by HDA Roberts
They nodded.
"So what do we do now?" Cassandra asked.
"My signature move," I said proudly.
"Hide behind your big sister and let her deal with it?" Cassandra guessed.
"That's the one."
Said big sister was looking very smug as she approached my drawing room an hour later, with Killian and I along with her. The look vanished under a stony expression as the door opened. Most in the room seemed to shrink away as she turned her eyes on them one after another. Hellstrom and Glass met her eyes levelly, though, and she nodded respectfully to each.
"Well, isn't this an interesting pickle you've managed to get yourself into," Kron said to Bradley as she took a seat in one of the more comfortable armchairs, her posture regal and her expression grim.
I was actually a little jealous of Kron’s sheer presence; her gravitas. I could never pull that off. The last time I tried to project something similar, Tethys thought I had trapped wind; I don't like to talk about it.
"My Lady..." Bradley began.
Kron turned the eyes on her again, Bradley stopped talking.
"Yes?" Kron prompted.
"Nothing," Bradley finished in a small voice.
Kron leant back in her chair.
"You've acted very poorly, Primus," Kron said, nodding towards me. "Especially towards my brother."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Kron shook her head, "I concede that you were clever enough about it, always making sure that there was never any physical danger to Lord Shadow, and that when there was, that the perpetrators were only seen to be responding to his actions before 'dying' in the fight; very clever."
Bradley nodded, the movement of her head shaky. She swallowed hard.
"So, bearing in mind the lengths you went to, and the harm those lengths caused, why should I, or my Circle, do anything to help you?"
Bradley looked down, her face colouring.
"I don't have an answer, my Lady," Bradley said in a tiny voice. "All I can do is ask, and beg, if that is insufficient. If you want me on my knees, I'll do it. Just please, help my people?"
"And when we're done, what of us? Will you continue to withhold our ancient rights and privileges? What's to stop you continuing on this course as soon as you're back in power with no more whip-hand behind you?"
Bradley twitched at that. Something told me that Kron had hit the nail on the head with that one.
"I give you my word," Bradley said, "that I will put it back the way it was, your rights and responsibilities will be just as they were."
Kron looked Bradley square in the eye. The Primus tried to look away.
“No, look at me,” Kron whispered.
Bradley did as she was told, her lip trembling.
"If you should fail to live up to an Archon's bargain, little Wizard, then you realise what will happen to you, yes?" Kron said, her voice becoming low and rather sinister, enough to give me the chills, anyway. Death looming in the corner couldn't have helped with the integrity of Bradley's underwear.
Bradley nodded.
"Good. Then go home," Kron said.
"What?" Bradley asked, shocked.
"Go home," Kron repeated. "Or somewhere safe, anyway. You will be contacted when you can have your Conclave Building back."
"Just like that?" Bradley said as Kron stood.
"We're Archons, not politicians. When we say we're going to do something, we don't piss about."
Kron walked towards the door; Killian and I followed her.
"Some of us want to fight!" Glass said, stepping forward.
Kron stopped and turned, eyeing him speculatively. Hellstrom stepped forward as well, a similar look in her eye. Neither of them were slouches in the Magical Mayhem department... and we were outnumbered. I said as much to Kron.
"Alright. Gather the people you trust and wait in... Yarrow's Square, you know it?"
"I do," Glass said.
"Excellent," Kron replied. "Be there in an hour. You will be our reserves. I warn you that if we need you, things will likely have become... nasty."
"We understand," Hellstrom said.
Kron nodded at them both, glared one final time at Bradley and led us out, practically vibrating with energy over the upcoming fight.
"Finally!" she said once we were out of earshot. "A fight against long odds, a righteous cause, an evil foe enslaving his people..."
"Van, drool," Killian said, smiling broadly.
"Shut up. You're not ruining this for me!"
It took us most of our allotted hour to get ourselves sorted out, during which Killian arranged for the area around the Conclave to be cordoned off (which may not have been the best aid to keeping our attack a surprise, but Killian wasn't really built for stealth).
While that was happening, the First Circle of Magi gathered itself for war.
By the time we were ready to go, there was quite the collection of Wardens at Blackhold. Killian brought in ten Sisters of the Skull, terrifying in their black leather. Kron summoned six colossal young men in golden armour, and they were even scarier. Not a one of them was under six feet tall, plus a little extra with all their armour. Their equipment glowed with Enchantments, particularly their huge golden hammers. These were three feet long with wicked spikes on the reverse side of the haft. Those lads looked like they picked their teeth with meaner men than Myrddin.
Hopkins let twenty-four of her highly-trained modern operatives through a Portal. All were dressed in matt-black tactical armour and carrying a mixture of guns and bladed weapons. Palmyra showed up last with eleven of her cream-robe wearing battle-nuns, each one a nasty piece of work up close. I'd seen them literally beat Demons to death with their bare hands; they were almost as scary as the Sisters of the Skull.
I would be bringing Cassandra, Demise and, to my immense surprise, Ross. That wasn't my idea; Cassandra had picked her, and Demise vouched for her. Faced with those two, I figured it was best just to trust them rather than go through a fight (which I’d only lose, anyway). I'd discussed bringing more Wardens, but it was thought best to leave them guarding the house in the unlikely event we needed to retreat and couldn’t simply Portal our way out.
Between our Wardens, and the Archons leading them, of course, this group represented more Magical firepower than the entirety of the Conclave and the subverted Hunters put together. In theory, they should be more than a match for Myrddin.
Oh, how the Universe does so like to make an arse of me when I think things like that...
“Alright, gather round,” Kron said once everyone had arrived. She’d dressed herself in a suit of that golden armour her men were wearing. She even had a smaller version of their hammers looped into her belt. It was rather a spectacular look on her.
We gathered around a table in my front hall. Kron projected an Illusion of the streets around the Conclave into the air above us so we could all see.
The Conclave building sat in its own square plaza, bound by roads on each side. Its grounds were surrounded by a low fence, and the flagstones of the plaza were dotted with ornamental trees, patches of grass, fountains and benches. It was actually quite a pleasant space, especially with the various Enchantments put in to keep the sounds and smells of the traffic at bay.
Surrounding the square’s roads were yet more buildings. They were of white stone with dark, slate roofs, between three and five stories tall, about three hundred years old.
"Jen, you'll set up your commandos on the surrounding buildings," Kron said, lighting up the relevant spots.
"Bart, you enter through the west entrance, Lucille will take the north. I'll go south while Jen acts as a reserve with the kid."
I was being left outside? Oh dear, what a shame...
"Questions so far?" Kron asked.
There were none.
"Jen, once you’re in position, you set up a Portal Jammer and maintain it unless we need reinforcements, the rest of us will work our way in. Subdue resistance if possible, but don't be heroes. No risks
to yourselves. Cast to kill, if you have to."
I grimaced at that, and was ignored. My squeamishness was more or less a given by now.
"We don't stop until Ambrosias Myrddin is in custody or in pieces. Collateral damage to the building is just fine, just try not to knock it down, it's seven hundred years old."
"Why are you looking at me?" I protested.
"Because you knock down buildings all the time," she replied evenly.
"I do not!"
She gave me the eyebrow again.
"It happened once!"
She just continued staring at me.
"Fine, I take your point," I muttered.
"Good. First thing when we get there is to check in with our local reserve force and bring them in under your oversight, Jen. Then we'll kick off, any thoughts?"
"We're absolutely certain we need the building intact?" Killian asked. "Only I have this new Spell using Reapers that I want to try..."
"No Reapers! Have you already forgotten what happened the last time?" Kron snarled, glaring at him in a way that made him cringe away from her.
"It grew back," he muttered.
"Not quickly and not the right colour, Bartholomew!"
He harrumphed and looked away, "Fine, no Reapers."
Kron stared at him for a while, but she eventually nodded, "Everyone ready? Good. Jen, would you mind?"
"Not at all," Hopkins said, waving a hand to open a huge portal to Yarrow's Square, where Hellstrom, Glass and thirty other Magicians were waiting for us.
The square was about thirty metres across, with a gleaming, bronze statue to some worthy from Stonebridge's past in the centre. It was at the end of a short road leading to Chapel Square, where the Conclave was.
"Not a bad turnout," Hopkins said, nodding to Hellstrom, who smiled back, "You'll be working with m-"
"AH, THERE YOU ARE!" Myrddin interrupted, his voice booming through the empty streets. It was loud enough to crack the glass in the taller buildings surrounding us.
I jumped at the sound, and I wasn’t the only one. I looked towards the Conclave, casting Mage Sight and bringing up my shields as I did so.
I sighed. It appeared that my fears about the lack of surprise were well founded.
Myrddin and his followers stood on the roof of the Conclave Building, itself shimmering with Magic as its defences were brought to full power. As the building’s energy reached its peak, a massively potent Fortress Shield sprang into being. I’d never seen one quite like it. It was so thick and solid that I couldn’t imagine cracking it without bringing the building down along with it.
I turned my attention to Myrddin’s followers. Many of them looked alert and in-control, but just as many looked glassy-eyed and half asleep; clearly under Myrddin’s direction. It would appear that Bradley’s guess had been right. I grimaced; I may not have agreed with many of those people, but that was no way for another human being to live.
Myrddin was standing at the centre, dressed in an expensive suit and carrying a white staff.
He... he didn’t look well at all.
Aside from the fact that his face was covered in weeping sores, he was hunched and twitching, his eyes wide and staring; bloodshot as they darted to and fro as if seeking the sources of sounds only he could hear.
He was constantly scratching at his chest and neck, and I modified my Mage Sight into Flesh Sight so I that could see just how bad things had gotten there.
I froze. The inside of his mouth and nose, as well as his lips and the surrounding areas were covered in sores and boils. They were so prevalent and large that they were actually rubbing up against each other in his mucosa. They'd even spread down his throat.
That was bad enough... and then I checked the other parts of him.
"Oh God," I said, nearly throwing up.
"What?" Hopkins hissed as everyone got into a line facing the building.
"Flesh Sight," I said, pointing at Myrddin.
I felt them cast the Spell.
"Jesus!" Killian said. "What the hell?!"
"Did he cut off his own...?" Hopkins asked.
"It sure looks like it," I said, feeling quite ill. "I may have taken things just a little too far."
"You think?!" Killian said, reflexively covering his groin. I felt a similar urge.
"Not bad, kid," Kron said, approvingly. "There's not a lot of ways to drive a man so insane that he slices off his own-"
"Please don't say it," I begged. "Even I'm not proud of this one."
"I'll bet your Tethys will enjoy it, though," she pointed out.
She had a point there. And bearing in mind how Tethys tended to reward that sort of thing, this could well have a terrific upside.
And I suppose he was a very bad guy...
Okay, I can live with the guilt.
Once we were in our line, and Myrddin could see all of us, he continued his bellowing.
"I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE ALL HERE AT LAST! ALL OF US BACK TOGETHER AGAIN, AND YOU'VE EVEN BROUGHT FRIENDS! THAT'S WONDERFUL."
There was a dreadful, pregnant pause. The kind of brief moment where you knew something unspeakable was about to happen. He didn't shout what he said next, but we all heard it anyway, like the words were branded into the air that flowed down to us.
"So did I," the air whispered.
With a single gesture, the energy of the Conclave Building seemed to pulse before a huge surge of energy coalesced into Myrddin’s staff. He raised it towards the sky and everyone around me started casting every protective Spell they knew. I knew it wouldn't matter, I knew what he was doing.
A massive Gateway opened high above the Conclave Building with a great screech that shattered every window within a good mile.
For a second, there was nothing but blackness on the other side, but then something darker still came into view.
The sky turned blood red, and the head of a colossal Dark One slid its way into our reality.
Chapter 53
The Gateway was a hundred metres across and the monster’s girth only just fit through it. Its skin was black and glistening, streaked with a thousand colours, some of which I had no name for. The air started to hum with the Dark One’s power, causing the formation of dreadful black and red clouds, pregnant with lightning that started to strike the city's roofs.
A mass of tentacles at the thing’s front unfolded to reveal the creature’s horrific head; some sort of colossal, vaguely humanoid skull was pressed into a mass of slithering coils, perched above a huge mouth filled with teeth the length of cars. Its flanks grew wider and soon pressed up against the edges of the Gateway, causing the monster to roar in frustration as its emergence was slowed.
It directed its terrible power into the Gateway, enlarging it and strengthening it. Within seconds, the edges of the tear in our reality began to expand, and the Entity started making its way through again.
Kron, being slightly batty, actually looked happy!
"Yes! This is it! This is the one I've been waiting for!" Kron bellowed in something akin to religious fervour. "Everyone stand back, this one is mine!"
Before I had the chance to do a thing, or even shout a warning, Kron was up and flying towards the beast. Her hammer, normally a one-handed lump of metal (heavy enough to crack a flagstone if dropped carelessly), had expanded into something far larger; even bigger than the monstrous weapons her Wardens were carrying. The hammer’s head alone was now the length of a scooter; the weapon looked ludicrous in her hands, not that I'd tell her that.
I fully expected Kron to make the mother of all messes when she hit the Squidling.
Only she didn't get to it.
She didn't even get close.
The Abomination felt her coming, opened its colossal mouth, and let out a burst of pus-green energy. The aim was perfect and the attack too quick to dodge. The Spell exploded as it hit Kron's shields and hurled her back, sending her ploughing through the east side of one building before erupting out of the west.
She carved a trenc
h into the road where she landed and her hammer went flying, causing everyone to duck as it went spinning just over our heads to knock over the statue behind us.
Killian sprinted to her side.
I was close to panic. That thing was... beyond me. A quick analysis told me that getting a Spell through its hide was going to be ridiculously hard. It could call on the powers of its entire body to defend any spot, and, as far as I could tell, there was a lot more body behind what we’d already seen.
Kilometres of it, if I was any judge.
If it got all of that bulk through, I couldn’t see how we brought it down without wrecking the city and getting a lot of people killed.
It had to be stopped now... and I had an idea of how to do that.
A terrible idea.
But I couldn’t think of anything better, and it didn’t look like anyone else was doing anything to stop it.
"I'm going to try something!" I shouted to anyone who might be listening.
Working faster than I ever had before, I assembled the Spell framework for my Trap Shield, cutting far too many corners so that I could get it cast before too much more of the Entity forced its way into our world.
I was fast, but I still thought I’d taken too long. By the time I was ready, there was about three hundred metres of otherworldly horror through the Gateway with no end in sight.
I cast my Spell.
A great sphere of power appeared, surrounding Dark One and Gateway both, trapping the creature within, though I doubted it would last very long. As soon as it ran out of space, it would start attacking the shield, which only gave me a tiny window of time in which to act.
I took a deep breath and prayed that this would work.
Actually, I was relatively confident that it would work. If there was one thing fighting Myrddin had taught me, it was that even inexplicably powerful monsters had to obey the laws of Reality.
The question lay in just how much it would cost... that was a different issue entirely.
I closed my eyes, spared a final second to cash in every good-karma point I’d accumulated, and then I opened a Portal-pair of my own underneath the Gateway to the Real of Darkness.