The Emperor's Mask (Magebreakers Book 2)

by Ben S. Dobson

  As he freed her arms and legs, she managed to spit the gag from her mouth. She was staring, terrified, at the artifact in Endo’s chair. “You have to stop it!”

  “No time,” said Tane. “We need to get out of here.”

  She shook her head. “You don’t understand! He’s set it to go off if we try to leave! And there are more around the city, set to activate when this one does!”

  “More of what? What is it?”

  “Spellfire!” she said, and at first he thought she was just swearing. But then, “It’s a spellfire detonation! It’s going to burn us alive!”

  Tane’s heart froze in his chest. He rose convulsively, spun on his heel to face the device.

  A minute and a half left.

  He lunged for Endo’s chair and the detonation artifact. The side of the pyramid opposite the clock was hinged at the bottom, latched closed with a copper press-plate. He recognized the design. It would be Astrally sealed—unbreakable, unless it sensed the signature it was set for.

  Luckily, Endo had left him just what he needed.

  Tane snatched up the mimic vial from the seat of the chair, and a pair of brass tongs sitting on the nearby worktable. Clutching the vial in the tongs to insulate his own Astral signature, he touched the mimic vial to the latch, and pressed inward.

  The side of the pyramid fell open.

  Tane knelt to examine the interior workings. Inside, the faces were lined with copper, and glyphs in the lingua were etched over every inch, from top to bottom. A sapphire array was mounted at the back, held in copper clasps. Just above that was the clock face—the silver-blue hands oriented themselves to the perspective of the viewer, so it was perfectly readable from the inside as well as out.

  And it showed just over a minute left.

  Hastily, he scanned the glyphs. It was a spellfire detonation—he’d hoped the senator had gotten it wrong somehow. When the time ran out, the artifact would release a pillar of spellfire large enough to consume the house and everything else within the prescribed area. And there was no restriction to what it would burn—only the plain circle glyph for ‘all things’.

  There were more of them, too, just as Senator Stooke had said. Endo must have been pressed for time, because the spellcraft here was set as a template for a number of other detonations. The others would have much simpler glyphs, linking back to these ones. Faster to make a primary artifact and base the rest on it than to create and etch five in a few hours. If Tane hadn’t been less than a minute away from death by spellfire, it would have been satisfying to know he’d at least forced Endo to scramble.

  But if I can stop this one, I stop the others too.

  Which was easier said than done. Endo had included tamper-proofing and redundancies everywhere. Scratching out any of the glyphs would set it off, or trying to remove the gems powering it. There wasn’t much he could do except speed up his own incineration.

  Which didn’t really need speeding up. Only thirty seconds left.

  “Do something!” Umbla Stooke yelled from over his shoulder. “There’s no time!”

  “There’s nothing I can do! If I try to change anything, it kills us both!”

  Except maybe that wasn’t quite true. There was nothing to stop him from adding to the glyphs, as long as he didn’t overwrite anything. Endo had used up all the available space, so there was no room for entirely new glyphs, but…

  He glanced at the clock face.

  Just under twenty seconds. He might still make it, if he was fast.

  Tane whirled, frantically searched the worktable, tossed through piles of scattered parts. Where is it? He was sure he’d seen… there it was. A copper-tipped engraving wand, half hidden under a dirty rag. He grabbed it, pressed the activation glyph on the grip, and knelt before the pyramid.

  It was only then that he remembered Indree’s sending locket. He could have at least said goodbye to her. Told her to thank Kadka for him. Maybe even come up with some convincingly profound last words.

  Five seconds. No time for farewells. Astra, let this work. Let me see them again.

  As the clock ticked toward zero, he etched a single line.

  The room exploded into silver flame.

  _____

  “Tane?”

  Tane coughed as he came back to consciousness, and he felt something come out, a fine grit that lined the inside of his mouth and lungs. His entire body ached. He blinked open his eyes, looked up to see Indree and Kadka kneeling beside him.

  And looming large in the night sky directly above their heads, a towering image of the Mage Emperor’s crowned staff.

  Kadka clapped him on the shoulder, and he winced from the force of it. “Carver! When we saw fire, I thought… Is good to see you alive.” She offered an arm, helped him to his feet.

  Tane’s leg nearly buckled under him, and he leaned against her for support. “What—” He started coughing again, and grey dust issued from his mouth. It looked like ash. Actually, now that he looked, he was covered in it, from head to toe. A huge ash-filled hole that had once been the basement was all that remained of the Stooke townhouse, and the homes on either side were gone as well. Everything below the crowned staff in the sky had been burned to nothing—all that remained was ash covering melted metal and stone. “What happened?”

  “Spellfire detonations,” said Indree. “Six of them, across the city.” She pointed up at the Mage Emperor’s sigil. “And one of those above every one.”

  “How many dead?” Tane asked, dreading the answer.

  “About twenty counted so far, mostly from the bridge at Audlian’s Crossing,” said Indree. “But it could have been much worse. The spellfire must have been set to only burn inanimate matter. It incinerated buildings in an instant, and the bridge, but it didn’t touch a living soul. What deaths and injuries we have are from when the bridge and floors gave way.”

  “Explains why I hurt so much. I must have fallen into the basement when the floor burned up.”

  “That’s the most common story,” said Indree. “Endo must have been making a point, but he could have killed so many more people. I don’t see why—”

  Tane shook his head. “It wasn’t him. He was going to burn everything. The only thing I could do was change the glyph on the template. A half-circle on the downward side.”

  Indree’s eyes widened. “All things not sentient. By the Astra, Tane, you saved a lot of lives.”

  “I was mostly trying to save my own,” he said, and coughed up another cloud of ash. “What about the senator?”

  “She’s alive, but badly hurt in the fall,” said Indree. “We’ve already sent her to the mage-surgeons.”

  Tane was about to ask more when a sudden pressure filled his ears. He knew who it would be even before the voice came.

  “You are a hard man to kill, it seems,” Endo said mildly in a voice only Tane could hear. It sounded hollow, as if sent from a great distance. “And more resourceful than I anticipated once again. But still, my sigil looks grand in the sky, doesn’t it? It should have been above the Audlian estate, but I think my point has been made.”

  Kadka noticed something was wrong instantly. “Carver? What is it?”

  “Endo,” he said. Along the open Astral channel, he sent back, “Every bluecap and Mageblade in the Protectorate will be looking for you. You can’t escape. Not after this.”

  “I already have. But we will meet again, Tane Carver. I promise you that.” And then the pressure died. The sending was done.

  “What is he saying?” Indree demanded. “Keep him talking! I might be able to trace him through the Astra!”

  And Tane could only shake his head. “We’re too late. I think he’s gone.”

  Chapter Twenty-five

  _____

  “THIS IS A disaster!” Chief Durren shouted, pounding a fist on his desk. “Dozens dead and injured, and no sign of the criminal responsible for it. Any evidence we might have found in the Stooke’s townhouse is burned to ash. What do you have for me, Inspe
ctor Lovial?”

  Tane stood with Kadka and Indree in the chief’s office at Stooketon Yard. After a long night trying to track down Endo, they’d been summoned to report in the early hours of the morning. He leaned against Kadka—he’d twisted his ankle badly when the floor of the Stooke house had been incinerated under his feet, and it was still painful to stand on his own.

  “Very little,” Indree admitted. “We’ve closed the ports and rail stations, but I suspect Endo is already out of our reach. A small Stooke vessel left the harbor earlier tonight, not long after Tane and I were taken captive by the Mask. He was gone before we even knew who we were looking for.”

  Durren’s face was growing redder by the moment. “And you’ll have to answer for that! We might have apprehended him if you’d just brought this to me instead of going off on your own with these two—”

  Kadka interrupted him with a loud bark of laughter. “Is joke, yes? We all pretend you would listen to us when we tell you truth?”

  “I should have you thrown in a cell for interfering in this investigation!” Durren exploded.

  “Of course you should,” said Tane. “Because then you can blame us for everything, and you come out clean, right?”

  “No.” Indree rested her fists against the desk and leaned forward to look Durren in the eye. “Because I won’t stay quiet if he tries, and he knows that the people won’t stand for it if they hear the famous Magebreakers were jailed unjustly. You were never going to listen to anything Tane brought you, Durren. We did what we had to do.”

  “You… you are insubordinate, Inspector!” Durren sputtered, flushed all the way up to his thinning red hair. “There will be consequences!”

  “Fine,” said Indree. “I’m done trying to work around you. I joined the constabulary to help people, and if you won’t let me do that, maybe I’m better off elsewhere.”

  Durren looked like he might explode, but as he opened his mouth, the door swung inward, and another voice cut him off.

  “I think not.”

  Lady Abena strode into the office, a slender elven Mageblade at her side. All eyes went to her.

  “I… Your Ladyship, I thought you were on the Continent,” said Indree.

  “I was. When I received your messages, I cut my trip short. The Hesliar’s top speed is really very impressive.” Lady Abena approached Durren’s desk. “I understand that emotions are high in the wake of such a terrible tragedy, Andus, but I think Inspector Lovial is to be commended for her part in saving Faelir Audlian and stopping the Mask. She is not responsible for the actions of Endo Stooke, and because of her and her friends, we at least know who our enemy is. I’m sure you wouldn’t argue that fact.”

  “Of course not, Your Ladyship,” Durren said, struggling to hold back a scowl.

  “In fact,” said Lady Abena, “recent events have made me consider appointing an official liason between the constabulary and my own office, with a direct channel to me at all times. I believe Inspector Lovial would be the ideal candidate. If she will accept the position?” She turned to Indree with a raised eyebrow.

  Tane couldn’t help but smile. It was a clever move. Durren’s position might be unassailable due to his political connections, but he couldn’t touch Indree while she was liason to the Lady Protector.

  “It would be an honor, Lady Abena,” Indree said. Tane wasn’t sure how she kept a straight face—if it had been him, he’d have been full-on smirking at the chief constable.

  Durren opened and closed his mouth a few times, and then, “Your Ladyship, I’m not certain—”

  “That you can afford to spare her?" Lady Abena finished for him. "Oh, I won’t take her away from her duties. But when particularly important cases arise, she will oversee them and report to me.”

  Durren deflated visibly. “Of course, Your Ladyship.”

  “Now, I think you’ll agree we three have much to discuss, concerning Mister Stooke.” Lady Abena smiled at Tane and Kadka. “Once again, Mister Carver, Miss Kadka, the Protectorate thanks you for your diligent service. I’m certain we will speak more later, but for now, I hope you’ll excuse us?”

  Tane nodded. “Come on, Kadka. I’m sure Chief Durren is eager to work out the details of this new arrangement.”

  Kadka didn’t bother to hide her laughter as she led him out.

  _____

  Kadka walked Carver toward the exit, helping him keep himself upright. She chuckled to herself as they entered the waiting room at the front of the Yard, still picturing the indignant look on Chief Durren’s face when they’d left his office.

  “Kadka! Mister Carver!” Iskar raised a hand, and then stood from his chair and crossed the room to meet them.

  “Iskar?” Kadka cocked her head. She hadn’t expected to see him. Not that she was complaining—he was as pretty as ever, silver scales gleaming in the building’s magelight. “Why are you here?”

  “The constables had questions after they secured the storehouse,” he said. “And afterward, I wanted to make sure you had both come out unscathed.”

  “You are still there when constables come? Thought you would leave it for others. Is hiding done, then?”

  Iskar nodded, a glimmer of passion in his blue eyes. “Most of the victims tonight were of the Silver Dawn, or non-magicals come to fight for their rights. It’s clear who the targets were. If our enemies are willing to be so brazen, I don’t think I can hide any longer.” He gave Kadka a meaningful look “And… perhaps I learned something of a lesson in bravery tonight.”

  Kadka smiled. “Was nothing.” She gestured to Carver, still leaning against her. “He gets into trouble, I save him. Happens more than you think.”

  Carver laughed. “I wish that wasn’t so true.”

  “Well I am very glad she did,” Iskar said solemnly. “I’m told it was only thanks to your quick thinking that more didn’t die. Thank you, Mister Carver.”

  “I was just trying not to burn to death,” Carver said. “But you’re welcome.” He offered his hand. “I should have realized this earlier, but any friend of Kadka’s is someone I trust.”

  Iskar returned the handshake firmly. “I feel much the same.”

  “Mind you,” said Carver, “I’d still like to ask you about what you did to those wards on the storehouse. I didn’t think that was possible, and I’m a bit of an… enthusiast where getting around spells is concerned.”

  “Leave him, Carver,” Kadka scolded. “Is for him to say or not say.” She was more than a little bit curious herself—it was dragonfire they were talking about—but people were entitled to their secrets.

  Iskar’s tail swished nervously against the ground. “I take no offense, but… perhaps another time, Mister Carver. You understand, I must see to my people after everything that’s happened.” She didn’t have to be Carver to read in his body language that he was uncomfortable with the topic—there was something there he didn’t want to talk about.

  “Is fine,” said Kadka, before Carver could embarrass anyone any further. “Go, if you need.”

  “Yes, I suppose I should.” Iskar hesitated, gave her a long look. “Kadka, I do hope that… even if you don’t choose to speak for the Silver Dawn, I would very much like to see you—”

  “Don’t need so much talk,” Kadka reached behind Iskar’s neck with the arm that wasn’t supporting Carver, and kissed him solidly on the snout.

  Iskar’s eyes widened, and then his hand found her waist, and he was returning the kiss.

  Carver squirmed away with a groan. “Come on, don’t make me part of it.”

  Kadka snorted a laugh through her nose, and drew back for air. “You could learn something. Saw you kiss Indree.” She pointedly wrapped her now-free arm around Iskar and pulled him tight against her, enjoying the firmness of his bare silver chest, running her fingers down the ridges on his back. One last time, she pressed her mouth against his.

  And then she pulled away. Best not to let it go on for too long—he’d been living underground for a long time
, after all, and she didn’t want to overwhelm him all at once.

  Or maybe it was too late for that. Iskar was staring at her with wide blue eyes, a dumbstruck half-smile showing teeth at the corners of his snout. He opened his mouth, apparently came up with nothing, and closed it again.

  “See you soon, dragon man,” Kadka said, and then offered her arm to Carver and led him away from the speechless kobold.

  She was still grinning as they left the building.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  _____

  TWO DAYS LATER, Lady Abena came to the office with Indree and an escort of Mageblades.

  “Come in,” Tane said, ushering them through the door. “Er, we don’t have much in the way of seating. You can have my chair, Your Ladyship. Behind the desk.” He flushed when he caught Indree’s eye, and looked away. They’d been in contact via sending, but he hadn’t seen her in person since the day Endo had escaped. She’d been busy with her new duties.

  And they still hadn’t talked about the kiss.

  “Thank you, Mister Carver,” said Lady Abena, stepping into the office. She waved away the first Mageblade to try to follow her in. “Stand guard outside. I’m sure the wards on this room are sufficiently secure.”

  “Updated for the possibility of automatons,” confirmed Tane. “I know you asked Chancellor Greymond for the University’s help in fixing the city’s wards—she brought me on to consult yesterday. It’s complicated if we still want to allow other artifacts, but I think I have it figured.”

  “Excellent,” said Lady Abena. “I had a feeling you would find your way into the process.” She seated herself in the chair behind his desk and nodded to Kadka, who was leaning back in her usual seat with her feet up.

  Kadka grinned her welcome, and then swiveled her head toward Indree. “New job goes well? Make Durren’s face redder every day?”