Lilith had wasted no time in Porting there, quickly finding a complex of modern buildings and a small number of people, servants perhaps, going about their work. From what she learned, Mr Black had been missing for about a month with no contact and no communication following a mission with an underwater metal boat of some sort.
Lilith had waited for millennia to hold the Orb again, and despite her frustration at this latest dead end, she could wait a little longer.
Finding a suitable cave hidden out of the way, she retreated there to wait for this Mr Black.
Time passed, and as the hours turned into days, she grew ever more impatient and curious about the world around her. Using her Magic, she sent her senses out to look upon the wonders throughout the land.
Without the use of Magic, the mortals had harnessed the power of lightning, fire, and flight, changing the world to suit their needs. They were like gods in their mastery over the earth.
But seeing such wonders at a distance soon grew tiresome. Lilith wanted to experience such things and had started to take trips away from the island to see the world.
To experience riding the waves of the high seas, Lilith had Ported to this ship just a few hours ago and slaughtered all but one of its crew of twelve. She telepathically forced the remaining man to sail the ship while she stood on the bow, enjoying the ride. She would return to the island shortly, sinking this ship in the process to cover her tracks.
- The Ocean
Leon held onto the wheel, guiding the ship through the treacherous waters as best he could. His fingers were frozen, but he couldn’t let the wheel go. His mind had been compelled to follow the orders of the creature in black and he simply could not resist. He could see the nightmare in a black robe outside on the deck, right at the front of the ship, looking out to sea.
Behind her, on the deck, rolling about as the boat rode the waves, were some of the bodies of his fellow crew members. Dead. Killed by that thing.
He could only cry. The part of his mind that remained his own raged ineffectually, unable to do anything to fight the strange powers that thing possessed.
He only hoped for a swift death. He didn’t want to suffer in the end, he’d suffered enough already.
Praise you
New York
The doorbell sounded. Amanda stuffed the last piece of baked vanilla cheesecake into her mouth, dropped the fork, and strode from the kitchen through to the front door, enjoying the final taste of the dessert as she went. It was Georgina who’d introduced her to baked cheesecake, and now that she was a Magus, she could have as much of it as she liked and didn’t need to worry about putting on any weight. Just one more reason why she loved being a Magus.
She opened the front door expecting to see the postman with a delivery. Liz was often ordering stuff online that would get delivered to their door.
But instead, Amanda found herself looking at a slim but intense-looking girl with green hair, tattoos, and an outfit that made her look like some kind of punk rocker.
The sight of the girl brought Amanda up short, and it took her a moment to gather her thoughts. She could also sense the faint feeling of Magic at work, meaning the girl was a Magus, and although her power didn’t seem overwhelming, she did seem quite skilled in keeping a low profile.
The girl smiled at Amanda, but the expression didn’t touch her eyes.
Amanda swallowed the last of the cheesecake and smiled. “Um, hi. How can I help you?” she asked hesitantly.
“Amanda?” the girl asked.
“That’s right,” she confirmed, using her tongue to clean her teeth.
The girl offered her hand in greeting. “Eudoxia. I took over the Pit nightclub.”
Amanda wasn’t expecting to hear that. The girl looked barely in her twenties, although apparent age could be a deceptive thing where Magi are concerned. Aware that a look of surprise had spread over her face, Amanda swiftly changed her expression to a smile and shook the girl’s hand with a firm grip.
“Well, thank you for coming by, it’s great to meet you. I’d heard that someone had taken it over, but I didn’t know who.”
“And now you do,” Eudoxia replied.
Amanda felt at a bit of a loss as to what she should do. General manners would suggest that she should invite Eudoxia in and be a good host, but when it came to the Magi and the potential danger that each one presented, did she really want to invite this unknown Magus into her home?
That said, she had already had Yasmin here, and had even invited her to the rooftop of this very building. She mulled the idea over in her mind for a second or two before becoming acutely aware that the situation was about to get awkward.
“That’s right. Erm, would you like to come in for a drink?” Amanda offered.
“I’d love to,” Eudoxia said.
Amanda stepped aside and allowed the girl to pass through the house’s Aegis and into the hallway before leading her through the building into the kitchen. Eudoxia chatted idly, commenting on the house while Amanda brewed up a couple of cups of coffee and came to sit next to her at the table while making sure her Magic was ready in case anything kicked off.
“So, ye’ve taken over the Pit club?”
Eudoxia nodded as she sipped at her drink.
“And how’s that working out for yeh?” Amanda asked.
Placing her drink down on the table, she looked up at Amanda. “It had been going well, until yesterday, which is really the reason I’m here. We had big plans for the club and wanted to bring it back to its former glory, better even. There’s enormous potential in it.”
“But ye’ve hit a problem?” Amanda asked.
“Something like that, yes. We were attacked yesterday, inside the club itself, and one of my coven mates was killed in the process,” she said flatly.
“I’m so sorry to hear that. A Nomad, I presume, given that you’re talking to me.”
Eudoxia nodded, her face blank and without visible emotion.
“Who was it?”
“Nymira,” Eudoxia said, looking up and staring into Amanda’s eyes.
Honestly, she should have guessed that it would be her. In fact, she felt surprised that Nymira hadn’t come to New York sooner. The rumours that she’d killed Lucian, Nymira’s apprentice, had been spread far and wide by now. So, it only felt reasonable that Nymira would have heard them. She was in a better position to know more about the truth of it than most. It was entirely possible that Lucian had told Nymira about her and the confrontations that they’d had.
Okay, sure, Yasmin had been involved, and it would also be likely that she knew that Yasmin had forbidden Lucian from killing her, and maybe that had given Nymira pause. Maybe Nymira thought long and hard before taking any action to avoid any conflict with her fellow Arch Magus.
Whatever the reason, something had gotten the better of her, and it sounded like Nymira had chosen to throw caution to the wind and to try to get her revenge. That is, if this Magus wasn’t mistaken about who’d been in the club.
“Nymira? Are you sure?”
“Quite sure. I would know the Voodoo Queen anywhere.”
Amanda nodded. She’d never met the Arch Magus but felt that even she would recognise her the first time she saw her.
“Do you know what she was after? Did she not take kindly to yeh takeover of the club?”
“Heh. Well, that might certainly be a part of it, but I don’t believe that was the primary reason for her attack, no. She was looking for someone, and it’s my belief that she came to the club because it would be the best and most obvious place for her to start looking. I doubt she even knew that anyone would be there,” Eudoxia mused.
“You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Exactly.”
“But you say she was looking for someone? Any idea who?” Amanda asked, with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She felt sure she knew the answer before Eudoxia said it.
Eudoxia smiled in a consolatory manner. “She didn’t say
who, not exactly, but if I had to guess, I think she was looking for you.”
“To be sure,” Amanda said, as she felt a metaphorical weight settle onto her mind. Having an Arch Magus hunting for your blood was never something you wanted. Nymira was a well-known and powerful Magus, someone you did not want to get into a pitched battle with. Alongside her considerable Magical skill, Nymira had a massive pool of resources to call from in the form of money, people, power, and influence from her vast organisation throughout Central America. The thought that this demon of a Magus had finally chosen to come after her scared her more than she cared to admit, and right at that moment, Amanda just wanted the earth to swallow her up and save her from having to deal with it. But life didn’t work like that and she knew that one day soon she would come face to face with that scary lady.
“So, given that you know where I live, do I have anything to fear from your visit? Like, maybe Nymira following you here?” Amanda asked.
“I doubt it, we took pains to make sure we lost her when we Ported out of the club yesterday, and I haven’t seen anything to suggest that she knows of my current whereabouts. She’s already killed one of my coven mates; I do not want to lose any more of them.”
“Of course, I’m sorry for your loss,” Amanda said.
“Thank you. I hope you manage to avoid her, there’s not many who could stand up to a Magus like her.”
Amanda nodded in agreement. Her skill and strength in Magic had come a long way, and she was stronger than most Magi of her skill level, but she doubted very much that it would be enough to stand up to a skilled Arch Magus.
Eudoxia didn’t stay long, she quickly finished her drink and was on her way. Amanda offered to help Eudoxia find a place to stay, given that they were keeping away from the Club for the time being, but Eudoxia refused, preferring to make her own arrangements.
As introductions to Magi went, that one seemed to go rather well, and although Eudoxia came across as an intense young woman, her heart appeared to be in the right place, and Amanda hoped she would be a valuable addition to the New York community.
She’d met most of the Arcadian Magi who’d chosen to settle in New York after Lucian’s death, and although she wouldn’t call most of them friends, she did like them all and felt somewhat protective of them and the city in general.
A little later on, the doorbell sounded again. Waiting for her on the other side was a coven of Magi she’d taken something of a shine to on their arrival to New York.
They based themselves in New Jersey mainly and went by the name, the Knights of Newark. This ragtag group of Magi from the street lived in their camper van, moving around town, keeping to the back streets, and going about their business beneath the radar of the Council. They seemed to be quite tough and had a fair amount of street smarts to them, which reminded Amanda of her life before becoming a Magus.
Amanda had escaped that life, but these guys still lived it.
The group’s nominal leader, Denton Klein, stood at the door as Amanda opened it. Debra Sain, a skilled Magus and Denton’s close friend, sat on the wall next to him at the top of Amanda’s stoop.
Russell, Christina, and Michael, the other three Magi in the coven, stood on the street next to their van, which they had parked outside Amanda’s house.
“Denton, guys, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Amanda asked, feeling a little confused by her second unannounced visit this morning. At least this time, she knew who they were though.
“Ah, hi, Mandy, sorry to bother you.”
“Ah, it’s no bother, what’s the craic?”
“The guys were talking the past few days, and we’ve heard the news, you know?”
Amanda sighed inwardly. The news of her being the one spoken about in the Prophecy of Helene seemed to be spreading through the greater Magi community with a kind of life of its own.
“Ah, I see, and you wanted to come and see if it was all true?”
“Something like that.”
“Well, I guess it depends on what you’ve heard. There’s a lot of shite out there.”
“But you can do what the Prophecy says, right? You have the aura. What about the markings?” Debra asked.
“Well, yeah, I suppose that’s all true.”
Christina moved up a step as she spoke. “You mean, you can… You know. Go into the Abyss?”
Amanda sighed and weighed her response. Did she want to talk about this? To let people know that she could enter the Aetheric Realm? She was the first Magi in millennia to do it the old-fashioned way, the way Magi used to be able to do before the banishment of the Archons. Playing for time, Amanda stepped outside, closing the door behind her. She perched on the sidewall of her stoop next to Debra while the Magi on the street moved up the steps towards her, to listen to what she had to say.
The looks on their faces were full of wonder and questions, and as they gathered around her, she felt a kind of responsibility to them grow inside. They were here to talk with her and to learn the truth. They seemed to want to believe in her, or in something greater than themselves. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that or if it would be a healthy thing for them. Did she want that kind of responsibility?
“Look, it’s all a little overwhelming for me and I’m still not sure what all this means, if it means anything at all. And who’s to say it does mean anything? For all I know, someone is playing a rather cruel prank on me that’s getting a little out of hand. But sure, some strange things have happened recently. I have this tattoo that’s been burnt into me for a start,” she said, showing off the sections on her arms.
“I have no idea what it is or says, but it gave me a small boost in Magical ability and changed my aura, all of which seems to match the Prophecy. As for the passing into the Abyss, I’m not sure what to make of that, and I really need to learn more about it first.”
“Does that mean you can go there?” Christina asked.
“It means I have been, once, but that’s all so far.”
“Awesome,” Denton said.
“What did you see? What was it like?” Debra pressed.
“Scary and depressing, really, and quite dangerous.”
“There’s what? Monsters? Demons?”
“I have no clue what they were, but I didn’t stick around to find out.”
“Sounds cool to me,” Russell commented.
“Sounds scary to me,” Debra added.
“So, you are the Chosen One then, right?” Christina pronounced.
“How do I answer that without sounding like a pretentious idiot?” Amanda asked. “I don’t know. I have no idea what it means, or what I’m meant to do. If this tattoo is an instruction booklet, I can’t read it, so it’s pretty useless.”
“You’re going to kick so much butt,” Russell said. “Those Nomads won’t know what hit ’em.”
“Heh,” Amanda answered, feeling uneasy about their confidence in her.
“It’s the Archons that need to worry, I think,” Christina said. “Who knows, maybe we can storm in there and get them before they return to Earth?”
Amanda coughed in surprise at that last comment. She wasn’t any kind of expert, but she’d guess that taking on an Archon would be a very different experience to taking on a Magus, even an Arch Magus.
“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?” Amanda said.
“You’re the Chosen One, Amanda. The one to lead us through the dark times and defeat the Archons,” Russell replied.
“I’m not sure that’s exactly what the Prophecy says…” Amanda pleaded.
“It’s what it means, though, isn’t it?” Russell replied.
“I don’t know what it means, and I think that reading into something as vague as that Prophecy, especially when it relates to people’s lives, can be a dangerous thing,” Amanda stated.
“You’re being cautious, we get that Mandy. I knew you’d not be too gung-ho, but you can’t deny this is exciting, right?” Denton suggested.
Amanda smil
ed to herself and realised that she simply wasn’t going to change these guys’ opinion of her. They seemed to think she would be some kind of leader or hero fighting the Archons in a coming war. Maybe they were right, but she just couldn’t see herself doing that. Perhaps they were wrong, though and everything had been blown all out of proportion or twisted out of shape somehow. Or just maybe, the whole thing was wrong, a hoax designed to offer hope where there was none. Who knew? But the rumours were spreading and having an effect on the Magi populace. People had started to see her as someone special, as someone different, a leader of some kind. A hero.
She wasn’t sure if she liked that idea. The praise was nice, she thought, and it felt good to be held in such high regard, but she wasn’t sure if their opinions of her were correct. She wasn’t sure she believed in the Prophecy either, so when others did, it made her feel uncomfortable.
Denton appeared to think the whole idea sounded exciting, though.
“I suppose,” Amanda replied, “but let’s just wait and see what happens, hey?”
“Of course, Mandy, no problem. We didn’t mean to make you feel bad,” Debra said.
“I know, don’t worry. We’re grand.”
With that, the group said their goodbyes and made their way back into the camper van, with Russell and Christina chatting excitedly about how cool all this was. Amanda rolled her eyes and went back inside, she needed some normality, and quickly.
- New York
Rylie looked at the image of the green-haired girl who had visited Amanda that morning. She had never seen her before. She appeared to be a Magus, but Rylie doubted she was an Arcadian. If this turned out to be another Nomad or Independent, then the evidence against Amanda seemed to be growing of its own accord. Amanda would end up hanging herself.
The Divine Agent
New York
Assunta Belloni bit into the crusty sandwich roll as she fiddled with the program on her laptop. A couple of clicks of the mouse later, and the call had been placed. Assunta took another bite, savouring the ham and salad in the bread roll as the ringtone sounded. The webcam on her laptop sprung into life to show a mirror image of herself chewing her lunch. She dressed simply in jeans and top with her long dark hair tied back and out of the way.
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