Magi Saga 2: Shadows of Darkness

by Andrew Dobell

  On seeing Lucian, Shaun raised his eyebrows a fraction. Lucian caught the tiny movement, giving away Shaun’s slight surprise at this visit.

  Lucian stepped through the doorway into the room and moved across the platform towards the front of the train car, beckoning Shaun to follow with a slight movement of his head.

  ‘Hey, back to work.’ Shaun said, noticing that his two assistant has stopped working and were looking at their visitor. They both quickly returned to their computers as Shaun stood and moved to follow Lucian, eventually coming to a stop standing next to him at the platform edge.

  ‘What can I do for you sir?’ asked Shaun, not quite knowing why Lucian would be down here.

  In hushed tones, Lucian said, ‘I have a job for you Shaun, something you need to keep between you, me and your two assistants. No one else is to know, for now. Okay?’

  ‘Of course sir, what can I do for you?’ Shaun asked, curiosity in his voice.

  ‘It’s a surveillance job. Nothing too strenuous.’ Lucian then passed Shaun a manila folder. ‘Everything you need is in there, you need to find them, inform me the moment you discover where they are and monitor them, that’s all, I can give you further instructions later.’

  Shaun took the folder and nodded at Lucian.

  ‘Thank you, I’ll get right on it.’

  - Chat between Blind Eagle and Chronos on the DWeb Message Boards.

  Chronos: Thanks for responding, you have access to the Liberties Children Mainframe?

  Blind Eagle: I do. What’s the pay?

  Chronos: Cash or info, your choice.

  Blind Eagle: Cash, $10,000, up front.

  Chronos: No deal. $2,000 upfront, balance on delivery.

  Blind Eagle: Deal.

  Chronos: Payment Details?

  …

  - Redacted –

  …

  Blind Eagle: Got it, thanks. What do you want to know?

  Chronos: You had a visitor to the Coven House recently. Goes by the name of Amanda-Jane Page. We need anything the Liberties Children have on her.

  Blind Eagle: I’ll see what I can find. I’ll message you later.

  The Jade Palace

  New York

  May 8th

  Amanda bounced down the stairs to where Yoh waited for her near the front door. She pulled on a light jacket over her strappy white vest top and ripped low rise, boot cut skinny jeans and sneakers as she descended to his level, pulling her hair from the back of the jacket she had just put on.

  ‘So, we’re ready then?’ She asked.

  ‘Just about’ he smiled back. She liked his smile, his whole face lit up when he smiled, which he didn’t seem to do a lot of, but she liked it when he did. She thought he looked really rather handsome, especially when he seemed happy.

  ‘What about GW and Liz?’ She asked.

  ‘We’re here,’ said Gentle Water from behind her, she turned to see him and Liz walk from the living space just off the hallway, both already wearing coats ready for the outside air of New York in May.

  It wasn’t usually very cold in May, but there had been a bit of a turn in the weather these past few days. Not that the cold really bothered any of them, their Magic took care of that, but it would look odd for them to walk about in summer clothes when everyone else had dressed for the weather.

  ‘Excellent, so we’re ready, let’s head on out!’ Amanda said.

  ‘Are we walking all the way there?’ Asked Liz.

  ‘Just so you can start to get your bearings, yes,’ Yoh replied, ‘but we won’t walk out this front door, we’ll Port to the other side of the junction, just as a precaution.’

  ‘Do you think someone’s watching this place?’ Liz asked, concern in her voice.

  ‘I’d say that’s unlikely, but when it comes to the Nomads, and Lucian-kun in particular, it pays to be careful.’ Yoh replied.

  ‘To be sure, where were you thinking?’ Amanda asked.

  Amanda could feel the small working of Magic that stirred from Yoh and reached out to Amanda and the others.

  Liz had not yet reached a level of magical ability that allowed her to teleport, so it would be down to Gentle Water to take her, as he was currently the only one of them that could Port other people as well as himself.

  She often marveled at the things she could do now, from throwing lightning bolts or fire balls, to teleportation to mind reading and conjuration, all things that seemed fairly normal to her now, but just a year or two ago would have seemed really freaky. The world was a strange place, and seemed to be getting weirder every day.

  ‘Would you be happy to Link with me?’ Yoh asked.

  Yoh referred to the low level Psychic ability of Linking minds, where two or more Magi allowed their minds to have a sympathetic connection, meaning that in the future, either party would be able to quickly contact the other, even over great distances. It worked very much like a phone call in that you could ignore a Magi who might be trying to contact you through the Link you had created with them, you didn’t automatically grant them access to your mind, but it bypassed the need for the sending Magi to find the persons mind first that you wished to contact as you were already linked.

  You just thought of the person you wanted to speak to, and reached out with your Magic, if they were happy to speak with you at that moment, then you could talk.

  They all answered in the affirmative and a couple of seconds later they all had a real time view of an alleyway on the other side of the junction in their minds eye that Yoh shared with them. He had been psychically checking the area out to make sure it remained empty.

  ‘Shall we?’ Yoh asked.

  Amanda nodded, Gentle Water took Liz’s hand and all four of them disappeared from the hallway in a suddenly flurry of popping noises as the air rushed in to fill the voids that their bodies had left behind.

  At the same instant, all four of them appeared in the alleyway on the other side of the four way junction, and the sounds and smells of the city filled their senses.

  Cars revved their engines, Taxi’s blasted their horns and the general sounds of the city felt deafening to them for a moment compared to the silence of the house.

  Amanda looked about her, they had all Ported safely over and stood between two buildings with refuse bags and huge bins on casters dotted up the passageway.

  No one had seen them, and they were a short walk from the street where people went about their business.

  ‘This way,’ said Yoh, and led them out to the street.

  At the end of the alleyway Amanda spied her house on the other side of the street, a short way up the road.

  Soon they were on their way and following Yoh along the sidewalk, walking the handful of blocks to Yoh’s place, which she knew to be called The Jade Palace. This, according to Yoh, functioned as a Restaurant, Spa and Gym, as well as a living space for Yoh and another Magi called Stella.

  Yoh walked ahead of Amanda with Gentle Water and they seemed to be talking casually, with Yoh doing most of the speaking

  Amanda walked beside Liz who had taken hold of Amanda’s arm and stayed close. She looked about her in apparent awe of the city they were in, something Amanda could relate too, even though she had lived here for a few years already before she became a Magus. New York always left an impression on new visitors.

  While Liz walked along taking in the sights of the city all around her, Amanda admired a different view, and despite trying to look elsewhere, she just couldn’t help but enjoy the shape and form of Yoh’s bum.

  She couldn’t see much of it beneath the suit he wore, but she could see just enough to hold her interest.

  A couple of times she missed the start of a sentence that Liz had just said to her as she had once again become lost in wondering what Yoh might look like without his suit on.

  She tore her gaze away again and looked over the other side of the street, past the traffic and gazed at nothing, anything, something. She didn’t care what it was, she just didn’t want to get cau
ght staring at Yoh’s arse.

  But what an arse it was!

  No, not again, she thought, this was scandalous. She needed to think of something other than having a firm hold of that rear with both hands while she lay beneath him …

  ‘When do you think Lucian might turn up?’

  Liz’s question broke through her day dream, snapping her back into reality and away from the fantasy she had been indulging herself in.

  ‘Sorry what?’ She asked.

  ‘Lucian, he’s not appeared yet, but he must know we’re here, surely.’

  Amanda furrowed her brow in response.

  ‘I’d ideally like to think that he had no idea we were here, but I think realistically, he must know. He’s a competent Nomad from everything I have heard, so I would suspect there must be at least one informant within the Initiated in that Washington Coven House, probably more. We’ve been here what? A few hours? I would expect that he would know we’re here by now.’

  ‘I don’t feel very safe on these streets. I keep expecting to be jumped at any moment.’

  Amanda looked around her at the people going about their daily lives, ignoring the Magi in their midst. Might there be an Initiated amongst them, secretly watching them, monitoring their movements and reporting back to Lucian about where they were headed?

  It was certainly possible, and the thought of that possibility darkened her mood a touch as they approached the Jade Palace.

  After another couple of blocks of uneventful walking, Yoh came to a stop beside a magazine kiosk on the sidewalk. He picked up a magazine and pretended to look in it as he turned to his companions.

  ‘The Jade Palace is on the other side of the street a short distance up, can you see it?’ Yoh Asked.

  Amanda Liz and Gentle Water looked up the street to see the square fronted two story beige building that proclaimed itself to be The Jade Palace from the sign out front.

  It looked big from what she could see, and busy from the number of people sat out front on the tables and chairs there.

  ‘Lovely,’ said Amanda. ‘Are we not walking in the front door?’

  ‘No, too risky, we’ll Port to the side entrance and go in that way,’ Yoh answered.

  ‘Sure,’ Amanda said, and looked at her two companions who also agreed.

  ‘Hai, when I say, follow me, don’t hesitate.’

  Moments passed and Amanda could sense the small working of Magic coming from Yoh, but only because he happened to be stood right next to her. She knew that he had shielded the working from casual detection, and anyone not right next to him would not have noticed the working.

  Seconds passed and after a moment more, he put down the magazine and turned to walk off.

  ‘Follow me.’ He said as he turned.

  Amanda followed Yoh into a nearby coffee shop and walked with him towards the back of it. The ambient Magic of the group worked in their favour. They did not want to be seen, meaning they slipped through the shop and through a Staff Only door at the back unnoticed.

  A short walk along a corridor, past the break room where someone sat watching television and ignored them before they finally passed through a rear door into another alleyway.

  ‘More alleyways?’ Amanda asked.

  ‘Occupational hazard for Magi here in the city.’ Yoh shrugged. ‘We’re Porting here.’ He said, sending the location details to the group.

  ‘Let’s go then, I’m not a huge fan of alleyways.’ Amanda said. New York alleyways had a horrible tendency to remind her about the attack a couple of years ago by the Scion Horlack that had turned her into a Magus and killed her good friend Stuart, so the less time she spent in them the better.

  That said, she knew one day soon she would want to return to the site of the attack, and try to make some kind of peace with it.

  Seconds later they were stood close to the side entrance of what Amanda presumed to be the Jade Palace, and in fact her Magical senses were attuned enough that she knew where she had appeared in relation to where she had been stood moments ago, her Magic, un-interfered with, would mean she would never be lost.

  Looking about her she couldn’t sense any Magic here at all, Yoh had done a great job of hiding any magical signature that might be on the building and give away his location to Lucian’s Coven.

  ‘In we go.’ He said, and walked over to the door and opened it without problem. Amanda had watched carefully and noticed the very small flare of Essentia as Yoh had touched the door handle. Some kind of Magical lock, just as Amanda had expected.

  They all walked into a small entrance area as Yoh closed the door behind them.

  ‘Welcome to the Jade Palace. I’ll give you the dime tour and introduce you to a couple of people as we go. Firstly we’ll have a look round the public areas on the ground floor.’

  Yoh proceeded to show the trio around the ground floor of the building, walking them through the softly lit corridors and showing them the Spa area with its treatment rooms, a small pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and more. Liz and Amanda both loved the idea of spending a day or more here and making use of the facilities that the building had, something that Yoh made clear would be always open to them whenever they needed it.

  After that he walked them through the restaurant that seemed to be gearing up for the midday rush, the tables were already filling up. The smells of cooking food in here made Amanda’s tummy grumble, she would need to get something to eat soon.

  Then after this he showed them the private members only Gym on the other side to the spar area where several people in fitness clothes were working out.

  The building itself seemed to have a square footprint, and in the center of it sat a square shaped open air Japanese rock garden.

  The restaurant took up the front of the building with its dining area and kitchen. As you walked in, on the left side of the building you could find the Spa, while on the right you found the Gym. These made up three sides of the square, and each of them had windows that looked out onto the garden in the centre of the building.

  Yoh led them out through a glass door into the Zen garden with its winding paths, raked gravel areas and carefully arranged rocks and pruned plants.

  The whole building had an air of calm and relaxation about it, especially here in the garden, which seemed very serene and quiet.

  Small water features burbled away as they admired the garden around them.

  Amanda noticed movement on the other side of the garden then and saw a beautiful young black lady with long silver hair wearing a business suit and pencil skirt and carrying a leather folder of some kind. She smiled at Yoh and approached the group. As she drew level with Yoh, they stopped and bowed to each other.

  ‘I’d like you to meet Stella, my business partner and Apprentice,’ he said to the group, ‘to the best of my knowledge, we’re the only two Magi who have managed to live here under Lucian’s nose for several years now.’

  ‘It’s lovely to meet you all,’ Stella said, ‘Yoh has told me all about you, you’re very brave choosing to set up here in New York. I do wish you all the luck in the world, and don’t underestimate Lucian, he’s a tricky character.’

  ‘Oh, to be sure, we won’t, and thank you.’

  ‘A pleasure, I’ll catch up with you soon, I have some work to do. Enjoy the tour.’

  With that she walked away into the building.

  Yoh proceeded to show them the offices at the back of the building on the ground floor, before showing them through a locked door that led to a staircase that led upstairs.

  Up here, the décor changed. It had a strong Japanese feel to it with dark lacquered woods and a minimalist look, everything in its place and no mess anywhere.

  Yoh showed them through a few rooms before walking them into one of the larger spaces, where the walls were lined with hundreds of books with a small seating area in the centre.

  Amanda figured this must surely be Yoh’s private library and immediately noticed someone sat in here.

  ‘Aah, Maya, here
you are.’ He said and walked over to the woman who turned to greet him allowing Amanda to get a better look at her.

  Maya stood perhaps an inch or so smaller then Amanda, she had a slim build and very pale skin. Her long dark hair fell in lustrous waves around her head, framing a distinguished face with dark eyes and ruby lips.

  She wore a long black figure hugging dress and had the languid movements of someone supremely confident in herself. Amanda’s Magical senses, which were for all intents and purposes, always on, showed her that this Maya actually seemed to be dead. Her heart didn’t beat and she didn’t seem to breathe other than to speak. Maya, it seemed, was a Scion, and if Amanda had to guess, she’d say she would be a Vampire.

  Yoh and Maya bowed to each other and then kissed cheeks with a smile, they were friends, but nothing more Amanda guessed.

  ‘Good morning, I see you have brought some friends with you.’ She said, her accent clearly a cultured one with some strong French overtones.

  ‘Hai, this is…’ Yoh began.

  ‘...Amanda.’ Maya finished the sentence for him. ‘I have heard much of you, it’s a pleasure to meet you finally.’

  Maya offered her hand to Amanda as she spoke, Amanda took it and immediately noticed how cold Maya’s skin felt.

  ‘And you,’ Amanda replied. She watched as Maya greeted her two friends, Liz looked quite nervous about being this close to a Scion, but she held it together well.

  Apart from Maya being a Scion, there was something else about her. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but there was a feeling of familiarity about Maya, she felt comfortable around her, almost like she knew her somehow.

  It was strange, but she didn’t dwell on it, and a few moments later Yoh led them on into the next room, one of the biggest in the building she had yet seen. This huge room felt warm and inviting, but was clearly for one purpose only. This must be Yoh’s dojo, or training room. There were matts all over the floor, weapons ranks where Japanese swords and other martial arts implements hung on the walls and not too much else.