Death Incarnate: Aegis of Merlin Book 7 (The Aegis of Merlin)

by James E. Wisher

  “Anything she tells you to do, you can consider the same as an order from me.”

  “Very well. All shall be as you left it.”

  Angus waited beside the door, tapping his toe. “Can we go? I need to tell my agent about this. The Library of Merlin, does that sound like a good name for a sequel?”

  Conryu restrained himself from answering. “Does the door open back up in the tunnel?”

  “The door opens wherever you wish it to,” the Librarian said. “You now control all aspects of this space through your connection to the staff.”

  “So if someone stole the staff, they could break in here?” Conryu asked.

  “Have no fear. The Staff of All Elements can’t be stolen. Should anyone attempt something so foolish, the staff will correct them, firmly.”

  Conryu nodded and focused on the subway tunnel. That was where everyone expected them to show up, so it seemed like the best place to reappear. He pulled the door open and stepped through into the light.

  Jemma sighed and left her lookout by the front window. She was alone in the lobby for the time being. The sun had risen an hour ago and the others weren’t up yet. The block had been quiet for the last few hours. Stupid as they were, the zombies had figured out that wandering too close would get them blasted to bits. Either that or Lady Raven had ordered them to keep their distance. She couldn’t decide which prospect worried her more.

  At least they’d found another handful of survivors and raised some basic wards. The defenses wouldn’t last long in a real fight, but they served to keep the monsters at bay while the Ministry wizards slept. The weaker wizards lacked the magical power to punch through the zombies’ dark magic aura, so they were pretty much useless in a fight.

  Jemma’s hair stood on end and a moment later Kai appeared in the middle of the lobby. She bowed and said, “I rescued another handful of survivors. The local shelters are getting full. I’m not certain where to take the people next.”

  More bloody problems. She wished there was someone else to dump them on. But, like it or not, with His Majesty holed up in the bunker under the palace, Jemma was the highest-ranking government official still breathing. She’d actually seen the prime minister’s corpse roaming the streets ten days ago, but hadn’t been in a position to put the poor woman out of her misery.

  “I’ll work on it when the others wake up. We should have something figured out by this afternoon.”

  Kai bowed again. The ninja was a woman of few words. Jemma appreciated that since the junior wizards would be pestering her with questions as soon as they woke up. They were terrified, but the constant chatter seemed to calm them a little.

  “Can I get you something to eat?” Jemma asked.

  “No, I—”

  She grasped her left hand with her right and murmured something so softly Jemma missed the words.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Better than okay,” Kai said with as much excitement as Jemma had heard from her. “The Chosen has returned.”

  “Conryu’s back? Thank heavens.” That was the first good news she had in what felt like forever.

  “I must go.”

  “Bring him back here as fast as you can,” Jemma said.

  “If he wishes it. I serve the Chosen, I do not command him.”

  “Of course, but if you’d impress on him the seriousness of our situation, I’m sure he’ll want to speak with me.”

  Kai bowed and disappeared without making any promises. Not that Jemma blamed her. The woman didn’t strike her as the sort to make promises she couldn’t keep.

  Celia came down from the temporary barracks they’d set up in the offices on the second floor. “Did I hear the girl in black?”

  “Kai just left. Good news, she said Conryu’s back. We can sure use the help.”

  Celia grunted. “Want me to put the coffee on?”

  “Sure.” Jemma turned to the window and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. A horde of undead were marching out of the early morning fog. “Wake the others. Now.”

  “What is it?” All traces of sleepiness had vanished from the experienced wizard’s voice.

  “Company, and lots of it. Hurry.”

  Celia ran back the way she’d come. In the five minutes it took her to rouse the others, scores more undead emerged from the gloom. Jemma stopped counting at two hundred. Lady Raven had been busy.

  “What are we going to do?” The first of the junior wizards had reached the bottom step and was staring out the window with wide, frightened eyes.

  “The best we can. Use your magic to reinforce the wards. We’ll rotate so no one gets exhausted. You start.”

  “Maybe we should make a run for it,” the girl said. “We can rebuild somewhere else. It’s not like there’s anything valuable here.”

  “There’s nowhere else to go. The city’s overrun with the damn things,” Jemma said. “They’ll find us anywhere we run and the new place won’t have the wards we’ve built here. We have to make a stand, right here, right now. Now do your duty.”

  The rest of the team had arrived in time to hear her little speech. It wasn’t much as such things went.

  While the junior wizard settled in and started chanting, Jemma went to the kitchen and put the coffee on. Outside there was a dull thud as the first zombie struck the outer wards. She really hoped Kai convinced Conryu to come. Without help, she doubted they’d last an hour.

  The subway tunnel was completely dark when Conryu stepped out of the portal. The lights the Ministry had set up were gone so he conjured a glow ball. There wasn’t much more to see with the area illuminated.

  He glanced back at the closed door and willed it to vanish. Nobody could get in without the staff, but why take chances?

  “Thank the great good lord,” Angus said. “Back in the real world at last.”

  A slight shimmer appeared in the darkness before Kai emerged. She ran over and hugged him. A moment later she realized what she’d done, leapt back, and went down on one knee.

  “Forgive me, Chosen. I let my emotions overwhelm me. I’m so pleased you’re back. The ring told me you were well, but it is still good to see you.”

  “Likewise. On your feet, Kai. I thought by now you’d know that kind of formality isn’t necessary between us.”

  “Yes, Chosen.” She stood. “Where have you been?”

  “Long story.”

  Maria tugged on his sleeve. “The ring. I can’t wait to try it.”

  “Chosen—”

  “I’m not sure summoning a flaming horse in these tunnels is the best idea.”

  “Chosen—”

  “Good point. Maybe if we found somewhere quiet on our way back to school.”

  “Chosen!”

  Conryu flinched. Kai had never risen her voice. “What?”

  “Much has happened while you were away. There are more pressing matters than returning to the school.”

  Conryu frowned. “How long were we gone?”

  “Six weeks.”

  “Impossible!” Angus sputtered. “I’ve missed three book signings.”

  “Don’t worry,” Kai said. “Most likely the stores are nothing but rubble now.”

  “Maybe you’d better tell us everything.” Conryu started up the tunnel and Kai fell in beside him.

  She described horror after horror, starting with Morgana’s attack on the city, the destruction of the palace, and now the rise of the dead.

  When she finally fell silent Conryu stopped well short of the exit. He didn’t want to run into a pack of whatever sort of monsters were out there. “Where’s Morgana now?”

  “I don’t know. She flew east when she finished with London. Jemma gave no indication that she’d heard anything either, but the Ministry wizards are trapped by the undead. You’ve returned to a terrible mess, Chosen.”

  “What else is new? Are the survivors safe?”

  “Some of them, for the moment. It’s a big city and I couldn’t search all of it. The undead can’
t break into the shelters, but they’ll be running out of food within a week. After that they’ll need to risk foraging or starvation.”

  “It won’t come to that. By the way, I’m proud of you for helping those people. That was well done.”

  Kai lowered her head. “Thank you, Chosen.”

  Behind him Angus was pacing back and forth while waving his hands and muttering about his book tour. Tempting as it was to feed him to the undead, Conryu couldn’t set a bad example now that he had Kai thinking about saving people rather than killing them.

  “Hey, you want to focus on the matter at hand?” Conryu asked.

  “Sorry, my boy. It’s just I worked so hard to get recognition and now it’s all for nothing.”

  “Unless you want to get eaten by zombies I suggest you hold still.” Angus froze and Conryu touched him with the staff. “Spirits of earth, strong and firm. A barrier form to prove your worth. Diamond Skin!”

  “There, that should do it.” Conryu moved the staff and asked Maria, “How are you fixed for defensive spells?”

  “My Light Shield isn’t much good against undead. If you can spare the energy I’ll take a Diamond Skin as well.”

  Conryu repeated the spell for her and then again for himself. Not even a hint of backlash struck him. In fact, casting with the staff made the magic flow like nothing he’d ever experienced. And the power boost, while less than the Death Stick, was still impressive.

  “Kai?”

  “I’m fine, Chosen, thank you.”

  “Okay. Prime, why don’t you fly ahead and have a look around, make sure nothing nasty is waiting for us.”

  Prime went out to the top of the steps to check things out. Conryu’s breath caught at what he saw. When Kai described the attack, he hadn’t imagined it being quite this bad. The entire city had at least some damage and much of what was visible looked unsalvageable. They were going to have to rebuild London from scratch. At least there was nothing dangerous. The ruined city appeared quiet, this part of it anyway.

  “Kai, lead the way. We need to talk to Jemma.”

  Kai darted ahead, hand on the hilt of her sword ready to draw. When the group reached the top of the steps Maria gasped and grabbed his arm.

  Conryu squeezed her hand. “I know, but we can’t worry about it now.”

  Kai worked her way down the street, her gaze darting everywhere. There was a lot to take in and none of it was good.

  Four blocks later they still hadn’t encountered a single undead. Surely having four humans out on the streets would have drawn their attention. Not that Conryu was about to complain, but still, something felt wrong.

  Ten minutes later Kai stopped and pointed. “The Ministry wizards are under attack.”

  Conryu ran up beside her. Across the street, an unassuming building was surrounded by hundreds of undead. At the rear of the group stood a dark-haired woman holding a black orb. She had to be the one controlling the zombies.

  If he took her out, maybe the undead would go back to being just plain dead.

  Malice, her aides, and one of the Department’s most powerful surviving wizards made their way to the nexus chamber. The heavily shielded room sat directly on the convergence of the nation’s ley lines. In all the government, only Malice and two others knew how to access the room and it had never been done in her lifetime. The risks were considerable, but if they wanted any chance of defeating Morgana, it had to be done.

  When the group at last reached the first door, Malice placed her palm on the reader built into the wall next to it.

  “Director, I still think this is a bad idea,” said Nera, a light magic user and their resident expert on ley lines. “No one living has tried to channel the magic of the nexus, and historical records indicate the last one to try burned themselves up. We might end up doing Morgana’s work for her.”

  “That’s entirely possible.” Malice placed her palm on the reader and when it beeped murmured the word to deactivate the magical wards. “But risk or not, if we want to beat her, this is our best chance. You’re the expert, Nera. I won’t order you to do this, but if anyone can succeed, it’s you.”

  The foot-and-a-half-thick door slid open revealing a short passage that ended in a glowing chamber. An entire continent’s energy gathered in that one point. Even Malice found the sight awesome and terrifying.

  “Very well,” Nera said. “I’ve given my council, but if this thing is to be done, better I make the attempt. I will try my best to restrain the power and keep it from running out of control.”

  Malice nodded. “Good luck.”

  Nera marched down the passage, the doors closing behind her. If she survived, Malice would free her later, but she wasn’t optimistic.

  It would take Nera some time to synchronize her power with the nexus. Malice led the others back to the command center. “Situation report.”

  “Portals are opening all over the city,” the watch commander said. “We also have reports of portals at the Academy.”

  “Morgana?” Malice asked.

  “Since she lost her dragon in Sentinel, we’ve had trouble tracking her. Even the magic detection unit can’t separate her from the rest. She must have some way of suppressing her power signature.”

  More good news. Hopefully, augmented by the nexus, Nera would be able to target Morgana more accurately than their machines.

  “The civilian evacuation?”

  “Ninety percent complete. Only stragglers and those refusing to comply remain in the city proper.”

  Malice nodded. They were in as good a position as she could have hoped for under the circumstances.

  “I have an energy spike over City Hall,” one of the technicians shouted.

  “Get me a camera feed,” the watch commander said.

  One of the big monitors flickered and the image shifted to show the city from above. Morgana’s wizards looked like bugs buzzing around on the screen. The camera zoomed in until she was centered, the crimson scepter raised in her hand.

  “Energy output still increasing,” the technician said.

  Malice didn’t require the update. A huge sphere of red energy had gathered at the tip of Morgana’s scepter.

  The scepter snapped forward and hurled the ball into City Hall.

  A mushroom cloud went up, blotting out the image. The muffled roar of the explosion reached them even in the Department’s armored command center.

  Malice ignored the chaos around her and focused on the screen. How much damage did that blast do? The smoke cleared a moment later revealing the answer.

  Ten blocks around City Hall had been reduced to rubble. The loss of her mount didn’t appear to have reduced her power in the slightest.

  “Another power spike, this one from the nexus chamber.” A second monitor shifted to show the roof of the chamber where white energy crackled.

  Okay, Nera, show me what you can do. If this strike failed, Malice feared they had no hope of survival.

  A lance of pure white shot up into the sky.

  Malice turned to the first monitor to watch the results.

  A lightning bolt bigger than anything she’d ever seen came crackling down at Morgana. A hundred light magic users working together couldn’t have conjured a bolt that big.

  Morgana raised her scepter and spun it in a lazy circle. Instead of striking her, the energy spun around the scepter, gathering force until Morgana flicked her wrist, sending it streaking down into another section of the city where it detonated with even more force than her first blast.

  “Impossible.” Malice couldn’t believe what she’d just witnessed. Instead of being reduced to a charred corpse, Morgana had redirected the blast back at them. No one could do that.

  “All energy output from the nexus chamber has ceased,” the technician said.

  No surprise there. Nera was probably the one reduced to a charred corpse and for nothing. The image zoomed in closer. Morgana looked into the camera and smiled at them.

  Conryu eyed the mass of undea
d and debated which spells would best eliminate them without damaging the building or the people inside. “Maria, you and Angus stay here. I can’t focus if I’m worried about you guys.”

  “Give me the ring,” Maria said. “I can help.”

  “Do you know any fire magic spells?” Conryu asked.

  “Three weak ones. But if I summon the spirit…”

  Conryu shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but this isn’t the time to be experimenting with a powerful, unknown fire spirit. If it ran out of control it might kill Jemma and the other Ministry wizards along with the zombies. Best let me handle this. Once things calm down you can practice to your heart’s content, I promise.”

  He feared she might argue some more, but instead she slumped. “I know you’re right, but I want to help so much.”

  “And I love you for it, but as my father likes to say, there’s a time and a place for everything and this is neither the time nor the place for experiments.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

  He cast a flight spell and soared toward the zombies. Fire magic would be the easiest way to deal with them, but he didn’t want to direct his spell toward the building so he needed to get in front of them.

  “Master, if you set the building as the outer edge of your spell, you can cast it from the side,” Prime said.

  “How would that work?”

  The knowledge filled his mind and Conryu smiled. He’d never considered casting a spell just that way.

  He landed at the rightmost edge of the zombies and leveled his staff. The gem turned red and he cast, “Oh flame of god’s forge swirl, rage, and consume all things, Vulcan’s Tornado!”

  A tornado of flames sprang up and roared through the undead, scraping them away from the Ministry building, but not scorching stone or glass.

  The roar of the flames was deafening as was the moans of the burning zombies. In short order the spell ended and the only one still standing was the wizard that had been controlling them.

  Conryu stalked toward her, ready to end the fight once and for all.

  She spun toward him brandishing a black orb.

  He nearly choked when he got a look at her face. She couldn’t be here. The last time he saw Lady Raven she’d been little more than a drooling wreck.