed to stop sleeping altogether.
I hadn’t intended to sleep anyway, but the wine must have gone to my head, and I woke to find myself on the bunk, still in my uniform. I didn’t remember much from the end of last night, but I did remember bidding Emily goodnight and walking her to her quarters. I wasn’t sure how I had returned to my own.
I ran my hand across my face as I realised the implications of the dream. I needed to stop seeing Emily. She would merely be a distraction and I didn’t need any further distractions when I came against Voll. There was a very high probability that he would be in Los Angeles. Someone had killed Kristoff’s team, and Kristoff himself had been a very powerful mage. There were very few of the known mages we were hunting who would have been able to accomplish such a feat. In my present diminished state, even I would have been hard pressed to take out Kristoff. My fight with Voll would be difficult, should he be in Los Angeles. No, Voll was here. I could feel it. All that remained was to find him.
CHAPTER FIVE
We had expected our arrival into Los Angeles to have been noticed. It would have been folly to assume otherwise. What was surprising, though, was the complete lack of response to our arrival. You don’t just sail an aircraft carrier into a harbour without being noticed. There should have been hordes of refugees and those caught up the conflict seeking asylum, but there was no one. The docks and even the bayside area of LA was a silent wasteland. It may have just been a consequence of the recent mage fights between Kristoff and Tibus, but I somehow doubted it. This smelled like a trap, and I’d been caught in enough traps to recognise one when I saw it.
The bridge of the aircraft carrier was overbearing with all the command staff present. Glave’s foreboding figure lurked at the forefront of the bridge, staring out into the city, but I could see that his eyes weren’t focused on the glass before him. His scry threads were out across the docks and the ship, seeking possible danger. He obviously hadn’t found anything yet, but it was a large area to scan.
The Admiral and Colonel Brandon were standing to my right as I prepared to bid my leave. I would be glad to be done with them. I glanced quickly at Glave, but the mage remained silent. He still hadn’t found anything.
“I don’t like this.” The Admiral broke the silence first.
“Nor I,” I agreed. “But at least it will allow us to deploy. I will go ahead first to ensure the path is clear.”
“You unnecessarily risk yourself,” Glave rumbled unexpectedly. This was further
proof that the big man was actually worried.
“A sound plan,” the colonel’s voice interjected quickly, cutting Glave off. “I will begin preparations to deploy.”
I turned to face the man.
“I have received orders to take over command of your division,” the colonel replied crisply. “Central command was unaware of your division’s status regarding a commander.”
That was a lie, his death had been reported. I should have expected this. But, the presence of the colonel wouldn’t affect things in the long run. My men would obey me; if he became a problem then it was a problem that could very easily be resolved once the shooting started.
“I need thirty minutes to begin loading my troops into the choppers,” the colonel continued.
My mouth twisted wryly.
“I will instruct you when you may begin your reconnaissance.”
I had been dismissed.
I glanced briefly at the Admiral, who looked just as surprised as I had. This confirmed my suspicions. The colonel obviously had never been part of the aircraft carrier’s crew and was on special assignment. The colonel taking control of my division was an unexpected development and one that I wasn’t happy with, but this wasn’t the time to fight it. That time would come later.
“As you wish.” I chuckled as I left the bridge.
I found Marcellus on the deck helping load supplies into one of the four helicopters that would ferry us across the bay onto the docks.
“I don’t like this,” Marcellus grunted in way of greeting, unwittingly repeating the Admiral’s sentiments.
“Want something else you’re not going to like?”
“Brandon?” Marcellus spat. “Yeah, we’ve been notified. He showed me the orders himself - looks very official. What are we going to do about it?”
“Nothing,” I replied with a smile, “for the moment.”
Marcellus chuckled briefly. “Oh, that reporter wanted to see you too. Apparently she’s coming with us.”
I nodded sourly. “More wonderful decisions from command.”
“Hard to see what use a reporter is going to be when the fighting starts,” Marcellus agreed.
It didn’t take long to locate Miss Perry in her quarters preparing her kit. I was impressed. She had packed her equipment tightly and appeared to only have the necessities. She was a professional after all.
“You wanted to see me?” I called out in way of greeting.
“Yes,” Emily replied quickly, failing to hide her slight start at my voice. “I want to assure you - before things start – I won’t get in your way. I won’t be a burden. I’ll accept your lead. If you say it’s too dangerous, I’ll take your word for it, but I’m going with you.”
“I’m sure you won’t be a problem.”
Her expression turned quizzical at my odd response. She hadn’t expected me to agree so readily. I suspect she had been planning this argument for some time in her head.
“It’s not a problem as you’re going to remain here,” I continued softly.
Her eyes immediately went flinty as she realised what I was saying. “That’s not your orders,” she reminded me primly.
“And I cannot convince you otherwise?” I said.
Emily looked at me like I was crazy for asking such a question. “No, of course not,” she snapped. “Why would you ask?”
I could use a compulsion thread to try to change her mind, but she had already proven a degree of resilience to the effect. It was possible she would just shrug off the effect and come anyway. I didn’t want to have to worry about her safety once we landed in LA. She would be far safer on this ship and I could then concentrate on keeping everyone else alive.
“Tell me, do you have ration packs in your kit?” I asked conversationally.
Emily nodded, a little confused. I had figured she would have been prepared. It was standard course for a field pack after all.
“Good.”
“I will let someone know you’re here, but it might take some time before they’re able to release you,” I whispered.
“What?” Emily shrieked.
I took a step back and pulled the door shut behind me. The sturdy metal door closed with a resounding clang. I pressed my fingers against the groove of the door frame and summoned Mana Nova. The super-heated Mana thread welded the door shut in seconds. I could hear her pounding on the door from the other side but I ignored her efforts. It only took a minute until the door was securely welded shut. She might be able to shrug off a compulsion to remain behind, but she would find this barrier much more difficult to overcome. I would notify someone of her predicament after the ship had left port. They should have little difficulty using a cutting torch or something to free her.
The rest of the preparations were finished by the time I returned. Brandon had come down from the bridge to oversee things. He nodded briefly at me as I approached one of the helicopters and directed me towards a headset piece.
“I may need to give you further instructions,” he stated primly. “You may begin your landing now.”
It irked me to be issued commands in such a way, but I held my tongue. Words would be had with this colonel once things had settled down. He would soon learn that I was not some piece of ordinance to be checked and then sent into battle.
I flexed my shoulders slightly as I let the teleportation field overcome me. With a slight step forward I was now standing on the docks. I quickly turned to look behind me: the carrier was an awesome sight in the bay. There was no way that anyone could have failed to notice our arrival. I shivered slightly as I let my shield cover me. I was a sitting duck out there on the dock. The bright light and sound of my teleportation wouldn’t have been missed. If they were hoping to kill a mage, here was their chance - they wouldn’t get a better one.
Nothing happened.
What were they waiting for? They were here. I could almost smell them. Why weren’t they attacking? Surely they must see their opportunity. That isn’t to say that I was entirely defenceless. All of my strength was being poured into the shield surrounding me, except for the small amount maintaining my mobility. They could probably hit me with a tactical missile and I would survive unscathed, but that wasn’t what I was worried about. If this was a trap, they would have other mages ready in waiting. They wouldn’t hit me with anything as mundane as a missile.
I could see the Mana, too, was worried. It ebbed across my flesh in hurried pulses. It sensed as I did others of my kind. They were here. They had somehow hidden themselves from Glave’s scrying. They were hiding and there were literally thousands of places for them to do so. This area was part of the civilian docks used for commercial shipping, and as such there were shipping containers and crates everywhere. Any one of them could contain enemy troops. It was the perfect place for hiding.
Siphoning power from my shield, I held my hand before me as I let the power grow. It wouldn’t take much. I let the power pour into a sphere of Mana before me. The vortex grew to about half a metre but contained precious little Mana. I didn’t need that much Mana to generate this type of vortex any longer. I watched the power flow across the vortex with a smile. This was one of the first spells I had learned and I had long since mastered its effects. I waited until the vortex reached its required size and then waited until the right moment to release. An Awareness blast detonation rocketed over the docks and into the city, soaking everything it touched in Mana residue. I had once used this effect to locate Renee in my home city of Melbourne, but today I was using it to hunt enemies. This time I wasn’t the hunter, though, I was the prey.
I don’t know if they were waiting for me to set off an Awareness blast, but I only had several seconds of sight before I realised I had fallen into their trap. There were hundreds of people in the surrounding area. They looked like they had taken defensive positions behind shipping crates, as if to repel an assault. This was no group of refugees or gangs. This was organised. The largest contingent seemed to be holding up in what appeared to be a
n office block used by a shipping company. I wasn’t sure how they had hidden themselves from Glave, but clearly they had done so.
Maybe they had expected I would land troops? That had been the plan, after all. How had they known exactly where we would land? Were there also troops in other areas of the docks? I glanced briefly to the military docks to my left – that would have been the logical place to make landfall. I couldn’t see anything over there. No, it looked like the concentration of troops was here – waiting for me.
I wasn’t worried about the enemy soldiers. The five mage auras that appeared to be in the loading docks to my right were the problem. Mages were easy to spot, as their auras shine like beacons through the Mana soaked residue of the Awareness blast. I only had a few precious seconds before a second detonation tore through the city and eradicated my Mana sight.
I had seen this effect before, A Shading detonation. Scrying and any kind of vision enhancement was impossible; hell, I would barely be able to make out a Mana thread right before my eyes. It didn’t affect my normal vision as such – other than the distraction that the static made, but it was weakening nonetheless. I had come to rely on my magical sight to enhance my normal vision – without it I would be compromised.
I had never seen Shading used over such a wide area before. As the spell tore across the horizon, my vision retracted and the soldiers disappeared, and more dangerously, the mages also disappeared from my vision. Several shots immediately rang out and pinged off my shield. They hadn’t forgotten I was here. I ignored the gunfire as I set myself into a run. If I couldn’t see what they were doing, then they couldn’t see what I was doing either. I launched myself into flight as I threw myself at the last location where I had seen the mages.
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