Magi Legend

by Andrew Dobell

  “I think so. I like it.”

  “Well, sure, I’ll be involved. I mean, I’ve helped you this far. I can’t help you run the thing, that’s not really my style. I prefer to have a small coven of my own, but I’ll be there if you need me for anything.”

  “Excellent, thank you.” Astrid smiled. “Any help is wonderful. You are one of the founders of the group, after all.”

  “To be sure,” Amanda replied, pleased that Astrid had finally found something to concentrate on since Lux had decided to stay on Urth. Astrid had been melancholy for a while over that and seemed to almost be mourning the loss of her friend, so to see her bright and happy again was wonderful.

  Black Dawn

  The dust of the Arizona desert whipped up around Amanda as she appeared out of thin air. It was the middle of the night, and she stood on the edge of a dusty road that cut through the dry wilderness. Next to her, a small ramshackle hut made from brick and wood, which looked like it might collapse under its own weight at any moment, stood like a lonely sentinel in the night.

  There was no Aegis in place around the outbuilding, but she could sense the Magical signature coming from within. Dampening the sound around her so as not to cause a disturbance, she walked up to the door of the hut and pulled it open. Inside, where she knew he would be, was the Nomad that went by the name Dust Devil. She’d been tracking him for a while, knowing this moment would come, and tonight was the night.

  He lay asleep on a wood-framed bed, wearing a tan leather coat, but with his wide-brimmed cowboy hat placed on the cabinet beside him.

  The man was a mess. She guessed he’d not had a wash for quite some time.

  Reaching out into her Null Realm, Amanda Ported the Lazarus Scroll into her hand and placed it gently on the cabinet next to his hat.

  The remnants of a poorly maintained Aegis surrounded the Nomad. Taking her time, she carefully pried it open as gently as she could before quickly reaching in and using her Magic to take hold of the man’s mind, making sure he stayed asleep.

  She breathed a sigh of relief now that she had control over him and implanted a series of memories about what he’d been doing recently, including killing an Arcadian he didn’t know in order to steal the Lazarus Scroll. She then gifted him enough knowledge to use the Lazarus Scroll in the way she needed him to. Finally, she gave him a singular drive, a goal of freeing Horlack from the Aetheric Realm, along with the knowledge that there was a Pooling north-west of here.

  She checked over her work before withdrawing her Magic from his mind and stepping back.

  “Job done,” she muttered to herself before stepping out of the hut and closing the door behind her.

  Things were moving quickly, and this was just the latest thing she had to do to make sure things progressed as they needed to. While she was out and busy, making sure everything was going as planned, she remembered she had someone else to see and thought now would be as good a time as any. Concentrating, Amanda worked her Magic and Ported nearly halfway around the world, appearing in a wood-panelled lobby. Leather chairs surrounded a couple of low, decoratively carved mahogany tables. Close by, behind a polished wooden desk sat a smartly dressed man, one of the receptionists the place employed. Amanda glanced over at the chairs to her left to see another man in a suit smoking a pipe. The green leather chair creaked as he shifted and looked up at Amanda. He nodded at her and then at the receptionist.

  He was a Magus and on guard duty, but Amanda had been through here many times over the years and knew the people who stood sentry well enough by now. When she walked up to the desk, the receptionist looked up and smiled.

  “Miss Page, lovely to see you again. How many I be of service?” the young man asked. He was dressed in a fine tailored suit and very well turned out.

  “I’d like to see Trevelyan, please,” Amanda asked.

  “Of course, I’ll ring through and see if he’s available. If you wouldn’t mind taking a seat over there,” he said, waving towards the empty circle of chairs on the opposite side of the room as the Magus who was on guard.

  She followed the man’s directions, took a seat in the chairs as asked, and looked out through the window at the London streets. It was cold out there, and people moved about in coats and hats to warm themselves against the crisp November air.

  She waited for a little over five minutes, watching people walk past this small, unimportant-looking building in the heart of London, unaware of its Magical nature. The world had come a long way over the course of the last one thousand years. Now, half the people out there were looking at their smartphones as they walked the streets, talking to friends and family around the world, keeping up with events on other continents, listening to thousands of hours of songs, or enjoying the latest episode of Game of Thrones.

  Things had changed so much, she thought, and yet, it was good to be back in a time period she recognised. She was so close to the moment that her younger-self would travel back in time. Things were coming together quickly. The stakes were high, and she hoped she hadn’t screwed anything up.

  “Amanda, it’s lovely to see you,” Trevelyan said from close by. She looked up to see the kind face of the Arch Magus looking down at her as he approached. Amanda stood and smiled.

  Trevelyan wore his salt and pepper hair short with a trimmed and well-maintained beard. He wore his usual layers of mystical-looking coats over a tunic and breeches that were tucked into tall boots and secured with a few belts.

  “What brings you here today? I wasn’t expecting a visit,” he said.

  “I know. Can we talk somewhere private?”

  “Of course,” he said. “Follow me.”

  He led her into a back room and through another doorway, wreathed in Flux Magic. Stepping through, as she had many times before, they shifted to one of the Albion’s Null Realms, which like many coven houses, were used as a security buffer.

  Taking a left, they passed through another doorway and shifted back into the Material world. The corridor beyond was several metres wide, stone-walled, and lined with doors. Rugs were spaced evenly along the hall, and intricate tapestries hung from the walls, giving the place a medieval feel. Amanda’s keen Aetheric senses placed her around three hundred miles west of the coast of Cornwall and over a thousand feet beneath the sea on the Pendragon Escarpment. Trevelyan’s Magic flared, and they were both Ported to a cosy, well-appointed office. She’d been here many times through the centuries. It was Trevelyan’s main office in Lyonesse, the Albion’s main Coven House. She’d not seen much of the building, mainly because Trevelyan took pains to make sure he wasn’t parading Amanda through the corridors in front of the other Magi who might wonder who she was, but she’d looked out through the windows of the rooms she’d been in to see the scale of the building.

  Lyonesse was a vast, sprawling, underwater castle, and the Albion’s main base. They had smaller places, such as the office in London, dotted around the UK, many of which were linked to Lyonesse in some way, but this was their primary Coven House.

  Trevelyan offered her a seat and a drink. She sat on a leather sofa, and took a glass of water, sipping it as Trevelyan settled into a worn leather seat beside her.

  “So tell me, what brings you to the Albion today?” he asked.

  “I need you to do something,” she said.

  “With you or your younger-self?”

  Amanda smiled at the fact that he had a good idea of why she was here. “With my younger-self,” she said.

  “But of course, how can I help?”

  “Young Amanda will be throwing a celebration in New York shortly. You will be invited, and during the ball, I need you to show her something.”

  “Like what?”

  “I need you to take her to Ultima Thule and show her the original Prophecy of Helene, and then to be honest about who you think it relates to, and your personal belief in this person.”

  “In you, you mean?”

  “Yeah, in me,” she smiled.

  “I see.”
Trevelyan nodded and sat back in his seat with a sigh. “So, the time is nearly upon us. The truth of the Prophecy will be revealed.”

  Amanda nodded. He was right, and she could remember that day like it was yesterday. She could remember the red dress she wore, the fantastic feeling of looking up at Saturn from its moon Enceladus, where Ultima Thule is located, and then seeing the Prophecy and hearing Trevelyan tell her he thought it was talking about her.

  It was a moment she would not soon forget, even now, centuries later.

  “This is a critical time,” Trevelyan stated. “How do you think the Council will react?”

  She looked up at him. “There’ll be a period of adjustment. There will be those who challenge it, but that’s to be expected.”

  “And young Amanda, how will she react?”

  Feeling confident that everything would work out, she smiled. “She’ll be just fine.”

  ***

  So far, everything had been going as planned. Amanda stood on the rear open deck of the Arkady that hung invisible to any ground telescopes or sensors in geosynchronous orbit above New York. The ball had been a success and Trevelyan had done as she’d asked, giving her younger-self a guided tour of Ultima Thule and showing her the Prophecy of Helene.

  But there was so much more still to come, and the next phase would require a little nudge to set in motion. She’d been tracking Dust Devil, following his progress across the desert in Arizona as he walked towards the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Station and the confrontation that would happen there.

  He was there now, finally, and it was time for her younger-self to pay Dust a visit, and finally meet her father. Concentrating, Amanda worked her Magic and sent her senses down into the vast mansion that Maya owned and lived in on Long Island, New York. She found her soon enough, and with another quick working, Ported down from her ship into one of the dark, moonlit rooms to see Maya walking across it. Her floor-length black dress made her look like a living shadow.

  Maya stopped, apparently sensing Amanda’s arrival, and turned to face her.

  “Hello mother, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Maya asked, her bright white face almost glowing in the reflected half-light of the moon, her blood-red lips glistening.

  “It’s time to head into the desert,” Amanda said. “Mr Black is making his move for the Lazarus Scroll, which means you need to take Amanda and capture the Scroll before they do.”

  “When? Now?”

  Amanda nodded. “Right now,” she said, with finality.

  “Yes, Mother,” Maya said with a smile.

  Amanda raised her eyebrows at the comment but smiled at Maya’s spiky sense of humour. “The Nomad there has the Lazarus Scroll, and he’s summoning Horlack back to the Material world. Mr Black is already on his way, and he’s looking to take the Scroll for himself.”

  “Horlack? So, he didn’t die in that alleyway, then?”

  “No, he didn’t.”

  “What do you need to happen?”

  “Young Amanda needs to meet her father, that’s paramount. And survive, obviously, but other than that, you can handle this however you choose.”

  “Okay, good, as I have some unfinished business with Horlack.”

  “Of course,” Amanda nodded. “Young Amanda set up a Mental Link to you, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then use that, get her to Port you there.”

  “I’ll bring her here, but meet her outside,” Maya said.

  Amanda nodded and let Maya go before moving to one of the windows. Moments later as she looked out over the courtyard, she saw Maya walk outside, only to be joined by her younger-self as she appeared out of nowhere. They talked for a few seconds before Essentia flared again and they were gone.

  “Good luck,” Amanda whispered, before working her Magic and Porting away.

  1517 AD – Sirius Alpha

  “You always bring me to the nicest places,” Amanda quipped, mirth in her voice.

  “You deserve nothing less,” Rane replied as they walked through a dark, rain-soaked street. People walked back and forth but kept their distance from the pair of Magi. It was cold and wet, but neither of these things bothered them. Rane had expanded her Aegis and adjusted it to keep the rain off them. Meanwhile, Amanda’s own Magic kept her body warm.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” Amanda asked.

  “Yeah, he’s in here,” Rane said and walked over to one of the bars that lined the street. Moving inside, Amanda paused on the threshold and scanned the bar. Everyone in the room turned to look at them. A Dynasty member like Rane was not hard to spot. Her Magic made her clothing trail sparkles and float while other parts of her outfit hovered around her.

  She didn’t always dress like this, but she wanted to make an impression today, so she played up the look of a Dynasty Magus.

  Rane spotted who she was looking for and walked over to a nearby table with a single patron. The man looked like he was in this forties, although, he could effectively be any age. Regular human lifespans were very much a thing of the past out here in the cosmos.

  He didn’t look up though, and stared at the glass on the table before him.

  Rane waited a moment, and then with a quick working of Magic, telekinetically picked up the glass and threw the half-finished drink over the man. Amanda stepped back in surprise.

  The man roared, stood up, and kicked the table away before he looked up at Rane. Suddenly, he stopped, his eyes wide and his jaw slack as he stared at her.

  Two seconds later, he seemed to remember himself and snapped to attention. “Miss Ormond,” he said. “My apologies, I had no idea…”

  Rane had raised a single finger to silence him.

  “General Malax, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” Rane greeted him. “I’d like to talk to you about a job.”

  Infinities’ Edge

  “Thank you for coming.” Amanda addressed the assembled Magi. Trevelyan, Stephen Bathory, Israel Roth, Count Saint Germain, and Maya were all present, along with another Council member who, on Trevelyan’s recommendation, had been brought into the fold and knew what was happening.

  “How can we be of help?” Trevelyan asked.

  “Right now, my younger-self has found herself in something of a situation. She’s been seduced by Yasmin into an intimate encounter, one that has been recorded by a Magi Legion spy. The Legion has taken it upon themselves to take Amanda into custody, along with Liz and Gentle Water. They’re hoping to extract a confession out of her and discredit her, or me, I suppose.”

  “And you want us to help?”

  “So far, we’ve never really stepped in and forced our hand. We’ve been able to gently nudge and direct things from afar, but it’s going to take some serious clout to dissuade the Legion from this course of action. So, for the first and only time, we will be stepping in to make sure things proceed as they should.”

  “You’re sure about this? We’ve never taken direct, overt action before,” Trevelyan said.

  “Tomorrow, my younger-self will travel back in time with the aid of the Weaver, so it won’t make much difference if we do this today as we only have one more day of this ruse to go.”

  “It’s tomorrow?” Maya asked from where she stood behind Amanda. Maya had come to the Arkady to warn Amanda that her younger-self had been taken by the Legion, but Amanda had been watching things closely. She knew what had happened and had made plans accordingly.

  “Tomorrow,” Amanda confirmed, looking back at Maya with a smile.

  “It’s gone so quickly, I had no idea we were so close.”

  “I know,” Amanda replied, “but we’re not there yet.” Turning back to the group of powerful Magi standing before her, Amanda smiled. “So, can you help?”

  “Of course, tell us where we need to go and what we need to do, and we’ll see to it.”

  “Ah, well, no need. I’ll be coming with you,” she said.

  “Coming with us?” Stephen asked. “But, she’ll see you.”

&n
bsp; “I won’t look like this, of course,” she said and concentrated on her Magic once more. Her features shifted slightly, changing her appearance, although there was still a resemblance, and then her long hair changed from a deep bright burgundy red to a pure, snow-white. “You can call me Alice White.”

  “Alice? Okay, where did that come from?” Maya asked.

  “It’s, well, I’ll tell you later,” she said, remembering it was the name on her fake passport, the one she bought just after her Epiphany and used to travel back from New York to Ireland on, to be with Georgina. “We need to get moving. I’ll make a stop at the house in New York for you to pick up Yoh and Maria. Trevelyan, you’ll need to take the lead on this. If anyone asks, I’m a member of your coven, okay?”

  Trevelyan smiled. “Of course.”

  ***

  Concentrating, Amanda used her Magic and returned her hair and features back to her true appearance.

  “Thank you all so much for being so supportive and for playing your parts so well, I don’t think it could have gone better, really,” Amanda said.

  “Do you think the Legion will follow up with anything?” Maya asked.

  “Forest and his coven are like a dog with a bone. I don’t think that will be the last time they try something. But I have a few ideas about how to stop them. I’m a little older and wiser now.”

  “And more powerful,” Maria said.

  “Sure, that helps,” Amanda agreed.

  “So, tomorrow is the day, and we can finally tell Liz and Yoh and the others what’s been going on,” Maya said.

  “Right. It’ll be a huge relief to end this deception,” Amanda said.

  “Do you know what your next steps are? What you’re going to do?”

  “I have some ideas,” Amanda said.

  “What about Yasmin?” Raven asked.

  “Don’t worry, she’s a top priority. I can’t let her keep the Lazarus Scroll. She’s after one thing; more power, and when she does finally learn that my younger-self has travelled back in time, I fear it might be open season.”