by Paul Sobol
Most likely the spell would have unravelled after a few centuries, returning both he and the scythe to normal. With the power in his weapon restored, Zareth would once again escape the hell realm and be free to wreak havoc in the future. But now that the demon was in pieces the spell probably won’t work, at least not until all the pieces were brought back together, and Alex fully intended to make sure that would be highly unlikely. He would hide the stone arm some place safe, as for the rest...with a sweeping motion of his hand the huge pile of debris slid across the floor into the nearest lava pool. No doubt the enchanted stones would survive, but fishing them out of magma would not be an easy feat.
The magical seal on the ground, created by the last Shadowmage, blazed white and blue as Alex approach. Despite being thousands of years old the spell inscribed into the stone looked as if it had made yesterday. Standing centre of the pattern the young magician began to speak a very old and mysterious incantation. Sparkling pinpoints of light swirled up from the carved stone, coalescing several feet in the air like a miniature tornado with Alex at its core. With the incantation reaching a climax the vortex of energy spun in tighter circles around the magician, and in his outstretched hands a faint object appeared.
Roughly rectangular in shape, the object gained definition as the white and blue sparks of energy collided and stuck to its surface. In a blinding flash the spell disappeared, and in Alex’s hands was the Book of Omnietas. Bound with unadorned brown leather, a large mystical gold symbol affixed to the cover, the book otherwise seemed unremarkable. But Alex wasn’t fooled. The Shadowmage was all too familiar with the ultimate power contained within, and once again he would have to read from its dangerous pages.
Opening the book to a random page Alex was bathed in a soft blue ambience. In his mind he knew what spell was required, and in a blur of motion the golden text shifted. Despite being written in a completely alien language Alex was somehow able to comprehend the words. Perhaps it was a language the Shadowmage was familiar with, he considered. At the back of his mind something assured him this was true.
Reading the words, Alex realised he was speaking the language of the Universe and was filled with an overbrimming sense of peace and wonder. He wondered if this was how the gods felt. Omnipotence was irresistibly intoxicating, and Alex mentally slapped himself back to reality. He must stay in control at all times; to surrender to such a fantasy would be his undoing.
In the space between heartbeats Alex disappeared, leaving the Pit dark and gloomy once more.
Chapter Twenty Four
Rounding the corner Archer held out a hand and motioned for silence. Something ahead was approaching and it most likely wasn’t friendly. On their way towards the main facility the two magicians had come across a handful of demonic minions attempting to flee. Only arrow-riddled corpses were left behind.
With bow in hand Archer moved forward slowly. A shadow slid across the floor and in the blink of an eye she had a magical arrow nocked and ready. As the diminutive demon came into sight around the bend she let loose, but at the last moment the imp managed to dodge aside. What should have been a clean kill through the head ended up piercing one of the demon’s large bat-like ears. Yelping in surprise and pain, Forx quickly crawled under the large magnetic tubes of the accelerator. He had shucked off his humanoid form some time ago when he had followed his Master through the portal.
Witnessing the demon lord’s demise was something Forx had dearly wanted to be a part of, but circumstances had changed and he had been forced to leave the hell realm sooner than anticipated. Once through the portal he managed to destabilize the energy vortex, and with great satisfaction watched as it closed before his Master could make it through. Hopefully Zareth had realised at the very end who had betrayed him, but that was of little consequence now.
Finally free to do as he pleased, Forx headed down one of the tunnels in search of a way out. The demonic army outside was fighting a lost cause, if they were smart enough they would have also tried to find some way to escape, but the magicians had made that almost impossible. Now the lesser demon was crawling under pipes and wiring in a desperate flight for freedom, while at the same time avoid being skewered. Several arrows sped past in quick succession, almost finding their mark, and Forx fervently prayed none would. His ear was already swollen and throbbing with a dull pain, he didn’t think his body would like being pierced anywhere else.
Coming across a drainage grate he muscled the cover aside and slipped down into darkness. Despite his size, Forx quickly made his way through several tunnels comprising the underground storm drainage system for the facility. Thankfully it hadn’t rained in quite some time and the concrete pipes were mostly dry. Except for the occasional rodent scurrying away in the darkness he was alone and in good spirits at having managed to escape.
For what seemed like a long time the lesser demon traversed the underground drains until he came across a ladder. At the top was an access hatch, and small shafts of light filtered down into the gloom. Forx decided it was time to leave this subterranean labyrinth and see what was happening aboveground. The room above was being used for archive storage, mostly taken up by several free standing shelves holding hundreds of numbered brown cardboard boxes. Poorly ventilated the room smelled dusty and dry as though no one had been in there for quite some time.
Forx quickly located the exit, and as expected the door was locked. He decided to forgo using magic in the oft-chance it would reveal his position should any magician be close enough, so he relied on brute strength to force the door open. The outside corridor was empty and had the same disused feeling to it, but despite feeling entirely alone and isolated Forx remained cautious. Forcing his way through several more doors he was quickly getting a little frustrated. He supposed this might be how rats in a maze felt, but with no reward of cheese at the end.
Eventually locating a corridor that looked promising Forx studied a sign on the wall that showed an emergency exit nearby. However, the final door that stood between him and possibly the outside was not like the others; composed of solid steel it not only had mechanical locks but also an electronic keypad too. By this time the lesser demon was no longer interested in being careful. He was too close to tasting freedom and nothing would stand in his way now. Hissing a quick incantation the heavy steel door began to glow faintly red, then orange, and in several minutes most of it was blazing white-hot. Reaching incredible temperatures the metal lost cohesion and began to melt like wax, forming a molten puddle on the concrete floor, and through the newly created opening blew a welcoming breeze of fresh air.
Taking his first step towards freedom Forx stopped suddenly as several gun barrels were pointed at his head.
“He got away,” said Archer disappointedly, looking over her shoulder as Silver caught up. While the small imp disappeared beneath the accelerator tubes another demon had unexpectedly showed up, and with Archer already engaged it fell upon Silver to dispatch the monster. The resulting fight had been awkward in the cramped space, but the demon’s large bulk ultimately left it vulnerable to several quick attacks piercing vital organs.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Silver, wiping black blood from his sword, “one lesser demon won’t cause too much chaos, it will eventually get captured.”
Archer nodded and motioned for them to continue onwards.
Ahead, the control room for the particle accelerator was a complete mess. With so much energy released practically every surface was scorched or, in most cases, melted beyond recognition. The banks of computers were puddles of liquefied glass and metal, the smashed shielded windows were scorched black, and the accelerator itself was a mass of fried wiring and semi-melted superconductive coils. The air was still super-heated and would have instantly vaporised anyone who entered, anyone who wasn’t protected by magic that is.
Shielded from harm, Archer and Silver cautiously made their way around the destroyed room looking for clues as to what had occurred. A very high concentration of mana lingeri
ng in the immediate vicinity, but upon closer examination the portal enchantment was completely obliterated. Judging from the dark energy used recently, it was most likely the cause of the gateway’s termination.
“Looks like someone did our work for us,” remarked Silver, “and if I had to guess, I would say by another demon. What do you make of that?”
“Maybe the small one that got away?” Archer replied. “But what matters is the portal is closed. We should head back out and help with the clean-up.”
“Agreed,” Silver turned to leave, but a sudden violent disturbance in the aether made the two magicians freeze in place. Whatever was happening was right on top of their position, and fearing the portal might reopen they quickly prepared spells.
In a flash of blue and white energy another magician appeared in the room. “Why am I not surprised to find you two here?”
Archer and Silver could only stare in mute astonishment at the newcomer. “Alex? We thought you were dead!” Archer shouted with joy. She rushed forward and embraced the young man in a fierce hug, Silver a step behind her.
“I get that a lot,” the young magician said as he allowed himself be smothered. Alex heartily embraced the two magicians who, for so many years, he had considered family. It felt a little odd, now that he was in fact someone else. He was still coming to terms with his fragmented consciousness - three personalities in one - Alex, Xander and the Shadowmage coexisting peacefully for the moment in his head.
If he concentrated hard enough on silencing all three voices, he almost felt like a different person, although he still had access to the memories of each individual. He remembered the years at the Academy, the short time he had lived as another magician newly come into his powers. And before then he had been an ordinary human living an un-extraordinary life. He didn’t even know how to begin explaining the various incarnations of the Shadowmage; most of his memories were hazy and difficult to piece together, almost as if Alex weren’t meant to have access to everything at one time.
“Need I ask, but did you have something to do with closing the portal?” Silver asked.
“Actually, not my doing.” Silver shrugged and clapped the young man on the back.
The three left the ruined control room and made their way out of the control room. Moving through the corridors towards the main foyer they came across demons in differing states of panic. Some were shouting out orders, others were blatantly disobeying any form of authority, while many tried to find opportunities to escape the madness. The one thing they all had in common – each died swiftly to weapon or magic. The three magicians cut a swath of destruction through the demon ranks, and when they reached the foyer not a single demon remained.
“That seemed easy enough,” Silver sounded genuinely impressed with the effort.
Archer covered a smile with a well-timed cough. Silver glanced her way, a scowl beginning to form, but he soon understood her unspoken message. Turning around he faced a group of magicians just outside the foyer, and humbly Silver acknowledged their participation.
“Welcome members of the Order,” he said with arms open wide in greeting, “we thank you for helping us in a time of great need and I couldn’t ask any more from you. However, if some of you could remain behind there are an awful lot of demon corpses to dispose of.” The gathered magicians looked around at the grizzly carnage they had wrought.
Demon bodies littered the marble floor, most in unrecognisable masses having been blasted apart with devastating magics. While most were content to help clean up there were several wounded magicians who, after bidding their companions farewell, disappeared in search of a healer. Those remaining soon went to work cleaning up the blood and gore, magically erasing any sign there had been a demonic battle fought within the facility’s halls. The human remains were left near the devastated laboratory. Hopefully their deaths would be attributed to a catastrophic system malfunction, resulting in lethal radiation poisoning.
With the clean-up handled, Silver took Alex aside, and accompanied with the ever-present Archer they stood outside the facility in the gathering dusk of approaching night.
“You’ve got one hell of a story to tell us,” said Silver to the young magician before him. He wasn’t quite angry, but frustration mixed with concern certainly tinged his voice, making him sound harsher than he had expected.
Alex felt a sudden flash of anger in response, and although he had a lot of negative things to say he decided to remain calm and respectful. “Well, I discovered who I am. It wasn’t exactly a wonderful journey of enlightenment, but now that the psychic blocks have been removed from my mind I know everything. For your part, I don’t know if I can forgive you. I understand the reason behind your actions, and because of that we are still able to have this discussion.”
“Alex,” Silver said turning to the young mage and taking him by the shoulders, “I’m very sorry for what we did to you. Our intentions were only for your safety and to provide the best upbringing any magician could have. I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive us.”
Alex looked into the eyes of the man he had considered an uncle for nearly half his life. “I understand more than you think, Alderic. You may not be Uncle Silver any more but you, both of you,” he turned to include Archer, “I will always consider dear friends. Maybe I’ll tell you the whole story, but not today.”
Sensing a deeper anger and hurt in Alex, Silver had nothing to say for once. At that moment he was able to see the young magician had changed, and because of that there was now a distance building between the two, like a widening gulf which neither seemed able to cross. Before, Silver and Archer had considered themselves surrogate family for the boy now grown into a young man, but now they were on less familial terms and more like friends. Silver wondered just how much Alex had changed, and whether it was for good or ill.
“There’s someone else around here that would be happy to see you again.” Archer piped up, hoping to lighten the mood a little.
Alex nodded in agreement. “Let’s go find Simon and get the hell out of here.”
Chapter Twenty Five
With the clean-up completed and most of the damaged facility returned to normal the gathering of magicians disappeared. Most were heading back to L.A. to help contain the ‘undead’ plague spreading amongst the populace. Outside the main building of FERMI three males and one female disappeared in a flash of light.
“Stop it there.”
On the large LCD monitor the picture of the outside grounds footage stopped.
“I know you don’t feel like sharing any more with us, but until you do we’re going to keep on asking questions, and not in a nice way.” The voice seemed to come from every darkened corner of the room. Other than a metal chair bolted to the floor the room was equipped with a single LCD monitor on a mobile pedestal. A single light from above barely illuminated the room. However, the occupant chained to the chair could clearly be seen by those behind the pane of mirrored glass.
“Let us start at the beginning again,” the male voice droned from the concealed speakers. “You and your Master, whom you call Zareth, disguised as Dr Robert Sullivan, broke into the facility with the intention of creating a doorway to another world. From there you marshalled reinforcements and brought them here with the intention of enslaving or destroying our world. However you were prevented from doing so by a group of people referred to as Light Magicians.”
The Voice paused as though waiting for a response from the captive. When none was forthcoming the unseen man continued. “Having watched the entire footage from the security cameras we know it wasn’t alien technology used to defeat your alien forces, but rather some kind of energy weapon you call Magic. Makes sense, that these ‘magicians’ would be using ‘magic’. While none of us here actually believed in that nonsense, the fact that we just watched several hours of footage to suggest otherwise makes us more open to the possibility that it was all real. Do you deny this?”
The captive, heavily chained and man
acled to the chair, remained silent. The Voice continued on, almost conversationally now. “Due to your Master’s work recreating the conditions that had originally led to Dr Sullivan’s death years ago, we’ve gathered enough data on the unusual energy he used to create the doorway. You previously referred to this energy as Mana, and it is within everything and is primarily responsible for creating life. From what we recently observed, mana has a lot more uses than just sustaining life. In fact, since our informal sessions began last month you have witnessed first-hand what we can now do with the energy. You might consider it barbaric, but torturing an alien who had plotted on our destruction justifies these actions.”
Another pause, this time a little longer before the Voice resumed questioning. “Explain the difference between the positive and negative aspects of mana. If, as you claim, there are Light magicians, does that infer there are also Dark magicians? Prisoner 10952, answer the question.”
After several moments, when it became obvious the captive was not going to speak, arcs of blue energy crackled around the metal chair and its shackled occupant. Screaming in pain as raw mana ran through his body, Forx tried to stop from speaking out. He knew it was pointless to resist, they would continue torturing him until they got every last shred of information from the demon.
Under the light of a full moon a lone figure slowly crossed the still-warm desert sands. Small nocturnal animals skittered for shelter as they sensed a disturbance in the night, while somewhere in the distance a lone coyote cried out for a mate. Silence was the only reply.
The lone figure, tall and dressed in black flowing robes, stopped. To anyone else the spot chosen was nondescript and looked like any other piece of desert; reddish sand dotted with the occasional scrub bush or tumbleweed. But it held significant importance to the person who knelt down and began digging a hole with a small shovel. Of course it would have been a lot easier to simply use magic, but the surrounding aether practically roiled and bubbled: a clear indication something terrible had happened recently, and the resulting catastrophe made it difficult for anyone or anything to draw on mana.
