She chanted and took to the air. A gasp escaped her lips. The palace was gone along with all the buildings around it. Of all the possibilities she’d imagined, that wasn’t one of them.
Jemma growled and put the ruined building out of her mind. This wasn’t the time to deal with it. Right now she needed to find Marsha and any surviving Ministry wizards.
Her cellphone still had a signal so she dialed Marsha’s number. A moment later her second answered. “Director? Are you okay? The palace…”
“I know, I saw it. I’m fine and the king is safe. We have no communications or cameras. What’s going on?”
“Morgana and the wizards flew north after she blew up the palace. Given our condition I chose not to give chase. Where are you?”
“In the air above the palace ruins. Meet me at the Ministry building, assuming it’s still standing.”
“We’ll be there. I’m glad you’re okay, Jemma.”
“Likewise.” Jemma disconnected and flew toward the river. Please let the Ministry still be standing. They needed a gathering point and that was the best one she could think of.
7
Relic Recovery
Conryu gave a whole-body shudder and stepped away from the staff. The earth spirit had been an easy one to convince, the giant talking boulder demanded unflinching determination and said Conryu had displayed it enough times to satisfy him. The painful part of the exchange was its pace. The spirit spoke about one word a minute. It moved at the speed of a glacier. Still, he’d gained the earth blessing on his feet. Now he needed another break.
Off to one side of the library, Angus and the Librarian were engrossed in a game of chess. Maria still sat at her table surrounded by books. She was paging quickly through a leather-bound tome, too quickly to be reading it.
He took one step toward her before she dropped the book on her desk and thrust a fist into the air. “I got it!”
Angus and the ghost looked their way briefly then returned to the game.
“What did you get?” Conryu asked.
She ran around the desk and hugged him. “I know which spirit is bound to the elf ring. It wasn’t an efreet at all. It was an inferno stallion named Charra. I don’t know why I even assumed the spirit would be one known on earth, it’s an elf artifact. The book I found discusses a set of spirits I’ve never heard of. Isn’t that exciting? I can’t wait to try it out.”
“I’m happy for you. It’s been quite a project.”
She beamed at him. “I know, right? If we hadn’t found this place I never would have figured it out. This library is a treasure beyond anything I’ve ever imagined. I just glanced around and saw dozens of titles that exist nowhere else. Cataloguing and copying what’s here would be a life’s work by itself.”
Conryu couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her so happy. When she mentioned life’s work he realized he had no idea how long they’d been in here.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
Maria stared at him for a moment then blinked. “No. Why?”
“Doesn’t it seem like we should be? It’s been hours at least.”
The Librarian looked up from his game. “Have no fear, Candidate. The magic of the library will sustain all those within for as long as you’re present. That way we don’t need a kitchen or bathroom.”
“How convenient.” Even though he wasn’t hungry, Conryu had an overwhelming desire for a slice of pizza. The sooner they got out of here the better.
“How’s it going with the spirits?” Maria asked.
“All I need to do is convince the water spirit and we’ll be all set. The process has been fairly simple so far. More like a formality than a real test.”
“Don’t complain,” Maria said. “Someone might be listening.”
That would be just his luck.
“This space is supposed to be dimensionally secure,” Prime said. “That should extend to elemental eavesdropping.”
Maria’s eyes locked with his and they snickered then broke out into full-throated laughs. Trust Prime to say exactly the right thing to lighten the mood, even if he didn’t mean to.
When he caught his breath Conryu said, “I trust you won’t lack for entertainment while I finish up.”
“Are you kidding? I think I’m going to move in here after graduation. It’ll save rent on an apartment too.”
“You’d have access to information no one else did,” Conryu said. “You could hire out as a freelance researcher. Your unique situation should make that profitable.”
“You mean keep all this knowledge to myself? I don’t know.”
He shrugged. “Just something to think about. Come on, pal.”
Conryu returned to the staff and grabbed on. What would a water spirit expect? He’d find out soon enough.
Lady Tiger landed on the sidewalk and put the rest of Morgana’s army out of her mind. The Society’s leader hadn’t turned out to be what she expected. Oh, she knew there was going to be some destruction and revenge – after all the time she spent locked up, Morgana deserved a little revenge – but leveling a city for every year she spent in prison seemed excessive. Lady Tiger joined the Society because she wanted to rule the world, but not a world reduced to rubble and ruin.
Besides, it was only a matter of time before the world leaders organized a massive counterattack. Having seen Morgana’s power firsthand, she doubted if they’d win, but Lady Tiger had no desire to end up in the crossfire. She had plans of her own and they didn’t depend on Morgana winning her private war. There was a vault full of elf artifacts at Ministry headquarters and a lot fewer wizards to guard them.
The four wizards that had decided to remain behind landed beside Lady Tiger. Three of them looked a little nervous, whether of Lady Tiger or just the situation she didn’t know. The fourth, a tall, broad-shouldered blond with a long scar on her left cheek held herself separate from the rest and glared at everyone and everything.
“We going hunting, or what?” the blond asked. From her accent Lady Tiger figured she came from the Republic of Australia.
“I thought we might strike at the enemy’s heart. With the Ministry building under our control, they’ll have nowhere else to hide.”
“That place is a fortress,” said a mousy brunette that didn’t look spunky enough to break a law, much less get sent to the Lonely Rock. “Even weakened, we’ll never be able to break in.”
The others grumbled in agreement. Lady Tiger grinned. She’d been thinking about this nonstop since her last try at the artifacts.
“Every fortress has a weakness. We just need someone to tell us what theirs is. Is anyone here skilled in mind control magic?”
The brunette raised her hand, giving Lady Tiger a clue as to what she might have done to warrant her sentence. The misuse of mind control magic was a serious no-no.
“Excellent,” Lady Tiger said. “All we need now is a Ministry wizard to interrogate. That’ll provide us with all the information we need to bust in. Once we’re in, it’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel.”
The others were getting excited now, just as she’d hoped. The more eager they were, the less apt they were to think twice about charging in and setting off any traps for Lady Tiger.
“I can send a wind spirit to search,” a pale, wispy blond said, sounding like a little girl hoping for a kind word from the cool kids.
Lady Tiger nodded. “Good. Be sure not to come too close, we don’t want to alert them.”
“Don’t worry, surveillance is my specialty.” She sat on the sidewalk, closed her eyes, and whispered in the language of wind. Lady Tiger only caught every third word, but it was enough to recognize the Windy Eye spell. That was high-level wind magic.
“Don’t worry,” the big Aussie said. “Amanda was the lookout for a group of wizard thieves called The Golden Pentagram. She knows her business. Name’s Donna. You’re one of the Society Hierarchs that busted us out, right?”
She nodded. “Lady Tiger.”
“Rig
ht. Look, you lot have been trying to bust your boss out for ages now. Why ditch her so soon?”
Lady Tiger grimaced. Curiosity wasn’t a quality she liked in her cannon fodder. Fortunately, she’d been turning over a few excuses in the back of her mind for an occasion just like this.
“Morgana’s overwhelming desire for revenge has her not thinking straight. If we don’t finish off London before we move on, we’ll have enemies in front of us and behind. I’m no general, but even I recognize that as bad strategy. I planned to clean up the mess before rejoining the group.”
“Didn’t look to me like Morgana was overly worried about enemies in front or behind.”
Lady Tiger barked a short, bitter laugh. “When you’re as powerful as Morgana nothing scares you. You also tend to forget that your followers aren’t invincible. I don’t fear for Morgana, I fear for the rest of us getting caught in the crossfire.”
“You have a point,” Donna said. At some time during the conversation the three not involved in the search for a Ministry prisoner had moved closer to listen in. “Truth is, I was so eager to escape, I didn’t even think about the details. Glad someone did.”
The others murmured their agreement and Lady Tiger knew she had them.
“I found one,” Amanda said. “She’s headed this way and she’s alone.”
“Perfect,” Lady Tiger said. “Remember, we want her alive.”
“But not undamaged,” Donna added with a nasty grin. “I’ll strike first. Lightning magic is my specialty.”
“I can catch her if she’s rendered unconscious,” Amanda added.
“Okay, let’s get ready,” Lady Tiger said.
The wizards hid themselves with invisibility and darkness depending on where their talents lay.
Amanda’s soft voice whispered in her ear, “She’s a hundred yards out.”
The wind wizard was twenty feet away, so she had to be using a spell to carry her voice. Hopefully the target didn’t notice.
A shadow passed nearby, drawing Lady Tiger’s gaze up. A pudgy silhouette flew over them and a little to the left. Soft chanting filled the air.
The target paused and whipped around toward them.
Too late.
Donna finished her spell and a bolt of lightning came crashing down out of the sky, striking the Ministry wizard square in the back. She went rigid then fell.
Halfway to the ground an invisible force caught the woman and set her gently on the sidewalk. Everyone ended their concealment spells and Amanda said, “We did it!”
They hadn’t done anything yet, but Lady Tiger offered an encouraging smile. The girl seemed to naturally lack confidence and if anything, she wanted her fodder overconfident, not under.
Nothing about the prisoner struck her as overly impressive. A little overweight, plain, careworn features, generally unremarkable in every way, if you didn’t count the electrical burns. Looks could be deceiving when it came to wizards and Lady Tiger had no intentions of underestimating this one.
“Want me to wake her up?” Lightning crackled around Donna’s hand.
“Let me,” the brunette mind control expert said. “I know a healing spell I can combine with domination that will put her totally under my power.”
Donna frowned but lowered her hand. Everyone moved a little ways back to let the light wizard do her thing. Lady Tiger murmured the words of a dark magic counterspell just in case she got overly ambitious. The former prisoners all seemed to regard her with a little awe, but Lady Tiger was a skilled enough liar that she didn’t trust anyone’s reactions to be honest.
Over the course of the next ten minutes, the burns slowly vanished. Every once in a while the Ministry wizard twitched or flopped, nothing major, just muscle spasms.
“Her mind is strong,” the brunette said as she gasped for breath. “I think I have her, but I’m not certain.”
“Let’s find out,” Lady Tiger said. “Ask her to give her name.”
“What’s your name?”
“Marsha,” the wizard said.
Lady Tiger raised an eyebrow, but their so-called mind control expert ignored her.
The brunette said, “I don’t—”
Marsha thrust out her hand. “Lightning Blast!”
A bolt crackled out and sent the unfortunate woman flying.
Marsha shifted her aim.
The words of a fire bolt were on Lady Tiger’s lips when black serpents rose up around Marsha and wrapped her tight. She struggled, but to no avail.
A familiar figure separated herself from the shadows of a nearby alley. “You seem to be having issues, Lady Tiger.”
“Lady Raven. It’s been a long time.”
“Yes, when last we spoke you were denying me the resources I needed to complete my mission. Thanks to you my mind was nearly destroyed and I ended up a prisoner.” Lady Raven offered a smile that argued the mental damage she sustained was far from theoretical, but at least she seemed more coherent than back at the prison. “But that’s in the past. Let’s break this cow so we can get to killing.”
Lady Raven’s presence complicated her plans, but not beyond recovery. Having a powerful dark magic user would make it easier to access the artifacts. Once she’d done her job, well, accidents happened all the time in battle.
Jemma landed in the Ministry building parking lot. A handful of red-robed wizards had arrived ahead of her, but no Marsha. Her second was probably out rounding up anyone that hadn’t responded to the recall order.
She switched her focus to the building. It had survived this attack better than the previous two. Morgana didn’t seem to have any targets in particular, instead she seemed to want to create as much chaos as possible. If that had been her goal, she succeeded admirably. Half the city was smoking rubble and the rest was damaged. Jemma hated to contemplate the death toll. If it wasn’t in the five figures she’d consider them very lucky indeed.
“Director!” One of the new recruits, a girl fresh out of magic school, trotted over. “The palace…”
Jemma nodded. “I know. The king survived as did most of the security officers. I don’t know if the staff was evacuated or not.”
The girl sniffed. “My sister worked there as a chambermaid. She loved it. She’d tell me about all the beautiful things. That blast killed her, didn’t it?”
Jemma struggled to come up with something to say. She wasn’t good at this sort of thing. Finally she said, “Probably. I’m sorry.”
God, that sounded pathetic. It seemed to do the girl a little good as her quivering chin stiffened. “We’ll make them pay for this, won’t we, ma’am?”
“Damn right we will.” How they’d manage such a miracle she’d ponder later.
“Incoming!” one of the other wizards shouted as she pointed at the sky.
Jemma tensed then relaxed when she sensed Marsha’s presence among the group. About time. She’d expected to find her aide waiting for her when she arrived.
Magic gathered amongst the approaching wizards and Jemma had an instant to wonder what was happening before the first fireball streaked out.
She pointed. “Break!”
Her spell negated the first fireball, but another one came right behind it.
The attack detonated short of the gathered wizards. The heat of it washed over Jemma.
A lightning bolt streaked in and blew the girl that was worried about her sister into bloody chunks.
“Inside! Now!” Jemma waved toward the Ministry building. “Darkness dispels everything!”
She hurled a head-sized sphere of dark energy toward the approaching wizards and ran. Maybe she’d knock a few of them out of the sky. Either way they needed to secure the building before the enemy arrived.
Jemma reached the main door last and slid through. Two wizards slammed it shut behind her.
The wards crackled to life at her command. They couldn’t be deactivated from the outside so that should buy them some time.
“What’s going on, Director?” Celia had served
the Ministry for decades, as her gray hair testified. She had more combat experience than Jemma. The only reason she wasn’t director was a lack of political skill.
“I’m not sure. I thought all Morgana’s force had departed, but it seems she left a few behind. I can’t understand how they tricked me into sensing Marsha.”
“They didn’t.” One of the other survivors stood at the window that overlooked the parking lot. “Looks like they captured her.”
Jemma rushed over with Celia on her tail. Outside five women landed on the pavement facing them. Pinned between a pair of them hung Marsha’s limp body.
Blood boiling, Jemma took a step toward the door.
Celia grabbed her. “You know better.”
Jemma let out a little growl then sighed. She did know better, but she didn’t have to like it.
“How many of us made it back and how many are unaccounted for?” she asked.
The head count went with depressing speed. Fifteen Ministry wizards had made it to the rendezvous. Fifteen out of a hundred and sixty. Jemma refused to believe the rest were lying dead in the streets. More likely the enemy had captured Marsha before she had a chance to let the others know.
Please let that be why so few showed up.
“What’s the plan, Director?” Celia emphasized her title, no doubt to remind her how many people were depending on her making the right decisions.
As if she needed more reminding.
“We need to find the rest of our people. I want two people on lookout. Three more head to the comms room and see what’s what. We need a team on the roof and another watching the water entrance.”
Her subordinates quickly sorted themselves based on their skills and ran off to begin their tasks. Jemma sent the two remaining wizards to the basement to check for damage so that only Celia remained with her.
The older woman raised an eyebrow. “What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to the arsenal to see what we can find to help even the odds.”
Death Incarnate: Aegis of Merlin Book 7 (The Aegis of Merlin) Page 8