(Blue Fire 05) Heartless [A]

by Scott Prussing

  When she spotted the diner where she had parked the day the vampires had saved her and Dominic from the black waziri—was that really only two weeks ago?—she knew she was getting close. Involuntarily, her eyes flicked to the opposite side of the road, where the struggle had taken place. From here, everything looked just as it should. Anyone passing by on the road would see no sign of vampires, black wizards or magic. She wondered how close the xenorian woman would have to come to the scene to detect any traces of magic. Hoping she would never learn the answer to that question, Leesa returned her eyes to the highway.

  Up ahead, she spotted Dominic sitting on the ground a few yards from the road, his back leaning against a tree. He certainly did not seem anxious or worried about anything. Leesa hoped that was a good sign.

  Surprisingly, she saw no sign of Rave—she had been certain he would beat her here. Easing her foot off the gas, she glided to a stop on the shoulder of the road right in front of Dominic. The wizard rose to his feet as she got out of the car.

  “Greetings,” he said. “Since I did not hear back from you, I assume Jenna is on her way?”

  Leesa nodded. “She said she’d be here at four o’clock sharp. I thought Rave would be here already.”

  “And so I am,” Rave said, smiling as he emerged from the trees a short distance behind Dominic. Dral and Bain followed behind him.

  Even though she had left him only three hours before, her heart still skipped a beat as Rave stepped out of the shadows into the light. The sunlight glinted from his dark copper hair, and his bronze skin seemed almost to glow from within. God, he was handsome, Leesa thought for what she guessed was at least the thousandth time since she had met him.

  “We’ve been here for a little while,” he said, “but Dominic did not think it wise for us to be hanging around in the open while we waited.” He gently grabbed Leesa’s elbows and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

  Leesa smiled. “Yeah, the three of you gorgeous guys hanging out alongside the road would be what we humans call ‘a traffic stopper.’”

  No sooner had she spoken than a convertible filled with four young women drove by, their long hair flying in the breeze. The girls whistled and hooted and waved as they passed. Leesa hoped they were not going to pull a U-turn and come back. Fortunately, they continued on their way.

  She linked her arm inside Rave’s and led him a few steps back toward the woods.

  “Let’s get you guys a little farther from the highway,” she said, “before you cause an accident.”

  They were halfway to the trees when Dominic called to her from the side of the road.

  “Leesa…your limp—it seems to have improved.”

  Leesa stopped and turned around. “I know. Rave mentioned it yesterday. I’m so used to it, I hadn’t even noticed. We figured it must be from my magic. Is it?”

  Dominic pondered Leesa’s question for a moment.

  “It might be. Waziri heal faster than ordinary people.” He moved closer and looked down at Leesa’s leg. “I would not have expected such a dramatic change, though, since your leg has been like that for your entire life.” He stroked his pointed beard with his fingers. “Perhaps it has something to do with your magic strengthening so abruptly when the weakening spell ended.”

  “I thought it might be something like that. It’s no big deal, really, but I wouldn’t mind losing my limp entirely one day.”

  Dominic smiled. “Perhaps someday you will. Go on now, get a bit farther from the road.”

  Leesa and the three volkaanes continued on in the direction they had been heading. They did not actually return to the trees, stopping instead in the shadows at the edge of the woods. Without the sun glinting on their skin and hair, the volkaanes were not quite so attention grabbing—at least not from a distance. From close-up, though, Leesa thought she had never seen three more beautiful men. She still found it hard to believe sometimes that the most gorgeous one of them all was actually in love with her.

  A rustling in the branches above them drew her attention. With their superior hearing, the three volkaanes were already gazing upward.

  A large brown and white owl alighted on a branch about two-thirds of the way up the tree. The owl’s big round eyes and pointed ears moved back and forth, quickly surveying the area. Satisfied that all was at it should be, the owl fluttered down to the ground just inside the tree line, about ten feet from where Leesa and the volkaanes stood.

  Rave stepped protectively in front of Leesa, just in case.

  Leesa watched as the familiar silver flash enveloped the owl, moving quickly down from its head to its talons. When the glow disappeared, Jenna was standing there, a hesitant smile on her face. Her long, straight silver hair looked dark gray in the shadows.

  “Hello, Leesa.”

  Leesa moved out from behind Rave.

  “Hi, Jenna.” Leesa turned to Rave. “Rave, this is Jenna, the witch I told you about. Jenna, this is Rave, of course. And Dral and Bain.”

  “Nice to meet all of you,” Jenna said. “Leesa talks about you quite a bit, Rave.”

  Rave smiled. “I’m glad to hear that—I think.”

  “Don’t worry, it’s all very good,” Jenna assured him. She turned back to Leesa. “Are you and I good?”

  In answer, Leesa walked forward and embraced Jenna. “Yeah, we’re good.”

  Jenna smiled as she returned Leesa’s hug. “I’m glad.”

  Dominic joined the gathering. Leesa and Jenna let go of each other and Leesa returned to Rave’s side, taking his hand in hers.

  “Jenna, do you possess a forgetting spell?” Dominic asked. “I know some witches do.”

  Jenna nodded. “Yes, I do. A very good one, too. Am I to assume wizards do not?”

  “Alas, no, we waziri do not,” Dominic replied. “I cannot speak for all other wizards, but I have never met one who did.”

  “Well then, mine is at your service. From our location, I’m guessing this has something to do with the four evil wizards buried not too far from here?”

  “You’re right, it does.” Dominic turned to Leesa. “Shall I drive Jenna to the site? I’m thinking you probably want a ride from Rave?”

  Leesa smiled and looked up at Rave. “If you wouldn’t mind, please?”

  Rave grinned. “My pleasure.”

  He held out his arms and Leesa hopped up into them. She turned her head toward Dominic.

  “I wish you’d asked us to meet a couple of miles from here,” she said. “This ride is going to be way too short.”

  She flipped the car keys to Dominic, who snatched them out of the air with one hand.

  “See you there,” Dominic said. “Do not get too close until I arrive. I don’t expect any danger there, at least not yet, but it never hurts to be careful.”

  He and Jenna headed toward the car while Rave and his companions moved far enough into the trees to be hidden from the road before racing east.

  20. OPENING THE GRAVE

  As Leesa predicted, her ride in Rave’s arms was all too brief, seemingly over almost before it had even begun. She told Rave to put her down at least fifty feet from the hidden gravesite—far enough, she hoped, to be safe from any lingering danger from the black magic. Dominic had done a good job concealing the spot beneath which the black waziri were buried. She could not tell exactly where the remains of the evil wizards rested, but the condition of some of the trees gave her a pretty good idea of the general location. As spring warmed the land, green buds and new leaves were beginning to sprout from the branches of most of the trees, but there was a small group whose branches remained as barren looking as in the dead of winter—the result, she was certain, of the black magic seeping through the soil into their roots. She wondered if any of those trees would ever bloom again, or if the evil magic had killed them. Using the bare trees as her marker, she made sure she and her companions stayed far enough away from the burial site.

  She thought perhaps she was being overly cautious, but it was better to be saf
e than sorry. The volkaanes were on full alert for any danger, but she wasn’t certain they could detect all magical threats. She remembered that Rave had sensed Dominic’s magical nature when the wizard first arrived at her door, but that did not mean volkaanes could sense black waziri danger. Besides, she had no desire to get any closer to the dead wizards than necessary. She was perfectly happy to let Dominic deal with them—though she did wonder why she was here and what role he expected her to play.

  Dominic and Jenna arrived just a few minutes later and joined Leesa and the volkaanes where they waited. Dominic wasted no time explaining what was going on.

  “I came by here yesterday,” he said, “as soon as I realized the magic weakening spell had ended. I was pretty sure the magic would have blocked the Necromancer from learning what had happened to his lieutenants, but with the spell gone, I knew he would soon sense their demise.” He looked over his shoulder, glancing toward the invisible grave. “I did not have long to wait. Within hours, I began to sense his energy gathering, very slowly, as he sought to determine what had befallen his henchmen. We are fortunate he is so many thousands of miles away and that our foes had no chance to communicate with him before the vampires destroyed them. However, he will eventually discover the truth despite the distance and will then attempt to reanimate the dead wizards, or at least collect their energy. Before he can do so, I’m going to stop him.” His expression turned grim. “At least, I hope I am.”

  Leesa did not like the sound of that last part. “What do you want us to do?” she asked.

  “For now, just wait here. I need to check the grave for a moment, and then I will be back to explain my plan.”

  Guided by the foul taste of the black magic, Dominic crossed unerringly to the place where the four evil wizards were buried. Standing with his back to everyone else, he remained motionless for two or three minutes. Leesa was willing to bet that if she could see his face, his eyes would be closed.

  Finally, he spun around and returned to his companions.

  “It’s good that we’ve come now,” he said. “Things are progressing more quickly than I expected. The Necromancer’s energy has increased dramatically since I left here to meet all of you. I need to act soon. Listen to me closely.”

  His comrades gathered more tightly around him.

  “In order to completely destroy the essences of the black waziri, I must first uncover their grave and then activate their magical energy. Doing so will be the riskiest part of the whole thing, because the Necromancer will sense the activation and will attempt to draw the energy to him.”

  “You asked me about my spell of forgetting,” Jenna said. “I’m not sure I see how that’s going to be useful in stopping the Necromancer.”

  “Patience, Jenna. You will understand in a moment. When I start this, I’m not certain I will have time to destroy the essences of all four wizards. There is a good chance the Necromancer will succeed in snatching one or even two of them away from me. If he does, I cannot risk them telling him everything that happened here two weeks ago. In particular, I want to make sure they do not tell him anything about Leesa. Her existence must remain a secret—keeping her unknown to him as long as possible is of the utmost importance.”

  A look of understanding bloomed on Jenna’s face. She nodded to the wizard.

  “I think I see where you’re going now.”

  “Good. Now, the question I have for you is this: can you focus your spell enough to wipe out any memory of Leesa and of me from anyone who gets away, yet let them recall being killed by vampires? The vampires could provide a nice piece of misdirection. The Necromancer will sense my part in destroying the energy—that cannot be helped—but if you succeed, he may think I happened along after the wizards were already dead.”

  Jenna thought for a moment. “I can try. If we were dealing with actual physical presences here, I could do it for sure. But you’re talking about targeting the spell at their energy essence, which is a much different thing. I’ve never tried anything like that, so I cannot promise you exactly how it will work.”

  Dominic nodded. He sucked in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

  “I understand. Do your best—that will have to be enough.”

  “I’m missing something here, I think,” Rave said. “If you want to keep Leesa’s existence a secret, why is she here at all? I can have her far away in no time.”

  “Jenna can explain it better than me.” Dominic turned to the witch. “From my limited knowledge of a focused forgetting spell, I understand that when you wish to wipe away the memory of a specific thing or person, it helps to have as detailed an image as possible to work with, right?”

  Jenna nodded and turned her eyes to Leesa. “That’s right. Having Leesa here and being able to look at her while I cast the spell will make it easier for me to wash any memory of her from the black wizards’ minds.”

  Leesa’s face showed her confusion. The idea of being present so someone could forget about her seemed almost contradictory, but then again, a lot of stuff about magic seemed that way to her.

  “It sounds kind of backwards,” she said, “but I guess I can see what you mean. I need to have really clear images in my head to make any of my spells work. I suppose this isn’t all that much different.”

  “No, it’s not,” Jenna replied.

  “One more very important thing,” Dominic said. “In a few minutes, a large amount of magic is going to pour through this place. In addition to mine and Jenna’s, the Necromancer will be projecting his power here and there will also be the magical essence of the four black waziri. There is a very good chance the xenorians will detect so much magic, even from a distance. I’m hoping the mixture of all these different sources will prove difficult for them to decipher, but to be safe, we must leave here as soon as I’m done. I do not want anyone heading directly back toward Middletown. Leesa, I will take your car and drive west with Jenna. Rave can carry you away to the north and then circle around to the volkaane village. I think it would be best if you remained there with him for a couple of days, just to be safe. Jenna can transform herself and fly home after I’ve driven her five or ten miles from here.”

  “Okay,” Leesa said. “Tomorrow’s Sunday, and I suppose I can miss a day or two of classes after that.” She looked at Rave and smiled. “That is, if Rave doesn’t mind having me hang around.”

  Rave grinned and took Leesa’s hand. “I think I can probably put up with you for a couple of days, at least.”

  “Okay, that’s settled, then,” Dominic said. “Let’s get started. The sooner we get this done, the better.”

  He strode toward the burial spot, stopping two paces away from a grave that was invisible to everyone but him. To the rest of them, the soil in front of him looked identical to the surrounding ground, but to the wizard there might as well have been a neon sign pointing to the grave, so foul were the magical vibrations he sensed beneath the dirt. Leesa, Rave and Jenna followed him, making sure to remain a few steps behind. Dral and Bain veered off to the left and right, respectively, moving farther into the trees to act as sentries against any unexpected guests.

  “Jenna, move around to the other side, please,” Dominic instructed, “so no one is between you and the grave. We do not want your spell accidently affecting any of us.”

  The wizard waited while Jenna made her way to the other side, giving the burial area a wide berth. When she stopped, Dominic motioned her forward.

  “You can come a few steps closer,” he told her. “It’s safe.”

  Obviously a bit apprehensive about what lay beneath the dirt, Jenna took two careful steps toward Dominic and then stopped.

  “Perfect,” the wizard said, then turned to Leesa and Rave. “You two move back a few feet—I do not want Leesa too close to this. Position yourselves a bit to the side as well, so Jenna has a clear view of Leesa.”

  Leesa and Rave did as they were asked. Leesa let go of Rave’s hand, linking her arm around his elbow instead.

 
Dominic took a moment to survey everyone’s position. Everything looked good. There was nothing to do now but proceed.

  “Okay, I’m about to begin.” He looked at Rave one more time. “If anything goes wrong, get Leesa away from here as fast as you can. Do not worry about me.”

  Rave nodded, but one look at Leesa’s expression told him she would not go easily. Abandoning Dominic was just not in her nature. Rave didn’t relish the thought of forcibly removing her and hoped it would not come to that. If it did, he would do what he had to, and suffer the consequences later.

  “First,” Dominic explained so that everyone would understand what was about to happen, “I have to uncover the grave. The deeper I go, the more careful I need to be. Try not to be startled by anything that occurs.”

  With barely a nod of his head, Dominic caused a huge chunk of dirt to rise up into the air and float off to the side. Leesa was pretty sure he was using telekinesis to dig, but it was possible he was employing a spell or a power unfamiliar to her. She would have loved to help him unearth the grave, but this was definitely not the place for a beginner to practice magic.

  As Dominic continued removing the dirt layer by layer, the chunks of soil he deposited onto the pile beside the hole became smaller and smaller. Leesa began to hear a faint buzzing emanating from the ground, almost as if a hive of angry bees had been disturbed. The buzzing grew steadily louder as Dominic dug deeper.

  “This is it,” the wizard said finally. “One more layer will break the seal. Be prepared for what is about to take place.”

  Jenna gathered her spell around her and nodded to Dominic that she was ready. Rave surprised Leesa by lifting her into his arms—if he needed to rush her away from here, he was not going to waste even a few precious seconds picking her up. She was about to voice a protest when Dominic raised the last chunk of dirt.