“Of course, Amanda, anything,” Gentle Water said, looking hopeful.
“At the ball, I spoke with Trevelyan, he told me about the Prophecy of Helene, and how he thinks it’s about me,” she said. She watched her mentor for his reaction, noticing his silent “Aah” head movement and slight deflation from the hope that had filled his face a moment before.
“Did he?” he said.
“He did. He said not to tell anyone but you.”
“I understand.”
“Did you know about it? Did you know people believe it refers to me?” she asked, her voice cracking a touch as her emotions rose to the surface.
“Okay, the Prophecy of Helene is quite well known within Magi community. But, there are other prophecies and passages from Magi history. They difficult to decipher and often lead to many interpretation. A few do think it refer to you. Others do not.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me about it?”
“I debate it many times, but I think that other things more important. How people interpret old prophecy did not seem important. You did not need extra worry. You have enough in your life, without this.”
She could see his point of view. Telling her something that might make her worry about what others might think of her would not be a productive way to teach a young Magi. After all, it’s just how a few people interpret a pretty obscure passage from two thousand years ago. Its relevance was somewhat limited. “And what do you think?” she asked.
“I am not scholar, and prophecy not my area of expertise. I know of prophecy. Does it speak of you? It may, it may not. I not know. My focus, always you, Amanda, not what others think of you and not ancient scrolls. I just want to teach you, help you. That is my goal.”
Amanda felt bad. She felt like she’d questioned his friendship and his intentions, something that she really should never have done with the man who has stood by her side throughout her introduction to the Magi world. “I’m sorry G, I didn’t mean to…”
“It okay. You have nothing to apologise for. Trevelyan’s comments were not good, raised questions in your mind. I sure he meant nothing by it, however,” he said.
“I know he didn’t,” she said.
Suddenly, the chair between them, just to Amanda’s right, was pulled out from beneath the table, the noise it made as it dragged its feet over the floor caught both of them by surprise. Just next to the chair, looking tall and imposing stood Yasmin, wearing black wet-look leggings and an over-bust corset that pulled her waist in. Her alabaster face, framed with a mane of raven-black hair looked down at Amanda. Her expression seemed blank at first, unreadable, although her features had a cruelty to them that would send a charging rhino running for its mother.
“Ooh, I’m sorry, might I have been interrupting something?” she asked, her blank face suddenly coming to life in mock apology.
Amanda blinked in surprise at the sudden appearance of the Nomad, but she recovered quickly “It’s no bother, nothing for me to give out to you about,” she answered, her Irish slang filtering through.
Yasmin smiled, her expression saying, “touché.” She walked around the chair, her heels clicking, before she lowered herself into it and crossed her legs. “Please, don’t stop on my account, I’ll wait.”
Adjusting her position, Amanda turned more fully to the newcomer, frowning at her in curiosity. The last time Amanda had seen Yasmin, she’d turned up on her doorstep to tell her about Liz’s kidnapping, helping her for some unknown reason.
Yasmin could possibly be the most powerful Nomad on the planet. The rumours about her were plentiful and were used to scare young Magi into compliance. And yet, she’d always been somewhat friendly with Amanda, even helping her at times.
She felt sure that she must be up to something, although she was at a loss as to what that might be. She wondered how much of these rumours about Yasmin were true and how much might be propaganda or the result of things being blown out of proportion.
The rumours Amanda had heard about herself, such as how she’d killed Lucian’s entire coven singlehandedly, to Trevelyan’s personal views of her connection to a prophecy had already illustrated to her how things could be exaggerated.
Yasmin might be a Nomad, but how bad was she, really, given how much she’d helped?
“No, no. We’d finished our conversation anyway. So, what brings you here?” Amanda asked. “This is becoming something of a regularity.”
“Yet again, straight down to business, Mandy. We should chat more, I’m sure we would have a lot to talk about,” Yasmin said.
“Feck off, Yasmin,” she said, raising one eyebrow as she said it.
Yasmin barely moved or shifted her position, but the brief look of daggers that Yasmin gave in reaction to Amanda’s comment would have killed most people.
Amanda looked at Gentle Water and could see the Aegis he had been slowly powering up as he listened to them talk. She widened her eyes for a moment, knowing she’d strayed over a line for a second.
“I am here on business,” Yasmin said. “Yet again, I have some information for you.”
“Well, unless you can tell me where Mr Black is, it can wait,” Amanda said.
“How fortuitous, I seem to have arrived at just the right moment, then.”
Amanda sat forward, suddenly interested. “You know where he is?”
Yasmin sat back in her chair and ran her hand through her sable locks. “Indeed, I do. Do you want to know what he’s up to?”
“Of course.”
“Mr Black is on an island, an atoll to be precise, in the Pacific and he’s acquired an American nuclear submarine.”
“What? Feck, are you sure?”
“Quite sure. He’s planning on using the nukes in a very poorly-conceived plan to try to destroy the Archons. It sounds doomed to failure, so who knows what will happen?” she said.
“Where is the atoll? Amanda asked.
With a flick of her fingers, a small slip of paper appeared. “Here. Use this information with care, and be prepared for a fight, little one,” she said.
Amanda snatched up the paper and looked at the two strings of numbers and letters on the paper. Coordinates.
She looked up at Yasmin again, feeling confused. “Why do you help me? What’s your angle?”
“Me? I’m just a Good Samaritan. Good day to you,” she said as she stood and turned to leave the building.
“Yasmin,” Amanda called after her, making Yasmin pause and looked back at her. “Should I want to… contact you, how would I go about that?”
Yasmin's eyes narrowed as she looked back at Amanda, thinking things through. After a moment, Amanda felt Yasmin’s Magic reach out to her and wait just outside her Aegis. Amanda knew this was an the offer of a Mental Link so that she could effectively call Yasmin at any time. Amanda hesitantly accepted the Link, reaching out with her own Magic to cement the connection between them.
Amanda watched Yasmin turn and leave. She admired Yasmin’s body as she strolled out the door. She looked great, and Amanda found she had to tear her eyes away from Yasmin’s shapely behind.
Nope, she did not want to get involved with a Nomad. That would be a very, very bad idea.
She looked up at Gentle Water. “Do you believe her?”
“She was right last time. I doubt her motives are entirely altruistic, but we need to look into this,” he said.
“Agreed, let's go.”
- The American Wilderness
Horlack roared in frustration and slammed his fists into the cave wall, causing rocks to break and tumble to the ground. Turning to the entrance, he roared again, the sound echoing throughout the mountainous landscape beyond.
He got a grip on his emotions and breathed deeply, calming himself down. His imprisonment in Egypt had made him a little crazy, but seeing Maya in that strange building in the desert had brought old feelings flooding back. He remembered how he felt about her. How he wanted her. But not as a conquest, he didn’t want to just take her, hav
e his way with her, like he used to do. This was different, this was something he’d not felt for millennia. He wanted her to want him back. He wanted Maya to love him, and to want to be with him.
But he wanted revenge as well, but to take it would alienate him from Maya for good.
He needed to make a choice.
Black Dawn
The Atoll, the Pacific Ocean
After a flash of light and the fleeting feeling of acute dislocation, Amanda’s first impression was that she’d Ported into an oven. The extreme heat hit her hard as her feet sank into the sand of the tropical beach. A quick working of Magic cooled her down a fraction as she looked around.
To her left morning approached, splashing crimson and fire across the heavens, as the waters of the atoll’s lagoon lapped gently onto the sand. Amanda wore her usual jeans and tank top, but briefly considered a quick working of Magic to transform her jeans into denim shorts but dismissed it.
To her right, Gentle Water and Liz stood closest to her. Liz pulled her hair into a ponytail as she looked ahead, boosting her Shields with Essentia. Her apprentice’s growing confidence made her smile.
Maria stood next to them, and just beyond her, Orion and Xain looked ready for action in head-to-toe black combat gear. And finally, Maya and Yoh stood furthest away.
Everyone looked at each other, they all knew the plan.
Amanda and Gentle Water had returned to the house as quickly as they could, bringing Yoh and Maya with them from The Palace and calling Orion and Xain over from Paris.
With everyone there, they quickly discovered that the island didn’t exist on any conventional maps found online or in print, but a quick scrying of the area confirmed there to be an atoll at those coordinates, along with a submarine, and lots of activity on the beach.
Everyone had been briefed on the basics and were under instructions to capture and subdue whenever possible and secure the nukes. Amanda had no idea if Mr Black was truly on their side or if he might actually be insane. Either way, nuclear bombs were not to be trifled with.
Ahead, further along the beach and well inside the Aegis that stopped them from Porting too close, Amanda could make out work lights lighting a path from the shoreline to the enormous rock in the middle of the island and figures milling about on the sands.
Amanda nodded at her friends. “Shall we?” she said.
With nods of agreement, the group started to jog over the sand, quickly but silently approaching Mr Black’s team.
Amanda watched the figures ahead of her, and it soon became clear they'd been spotted. Magical energy started to build, and dark silhouettes moved into position, ready to fight.
The men with guns opened fire, lighting up the beach with their muzzle flashes.
The Essentia rounds skimmed across the sands and slammed into the Aegises of the group. In her Aetheric Sight, bursts of light peppered their shields with pops, bangs, and the whine of the occasional ricochet.
The weak Essentia rounds did little to Amanda’s Aegis other than light it up as the bullets tried to find their targets. Amanda just pushed more Essentia into her Aegis to compensate, using one of her Multitasking minds to do the job.
Taking a wider arc in her approach, Amanda tried to draw some of the gunfire away from Liz, and ran through the edge of the water, soaking her trainers and the legs of her jeans.
Ahead and to her left, the sea erupted in a massive surge of water. A lizard-like head, a good six feet from its nose to the back of its skull, rose from the sea on a serpentine neck and swung towards Amanda. It held its fang-filled maw wide as it snapped at her.
“What the bleedin’ hell is that?” she said to herself.
It moved quickly, but Amanda saw it coming and jumped away. Landing in a roll, she came to her feet and looked back. The creature’s massive arms heaved its body from the sea with surprising speed and it came in for another bite. Essentia surged as her Magic flared, smashing its head sideways with a powerful Kinetic attack. It howled, but only looked angrier.
Amanda could see the thing’s Aegis. Was it a Scion of some form? This creature was entirely different from the Vampire and Werewolves she’d seen before.
Amanda turned and ran up the beach towards her friends. They’d already started to fight with the other members of Mr Black’s supernatural forces. She could see Magic being thrown around and bullets flying everywhere.
Just ahead, Gentle Water and Liz had taken on a Magus and a freaky-looking thing that looked like it had stepped straight from the pages of H.P Lovecraft. Its top half was mostly human, apart from its head being one large fang-filled mouth. It wore a long-sleeved red robe embroidered with gold runes. From beneath the hem of the garment extended a mass of huge tentacles that whipped about, trying to attack them.
Hearing the sea creature roar from behind her, Amanda turned. She’d have to deal with this thing first before helping her friends.
“Come on, then, slimy, let’s be havin’ ye,” she said as the enormous mouth lunged for her. Amanda dodged to her right, out of the way, as the creature hit nothing the sand.
“Ooh, good try, Nessie,” Amanda quipped. She threw a punch at the thing’s head, putting as much of her strength and Essentia into it as she could muster, causing the head to whip away as the creature roared in pain. Gunfire sounded nearby and Essentia-filled bullets hit her Aegis, damaging it.
“Jaysus, gimme a break,” she yelped.
One of her Multitasking minds sent out a wave of force at the three troops which hit them like a speeding car, knocking them into the air. The serpent’s head swung back with a howl, clearly wanting to bite her in half. She’d been ready for it, though, and delivered a powerful spinning kick to the thing’s jaw with a grunt of effort and a snap of Magical energy.
The head veered away as the Essentia Strikes from her Multitasking minds pummelled the Aegis of the thing, breaking it down quicker than the Scion could repair it. The creature backed up for a moment, coiling its neck like a snake ready to strike. .
Amanda faced it and lowered herself into a crouch “Come on, then, ye wee beastie, I’m ready for ye.”
The thing’s head whipped out, but its jaws snapped on empty air as Amanda sprang up and over the serpent’s head. She landed just behind its skull, straddling its neck like a horse ride. Unleashing an Essentia strike as she landed, she finally shattered the thing’s Aegis. Clinging on for dear life, she followed it up with a powerful Kinetic blast to its head while another of her minds reached into the serpent’s brain and with a tiny tweak, sent the beast to sleep. Its body suddenly went limp and Amanda rode it down onto the sandy beach.
“That’s beauty one, beast zero,” she quipped to no one, before jumping off and patting it on its head. “Night, night.”
Turning, she strode towards the fight ahead of her. The three troops who’d opened fire on her were scrambling to their feet as she approached. Half a second before the fastest of the trio brought his weapon to bear, she shot forward and knocked the gun to one side. A punch to the face knocked him unconscious.
Next to her, the female of the three lifted her gun. Grabbing it, Amanda twisted the weapon and the woman's arm with a jerk. A bone cracked. She screamed as Amanda swept her leg through where the woman stood, dropping her to the sand. The soldier let go of her gun. Still holding its barrel, Amanda swung it like a club, hitting the third man’s face and spinning him like a top as he fell to the ground unconscious.
Satisfied these three weren’t going to be anymore trouble, she dropped the gun and ran. She sprinted towards Liz, who’d ended up facing the tentacled thing alone as Gentle Water dealt with the Magus.
As she closed the gap, the Old One, as she believed they were known, pressed its attack on Liz and managed to wrap one of its long, fast-moving tentacles around Liz’s ankle and swiftly lifted her off the ground. The Old One brought Liz to its mouth, gaping wide with rows of shark-like teeth, only for Liz to kick out with her free foot and deliver a powerful Essentia strike against the
thing’s head, knocking a few teeth flying in the process.
Amanda smiled in pride at her apprentice’s action. As she got closer, she jumped and hit the tentacle holding Liz with an Essentia-infused kick. It spasmed and dropped Liz.
“Lovecraft called, he wants you back in Arkham,” Amanda called as she landed. The thing backed off for a second momentarily unsure and hissed.
“Sarcastic little bitch, are we?” the thing growled at her.
“I bet it’s an awful tough job doing your makeup in the morning with no eyes,” Amanda said. “The lipstick must go everywhere.”
“I see well enough,” it roared as it lunged. Its tentacles swept around as it wound up its taloned right arm. With a spinning jump, Amanda kicked the thing in the face. It staggered and flailed about to keep its balance.
“Oooh, my bad, I think I clipped you there,” Amanda joked as she reached out and pulled on Essentia. A powerful Kinetic Ram smashed down on top of the thing. The Old One howled in pain as it was crushed beneath Amanda’s Magic.
She glanced at Liz behind her. “Go help Gentle Water, I’ll finish this one,” she said. Liz nodded and sprinted off. Amanda looked back at the Old One, who rose up from the ground.
“Finish me, will you?” it rumbled.
Amanda just smiled and released a wave of Essentia in a focused blast at the Scion. It fell backwards in a mass of flailing tentacles and crashed into one of the work lights behind it. Another of Amanda’s minds took hold of the electricity in the light and amplified its power. The other lights connected to it glowed brightly before exploding in a shower of sparks while electrocuting the Old One. The thing went into a violent fit from the shock as the electricity coursed through its body while the rest of Amanda’s Multitasking effects hammered the Scion’s Aegis, breaking it down.
Somehow, the thing managed to heave itself off the broken light, backing away from Amanda. Its Aegis destroyed, it looked at Amanda with fear, and after a moment of thought, it turned and moved away, quickly heading off down the beach and away from the fight before Porting away altogether.
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