Arcane Dropout 2

by Edmund Hughes

  “Jesus fuck!” cried the mage. “Help! We’re under—”

  Brie cut off his warning, launching herself forward as a blob of goo and reforming with a gelatinous arm jammed down the mage’s throat. He struggled for a few seconds, and Brie pulled back as soon as he had passed out from oxygen deprivation. Not exactly a fun way to lose a fight, but Lee had gotten a taste of Brie’s slime and its taste wasn’t that bad.

  “Please tell me that’s you, Lee!” whispered Tess from nearby.

  “It’s me and a few friends,” he said. “Tess, meet Brie, Naka, Thumper, and Widow.”

  “Uh…” Tess gave a small, nervous wave with the hand of her stolen body. “Hello.”

  Naka grunted.

  “Salutations,” purred Widow.

  “Hi hi hi hi,” said Brie.

  Thumper laughed.

  “Tess, have you seen anything while waiting out here?” asked Lee. “Anything we can take advantage of?”

  “Instructor Mattis and Instructor Eileen are fighting over by the Five Towers,” she said. “I wanted to help, but I knew they’d probably confuse me for one of the enemy.”

  “Let’s start there, then.”

  Lee was mindful of the time limit Escher had told him about and took off at a dead sprint. The monster girls were more than capable of keeping up with him, or in the case of Thumper and Naka, easily outpacing him. Tess huffed and puffed, lagging slightly behind, clearly not used to the physical limits of her temporary body.

  Mattis and Eileen stood back-to-back in the middle of a circle of House of Shadows. They were outnumbered, but not as defenseless as they initially seemed. Mattis had a massive polar bear and several arctic wolves standing at her flank. Instructor Eileen had conjured an entire suit of ethereal armor with her magic, and she gave off an intense purple glow as she wielded a similarly conjured sword and shield.

  “Just give up,” said the Dealmaker. “There’s no need for us to continue this fight. You can’t win.”

  “As though I’d trust you at your word,” said Mattis. “I’ll die before I surrender.”

  That was Lee’s cue. He gestured for the monster girls to attack and watched in awe as they charged forward, each utilizing their abilities in different ways. Naka hurtled through the largest clump of enemies, scattering them with the points of her horns like a bull charging through a crowd of children.

  Brie entertained herself by playing the role of ‘distractor in chief,’ drawing the attention of the rogue mages by attacking one and then making herself into an impossible target for the others nearby. Widow was, by any fair standard, legitimately terrifying. She crept through the shadows, leaping onto unaware mages, paralyzing them with her bite, and wrapping them with sticky silk webs.

  Thumper stayed near Lee, alternating between delivering flying drop kicks to any opponents that decided to target him and using her ice abilities to barrage the enemy mages with snow. Tess also kept near him, still taking advantage of her false face to fool the House of Shadows into thinking she was on their side.

  Lee had his kris dagger out, but it seemed as though each time he found a target to attack, one of the monster girls, or one of Mattis’s bound animals, or Instructor Eileen in her magical armor, beat him to it. He heard a footfall directly behind him and spun face-to-face with the Dealmaker himself.

  Face-to-shadow veil, rather. Lee couldn’t make out the features of the leader of the House of Shadows even when the light should have illuminated what was underneath his hood. The Dealmaker was wielding a conjured sword, a long blade that was a mixture of inky blackness with crimson-red lines running through it like veins.

  No words were exchanged, but a clear understanding formed between them. Lee ducked under the Dealmaker’s first slash, retaliating with a quick stab of his kris dagger. The point of his weapon should have pierced into the man’s chest, but the Dealmaker dissolved into shadow just before it made contact. Lee heard a rush of air as the inky, amorphous shape shifted to flank him from behind. He spun again, slashing defensively and forcing his opponent back.

  He could already tell, based on that short exchange, that his opponent either had no traditional weapons training, or he was being toyed with. Possibly both. The Dealmaker wasn’t taking advantage of his sword’s range or the obvious power of his unusual magical abilities. It almost felt like he was testing Lee, pressing him to see how quickly he could react and how far he’d push on the offensive.

  The Dealmaker brought his blade down in a savage arc. Lee caught it on the edge of his kris dagger and swept it to the side, noting how the conjured weapon let out a hiss upon contact with silver.

  “I know what you are,” whispered the Dealmaker. “I know what you’re not.”

  Lee exchanged a quick series of dodges and slashes with him, neither of them landing a hit. He faked as though he was switching his dagger to his left hand at the end to create an opening and then stabbed the weapon forward, aiming for the Dealmaker’s heart.

  Shadow tendrils seized him by the shoulders and waist, lifting him back and into the air. Lee used dispel on reflex, ignoring the toll it took on his head and body. The tendrils dissolved into black mist and he dropped to the grass. The Dealmaker hesitated for a crucial instant, and Lee took full advantage of it. He whipped his dagger forward.

  “Eldon!” Zoe hurled herself in the way at the last possible second. Lee only managed to avoid a tragedy by loosening his grip on his weapon, his arm still striking her a glancing blow.

  “I don’t know what they did to you, Zoe, but this is your chance!” He seized her by the wrist. “Fight against them with me! With us! Stay here, in Primhaven. Please… don’t leave again.”

  She looked so sad in that moment, but her forehead furrowed in consideration even as she shook her head. Lee was so confused about everything related to the situation except for the simple fact that Zoe was still Zoe. She hadn’t been brainwashed or replaced by a doppelganger. She was still his sister, the one who used to be brave for them both when they were children, the one who’d always looked so tortured whenever she had to tell him no.

  “Pull back!” shouted the Dealmaker. “We don’t have any reason to be here anymore. Everyone, retreat to the gate.”

  “You will go nowhere!” boomed Mattis. Her bonded animals let out threatening howls. “Release your hostages, fiend!”

  “We’ve taken no hostages,” said the Dealmaker. “The ones we put to sleep will be waking up soon, unharmed. We entered your college through the front gate, and we’ll leave through it. Unless a bloodbath is really what you want?”

  Mattis looked as though she was considering the messier option, but the balance of power was already shifting. Lee glanced over in time to see Widow disappear in a puff of ambient essence, followed shortly after by Naka, Brie, and Thumper. Instructor Eileen looked exhausted, with most of her conjured armor having similarly worn off.

  The Dealmaker waved to his followers and they took off toward the gate at a run. Zoe lingered for a few seconds more, standing with Lee and squeezing his hands.

  “I’ll always be your sister,” she whispered. “I’ll always love you.”

  “Zoe!” shouted Lee.

  She pulled back, blinking away tears, and then drew to a somewhat awkward stop. She shot a look in Tess’s direction. Tess furrowed her brow in confusion, pointing a finger at her own chest in confusion for a moment before remembering a relevant fact.

  “Oh, right.” Tess pulled back from her borrowed body, tumbling onto her butt. The formerly possessed girl staggered forward, and Zoe quickly slid an arm under her shoulders to help her catch up with the others. Mattis and Eileen looked a bit confused, but no closer to guessing Lee’s secret.

  “Is that all of them?” asked Eileen.

  “Yes, at least by my count,” said Mattis. “Eileen, guard the gate. Make sure it doesn’t open again once they’re outside. Initiate Amaranth, come with me. We need to make sure our people are okay.”

  CHAPTER 35

  The
next few hours were a hectic mixture of assisting the wounded and reassuring the hysterical. Lee and Mattis found Harper’s unconscious body on the way back to the Seruna Center, and Mattis entrusted her bonded polar bear to gently ferry the wounded woman to the infirmary.

  “Nurse Susie is going to have an extremely busy weekend,” muttered Mattis.

  “Apparently so,” he said.

  The students, mages, and faculty members in the event hall were suitably confused. Odarin was one of the first to reawaken, and Mattis had to devote the lion’s share of her attention to holding him back from immediately charging after the House of Shadows.

  Lee did what he could to help, directing students back to their dorms, instructing them to keep their doors locked until morning, and assuring them that the instructors would explain why the Seruna Center was in such a sorry state. Odarin’s geomancy had wreaked havoc on the building’s foundation. Lee doubted there would be a way to renovate the building without tearing it down and starting over, unless magical means could be employed for repairs.

  He took special care to reassure Eliza and Toma, though both seemed to be reacting better to the situation than most of the other students. Toma made a few offensive jokes about mass date rape; Eliza just seemed tired.

  “The first half of the night was fun, at least,” she said.

  Lee took her hand into his and smiled. “It was. Let’s find time to do the last half.”

  Eliza blushed and grinned back at him before splitting off to follow the flow of female initiates back to their dorms.

  “You can be pretty charming when you make an effort, Lee,” whispered Tess.

  “Thanks for noticing,” he said.

  “I didn’t notice anything, I merely dropped a hint. I’m sure certain other proper, highborn ladies would appreciate a spoonful of that, every now and then.”

  “I’m sure they would,” said Lee. “Be sure to let me know if you see any.”

  “Hey!”

  Lee grinned, pulling her into his mystic stream briefly to poke her in the cheek. The headache he earned in response proved the move to be a mistake. He was as exhausted as the rest of the students, if not more so. Mattis took notice and waved him over once the situation began to die down.

  “You were a great help tonight, Initiate Amaranth,” she said. “Harper was right to choose you as her apprentice.”

  “How is she doing?” asked Lee.

  “She’s back in her own room,” said Mattis. “Her wound wasn’t major. I haven’t explained the full situation to her yet. She can be a tad hotheaded sometimes, and I have my hands full just dealing with Odarin trying to mount a witch hunt.”

  Lee nodded. He’d told Mattis about Gabby as soon as they’d finished the fight with the House of Shadows. She hadn’t seemed overly surprised, and had assured him that she’d send some people to deal with the body once the situation calmed down.

  “I can handle things from here,” said Mattis. “Go get some rest.”

  He felt ready to collapse by the time he made it back to his dorm. Toma was already asleep in bed, but as much as Lee felt ready to do likewise, the hastily scrawled note left on his pillow was enough to make it impossible for the time being.

  I didn’t get a chance to explain, and you didn’t get a chance to listen. Meet me at the Frostfire Tavern tomorrow night if you want to know the truth. No tricks this time, I promise. — Z

  Lee massaged his temples, feeling an odd mixture of hope and frustration. He folded the note and stuffed it into his pocket, not wanting anyone else to lay eyes on the information it contained.

  “Are you okay?” whispered Tess.

  “No.”

  She wrapped her arms around him from behind. Lee lacked the energy to pull her into his mystic stream again, but it didn’t lessen the effect of the gesture.

  “What are you going to do?” she asked. “I’ll be with you, whatever you decide. You know that, right?”

  “I know. Thank you, Tess. I think… I need to talk to Harper. She was defeated outside while Zoe was still in the Seruna Center. I don’t think she knows that Zoe was among the mages that attacked us.”

  He considered that fact as he made his way back out onto campus, walking on tired feet. It was up to him whether to tell Harper the truth. She probably suspected her being related in some form due to the way they’d been led to the shipwreck and trapped within it, but Harper didn’t know the full details of Zoe’s defection.

  Would Zoe want him to tell her? Or was this a revelation she hoped to break to Harper herself? Did it even matter? Lee wasn’t sure how much, if any, loyalty he still owed his sister after so much time apart. He didn’t know if she was still the Zoe that he remembered, or if she’d become someone else, someone who he needed to start over with when it came to trusting.

  Only a few mages were awake within the Elemental Tower, and most of them were sitting down, dazed and haggard from the ordeal they’d been put through. None of them stopped Lee as he made his way to the arcanum lift and traveled up to the floor where Harper’s room was.

  Harper was awake, and came to the door as soon as Lee knocked. She was shirtless, wearing only her bra and a large bandage across the cut in the side of her chest along with a pair of sweatpants. Lee felt his face flush as his eyes took in the sight of her. Even her hair was down, the golden locks falling loose behind her shoulders, a perfect metaphor for her lowered defenses.

  “Eldon,” she said. “Come in. We have much to discuss. Mattis explained the role you played in staving off the enemy.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “I did what I could. I wanted to help you when I saw you fighting outside, I just…”

  “You did exactly what I wanted you to do,” said Harper. “That was a perfect read of the situation. I was worried that I’d have to shout for you to run and compromise your position by doing so.”

  “It was close. I’ve never seen anyone with abilities like their leader before.”

  “The Dealmaker, as he’s called,” said Harper. “Not much is known about him. Some say that he’s a rogue sorcerer possessed by a demon. Others claim that he’s a blood mage. He and the House of Shadows have never acted so boldly against the Order of Chaldea before.”

  “He had several opportunities to kill me in our fight,” said Lee. “I don’t understand why he didn’t.”

  “They clearly had a specific goal. A reason for attacking Primhaven other than general destruction and mayhem.”

  “Gabby,” said Lee. “I don’t know if you heard from anyone, but she’s dead. Her cell was still locked. Someone snuck in during the chaos and strangled her.”

  “Yes, Mattis mentioned that. Strange, isn’t it? You’d think that if she was one of their members, their focus would be on rescuing her rather than killing her. Perhaps she was a traitor, but that seems unlikely.”

  “The cell door was still closed. I guess it’s possible that they just couldn’t find a way to get it open.”

  “Perhaps,” said Harper. “In that case, I could potentially see them valuing the information we might be able to extract from her over her life, but it still seems like a drastic measure to take. Just another question to add to the pile, for now. We still need to come up with a reasonable theory as to how they learned what they did about Zoe and applied it to lure us away from the college.”

  “About that…”

  “It’s jarring to think that they knew how close I was with her, even more so that they were able to imitate her handwriting and include details about the ship. I can only assume they have her as their prisoner.”

  “Harper…” Lee took a slow breath and shook his head. “She’s not their prisoner.”

  Harper turned and folded her arms and stared at him, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

  “She was with them tonight,” said Lee.

  “What?”

  “She tried to bind me in the bathroom to keep me out of the fight. She’s a member of the House of Shadows. A willing one.”

  “Wha
t are you saying?” asked Harper.

  “She said that Primhaven isn’t what it seems. That the Order is lying to us. I think she was trying to recruit me, or at least convince me to leave the school.”

  “No…” said Harper in a soft voice. “That’s not possible.”

  She stared at him, but her gaze was empty, hollow, and distant. Lee saw a visible tremble run through her body as she exhaled, and then she closed her eyes and turned away.

  “Are you okay?” asked Lee. “Look, I’m struggling with this, too. It’s not the end, Harper. At least now we know she’s…”

  He trailed off, noticing the way Harper’s shoulders were shaking. Was she crying? Lee felt a lump catch in his throat as some of his own emotions began seeping in through the cracks. The pain was real, the pain of knowing that Zoe had made a conscious decision to disappear—if not in the beginning, then at least later on, when she’d had the choice to contact them.

  “Harper,” said Lee. “Hey. Talk to me. I’m going through this, too.”

  He set a hand on her shoulder. Harper spun around at the touch, revealing a face filled not with tears, but a deep, burning rage. She walked over to where a discarded blouse lay on the floor and began pulling it on.

  “What are you doing?” asked Lee.

  She didn’t answer him. She headed straight for the door, only pausing on her way to pull her shoes on.

  “Lee!” hissed Tess, from behind him. “I’ve seen people get like this before. If you let her walk out that door, either her or your sister is going to end up dead.”

  Her words sent a chill through him, especially because he’d been about to let her go. He was tired, too tired to fight anymore. He just wanted time to sort through the backlog of his feelings, time to catch up with the changes taking place in both the world and his heart.

  “Hey!” he said.

  He hurried over, reaching Harper just as she opened the door, and took her arm. She tried to shrug him off. Lee reached past her, shutting the door with both hands and leaning forward to hold it closed with Harper still in between his arms.