It was another cold day in New York. Winter approached, and it would only get colder before it got warmer again. Amanda, like most Magi, could use her Magic to keep herself warm and protected from the cold, but it was always a good idea to try and blend in with the crowds. Amanda wore her usual jeans and sneakers but wore a denim jacket buttoned up with her hands buried deep in its pockets.
She walked up to the club’s side door and knocked. Within moments, locks turned, and the door opened to reveal Howie standing in the doorway.
Amanda smiled at him. She’d seen him a few months ago on her last social visit to the club, and after healing the slight rift that had formed between them, they were getting on well again.
“Mandy, great to see you! What are you doing here?”
“And you, ye big ejit,” she said and went in for a hug, which he returned with gusto. “I’m meeting with Toni and Tabitha.”
“Ah, so you’re the guest they’re expecting. I had no idea you knew them.”
“Small world,” she said with a smile and a wink.
“It certainly is. Come in,” he answered, ushering her inside. He led her through the backroom and out from behind the bar into the club proper. Seeing the place quiet and well-lit seemed odd. It wasn’t designed to be seen like this. It was a lot messier than it looked at night, and she watched the cleaners going about their jobs as she followed Howie towards the VIP area.
A set of circular stairs in the corner near the front entrance, cordoned off by barriers to keep the undesirables out, led upstairs. She had never visited the VIP lounge before. She’d only ever seen the people up there from the floor below as they watched the dance floor from the balcony.
Each floor in the club had a name. The basement, Amanda’s usual haunt was called The Crypt and played heavy metal and darker music. The main level had the moniker The Tomb and played more popular music, while the VIP level had been named the Tower. The VIP Lounge was open to the floor below, as it was basically a large balcony above the ground floor, so the music from the Tomb served the VIPs too.
They walked through a seating area, past the pool tables and booths along the wall. Eventually, Howie led her to a door with a “Staff Only” sign on it. He knocked and waited for a beat before a voice called out from within.
“Come in,” said a female voice Amanda recognised.
Howie opened the door to see Tabitha sorting some papers on the small desk that was obviously meant to be used by a secretary.
“Miss Tabitha, your guest is here,” Howie said.
“Amanda, good to see you. Are you well?”
“Aye, I’m bang on, so I am.”
Tabitha looked a little confused by Amanda’s answer. “Good, I have no idea what you just said, but I take it you’re well.”
Amanda chuckled to herself. “I am, yes.”
“Come in then, come in, take a seat in there,” she said gesturing into the next room that looked like an office. Tabitha dismissed Howie and shut the door as Amanda took her seat. “So, you wanted to see us?” Tabitha said.
“That’s right. Are the others around?”
“Let me see,” Tabitha replied before she slipped from the room to hunt them down.
Moments later, Toni, Tabitha, and Melissa joined her in the office.
“So, I’ve spoken with Victoria this morning, and predictably she’s run into problems trying to arrange an appropriate response to the Nomads in Los Angeles,” Amanda began once the others were settled. “The Magi Legion is being their usual selves and are both blocking Victoria’s suggestion that they should contact the Council for aid, and bogging Victoria down in negotiations about the force they should send into Los Angeles. Basically, they’re throwing their weight around and being difficult.”
“I’m not surprised,” Tabitha said. “They never really liked us. They disliked that Liberty’s Children and the Coven of Angels worked together on various projects. Between us, we could usually overrule the Legion and get things done. With the Angels gone, however, I’m really not surprised that the Legion is doing their best to make themselves heard. I’d wager that they’ll try to get a more sympathetic coven to replace the Angels.”
“So, what does this mean?” said Melissa.
“It means we’re fucked,” Toni said.
“Well, maybe not,” Amanda said. “Despite the Legion not wanting to involve the Magi Council in this, they are quite aware of the situation in L.A. and feel a response of some kind is needed. So, Trevelyan has asked me to look into it. Victoria knows and has said that she would be happy to assign a few Magi to help us as long as we keep a low profile. Providing the Legion doesn’t know about it, we’ll be fine.”
“So, are we going?” Toni said, with hope shining in her eyes.
Amanda sat forward, her tone serious. “I’m going. I’d like you to come as well, but I’m not forcing you. It could be dangerous. If you come, you do so at your own risk.”
***
With a snap, four women appeared out of nowhere in the driveway to what was once an expensive-looking mansion in the Hollywood Hills. However, the police tape and the boarded-up windows took some of the sheen off the place.
Amanda looked up at the house, surrounded by bushes and trees. “Very nice.”
“It used to be,” Melissa answered.
Amanda used her Aetheric Sight and noted that the Magic that had once been in effect here had been almost entirely swept away.
“What’s the plan?” Tabitha asked Amanda.
“Well, we have a few hours to kill before the Magi from D.C. get here, so I thought we could have a look around the house. I’ll probably take in a little of the city as well, since I’m here.”
“You’re going in there?” Toni asked.
“You don’t have to come with me. You know where to meet me later. I’ll see you then, if you’d like to do your own thing.”
Toni looked at the other two girls. “I don’t really want to go in there again.”
“Fair enough,” Tabitha answered her. “I want to stay close, though, so how about we wait around back for you, Amanda?”
“Sounds good,” she said as she sent a set of senses into the building to find a good place to Port to.
“That okay with you, Toni?” Tabitha asked.
Toni nodded her head. “Sure.” She didn’t look pleased to be here at all.
With that, Amanda willed herself into the house and appeared inside the main entrance hall.
The place had been ripped apart, burnt, and utterly ransacked. The fight that had happened here had been intense. The current stillness of the house felt a little creepy, probably due to the knowledge that there had been a lot of violent deaths here.
The house creaked and shifted as Amanda stepped on loose floorboards and other debris. It felt almost sacrilegious to make so much noise. Amanda’s first line of investigation was to attempt to have a look back through the sands of time and see if she could see anything. Predictably, the period of the attack appeared hazy and indistinct, the powerful Magical forces that had been at work here and the protections and Aegises at play, threw off her scrying attempt enough that it was a lost cause.
Instead, she began to walk through the house. As she did, she opened up her mind to the Magic all around her, trying to get a feel for what had happened here.
As she moved, she could feel the residual, faint Magical signatures created by such powerful Magi and the Magic they’d used. It had been a while since the attack, but the last vestiges of the attackers’ Magic were still here if you looked carefully enough.
She recognised the Magic and knew right away why the girls hadn’t realised what it might be. It was rarely used, and for good reason.
The Nomads had been using Astral or Spirit Magic, and a lot of it. For thousands of years, Spirit Magic had been of limited use, to the point where some mentors didn’t even teach their apprentices about it because they didn’t see the point. Apart from a few very specific circumstances, it had limited us
e, and in some cases, was seen as dangerous.
But Gentle Water had taught Amanda quite a bit about Astral Magic, which meant she recognised the tell-tale signs of it right away.
Astral Magic allowed a Magus to access or control elements from the Aetheric Realm.
More commonly known as the Abyss, the Aetheric Realm had been barred from the Magi for millennia. When the Archons passed into that realm before recorded history, the Abyss was forever barred to the Magi. The Magi could no longer enter or affect it with their Magic. They could no longer summon Spirits to their aid, either.
The Aetheric Realm was also home to Sheol, the land of the Dead. But few Magi took an interest in that either, for fear of being branded a Necromancer.
Walking through the house, Amanda could feel the Astral Magic that had been at work here. These Nomads used it a lot, but there was little else to be found. Satisfied, she Ported outside and found the girls at the back of the garden, standing against the railing that looked down the hill and over the city in the distance.
“Anything?” Tabitha asked.
“Not much, they covered their tracks well, so they did. I did recognise the Magic they used though. It was Astral Magic,” Amanda explained.
“Spirit Magic? Really? I thought that was useless?” asked Toni.
“Or dangerous,” added Tabitha.
“It’s both to be sure. But you said that one of them used that Magic to disappear and reappear, is that right?”
“I… yeah, I think so. That’s what I saw, I’m sure of it,” Toni said.
“Well, that could be an issue,” Amanda said.
***
Amanda sat at an outside table of a coffee shop in downtown L.A. and watched the world pass her by. Even though it was approaching the middle of winter, it felt comfortably warm in California. It made a nice change from the cold of New York.
Thinking back to her walk around the coven house an hour ago, Amanda couldn’t help but be troubled by her findings. If what the girls said about the Nomads using Astral Magic to Port was true, and if it had indeed been Spirit Magic the Nomads had used, then that meant only one thing. These Nomads had discovered the Holy Grail of the Magical world—how to pass into the Aetheric and bypass the barrier that had barred that Realm from the Magi for millennia.
Within Nomad circles this had become known as the Magnus Transitus, or the Great Crossing, and would mean the Nomads could travel through the Abyss to finally meet their masters—the Archons—in person, in the hope of limitless power. It was a quest that most Nomads dreamt about.
Had these Nomads actually achieved it? If so, it could be problematic for the Arcadians if they chose to share their wisdom with other Nomads.
Amanda took another sip of her coffee and nearly spat it out all over her legs when she suddenly recognised someone on the other side of the street.
She quickly placed her mug down and conjured a generous tip for the waitress before getting up.
Was it her?
Amanda peered at the woman using her Aetheric Sight and smiled. It was.
A second later, the young woman on the other side of the road stopped and turned, locking eyes with Amanda. It took another second or two for the girl to recognise Amanda and smile back at her.
“Celest! Wow, it’s great to see you again, you look grand,” Amanda said crossing the street and approaching the girl. Celest looked like she’d just been to the gym with her Lycra shorts and top. Only her biker boots seemed out of place. Celest dropped the gym bag she’d been carrying over her shoulder and hugged Amanda.
“You don’t look so bad, either,” Celest said.
“Thanks a million. How come you’re in L.A.?”
“No reason, just passing through, really. I’m not sure where I’m headed. How about you? I thought you were in New York? You’re a long way from home.”
Amanda smiled. “I’m here on business.”
“More Nomads?”
“Aren’t there always?”
“You want some help? I could do with a workout,” Celest offered.
Amanda paused and blinked. Did she want help? They were going to be going up against a powerful enemy who could potentially kill them. She gave it half a second’s thought before she replied. “Sure. Yes, that would be grand.”
***
The Liberty’s Children delegation had come here quietly and covertly, only really Victoria and this group knew anything about this mission at all, and they wanted to keep it that way. The location of the safe house ended up being a currently disused old warehouse in one of the city’s industrial centres, surrounded by other places of business that were presently shut for the night.
Several tables dotted the floor, some had papers on them, others had weapons, and one had a powerful computer. Amanda spoke with John Easton, the coven leader for the squad of Magi that Victoria had sent.
“Spirit Magic?” John asked.
“That’s what it appears to be. The Angels Coven House felt like it was filled with it. These Nomads know how to use it and use it well. I also have reason to suspect that they can pass into the Abyss at will. You need to be careful; things could get pretty crazy if these guys show up.”
“You think they will?”
“I’ve always been the optimist, John,” Amanda said. John and his teams had contacted a local coven sympathetic to Victoria and the Liberty’s Children and asked if they would put the word out that the three remaining members of the Coven of Angels were staying with them. The house would then be closely monitored while the coven itself had been moved to a nearby safe house to keep them out of harm’s way.
That had been several hours ago. So far, nothing.
Suddenly, several of the Liberty’s Children Black Ops Squad, including John, went quiet and seemed to internalise their thoughts.
Amanda recognised it right away and didn’t need to look into the Magical spectrum to recognise when someone started to speak telepathically.
Without warning, John and the others in telepathic contact winced and held their heads in pain for a brief moment before Amanda sensed the Magical Link suddenly cut off.
“Trouble? Amanda asked.
“The Nomads, they’re at the safe house,” he said, before raising his voice. “Get ready. We’re needed ASAP.”
“The safe house? Where we hid the coven?”
John nodded meaningfully at her.
“Shite,” Amanda cursed.
Everyone jumped into action, and within seconds, they stood together. As the most powerful Magus there, it fell to Amanda to Port everyone to the safe house, which she could do in two quick effects enacted by two parts of her Multi-tasking mind simultaneously.
They appeared outside the box-like building in a run down and quiet part of town. They’d erected several strong Aegises and instructed the coven members to create more once they were inside, in an effort to keep the Nomads out should the worst happen.
The worst had happened.
Amanda noted with more than a little worry that the Aegises were still up, protecting the building and yet according to the Mental Link John had received, the Nomads were already inside.
“This is feckin’ banjaxed,” Amanda spat as she quickly went to work pulling down the Aegises around the building. They’d hoped they would keep the Nomads out. Instead, they were protecting the Nomads that had somehow bypassed them and gotten inside. All the Magi present worked as quickly as they could to bring down the Magical Shields around the building, and when a window on the second floor of the building blew out, she knew they were wasting precious seconds.
Their Magic hammered against the remaining few Aegises until the final one fell. It felt like the air had been pulled taught and then suddenly snapped back like a rubber band breaking in two.
Amanda wasted no time and once more double-Ported the group into the main open-plan downstairs area of the building and appeared in what some might call Hell.
Just like in the Angel’s Coven House, debris and chaos wer
e everywhere. It looked like it had just been bombed. Piles of wood and fabric, which had once been furniture, were scattered about, while floorboards had been ripped up here and there, and small fires burnt merrily away.
In addition to the wood and plaster that littered the floor, dead bodies also lay all about them, broken and bloodied. Amanda heard a couple of people in the group gasp and cry out upon seeing the scene before them.
Farther into the room, three figures stood with their backs to Amanda and her friends. The figures stood in front of a kneeling Arcadian .
“That’s enough,” Amanda shouted at the trio.
The two figures—one male, one female—who flanked the man in the middle, wore somewhat similar shiny-black skin-tight garments and long flowing cloaks. As they turned to look at the new arrivals, their long black hair and similar facial features made Amanda wonder if they were twins.
Standing between them, the third man looked very different. Whereas the two in black looked neat and clean and clearly cared about their appearance, he wore old, dirty clothing, had dark, unkempt hair, and a full, messy beard. He appeared to be of Middle Eastern or Indian descent and looked somewhat unhinged with his wild eyes and gurning face.
“Let him go,” Amanda called out.
The man in the middle laughed. “But of course,” he said, as Magic flared and the body of the man they’d been interrogating ripped apart into messy sludge.
“Jaysus,” Amanda cursed and finished fuelling her Aegis with Essentia.
Astral Magic flared out from this central figure and infused the dead bodies of the coven members at their feet. It all happened so quickly. Within a second, the dead bodies were suddenly no longer dead, or maybe that was being generous because they didn’t look alive either, but they certainly moved.
The Nomads in black charged them, as a blood-caked hand grabbed Amanda’s leg. It belonged to the corpse of a woman who she’d seen alive only a few hours before. Amanda recoiled from the Zombie, backing off in an involuntary reaction to something that should not be. Gasps, screams, and shouts of fear erupted all about her as the pile of bodies started to move and attack. The Zombies clawed and bit at them as Amanda’s friends reacted in much the same way she did.
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