Divided by Magic

by Rebecca Danese

  "This creepy as hell," I say as we hurry through the familiar lions on their plinths.

  "Where is everyone? Surely there would be at least a taxi or two on the road?" Jer observes.

  "Maybe it’s not just a blackout," says Lou. I don’t get a chance to ask her what she means because as we reach Parliament street with its clear view down to Westminster, we are greeted by an unusual sight.

  "Something tells me we need to hurry," Jer says looking ahead. From where we are, we can make out a harsh light coming from somewhere ahead, almost blinding in its brightness. Everything around us is starting to lighten and I notice that I can actually see my feet in front of me now. At first, I think it’s because the power is coming back on, but it seems to be coming from one spot behind the buildings in front of us. "Definitely Ella," Jer confirms as we pick up speed. "I can feel it."

  "Time to move," I say and pick up my pace to a jog. Lou keeps pace beside me, the torchlight bouncing up and down with her movement, but before long we don’t need it at all. With every step, the street and buildings around us get brighter. I look up at the windows above us and at the street lamps, all still dark. No power yet. So, what is it? We round a corner, and the Houses of Parliament loom like the dark ruins of some forgotten civilisation with Big Ben rising like a blackened skeleton over it. But the green in the centre of Westminster is ablaze with energy. It takes me a moment to work out what I’m seeing.

  Four figures stand on the grass with the statues of past ministers watching over them. At the far end I can see a man I’ve only ever previously seen on television, although he looks bigger and beefier than before. Carlton Munday stands, legs akimbo, his hands held out by his sides as if trying to reason. There’s a peculiar black mist swirling over his head some ten feet in the air.

  To the left and in the middle, I can see Edward Clarence, which surprises me at first. But he’s set himself away from Munday, not opposing him but not against him. I can’t quite figure out why he’s there or what he’s doing, but as my eyes move to the figures closest to me my heart stops. They both have their backs to me but there’s no mistaking the Duke with his wide frame, and next to him, arms outstretched with energy crackling between her finger tips is Ella.

  The bright light is coming from above them, evidently being controlled by her as every so often she seems to move her hands and push more energy into the storm that’s beginning to rage above their heads.

  I call out, but the sound of my voice is drowned out by the hum of electricity coming from the commotion. Where are the police? The people protecting Munday?

  I run closer until I’m only ten metres from Ella and can just about hear the Duke bellowing over the thrum of power.

  "Give it up, Carlton! You’re no match for her," he shouts. Now that I’m closer, I can make out Munday’s face, and the sight terrifies me. His eyes are black, like orbs of liquid darkness, and his hands aren’t empty as I had thought before but are full of the same kind of black smoke that floats around him. It writhes and wreathes its way around his hands and arms, his face sweating with the strain of whatever it is he seems to be controlling.

  "You give up, Jonathan. You’ll never stop me or the Magic Circle," he bellows. I stop, stunned. Carlton Munday is an Augur, and a crazy one at that.

  "Carlton Munday has been running the Magic Circle this whole time?" Lou says, appearing by my side and I hadn’t even noticed. "But the explosion at Downing Street—"

  "Was a complete set up to put him in charge," I interrupt, thinking fast.

  "Bastard."

  "Oh, but I have, Carlton," the Duke continues, oblivious to our presence. "My own son has been one of your most dedicated members these last seven years. He’s told me everything, every step of your plan. And that is why I needed to bring you here tonight. This needs to stop. You can’t be allowed to oppress Augurs any more—"

  "That’s rich coming from you!" Munday laughs maniacally, and I don’t at all like the sound. His chest seems to be puffing out with the effort of controlling all the blackness. I notice how the far end of the green is shrouded in darkness. Is Munday absorbing the energy that caused the power cut?

  "Munday looks like he’s going to explode," Jer says on my right.

  "If he does it’ll put us all out of our misery," Lou quips.

  All of the light on the green is coming from Ella, spreading out like an orb over it and fighting against the dark that swirls around the other side. It would look beautiful if it weren’t so terrifying.

  I can’t tell exactly what she’s trying to do, but I guess that it’s something to do with dampening him. I think she’s winning, but it’s hard to tell. Every so often the light seems to push the darkness away, but Munday pushes it back with renewed effort. Without warning, he lets out a bellow as the darkness grows and envelopes more of the light. Ella buckles and lands on her knees, temporarily defeated, and I yell out in spite of myself. She doesn’t need me distracting her right now. The Duke doesn’t even bat an eyelid but keeps his stance. I think I hear him say "get up!", but it’s hard to tell.

  The only thing that stops me from running over is Jer’s firm grip on my arm.

  "I’ve got to do something!" I tell him, trying to wrestle away.

  "You’ll get yourself killed if you go near that storm, Curtis!"

  "But I can’t just stand here and watch her get hurt!" I plead. Why isn’t the Duke helping? Surely he could use his powers somehow? I almost can’t bear to watch as Ella struggles to her feet, bracing herself for another onslaught.

  "You’ve done exactly what I wanted, Jonathan," Munday screams across Parliament Garden Square. His voice, louder than normal, reverberates around us. "You’ve brought her straight to me, and once I defeat you her powers will be mine!"

  "I won’t let you do to her what you did to me, Carlton. Besides, she’s stronger than anyone you’ve ever known," the Duke replies. My mind races. Does the Duke not actually have powers anymore? Maybe that’s why he needed Ella so much, and now also makes sense of what Edward was saying about the Magic Circle needing her too. It all comes down to Munday.

  "We have to do something, now!" I say, unable to bear the sight of Ella’s body shaking violently as she puts all that she can into stopping him.

  "Hang on," Lou says, "I think I have an idea." She pulls me close to whisper in my ear.

  "Now’s your chance, wonder-boy," she says, putting her arm over my shoulder, the three of our heads practically touching.

  "I need you to distract Munday in the most annoying way possible," she says wryly.

  "You’re joking. Go over there?" I ask incredulously. My eyes flick over to the cloud of blackness at the far end of the green and I tell myself there’s no way I could do anything to stop him.

  "Look, you’re the only logical option. You’ll be no good over here, distracting Ella."

  She’s right, and I hate that. It’s insane, but I don’t see any other choice than to go with her plan, steeling myself for whatever the hell might come next. Agnes’s words pick the worst time to pop back into my head about her visions. Half of which end up with you dead.

  With my heart thudding rapidly in my chest, I skirt around just out of sight. I see Lou creep up behind Ella and the Duke as I do. I spot Jer as he goes round to the left where Ed stands, a look of defeat across the young heir’s face.

  I wonder why he tried to warn us against helping his father if he’d been working for him the entire time. Some kind of intricate trust exercise that the Duke sent him on, perhaps? But then that whole thing with him betraying the Society to Avers doesn’t make much sense. I shake it out of my head and try to concentrate on the task at hand. At the edge of my vision I can just about make out police cars gathered around the huge roundabout, but where are the police themselves? The patrol car lights are out, and I figure that whatever Munday is doing involves sapping any energy from around him, including the cars. Like an Augur on steroids.

  He’s so absorbed with his fight against Ella that h
e doesn’t notice me coming behind him. The switch blade the Duke gave me is in my hand and I flick it out as quietly as I can. I notice how on this side of the struggle the air is thick and quiet, in stark contrast to the loudness on the other side. Will it hurt me, I wonder? Even if it does, it isn’t going to stop me. Augurs are mortal just like everyone else, they bleed like everyone else too. Munday is just a few steps from me now, looking much bigger in real life than he does on the telly. He stands at 6’2", although thin but strong. The consuming of so much energy is also beefing him up, which doesn’t help me. My hand shakes as I hold the knife and I try to keep my grip on the ivory handle. Before I can put any more thought into it, I drive the blade into the side of his neck and hold it in, my left hand bracing against his shoulder.

  I don’t know what I expected. A scream? Some kind of electronic explosion? But nothing happens. Nothing.

  I stand there for a few moments more, waiting for some recognition that I’ve done anything at all. Then, very slowly, he turns his head around. The black pools where his eyes should be are dripping, liquid oozing from the sockets.

  "And who are you?" he asks, though the voice doesn’t sound human. It sounds like a thousand voices in one and it sends a chill up my spine.

  "Someone who’s decided to stop you!" I yell, because the space around us is so devoid of noise that I feel like I need to shout. Even to my own ears I sound muffled.

  He throws his head back and gives a mirthless laugh. The knife slips out of his neck as he does so, and I stumble backwards still holding it in my hand, slick with his blood. Almost as an afterthought, he flicks his blackened hand at me and I find myself being lifted off the ground.

  "What is a Normal boy doing meddling with Augur business?" he asks as I rise higher and higher.

  "Someone needs to put a stop to this," I say, although my voice sounds choked with the pressure.

  "And that someone is a powerless Normal? I admire your courage, boy, but you’re a child tampering with things you don’t understand."

  That pisses me off.

  "I’ve been told that a lot lately," I retort, noticing that the air is being squeezed from my lungs as I hang in midair. He’s turned all the way around now, facing me. To my relief I can make out Lou standing beside Ella, helping her somehow as we’d planned. Jer is pulling Edward towards them, urging him to help. Jer was probably the only person fit for that job, his lack of gall and ability to talk to people means he’d be able to convince even someone as stubborn as Ed to help.

  The black cloud is shrinking, and the white electricity is pushing it further and further towards us. I try not to let the triumph I feel show and give the game away. I was the perfect choice for a distraction, even though both Jer and Lou tried to convince me otherwise. I feel vindicated seeing that it’s working.

  Munday’s face is the stuff of nightmares. The sweat drips from his forehead and there’s nothing left where his eyes were but black holes. His body looks like it’s trying to bust open with all the energy he’s consuming.

  "I promised myself I would protect Normals," he says almost to himself. "I’ve never killed a Normal before. But I don’t think I can keep you alive. You’re too much of a nuisance," the words sound stuttered, like he’s forcing them through lips that are too big.

  "Something wrong?" I ask, outwardly ignoring his death threat but inwardly bricking it.

  "NOTHING IS WRONG," he screams, his mouth contorting in a way that should not be possible for a human. "I’m more powerful than ever before. I can feel the energy coursing through everything around me. Even the energy inside you. Just a bit more couldn’t hurt, could it?" he licks his lips and even his tongue is black. I want to be sick.

  "You don’t want me, I’ve not got much to give, to be honest," I say feebly. I think he’s trying to take a step towards me, but his legs are rooted to the ground. He looks down and to my satisfaction I can see that he’s being held by the blackness he’s trying to control. He lets out an exasperated roar, and without warning he flicks his hand at me again. This time I feel a snap and cry out as my body shudders. He’s broken something inside me and the pain is excruciating at first. Then there’s a dullness as I notice I can’t feel my legs. My back. He’s broken my back.

  I hear Ella scream somewhere in front of me and the white shield of energy that had been coming out of her expands, consuming not only the cloud above and Munday in it, but me as well. As it touches me I feel the power of whatever Munday had over me release and I fall a few feet to the ground. It knocks the wind out of me but otherwise my body is worryingly numb. I try to lift myself up, but nothing seems to be working.

  I lay on the damp grass and look up at the swirl of white above me and then at Munday, who is still facing me with a look of surprise on his misshapen face. The light from Ella’s magic is weaving its way around his body, and the blackness seems to be leaving him in waves. Great plumes of darkness come out of his mouth, eyes and nostrils like something from a horror movie, and I look away. From beyond the bubble of light we’re in, I can see the fallen shapes of police officers on the ground, which explains something at least. Another sight surprises me; I might be hallucinating, but I think I can see Miss Banks laying amongst the fallen bodies and I wonder if I’m maybe going mad.

  I hear a retching noise and turn my head back to see Munday on all fours puking his guts out. It’s not a pleasant sight, but it gives me a strange feeling of satisfaction that we’ve beaten him in some way. I get the surreal feeling like I’m floating in water, my sight blurring at the edges and sounds around me beginning to muffle. I must be passing out, I realise. I try to look down at my body, which is crumpled at an odd angle on the ground, my legs underneath me and my arms spread out. The knife is still in my hand, although barely. I’ve never understood why in moments of chaos the mind tries to concentrate on one thing, and the little switchblade in my hand is the only thing I can see with clarity. I study the intricate handle, so prettily carved, and the shiny blade, red with Munday’s blood, with cold steel gleaming through. It has such pretty designs on it, I think in my state of stupor. There’s a letter that looks like an intricately woven ‘W’ and I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before, or something like it.

  "Oh my God, Curtis," I hear Ella’s voice as if from far away. "Talk to me, can you hear me?"

  "Don’t leave," I say, slipping out of consciousness.

  "I’m not going anywhere," she grasps my hand and I’m relieved that at least I can feel that.

  "Did we win?" My voice is faint even to my own ears.

  She doesn’t answer, and I feel her uncertainty through the silence. I want to see her face properly, but my eyelids don’t seem to be obeying. I hear a call for help and further off a faint wailing noise. Sirens. And then I slip away.

  CHAPTER 17

  I sit on the grass, just in the shade of a large tree, and admire the view. A silvery line in the distance, a river, winds its way through the landscape, cutting through it like a boundary. The clouds over the distant hills loom, and I wonder if it will rain, but for now the winter sun keeps me warm beneath my layers. I close my eyes and breathe deeply, enjoying the sweetness of the air filling my lungs.

  It took two weeks for David to repair my spine, fixing it in stages. His mother, Beryl, also a healer, helped whenever it was getting too much for him. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to repay him for doing that. I shake my head at the thought of how much I’ve become reliant upon my Augur friends lately.

  Through my recovery, everyone chipped in feeding me, keeping me sane and taking my mind off the events on Parliament Square Gardens. I had nightmares for days afterwards and still feel a bit fragile on the inside.

  Lou, Jer and of course Ella have been with me every day since, sometimes all together, sometimes one at a time.

  During one of those alone moments, Lou confided in me that we wouldn’t have defeated Munday if he hadn’t been so distracted by me. I’m not sure if she’s been trying to make me feel better
, but it’s unlike her to be anything but candid.

  The combined efforts of Ella, Lou, Jer and even some input from Ed were needed to take him down, although no one has mentioned what the Duke’s involvement was. Having had way too much time to think lately, I’ve surmised that Munday must have sapped his power some years ago. They slagged each other off like old foes, and the Duke’s dogged persistence to take him down makes more sense with that explanation, particularly as the Duke appeared to be impotent throughout the whole fight.

  The scene that had started in Westminster involved Munday knocking out over two dozen police officers with some kind of impulse and consuming all the magic he could before the ATU could arrive.

  I had been surprised to hear that Miss Banks, Steve and the whole motley crew of Anti-Terror Unit members attempted to take him down before the Duke and Ella even arrived. Turns out what I’d seen wasn’t a hallucination. When Ella reached the green, Miss Banks was threatening to shoot Munday, the police already long-since out of action. But when Munday knocked them out too, Ella and the Duke stepped in.

  I pull the knife out of my pocket, long since cleaned and returned to me. I flick out the blade and study the inscription that I’d noticed as I was lying on the ground. The intricate ‘W’, I had realised one night during a particularly vivid nightmare, was the same as the one that Federico had drawn for me back when he was in the hospital. The fact that the Duke gave it to me was either accidental or maliciously intentional.