Alastair Stone Chronicles Box Set: Alastair Stone Chronicles, Books 1 through 4

by R. L. King

The others studied the map. “It’s a ley line map of the US,” Verity said, nodding. “So you do think whatever the Evil are doing is connected with ley lines after all?”

  Stone nodded. “I got to thinking,” he said, “that there was one part of this equation that we hadn’t factored in to our discussion.”

  “What’s that?” Jason asked, leaning in for a closer look.

  “The summoning books. It’s possible that the Evil are just running a massive con, trying to misdirect anyone who might be paying too much attention to them into thinking they’re doing something they’re not. But breaking into all of those high-security libraries seems to be a hell of a lot of trouble and risk of discovery if they’re doing it for no good reason.”

  “I don’t get it,” Verity said. “You already said you thought they might be pursuing multiple angles—either building a portal or making a summoning circle that could bring more Evil through. Do you not still think that?”

  “No, that’s exactly what I still think,” Stone said. “But what I hadn’t been considering before is what the two have in common.”

  “Huh?” Jason looked confused.

  Stone stabbed a finger at the map. “You don’t need a ley line to build a portal, nor do you need one to cast a summoning circle. But in both cases, if you have one—or more than one—it makes the whole process much easier. Especially if you’re trying to do something you’ve never done before. Like, say, trying to bring over a bunch of things from a dimension you’ve never contacted.”

  Sharra nodded, getting where he was going. “So you think that if they are doing one or the other of those things—or maybe even preparing to try both, in case one doesn’t work—they’ll look for a place with a lot of ley lines in confluence.”

  “Exactly,” Stone said.

  Verity frowned. “This is a map of North America,” she said. “How do you know they won’t go somewhere else to look for it? These things are all over the world, right?”

  “They are,” Stone agreed. “This is just a guess on my part, but I think they’ll stay in North America if they can. This isn’t the sort of thing you can do with one person. If the powerful Evil, or even some subset of them, have decided to play well together temporarily to get this done, then they’ll have to travel physically to wherever they decide to do it. Remember, they’re still in human bodies. Some of them are in human bodies who might have trouble traveling out of the country, or who don’t know much if anything about the rest of the world. The Evil themselves almost certainly don’t, so I’m banking on their trying to stay where they’re familiar, if they can.” He spread his hands. “I don’t know I’m right. It’s possible they all might charter a plane to Siberia or wherever. I’m sure they have the resources to do it, if nothing else. But let’s take a look here first and see if anything pops out at us, and if not, we’ll branch out. That’s why I brought the other maps.”

  Verity stared hard at the map. “Dr. Stone…?” she asked, her tone suggesting she was trying to work something out.

  “Yes?”

  “There’s one thing I don’t get here. These rituals you’re talking about would have to be huge, right? This isn’t something that one or two people could do, even with a bunch of ley lines to help out.”

  Stone nodded. “With enough ley lines, they wouldn’t need that many people to work them, but definitely more than one or two.”

  “You think they have that many mages on their side?”

  “Well, if we’re right about this, they’ve got at least two,” Stone said. “Dr. Brandt and the unnamed black mage who orchestrated the thefts. But that’s a fair point. Perhaps they do have more. We’ll have to be careful.” He directed his attention back to the map, dragging a nearby lamp closer to provide more illumination. “Let’s take a look at these confluences.”

  All four of them leaned in and began poring over the map. It was large but simple, printed on plain white paper with the outlines of the various states and provinces of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, along with faintly drawn major roads and cities. The ley lines crisscrossed over the land, highlighted in various colors. “There’s a big one,” Verity said, pointing to the southeast part of the United States.

  Stone raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think they’ll be doing any rituals in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. It’s frightfully difficult trying to cast a circle in the ocean. Your crystals keep sinking.”

  She rolled her eyes at him, and looked around for something to throw as he chuckled and went back to examining the map.

  Half an hour later, they had identified about fifteen locations in the United States, northern Mexico, and southern Canada that included ley line confluences of at least four lines. Of the fifteen, four of them were significantly larger and each formed the nexus of ten individual ley lines.

  “You think those are our spots?” Verity asked. “You already said the Bermuda Triangle wouldn’t work. This one’s in Canada and this one’s just south of the Mexican border. If we want to stay in the U.S., that leaves that one,” she added, pointing with the eraser end of a pencil at the fourth large confluence, which was located in the far northern part of Nevada.

  Stone studied it in silence.

  “I remember that one,” Jason said. “When we were looking for ley lines around Vegas on Harrison’s map. We figured it was too far away to be what we were looking for.” He narrowed his eyes, leaning in closer. “Hmm…”

  “Hmm what?” Stone asked, glancing up.

  He shook his head. “There’s something about that spot that seems familiar.”

  “Familiar?” Verity asked, frowning. “It’s out in the middle of nowhere. Looks like it’s nothing but a big flat spot. It’s not even near any major roads.” She glanced at Stone. “If it’s that big and out in the middle of nowhere, I wonder who owns that land. Seems like it would be a great place for a group of mages to go if they wanted to do a ritual without being noticed, doesn’t it?”

  “It does indeed,” Stone agreed. He still only seemed to be halfway there, with most of his mind far away.

  Jason sighed. “I wish I could remember where I’ve seen that spot before. It was fairly recently, too, like the last couple of years.”

  Sharra sat up straight, like somebody had poked her with an electrical current. “Wait, I know!”

  They all turned to her. “What?” Jason demanded.

  “That’s where Burning Man is held!” she announced, pointing at the spot.

  “You’re right!” Jason agreed, sitting up straighter too and leaning in.

  Stone raised an eyebrow. “If you two are quite done, would you mind enlightening the rest of us? What the hell is Burning Man?”

  Verity looked confused as well. “Never heard of it either.”

  “Yeah, you wouldn’t have,” Jason said, nodding. “V, you were in the halfway houses for all those years, and Al—well, aside from not being in the U.S. very long, you’re about as far from the Burning Man type as it’s possible to be.”

  “I’m not sure whether I should be flattered or insulted,” Stone said sourly.

  Sharra grinned. “It’s—hard to explain. It’s like this giant festival thing that they put on out in the middle of nowhere once a year. Thousands of people, all camping and sharing stuff and running around naked and taking drugs and building amazing stuff and just—having experiences, you know? It’s all very hippie and counter-culture.”

  “Flattered, then,” Stone stated.

  Jason laughed and nodded. “Yeah, Al, I just can’t picture you firing up a righteous doobie and cruising around on a mountain bike in nothing but sunglasses and a big floppy hat.”

  “Thank you,” he muttered, glaring.

  Verity giggled, but stopped when Stone redirected his glare at her. “Anyway,” she said, changing the subject, “what’s this thing got to do with the Evil? You don’t think that’s where they’re gonna do it, do you?”

  “Well…” Sharra said, “They could certainly hide a big ritual
there without anybody catching on.”

  “Oh?” Stone asked, curious.

  She nodded. “I’ve never been there, but I’ve got friends who have—including a couple of our type. This is kind of a big deal for my generation of mages. My friends brought back a bunch of pictures. The thing is huge. You can’t even imagine how huge. Thousands of people, all camping out in tents and campers and under the stars, and most of ’em are building these amazing structures and artwork and technology. And after the festival’s over, they just pack it all up and take it back out with them. Except for the Man, of course.”

  “The Man?” Verity asked.

  “Yeah. That’s why they call it Burning Man. At the center of the place where it’s held, they set up this giant wooden man-shaped sculpture thing. It looks a little different every year, but it’s always humanoid. It’s so big that you can see it from all over, and it kind of presides over the festival. Then, on the last night before everybody packs up and heads home, they burn it. From what I understand, it’s really amazing to watch.”

  “And you’re saying the Evil could hide a ritual in the middle of all of this?” Stone asked.

  “Easily. In plain sight, probably. The whole thing is kind of like a big bunch of rituals, really. It runs twenty-four hours a day for several days—mostly at night, because during the day it gets wicked hot and everybody just kind of vegges out in their tents until the sun goes down.”

  Stone pondered. “Hmm…it does sound like the sort of place we’re looking for. When is this thing held, anyway? Is it soon?”

  “Yeah,” Jason said. “It’s at the end of the summer, so a couple of weeks from now.” He narrowed his eyes. “Al, you want to go to Burning Man?”

  Stone shrugged. “Any reason we couldn’t?”

  “I guess not,” he said, glancing at Sharra. “But—I don’t think you have any idea what you’re getting into. It’s not the kind of thing you decide to do at the last minute. You’ve got to prepare.”

  “Prepare how? It’s just camping, right? We’ll rent one of those big motor caravans and stay in that. It won’t be a lot of fun, but surely we can—”

  Sharra shook her head, returning Jason’s glance with a roll-eyed one of her own and holding up her hands. “Alastair, stop. Yeah, we can get some kind of big plush RV if you want. That’s kind of counter to the spirit of the whole thing, but—”

  “Bugger the spirit. I am not sleeping in a tent with you lot for a week,” Stone protested. “No offense, but that’s far more togetherness than I’m prepared to deal with. The caravan will be close quarters enough. And more importantly, it will be much easier to ward.”

  Sharra’s eyes seemed perpetually set on ‘roll.’ “I’m going by memory here based on what my friends have told me—I can call a couple of ’em and get some more first-hand info if you want—but the whole thing is really primitive, on purpose. There won’t be any hookups for the RV, for example. There’s nothing for sale there: you have to pack in whatever you want to eat, drink, or use, and if you want something you don’t have, you have to trade with other people. And you gotta pack out everything you took in.”

  Stone didn’t look at all pleased with what he was hearing. Everyone had their quirks, and many would argue that he had rather more than most people—but two of his larger ones were that he enjoyed his creature comforts and needed his alone time. He didn’t mind the occasional night camping out under the stars with the right company, and he could overlook his discomfort entirely if he was on the track of some interesting bit of magical knowledge that required traveling to some remote location. But several days in the desert at the height of summer, miles from anything approaching civilization, surrounded by thousands of the sort of people he generally tried to avoid? This wasn’t going to be easy.

  Verity patted his arm. “You can do it, Doc,” she said, grinning. “We’ll help you. And remember, it’s for a good cause. If the Evil is there, maybe we can shut ’em down for good before they even figure out we’re on to them.”

  “If they’re there,” he said. He pointed to the map. “They could just as easily be in Canada, or down by the Mexican border. Or we could have it completely wrong and they’re planning to do something else entirely. Although—” He gazed off into space again for a moment. “Although,” he repeated, “the timing hardly seems coincidental. And the combination of that many ley lines and that much human energy—it does seem an ideal location for them to try this.”

  He took a deep breath, and it was a while before he spoke. Then he jumped up and began gathering up the maps and other items on the table. “All right, then: let’s do it. Are you all in?”

  They all nodded. “If nothing else,” Sharra said, “I’ve always wanted to go to Burning Man. So even if we’re wrong, it’ll be fun.”

  Stone looked dubious at that, but didn’t reply. “Jason and Sharra, since you’re as close to experts as we have, can you see to the logistics and whatever supplies we’ll need? Verity, you help them—but stay together for safety. I’ll handle the financial end and see to the caravan. And,” he added with a quirked eyebrow, “I’d be grateful if you’d put together some sort of presentation you can make on the way there so I’ll know what the hell I’m getting myself into.”

  Jason grinned. “Don’t worry, Al. You’ll be an old hand before we’re done.”

  “I just hope we’re all alive when we’re done,” Stone said grimly.

  PART 2: BURNING

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “Holy crap, I feel like I should be sending commands down to the engine room,” Jason said. He pitched his voice louder. “Mr. Scott, I need more power!”

  “I kenna give ye more power, Captain!” Sharra yelled back in a terrible Scottish accent. “The engines’re gonna blow!”

  Jason glanced at Stone with a grin. “You sure they didn’t have a bigger one, Al? Or were you worried they’d make you apply for a zip code if you went any bigger?”

  Stone sat tilted back in the passenger seat, his feet up on the wide expanse of dashboard. “Stop complaining,” he said. “You’ll thank me when we get there.”

  They’d left their staging area in Mountain View an hour ago, and were now rolling up Highway 80 at a reasonable pace, given the sheer size of what they were driving.

  Stone hadn’t spared any expense: the RV he’d rented was only a couple years old and a top-of-the-line model. Almost as big as a bus, it was the largest one that could be operated without a special license. Additionally, it towed a four-wheel-drive Jeep SUV (“In case we need to get around in something smaller than a cruise ship,” he’d told them). It slept four—though Verity and Sharra would have to share the queen-size bed in the back—and included just about every amenity available: kitchenette with stove, microwave, and refrigerator/freezer; bathroom with shower; numerous bins and cubbyholes inside and out for gear storage; generator; and dining area big enough for all four of them, if they didn’t mind getting cozy.

  Jason, Verity, and Sharra had been busy the last two weeks. Sharra contacted her friends who’d attended Burning Man before, and they’d sent her copies of the information they had, along with sharing tips for what to do, take, and expect. Jason and Verity haunted the library to gather more data, and then the three of them had purchased the various supplies they would need. Jason made up a separate list for the individual items each of them would require, and insisted on checking Stone’s pack to make sure he’d followed it before letting him on board. Stone grumbled a bit, but recognized that this sort of thing wasn’t his forte, and he’d be better off trusting his more knowledgeable friends.

  While the others gathered mundane supplies, he’d been accumulating the magical gear they would need. He made copies of all of Pia Brandt’s papers, Harrison’s notebook, and even made a quick trip back to England to bring back copies of Daphne Weldon’s portal research. He didn’t know if he’d need it, but better safe than sorry. At the last moment, he also tossed in a copy of the ritual he and Kolinsky had attempted w
ith disastrous results: Sharra had assured him that they’d all have a lot of time to kill during the long hot days, so he figured he might be able to come up with a way to refine it.

  Additionally, he’d filled a large duffel bag with ritual supplies: candles, crystals, bags of sand, chalk, incense, chalice, knife, and other similar items. He had no idea if he would need them: the plan was to stop a ritual, not perform one, but as impractical as Stone could sometimes be about the mundane necessities of survival, he was perhaps a bit overly practical about magical requirements. He did not want to end up a hundred miles from civilization and discover he was missing a vital component of a ritual. And in any case, he’d need a few things to set up the ward.

  He leaned back, watching the road roll by through the RV’s massive front windows, and thought about what was to come. Sharra had told them Burning Man was like its own little city, completely self-sufficient, and almost totally cut off from the rest of the world for the duration of the event. She warned them not to expect to be able to get hold of anything that they didn’t bring with them: bartering was everywhere, but you couldn’t count on anyone having exactly what you wanted, especially if it was unusual. The RV’s outside cargo holds were full of necessities such as water (lots of water—apparently they wouldn’t even let you in if you couldn’t prove you had enough for everyone for the duration), non-perishable food, fuel for the generator, protection from the elements, first-aid gear, and all sorts of other small portable items. Jason had insisted on packing two large tents despite Stone’s protest that they could stay in the RV, and he’d procured two used mountain bikes along with tools, replacement tires, and patch kits for them. These were currently lashed to the top of the RV.

  Stone, watching the others loading up, had shaken his head, wondering if all this stuff was technically necessary. “Trust me, you’ll be glad to have it,” Sharra had assured him, stowing a large coil of rope.

  “I have to wonder how hippies even afford this,” he commented as he looked over the receipts for everything they’d bought. “I could go to Europe—the old-fashioned way—on what all this is costing.”