The Dark Mage

by Jace Mitchell

  “I was hoping you’d come.”

  “Your ability to persuade has grown stronger,” Lucie responded. “It seems you’ve got the Right Hands eating out of yours.”

  “I was open and honest. That’s why they trust me. I showed them around, and then gave them shelter and food.”

  “You didn’t show them everything,” Lucie chastised. “We both know that. What are you hiding here? Is it like Pat says?”

  Rendal was quiet for a few moments, and when he spoke, it was as if Lucie had said nothing. “Do you ever wish you hadn’t sided with the Prefect? That you had come with me?”

  “No.” Lucie shook her head.

  “Why not? You still practice magic. You shielded yourself the entire way here, and even now you’re trying to see the private places in my home. That was all I wanted. All we both wanted, really. That people could use magic.”

  “They weren’t ready back then. That was what the city was telling you, and what you refused to hear. That was why they sided with Simon. But you wouldn’t stop back then. You wouldn’t just admit you’d lost. When people are ready to use magic, it’ll come. There’s no need to force it on ‘em.”

  “You were wrong then, and you’re wrong now, Lucie.”

  “Apparently not,” she answered, “because New Perth is doing just fine without you, and I came to make sure that continues. Now tell me what you’re doing here, and not the nonsense you peddled to the Right Hands. What are you hiding from me? What won’t you let me see? Is it like Pat says? Are you somehow stealing people’s magic?”

  “Stealing. Theft. Those are strong words, Lucie. I don’t like to consider myself in such a fashion. I’m bringing light to the world, and sometimes the light has to shine brighter for people to see it. Sometimes, it has to blaze.”

  Rendal stood up, turning so that he faced Lucie.

  “I tried to bring light by myself, but it didn’t work, did it? Even you sided with them, a mage.” He shook his head in disgust. “So, now I’m going to bring a light they can’t look away from.”

  Lucie knew then. Not everything. Not the details. But she knew that Pat hadn’t been lying...and she knew something else too.

  “You want her, don’t you? The Right Hand. Riley.”

  Rendal smiled, the lights above casting shadows on his face. “You can feel her too?”

  “Not her, Rendal. You stay away from her.”

  “Is she dear to you, Lucie? That’s too bad, because I do want her, and over the years since I left New Perth, I’ve grown accustomed to getting what I want.”

  “Mayhap you did.” Lucie glared at the mage. “But that’s not happenin’ now.”

  Her mind shot outward, searching for Riley’s. She knew she’d startle the young woman badly, but there was no choice. They were all in grave danger.

  GET UP, RILEY! she shouted directly into the Right Hand’s mind. GET UP AND RUN!

  Wind ripped from Rendal’s open hand, knocking Lucie onto her side.

  “I’d use fire, but I don’t want to damage the room.” Rendal smiled. “She will never escape here, Lucie. None of them will. They’re mine, and New Perth will be too.”

  From the floor, Lucie watched as Rendal breathed outward from his lips. She maneuvered her hands, bringing up a field of dense air that surrounded her and took the impact. Even so, she was knocked back a few feet, although her magic took the brunt.

  “Lucie, if you were ever a match for me, you’re not now, my dear.” Rendal gestured toward himself as if saying, come.

  A massive armoire flew through the air as Lucie tried climbing to her feet. She saw it seconds before it slammed into her. She quickly threw up another air shield, slowing it some as she dodged to the right. The armoire clipped her hip and sent her sprawling to the floor again.

  She looked around the room and saw him. Rendal Hemmons. The man she’d once loved. His eyes were alight with fire, and there was nothing left of the man she had known. There was only greed and the need to take.

  “You’re already dead, Rendal. Don’t you see that?”

  “No, Lucie. You just never started living.”

  He raised his hand, and with it, Lucie. She floated into the air, staring at him and not bothering to fight. She knew that Riley was moving, going to get William and Pat. With any luck, escaping this place. There was nothing Lucie could do now but hope.

  “Come, I’ll take you to the cages. There you can begin to understand what I’m building. You can even become a part of it.”

  Riley bolted out of bed, going directly for the sword that lay to the side. She had it up and ready to kill before she even knew what was happening.

  Her room was empty.

  Her mind wasn’t.

  The voice was still echoing inside her head, although Riley had no idea how it was possible. She knew who was speaking to her, though, and no part of her denied it.

  Lucie.

  GET UP, RILEY! GET UP AND RUN!

  Riley didn’t bother to go for the purple robe that lay folded at the bottom of her bed, simply stepped out of the room and quietly closed the door behind her.

  She heard footsteps from her right, just beyond the corner. Willam’s room was two down on the left, near the corner where the guards would be in a second.

  Riley said nothing, only trotted down the hall without making a sound, her sword at the ready. She leaned against the wall opposite William’s door, waiting for the guards to reach her.

  She heard their voices now, harsh whispers as the steps grew closer.

  “He’s a big motherfucker. It’ll take all three of us. Just cut any piece of him you can.”

  “The bigger they are, the harder they fall. His fat ass is going to shake the entire building.”

  “Remember, don’t touch the woman. Master wants her. She’s not to be harmed.”

  “You think he’ll let us have a piece when he’s done?”

  Then they were upon her. Riley wasted no time with talk. She danced through them, her sword her partner. It came and went, slicing limbs and piercing guts as if they were little more than air.

  It took only a few seconds, and then she was standing on the other side of the hallway, four people lying dead or dying on the floor.

  William’s door opened, and a hand-axe flew through the air, smashing into the opposite wall.

  “They’re dead!” Riley shouted, not wanting William to rush out and attack her. “It’s just me!”

  He stepped through the doorway, his sword in front of him.

  “You should tell me before I throw the axe! Where’s the crazy man and Lucie?” His eyes were angry and a vein pulsed in his neck.

  “I hope in their goddamn rooms.”

  William turned toward the rooms, but Riley stepped past him. “Stay here and watch. I’ll get them.”

  She went first to Lucie’s room, opening the door on the right. It was dark inside, but the candles from the main hallway shed some light. Riley saw no one inside. The room was empty.

  “She’s not here!”

  “You can’t trust old people!” William shouted back. “I knew she’d wander off!”

  She stepped back out and then across the hall to Pat’s room. She opened the door, flinging it back. Pat sat on the bed before her, his face pale and his hands on his lap. “He’s coming for us, isn’t he?”

  “He’s trying. Get up. We have to find Lucie and get out of here.”

  Pat stood. “There’s no use trying. There’s nothing we can do. He’s too powerful.”

  “Ask the men lying in the hall how powerful he is. Let’s go.”

  Riley went back into the hall.

  “Anyone coming?” she called to William.

  “Not yet, but if you move any slower, I’m sure they’ll get here.” William grinned.

  Riley ignored him and rushed down the hall, Pat behind her.

  “We have to find Lucie.”

  “We have to get out of here,” William answered. “If we find her on the way that’s fine, but o
ur duty is to New Perth, not a restaurant owner.”

  Riley was so angry she wanted to spit fire. She couldn’t imagine leaving Lucie in this place, but she knew William was right. Between Mason and Lucie, there was no choice. She served Mason, and she had to live in order to do that.

  “Let’s go,” William grunted. He grabbed the hand-axe from the wall, shoving it into the strap on his boot.

  The three of them wound through the halls. Riley was doing her best to remember how they’d gotten here, but it was hard. Every hallway looked the same, every corner a replica of the last.

  “There they are!”

  Riley whirled, seeing a group of four men staring at them from the other side of the hall.

  “You ain’t going nowhere. Go ‘head put those weapons down. We’ll make it easy on ya if you do. Easier, at least.”

  “How about you come take them?” Riley yelled down the hall.

  “Hard way, then. Fine by me.”

  The four men moved down the hall carefully. Riley could tell they were better trained than the others she’d come across.

  “Move,” William demanded from behind her.

  She didn’t waste time but spun her shoulders so that they both touched the wall. The hand-axe flew through the air, flipping end over end.

  It caught the lead guard in the head, sending him to the floor. The remaining three looked down for a second but kept coming.

  “What ya waiting on, skinny? Let’s get ‘em.”

  Riley moved then, sweeping down the hall like death’s angel. She heard William behind her, his thundering footsteps echoing off the ceilings.

  The first man met Riley’s sword with his own, and the clanging of metal filled the air. Riley went low, but the man’s sword was there already. She spun, bringing her sword up and then down in an arc aiming for the man’s neck. His sword was there again.

  “Here!” William shouted, reaching down to the hand-axe still stuck in the dead man. He popped it up into the air, and as Riley ducked the guard’s swinging sword, she caught the axe in midair. Her momentum was moving in the right direction, and she didn’t slow at all.

  The hand-axe connected with the back of the man’s knee. He screamed, and Riley thrust her sword into his stomach.

  She tossed him to the side and William grabbed both of the other guards by their throats.

  “One of you lives. One of you dies. You tell me who.”

  The men said nothing, only struggled to find air.

  “Fine.” William shrugged. He tossed the one on the left into the wall headfirst. He hit the concrete with a thud, blood splattering the wall and floor, and slumped.

  “Okay,” William spat, “you’re the lucky one. You know what you’re going to do? You’re going to show us how to get the hell out of here right now.”

  The guard nodded, his face red.

  William dropped him and he landed on all fours, breathing hard.

  “How many more are coming?” William asked.

  The man only coughed up spit.

  “Do that again, and I’m going to kick you so hard your ribs end up in your throat. How many more of you are there?”

  “We got orders to not let you leave,” the man wheezed. “The whole compound is set on that.”

  “Great.” Riley looked back down the other hall.

  “I told you,” Pat whispered. “We’re not going anywhere.”

  Riley whirled on him. “That’s enough. We’re getting out of here, and I don’t wanna hear any more shit from you about it. You think we’re going to die, then go wait in your room for it to happen. Otherwise, grab that man’s sword and help us hack our way out.”

  She didn’t wait to see how Pat took it, only turned back to the guard still on his knees.

  “You get up and start showing us where to go. Do it now.” She placed her sword’s point on his spine, letting him know what would happen if he didn’t listen.

  The guard got to his feet. His throat was purple, but he was otherwise unharmed.

  “Listen to me well, prick,” Riley commanded. “You’re going to lead us away from your pals. Not to them. You take us to them, and you’ll end up like your buddies on the ground. Got it?”

  The guard nodded, clearly terrified.

  “This way.” He turned in the direction his now-dispatched group had come from.

  The four ran. They moved quickly through the halls, always heading up. The minutes passed, and then Riley whispered harshly, “Stop. I hear guards.”

  William stepped up next to the guard leading them and held a knife from his belt to the man’s throat. “Not a peep, unless you want a second smile across your neck.”

  The man gulped.

  The voices grew louder for a second and then faded.

  “Let’s go.”

  The crew continued upward through the winding hallways.

  “There. That’s the door that’ll let you out,” the guard uttered.

  “You’re coming too, friend.” William shoved him forward.

  “No, no. I can’t! I can’t! He’ll kill me if he knows I left!”

  “You’re walking out that door first.” Riley moved her sword to the man’s back. She and William were on the same wavelength. If people were waiting outside, they’d kill the first person who walked through.

  She pressed the tip to the guard’s back harder, and he went forward.

  He pushed open the door, and for a second he was fine.

  Then fire engulfed his body, and he stumbled forward, screaming.

  The door closed, leaving them in silence.

  “Well, we know we’re not alone.” William’s eyes were still on the door.

  “You’re a genius. Have I ever told you that?” Riley asked.

  “You should tell me that more. Now what are we goin’ to do, skinny?”

  She looked back down the hall they’d come from. There wasn’t any escape that way; she was sure about that. Pat was next to useless now, even though he carried a sword. Riley turned back to the door. “We’re going to have to get ourselves out of this mess.”

  “Now who’s the genius?” William asked.

  “You’ve got to go first, and it’s not because I’m scared. You’re bigger, and if anyone can take a direct blast of fire, it’s you. I’ll swoop around your side and start killing quickly. It’ll hopefully distract them, and then you can bring your muscles down on them.”

  “That’s convenient for you, skinny—letting me go first.”

  “It’s the only way,” she insisted.

  “I know,” the big man answered. He stepped forward, stretching himself to his full height. He looked massive in the cramped hallway. “Here we go. Make it fucking count.”

  Riley gripped her sword hard for a single second, simply to remind herself she carried it, then loosened her hand. It was easier to maneuver with a lazy grip, and she would have to use it like never before in the next few seconds.

  William started running, and Riley was right behind him. He hit the door hard, springing out into the night air.

  A fireball exploded immediately, and Riley couldn’t tell what part of William it hit. She danced to her left, scoping out the scene as she moved. Ten guards, maybe more, stood in a semi-circle, with Rendal in the middle. His eyes were red, and Riley had heard what that meant. He was a mage, and that was where the fire was coming from.

  “Try again!” William bellowed across the yard. He charged forward, his broadsword bared.

  Riley moved to the left. The guards came for her, some screaming and others only grunting. She went through them silently, parrying blows and slicing her sword across soft body parts.

  She heard William across the yard, his sword clanging against others. Grunts and screams filled the air as he killed the killers Rendal had sent for him.

  “ENOUGH!”

  The shout rose above everything, and Riley watched as the guards attacking her backpedaled at their master’s call.

  She turned to William. He now stood alone, two
dead people at his feet, the rest having retreated.

  He was bleeding and burnt. He would have scars, but he was alive.

  Rendal stood in the middle, his eyes still red.

  “It’s you I want, Riley Trident,” he told her. “If you stay with me, I will let the rest go. If you don’t, I’ll kill them, and you’ll still stay. There’s no way you’re leaving now. No matter how hard you fight or how many of my men you kill, you’re not leaving.”

  Rendal flicked his hand to the right and Riley watched as Lucie rushed through the air. She was floating and under the control of this master mage.

  A glowing green necklace was around her neck, and her arms and legs were ramrod straight.

  “If you stay, Lucie here will live. For a little while.”

  Riley was breathing hard, her eyes moving between William and Lucie.

  “Don’t listen to him,” William called, his voice ragged. “You’re not staying, Riley.”

  This was magic. This was what Riley had heard of but never seen—a power her sword couldn’t attack. Fire and floating people, red eyes, and the ability to move objects with his mind. Riley’s power rested in cold metal and ridiculously fast reflexes.

  She was no match for this.

  I either sacrifice myself, or I sacrifice them, she thought. A sacrifice will be made to this mage, though.

  Riley thought of Mason. He had lifted her from a lifetime of poverty to the highest position she could ever want. If she were going to die here in front of this evil mage, what would make Mason proud?

  “You want me? Come get me.” She put her sword directly in front of her body, the point facing the sky. “Let’s see if your magic can stop cold steel.”

  “Oh, you silly girl.” Fire lit in his right hand as he flicked his left, sending Lucie floating back across the yard. He flung the fire out, but it spilled past Riley.

  Slamming into Pat.

  His screams rose into the sky, flames dancing across his body.

  Riley didn’t turn around to look at the dying man, even though her heart hurt for him. She had to stay focused. To glance away now would mean death for her, and William as well.

  “That’s one down,” Rendal boasted. “Are you ready for the next?”