by King, R. L.
“Did you?” Jason hovered in the doorway. “I can’t stay long—got work today. Just dropping V off so you two can get back to dismembering pigs or whatever it is you do up there in the attic.”
“Perfect,” Stone said, ignoring most of what he’d said. “We’ll come down later when you get off shift. I want to try an experiment.”
Jason sighed. “You’re gonna make me go into that portal again, aren’t you?”
“That’s the plan, yes.”
“It’s for science, Jason,” Verity said, grinning.
“Well, let’s do it before dinner then, okay? You remember what happened last time you dragged me into your portal experiments.”
Stone and Verity spent the rest of the afternoon on Verity’s studies. She was progressing well, and the amulet Stone had given her made casting spells easier, allowing them to devote more time to practical studies and less to theory. That made Verity happy: as much as she enjoyed the spellcasting, she tended to glaze over a bit when Stone got a good head of steam going on a magical-theory lecture.
“You’ll have to learn this stuff if you want to be a good mage,” he told her sternly when he caught her attention wandering. “There’s no way around it. If you don’t understand how magic works, you won’t be able to do any sort of research or design your own spells.”
“Is that so bad?” she asked. “Let somebody else design ’em, and I’ll just learn how to cast ’em.”
“If you want to be the magical equivalent of someone who’s just memorized the textbooks long enough to pass the test, you’re welcome to do that,” he told her. “But you’ll need to find yourself another teacher. No student of mine is going to pass her apprenticeship without a solid grounding in theory. In fact, one of the tests you’ll take when I think you’re ready will be to design some original spells and demonstrate them for me. You’ll never be more than an apprentice until you can show me you’re capable of original thought. And you are—I’m certain of it. You’re just lazy. We’ll train that out of you, don’t you worry.”
“Yes, Master,” she grumbled. “Sheesh, I feel like I’m back in class at the halfway house. Except instead of algebra and chemistry, it’s how magical elements interact with each other, and how far apart the candles have to be in a circle.”
Stone chuckled. “Now, now—I’ll remind you that you did ask me to be your teacher. And I remember clearly warning you about what a taskmaster bastard I am.”
Jason’s shift at the restaurant was up at four, and Stone and Verity arrived shortly after that. “So what exactly is this experiment you’re planning to do?” Jason asked dubiously as they stood in a loose semicircle staring into the shifting colors of the portal.
“I want to use your assistance to put up a stronger-than-normal shield,” Stone said. “We’ll go just inside the portal and stay there for a while. Ideally, I’ll be able to get some energy readings to help me work out what it is about Verity that reacts so badly with the Overworld.”
“So you’re building a magical shark cage,” Jason said. He didn’t sound at all enthusiastic about this idea. “You want the things in there to come poke at us, and hopefully not be able to get through while you try to pick apart V’s brainwaves.”
“Something like that,” Stone said with a sigh of exasperation. “Jason, have I ever told you that you’re brilliant at distilling complicated magical concepts down to trite catchphrases?”
“Hey, everybody needs a hobby.”
“So...” Verity put in, “You’re planning to just let me freak out up there, then?”
Stone nodded. “I know it won’t be pleasant, but if you want to use the portals, I need to get a reading when you’re actually having the reaction. Using Jason’s power, I should be able to hold a shield long enough to get some data and then we can just step back out.”
“Sounds risky,” Jason said.
“Shouldn’t be. I don’t plan for us to stay long, and this will also give me a chance to see what kind of control I can exercise over the power I’m borrowing from you. That knowledge might prove useful at some point as well. Are you ready?”
“You sure you’re recovered from last night?”
“Aside from the cut and a few bruises, I’m fine.”
Jason sighed. “Then I guess I’m ready.”
When Verity nodded too, looking less excited and more nervous than usual about the possibility of entering the portal while conscious, Stone put his hand on Jason’s arm. “All right,” he murmured. “Just do it like before—concentrate on giving me power. And be sure to let me know if you feel odd in any way: lightheadedness, pain, anything.”
“Oh, believe me, I will.”
Stone closed his eyes briefly and a glowing shield flowered into existence around them. “Anything, Jason?”
“Nope. Feel fine.”
“Good, good. All right, let’s go. On three: One... two... three.”
They stepped through the portal.
Immediately, as soon as she was completely through, Verity began to scream again. Jason stared at her, wide-eyed and fearful. “V? Can you—”
“Hush,” Stone ordered, his voice tight with concentration. “Keep focusing. This is just what I expected to happen.”
It was difficult for Jason to follow instructions with Verity freaking out right next to him. She was doubled over like before, her hands on her head, shrieking as if someone were pulling her apart. Jason closed his eyes and forced himself to concentrate on nothing but sending whatever power he had to Stone, trying hard not to think about what was happening around them.
At one point his curiosity got the better of him and he opened his eyes—he immediately wished he hadn’t. The glowing globe around them was surrounded by the indistinct gray things. Dozens of them, perhaps more, milled around, poking at the shield. Jason was reminded of a film he’d seen in high school sex-ed, showing a herd of wriggling sperm cells trying to breach an egg. He sensed their malevolence, their hatred, their desire to break through the shield and claim the fragile tasty bits inside. He cast a quick glance at Stone; the mage’s face was lined with effort, one hand on Jason’s arm and the other on the top of Verity’s head. This went on for what felt like forever, and then he finally spoke. “All right. Grab Verity and step out now.”
Jason was only too glad to comply. He flung his arms around his sister and hustled her backward; in a moment, the two of them and Stone stood back in the portal room. Puffing, Jason lowered Verity down to the floor. “Al, please tell me you got something. I don’t want to put V through that again—and I really don’t want to go through it again myself, if you want the truth.”
Stone nodded, distracted. He immediately whipped out a notebook from an inner pocket and began writing furiously in it, leaving Jason to deal with talking Verity back down.
When she was relatively calm again and Jason had hauled her back to her feet, they both faced Stone. “So?” Jason asked. “Spill. What did you find?”
“This is—very interesting,” Stone said in his million-miles-away voice. He stared down at what he’d written in the notebook. “I can’t be sure—I don’t think there’s a safe way to get enough data to be certain—but Verity’s reaction seems to be related to her Forgotten abilities.”
“What?” Verity demanded. “How can that be? I’m blocking them.” That was one of the first things Stone had taught her when she had begun her studies: how to place and remove the block that controlled her Forgotten ability to evict Evil from a host without killing the host. She had to be able to control it; while the ability was a useful one and had saved her life on more than one occasion, if she left the block down too long, she risked plunging herself back into the insanity that had kept her mostly institutionalized for the past several years.
“That’s why it’s so interesting,” the mage said. “I know you’re blocking them. And I presume you were the last time a
s well, yes?”
She nodded. “I do it pretty much all the time when the three of us are together. I can always drop it if we get jumped by something, and that way I don’t accidentally forget and catch the crazy again because I waited too long.” She shuddered at the thought. “Should we go back in with me unblocked?”
Stone shook his head, and a brief look of fear crossed his eyes. “No. I wouldn’t risk that. If you react that strongly while blocked and it is related to your abilities, then it follows logically that you’ll react even more violently with the block down.”
“I gotta agree,” Jason said, looking sober. “It isn’t gonna help you at all if you freak to the point where you stroke out or have a heart attack or something. That might solve the puzzle, but it won’t help you use the portal.”
“How are we gonna find out for sure, then?” she protested. “And if it is the Forgotten abilities that are causing the problem, does that mean I’m out of luck? If the block isn’t enough—”
Stone considered. “We’ll have to test it with another Forgotten,” he said at last.
Jason stared at him. “Al, you can’t do that. You just said it was dangerous to V—wouldn’t it be just as dangerous for one of them?”
“Not if I put a block on them. And of course it would have to be a volunteer. I wouldn’t take an unsuspecting person into the Overworld. Not only is it unethical, but it’s far too dangerous.”
“Yeah, but—” He looked around the room. “Do you really want to let one of them in on the existence of the portal, let alone where it is? I mean, I know you trust our friends—I trust them, too. But none of them are quite right in the head. I know that’s not a cool thing to say, but—”
“No, I agree with you,” Stone said. “Let me give it a bit more thought. Perhaps we can find a way to do it that won’t compromise the location of the portal.” He pointed toward the door, stowing the notebook back in his pocket. “Come on. Let’s go see if we can locate them. We can take them something to eat, and in the meantime perhaps I’ll come up with a plan.”
Chapter Ten
They hadn’t visited the Forgotten group they’d befriended for a while—not since they’d gotten together for dinner following the disastrous fire at the Evil’s underground headquarters—but the group wasn’t hard to find when one knew how to search for them. Once again the “cruise around the area showing the ‘good place’ symbol to homeless people until they found some who recognized it” method worked well for them, and in less than an hour they were on their way to an abandoned light-industrial building in Mountain View.
They picked up a box of sandwiches from nearby sub shop and were pleased to see Hector, the ex-military man, smoking a cigarette outside the building when they pulled up. He looked nervous and suspicious until he realized who they were, then greeted them in his usual gruff, offhand way. “The rest’re inside,” he told them. “I’m gonna finish my smoke. Lissy doesn’t like it when I smoke inside.”
The remainder of the small core group was indeed inside: Lamar, the old ex-doctor who led them; Benny, a twitchy, dark-skinned young man; Lissy, the pale, spacey girl who went nearly catatonic in the presence of the Evil; Frank, the middle-aged man who never spoke, but scribbled constantly on any piece of paper he could get his hands on; and Marilee, the kindly bag lady whose cart often seemed to produce useful items when they were needed.
“Anyone hungry?” Stone called.
All of them greeted the newcomers with pleasure. “It’s been awhile,” Lamar said. “We were wondering if something had happened to you.”
“Just been busy,” Jason said, helping Stone hand out the sandwiches. “Had a few things going on.”
“How have you all been?” Verity asked them. “Any trouble?”
“It’s been quiet,” Marilee said. “Makes us a little nervous, honestly. But even the police haven’t bothered us for the last couple of weeks.” She looked at them each in turn. “You don’t think they’re gone, do you? The Evil, I mean.”
“Unfortunately not,” Stone said. “But it seems they might have changed their focus.” He sat down next to Jason, and immediately Marilee’s black kitten darted out from behind some bags and settled in his lap.
“That little one has taken a definite liking to you,” Lamar said, smiling, as Stone began picking bits of meat out of his sandwich to offer the kitten.
“What do you mean, changed their focus?” Benny asked. As usual he didn’t look directly at them; instead, his gaze roamed around the room and settled over people’s shoulders when he spoke.
Stone gave the group a brief overview of what had been happening over the last couple of weeks, leaving out the part about the portals or the specific locations of the dead mages. Lamar and Marilee listened with particular attention.
“So you think they’re killing mages now?” Lamar asked after he’d finished. “Do you know why?”
Jason shook his head. “Not completely, except we think they’re trying to recruit. Al’s trying to figure it out, but we don’t know much for sure yet.”
“At least it sounds like they’re leaving you guys alone,” Verity said. “I’m glad to hear that. I’ve been thinking about you, hoping you were okay.”
Lamar smiled gently. “We’re fine, but thank you for your concern. We’ve gotten pretty good at staying out of the way and looking after ourselves.”
“Still,” she said, “We should visit more often. I’m eighteen now, so even if Dr. Stone and Jason are busy, I can still come by if I know where you are.”
“We’d like to see all of you,” Marilee said. “But be careful. I don’t think this is over yet.”
“Nor do I,” Stone said. “Far from it.” He took a deep breath. “Part of why we came tonight, aside from wanting to see you and make sure you’re still doing well, is that I’d like to ask a favor.”
Benny and Hector, who’d come in and sat down a few moments ago, joined Lamar and Marilee in looking at him with curiosity. “You’ve done so much for us,” Lamar said. “I’m sure we’ll be happy to help you if we can.”
“We don’t have to deal with the Evil, do we?” Hector asked. He looked like that idea didn’t appeal to him at all.
“No,” Stone assured him. “Nothing to do with the Evil. But,” he added, picking his words carefully, “It’s—a bit of an odd request. I’m trying to determine something to help Verity, but in order to be sure, I need to test it on another Forgotten to see if there’s a similar reaction.”
“Reaction to what?” Lamar asked.
“To—a certain stimulus,” Stone said. He sighed. “I’m terribly sorry—I know this all sounds very secretive, but unfortunately I’m not at liberty to reveal everything about what I’m asking you to do. All I can say is that it could be dangerous, and that I’ll understand completely if none of you want anything to do with it.”
The Forgotten all stayed silent; unease hung in the air as they focused their gazes anywhere but on the mage. Stone nodded. “All right, then,” he said. “I understand. I wouldn’t ask any of you to put yourselves at risk. I—”
“I’ll do it,” came a singsong voice from an unexpected member of the group. “I’ll help Mr. Magic Man...”
Stone frowned, surprised. Usually Lissy gave no indication that she even understood conversations going on around her, let alone followed them. She was certainly the last one he’d have expected to speak up. He shook his head. “No, Lissy, it’s all right. I appreciate your offer, I really do. But—”
“I want to help,” she said dreamily. She smiled at him, a wide, unfocused smile. “Go the pretty place with the pretty lights...”
Stone, Jason, and Verity all exchanged shocked glances. True, Lissy had previously shown flashes of an odd and almost psychic ability to describe things she’d never seen before, but—
“What are you talking about, Lissy?” Marilee asked, scooting over to
put her arm around the girl’s thin shoulders. “What place with the pretty lights?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. She rolled her head over and dropped it on Marilee’s shoulder. “Want to help the magic man. Lissy’s not scared...”
Marilee looked at Stone, her eyes full of questions. “Can you tell us anything more about this?”
Stone considered. For several seconds he was silent, thinking over what he wanted to say. At last he sighed. “There’s—a way that mages use to travel from one point to another. We’ve been using it for a long time—almost a hundred years—and it’s usually quite safe as long as certain conditions are observed. But for some reason Verity is having trouble using it. She becomes agitated and exhibits a severe degree of fear and unease when she tries. We did some experiments earlier tonight, and my best guess is that her problems somehow stem from her Forgotten abilities. I can’t be sure, though; it could be something completely unrelated. But the only way I can think of to determine whether I’m right is to test it on another Forgotten. If that person has similar reactions, then I’ll be much more confident that being Forgotten has some connection to it, and I can start trying to work out a way to block it so Verity doesn’t experience the problems anymore.”
The Forgotten exhibited different reactions to Stone’s words. Frank the Scribbler hadn’t been paying attention at all. The mage had lost Hector and Benny about halfway through: they munched their sandwiches and their attention wandered around the room; Hector rooted around in his old Army jacket looking for more cigarettes. Lamar and Marilee listened intently. So, surprisingly, did Lissy. She still had the dreamy, off-kilter smile, and swayed back and forth as if dancing to unseen music, but her gaze remained focused on Stone.
When he finished, Lamar looked contemplative. “I...see,” he said. “And what is the secret part of this, that you can’t tell us?”
“The location of this travel method—since many mages use it, I’m not at liberty to reveal its location to others—and the exact nature of the travel involved.”