The Raven's Shadow: The Aegis of Merlin Book 4

by James E. Wisher

  “Thank you.” Kelsie knelt beside Jonny and checked his pulse again, not because she thought anything would have changed so much as to just do something.

  Clair strode over, crouched down, and cast a light magic spell while passing her hand over Jonny. The school nurse had done the exact same thing to her when they returned from fighting the chimera so she knew what Clair was doing.

  “Is he okay?”

  “No, but he’s not about to die either. Where’s Conryu? Terra sent me to help him.”

  “I don’t know. After Mercia did this to Jonny he went after her through a dark portal. They could be anywhere.”

  “Great. How am I supposed to help if I don’t know where he is?”

  Conryu disintegrated the last door, not so much because he needed to as because he wanted to burn off a little anger. It didn’t help.

  Beyond the doorway was a bedroom done all in black. The sheets, blanket, bed frame and cupboard were all painted glossy black. A quick glance didn’t reveal anything beyond bad taste.

  “Reveal.” A section of the back wall glowed with illusion magic. That had to be something important. He pointed. “Break!”

  The black sphere smashed the spell, revealing a niche with a large book bound in black leather. No wards protected it, which wasn’t a huge surprise. In fact the bigger surprise was that she bothered with the illusion in the first place. If this was her home, even temporarily, it struck him as a waste of effort. It must suck being that paranoid.

  He strode across the room and snatched the tome from its compartment. It had to weigh five pounds. Conryu threw it on the bed. It would take Maria a week to read a book that thick and he was way slower than her.

  “Master, I can absorb the knowledge contained in its pages and summarize for you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, it’s a unique ability of demons like me. Shall I proceed?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Prime landed on the book and dark energy flowed from him and into it. Conryu paced, arms crossed, and urged him to hurry. A minute later Mercia’s book vanished and Prime grew an inch thicker.

  “That was not a nice book, nothing there but black magic.”

  “You mean dark magic?”

  “No. Well, yes and no. Yes, it’s dark-aligned magic, but it’s all spells and rituals that can only be used for vile and evil ends, primarily creating undead and nether spirits. A necromancer would—”

  “What about the portals?”

  “Right, once open they can only be closed from the inside or after the island has moved beyond their range.”

  “Great, you can tell me more on our way back.” Conryu ran to the casting chamber with Prime right behind him.

  When they arrived Mercia was still lying right where they’d left her. Conryu bent down, picked her up, and tossed her over his shoulder. He winced at the stench. She clearly hadn’t bathed since her trip through the sewers, not that he was in much better shape. There was no sign of the undead thing and he had no intention of hunting it down. Someone else would have to take care of that.

  He opened a portal and stepped through to find Cerberus waiting. He slung Mercia over the demon dog’s back drawing a growl.

  “I know, I don’t like her either, but this is just temporary. I’ll be back to collect her as soon as I can.” He turned to Prime. “So how do I close the portals?”

  Now that they had moved out of the normal flow of time he felt comfortable taking a minute to get a proper explanation.

  “At the center of the pillar is a magic circle that maintains the spell. All you need to do is rub it away and the portal will instantly close.”

  “That’s it? I don’t even need to use Dispel?” If that was all he had to do he was going to feel exceedingly stupid for spending all this effort.

  “That’s it. However, to reach the magic circle you need to walk through a dense flow of pure dark magic. An ordinary human would be annihilated before he could even get within five feet of the pillar. I doubt even you’d survive entering it now that the portal has integrated with the island’s magic.”

  Conryu clamped his jaw tight against a string of curses. “So there’s no way I can get in there and turn it off? What about Cloak of Darkness?”

  “A spell that weak wouldn’t even get you through the first step. To even have a chance… Never mind.”

  “Don’t give me ‘never mind.’” He snatched Prime out of the air. “If you know something, spill.”

  “It’s very risky, Master. It would be far more prudent to simply travel out of the city and wait for the spell to run its course.”

  He gave Prime a shake. “And sacrifice Jonny and Kelsie? Sacrifice Maria and her parents and my parents and god only knows how many strangers? How can you even suggest that?”

  “I am your familiar, Master. Part of my duties are to do my best to keep you safe. Not strangers or your friends. You.”

  He spoke so calmly Conryu wanted to punch him in his scaly face, but it really wasn’t Prime’s fault. He was a demonic familiar, not the sort of combination from which you’d expect much sympathy.

  “I appreciate your concern, but that’s not a sacrifice I can accept. I’m going to walk into the nearest portal. The question is, are you going to tell me how I can have the best possible chance, or not?”

  “As I said, I’m your familiar. If I can’t persuade you to the most rational course, my next imperative is to help you survive your folly. The only spell that gives you even a fraction of a chance to live inside one of those pillars is called Reaper’s Cloak. It literally summons a fraction of the Grim Reaper’s cloak and wraps it around you. With the cowl up it should protect you from even the most powerful magic.”

  “Show me.”

  Prime opened and flipped to the proper page. “Remember, I said ‘should.’”

  Conryu stepped out of the hell gate fifty feet from the junkyard portal. He’d tried to open it closer, but the spell simply refused to function within that radius. The bottom half of the pillar was surrounded by a wall of fire which lit up the whole area. Terra stood well back, her gauntleted hand raised.

  “Conryu.” Lin jogged over from behind a pile of cars. “Did you get her?”

  “Yeah, Mercia’s with Cerberus, unconscious, but breathing. I know how to shut down the portals. Just in case I screw this up, it’s been an honor to go to battle with you, Sarge.”

  He left the silently staring Lin and walked over to Terra. “I’m going to need you to open a gap for me.”

  “You can’t go in there.” The flames wavered when Terra spoke, drawing a grimace. “That much dark energy will kill you.”

  “Finally, someone who talks sense,” Prime muttered.

  “I can only shut it down from the inside. Unless you can maintain that wall of fire until the island moves out of range we don’t have a choice. That would be, what, ten more hours?” Judging from the sweat pouring down her face he doubted Terra could maintain the spell for ten more minutes.

  “Closer to fourteen. Alright, just tell me when.”

  He nodded and moved a short ways away. Conryu focused his will. If ever there was a spell he didn’t want to screw up, this was it.

  “I cannot go with you, Master. Reaper’s Cloak only affects the caster. Just remember, we’re still connected. If you need to draw on that link don’t hesitate.”

  “Thanks, Prime.” He blew out a sigh. Now or never. “Shroud of all things ending. Cowl of nightmares born. Dark wrap that looks upon the world’s doom, Reaper’s Cloak!”

  The chill that enveloped him reached to his core. It wasn’t physical cold, it was more like what ran through you when you knew someone was about to die. He raised his hands, reached back, and pulled the cowl up over his head. The world fell into black and white, all color and life washed away.

  He didn’t bother having Terra open a gap in the flames for him. Instead he simply strode over to the pillar and stepped through them. He didn’t even feel warm.

&nbs
p; Beyond the flames was a gap of several inches. A clawed length of arm thrust out into the fire and was quickly burned away. He tried to think of a good way to avoid those claws, but in the end there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to their appearance so he simple stepped out of the flames into the pillar.

  The shock of cold caused his muscles to clench. He squeezed his eyes shut as every nerve in his body screamed with a single voice. If any of the shadow beasts struck him in passing he didn’t register it over the overwhelming pain of just being in the portal.

  He opened his eyes and kept moving. Only the knowledge that the longer he took the longer it would hurt allowed him to put one foot in front of the other.

  Step by agonizing step he marched toward the center of the pillar. It couldn’t have been more than ten yards across yet it felt like ten miles.

  After five steps he reached a circle of runes spinning in the air. He didn’t see them so much as become aware of them, since they were black against black. Some sense greater than sight told him where the runes waited.

  Conryu trudged three more steps and swiped his hand through them. The spell dissipated instantly. It hardly seemed possible something so powerful was controlled by something so delicate.

  The instant his hand passed through the runes the oppressive weight surrounding him vanished, yet the darkness remained. He looked around, but of course there was nothing visible.

  After his second full turn he sensed something approaching, a powerful presence that made Lucifer feel like a child. He tried to flee, but was frozen in place. Not by fear, though he had enough of that, but rather by some force beyond his comprehension.

  The presence grew stronger by the second and he soon figured out where it was coming from. He spun to his right and there it was, a figure carrying a scythe and wearing a shapeless black robe with a deep cowl. Like every other demon he’d encountered this one seemed to glow with its own inner light.

  It stopped in front of him. The apparition was much taller than Conryu yet it appeared far less substantial. He held no illusions of what would happen should they come to blows. After all, it wasn’t like you could fight Death.

  “I have heard of you.” Death’s voice echoed, cold and emotionless. “You are the main subject of conversation of half the demons in Hell.”

  Conryu had no idea what to say and wasn’t capable of speaking at that moment in any case.

  “When you called my cloak I felt it. Your power is everything the others have claimed and more. I doubted, but having experienced it myself, I doubt no longer.”

  He needed to leave this place and close the second portal, but how did one bow gracefully out of a conversation with the Grim Reaper? “Thank you for the loan of your robe, sir. It saved my life and the lives of many others.”

  “It doesn’t matter. All lives belong to me, sooner or later. And I don’t loan my cloak. Only those with the power to seize it can do so.”

  A skeletal hand emerged from the fold of his robe and a finger crooked. Conryu’s right arm rose of its own accord and the robe drew back, exposing his scarred forearm. The scythe rose. He tried to close his eyes, but found he was denied even that much control.

  The gleaming blade swept down, passing through his arm like it was made of air. Conryu winced, expecting the limb to fall away. Instead what was left on his arm was a small mark that resembled the very weapon that had made it.

  “I will be watching you, mortal. I expect you will provide me much amusement before I collect your soul.”

  The Reaper vanished and Conryu found himself standing in the middle of the junkyard.

  11

  Finishing Up Sentinel

  Conryu emerged, having closed the second portal, from what he hoped would be the last portal he had to open for a long time, in the Department parking lot. Dozens of cars jammed the lot, none of them resembling the pieces of junk the government employees usually drove. If he hadn’t been so utterly exhausted he might have cared what they were doing there. As it was, all that mattered to him was that they were in his way.

  He carried the still-unconscious Mercia like a sack of potatoes. Cerberus had been thrilled when he took her off his back. Conryu trudged the short distance to the front doors, shoved them open, and inside found a makeshift hospital set up with whatever supplies they had on hand, blankets, desks, chairs, you name it.

  He spotted Maria right away. She was focused on a little girl with a shriveled right hand. She must have gotten grazed by one of the weaker shadow beasts.

  “Drop the horrid woman, Master, and let’s find you somewhere to rest.”

  That was the best idea he’d heard in a long time, but he couldn’t just drop her and leave. If she woke up and escaped, the powers that be would probably want him to hunt her down again. Damned if he was going to provide an excuse for them to give him more work.

  “Conryu!” Mr. Kane bustled over. He had his shirt sleeves rolled up and sweat dripped from his face. “You got Mercia.”

  “Yeah. Where can I stash her? She’s getting heavy.”

  “Stick her in a chair and I’ll find something to tie her up with. That’s the best we can do for the moment.” Mr. Kane went to find rope or whatever.

  Conryu spotted a hard plastic chair near the wall and dumped Mercia into it. She slumped and tried to fall to the floor so he ended up having to hold her in place. That became a good deal more difficult when his mother tackled him from behind and started crying.

  He couldn’t make out what she was saying between sobs, but he assumed it was how happy she was that he was still alive. He would have loved to hug her back, but he lacked enough arms.

  “Where’s Dad?”

  Mom gave one final sniff and let go. “Your father is helping move those too injured to walk. You know, more people were hurt trying to run from the monsters than anything. Lots of broken bones, bruises, concussions, that sort of thing. When the Department was announced as a safe zone they just started showing up. Poor Maria’s been working nonstop.”

  He could relate to that. He finally spotted Mr. Kane returning with a pair of bungee cords. It had to be some sort of joke. At least they’d hold her in place, freeing him to lie down somewhere.

  “Have you seen Shizuku?” Mr. Kane asked as he wrapped the cords around Mercia and the chair.

  “She’s okay,” Conryu said. “But suffering from serious backlash. She maintained a light magic ward around one of the portals all by herself. It took a lot out of her.”

  “I’ll be sure to fix her favorite breakfast when she wakes.” He straightened up. “There, that should do for now.”

  Conryu forced himself not to shake his head. He’d locked his bicycle up better than that when he was ten. Right now all he cared about was finding somewhere to lie down before he fell down.

  “Conryu.” Maria had finally noticed him. She rushed over and hugged him.

  He sighed and rested his cheek on her brow. This was why he’d pushed himself so hard. “Hey.”

  “What happened?” She stepped back but kept a grip on his hands. “Clair brought Jonny in and he’s in bad shape. I did what I could, but he’s going to be out of it for a while.”

  “It’s a long story and I’m beat. How about I tell you tomorrow?”

  “Deal.” Maria kissed him and hurried back to help a woman with a deep cut on her forearm.

  He smiled. She seemed to have found her place in all this chaos.

  “Want me to drive you home?” his mother asked.

  “God, yes, but first I need to check on Jonny. Did you see him?” As soon as he asked he spotted Kelsie sitting beside a glowing box. “Never mind. I’ll just be a minute.”

  He picked his way through the people lying on the floor until he reached Kelsie. Her eyes were closed and she was snoring softly. He shifted his gaze to the box. Jonny’s motionless form appeared here and there through the energy field. No way to tell how he was doing so he just watched his best friend breathe for a minute and sent him good thoughts.
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  “You’re okay.” Kelsie took his hand. “I was so worried. I stayed with him like you asked, but I was useless.”

  “No. Since I knew you were with him I could concentrate on dealing with Mercia. Thank you for that. I’m heading home. You want to come along?”

  She looked from him back to Jonny. “Maybe I’ll stay here for a while. I don’t want him to be alone if he wakes up.”

  “That’s sweet. I’ll let his parents know where he is when I get home.”

  Conryu left her and rejoined his mother. He allowed himself a moment to hope Kelsie was transferring her crush to Jonny. It would be nice to have that off his plate at least. No doubt Maria would be pleased as well.

  He hugged his mother. “Let’s go home.”

  Conryu rolled out of bed at noon and debated going right back to sleep. His stomach snarled that it was time to rise and shine. He threw on jeans and a t-shirt before stepping out into the hall. He hadn’t taken a step before voices, and not those of his parents, reached him.

  No, one was his mother, the other Mr. Kane. Didn’t he ever take a break? He probably needed sleep worse than Conryu. A couple steps brought Conryu to the end of the hall but kept him out of sight. Kelsie was lying on the couch. She looked at him, but he held a finger to his lips.

  “Hasn’t he done enough?” Mom asked. If it was possible to shout a whisper she managed it.

  “I understand, Connie, but the mayor was insistent. He saved the city after all. The president also wants to offer him a commendation in Central. The whole Department of Magic will be there to observe.”

  Conryu bit his lip to keep from screaming. Why couldn’t they all leave him alone?

  “What if he says no?”

  “They’re not going to seize him at gunpoint, Connie.”

  “Really?”

  “That was a complete misunderstanding. You have to make allowances for demonic interference. Remember, Conryu’s a big deal, not just because of this, but because of what he is. A male wizard is beyond anyone’s experience. That fact makes the people in charge nervous. Turning him into a hero is for Conryu’s protection. The people need to view him as a protector and not a threat.”