by Domino Finn
That gave me an idea. Shadow spellcraft works in the absence of light. Fire is usually the antithesis of my power. But I'd recently learned I could spend an inordinate amount of energy channeling Opiyel's power. I recently learned that I could counter fire, cut it off, if only for painstaking moments.
But this super-powered shadow magic in the Aether was a different story. And the shade of the patio roof was all I needed. As soon as the fire elemental stepped up to me I surrounded it with shadow. Forced it in with both hands. It struggled and spun in a panic, caught in a death grip. I clenched my teeth and channeled the shadow through my spirit form, packing it tight. Negating the fire like a black hole.
The fire elemental winked out in a silent implosion. I made it look even easier than Tyson had. As he stomped past me into the house, I cracked my knuckles and matched his smile. "I could get used to this," I said.
I admired our handiwork outside. Then I raised my shield, anticipating an attack. Shadow gloved my fist in case anyone got it in their head to wrestle. Basically, I was ready for a blitzkrieg.
What I didn't expect was an empty house.
It seemed the gate guard, the force field, and the roving fire elementals were the sum of Connor's security. Not too shabby, when it came down to it, but I was almost disappointed. By the time I inched inside, the welcoming living room was destroyed. Low chair frames flattened. Countless pillows ripped and feathers drifting through the air like in a John Woo movie.
I followed the sound of crunching and crashing, wary. They weren't the sounds of battle. Combat was frantic and hyper, with grunts of pain and cries of surprise. This sounded more like one of those YouTube videos where someone smashes an X-Box with a sledgehammer. Heaves of steady, patient effort. I followed the trail of destruction until I reached the kitchen. Fine china was scattered across the floor in shards.
"What the hell are you doing?" I asked. "Your big plan is to trash his place like an angry teenager?"
The creature of rock and magma didn't answer. He lifted the icebox above his head and slammed it into a cute little breakfast nook.
"I have a good one. We should wait until Connor falls asleep. Then steal his car keys and drive to the store and buy cigarettes."
Tyson ignored me. After he was bored with the kitchen, he cleared out and hit the steps upstairs. I checked outside. The quiet street was finally stirring. I guess you couldn't really have free run of the neighborhood without some consequences. I ran upstairs and found Tyson in the bedroom. Everything was ripped apart.
"Okay, you made your point. Now let's get out of here. Connor's not here."
The elemental smashed fancy-looking glass orbs on the shelf. "Of course Connor's not here. He's in the Earthly Steppe. We're trying to get his attention."
A shrill alarm rang out in the distance. The same sound the officiate in the underground had made.
"I get it," I said, "but I think we've just found the wrong kind of attention."
Tyson lowered his shoulder and charged right through the wall into a neighboring bedroom. "Good. That will hasten the process."
I scowled and ran to the hall window. I could see them already and they weren't playing around. A score of sandmen. Officiates wearing bronze with their swords drawn. Their legs didn't march down the street so much as shift, one ahead of the other as a solid mass.
I stomped toward Tyson. "There're too many of them out there. If you wanted Connor's attention, you got it. There's no point sticking around any longer."
"I can always do more damage," he countered.
I couldn't believe him. I mean, I thought I was the reckless one. The one who ran on spit and strength. Who never put two minutes of thought into a single plan. I had a reputation for wanton destruction and carelessness, but even this was too much for me. It was like Billy Idol and Marilyn Manson sharing an expensive hotel room. Way unnecessary.
"This is bullshit," I told him. "And I'm done until you tell me what's going on."
He ignored me until he noticed I was climbing out the second-story window onto the roof. "Getting Connor's attention is the plan," he said.
"Then mission accomplished. I'm outta here."
"Stay."
I crouched at the edge of the roof and slid down the wall to the ground. The officiates announced their entry into the front yard with warning chirps. The overturned metal gate groaned under their weight. At the side of the house, I made a bee line for the stone wall and vaulted over it to the outside. I caught a peek of Tyson jumping off the roof in tow. Good, he wasn't a complete idiot.
I ran along the wall, sticking close to the low shadow. With any luck the officiates would make clearing the villa a priority. We'd simply slip down the street and disappear.
Right before I was clear a single officiate turned the corner of the property. Damn, they were organized enough to lock down the perimeter. The sandman opened his mouth to alert the others.
My fist rammed into the plate on his face. Shadow packed into the punch, shoving the triangle right through his head, cutting off any alarm before it began. The piece of bronze bounced on the street behind him.
Unfortunately, displacing the thing's head didn't seem to have any effect on the rest of its actions. The officiate jabbed at me with a sword. My tattooed forearm caught the curve of the blade and forced it outside.
The parry gave me enough time to pull my hand back and try another punch. This one connected in the center of the chest, on the breastplate. Again the force knocked the metal into the sand of its body. There was too much surface area this time to force it all the way through, though. I pounded again, tapping the darkness.
The breastplate sank through the back of the elemental, but the sand of its torso folded around my arm. The grains compacted around the small bones of my hand and squeezed.
I grunted and parried another swipe of the sword. I channeled the Intrinsics through my fist and coated my arm with a protective layer of shadow. I drew more and more power into my arm. Then I balled it into as tiny a space as I could. The mass of spellcraft grew as unstable as a hunk of uranium.
The officiate's sword arm lengthened and wound around my guard. The sharp blade sliced against my ribs. Warm blood rushed down my side. My shadow bomb wasn't ready but I had no choice. I let the energy go and shied away from the sandman.
The ensuing explosion was a painful mixture of pure energy and grains of abrasive sand. The bronze sword launched two blocks into the air and the armor hit the dirt. I took some of the blast but flattened into the shadow as soon as I was free of the sandy grasp. By the time I rematerialized, Tyson had caught up.
"So much for slipping away," he said wryly.
I moved around the corner of the wall. The other officiates were no longer on the perimeter. They'd probably be in the house by now. But that was only a few seconds' head start.
On the street, a whirlwind picked up dust. All the scattered grains of sand slid toward the center on a breeze.
"Don't tell me..."
Tyson waited with his arms crossed.
"Screw this." I sprinted down the street. Tyson sighed and came after me.
More alarm chirps. The officiates flooded the street now. The one I'd exploded reformed. Maybe half of them stayed on Connor's grounds to search it, so there was that small bit of fortune, but that meant ten were still after us.
We hustled along the curvature of the inner ring. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of space. Large houses on the left and right. Ample yards, sure, but that was all. Not much in the places-to-hide department.
All that changed when we crossed a small walkway to the next island in the chain. This one had heavier buildings of stone. Several stories high at the outset, with stacks behind them leaning closer to the tower. This was a more urban habitat. A marketplace of sorts.
I split down the first alley I saw. Turned at the back of the building. Ran under a second-story bridge and climbed up the sloped ground to the next level.
The chirps stayed on us. I peek
ed over the bridge and saw the officiates coming down the alley. A few of them spun like dervishes until they were whirlwinds. Literal Tasmanian Devil tornados. Those took to the air and ascended to the roof of the building we'd passed.
No time to gawk. We raced further down the street, avoiding dead ends and open areas. We turned down a tunnel that led toward the tower. An indoor bazaar swarming with people. I brushed through them, losing track of Tyson. Behind us, the chirps of the officiates split the crowd.
I rushed to a wall and climbed a rickety metal stairway. The unassuming door at the top was unlocked. Tyson scrambled up after me. I held the door open. As he jumped in, one of the officiates turned our way. I shut the door quickly, unsure if we'd been spotted.
We ran along an outer balcony with a series of closed doors, like apartments. I was more interested in what was below us. I lined up with a pile of dirty laundry and hopped down, bouncing safely from my back to my feet. Tyson landed beside me on his knees, skipping the laundry pile altogether. We darted down the small alley, searching for escape.
It wasn't my eyes that found it. It was my ears. A discordant caterwaul drew my attention to a garbage pile down a dead end. An alley I'd normally avoid. A black cat sat against the back wall. The black cat.
I grabbed Tyson as he ran past me. "This way."
He skidded to a stop and glared at the alley with a half-hearted shrug. "Your funeral."
"This is the way," I urged. "Trust me."
"How do you know?"
"I just do."
He glanced at where we'd come from. The officiate chirps in the distance were still close, but they weren't bearing down on us anymore. A couple lucky turns and we could get away from them. Maybe my lucky black cat was exactly what we needed.
I moved into the alley. The cat, ever aloof, darted into the pile of trash.
"Oh, come on," I complained. I dashed ahead into the shadow, covering several yards like they were one. I solidified against the back wall but the damned cat was gone. I swear, it had to be a ghost.
I paused. Was this like one of those movies where no one else could see the cat but me? Was I Haley Joel Osment, except with cats instead of people? It wasn't exactly a strong premise for a feature film.
"Well," concluded Tyson, standing at the wall, "I guess the only thing left to do is wait for them." He didn't seem too broken up about it. The same as back at the house. It was like he wanted to get caught.
"That's suicide." I bit down and searched through the garbage. "There's something here."
Tyson crossed his arms and watched.
An annoyed meow interrupted my digging. The sound was muted. It had come from behind the wall. Through it.
"You heard that, right?"
Tyson watched the alley entrance without answering.
I tried to shift a wooden palette that leaned against the stone wall, but it didn't budge. When I crawled around it to check underneath, I smiled.
"Come on, big guy," I told the elemental. "Looks like we live to fight another day."
The palette hid an open doorway in the wall. One that was missing an actual door. I slipped through with ease. Tyson had more trouble but we squeezed through before anyone made it into the alley.
I looked around. We stood in a private garden surrounded by high walls. It was an exquisite estate but untended. Ivy ran along the floor and walls and hung from trees as loose vines. We hurried through the lush vegetation. Around the corner of a building.
A few bushes ran parallel like a hedge maze without being purposely convoluted. I spotted the cat past a dry fountain. As we followed it kept ahead. Moving down steps that curled against a rock face, leading down the side of the island rather than up through the buildings. The chirps of the officiates faded into the distance.
"What did I tell you?" I gloated. We were on the edge of the drift, hugging the rock wall on a narrow ledge. The fog swirled below. Our path disappeared into a tunnel cutting inward, through the island. The cat disappeared inside so we did too. It strolled out the other side into the sun and rounded the corner.
As Tyson and I made it into the lower courtyard, all the adrenaline that was starting to melt away came crashing back like a waterfall.
Three jinns surrounded the black cat. Two held spears to it. The third man watched with a sly smile. Connor Hatch.
It was safe to say our cry for attention was a success.
Chapter 26
My boots scraped to a stop in the small courtyard. Large buildings and walls towered over us on all sides, hiding us deep in the recesses of the city. Ants crawling through cracked stone. Despite the sun, our depth ensured there were enough shadows on the walls and ground to work with.
The cat growled at the jinns. He didn't hiss or spit. He flat-out growled. A spear poked his way and his paw batted it lightly to the side. Another came up behind him. The cat sidestepped and flipped around.
"Just when I think you're getting predictable, Cisco," said Connor, "you show up here, of all places. With an old friend. And..." He arched an eyebrow at the cat. "That thing."
One of the jinns stabbed her weapon forward. The cat darted under the thrust and jumped at her face, slashing claws like razors. She yelped and recoiled but caught the cat with a backhand that sent it to the floor. The two jinns hurried to keep it contained between them.
"Home at last, Tyson," said Connor. "That's not entirely surprising, I suppose. But that business at the villa was reckless."
"Preaching to the choir," I said.
"And this," said the jinn, turning to the stray animal. "We don't have cats in the Aether. And we certainly don't have zombies. You've brought some kind of spirit construct with you, haven't you?"
I narrowed my eyes in defiance. I had no fucking idea what I'd brought with me, to be honest.
Connor Hatch's lips tightened. "Well, we can't have that." He lifted a palm and doused the cat with a lance of fire. It attempted to hop away but the flames were too hot and too fast, just like at the hotel room. A strangled cry cut out before I'd moved a step. The flame subsided. Black, oily smoke danced on the floor where the cat had been.
I halted mid step. I expected the cat to bound away but it was gone. Just a swirl of remains. "It can't be," I said, stunned.
Connor chuckled. "Don't tell me you'd adopted the mangy thing."
"You bastard!"
I charged straight at him. A jinn swung his spear in defense. I dove into the shadow and slid past him. I appeared right in front of Connor, teeth clenched, death in my eyes, and one single thought on my mind. Something Tyson had told me.
In the Aether, jinns were all too human.
My fist connected with Connor's face. He couldn't disappear or blink away. He took the punch and stumbled.
Before I could get another swing at him, I felt the presence at my back. I rolled away as a spear point rushed past me. I grabbed the woman's weapon and yanked it around, knocking her to the ground. The other jinn charged me. I spun the blunt end of the spear to knock his weapon away and slammed a fist of shadow into his chest. Unlike the hardy officiates, he flew backward into the wall.
"Enough of this!" screamed Connor. He fired a stream of flame at me. My magical shield kept the fire at bay. The two jinns backing him up recovered and regrouped. Their arms burst into flames as they prepared to attack.
Great. Two more ifrits. These jinns wouldn't be brushed off as easily as the fire elementals. Still, they were younger than Connor. Something told me they were lackeys. Distant cousins at best. They couldn't have been as good as him.
I pulled the shadow into me and tightened my grip on the spear. "You know what the most surprising thing is?" I asked Connor.
He leveled his eyes at me.
"That you came here with only two other jinns."
Amusement played across Connor's face.
"We're gonna rip you apart," I said.
He scoffed. "There's no 'we,' Cisco."
I turned to Tyson. He watched with his head lowered.
"You gonna just stand there?" I asked.
"That's all he can do," laughed Connor. "Elementals can't attack jinns. He can't help you. He's subservient."
"Screw that, Tyson! This is what you've been waiting for. We can take him together."
The elemental raised his head with a grimace. Connor's eyebrows twitched with excitement. Then Tyson retreated back into the tunnel.
"What the?!? Where are you going?"
The jinns chuckled. "Don't wander too far," called out Connor. "We'll be having serious words in just a bit."
I growled, like the cat did. I was fed up. And even though it was now only a wisp of dark smoke coiling on the ground, I wasn't gonna go out like that. Not in the Aether, where my shadow magic was amped up. Not when I had Connor in my clutches.
I stepped into the shadow and drew it to me. I tapped into the Intrinsics and cloaked my arms in darkness just as the two jinns wore fire. The shadow lapped over me in waves. As I approached, I stepped into the oily remains of the black cat. The soot joined with the billowing shadow and crawled along my skin. A rush of energy pulsed over me. I dropped the spear with a smile.
The two ifrits struck as one. One with a fiery spear, the other with a blast of heat. I held a hand out at each of them and froze their attacks midair. Connor's eyes widened. His troops shoved against my power. I clenched my fists and the fire on the spear and in the air extinguished. The flames on their skin snuffed out and their jaws dropped.
I brought both hands together in a clap. The two jinns flew through the air and collided right between me and Connor. They fell to the floor, dazed but scrambling to fight back.
The spear came at me again, attempting to keep me at bay. I grabbed it and sent shadow along its length to its owner's hands. He released it and doubled over, clutching his wounded hand. The other launched toward me. I flung the spear and plunged it into her chest. She gasped, staggered on her feet for ten seconds, and collapsed.
