Magi Legend

by Andrew Dobell

  But maybe that wasn’t what she meant. A weakness could also be leveraged. Having recently spent a reasonable amount of time with Mr Black and finding out quite a bit about his history and his family, maybe there was a weakness after all.

  Angel looked up at Lilith.

  “I suppose, there are his daughters…” Angel suggested.

  “Daughters?” Lilith repeated, clearly interested.

  “Yes, Echo and Amanda. Both are Magi, and he seems quite attached to both of them.”

  “Tell me more,” Lilith said.

  To Councillor Count Saint-Germain

  I’m writing to you to express my concern about the behaviour of a Magus here in the USA. Specifically, Amanda-Jane Page. It has come to my attention that she has been spending a not-insignificant amount of time with several undesirables, dissidents, and most worryingly of all, Nomads.

  We first noticed this a short time ago, and in the interests of security, given her relationship with Councillor Trevelyan and others, we chose to monitor her to the best of our ability.

  Below you will find a list of the incidences that are of note, and the proof we have of each of these meetings.

  I would ask that you look through this list and the proof we’ve gathered, and that you take the necessary action needed to make sure that the Council is secure and the threat is minimised. I trust that you will take this seriously and act appropriately.

  Kindest Regards

  Forrest Ward

  About Face

  New York

  Amanda appeared in the alleyway behind The Jade Palace, Porting into the quiet gap between the Palace and the surrounding buildings. Yoh tried to keep it as clear as he could, knowing that Magi such as Amanda and others he knew, used it to visit his establishment quite regularly.

  Amanda visited several times a week to see Yoh and Maya, and also because Liz worked here with Yoh’s apprentice and PA, Stella.

  It had been a couple of days since she’d last spoken to Liz. She seemed to be taking pains to purposefully avoid her and it had occurred to Amanda that maybe Liz had spoken to Yoh or Stella about what had been going on and it might be able to give her an idea of what was wrong.

  When she had first arrived in New York, back when Lucian ruled the city, travelling around had been tricky and they had to pretty much Port everywhere.

  Yoh had managed to keep such a low profile that Lucian had no idea where he was in the city. The Jade Palace had remained an innocuous eatery and self-care business throughout Lucian’s reign, and to keep it that way, Amanda and her friends only visited if they Ported here.

  That had changed with Lucian’s death, and Amanda often walked to The Palace now, enjoying the street life she saw on her walks. But today would be different and reminded her of those days hiding from Lucian. Only she was hiding from Lucian’s mentor now, instead.

  It was entirely possible that Nymira knew of The Jade Palace and was watching it, so she Ported in with as little fuss as possible and appeared in the alleyway around the back of the building.

  She looked in either direction and seeing nothing, approached the rear entrance.

  She had a sudden, intense feeling that something was about to happen, so she boosted her Aegis on reflex and rushed for The Palace’s back door. If she could just get inside its Aegis…

  The enormous Kinetic blast slammed into her as she turned the key in the door. Unlocking the door created a hole in the building’s Aegis. Amanda was knocked flying through the doorway. The thick metal door buckled under the power of the attack.

  Hitting the wall on the far side of the room, Amanda saw Nymira drop into the alleyway as her Magic reached in and caught the swiftly closing hole in the Aegis and leveraged it open. The conflicting Magic emitted sparks and lightning-like bolts of energy that arced about the room until the Aegis flared briefly and then ruptured.

  Amanda worked her own Magic and quickly split her mind into several parts that would allow her to Multitask and cast several Magical effects at the same time.

  From outside, the large bin that stood on casters in the alleyway flew through the air and crashed through the door. It took out the wall and crashed into Amanda’s Aegis. The interior wall behind her gave way and she crashed through it into the office on the other side, her unyielding Aegis protecting her from the attack.

  Wanting to take this fight away from The Palace, Amanda tried to Port. But clearly, Nymira didn’t want her going anywhere as the Nomad countered the effect, dissipating her Magic. Simultaneously, Amanda felt an Aegis, a new one, spring up around the building on Nymira’s command.

  She couldn’t see the Voodoo Queen for a moment as she lay in the office at the back of The Jade Palace. Around her, several office workers looked terrified. A couple of them were screaming in panic.

  Nymira’s Magic reached out and tore at the debris between her and Amanda, creating a hole.

  Getting to her feet, Amanda disliked the idea that she was on the defensive but registered the renewed screams of those around her. These were probably ordinary Riven mortals who had never seen Magic before, and from a quick glance around, she could see a few of them were hurt from the flying debris.

  Amanda wanted to do something to help, to stop these innocents from getting hurt. But Nymira sent a powerful spike of Essentia at her that stabbed at her Aegis, attempting to crack it open. Amanda concentrated on her Aegis, putting as much effort into protecting herself from this skilled Magus as she could.

  “Run!” Amanda screamed at the bystanders. They backed off in fear as strange energies sparked and flew about the room.

  At the same time as the Essentia attack, more of Nymira’s Magic ripped at the ceiling directly above Amanda. The floor above collapsed on top of her, the heavy wooden beams splintering as they broke against her Aegis.

  Striding into the room, Nymira noticed the five or six mortals cowering away from the fight, trying to open the doors that had been partially blocked by the debris.

  Vaguely, Amanda was aware of more Magic flickering about the room as she concentrated on refuelling her Aegis. As she defended herself, filing cabinets and desks flew from where they rested and hit her as if they’d been fired from a cannon.

  During a sudden break in the attacks, Amanda looked up at the smirking Arch Magus and felt the red-hot flush of anger rush through her veins.

  An office worker threw herself at Amanda, her face filled with rage, and Amanda suddenly realised what Nymira had done–she was controlling the Riven. The mortal woman jumped at Amanda with no thought to her own safety. Landing on her, she grasped Amanda’s hair and clawed at her with her fingernails. Amanda tried to push her off, grateful that her Force Shield protected her from any real damage, as another worker piled on trying to bite her face. Within seconds, Amanda found herself buried beneath several snarling Riven hell-bent on ripping her apart like a pack of wild dogs.

  When another massive chunk of concrete hit the brawl Amanda found herself involved in, she wondered about the depths that Nymira would sink to in order to have her revenge. The concrete missed Amanda but did break the leg of one of the mortals, not that it slowed the woman down or had any effect on the savagery of her attack.

  Amanda tried to Port out of the brawl and into the Abyss, but once again found her Magic blocked by the Voodoo Queen, who laughed at her predicament.

  “You will die here tonight, Amanda, I promise you that,” Nymira said, her voice ringing out loud and clear through the snarls and inhuman sounds her mind-slaves were making.

  Unable to Port away, Amanda concentrated on her Force Shield and with a concentrated working of Magic, pushed it out, expanding it suddenly and shoving the rabid workers off her. They fell backwards. Amanda looked up at Nymira, who only laughed.

  Amanda jumped up and ran at Nymira. She used all of her minds and Magic on keeping her Shield up and intact, but she had plenty of Essentia stored within her that she could use if only she could hit the Nomad.

  As Amanda ran at her, N
ymira cocked her head to one side and with a look that said, ‘Really?’ hit her with a powerful Kinetic blast. Amanda flew back, smashing through the next wall and out into the Peace Garden in the centre of The Palace. Hitting the floor, Amanda rolled and looked up, the bruises and scrapes on her body starting to become a little more debilitating.

  Nymira laughed again as she walked towards the hole in the wall that Amanda had created. The office workers under her control scrambled through the gap, snarling and running at her, wanting only to tear her apart.

  Looking up at the Nomad, Amanda realized that she might not actually survive this. As that dark thought surfaced, a shadow appeared behind Nymira in the office, followed by a flash of shiny black claws that raked across her back. Nymira fell through the hole in the wall, landing on her knees in the Peace Garden as Horlack stepped out of the office behind her. Amanda backed off, her stomach doing flips upon seeing the nightmare creature from her past up close and personal once again.

  Stepping out into the garden, Horlack rose to his full height. Twice as tall as a man, and nearly as wide, his dark heavily muscled body was covered in patches of coal-black hair. He looked like a demon from hell with his bat-like head, enormous tusks, and the cancerous looking twisting horn that grew from his forehead.

  The talons on his right hand dripped with blood. Nymira’s blood. He looked down at Amanda and paused for a moment before turning his attention back to the Nomad. The office workers who had been running towards Amanda had also stopped to look up at the demonic Werewolf, waiting to see what would happen.

  Horlack reached down and grabbed Nymira by the legs. He picked her up and proceeded to slam her back down onto the floor again. He repeated it several times as if she were a hammer he was using to drive home a particularly difficult nail, before throwing her in a fit of rage at the far wall of the building.

  But she never hit it. Nymira Ported away in a flare of Magic and a soft snap of air.

  Around her, the office workers suddenly regained their minds and collapsed to the floor. Most of them were in pain, with one woman nursing a broken leg. Those who were still alert enough to take notice of Horlack screamed and backed away from the creature.

  Amanda stared up at him, unsure what was about to happen. This thing had tried to kill her several years ago triggering her Epiphany. She had retaliated with instinctual Magic, blasting Horlack with it. She thought she’d killed him. But after the Nomad at the nuclear power plant had brought him back, it became clear that she hadn’t and maybe she’d only pushed him into the Abyss.

  Sitting on the gravel, Amanda looked up at Horlack. His shark-like eyes stared back at her, his expression unreadable.

  She had no idea what Horlack was doing, but she refuelled her Aegis and healed the damage that Nymira had inflicted, waiting for Horlack to make his move.

  As she watched, he sank down into a crouch and offered her his hand.

  “May I help you up?”

  Amanda looked at the hand and then back at Horlack’s face. This was a new one. Realising that he probably wasn’t going to attack her, she picked herself up, ignoring his hand and doing it herself. Remembering the panicked mortals on the far side of the garden, she sent a quick wave of Magical energy at them that would put them gently to sleep. She would deal with them later.

  She stood, but even at her full height and with him crouched down before her, he was still taller than she was.

  “What can I do for you Horlack?”

  “I… I want to apologise.” He looked down at the floor.

  Amanda stared at him in shock as she processed his statement. She wasn’t sure she’d heard that right.

  “Excuse me?” she asked, wanting to be sure she wasn’t in some kind of fever dream.

  “I want to make amends for my actions, I want to apologise to you,” he rumbled.

  “Why?” Amanda asked, suddenly suspicious.

  “I want to meet with… with Maya… please.”

  He said please? This thing that looked like it was from Hell had just said please to her. She wasn’t sure she could take much more of this weirdness.

  “You want to meet with Maya? Can’t you just ask her yourself?”

  “We have a history, and, I don’t think she wants to see me. But, if you were to… vouch for me? Maybe?” he suggested.

  Amanda looked down at the blood on his claws, and then back up at his face. It seemed strange to see this animalistic nightmare talking, like the human it must have once been. But she knew now why he had attacked Nymira, he wanted someone close to Maya to speak for him.

  “Heh. Look, I appreciate your help against Nymira, but if Maya doesn’t want to see you…” she began.

  Horlack leant forward, lowering his head some more, his movement interrupting her. While it wasn’t meant to be threatening, his size and appearance made it look and feel that way. Amanda broke off and backed up a step.

  “Please, Amanda. Just tell her what I did today and tell her I wish to speak with her,” he said, pleading with her.

  Amanda smiled to herself, not quite believing what was happening. He was trying to prove himself worthy to talk to Maya.

  “Okay, I’ll do it, so I will. But I can’t promise anything,” she said and opened a Mental Link between herself and Horlack which he accepted.

  “I understand. I’ll look forward to your message, and thank you.” Turning, he leapt up to the roof of the building before disappearing from sight. The hour was late, and luckily The Jade Palace was empty apart from the few workers sleeping peacefully around her.

  With some careful use of Magic, Amanda had soon wiped the memory of the fight from their minds, healed them, and sent them home before she turned back to the mess that Nymira had made of the back of the building.

  She wondered if Nymira would try her luck again, or had Horlack scared her off for good?

  - The Arkady, Aetheric Craft, in Geosynchronous Medium Earth Orbit.

  Stepping up from the Portal in the Null Realm onto the deck of the sleek Aether Ship that she knew so well, Maya walked through to the main living space. It was an open-plan area with plush white leather seats and polished wooden decking. Everything had a clean, modern design with minimalist décor. Nearby, a large sabre-toothed cat with honey-coloured fur lay sprawled on the floor, watched her with his glistening eyes.

  Maya smiled and gave him a playful scratch behind the ears. It purred loudly at her as she walked past. “Good boy, Samhain,” she said.

  The ship’s captain and owner stood at the windows, looking down at Earth’s curve far below. They were several thousand kilometres above the planet and had a breathtaking view.

  “Hey, Maya,” the woman said. “What’s up?”

  “I’m a little concerned with how, um, Amanda is acting. Liz came to me yesterday a little concerned.”

  “I know. I’m aware. Let’s just say, it’s not her finest hour, and things will get worse before they get better.”

  All pile on

  The Jade Palace, New York

  Feeling drained after fixing the damage that Nymira had done to the back of the building, Amanda walked through to the front of The Jade Palace and into the bar area with its glass frontage.

  It turned out that Yoh and Maya were not here tonight, and even Stella had apparently left early, leaving some of the other office staff to finish work and lock up. She realised how lucky she’d been that there weren’t any customers in tonight. Otherwise, she would have needed to bring in the Arcanum to help with the fallout. Instead, she had been able to handle it herself and clean up the mess quite easily.

  The only thing that Amanda would have to leave as it was would be the outer Aegis at the back of the building that Nymira ripped holes in and was now basically useless. The main inner Aegis that had been left untouched only covered Yoh’s apartment, upstairs.

  Amanda walked behind the bar, pulled a glass down from the shelf, and poured herself a tall glass of water. She then walked back to the stools around the front of
the bar where she sat and sipped at it.

  As she took another mouthful of water, she sensed the stirring of Magic outside the front of the building and looked up to see the Essentia in the street start to pull in on itself.

  The energy shot forward, smashing the café door open. Glass and metal flew everywhere. Amanda boosted her Aegis as she ducked off the stool, raising her arm to protect her face.

  Looking up, she saw a Magus with neatly trimmed blond hair step through the glass. It crunched under his black patent leather boots. The man had a haughty look on his chiselled features and held one hand behind his back as he moved, his long black leather trench coat flaring out around his legs.

  “Zere you are, Amanda. Why, it iz such ze pleasure to see you once again. It has been too long, Fräulein,” the man said with a heavy German accent.

  Amanda didn’t recognise him, or the Magi who walked in behind him. A man with mousy hair, wearing a suit and glasses with circular lenses stood close to Trenchcoat man.

  Behind Trenchcoat and Suit, two more Magi followed. A bald man in a bomber jacket and jeans, wearing boots with red laces walked in next to a woman with a curious haircut of bleached blond hair, cut to various lengths.

  Red Laces and Bleach spread out to the sides, but kept to the front of the building and watched the street outside.

  Amanda looked back at Trenchcoat and blinked. “I’m sorry, do I know ye?”

  She might not know who they were, but she felt sure they were not here to play nice. They were here for a fight, and any talking before things kicked off was merely foreplay. But she didn’t want to fight again, so keeping them talking was always preferable and there might be a chance that she could defuse the situation.