Magic Awakening: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Spirit War Chronicles Book 1)

by Stephen Allan

  When I looked around, I didn’t see anyone whom I had gone to Edam with. It was instead a horde of strangers on bikes, mopeds, and their own two feet. No Americans, Aussies, or Brits I recognized. Still, when the ferry closed, I turned my focus toward Amsterdam Centraal, hopeful that they had already found shelter at the hostel.

  But then the waves collided with the ferry, sending massive gushes of water on board. I was reminded of those fishing shows like Deadliest Catch where the fishermen were on tiny tug boats facing waves that should capsize cruise ships, yet somehow they survived the ordeal, and their boat never tipped over. While our journey to the other side was far shorter, I had only the hope of a prayer and many concerns, for it was clear this ship was not designed to—

  I looked right and cursed as I saw a massive wave rolling toward us, one that would easily—

  Too late. I ducked and held my head in tight, moving to the front of the ship where I wouldn’t get hit by bikes or mopeds. The wave crashed into the ship, sending us flying into the water.

  I hurriedly went to the surface, frantically climbing as fast as I could. Despite being a CIA agent, despite growing up near the ocean, despite, despite, despite, I still fucking hated swimming, especially in water that wasn’t clear. I had no idea what lay beneath the surface, how friendly or neutral or aggressive it was to humans, and I wasn’t in my element. I couldn’t swim fast at all, though at least I could swim. And now, you added demons threatening to pierce this world?

  I’d rather sit in a chair across from Brady and DJ all day, listening to the two of them fight, than have to jump back into this dark part of the Earth.

  I broached the surface and heard screaming all around me. I glanced right and saw the ferry slowly starting to sink, having turned on its side too much and taking on water. It was fortunate that the canal was not that thick—maybe a few hundred meters, if that—for almost immediately, motorboats with life rings came roaring it. The lifeboats almost—

  Something grazed my leg.

  Jesus fucking Christ come on!

  I didn’t wait. I just started swimming toward the shore. Again, it bumped into me. It felt colossal, extremely slimy, and extremely purposeful.

  “Gaat alles goed?” a man spoke in Dutch on one of the lifeboats.

  “Yes! Si! Ja!” I said, shouting whatever translation of “yes” I could think of without even knowing the question. I just hoped they would see how I could swim to shore safely while other older and less physically able people needed their help. Very subtly, I reached for Ebony and Ivory and pulled them out. If it touched me—

  It bumped into me once more.

  I fired my guns, with a soft, muffled sound reaching the surface. A few bubbles did as well, but no one seemed any the wiser. The boats had moved on, and I made it to shore without incident within the next minute.

  I reached Centraal Station and sprinted through the bike tunnel. My bike! Fuck!

  Well, shit, I guess I’d have to pay Mike a couple hundred euros. Maybe DJ and I can have just one more date.

  But something was capturing my attention that should not have. Around me, the number of people was far less than it should have been. I understood that a storm like this might keep some people at home, resting in the comfort of their beds or couches, but this was obscene. Maybe a dozen people walked out on the plaza outside Amsterdam Centraal when there should’ve been hundreds. When I looked to the sky, I noticed something curious, something very unlike what I had seen before—the clouds seemed to bend down as if creating a giant dome around the city.

  Welp. Looks like I’m not running from anything now.

  Ebony. Ivory. Ready to go to work?

  I ducked past Pancakes Amsterdam—which, notably, was empty, even of waitresses, despite closing at 8 p.m., and though my phone wasn’t working at the moment, I knew it wasn’t past 6:30—and turned right onto the street with Durty Nelly’s. This street, too, was completely empty. I sprinted down when I heard a loud bark.

  Three barks.

  Oh, seriously?

  I froze as sure enough, a Cerberus emerged from an alleyway, all three of its heads growling and bearing its fangs at me. The only difference between this one and the one in the spiritual realm was this one was about two-thirds the size—but that still meant it could tear me to shreds in seconds.

  “Guys, really, I killed you once already, and I’m in a hurry, this is not the time to play fetch.”

  They barked once more, and it became pretty apparent that I was going to have to shift into combat mode here.

  “You sure? If you don’t let me by, Trido, I’m gonna have to play fetch with these,” I said, pulling out Ebony and Ivory.

  The dogs howled, and I immediately yanked the trigger, silencing all three heads within seconds, but I knew the damage had been done. The howl wasn’t a cry of war. It was an alarm for all of the other demonic creatures present to come forward.

  I kept my guns at the ready and sprinted toward Durty Nelly’s. It didn’t take long for more creatures to appear.

  Up above, a winged vampire soared through the skies before chasing me. I lined up Ebony and yanked the trigger, dropping the ugly motherfucker to the ground. In front of me, two more vampires appeared, almost catching me off guard—I say almost because that would never happen. I dropped both of them with one clean shot to the head.

  “Never liked Twilight and was never on Team Edward or Jacob,” I said as I ran past their dead bodies.

  I saw Grizzly’s, a hugely positive sign, for it meant Durty Nelly’s was just about a hundred meters past that. But the glass on Grizzly’s shattered, revealing a giant werewolf that stood on its hind legs on top of the bar and stared me down with menacing yellow eyes.

  “Ugh, dude, just cuz I’m not into vampires doesn’t mean I’m into werewolves.”

  The beast growled, so I rolled my eyes and launched a single bullet into its neck.

  But the creature didn’t die. It bled, and it did growl in pain, but it was still alive.

  “OK, you’re a sadist for this. I can help with that.”

  I launched a few more rounds, but this time, the werewolf was prepared, leaping to the side and clinging to the side of the building. It moved with speed unlike anything I’d ever seen before, and I knew I had to act fast. I couldn’t fire at where it was, but where it was going.

  It jumped just in front of me, but I’d anticipated such a move and held Ivory directly in front of me, pulling the trigger just as its head landed in front of me. Now the beast collapsed.

  I had such a good line about giving him head action, but barking prevented me from unleashing my burn. I had to turn around and launch more rounds at oncoming Cerberus monsters.

  I finally got to Durty Nelly’s, ran into the bar, and groaned when I got to the first table inside.

  Two demons were awaiting me, looking very similar to the ones who had taken me back at the Van Gogh Museum.

  “I guess you’re not going to serve me a Tequila Sunset, are you?” I said as I leaned against the bar.

  “Grab the bitch!” one yelled.

  I raised my gun to fire, but it was a ploy, for I remembered all too well what happened the last time I tried to fire at these demons. Sure enough, the demon vanished, and without looking, I swung my right elbow back, smashing into one of the demon’s jaws.

  I spun around, did the same thing—remembering the second demon appearing in front of me—and produced the same result.

  “Predictable,” I said. “And now you’re banished back to hell. Tragic”

  I yanked the trigger.

  Nothing.

  What?

  Oh, shit. Right. I have to reload in real life. And…

  I have no bullets. Well then. This should be fun.

  The first demon I’d nailed looked up at me, and before he could do anything, I kicked him square in the face. I turned to kick the other demon, but before my foot collided with his ugly dark red jaw, he teleported to some other place, far away from me. Fine
. I bent down, grabbed the other dazed demon, and snapped his neck. He vanished in the manner I preferred—permanently—a second later. But the other demon taunted me.

  “So you’ve improved since last time,” he said. “Good. This will make it more fun when I capture your pathetic body.”

  “I think you have that one mixed up, buddy,” I said, looking around—he had used some trick with his voice to make it impossible to locate him by sound. “I’m all into capturing fantasies and stuff, but only humans can have that with me. Not demons. Sorry, I’m just not that into you.”

  “Silence, human!” the demon shouted, and a blast of green energy came from the back of the bar. I sidestepped the blast and saw the demon flicker.

  “Aww, come on, you’re gonna use invisibility? Don’t you think that’s like a cheat code? Weren’t video games more fun without things like the Contra code?”

  “You waste my time with your worthless words!” the demon roared, and he shot one more blast of energy, but this one was much shorter.

  My gut immediately told me the shorter blast had one purpose—distraction. Without thinking about it, I swung my elbow back and collided. It wasn’t a perfect collision, though, as it only stunned the demon, not nearly enough for me to get more attacks in. I quickly turned and swung my fist, but the demon raised his arm and blocked it. My forearm felt like it had collided with a steel beam. The demon smiled and then swung his other fist at me, hitting my gut.

  This asshole, I thought. Let me show you a lesson.

  I instinctively reached for my guns, forgetting my problem, but the demon cast a quick spell of some kind.

  “There, now your guns are useless,” he said. “We fight hand to hand. It is the most natural way for a man and a demon to fight—with their bodies and minds. Only a fool trusts his life to a weapon.”

  “Like teleportation?” I sneered. “Come on, demon. What are you, scared you can only beat me from behind?”

  I loved getting under the demon’s skin—it was so easy, and it made me laugh when his face contorted to one of deep rage. Practically speaking, too, it got him off-balance, making him more predictable and thus easier to strike.

  He charged and swung a thick fist at me, which I ducked. I found myself on the level of his crotch, and I had no idea if demons had the same sensitivity as men. But if he did…

  I uppercuted his nuts, and it worked! The demon gasped in pain, so much so that he collapsed to the ground, holding himself as he cried.

  “You men, you’re all the same,” I said with a laugh as I snapped his neck. He, too, vanished a few seconds later. I also heard what sounded like a click, and I reached for my guns. I pointed it and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.

  Oh, right, out of ammo. Might wanna remember that next time you try and use it. At least it made no difference.

  But now that it was on my mind and I had a clear path, I sprinted upstairs, past the flickering lights, and to Room 115. I tried to open it, but it did not work. I tried to use my key card, but it too did not work. Finally, with a running start of about ten feet, I slammed my body into the door and broke it. I quickly shook myself off, dusting splinters and other debris off my jacket, when I saw a familiar face.

  Tyrus.

  “Hello, Sonya,” he said. “I see you are just in time to witness your friends swear their souls to Mundus.”

  No, no, no. I didn’t see anyone in the room. I didn’t hear any screams.

  But I did see one giant asshole right in front of me. I got up, charged him, and swung my right fist with deadly force at Tyrus.

  But it simply went right through him, leaving my body to stumble forward and nearly fall onto one of the beds.

  “Coward,” I sneered. “Why don’t you fight me?”

  “Because frankly, Sonya, that is not in my interest right now,” Tyrus said. “You may think of what I am about to offer you as a chance to reach a mutual goal.”

  “Which is?”

  “The destruction of Nuforsa.”

  I had no faith this was going to end well. I’d probably have to give my soul to Tyrus, who would give it to Mundus, or something ridiculous like that. Getting rid of Nuforsa was just a way for Tyrus to get more credit for capturing me, I knew it.

  “You see, Sonya, as I said before, Nuforsa wants to get you to Mundus by breaking you down. That is beyond stupid, for reasons that I have already explained. Unfortunately, Nuforsa is rather powerful and cunning, and it is not going to work to just tell her her way is wrong, nor is it going to work for me to overthrow her.”

  “And why is that, Tyrus?” I said, treating his name as a swear.

  “Because how many times do I have to tell you, Mundus watches all,” Tyrus said. “Fortunately, his sensing is much weaker in the human realm, hence why I am having this conversation with you now without punishment. In any case, Mundus is clear on his goals—he wants to take the spiritual realm, and then launch a war on heaven. But to do so, not only does he need more men, he needs complete loyalty from his troops without insubordination or infighting, whether against him or each other. In theory, that sounds great. In practice, well, we’re demons for a reason.”

  I hated his snickering smile. I hated how cocky he came across. I hated that, mostly, there was not a goddamn thing I could do at the moment. I had no choice but to hear him out.

  “If I were to go and fight Nuforsa, we would both lose. Even if I won, Mundus would punish me. And if Nuforsa won, well, Nuforsa gets her way, and that’s about the last thing that we want. You, on the other hand, have the skills and powers to defeat Nuforsa. And, I sense, you are not even aware of how much power you have.”

  “Stop speaking coyly and tell me what that means,” I said.

  But Tyrus chuckled with his mouth closed, wagging his finger in my face.

  “If I tell you, it will make it more difficult for you to realize. Yours is a power that only you can discover for it to reach its full effectiveness.”

  “This sounds so full of shit. Why the fuck should I trust you? How do I know this isn’t a ploy for Nuforsa?”

  “Because I would rather swear allegiance to Yevon than ever do the bidding of Nuforsa.”

  Tyrus spoke with such aggressiveness and bitterness that I stopped doubting him. Or, I should say, I stopped actively doubting him. I kept a wary eye on him, but for right now, I believed him when he said he hated Nuforsa. I mean, frankly, who wouldn’t?

  “Let me show you something,” he said.

  He held his left hand out and began moving it in a circular motion, and as if looking through a window, I saw as clear as day a most terrifying sight.

  In a small room—pretty much the one I’d escaped from when Brady saved me—Brady, DJ, Nicholas, Richard, and Carsis sat, their hands bound together, on their knees.

  “I cannot show you Nuforsa, for she is powerful enough to know when a magic eye is on her, but it does not take an intelligent human to know that she is in that room, either waiting for you or deciding what to do. This is not a trick.”

  “OK,” I said. “I believe that my friends are captive. But what’s the catch? And don’t play dumb with me, Tyrus.”

  “The catch,” he said, as if innocently unsure of what I meant. “Ah, yes, the catch. To be very honest with you, there is no catch here. I simply want Nuforsa gone. You want Nuforsa gone. I am not offering you anything other than transportation to her lair. I am not giving you more power, for you have the power you need to defeat her already. Therefore, I require nothing in return.”

  I didn’t bother to hide my grimace. This was awfully close to the classic case of too good to be true. No demon would ever offer something without expecting something in return—that just wasn’t how it worked in any good case of fiction or religion.

  “Now, Sonya, I must know if you accept this offer. I should warn you that, frankly, you probably don’t have a choice, not if you want to live or see your friends and brother survive. I cannot say how Nuforsa managed to capture your friends, but I can
tell you that this storm is her doing, and you have probably seen that she is not afraid to employ demons in the human realm for her own gain. Thus, if you refuse, your friends will die, Amsterdam will be overrun, and then you will die anyways when you run out of ammunition and she reaches you. On the other hand, if you accept, you may die, but you will be in the spiritual realm, where your guns do not run out of ammo, you can save your friends, and you will have access to all of your powers. In other words, play the percentages.”

  I knew even before Tyrus mentioned this that I really didn’t have much say in the matter, but hearing him put it so bluntly pissed me off. It gave me a new level of anger that made me want to nuke this city for the sake of destroying all the demons inside.

  “Just take me there,” I snapped.

  “Good,” Tyrus said with a grin that seemed awfully deceitful. “I give you one last piece of advice and a warning. I warn you that Nuforsa will do everything she can to break you. Everything. What you saw in your dream is only a sliver of what she can do.”

  How… he knows that?!?

  “And here is my piece of advice. Do not be afraid to turn to your base self.”

  “That’s your advice,” I deadpanned, followed by a mocking laugh. “I’m so glad of all of the advice you could have given me, like how to fight Nuforsa’s magic, her demons, how to resist her, you basically say ‘trust your gut.’ I’m glad, Tyrus, that when I die, I know I can trust my gut.”

  Tyrus said nothing, his obnoxious smile looking like the most punchable thing I’d seen since landing in Europe. But then he raised his right hand, and a portal with the familiar symbol for the spiritual realm appeared. I looked at it and saw that it opened up to a large chamber.