Magi Legend

by Andrew Dobell

  “I’m coming, just hold on a moment,” Lillia said.

  The monotony of taking step after step seemed to have taken the edge off her trepidation. Kennedy looked around at the room he was in. It was circular with a domed roof that he swept his torchlight over, picking out the remains of murals on the walls and the intricate carvings that covered every surface.

  Nothing had lived down here in hundreds, if not thousands, of years and he felt sure they were the first ones down here since it had been sealed off. Even if the tomb stopped now, what they had seen and found would take ages to catalogue. This find had already been amazing, but it didn’t look like it was ending any time soon.

  Across the room, Sandy and Bryn stood in a large arched doorway that opened into some kind of space beyond. The pair of them stood stock-still, saying nothing.

  “Find anything?” Kennedy asked.

  “Yeah, just… Get over here,” Sandy ordered, her voice halting and breathy as if she were worried she would be heard by someone else.

  “Sure, what have you found?” he asked, as Lillia reached the room and looked around in awe. Kennedy guided her over to where the other two were standing and stopped.

  Outside this door was a vast cavern that stretched off into hazy darkness. There was a curious ambient light in there that was dim, to the point of not existing at all, but the tiny amount of light that it did create allowed Kennedy to pick out endless buildings stretching off into the distance.

  It was a city.

  A vast, underground city that must have sat here untouched for millennia. Most of the stone buildings were small, boxy affairs—houses probably for the people who had lived here—while off in the distance, larger structures reached up above the surrounding houses, some of them incredibly ornate and covered in carvings that decorated their spires.

  “This is incredible,” Kennedy said, his voice a reverential whisper.

  Telling the Tale

  The Dark Web

  Amanda landed on the ground with a crunch and rolled like a rag doll before coming to a stop. She looked up as the car that had hit them, sped past and skidded to a halt.

  The fall had hurt, but not as much as it would have in real life, and the pain didn’t last. It was fleeting, and she couldn’t feel any lasting effects from it.

  Matt ran for the cover of a couple of nearby trees and the bike that had crashed into the trunk of one of them. Gunfire sounded from behind her as she sprinted towards her teammate. Bullets tore up the ground around her and then suddenly caught her in the shoulder moments before she would have ducked into cover. The hit from the virtual bullet was painful, a little worse than a hit from a paintball gun, but nowhere near as bad as it would have been in real life.

  The force of the hit knocked her forward onto the ground at Matt’s feet. She tried to stand, but found she couldn’t. The pain had already faded and she felt fine, the game was forcing her to crawl. She noticed that her health bar had appeared in her vision and it was down to a tiny amount and coloured a dull red.

  As far as the game was concerned, she was nearly dead.

  “Come here,” Matt said. “I’ll heal you up.”

  Amanda moved closer to Matt, who crouched down and pulled a first aid kit from his pack and touched her with it.

  A timer graphic popped up in her vision, showing her that Matt was healing her. The guys from the car fired again, their bullets hitting the bike with loud metallic pings. A few more shots slammed into the tree with a dull thud and the sound of splintering wood.

  Seconds later, the timer hit zero, and she felt the artificial restrictions on her movement disappear. She was healed and free to move about as she liked, but her health was still low.

  More gunfire slammed into their cover. Amanda ducked as Matt leaned out and fired back. Readying her gun, Amanda shifted into a better position. Popping up, she fired back.

  She hit the car the other team was using as cover, but that was all.

  “Any plans?” Amanda asked Matt.

  “We need to spread out. One of us needs to flank them so we can create a crossfire.”

  “Sounds good,” she replied. This was his game, so she wanted to follow his lead. It wasn’t anything like real life anyway, so she wondered if her combat experience would be of any practical use at all.

  Looking around, they were in a small copse of four trees that stood separate from a nearby forest off to their left.

  It would be risky, but if she could make it to the tree line, she’d have some great cover and would be able to get another angle on the players who were attacking them.

  “I’m gonna make a run for the forest,” Amanda said.

  Matt looked at her and then the tree line, no doubt seeing the broad area of open ground between here and there.

  “Alright,” he said. “I’ll give you some covering fire.” He shifted position, getting ready to shoot. “Tell me when.”

  Amanda crouched, picked out her route, and waited for a break in gunfire. When it came, she launched herself from cover and yelled at Matt. “Now!”

  Focused only on reaching the far tree line, she sprinted hard. Gunfire sounded from both Matt and the car as she ran. She heard the thwip of bullets whipping past her and saw the small explosions of dirt as they buried themselves in the ground all around her.

  She continued to pump her legs as fast as they would go, focusing only on reaching those trees.

  The meters between her and the first trunks fell away as she ran, until finally, unbelievably, she sprinted into the trees where she skidded to a halt and scrambled to the closet one, ducking behind it.

  Bullets slammed into the tree from the men at the car with thuds that she could almost feel through the trunk.

  “Hah, feck you,” she gasped, almost laughing.

  Movement in the bushes up ahead, deeper into the wood, drew her eyes, followed by a brief flash of yellow-orange light in the shadows and then darkness.

  For a moment there was nothing, only complete blackness. No feeling, no sight, no sound, nothing, and then the world around her exploded with colour and noise as she found herself standing in what looked like a bar.

  “What the feck?” she cursed.

  It was a large, open-plan space with maybe fifty people all dressed in clothing similar to what she’d seen in the game. Some were standing alone, others were in small groups, and most of them stood watching one of many video screens hanging from the ceiling. Looking up, she saw one directly in front of her.

  She recognised the view on it right away. She was watching Matt as if the camera was a few meters behind him. He was looking over to where she’d disappeared into the trees, and as he tried to spot her, he suddenly took fire from the tree line as well.

  “Ah, shite, I died, didn’t I?” she asked no one, knowing the answer.

  Matt ducked back, cursing to himself, although with the music and talking in the bar, it was difficult to make out what he was saying. As she watched, a waiter walked up to her.

  She glanced over at him.

  “Tough luck, maybe you’ll do better next time. Can I get you a drink, miss?”

  “No, no I’m good, thanks,” she said. As fun as this all was, she would be leaving as soon as Matt was out of the game. It had been fun though, and something very different from what she’d ever done before.

  Going in there and going through that scenario without the use of her Magic had been fascinating. She doubted she’d have much time for it though, she had so many other things she needed to focus on right now.

  As she watched, Matt tried to fight back, popping out to let off another burst of gunfire at his enemies, only to be hit by return fire from the team in the woods. He fell, dropping out from behind the tree before pulling himself up into a crouch to retreat to his cover once more. But he was spotted by one of the other players and shot again. The screen went black and switched to another player.

  Moments later, Matt appeared beside her.

  “Damn it,” he said.
>
  “Hey, well done. You did well,” Amanda countered.

  “Nah, I could have done better.”

  “Well, I probably dragged you down, to be fair. That was a whole new experience for me.”

  “No. You didn’t drag me down, no way,” he smiled at her. “So, did you enjoy it?”

  “I did, to be sure. It was fun. Nothing like real life, of course, but you know, fun.”

  “Yeah, it’s very popular right now. I’ve not won one yet, though. Maybe one day.”

  “If you keep practising, I’m sure you will.”

  Matt smiled at her compliment.

  “But if it’s okay with you,” Amanda continued, “I’d quite like to get out of here now. We’ve kept people waiting long enough.”

  “Of course, sorry,” he said, and called up the small holographic control panel. “I’ll log us out of the game.”

  A second later, the scene around them changed, and they were standing outside again on one of the walkways in the strange futuristic city.

  “Okay, we’re out of the game, you can log off at any time.”

  “Great, how do I do that?” she asked.

  “Call up your display and click the button,” he said.

  Amanda did as he instructed and called up her own display. She spotted the logoff button in the bottom right of the panel and clicked it.

  The scene around her immediately dissolved from view, and she was back in the chair in her basement once more.

  Amanda reached up and lifted the helmet off her head. “Whoa, that was crazy.”

  “You were a little longer than I thought you might be,” Shaun said.

  “Matt got me involved in a game of Hard Target,” she explained. “It was fun.”

  “Children,” he muttered, rolling his eyes. “Well, I did the search you asked for and I spoke with Victoria. She vouched for Voodoo, whose full name is Sabine LeClair, by the way. The Arcanum also sent word that she’s totally trustworthy.”

  “Excellent, thank you.” Amanda smiled and turned to Matt. He looked younger in the VR environment. She winked at him as he smiled at her. “Thanks,” Amanda said. “That was fun.”

  “Fancy joining me in a game again someday?”

  “I don’t see why not,” she answered, climbing out of the chair. “But right now, I need to ask you all to come upstairs.”

  “About time,” Shaun said.

  “Don’t be a Grumpy-Gus,” Amanda commented. “It was worthwhile research. Besides, we weren’t in there long.”

  Shaun shrugged. She noticed Vanessa elbow him in the ribs gently and give him a look. It was a friendly jab, and Shaun was being a little melodramatic about it all.

  Amanda led them upstairs and wandered back into her front room to find it full of people.

  In addition to Shaun, Vanessa, and Matt, who she walked in with, Liz, Howie, Gentle Water, Maria, Sabine, Xain, Orion, Stephen Loomis, Israel Roth, Maya, Trevelyan, Raven, Yoh, and Royston were all there.

  “Oh, wow,” Amanda exclaimed. “I wasn’t expecting so many of you,” she said, smiling at them all. She noticed that Maria and Sabine were sitting next to each other, talking. Had they known each other before today? she wondered.

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Trevelyan said.

  “I’m just curious to know what this is all about,” Xain said.

  “We’re here to back you up,” Gentle Water added.

  “Okay, well, thank you all for coming,” she said.

  “After what you went through these past few days, if there’s any way to help, we will,” Xain said.

  Amanda smiled.

  To him, Orion, Stephen, Liz, and a few others, she had been rescued from the clutches of the Magi Legion only yesterday. They had no idea what she had actually been put through, and how long ago it felt to her since she’d been able to see everyone and speak openly with them.

  “I just want to say—and I know this will make no sense to you for a little while, at least, but bear with me—I just want to say that it’s wonderful to see you all again.” She saw a few of those in the know smile back at her, while those with no idea seemed confused.

  Most everyone had gathered to one side of the room, and there was an empty chair just behind her. She perched herself on the arm of it and wondered how best to tell this story. In the end, she decided not to preface it with any kind of explanation and to just start at the beginning. She began by telling them about when Trevelyan had arrived at her door with a new mission to go to the atoll, before she began to relate the events of her meeting with the Weaver and her travel through time.

  She hadn’t gone too far into it before Liz spoke up. “Is this real? Sorry, but, what I mean to say is, you actually went back in time?”

  Amanda nodded. “It is, and there are a few people here who can vouch for me because I met some of them centuries ago.”

  Liz looked up. Several of the Magi around the room were nodding.

  “It’s true,” Israel said. I’ve known Amanda, well, this Amanda, the older one, for hundreds of years now, but she’ll get to that part, I’m sure.”

  Amanda smiled. “I will.”

  “Okay, sorry to interrupt,” Liz said. “It’s just, well, it’s incredible.”

  “How do you think I felt?” Amanda said with a smile. “I had to live through it not knowing if I’d ever see any of you again. I have to say, I had some really dark moments in those first few years.”

  Amanda carried on and related the tale of meeting Yasmin and then Israel and others. She didn’t tell them everything and glossed over some of the more tedious or personal parts, but she didn’t hold much else back.

  When the tale involved one of the Magi in attendance, they interjected details of their own, embellishing Amanda’s telling of it or clarifying her points.

  Liz, Howie, Shaun, and the others who hadn’t known were stunned into silence, their expressions of surprise growing with each detail. She eventually worked through to the more modern part of the story and told them of the times she’d crossed some of their paths, before finally reaching today and her return to the atoll where she destroyed the Time Device and rescued Yoh.

  “And that’s it. That brings me to today,” she said, looking across the faces of her friends.

  “I think I speak for everyone who had no idea when I say, wow,” Xain spoke up.

  “That’s amazing,” Howie added.

  “I can’t believe it,” she heard Liz mutter to Vanessa who sympathised.

  The people who’d been in on the secret were smiling and starting to chat with each other, talking about some of the events that had transpired.

  The reactions of those to whom this was news, were a little different. All of them looked shell-shocked to some degree. Xain, Orion, and Stephen were talking among themselves, shaking their heads in disbelief. Shaun sat quietly, thinking. Vanessa and Matt were swapping comments, while others just sat there quietly, letting the story sink in.

  Amanda hoped none of them would think any worse of her for keeping them in the dark. She hoped that they understood her dilemma and why she’d done what she had.

  She’d explained this as she’d told her story, mainly during the parts where the Weaver had told her how she had to be very careful not to start a paradox.

  Still, she couldn’t help but feel a little bad about the secrets that she and her small group of confidantes had kept from the others. She chose not to walk over and talk to them. Instead, she turned and looked into the fireplace behind her. They would come and talk to her when they were ready.

  “Well done.”

  Amanda looked up to see her daughter, Maya, standing beside her. “Heh, thanks,” Amanda answered.

  “No, I mean it. That can’t have been easy. Half of the people in this room had no idea about what had been going on. They didn’t know the truth that you had been keeping from them—for their own protection admittedly, but still. I thought you handled it well.”

  “You think? I was a littl
e worried. I wasn’t sure how they would react… but I had to tell them. They had to know.”

  “Of course, they did. I wouldn’t worry. I think you’ll find they all understand.”

  “I hope so. It was all done with the best of intentions.”

  “We know that, Mandy,” Liz said, stepping up to her. “It’s a shock, for sure, but you did what you had to do. There’s no shame in that, and as soon as you were able, you told us the truth.”

  “I couldn’t not.”

  “And for that, we’re grateful,” she said. Amanda stood and pulled Liz into an embrace, hugging her close before pulling away.

  “Thank you,” Amanda said.

  “I knew something had changed, though. The way you took the fight to Nymira. You were never capable of that before. I mean, when you were younger.”

  Amanda smiled. “I wondered if you might notice.”

  “Yeah, I noticed,” Liz said. “So, when do we get to see your ship and this Null Realm of yours? Also, we need to go for a coffee sometime. I have like, a thousand questions to ask you.”

  Amanda laughed. “Of course, you do. We’ll go tomorrow if you like, but in the meantime, I can take a bunch of you into the Null Realm right now. I was planning on Linking the Null Realm to the house anyway.”

  “I’d love to see it,” Liz said.

  “Okay, well, I’d best not keep you waiting. Let’s see who else wants to come,” she said and turned to the room. Maya and Liz parted to allow Amanda to face the small crowd of people again. “Thanks for coming, I really appreciate you all being here. For those who have not seen them, I’m taking Liz and whoever else wants to come, to my Null Realm and to my Ship. You’re all welcome. Just go and stand over there with Liz,” she said. Liz nodded and moved over to one side of the room. Howie, Matt, Vanessa, Shaun, Xain, Orion, Stephen, Yoh, and Sabine all walked over, with Maya and Maria joining them, even though they had both been there before.

  Royston, Israel, and Trevelyan approached her and embraced her in turn.

  “Thanks for having me,” Trevelyan said. “I’ll leave you to your guided tour.”

  “Thanks, and my pleasure.”

  “Good to see you again,” Royston said. “Glad the deception is finally over.”