Amanda looked at the hand, and then back at Horlacks face. This was a new one. Realising that he probably wasn’t going to attack her, she picked herself up, ignoring his hand and doing it herself. Remembering the panicked mortals on the far side of the garden, she sent a quick wave of Magical energy at them that would put them gently to sleep. She would deal with them later.
She stood, and even at her full height and with him crouched down before her, he was still taller than she was.
‘What can I do for you Horlack?’ she asked, deadpan.
‘I… I want to apologise, to you.’ He said, and looked down at the floor.
Amanda’s eyebrows rose up her forehead further than they had done in a very long time and stayed there for a while as she took that statement in. She wasn’t sure she had heard that right.
‘Excuse me?’ she said, wanting to be sure she wasn’t in some kind of fever dream.
‘I want to make amends for my actions, I want to apologise to you,’ he rumbled.
‘Why?’ Amanda asked, suddenly suspicious.
‘I want to meet with… with Maya… please.’
He said please! This thing that looked like it was from some kind of hell had just said please to her. She wasn’t sure she could take much more of this weirdness.
‘You want to meet with Maya? Can’t you just ask her yourself?’
‘We have a history, and, I don’t think she wants to see me. But, if you were to… vouch for me? Maybe?’ he said.
Amanda looked down at the blood on his claws, and then back up at his face. It looked strange to see this animalistic creature talking, like the human it must have once been. But she knew now why he had attacked Nymira, he wanted someone close to Maya to speak for him. He was trying to prove himself to her somehow.
‘Heh. Look, I appreciate your help against Nymira, but if Maya doesn’t want to see you…’ she said.
Horlack leant forward, lowering his head some more, his movement interrupting her. While it wasn’t meant to be threatening, his size and appearance made it look and feel that way. Amanda broke off and backed up a step.
‘Please Amanda, just tell her what I did today and tell her I wish to speak with her, please,’ he said, pleading with her.
Amanda smiled to herself, not quite believing what was happening.
‘Okay, I’ll do it so I will. But I can’t promise anything,’ she said and opened a Mental Link between herself and Horlack which he accepted.
‘I understand. I’ll look forward to your message, and thank you,’ he said and leapt up to the roof of the building before disappearing from sight. The hour was late, and luckily the Jade Palace was empty apart from these few workers.
With some careful use of Magic, Amanda had soon wiped the memory from their minds, healed them and sent them home before she turned back to the mess that Nymira had made of the back of the building.
She wondered if Nymira would be back again sometime soon after that display of power from Horlack, of if she would back off for a bit.
- The Bowsman, Aetheric Craft, in Geosynchronous Medium Earth Orbit.
Stepping up from the Portal in the Null Realm onto the deck of the sleek Aetheric Ship that she knew so well, Maya walked through to the main living space, a huge open plan area with plush white leather seats and polished wooden decking. Everything had a clean modern design with minimalist décor. Nearby sat a huge sabre-toothed cat with honey coloured fur that watched her with his glistening eyes.
Maya smiled at it and gave it a playful scratch behind the ears. It purred loudly at her as she walked past. ‘Good boy Samhain,’ she said.
The ship’s captain and owner stood at the windows looking down from the stern of the ship to the curve of the earth far below. They were several thousand kilometres above the Earth and had a breathtaking view.
‘Hey Maya,’ the woman said, ‘what’s up?’
‘I’m a little concerned with how, um, Amanda is acting. Liz came to me yesterday a little concerned.’
‘I know. I’m aware of how she is acting. Let’s just say, it’s not her finest hour, and things will get worse before they get better.’
All pile on
The Jade Palace, New York
Jan 16th
Feeling a little drained after sorting out the damage that Nymira had done to the back of the building, Amanda walked through to the front of the Jade Palace and into the café bar area with its glass frontage.
It turned out that Yoh and Maya were not here tonight, and even Stella had apparently left early, leaving some of the other office staff to finish work and lock up. She realised how lucky she had been that there were no customers in here tonight. Otherwise, she would have needed to bring in the Arcanum to help with the fallout. Instead, she had been able to handle it herself and clean up the mess quite easily.
The only thing that Amanda would have to leave as it was would be the outer Aegis at the back of the building that Nymira has ripped holes in and was now basically useless. The main inner Aegis that had been left untouched only covered the upstairs, Yoh’s personal space. The Café at the front had no Aegis as they used it too frequently to welcome new Magi into the city for them to have an Aegis there.
Amanda walked behind the bar, pulled a glass down from the shelf and poured herself a long drink of water. She then carried the drink back to the stools around the front of the bar where she sat and sipped at it.
As she took another mouthful of water, she sensed the stirring of Magic outside the front of the building and looked up to see the Essentia in the street start to pull in on itself and move in a way that could only mean one thing.
The Magical energy burst forward and the doorway to the café smashed open showering glass and metal into the front of the café, a short distance from Amanda, who boosted her Aegis while she slid off the stool, placing the glass of water on the bar.
A man with short blonde hair shaved close to his skull on the back and sides of his head, stepped through the glass that crunched under the patent black leather boots he wore. The man had a haughty look on his chiselled features and held one hand behind his back as he moved, his long black leather trench coat flaring out around his legs.
‘Zere she is, Amanda, why, it is such ze pleasure to see you once again. It has been too long fraulein,’ the man said with a heavy German accent.
Amanda didn’t recognise him, or the others who walked in behind him. A man with mousy hair, wearing a suit and glasses stood close to Trenchcoat man.
Behind Trenchcoat and Suit, a bald man in a bomber jacket and jeans wearing boots with red laces walked in next to a woman with a curious haircut of bleached blonde hair, cut to various lengths.
Red Laces and Bleached spread out to the sides, but kept to the front of the building and watched the street outside.
Amanda looked back to Trenchcoat and blinked. ‘I’m sorry, do I know you?’
She might not know who this person was, but she felt fairly sure they were not here to play nice. They were here for a fight, and any talking before things kicked off was merely foreplay. But, she didn’t want to fight again, so keeping them talking was always preferable and there might be a chance that she could defuse the situation.
Her Aegis was already strong and her mind had already been split by the multitasking effect. She was about as ready for a scuffle as she could be.
‘Know me? Don’t play coy with me fraulein, it has simply not been that long. Surely you have not forgotten ze last meeting we had on ze battlefield?’
‘While that all sounds grand, I must say, I’ve pretty certain I’ve never met you before. I’m sure I would remember you if I had.’
‘Really? I suppose 1944 is quite a long time ago, but still…’ he mused.
‘Fifty years?’ Amanda sputtered. What was he talking about? This could only be a case of mistaken identity because she had certainly not been alive for that long. ‘I’m sorry, but I’m only twenty-one years old, you must have me mixed up with someone else.’
Trench Coat narrowed his eyes as if he were trying to figure out if she was lying to him or trying to trick him somehow, although she was not sure how she could do that.
‘No… I am quite sure you are ze woman I am after, and I don’t appreciate zese games you are playing fraulein. You are trying to take me for ze fool, and I will not stand for it.’
As he spoke, she could see the Essentia gathering about him as he pulled in the Magic to him before sending out a spike of Essentia at her. That attack was powerful, but nowhere near on a par with what Nymira had been throwing at her. The spike of energy struck her Aegis, in an attempt to fracture her shield early on and give him an advantage, but her Aegis held firm and deflected the energy.
‘Now that’s not nice,’ Amanda quipped.
The man’s own Aegis benefitted from a boost while another of his minds reached out to telekinetically kick some glass up at her that only smashed harmlessly off her shield. It did make her flinch, though.
‘Hey, quit it yeh ejit,’ she called.
The suit stood next to Trenchcoat followed his masters’ lead with a similar attack of Magical energy, trying to disable her Aegis so they could inflict some real damage to her, but to no avail.
Nearby, Red Laces and Bleached Hair lifted a pair of high powered revolvers and fired at her, the Essentia infused rounds bouncing off her Aegis and burying themselves in the back wall or ceiling.
Amanda watched, taking the hits and using a couple of her minds to keep her defences charged and strong while she assessed her opponents. Trench Coat seemed to be the most skilled, and would, if she had to guess, be the leader of the Coven and the highest ranked Magus amongst them. A Sage maybe?
Meanwhile, the pair stood furthest away from her, Red Laces and Bleached Hair seemed like they would be the least skilled of them all.
Dealing with them would be easy and take out two people quickly and easily.
‘Right, that’s it…’ she said. Wasting no time, she used one of her multitasking minds to slam Red Laces sideways into the wall closest to him, lifting him bodily and throwing him with a force that surprised even Amanda. His Aegis flared against the Magic, protesting against the attack, but her throw had been just too powerful and he dropped to the floor in a heap. Simultaneously she hit the Bleached girl with the same effect, and she followed suit, dropping to the floor motionless after hitting the wall.
Trenchcoat reached into his coat and pulled out a long sword that Amanda knew had not been there a moment before, and rushed forward, roaring at her, his rage exploding from inside him.
As he ran forward, more Magical energy blasts ripped from him, smashing into Amanda’s Aegis and rolling off and around it, doing little to her or her defences that were constantly being replenished by her own Magic.
Her force shield in place, Amanda raised her arm to block the first sword swing. It hit her hard, and the Essentia that had been infused into the weapon did its best to try and break through her shield, but to no avail.
As she fended off Trenchcoats attacks, the Suit behind him called on his own Magic once again and threw blasts of Essentia and Electricity at her that arced around like lighting to miss Trenchcoat and hit her instead. But her powerful defences held up well to the punishment.
She then noticed that another man, also in a suit, but a black one this time as opposed to the other man’s tan affair, walked into the building. Clearly in league with those already in here, he wore a superior look on his face. Glancing outside, wondering what Superior had been doing, she noticed some Magic at work outside the building, an Illusion or Glamour effect that hid the fighting going on in here.
They clearly didn’t want to be seen or interrupted.
For some reason, another Magus joining the fight against her and noticing the Illusion outside served to only anger her further and make her want to end this in her favour, to teach these ejits just who they were dealing with here.
Trench Coat swung the sword once more, but this time, she caught it in her left hand and, gripping the blade, her Force Shield protecting her hand from the cutting edge, she twisted the weapon, freeing it from his grip. In a smooth motion following on from the catch and twist, she flung the weapon behind her where it embedded itself into the wall, high up near the ceiling.
With her attacker momentarily distracted by the loss of his sword, Amanda, backhanded him, making him spit blood on the floor as his Aegis flared from this hit.
Moving quickly, she used one hand to keep his head low while she kneed him in the chest, his Aegis flaring once more before bringing her Magic to bare and throwing him across the room and into Superior.
She didn’t wait to see what happened to them, instead, she leapt at Suit and making the most of the brief respite in attacks, used nearly all her multitasking minds to rip at her targets Aegis.
His shield sparked and crackled in protest at the attack, fighting against Amanda’s far more powerful Magic. Her leap brought her right to him and she landed with a wound-up punch that she unleashed a moment before she landed. The Magical energy in that punch was too much for his shield and it cracked wide open in a shower of Magical sparks, leaving the man inside vulnerable suddenly.
Amanda span, kicking out and catching him clean across the face. He dropped to the floor, out cold from the kick.
Amanda turned to the two men, Trench Coat and Superior, who were picking themselves up with looks of hate and rage on their faces.
Amanda smirked and with an almost subconscious working of Magic, Ported across the room, appearing right next to Superior where she forced all of her Magical might from all of her Multi-tasking minds into one solid uppercut.
‘Shoryuken,’ she shouted as she hit him, lamenting that none of her friends were here to appreciate the joke.
Her hit destroyed the Nomads Aegis in one hit and knocked the man to the floor where he went limp.
Trench Coat backed off from her on seeing this and frowned. ‘But do you have zee guts to finish what you have started frauline?’ he said with a sneer. ‘You Arcadians wiz your ethics and codes of honour, you’re weak, and it is zee reason we will win in zee end.’
Amanda had heard enough of this idiot’s rhetoric, and Ported the short distance to him and kicked him in the chest, his Aegis flaring as he flew back into the wall behind him.
Amanda Ported again, appearing before him and picked him up where he had half slumped from the strength of the attack.
Lifting him by the neck, her inhuman strength making short work of the feat, she slammed his head into the wall while his Aegis sparked around him, disliking the presence of another Aegis so close.
‘Shut yeh feckin’ mouth shitehawk,’ she said. ‘I’ve killed your kind before, and I’ll do it again, have no doubt about that.’
‘Zen do it fraulein, kill me and have done wiz it,’ he spat.
‘Amanda frowned and tightened her grip, only to sense another burst of Magic and a presence, a signature within the Essentia that she recognised.
Looking left, Yasmin stood there leaning against the wall, watching them, her face blank and unreadable.
‘Are you sure you want to do that Amanda?’ she said.
Amanda glanced between Yasmin and the man she held by the neck, before rolling her eyes and with a sigh, letting the man go. He dropped slightly, his legs weak, before finding his balance and standing up again.
As Amanda backed off, Yasmin, in her figure hugging curious black outfit, stepped away from the wall. She paid Amanda no mind though and looked at the man.
‘Had enough fun for one day Demitriov?’ she said.
‘Fuck off,’ he said from where he leant against the wall.
Yasmin seemed to stiffen for a moment as if readying herself for a fight or to attack him, before she visibly calmed and unclenched her fists.
‘Leave this place Demitriov, take your Coven with you, and don’t try this again, understand?’
Demitriov frowned at her for a moment, before with a quick workin
g of Magic, he Ported out of there with all members of his Coven.
Amanda stared at Yasmin’s back and her rather enticing behind, feeling a need to touch it. The thought of squeezing her bum cheek created a feeling of arousal in her pelvis, a burning warmth that felt lovely. Yasmin had once again been there for her, this time stopping her from killing someone in the heat of the moment.
She’d killed before of course, but it wasn’t something she enjoyed doing or really wanted to do, and Yasmin had just saved her from needing to do it again.
‘You know him?’ Amanda asked.
‘Demitriov?’ Yasmin asked, turning to face Amanda and walking towards her. Was she swinging her hips a little more? Amanda wasn’t sure. ‘We have a bit of a history yes, but we parted ways a while back.’
‘He seemed to think that he knew me, from over fifty years ago. Which was a bit odd,’ Amanda said.
‘How strange. A case of mistaken identity maybe?’
‘He knew my name,’ Amanda interjected.
‘Who doesn’t,’ Yasmin shrugged, coming a little closer.
She had a point. The rumours about her and, obviously, recent events had put a bit of a spotlight on her these past few weeks after all. She sighed. Her recent newly found fame in the Magi community would always bring the freaks out of the woodwork who wanted to challenge her. She looked over at the mess that the fight had created. It wasn’t as bad as what Nymira had done, but she would still need to clean it up and fix up the place.
‘Hey, you handled yourself well there,’ Yasmin said.
Amanda looked back at Yasmin, who stood quite close to her now. The dark haired seductress smiled at her, an expression that spoke of passionate nights and naughty promises, and Amanda couldn’t help but smile back at her.
She thought about what it would be like to take this clearly dangerous woman to bed, and she got the feeling that Yasmin would be something of a devil between the sheets. The idea of that forbidden fruit only made the arousal she felt burn even stronger.
Yasmin moved a few steps closer, her movements fluid and feline, like a cat hunting her prey.
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