by Alan Baxter
Ordo Novus Cruor Optimates of varying degrees made their way through the camp, talking to their members, waking people and laughing at hangovers. They ensured that everyone knew the party was over. All their work was coming to a head and the Ascendance was upon them. Today everything changed and the Order Novus Cruor would rise to stand over the world with their power unrivalled, their God at their side.
Excitement spread through the camp as members tried to make breakfast and get organised. All of a sudden there was a timeframe. By noon they would finally find out what it was they had been working towards.
In a dark Realm a god grew restless. Its followers were excited, their faith swelling as they hoped and doubted, trusted and prayed. The time grew near.
Isiah and Petra sat in the shadows and protection of the small crease in the landscape Petra had found. The other Magi waited impatiently for word, desperate to do something.
‘My brothers and sisters grow restless,’ Petra whispered.
Isiah nodded. ‘I know. It’s frustrating to feel so impotent. After all this time, knowing the prophecies for so long, they have to sit and do nothing.’
‘We must find a course of action, Isiah.’
‘We will. It will come to a head down there.’ Isiah tipped his chin at the valley below. ‘But we must make the right choices before we fight.’
Petra looked at him. ‘Are you serious? Look at them, there must be thousands of them.’
‘And the Umbra Magi are a powerful, highly trained army of battle mages. You may be few in number, but your power greatly exceeds anything the large majority of these people could muster. If it comes to it, the Magi may have to battle the masses.’
Petra raised an eyebrow. ‘While you battle the leaders?’
‘Perhaps.’
‘Not without me.’
‘We’ll see.’
‘I’m serious.’
They looked hard at each for a moment before Isiah smiled. ‘I get the feeling you’re going to stick to me like a limpet anyway.’
‘Damn straight. Where you go, I go.’
‘Well, in that case, we have to go to wherever this Dominus arsehole draws his power from. If we can interrupt that, we may be able to get to him. But for us to get to him, all these ONC grunts are going to have to be kept occupied.’
‘Why didn’t you mention this before?’
‘Because I wasn’t entirely sure. But looking at this, I can’t see any other choice. If we’re going to engage the Sorcerer and his band of Optimates, we need no distractions. Those guys are strong together as a unit. It’s that Frank character that we have to watch out for the most, other than the Sorcerer himself. That fucker is stealthy.’
Petra pursed her lips. ‘Perhaps Master Cai can lead an assault on the camp while we head straight for the main barn there?’
‘Perhaps. But not yet. It’s all pointless if we can’t interrupt the magic. Just feel it down there. Be careful, but have a feel. The wards are so powerful. We would be felt the moment we got close. We can’t afford to be overwhelmed by numbers and magic. We need to reduce their power before we wade in. Otherwise we simply won’t make it.’
‘You really think so?’
Isiah nodded, almost imperceptibly. ‘We need to isolate this place, therefore this group. Then we can act.’
Petra pointed to a man working in the heat of the sun, erecting wooden frames in front of the barn. ‘What’s he doing?’
Isiah shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I’d noticed him too. I don’t like the look of those things.’
‘What do you think they are?’
‘Biblical.’ He sat back decisively. ‘I don’t think we have much time. We have to trace the source of power. Send word to the Magi. Get them to spread out around the head of this valley. We need to concentrate our minds on this area, outside the wards that have been set up over the camp. With our combined will, we may be able to track down the source of the power.’
‘And if the source of power is within?’
‘We may be fucked.’
‘We’ll be felt, even working outside the wards.’
‘We will.’
‘And they may attack.’
‘Yep. That may be the fight we have to have. We don’t have the luxury of time for anything else.’
Petra chewed at her lower lip pensively. ‘We are in a dangerous place, aren’t we? And a dangerous time.’
Isiah smiled. ‘Yeah. Don’t you just love that buzz! Gather the Magi and get them spread out around the valley. It’s time to get proactive.’
20
The Sorcerer rocked back on his heels, eyes wide, bulging, breath rasping over bared teeth. ‘Still alive? Still alive? Where...’ He gasped again as the serrated blade of his god’s voice sliced through his mind. While his Lord still keened, the Sorcerer howled out to his Optimates. He was bowed under the weight of the magic he performed, Faith before him a conduit for the power gathered by the Custodi so far away. She was one person made legion, literally glowing with energy the Sorcerer had forced her to contain. She moaned and twisted in place, her arms occasionally seeming to swat at invisible flies, her hands clawing at her face and body. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her face twisted in anger, frustration.
The Sorcerer rose, staggering, as the tent flaps flew back and his generals rushed in. Frank was at the forefront of them, his face both angry and concerned. ‘What is it?’
The Sorcerer held up one hand to halt their momentum. The six of the Eighth Degree stood firm, faces hard, as some Optimates of the Seventh Degree gathered behind them. The Sorcerer pinned Frank with eyes of furious thunder. ‘You failed me!’
Frank stepped back, physically struck by the words he feared the most. ‘Dominus, I...’
The Sorcerer whipped his hand through the air and Frank staggered and fell, drops of blood spinning from his nose and mouth. ‘That creature that I sent you to kill still lives!’
Lars stepped forward, looking from the prone Frank to his Dominus. ‘But we all saw, the bullets tore him to pieces.’
‘Then he is stronger than any of us gave him credit for. He gathers those fucking mages even now and surrounds this camp!’
Frank climbed back to his feet, wiping his nose with the back of one hand, his expression hurt and angry. ‘Then we go and we find him and we kill the fucker again.’
The Sorcerer turned, shaking his head. ‘No. Now we have to act and not be distracted. The Channel is engorged, she connects us to everything I have built. We act now. You have prepared the remaining two captives?’
Frank nodded, grinding his teeth. ‘They bleed even now.’
‘Then bring them and tie them in place. Lars, carry the Channel. She will burn you.’
Frank raced from the tent as Lars raised an eyebrow. ‘Burn me?’
‘Her very touch will scald you. But you will carry her and tie her in place. Raul, Dieter, help him. Chris, Jake, with me. The rest of you, assemble your subjects and tell them the Gather is now. For every three you send here to take part in the ritual, send one up into the valley to kill those mages or die trying. We are going to be stretched, but we must not fail.’
The Sorcerer watched as Lars, Dieter and Raul lifted Faith from the chair. They winced and sucked air through their teeth, contact with her bare flesh indeed a scalding heat. But they refused to show weakness. Now was not the time to fail again. Even as smoke curled from their hands they lifted her and rushed from the tent. The Sorcerer, Chris and Jake strode out and headed for the barn. ‘Prepare yourselves, lads,’ the Sorcerer said as they walked. ‘This will not be what you expect to see.’
Isiah sat with Petra and Cai Wu, waiting as the Magi ranged themselves around the valley. ‘As soon as they are in place, have them all focus on me,’ Isiah said. ‘We’ll use our combined will to trace the source of power. I’m convinced that the Sorcerer is drawing his power from somewhere.’
Cai Wu raised an eyebrow. ‘Why are you so convinced?’
Isiah smiled. ‘Two re
asons. One, if he isn’t, we’re in deep shit. And two, I don’t think I could maintain the level of magic in place here without some external power source. And I don’t think this Dominus arsehole is any more powerful than I am. Again, if I’m wrong, we could be in even deeper shit.’
Petra, her eyes closed, spoke up. ‘They’re in place.’ She snapped open her eyes, looking directly at Isiah. ‘Ready.’
Isiah nodded once and closed his own eyes. ‘Concentrate on me.’ He felt the combined will of all the gathered Umbra Magi home in on him, like a hundred mental hands coming to rest on his consciousness. ‘Watch the camp,’ Isiah said to them all. ‘Feel the power of the wards, the power of their shields and protections. Let your minds feel the nature of that magic, the frequency of it. Relax and let it carry you wherever it will. It might take you thousands of miles. Time and distance are irrelevant. Concentrate, feel and hold onto me.’
Isiah felt the power of the group merge together as they followed his commands. He felt their minds reach out and flow into the ether, letting the power of the sorcery surrounding this place carry them. As each was carried along, Isiah held the strands together, observing externally, following their progress wherever it might lead. He held on and let his astral self ride the combined consciousness of the Umbra Magi like a pro-surfer in a tube at Oahu.
He felt Petra’s hand on his shoulder. ‘They’re bringing people out, Isiah. They’re tying them to those crosses in front of the barn. I see Faith. Oh, Isiah, she’s...’
Isiah held up one hand to stop her, his eyes still closed. ‘Don’t be distracted. Individuals are not important right now.’ Petra’s eyes darkened. ‘We’ll save her if we can,’ he added.
The two backpackers were weak from blood loss and pain as they were lashed to the crude crucifixes. The man’s eyes still burned with anger and hatred even as his head lolled on his blood soaked chest. Frank grinned at him. ‘Don’t worry. You’re part of something very important.’
Lars, Dieter and Raul tied Faith firmly to the centre cross, trying to ignore the burning pain in their hands and arms. ‘What if she ignites the wood here? Or the ropes?’ Dieter grunted.
Lars shook his head. ‘Look at us. She only burned our flesh, not our clothes. This is arcane heat.’ He yanked the bindings tight around her wrists as Raul finished tying her ankles. Then he placed two knives in the frame either side of Faith’s head. ‘Everybody, places!’ Lars barked.
He and Frank stood one in front of each backpacker. Dieter and Raul stood in the gaps between them and the cross bearing Faith. They turned to look out at the Gather, hundreds of Ordo Novus Cruor members, eyes wide in anticipation. From the edges of the gathered crowd Optimates of the Seventh Degree could be seen, running through the throng, pointing, shouting. Members here and there peeled out from the main group and ran up into the foothills of the valley. Many of them cast regretful looks over their shoulders as they went, fear in their eyes.
‘Pay homage to Yath-vados!’ Frank bellowed, and the crowd began to chant.
‘They’re coming!’ Cai Wu pointed as he spoke. ‘Lots of them.’
Isiah grimaced. ‘Just a few more moments.’
A throbbing of voices rose from the valley. The chant of the Ordo Novus Cruor swelling through the oppressive summer heat. The words were lost in the distance, the power unmistakable.
Petra watched the ONC members clambering up the valley sides, getting ever closer to the Magi scattered throughout the brush. ‘Isiah, we are separated and vulnerable. They’re almost on us.’
‘One more moment.’ Isiah gritted his teeth, concentrating against the distractions of the chant and the imminent danger to the Magi. He rode the power, coursing through the ether, covering continents in moments. He could feel the power pulsing somewhere. He could feel the connection between that far away place and the valley below. He felt Faith’s agony and he groaned.
‘Isiah, they’re on us!’
Isiah snapped open his eyes. ‘Got it.’ He severed his connection from the hive mind of the Umbra Magi with one last instruction. ‘Fight! Take it to them.’
As ONC members drew knives and yelled a battle cry to hide their own fear as much as to strike fear into others, Isiah grabbed Petra’s hand. As a hundred Umbra Magi rose from the surrounding bush and clashed head on with cultists rushing up to meet them, Isiah planted a kiss on Petra’s lips and Travelled.
Jake stood open mouthed, staring at the horror before him. Chris swallowed hard. ‘Fuck me.’
The Sorcerer muttered a quiet incantation. What had been a child was now some parody of an adult man. The body like that of a youth, lithe, smooth, hairless. And the flesh a deep blood red, like a fresh slice of lean steak. The creatures eyes were red with dark black pupils, wide, staring, empty.
‘Help him up,’ the Sorcerer said.
Chris and Jake went one either side of the sarcophagus and gingerly lifted the creature by its arms. ‘What the fuck?’ Jake looked wide-eyed at his Dominus.
The Sorcerer smiled. ‘This is a body grown without any input from the outside world. It is pure, the Embodied Blood. We need to get him outside. Hurry.’
Jake and Chris lifted the Embodied Blood from the sarcophagus and stood it carefully on its feet. It swayed and staggered. With faltering steps it moved towards the light of the open barn doors, a high, wet mewling escaping its crimson lips as it raised one arm to protect its eyes. The Sorcerer pulled a small leather bag from one pocket and walked ahead of his charge out into the sunshine. As he emerged a roar rose up from the Gathered crowd, then the chant began again, booming with renewed vigour. The Embodied Blood was led to stand before Faith and the Sorcerer stood in front of them both, holding something high in his right hand. His voice was preternaturally loud as he yelled, ‘Draw your blood! In the name of Yath-vados, spill blood in this place!’
Knives flashed in the sunlight, cultists whipped into a frenzy, slicing blades across hands and forearms, letting blood flow onto the dark red sand at their feet.
Isiah and Petra stood before a cave high in mountains far from any civilisation. The entrance to the cave was obvious enough, and they needed to be inside, but this was as far as they had been able to come. ‘These wards are powerful even here,’ Isiah said, rage in his voice. ‘We have to start smashing these barriers.’
Petra’s eyes were dark. ‘Can you do that? I don’t think I have the power.’
Isiah didn’t answer. He gathered his will, drew energy from the world around him and rained psychic blows onto the invisible barriers of magic. There was no option here. They had to get in and destroy this place if they were to stand any chance of stopping the activity in Australia.
Cai Wu’s voice rang in their minds across the miles. ‘We have repelled the first cultists that attacked us easily. Some are running for their lives. But we cannot access the valley. The wards are physical as well as sensory. We can’t get in!’
Isiah growled. ‘When I smash my way in here, that power will falter. Keep trying to find a way in.’ Using both hands and the considerable power of his mind, Isiah smashed again and again into the barrier that separated him from the seat of the Sorcerer’s power.
The power building from the Gathered ONC members became a physical presence, buzzing in the air, causing tent flaps to snap in the wind of its passing. The Sorcerer drew on the power he had harnessed in Faith, holding aloft the tooth of a dragon to amplify that power and he bathed in the exultation of the people before him. Every one of them was his. His to control, his to use. He finally passed that on to the God that had contacted him. The deity that had risen from his ministrations. He called out to his God, willing him to draw near. ‘Yath-vados, your time has come! By blood are all things living empowered and by blood is all change effected. Nothing worthwhile is ever born without blood. Through our ministry will Yath-vados rise. Through our efforts will the world be born anew. We will ensure the New Ascendance.’
A shimmer of RealmShift rose up behind the crosses secured in the red sand.
A sharp, coppery scent filled the air and the space between the barn and the Cultists seemed to twist and warp.
The Sorcerer pointed out to either side as he turned to face the Embodied Blood and the Channel. ‘Say the words and bleed them!’
Lars and Frank simultaneously barked out ancient, foul words and drew razor sharp knives across the throats of the backpackers. As they continued to incant the blood sprayed from the rent throats but did not fall. It swirled and twisted in the air, snaking towards the Sorcerer’s outstretched arms, his palms up, supplicant to the heavens. The blood began to spin around him and the Embodied Blood and the Embodied Blood reached for Faith’s writhing, glowing form. Faith’s eyes snapped open, the Sorcerer releasing his hold on her, and she screamed as blood red eyes in a blood red face stared and a blood red mouth howled inches from her own.
Cai Wu’s voice was desperate in their minds. ‘The ritual appears to be nearing a conclusion. Something is coming through!’
Isiah roared an inhuman curse at the universe and brought his entire will to bear down upon the rock and the magical barrier before him. Sending his mind and his strength between molecules in this Realm and between the Realms themselves, he punched and tore at the rock itself. Pulverising ancient stone, disrupting the wards cohesion at the entrance to the caves, he breached barriers that had held for decades. As he and Petra ran inside he cast his mind out across the Realms. I hope you’re all watching. It might be time to lend a hand about now.
They ran through roughly hewn stone corridors for several metres, heat and humidity growing exponentially as they progressed. Within moments they burst out into a large cavern, skidding to a halt on the thick, sticky ichor that covered everything. Petra made a small sound of despair, one hand clapping over her mouth to hold in a scream. Isiah stared with fury in his black eyes, momentarily stunned by the sight of the Custodis Cruor, meeping and writhing, reaching for the life they could feel standing just beyond their viscous prison.
‘Destroy them.’ Isiah’s voice was barely contained rage.