Magi Legend

by Andrew Dobell

  No! He must not think of her. She was toxic. She was the ruination of everything. She’d taken it all from him when she’d last returned to the island.

  He belonged to someone else by then, though. He wasn’t Angel’s plaything anymore. He reported to a higher power.

  He looked at his phone, and the three-letter name on it that he knew he needed to dial.

  Not yet.

  The voice wouldn’t let him.

  Angel had no interest in him when she’d returned to the Island with her friends. Her coven. He was useless to her then.

  It hadn’t lasted long though. Soon Echo Black and that huge monster with the green orb in its chest had come to the island.

  That’s when it all ended.

  The Syndicate was no more. Everyone was sent back on the ship. Huddled and cold. The dream was over, and had become a nightmare.

  He remembered trying to call it in the first time. He remembered hearing the voice the first time and the pounding, thundering headache that came with it. He’d lost control of everything then. Nothing else mattered but following the voice’s orders, anything else led to a pain worse than anything he’d felt before.

  When his wife had threatened to call the police on him, he’d stopped her too. He couldn’t let her stop him from doing what needed to be done. She was inconsequential, unimportant. Only the voice mattered, and he had to do as it asked. There was no other way.

  “CALL NOW!”

  Ian screamed in pain. It felt like his head was going to explode. The voice was everything, and had to be obeyed.

  Ian lifted the phone and pressed dial.

  It rang several times until finally it was answered.

  “Yes?” said the feminine voice.

  “It’s Ian. I have a report for Kez.”

  “This is Kez, go ahead, Ian.”

  ***

  Sitting to one side of the Black Cathedral, Anastasia watched as Kez appeared out of thin air and approached Yasmin at the alter where she stood with Alicia.

  “Do you bring me news?” Yasmin asked.

  “Yes my Baal, I know where the Orb is that you seek.”

  Yasmin spun around and fixed Kez with an intense stare. “Where is it?”

  “On an Island in the Pacific, Mr Black’s Syndicate Island, and I know exactly where that is.”

  “Show me,” Yasmin demanded, her voice insistent.

  Magic flared between them, and a smile grew on Yasmin’s face. “Gather the Knights, we have an Artifact to retrieve.”

  Kez nodded, and swept out of the room.

  Yasmin turned slowly back to the table, and looked over the other two Artifacts that were laid out upon it.

  “Remember Sybil’s words,” Alicia said. Yasmin looked up. “Only with the Orb will we defeat the Archons.”

  Yasmin nodded.

  Killing the Archons—now that was a wonderful idea.

  Anastasia hadn’t been sure that Yasmin had it in her. She always seemed too focused on that upstart Redhead, but maybe she’d underestimated Yasmin. Maybe she did have loftier goals than just petty revenge. If she did, than that was a cause she could get behind.

  - Manhattan, New York

  Shaun felt the Link with Amanda cut off, and opened his eyes. He was in his operations room with a few other people, including Vanessa and Matt, who were always here.

  Liz stood nearby. “So?” she asked.

  “She was upset and concerned, that’s the feeling I got from her when I told her the news.”

  “Did she say what she was going to do?” Liz asked, her voice insistent.

  “No,” Shaun said.

  “Damn it. What if she doesn’t go? We can’t leave those nuns there with Mary and the Crusaders,” she said, turning to Gentle Water, Maria, and Maya, who were also in the room, but stood a respectful distance back from Shaun.

  Liz seemed more upset than Amanda had felt, but then, he knew Liz held a special hatred in her heart for Mary Demask.

  “We can go to the orphanage,” Maria said. “If Amanda turns up, great. If she doesn’t, then we’ll handle it for her.”

  Liz smiled. “Perfect,” she beamed.

  Torn

  Washington DC

  “What’s up?” Victoria asked.

  “Some friends of mine are in trouble,” Amanda said.

  “Can I help?”

  “No, I need to deal with this,” she answered, but she felt torn. She needed to stop Yasmin doing whatever it was she was doing, even more so now that she knew it would almost certainly involve her father, but she knew that Mary Damask was a dangerous woman. Somewhat unhinged, really. Mary had developed something of an obsession with her, and now the Inquisitor had found out about her childhood and her links to the orphanage and was going to try and use it against her.

  She felt furious at the incredibly bad timing, but what else could she do? She needed to stop Mary. The nuns were helpless against her, and to Mary, they would be entirely expendable.

  With a sigh born of frustration, she looked at Lilith. “Where is Mr Black?”

  “He’s on his island.”

  “Send me the details.” Amanda tapped the side of her head with her finger. “I’ll get there as soon as I can, but I need to deal with this other thing first.”

  “I’ll go to the island and see what I can do,” Lilith said with a nod of understanding.

  “Thank you,” Amanda answered before Lilith Ported from the ruins. Amanda turned to Victoria. “Sorry I can’t stop to help.”

  “It’s fine, it sounds like you have urgent issues to deal with,” Victoria replied. “Call if you need us.”

  “I will,” Amanda said with a smile before turning away and taking a second to gather her thoughts together. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, focusing her mind before she pulled on the veil of Essentia and willed herself to Port over to the orphanage. With a snap of air, Amanda appeared in front of the main convent building.

  Amanda glanced over at the school for a moment, memories of her time there flashing through her mind, bringing emotions of all kinds with them. She remembered her childhood years here, chafing against the rules and rebelling against the nuns. Then she remembered Alicia, which led her to think about the fight at her house and seeing Alicia there with Yasmin, helping her.

  She felt the tears come to her eyes again as she thought of her friend, the innocent girl who’d been dragged kicking and screaming into Amanda’s world. She didn’t deserve what had happened to her, and one way or another, Amanda would make it up to her and save her from Yasmin.

  Amanda closed her eyes and shook her head, letting those thoughts fall away. She didn’t want to get distracted. People were in danger, and they needed her help. She needed to focus on the task at hand.

  Amanda took a couple of deep breaths when there was a sudden cracking noise and her Aegis flared as it was hit.

  She’d been fired on.

  She’d been shot at enough times to recognise a gunshot. Her eyes snapped open, and she looked up, scanning the rooftops. She saw it right away. Movement. Someone was up there.

  Amanda worked her Magic as two more gunshots sounded and her Aegis flared as the person fired on her again.

  The air about her snapped and she Ported up to the roof, appearing right next to a figure in black combat gear wielding a high powered assault rifle. The figure jumped a beat after she appeared.

  Amanda swung, her Essentia-laced fist hammered into the figure’s masked face and dropped them to the floor.

  Amanda paused as she looked down. It was a woman, judging by her body shape, and she wore the customary Crusader sword strapped to her back. Amanda frowned. Mary wasn’t messing about if she was posting sentries around the building.

  Gunfire popped again from close by, echoing through the Irish countryside that surrounded them. They were on the outskirts of town in a usually peaceful and picturesque area, and it felt all kinds of wrong that the Inquisition should mar that feeling.

  More Essent
ia-fuelled bullets slammed into her Aegis, ricocheting off her shield and causing it to hiss and spark. Amanda turned and spotted the shooter right away, her Aetheric Sight picking out the glow of Essentia that infused the gun and sword.

  Amanda worked her Flux Magic again and Ported across the roof to the crusader, delivering a powerful kick to the man’s face the moment she appeared, knocking him flat.

  Looking left, she saw the main courtyard below and the entrance to the chapel at the back of it. She noticed right away that this area of the convent had been surrounded by an Aegis that honestly looked a little weak, but then, the Inquisitors seemed to struggle to use Magic effectively. They were quite adept at infusing things with Essentia, which Amanda knew they considered to be blessing an item, but anything a little esoteric and free-form, they often struggled with. She had encountered a few more challenging Inquisitors through the years, but they often learned Magic before joining the Disciples and took that view of it with them into the Order.

  Mary didn’t seem to have that view of Magic, however, and it hamstrung her at every turn.

  Two more Crusaders with assault rifles stood guard in front of the chapel’s entrance. They’d seen her and were raising their guns.

  Amanda’s Magic surged and a fraction of a second later, she was standing in front of them. She grabbed the gun from the man to her left and swung it wide, hitting the female Crusader to her right across her head. She dropped to the ground with a yelp.

  The man stepped back and reached for his sword, but Amanda kicked out before he got there and buried her foot in his sternum. His ribs cracked and he fell with a yell of pain. Looking right, the woman beside her pulled her handgun.

  Amanda kicked again and connected with the Inquisitor’s hand, snapping a few bones in her palm. The woman screamed and backed off, holding it against her chest.

  “Need a hand?” said a familiar voice from behind. She turned to see Gentle Water and Liz walking towards her, with Maria and Maya close behind.

  “You didn’t need to come,” she said, and then smiled. “But I’m glad you did.”

  “You think I’d miss this?” Liz asked.

  “Of course, not.” Amanda knew well enough how much Liz hated the Inquisition and Mary, especially.

  “Damn right,” Liz agreed.

  Amanda nodded to Maria and Maya, who smiled and nodded back respectively.

  “They in there?” Gentle Water asked.

  “That’s my guess.” She glanced back at the chapel with its Aegis still in place. She looked back at her friends and family. “Let’s not keep them waiting, hey?”

  Liz grinned with enthusiasm.

  Amanda gathered the local Essentia to her and drew it in. She shaped it, compressed it, and infused it with power until she finally released a spike of Essentia at the Aegis, while Gentle Water, Liz, and Maria did the same.

  The Aegis wasn’t strong, and within a moment, great cracks formed in its shell before it was pushed too far and disintegrated, popping like a bubble.

  Amanda immediately kicked the chapel door, and it slammed open.

  A hail of gunfire spilt out through the doorway and tore into their Aegises. Amanda stepped forward, her shield popping and sparking from the rapid-fire shots. She stepped into the shadowy interior of the building to see two whole squads of Crusaders. All of them were holding high powered weaponry, including two gun-emplacements with huge fifty calibre machine guns that had been placed on the floor in an area that had been cleared of pews and other furniture.

  Raising her hands, lightning flashed and lanced out from her fingertips into the two huge machine guns. The operators of the two guns were immediately electrocuted and went into spasms as the guns themselves were jerked around by their operators. Both weapons suddenly exploded as Amanda directed her Magic to ignite the ammunition.

  The Crusaders ducked for cover as shrapnel from the exploding guns ripped through them.

  Maya ran right, charging at the Crusaders there, her cruel-looking Vampire-claws extended while Maria moved left, her own Magic flashing and hitting the remaining squad members. Liz suddenly charged past Amanda, a sword in her hand that Amanda could have sworn hadn’t been there a moment before. She screamed as she sprinted towards Mary Damask, who stood at the back of the room with Assunta and Augusto in front of her. All three of these Inquisitors held their swords at the ready, the blades glowing with Essentia.

  Gentle Water stepped up beside her, his thoughts pressing in on her mind through their Link. ~She’ll get herself killed.~

  ~You underestimate her,~ Amanda protested. ~You deal with the two Inquisitor Knights, and I’ll get the nuns out of here while Liz gets some revenge.~

  ~Understood,~ Gentle Water replied, their conversation happening much quicker than if they’d spoken the words out loud.

  Amanda reached out with her Magic, hitting the two Inquisitor Knights standing beside Mary with Kinetic Rams and sending them flying out of the way before Liz reached them.

  Mary looked shocked for a moment before she focused back on Liz and held her sword ready. Two seconds later, their weapons clashed.

  Amanda Ported to the back of the room where another Aegis surrounded a large group of nuns sitting on the chapel’s altar. They looked up in terror at Amanda as she appeared out of thin air. In the midst of the group, Emmanuelle Page, the Mother Superior stared at her, at first with fear, and then with confusion as she finally recognised her.

  “Amanda-Jane?” Emmanuelle asked.

  Amanda smiled. “Hi, good to see you,” she said with a little wave.

  “Oh, my goodness, what is going on?”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll deal with it,” she said as her Magic lashed out and destroyed the Aegis—another weak one—around the nuns. After a moment’s thought, she concentrated again and Ported the entire group of sisters into the dorms, which were a reasonable distance from the fighting, sending a set of senses with them. The women shrieked with surprise and fear as they appeared. Amanda reached out and sent a wave of Magic amongst them that told their brains to send them to sleep. She also reworked the memories of these past few hours with the Inquisitors into a kind of hazy nightmare.

  Another moment and a bit more Magic later and the whole group of nuns were asleep in their beds in the dorm.

  She left her second set of senses there to watch them as she turned to take in the room again. Maya was ripping Crusaders apart, while Maria had already put all of the ones she went for on the floor and was now moving to help Maya.

  Gentle Water stood fighting the two Inquisitor Knights, and as she watched, he delivered a knock-out kick to one of them dropping him to the ground, while, much closer to her, Liz crossed swords with Mary and was not only handling herself well, but already had Mary on her back foot.

  Liz went for her again, swinging her sword. She fought well, and within moments, she spotted a gap in Mary’s defences and delivered an Essentia-laced kick that hit Mary like a battering ram.

  Mary flew back onto the altar and rolled awkwardly before coming to rest on her stomach. Amanda stepped up to her with Liz.

  “You horrific excuse for a human being,” Amanda said. “All this, just to get to me?”

  Mary pushed herself up to a sitting position and looked up at Amanda with bare-faced hatred. “What of it? I’ll do whatever it takes to stop your evil ways.”

  Amanda shook her head in exasperation. “One day, I hope that you and the other Inquisitors will finally realise who the true enemy is,” Amanda said.

  “Oh, we know who the enemy is, heathen whore of Satan.”

  Amanda smirked. She couldn’t help it. Hearing people like Mary talk like that was amusing. She found it incredible that people really thought that way.

  Mary screwed her face up at Amanda’s reaction before she snorted and spat at her. The glob of saliva and mucus missed her, but the sentiment was clear enough.

  Liz moved to take a step forward, but Amanda held her hand out and waved her back.

 
“What are you doing?” Liz asked.

  “I’m going to send her and her group back to the Vatican,” Amanda said.

  “What? No. She deserves much worse than that.”

  “Maybe, but she’s no Nomad,” Amanda answered.

  “She still deserves to die,” Liz said.

  “Not today, and not by you.”

  “No!” Liz protested.

  “You’re weak,” Mary cut in.

  “Am I?” Amanda answered, turning to her.

  “I will hunt you down until you’re no more,” Mary answered. “Even if I have to bring the full force of the Inquisition down on you. I will not stop.”

  “You’re welcome to try,” Amanda said defiantly.

  “You’re putting the lives of more people at risk if you don’t end this,” Liz said.

  “No innocents died here today and their mission, as misguided as it is, does at least spring from their desire to protect humanity.”

  “They’re ruthless…” Liz growled.

  “Yes, but they don’t usually kill innocent people, so until Mary does actually kill an innocent, and my hand is forced, they live,” Amanda explained.

  “I think you’re wrong,” Liz grumbled.

  “Maybe I am, and I might live to regret this choice, but Mary does not die today.”

  Liz stared at her for a moment before she threw her sword on the floor and stormed off to where Gentle Water, Maria, and Maya stood surrounded by the bodies of the wounded, unconscious, or dead.

  Amanda looked back at Mary, who watched Liz walk off, and then looked up at her. “She’s stronger than you will ever be,” Mary said.

  “She’s one of the strongest people I know, and you’re lucky I was here to stop her.”

  Mary laughed. “Is that right?”

  “Goodbye, Mary, and I’m warning you, don’t come back,” she said and pulled her Magic in before reaching out and Porting Mary and her Inquisitors across Europe to Italy.

  As her Magic faded, she looked over towards her friends and daughter, who stood close by. She sighed and walked over to them.

  “I have to go,” she said.