2 Corruption

by John O'Riley

  As they ran past their desks in the deeper part of the police department, the red vaporous substance managed to overtake everyone except for Josephine, Jake, Alex, and Ben. The edge of the knockout spell reached hungrily towards them and was only half a dozen feet from Alex who trailed behind. As they entered the hallway, red smoke appeared from the room at the end and rushed along the floor towards them. They were surrounded with no avenue of escape.

  “Stop! It’s got us boxed in,” Josephine said.

  Jake, Ben, and Alex halted behind her. Josephine yanked up a dampening field that halted the approach of the red smoke from both sides. The level of the writhing, crimson vapor swiftly rose to the ceiling until that was all they could see.

  “I need you guys to take over the dampening field so I can try to neutralize the knockout cloud,” Josephine said.

  “We’ll do our best but it won’t hold for long,” Ben warned her.

  “I know.”

  Josephine didn’t stop maintaining the field until the others had it firmly in their grasp. She found one of the activation points of the knockout field as quickly as possible and began examining the composition of the spell. After a few moments, she realized this was far too complex for her to figure out in the short amount of time she had available. Even if she knew how to deal with it, the activation points were too far away for her to affect. Josephine withdrew back to the group and continued her earlier technique. Hopefully, they could hold out long enough for the spell to wear out. She took over the dampening field when it showed signs of faltering.

  “What’s the word?” Alex asked.

  “I can’t stop it. Our only chance is to wait out the field,” Josephine said.

  “But you can’t hold it off very long either,” Alex pointed out.

  “I know.”

  Josephine’s thoughts went back to her emergency plan. She had one of the teleportation pendants with her and knew it was only strong enough to take one other person with her. She couldn’t leave them behind though. More dark magic registered on the periphery of her range. There were four curses approaching at breakneck speed.

  “Put your shields up now!” Josephine warned.

  They didn’t hesitate in activating their protection enchantments. An instant later, four daggers hurtled out of the crimson vaporous depths in front of them. Three of the daggers rammed into Josephine’s shield and the other hit Jake’s. The four knives had large red emeralds ensconced in the handles but their speed made them almost a blur as they bounced away into the red, sparking vapor.

  “Those are cursed daggers! They’re illegal!” Alex exclaimed.

  Ben, Josephine, and Jake shot him an incredulous look of disbelief.

  “We’re all going to die and your concern is outlawed weapons?” Josephine asked.

  “I’m just saying.”

  “Sometimes, I just want to slap you,” Josephine snapped.

  “Hostility is often a sign of unconscious attraction,” Alex said.

  “Don’t get started, Whiney.”

  “Not that again. Can’t you call me Alex?”

  “As long as you’re not being an ass, I’ll think about it,” Josephine snarled.

  Three daggers hurtled out of the gloom and whacked against Josephine’s shield while the other bashed against Jake’s before vanishing out of sight. Her attention went back to their predicament and she realized the dampening field was wavering.

  “Josephine, are you all right?” Ben asked.

  “I’m losing the field,” she said.

  Ben’s gaze swept over Jake and Alex. “We need to help her. It’ll buy us some more time.”

  Josephine doubted it would make much difference but anything was better than nothing. The field strengthened again under all of their efforts but she was the only six and average wizards were of little help. Three knives whipped out of the red smoky depths and smashed into Josephine’s shield while the fourth knife pounded against Jake’s.

  “Jake, how are you holding up?” Josephine asked.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t had to switch to backup yet so I may have a little more time.”

  “But we’ll lose the dampening field any second and the knockout cloud will take us out. At the prison, everyone who passed out was left unconscious for a couple of hours or so. Our shields will wear out way before then while we’re sleeping,” Josephine said.

  “We’re so screwed,” Alex said.

  “I have a teleportation enchantment but I can only take one other person with me,” Josephine said.

  “Are you serious?” Alex regarded her with surprise.

  “Jake, you can use yours to take Alex and I can use mine to take Ben,” Josephine suggested.

  “I left mine at home by mistake,” Jake said. “I didn’t want to lose it so I put it in a different spot away from the rest of my pendants that I wear every day.”

  “How can you forget something so rare?” Alex shot him an outraged look.

  “I’m sorry. I have a routine I follow every morning and I forgot what I did until I was already here at work. I figured I was safe at the station so it wouldn’t matter.”

  Ben glanced at the red swirling vapor then turned to address Josephine. “Take Jake with you.”

  “I can’t leave you two here! You’ll be killed!” Josephine exclaimed.

  The dampening field buckled and in desperation, she pulled it in tighter around them. Jake and Alex hastily scooted closer so the four of them were pressed tight. They struggled to keep the smaller field up but it would fail in seconds.

  “Josephine, you have to go now. The daggers are programmed to kill you and Jake. They’ve completely ignored Alex and I,” Ben said.

  The daggers hurtled out of the sparking red mist as if to emphasize his point. Three of them bashed into Josephine’s shield and bounced out of sight again. The fourth pounded against Jake’s shield and shattered it. Jake brought up his backup even as the knife disappeared from view again. Josephine grasped her grandson’s hand tight and activated the teleportation enchantment just as the dampening field failed. She and Jake vanished as the red mist rushed towards them. They materialized near the window of O’Malley’s Espresso which was situated half a block from the police station. The café was unusually quiet with only a smattering of customers who happened to be clustered nearby as they peered outside.

  “Why did you take us here? The daggers may follow us,” Jake said.

  “Daggers?” a woman asked fearfully.

  “You all need to clear the area immediately. There’s a Valituras agent attacking the police station,” Josephine said in an authoritative tone.

  The customers left the shop without argument and the door closed behind the last of them. Josephine was already stretching her awareness out to search for Lorcan’s revolting energy signature. He had to be somewhere close by.

  “We’re not safe here,” Jake said.

  “Cursed daggers are short-range weapons. I don’t think they can track us this far,” Josephine said.

  “We need to leave right away.” Jake directed an urgent look at her.

  “I need to stop Lorcan,” Josephine insisted.

  “I’m going with you then.”

  Josephine nodded in acknowledgment even as her anxiety mounted over her grandson’s refusal to stay out of harm’s way. One of the nearby windows shattered as four daggers smashed through it and hurtled into the store. Three of them slammed into Josephine’s shield while the other hit Jake’s.

  “It’s time to go.” Josephine withdrew two of Duncan’s uber wands from the satchel clipped to her belt.

  Lorcan was waiting across the street as she and Jake stepped outside. Lorcan leveled a maniacal smirk at them as he aimed two large wands at them. Josephine fired both of hers at the same time that he unleashed his own volley. The energy from both their wands discharged like lightning with Josephine’s colored blue and Lorcan’s a sickly green. Their energy bolts slammed into each other and spat green and blue energy for several s
econds before Josephine began to lose ground. Lorcan’s attack drew closer even as Jake launched his own telekinetic attacks. Lorcan’s eyes flashed with malicious glee as his energy continued to overtake Josephine’s with less than five feet before he reached her. Josephine was only focusing part of her attention on Lorcan. Her shield flared into visibility as the sickly green energy streams from Lorcan’s wand raked over it. Josephine abruptly leapt to the side just as she sensed the three daggers launching themselves into the air behind her. It was too late for them to alter their trajectory as they sailed past her with frightening speed and slammed into Lorcan who had happened to be standing directly ahead. Lorcan’s shield wavered and he was shoved several feet backward.

  The fourth dagger smashed into Jake’s shield which collapsed and only partially deflected the attack. The knife sliced his shoulder before it dropped to the street. Blood oozed down his arm as his knees crashed into the pavement. Adrenaline flooded through Josephine as she rushed over to her grandson and slipped two of her protection pendants around his neck and activated them. Josephine pointed her wand at the manhole cover and lifted it as she kicked the dagger across the street into the hole. She saw Lorcan rising to his feet and he’d brought up his backup shields. Josephine let the manhole cover drop and unleashed the power in both her wands in time to meet Lorcan’s next assault. The two streams of sickly green energy struck Josephine’s blue ones with only half a dozen feet to spare. She stepped a couple feet to the side and backward as if in retreat. Lorcan stalked closer as he sensed a victory coming.

  The manhole cover leapt up then came crashing down as the dagger beneath tried to strike Jake but remained trapped. The other three daggers tore into Josephine’s shield. She stumbled backward and activated her backup protection. Unfortunately, she’d given half of it to Jake. Her wands fizzled out and sickly green energy from Lorcan’s wand raked against her shields, causing them to flare up with flashes of green and silvery white. Josephine dropped her wands and pulled out two more. Her shields threatened to collapse so she unleashed two more streams of blue energy that shoved back Lorcan’s attack. Several seconds later, his own wands ran dry and the blue streams of light raked across Lorcan’s shield. Instead of pulling out more wands, he grabbed several round stones a bit larger than marbles and rolled them toward Josephine. They only traveled half the distance between the two before they came to a stop. Crimson red smoke billowed from the rocks and rushed towards Josephine. She directed the blue lightning at the three stones and destroyed them. The red smoke dissipated before it reached her.

  Lorcan’s face transformed in rage as he whipped out a couple more wands. Josephine wondered how many more of those damned things he had left. Blue lightning met red and bright sparks of light exploded where the two met. When Josephine’s wands fizzled out, she pulled out her last two as quickly as possible. She unleashed the power in them just as her shield buckled. She was defenseless against any more attacks. Josephine backed away from Lorcan with care so she stood closer to a silver sedan parked nearby. She leapt behind the car as she halted the flow of power from her wands. The knives hurtled toward her but she’d kept her awareness on their magic and had sensed the precise instant they would activate. They rushed harmlessly past her as green lightning raked across the car that now stood between her and Lorcan. The metal of the sedan dented and the windshield shattered. Josephine remained in a kneeling position even when the attack halted.

  “Come out of there right now or I’ll kill Jake,” Lorcan shouted.

  Josephine’s eyes widened as cold terror washed over her. She didn’t hesitate in standing to her full height and stepping out from the shelter of the silver car. Lorcan’s thin lips curved with satisfaction as he sensed his impending victory. His wands were still pointed at Jake who was lying near the sidewalk with a dazed look in his eyes. A pool of blood had gathered beneath Jake’s left shoulder. Josephine blinked her eyes to clear away the tears misting her vision then turned to face Lorcan who aimed both his wands at her. He fired two more streaks of crimson lightning that sailed towards her. Just before they struck, a wall of sparkling white energy materialized in front of her and blocked the deadly attack. The sickly red energy flashed and sparked wildly against the new protection which was circling Josephine and stretched off quite a distance behind her like a corridor. She turned to find Mark striding towards her at the end of the energy field. As he approached, the hallway-shaped shielding shrank as it was no longer needed. Josephine walked towards him until the radiant white energy field formed a large sphere around them.

  Josephine smiled with giddy relief. “Thank you for stepping in. That was perfect timing.”

  “I’m glad I could help.”

  “Is this Arabella’s protection amulet at work?” Josephine asked.

  “Yes.” Mark’s brown eyes registered sudden concern. “We need to protect Jake.”

  Josephine turned and saw Lorcan aim both his wands at her grandson. Mark shoved his hands forward so his palms faced outward towards Jake. The sparkling light energy of the sphere lunged in that direction to form a passageway again. Josephine held her breath as Mark’s protection and Lorcan’s deadly red lightning rushed for Jake. An instant later, the two spells collided and Lorcan’s magic was deflected. Josephine and Mark walked over to Jake so that the shield could shrink down to a sphere again.

  “What you can do is amazing,” Josephine leveled an impressed look at her boyfriend.

  “Right back at you,” Mark said.

  Lorcan’s face reddened as his face contorted with rage. He unleashed two more red streaks of energy that raked across Mark’s shield. When the wands fizzled out, Lorcan pulled out two more and continued his attack. He moved closer to the three of them. Josephine summoned energy and held her hands out in front of her to strike out with a telekinetic wave.

  “You can’t fire back. My shield stops all magic going in or out,” Mark warned.

  “Really?” Josephine frowned at the white energy field in front of her.

  Lorcan took up a position about a dozen feet away as he continued firing at them. Josephine moved closer to Mark so her lips brushed his ear. He shivered reflectively and shot her a questioning look.

  “Is there any way to fire back at all? Can we use white magic maybe?” Josephine whispered.

  “There’s no such thing as offensive white magic,” Mark murmured.

  “How did you find me?”

  “There was a report of a terrorist attack on the police station. It was on the news,” he replied.

  “That means you didn’t use your teleportation enchantment to get here,” Josephine said with a sense of renewed hope. “Do you have it with you now?”

  “Yes, I do.” Mark’s brown eyes reflected his surprise. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Can you take both Jake and I? I know white magic is stronger but I couldn’t get all the details with my psychometry,” Josephine admitted.

  “I’m not sure. I can’t read things like you do. I’ll only know after I’ve tried,” Mark said.

  “What will happen if you can only take one person? Will we all teleport and only travel a portion of the distance to where we want to go or will it just not work?” Josephine asked.

  Mark’s brows furrowed with thought. Lorcan continued to fire relentlessly at the white magic protecting the three of them. Josephine was starting to get nervous again. She knew that source energy was exponentially stronger than anything else but she feared that Mark’s protection couldn’t withstand much more.

  “Do you have any idea how much time we have here?” Josephine asked.

  “From what I know about teleportation, if I try to bring extra passengers when I don’t have the capability, they’ll be left behind. There would be no way of knowing which one of you would get stuck here until after I’m already gone.”

  “Damn!” Josephine glared at Lorcan and wished she could just knock him out somehow. She turned to face Mark again. “I want you to take Jake to the hospital.”r />
  “I can’t leave you here!” Mark protested.

  “Sure you can. I’ll take care of Josephine,” Lorcan interjected.

  Josephine leaned closer to Mark so she could whisper in his ear. “You’ve already activated the protection enchantment. Slip it over my head and it will continue to keep me safe once you’re gone.”

  “I can’t abandon you!”

  “I need Jake to live,” Josephine said with anguish. “Please, help me save him. Source magic is stronger than anything. I’ll be fine.”

  Josephine knelt down beside Jake. His skin was incredibly pale and he’d slipped into unconsciousness during the struggle. She swiped away the tears that dribbled down her face. Mark heaved a frustrated sigh.

  “All right! I’ll do it!” he said.

  He slipped the protection amulet over her head then grasped Jake’s hand. Mark’s terrified gaze locked with Josephine’s. He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers.

  “I love you, Josephine. Stay safe,” he said.

  “You, too,” Josephine murmured.

  Mark and Jake vanished in the blink of an eye. The white energy sphere shrank now that Josephine was the sole occupant. Lorcan laughed as he whipped out a couple more wands.

  “Do you really think you can bring this thing down?” Josephine asked.

  “Everything has its limit.” Lorcan’s intent gaze remained fixed on her as more deadly energy gushed from the wands and smashed into the protective shield.

  Josephine ran past Lorcan down the street and heard him curse savagely as he pursued her.

  “I’m going to kill you!” he shouted.

  “Whatever you say, Toadstool,” Josephine called back.

  She made sure not to travel in a straight line and to change course unexpectedly. Lorcan was forced to fire at her in short bursts now. Soon, a red mist came into view and it completely obscured the police station. Josephine couldn’t believe the spell was still active. She had hoped the parking lot was clear so she could escape in her car but it was still hidden in the mist. Josephine’s legs started to burn as she passed the station. She wasn’t used to jogging without the aid of a power vortex and it really made a difference. She glanced behind her and saw that Lorcan had fallen behind quite a ways. He glowered at her and launched another attack that was easily deflected by her shield. Josephine dashed into a nearby Mexican restaurant which was devoid of any customers due to the scary spell embracing the police station. Josephine continued running as she dashed madly across the large room to the hallway. An instant later, the front door crashed open as Lorcan burst into the restaurant. Josephine’s protective field was still visible and she supposed that another disadvantage to white magic was that she could hardly move about unnoticed while it remained active. It emitted a soft, electronic hum which she hadn’t noticed earlier but it wasn’t loud enough to be heard from a distance.