“It was you the whole time?”
Linda nodded.
“How?”
“That’s another element of psychic magic. I made you see what I wanted you to see.”
“But I didn’t feel you,” Riley told her.
“I wasn’t inside your head, so you wouldn’t have felt me. You didn’t see through the disguise until I wanted you to, then all was revealed.”
“You realize you’re not making any damned sense, right?” Riley grinned slightly. The woman was talking, but instead of words, it was like a gray cloud was coming from her mouth.
“I’m making sense to the initiated.”
“I’m not initiated?”
“You got one foot in and one foot out, girl.”
Riley smiled again. “That’s a dance we used to sing as kids. We called it The Hokey-Pokey.”
“You’re going to hokey-pokey yourself into death’s embrace if you don’t start paying attention.”
“Okay, what am I missing?” Riley asked. She turned around and laid the blade on the bed.
“Did you see Rendal fully? Was there no part of me behind the mask?”
Riley nodded, her back still to the woman. “Only him.”
“Do you know why?”
“Of course not.” Riley laughed. “If I knew why, I could fix it.”
“Because you fear him.”
Riley whipped around. “I don’t fear him. I’m ready to attack him. I’m ready to leave right fucking now and go get him.”
“You’re courageous, that’s for sure, but you do fear him, even if it’s way, way down. It’s because you still don’t think you can beat him. It’s not your own death you fear, girl, but the death of your loved ones. The death of your kingdom.”
“Why can’t I use psychic magic? I can practically fly, but I can’t create masks like you just did. Why?”
“Psychic magic is different than the other kinds.” Linda moved a chair into Riley’s room and sat down. “Other types of magic involve manipulation of the outer world. Psychic magic, for the most part, only uses your mind. You can’t use it because you don’t believe in yourself.”
“But you do?”
“Yes, I do. I have for a very long time. It was the only way I could give up on the mission Ezekiel set out for me.” She stared at Riley. “Why didn’t you beat me?”
“They say you’re one of the greatest mages to ever live. How could I expect to beat you?”
“Girl, you are dumber than any human has a right to be.”
Riley smiled.
“I’m ninety-two damn years old. I’ve been able to fend people off from this place primarily because of my psychic magic and weather magic—”
“Weather magic?” Riley asked.
Linda waved the question away. “They call it different things in different places. Just means I can make the elements do my bidding. Even at this age, I might have been able to fight off Worth and Alexandra when they showed up, but probably not. I made a good showing, and that’s usually half the battle.”
Riley sat down on the bed as Linda grew quiet for a second.
“I’m old, is what I’m saying, girl. I’m old and frail, and you could wipe the floor with me if you wanted. I might be able to battle back for a few minutes, but in the end, my strength would give out.” Her face grew really stern. “That didn’t happen just now, though, and unless you’re dumber than a bag of nails, you know why.”
Riley sighed and looked down at her feet. “Because I didn’t think it was you. I thought it was Rendal.”
Linda raised her hands in the air and looked into the sky. “Father and Mother, finally she says something halfway intelligent. Praise be to you!”
She grinned as she looked back at Riley.
Riley wasn’t smiling. “I don’t know what to do except go back and try to fight him. I can’t learn this shit. I can’t learn psychic magic. I can’t get over this block with him.”
Linda nodded. “I think when you finally learn the psychic part of this, you’ll be through your block. I think when you learn that, you’ll be able to kill Rendal.”
William was fed up with the dead city and the nearly dead woman.
He’d spoken to Riley a bit ago, but he didn’t want to push her. He needed her ready for when they got back to New Perth. He needed her able to beat Rendal’s ass.
The old woman, though? William was fine pushing her.
He found her in the center of the crumbling city. She was sitting next to a statue whose head had long ago fallen off. It only had one arm, and although its chest was clearly that of a woman, the rest of the thing was a disaster.
The fallen statue stood in the middle of what had once been a fountain. Linda sat on the fountain’s outer edge.
“They did a great job of capturing your likeness with this statue,” William said as he arrived.
“Even if I wasn’t a mage, I could have smelled you coming the moment you turned onto the road,” Linda retorted. “You need to go sit in the ocean for an hour, and leave your clothes on, too. You smell like a diaper that’s been in the sun for about twelve hours.”
“When they built this thing, they missed your head. Was it because it’s too ugly? They didn’t want to scare off tourists?” William grinned.
“There’s actually a male statue of you a little ways to the south. I imagine it’s perfectly lifelike, because it’s missing a dick.”
“All right,” William said. “Enough. I didn’t come here to banter with you, ya old biddy. I need to know where Riley’s at in terms of being ready. Each day we spend here with you is a day that Rendal rules my kingdom.”
“You’re right. Your kingdom. Not mine. What’s your point?”
“We need to leave,” William said. He’d been standing behind her, but now circled around so the two faced each other.
Linda raised her eyebrows as she looked at him.
“So leave. Trust me, fat man, I’m not keeping you here.”
William ignored the barb. “Is she ready?”
Linda shook her head. “Nowhere near.”
“Why not? You’re supposed to be some kind of grand mage or something, right? We’ve been here for days, and you’re not making any progress.”
Linda smiled, her teeth gleaming through the wrinkles and tan. “Well, William, you’re more than welcome to pick up my slack if you think it’ll be beneficial.”
“Enough with the jokes. I'm serious here. Rendal isn’t a joke; he’s a severe threat. He sacked the largest kingdom on this continent, and now he’s taken New Perth. He’s taking everything.”
“Go stop him then. I’m not going to get in your way.”
William wanted to pull his axe off his back and chop the old woman’s head clean off, make her resemble the statue behind her.
Instead, he sighed.
“Will she ever be ready? Are you going to be able to help her? Tell me true, because if it’s no, we need to leave. We have to try to stop this.”
“You’re a hero, aren’t you, William?” Linda glanced around the broken kingdom she ruled.
“I don’t know if I’m a hero. I know that there are things that need to be done, and I know I’ve sworn to do them.”
“I used to know heroes, although they probably would have said the same bullshit you just did. I’m no hero, and I don’t want to be. I haven’t sworn to a damned thing, nor will I. What makes you want to give that much of yourself to the world?”
It was a question William had never asked himself. Something he’d never thought about in his whole life.
“I guess because the world’s given me so much. It’s only right that I give some back.”
Linda shrugged. “That’s as good of an answer as any. Better than most, I imagine.”
“Why are you asking me all this? It has nothing to do with Riley.”
Linda grinned. “Because I get tired of hearing you drone on and on. Seemed like a nice change of subject. What can I tell you, William? She isn’t read
y. If you go now, she will die. You will die. Your kingdom will be lost.”
“And if we wait, those I care about inside the kingdom will die.”
“I have no perfect answer for you, boy.” Linda sneered. “I am not a soothsayer, or the Oracle Ezekiel knew. I’m simply an old practitioner of magic who wants to be left alone.”
“You know he’ll come for you, right?” William asked. “He’ll come, and he’ll take this place, and then he’ll kill you.”
“Right now that sounds like heaven, at least compared with listening to your mouth that knows no end.” Linda looked at him. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you. That she’s ready? Okay, she’s ready. That she can leave? Okay, she can leave. You know the truth. You all should decide what to do and leave me out of it.”
William stared at the woman hard for long moments, then walked off. There was no more use talking to her. It was time to go to Alexandra and Worth. William needed to get their opinions. He hoped they weren’t anywhere near Riley, because from what he could tell, the damned Right Hand was just moping around on the beach like some lost puppy right now.
This was all turning into a disaster.
He found them in Linda’s house, and Riley was still at the beach.
“That woman is a real bitch,” he said as he entered.
“You two still getting along swimmingly?” Alexandra asked.
“You have crush,” Worth remarked from through the open door of the back porch. He was cooking fish for dinner. The woman caught no shortage of fish, using some kind of magic that William didn’t understand (or care about).
“I’m going to crush her,” William shot back. “But I ain’t here to talk about that old biddy. We need to discuss Riley and what to do.”
“Not ready.” Worth didn’t look up from the task at hand.
“Father and Mother, I’m tired of hearing that. Alexandra, what do you think?”
The woman looked more at peace than William had ever felt in his life. She was lying on a couch that was remarkably well kept. William had no idea how the old bitch did it, nor where it had come from.
“I think we’re exactly where we need to be. Riley is doing exactly what she has to in order to win this thing.”
“Out of everyone on Earth, I’m here with you two.” William ran his hands through his hair. “One is a member of a damn cult, and the other only thinks about food and booze.”
Worth’s head whipped away from the food. “Wine! Not all booze!”
William rolled his eyes.
“She’s going to beat him,” Alexandra said. “We just need to trust her and her decisions.”
“Her decisions?” William was growing more exasperated. “She’s outside kicking sand across the beach and pouting because the old woman won’t tell her she can beat Rendal. All of this is madness!”
Alexandra shrugged. “I wish I could give you some of my peace, but I can’t. You’ll have to either trust in our Savior or not.”
“Savior, savior, savior,” William mumbled. “I’m the only one here with a lick of sense.”
“Less sense than dingo, you have.” Worth laughed.
“So we wait, that’s what you’re both saying. Regardless of what happens to New Perth, we wait?”
Worth walked away from the cooking food and stopped in the doorway. “We wait ‘til she ready. That only way we win. Otherwise, we die.”
They appeared out of nowhere.
One hundred of them, at least.
“I thought I’d seen a lot of ugly before,” Riley quipped, “but this is almost more than I can handle.”
She was staring at a hundred identical versions of Linda. The old woman had surrounded her on the beach, both behind and in front.
“All your talk. Let’s see you beat us, then.” They spoke as one, a hundred voices at the same time.
Riley understood this was another example of psychic magic, somehow Linda making replica after replica.
Riley pulled her sword from its sheath.
“Are you still going to talk to me once I kill all of you?” she asked.
“If you kill one of me, I’ll eat my shoe,” a single Linda on the left told her…and then launched a fireball.
Riley’s eyes flashed red and she spun, water covering her sword. It sliced through the flaming ball, causing it to sizzle and burn away.
That Linda was still staring at her. Riley paused only for a second, deciding what exactly she should do.
Fuck it, she thought. The bitch tried to kill me.
She swung her arm wide and threw the sword at them. It spun in the air, electricity now flying from the blade, and shot across the beach, latching onto the different Lindas. None said a word, although when the electricity touched them, their bodies convulsed.
“Too many of us.” The others spoke as one.
The sword continued spinning as it flew.
Riley looked behind her just in time.
A whirling tornado of sand, ten feet tall, was aiming straight at her. Riley made a parting motion with her hands, but she felt Linda’s strength as she did. The tornado kept coming, and if Riley didn’t split it, the thing would rip her apart.
She thought about running, but—
No. Believe.
The tornado was two feet away, the sand starting to scrape Riley’s skin.
She did the splitting motion again, her eyes wide open.
The tornado split in half and went around her, the sand falling to the ground as it lost its momentum.
“Nice try,” they said. “But that’s only one of our tricks.”
Riley looked to her right. The sword was still scattering electricity, and twenty or more Lindas were shaking as if having seizures. She stuck out her hand and the sword ripped through the air, its hilt finding her hand easily.
A fireball streaked at her from behind, but she felt the heat just in time and dropped to the sand as it soared overhead. Another came from the left, then one from the right. Riley shoved her sword into the sand and leapt.
The fireballs collided with each other, creating a dazzling blaze.
Riley looked down. Lindas were staring up at her, their eyes alive with fire. Some were on the ground; the ones the electricity had taken out.
There are too many, she thought.
Forty pairs of hands raised into the air at once.
The other forty turned their backs to her and looked out at the ocean.
Fuck.
Long, dazzling strands of electricity flew from the fingertips pointed at her.
Riley let herself drop.
The electricity followed, bending and twisting to find its target.
Riley brought her sword in front of her face and closed her eyes.
Water erupted from the air around her, a shell of it that spread outward. The electricity hit it, creating a beautifully frightening wall of sparks. Riley forced the water out farther. The Lindas continued their assault, trying to break through the shield she’d created.
Farther, she thought. Force it on them.
The water shield hit the first rows of Lindas. They shook just as the others had, and as the water passed them, they dropped to the ground.
“Good,” the remaining ones said. “But not good enough. You weren’t aware of your surroundings. Go ahead. Look.”
Riley turned, knowing instinctively what she was about to see.
The wave was a hundred feet high and heading to the shore.
“YOU’LL KILL BOTH OF US!” Riley shouted.
There was nothing she could do. There was no escape. It towered above everything, even the crumbled buildings behind her. It was going to wipe out everything at once.
No, Riley thought. No, that’s not true. None of this is real. That wave, these Lindas—it’s all magic.
Then how the hell do I stop it?
The answer was sudden and sure.
Find the right one. Ignore the rest.
The wave was ripping toward her, the beach having extended out fi
ve hundred yards. It would be here in mere seconds.
See. See the truth. Believe, she thought.
Riley ignored the wave, scanning the Lindas. They all looked the same, each now staring at her impending death.
And then…
She knew.
As simple as that.
Riley closed her eyes and her sword took off, dashing through the air like a missile.
“Good fucking job.” Linda was laughing.
Riley opened her eyes. Only one other person stood on the beach, fifty feet away from her. Riley’s sword hung in the air, its point an inch from the woman’s forehead. No dead Lindas littered the beach. The tsunami that had been about to break everything was nonexistent. The ocean lapped lazily against the shore, just as it had when Riley came out here.
“Mind getting this damned weapon away from my face?” Linda asked, still smiling.
Riley raised her hand, and the sword returned home.
“Was any of that real?” she asked, amazed.
“Some of it. Some of it was fake.”
“How? How in the hell did you do all of that? I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. I’ve never even imagined anything like it.”
The old woman shrugged, still grinning as she walked across the beach toward Riley. “I’m good at what I do, I guess.”
“I’ll say.”
“The question is, how did you figure out which one was me?” Linda stopped about ten feet in front of Riley.
“It’s hard to describe. I just… I saw through the rest. They were still there, but ephemeral, like they didn’t really exist. The only one that looked real was you.”
“And that is psychic magic. Congratulations, you finally did it.”
“Huh?” Riley asked. She hadn’t felt any magic. She’d simply seen. “No, that wasn’t magic. I just saw through the bullshit.”
“Tisk, tisk, girl. Do not doubt the wise old bitch. You practiced psychic magic to see through the lies, and consequently, you beat me.”
“I can’t do what you did, though.” Riley didn’t care about throwing her sword at the right Linda. What she’d just witnessed was beyond… Well, beyond anything. “You have to face Rendal. You can beat him.”
“Ha!” The old woman cackled. “He’d make me look like the ancient no-good I am. You don’t need to do what I did to stop Rendal, though. You only need to believe. Now, I think that bald man named Worth is cooking dinner for me, and I plan on eating. I been cooking for myself for far too long, so it’s good to have someone else do it, even if the whole lot of you smell like shit.”
Magic Unchained (Hand Of Justice Book 4) Page 8