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

by D. N. Leo

  On the other hill, Rose smiled and reached her hand out for the boy. He smiled back, but Ciaran could clearly see it was not a smile on the kid’s face, but a crooked grin that he had seen before and didn’t want to see again. “That’s not the kid! That’s not him!” he yelled as Orla and Mori moved once again toward Rose. The sand under their feet flew faster, and they drifted even further away from the rock.

  Close to Rose, a dimensional gate slid open, and Jay jumped out. He ran at Rose and called out for her. She didn’t respond, hypnotized. Jay raced up the hill toward the boy. He glanced at Jay, then swung his arm in the air. The arm quickly turned into a blade, and before Jay could do anything, it pierced through Rose’s body.

  From this side of the hill, there was nothing the group could do. It was even too far for an accurate shot. Jay darted to Rose and held her in his arms. In front of them, the kid changed into the man in the black robe, then to Bricius, then to Ganzorig, and then into a bunch of people that they didn’t recognize. The image flickered rapidly.

  “What is that thing?” Roy mumbled.

  The image flickered a few more times and raised the blade again. It was about to take Jay’s head off. Ciaran grabbed Lorcan’s gun and shot at the image. The distance was much too large for the laser beams to be effective. The thing was in an unrecognizable form at the moment, half-lizard half-dinosaur. It turned toward Ciaran. Orla moved to the front and threw two fireballs which quickly died out mid-air. The creature seemed entertained by the group’s effort. It turned to face them.

  Taking the opportunity, Jay pulled a knife and stabbed the creature from behind. It roared, and Jay stabbed again. The creature staggered back.

  “Our guns don’t do much damage. How could he make such an impact with a small knife?” Roy asked.

  “It’s not an ordinary knife. He has the stone on the hilt of the knife,” Ciaran said.

  They then noted the sparkling indigo spot on the knife. They turned back and looked at the glowing rock to see that the rock had disappeared.

  The creature regained its feet and was about to attack Jay again. Where the face of the creature should have been, images kept flashing, many faces. Among them, there was one that Ciaran didn’t want to see—the face of Hoyt Flanagan. Hoyt was an ancient sorcerer and had more than once wanted to kill Ciaran. Their last fight had almost cost him his life, but Ciaran thought he had killed Hoyt. Who was Bricius, and why would he say Hoyt had been protecting Lorcan?

  Ciaran clenched his jaw, trying to control his anger. The image of the man’s face flashed rapidly and then vanished. The creature turned toward Jay now and raised its blade arm again. Jay fell onto the flowing sand and dragged himself backward. The blade stabbed and slashed into the sand. Jay stood up and ran toward the group while the creature slashed at his back. He fell but stood again and dove into the flowing sand.

  “No!” Roy yelled and wanted to dive after him—not for the man but more for the knife he was taking with him into the deep sand—but Mori pulled him back. The creature had the same thought. It was about to rush after Jay but was swept backward by a gigantic wave of electric current. The creature stopped and looked at the group, and saw Lorcan standing on the top of the other hill, gazing at it. Lorcan’s eyes were full of fire. The longer he gazed, the more electric waves came at the creature. It would soon disintegrate in the powerful heat of the electric currents. The creature withdrew a few steps.

  Wave of electricity shot continuously toward it. Lorcan kept a firm stance, a drop of blood trickling from his nose. He reeled back. Taking the opportunity, the creature ran off down the hill. Lorcan stepped forward, shooting more waves from his blazing eyes. The current became apparent when it hit its target. The creature roared again. It stretched its arms, creating an invisible hand to grab Lorcan.

  Lorcan grunted and was suddenly pulled forward, rolling down the slope. Ciaran dove after him, jumping into the flowing sand. Orla tried to rush toward the falling men, but Roy held her back. The sand became a grainy whirlpool, sucking everything on the surface down into its hole, the desert wind picking the surface sand up and swirling it in a globe in the air.

  A moment later, the sand stopped moving, the wind calmed, and Orla, Roy, and Mori were alone with the desert sun at the top of the hill.

  Chapter 32

  The sand rained down into an empty space in the middle of the Earth, dragging Jay, Lorcan, Ciaran, and the creature with it. People, creatures, and unrecognizable objects tumbled one into another, rolling down a slope and eventually settling in the middle of the mud. All men jumped to their feet, taking a stance in preparation for whatever came at them. The creature rolled into a far corner. It rose up to a life-sized flickering image. Jay still had the knife in his hand and charged at the creature. The creature’s image flickered and turned into the kid just before Jay’s knife pierced its chest.

  Jay’s hand shook as he stopped the knife an inch before its pierced what use to be the creature’s chest.

  “No! No, it’s an illusion!” Ciaran yelled at Jay as he hesitated to kill the image of the kid. The creature took advantage of Jay’s second of hesitation, its hand turning into a blade, and before Jay could register the information, the blade pierced his body. Pulling the blade out, the creature used its free hand to grab the knife Jay was holding. It pushed him to the ground and ran away.

  Ciaran still had Lorcan’s gun in his hand, and he beamed it at the creature. It turned and looked at Ciaran, and he was sure it grinned at him. Its reptilian maw pulled upward in the shape of a smile. Then it opened its mouth and blew a jet of fire at Ciaran. He jumped aside to it. Suddenly, the creature staggered back. It had been hit by Lorcan’s electric current. He did it again, shooting the current out by gazing at the creature with his eyes which sparked with blue fire. Lorcan shot again, and this time, the creature fell backward. It roared in pain and tried to get up to run.

  Lorcan wanted to shoot again, but seeing the blood trickled from Lorcan’s nose, Ciaran stopped him. “Let it go,” he said.

  Lorcan shot one more time and slumped to his knees. The creature staggered, then ran again.

  “Goddammit. Don’t use your ability so much when you don’t know what it is or what it’s costing you!” Ciaran exclaimed. “Now I know not only your combat skills need improvement, but you need training in logical decision making, too.”

  Lorcan smiled, wiped the blood from his nose, and said nothing. They heard Jay stir and ran to him.

  “I thought you were dead. Come on, let me help you up,” Lorcan said.

  Jay shook his head. “I won’t stay for long. I’ll tell you what you need to know. But can you promise me one thing?” Jay closed his eyes to take a breath as blood flowed from of his body and pooled on the ground.

  Lorcan shook his head to protest as he still wanted to take Jay back to the sand hill. Ciaran merely nodded and waited for the dying man to speak. “The place you come from, is it safe?” Jay asked Ciaran.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll protect the kid if he comes to me. Is he your son?”

  Jay nodded. “I’m sorry I lied before. Jacob is my only son. He was good friends with Rose’s son, Michael. Four years ago, they were playing on the sand beach and were attacked by something in the water. I couldn’t bear losing my son. Bricius is a friend of my wife’s family. He offered to save one of the dying children, and I chose Jacob. I didn’t know Bricius would use magic to make him live in Michael’s body. I’ve never had the heart to tell Rose. If you see my son again, could you help him? Could you take him in? You seem to be a man of power . . .”

  “I’ll do my best,” Ciaran promised.

  Jay closed his eyes for a short moment to gather his remaining strength. “My wife was a shapeshifter from a powerful clan. We met in New Jersey, got married, and had Jacob. We took him to visit family on the island. Her family was estranged because of the hunt for the power of the key. Her cousins could shift into sea creatures. They’re powerful and they’ve killed a lot of people. They wan
ted to expand their territories by flooding as many places as possible using the key of Psuche. My wife didn’t know any of that and didn’t want to get involved. As soon as we arrived, the island was disconnected from the world.”

  Jay closed his eyes again. Lorcan and Ciaran could see his life was drifting away. “My wife found out later on that the cousins had gotten together with some forces beyond this planet to somehow lock down this island and turn it in to a safe haven for creatures. Their base. She confronted them. She fought so hard to get the island back to the way it was. And they killed her for that. Before she died, she asked me to take care of Jacob. She told me I could trust Bricius.”

  “You know he’s a sorcerer?” Lorcan asked.

  “I knew he could wield magic and do a lot of other things that I don’t understand.”

  “What’s in this for Bricius?” Ciaran asked.

  “Someone hired him to find the key. But he’s on my side. Bricius paid a shapeshifter to take a young doctor form in Japan …”

  “Chiyo?” Lorcan asked referring to the doctor who stole the key from them in their last trip.

  Jay nodded. “Chiyo formed and station in Japan. We almost got the key, but then the plan went south. She took the stone off the key and gave the stone to us. It was you people who interfered with our plans in Japan. Bricius had come to the house to tell me that—that’s when you saw him. When he wanted to kill you, I told him you might have the key . . . Do you?”

  “We’re not giving the key to any creatures,” Lorcan said.

  Jay sighed. “It doesn’t make a difference now. I can’t keep my promise to my wife. I can’t take Jacob out of here . . .”

  “What about the werewolves and those you fought with when we arrived?” Lorcan asked.

  “The Yakuz . . . they’re everywhere. They want the key, too . . .” And then Jay drew in his last breath and died.

  “How are we gonna get out of here?” Lorcan asked. Then he realized Jay was dead. “Goddammit.” He glanced around. They were in what looked like a long, dark cave which curved in another direction. The creature had run that way, into the dark hole. It might not be a good idea to follow, but they might not have a choice, Lorcan thought. “Do you think we’re in another dimension or just underneath the sand hill?”

  Ciaran shook his head and tried to code his wrist unit. “We’ll find out soon enough. Here we go.” Ciaran’s wrist unit flashed an operating signal.

  Lorcan looked at his dead unit. “Why isn’t mine working?”

  Ciaran shrugged. “Not only is mine made in Eudaiz, but I also helped design it!”

  “Smart ass,” Lorcan muttered. Ciaran headed in the opposite direction as the creature. They didn’t have to walk far before they arrived at a T junction. Ciaran checked his wrist unit again, but before they could make any more progress, a chill hit them from behind. They turned to see Bricius.

  Chapter 33

  “Who killed Jay?” he barked out.

  “Who are you?” Ciaran asked.

  “Bricius, we didn’t kill Jay. A creature in Jacob’s form, the form you forced the kid into, killed him,” Lorcan said.

  “Who are you to judge me? What do you know about losing a son?” Bricius snarled, anger flaring in his eyes.

  “The creature took the stone, too. And we have the key. We can work together to find the stone, and then we’ll discuss the key.”

  Bricius laughed dryly. “You must be Ciaran LeBlanc. You might have a lot of power in the multiverse, but not in the middle of the Earth.”

  “I don’t need power here to work our way out of this. If we fight, the consequence might be tragic, and neither of us will have a good outcome.”

  “I can’t see how we can possibly collaborate. There’s only one key, and we both want it.”

  “You don’t want it. Someone hired you to fight for the key. I can pay you more.”

  “It’s not just the money, it’s a code of honor . . .”

  Ciaran donned his most formal British tone. “Would you provide me with your services for free if the mission is honorable enough?”

  Bricius shook his head and laughed. “You live up to your reputation, Ciaran. I was told not to talk to you.”

  Lorcan chuckled. “That’s a compliment, Ciaran.”

  Bricius glanced at Lorcan, who was watching his every move like a hawk. “Money used to do the trick. But now, I want more. I want him dead.” Bricius pointed at Lorcan.

  “Lorcan is my friend. So if you kill him, I’ll kill you. Then you’ll get nothing.”

  “You don’t even want to know why I want to kill him?”

  “No,” Ciaran deadpanned.

  “Even if I can give you the stone right now, you wouldn’t give him up?”

  “That’s worth considering, but I know you don’t have the stone . . .” Before Bricius could respond, Ciaran pulled his gun and shot at him. It had totally slipped his mind that Bricius had a dimensional shield. The beam bounced off the shield and had no effect on Bricius. At the same time, Bricius waved his invisible arm and smashed at Ciaran’s head. Ciaran fell to the ground, dazed by the hit. Bricius switched his focus back to Lorcan because he knew what Lorcan could do to him. But it was too late. Waves of energy flew at him, shooting from Lorcan’s eyes. The waves cut through the shield and electrocuted Bricius, throwing him to the floor.

  Lorcan staggered backward. The use of this newfound ability seemed to suck a lot of energy from him.

  On the floor, Bricius used his invisible hand to grab for Ciaran, who was still dazed. He pulled Ciaran over to him and used him as human shield. Bricius’s hand turned into a blade, pressing against Ciaran’s throat.

  “What do you want?” Lorcan asked.

  “If I want you dead, it’s going to be too easy for you. You killed my son, and you’ll have to pay for that.”

  “I was a kid, and your son was in an animal form. He wanted to kill my mother.”

  “He’d never do that. Ask your mother. You were a kid, what do you know?”

  “I saw it with my own eyes. He was going to rip my mother’s throat out.”

  “Between sorcery and shapeshifting, do you think anything of what you saw from our family was real?” Bricius laughed. “We were powerful. Ask your little bitch, Orla. Even her family dared not cross us. All this because of women. They are our weakness. They should be damned.” He laughed again and let the blade against Ciaran’s throat become slack. As fast as lightning, Ciaran pulled a knife, turned around, and stabbed Bricius. As he staggered back, Ciaran advanced and stabbed again. Bricius fell backward but managed to give Ciaran a kick on the way down.

  Regaining his footing, he saw Lorcan was shooting at him again. He swung his invisible hand and pulled Ciaran up, shielding himself from the electric wave Lorcan was sending at him. As soon as the wave hit Ciaran, Lorcan pulled back, and the withdrawn current bounced back, hitting him just as hard.

  Lorcan fell backward, lying on the ground, blood running from the corners of his eyes. Everything in front of him was a blur. He couldn’t see anything, but he could hear the sound of Bricius approaching, his heavy breathing and the low growl of hatred in the air.

  “If you want to kill me, then do it. Killing Ciaran isn’t going to do you any good.”

  “Killing you is too easy. I’m going to kill those you love. Your family. Your little lover. And I want you to live to see it,” Bricius’s voice echoed.

  Lorcan surged to his feet, reaching his arms out to navigate. In front of him was only a blanket of darkness.

  “Ciaran!”

  There was no response.

  “Ciaran!” Lorcan repeated and heard Ciaran groan from the ground. He hurried in that direction, crouched and probed with his hands for Ciaran. “Are you okay?” He found Ciaran’s leg and shook it. “Are you okay? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you.”

  It sounded as if Ciaran had sat up. “It’s okay, I’ve got it. Stop touching me, you’re weirding me out! Jesus Christ, what happened to your ey
es?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t see anything. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Have you ever been electrocuted? If not, try a hundred thousand volts. That’s what it felt like. I guessed you withdrew it. It could have been worse.”

  “Let’s call it a draw—you took half the voltage, I took half. Now I’m blind.”

  “And I’m paralyzed.” Ciaran chuckled. “Just stay here for a bit. Your vision will come back shortly.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Just a theory.”

  “Another of Ciaran’s theories!” Lorcan wanted to roll his eyes, but it hurt too much, so he let the urge pass. “So now in addition to being able to turn into a fox, without being a proper werefox because I don’t have their genes and some of their supernatural abilities, I can electrocute people by staring at them. What the heck is happening to me?”

  “I told you I have a theory. Do you want to hear it?”

  “Spit it out.”

  “Remember Zach Flynn? He came to your place with Madeline and me once in the Daimon Gate.”

  “Yeah, how can I forget? He knocked Orla unconscious, and you tied me up so I wouldn’t break his neck.”

  Ciaran smiled. He remembered the incident vividly. Orla was being controlled and was about to kill him, which forced Zach to interfere. Ciaran cleared his throat. “Zach is a sound bender. He didn’t just knock Orla out physically. He can hit people with sound waves using his thoughts. He uses his mind as a vessel. So if he hits someone with strong resistance, the sound bounces back at him just as hard.”

  “So you think I can electrocute people using my eyes as a vessel. And because I withdrew the hit on Bricius when he dragged you in, it bounced back at me and hurt my eyes?”

  “Maybe not just your eyes as a vessel, but your thought process as well. What did you think about when you struck him?”

  “I wanted to smite him into charcoal, grind him into dust, and feed him to wild pigs.”

  “Well . . .” Ciaran cleared his throat. “I won’t argue with you now, but that’s a very long thought process for a strike that happens as fast as lightning.”