Spectrum of Magic Complete Series - Spell Breaker - Fate Shifter - Cursed Stone - Magic Unborn - Libra

by D. N. Leo

  “The Daimon Gate council agrees to help and is gathering their resources. I suspect the dimensional shift that shields this island from human eyes is manipulated by forces from another universe. Who, where, and how is yet to be determined, and I can’t do anything about it until I get back to Eudaiz. Our immediate task here is to save those individuals involved directly in this mission, get the Indigo Stone, and get off this island in one piece,” Ciaran said.

  “What about the residents here?” Orla asked.

  “We’ll see what we can do. But if this island somehow got stuck in the middle of a galactic war between unknown creatures and universes, lives will be lost, and there’s not much we can do about it. If that’s really the case, which I truly hope it’s not, there will be other places facing the exact same destiny. When we get out of here, we’ll try to find ways to save them, but we have to get out first. Understood?”

  Everyone nodded. “Why can’t the Daimon Gate send troops down here to help us?” Roy asked.

  “The Daimon Gate doesn’t have soldiers. They only have guards for internal use and don’t involve themselves in battles or any affairs outside their universe,” Lorcan responded.

  “I can’t take my troops from Eudaiz to Earth. This is not their war. The Earth is my personal interest, I can’t justify sending resources here and sacrificing Eudaizians,” Ciaran said.

  “Then why did you ask Madeline to tell the Daimon Gate this is their responsibility?” Orla asked.

  Ciaran smiled. “They need a good reason to get their act together, and this is partially their fault, isn’t it? If they hadn’t sent you to get the key, you wouldn’t have upset the dragon, the stone and the key wouldn’t have been separated, and you wouldn’t have had to come to this island.”

  “Look!” Orla said. She felt the presence of the kid before she saw him. Everyone turned around and saw him standing in front of the house.

  “What’s going on?” Ciaran saw nothing. “Are the invisible shapeshifters back?”

  “It’s the kid who shot Roy,” Orla said quickly.

  “Kid, we don’t mean you any harm,” Lorcan began, “but you led us into a trap at the sand cliffs before, and you shot at Roy. What exactly do you want?” Lorcan asked.

  The kid blinked his eyes, looked straight at them . . . and through them. “Shit, he’s looking at Ciaran,” Roy said. Roy ran at the kid to grab him, but Ciaran held him back.

  “What does he look like?” Ciaran asked.

  “Short, black hair, brown eyes, about nine or ten, average build,” Orla said.

  “What about his voice?”

  Now that Ciaran had asked, they recalled that they had never heard the boy speak.

  “I described him to Jay, and he said his name is Michael Harris, Rose’s son. Rose is one of the sixteen people we rescued from this Raven house.

  “I can take a bite and tell you whether he’s human. He’s definitely not were-creature,” Mori said.

  The kid stood still, gazing at them through the fence. He looked at Ciaran. Mori adjusted her stance, ready to make a move.

  “Don’t Mori, if he wanted to harm me, he could have done that at the sand cliffs.”

  “He led us into a trap and got you an arrow in the shoulder,” Lorcan said.

  “I don’t think he knew the shapeshifters were at the cliffs,” Orla said and turned toward the kid. “Hey, just tell us what you want. We don’t have time to play around.”

  The kid didn’t answer and kept staring.

  “Let me try,” Ciaran said and made his way through the group huddled in front of him. He couldn’t see the kid, but spoke in the direction the rest were looking. “There must be a reason that others see you, and I can’t. You approached twice since I arrived. What do you want?”

  Silence.

  “If you’d like me to do something for you, you have to at least give me a signal. Show yourself to me.” As soon as Ciaran finished his sentence, the image of the kid flickered and became semitransparent. In front of Ciaran, he appeared, flickering like a poor quality hologram.

  As soon as the kid opened his mouth to say something, there was a high frequency squawking. Ciaran grunted in pain, grabbing his ears, slumping to the ground with blood trickling from his nose. The kid saw that and stopped speaking. He was still half transparent, hovering between the two dimensions. Lorcan, Orla, Roy, and Mori couldn’t hear anything, but they saw the movement of his mouth and saw also that Ciaran was in trouble.

  Ciaran got to his feet and raised his hand, gesturing silence from the kid. “Don’t speak.” Then he turned around. “Did you hear anything?” Everyone shook their heads. Ciaran turned back to the kid. “All right, speaking doesn’t appear to be the best form of communication between us at the moment. Can you move objects?”

  The kid nodded.

  “Can you write?”

  The kid nodded again and crouched to pick up a small stone on the road. He drew one line but hadn’t finished the first letter before they heard a low growl. From the end of the street, a large group of wolves approached, teeth bared. From behind the pack, a man made his way to the front. He wore a black robe, with a large sword tucked at the back. In his hand, he held Ganzorig’s head by the hair. Blood from the head, its eyes still half open, dripped to the ground.

  A corner of the man’s scarred face quirked up as if smiling. He signaled the wolves with his empty hand, and the group stepped back. The pack of gigantic wolves charged at them. Ciaran, Lorcan, Roy, Mori, and Orla blasted their guns at them, but there were too many. The front line died, but the back line leaped over the bodies of the dead wolves to attack.

  The group rushed to the door of the Raven house.

  “Lorcan, stay with me. Roy, open the gate and check if there’s anyone inside. Shoot if they come at you. Orla and Mori, keep in the middle,” Ciaran directed. The group backed closer to the gate. Roy opened it and saw an empty courtyard. Ciaran and Lorcan continued to fire at the advancing wolves.

  “Okay to come in,” Roy said, stepping into the courtyard. Orla grabbed Ciaran and Lorcan from behind and pulled them roughly inside. She curled her hands into fists and pumped out two large fireballs at the coming wolves. While the wolves howled and barked, she darted into the courtyard as Lorcan slammed the door closed. They locked the door from the inside.

  While Lorcan and Roy found logs inside and jammed the door, Ciaran stepped back, keeping his eyes on the top of the high fence. As he had predicted, the man in the black robe leaped to the top of the fence. His feet had not yet touched the fence when Ciaran shot at him. The beam hit the man mid body, he dropped Ganzorig’s head to the ground inside the fence, and fell back outside.

  Soon, they heard howling and the sound of paws scratching at the door.

  They turned around and ran into the Raven house. The internal door seemed to be more stable and secured. The metal patch lock and chunky metal bars were in good condition. They locked the internal door and proceeded deeper into the main hall.

  Part II

  Chapter 23

  The hall was dark and empty as before. This time, no creatures attacked them, but they held tight to their guns anyway. The bodies of the creatures they had killed before had been cleaned up. Lorcan frowned at the floor. It was too clean. It was as if the fight had never happened here, or someone had gone to great lengths to clean it. But why?

  “Ciaran!” Lorcan called out as he proceeded to the next room.

  “What?”

  “Get behind me,” Lorcan commanded.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I know you’re used to leading, but we’ve been here before. I’ve seen the traps,” Lorcan said.

  “He’s right, Ciaran,” Roy said.

  “I’ll watch your back then. Ladies, in the center please.” Ciaran went to the end of the line. They slowly made their way to a chamber and found the way down to the basement where the people had been kept shackled before. Ciaran glanced at the layout of the room and the decoration of the hallway.r />
  “It’s religious sacrificial ground here,” Ciaran said.

  “What? Why don’t I recognize this?” Orla asked.

  “This is a rare religion. I came across it when I researched for a small project a long time ago in London. Your magic is a practice not a belief. I can’t explain and don’t understand your practice. But I can explain certain pattern of beliefs and religions,” Ciaran said.

  Orla shrugged. “Do you always have a theory for everything, Ciaran?”

  “Merely efficient.” Ciaran smiled.

  They arrived at the basement. Lorcan pointed to the dark wing at the far end. “I went in there before. There was a door, and as soon as I opened it, I blacked out. Orla said I looked like I was dead. When I came to, there was no door. It was just a solid wall.”

  Ciaran stepped closer to the dark wing to peek in. Lorcan opened his mouth to protest, but Ciaran turned back before he could say anything. “Don’t worry, Lorcan, I’m not an idiot.” Then he approached the walls where the people had been shackled. He looked at the layout of the room, then pointed to a corner.

  “There has to be a door over there,” Ciaran said. Everyone looked at the solid wall. “I know this sounds strange, but this is the classic structure of a mind map. Mind maze, to be precise.” Ciaran suddenly whirled around and shouted toward the middle of the room, “No!” Then he slumped to the floor, apparently dead.

  Lorcan could see exactly what had happened to him the last time they were here. Whatever Ciaran had seen that made him fall to the floor, Lorcan had experienced before. It had come back to him twice now, targeting the darkest corner of his mind. Everyone has a secret they wouldn’t want anyone else to know. A man like Ciaran would have many. Wherever this thing brought out in Ciaran, Lorcan knew it couldn’t be good.

  Lorcan could see himself on the floor, dead. He understood now, more than ever, how hopeless Orla must have felt. He froze, not knowing what to do. Orla sat on the floor next to Ciaran, rubbed his temples with her thumbs.

  “Come on, Ciaran, you responded to me before. Do it for me again.” His body was cold, and there was no response. “Come on, Ciaran. You have to get back home to hear your children call you daddy.”

  They could hear the wolves knocking down the courtyard door. Roy and Mori looked around. There was no way out except to go back to the hall and face the wolves.

  Lorcan pulled his gun. “I’m going back,” he said.

  “There are too many of them,” Orla protested. She shook Ciaran’s shoulder. “Come on, Ciaran.”

  Ciaran stirred and slowly opened his eyes. Unlike Lorcan, who jumped to his feet right away, Ciaran seemed extremely weak. Although he couldn’t move by himself, he was fully aware of what was happening. It looked as though he didn’t have any physical strength, but his mind worked perfectly. “Do you mind helping me up?” he asked Orla.

  “He’s up! Ciaran’s up!” Orla called out to others.

  Lorcan, Roy, and Mori rushed over.

  “I can’t move,” Ciaran said.

  “Okay, let me.” While Lorcan helped Ciaran sit up, he saw his wrist unit. “Jesus Christ, ten percent! Do you live on a wrist unit like Roy and Orla?”

  “No. My wrist unit’s energy is just for emergency. Whatever it was, it must have sucked out a significant amount of my natural energy. The reserve kicked in. It drew ninety percent out of the reserve.” Ciaran paused to take a breath. “I have to crash.”

  “What do you mean?” Roy asked.

  “You have to rest to recharge your natural energy?” Lorcan asked.

  Ciaran nodded.

  “You can’t do it here. The wolves will break in any second,” Mori said.

  Orla stood, fists curled. “I’ll handle them.”

  “No, Orla,” Lorcan protested.

  “Blast the wall,” Ciaran said weakly.

  “What?”

  “Far end, left corner. There has to be an escape hatch. Blast it,” Ciaran reiterated the information and then closed his eyes to preserve his energy. Lorcan, Roy, and Mori aimed at the wall and fired. In no time, the wall crumbled, revealing a short hallway. Lorcan and Roy rushed back in to help Ciaran. They all raced through the hallway just as the wolves knocked down the door.

  At the end of the short hallway was a small wooden door. They pushed outside.

  In front of them were endless rolling sand hills.

  “Give me some space.” Orla pushed everyone out of her way, curled her hands into fists, and threw fireballs at the brick dome that arched over the wooden door. The bricks collapsed, piling up in front of the door, blocking it from the outside.

  The sand hills in front of them spread out in the scorching sun, having no resemblance whatsoever to the area in front of the Raven house they’d just been through. The island was tropical, and the sand hills in front of them were a desert.

  “Another dimension. We just passed through a dimensional door,” Ciaran muttered. He reeled toward a black rock poking up in the sand, then slumped to the ground, totally passing out. Lorcan and Roy carried Ciaran to the shady area of some crooked palm trees, then they themselves flopped down next to him. This dimension seemed to suck the energy out of every one.

  Chapter 24

  A while later, Lorcan and Roy awoke, finding Ciaran already up, sitting on top of a small rock and watching over them, a gun in his hand. “Wake your women,” he said. “We need to go.”

  “Out there?” Lorcan pointed at the desert.

  Ciaran shook his head. “Too risky. It was bad enough to not know where we were on the island. There’s no point charging into that unknown dimension. We’re going to have to fight our way back inside the Raven house. It’s been quiet in there for a while.” Lorcan nodded and turned to wake Orla.

  “Can you open a portal to the Daimon Gate or the transitional zone right here?” Roy asked.

  “No. Someone with galactic connections called our bluff and killed Ganzorig. I’d be reluctant to open a portal now and risk being located by unfriendly forces.”

  Orla and Mori were up. Mori and Roy approached the pile of bricks Orla had broken to jam the door. It was very quiet inside the Raven house.

  “What if we follow this building from the side to the front without going back inside?” Mori asked.

  Lorcan pointed at the edge of the wall where it curved. “I checked, and it looks like a maze. I don’t think it will lead us to the front of the building. The only sure way is to go back inside via this door.”

  Ciaran was about to get off the rock when Lorcan approached. “What did you see inside the house that made you pass out?”

  “The kid yanked open a dimensional door, right in the middle of the room. I can’t remember anything about it except the suction.”

  “I guess it’s the same sort of dimensional door that I saw. You said you have to crash to recover your natural energy. It’s the same with me—I have to pass out when I’m injured so that my body can start its healing process. Is that common in your universe?”

  “What? The healing process or the recharging of energy?”

  Lorcan shrugged. “Both, I guess. Roy said I’m not exactly a werefox. So I’m just wondering if there’s any resemblance between our recovering processes.”

  Ciaran smiled. “I haven’t been in Eudaiz long, but the moment I became a citizen of that universe, everything changed. I don’t have total control of my energy, and it has to be recharged naturally every day like a battery. If I run out of energy, I’ll die. So to answer your question—yes, there might be some connection between your recovery process and the energy charging process in Eudaiz. What I’d suggest is for you to have a test done in Eudaiz after we finish with our business here.”

  “Does that mean you’d admit me to Eudaiz? Orla will have to live there.”

  “You have some skills we can definitely use. Still, no promises.”

  Lorcan grinned. “That’s good enough. I’ll put my tech skills to good use.”

  “I can get any tech guy I need
, Lorcan, no strings attached. Your most valuable skill is not computer crunching. It’s what you did in the woods.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “What do you think I saw when I passed out?”

  “A secret. Me, too.”

  Ciaran nodded. “Yes, but it wasn’t my secret that I saw.”

  Blood drained from Lorcan’s face. He glanced toward the house and saw Orla, Mori, and Roy busy planning a predicted fight once they got inside. “Look, Ciaran, I don’t know what you saw, but I was a kid. I wasn’t exactly conscious of what I was doing. It was a wolf, and it was killing my mother.”

  “You knew it wasn’t a wolf. You denied it in your subconscious and only saw what you wanted to see. It was your first kill. I know it was hard, especially as you were that young. No one else needs to know your secret.”

  Lorcan swallowed hard. “When was your first kill?”

  Ciaran shook his head. “No one needs to know my secret, either.”

  Lorcan nodded. “I haven’t told Orla any of this. I’ve never been so sure about what happened. My mother was never clear about it. I’m not sure what Orla would think about me if she knew that I had the ability to kill at such young age.”

  Ciaran laughed. “Bullshit. You think I’m an idiot?”

  “What? No. I just . . .”

  “You couldn’t tell Orla because you were stalking her at the time. That was how you got attacked.”

  Lorcan sheepishly glanced back to ensure Orla was not listening. “You saw that, too?”

  Ciaran shook his head. “No, that’s my deduction from the conversation you had with your mother before the attack. Didn’t need to use much brain power to figure that out. You two are made for each other. You’re childhood sweethearts. Nothing to be embarrassed about.”