Science and Sorcery

by Christopher Nuttall

  The sorceress looked worn, but she was still extremely powerful. Perversely, the damage inflicted by missiles on her thralls was actually making her stronger by freeing part of her mind. Golem stepped forward and smiled as Harrow released most of the other thralls. She would need all of her power to face him.

  “Enchanter created you, I assume,” Harrow said finally, in a language only the Brotherhood knew. She hadn't moved from where she was standing, holding one hand up to defend herself. “Why didn't he see fit to save himself?”

  “He knew what he'd done to the world,” Golem said, in the same tongue. It had taken him weeks to understand just what Enchanter had done to his civilisation. The modern world was fantastic in many ways and yet it had its strange weaknesses. “All of society was dying because of him. I do not believe that he wanted to live.”

  “Strange,” Harrow observed. “Most magicians struggle to remain alive.”

  “You sought permanent immortality,” Golem pointed out. Up close, it was easy to see just what the Thirteen had been trying to do. Given enough time – and knowledge, the knowledge that Enchanter had forbidden him to share with anyone – they might actually become gods. “But you were also monsters.”

  Harrow looked puzzled, rather than offended. “What did we do that was different to what other magicians have done?”

  She had a point, Golem knew, as he took another step forward. Every sorcerer had committed some dubious deeds to become powerful – and sacrificing innocent humans to drain their power was often the least of it. A sorcerer who wasn't hellishly ambitious for power was a very strange sorcerer. But the Thirteen had done it on a much larger scale, although Harrow had trumped it by overwhelming New York. Who knew what she would be able to do, given time.

  “You would have destroyed everyone,” he said, finally. “And Enchanter gave you what you wanted.”

  Her eyes flashed with bright light. “A trick,” she snapped. “A tawdry shadow of what we could have been.”

  Golem took another step forward, and another. He could break her wards and then crush her skull, crippling her body long enough to find a more permanent solution. Rejuvenation spells required a sizable amount of mana and her shattered body could be kept in a low-mana zone permanently.

  Harrow met his eyes. “Stop,” she ordered. “Now.”

  Golem struck an invisible wall, right in front of him. Calmly, he triggered two of the protections Enchanter had woven into his form, weakening the ward at a terrifying rate. It should give Harrow something to worry about...unsurprisingly, she yanked a fireball out of nowhere and threw it at him. The fireball slammed against his protections and sent him staggering backwards. A moment later, she threw a burst of lightning that missed him by split-seconds. He picked up a piece of debris and threw it at her, watching it glance off her wards. It was easy to calculate, as he threw a second with a protective spell wrapped around it, where the other wards were placed. Like most magicians, Harrow’s wards actually started several meters from her body.

  He smiled and started to walk forward again, Harrow looked at Golem, one hand twisting in front of her, and then a complex and deadly spell lashed out at his body. It would have killed a human instantly, but Golem’s life was wrapped up in clay as well as Enchanter’s protections. In order to break him, Harrow would need to concentrate on the task – and that wasn't going to be easy. Golem was hardly the only threat facing her. If her wards dropped completely, a single missile would end the threat. And then a new spell wrapped itself around him.

  “Die,” Harrow said. “You will not live to see the world we will create.”

  Golem would have cursed if he had been human, balefire crackling around his body. It would have killed a human instantly, but its effects on a clay-man might well be even worse, given time. Desperately, he plunged forward and slammed right into Harrow’s wards. The balefire snapped out of existence as the wards absorbed it, something that Golem had only seen in theory. No one had survived long enough to test the theory in practice. Calmly, he started to rend and tear at the wards, pushing his fingers into their structure. As he had hoped, the wards converged on him, closing like a trap.

  “Your time is up,” Harrow informed him.

  Golem smiled at her, knowing she would find it disconcerting, just before he grasped hold and lifted her up inside her own wards. No one had ever tried it before, but very few entities had ever become trapped inside another magician’s wards. Logically, she was at the very centre of her own wards and he could pick her up, simply by picking them up. But he hadn’t known it would work until he’d tried.

  Bright energy flashed around him, lashing into his fingers, as Harrow fought to free herself, but it was too late. Staggering forward, using the wards to knock all of the barriers out of the way, he pushed her to the edge of the roof and jumped, heading down towards the ground. Harrow might survive the landing – her wards were immensely strong – but she’d fall right into the low-mana region. And then she'd have to spend her own energy just to keep herself safe.

  ***

  Matt saw an immense ball of light falling off the rooftop, heading right towards 5th Ave at terrifying speed. It struck the ground hard enough to shake the city, dislodging Golem who flew across the road and slammed into the nearby building. Matt hadn't seen him very clearly, but his hands had looked to be a blackened ruin...

  Harrow’s form was clearly visible inside the ball of light, which was flickering in and out of existence as she fought to keep it intact. The Wheels had worked, Matt realised, draining most of the mana from a given area. Harrow would have to tap into her own power to maintain her wards, which would make it harder to do anything else...

  He lifted his rifle and opened fire, aiming right for her chest. The SEALs joined in a moment later, bombarding her wards with thousands of bullets. Deflecting them all, even without the Hunter charms that Matt produced instinctively, would cost her more power and concentration...and the mana was leeching away. The more power she used, the more could be absorbed by the Wheels. But she had an colossal reserve of power to draw upon.

  “She let go of the city,” Misty shouted in his ear. The former teacher had no weapon, but her own magic, which she was using to hack away at Harrow’s wards. “They’re all free!”

  Harrow seemed to stop, right at the centre of her wards, and concentrate. A moment later, a flicker of light appeared at the edge of her wards, flaring out towards the nearest Wheel. Matt caught his breath, but it faded out of existence before it touched the Wheel, vanishing into the ether. It took time for mana to reticulate after being channelled through a spell, he knew; hopefully, it would take longer than Harrow had. But there was no way to be sure, he realised, as she fired another blast of light towards one of the SEALs. The spell tore him apart in an single flash of light.

  “We need to push the Wheels closer,” Lesage yelled at him.

  “We can't,” Misty insisted. “She could destroy them if we pushed them any closer!”

  ***

  Once, Calvin would have felt awe at watching magicians duel; Harrow had told him enough about the great duels of thousands of years ago to feel pleasure at the thought of testing himself on a level playing field. But now, as a ghost, all he felt was the ebb and flow of mana and magic, and all he saw was the magical structures that Harrow had created to channel her magic. And she might well be winning, he realised numbly, whatever it looked like from the outside. The Wheels were reaching their limit, threatening to tear themselves apart...Harrow might just come out ahead after all.

  Desperately, he felt for the link that bound him and Harrow together, and the link between himself and Mindy, and whispered instructions to his sister. And then he threw the link open wide.

  ***

  Mindy didn't hesitate, even though she’d never done anything remotely comparable in her entire life. The link yawned open and she threw herself along it, blasting her anger and rage into Harrow’s mind. On a physical plane, Harrow was easily her superior, but on a mental
plane they were equals. Mindy didn't try to take control, or even to trick the Queen of Nightmares; she just lashed out with all the power at her command.

  Harrow howled in pain, somehow managing to hold herself together as Mindy’s rage seared into her mind. Calvin was with her, somehow helping to direct her anger at weak points within Harrow’s mind, crippling her ability to channel her own power. Harrow was far more experienced at any form of mental conflict, but she had too many other things to worry about. Losing her control would see her body torn apart by the SEALs...

  Insignificant little brat, Harrow raged, her thoughts slamming into Mindy with staggering power. Mindy felt herself waver, only to be bolstered by Calvin’s icy rage and determination to make up for his crimes. Harrow’s voice seemed to grow stronger as she focused more on the link between Mindy and Calvin. Her brother was a ghost, beyond permanent harm, but Harrow could still reach Mindy. I’ll crush your soul and rip you apart. You will worship me as my foremost slave.

  “No,” Calvin said. Mindy felt red-hot beams of rage lancing into her mind, tearing through her memories. But she had little for Harrow to rub in her face. “You won’t.”

  Mindy lashed back. Harrow was ancient, far older than even Professor Dumbledore, and she had hundreds of thousands of memories waiting for someone to exploit them. Her master, lecturing her on her dangerous habit of allowing her mind to wander during the night. Later, her master beating her for refusing to lay down proper runes to protect herself from the dreaming. Other apprentices, mocking her for her weakness, and what she did to them during the night. Her departure from her master’s service, her first encounter with a necromancer, and her first kill. And how she’d brought him back to life.

  That will not scare me, Harrow informed her. I grew out of my weakness. Your brother never did.

  The Thirteen loomed up in front of her, a cabal of magicians who had pushed the limits to the point that there were no longer any limits. Harrow herself, the weakest of them, yet armed with nightmares as a weapon. The twins, Trouble and Strife, who had been her friends as well as her allies. Necromancer, who had been the first to realise the potential in human sacrifice; Star Lord, who had grasped the true nature of the universe. And a shadow hanging over them all, a man they all acknowledged as their master. Mindy tried to look closer...

  Harrow pushed back at her, hard. This time, struggle seemed futile. Mindy could sense Harrow reaching into her mind, plucking at her thoughts and readying herself to warp her brain. She seemed helpless...

  And then Calvin broke the link.

  ***

  Calvin had held the link as long as he could, but Harrow had vastly more experience in mental combat than Mindy and he’d known that his sister would eventually lose. Instead of allowing Harrow to destroy her, he broke the link, wincing at the mental feedback, and then hurled himself into Harrow’s mind. She would eventually eliminate him completely, he knew, but it would distract her for a few seconds. And a few seconds might be just long enough to beat her.

  ***

  He was dying. Golem knew that for a fact, even though a human would have tried to resist the truth. Either deliberately or through lucky accident, Harrow’s desperate attempt to force him out of her wards had started the process of destroying the spells that held him together. His hands were already blackened and useless and it would only get worse as time went by. All he could do was try to take Harrow out before he died.

  Somehow, he pulled himself to his feet. His mind seemed to be flickering in and out of consciousness, probably caused by the Niven’s Wheels. He could certainly see mana leeching from Harrow’s wards and merging with the growing store in the Wheels, slowly threatening to destabilise and explode. It was quite possible that the spells Enchanter had used to make him – and preserve him through the long absence of mana – were breaking apart too. But it hardly mattered. Harrow had already killed him.

  He lumbered out of the damaged building and advanced on Harrow. She was in serious trouble, her wards no longer linked directly to her mind. Golem hadn't expected Calvin to be able to do anything to slow her down, but he’d clearly underestimated the little brat. Maybe he would be able to redeem himself after all. Pushing the thought aside, he stepped into Harrow’s wards and started to press through them. They were already weakening under the constant bombardment. Right now, he could break them.

  Harrow seemed to be kneeling on the ground, her hands gripping her head as she sought to destroy the ghost. She’d never considered the possibilities of a ghost having a link to her, Golem realised, or she would never have allowed it to happen. But it was too late now; grimly, Golem broke through the second set of wards, and then the third. The shortage in mana was making it harder for the wards to reform without her direct input. And she had too much else to worry about...

  She opened her eyes and looked up at him. Golem smiled as he broke through the fourth set of wards, reaching for her skull. It would be easy to crush it and the rest of her body down to powder, which could be sealed inside a can and then dumped into the ocean. Even the most powerful rejuvenation spell in existence would have problems bringing her back after that.

  Harrow’s eyes flashed with red fire and she lashed out at him with raw magic, all bent to a single purpose. Golem felt flames tearing through his body, burning through his protections, and then there was nothing, but darkness.

  ***

  Harrow watched the Homunculi disintegrate with heavy satisfaction. It had been well-protected, astonishingly well-protected, but it couldn't stand up to raw magic. Very little in the universe could. Enchanter’s final and greatest creation shattered in front of her, each fragment containing a tiny hint of its essence, preventing any hope of reassembly. Besides, one of the spells she’d added to the mix should have consumed it’s makeshift soul, as easily as she'd finally destroyed Calvin. It was a shame, really. A little more ruthlessness and the boy would have made a promising sorcerer.

  And then she realised her dreadful mistake. Too late.

  ***

  Matt saw Golem disintegrate in a sheet of red fire, followed rapidly by Harrow’s wards collapsing into nothingness. She’d lost the ability to hold her wards together, or to protect herself at all. He lifted his rifle and opened fire again, watching as the bullets tore into her undefended body. The SEALs opened fire too, countless bullets ripping her apart. Harrow seemed to scream mentally, a howl that echoed in all of their minds, and then her presence simply vanished. Matt stumbled forward as the SEALs stopped firing and looked down at the remains of Harrow of the Thirteen. Her body had been disintegrated almost as thoroughly as Golem’s.

  And yet there was an odd sense of something biding its time, a sense of potential...

  “I think we won,” he said, finally. He looked back down at the body. Was it his imagination, or was it moving very slowly? “Get a clean-up crew out here – we have a body to destroy.”

  Shaking his head, he looked over at the fragments that were all that remained of Golem. Enchanter’s greatest creation had given his life to save the modern world, a world that might have rejected him purely for not being human, a world that might have recoiled from the simple implications of his existence. He picked up one of the clay fragments and looked down at it, trying to sense a hint of Golem’s presence. But it felt as mundane as the clay pots he’d made in school.

  “We need to get Mindy to the hospital,” Misty snapped. She and two of the SEALs were bent over the child, who was bleeding from her nose and ears, her face twisted in torment. “Call a helicopter!”

  “I’ll see to it,” Joe Buckley said. The werewolf looked scorched, but alive. “Did we really win?”

  Matt looked around. New York had been devastated, thousands of people were dead and the remainder of the population would be in shock. It would take years to recover from the devastation Harrow had inflicted and she was the weakest of the Thirteen. But perhaps, given time, they'd be able to beat the others with science and sorcery.

  “I think so,” he
said finally. “Don’t jinx it.”

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Washington DC, USA

  Day 50

  “And there are twelve more like her out there?”

  Caitlyn nodded. Unsurprisingly, the first thing Congress had done after New York had been liberated was to set up a Commission to investigate what had happened and why. She’d spent the last few days testifying before it, along with everyone else who was even remotely involved in the search for Calvin, and then Harrow. At least she’d been able to convince them that Matt, Misty and Mindy were too unimportant to be interrogated further. The Mage Force needed them to spearhead the search for the remaining Thirteen.

  “I’m afraid so,” she said. Mindy had shared all of the memories she’d ripped out of Harrow’s mind, although they hadn't been certain how seriously to take them. But Golem had warned that there were twelve more to come – and that Harrow had been the weakest of them, although her control over nightmares had given her an unexpected advantage. “The others could appear anywhere.”

  Harrow’s death had left New York in chaos and it had taken too long to rush emergency aid into the city. Thousands of citizens were dead, either through mental collapse or the bombardment during the recovery mission, and hundreds of thousands more were suffering long-term trauma as a result of their experiences. Everyone in New York still suffered nightmares, Caitlyn had been told, along with countless others who’d been at the edge of Harrow’s influence. And Harrow was the weakest of the Thirteen. What would the strongest be able to do?