Vega Jane and the Secrets of Sorcery

by David Baldacci

  ‘Lucky?’ I said in a scathing tone. ‘Lucky to fight males three times my size so they can beat me to death?’

  In a loud voice he proclaimed, ‘I would much prefer to see you in Valhall, traitor. Or with your head no longer attached. That would be real justice.’

  OK, enough was enough. Now it was my turn.

  ‘And I would much prefer to see my grandfather sitting on Council instead of you.’

  The Wugs surrounding us gave a gasp and took a collective step back.

  I stepped forward. It had been a long light; I was tired and I was angry. And if I did not speak my mind right now, I felt like I would explode.

  I pressed my finger into his chest. ‘My grandfather saw you for what you are and that’s why he didn’t want you on Council. You are a vindictive little weasel that would make a garm seem honourable. All you care about is yourself and your career and forget about every other Wug. I’ve met some prats in my time, Krone – some nasty, stupid prats of the highest order – but you, you beat them all, you lying, worthless piece of dung.’ I turned away, but only for an instant. I whirled back around and said, ‘Oh, and for the record –’ now my voice rose to a shriek – ‘the only thing I’m sorry for is that you are not in the Duelum because I would kick you from here to the Quag!’

  I turned around and stalked off. I hoped and prayed to Steeples that Krone would attack me because I was so furious that I would not only knock him to the Quag, I would knock the Wug right through it.

  I stopped only when I saw Delph staring at me from across the cobblestones. From his stunned expression, it was clear he had seen and heard everything.

  I walked over to him.

  ‘Who’d have thought, Vega Jane,’ he began. ‘And Jurik Krone no less.’

  ‘I don’t want to talk about Krone, Delph. He is nothing.’

  I watched as Krone and Duk Dodgson shoved through the crowd of Wugs and headed to the Council building. Krone shot me a loathsome look and then he disappeared from my sight.

  I turned back to Delph. ‘Did you know Ran Digby is your first opponent?’

  Delph smiled. ‘He best hope he has teeth left to spit his slop through.’

  ‘Well, he only has three of them that I can see. I got Cletus Loon.’

  ‘You’ll beat him, Vega Jane. I’ll make sure of it.’

  In truth, I wasn’t all that worried about fighting Cletus Loon. What I was thinking about was my meeting with John. I had told him that our parents were gone and not even waited to see his reaction. That had been so cruel on my part.

  Delph touched me on the shoulder and lifted me from these painful musings. ‘You ready to practise this night?’

  I wanted to, but I shook my head. ‘Not this night, Delph. This night I need to rest.’

  He looked disappointed, then nodded, turned and walked off.

  I watched him go for a bit and then set off. Not for my digs. I was headed to the Care with Harry Two beside me. I wasn’t sure why I was going, because my parents were no longer there. But something inside me was telling me I had to go.

  When we arrived there, rain started pelting down. Harry Two glanced up at me a few times, probably wondering why we were out in the driving rain. It was cold and I started shivering. I had no idea if the doors were locked. I pushed on the wood and, surprisingly, it opened. I poked my head into the darkened corridor.

  My canine kept close to my shins. He wasn’t growling or making any sound at all. He seemed as intimidated as I felt.

  I reached my parents’ old room and gazed up at the brass plate. Or where the plate had once been. When I pushed open the unlocked door, I was immediately aware of the presence of someone else huddled in the corner. The room was no longer illuminated by the Care’s mysterious light source. But I could still make the shape out.

  It was John.

  38

  MAGICAL ME

  John didn’t look up as I walked in. I just heard his sobs. He didn’t look remotely like the grand special assistant to Council who was running roughshod over the poor Wugs building the Wall. Even with his scalped hair and fancy clothes, he now looked like a little Wug who was totally lost.

  I went to him, wrapped my long arms around him and held him. Harry Two sat on his haunches while I did so. I said things to John that I had said to him pretty much every light growing up. That everything would be OK. That he would always have me. That he should not be sad, for the next light would be better.

  When I heard the door creak open about fifteen slivers later, I knew who it was before I saw her. Morrigone came into the room and walked directly over to John.

  ‘It’s time to go, John,’ she said without looking at me.

  He stifled his sobs and nodded, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his pristine black tunic. Morrigone put a hand on his arm. I did not let go of his other one.

  I said, ‘Let him cry. They’re gone. Let him cry.’

  Morrigone gave me what I can only describe as a withering look and I decided to give it right back. She leaned in close and said, ‘We have you to thank for this, Vega.’

  I walked away from John and stood waiting for her in a far corner. It was about time we had this out, I had decided. I’d had my say with Krone and now it was Morrigone’s turn. She strode over to me. I must have grown a bit because I noted that without her heels, I would be taller than her. Yet even in my faded, falling-apart work boots, I was not far off her height. I stood as straight as possible, trying to match her loftiness.

  She snarled, ‘John has come here every night since you told him what you promised me you would not.’

  ‘It was wrong to keep the truth from him.’

  ‘You are not the one to make that sort of judgement.’

  ‘And you are?’ I said, the scepticism as thick in my tone as I could make it.

  ‘It seems that you have forgotten your place here, Vega.’

  ‘I didn’t know that I had a place, so thank you for reserving me one.’

  ‘That sort of talk does you no credit. Not while your brother is huddled in that corner, crying his heart out night after night. It is shameful what you did.’

  ‘He should be crying his heart out. I did.’

  ‘You disappoint me. I thought you were made of stronger stuff.’

  ‘Like my grandfather?’

  ‘Virgil had a tremendous will.’

  ‘I suppose he would have needed that to survive the fire that swallowed him on his last night here.’ It was as though my words had turned Morrigone to marble. I could not even swear that she was still breathing.

  When she spoke, her words were like morta rounds. ‘What exactly do you mean by that?’

  Warning signals in my head were blaring, telling me to stop talking. But I couldn’t and wouldn’t. I didn’t care if she had saved me from execution or Valhall. I did care that she had made me keep from my brother a truth that she never should have asked me to withhold. And she had turned a warm, loving, trusting Wug into someone I could no longer recognize.

  ‘Tell me something, Morrigone, how did it feel to watch my grandfather disappear into the flames? Despite you not wanting him to go?’

  She said in a deadly tone, ‘You must be careful, Vega Jane. You must be very careful at this very sliver.’

  I had to admit that her words sent a chill up my spine. I happened to glance away and for the first time noticed that John was watching us intently.

  ‘Morrigone?’ he began.

  She instantly held up her hand, and my brother fell back, his next words seemingly struck from his lips before they had a chance to fully form. This simple gesture enraged me even more.

  I said, ‘You once taunted me with the word time. But I wonder if you fully understand all that I know? All that I have seen over the course of time?’

  Again, I knew I should have stopped right there, but I simply couldn’t.

  ‘I met a female, Morrigone, who looked remarkably like you, lying mortally wounded on a great battlefield. Do you know wh
at she told me? What she gave me?’

  ‘You lie!’ she hissed.

  ‘She died right in front of me. She spoke to me. She knew me!’

  ‘This cannot be true,’ gasped Morrigone, her calm exterior having totally collapsed.

  I said, ‘Have you ever been chased by a flying jabbit or a creature so gigantic it can block out the sun, Morrigone? They’re called colossals. It’s quite exhilarating. So long as you survive it. And I did. Does that make me as special as John? Does that place me in the same league as my grandfather in your eyes?’

  ‘You are deluded.’

  ‘She wore a ring. The same ring that my grandfather had.’

  Morrigone gasped. ‘What did she say to you?’ she snapped.

  ‘What was her name?’ I countered.

  ‘What did she say to you?’ she shouted.

  I hesitated and then just said it. ‘That I had to survive. Me, Vega Jane. That I had to survive.’

  With a monumental effort Morrigone regained her composure and said icily, ‘John deserves better in a sibling, Vega. Consider yourself very fortunate this night.’

  She turned on her heel and marched off.

  John said to me, ‘I will miss them. I will miss them greatly.’

  Before I could respond, he turned and followed Morrigone.

  I stood there for a while staring at the floor. Then I finally left, Harry Two at my side. The carriage had long since gone, taking John back to his new life. I was glad he had come here each night to grieve. I was happy I had told him. It was the right thing to do.

  When I got back to my digs, I just wanted to collapse. But when I entered my room, I nearly screamed. Morrigone was standing by the fireplace. I looked around for John, but he wasn’t there. It was just Morrigone. And me. She came forward.

  ‘The things you said back at the Care.’

  ‘What of them?’ I said.

  Harry Two was growling more deeply with every step Morrigone took towards me. I put my hand on his head to calm him, but I kept my gaze on Morrigone.

  ‘You cannot know such things.’

  ‘But I do know such things,’ I said.

  ‘Those are two very different points,’ she replied.

  In an instant I understood: she meant I couldn’t be allowed to remember these things. And so I also knew what she was about to do. It was the same thing she had done to Delph and me all those sessions ago. Her hand went up. My hand darted to my pocket. Her hand came down. My hand went up. On my hand was the glove, and in it was the Elemental, at full size. The red light ricocheted off the golden spear, struck my window and shattered all of the glass.

  Both of us stood there, breathless. The look in Morrigone’s eyes was truly hideous. She was no longer beautiful. She was the most ugly Wug I had ever witnessed.

  Her gaze darted to the fully formed Elemental.

  ‘Where did you get that?’ she demanded in a hiss.

  ‘From the female warrior,’ I shot back. ‘She gave it to me. Before she died.’

  Now I took a step forward and Morrigone drew back.

  ‘What was her name?’ I asked, holding the Elemental at the ready.

  ‘You have no idea what you are doing, Vega.’

  ‘I have every idea,’ I shouted back.

  ‘I will not let you destroy us!’

  ‘Where do Wugs go when they have their Events, Morrigone? They have to go somewhere. And it surely isn’t Wormwood.’

  She was shaking her head and backing up. ‘No, Vega. No.’

  I raised the Elemental and positioned it to throw.

  ‘I have no wish to harm you.’ Well, actually I wanted to turn her to dust, but I saw no good coming from telling her that.

  Before I could take another step, she was gone. I blinked and looked around in bewilderment. She had simply vanished. I looked down at Harry Two. He was whimpering with his tail between his legs. When I looked up, I saw it, barely visible in the darkness. It was a trail of blue light that carried out the window. As I watched, it lifted to the sky and then vanished, just as Morrigone had.

  I angrily waved my hand after this trail of mist. And the most extraordinary thing happened. My shattered window flew back together and became whole once more.

  I looked at my hands, then at the repaired glass and wood. How had that happened?

  But then a smile crept across my lips because that’s when I realized it. Morrigone indeed had special powers.

  Yet, apparently, so did I.

  39

  THE BATTLE BEGINS

  All Wugs were required to attend the opening of this Duelum. I thought that a bit interesting since we were supposedly surrounded by bloodthirsty Outliers. I had tried to sleep the night before but couldn’t. So I decided I would get down there early to see what I could see.

  The pitch site was called the Peckwater Quadrangle after Ronald Peckwater, a long-ago mighty Duelum champion of Wormwood. The inside of the pitch was uneven and dented in innumerable places from large male bodies colliding violently with the dirt over the course of many previous Duelums. A wooden platform had been erected in the centre of the pitch. Here would sit the VIWs, or Very Important Wugs. Behind the platform was a large board with all the names of the competitors, where the progress in the Duelum would be chronicled for all to see. There were also betting circles set up on the pitch’s perimeter, where wages would be placed. The ever-enterprising Roman Picus ran a right successful betting pool through which he had relieved many Wugs of their hard-earned coin over the sessions.

  I had left Destin back at my digs under the floorboards. I was terrified that during the course of the fighting, I would unconsciously take flight and my secret would be exposed. And after my experience with Non, I knew the chain also gave me great strength. I did not want to win by cheating.

  The air was fresh and warm, and the sky clear. As the time to fight drew closer, the flutters in my stomach seemed to multiply. In my mind I went over and over what Delph had taught me. I felt stronger, more nimble and tougher because of his training. This past session Cletus Loon had grown far bigger than me. Still, he was a bully and I simply refused to lose to a bully.

  As time passed, the crowds started assembling. Some Wugs smiled and gave me encouraging words. However, many others shunned me. Huge numbers of Wugs hurried to the betting areas, probably to wager coin on Loon bashing in my brains.

  Delph showed up with his father in time to see Bogle and the carriage arrive. Morrigone, Thansius and John alighted and took their places on the platform along with other members of Council.

  Delph patted me on the shoulder and said, ‘How do you feel, Vega Jane?’

  ‘I feel great,’ I lied. ‘I can’t wait for it to start.’ Now, that wasn’t a lie. I wanted it to start before my head exploded. I just kept telling myself that it would be terribly bad form to vomit on Cletus Loon before the fight bell had even rung.

  Multiple bouts would take place at the same time in the quadrants of the pitch. There was no time limit on a bout. Wugs kept fighting until one no longer could. That was a stark rule and one that any sane Wug might have questioned. However, sanity seemed to be in limited supply these lights and nights in Wormwood.

  I was not in the first set of bouts, so I sat on a small knoll overlooking the pitch and awaited Delph, who was in a first bout pitted against Digby. I was sure that most gamblers had wagered on Delph, and when I looked over at the betting board, I could see that he was a heavy favourite. Digby was in the process of removing his great, filthy shirt. I had always imagined him to be flabby and hideously dirty without clothes on. Thus, I was surprised to see him so muscular. Though I had been quite correct about the hideously dirty part.

  Digby went through a series of stretches and then started running on the spot. Then he started to do a bit of practice boxing, weaving and bobbing and punching. He seemed quite good at it, very fast and accurate. I glanced worriedly over at Delph. He had not removed his shirt and he was not stretching or pretend-boxing. He was just sta
nding there with his gaze squarely on Ran Digby. And in his look I began to see a Delph with whom no one would want to tangle. I wanted to tell Delph good luck, but I was afraid of breaking whatever trance he was putting himself in.

  Thansius rose and addressed us. ‘Welcome to the Duelum,’ he said in a booming voice. ‘And what a fine light for it. I want to wish luck to all fighters. We want clean bouts and I have confidence in our referees to ensure that that will indeed be the case.’

  I was really only half listening. My gaze flitted over to John and then away again several times. Finally, our gazes caught each other. I saw him actually smile at me encouragingly before Morrigone drew his attention away.

  I caught her once looking at me. Her expression was unreadable, and all I could think about was her vanishing in a mist of blue. She was an extraordinary Wug, I had to give her that. But she was also dangerous. Anyone with such powers was. And it was only an instant later that I realized I might have to include myself in that group.

  Delph and Ran Digby entered their quadrant. Delph had taken off his shirt revealing a lean, chiselled physique. There was not a smidgen of fat on him. He still looked only at Digby, who stared back at him as he flexed his massive arms and worked kinks out of his thick neck.

  Right at the strike of the second section of light, the competition bell rang. I had to blink because I would not have thought it possible that two males that large could move that fast. They collided in the very centre of the quadrant, and the sound of bone and muscles crashing together made me light-headed. It was like two cretas ramming together.

  Digby got a headlock on Delph and looked like he was trying to rip his head from his torso. Delph strained to free himself with his hands and this exposed his body. Digby took advantage of this by delivering thunderous knee kicks to Delph’s stomach and sides.

  I cringed with each blow. I was stunned that Delph was still upright. But then with a mighty effort, he broke Digby’s hold on him and the two huge Wugs faced off. Digby was breathing heavily. Delph looked calm and in control. I marvelled at his composure.