“Do it,” said a male voice from not too far away. Amanda looked up and spotted the two cloaked Magi, walking towards her, leaving the scattered bodies of Horlack’s troops dead or unconscious behind them.
“Sorry?” Amanda asked.
“Do it. Kill him.”
Amanda frowned. “Why should I?”
“He’s a Scion. A dangerous one. He’s been running around this city in full sight of everyone here. He’s proven that he cannot live in this world, he needs to be ended.”
Amanda looked down at the unconscious Scion. In many ways, this unknown Magi was right. He was a danger, but Amanda had a fairly significant investment in this Scion. He would be the catalyst that would turn her into a Magus, and that was not something she was able to ignore.
She simply could not kill him. It would change everything.
She looked back up at the Magus. “No. I won’t, and neither will you.”
The Magus cocked his head slightly. “Really?”
“I’m going to leave now, with Horlack,” Amanda explained, eyeing the Magus. He pulled back his hood, revealing jaw-length hair and a face that spoke to centuries of experience. His companion, a young woman with short, nearly-white blonde hair that was barely an inch long, did the same.
She hung back, watching with narrowed eyes.
“No, you’re not,” the man warned her.
Amanda ignored him and reached out to Horlack with her Essentia as she readied herself to Port.
Suddenly, an Aegis snapped into place around herself and the man, but not Horlack. The Magus flooded it with Essentia, building up its strength. Amanda reached out with her own Magic and cancelled his feeding of Essentia into the Aegis.
“Hey,” Amanda said.
“You’re not leaving here with that Scion,” the man said.
“I will, and you’re not going to stop me,” Amanda said as she threw a series of Essentia strikes at the Aegis that surrounded them both. She could have attacked the man, but so far, apart from objecting to her not killing Horlack, he’d not done anything to directly hurt her. Also, from what he said, it sounded like he wanted to protect the Riven in the city, something she could relate to.
“I’m warning you,” the man said.
Amanda looked back at him, watching as his stance changed into a more aggressive one.
“I wouldn’t,” Amanda said.
“Ariston,” the woman called out, raising her hand in a gesture that suggested he stop. Amanda noticed the simple black mark on her palm and knew who they were. They were Sentinels. Amanda had run across one once before, back when she and Maya had visited the nuclear power plant and first met Mr Black. A Sentinel had attacked her then, but between herself and Maya, they had subdued him and taken him back to her house. Of course, he’d then proceeded to commit suicide before she’d learned much about them. She still only knew a little, as did the majority of the Magi world, but what little they did know was that the Sentinels didn’t side with either the Nomads or the Arcadians, and instead, remained impartial and fought to protect humanity from the supernatural as a whole.
An admirable cause if ever there was one, but it seemed like they occasionally took things a little too far.
“You’re Sentinels,” Amanda stated.
The Man frowned. “Last warning.”
“You really want to do this?” Amanda asked.
“Ariston, stop this. You’re being pig-headed,” the blonde replied.
“Stay out of this, Crystal,” Ariston answered her.
“No, you’re being unreasonable.”
“Shut up.” A volley of Essentia launched at Amanda and slammed into her Shield. Amanda staggered but responded in kind. This man wasn’t holding back, and she could see the rage behind his eyes. He was furious.
Keeping her Aegis pumped, Amanda returned the favour and threw an incredible volley of Magic at the man.
An intense light show of Magical energy rushed between them as they desperately tried to break through each other's Aegis. She could feel the effort and power that this Magus was throwing at her. He was skilled with a strong connection to Essentia, stronger than the vast majority of Magi in the world.
She could feel her Aegis taking a considerable pounding as he threw massive amounts of energy at her. With most Magi, he’d win without too much trouble. Maybe even against a Master or Arch Master Magus.
As far as she knew, the connection that all Magi had to Essentia, was only so strong. She was already aware that she was unusual, not least of which was because her own connection to that Essentia was much stronger than any other Magi she’d ever come across.
But Ariston changed that. Suddenly, she found someone who had a connection that rivalled her own. Her own connection was so strong that she often found herself regulating it unless it was a life or death situation. But she needed that power here, and so she opened the floodgates.
Amanda threw Essentia strikes, Kinetic Rams, Lightning bolts, Fireballs, and anything else she could think of at the figure before her. The rush of energy through her body was exhilarating. She could feel her heart thumping as she just went with it and threw everything she had at the man.
Without warning, the Sentinel’s Aegis faltered and disintegrated. All of a sudden, she was throwing Magical attacks at the man rather than at his Aegis. She didn’t notice right away, being too swept up in the thrill of just letting go and unleashing everything. Seconds passed, and she realised that the counter-attacks had stopped and Crystal was screaming at her. She pulled back as quickly as she could, cancelling her effects as the Aegis around them both faltered and died.
The blackened remains of what was once Ariston lay smoking on the ground before her. There was little left of him, and Crystal fell to her knees by his side.
Amanda looked down at the young woman and felt bad. She hadn’t intended to kill him, but he’d forced her hand. Had she not thrown everything she had at him, he might just as likely have killed her instead. She noticed that her own Aegis was in terrible shape after having it hammered nearly to death by the Sentinel’s Magic.
Amanda sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“Get out of here and take that monster with you,” Crystal barked.
Amanda hesitated, wondering if Crystal did actually need someone. Amanda felt terrible for what she’d done, but she hadn’t had a choice.
“I said go!” Crystal shouted up at her again.
Amanda nodded. “Sure thing,” she mumbled and backed off, walking over to Horlack. Amanda paused and looked back at Crystal, who had started to cry silent tears as she sat beside Ariston. As she watched, Crystal’s Magic flared and with a burst of Astral Magic, the pair of them were gone.
Amanda nodded. She felt regretful that she’d killed him, but he would have done the same to her.
She heard Horlack moan.
Looking back, she quickly reached into his mind and put some safeguards in place, blocking him from waking up for now. She needed time to work.
Concentrating, Amanda reached out and pulled herself and Horlack through into her Null Realm, appearing in the lobby with Horlack’s hulking body laid out on the floor next to her.
“Now, what do I do?” she said to herself. Samhain, who was still lying by the fire, lifted his head. When he saw Horlack’s body he growled and got to his feet.
“Hey Sam, no. He won’t hurt you, and he’s not staying here. Calm down,”
Samhain turned to look at her and cocked his head to one side.
“Don’t give me that look, this is my home as much as it is yours,” she said to the large cat.
The sabretooth cat sighed, before it stalked to the door leading to the cottage, pushed it open, and skulked through.
“Sure, you go that way,” Amanda said, shaking her head. She sometimes wondered who was in charge around here.
Amanda walked over to the table where she’d Ported the stone tablet and picked it up. It was heavy and beautifully carved, she thought. So, she had the book and Horlack. S
urely, this could only mean one thing. She was the one to put Horlack in that tomb.
Walking over to the welcome mat Amanda focused on the tomb that she’d visited with Gentle Water, before pushing through the gate and into the real world.
Suddenly appearing on the rocky plateau in the middle of the Egyptian desert, she could see the depression where the entrance to the tomb was. It was covered with sand, as it would be for hundreds of years before it was excavated and explored.
The desert was hot and dry and the wind whipped around her medieval dress, her skirts rippling around her ankles. She was about to Port into the deepest part of the tomb when something occurred to her.
There was no Dead Magic Zone here.
When she’d visited with Gentle Water, they’d been unable to Port in this close due to the zone, but it wasn’t here. She looked around, doubting her senses for a moment, wondering if she’d come to the wrong place. But she was sure she was right. One way to know for sure. She created a second set of senses and sent them through the sand barrier, into where she thought the tomb would be.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, her senses were in the tomb. It was pitch dark, so she expanded the range of light that her vision could pick up, and slowly brought the interior of the tomb into view.
She quickly located the little alcove where the stone tablet was found and Ported into the deathly quiet interior of the tomb. It was a little creepy in here, even though her enhanced vision cut through the darkness.
She gently placed the tablet into the alcove and stepped away, feeling happy with what she’d done. She turned and walked deeper, soon finding the sealed up final chamber. Porting to the other side of the barrier, she appeared in the final room with the human-sized sarcophagus in the middle. The room looked quite different to when she’d been here last. Back then, the place had been trashed, with bits of rubble everywhere and dead bodies littering the floor.
Looking at the sarcophagus, it was abundantly clear that Horlack was not going to fit inside, so she concentrated and called on her Magic to increase the size of the coffin. The room was large enough, so that wasn’t a problem. Satisfied with the size of it, she reached out and opened the gate to her Null Realm and pulled Horlack through with her Magic, placing him directly inside the sarcophagus.
“Well done,” said a voice from nearby.
Amanda jumped at the sound, nearly falling over from the shock of it. “Jaysus,” she exclaimed, clutching her chest. “Don’t be doing that, you nearly made me shite myself.”
“Apologies,” the Weaver said. “I am here to finish the work you’ve started.”
“Oh?” Amanda asked.
“I’ll place Horlack in stasis, so he will not wake until the sarcophagus is opened, and then, once you’re out of here, I’ll create the Dead Magic Zone around it.”
“Ah,” Amanda said. “Okay, so, I think I need to write the warning on the wall, even though it isn’t heeded.”
The Weaver seemed to nod before turning away. He was a strange, curious creature, and yet, she quite liked him. She felt like there was a natural connection there. It wasn’t something she could easily explain, but she certainly felt it.
She thought it strange how she naturally referred to the Weaver as a ‘him’, but then, she wasn’t sure that ‘she’ really fit, and using ‘it’ felt odd.
Dismissing that train of thought, she returned to the wall and thought back to her previous visit and the writing that had been carved into the wall.
She remembered the words quite clearly. “Do not lift the slab, Horlack lies within.”
Holding out her hand, Amanda worked her Magic and conjured a dagger into it, and set to work carving the words into the wall. The sandstone yielded easily, letting her write the phrase without trouble.
Satisfied that she’d written it as she’d remembered it, she stepped back to admire her handiwork.
“Are you finished?” the Weaver asked.
“I am.”
“Then we should retreat a good distance,” the Weaver suggested.
The sudden flash of Magic and the ease with which the Weaver used it, marvelled Amanda. She stood atop a large sand dune, looking out over the nearby plateau.
The Weaver hung in space, a hole in reality beside her, as she felt the incredible Magical power that rushed out of him and took hold of reality as he forced his will upon it.
She watched as the impossible happened right before her eyes. A bubble of almost Essentia-free space grew over the tomb and the plateau and then stopped. As far as she was aware, no Magus could do something like that, but the Weaver wasn’t a Magus.
“Thank you,” the Weaver said, and suddenly, he was gone again.
“No problem,” Amanda answered, looking out over the plateau and the tomb it contained. Her future lay within that ancient tomb, the very start of her life as a Magus, and it had all been set up by her own hand.
She felt satisfied with today’s events, and also felt the weight of her future history bearing down on her. She had done so much already, setting up her younger life to come, and she still had hundreds of years yet to live through.
Amanda focused her mind and disappeared, leaving the desert behind.
1302 AD – Near Earth Orbit
“We’ve reached other galaxies?” Amanda asked.
“That’s right,” Luxana answered, walking back inside, followed by Israel. She was a striking woman, Amanda thought, with her shock of platinum blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. People have crossed the void to Andromeda and a couple of others, but it’s not currently a common thing to do. Most of the Magi covens on this side of the galactic core are based on a rough circle around Earth, but there are sizable groups of Magi and Riven scattered throughout the galaxy.”
“That is incredible,” Amanda said. “I had no idea that was possible… I mean, I suppose I’d guessed, but knowing that it’s actually happening is something else. So, does everyone have a ship like this?”
“True interstellar travel at faster-than-light speeds is only really possible through the use of Magic, and that’s usually done on a ship like this. They’re powered by Magical items that propel the Aetheric craft forward.”
“So, there are Magi that create these ships for others to use?”
“Yes, they usually work in groups known as Crafting Guilds, and there’s a few of them. These are Magi who love to create Magical works of art, but anyone can create such a ship, providing they’re powerful enough,” Lux answered.
“And providing they’re happy to navigate the dangers of deep space,” Cyrac added.
Friday the Thirteenth
1307 AD
Inisfail, Amanda’s Null Realm, had become her primary home. She liked that it allowed her to withdraw from the Material Realm, and remain undisturbed by outside forces. She could escape here and never worry about encountering anyone she didn’t want to, minimising her impact on the Magi community.
Not only that, but because the Null Realm didn’t correspond to any point on Earth, she could step out of it to anywhere on the planet, and return the same way. She’d tied one Portal, though directly to Maya’s living quarters beneath the palace in Paris, allowing her daughter to visit whenever she needed or wanted. She wanted to remain in close contact with her daughter, and Amanda had made a point of visiting her often. Also, she quite enjoyed the pomp and ceremony of the royal court.
Having dressed in a suitably elegant dress, Amanda walked through into the lobby and over to the welcome mat, where she directed her Null Realm to deposit her within the palace, in Maya’s quarters.
Maya lived in a well-appointed apartment hidden beneath the palace, allowing her to retreat from court life for months or years at a time, and then to reappear when she chose to get involved again.
“Good morning,” Amanda said, spotting Maya sitting on the edge of her bed, fixing her hair.
“Morning, Mother,” Maya greeted her. “Although, I’m not sure it’s a good one.”
“O
h, really? How come?”
“Something is afoot in the palace. Last night the talk within the court was that King Philip was planning something with his closest aides. Something that the rumours said concerned either the Knights Templar as a whole or just Grand Master Molay. Whatever it is, the general feeling is that it isn’t good.”
“The Templars? Do you have any idea what it could be?” Amanda asked. The order of the Knights Templar had been around for over a century, having been involved in the Crusades before moving over to more of a banking role in recent years.
“I think something has been brewing like this for a while. Philip has been in debt to the Temple Knights for some time from his war with the English, and I would guess that he’s seen a chance to rid himself of that debt.”
“You think he’s going to try to take down the Order?” Amanda asked with a note of incredulity in her voice.
“Philip has been vocal about his views of the Order for a while, and there have been some charges laid against the Templars by an ousted former member of the Order. I think Philip has seen his chance.”
Amanda frowned, remembering that the Legacy counted one such knight among its members. “We have a Templar who’s a member of the Legacy,” Amanda said.
“Ulrich Pascal, I know. Maybe you should head over there and see if he knows anything. I’ll stay here and see what I can find out,” Maya said, rising from her bed and moving to the door.
Amanda nodded to her daughter. “Good idea,” she said and watched Maya slip out of her room.
Amanda concentrated, Porting across the city and into the Legacy House. The Coven House’s Aegis had been keyed to her Magical signature long ago, and let her Port inside without issue.
Amanda immediately sent an alert through her Link to Israel. It opened a second later.
“Amanda?” Israel replied.
“Where’s Ulrich?”
“I’m not sure. Why?”
“We believe the King is about to move against the Order of the Knights Templar, and I think Ulrich needs to know, at the very least,” she answered through the link.
Magi Legend Page 101