Magic and Mayhem: A Collection of 21 Fantasy Novels

by Jasmine Walt

  Magic, was my immediate thought. Surely they’d have taken it into consideration. Though I had no idea how many magic-wielders there were at Central. I’d never met another. You couldn’t tell by glancing at someone. That was what made magic so damned unpredictable. I’d expected the question to come up when I’d been interviewed for the job here, but it hadn’t, so I’d played it safe. For all I knew, being a magic-wielder might work to my advantage later on, but I’d also discovered it while breaking the law. Not exactly something I wanted to mention on the job application.

  “The Law Division. Christ.” Lenny shuddered.

  “I wouldn’t have thought they’d get involved just yet,” said Ellen. “I know it’s murder, but there’s nothing offworld about it, is there?”

  “Don’t be so sure,” said Markos. “Clark was strangled, but it could have been done with magic. If they’d had a source. A stunner wouldn’t do it. They should have magic experts on the case soon, I’d assume. In a place like this, sad to say, it’s always a possibility.”

  Of course. It had slipped my mind that on Aglaia, Markos’s homeworld, magic was second nature, at least to humans. Centaurs, not so much. But there were bound to be more offworlders here.

  “Interesting,” said Ellen, switching off her communicator. “I’ve always been intrigued how it works. Magic, I mean.”

  Don’t be, I thought. If I never had anything to do with magic again, it’d be too soon. “Useful interest for a secretary,” said Markos.

  “Everyone needs a hobby.”

  “Looks like Clark’s cost him his life,” Lenny said, and I glanced in his direction. “He was poking into weird things when he died. So the officers said.”

  Weird things. Bloodrock.

  “He’s always had odd interests,” said Ellen.

  “How long have you worked here?” I asked, out of curiosity.

  “Two years,” she said. “It’s going to be weird without Clark here.”

  “It is,” said Markos. “He was a good guy. Not that I’d normally say that about a human, but he was.”

  It felt like I trespassed on a stranger’s funeral. I’d been here only a day. I hadn’t known Mr Clark, at all. And yet the image of the strange file on bloodrock was never far from the back of my mind. No—I was being paranoid. His death had nothing to do with that. Right?

  But it didn’t take a genius to see the wrongness screaming out from the whole situation. Even the police’s interrogations were directed solely at people in the building. No one seemed to take into account the girl who’d broken into Central last night. I hadn’t seen her face, but like the bloodrock file, it kept coming back to me. I guessed the file was back in Clark’s office, and it took all my willpower not to pace in that direction to have a look.

  Paranoia. Just paranoia.

  Someone rapped on the door, making Lenny jump.

  “Are you admin?” A fair-haired man opened the door. His name badge identified him as Alan Gregory.

  “Yeah,” said Markos. “You know that, Alan. I’m the only centaur in the building.”

  “All right, just checking. Your new supervisor’s been assigned. One Ms Danica Weston.”

  Markos’s face pinched inwards. “Ouch.”

  “I wouldn’t say that in front of her,” said Alan, withdrawing. “Best of luck.”

  “Well, that sounds encouraging,” said Ellen. “Weston… crap. She’s not from this department.”

  “She’s transferring over from the Law Division,” said Markos, forehead creased in a frown. “I’ve never heard of that happening before.”

  “Well, what’s she like?” I asked, seeing as Lenny didn’t seem inclined to ask the obvious question.

  Before anyone could answer, Alan opened the door again. “By the way,” he said, “the Law Division has sent out an official announcement. As of today, all patrols have new privileges, approved by the police… to arrest and apprehend anyone they find acting suspiciously in or around the Passages.”

  “Wait, what?” said Markos.

  “What I said. Who has a patrol today?”

  “I do,” I said. “They’re giving us permission to arrest people?”

  “So it would seem,” said Alan. “Good luck.”

  “Well, damn,” I said. Okay, I’d been through the drill a hundred times at the Academy, but this had got serious fast. I’d never thought I’d have the authority to make arrests on my second day at Central.

  Alan left, and I turned and saw Markos smirking at me. “What?” I said.

  “Nothing,” he said. “I just find this amusing. You look so thrilled to be playing at law enforcement.”

  “Ecstatic,” I said. I was fully aware of the irony, though there was no reason for the centaur to know I’d been arrested twice before. My record was clean, thanks to the Academy, who’d decided it was in the Alliance’s interests if the rest of the world didn’t find out it had been the youngest Walker who’d burned down the family estate. Besides, murder was a tad more serious than that brief spell of delinquency when I was sixteen. Markos’s questioning had lasted three times longer than mine had. He’d spent the past hour muttering about ‘bloody suspicious humans’.

  “I wouldn’t think you’re off the hook,” said a voice from behind a filing cabinet. I recognised it as Aric’s.

  “What’re you doing back there?” Markos said. “Eavesdropping?”

  “It’s a creepy habit of his,” I said.

  “Doing my job.” Aric’s face appeared around the corner, levelled in a glare. “Getting the office ready for our new boss.”

  “I thought we weren’t allowed back in the office,” said Ellen, putting her phone away.

  “We are now,” said Aric, with an air of superiority. “Which you’d know if you weren’t slacking off over there.”

  “Oh, pull your head out your ass, Aric,” I said, earning a neigh of laughter from Markos. “We’re coming.”

  “You watch it,” said Aric. “I hear the Law Division thinks it was a rogue magic-wielder who killed Clark. You’d better watch your back on patrol later, Walker.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, scanning the message on my communicator screen to distract from the urge to punch him in the face. Crap. The Law Division really did suspect illicit magical activity. It was more than a theory.

  And I knew already that in the Passages, it could be fatal.

  6

  Ada

  “Nell’s going to kill me,” I said to Alber later. We hung out at a coffee shop waiting for Skyla to come and meet us.

  “Yes,” he said, ever the supportive sibling. “She is. You really landed yourself in it now.”

  Nell would not be happy that I was now officially unemployed. No job, and potentially on the Alliance’s “wanted” list. I’d really screwed up.

  “That job was crappy, but at least it was paid.” I stared dismally into my hot chocolate like it could give me answers.

  “Yeah. Should have heard Nell ranting the other night, when you were out. We’re in debt.”

  “We’ve always been in debt.” I chewed on my lower lip. Stress habit. “I know. I should have… I don’t know. It’s done now. I’ll figure something out when we get home. If Nell doesn’t bury me in the garden.”

  “Come on, Nell’s kind enough to give you the dignity of a quick death,” said Alber. “It’ll be painless.”

  “What on Earth are you two talking about?” said a voice from behind us, causing me to jump and spill hot chocolate everywhere. Skyla had arrived, clad in leather—actual leather, not guard uniform. Probably meant she was hoping for a fight. For once, I was not.

  “Ouch,” I said, dabbing at myself.

  “You’re as twitchy as Nell,” said Alber. “Remember when she threw a knife out the window at me when I came home late?”

  “Hey. No talking about my murderer. I want to enjoy my last hour on Earth in peace.”

  “Do I really want to know where this conversation’s going?” asked Skyla.


  “Lost my job,” I said. “As of tonight, I’ll be the first in the Fletcher family’s emporium of stuffed human corpses.”

  Alber laughed so hard he knocked his glass of Coke over, too.

  “You two,” said Skyla, shaking her head. “We should head out. Who are you meeting again?”

  “Delta,” I said, waving my phone. Lucky bugger could leave Valeria whenever he wanted. Delta was always running around other worlds having adventures, or so it seemed to me. Hell, there wasn’t even an age restriction on travelling offworld. Earth’s Alliance was ridiculous in that respect. You had to be twenty-one to even apply for a permit, and all applications were Alliance-scanned, so I’d never have been able to leave Earth legally even if I’d wanted to. Right now, it felt like I’d got the shitty end of the deal. That could easily have been me, if Nell and I had been assigned to Valeria, not Earth. The offworlder population there was high enough that although using a magic-shot was illegal, it was easier to get away with it. And there were hover cars. But then again, I’d brought Delta for a tour of London and he’d been enraptured by the public transport system. Each to his own, I guess.

  Still, talking to Skyla raised my spirits a touch. As it was light outside, we took our time getting to the alleyway which housed the entrance to the Passages, waiting to make sure no one was watching. Bruise-coloured clouds crowded over the brick buildings, promising a storm later. The biting air was far too cold for a summer evening.

  “Are you sure it’s safe taking that stuff in there?” asked Skyla, with a glance at the bag. “Magic and the Passages don’t mix, do they?”

  “This is dormant,” I said, shaking the bag. “Harmless, at least until you use it in a formula. Are you sure the Alliance patrols are running as usual? We can’t really afford anything else to go wrong.”

  “I’ll go into the Passages, if you’re worried,” said Skyla. “I don’t mind, honest.”

  I hesitated. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her—she was one of maybe five people who’d won my trust over the years—but the idea of handing over the bloodrock made the image of Nell’s stern face rise in my mind.

  “I’ll take it,” said Alber. “You can be our lookout, right?”

  No, I thought. Yeah, I’d had a close call, but it shouldn’t be this big a deal.

  “Come on, we have to go,” said Skyla, and she found the sliding door behind the brick wall.

  “See you in a bit, okay?” said Alber, and before I could protest, the two of them had disappeared into the Passages.

  And I was left outside, on Earth, alone.

  The minutes crawled by. I grew bored contemplating the cracks in the opposite wall and began surfing the Internet on my phone. I sent Delta a quick text warning him he’d not be meeting me, but didn’t get a reply. The magic from behind the door sparked against my skin, and it took supreme effort not to pull on it. It was like an addiction I’d been born with, a craving for something more than the life I had on Earth. It wasn’t fair to Nell at all, or to anyone else, but now, with all the Multiverse a mere foot away, the pull to explore ached within me, even more insistent than usual. It would take only three steps.

  A scream rang out from the Passage. I jerked back, heart thumping, hand going for the dagger in my boot. Caution warred with instinct for a brief struggle, and then I ran through the door.

  An icy breeze swept over me, and the magic exploded all around me like fireworks. Something had caused a major disturbance, and it definitely hadn’t come from Earth.

  I ran, feet striking the stone floor and echoing off the walls. I was sure the scream had been Skyla’s. Skidding around a corner, I collided with Alber, and the two of us fell to the ground. He shook all over, and it was pretty obvious why.

  A gigantic reptilian creature towered over us, at least eight feet tall, stooped under the ceiling and perched on two legs like a dinosaur with two short, skeletal wings. It opened its beak and screamed, and frantic scrambling sounds told me Skyla was trapped on its other side.

  I recognised it from pictures, though I’d never seen one before. A wyvern. Where in hell had it come from? Stupid question, I thought, as its barbed tail flicked through the air, its deadly stinger aimed for the spot where I’d stood half a second ago. Those stings held enough poison to kill you in less than a minute. Icy fear flowed down my spine.

  “Skyla!” I shouted. “Get out of there!” She lay flat on the ground, blood spattered around her, and my heart plummeted—please don’t let her be dead!

  She pushed to her feet, breathing heavily. Wait, that wasn’t human blood. The wyvern was hurt, its wings covered in numerous deep cuts. But the monster was heading right for her, its back to me. I couldn’t get to her. Cursing, I let the magic flow to my fingertips and the response vibrated in my bones. I fired a bolt of energy at the ground and then jumped, the energy rebounding and striking the wyvern in its scaly hide. The beast roared, its barbed tail knocking into a nearby door. The resounding sparks of magic burned holes in its skin through gaps where someone had knocked scales off, and it flailed, tail thrashing with enough force to break concrete. The floor shook, and I took a couple of steps back. No amount of magic within my blood could save me from that poison. And its half-metre-long claws were equally deadly. They could tear you to shreds.

  Skyla leaped out of the way of its swiping claws, slashing with a dagger. A hideous screech told me she’d hit her mark. Alber slumped against the wall, eyes wide in terror. He’d never been good at dealing with monsters. I made sure he was well out of range, and then ran forwards.

  My own dagger ready, I leaped and struck the wyvern from behind. I’d never fought a creature with so much external protection, and most of my strikes simply bounced off its armour. I had to keep withdrawing out of range of its thrashing tail.

  Worse, I didn’t dare use magic above level one, otherwise it’d blow the place up. Second level magic might pierce the armour, but I was losing power with every strike I aimed. Burnout? Or was its armour partly magic-proof?

  This wasn’t good. Gathering energy in the form of a crackling red orb, I put everything I had behind the dagger in my right hand, and hurled it as the beast bowed its head. If I hit just the right point, it’d pierce through the brain.

  I missed, and the dagger clattered away down the Passage, sending sparks of red magic rebounding after it. Cursing, I dodged the tail again and grabbed for my second dagger. The beast swung around, Skyla still clinging to its side and striking it with her weapon. Crap. Now it was between us and the door. A claw swiped and Skyla yelled, letting go. She rolled out of the way of its rampaging feet and came to stand at my side, but we were hopelessly outmatched. And if it moved a few metres to the left, it’d be loose on Earth. Where no one would arrive in time to keep it from attacking other people, because the Alliance didn’t know about that Passage.

  Shit.

  Skyla grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the way of a claw. The monster reared up to its full height, letting out a roar loud enough to make my eardrums hurt. Claws slashed madly, and the beast drove us farther and farther back, out into another, narrower corridor.

  “We’ve got to lure it away,” I gasped, my dagger suddenly a flimsy knife in comparison to those claws.

  “This way!” Skyla pulled me down a side tunnel, panting, hair plastered to her face with blood from a cut on her cheek. The wyvern screeched, angry its prey was escaping, and struck out. We backed up down the tunnel. The ceiling was narrow, so I’d hoped the wyvern wouldn’t be able to fit, but it dropped to the ground and began to slither in a rapid, snakelike movement. I knew we’d driven ourselves into a bigger trap. Skyla’s nails dug into my arm. We backed away, and as its teeth snapped, pure panic took over.

  We ran, the beast’s cries echoing behind us, faster, faster—claws swiped at our backs and I felt my coat tear, shredded to ribbons. Another swipe, and the dagger clattered from my hand. No!

  No time to stop. My heart pounded in tandem with our frantic steps. We ran through c
orridors even I didn’t know, until I skidded to a halt at a dead end.

  Dead. We were dead.

  Skyla leaned against the wall, gasping. “Shit. Shit.”

  I looked around wildly. Nothing but blank, blue-lit wall… wait. One section of wall didn’t look right. A hidden staircase. I grabbed Skyla’s arm and pulled her towards it just as the wyvern came slithering into the corridor. Cursing, we scrambled up the stairs, higher up into the Passages—the first level.

  And the wyvern was still following us. Crap. Crap. The corridor we stood in ended at another dead end. Only one way to turn, and we ran. I’d never been here before, not this part of the first level, I didn’t have a freaking clue where we were going, how we’d ever get back. But the only thing between us and death was running like hell, until we lost the monster. The roaring breath at our heels told me that wasn’t happening anytime soon. I couldn’t run forever. My muscles screamed, my legs ached, Skyla was chalk white and the cut on her face was streaming blood, and we couldn’t stop. I wouldn’t die in this place.

  Corridor after corridor. A maze with no way out. And a monster raging behind us, getting closer–

  It was too late to stop, to avoid running into the people suddenly up ahead…

  Alliance guards.

  KAY

  Go time, I thought as we left Central that evening. The Law Division had sent out yet more alerts. London’s West Office had closed their Passage entrance, forbidding even people with permits to travel offworld. The UK Alliance had put Earth’s main corridor, used by people from hundreds of worlds, on lockdown. They really did think there were illegal magic-wielders out there. Carl had given us each a pair of metal handcuffs along with the standard stunners.

  “They’re laced with obsidiate and adamantine,” he’d said. “Not that you’re likely to have to use them, but if you do catch a magic-wielder, it’ll incapacitate them. They’re rigged to go up to second level with no more backlash than a gun’s recoil, but just be aware there’s a kick to it.”