Thaumatology 101

by Teasdale, Niall

  Part Four: Doomsday

  Holloway, London, October 11th

  Ceri lay on the cold granite of the lab’s containment circle with a motorised engraving tool in one hand and a pot of filler sitting beside her. Lily had complained bitterly when the two thaumatologists had said they were going into work, but had caved in the face of two determined women, so long as she could come along to act as guardian angel. Though guardian demon was proving to be more accurate; a little piece of temptation on long legs.

  Shane’s imperfections in the containment runes were not as bad as Ceri had thought. Minor alterations would have them operating at peek and after a morning spent working on them she was more than halfway done. The errors were, in fact, far too carefully calculated in Ceri’s opinion. Like the rune he had used to fake a containment breach, the slight modifications to the sigils were way beyond what Shane was capable of. It just added to the evidence that he had not been sabotaging Cheryl’s efforts for his own benefit. There had to have been someone far smarter behind him.

  The little grinding head on her engraving tool smoothed out her latest cut and she blew the dust away, examining her work. She nodded; perfect. Putting the tool down, she looked back over her shoulder to where Lily was standing, leaning on a wall with a slight grin on her face. Despite her feelings regarding crawling around the floor in a skirt, Ceri had put on a teddy and mini-skirt that morning. She knew full well why she had done it, but she just could not quite stop herself.

  ‘Enjoying the view back there?’ she asked.

  ‘Uh-huh,’ Lily replied.

  ‘You going to stop looking up my skirt anytime soon?’

  ‘I will if you stand up.’ Smirking slightly, Ceri climbed to her feet and stretched. Her spine clicked. ‘And then I’ll look at your boobs instead,’ Lily said.

  Giggling, Ceri sagged out of her stretch. ‘You’re terrible,’ she said.

  ‘You love it,’ Lily replied. ‘You find the attention flattering, even though it comes from a girl.’ Ceri opened her mouth to protest, but Lily went on, ‘You wouldn’t normally dress like that for work, but because I was going to be here, you did.’

  ‘Oh,’ Ceri said.

  ‘I’m half-succubus,’ Lily said, ‘I know what you want. I even know the thing you want, but you don’t really want me to do it because it’d be terribly embarrassing.’ Ceri went bright pink.

  ‘That sounds fascinating,’ Cheryl said as she walked in from her office.

  Lily grinned at her. ‘It should do,’ she said, ‘you want exactly the same thing. Should I make some coffee or something?’

  ‘That’d be great, thanks Lil,’ Ceri said, and her friend pushed off the wall to go to the small utility room off the main lab.

  Cheryl walked up to the circle and looked down at it. ‘How’s it going? The part you’ve worked on looks… sharper.’

  Ceri nodded. ‘I’ve done some general clean-up, some slight modifications and repairs. I’ll have it finished before we leave.’

  ‘And you think we’ll achieve full containment with this, no leaks?’

  ‘Tough call,’ Ceri replied. ‘Only way to be absolutely sure would be to start from scratch. How’re the modifications on the accelerators coming?’

  ‘One left,’ Cheryl said, pointing at the lone machine. ‘I’ll do that tomorrow. I said I’d show you its insides.’ Ceri nodded and there was a moment of silence. ‘So you wanted her to take you right here in the circle too, huh?’ Cheryl said.

  ‘Oh yeah.’

  ‘Damn, she’s good.’

  Stockwell

  The woman behind the reception desk looked up as Ceri walked in and then blinked as her two flankers came through the doors. Alec was dressed like a mobster, his dark suit crisp and smart. Lily was decked out in neck to foot leather, the ultimate biker chick. The receptionist’s jaw dropped further as Alec broke off at the bottom of the stairs, folding his arms and fixing his gaze on the door.

  The PPC class all looked equally bemused at Ceri and Lily as they marched into the room. Lily walked straight to the back of the room where there were windows, leaning against the wall and watching the assembled students with a flat, professional expression. Ceri went to her desk and sat down, giving Bellamy a smile and waiting for him to ask.

  ‘Miss Brent?’ he said after a second.

  ‘Bodyguard,’ Ceri said. ‘It’s Lily here and Alec downstairs, or we have a squad of Greycoats all over the place.’

  ‘You don’t think, perhaps, that not being here might be safer?’ Bellamy asked.

  ‘I don’t think anyone would trying anything somewhere so public, sir,’ she replied, ‘but I can’t convince Lily there of that, and I need this certificate.’

  ‘To complete your work with Doctor Tennant?’ Bellamy asked. Ceri nodded. ‘Good enough for me. Very well, today we are doing basic identification of supernatural entities, safe behaviour among them, etc.’ He looked at Ceri. ‘You’re smirking, Miss Brent.’

  ‘If I’d know,’ she said, ‘I’d have arranged to bring along a fairy and a werefox as well.’

  Bellamy glanced over at Lily. Watts turned in his chair, looking back at the half-succubus, going a little pale. ‘Well,’ Bellamy said, ‘we’ll get to show and tell later. Mr Watts, as a wizard I’m sure you’ve encountered demons. Give me two types and their characteristics.’

  Watts did not look particularly comfortable. ‘The most common type summoned are the Devim,’ he said. ‘Most people call them “imps.” They’re small, bat-winged, horned and hooved. Look like everyone’s image of a demon imp. They get used for carrying messages, canon-fodder, that kind of thing. They aren’t too bright, but they’re useful tools. There’s also a bigger version of them, the Devos. Devim are always male, but Devos come in both sexes. They’re powerful magicians, they know a lot about magic. Both Devim and Devos wield fire. It’s a basic characteristic of their nature.’

  Bellamy nodded. ‘Demons, all demons, generate quantities of thaumic energy… Miss Brent? I’m sure you can explain this well.’

  ‘More theoretically than through observation,’ Ceri said. ‘Demons catalyse T-Null decay within their bodies. A null thaumiton will naturally decay into one positively charged and one negatively charged particle. Under the right circumstances, and demons seem to be the right circumstances, the two can be recombined, releasing energy. The most common expression of that is heat, hence the fire demons are commonly associated with.’

  ‘Very good. Other demons you’ll encounter,’ Bellamy continued, ‘are Dakag, somewhat lizard-like, big and brutish, popular as bodyguards, and the ever popular succubi. Can anyone tell me the unique characteristic of the succubus or incubus?’ Bellamy raised an eyebrow. Ceri had raised her hand, but so had Lily. ‘Lily, was it?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ she replied. ‘Incubi and succubi are the same thing, able to transform into the object of desire of their victim. In female form they are able to collect sperm from human males, which they can use to inseminate human females. Under the right circumstances, this can produce a half-demon child which the demon can use as an anchor, allowing it to remain in this dimension when it would otherwise have to leave.’

  Ceri smiled, rather proudly. Bellamy looked vaguely surprised. ‘Are you a practitioner, Lily?’ he asked.

  ‘Oh no, sir,’ she replied, ‘I’m a half-succubus. Dad explained the mechanics once.’

  ‘Well,’ Bellamy said, ‘half-demons are rare. They tend to have some powers from their demonic parent.’ Everyone was looking back at Lily now. ‘And in the case of succubi, they tend to be supernaturally attractive.’

  Lily smiled. ‘Thank you, sir.’

  Bellamy chuckled. ‘Miss Lily notwithstanding,’ he said, ‘demons are dangerous, power-hungry creatures who’s motives are… unknown really. Exactly what they want from us is something which no one has ever been able to discover. When dealing with them, it’s best to have them contained within a properly constructed circle. Some magicians, usually but not limi
ted to wizards, make pacts with demons to gain greater power. Does anyone know why this is dangerous? Mr Watts.’

  ‘Using demonic power in your magic is addictive,’ he said, and Ceri knew how he had lost his license. ‘The more you use it, the more you want to, and the harder it is to work magic without it. Go too far and it’ll eat you up entirely.’ Ceri wondered how close he had come.

  ‘Forming a pact with a demon is illegal,’ Bellamy said. ‘Unfortunately, it’s difficult to detect and people do it. Whatever you feel might be the benefits, don’t succumb to that temptation.’

  As the class went on, Ceri got Lily to relieve Alec downstairs so that the class could meet a werewolf and see some of the signs that showed while they were human. Alec was a bit bemused at first, but relaxed into it. Ceri was thankful for her research into pack politics since it made her sound cleverer than she otherwise would have been. Alec actually looked impressed at her knowledge.

  On fairies she was not so good. Twill never really talked about them and Carter’s library of e-books had not included anything about them. Tooley, the teenage actress, seemed far more knowledgeable, however. She had been a huge fan when she was younger and was fascinated when she discovered Ceri and Lily lived with one. She knew all about fairies, pixies, and their larger brethren, the Sidhe, as well as the solitary fae creatures like hobs, boggarts, brownies, and other mischievous, malign, and beneficial creatures.

  Undead were a subject none of them knew too much about. Ceri had half expected Raven or Tooley to be vampire fans, but even the Goth witch found them a turn off. Ceri displayed her knowledge of the thaumic decay they used to keep themselves alive and mentioned that the older ones used magic to hide their true, corpse-like, natures. Bellamy told them about the four types of zombie, including one which was not a true undead, but a magically cursed human, and also briefly mentioned ghouls, but he stated that the ones everyone would generally meet were Class One zombies, magically animated corpses, and vampires.

  They wrapped with a discussion on ghosts, spirits, and other immaterial creatures, though there was little to discuss since, aside from some classifications; no one knew too much about them.

  ‘Tomorrow we’ll be discussing basic protection and first aid spells,’ Bellamy said as he handed out some sheets of paper. ‘In particular, the ones explained here. Then we’ll do ethical considerations. On Wednesday, you’ll sit your exam. Have a good evening.’

  ‘I like your teacher,’ Lily said as Alec drove them home. ‘He didn’t fuss over me being half demon.’

  ‘He seemed nice enough,’ Alec commented.

  Ceri stayed quiet. It was only a short drive, but still she was nervous. She hated cars. She had been in a few recently, but only when she was drunk enough not to care.

  ‘That wizard though,’ Lily said, ‘you should be careful of him. He stank of demon.’

  ‘Pacted, reformed.’ Ceri said through slightly gritted teeth.

  ‘Huh,’ Alec grunted. ‘Carter always said that was the one thing he’d never do. Too easy to do it, way too hard to break free.’ He pulled the car up outside High Towers and said, ‘Wait there,’ before getting out and just standing there for a few moments. Apparently satisfied, he leaned back in. ‘All clear,’ he said. ‘Get inside. I’ll see you to the door and then I’ll leave you be for the night.’

  Twill was waiting for them in the hallway when they walked in, Alec hovering in the doorway to be sure there was no trouble, but intending to leave. Cheryl was standing on the stairs, looking worried. ‘Something was sniffing around the wards at the back and the south gate,’ the fairy said.

  ‘I’m on it,’ Alec said. ‘Make sure the wards are secure.’

  Ceri nodded and started for the stairs to the cellars. ‘Cheryl,’ she said, ‘come with me, you’ll probably like this.’ She headed down into the darkness of the cellar, summoning up a ball of light as she went to help her boss down the stairs. Once in the corridor the house enchantments took over, light glowing from the sequence of runes inscribed into the ceiling hidden behind frosted glass domes.

  Opening the door to the enchantment maintenance cupboard, Ceri was rewarded by a gasp from Cheryl. ‘This is the system my mother came up with for maintaining the house’s enchantments,’ Ceri said. She pushed her hand into the model’s control area and rotated it around to look at the south and west sides. Everything looked fine; whatever had been checking around the house had stayed well outside it.

  ‘It’s… beautiful,’ Cheryl said, leaning over Ceri’s shoulder to look at the animated model.

  Ceri smiled. ‘Yeah, it kind of is.’ She twisted the model back into its rest position and a shimmer passed over the runes. ‘It’s certainly damn useful,’ she added. ‘I’ve no idea how I’d have renewed the runes without this thing.’

  Alec was returning from his tour of the grounds as Ceri reached the top of the stairs. ‘Whatever it was,’ the werewolf said, ‘it’s gone now. I found a few scent traces. Probably undead. Doesn’t look like it got over the fence.’

  ‘There’s no damage to the house enchantments,’ Ceri said. ‘I’ll check the fence in the morning before work.’ Alec nodded, hovering in the doorway as though conflicted. ‘You can stay if you want, Alec,’ Ceri said, ‘but we’re out of beds so you’ll have to bunk with Cheryl.’ Since Lily had more or less moved into Ceri’s bed anyway, Cheryl had been put into Lily’s room while she was staying. It had been the obvious thing to do since her parents had never considered a guest room a necessity.

  Alec and Cheryl looked at each other. Alec’s cheeks were a little coloured and Cheryl’s eyes had widened. Lily looked at both of them and developed a broad smirk. ‘Uh, it’d be overkill,’ Alec said finally.

  ‘We’re quite safe in here,’ Cheryl said, ‘and Alec probably has better things to do than hanging around here…’

  ‘Well, no,’ Alec replied, ‘not really, but you wouldn’t want me to be hanging around here like, uh…’

  ‘Oh, I wouldn’t mind,’ Cheryl said, ‘I’ve never really, uh, met a real werewolf. To, uh, talk to, um…’

  Lily’s giggle broke into the stream of excuses. Ceri joined in a second later, and the older pair looked at each other and then scowled at the younger ones. They looked back at each other. ‘You could at least stay for a drink,’ Cheryl suggested. Lily and Ceri just giggled more.

  Holloway, October 12th

  ‘I’m not saying it’s a bad thing,’ Ceri said to Lily, ‘I’m just saying it’s weird when my thirty-something boss is getting more dick than I am, okay?’ They were in the lab, Ceri going over the accelerator modulation software for the third time.

  Lily giggled and then tried to straighten her face. ‘You don’t know they did it,’ she said.

  Ceri looked at Lily. ‘Have you seen the way she’s walking?’

  ‘Well, she is a little bow-legged, I admit, but…’ She stopped in the face of Ceri’s glare. ‘Yeah, okay, so they were banging each other until two. You’ve no idea how hard it was keeping my hands to myself last night.’

  ‘Then why did you?’

  ‘It’s not my place to initiate anything,’ Lily replied as though it should be obvious.

  Ceri grimaced. She was not really a naturally assertive person; being the mistress in their rather odd relationship was necessary, but a lot harder than she had thought it would be. It did not help in the least that it felt like taking advantage of a friend.

  Lily sucked on a fang. ‘Look,’ she said, ‘you find me desirable right? Sexy?’

  Ceri giggled despite herself. ‘Lil, rocks find you sexy.’ She looked back at the console, scrolling through code, but not entirely seeing it.

  ‘Right,’ Lily said with a nod. ‘Well, I know you’re not convinced, but I think you’re gorgeous. You’re fit, good body, responsive, and you’ve got power. I may be only half demon, but power’s still the biggest aphrodisiac a demon can get.’ Ceri giggled. ‘I’m serious! I can’t help it, it makes me wet just thinking about it.’

>   ‘Lil!’ Ceri’s cheeks went scarlet.

  ‘Point is,’ Lily went on, ‘I want it, so I don’t see what’s stopping you when you want it. Say the word and I’ll go down on you right here and now.’

  It was more than tempting. Lily’s matter-of-fact acceptance of her status just made it more tempting. Ceri bit her lip. What ultimately stopped her was Cheryl walking in from her office. ‘Tonight,’ Ceri said quietly, ‘before we go out to class.’ A sudden thought hit her and she said it aloud before she could change her mind, ‘And it better be good or you’ll be wearing cane marks when we leave.’ She was rewarded by a tiny gasp and a shudder from the half-succubus.

  ‘Want to crawl around under a thaumic accelerator?’ Cheryl said, oblivious to the exchange.

  ‘Sure,’ Ceri said. She closed the file she had been reading and joined Cheryl in front of the machine.

  ‘So,’ Lily said, ‘you two are going to be lying under that machine for an hour?’

  Cheryl nodded. ‘If you want to go get some lunch or something…’

  Lily moved to the middle of the circle and sat down. ‘Are you fucking kidding?’ she said. ‘I just wanted to be sure where I could sit for the best view.’

  Stockwell

  ‘Magic,’ Bellamy said, ‘is dangerous.’ He paused, letting the bald statement sit for a second before continuing. ‘Oh, it’s dangerous to you people, the casters, and to those you may attack with it. As we’ve discussed, you are allowed under the law, to use offensive magic to defend yourself, and some of you may be further licensed in the future to use offensive magic for your work. However, that’s not what I mean.’

  His gaze moved around the room, falling on each student, but he finally looked up at Lily, standing at the back. ‘Miss Lily, would you mind coming forward?’ Looking a little bemused, Lily walked to the front of the class. Bellamy smiled at her. ‘It’s not often I get such a useful demonstration of the ethical considerations of magic.’