by Logan Byrne
“Mr. Nightstorm, sir, I can assure you we will find out. We will flush them out if we have to. We will be conducting an officer audit and inspection come tomorrow,” the man said.
“Excellent. I trust that you’ll find whoever this person is. Once you do, and you bring them to me, I will be able to harness their power and begin the first phase of our operation. It’s all starting to come together. Now, please, leave me be,” Kiren said.
I panicked, looking around and noticing there wasn’t a single place to hide. I was trapped. The hallway was narrow and long, and the cover of darkness wasn’t going to be enough to hide me from them. The door opened, the small glimmer of light filling the immediate area, before the man walked out. I looked right at him, nervously, but he closed the door behind him and walked through me.
I turned my head, looking at the door and back at him three times before I realized he was leaving my view completely. What was going on? Was this a dream? This felt too real, and I was sure this was just a mistake. I heard rustling inside the office, and after five minutes of sitting there, unsure how to leave, I mustered a few ounces of courage and slowly opened the door.
Kiren was inside. This was the closest I’d ever been to him, or not been to him, depending on whether this was real, but he didn’t even look at the door or at me. I was invisible to him, like a ghost. He was sorting some kind of stones on his desk. I walked over, eyeing him, my hand curled into a fist and turning white as if I were going to punch him if he tried to scare me. He didn’t. I stood right by him, but he was completely unaware of my presence.
On the desk a bunch of stones with runes on them were aligned in a pattern. He put the final one in place and started to chant something that sounded as ancient as time itself. The writing on the stones started to glow blue, pulsating as he incanted his spell. The glow grew brighter and my eyes started to close, and I could feel the air vibrating around me. I was shaking, stumbling, before I opened my eyes and gasped for air.
I looked around panicked. Britta was standing over me and telling me to wake up. “Are you okay?” she asked. “I didn’t mean to give you a heart attack, but you need to get up if we’re going to leave on time.”
“I’m sorry, I just had a nightmare,” I said, sitting up and putting my palm to my forehead. It was wet. I looked around the room, our dorm room quite different from the office I’d just been standing in. I wanted to go to Mirian with what happened, but I knew it was just a dream and he would tell me some blabber about how it was my subconscious and my nerves and stress getting the better of me and that I needed to talk to a psychiatrist on staff, but we both know that would never happen in a million years.
“What was it about?” Britta asked.
“It was just a dream about a monster. Nothing to be alarmed about,” I said, smiling, before sliding out of bed. I couldn’t tell her the truth, not that it meant anything anyway. I was going to tell myself it was just a stupid dream, no matter how real it felt, and that I had nothing to worry about. Kiren wasn’t doing an inspection, they didn’t know about me or my powers, and those runes were just a figment of my imagination playing tricks on me. I was about to visit London for the first time, and I needed to focus my attention on the naga shifter. Nothing else mattered right now. Nothing else.
3
“We have a lot of stuff to bring, don’t we?” Blake asked, as we stood inside Faus’s laboratory.
“I wanted to make sure I had enough equipment in case of an emergency. I don’t quite have the ability to come back here myself, do I?” Faus asked.
“Britta and I have enough magic to take all of us, as well as the supplies. It won’t be a problem,” I said, easing any tension that might have been present. I looked around at the five of us. Each of us had a backpack with our clothes and other essentials, as well as Faus’s three bags of equipment. I puckered my lips for a moment, we walked towards one another, and Britta and I started the sequence.
A dancing stream of purple light wrapped around us and then engulfed us as Britta and I focused on the same destination, a cobblestone street which we had seen in on of her books. The tips of our wands glowed brightly. This was the furthest either of us had pushed our teleportation charms before. We were sucked through the air, our bodies twirling as flashes of light bombarded us from every direction.
There were a few gasps as we landed, stumbling a little, but we were all standing with no obvious side effects. I had heard once of an inexperienced witch coming in with her legs on backwards after failing to do the spell properly. Luckily we were all fine and our limbs were on correctly.
“Mirian gave me this,” Britta said, pulling out a piece of parchment with an address and a symbol on it.
“Any idea what the symbol means?” I asked.
“He didn’t say, he only said that this would be our safe house while we’re here,” she said.
“Procurus 672 Mingelard Way,” I whispered, flicking my wand. A faint stream of light appeared, almost like a GPS showing the exact way we needed to go. “Beautiful,” I said.
“Is that safe?” Charlie asked, looking around to check if the mortals could see it.
“Only magical creatures and people can see this, so we should be fine,” I said. “Let’s get moving before it gets dark. Remember, we’re five hours ahead here.”
There was an overwhelming sense of charm and pure Britishness within the streets of London. The buildings were so old, brick or stone, and they exuded a European elegance that we just didn’t have back home. A red phone booth sat on the corner as the smell of frying fish emanated from the chip shop a block away. We looked around, walking past a chip shop and a few theaters that were selling tickets for a show tonight. “Wish we could go,” I said, watching the posters light up.
“Maybe another time,” Blake said, a small smile on his face.
We turned down an alleyway and continued to follow the line until it disappeared into a brick wall at the end of the street. “What is this?” Britta asked.
“Wait, is that the symbol?” Charlie asked, pointing up to the wall.
“Candelae,” I said, a small beam of light protruding from the tip of my wand to illuminate the symbol. “It looks like it, but what does it mean?”
“Revelatius,” Britta said, flicking her wand. Nothing happened.
Getting closer to the symbol to try to read anything inscribed about what to do, the tip of my wand touched it, and the entire thing began to glow. The brick turned translucent, like a bubble with a stamp on it. I touched it and my hand went through. I pulled it back out. The shield was like a doorway, so I jumped the gun and walked through it.
Candles and torches burned throughout the room as a few spiders scurried across the thick wooden plank floor. The others came through in awe. Our home was a few stories high, and it was definitely charmed because there wasn’t any room outside for this. A long wooden table with cracks and knots sat in the center of the room, the same symbol as outside carved into the tops of the legs. This was a safe house if I’d ever seen one.
“I’m going to check out my room!” Charlie said, running up the stairs. “Oh, yeah!” he shouted, before running back out to the railing. “They’re huge!”
We all dropped our bags and started to follow before I stopped, turning around, and went back to the door. I tapped my wand to the inside symbol, and the translucent bubble that allowed us passage quickly transformed back into a sturdy brick wall that denied access to anyone, or anything, that tried to come through.
“It looks like we all have our own rooms,” Britta said as I walked up the stairs and joined the group.
“You mean I don’t have to hear Charlie snore tonight?” Blake asked, laughing.
“And I don’t have to hear you howl out for Lexa in your sleep. Oh, Lexa, Lexa, I like you so much,” Charlie quipped. Blake grabbed him, wrestling him and telling him to shut up, but Charlie didn’t stop, teasing him like a brother would. Britta looked at me giggling, my cheeks feeling warm, before I rol
led my eyes and walked out of the room trying not to laugh.
“I know we’re having fun, but we still have time to get out there tonight before it gets too dark. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not too keen on trying to fight or arrest this naga shifter at night,” Faus said.
“Faus is right. Why don’t we all get unpacked, settle in, and meet in twenty minutes downstairs for our game plan. Sound good?” I asked. I grabbed my bag, picked a room that didn’t look too dusty, and tossed my stuff on the bed before looking out a tarnished dusty window that looked like it had been abandoned for decades. This mission was my chance to prove myself, for Charlie and I both, and I knew we had to do whatever it took to bring in this criminal. There wasn’t another option.
“What’s our first lead?” Blake asked as the five of us stood in Trafalgar Square looking around for clues.
“I’ve heard of a magical district here in London that’s only accessible to magical creatures. It’s enchanted, so mortals can’t see it, and standing guards dissuade would-be visitors from entering,” Charlie said.
“Great, where is it?” Blake asked.
“Right there, I believe,” Charlie said, pointing to an old-looking wooden box with papers posted on it.
We approached the box, which was a few feet taller than me, with a rusted handle. It was plastered with posters and papers that looked damaged from the wet English weather that had curled and yellowed the edges. “This can’t be it,” I said, looking at Charlie.
“Oh, that’s it, all right,” he said.
“Where are the guards, then?” Blake asked.
“Right there,” he said, pointing up. We looked, and two hulking gargoyles looked back down at us, before seemingly nodding, knowing that we were of magical backgrounds. “Let’s go.” Charlie opened the door and walked into the darkness, vanishing before our eyes, even though the cabinet couldn’t have been more than two feet deep at most.
“Well, here we go,” Britta said before walking inside. Faus followed, and then Blake. All of my friends had disappeared before my very eyes. Sometimes this magic stuff was a lot to take in.
I took a deep breath, holding it, before walking inside and hearing the door slam behind me. I was transported into a magical space that looked like it was topped by a dome.
“Welcome to Trafalgar Triangle,” a sign read that stood at the entrance.
“Trafalgar Triangle?” Faus asked, confused.
“The shop is called Kilroy’s Oddities. Keep a look out,” Charlie said. The London magical scene wasn’t all that different from ours, though there were some creatures I hadn’t seen or encountered back home. One in particular, what seemed to be a variation of a harpy, flew around, but never got too close to the ceiling. The area seemed slightly more ornate, with statues and carvings, which appeared to be centuries old. I suppose you get things like this in a city as old as London.
The ceiling, which was illuminated with what appeared to be sunlight, shined brightly. A translucent barrier likely protected this space from anything and everyone mortal. I would imagine planes and helicopters, or even a person on a high enough platform, would be shocked and likely a bit horrified to see this space and the creatures inside it. It wasn’t exactly something you saw every day, after all.
“There’s the shop,” Britta said, pointing down the street. A little bell chimed above the door as mingling patrons entered and exited the bustling business. “What’s our plan?” Britta asked.
“We need to make it known we’re looking for the venoms without saying who we are. I think that will only hurt us. This guy doesn’t look all that reputable,” I said.
We browsed around the shop, the man behind the counter busy with others who were here before us. I looked around and thought this place was more like a magical pawnshop than anything else. There was no sense of order, everything was strewn about and not one item was related to the next. I felt an urge as I walked, though, and noticed a crystal ball that felt as if it were calling me.
I walked up to the shelf. A cobweb stretched from the back of the wall to the ball itself. The tarnished gold holster the ball sat on looked older than anything I’d ever seen up close before. I might’ve stolen this back in the day, but right now I was filled with more intrigue than lust. I felt a tingle down my spine, and a shiver covered my skin in goose bumps, before I reached out for the ball.
My hand moved slowly, my mouth slightly open, my breath bated and my tongue dry. My skin finally made contact, the tips of my fingers brushing the ball, before the clear crystal started to morph. The ball started to turn black, a cloud inside tainting the pure essence that had drawn me in, before I quickly snatched back my fingers, but in vain—the ball remained black. “And what have we here?” the man behind the counter asked, his mouth close to my ear.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, startled.
“This ball reads futures, you know. Are you a clairvoyant, by chance?” he asked, moving around me like a wisp of smoke.
“No, no, I’m not,” I said.
“Interesting—interesting indeed. You’re a witch, that much is true, but you made the ball react with just a floating touch. Not only that, but it turned black,” he smirked.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means a lot of things to a lot of different people, my love, but one thing is certain to all of them—darkness,” he said.
“Darkness?” I asked, as the others came over, noticing the man so close to me.
“In some cultures it means death, in others despair, illness, plague, injury, and everything and anything dark that you can imagine. I’d be careful if I were you, my dear, before that darkness finds its way to you,” he said.
“It’s just myth, don’t worry,” Faus said.
“Ah, we have a skeptic, do we?” the man asked, focusing his attention on Faus.
“It’s nothing more than an antiquated practice that wasn’t founded in much truth to begin with. It makes no sense,” he said.
“And the magical realm does, my boy? You think too much like a mortal, blissfully unaware of the magic swirling around you. If all of this is real, why not that?” he asked, pointing to the ball. “Young lady, I wouldn’t discount the fortune you have received. It might be the last thing you do.”
I stared at him, directly in the eyes, as I felt the diabolical sincerity in his gaze. I did have that dream about Kiren, and I knew he was out for power. What if the darkness from this ball was trying to warn me about him? I knew Faus obviously wasn’t a believer, but Chancellor Pote was a clairvoyant, and I believed in the art. I wasn’t as willing or able to discount it as Faus was.
“Tell me, what brought you five in here tonight? Was it the ball calling you?” the man asked.
“Unfortunately, no. We need to buy a very specific item that we were hoping you could help us with,” Blake said.
“And what might that be?” the man asked.
“We need venoms from some very dangerous beings,” he said.
The man perked up, looking around quickly to see if anybody else heard. Nobody else perked up, but when the man turned back to us he looked concerned. “What purpose do you have for these goods?” he asked.
“We’re researchers trying to find a cure for purple fever and we believe that some of these venoms could be tricked into helping people, and not hurting them,” Blake said.
“My mother died from purple fever,” the man said, looking off into the distance and obviously having some sort of flashback. “I might be able to help you, but only if you help me first.”
“Sir, we’re only researchers, I don’t know how much we can help,” Blake said.
“I know you’re M.A.G.I.C., but I don’t care. The man selling these venoms has come in here three times before and I don’t think he plans to stop anytime soon unless he’s gone. I can’t have a man like him threatening me with his presence and especially his words,” the man said.
“We can take care of him then and help you out,” I said
.
“That’s not what I need help with. Well, it is, but it’s not the main thing as of yet,” he said.
“Well then, what is it?” I asked, confused.
“There’s a guy across the street right now, selling his wares without a license and hurting my business. He undercuts me and is essentially stealing my money. Take care of him for me and that will be the favor returned,” he said.
“Deal,” I said. “Now tell us your information.”
“The man you seek talks with an accent when he isn’t talking in tongues. His hair is short, black, just like his skin. He always wears a fang around his neck and isn’t seen without a black coat that extends down towards his knees. That’s all I can tell you, I don’t know anything else,” he said.
“That’s more than enough to go by. Thank you for your help,” I said, and we turned and started for the door.
“Don’t forget about your end!” he said, pointing to the man across the street. I nodded.
“I guess we should take care of this, shouldn’t we?” Charlie asked.
The man across the street was peddling his wares with his back turned to us. He wore a cloak, the hood up. “I’ve got unicorn hairs, vampire teeth, and a wart-ridden toad that’s bound to make any potion virile and strong!” the man called, his shrill voice sounding vaguely familiar as we moved closer.
“Have a license?” I asked, as we stood behind him.
“No, not yet, it’s in the mail and—”
The being stopped as he spun to face us. My face turned sour, and I crossed my arms as Blake pulled down his hood. It was Pokeshi, the forest elf who’d turned out to be nothing but a thorn in our side back in New York.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“You told me not to sell in New York anymore, so I’m not. I moved shop, moved country, and I’m doing very well here now,” he said with conviction.
“Where did you even get this stuff?” Charlie asked, perusing his selection.