by Jamie Hawke
I wrapped an arm under her shoulder, helping her to stand, and then we were on the move. Getting out of there was more complicated than entering. For one, I felt extremely depleted. It wasn’t often that using my magic made me so exhausted, but using it to this extent certainly took its toll. When Ebrill was around she could heal me from physical attacks, but I assumed this was more mental.
“Can you defend yourself?” I asked, wary of our situation.
She grunted. “I could tear you up.” She stumbled on her next step. “But… at the moment, I might need some help, still.”
I nodded, hoping my help would be enough.
She felt warm against me, comforting, and that thought brought me clarity of mind. Enough to at least get us out of that first room. We could hear fighting above, and I pulled her aside, staring into her eyes.
The answer to my question was clear before I even asked it. “Can you fight?”
“She… drained me,” Megha admitted. “But… kept me alive as bait.”
“Drained?”
“The Eye. It allows her to sort of absorb others.” Her legs nearly gave out, hand clutching mine. “Complete absorption.”
My eyes went to the ceiling, only now noticing the intricate carvings there, old images of nude women performing magic. An ancient coven, apparently. Old politics of D.C., maybe, as this was likely a house that had been passed down over many generations… or maybe it was even worse than I imagined. Just one witch, taking on different faces of men and women throughout the years, playing various roles in the governing of our country.
It sickened me, and yet I didn’t feel so surprised.
I had to hope my team would make it out of there, and sent Shisa the message to run, along with Riland.
“Come, quickly,” I said, holding tight to Megha, feeling her slim body against mine, her oddly out-of-place calm breathing.
We moved through rooms that had slats of wood, charred flesh. Offerings, sacrifices… and then cages. Empty, thank the heavens. But clearly used at one point or another.
Then we were out, moving into a passage that followed a canal—the old Georgetown canals? I didn’t know enough of the region to understand it, but we went as quickly as her energy level would allow.
A strange connection held us together, one that I assumed she felt, too. It came from that dark land, where we had met. As if both of us existed on more than one plane. It was through this that I could sense her panic, in spite of how calm she appeared.
“There was a time,” I told her, not sure what would be best here, but knowing I needed to talk, “that I wondered what sort of man I was. Put me in a ring, could I hold my own? Keep my fists up? Last even a round against someone who knew what they were doing?”
“You’re talking with me about… boxing?” she let out a wheeze of laughter.
“I’m talking about… questions. Trying to figure out what we’re capable of. And I was. Capable, I mean.”
“You’ve proven that here, with me.”
I waved that off. “Before. When there wasn’t any magic, or at least magic I knew of. When I found out I’d gotten into Johns Hopkins, my best buddy who was going off to the Marines challenged me. Got me in the ring at this place he trained, and we went at it.”
“You won?”
“Fuck, no.” I laughed, remembering it. “The way each punch felt like I was being hit by a car? The way he put me in the corner and was just going at me like we were the worst of enemies… I thought I was going to die, for a minute or two. Then I was still there, still standing, and I started laughing. He was confused. I got in one good cross that nearly knocked him on his ass. Then I really got it—but still stood. At the end of it all, he just stopped and started laughing, too, and then we showered, went out for beers, and spent the rest of the evening reminiscing. The good ol’ days…”
“What was the point of this?” she asked.
“Just… I don’t know. I guess that I’m not leaving you. Okay? No matter what it takes, I’m standing here, and I’ll keep standing. Now, are you with me?”
“Punch me and see what happens.”
“I think you missed the point.”
She winked, showing me that indeed she hadn’t. Putting one hand on the wall, I sensed that we were past the main part of the house, so I created a stairway up. While I was at it, I figured I’d have the stairs move, carrying us up almost like an escalator.
“It was a fine story,” she said, marveling at what I was doing.
My gut clenched at the use of my power, but I breathed deep, reminding myself how much of this was mental. In fact, her own lack of energy was in part under my control, right? I mean, I figured that, if I could alter the states of buildings and whatnot, why not learn spells to heal—why not use my power to heal her powers? Maybe it was a sense of duty to her, or maybe related to our Dark Lands connection, but I felt myself inside her. Not in the fun, sexual way, but in that I was there, looking through her eyes and seeing myself for a moment, feeling a ball of light growing within, circling and expanding, tingling up my limbs, and then bursting free.
“Next time you enter me, ask permission first,” she said, and then I was back in my own body, staring at her smile and loving it. “Thank you.”
I nodded, a hand out for hers as we ascended. An explosion came from nearby, and I sensed Kordelia there, alone. The stairs stopped moving.
“Sorry,” I said to Megha. “I have to help her.”
With a wave of my hand, the wall moved and I charged through, where I found two witches—a male and female—sending blasts Kordelia’s crouched form. She had her wings around her but was so large that I had no doubt it was her. At first. My senses had told me it was a large gargoyle. The largest, and so I assumed, but now that I was there, I realized something was off.
She was too large.
The size of two Kordelia’s almost, and still… stone? Some of it cracking, threatening to either break free or reveal the gargoyle beneath.
“It’s her, who I came for,” Megha said from behind me.
At her words, the witches realized we were in the room with them. They turned, their attacks now directed at us. My alert went out, my ice wall up. My screen next to me, with the option to wake the gargoyle.
I grinned, ready for this—and watched the witches stumble back as stone broke free, blue light shooting out as the gargoyle rose with a roar. Even as changed as she was, I recognized her instantly.
Yenifer.
The large, hugely muscular woman in her time was now more beast than woman, more terrifying than any of the others. I stood back, ready to watch her tear them to bits, ready for her to thank me and rejoice at joining the others.
Instead, she gave one more roar, looked at us with red, glowing eyes, and then charged out of there. Breaking through walls. Gone.
The two witches shared a confused look, but that didn’t last long. One shouted in surprise as Megha leaped onto her back, hands glowing as she reached into the witch’s head. But the other was fast and hit Megha with a blast of green, sending her falling to the floor, writhing.
I healed Megha, then cast an Ice Claw at the witch while Megha thrust up her hands from where she lay on the ground, pulling so that purple flowed from her attacker, draining the witch.
My attack took the other witch, cleaving her in two, but a moment later a creature on six feet plowed through another wall, followed by Kordelia. The two were grappling, Kordelia winning, and she looked up at me, shouting, “Go! Get her out of here!”
“Not without the rest of you.”
“We’ll be right behind.”
I hated it, but it was the mission. They were strong, capable. Megha was still recovering, her powers unknown to me. As quickly as the two had come, they were off again, and I was left with Megha and two dead witches.
There at my side, Megha was recovering. I tried to heal her again, but my power wouldn’t come.
“Let’s move,” I said, and this time we followed the path m
ade by Yenifer. In part, I hoped to find her, to call to her for help. But there had been something in her eyes, a discouraging look that made me wonder if she was with us yet at all.
Two rooms in, and Megha was back with me, holding tight, eyes darting around. I held her close, trying to comfort her.
She’s coming. Riland sent us a mental warning, and I understood Megha’s reaction.
A moment later, a section of the ceiling imploded and Fatiha crashed in, following up with a series of attacks. Each one connected—magic strikes that left me yearning for death, screaming in agony.
But, Ebrill followed her down and immediately started casting her healing spells on me. Then the others followed, too. Shisa with his glorious shield, giving me a moment of respite, to think. In a blink of an eye, I was mentally capable. I could use my transmutation powers to finish the healing process.
Only, Fatiha was on me suddenly, hands on my face, fingers going to my eyes, and we were whisked out of there, the two of us suddenly in darkness. I could smell her, a scent that reminded me of the peaches and candle wax of Gertrude’s house. Even Shisa’s magic defenses hadn’t kept me safe from this witch who I had once thought to be Gertrude’s servant and dear friend.
“Welcome, boy,” Fatiha said, “to my special place. My happy place.”
Candles burst to life, showing runes I instantly recognized… Summoning runes! Fatiha stood back, hands spread, fingertips glowing as if pressed to a flame. Her eyes flickered in the candlelight, robes turning to flames that didn’t burn her.
“They wouldn’t have come just for me, but to have another go at you?” Her smile widened. “You can surely believe they would return for that.”
“Who would ‘they’ be?” I asked, mind reeling, trying to figure a way out of this. My energy was low, and even as I tried to sense the others, to connect and create an escape from this room, I felt the runes and even deeper magic pushing back. Cancelling out my magic power.
“Witness,” Fatiha said.
At that moment, the flames around her surged out, taking shape, and my mind cleared enough to give me the answer. She was bringing back Thiten. Only, there was more than one forming. I stumbled back, fell, then pushed back as flames burst out, the room completely ablaze and light from the candles forming patterns in the air—new, other forms of runes beyond my comprehension.
“Thiten and Thiton,” Fatiha said. “Sisters, equal in power and will. I present to you… your future.”
With that, they formed, two women of incredible beauty and power. Two goddesses, one with her net of glowing embers, the other with flowing hair of fire. Two of the Nine.
“We will take this offering,” Thiten said. “We as one. As Thitis.”
They stepped together, flames merging, burning, and creating one more powerful being. A being that was suddenly adorned in jewelry and robes of ruby red, rising, about to consume me.
My ice walls shot up as I sent my calling out. A tunnel—Shisa! Maybe the lion-dog was there, maybe not… but either way, his shield was around me, protecting me. Had I created it myself? I couldn’t know. All I knew was an urge to be gone from that place. So overwhelming was that urge that I actually felt my body start to leave, to teleport.
Only, something happened then that drew my attention back to the room.
The Eye of Balor—a necklace around Fatiha’s neck—was pulling at Thitis, taking purple power as I had seen Megha doing to the other witch. Absorbing this goddess, taking her into herself.
Thitis turned, screaming as flames shot out in every direction. “You dare betray your master?”
“I am the only master here,” Fatiha replied in a low muttering voice. “And I will have you all. All of the Nine. Upon that day, I will be unstoppable.”
With a final burst of purple, the light shot out around Thitis, engulfed her, and the flames went out as the energy shot back into Fatiha. She rose, laughing, body convulsing as the power surged through and became hers. The runes lit again, but they were different, glowing purple as did the Eye, and other items were there, too, moving about her in a circle. All ancient magic artifacts.
My craving to be gone returned, the feeling of leaving that world taking over, of connecting me to Avalon and the Dark Lands all at once, and then I was pulled, back through walls and rooms, catching glimpses of fighting as I went.
I searched for Megha and the others, my body suspended somewhere between here and the other worlds. A kick hit me, not a physical thing, but like a mental kick, something that threw me from my connection.
If I was going to be caught here, I knew I didn’t want it to be back in that room. I transferred my focus to the upper floors, to the way we had come in. I was caught off guard when a blast of magic energy hit me from behind. The force was enough to send me stumbling out through a doorway to land face-down in the grass.
Nothing made sense, but one thing was certain—I was back.
Focusing on clearing my mind, I pushed myself up and saw that I was in the courtyard out back. Then I saw her—Fatiha, near the house, watching me.
The others, where they free? Was I? She tried to come toward me, but I pushed out, focusing on those other worlds, on calling the Liahona to me.
Her own power canceled it! Nothing happened, and we were at a standstill.
“Do you really think you’ve done anything to stop me here?” Fatiha laughed, the echoes of Thitis in her voice. She stepped back into the shadows, face shifting to become that of Senator Ohlo, whose house we were at. “The opening will come soon enough, and my army will make this world cower before me.”
“For what purpose?” I asked.
“To fucking rule,” she said, sneering, and then she was gone.
I stood there in the courtyard, Secret Service incoming, shouting for me to get on my knees, hands behind my head. A glance into the shadows showed my team arriving, ready if I gave the signal. But this? No, I couldn’t tell them to fight the Secret Service.
Whatever happened next would determine where I truly fitted into this world, and I had no plans of becoming the bad guy.
My first step was to transmorph my face and fingerprints. Next, I sent the Liahona away, dropping my staff. I turned to face them in my false identity, going to my knees with hands up as they demanded.
22
Being dragged off with ties around your wrists and thrown into the back of a car with the likelihood of going to prison wasn’t the bad part. All the eyes on me from nearby residents—that’s what killed.
Knowing that my team was standing by and could likely break me out hurt, too. I didn’t want them to make any moves but knowing that I didn’t have to be taken in was a bit much to stomach. I was the good guy, though, and had to live up to that.
I’m with you, Riland’s voice came through.
Thank God, I replied. The others?
Safe.
And Megha?
He paused, then said, The end there, I’m not sure.
If we didn’t get her, we’re fucked. All of this was for nothing.
“What the hell was your plan, anyway?” the man in the front seat asked.
“We’re not supposed to talk to him,” the other cut in.
“Says who?”
A sigh, and then a sudden muzzle-flash. The other guy was dead. A glance back in the mirror, and the driver’s eyes flashed red.
Shit, I thought to Riland. We have trouble.
The rest are incoming. And… other help.
I sat up, looking out the window in time to see the car come smashing into ours, hitting the driver’s side and tearing through his window. At the same time, Senator Funai was there, floating overhead as he sent a spell bursting out that tore the man to shreds.
Senator Funai landed as the cars screeched to a halt against a guard rail, then he was back with me, pulling me from the wreckage. Three others were with him, all looking like D.C. interns but with hands glowing gold.
“I thought you couldn’t be involved,” I said, trying to pr
ocess what had just happened.
“That was before you let yourself get taken by one of theirs.”
“How was I supposed to know?” I protested.
He shook his head. “You couldn’t have.”
I glanced around, realizing we were only two blocks away from the National Mall and not so far from the Capitol building. The night might have been dark if not for the dull orange glow over the National Mall and the steady flow of cars with their headlights on.
Something in the wind smelled of sulfur and lavender, two scents I was beginning to associate with magic, lately. While the air was often warm on D.C. nights, a wind came strong and heavy, carrying with it an extra layer of heat that was unnatural.
My instincts told me to get off the street and a second later I turned to see why. A vehicle came screaming around the corner. I braced myself. When I realized it was a black SUV, though, I shouted, “They’re with us,” and was relieved to see I was right. My team piled out, Shisa on guard, growling toward the Capitol building.
“Damn,” Steph said, eyeing the wreckage, then the senator.
“This is the rest of my team,” I told the senator. Riland emerged from me, and nodded, so I added, “Rather, now this is the rest of my team.”
“I’d love to shake all of your hands,” the senator said, “but…”
Instead of finishing his sentence, he turned at the moment Shisa reacted and even I felt the surge of magic. A circle of light expanded in the air over the Capitol building, and suddenly the light shot out and then up, as if it was a beacon.
“The portal,” Riland said, voice shaking.
“We’re too late,” I added.
“Too late to prevent it, but not too late to shut it down,” the senator shouted. “Follow me.”
The rest of us shared looks of excitement at that, then took off after him with his crew of interns on foot. He led us to a building with metal detectors and the full government look of tall columns and marble stairs. One of the interns led the way with a keycard, another pulling out what I thought was a gun but then realized must have been some sort of magic item, based on the way it was glowing. Not likely interns, then, but still fun to think of them that way. We made our way in, then down spiral stairs. More marble, it seemed, and the floor below was white and black tiles. Paintings of white men with white hair lined the wall, one bust-like statue near a separate set of doors we went through, leading us to the dining area.
