"I get it, you hate the Halls."
"No, you don't," said Jade, shaking her head, much to the agreement of the others. "You got in, probably on your first try. The only thing the news ever talks about is the people who succeed because of the Halls, never the failures. Even if you make it to the third day, the rich kids always gang up on the poor ones. And then if you get in, sometimes they run you out like Bethany."
Jade indicated the girl with semi-translucent skin. Hearing the story reminded Pi of something she'd heard once.
"Were you in Coterie?" Pi asked.
Bethany nodded.
"I heard about you. You were two years before me. I can't tell you how many times they tried to kill me," said Pi. "I bet it was the same for you."
Bethany's face lit up. "Me too. One of the second years did this to me, and then after that, they saw me as an easy target. I had to leave before the first semester was over, or I'd be dead by now."
"Shut up, Bethany. We're not making friends with her," said Jade, who didn't look completely convinced herself.
"Why not?" asked Bethany. "She seems like one of us."
Seeing an opening, Pi stepped to the side to speak to Bethany directly, but Jade shook the gun at her. Pi stayed put but asked a question.
"Tell me this," said Pi. "If you all hate the Halls so much, what have you done to get back at them?"
Jade sneered, giving a throwaway shrug with her right shoulder. "It's what we're going to do right now."
Sasha twirled her afro with her fingertips. "What have you done?"
"I killed five members of the Cabal."
"There's no such thing as the Cabal," said Jade, who'd brought the gun to chest level, keeping it halfway aimed. "That's just a rumor."
"I was a member of Coterie before changing to Arcanium. I can tell you that the Cabal is real. If you want to blame someone for your pain, it's them. They want to take over the Halls."
They shared glances, and Pi met their gazes one by one, convincing them with her sheer force of will.
"You really killed five mages?" asked Jade apprehensively.
"I was defending myself," said Pi. "But yeah."
"Is that why you're hiding in the Undercity?" asked Sasha.
"The Cabal kept tracking me above ground. But they're afraid to come down here. I'm staying as long as my sister needs me, and then once things are better, I'm leaving the city."
Heavy thoughts were brewing behind Jade's eyes. "If we let you live, would you help us?"
"Help you with what?"
"Tear down the Halls."
She understood their pain.
"It's the only way to stop them," said Pi.
Jade looked to the others. "What do you think? Keep her or kill her?"
"Kill her," said Sasha right away. "If she was in Coterie, we can't trust her."
Bethany gave Sasha an annoyed look, right as she flashed see-through, and Pi saw a pulse of rich red blood surging from her heart. "I say keep. She survived Coterie and got the hell out."
Jade raised an eyebrow at the girl behind Pi. She was a wisp of a thing with pale hair. She looked like a vanilla lollypop. "Sisi?"
"Kill."
The way she said it gave Pi the shivers.
"Yoko?"
The Japanese girl looked pained to have to make a decision, but she eventually said, "Keep."
Before Jade could ask, Nancy said, "Keep."
Jade looked back to Pi. "Two kills, three keeps, and now it's down to me. I suppose since I've got the gun, and I have to pull the trigger, this means whatever I decide will go." She paused, sighed, and shook her head. "And I really wanted that jacket. Keep."
Pi tried her best not to appear relieved, but her knees nearly gave way and she had to stagger back to standing. They crowded around her and patted her back or gave her side-hugs, as if she'd just joined a sorority.
Jade returned her gun to safety and shoved it into a back pocket. The black handle and bulge disappeared, except when she moved. If Pi concentrated she could see flickers of the gun.
"See something you like?" asked Jade sarcastically.
"How are you hiding the gun? Is that camouflage?" Pi snapped her fingers. "That's how you steal from the market. Magical camouflage."
Bethany ran behind a stalactite and pulled out a piece of canvas that had painted white and black lines across one side.
"I came up with it when I was in Coterie, but I've never gotten it to work completely. There are copper wires going around the outside, and the runes keep getting worn off, and I have to put them back on."
The underside had tightly drawn runes in purple paint marker running around the inside of the bottom. The craftsmanship was crude but effective.
"I guess you don't have a lot of materials to work with. Aren't you worried about faez madness?"
Pi's question was met with a concert of eye rolling.
"You believe that?" asked Sasha.
"Absolutely."
Sasha scoffed. "That's just what they want you to think so you'll stay in that patron system. It's another form of slavery if you ask me."
Bethany asked, "Do you have a patron?"
"No. I'm solo."
"Then aren't you worried about madness?" asked Bethany.
"It's complicated."
None of the women seemed to believe her, but they weren't ready to challenge her either.
Hoping to change the subject, Pi asked, "Where do you all live?"
Sasha put her fingers to her lips, blowing a sharp whistle. A rowboat appeared from around the corner on the lake.
"We have a camp on the other side, built from stuff we've stolen or salvaged. Yoko did most of the building, all by hand since none of us know a thing about Stone Singing. It's not much, but it's ours," said Sasha.
Except for Jade, the others had smudges of dirt on their arms or faces. Their body odor was pungent in the still air of the cave.
Bethany tugged on Pi's arm. "We can show you."
Pi was prepared to follow until Jade said, "Actually, we need to go hunting. We need to find something or someone to blame for the attacks on the market."
"Why not just tell Bear that we found some drifters and ran 'em off? The attacks will stop. End of story," said Pi.
"But how will we get food and supplies?" asked Sasha, crossing her arms. "That was our best trick."
"I'll front the money for now," said Pi.
"Spoken like a rich girl," said Jade. "I'd rather earn it."
"I'd rather eat," said Yoko, to agreements from Bethany and Nancy. Sisi and Sasha appeared skeptical.
"You earned it because I promised that money for stopping the attacks. They are hereby stopped. Therefore, I owe you the cash. But don't worry, I'm sure we can figure out a better way once I get settled in town."
Pi turned towards the exit only to find Sisi blocking her way. The pale waif had big luminous eyes like moonbeams. Pi felt hypnotized by them.
"Yes?" asked Pi when Sisi didn't say anything.
"If you don't come back, I'll find you and kill you."
Pi didn't think Sisi had enough magic for the job, but something in the earnest way she'd said it made her nervous.
"Don't worry. I'll come back," said Pi.
"I'm going with her. Don't worry. If she betrays us, I'll put a bullet in her back," said Jade, halfway joking.
The pair left the cavern as the rest of the women loaded into the rowboat. On the way back, Pi kept trying to strike up a conversation with Jade, but she seemed distracted, so Pi gave up. When Pi had come to the Undercity, meeting someone was the last thing on her mind. Now she was trying to decide how sane it was to have a crush on a girl that tried to kill her.
Chapter Twelve
The young Bannon Creed caught the fear reflected in her face. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing," she said. "Your name reminded me of someone."
He took her at her word and continued without remark, leaving her in the wake of her realization. Could this be th
e same Bannon Creed? She had to assume it was. Just like Celesse D'Agastine, he'd changed his appearance, though Aurie didn't know why, since he'd been a handsome young man, not the enormous version of a Jersey mobster that he was in her time.
He also seemed genuine and not at all the psychopath he'd become. Was this reality true? Or had she slipped into an alternative universe? She wondered if these friends he spoke of were other mages.
Could it be that the Engine of Temporal Manipulation had sent her back to this specific time for a reason? Otherwise, it made no sense that she would appear in the same location as one of the original founders of the Hundred Halls. There had to be a connection to Semyon Gray, and she needed to find out what it was. This gave her hope that there was a way back, a way out.
"B.C.," she said, getting his attention. "You mentioned that you're going to meet friends. Since we've got a couple of days and I've been away from people for quite some time, I would love to hear about your friends. It would pass the time."
His eyebrows wagged with indecision. "I am uncomfortable speaking about them."
"Is it because you and they can do magic?" she asked.
He recoiled from her, glancing into the forest as if demons were hiding there. "Do not speak of witchcraft. The world has eyes and ears."
She faced off with him.
"I know you used magic to put out the fire, and to convince Misses Butterton to give you supplies without paying for them," she said.
"You cannot prove it," he said warily, like a boy caught passing notes in class. His innocence and naivety confused her, since she knew the man he would become.
Aurie picked a brown leaf from the ground, held it in her left hand, and cast a simple levitation spell on it. She let it dance through the air while he watched with wide fearful eyes.
Eventually, the display became too much for him, and he grabbed the leaf from the air, placing his hands protectively over hers. "You should not be so daring. Even out here, it's dangerous to use it."
He put special emphasis on the word 'it' as if he were afraid to actually say magic. When Aurie pulled away, he tensed up as if he were expecting her to attack.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Exactly who I said I was. Aurie. A lost girl who's trying to get back to civilization."
"I thought your strange speech and clothing indicated things had changed much since last I came this way, but now I see that you are quite different, and not in a good way. Are you a Rider, here to waylay me on my journey?"
"A Rider? Who I am is complicated, but I'm not a Rider, whatever that is."
"You knew my name," he said. "When I said my full name, you recognized it. There is much you are hiding, Aurelia of Nowhere. Are you a demon? Or some other foul beast that I have no name for? Explain or I will put you to rights."
Aurie backed away, keeping her hands up. "I'm not a demon, or a Rider. I...wasn't expecting to meet you here."
His hands hovered at his side like a gunslinger readying to duel. She knew she was no match for the Bannon Creed of her world, but could she take him when he was young?
But if this was a previous time, what would happen if she killed him? Would the Hundred Halls cease to exist? Would she disappear since her parents met at school?
"I'm not your enemy," she said, though she wasn't so sure.
His response died in his throat when they heard muskets being fired in the distance. They looked towards the town.
"You were sent to distract me," he said.
A woman's tortured scream reached them. They stood at the crest of the ridge near the valley. Though they couldn't see the village through the trees, the trails of smoke were an easy marker.
Bannon turned to run back towards the town. "If you try and stop me, I'll kill you."
"I'm coming with you," she said.
He kept to the far side of the road, constantly watching her for signs that she would attack, but when they reached the village, he stopped. She nearly fell over her boots in horror as she surveilled the scene. It was hard to believe they'd left the village less than a half hour before.
A log cabin on the far side of the village near the fields crackled with fire, half consumed. An ox pulling a broken plow meandered through the street, bleating, lost and confused. From where they were standing, she could see at least ten bodies, mostly in the street, but a few in the fields, sprawled like discarded dolls.
"Lord have mercy," said Bannon breathlessly.
He set his pack down and marched down the hill towards the village proper, his brow set with determination and his fingers twitching at his side.
Aurie searched for the cause of the destruction, but saw nothing. The air had grown still as if the world were troubled by what had transpired. Above it all, a child's crying could be heard, somewhere in the village.
She caught up to Bannon when he reached the main street. A man lay against a water trough. His gurgling cough suggested he had massive internal injuries. While Bannon looked around the houses, searching for the perpetrator, Aurie knelt by the fallen man's side. He had fear in his eyes, which were bloodshot and white to the grave.
"Help...me..."
Aurie wished it was Pi here, not her. She had no skill to help the man. Pi had the soul fragment of an Aura Healer.
"What did this? Who attacked you?" she asked, smoothing back his hair with her fingers, trying to comfort him as he died. His midsection was a mess of thick black blood and he smelled like acrid fear. Aurie avoided looking at the wound, keeping her gaze locked with his.
"I...she..."
The light in his eyes was fading fast.
"Was it a mage? Did they use magic?"
He recoiled from her, which set off a fit of wet coughing. He looked at her as if she'd been the one to hurt him. The coughing turned to retching, and when he vomited up blood, Aurie left him. She could do nothing for him.
Bannon was standing at the corner of the only two-story house in the village. The lower half was made of stone, the upper of cedar logs. He was peering around the corner.
"Do you see anything?" she asked when she caught up to him.
He was looking at a horse barn with an open front. The sun was behind the barn, so the entrance was cloaked in darkness.
"Something's in that barn," he said.
Before Aurie could ask, a child's scream erupted from ahead. The red-headed child that had approached her came running out of the darkness of the barn, only to be snatched backwards.
Aurie wasted no time, rushing ahead.
"Careful, you fool," said Bannon from behind, then she heard him break from the corner and follow. "It's a trap," he said between breaths.
Aurie knew as much, but didn't care. She reached the entrance. The barn was only about thirty feet deep and twenty at the sides. Sunlight filtered through the cracks between the wood slates, leaving sheets of light.
There was a wet smell like a sewer emanating from the barn. Aurie stepped to the entrance. Two horse stalls with thick ropes hanging from the sides were on the right. The left had farm implements hung on the wall. Piles of grass lay in the back.
A scream cut through the air, but not from the barn. Back on the street, someone was clearly being attacked.
Without another word, Bannon ran back that way. The sharp tint of faez hit the back of her throat as he created shimmering armor around him. A ghostly sword appeared in his fist. He looked like a Knight of the Round Table rushing into battle.
But Aurie refused to abandon the child to whatever was in the barn. Her hands shook, and her mouth was as dry as sandpaper. Aurie stepped inside. She could hear whimpering, but couldn't tell where it came from..
She made it to the first stall and peered around the corner, wishing she had something solid in her hands like a sword. Magic was powerful, but until it was unleashed, it left her twitching with agitation.
There was a lump in the back of the stall, sticking up from a pile of dry grass. It was the boy's wooden figure. Aurie reached down and picke
d it up. The carving looked like a soldier. The bottom half was wet with warm blood.
Aurie caught movement behind her, and she spun around, dropping the wooden figurine. The center of the barn was empty.
She crept around the first stall, craning her head to see into the second. The freckled boy lay motionless in the back. Aurie rushed to his side. She checked his pulse, finding it weak. He was breathing and didn't appear injured. Probably unconscious from fright.
She wanted to carry him out of the barn, but that would tie up her hands. Maybe whatever had attacked him was gone. That could have been the movement she'd seen, the creature escaping.
Aurie knew better than to believe this, so she searched for a better way of getting the boy out without losing her best defense. That could be what the creature wanted all along, to keep her busy so she could not use magic, which suggested that it knew she was dangerous.
A horse blanket hanging on the far wall caught her interest. She crept across the barn, plunging through the bars of light, and snatched the blanket from the wall.
She paused for a moment, peering through the opening to the town to see how Bannon fared, but she saw nothing that would indicate his success or failure.
Back in the stall, Aurie fashioned a sled using the blanket and rope. She maneuvered the unconscious boy onto the sled, then hooked the rope around her midsection, right under her breasts. The coarse rope chafed as she marched forward like a plow horse, but the boy slid forward, the motion made easier by the loose hay on the dirt floor.
Aurie kept her hands in a forward position, fingers itching to carve a spell out of the air and do battle. She kept her head on a swivel, expecting an attack from every mote or shadow.
A whisper of wind on her neck was the only warning she got before something landed on her, pinning her to the ground. A heavy fist pounded into the back of her head, bringing stars to her vision.
Trapped on her stomach, she couldn't even use truth magic. The creature pounded on her shoulders, wailing in a woman's voice. Aurie tried to turn over, but the rope harness worked against her. Her feet were tangled in the blanket and rope.
The crazed woman, Aurie realized, was mumbling the same phrase over and over as she pounded away. "Defiler! Defiler! Defiler!"
Gathering of Shadows Page 11