He tossed the sword aside. She wasn’t worth his effort.
Come Merik, we are all eager to meet you at last.
He needed no further invitation. “Where are you?”
Through the portal. Step into the center of the circle and your crystal will activate it.
Leaving the dying assassin where she lay, he stepped over the bishop. The moment he did, a faint tingle ran through him, starting at his forehead where his crystals rested. There was a flash of light and a sense of movement.
The next thing he knew he was standing in a plaza surrounded by grass and trees. A circle of slowly dimming blue crystals surrounded him. In the distance crystal towers rose toward the sky. Beyond them a shimmering dome separated the city from whatever lay beyond.
So this was Atlantis. It was certainly alien. Beautiful, but like nothing he’d ever seen on earth.
“Welcome, Merik. I have been so looking forward to meeting you.”
He knew that voice, only now it was in his ears and not his mind.
Merik turned slowly, wanting to savor the moment. He found himself face to face with a woman, and she was beautiful. She was also made of solid, clear crystal. Some sort of golden mist swirled and pulsed inside her crystal body like a nebula.
“Not what you were expecting?” Her crystal face was incapable of expression, but her tone suggested amusement.
“No, not exactly.” Merik cleared his throat, trying to hide his disappointment. “Where are we?”
“In a space between realms. It will take time for Atlantis to fully return to the human realm. While we wait, I would show you the city and introduce you to your fellow Atlanteans.”
Merik swallowed his anxiety and nodded. “I’d like that.” He didn’t want to end up a living statue, but hopefully that wouldn’t be necessary.
She held out her hand and after a second of hesitation Merik took it. The crystal was warm, like a living person, but hard and smooth like glass. He’d never felt anything like it.
“I am Tanidel and it is nice to meet you, Merik.”
She led him out of the park and toward the city proper. The streets were made of the same clear crystal as everything else. You could have heard a pin drop, so silent was Atlantis. Other than the steady tap of Tanidel’s feet on the street, there wasn’t another noise to be heard.
After five minutes of the unnerving quiet Merik asked, “Are there any people in these buildings?”
“Not anymore. Once thousands packed these towers, but thanks to the Lemurian cowards they are all gone.”
“What happened?” Merik vaguely understood that there had been some sort of conflict between the two nations, but the details escaped him.
“We had our ways and they had theirs.” Tanidel’s shoulders rose and fell. “We lived on opposite sides of the world so there was no problem. Then one day an Atlantean explorer reached the edge of Lemurian territory. The so-called favored of the spirits feared our crystal magic. Since anyone could use it, they worried about what might happen if their vast underclass should gain access. They called us cursed by the spirits and went to war. Battles raged for decades, but we were winning. In desperation, the Lemurians summoned dark and evil magic. They hurled this curse at Atlantis. Thousands died and tens of thousands were sickened.”
“That’s horrible.” Merik shuddered at the thought of such magic. The wizards he’d met were arrogant, but none struck him as evil. Desperate times and desperate measures he supposed.
“Our leaders forged the crystal shield and shifted Atlantis out of the human realm to this place. It exists outside of time. We hoped that would allow those sickened to survive until a cure could be found. Unfortunately, the disease was only slowed, not stopped and no cure was ever devised. Instead we were forced to build new bodies for ourselves and transfer our souls into them. We lost our humanity but gained immortality. We bought the time we needed to create unstoppable weapons which we could use to destroy the ancestors of Lemuria. Now that you have recalled us, the war can begin again. Only this time, we will win. Every Child of Lemuria will die.”
Merik found his mouth had gone dry. They were going to war against every wizard in the world. How could the survivors of Atlantis hope to win?
Jemma and two of her subordinate wizards flew through the night southeast toward Stonehenge. It seemed she’d barely returned from that ridiculous meeting with Conryu in Tokyo and gotten her research team working on the mysterious crystal when the nation’s magical warning system had gone off. It signaled a massive arcane event, bigger even than the spell that Morgana used to destroy a big chunk of London. Hopefully they didn’t find a smoking hole where Stonehenge used to be. The Ministry of Culture would have a fit.
They flew over a town, its lights winking in and out of sight, the people blissfully unaware that they might be facing yet another crisis. Some days she envied the average citizen whose biggest worry was losing their job or their kid getting sick. It would be great to only have to worry about a handful of people instead of an entire country.
Jemma turned to look at her second. “Any new information come in, Celia?”
Celia shook her head, sending her short blond hair every which way. “Not yet. The wizards on duty are still analyzing the pulse. It matched no known type of magic. Do you suppose Stonehenge has finally done whatever it was designed to do?”
Jemma swallowed a sigh. Theories abounded in regard to Stonehenge’s true purpose. The Ministry had long known it was enchanted with some sort of protective spell, but since it never reacted to anything they did, the researchers assumed it was just left-over magic from some ancient ritual. It had become such a minor matter that they even allowed tourist visits. This should not have happened based on their current information
Why couldn’t she have one problem to deal with at a time? That wasn’t too much to ask, was it?
“I wish I knew,” Jemma said at last.
The circle of stones was dark and silent when they arrived in the air above it. With her magically enhanced senses, Jemma easily made out the bodies littering the clearing. A faint flicker of life remained in one just inside the circle. “Celia, check the stones. Emma, stabilize the survivor. I’ll check the bodies.”
A pair of “Yes, ma’ams” and her companions broke off. Jemma landed beside the first body and found it lacking a head. The cut was clean. An extremely sharp sword combined with plenty of muscle had taken this one out. She kicked the body over onto its back. He wore a vest that still held magazines for the rifle a few feet away as well as a pair of grenades. Whoever he was, he came ready for a fight.
She left the headless corpse and moved over to an intact one. The spell she planned to use required a body with a head.
Jemma raised her hands but before she could cast Celia said, “There’s no magic left in the stones, Jemma. Whatever happened drained them dry.”
Interesting. Usually a tiny spark would remain if the ancient spell was going to build up a new charge. If everything was gone then the magic was well and truly used up. That was usually a good thing. The stones were no longer a threat and she could stop worrying about them. The problem was, with nothing left to analyze, they might not know what the magic had done until it was too late.
She chanted in Infernal and a black mist rose out of the ground around the body before sliding down its throat. She wasn’t calling its soul back, rather she was accessing the memories still stored in its brain. Whoever he was, he hadn’t been dead long so she should get some coherent answers.
When the last of the mist had entered the body Jemma said, “Who are you?”
“Marko.”
“Why did you come here?”
“To kill a wizard.”
She frowned and glanced over at the stones where Emma was working healing magic on the survivor. Was that the wizard they’d come to kill? She wasn’t one of Jemma’s, so who was she?
Another mystery, that’s who she was. Just what Jemma needed.
“Who do you serve?�
� she asked.
“The bishop.”
Jemma’s frown deepened. The bishop had to be a higher-up in the True Face of God. If those fanatics were involved, then things were worse than she’d feared. Why couldn’t the bastards just leave the Kingdom alone? Maybe this was payback for her sending Conryu to rescue those girls. Maybe, but that didn’t feel right.
She altered the spell, binding the magic in place and using it to preserve the body. If more questions came up, she didn’t want his brain to deteriorate before she could ask them.
“I found the leader.” Celia dragged a body out of the circle and dropped it at Jemma’s feet.
He had a gold cross necklace signifying his position in the cult. She couldn’t remember the exact rank, but gold had to be pretty high up. No doubt MI6 could give her all the information she’d need.
Jemma cast her spell a second time to preserve the bishop in case she needed to question him later.
“How far out is the clean-up team?” Jemma asked.
Celia checked her watch. “About fifteen minutes. The Ministry of Defense is going to have a field day with this. We’ve been invaded twice in as many years. Not a good look for them. It’s not like we didn’t offer to set up a ring of wards around the entire island to watch for incoming ships.”
Jemma grunted. Ministerial rivalries didn’t interest her. As far as she was concerned, they were all working toward the same goal, keeping the Kingdom safe. Unfortunately, she knew many of her fellow ministers felt differently. Hopefully they wouldn’t make pointless demands and argue over jurisdiction.
“How’s the survivor?” Jemma asked.
“Very lucky,” Emma said. “Given the number of bullets and pieces of shrapnel that hit her, it’s a miracle none pierced anything vital. She’s stable, but I’m going to need a couple days to fully heal her.”
A couple days. Jemma hoped they had that long.
Chapter 11
The safest way for Conryu to enter the Academy was by using his library. And that was exactly what he was going to do, but first he opened a Hell portal and traveled to the edge of the campus. He found the first ninja on duty a few seconds later. The only part of her that stood out against the infinite darkness were her eyes which seemed to glitter with an inner light. She bowed as he approached.
“All quiet, Chosen,” she said.
A weight lifted off his chest. While Conryu hadn’t really expected trouble, it was good to have confirmation. “How many of you did Kanna assign to this mission?”
“Ten. She thought that would be enough to watch the perimeter and if necessary, deal with any threats. We’re working on one-week shifts so no one will get too bored.”
“Good, thank you.”
She bowed again and Conryu summoned the library door. He and Kai entered and with a thought he moved them to Maria’s room. A quick peek revealed her roommate sound asleep and Maria’s bed empty. He grinned, not surprised in the least. Another mental command shifted them to the library.
Sure enough there she was, three open books on the table in front of her along with the clear crystal. She wore her white student’s robe and had her feet tucked up under her.
Not wanting to scare her to death, Conryu rapped on the library door before he and Kai emerged. She looked up and frowned, not the reaction he’d hoped for.
“This thing is impossible,” she said without preamble. “I’ve read everything I can think of, cast every spell, and nothing. Even Dean Blane can’t get a read on it. How did those ignorant clods get their hands on something so rare?”
“If I knew that, I’d just ask whoever gave it to them,” Conryu said. “Everything okay here otherwise?”
She fully focused on him. “Why do you ask?”
He told her about Jonny and the soldiers threatening to take another run at him. “I didn’t know if they might try something with you. I’ve got a group of Kai’s fellow ninjas keeping an eye on everyone, but if these guys have crystals that make them immune to magic, they might not sense them before it’s too late.”
“More crystals,” Maria said. “It can’t be a coincidence. And Jonny, I can’t believe he’d betray you like that.”
“I couldn’t either, but it wasn’t his idea. Still, I took his rune stone so the generals can’t use him again. Anyway, I don’t think the crystals are a coincidence either. My original plan was to keep Jemma in the dark about your research, but now I wonder if we shouldn’t pool our resources.”
Maria snorted. “If we can’t figure out what these things are, I doubt the Ministry is having any better luck. Still, I suppose it couldn’t hurt to reach out. I’ll mention your suggestion to Dean Blane in the morning. What will you do now?”
“I was thinking I’d head back to the island to get a little…” He trailed off as he thought of something. Conryu smacked his forehead. “The island. They have to know I’m basically living there. It’s the one place I’ll return to eventually that they can attack without drawing attention.”
“But the barrier,” Maria said.
“If their crystals make them immune to magic, they can probably pass right through it. That’s got to be their plan.” Conryu kissed Maria on the cheek. “I’ve got to go. See you later.”
“Be careful.”
He waved over his shoulder as they returned to the library. Before the enemy showed up, he’d need reinforcements.
It never ceased to amaze Conryu just how much you could accomplish with magic. He, Kai, and six extra ninjas had returned to the floating island four hours ago. Now, in the clearing that held his workshop, was a simple three-room log cabin complete with rustic furniture, all made with magic and nearby trees. Prime had been thoroughly disgusted that he’d used his power for something so mundane, but if he wanted to set a trap, he needed a target. Since he usually slept in the library, Conryu had never bothered building a house.
“What now, Chosen?” Kai asked.
“Now we wait. I suspect they won’t make a move until night. And it may not even be this night. We have no way of knowing. Given my complete lack of other leads, we’ll just have to be patient. Is everyone in place?”
“Yes, if the enemy appears, they will not escape us.”
“Great.” Conryu summoned the library door and they entered. Once inside he created a recliner for each of them then added a viewing window that looked down on the cabin. They’d be able to see everything in comfort and safety.
“Will they be visible given their immunity to magic?” Kai asked.
“Beats me, but the cabin door opening will let us know if they are invisible.”
She nodded and settled gingerly into the chair. Anything resembling comfort seemed to make her uneasy, like a cushion would make her weak. It was a strange thing, but he’d at least convinced her that it was okay to sit down when he was around. Before she always insisted on standing in his presence.
“You take first watch.” He closed his eyes. “I’m going to take a nap.”
Sometime later, Kai shook him awake. Conryu groaned and rubbed his eyes.
“Someone is here, Chosen,” Kai said.
He studied the image. Night had fallen, but the library’s magic allowed him to see as if it was daylight. Despite that, he saw nothing. “You sure?”
“Watch the grass.” She pointed and he immediately noticed footsteps appearing.
Once he knew what to look for, it was simple to spot the remaining two paths approaching his cabin. Their backup had strict instructions not to strike until he gave the signal.
The front door opened. Conryu counted slowly to three then snapped his fingers. The fire magic he’d woven into the cabin exploded, sending chunks of burning wood flying everywhere. Seconds later Conryu and Kai rushed out of the library.
They found the two men that remained outside lying on the ground with black swords at their throats. Magic or not, that razor-sharp steel would kill with no trouble.
“Where’s the third guy?” Conryu asked.
One o
f the ninjas pointed toward the flaming wreckage. He gestured and the fires vanished. A body lay unmoving in the center of the debris. Conryu took a step towards it and Kai said, “Careful, Chosen, he might be faking.”
Since the unlucky soldier’s face was pierced with shards of timber a foot long, Conryu seriously doubted he was pretending. In fact, he hadn’t seen many bodies that looked deader than this poor bastard.
Conryu grabbed a stray piece of wood and shaped it into a pair of tongs. Touching an anti-magic crystal didn’t seem prudent for a wizard. He poked around and finally got the charred uniform moved aside enough to retrieve the gray amulet. It was about three inches long and ended in a point, like someone had hacked it free from a larger piece. Absurd of course. You couldn’t hack stone.
A simple earth magic spell that should have revealed the sort of stone it was, vanished the instant the energy made contact with the crystal.
Remarkable. At least when he cast that spell on the clear crystal it had given a response. Not that unknown material was much more valuable than nothing.
He carried the crystal outside the wreckage and set it in the grass before stepping back. A line of fire lanced out from his finger and burned a path toward the crystal. A foot out it vanished as completely as the earth magic spell. That gave him a rough idea of the item’s range. Basically far enough to protect a single person. Useful, but hardly an overwhelming advantage.
“Chosen, what should we do with the prisoners?” Kai asked.
He’d been so wrapped up in his experiment, Conryu had momentarily forgotten them. “Get their crystals, careful not to touch them, and add them to the pile over here. Once that’s done, I’ll question them.”
“We won’t tell you anything,” one of the soldiers said.
Conryu smiled. Clearly, he’d never been questioned by a wizard. Another burst of earth magic wrapped the survivors in vines at the same time they were forced to their feet. When he was finished, only their heads were visible through the greenery.
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