Heart's Darkness

by H D A Roberts

  "Thank God," Cassandra said, kneeling next to me. She gave me a hug before gently punching my arm, "Never do that to me again, you bastard!"

  "Sorry," I said, smiling at her.

  "You said that the last time," Demise added, touching my cheek gently. She wasn't given to public displays of affection; for her, that was almost a loss of control.

  "What do you remember?" Cassandra asked.

  "Pain then passing out. Hopefully without peeing myself," I said.

  "Nope, sorry," Cassandra said, "and drool."

  "Crap," I said with a sigh.

  "That too," Cassandra replied, with a little too much relish.

  "Oh, come on!"

  "Just kidding, just kidding. Wake up, you've had two weeks napping, you should be more alert than this!" Cassandra teased.

  "I hate you," I said.

  She thumped me again, just as gently.

  "What hit me?" I asked.

  They looked at each other pointedly, as if trying to get one another to tell me what had happened.

  "Just one of you spill it," I said, "I'm not going to keel over... again."

  "Lady Palmyra figured it out. It was the Fairies, Matty," Tethys said, "After you collapsed, they sealed themselves off, blocking all the ways in and out of their Realms, which meant that the princesses couldn't visit you any longer."

  Tethys' eyes took on a furious look for a moment before she continued.

  "As you know, those princesses were bound to you. If they couldn't be with you, it was likely they would eventually go insane, or wither away, so the Queens... they carved off enough of you that the princesses would be able to survive without you. They essentially ripped the links out of you, root and branch."

  "It's like they died," I said quietly, "It feels like I lost them."

  Cassandra sighed before gently laying a hand on mine, "You did, Matty. They're gone. When the Fae cut themselves off like this... it's not a frivolous act. The last separation lasted two hundred years."

  I looked down. Damn, but it hurt. And it was so much worse now that I knew what I was missing. I wrapped my arms around my chest, feeling exposed and miserable. It seemed that everyone I cared for was being taken away from me, one precious person at a time.

  And then an even worse thought hit me.

  "The Grotto!" I said, darting to my feet, before falling right back into my seat again.

  "It's okay, they're still there, they're all still there," Cassandra said, "the Pixies have been sleeping in with you at night; they all send their best."

  I was truly grateful for that, I didn't know what I'd have done if I'd lost them too.

  "They're okay with that? Being cut off from their home?" I asked, worried for them.

  "They wanted to be there," Tethys explained, "Don't worry about them. And just so you know, the population has rather increased since you were last there. It's now sort of an exiles' stronghold."

  I rubbed my eyes again.

  I was saved from any further response when Tethys' phone rang. She pressed the ignore key, and then it buzzed to indicate a text. She scoffed and picked it up. Her eyes went wide.

  "What?" I asked.

  "I don't know yet," Tethys said, she looked like she'd return the call there and then, but took a look at me and stood, heading for the door.

  "Dee, go eavesdrop, will you?" I asked, worried. Knowing Tethys like I did, she'd left because there was a problem I would normally deal with, but which she felt I was too battered to handle at the moment.

  "Don't you dare!" Cassandra said as Demise stood up.

  "Either she goes or I go," I said, but Tethys came back before the argument could be resolved.

  "The Red Carpet's under attack," she said, her face was white, her expression afraid.

  Now? More or less the second I'd woken up? That was just the tiniest bit suspicious...

  Of course, that was far from the most important thought of the moment.

  "Who would dare?" I asked, getting unsteadily to my feet. They were under my protection; a fact that had been firmly hammered into the few idiots who'd had a problem with them settling in Stonebridge (once using an actual hammer).

  "Sit back down, Matty," Cassandra said, "I'll deal with this."

  And she was out the door before I could argue.

  "Who's attacking?" I asked, unwilling to just leave it at that.

  "That's the bad news, Matty. As far as I can tell from Price's rather panicked warbling, it's the Champions."

  Oh dear...

  "Dee, stop Cassandra right now, sit on her if you have to!" I said to Demise, who nodded and was through the door just as quickly as Cassandra. I wrapped myself in Shadows so I could stand again, and used my Will to pull a set of clothes towards me. I quickly dressed in tracksuit bottoms, t-shirt, hooded sweater and trainers while Tethys watched, glaring.

  "Matty, look at me," she said.

  I turned.

  "Let your Wardens go. You've been awake for less than an hour; you can barely stand. Don't go," she said, her voice very quiet.

  "I gave them my word, Tethys. They're my people. Karina's there, and Crystal."

  Karina was Tethys' sister. It said something about how worried she was about my condition that she wanted me to sit this one out.

  "They can take care of themselves," she said, a little doubtfully.

  "Against anything else, I might agree, but we're talking about the Champions, Tethys. Nobody wins against the Champions. They're relentless. If they've come for Price, even her Fortress Shield isn't going to keep them out for long."

  "And you think you can stop them?" Tethys asked, "Them?!"

  "I'm in that sort of mood. And... and it seems a bit too much of a coincidence that I woke up at just the right time to intervene in this. I think someone's playing silly buggers again."

  That idea was really worrying me. Perhaps I was just being paranoid, but better safe than sorry when the Devil was poking around inside your head.

  I applied a little Will and the blinds closed, filling the room with soothing darkness. My Magic was a lot closer to the surface now, easier to get to, easier to use, like there was a thinner barrier between me and my Well. It was exhilarating, but also a little worrying. It was almost more of an effort to do things without Magic. I should probably keep an eye on that...

  "Call Hopkins for me?" I asked.

  "Sure Matty, be careful?" Tethys replied.

  "Always," I said with a smile.

  I looked for a deep patch of Shadow and opened at Gateway into the Shadow Realm.

  I loved it in there; it was peaceful and so quiet. It was a reflection of the entire world, almost a negative image, where every non-living object had a mirror, and every Shadow in our world could be seen as mist. In there, I could go anywhere, listen to any conversation within hearing of a Shadow and call on its inhabitants when I was in need of a helping hand.

  Quite a few of those inhabitants were nearby, as a matter of fact, floating gently in the dark, at once part of it and separate from it, taking the forms of various aquatic creatures when summoned to the Newtonian World. In their natural environment, they were simply deeper patches of contented darkness. I would have chatted with them (in as much as I could, they weren't especially chatty beings), but I had to get to the Red Carpet.

  I focussed intently on its location and drew it to me.

  The original Red Carpet had been a... well, let's call a spade a spade, it was a brothel. One run and staffed by supernatural creatures, mostly Vampires, but also Lycanthropes, Shapeshifters and Ghouls (everyone has their thing, I guess). The proprietor, a Vampire by the name of Vivian Price, was an ally of mine, and one of her girls was a very good friend.

  When Gardenia (also known as Gomorrah) fell (which wasn't my fault, in spite of what some Wardens keep insisting), Price had decided to relocate, which was sensible of her, and had chosen Stonebridge as her destination, where she had friends in high places (me) to help smooth her way. Now, Stonebridge wasn't the sort o
f place where you go could get away with simply opening a brothel, but then, Price wasn't an idiot. Within a month, the Red Carpet Hotel and Casino had opened, and Price quickly established it as the city's premier playground for the rich and powerful.

  Knowing Price, I doubted very much that she'd abandoned her old business model, which had been very profitable for her, in information as well as in terms of simple money, but she kept that side of the business very quiet, delegating it to Karina (as far as I could tell from the various hints and double entendres thrown my way).

  As a result of all this, Price was now vastly rich, and gaining both power and influence. She already had some rather influential people in her debt, and the information she was getting made her an important player in Stonebridge as well as an important ally, whose information network operated hand-in-glove with my own. It was difficult for Tethys to determine where one ended and the other began, these days. As a result, the Red Carpet's value was incalculable.

  But that wasn't why I was tearing over there in such a hurry. They were useful, true, but even if they weren't, I'd still be going. Weird or not, sleazy or not, I was fond of Price and her people. And I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to Crystal.

  I found a patch of Shadow inside the building and opened a Gate, stepping out into the lobby. The building had once been a swanky, upmarket hotel on the outskirts of Stonebridge, perched atop a small hill with a nice view of the city centre. It had been closed for a number of years, and Price hadn't told me how she'd come by it; but then, I hadn't asked.

  It was twenty floors of hedonism, with vice of some kind available on every one of them. Again, I hadn't asked for specifics. As long as nobody got hurt who didn't want to be, it was none of my business...

  The lobby was full of white marble, exotic plants and expensive furniture in front of a set of wide stone stairs, ornately carved with images of country life, and no doubt impressively expensive. Everything was pristine and normally calm, but now there was a babble of scared voices, and a gathering of Vampires at the front door.

  The entire building, and the grounds, had been Enchanted to keep the harmful effects of the sun off the girls and their boss, not that the sun was too harmful to a Saphyron Vampire, it just made them weak and lethargic. They could also get horrific sunburn if it was too bright, but they wouldn't burst into flames or anything (unlike some other varieties of Vampire).

  I could feel Price's Fortress Shield up and running. That was just about the most powerful defence a Magician could conjure. Somehow Price had managed to get one bound to the building, which she could switch on and off at the touch of an Enchanted button (I was really rather jealous of that, but I digress). The point was that the shield could easily hold out against anything short of a very high-end Sorcerer for quite some time.

  But it hadn't been designed with the Champions in mind.

  Price was at the open front door, looking out at five figures standing on the other side of the shield, one of whom had his hand on it. Ripples of energy expanded from the point of contact, distorting the view.

  Some of Price's customers were wandering around, looking worried, but they mustn't have had much of an idea what was trying to get in at them, or there would have been more panic, and I wouldn't have blamed them.

  The Champions were not given to New Testament tolerance and mercy; quite the opposite. When they were mentioned, it was generally in connection with acts that could only be likened to Old Testament wrath. They would view everyone in that building as guilty of something; lust, greed, pride... take your pick.

  Hell, they might even bring the whole place down, if they were feeling particularly puritan.

  "Dare I ask what you did to attract this sort of attention?" I asked, coming up behind Price.

  She turned to look at me, relief flooding her features. But before she had the chance to say anything, there was a distinct squeak from my left, and I barely caught Crystal as she jumped into my arms (with my Shadows, just FYI, I could barely lift me at that point, much less six feet of gorgeous, blonde, leggy Vampire).

  She planted a whole bunch of little kisses on every exposed part of my face, rendering me down into a blushing wreck.

  "Thank God! We thought you were dying," she said between pecks, which left me grinning broadly. She wore a very attractive, and tight, white ensemble complete with corset and miniskirt, fishnet stockings and knee-length boots. It was impressive (and just wonderful to have pressed up against me, bearing in mind the contents).

  I smiled at her, and she just kept on kissing me.

  "Down Crystal, don't monopolise Mister Graves," Price said with a smile of her own.

  "Aw," Crystal said, hopping out of my arms, but remaining close, looking me over, "You don't look so good, Matty, are you alright?"

  "Only woke up an hour ago, still not in the best of health," I said, trying to remain alert. Truth be told, I still felt awful. I wasn't up for this by any stretch of the imagination, but what else could I do?

  "Then you shouldn't go out there, Mathew," Price said, her face creasing with concern.

  I waved her off, "I can feel that shield, and it's coming down. I don't know how quickly help can get here, but if it was readily available, it would be here already. Did they say anything?"

  "That we were abominations and a stain on the soul of the city," Price said, "You know, the old favourites that monster hunters like to spew."

  I snorted and took a deep breath.

  "Let me see if I can diffuse this, then," I said, walking towards the door.

  "Mathew," Price said, putting a hand on my shoulder; I stopped, "You don't need to do this. You can't go up against the Champions. We can evacuate."

  "That's the thing about zealots, Vivian, they aren't going to stop just because you ran. If they want you, they'll find you, especially these dicks."

  Price smiled and Crystal planted another kiss on my lips before they let me go.

  I pulled my hood up over my head. Hopefully I'd be able to avoid retaliation, if they couldn't recognise me. I took a breath and started walking.

  Oh, this was such a bad idea...

  Chapter 2

  I wasted no time with anything fancy, and simply walked down the main steps towards the Champions. It struck me then just how on-the-ball Price's security must have been in order to alert her in time to get that shield up; that spoke of some good training and some considerable expense, at the least. But then, this was Price... she wasn't one to skimp on things that might improve her survivability. I worked much the same way.

  The front drive was set into the top of the hill, a wide gravelled area with a decorative fountain at the centre, leading to a curving tarmac road that snaked a serpentine path down the hill to the nearby main road.

  The Shield covered the property to the edge of the gravel in a perfect, shimmering blue sphere that extended underground, providing total coverage. That wasn't necessarily the wisest idea on a hill, as the shield essentially sliced its way through the rock, but the mound was big enough that there shouldn't be any shifting problems (I hoped).

  I wasn't going to risk stepping through the Magic they were using to breach the shield, so I angled myself to the left a bit. I made sure to cast a set of regenerating shields and Mage Sight while I was safe.

  Then I took a breath, and stepped through the shield, my heart pounding in my chest. Thankfully, the shield was mono-directional (one could get out, but not in), or that would have been embarrassing; I really should have checked that with Price before leaving the hotel...

  So... the Champions.

  I knew a little bit about them, but the most important thing I'd been taught was that if you see them, don't walk away, RUN! They called described themselves as guardians of humanity, protectors of the innocent, but their idea of 'innocent' was... skewed. They were well known as being the most intolerant bunch of fire-breathing, fanatical bigots you could hope to find in this day and age. They hated everyone who didn't hate the same things t
hat they did.

  It really was a shame, because they hadn't started out that way. They'd once been rather the go-to thing in heroes, almost like the medieval A-Team, way back in the day. But that was several incarnations ago.

  The Champions had their origins in an order of Errant Mage-Knights; a bunch of rather good eggs wandering the German countryside, trying to do good deeds. They righted wrongs, rescued princesses, fought monsters, all that good stuff. But somewhere along the line, things changed. The membership became more hard-nosed, less tolerant, less about justice and more about vengeance, and then pre-emptive action... getting worse and worse until we ended up with this mess. If we could use a political analogy, they'd started out as liberal centrist and ended up slightly to the right of Tomás de Torquemada (known as the fellow who took the Spanish Inquisition mainstream).

  Once an order of dozens, hundreds at its height, it had now been whittled down to five militant nutcases, following the teachings of a charismatic, but extremist, leader, determined to purge the world of evil. Now, this was not the worst goal to aspire to, but the problem comes with how you define evil. Personally, I defined it as things involving guts, gore and screaming. These people tended to include everything up to and including not looking both ways before crossing the street (I exaggerate, but only a little, that's the terrifying thing).

  And, as you might imagine, they didn't tend to treat the people they considered 'evil' very well once they'd caught them.

  So, there may only have been five of them left after years of growing hatred and the continued shedding of blood, but they were the most hardened five; three men and two women willing to do what was necessary to fight what they considered to be the 'good fight'. I didn't know too much about the current roster, so I made sure to take a good long look with my Mage Sight, hoping for insights that would help in what was about to happen. I had a little hope for talking my way out of this... but not much. I doubted that someone like me made it onto their 'good guy' list.

  The leader of the group was a half breed, like Tethys, but from the other side of the eternal fence, a half-angel... or so he claimed. I'd Seen Angels, and I was fairly sure that he was half-Cherub if he was anything remotely like that. He had power, yes, but nowhere near enough for an actual Angel-spawn. He was tall and strong, muscular and handsome, dressed all in white, suit, tie and even shoes (which was a little on the nose for someone like him, if you ask me). He carried a sword in a scabbard over his shoulder, its outline shimmering slightly with Enchantment and Power. His eyes matched his suit, completely white, and yet somehow still piercing.