by John Corwin
I hoped people wouldn't blindly trust the news, but with Xander Tiberius in charge of the Arcane Council, he had the power to sway people by force if necessary. We might have disabled the foundry, but only Victus knew how many people he'd replaced with infernus. We literally couldn't afford to trust anyone, not even people we thought we knew.
When the train pulled into the station at Pisa, we got out and stepped into the street. I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed at the rundown buildings and graffiti defacing an old red brick wall across the road. I couldn't even see the famous leaning tower from where we stood. The gloomy weather didn't help.
Ambria took out her wand and cast a small invisible shield a few feet above her head to act as an umbrella. Max and I did the same then consulted my arcphone for directions. The scenery improved the closer we got to the Pisa Baptistery and the church near the tower. Despite the sprinkling rain, dozens of people posed with the leaning tower in the background, arms outstretched as if holding up the tower.
"I'll bet that never gets old to the locals," Max said sarcastically.
Ambria looked around with wide eyes. "Isn't it beautiful?"
The great domed baptistery, the sprawling church, and the leaning tower were works of art, even if not as amazing as some of the buildings in Queens Gate and the Grotto. I tried to take a moment to enjoy the change in scenery, but my gaze drifted to the south side of the tower where Gwyneth would meet us in just over an hour.
I caught the narrowed gaze of a woman from beneath a red umbrella. Her eyes looked up above my head and then at my face. She turned to a man next to her and nodded at us, spoke in a language I didn't recognize. The man gave us an apologetic look and pulled her away.
"What was that about?" Max said.
"Probably wondering why we aren't getting wet." I pointed above my head. "Thanks to our invisible umbrellas."
Ambria shrugged. "It's better than getting soaked."
Max rubbed his belly. "Speaking of umbrellas, I'm starving."
Ambria's forehead wrinkled. "What does that have to do with umbrellas?"
"Nothing, really." Max shrugged. "I just couldn't think of a good segue."
"Can't expect Max to think on an empty stomach," I said with a grin.
"Or ever, for that matter." Ambria pointed to a pizzeria just down the street. "Let's try the local cuisine."
The pizza we shared was nothing spectacular, but it stopped Max's stomach from growling and gave us something to do while we waited. After settling the bill, we went back outside into the misty dusk settling over the town. We walked toward the meeting spot, passing by a museum and some small shops along the road.
Gwyneth stepped out of one of the shops and frowned. "You look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?" She looked pretty as always, even with the black eye and scratches.
My heart soared at the sight of her. "It's good to see you, Gwyneth."
She grinned. "Good to see you haven't lost your sense of adventure."
"Adventure?" Ambria scoffed. "This is about saving the Overworld, not risking our lives for fun."
"Nice to see you too, Ambria." Gwyneth looked at us appraisingly. "You've all grown since the last time I saw you."
"Did you bring the mini-arch?" I asked, eager to get on with the mission.
She touched the silver chain around her neck. "Of course. Shall we?"
I nodded. "Yes, please."
Moments from now, we'd be right under the noses of our enemies, stealing the very supplies that would help us overthrow them.
Chapter 8
Gwyneth led us down a narrow alley. As we walked, a terrible thought occurred to me. What if she's an infernus? What if this is a trap?
We stopped at a dead end. Gwyneth pulled the tiny arch from within her shirt and detached it from the chain while I watched from a few feet away, hand on my wand. She closed her eyes and touched the ornament. It spun like a top, rapidly expanding upward and outward until it stood nearly eight feet tall and just as wide at the base of the columns.
"Since you want to use an omniarch, I decided it would be best to portal into an unused waystation so we wouldn't have to worry about arch operators finding us." Gwyneth concentrated on the arch. It hummed slightly. The lights in the nearby shops dimmed and a street light crackled, showering sparks. A gateway split the air within the arch. A dimly lit room appeared on the other side.
"Where is that?" Max asked.
"Thunder Rock." Gwyneth stepped through and held out her hands as if to show everyone it was safe. "Ever since this place was picked clean, nobody bothers coming here anymore."
I went through after her. Almost immediately, my palms tingled and a distant sound hummed in my ears. It took me a moment to realize it came from the massive ley lines running through the ground beneath us. It was as if someone had turned up the volume on the background noise and I was hearing it for the first time. I closed my eyes and aetherated. The itching in my palms grew unbearable so I pushed it all away.
Ambria stepped in front of me. "What's wrong, Conrad?"
I shook my head. "Nothing. This place makes me feel uneasy."
"Me too." She rubbed my arm. "We'll be out of here soon, though."
"Wow, look at this place." Max pointed at the huge black arch veined with white. "I wonder why they call those Alabaster Arches when they're mostly black."
Ambria rolled her eyes. "I'll talk to the committee on arch naming about that, Max."
Rows of smaller arches lay in ruins, as if a tidal wave had swept through and reduced them to rubble. Water dripped and wind howled in the abandoned chamber. I could almost sense the ghosts haunting this ancient place.
Gwyneth closed the portal. The miniature arch fell between the columns of the arch we'd used to enter this place and rolled on the floor.
"That's really neat." Max picked it up and inspected it. "So, this portable arch follows you through the portal?"
"It wouldn't be very useful otherwise," Gwyneth said with a smile. She took it from him and attached it to her necklace. "Underborn believes there are portable omniarches, but he hasn't been able to find one."
"Something like that would be amazing," Ambria said.
Gwyneth nodded. "People would kill for that sort of power." She walked to a niche in the side of the wall where rows of omniarches towered over us. Many were broken and crumbling, the silver rings at their bases slashed with red paint. Gwyneth stopped before one marked green and flourished her hands toward it. "Since you know where you want to go, I'll let you do the honors."
"I'll handle this." Ambria stepped inside the silver ring, knelt, and closed the circuit with a press of her thumb. The air crackled and stray hairs rose ever so slightly from her head as concentrated aether washed past.
My palms tingled and the background hum of magic rose in volume. I opened myself to the magical energy around me. This strange new hypersensitivity opened me up like never before to the fluctuations in the ley lines and the static charge of airborne aether. I wondered if Lulu had done this to me, or if my burned skin just made me extra sensitive to everything.
Eyes narrowed, Ambria stared at the arch. A gateway flickered. The air popped, fizzled, and hummed as the portal seemed to fight its way into existence. Energy cascaded across the arch columns. A boom echoed through the control room and the portal stabilized, revealing rows of shelves on the other side.
The power in the ley lines fluctuated wildly as she struggled to open the portal. When it finally stabilized, the power level held relatively even.
Ambria wiped sweat from her forehead. "Goodness, that was difficult."
"Is something wrong with that arch?" Max regarded the portal dubiously.
"Maybe this arch is slightly damaged." Gwyneth stepped inside the circle and tossed a pebble through the gateway. It landed on the stone floor in the ingredients storeroom on the other side. "Seems to work, though." She put a finger through the gateway and pulled it back. "I think it's safe."
"Then let's
get what we came for and go." Ambria dashed through the portal. She gasped, stiffened, and fell to the storeroom floor, flailing violently before going still as death.
"Ambria!" I ran for the portal.
Max cried out in horror. "Is she dead?"
I leapt through the portal without thinking, realizing too late that whatever had happened to her might have something to do with the malfunctioning arch. I expected to be struck down as quickly as Ambria, but landed safely by her side. I knelt, rolled her over. "Ambria, are you okay?"
She snorted. Giggled. Her eyes flicked open, brimming with amusement. "I got you."
Gwyneth groaned.
"This is no time for games!" Max balled his fists. "Are you out of your mind?"
I groaned and helped her to her feet. "That was mean."
"You didn't even hesitate, Conrad." Her expression grew serious. "What if the portal killed me? What if there was poisonous gas in this room?"
"I didn't stop to think. I just came." I shrugged. "Next time, I'll throw cold water on you instead."
Ambria squeezed my hand. "Thank you."
"For what?" My forehead pinched. "I didn't do anything."
She cleared her throat and took out a parchment with the list of ingredients on it. "Let's split up and get everything okay?"
Gwyneth took a look at the list. "I'll get the elephant tears and meet you back at the portal."
"I've got the toasted slugs," Max said.
"Snails!" Ambria said. "Toasted snails. You'd better not get the wrong thing, Max."
He rolled his eyes. "I'll get it right."
"I'll get the acorns and the devil pupfish oil." I looked at the names on nearby shelves. We were in the Rs, which meant I had to run down to the other end of the storehouse.
"That leaves the white avocado to me." Ambria tapped a finger to her chin. "Does that mean it's in the A section or the W?"
"Probably W." Gwyneth jogged down the aisle. "See you in a minute."
Max groaned. "Why didn't Professor Grace put a center aisle in this place? It's stupid to have such long rows without a way to cut through."
"Don't be so lazy, Max," Ambria chided him.
I jogged after Gwyneth since she headed in the same direction. The storeroom was stretched for at least a hundred yards, so it took us a moment to reach the E section where Gwyneth split off from me. I turned right on the next row and jogged past shelves lined with every conceivable potion ingredient that started with the letter D. Burlap sacks, plastic containers, bags, and boxes sat in impeccable order, each one clearly labeled with the contents.
It didn't take me long to find to find small vials of devil pupfish oil tucked in between devil pupfish eyes and devil pupfish urine. I took four of the small vials and stuffed them between folds of cloth in my side satchel, then ran to the end of the aisle so I could go to the A section. I saw Gwyneth jogging back toward the aisle where the open portal waited. Ambria waved at me from the far end as she returned with her ingredients.
I turned left and reached the shelves near the front of the room. I found a large bin full of the acorns and grabbed a handful. Several slipped from my grasp and rolled on the floor. I knelt down and stuffed them in my pouch. If I left them lying around Gideon Grace would know for sure someone broke into his precious ingredients room.
Something clicked behind me. I turned around as the door to the storeroom swung inward. Two familiar faces regarded me with wolfish grins.
"Well, if it ain't our little mouse." Talbot bared white teeth.
My heart froze. I backed up a step.
Delilah pulled back the hem of her black duster to reveal a pink wand in its holster. "Don't run, boy. Not unless you want a hole through your leg."
"Don't damage the goods too much, sis." Talbot chuckled. "His daddy won't like that."
"How did you know I was in here?" The corner of the shelf was only inches away. The question was, could I get there before they shot me?
"We got the whole campus warded against portals." Talbot slid back the hem of his duster and put a hand on the hilt of the black wand in its holster. "Ol' Victus wanted to block portals, but we figured, why stop portals when you can catch the people using them?"
"You set off an alarm," Delilah said. "And now you're in our snare."
I'd seen how fast the wandslingers were. Even the short distance I had to travel was too far. I didn't dare reach for my wand, and I didn't have anything on me to get me out. In a matter of minutes, one of my friends might look for me, or shout my name. If I went with the bounty hunters right now, they might not search the warehouse. I didn't want to risk anyone else getting hurt.
On the other hand, I wasn't a novice anymore. Kanaan had taught us a great deal about magitsu and physically conditioned us for emergency situations. I had a chance—a very slim one—but it was better than the alternative.
I put up my hands. "Fine, you caught me."
"Smart boy." Talbot smirked. "Guess your daddy gets you back in one piece after all."
I looked between the bounty hunters and widened my eyes. "Dad, what are you doing here?"
It was the oldest trick in the book. Maybe they thought I was too young and stupid to try something like this, or maybe they were just too cocky to care. Either way, Talbot and Delilah glanced over their shoulders.
I dove for the end of the aisle and slid around it. Then I vaulted to my feet and ran. Ambria stepped out of the row with the portal, a hundred feet away, and put hands on her hips. "What's taking so long, Conrad?"
"Run!" I shouted. "Get through the portal!"
"What?"
A bolt of silver energy exploded against the end of the shelf to my right. Splinters sprayed through the air. "He's got friends, Talbot!" Delilah yelled.
I dove around the shelf for cover as another kinetic bullet thudded into the wood.
"Wandslingers!" Ambria screamed.
"Go without me!" I shouted. "Go now!"
"No!"
"Do it!" I sprang to my feet and raced to the other end of the aisle.
Talbot stood four rows down from me, wand at the ready. Energy flashed. A bin of bird feathers exploded in a cloud. I used the smokescreen to dash past two more aisles before a silver bolt grazed my shirtsleeve and forced me back in. I checked the nearest label. Hypovolemic Herbs. Ten more rows to go to freedom.
I'll never make it.
A volley of green spheres sang past in the opposite direction. "Son of a bitch!" Talbot said.
"Run, Conrad!" Gwyneth said. "We'll cover you."
"Your boy takes a step toward you and I'll hollow out his chest," Talbot said. "Give him up and the rest of you can go."
"No deal!" Ambria said.
While I appreciated cover fire from my friends, I didn't know how I was supposed to run toward them while they were firing at someone behind me. What if they shot me by accident? I looked up the shelving and had a flashback from the time I'd escaped a secret library patrolled by dogs. These shelves stood nearly twenty feet tall with another twenty feet of clearance to the ceiling. I could probably reach the top, but could I leap the ten-foot gap between the aisles?
Probably not.
I rummaged through the items on the shelf, hoping to find something useful, like a smoke bomb, or a magical shield, but it was like looking for a weapon in a grocery store. Professor Grace had stocked this place with the ingredients to make potions, not ready-to-use magical artifacts.
Think, Conrad, think! Were there ingredients starting with the letter H I could use to make an emergency potion? Horse tail hair and hemp fibers make magical rope!
I ran down the aisle, searching the inventory for the ingredients as my friends traded attacks with Talbot up and down the outer aisle. When I stopped to grab the horse hairs I noticed faint grooves in the polished stone near the middle of the aisle. Unlike the other shelves, this one seemed to hover a fraction above the floor. I gave it a gentle push and the shelf slid backward and to the side.
There's a hidden midd
le aisle! It just had to be opened manually.
A kinetic bullet pinged off the floor. Ambria and the others had held off Talbot, but apparently none of them realized Delilah had flanked me from the other side. I dashed through the opening before she could fire another shot and shoved the middle shelf in the next row. It slid open like the last.
"The mouse found a hole down the middle!" Delilah shouted.
I ran forward, pushed the next middle shelf. Delilah ran down the outer aisle, pacing me, but unable to get off a clean shot before I pushed through into the next row. Unfortunately, each shelf slowed me down a fraction of a second, and she had nothing in her way.
Eight rows. Seven. Six. I was almost halfway home. As I extended my hands to push through the shelf to the fifth, fire seared the back of my calf. I fell forward, slamming into the shelf and shoving it open. Before another magic bullet hit me, I dragged myself into the narrow space between shelves.
"I winged 'im!" Delilah said.
Muddled shouts rose from the direction of my friends, but I couldn't make out what they said.
"There's a middle row!" I shouted above the explosions and pinging kinetic bullets. "Push the shelves!" I peeked around the shelf and saw Delilah stalking down the aisle toward me. Anger heated my chest. I clenched my teeth and gripped my wand. She might be a good shot, but could she penetrate a shield?
I put pressure on my injured leg and bit back a cry of pain. Somehow, I had to shield myself while I ran—limped, rather—to safety. I pushed up to my feet and nearly fainted when I tried to stand on my hurt leg. It felt like something was ripping through my calf muscle from the inside out.
I pulled up the pants leg and saw a clean hole in the outer edge of my calf. Blood trickled down the sides, but the edges looked nearly cauterized. If it had gone clean in and out, why did it feel like something was still in there? Forget running with a shield—I'd have to limp. Another glance showed Delilah only a few yards away.
Hopping on my good leg, I went through the opening. Closing the shelf wouldn't do a thing to stop her and I couldn't shield my back while hopping backward. She'd just shoot my other leg. I fought past the nightmares and formed an image in my head. I flicked the wand through the patterns, weaving them into the shield spell I'd learned from my mother's soul fragment.