by T. G. Ayer
An even half dozen with Aisha, Logan, and Drake—I wasn’t certain if that was a good thing.
The team had shrunk somewhat, but it was pretty clear to us by now in the wake of the communication with Fathima, that we didn’t need a large contingent, only a strong, smart, and efficient one.
Despite the confidence I felt in our team, I was still plagued by worries that we may be too late. What if I’d tipped them off after my last visit and Ward and his cronies had strengthened their magical protections? If they had, then all our efforts, all the political maneuvering, all the magic, all the reckless endangerment would be in vain.
Aisha though, had made her dissatisfaction with me clear enough. Since I’d fessed up to the queen, she’d been a little frosty with me, and had kept her distance, conversation short, eye-contact limited, mind-reading none.
Barry though had appeared unperturbed with my admission, and had behaved as though I hadn’t endangered all their work. In the end, I decided to go to his unspoken dismissal of my crimes and just chalked Aisha’s attitude up to regular old pissed-off-ness.
Maybe it was time I took responsibility.
I dismissed the thought with a silent snort and addressed my friends. “Before we begin, I think I need to take a moment to check out the condition of the Veil. Just to make sure everything is in order.”
“Do you think that’s wise?” asked Darcy, her brow furrowing deeply. “What if by checking the Veil, your presence is detected?”
Aisha shook her head. “Even if they do detect a presence, they wouldn’t have enough time to summon the magic and focus it on us. The ward they have already erected is filled with power—not something you can whip up in a second.”
“But, just in case they have a super powerful demon-witch on speed dial,” I added, “it’s probably best we’re overly cautious. The only way we could achieve this is if we were ready to go when I check the status of the Veil. If we do set off any alarms, it won’t matter. We’ll cross into Mithras and get our asses to the safehouse before they have a chance to twirl a finger.”
Overly confident, but better than being all negative.
“You do realize this could be a one-way mission?” asked Drake, eyes inscrutable though I knew what he was thinking.
“That’s a possibility, but we have to believe we’re going to succeed. The whole realm is hanging in the balance right now. I know you’re concerned about us being able to leave if things get hot. And I’m sure we’ll be able to, if that time comes.”
Even as I spoke the words, I knew none of them believed me. Which made me more satisfied that we were leaving the younger members of the team behind.
I looked over at Steph who was leaning against the wall, arms folded, lips a thin line. And she began to shake ahead. “No way, Mel. You’re not doing this to me now.”
I held out my hand, aware this was a last-ditch effort, aware she was blatantly ignoring last night’s decision to limit the team in the hopes we’d give in closer to departure.
Not happening.
“Please Steph, you have to understand we cannot expose you to the consequences of the Sharaita. It’s unnecessary, especially when it’s likely even those who are going are already not needed.”
Steph’s voice was rough as she snapped, “What do you expect me to do here? Sit around and hack a few agencies while you guys all risk your lives?”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. “Because you’ve worked with me for so long, everyone is familiar with you and they trust you. You’re the closest person to me on this side of the Veil—as Lily is to Kai. If we’re stranded and need help, someone on this side is going to have to reach out to people, call in favors, send the cavalry.”
Steph’s eyes glittered with anger, but I knew from her silence that she understood where I was coming from. Still, she didn’t like it one bit and she wasn’t about to pretend she was just to make me feel better.
During my discussion with Steph, I’d caught bits of conversation from the kitchen, voices rising and falling—Kai giving Lily the same speech. Maybe the pair of them would have company in their misery.
Either that or the two girls were going to make Kai and me regret leaving them behind.
After Steph and Lily left, the group settled down in preparation for our departure. I looked around the room. “I won’t be long,” I said. “Be ready to move because either way, we’re doing this.”
I focused my thoughts and concentrated, then transitioned into the ether, and soon I was skimming toward the Veil that protected the borders of Mithras. It didn’t take me long before I was scanning the curtain of energy for any differences since the last time I’d been here.
Holding my hand out I used my own energy to feel the power of the magic placed within the field by Division 7.
Nothing had changed.
I had just begun to turn away when a pulsing of energy throbbed against my mind. Nothing strong enough that I would’ve noticed immediately and I’d only registered it with my senses because I’ve been concentrating on something else.
But the strange pulsating energy, revealed to me almost like a heartbeat, wasn’t what made the sweat break out on my forehead. It was the added strength and power behind it that had me worried.
They hadn’t strengthened the magic but had instead infused more power into the field itself. And as much as I’d hoped we wouldn’t have need of the Sharaita after all, it was clearly not the case.
Feeling decidedly dejected, I returned to my physical form and opened my eyes to stare around at the worried faces within the room.
My expression was enough to tell them my news was nothing good.
Chapter 22
“What happened?” Kai asked, arms wrapping around her as though she wanted to protect herself from the bad news.
I shook my head and explained the changes in the power behind the Veil, then looked over at Aisha. “At first, I thought it must’ve been something done recently to support the power, but I’m wondering if maybe they had detected my presence after all.”
The queen tapped a finger to her lips. “No, it doesn’t sound like something they would do. It’s quite likely power has been running through the Veil around the realm all along. It’s likely what contributed to the catastrophe that happened when we tried to use the portal key the last time.”
“So they were twice as careful, pushing additional energy into the Veil as well as creating a magical ward as an additional protection.” I rolled my shoulders, feeling as though I needed to steel myself against the hours and days to come. The goddess only knew what was in store for me.
“So what do we do now?” asked Darcy, glancing between the queen and me.
“This is why I asked for the alternate portal access.” Aisha looked around the room at the team. “Part of how the Sharaita works is it will borrow energy from every single one of you. It’s not going to be an easy experience. Think electrical shock if you want a comparison. And recovery, unfortunately, will not be quick. The only good part is there won’t be any physical or mental damage as a result.”
Across from me, Kai’s face twisted into a worried frown. Now, she met my eyes and gave me an encouraging smile, hiding her trepidation with expert speed.
But I’d already seen her fear.
Aisha, ignorant of our unspoken conversation, was now waving a hand at the team, beckoning them together closer toward her.
“Mel will release the Sharaita and on my mark, we will all jump together. Link hands please, and do not let go no matter what. It’s crucial that—I can’t stress enough how important it is because if our bond breaks, it’s quite likely that many of us, possibly even all of us, may be killed in the process.”
I stared at her in shock, wanting to say that this was ridiculous and that we were risking too much. And that Horner hadn’t said any such thing.
Logan was already acknowledging her words, and his responsibility. “I’m in, eyes wide-open to the consequences. I think everyone here feels the sam
e way.”
Without another word, the six people on the team to Mithras, linked hands and held on tight. I was relieved and very scared at the same time, and I had to hope that somewhere out there, some benevolent part of the universe was watching out for us.
Hands held tightly together, Aisha began to chant the words of her spell. A hum grew around us, soon developing into a buzzing electricity. It had begun to rise to an almost fever pitch when the queen looked over at me and nodded.
I reached behind me to take hold of the Sharaita. Beneath my fingers, the metal was cold and I prayed that whatever we were attempting would work. To be honest, I was no longer thinking of Saleem’s life, nor of the lives of all the djinn in Mithras.
Right this minute, I was thinking about the lives of the people around me. The lives of our friends who cared enough for Saleem that they’d risk their lives in an attempt to save his—without any assurances of success.
I took the heavy artifact and tossed it into the center of the circle before grabbing for Kai’s hand. The queen had continued chanting, and across from me I watched Darcy, her expression dark with worry.
In a sudden blast of energy, the power of the Sharaita was invoked and a column of iridescent energy burst from the center of the metal ring.
At that moment, I realized that Aisha had failed to tell us what her ‘mark’ would be. But, then she yelled out at the top of voice, “Go.”
In one synchronous movement, the entire team took a leap forward toward the center of the column and each one of us disappeared into the energy and light.
Most people used portal keys without understanding exactly how they worked, and were simply grateful they’d succeeded in coming out the other end alive.
I, on the other hand, understood the mechanics of the Sharaita and how old the power was we had just accessed.
And of course there was the dark blood magic involved in initiating the magic itself. Every one of us had sacrificed our blood in order for the artifact to allow us access.
Now, the power of the Sharaita sucked the entire team into the ether at a speed faster than light, so fast that nobody would’ve even seen what was around them. Of course, I knew where we were at every point in our journey.
For which I was glad as I’d have noticed if we’d taken the wrong path. Still, traveling at such a speed meant stopping would have pulverized us all. So, my knowledge was kinda moot.
In the next moment, we’d surged out in front of the portal in the Veil that would drop us inside Mithras. This was the only part of the Veil the team was able to see, only because of the spell Aisha and Barry had concocted meant those using the magic would be able to detect the presence of the Veil.
My friends, though they would have been impressed, all appeared impervious to the beauty of the ether.
Poker faces all around.
Hands still help tight to mine, Aisha continued to chant the magic spell she and the demon overlord had spent hours creating, while the rest of the team were like me, probably sending up prayers to every entity we knew of.
Slowly, so very excruciatingly slowly, the shimmering opalescent curtain of the Veil began to part before us. And not in the usual way access was unwanted, where the interloper passed through without the permission of the Veil.
No, before us, the ethereal wall separated like a curtain and opened to allow us access through a narrow gap in the shimmering Veil.
I had never seen, nor ever heard of, anything like it before. The awe I was experiencing was clear my face for all to see.
And I didn’t give a damn.
Chapter 23
We’d been warned about the toll that the magic circle would take on our bodies, but I hadn’t bargained on it being so powerful. Seems underestimating what I was up against was becoming a habit.
A potentially lethal habit, given our second predicament.
The portal created by the Sharaita had deposited us into a potentially deadly situation.
Our circle of six still remained unbroken, but a fleeting glance around the group confirmed they were all worn out from the transition through the Veil. The only problem was, holding onto each other was about to become near impossible, and holding onto each other was going to be the only way we would survive.
We’d hit ground on solid rock, yes. But that was where the good news ended. The rock itself would have been a perfect landing spot, had it not been floating on the surface of a river of what appeared to be liquid gold.
The river shone from below us, providing the only light at this late hour, giving off just enough of a glow to reveal the strained faces on my team.
“Hold on, everyone. We cannot allow anyone to fall into the river.” The desperate fear in the djinn queen’s voice rang around us and I didn’t miss the surprise and disbelief in the faces of the team around me. Even Logan, who was supposed to be the most experienced of us all, was staring around startled.
Gripping tightly onto Aisha’s and Kai’s hands, I took a breath and yelled out, “Why exactly?”
The queen’s eyes narrowed as she looked over at me, and though she may have contemplated providing a less than truthful answer—suggested by the hesitation in her voice and the flickering in her eyes as she looked away from me—in the end, she chose the terrifying truth. “It’s a type of acid, much prettier but just as deadly as anything found in the EarthWorld.”
I raised my eyebrows, a wordless yet frustrated request for her to explain. The truth was the people around me all deserved an explanation, considering how close to death we were. And with all expressions only a bald reflection of mine, Aisha had little choice but to come clean.
“If you really wish me to spell it out,” she yelled from the other side of the now tilting rock, “The acid is deadly. The river runs for miles along the Zard-Kuh continent from north to south-west. The people of Mithras all know to keep as far away from it as possible because of its volatility and instability.”
The rock tilted again, a small section near the heel of my shoe sinking into the golden waves. Though a shriek of consternation almost slipped out, I bit my tongue, swiveling on my heel in an attempt to move my leg away from the shimmering acid. The liquid spat at me, as though it sensed my presence and was ready for its next meal.
“Any idea how the Hel we ended up here?” I replied, unable to keep my fear from my voice as golden splashes hit the rock and in a sizzling hiss, splattered the bottom of my trousers, leaving behind a handful of holes.
“It could have been a problem with the key,” suggested Logan.
”No. This portal hasn’t been used in such a long time that the path of the river must have changed enough to have the exit location now running through what would have been a safe arrival destination centuries ago.” Aisha’s voice was ragged and rough as she explained, and I got the feeling that she hadn’t even been aware of this particular Veil access point. But that conversation would have to wait until we all got out of this alive.
I met Logan’s eyes and he gave me a short nod. “I can probably get us out of here easily, the hardest part would be having to balance this rock so that I can get in the air without tipping you all into the drink.”
Someone snorted, and I had to suppress an almost hysterical giggle. Amazing that people could find things funny even in the midst of a life-threatening situation.
“What will you want us to do?” asked Aisha and my gaze flicked to the queen for a moment.
Logan was looking at the gargoyle on his right and then the MindMage to his left. “It’s going to be tricky. Darcy, Drake, you two have to shift closer together at the same exact moment that I fly off. You’ll have to compensate for the absence of my weight.”
“Does that mean we are all going to have to shift, but in a way to compensate for the gargoyles mass?” I asked. “How much heavier are you all on your side of the rock compared to the rest of us over here?” I gave Logan and Drake a pointed look.
Logan nodded, his eyes darkening for the moment. “Good poin
t. Drake is probably near enough to my weight which is likely what’s tilting us in the first place.”
“Good thing I thought to ask,” I muttered under my breath though I was pretty certain Darcy heard me as she gave a choked cough.
Logan and Drake were now looking at each other as though they were having some silent conversation. Then the gargoyle said, ”It really pains me to ask this question, but which of you ladies weighs the most?”
Another snort echoed across the shaking rock and I could’ve sworn Aisha was the guilty party but her expression didn’t give her away.
The women all looked at each other, shaking our heads. Kai grunted, giving Drake a cool glance. “No one here is going to care about revealing their weight—or cup size if you need that too—at this point in time, but I don’t think any one of us could equal your weight, Drake. It’s possible we might have to combine maybe two of the women to compensate for you.”
The gargoyle rolled his eyes. “I’ll have you know I’m deeply offended by that, but I think it’s likely the best option.” He stared across the platform at Aisha and Darcy and gave them a sober nod. “If you two can cuddle up on your end, I think we’ll be pretty much balanced.”
The two women glanced at each other in amusement then shifted toward each other slowly, slipping an arm around each other’s waists before looking up.
“Right, now that we have Drake’s weight compensated, we need to balance me off.” Logan smirked.
I laughed, “I’m not so sure you and I would weigh at all close to each other. But I may have another idea,” When the members of the team all looked over at me, curiosity in their faces, I said, “We have a jumper or two in our midst. I think if we can time it well enough, each jumper can transport themselves and at least one other person away at the same moment Logan flies off with Darcy, we should be able to get off this rock safely.”