by R. L. King
“Get Noah!” she screamed back. The little boy had leaped from his seat and now had his arms locked around his mother as she struggled to steer the wallowing craft.
“Verity!” Stone pointed at Noah and put on a burst of speed to counter the growing wind. It was stronger out here—a lot stronger. Whether that was magic or worsening weather conditions he had no idea, but right now it didn’t matter.
“On it!”
Noah, who clearly had no idea what was going on, tightened his grip on his mother as something took hold of his body. “No!” he yelled. “Mama! The monster’s got me!”
“It’s not a monster, baby! Let it get you! We’re getting you out of here!” Dez wasn’t panicking yet, but her aura and her wild-eyed expression suggested it wouldn’t be long before she did if somebody didn’t get her son to safety. In what was clearly a wrenching decision, she got her arms between herself and Noah and forcibly shoved him away from her as he continued to wail in terror. As soon as he was free, his body lifted into the air.
“Got him!” Verity yelled.
Stone doubted Noah had any idea what was going on—the kid was in a full-blown panic—but he didn’t have time to help. The boat was taking on water faster now as the rocks tore more holes in its hull. He let the wind blow him back until he was hovering over the boat. “Dez! Have you got the gear?”
She’d stopped gathering gear as she watched her son lifted up and over the thrashing waves, but as soon as Verity had him over land, she quickly scrambled around the cabin, snatching up a baseball bat, the remaining backpack, a red fire extinguisher, and a few other items Stone couldn’t see. “Okay!” she yelled. “Ready!”
Stone reached out with magical energy, taking tight hold of her and lifting her free of the deck. As soon as her hands left the wheel the boat jerked sideways again, listing even farther over to the port side. Water poured into the rear compartment, the wind tossing the small craft back and forth like a toy in the waves. This had to be magic—Stone doubted the wind and waves would be as strong as this on a small lake normally, even in a storm this bad.
Once again grateful for his additional Calanarian power, he pulled in more energy and tightened his grip on Dez, who at least wasn’t struggling like Noah had. The rain beat down on them, the wind blowing their lighter forms around with even more strength than it had the boat. He felt like a storm-tossed balloon as he fought to pull both himself and Dez in toward the shore. Verity, standing on the rocky beach with her hand locked to Noah’s, added her own power, grabbing hold of Stone and pulling him gently down.
As soon as his feet hit the ground, Stone redirected the spell energy from himself to Dez, and the extra strength quickly pulled her in to join them. Panting and shivering, all four of them stood huddled on the beach and watched as the wind continued to toss the Heart’s Desire between the rocks like a child who’d tired of his toys and had switched to sowing destruction.
“Mama?” Noah spoke hesitantly, leaning in closer to Dez. “Our boat…”
“I know, baby. I know. But boats can be replaced. You can’t.” She pulled him into a tight hug, resting her chin on his head.
Stone let his breath out. He didn’t want to say his next words, but he didn’t have a choice. “We’ve got to go.”
Dez’s gaze came up from Noah. She looked devastated, and Stone sympathized with her: all the choices she had now were bad, and anything she decided could put her son in deadly danger.
“Couldn’t they stay on the beach?” Verity asked, obviously picking up on Dez’s concerns. “They could wait for us, and—”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Again, he didn’t want to say it, especially not in Noah’s earshot, but again he had no choice. “It’s not safe here. If—they’re here, they might know we’ve arrived. We’ll all be safer if we stay together.”
Verity gave a reluctant nod. “Yeah. You’re right. He is,” she told Dez. “We can’t protect you if we don’t know where you are.”
“M-maybe they’re not here after all.” Dez’s voice shook, but from her determined expression Stone suspected it was more from the cold than from fear.
“They’re here,” Stone said. “Some of them are, anyway. Come on—let’s get under cover of those trees, at least—cutting the wind and rain should make the cold slightly less dreadful.”
“Mom, I’m scared.” There was no sign of the cheerful, chattering boy who’d regaled Verity with hockey stories only a couple of days ago. Now Noah looked miserable, with his sodden blond hair sticking to his forehead under his knit cap, and his face quivering as he fought against tears.
“Hey,” Verity said with a forced grin, crouching down to his eye level as he continued to clutch his mother in a death grip. “Come on, kiddo. We’re going on an adventure. Wouldn’t you like to go on an adventure with us? With me? You can tell all your friends about it when we get back, and they’ll be so jealous.”
Noah, considered, then ducked his gaze as he shook his head. “I just want to go home,” he mumbled.
“Yeah, I know you do. That’s because you’re smart. I want to go home too. But sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do. Remember how the other night during the hockey game, that guy got hit in the face with a puck?”
Noah nodded. “Yeah. Right in the mouth. He was all bloody.”
“But he kept on playing, didn’t he? Because his team needed him.”
“Yeah.” He snorted. “Can’t quit ’cause of somethin’ like that.”
“That’s right. He couldn’t. And you’re part of our team. Isn’t that right, Doc?”
Stone, who’d been trying to spot the green column through the trees with magical sight, started at the mention of his name. “Er—what?”
“Noah’s part of our team, and we need him to be brave. Right?”
“Er—right. Exactly.” Stone glanced at Noah’s aura, and noticed its bright blue was significantly calmer than it had been on the beach. He admired Verity’s skill at dealing with him, but hated to lie to the kid. This wasn’t going to be some kind of fun adventure, and it wasn’t going to be safe. He wished they could leave him and his mother here, but that was no safer. “Right. We’re a team, and this team needs to get moving. There’s no time to waste.”
Dez shot Verity a grateful look and hugged Noah tighter. “Come on, tiger. Verity’s right. It’s overtime, the score’s tied, and we need to get out there and make that winning goal. Can you help us do that?”
He gripped his baseball bat, obviously not troubled by mixed sports metaphors, and pulled back. His damp, tear-streaked face was serious now, even though he was obviously still scared. “Y-yeah. I can do that.”
“Good. Let’s go, then.” The glance Dez directed at Stone over the boy’s head wasn’t grateful. It was the look of a mother bear warning a nearby predator, and the message was clear: You’d better protect my son with your life or, magic or not, there won’t be anywhere you can hide.
26
The island wasn’t large—perhaps three miles long by two wide—but Stone and the others made slow progress as they pushed their way through the overgrown forest. Part of this was because the terrain was uneven and studded with roots, fallen logs and branches covered by a thick carpet of needles and leaves, part because the cold dampness crept deep into their bones even through their heavy coats, and part was because Noah, despite his sudden burst of bravery following Verity’s and Dez’s pep talks, was still a small, terrified ten-year old boy and he didn’t move very fast. Once they got under cover of the trees it grew more difficult to see what was up ahead: the majority of them were pines and other evergreens, and while their limbs did help keep the rain off, they also obscured the path ahead. Stone was sure that if the camp Dez had mentioned had been abandoned for fifteen years, nobody had taken the time to tend to the forest.
He took point, maintaining a steady speed and scanning the way ahead for any signs of threats, but he had to keep slowing down as Dez called that
he was moving too fast. She had a tight grip on Noah’s hand and dragged him along as fast as she dared, but between his short legs, terror, and exhaustion, he kept stumbling over hidden impediments.
“All right,” Stone said at last, after the third such slowdown. “We’ll stop here for a moment. I need to make sure we’re still heading in the right direction anyway.”
“How you gonna do that?” Noah protested. “I think we’re lost.”
“Shh, Noah. Come on with me over here for a minute.” Dez, obviously sensing Stone’s intent, turned her son around and blocked his view with her body.
Stone levitated above the trees, then shifted to magical sight to locate the green shaft again. It was a good thing he had, too: they’d somehow gotten off course, probably by following the path of least resistance up through the trees, and were now heading to the northwest instead of due north. It was definitely brighter now, and he could sense a growing swell of magical energy concentrating in that direction. He listened a moment, craning his ears for the sounds of chanting or screams, but heard nothing over the incessant wind and rain. When he dropped back down, Dez had led Noah off a short distance and was crouched in front of him, speaking to him as he faced away from Stone’s landing.
“Let’s go,” he called. “Slight course adjustment.”
Noah didn’t want to go, but Dez took his hand and got him moving again.
“This is insane,” Stone whispered to Verity as they once again took point, trying to pick a path through the trees where none was in sight. “It’s bad enough taking Dez, but we’re leading a ten-year-old boy into what might be a bloodbath.”
She didn’t look any happier about it than he did. “I know. But what else can we do? We can’t leave them behind. If anything dangerous is wandering around out here—”
She stopped abruptly, holding up a hand.
“What is it?”
“Shh! I think I heard something.”
Dez drew up to them, still gripping Noah’s hand. “Why are we—”
“Shh!” Verity hissed, louder and more insistent this time. When everyone stopped moving and fell silent, she closed her eyes and listened, then pointed off to the right. “That way!”
“What did you hear?” Stone demanded. “Verity, we can’t—”
But she was already moving, pushing past a clump of pines with interlocking branches. They sprang back in her wake and smacked Stone, who’d hurried to follow her, in the face. He used a focused barrier spell to shove them aside.
“Verity, wait! We don’t have time for side trips! We—”
She stopped, so abruptly that he nearly ran into her from behind. “Doc, look!”
Stone pushed past her and stopped, shocked.
Two figures, clad in heavy dark coats under long, hooded rain slickers, were next to a thick tree trunk, taking shelter beneath the pine boughs. One crouched over the other one, who lay prone and appeared to be unconscious.
The crouched figure jerked his head up as Verity and Stone pushed through the trees. He raised his hand, magical energy flowering around it, but then quickly lowered it and the energy faded. “Help us!” he implored. “Please whoever you are—you’ve got to help us! He’s dying, and I’m afraid they’ll come back!”
“Bloody hell,” Stone murmured to Verity. “It’s Kroyer and Lang!”
He wasn’t sure she’d heard him, though, because she’d already dashed forward and dropped next to the fallen man. “What happened to him?” she demanded.
Behind Stone, Dez and Noah crashed through and pressed past him. “What’s going on? What did you find?”
Her gaze fell on the two men and hardened. “You!” she snapped. “You’re the ones who broke into my house!”
Stone wished she hadn’t said that—there might have been some value in maintaining their anonymity—but it was too late now.
Kroyer, the crouching one, looked more closely at them and his eyes widened. “Stone?”
“What happened to him?” Verity demanded again. She was down on her knees next to the fallen Lang, whose ashen face was streaked with blood.
“What are you doing here?” Stone snapped. “I knew you were snooping around looking for information, but if you’ve got a part in what’s happening here—” He found it hard to care too much about what might have befallen Lang—if they were out here and got themselves hurt, it was their own damned fault.
“That’s just it.” Kroyer visibly fought to get himself under control, but his aura remained chaotic. “We were looking for information. That’s why we’re here. But you’ve got to stop them, Stone. You’ve got to stop them before they finish—before they come looking—”
He bowed his head over Lang and only then seemed to notice Verity. “Are you a healer? Can you help him?”
Verity had Lang’s shredded jacket and slicker pulled aside, revealing a gaping, ragged wound running from his chest down to his abdomen, which was a ruin of blood and glistening flesh. Even Stone, whose healing abilities could charitably be called lacking, recognized “too far gone to help.” He backed up, gesturing Dez and Noah back too.
“I’m sorry,” Verity said softly. “There’s nothing I can do. I can’t heal that kind of damage.”
Kroyer apparently already knew that. “Damn,” he whispered. “They were so fast—I barely got out of there. We’re not fighters. We’re scholars.”
“And arsonists too, apparently,” Stone growled. “Or are you planning to claim you didn’t torch our room at the Schooner?”
“Like you’re going to claim you didn’t break in to our room?”
“You took my laptop!” Dez protested. She’d pressed Noah behind her and was holding him close so he couldn’t see Lang’s wounds. “You broke into my house!”
“We did, yes.” Kroyer’s voice shook, and he shot her a contemptuous look. “You didn’t know what you had. You couldn’t know. We needed to hear that chant.”
“And you thought nothing of violating this woman’s home to get it, because she’s nothing but a mundane, right?” Stone loomed over the two of them, his anger growing. “I know who you lot are. How many more of you are here? Are there more on this island?”
“No!” Kroyer shook his head back and forth quickly, holding up his hand. “Stone, listen to me—I know who you are, too. We’ve known you were in town since you got here. Yes, we wanted to take advantage of your research. But there’s no time for petty bickering now. Do you know what’s happening?” He gestured toward the middle of the island. “Do you know what they’re doing over there?”
“Probably better than you do.” Stone kept his attention focused mostly on Kroyer, with occasional glances around to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them. “Who did this to him? One of the students?”
“No, of course not, you fool!” Kroyer leaped to his feet. “Don’t you see? They’ve completed the initial ritual, and if you don’t stop those creatures, it will be too late for any of us!”
27
Stone crouched next to Kroyer. “You know this? You saw?”
“Yes!”
“How did you get here? Is there a boat?”
“We heard about the students breaking out of Maple Ridge—we’ve got an informant on the police force there. We knew where they were going, so we thought we could beat them there.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Not long—less than half an hour. There’s a dock on the other side of the island. We took a boat out. Theirs was there already, so we headed up to the abandoned campsite.” He looked down at Lang, gathering himself. “We got up there just as those students were finishing their ritual. They were in the center area, all in a circle, holding hands. We could see power building around them.”
“And you didn’t try to stop them?” Stone snapped. “You stood there and watched?”
“What did you want us to do, Stone?” Kroyer glared at him. “I told you—we’re scholars. We don’t go running around getting into fights like you do.” His tone was c
ontemptuous. “There were seven of them, and they had some kind of—magical aura around them. We felt the power even from where we were concealed.”
“But if you knew what they were doing, you had to know you couldn’t let it happen!” Stone shifted to magical sight. Kroyer’s yellow aura was alight with anger, fear, and grief. Lang’s green barely flickered brighter than the trees around him, and it dimmed noticeably as Stone continued to watch. “You had to know—”
Verity touched his arm. “Doc?” she said gently. She was still crouched next to Lang.
“What?”
“This isn’t helping. We have to go.”
She was right, of course. Regardless his anger at the Ordo mages, this wasn’t the time to hash out old grievances. “Come on,” he told Kroyer. “You’re coming with us.”
Kroyer looked at him like he’d gone mad. “Going with you? Don’t be absurd. I’ve got to get Lang back to—”
“Lang’s dead, Kroyer. I’m sorry, but it’s true. And if we don’t stop whatever got to him, we’re all going to be dead.”
“Mom? What’s he mean? Is the monster gonna get us?”
The scared voice came from behind him, and he mentally kicked himself for forgetting Noah’s presence.
“No, honey. There’s no monster.” Dez grabbed Stone’s shoulder and jerked him back, flashing him another mother-bear glare. “Right, Dr. Stone?”
All at once, the stress and tension overwhelmed Stone, submerging the last vestiges of his flagging tact. He leaped to his feet and directed his own glare, every bit as intense, at the assembled group.
“I can’t do this anymore,” he snapped. “I’m sorry—I can’t. This is too important, and the stakes are too high if we fail. I’m sorry, Dez—this isn’t a game, and it’s not an adventure. I’m sorry Noah stowed away in the boat, but that doesn’t change the facts. We’ve got to move, and we’ve got to do it now. If we hurry, we’ve got a chance to deal with it before it gets out of hand. I wish we could leave you two behind somewhere you’d be safe, but there isn’t anywhere. Look at what happened to Lang.”
