by N. P. Martin
"I can't believe it," I whispered.
"Did you get what you need?" Athelstan asked urgently.
"Yes," I said, half dazed. "I mean, no, not yet."
"Anytime, Creed," Leona said just as huge balls of purple energy began to explode around the place. "Grayson is back on his feet."
Shit. Alright, Creed, concentrate for fuck's sake.
A moment later, more text appeared on the pages of the book, and as I read over it, I realized with relief and excitement that it was the answer I needed. I shook my head. "This is...beautiful," I said as I read. "So simple, so eloquent. Why have I never thought of this?"
"Forget being a fucking bookworm," Leona said, genuine concern in her voice now. "And just fucking stop this fucker, will you?"
I jumped to my feet, leaving the book on the ground. "Guard the book," I said to Athelstan and then pushed past Leona as I stepped out into the street.
Grayson was back on his feet and looking furious. He was still being attacked by several brave werewolves and vampires, but the attacks were having little effect on Grayson now. Then, in a burst of pure anger, he sent out a massive blast of magickal energy that knocked back everyone and everything within a twenty-foot radius. Bodies flew back and slammed against buildings as cars overturned and trees fell. Leona, Athelstan and I were outside the blast radius, so we remained standing while Sanaka, Ray and the sorcerers that were left all fell back onto the road like fallen dominos.
Filled with confidence now that I had the means to defeat Grayson, I stepped boldly into the middle of the road and shouted, "Grayson!"
Grayson turned around at the sound of his name being called and glared at me with his glowing eyes. "You!" he boomed. "You really are pissing me off!" He lifted one huge arm and aimed his hand at me, ready to blast me with unspeakably powerful magick that probably would have obliterated me in an instant had I given him a chance to use it. "Die!"
I thrust my own hand out in front of me then, aimed at the giant Grayson. "Not today...Gordon."
It was then that I used the spell outlined in the Dark Codex. The spell was a truly sublime piece of work that effectively tapped the very power of the universe itself. For it to work, I had to manipulate my own magick just so, and once I did, a vast reservoir of magick became opened up, and along with it, a massive feeling of god-like power the likes of which I had never felt before. It even eclipsed the power I felt when I defeated Mr Black, and that's saying something.
Wasting no time, I directed the new power at Grayson with the intention of draining his own away from him. The second I did, every atom of my body seemed to transform into pure energy as I began to suck Grayson's enormous power out of him as easily as directing a high-powered magnet at a mountain of iron filings.
Grayson looked shocked and stunned as he froze on the spot the instant he felt my power being directed at him, and he looked down with anger and helplessness as a stream of purple energy jetted from him and straight into my hand, where it seemed to collect in that bottomless reservoir that had formed within me. "What?!" Grayson exclaimed. "NO!"
He put up a resistance then, using everything he had to try to pull back the power I was sucking out of him. For a moment, he actually managed to reverse the stream, grinning at me as he did so. But I doubled my efforts and quickly managed to get the energy flowing back into me again. I'd had quite enough of Grayson's bullshit by that stage. That and the fact that I knew I was going to be with Leona again gave me ample motivation and strength to drain every drop of power that Grayson had. By the time I had siphoned out the last drop of energy from him, Grayson was back to his normal size and on his knees as he stared at his hands as if expecting to see some remnant of magick arcing off them, but none did.
Grayson, as a demigod and as a man, was finished.
Or at least I thought he was finished. The Crimson Crow had other ideas. In a blur of impossibly fast movement, the Crow rushed at Grayson, and within seconds, she had ripped Grayson’s head of his body with her bare hands. Then she stood as she held up the severed head like it was some great prize. Blood dripped from the torn neck into the Crow’s mouth, running over her chin like red syrup. Then her supernatural brethren cheered like they had won some great battle. Everyone else was slightly repulsed by the whole act, except for Ray, who if I didn’t know any better, seemed quite turned on by the Crow’s brutal act.
I shook my head and turned away. Now I was left with a monumental amount of magickal energy in me, and I gotta tell you, it felt awesome. It felt like I had the power of all creation in me, and that I could do anything I wanted to do, even find my family.
Because I knew exactly where they were now.
The question was though, did they want to be found? Was it right for me to find them, even though they had moved on from this world a long time ago?
Those were questions I would deal with later.
As I looked around me, I noticed that everyone was keeping their distance from me, watching me warily as if I was a suicide bomber with my finger on the kill switch. When I looked down at myself, I saw why. Much like Grayson was, I was now being consumed in a way by the huge amount of power within me. I was in effect, transforming into pure energy.
"August, son," Ray shouted over. "You need to dump what's inside you before..."
"Before what?" I asked.
"Let's not go there," Ray answered. "The book will tell you what to do."
I turned to look towards the shop doorway where Athelstan was still guarding the book, though he still seemed to be keeping a wary distance from it. I reached out a hand, and the book came flying towards me, stopping in midair right in front of my face, the pages opening as if knowing exactly what I needed. And indeed, within moments, text appeared on the page as I was given full instructions on how to dump the power I had collected. It was a simple enough procedure, no more than an incantation that would release the energy back into the ether and out into the universe again where it belonged.
But I hesitated.
So much power.
Why get rid of it? I asked myself. Think of the good I could do with it. The changes I could make.
"August," Ray warned. "I know what you're thinking. It's too much power. Let it go, boy."
Ray was right. It was too much power for one person. It ripped my guts out to do so, but I recited the incantation, and the instant I had finished, all that power went rushing out of me, jetting up into the night sky like a giant proton beam before dispersing into space.
And then it was done. The only power left in me was my own. The book closed and gently drifted to the ground.
Then everyone around me clapped and cheered. People came forward and patted me on the back like I'd just scored a winning goal, which I guess I had in a way. It was all very embarrassing, to be honest, and I noticed Leona smirking over at me, knowing full well how I felt about so much attention on me.
Eventually, I called Athelstan over. He came trudging over like a man on Death Row. "You ready, buddy?" I asked him, keenly aware that I was asking him to die.
Athelstan stared down at the book. "We don't even know if this will work," he said somewhat hopefully.
"Eh, yeah, it will. I already checked."
The former monk nodded for a moment, then breathed out sharply. "Okay then. My time is finally up. Make sure my memoirs get to my publisher, will you?"
“You have my word on that, Athelstan. You will not be forgotten, I promise you that.”
After looking over at Sanaka and nodding his goodbyes, Athelstan said, "Hand me the book."
With everyone watching, I picked up the book and somewhat reluctantly handed it to him. "Thank you," I told him.
Athelstan smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Creed."
I was about to ask him what for when he suddenly closed his eyes as white energy beamed from the book and into Athelstan himself, separating his atoms and taking them into itself until there was nothing left. Very soon, both Athelstan and the book had dissipated into nothing.<
br />
I let out a long breath. It was finally over.
Leona was standing nearby, and I went straight to her, putting both hands on her cheeks as I kissed her passionately on the mouth. "Let's go home," I said.
"I sold my apartment," she said.
"That's okay. You can stay with me."
"You expect me to live in that ratty Sanctum with you and Blaez?"
"Yes."
She smiled again. "Alright then."
My smile was wider as it felt like all my dreams had come true at once. "You just made this sorcerer very happy."
As we went to head away, one of Grayson's hooded disciples came running out of an alley. I assumed they had all been killed or dispersed somewhere. Leona pulled out one of her guns and pointed it at the fleeing disciple. "Stop, or I'll blow the back of your head off," she shouted.
The hooded figure stopped dead and turned around, a look of shame on his familiar face. "Don't kill me, please."
"Lower your gun," I told Leona.
"But these fuckers tried to kill you earlier," she protested.
"I know, but they were all brainwashed by Grayson, and I know this one."
Sam pulled his hood down and stared shamefully at me with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Creed," he said. "I thought...he seemed...I didn't mean..."
"It's okay, Sam," I told him. "I get it. Just go. And take those robes off before someone does shoot you."
Sam nodded as he took his robes off, leaving himself naked but for a pair of pale blue boxers. "I really am sorry," he said again, then turned to go.
"Sam?" I said.
He stopped and turned around. "Yes?"
"Do me a favor, will you?"
"Anything."
"Stay the hell away from magick."
30
A New Dawn
I spent the next two days holed up with Leona in the Sanctum, screening all calls and refusing to open the door to anyone. Most of those two days were spent in bed making love and watching news reports on the MacBook. Needless to say, the world was not the same place that it was pre-Grayson. The existence of the supernatural was now a commonly held fact in the world. People accepted now that vampires and such lived among them, and also that magick was real. There were no more Sleepwalkers it seemed, and now the world had to find its feet again as norms became reshuffled and ordinary people found a way to live with their supernatural cousins.
Taking the helm in this matter was Angela Crow. It came as no surprise to anyone who knew her that she not only outed herself as a vampire to the world (to those who didn't know already), but she also made herself the leader of a brand new organization called The Council Of The Gifted (yes, really), whose main goal was to look after the interests of the very large and expansive supernatural community. To back up her status as the accepted leader of the supernatural world, the Crow paraded Gordon Grayson on the world stage, telling people it was her and her supernatural brethren that had brought Grayson down and thus saved the world. "That fucking bitch," was what I had to say to that, but at the same time, I didn't care. I was no glory hunter and was in fact glad that the Crow had taken credit for bringing Grayson down. Despite her blatant play for power, what she was doing was necessary in these new times. Order had to be maintained somehow.
"It looks like Grayson did affect a new world order after all," I said as I lay in bed with Leona while we pigged out on pizza. Even Blaez, who sat on the floor at the foot of the bed, had a slice.
"Seems like it," Leona said. "It's crazy to think that everyone knows the truth now. How will that pan out, do you think?"
"Time will tell, I guess. Where does that leave Division?"
Leona shrugged. "I don't work for them anymore, so I don't know."
"I thought you'd be going back?"
She shook her head. "I have other plans."
"Oh, do tell."
"Well," she said. "There's this crazy sorcerer guy who wants me to go partners with him."
I nearly dropped my pizza. "No. Seriously?"
"As I said, the guy has issues, and he's not even that good looking."
"Fuck off," I said, still smiling from ear to ear. "I hear he's handsome as hell and handy with magick."
"Well, he's handy with magick."
She laughed, and I elbowed her gently in the ribs. "But seriously, you're going to partner with me?"
"Look," she said. "When I was in DC, and Grayson showed up to take over, everyone there was running around terrified and not knowing what to do. The FBI was fucking clueless, and the Division branch there wasn't much better. I just remember thinking about you then, about how you were probably back here working like crazy on finding a way to stop Grayson instead of running scared like the bureaucratic weasels I was surrounded by. That's when I knew that I was destined for this kind of work and that I was destined to do it with you, Creed. So I got on a plane."
"Destined, huh?"
"I guess we're stuck with each other."
I leaned in and kissed her. "I guess we are. So are we going to have a business name? Are we getting cards done? What about offices. I was thinking--"
"Creed?"
"Yes?"
"Shut up and fuck me again."
After spending two full days alone with Leona (mostly in bed, I have to say), I was feeling good. All of my previous emotional turmoil seemed to have dissipated, and I was left with a calm, peaceful feeling inside which was punctuated by the excitement I felt at properly partnering up with Leona. There was a little fear as well. I mean, what if things didn't work out? What if working together wrecked our relationship? But those were just commonplace worries, and certainly preferable to the gargantuan pressure I'd been under for what seemed like a lifetime now, ever since Mr Black had first made an appearance. Things just hadn't stopped since then. I was glad now that my life seemed to be heading in a normal (normal for me anyway) direction once more.
When Leona was sleeping in bed, I went downstairs and made myself some coffee. It was early evening, and I felt pleasantly refreshed and calm. Calm enough to make some phone calls, the first of which was to Brentwood, whom I'd had numerous missed calls from as usual. When he answered, the first thing he did was thank me for helping to take Grayson down, telling me the world owed me another debt. His goodwill was short-lived, however, after I told him Leona wouldn't be coming back to work for him. He was pissed off because he had assumed that she would return to Division now that she was back in Blackham. He became even more incensed when I told him Leona and I would be working together from now on. I'd poached his best agent as far as he was concerned, despite the fact that Leona had left Division anyway. So Brentwood was quickly back to hating me again. "I'll see you around," I said before I hung up on him.
Next, I called Ray, but he didn't answer his phone, so I sent him a text saying I would meet up with him in the morning, assuming he was still in Blackham, which I had no doubt he was. He would either be lying drunk in Sanaka's Sanctum or drunk in Angela Crow's bed. Whatever the case, I told him to call me.
Then finally, I called Jordan Grayson on the number she had given me a while ago. I didn't think she would answer, but she did. "Jordan," I said. "It's Creed."
"Creed," she said, sounding much different than I remembered. Her usual tone of dark seriousness seemed to have been replaced by a more lighter tone. The tone of someone who had found peace, and perhaps even happiness. "I've been meaning to call you. Are you alright?"
"Never better actually. I should thank you for helping us with your father."
"Please, I should be thanking you."
"Are you with your mother?"
"Yes," she said, still sounding like she could hardly believe it. "She's here. We're going to Mexico soon. To start over, away from everything."
I nodded and smiled. "I'm really glad to hear that, Jordan. I'm happy for you. Don't be a stranger."
"You too. You still owe me a story."
"Yeah, I forgot about that."
"Maybe you and your g
irlfriend could come down to Mexico in a few weeks, once we get set up."
"I'd like that," I said.
"Alright. I have to go, Creed. And Creed?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad I met you."
"Me too," I said smiling, and then she hung up.
I sat for a while in the living room after that as I drank my coffee, realizing that Leona would want a proper coffee machine in the Sanctum now that she was moving in. I could still hardly believe it, and once again the excitement in my belly was tinged with fear.
But that was nothing compared to the almighty invisible force that slammed into my chest a second later. It was like a freight train had come through the living room window and run me over. My coffee cup shattered on the floor, and for long seconds, I couldn't breathe at all as it felt like something was crawling around inside me. Then all at once, my body relaxed again, and I was able to breathe. "What the fuck?" I said holding my chest like I'd just had a mini heart attack.
An awful feeling hit me then, as I realized what just might have happened, but I was praying I was wrong.
Unfortunately, though, I wasn't.
A very deep voice began to issue a sinister laugh from within me. Then the voice said, "August Creed. My name is Dagon. I'm the demon who tore apart your family. Nice to meet you. Again..."
The demon began to laugh once more.
And it was all I could do not to cry.
CRIMSON CROW
A SORCERER’S CREED PREQUEL
This bonus book is a novella that is set some thirty years before the other three books.
Copyright © 2016 by N. P. Martin
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the
