Magi Saga 2: Shadows of Darkness

by Andrew Dobell

  ‘Top of the mornin’ to ya, what’s the craic?’ Amanda said, emphasising her Irish accent.

  ‘You brought your mates I see,’ he said.

  ‘Of course, it wouldn’t be a party without them,’ Amanda joked.

  ‘I suppose not. You had better come in.’

  Shaun led them through another dark tunnel, filled with junk piled up on both sides before they stepped through another doorway into Shaun’s disused subway platform home. Although dirty and dark, they did seem to keep the place as clean as realistically possible. There were still a few piles of junk here and there, but the place certainly seemed to be liveable. The lack of fresh air and sunlight didn’t agree with Amanda and she felt she would probably go a bit stir crazy living somewhere without windows. But Shaun and his assistant were apparently happy here. Looking round the room Amanda noted that there were three beds, not two. Amanda could fairly easily pick out the one that Shaun slept on, and she felt sure she knew which would be Vanessa’s, but the other one, if she had to guess, looked like a young mans bed, judging by the posters and other items on and around it.

  Amanda looked back to Shaun, who had been looking at Amanda as she scanned the space.

  ‘Yes, there used to be three of us in here,’ Shaun said.

  Amanda glanced back at the vacant bed, and then back to Shaun.

  ‘Lucian?’ she asked.

  Shaun nodded. ‘He shot him, for no other reason than just being angry at… well, angry at you.’

  ‘Me?’

  ‘Your arrival here and Yasmin’s ban on him killing you, you’ve pissed him off,’ he said.

  ‘Bleedin’ hell I knew it! I knew she had banned him from hurting me,’ she said.

  ‘Seems our suspicions were correct Amanda,’ said Gentle Water.

  ‘Apparently so. The mystery deepens,’ she said.

  ‘You want to get into the Pit now?’ Shaun asked.

  ‘That would be grand,’ Amanda said.

  ‘This way then,’ he said, and led the way towards another doorway. Vanessa watched them go, eyeing Amanda as she passed by her.

  During the previous forty five minute walk through the tunnels to reach Shaun’s hideout Amanda and the others had taken the time to fuel their Magical shields and basically get themselves ready for the fight ahead.

  With Shaun taking them through the last stretch of tunnel now towards the Pit club and it’s underground complex of rooms and corridors that served as the home of Lucian and his Coven, Amanda started to feel a bit nervous. Lucian and his Coven were going to be the most dangerous group of Magi she had ever faced. She’d been careless and a little rash during her siege of the mansion in Columbia, and she had nearly paid the price for that when Joaquin surprised her. Luckily Celest had been there for her when she had needed it, but that wouldn’t always be the case.

  She wondered about Celest now. After the fight she and Liz had concentrated on getting the children and the teenage girls out of the building and into the hands of the relevant authorities. When they had returned to find Celest, just before the police took control of the building, Celest had gone.

  She’d wanted to thank her for her help, but clearly Celest had a lot on her mind and didn’t want to spend any more time in that building than she had too.

  Amanda understood that and had silently wished her the best of luck.

  Taking her friends with her to take on Lucian had been the obvious choice, storming in there alone would have been foolish, to say the least.

  As they turned another corner, passing through another dark corridor, Amanda could now feel the huge and powerful Aegis that surrounded the Pit Club. The huge Magical barrier extended underground, all the way around basement floors that they were now approaching, and as they traversed this last stretch of tunnel, Amanda could make out a doorway ahead.

  Moments later Shaun stopped in front of it and waited for the group to all catch up and pull in close.

  ‘This is it. This is where I leave you. Beyond this door is the Pit Club. You’re on Sub level 3 of five that serve as the Coven’s Sepulchre. You’ll have to find your own way from here on in. I wish you the best of luck,’ Shaun said.

  ‘Thank you. You’re one in a million, I won’t forget this,’ said Amanda as he unlocked the deadbolts in the door.

  ‘I’ll be locking this door, I recommend that you leave through the Club above when you have finished,’ he said as he swung the door wide open. Amanda stood to one side as her friends filed inside. After the last one had passed, Amanda put her hand on his arm.

  ‘Thank you, I mean it,’ she said.

  ‘I know,’ he said, smiling back, and closed the door on her.

  Amanda smiled, he sounded like Han Solo.

  She turned to her friends who stood in the short stretch of corridor after the outer door. The inner door stood closed just beyond them. Amanda looked at it, and felt that strange feeling of rightness. She knew this was what she had to do. This, right here and now, called to her, confirming to her that it had to be the right thing to do.

  That didn’t stop the nerves though, so she checked her Aegis, her force shields and her stored Essentia and took a breath as she did so. She called on her magic and wove it about her, casting the Multitasking effect on herself once more, concentrating hard and putting as much power into it as she could to try and split her mind into as many parts as she could. She noticed most of the others casting their own Magical effects.

  ‘Let’s do this,’ she said, and walked forward.

  The door opened easily and they walked into the corridor beyond. A little over 2 meters wide the bare concrete corridor had the occasional light spaced along its length, casting a dim light into the shadows. Up ahead they could see doorways and openings branching off into the rest of the club. They also found themselves next to a stair well just beyond a door to their right. They stopped next to it as Amanda looked from the corridor to the stairs.

  ‘OK, as discussed, we split up into groups, we’ll cover more ground that way while still staying relatively safe. Yoh, Maya, you’re with me. Gentle Water, Raven and Liz, take the floor below, Orion, Xain, take the floor above, any questions?’ Amanda asked in a hushed tone.

  They all shook their heads.

  ‘Then let’s get to it,’ she said, and watched as they broke into groups, most of her friends approaching the stairs.

  ‘OK, come on,’ she said to Maya and Yoh and walked down the corridor.

  Exiting the stairwell they had just descended, Liz walked slowly along the corridor behind Gentle Water and Raven, moving gingerly and trying to stay as quiet as possible. Looking at Raven in his combat trousers and vest, and Gentle Water in his jeans and shirt, she now started to regret the baggy jumper she had chosen to wear this morning. But there wasn’t any time for that kind of thinking now, they were inside a Nomad Coven house, or what was it Amanda called it, a Sepulchre? Whatever, they were in very hostile territory now.

  They rounded another corner and sneaked along another empty stretch of corridor. So far, they’d found nothing. Which suited Liz, she felt utterly terrified. Her heart beat like a hammer drill in her chest as she followed her team mates.

  Around another corner, they both stopped and listened. Liz did the same and heard some people talking up ahead. Gentle Water and Raven started to move forward once more, more careful then before and slowly approached a recessed doorway on their left.

  Gentle Water stood next to the doorframe, with Raven and then Liz close behind and sneaked a look, inching round until he saw what he needed too. Liz felt the familiar signature of Gentle Water’s magic passing a message to her mind, she accepted it and found she could suddenly see through his eyes.

  In the room beyond the door way, four people all sat on benches around a table. She heard Gentle Waters voice in her head suddenly saying they were all Initiated humans, and they seemed to have some Magic weapons.

  Beyond the youths, there looked to be another room and although he couldn’t make out wh
at it might be, there clearly looked to be movement in there.

  ‘I’ll take the four Initiated, you two take on whatever is in the next room. Okay?’ said Gentle Waters voice in their heads.

  They both nodded in agreement. Gentle Water held up three fingers, and proceeded to drop one at a time about a second apart, after the last one dropped, he ran forward and into the room. Raven followed and Liz stuck close to him as he ran in.

  She watched Gentle Water run forward and very quickly take out the closest of the four people, knocking him out cold with a fairly utilitarian kick to the head.

  One down, the rest to go. Raven drew up short part way through the room and paused as he looked forward, causing Liz to bump into the back of him while her attention remained on Gentle Water.

  The collision brought her round though and she stepped out from behind Raven and looked through to a much larger room beyond this one.

  Circular from the looks of it, there were caged pens around the edge of the room, all of them open from what she could see. The central area had a thin covering of straw, mud and other detritus. In the middle of the room, stood a short fat man with a bald head, wearing a rubber apron. He stood there petting and talking with three huge beasts. Liz couldn’t think of a better term for them than that. They weren’t dogs, at least, not any breed she had ever heard of. These things were huge, nearly as tall as the bald man, covered in patches of fur and raw exposed skin that looked like it might be cancerous.

  As Gentle Water started to fight, the noise attracted the man’s attention and he looked round, straight at Raven and Liz. His three huge dog or wolf things did the same, and started to growl, a low guttural noise that made Liz feel a little weak at the knees.

  The man walked forward, his three creatures following him as he pulled a large meat cleaver from his belt. Liz used her magical senses and discovered that these things with the man were actually Scions. Could you change dogs into Scions? Or were these once humans maybe? Liz had no idea, but they were very scary whatever they once were.

  Raven strode straight toward the man, both of them gathering Essentia and starting to work some Magic as they went. As they neared each other, the man made a gesture with his hands and all three Scion dogs short forward at them. One towards Raven, one towards Gentle Water, and one barrelled forward heading straight for Liz.

  Liz backed up a few steps as the slavering, vicious looking thing bounded forward. For a moment she considered turning and running, fighting a human and fighting a dog beast with claws and fangs were very different in her mind, but after that brief moment of fear, she noticed how Raven readied himself for the Scion who approached him. He wasn’t running, he’d take care of that thing.

  Liz stopped backing away and dropped into a fighting stance, bending her knees and balling her fists. She watched the thing closely, looking for clues as to its choice of attack, and as it closed the gap it suddenly leaped through the air, its mouth wide in a roar, its claws splayed and ready for the attack.

  Liz dropped and rolled under the creature. It landed beyond where she had been standing moments before and skidded as it tried to reorient itself on its prey.

  Liz, crouched with one hand and one knee on the floor, watched it look round in bewilderment at her dodge having lost her for a moment. She could see Gentle Water across the room moving incredibly fast and subduing his opponents calmly and, from Liz’s perspective, easily.

  On finding her, the creature stalked Liz for a moment, padding forward, its claws clicking on the stone floor as it growled through gritted teeth. Liz moved, rising from her crouch and readying herself for the coming attack. The thing ran forward, this time staying close to the floor and slashing with its front paws. Liz moved, dodging the attacks and spinning away, but she hadn’t been quiet quick enough and on its third slash, the creature’s claws caught on her jumper and ripped it open. Liz tried to back away but the woollen fabric stretched from her body to the nearest front paw of the creature as it landed back on all fours. The downward pull as it landed yanked Liz off her feet. She landed hard on her bum and yelped.

  The creature turned and looked at her, then noticed the fabric caught on its claw before returning its even hungrier gaze back to Liz.

  Panic rose within Liz’s chest as she tried to pull the jumper from her body and release herself. Sitting just a couple of meters away, effectively tied to the thing, it suddenly looked much, much bigger to her.

  She got an arm out, but she couldn’t get the damn top over her head. She’d been making panicked sounds for a few second now as she desperately tried to free herself, when the creature suddenly pulled its paw with the wool attached back as hard as it could, which yanked at her waist, tipping Liz onto her back as she skidded towards the open maw of the thing.

  Reacting rather than thinking, she kicked out, her booted foot connected powerfully with the creatures jaw which shut hard on its tongue, the end of which dropped off in a spurt of blood.

  The creature backed away as it reeled from the kick, its paws scrabbling to keep it from falling over.

  Liz quickly got her feet under her and taking hold of the stretched length of fabric in both hands, gave it a swift pull and released it from the creatures’ claw.

  A second later the thing regained its balance and looked at Liz, opening its mouth to let blood pour from the wound on its tongue.

  Liz gulped and backed away in fear. She looked over to Raven and Gentle Water, both of them were very preoccupied with their own fights and in no shape to help her.

  Taking a breath as she looked back at the thing, she made up her mind.

  She turned and ran.

  Shooting round the doorway she sprinted back down the corridor, back the way she’d come heading towards the stair well. She glanced back once to see if it were following her, not that she needed to, the sounds it made were not subtle.

  Reaching the stairs she ran up them, taking several steps at once, concentrating hard on where her feet landed so she didn’t fall and loose her lead.

  Half way up the third flight of stairs she realised she’d passed the level that Amanda, Maya and Yoh were on, she slowed for half a second, debating whether to drop back down and find Amanda, but the sound of the creature closing in on her changed her mind. She continued on up to the next floor where she exited into the corridor and ran along it, looking for clues that might lead her to Orion and Xain.

  Amanda walked along the corridor, away from the stairwell and the entrance they had arrived through, she walked quietly and concentrated on the ebb and flow of Essentia around her, looking for any clue as to Lucian’s whereabouts.

  They passed through a few passageways, all of them mostly bare with little character to them. The rooms they saw were all empty and varied in décor and usage, but were not really useful to them.

  In the stillness, Amanda started to make out the sounds of talking, and as she concentrated, she could feel some magical energy ahead.

  She stopped and listened, she couldn’t make out too much, but it sounded like a group of voices.

  When a Magi uses Magic, and pulls Essentia to them and manipulates it, they leave a slight signature on the Essentia they use, and this can be seen by another Magus. It doesn’t last forever and can often be unreliable, especially in public places, but down here she felt she could trust it a bit more.

  She scanned over the small eddies of Essentia she happened across, and soon found traces that matched the feel of Lucian. She smiled.

  ‘He’s here,’ she said.

  ‘Lucian?’ Yoh whispered.

  ‘I believe he’s just up ahead. Are you ready for this?’

  Maya nodded.

  ‘Of course,’ Yoh answered as she noticed he took a breath his body didn’t need. Old habits die hard she supposed.

  Amanda turned back to face the direction of the Magic.

  ‘You’re planning on killing him, right?’ Yoh asked.

  Amanda sighed. She hadn’t thought about it much, but she knew it mi
ght be her only option. So far, she’d thought that she’d cross that bridge when she came to it. Thinking ahead of time that she would kill him sounded too much like the thoughts of a psycho. Premeditated murder wasn’t something she had ever planned on. But, she had also seen just what Lucian and his Coven were capable of. Letting him live to continue doing this, just didn’t sit well with her. She knew she’d be condemning more people, including young girls and kids to death and worse.

  She also knew that the threat from Yasmin changed things, but only for a limited time. Lucian was vulnerable, for the time being. Who knew how long that would last for.

  ‘It’s the only way I can see of stopping this. We have just one chance, it must be done.’

  ‘You have no argument with me there,’ Yoh said. ‘I just wanted to be clear on this.’

  ‘So, are we clear?’

  ‘Crystal,’ said Yoh.

  Amanda walked towards the sound of the talking and around another corner discovered an open set of double doors where the sound came from.

  She paused for only a second before she gathered her confidence once more and walked towards a fight she didn’t know if she would walk away from. The previous meetings with Lucian and the fight in Columbia last night had made Amanda have a rethink of her fear of facing a Nomad like Lucian again. The Legends that she’d heard before moving here and her previous experience with Angel on the train had dinted her confidence. She had doubted her ability to fight and stand up to these people, these Nomads. She’d built Lucian up in her mind into something not only horrific, but also unbeatable. Someone who could kill her so easily that she should avoid him as much as possible, but her rash actions yesterday her fights at the Mansion and her meeting with a truly powerful Nomad had changed her perspective. Now she had started to feel much more confident in herself and her abilities.

  Also, there wasn’t any going back now, it would be very likely that Lucian, who from the Magical energy she could feel, would be in there and had probably detected them as well. If she knew he would be in this room, then it became equally likely that he knew that she stood out here. So why wait.